From the December 11 version of the Citizen’s Voice:
WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban and Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla voted Thursday to introduce a $127.2 million budget with an 18.5 percent tax hike.
But both commissioners said revenue and cost totals in the preliminary budget, along with the proposed tax rate of 5.3715 mills, would likely change when commissioners adopt a final budget on Dec. 30.
"I'm going to vote to put the budget on the table, but I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not going to vote on this tax increase," Mr. Urban said. "And I'll vote to shut this place down on Dec. 30, if we don't have a budget that makes sense to me and we don't have the spending cuts that I believe are necessary to move this county forward. … I am asking the unions to come forward and cooperate with us, not file grievances, and cooperate with us, as much as you can, to help lower costs."
Yeah, this is where the proposed budget becomes a work of fiction. As a cost-cutting measure, it has been proposed that county employees be furloughed in lieu of pay for a number of days that have yet to be determined. Unionized employees, very many of these would be.
And if we know anything about unions, we know that they’d watch their employers go bankrupt before agreeing to any significant concessions. And this is especially true of public sector unionized employees, who seem to view their employers--the taxpayers--as a bottomless source of revenue.
Actually, when you include teachers, the argument can easily be made that unionized public sector employees are bankrupting municipalities, small, large and otherwise. And to argue against that fact is proof of one’s union membership.
So if the unionized county employees will not go along with the proposed furlough plan, then the 2010 budget is in even rougher shape than previously envisioned. And as the upcoming tax hike hovers somewhere between 8 and 18 percent as the jawboning between the commissioners continues, the smart money goes on 18 percent, if not higher.
Commissioner Greg Skrep-enak [sic] on Thursday voted against the introduction of a budget. Mr. Skrepenak doesn't want to eliminate any county jobs and said he changed his mind Thursday about supporting a tax increase.
Management 101...follow me here Gregypoo: As revenues dip, so must the expenses dip. And since salaries, benefits and perks (legal or otherwise) constitute the great majority of the budget, guess where you should start when austerity comes a callin’?
Unbelieveable!!!
Another issue is the row officers objecting to further budgetary constraints. A budget is only as good as the people implementing it. And if the row officers do not stay within their budgetary guidelines, if they overspend, what can the commissioners do about it? Uh, nothing?
Anyway, say it with me here folks…Unionized government employees equals increased debt.
That wasn’t so hard, was it?
In other news…
Deputy Controller A.J. Martinelli will not be back in January when Walter Griffith is sworn in as the new controller. Martinelli will be replaced by Kingston accountant Frank Pinaccoli Jr.
And controller-elect Walter Griffith has also added a new solicitor, Thomas J. Mosca, Esquire, of MOSCA LAW OFFICES, Kingston.
And with $466 million in outstanding debts, with $28 million in debt service payments due in 2010, and with the corruption scandal still swirling all about, we need the controller’s office to be on it’s game as we trudge on forward.
Or is it, crawl?
Later
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Ambrose was right
“We will not passively experience change. We will make change. But to shape our future, we need a new vision of government.”--Governor Pete Wilson
After reading that quote, you’re probably expecting a rant against Obama, Kanjorski or any one of those other buffoons currently spending this country into insignificance. Sorry, but that rant is not forthcoming. Not today, that is.
No, interestingly enough, that quote appears on the front page of a Christine Katsock for Mayor flier I hold in these nicotine-stained fingers. Here’s another quote from that same flier, “We will not suffer the future. We will shape it.”
Well, after her recent vote to retain a school board president under federal indictment, I’d say her very first attempt at shaping the future has the voters around here suffering through some buyer’s remorse. And she hasn’t even warmed her seat yet.
Oh-for-one, girl.
Vision, Christine? Vision? I’d say that vision of yours closely resembles the status quo. Go along to get along. Don’t make any waves. The establishment needs you, and now you need it.
The ‘ayes’ have it, and the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board is in the running for being named the new laughing stock in a county riddled with and managed by way of congenital dishonesty. Because, to pretend that the indicted should be leading the way is to make sophistry of honesty.
From Gort42.blogspot.com:
She had no comment when asked to explain her vote for Pizzella but it's not hard to figure out if you look at her Campaign Finance Report. Frank Pizzella was her top cash contributor pitching in $3000. She also got $1800 as a in-kind contribution from the Friends of Frank Pizzella. Other notable contributions came from engineer Michael Pasonick who does business with just about every government agency in Luzerne County and has been implicated in the ongoing corruption scandal.
Outstanding bit of research there, Gort. You are born again hard, my man. When next we get together and pray at the nozzle of the yellow sudsies, I'm buying.
(Editor's note: Aren't bloggers just a total pain in the ass?)
So, is she our very first ‘good old chick?’
In the 11th Congressional District:
Okay. Corey O’Brien is in. Lou Barletta is in. Some bomb-throwing, yet heretofore unknown republican is in. And hopefully, one way or another, Congressman Kanjorski, who is to likeability, ethics and legislative prowess what hemorrhoids are to great, great fun, is out. Hopefully.
Or has he gotten ‘too big to fail?’
I meant to respond to the following, but I simply forgot to. Better late than never, I suppose.
bethany said...
What was Ambrose Meletsky like? What were his views/ political leanings?
I am curious.
December 3, 2009 9:41 AM
I first met Ambrose at a city council meeting and I was amazed by his level of passion and energy, if not, the unmistakable fact that he was outraged by the then actions of our city government. I also saw him in action at a county commissioner meeting, as well as the very first informational get-together for the first go-round with the home rule experiment.
I got the impression that he didn't like me. Although, when first I started writing about Wilkes-Barre's impending ruination, I used to get that a lot. For the most part, nobody in these parts had ever been exposed to what would later be called a political blog. And no one had ever seen it done on such a close up and personal basis. Basically, nobody seemed to know what to make of me and my earliest efforts that began in December of 2000. Hence, the chases through the streets, the cursing, the chest bumps, the middle fingers, the attempts at intimidation and what have you.
I believe he was already in his early 80s, and I used to think about how high his blood pressure must have been spiking. To say he was upset, to say he was full of fire, to say he took the inactions of our elected and appointed leaders personally would be a gross understatement.
But there was one thing, one constant, that always set him apart from the others that would stand before the elected bodies and let them have it with their fiery diatribes. The thing was, he always knew what he was talking about. The guy paid close attention to the goings-on, and he did his necessary homework and fact-checking as well. He was right.
He was informed and then some, he was always passionate, but most of all, the guy was absolutely fearless. And if you cared at all about your community at that time, you had to see him as inspirational. I know I did.
As far as his political leanings are concerned, I don’t remember him wearing any on his sleeve, except for the obvious, that Luzerne County needed a robust second political party. Mostly, all I can remember was his utter disdain for the elected and appointed in this county, most of whom are either gone or now indicted, or yet to be indicted.
At this point, with the corruption scandal still in overdrive and with the finish line still well out of sight, they should mount a plaque in the courthouse that reads, ‘Ambrose was right.’
Here, here.
One another thing about Ambrose, he didn’t attend the city or county meetings to glean information, he went to those meetings armed with information. A lesson not lost on myself.
Funny, over the years, many a person has asked me how I could know about everything that was afoot at City Hall without ever attending city council meetings, or ever setting foot in City Hall for that matter.
How? By doing what he did, by seeking out the vital information long before any confrontations were necessary. Arm yourself with the facts and numbers and then have it, be it attending meetings, writing letters to the editors, calling talk radio or making incessant noise on the internet.
Before you go to wherever it is you’re going to, arm yourself with the facts. And while some of us have gone there in spite of our fears of retribution and whatnot, never did I detect any trepidation on Ambrose’s part. Another lesson not lost on your annoying author.
I hope that helps.
It’s Sunday, and I’ve got to show my usual reverence to NFL football.
How 'bout them Steelers!?!
Gotta go.
Later
After reading that quote, you’re probably expecting a rant against Obama, Kanjorski or any one of those other buffoons currently spending this country into insignificance. Sorry, but that rant is not forthcoming. Not today, that is.
No, interestingly enough, that quote appears on the front page of a Christine Katsock for Mayor flier I hold in these nicotine-stained fingers. Here’s another quote from that same flier, “We will not suffer the future. We will shape it.”
Well, after her recent vote to retain a school board president under federal indictment, I’d say her very first attempt at shaping the future has the voters around here suffering through some buyer’s remorse. And she hasn’t even warmed her seat yet.
Oh-for-one, girl.
Vision, Christine? Vision? I’d say that vision of yours closely resembles the status quo. Go along to get along. Don’t make any waves. The establishment needs you, and now you need it.
The ‘ayes’ have it, and the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board is in the running for being named the new laughing stock in a county riddled with and managed by way of congenital dishonesty. Because, to pretend that the indicted should be leading the way is to make sophistry of honesty.
From Gort42.blogspot.com:
She had no comment when asked to explain her vote for Pizzella but it's not hard to figure out if you look at her Campaign Finance Report. Frank Pizzella was her top cash contributor pitching in $3000. She also got $1800 as a in-kind contribution from the Friends of Frank Pizzella. Other notable contributions came from engineer Michael Pasonick who does business with just about every government agency in Luzerne County and has been implicated in the ongoing corruption scandal.
Outstanding bit of research there, Gort. You are born again hard, my man. When next we get together and pray at the nozzle of the yellow sudsies, I'm buying.
(Editor's note: Aren't bloggers just a total pain in the ass?)
So, is she our very first ‘good old chick?’
In the 11th Congressional District:
Okay. Corey O’Brien is in. Lou Barletta is in. Some bomb-throwing, yet heretofore unknown republican is in. And hopefully, one way or another, Congressman Kanjorski, who is to likeability, ethics and legislative prowess what hemorrhoids are to great, great fun, is out. Hopefully.
Or has he gotten ‘too big to fail?’
I meant to respond to the following, but I simply forgot to. Better late than never, I suppose.
bethany said...
What was Ambrose Meletsky like? What were his views/ political leanings?
I am curious.
December 3, 2009 9:41 AM
I first met Ambrose at a city council meeting and I was amazed by his level of passion and energy, if not, the unmistakable fact that he was outraged by the then actions of our city government. I also saw him in action at a county commissioner meeting, as well as the very first informational get-together for the first go-round with the home rule experiment.
I got the impression that he didn't like me. Although, when first I started writing about Wilkes-Barre's impending ruination, I used to get that a lot. For the most part, nobody in these parts had ever been exposed to what would later be called a political blog. And no one had ever seen it done on such a close up and personal basis. Basically, nobody seemed to know what to make of me and my earliest efforts that began in December of 2000. Hence, the chases through the streets, the cursing, the chest bumps, the middle fingers, the attempts at intimidation and what have you.
I believe he was already in his early 80s, and I used to think about how high his blood pressure must have been spiking. To say he was upset, to say he was full of fire, to say he took the inactions of our elected and appointed leaders personally would be a gross understatement.
But there was one thing, one constant, that always set him apart from the others that would stand before the elected bodies and let them have it with their fiery diatribes. The thing was, he always knew what he was talking about. The guy paid close attention to the goings-on, and he did his necessary homework and fact-checking as well. He was right.
He was informed and then some, he was always passionate, but most of all, the guy was absolutely fearless. And if you cared at all about your community at that time, you had to see him as inspirational. I know I did.
As far as his political leanings are concerned, I don’t remember him wearing any on his sleeve, except for the obvious, that Luzerne County needed a robust second political party. Mostly, all I can remember was his utter disdain for the elected and appointed in this county, most of whom are either gone or now indicted, or yet to be indicted.
At this point, with the corruption scandal still in overdrive and with the finish line still well out of sight, they should mount a plaque in the courthouse that reads, ‘Ambrose was right.’
Here, here.
One another thing about Ambrose, he didn’t attend the city or county meetings to glean information, he went to those meetings armed with information. A lesson not lost on myself.
Funny, over the years, many a person has asked me how I could know about everything that was afoot at City Hall without ever attending city council meetings, or ever setting foot in City Hall for that matter.
How? By doing what he did, by seeking out the vital information long before any confrontations were necessary. Arm yourself with the facts and numbers and then have it, be it attending meetings, writing letters to the editors, calling talk radio or making incessant noise on the internet.
Before you go to wherever it is you’re going to, arm yourself with the facts. And while some of us have gone there in spite of our fears of retribution and whatnot, never did I detect any trepidation on Ambrose’s part. Another lesson not lost on your annoying author.
I hope that helps.
It’s Sunday, and I’ve got to show my usual reverence to NFL football.
How 'bout them Steelers!?!
Gotta go.
Later
Monday, December 7, 2009
Back in the saddle
I used to visit this site --W-B Political Scene-- quite a bit, simply because when first it was anonymously launched, it was pretty much devoted to bashing me. Post after post after post consisted of Markie bashing and little else. And I used to get a big kick out of it.
Needless to say, it was lame. Imagine that. A blog about another blog. Make any sense?
Anyway, I was checking out some of these long-forgotten electronic locales that are still listed at NEPA Blogs.blogspot.com, and I found this pearl, this brilliant piece of insightful political punditry.
NOT!!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Doug Richards and His Wife are a Powerhouse In Luzerne County Politics!
Many people are commenting on the new powerhouse, Human Resources Director at the Luzerne County Courthouse, Doug Richards. It is clear that Doug is on the ascent at the Luzerne County Courthouse and the sky is the limit as to his ambitions and potential. One thing for sure Doug Richards knows what he is talking about and the Luzerne County Commissioners recognize Doug as a definite asset.
While Doug is busy making things happen at the Luzerne County Courthouse his wife is an equally powerful force at the Luzerne County Community College. Taking the Community College by storm Doug Richard's wife is a dynamic personality who is without a doubt helpful to the college administration including President Tom Leary.
Look for this power couple to be around for a long time do excellent work to assist the Luzerne County Commissioners as well as the administration and President of the Luzerne County Community College, Tom Leary.
posted by Colonel Klink at 7:38 PM
Geez. Was that embarrassing, or what? Open prehensile mouth, insert engorged...
From The Hazleton Standard Speaker:
WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County commissioners on Wednesday officially approved last week's decision to fire Doug Richards as director of human resources.
The vote was 3-0. Richards stopped working for the county Nov. 18 after refusing to talk to Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla about his intention to resign Dec. 4 and his role with a personnel contract being investigated by federal authorities.
County solicitor Vito DeLuca has determined that Richards generated a contract on his work computer in 2007 to make it look like it came from Continental Consultants Group Inc., a company from New York City paid $807,770 by the county in 2007 and 2008. On April 30, 2007, Richards directed county Work Investment Development Agency Director Richard Ammon to sign Continental contract, which was never approved by county commissioners and is being investigated by federal authorities.
What an effing clueless jackass, man! A real non-brainiac.
Perhaps Colonel Klink (he/she/it) should have stuck with the Markie bashing routine from the relative safety of anonymity. Putz.
Fantasy Football update
I finished 8-5 after winning 6 of my last 7 games. Oh, and I missed out on the wild card spot thanks to a tiebreaker. No playoffs for this dull boy.
Still and all, it’s a ton of fun.
With that behind me, I should be posting here more often. So, I’m thinking that Colonel Klink should get back to basics since I’ll be giving him plenty to criticize from here on out. Putz.
Hey, I know you Obama supporters are probably unwilling to admit to your giant mistake. But let’s be honest, shall we?
Aren’t Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi just about the biggest assholes to ever have been put in charge of anything more grandiose than a Little League refreshment stand? These two are both mentally incontinent, name-calling goons.
Now, admit it.
Peace is still going hot-and-heavy with the genealogy bit. And the latest tidbit she unearthed is that my grandfather did the film work on a 1944 movie titled “Home in Indiana,” which was nominated for Academy awards for both best color, and best cinematography.
Needless to say, I’ll be looking to purchase a copy of that movie, like, soon.
I found this post at Political Rants to be an interesting insiders look at the recent comments from Carolee Medico-Olenginski that bad-mouthed the suddenly resurgent GOP in this county.
Can you bite the hand that doesn’t feed you?
Later
Needless to say, it was lame. Imagine that. A blog about another blog. Make any sense?
Anyway, I was checking out some of these long-forgotten electronic locales that are still listed at NEPA Blogs.blogspot.com, and I found this pearl, this brilliant piece of insightful political punditry.
NOT!!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Doug Richards and His Wife are a Powerhouse In Luzerne County Politics!
Many people are commenting on the new powerhouse, Human Resources Director at the Luzerne County Courthouse, Doug Richards. It is clear that Doug is on the ascent at the Luzerne County Courthouse and the sky is the limit as to his ambitions and potential. One thing for sure Doug Richards knows what he is talking about and the Luzerne County Commissioners recognize Doug as a definite asset.
While Doug is busy making things happen at the Luzerne County Courthouse his wife is an equally powerful force at the Luzerne County Community College. Taking the Community College by storm Doug Richard's wife is a dynamic personality who is without a doubt helpful to the college administration including President Tom Leary.
Look for this power couple to be around for a long time do excellent work to assist the Luzerne County Commissioners as well as the administration and President of the Luzerne County Community College, Tom Leary.
posted by Colonel Klink at 7:38 PM
Geez. Was that embarrassing, or what? Open prehensile mouth, insert engorged...
From The Hazleton Standard Speaker:
WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County commissioners on Wednesday officially approved last week's decision to fire Doug Richards as director of human resources.
The vote was 3-0. Richards stopped working for the county Nov. 18 after refusing to talk to Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla about his intention to resign Dec. 4 and his role with a personnel contract being investigated by federal authorities.
County solicitor Vito DeLuca has determined that Richards generated a contract on his work computer in 2007 to make it look like it came from Continental Consultants Group Inc., a company from New York City paid $807,770 by the county in 2007 and 2008. On April 30, 2007, Richards directed county Work Investment Development Agency Director Richard Ammon to sign Continental contract, which was never approved by county commissioners and is being investigated by federal authorities.
What an effing clueless jackass, man! A real non-brainiac.
Perhaps Colonel Klink (he/she/it) should have stuck with the Markie bashing routine from the relative safety of anonymity. Putz.
Fantasy Football update
I finished 8-5 after winning 6 of my last 7 games. Oh, and I missed out on the wild card spot thanks to a tiebreaker. No playoffs for this dull boy.
Still and all, it’s a ton of fun.
With that behind me, I should be posting here more often. So, I’m thinking that Colonel Klink should get back to basics since I’ll be giving him plenty to criticize from here on out. Putz.
Hey, I know you Obama supporters are probably unwilling to admit to your giant mistake. But let’s be honest, shall we?
Aren’t Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi just about the biggest assholes to ever have been put in charge of anything more grandiose than a Little League refreshment stand? These two are both mentally incontinent, name-calling goons.
Now, admit it.
Peace is still going hot-and-heavy with the genealogy bit. And the latest tidbit she unearthed is that my grandfather did the film work on a 1944 movie titled “Home in Indiana,” which was nominated for Academy awards for both best color, and best cinematography.
Needless to say, I’ll be looking to purchase a copy of that movie, like, soon.
I found this post at Political Rants to be an interesting insiders look at the recent comments from Carolee Medico-Olenginski that bad-mouthed the suddenly resurgent GOP in this county.
Can you bite the hand that doesn’t feed you?
Later
Monday, November 30, 2009
New GOP Web site
This just in...
Luzerne County GOP
As far as I'm concerned, a marked improvement. Then again, the newly-reconstituted Republican Party in this county is a marked improvement of the no-show party of the recent past.
Later
Luzerne County GOP
As far as I'm concerned, a marked improvement. Then again, the newly-reconstituted Republican Party in this county is a marked improvement of the no-show party of the recent past.
Later
Saturday, November 28, 2009
We're in some real pretty (excrement) here, man!!!
It’s been a while since I bothered writing anything. It hasn’t been a case of writer’s block as much as it has been a matter of pure disgust.
I really didn’t see the need for me to weigh in on the daily Courthouse Blotters, the latest plea agreements, the latest rumors…the latest politicos to go down in flames before the investigating Feds.
At this point, it’s obvious that nobody ‘serves’ in this county. Damn near no one feels a calling to ‘serve’ the good people (dolts) of Luzerne County. None of the entitled upper class types are ‘fighting’ for us. Rather, they are lining their pockets in the most serendipitous of ways and laughing at us all the way to the nearest money launderer.
Meanwhile, the county is still deficit-spending. And we’ve got another near record budgetary shortfall that needs to be, ahem, half-heartedly addressed. Again.
And with that said, I was maddened and then some to read that one of our majority commissioners told an eager press that he trusted his hand-picked friends that have been dropping like DEET-encrusted flies in the face of the ever-widening corruption probe.
We entrusted him to manage this county. That is, to adeptly manage it. We trusted him to manage our money, to ensure a modicum of accountability and to stop the hemorrhaging of red ink. And now that it’s apparent that all of that was well beyond his limited management capabilities, he shrugs his massive shoulders and tells us he trusted his friends?
To quote a former president, “Trust, but verify.“ I say a high-profile resignation is long overdue.
If that’s not alarming enough, we’ve got a Fedrule Govmint that still refuses to recognize the fact that it’s broke and financially overextended. On the state level, fast-declining revenues have resulted in funding cuts across the board, funding cuts that will impact small municipalities far and wide. To quote a local official who spoke to me off the record, “It’s going to get worse. Much worse.”
And while our local budgets will likely face declining state and federal funding for the foreseeable future, while our county government flirts with financial insolvency, our county commissioners feign ignorance to the rampant corruption that festered on their watch.
Why haven’t I been writing?
Oh, I don’t know. The federal government is broke. The state government is broke. The county government is awash in tidal waves of red ink. You know, broke. Meanwhile, the fools in Washington D.C., putter along creating new entitlements that will result in further, still to be determined billions, perhaps trillions in deficit-spending. The solution in the state seems to be to throw a gambling table at every problem. And locally, our elected leaders are making with the ‘see no evil’ bit.
What’s not to like?
Everyone at every level is seemingly incompetent, and at each level of government, financial insolvency has basically been arrived at. What’s the difference between financial paralysis and financial insolvency? If there is a subtle difference, I fail to see it.
The prevailing attitude seems to be…we’re America, the economy is cyclical and we always bounce back. It’ll bounce back. It always bounces back.
Right?
Historical speaking, that mindset has always been proven correct. But when your solution to an economic depression is to print billions you don’t have and hand it all out to supporters of the party, and to create new entitlements the likes of which we‘ve never seen, I’m thinking the folks in Washington are to management what our suddenly befuddled county commissioner is.
And, for me, this is not a partisan thing, an ideological thing, if you will. It doesn’t matter which well-worn political stripes these people are wearing, Republican, Democrat, Independent or what have you. The fact is, I don’t believe that very many of them actually know what they’re going on and on about. And if you’re even close to sharing that opinion with me, you surely have reason for pause. You really should be concerned right now. Perhaps even frightened for our future.
And while I sit here and wonder where the unpaved financial trails will take us, all I keep reading is more and more partisan bluster. If we’d just put this party in charge, we’d all reach nirvana by tonight. If we’d just put that party in charge, life would be a continual orgy and the skies would rain beer. It’s all more of the same misguided swill: Party first, country second. Disingenuous, self-centered, self-important claptrap all.
To pull a quote from one of my favorite movies, Aliens, “We’re in some real pretty (excrement) here, man!!!” A quote that capably describes our current situation.
So, why haven’t I been writing much of late? Well, I find it difficult to do so when I have this annoyingly persistent feeling that all that needs to be said is that the end may finally be near.
But worry not. We’re America, the economy is cyclical and we always bounce back. It’ll bounce back. It always bounces back.
Right?
Depressed? Me? No, not at all.
A realist? Ding! We have a winner!
We’re in some real pretty (excrement) here, man!!!
Later
P.S.--While our entire financial house of cards teeters on collapse, the City of Wilkes-Barre just finalized a budget that included no tax increases and no increases in fees, and with no cuts in services. Although, I’m told that parking permit fees may have to be increased a tad, in the grand scheme of things, that’s barely noteworthy.
So, while all of the supposed leaders at every level of government seem powerless to correctly manage our fast-disappearing money, we need look no further than City Hall for lessons in financial responsibility.
Who knew?
I really didn’t see the need for me to weigh in on the daily Courthouse Blotters, the latest plea agreements, the latest rumors…the latest politicos to go down in flames before the investigating Feds.
At this point, it’s obvious that nobody ‘serves’ in this county. Damn near no one feels a calling to ‘serve’ the good people (dolts) of Luzerne County. None of the entitled upper class types are ‘fighting’ for us. Rather, they are lining their pockets in the most serendipitous of ways and laughing at us all the way to the nearest money launderer.
Meanwhile, the county is still deficit-spending. And we’ve got another near record budgetary shortfall that needs to be, ahem, half-heartedly addressed. Again.
And with that said, I was maddened and then some to read that one of our majority commissioners told an eager press that he trusted his hand-picked friends that have been dropping like DEET-encrusted flies in the face of the ever-widening corruption probe.
We entrusted him to manage this county. That is, to adeptly manage it. We trusted him to manage our money, to ensure a modicum of accountability and to stop the hemorrhaging of red ink. And now that it’s apparent that all of that was well beyond his limited management capabilities, he shrugs his massive shoulders and tells us he trusted his friends?
To quote a former president, “Trust, but verify.“ I say a high-profile resignation is long overdue.
If that’s not alarming enough, we’ve got a Fedrule Govmint that still refuses to recognize the fact that it’s broke and financially overextended. On the state level, fast-declining revenues have resulted in funding cuts across the board, funding cuts that will impact small municipalities far and wide. To quote a local official who spoke to me off the record, “It’s going to get worse. Much worse.”
And while our local budgets will likely face declining state and federal funding for the foreseeable future, while our county government flirts with financial insolvency, our county commissioners feign ignorance to the rampant corruption that festered on their watch.
Why haven’t I been writing?
Oh, I don’t know. The federal government is broke. The state government is broke. The county government is awash in tidal waves of red ink. You know, broke. Meanwhile, the fools in Washington D.C., putter along creating new entitlements that will result in further, still to be determined billions, perhaps trillions in deficit-spending. The solution in the state seems to be to throw a gambling table at every problem. And locally, our elected leaders are making with the ‘see no evil’ bit.
What’s not to like?
Everyone at every level is seemingly incompetent, and at each level of government, financial insolvency has basically been arrived at. What’s the difference between financial paralysis and financial insolvency? If there is a subtle difference, I fail to see it.
The prevailing attitude seems to be…we’re America, the economy is cyclical and we always bounce back. It’ll bounce back. It always bounces back.
Right?
Historical speaking, that mindset has always been proven correct. But when your solution to an economic depression is to print billions you don’t have and hand it all out to supporters of the party, and to create new entitlements the likes of which we‘ve never seen, I’m thinking the folks in Washington are to management what our suddenly befuddled county commissioner is.
And, for me, this is not a partisan thing, an ideological thing, if you will. It doesn’t matter which well-worn political stripes these people are wearing, Republican, Democrat, Independent or what have you. The fact is, I don’t believe that very many of them actually know what they’re going on and on about. And if you’re even close to sharing that opinion with me, you surely have reason for pause. You really should be concerned right now. Perhaps even frightened for our future.
And while I sit here and wonder where the unpaved financial trails will take us, all I keep reading is more and more partisan bluster. If we’d just put this party in charge, we’d all reach nirvana by tonight. If we’d just put that party in charge, life would be a continual orgy and the skies would rain beer. It’s all more of the same misguided swill: Party first, country second. Disingenuous, self-centered, self-important claptrap all.
To pull a quote from one of my favorite movies, Aliens, “We’re in some real pretty (excrement) here, man!!!” A quote that capably describes our current situation.
So, why haven’t I been writing much of late? Well, I find it difficult to do so when I have this annoyingly persistent feeling that all that needs to be said is that the end may finally be near.
But worry not. We’re America, the economy is cyclical and we always bounce back. It’ll bounce back. It always bounces back.
Right?
Depressed? Me? No, not at all.
A realist? Ding! We have a winner!
We’re in some real pretty (excrement) here, man!!!
Later
P.S.--While our entire financial house of cards teeters on collapse, the City of Wilkes-Barre just finalized a budget that included no tax increases and no increases in fees, and with no cuts in services. Although, I’m told that parking permit fees may have to be increased a tad, in the grand scheme of things, that’s barely noteworthy.
So, while all of the supposed leaders at every level of government seem powerless to correctly manage our fast-disappearing money, we need look no further than City Hall for lessons in financial responsibility.
Who knew?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
KD fracking update
From the e-mail inbox:
Markie:
I wish I could write a long-fingered commentary on the WV$A's plan to accept, treat and discharge drilling frackwater into our Susquehanna River. Unfortunately, the reality of my weekends as of late is such that we've been on the road with college visits or other obligatory trips for the last month, and now I have to play catch-up on things at home. I also have some major electrical work staring me in the face once I walk away from the keyboard, so I'll keep it brief.
The online articles in the CV & TL about the WV$A mention potential revenue multiple times, but they barely reference the quality of the treated frackwater that "might" be discharged into the Susquehanna. I think the revenue:water quality ratio of comments in one article was ~7:1. That pretty much $um$ it up; it'$ all about money...period.
As far as the science goes, I'll leave it at this: treated frackwater is to regular sewage plant effluent as Drano is to Ex-Lax. Okay...maybe prune juice. The one ( anonymous, of course ) comment about the treated frackwater being cleaner than what the WVSA is already discharging into our river is not only sad if you think about it, it is an outright lie and typical of the oil industry's mouthpieces and most of those who seek to profit from drilling.
By the way, New York is currently holding hearings on their plans to allow drilling in the headwaters of the Susquehanna. Guess where the NY Department of Environmental Conservation is recommending the drilling companies send their frackwater for disposal? Hint: it isn't NY.
Markie, over a year ago, I said this was going to get ugly. I openly admit to all the good and law-abiding citizens of Circumlocutiondom and bloggers everywhere I was wrong...dead wrong. With so much profit to be realized by so few, and with so much money (billion$) already on the streets and under contract if and when drilling begins at the levels projected, it is poised to progress far beyond the boundaries of ugly. I think "ramming speed on steroids" might sum up the weeks and months ahead.
BTW...happen to notice that most of our elected "leader$" are steering clear of this subject?
Don Williams, a/k/a Kayak Dude
Thanks for weighing in. I remember reading about that plant that was proposed for Eaton Township, a plant which would have been constucted for the expressed purpose of treating fracking water/fluids. While many of the details escape me now, what I do recall was that no matter how it's gussied up for public consumption, the end result was that sullied waters would be released directly into the Susquehanna. Less than pristine water, and in unimaginable quantities.
Or as my moonshine-supplying buddy Lonesome Redneck Mark might say, That ain't fargin' right.
And by the way, I did notice that it's been mum's the word on this issue from our local elected leaders. Especially noteworthy is the silence from Chris Carney, since this is already happening in his own back yard. You know, the occasional explosions, the contaminated wells and the numerous violations of the drilling outfits.
Not to single him out, but it is an issue that can reach out and tough his personal water supply. Perhaps he's still researching the issue for himself. Of perhaps he's got other priorities a look at his campaign contributions might disclose. I dunno.
As for Kanjorski and water quality issues goes, that's like trying to blend water and oil. More succinctly, like mixing raw sewage and water, damming it all and then calling it a recreational lake.
Again, thanks for the brief update. Keep us advised when you can.
Oh yeah, I am not a strict vegetarian. And while my favorite pizza toppings are mushrooms and onions, I have been known to cross over to the dark side by downing some of that delicious pepperoni pizza Wifey whips up from scratch.
Last night we were experimenting with our dough recipe and ended up with a soft and chewey thin crust, dittos on the deeper dished pizzas and a pie that I dubbed a Pizza Loaf. Damn thing was a good three-plus inches deep.
And to yet another e-mail I would respond, sure, while it might not have been fair to go off on Dr. Joe, I'm really getting good and sick of people stepping forward and spouting off about how they know how best to run my life.
And I take extreme exception to anyone who takes the incremental steps of demonizing what they do not personally do, and then tell us that those habits should be deemed punishable by them. And how is it remotely constitutional to target others for unfair and confiscatory tax rates simply because they say so? Who are they to dip into our personal finances simply because they see the drinking of soda pop, the downing of fast food or the consumption of 'sinful' things such as alcohol damaging to society at large?
And what about the convoluted logic that since you have health insurance but consume items not on their personally approved list, then you should be required to pay for someone else's health care in addition to our own? Gee, no tyranny creep going on there.
As far as the demonization of smokers goes, what's more expensive? A career smoker who is diagnosed with lung cancer, treated and then is dead within two years? Or one of those non-smokers who ends up in a personal care home for a decade, possibly much longer?
I personally know people who have lost their homes because of the exorbitant cost of keeping their spouses in assisted-care facilities long term. It's not bad enough that they, for all intents and purposes, lost their loved ones. But then they lose their homes, too?
Smoke this!
Later
Markie:
I wish I could write a long-fingered commentary on the WV$A's plan to accept, treat and discharge drilling frackwater into our Susquehanna River. Unfortunately, the reality of my weekends as of late is such that we've been on the road with college visits or other obligatory trips for the last month, and now I have to play catch-up on things at home. I also have some major electrical work staring me in the face once I walk away from the keyboard, so I'll keep it brief.
The online articles in the CV & TL about the WV$A mention potential revenue multiple times, but they barely reference the quality of the treated frackwater that "might" be discharged into the Susquehanna. I think the revenue:water quality ratio of comments in one article was ~7:1. That pretty much $um$ it up; it'$ all about money...period.
As far as the science goes, I'll leave it at this: treated frackwater is to regular sewage plant effluent as Drano is to Ex-Lax. Okay...maybe prune juice. The one ( anonymous, of course ) comment about the treated frackwater being cleaner than what the WVSA is already discharging into our river is not only sad if you think about it, it is an outright lie and typical of the oil industry's mouthpieces and most of those who seek to profit from drilling.
By the way, New York is currently holding hearings on their plans to allow drilling in the headwaters of the Susquehanna. Guess where the NY Department of Environmental Conservation is recommending the drilling companies send their frackwater for disposal? Hint: it isn't NY.
Markie, over a year ago, I said this was going to get ugly. I openly admit to all the good and law-abiding citizens of Circumlocutiondom and bloggers everywhere I was wrong...dead wrong. With so much profit to be realized by so few, and with so much money (billion$) already on the streets and under contract if and when drilling begins at the levels projected, it is poised to progress far beyond the boundaries of ugly. I think "ramming speed on steroids" might sum up the weeks and months ahead.
BTW...happen to notice that most of our elected "leader$" are steering clear of this subject?
Don Williams, a/k/a Kayak Dude
Thanks for weighing in. I remember reading about that plant that was proposed for Eaton Township, a plant which would have been constucted for the expressed purpose of treating fracking water/fluids. While many of the details escape me now, what I do recall was that no matter how it's gussied up for public consumption, the end result was that sullied waters would be released directly into the Susquehanna. Less than pristine water, and in unimaginable quantities.
Or as my moonshine-supplying buddy Lonesome Redneck Mark might say, That ain't fargin' right.
And by the way, I did notice that it's been mum's the word on this issue from our local elected leaders. Especially noteworthy is the silence from Chris Carney, since this is already happening in his own back yard. You know, the occasional explosions, the contaminated wells and the numerous violations of the drilling outfits.
Not to single him out, but it is an issue that can reach out and tough his personal water supply. Perhaps he's still researching the issue for himself. Of perhaps he's got other priorities a look at his campaign contributions might disclose. I dunno.
As for Kanjorski and water quality issues goes, that's like trying to blend water and oil. More succinctly, like mixing raw sewage and water, damming it all and then calling it a recreational lake.
Again, thanks for the brief update. Keep us advised when you can.
Oh yeah, I am not a strict vegetarian. And while my favorite pizza toppings are mushrooms and onions, I have been known to cross over to the dark side by downing some of that delicious pepperoni pizza Wifey whips up from scratch.
Last night we were experimenting with our dough recipe and ended up with a soft and chewey thin crust, dittos on the deeper dished pizzas and a pie that I dubbed a Pizza Loaf. Damn thing was a good three-plus inches deep.
And to yet another e-mail I would respond, sure, while it might not have been fair to go off on Dr. Joe, I'm really getting good and sick of people stepping forward and spouting off about how they know how best to run my life.
And I take extreme exception to anyone who takes the incremental steps of demonizing what they do not personally do, and then tell us that those habits should be deemed punishable by them. And how is it remotely constitutional to target others for unfair and confiscatory tax rates simply because they say so? Who are they to dip into our personal finances simply because they see the drinking of soda pop, the downing of fast food or the consumption of 'sinful' things such as alcohol damaging to society at large?
And what about the convoluted logic that since you have health insurance but consume items not on their personally approved list, then you should be required to pay for someone else's health care in addition to our own? Gee, no tyranny creep going on there.
As far as the demonization of smokers goes, what's more expensive? A career smoker who is diagnosed with lung cancer, treated and then is dead within two years? Or one of those non-smokers who ends up in a personal care home for a decade, possibly much longer?
I personally know people who have lost their homes because of the exorbitant cost of keeping their spouses in assisted-care facilities long term. It's not bad enough that they, for all intents and purposes, lost their loved ones. But then they lose their homes, too?
Smoke this!
Later
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Dr. Joe gone rogue
From the e-mail inbox:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject:
The Lu Lac Political Letter: The LuLac Edition #1003, Nov. 11th, 2009
Date:
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:43:40 -0500
From:
Doc Leonardi mailto:leonardifamilychiro@mac.com
Reply-To:
yournewphysique@me.com
To: undisclosed-recipients: ;
http://lulacpoliticaletter.blogspot.com/2009/11/lulac-edition-1003-nov-11th-2009.html
Hi Everyone,The above link is to an interview I recently did. Please if you can, I will be on WVIA tonight at 7pm discussing childhood obesity:
Thursdays 7pm on WVIA-TV
State of Pennsylvania with WVIA President Bill Kelly and Correspondent Suzanne Kapral-Kelly is the only regional interactive public affairs and news program providing an in-depth look at important issues in the Commonwealth.
Tonight, Nov. 12 at 7pmNEPA's Obese Children: What Can We Do?
Guests include:Dr. Joe Leonardi - Leonardi Family Chiropractic, Adjunct Faculty, Luzerne County Community College, and owner of Yournewphysique.comJoy de Soto, MA - Human Nutrition & Exercise Physiology, Owner of Visions Personal Fitness Training
This is going to go over like a lead balloon. Like I care.
First of all, achieving a significant weight loss is not exactly rocket science. In all honesty, what’s harder? Losing 10, 20, say, 50 pounds, or improving upon High-Velocity Impact Shielding?
Do you want to lose weight? Okay, count calories, work (physically) hard and play even harder. Done.
I’m not saying what Dr. Leonardi achieved is not remarkable, what I’m saying is that you don’t need to pay anyone any sum of money to closely mimic what he has accomplished.
While reading his interview published at the Lu Lac, I took great offense to the following response Dr. Leonardi provided to one of David Yonki’s questions:
I would maintain current Medicare taxes and additionally impose a 15 - 20% tax on junk foods, alcohol and tobacco. Probably video and computer games too. Tax the activities that make us an unhealthy, slothful nation that stresses our health care system disproportionately. Then take that money and put it in a dedicated fund solely for the new Medicare. In addition to water the foods that would remain tax free are basically what you find along the perimeter of the supermarket: fruits, veggies, certain dairy, beef, seafood, poultry, eggs etc... This is a one paragraph answer to a solution that requires much more detail.
Now...now I understand why Dr. Leonardi decided to bolt from the GOP, and start making frequent noise about him becoming a proud Democrat. Because, all of a sudden, he’s decided to embrace unchecked, unrepentant tyranny.
Many moons ago, I went from 217 pounds to 165 and in only a four-month span. And to manage as much, I needed no advice, no books, no videos, no Web sites, no new equipment, no specialty products, no Dr. Joe and what he's selling, but most importantly…I needed no government intervention.
But when anyone, Dr. Leonardi included, tells us that people who eat Fruit Loops should be taxed at a higher rate than people who suffer through a bowl of Cardboard Bran-like Flakes, I’m here to tell those folks they are supporting tyranny in the name of public health. Or, in this case, for profit.
And this subjectively tyrannical suggestion, that we should impose a “15 - 20% tax on junk foods, alcohol and tobacco. Probably video and computer games too,” is frightening in it’s shortsightedness and tyrranical implications.
Follow the mission creep that is tyranny: First, we tax the politically incorrect smokers. And then we go after the politically incorrect NASCAR crowd, the drinkers. And if that doesn’t deliver us, as a nation, to some sort of Utopian Nirvana almost overnight, then we target the people that actually enjoy a Big Mac every now and again.
But why stop there? While we’re at it, why not target people who enjoy their Play Stations? Those people don’t eat fruits and vegetables while they’re enjoying some of the highest frame rates ever imagined. No, I’ll bet you they are chomping on chips and pretzels and guzzling soda pop. Off with their heads! Uh, I meant, tax them at a higher rate because they don’t believe what we believe to be important.
Or as our newest among the suddenly growing legions of health care champions, our so-called experts put it, tax the activities that make us an unhealthy, slothful nation that stresses our health care system disproportionately.
Actually, what stresses our health care system disproportionately, the country in general, and will for the foreseeable future, is people who see tyranny as the answer to a problem in lieu of workable solutions.
How should we fix this, Dr. Joe?
Uh, since Markie enjoys his cigarettes, his beer, his Play Station and his Fantasy Football, I say the fix is to first vilify all that he shamefully and shamelessly enjoys, and then stick our grubby little fingers into his wallet just a little bit deeper.
We, the people who think we know it all, have deemed his usual activates as some sorts of crimes against humanity, so he should have less rights than we hold so near and dear for ourselves. We have accused him of crimes, we have rendered our verdict, so have at his wallet.
Thanks, Dr. Joe. Rather than offering any real solutions, you have made yourself the judge, the jury and the tax-collecting executioner. While you may have noticeably slimmed down in the physical sense, your cognitive processes have become, in my opinion, grotesquely fat-headed.
Or, to thumbnail it, you have become a Democrat.
You know, a tyrant.
Bye
Editor’s note: Pepperoni pizza and beer tomorrow night. Woo-hoo, I can’t wait.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject:
The Lu Lac Political Letter: The LuLac Edition #1003, Nov. 11th, 2009
Date:
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:43:40 -0500
From:
Doc Leonardi mailto:leonardifamilychiro@mac.com
Reply-To:
yournewphysique@me.com
To: undisclosed-recipients: ;
http://lulacpoliticaletter.blogspot.com/2009/11/lulac-edition-1003-nov-11th-2009.html
Hi Everyone,The above link is to an interview I recently did. Please if you can, I will be on WVIA tonight at 7pm discussing childhood obesity:
Thursdays 7pm on WVIA-TV
State of Pennsylvania with WVIA President Bill Kelly and Correspondent Suzanne Kapral-Kelly is the only regional interactive public affairs and news program providing an in-depth look at important issues in the Commonwealth.
Tonight, Nov. 12 at 7pmNEPA's Obese Children: What Can We Do?
Guests include:Dr. Joe Leonardi - Leonardi Family Chiropractic, Adjunct Faculty, Luzerne County Community College, and owner of Yournewphysique.comJoy de Soto, MA - Human Nutrition & Exercise Physiology, Owner of Visions Personal Fitness Training
This is going to go over like a lead balloon. Like I care.
First of all, achieving a significant weight loss is not exactly rocket science. In all honesty, what’s harder? Losing 10, 20, say, 50 pounds, or improving upon High-Velocity Impact Shielding?
Do you want to lose weight? Okay, count calories, work (physically) hard and play even harder. Done.
I’m not saying what Dr. Leonardi achieved is not remarkable, what I’m saying is that you don’t need to pay anyone any sum of money to closely mimic what he has accomplished.
While reading his interview published at the Lu Lac, I took great offense to the following response Dr. Leonardi provided to one of David Yonki’s questions:
I would maintain current Medicare taxes and additionally impose a 15 - 20% tax on junk foods, alcohol and tobacco. Probably video and computer games too. Tax the activities that make us an unhealthy, slothful nation that stresses our health care system disproportionately. Then take that money and put it in a dedicated fund solely for the new Medicare. In addition to water the foods that would remain tax free are basically what you find along the perimeter of the supermarket: fruits, veggies, certain dairy, beef, seafood, poultry, eggs etc... This is a one paragraph answer to a solution that requires much more detail.
Now...now I understand why Dr. Leonardi decided to bolt from the GOP, and start making frequent noise about him becoming a proud Democrat. Because, all of a sudden, he’s decided to embrace unchecked, unrepentant tyranny.
Many moons ago, I went from 217 pounds to 165 and in only a four-month span. And to manage as much, I needed no advice, no books, no videos, no Web sites, no new equipment, no specialty products, no Dr. Joe and what he's selling, but most importantly…I needed no government intervention.
But when anyone, Dr. Leonardi included, tells us that people who eat Fruit Loops should be taxed at a higher rate than people who suffer through a bowl of Cardboard Bran-like Flakes, I’m here to tell those folks they are supporting tyranny in the name of public health. Or, in this case, for profit.
And this subjectively tyrannical suggestion, that we should impose a “15 - 20% tax on junk foods, alcohol and tobacco. Probably video and computer games too,” is frightening in it’s shortsightedness and tyrranical implications.
Follow the mission creep that is tyranny: First, we tax the politically incorrect smokers. And then we go after the politically incorrect NASCAR crowd, the drinkers. And if that doesn’t deliver us, as a nation, to some sort of Utopian Nirvana almost overnight, then we target the people that actually enjoy a Big Mac every now and again.
But why stop there? While we’re at it, why not target people who enjoy their Play Stations? Those people don’t eat fruits and vegetables while they’re enjoying some of the highest frame rates ever imagined. No, I’ll bet you they are chomping on chips and pretzels and guzzling soda pop. Off with their heads! Uh, I meant, tax them at a higher rate because they don’t believe what we believe to be important.
Or as our newest among the suddenly growing legions of health care champions, our so-called experts put it, tax the activities that make us an unhealthy, slothful nation that stresses our health care system disproportionately.
Actually, what stresses our health care system disproportionately, the country in general, and will for the foreseeable future, is people who see tyranny as the answer to a problem in lieu of workable solutions.
How should we fix this, Dr. Joe?
Uh, since Markie enjoys his cigarettes, his beer, his Play Station and his Fantasy Football, I say the fix is to first vilify all that he shamefully and shamelessly enjoys, and then stick our grubby little fingers into his wallet just a little bit deeper.
We, the people who think we know it all, have deemed his usual activates as some sorts of crimes against humanity, so he should have less rights than we hold so near and dear for ourselves. We have accused him of crimes, we have rendered our verdict, so have at his wallet.
Thanks, Dr. Joe. Rather than offering any real solutions, you have made yourself the judge, the jury and the tax-collecting executioner. While you may have noticeably slimmed down in the physical sense, your cognitive processes have become, in my opinion, grotesquely fat-headed.
Or, to thumbnail it, you have become a Democrat.
You know, a tyrant.
Bye
Editor’s note: Pepperoni pizza and beer tomorrow night. Woo-hoo, I can’t wait.
Brace yourself...
Nice. The Times Leader has broken the story that yet another politico in Luzerne County is, for lack of a better word, corrupt.
Former Luzerne County Deputy Clerk charged with accepting bribe
SCRANTON - Former Luzerne County Deputy Clerk William Brace has agreed to plead guilty to accepting a suit valued at $1,500 in exchange for helping a contractor obtain a contract with the county sometime between June 2007 and May 2008.
According to charges filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney's office, Brace supported the contractor, who is not identified, in obtaining a contract with the county valued at more than $5,000. In exchange for his support, Brace traveled to New York City, where the contractor had Brace fitted for a tailor-made, monogramed suit. The charges do not identify the tailor.
Brace has a long history of public employment. He served as chief clerk for Wilkes-Barre City until 2001, when he retired. He then took a position as chief deputy for Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly. He stayed in that position until Decmeber 2005, when he took the position as chief clerk for the county commissioners. He retired in November 2008 to take a position as registrar of vital statistics for the state.
This is just out of hand. Unreal.
And it leads me back to a fair question and a fair assertion that WILK’s Sue Henry has been repeatedly tossing at her listeners for months:
The question: How much is enough?
The assertion: (paraphrasing), Remember, despite all of these arrests, plea agreements and what have you, good people do in fact work at the Luzerne County courthouse.
Sue, sadly, apparently there is no such thing as having enough money for these longtime party apparatchiks.
And as for the assertion, I ask again…Sue, are you prepared to identify THAT good person that toils away under the big dome?
It’s getting to the point that the taint, the all-permeating and sickening stench that seems to taint everything political in this county is now THIS close to fouling the entire lot of them.
I say to you that, good people or no good people, everybody knew that one gigantic scam was afoot for all these years. How could they not have known? Not everyone who is employed by the county is deaf, dumb and blind.
Or are they?
Another one bites the dust. Yet another reason why it might be time to take up residence in Alaska, kiddies. Hmm, now there’s an idea: Circumlocution for Eskimos.
Me, the mush dogs, the frozen, wind-slept expanse of nothingness, the copious amounts of whiskey, a kerosene-powered personal computer and Muckachuck...my new bride.
Muckachuck! You hot 'lil bitch! Fetch me another pint of Mad Dog, will ya!?!
Later
Former Luzerne County Deputy Clerk charged with accepting bribe
SCRANTON - Former Luzerne County Deputy Clerk William Brace has agreed to plead guilty to accepting a suit valued at $1,500 in exchange for helping a contractor obtain a contract with the county sometime between June 2007 and May 2008.
According to charges filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney's office, Brace supported the contractor, who is not identified, in obtaining a contract with the county valued at more than $5,000. In exchange for his support, Brace traveled to New York City, where the contractor had Brace fitted for a tailor-made, monogramed suit. The charges do not identify the tailor.
Brace has a long history of public employment. He served as chief clerk for Wilkes-Barre City until 2001, when he retired. He then took a position as chief deputy for Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly. He stayed in that position until Decmeber 2005, when he took the position as chief clerk for the county commissioners. He retired in November 2008 to take a position as registrar of vital statistics for the state.
This is just out of hand. Unreal.
And it leads me back to a fair question and a fair assertion that WILK’s Sue Henry has been repeatedly tossing at her listeners for months:
The question: How much is enough?
The assertion: (paraphrasing), Remember, despite all of these arrests, plea agreements and what have you, good people do in fact work at the Luzerne County courthouse.
Sue, sadly, apparently there is no such thing as having enough money for these longtime party apparatchiks.
And as for the assertion, I ask again…Sue, are you prepared to identify THAT good person that toils away under the big dome?
It’s getting to the point that the taint, the all-permeating and sickening stench that seems to taint everything political in this county is now THIS close to fouling the entire lot of them.
I say to you that, good people or no good people, everybody knew that one gigantic scam was afoot for all these years. How could they not have known? Not everyone who is employed by the county is deaf, dumb and blind.
Or are they?
Another one bites the dust. Yet another reason why it might be time to take up residence in Alaska, kiddies. Hmm, now there’s an idea: Circumlocution for Eskimos.
Me, the mush dogs, the frozen, wind-slept expanse of nothingness, the copious amounts of whiskey, a kerosene-powered personal computer and Muckachuck...my new bride.
Muckachuck! You hot 'lil bitch! Fetch me another pint of Mad Dog, will ya!?!
Later
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
It's Veteran's Day: time for Obama to grow a pair
It’s Veteran’s Day.
And as a longtime blogger, experience has taught me that I’m supposed to write something appreciative in nature, if not, downright tear jerking about the sacrifices our veterans past, present and future have made and will make for the sorry likes of us.
Don’t hold your breath.
I read this story this morning, Gorbachev Says Obama Should Start Afghan Withdrawal, and I damn near giggled myself sick-like.
Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev sent tanks into Afghanistan to support a Marxist regime in 1979, betting superior firepower from the ground and air would keep the country within Moscow’s fold. Soviet aims were thwarted by an Islamist mujahedeen movement supported by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
While there was support in the Moscow establishment, Gorbachev as the general secretary of the Communist Party concluded that Soviet objectives couldn’t be achieved.
“We thought that that would lead nowhere,” Gorbachev said. “So we started to disengage our troops from any kind of hostilities in Afghanistan.”
The pullout began in 1988 and ended in February of 1989, nine months before the Berlin Wall fell.
Here’s the scoop on that purposeful rewriting of history.
Yes, the Soviets suffered through their own version of Vietnam in Afghanistan, but not initially. Sure, they needed just as many body bags in Afghanistan as we needed to deploy to Vietnam, but there is a tactical difference that needs to be made mention of.
In Vietnam, we were passing out candy bars and trying to win hearts and minds while our determined opponent was wagering that a war of attrition would cause us to pull up stakes, lick our wounds and go home.
In Afghanistan, the Soviets were bombing the militants and the civilian population into oblivion from the onset of the war, that is, until the CIA introduced Stinger missiles into the theater. And with those Stingers being forward-deployed, the Soviet air superiority disappeared almost overnight.
Point…shoot…dead. Done.
And being that Soviet ground tactics were fatally outdated, being that they were stuck in the WWII mindset of establishing a front line and then extending it forward by way of ground troops and their overrated armor, they suffered mass casualties at an alarming rate, and they eventually pulled out of the country with what was left of their tattered tails dragging on the ground behind them.
The point is, without air superiority, thanks to those Stingers perched and waiting for them on mountain peaks the country over, the war of attrition worked to perfection. Without air support, ground troops are fodder to be chewed upon in such a unique, mountain-dominated landscape.
Now let us fast-forward to Afghanistan, 2009.
In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been losing ground troops at a greatly accelerated rate of late. And those increasing number of KIAs are what we’d call veterans. Deceased veterans, but veterans nonetheless.
And now the generals are calling for a surge, an influx of 60,000 additional ground troops, to stem the tide of gains the well-entrenched enemy has been making of late.
But you might be wondering, why have we suffered so many casualties in recent days. And what is the sitting president going to do about it? Is it as Gorbachev says it is, that we cannot win in Afghanistan? Should Obama deploy another 30,000 troops, perhaps 45,000 troops, or should we just cut our losses and get the hell out of there?
The way I see it, there is one unmistakable similarity between the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan, and our recent spate of casualties, which has some wondering if the war can be won.
When the Soviets lost their air superiority a la the CIA-supplied Stingers, it was downhill and fast from there. The thing is, on a modern battlefield, ground troops deployed in insufficient numbers are dead ducks without close air support. Much like how surface warships are totally dependant upon air cover or Phalanx and Aegis air defenses for their continued deployment. Er, their continued survival. For instance, an aircraft carrier would survive for all of five minutes in a live shooting war without the aircraft it houses providing cover for it.
In Afghanistan, our troops have no front lines from which to retreat for some much-needed rest and relaxation. Rather, except for a couple of large staging areas, air bases and major cities (which are few), they are forward-deployed to forward fire bases that are easily overrun without close-in air support.
Our ground forces there are too few in number, too spread out, forward-deployed, but very quick on their feet and very rapidly deployed. But rapid deployment is not possible with large numbers of troops, and smaller, more mobile numbers of troops are vulnerable when outmatched, or simply put upon by the terrain. And that’s where the close air support comes in. That’s what guarantees that no matter what skirmish they find themselves enveloped in, they’ll likely live on to fight another day.
But, when all we seem to care about is not offending the natives, when all that we seem horrified by is the politically insensitive collateral damage that is sure to come about when your aircraft are busily seeing to it that the troops on the ground don’t get slaughtered right quick, then we should be able to follow why our casualty rate has been higher of late.
Gorbachev is a clueless poser and a bald-faced liar.
We have not lost air superiority in Afghanistan, and we have not lost the advantage or the initiative in Afghanistan, as did his forces way back when. We still have the upper hand in this conflict, but thanks to the stifling political correctness that is fast, fast choking the last useable brain cell out of this country, we are now reluctant to use it…air power. Air superiority.
Yes, rather than cause a regrettable collateral damage pogrom that might get serious play on CNN, we’ll continue to make with the kinder and gentler bombing runs. Meanwhile, the ground troops will continue to get tagged and bagged and sent home to mom.
We either have the stomach for it, or we do not. And if we do not have the stomach for it, then get those American boys and girls out of there, like, right now! Either bomb them, the enemy, back to the stone ages as the situation on the ground clearly dictates, or get them, our kids, the hell out of there.
It’s Veteran’s Day. And it makes no sense to have our leadership lollygagging along when what they should be doing is seeing to it that the newest of the veteran’s survive the current conflict.
We either play to our strengths, or we go home.
Obama…pick one. Grow a pair. Politics, political correctness or correct tactics.
Pick one.
Sez me.
Later
And as a longtime blogger, experience has taught me that I’m supposed to write something appreciative in nature, if not, downright tear jerking about the sacrifices our veterans past, present and future have made and will make for the sorry likes of us.
Don’t hold your breath.
I read this story this morning, Gorbachev Says Obama Should Start Afghan Withdrawal, and I damn near giggled myself sick-like.
Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev sent tanks into Afghanistan to support a Marxist regime in 1979, betting superior firepower from the ground and air would keep the country within Moscow’s fold. Soviet aims were thwarted by an Islamist mujahedeen movement supported by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
While there was support in the Moscow establishment, Gorbachev as the general secretary of the Communist Party concluded that Soviet objectives couldn’t be achieved.
“We thought that that would lead nowhere,” Gorbachev said. “So we started to disengage our troops from any kind of hostilities in Afghanistan.”
The pullout began in 1988 and ended in February of 1989, nine months before the Berlin Wall fell.
Here’s the scoop on that purposeful rewriting of history.
Yes, the Soviets suffered through their own version of Vietnam in Afghanistan, but not initially. Sure, they needed just as many body bags in Afghanistan as we needed to deploy to Vietnam, but there is a tactical difference that needs to be made mention of.
In Vietnam, we were passing out candy bars and trying to win hearts and minds while our determined opponent was wagering that a war of attrition would cause us to pull up stakes, lick our wounds and go home.
In Afghanistan, the Soviets were bombing the militants and the civilian population into oblivion from the onset of the war, that is, until the CIA introduced Stinger missiles into the theater. And with those Stingers being forward-deployed, the Soviet air superiority disappeared almost overnight.
Point…shoot…dead. Done.
And being that Soviet ground tactics were fatally outdated, being that they were stuck in the WWII mindset of establishing a front line and then extending it forward by way of ground troops and their overrated armor, they suffered mass casualties at an alarming rate, and they eventually pulled out of the country with what was left of their tattered tails dragging on the ground behind them.
The point is, without air superiority, thanks to those Stingers perched and waiting for them on mountain peaks the country over, the war of attrition worked to perfection. Without air support, ground troops are fodder to be chewed upon in such a unique, mountain-dominated landscape.
Now let us fast-forward to Afghanistan, 2009.
In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been losing ground troops at a greatly accelerated rate of late. And those increasing number of KIAs are what we’d call veterans. Deceased veterans, but veterans nonetheless.
And now the generals are calling for a surge, an influx of 60,000 additional ground troops, to stem the tide of gains the well-entrenched enemy has been making of late.
But you might be wondering, why have we suffered so many casualties in recent days. And what is the sitting president going to do about it? Is it as Gorbachev says it is, that we cannot win in Afghanistan? Should Obama deploy another 30,000 troops, perhaps 45,000 troops, or should we just cut our losses and get the hell out of there?
The way I see it, there is one unmistakable similarity between the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan, and our recent spate of casualties, which has some wondering if the war can be won.
When the Soviets lost their air superiority a la the CIA-supplied Stingers, it was downhill and fast from there. The thing is, on a modern battlefield, ground troops deployed in insufficient numbers are dead ducks without close air support. Much like how surface warships are totally dependant upon air cover or Phalanx and Aegis air defenses for their continued deployment. Er, their continued survival. For instance, an aircraft carrier would survive for all of five minutes in a live shooting war without the aircraft it houses providing cover for it.
In Afghanistan, our troops have no front lines from which to retreat for some much-needed rest and relaxation. Rather, except for a couple of large staging areas, air bases and major cities (which are few), they are forward-deployed to forward fire bases that are easily overrun without close-in air support.
Our ground forces there are too few in number, too spread out, forward-deployed, but very quick on their feet and very rapidly deployed. But rapid deployment is not possible with large numbers of troops, and smaller, more mobile numbers of troops are vulnerable when outmatched, or simply put upon by the terrain. And that’s where the close air support comes in. That’s what guarantees that no matter what skirmish they find themselves enveloped in, they’ll likely live on to fight another day.
But, when all we seem to care about is not offending the natives, when all that we seem horrified by is the politically insensitive collateral damage that is sure to come about when your aircraft are busily seeing to it that the troops on the ground don’t get slaughtered right quick, then we should be able to follow why our casualty rate has been higher of late.
Gorbachev is a clueless poser and a bald-faced liar.
We have not lost air superiority in Afghanistan, and we have not lost the advantage or the initiative in Afghanistan, as did his forces way back when. We still have the upper hand in this conflict, but thanks to the stifling political correctness that is fast, fast choking the last useable brain cell out of this country, we are now reluctant to use it…air power. Air superiority.
Yes, rather than cause a regrettable collateral damage pogrom that might get serious play on CNN, we’ll continue to make with the kinder and gentler bombing runs. Meanwhile, the ground troops will continue to get tagged and bagged and sent home to mom.
We either have the stomach for it, or we do not. And if we do not have the stomach for it, then get those American boys and girls out of there, like, right now! Either bomb them, the enemy, back to the stone ages as the situation on the ground clearly dictates, or get them, our kids, the hell out of there.
It’s Veteran’s Day. And it makes no sense to have our leadership lollygagging along when what they should be doing is seeing to it that the newest of the veteran’s survive the current conflict.
We either play to our strengths, or we go home.
Obama…pick one. Grow a pair. Politics, political correctness or correct tactics.
Pick one.
Sez me.
Later
It's official: nobody knew
Okay, it’s official: nobody knew.
Er, everybody appointed knew. But nobody who was elected knew. Or something or other.
Wait! I know. Everybody knew excepting for the people that knew. Um, let’s try that again. Everybody knew excepting for the people that are paid and trained to know. No, I got it. Everybody knew the same exact thing…Me know no nothin’. Or knew. Argh!!!
What a fu>king farce!
Court system gone awry
PLAINS TWP. – Luzerne County Judge David Lupas, who had been district attorney, conceded Tuesday that some people see juvenile hearings as “kiddie court.”
District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll grew almost combative at times defending her department, warning that past events cannot be judged “in a vacuum.”
And Chief Public Defender Basil Russin admitted activities in juvenile hearings had been “troubling,” but bemoaned a lack of manpower and money as impediment to his ability to do anything.
All three said they could not explain why problems that led to one of the nation’s biggest court corruption scandals festered for years without anyone in their staffs noticing or complaining.
Two central themes emerged: They assumed things were OK, and the actions of one judge were widely popular and thus hard to assail.
You know, the stench emanating from this thing is becoming suffocating. And we haven’t even heard the testimony of the offending judges yet!
As far as I see it, both Judge Dave Lupas and District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll need to be summarily dispatched at the very first opportunity. Fired, that is.
And her getting all saucy and defiant while staring down these commission members…it makes me want to vomit. It makes me want to vomit because I know damn well that those commission members knew they were listening to two-days worth of cover-your-ass prevarication.
They know full-well that Luzerne County, the judiciary and otherwise, is clearly the asshole of the entire state. They see the people that testified before them as the incompetent pretenders that they all were, and apparently still are.
Yes, it’s official: nobody knew.
Cut me a fu>king break! What did you know and when did you know it?
Uh...know what?
And then we have this insufferably tedious gibberish…
Petrilla: No mass layoffs planned
Luzerne County’s proposed 2010 budget is two weeks away from adoption, and there’s not a peep about how commissioners will close a $29 million gap.
Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said nobody’s talking because there is no firm plan yet, though she’s certain the county won’t be cutting 150 workers – one of the options suggested by an outside financial consultant.
“If there’s room not to fill vacancies or to downsize a little, we’d consider that, but there will not be a mass layoff,” Petrilla said. “That’s pretty much all we know for a fact.”
Petrilla said she believes another large layoff would hamper county services, though commissioners are urging department heads to voluntarily suggest staff cuts. The county’s 2009 budget laid off 72 workers.
“Downsizing last year had a great impact on our offices,” Petrilla said.
Hey, not a problem Mrs. Petrilla. Raise taxes by a gazillion percent, and then float another uninsured $20 million bond late next year. Not a freaking problem!
In lieu of adept, fiscally responsible management, we’ll put up with the likes of you. Or will we?
How do you hold the unaccountable accountable? They wanted to adopt a zero tolerance policy? Yeah, so why shouldn't we do likewise?
Fire their dead asses!
Later
Er, everybody appointed knew. But nobody who was elected knew. Or something or other.
Wait! I know. Everybody knew excepting for the people that knew. Um, let’s try that again. Everybody knew excepting for the people that are paid and trained to know. No, I got it. Everybody knew the same exact thing…Me know no nothin’. Or knew. Argh!!!
What a fu>king farce!
Court system gone awry
PLAINS TWP. – Luzerne County Judge David Lupas, who had been district attorney, conceded Tuesday that some people see juvenile hearings as “kiddie court.”
District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll grew almost combative at times defending her department, warning that past events cannot be judged “in a vacuum.”
And Chief Public Defender Basil Russin admitted activities in juvenile hearings had been “troubling,” but bemoaned a lack of manpower and money as impediment to his ability to do anything.
All three said they could not explain why problems that led to one of the nation’s biggest court corruption scandals festered for years without anyone in their staffs noticing or complaining.
Two central themes emerged: They assumed things were OK, and the actions of one judge were widely popular and thus hard to assail.
You know, the stench emanating from this thing is becoming suffocating. And we haven’t even heard the testimony of the offending judges yet!
As far as I see it, both Judge Dave Lupas and District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll need to be summarily dispatched at the very first opportunity. Fired, that is.
And her getting all saucy and defiant while staring down these commission members…it makes me want to vomit. It makes me want to vomit because I know damn well that those commission members knew they were listening to two-days worth of cover-your-ass prevarication.
They know full-well that Luzerne County, the judiciary and otherwise, is clearly the asshole of the entire state. They see the people that testified before them as the incompetent pretenders that they all were, and apparently still are.
Yes, it’s official: nobody knew.
Cut me a fu>king break! What did you know and when did you know it?
Uh...know what?
And then we have this insufferably tedious gibberish…
Petrilla: No mass layoffs planned
Luzerne County’s proposed 2010 budget is two weeks away from adoption, and there’s not a peep about how commissioners will close a $29 million gap.
Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said nobody’s talking because there is no firm plan yet, though she’s certain the county won’t be cutting 150 workers – one of the options suggested by an outside financial consultant.
“If there’s room not to fill vacancies or to downsize a little, we’d consider that, but there will not be a mass layoff,” Petrilla said. “That’s pretty much all we know for a fact.”
Petrilla said she believes another large layoff would hamper county services, though commissioners are urging department heads to voluntarily suggest staff cuts. The county’s 2009 budget laid off 72 workers.
“Downsizing last year had a great impact on our offices,” Petrilla said.
Hey, not a problem Mrs. Petrilla. Raise taxes by a gazillion percent, and then float another uninsured $20 million bond late next year. Not a freaking problem!
In lieu of adept, fiscally responsible management, we’ll put up with the likes of you. Or will we?
How do you hold the unaccountable accountable? They wanted to adopt a zero tolerance policy? Yeah, so why shouldn't we do likewise?
Fire their dead asses!
Later
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