http://www.phillyburbs.com/enhttp://www.phillyburbs.com/http://www.phillyburbs.com/fileadmin/template/images/logo144.gif14426TYPO3 - get.content.rightThis is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/B7D09lmjutE/long-delayed-honor-for-vet.htmlMon, 20 Jul 2009 23:10:20 PDT]]>After Mass was celebrated at the Columbus Country Club in Bensalem, the crowd continued to gather.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/21/long-delayed-honor-for-vet.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/ucEONAmPVUA/a-round-of-kumbaya-please.htmlSat, 18 Jul 2009 23:10:33 PDT]]>What was needed in the racial controversy that enveloped The Valley Club in Montgomery County was a round of "Kumbaya."http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/19/a-round-of-kumbaya-please.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/AIPJqieNsRg/looking-for-the-old-amid-the-new.htmlWed, 15 Jul 2009 23:10:35 PDT]]>The Levittown Town Center, a shop-a-rama anchored by the biggest name in discount, Walmart, has opened.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/16/looking-for-the-old-amid-the-new.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/0OswJ5gOCQw/pennsylvanias-scandalous-non-scandal.htmlMon, 13 Jul 2009 23:10:26 PDT]]>Using a column like this to explore the snooze-inducing nether world of political wonkery is risky. The collective snoring from readers would register on a Richter scale.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/14/pennsylvanias-scandalous-non-scandal.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/8PlyxAQEHlc/milts-magic.htmlSat, 11 Jul 2009 23:10:35 PDT]]>When I got into the newspaper business more than 20 years ago, the last of hot lead type generation was still pounding out copy in the newsroom.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/12/milts-magic.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/2WUZC8Pf0bo/pursuit-of-happiness-1.htmlThu, 09 Jul 2009 08:56:00 PDT]]>The voice was sad. It was the voice of a broken spirit.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/09/pursuit-of-happiness-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/zPB9vI7Jt6Q/goldies-tale.htmlMon, 06 Jul 2009 23:10:24 PDT]]>The other night, Mrs. Mullane was sitting at the kitchen table catching up on paperwork, when she put down her pen, sighed, looked at me and said, "I think Goldie the goldfish is trying to commit suicide."http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/07/goldies-tale.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/4UheAQCuCqg/americans-and-happiness.htmlSat, 04 Jul 2009 23:10:26 PDT]]>Wow. Unemployment is nearing 10 percent. Joblessness is as high as it was in the bad old days of the stagflationary early 1980s. The expectation from Washington, D.C., is that it will get worse, too.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/05/americans-and-happiness.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/g-XfZmw_Dhc/evil-irvs-pro-life-switch-1.htmlWed, 01 Jul 2009 23:31:13 PDT]]>I first heard Irv Homer, the radio talker, on WWDB in Philadelphia. He was a raspy-voiced curmudgeon, a former bar owner with street smarts and little patience for what he called "boobis America."http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/july/02/evil-irvs-pro-life-switch-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/CSfFT0Tf5ow/god-not-allowed-here-1.htmlMon, 29 Jun 2009 23:31:01 PDT]]>After the kid finished saying a prayer at the public school assembly, the republic did not collapse.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/30/god-not-allowed-here-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/EKigf_Zag_8/ordinary-people-extraordinary-responsibilities.htmlSat, 27 Jun 2009 23:10:34 PDT]]>For many young men of the Vietnam era, war was not about defending freedom or the selflessness and sacrifice of service. It was about the folly of oldsters who wanted youngsters to fight what seemed a senseless battle on the other side of the world.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/28/ordinary-people-extraordinary-responsibilities.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/Rio_nC7HIPM/fatherless-boys-and-add.htmlWed, 24 Jun 2009 23:10:25 PDT]]>There was a time when believing a stable two-parent household was best for a child did not bring cries of bias, "insult" or stuffy thinking. The world has changed.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/25/fatherless-boys-and-add.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/PeEbm_GrcBc/the-spark-that-ignited-the-riots.htmlMon, 22 Jun 2009 23:10:33 PDT]]>In 1979, Patricia Wandling was this newspaper's star reporter, if star is defined as one who always seems in the middle of a big story, bearing witness to disaster, scandal or mayhem.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/23/the-spark-that-ignited-the-riots.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/d1ay99QXWn4/happy-fatherless-day.htmlSat, 20 Jun 2009 23:10:25 PDT]]>Passing a playground of children, it struck me how sad it must be for them. One in three has no father at home, according to the latest statistics.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/21/happy-fatherless-day.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/0MUo5bunG5E/my-crummy-summer-job.htmlWed, 17 Jun 2009 23:10:35 PDT]]>June marks the end of the school year, which means millions of high school and college students will be taking summer jobs.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/18/my-crummy-summer-job.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/wijBOF9P1Hw/fated-to-remember.htmlWed, 17 Jun 2009 07:42:00 PDT]]>Fated to rememberhttp://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/17/fated-to-remember.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/MALmm55ZPYU/tiny-houses-that-titillate.htmlSun, 14 Jun 2009 03:58:00 PDT]]>Jay Shafer, on a cross-country trip from California, pulled his U-Haul truck into Philadelphia late, towing a three-room house. He was surrounded by fans with cameras and potential buyers for the "Tumbleweed," the flagship model of his Tumbleweed Tiny House Co.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/14/tiny-houses-that-titillate.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/desBt62eKVA/subprime-degrees.htmlWed, 10 Jun 2009 23:00:41 PDT]]>When phone answering machines became common in the 1980s, I worked with a reporter who rejected them. I remember his often-repeated line: "I only talk to live people," to which one of our copy desk editors replied, under his breath, "That's better than talking to dead people."http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/11/subprime-degrees.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/_hWhBtvtgB0/soups-on.htmlMon, 08 Jun 2009 23:00:34 PDT]]>The mystery is solved. I just didn't expect the end to be so gruesome.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/09/soups-on.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/JZzl-5EqMkE/unemployed-and-loving-it.htmlSat, 06 Jun 2009 23:00:37 PDT]]>Unemployment in May rose to 9.4 percent, the highest since 1983. Scary.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/07/unemployed-and-loving-it.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/LMN60kLhgRc/the-chase-for-chase.htmlWed, 03 Jun 2009 23:00:34 PDT]]>It's not unusual to walk into a convenience store, post office or shop and see a flier on the glass door, bearing the photo of a lost pet. It's like a small SOS sent to thousands of strangers.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/04/the-chase-for-chase.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/794lRfJkzKA/the-next-meltdown-colleges.htmlMon, 01 Jun 2009 23:00:23 PDT]]>We've lived through the tech bubble and the housing bubble. Is the college tuition bubble the next to burst, leaving behind shuttered campuses and unemployed academics?http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/june/02/the-next-meltdown-colleges.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/WLT5gCg9lpk/feds-set-their-eyes-on-bucks-1.htmlSun, 31 May 2009 05:32:00 PDT]]>So how much of President Obama’s “stimulus” cash will come to Bucks County, and how will it be spent? It’s $156 million — including the generous $400 “individual tax credit” most of us receive in $8 increments each paycheck.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/31/feds-set-their-eyes-on-bucks-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/PXQIV7K3CiQ/feds-set-their-eyes-on-bucks.htmlSat, 30 May 2009 23:00:29 PDT]]>So how much of President Obama's "stimulus" cash will come to Bucks County, and how will it be spent? It's $156 million - including the generous $400 "individual tax credit" most of us receive in $8 increments each paycheck.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/31/feds-set-their-eyes-on-bucks.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/XjZyy9Gdo60/kidnapped-but-not-really.htmlWed, 27 May 2009 23:00:45 PDT]]>It had all the ingredients of a classic Nancy Grace heartbreak-a-thon - a mother and daughter kidnapped on a busy suburban street, the mother forced into the trunk of her abductors' car where she used her cell phone to call for help.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/28/kidnapped-but-not-really.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/qV7Hb-gHuQ0/levittoid-factoids.htmlMon, 25 May 2009 23:00:33 PDT]]>Among the more enduring items I've written, at least in terms of curious inquiry, is a July 2005 column regarding the location of a redwood tree in Levittown.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/26/levittoid-factoids.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/Go47G3FxOi8/blue-turmoil.htmlSat, 23 May 2009 23:00:25 PDT]]>The man had something to tell me.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/24/blue-turmoil.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/yfe0Kb3hUUE/workin-man.htmlWed, 20 May 2009 23:00:32 PDT]]>He is 51 and he rides a red Schwinn mountain bike along the southbound shoulder of Route 13 in Bristol Township. It's dicey. The intersection, at Green Lane, is best known for the numbers of pedestrians, bicyclists and inattentive motorists killed and maimed there each year.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/21/workin-man.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/TjLPAi5w3tk/the-man-who-saved-chagall.htmlMon, 18 May 2009 23:00:31 PDT]]>Maybe it was the fear Harry Bingham saw in the faces he passed each day on his way to work as a U.S. Foreign Service employee in Marseilles, France. There were men in slouch hats who appeared shaken. There were women whose young children were unaware that their lives were at stake.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/19/the-man-who-saved-chagall.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/SaQQt4CG93o/utopians-in-charge.htmlSat, 16 May 2009 23:00:31 PDT]]>Doylestown has rejected a proposal that would have bestowed favored status on drivers of hybrid and electric cars, allowing green-minded good-doers to park free in municipal lots and at parking meters.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/17/utopians-in-charge.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/sFlEkh2nU_s/a-little-work-and-a-little-self-discovery.htmlWed, 13 May 2009 23:00:37 PDT]]>She is 70 and lives happily in retirement with her husband in Yardley.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/14/a-little-work-and-a-little-self-discovery.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/A5D5mnxCvPc/losing-endless-summer.htmlMon, 11 May 2009 23:00:28 PDT]]>I'm wondering if a big underreported story is the fear and deep resentment that grips baby boomers who are about to reach retirement age.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/12/losing-endless-summer.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/npLxKozCh2o/boomers-bid-bye-bye-to-retirement.htmlSat, 09 May 2009 23:00:30 PDT]]>Last week, my 401(k) statement arrived and, after nearly a year of dodging, I looked.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/10/boomers-bid-bye-bye-to-retirement.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/UwhoEWJEU-w/fear-of-filth.htmlWed, 06 May 2009 23:00:38 PDT]]>A colleague, a guy who wrote for New Jersey papers from Trenton to Newark, told me this story, which changed his average life into one tinged with fear.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/07/fear-of-filth.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/eABl-WRpQFo/middle-america-gone-haywire.htmlMon, 04 May 2009 23:00:30 PDT]]>He's a credit collector in Bucks County. He wanted me to know he wasn't ax grinding.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/05/middle-america-gone-haywire.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/kQg67su8Cf0/the-right-to-be-a-deadbeat.htmlSun, 03 May 2009 04:07:00 PDT]]>Feel empowered?http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/may/03/the-right-to-be-a-deadbeat.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/rml1CYgOjOc/take-a-lesson-from-bristol-township.htmlWed, 29 Apr 2009 23:00:38 PDT]]>Years ago a business that peddled porn videos moved in to Bristol Township. Residents of surrounding neighborhoods were outraged. The joint was on a main drag, in a building formerly occupied by a longtime local lawyer.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/30/take-a-lesson-from-bristol-township.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/v7bsfKDK7Sg/adios-pontiac.htmlMon, 27 Apr 2009 23:00:33 PDT]]>Back then, in my fevered teenage imagination, there was an image of me behind the thick leatherette wheel of a 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Midnight blue. V-8. Four speed. Black-on-black interior. T-tops. Quad speakers blasting Zeppelin or Frampton or The Cars, whatever was cool that week.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/28/adios-pontiac.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/-mJd6EKio5Q/boogeying-to-the-sounds-of-1979-1.htmlSat, 25 Apr 2009 23:30:49 PDT]]>The thing about the passage of time is that, if you don't pay attention, the years sneak up and kick you in the pants.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/26/boogeying-to-the-sounds-of-1979-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/KX-lWhrSK9E/boogeying-to-the-sounds-of-1979.htmlSat, 25 Apr 2009 23:00:28 PDT]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/26/boogeying-to-the-sounds-of-1979.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/AuM1NQzX3yo/enemy-of-the-state-1.htmlWed, 22 Apr 2009 23:31:01 PDT]]>So I took some time off last week for a spring yard cleanup and to mulch. I hate mulching. I hate the smell; it's like moldy wood. People who like the smell of mulch probably like the smell of dirty socks, too. I hate mulching.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/23/enemy-of-the-state-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/URkPuib83Q0/enemy-of-the-state.htmlWed, 22 Apr 2009 23:00:34 PDT]]>So I took some time off last week for a spring yard cleanup and to mulch. I hate mulching. I hate the smell; it's like moldy wood. People who like the smell of mulch probably like the smell of dirty socks, too. I hate mulching.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/23/enemy-of-the-state.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/1Wv_4MyqW5k/death-of-a-miter-saw-and-privacy.htmlMon, 20 Apr 2009 23:00:28 PDT]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/21/death-of-a-miter-saw-and-privacy.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/fzy3la78FNI/the-porch-makes-a-comeback-1.htmlSun, 19 Apr 2009 05:32:00 PDT]]>The National Association of Homebuilders reports the next big trend is the return of the old-fashioned front porch.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/19/the-porch-makes-a-comeback-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/ieu1uCTT2EE/the-porch-makes-a-comeback.htmlSat, 18 Apr 2009 23:00:11 PDT]]>The National Association of Homebuilders reports the next big trend is the return of the old-fashioned front porch.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/19/the-porch-makes-a-comeback.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/XEw9G7NEgHU/spiritual-not-religious-1.htmlWed, 15 Apr 2009 23:30:53 PDT]]>"JD - I rented "Religulous" the movie by Bill Maher. The point he makes is that most of the problems in the world are caused by religion. I was raised Baptist, but I do not go to church now. (I consider myself spiritual, not religious.) Have a good holiday!"http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/16/spiritual-not-religious-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/ESvGNXy3yX0/spiritual-not-religious.htmlWed, 15 Apr 2009 23:00:08 PDT]]>"JD - I rented "Religulous" the movie by Bill Maher. The point he makes is that most of the problems in the world are caused by religion. I was raised Baptist, but I do not go to church now. (I consider myself spiritual, not religious.) Have a good holiday!"http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/16/spiritual-not-religious.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/Nhuq2rtBk9s/from-spooky-to-scary-to-gory.htmlMon, 13 Apr 2009 23:00:19 PDT]]>Sandi Bergman handed me a cup of blood.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/14/from-spooky-to-scary-to-gory.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/aJXMO1bEJ80/easter-dawns-quietly.htmlSat, 11 Apr 2009 23:00:13 PDT]]>The best thing about Easter is that it isn't Christmas.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/12/easter-dawns-quietly.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/RO3-q-iWLMo/forgiveness-reconciliation-1.htmlWed, 08 Apr 2009 23:40:54 PDT]]>It was Saturday and my wife said, "I think we should all go to confession as a family."http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/09/forgiveness-reconciliation-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/xMSLUX7wCf0/making-light-of-the-great-recession.htmlMon, 06 Apr 2009 23:10:22 PDT]]>No, I wasn't making fun of those hurt by the economic slump - the one our president calls the worst crisis since small armies of hobos hopped freight trains to ride aimlessly through the Dust Bowl of the 1930shttp://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/07/making-light-of-the-great-recession.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/R5wVOFyGAqU/in-search-of-the-great-recession-1.htmlSun, 05 Apr 2009 07:45:00 PDT]]>Unemployment has bolted to 8.5 percent, the highest in 25 years. From January through March, 2 million jobs have been lost. It’s grim.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/05/in-search-of-the-great-recession-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/2o05obRk128/in-search-of-the-great-recession.htmlSat, 04 Apr 2009 23:00:25 PDT]]>Unemployment has bolted to 8.5 percent, the highest in 25 years. From January through March, 2 million jobs have been lost. It's grim.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/05/in-search-of-the-great-recession.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/KMFe9BfloC8/no-free-turkey-and-thats-a-good-thing.htmlWed, 01 Apr 2009 23:40:32 PDT]]>It took a couple of years, but my mom prevailed, convincing me to get a membership to one of those grocery warehouse wholesale clubs where, she insisted, the bargains are as numerous as cheapskates at a day-old bread table.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/april/02/no-free-turkey-and-thats-a-good-thing.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/HmXhTq_Lj_Y/celebrating-darkness.htmlMon, 30 Mar 2009 23:00:20 PDT]]>If reports are accurate, tens of millions of people around the globe Saturday shut off lights in homes, towns and cities and celebrated the darkness.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/31/celebrating-darkness.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/7e7YroVE5BA/how-bucks-dodged-a-nuke-1.htmlSun, 29 Mar 2009 05:22:00 PDT]]>If a nuclear power plant’s core melted, the radiation spill could render “an area the size of Pennsylvania” uninhabitable. Forever.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/29/how-bucks-dodged-a-nuke-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/47qqrTB_ABw/how-bucks-dodged-a-nuke.htmlSat, 28 Mar 2009 23:00:42 PDT]]>If a nuclear power plant's core melted, the radiation spill could render "an area the size of Pennsylvania" uninhabitable. Forever.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/29/how-bucks-dodged-a-nuke.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/3N1GfwZXNSk/soul-stirring.htmlWed, 25 Mar 2009 23:40:50 PDT]]>Ever since I put a throwaway line in a column about pampered pets - that dogs have no souls - I have been crushed with responses. Now, many people believe I am a dog hater. Amazingly, people still stop me to discuss it, and the phone calls continue.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/26/soul-stirring.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/2G7Qbk8nn8s/time-to-do-a-little-soul-stirring.htmlWed, 25 Mar 2009 23:10:27 PDT]]>Ever since I put a throwaway line in a column about pampered pets - that dogs have no souls - I have been crushed with responses. Now, many people believe I am a dog-hater. Amazingly, people still stop me to discuss it, and the phone calls continue.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/26/time-to-do-a-little-soul-stirring.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/6_5sOzToxV8/young-man-in-a-nursing-home.htmlMon, 23 Mar 2009 23:00:24 PDT]]>When Jean Johnson was visiting a nursing home in Levittown, she met the young man who lay alone in a hospital bed in a stuffy room.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/24/young-man-in-a-nursing-home.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/Mg0ajKYfiI0/saved-at-washington-crossing.htmlSat, 21 Mar 2009 22:10:11 PDT]]>Jim Swank was a drunk.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/22/saved-at-washington-crossing.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/O1NG52S8RC4/the-50k-solution.htmlWed, 18 Mar 2009 22:10:33 PDT]]>It's astonishing. A woman applied to her bank for a car loan and her banker said OK - your interest rate will be 17 percent.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/19/the-50k-solution.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/xNY6WOtyW14/danny-boy-and-irish-farewells.htmlMon, 16 Mar 2009 22:10:14 PDT]]>Writers have said it. Poets, too. The only thing the Irish are truly serious about is saying goodbye.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/17/danny-boy-and-irish-farewells.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/egADfF6VzfM/advice-for-employers.htmlSat, 14 Mar 2009 22:10:27 PDT]]>We had never traveled together, so one July, my father and I took a road trip across Pennsylvania.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/15/advice-for-employers.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/uuPduXkGL74/washington-crossing-needs-a-takeover.htmlWed, 11 Mar 2009 22:10:24 PDT]]>The weather was foul, the soldiers tired, and the Continental Army stood at the edge of defeat on Dec. 25, 1776.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/12/washington-crossing-needs-a-takeover.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/XnuE51tVMgI/dexter-bites-the-dust.htmlMon, 09 Mar 2009 22:40:37 PDT]]>The call came at work late Friday from Mrs. Mullane. She was near tears.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/10/dexter-bites-the-dust.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/-k7z_Z77MIM/neshaminy-teens-learn-capitalism-1.htmlSun, 08 Mar 2009 06:43:00 PDT]]>You’re in high school. The economy’s a bear and money’s tight and maybe you’re searching to make a little extra dough.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/08/neshaminy-teens-learn-capitalism-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/5q-S2oBiaVg/fishing-without-bait.htmlWed, 04 Mar 2009 23:40:44 PST]]>She was in the corner of the bright, glassy library of Bucks County Community College's Bristol campus, pleading into a phone with an instructor.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/05/fishing-without-bait.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/WpFegVXLBVQ/parents-who-gripe-about-snow.htmlMon, 02 Mar 2009 23:10:51 PST]]>Snow fell and schools closed and inevitably, people of a certain age griped that we've become wimps since we lack the desire to brush aside a few inches of fresh powder and teach kids to get on with another Monday.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/march/03/parents-who-gripe-about-snow.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/tZMDexCIjl4/the-good-earth-returns-1.htmlThu, 26 Feb 2009 05:41:00 PST]]>When it mysteriously vanished from her Bucks County farmhouse in the mid-1960s, Pearl S. Buck’s typewritten manuscript of “The Good Earth” was deemed “priceless.”http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/26/the-good-earth-returns-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/doR5Hwskgsg/a-respite-for-winter-gloom-2.htmlTue, 24 Feb 2009 06:18:00 PST]]>It seemed strange. Of all places. On a winter night at the Silver Lake Nature Center, at the sunset hour when pickups and minivans rush homebound on Oxford Valley Road, there was the sound of harps. Lilting, tripping.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/24/a-respite-for-winter-gloom-2.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/7AH8TidWNoE/wealth-beats-frugality.htmlSun, 22 Feb 2009 04:48:00 PST]]>Most nights when the phone rings, I can count on hearing a salesman’s well-oiled pitch to sell me credit, or credit cards, or lines of credit or a mortgage refinancing deal.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/22/wealth-beats-frugality.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/KQqU288CPIk/the-souls-of-canine-americans.htmlTue, 17 Feb 2009 06:05:00 PST]]>“Good morning JD — you dog hater!”http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/17/the-souls-of-canine-americans.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/JU4A1eZ6Bcs/why-pamper-your-pets.htmlSun, 15 Feb 2009 08:28:00 PST]]>Winter snow came, and with it sticky road salt, which covered my green Town and Country minivan from door handle to wheel wells. It gave the bulbous Chrysler the appearance of a two-tone ostrich egg on radials.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/15/why-pamper-your-pets.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/toS5tLWF0WU/on-the-trail-of-lincoln-in-bucks-county-1.htmlThu, 12 Feb 2009 06:24:00 PST]]>On Pond Street in Bristol, between the old firehouse and the new elementary school, there is a blue plaque commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s brief visit and speech from a train car as he traveled to Washington, D.C., to become president.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/12/on-the-trail-of-lincoln-in-bucks-county-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/ZCcwhN5WEb8/the-little-guy-laments-health-care-costs.htmlTue, 10 Feb 2009 05:55:00 PST]]>Here’s an idea. Your neighbors should pay for your next vacation. Especially now, since the economy’s tanked and money’s tight. You have a right to R&R. If it’s not a right, it should be. You work hard, right?http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/10/the-little-guy-laments-health-care-costs.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/nqpI3sv0XWo/breathe-easy-with-private-health-care.htmlSun, 08 Feb 2009 06:32:00 PST]]>A bad case of bronchitis left me gasping like a beached carp. So I found myself slumped in a chair in a hospital emergency room, answering state-mandated questions from a woman with a lanyard strung around her neck. She asked: Have you ever been slapped around by your partner? “You mean my wife?” I asked. “Yes — wife,” she said. “No,” I chuckled, and thought: What kind of man … ah, forget it.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/08/breathe-easy-with-private-health-care.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/R5uPlm_9juA/a-final-ride-through-the-place-he-once-patrolled.htmlWed, 04 Feb 2009 23:40:35 PST]]>Outside the Dougherty Funeral Home, members of the Middletown Police Department waited for Officer Chris Jones. So did the horse-drawn hearse, which would take Officer Jones several miles to Our Lady of Grace Church for a viewing.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/05/a-final-ride-through-the-place-he-once-patrolled.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/OI9a_9XdX4E/slouching-toward-the-70s-2.htmlTue, 03 Feb 2009 08:02:00 PST]]>A news item describes President Obama wincing at the prospect of becoming “the new Jimmy Carter.”http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/03/slouching-toward-the-70s-2.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/xkgLWrWHoG8/search-for-the-homeless-1.htmlSun, 01 Feb 2009 06:33:00 PST]]>Equipped with clipboards and bulletproof vests, the enumerators of Bucks County’s homeless set out from Warminster. Their four-car caravan passed a bank clock. 6:29 p.m. 26 degrees.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/february/01/search-for-the-homeless-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/dkboV9uu1WU/incident-over-falls.htmlWed, 28 Jan 2009 23:10:02 PST]]>Denise Murter doesn't believe in intergalactic spaceships or Martians or even "grays" - those bug-eyed, gray-skinned creatures that have stared blankly from the covers of supermarket tabs for decades.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/29/incident-over-falls.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/SuDgqlS-QjQ/good-riddance-w-but-have-a-good-life.htmlSat, 24 Jan 2009 23:10:22 PST]]>If there's one man in Bucks County not sorry to see the last of George W. Bush as president of the United States, it's Ray Regan.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/25/good-riddance-w-but-have-a-good-life.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/4Hp6gTykKR0/blessing-or-burden-1.htmlThu, 22 Jan 2009 06:50:03 PST]]>Our first child, a boy, came to us in 1999.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/22/blessing-or-burden-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/ktI8HxXQL-o/blessing-or-burden.htmlThu, 22 Jan 2009 05:46:00 PST]]>Our first child, a boy, came to us in 1999.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/22/blessing-or-burden.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/nSEc0ccJp5I/avoiding-the-unavoidable.htmlMon, 19 Jan 2009 23:10:01 PST]]>Working at home, my wife came to me with our 401(k) statement. It's the third time in a week that she has done this.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/20/avoiding-the-unavoidable.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/xKUUKmj2MbU/life-after-the-death-of-your-job.htmlSat, 17 Jan 2009 23:10:02 PST]]>Back then, the slow slide to job loss began with rumors, troubling talk and worry.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/18/life-after-the-death-of-your-job.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/js-Bbj0J4Ug/paying-for-college-a-parental-duty.htmlMon, 12 Jan 2009 23:10:02 PST]]>As with politics and religion, I have discovered it is a bad idea to discuss whether a parent is obligated to pay for his kid's college education.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/13/paying-for-college-a-parental-duty.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/onhgpWk7z6Y/should-parents-pay-for-college.htmljmullane @phillyBurbs.comSun, 11 Jan 2009 07:41:00 PST]]>The guy’s face was a pinched portrait of pain, as when a toothache begins to pound. “Nine hundred bucks a month,” he said.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/11/should-parents-pay-for-college.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/-IAHkilTCaU/they-want-to-save-my-soul.htmlWed, 07 Jan 2009 23:10:02 PST]]>As far as sinners go, I fall somewhere between lawyers who do talk radio and people who say "marriage is just a piece of paper" - which is to say I'm certain I'm headed to Hell.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/08/they-want-to-save-my-soul.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/H-81D2sbykU/rumblings-at-yellowstone.htmlMon, 05 Jan 2009 23:10:02 PST]]>War and threats of war. Recession. The national debt spiraling upward. Taxes, too. Job losses and fear of job loss.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/06/rumblings-at-yellowstone.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/ux46mEbUURs/rewind-2008-1.htmlSun, 04 Jan 2009 07:29:00 PST]]>Voices from the late year, as captured by the ace newshounds of this paper.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2009/january/04/rewind-2008-1.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/NBzM9n-iJ4k/attending-church-weakly-not-weekly.htmlMon, 29 Dec 2008 23:10:02 PST]]>As men hit middle age, routine becomes important. Up at 6 a.m., breakfast by 7 a.m., on the road no later than 8 a.m., at work by 9 a.m. Lunch at noon, home by five, in bed by 10. Repeat for 30 years, then die.http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/30/attending-church-weakly-not-weekly.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/j5JFgy_Y17s/how-obama-could-morph-into-obumble.htmlSun, 28 Dec 2008 15:02:31 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/28/how-obama-could-morph-into-obumble.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/kIcjdeybd2Y/from-under-the-bus-and-into-the-ocean.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2008 09:19:14 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/26/from-under-the-bus-and-into-the-ocean.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/_jOXOqGOaWU/obama-to-end-cold-weather-water-main-breaks.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2008 08:37:27 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/26/obama-to-end-cold-weather-water-main-breaks.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/tRLFYKNB6vE/more-good-news-for-obama.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2008 08:29:48 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/26/more-good-news-for-obama.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/Cf0J-JlrlPY/obama-most-admired-man-in-america.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2008 08:17:26 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/26/obama-most-admired-man-in-america.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/w7p02aFmtVE/beer-makes-you-think.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2008 08:03:19 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/26/beer-makes-you-think.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/HINNKikvwQ0/islam-religion-of-peace.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2008 07:44:44 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/26/islam-religion-of-peace.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JdMullane/~3/GVgQ8AvDy7M/california-leading-the-way-to-a-new-dark-age.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2008 07:36:59 PST]]>http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/163/2008/december/26/california-leading-the-way-to-a-new-dark-age.html