Save Mauch Chunk Lake

Last evening I attended a meeting of the Jim Thorpe Borough Council.  Members are discussing whether to change the zoning on a piece of property near Mauch Chunk Lake, currently used for recreation and water supply for the town.  Both the borough’s Planning Commission and the County Planners have rejected a proposed development along the lake.

In the past I served on the Planning Commission of Towamensing Township.  There is a procedure to follow.  Plans come before the Planning Commission.  The plans are also reviewed by the Carbon County Planners to see whether or not they are in compliance with the County plan.  After recommendations by those two bodies, the plans go before the governing body, which in most cases approves what the planner recommended.  

I never heard our Board of Supervisors propose a zoning change to accommodate a property owner who was denied by the planners.  In some cases the decision was appealed to a Zoning Hearing Board, but that in itself had legal procedures to be followed.

The Jim Thorpe Council is not following these procedures.  The Mayor, who only votes in case of a tie, stated publicly at the meeting that he would not vote for a zoning change if the issue came before him on a tie vote.  Only one Council member was willing to say she would oppose a zoning change.  All the others sat silently. 

"Pussy-assed bitch"

Republican House members are holding hearings with Twitter executives attempting to show that Biden tried to influence Twitter to censor certain stories.  The hearing showed that Biden had done nothing of the sort.  Unfortunately for the Republican cause, the hearing also brought to light Trump’s attempt to bully Twitter into removing a post from the model Crissy Teigen after she tweeted that Trump was a “pussy-assed bitch.” 

Twitter did not remove Teigen’s post, and now she got another bite of the apple.

Serrano v. Priest

In 1971 the California Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Serrano v. Priest that the state system of funding schools through property tax was unfair to children in districts with low property values.  Kids in those poor districts simply were not receiving an equal education

Now, 52 years later, a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge made a similar ruling on behalf of a number of districts where property values meant inadequate funding for kids in those districts.  One of the districts was Panther Valley in Carbon County.

Of course the Republican legislators, who for years have bleated about reforming property taxes, will now appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to allow the current unfair system to continue.  

No litter boxes in Palmerton schools

Did you ever know someone who said something so stupid that you just wanted to put your arm around his shoulder and say Bless Your Heart.  A Palmerton School Director recently paid for a sign on the town’s main street that said “No litter boxes.”  He was upset about transgender students and actually believed the internet spoof that some schools had installed litter boxes for students who self-identified as cats.  

Somebody needs to give this guy a hug and say, “Bless your heart.”

J.D. Vance to the rescue

A few days ago I thought about posting a call to all these buttholes who own assault rifles and ask why they didn’t go outside with their weapons, protect America, and shoot that nasty old Chinese balloon full of holes.

Then I heard that Sen. J. D. Vance posted a photo of himself carrying a gun and peering skyward.  A U.S. Senator!  This country needs therapy.

A real threat to American secuirity

Everyone’s worried about the balloon.  Perhaps they should worry more about six Navy ships that don’t serve the purpose for which they were built.  The Navy wanted to scrap them and spend the money on missiles that would actually be used in wartime.  The money saved would have been in the billions.  

Unfortunately a group of congress members (whom I’ll bet never were even in the Navy) and defense contractors have lobbied to keep the ships.  I know that this kind of behavior is neither new nor patriotic.  It is disgusting.

Dancing in Tehran

You can see a video of a young couple dancing in Tehran.  In the background you can see the Azadi Tower.  The girl, Astiyazjh Haghighi, 21, and the boy, Amir Mohammad Ahmasdi, 22, are obviously having fun; Astiyazjhj’s hair, uncovered, is flying as she is twirled.

They were sentenced to five years in prison for “seditious acts.”  Everywhere in the world there are people intent on stamping out joy, and in many cases they are running governments.