PAWaterCooler.com

My pool might as well be an ice sheet.

Thanks to a conspiracy of generous cloud cover and persistently wet soil, this June will end up being the coolest in 12 years.

The official Philadelphia temperature for the month will come in right around 71 degrees, and while that’s less than 1.5 degrees below normal, that’s a lot chillier than some recent Junes, especially last year’s.

The relative coolness has a lot to do with the frequent cloud cover, which has obscured the sun, and the rains, which have dampened the ground and blunted the sun’s energy, says Todd Miner, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University.

Rainfall for the month has been about 150 percent of normal, however the most-prominent June feature has been the lack of extreme heat.

As a matter of fact, my pool WAS an ice sheet last night.

Behind us is the Arctic Ocean at Oliktok Point, Alaska… i’m with a gaggle of co-workers.

The air temp was 45 degrees and water was a balmy 32. It was my third or fourth jump in.. we had six newbies.

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York Daily Record

“I think prayer is talking to God, so when I pray, I try to talk to him,” said Stoltzfoos, the pastor of Freedom Valley Worship Center in Straban Township, Adams County.

However, that principle clashed recently with a new policy of Pennsylvania’s Speaker of the House, Keith McCall, D-Carbon County.

Stoltzfoos had been invited by state Rep. Will Tallman, R-Reading Township, Adams County, to open Tuesday’s session of the House with a prayer as guest chaplain.

The pastor declined the invitation after someone on McCall’s staff told him he could not use Jesus’ name in the prayer.

“First of all, I don’t see how Jesus is denominational. The whole Christian world is called after him,” Stoltzfoos said. “I just feel like, if you want me to pray, then I have to pray to the one thing I know. I only know one God personally. I only serve one God. How do I do something that dishonors him?”

The policy — not yet three months old — requires guest chaplains to first submit their prayers in writing and then, if deemed necessary, agree to change their words to meet “nondenominational” guidelines established by McCall’s [D-PolitcalCorrectness] staff.

It is not an attempt to silence religious leaders, McCall [D-1stAmendmentHuh?] spokesman Bob Caton said, but rather an effort to prevent taxpayers from having to foot the bill of a lawsuit if someone objects to a prayer’s contents and chooses to sue the state.

A building full of lawyers and they’re afraid they’ll be sued?

Somehow I think that fear will come true.

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Short notice, but Election Journal caught wind of a 14 city ACORN protest/rally TODAY (June 30th) promising “Great Visuals”.

Pittsburgh – 10am – Federal Reserve @ 717 Grant St.
Philadelphia – 11:15am – Goldman Sachs @ Mellon Bank Cntr, 1735 Market St 26th Floor.

If you can break away today, please go keep an eye on these shady folks – and take your camera!

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Important post from the Commonwealth Foundation today.

You’re being lied to.

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The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Plantiff (Frank Ricci) in the Ricci case. In essence they have upheld this firefighters complaint of REVERSE DISCRIMINATION in the promotional process!!! This is a GIGANTIC, stunning victory for hard working firefighters all across America. This opinion reaffirms that skin color shouldn’t be a factor in the promotional process when there is an otherwise level playing field.

Congratulations to the soon to be new Lieutenants of New Haven. Stay safe and God bless!

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We’ve been clearing trees on our property the past few years. A lot more sunlight is getting through — I’m not sure that is a good thing — and on the stumps we are raising a nice crop of fungus.



We don’t always stay home. Occasionally we drive around in Coal Country. Here’s a bit of what we saw this week.

Molino

Mahanoy City

Tamaqua.

Here in the glorious commonwealth the beauty is everywhere, all you have to do is look.

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Today I had the opportunity to celebrate the opening of a renovated home dedicated to homeless veterans in Philadelphia. These individuals now have a place where they can get the help and guidance they need to put their lives back together.

This day was made possible by HGTV – Change The World Project and Rebuilding Together Philadelphia. A Hero’s Welcome and Warriors Watch organized their membership to attend the opening ceremony.

Volunteers who made this day happen:

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Alex, I see the end results of the Philadelphia School District’s efforts every day when I have to review the ambulance charts from our Philly division EMTs and paramedics. Sentence structure is non-existent. Verbs are improperly conjugated. Medical terms are mangled – I’d rather read “bruised eye” than “ecchymotic orbit and maxilla” if they can’t spell it! As I tell my bosses in our NY HQ: this is why God invented Jim Beam and Old Grand Dad!

The Philly School District exists, IMN-SHO, to feed its children, warehouse them until they’re of legal age, then cut them loose and hope.

Reform will only occur when we hold the management accountable and that’ll only occur when we go to choice or for-profit systems.

THAT’S MY OPINION AND YOU’RE ENTITLED TO IT!

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Too late! Another one escapes Obama’s Nationalized Healthcare Scheme:

TV Pitchman Billy Mays Found Dead
PopEater
posted: 4 HOURS 12 MINUTES AGO

The popular product pusher Billy Mays has died.
His wife found Mays — best known as the pitchman for OxiClean and star of many other TV infomercials — unconscious in their Florida home, TMZ reports.

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Just remember…

In order to work in Philadelphia city government, you have to be a resident of the city.

A study to be released Monday says more than half of the working-age adults in Philadelphia lack the basic reading and arithmetic skills needed to do the majority of jobs in the city.

The study by labor economist Paul Harrington for the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board says the average Philadelphia score for reading ability is 260 out of 500. But most jobs in the city, such as health care technicians, secretaries, and security guards, require workers with higher scores, ranging from 277 to 336, he said.

“If you have low literacy, you have a labor market that doesn’t welcome you,” Harrington said.

In math, nearly two-thirds of Philadelphia’s working-age adults are at or below basic levels, the study says.

Harrington calls Philadelphia “a city of extremes,” with jobs ranging from very high to very low literacy. The result, he said, is extremes in incomes, with those with low literacy living in poverty.

I cant imagine why people in the city find themselves in this predicament.

Not at all.

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On the heels of a successful “Dont Die on Friday“, i’m calling for a moratorium on dying this week.

Now it’s Pennsylvania pitchman, Billy Mays.

TMZ has confirmed TV pitchman Billy Mays was found dead today in his home in Tampa, Florida early this morning.

According to the Tampa PD, the 50-year-old TV pitchman was found unresponsive by his wife Deborah at 7:45 AM.

TMZ has learned Mays’ body has already been removed from his home.

Mays had just returned from Philadelphia, where he shot a new OxiClean commercial. He was a passenger aboard a plane that suffered a blown front tire upon landing. He told a local TV station, “All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head.”

We’re told Mays was at his home around 6:00 PM last night, and according to a source Mays was “acting fine and normal … he was talking business with his father-in-law.”

What the hell is going on this week?

Re: “these things come in threes”

For Philadelphians, maybe Billy Mays marks #3. First was 6ABC’s Gary Papa, then WWDB’s Irv Homer.

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Obama administration politicizing science?

Say it ain’t so.

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Here is the roll call vote on Cap and Trade.

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Written by Roberta Biros

Some interesting things happened in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week, and it is a topic well worth discussing. While it won’t be anything that you’ll read in your local paper or see on the news, it is IMPORTANT STUFF . . . and like most IMPORTANT STUFF, it is often overlooked . . . but not by me.

Senate Bill 850 (the “2009/2010 State Budget”) passed the Pennsylvania State Senate on May 6, 2009. It was referred to the House Appropriations Committee on May 7, 2009. A month-and-a-half later, the status of SB850 has not changed. It is still under the control of the House Appropriations Committee, with no hope of seeing the light of day any time soon.

On May 4, 2009, Representative Dwight Evans (D) introduced House Bill 1416 (the “2009/2010 State Budget”). On that day, HB 1416 was also referred to the House Appropriations Committee. Again, a month-and-a-half later, the status of HB 1416 has not changed. It is also still under the control of the House Appropriations Committee, with no hope of seeing the light of day any time soon.

Our Legislators are SUPPOSED to be working to finalize the 2009-2010 budget in Harrisburg, but they have yet to get an opportunity to VOTE on a budget. Why? Because everything is currently being held up in the Appropriations Committee.

This week, responsible lawmakers in Harrisburg decided to do something about the problem. They implemented the use of House Rule 53, “Discharge of Committees”, by submitting two Discharge Resolutions (DR1 and DR2) on June 25, 2009. According to House Rule 53:

A member may present to the Chief Clerk a resolution in writing to discharge a committee from the consideration of a bill or resolution which has been referred to it 15 legislative days prior thereto (but only one motion may be presented for each bill or resolution). The discharge resolution shall be placed in the custody of the Chief Clerk, who shall arrange some convenient place for the signature of the members. A signature may be withdrawn by a member in writing at any time before the discharge resolution is entered in the Journal. When 25 members of the House shall have signed the resolution, it shall be entered in the Journal and the title of the bill or resolution and the name of the committee to be discharged shall be printed on the calendar.

Any member who has signed a discharge resolution which has been on the calendar at least one legislative day prior thereto and seeks recognition, shall be recognized for the purpose of calling up the discharge resolution and the House shall proceed to its consideration without intervening motion except one motion to adjourn; however, no discharge resolution shall be considered during the last six legislative days of any session of the House. A majority vote of all the members elected to the House shall be required to agree to a resolution to discharge a committee. When any perfected discharge resolution has been acted upon by the House and defeated it shall not be in order to entertain during the same session of the House any other discharge resolution from that committee of said measure, or from any other committee of any other bill or resolution substantially the same, relating in substance to or dealing with the same subject matter.

The Discharge Resolutions have been added to the House Calendar and will allow the Members of the House to ultimately determine whether SB850 or HB1416 will finally be discharged from the Appropriations Committee. DR 1 and DR 2 will be voted on, and if either or both receive a majority vote from the House, they will eventually be discharged (and released) from the Appropriations Committee so that they can finally move to the House floor for a vote.

It is a shame that these sorts of rules are necessary, but a budget will never reach the floor of the House for a vote if we are simply left to wait for the Appropriations Committee to do it on their own (seeing that they’ve had both HB850 and HB1416 for over 6 weeks with no results).

Who are the legislators that have signed onto these Discharge Resolutions? Well, each Discharge Resolution required 25 signatures. The names for both resolutions were the same with the exception of the last name on each. The Representatives that signed were:

Representative Mario Civera
Representative Sam Smith
Representative Mike Turzai**
Representative Merle Phillips
Representative Sandra Major*
Representative Jerry Stern**
Representative Stan Saylor**
Representative Matt Gabler*
Representative Donna Oberlander*
Representative Thomas Creighton**
Representative Daryl Metcalfe**
Representative David Millard
Representative Dan Moul**
Representative Tina Pickett*
Representative Scott Hutchison**
Representative Martin Causer
Representative Carl Metzgar*
Representative Julie Harhart
Representative Douglas Reichley
Representative Michele Brooks**
Representative Timothy Hennessey*
Representative Sheryl Delozier
Representative Kathy Rapp**
Representative Curt Schroder**
Representative Robert Godshall (DR 1 only)
Representative William Adolf (DR 2 only)

Fiscal Conservative Legislators:

* indicates that this Representative is included in my “List of Fiscal Conservative Legislators” as they have demonstrated fiscal responsibility on select issues in the past.

“PA Gov Watch Honor Roll” Legislators:

** indicates that this Representative is included in my “PA Gov Watch Honor Roll” (which is a subset of the “List of Fiscal Conservative Legislators”). This list includes legislators that have voted consistently with issues of fiscal responsibility. The list currently only includes 10 fine Legislators as listed below:

Representative Mike Turzai (R-28)
Representative Jerry Stern (R-80)
Representative Stan Saylor (R-94)
Representative Thomas Creighton (R-37)
Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-12)
Representative Dan Moul (R-91)
Representative Scott Hutchison (R-64)
Representative Michele Brooks (R-17)
Representative Kathy Rapp (R-65)
Representative Curt Schroder (R-155)

Where is the Mercer County Connection?

Those in Mercer County will be glad to know that Representative Michele Brooks (R-17th-Mercer, Crawford, Lawrence) is included in this list of responsible legislators that signed on to both Discharge Resolutions. It should also be noted that Representative Brooks is one of the only 10 legislators that is included on the “PA Gov Watch Honor Roll” as she has been on the side of “good government” with each of the issues that we have tracked to date.

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219-212.

Republican for were: Bono Mack, Castle, Kirk, Lance, LoBiondo, McHugh, Reichert, Smith

Thanks guys.

Thanks for reading the bill.

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Just got in touch with from someone in Congressman Gerlach’s office.

He will be voting NO.

A formal press release will be issued later.

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Written by Roberta Biros

There is much to learn from history. All of the difficulties that we face as a nation now are not much different than those that have been since this Nation was founded. Our Country is currently in a fiscal crisis, and we are trying to invent new ways out of it. Rather than looking for new ideas, it is often helpful to learn from history instead.

At this moment, legislators in Harrisburg are drawing lines in the sand in preparation for the 2009-2010 budget battle. Many Democrats are hard set on raising taxes (either the Personal Income Tax, the Sales Tax, or some “new” tax) in an effort to balance the budget, and many Republicans are determined to prevent increased taxes and instead prefer to cut spending to make ends meet. While most of the stories that you read are based on Democrats vs. Republicans, that summary is actually unfair. This is not an issue of “party” . . . it is an issue of fiscal philosophy where ideals can easily cross party borders.

I am a fiscal conservative. I support fiscally conservative issues, legislation, and legislators. I am, however, also a Democrat. I’ve been criticized by Democrats for not being “Democrat enough”, and I’ve been criticized by Republicans for not being “conservative enough”. As a fiscal conservative, however, I share the same fiscal philosophy as other Democrats (believe it or not). Most notably, the Blue Dog Democrats are a growing caucus of fiscal conservatives that share many of my concerns. Fiscal conservatism is not “owned” by the Republican Party. Instead, it is “shared” by all fiscal conservatives. When you look back at history, the MOST fiscally conservative President in the history of the United States was Andrew Jackson, a Democrat.

There are issues that we all like and dislike about past and current political leaders. There will always be philosophies with which we agree and disagree across party lines and within our own parties. In the case of Jacksonian Democracy, there are many philosophies with which I completely agree. For instance, Jackson believed in Laissez-faire economics, which is the concept that the Government should NOT intervene in economic issues and it should not be involved in the “funding or regulation of schools, hospitals, industry, agriculture, and social welfare programs” (as per a definition in WikiPedia HERE). As an illustration of his commitment to fiscal conservatism, Jackson was the ONLY President to have paid off the national debt. Jackson was a Democrat, but there are many Democrats today that would disagree with his fiscal philosophies.

I think it is important for the issues in Harrisburg over the coming weeks to stop being about Democrats vs. Republicans. Instead, the state budget needs to be looked at from the prospective of “what is best for the people of Pennsylvania”. I personally feel that we should “Starve the Beast” and force government to live within its means so that “We the People” can keep more of our own hard-earned money. The question is . . . what do our legislators think?

As always, just my opinion.
~Roberta Biros, Mercer County Conservatives

SIDE BAR:

As an additional personal note, it is worth noting that I also agree with Andrew Jackson’s strong belief that “long tenure in the civil service was corrupting, so civil servants should be rotated out of office at regular intervals” (as per a definition in WikiPedia HERE). On this issue, there are MANY Republicans and Democrats that would strongly disagree with Jackson. Those that disagree with the philosphy are usually those that are ‘corrupted civil servants’ . . . Democrats and Republicans alike.

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Michael Jackson’s life was a tragedy long before his death yesterday. Because of his enormous success, he was able to surround himself only with yes men–sychophants who never contradicted him and never had the power to save him from himself. He was so famous and so rich he could create an alternate reality for himself with his own rules.

For years, every time I heard a song by the Jackson Five, I felt sad thinking of the cute little boy he was and how far away that little boy was from the freak he had become. The freakish plastic surgery, the allegations of pedophilia, the incredible financial debts, odd mannerisms, the dangling baby, and the whole Jackson family’s bizzarre tendency to put their psychological quirks into song, sadly now seem to overshadow his tremendous talent. As the news media now trots out the enablers he surrounded himself with, both famous and freakish themselves, (Liz Taylor, Madonna, Corey Feldman, Uri Geller), it’s easy to forget now, 15 to 20 years after the peak of his popularity, what a gifted entertainer he was.

Before he was Jacko, he was the King of Pop. The clip above is from the Motown 25th anniversary show and it shows a Michael Jackson on the cusp of super stardom. Many people will remember it, as I do, as the first time they ever saw Jackson’s signature Moonwalk. Forget the Michael Jackson weirdness for a few minutes and jump back into the mid-eighties to enjoy what was truly a landmark performance by one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

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(1) I, for one, will be in my secret undisclosed bunker Friday, avoiding certain death:

(2) What do Cap-&-Trade and South Park have in common? Underpants Gnomes logic —

-Phase 1: Report H.R. 2454 out of committee
-Phase 2: ?
-Phase 3: Replace H.R. 2454 with H.R. 2998

(3) Are there no depths to which MSNBC will not sink? As if their “teabagging” stunts weren’t enough, more for suggestive euphemisms. (Mild content warning on that link.)

(4) All you need to know about Obamacare: our benevolent quasi-socialist overlords won’t be using it.

Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy voted for Medicare.
He is eligible for Medicare.
When he got cancer, he did not use Medicare.
If they won’t use it, you don’t want it.

(5) “The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant.”

So maybe more death on Friday after all, if we’re using Indiana Jones rules?
(via Eddie at DPUD)

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The third annual New Year’s Day NHL Winter Classic may be of interest to those on the ‘Cooler who are from the east side of the state. The current talk is that it’s going to be the Boston Bruins vs. the Philadelphia Flyers in Fenway Park. This should be a thrill to both teams, first because the outside game is awesome, and second because the previous two years, one of the teams involved in the Winter Classic made it to the Stanley Cup Final.

There are also rumors of a possible double-header: Bruins vs. Philly earlier in the day, followed by a second outdoor game later in the afternoon in Calgary’s McMahon Stadium, with the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Flames.

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