No real bragging rights with this story, but it does make for an interesting tale.
Monday evenings are currently spent in the company of non-profit professionals at Villanova University. Moving in recent years from the for profit to non profit world this course is highly educational if not for the most part common sense. I digress!
Pennsylvania is a battleground state in the presidential election, both candidates and their running mates have visited the state and in particular the Philadelphia area frequently in recent weeks.
On traveling to Villanova on Monday afternoon the traffic news broke in that Route 30 around Haverford College was to be disrupted due to the visit by John Edwards, the democratic VP hopeful. “Phoey” was my initial reaction as my route up Route 30 took be past the college John Edwards was speaking at.
As I passed one of the entrances to the college I saw a couple of Kerry / Edwards supporters cheering hoping for a glimse of the candidate. To be honest I was somewhat surprised at the low numbers of well wishers. Except this was main line Philadelphia and strong Bush country (or so I thought).
Not a half a mile down the road, the police were directing all traffic away from Route 30, as I neared the junction the cars immediately ahead of me were allowed to continue down Route 30, a two lane high street with shops and roads on both sides. I was waved on down and followed as part of a convoy of only a couple of cars, with no other traffic in sight, nothing in the other direction and police cars preventing any turn off as we headed down to Villanova and the place I stop to eat on a Monday evening.
Within half-a mile the handful of Kerry / Edwards supporters swelled to hundreds all cheering as though these five or so cars were the VP candidate motorcade. I don’t know whether I was frightened to see so many enthusiastic democrats all waving and cheering at a driver who has a “GB” sign on the back of his car. (Someone pointed out it could be read to stand for George Bush” ) or whether they truly thought that John Edwards would be in a motorcade with a Saturn, two trucks and a station wagon! Or that they simply would cheer at anything that moved!!
Luckily the entrance to the car park of McDonalds, (there I admitted it) was open and within 30 seconds of getting off the road, witnessed a fast, loud motorcade with John Edwards heading towards the blue route to his next appointment.
The question I pose, is did the policeman who let us down Route 30 know that our presence probably held up John Edwards? Did our presence on Route 30 actually delay the motorcade for security reasons, it would be nice to think so!
LONDON CHIMES by Malcolm Friend. An expat Brit from London who now lives near Philadelphia.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
October 20
There is a certain satisfaction from painting the nursery…
The last couple of weekends have seen painting activity in the nursery; the yellow walls are now a beautiful shade of Disney Fairytale pink, the wooden window frame now white to match the rest of the trim in the room.
Taney paid a visit to Home Depot and with the help from the man in the decorating aisle purchased everything the novice decorator with a mission needs to decorate his daughters nursery.
From sheeting to masking tape (the best stuff in the world) the room was prepared and on the following day aided by our brother in law Chris completed all the walls with two coats of paint. The following day and for some days thereafter… having used muscles rarely used, I ached from the painting, yet had great satisfaction that I had done a “dad” thing!
Last weekend was more of top and tailing, Taney had applied a second coat of paint to the window frame mid week and on coming home one evening found the crib assembled. To walk into a pink nursery to see our crib was a moment but not as big as the one last Sunday. The same day Taney completed the crib we spent time together putting a changing table together, a task easier said than done with 6 screws left over at least the table is solid as all get-out.
We have put wall lights in the nursery, as the room had no overhead lighting. Taney found some wire plastic trunking for the walls to hide the cables and the lampshades with a “Waverly” design of a carousel, bears, rabbits and people fit the room perfectly. The week before we found the lampshades we were caught up with a “theme” and had discussed carousels before looking for lighting and shades.
Last Sunday, all but the closet door was put into place, the curtain rail was put back with new white curtains from the windows and the toys and books we have collected have been put into the room. Taney took care of the detailing and when I walked back into the room all neatly set out it truly took my breath away.
There are two little jobs to complete the nursery, one involving a door the other a chair and these will be taken care of soon.
Despite so much already bought or given to us, there is so much more needed. A mattress for the crib, a pad for the changing table, clothes we are still holding off on until the referral.
We are aware that couples who had their dossier to China in April have recently received their referrals, the best Christmas gift we could get this year is a photo and our referral, time will tell if our wishes come true.
The last couple of weekends have seen painting activity in the nursery; the yellow walls are now a beautiful shade of Disney Fairytale pink, the wooden window frame now white to match the rest of the trim in the room.
Taney paid a visit to Home Depot and with the help from the man in the decorating aisle purchased everything the novice decorator with a mission needs to decorate his daughters nursery.
From sheeting to masking tape (the best stuff in the world) the room was prepared and on the following day aided by our brother in law Chris completed all the walls with two coats of paint. The following day and for some days thereafter… having used muscles rarely used, I ached from the painting, yet had great satisfaction that I had done a “dad” thing!
Last weekend was more of top and tailing, Taney had applied a second coat of paint to the window frame mid week and on coming home one evening found the crib assembled. To walk into a pink nursery to see our crib was a moment but not as big as the one last Sunday. The same day Taney completed the crib we spent time together putting a changing table together, a task easier said than done with 6 screws left over at least the table is solid as all get-out.
We have put wall lights in the nursery, as the room had no overhead lighting. Taney found some wire plastic trunking for the walls to hide the cables and the lampshades with a “Waverly” design of a carousel, bears, rabbits and people fit the room perfectly. The week before we found the lampshades we were caught up with a “theme” and had discussed carousels before looking for lighting and shades.
Last Sunday, all but the closet door was put into place, the curtain rail was put back with new white curtains from the windows and the toys and books we have collected have been put into the room. Taney took care of the detailing and when I walked back into the room all neatly set out it truly took my breath away.
There are two little jobs to complete the nursery, one involving a door the other a chair and these will be taken care of soon.
Despite so much already bought or given to us, there is so much more needed. A mattress for the crib, a pad for the changing table, clothes we are still holding off on until the referral.
We are aware that couples who had their dossier to China in April have recently received their referrals, the best Christmas gift we could get this year is a photo and our referral, time will tell if our wishes come true.
Friday, October 08, 2004
A vote against John Kerry - a good reason.
By Taney Friend.
Policy Memo: Kerry's Seven-Step Plan to Raise Taxes on the Middle Class
Memorandum
From: BC '04 Policy Department
A close examination of John Kerry's voting record, speeches, campaign documents and guidance from campaign advisers reveals a seven-step plan to raise taxes on the middle class. Here are the seven steps:
1. Get Experience at Raising Taxes
2. Make Promises for More Government Spending (Only Later Come Up with Enough Tax Increases to Pay for It)
3. Admit to Wanting to Raise More Taxes, but Say It's Just for the "Wealthy"
4. Start Expanding the Definition of the "Wealthy"
5. Ignore Who Will be Hurt by Raising Taxes
6. Start Adding Exceptions to Commitments Against Raising Taxes on the Middle Class
7. Wait Until after the Election to Reveal All of the Tax Increases
Step #1: Get Experience at Raising Taxes
Kerry Has Voted for Higher Taxes Hundreds of Times - Whenever given the opportunity, Kerry has voted against taxpayers and for more money going to the federal government in Washington, D.C. In his 19 years in the Senate, Kerry has voted 98 times for tax increases totaling more than $2.3 trillion. He voted at least 126 times against tax cuts totaling more than $5.3 trillion. He has also voted 73 times to reduce the size of a tax cut, 67 times for smaller tax cuts and 11 times against repealing tax hikes.
Kerry voted for the "largest tax increase in history" - Kerry voted for the 1993 tax increase, which the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) described as "the largest tax increase in the history of public finance in the United States or anywhere else in the world." (Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Congressional Record, 3/18/93, p. S3126)
Examples of middle class tax hikes Kerry has voted for:
*Voted twice to increase taxes on Social Security benefits.
*Voted twice to increase taxes on gasoline.
Kerry voted against the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts - Perhaps most importantly, the above votes include the times that Kerry voted against the President's tax cut bills in 2001 and 2003. These bills included the creation of a low 10% tax bracket, reduction of the marriage penalty and doubling of the child tax credit to $1,000. They are providing 111 million taxpayers an average tax cut of $1,500 this year.
(Source: Treasury Department press release, 4/9/04)
Examples of middle class tax cuts Kerry has voted against:
*Voted at least 22 times against marriage penalty relief.
*Voted at least 18 times against expanding the child tax credit.
*Voted at least 9 times against expanding Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
*Voted at least 7 times against expanding the adoption tax credit.
Policy Memo: Kerry's Seven-Step Plan to Raise Taxes on the Middle Class
Memorandum
From: BC '04 Policy Department
A close examination of John Kerry's voting record, speeches, campaign documents and guidance from campaign advisers reveals a seven-step plan to raise taxes on the middle class. Here are the seven steps:
1. Get Experience at Raising Taxes
2. Make Promises for More Government Spending (Only Later Come Up with Enough Tax Increases to Pay for It)
3. Admit to Wanting to Raise More Taxes, but Say It's Just for the "Wealthy"
4. Start Expanding the Definition of the "Wealthy"
5. Ignore Who Will be Hurt by Raising Taxes
6. Start Adding Exceptions to Commitments Against Raising Taxes on the Middle Class
7. Wait Until after the Election to Reveal All of the Tax Increases
Step #1: Get Experience at Raising Taxes
Kerry Has Voted for Higher Taxes Hundreds of Times - Whenever given the opportunity, Kerry has voted against taxpayers and for more money going to the federal government in Washington, D.C. In his 19 years in the Senate, Kerry has voted 98 times for tax increases totaling more than $2.3 trillion. He voted at least 126 times against tax cuts totaling more than $5.3 trillion. He has also voted 73 times to reduce the size of a tax cut, 67 times for smaller tax cuts and 11 times against repealing tax hikes.
Kerry voted for the "largest tax increase in history" - Kerry voted for the 1993 tax increase, which the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) described as "the largest tax increase in the history of public finance in the United States or anywhere else in the world." (Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Congressional Record, 3/18/93, p. S3126)
Examples of middle class tax hikes Kerry has voted for:
*Voted twice to increase taxes on Social Security benefits.
*Voted twice to increase taxes on gasoline.
Kerry voted against the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts - Perhaps most importantly, the above votes include the times that Kerry voted against the President's tax cut bills in 2001 and 2003. These bills included the creation of a low 10% tax bracket, reduction of the marriage penalty and doubling of the child tax credit to $1,000. They are providing 111 million taxpayers an average tax cut of $1,500 this year.
(Source: Treasury Department press release, 4/9/04)
Examples of middle class tax cuts Kerry has voted against:
*Voted at least 22 times against marriage penalty relief.
*Voted at least 18 times against expanding the child tax credit.
*Voted at least 9 times against expanding Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
*Voted at least 7 times against expanding the adoption tax credit.
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