The LuLac Edition #2068, May 28th, 2012

MEMORIAL DAY: More than fun and games. 

MEMORIAL DAY 

Our friend Wil Toole sent me an e mail last week about the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. I added a few things but you get the point. Another one of my regular posters Pete Cassidy has told me the same thing several times. But just to make it clear, so everyone understands………………………….. 

On Veteran's Day, we honor all who served and continue to serve. 

On Memorial Day we honor all who served and have gone to their reward. 

Let us not forget those that gave ALL. 

They supported The Commander-in Chief. 

Republican or Democrat, 

Liberal or Conservative. 

They shed their blood. 

They gave their lives. 

Like any patriot would. 

On any given day.

The LuLac Edition #2067, May 27th, 2012

The Golden Gate Bridge. 

GOLDEN GATE AT 75 

If you have ever stood on it, traveled on it, gazed at it from afar, unless you have no soul, one of the greatest memories of your lifetime will be seeing it. The Golden Gate Bridge. Today, in San Francisco a ceremony will commemorate the opening of that majestic span. The Golden Gate Bridge is an engineering marvel that is iconic in its stature in this country. Plus, its construction gave the west something the east coast had long owned: recognizable architectural monuments. The construction of the Golden Gate did that. Now 75 years old, the splendor is still there. The Bridge has become a symbol of what a country can do, when paired with business and government and hard work and determination of people wanting to work. It is a symbol of what happens when individuals undertake a project bigger than themselves. Here’s a report from AP:

The LuLac Edition #2066, May 26th, 2012

Scott Carpenter on the cover of Life with his wife in 1962 during the week of  his flight. 

SCOTT CARPENTER’S JOURNEY 

Two days ago, May 24th was the 50th anniversary of the flight of Aurora 7, the second orbital flight of the Mercy space program. Being second is never an enviable position to be in. Like Gus Grissom who followed Alan Shephard as the second American in space, Scott Carpenter following the first orbital flight by that American icon, John Glenn. This week there wasn’t a ot of coverage in the national news media of the event but that’s what comes along with being second. Carpenter however is remembered for some wild heroics on that flight. His capsule got off course and his recovery was a few hours in doubt. As a second grader who had seen the Glenn launch, the second one I heard about second hand because even though it was a big event, it was also a school day. Carpenmerr’s capsule landed 135 miles northeast of Puerto Rico. His mission was successfully regarded and this week Carpenter was honored by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation in New York City. Carpenter solved a mystery in space. When John  Glenn had made his flight, he saw some small objects that were floating around his capsule. He called them fireflies. Carpenter had the same phenomenon on his mission but later concluded the particles were actually small icicles dislodged from the capsule's exterior shell. The mystery baffled Glenn and NASA scientists. In 1965, Carpenter left NASA and became an aquanaut conquering the deep sea world. That project was called SEALAB II launched off the coast of La Jolla, Calif. On a leave of absence from NASA, Carpenter spent 30 days living and working on the ocean floor at a depth of more than 200 feet. Not straying from his NASA roots, he participated in a historical event by he speaking on the phone phone with astronauts Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad as they orbited overhead during their eight-day Gemini 5 mission. Carpenter is hailed by many to be the first person to conquer both outer and inner space. Now 87, Carpenter is happy to be remember. Both he and Glenn are the only two living astronauts from the original Mercury 7 project. His capsule, Aurora 7 is named after his Colorado roots and the street he grew up on in the Mountain state. While Carpenter might not have had the huge acclaim John Glenn got, he is remembered in his own unique way with his outer space and deep sea activities.

The LuLac Edition #2065, May 25th, 2012

"Maybe I'm Amazed" logo. 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the news cycle this week seems to be very quiet around these parts nowadays. It might be the pre summer doldrums, I can’t really say. While the cancer death of a Riverside High School Senior was indeed a tragedy, I was surprised when his story was the lead on two of the local TV stations the other night at 11 o’clock. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that a Blue Cross spokesman said there is a possibility that the health insurer might stick more than 50 million dollars into the Medical College in order for it to survive while trying to find a partner. It is safe to say that BCNEPA has a major commitment to this worthy endeavor. And that’s a good thing. But I have to wonder why the two major hospital organizations, Geisinger and Commonwealth are running away from TCMC like people running away from a fire. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED….. at the total number of unnecessary and unenlightening reality shows that populate the television landscape in the summer. Makes me want to read a book….or write another! 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that last weekend’s Fine Arts Fiesta had four straight days of beautiful, sunny weather. The Fiesta is known for storm clouds and showers and cold weather. But last weekend’s event was spectacular. The local weather people are most eager to take credit for the good weather but I have a sneaking suspicion that Al Groh, Murray Popky, Dr. Charlotte Lord, Donna Morgan and Howard “Howie” Federick had a little something to do with the fine weather somewhere from the great beyond. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that with all of the fuss made about MSG, the reality is that table salt contains 39% sodium while MSG contains 12%. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that my friend Ed Raineri is celebrating 100 episodes of “The Beatledd Hour” on WRKC FM, 88.5 tonight at 7pm. Raineri has made the weekly show an Internet, international sensation, broadcasting from Wilkes Barre, Pa. Many, many more. MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that some people on Facebook take pictures of their food. Really? It’s fast becoming more annoying than Farmville. I mean I can see if you were at Wolfgang Puck's or Smith & Wolenskys but please. Spare us. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the New Orleans Times Picayune, one of the oldest newspapers in the country (175 years) will be only publishing three times a week. The reason? Declining ad sales and revenue and the popularity of the Internet. This was the newspaper that vilified Huey Long in the 30s and won many, many Pulitzer Prizes. The decline of newspapers reminds me of the early 70s when some of the great magazines like Look, Life and the Saturday Evening Post went down due to TV. History seems to be repeating itself. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that in 1859, 24 rabbits were transported to Australia. Within 6 years, the population grew to 6 million. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that at a recent graduation ceremony from the Lyndon Johnson School of Public policy, invitations went out to students, alumni, donors and friends with the word “public” spelled wrong. (They left out the “l”). LBJ, a former school teacher and perfectionist with anything that had to do with his image must have been spinning in his grave. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that a farm once owned by Babe Ruth in Sudbury, Mass. which includes a farmhouse, and a two acre plot was selling for 1.65 million dollars. Equally amazing is the fact that Ruth only lived there from 1922 through 1926. 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that in Jefferson City, Missouri, the State House had to authorize money to buy a $1,000 security system to watch over a bust of Rush Limbaugh so that people would not vandalize it. Limbaugh was inducted into the Missouri Hall of Fame last week but the ceremony had to be private because protesters were going to well, protest. That Limbaugh, a real consensus building American there, don’t ya think? Maybe the people in Missouri got the bright idea from Mayor Tom and J.J. Murphy.

The LuLac Edition #2064, May 24th, 2012

The Vice President and chief campaigner, Joe Biden. 

WHAT BIDEN MEANS 

Vice President Joe Biden has been fighting the good fight against the Republican party. Even though the Vice President angered some Democrats by pushing the President into a declaration of his support for same sex marriages, Biden is going to be a potent weapon on the campaign trail. Biden would do well if he defended the Obama stimulus package and not run away from it like other Democrats have been the last three years. The stimulus did the following: 
1. Save jobs in the public sector that were going to be eliminated by the economic collapse. Teachers, police and firemen benefited from this.
2. The stimulus package enabled those unemployed to get a stipend for their health insurance premiums on Cobra. That was money put back into business. 
3. New construction projects like roads and other infrastructure projects that were stalled during the Bush administration because we were rebuilding roads and schools in Iraq while ours were going to hell. Without the stimulus, we’d be in worse shape than during the Great Depression. 

McCONNELL’S SILLINESS 

I heard Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell today on the TV and was incredulous with what he was saying. McConnell said that while Jimmy Carter was an incompetent President, Barack Obama was a dangerous one. Carter may have had his faults (one of which was acting like he was/is, a Christian.) If he were more ruthless and used his majorities in the House and Senate, he might have been more successful. But it was McConnell and the Republicans, who after day one decided that a black man was fine for one term but was never, ever going to get another. McConnell opposed the health care bill which means he and the GOP opposed waivers on pre existing conditions, an 80% cap on Insurance industry overhead as well as having youngsters without jobs being able to stay on their parents health plan. McConnell and the GOP also opposed the jobs bill and were willing participants in the debt ceiling debacle of last summer which caused our credit rating to plummet. So just who the hell is the most dangerous for America? McConnell and his spineless, gutless, solution less Republicans or President Obama? 

LAWTON’S LANDMINES 

Robert Lawton, the Luzerne County Manager told the County Council the other night something that they already know: the finances of the County are in a very precarious position. I mean what did you expect from a county that had 67 separate checking accounts? Lawton told the Council that cuts will be coming and that too, should not be a shocker to anyone. Here’s why: 
1. The pitiful tax increase did nothing to help build up a surplus for the beleaguered county. The tax crazies went out of their way to threaten to hang the people who wanted more of an increase. 
2. The previous budget directors under the Skrepenak/Vonderheid administration were running the office like a frat house. (And it kills me that some of them got rewarded with better jobs!) It was until Tom Pribula was hired that a grownup was actually in the room telling the truth about the budget. 
3. The previous administration tied the hands of any new manager by not having enough money to hire new department heads. I heard a leader say, “They could hire from within!” Yeah, that’ll solve everything. Lawton has to do two things. A budget is a 365/24/7 proposition. You have to watch it everyday or else it’ll get out of control. Then he has to do the following: 
1. Do an office by office audit to see what positions are truly necessary. 
2. Institute employee evaluations based on sound business performance metrics factoring in productivity, attendance, and professionalism. You know, like they do in the real world. 
3. Have administrators making over $65,000 grand take a 5% pay cut. That money can be reinvested in their offices if they have a good idea. 
4. Have the Courts, with the mandated salaries put a freeze on any new hiring. They are overstaffed to the gills already. 
5. Propose a new tax increase if the above doesn’t work. 
6. Say no to a few unions.  
7. Don't buy anything from Thom Greco.
Good luck Bob. 

THE BIRTHERS ARE BACK!!! 

The people who are saying the President is an alien are back. The other day, I saw one bloated jasper saying he didn’t believe that the Birth Certificates produced by the White House were real. A few facts: The President was born in Hawaii which is in the United States and was represented at the time by Senators Hiram Fong and Daniel Inouye. The lone representative was Patsy Mink. 
The Governor of the state was William F. Quinn. HE WAS A REPUBLICAN!!!!!!!! 
Plus an announcement was in the newspaper. How many of us were heralded in print when we came into the world? The more these people harp about this, the better it is for the President. Sometimes you’re enemies (and there are enemies that are pissed a black man is President!) can be your best blessings.

Keith Lombardi, President, Martin Guitars shows Matt Cartwright how it all comes together.

STRIKING A CHORD 

On Tuesday, Matt Cartwright, Democratic Congressional candidate for the newly formed 17th district, toured the C.F. Martin and Co. Guitar Factory in Nazareth, PA. C.F. Martin and Co. Guitar, established in 1833, is an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of acoustic guitars. “I am very excited about the chance to work with C.F. Martin and Co. Guitars in the future, the employees and more specifically their craftsmanship is outstanding,” said Cartwright. “The expertise put into each instrument takes a great deal of time. This facility is a jewel of the 17th District and I will work hard to keep family-owned business, such as Martin and Co., thriving,” Cartwright continued. The Upper Nazareth Township headquarters employs over 500 individuals and has added nearly 90 jobs in the last year and a half. Manufacturing over 50,000 instruments a year, the company has managed to survive the recent economic downturn, with an average employee tenure of 18 years. “Martin and Co. Guitars is an example of the type of quality product our hard-working men and women can manufacture. We must work hard to bring these good-paying jobs back to America,” said Cartwright. Matt Cartwright is the Democratic candidate running for Congress in the 17th Congressional District, which now includes parts of Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe and Northampton Counties, as well as all of Schuylkill County. Cartwright is running for Congress to bring jobs to Northeast Pennsylvania, and make sure that corporations and wealthy Americans pay their fair share of taxes.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

 

MEDIA MATTERS 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 

This weekend Shadoe Steele features as his guest Bertie Higgins who had the big hit “Key Largo". “Saturday Night Live at THE Oldies” can be heard every Saturday from 7pm to midnight on WILK AM & FM with ABC News on the top of the hour. 

ECTV 

ECTV Live hosts Tom Munley and David DeCosmo will welcome Ann Marie Banks to the program for the week of May 28th Ann Marie represents the Lackawanna County Federation of Sportsmen which will be holding it's annual Freen Children's Fishing Derby on June 2nd. She'll share the history and details of the event with ECTV Live viewers. The program is carried on Comcast Ch19 in the Greater Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. You can check the Electric City Program Schedule at http://sites.google.com/site/ectvschedule/ The station is also providing re-broadcasts of the annual Armed Forces Day Parade in Scranton! 

BEATLEDD HOUR 

The Beatleed Hour marks its 100th program Friday night on WRKC FM 88.5. Tune in. Ed Raineri is host. 

SUNDAY MAGAZINE 

This Weekend on Sunday Magazine..Brian Hughes speaks with financial analyst Sarah Reiger, who discusses the need for people to have Disability Insurance. This Week In Harrisburg examines the need for more state funding to help Pa. residents pay their mortgages, a bill providing legal protections for individuals acting in an emergency, the need for school districts to dip into their surplus accounts, and job growth in the Marcellus Shale region. Brian speaks with State Treasurer Rob McCord about the Pa 529 Savings Plan to help families pay for college. And audio from the Northeast Rainbow Alliance’s “It Gets Better” campaign to stop bullying and suicides of LGBT youth. Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5am on Great Country 93.7, 5:30am on 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X, 6:30am on Magic 93, and 7am on WARM 590 AM .

PCN

PCN TO HONOR VETERANS ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND The Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) will air selected interviews from its “Voices of Veterans” series in order to pay tribute to those men and women that have bravely served our country. Throughout the Memorial holiday weekend, the statewide network will feature candid interviews with veterans from across the state. The special programming will air Friday, May 25 beginning at 7:00 p.m. as well as Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27 at 2:00 p.m. On Memorial Day, May 28, the veteran programming block will start at 4:00 p.m. While the network’s award-winning series, “World War: In Their Own Words” concentrated on the personal wartime experiences of veterans serving during World War II, “Voices of Veterans” expands the oral histories to include those from World War II, Korean and Vietnam wars as well as those who served during the Cold War. Since 2002, PCN has gathered almost 300 interviews with veterans from all branches of service. For historic preservation and education use, the network has donated a majority of those veteran discussions to the National Veterans’ History Project in Washington, D.C.

Our "1967" logo. 

1967 

Yuri Andropov becomes KGB chief......The 25th Amendment is added to the Constitution of the United States....Naxalite Guerrilla War: Beginning with a peasant uprising in the town of Naxalbari, this Marxist/Maoist rebellion sputters on in the Indian countryside. The guerrillas operate among the impoverished peasants, fighting both the government security forces and private paramilitary groups funded by wealthy landowners. Most fighting takes place in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.........The Australian referendum, 1967 passes with an overwhelming 90% support, removing, from the Australian Constitution, 2 discriminatory sentences referring to Indigenous Australians. It signifies Australia's first step in recognising Indigenous rights. The Folk-Rock band Fairport Convention plays their first gig in London.Biafra, in eastern Nigeria, announces its independence. (Wikipedia)……..in Pennsylvania, Mayor James Tate crows over his victory over Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo. Old line Democrats got behind the Mayor but the coalition that brought him to office, engineered by Richardson Dilworth and Joseph Clark begins to show signs of erosion…..in Luzerne County a nail biter of an election turns even more contentious when GOP party challenger beats out Wilkes Barre Attorney Joseph Kasper. The margin: less than 30 votes and 45 years ago this week the number 1 song in America and LuLac land was by the Young Rascals. It would become the anthem for the summer of '67. (LuLac archives).

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The LuLac Edition #2063, May 23rd, 2012

Our "Write On Wednesday" logo. 

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

THE 1% AND US 

 Yesterday in the Citizen’s Voice, there was a letter to the editor that talked about the recent “mistake” made by the power brokers in the Stock Market. Ooops…..they lost 2 billion dollars. And you can bet those losses will not be absorbed by the fat cats in this country but by the working taxpayers who are just trying to get by. This is a very good letter. Take a look. 

Top one percent are sucking the life out of the United States 

Editor: When the Supreme Court decided the corporations are people then people became non-people.  America was supposed to be a democracy created to serve real people and no other reason. We were trying not be a kingdom where we were ruled by a king. Nor were we trying to be a feudalistic society where the peasant class (99 percent) was forever enslaved through bondage (debt) to the "Lord of the Manor" (1 percent). We are a country where all men (people) were created equal. Last week J. P. Morgan had $2 billion in trading losses. Chief Executive (Lord of the Manor) Jamie Dimon has been lobbying for less government regulation of Wall Street so that they can make more money through higher risk investments. However in 2008 when everything collapsed the banks came begging to the government for a bailout of trillions of dollars that we the people are supposed to be responsible for. They aren't taking the risk - the risk is transferred to us. That isn't fair. Why should we the people just hand the lord of the manor trillions of dollars that we have to pay back to them? I don't think so. Why should we deregulate them and have the people pick up their losses? The top one percent are sucking the life out of America. That's why we need to tax the rich to get our money back that they stole from us in 2008. These investors are not "job creators" they are turning into slave owners and our debt becomes the mechanism for instituting slavery. If the phrase "We the People" means anything to Americans then we need to rise up against our oppressors and tell them - we are the people - corporations are not people - and we are going to take America back from the rich and make them pay off the national debt that they created and tried to put on us. 
Marc Perkel 
Gilroy, Calif.

The LuLac Edition #2062, May 22nd, 2012

Medical College on life support?? Stay the course or pull the plug?

Medical College logo. 

 DATING GAME OVER 

The courtship of the Commonwealth Medical College and the University of Scranton has now ended. Yesterday afternoon a joint announcement by both parties was made and the gist of the missive was that “there will be no deal”. 
"After careful thought and thorough analysis assisted by national experts, we have decided to end affiliation discussions and commit ourselves to strengthening and expanding the various forms of collaboration that have marked our relationship since TCMC was founded," the two paragraph release stated. "While disappointed in this outcome, we move forward with mutual respect, having reinforced our connection through this process." The release was signed by Kevin P. Quinn, president of The University of Scranton and Dr. Lois Margaret Nora,the dean and interim president of The Commonwealth Medical College. (Times Leader)
With this news, there are many questions that will need to be answered. 
If not Scranton University, then who? 
Will the school still be accepting new students? 
What of their credentials as a Medical College? 
Will there be any more money forthcoming from the Blue Cross of NEPA surplus? 
If the latter is yes, what will the reaction be of the BCNEPA rate payers? 
And most importantly, can any long standing funding give the school to at least be on the way to survival mode? 
The Medical College was a good idea. It put Northeastern Pennsylvania on the map and gave students an opportunity to learn their craft from truly great professionals. However, like so many things in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the concept started out seriously flawed and under a cloud. It is a very bad idea to lure people from outside of the area with cash bonuses while you are trying to raise money as a start up. It is almost criminal to hand out bonuses of over $50,000 a year to Human Resource flunkies who push papers around all day and contribute nothing to the financial growth of the institution. Now with the specter of former Senator Robert Mellow’s upcoming sentencing, the main legislative power will not be around to help at the State level. With Penn State and other statewide institutions getting cut, how can the Corbett administration justify aiding the school? If this school dies, it will not be because of the work being done by staffers on board now, the commitment of its students and faculty and the largess of area companies (see BCNEPA) that contributed money in good faith. It will die because of the greed of those people who demanded the bonuses and the stupidity of the board for giving them the money. Years ago when I worked for the United Way,  I was told that in every bus station bathroom out of state there was a sign that said “Come to Northeastern Pennsylvania: they’re easy marks. Apparently, that sign extended to professional levels too. Take the rubes over the coals, they’ll be impressed by the out of town credentials. Hell, they’ll even pay bonuses! And in the end, we not only pay but look foolish doing it time and time again. We never, ever learn.