The LuLac Edition #4,098, June 28th, 2019

TRUMP EYES U.S. CENSUS DELAY AFTER SUPREME COURT SETBACK

Well Diaper Don didn’t get his way with the Census Question so now he wants to delay it. The Supreme Court said NO to his question for next year’s head count and like the little wuss he is, he has decided to not take it lying down. Rather he is crying like a little piglet in the corner.
The Trump administration had said it wants to add the question to better enforce a law protecting the voting rights of racial minorities.
Critics have called the question a Republican ploy to scare immigrants away from taking part and engineer an undercount in Democratic-leaning areas with large immigrant and Latino populations.
The nation's top court, in a decision handed down on Thursday, said the federal government's rationale for the question "seems to have been contrived" and stated the government had not given a reasoned explanation for its actions.
The Court sent it back to the agency but the deadline for the printing of the census is July 1st.

THE DEBATES

The best way to describe the Democratic multi person debates is to compare it to Spring training in baseball. On hand are the tried and true veterans who never got a ring. Because there is only one spot, guys like Biden are ripe for the picking by hungry young newcomers who want to take their place as party leaders. Then there are guys like Bernie who is not a Democrat who just might find his time ebbing. There are the heavy hitting speakers like Elizabeth Warren and New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio trying to make hay. Then there are the scrappers like the wild eyed, little goofy Congressman from Maryland John Delaney who looks confused and befuddled most of the time and Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio trying to get traction.
Like Pitchers and catchers, it is still way too early to make any conclusions. But one candidate I eliminated at least from my e mails was Kamara Harris. A message appearing on my phone every ten minutes tells me she has money to spend but is also annoying as hell when you are trying to read a text or send a message. 
That said, I think she did a great job on the debate Thursday night. My top 3 on that evening were Harris, Biden and Mayor Pete in that order. 

800 CALORIES A DAY

When some loudmouth starts complaining about those damn illegal immigrants and their damn kids, remind them of two things.
1. When their Irish, Polish, Italian, etc people came here back in the day, if the Trump Immigration policies were in place, those selfish “concerned” citizens bitching about immigrants wouldn’t even be born let alone living here now.
2. The kids being housed in Detention facilities are living on 800 calories a day. They get oatmeal in the morning, and maybe burritos for lunch or dinner. 800 calories is all that we as the greatest nation in the world can afford to give kids? We are no longer great like the crooked President blowhard proclaims, we are a disgrace!

REP. CARTWRIGHT INTRODUCES BILL TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS FOR ALL PUBLIC WORKERS

BILL WOULD STRENGTHEN PROTECTION FOR UNIONS AND SET STANDARDS FOR WORKPLACE CONDITIONS AFTER DEVASTATING JANUS V. AFSCME DECISION

Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives) 

On Wednesday, Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-08), Rep. Abby Finkenauer (IA-01), Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL-24), and Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) introduced legislation to protect the rights of public sector employees across the nation and ensure their fair treatment at the workplace.
The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act will establish the right of every public sector employee to join a union and bargain collectively. It empowers the Federal Labor Relations Authority to ensure that state and local government employees are treated fairly and that workplace conditions meet a proper standard, something that every employee deserves whether they choose to join a union or not.
“This legislation will help teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public employees who are vital to our American way of life,” said Congressman Cartwright. “As many of them struggle just to put food on the table, we must protect their ability to bargain collectively for fair pay and workplace protections. I’m proud to stand with unions and their members, who have historically ensured basic rights such as a minimum wage standard, eight-hour workdays, and employer-sponsored health insurance.”
Specifically, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act would require public employers to recognize their employees’ union and to commit to any agreements in a written contract. It would enshrine public workers’ rights to join a union and collectively bargain over wages, hours, and employment terms and conditions; and provide public workers with access to dispute resolution devices, such as arbitration and mediation. The bill would also prevent rigged union recertification elections.
“Public service workers provide critical services to our communities but are often significantly underpaid. School teachers are a prime example of this. The wage stagnation they have experienced is among the worst of any profession and from 1996 to 2015, their weekly pay has dropped by $30. The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act would be an important step toward addressing this and other indefensible disparities by empowering public service workers and recognizing their right to collective bargaining,” said Congresswoman Wilson, Chair of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions. “As a former public-school teacher, I experienced firsthand the positive impact of union membership. Unions give workers a seat at the table when important decisions are being made on key issues like wages, work hours, and terms and conditions of employment. This representation has tangible impacts on the well-being of public service workers and their families and I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.”
“In 2017, Iowa’s Republican-controlled legislature went after our working families and gutted the collective bargaining rights of our state employees,” said Congresswoman Finkenauer. “We’ve seen safety compromised, major staffing cuts, and burdensome recertification requirements rigged against working people. Hardworking Iowans need to know that their safety and their ability to provide for their families are never up for debate. They step up for their families and fellow Iowans every single day. I’m proud to sponsor this legislation to make sure that this never happens again.”
“Union workers receive higher pay, greater access to paid sick leave, and better medical and retirement benefits compared to non-union workers,” said Congressman Scott, Chair of the Committee on Education and Labor. “One year after the Supreme Court discarded four decades of precedent to dismantle the rights of public sector unions, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act would guarantee that public service employees can negotiate for fair wages and working conditions. This bill recognizes that unions are critical to rebuilding America’s middle class.”
This legislation is being introduced the week of the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s deion in Janus v. AFSCME, in which four decades of legal precedent were ignored to undermine the ability of public sector workers to negotiate for better pay and safer workplaces. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that non-union public workers were not obligated to pay ‘fair share’ fees which covered collective bargaining costs. The 2018 ruling was widely criticized by unions across the country, given its devastating effects on the rights of workers to collectively bargain for better workplace conditions.

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's guest will be Marissa Hopkins from the Scranton Cooperative Farmers' Market.
Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox .Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.

ECTV LIVE

ECTV Live celebrates Independence week with an encore presentation of our special at the Wyoming Monument where local historian Bill Lewis recounts our area's important involvement in the struggle for independence! David DeCosmo is the producer and host. ECTV Live is seen three times daily on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and on the electric city television YouTube page.

BUDDY RUMCHEK

Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP

SUNDAY NIGHTS!

1969

Our 1969 logo

A former NASA official told reporters in Houston that lunar module pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin had been originally been scheduled to become the first man to set foot on the Moon during the upcoming Apollo 11 mission, but that mission commander Neil Armstrong was "not unaware" of the importance of being first and that Armstrong decided to supersede Aldrin. "It shouldn't be that he pulled rank," said Paul Haney, the former public affairs officer for the Manned Spacecraft Center, "but I think he was not unaware of the importance of the first man who stepped onto the moon and he looked at it very carefully and decided that perhaps it should be the commander's prerogative." Haney added that the decision for Armstrong to be first had been made in mid-April, "Precisely why the change, I don't know, but I do know that it caused quite an upset. Criminal penalties against homosexuality and against abortion were eliminated in Canada, subject to certain conditions, as royal assent was given to the C-150 bill that had passed the House of Commons on May 14 and the Canadian Senate on June 13. Gérald Fauteux one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, gave the assent to C-130 as eleven other laws on behalf of the Queen, and acting in place of the absent Governor-General, Roland Michener.Convicted murderer Winnie Ruth Judd, known as "The Tiger Woman" for the gruesome 1931 killing of two women friends, was arrested after almost seven years as a fugitive. Judd, now 64 years old, had been working as a housekeeper under the alias "Marion Lane". Originally sentenced to hanging, Judd was determined after her conviction to be insane, and was transferred to a mental institution, the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix, before the execution could be carried. From 1939 to 1962, Judd escaped several times, the last instance being on October 8, 1962. Judd would be released two years later at the age of 66, and would pass away in 1998 at the age of 93. .....

 

.The "Mailgram" was given its first test in a joint venture of Western Union and the United States Post Office Department as an experimental service to be introduced in 1970. Combining features of the more expensive telegram and first-class mail, the mailgram transmitted messages directly to the selected post offices which would then print them out and send them by a letter carrier the same day to the intended address. Western Union President Russell W. McFall, the President of Western Union, sent the first mailgram to Washington for delivery to Postmaster General Winton M. Blount........Nigeria blocked most humanitarian aid to the starving residents of the breakaway Republic of Biafra by telling the International Committee of the Red Cross and 19 other relief agencies that they would no longer be permitted to send planes to relief planes to the starving Biafran population….in Pennsylvania the state budget is passed with some Democratic support….in Wilkes Barre and surrounding areas the public gears up for Fourth of July celebrations and fifty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was "One" by Three Dog Night

The LuLac Edition #4,097, June 26th, 2019

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our “Write On Wednesday” logo

Luzerne County might have given Donald Trump the state and Pennsylvania and thus the Presidency in 2016. Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes and 26,000 of them came from The Lu. But not everyone in the County is as angry and narrow minded as those who voted for him. This county has been underwater for years in terms of what government funding has done. Route 81, the VA, you name it. But all those ingrates who are living off of union pensions and government programs forget that the party of Trump fought those benefits every step of the way. It’s nice to see that there are people here who still can think critically. This week’s “Write On Wednesday” comes from a resident of Kingston and she has some very good points.

THERE’S NO HOPE WITH DONALD TRUMP

Editor: In response to a recent letter stating that Trump gives our country “hope” (June 9), I disagree.
Something we try to instill in our children is not being a “bully” — Trump gives me no hope. On almost a daily basis, Trump has nicknames for individuals who disagree with him. Instead of being a role model to his citizens, and using his office to show how an adult should act, he does exactly the opposite.
As reported in the Washington Post, every county that has hosted a Trump rally in 2016, saw a 226 percent increase in hate crimes — again, Trump does not give me hope.
Trump befriends dictators and then shuns long-standing allies, again no hope.
His attack on health insurance could leave millions without health insurance, again no hope.
The GOP party is willing to reduce benefits as far as Social Security and Medicare, again no hope.
The separation of children from their parents at the border, no hope for these families.
Trump’s constant attacks on the free press (necessary in a democracy), again no hope.
The national deficit under Trump rose 77 percent. President Obama inherited a national financial crisis, which he turned around.
When a president lies on a daily basis (averaging 12 lies a day), no hope.
Trump’s lost billions and is now determining the economic direction of our country, again no hope.
Donald Trump has not given me an ounce of hope. The only hope I can see is if he is defeated in 2020 and our country heals.
Linda Wielgosz
KINGSTON
Citizens' Voice submission 

The LuLac Edition #4,096, June 25th, 2019

L.A. TARONE GONE @ 2 YEARS

It was a beautiful summer Sunday. It was a day that if L.A.. Tarone was his usual self, we’d both be rattling off songs with the title summer and Sunday in them. I can imagine we’d be arguing about the labels those songs were on but never the year. But on this day, L.A. Tarone was dying. He left us at around 7pm June 25th 2017 and the world of his friends has never been the same. His place has been taken by people who never met him. They say nice things about him but it is his listeners that will always hold him close to their heart.
L.A. never had a complicated relationship with the English language. He pretty much told you everything that was on his mind. And if you missed it, he’d tell it to you a little bit louder.
His farewell in the latter part of June ’17 was a tribute to his career and his abilities. His talent was evident to all and his public persona was that of bluster, authoritative commentary and righteous indignation. But the private guy was a sweetheart. If you were sick, he’d empathize. If you were depressed he’d try to make you laugh. If you were a young person starting out in his field, he’d give you a break. If you were an old veteran away from the action, he’d take you on as he did with me. He’d go after  you on tooth and nail on the air but in an icy parking lot get you to your car.
There are a few who never met him and have to get an explanation of what he meant to local broadcasting. But for many others he is still in our hearts and minds. He pops into my mind like he used to when he’d be rushing into the WYLN Studio. He comes out of the blue when I least expect it. It helps with the void.
It’s 2 years today and I was thinking of a song that would sum up the feelings of all the people who loved him and still do.Those remembering him and missing him. We all have a piece missing.
The best I could do was Dylan’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”. Somewhere L.A. is saying, “Yonki, is that the best you could do?”
Yep. I’m sure you’ll take it up with me when we meet again. But in the meantime pal…missing you every day.

The LuLac Edition #4,095, June 24th, 2019

MONDAY MEMES 

The LuLac Edition #4,094, June 20th, 2019

WHY IRAN IS BACK IN DANGEROUS PLAY

There is a reason for diplomacy. A tool used to end confrontation and escalation. There is a reason it took John Kerry and more nations than Trump can name to come to an accord. The deal was to put Iran as a threat at bay. There were and are fundamentalists thirsting for war. The reason why the nations signed the accord was to keep peace and threats from happening.
Upon taking office, Diaper Don jettisoned the accord. Now Iran has no agreement to keep.
And we as nation will pay the price for the stupidity and ignorance of a man ill equipped to run a hot dog stand let alone a casino.

TRUMP KICKS OFF CAMPAIGN WITH BLUSTER AND BULLSHIT

Here’s a rundown from the AP about what is true and not true in Trump’s claims as he embarked on another term. President Donald Trump officially opened his 2020 campaign Tuesday with a speech exaggerating what he's done for the economy and against illegal immigration.
Some claims from his rally in Orlando, Florida:

ECONOMY

TRUMP: "It's soaring to incredible new heights. Perhaps the greatest economy we've had in the history of our country."
THE FACTS: The economy is not one of the best in the country's history.
The economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the first quarter of this year. That growth was the highest in just four years for the first quarter.
In the late 1990s, growth topped 4 percent for four straight years, a level it has not yet reached on an annual basis under Trump. Growth even reached 7.2 percent in 1984.
While the economy has shown strength, it grew 2.9% in 2018 — the same pace it reached in 2015 under President Barack Obama — and simply hasn't hit historically high growth rates. Trump has legitimate claim to a good economy but it's not a record-breaker and it flows from an expansion that began in mid-2009.

THE WALL

TRUMP: "We're going to have over 400 miles of wall built by the end of next year. It's moving very rapidly."
THE FACTS: That's highly unlikely, and even if so, the great majority of the wall he's talking about would be replacement barrier, not new miles of construction. Trump has added strikingly little length to barriers along the Mexico border despite his pre-eminent 2016 campaign promise to get a wall done.
Even to reach 400 miles or 640 kilometers, he would have to prevail in legal challenges to his declaration of a national emergency or get Congress to find more money to get anywhere close.
So far, the administration has awarded contracts for 247 miles (395 km) of wall construction, but that initiative has been constrained by court cases that are still playing out.
In any event, all but 17 miles (27 km) of his awarded contracts so far would replace existing barriers.

TAXES

TRUMP: "We've done so much ... with the biggest tax cut in history."
THE FACTS: His tax cuts are nowhere close to the biggest in U.S. history.
It's a $1.5 trillion tax cut over 10 years. As a share of the total economy, a tax cut of that size ranks 12th, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. President Ronald Reagan's 1981 cut is the biggest, followed by the 1945 rollback of taxes that financed World War II.
Post-Reagan tax cuts also stand among the historically significant: President George W. Bush's cuts in the early 2000s and President Barack Obama's renewal of them a decade later.

ENVIRONMENT

TRUMP: "Our air and water are the cleanest they've ever been by far."
THE FACTS: Not true about air quality, which hasn't gotten better under the Trump administration.
U.S. drinking water is among the best by one leading measure.
After decades of improvement, progress in air quality has stagnated. Over the last two years the U.S. had more polluted air days than just a few years earlier, federal data show.
There were 15% more days with unhealthy air in America both last year and the year before than there were on average from 2013 through 2016, the four years when America had its fewest number of those days since at least 1980.
The Obama administration, in fact, set records for the fewest air polluted days, in 2016.
On water, Yale University's global Environmental Performance Index finds 10 countries tied for the cleanest drinking water, the U.S. among them. On environmental quality overall, the U.S. was 27th, behind a variety of European countries, Canada, Japan, Australia and more. Switzerland was No. 1.

EMPLOYMENT

TRUMP: "Almost 160 million people are working. That's more than ever before."
THE FACTS: Yes, but that's not a feather in a president's cap. More people are working primarily because there are more people. Population growth drives this phenomenon.
A more relevant measure is the proportion of Americans with jobs, and that is still below record highs.
According to Labor Department data, 60.6 percent of people in the United States 16 years and older were working in May. That's below the all-time high of 64.7 percent in April 2000 during Bill Clinton's administration, though higher than the 59.9 percent when Trump was inaugurated in January 2017.

TRADE

TRUMP on his tariffs: "We are taking in billions and billions of dollars into our treasury. ... We had never taken 10 cents from China."
THE FACTS: Tariff money coming into the treasury is mainly from U.S. businesses and consumers, not from China. Tariffs are primarily if not entirely a tax paid domestically.
A study in March by economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Columbia University and Princeton University, before Trump raised tariffs even more, found that the public and U.S. companies were paying $3 billion a month in higher taxes from the trade dispute with China, suffering $1.4 billion a month in lost efficiency and absorbing the entire impact.
It's also false that the U.S. never collected a dime in tariffs before he took action. Tariffs on goods from China are not remotely new. They are simply higher in some cases than they were before.

HEALTH CARE

TRUMP: "We will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions. Always."
THE FACTS: He's not protecting current legal safeguards for patients with pre-existing medical conditions, which are part of "Obamacare."
His administration instead is pressing in court for full repeal of Obama's health care law, including other popular provisions such as coverage for young adults on their parents' insurance, Medicaid expansion, health insurance subsidies and preventive care at no additional charge to the patient.
Trump and other Republicans say they'll have a plan to preserve protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but the White House has provided no details.
Obama's law requires insurers to take all applicants, regardless of medical history, and patients with health problems pay the same standard premiums as healthy ones. Bills supported in 2017 by Trump and congressional Republicans to repeal the law would have undermined those protections by pushing up costs for people with pre-existing conditions.

ABORTION

TRUMP: "Leading Democrats have even opposed measures to prevent the execution of children after birth."
THE FACTS: Executing children is already a crime.
Trump is offering here a somewhat toned down version of a distorted story he's been telling for months that falsely suggests Democrats are OK with murder.
His account arises from extremely rare instances when babies are born alive as a result of an attempted abortion. When these cases occur, "execution" is not an option.
When a baby is born with anomalies so severe that he or she would die soon after birth, a family may choose what's known as palliative care or comfort care. This might involve allowing the baby to die naturally without medical intervention. Providing comfort without life-extending treatment is not specific to newborns. It may happen with fatally ill patients of any age.

VETERANS

TRUMP: "We passed VA Choice. ...They've been trying to get that passed also for about 44 years."
THE FACTS: No, Congress approved the private-sector Veterans Choice health program in 2014 and Obama signed it into law. Trump signed an expansion of it.

BIDEN UNDER FIRE FOR REMARKS ABOUT HIS SENATE CAREER

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Cory Booker. (Photo: AP)

Former Vice President Joe Biden came under sharp criticism from some of his Democratic presidential rivals on Wednesday for remarks he made this week about his time working civilly with segregationists serving in the Senate in the 1970s.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, called on Biden to apologize.
"Frankly, I’m disappointed that he hasn’t issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should," Booker, who is black, said in a statement.
In a crowded primary campaign that so far had been civil, Wednesday's criticism exposed bubbling racial and generational tensions within the Democratic field that is the most diverse in history.
Biden's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the criticism.
Biden, 76, is leading in early polls to take on Republican President Donald Trump in 2020.
Here’s my take on this. Biden as a young Senator had to work with everybody. At the time the 29 year old came to the enate, the committees were controlled by the likes of James Eastland, Herman Talmadge and guys like John Stennis. Biden’s point was that he had to work with all of them. Plus, when Barack Obama picked Joe Biden he had to know that it was a different political time and readily accepted the Delaware Senator. While Booker’s point about the segregationists is valid, put in context Biden’s career toward the African American community through the years.
Furthermore, by Biden not backing down, he might be going for a Sister Souljah moment that Bill Clinton had in 1992. She gained prominence for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign. Clinton's well-known repudiation of her comments led to what is now known in politics as a Sister Souljah moment. The difference between the Democratic segregationists Biden was dealing with in the 70s and the current crop of GOP Republicans who are trying to pull back any progress whatsoever is that in Biden's day, you can see racism coming in full view. Today it is couched in inertia and inaction wrapped up in a smirk and the American flag. 

CARTWRIGHT ANNOUNCES OVER $2.5 MILLION FOR WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) announced a federal grant of more than $2.
5 million for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP), which will ensure the safety of travelers who come to Northeastern Pennsylvania and increase efficiency at our region’s only mid-sized airport.
“This is how we revitalize our economy: by repairing our roads, bridges, and airports, and by investing in our country’s infrastructure,” said Rep. Cartwright, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “These federal dollars will improve safety for residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania and visitors alike, and they will help improve reliability at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. I’m all in for infrastructure projects like this. They keep our economic engines humming as they renew our communities and create jobs.”
This new infrastructure investment will be vital not only to the long-term sustainability of the airport, but also to the regional economy in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport is always looking for ways to improve airport safety and efficiency,” said Carl Beardsley, executive director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. “We are excited to secure a grant that does both. We are thankful that Congressman Cartwright helped to secure this grant that will help rehabilitate our taxiway system.”
The federal grant, which totals $2,550,174, will be used to improve a runway at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport and to enhance its lighting. It will also be used to fix one of the airport’s access roads. The funds are part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Airport Improvement Program.

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's guest will be Geisinger Oncologist Dr. John Farell, discussing breast cancer.
Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox .Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.

ECTV LIVE

ECTV Live welcomes Martin Henehan to the program the week of June 24th to unveil plans for the annual Drug Addiction Awareness Rally in Scranton. Rusty Fender will host the show while David DeCosmo is on vacation.
Hosts David DeCosmo and Rusty Fender along wit Program Director Mark Migilore for the program that can be seen on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and on the Electric City Television YouTube page.

BUDDY RUMCHEK

Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP

SUNDAY NIGHTS!

1969

Our 1969 logo

The "Amen break", a 6-second drum solo that would become "the most sampled musical track of all time",  was recorded for the first time. Drummer G. C. Coleman of The Winstons performed the 4-bar beat 86 seconds into the song "Amen, Brother", which then became the "B-side" of the 45 rpm vinyl recording of The Winstons' hit single "Color Him Father". For 15 years, "Amen, Brother" would be forgotten until the mid-1980s, when "sampling" came into use when DJs in hip hop music dance clubs used Coleman's six-second "snare-and-cymbal sequence" to make the transition between one song and the next. By 2015, the "Amen break" would be part of more than 1,500 songs and the number would approaching 3,000 within the first 50 years after it was recorded……


Dr. Joseph Weber, a physicist at the University of Maryland, announced the first detection and measurement proving the existence of gravitational waves, confirming a theory that had been postulated by Dr. Albert Einstein in 1916 as part of his general theory of relativity. An astronomer at Maryland, Dr. Gart Westerhout, told a press conference "This is a discovery comparable to the discovery of radio waves." Weber and Westerhout reported that the waves had been measured by detectors at both the university in College Park, Maryland and at the Argonne Laboratory in Chicago. Weber had been attempting to find the gravitational wave since 1958, when he built a 3,000 pound aluminum cylinder as a detector for that purpose. Ten years later, it would be reported that "The response from the scientific community was almost unanimous in its hostility," and as other groups failed to detect the same results after building the same detection equipment, Weber would be referred to by some physicists as "The Don Quixote of College Park",Scientists would continue to search for confirmation of the gravitational wave and on September 14, 2015, almost 15 years after Weber's death on September 30, 2000, physicist Rainer Weiss of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) would measure a gravitational wave for the first time using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)…… Hee Haw, an American television show aimed at fans of country music, was aired for the first time, appearing on the CBS network at 9:00 Eastern time. Popular with viewers, and hated by TV critics, the show was described by one reviewer as "a hayseed version of Laugh-In" with "probably the worst title of any show to come along this season" while another wrote "Country-Western it is. 'Laugh-In' it ain't." Hosted by Roy Clark and Buck Owens, the show filled the time slot formerly held by the Smothers Brothers and would run on CBS for two years, then spend 22 years in syndication. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 7 to 1, that the U.S. House of Representatives had acted improperly in voting not to allow Adam Clayton Powell Jr. to take his seat in Congress after the 1966 elections. On March 1, 1967, the House had voted, 248 to 176, to bar Powell from representing New York's 18th Congressional District. After Powell had been elected again in 1968, the House had seated him but voted not restore his seniority for purposes of committee selections, treating the 24-year veteran instead as a first-time member of Congress and fining him $25,000. Writing for the majority, outgoing Chief Justice Earl Warren said that since Powell "was duly elected by the voters... and was not ineligible to serve under any provision of the Constitution, the House was without power to exclude him from its membership." Powell's suit was remanded to District Court for consideration of his claim for $60,000 in back pay for the two years of his 1967-1969 term. Voters in New York City's primary elections rejected the nominations of incumbent Mayor John V. Lindsay (who was campaigning for re-election as a Republican) and of former Mayor and Democrat candidate Robert F. Wagner Jr.. The two major party candidates for November instead were Republican John J. Marchi and Democrat Mario Procaccino. Mayor Lindsay, however, would win re-election in November anyway after running as a third-party candidate for the Liberal Party of New York. With almost 7.9 million citizens, New York was the largest city in the United States and, at the time, second to Tokyo as the largest in the world…….The Cuyahoga River at Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire after an oil slick floating on the river ignited. Factories along the Cuyahoga had regularly dumped their waste products into the waters for decades. Before it was extinguished, the floating blaze burned two wooden railroad trestles and warped the tracks, with an estimated repair cost of $50,000. Cleveland Mayor Carl B. Stokes, citing that the city of Cleveland had no legal jurisdiction over the river, called upon the state of Ohio to take action against the licenses of industries that polluted the river. In later statements, Stokes told a crowd that "We have the only river in the country which has been legally described as a fire hazard." The incident of the burning river would help spur an unprecedented American campaign against water pollution, leading to passage of such legislation as the Clean Water Act and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. More broadly, the accident would focus attention on the threats to pollution in the air and the ground as well and would lead to the creation of a new federal government agency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)……..

Actress and singer Judy Garland was found dead of a drug overdose in her London home on Cadogan Lane, three days after she had returned from a New York business trip with her fifth husband, Mickey Deans, whom she had married on March 15.[85] Garland, who had been born in 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota as Frances Ethel Gumm, had been known for The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis and A Star Is Born but was plagued by drug and alcohol addiction during her adult life. The cause of death was attributed to an accidental overdose of barbiturates that Garland used for insomnia……..

in Pennsylvania millionaire Milton Shapp says he will definitely make another try for Governor in 1970…..in Scranton James Doherty becomes a mainstay on WDAU TV coverage of Scranton City Council meetings and fifty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet” by Henry Mancini & his Orchestra

The LuLac Edition #4,093, June 19th, 2019

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

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It is more than a year out for the 2020 Presidential election but Drs. Terry Madonna and Michael Young have mapped out a road for the Democrats as they try to hone their message with the first debates of this cycle next week. How much will be too much one wonders. Here are the gentlemen to break it down for us.

POLITICALLY UNCORRECTED

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L. Young

A DEBATE MARATHON

Who will win the 2020 presidential election seems endlessly debatable--and the Democrats are preparing to demonstrate just how endless that debate will be.
Overall there will be 12 sanctioned Democratic presidential debates during the party’s nomination battle, six of them in 2019 with six more in 2020. The first is scheduled over two days in late June, a second at the end of July and a third during the middle of September.
For the first two debates the candidates can appear on stage if they gain 1% in three national polls or obtain campaign donation from 65,000 donors in a minimum of 20 states. A candidate must also secure at least 200 unique donors from each state.
20 candidates have now qualified for the two hours of debate each evening, with 10 candidates on stage each day. Only five of the candidates register 5% or more in national polls, while three more have more than 1%. This means the bulk of the 12 remaining debaters are virtual unknowns to the voters.
The large field will certainly make it more difficult for any one candidate to dominate the debate. For the 8 better known candidates, this will likely serve to cull the large field down from the many to the few. But for the lesser known candidates their challenge is to somehow end up in that select few.
Some 15 to 20 million viewers are expected to watch the June debates with smaller audiences likely to tune in for the later debates in July and September. With the intense interest focused on the 2020 presidential race those numbers may even go higher. However, party activists and the influential will comprise a large part of the audience for all the debates.
The large Republican primary field in 2016, with its unanticipated results, evokes comparison to the similarly large Democratic field this year. Many expect similar fireworks and unconventional results.
Maybe--but debate history stretching back to the 1960’s suggest otherwise. Indeed, unlike the GOP 2016 contest, early front runners historically tended to remain front runners as the debates continue. Their relative support may change but none of them should be knocked out of the race early.
In fact, historically debates have often failed to provide a decisive moment or determine who wins the nomination.
Certainly, there have been a few memorable exceptions. In 1972, Ed Muskie’s weak debate performance enhanced the prospects of his top rival George McGovern, who ultimately won the nomination.
In 1984, the one liner “Where’s the Beef” stole the thunder when the eventual nominee Walter Mondale used Wendy’s popular commercial jingle to attack opponent Gary Hart’s “New Ideas” slogan. Then in 2004, John Kerry benefited when his opponents sniped at each other incessantly, allowing him to slip through the debates and win the primaries.
What else can we expect from this year’s contests?
Almost certainly we can anticipate attacks on the leading candidates, especially from those who are lesser known. These attacks can backfire, so they are always risky.
Still, it will not be unusual if one or more of the obscure candidates gets a bump in the polls as a result of the debates--not quite a front runner yet, but no longer an also ran.
Any kind of breakthrough by unknowns, however, will be challenging given the time limits imposed by the large field. Even dividing the 20 qualifying candidates into two separate two-hour debates means in practice each will have but a handful of minutes to make his or her case.
This means many candidates, especially the lesser known will seek that striking sound bite, the “zinger” that will be shown ad infinitum on rebroadcasts, guaranteeing the author his or her 15 minutes of political fame. These can catapult a candidate into serious competition or they can misfire, consigning said candidate to presidential candidate purgatory.
Finally, you can’t rule out some atrocious faux pas that will cause a candidate’s campaign to crumble, such as Gerald Ford’s notorious assertion in 1976 when he debated Jimmy Carter that the Soviet Union didn’t dominate Eastern Europe. And yes, there is always the possibility the debates might produce and invigorate another unlikely candidate like Donald Trump who emerges to capture the nomination.
But much more likely look for modest adjustment up or down in the polls for the competing candidates. The race for president is really a marathon and the early debates are but the first mile.
Democrats have a lot of those miles ahead of them.

The LuLac Edition #4,092, June 16th, 2019

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

Our “Maybe I’m Amazed: logo

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that President Trump makes a statement that is declarative in nature, like saying, “Sure he’d take dirt on a political foe”, then next day reiterate it and at the same denigrate the story and then a few days later, repudiate his own statement. It is mind boggling how dumb and cowardly he is. There is conviction, contradiction and then contrition. Well, as much as he will allow.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that Channel 44 is running those music shows as a fundraiser and some of them feature pe4rformers who passed away at least 5 years ago. Nice to see them on the screen and the music is still good.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…but not, if there are two moons in a month, the second one is called the “blue moon”. Hit it guys.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that those Phillie fans salivating over the Bryce Harper acquisition did not count on those Atlanta Braves dominating the division. Plus the Phils needed pitching. Still do.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that once again the seer of all, Donald Trump says the stock market will crash in 2020 if he loses. It might but that’s because Trump has made this an economy of instability as far as the markets go with his tariffs and inane comments.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…that our good friend Harry West recently turned 89 in retirement in Pittsburgh. Continued smiles and good health to him.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…at room temperature a molecule travels at the speed of a bullet when it goes through the air.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that when I put up the info on the Knights of Columbus Council #372 seminar on “Crime Victims” last week on Facebook, I got maybe 5 likes. Then I put up a photo of me in front of my car with a suit on and I got over 225 likes. Go figure.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that Kanye West actually once worked at The Gap.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that a total of 1,191 individual subwords can be made by unscrambling all 18 letters in the phrase "Happy Thanksgiving," according to Word Axis.

The LuLac Edition #4,091, June 13th, 2019

JUDGE EDWIN KOSIK DIES 

 (Photo: Openjurist) 

(Photo: Citizens' Voice) 

Judge Edwin Kosik who presided over the trial of former Judge Mark Ciavrella has died. Kosik gave Ciavarella 28 years in federal prison. Additionally, Kosik also sentenced former judge Michael Conahan to 17-and-a-half years in a federal prison after Conahan pleaded guilty to his roles in the scandal.
Both Ciaverella and Conahan originally had plea agreements that would have had them released in 7 years. But Kosik was not amused at the way they were acting before sentencing.
I had covered the trial for WYLN TV 35 and was struck by the genial manner of Kosik before testimony and in breaks. But during the trial, he was very much aware of the Judicial standards he wanted to uphold.
Kosik was 94.

GENE KELLEHER WILL LEAVE COUNCIL

(Photo: Citizens' Voice)

Eugene Kelleher will leave Luzerne County Council. Mr. Kelleher will be relocating to the Lancaster area to work with his son. For years, Gene Kelleher has been the conscience and the strong voice of not only the Republican Party here but also the Council. A man of true integrity, I cannot tell you the times we disagreed on issues big and small. But through it all, we respected each other and our views.
His experience as well as the way he presented all sides of an argument  or issue will be missed in this region.
Best of luck sir, our loss is Lancaster’s gain.

SARAH SANDERS EXITS 

(Photo: AP)

Sarah Sanders resigned today as White House Press Secretary. No one has been more embattled in this position since President Nixon’s Ron Ziegler. As she leaves, it will be interesting to see if her career path will follow that of Sean Spicer who to my knowledge has yet been able to find work after being tarnished by the Trump slimy auras. Ziegler at least wouldn’t answer a question or try to stonewall when he had the job but Sanders out and out lied. Perhaps her father will give her a soft landing somewhere but when the history of this administration is written and the way it treated the media and by association, the American people, she will not be treated kindly.

O.J. MURDERS @ 25

The crime scene. (Photo: CNN)

It is hard to believe that twenty five years have passed since O.J. Simpson found himself the focus of legal trouble. Simpson, an iconic football legend and later a Movie star (not to mention a broadcaster) was charged with the murder of his ex wife Nicole,. He was also charged with the murder of Ron Goldman who, the story goes was returning Simpson’s wife’s sun glasses to her home. The verdict divided America and made courtroom drama very cool.
I wonder how many lawyers practicing now were influenced by the flamboyant style of the late Johnny Cochran as well as the tenacity and frustration felt by Prosecutor Marcia Clark. There were so many twists and turns in the case that I cannot bring them all to justice in a short blog paragraph.
A few things are certain though. Simpson never did find those killers like he said he was going to. The TV coverage of trials were forever changed in America. The racial divide that still exists was exacerbated by the verdict which was divided along racial lines. Simpson did wind up in jail but not because of the crime. The L.A. police were not at their peak finest when doing the investigation. Simpson proved that if you had enough money and bluster you could get away with murder. Nicole Simpson never got to see her children she d had with O.J. grow. Ron Goldman would have turned fifty this year. And along with all of that, O.J. Simpson says on this day, he want s his family to have positivity for the future.
Easy for him to say as his ex and Goldman lie in stone cold graves.

THE CHASE

TRUMP VS. BIDEN

(Photo: CNN)

The general election is a long time away but right now in Iowa, (where to this day I still can’t understand why this state counts so much!) Donald Trump and Vice President Biden are exchanging barbs. Trump in true fashion calls Biden names, Biden lays out the truth about the utter destruction of the Constitution and the disregard for the Presidency that has been the hallmark of a Trump term.
If Biden makes it to the general and that is a big IF, by the time the conventions roll around I fear the voters might be numb to the prospects of a match between the two.
I mean this is starting now and there is a long way to go.
Meanwhile Biden is beating Trump by about 14%. Plus Trump is livid at his staff that the states that won him the White House, Pennsylvania, (or I should say the state of Luzerne County) Michigan, and Wisconsin are leaning heavily toward the “D” column. My heavens, I hope he doesn’t ask his buddy Kim in North Korea how to liquidate staff. Trump should realize (and I guess he really can’t count given the 6 bankruptcies) that out of those three states, less than 80,000 votes got him into the White House.
But look for the Trump propaganda machine to join forces with the GOP lie mechanisms and cloud what everyone here seems to realize. And that is the country is headed for a fall if Trump gets re-elected.

CASEY INTRODUCES BILL TO KEEP CALL CENTER JOBS IN THE U.S.

BILL AIMS TO STOP CALL CENTER JOBS FROM BEING SHIPPED OVERSEAS

Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives) 

In recent years, many call center operators have shifted operations overseas and shut down or downsized their U.S. operations at an alarming rate. Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act, legislation that would protect call center jobs across Pennsylvania and the United States.
“Shipping jobs overseas is hurtful to American workers and our economy, and it poses a threat to the security of consumers’ personal data,” said Senator Casey. “That’s why I introduced the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act, which supports American workers and ensures that federal benefits aren’t going to companies that ship good jobs out of the United States.”
The United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act would:
•Make companies that ship call centers overseas ineligible for federal grants and guaranteed loans;
•Require that all call center work performed on federal contracts be done in the U.S. and that the federal government give preference to companies that do not off-shore jobs when awarding contracts;
•Ensure that U.S. callers be told the location of the call center they are speaking with and offered the option of being transferred to a U.S.-based call center should they prefer.
Call center closures and downsizing have occurred across the country and across industries, as companies have moved service centers to countries where working conditions and information security practices are often far inferior to those in the U.S. This has both devastated communities that have lost jobs and placed American consumers’ sensitive information at greater risk. There are roughly 3.6 million call center positions across the country, according to industry data.
This bill is supported by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and cosponsored by U.S. Senators Brown (D-OH), Blumenthal (D-CT), Cortez Masto (D-NV), Baldwin (D-WI), Rosen (D-NV), Manchin (D-WV), Stabenow (D-MI), Harris (D-CA), Van Hollen (D-MD), Durbin (D-IL) and Peters (D-MI).

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's guest will be Carolyn Quinn, Executive Director of the Educational Opportunity Center.
Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox .Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.

ECTV LIVE

ECTV Live welcomes John Maday to the program the week of June 17th. Mr. Maday is with Wilkes- Barre's Riverside Parks Commission and he'll outline plans for this year's Riverfest along the Susquehanna in Wyoming Valley

Join hosts David DeCosmo and Rusty Fender along with Program Director Mark Migilore for the program that can be seen on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and on the Electric City Television YouTube page.

BUDDY RUMCHEK

Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP

SUNDAY NIGHTS!

1969

Our 1969 logo

The long-awaited debut of Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood performing together in the short-lived "supergroup" Blind Faith took place in front of 100,000 people in London's Hyde Park. Guitarist/vocalist Clapton and drummer Peter "Ginger" Baker came from the recently disbanded rock group Cream; Winwood had been played keyboards and was lead singer for Traffic, the first supergroup. Bassist Ric Grech from Family completed the quartet.

Blind Faith would release their only album in August, and do concerts in Europe and the United States for eleven weeks before playing their final show in Honolulu on August 24. The U.S. Department of Defense expanded its AUTOVON (an acronym for AUTOomatic VOice Network) to its military posts worldwide, giving priority to all defense-related phone calls over civilian phone lines….Following a meeting at Midway Island between U.S. President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, President Nixon announced that 25,000 American troops would be withdrawn from the Vietnam War by the end of September. The first group to be removed from South Vietnam would be 900 combat infantrymen from the 9th Infantry Division of the United States Army, who would be "airlifted to the continental United States for inactivation", according to Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird.[27] Withdrawal would be completed between July 8 and August 28….....Pope Paul VI became the first Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Switzerland, landing in Geneva for 12 hours to visit the headquarters of the World Council of Churches in the traditional "intellectual center of Protestant thought". The Pope was greeted by the Reverend Eugene Carson Blake, an American Presbyterian minister and General Secretary of the World Council, where the two discussed issues relating to future Christian unity. The Council itself was composed of representatives of 234 different denominations of Protestant and Orthodox organizations (with 234 different denominations), and event marked the highest level meeting of the leaders of Catholic and non-Catholic Christians. The Pope also delivered a speech at the annual world meeting of the International Labour Organization, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary, and which had 1,700 delegates from nations…..Further work on the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), the U.S. Air Force's planned military space station, was halted on orders of American President Richard Nixon as part of a cut of the defense budget. Ever since the first announcement in 1963 of the planned MOL (which would have featured two USAF astronauts working for 30 days at a time "to inspect and destroy, if necessary, hostile satellites"), 1.3 billion dollars had been spent on the project and another $1.5 billion was projected to be paid over until completion in 1974, which was already 2½ years behind schedule and was 50% more expensive than originally projected. The end of the American program, in effect, brought an end to the need of the MOL's counterpart in the Soviet Union, the Almaz ("Diamond") space station (which would be modified for launch as the civilian Salyut 2 station). By 1969, however, the reconnaissance features of both the MOL and Almaz had been made obsolete by unmanned spy satellites…….in Pennsylvania Mayor Joseph Barr announces that he may not seek another term as Mayor of Pittsburgh, in Pittston the Detato’s Supermarket is sold to a chain and then re-acquired a few weeks later by the family and fifty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “Grazing In the Grass” by the Friends of Distinction.

The LuLac Edition #4,090, June 12th, 2019

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

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This week we feature a letter from the Citizens’ Voice outlining the impotency of the Republican party in dealing with THEIR President.

AMERICA IS BETTER THAN THIS

Editor: How much longer are Republican officials going to cower and refrain from speaking up for what they formerly stood for by letting Trump continue to destroy all the respectful and democratic laws in our country?
What kind of spine does it take for the few dedicated Republicans to finally say they’ve had enough?
How many rules and regulations will have to be broken before they realize that this madman is like a destructive tornado running through our beloved country?
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, Senators Lindsey Graham and Ron Paul and many others absolutely refuse to condemn the deplorable actions of a man who acts more like a juvenile child who stomps his feet and cries like a baby when things don’t go his way.
Those Republicans and even some Democrats will pay the price when this weak excuse for a president is removed from office, but it will take years to undo the damage he has done to our democracy.
This is America and we are better than this.
So, please write your representatives and ask that this childish excuse for a man who is daily damaging our beloved country be removed from office by whatever means legally possible including impeachment.
Maryann J. Sivilich