Julian Stolz: He's Baaaack

Julian Stolz, a DeSales student and school board member somewhere, is now flying solo at a blog he calls Lehigh Valley Throwdown. Stolz, whose email address starts with "Stolz4LehighCounty," is politically ambitious. But I have to admire publicly elected officials who participate in the raucous give and take of the blogosphere. He joins Allentown city council member Michael Donovan (Inclusion) and Lynn Township Supervisor Dave Najarian (Northern Lehigh Valley Logic). Both of those blogs have been a public service.

Why Didn't I Think of This?

EASTON A Bethlehem woman who made her then-7-year-old son pose as a Cub Scout to solicit money for a bogus camping trip said she wants to be reunited with her son.

The real estate industry is real slow these days. I know a few little brats who will go along with this money-making idea, but they want fifty per cent of the take for Ipods.

Northampton County Fires Two Popular Deputies

If you're a Bethlehem cop, you'll be required to qualify with your weapon at least once every year. That makes sense. But did you know that Northampton County deputy sheriffs must qualify twice every year? Because two older deputies failed to qualify at a shooting range from 25 yards, they were recently given their walking papers.

Are deputy sheriffs even cops? There are numerous decisions going both ways, and the extent of their authority is murky. Legislation has been proposed to make clear that deputies have the same clout as regular cops - HB 466 - but it has been languishing in the Judiciary Committee since February, 2007.

Northampton County has employed two older gentlemen, Sam Senneca and Joe Peake, as deputy sheriffs for many years. Both are extremely popular. Sam, who is about twenty feet tall, was always stationed in the bullpen with prisoners waiting to go to court. He never carried a gun. He never needed one.

But when Sam and Joe "failed" to qualify with their pistols, they were unceremoniously shown the door by some high-ranking deputy impressed with his own importance. Neither was even given an opportunity to say good-bye.

Firearms' qualifications should only be one of many factors to consider in evaluating the performance of a deputy sheriff. By any other measure, from intelligence to personality, both of these gentlemen excel. I seriously question whether someone - a hangover from the Deputy ("Bend Over") Kunkel days - is just trying to shove them aside to make room for one of his pals.

High-ranking county officials are trying to find employment for Sam and Joe in some other capacity. They should. The real value in Northampton County comes from its workforce, not its pretty new courthouse.

Charlie Dent Part of BiPartisan Majority Voting to Extend G.I. Benefits

One chilly morning a few months ago, I was walking the dog along a lonely trail at Jacobsburg State Park. A fleet-footed runner flew past me, but suddenly stopped after passing me. My dog had broken off the leash and wanted to meet this fellow. The runner stopped, enjoying his new canine pal. I caught up a few minutes later.

"Are you Ramblings?"

I couldn't believe this young man actually spends his time reading my blog. Maybe he was a hit man, but I had a fierce five pound dog with me, so I fessed up.

"God bless your daughter."

He had read about my daughter being sent to Iraq and told me he had been there himself. His brother was going for the third time, volunteering to take the place of a fellow soldier whose wife just had a baby. He told me this very quietly, like it was nothing.

Self-absorbed person that I am, I forgot to thank this quiet hero until he was gone. Fortunately, the U.S. Congress is showing some of the gratitude that I should have displayed.

Better yet, Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent (R Pa. 15) is one of them. He is among the 256 members of congress who voted yesterday to expand G.I. benefits for active-duty soldiers. He joins 32 House Republicans to restore educational assistance once extended to returning WWII vets.

This legislation has the support of left-leaning organizations like The American Legion.

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is concerned this measure might hurt military retention because benefits accrue after only three years of service, but American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser counters this will actually lead to an increase in recruitment.

President Bush has also belly-ached that the $2 billion per year cost is too expensive, but Commander Conatser has an answer for that, too. "Visit Walter Reed. War is expensive indeed and the bulk of that cost is paid for by the men and women who wear the uniform. Benefits are just a small, small cost of war."

Of the eight Republican members of the Pennsylvania House delegation, Dent is joined by Philip English (R Pa 3), Timothy Murphy (R Pa 18) and Todd Platts (R Pa 19) in voting for the soldiers instead of their party.

Main Obstacle to New G.I. Bill? - W

Did you know that college education benefits under the G.I Bill today are not as expansive as they were after World War II? Veterans of that little war, including my dad, received full tuition, fees, books, a monthly stipend and reimbursements for training expenses.

These days, former active-duty soldiers get around $10,000 to cover tuition, books and housing. "It’s definitely not enough money,” says a PSU student who served in Iraq. “If I didn’t have those scholarships, I would be a lot more in debt, and it’d be hard to make those ends meet.”

Today, the US House may vote to expand those benefits back to where they were at the end of WWII. They would kick in for anyone who served for three years, but presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is concerned that the military will lose too many soldiers unless the time period is six or possibly even twelve years.

Bush has threatened to veto the measure, claiming the $2 billion per year cost is too high. If he's so concerned about cost, why are we fighting a war that costs $341.4 million per day?

In Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District alone, we will be paying $1.2 billion for the total Iraq war funding to date. That sum of money would have paid for 25,000 police officers or free health care for half of the district.

And really, the cost of that war is not being paid with dollars and cents, but by the soldiers who've lost their lives.

The least we can do is send them to school.

If You Were King, How Would You Solve Allentown Crime?

Oh, for Pete's Sake, one of the many interesting people who comment here, has a suggestion.

Allentown needs solutions, not more analysis. This past April, Lehigh Valley Somebody ran a great post asking readers for idea for the Americus Hotel building, and there were some interesting, well-thought-out comments. Perhaps you could ask similarly for ideas from your readers as to how to constructively tackle Allentown's crime issues? You will probably have to remove a few useless, offensive comments, but I think some pretty good ideas will come through, too. Everyday citizens who actually live and work with this issue can be a valuable source on information, but all too often their voices are drowned out by community leaders who aren't really in touch, although their intentions are good.

Any ideas? More police? If so, how does Allentown pay for them without increasing taxes? Getting kids more involved in youth activities like basketball or boxing?

In March, super blogger Pam Varkony attended a crime watch meeting, and distilled Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski's approach to public safety.

** The APD will be back up to "full compliment of 211 by September. It's not like Mayberry. We can't stick a badge on someone and send them out there."

** 100 sophisticated wireless cameras will be distributed throughout the city by the end of the summer. The activity seen by these cameras shows on 12 screens at the Communications Center. Additional dispatchers are being hired.

** New "shot recognition" technology will cover an approx. 2 mile radius in the "bad areas" of the city. The technology is being paid for in great part by the city's 20% cut of $1.2 million confiscated in a drug bust.

** "Engaging the community" is a key piece to fighting crime. Using the city's churches and faith based initiatives, citizen patrols will be trained to monitor their neighborhoods.

** The administration and APD have developed a strategy of focusing on "hot spots"; places that are frequent sources of 911 calls. There were 512 calls from the Hotel Traylor in an 18 month period. Since the "hot spot" program has been in place, there have been "almost no calls at this location".

** "Almost 1/3 of the APD is made up of new officers. We are training a new breed of police officer to get back out on the street."

** The administration will be holding a public meeting at the end of May to unveil their new Community Policing program.

How can he do better? How can we do better?

Hayfever in Full Bloom

Hayfever.

It really does a number on me, and gets worse every year. It only lasts about a month, but it's a month of the year I like to spend outside watching kids play baseball. The main treatment - antihistamines - is worse than the disease. One pill knocks me out and makes me even more goofy than usual. I stopped taking medicine years ago. I just suffer.

I'm a Catholic.

Late yesterday afternoon, I was at an old baseball field behind the Fullerton American Legion, sneezing loudly between every ball I threw. Whatever happened to my back over the winter makes it hard for me to throw or even bend over. But we were trying out a wooden bat and had tape and everything.

I threw a ball to one kid and - WHACK! - nailed in the right shin. After a few moments of agony, I threw a ball to another kid and - WHACK! - nailed in the left shin.

So now, I'm a constantly sneezing fat guy with water dripping out of my nose. I can't bend over and have matching lumps on two legs.

If I were a horse, someone would just shoot me.

Tonight? Baseball practice. I'll even blow off a Northampton County council meeting for that. At least someone else will be throwing.

Northampton County's Apolitical Election Commission?

It's difficult to find a more partisan member of Northampton County Council than Charles Dertinger. He's a local area party chair. He and his wife, Maria, are also members of the state committee. He has strong union roots as a third generation IBEW Local 3 member. He has flatly told Republicans proposed for positions in the Stoffa administration he would vote against them simply because they belong to the wrong party.

So it's hard to take Dertinger seriously when he claims the Stoffa administration is too involved in what The Express Times calls the "apolitical election commission."

But is the election commission really all that apolitical? According to the Northampton County Home Rule Charter, here's how its five members are selected.

The Election Commission shall be comprised of five (5) members. No more than three (3) members shall be registered voters of the same political party. The County Executive shall notify the two (2) political parties receiving the greatest number of votes at the most recent general election in the County of all vacancies on the Election Commission and shall request them to submit a list of five (5) nominees for appointment to the Election Commission. None of these nominees shall hold public office or be an officer in a political party. Members shall be appointed from these lists. If a list of nominees is not submitted within thirty (30) days after the date of request, appointments to the Election Commission may be made from the entire list of registered voters of the political party which did not submit the nominations. Any three (3) members shall constitute a quorum and shall have the power to perform the functions assigned to the Election Commission.

It's impossible to suggest this is some nonpartisan body when three of its five members are essentially chosen by the majority party boss.

That's a problem. One recommendation by last year's citizens' advisory panel was to enlarge the election commission to "include third-party representatives as well as independent voters." That's the last thing Dertinger wants. He wants to make sure that the election commission, run by Democrats, installs a registrar acceptable to local Dems.

It's Lonely at the Top

Last week, the Pottstown plagiarist was ecstatic.

"TONY PHYRILLAS is back at No. 1 in the Most Influential Political Blog in Pennsylvania rankings published by BlogNetNews.com, which bills itself as 'The Blogosphere's Front Page.'

"It's the 7th time TONY PHYRILLAS [caps please] has reached the No. 1 spot in 2008 and the blog continues its streak of 18 consecutive weeks as one of the five most influential blogs in Pennsylvania."

"Blah, blah, blah. I, TONY PHYRILLAS [reverential bow, please], will now be appearing on PCN and am the greatest blogger in the universe."

Tony's at home right now, crying in the extra large pillow he needs for that big head of his. TONY PHYRILLAS' (all caps, please) constantly reloading blog has slipped out of number 1, and has been replaced by a nasty left wing attack blog.

Moi.

See that, I even speak French. But it's lonely at the top. After noticing my #1 rating, I waited for the inevitable congratulatory calls, but my cell phone must be broken. There were probably thousands of nice emails, but they were probably just dumped in my spam folder.

In truth, these ratings mean nothing. But they do give me an excuse to talk about a few good poliblogs.

#2 Pawatercooler.com (This is a right wing attack blog. My buddy, Julian Stolz, is still there).

#5 Suburban Guerrilla (Susie is a Philly area ice-cream store owner turned midwife turned journalist turned salesman turned blogger. How could she be anything but interesting?)

#6 Comments From Left Field (a thoughtful left-leaning blog, but very immersed in national stuff)

#7 GrassrootsPA (a conservative-leaning news aggregator and terrific source for news, very much like a Drudge Report a la Pennsylvania).

#11 molovinsky on allentown (The e.e. cummings of the blogosphere - some of michael's posts are downright cryptic, especially with his idiosyncratic syntax. He is one of the blogosphere's most unpredictable and interesting voices).

#12 Keystone Politics (a LV-based news aggregator and blog, KP is a much more likely source of local stories than Grassroots).

#13 Pennsyltucky Politics (This is MSM, folks. I hate to say this, but it's really a toss up whether Brett Lieberman's Pennsyltucky Politics or John Micek's Capitol Ideas is the best poliblog for state politics. Maybe they can duke it out with a few five-year olds at that Allentown gym).

#14 AJ's Web Blog (AJ is a journalism major who decided to become a teacher. He's busy with school and a job, so he only posts now and then. His work is carefully written and he's one of the few local bloggers who actually knows how to link to a source. AJ is a harsh critic of The Morning Call and Sam Bennett.)

#17 Above Average Jane (Her blog was actually featured on C-Span last year. Need I say more? When I asked her to exchange links, she refused, claiming she only does Philly blogs. She apparently dislikes me, an obvious sign of good taste.)

#18 Mark Rauterkus ( a good, Pittsburg-based, blog).

Giant Benches Hold Up Under Pawlowski

The other day, when I wrote about those "green" benches that Giant Markets is donating to Lehigh Valley municipalities, I got into quite a bit of trouble. I suggested that, if Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski was going to sit on one of these babies at the news conference, they better bring a spare.

Well, I want you all to know that I feel terrible. My remarks about the mayor of Pennsylvania's third largest city were totally disrespectful. I don't know what came over me. I'm very sorry and it will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, not ever, happen again. Ever.

Bashful Mayor Pawlowski (pictured on the far left) was finally persuaded by Lehigh County exec Don Cunningham to sit his mayoral massiveness on one of those benches, and it held up just fine.

Finally speaking, he told the throngs of reporters at this important event that those benches are "part of our continuing effort to be a green community.”

Then he hopped on his city motor scooter and put-putted away, ignoring reporters who want to know why Allentown seems to have so many sinkholes, especially around city hall.

Barack Obama and Curious George

Would you call this "cute"? Amazingly, the person who came up with this idea denies he's a racist. "Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears, he looks just like Curious George." That comparison has also been made by a caller to conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who yukked it up before later making a hypocritical apology.

Of course, everyone and his mother are protesting this obvious racial smear. Drudge has picked up on this story, so a gazillion people will see it today, and most will snicker.

Ha. Ha. Black people look like monkeys.

Earlier, I asked whatever happened to the Roosevelts. A reader answers, "We became shallow, superficial and completely uninvolved with anything that makes us the least bit uncomfortable."

I suspect that reader is right.

Boxing for 5 Year-Olds? Is Everyone in Allentown Nutz?

Boxing has been banned as a school sport in most of the U.S. since the 1950's. The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association both advocate that no one under the age of 18 be allowed to participate. The British Medical Association agrees, and has these two concerns:

1. Children have little awareness of risk, specifically the risk of chronic encephalopathy, which develops only after a lag period measured in decades or more.

2. There is no place in contemporary society for a youth sport which has, as its primary goal, the infliction of acute brain damage on an opponent.

But what the hell do doctors know? Who ya' gonna believe, medical experts or some punch-drunk ex-fighter who barely speaks English? If you're an Allentown city official, you listen to the pugilist.

Allentown has started a boxing program so that inner city kids as young as 5 can bash each others' brains out. A 13 year-old girl brags, "It makes me feel tough." Allentown Rec Superintendent Kevin Easterling calls kids' boxing a "no brainer." Unfortunately, that's what they'll be when they're done. I admire Kevin, but isn't it completely reckless to allow children to participate in a dangerous activity condemned by medical authorities? Put another way, is everyone in Allentown nutz?

Boxing bambinos are funded as part of Allentown's Weed 'n Seed program. I'd like to know who the hell approved that. If you come from a really poor area of Allentown, you can bash a kids' brains out for free. If you come from a more wealthy area, you can just buy a damn video game or hire somebody.

I asked Kevin what the hell they're drinking in Allentown.

"Bernie, have you ever played football?"

(Sports dudes like to start conversations that way, and usually end up telling tales about having their heads ripped off as a pee wee but popping them back on with duct tape and continuing to play).

"Bernie, those five year old kids aren't fighting. The community actually approached us and asked for this. We let them play football and this is actually safer."

- "The community asked for this, Kevin? What if they asked for dog-fighting? Would you give them that? No, but you'll give them this."

As I brayed irrationally on the phone, Easterling calmly told me he shares a lot of my concerns and assured me only the oldest kids are really allowed to fight. He's invited me to drop by the gym to check it out. So he and I are going to pop over one night later this week, and if any of those brats try anything, I'll clobber them.

I'll be back.

Where are our Roosevelts?

PBS's American Experience last night broadcast a riveting portrait of FDR, the man who led this country out of a devastating depression and through a world war.

Always portrayed as vibrant and confident, it's hard to picture Roosevelt suffering from depression or worrying what he would do in the event of a fire. In fact, it's hard to picture him stricken by polio. Yet this crippled man led our disabled country.

He eventually did conquer that fire phobia, calling his family to his room, where he somehow managed to get out of his bed and proudly slithered along the floor, using his elbows to get to the door.

That's the only time that Eleanor ever broke down in front of him.

When I look and listen to Roosevelt and compare him with those running now, I have one question - what happened?

Sam Bennett Interview Summarized

Instead of presenting you with one lengthy post about my three hour interview with Lehigh Valley Congressional candidate Sam Bennett, I broke it up into parts over the past week. Here are links to each interview segment.

Sam Bennett: "I am the Very Embodiment of the Change People Want."

Sam Bennett Interview: Nuts 'n Bolts Political Questions

Bennett and POM

Is Bennett a Bad Sam-aritan?

Sam Bennett's Fiscal Policies

Bennett's Post-Oil World

Sam Bennett Interview: Iraq and Foreign Affairs

Quality Healthcare Matters to Bennett

Bennett's Views on Education and Crime

Bennett is a friendly and well-meaning person who does try to make a difference. I would support her in a heartbeat if she were to challenge Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski. But I could never support her congressional bid against incumbent Charlie Dent. Time and again, she displayed only a superficial understanding of most issues. She's simply out of her league.

I want to thank readers from both ends of the political spectrum for some very penetrating questions, and apologize for my own poor follow up. I will rely on you again when it is time to question Charlie Dent.

AJ's Web Blog has an excellent analysis of the Bennett interview, and you can read it here. "Bennett is not suitable for Congress. Many people may be unhappy with Charlie Dent, but you don't fix a problem by making it worse. My support come election day will be for Dent."

Bennett's Views on Education and Crime

If I had nothing else nice to say about Democratic congressional candidate Sam Bennett, I'd have to admit she's very friendly. In the Hamilton Family Diner, where I met her, she seemed to know most of the waitresses by name as well as a few of the customers. She offered me two of her own pens when my own ran out of ink. I'd like to finish my posts about the Bennett interview with her comments on crime and education.

Education

Before I asked a question, Bennett explained to me that her "civic engagement" started in the Allentown school system. As she explains it, the local PTA was in danger of dissolving, so she volunteered her time even though she was making a two hour daily commute at the time.

According to Bennett, the dilapidated condition at William Allen High School created a "perception" about it being bad news even though "in many ways, Allentown School District is better than the others." Because the school district had no money to renovate, she helped form a nonprofit and enlisted the help of others to try and improve that "historic old building."

Question: Can a school district like Allentown EVER be successful under No Child Left Behind. As a congressperson, what changes would you propose? Can you please give your view on the specific educational needs of our local public schools, instead of just painting a broad picture of the public schools on the national level?

"The goals of NCLB are admirable. Every child has the right to a quality education. [Bennett repeated this statement several times over the three hours I met with her]. Our global competitiveness depends on this. The federal government must have a will to ensure the same amount of money is spent on each child. Whether you live in Allentown, East Penn or Alabama, the same amount of money should be spent on each child. That really hurts school district like Allentown."

Question: What will you do to ensure that ANY qualified student can receive advanced education using INTEREST-FREE loans?

"Any qualified student should be entitled to a loan. Nothing is more important. This should apply to advanced degrees as well. Robber baron Republicans are taking things that should be regulated, like student loans, and are turning them into profit opportunities for their cronies. Privatization. Charlie Dent has a terrible record on this. What could be a better investment than education? Students who become doctors or teachers should be able to pay off those loans with some form of public service."

Crime

Bennett also spoke about crime without any prompting from me. "Unless you take care of crime, you can do all the economic development you want and it won't matter." Later, when speaking about what's wrong with the country, she returned to what's wrong with Allentown. "It's the crime," she stated in a matter-of-fact style.

Question: What exactly are you "creative approaches" to fighting crime in our district?

"This is my hall mark. A congressional representative has a critical and collaborative role to play here. It is not an Allentown issue: it is a district issue. First, we need to fight for whatever is needed to increase the boots on the ground here at home. Second, we need healthy neighborhoods that have a proper balance of all ranges of incomes. My eighteen years at Properties of Merit has been a testament to that. It is a simple, strategic approach.

"I will fight for more resources that we need to solve this issue, from graffiti removal to more officers to increased education. Crime is a symptom and we need to cure the disease that causes it."

That does it, folks. Tomorrow, I'll post a summary with links to each blog generated by this revealing Bennett interview.

Giant Markets Donates “Green” Benches to Lehigh Valley Municipalities

Giant Markets is actually donating 20 Trex® benches made out of recycled plastic grocery bags to four lucky Lehigh Valley municipalities, and will do so formally at a news conference on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at 1:00 pm, in the Allentown Arts Park, Allentown, PA. These benches cost $400 a pop. Eight of them will grace Allentown derrieres while the remaining twelve will serve assholes in Alburtis (4), Coopersburg (4), and Hellertown (4).

I don't know if Giant plans on demonstrating these benches during its news conference at the Arts Park, but if Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski intends to sit on one, I hope they bring a spare.

Coplay Childrens Bike Derby This Saturday

Coplay's 13th Annual Coplay Childrens Bike Derby kicks off this Saturday at the Coplay Parkway by the Coplay Swimming Pool, 2nd Street.

Registration begins at 8:15 AM, and the bike derby itself runs between 9 and 11 AM. This is a FREE event with food and refreshments, but I doubt there will be any free booze, even in Coplay. Kids will navigate a bike course and learn bike safety. Every child receives a prize. The event is for ages 3 to 16.

This annual event is sponsored by the Coplay Police Department and Auxiliary Police, Coplay Town Watch, the Coplay Athletic Club, and other sponsors who make this event a success.

Lehigh County Commissioner Bill Leiner, Jr, who is also the Coplay Town Watch prez, has extended Coplay's hospitality to all kids within range of this blog.

Quality Healthcare Matters to Bennett

"The health care system we have now is broken. It’s too expensive, too bureaucratic, and leaves too many people uncovered. We need universal health care so that all Americans can benefit from the best hospital, doctors, and nurses in the world."

That comes straight from congressional candidate Sam Bennett's web page. After meeting with her on Tuesday, I'm convinced she cares deeply about this topic.

Question: How will you extend the same medical insurance plan Congress has (which costs members $35/month) to all of us. Does you support a single payer universal health care system? Your website health care video talks about not adding more bureaucracy, but "expanding" the existing programs to include more services and people. How will you fund these expansions, and how will this be more effective and less costly than other plans?

"This is the single most difficult thing facing us right now. Health care is actually a matter of global competitiveness. The health care costs for a car are more expensive than the steel in that car. Thirty cents of every health care dollar is spent on administrative costs. One key thing is ending that. The most efficient way to do that is to make sure everyone is covered, and then reduce administrative costs.

"How hard can it be to make sure everyone has insurance? Every car has to have insurance. Everyone should have the same right to health care as any member of Congress.

"We spend more money than any nation on health care. We have wonderful doctors and hospitals, they're not the problem. But we have to reduce administrative costs.

"Preventive health care is also lousy and that's why we're only ranked $37 in the world. We have to let hospitals do what they do best."

Question: Will you work to decriminalize/legalize marijuana usage?

"No. I do believe in medical use, of course. But our war on drugs is an abysmal failure and we need to rethink our approach."

Question: Will you sponsor a bill to make the widescale growing of HEMP for use in paper, biofuels, etc?

"We need to invest in sustainable biofuel products but there are many alternatives to hemp that would not present any problems."

Question: Will you continue to support the GOP's no pharmaceutical manufacturer left behind act by prohibiting negotiation and allowing drug companies to set the price?

"(Laughter). I will not be supporting the drug companies."

Question: Will you support a tough border policy to keep Americans from going to Canada to purchase the same US manufactured drugs at a lower price?

"(Laughter again). No. We will take care of ridiculous legislation that prevents Americans from buying low cost pharmaceuticals at home. But anyone who wants to go to Canada should be able to do that, too."

Lehigh and Northampton County Offer Nothing to Those Hit by Home Mortgage Crisis

In Northampton County's new, $46 million, castle, life is good if you wear a black dress. A friend took the grand tour recently, and told me, "It really is a palace. They even have a dishwasher!" In addition to a courthouse renovation that went millions over budget, the boys and girls in black now want a new judge appointed so they can work even less. Of course, one judge means thirty new county positions, but that's our problem. We servants can figure out a way to pay for it, as jurists scoot in and out of the building through "private" entrances that insulate them from the public they supposedly serve. Northampton County judges have grown isolated. It's little wonder they do nothing to look out for people hit hard by the home mortgage crisis.

In Philly, it's a little different. Judges have actually tried to help. Foreclosure proceedings are overseen by the courts. In April, ALL sheriff's sales were suspended. When they resumed in July, a conciliation process between bank and borrower was added for owner-occupied properties.

In Northampton County, no one except harried county workers pays much attention to the rising foreclosure rate.There's a sheriff's sale today. That's the only way homes get sold at all these days.

Why is Lehigh and Northampton County doing nothing to help homeowners in crisis? If they're waiting for the feds or state, they'll be waiting forever.

Sam Bennett Interview: Iraq and Foreign Affairs

On her campaign web page, congressional challenger Sam Bennett claims "Bush Republicans" present us with two false choices in Iraq - "keep a force of more than 100,000 troops there, or pull out suddenly and leave the country in chaos." She endorses a third choice, "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq." That report notes that the "further destabilization of the Middle East is also a growing threat to U.S. national security. Al-Qaeda’s strength is growing in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Iran’s power is growing." With that report in mind, I asked Bennett a few questions about our foreign policy.

Question: What is your time table on withdrawal from Iraq? What will you do if Iran continues its nuclear program or if peace fails in Iraq? How will we prevent another Cambodia or South Vietnam if we leave? What's your understanding of "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq."

"The greater question is how can we position ourselves to prevent WWIII? We have to knock off the lone ranger act. By admitting we screwed up, we can engender support from the international community. The Middle East is the powder keg of the globe. We can't do it alone. We need a Tonto. We need a couple of Tontos."

Question: How well-versed are you in foreign affairs?

"Fairly well-versed."

Question: Who is the President of China? France's Prime Minister? Germany's Chancellor? India's Prime Minister? Afghanistan's President? Syria's President? Sudan's President?

"I've got to work on that. I'll research it today."

Me: Is that an unfair question? I don't know most world leaders by name myself. I came up with that question myself.

"No, it's a fair question. But I'm running for Congress, not President."

(Blogger's Note: Some of my friends claim that world leaders question is unfair. Perhaps they are right. But we do have 34,000 U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan. Shouldn't a member of Congress be familiar enough with at least that country to know its President is Hamid Karzai? Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent, whose college major was International Politics, was actually there in January. He knows all about Karzai's "divide and conquer" strategy of appealing to moderate chieftains to weaken hard-liners with ties to al-Qaeda fighters.

When it comes to Foreign Affairs, Dent is simply far more knowledgeable than Bennett. My daughter is currently in Iraq. Do you think I want to send a person to Congress who has no idea who the leaders are in that region? I like Sam Bennett, but not that much.)