WHEN EAST MEETS WEST
Commentary by Hank F. Miller Jr.

A series of events called \”Oban\” is centered on August 15th, when one greets one\’s ancestors upon their return home. Oban is a Buddhist festival held in mid summer when the Japanese people welcome and entertain their ancestor’s spirits who are believed to have returned home, to visit the mortal world. Offerings are made to the returning spirits, and sends them on their way again.

PHOTO: BON ODORI DANCERS

A very old practice, Oban combines indigenous Japanese religious faith in one\’s

Owls Sports Club – Ted Palka Park – Westlawn, PAOwls Field
2324 Monroe Avenue
West Lawn, PA 19609

Saturday August 7, 2010

Brooklawn after giving up two runs in the first inning to South Charleston loaded the bases in the bottom of the first. The Brookers second baseman George Spingler doubled to left field bringing in three runs. Brooklawn added four more runs in the bottom of the second to lead the game 8-2. South Charleston threaten in the fifth inning scoring five but Brooklawn continued to hammer away. At the end of sixth innings Brooklawn was ahead 12-7.

Brooklawn will face the winner of tonight\’s game between Salisbury MD and Chesapeake VA., (both undefeated) on Sunday.

AMERICA\’S NEW HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REVEALED

July 28, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Four months after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously declared \”We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it,\”a congressional panel has released the first chart illustrating the 2,801 page health care law President Obama signed into law in March.

Developed by the Joint Economic Committee minority, led by U.S Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the detailed organization chart displays a bewildering array of new government agencies, regulations and mandates.

\”For Americans, as well as Congressional Democrats who didn’t bother to read the bill, this first look at the final health care law confirms what many fear, that reform morphed into a monstrosity of new bureaucracies, mandates, taxes and rationing that will drive up health care costs, hurt seniors and force our most intimate health care choices into the hands of Washington bureaucrats,\”said Brady, the committee’s senior House Republican. \”If this is what passes for health care reform in America, then God help us all.\”

Brownback, the committee’s ranking member, added, \”This updated chart illustrates the overwhelming expansion of government control over health choices and the bewildering complexity facing everyone affected by this law. It doesn’t take long to see how the recently signed health care bill causes a hugely expensive and explosive expansion of federal control over health care. Personal choices that should be between a doctor and a patient will quickly be strangled in a never ending web of bureaucracy.\”

Senate Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) called Obamacare \”a bureaucratic nightmare. The Democrats’ takeover of health care creates a byzantine network of 159 new federal programs and bureaucracies to make decisions that should be between just the patient and their doctor. It should concern everyone that at the center of this regulatory web is the new CMS chief, Donald Berwick, who has championed rationing and European socialized medicine. Americans were rightly outraged that this big government bill was rushed through Congress before anyone read or fully understood the bill’s consequences. Republicans will fight to repeal this reckless takeover and to ensure health care freedom to American families.\”
In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwhelming complexity of new regulations and taxes, the chart portrays:

• $569 billion in higher taxes;

• $529 billion in cuts to Medicare;

• swelling of the ranks of Medicaid by 16 million;

• 17 major insurance mandates; and

• the creation of two new bureaucracies with powers to impose future rationing: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the Independent Payments Advisory Board.

Brady admits committee analysts could not fit the entire health care bill on one chart. \”This portrays only about one-third of the complexity of the final bill. It’s actually worse than this.\”

August 5, 2010

But the principal zoologist with the Department of Environmental Protection\’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program has made it her mission to dispel the myths and misconceptions at the heart of this fear. 

She does this through a statewide network of volunteers that helps people when venomous snakes get a little too close for comfort, at the same time explaining the vital role snakes play in maintaining balance in New Jersey\’s ecosystems. 

The Response Team is made up of more than 80 volunteers spread across the state that includes DEP employees, local police, local animal control officers and members of the public. This highly trained team uses a combination of tact, science and understanding to protect snakes and the people who encounter them.

Of 22 species found in New Jersey, only the timber rattlesnake and the northern copperhead are

The homeowner at 314 Monmouth St. received Board approval to repair worn fencing with new cedar wood, and to repair broken soffits.

The Board also approved permits for the owner at 104 N. King St.

However, there was one issue in the Historic District that raised questions and created discussion among the Board members.

Residents at 34 N. King St. were requesting to put up a privacy fence in their backyard.

However, the businesses in the rear stated that the land belongs to them.

City Zoning Officer Joe Stecklair said this case was heard in court, and it was found that the businesses never had the land recorded as parking for them.

Since it was never recorded, the land belongs to the residents.

Since no approval is needed from the neighbors, and it meets code, the Board approved their request to put up the fencing.

Planning Board meetings are open to the public, and are held at City Hall the third Wednesday of every month.