Al's Blog

• Are six pit bulls enough for one Reading household?

  The Reading Animal Control board is weighing a measure that could limit the number of pets per household to six, although those with existing menageries may be grandfathered in and the board proved to be aquatic elitists by exempting fish. (Just wait until someone flushes their school of piranha [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2009, 5:06am EDT
  

• Someday soon you may be able to play video poker in Reading while anteing up an extra tax on your drinks

  Reading's blue-ribbon panel studying the city's financial mess batted around dozens of ideas yesterday during its first meeting, trying to come with a few good ideas on how the city can reduce a looming $10.3 million deficit in its 2010 budget.
  
  The proposals ranged from the whimsical (asking tax-exempt organizations [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2009, 4:45am EDT
  

• Florida Senators want to put crucified Jesus on license plates

  
  
  If you can put the image of a "duck or something" on your license plate, who not let motorists order a specialty plate showing Jesus dead on the cross, the hot Florida sun serving as a halo?
  
  That's the thinking of Gary Siplin, a state senator from Orlando, who [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2009, 3:42am EDT
  

• Ed Rendell wants to stop following Paris Hilton on Twitter, but he doesn't know how

  
  
  How many other celebrity chippies is the governor following stalking? Why can't he keep his prepositions and adverbs straight?
  ' [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2009, 2:40am EDT
  

• Arlen Specter, Democrat

  Statement by Senator Arlen Specter
  
  I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view. While I have been comfortable being a Republican, [...]
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  Posted: April 28, 2009, 8:20am EDT
  

• Special midweek open thread

  Off a couple of days, but the dialogue can continue. Pick the topic and comment away.
  [...]
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  Posted: April 28, 2009, 6:02am EDT
  

• How to save newspapers (and other unconventional links)

  Newspapers would thrive if they raised the single-copy price to $3.90. Obama to Harry Reid: "I have a gift." Ted Nugent urges PA gun nuts to shoot rapists.Live blog from trial of teens charged in Shenandoah beating death. Online commentary is a circadian art. [...]
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  Posted: April 27, 2009, 9:04am EDT
  

• You write the caption

  
  
  I am 41, hear me roar.
  [...]
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  Posted: April 27, 2009, 4:09am EDT
  

• Special weekend open thread giveaway!

  Inspired by Apple's generosity in rewarding downloaders at its iPhone app store, this blogger will award a special prize to the person who posts the 1 billionth comment -- an official CIA waterboard, slightly warped from heavy use. Good luck to one and all!
  [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 8:42pm EDT
  

• Did you ever wonder why Obama can't sleep at night?

  The Obamas can't sleep when Bo starts playing with his ball and acting crazy. Man accused of drunk driving in death of Sen. Jim Rhoades reeks of alcohol in courthouse. "Dumbest criminal in Pennsylvania" gets 52 to 104 years. Berks chef makes it to final three' [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 9:48am EDT
  

• Would you pitch in a couple of dollars so Sean Hannity can be waterboarded?

  
  
  Some people waddle into a dunk tank for charity.
  
  Smirking ignoramus Sean Hannity told guest Charles Grodin a few nights ago that, sure, he'd agree to be waterboarded, offering to give torture a spin if it could raise money for the troops' families.
  
  Last night, Keith Olbermann [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 6:26am EDT
  

• Defendant's former teacher seated as alternate juror in Shenandoah beating death trial

  A all-white jury has been impaneled in the trial of two Shenandoah teens facing charges in connection with the beating death last July of Luis Ramirez, an illegal Mexican immigrant.
  
  The case brought international attention to the small Coal Region community where the suspects played football for the [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 3:13am EDT
  

• Does this little fellow look like any human being you know?

  
  
  Today's weird report comes from the Gulf Times -- Gulf as in Persian Gulf -- where a frightened woman snapped a photo of this mysterious creature, described as "resembling a human being."
  
  The report, drawn from an Arabic daily, concludes: “She was very soon surrounded by a large [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 3:05am EDT
  

• Panel picked for Shenandoah beating death trial, and you won't find much diversity

  All-white jury seated for trial of Shenandoah teens accused in beating death of illegal Mexican immigrant. Blagojevich asked if eating bugs on reality TV might damage his credibility, but judge saved him from that. PA pals test limits of T-Mobile unlimited plan with 217,000 texts in March. [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 9:06am EDT
  

• Donate a buck to your alma mater and Editor & Publisher will sing your glory

  
  
  Sometimes it pays to read beyond the headline, as in this all-thumbs boo-boo by Editor & Publisher, which turned film critic/benefactor Roger Ebert into a miserable cheapskate who won't even bequeath his old school enough to buy a cup of coffee.
  ' [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 6:20am EDT
  

• Officials say waterboarding used in failed attempt to link Saddam to al Quaida

  The main argument used to support "harsh interrogation techniques" against detainees is that the information obtained helped stave off another terrorist attack and "made us safer."
  
  According to military and intelligence officials, there was a more sinister, some might say "evil," reason.
  
  The White House wanted to establish a link between [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 4:28am EDT
  

• You know what happens if you don't pay your bills, but the Reading School Board doesn't

  Those zanies on the Reading School Board are at it again. Yesterday, the board voted down 17 finance resolutions that will result in $5 million in monthly bills going unpaid,  including $2,600 to Cascade School Supplies,  $42,000 to Met-Ed, $1,500 to McGraw-Hill for books, and hundreds more.
  
  The vote to [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 4:09am EDT
  

• State House thinks a cell phone ban would be too much of a bother for highway police to enforce

  As expected, the state House failed again miserably to enact legislation with any bite, this time narrowly shooting down a bill that would have punished motorists who talk on hand-held cell phones or send text messages while driving.
  
  Instead, the lawmakers voted to slap an additional $50 fine on anyone [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 3:04am EDT
  

• How Arlen Specter could wind up on the U.S. Supreme Court (and other mind-blowing links)

  If Arlen Specter switches sides now, Obama might reward the 79-year-old with a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Former Pottstown borough employees win $100 defamation awards for being compared to the Three Stooges. Harrisburg bill would limit electric rate hikes to 20% a year and you [...]
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  Posted: April 22, 2009, 8:01am EDT
  

• Obama court swings left, handcuffs cops

  
  
  The future of the Supreme Court has consistently been a hot-button issue in presidential campaigns. Barack Obama has barely been in office 100 days and already the high court has lurched far left, ripping away at the cherished Fourth Amendment right to have your vehicle searched by the [...]
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  Posted: April 22, 2009, 5:44am EDT
  

• The CIA thought torturing detainees would be just like training U.S. soldiers

  
  
  In what The New York Times says began with Central Intelligence officers in "the grip of an alluring idea," no one involved in approving the torturing of detainees thought there could be any legal hassle because the same techniques were being used to prepare U.S. soldiers for [...]
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  Posted: April 22, 2009, 4:36am EDT
  

• New plan to cut property taxes unveiled (and other chimerical links)

  Rendell has a new plan to lower PA property taxes. Paper runs editorial urging Sen. Bob Casey to get on the stick and join Twitter. Driving the new Camaro is "like sitting in a pickle barrel and peering through the slats." Rep. Tom Caltagirone may throw [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 9:16am EDT
  

• Pastafarians run into roadblock trying to get Spaghetti Monster mounted on Mount Penn fire tower

  
  
  Don Spatz devotes a few paragraphs in today's Reporters Notebook to a petition by the Reading Chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to convince mayor Tom McMahon to mount an illuminated display of its god -- the Flying Spaghetti Monster -- on the [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 5:32am EDT
  

• Shape-shifting UFO videotaped returning to its base in the Amazon rainforest

  
  
  Check out that amazing video clip, reportedly shot in Rio by a child whose camcorder lacks image stabilization. The alien spacecraft is colloquially known as an "octopus UFO," although that is incorrect since its tentacles number more than eight.
  
  In Brazil, UFOs have been declared real by the Air [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 4:44am EDT
  

• Berks fatties doing their part to help destroy the planet

  
  
  Bruce Posten has the inside skinny today on a state health survey that shows that 63.2 percent of Berks County residents are overweight or, even worse, obese.
  
  How you view those statistics depends on whether you think your glass buffet table is half empty or half full. [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 3:42am EDT
  

• Soon you may be able to buy your liquor at a fancily renamed state store (and other intoxicating links)

  PA liquor stores pondering name change, perhaps...Table Leaf. Even Martian death ray can't halt our miracle rover. Shake hands with the devil.Obama's failure to adopt a shelter mutt will lead to another 9/11. National Review says with grammatical precision, waterboarding is something of which every' [...]
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  Posted: April 20, 2009, 9:12am EDT
  

• You write the caption

  
  
  Get that teabag outta here!
  [...]
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  Posted: April 20, 2009, 3:57am EDT
  

• Weekend open thread

  Gabba-gabba-hey. [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 9:24pm EDT
  

• The Gosselins go green (and other tortured links)

  
  Kate Gosselin ready to explode on Jon because the solar panels didn't arrive on time. George W. Bush wants the CIA interrogators treated as war criminals. Tap your toes to this Turkish Obama music video. Oh-BAH-muh! Dishonest Bush torturers placed caterpillar in' [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 9:48am EDT
  

• Bankrupt Inky pays free-lance ink slinger $1,750 per column

  
  
  And the money goes to... Little Ricky!
  
  According to a post on Philly.Com called "Nice Work If You Can Get It":
  Former U. S. Sen. Rick Santorum is collecting $1,750 a shot for the columns that appear every other week in the Inquirer, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 8:27am EDT
  

• Are you a dog person or a kid person?

  
  
  Jason Weitzel has a big piece today on a local gal who runs a doggie day care center, and a little bird told me that some readers may want to get a conversation going.
  
  Here's what Wendi Manwiller, owner of Cocalico Pet Companion in Robeson Township, has [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 6:22am EDT
  

• Beat it Texas, the United States would be better off without you

  
  
  If Gov. Rick Perry were not just blowing smoke and Texas did actually secede from the union, the result would not be swell news for the like-minded conservatives left behind.
  
  As Nate Silver points out on FiveThirtyEight, the Democrats would gain a filibuster-proof Senate once Al Franken [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 5:16am EDT
  

• Joe Scarborough says terrorists shouldn't complain about being splashed with a little water

  
  
  President Obama's decision on the Bush interrogation memos has infuriated both the left and the right, but we'll begin this morning with waterboard enthusiast Joe Scarborough, hissing on "Morning Joe" that it's no big deal for the CIA to "pour water on someone."
  
  If popping' [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 4:05am EDT
  

• One man's pirate is another man's "merchant marine organizer"

  
  Rush Limbaugh attacks Obama for allowing SEALS to kill "merchant marine organizers" who were mere Muslim kids. Teabagger protest swells threefold in 10 minutes while Fox Nutwork's Neil Cavuto gushes in amazement. Olbermann: When Texas secedes, we must build a border fence around Oklahoma to [...]
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  Posted: April 16, 2009, 6:51am EDT
  

• Gullible goofballs think stimulus money will be used to dig up President Taft

  

  When the stimulus bill was first unveiled, GOP obstructionists went all atwitter complaining about wasteful pork spending in the package, such as $30 million to protect the San Francisco habitat of the salt marsh mouse, even though that supposed earmark was a total fabrication.

  Enter Daily Kos diarist [...]

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  Posted: April 16, 2009, 3:59am EDT
  

• Spam is destroying the environment, and Twitter is killing our kids (and other foreboding links)

  Spam e-mail linked to global warming.  Twitter linked to brain damage in kids.  This is Norm Coleman's phone number, if you want to hassle him to concede, 651-645-0766. Traces of explosives found In WTC dust, raising sinister possibilities.  Domino's workers have fun making sandwiches, buyers of sandwiches less [...]
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  Posted: April 15, 2009, 9:26am EDT
  

• Protesters will dump tons of pretend tea today on the Gus Yatron Post Office

  

  It's April 15, the day Barack Obama will stick his fingers into little girls' piggy banks, and millions of irate taxpayers plan to mobilize like the patriots of 1773 and register their disgust by pretending to spill make-believe tea into an imaginary Boston Harbor. (It may' [...]

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  Posted: April 15, 2009, 4:34am EDT
  

• NBC wants to send Rod Blagojevich to Somalia to fight the pirates

  

  All right, all right, that headline is just plain silly. It would take a lot of pieces of eight to convince Illinois' bad-boy ex-governor that battling buccaneers would be a smart career move.

  What NBC does have in mind, quite seriously, is giving the indictee a stint on a summer reality' [...]

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  Posted: April 15, 2009, 2:53am EDT
  

• Harry Kalas is dead, Marilyn Chambers is dead, Mel Gibson's wife is taking him to the cleaners

  News, news and news.
  [...]
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  Posted: April 13, 2009, 12:38pm EDT
  

• You pick the topic

  I have a couple more days off so blogging may be limited, unless something really cracks my gourd, so you can sound off on whatever tickles your fancy (or cracks your gourd).
  [...]
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  Posted: April 13, 2009, 5:38am EDT
  

• Easter Weekend open thread

  Hallelujah! Open (posting) season has arrived.
  [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2009, 9:35pm EDT
  

• Guess what image someone thought they spotted on a bar of soap (and other Good Friday links)

  
  For Good Friday, you'd expect Jesus' face to turn up on bar of soap, but it's the "Scream" mask.Ex-lapdancer becomes a nun, will perform ballet in Rome with senior cardinals and bishops. PETA bets puppy mills would close if Pet Shops Boys became Rescue Shelter [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2009, 9:21am EDT
  

• Even though her staff can't run the county's new software, Controller Sandy Graffius boasts about their speedy performance and professional skills

  
  
  As an elected official, Berks Controller Sandy Graffius can hire whoever she wants to work in her office. But if her staff can't implement the $2.5 million software system recently installed to monitor the county's finances, you might have a tiny problem.
  
  And so it goes as the flustered' [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2009, 5:03am EDT
  

• There's a tradition involving the cross that's even older than the fire tower hosting one for 50 years on Mount Penn

  
  
  The latest salvo in the enduring flap over the cross on the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower came when a Cumru resident, Cyril Ganter, revealed he had constructed his own 6- by 8-foot illuminated Christian symbol atop a flagpole overlooking the city.
  
  Today's article ("Don't Tell Cyril'" [...]
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  Posted: April 10, 2009, 4:21am EDT
  

• Help the Obama girls name their puppy (and other fun links)

  The Obama puppy will not be named Moose because of that governor in Alaska who can see Russia from her front porch.Being a Somalian pirate is a chick magnet. "South Park" creators treasure signed photo of Saddam, forced by Marines to watch mocking movie over and over. [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 9:41am EDT
  

• Crafty Obama will divert opposition to health care reform by sending the GOP on the warpath over immigration

  
  
  Politically, it makes no sense. With so much already on his plate, President Obama signaled to The New York Times today that his administration will begin addressing immigration reform this year, specifically finding a way to make illegal immigrants legal.
  
  The firestorm has begun.
  
  Roy Beck, executive director [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 5:36am EDT
  

• Treat yourself to an extra chocolate bar today, the economy's sweet

  There are many indicators that signal the strength of the economy, ranging from housing sales to job losses to manufacturing reports. Jason Brudereck reports today on one odd barometer being watched closely by the local Chamber of Commerce.
  
  How much cash consumers are spending in vending machines.
  
  It seems that when [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 4:10am EDT
  

• Obama seeks path for illegal immigrants to become legal

  From The New York Times:
  While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.
  Mr. Obama will frame the [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 3:12am EDT
  

• Some economic indicators signal recovery in Berks

  From today's edition:
  Bill Buckholz recognized that a recession was coming.
  
  The chairman of Goodman Vending and Food Service in Muhlenberg Township noticed people were spending less on snacks from his vending machines placed in businesses around Berks County.
  
  People were worried about the economy so were pinching their pennies.
  
  Then as companies paid fewer [...]
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  Posted: April 09, 2009, 3:12am EDT
  

• Everyone always wants to sue Tom McMahon so the mayor ignored the ACLU's fire tower cross threats

  
  Here's Tom McMahon this morning on WEEU's "Feedback" with Mike Faust, telling how he didn't pay any nevermind to the ACLU's hardball letters ordering the city to dismantle the illuminated cross atop the fire tower on Mount Penn. The mayor also dispels those nasty rumors that a city councilwoman is' [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2009, 8:30am EDT
  

• Own your very own Obama Chia Pet (and other hair-raising links)

  
  
  Chia Obama slammed for racist Afro 'do. Priest who hates Girardville pirate statue warns parishioners another one is on the way.Critic who reviewed pirated "Wolverine" movie gets the heave-ho. Roundup of 2008's silliest typos and corrections. Arlen Specter never smoked weed, not' [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2009, 7:45am EDT
  

• Ed Rendell would be the perfect commissioner of baseball!

  
  
  And  football, too.
  
  Or why not take both jobs at once, since Fast Eddie is (seriously!) lobbying for those posts.
  
  As PennLive's Lura Vescey points out, "Rendell's sporting fantasy is not farfetched. Condoleezza Rice persistently pined to become the National Football League's commander-in-chief. George W. Bush, a former Texas Rangers'" [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2009, 5:13am EDT
  

• Hopping-mad AP makes scary noises in Google's direction

  Here's the Associated Press' chairman, Dean Singleton, all worked up in a fuss over Google linking to news stories on their search tool:
  "We are mad as hell, and we are not going to take it any more...We can no longer stand by and watch others walk off with our'" [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2009, 4:01am EDT
  

• Why someone is bothered by the cross on the mountain

  
  
  Posted by Bob Ritter on our Feedback blog and open for discussion here:
  First, I would like to say to the residents of Reading that neither I, nor the Appignani Humanist Legal Center or the ACLU of Pennsylvania (which is providing local representation) object to the display of an illuminated Christian cross [...]
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  Posted: April 07, 2009, 5:06am EDT
  

• GSee if you can guess who's going to be pitching sexual abstinence (and other puzzling links)

  Slutty Bristol Palin will become spokesperson for abstinence. Priest who hates skimpily clad pirate statue is one lazy blogger. Bishop plans to close down parish of priest protesting disgusting pirate statue. Wicked Bethlehem police issue traffic ticket for $37,554.54. Oral sex linked to tonsil cancer.[...]
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  Posted: April 06, 2009, 8:40am EDT
  

• See if you can guess who's going to be pitching sexual abstinence (and other puzzling links)

  Bristol Palin will become spokesperson for abstinence. Priest who hates skimpily clad pirate statue is one lazy blogger. Bishop plans to close down parish of priest protesting disgusting pirate statue. Wicked Bethlehem police issue traffic ticket for $37,554.54. Oral sex linked to tonsil cancer.Phone [...]
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  Posted: April 06, 2009, 8:40am EDT
  

• You write the caption

  
  
  The gods must be crazy.
  [...]
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  Posted: April 06, 2009, 5:19am EDT
  

• Weekend open thread

  Beat the number of views George Hatza got for his M. Night Shyamalan report and you may win a groovy prize.  It will be a daunting task, but you can mouth off here on anything you like here, loyal airbenders.
  [...]
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  Posted: April 03, 2009, 8:45pm EDT
  

• If you could save only one, would it be Darfur or The New York Times? (plus other head-scratching links)

  "Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause." Guess where that editor works? Jon and Kate will take trip to primordial swamp next season.Imagine trying to phone Hillary Clinton for an interview and reaching a phone sex line. Lots of [...]
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  Posted: April 03, 2009, 9:13am EDT
  

• Iranian Mafia brings Berks Web sites to their cyber-knees

  
  
  A group calling itself DarkLOrD, a Mafia Hacking Team from Iran, infiltrated a few prominent Berks County Web sites yesterday and left behind this insidious digital calling card.
  
  These monsters take credit for the wicked deed on a blog that Blogspot has conveniently provided for these international cyber-criminals [...]
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  Posted: April 03, 2009, 7:20am EDT
  

• City looks for end-around to avoid constitutional showdown on Mount Penn cross

  
  
  When the ACLU first sent a letter to Tom McMahon demanding the city tear down the lighted cross atop the fire tower on Mount Penn, the mayor's reaction was reasonable.
  
  He ignored it.
  
  If the ACLU wanted to make a federal case over one person's complaint that the [...]
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  Posted: April 03, 2009, 3:40am EDT
  

• M. Night Shyamalan could outfox the ACLU and say he's filming Easter movie atop Mount Penn (and other artful links)

  
  Perfect storm: Crews begin turning Pagoda into ancient temple; Christians sore at ACLU for fire-tower cross suit. Religion blogger Bill Uhrich not in lockstep with those offended by ACLU demanding Mount Penn cross be torn down. Almost every comment in the Eagle rat-tat-tat over [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2009, 9:22am EDT
  

• Superintendent admits there's corruption in Reading schools

  
  
  Ho, ho, ho, here's Superintendent Thomas Chapman trying to explain away the ineptitude that resulted in goofed-up tax bills being mailed to Reading residents two times running:
  "We believe there was a corrupted file. We're checking the accuracy of some of the bills."
  So that's it. Must have been' [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2009, 6:15am EDT
  

• Joe the Plumber wants to charge you $8.95 for a free T-shirt

  
  In classic bait-and-switch fashion "Abolish the IRS" pitchman Joe the Plumber promises that if you spend 99 cents to send a text message to sign his petition, you'll get a free T-shirt.
  
  Who could ask for anything more?
  
  Not only can you help get rid of that pesky IRS' [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2009, 5:54am EDT
  

• Gauche encounters of the royal kind

  
  
  Wednesday was a cringeworthy day for the dozens of people who still admire Britain's Royal Family and all that the monarchy represents.
  
  First, grabby Michelle Obama committed the unpardonable faux pas of briefly putting her hand on the queen's back. Centuries-old protocol dictates that no commoner may touch [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2009, 3:08am EDT
  

• Rendell, California congresswoman punked by pranksters (and other foolish links)

  Ed Rendell, the fool, will spend $15 million stimulus cash to hire clowns to elevate the state's mood. Congresswoman doesn't think it's funny April Fool blogger wrote she will wed bin Laden who will ride her like goat.Brit paper buries print, announces it's going all Twitter on' [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2009, 9:26am EDT
  

• 149 GOP congressmen think more Americans volunteering for public service is not a swell idea

  
  
  The House voted yesterday on a bill that would expand ways for Americans of all ages to serve their country and each other. The vote was 275-149, not even close, with all the opposition coming from the Republican side, including our own Jim Gerlach and Joe [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2009, 7:05am EDT
  

• Silly sites get chuckle out of swapping April Fool's rubbish

  
  Among the sites I check each morning for blogworthy material is PaWaterCooler, a wingnut magnet that led today with a post headlined "PaWaterCooler.com sold!"
  
  The entry led:
  Friends and fellow travellers,
  
  I recently received an offer from the Obama Administration for the purchase of Pawatercooler.com.
  
  President Obama and his administration had [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2009, 4:41am EDT
  

• M. Night Shyamalan will shoot part of his next dreadful movie at the Pagoda

  
  
  Reading's beloved Pagoda will stand-in for an ancient temple in a new fantasy film  and, no, this is not an April Fool's gag.
  
  Main Line filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, who earned lavish critical praise for "Signs," "Unbreakable," "Lady in the Water," "The Village," "The" [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2009, 3:20am EDT
  

• Pennsylvania Dutchies have a treat to match Eskimo Ice Cream (and more lip-smacking links)

  
  Pig remnants molded into scrapple make list of regional foods you love to hate. Just as the zombies in the "Dawn of the Dead" remake were dead-ish, the skimpy GOP budget plan is budget-ish. John Murtha says it's OK if he's corrupt because he [...]
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  Posted: March 31, 2009, 9:12am EDT
  

• Here's a plan to drive away those crazy Carsonia geese

  
  
  In today's Reporters' Notebook,  David Mekeel provides an eyewitness account of photographer Susan Angstadt's terrifying attack by a pack of mad geese at Carsonia Lake, an ordeal that left the poor woman feeling like Tippi Hedren:
  She got nipped on the leg by one of the aggressive geese, which, while hilarious' [...]
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  Posted: March 31, 2009, 6:19am EDT
  

• You write the caption

  

  Let me clear the wax from your ears.

  [...]
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  Posted: March 31, 2009, 5:44am EDT
  

• Schuylkill County pastor places curse on bimbo buccaneer statue

  
  There's tension festering in the quaint coaltown of Girardville, and it revolves around a statue that greets visitors outside a Main Street antique store.
  
  The statue depicts a buxom lady pirate in low-riding pants and spillover blouse. Some view it as art; a local pastor thinks it's "soft" [...]
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  Posted: March 31, 2009, 4:01am EDT
  

• Police hand out fliers urging motorists not to leave laptop on seat of parked cars

  
  
  Now they tell us.
  
  How many Macbooks landed in the hands of thieves because Reading police waited until now to share that awesome crime-stopping secret? (Normally, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that crooks would never pinch a PC, but these are desperate times so one can't be sure.)
  
  Next [...]
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  Posted: March 31, 2009, 3:01am EDT
  

• How poets can rescue newspapers (and other offbeat links)

  Newspapers can generate new revenue if they let local poets pay to publish their works. The government could bail out newspapers by buying ads and paying for subscriptions for civil servants. Scientific proof on why you should swear off lobster, crabs and shrimp. Sacha Baron Cohen's' [...]
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  Posted: March 30, 2009, 9:03am EDT
  

• Smart aleck reporter posts video of rival snoozing at board meeting

  
  His name's John Huston, so you figure he might want to make some movies. This guy is John P. Huston, though, and he's a reporter for Pioneer Local out of Chicago. At an Oak Park Village Board meeting last week, he could not resist whipping out his video camera and [...]
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  Posted: March 30, 2009, 8:06am EDT
  

• Berks had a measly hailstorm, others were terrified by an explosion in the night sky

  
  Hail the size of quarters pelted Berks County yesterday afternoon. For some caught in the icy downpour, that was Mother Nature at her nastiest.
  
  But what was going on in the skies further south along the Atlantic Seaboard Sunday night?
  
  Thousands of people in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia [...]
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  Posted: March 30, 2009, 6:14am EDT
  

• Welcome to the brave new world of $1,100 electric bills

  
  
  When it comes to serving electricity, Middletown is not your typical Pennsylvania community. The Susquehanna County township is one of 35 municipalities that owns its own utility company, buying electricity from another utility and reselling it to residents.
  
  Until 1999, residents enjoyed cheap electric rates because of a [...]
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  Posted: March 30, 2009, 5:35am EDT
  

• Some people are too dumb for a life of crime

  Jerome Blanchett had a plan.
  
  The 19-year-old Harrisburg man took a loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun to the Holiday Inn-Harrisburg East on Friday, police said, and withdrew to the men's room, waiting to rob the next person to arrive. That was John Comparetto, 58, who forked over $138 and his cell phone and [...]
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  Posted: March 30, 2009, 4:58am EDT
  

• Weekend open thread

  Give it up.
  [...]
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  Posted: March 28, 2009, 3:28am EDT
  

• If Reading isn't too chicken, there's a way the city might get its potholes patched for free (and other exciting links)

  
  
  KFC offers free national pothole patch-up -- with advertising on top. Allentown man arraigned for murder wearing fuzzy-wuzzy lion slippers sentenced to 40 to 80 years in prison jungle. Wise Jim Cramer called Andrew Cuomo a "genuine Communist" in 2007 for crackdown on mortgage abuses. [...]
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  Posted: March 27, 2009, 9:43am EDT
  

• Republican gag budget doesn't have enough numbers

  
  The federal budget needs numbers. Even George W. Bush knows that. Back in may 2000, while he was still running for president and hadn't even cut his teeth on running up the federal deficit, Bush said he was proud of the budget he put together:, "It's clearly'" [...]
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  Posted: March 27, 2009, 3:59am EDT
  

• When gangbangers turn in their weapons, they can pretend they're in the movies

  
  
  It's called the "Gift of Guns," a California program where guns are collected anonymously in exchange for cash, a T-shirt and gift card. The idea is to cut down on gang violence, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gave the scoop yesterday on exactly why it works:
  "Every time" [...]
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  Posted: March 27, 2009, 2:59am EDT
  

• Obama blunt on legal marijuana (and other links that deserve a hit)

  Town Hall potheads bombard ex-doper Obama with queries, but he says growing weed not good strategy to grow economy.Jon and Kate Gosselin do Beverly Hills. Why are subprime mortgages like octo-mom's nannies? They're both toxic. Florida kids under 16 will look like Pillsbury Doughboys once state' [...]
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  Posted: March 26, 2009, 9:21am EDT
  

• God may have a plan for Michael Steele, just as Michael Steele had a plan to torque off Rush Limbaugh

  
  RNC hip-hop chair Michael Steele did a sit-down with CNN's Don Lemon and he tried to turn lemon into lemonade, viz a viz how Steele had to swiftly apologize to Rush Limbaugh after sassing him and his radio dittoheads. It was, as if anybody really needed to [...]
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  Posted: March 26, 2009, 5:49am EDT
  

• When more than four gerbils are outlawed, only outlaws will have more than four gerbils

  
  
  Gerbils are in the headlines today. And dogs and kittens and bunnies ...although not lions and tigers and bears, because they don't make good pets. But if you're an animal lover, Reading may have some sad news for you: The Animal Control Board may clamp a limit [...]
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  Posted: March 26, 2009, 4:33am EDT
  

• Uncle Sam and Bill O'Reilly get all kinky (and other twisted links)

  Next thing you know Uncle Sam will strip AIG execs naked, chain them to the bed and post pictures on the Internet.When Bill O'Reilly pounces, he's like an older woman stalking younger guys for sex. After Natasha Richardson organ harvest, some patient woke up in the recovery' [...]
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  Posted: March 25, 2009, 9:19am EDT
  

• Perhaps the county can next try an abacus to get Berks' books in order

  
  
  The $2.5-million financial management software system that the county bought to move its bookkeeping into the 21st century continues to sputter feebly, so the commissioners had to open up their wallets again yesterday. Or, more precisely, the county's wallet. With records a mess and suppliers not getting [...]
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  Posted: March 25, 2009, 4:16am EDT
  

• Obama explains why he's different than people who post comments on blogs

  
  From last evening's press conference, a terse smackdown of CNN's Ed Henry. The floor is now yours to call the president a Muslim, ask to see his birth certificate, and tell why the autumn economic meltdown was really Wall Street reacting to the imminent election of a socialisst.
  [...]
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  Posted: March 25, 2009, 3:03am EDT
  

• What the world needs now are underpants you can wear for a week (and other fragrant links)

  Japanese astronaut testing underpants you can wear for a week. Bailed-out JP Morgan buying “fastest,” “widest,” “most comfortable” private jet ever with superior cabin amenities.Clowning around, Wichita man launches 5-foot inflatable penis at mounted policeman, spooking his horse. Lacking a Jon Gosselin to shove around, octo-mom [...]
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  Posted: March 24, 2009, 8:48am EDT
  

• The cigarette tax is going up so Obama is the personification of EVIL

  
  
  Talk about getting stoked. The federal tax on a pack of smokes will climb to a buck on April Fool's day, and the fools who can't kick the habit are really steamed.
  
  Here's just one of the delightful comments posted with today's Eagle yarn:
  Just another example of' [...]
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  Posted: March 24, 2009, 6:39am EDT
  

• Avoid getting stuck on the D.C. Metro with Howard Dean if you don't want to hear somebody curse like a sailor

  
  
  Howard Dean, former DNC chair and soon-to-be CNBC correspondent, sat down for a hard-hitting Q&A with Politico. Some highlights:
  He does not have a favorite joke. ("I don’t tell jokes much. I tell little stories.")His favorite body part is his foot. ("Because it’s in my mouth a lot.")He [...]
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  Posted: March 24, 2009, 4:45am EDT
  

• If 99 select individuals would suddenly disappear off the face of the Earth, Taylor Swift would be the Number One agent of change in America

  
  
  Rolling Stone has just published its list of the top 100 people who are reinventing America. From the top, we have Obama, the Google guys, Steve Jobs, Bono, Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert...and on down through the usual suspects. Bringing up the rear, right behind Arne Duncan [...]
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  Posted: March 24, 2009, 3:35am EDT
  

• Somday, you will be able to eat PETA meat on a bun (and other tasty links)

  PETA chief wants her body made into barbecue, her liver into foie gras, and her skin into purses (after she's dead.)Newspapers could save money if they use blood instead of ink. Baltimore police toss Jenna Bush's Secret Service limo under the bus. All humor in the [...]
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  Posted: March 23, 2009, 9:22am EDT
  

• Sniffing for drugs at bus terminal was Reading cops' idea

  
  
  This was a hot topic before, so here's Chief William Heim on WEEU's "Feedback" with Mike Faust this morning, talking about the recent use of drug-sniffing dogs at the Inter-City Bus Terminal to nab folks trying to smuggle in contraband from Philadelphia and New York.
  
  The orders didn't come from on [...]
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  Posted: March 23, 2009, 8:51am EDT
  

• You write the caption

  

  Talk about an ugly protest.

  [...]
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  Posted: March 23, 2009, 6:16am EDT
  

• More boomers putting off retirement so they can buy toys for their dogs

  
  
  The leads! the leads!
  
  Jason Brudereck, today, Page A1:
  Terry L. Sturgis is one of millions of baby boomers who plan to delay, or perhaps cancel, their retirements because of the recession and the stock market's dive to half its value of just 18 months ago.
  
  "I was hoping for" [...]
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  Posted: March 23, 2009, 3:44am EDT
  

• Weekend open thread

  Pick the topic and fire away.
  [...]
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  Posted: March 20, 2009, 9:32pm EDT
  

• Scary sightings at state schools (and other strange links)

  Paranormal investigators capture digital images of friendly ghosts in Slippery Rock auditorium. Weathering protests at Millersville, Bill Ayers says he's sorry for bombings, but wants Nam accounting too. Joe the Plumber admits conservatives make him horny.Earth will only experience 5 more equinoxes until The End. [...]
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  Posted: March 20, 2009, 9:38am EDT
  

• Of Special Olympians and sphincters

  It's like our massive series on the rules of civil engagement never happened.

  Certainly, President Obama could take some lessons on holding his tongue after a self-deprecating joke last night to Jay Leno turned into a wisecrack that some felt poked fun at less-abled athletes participating in [...]

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  Posted: March 20, 2009, 3:59am EDT