The LuLac Edition #5, 319, May 8th, 2025

 

TRUMP SCREWS THE SAME COAL MINERS HE WOOED

For John Robinson, a retired coal miner who spent his career in the Virginia mines helping to power America into the 21st century, not a moment passes that he isn't feeling the full effects of his black lung diagnosis.

With the support of a burdensome oxygen machine, Robinson joined a handful of other retired Central Appalachian miners to sit down with ABC News' Jay O'Brien in the heart of coal country.

"You are suffocating. You are suffocating. And that's what's going to kill you," Robinson told O'Brien. "I got a wife and two kids and two grandbabies, you know, and I want to live."

lack lung, the debilitating respiratory illness common in coal miners, has made a staggering resurgence in the past 25 years, particularly among the younger generation of miners as they cut through more rock to access deeper, hard-to-reach coal seams, exposing them to harmful dust particles called silica -- which experts say is about 20 times more toxic to the lungs than pure coal dust.

And even as President Donald Trump vows to reinvigorate America's coal industry, critics say his administration has stripped away key protections for the miners. In his first 100 days in office, Trump's administration has decimated the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, the federal institute that protects miners from black lung, and paused enforcement of a new safety rule that would lower the level of silica dust in the mines.  (ABC News)

 

TRUMP CANCELS NATIONAL FIRE ACADEMY

ANGST, ANGER, BLINDSIDED, CONFUSION, SADNESS.

Those are some of the emotions fire and emergency services personnel are feeling after hearing about the Trump administration’s sudden cancellation of all courses.

FEMA announced the measures in a late Friday afternoon e-mail that caught many off-guard. Some instructors were headed out of state to teach weekend classes while some students with plans to head to the Maryland campus were stopped.

The e-mail read: "FEMA is currently in the process of evaluating agency programs and spending to ensure alignment with Administration priorities."

In addition to in-person training, courses slated to be held across the country also are cancelled through Aug. 24, according to the USFA website.

 

THE SANE VS THE INSANE BULLY!

CARNEY AND TRUMP MEET

The Prime Minister and the Pig (Photo: Toronto Star)

Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, visited the White House on Tuesday for his first visit with President Trump, who continues to advocate for America’s neighbor to the north to become its 51st state.

Moments before Carney’s arrival, Trump took to Truth Social to slam Canada. “Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?” Trump wrote.

“They, on the other hand, need EVERYTHING from us!” he added. “The Prime Minister will be arriving shortly and that will be, most likely, my only question of consequence.”

Carney told Trump during their meeting that Canada is “not for sale.” Trump again plays the part or is an ignorant bully. He’s like the embarrassing family member you can’t get rid of. When Trump said it would be beneficial to Canada, Carey replied there were places in the world NOT FOR SALE, specifically mentioning the White House, Buckingham Palace as well as the number of Canadian voters who voted for HIM to ensure that Canada, no matter what the bloated billionaire says, “IS NOT FOR SALE”.

 

 

BRESNAHAN INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO BAN STOCK TRADES; ANNOUNCES PLAN TO FORM BLIND TRUST

Congressman Rob Bresnehan (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan, Jr. announced his introduction of the Transparency in Representation through Uniform Stock Trading Ban (TRUST) Act, legislation to ban stock trading for Members of Congress. The TRUST Act would bar Members of Congress and their spouses from purchasing or selling stocks upon taking office.

“The public should never have to question whether their elected officials are serving the public or their own portfolios,” said Rep. Bresnahan. “I am introducing the TRUST Act to restore the integrity Americans expect and deserve from their government. This legislation allows for new levels of transparency and is a safeguard to ensure Washington works for the people.”

If enacted, the legislation would go into effect at the start of the 120th Congress in January 2027. To comply with his new legislation, Rep. Bresnahan is working with the House Committee on Ethics to move his personal holdings into a blind trust.

“Members of Congress should not be allowed to profit off the information they are entrusted with – this is a belief I have held since before taking office, and this belief has not changed,” continued Rep. Bresnahan. “I have never traded my own stocks, but I want to guarantee accountability to my constituents. That is why I am working with House Ethics to begin the process of enacting a blind trust. I want the people I represent to trust that I am in Congress to serve them, and them alone.”

The TRUST Act would:

Apply to Members and their spouses.

Require that, upon assuming office, Members and their spouses may not purchase or sell covered financial instruments, including a security, security future, commodity, and other comparable economic interests (derivative, options, warrants, etc.)

Require that, upon assuming office, Members and their spouses would only be allowed to purchase, hold, and sell diversified mutual funds, diversified ETFs, investments in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), and US Treasuries. Subject Members who purchase or sell a covered financial instrument while in office to fines and penalties. The legislation would not require Members and their spouses to divest of existing covered financial instruments; any covered financial instrument a Member and their spouse own upon assuming office are grandfathered in. Additionally, the legislation would not apply to covered financial instruments held in a qualified blind trust.

 

GOVERNOR, FIRST LADY SHAPIRO HOST RECEPTION WITH FORMER GOVERNORS, FIRST FAMILIES TO BENEFIT RESIDENCE RESTORATION 

GOVERNOR JOSH SHAPIRO AND FIRST LADY LORI SHAPIRO HOSTED FORMER GOVERNORS RIDGE, SCHWEIKER, RENDELL, CORBETT, AND WOLF – ALONG WITH THE THORNBURGH AND CASEY FAMILIES – FOR A RECEPTION AT THE GOVERNOR’S RESIDENCE TO SUPPORT ONGOING EFFORTS TO REBUILD AND RESTORE THE HOME.

 

All the former living occupants of the Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion. (Photo: Penn Live)

On Monday evening, Governor Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro hosted a reception at the Governor’s Residence to support the ongoing efforts to rebuild and restore the historic home after the arson attack and attempted homicide in April. They were joined by all five living former governors and first ladies, as well as members of the Thornburg and Casey families, representing more than four decades of Governors and First Families who lived and spent time at the Residence.

“We are so proud to serve as Governor and First Lady of our great Commonwealth. In the wake of the arson at the Governor’s Residence, we’ve been uplifted by the support of former Governors, First Ladies, and First Families,” said Governor Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro. “We’re proud to take up the baton from those who came before us and carry it forward – and as we gathered last night, we pledged to support the Residence together for generations to come.”

Among those in attendance were:

Former Governor Tom Wolf & First Lady Frances Wolf

Former Governor Tom Corbett & First Lady Susan Corbett

Former Governor Ed Rendell & First Lady Midge Rendell

Former Governor Mark Schweiker & First Lady Kathy Schweiker

Former Governor Tom Ridge & First Lady Michele Ridge

Former U.S. Senator Bob Casey & Terese Casey for the Casey family

David Thornburgh & John Thornburgh for the Thornburgh family

Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis & Second Lady Blayre Holmes Davis

"As Chief of Staff to Governor Ridge and Governor Schweiker, I have many memories of late nights, meetings, and events at the Governor's Residence," said Mark Campbell, former Chief of Staff to Governors Ridge and Schweiker. "All of us feel privileged to be members of the small group of people who have had the honor of serving Pennsylvania from the executive branch, and we wanted to be there to support the Shapiro family and staff after the heartbreaking attack on this historic home. I was so proud to see six different governors stand together, committed to rebuilding and restoring the Residence to ensure it remains a Pennsylvania treasure."

"For over 55 years, the Governor's Residence has been an important part of our Commonwealth's history – it's where Governors and their cabinet have gathered to make important decisions, visiting dignitaries have dined, and members of the public have gotten to see priceless historical artifacts and works of art," said Andrew Lowery, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. "To have all five former Governors and First Ladies – as well as members of the Casey and Thornburgh families – return to the Residence last night shows how important this building is to our Commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is proud to tell Pennsylvania's story through the Governor's Residence and looks forward to sharing our Commonwealth's history with visitors for generations to come."

“As the former Executive Director of the Bipartisan Management Committee, I've worked alongside legislators and governors of both parties to make progress in Pennsylvania,” said Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Chair Susan Cohen, who previously led the PA House of Representative’s Bipartisan Management Committee and worked for the PA Historical and Museum Commission. “It was a beautiful display of our shared commitment to our Commonwealth and the governors’ support of each other and the Governor’s Residence. Pennsylvanians should feel proud of how our First Families have stepped up in the wake of this tragic attack.”

The reception benefited the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund – a dedicated fund within Team Pennsylvania – to support efforts to restore the building after the arson attack. The Department of General Services (DGS) is working around the clock to restore the State Dining Room and State Reception Area in the Residence after they were significantly damaged in the attack. Governor and First Lady Shapiro hope to reopen the damaged areas of the Residence to the public this summer.

 

 

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

You'll hear the program Sunday at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400 am The Mothership and 7:30 am on 105 The River.

 

THE LAURIE CADDEN SHOW

Tune in every Saturday morning at 9am for The Laurie Cadden Show on WILK FM 103.1 and AM 980 and 910. Laurie’s program has been a northeastern Pennsylvania mainstay every Saturday. Tune in to hear her insights and take on local issues as well as entertaining and informative interviews.

 

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SUNDAY NIGHT SOCK HOP

 

BEATLE EDD’S FAB FOUR MUSIC HOUR

Tune in every week to the Home of Rock and Roll for a jam packed, unpredictable hour starting at 9am Sundays. Host Edd Raineri gives you facts and great music from the immortal Fab Four on ROCK 107.

 

THE LULAC TIME MACHINE

May 1961

First American In Space

It was 64 years ago this week that the first American in space took a suborbital flight to mark the beginning of the space race with Russia.

Alan Shepherd was the first American in space. he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he became the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon, at age 47.

A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Shepard saw action with the surface navy during World War II. He became a naval aviator in 1947, and a test pilot in 1950. He was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts in 1959, and in May 1961 he made the first crewed Project Mercury flight, Mercury-Redstone 3, in a spacecraft he named Freedom 7. His craft entered space, but was not capable of achieving orbit. He became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. In the final stages of Project Mercury, Shepard was scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 10 (MA-10), which was planned as a three-day mission. He named Mercury Spacecraft 15B Freedom 7 II in honor of his first spacecraft, but the mission was canceled.

Shepard was designated as the commander of the first crewed Project Gemini mission, but was grounded in October 1963 due to Ménière's disease, an inner-ear ailment that caused episodes of extreme dizziness and nausea. This was surgically corrected in 1968, and in 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission, piloting the Apollo Lunar Module Antares. He was the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to walk on the Moon. During the mission, he hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.

Shepard was Chief of the Astronaut Office from November 1963 to August 1969 (the approximate period of his grounding), and from June 1971 until April 30, 1974. On August 25, 1971, he was promoted to rear admiral, the first astronaut to reach that rank. He retired from the United States Navy and NASA on July 31, 1974.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. This shattered American confidence in its technological superiority, creating a wave of anxiety known as the Sputnik crisis. Among his responses, President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched the Space Race. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established on October 1, 1958, as a civilian agency to develop space technology. One of its first initiatives was publicly announced on December 17, 1958. This was Project Mercury, which aimed to launch a man into Earth orbit, return him safely to the Earth, and evaluate his capabilities in space.

On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space.He named his spacecraft, Mercury Spacecraft 7, Freedom 7. He awoke at 01:10, and had breakfast consisting of orange juice, a filet mignon wrapped in bacon, and scrambled eggs with his backup, John Glenn, and flight surgeon William K. Douglas. He was helped into his space suit by suit technician Joseph W. Schmitt, and boarded the transfer van at 03:55. He ascended the gantry at 05:15, and entered the spacecraft five minutes later. It was expected that liftoff would occur in another two hours and five minutes, so Shepard's suit did not have any provision for elimination of bodily wastes, but after being strapped into the capsule's seat, launch delays kept him in that suit for over four hours.Shepard's endurance gave out before launch, and he was forced to empty his bladder into the suit. Medical sensors attached to it to track the astronaut's condition in flight were turned off to avoid shorting them out. The urine pooled in the small of his back, where it was absorbed by his undergarment.After Shepard's flight, the space suit was modified, and by the time of Gus Grissom's Mercury-Redstone 4 suborbital flight in July, a liquid waste collection feature had been built into the suit.

Unlike Gagarin's 108-minute orbital flight in a Vostok spacecraft three times the size of Freedom 7, Shepard stayed on a suborbital trajectory for the 15-minute flight, which reached an altitude of 101.2 nautical miles (116.5 statute miles; 187.4 kilometers), and then fell to a splashdown 263.1 nautical miles (302.8 statute miles; 487.3 kilometers) down the Atlantic Missile Range.Unlike Gagarin, whose flight was strictly automatic, Shepard had some control of Freedom 7, spacecraft attitude in particular.Shepard's launch was seen live on television by millions. It was launched atop a Redstone rocket. According to Gene Kranz in his 2000 book Failure Is Not an Option, "When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the lowest bidder.'"  Plus this week in 1961 the number one song in LuLac land and America was “ A Hundred Pounds  Of  Clay “Gene McDaniels.