Buffalo

You are probably tired of hearing me rail against Facebook and “social media,” but I have to ask:  Where do you think that guy would have posted his “manifesto” if there were no social media?  Where do you think he got those crazy racist ideas?  

I might also ask where he got his license to possess a firearm?  Where did he take his gun safety course, and did he pass the test?  Oh, I forgot, we don’t have to take a course or get a license.

The pastor of Linda’s church pointed out that when he does a funeral there are usually about 35 people who attend.  Relatives, classmates, friends, co-workers all show up and are affected.  Multiply 35 times ten and you have 350 people whose lives have been affected in a negative way.

Susan Wild event

Carbon County is currently represented in the House of Representatives by Dan Meuser.  Meuser can best be described as furniture.  He’s a rich guy who moved into the district and bought a seat in the House.  He has no new ideas, is not bright, supports Trump, and thinks the election in which he won office was rigged.

The good news is that the reapportionment places Carbon in a district represented by Susan Wild.  Ms. Wild is everything you’d want in a member of Congress–caring, intelligent, competent, fair.  Two Republicans are vying to run against her in the fall.  Neither is qualified.

Today we had a “meet and greet” for Rep. Wild in Lehighton.  The venue was packed with voters who will do our best to see Ms. Wild re-elected next November.  She deserves re-election, and we deserve a member of Congress who will actually represent us.

Fetterman vs. Lamb

The Times ran an article today about the Democratic race in Penna. for the U.S. Senate seat.  The gist of the story was that while the Party establishment favored Lamb as the “safe” candidate, Fetterman was way ahead in the polls.  In a candidate debate, Lamb brought up an incident in which Fetterman heard gunfire and chased a guy.  Fetterman held the guy until the police arrived.  Lamb and the third candidate, Malcolm Kenyatta, pointed out that Fetterman had a shotgun and the guy was black.

I think this gained Fetterman votes.  Here’s a guy who cares about his town.  (He is mayor of Braddock, where this occurred.)  He has a shotgun.  He’s not afraid to get involved.  

I do like Lamb.  He would make a good U.S. Senator.  So would Kenyatta.  Any Democrat is so much better than the clowns running on the Republican side.  “I’m pro-gun.  I’ll stop illegals.  Biden is terrible.  I shot people in Iraq.  Trump likes me best.”  It is really pathetic.

Teaching assignment on township history

Tomorrow I’m teaching a lesson on Towamensing Township history to a group of 6th graders.  Am I nervous?  Just a little.  I’ve done this before pre-Covid, but I don’t know how well I relate to students that age.  On the other hand, it’s been my experience that most students are reasonable and polite.  

I also have a bunch of props and a handout.  It should go ok, he said, fingers crossed.

Ithaca, N.Y.: A report

We spent yesterday in Ithaca, a wonderful town at the south end of Lake Cayuga, the longest of the Finger Lakes.  Ithaca is the home of Cornell University, an Ivy League campus with an excellent reputation and about 25,000 students.  The town and campus not only have amazing architectural wonders, but Ithaca is also bisected by a number of deep gorges that contain spectacular waterfalls.  We saw two of the falls (Buttermilk and Ithaca), had lunch at the town commons, hiked on the trail at the ornithology lab, and drove around the campus. 

Unfortunately the paleontology center museum was closed.  Who closes a museum on Tuesdays and Wednesdays?  I’ll have to go back.

The world they are born into

I don’t think I have ever heard an anti-abortion activist talk about the world into which children are born.  You would think this would matter to them.  Those children will face global warming, species extinction, population migrations, authoritarian governments, and so many other issues.  Why does their concern end with birth?  This seems to me to be awfully callous.  On the other hand, the anti-abortion people also don’t care about women.

Note:  Tomorrow we are headed to Ithaca, NY, to see Buttermilk Falls, the Cornell Ornithology Lab, and the Art Museum.  I’ll have my Air Book, but I probably won’t be able to figure out how to post.

Mayor Koch was lonely

Really?  Today the New York Times printed a long front-page article about former New York Mayor Ed Koch, discussing his sexual orientation and the fact that he kept his sexual preferences a secret.  Mayor Koch died in 2013.  

Why is this in the New York Times?  On the front page?  How is this worthy of the ink it took to print?  Surely there are more important news stories.  Standards are in decline everywhere.