October 2009 Archives

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 couples. She dresses like a prostitute and he dresses like her pimp. Isn't that adorable?

From what I understand, "pimp and ho parties" are really popular as theme parties at fraternities these days.

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 this is my last workday before Halloween, I must write about it.

Animal abuse.

For the love of God, people! Think about the poor, defenseless creatures of this planet and the things we subject them to!

What does this have to do with Halloween? Well ...

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 hope the publisher was considerate enough not to include any big words that might confuse and frighten readers. And if you're buying hard-cover editions for people who are prepared to believe every word, you might want to sand down the corners so they don't accidentally injure themselves.

Here's the press release.

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 last November. Not only did they see their party win the presidency and both houses of Congress, but the local party also picked up thousands of new registrations.

The keynote speaker was Joe Sestak, the congressman and former admiral from the Philly burbs who plans to take on Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary next year. I couldn't help but reflect on the irony of seeing him get pretty much the same reception that Pat Toomey always got at Republican gatherings.

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 seems to be implying that Corbett is hypocritical for not stepping down as attorney general while he's running for governor, despite stating in a 1996 interview that he believes state attorney general should be an appointed office to eliminate any appearance of impropriety.

I have no problem with attack ads, as long as they're relevant and accurate. If your opponent's done something wrong and the electorate ought to know it, hey, go nuts.

But frankly, I think this particular criticism is kind of a reach. Absent any indications that Corbett has demonstrated conflict of interest, I'm not too worried about him keeping his job for now.

That bieng said, I was pretty impressed with Gerlach when he spoke at the York County Republican Victory Dinner at the Holiday Inn in West Manchester the Thursday before last.

Gerlach's not a flashy speaker. After a rather lame joke and the obligatory reference to his difficult upbringing, much of his discussion involved minute detailing of his policy proposals.

And that's exactly what impressed me. When it comes to political candidates, I tend to gravitate toward the one who'd look more at home in a back office going over reports and accounting sheets than in front of a podium, stirring up the crowd with his lofty rhetoric.

"Hey, if you elect me, here's what I want to do ..." Now that's my kind of campaign speech!

Anyway, here's the press release:

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 was listening to one this morning that featured a detective with a tough female sidekick. It got me thinking about the recession, and what it might mean for women.

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 are starting to have an effect.

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 the summer and endangering county human care programs throughout Pennsylvania.

Now we can expect some fallout, right? I mean, heads are gonna roll over this debacle come election time! Except, I seriously doubt they will.

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 the games to go toward property tax relief. And no, it didn't pass in the Democrat-dominated House.

I've attached the press release. Miller's got a point. The legalization of slots five years ago didn't exactly make the state's property tax problem disappear overnight.

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 Steve Chronister about the situation. He and the other commissioners still have a tough choice on their hands -- borrow money and pay the resulting financing costs, only to risk having the state pass a budget the next day and make the whole thing unnecessary? Or refrain from borrowing money, and risk running out of funds if the state lawmakers don't approve a budget soon?

Chronister hopes that if this impasse continues, the governor will arrange for some kind of interim funding measure for human care agencies, like he did for state worker paychecks. If he's going to do something like that, it better be within the next week or so.

Anyway, here's the press release:

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 last night, I was really appreciating it as devastating political satire.

It ran for three seasons, starting in 2003. During that time, it thoroughly dissected everything that was wrong with Dubya-era America. Watching it now, I find it eerily prescient in its examination of the rampant idiocy and greed that laid the groundwork for the current recession.

I'm glad that guy can translate the question of the interviewer, who is apparently tripping on mushrooms.