Bernie Barczak: His Was A Life Well Lived!

Yesterday we said goodbye to our dear friend Bernie Barczak who passed away last Saturday.

Bernie was a warm and engaging person who really didn't seem to have an enemy in the world. He lived life according to a set of rules rooted in his faith, his neighborhood, his ethnic heritage and his love of people, places and enriching experiences. His story is a story worth knowing. And though he probably wouldn't want us to say this, it's also a story that's instructive and inspiring.

From his obituary:

Bernie was born on November 12, 1942 in Philadelphia, PA. He spent his childhood at Front and Carpenter Streets living with his grandparents, uncle Johnny (Unkie), parents, sister, and brother. He lived in a Polish neighborhood with a lot of family and friends near-by. He loved playing on the playground at Shot Tower, summers in the hydrant, and attending St. Stanislaus School with his best friend since Kindergarten, Eddie Wroblewski.

On October 12, 1953, Bernie contracted polio. He was the last patient in Philadelphia with the disease. Polio was a challenge he never mentioned, a great source of humor and fantastical stories (October 12, being a Barczak family holiday celebrated every year as "Buzzard Day"), and how he lived with polio inspired so much admiration in everyone he met. He traveled the world on crutches and a brace: most recently visiting Canada on the Rocky Mountaineer with family, Mexico with dear friends, California with his usual travel companions, and London for Thanksgiving with family and friends. He even traversed the stone ruins of Pompeii on crutches.

Bernie attended St. John Neumann High School and LaSalle University. On July 4, 1965, he met a beautiful brunette on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. It was love at first sight and they were married in her hometown of Reno, Nevada, on February 12, 1966.

Bernie loved all things Philly: cheesteaks, water ice, Walt's crabs, Levi's Hotdogs, The Big-Five, street corners, stick ball, Polish food, oldies music, The Phillies, and The Flyers. But mostly he loved the Philadelphia Eagles. A season ticket holder since 1966, 2018 was the season of his dreams. His favorite place on earth was sitting on the Smith's deck in Ocean City, NJ, watching the waves with the sun in his face. His favorite people were his family and the perfect day was one "down the shore" with "Mare", "Leese", his adored son-in-law "Joey", and his 4 grandkids…and oh, and Manco and Manco pizza!

"And wouldn't it be nice to live together, In the kind of world where we belong?" -The Beach Boys. Bernie believed that and lived life with an open heart and hand. He could strike up a conversation with any stranger, although it was hard to find someone he didn't know.

To honor him and his legacy, laugh, smile at a stranger, give a compliment, open a door for someone, love life, and cherish the time we have together. Put on some Roy Orbison, The Four Seasons, Beach Boys, or Jimmy Buffet with your feet in the sand, and sing and dance. He would love that. Be like Bernie: never pass up a chance to say, "I love you." Be generous with your hugs and kisses. Laugh easily. Be brave. Forgive. Call your friends once a week. Make your friends, family.

Camden Bigs Blast Murphy: Holding City Hostage?

JOINT STATEMENT OF MAYOR FRANK MORAN, CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT CURTIS JENKINS, SENATOR NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ, AND FREEHOLDER DIRECTOR LOUIS CAPPELLI, Jr., ON

GOVENOR PHIL MURPHY’S ATTACKS ON CAMDEN

“As elected representatives of Camden, with deep roots in the city and singularly committed to the revival and prosperity of its residents, businesses and neighborhoods, we are deeply appalled by Governor Phil Murphy, his administration and the blatantly political leaning task force established by him, for the relentless, unfounded and disingenuous attacks on the businesses making generational investments. We will not be party to nor will we tolerate any efforts to turn back the hard-fought progress that has been made in Camden over the last several years to attract businesses, rebuild our housing inventory, improve public safety and our k-12 education system. We will continue to strongly advocate for the city and ensure that legislative and public initiatives originating in Trenton will benefit Camden just as they do north jersey communities.

For months, Governor Murphy has claimed, with zero evidence, that $11 billion in taxpayer money has been squandered because of lucrative tax credits given to huge companies. Perhaps in the age of Donald Trump, the Governor has learned all the wrong lessons of leadership and adherence to the truth. His invective has been particularly targeted at Camden companies that have received tax credits under the GROW NJ program, which was enacted into law in 2013, and not companies like JP Morgan, Panasonic, Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Ralph Lauren and Gucci which collectively received hundreds of millions in grants and tax credits but happened to be located in north jersey. Also, we find it surprising and hypocritical that Governor Murphy happily accepted $165 million in tax credits when he was on the management committee at the huge and lucrative firm, Goldman Sachs, and was fully prepared to give away $5 billion to the planet’s richest company, Amazon, but has feverishly insinuated without proof that irregularities exist for tax programs that would help Camden. It must have been okay for him and Amazon because he was moving his firm to Jersey City and Amazon was considering moving to Newark.

For fifty years this great city was socially and economically stagnant. But for the grit and soul of the residents, elected officials, non-profits and a few anchor institutions like Cooper Hospital and Campbell’s Soup Company, Camden would have never recovered from its tailspin. Public safety was virtually non-existent, the k-12 education system was in shambles, businesses were unwilling to move here, unemployment rates were at alarming levels, and investment in infrastructure whether it be in schools, roads and parks were anemic at best. Years of planning, discussion, and collaboration with policy makers, residents, business and religious leaders and non-profits, have led to improvements that few imagined was possible just a decade ago.

Today, the city is the safest it has been in fifty years. Not only have graduation rates in the city reached 69%, but close to $335 million in public and private investments are or have been made to improve our school facilities. Over one thousand homes are being rehabilitated or being built in all neighborhoods, along with $75 million in roads and park projects. Unemployment is the lowest it has been in more than two decades. For the first time in two generations, 30 businesses are moving into or expanding their operations in the city. They range from marque companies like Subaru, Holtec, American Water, NFI, CSB, Michaels and EMR to small businesses like I-PAK, Camden Yards and Steel, and Contemporary Graphics. These businesses have made a generational commitment to Camden because of the GROW NJ program. According to a recent report, 10% of the workforce in these companies are already made up of Camden residents. Yet because of the unrelenting attacks, there has been a chilling effect statewide in the business community and in Camden; legitimate questions are being raised regarding the Murphy administration’s intent to honor binding agreements businesses have with the Economic Development Authority (EDA) even upon certification that the mandated requirements have been met. The Governor’s actions only further cement New Jersey’s reputation as one of the most unfriendly states in the country.

Governor Murphy applauds community and business leaders, stakeholders and elected officials for the progress that has made every time he visits the Camden; we prefer to provide our residents and businesses a reliable and predictable pathway to success including eventual financial security for our governmental institutions based on our collective commitment and true leadership from the Governor without his geographic bias. In return, if we have to sacrifice his faint praise for the city so be it.

It has occurred to us that the Governor maybe holding Camden and the business communities in general hostage to get his massive tax increases through the legislature. In an already high-taxed state like New Jersey, we think it is unwise to pile on the taxes even more and drive people and businesses out of state. Regardless, we think it is unfair and illogical to use the most significant contributors to our economy – our businesses – as pawns to get the massive taxes enacted.

We are heartened by the fact that the most progressive leader of our time, President Barack Obama, visited Camden and held up this city as “symbol of promise.” Perhaps the Governor and his ilk would be better served following the example of President Obama instead of blindly and for abject political reasons undermining our city on the rise.”

Trump Monthly Approval Now Highest In Two Years!

When tracking President Trump’s job approval on a daily basis, people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports compiles the numbers on a full-month basis, and the results for Trump’s presidency can be seen in the graphics below.

The president earned a monthly job approval of 50% in April, up two points from March and his highest monthly rating since February 2017, his first full month in office. In January of this year, Trump’s monthly job approval had fallen to 44%, its lowest level in a year. But it jumped five points to 49% in February following his well-received State of the Union speech, recapturing the high ground he held for most of 2018. Forty-nine percent (49%) disapproved of the president’s job performance last month, but that’s down two points from March.

(Want a free daily email update? If it's in the news, it's in Rasmussen polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

Daily tracking results are collected via telephone and online surveys of 500 likely voters per night. The monthly numbers in this article are based on approximately 10,000 interviews each month with likely voters. The margin of sampling error is less than +/- 1 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Dershowitz: Play Kate's Song; Put Statue Back

From Professor Alam M. Dershowitz writing in the New York Daily News:

When Kate Smith was a young, aspiring singer, she made a mistake, common in her time: she sang and recorded two songs with lyrics that today are understandably regarded as racially insensitive and offensive. She did not write the songs and she didn’t continue to sing them thereafter. Many other singers, including African-American legend, Paul Robeson, sang one of these songs as well. Back in the day, many lyrics reflected racial insensitivity. . . . .

So, I call for a restoration of Smith’s statute in Philadelphia and for bringing back the tradition of playing her “God Bless America.” Everyone hearing that song or seeing that statute, will now remember that her history is flawed by the songs she sang many years ago. So it was right to call her out for it, but it is now also right to apply a single standard to her conduct. And under that standard, the statute gets restored and her rendition of “God Bless America” gets played.

Banned By Those Who Live In 'Echo Chamber'

Excerpts from a beautiful column in The Aiken Standard written by Jack Devine:

Erasing Kate Smith is just one more step in the relentless progressive march to purge our nation’s history of anything that does not comport with today’s preferred ideology. It’s a page right out of 1984, George Orwell’s landmark – and chilling – novel. If the self-appointed guardians of public virtue have their way, our next generation will have no idea who Kate Smith was; and maybe no one will ever again have to sit through that sappy old God Bless America tune. . . . .

Kate Smith was an American icon, a performer whose inspirational singing raised spirits across a nation savaged by two world wars and the great depression. She was a patriot in action as well as artistry; she traveled the country tirelessly during World War II raising the 2019 equivalent of over $10 billion in war bonds. She and her stirring rendition of the Irving Berlin masterpiece "God Bless America" have for ages been beloved by returning veterans.

Today’s arbiters of Smith’s racial sensitivity in the 1930s are hardly courageous change agents; they live in their own echo chambers surrounded by like-minded views and voices; yet they arrogantly condemn people who generations ago simply followed the mores of their own contemporaries.

Smith’s specialty – unabashedly patriotic American music – is a far cry from the obscenity-laced pulsing noise that passes as music these days, and which our ever-vigilant PC police seem to think is just fine.

Ban Kate Smith? No, Ban The Democrat Party!

Excerpts from a very thought-provoking column in the Delco Daily Times written by Patrick Carson:

While Kate Smith was recording the perceived racist song 90 years ago, Democrats were busy recording a record number of lynchings and terrorist attacks against blacks using their enforcers, the KKK. If any person or institution should be expunged from our lives, it should be the Democrat Party. It was, after all, the party of slavery . . . .  After losing the Civil War Democrats still tried to control their former slaves. Every Southern segregation law was passed by Democrat legislatures, signed by Democrat governors and enforced by Democrat officials.

After the Civil War Democrats fought tooth and nail against Republican measures to help out the newly freed slaves. They resisted Reconstruction and part of Reconstruction was the creation of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments along with the Civil Rights Act of 1866. That’s right, there was a Civil Rights Act one hundred years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Only 16 Democrats out of 80 voted for the 13th Amendment and not one Democrat would vote for the 14th or 15th Amendments. The Civil Rights Act was vetoed by Democrat President Andrew Johnson, but the Republican Congress overrode his veto. . . . . 

With their long history of hatred and terror against blacks, not one of these Democrats ever came out and made a formal public apology for their actions and their party’s actions over the past one hundred years.

If Kate Smith’s statue is to be removed for a song that she was under contract to record, then how much more so should the Democrat Party be removed from America for its history of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, and lynching.

Words Of Wisdom We Really Need Right Now!

Great Live Music May 19 - Just $10, Be There!

Cape May Jazz Vespers Concert – 
Sunday, May 19th at 3:00 pm 

Hello friends and Jazz Vespers music lovers !
You might have noticed that Vespers has been changed to the THIRD SUNDAY
of the month. Sorry for any confusion as I’m still getting used to the timing of these notices and emails and calendars and deadlines. You get the picture !
That Said… We’re excited to welcome back our dear friends…

“The Sharon Sable Trio” 

- feat. E Shawn Qaissaunee and Andy Lalasis 

Sharon Sable and E. Shawn Qaissaunee create a beautiful soundscape that is both bold and understated, appealing to music lovers of all kinds. The musical paths that have brought them together are rich and varied and weave elements of jazz, world, pop and much more into their memorable and engaging performances. They are both based in Wilmington, DE and are fixtures on the region’s Jazz music scene. Sharon, originally from Pomona, NJ, has worked with international pop recording artist’s such as Pink, Babyface and Boyz II Men. Shawn was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and has performed for Vice President Joe Biden alongside virtuoso violinist Xiang Gao. Together, they most recently had the honor to share the stage with legendary musical visionary Stevie Wonder at a performance in Philadelphia.
Sharon has just released her first full length album, “Love Evermore”, which includes original arrangements of timeless jazz standards that are all based on universal love and the path of awakening. This brand new recording features Shawn on guitar as well as Philadelphia’s standout pianist Tim Brey, South Jersey’s luminary bassist Andy Lalasis and the extraordinarily dynamic drummer, Larry Marshall.
Please join us once again and bring your friends!

For a taste of Sharon’s recent music, click on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BvVu7uEuZk

Or Visit her Website at http://www.sharonsable.com

For more information and directions visit www.capemayjazzvespers.com or call Greg at (609)404-1850. A $10 minimum donation is requested; limited free parking; wheelchair accessible.

We are going to try get more people to come and hear our wonderful performers by using Facebook. We now have a Facebook page, “Cape May Jazz Vespers”. It is our understanding that if you “Like” or “Follow” our page, then whatever we post to that page will be sent to your Facebook account and show up in your timeline, or newsfeed, or whatever.

We will continue using emails as well.

History Gives Biden Very L-O-N-G Odds . . .

Here's a story the mainstream media are deftly avoiding. But it's a story that must be told.
When it comes to being elected president, the odds do not look good for any vice president or former vice president. Let's look at history.

America has had 48 vice presidents. But being vice president does not generally provide a pathway to the presidency.
In fact, only 14 vice presidents eventually became President of the United States. Of these, the majority (nine) assumed office upon the death or resignation of the president.
In recent times, three vice presidents tried and failed to be elected to the presidency on their own: Al Gore, Walter Mondale and Hubert Humphrey. Vice President Richard Nixon also lost in his first try for the presidency in 1960. One hundred years prior to that, former Vice President John C. Brekinridge sought the presidency and lost to Abraham Lincoln -- a familiar scenario.
In addition to Brekinridge, Aaron Burr, George Clinton and Henry Wallace tried to win the presidency and failed. Adlai Stevenson, Charles Fairbanks, Thomas Marshall, John Garner and Alben Barkley also stumbled as they were never even able to achieve their party's nomination. Dan Quayle briefly sought the presidency in 2000 but dropped out during the primaries.
In total, 12 vice presidents (not counting Quayle) sought the presidency and lost.
Only five ran for the presidency and were elected. That's five out of 12. That means that any vice president or former vice president who attempts to be elected president has about a 42 percent chance of being elected -- not very good odds.
In fact, 135 years passed between Vice President Martin Van Buren's election to the presidency in 1833 and former Vice President Richard Nixon's election to the presidency in 1968. That's a very long stretch. Then, another 20 years passed before Vice President George H. W. Bush was elected president.
And let's not forget Gerald Ford who was never elected president or vice president but who still suffered from the vice presidential jinx. Ford became vice president upon the resignation of Spiro Agnew and then assumed the presidency when Richard Nixon resigned. But when he went to be elected to a full term as president in his own right in 1976, Ford lost to Jimmy Carter.
From vice president to president via election?
Good luck with that, Mr. Biden!

Yeah, Go Back And Check Your History . . .