I'm not sure if I mentioned this on the blog before, but I'm a book junkie. I'm always working on at least one, regular text-on-pages book, and one audio book.
Since a lot of those books tend to be about political subjects, I figured maybe I could write a recommendation here' [...]
I LOVE this commercial! It's part of a campaign in England for open Parliamentary elections. Duck crap jokes and a Motorhead guitar riff. Does it get any better?
[...]I'm back! Sorry for the lack of entries there. I went to visit some family in upstate New York, and didn't really get a chance to blog.
So. Obama's Afghanistan plan.
As a group, us journalists LOVE to second-guess people. The government shouldn't be doing THIS! They should be doing THAT!
When it' [...]
Well, I'm about to head out of town for a few days. Thanksgiving is the holiday when we're supposed to think about what we're thankful for. I'm thankful for the fact that Lyndon LaRouche never succeeded in any of his attempts to get elected president.
[...]Here's a press release I got yesterday from state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester, about a package of reforms he wants.
His timing is pretty good. I'm guessing that after the latest Bonusgate charges, members of both parties will be tripping over themselves to demonstrate how reform-minded they are.
' [...]I mentioned recently that some people are calling for Attorney General Tom Corbett to step down if he's running for governor. Their argument is that high-profile cases such as Bonusgate are giving him too much publicity.
You know, maybe they have a point. Check it out. Tom Corbett's so famous that [...]
Picture this. One of your poker buddies is telling you and the rest of the guys how he got in trouble at his job.
See, he told his boss that there was a death in the family and he had to go to the funeral. But he was actually heading up [...]
U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, who plans to run against Attorney General Tom Corbett in the Republican primary for governor next year, said that Corbett should resign.
Gerlach's not the only one to make that suggestion. The latest round of "Bonusgate" allegations have raised the question once again. How possible is it [...]
These are uncertain times. But here's one thing we can rely on: No matter how horrific the tragedy, there's always going to be some vile jackass trying to bring out the worst in us.
Sorry if I'm a bit behind-the-news-cycle on this one. I'm still catching up after my flu-related hiatus.
So [...]
To be fair, I haven't seen the update of "V" either. I did see the original when it aired, though. The part where that woman unhinges her jaw and swallows a guinea pig? Maaaan! Thinking back on it, I still feel that disorienting sensation of being simultaneously terrified and strangely' [...]
Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm recovering from a bout of the flu. For a few days there, I didn't have much energy for anything besides reading and napping.
Once I started feeling better, one of the first things I did was go online to make sure that the latest [...]
Holy crap!
I'm not going to write a lot right now on the latest "bonusgate" charges from Attorney General Tom Corbett. I've just worked 12 straight hours, and I'll likely come in on my day off tomorrow to write a follow-up story.
Yeah, I know -- you don't read this blog [...]
On Wednesday, I usually put up a goofy video for Video of the Week.
This week, I thought I'd do something different. "Oh Danny Boy," was a favorite song of my Grandpa's, a veteran himself. From what I understand, it's subject to different interpretations. Some intepret it as a song about [...]
Here's an Associated Press story about a bill that would ban texting while driving. The state House's Transportation Committee unanimously approved it, and it's now going to the floor for approval.
Just to make sure, I checked in with state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester. He confirmed that, yes, it's the [...]
So now the health care reform plan that passed in the House on Saturday goes to the Senate. How painful will that process be? Hmmmmm....
[...]Wow. When the county commissioners announced a press conference after Wednesday's meeting, I was afraid it would be something boring.
Here's the story:
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13707394?source=most_viewed
Basically, two county parks have become hot spots for gay men making surreptitious hook-ups. County rangers have busted 81 of them in recent months, but it continues unabated.
[...]All my Republican friends love this one.
[...]Looks like the Republican picks -- Chuck Patterson and Harry Ness -- got elected as Common Pleas Court judges. I hope they're prepared for the kind of challenges awaiting them.
' [...]I was just talking to one of my colleagues on the sports desk about the mayoral race in York. He said there didn't seem to be a lot of campaigning, and he wondered if he'd missed it.
He hadn't.
Kim Bracey, the Democratic candidate, is virtually assured of a win. Independent Steven' [...]
I just stopped by Alexander Goode Elementary School in York, site of my local polling place. The poll workers said they were wondering when I'd show up.
Well, there's one more incentive to vote every time: the knowledge that someone will be aware of it if I don't. That's OK. I [...]
OK, I was kidding in that earlier entry about pet costumes being tantamount to animal abuse.
But I have to mention something that genuinely angers me about Halloween these days. It's the prevalence of "pimp and ho" costumes. As in pimp and whore, filtered through tongue-in-cheek ebonics.
It's a popular choice for [...]
I'm writing a Sunday story about the judicial and local elections taking place on Tuesday. And for the record: Yes, I always do snicker to myself when I write the phrase "seats up for grabs."
' [...]I still have to cover politics for the York Daily Record, in addition to writing this blog. Accordingly, my editors have made it clear that this blog is supposed to be for commentary and analysis, not for opinion and advocacy.
But I simply can't remain silent on one issue. And since' [...]
Ouch!
[...]I got this press release today about a book by a guy named Larry Sinclair, alleging that Barack Obama used coke, had gay sex and was involved in a murder.
I haven't read it yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it also contains something about Obama being a Satan worshipper.
I [...]
Last night, York County Democrats held their annual fall dinner at the Valencia Ballroom in downtown York. Just from walking around the room, you'd never guess they're still the minority party in York County.
The 150 or so people seemed to still be nursing a collective endorphin buzz left over from [...]
In honor of the swine flu scare, I bring you:
[...]Well, it looks like the Republican primary is starting to go negative, if not dramatically so.
I got an e-mail from the campaign of Jim Gerlach, congressman from Chester County, who is taking on Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett for the right to run as next year's Republican gubernatorial candidate.
Gerlach's campaign [...]
I was late getting an Ipod, but now I love the thing.
Yeah, I like the convenience of listening to music that way, but what I really enjoy are the podcasts. One of my recent discoveries is a podcast that plays great old radio shows from the 1920s through the 1940s.
I [...]
Polls in California show that the approval ratings for Gov. Arnoled Schwarzenegger are at an all-time low -- about 27 percent. It's likely a result of Californians venting their frustration at problems the recession has caused.
Then again, maybe the sheer volume of Internet soundboard pranks using clips from Schwarzenegger movies [...]
Is it me? Or is it kind of weird that arguably the biggest flap of Obama's young presidency is his winning the Nobel Peace Prize?
If you don't agree with the committee's decision, fine. But geez! It's not like Obama paid them off or something.
' [...]So we've finally got an approved state budget -- the $27.8 billion plan that nobody in Harrisburg seems particularly happy about, but which they can all presumably live with.
But they passed the budget more than a hundred days late, forcing about 77,000 state workers to go without a paycheck over' [...]
This week, let's check in with our friends Down Under. Where women glow and MPs blunder.
[...]Yeah, that was lame. Whatever.
When I talked to local state representatives yesterday, Republicans were waiting to see if an amendment by state Rep. Ron Miller, R-Jacobus, was going to pass before deciding if they could support a bill that would legalize table games.
Miller's amendment would have required any revenue from [...]
Here's a news release from some local Republicans regarding the state budget.
Last week, it was really looking like Rendell and the legislative leaders had reached a compromise. Then it pretty much fell apart over the weekend.
This morning, I stopped by the county commissioners' work session and talked to President Commissioner' [...]
OK, it's become kind of a cliche to talk about how brilliant the TV show "Arrested Development" was. Still ... Man! "Arrested Development" was brilliant!
I had a bunch of friends over last night, and we were watching it on DVD. It works as a skewed family sitcom, of course. But [...]
I'm glad that guy can translate the question of the interviewer, who is apparently tripping on mushrooms.
' [...]The state budget that appears to be close to passing includes a tax on tickets for theater, performing arts events and concerts.
Here's the text of a press release from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance arguing against it.
Personally, my concern is that cultural institutions such as the Strand Capitol will be [...]
Well, it's my birthday today. 43 years old and not one iota of maturity. I'm living the dream, baby!
I know my parents read this blog. So Mom and Dad -- Hi! I love you! Can't wait to see you next week!
And I would recommend that you two not read [...]
Heavens to Betsy! I was halfway out the door before I remembered that I still have to post this week's video. Here it is!
Check it out!
http://www.rollcall.com/features/Guide-to-Congress_2009/guide/38405-1.html?page=4
"Roll Call", the newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, recently listed U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, as a member of the "obscure caucus." Roll Call uses that designation for congress members, Republican or Democrat, who aren't well-known to the general public.
I suspect that's just fine with Platts.' [...]
I was kind of slow catching up on this one. Barack Obama did a bunch of news shows Sunday to push his health care proposals. Last night, I got around to listening to a podcast of his appearance on "Meet the Press."
Health care aside, he spent a good part of [...]
So last week, the state House of Representatives was going to pass a resolution designating October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. No big deal, right? It's not like anybody's going to argue that domestic violence is a good thing.
But apparently state Rep. Darryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, had a problem with it [...]
Word out of Harrisburg is that Gov. Rendell and the legislative leaders may have finally ... FINALLY ... reached a compromise that will end Pennsylvania's status as the only state not yet to have ratified its budget for the current fiscal year (which began July 1, by the way).
Man, this [...]
So Joe Wilson yelled "You lie!" and Barack Obama glared at him.
Yeah, it was a dramatic moment as far as American presidential speeches go. And frankly, I think it was pretty undignified on Wilson's part.
But I've seen a lot of analysis pieces since then on the death of civility in' [...]
The folks on the news desk forwarded me an e-mail today from a local resident. He raises a pretty interesting point.
I recently interviewed local Congressman Todd Platts, who told me he disapproves of the people shouting about proposed health care changes at public meetings, and he believes differences of [...]
I just got this press release from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. It's kinda weird.
I'm not exactly sure what the nature of President Obama's offense is. The implication seems to be that he grossly insulted the hard-working men and women of our great Commonwealth by failing to stop by a' [...]
Missed a day yesterday. Sorry. I'm still working my way through a post-vacation funk.
So we're still waiting on a state budget. It looks like York County commissioners are putting off the decision whether to borrow money or not for a little while, in light of the recent developments.
Personally, I think [...]
Vacation's over. Crap.
Anyway, last week saw some promising developments with the state budget. Three of the four caucuses in the legislature have agreed on a tentative $28 billion spending plan.
[...]I hope this isn't Glenn's standard pickup line.
' [...]I'm actually working today. The vacation days I've been taking are of the "use them or lose them" variety. It's hard to get replacements to work Sunday, so I offered to come in today, then take the rest of the week off.
That's just a lengthy way of explaining that you [...]
You know the drill. I'm on vacation, so I'm just posting videos because it's less work.
In that spirit, I should say that I somehow feel as if I'm cheating when I post videos from The Onion on here, because finding them requires no real searching on my part. But I' [...]
I had to take some vacation time. Since I don't feel like doing a lot of work over my vacation, I'm just slapping a bunch of videos up here.
Remember in "The Family Circus," when Bill Keane would go away on vacation and "Little Billy" would draw the cartoons for him? [...]
I had to take some vacation days in the next couple of weeks, or lose them.
I don't want to neglect the blog, or any of you wonderful folks who read it regularly. At the same time, I don't want to spend a lot of time writing, researching or doing anything [...]
I had to take some vacation days in the next couple of weeks, or lose them.
I don't want to neglect the blog, or any of you wonderful folks who read it regularly. At the same time, I don't want to spend a lot of time writing, researching or doing anything [...]
Get the reference in the title? The Monty Python Spam sketch? It's the kind of thing that aging geeks like myself find highly amusing.
Anyway, I got a comment on Youtube for my video about the health care reform proposals. Youtube marked it as spam. Just out of curiousity, I did [...]
I was talking to state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester, a little bit earlier about Ted Kennedy. We agreed that he's a guy who really defied expectations.
This is from the office of state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester:
Interesting. I got this e-mail today from the Joe Sestak campaign. (I'll post the text in just a minute.)
Sestak is the congressman planning to run against U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary. Pat Toomey is the conservative Republican whose likely primary challenge convinced Specter to switch from Republican' [...]
Here's a video I made to explore the controversy surrounding end of life counseling. Is it me, or are sock puppets a sorely underutilized tool for political discourse?
[...]
From the office of state Rep. Seth Grove, R-Dover township
HARRISBURG - Rep. Seth Grove (R-Dover) will host a series of town hall meetings over the coming months to hear the concerns of residents of the 196th District.
"My primary duty as a state representative is to vote on behalf of the" [...]
OK, it's not the most substantive political protest I've ever seen. But what the hell, it's cute.
By the way, when I picked up the embed coding on Youtube, this was the first comment -- reproduced exactly:
thats so dam fake the lady probably taught him that barack obama means "no" or' [...]
This was originally how I was going to start this post ...
"Members of the state Senate, where Republicans have a majority, are going to try to override Gov. Ed Rendell's earlier vetoes to get parts of the state budget passed."
Yeah, that's an accurate and concise description of what's going to [...]
During a speech before the Veterans of Foriegn Wars conference in Phoenix, President Barack Obama reiterated his commitment to fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, calling it a "war of necessity."
Oh yeah. Afghanistan. For a while there, so much debate centered on Iraq that Afghanistan felt almost like an afterthought.
[...]
In a lot of debates about the proposed federal health care reforms, I hear the word "unconstitutional" getting thrown around. It's usually in a context of: The U.S. Constitution doesn't say that the government can provide health coverage, therefore any attempt to do that would be unconstitutional.
I don't want to [...]
Sorry if the blog seemed lackluster this week. I threw out my back on Monday, and I've been scurrying out of here early all week to ice it. I'll be back to my chipper self next week.
Just a couple of brief observations before it's scurryin' time:
1) Still no state budget.' [...]
Journalistic smartasses like my colleagues and me have been having a lot of fun with a recent editorial in the Investors Business Daily to the effect that Obama's health care plan would create a big system of state-run eugenics.
It uses the United Kingdom's health care system as a cautionary example, [...]
Local Congressman Todd Platts has endorsed Congressional colleague Jim Gerlach for the governor's race next year.
A lot of observers are saying that Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett is the safest bet as next year's Republican gubernatorial candidate. But now I have to wonder.
Platts endorsed John McCain as the Republican presidential [...]
In a rare instance of recent good news for state workers, the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire issued the following statement (proclamation?) today. It's not a regular paycheck, but what the hell ... it's something.
I hope "Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I" doesn't end up in an impasse with Senate Republicans. Then' [...]
Sarah Palin plus William Shatner equals comic gold.
[...]When I interviewed U.S. Sen. Arlen specter, D-Pa., last week during his visit with york County Democrats, he made a crack about the fact that U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak hadn't yet formally announced his candidacy.
That changed this morning. Sestak is officially in the race, taking on Specter in the Democratic' [...]
I spoke to state Rep. Keith Gillespie, R-Hellam Township, tonight. He said he got an e-mail from his caucus leaders, calling for a meeting of the House Republicans tomorrow morning. They hinted that the Democrats who comprise a majority in the House and the Republicans who make up the majority [...]
I just read that former state Senator Vince Fumo, who is preparing to serve 55 months in federal prison on corruption charges, will not get his $100,500 annual legislative pension.
Sorry. I have to stop typing this entry because it's too hard to see through the tears of sympathy that are [...]
We're on the verge of concluding a whole month without a new state budget. Honestly, I never thought it would come to this.
Even if members of the state legislature reached a compromise this afternoon (not that there's any indication they will), 77,000 state workers won't get a paycheck tomorrow.
It's a [...]
For my story last Sunday, I did a piece on the health care reform debate. In the course of it, I took a look at local Congressman Todd Platts' campaign contributions, via the Website www.OpenSecrets.org, which is run by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
' [...]I previously posted a video of a crazy guy at a public meeting, and mentioned that you see that a lot when you cover municipal politics. Here's another ... archetype, I guess you'd call it, of the public meeting speaker.
These types can be amusing, unless you're a reporter who needs [...]
Hawaii's health director has reiterated the fact that she's personally seen Barack Obama's birth certificate in the Health Department archives.
I doubt that will make any difference to the "birthers," the group of people that insists Obama wasn't born in the U.S., and thus doesn't meet the Constitutional requirements to be [...]
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter stopped by York County Democratic headquarters for about an hour this afternoon.
I found it kind of disorienting. I was talking to Democratic County Commissioner Doug Hoke before Specter showed up. Hoke mentioned that it would be his first time meeting Specter in person.
At first I thought [...]
OK, so I got this idea. I wanted to see if the transcript of a Pennsylvania House of Representatives Finance Committee hearing would be more interesting if read by the cast of York Little Theatre's "Rocky Horror Show" -- in character and in costume.
The results were ... well, see for [...]
I happen to think Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest human beings on the planet. I admire the way the best humorists can make you laugh even as they make you deeply uncomfortable.
[...]This afternoon, I got something from my confidential informant -- aka: my man on the street, Huggy Bear.
It's an e-mail exchange that took place between state Rep. Seth Grove, R-Dover Township, and a guy from Philadelphia (who I guess I won't name, seeing as he's not a public official).
I gave' [...]
This kind of cracked me up. I got an e-mail from the campaign of U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who will likely be U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's opponent in the Democratic primary.
Sestak's campaign collected a bunch of excerpts from news stories highlighting Specter's grilling of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Here's' [...]
This is one I made over the weekend. You know, sorry-looking sock puppets have been a sorely underutilized tool for political commentary ... until now!
I don't want to get mawkish about this, but Walter Cronkite was always a hero of mine. Nothing I could write would pay higher tribute to the man than one of his own quotes.
In 2000 interview, Russ Mitchell asked Cronkite what he was most proud of in his 50 years' [...]
Remember that budget standoff?
Well, it's still going on. Here's a statement that state Rep. Dan Moul, R-Conewago Township, released today.
"An attempt by House Republican leaders to position Senate Bill 850 for a vote this week was blocked in a party-line vote, dashing the hopes of thousands of state employees" [...]
The temperature's supposed to reach 90 degrees today. But November's closer than you might think. I got this in my e-mail this morning:
The Democratic Party of York County is accepting applications for two positions that have opened on the ballot for the November General Election. Election laws dictate that the [...]
I was taking some vacation time in West Virginia (no, I WASN'T really in Argentina), which is why the blog has been a bit inactive lately.
I had this whole bit worked out where I would predict things that would happen -- ie: Sarah Palin announced today that she's returning to' [...]
It just occurred to me that I should probably explain a previous post, where I posted an e-mail exchange between myself and city council member Cameron Texter.
I like to think of the blog as a forum for two-way communication that the regular newspaper, by its very nature, can't provide.
That may' [...]
I think "The Onion" is still my all-time favorite Website. It blows my mind how they manage to be so funny every week.
In recent years, they've added spot-on videos satirizing TV news, including their take on C-SPAN.
' [...]Here's an e-mail I received from City Council member Cameron Texter, and my response. While covering the cops shift on Sunday, I wrote about an arrest that occurred Saturday night in York spurred by people setting off fireworks. I referred to an incident that occurred in 2007, and Texter believes [...]
Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I genuinely figured that we'd have a new state budget by the time the July 4th weekend was over.
I don't know about you folks, but I'm starting to get a little cold sweat going.
Basically, it comes down to a standoff between the Republicans' [...]
Well, my weekend is over. (I work a Sunday through Thursday shift.) I guess I might as well weigh on on Sarah Palin's decision to step down as governor.
So was her decision made as advance preparation for a presidential run? It's possible. She referred to a "higher calling," and it [...]
Those anti-tax folks who brought us the "Tea Party" protests back in April are planning another Tea Party in Gettysburg on Saturday. The forecast is 82 degrees and sunny. I hope it's iced tea.
Here's their news release:
Who: Gettysburg Freedom Tea Party Organizing Committee
Sue Williams, Organizer, 717-677-9846
Walt Tuchalski, Co-Organizer, [...]
