Random Penguin droppings

It’s already been talked about a ton, but the summer of sadness continued the other day when John Barbaro died. People like Seth Rorabaugh did a much better job of putting into words than I could. However, he was truly a Penguin great, and was as much a part of the Penguins Experience as the Igloo for close to 40 years. The game will never be the same.

On a brighter side, the clock continues to tick until hockey season and yesterday was a big day.

In order of importance:

Sir Mario and Sid broke in the Ice at the CEC

Max Talbot called it like it is

The announced some crap about the Winter Classic

Let’s hope that Mr. Barbaro’s untimely passing is the official end to the Summer of Sadness, and we can all begin the countdown to the next Hockey Night in Pittsburgh!

Let’s Go Pens!

'Roid Rage Much?

Holy crap! Jabal Sheard is a MONSTER! Check this out! I am now officially frightened to ever meet Jabal Sheard!

This is not good. Pitt's defensive strength is their defensive line, and Sheard was a BEAST last year (if you didn't know it then, you sure as shit do now). His loss this year is going to be hard on the line.

Wannstedt needs to sit Sheard because of this shit.

What was the NAACP thinking?

Why in the world would the NAACP condemn the tea party movement as racist???

What were they thinking????




Oh...Right then, carry on.

You Sir are a Moron: Gubernatorial Edition

My main man, Tommy Corbett stuck his right wing foot in his mouth recently providing some
A-1 bulletin board material for Dan Onorato. I will say, I am sure there are people who are taking advantage of the government's money, but with unemployment at barely subsistence level, it's clear that his generalization is waaayyyyyyyyyyy too broad. The only people who probably aren't complaining are the hard core righty's who he is not afraid to cater to while pissing the rest of the state off.

Here's his quote taken from the Post Gazette:


"The jobs are there," Mr. Corbett told Harrisburg public radio station WITF, but then claimed many people are intentionally staying unemployed to collect the benefits. He said some employers, such as a candy company owner and a plumbing company owner (let me guess, the owner of the business is Joe the Plumber), have told him they can't fill jobs because people would rather stay home on benefits.
"People don't want to come back to work while they still have unemployment" benefits, he said. "They're literally telling (employers) 'I'll come back to work when the employment(sic) runs out.' That's becoming a problem ... If we keep extending unemployment the people are going to sit there."


You sir, are a moron!




Shit...I think I hear the Corbett Thought Police headed this way...

Drill Baby Drill: Pittsburgh Edition

This is not an anti-Marcellus Shale drilling rant. I have to admit, the siren song of Marcellus Shale drilling is an alluring one. The prospect of cash money flowing into the state and the jobs drilling would create are compelling, to say the least. Even more exciting would be the city of Pittsburgh being a hub of the Marcellus Shale drilling industry. It’s enough to conjure images of the golden days of Pittsburgh, where the population was high, and the smoke pouring out of the stacks at the many local steel mills was shaped like dollar bill signs.

However, nothing is ever that simple. Much like how the former economic heart of this region also helped to cause environmental damage that lasts to this day; Marcellus Shale drilling is not without its negative side effects. My issue is not with the concept of drilling, but the question of whether it’s right for the city of Pittsburgh. A drilling company taking up residence here is one thing, drilling within the city limits is another one all together.

Like with drilling in general, drilling in the city is alluring, especially when topics like pension and legacy health care costs continue to rear their ugly heads and threaten to sink the city’s budget. Drilling seems to be the easy answer for a much needed cash infusion for the city.

However, before you start building a derrick in your back yard, here are a couple of things you might want to think about:



Fracking fluid: Not an expert, but if you don’t know what it is; here you go. Fracking fluid is mostly water, about 95%. The problem is the other 5%. The other 5% may contain a toxic or corrosive cocktail that helps to break up the shale and free the natural gas (By the way, drilling companies don’t want to tell anyone, and by law they don’t have to right now, what exactly is in their fracking fluid). Big deal right? Well, unfortunately it is a big deal. A well in Lawrence County recently had what’s called a blow out. Long story short, a blow out occurs when natural gas and fracking fluid violently gush back out of the drilling bore. About 35,000 gallons of Natural Gas and Fracking Fluid (which it was determined was a mixture of water, salt and chlorine. Gee, that sounds like it would be great to release in the city of Pittsburgh.) spilled onto the ground during drilling.

Isolated incident right? Not so much, Check out this and this.


In Colorado, where Marcellus Shale drilling is more established, over the last 2.5 years, over 5 MILLION gallons of “drilling liquid” was dumped during drilling. Not to say that a well in Pittsburgh would dump 5 million gallons, but, if one well can dump 35,000 gallons, and mishaps seem to be common place in a state with GREATER drilling regulation than Pennsylvania, then it seems a near certainty that it would happen in Pittsburgh.

A spill in the middle of nowhere is bad enough. Imagine a spill in a city with an approximate population density of 6000 people per square mile. In addition to local evacuations, The FAA instituted a flight ban on the Clearfield County spill on any flights below 1000 feet because even a small spark from an airplane engine could ignite a MASSIVE explosion. Don’t you think any of those 6000 nearby residents may have a lighter or a source of flame that could make a massive KABOOM before all proper evacuations would occur???!!! Bad juju all around.



Groundwater contamination: This point is up for debate, and obviously the different points of view are pretty polarized. Those for drilling say that there is no chance it could happen; those against drilling say that not only is it possible, but is already happening. Check out this Vanity Fair article.
If it’s true, that’s some scary shit! I’m not convinced either way, but the potential after effects are scary enough, that we better be goddamn sure! A drilling company telling me that it won’t contaminate isn’t gonna cut it. They have an agenda. We need independent verification that drilling won’t contaminate ground water. Again, with 6000 or so people a sq mile, we as a city can’t afford a single instance of ground water contamination.

Bottom line, I’m not convinced drilling is bad, but I sure as hell am not convinced that drilling is without damaging side effects. The city of Pittsburgh stands to lose too much if something goes wrong with drilling. We need to be sure that NO ONE will be adversely affected by drilling before we “drill baby drill.”

Heat Waves Suck: One of the Reasons I Now Like Fall Better

Remember when you were a kid? All you wanted was summer time. No school, days at the pool; it was awesome. Not as much any more.

I miss fall.

To pass the time, I came up with a list of the reasons why summer ain't what it used to be. (In no order)

#1: Sports: This is what we are reduced to: 30-54 and the LeBron Hour Starring LeBron*. You know, I could look past the LeBron Hour Starring LeBron if 30-54 wasn't 30-54. Problem is, we are 30-54. So, LeBron Hour Starring LeBron it is...God, where are you football, and most importantly; HOCKEY!!!!! (OH MY GOD DO I NEED THE PENS BACK!)

#2: WORK: You know when you were a kid, the #1 thing you looked forward to during the summer wasn't the weather, it wasn't the vacations, it was the not going to school. Getting up at 10, eating a shit load of sugary cereal and starting your day. That was the life. No more my friends, work work work, all year long. Think you're gonna go to the pool today? Fat chance son, you're working!

#3: Goddamn Heat: Days like today make me want to crawl into the freezer and not come out. If you don't know what I'm talking about, walk outside...no further explanation needed. I long for the brisk fall afternoons where the leaves are beautiful and a sweater or sweatshirt makes you feel nice and cozy.

#4: Did I mention the Heat? You know, the heat that makes all the shit (Barbecuing, eating outside, outdoor sports) that supposedly makes summer the best season absolutely miserable?




*You know what's worse than LeBron's ego? ESPN whoring themselves out for an HOUR so Bron Bron can make a 2 second announcement! I can hear the advertising dollars rolling in now! ESPN is expecting us to waste an hour of our lives (which we will) to hear them pontificate on what they believe he will say during his speech. Which, by the way, will occur at approx 59 minutes and 45 of the broadcast.