Coffee Talk with Mike Untermeyer

I’ve got another edition of ‘Coffee Talk’ brewing this coming Saturday evening. This coffee talk will feature the Republican candidate for District Attorney – Michael Untermeyer. A candidate who promises to bring ‘best practices’ to the job as District Attorney. I like that, who wouldn’t want evidence based practice as the foundation of the DA’s office. You expect that level of quality from your doctor – why not apply the same principles to law enforcement in Philly?

How many times has a politician sat down at your kitchen table to discuss issues that are pertinent to you? It is one of the benefits for subscribing to MidnightBlue. I am working to bring candidates to the kitchen table to discuss issues with their potential constituents. Social Media is the way to take in the candidates hype; sitting at the kitchen table with residents puts the character of the candidate over the hype.

All this served up with delicious pastry and divine java – when was the last time Twitter offered this benefit? Stay tuned folks!

Shining a Light on AEC Protestors

On Saturday May 2nd, the Northeast was treated with a spectacle of false patriotism and misdirected hatred, when a scraggly group of protesters mobilized a ‘march’ on Franklin Mills AEC (Army Experience Center) in an attempt to shut it down and serve a bogus criminal complaint. The protest, organized by Elaine Bower and documented on her website shutdowntheaec.net, clearly reveals this protest was an astoturfing event. Participants traveled from DC, NYC and West Chester, Pa to represent our thoughts on the military. Now there is nothing wrong with New Yorkers or DC denizens coming to Northeast Philly, considering that they are pretty much professional protesters, but while they were here it is disingenuous for them to represent the will of the local neighborhood.

Prior to the march on the Mall, the protesters gathered at St. Luke’s United Church of Christ which opened its doors for the assembled protesters. As the protesters milled around listening to speeches, their malicious and misleading words did not go unchallenged. A hearty trio of counter protesters showed up with signs reading ‘Shame on St. Luke’s – Our Soldiers Are NOT Criminals”. The secretary of St. Luke’s UCC responded by repeatedly cursing at one of the counter protesters. I’d repeat the curse word, but this is a family oriented newspaper and she was not practicing ‘what Jesus would do’.

Who would travel from out of state or from the suburbs to spend an hour annoying shoppers at Franklin Mills Mall? A brief look at the sponsors listed on the website reveals that there is nothing peaceful or truthful about their cause. Sponsors included World Can’t Wait (AKA Revolutionary Communist Party), Chester County Peace Movement (CCPM),Veterans For Peace and their student chapter Iraq Veterans Against The War (IVAW),Code Pink, Brandywine Peace, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and others. What was striking, for a “coalition” of 31 groups, Elaine Bower managed to organize a protest with virtually no participants! The event sponsors promised 700 people, but delivered only 200 or 29% of their stated goal.

Who are these people and why are they harassing teens at the AEC? Let me take this time to share some crucial details regarding the sponsors and participants of this protest. I encourage the readership to Google every point I make to learn first hand about these organizations and individuals. Let’s begin the lesson with Chester County Peace Movement (CCPM). A group that has garnered the nickname Chester County Prison Movement due to the arrests and aggravated assault charges leveled against its members. Combine this with a director who characterizes veterans and those who support them as “jack booted thugs” and “Blackwater type mercenaries sent to break them (CCPM)”. A few minutes reading messages similar to this on their listserve, one quickly gets a picture that more closely resembles paranoia than peace.

Bill Perry heads Delaware Valley Veterans for America and a member of Jane Fonda’s Winter Soldier tribunal. He also is a mentor and strong supporter of Representative Patrick Murphy. At the 1971 Jane Fonda Winter Soldier tribunal he admitted to abandoning his duty of walking point when warned of an ambush. He hid while his fellow soldiers walked right into that ambush. During his testimony he described the ambush with this chilling statement:”the platoon got pretty well shot up”. I can only imagine the stories swapped between him and Rep Murphy over dinner!

IVAW member Jesse Hamilton spoke about the evils of the video game experience. He belongs to an organization that had a history of propping up individuals with less than truthful biographies, such as Jesse MacBeth. In addition to misrepresentation the actions of American Soldiers, the organization openly advocates for GI Resistance and encourages members to ‘Befriend a Recruiter’ which they state will clog the military’s ability to enlist new recruits and help end the war. A veteran by the name of Thompson Bradley addressed the protesters. A self described Marxist who recently admitted to contacting Cathy Wilkersonwhile she was on the FBI’s most wanted list and inexplicably forgot to mention that to the FBI. A Veteran For Peace member by the name of John Grant was present, he is famous for saluting Hugo Chavez during a taping of his show Alo Presidente. See for yourself, Google the search term: VFP Salute To Chavez.

The take home message is that these organizations and individuals do not represent the good people of Northeast Philadelphia. They hide a disingenuous agenda behind the label of ‘peace’ and manipulate the good will most citizens harbor for our troops to further a malicious, non peaceful agenda. The protesters loitered outside the AEC for less than one hour, and ten minutes after they were gone, the AEC was open for business.

Coffee Talk with Dan McElhatton

Friday night Coffee Klatch with Dan McElhatton. Philly residents know him as a leading candidate for Philly’s District Attorney seat. He took time from his busy schedule visit my house and chat with guests about the issues facing this city. I want to thank Dan for making the case of why the city would benefit with him as Philly’s DA.

Coffee served was a Costa Rica medium and the desserts by Flying Monkey and Termini Bros. Delicious! I want to thank all my guests for attending this coffee talk and for all of your insightful questions for Dan.

UPDATE: A Tangled Web contributor posted on this talk

A lively debate ensued between Dan and Patrick over topics such as gun control and crime in Philadelphia. The video does a good job of highlighting the common sense approach embraced by Dan on these issues.

Little Ava following in the footsteps of her beautiful and talented Auntie:

Prepping for a Coffee Klatch

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Coffee Klatch, originally uploaded by skye820.

Getting out the cups and saucers while putting the final touches on a coffee klatch with Dan McElhatton tomorrow night.

A short video where Dan explains why he is the most qualified for the job:

A FLICKR slideshow of Dan:

Coffee Talk with Dan McElhatton

Friday, May 1st:

I am happy to open my home to friends, neighbors, family and bloggers in order to meet and chat with Dan McElhatton, candidate in Philadelphia District Attorney race.

Looking forward to dishing politics with Blonde Sagacity, The City Troll and Grizzly Mama

Nunsense @ The Devon Theater

Opening night at the newly restored Devon Theater of the Performing Arts, featuring the inaugural show – Nunsense. The photo above shows a small detail from the stage – a record painted onto the floor commemorating opening night (328-2009), I love little details like this!

The night out to see Nunsense was a birthday gift for mom, I made sure we had front row seats – so the Little Sisters of Hoboken would be sure to quiz her!

I’m no theater critic, I simply love live performance, whether it is music or drama. I can report that the house was packed, the seats were comfy and the show was fabulous. What made it work was the brilliant chemistry between the cast members.

When the unexpected happened, as always in a live show, it was handled with aplomb! Reverend Mother’s prayer chain snapped (Save us Holy Spirit!), the beads went flying in every direction and the cast handled it well by picking up the beads as part of their act!

My seat neighbor had the opportunity to tour backstage and noted that the production technology was first class. He was happy to see the funding raised for this project was spent wisely regarding tech stuff. I am sorry to say that I did not get his name, as he was very popular with the Little Sister’s, I did not want incur the wrath of the Reverend Mother and her clicker.

The show was spectacular, the theater is just the right size, and did I tell you about the comfy seats? I believe this is the start of a great relationship, and I hope my readers take the time to visit this new theater, you’ll love it too!

Cinema Treasures, an online theater guide, has a great post from 2004 which contains a running dialogue up until till March 2009. The ensuing commentary provides a fascinating look from those who worked at the Devon and from those who have a keen interest in theater history of the transformation of the Devon from run down eyesore to a sparkling new theater.

Snow Day in Philly

Philadelphia experienced its first substantial snowfall of 2009, which coincided nicely with a windshield repair on Jack. I found time to snap a few photos in a nearby park before the temps rose and melted away the snowy designs. You can view the rest of the collection HERE.

On this day in 1789, General George Washington was elected as the nation’s first President. I’d wouldn’t be so quick to say we’ve come a long way. On this day in 2009, the Madame Speaker vented hysterically, claiming a loss of 500 million jobs each month the democrat sponsored stimulus package is not approved. Yeah…we’ve certainly descended a long way.

Pennsylvania 56th Stryker Bridgade off to Iraq

H/T: American Sheepdogs.

With a lineage stretching back to this nation’s struggle for independence, the 56th Styker Brigade prepares to continue this tradition of excellence in Iraq.

The Bulletin, in partnership with Tastykake Baking Co., the Liberty USO of Philadelphia and South Jersey and the National Bible Association, would like to extend best wishes to the soldiers of Philadelphia’s own elite 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) of the 28th (Keystone) Division, Pennsylvania National Guard during their mission in Iraq.

In recognition of their service, Tastykake is furnishing Tastykake cakes and pies to members of the 56th as they leave from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.; Liberty USO will be hosting a send-off; and the National Bible Society is providing Bibles to any member who wants one.

“We appreciate the offer from Tastykake to donate up to 4000 Tastykakes to the deploying soldiers of the 56th Stryker Brigade,” said Gen. Wesley Craig, the interim CEO of Liberty USO. “I can tell you that Tastykakes are the most popular food item we offer at (the USO center at the Philadelphia International Airport) and Ft Dix/McGuire (USO Center).”

The Bibles were furnished by the American Bible Society. Philadelphia was named the National Bible City by the Nat. Bible Assoc. for this year. Events are organized around the city featuring the Bible.

It is fitting that the Pennsylvania’s first citizen militia will be part of the creation of the world’s youngest democracy.

The Organized Blogger

Does such a creature exist?

Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day embarking on what I had thought was a quick clean up. One shelving unit, two file cabinets, one desk chair and 3 picture frames later I was finally able to start putting everything back together.

My den/office over the past few months had slowly become a disorganized disaster. The last straw came this past Friday when I had to step over three piles of books before clearing my desk in order to find my keyboard. Not good at all. I have many projects coming up in 2009 and need an effective work area.

I took a look at the storage in the room itself and realized that as much as I needed more space, the storage available was not being used effectively. Books should be placed on the bookshelf, not on the floor. Looking around, I had to ask why do I still hold onto a modem that was last used in 2003 or a backpack last used 10 years ago?

Several hours and two Strongbow Ciders later, I reorganized both bookshelves, my CD, DVD, and VHS collections, hung posters that have been sitting in storage tubes for years, and trashed a bewildering variety of things that I’ve held on for no discernible reason.

It is nice to blog in a room with organized bookshelves, a CD, DVD and VHS collection within easy reach, and Maxfield Parrish posters adorning the walls. There is a feeling of Feng Shui about this newly reorganized room. Now that the den/office is reorganized, I can set my sights on reorganizing the GOP in my area.

Oh, I need to find a place to hang this poster, it was a gift, any suggestions?

Random Fluffines

Yes, he is just that cute! I’m sharing some random fluffiness with my readers and lurkers.