Morning Call Exposé On Incumbents

Yesterday, the Morning Call ran it's second exposé on incumbent spending. In the first report we learned that Julie Harhart was one of the biggest spenders in the State House. Yesterday's edition dealt with hiring outside consultants at even more expense to the taxpayers. As a blogger who values brevity, I have issue with the length of these multi-page series. Do voters who choose the same incumbents election after election really read 10,000 word articles? As a candidate and voter in the November election, I have a bigger problem with the absurd timing of the series. The first installment appeared two weeks after the election, but 23 months before the next one. The articles are too late to help the voters in the recent election, and too early to be meaningful for the next one.

Dead Artist Premium

This weekend I attended the show and auction of Greg Weaver artwork at the Penn State Campus in Center Valley. Although the show was very well done, I didn't stay long. Although the bidding was high, none of the money will benefit Greg or his wife, who have both passed away. Greg and I were friends in the 70's. He would frequent my photo shop, and I would enjoy his loft parties. Greg's loft moved from one low rent location to another over the years. It's fair to say that he made virtually nothing from the art that people were bidding against each other for this past Friday night. Those now benefiting from his mystique, an artist who went blind and continued producing art until he died young, hope to establish an alternative museum for local artists. I would like to see a permanent Weaver collection and designated room at the Allentown Art Museum.

Tribute To Greg Weaver

My short film, featuring Greg Weaver, was shown here for a limited engagement.

Prince William's Great Grandmother

Long before Prince William walked down the aisle in Westminister Abbey, his great grandmother, Princess Alice (Princess Andrew of Greece), walked there during the wedding of her son Phillip, to Princess Elizabeth. Princess(Alice) Andrew, later at the Coronation of Elizabeth, wore the habit of a nun. An extraordinary woman, she had founded a nurses order composed of nuns in Greece. She modeled the order after one started by her aunt and mentor in Russia, whom she had visited many years earlier. Born Princess Alice of Battenberg, she married Prince Andrew of Greece in 1903, assuming her new title.
During the Second World War, she hid a Jewish widow and her children in Athens, saving their lives. In accordance to her wish, she is buried in Jerusalem, next to her cherished aunt Duchess Fyodorovna, in the Russian Orthodox Church of Maria Magdalene.

reprinted from September 2013

Allentown's Urbanista Tower

Although J.B. Reilly has a lot of experience building apartments, so far he has hedged his bet twice on the yuppie apartments at 7th and Linden. First off, he partnered with Pennrose, who specializes in income restricted and grant subsidized living units. Secondly, he cut expenses by framing the upper floors out of wood. Will the new middle class office workers of the NIZ want to live at 7th and Linden? So far there is no smart private money going into urban residential units. With luck, we are still decades away from such a demand. Reilly is inducing commercial tenants with offers they cannot refuse. Expect to see the same offers to young selected singles for his apartments. Expect to see the Morning Call headlining the apartments.

My $Billion Dollar Meal

Regular readers of this blog know that it wouldn't be my style to write a restaurant review. I happen to eat at one of the NIZ's new eateries this past Friday and noticed that there certainly was no $Billion Dollar crowd on Hamilton Street, there was no crowd at all. The restaurant itself was fairly busy, but the loud band in the bar area overwhelmed any favorable impression of the place. Yesterday, the Morning Call ran a front page story on the first retail business induced to the NIZ, a printing franchise. Today's headline is that Shula's is moving from the Promenade in Center Valley to J.B. Reilly's newest building, at 7th and Linden. Buried in the article on page 4 we learn that Reilly offered very competitive rent. Another restauranteur induced out of retirement described that incentive as a deal that nobody could refuse. Despite the headline promo by the paper, the reality is that Shula's is moving from the most expensive private sector location in the valley to practically free rent, subsidized by the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.

photo credit:The Morning Call/Harry Fisher/December9,2014

For My Gun, Against The NRA

As a gun owner I'm an unequivocal supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Although that is a right which I defend, as an engaged citizen I appreciate living in a society of laws. There are rights and laws and we can all live within them. I do not blindly consider every regulation as a curtailment of my rights, or as a slippery slope which will erode them. I can exercise my rights in a responsible manner, without purposefully provoking those who feel differently about this issue.

Each November the NRA sends it's members a card telling them whom they should vote for in their district, to protect their 2nd Amendment rights. Although their member magazine often features hunting rifles, the organization must think of their members as sheep. As Americans we should guard our right to own firearms,  but never tolerate being told how to vote.

The Last Jews Of Egypt

There are only a few dozen Jews still living in Egypt, all in either Cairo or Alexandria. The number of remaining synagogues outnumbers the remainder of Jews. Many of these synagogues are magnificent structures, and to the credit of the Egyptian government, they are protected and some are being restored. Prior to 1948, well over 80,000 Jews lived in the two cities. The current Ben Ezra in Cairo dates from 1892. The site, once a Coptic Church, became a synagogue in 882.. Tradition marks this as the spot where the prophet Jeremiah gathered the Jews in the 6th century after Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Jerusalem temple. The adjacent spring is supposed to mark the place where the pharaohs daughter found Moses in the reeds, and where Mary drew water to wash Jesus. It was here that the famous Philosopher Maimonides studied. Last century a collection of ancient manuscripts was discovered in the compound.

reprinted from June 2013