The Approaching Storm or: Bikeabout?

I have to admit to wanting to be burned alive yesterday while WILK’s Steve Corbett was (once again) lecturing some of us about having laughed off the recent earthquake, and meanwhile imploring us to take Hurricane Irene seriously.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s not like we haven’t heard that oft-repeated clarion call before: Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. You know me…blah, blah, blah.

But I do have to say, Corbett’s message was spot-on correct. As a former Boy Scout, I understand the criticality of being prepared before endeavoring to do much of anything out-of-doors. He was right. Needless lecturing aside, he nailed it.

As for myself, I’m not easily concerned, not prone to biting my fingernails over much of anything, nor am I in the least afraid of what Mother Nature regularly has to offer.

Case in point: There’s still a YouTube video on the Internet I uploaded after gleefully bicycling through 3-plus-feet of onrushing water delivered by the-then mother-in-law of all late summer thunderstorms.

Case in point: A lightning bolt struck the PP&L-owned utility pole directly behind this modest adobe just hours ago. My grandson ran screaming from his perch, Wifey retreated as fast as she could, while I headed out back for a closer look. Cool. Way cool.

Those of you who have stupidly followed my ridiculously ill-advised exploits for far too long now know I could go on and on and on. I won't go on and on. You're welcome.

Anyway, my point is not my lifelong fascination with inclement weather gone full-blown violent and dangerous.

My real point is that while the media outlets running the A-to-Z gamut are warning us of the fast-impending cataclysm, they are simultaneously beckoning us via their Web sites to send them our storm-related pictures, videos and tweets.

In other words, while they tell us to run away and hunker down far from the approaching killer storm, they likewise invite us to get on out there in the tumultuous mix and capture some amazing images, and then upload the startling and dramatic images directly to them. That is, assuming we aren’t killed in the process while playing amateur photographer or videographer.

Then again, I was the guy who bicycled to the center of the Black Diamond bridge in 2006 when the Susquehanna River was trying to overtake it, the dikes, and the entire valley.

And I’ll never forget what came over the police scanner while the water’s deafening roar…while that fast-moving water that was coming over the railroad tracks and soaking my imported athletic moccasins had my adrenaline pump firing: 911 to #5**, “We have a report of an idiot standing in middle of the Black Diamond bridge.”

The WBPD came from that side. CP Rail police came from the other side. And the purported idiot pedaled off never to be heard from again. 

Uh, that is, save for the unattributed video and still frames WNEP received and featured.

So, as you can see, while the media types tell us in unison to head for the proverbial hills now dotted with gas drilling rigs, they invite us to first take pause in the face of the fast-approaching calamity, capture an image or two, and then upload the images to them…hopefully…hopefully before the killer waves overtake us. Hopefully.

I’m just saying.

And before you launch into lecturing me some more about useless safety sh*t I mostly care nothing about, know that I identify more with a character from the movie Platoon--Bunny--than probably anyone else who has ever tried and failed to influence me since I was old enough to know that I should know better.

And I quote:

You know Junior, some of the things we've done, man... I don't feel like we've done something wrong. Sometimes, man... I get this bad feeling. I told the padre the truth man, I like it here. Get to do what you want, nobody fu>ks with you. The only worry you got is dying. And if that happens you won't know about it anyway. So what the fu>k, man?

Later

Pope George Soros

From the vast wasteland of electronic ether from where comments typically come from…

Pope George Ringo said...

You gotta be kidding me!

WILK has the "sweet voiced" conservatism of Ms.Henry for four hours every morning and the Ferocious Limbaugh for three hours in the afternoon. Afterwards listeners are treated to the "all over the place" rantings of the Obama bashing Palin loving Corbett. OF course, then the real tsunami begins with Mr. Savage who makes Limbaugh sound like Teddy Kennedy.

As for town meetings or lack thereof by The Honorable Mr. Barletta and his clone Mr. Marino....using the shooting of Gabby Giffords as an excuse to get out of meeting and answering your constituents questions is pretty low, even for a Republican.

Of course, the voters will decide on this next year.
Again, WILK a liberal bastion????

WIth all due respect, you need to see an Otolaryngolist.
God Bless.

August 26, 2011 6:11 AM

With no due respect, Pope George Soros, your staunch partisanship is seriously clouding your view of the easy-to-follow text presented right in front of you.

A “liberal bastion?”

Your words. Not mine. Your bad.

Smarten the fu>k up.

The bigger point is, Lou Barletta has been savagely attacked for three days, 21 hours total by two radio talk show hosts from the very same local “media” outlet. And this, despite the fact that he’s been in office for only eight months. The DCCC issues an edict, and the card-carrying walking dead carry out the orders. Nice. And yet, they wonder aloud as to why we're screwed.

Now, I know y’all miss the former congressman recently ousted by Lou Barletta who brought the area thousands upon thousands of high-paying water-jet technology jobs, condom-like rubber dams, escalating sidewalks and a regional equipment center, but try not to freak out at the very onset of consenting opinions.

And, lack thereof? Four town hall meetings in eight months following the attempted assassination of a fellow member of Congress? Lack thereof? You should be self-excommunicated.

I know you’re en vogue on that site that invites such one-sided, agenda-driven sophistry, but spare me the gun shot to my intelligence.

As for the WILK programming, try not to project upon me what you mistakenly believe to be the reality of the situation. You imagine a thing, so the thing then exists. Typical. Purposeful. Shameful. Thing is, even conservative-tinged talk radio beats yet another spinning of Radar Love.

Webster & Nancy: John, as always, is a bundle of fun always ready to burst out. Nancy is increasingly shrill, course, myopic and borderline mean-spirited.

Sue Henry: A good kid all grown up. I would fistfight and then some to defend her. But she doesn’t need my help.

Rush Limbaugh: Up to the minute, often wildly entertaining and the only show in town on an aged pocket AM radio in the middle of the day.

Steve Corbett: All of the lectures I needed I received when he was still in college.

Michael Savage: If a guy can tell us about which table scraps his dog prefers and makes it interesting as well as amusing, I’m all in. He’s a bit much, but he’s often a hoot as well.

In conclusion, when a freshman congressman still new to Washington D.C. comes under unduly unfair and unrelenting attacks for meeting more often with his constituents than his predecessor ever felt was necessary, I’m going to comment on it.

And if that really, really bothers you, that’s proof that your sense of fairness died along with your objectivity. Are you a member of a collective-bargaining unit? Another union slacker? A tenured teacher? Or yet another government worker riddled with carpel tunnel syndrome by way of solitaire? Sorry, but I'm trying to understand your obvious dependency. Help me out, here.

And, again, with no due respect, you might need to see a proctologist in an attempt to recover some of that brain matter that slipped away from you when you started slurping down the purple goop from the political punch bowl.

Later

WILK to Lou Barletta: Piss off!!!

From Politics in NEPA...

Van Jones, Dreamers Target Barletta

Actually, after suffering through most of what WILK had to offer today, I think this piece could be more aptly titled, "Jones, Kman, Corbett & Dreamers target Barletta."

"News, talk radio" suddenly sounds like DCCC talking points happily, eagerly and aggressively regurgitated.

4 town hall meetings in 8 months from a freshman congressman, but Kman says NO!!!, you picked on Kanjorski!!!

Shrill, shriller and the absolute shrillest.

Really scary stuff. Another clear example of a once proud media outlet gone completely partisan in an effort to make amends for their previous mistakenly partisan misleading of the listening public. Another undeniable example of credibility lost.

Webster...turns out, Radar Love wasn't so bad after all. Get out before the shrill factor becomes too much.

Anyway, WILK wants Lou Barletta gone.

That's where we're at with the supposed "news" outlet.

Later

The Great (non) Quake of '11

Near as I can tell, when the big earthquake of '11 hit I was rolling across the North Cross Valley Expressway bridge and over the Susquehanna river. And I didn't feel a goll dang thing.

When I arrived back here at the modest adobe, Wifey told me how Ebon had called from Kingston Corners after her bank building got to violently shaking. And just as soon as Ebon hung up, Marque, my son, called from the East End section of Wilkes-Barre going on about much the same thing.

Still, neither Wifey nor my grandson Zach, who were sitting here in the good ole Nord End watching a movie felt even the slightest of tremors. Nothing. Nada. What a rip-off. Weird for sure.

According to WNEP, we did in fact receive the surprising jolts of an earthquake centered somewhere in Virginia.

But what immediately struck me were the widely varied reactions to it, as reported by said television news channel. Undeniably, the public sector folks evacuated (ran screaming) from every shaken building this side of the Rockies, while the public sector folks took notice of the rumbling, but kept on keeping on.

And therein lies the most easily discernible difference between the public and private sectors, that while the public sector latches on to every possible reason to effect a work stoppage (paper shuffling), the private sector just keeps on generating income no matter what obstacles Mother Nature or the hapless public sector hangers-on put in their way.

The Great Earthquake of '11 scared the hell out of the government workers. Meanwhile, the productive workers that really matter pressed onwards.

So what else is new?

On a very related side note, I told my grandson Zach to stay out of the darn pool for fear of unanticipated tsunamis.

I know, I know. I'm a dork.

Due to that "Bicycles" post of mine, I've received plenty of positive feedback, as well as spoken to two folks encouraging me to go on out there and help to make a difference.

While I am highly motivated, I think we need to tread softly until a workable plan is thoroughly formulated.

First of all, I think we need some sort of official sanction before going forward. I think I need to talk to the Luzerne County Housing Authority, as well as touch base with do-gooder groups such as Big Brother/Big Sister, for instance, rather than just showing up unannounced.

And being that we live in such a predominately litigious society, I'm also thinking that some pro bono legal advice might not hurt before interacting with anyone.

Sad to say, we can't just march on out there completely unannounced and help disadvantaged children. Nope, that's not allowed. There's a pecking order to be sorted through before anyone can help anyone else.

There's government subsidies. Government grants. Government regulations. Governmental limitations. Government red tape. Governmental duplication of non-essential services. Slothful government workers. Government sub-contractors. Wasteful government largess.

Basically, the government claims near complete ownership of the poor folk destined to forever wallow away in poverty.

Stay tuned.

Oh, the Fantasy Fotball draft.

Methinks I'm a sittin' very pretty.

Really, I do.

Later

*For free oral sex porn, go to Gort42.oral-fixation.com

Bicycles

A couple of weeks ago, I did a termite job at a public housing complex somewhere in the Wyoming Valley. And for the purposes of this mostly needless exercise, the exact location does not matter as all subsidized public housing complexes are mirror images of each other.

As my many painful experiences often remind me of, and as do the current editions of the extremely vulnerable folks being warehoused simply because they have no other realistic options available to them, being at the bottom of the social and economic strata looking up does not make for bright futures for the youngest, the most unsuspecting participants of the best “safety nets” that the entire world has to offer.

At this point in my life, I care not why the multitudes of single mothers ended up being relegated to the American gulags, as most of them have made their own beds, so to speak: They are under-educated, they threw their legs open all too often, they trusted the wrong prince charming or they are physically unable to seek gainful employment. As a matter of fact, I think I just described my mother as well as anyone could.

What I do care about are those smiling young faces, those exuberant young souls filled with life that have probably been dealt the worse hand that fate could have shuffled out…namely, the kids.

I do a freaking ton of work in public housing projects simply because slab-on-grade construction equals termite activity. And every time I spend an entire day in any of these many government-subsidized warehouses, I find myself blowing off the vacuous concerns of the entitlement-numbed adults, while inviting the kids to have their bicycles repaired or at least tuned-up.

Thing is, when a welfare mom buys her kid the best bicycle that Wal-Mart has to offer (which they all do), just as soon as a tube goes flat, that new bicycle is usually parked on the 4-foot-wide back slab of a patio never to roll again. And surely--over time--to be riddled with debilitating, often fatal rust.

For the most part, moms do not repair flats. Moms are not usually good with tools. And most of the moms dominating the public housing landscape have no tools to speak of. They lack cans of WD-40. No adjustable wrenches. No expertise.

A couple of weeks ago while at that aforementioned site, I happened upon a little boy who’s face was marred by asphalt as he had rolled his new bike back-over-front. This kid had wrecked as bad as anyone could possibly wreck. His front brake caliper was bent out of shape, his handle bars were loose and drooping and his front tire was way, way out of true. Still, though, there he was trying to ride the thing best he could. Tough, little prick. Admirable.

So when I engaged the kid and told him I could quickly fix all that ailed his most prized possession, he was all ears and then his bike was mine to do with as I wished. Needless to say, I had that set of wheels back to 98% of what it was when it was rolled out of the big box store in no time, and I had me a new vertically-challenged friend. And before long, his comrades in poverty were lining their bikes up before me.

Today, I was playing the same game, only at a different location. Termites. Single moms. And little kids as far as the four eyes could see. And as per usual, there were kids riding bikes that would be best described as being in need of serious repair, serious adjustment or a decent burial.

A little girl wanted her handle bars raised. And her older brother bragged about how his bike was the sh*t. And the part of me that recalls what it was like, what it was like to depend on the goodness of the church, the surplus government cheese or the never-ending kindness of others had me looking to hook up with her for the remainder of the afternoon.

So when the tasks at hand were completed, when the last of the data was entered and uploaded, when it was time to roll, my head cocked back-and-forth as I searched the barren landscape for that little girl. Sadly (at least for me), she was nowhere to be found. I fired-up the F-250 and I rolled.

My point (as if I have one)?

The fast-expanding Fedrule Govmint can supply food, housing, medical care and “free” laptops to the poorest of America’s children. But what the great majority of the poorest of America’s children need is a father. Or at the very least, a caring father figure.

Moms, even the poorest of the moms, do what they can do. And us guys, we do what we can do. And no matter what any of that adds up to at the end of the day, kids desperately need the input and help of both of our conflicted camps.

Anyway, I’ve somehow become a mobile bicycle repair shop personified. And if that’s all I’ll ever have to offer to the growing numbers of kids that replaced the long-ago kids like me in the public housing projects, I’ll have to conclude that I’ve done next to nothing to help end what once put the world’s largest chip on my shoulders.

In conclusion, I’m fully capable and fully cognizant, but I’m simply not doing enough.

And I’m going to find a way to reverse that trend.

Any ideas? Anybody want in?

Anybody?

Later

Stuff

I ain't had much time for this electronic tomfoolery of late. Truth be told, I ain't had much need for it, either. Too much idiocy of late.

For instance, we have this oft-spewed refrain wherein we cannot and dare not cut the size of government. Yeah, why don't we go with that one? Why not call those credit rating agencies and see what they think of that complete lack of fortitude?

Whatever. Let's just keep growing the size of government, so we can all say where we were during that seminal moment when the United States finally melted down. 

I see our clueless president is out on a "listening tour" of the flat states. And get this, he's promising to focus on job creation. That is, he's promising to focus on job creation for the umpteenth time.

Hey, how about we send another trillion we do not have to unions, teachers and wind farm manufacturers like we did the last time? That worked out pretty good, didn't it?

Jobs? You won't see jobs created in any appreciable numbers until the walking, talking uncertainty that is the president is sent packing.

Way too little, way too late.

I have a couple of problems with this Old River Road Bakery debacle.

First of all, how was that fast-failing property assessed at $438,000 in the first place? It's not worth anywhere near that figure. And as a result, I imagine the back taxes supposedly owed on the long-defunct property are highly debatable.

Warning: Imminent roof collapse

Here's another one: The folks that are suing the city over the property being offered to Leo Glodzik.

The way I read it in the newspapers, they wanted the bakery property to make their yard larger? Uh, man, that'd be one monster of a yard, wouldn't it?

Or, if they snagged the property, would they seek to subdivide it, make their yard bigger and then try to sell what remains of the largish parcel? And if that's the case, how long before the site becomes totally beyond repair? Um, not long. I dunno.

And what's up with all of the city activists forwarding practically every document to practically every policing and regulatory agency this side of State College?

Sure, it's obvious that the Leighton witch hunt is in full swing. But after every document FOIAed out of City Hall thrown against the wall to see if they stick slide to the floor, this is going to be known as the City that cried wolf over and over again.

The state's attorney general? Really? Over some trumped-up voting precinct violation? Can Tom Leighton and Jim Haggarty share the same cell block?

A Web site claiming that nonexistent credit card receipts are proof of corruption?

Oh, and the publicly alleged "kickbacks" associated with the towing contract? Sorry there, activist moonbeams, but somebody is going to get their ass sued over that one. And relatively soon.

So I ask again? Do we really want to put these people in charge? The folks bereft of both knowledge and facts? I sure hope not.

My fantasy football draft takes place this coming Sunday. This season, I am the new league commissioner. And for that reason I will be here if and when I feel like it.

Before I go, I want to point something out to the mentally incontinent folks who commented on this site of late.

I've had four jobs during my life. And at the time, I considered all of them to be of the well-paying variety, as well as providing me with very good benefit packages. Some good, some excellent.

The thing is, during all four of these stints, I was employed by either rich people or big corporations.

Now, assuming most people are like me and want to have a career rather than a job, poorer folks, Democrats and Baroke Oblahblah cannot provide you with a career, a lucrative salary or great benefits. Nope, that's where the evil rich come in.

Then again, perhaps too many people like being on unemployment, being on public assistance, being a government employee, or being a member of a collective-bargaining unit. And if that's the case, then they'll continue to demonize the wealthy while praising the overly generous government teat. Right up until the point when the entire house of cards comes crashing down.

Later

Amazed, I am

Some time ago, I heard a certain judge’s home referred to as a palatial estate.

And while I imagine that comment was borne of jealousy to some degree, I was actually in that home a while back. My visit was of the professional courtesy variety, the details of which will not be listed here.

While too many of us call those sorts of large homes ‘McMansions’ out of wishful thinking, I’ve always thought of them as gussied-up cookie cutter homes. Sure, they’re bigger and they’re prettier, but in most cases they’re built just as haphazardly as the much smaller, more modest homes. Yeah, you can put plenty of lipstick on ‘em. But structural elements is structural elements. And if they’re not constructed or connected just right…

Hence, the courtesy visit.

Now, if I had to describe the contents of that home and the nearby toys, accouterments and vehicles, I’d call them the very best that money could buy.

So when the big sentence came down on WILK yesterday--28 years--my very first thought was, Dude, what did you do?

To be set, to have the very best of everything, to be basically employed for life, to have the power and the respect and the salary and the pension and the best of the trimmings only to end up on the receiving end of 28 years behind bars makes complete sophistry of reason.

Over the past few days I’ve heard words such as greed, evil and unstable bandied all about. And while you got me on all of that conjecture, I cannot feature how one risks it all, how one goes from set for life to serving life.

Make no mistake, I feel no pity for the guy.

But I am truly amazed.

Later

Wifey: The dunce has got to go

Not many of you have met my better half...Wifey.

Back in the day, when I first started posting on the Internet by way of HTML and Javascript, she thought I was beyond nuts to get involved in the way I did. And there were those many times when the expected political blow back brought with it hand-to-hand shouting, cursing and chest-bumping, so she bitched at me for setting out on my heretofore unheard of entry into local politics.

But over the years, not only did she start paying more attention to local, state and national politics and the mostly detrimental effects they have on our lives, she also started becoming more vocal when we were all alone. I never made mention of it. I pretended not to notice.

So, earlier today, as I was reading the following article on the pretend president, for a second there, I thought Wifey's words had been plagiarized.

The stunning decline of Barack Obama 2011 edition: 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency continues to melt down

This here excerpt is almost a verbatim rant of her's of late...

6. The Obama presidency looks increasingly out of touch with the American people

There is a disturbing let them eat cake mentality projected by the Obama White House, whether the president is advocating higher taxes in the face of a possible double dip recession, or hosting elaborate parties while 45 million Americans depend on food stamps. No US presidency in modern times has been more elitist or out of touch than the present one, which exudes the kind of condescending left-wing snobbery that is normally the preserve of an ivory tower common room. President Obama looks increasingly aloof and out of sync with the American people, three quarters of whom now believe the country is heading down the wrong track – including a staggering 58 percent of Democrats, according to Rasmussen.

Yep, that's what she always says when she reads of his latest policy failings and his increasingly petulant outbursts coupled with his latest lavish taxpayer-provided party...let them eat cake. In Wifey's more tuned-in mind, Baroke and his phony nutritional-menu-planner of a wife are party animals first, and bit-lip pretenders when they're not busy partying. Hard to argue with.

 

My point is this. When the normally apolitical and apathetic start getting all aroused and pissed off to the point of wishing Air Force One a catastrophic failure, you know the dunce in charge is motivating people. Only, he's motivating the people that will prove to be his political undoing.

 

If things keep going like this, for the very first time throughout her entire life, I can see Wifey registering to vote before next November. And if you could get her involved in the political process, that's really saying something. For me, that's mind-blowing.

For what it's worth, there you have it: Wifey says the dunce has got to go.

And it would be foolhardy to argue with her while she's stewing from a position of factual strength. She's a Polish tomboy, so do so at your own risk.

Later

Citizens against Leighton

Since one of our two local newspapers decided to introduce (publish) this abject idiocy on steroids to the technologically-ignorant segment of the general public, I will happily weigh in.

Facebook? A revolution by way of Facebook? Entirely possible, I imagine. But not when the self-impressed revolutionaries frighten the populace more than do the entrenched powers-that-be.

Citizens against 3rd term for Tom Leighton WB

The current mayor of Wilkes-Barre Tom Leighton is seeking a 3rd term and I would love to see people come together and STOP HIM. He did nothing but take all the projects the McGroarty started and put them into the city HOWEVER at the cost of huge debt. Also let's take into effect what he has done to the poor firefighters. Don't forget those firefighters come whether it is a car accident, fire, medical emergency. You don't see WBPD doing that, the police are just a waste of city space to be honost. Oh by the way what Leighton didn't tell you about all that money is the city got most of it back in TAXES. Yeppers that right they got off w/ a lot of money in taxes from those firefighters. For example somebody who received $4500 only got $2000 after all the taxes. Let's stop him and give somebody who is way better. He says he put cops on the road but those cops are good for nothing. Go ahead call them for an emergency and they don't want to do the report or call you a liar. So let's stand up and say NO MORE LEIGHTON!!

Literacy aside, that intro to the so-called revolution is decidedly familial. As in, since the author from out of town has family members donning turnout gear here in the city, the fire department can, in her eyes, do no wrong. No biggie.

Insincere and misleading as it may be, it’s the standard operating procedure of the ragtag alliance of the utterly clueless opposition to the sitting mayor.

The much more disturbing problem is the fact that a mayoral challenger that just happens to be married to a Wilkes-Barre police officer in good standing would be a willing party to an Internet bashing of the W-BPD, and that she would be a willing participant on this Web site that includes the virtual trashing of the outfit she herself has tried to become a member of.

And I quote: “ He says he put cops on the road but those cops are good for nothing.”

And then we have the participation of the Crime Watch honcho, who seems to think that crime would be a thing of the lawless past---a fleeting memory--if we would just divorce ourselves from reality, economics and demographics and put her and hers in charge.

After laughing out loud at the aforementioned Facebook site, I think the worn-out template goes something like this…

The Mayor doesn’t care about crime. The Chief of Police can’t concern himself with crime. And the police? According to the self-aggrandizing Viet Dork alliance, our police officers “don't want to do the report or call you a liar.”

So says Wilkes-Barre’s unaccountable and self-appointed “top cop,” a tacit admission judging by her willing participation on the Facebook site, and of those who are buying into the laughable, self-promoting spiel.

Now, I fully realize that some of the residents of this city are not big fans of Mayor Tom Leighton. And that’s fine with me. But while the entire world around us goes financially belly-up, and the lay-offs of public sector employees--many of which are and were first responders--Wilkes-Barre remains financially solvent and stable.

So, my question to you is, do you really want to put these sorts of people in charge?

If Mayor Tom Leighton truly is pretty near as bad as it can get, do we really want to go with worse and still worse yet? Do we really, really want the local equivalent of what the easily-led G.W. Bush-haters inflicted upon us...Obama?

Methinks not.

Buh-bye

See you at the thrift store

I think the folks at Standard & Poor’s kind of sealed Baroke Oblahblah’s fate as a one-term charlatan.

It’s always Groundhog Day with this guy, as he’s always going on and on about growing jobs. But during his disastrous three-year run, he’s managed to grow the size of government and nothing else. To be blunt, his economic policies are the antithesis of pro-growth. Worse yet, he seems to think that regressive taxation and suffocating regulations are what spur economic activity.

Yearly deficits in the trillions, massive bailouts, misdirected stimuli, exploding regulations on businesses large and small, the expensive uncertainty that is his divined and roundly unpopular health care plan and the wrong-headed belief that an interventionist government will pick the economic winners and losers have--within the blink of an eye--reduced this country to an economic basket case.

Two years ago, the Fedrule debt held by the you and I was less than $6 trillion, or about 40% of GDP. At the end of 2010, the debt was roughly $9 trillion, or 62% of GDP. And now, with the deficit ceiling having been raised to $16.5 trillion, the still soaring debt has now approached 100% of GDP.

He has failed. He is a failure. And he has failed every American.

Our descendants are going to look back on this still unraveling period of time as America’s lost decade. Perhaps, lost decades.

He can point his annoying finger of blame at all of the usual targets; Bush, Republicans and the Tea Party. Yeah, he can continue on with his petulant lecturing, chastising, berating and belittling of those of us who know him to be as utterly clueless as they come, but he might want to consider updating that blank page that is his resume.

Soon enough, it'll be time for him to eat his peas (while we can still afford them).

And with that, where once we donated goods to the Salvation Army, we might soon be doing the bulk of our shopping there.

I'll see you at the thrift store. 

Later

Old EPA vs new EPA?

From Pro Publica...

Does an Old EPA Fracking Study Provide Proof of Contamination?

But the language found in the EPA report made public Wednesday is the strongest articulation yet by federal officials that there is a direct causal connection between man-made fissures thousands of feet underground and contaminants found in well water gone bad. The explanation, presented in the EPA's own words, stands in stark contrast to recent statements made by EPA officials that they could not document a proven case of contamination and a 2004 EPA report [4] that concluded that fracturing was safe.

"This is our leading regulatory agency coming to the conclusion that hydraulic fracturing can and did contaminate underground sources of drinking water, which contradicts what industry has been saying for years," said Dusty Horwitt, EWG's senior counsel and the lead researcher on the report.

Naw. Ain't true.

Fracking is natural and wholesome and clean.

It has much in common with yet another political powder keg involving sticking things where they ought not be stuck.

Later

Sen. John Kerry on targeted censorship

Holy smoke!

Now we know where the factually-threadbare, left-leaning hoi polloi get it from. Apparently, it, mental incontinence, is communicable.

And I have to tell you, I say this to you politely. The media in America has a bigger responsibility than it's exercising today. The media has got to begin to not give equal time or equal balance to an absolutely absurd notion just because somebody asserts it or simply because somebody says something which everybody knows is not factual.

It doesn't deserve the same credit as a legitimate idea about what you do. And the problem is everything is put into this tit-for-tat equal battle and America is losing any sense of what's real, of who's accountable, of who is not accountable, of who's real, who isn't, who's serious, who isn't?

Uh, thank you, Senator. Thanks for that ill-conceived, ill-advised sophistry. Thanks for that.

The one side wants the other side muted by request. Yeah. We gotcha.

Jesus! Talk about being a deluded nincompoop!

Interestingly enough, this particular nincompoop appeared to be presidential to those hoping to further fleece our wallets and the now sacked treasury.

Later

Eat more peas

Clueless is...

It's been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. But the thing that we all ought to remember is that as much good as we have done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we we were inheriting so many challenges, that we're not even halfway there yet. When I said "change we can believe in" I didn't say "change we can believe in tomorrow." Not "change we can believe in next week." We knew this was going to take time because we've got this big, messy, tough democracy.

...as clueless does.

Translation: not his fault.

Thank you, one-term wonder, destroyer of prosperity.

Remember...water, food and ammo.

Later

Coal Miner's stamp

Not long after I started scribbling here in the electronic ether, um, almost 12 years ago, I was electronically approached by a woman, Rhea Malone, who was pushing for the USPS to issue a stamp honoring the boys and men who lived our coal mining legacy.

And all these years later, thanks in part to Rep. Ed Pashinski, the subtle pushing continues...

Sign the Petition for a Coal Miner's Postage Stamp

Give it some consideration.

Later

***In order to achieve our goal to memorialize the human spirit of our American Miners, we need you to spread the word to as many people as possible. The support is growing, and with your help we can make this stamp a reality.

Please encourage others to visit our Facebook page and sign the petition.

 Thank you so much for your support on this worthwhile effort.

 Sincerely,
 Rep. Eddie Pashinski

27-A East Wing

PO Box 202121

Harrisburg, PA 17120-2121

(717) 783-0686

(717) 772-2284

1 World Trade Center tour

It now stands at 70 stories and is growing fast, adding one floor a week on it's way to 1776 feet.

From the Gothamist: Exclusive: World Trade Center Progress Tour

Includes plenty of pictures.

Later

Reading assignment

This is a must-read...

Getting Bin Laden: What happened that night in Abbottabad.

By Nicholas Schmidle from New Yorker Magazine

G'nite

From the desk of Congressman Barletta

August 1, 2011

After careful consideration, I decided to vote for the Budget Control Act of 2011.

This is not a perfect plan, by any stretch. But I cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

This deal not only averts financial disaster, but it also cuts trillions of dollars in federal overspending. It includes serious spending controls, and it includes guaranteed votes on a balanced budget amendment. These are things that would never have happened without the massive wave that we saw last fall.

More than that, we’ve changed the culture of Washington. If you think back to the president’s state of the union speech, he proposed a five-year spending freeze. Today, we’re trimming the federal budget by trillions of dollars. And these spending controls are made without jeopardizing Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, and veterans’ benefits.

This vote was so important that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in a brutal attack in January, came to Washington to cast her vote. I was proud to vote with her on this historic issue.

This is what I like most about the deal:

1. There are more than dollar-for-dollar spending cuts vs. the debt limit increase

2. It establishes discretionary spending limits for fiscal years 2012 through 2021 and provides for automatic reductions in discretionary spending (sequestration) if annual spending limits are breached

3. There will be votes in the House and Senate on a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

4. There are no tax increases in the deal

I know that for some, this bill doesn’t move far enough, fast enough. But Washington has overspent for generations, and we cannot change Washington’s direction overnight. I am going to continue to seek additional spending controls so we get to reduce our debt, restore global trust in the American economy, and create stability so business owners can create jobs.”

Very truly yours,

Lou Barletta

And then there were 3 (mayoral hopefuls)

Libertarian Betsy Summers announced on WILK’s Sue Henry Show earlier today that she intends to run for the position of mayor here in Wilkes-Barre.

She had a lot to say when asked what she would do if elected mayor, most of which you’ve probably heard before from previous challengers to Mayor Tom Leighton.

But she did say she would cancel her own taxpayer-provided retirement benefits she would not yet be entitled to. And she went on to say that she would push our City Council to also reject retirement benefits for what she called “part-time employment.” On that point, I couldn’t agree more.

I have no problem with the overly generous salaries our council folk draw. But drawing retirement benefits after holding twenty years worth of council meetings? Sorry, but that’s a rip-off.

Anyway, I seriously doubt that Betsy could pull it all off, but I did want to say in public that our council folk, past, present and future, do not deserve to be showered with retirement benefits on the public’s dime. Not for what they do.

Here’s a couple of excerpts from her announcement this morning…

She said she intends “…to change he whole feeling in the City of Wilkes-Barre.”

She said the city is suffering from “…years and years and years of bad leadership.”

As for her chances, she said, “If the people listen to my ideas, if they like them, they will vote for me.”

I’ve never actually met her, Betsy. But she's always come off as really, really likeable and entirely genuine on the radio.

As for her budding mayoral candidacy, I think she’ll do little more than siphon votes away from Lisa Cope, the Republican challenger to the incumbent mayor.

 

Later