Intemperate thoughts

I got home early today. And you have no idea how pleased I am.

Anyway, I fired this electronic bugger up to find the following: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…O’BRIEN TO ANNOUNCE DECISION ON ENTERING PA-11 CONGRESSIONAL RACE

And the attached press release included his bio as well as his, ahem, list of accomplishments, which reads like the shopping list of someone in possession of approximately five or six nickels. It’s so borderline threadbare, you’d swear it belonged to the current occupant of the White House.

So, it’s Corey O’Brien versus Paul Kanjorski? O'Pretty Boy versus Congressman Grump?

Join me in a collective yawn.

Um, according to the Citizens’ Voice, some former “labor leader” left nearly $1 million to a local charity by way of a couple of handpicked trustees, and now the money has turned up missing. And, yes, the authorities are looking into it, or some such thing.

Now here’s the part that had me scratching my fat head, excerpted from that Voice story:

“Kane, who was an official with the Wyoming Valley West teachers union and Musicians Local 140 named…”

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Say again???

The WVW teachers union? And some local musicians union? And he’s bequeathing almost a million greenbacks in his wake? How does a smalltime fish such as that amass such a fortune?

Tell your kids to drop out of school by the 8th grade and buy, sleep or suck their way into a union position of some importance. Not, like, being the knee capper or the folks who burn records storage facilities when the Feds come sniffing around. You know, a big shot like Jimmy Hoffa, wherever he is.

Apparently, this union organizing stuff pays fairly well.

The way I see it, Judge Peter Paul Olszewski is guilty as charged. My one-part indictment is as follows:

He flew to Florida on a private jet, played some golf, partied a bit with some folks he had not previously met or did not know all that well, and he spent time in a swanky condominium.

I will hold my online sentencing hearing on Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 10 am. Until such sentencing, the defendant is free of his own recognizance.

Although, I was wondering about something. Did any of my fellow internet judges, juries and executioners ever hear of what they call timeshares? You know, while you’re visiting such a wonderful place, you just assume that your distant aunt--your host--is rich beyond all belief, only to later learn that she’s only paying a fraction of the total cost of the condo?

You know, like appearances aren’t always what they seem. As in, perhaps Olszewski didn’t really know nor did he really care what the ownership arrangement of the condo was. Like, we shouldn’t automatically assume that he should have suspected that something wasn’t right. Right?

I dunno.

This is fun:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "River Common": Nah it was the Navy's version of the AT-6 and SJ. I know the pilot. that's really not even remotely cool of you to say you phoned in a bomb threat and want to pack a BB gun. Get a life. Why don't you clean up the Susquehanna instead of taking credit for defeating a "powerful politicians. LMAO. you're an idiot. You don't have a clue. Why not try an effect positive change instead of being an ass.

Positive change? Uh, do you mean like fighting to keep a polluted, free-flowing river free-flowing in perpetuity? Giving it a chance to cleanse and heal itself one day?

Would that be like demanding that the congressman scrap the crap-collecting dam in favor of eliminating the Combined Sewage Outflows (CSO) that dump untold hundreds of thousands of gallons of untreated raw sewage (possibly more) into the river every time the darkened sky gets to dumping on us?

Positive change like that?

Huh?

From the Lu Lac Political Letter:

LEIGHTON AIDE LEAVES

Bridget Giunta, Wilkes-Barre city’s administrative coordinator during the Leighton administration, is leaving her position at the end of business Wednesday. Giunta has accepted a position as associate director of alumni relations at Wilkes University. She starts her new job Thursday. Seems like short notice to me but I have a viable replacement for her, one who knows the city, is a great communicator and is passionate about the Leighton administration. As a taxpaying member of the city of Wilkes Barre I nominate Mark Cour. He’ll do a good job expounding on the merits of the Leighton initiatives and few would be hard pressed to disagree with him because of his powers of persuasion. It would be kind of like Harry Truman meets Spin City.

Why thank you, David (I guess). Please tell the mayor that I’ll have to provide my current employer with a two-week notice before taking on my new position at City Hall.

My first official act will be to scrap the Muzak system and pipe some Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick and Frank Zappa through those hallowed halls.

Next up, the dress code will be relaxed (liberalized) to include shorts and tank tops.

And I want a spoken (hushed) guarantee that I can join the Luzerne County judiciary in a ghost position after "serving" at City Hall.

I would be more than willing to be the spokesman to the mayor. And since the United States is going broke faster than Iranians can ready ICBMs for launch, and since the responsibility for all of the mayor’s decisions, programs and initiatives should rest with him, whenever controversy erupts, my fallback position will always be, the dime stops here. Or, the Canadian half-nickel, that is.

Later