I wrote up a small thing about why PA needs to vote no the Constitutional Amendment Ballot Question. There has been almost no press on it and it can have far and wide reaching implications for all of Pennsylvania but especially Philadelphia taxes.
What it does: If passed, this proposal will make it possible for local taxing authorities (counties, municipalities, and school districts) to exempt 100% of the assessed value of each homestead from taxes (for example, property taxes). This is done by making changes to Resolution 1, a constitutional amendment passed by Governor Tom Ridge in 1997. Resolution 1 made it possible to exempt up to 50% of the median value of all homesteads within localities from taxes. This is also known as the “Homestead Exemption” and gave school districts the ability to raise earned income taxes by up to 1.5% within these localities.
False narrative: While giving localities and municipalities the ability to lower property taxes to zero sounds great, doing so will likely be followed by increased income and sales taxes, and, likely, new taxes. Forecasts by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office forecast $14.6 Billion in property taxes for 2017-2018 school year. This revenue needs to come from somewhere in order to fund state programs/schools. To raise revenue, proposals previously defeated in Harrisburg (sometimes by only 1 vote) called for increasing the sales tax to 7% statewide (9% in Philadelphia) and began including goods such as: food, hygiene products, clothing over $50, and even horses. The reaction would not be unlike the vehemently hated soda tax. Due to these additional taxes, income tax would increase from 3.07% to 4.95% (and don’t forget to tack on the city wage tax, making the total rate 8.84% in Philadelphia). Stephanie Hacke did a fantastic piece on this in April 2017 for Public Source, and dives into the details of some of this legislation; you can read it here.
Why this is important: The only people who would benefit from this tax would be the wealthy. We would see school districts lose stable annual funding that they can use to invest in buildings and repairs, and become dependent on taxes that vastly fluctuate and do not meet the estimated amounts necessary. Tax increases would be most felt by the poorest people in our communities in their everyday purchases, while large landowners and landlords would see thousands
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I'm a semi-closeted nerd (my husband and I met playing WoW of all things) with a small homestead. We have two rescue dogs (one from Puerto Rico) and two new rescue cats. We're just starting up our homestead after a whole colonial farmhouse DIY renovation, and will likely be starting to keep bees this year, as well as fiber rabbits, quail, and WORMS! We have a big garden and I like growing historical varieties of our favorite foods from saved seeds.
I love reading all sorts of fiction and non-fiction. I spend a few days a week baking bread from scratch, and this year have learned to needle-felt. I loosely homeschool/nature school our young children, we love our local library, birdwatching and feeding our backyard birds, and spending time building with Lego!
We don't have a TV, but I like watching shows on my laptop while painting and doing other art during the kids' naptimes. I love Gilmore Girls, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica...could probably go on forever. We're tech-industry people who try to keep tech to a minimum in our home and personal life, which is apparently trendy now.
I'm interested in almost everything and love chatting - I'm usually up half the night nursing/rocking babies to sleep - AMA!
Administration:
Vice President: Henry T. Blow
Secretary of State: Charles Francis Adams
Secretary of the Treasury: John M. Read
Secretary of War: John M. Botts
Attorney General: Abraham Lincoln
Secretary of the Navy: John A. Gilmer (1865-1868 (died in office)), Cornelius Cole (1868-1869)
Secretary of the Interior: Ossian B. Hart
Postmaster General: Cornelius Cole (1865-1868 (promoted to Navy Department)), Emerson Etheridge (1868-1869)
Seward quickly found trouble in appointing a unity cabinet that nonetheless was allied with him. Party leaders such as 1856 Federalist nominee Edward D. Baker, Senator Zachariah Chandler, and others found themselves rebuffed by the appointments of almost entirely older, Seward-aligned moderates, although Baker ally Cornelius Cole was given the Secretary of the Navy post, Baker himself was rumored to have expected an appointment as Secretary of State. Chandler, as well, reportedly expected either the State or Treasury posts and was insulted by the offer of Secretary of War, declining the post only to see it go to Virginia statesman John Botts, no friend of Chandler's. Charles Francis Adams, the son of former President John Quincy Adams, was appointed Secretary of State in a popular consensus choice. Pennsylvania Federalist John Read was chosen for the Treasury post, signaling Seward's tariff and bank priorities whereas a holdover from the Clay cabinet, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, was made Attorney General. The Interior appointment was granted to Florida's Ossian B. Hart.
As the United States continues to expand abroad, Ambassadorships have become more important, with Seward making several notable appointments there. Passed over for the Secretary of State position, the crucial post of Ambassador to the British Empire was given to Maryland's Reverdy Johnson, with James Grimes of Iowa appointed as Ambassador to France, tasked with ending the proxy war in Mexico along with Ambassador to Mexico Nathaniel Boyden, of North Carolina. Former Confederate turned abolitionist Henry W. Hilliard of Alabama was appointed Ambassador to Brazil, replacing John C. Breckinridge and signaling a change in Administration policy towards the conflict over slavery in Brazil. The Ambassadorship to Russia, often considered a throwaway post to strand political rivals in, was rejected by Zachariah Chandler and Edward Baker but finally accepted by Millard Fillmore, a New York rival to Seward, later fired and replaced with Massachusetts' Cha
... keep reading on reddit ➡TL;DR: Doing a 10-day quest to break 100. Don't have anywhere else to share so posting my adventures here. Hope you enjoy. Day 1 today was not particularly great.
Day 0 - The Setup
Good day, fellow golfers and redditors. I have found a chance to take some much-needed time off from work, and while I was at my desk toiling away, I was deciding on what I would like to do during my little vacation other than a two-night getaway I had originally planned. It was then that I thought to give myself a bit of a challenge. I have been playing golf for just over a year now, and my average score currently is 112.9. I have flirted fairly close with the 100 mark but just couldn't quite get there. I figured this would be a good opportunity to play a lot of rounds and see if I can break that barrier, plus take the opportunity to play new courses that I haven't yet. I currently live in the Lehigh Valley area of eastern Pennsylvania, and there are no shortages of golf courses here, but I've only played a few. So I decided to jot down and plan out 10 courses that I haven't played before* and play one per day, hopefully to get at least one sub-100 score. Here are some criteria for this little challenge.
- Play from the tees closest to 6,000 total yardage (exception being if I'm in a group, which is very likely since I'll be playing as a single; then I will play what the rest of the group is playing). I am a member of Allentown Municipal Golf Course, so I play there quite often and off the white tees, which is 6,001y total, so best to stick with what's familiar.
- Use u/golfsidekick's How to Break 100 video series and play with the 150PSP and new pars system (for those unfamiliar, use just your 150y club/pitching wedge/sand wedge/putter + a reliable 170y club if you have it; and adding 1 to each hole's par and an additional 1 for the hardest 9 holes). A reliable 150y club is my 6-iron, which can go about 160y+ if struck well, but I enjoy hitting it the most. I was using my 5-hybrid as a reliable 170y+ club off the tees, but I came into possession of a TaylorMade Burner Superfast 2.0 Rescue hybrid which I've been loving and is much longer than any of my other clubs (except my temperamental driver), so I'll be including that in my kit instead.
My current weaponry, though I won't be using them all.
- Here is my itinerary of courses f
The Democratic-Republican Convention of 1864 convened between June 27th and 31st in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Weeks ago President Pierce began to reverse his slide into depression and alcoholism, firing almost every cabinet member for aiding in attempts to prevent his renomination and removing Secretary of State Daniel Dickinson, whom many accuse of ruling the nation while Pierce drank, and his allies from power. Appointing his allies, Pierce is making an attempt to save his presidency that must withstand challenges from a vengeful Dickinson, two living former Presidents, and the late former President Sam Houston.
Franklin Pierce: 60 year old incumbent President Franklin Pierce wallowed in alcoholism and depression after the death of his family in a train crash weeks before his inauguration. Pierce largely let his cabinet steer the nation until weeks ago, and let that cabinet fall firmly under the influence of strongly pro-slavery forces, alienating many within the party, and only recently appointed Pierce allies to the cabinet. As President, Pierce led America into an intervention in Mexico and sided with Brazilian slave holders against John Brown; presided over an economic boom; and began the first major seizures of Native land since the 1820s.
John Adams Dix: 66 year old former President of the United States & current President of the transcontinental railroad John A. Dix of New York ascended to the presidency upon the assassination of President Johnson but failed to win election to a full term in 1848 & renomination in 1852, 1856, and 1860, but many have flocked to him due to his public opposition to Pierce. As President, Dix fired a number of Johnson's more radical appointees, who would go on to found the Workingman’s Party, and did not annex territory south of Chihuahua in Mexico; set a precedent for social welfare legislation; Dix lowered most tariffs further, with some being the lowest in history, but raised protectionist tariffs on other items; he advocated for civil service reform; sent troops into the South once more to suppress the KGC; and passed an amendment gradually abolishing slavery by 1880 while preventing the admission of new slave states, although many blame his lack of action for the failure of civil rights amendments. Dix has not actively campaigned, instead leaving his allies to gather support in the states not utilizing the popular vote; he is a moderate on tariffs and opposes expansionism and the hollow eart
... keep reading on reddit ➡Names are always something that have fascinated me, and recently I came across this great resource that has compiled high school nicknames: http://highschoolnicknames.homestead.com/ (probably a little outdated lol). Adjectives modifiers are included here, so Golden Eagles are counted as Eagles, Strutting Jaguars are counted as Jaguars, etc.
1,392 - Philadelphia Eagles: The eagle is the most popular high school mascot in the country by a staggering amount, with almost 500 more schools than 2nd place (Tigers).
819 - Carolina Panthers: The panther is the third most popular mascot nationally, and holds the top spot in 5 different states.
557 - Detroit Lions: Big cats are popular mascots, with the King of the Jungle holding the seventh spot nationally. The NFL misses out on Bulldogs, Warriors, and Wildcats.
368 - Atlanta Falcons: Falcons are the second most popular bird among high schools, and ranked eleventh nationally. The NFL misses out on Cougars, Indians, Knights, and Mustangs, which round out the top ten.
354 - Minnesota Vikings: The fifth most popular human mascot (Warriors, Indians, Knights, Trojans), and 13th nationally.
297 - Los Angeles Rams: The second most popular non-feline mammal, and 14th nationally.
287 - Arizona Cardinals: The third bird (though this includes Christian cardinals as well), 15th nationally, and first in North Dakota!
272 - Las Vegas Raiders: This one benefits the most from adjectives being included, there are almost as many Red Raiders as regular ones.
269 - New England Patriots: What do you expect from America? The patriots manage to eke out the top spot in West Virginia.
225 - Chicago Bears: Even without including the 67 Bruins, the Bears take a respectable place.
139 - Jacksonville Jaguars: Though somewhat rare by big cat standards, the Jaguars are still quite popular.
135 - Tennessee Titans: Remember them.
133 - Los Angeles Chargers: A bit surprising to me that this is as popular as it is.
124 - New Orleans Saints: Lots and lots of Catholic schools.
101 - Denver Broncos: Includes Broncs and Bronchos as well, Mustangs is the far more popular name for a horse team.
71 - Kansas City Chiefs: Far less offensive than the...
(69 - Washington Redskins): These teams can be found in in 24 different states, maybe Washington changing their name will see this number start to decrease. (There are high
Party: Democrat
Home State: Pennsylvania
Term: 1857-1861
Buchanan was probably the most experienced man to occupy the oval office, besides John Quincy Adams. He served as Secretary of State (1845-1849), House of Representatives in Pennsylvania (1814-1816), U.S. House of Representatives (1821-1831), Minister to Russia (1832-1833), Minister to Great Britain (1853-1856), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (1829-1831) and U.S. Senator in Pennsylvania (1834-1845). That approximately 31 years of a political career before the presidency. You would think such a man would be great for the presidency...oh boy.
DOMESTIC POLICY
Slavery
James Buchanan was a repeat of Franklin Pierce, a northerner who had supported southerner sympathies. Pierce was a disaster with slavery with his shenanigans in Kansas and you would think after the failures of Pierce, Buchanan would try not to repeat it. Oh boy you are wrong.
Senator Stephen Douglas drafted a constitution known as the Lecompton Constitution. It included provisions to protect slaveholding in the state and to exclude free people of color from its bill of rights. Slavery was the subject of Article 7, which protected the right to slave "property", and prevented the legislature from emancipating slaves without their owners' consent, and without full compensation to their owners. It was initially approved in a rigged election in December 1857, but overwhelmingly defeated in a second vote in January 1858 by a majority of voters in the Kansas Territory.
Buchanan publicly endorsed the Lecompton Constitution believing it was the right choice for Kansas. He demanded all democrats to support the Constitution and tried his absolute best to get votes for the Constitution. He offered literal bribes so he could pay for campaigns supporting the pro-slavery movement. Petty corruption at it's finest. Northerners rightfully called out Buchanan as tool of the Southerner ''slave power.'''
In other areas, Buchanan intervened in the Dred Scott case in which he pushed the judges to vote against Dred Scott. Roger Taney, a good friend of Buchanan's, delivered the majority opinion in one of the worst supreme court cases ever (Plessy v. Ferguson is close). It divided the Democratic party and was one of his worst decisions in office. Combine this with his heavy enforcement of the Fugitive slave act and doing nothing with the secessionist crisis and you got a true doughface.
Utah war
Buchanan hated Mormons (a religious g
... keep reading on reddit ➡Growing up in New Jersey, there's a lot of place names that we just take for granted. But bring in an out-of-stater and you'll get some questions.
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Why is there an exit for "The Oranges"?
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What's so great about the eggs in Great Egg Harbor?
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What exactly goes on in Succasunna?
Here's some place names that I've come across and wondered why they're called that.
Bargaintown: An unincorporated community in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, a property developer named his development Bargaintown either out of desperation or as a marketing ploy in order to advertise how cheaply the lots were being offered. There's Bargaintown Park as well as the Bargaintown Volunteer Fire Company #2.
Bogota: In 2006, Mayor Steve Lonegan of Bogota complained about a Spanish language billboard in the borough, proposing adoption of an "English only" ordinance. This drew national attention, as people wondered if that meant they'd have to change the name of the borough -- wasn't it named after the capital of Colombia? Nope. The name of the Bergen County borough comes from a prominent local family named Bogert, or possibly a combination of the Bogert and Banta families, and is pronounced buh-GO-dah as opposed to bo-go-TAH. (Bogotá, Colombia, was originally called Bacatá, after a Chibcha village; the Spanish crown renamed it Santafé, but when Gran Colombia became independent from Spain in 1819, it was renamed Bogotá, an approximation of the original name.)
Brick: Not to be confused with "Brick City", a nickname for Newark, Brick Township in Ocean County was founded in 1850. The township was named after Joseph Woolston Brick, the owner of the Bergen Iron Works, who had died three years earlier. In addition to Brick Township, there was a separate municipality named after him, Bricksburg. In 1880, Bricksburg had become home to a number of resorts and was renamed Lakewood in order to sound more appealing to tourists.
Buttzville: Named after founder Michael Robert Buttz. An unincorporated community within White Township in Warren County founded in 1839, probably best known for [Hot Dog Johnny's](https://hotdogjoh
... keep reading on reddit ➡I want to live as a homesteader off-grid. I'm 18 and currently living in the EU. I want to immigrate to the US (Idaho, Kenntucky, Pennsylvania, ...) or Canada. I've got a diploma in chemistry and I want to take an extra year of agriaculture and . I'm ready for a risk but for the comming few years I want to stay in the EU and build up a capital and self educate myself more about homesteading.
Do you have some tips for me? Things I surely need to watch out for? Some common mistakes maybe? Some personal experience?
Thanks for reading and I wish you a nice day.
Today in Other: Southern Homestead Act (1866)
Signed into law on this day in 1866, the Southern Homestead Act opened up 46,398,544.87 acres (about 46 million acres or 190,000 km²) of public land for sale in the Southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Until January 1st, 1867, the bill specified, only free black people and loyal white people would be allowed access to these lands. Homesteaders were required to occupy and improve the land for five years before acquiring full ownership.
Many Southern bureaucrats often obstructed or violated the law, notably not informing black people of their right to land (thus delaying and allowing Confederates to be eligible, from 1867 onwards). It was also difficult for freed slaves to take advantage of the opportunity just from lack of materials, often lacking seed, animals, and farm tools.
Despite this, free black people entered about 6,500 claims to homesteads, and about 1,000 of these eventually resulted in property certificates. The law was repealed a decade later as part of a growing coalition of cooperation between Northern and Southern capitalists (this cooperation became more explicit with the Compromise of 1877, which resulted in federal troops withdrawing from Southern states).
Today in Assassinations: Freedom Summer Murders (1964)
The murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, known collectively as the Freedom Summer murders, occurred on this day in 1964. All three activists were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and its member organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They had been working with the Freedom Summer campaign by attempting to register African-Americans in Mississippi to vote
The trio were arrested by Sheriff Cecil Price near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi while investigating the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School.
They were released that evening, without being allowed to contact anyone. While traveling back to Meridian, Mississippi, they were stopped by patrol lights and two carloads of KKK members, kidnapped, tortured, and killed.
The sheriff, along with six others, were ind
... keep reading on reddit ➡25 year old Michael Rosenblum began experimenting with drugs in high school. He became a heavy user of a prescription pain killer that altered his moods and made him erratic and irritable. Despite his drug problems, he retained the strong support and love of his family. However, after several attempts to get him help, his parents finally banished him from the family home in Baldwin, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1980. His mother Barbara did this after she found a bottle of painkillers in his room. He left that night in a car driven by his girlfriend, Lisa. Barbara told him not to come back until he was off drugs.
The next day, Michael woke up with a severe drug hangover, and Lisa took him to the hospital. However, he refused to be treated. They left the hospital and went to a nearby gas station in West Homestead. According to Lisa, he became increasingly agitated. He then told her that he needed to borrow her car and left her stranded at the station. He also told her to go to his parents' home and that he'd meet her there in 2 hours. Michael did not arrive at his parents' home and was never seen by his family or friends again.His parents waited all night for a phone call from him. However, it never came. Barbara did not believe he would vanish voluntarily because he left behind money in his bank accounts and clothes in his closet. His family filed a missing person's report the next day. The police soon began searching for Lisa's missing car, as they felt it would lead them to Michael. 2 weeks later, the car had still not been found, so Michael's father Maurice decided to start his own investigation into his son's disappearance. He offered a reward for information, posted fliers, and traveled as far as California to talk with friends of his son. He hoped to find Michael and get him off of drugs for good; sadly, that never happened.
3 months later on May 21, the Baldwin Borough Police Department notified Lisa that her car had been impounded. According to official records, it had been in a lot since the day Michael vanished. Maurice could not understand how the police department had the car in its possession for 3 months and did not realize it. A Baldwin police dispatcher was contacted by the Pittsburgh police when they searched for the car, but no one can say whether the information was officially circulated. Maurice learned that the car had been found on River Road, which connected Baldwin to the South Side of Pittsburgh. The car was located by Baldwin po
... keep reading on reddit ➡Go post NSFW jokes somewhere else. If I can't tell my kids this joke, then it is not a DAD JOKE.
If you feel it's appropriate to share NSFW jokes with your kids, that's on you. But a real, true dad joke should work for anyone's kid.
Mods... If you exist... Please, stop this madness. Rule #6 should simply not allow NSFW or (wtf) NSFL tags. Also, remember that MINORS browse this subreddit too? Why put that in rule #6, then allow NSFW???
Please consider changing rule #6. I love this sub, but the recent influx of NSFW tagged posts that get all the upvotes, just seem wrong when there are good solid DAD jokes being overlooked because of them.
Thank you,
A Dad.
Phil
A couple of weeks ago I was looking through the sidebar's list of Best Bigfoot Videos and Best Bigfoot Photographs, and I was disappointed to see that a vast majority of them were misidentifications, pareidolia, or out and out hoaxes.
So I've spent the last three days constructing a list of all the most well known, and most often talked about videos and photos, categorized them into which area I believe they go in, and then dug up the original footage where available, as well as links to analysis by youtubers, other redditors, and myself.
These are presented in no particular order within the categories, and you will find no links to Thinkerthunker or MK Davis. They both present their videos with deceptive editing and video manipulation to drive their clicks, and I don't think they should be rewarded for that.
I would have also avoided Facebook/FindBigfoot if I could have done it.
There are some videos that are missing the original footage because I just couldn't find them. If you know where I can get them, I would love to hear about it, so I can add it to the list.
If the mods would like to use this as a basis for a new best of list, go for it. The old ones are horribly out of date.
You may disagree with the placement of some of the videos. I will just say that these are all my opinion, informed by the analysis presented. You may feel differently, and it's awesome if you do. Feel free to enter into debate in the comments. I love having reasonable debate with fellow members of the community. Just don't be a dick about it. And don't post MK Davis or ThinkerThunker to back up your points.
Last Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a definitive list. The placement is my opinion, and could they ALL be real bigfoots recorded? Sure. There's always a chance, but sometimes that chance is down around 3% or less.
Here we go.
Compelling and Credible
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- The Patterson-Gimlin Film
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q60mSMmhTZU
- The Bill Munns Analysis: https://bigfootforums.com/forum/159-the-munns-report/
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- The Freeman Film
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- The Gray’s Harbor Thermal
- Original Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov9A6YcC4Rc
- Parabreakdown: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlGFgKfSmd8](https://www.you
Well, toucan play at that game.
Martin Freeman, and Andy Serkis.
They also play roles in Lord of the Rings.
I guess that makes them the Tolkien white guys.
She said apple-lutely
The Democratic-Republican National Convention of 1860 convened in Atlanta, Georgia from July 4th to July 7th, 1860.
To the enragement, chagrin, and despair of many within the party, Ely Moore, Robert D. Owen, and several other leaders of the Workingman’s Party negotiated a deal to dissolve the party into the Democrats, inspired by the People’s Party joining the Federal Republican coalition. Hours after signing away the life of his party, Ely Moore’s own life left him on the return train trip, but even as loyal Workingmen flounder in attempts to re-organize a new party, the Democrats must convene to ensure this deal remains solvent and defeat the Federal coalition.
To the further chagrin of Workingman delegates, the convention quickly adopted the unit rule, granting an entire state’s delegate votes to the winner of the plurality within the delegation.
Francis E. Spinner: 58 year old Vice President Francis E. Spinner of New York has served as Vice President since 1857 & served as a Representative prior to his election to the Vice-Presidency. Spinner has generally been inactive in the Vice Presidency but has been commended for his impartial role as the Senate’s presiding officer. Spinner is most notable as an early supporter of women’s rights, arguing that women should be permitted to have federal jobs; Spinner strongly opposes tariffs, supported the annexation of Santo Domingo and would support purchasing Alaska, supports a Homestead Act, and has been critical of the gold standard but opposes the national bank as all candidates do. Spinner has not actively campaigned.
John Adams Dix: 62 year old former President of the United States & current President of the transcontinental railroad John A. Dix of New York ascended to the presidency upon the assassination of President Johnson but failed to win election to a full term in 1848 & renomination in 1852, but many have flocked to him. As President, Dix fired a number of Johnson's more radical appointees and did not annex territory south of Chihuahua in Mexico; set a precedent for social welfare legislation; Dix lowered most tariffs further, with some being the lowest in history, but raised protectionist tariffs on other items; he advocated for civil service reform; sent troops into the South once more to suppress the KGC; and passed an amendment gradually abolishing slavery by 1880 while preventing the admission of new slave states, although many blame his lack of action for
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