Tallis, Victoria Featured Sunday By Delco Symphony
By Joseph B. Dychala
The second chamber series concert of the Delaware County Symphony is this Sunday, Nov 20, at 3 p.m. in the Meagher Theater in the Bruder Life Center at Neumann University in Aston, Pa..
The program begins with selections from Tomas Victoria and Thomas Tallis followed by a selection featuring the DCS Brass Ensemble. Next on the program will be a Cello Concerto from Vivaldi then chamber series director Robert Whalen performs on timpani. The concert concludes with Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio featuring Arnold Ostroff on piano.
Tickets are $12 for adults. Presenting a Delaware County or Montgomery County Library card the day of the show allows the purchase of two adult tickets for the price of one. As always, one child under 12 admitted free with an accompanying paid adult. This is an excellent way to bring the classics to a new generation of listeners. The next full symphony concert entitled “Magical and Exotic” is Dec 4 and features selections from Mozart, Leibermann, Respighi and Borodin.
Tallis, Victoria Featured Sunday By Delco Symphony
Tucker Carlson Demolishes Jonathan Allen — The times they are a changin’. Tucker Carlson left Roll Call columnist Jonathan Allen literally red faced with shame after an interview, yesterday, Nov. 18, on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Allen smeared Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, as racist in an innuendo-filled but fact-free column.
Carlson repeatedly asked for specifics leaving the hapless swamp-dwelling hack sputtering in helplessness.
It was beautiful to watch and one can see it below. Carlson’s show airs 7 weeknights on Fox News Channel.
Pew says that a middle class Delco resident paid 14 percent of his or her income — $8,557 on average — in sales, property and income taxes in 2015.
And that’s assuming one did not work in the city. For commuters, the bite was 19 percent or 11,661.
The 2015 tax burden for middle class Philly residents was 12 percent or an average of $7,704.
This is a huge change from Y2K, when the cost for a middle class Delco non-commuter was about 12 percent of income which averaged about $1,184 less than a Philadelphian.
We suspect the main reason for the change is increasing educational expenses in the burbs.
Executing a murderer is homicide. Really. Homicide means any killing of a human by another. Some homicide is justifiable. Murder never is. One might even be executed for it.
George Gawrych Shouted Down At Cal State Northridge — Bob Small of Delco Debates forwarded from Eugene Volokh about how a group of Armenian students shut down a lecture by scholar George Gawrych at California State University Northridge.
Gawrych’s subject was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It was part of “Ataturk Week” which involved events in Southern California scheduled for Nov. 9-13.
Kemal was an Turkish army officer who became leader of that nation in 1923 after years of war and chaos. He modernized the nation and was bestowed with the surname “Ataturk” meaning “Father of the Turks”.
Armenians, however, blame Ataurk for expunging their people from Turkey claiming he drove off those Armenians who survived 1915 Genocide during the Turkish War of Independence.
Ataturk is not considered to have been involved with the genocide itself.
Regardless, speakers should never be shouted down at any university and schools must respect the rights of all invited speakers to have their say.
George Gawrych Shouted Down At Cal State Northridge
One of the many quirks of our political system is that each year there are winners and losers among politicians whose names are not actually on the ballot. This year is no exception. Neither Governor Tom Wolf nor State Senator Scott Wagner was up for election this year, but results of the balloting sent their career paths in opposite directions.
Governor Wolf has had a tough first two years in office dealing with a Republican-controlled legislature. His efforts to dramatically expand government spending, and to implement the historic tax hikes needed to pay for that agenda resulted in the longest budget stalemate in state history. The Republicans won.
On Nov. 8, voters rewarded the GOP with even larger legislative majorities in the Pennsylvania legilsator. Democrats in the state senate are now on life support. Two Democratic incumbents were defeated by challengers; a third Democrat seat went Republican after the incumbent gave up several months ago and resigned from the ballot. Combined the three seats give Republicans a 34-16 edge and something rarely if ever seen in state government: a veto proof majority.
Meanwhile, across the rotunda in the House of Representatives Republicans saw their already historically high majority expand by three seats as four incumbent Democrats and one incumbent Republican lost. The Republican pick-ups came in southwestern Pennsylvania which has been trending toward the GOP for several election cycles. In fact, the most endangered species in Penn’s Woods might well be the non-urban legislative Democrat, with only a handful of Democratic lawmakers representing districts outside of the state’s urban cores.
All of this matters because next year’s state budget battle is shaping up to be even tougher than the first. Republicans caved into Governor Wolf’s spending demands this year, but failed to fully fund the budget. That coupled with revenue sources that either never materialized or have failed to meet projections presages a major fiscal fight next year.
Not only have Republicans added to their numbers, but this year’s legislative elections moved both chambers further to the Right. Moderate state senators like Cumberland County’s Pat Vance and Lancaster’s Lloyd Smucker have been replaced by far more conservative legislators. The continued drift of the House GOP caucus from moderate southeastern dominance to conservative central and western Pennsylvania influence means tougher sailing for those wanting to raise either taxes or spending.
Governor Wolf also saw his agenda rejected in another race; that the battle for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat. The Democratic nominee, Katie McGinty, was Governor Wolf’s first chief of staff and architect of the tax and spend plan that triggered the epic budget battle. Incumbent U.S. Senator Pat Toomey made hay of that effectively painting McGinty as out of touch with the financial needs of average Pennsylvanians. He won, she lost.
How then do the fortunes of one state senator rise on all of this? Senator Scott Wagner was an establishment pariah when he ran for an open seat in York County in 2014. Shunned by his own party Wagner accomplished an historic first in Pennsylvania: He won a special election on a write-in defeating both party nominees.
The upstart senator has quickly gained clout and was tapped by his colleagues to lead the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. The SRCC as it is known is tasked with recruiting, funding and electing Republicans to the state senate. After playing a major role in helping to win several seats two years ago, Wagner effectively recruited candidates like Senator-elect John DiSanto of Dauphin County who upended Democratic incumbents last week. Much of the credit for the senate’s now veto-proof majority goes to Wagner.
This is important because Scott Wagner has made no secret of his desire to run for governor in 2018 and is widely expected to announce his candidacy within weeks. Having built a strong senate majority gives him a leg up both on the Republican nomination and on a grassroots organization for the battle against Tom Wolf who is expected to seek re-election.
Thus the 2016 election has set the stage for the beginning of the next big electoral battle in Pennsylvania. Political fortunes have risen and fallen. And the never ending cycle of campaigns has already begun anew offering no respite for weary voters.
Rape Illegal Dubai — Police in the Islamic paradise of Dubai are investigating a report by a 25-year-old British woman that she was raped by two men. Apparently, she had broken the nation’s law regarding sex outside of marriage.
If this man was not a billionaire, he would not be a problem.
Sue Soros, Charge Minions — A report is being circulated that anti-Trump protestors caused a man’s death by preventing his ambulance from reaching the hospital.
If this is true, then those who traffic blockage caused this to happen should be charged with manslaughter. Further, those funding these “protests” — and these riots are not grassroot — should be sued for every penny they have.
That means you George Soros. How can you not understand that blocking traffic is dangerous, cruel and irresponsible? You are hate-filled man and a blight on humanity.
