And Another Thing

Philly's (the city's) highest-paid employee, Dianah Neff, traveled far and wide to almost sixty confererences and her expenses (in some cases) were paid by businesses who could make money off the city. But that is not the reason for my post- heck that is business as usual for the usual suspects who run this city. No, my point is twofold.

One- the internet can be harmful to your health. Neff is the "Information Czarina" for the city and is responsible for its efforts to make wifi internets accessible to everyone. [This is sorta admirable but will definitely be an enormous taxpayer's money sucking boondogle.] But I digress, Neff is 57 years old and looks like she is about 260 lbs and maybe 5'2". So I say.." Dianah- get off your fat ass, get off the internet and walk around the block or to one of those old-fashioned forerunners to the internets (they are called libraries).

Two, stop going to all those conferences- walking thru 60 airports in two years could be taking a toll on Neff- she just got both knees replaced. Why not use the internets to "digitally attend" the conferences and if your knees allow it, log in from a treadmill in your office?

Poll Data Is Way More Interesting Than The Poll Headline

I actually read the questions in a recent poll regarding Pennsylvania and the governor's race, etc. It is fascinating. For instance, 48% have a favorable opinion of the current governor, Rendell, and 50% have a favorable opinion of his opponent, Swann. Yet Swann gets only 36% of the votes and Rendell gets 49%.

And even more fascinating to me is that ONLY 23% approve of Bush's handling of the economy AND (EVEN MORE BIZARRE) only 24% think Pennsylvania is headed in the right direction!! Let's see, I think unemployment is about 5% so I think Pennsylvanians (at least those polled here) and Americans overall are suffering from a great malaise. Is it possible we are just a bunch of whiners? Though I believe the average person is aware that our elected reps do not get anything done and waste time on issues that are not important. So they approve of the governor but must think the office is impotent to get the state headed in the right direction.

Lastly, the poll says 80% favor a fence be built on the Mexican border. So why did the US Senate refuse to fund it? (Below is the link to the poll results).

As I said, the poll details are way more fascinating than the poll headline.

//www.strategicvision.biz/political/pa_poll_072006.htm

The Customers Loved This Joke

I used to tend bar part-time in college and afterwards (heck almost 10-11 years). Here is a joke I used to tell and all the customers loved it. I guess they tended to assume the joke only applied to other customers:

What is the difference between a proctologist and a bartender? ............. A proctologist only has to look at one asshole at a time.

Geez -What's He Been Doing For The Last Eleven Years?

As you know Frank Sinatra stopped performing in 1995 so this is what I asked when I saw the headline below.....
........."Frank Sinatra's pianist dies at 91"

Inquirer Finally Calls It Like It Is- "TAX INCREASE IS 16.7% HIKE"

Below is the link to an Inquirer story that has a headline calling the New Jersey increase in sales tax a 16.7% hike. And I say finally and give kudos to the Inquirer for telling it like it is. Prior to this story, the Inky has been calling it a "one penny" increase as if that was inconsequential. Below is the link to the story and the headline.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/15050211.htm

If Your Kid Wrote Like This, You'd Want A Refund On Your Tuition Payments

Abysmal headline from the Inky....."Philadelphia Unready For Disaster". I may be crazy but what the fluff do they teach these nitwits in journalism school? Here is the link if you doubt me....

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/15025099.htm

Veni, Vidi, Vici

That's about all I remember form my high school Latin classes... the literal translation is "I came, I saw, I conquered" and is a tribute to the sprawling Roman Empire and its emperors.

I wrote this as a tribute to the winning World Cup country, Italy which of course was home to the Roman Empire. BTW, do you think anyone (except the French) was actually rooting for France to win?

91 Year Old WW II Veteran And Double Amputee Looks Forward To Each Day

My father was an amputee (below knee -right leg when he was 79 years old) and lived to 88 years old. So I could relate to this story of a World War II vet who lost both legs in the war and is now 91 years old!

Below is the link to the story. It's inspiring amd I suggest you read it.

http://www.oandp.com/edge/issues/articles/2006-07_09.asp

Speaking Of State Budgets

Lotta stuff in the news lately about state budgets. So I ask you why Pennsylvania's budget of $26 Billion equates to a cost per resident of $2,091 while New Jersey's budget of $31 Billion equates to a per resident cost of $3,555? FYI $2,091 vs. $3,555 is a statistically significant variation of almost $1,500 or 75%!!!

What costs so much in Jersey when compared to Pennsy? It can't all be due to differing ways that they fund education can it?

Governor Corzine Calls State Government Shutdown "Deplorable" As If He Is An Innocent Bystander

Corzine first bought a seat in the US Senate. When he found it that offered far less power than he was accustomed to, he bought the governor's job. And now, he mucks up the budget process because he got his back up and tried to ram thru his tax increases AND his own party refused to play along. Now he calls it deplorable AS IF he were an innocent bystander.

Boy, it could be very interesting to see how this plays in the November elections...can you say wacth many more incumbents lose their jobs? Heck, maybe that was Corzine's scheme all along (nah he's not that smart).

Lastly, they say the New Jersey state government is shut down. How can you tell?

Space Shuttle Is Fast

Did you ever really pay attention to the stats, distances and speed of a space shuttle launch? I just did and it's astounding. Here are some notes I jotted down while watching the launch:

• Four minutes after liftoff, the shuttle has gone 60 miles up, is 200 miles from the space center and has reached a speed of 6,000 MPH (or about ten times faster than a passenger jet).
• Five minutes after liftoff, it has reached a speed of 7,000 mph!!
• Six minutes after liftoff, it has reached a speed of 13,000 frigging feet per second which is more than two miles per second!!!!
• At seven minutes after liftoff, it is now traveling 4 miles per second! If you can get your brain around that fact, can you imagine being in a container going that fast????
• Freaking human achievement is amazing.

The Rich and Famous Are Treated Better

Bernard Kerik cut a deal and pleaded gulity to a misdemeanor in a case involving his taking services and goods of about $200,000! A frigging misdemeanor- that is not right. Reminds me of Sandy Berger also pleading gulity to a misdemeanor when he got caught stealing classified documents and stuffing the papers down his pants and in his socks.

We pay prosecutors to prosecute criminal cases and these two (rich and famous) guys are criminals. There is no reason they should receive such light treatment! IMHO. Below is a link to the Kerik story.

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=104&sid=803867

Does America Need Another Bazillionaire In The Senate?

I am not a big fan of Senator Joe Lieberman (after all he is a Democrat) but I do believe he is honest, genuine and holds certain core values. And he won't sellout his values for political reasons.

Anyway, Lieberman is in a primary battle with a "businessman" Ned Lamont which is what Democratic bloggers call their favored candidates when they are rich (if the same person was a Republican, the left blogs and MSM would call him an "ultra-rich capitalist").

And according to Lieberman, Lamont is worth a bunch of money. See Lieberman's quote below......
"What if my opponent, who says he is worth somewhere between $90 million and $300 million, decides to write bigger and bigger checks in the last weeks of the campaign?" Lieberman stated when asked why he was considering a run as an independent too.

So I ask does America really need another bazillionaire Senator?? I say there are too many of those already and the Senate seats are becoming like a "vanity seat".