Released in July, 1976 "If You leave Me Now" by the American rock group Chicago, written and sung by the band's bass player, Peter Cetera, brings back fond memories of that summer and hearing this popular love ballad playing on different radio stations while traveling north into New England with my Dad and Mom, sisters, and brother on our annual camping trip to Jackman, Maine.
"If You Leave Me Now" was one of the few non-Disco songs to reach Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart that Bicentennial year.
The song won Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus- the first Grammy won by Chicago. It was also nominated for Record of the Year.
By August, 1978 the song had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States alone and has been certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
If You Leave Me Now (1976) Chicago Band (Uploaded January 22, 2018)
Just in time for your next cook out, America's favorite cowboy cook Kent Rollins shares some savory and sensational recipes for the perfect gourmet hot dog! Fire up the grill!
3 Unexpected Ways To Upgrade Your Hot Dogs! How To Make The Perfect Grilled Dog! Cowboy Kent Rollins (July 29, 2026)
The largest city per square mile in southern New Jersey, Vineland is also known as the "Dandelion Capital of the World" and is the birthplace of both Welch's Grape Juice, and the prolific Christian poet Annie Johnson Flint.
It was also chosen to be the place where an eccentric man named George Daynor would build his "Palace of Depression" on a piece of former swamp land.
A Vintage Postcard from "The Palace of Depression" Image courtesy/Flickr
Daynor, who was said to have made and lost a fortune in Alaskan gold after the Stock Market Crash in 1929, claimed that angels appeared to him in a dream and inspired him to build a fantastic palace. He and his wife Florence lived in an old car on the property while he constructed his "dream house" primarily from stone, salvaged junk, and other oddities.
Features of the pastel-colored palace included 18 towering spires, a circular shell-covered door, as well as the bizarrely named, "Knockout Room" where Daynor would allegedly drop a bowling ball on a visitor's head in order "to erase" their worst memories. This refuge of rubbish further included special accommodations for none other than the legendary Jersey Devil!
Calling his finished masterpiece, "the greatest piece of originality ever brought about in the history of Man" Daynor opened the palace for tours to the general public on Christmas Day in 1932, originally charging 10 cents for admission.
Although considered a bit on the kooky side, the "Palace of Depression" became a popular roadside tourist attraction for many years. Unfortunately, George Daynor was a known publicity hound, which proved to be his undoing.
In 1956, he reported to the authorities that suspects involved in a baby kidnapping case had visited the palace after they were described in the news media. According to the website, Atlas Obscura, Daynor at one point insinuated that he was actually the kidnapper. After the F.B.I. became involved and discovered that his claims were false, Daynor served time in prison for his outrageous publicity stunt.
George Daynor was reported to have been well over 100 years old when he died penniless in a Bridgeton, New Jersey hospital in 1964. He was buried in the potter's field at Oak Hill Cemetery in Vineland, with the city providing a headstone for his grave.
Not long after George Daynor's death, a mysterious fire destroyed the palace. The city eventually bulldozed the ruins in 1969. However, in recent years, there has been a renewed interest as well as an ongoing effort to restore this long-lost relic in memory of it's enigmatic creator, and to preserve one man's unusual legacy of thrift and ingenuity during the early years of the Great Depression.
The newly restored Palace of Depression is today located on privately owned property at 265 S. Mill Rd. Vineland, New Jersey.
Restoration of The Palace Of Depression Continues In New Jersey N.J.com (March 25, 2022)
"His presence would be deeply hurtful and inappropriate- like an unwelcome guest at a deeply personal ceremony." -Giovanni Galante, whose wife was killed on 9/11
Image courtesy/New York Post
In response to the recent news stories concerning family members and friends who lost loved ones in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and are now seeking to bar that city's controversial mayor, Zohran Mamdani from attending the upcoming 25th year commemoration ceremony due to his radical views and support for the apologists of Islamic jihad and terrorism, I submit a letter I wrote to the Editor of The Sentinel of Franklin Twp. in December 2011.
Kudos To Lowe's For Not Caving In!
For those of you who don't know, Lowe's Home Improvement Stores are pulling their commercials, along with other companies, from sponsoring the new and controversial TLC (The Learning Channel) program, "All American Muslim".
As a result, they have come under a tremendous backlash for their decision.
California Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) called the move, "bigoted, shameful, and un-American". But, is this action on the part of Lowe's really, "bigoted, shameful, and un-American? Why is it that Muslims are constantly receiving preferential treatment over the rest of Americans from politicians and the social media?
Furthermore, the title, "All American Muslim" is an oxymoron.
While it is true that there are American citizens who are Muslims, there is nothing "All American" about Islam. This archaic and often violent religious and political system has never had any significant impact on our history as a nation, or in our traditional and unique American culture.
Aside from the increase in challenges to our laws in courtrooms across America, and the threat of using litigation against American companies, school districts, etc., for perceived, "religious discrimination" or worse, bringing trumped up charges of "inciting hate" against non-Muslims as a means to impose their beliefs, our enemies are employing a much more subtle approach in their stealth jihad against America, a well-known practice in Islam called, "Taqiyya" which in Arabic means, "Concealing, precaution, guarding".
"Taqiyya" disguises the real beliefs of Islamists through lying and deceiving and in the case of "All American Muslim" feigning to appear "just like everyone else" in America.
To be fair here, there are many American Muslims who are good, law-abiding citizens who are tolerant of the beliefs of others, and would never harm anyone. The problem is Islam.
And, contrary to the wishful thinking of liberals in Washington D.C. and Hollywood, and their push for one big politically correct, "multicultural society" Islam refuses to be "just like everyone else" in America. Sharia, or Islamic Law, will never coincide with the U.S. Constitution, or any other laws in our established judicial system.
America has always been, first and foremost, a beacon of hope and freedom to the rest of the world. Islam has always been, and remains to be, an anathema to hope and freedom.
"We Are Taking Over" Islamic Call To Prayer Blasted Over Loudspeakers In New York City CBN News (February 27, 2026)
