The LuLac Edition #3309, September 29th, 2016

I’M NOT OFFENDED!!!!!!

(Logo: boldomatic.com)

Ah talk radio once more helps me mine the field for this Presidential campaign. Apparently the laundry list of factual things Donald Trump has posited now has fallen under the category of Americans being too offended by his comments. Many callers are telling the talk show hosts that Americans have become too touchy regarding comments made by politicians such as Donald Trump.
They are saying on air from their faulty little phones or caves they hide in that we’ve become too sensitive. We aren’t tough. We can’t take criticism or we can’t take the old shoot from the hip style of a no nothing who tells it like it is. Okay, I’ll play.
I’m am not offended by a candidate who says women are pigs.
I am not offended by someone who categorically lumps a religion into one big mess and calls for all of them to be barred from our country.
I am not offended by someone who calls Mexicans rapists. Now think about that for a minute. Did he have police reports? Did he have crime statistics and were any prosecuted? By his standard, then that means there are no Italian rapists, Polish rapists, Canadian rapists, British rapists?
I am not offended by someone who calls women names and makes comments about their physical appearance.
I am not offended by a guy who reportedly stuffs his face with Mash Potatoes on his private plane and makes comments about a beauty pageant winner who after attaining the crown gained weight. And the weight she gained was not unappealing. I love BBC America’s Katy Kaye who said the candidate should have a weigh in every day.
I am not offended when someone says our President was not really born in the United States and used it as a dog whistle to those uncomfortable with people of any color existing in the United States let alone being President.
I am not offended by the guy even taking credit for debunking it, 5 years after stoking the fires for it.
I am not offended by the way he has called our military a disaster and that the Generals are not that great either.
I am not offended by Trump saying that Lester Holt was biased in his questioning even though Holt was trying to get him back on track.
I am not offended when a Presidential candidate’s vocabulary consists of words like “disaster”. Does this man even know the meaning of the word disaster? A disaster is when your home gets flooded, a disaster is when your child dies. A disaster is when people are killed in a terrorists attack. This man has no idea what is truly a disaster.
I am not offended when he says that black Americans are living in the worst situations in their history.
Nope, I’m not offended by any of those statements at all.
See the definition of offended is resentful or annoyed, typically as a result of a perceived insult. In order to be resentful or annoyed, one must look to the source of the insult. One must care about that person’s opinion. One must respect that person’s “perceived insult” and then see if it came from “perceived intelligence”.
Nope, I’m not offended. I’m outraged. As well as most thinking Americans should be.
Your outrage should come from those statements made by Donald Trump. Your outrage should also be directed toward those people on the radio or in person who tell you that you are a wuss for being so offended.
I did last night after listening to a few blowhards. I took a breath, switched the radio to a little Carole King and just stopped being offended.
You can do it too. It’s easy. Just start getting outraged and call all these idiots out on election day with your votes. Then if their rejection comes, they canb be offended all they want!

DISSING THE WOMEN

 Alicia Machado (Photo: Pinterest)

I was intrigued when I heard Donald Trump himself as well as supporters the next day saying that his beauty pageant winner, Alicia Machado,  after all was in a competition that was all about beauty and she should not have gained weight. She should have understood that with her responsibilities she had to maintain herself at peak performance. Okay, I’ll buy into that….to a point.
There are certain people who plain and simple are athletes. Political. Artistic. Sports. Musical. Fashion. They work hard to maintain a level of excellence. That’s why we admire them.
But when a male sports figure gains a few pounds “he is slowing down”, “he has lost a little something”, “age is catching up to him” or “he’s not what he once was”. No public workouts, no name calling, no pejorative terms. No bullying terms.
With the emphasis these days in schools and in society on bullying, I cannot understand how any man or woman would elect the ultimate bully for President.

PICKING THE TEAM?

So the postmortem continues for the debate performance of Donald Trump. Aides are pointing the finger at each other saying that Trump should have had someone other than himself and a loose team of cronies to prepare for the debate. But see that thought process precisely point out why Trump assertions as to his leadership skills are a fraud.
Here’s why.
Donald Trump has said that in order to tackle problems and be a great President that he would pick the best people to help him run the country. Apparently before this debate Trump never picked the best person to help him take on an opponent Chris Christie. Interestingly enough after the debate it was announced Christie would help with the next one. If Trump was so “with it”, he should have done that prior to the big night.
There will be two more debates so Trump gets a do over. But when you are President, you don’t get do overs. International crisis aren’t debates. There are no second chances. If you claim you’ll pick the right people to help you, you better well damn be certain you have the right guy in place on day one.

TRUMP WRONG ON NAFTA

President George H.W. Bush signing NAFTA. See Bill Clinton anywhere? (Photo: USA Today)

So Donald Trump said it loud and wrong again. He said Bill Clinton was responsible for NAFTA. He wasn’t.
NAFTA dates back to 1990 as a trade pact among the three nations. American President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas were each responsible for spearheading and promoting the agreement in each others countries. During the 1992 debates, Ross Perot was talking about NAFTA as “that great sucking sound” of jobs leaving America. The trio signed the accord in ceremonial signings in the three participating capitals on December 17, 1992. Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd President thirty-four days after George H.W. Bush signed the NAFTA trade pact. Clinton asserted that there would have to be new job and environmental protections, and safeguards against sudden trade surges, but they could be settled without renegotiating the entire treaty with Mexico and Canada before he submitted implementing legislation.
Job losses, except those from the GOP economic disaster of 2008, came from Republican tax policies that reward corporations and companies that shipped Americans’ jobs overseas for dirt-cheap labor and tax-free profits; policies President Obama and Democrats have attempted to eliminate. Their efforts have been unsuccessful because Republicans blocked the Democrats legislation “insourcing” American jobs from overseas.
So before Trump starts screaming about NAFTA, he should check the facts.

JOE PETERS ENDORSES JOSH SHAPIRO

Scranton’s Joe Peters (Photo Facebook)

Longtime Republican Joe Peters, himself a candidate for Attorney General this year in Pennsylvania has endorsed Democrat Josh Shapiro for the office. Peters was the victim of a smear by State Senator John Rafferty who seems to be the presumptive favorite. What Peters support will mean is anyone’s guess but three things stand out about this.
1.Peters was treated badly by the Rafferty campaign linking the long time GOP stalwart to the misdeeds of Kathleen Kane. All the while Peters was trying to restore confidence in that office as a Kane appointee. No good deed goes unpunished, right?
2. Peters and his name have clout in the Lackawanna County area and beyond. That can only help Shapiro.
3. Shapiro has been more visible as late and the endorsement of someone with Joe Peters’ character and experience can only be a plus.

BARLETTA VOTES TO PROTECT OLYMPIC MEDALS FROM TAXATION

LEGISLATION PREVENTS IRS FROM TAXING MEDALS WON BY U.S. OLYMPIANS

Congressman Lou Barletta (Photo: Barletta office)

Congressman Lou Barletta backed legislation that prohibits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from taxing medals and awards won by Americans competing in the Olympics or Paralympics. The U.S. Olympic Committee currently awards each American athlete $25,000 for each gold medal, $15,000 for each silver, and $5,000 for each bronze. U.S. Paralympics receive $5,000 for a gold medal, $3,500 for silver, and $2,500 for bronze. Additionally, the medals themselves have market value based on the metal contained within them. Under today’s IRS regulations, those awards and medals are treated as income and subjected to federal taxation. The United States Appreciation for Olympians and Paralympians Act (H.R. 5946)removes the awards and medals from taxation, unless the athlete has an income in excess of $1 million. The legislation is retroactive to include the recently completed Olympics in Rio. The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 415-to-1 and now heads to the Senate, which has a similar bill.

MEDIA MATTERS

WNEP TV ON THE NETWORK

Scott Schaffer on the network Wednesday night. (Photo: Facebook)

So if you were watching the opening of the new program “Designated Survivor” on ABC this past Wednesday (last night) you saw Scott Schaffer, and Peggy Lee on camera representing a fictional TV network reporting on the news of a terrorist attack that put the new President in office.

LULAC WEIGHS IN ON MONDAY DEBATE TUESDAY MORNING 

ECTV

ECTV Live will feature information on the annual Berwick River Fest on its next series of programs during the week of October 3rd. 

 Nancy Sborz will join hosts David DeCosmo and Rusty Fender for the show which can be seen on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and runs three times daily throughout the week. The program is Directed by Mark Migilore.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE

This Week on Sunday Magazine
Magic 93's Frankie in the Morning speaks with local producer, writer and director Chris Fetchko, about his new film "All In Time".
Brian Hughes speaks with Bruce Spencer from Equines for Freedom about their work with veterans suffering from PTSD.
Frankie speaks with Mary McKenna about the Kevin Karl Music Foundation and their benefit Charity Golf Outing on Saturday Oct. 8th at the Wilkes Barre Municipal Golf Course.
And an encore of Brian's interview with Rich and Mary Clair from Telespond, who discuss their "Forget Me Not" Walk, coming up on Sunday at Nay Aug Park in Scranton Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5am on NASH-FM, 93.7, 5:30am on 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X and Sports Radio 590, WARM and 6:25am on Magi c 93.

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

SUE HENRY’S SPECIAL EDITION

Tune in to Sue Henry's "Special Edition" this week as Sue recaps the week's news. . The show will run Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. on WILK, and on KRZ, Froggy and Max 102 early Sunday morning.

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!”

KAREL ON THE STREET

Tune in Wednesdays on WILK Radio for Karel on the Street. Hear some of the funniest and heartwarming comments on the issues of the day on Webster and Nancy with Karel Zubris.

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP!!!!!

The Doo-Wop Sock Hop can be heard every Sunday night from 6P to 9P on “105 The River (104.9 FM) Host is the incomparable Bobby V. www.105theriver.net www.doowopsockhop.net.

1971

Our 1971 logo

Japanese Emperor Hirohito travels abroad….Cardinal József Mindszenty, who has taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest since 1956, is allowed to leave Hungary…….

A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian state of Odisha, kills 10,000…….Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida

in the Keystone State Hugh Scott said that his role as Senate Minority Leader is crucial in helping Richard Nixon fill Supreme Court vacancies……in Pittson Mayor Bob Loftus steadies the waters as Luzerne County Chairman as the sometimes contentious team of Ed Wideman and Frank Crossin seek re-election and forty five years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” by Joan Baez.