I think this every time I get a ladder out or drag a bar stool over to a high cabinet. I bet ladders hurt more retired firefighters than on-duty ones.

After watching what private equity has done to fire apparatus and emergency service software, I am ready for some tradcapitalism.

"Immigrants are going to replace our culture!" What culture is that, exactly? Is it the Iowa State Fair? Seeing the Hawkeyes play the Cyclones on Saturday night? Eating pork chops on a stick? Church choirs volunteering to help rebuild homes after a tornado? Is it barbacoa on Sunday morning before mass and your little girl's quinceañera? Or accordion-driven Tejano music playing from a pickup truck? Is it moms dropping their kids off for Calabasas ballet in Range Rovers and Teslas? Lululemon and Vuori? Angry meetings about fence heights at the HOA? Is it salsa coming through open windows on hot days? Folding chairs gathered around a domino game? Puerto Rican and American flags everywhere to honor Marines coming home? Is it Southern comfort food at Mary Mac's Tea Room? Morehouse and Spelman grads meeting to network? Southern rap blasting at Magic City? People afraid of being "replaced" have too narrow a view of what America is about. And yes, America can include a statue of the Hindu god Hanuman in Houston. (Because, c'mon, what is more over-the-top Texan than a 90-foot golden statue of a dude wielding a huge bad-ass club?) My American culture doesn't discriminate based on ethnic background. My American culture is one that can deal with immigrants because it embraces their myriad varieties. My American culture holds dear democracy, freedom, and independence. My America believes in self-governance, from jury rooms, where 12 strangers gather to decide a fellow citizen's fate, to town halls, to local elections, to national campaigns. It's watching locals grill an annoyed city council about a new park or too much crime downtown. My America believes in free speech so much that we put it at the top of the Bill of Rights. I get to call my leaders idiots and feel no fear of prison or punishment. I believe in allowing marches and protests, from the good ones (Selma and Stonewall) to the ones I dislike (Proud Boys or Antifa). My America is proud to see rows of new citizens lined up at city hall, with many different skin tones but the same expression of hope and anticipation. Because my America is Ronald Reagan's America, "still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." So it's ok if some people march in a St Patrick's Day parade while others celebrate the Vietnamese (Tet) New Year, as long as they are all committed to freedom, democracy, the Constitution, and this amazing thing called "America." 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

More and faster please.

The Pope handing over gift cards he’d saved to his brother because he can’t use them now is the most midwestern thing I’ve ever heard. Do we think the pope has a plastic bag full of other plastic bags under his Papal sink?

Do kids read books or build forts anymore? Prowl neighborhoods on their bikes? Kinda glad I grew up before smartphones and video games.

Basic research funding talent IP protection = science & technology success. America (especially Massachusetts) aced this formula for decades. Now China is winning, with Trump's help. Democrats should counter with an agenda to double R&D funding, improve math & science education, rationalize the visa program, and streamline tech transfer & IP law.

For people unfamiliar with Philly Drumline Elmo, this is our cultural equivalent of the bagpipe players who greet dignitaries visiting Scotland

It me. Joe Biden’s Superfans Think the Rest of America Has Lost Its Mind nytimes.com/2024/03/04/us/po…

Round high-rise = doomed elevators. Elevator lobby was a waterfall upon arrival. Of course the fire was on the top floor.

We’re going to the World Series, Philadelphia! Philly Elmo let’s git it. #RedOctober #gophillies #worldseriesjawn

Me. Every damned day.

Syracuse, NY at its most beautiful. Thornden Park Stewart Standpipe sunset.

Anatomy of a brick building.

Interesting time-lapse video of a modular apartment complex going up in Philly. What will they think of next? inquirer.com/real-estate/hou…

The real Clorox 360 machine!

Who fell asleep at the domino factory? So many family fights when this one pops up.

Right now, instead of workers begging employers for work, we’re seeing employers have to compete for American workers. We're seeing a resurgence of worker organizing and unionization. Where I come from that is a good thing. And it’s long overdue.

"We are concerned that this law will hinder Lilly’s – and Indiana’s - ability to attract diverse scientific, engineering and business talent from around the world," Eli Lilly said in a statement. fox29.com/news/eli-lilly-ind…

A good, decent man, an empathetic leader, and not someone you want as your enemy. That’s my President.