WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
My response to the charge that Pittsburgh women are ugly is simply a photo of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Pens Patrol:
And also, RS McCain looks like he could be Arlen Specter’s little brother.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Email John Lewandowski, Start the discussion or Share This...
For those of you who wondered about what Robert Stacey McCain looks like, here’s a picture.
Have at him.
Here’s his blog: http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/
Comments, compliments or complaints?
No, really.
If Governor Rendell gets his way, if you live in the 24th Senatorial District, you will have no representation in the Pa Senate.
Rendell and other Democrats screamed that the special election would be a waste of money, particularly when Pennsylvania faces huge budget problems. The vote to fill the seat could take place during the general election, just five weeks later on Nov. 3, they argued.
A special election in Wonderling’s district – which includes parts of Bucks, Montgomery, Northampton and Lehigh Counties – would cost Pennsylvania between $250,000 and $375,000, Secretary of State Pedro Cortes said, calling the expense unnecessary. Rendell, in a letter to Scarnati, put the cost at “nearly $400,000.”
“I am particularly confused about your willingness to spend almost $400,000 of the taxpayers’ money when you have publicly demanded cuts to every facet of the state budget regardless of the public benefit they provide,” Rendell wrote.
Rendell made his letter available to reporters. Then, at a news conference in the Capitol, he called the Republican position hypocritical.
It’s quite obvious that the Democrats are stunningly unprepared and can’t find anyone to face Republican Bob Mensch.
Democrats said it appeared that Republicans believe they will gain a political advantage by having the election on a day when fewer voters might notice.
Marcel Groen, the Democratic leader in Montgomery County, said the GOP might be counting on the axiom that Republican voters turn out in higher percentages than Democratic voters in a low-profile election. “They made the calculation that their chances of winning are greater,” Groen said.
Scarnati’s motivation for setting the date was not political, said Erik Arneson, a spokesman for the Senate Republicans.
“We felt it was important for the residents of that district to be represented,” he said.
Given the slow pace of budget negotiations, he said, it is likely that legislators will cast important votes between Sept. 29 and the November election.
“I don’t know why people who want to support a Democratic candidate would be less likely to come out on a Tuesday in September than the people who want to support a Republican candidate,” Arneson said.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Remember the Black Panthers that were intimidating voters at a Philly polling place?
The court case against them was dropped recently…. the Washington Times found out why.
Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, the No. 3 official in the Obama Justice Department, was consulted and ultimately approved a decision in May to reverse course and drop a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party of intimidating voters in Philadelphia during November’s election, according to interviews.
The department’s career lawyers in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who pursued the complaint for five months had recommended that Justice seek sanctions against the party and three of its members after the government had already won a default judgment in federal court against the men.
Front-line lawyers were in the final stages of completing that work when they were unexpectedly told by their superiors in late April to seek a delay after a meeting between political appointees and career supervisors, according to federal records and interviews.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Sunday, August 2, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
Town Hall Meeting on Health Reform with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
National Constitution Center
525 Arch Street, Independence Mall
Philadelphia, PA 19106
I got an e-mail from this vermin of a politician today. Arlen Specter will be in Philadelphia this Sunday for a town hall meeting. It’s not well publicized I guess because he wants to hide from the citizens of the Commonwealth as much as possible. This is a chance to show up and give Benedict Arlen a piece of your mind on the pending Obama administration initiatives like government health care, cap and tax and all the other nonsense their trying to push on us. Maybe the Tea Party crowd can mobilize in time to show up. (Un)fortunately I’ll be on a plane by then. Pass the word!
For those interested here are his other upcoming appearances:
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 @ 9:30am
HACC – Lebanon Campus, Multipurpose Room
735 Cumberland Street
Lebanon, PA 17042
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 @ 3:45pm
Bucknell University, Trout Auditorium
701 Moore Avenue
Lewisburg, PA 17837
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 @ 8:30am
The Penn Stater, President’s Hall 4
215 Innovation Boulevard
State College, PA 16803-6603
Thursday, August 13, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
Belmont Complex
415 Butler Road
Kittanning, PA 16201
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Robert Stacey McCain has declared war on all the denizens of Pittsylvania Country. Here’s the relevant comment:
Even among Pennsylvanians — who have foisted upon an unwilling world a disproportionate number of those heinous women known locally as “Pittsburgh Bridge Trolls” — there is this common saying: “Just because she’s ugly, doesn’t necessarily mean she’s from West Virginia.”
Read the whole thing here.
Anybody care to respond?
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Email DB Light, Join the other 3 commenters or Share This...
Risa Vetri-Ferman is the D.A. of Montgomery County. She has also been very willing to address my questions about the shooting the Schuykill River Bike Trail last week.
To recap, on July 22, Joseph DePaul was riding his bike on the Schuykill River Trail in Plymouth Township. He was approached by a couple of kids, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, who then kicked him in the ribs. DePaul, who had been a vicitm of a similar crime previously, was armed. He pulled his weapon and fired six shots at the retreating juveniles, hitting the bike tire of the 17-year-old’s bike.
Though DePaul had a permit for the gun, he was initially charged with criminal attempt at murder, criminal attempt at voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and related offenses and was held in Montgomery County Prison on $250,000 cash bail.
DePaul’s bail was reduced over the weekend and on Monday, D.A. Ferman held a press conference on Monday, revealing that the county’s investigation had uncovered a “bike chop shop” apparently being run by the 17-year-old SRT rib kicker out of his basement. His bike of choice? Mongoose. DePaul’s bike? Mongoose.
Since the press, having already succeeded in driving up the anti-gun hysteria over a man shooting at two unarmed kids on the trail, has since been distracted from the original story by the discovery of the chop shop, I wanted to know what happened to DePaul. D.A. Ferman was happy to fill in the blanks:
I directed that the original complaint charging attempt murder, etc. againt Depaul be withdrawn today. That was done. Depaul will be charged tomorrow with recklessly endageringly another person. This is a misdemeanor. In my judgement, the REAP charge best fits the circumstances here where the man recklessly fired multiple shots towards a fleeing target 200-250 feet away in a location where other people could have easily been hit. Depaul could very easily have shot and killed a totally innocent bystander on the trail by his actions that night.
IMHO, this seems appropriate and fair. While many of us can certainly sympathize, and even understand DePaul’s reaction, I think we can all agree that DePaul over-reacted; he was in no immediate danger when he fired off the rounds–after all the two yutes were retreating. Ferman continues:
This is the practical problem we face right now on the trail; how do we handle citizens exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protect themselves who either (a) do so recklessly and endanger the lives of other innocent people, or (b) are not legally justified in using deadly force. There is no bright line test or answer. We will have to evaluate each situation like this on a case by case basis, review the specific facts, apply the law, and decide what is right and fair under the circumstances. Bottom line, we have to do the right thing in each case.
In this case, justice was served. And hopefully other would-be SRT thugs are paying attention.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Or, “higher” content anyway…
(1) Sn’Arlen and Sebelius are having an Obamacare town hall meeting in Philly, Aug 2, at the Constitution Center. Go give him a piece of your mind, Philly folks.
(2) Speaking of ObamaCare, here’s a great video:
Abortions, yes. Grandpa’s surgery, not so much.
As Ace said, hit ‘em with both barrels.
(3) I have to think this kills the idea of a Corbett-Meehan ticket – Good news / bad news from Gerlach’s internal polling. (via PA2010 – do those guys ever sleep?) Corbett starts with a lead of 39% to Gerlach’s 11% and Meehan’s 7%. The “informed” ballot has Gerlach at 52% to Corbett’s 19% and Meehan’s 8%.
Whether you take this at face value or not, it’s clear that Corbett’s support is not terribly deep, largely due to the fact that he’s a prosecutor and doesn’t have broad policy experience.
So, what’s the wisdom of Corbett-Meehan if they’re both prosecutors and nobody really knows who Meehan is even in his own region?
Corbett-Gerlach? (Gerlach-Corbett???)
(4) Nate Benefield somehow manages to work a Star Wars analogy into the Harley-Davidson corporate welfare “deal”. Pray they do not alter the deal further.
(5) Here’s your bit of brain-rot / “Weird PA” : 33-year old Pennsylvania woman Amy Wolfe wants to marry a Knoebel’s roller coaster, and has strong… eh… intimate feelings about it.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
For the past couple of months I have been posting pictures of China on my other blog, “Light Seeking Light”. These were mostly for the benefit of people who were on the trip with me, but if any of you are interested hop on over and check them out here and here. There are a lot of them, interspersed with other material, so scroll down to see them all.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Written by Roberta Biros
(I know, the title is a shameless pun on my favorite food group, but I just couldn’t resist.)
While it seems like nothing is happening in Harrisburg in regards to the budget, there may be more going on than meets the eye. Based on information from various sources, I wanted to share ‘the latest scoop’ with all of you . . .
Earlier this week, a conference committee was assembled to hammer out the details of the State Budget. Multiple sources have told me, however, that things are not going very well in that venue. Both sides appear to be digging in for a long and private battle. Although the House calendar was originally set up for this week, State Representatives were sent home for the week to ‘sit and wait’ (although they remain ‘on call’ should a vote be required). While both sides (Democrats and Republicans) are trying to put a shiny face on the on-going debate, honest personal opinions of lawmakers are seemingly less optimistic.
Public (official) comments by Mercer County Representatives seem to be all over the board. YouTube video releases from Representative Dick Stevenson and Representative Michele Brooks make simple and basic comments regarding the budget negotiations, but they provide few details about the process itself.
Representative Dick Stevenson simply stands firm on his opinions about no increase in the Personal Income Tax (PIT). WATCH VIDEO HERE
Representative Michele Brooks supports the stand of conservative conference committee members. WATCH VIDEO HERE.
Representative Kathy Rapp, on the other hand, tries to ’sound’ optimistic, but it doesn’t take a body language expert to realize that she may not completely believe what she is saying. WATCH VIDEO HERE.
A YouTube video released by Representative Jim Cox today talks about a new ‘openness and transparency’ in the process, but taxpayers are not yet on the receiving end of that outpouring of information. WATCH VIDEO HERE.
Newspaper reports earlier this week stated that Governor Rendell might be looking for ways to push through some sort of funding for State Workers’ salaries that would get us through the impasse, but the latest news explains that the Governor may simply encourage House Democrats to approve the Senate Budget early next week so that he (the Governor) can simply trim down the Senate Budget through line-item-veto capabilities. (read the full story HERE). It all makes me just a little nervous because it seems like we are all being set up for some sort of ‘magic trick’ or something. It seems very odd that the Governor would now (and very suddenly) consider the Senate Budget Bill that has been available since early May. It makes you wonder why he has waited almost three months to consider such a move.
Although I’d much rather see a good solid budget worked out and agreed to by both sides, Pennsylvania lawmakers may be in a bit of a twist if something isn’t done soon. State Workers are going unpaid, and taxpayers are getting angry and frustrated. The inability of lawmakers to come together for the common good of the commonwealth has state residents scratching their heads and wondering . . . “what are they getting paid for?”
So . . . while the news regarding budget negotiations is sparse, you better believe that there is a whole lot of game playing going on right now that we are simply not completely aware of.
That is the latest ‘scoop’ as I see it.
.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
This is the face of a man wanted for questioning in a rape incident that happened in the next town over from me. He allegedly stalked the victim in my local WalMart and followed her home.
KYW:
The hunt is on for a Montgomery County man who police say sexually assaulted a teenager Monday afternoon after following her home from Walmart.
Investigators have identified the suspect as 33-year-old Seth Griffith (above) of the 500 block of Haws Avenue in Norristown.
But authorities believe he have fled to Lewistown — about 30 miles southeast of State College.
Surveillance video shows the suspect following the 19-year-old victim as she shopped in the Walmart in West Norriton. Police believe he followed her back to Lower Providence, entered her Audubon home, and assaulted her in her bedroom.
Turtle says he doesn’t know why Griffith targeted the woman:
“At this point in time, I would say we are determining it a random act. We don’t have anything either from the victim or from any other source that says she knows or has known or has met this suspect in the past.”
On store surveillance (right), a man fitting Griffith’s description can be seen walking around the store and watching her.
District attorney Risa Ferman calls the alleged incident terrifying:
“Being out in a commercial establishment, feeling safe and secure, going inside the security of your own home and having that violated, there’s really very little that is as frightening as that.”
Griffith faces charges of criminal attempted rape, sexual assault, burglary, and related offenses.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
I’ll start with the only non-brain-rotting content. (Sorry, it was just that kind of a day for me.)
(1) Forget Obamacare, here’s the model for routine care — Target has an in-store clinic with posted fees for common ailments and procedures. HSA’s + Catastrophic Insurance = Win.
(via CF’s @ElizabethBryan , who is an infrequent but high-quality tweeter)
Now on to the brain-rot…
(2) RobertGibbsIsTheZodiacKiller.com
(3) Snakes in his pants made him crash his car. No, he’s not kidding.
(4) You may need to get that $29 cholesterol screening at Target after this:
I give you the Rubix Cubewich! This is Why You’re Fat!
(5) Somewhere between “MacGyver” and “Jackass” is “There, I Fixed It“.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
One of the first things you learn as a little kid is not to take things that don’t belong to you. A surprising twist in the shooting incident on the Schuykill River Trail in Montco:
Montgomery County authorities have uncovered what they describe as a bicycle “chop shop” inside a house in Norristown, Pa., and now they want to know if it’s connected to some recent assaults on the Schuylkill River bike trail.
Police executed a search warrant at the house late last week and found nearly twenty bicycles and dozens of bicycle parts.
Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman says the house belongs to the father of a 17-year-old who was taken into custody after he and another teen were involved in an altercation with a man who fired shots at them on the trail last Wednesday (see related story):
“He was obtaining bicycles — and we are investigating how he was obtaining them — and then in the basement of his home he was taking parts, constructing bikes and reconstructing bikes, and then selling them.”
She believes that hundreds of bikes may have gone through that house over the last several months.
Now, police want to hear from area residents who may have had their bicycles stolen, either on or off the Schuylkill River trail.
I had originally wondered what the motivation was for these punks to harass bikers, since bikers and walkers rarely carry anything of value on them when using the trail. Authorities say that most of the bikes that went through the “chop shop” were Mongoose bikes, which are not all that expensive–you can get them at Target for between $200 and $300 bucks. But I guess even if you’re selling them for less than that–say $100 bucks a piece–it’s still 100% profit.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
This is Dr. Wayne Dyer’s interpretation of Lao Tzu’s 75th verse of the Tao Te Ching (from Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, August 2007) – a book of wisdom written over 2500 years ago. As I’ve written before – sage advice for our current leadership:
When taxes are too high,
People go hungry.
When the government is too intrusive,
people lose their spirit.
Act for the people’s benefit;
trust them, leave them alone.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
On this day in 1786, the Pittsburgh Gazette, the first paper published west of the Alleghenies, started publication.
And in 1955 the Pirates beat the Reds 16 to 5. Forrest “Smokey” Burgess hit three homers in that game. I remember it well. Smokey was one of my favorites on that team. My Dad and I listened to the game on the radio, sitting in the living room. Rosey Rosewell was the broadcaster. I can still hear him shout, “Open the window Aunt Minnie, here she comes!” followed by the sound of breaking glass.
And in 1961, when the Pirates were still World Champions [yes, it's true, they were] The Phillies suffered the first of a 23 game losing streak. Ah, those were the days!
And a better memory for the Phils, on this day in 1989 the team retired Steve Carlton’s number.
Checking in: on this day in 1973 rapper Wayna Morris was born in Philadelphia.
Checking out: On this day in 1984 Fred Waring, from Tyrone, PA, leader of “The Pennsylvanians” died at the age of 84. He formed his orchestra because he couldn’t get into the Penn State glee club, then went on to become one of the most popular entertainers of the 1930’s and 40’s. Guess that showed them.
And finally: On this day in 1974 the first eleven women priests in the Episcopal Church were ordained in Philadelphia’s Church of the Advocate.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
For how many years are we going to allow this clown to represent us?
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Email John Lewandowski, Start the discussion or Share This...
Athan Koutsiouroumbas of the PA Judicial Network passes along this letter to the members of the US Senate from National Right to Life:
National Right to Life letter of opposition to Sotomayor
Unfortunately, it doesn’t really matter now since Lindsey Graham caved. I suggest you contact the good Senator and respectfully tell him what you think of him.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Email John Lewandowski, Start the discussion or Share This...
The story is too long to publish here. Just visit my website for all of the sordid details.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Written by Roberta Biros
I’ve had the pleasure of talking politics with lots of people over the past few weeks. My attendance at last week’s Jefferson Township Fair along with the time that I spent in Farrell at the Slovak and Italian Homes Ethnic Food Festival gave me an opportunity to discuss important and pressing issues with local taxpayers. I’d like to share some of the issues that were discussed and debated.
The Status of the Pennsylvania State Budget
While there were many topics that were on the table, the one issue that remains on the tip of everyone’s tongue is the State budget. There were many local folks that were confused to see State Legislators at the weekend events. Most people expected that our lawmakers would still be in Harrisburg working to come to some sort of compromise on the budget. Instead, they were back home in Mercer County enjoying summer festivities. I realized that the budget was out of the control of the House, but it was my understanding the Senate leaders were to be working over the weekend to move the budget process further. I thought I should do a little research in order to clarify the questions.
When I last addressed the issue of the budget, the House had rejected the State Senate’s last draft of a budget and it was being sent back to the Senate. The plan was that a bipartisan Conference Committee would be assigned on Monday to tackle the project. Governor Rendell, however, stated last week that he felt that work could be done over the weekend before the Committee was even assigned. It seems that the Governor was mistaken. According to KYW News Radio 1060 (read HERE),
“Last Thursday, Governor Rendell expressed optimism that negotiations could produce a budget agreement even before the conference committee met. But later that same day, the majority leader of the GOP-controlled Senate said there was no rational basis for such optimism. And in fact, the majority leader’s spokesman says while there were some informal budget discussions over the weekend, there were no breakthroughs. “
It seems that the optimism that was painted on this part of the budget process was simply like ‘putting lipstick on a pig’. The establishment of a Conference Committee may move the budget process forward, but it will not be moving with any particular amount of speed . . . and that is unfortunate.
State Employees Remain Unpaid During Impasse
Another topic that almost everyone agrees on is that shameful use of State Workers as a pawn in budget negotiations. State Employees are currently continuing to work, but they will not receive their paychecks until a budget is passed. The Governor has been using the workers as a threat during budget talks, but no move was ever made through the Governer’s office to insure that workers would continue to get paid. I reported back in mid-May about legislation that was on the table to prevent this exact problem (read HERE). Specifically, House Bill 913 was submitted in March of this year as an effort to insure that State Workers would continue to be paid during a budget impasse. Two State Representatives from Mercer County (Representative Dick Stevenson and Representative Michele Brooks) were part of the group that introduced the bill on March 12. Unfortunately, the bill has been sitting in committee ever since.
Now that State Employees are officially not receiving paychecks, the real problems for the State are just around the corner. According to the Associated Press (read HERE),
“On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor said it had begun investigating whether Pennsylvania has violated its employees’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act by ordering them to work without regular pay. The department received more than 1,500 calls, a spokeswoman said.”
The threat of a Federal Labor Department investigation now has the Governor squirming. So much so, that the Governor is now looking for a ‘quick fix’ like an ‘interim budget’ that would fill the gap until final budget negotiations are completed. According to the same article by the Associated Press,
“Gov. Ed Rendell said Monday that he will look for a way to speed money to pay for Pennsylvania’s state government operations so that tens of thousands of employees don’t miss more paydays during an entrenched budget impasse. Rendell said he decided to pursue an interim budget that is whittled down to the essentials after informal talks over the weekend with Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, made it clear that any agreement on an approximately $28 billion budget still is far away. “
It seems like the Governor should have focused on this potential problem months ago, but, instead, he was holding on to his big bargaining chip. Again, this is an unfortunate situation no matter how you look at it.
Keystone Exams
Another issue on people’s lists of concerns are the Keystone Exams. Governor Rendell has been trying to push through these graduation exams since the end of the fiscal year, but concerned and responsible lawmakers have been trying to put a stop to it. The exams are EXTREMELY expensive (a seven-year contract totaling $201 MILLION), and their effectiveness is questionable. Senator Jane Orie authored Senate Bill 281 that was designed to STOP the Keystone Exams, and it was referred to the House Education Committee in June . . . where it stalled.
It seems that a bipartisan group of lawmakers are going to attempt to drag the legislation out of committee this week through a Discharge Resolution. A Discharge Resolution is a tool that can be used by the House to force legislation out of committee. We last saw it used in mid-June in an effort to move the Budget forward (read HERE for details). A Discharge Resolution requires 25 signatures from House Members, and I suspect the list of names may be similar to those that signed onto DR1 and DR2 in June (read the list HERE).
With the current state of the economy, local taxpayers are concerned about projects with large price tags, and the Keystone Exams qualify in that regard. Taxpayers simply aren’t willing to pay.
Health Care Reform
Another important issue of discussion last week was that of Health Care Reform. While the President is currently pushing for some sort of “Universal” plan that would cover all Americans, people are discussing the various possibilities amongst themselves, and it is a rather ‘healthy debate’ (no pun intended).
The majority of people that I talked to agree that SOMETHING needs to be done to provide health insurance for those that don’t have it. Unfortunately, no one is exactly sure what the best solution would be. Surprisingly enough, this is the same problem that lawmakers in Washington are running into. The problem is SO big, that a quick fix doesn’t seem possible. For that reason, most people that I talked to simply felt that this was an issue that deserved more time and debate. Rather than pushing through some sort of legislation now, most taxpayers feel that more time should be taken to hammer out the details and examine the big picture.
The President has hopes of passing something through sooner, but I think that most Americans would prefer to take our time to do this right. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Gun Rights: Concealed Weapons Amendment
The final issue that was brought up numerous times last week was the recent amendment that was voted on in the U.S. Senate regarding the Concealed Weapons Law (specifically referred to as Senate Amendment 1618 to Senate Bill 1390). The amendment would have required each of the 48 states that currently allow concealed firearms to honor permits issued in other states. The issue was overwhelming supported by those of us that firmly support the Second Amendment, but it was hotly debated by those that wish to limit gun rights.
The issue was brought to vote on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. It needed 60 votes to pass the Senate. It only received 58 votes (with a final vote count of 58 to 39). Three Senators did not vote (Byrd, Kennedy, and Mikulski). Pennsylvania Senators Casey and Spector split their votes (Casey was FOR the amendment, and Spector was AGAINST it).
The issue of Gun Rights is an important one in Mercer County. With a strong base of sportsmen in the area, the issue was supported by Republicans and Democrats alike.
In Closing . . .
While I had the opportunity to discuss MANY issues with local taxpayers, these were the ones that were brought up most often. I wanted to share the details with all of you so that you, too, have a sense of the conversations that are going on. I thank all of the folks that took the time to talk to me. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations, and I look forward to many more opportunities in the coming weeks and months.
.
Comments, compliments or complaints?
Quote of the Day is from Susan Staub of PA Right to Work.
On EFCA, to Bill George:
“I’ve said it’s a crock, what do you have to say?”
Love it!
Comments, compliments or complaints?
