Category: Philadelphia

Taney Dragons Name Traced To Infamous Judge

Taney Dragons Name Traced To Infamous Judge

Taney Dragons Name Traced To Infamous Judge

The Taney Dragons, the melting pot of a baseball team from Philadelphia with a black girl pitcher, won the hearts of all with their just-ended Little League World Series run in which they finished third in the nation.

So where does the name Taney come from? It’s from Taney Street, a four-block stretch of pavement that runs from Pine to Bainbridge just across the Schuylkill River from Penn.

And for whom is Taney Street named? That’s the irony.  It is for the man who wrote the Dred Scott decision, the most racist and viciously destructive Supreme Court decision in our history.

Dred Scott was more hateful and irrational than Roe v Wade. It was more racist than Plessy v Ferguson. It was crueler than Buck vs Bell.

It declared blacks to be less than human. It started the Civil War.

Roger Taney was a Democrat — no surprise, really –from Maryland who was picked by Andrew Jackson to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1835 after the great John Marshall died in a stage coach accident.

It is said he favored States’ Rights but that certainly wasn’t the case concerning slavery. In 1842, he ruled that Pennsylvania could not stop a Maryland man from seizing former slaves that had taken up residence in the Keystone State.

It was in 1857, he really let the mask drop.  In Dred Scott he wrote regarding blacks:

It is difficult at this day to realize the state of public opinion in regard to that unfortunate race which prevailed in the civilized and enlightened portions of the world at the time of the Declaration of Independence, and when the Constitution of the United States was framed and adopted; but the public history of every European nation displays it in a manner too plain to be mistaken. They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far unfit that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect

So much for “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”

Those governing Philadelphia at the time apparently thought the decision was peachy.  They named the street for him the next year.

Three years after that our country’s bloodiest war began. Taney died before it ended on Oct. 12, 1864, still the chief justice and giving as much grief to the Lincoln administration as he could but with his fangs largely pulled.

So thank you Mo’ne Davis and the rest of the Dragons, for the deserved mocking you gave to one of America’s great bigots.

 

 

Philly School Salaries Put Online

Kudos to the Philadelphia School System for putting employee salaries online.

The district published the information to promote transparency according to district spokesman Fernando Gallard.

The previous policy was to release the information only in response to  requests.

The project was done with OpenDataPhilly and the information can be found here under SDP Employee Information as a .ZIP file which you will have to download.

Topping the list at $270,000 is Superintendent William Hite. He is followed by Deputy Superintendent Paul Kihn at $210,000.

It should be noted that the list does not include benefit information.

Philly School Salaries Put Online

Philly School Salaries Put Online

 

Sidney Kimmel Gets Kudos For Jefferson Gift

Sidney Kimmel gets kudos and well-deserved ones for his $110 million gift to Thomas Jefferson University that was announced yesterday, June 17.

The school will rename its medical school Sidney Kimmel Medical College.

Kimmel, born in 1928,  was the son of a cab driver and grew up in Philadelphia. He went to Temple University where he dropped out.

In 1970, while working for the Maryland chemical firm W. R. Grace and Company,  he founded Jones Apparel Group where he made a fortune.

Forbes magazine ranked him 655th richest person alive in 2010.

Kimmel has been involved in making movies through Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE). SKE productions included  United 93, which chronicles the events aboard United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001 and The Kite Runner. Both were highly acclaimed.

Kimmel  lives in California with his wife Caroline Davis but Philadelphia remains close to his heart. He was the prime mover behind the  Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and has donated millions to The National Constitution Center; the Raymond and Ruth Perelman Jewish Day School and The National Museum of American Jewish History, all  in the city.

So again, kudos to Mr. Kimmel.

Sidney Kimmel Gets Kudos For Jefferson Gift

Sidney Kimmel Gets Kudos For Jefferson Gift

 

Contractors And Philadelphia Permits

Contractors And Philadelphia Permits — Just had an interesting conversation with a contractor that segued from the fatal June 5 demolition gone bad in Philadelphia to his recent experience in trying to get a permit in the city.

He noted that he waited hours in line to be told the work had to be approved by the planning commission first despite the planning commission telling him otherwise. He went back to his clients who told them they never bothered with permits when doing improvements.

He said “expeditors” in the city get paid up to $25,000 to make speed up the process when necessary.

So those feeling some hate towards the developer might be wise to direct at least a little in the direction of the inherent corruption of the city’s government.

We will note that the city did not force Richard Basciano, known one-time as the “porn king of Times Square” to hire a stoner with a long rap sheet to run the backhoe.

Contractors And Philadelphia Permits

Contractors And Philadelphia Permits

Totally Nutter Tax Policy

Totally Nutter Tax Policy
By  Chris Freind

I swore I was done.

I promised I would never waste another column writing about how pathetic Philadelphia is. And how its complacent residents and businessmen get exactly what they deserve. Washing my hands of all things Philly, I pledged, most importantly, to never again comment on Michael Nutter, who is, without a doubt, America’s most obtuse, clueless and excruciatingly boring mayor.

But I failed.

It is simply impossible not to rip into Tweedle Dee and his latest efforts to drive the final stake into the heart of a once-great city by trying to impose, yes, more taxes! But this isn’t a column about how astronomical taxes actually decrease revenue and further a city’s demise. Michael Nutter has never, nor will ever, understand that, so why bother?

It’s much more fun to look at the mayor’s “legacy” and marvel about how bad he really is.

♦

In 2011, the end of Nutter’s first term, Philadelphia enjoyed the dubious honor of owning the highest murder rate of any large American city (a feat it has accomplished with stunning regularity) – a staggering 32 percent above second-worst Chicago. But in a move that can only be characterized as deceptive, Nutter continues to compare the murder rate each year to 2007, the high water mark for killings.

So when the police department states that murders in 2012 are “down 15 percent,” a reasonable person would assume that was compared to the prior year. It’s not. In reality, 2012 had more murders than any year since 2007. If a CEO didn’t readily disclose to shareholders that 2012 earnings were being compared to financial numbers from five years prior, he would go to jail. But when you’re Michael Nutter, it’s called Business-As-Usual.

Not content to be first in just one category, Philadelphia under Nutter’s direction is also the champion for highest poverty level. And as a bonus, it also leads in “deep poverty,” which is people living on less than half the poverty-line income level.

Then there’s the violent crime rate, the homeless rate, the illiteracy rate, the unemployment rate, the dropout rate, the graduation rate, and the rate of high schoolers not going to college.

Is there anyone who doesn’t know whether these rates are good – or horrendous? Anyone? Bueller? Nutter? Anyone?

Didn’t think so.

And what is Nutter’s go-to explanation, and the only method he uses to “solve” problems? It’s always a two-parter, and it goes like this:

“Cities are hard-pressed to fight (these problems) by ourselves, and we really need partnerships from the state and federal governments as well.” That was his response to the poverty issue, but it’s the same for everything. Look to the state and feds for bailouts and handouts.

For years, the funding flowed, and while the problems only got worse (no surprise there), Nutter could at least spin the tale that the money would make everything rainbows and lollipops – so long as that spigot was kept open.

Well, the Piper came calling, and taxpayers’ largesse has slowed dramatically. So what’s a beleaguered mayor to do? Show initiative by freeing up private enterprise so that it can grow and add jobs? Employ creativity in the way our children – our future – are educated? Demonstrate leadership by making the city operate efficiently and within its means – the same as hardworking families and well-run companies?

Of course not. Because doing so would require courage and a brain. The Wizard of Oz, Michael Nutter is not.

So, like all politicians who never held private sector jobs, Nutter has once again gone to the only playbook he knows: tax, tax, and tax some more.

This time, he wants to raise the liquor-by-the-drink tax to 15 percent and implement a whopping $2 per pack tax on cigarettes so that he can – you know this one by heart – help fund the black hole called Philadelphia schools.

The biggest problem, after you stop laughing, is figuring out which is more insane: the high probability that these taxes will be enacted, or that he actually thinks they will generate a fraction of the $70 million he predicts.

Reasonable people might be asking how Nutter could actually believe these taxes will work, and how they won’t accelerate the already significant exodus from the city.

In Nutter’s case, the answer is easy. When you are proud your city has the highest cumulative tax burden in the nation, more taxes is always the answer.

Nutter’s new taxes would certainly have lots of company, as his cherished revenue streams include taxes on: amusements, parking, business income and receipts, sales and use, hotel, tobacco and tobacco-related products, liquor, use and occupancy, mechanical amusement (distinct from amusement, of course), valet parking (again, different from regular parking), net profits, vehicle rental, outdoor advertising, trash, real estate, and, of course, the infamous city wage tax.

And he tried to get a soda tax, too, because he apparently cared about how fat people were becoming. But his sugary tax soiree was just too saccharine, and it failed.

Of particular interest is that Philadelphians pay not 6 percent sales tax like everyone else, but 8. Yep, that was part of the deal Nutter made with the state Legislature several years ago so that the “extra” revenue that tax would supposedly provide, along with suspending payments to the bankrupt pension fund for two years, would allow the city to regain its financial footing. The plan was to then pay $800 million into the pension to save its retirees from financial ruin.

Ummm, does anyone think that happened, given that the payment was due several years ago. Anyone? Nutter? Anyone?

Didn’t think so.

So many taxes are levied in the name of furthering “public education.” You know, the school system that perpetually runs massive deficits, has zero accountability, and has to cheat on standardized tests to pretend that it’s not the toxic waste dump everyone knows it to be. And despite all the billions spent, how many Philadelphia students pass basic proficiency tests? Here’s a hint. The percentage is much lower than Tom Corbett’s approval rating. And that’s pretty low.

♦

In presiding over the inexcusable lack of snow removal, innumerable police department scandals, violent flash mobs, endless taxation and regulation, and the bottomless pit called Philadelphia schools, Mayor Nutter has taken incompetence to a new level.

Unparalleled history. Ethnic neighborhoods. Great sports fans. Two major river systems begging for development (like the immensely successful riverwalks in San Antonio and Cincinnati). With what had been a world-class city at his feet, Nutter had the opportunity of a lifetime. Had he accomplished just a fraction of what he could have, the sky was truly the limit.

Instead, he crashed and burned on Day One. And it’s gotten worse ever since.

As Clint Eastwood says in Heartbreak Ridge, “You can love me, or you can hate me. Just don’t bore me.”

It’s tough to accomplish two of those three, but Michael Nutter has done so splendidly. Anyone not know which two?

Anyone? Mayor?

Didn’t think so.

 

Totally Nutter Tax Policy

Why There Are No Black Republicans

Philadelphia Weekly interviewed three black Philadelphia Republicans who gave an honest critique as to the dearth of black Republicans, and yes the lion’s share of the blame came down on the GOP leadership. Robert Mansfield, Lewis Harris, Thermone Spence Jr. note that not merely has the GOP not sought to reach out to blacks but has actively fought their recruitment into the party — at least in the city. Why There Are No Black Republicans

Another important point that one takes from the article is that while there may be a handful of black Republicans there are a whole, whole lot of black conservatives.

It should be noted that while blacks were coming out in record number to return Barack Obama to the White House in Michigan they were voting down a referendum that would have enshrined automatic deductions of union dues into the state constitution. The defeat would inspire the state legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder to turn Michigan into a full-blown right to work state.

When Scott Walker stopped automatic deductions of union dues from the paychecks of state workers in Wisconsin, refusal of blacks to support his recall gave him a larger margin of victory in his second victory than in his original.

It’s something of which Tom Corbett should perhaps become aware.

Let us further note that in Pennsylvania, it is the blacks who are supporting school choice and charter schools. It is the blacks who are trying to give abortionists the death penalty.

Here is the article: PW Roundtable: Black Republicans on Their Existential Struggles

 Why There Are No Black Republicans

Mayor Nutter Outrage Misguided Over Huber Article

Mayor Nutter Outrage Misguided — Mayor Michael Nutter is outraged at Robert Huber’s article “Being White In Philly” which appears in this month’s Philadelphia magazine.

He says its a “pathetic, uninformed essay” and wants to sic the city’s Human Relations Commission on the publication.

Here’s a link to the article. Read it and judge for yourself.

Mayor Nutter Outrage Misguided

A Message From The GOP City Committee (Philly)

Courtesy Carol Klein

Now that we’ve had a few days to digest the 2012 election please allow me to give some initial thoughts about moving the Conservative agenda and this Party forward.   First, I congratulate John Taylor for another successful election.   My thanks to all our other candidates, you ran good campaigns against long, long odds.  I want to meet with all of you to review what you did, what you learned and what you see as important for our future. 

We did more work this year than any I have ever seen, and I’ve been involved working elections since 1974.  Our Victory Centers made more calls and knocked on more doors than any Philadelphia Republican organization has done in memory.  Everyone should be proud of the work we did.  And, we got smoked.

How did we lose to a very weak incumbent in both the presidential and senatorial elections?  We lost because we have allowed the left to control the debate for years.  We’ve made progress and it hasn’t been enough.  I’ve asked people why they voted for Obama and the answers all are based on what we know to be half truths or outright falsehoods.

This means we’ve allowed elections to come down to personalities and sound bites.  If your personality doesn’t come through strong in the beginning of the campaign, if you make a silly statement or misquote a fact, the other side brands you before the real campaign ever begins.  Those of us who understand the fundamental principles on which this country was built can see past those personality quirks.  For us, the individual doesn’t matter as much as the principles on which he or she stands.  Understand the principles and you are far better able to sort through the media blather and find the truth.

But none of us were born knowing those principles.  None of us came into the world understanding the God-given rights we brought with us.  None of us were born knowing that our precious individual rights and responsibilities were given by the Creator and not by some government.  We had to be taught.  In order to change the outcomes we need to do the hard work of mentoring an entire electorate.  That job in Philadelphia will be long and hard.  And if we want to elect quality people no matter what their personality quirks that’s what we are going to have to do.

Next year we have elections for District Attorney, Controller and Judges and we need quality candidates for all of them.   We also need to build on the work done this year by Annie Havey and elect Minority Inspectors in every division in the city.  In addition, we need to begin identifying candidates for future elections.  Waiting until the year of the election to choose candidates is never going to work. 

And, while we are doing all those things, we need to begin an education process that teaches the principles we understand and are sorely lacking in the majority of the electorate.  We have our work cut out for us, and we can do it.  We need to start now when the noise of an election is just a memory.  We need to be ready to respond to every falsehood we see or hear in the Philadelphia media.  Eventually our message will get through, the truth always does.
  

Sincerely,

 

Rick Hellberg

Chairman, Republican City Committee

James Bond Three Stooges Connection

The Three Stooges movie opens April 13. It’s set in contemporaneous times with impersonators for Larry, Moe and Curly.
“Skyfall” — the next Bond film — is scheduled to open in October.

Is there a connection between the silly Stooges and the suave British super spy? Why, yes, of course.

The Stooges creator and original manager was Ted Healy who was beaten to death by three men outside a Los Angeles night club in 1937. The assailants were reputedly the actor Wallace Beery, Albert “Cubby”  Broccoli and Broccoli’s cousin Pat DiCicco.

Broccoli would go on to produce the first 16 Bond films and consult on GoldenEye before his death in 1996. His daughter Barbara has been producer of the Bond films starting with GoldenEye.

There is a Philadelphia connection as well. Stooge Larry Fine was a Philadelphian as was, well, James Bond.

At least the ornithologist whose name Ian Fleming used for his fictional character.
James Bond Three Stooges Connection

James Bond Three Stooges Connection