News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
William Lawrence Sr Bonus Omnibit 12-4-15
Ever hear of Franz Mesmer? He was the Austrian physician who in the 1700s became a pioneer in the practice of hypnotism. H “mesmerized” a number of his patients, which was frowned upon by his medical colleagues who considered him a fraud. He probably was.
Wolf spends. A study by Pennsylvania legislators released yesterday, Dec. 3, has revealed that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration spent $30.4 billion in state and federal money from July 1 through Oct. 31, despite the last budget authorization ending on June 30.
About $2.7 billion came from waivers, which is unspent money from prior budgets that a governor can request to use by notifying the House and Senate appropriations committees and then obtaining the funds from the Department of Treasury.
More than 77 percent of the administration requests did not disclose the actual dollar amount sought and is characterized as the “governor’s private surplus funds.”
Money that was disclosed included:
• $1,275 paid by the Department of Health to a catering company;
• $600,000 for subscriptions to publications for state agencies;
• $500,000 in membership dues for Wolf administration employees;
“During a budget impasse, spending should be kept to a bare minimum,” said State Rep. Russ Diamond (R-102). “We’ve done so in the legislature, out of respect to the people of this Commonwealth.”
Diamond noted that domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, other social service agencies, and schools were grasping at straws to make cutbacks, obtain expensive loans, and even contemplating closing their doors..
The Pennsylvania Legislature passed a $30.179 billion budget on June 30 which was vetoed by Wolf. The budget was a 3.6 increase over the previous year.
Wolf also has vetoed a stopgap budget that would have funded these schools and service agencies until other matters get resolved.
Wolf is insisting on a massive tax increase and is unwilling to compromise on issues which would slow the massive growth in the the state’s public spending such as pension reform and ending the prevailing wage mandate.
He is a selfish and short-sighted man.
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 12-4-15
Kodak invented the digital camera in 1975. They squelched it though fearing it would harm film sales.
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 12-3-15
In the NFL rule book is an offense called “a palpably unfair act” in which an illegal action an indisputably deprived a team of a score. It’s entirely up to the referees as to when such a vile thing occurs. The penalty has never been called in NFL.
Fixing football.
Jamil Smith has an article in the New Republic concerning the film Concussion scheduled to be released Christmas Day. He used it to reflect on the importance of football to America.
Concussion is based on the book based on the 2009 GQ expose Game Brain, which details the brain damage suffered by NFL players and how it has led to suicides and other early deaths.
Game Brain was inspired by a paper that pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu published in the journal Neurosurgery concerning Hall-of-Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster. Webster died on Sept. 24, 2002 of a heart attack at the age of 50. He was living in his truck and often confused, angry and deranged.
Omalu, who performed an autopsy on Webster’s brain, found the veteran of 16 years had “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” which is brought on by repetitive head trauma.
Other long-time veterans also died early including Eagles safety Andre Waters who committed suicide in 2006 at age 44. Omalu described Waters brain as that of an octogenarian Alzheimer’s patient.
Smith, however, like many of us, still can’t bring himself to hate the game although it has become pretty easy to hate those who profit from it at the professional AND college level.
“Abandoning football won’t fix the sport—Americans need it so that, one day, we might learn to see ourselves for who we truly are,” Smith says.
With a little less greed, we might be able to have our cake and eat it too.
Eagles great Chuck Bednarik died last March five weeks before his 90th birthday. While family members said he suffered dementia for which they blamed football, having it in one’s 80s is not the same as having it at 50 or 44.
Bednarik played 13 season with the Eagles retiring in 1962. Like Webster, he played center but he also played linebacker. He was called the last of the 60-minute men.
So let us consider some of the differences between Bednarik’s and Webster’s careers. Bednarik, who retired in 1962, played mostly a 12-game season. Webster, who started in 1974, played a 14-game season for his first four then played the rest with a 16-game schedule. That’s 25 percent more bangs to the head in games Webster got during his career, and don’t forget the bangs received during four more weeks of practices.
Cutting back to a 12-game schedule would sure save a lot of wear and tear on players. Of course, that would wear and tear the profits as well so we can’t have that.
You don’t need to sacrifice profits, however, with a little imagination. Cut the season to eight regular season games then start a second eight-game season with different teams and players in January. Global warming is happening right? Have the champions of the different season play each other on July 4. The money would just roll in.
But that requires imagination and the willingness to think outside the box which is something clearly beyond Roger Goodell’s skill set.
How about ending the platoon system? This is something that Bednarik actually advocated. Bednarik weighed 233 pounds in his playing days. Webster weighed 255. Their opponents had the same proportional weight differences. A bigger mass and the same acceleration means more force. More force means more damage.
Centers today are now averaging 300 pounds.
Ending the platoon system would mean lighter players. A 300 pound man cannot effectively play 60 minutes of uninterrupted football.
Then there are of course drugs. Not the illegal ones like steroids but painkillers distributed by team doctors. Suppose a rule is passed that restricts all painkillers to be over-the-counter medicines used in accordance with the directions on the label? We strongly suspect that would mean more players sitting out when they should. Again, creating fewer tragedies and maybe saving football.
Two words: President Trump
This video describing how Argentina fell from one of the world’s strongest economies — the video actually lists it as second behind Britain — to its present miserable state in a century is an ill portent for America.
The reasons can be summed up as greed, cronyism, corruption and progressivism.
One critique. This is the song they should have picked:
Hat tip Judy McGrane
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 12-1-15
The last person to be tortured to death by official decree in England was David Tyrie on Aug. 24, 1782. A crowd estimated at 100,000 watched.
This was after the Battle of Yorktown but before the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolution.
And now you know why are Founders included that thing about cruel and unusual punishment in our establishing documents.
Islam called out big time here. We haven’t figured out a way of embedding the video so one will just have to go to the site.
We got it via email. Notice that it is not on Facebook or Youtube.
Whoever this guy is he certainly has a way with words. We stand in awe of how he uses them to take down Islam and the response to it by progressive types and other Western fashion.
Hat tip Judy McGrane
By Scott Wagner
Every now and then there comes a time when I must stand up for a friend who is being attacked because of someone’s political agenda.
I consider Senator Pat Toomey a friend and a colleague.
Senator Pat Toomey is being attacked by Katie McGinty, a candidate who is running for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate representing Pennsylvania.
Every day, I receive at least two emails from Katie McGinty’s campaign either attacking Pat Toomey or asking for a campaign contribution.
I know both Senator Toomey and Katie McGinty personally.
For six years I served on the board of a privately held company in South Central Pennsylvania – during my time on that board Katie McGinty was a colleague and served for two years.
In the two years she served on the board, she brought no value or ideas to assist the company in her board position.
Katie McGinty is the same person who, just last year, had an unsuccessful run for governor and was hired by Governor Tom Wolf to be his Chief of Staff.
I had many conversations with Katie during her tenure as Chief of Staff to Governor Wolf.
Katie McGinty is a climber – always looking for the next opportunity instead of taking ownership of what she’s already responsible for.
In addition to the less than impressive interactions I had with Katie in the private sector, Katie has a failed candidacy for governor under her belt, Tom Wolf then made a job for her as his Political Action Committee Chair on June 14, 2014 which she served briefly as until Tom Wolf once again gave her a job as his Chief of Staff on November 10, 2014, Katie McGinty then resigned from her position on July 22nd – 22 days after Governor Wolf vetoed a responsible budget sent to him by the House and Senate.
Click here for a link to an article on PennLive regarding her resignation –
http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/gov_wolfs_chief_of_staff_resig.html
It is my opinion that Katie McGinty is at least 1/3 responsible for the budget mess that we are in now and partially responsible for the budget veto.
As Governor Wolf’s Chief of Staff, Katie McGinty would have been the first person in line advising Governor Wolf to veto the budget sent to him on June 30, 2015.
Katie McGinty’s continued campaign attacks on Pat Toomey are without any merit.
Katie McGinty does not have a clue that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is waging an all out war on the coal industry which is effecting thousands of coal miners in Western Pennsylvania.
Effectively, the EPA has waged a war on industrial America.
Katie McGinty is attacking Pat Toomey – someone who has stood up for American citizens repeatedly during his time in office.
In the last two weeks, two people I know have received their health insurance renewal pricing for the 2016 year – the first person with a college age child is seeing their premium go from $720 to $1195 per month.
The second person is seeing their family coverage go from $1028 per month to $1750 per month.
Both people have opted to use high deductible insurance plans to keep their monthly premiums at a range that is affordable.
Millions of people are being negatively affected by Obamacare and their monthly health insurance premiums are sky rocketing.
Senator Pat Toomey voted against Obamacare.
What is even more disturbing to me is in the wake of the bombed Russian airliner and the ISIS attacks in France that claimed the lives of countless innocent victims, is how anyone in their right mind could have supported and endorsed the Iran Deal – yet Katie McGinty endorsed the Iran Deal on September 9, 2015.
Katie McGinty has been pounding the pavement attempting to gain every union endorsement she can receive.
In addition, in the last two weeks Katie McGinty has added raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour as another one of her campaign platforms.
I am sorry if this is perceived as a personal attack on Katie McGinty, but the public needs to know who the real Katie McGinty is – an extremely liberal candidate who failed in her candidacy for governor and does not deserve to serve as a United States Senator.
I am very concerned with the direction of our country – the last seven years of President Obama’s presidency has set America back 30 to 40 years.
In closing, I fully support Pat Toomey and, as my friend, I stand by him.
Pat Toomey is a United States Senator who cares deeply about America and Pennsylvania.
I will not and cannot stand by and watch a candidate who is uninformed and not qualified for the position of a United States Senator take shots at my friend.
I hope you will do the same.