Standing Up To Trump

Alvin Holsey, the Naval Admiral at the top of the command chain involved in attacking the supposed smuggler boats off Venezuela, has resigned his post. He supposedly said “I cannot, in good conscience, authorize or execute orders that risk innocent lives and compromise the principles I swore to uphold.”

Hegseth has responded by moving the assignment from the Navy to the Marines.

Meanwhile, back here in Allentown, hundreds of people lined Cedar Crest Blvd. for the No Kings Day protest. Ryan Mackenzie's office has become ground zero for locals expressing themselves against the Trump administration. I believe that others from different segments across the government will start coming forward in resignation and protest. Hegseth and the administration only has so many fingers to plug the leaks.

I'm not here to be polite

Trump In Israel

Trump's efforts were certainly appreciated by a large segment of Israel's population, I hope enough of a majority to put Netanyahu out to pasture, but that remains to be seen.

It is disappointing, but not surprising, to see Israel and Hamas at odds again right away. Israel is slowing aid, wanting more bodies back, and Hamas is executing their competition for power in the enclave.

Although Trump rightly gets credit for the return of the living hostages, the EU's recognition of Palestine will have a greater impact on the future. While a two-state solution isn't in the near future, the Palestinians may end up with more autonomy. Unfortunately, the domicide in Gaza will take decades to rebuild.

I'm not here to be polite

Park Barn Gets Groomed

Students of this blog know that I have been on the park department's case about the barn at the park department office. They allowed vines to cover three sides, up to the gutters and beyond. Recently, I reported that some shingles were starting to fall off.

Last Thursday and Friday, that structure got a new roof, and the vines were cut at the foundation. The roofers pulled the vines off the gutters and roof edges. While I'm relieved to see the new roof, it would have been better workmanship had the city removed the vines earlier in the summer.

Pulling the vines back revealed that the top of the barn brick is fluted, a nice architectural feature hidden by the previous neglect. I'm hoping that after the vines die back, they will be removed. I'm hoping that they won't be allowed to grow back.  

I'm not here to be polite

Culture And Establishment Ties That Bind

 In a recent Facebook post, The Allentown Parknership said....Allentown park fact: The Arts Park connects the Allentown Art Museum, Baum School of Art and Symphony Hall along the Arts Walk. The pocket park is an oasis of green space downtown for nearby residents, visitors and office workers alike. Well actually, not for much longer.

Allentown NIZ Czar J.B. Reilly is moving the art museum up to his own new arts district at 10th and Hamilton. This move will nullify the 5th Street area as the art district. The board of Baum School has said nothing. Our blue bloods go along to get along. The museum, the Baum School, and Trexler Trust are inter-related.

 I expect the current museum to become a charter school or home to a non-profit. If they really cared about art in the city they would stay there on 5th, and purchase and preserve the post office, an art deco masterpiece.

I'm not here to be polite

Theater On Hamilton Street

In the screen grab above,  Matt Tuerk and Pat Browne are unveiling a replica of a statue that was in the former, long gone Rialto Theater, to enhance Reilly's new theater/art district. Browne designed the NIZ for Reilly, and there has been no constraints on the use of our tax dollars to create and expand it. 

I've been the critic since before the first building appeared. As a blogger, the displaced former merchants turned to me in desperation. They were being bullied out their lives, for Reilly's sake. While this blog has documented many of the transgressions, the damage continues. The former Allentown arts district has been compromised to enhance another Reilly position.

I'm purposefully using Sylvester Stallone's movie ad with the picture of the sculpture. Stallone is not really a tough guy, and the theater we built for Reilly really isn't an arts district.

 I'm not here to be polite

ADDENDUM:Although I penned this early Sunday morning, the new blog on the block also posted on the statue Sunday evening. This will happen in Dodge with multiple blogs...It's for the good!

Gift For Mackenzie

The Morning Call bestowed a gift upon Ryan Mackenzie...The headline stated that Mackenzie DID NOT kick illegal immigrants off of Medicaid. The article goes on to explain that illegals don't get Medicaid in the first place. 

The key words in this post are goes on to explain. Most people don't go on, they don't get pass the headline. The Democratic war cry against the Republicans, including Mackenzie, is that the Big Beautiful Bill will cut Medicaid to millions of people. I honestly don't know the ramificatins of the bill, but neither does the public, or most of the legislators who voted for or against it. What matters more for the upcoming elections is the headlines!

In this era of reduced newspaper reading, those digitial headlines are one of the coins of the realm. The other big currency is the mailings. Each election the mailers become more prolific and more deceptive.

I'm not here to be polite