Pennsylvania is in the news a lot lately, it being a swing state and all. I’ve noticed that occasionally people will refer to it as a Commonwealth, instead of a State.

There are actually 4 US States that are Commonwealths:

• Pennsylvania
• Kentucky
• Virginia
• Massachusetts

So what does that mean? Nothing really. At least now. It’s just an older way of saying “State.”

There may have been some distinctions when the Commonwealths were founded, but those went out the window when the states ratified the Constitution and joined the United States of America as states. Legally or organizationally there is no difference between a Commonwealth and a State.

Originally the designation of Commonwealth may have indicated that a state or nation-state governed for the common good (e.g. Common Wealth) as opposed to an authoritarian state governed for the benefit of a given class of owners.

But now it’s just a fancy name that 4 states have and you don’t.

Source: Ben’s Guide to US Government for Kids, where a cartoon Ben Franklin leads you through an adventure of learning.

At least there were in Nuremberg, which was one of the largest cities in Europe during that time.

The City Council there was quite active in taking on projects to increase the city’s water supply. They had a series of underground secret caves dug over the course of a few hundred years that provided the city with water.

An uncited claim in the Wikipedia article on City Councils claims that they date back to the Roman Empire. I’d believe that. Rome had everything.

Source: History Channel

The US Military has an honest-to-God Laser Gun. They call it a battlefield laser system, of course, because Laser Gun sounds lame.

It’s name is ZEUS. The purpose is not to shoot aliens, rather to heat up and explode unexploded ordinance and land mines. But it’s a laser powered weapon, and that’s awesome no matter what it is used for.

And yes, I am several years behind the times. The system was deployed in Afghanistan in 2003, so it’s been around a long time.

Source: Some TV show. But this site here has an entire category dedicated to Lasers and Ray Guns. This will definitely require some follow up research.

Churches, as you probably know, do not pay income taxes. Pastors, on the other hand, do. But there are some special IRS rules pertaining to the compensation of pastors.

Basically, a pastor can be defined as either an employee of the church, or as self-employed. This designation makes a difference as to how much they pay in taxes, specifically when it comes to the self-employment tax, FICA, and Social Security. The intricacy of these tax laws is extraordinarily boring, but there is one interesting provision.

Pastors can get a tax break on their housing. Specifically, the church can designate part of their salary toward housing, and that part of their salary becomes non-taxable. This article explains it better than I care to.

My interest in the subject came after I saw a tour of Jeremiah “US of KKK-A” Wright’s new mansion. I’m really hoping that there is no write-off for this place. I mean, really.

Source: You like pain? Try the IRS web site.

Two other noteworthy items that I didn’t squeeze into the last post about the Secret Service:

• The Blood Supply – One of the arrangements that is made when the President travels is to ensure that there is a local supply of blood available in the President’s blood type. Local hospitals are identified, and a Secret Service agent ensures that they have enough of the right blood.
• Training – Being on the President’s protection detail is a high honor for a Secret Service Agent. The President gets the best and the brightest. But even the best have to get training. An agent on the President’s detail will go through 2 weeks of training for every 8 weeks that they work. (6 weeks on, 2 in training) They run through a ton of likely attack scenarios so that the agent’s response is “automatic.” They also have training that specializes in overriding the natural instinct to run away from danger, since agents have to run toward it.

Source: National Geographic Channel

The United States Secret Service was created in 1865 as a wing of the US Treasury Department with a mission to get counterfeit currency under control. It is estimated that after the Civil War, up to 50% of the nation’s currency was counterfeit. Obviously that would have a drastic effect on the economy and inflation.

Counterfeiting was so wide spread that the identities of the original agents had to be kept secret to avoid tipping off the bad guys. Hence the “Secret” part.

The agency pre-dates all other federal law enforcement agencies. Originally the mission was strictly related to counterfeit currency, though it was quickly expanded to include many other infractions of federal law such as bootlegging, smuggling, and mail robbing. As the Federal Government grew, more agencies (like the FBI and ATF) were created and responsibilities shifted.

The Secret Service did not get into the Presidential Protection business until the turn of the century. Early Americans bent over backwards to avoid having their President looking like a King, and protection was one of those things that felt King-like. The President was supposed to be a man of the people.

It wasn’t until the 3rd Presidential assassination in 35 years (Lincoln 1865, Garfield 1881, and McKinley 1901) that the idea of Presidential protection really caught on.

In 1901 congress asked for protection of Theodore Roosevelt (McKinley’s successor) but the request was informal and temporary. From 1906 – 1950 the authorization to provide protection needed to be renewed annually.

After Harry Truman was attacked in 1950 (I wrote about it in this post, which a crazy Puerto Rican guy commented on when I wasn’t looking) congress finally made the protection permanent. As an aside, before his attack, Truman would routinely take strolls down Pennsylvania Avenue without any guards. My how times have changed.

As time went on protection was extended to the President’s family, the VP, former Presidents, President-Elects, and after the RFK assanation, certain presidential candidates. Some visiting foreign dignitaries qualify for protection as well.

In 2003, the Secret Service became part of the Department of Homeland Security, rather than the Treasury. Despite this, they do retain the responsibility of investigating counterfeit currency in addition to protection.

Source: National Geographic Channel and The USSS web site.

I totally didn’t remember that.

I also didn’t know that they used quite a few blue screens. According to James (and I have no reason to doubt him) the use of blue screens in Fraggle Rock lead to huge advances in blue screen technology.

The plot of Fraggle Rock (which apparently ran from 1983-87) from IMDB:

Doc and his dog Sprocket have a hole in their wall, behind which live little furry creatures known as Fraggles in a place called Fraggle Rock. The Rock is also home to the Doozers (who are knee-high to a Fraggle) and the Gorgs (who are giants that think they rule the Rock). One gang of Fraggles (Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, and Red), under the guidance of the all-knowing Trash Heap (Marjorie), learn about each other and their neighbors and eventually befriend the Doozers, the Gorgs–and even Doc and Sprocket. Meanwhile, Gobo’s Uncle Matt explores Outer Space (our world) and sends postcards to his nephew about the Silly Creatures (that’s us).

I had forgotten all about the Great Trash Heap, but that came flooding back!

Source: James’ house last night and IMDB

Not so much the government anymore, since they agreed to a cease fire of propaganda warfare with North Korea in 2004. That doesn’t stop private citizens from acting. South Korea believes in Freedom of Speech.

Just this week activists sent 100,000 leaflets hooked to helium balloons to the North. I have to give them mad props for such awesome old school techniques. I’ve always been a fan of propaganda warfare tactics.

Good news though – just today North Korea threatened to turn South Korea into “debris.” Maybe that’s one of those global crises Joe Biden had in mind. Gird your loins indeed.

Source: Fox News

Actually, you don’t either. The Electoral College elects the president. (Unless, as a reader of this blog you also happen to be an elector. If you are, that’s awesome.)

Back in MN, we pretended that we were voting for president. The President and VP’s names were on the ballot. That whole electoral college thing happened somehow but we, the general public, weren’t involved.

Here in AZ, the VP is not listed on the ballot, but the electors are. It actually lists 10 names, under the header “Presidential Electors.” So when I vote, I’ll actually literally be voting for the electors who are pledged to vote for the candidate that I prefer.

As a hilarious aside, Raul Castro is the first elector listed for Barack Obama. I mean, I knew that Hamas, Hugo Chavez, Iran, FARC and Louis Farrakhan have endorsed Obama, but Fidel sending his little brother stateside to be an elector… that’s classic.

Source: The sample ballot that came in the mail today

If you’ve never had King’s Hawaiian Bread, you’re missing out. It’s a sweet bread that is fully of Hawaiiani goodness.

If you have had King’s Hawaiian bread, you may be happy to know that they now make sandwich rolls, like the kind you’d put a hamburger on.

They were exactly what I expected, which is to say very good. I’d stop short of awesome.

We found them at Wal-Mart, where we will regretfully be doing most of our grocery shopping from now on. If it weren’t for the low prices and superior selection, we wouldn’t have to go there. But King’s Hawaiian Sandwich Rolls are just one of many items that couldn’t be found at our neighborhood grocery store.