PA Watercooler
Eastern Sport & Outdoor Show to become Great American Outdoor Show
Remember the Eastern State Sport show that banned “assault rifles” from display at their gun show? Everyone got so bent out of shape, they cancelled it. Well, the NRA steps in with a show. All of that meant that Harrisburg-area tourism groups and Farm Show complex organizers went shopping for a new host to a [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
#Gosnell Reporting
JD Mullane from the Bucks County Courier Times is pretty much the only reporter following case inside the courtroom. Thursday’s testimony had sensational details. The court staff, convinced it would attract journalists from around the nation, has set aside three rows of seats to accommodate up to 40 reporters. But all Thursday morning, as Ashly [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Gosnell’s Abortuary and the Limits of Media Shaming
I see at least a passing resemblance between the media’s treatment of the 2012 Benghazi quasi-coverup scandal and their lack of interest in Kermit Gosnell’s Abortuary*. (* – Indications are that Chris Lilik coined this term. I submit that it should be part of the PAWatercooler Official Style Guide.) After a prolonged period of virtual [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
A Cutting Edge Idea: Slash TSA Knife Policy!
If the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) could compete for an Emmy, it would definitely be a winner. Its “Security Theatre” has become a cutting-edge soap opera, replete with comedy, drama and ultimately, tragedy. And the latest episode is making the biggest headlines yet. The TSA has sliced and diced a prior position, and is now [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Pope Resigning Is Miracle — Cardinals, Choose Wisely
Thank God for small miracles. Or, in this case, huge ones. The decision of Pope Benedict XVI to step down — the first resignation in 600 years and only the fourth in history — has given the Catholic Church an unprecedented opportunity to save itself. And since the eleventh hour is upon the Church, the [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Teaching Chimps to Fly F-16s
You’ve done your required reading, right? I could probably write ten thousand words about the pair of NYT articles I’ve begged people to read, but I’ll keep my response to a few select points. Digital Divide Overall I find little fault with the article’s take on this issue. One simple graph makes that apparent. The [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Quote of the Day: Fracking Berlin Wall
Daily Caller: “The Pennsylvania-New York border is the ‘Berlin Wall,’” Karen Moreau, executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Pennsylvania is West Berlin, and New York is East Berlin.” “What’s happening in New York is just a continued decline in the economy of the Southern Tier. Those [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Latest Harrisburg Gun Grabbing Scheme
Colin McNickle: • The Pennsylvania legislation — House Bill 521, introduced on Feb. 5 — would require a $1 million liability policy as a condition of being given a concealed carry permit. And it would allow police to roust any gun carrier at any time to produce proof of insurance — and not merely if [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Required Reading
From, of all sources, the New York Times. Yes, I know. But they’re good. “Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence?” “Behind the Cover Story: Robert Draper on Why the G.O.P. Is So Slow to Adapt to the Digital World” I plan on eventually commenting on these as I don’t quite agree with everything, and [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Sue The NFL For Concussions? Get Your Head Examined!
Now that the Super Bowl is over, the really big game begins. And it’s going to be a head-knocker . On one side we have the raiders. No, not Oakland, but the Trial Lawyers, who delight in raiding everything good and decent in America. They are representing former NFL players in their fight against the [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Ravens’ Cheerleader Has No Right To Super Bowl
Baltimore Has Every Right Not To Send A Plump Cheerleader To Big Game “Originally I would have loved to go to the Super Bowl, but at this point it looks like it’s not going to happen…. I can’t say I didn’t expect it, but at the same time, they owe that to me.” So [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
The Privatization Push is On
I’m an optimist, so I’d like to believe that Gov. Corbett is actually going to get this done. Governor Tom Corbett has unveiled his plan to get Pennsylvania out of the business of selling wine and liquor. During a news conference Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Corbett said the three- to four-year process of selling wholesale and [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
VP Full of Sh!t
… and the sun rises in the east. When trying to verify Joe Biden’s recent story that he was golfing within earshot of the Oct. 2, 2006, shooting at Nickel Mines, one thing is clear. There are a lot of places to enjoy a round of golf in the region. But whether the 70-year-old vice [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Anti-Gun Idiots
These people are teaching your children. In a horror story that must have shocked young children into lifelong nightmares, a Philadelphia fifth-grader made a gun out of paper last week and brought it into class. Thanks to the intrepid work of the officials at the school, though, crisis was averted – an administrator at D. [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Gun Show Boycott
If you can’t sell or display “assault rifles” (an invented non-sensicle term, btw) and high capacity magazines at sports and outdoors show, and now people are actively boycotting it, what do you have left? A couple of kayaks and some hiking boots I think. Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, hosts of “The Crush” hunting and outdoor [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Guest Post–A Personal Perspective on Algeria
Greg Wrightstone is a petroleum geologist who has worked all over the world, including Algeria. I received Greg’s email only a few days ago, but as we have seen on the nightly news, his prediction has come true. If you want an inside perspective on the Islamists and Algeria, I am pretty familiar with the [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Corbett: Raising Gas Taxes
It’s been trendy of late to pile on Governor Corbett, for a variety of reasons, mostly not being able to get things done, what with Republican majorities in the House & Senate. I’ve been reluctant. But damn dude. This is brain damaged. Two people who learned details of the plan told The Associated Press Wednesday [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Abducted 5 Year Old Found
This is a relief. A missing 5-year-old girl from West Philadelphia has been found alive in Upper Darby, but the search for the person who abducted her from her Cobbs Creek school is still ongoing. Nailla Robinson was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after she was found around 4:40 a.m. by a passerby. She [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Wait. #AmishMafia is not real?
The f? If a violent group of Amish “protectors” exists in Lancaster County as represented on a hit reality television series, Steven Echternach and Jonathan Heisse would know about it. The two local cops are District Attorney Craig Stedman’s liaisons to the Amish community, working with local Anabaptist groups on crimes of all sorts. And [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics
Will we really do any better on the debt ceiling negotiation?
It’s been said that the GOP will get serious about spending reductions when the debt ceiling comes to a vote. Supposedly we have more leverage on that issue. I’m thinking not. The GOP has less leverage on that issue. The basic structure of the debt ceiling vote is similar to the fiscal cliff vote. Republicans [...]
Categories: Pennsylvania, Politics