Bob Smith For Allentown School Board

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm non-partisan, a registered independent, and very reluctant to make endorsements.  I have often encouraged people only to vote on those ballots on which they are informed, and pass over the other contests. In my opinion a few informed votes are much more meaningful than random picks.  As for straight party voting, I think that it should be very much discouraged.  

With all the above said and out of the way,  the purpose of this post is to inform you about Bob Smith, with the hope that he will gain your vote. I've known Bob for twenty-five years, and you would be hard pressed to fine someone more dedicated and sincere.  Years ago Bob was seriously injured saving the life of a suicidal nursing home patient, who pulled them both over the edge of a roof.

Bob was on the school board previously, and is again making his experience available to the taxpayers. We who pay Allentown school taxes could find no better friend than Bob Smith. Nobody is more familiar with the structure and needs of the school system. 

I'm grateful that he is again making himself available to serve our students.

Ce-Ce Praises Philly Pro-Crime Policy

Philly's newest pro-crime policy is not to stop cars for minor violations.  The rationale is that the stops disproportionately affect people of color.  Never mind that large sections of Philadelphia are predominantly Black.  Allentown's own Defunder, Ce-Ce Gerlach, praises the new policy.

Several years ago they decided not to arrest people for shoplifting, until the merchants finally protested loudly enough.  Over the weekend a woman was raped on a subway, with no fellow passenger even calling for help.  Philadelphia appears out of control.

Years ago, when Ce-Ce first expressed interest in Allentown government, this blog supported her.  At the time I published  numerous posts on her behalf.  A few years ago my independence was misconstrued as a lack of loyalty.  While some might consider that a character flaw,  support for public officials has to be reevaluated when their policies change.

Promise And Promotion In Allentown

While the Morning Call promises us the news in its promotions, it mostly promotes Promise Neighborhood and other woke distractions from our grim reality. While the shooting  at the Lancaster Mall still didn't make the Morning Call by Monday morning, the weekend paper was full with an essay on Hasshan Batts' Promise Neighborhood,  marching against the shootings in Allentown last week.

My issue with the Hasshan Battses of Allentown is not only the distraction from what I call the grim news of Allentown's reality, but also the effort to divert precious public safety funds from actual law enforcement.  While Batts' employee Cynthia Mota  and other distractors actually sit on council, so far the mayor's office realizes that our survival lies with the police department. Nevertheless, those seeking office must pay homage to Batts and other opportunists in the new violence industry.  It doesn't help that the paper and their cub reporters drink the woke kool-aid which will eventually be our demise.

While our aspiring politicians must appease the defunders to harvest enough votes to win, and our paper also wrongly wallows in that mentality, this blog understands that our future relies on the Blue.

Shootings In Allentown

Over the weekend there was another shooting in Allentown. Funny thing about these shootings, in most of the cases, nobody knows nothing. Nobody hears, sees or says anything to help the police solve these crimes. However, let someone get pushed down by a police officer, then we have videos and testimony against police brutality.

The recent shooting was on 4th Street, but don't expect to see any advocacy groups protesting the violence, or the public's lack of cooperation.

molovinsky on allentown is published weekdays Monday thru Friday.  You will find a perspective and candor here not found anywhere else in the valley. Comments are accepted using your name or by establishing a pseudonym. Pseudonym identities remain unknown to both myself and other readers. Your readership is appreciated. 

reprinted from September of 2018

UPDATE NOVEMBER 10, 2020: Although the above post is over two years old, in regard to this past weekend's shooting, it could be a new post.  Once again, the advocates against police brutality, who have been louder than ever in this past summer, are silent about the shootings this weekend. Some of these advocates have been hyped as leaders by the Morning Call, and now are candidates for mayor. 

UPDATE OCTOBER 15, 2021: This is my second post this week about violence in Allentown, but it's also the second shooting this week. As I stated yesterday, we have a good chief, but it's time for many more policemen in Allentown...Many more boots on the ground.

Allentown Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Yesterday, Allentown event promoter Alfonso Todd wondered aloud why Allentown's  political establishment was distracting itself with doing away with English as the official language, when wholesale shootings were occurring on main streets during the day and early evening.  Todd knows that nothing hurts or slows down an event or city as the much as people feeling unsafe.

While our progressives concern themselves with defunding the police and social issues,  our reality demands more police than ever on the streets.  We have a popular, excellent chief, but he needs a bigger force to cope with the Allentown of 2021.

While this blog is steeped in history,  the Allentown of yesteryear is no more.  A recent resident commented that Allentown is a better place now than it was ten or twenty years ago.  That's a hard statement for me to evaluate,  having graduated from William Allen in the mid 1960's.  Like the strawberry pie at Hess's, the Allentown of my reference is never to return.  However, as Mr. Todd observes, we must at least make our main corridors a safe place.  Call me old fashioned, but my prescription would be for many, many more policemen.

Allentown Memorabilia

The time and market for Allentown memorabilia has come and gone. With a changing population, and the graying of the older town folks, objects of our history are destined for the landfill. Even the local historic society concentrates on shows of general interest, such as Abraham Lincoln. In addition to having been a retail mecca, Allentown manufactured a large assortment of products. Allentown was stamped on tools, knifes, and metal products of all kinds, distributed nationwide. A local regional food product was the hard pretzel, a variation of the traditional German soft pretzel. Allentown had several pretzel companies. Miller's operated out of their factory at 732 Tilghman Street, between 1944 and 1978. In the coming months this blog will profile some of these Made In Allentown products, before litter and meaningless slogans became our legacy.

reprinted from July of 2013

The Morning Call Assassinates Marty Northstein, Twice

The first assassination of Marty Northstein occurred in 2018, just prior to the congressional election, in which he was a candidate.  They reported that he had been suspended from a cycling directorship because of an obscure allegation almost twenty years prior. Although the allegation was found to have absolutely no merit, the adverse publicity probably cost him the election.

While Northstein rightly sued the paper, he recently dropped the effort. The paper's editor, Mike Miorelli, crows about how right and courageous they were in printing the story back then.  Strange rationale from someone who just defended not printing an actual confession from another candidate,  just prior to this past primary election. 

The current article put another bullet into Northstein, by not noting his innocence from the allegation until almost the end of the article.

ATTENTION: Any local candidate for the November 2021 election is welcome to forward a short position piece for publication.

The Legend Begins

On July 4th, 1934 Joe louis made his debut as a professional fighter. Eleven months and nineteen straight victories later, most by knockout, 62,000 fight fans would jam Yankee Stadium to watch the new sensation fight the giant, Primo Carnera.

New York, New York - Primo Carnera, giant Italian boxer and former heavyweight champion of the world, and Joe Louis, hard-hitting negro heavyweight from Detroit, Michigan, weighed-in this afternoon at the offices of the New York State Boxing Commission for their fifteen round bout tonight at the Yankee Stadium. - 6.25.1935

Although badly battered from the first round, Carnera would gamely stay in the fight till it was stopped in round six. The legend of the Brown Bomber was clearly established.
photo of Primo Carnera

This blog has produced 24 posts chronicling the Joe Louis boxing era, many featuring Abe Simon, a Jewish heavyweight of the era... Simon and my mother were cousins. Lately, Allentown violence has allowed me little time and space to visit Madison Square Garden in the early 1940's. During the next few weeks I will reprint some of these posts, while still assigning staff to the city beat. One of my attractions to the boxing world is the black and white photography produced during that era. The public would listen to the fights on the radio, and then see the photographs in the newspapers the following day. While reproducing these posts, I may in some instances substitute alternative photographs, all classic images from the age of film and flash bulbs.

reprinted from 2012 

UPDATE OCTOBER 11, 2021: I postponed my scheduled post today in reaction to the Fury fight this past weekend. I think that Fury and Carnera had a lot in common, very large men with little skill. Fury is actually larger than Carnera was.