A Bastard Blogger At Christmas

Last Wednesday's council meeting wasn't nearly as crowded as it appeared, considering that council and the mayor were finally going toe to toe.  One side of the chamber was half full with city employees, there by Pawlowski mandate.  I saw both  the park director and her foreman.  Pawlowski was giving a long soliloquy on how the budget cuts would affect each department, and the department heads were summoned for dramatic effect.  The other side of the chamber, populated by the citizenry, was about one third full.

However, if you wanted to find citizens,  you need only driven toward Lehigh Parkway Saturday night.  There, for Lights In The Parkway, the line of cars extended all along Parkway East, over Schreibers Bridge, and down Martin Luther King Drive.  When I drive through the park I see the neglected WPA structures.  I see the view and access to the creek obscured by Wildlands Conservancy Weeds. I see neglect, misappropriation, and undue outside influence.

It would be nice to only concern myself with twinkling colored lights.  Perhaps they have a pill for that.

Allentown's Runaway Monster

Allentown City Council created the monster that they are now trying to reign in.  They turned the mayor into this rebellious creature, by granting his each and every wish for eleven years.  Although that will not be the defense used by the attorney he hires to defend his budget,  it could be.  The attorney could claim that council itself conditioned the mayor to think that he was entitled to create every position he desired, and fund it to the extent that he wished.  Council for three consecutive terms never voted no against his requests.  The longest sitting member,  Julio Guridy, never had to learn  how to say "no" in English. *  Pawlowski was so strong that he actually decided who should cast his yes votes, and stacked the council to his will.  He likewise stacked every authority in Allentown with board members assigned to approve his greater agenda.

Credit the FBI for finally subduing the monster.  It was certainly something that the voters weren't up to.   It is ironic and painful that the citizens must pay for both Pawlowski's and Council's legal costs to defend their relative budgets.  However,  call it the price to pay for those eleven years of indiffernce.  As to which case will prevail,  I don't think that the taxpayers will win either way.

* please pardon my culturally insensitive little joke

News In The Lehigh Valley

One of the new terms from this election, among many, is fake news.  With so many people now getting their news and information from scrolling on a  mobile device, often a headline is what people have come to believe.  Broadcast journalism no longer really exists.  Who believes that Fox is fair and balanced? Who doesn't see the objective of MSNBC?  In our era, trying to get close to the truth is laborious and time consuming.  You have to check multiple sources, and try to distill common denominators in a story.

Here in the valley, I think that we're still pretty lucky in the news department.  It's true that we lost one of the three papers, and the other two are skeletons of their previous self.  And of course, there's certain topics which have no credibility in reporting, such as the NIZ in Allentown.  J.B. Reilly literally now owns the Morning Call building.   The fox owns the henhouse.  Although the paper would claim that there are firewalls, they have always been very thin at 6th and Linden.  That topic aside,  they are pretty good reporting the saga at City Hall,  and being forthright about crime.

WFMZ also does a good job.  Although their medium restricts them to sound bites and short segments for the tube,  their websites produces detailed stories, written by former reporters for both the Morning Call and Express Times.  How many people actually read those reports is another story.

Here in the blogosphere, you have Bernie O'Hare, who relentlessly hunts the stories. Although he has some prized politicians,  he takes his role very seriously, and includes disclosures. Then, of course there is another blogger, who writes less, and likes nobody.

ADDENDUM: The national venues,  such as Huffington Post and MSNBC,  with Trump having lost the popular vote,  are reinforced with their agenda news spin. (Same for Conservative venues, with Trump winning the election.)  Yesterday,  Rachel Maddow and MSNBC, vowed to keep the pressure on the new administration. Of course that means continue with the aspersions and inneuendos popular with their audience.  Entertainment business as usual, masquerading as news.

Trump's Brilliant Cabinet

During the campaign nothing about Trump really impressed me.  Now, that he has been elected,  I'm impressed with his cabinet formation.  While his opposers are complaining about appointing the rich, fat cat capitalists, after he swore to drain the swamp, he indeed is doing as he pledged.  These people are not being picked for their skin color or gender.  They are not being picked because they need a paycheck or career.  Each will actually sacrifice economically to serve.

What is prompting this post, at this time, is Trump reportedly has picked Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, along with John Bolton as his deputy.  Tillerson, a $25 million a year CEO of Exxon Oil, didn't need a job or prestige. He doesn't need to be Secretary of State to help Exxon, as American Voice of Reason, claim in the facebook notice shown above.  When Trump ran he pledged to bring the best people into our government, and he seems to be doing just that.

Defending Tony The Tiger Against Breitbart

I have been defending Steve Bannon from association with white supremacy and anti-semitism. I also defend Breitbart News, from such accusations. However, I must now defend Kellogg's from Breitbart's boycott campaign against the cereal company. Kellogg's pulled their advertising from Breitbart's because of perceptions referenced above. Breitbart in turn started the boycott in response. There is no obligation for a company to advertise with a media outlet, and there should be no penalty for ending the relationship, regardless of the reason. I can only think that this tactic will hurt Breitbart more in the long term. Monetizing web sites is no easy matter.  Kellogg's undoubtedly advertised with Breitbart because of their growing readership. Although, they decided to end the relationship for political reasons,  that is their prerogative.  Breitbart's niche is being conservative in a mostly liberal field.  Perhaps the only other site of their size is Drudge Report.  I think that Breitbart should have a firewall between their editorial position and their advertising department.  To end up being boycotted after spending your advertising dollars doesn't seem a worthwhile dollar placement.  I  suspect that other potential advertisers will take notice.

The Coptic Church Of Alexandria

The Church and Theology School in Alexandria was established by the Apostle Mark in 60AD. Most of the early converts were common Egyptians who spoke Coptic. Although Christians became the majority before the Arab invasion in 636, by the 12th century they were the minority. The concept of monasteries in Christianity was started by the Coptics in the deserts of Egypt. Currently, the Coptics are threatened by transitions in Egypt, let us pray for their safety.

photograph of St. Marks Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt.

reprinted from January 2011

A Legacy Of Capitualation

While Obama embodied everything that liberal America could want in a president, he capitulated us away on the world stage. His line in the sand in Syria was only one of many feats of weakness. Probably, his greatest victim was Israel, which saw him embolden Iran.

While I'm alienating my liberal friends, let me go further. His current decision to stop the Dakota pipeline is yet another plea for lasting popularity with his base. Understand, that the pipeline is not on the reservation. Understand, that while it is near the tip an area that juts out from the main part of the reservation, it is far away from that main area. Understand, that only the portion that goes under the river reservoir is incomplete, and it must go under it somewhere, to be completed. I understand that while the image of Indians, activists and veterans has created a noble notion, the stoppage impacts our energy and commerce. It is my hunch that if Hillary won the election, Obama may not have acted against the pipeline. I believe that he sees the issue as a final poke in the eye to those fascists who have conspired against his noble causes.

Showdown At City Council

Last night was quite a confrontation between the mayor and city council. Those looking for more details can find excellent reports by Emily Opilo of the Morning Call, and Bernie O'Hare at Ramblings.

Alan Jennings was the only person from the public who spoke on Pawlowski's behalf. He claimed that the budget cuts are being inflicted on Pawlowski as punishment for the criminal investigation, and because of those cuts employees are leaving, and morale is low. Of course, in truth, people are leaving and morale is low because six underlings have already pleaded guilty to criminal acts on Pawlowski's behalf, and others are not anxious to fall on the same sword.

Although council defunded the Managing Director position, Pawlowski has created three other positions in his executive suite since he first assumed office. Although council defunded the Community Development Director and Operations Manager, there still exists subordinate positions which operate the nuts and bolts of the city's operation.

Pawlowski read into the record a long filibuster about how the cuts would effect each department and it's activities. In Parks and Recreation, the department of which I'm most familiar, he cited the adverse effect it would have on the city pools and the WPA structures. His administration closed Fountain Park Pool years before any budget cuts. Cedar Beach Pool is now the subject of another investigation. Besides rebuilding the previously neglected wall in Lehigh Parkway which had collapsed, the city hasn't spend one dime on the WPA. They only repaired part of the wall because it was necessary to reopen the entrance road. Work done last summer on the Fountain Park WPA steps was paid for by the Trexler Trust, after a third party secured the grant.

When Pawlowski asked the city solicitor if council's actions last night were permissible under the charter, she declined to answer, claiming that she wasn't prepared for the question.* Pawlowski has threatened to go to court if council persisted with their budget plans, which they passed last night. However, it's unclear who would pay for that. Furthermore, I think that he might become preoccupied with his own probable court date.

*ADDENDUM: Last night I asked a council member about solicitor Susan Wild, who replied that she has provided them with excellent counsel.  My erroneous post yesterday implied otherwise.