Counting On Dollars

Subscribers to this blog know that I expect a blue wave in November. My Republican sources believe that  MAGA  is alive and well, and will turn out for the midterms. Trump has tapped some big players, Elon Musk among them.

I'm of the opinion that money pays much less dividends in elections than it used to. Those postcards, which get bigger and more in each election, don't get past the first waste can. Those repetitive TV ads get the mute button. Those phone calls get a quick hangup. 

I suppose that the objective now is to increase turnout, as opposed to changing minds. Getting back to my first sentence, I think that the turnout will be blue. But my red friends need not fret, they can still contribute to the various monuments to Trump, from the ballroom to the arch.

CLICK HERE FOR MY BABY BOOMER MEMORIES OF ALLENTOWN AT AMAZON BOOKSTORE.      36 SELECTED POSTS FROM THIS BLOG

Coming Home To Roost In Allentown

Everyday we're reading about more fatalities, especially with motorized two wheel vehicles. Students of this blog know that I take a weekly cruise down Tilghman to 2nd, and then back up Linden to the stadium area. Whenever I post about these patrols, I always mention the wheelies, double parking, driving in the wrong lane and utter disregard for lawful driving.

Everybody sees these things, and everybody knows that the police have been standing down on enforcement. Mayor Tuerk and Chief Roca have to take some blame for the current consequences.

A traffic crackdown is long overdue. When I say the administration has to take some blame, I'm being polite, they own most of it. City Council has to speak out. School starts soon, and children should be able to safely cross streets. Pee Wee shown above on his bike is cute, but that's not the reality we're dealing with.

CLICK HERE FOR MY BABY BOOMER MEMORIES OF GROWING UP IN THE ALL-AMERICAN CITY AT AMAZON BOOKSTORE. 36 SELECTED POSTS FROM THIS BLOG.

The Bicycles of Allentown

produced by Gary Ledebur, Netherfield Studios, Philadelphia
contains adult content

reproduced from March 15, 2010

ABOVE REPRINTED FROM 2011
 

 BELOW FROM AUGUST 20, 2026

State Senator Nick Miller secured $500K to connect Trexler and Cedar Parks. Connecting the parks has been a park department agenda for the last twenty years. I'm the only person who speaks against it, but I consider myself better informed in regard to park matters than even some in the administration.

The connection concept is a cyclist agenda. Our spandex friends would like to zoom from park to another, avoiding the reality of our streets. As a frequent visitor to our parks, I can tell you that more and more people with dogs and children are walking the paths. Nothing endangers them more than a fast cyclist coming up from behind.

Allentown purchased two large parcels for additional parks, Basin Stret and the old fertilizer plant on Martin Luther King Blvd.  Both these purchases were ill advised, but they could be redeemed with a loop(s) for cyclists. The administration and park department consider me a thorn, but I could have put $500k to some real park improvements.

State Of The Blog

While I'm hoping that this post makes it to publication, in Trump's world you never know when the presses have to be stopped, and the typeface reset. While the blog started production in Cetronia in 2007, the south Florida satellite office soon followed. With south Florida becoming too pricy, the current office is farther north along the Brightline tracks in Eau Gallie. The old staffer there can see the rockets rising from Cape Canaveral.

With Trump deciding that the world is an oyster for his family's future, the need for an overseas office became apparent. A rented room in an old Turkish hotel will do. The staff is two students. Although I don't pay them, they are receiving college intern credits in journalism.

While my partisan Republican readership has drifted away. I hold no resentment, because their Waterloo is only a few months away. I take heart in Principles First, conservatives against Trumpism. I look forward to a time when this blog can again concentrate on local issues.

Readers will notice a new link to a book I produced through Amazon bookstore at the bottom of posts. My old school blog template is not mobile friendly, and the post link is the only option for advertising.

CLICK HERE FOR MY BABY BOOMER MEMORIES OF ALLENTOWN AT AMAZON BOOKSTORE.. 36 SELECTED POSTS FROM BLOG'S ARCHIVES.

Keeping Up With Truth Social

No one can accuse Trump of being a prisoner of foreign policy or diplomacy. Apparently over the weekend, he decided that we have been siding on the wrong side of the 38th Parallel. He will punish South Korea for not actively supporting his Iranian adventure by downsizing our joint military exercises with them. Besides, he and Kim Jong Un get along fine.

Allow me to clarify that I do not read Truth Social, and only hear about these nuggets after they hit the fake news. Unfortunately for the Republican incumbents, that is how most of voters get their news.

As I'm penning this post for Tuesday, Trump is threatening to bomb Oman. The Republicans will really have to hope that closing the Biden Border and keeping boys out of the locker room still has enough rubber on the wheels to win elections, because Trump gets worse every day.

Not Nearly Long Enough

It was a poor weekend for the Republicans. Trump once again put his foot in his mouth when he said that the deployment of the USS Lincoln was not nearly long enough. Showing ignorance and insensitivity about servicemen serving in an unpopular war won't help the GOP come November.

Trump's partner in unpopularity, Netanyahu, also had a bad weekend when an evangelical zionist like Mike Huckabee speaks out against settler violence on the West Bank. At this point in the public mind, Trump and Netanyahu are joined at the hip, Although Huckabee's comments won't directly affect the midterms like Trump's statement will, they add weight to the anchor pulling down Republicans.

The GOP wants Trump to go on the trail to campaign for the midterms. They hope to motivate MAGA to turn out, knowing that the independents won't be coming their way this election. I have doubts about the MAGA turnout...Their enthusiasm was for Trump, not necessarily his agenda and legacy.

A $Million, After The $Billion

Those who listen and read such things, have learned that the new owners of the former Banana Joe's repurposed train station, received a grant for $One Million of our tax dollars.  The former station will be used for a not yet determined use, beyond subsidizing another chosen developer.  There are no handouts like handouts in Pennsylvania, when an administration is going out the door.

What caught the attention of this cynical blogger was the myth that we were told about the NIZ. We were told that, rest assure, after the tax funded redevelopment starts, private money will start pouring in for private development. So here's the reality...A $million in public money for a private developer with no tenant in sight.

I don't know the developer, but I do know that he/she has friends in the right places. Welcome to Pennsylvania.

While other media will show you the Hamilton Street front view, I choose to show the back view of the train station (New Jersey Central), long before it was renovated into Banana Joe's. Likewise, I choose to tell you the back stories.

reprinted from November 4, 2022

ADDENDUM AUGUST 14, 2026: Although the developer did nothing with the $million and train station, he's back with a plan....that is one slow, expensive plan! I think he's back, but asked for a postponement of the planning meeting this week. He now wants to build a six story building, with stores and apartments. Don't rent the moving van just yet. Expect to hear about additional grant proposals and the new Allentown buzz term, affordable housing. Despite the $Billions being spent on the taxpayer subsided NIZ projects, only Nat Hyman is developing units with his own financing.

I wonder if there are grants for blogging?