The year in review-2006

What a year it's been in my little corner of world up here in Luzerne County. The good news is we didn't lose anyone from the family and our friends are all healthy. We love our family even though some are annoying and we cherish our friends, even the crazy ones. I can honestly say I don't think of anyone as an enemy and don't hate anybody. I'm truly thankful for that.

Doing this internet thing has brought more friends and no matter what your point of view I respect your opinion and your right to say what's on your mind. We may disagree but I've never got into a pissing contest with another blogger unlike what goes on with the big boys. I reserve my name calling for politicians.

In politics the highlight of the year for me was Chris Carney winning the 10th Congressional District and the Democrats taking back the House and Senate. The re-election of Rapid Edward was never in doubt as the state GOP forced out more capable candidates such as Jim Panyard and Bill Scranton. After Number 88 was nominated he could have went to Bermuda for the fall and still won by 10 points. Our immigrant from Virginia was sent packing by Boring Bob and Carl Romanelli provided some drama with his quest to make the ballot. As Ozzie said, I'd sell my soul for rock n'roll but not a ballot spot. After the payraise bru-ha-ha many of our state legislators retired or were defeated in the primary. But the games continue over who will be speaker. The PA legislature is the most disfunctional governing body I've ever seen. Maybe Russ Diamond had the right idea.

In Luzerne County three flooding events and a tornado overshadowed all the other news. Hugo Selenski was found not guilty of murder but convicted of abusing a corpse. Bush and Cheney came to the area to raise money for the Tunkhannock Strangler. Pocono Downs got slot machines and all our money worries are over. The Yankees replaced the Phillies as our AAA baseball team that resulted in the jackasses that run Lackawanna County coming up smelling like roses.

To my blog buddies, Thank you. I didn't even try to list you all as I'm sure I would omit someone.

On to 2007!

NaDruBloDa

Well the big day has come and gone and I'm late as usual. National Drunk Blogging Day will sure to become an annual event that promises to become bigger as the years pass.

I stopped off at my local pub to get warmed up and brought home Dick Yuengling to help me out in this endeavor.

Now the challenge is what to write about something without it deteriorating into a drunken, suicidal rage involving hookers, inflatable party sheep and power tools with mayonnaise and Kaopectate splattered all over the keyboard at the end.

I think I should cover some things other than local politics.

A friend is trying to quit smoking and violated the first rule, he told people he was giving up smoking. So everytime he backslides and gives into the temptation of the evil weed he is subjected to a torrent of abuse from smokers and nons alike. I encourage him by reminding him that it's easy to quit smoking, I've done it five or six times. I also haven't sniffed glue in years but nobody gives me any credit.

Dental floss is now being sold in round containers. This strikes at the very heart of modern civilization and tradition. I know you get the freebee at the Dentist is in a blue square device but the commercial product is being packaged differently.

I just disturbed the dog and made him come downstairs because of our need for animal company. The cat is hiding under the Christmas tree and is out of reach unless I want to suffer various bleeding wounds then to have him go hide somewhere out of reach.

Note: Blogger will not let me post pictures right now and it's pissing me off. I hope blogger beta doesn't have these problems. I should really move to another platform.

Zip codes. Everybody is talking about zip-codes, I don't know why.

There were a bunch of Bowl Games on today and a bunch more over the weekend and I hope to catch as many as I can. The game I want to see is South Carolina vs. Oregan State. If Carolina wins the headline could be Game 'cocks stick it to the Beavers.

New Years Day has PSU playing Tennessee which has caused much consternation in the Gort household. And the Eagles will wrap it up and win the division on Sunday. They're hot.

Now hairy bats are appearing on the floor. The only way to kill them is to get on the floor with a metal edged ruler and chop the wings off.

This may be all for nought. As it's been pointed out to me that everyday is...........

Drunk Blogging Day

Hazleton tweeks the illegal immigrant ordinance

HAZLETON — Shifting its policies targeting illegal immigrants, city council unanimously approved changes to two ordinances Thursday night, dropping plans to register every tenant in the city and opening the door for some illegal immigrants to rent property without violating the ordinance.

Lou Barletta made another change to his legal nightmare. It will never be enforced so why not just cut your losses. The Senate race is over and your famous Lou, move on. If your not elected to a higher office you can go to work for Lou Dobbs or Pat Buchanan. And the Minutemen are looking for recruits.

Hugo is writing letters again

A reader recently asked me did/do you know anyone who knew Hugo personally....just a bit of morbid curiosity on my part?

I know the cop that arrested him for DUI . One of his cousins is a co-worker and good friend. And I know one of his pen pals. Hugo writes a lot of letters but she won't let me see them.

Now the TL is teasing us with a letter they received from Selenski saying they will publish it January 2nd. But they give us some choice quotes.

“You consistently walk into trials grossly unprepared and it would only seem fitting of you to try and prevent your opponent from proper preparation.”-

Hugo Selenski Referring to District Attorney David Lupas in a letter.

I guess the TL is sitting on the whole thing waiting for a slow news day.

That's the ticket

Nothing is more annoying than having to pay to park my car but it's part of the law of supply and demand. One of the things that kills a downtown like Wilkes-Barre is the lack of parking. When I do wander down there I prefer to park at a meter instead of a dark, dinky garage and grudgingly pump a few quarters into the meter knowing I won't be very long. Now I find out that if I just used my Printshop program to create a business card I could have saved some change. The TL has a story about selective ticket writing that will piss off anyone who has fed a meter lately. The city fathers are pulling a Casablanca saying that they are shocked, shocked at the revelation. Bill Fitz and Tim have some thoughts on the subject.

A little link love from the Looneys in Lehigh

Sort of. Alliteration is not my strong point.

First Lehigh Valley Ramblings put up a poll to decide which was the best "Humorous Christmas Parody" post but left off the the Mean One's because he knew his weak entry couldn't stand up to it. Then he and Musings from Mudville declared a winner before all the ballots were counted just like Florida in 2000! And the winner wasn't even on the ballot.

That Mad Batter guy did an around the blogosphere post because he misses John Micek that mentions many of our little group but didn't provide links. That scary woman he lives with named me one her Top Ten Blogs of 2006. The craziest holiday story I have read is her's I Kicked Grandma out of my house on Christmas!

As far as can tell they all got a head start on National Drunk Blogging Day.

BTW, This is how you do links.

Who's running for President?

John Edwards has announced that he plans to announce he is running for President. On YouTube no less. He talks about getting out of Iraq and ending poverty. Both worthy goals.

JohnEdwards.com

President Ford died

Through a series of incredible events Jerry Ford became President of the United States. Proving the old adage that anyone can become President. Unfortunately, we have been suffering through the last six years of that becoming true.

Spineless

I love it when one of our local columnists agree with me.

Backbones bolt as re-election time nears RENITA FENNICK OPINION

The underlying theme is that they’d rather ignore their convictions in order to get re-elected.
Maybe it’s too late to ask Santa for more candidates who have a little gumption.
But, it’s not too late to make a New Year’s resolution and vow to vote only for men and women who will do what they believe is the right thing, even if it hurts their chances for re-election.

We elect these people to make financial decisions. If they think it's a good idea say so and defend your position. Don't hide behind a referendum.

Mario Fiorucci for Luzerne County Commissioner

Former Green Party candidate for Mayor of Sugar Notch Mario Fiorucci has announced he is running for county commissioner as a Democrat. It's got to be hard to lose an election to a crook and bounce back. He was a good sport about it even leaving this comment on one of my posts:

Thanks for the press about my race for mayor in Sugar Notch. I might have beaten the bad man if a crusader councilman didn't try to win with a write-in campaign. It caused us both to lose. The mayor who resigned in disgrace won with 76 votes, then the councilman with 68 and me, the Green Party candidate, Mario Fiorucci, with 57. History has eluded us again.

He hosts an annual State of the World Forum in his Sugar Notch back yard that somehow I was never invited. Some horrendous oversite that I'm sure will be corrected.

The TL covered his announcement but not the Commissioners Voice. The word has gone forth from our local Democratic overlords that the choice in this race is incumbent Greg Skrepenak and Controller Maryanne Petrilla. But being the contrarian that I am I don't accept that. I'm sure there will be more people getting into this race even as much as Skrep and his stooge try to discourage them.

Mario has a website up with the creative name of Mario Fiorucci for County Commissioner.

Here is his announcement:

Fiorucci to run in primary for County Commissioner

A long time Democrat before becoming a Green in 2000, Fiorucci said he will run for County Commissioner in the 2007 primary as a Democrat.

"After seeing what happened to Romanelli in his bid as a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, getting the signatures required to run as an Independent is just too risky," said Fiorucci.

Mario Fiorucci earned an MA in government from Georgetown University in 1982. He had graduated with honors from College Misericordia in 1980. He returned to the area after working in the brokerage business from 1983 to 1995. His interest in regionalization and Home Rule government started with articles he wrote for his free public interest newsletter.

In 2005, Fiorucci was a candidate for mayor of Sugar Notch. The race was widely covered by the press and local TV news. More recently, Fiorucci has assessed the skills and management capabilities of local elected officials in various municipalities. Then in a 2006, PBS State of Pennsylvania forum, titled "Small town mayors, Big city challenges," he engaged the panel in a discussion of his theory that "without significant regionalization or consolidation among municipalities, a community college-based program of continuing education for elected officials should be established."

In response, the mayor of Sunbury concurred by stating that "as its’ been alluded to here, it (management by part-time elected officials) just doesn't work." The mayor of Kingston also said "a professional manager is necessary to solve the problem."

In assessing major county related issues, Fiorucci thinks the proposed $100 million prison proposal should be put on the ballot as a bond funding vote. He would also consider private prison management in an effort to control costs and pay down prison issued debt.

Regarding regionalization, Fiorucci wrote widely about establishing ‘Tax-Base Sharing’ programs among all municipalities. He also thinks that "Municipal Service Districts"should be enacted to create 'functional consolidation' among municipalities. A MunicipalService District would consist of five or more contiguous towns that have a combined population of more than 20,000.

Past articles or letters to the editor by Fiorucci can be found on Google by searching for:"Mario Fiorucci, Sugar Notch." He can also be reached at (570)-819-0721.

Happy Christmas

NaDruBloDa and I'm it

Northern Girl tagged me with one of these internets meme things. She is an unindicted co-conspirator, along with Rootietoot , of the scandalous National Drunk Blogging Day. Drink up Shriners.

Here it goes.

1. Grab the book closest to you. Got it.

2. Open to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence. Great, I only had to use one of my pocket calculators.

3. Post the text of next three sentences on your blog.

Kingstn -------714-2508

Kasper N 333 Olive St

Larksville-----287-1256

4. Name the book and the author. The phone book by Verizon.

5. Tag three people. Another Monkey Above Average Jane Dr. Rick

This is the Official Site for National Drunk Blogging Day.The date has been set for Friday, December 29. ....The rules are this: Start drinking.Start writing . No regrets. Designated readers, please identify yourself so we won't be impressed with your coherence when we assume you're writing under the influence.

Holiday greetings from the mean one

From the backwoods of Luzerne County I received this message of peace.


CHRISTMAS ISN’T ABOUT SANTA!!!
By Mean Old Man

I want to thank the Commie Gort for allowing me to write about our most sacred holiday commemorating the birth of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ—not that the majority of Reds who read this rag even care or know who Jesus is!! I’m angrier than Donald Trump at a Rosie O’Donnell pig roast over the way the Commies have taken Jesus out of Christmas and replaced him with the subversive figure called Santa Claus!!!
Back in my day when my old man would get home from a fifteen hour day in the mines you were lucky to have a piece of cardboard to fill in the holes in your shoes—and it was great!! One day around Christmastime my old man was sitting on his trusty hard wood chair (not the prissy lazy boys that you have today) and I asked him about Santa. All the other kids at school were talking ‘bout how Santa was going to give them a sled, a fishing pole, a dog or something great like that; all I wanted was a baseball glove. So I asked Dad if he would help me write a letter to Santa and he told me that Santa was made up by the Commies and the Jews to take attention away from Jesus—and that if I ever mentioned the name Santa in our house again that he would give me a shiner for Christmas!!! To top it all off he popped me one in the left eye for good measure—and I loved it!!!!
And then there’s the toy of the year; yeah, we all know that one. The Commies started that one in the early eighties with the Cabbage Patch dolls. Every sucker had to have one so they started rioting all over the country---the ol’ Commie trick of divide and conquer! DAMN!!!! The other day my Soviet admiring son Chip asked me and Thelma Jean to wait in a line at Best Buy to pick up a Wii computer gizmo—after I asked him what the Hell a Wii was and he explained, I still didn’t get it—I ended up telling Joe Stalin Jr. that if he wanted to get his sissy kid some Bolshevik toy that he had better damned well do it himself!!!! In my day we waited in line at Christmas too—but we waited for food—and you were lucky if you walked away with a couple cans of beans---and you would hold your stomach when you lay in bed hoping that when it growled from hunger that Dad wouldn’t wake up and smack your face—which he usually ended up doing anyway—but I loved it!!!!!!
You kids have it too good today—what with your credit cards and your computer gizmos cell phones and giant TV’s—I still have my old Philco black and white and it was made in the ol’ US of A and it still runs like a top—not like the crap that some six year old makes in Honduras—at least those kids work—not like the little panty wastes in our country.
Well, all you anarchists have a good Christmas—just remember to put your hammer and sickle ornament on top of the tree!! As for me, I’m gonna sit in my trusty wooden chair and admire the Christian angel on top of the CHRISTMAS tree while popping open a Steg, puttin’ some Guy Lombardo Christmas Music on the victrola and waiting for Thelma Jean’s wild goose to come a callin’ me to the kitchen table
May all the Bloggers have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year---do someone a good turn once in a while and remember, I HATE YOU ALL!!!!!!


I've never set foot in the mean one's household out of fear for my safety but somehow Miss Cellania was invited to Christmas dinner at his place last year and sent this pic.

Here are some links to other touching holiday themed stories:

Republicans to ask Jesus to run for President in 2008

ATF Raids North Pole

A Parody Lost

Latest Victim of Global Warming - Santa Claus

The Weekend Before Christmas

Revolution Calling: A Christmas Tune

The Bond brothers strike again

I think we have been a victim of a bait and switch. All the attention this month has been about the proposed pay raise for the Luzerne County commissioners and row officers that in the scheme of things wouldn't cost much. Then right before the holidays when nobody is paying attention Majority Commissioners Todd Vonderheid and Greg Skrepenak vote for a "balanced budget" that relies on invented revenues and rescheduling debt that will have to paid off later at a higher rate. But they weren't done. They then voted to use $7 million in unused bond money borrowed to build a new juvenile detention center that wasn't spent instead of cancelling the debt or holding on to it to fund the new prison on a wish list of other local projects. I don't know what the rules are for using bond money but it strikes me as dishonest to float a bond for one purpose then spend it on another.

Then they drop this bombshell.

$193M county capital plan issued

If a plan released Thursday holds true, Luzerne County Commissioners Todd Vonderheid and Greg Skrepenak plan to borrow and spend $14 million for several capital projects during 2007 -- their final year in office together.

The last time I checked the county had over $125 million in debt obligations. You have to pay it back at some point but how will you do it if you take even more properties off the tax rolls.

Barletta vs. Santa

No Santa For Hazleton

It is truly our honor to welcome you as a guest to our city today, in the most promising of times. We are sure that you will find this web site to be symbolic of our dedication to making every effort possible to ensure Hazleton realizes its fullest potential as a place unwelcoming to illegal foreign workers. We hope you will agree with us that Santa Claus is out of touch with mainstream American moral values, and has no place in a town such as ours.

Mixed use development

A building with condos and an Indian museum with a lacrosse field on the roof next to the river in Luzerne County. And you thought the inflatable dam was a crazy idea?

Study: Condos will help pay for proposed museum

American Indian museum on hold

Get this man an abacus and a calendar

Or make him watch Sesame Street so he can learn to count to 10.

TL: A proposal to increase Luzerne County row officer salaries has officially died – for real.

Commissioner Todd Vonderheid said Tuesday that he didn’t realize that he could not count the day of the required public meeting – Dec. 29 – as part of the mandatory 10-day public notice.
He announced on Monday that he would get the meeting notice published Wednesday but said he learned Tuesday that it would be a day too late.

“It’s too bad,” said Vonderheid, who said he had freedom to spearhead the raises because he’s not seeking re-election in 2007.

So they couldn't put it to a referendum then announced a public meeting to do what they were elected to do. Make financial decisions. Then a convenient mistiming of the announcement of the meeting gets them off the hook on voting to raise their own pay.

No wonder things never add up.

Luzerne County will have to keep pumping $5 million to $6 million into the employee pension fund annually for several more years, the fund’s actuary said Tuesday. The gap is around $34.1 million as of the start of 2006, the Hay Group’s Hank Stiehl said Tuesday in an update for the county Retirement Board that oversees the fund.

Another candidate has announced his intention to run for commissioner.

SUGAR NOTCH – A longtime Democrat before joining the Green Party in 2000, Mario Fiorucci said he will run for Luzerne County commissioner in 2007 as a Democrat.
“I can’t run as an independent,” he said. “It takes to much ground work and getting the signatures to run as an independent is just too risky.”

Carl Romanelli proved that the challenge of getting signatures will make you do things you're not proud of later.

Hugo coming home

Judge orders Selenski transfered back

Hugo Selenski is on his way back to Luzerne County Correctional Facility — the scene of his daring fifth-floor escape from his maximum security cell more than three years ago.

Judge Chester Muroski ordered the transfer because the defense argued that the state prison doesn't honor the attorney-client privilege. He will be isolated from the other inmates because of fears for his safety. When he was at Chase a prison guard I know told me he was something of a celebrity even signing autographs. The trial was originally scheduled for January but has been postponed. The escape charges are still up in the air because the DA didn't file the paperwork on time. Luzerne County District Attorney David Lupas wants to keep Hugo and other accused criminals from giving interviews to the local papers and the defense team wants all charges dismissed.

Now it looks like DA David Lupas will be running for the new Judge position and the primary will happen before the trial. What great theater it will be if he is nominated and the trial happens during the summer.

On a related note the warden is planning to bring home some other prisoners.

Blue Cross of NEPA

And we can all sing the blues.

Blue Cross of NEPA has been sitting on a pile of money for the last few years and decided this week to give some of it to help fund the local health care system. While that is commendable the rate payers are up in arms about it and I can't blame them. The whole idea of insurance is to pool the risk and spread it out. Not to have the insurance company decide to give away your premiums to a purpose (although worthy) it wasn't intended. I read a story today that Denise Cesare the CEO of the local Blue who makes more than you and I ever will said if they used the money for rebates it would amount to "only" 200+ dollars per subsciber. I got news for you Lady. Two hundred bucks would be welcomed in most households.

What's you zip code?

That's the question I get more and more at the check-out as I shop around Wilkes-Barre. My answer is always 99732. Most of the time the clerk just enters it without thinking but this morning I was challenged. The young lady asked me where that was and I replied Nome Alaska. She asked if I lived there and I said no, I just like the zip code. She then informed me that she couldn't ring up the sale without the zip code of where I live. After few minutes of back and forth explaining to her that I knew why the marketing people want to know that but I wasn't willing to co-operate and it was no sweat off her ass where I lived or zip code I provided she still wouldn't take my money. So I left about $60 worth of merchandise on the belt and went to another store.