The weather in southern Africa

While the rest of you are in bed I usually watch the re-run of Hardball at 3AM after I get home from work or try to because sometimes Mrs G tunes in The Family Guy because I'm busy surfing. And another helpful programming note for you 2nd shifters and insomniacs, Arlis is on ESPN Classic at 2:30.

But anyway every night/morning at 3:30AM a bit comes on MSNBC with the presenter saying "Welcome to all our new viewers in southern Africa, here is today's weather"...then we get the temps in Capetown and Zimbabwe in Celsius.
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People in Africa watch MSNBC?

So as a public service announcement to all the readers of GORT42 in southern Africa here is the the weather report for South Africa:
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Another Kanjo ad

This is the 3rd TV ad from the Paul Kanjorski reelection campaign since mid-June. Maybe all the handicappers such as Cook, Rothenberg, CQ and The Fix are on to something.


Kanjorski votes so seniors can afford medicine

Carney on the air

And in the news.

A TL story touts the advantages of caring for seniors in their homes instead of a nursing home tying into Chris Carney's Caregiver Tax Relief Act of 2008 (HR 6448). He also visited a federal training center in Alabama that will train first responders to deal with "Bombing rural Wal-Marts would be devastating to America,” among other things. He also introduced the “Made in America Act,” (H.R. 6611) which offers tax cuts to support American companies that keep their jobs and businesses “made in America.” That's a tough nut to crack.


Restore Honor




The Chris Hackett camp responded to the spot by saying that Carney wears Nancy Pelosi's underwear or something like that. Memo to my GOP friends, it's going to be hard to vilify a soft spoken grandmother even if she is from San Francisco.

And the Sierra Club has a response to the Freedom Watch radio ads about offshore drilling backing Carney.

Listen here.

Meet the candidate

Williamsport, PA—Congressman Christopher P. Carney has announced his next Listening Tour Town Hall Meeting in partnership with AARP Pennsylvania at 10:00AM on Tuesday, July 29th at the Mary Welch Honors Hall at Lycoming College on 334 Basin Street in Williamsport. He will be available to discuss issues affecting our community, including actions Congress is taking to protect working families, support our veterans and stimulate our economy. Congressman Carney will have staff on hand to help with casework issues, including veterans’ benefits, Social Security, Medicare payments and stimulus payments. In addition, representatives from AARP Pennsylvania will also be available to answer questions.


Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) will hold a telephone town meeting on health care to discuss with his constituents the issues that are important to them and hear their opinions... To RSVP, please visit http://kanjorski.house.gov or call (570) 825-2200. If you RSVP, you will receive a phone call at the start of each meeting which will automatically connect you to the live telephone town meeting. If you would like to RSVP, you must do so by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 29.
WHEN:
Tuesday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. – On health care and Congressman Kanjorski’s efforts to ensure that Americans can afford the care they need and make sure that care is readily available.

YouTube weekend

Get off of my lawn..........and my sidewalk.

Store's don't like it when a bunch of kids gather outside the entrance and I don't like it when a bunch of skateboarders are zinging up and down my sidewalk. Here is a deterrent.

BBC: A device emitting a soundwave which is designed to drive young troublemakers away from a problem area of Swindon has been hailed as a success. Listen to the sound online.

I only hear some noise.


The 'Mosquito' sonic deterrent device...the sound resembles that of a buzzing insect. And it works by emitting a harmless ultra sonic tone that generally can only be heard by people aged 25 and under. In trials, it has proven that the longer someone is exposed to the sound, the more annoying it becomes.


There is a simple solution to get rid of kids that are annoying. Stick a speaker in the window and blast this at them. They scatter in a few minutes.

Barry Manilow

Dan Meuser backers still not supporting Chris Hackett

GOP PA-10th CD nominee Chris Hackett had a nice fund raising quarter raising a few more dollars than incumbent Democrat Chris Carney, $367,000 to $353,000. He also dropped in another $250,000 of his own coin. The all important cash on hand number shows Carney with $1,149,938 to Hackett's $266,816. I'm sure that Hackett will be able to make up that deficit by writing a few more checks.

From the TL: A look at the list of about 300 Hackett donors filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission reveals only 10 names that could be found on Meuser’s pre-primary donor list...“Certainly in a choice between Chris Hackett and Chris Carney, I choose Chris Hackett,” Meuser said...“I don’t like asking or putting a hand out,” he said, adding that he urges all party members “to support good Republican candidates in the November election.”

But he had no problem asking people to pony up $250 to have lunch with John McCain at the Westmoreland Club.

A comment on the TL story: Dan Meuser, hats off to you. You are a class act for your statements. I know personally I could never support someone who has attempted to defame my character and my family. I believe this political race has now come down to who the better person is not which party they belong to. Chris Hackett and his team did run a dirty campaign and that's not the kind of politics we need in our area. I did support Dan Meuser and I will not support Chris Hackett. My check and my vote will go to Chris Carney.

And a guest post from our friend KAR:

In the months following the primary election I had time to reflect on the outcome and determine what course of action I would follow. As many of you know I decided to actively encourage voters, republican and democrat, to “write-in” Dan Meuser’s name in November.

I know that many democrats are not entirely pleased with Chris Carney, and I also know that many republicans are not thrilled with the prospect of representation by Chris Hackett.

I continue to write letters and occasionally post something on the blogs. It is far less exciting than the build up to the April primary, but it gives me the satisfaction of knowing that I’m doing something. My hope is that Hackett loses, and Dan gets a shot at Carney in 2010.

Some, it would seem, have taken exception to my ideas, and have gone as far as suggesting that a “write-in” vote for Dan would be an abuse of the voting privilege(Dave Kveragas Times Leader July 21st). There were many abusive incidents during the lead up to the April Primary; writing in Dan’s name hardly rises to the level of abuse.

I don’t want to seem like I’m stuck on this, but honestly, and with no bitterness I’ve concluded that I do not want to be represented by Chris Hackett. He is, in my opinion, devoid of principles, integrity & honesty. The prospect of long term representation by him is far worse, in my opinion, than one more term of Chris Carney.

Hackett attempted to smear the good name of Pride Mobility, its many employees, and local business that sell & service Pride Products. His campaign admitted to contacting former Pride employees with no other purpose than to dig for dirt, they were unsuccessful.

Hackett’s campaign will fully misrepresented the facts concerning the hiring of 3illegals by Pride 13 years ago, even having one of their surrogates (a former WayneCounty District Attorney) go as far as suggesting criminality, they knew full well that was not the case.

They demogogued the issue of outsourcing suggesting that Pride was sacrificing local employment opportunities by sending jobs to China, they knew this to be untrue. The list goes on & on, they were shameless in their lies.

Hackett exposed himself as a hypocrite by not disclosing the existence of his very own illegal cleaning girl “Susie”, all the while he was hammering Pride about an incident, an administrative incident, 15 years ago, he had an illegal cleaning his house…world class hypocrisy.

We all remember the Vincente Fox visit, and Hackett’s protesting of said visit, the visit his company sponsored…more hypocrisy.

Hackett exposed himself as a liar by crowing about bringing new businesses to the area, one small problem, one of the companies, C3i, had to go public disavowing any relationship with Hackett.

The CFO of C3i wrote a letter indicating that Hackett had little or nothing to do with the company’s decision to locate here; he further stated that they had to terminate a relationship with Hackett’s temp agency due to poor performance.

You want to talk about abuse, talk about the abuse doled out by the Hackett campaign, remember that abuse when you vote in November. I’m voting for Dan Meuser.


Kevin

Chasing John McCain

I don't do mornings and this one got off to a bad start. I slept later than I should have then went into panic pass mode to get the Kirby Center for John McCain's town meeting on time. Gulped a coffee, threw on some clothes then headed downtown, parked at Boscov's then ran across Public Square in the rain a few minutes after 10AM.

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Going through security they asked me to empty my pockets of metal, keys and any electronics. The person checking my stuff couldn't figure out my camera because it had a message that said "Replace the Camera Battery." He asked me to turn it on but I couldn't because the battery was dead. Then he said to me "I can't verify that this a camera so it can't come in. Please take it back to your vehicle."

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Huh?

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Ignoring all the smart ass/witty/relevant remarks that came to mind I ran back to the car and emptied my pockets of everything that had any metal except my car keys and on my second try to get in I was again stopped and told to step to the side this time to be electronically searched.

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Somehow I made it inside after all that.

More to come...............................

New Kanjo TV ad

Paul Kanjorski Stands Up For Veterans

It features some local veterans reminding us that the VA Medical Center in Plains Twp. was on the chopping block just a few years ago.

John McCain in Wilkes-Barre today

I will be at the Kirby Center for the 10AM Town Hall meeting and hope to run into some other local bloggers. Chis Hackett will MC the event with Sen. Lisa Baker doing the introduction. Mayor Tom Leighton said he intends to to welcome Sen. McCain to the city. Hazelton Mayor Lou Barletta will not be in attendance because he will be in Berwick listening for people with funny accents.


I will skip the fundraiser at the Westmoreland Club, not that they would actually let me in the door. As Groucho said....

The last day of vacation

I tuned out the news channels this week. I recommend it to everyone.

Daniel Kingery for President

Daniel Kingery is running for President. I hope he gets on the ballot somewhere.

YouTube weekend

Talking Heads - Burning Down The House

My friend David

I just got home from vacation and was reading my local blog buddies when this hit me in the gut.


http://lulacpoliticaletter.blogspot.com/2008/07/lulac-edition-521-july-14th-2008.html


Coal Region Voice lived through it as have so many others.

The LuLac Political Letter














David is devoted to his church that went out of business.


St John The Baptist Church

YouTube weekend

What did you do on your vacation Gort?


The Go Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed

This work thing screws up my summer every year

Not to mention what it does to the baseball season.

Vacation is too short. Tomorrow we will return to Wilkes-Barre.

bananarama - cruel summer






Another timed post. What happened this week?

Fun at the beach

It's not just swimming, eating and shopping.

Garrys Mod - Sex On The Beach





And there are games to be played according to Mrs. G

Beach Blanket Bingo

Outlet shopping

Another time delayed post. If anything interesting happens in NEPA politics let me know in the comments. I'll be back too soon.


Mrs. G usually wants to visit the outlet stores on Rte 1 in Rehoboth where she tells me we will save lots of money because of all the fabulous bargains to be had. My observation that we will save even more money by not buying a bunch of stuff we may or may not need always is dismissed.

I surrender.

I don't "shop", I buy stuff

A classic from Miss C.

Food and drink at the beach

One of the pleasures of vacation is not cooking. We have our usual dining spots in Rehoboth including Aqua Grill, Catchers, Dos Locos, Finbar's Pub & Grill and the Frogg Pond.

But our favorite is Irish Eyes Pub & Restaurant in Lewes. They have an outdoor deck next to the canal where we always have a great meal and watch the boats come and go.

Cheeseburger in Paradise





The Pina Colada Song

Hurricane watch

One of things to worry about when you plan a beach vacation is a hurricane ripping up the coast.

From Old Horsetail Snake

From the Onion via Danny

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Presidency

Don't look up

The sand pigeons, also know as seagulls, are always pain at the beach.




A Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran

YouTube weekend

This will be our first day on the beach and I will be enjoying the scenery.

Let me know what I’m missing in the comments.

Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

YouTube weekend

On the way to the beach.

If anything interesting happens let me know in the comments.


Go-Go's - Vacation

Off to the beach

I programed a post for everyday we will be gone and I hope it works. If anything newsworthy happens let me know in the comments. While we are at the beach the only TV we watch is the weather channel and baseball. No news, no internet and no newspapers.

Dubya's greatest hits

No matter who wins the the election at least we will have a President that can speak the English language.

George W Bush - American Idiot



Thanks to Jacq for the video

The only Beach Boys song I've ever liked

The Muppets do it better.

Kokomo by The Muppets





The Beach Boys - Kokomo

Winding down

We are getting ready for the dog's vacation so I won't be posting much for the next few days. Let me know what I'm missing in the comments. I will program some time delayed posts while we are away.





Lighthouse-Sunny Days 1972

NEPA Blogs

After a lull me and DB Echo are again busy listing links to our local scribes at NEPA Blogs . I hope our new entries hang around for a while so we can live down our reputation as the kiss of death for new blogs.

Check out some of the new entries:

Dining in and around Northeastern Pennsylvania

Northeast Pennsylvania Center for Independent Living

Postranger.com.

NEPARunner.com

Local Values

That's How I See It

Tax and Small Business Forum

The Duped Scholar

Stop the Supply Sider Insanity

Debating debates

In a time honored tradition GOP challenger Chris Hackett has called for a series of debates with freshman Democrat Chris Carney then complains when the Carney camp doesn't agree to everything he wants.

Some choice quotes from the CV.

Republican Hackett says incumbent Carney unwilling to debate challenge

“If he’s willing to do these debates, then accept our challenge,” Hackett said. “Let’s get this settled and get the debates scheduled.”

“He is flat out not telling the truth,” Carney said of Hackett. “We have maintained contact and conversations about debates several times. He is just trying to throw as much mud as possible and hope something sticks.”

“The bottom line is (Carney’s campaign) has been stonewalling us from day one,” Hackett spokesman Mark Harris said. “They don’t want to do debates. We want to do debates. As today makes clear, they are going to do everything they can to avoid talking about Chris Carney’s liberal record.”

“I’m not a human caller ID,” Carney campaign manager Vince Rongione said ...“This release is a flat out lie,” he said. “I’ve been in conversations with them privately — professional, civilized conversations. They’ve now chosen to do the only thing they now how to do, which is go negative and attack. It’s very unprofessional.”

“Just because (Hackett) wants to debate doesn’t necessarily mean we are going to debate eight times,” Carney said.

If this is any indication of the level of discourse we can expect more fireworks than the 4th of July when they do meet.

Speaking of the 4th, Keystone Politics reports that Hackett was at the parade in Montrose handing out American flag pins made in China. Not that there is anything wrong about that since just about everything we buy anymore is made in another country. Pretty soon the only thing that will be made in the USA will be magnetic car ribbons.

Asylum Street Spankers Video-Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV

Sam Guesto's feelings are hurt

“Have you seen the man? He’s probably lost 80 pounds since everything started. He’s suffering greatly.”

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Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla has been saying some mean things about Guesto according to his lawyer and he sent her a cease and desist letter.

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According to Attorney William Shehwen of the Philadelphia area Petrilla called him a "thief,” “gangster” and a “thug'" and alleges that she is trying to get him fired from the court administrator position that she voted to create when everybody knew the job was invented for him.

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Guesto resigned as County Manager/Chief Clerk after it was revealed that he was in charge of the debit cards that were abused by everyone that got one and changed the purchasing policy at the Luzerne County prison to favor some well connected people that appears to be both a violation of the county's purchasing policy and state law telling the kitchen supervisor “do it or it’s your ass.” The last straw seems to be when he decided to redesign the proposed new prison on his own adding millions to the cost.

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The debit card abuse is being investigated by the Secret Service and the piecemeal contracting at the prison is supposedly being looked into by some secret police outfit according to District Attorney Jackie MO. Maybe if you go to her golf outing you can team up with the Yonk and ask her what is going on.

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GUESTO’S DEBIT-CARD PURCHASES

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In another federal investigation

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Ciavarella’s alleged bias subject of Friday hearing

Who belongs to the Westmoreland Club?

Westmoreland Club site of $250/plate McCain event

Dan Meuser is bringing GOP Presidential candidate John McCain to Wilkes-Barre on July 23 and it's an invitation only event. When it was first announced I thought the event would be at Genetti's but the "Club" makes more sense. I'm still hoping for a press pass that day.

A Correction

From a sharp eyed reader.


Hey Gort, I know you were probably going off of the article in the Times-Leader when you stated on your blog that Cong. Carney is "One of only two Members of Congress serving in uniform in the reserves...";however, that is factually incorrect. Carney and Kirk may be the only two Member of the U.S. House serving in uniform, but Sen. Lindsey Graham is also a reservist with the USAF Reserves

Tom

My apologies to Senator Graham for the omission.

From his bio:

Since 1995, Graham has continued to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is the only U.S. Senator currently serving in the Guard or Reserves. He is a colonel and is assigned as a Senior Instructor at the Air Force JAG School.

Carney taking fire from both sides

Washington, D.C.--Congressman Christopher Carney received word this week that he has been promoted from Lieutenant Commander to the rank of Commander in the United States Navy Reserve. One of only two Members of Congress serving in uniform in the reserves, Congressman Carney has been in the Navy Reserves since 1995 when he was commissioned as an Ensign. Carney was activated for Operations Southern Watch, Noble Eagle, and Enduring Freedom.

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I hope the Navy provided him with a flack jacket because he needs one.

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The Chris Hackett camp sent out a release today pointing out that he is having a big-dollar fundraising breakfast hosted by a Washington, DC lobbying firm whose major clients include the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which has fought for placing tolls on Interstate I-80. The implication is that Carney is for tolling I-80 even though he is on the record as being opposed to it.

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On the same day that David Urban, the former chief of staff to Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), is hosting the fundraiser for Rep. Chris Carney the GOP is having a shindig that includes Chris Hackett. The event is part of the Republican scheme called Regain Our Majority Program (ROMP) and TPM points out that Hackett is one of only two challengers that is listed on the program. I haven't seen the guest list for this event but I'm willing to wager a box of donuts that 5, 10, 50 or a few hundred lobbyist will be in attendance.

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Carney and Rep. Paul Kanjorski have been the target of robo calls and radio ads from an outfit called Freedom Watch which distorts the energy issue. They think we can just drill our way out of this mess. Another outfit called Freedom Works is planning to attend Carney's next town hall meeting:

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Representative Carney from PA will be making a Town Hall appearance on July 14. Also in attendance is local Freedom Works members from PA. They will be critiquing Carney on his support of the Mortgage Bailout Bill. Carney claims to be a Blue Dog Democrat, who espouse fiscal responsibility. Yet this bill raises the Federal deficit by $22 billion dollars. They will ask him what the deal is.

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Does every Republican front have Freedom in it's name?

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July 14, 2008 @ 10:00 am

WHERE: Middle Creek Community Center
67 Elm St .
Beaver Springs , PA

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On the other side Blue America PAC is still going after Carney over the FISA issue but this time strips any reference to my favorite cable company, Comcast. Who's trimming their sails now Howie? The last round of ads fell on deaf ears and was a big waste of money. If you want to meddle in Pennsylvania politics maybe you could put the money where it would do more good like shoring up Patrick Murphy, Joe Sestak or Allyson Schwartz.

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I've suggested a campaign song for Carney:

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Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You

Update:

Washington, D.C. Congressman Christopher P. Carney has issued the following statement opposing tolls for Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania.

"I oppose tolling I-80. While Pennsylvania roads and bridges are in need of repair, tolling places an undue burden on families, small businesses and local manufacturers. As we grow Pennsylvania's economy, we must do so in away that does not undercut our local economic base."

"There is clearly a critical need to rebuild the infrastructure in Pennsylvania, our roads and bridges are in dire need of repair. I look forward to working with our Governor to make sure that Pennsylvania transportation needs are being met."

Obama will accept the nomination at Mile High

The last time the Democratic Presidential candidate accepted the nomination in a big venue.

JFK's Acceptance Speech - Part 2

YouTube weekend

Everybody likes the Scissor Sisters


Scissor Sisters - Comfortably Numb

YouTube weekend

We took a bus trip to see th Phillies beat the Mets yesterday 3-2.


Centerfield

Happy 4th

BBQ

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We were invited to a BBQ with this guy today but like most people we would rather char animal flesh with the other one. This year we are skipping the traditional cook out and are going to see the Phillies play the Mets.

Flip of the spatula to DWT for the fun with photoshop.

Grow your own

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With high price of gas driving the cost of just about everything up, especially food, I've noticed that more people are planting vegetable gardens. We also decided to give it a try. The problem is everytime I start digging in the back yard I run into buried ashes and garbage that is not ideal soil for plants. So Mrs. G headed to the O'Malia Greenhouse and came back with some tomato plants in pots. Now we are looking forward to the fresh red fruit without the worry of Samonella

since the FDA has been so politicised as the rest of the government over the last 7 years that we can't count on the agency to protect the food supply.

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This is a family effort as we see Humphrey offering to water one of the tomato plants.

Enjoy the fireworks

A guest post

WHY DO THE PRISSY LIBERALS INSIST ON RUINING MY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

An Independence Day Message by Mean Old Man


Every July 4th God fearing, patriotic Americans gather to celebrate our glorious nation's independence. But lately the commie liberals have infiltrated this sacred holiday and I'm not happy!!!

In my day we knew what July 4th was all about. Of course, the celebrating didn't just start on the 4th. A few days before that you would head on downtown to the local firework merchant and pick up your roman candles, half sticks of dynamite, and a few concoctions that you really weren't too sure about (but always provided excitement when you lit them up). And it was a real family affair too, because every family had their own personal fireworks display in their backyard--not like the sissy organized commie displays today.
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Last year my goofy son Clay and his harlot wife dragged me and Thelma Jean along with their spoiled runts down to Kirby Park to see the fireworks display. God, I never saw such a gathering of wimps in my life!! And the minute I try to pop open a bottle of Steg to drown my sorrows, some cop comes up to me and tells me to pour it or he'll run me in. It was a good thing for him that I wasn't in a real bad mood because no patriotic American should let anyone get between him and his beer on the fourth of July!!! But being that it was one of the boys in blue, I let it slide.

The damned Kirby display wasn't anything like the displays me and my buddies grew up with. In the good old days we appreciated a fireworks display and like I said we had real "works" that were dangerous and made the day a challenge of fun and terror all in one!! Hell, when you arrived in the back yard you didn't know if you would return inside the house with all your body parts intact or not. Don't tell me that ain't fun!!! I remember on fourth when we convinced my dimwit buddy Gummo to take bets from all of us that he could hold a half stick of dynamite in his mouth until the fuse got near the base of the stick. We chipped in a quarter apiece betting that the schmuck would chicken out and throw the stick away first. Ol' Gummo if he was successful would have over a dollar in his pocket afterwards (when the Yankee dollar was worth something, before the liberals got a hold of it!). Anyway, I lit the fuse as poor Gummo stood there shaking like Louis Farrakhan at a KKK meeting. Well, as I figured, he chickened out and when the burning fuse was about a fourth of an inch from his mouth he pulled the stick out. What the dummy didn't realize was that the dynamite was all wet from his saliva; it became briefly lodged in his hand for a second (when you're dealing with dynamite, every second counts) and before he could throw it away it blew up!! I can still hear his screams of pain; his hand looked like it went through the corner butchers meat grinder. Ol' Gummo turned white as a sheet. The pain was killing him and Mom put some ice on the area where his full hand once was; we didn't go to prissy emergency rooms in those days--we lived with our pain!!! But you know what? Gummo wasn't complaining; he knew that was the price of fooling around on the fourth--- and he loved it!!!! And to top it all of, the only finger that was left on his hand was the middle one. So good ol'could Gummo flip someone and get away with it because he has no other fingers!!! And he enjoys doing that a lot, especially at VFW meetings. What a guy.

But I guess it's asking too much for today's wimpy kids to have the kind of fun that me, Gummo, and my buddies had. Hell, if a little liberal tyke grabs hold of one of those sissy sparklers his yuppie parents are ready to cart him to therapy for fear he'll become a firebug. Damn!!!!
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So all you goofball, dumbell liberals; have a nice Fourth of July. Enjoy your commie chinese fireworks that don't work. Enjoy your Zima, don't get your Dockers dirty. And don't forget to tighten that leash on your kids so they can't break loose and have some fun. As for me, I'm popping open a Steg, retrieving some of the old dynamite that I have left over from my days on the railroad, filling up the ol' Zippo, and having a patriotic grand ol' time. Hell, maybe even ol' Gummo will pop on over and take another stab at the dynamite trick.

That's my 4th; That's my America!!!
I hate you all!!!!!!!

More Carney Republicans

The DCCC sent me this story from Roll Call.

Ex-Specter Aide Fundraising for Carney (subscription only and I'm too cheap to buy one)

A former chief of staff to Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) is hosting a fundraiser for vulnerable freshman Rep. Christopher Carney (D-Pa.).

David Urban served as the Republican Senator’s top aide for five years before joining the American Continental Group in 2002. The $1,000-a-head fundraising breakfast for Carney is scheduled for July 16 at the lobbying firm’s offices in downtown Washington , D.C.

“While I’m a Republican, I like to think I support solid candidates,” Urban said in an interview. “[Carney] is a conservative Democrat ... who deserves to be given another shot.”

Roll Call lists the many Republicans he has contributed to in the past along with a a few Democrats. His bio on the ACG website says he's a graduate of West Point who was an artillery officer in the 101st Airborne Division and was awarded the Bronze Star in combat operations against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

A few weeks ago the Carney camp rolled out some local Republicans that support him and many of them were part of the 2006 Republicans for Carney group. Our newest local political blogger, Local Values, did some research on Open Secrets and points out that some of these people actually gave money to some Democrats. I was shocked by that revelation because I know that no true Republican could ever donate to Democrats except maybe Chris Hackett and Dan Meuser.

The difference this time is that many Meuser supporters just won't forgive Chris Hackett for what they perceive as his unfair negative campaign.

CV: All of the Republicans who attended Monday’s event said they support Mr. Carney for his “positions” or “values.” Many said they voted for the Dimock Township Democrat in 2006. But, at least one, Tom O’Neil, of Northmoreland, said he couldn’t support Mr. Hackett after his “negative” and “outrageous” primary campaign. Mr. O’Neil, a former two-term city councilman in McKeesport, helped campaign for Mr. Meuser in the primary.


“Mr. Hackett, you’re as much a conservative as Britney Spears is a model for motherhood,” Mr. O’Neil said.

This Republican support for Carney does come with a price. My friends in the lefty blogosphere were already mad at him over some other issues like the Hate Crimes Bill and Iraq. Down With Tyranny even lead an effort to finance ads that ran in the district about his FISA vote that fell on deaf ears that I thought was big waste of money. When I asked Carney about the ad campaign he told me he wasn't worried about it; "It doesn't hurt me to be slapped around by the left."

DWT has some serious disagreements :

Carney, who once worked for war criminal Doug Feith and helped cook the books on prewar intelligence, "shares their values." He is anti-choice, anti-gay, pro-war, pro-warrantless spying on American citizens, in favor of abolishing the estate tax for multimillionaires and an advocate of the GOP plan to undermine and wreck Social Security. No wonder Republicans like him. Their own candidate, Chris Hackett is even worse than Carney.

On a related note Jonathan Tallman has started a blog in support of Chris Hackett.

Pennsylvania budget

For the first time in a while the Governor (Ed Rendell) and the state legislature agreed on a budget for the Commonwealth before the deadline of July 1st. Both sides got some of want they wanted with Rapid Edward and the Democrats getting more money for education and an obscene amount of borrowing for a long wish list and the Republicans can point out the plan doesn't have any tax increases.

This item irks me: $800 million from slot-machine revenues for dams and water and sewer facilities. We were told that tax revenue from the slots would be used to lower school property taxes with some allowance to offset the local costs of hosting the casinos. Now with this new pool of new money every politician and others can't resist the temptation to spend it on something else. Some people with a history of getting local governments to finance their ventures are even proposing to use $250 million of slots money to guarantee a bond issue to build a cargo airport near Hazleton that no shipping company will commit to using.

Thanks to Capitol Ideas for his heroic coverage of the budget negotiations over the weekend. It probably involved too much stale coffee, fast food and antacids.

Slow news day 2

And stop the presses before you tell us something that we already know like Chris Hackett has more money than Chris Carney.

Chris Hackett’s assets more than 10 to 20 times Chris Carney’s

According to the story Carney collects his salary and owns a house. While Hackett collects a salary from only one of his many companies and lists the rest of his income as coming from investments. When asked about Hackett spending his own money in the race spokesman Mark Harris said he didn’t anticipate Hackett spending money in the general election.

Which is a little different than what he told me a few days ago:

Chris has made no decisions yet about the extent of personal funds we'll use, and that option is very much on the table.

Update from Mark Harris:

Gort, just to clear up our position has remained the same on Chris’s personal contributions. Coulter just worded it awkwardly.

Slow news day

A story in the CV yesterday said Luzerne Commssioner Greg Skrenenak is finding that it's lonely under the dome without his buddies.

A nice exchange between him and Maryanne Petrilla.

"I thought that I would be more of a partner, rather than one of three independent commissioners, and my suggestions have fallen by the waste side.”


“If Greg Skrepenak is upset Sam Guesto is no longer the chief clerk, that’s too bad.”


And the latest for what passes as a scandal in Wilkes-Barre.


Parking lot treatment upsets patrons