Free Press –
Energy Independence Kids On Bikes Four Way Stop ZWswingers Bux Mont Champs Fifty Years Ago
Dear Friends,
Good morning. My main subject today is achieving energy independence, and reducing global warming through term limits. But first, there’s some house keeping left over from last week.
When District Judge C. Robert Roth found Richland Township Supervisor Mike Zowniriw guilty of disorderly conduct, the judge missed an opportunity to identify and remedy a character flaw. Zowniriw is known for his hotheaded temper. He’s demonstrated his penchant for anger on many occasions.
First, I was surprised that Judge Roth levied such a small fine…only $100. And I thought that if anyone in this region would be an ideal candidate for an anger management course, Zowniriw would win hands down. Jane Steeley, a Zowniriw supporter, attended the proceedings. She needs to give Mike some advice. He may listen to her.
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The four-way stop at the Fourth and Mill Streets intersection in Quakertown will be made permanent. It’s been a resounding success. Quakertown Councilmen Donald Rosenberger and David Zaiser wondered whether the four-way stop might spark residents request more of the same? I hope so. If I had my way, I’d have four-way stops and speed bumps installed throughout the borough.
There are far too many young drivers speeding on Quakertown streets. Don’t be shy about calling 911 when you witness some rude driver terrorizing the neighborhood.
And speaking about rudeness, the other day, I was slowly driving down Apple Street in Quakertown. Four young teens were riding their bikes in the middle of the street and challenged me to hit them. If I had not stopped my car, I would have struck two of them. I called 911 and reported the incident. And you should too.
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Skip Link told me last week about a reunion of Quakertown football and basketball players who won the Bux-Mont championship in the 1956-1957 academic year for QHS. John Detweiler and Rick Shutters are fellow organizers, Skip told me. The shindig is planned on the night before the Thanksgiving Day game. The Spinnerstown Hotel is the venue but the ladies are not invited. It’s a stag affair, which may not be a good thing. What do you think will happen when 50 former stars from the 1950’s convene? Fortunately, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Kenneth Biehn was a member of that basketball team and will be invited. His presence may keep the lid on.
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My comments about the Swingers club in Coopersburg will have to wait for another day.
And now to business.
I saved an Op-ed piece from the Morning Call and a column by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times because they addressed the most important problem facing all of us…dependence on foreign oil.
Robert Dennis, a resident from Upper Milford Township, hit the nail on the head in his Op-Ed column (Sept. 12). Here are his key paragraphs. “The terrorists hailed from countries that would be far less developed if not for the black crude [oil] under their feet, crude that we need because it is the lifeblood or our economy, crude that fuels the huge profits that provide the income to fund the terrorists so damn well,” Dennis wrote.
“What would have happened if we [America] had decided five years ago that our national addiction just was not worth it any more? What if we had decided that the surest and quickest way to effectively win the “War on Terrorism” would be to deny the crude dealers our money, to eliminate our insatiable “need” for their product, to seriously devalue their only “cash crop?”
“What would have happened if our leaders had challenged America to achieve total energy independence? This could have been ours if only we had used the strength of our unified spirit to pull the crude needle out of our national arm. This failure of leadership may go down in history as our greatest loss from the 9/11 attacks, and most sadly, the terrorists did not inflict it.”
In Thomas Friedman’s Sept. 15 column, he compared our dependence upon Middle East oil to Brazil. Brazilians have developed ethanol, an alcohol fuel made from corn, sugar cane or any biomass. Brazil has replaced about 40 percent of its gasoline consumption with sugar ethanol, Friedman wrote.
In Brazil, “There are 34,000 gas stations that offer both gasoline and ethanol (compared with around 700 in the U.S.) And, 70 percent of new cars sold here can run on either gasoline or sugar ethanol.
“I asked Brazilian experts what they’d do if they were the U.S. president,” Friedman continued. “The consensus answer: Require U.S. oil companies to provide ethanol fuel pumps at all their gas stations, require U. S. auto companies to make all their new cars flex-fuel and improve mileage standards, and get rid of the crazy 54-cent tariff we’ve imposed on imported sugar ethanol (to protect our farmers). And then let the market work.
“Demand for ethanol would soar. This would push us faster down the innovation curve, so we’d solve the cellulosic ethanol problem quicker, and that would strengthen the democrats in our hemisphere and weaken the petrocrats in the Middle East. If only we were as smart as Brazil,” Friedman concluded.
By the way, wouldn’t the reduction of fossil fuel dependency reverse global warming?
We should ask every congressman to support measures to wean us from Middle East oil. Quite frankly, it would be easier to get things done if we had term limits of 12 years. That would create urgency in our elected officials. History has demonstrated that endless service in Washington just doesn’t work.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith
PS. Next week, I’ll react to the rumor that the Morning Call may be on the auction block. The Tribune [Chicago] Company owns the MC and may need cash to prevent corporate raiders from ruining its media company, as was the case with the Philadelphia Inquirer. The best way to protect the MC and raise cash for the troubled Tribune Company is to sell the MC to private owners in the Lehigh Valley. That’s the route that Philadelphia investors chose for the Inquirer.
And if space permits, I’ll add a comment about Cardinal Rigali who convened 300 priests to hear sexual abuse stories from three victims. What he should do, in addition, is to order the Catholic lobby to support legislation to lift the statute of limitations. Stay tuned.