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Worse Case Scenario

6 Comments / Absurdity, Life, News

Technology is not my thing; I’m fairly adept at operating my computer and my smartphone…as long as they work the way they’re supposed to. But the minute there’s a problem, I need to call in the experts. As the regular readers of this blog know, I just recently rejoined the blogosphere. Happy to be back and proud of my pretty new blog, I should have known things were going too well.

Last week, as I went to put up a post, my virus alert went off, and I mean it went off…I have a system that literally blares out a loud alarm. I decided to pack it in for the night and try again the next day. When I booted up in the morning, there was a message from a friendly fellow blogger, telling me that when he went to read my blog, he received a warning that the site was corrupted. Now it was time to panic.

I called in my very smart, very nice “blog guru”: It has taken six days to get it all straightened out.

In the midst of this meltdown, my husband and I had dinner with some dear friends that we affectionately refer to as the “international club”. For both business and pleasure, they spend much of their time traveling the world. They are well read, well informed, and very interested in politics.

When I regaled them with the tale of the cyber attack that had taken down my blog along with many other websites hosted on the corrupted server, the story brought forth a unanimous consensus from the group, and in the case of one member who is an international businessman, some inside knowledge, that the physical terrorist attack we all fear, is not the real threat: The true danger lies in the bad guys launching a massive cyber attack that shuts down power grids, ATM machines, Wall Street…the list goes on, succeeding in paralyzing the country.

Apparently, this is not so far-fetched. Turns out that just two months ago, the U.S. government participated in a simulation complete with “operations center” to deal with just such a cyber attack. I guess the good news is that they’re trying to be proactive. The bad news is such an operation is an indication of just how serious the threat must be.

Oh good, another thing to worry about. Well at least my blog is up and running again…for now. 

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A Different Kind Of Conversation…

1 Comment / Life, News, Women

Blogging is a very unique, personal, form of communication. We bloggers get to sit in front of our computer screens at all hours of the night and day, in all forms of dress or undress, and pontificate about anything that interests us, in the hope that someone will read our pearls of wisdom, and even better, post a comment.  

WGPA studio Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 14, I get to up the ante by being part of WGPA’s morning program, “Daybreak” from approx. 8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The show is streamed  live online at http://www.wgpasunny1100.com and the call-in number is 610-866-8074. 

We won’t be discussing politics, at least not local politics. We will be discussing the status of women in the developing world and the economic impact women are beginning to have on the global economy…from America to Afghanistan.

I hope you’ll be listening, and most of all, I hope you’ll call in to say hello, share your thoughts, and join the conversation, because after 9:00 a.m., this radio Cinderella turns back in to a blogger pumpkin, stuck behind her computer screen once again.

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The Internship Dilemma: No more free lunch

6 Comments / Life, News

flipping burgersWith summer approaching and unemployment stuck at 9.7%, students looking for a summer job are going to have a tough time, even if they’re willing to flip burgers. Those looking to boost their skill set and resume through a professional internship are really up against the odds.

Summer internships used to be a boon to employers who were looking for “cheap labor” to do filing and answer the phones. As the economy tightened, cheap often became “free”, or internships were eliminated all together.

Looking to build any edge they could in the job market once they graduated, students who could afford to, took the free internships, and moved home with mom and dad, or held another job. According to a recent article in the New York Times, “Employers posted 643 unpaid internships on Stanford University’s job board this academic year, more than triple the 174 posted two years ago.” 

Not so fast: The Federal Labor Department is starting to investigate free internships as possible minimum wage violations. Whether this is a little too much of “Big Brother” is a post for another time,

If you are a college student, or know of one who is looking to gain some valuable international experience this summer, there are some bright spots. One of them, or rather five of them, are  being offered by the “The Business Council for Peace”. Bpeace, headquartered in New York, is an international non-profit coalition of business professionals who believe the path to peace is lined with jobs.

Students accepted as 2010 Bpeace Fellows will work virtually on projects that help developing countries create more employment and lift people out of poverty and violence…and they will be paid. The deadline  to apply is April 19, and the information is available on here on the PR Newswire site.

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My Reliable Sources: City Appears To Be On Verge of Act 47

16 Comments / News, Politics

A breaking news alert from The Morning Call has just confirmed what this blog reported over 24 hours ago, that the city of Allentown is headed for an Act 47 filing. (Not that Perspectives was given any credit in the paper for breaking this story, but the readers know where they heard it first.)

In typical City Hall fashion, the Pawlowski administration is still denying it, but both Jarrett Renshaw’s and my sources say it is going to happen.

And since I’m on a roll here, I will take this opportunity to reprint something I wrote over five years ago…

Emergency Medicine: Although not perfect, Act 47 could relieve Allentown’s symptoms of financial distress

Maybe I should add the title “psychic” to the other jobs I do.

The arrogance and hubris of this administration for waiting to do what should have been done years ago is a legacy for which it will always be remembered. So all the deception and obfuscation was for nothing but to drive the city further in to debt. Congratulations on putting ego ahead of the needs of Allentown.

Blogger’s Note, 4/6, 2:10 p.m.: City Hall is denying there will be an Act 47 filing. At this point I’m sticking by my sources. I suspect one or both of two things are going on: What the city is really about to apply for is Act 205, the Municipal Plan Funding and Recovery Act and in the game of “whisper down the lane” that information was transformed into Act 47. And/or the unions got wind of a possible bankruptcy filing and decided to strike the first blow. But the bottom line is, something is going on. The city is drowning and it’s looking for a lifeline. Stay tuned…

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The Handling of Other People’s Money

8 Comments / News

In all the years I’ve been writing and blogging, I’ve run very few ‘blind items’. I don’t do it because there’s so much good stuff to write about that I can openly source that I don’t have to resort to “unnamed officials” who spoke on the condition of anonymity.  But this is not one of those times.

According to some closely placed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, down at Allentown City Hall, the phrase, “Act 47” is reverberating through the hallways. You may remember that just two weeks ago, The Morning Call reported and this blog commented on the fact that the $10 million borrowed bailout isn’t working quite the way we were all led to believe it would. With a lot of bills coming due in the next year or two, the option of entering the state’s municipal fiscal distress program may be looking like it might be the only way out.

And then there’s the story about a regional organization that decided to create a non-profit foundation so they could give money away to projects they wanted to support. Just one little problem: The foundation has been giving away more money than they’ve been taking in. Where did they get the money from? They’ve been borrowing it from the organization with which they’re affiliated. The foundation is now in debt to the “mother ship” for well in to six figures. So much so that at least one donor who became aware of the situation has decided to not honor this year’s pledge. 

Looks like there’s going to be a lot of talk soon about how people handle other people’s money. Where is Donald Trump when you need him? 

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What A Surprise: The Box Isn’t So Locked

10 Comments / News, Politics

Lockbox When I returned to blogging a few weeks ago, I promised myself that I was going to avoid local Allentown politics as much as possible. A lot of Perspectives’ readers are not Allentonians.  And the truth is, I’m frustrated beyond words with Allentown’s slide in to the abyss and the inability of anyone in a position to do so to show an ounce of courage or leadership.

But promises are made to be broken, and even though fellow blogger extraordinaire Bernie O’Hare beat me to it, I feel compelled to comment on Jarrett Renshaw’s well-written story in Sunday’s paper, titled “Allentown Loan Deal Isn’t Paying Off”. Really. What a surprise.

Anyone who’s ever been married knows that one of the ways you keep a relationship “healthy” is by resisting the urge to say “I told you so” when your partner turns out to be wrong and you turn out to be right. But there are no such rules in journalism or politics, so excuse me while I mention that there were people out here in the wilderness, myself included, who were trying to sound this alarm, years ago, and no one, including The Morning Call, would listen.

Now that the light is finally shining on the inside of the open lockbox, and it looks like the reserve may have dipped below it’s legally “locked” level, and even though the convoluted deal hasn’t earned a fraction of the interest projected to help pay down the debt, don’t get your hopes up that anything will change.

City Council will continue to verbalize a few mild protests, the mayor will go on blaming his predecessor and the worst recession since the Great Depression, and there will be no consequences for this deception except for the increase in taxes of the dwindling number of Allentown citizens who still actually pay taxes.

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A Step Back From The Cliff

15 Comments / News, Politics

A lot of Americans are upset about the passage of the Healthcare Reform Bill. Depending on what poll you read, somewhere between 30 and 50% of the country’s citizens don’t approve of these changes.

Rumors about what is and is not in the Bill are flying around like flies at a picnic, and rumors weren’t the only things flying today. Bricks were thrown through the office windows of some members of congress who voted for the Bill, and one Congressman’s brother, whose house was mistaken for the residence of the Congressman, had his gas line cut. 

This is not how Americans settle our differences: It is how third world countries and dictators settle theirs. We need to take a step back and take a deep breath. There’s an election coming up in 8 months, and it’s at the ballot box that Americans should express their frustration and disapproval.

This behavior is beneath us and weakens our moral authority. .

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The Mighty Oak Has Fallen….Acorn Closes It’s Doors

3 Comments / News, Politics, Women

Lots going on in Varkonyland right now so will be brief, but I just had to post about the demise of Acorn.

Every once in a while, the bad guys get caught in their own web. And although I do not approve of the entrapment that was used to bring Acorn down, I’m glad they are finished…well, kind of finished.

As reported by the AP, two of their largest affiliates, New York and California, have changed their names and are still operating. But by and large, local chapters and field offices have closed for good. We will shed no tears at their passing. Hopefully, legitimate community organizations will take their place.

And while we’re on the subject, lest we have short memories, it would be good to be reminded who ran the Acorn field operation here in the Lehigh Valley in its heyday: That would be Siobhan Bennett. 

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An Uncertain Future…Healthcare Reform

7 Comments / News, Politics

Well, it’s happened, the Healthcare Reform Bill is passed. It certainly isn’t anything I would have voted for if a member of Congress, but it’s going to be the law of the land. Now all we can do is hope for the best. On a personal basis what I hope for is that this knot I have in my stomach is a result of the usual human reaction to change, and not a harbinger of pain and discord that is to come.

I’ve been interested in politics since I was a teenager and it is not hyperbole to say that I’ve never seen an administration so determined to pass something against the will of the majority of the people who elected them.

Perhaps our grandparents felt the same way when Social Security was enacted and our parents when Medicare came to be, but I don’t recall ever hearing anyone from either of those generations being as opposed to those social changes as I’ve heard against the Healthcare Bill.

I have an overwhelming sense of sadness tonight, like something has been lost that will never be recovered. In an effort to dispel the gloom, I’m going to try to think about someone “out there” who has suffered because they didn’t have health insurance and be happy for them that they will now be covered.

I just wish we could have accomplished that goal in a more direct, straightforward manner that addressed their specific needs without creating this monster of a Bill that I fear is going to eat us alive. 

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State’s Rights Showdown

10 Comments / News, Politics

dont_tread_on_meSince reentering the blogosphere I have consciously avoided highly controversial subjects, especially those involving national politics, preferring instead to focus time and energy on my work and my causes…areas where I can impact my own life or the lives of others rather than be frustrated over something I can’t control.

As a writer and observer of the human condition, some things are too fascinating to ignore. An issue that could be of historical importance is starting to appear in the national dialog: The unconstitutionality of the healthcare bill. There are those who believe that under no interpretation of our Founding Document can you mandate the citizens of this country, private or corporate, to buy health insurance, or levy a fine against them when they don’t comply.

A groundswell of people and states who agree with that premise seems to be building. Idaho has been the first to pass legislation ordering the state Attorney General to sue the federal government if the healthcare bill becomes law. Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states.

According to some Constitutional scholars, the Constitution’s “supremacy clause ” which gives the federal government ultimate control over the states may win out, but with so many states willing to put up a fight, we may just find that healthcare reform has an unintended consequence…a Constitutional Convention.

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