Coincidence or Harassment?

Yesterday afternoon, after my post about the Kid Rock flyby, I got quite a surprise. A loud whirling noise awoke me from my prescribed afternoon nap. Outside my window, two large BlackHawk helicopters were circling my property, and one landed in my backyard. Before the soldiers got to my door, I photographed the copter still airborne.

I decided to open the door, rather than have them break it down. They grabbed my camera and took the film out. Unknown to them, I had also taken a photo with my cellphone. I called my congressman, Ryan Mackenzie, to complain, but nobody from his office returned my message.

I also called the office of the Attorney General, but apparently Pam Bondi is having her own issues. When a small town pizza blogger gets harassed, who is safe?  I guess you are, commenting anonymously, but I'd rather...

ADDENDUM: Secretary of War Hegseth removed the Chief of Staff yesterday, General Randy George. Fortunately, at this time, we're not involved in any military operations, which could be compromised by such a change.

ADDENDUM 10:00AM: Today Hegseth changed a long standing policy, and servicemen will be able to carry personal weapons on military bases. He brayed that he was honoring their 2nd Amendment rights. I know that there are military police and guards who are armed.  If Hegseth has the institutional military knowledge to make such a major change, I sincerely doubt. One wonders if the timing indicated that General George wasn't on board with the plan.

photocredit:molovinsky/vicinityofPatrickAF/SpaceForceBase

Flyby For Kid Rock

Army helicopters gave Kid Rock a private airshow. The White House musical favorite posted pictures on social media, causing some pushback. The base commandeer (101st), disciplined the pilots, but Secretary of War Hegseth overruled the suspensions.

When you have politics mixing in with military discipline, what could go wrong. It's not like we're in a war, rather just some conflict that President Trump sees ending soon.

He's going to address the nation Wednesday evening (It is 5:00 PM Wednesday as I pen this). Hopefully the public won't be distracted by the first moon launch in 53 years, and save their attention for President Trump. He's mad at NATO because they haven't come to our defense, but that's because we weren't attacked.

ADDENDUM 9:20PM: A delusional speech by a blowhard. If you're a Republican incumbent, such as our Ryan Mackenzie, and you don't open your mouth now, happy trails to you.

Trumps On Trump

Yesterday, Eric Trump was presenting plans of the proposed library for his father. DeSantis was renaming the Palm Beach airport for Trump. The library would be the tallest building in Miami, perhaps 47 stories tall. I seriously doubt that Trump ever read 47 books.

While my economy cable package does not provide the American standards like CNN or Fox, I do get the European stations. Let's just say that there is nobody in the world envious of our leadership. Between the East Wing ballroom and the proposed Arc, the self admiration is unprecedented. If we weren't bombing Iran, and if gasoline wasn't over $4 a gallon, it might be more amusing, but as things stand, it is just pathological.

The narcissism is one thing, the war is another. Trump can change his mind three times a day, or fifteen times a week, but those suffering loses in Tehran will have long memories, generational memories. Trump didn't understand why he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize last year. I don't think he is going to get it next year either.

Lilly Of The Valley

 I had to snicker when I read about the new Rt. 78 exit to accommodate the coming Lilly Plant. I snickered again when the article mentioned Don Cunningham. If there was any institutional knowledge about the valley, these developments wouldn't be heralded as such positives.

If you want to see a crime against the valley, drive on Rt. 22 before dawn or close to sunset. Although PennDOT planned to widen 22 over a decade ago, former influential state senator Pat Browne had that plan put on hold, so that the funding could be redirected to benefit the Jaindl holdings west of Allentown. Lo and behold, on Saturday the Morning Call reported that Lilly chose the area because of the new planned entrance/exit ramp.

So, while thousands of people sit bumper to bumper, day in and day out, on a road designed in the 1950's through Allentown and Bethlehem, we are told by Donny Cunningham that we won the brass ring?

Allentown Bails Out Real Estate Speculator, Again

When the Allentown Park system purchased two distressed brown fields from Abe Atiyeh, this park advocate complained. I know both the parcels well. The land down by Basin and Union Streets had no market value in the real world. In an old industrial area, where no industry remains, it also has no residential appeal. The other parcel, the old fertilizer rendering plant, also in a flood plain, also had no market. When the price got low enough, speculator Abe Atiyeh purchased them. Who knew that Ed Pawlowski, who always put himself ahead of the city, would buy them to expand and connect the park system. In my informed opinion, they can't properly take care of the existing system.

Atiyeh also purchased the nearby former quarry parcel, which later functioned as a cement mixing plant. The Allentown School system is purchasing that parcel from Atiyeh for future expansion of the Union Terrace Elementary School. Last time I checked, the Atiyeh parcel was across Union Street, and behind and beyond the sports fields.

The Allentown School District is distressed, not only in the classrooms, but on the board and in the administration.

Taking One Too Many For The Family

The fight magazines described Abe Simon as the giant from New York. He and my mother were cousins, and that connection sparked my interest in the Joe Louis era of boxing. Abe wanted to go to college, he had a scholarship, but his mother wanted him to fight... that's how tough times were in the late 1930's. Abe won his first thirteen fights, even knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott. 

In the fight shown above, Simon went toe to toe with Louis for thirteen rounds. That toughness earned him another title shot at Madison Square Garden in 1942. The first overhead strobe ring photo was of that fight. Another interest of mine remains B&W photography, and that era of boxing produced some classic shots. Those interested in the Joe Louis era might enjoy my December 2012 archive, which contains many of my boxing posts.

That 1942 title fight with Louis was the last of 47 bouts for Abe, although he had good offers to continue boxing. He had small parts in several films, including On The Waterfront and Requiem For A Heavyweight. He worked as a referee and for a Long Island police department. In his last years, he worked in several capacities at the Roosevelt Racetrack.

Stalingrad In The Ward

The number of new apartments being built in the ward is pretty amazing. While most of the development is greatly benefitting from the NIZ, the building wedged between Immaculate Conception Cemetery and narrow Railroad St. is conventional financing. My snipey headline derives from the location and its current appearance, without the final facade finish. On a Facebook post last fall, some people were upset about its imposition on the cemetery, but that judgement is beyond my pay-grade. 

The Neuweiler apartment project is enormous. All totaled, there will be hundreds of new apartments in that area. While our politicians talk about affordable housing and the need for more units, I have some doubts about the effect on the city. The Hamilton NIZ failed to gentrify that district. Will the new tenants have more effect in the Ward?

Slow Steps To Beauty

It took a long time, but the main steps down to Rose Gardens look beautiful. I speculate that the holdup was the mason waiting for the black slate like tread material. While the steps both here at the garden and Union Terrace were stone, I find the new treads both attractive and more durable.

While I'm complimenting the park system, allow me to confess a previous bad call on my part. When the Parknership announced that their first project would be the basketball court at Stevens Park, I took exception to that plan. I thought that the court would be underused and/or attract a nuisance crowd. I be wrong...every time I go by it is being utilized as they envisioned.

My current wish list for the park system involves Lehigh Parkway. The steps and landings on the Double Stairwell need to be restored. The water seeping through the landings is undermining both sets of steps. The previous dam debris piled around the stone piers of the Robin Hood Bridge needs to be removed. The concrete pieces should be lifted away by hand, so as not to damage the piers. The stairwell and bridge are objects of beauty which would be unaffordable to build in today's dollars, but we can afford to maintain them.