The LuLac Edition #4,378, August 14th, 2020

RUSTY FENDER’S DREAM JOB

Goddard Space Center in Maryland

Rusty and Barbara celebrating.   (Photos: Facebook)

I’ve known Rusty, Shadoe, Dale for a very long time. Through the years he has been an immense help to LuLac as well as my writing projects. I m proud to call him a loyal friend but because of our busy schedules, an unseen person as of late. However, I was thrilled to learn about his new endeavors.
Celebrating my new position(s) at NASA Goddard Space Center Greenbelt, Maryland in Galileo Ionospheric Navigation Engineering: TT&C Telemetry, Tracking & Command for the ‘Moon To Mars 2030’ (Earth Reliant Phase) project & also rejoining PennDOT Engineering Harrisburg‘s Transportation Division, both on September 8th.
As that great broadcaster Casey Kasem used to say, “Keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.”

REPRESENTATIVES CARTWRIGHT AND DEAN INTRODUCE BILL TO PROVIDE RECURRING DIRECT PAYMENTS FOR FAMILIES TO BOOST THE ECONOMY

Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representatives Matt Cartwright and Madeleine Dean (PA-04) will introduce the Payments for the People Act, which would send quarterly payments to families until national unemployment is below 5.5 percent.
“Our economic outlook is still deeply uncertain, and struggling families need a steady source of income to get through it – one that can’t be interrupted by Senate Republican stonewalling of any House-passed relief legislation,” Rep. Cartwright said. “Millions of unemployed Americans will now see their income slashed thanks to Leader McConnell’s failed ‘wait and see’ approach to the pandemic response, so we should ensure a lapse in critical relief can’t happen again. This legislation will provide a lifeline for Americans going through hard times until the pandemic is under control and we can fully restart our economy.”
The one-time $1,200 payments in the CARES Act went to roughly 160 million households in just two months, and were spent by the lowest-income families just days after they were issued. And most of the people who received the payments spent them on basic necessities.
“American families are struggling during this pandemic and too many are out of work through no fault of their own – one-time payments are not enough, and they need smart recurring payments to keep them afloat for the duration of this economic crisis,” Rep. Dean said. “The Payments for the People Act is the continued support American families need – it is smart policy and economics that prioritizes America’s families.”
“While Congress debates the proposals for the next relief package, regular cash payments are a must-have. Direct cash gets money quickly to the people who need it most and are the most likely to spend it – but one check is not enough,” Adam Ruben, Director of Economic Security Project Action said. “The crisis we’re in is likely to last well into next year, if not longer – Congress and the White House have shown that passing even the most critical of legislation is challenging. We must pass regular cash payments that continue until the economy recovers, whether that’s in a couple of months or a couple of years. The Payments for the People Act would be a critical boost to families and to the economy as it begins to recover.”

AS GUN SALES AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURGE AMID PANDEMIC, CASEY & COLLEAGUES INTRODUCE BICAMERAL LEGISLATION TO CLOSE DANGEROUS LOOPHOLE TO PROTECT DOMESTIC ABUSE SURVIVORS

Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives)

As gun sales spike and reports of domestic violence increase across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senator Bob Casey joined his Congressional colleagues in introducing strongly supported bicameral legislation to protect domestic violence survivors from gun violence. The Lori Jackson Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act is narrowly crafted to close loopholes that allow domestic abusers to legally obtain weapons. The bill is named in memory of Lori Jackson, an Oxford, Connecticut mother of two who was tragically shot and killed by her estranged husband, who had legally obtained a handgun even though he was subject to a temporary restraining order.
“Family violence, domestic violence and dating violence are a public health crisis in this country, and the failure of Congress to pass commonsense gun violence prevention legislation has made such a crisis even deadlier. In Pennsylvania in 2018 alone, more than half of all domestic violence victims who died were killed by firearms,” said Senator Casey. “The Lori Jackson Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act would prevent future tragedies by closing the fatal loophole allowing abusers to obtain weapons. We cannot afford to wait for another life to be lost before we take action. It’s time we hold our elected leaders accountable.”
The Lori Jackson Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act would close dangerous loopholes in federal law, thereby protecting millions of Americans. Current federal law protects domestic violence survivors from gun violence by preventing their abusers from purchasing or possessing a firearm – but only once the court has issued a permanent restraining order. This leaves survivors unprotected exactly when they are in the most danger: when a domestic abuser first learns his or her victim has left and only a temporary restraining order is in place. Further, the current definition of ‘intimate partner’ used to prohibit individuals convicted of domestic violence from purchasing or possessing a firearm includes spouses, former spouses, people with a child in common, and cohabitants. However, there are many survivors of dating violence who were never married, do not live with their abuser, and have no children.
This bill would restrict those under temporary restraining order from purchasing or possessing a firearm, and would extend protections to domestic violence survivors who have been abused by their dating partners. This bill’s provisions are a component of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act, landmark legislation designed to support and protect survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, which continues to stall in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The legislation is supported by a number of advocacy and support groups, including Everytown for Gun Safety, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Newtown Action Alliance, Brady, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV).
Senator Casey joined U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in cosponsoring the bill in the Senate. U.S. Representatives Jim Himes (D-CT-4), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Kathleen Rice (D-NY-4) are cosponsoring the House version of this legislation.

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's show features the Scranton School Board and the reasoning for their vote to offer fully online education to start the 2020-21 school year.
Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on The Mothership 1340/1400 am, 100.7 and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on The River 105 and 103.5.

BUDDY RUMCHEK

Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:20 and 8:20 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP

SUNDAY NIGHTS!

1980

Our 1980 logo.

The premium cable network Cinemax was inaugurated in the U.S. as a movies-only channel operated by Home Box Office (HBO) The new service began at 10:00 in the morning Eastern Time….The wreck of the Dublin to Cork express train killed 18 people and injured more than 70, most of them teenagers who were on their way to Cork for a weekend vacation. Part of a group of 200 students, the victims were enjoying themselves in "two crowded restaurant cars located just behind the locomotive." At the railway station in the village of Buttevant in County Cork, only 30 miles (48 km) from their destination, the locomotive struck a faulty switch and derailed; the rear coaches then plowed into the back of the second dining car. The accident, at the time, was Ireland's deadliest crash….The presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Teddy Kennedy ended at the Democratic convention after Kennedy's supporters were unable to get a change of rules to permit an "open convention", where the would be allowed to vote for the candidate of their choice on the first ballot, regardless of whom they had been committed to represent. With 1,666 votes of 3,330 necessary to change the rules, less than 1,390 were in favor and 1,936 were against the change. After Speaker of the U.S. House and convention chairman Tip O'Neill announced the result at 8:42 in the evening, Kennedy quit the race….U.S. President Jimmy Carter defeated Senator Edward Kennedy to win renomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City. With all delegates required to vote for the candidate to whom they were pledged, Carter won on the first ballot, with 2,129 delegate votes, compared to 1,146 for Kennedy. Kennedy then released a statement saying that he would support Carter's election to a second term. Kennedy barely kept that promise and showed Carter up with his “The Dream Will Never Die” speech…

Baseball's National League voted against adopting the designated hitter rule used in the American League, despite expectations that the rule change would be implemented. With the approval necessary of seven of the 12 NL club-owners, 4 approved, 5 rejected and 3 abstained…..Dorothy Stratten, the 1979 Playboy Playmate of the Year, was murdered by her estranged husband Paul Leslie Snider, who subsequently committed suicide…

Workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk walked out on strike after the government of Poland announced a second rise in food prices. Two days later, shipyard electrician Lech Walesa, an activist with the WZZW trade union alliance, initially negotiated a settlement with the Polish government for his co-workers at the shipyard before being criticized by Anna Walentynowicz and other labor organizers for making a deal that only affected the Lenin Shipyard, and Walesa and she then rallied strikers elsewhere in Gdańsk….and forty years ago the number one song in LuLac land was “Emotional Rescue “ by The Rolling Stones.