News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
So you think the last major cavalry battle was in the Civil War? Or the Napoleonic wars? Nope. It occurred less than 100 years ago — Aug. 31, 1920 — and was between Poland and invading communists from the Soviet Union. The Poles had 1,700 cavalrymen. The Soviets had 10 times that number.
The Poles won. It is known as the Battle of Komarów, or the Zamość Ring.
Mexico Can Pay For Wall — Donald Trump says the wall he is proposing to stop the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants from Mexico will cost between $8 billion and $13 billion. 
He said he will get Mexico to pay for it.
How? Well, it’s not as though there isn’t a lot of money stashed away in our southern sister.
More practically he notes that Mexico receives about $24 billion annually from nationals working (or using social services) here and that by making a small change in the law to include money transfer firms as federal institutions, he could put an end to that.
Por lo tanto, the wall is paid.
Sure you know that the doughnut cutter was invented by John F. Blondel of Maine in 1872 but how about giving a little credit to sea captain Hanson Gregory who actually invented the doughnut hole itself. That was in 1847.
NFL Means No Further Look — We’ve always looked forward to football season but various events in recent years ranging from collegiate scandals — twisted and banal — to professional hypocrisy has caused us to sour on the sport.
Football is not necessary for a happy life. In fact, we suspect that we are going to learn that it is more inclined to get in the way of one as we suspect we are not going to be watching that much this season.
There is one thing we are curious about: Will Chip Kelly cut Colin Kaepernick as he did Tim Tebow — who actually earned a spot — last year?
Thomas Jefferson loved wine. He bought so much of the good stuff it almost bankrupted him.
Fatal Motorcycle Crash In Springfield — A motorcyclist died after a head-on crash with a car about 6:30 a.m., Aug. 27 on Springfield Road in Springfield, Pa. near Brookside Road.
The driver of the motorcycle was thrown over the car and onto the trolley tracks, according to reports.
Bathroom Bill Idiocy Hearing On Web — Pennsylvania State Sen. Lisa Baker (R-28) is linking her webpage to a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, Aug. 30, regarding SB 1306, which makes “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression” a protected class hence making it impossible to consider these matters in legislation or commerce.
What this means ladies is that if you have to use an interstate rest stop and a guy in a dress follows you in, nobody can say he can’t.
What this means parents is that your daughters will have to compete with — and share locker rooms with — boys who decide to “express” themselves as females regarding school sports.
What this means small business owners is that if your troublesome employee decides to start “expressing” him or herself as the opposite sex you have one new, huge headache on your hands in getting rid of him or her.
This is extremely stupid and unnecessary legislation and must die.
And the sooner the better.
There have been 184,869 Olympians since the games began in 1896.
Ghost Teachers Unnecessary Tax Burden
By Leo Knepper
The Commonwealth Foundation undertook the monumental task of acquiring and analyzing teachers’ union contracts from 499 school districts. Their main findings were shocking, but not surprising. Two of items that caught our attention were the prevalence of release time provisions and the “generosity” of healthcare benefits.
Release time or “ghost teacher” provisions force taxpayers to foot the bill for union activities. Roughly 20 percent of contracts across the state allow for a full release. These teachers don’t set foot in the classroom at all. Instead, they are on the district payroll and can collect a variety of benefits while they work for the union. One of the most expensive benefits that ghost teachers had received, until recently, was a taxpayer funded pension.
On the issue of health insurance benefits, in 99 districts taxpayers foot the entire bill. The workers covered under the teachers’ union contracts don’t pay anything for their premiums. In instances where teachers are required to pay toward their premium costs, they pay far less than the Pennsylvania average of $3,598 per person.
A full summary of the Commonwealth Foundation’s findings can be found on their website; the district-by-district contract details can be found here.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.
What is a crepuscular critter? It’s a critter that is most active during twilight.