Lehigh Valley Rated 9th Worst-Paying Area For Women

According to The Philly City Biz List, women in the Lehigh Valley are only paid 72.6% what their male counterparts make. That explains why I'm doing so poorly in my new career as a gigolo. And I thought it was my looks.

Bethlehem's Move to Big Brother Government

My brother Mike was one of about three people on the entire frickin' planet with reservations about Bethlehem's brand new anti-discrimination ordinance, which passed unanimously last week.

It was nice to see another O'Hare make an idiot out of himself in the newspapers.

Unfortunately, I spoke to my brother last week. Now there are four people who think that ordinance is silly. It is unworkable, creates another layer of government we don't need, and amazingly creates a class (religious nuts) who are still allowed to discriminate.

Despite its passage, there's still prejudice and bigotry all over Bethlehem because City Council screwed it up. I'm hearing little rumors that they'll do it over, possibly on Friday. After that happens, Saint Liberace is supposed to descend from the heavens and give Johnny Casino a little peck.

It also creates a thought police force, which will subpoena your ass to ensure that all your thoughts are politically correct.

Big Brother government has taken a giant step forward in Bethlehem.

You can read more of my objections at Patch. Updated 11:30 AM - An anonymous commenter reports that City Council will meet on Friday, 5 PM, to correct its boo boo.

Patch: Mental Health, Not Politics, Should Be Real Issue in Tuscon Shooting

Later today, I'm going to introduce you to the right-wing maniac who disrupted a Bethlehem City Council meeting a few weeks ago. He is now being likened to the Tucson shooter. He looks pretty scary, huh? Not Karen Dolan's type, to be sure.

He's packin', but instead of a gun, it's something far more dangerous.

The Constitution.

Instead of playing cheap politics over this tragedy, why not deal with the real problem - a broken mental health system? That's the subject of my latest Patch column.

Think I'm wrong? Tell me at Patch.

Allentown's Motto: Sic Semper Tyrannis

The Liberty Bell Center for Constitutional Studies is a Lehigh Valley group of strict constructionists. Chairman Ryan Burgett submitted a letter to The Morning Call for publication, but the suits rejected it. I like it, and am proud to publish it here.

"'Sic Semper Tyrannis.' This phrase is nothing short of creepy. It was the phrase shouted by John Wilkes Booth as he shot Abraham Lincoln, and the phrase proudly written across Timothy McVeigh’s shirt when he was arrested. Many wrongly translate this phrase to mean “Death to Tyrants” but those who know history know that it actually means “Thus Always to Tyrants.” It is unfortunate that this phrase has been hijacked by crazy people throughout history when it is a perfectly legitimate phrase to be used by people. It is the state motto of Virginia and truth be told the motto of the city of Allentown. We have a government that has for years now stripped away at our privacy rights and wants more and more power to make decisions for us. That is tyranny. At the heart of tyranny is greed, greed by officials who want power and control and think they know better than the individual. But we know from history that greed always leads to destruction. It is time to resurrect this phrase and remind our officials from the local to the federal levels, that their greed will lead to destruction, Thus Always to Tyrants."

The phrase, of course, is originally attributed to Brutus, the last of a cabal of Roman Senators to plunge a knife into Julius Caesar.