One of the first citizens to speak in the citizens’ participation segment of the evening was Lee Morgan. Morgan discussed his concerns with the Scranton City pensions crisis, as he does not feel the state will be able to solve it. In fact, he suggested they are only going to make matters worse. He also spoke at length about the state of the country, and Pennsylvania, and how both parties were to blame. Morgan also spoke positively about 2016 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, and his entrance into the race.
So what did Santa do with the toys? What every Santa does. He bundles them up to give them to children to make them happy. Surprisingly, the happiest one was Santa himself as he watched their beaming faces!
The U.S. electoral system is a farce. It is controlled with the same mastery with which Coke and Pepsi dominate the soda market. It is sold to the American public as if the free and open exchange of ideas is what’s inside, but the hidden ingredients are toxic to the body politic. The story of Election 2014 will be how Libertarians (and some Independents) were, and will continue to be, a deciding factor in statewide elections despite the constant roadblocks. No longer polling at 1–2 percent, the jump to the 6–8 percent range looks to rewrite the political playbook that campaign workers have used for generations.
Grab a bucket, mild soap, a sponge mop, and a hose — your front porch and windows/screens often need a biannual wash down. If you don’t have a hose hookup to wash down the front of your home, then barter with a neighbor who has one or offer to pay them a few bucks for water usage — if you lease your home, ask your landlord for permission and help — you don’t need a city permit to wash down your home if you or a family member are doing the job yourselves. Cleaning windows and screens makes a huge difference in the street appeal of our homes. If minor repairs or some paint are needed, you can do this after the wash-down task is totally dry.
However, in living the vows, I have discovered great fulfillment and joy. Likewise, for the past ten years, I have been living as a committed Carmelite. My life is dedicated to loving service, and to intense inner prayer. As Carmelites, we pray for the needs of the world, and take the world’s suffering as our own. We strive to spread Christ’s love in simple ways by living in God’s presence from moment to moment. Living as a Carmelite has brought me supreme happiness!
People, on all sides of the aisle, generally treat politics like sports — when a person’s favorite team is up to bat, it doesn’t matter whether that team is better or worse than the opposition, it just matters that it’s their team. Herein lies the problem, and the topic for this month’s column.
On September 11th, 2014, it will be 13 years since the terrorist attacks. It was the most horrible day that we will never forget. To all the innocent people that died, let me say, Eternal Memory and Blessed Repose.
I have written on all of these aspects extensively, explaining that a terrorist determination is not as simple as just labeling a certain group of people as such for whatever reason and claiming “they are terrorists.” Since that topic is not the primary focus of this article and so as not to spend too much time on it, yet give you a little context, know that YOU very well might be labeled as a “possible terrorist” by the U.S. government. It comes down to certain criteria that have been laid out, and if you meet those criteria, you make that watchlist.
Plenty has been written about the United States Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, from defending religious freedom to free speech. Instead of repeating those angles, I’d like to look at the raw text of the June 30 decision. First, the Court was not considering the constitutionality of the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but, rather, whether the provision violated established law.