Happy Christmas

Tis the Season

SANTA WASN’T WHITE BECAUSE HE NEVER EXISTED!!!!!!

 

A Yuletide Message by Mean Old Man

 

Once again we are upon that holiest of seasons, the observance of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But what with all the damn commercials and sales pitches for everything from cell phones to Ford F150’s you wouldn’t know!!!  And to top it all off, all of the spoiled, bratty kids squawking about wanting this and that and-----Hell---everything!!!!   No one even talks about Jesus anymore or all of his good works.  Except for this week when some bleach blonde on Fox news stated that our savior was white.  Now, I wasn’t around then, but all I know is every single picture of Jesus Christ that I have seen has him white, so I have to accept it.  End of Story!!!!!!!  But there is another thing that the dumb bimbo brought up that I need to get off of my mind.

 

Santa Claus, the biggest detractor to Jesus that ever existed and more likely an early invention of the Communist party…..perhaps Karl Marx’s grandfather came up with the idea.  Anyways, once ol’ Santa got into the mix that’s what everybody seemed to start talking about.  Hell, even I believed in this silly fat Soviet invention at one time as a child, until ol’ Pops put an end to it.  I remember it so well…..

 

One Christmas around the time I as 7 years old, I was obsessed with getting a new baseball glove as a gift.  So, I went upstairs to the bedroom that I shared with my two loser brothers, Mike and Bye (who were older than me, by the way).  I sat down at the small desk that Pops made for Mike and began to write a letter to ol’ St. Nick.  I don’t think I got to my second sentence when the door slams open and there standing, big as life was Pops.

“Hey dimwit!” He screamed louder than a banshee.  “I get home from the breaker and I find that the furnace is almost empty.  What the hell are you up to?!?!?!”  I told him that I was writing to Santa to ask for a baseball glove.  Pops face turned redder than Gloria Steinman at a pro-life rally and he nearly went nuts.

“I’m gonna let you in a little secret moron, there’s no such thing as Santa Claus and even if there was he wouldn’t give a lazy dope like you a damned thing!!!!!!!!!!!”  Pops then proceeded to ball me out for not shoveling the coal into our furnace.  He then grabbed me by my shirt collar and lifted me up from the chair while slapping me around like a rag doll.  Then he proceeded to fling me down the stairwell into our parlor.  Once there he rushed down the steps and made a quick 180 to the ice box to fetch a bottle of Steg.  While slugging it down he grabbed me once again with his other arm and flung me down the cellar steps.

“I had better see enough coal in the furnace to keep the King of Siam warm, or your spending the night making an igloo out in the yard!!!”

While shoveling that night, I could feel the blood seeping from my forehead and the pain in my lower back each time I bent to pick up a load of coal.  It was painful, horrifying and degrading….and I loved it!!!  Because Pops taught me an important lesson that day, to face reality and not count on any handouts.  Good ol Pops, there’ll never be another like him.  I miss him a lot.

So, all you liberal, commie idiots out there screaming about some bimbo saying Santa is White, forget it.  There is no Santa and there never was.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a  Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, that Christmas I didn’t get my baseball glove.  Instead I got a new shirt because Pops had ripped my old one when he hoisted me up like an ornament.  It was one of the best gifts I ever got!!!!!

So all you goofballs have a Merry Christmas….and make sure you got your cards out early to the Kremlin and Peking.  As for me, I’ll be sitting at home, enjoying a Lucky and hoisting a Steg while listening to Nat King Cole singing the Christmas Song.

Merry Christmas!!!!!  I hate you all!!!!!!!

 

Bob Guzzardi for Governor

PoliticsPA is reporting that Montgomery County attorney Bob Guzzardi is asking people to help him gather signatures to get on the Republican ballot for Governor next year. People who follow PA politics know that Guzzardi has donated to many republican candidates and a few Democrats over the last few years. On his recent Facebook posts he talks about the Forgotten Taxpayer and regularly rips GOP lawmakers that have voted to increase spending and debt.


The latest transportation funding bill seems to have pushed him into running saying “Why would you want to be complicit in the nomination of a Promise Breaker to represent you? This is a moment,” Guzzardi wrote.
“The polls tell us that Tom Corbett is very likely to lose and not likely to get better with the Corbett Gas Tax.”

He knows this a long shot and may not even get the 2000 signatures to get on the ballot. 
“Winning is unrealistic,” he said. Instead, he wants to send a message.
“My goal is to mobilize a disaffect grassroots, the Forgotten Taxpayers, who are forced to fund Unions and Government Contractors and Vendors.”

Bob has an informational website and a Wiki page. 

YouTube weekend

Carol of the Bells done on Cello

Possible 120th HD candidates

First of all I want to say say thank you to Phyllis Mundy for being for being a friend and an outstanding State Representative.

Just as I was getting worried that we wouldn't have many competitive state legislature elections next year Phyllis drops a bomb shell. Right now Pashinski, Carroll, Mullery, Toohill, Yudichak and Baker don't have an announced opponent but that will change as some guy with a tri-corner hat gets the itch. So far only Karen Boback has a serious opponent in Laura Dickson.

Bill O'Boyle in the TL runs down the likely candidates.

On the GOP side 2012 nominee Aaron Kaufer gives kudos to Phyllis and sounds like he will run again. She cleaned his clock 56%-44% after the state GOP pored a ton of money into the race. And there is always  speculation that Kingston Mayor for Life Jim Haggerty will try to lose another election outside of the Municipality after getting shot down for State Senate and Judge. I'm sure some other names will pop up.

The Dems will have plenty of candidates. Edwardsville Councilor Gary Mack is interested as is West Pittston attorney Laura Dennis who is said to be able to self finance. This line from the TL article kind of bugs me. Dennis said she wants to run for elective office; she has to decide if the state legislature would be the best fit for her. In other words she wants to run for office to be somebody instead of doing something. She has time to clear that up.

The early frontrunner for the Democratic nod has to be West Wyoming Council Prez Eileen Cipriani. She has been at Phyllis' side and organized the West Side Council of Governments that has been able to pool the resources of the west side to get things done.

Other names being thrown around include:

Former W. Pittston Mayor Bill Goldsworthy who is working for the the Guv and ran against Phyllis in 2010. He may want to get off the Corbett sinking ship before it goes under.

Just for shits and giggles a commenter says:  I say Michael Szustak- did a bang up job with Gelb and Cartwright. Has what we need for the job!

 And we all know that Joe V has always wanted to be elected to something...anything

If Mundy does retire, who knows, maybe I’ll tap into that communion money and throw my hat into the ring as well.

Phyllis hangs it up

Mundy will not seek re-election to Pa. House

 

HARRISBURG, Dec. 2 – State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, today announced she will retire at the end of this legislative session.

 

Mundy, who represents portions of Luzerne County, is serving her 12^th term in office, which runs through Nov. 30, 2014. She was first elected in 1990.

 

"It has been my privilege to serve the people of the 120^th District," Mundy said. "My staff and I have worked hard and done our best to serve all who needed our help. I am humbled by the confidence and support shown to me for the past 23 years, and I am extremely grateful for the tremendous opportunity to serve."

 

Mundy led successful initiatives to expand prescription drug benefits and care for senior citizens, maximize early childhood care and education, increase home visitation services for at-risk expectant mothers, and promote quality care for foster children. She has also garnered a reputation for outstanding constituent service.

 

She has consistently advocated for middle-class families, working for consumer protections in utility cases and for tax fairness. In 2005, she led successful efforts to prevent hoarding of excessive surpluses at Blue Cross.

 

Before her tenure in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Mundy was manager of a multi-million dollar manufacturing company. She also worked in many volunteer organizations, including the Junior League and League of Women Voters where she served two terms as president.

 

Mundy reminds her constituents that she will still be their representative in Harrisburg for the next year. Her local office at Park Office Building, Suite 113, 400 Third Ave., Kingston, will remain open through the remainder of her term, and her staff will continue to assist constituents with their needs.

 

The 120^th Legislative Districts includes the townships of Exeter, Jackson and Kingston and the boroughs of Courtdale, Exeter, Forty Fort, Kingston, Luzerne, Pringle, Swoyersville, West Pittston, West Wyoming and Wyoming.

 

Blogroll update

Many people over the years have said one of the best features of this blog is that I link to other scribes in the area. Happy to do it.

I deleted a few today because of dead links or the site has  not been updated in the last year. This blogging thing is harder than it looks.

I have been remiss by not adding Omeed Firouzi  His writings won an award. I predict that he will become either President of the United States or a talking head on TV news shows.

Scranton SB candidate Tom Borthwick took a break from his first internet adventure NEPartisan. Too bad. He is back with Tom Borthwick.

Twitter

I use Twitter like a RSS feed. I follow my favorite writers and click on their latest post. I'm having a hard time keeping up with rest of the social media like pintarest, instagram and even google plus. Maybe I should have gone to the last Blogcon to learn about the new apps.

My twitter handle is  @Gort421

Bob Reilly wants a pension

Used car salesman and part time Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly wants his pension from the county after being convicted of corruption. That takes some balls to even ask. Salute.

His lawyers argument is that he lied to to feds but not the locals so some loophole applies.

If The Facts Are Against You, Argue The Law.

How nuts is the right wing in this country

This one is going around on RW websites:

Pat Dollard

Recycle the Turkey Day dinner

Leftovers are good on Friday but get old by Saturday. After the care packages are packed up for the relatives there is still a bunch of ham and turkey to deal with.Our system has worked for the past few years. The turkey scraps are divided between a turkey pot pie and turkey salad that we take for lunch for the following weeks. The ham goes to Mrs. G's mom because she makes a ham casserole that will knock your socks off. For some reason  we never have any left over Kielbasa that we got from the Plains Meat Market.

Kathy Dobash says thanks

Dear Friends,

I am writing to thank you for your vote and support during the most recent general election on November 5, 2013.

As a candidate-elect for Luzerne County Council I want to provide you my email address:  kathydobash@yahoo.com .  Please feel free to contact me regarding any Luzerne County issue which may require my assistance.

I believe in openness and transparency.  I will be glad to present your concerns to other members of Luzerne County Council at public meetings.

With your help, we can make a difference and improve our communities throughout Luzerne County.

Again, I sincerely thank you for your support.  I wish all Luzerne County Citizens a wonderful Holiday Season!

Kathy Dobash

Happy Thanksgiving

The Luzerne County Election website is still a mess.

When I read this story about a little town in Utah forgetting about the election I thought this is where we should look for the the next Director of Elections for Luzerne County. After all a school board election needed a do over because a candidate withdrew and the other jurisdictions were not notified and W-B Township  Dems had only one candidate on the ballot in a 2 person race. I'm sure that made John Quinn bust another blood vessel.

After spending $7000 to give us up to date election results we didn't get results until 11:30PM but  the newspapers and TV stations had them earlier. It was a  task that was completed in house in past elections with results earlier. I hope that the latest election numbers will be archived on the Luzerne County website like all the past ones.

The campaign finance reports (CFR) were not posted before the recent election unlike previous years so we were not able to see what money was flowing to the candidates. I brought that to the attention  of a member of the county council who said he would bring it up. So much for that.

 The CFRs are are now posted on the website but there are all kind of technical glitches.  The few reports that you can access are posted upside down and others give you a warning message when you click on it. 

• This Connection is Untrusted
• You have asked Firefox to connect securely to www.luzernecounty.org, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.
• Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified.
• What Should I Do?
• If you usually connect to this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue.
• 
  

YouTube Weekend

Elvis Costello will be at the Kirby tomorrow,

This is a version of the Tarah Toohil song.

To get along, go along

"I'm not going to fight him out in the press about this. He hasn't been a board member very long. He needs to come to some meetings to learn what the process and procedures are. He's just been very disruptive. He's doing what he wants to do when he wants to do it."- Luzerne County Convention Center Authority Board Chair Donna Cupinski


I had a bad feeling when I heard that local hooligan Alex Milanes had been appointed to the Arena Board. Alex doesn't always play well in the sand box and is working on a follow up to the Dale Carnegie  classic with the working title of How to Lose Friends & Piss Off People. He is the kind of guy that makes you feel good about being constipated. His entertainment experience consists of working as bouncer at one of those safe downtown W-B bars. Hell, I've been thrown out of places like that by people like him so maybe they should put me on the board.  Maybe he can use his connections to bring in some unique acts  such as a one legged tap dancer or a ventriloquist that stutters.

At his first board meeting last week Alex endeared himself to the other members by objecting to the free lunch that was served. I think he was just disappointed that corn dogs were not on the menu.  Cupinski said it was no big deal as she said the sandwiches only cost a buck.

That led to an exchange of emails that a 3rd party was good enough to forward to me.

Alex asked for all receipts  for catering and the authority to pay for it. Donna shot back that it would take 3 days to put that together and told him he can't go into the place unless he has an appointment, tickets or a meeting. She then accused him of  wanting special treatment for tickets to the Luke Bryan show. He explained that he actually wanted to exchange his floor seats for less expensive side seats so his son could see the stage.

Cupinski also told him not to bring in cookies for the staff. I'm not sure about that one but she might be concerned that Milanes got his cookie recipe from Casey Evans and gay dope might be baked into them.

 She is just as charmed by him as I as am

Alex-

That is enough!  I have checked my facts and know what is true. You have  been nothing but disruptive since you have been appointed to the board and  I will not stand for it. We are doing GREAT things at the arena and I will  not have you paint the staff, the board or me as doing otherwise. I also  will not fight this out in the press or before county council.

Donna

Maybe he should get a suit that fits.

JFK and the Cuban Missile Crises

The Cuban Missile Crises is regarded as Kennedy's finest moment

The whole 13 Days film is on YouTube

JFK: 50 years later

My friend David Yonki has had the best retrospective of any local media outlet on the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's murder. The well researched posts on The LuLac Political Letter and his media tour that gave us a local perspective has been outstanding. 

I usually discount conspiracy talk but when you look at the Zapruder film it's obvious that the 3rd shot came from the front. I'm too young remember where I was when he was killed but I remember where I was when I heard that President Reagan was shot. The Hagiography of Kennedy is annoying and Taylor Marsh doubts that he could be elected today.

 The thing that always bothered me about Oswald is he had to have been watched by the FBI or some other agency. A Marine who defects to the Soviet Union, get's mixed up with pro-Castro groups and even visits the USSR embassy in Mexico City that the CIA knew about.

YouTube Weekend

The war on drugs is a failure

When I read this story

Trey Radel, Busted On Cocaine Charge, Voted For Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients 

The real outrage is the  draconian drug laws in this country rather than the  hypocrisy of this guy in Florida. Is this really the kind of offense that somebody should be locked up? I'm sure he will not see any jail time because of his connections but many others will for something similar. 

For the last  40 Years the strategy was to  lock up everyone involved in drugs and it has not worked. 

 

I don't know what the solution to the problem is. Maybe there isn't one.