News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
See the face of God William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 8-10-23
Xli aec sj jsvxyri mw pmoi xli qmpocaec mr xli woc; almgl mw e ryqfiv sj wqepp wxevw, rsx wiir ewyrhiv, fyx kmzmrk pmklx xskixliv: ws mx mw e ryqfiv sj pmxxpi erh wgevgi hmwgivrih zmvxyiw, sv vexliv jegypxmiw erh gywxsqw, xlex qeoi qir jsvxyrexi.
Jvergmw Fegsr
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: To love another person is to see the face of God.
Victor Hugo
Canterbury Tales And The Constitution — Most know of, or should, Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote The Canterbury Tales, which is usually considered the start of literature in the English language.
He was born in 1340 which would have been near the end of the High Middle Ages, and lived until 1400 in the Late Middle Ages.
He was a boy when the Black Plague killed half the world’s population and served in the 100 Year War being taken prisoner by the French.
Chaucer and his wife, Philippa Roet, had four sons including Thomas who became speaker of the House of Commons. He married Matilda Burghersh.
Their only child was Alice.
Alice’s first two husbands died in the 100 Year War — it was a 100 year war, after all, so for granddad and grandsons-in-law could all participate– and she ended up marrying William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
De la Pole’s court intrigues and adventures would make him a major character in William Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays.
The de la Pole line would play a big role on the Yorkist side in the War of the Roses which started in 1455.
When that ended, the family found itself at odds with the House of Tudor compromise. They were generally beheaded, killed in battle or imprisoned for life.
Except for Richard, Geoffrey’s great-great grandson, who managed to flee to France.
While he never married he had a daughter, Marguerite, via his mistress Marie.
Marguerite descendants would include Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu. He is known as the political philosopher Montesquieu.
Montesquieu said there were three primary forms of governments each supported by a social principle. Monarchies are free governments headed by a hereditary figure, and which rely on the principle of honor. Republics are free governments headed by popularly elected leaders and rely on the principle of virtue. Despotisms are the third. They are unfree and headed by despots who rely on fear.
Montesquieu wrote The Spirit of Law in 1748. He said that a government should be created so that no man need be afraid of another. He advocated a separation of powers between the executive, judicial and legislative to stop despots.
From that comes the separation of powers in the United States Constitution.
Political scientist Donald Lutz notes that Montesquieu was cited more than any other source but for the Bible by the American founders in pre-revolutionary British America
And that is Canterbury Tales and the Constitution.
Once you label me you negate me William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 8-9-23
Wr oryh dqrwkhu shuvrq lv wr vhh wkh idfh ri Jrg.
Ylfwru Kxjr
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: Once you label me you negate me.
Soren Kierkegaard
Fitch US Debt Downgrade To AA+ Is Generous
Rating agency Fitch, Aug. 1, dropped the U.S. government’s long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+. Fitch said the downgrade “reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next two or three years, a high and growing general government debt burden, and the erosion of governance.” The surprise is that, in light of Fitch’s concern about how the Biden administration manages the federal government, the rating agency didn’t downgrade further. Save for the detrimental effect a further downgrade would have on the markets, a bigger lowering is justified.
“There has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters,” the agency said. “The repeated debt limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management.”
U.S. debt has surpassed $31 trillion and is expected to reach $52 trillion in 2033. Rising interest rates, as the Fed attempts to cool down inflation, have fueled Fitch’s concerns about the overall debt burden. The prediction of the Congressional Budget Office that the ratio of federal debt-to-GDP would nearly double from 98 percent in 2023 to 181 percent in 2053 is a nightmarish worry.
In an alternative but more troubling scenario drafted by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the debt-to-GDP ratio could soar even higher, hitting 222 percent of GDP by 2053. In the past 17 months, the Federal Reserve has hikedits overnight bank lending rate 11 times. More increases are certain. Analysts predict the obvious — that the U.S. is on a course of “drowning in debt.”
When Fitch refers to “the erosion of governance” — meaning bad governance — surely those who pass judgment on the U.S. debt must have in their minds the wild, imprudent spending spree that the Biden administration immediately embarked on. A sampling: the “American Rescue Plan,” a $1.9 trillion bill disguised as a COVID-19 relief package; second, the “American Jobs Plan” at $2.3 trillion, falsely advertised as legislation that would upgrade the nation’s infrastructure, and third, the “American Families Plan,” $1.8 trillion in spending that’s vaguely defined as a bill to expand access to education, reduce the cost of child care and support women in the workforce. In total, the Biden administration has laid out $6 trillion that it doesn’t have for bills with questionable purposes that will produce dubious results, if any.
Also raising eyebrows over at Fitch regarding sound governance must be the White House’s determination to support Ukraine in its endless war against Russia. Ukraine is now the top recipient of U.S. foreign aid, and the White House has poured more than $75 billion into a corrupt country’s coffers without any accountability for how the funds have been disbursed. The consensus opinion is that the war has no end in sight and may drag into 2025, thereby sucking up more U.S. taxpayer money.
Fitch must also interpret the unprecedented Southwest border invasion as poor governance. The arriving migrants are mostly poor, undereducated and therefore likely to become government assistance-dependent. Estimated at more than 5.5 million since Biden’s inauguration, the migrants’ presence has disrupted major cities, including New York City and Chicago, as well as many Texas border communities. Because the migrant crisis is so severe and far-reaching, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy (D) has asked Bay State residents to house Haitian and Central American illegal aliens. The invasion costs taxpayers billions of dollars, and the costs are mounting. Since no one truly knows the migrants’ backgrounds and intentions, or what their total number may eventually reach, Fitch analysts must view the open border with skepticism, another example of misguided governance.
Finally, looking ahead to 2024, Fitch must look askance at the prospect of either former President Donald Trump, who will be 78 on Election Day, or Biden, who then will be 82, in the White House. Whoever wins, four more years of divided government is assured.
Looking at the whole disheartening picture, Fitch’s AA+ grade is generous. The piling of more debt onto the mountain of existing debt, the unnecessary and expensive entanglement in a foreign war that has no bearing on the U.S., an open border — an obvious national security threat — that’s given entry to known terroristsand enabled drug and human trafficking, and a contentious federal government at least until 2028 are all huge waving red flags. The agency’s declaration that the outlook for the U.S. is “stable” is highly doubtful.
Fitch US Debt Downgrade To AA+ Is Generous
Special Election 7 For 2023
By Bob Small
In what will be the seventh special legislative election in Pennsylvania this year, the new state representative in the historically Democratic 21st District will be decided on Sept. 19.
Sara Innamorato resigned her House seat to prepare for her run against the GOP candidate, Joe Rockey, for the newly-created position of Allegheny County executive.
Lindsay Powell is the chosen candidate of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee to replace her. She is the director of workforce strategy at InnovatePGH and is a member of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.
She would be the first African-American female to represent the 21st.
Erin Connolly Autenreith is the GOP nominee. She is a realtor who chairs the Shaler Township Republican Committee.
Her father, Thomas Connolly, was the Mayor of McKees Rocks (1982-86), and her mother, Olga, was on the Mckees Rocks Council for 30 years.
@qburgh • Allegheny County Republicans chose Erin Connolly Autenreith
Ms. Autenreith’s social media accounts indicate her participation in the January 6th demonstration, according to this claim, and other “extreme positions”.
GOP picks nominee for special election to replace Innamorato in 21st …
Ms. Autenreith says that certain issues, such as abortion, be decided through a referendum. She spoke against political polarization.
The 21st District includes parts of Pittsburgh as well as the adjacent suburbs of Etna, Millvale, Reserve and Shaler.
There has never been a GOP representative for the 21st District. Frank J. Pistella, a Democrat, served the longest, for 27 years from 1979 through 2006, and Dom Costa served for a decade, from 2009 to 2019.
An argument could be made for term limits, given all of this.
Little minds still be little William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 8-8-23
Srgi csy pefip qi csy rikexi qi.
Wsvir Omivoikeevh
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: Little minds still be little, even when they are made professors.
John Quigg
More Signs Of Decline In Delco — Here are some more signs of decline in Delaware County, Pa. The below images are from SEPTA’s Route 101 Springfield Road trolley stop in Springfield taken this morning, Aug. 7.
Three days earlier we found blatant neglect at the Morton Homestead in Prospect Park.
From Wikipedia regarding Broken Windows Theory:
Under the impression that a broken window left unfixed leads to more serious problems, residents begin to change the way they see their community. In an attempt to stay safe, a cohesive community starts to fall apart, as individuals start to spend less time in communal space to avoid potential violent attacks by strangers.[1] The slow deterioration of a community, as a result of broken windows, modifies the way people behave when it comes to their communal space, which, in turn, breaks down community control. As rowdy teenagers, panhandlers, addicts, and prostitutes slowly make their way into a community, it signifies that the community cannot assert informal social control, and citizens become afraid that worse things will happen. As a result, they spend less time in the streets to avoid these subjects and feel less and less connected from their community, if the problems persist.
More Signs Of Decline In Delco
Actor Charles Durning Had 3 Purple Hearts
By Joe Guzzardi
Charles Durning, WWII
Charles Durning’s D-Day memories were so painful that for decades he suppressed them. Drafted at age 20, Durning eventually earned a Silver Star for valor, a Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone, and three Purple Hearts, given in the president’s name to those wounded or killed in military service. Just out of high school, which he didn’t complete until the war ended, Durning was the only survivor in a unit that landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.
Durning’s World War II experiences are unfathomable, and his actions in defense of his fellow soldiers, selfless and heroic. During the Normandy battle, Durning killed seven German gunners, but suffered serious machine gun wounds to his right leg and shrapnel wounds throughout his body.
After a six-month recovery in England, Durning was rushed back to the front lines to fight against the German Ardennes offensive. During the Battle of the Bulge, Durning suffered more wounds, this time in hand-to-hand bayonet combat when he was stabbed eight times. Despite the vicious assault, Durning summoned up the strength to kill his attacker with a rock which earned him a second Purple Heart. Soon after, his company was captured and forced to march through the Malmedy Forest; in the ensuing “Malmedy massacre,” German troops opened fire on the prisoners, and Durning was among the few who escaped.
Durning would earn his third Purple Heart when, in March 1945, he moved into Germany with the 398th Infantry Regiment, where he was severely wounded when a bullet struck him in the chest. Private First Class Durning was evacuated to the U.S. to spend the remainder of his active Army career recovering until he was discharged in January 1946.
Born in 1923, Durning grew up in Highland Falls, N.Y., near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His father, James, an Irish immigrant who had joined the Army to gain U.S. citizenship, lost a leg during World War I and died when Charles was 12. James’ widow Louise supported her five children by working as a laundress at West Point. Four other children died from scarlet fever.
After the war, Durning used dance as physical therapy to strengthen his badly injured leg and speech therapy to smooth out a stutter that had developed. He began training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was told he lacked talent. Undeterred, he took small roles with Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Company and taught ballroom dancing at the Fred Astaire studio.
Eventually, Durning achieved his lifelong goal when he landed parts in television and the movies. His most memorable silver screen appearances among his 200 films include The Sting, 1973; Dog Day Afternoon, 1975, and Tootsie, 1982. His significant honors include numerous Academy, Emmy and Tony Award nominations.
Charles Durning with Dustin Hoffman in ‘Tootsie.’
Reluctant to visit the site where so many of his comrades lay, Durning returned to Normandy only once after the war ended. Looking back during a 1994 Memorial Day service to recognize the invasion’s 50th anniversary, Durning noted remorsefully that the U.S. had engaged in at least five wars since World War II — Korea, Desert Storm, Panama, Grenada and Vietnam. He said that each war is pertinent to only the individual who was there.
“I don’t know what they went through; they don’t know what I went through,” said Durning. “Each person fights his own war. Each person is on a one-to-one basis with whoever’s opposite him.” Durning added: “That war changed history as we knew it. It was the greatest armada that ever hit any country, anywhere, anytime in the history of mankind. No one will ever see anything that enormous again.” World War II was, Durning said, the last war that had a well-defined purpose.
In January 2008, Durning was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and his star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame adjacent to the actor he most admired, Jimmy Cagney. Durning died of natural causes at his Manhattan home on Christmas Eve December 24, 2012, aged 89. Two days later, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights in his honor. Durning is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the ultimate tribute to an American hero.
Contact Joe Guzzardi at guzzjoe@yahoo.com.
Actor Charles Durning Had 3 Purple Hearts
Honor Flight Philly Seeks Escorts For Vets — Honor Flight Philadelphia is seeking escorts for the 170 honored veterans on the final leg its Sept. 9 trip from Washington D.C.
First responders are especially welcome.
The escorts are asked to gather at 4 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center on I-95 a half mile north of the Delaware border.
The escort ends at Saints Simon and Jude Church, 8 Cavanaugh Court, West Chester Pike, 19382.
For information call 215-954-5634 or email bob@honorflightphiladelphia.org
Honor Flight is a national non-profit organization founded in 2005 to give veterans a day of honor in Washington D.C.
There is no cost to the veterans.
The Philadelphia hub was started in 2011 by then Springfield resident Andrew Schiavello.
Honor Flight Philly Seeks Escorts
