The LuLac Edition #5, 354, Jume 13th, 2025

 

13

QUESTIONS

Our 13 questions logo

 

1. Baseball season is here and in play. What do you think of the Phillies slide recently?

They will come out of this I’m sure. What concerns me about streaks, especially during the Philadelphia slide is when a team goes on a losing streak automatically want to fire the manager.. I think that people sometimes make a big fuss over that and at some point regret it, especially when there is nobody in the wings to replace the chief.  The manager that is suffering through the streak is  just as worried  as the players.

 

2. What do you think of the defenders of the Los Angeles invasion of national troops by Trump when the Los Angeles police were taking care of business?

I have given up, trying to understand the psychosis of both Trump and his enablers. The fact is they listen to Fox and believe every single thing that they hear.Then they accuse thinking people of having been off their meds. In order to survive as a decent human being I try to see them as individuals and not as a mob. I think individually most people and I don’t wanna sound like Anne Frank here, but most people are good inside, But when they are inside as a group they tend to forget where they come from and look upon others with disdain.

 

3. I reread your Bobby Kennedy tribute from 2008 and to me it is one of the best pieces ever written about him, but my question is whatever happened to the seventh grade girlfriend?.

Well, thank you for the kind words. I really appreciate it. I remember that day very vividly.  when she graduated the eighth grade I believe her family moved to Maryland  The last I heard she became an airline stewardess and after that I lost touch with her. When her mom died I wrote out a card and dropped it off at the funeral parlor in Wyoming, where her mom was being buried from, But I didn’t see her then because I was going on a trip to the Bahamas that next day.

 

4. How about that Connie Francis song having a mergence?

I always kind of had a crush on Connie Francis and I was heartened to see her at the age of 87 get her due. A couple years ago Brenda Lee became famous all over again with her version, which is the best I believe of "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" so well the Internet blew up. It's great to see  career veterans who have been in obscurity given them new life.  I did see Connie Francis  at the Kirby how small  she was in stature But she could certainly belt out a song when I did see her  30 years ago

 

5. What do you think about the use of drones in the Ukrainian war with Russia?

I think they have to use everything at their disposal to actually stave off the Russian invasion. I don’t know how this is gonna end, but I pray every day that Ukraine somehow will survive, but that’s not gonna be a slam dunk.

 

6. How do you feel about the fact that some Democrats aren’t happy John Fetterman speaks to the press?

He’s always been his own guy and we have to remember that you can’t be as doctrinaire as most of the Republican Party is in their blind belief of the Trump fascism. That’s sad. I think we should concentrate on what the Republicans are doing rather than what a guy like Fetterman  is doing with agreeing once in a while with what the Republicans.

 

7. Summer is coming up the actual day that it starts. Do you agree that it is almost like a mixed bag of feelings on that day?

Absolutely we have like 90 days of summer to enjoy when it arrives, but the downside of that is that the days start to get shorter and when that happens, no matter how early,  you tend to think of  another winter is on its way. I know I sound like Charlie Brown by saying that, but I can’t help feeling  that way.

 

8. Why are there two separate Juneteenth celebrations of this year in Wilkes-Barre when Scranton is having one big one?

I am no longer affiliated as an officer of the NAACP. I still am a member and believe in principles, but you’ll have to contact the local branch to find out why there are two. There is an event on the actual day on Public Square and that starts at 5 on June 19th. 

 

9. I saw on Facebook that you had a great time on the jazz weekend. Are you a big fan of jazz?

Here’s what I do like about jazz.  I like it when they take a standard from the American songbook playbook or a contemporary version of a tune and turn it into a brassy bold version. What I don’t like is when you have an individual jazz performer that goes on a 20 minute riff of either drumming or whatever instrument they’re playing, To me I have a low attention span to put up with that. I respect the endurance as well as the talent in doing that but at the stage in my life I don’t really like to waste time with something that’s not  for me.

 

10. What do you think of the local state of newspapers in the city Wilkes-Barre.

Well, if someone pointed out to me, we are still the only town in the state where we have two daily newspapers. But I have to tell you that the Citizens' Voice really is suffering a little bit because of the content that they put in the paper. They have great columnist and great reporters, but in a section like the Public Square, they put a big story in from Out of town. The other thing is their customer service is located in I think Thailand or something like that so when you try to contact them, it’s a problem.

I’m not dissing them. I’m just giving you a version of what people are telling me and what I’ve seen in the paper. It takes me like maybe five minutes to get through it and growing up  I was used to in-depth stories that rarely exist these days.

 

11. You’re closing in on your kickoff of the weight loss anniversary. Any thoughts.

I’m grateful that I did change my life and I’m grateful that I am consistently staying at the goal that I set out back in the summer of 2019. There were a lot of  Cifff bars for lunch that summer.

 

12. What do you attribute to the increase in daily readership to Lulac?

The only thing that I could think of is curiosity about what the political landscape is. But to be honest with you, I don’t know. I’m grateful but couldn’t explain it if I tried.

 

13. It’s been about five or six years since you explained the logo above this page. I know there’s a song involved. Can you play it?

Your command is my wish. Your wish is my command.