Month: November 2019

Impeachment Shows Fear Desperation

Impeachment Shows Fear Desperation — Fear is the only explanation we can imagine for the Democrat Party’s bizarre attempt to impeach President Trump.

Did the President break the law by using 9/11 icon and famed mob fighter Rudy Giuliani to communicate with other nations? FDR didn’t when he bypassed career diplomats and used Harry Hopkins, so no.

Impeachment Shows Fear Desperation
Adam Schiff, Ed Buck and Eric C. Bauman

Did he break the law by asking the Ukrainians to investigate the Biden crime family’s corruption in that country? How can someone charged with enforcing the law — that would be the President — break the law by investigating lawbreaking and corruption? He can’t.

Was it a Prime Directive thing in which he interfered with the development of the Planet of Ukraine? Leaving aside that the Prime Directive is not US law, he didn’t do that as per the transcript of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Anyway, former Vice President Joe Biden boasted about doing exactly that and has yet to be charged.

Keep at it Rudy.

So if President Trump has been diligently doing the tasks to which the Constitution obliges and did not commit any high crimes and misdemeanors, why are the Democrats trying to impeach him? Why not merely vote him out next year as has traditionally been done by opposing parties especially when the incumbent is unpopular as they allege?

Why are the Deep State bureaucrats swarming out of hiding to help the Democrarts? Why has the establishment media taken off its false mask of objectivity and joined in?

Can you say fear? Desperation? They are the only things that make sense.

U.S. Attorney John Henry Durham and Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz are expected at any moment to release damning reports that will lead to criminal charges against high ranking Obama Administration personnel. Some think those indicted may include Obama’s FBI Director James Comey and CIA Director John Brennan.

Could it go even further? Bill? Hillary? Members of the media? Members of Congress? Is that why Adam Schiff seems afraid?

Will it go beyond violations of law enforcement standards, false swearing and wiretapping? Could it include treason? Murder?

Why was Attorney General William Barr recently in Italy? Why was Joseph Mifsud reported to have been kidnapped in that country in 2017?

Did you see what Paul Gosar (R-AZ) spelled out in tweets yesterday? Maybe today he can spell out “His name was Seth Rich.”

You explain the logic of these hearings.

Why the panic?

Impeachment Shows Fear Desperation

Greatest enemy William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-13-19

Mosquitos remain man’s greatest enemy. In 2017, 435,000 people died of malaria. Most were children in Africa.

Greatest enemy William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-13-19
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-13-19

Stuffed Cabbage Sale At Holy Myrrh-Bearers

Holy Myrrh-Bearers Parish is having a Christmas- time Stuffed Cabbage Sale.  The traditional Stuffed Cabbage is made with beef, pork, rice, spices, and tomato sauce.  Cost is three rolls for $12.  Also available will be Halushki (cabbage and noodles) at $7 per quart or $4 a pint. 

Please place orders by Sunday, Dec. 1 by calling the Pierogie Hotline at 610-544-1216 or emailing HMBChurch@verizon.net

Pick up is 2 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7 and 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 8 at the parish hall, 900 Fairview Road, Swarthmore, Pa. 19081.   

Stuffed Cabbage Sale At Holy Myrrh-Bearers
Stuffed Cabbage Sale At Holy Myrrh-Bearers

Erno Goldfinger William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-12-19

Many might know that Ian Fleming used the name of a Philadelphia ornithologist for his super spy James Bond. Less might know that he used the name of Erno Goldfinger, a British real estate developer, for his super villain Auric Goldfinger.

The real James Bond was fine with Fleming’s choice. Erno, well, not so much. He took it to court.

Fleming just said that he’d change the name to Gold(something else) and Erno dropped the matter. Fleming’s publisher paid Goldfinger’s legal costs though and gave him six free copies of the book. He should have asked they be autographed.

Erno Goldfinger William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-12-19
Erno Goldfinger William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-12-19

Walking Florence On A Warm Autumn Evening

Walking Florence On A Warm Autumn Evening

John W. Gilmore

Choosing overnight accommodations are always difficult online. The pictures only tell half the story. The reviews are often blazingly good or horrible with nothing in between.  If the price is reasonable sometimes competing motels and hostels report that the place has bed bugs in order to turn the guests away, which makes the choices even more difficult.

Despite this, in October we booked an overnight stay in a very small hostel in Florence, Italy that was very close to the most popular sites and near a more expensive hotel that we stayed in on a former trip.  Albergo Paola was only 65 dollars a night and in the center of the city, but had a shared bathroom and shower with very few amenities and no elevator, according to the reviews.  After a long night of flying it was a great relief to arrive in the morning and find a warm soft bed minust bedbugs, and an elevator that wasn’t supposed to exist according to one of the negative reviews, within walking distance of the main transit center.

We took a nap in the afternoon and awakened early evening.  The sun hadn’t set yet so we decided to take a walk. The city wasn’t as crowded as the last time we were there. It wasn’t the tourist season. Nothing was planned so we wandered where we wanted, walking through the winding alleys paved with well set cobblestones (much better than the clunky ill fitting ones we find in the oldest parts of the US).  On both sides of the narrow streets and allies there were small hotels, shops, stores and restaurants, no boarded up places and nothing broken down.  We wove our way through the small alleyways of central Florence, marveling as we came out of the small streets into wide avenues lined with upscale shops.  We knew we were not in Philadelphia anymore just by walking through the city, looking at the shop windows, the way the stones were laid on their cobblestone streets, and the architecture, made it apparent. Everything was classy, but very humane including the little classic scooters shooting around here and there on the small cobblestone streets.  

It was just a regular day for them.  People were making their way to and from work on a Friday evening.  A group of teenagers meeting downtown laughed as they gathered for a Friday night adventure. Traffic was heavy, but moving, on the main thoroughfares.  We walked along them until we reached the main tourist attractions. The streets were roped off with minimal traffic in places like the Piazza San Lorenzo where you will find El Duomo, one of the churches that was one of the greatest architectural feats of its time in Europe.   It was a work of art itself, not only because of its construction, but because of the beautiful artwork by the great Italian artists of the Renaissance it contained.   

Walking Florence On A Warm Autumn Evening
A tetrahedron around a tree.

From there we made our way to the Piazza Della Signoria.  A large open space where people meandered in the evening sun, talking and observing the artwork of great people like Michael Angelo, a replica of the famous statue of David, a large statue of Neptune riding his chariot in the center of a fountain, a large overhang where many statues honoring the myths of Roman Heroes, and even a celebration of Leonardo Da Vinci with a tree enclosed in a tetrahedron which Da Vinci understood as  the secrets of the universe, encoded in geometry.

Eventually we came to a restaurant along a narrow cobblestone street that was empty.  We were seated quickly on a patio overlooking the street.  Soon after the restaurant filled up with regulars who were a mixture of people who lived in Italy but who had moved from Canada or the US, or people on extended vacations.  As in most restaurants in Italy, the food was beautiful, fragrant, and tasty.

Roman Heroes
Tribute to heroes of Rome

 They offered five courses but we only took three.  No GMO breads or vegetables.  The tomatoes and tomato sauces actually tasted like ripened tomatoes and was full of herbs and spices; no holding back on salt or seasons there, or the rejection of butter or fat that came as a result of the cholesterol scare we went through in the United States for almost 30 years.  The food was fresh, hormone free and natural by law.  We could taste that it was more healthy as if our bodies remembered how real food tasted in the US many years ago.  With stomachs full we returned to our small room thinking that it might be hot because of its lack of air conditioning.  It actually turned out to be a bit cool as the temperature went down when the sun dipped below the horizon, and we awakened the next morning refreshed and ready for the next leg of our journey to Tuscany.    

GOP Had Good Election Night?

GOP Had Good Election Night? — Matthew J. Brouillette, who is founder, president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, Inc, has a column at The Hill saying that Nov. 5 was actually pretty good for the Republicans in Pennsylvania.

Or MAGA anyway.

Megan King won a state-wide race for a seat on state Superior Court — despite a long wait for Philly votes to be tallied. More significantly six counties, went from Democrat to Republican.

The flipping to Democrat of the century-long Republican strongholds of Chester and Delaware counties made the news but these places had not been bastions of conservatism for a long time, and Delaware County, maybe never. Its congressional representatives included Bob Edgar and Joe Sestak after all.

Check out Matt’s column.

The long wait for the Philly votes in the state race does not give us something to look forward to next November. Another observation is that the top Superior Court vote-getter was Democrat Daniel D. McCaffery, the only man in the race. We suspect it was due to gender-based voting. Call it sexist but we’ve noticed the same thing work to the lady’s advantage when she was the only representative of her sex on the ticket.

MAGA is not about identity politics. It’s about putting the citizen first and keeping promises. Sex, race or anything else is irrelevant.

It’s what makes it different than the other side. The globalists and the socialists of whatever party seek and need division. They use, sex, race and anything else to cause it. It is their ticket to power.

GOP Had Good Election Night?

GOP Had Good Election Night?

License plate read 111118 William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-11-19

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia in Sarajevo in 1914 started World War I. Their car’s license plate read 111118. Some can read that as Nov. 11, 1918. That would be the date the war ended.

License plate read 111118 William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-11-19
license plate read 111118. Some can read that as Nov. 11, 1918. That would be the date the war ended.

Deep State Immigration Policy Mocks Sacrifice

Deep State Immigration Policy Mocks Sacrifice

By Joe Guzzardi

Deep State Immigration Policy Mocks Sacrifice

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, about 389,000 veterans are still living, a remarkable total given that most are in their 90s or older. Among our veterans also are approximately 3.5 million Korean War vets, 610,000 Vietnam War and  hundreds of thousands more from the Gulf Wars and other conflicts.

On Veterans Day 2019, as those brave men and women reflect on their service in America’s defense, they could be forgiven for questioning whether, in light of Congress’ repeated betrayal of traditional U.S. values, putting their lives on the line was worth the risk. Congress has consistently refused to protect the homeland through border and interior enforcement. At the same time, Congress has passed legislation that subverts job opportunities for Americans. Good U.S. jobs have been offshored or given to foreign-born employment-based visa holders.

Despite President Trump’s immigration bravado, at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Paso del Norte Port of Entry press conference, it was announced that in FY 2019 illegal immigration apprehensions hit a decade-high 1.1 million, a 68 percent increase over FY 2018. Along the southwest border, family unit apprehension set another record, 474,000. Because of the flawed catch and release policy, most of the migrants are released inside the U.S., eventually disappearing into the general population. Department of Homeland Security officials acknowledge that catch and release is, in terms of good policy, a grave failure that Congress refuses to correct. Only 1.4 percent of migrant family members from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the border illegally in 2017 have been deported to their home countries.

Congress has cataclysmically failed to protect American workers. A job is essential to maintain dignity and provide for family. But Congress has looked the other way as U.S. companies have, over the years since the Immigration Act of 1990 which expanded employment-based visas, hired millions of foreign nationals to displace Americans. Employers addicted to cheap labor, in all areas – from tech and call center operations to manufacturing and human resources – love the lower wages that they can pay the outsourced workers. Studies found, however, that if the outsourced jobs returned, they could be numerous enough to provide opportunities for unemployed Americans. Adding to the job challenges of unemployed citizens, including veterans, is the annual 1 million or more legal immigrants who receive lifetime valid work permits.

Finally, the amnesty specter never fades from the Swamp. The latest, but certainly not the last effort, is the House of Representatives’ Farm Workers Modernization Act which would grant amnesty to 1.5 million illegally present ag workers, expand the controversial and often-abused H-2A visa, add 40,000 Green Cards to the EB-3 category and mandate E-Verify across the agriculture sector. The bill would also create a new immigration category, the Certified Agriculture Worker, and will provide a citizenship path. The sponsors, led by Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Mario Diaz-Balart (D-FL), are notoriously anti-American worker, and have throughout their careers consistently voted for more employment-based visas.

Despite the bill’s title, the legislation does nothing to modernize agriculture technology through time-saving, efficient mechanization. Unlike stoop labor, robots can operate 24/7 and have been adopted by forward-thinking U.S. ag businesses in Florida and California.

Getting inside vets’ heads to learn their immigration leanings, pro or con, is impossible. But likely many vets, like so many other Americans, must wonder when Congress decided to cater to illegal immigrants and lobbyists instead of passing legislation which assures that citizens come first.

Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.

5.7 million Soviets captured William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-9-19

The Soviet Union took 3 million Germans and other Axis soldiers as prisoners of war during World War II. While Soviets said 381,000 died in captivity, a West German government commission says it was a million. Pretty mean of the Soviets but remember that of the of 5.7 million Soviets captured by the Nazis, 3.3 million died in captivity.

5.7 million Soviets captured William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-9-19
5.7 million Soviets captured by the Nazis, 3.3 million died in captivity.

Stock Market More Treats Than Tricks In October

Stock Market More Treats Than Tricks In October

By Bruce Cook

Turning the calendar from October to November brought more than trick-or-treaters, pumpkins, and leaves to rake. It also brought a wave of important economic updates that delivered more treats than tricks and helped the stock markets reach new highs.

Those new highs may be causing you to feel a bit wary, however, wondering if the end is nearing for what is now the longest bull market ever recorded. Should new highs be feared or embraced? Since 1980 the S&P 500 Index historically has generated above-average returns one year after reaching a new high. New highs have been a normal by-product of bull markets, and we should expect to see more.

There are several reasons to expect this bull market may deliver more new highs in the months ahead. Overall, the U.S. economy remains on solid ground with no sign of imminent recession. Gross domestic product for the third quarter came in better than expected despite businesses’ weak capital investment related to the U.S.-China trade conflict. The consumer remains the anchor of the U.S. economy, as shown in recent strong consumer spending data. Job growth in October was solid, even when considering the General Motors strike (which is over), and wages continued to rise. 

Recent trade headlines also reflect encouraging progress. President Trump and China President Xi likely will sign a preliminary trade agreement within the next month or so. The most contentious issues will need to be worked out in future negotiations, but any de-escalation of the current trade tensions will be welcome. Resolving the trade dispute may encourage companies to invest more, which could drive stronger economic growth and corporate profits and help push stocks higher.

Doing its part, the Federal Reserve (Fed) gave investors what they were hoping for and cut interest rates for the third time this year. Stocks historically have responded well one year after cuts that were also characterized as a “gradual mid-cycle rate adjustment.”

We are entering what historically has been the best performing six months of the year for stocks. When we add that positive seasonal factor to the overall good health of the U.S. economy, support from the Fed, and progress on a trade agreement, it appears this bull market may have more left in the tank. At the same time, we cannot dismiss potential risks to markets, most notably the possible unraveling of the U.S.-China trade pact, lackluster economic growth in Europe and Japan, stalled corporate profit growth, and the potentially contentious upcoming U.S. presidential election campaign. After a relatively calm and steady stock market advance this year, a pickup in market volatility would be totally normal.

We should continue to watch for signs of excesses in the economy that could lead to a recession and bring this record bull market to an end. For now, there don’t appear to be any worrisome cracks in a strong economic foundation, and the backdrop for stocks appears to remain favorable. 

Bruce R. Cooke is a Havertown based CFP with LPL Financial.

Stock Market More Treats Than Tricks In October