Carney reports for active duty |
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Christopher Carney (D-10) has reported for active duty at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia where he will serve through October 13. One of only three Members of Congress currently serving in uniform, Congressman Carney has been in the Navy Reserves since 1995. He was promoted to the rank of Commander last spring and the promotion became official on September 1, 2009. Carney was one of only 34 reserve intelligence officers to receive a promotion to Commander this year. “Wearing the uniform is a duty the Congressman takes very seriously,” said Carney Communications Director Vincent Rongione. “When you make a commitment to the military, it is not just an expectation but it is an honor to fulfill that commitment.” |
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Carney reports for active duty
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Ebell on Jefferson and Adams
Myron Ebell is a friend and a man I admire greatly. It was good to see this article in a British Paper:
Vexing the ghost of Thomas Jefferson
American idealism is infectious. I’m as cynical about my own country’s political system as the next world-weary Brit. But, whenever I go to Washington, I give in to that guileless enthusiasm which foreigners so often dismiss as naïveté. Like the James Stewart character in Mr Smith goes to Washington, I goggle reverently at the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, the Battle Hymn of the Republic swelling in my mind. As regular readers will know, Thomas Jefferson is one of my heroes: he kept alive in North America a strain of British liberty that has all but perished from the mother country. So, at any rate, I have always believed.
I’ve just spent three days in Washington meeting the various conservative think-tanks and institutions: Heritage, Young America’s Foundation, the extraordinary Nordquist Wednesday meeting - plus a detour to the Fox studios in New York. The highlight was a private meeting with the 40 GOP Senators: the only time in my life that I’ve felt overawed before a speech. It was all put together by a wonderful woman called Lori Roman who runs Regular Folks United: if you’re American, and you haven’t yet come across her web page, go there now.
I gave the same message everywhere. Americans should cleave to their Jeffersonian heritage. Their country was founded on a series of premises: that concentrated power corrupts; that jurisdiction should be dispersed; that decision-makers should be accountable; that taxes should not be raised save by elected representatives, nor laws passed without popular consent; that the executive should be answerable to the legislature. In the current rush to statism - the bail-outs, the nationalisations, the stimulus spending, the profusion of federal programmes and tsars, the cap and trade rules, the state takeover of healthcare - America is breaching every one of these precepts. If we could hear clanking, I told my audiences, it was the noise of Jefferson’s shade rattling his chains.
This went down well, as you’d expect. Americans, like everyone else, are generally wiser than their politicians. But my paean of praise to their third president elicited a fascinating response from an exceptionally clever and thoughtful man called Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. (The CEI, by the way, is an outstandingly meritorious outfit, even by the standards of conservative Washington, in that it never makes the mistake of confusing the pro-business case with the pro-market case. But I digress). Myron was kind enough to write at some length explaining that it was Jefferson’s predecessor, John Adams, who was, perversely, the true Jeffersonian. Myron’s reasoning is so taut and provocative that I reproduce his email in full below. It’s quite a dilemma for me, though. I’d like to cling to my Smith-like idealism. On the other hand, I have seen enough of politics to know that Myron makes a convincing case. What do you think?
“On thinking in the U. S. about the division and dispersal of power, it was not Jefferson but John Adams who was the major figure. Indeed, Jefferson was on the other side, although his rhetoric was designed to mislead. Jefferson may have said that that government is best which governs least, but he never had a useful thought about how to keep limits on government except to recommend revolution in every generation. Which is of course disastrous. But he was a very silly man - a true, because superficial and calculating, product of the Enlightenment. While Adams was horrified by the French Revolution as soon as Burke was, Jefferson was still enthusiastic even after the terror had begun. Jefferson was the inventor of faux egalitarianism, which was a way of keeping the enlightened patrician (and slave-owning) class in power based on the rationale that they were protecting the interests of common folk. FDR and Teddy Kennedy are the direct descendants, and indeed Jefferson was FDR’s hero and model of a patrician who protected the interests of his class by “representing” and looking out for the working man. Jefferson founded the Democratic Party. The Republican Party was founded on the ruins of the Whig Party which was founded on the ruins of the Federalist Party. Unlike Jefferson, Adams was obsessed with how to keep elites in check by dividing power and balancing power against power. In this he is in the tradition of Harrington and Montesquieu and Hume rather than of Locke (Jefferson on the other hand admired Rousseau). He was the deepest thinker of the Revolution and also the most important political figure (as distinguished from leader) - he made the strategy that led to independence, he led the public campaign for independence, and was the leading proponent for independence in the Continental Congress both rhetorically and behind the scenes. He chose Jefferson to write the Declaration, chose Washington to lead the army, and was appointed by the Continental Congress to be supply master of the army before he was sent to Paris to gain French support (which won the war), which Franklin might have accomplished, but seemed in no hurry to do. There were of course good Virginians besides Washington (a poor general but a great leader who preferred acting nobly to gaining power), especially George Mason and Patrick Henry, and, in the younger generation, John Marshall, whom Adams appointed chief justice after being defeated by Jefferson in the 1800 election. Madison was a brilliant thinker but a follower influenced by whoever his leader and hero was at the moment. Thus, his role in the constitutional convention and in writing the Federalist Papers was supremely constructive. Later under Jefferson’s influence, he was a disaster, even worse as president than Jefferson (for example, they both intentionally let the Navy, which Washington and Adams had built up at great financial and political cost in order to prevent war with England or France, go to pot). A final distinction that separated the Federalists and Anti-federalists. Adams was vehemently opposed to slavery (and his son became the anti-slavery leader in Congress in the 1830s after his presidential term). Jefferson and Madison were not and were comfortable with the attitudes that made slavery acceptable. But this was not just a North-South divide or a division between slave owners versus yeoman farmers and merchants. Washington wrote in a private letter that he feared the Union would break up over slavery and if that happened he would have to leave Virginia and abandon his house and plantation and fortune and throw in his lot with a State that had abolished slavery. I have gone on about this because I think the past informs the present most usefully if we get our story straight.”
Friday, March 13, 2009
Loran Wo lfgang, 73 RIP 1979
Dalice (View posts) Posted: 19 Jan 2007 1:30AM GMT
Classification: Obituary
Surnames: WOLFGANG, YODER, KETTERER, KOSCIL, PETROCK, PHILLIPS, DURKIN, WALTERS
From Newspaper of Friday, November 23, 1979
Loran Wolfgang, 73, of 120 W Arch St, Frackville, died Thursday morning at his home from an apparent heart attack. He was a native of Pitman.
Mr. Wolfgang, a son of the late, Oliver and Clara (Yoder) Wolfgang, lived in Frackville most of his life.
Retired since 1961, he worked at the Frackville Shops for over 30 years. He was a member of First Union Methodist Church, Frackville.
Mr. and Mrs. Wolfgang would have celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary in January.
Surviving are his widow, the former Mabel K. Ketterer, a daughter, Audrey, wife of Robert Koscil, of Frackville; three sons, Harry, of Manville, NJ; Loran and James, of Frackville; four sisters, Pauline, wife of Michael Petrock, of Chester; Jean, wife of John Phillips, of Chester; Mrs. Violet Durkin, of Tower City; Mrs. Minnie Walters, of Middletown; a brother, Edward, of Frackville; seven grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Services will be held Monday afternoon from the First Union Methodist Church, Frackville, with the Rev Dale Lewis Miller officiating. Interment will be in the Greenwood Cemetery, Frackville. Nice Funeral Home, Frackville is in charge of arrangements.
Betty Yakimovich RIP October 17, 2008
YAKIMOVICH, Elizabeth M., d. 2008
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| Posted: 19 Oct 2008 11:16PM GMT |
October 17, 2008
Elizabeth M. "Betty" Yakimovich, formerly of North Fourth Street, Frackville, passed away Friday night at the Orwigsburg Center, Orwigsburg.
Born in Mahanoy City, she was a daughter of the late Henry and Margaret Ryan John. She had been employed as the office manager at the former Frackville Shops until her retirement.
Betty was a devoted member of her beloved St. Ann Catholic Church, Frackville, where she attended daily Mass until her illness. She was a 1937 graduate of the former Mahanoy City High School. She had coached girls' softball for several years. An avid bowler, Betty belonged to several area bowling leagues, where she won numerous trophies.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward J., in 1992; three brothers, Edward, Henry and Charles; a sister, Mary Marie John.
Surviving are a brother, Francis "Frank" Johns, Corinth, Texas; and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Thomas M. Sullivan Funeral Home, Frackville
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. in St. Ann Church, Frackville, with the Rev. Edward Essig, pastor, as the celebrant.
Interment will be in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Englewood, Frackville.
Friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday morning from 9 a.m. until time of service
Betty Yakimovich RIP October 17, 2008
YAKIMOVICH, Elizabeth M., d. 2008
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| Posted: 19 Oct 2008 11:16PM GMT |
October 17, 2008
Elizabeth M. "Betty" Yakimovich Surname Facts
Yakimovich Surname Board
','Related Resources',null,null,200,750,300);" onmouseout="TGN.Util.HoverTip.startHideHoverTipTimer();" id="kwl2E45024A">Yakimovich, formerly of North Fourth Street, Frackville, passed away Friday night at the Orwigsburg Center, Orwigsburg.
Born in Mahanoy City, she was a daughter of the late Henry and Margaret Ryan John. She had been employed as the office manager at the former Frackville Shops until her retirement.
Betty was a devoted member of her beloved St. Ann Catholic Church, Frackville, where she attended daily Mass until her illness. She was a 1937 graduate of the former Mahanoy City High School. She had coached girls' softball for several years. An avid bowler, Betty belonged to several area bowling leagues, where she won numerous trophies.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward J., in 1992; three brothers, Edward, Henry and Charles; a sister, Mary Marie John.
Surviving are a brother, Francis "Frank" Johns Surname Facts
Johns Surname Board
','Related Resources',null,null,200,750,300);" onmouseout="TGN.Util.HoverTip.startHideHoverTipTimer();" id="kwl2E450246">Johns, Corinth, Texas; and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Thomas M. Sullivan Funeral Home, Frackville
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. in St. Ann Church, Frackville, with the Rev. Edward Essig Surname Facts
Essig Surname Board
','Related Resources',null,null,200,750,300);" onmouseout="TGN.Util.HoverTip.startHideHoverTipTimer();" id="kwl2E450248">Essig, pastor, as the celebrant.
Interment will be in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Englewood, Frackville.
Friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday morning from 9 a.m. until time of service
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
JACOBS-BALDYS Sunday, July 03, 2005
JACOBS-BALDYS | Sunday, July 03, 2005 |
Lauren’s sister, Nathania Jacobs, was maid of honor and the groom’s brother, David Baldys, was best man. Several of Lauren’s friends from the Nyack High School class of 1997 were in the bridal party including Melissa Cudina, Jen Nardi, Rachel Segall and Shari Witrock. Mr. and Mrs. Baldys graduated in 2001 from Ithaca College, Lauren with a BA in sociology and Matt with a BS in philosophy. They also received teaching certificates from East Stroudsburg State University. After a wedding trip to St. Thomas and St. John, they plan to live and teach in Philadelphia. | |
Lynn and Mark Jacobs of Valley Cottage, N.Y., are happy to announce the marriage of their daughter, Lauren Michelle, to Matthew Baldys, the son of Mary Lou and Rick Baldys of Williamsport, Pa., on Saturday, June 11, 2005, at the IBM Palisades Executive Conference Center in Palisades, N.Y. Cantor Ted Aronson officiated at the ceremony. Thursday, January 29, 2009
Washington Post: Ivey Most Money and Obama Conections - Baker Humbled
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Another probable candidate for county executive, Sheriff Michael Jackson (D), raised less than $2,000 last year, but he has the most cash on hand, $231,000.
A financial report for County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) was not available from the Maryland State Board of Elections on Tuesday.