Flashback: Kanjo's paid 'nuts'

What do you get when you combine equal parts hypocrisy, sophistry, connivance and senility? Anyone?

No, not Cornerstone Technologies. Why, you get Paul Kanjorski!

C'mon. That one was too easy.

From "Dems videotaped Barletta," Times Leader, 11/16/2008

U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski spent more than $2 million to win his 13th term, including $10,000 in payments to a videographer who followed political opponent Lou Barletta throughout the campaign.

Kanjorski, a Democrat, defeated Barletta in the Nov. 4 election by nearly 10,000 votes to retain his 11th Congressional District seat.

The videographer, identified as Joe Van Wie of Agapic Films of Scranton, was observed taping Barletta at campaign rallies and fundraisers. He also caught the mayor at Hazleton City Hall before and after council meetings, said Shawn Kelly, who served as Barletta’s campaign spokesman.

Van Wie may have been able to track Barletta because he signed up to be a Barletta campaign volunteer.

Van Wie filled out a volunteer card for the Barletta campaign and wore a Barletta for Congress button at some of the events where he was working for Kanjorski and taping Barletta, Kelly said. When he signed the volunteer card, Van Wie checked two boxes on the card, volunteering to place a Barletta yard sign on his home lawn and volunteering to work the polls on Election Day.

But Van Wie would not discuss it.

For the inside scoop, visit the 2008 'Van Wie Report' by McGruff: ..."I'm not going to set myself up for, you know…nuts to hit me with a camera and ask stupid questions.”

Markie's translation of above quote: I don't want done to me what we did to Lou Barletta in 2008.

From Kanjo, Barletta spar over 'nuts'

Ed Mitchell, Kanjorski’s campaign spokesman, fired back, saying the congressman stands by his comments made on WILK, “including the ones about Barletta’s sorry record as mayor.”

“With the reference to ‘nuts,’ he (Kanjorski) meant a small number of extreme political opponents who come to disrupt town meetings solely for the purpose of scoring political points they can register on YouTube or the Internet to inflict damage and embarrass the congressman and not to the people who come to those meetings to discuss issues and gather information,” Mitchell said. “He meant nothing disparaging by his comments.”

Extreme political whats?

Like the slithering sort that would pay a creepy guy such as Van Wie? Man, these haplessly transparent prevaricators make it sound as if there's a tea bag sniper hiding under every rock and pebble. Meanwhile, they reach for the sticky stuff from within their murky bag of political tricks.

What we have here is continuing hypocrisy from the dirty trickster at the behest of the big conniver.

Moral and ethical inanition!

Sez me.

Kanjo: Nuts with cameras

Always warm and cuddly, earlier today Paul Kanjorski told WILK's Nancy & Webster that he'll not do town hall meetings so as to not expose himself to 'nuts with cameras.'

Cong. Kanjorski slams Barletta and 'you tube politics'

From WILK: 11th District Congressman Paul Kanjorski talked financial reform with WILK's Webster and Nancy this morning. The Democrat was also asked whether he'd be doing any face-to-face townhall meetings this summer. His opponent, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has attacked Kanjorski for not scheduling such meetings. The Congressman said there's nothing to be gained by 'nuts with cameras' showing up at such events, and that he 'won't hand his opponent a baseball bat'. Kanjorski also slammed Barletta on a number of fronts, including Hazleton's money woes and when speaking about Barletta as Mayor said 'he already botched that up'.

Watch this at WILK News Radio

Here's the blow-by-blow...

Nancy: “There are those on the other side, namely a guy is running against you -- Lou Bartletta -- coming up in the fall who says you know you need to go out actually have a face to face town hall meeting rather than your phone call, you do the call-outs -- are you going to do any town hall meetings."
　
Kanjo: “We're gonna do everything we can to get opinions from people…to meet with people but I'm not going to set myself up for, you know…nuts to hit me with a camera and ask stupid questions.”

Ah, when he comes off badly on video as he so often does, it was because of a nut with a camera. Ah. Got it. Thank you Uncle Paul.

Thanks once again for insulting those of us that are encouraged by politicos to do our civic duty and get involved, do as much, and then are called "nuts" for having done so.

I think he needs to stay away from the nuts with the microphones, too. I think he needs to just stay away. Period.

Later

Vee ah Norveigan!

I went and took a late afternoon bicycling tour of downtown Wilkes-Barre yesterday. And I have to say, as an avid cyclist, Mayor Tom Leighton has all but ruined the downtown for me and mine.

Where once I could ride those little-used sidewalks with my eyes closed, now I'm all but banished to the streets due to the heavy foot traffic. And there was a time not too long ago when I could dart right through the heart of the downtown in a minute flat, while now I found myself having to share the roads, too. Will it never end?

I neglected to snap a picture, but Blum Brothers is gone. Torn down, trucked away and never to be seen again.

Here's the new intermodel facility at street level.


I kind of paused there because at first glance, this scene reminded me of something from my boyhood years. Deja vu all over again, I suppose. Not sure. Perhaps Port Authority in NYC. Maybe Bridgeport. I dunno.

The new streetscaping is so long overdue, it's sick. And if we remember, an investigation by the staff and management of the now defunct Wilkes-Barre Online revealed that the city had pallet upon pallet of replacement pavers, and could have repaired those fast-fading sidewalks at any time since the Great Flood of '72. But for whatever depraved reason, the City chose not to.

I guess the vertical parking idea has been deep-sixed. And if it has been, I'm all good with that. The mere thought of drivers trying to back into the traffic on Public Square always made me fantasize about bidding on the towing contract.

Ah, never mind.

You simply have to check these pictures of Bowman Creek that Kayak Dude has posted on his site.

When my three kids were really small, we used to drive to Tunkhannock's very edge--Eaton Township, right there at the big steel bridge, and go tubing down the creek in inner tubes taken from the spent tires of tractor trailers. Big fothermuckers!

Sometimes it was kind of sedate. And many other times, it was a raging torrent of rushing water to be respected for the omnipresent danger that it was. Guess which one I preferred.

Anyway, we visited this spot when the creek was rain-engorged, even dangerous, and also while drought starved and lame. But never did I ever see the water level even near this low. Not even close.

So, with the frickin' fracking now a part of the local lexicon, where did the water go? Was it siphoned off for the purposes of hydro fracturing layers of sub-strata rock? Methinks, yes it has.

Keep an eye on this sort of stuff where you live.

Oh, and a camera on your person.

Yeah, some of you sent along snarky emails when I made numerous mentions of The Naked Communist. Yep, some objected to striking similarities I listed between the-then (?) long-term agendas of the Soviets and of the Democrat party right here in the fast-fading USofA.

Soviet infiltration? Sleeper agents spending decades living here among us and trying to dictate U.S. policy?

Wow! This Mark guy was off his rocker, you said.

From CNN.com: New arrest in Russian 'deep cover' case

An excerpt: According to the court documents, some of the suspects adopted phony identities, including those of dead Americans, and posed as married couples. The suspects engaged in secret communications including exchanges of bags, money drops and use of invisible ink, as well as more modern touches such as private wireless computer networks between specific laptops, the documents said.

A decrypted message from Moscow to two of the suspects said they were sent to the United States for "long-term service," one of the documents said.

"Your education, bank accounts, car, house, etc. -- all these serve one goal: fulfill your main mission, i.e, to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in U.S. and send intels (intelligence reports)," the document said.

Yep, you laughed, didn't you?

One of the main goals listed in The Naked Communist was to wrest control of one of the two dominant political parties in the U.S. for the purposes of manipulating legislation to the point of setting forth an accelerated societal decay in this country.

Seen much societal decay in this country lately?

Buy the book. But be warned, you might not like what you read. Especially if you're a registered Democrat.

Oh, and your apologies will not be accepted.

Nyet!

Later

What good has he done?

I see Gort over at Gort took exception to my comments left at his site, and that's fair enough.

Here's what started the exchange--my comments regarding this stupid Kanjorski "defective" flap:

Non-issue, girls. It's simply a matter of the loose lips being faster than the aging brain. No biggie.

Then again, with that said, our gracious host would not be so bent-over apologetic if a member of that dastardly and evil, that no-good, scumbag-laced opposing political party--well beyond his years--went and said exactly the same words.

It's sad to say, but what we have here is a once-upon-a-time well-meaning poliblogger gone whole-hog party apparatchick.(D) Paul Kanjo can do no wrong, even when he goes "fumblemouth" for the umpteenth time?

Dubya must be scratching his head right about now.

Amazed, I am.

Honestly, nobody should have to put up with that in their own electronic back yard, so Gort fired back at me with the following:

The Blogfather agrees with me .

"Non-issue, girls. It's simply a matter of the loose lips being faster than the aging brain. No biggie. "Then he ripped me for being too partisan. This is from a guy who never has a good thing to say about the President and defends Bush's war's to this day. I hope he is eating well.

Look at my posts from the past 2 years and will you find that I have given more space to the Republican candidates in Luzerne County then the papers have. Such Bullspit.

Yep, I too received the email attacking Kanjo's comments from Barletta's campaign. And since I did not agree with their position, I chose not to make mention of it, even though I'm supposed to be a died-in-the-wool, hardcore Republican.

Interestingly enough, the hard-left local blogosphere rushed to defend Kanjo as soon as he came under attack by the Barletta camp. Tripping over each other, you were. While you may give Barletta some time and space, you'll do whatever it takes to see to it that he loses when it counts. And that's your prerogative. It's still a somewhat free country. Sort of. Almost. So go for it. Doesn't bother me except for the tiresome redundancy of the thing.

And, sure, I'll concede that local Republicans get a lot of exposure on your site, but the honest political animal will admit that 99.9% of them had a defective snowball's chance in Hell of getting themselves elected in this county. Again, no big deal.

As far as not having anything good to say about the clueless wonder currently occupying the oval office, what good has he done?

He and his advisers seriously underestimated the severity of the then-recession, now probably a depression. And they were on record as saying as much.

Oh, the economy is cyclical. It'll bounce back. It always bounces back.

Yeah!

Then they erred by funneling a trillion "stimulus" dollars to constituency groups, namely unions. And when that failed to jump start the economy, they invented a disprovable category all their own--saved jobs. Labor statistics supplied by the govmint suggest that the 10% unemployment rate is grossly inaccurate. And now they are promising a jobless recovery. Recovery? Recovery where? On Guam?

And exactly who was it that pulled the trigger on the September '08 October Surprise that secured his electoral victory over John McCain? Damn. We'll find out who really shot JFK before they ever let that untold story to leak out. The Bush economy was just fine until the economy had to be dealt a near death blow in the name of politics.

He promised to prosecute this Afghanistan war much more aggressively that Dubya ever did. But, the rules of engagement were changed meaning no more close air support, and the checklist that must be completed before any outgoing fire is allowed. Result...more KIAs. And how to fix it? General "Betrayus?"

And just because a group of people repeated the same lines until they finally believed them to be true, Bush Lied, War for Oil and all of that, it still remains to be seen that any of that bunk was true. When are we getting that oil? And what happened to the much-repeated story about how Bush invaded Afghanistan so that American oil companies could build pipelines across that country?

I still maintain that the howling moonbeams on the left told more lies about Iraq than Bush ever did.

When he's not playing golf, or embarrassing himself on the world stage, confusing Israel while incouraging it's enemies, or criticizing the United States at every turn, he's campaigning. I get 3-5 emails every week from Obama's Organizing America outfit.

And I think some of you people need to start religiously reading the foreign press. Not only does the foreign press think he's in over his head, so do most world leaders, former staunch allies and stated enemies of this country.

He has demonized industry large and small. He has made it more expensive for them to do business. And he still maintains that these Bush tax cuts need to come to an end at the end of this year. And then, he's still actively pushing this other economy killer--the Cap, Trade and Tax monstrosity. And we're wondering what's holding the economy back? It's called uncertainty, folks.

And then we learned that the CBO numbers on that so-called health care reform bill were kind of purposely tweaked so as to not seem so frightfully expensive. No lie there. More economic uncertainty. But still, we can't figure out why no one is hiring or investing. Beats me.

As I said going in, Obama had no resume, no experience, no private sector experience and no military service. All he had was Hope and Change. And now, all that we've got is to hope for a change and as soon as possible.

Facts is facts, and you people put a clueless wonder in the White House. "Yes we can" was a mirage. It's more like, "No he can't."

It's been 19 months. And I reiterate, what good has he done?

Later

Mickey D's, KFC and now Friendly's: Corporate Amerika killing unsuspecting consumers

This is what happens when clueless sophistes are allowed to dictate the agenda. Er, in this case, the restaurant menu.

Open wide? Friendly's Grilled Cheese BurgerMelt is even worse for you than KFC's Double Down

BY [sic] Rosemary Black

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, June 24th 2010, 12:09 PM

Friendly'sBite at your own risk: Friendly's new sandwich contains as many calories as a woman needs in an entire day.

KFC’s Double Down is so last month, now that Friendly’s has weighed in with its own Grilled Cheese BurgerMelt, a towering concoction that’s even bigger, fatter and unhealthier than its rival.

The monstrous, multilayered sandwich is really three dietary sins in one: a Friendly’s 100% Black Angus Big Beef Burger placed between two whole grilled cheese sandwiches on white bread.

By comparison, the Double Down’s a lightweight, chalking up 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and 1,380 mg. of sodium in its two pieces of fried chicken, bacon slices and Monterey Jack cheese slices.

The newest Friendly’s offering features a staggering 1,500 calories, according to SlashFood.com, along with 79 grams of fat and an impressive 2,090 mg. of sodium.

Do you have to taste it to believe it? SlashFood actually did, and found it to be an "embarrassingly pleasurable eating experience," with the grilled cheese "buns" oozing with the proper proportion of cheese and greasiness.

Nutritionally speaking, it might pay to schedule a visit to the cardiologist on your way to Friendly’s to pick up the new sandwich.

"This is insane and very irresponsible - just what Americans don't need," says Keri Gans, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. One of the new triple-decker extravaganzas contains as many calories as the average woman needs for an entire day.
"It contains more artery-clogging saturated fat than advised by health experts," Gans says. "And the amount of sodium is outrageous, exceeding by almost 600 mg. what is being recommended for the 2010 dietary guidelines."

SlashFood tasters conceded, "It’s going to be hard to eat another one of these without feeling significant guilt and remorse."

Unless, of course, you share. With maybe four junk-food addicts?

Um, the incremental indoctrination of Amerika is not flying under the radar anymore. If a national restaurant chain puts a 1,500 calorie burger concoction on the menu, why the media outcry? Why the macro response to the micro non-problem?

We know. We know! We know the deal: From this day forward, we are allowed to eat wheat germ, tofu, salamander caviar and salmon only. We got the oft-ignored message.

So shut the fu>k up already!

If the Friendly Ice Cream Corporation puts such a thing on their menu, why the leftist-inspired angst barely passing as reporting?

Truth be told, I was once employed by this outfit for 5 years, first as an assistant manager at a couple of sites and then later as a general manager of a high-volume store. And being that my speciality was the back-of-house, namely the development of, preparation of, proper storage of and the menu planning of all incoming products, I always found myself butting heads with those who had the final word on any and all menu changes.

To be blunt, I'm of the opinion that the menu at Friendly's includes little more than overpriced, under-valued and subpar products. And that's exactly why I was painted as being a naysayer when I worked for them for far too long. As for me, I want potatoes from Oregon, not some pre-packaged, reconstituted crap from south of the Rio Grande fast destined for the worst piece of equipment that was ever incorporated into a kitchen--the microwave.

And ignore this constant drumbeat about how you're supposedly driving up the cost of health care based on your lifestyle choices. That is so much bullsh*t, it stinks even in it's textual form.

The only reason the cost of health care has exploded, and the only reason the prohibitive cost of health care excludes so many of us is because those 535-plus two jackasses in Washington, D.C. have allowed it to become a pressing issue, a nightmare of a manufactured dilemma from which they will save us. In other words, they are prevaricating all over again.

So, what else is new?

As for myself, even though it does not excite me in the least, I'm going to Friendly's as soon as humanly possible to consume one of these grilled cheese burger killers. And I'm going to post the grotesque pictures when I do.

My point?

Leave us alone.

Allow us to live our lives without your constant browbeating as mandated by the out-of-control U.S. Fedrule Govmint.

The 4th of July is almost upon us, a day the producers of charcoal excitedly pencil in on their calendars year-in and year-out. And all of Amerika wll go bonkers on burgers, hoddogs, chicken, ribs, marshmallows and Allah only knows what else.

So, deal with it you mealy-mouthed children of the revolution.

And thanks again for pissing me off by way of what should be the mundane.

Hatfield!

Oscar Mayer!

Party on!

Buh-bye

Swimming at Nesbitt Beach?

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."--Voltaire

I enjoyed a week away from all of this localized electronic tomfoolery.

Personally, it’s all gotten very redundant for me. The banality of the partisan preaching to the choir is insufferable at times. The economic morass is deepening thanks to a lack of clear and concise leadership. And yet, those facts are still being fed through the ideological filters for our consumption.

A “jobless recovery?”

You’re serious? Run that by the jobless and see how upbeat they are about the supposed recovery.

Seriously, when you’re reduced to arguing for more tax increases simply because your political party inflicted them on one segment of society (for example: tanning salons, beer drinkers, smokers) and not another, your brain is clearly misfiring.

If the Republicans levy a tax increase, it’s bad policy. But when the further confiscation of our earnings comes at the hands of the Democrats, that’s a necessary step?

Please do not send me any more instant messages. Ever. And on that note, Facebook effing bites!

It’s like this flap concerning Paul Kanjorski’s latest verbal gaffe.

When a Republican goes and misspeaks, those words are etched on stone tablets and regurgitated forever more. Oh, but when someone from your favorite team goes and fumbles the oratory ball, well, that’s no big deal. He simply misspoke, you say.

Sorry, but the inconsistency of applied standards is the hallmark of the intellectually dishonest.

Want proof that the fracking will go forward and completely unabated?

Well, since both Phyllis Mundy and Karen Boback have both stepped forward and demanded more stringent oversight of the gas drilling, I figure it’s a done deal.

Why? Because I honestly feel that their fellow legislators in Harrisburg do not take the female members of the legislature as seriously as they do their male counterparts.

That’s the way I feel.

We are facing, what was it, a $1.2 billion budgetary shortfall? But our all-knowing lawgivers are not in favor of the proposed severance tax being paid by the oil and gas companies currently laying claim to wide swaths of our area.

I’m thinking that they are operating out of this parallel universe where oil company executives slip cash-stuffed envelopes to the elected and the appointed.

If I’m way off base in this belief, somebody explain this to me.

The City of Wilkes-Barre has posted some nifty pictures from the Murray Complex smokestack implosion.

Boy, has the Nord End landscape changed for the better. Quickly, too. And this from the mayor who only cares about the downtown?

Better rethink that oft-used bit of illogic.

Last Saturday I participated in the 11th annual RiverFest paddling event, my 8th such involvement.

In my denuded mind, this was the perfect event. Hot as hell, humid and nothing but brilliant sunshine firing back at me off of the muddied water. On a picturesque day such as this one, the river’s duality is only heightened for the paddling neophytes.

They see much of the splendor and the beauty and the plentiful wildlife that accompanies a trip on the river. Unfortunately, they also see what man has done to the river by way of unregulated industry, poor urban planning and outright neglect of the local environment.

The defunct coal mining industry added the Acid Mine Drainage to the devastating mix. Poor municipal planning and a lack of useful federal funding has allowed raw sewage to flush into the river for far too long. Urban sprawl has added ungodly amounts of waste water runoff so that even a modest rain event can transform a normally sedate and meandering river into a raging torrent of destruction. And they also see that too many of us use the river as the final resting place of tires, appliances and what have you.

From day one, when first I set forth to paddle this river, from that day forward I’ve always had one thought of any resonance about our river: We can and should do better by it.

If you don’t want pee in the pool, then stop peeing in the pool. It’s simple. And I like simplicity.

Once again, a heartfelt thanks goes out to Kayak dude for having us along in the U.S.S. Dude. Know what? Despite Wifey’s long-running protests, I means to have my own boat when next we shove off together. So as to make some room, I’ll get rid of a bicycle or two.

I do want to make mention of the fact that our newly-appointed River Common coordinator is all of 24-years-old.

Let’s see here, we spent $24 million in local, state and federal funding on that beautiful amenity, and then we put it in the hands of a kid? And a politically-connected kid, no less.

I don’t care how many of our disgraced local officials they sentence to home confinement, this hiring suggests that you still need the right surname to get an invite to the big public sector dance.

Knowing that when some local comes under the microscope of a local blogger some reader will likely call said local and make them aware of it, let us assume that our River Common kid is at some point made aware of my unmitigated audacity.

If he objects to my commentary, I would suggest that he contact me and make his case in text or in person.

Sounds fair to me.

As for RiverFest 2011, I do have a couple of suggestions.

I know we really want to push the ‘getting back to nature’ angle and all of that, but why not bring in some more attractions for the kids. Like, kiddie rides. I know they draw electricity and destroy the planet somehow. All of which has yet to be fully explained. But rides also draw people looking to treat their kids. I know, keeping with the theme, we could bring in hamster-powered rides. Ah, never mind that last thought. The P.E.T.A. freaks would have a collective stroke, something, by the way, that I'd like to watch on YouTube.

And I have to tell you, after paddling 15 miles in direct sunlight, with the temps approaching 90 degrees and with an elbow screaming out in pain with each and every swipe of the paddle, a cold, frosty one would really seal the deal once we make land at Nesbitt Park. Okay, 3 or 4 of them would put the icing on. Maybe 6 or 7.

Follow me here. Beer is brewed from agricultural products. So, in effect, the consumption of alcohol is yet another way of getting back to nature. The way I see it, beer is as green as it gets. So, having the temerity to correct Kayak Dude, I’m no tree hugger. Nope, I’m more of a hops and barley hugger.

Anyway, while sitting there at the river’s edge watching all of the fatigued and spent-looking first-time paddlers struggling to get up out of their boats and up the launch, I’m thinking that very many of them would greatly appreciate being able to immediately self-medicate upon future arrivals.

My grandson Zach was made an official River Rat. But since he’s too young to operate a kayak, he’s the first ever River Rodent.

Dude, you have no idea how excited he was to receive that official RiverFest whistle. When we got home and stowed our gear, he slipped that whistle into the mesh netting on the side of his river hat so as to not lose it.

We’ll be celebrating his 7th birthday next month, and he’s already got 3 events and 45 miles on his paddling resume. Perhaps 30 years from now he’ll be leading young paddlers down river while telling them the history of the river. As in, it used to be polluted. No!

Yeah, really.

Will RiverFest 2040 include swimming at Nesbitt Beach?

That's for us to decide.

Later

Wyoming Valley RiverFest 2010

The propulsion is provided, so you might as well come along for the ride.

The accompanying music was muted by YouTube as part of this ridiculous copyright infringement squabble.

Bye

Mellow ain't retired yet

The Scranton Times is reporting that "Federal agents are raiding Senator Robert Mellow's Archbald home and his district office in Peckville."

Check for updates on all of that.

The Murray Complex on Courtright Ave. is just about histoire. Amazing. What is that, like a 3-acre complex? And Stell Enterprises removed it from the landscape in a couple of weeks?

While Stell may have removed it from the neighborhood, it cannot be removed from my memories. You know the deal. If I had a dime, if I had a dime for every time grandma and I walked past that old factory while on our way to "Top Spot: Home of The Lulu" burger, I'd be leasing my entire 500 acre spread to Cabot Oil right about now.

Here's something our RiverFest river paddlers have yet to encounter: The old Eighth Street bridge meets the new Eighth Street bridge.

I ran into Carl Romanelli on Public Square and I told him to drop on by the Leisure Tavern tomorrow night if he could make it. Sorry, but us Zappa fans need to stick together. So, if he shows, then this becomes a blogger/candidate event?

Nah, the way I figure it, he's been as big a pain in the ass for the political establishment as have some of us well-traveled Internet raconteurs, so he's one of ours.

He runs with us.

Speaking of the Leisure and RiverFest, too, I was due a check yesterday that never arrived. I have yet to receive a sufficient explanation for that. I'm told it will be here today. And if it does not arrive here today, I am in a heap of trouble.

My 11 fingers will be crossed as the mailman makes his way up this smallish street.

Anyway, I am home early today and planning on doing next to nothing next to waging death and destruction by way of a CD-ROM game.

Later

Leisurely Beer Summit

I just got off the phone with one of those bloggers from the Scranton area.

As I said on Facebook earlier today, I have a full day on Saturday, and I do not feel like hanging out with the pretend pretty people in any of the downtown bars that charge more for a draft than does New York City when a 5-axle vehicle tries to cross a toll bridge.

Harold, don’t sweat the homicide thing. While there was an isolated incident of the fatal kind at Liam’s last year, it’s a quiet corner bar where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came. Until that fateful night, that is. My son hangs out in there, and it really is a sedate place.

Anyway, what I told Tom was, I don’t want no road trips, or no glitzy locales or no pretty people. I want to hang at one of the Nord End neighborhood bars and that’s about it. So, at or before 6 pm on Saturday, I will be taking up residence at the Leisure Tavern right here in the Nord End.

It has a large enough bar, plenty of ESPN, a side room, a pool table and a jukebox. And have no fear, a few members of the WBPD usually take up a bar stool at the conclusion of the 2-10 shift. Well, have no fear unless you have outstanding warrants.

Leisure Tavern
553 N Pennsylvania Ave
Wilkes Barre, PA
18705
570-823-3883

Directions? Piss off!

Okay, for you Scranton types, 81 South to 309 North, hit Exit 2 (Center City W-B), take a left at the bottom of the exit ramp, right at the first light, left at the stop sign. And there you are--150 yards away. Hint: Neon sign.

Park across the street in front of Bloomsburg Metal.

Anyway, I’m told to expect Tom, Steve, Kayak Dude, a metallic silver robot, with D.B. Echo and Big Dan as possible/probable. Oh, and yours truly.

If we’re missing someone, give them a shout. And if I’ll failed to mention anyone who wants to get together and fix all that ails the world by somewhere thereabout midnight Saturday, drop me an electronic pulse.

Later

Gasland on HBO

From the email inbox:

Dear friends,

In one week, America will tune in to HBO to see what happens when we allow gas drilling companies to run rampant in our towns. Gasland premires on HBO at 9:00 P.M. EDT on June 21st. Host a house party that night! We've got a toolkit for you, a new ultra-phenomenal website (going live this week), a "spark" (an embeddable mini-website), and this fantastic new trailer.

Please join us on Facebook and Twitter and tell your friends to sign up for our monthly e-mails here; we promise not to spam or sell addresses.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

1.Tell your Representatives to support the FRAC Act here.

2. New Yorkers: Call your State Senator to advocate for the Englebright/Adabo Bill 518-455-2800.

3. Pennsylvanians: Demand a statewide moratorium. Tell your Representatives to support HB 2213. Find their contact info here.

Stop the insanity,
Josh Fox
Director, GASLAND