The LuLac Edition #5, 735, August 9th, 2026

 

 

 A MELANCHOLY GOODBYE.............

.to Victory Pig Pizza as a For Sale sign goes up on the property. "The Pig" served generations of pizza lovers with their square cut real tomato sauce and cheese.  To me it was all about the tomatoes. 

When I was in college our favorite waitress was Betty P. who was extremely patient with me, Gibson and Frank Chebalo who had his handy cancer sticks. When I started my job at City Hall in 2018 the first person I ran into was Betty who was paying a tax bill. 

We had a guy from the Junction who moved to Minnesota and when he came hone to Cliff street, after that his first stop was the Pig.   

The last time I was there was when Yankee Frank ordered and my it was grand. In later years The Pig went through COVID and recently had challenges with the place due to health and staff issues. It didn't help matters that Facebook zombies weighed in with negative comments that were way too judgmental and personal.  Rich and Tara did their best and I wish the two good health and smoother sailing ahead.

Monday night we had store bought PIG pizza. It was the same but not the same....if you get what I mean. Victory Pig was a constant for me at 280 plus pounds and 162 now. It was the same at  $10.00 bucks back in the a day and even at $30.00 a tray. It was part of life in NEPA. The constant will always be that a pizza fan would get their fix, their smile and always, always a generational memory to cherish.

Hey when a business life spans that long with a limited menu and small staff....that's an achievement to be proud of.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The LuLac Edition #5, 734, August 8th, 2026

 

JAMES MADISON

ARCHITECT OF

THE CONSTITUTION

James Madison was a Founding Father and the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Before his presidency, Madison was a statesman and diplomat. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

Madison participated in the debates concerning the Articles of Confederation[47] in November 1777, contributing to the discussion of religious freedom that affected the drafting of the Articles, though his signature was not required for adopting the Articles of Confederation. Madison had proposed liberalizing the article on religious freedom, but the larger Virginia Convention stripped the proposed constitution of the more radical language of "free expression" of faith to the less controversial mention of highlighting "tolerance" within religion.[48] Madison again served on the Council of State, from 1777 to 1779, when he was elected to the Second Continental Congress, the governing body of the United States.

During Madison's term in Congress from 1780 to 1783, the U.S. faced a difficult war against Great Britain, along with runaway inflation, financial troubles, and a lack of cooperation between the different levels of government. According to historian J. C. A. Stagg, Madison worked to become an expert on financial issues, emerging as a legislative workhorse and a master of parliamentary coalition building.  Frustrated by the failure of the states to supply needed requisitions, Madison proposed to amend the Articles of Confederation to grant Congress the power to independently raise revenue through tariffs on imports. Although General George Washington, Congressman Alexander Hamilton, and other leaders also favored the tariff amendment, it failed to win the ratification of all thirteen states.  While a member of Congress, Madison was an ardent supporter of a close alliance between the United States and France. As an advocate of westward expansion, he insisted that the new nation must ensure its right to navigation on the Mississippi River and control of all lands east of it in the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War. Following his term in Congress, Madison won election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1784.

Leading up to the 1787 ratification debates for the Constitution,[69] Madison worked with other members of the Virginia delegation, especially Edmund Randolph and George Mason, to create and present the Virginia Plan, an outline for a new federal constitution.It called for three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial), a bicameral Congress (consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives) apportioned by population, and a federal Council of Revision that would have the right to veto laws passed by Congress. The Virginia Plan did not explicitly lay out the structure of the executive branch, but Madison himself favored a strong single executive. Many delegates were surprised to learn that the plan called for the abrogation of the Articles and the creation of a new constitution, to be ratified by special conventions in each state, rather than by the state legislatures. With the assent of prominent attendees such as Washington and Benjamin Franklin, the delegates agreed in a secret session that the abrogation of the Articles and the creation of a new constitution was a plausible option and began scheduling the process of debating its ratification in the individual states.   As a compromise between small and large states, large states got a proportional House, while the small states got equal representation in the Senate.

After the Philadelphia Convention ended in September 1787, Madison convinced his fellow congressmen to remain neutral in the ratification debate and allow each state to vote on the Constitution. Those who supported the Constitution were called Federalists; that included Madison. Opponents of the Constitution, known as Anti-Federalists, began a public campaign against ratification.[ In response, starting in October 1787, Hamilton and John Jay, both Federalists, began publishing a series of pro-ratification newspaper articles in New York.After Jay dropped out of the project, Hamilton approached Madison, who was in New York on congressional business, to write some of the essays. The essays were published under the pseudonym of Publius. The trio produced 85 essays known as The Federalist Papers. The 85 essays were dd into two parts: 36 letters against the Articles of Confederation, and 49 letters that favored the new Constitution. The articles were also published in book form and used by the supporters of the Constitution in the ratifying conventions. Federalist No. 10, Madison's first contribution to The Federalist Papers, became highly regarded in the 20th century for its advocacy of representative democracy.  In it, Madison describes the dangers posed by the majority factions and argues that their effects can be limited through the formation of a large republic. He theorizes that in large republics the large number of factions that emerge will control their influence because no single faction can become a majority. In Federalist No. 51, he explains how the separation of powers between three branches of the federal government, as well as between state governments and the federal government, establishes a system of checks and balances that ensures that no one institution would become too powerful.

As the Virginia ratification convention began, Madison focused on winning the support of the relatively small number of undecided delegates. His long correspondence with Randolph paid off at the convention, as Randolph announced that he would support unconditional ratification of the Constitution, with amendments to be proposed after ratification. Though former Virginia governor Patrick Henry gave several persuasive speeches arguing against ratification, Madison's expertise on the subject he had long argued for allowed him to respond with rational arguments to Henry's anti-Federalist appeals.[88] Madison was also a defender of federal veto rights and, according to historian Ron Chernow "pleaded at the Constitutional Convention that the federal government should possess a veto over state laws". in his final speech to the ratifying convention, Madison implored his fellow delegates to ratify the Constitution as it had been written, arguing that failure to do so would lead to the collapse of the entire ratification effort, as each state would seek favorable amendments. On June 25, 1788, the convention voted 89–79 in favor of ratification. The vote came a week after New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, securing the Constitution's adoption and a new form of government. The following January, Washington was elected the nation's first president.

During the first Congress, Madison took the lead in advocating for several constitutional amendments to the Bill of Rights. His primary goals were to fulfill his 1789 campaign pledge and to prevent the calling of a second constitutional convention, but he also hoped to safeguard the rights and liberties of the people against broad actions of Congress and individual states. He believed that the enumeration of specific rights would fix those rights in the public mind and encourage judges to protect them. After studying more than two hundred amendments that had been proposed at the state ratifying conventions,  Madison introduced the Bill of Rights on June 8, 1789. His amendments contained numerous restrictions on the federal government and would protect, among other things, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful assembly. While most of his proposed amendments were drawn from the ratifying conventions, Madison was largely responsible for proposals to guarantee freedom of the press, protect property from government seizure, and ensure jury trials.  He also proposed an amendment to prevent states from abridging "equal rights of conscience, or freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases".

To prevent a permanent standing federal army, Madison proposed the Second Amendment, which gave state-regulated militia groups and private citizens, the "right to bear arms". Madison and the Republicans desired a free government to be established by the consent of the governed, rather than by national military force.

Madison's Bill of Rights faced little opposition; he had largely co-opted the Anti-Federalist goal of amending the Constitution but had avoided proposing amendments that would alienate supporters of the Constitution.] His amendments were mostly adopted by the House of Representatives as proposed, but the Senate made several changes.[ Madison's proposal to apply parts of the Bill of Rights to the states was eliminated, as was his change to the Constitution's preamble which he thought would be enhanced by including a prefatory paragraph indicating that governmental power is vested by the people. He was disappointed that the Bill of Rights did not include protections against actions by state governments,[c] but the passage of the document mollified some critics of the original constitution and shored up his support in Virginia. Ten amendments were finally ratified on December 15, 1791, becoming known in their final form as the Bill of Rights.

Madsion was a consequential President with great experience, serving as Secretary of State,  the defender of the country during the War of 812 as well as the architect of the Constitution.

Madison's health slowly deteriorated through the 1830s. He died of congestive heart failure at Montpelier on the morning of June 28, 1836, at the age of 85. According to one common account of his final moments, he was given his breakfast, which he tried eating but was unable to swallow. His favorite niece, Nellie Madison Willis, who sat by to keep him company, asked him, "What is the matter, Uncle James?" Madison died immediately after he replied, "Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear." He was buried in the family cemetery at Montpelier.  He was one of the last prominent members of the Revolutionary War generation to die, (wikipedia,m LuLac) 

 

 

The LuLac Edition #5, 733 August 6th, 2026

 

LOCAL DEMS EVENTS 

The Luzerne County Democratic party had a pot luck supper at their headquarters on Sunday right across from Redeemer High. The turnout was big for a Sunday afternoon and tells you the Dems are in this election for success.

 

MEANWHILE ON WEDNESDAY

Friends and Wilkes-Barre residents came out  for a Meet and Greet with Democrat Jessica McClay.  The crowd was/is  enthusiastic in their support of McClay who is running to succeed Eddie Day Pashinski. 

It was great to see the candidate at the Meet and Greet at Senunas'.  I enjoyed my customary Diet Coke and chatted with some of the most committed Democrats ever. 

Kathleen Hannon 6th district chair, Luzerne County Council member Denise Williams and the MVP of door knocking, John Joseph Bryan were in the 

 house.

 

Here's Dr. Alan Frank with the candidate and then one with me.   

 

The good doctor is my FB wingman when the MAGA ingrates spout their lies. 

As you can see the sun is shining brightly  on tese two Dems, State committeeman Thom Shubilla and Audrey Serniak. 

 

 

 

 

 

UFC EVENT AT WHITE HOUSE DIRT

TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE UFC SPECTACLE LOST $30 MILLION, COMPANY REVEALS

The June event, held to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, featured a specially built 4,300-seat arena at the White House. So this genius businessman who worked “deals” throughout his business life, like going bankrupt 6 times was going to make this a success?

Trump is like a puppy. He lives in the moment. With a puppy it’s cute but with a President, it is downright dangerous.

 

 

TRUMP GUTS

HEAD START

President Donald Trump’s administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of Head Start that would gut its quality standards, upending the hallmarks of the early education program for impoverished children, two people familiar with the deliberations said.

Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard early learning program. Its regulations, which stretch more than 100 pages, outline requirements on everything from child-to-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.

Trump’s Republican administration would replace those regulations with around a dozen pages of rules, leaving most of the specifics up to state and local law, said the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not yet public and because they feared reprisal.

the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, said to expect a rule to be published this week. The administration “remains committed to strengthening Head Start by preserving federal investment in the program while advancing reforms that expand access, increase local flexibility, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and ensure services are delivered effectively to children and families in need,” department spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Monday in an email.

The draft rules would require more documentation from parents who are homeless or unemployed, the people familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press. An early version of the proposal also would have barred parents who are in the United States illegally from enrolling their children, even if the children are U.S. citizens. It’s unclear whether those provisions will make the final draft.

Head Start, which operates in all 50 states, has long enjoyed robust bipartisan support. But some prominent conservatives in recent years have called for its elimination, saying the federal government should get out of the education business at every level. Deregulating the program would deliver a win for them and aligns with the Trump administration’s goals of scrapping rules it views as onerous or unnecessary.

Head Start serves more than half a million low-income babies, toddlers and preschoolers nationwide. For families that qualify, it offers free preschool and screenings to identify developmental delays. It also offers supports for families.  (AP, The Bullwark) 

 

RACHEL WALLACE CALLS ON MEUSER TO DEBATE IN PA-09 RACE

WEEKS AFTER INVITATIONS FROM TWO MEDIA OUTLETS, MEUSER STILL MUM

Rachel Wallace, candidate for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 9th District, today called for at least two debates with incumbent U.S. Representative Dan Meuser (PA-09) in the lead-up to November’s midterm elections.

Her call comes weeks after local media outlets WVIA and WGAL invited Wallace and Meuser to participate in debates.Wallace has accepted both invitations, while Meuser has yet to agree to either debate.

“More than a month ago, two media outlets asked whether I would debate Dan Meuser, and I immediately said yes,” Wallace said. “As of this week, Meuser still has not accepted either invitation, and so I’m calling on him to join for both debates. The issues facing our district are too important for voters not to hear directly from both candidates and know exactly where we stand.”

Wallace’s call for debates comes amid growing scrutiny of Meuser’s lack of presence in the district. Meuser does not live in PA-09 and is registered to vote in PA-08, the congressional district currently represented by Rob Bresnahan. Local media has also pressed Meuser recently about his lack of public appearances and unstaffed offices throughout the district.

Wallace has held two town halls since launching her campaign last year, along with open campaign events across the 12 counties that make up PA-09. Meuser, a four-term incumbent, has never held a town hall in the district.

Meuser is on the air with friendly MAGAs. Time to face the people.

 

 

POSSIBLE GREEN PARTY FOR 8^th RACE?

Nope, Deadlines passed.  

 

SABATO’S CRYSTAL BALL MOVES PA-08 TO “TOSS-UP” AS MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO GROW BEHIND PAIGE COGNETTI’S CAMPAIGN

WITH THIS SHIFT, ALL THREE RACE RATERS HAVE MOVED THE RACE IN PAIGE’S FAVOR TO “TOSS UP”

Non-partisan race rater Sabato’s Crystal Ball today shifted their rating of Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District to “Toss Up” as momentum continues to build behind Paige Cognetti’s campaign to clean up a broken Washington and unseat prolific stock trader and self-serving Congressman Rob Bresnahan.

With Sabato’s shift, all three race raters have now rated the race as a “Toss Up.” Sabato’s shift follows updates from race raters Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, who similarly moved the race in Paige’s favor from “Lean Republican” to “Toss-Up” over the last few months. In their update, Inside Elections cited Bresnahan’s “finances” and “health care issues,” while Cook Political Report noted Bresnahan’s “self-inflicted” wounds, including his “stock trades [that] have dogged him all cycle,” and Paige’s unique “political brand,” running for mayor as an independent in 2019 to take on the corrupt Democratic machine in Scranton.

These changes reflect a growing momentum behind Paige’s campaign, which has received the endorsement of over a dozen unions and labor groups and Governor Shapiro, who won Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District by more than 9 percentage points during his statewide victory in 2022. Public polling shows Paige leading Bresnahan in this toss-up race.

 

SHAPIRO ADMINISTRATION TO HIGHLIGHT ADDITIONAL $6 MILLION IN 2026-27 BUDGET TO FUND CRITICAL EQUIPMENT UPGRADES FOR PENNSYLVANIA EMS AGENCIES

Department of Health Deputy Secretary Shane Lockwood visited   Cetronia Ambulance Corps in the Lehigh Valley to highlight how an additional $6 million in funding from the Shapiro Administration will allow Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies to purchase state-of-the-art medical and safety equipment.

The event emphasized  Governor Josh Shapiro's continued commitment to build and equip the EMS workforce of tomorrow. In partnership with Pennsylvania's 13 regional EMS councils, this additional allocation from the EMS Operating Fund (EMSOF) builds on the Shapiro Administration's total investment of more than $79 million since 2023.

The additional funding in the recently-signed 2026-27 budget, will be used to purchase modern equipment for EMS professionals, such as video laryngoscopes, automatic external defibrillators and intravenous (IV) pumps, ensuring they have the most up-to-date tools to enhance the quality and efficiency of emergency care in Pennsylvania.

 

MEDIA MATTERS

WVIANEWS 

LOCAL NEWS

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

POPE PAUL VI DIES

August 1978

At 9:41 in the evening local time, Pope Paul VI died at his residence at Castel Gandolfo in Italy. The Pope, who had guided the Roman Catholic church for 15 years, received communion from his bed during the 6:00 Sunday mass and then suffered a massive heart attack. He remained lucid and, an hour before his death, said that he felt dizzy. Jean-Marie Villot, the Vatican Secretary of State, temporarily assumed the duties of administering the Church until a successor could be elected.

Because of his career as a diplomat, the Cardinal of Milan and as an adviser of Popes Pius XII and John the XXIII Cardinal Montini was generally seen as the most likely papal successor, owing to his closeness to both Popes 

Pius XII and John XXIII, as well as his pastoral and administrative background, his insight, and his determination.  John XXIII had previously known the Vatican as an official until his appointment to Venice as a papal diplomat, but returning to Rome at age 66, he may at times have felt uncertain in dealing with the professional Roman Curia. Montini, on the other hand, had learned its innermost workings while working in it for a generation.

Unlike the papabile cardinals Giacomo Lercaro of Bologna and Giuseppe Siri of Genoa, Montini was identified neither left nor right nor as a radical reformer. He was viewed as most likely to continue the Second Vatican Council, which had adjourned without tangible results.

In the conclave after John XXIII's death, Montini was elected pope on the sixth ballot on 21 June. When the Dean of the College of Cardinals Eugène Tisserant asked if he accepted the election, Montini said "Accepto, in nomine Domini" ("I accept, in the name of the Lord"). He took the name "Paul VI" in honor of Paul the Apostle.

At one point during the conclave on 20 June, it was said that Cardinal Gustavo Testa lost his temper and demanded that opponents of Montini halt their efforts to thwart his election. Montini, fearful of causing strife, started to rise to dissuade the cardinals from voting for him, but Cardinal Giovanni Urbani dragged him back, muttering, "Eminence, shut up!"

The white smoke first rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at 11:22 am, when Protodeacon Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani announced to the public the successful election of Montini. When the new pope appeared on the central loggia, he gave the shorter episcopal blessing as his first apostolic blessing rather than the longer, traditional Urbi et Orbi.

Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit six continents. He was also the first pontiff to travel on an airplane, visit the Holy Land on pilgrimage, and travel outside Italy in a century. He travelled more widely than any of his predecessors, earning the nickname "the Pilgrim Pope". He visited the Holy Land in 1964 and participated in Eucharistic congresses in Bombay, India, and Bogotá, Colombia. In 1966, he was twice denied permission to visit Poland for the thousandth anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in Poland. In 1967, he visited the shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal on the fiftieth anniversary of the apparitions there. He undertook a pastoral visit to Uganda in 1969,the first by a reigning pope to Africa. Pope Paul VI became the first reigning pontiff to visit the Western hemisphere when he addressed the United Nations in New York City in October 1965.[e] As the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating, Paul VI pleaded for peace before the U.N.:

is papacy was marked by reform, ecumenism, social justice, and liturgical renewal.

Among his accomplishments Paul VI presided over the Council’s three sessions (1962–1965), fostering dialogue among bishops and encouraging the Church to engage more openly with the modern world while preserving tradition Vatican. He emphasized communion, mutual respect, and the Church’s mission in the contemporary context.

He championed the use of the vernacular in Mass, making worship more accessible and participatory www.thecatholicvoice.com. His first encyclical, Ecclesiam Suam (1964), introduced the “dialogue of salvation” approach, encouraging mutual exchange between the Church and the world Vatican.

Paul VI promoted unity among Christian denominations and with other religions, fostering mutual respect and cooperation www.thecatholicvoice.com.

He emphasized the dignity of every person, especially the poor, and called for peace, fairness, and respect for human rights www.thecatholicvoice.com. He instituted the World Day of Peace and issued Populorum Progressio (1967), urging societies to support the dignity and rights of all people Vatican+1.

In Humanae Vitae (1968), he reaffirmed the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life and the natural law in marriage, encouraging responsible love and family life www.thecatholicvoice.com.

He began regular papal journeys, including a historic meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the Holy Land Vatican. He also addressed global issues, such as labor rights, in public appearances.

Paul also made Mandatory retirement for the age of priests at 75. The Pope promoted 143 men to Cardinal in a 15 year reign. The successive three popes were created cardinals by him. 

His immediate successor, Albino Luciani, who took the name Pope John Paul I, was created a cardinal in the consistory of 5 March 1973. Karol Józef Wojtyła (later Pope John Paul II) was created a cardinal in the consistory of 26 June 1967. 

Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) was made a cardinal in the small four-appointment consistory of 27 June 1977 that was the Pope's last.

Pope Paul VI left the Vatican to go to the papal summer residence, the Palace of Castel Gandolfo, on 14 July 1978, On Sunday, 6 August, at the Feast of the Transfiguration, he was tired, but wanted to say the Angelus. He was neither able nor permitted to do so and instead stayed in bed, his temperature rising.  From his bed he participated in Sunday Mass at 18:00. After receiving communion, the Pope suffered a massive heart attack, after which he lived on for three more hours. On 6 August 1978 at 21:41, Paul VI died in Castel Gandolfo. Before he died, the pontiff had been lucid after the first heart attack. An hour before his death, he said he felt dizzy and asked those present to continue the prayers in his stead. Present at his bedside at the time of his death were Cardinal Jean-Marie Villot, Bishop Giuseppe Caprio, and his personal secretary Pasquale Macchi, as well as two nuns and his personal physician. By the time the Pope died, he was already confined to bed due to a flare up in his chronic joint arthritis and could not get up to personally celebrate the Mass.  Upon the initial heart attack, the Pope was immediately given oxygen; however, the Holy See indicated that his heart condition was aggravated by a pulmonary edema, or the seeping of fluid into the lungs.

Pope Benedict XVI, citing his heroic virtue, proclaimed him venerable on 20 December 2012. Pope Francis beatified Paul VI on 19 October 2014, after the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession. His liturgical feast was celebrated on the date of his birth, 26 September, until 2019 when it was changed to the date of his priestly ordination, 29 May.[  Pope Francis canonized him on 14 October 2018.  Plus this week in 1978 the number obe song in LuLac land and America was “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones.