More Partisan Garbage

You don't think that the Port Authority's North Shore Connector was worth the $500 or so million? Join the rest of Allegheny County.

But seriously, these assholes and their bullshit report are so far off base with this it's not even funny.

Here's the article.

Let me get this straight. Because $62 million of stimulus money had to be used to complete this project, Obama's stimulus or if you want to be naughty "bailout" is a pork filled failure?

Ok thought so...

Well, I see one glaring hole in your analysis which is oozing partisan bullshit*. You see, the original $435 million used to start the project, well that came from G Dubs administration way back in 2003-2004.

Oh snap, that's right. If the "fiscally responsible" Republican controlled Federal Government hadn't provided these funds, then they wouldn't have had to be bailed out to begin with.

Sounds like another Republican turd from the turn of the 21st century that the Obama administration has been left to polish.

So really, unless we wanted two unused tunnels under the river that would be incurring regular maintenance fees, we had no choice but to seek funding. That funding was able to keep the project going and keep those construction workers employed (it's all about jobs right???)

All this partisanship is getting out of control. You can't take anything at face value from any political party. Americans unfortunately need to verify anything that comes out of a politicians mouth. What's even more unfortunate, is that we don't. They spoon feed us horse shit and we ask for more.

*Yea I know I'm oozing with partisan bullshit too...we all are, but at least I'm not attempting to present figures misleadingly to influence people's opinion.

You Ma'am are a Moron!

Pittsblog was all over this.

I still couldn't resist.

So let me see if I can summarize what you're saying here miss selfish suburbia.

You were either too lazy, too stupid, or too absent minded to put a single quarter in a meter. You were punished for your laziness/stupidity/absent mindedness, and it the city's fault.

Makes....sense?

And if I'm also to understand you correctly; you are going to punish the vendors of the farmers market because you were too lazy, too stupid, or too absent minded to put a single quarter in a meter.

Sally here probably could narrow down the causes of white flight to one single invention....parking meters.

You ma'am....Are a moron.

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.

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.

You Sir Are a Moron!

I think I'm going to make this a semi-regular theme. People say stupid things all the time (myself especially); but sometimes a comment comes along that is so foolish, is so poorly thought out, and so short sited that you just want to slap them with a little white glove. In celebration of such stupidity, I will make an effort to post these gems when I find them.

Today's entry comes from Chris Robinson of SURPRISE!!!!!!, Arizona.

He writes in the PG Q & A:

"I don't get it. Sidney Crosby hasn't gotten much criticism over this meltdown (in the 2010 playoffs). He gets lauded about being a "big-game player" My question is, in what big game has Sidney Crosby EVER stepped up for the Pens? His two biggest games so far in his career he has been scoreless. Game 7 in the Cup final last summer and, of course, (Game 7 against Montreal). As bad as he was in this Montreal series, his point totals actually doubled his output during the Stanley Cup final last year. Both those series make his two-goal and six-point effort during the 2008 final look like Mario Lemieux-type numbers. He's still a young guy with many years ahead of him. Hopefully, he is the reason the Penguins hoist the Cup again someday instead of winning in spite of him like last year, but right now he is vastly over-hyped and overrated when people mention him in the same breath as Mario Lemieux."

You sir are a moron...Nothing more needs to be said to defend my statement and my frustration towards yours.

My Thoughts Exactly

I refused to watch two of the big affiliates in Pittsburgh felatiate poor old Ben. I didn't want to give them the ratings.

Chris Potter at the Slag Heap did the work, and the thinking for me. Check it out here. He expressed excellently, why Ben has yet to be held accountable and how his words are just that; words. They are nothing more, not an admission of guilt, or remorse. The worst part about this is, our news media is giving him a pass. At a certain point, our media's love affair with the Steelers stops being cute. At certain times I have relished the fact that the lead in to most newscasts was Steelers related, and that it was all fluff but it's gone too far. The networks are clearly still walking on eggshells around the Steelers organization like it is God's Kingdom come to earth. (Not sure if that has more to do with the organization, or more to do with ratings. Lord knows you wouldn't want to piss any of those yinzers off that watch your newscast because the Steelers lead every night)

We should start a pool; what's the over/under on how long it takes poor old Ben to become a condescending, arrogant rapist again?

Beyond Mockery

Before it was fun to call him “wittle wukey” or Steelerstahl or whatever. I’m just getting sick of it. Mocking does nothing. He continues to push the city of Pittsburgh to see how much bullshit he can get away with and the city of Pittsburgh keeps backing away.

I’m sick of it. The city Ethics council won’t review the nomination. That’s old news from the weekend. A lot of people are bitching and rightly so, but we get the government we deserve.

Here’s an idea…act!

The article states that the only way they would investigate is if either a person requests an opinion BEFORE they undertake a potentially risky ethical move or if a FORMAL complaint is filed. Everyone is sitting around waiting for Peduto or Shields to file one.

Screw them; it seems they don’t want to upset the apple cart. You know who else can file an ethics complaint???? YOU CAN!

Here’s the link to the city ethics complaint form. You can download a PDF complaint form and submit it:

For good measure here’s the link to the Allegheny County Ethics Council. Submit a complaint to them too.

Even if these complaints are denied, let them know that you’re pissed about this! Let them you’re tired of being treated like a simpleton who will let the city leadership (Ravenstahl in particular) do what they want, when they want.

ENOUGH!!!!

This is Too Good to Pass Up!

Saw this on the PG today.

I couldn't resist. First, here is the text of the comment that set me off:

"And that's a good thing. Pennsylvania needs to worry about balancing it's budget, creating jobs, keeping the streets safe and reducing taxes. Our politicians should not be worried about questionable bans of our personal liberties.
Slowly but surely, if we sit back and let them tell us what we can do from day to day, we will soon find ourselves no longer living...in the land of the free."


Any guesses on what my tea-baggin buddy is refering to? Is it the second amendment? Could it be railing against "socialist healthcare"? No, Uncle Sam is worried about a law making it illegal to text while driving.

You sir are a moron! You alllllllmost had me that the state has a lot of worthy issues on its plate currently. Almost... You completely lost me in that last paragraph. How in the hell is a ban on an unsafe activity "questionable"?

Let me explain something to you, and I need you to try to pay attention as if Rush or Glenn were typing this. If you are texting while driving it is dangerous. It is dangerous because you could rear end another car, or you could lose control of your car and slam into another car, or you could drive through a red light and get T-boned. Do you catch my drift there homeslice?

Hey asshole; the next time a 16 year old broadsides your car because they were texting, make sure you don't get mad at them. Make sure you get out, shake their hand, and thank them for exercising their freedom to operate a motor vehicle in a dangerous and irresponsible manner.

That's in the constitution....right?

Some Thoughts on the Cup

-THANK GOD the Flyers did not win!

-No matter who they played, I would have rooted for the Blackhawks (unless of course the Greatest Team in the History of Hockey was playing them). I like them. I like the style of hockey they play and they remind me of the Greatest Team in the History of Hockey.

-Good for Hossa. I actually clapped when he picked up the Cup. I have absolutely no ill will for the guy. That MAY have been different had the Pens not won, but the hockey gods made things right last year. Good for him, some people take long winding roads to the Cup, his was perhaps the longest and the most winding!

-Ha Fuckin Ha Flyers fans!

-So far 1 team from every Winter Classic has gone to the SCF...and lost. Ohhh, that's an ugly thought for 2011. Either the Pens lose another SCF, or we have to endure the Crapitals going all the way to the SCF

-What a moment when Jeremy Roenick got choked up! NBC botched the moment, surprise, surprise, but that right there is why I love the Stanley Cup and hockey. Players give up more in hockey than in any other sport to try and get it, and it really hit him that he never touched it and never will. There's MUCH more of a mystique surrounding the Stanley Cup than there is about a World Series Trophy, Lombardi Trophy, or NBA trophy. There's hundreds of those. A new one is made every year. There's one Stanley Cup. Having your name inscribed on the one and only championship trophy of the NHL is an accomplishment unlike any other championship in sports.



-Fuck, it's back to the Pirates full time.

-Come on Pens training camp, fantasy football and Pitt football!!!

A Riddle

Q: What is the difference between Ben Roethlisberger and a serial rapist rotting in jail????

A: A good lawyer

Nothing new here, but really, he is a bad person. He doesn't deserve the sympathy/attention/money that he gets. The Steelers are shooting themselves in the foot. I can never look at this franchise the same way as long as that piece of shit is on the team.

A Quick Newsflash

For all of you "reconnect the hill types" who wants to obliterate any trace of the Civic Arena, I have a couple things to chew on in your mind.

-The Igloo didn't separate your neighborhood, 579 did. It's a gigantic trench gouged out between downtown and the Hill. Look at a satellite image, it's a much clearer defining line than the big dot just to the east. No matter how many streets they re-build over the arena property, there's still one way into and two ways out of downtown (Centre in and Bigelow and Centre out), because of the aforementioned highway.

-The Igloo didn't prevent Giant Eagle and Kuhn's from either balking at or pulling out of deals to re-build a Super Market in the Hill. Blame Giant Eagle especially, a "neighborhood" company that won't lift a finger to support a hometown neighborhood. Kuhn's at least tried, but ran into financial trouble.

-Whatever development they put there isn't being put there to help residents of the Hill. It's going to be upscale to attract to young business types, not long time Hill residents. Best case scenario is that it will Gentrify the area, and that's not going to help the Hill at all!

-So you want the development? That's fine too. Look at a map, the parking takes up two city blocks! You could easily keep the arena and re-develop the parking lots. Those are MUCH more of an eyesore than the arena.

The Crux of the Issue

I was reading an article yesterday on Post Gazette.com about Obama’s trip to CMU and found this little nugget from a local leader for the “passionate” and “hard charging” (I don’t know how I could possibly make those quotes more sarcastic) Tea Party movement.

“Patti Weaver of Fox Chapel, organizer of the local tea party,
complained that they were not allowed to get closer than Morewood and Forbes
avenues. She also said the closure of parking garages and spaces in the area
made it hard for members to get there”

That damned Obama and his socialist plot to keep the Tea Partiers at bay! Will he stop at nothing? It would be one thing if his communist minions used water cannons and riot police to discourage protesting, but to TAKE AWAY THEIR PARKING SPACES! Has he no shame!!????

Right there is the crux of the issue and why I have NO respect for the Tea Party or most Americans in general. Your “popular” movement to “take the country back” is stymied by lack of parking spaces. You think providing all Americans with access to healthcare is socialist but think that you are entitled to parking where and when you want it. Oh no, that’s not selfish. You sure do have your priorities straight.

Hey, here’s a thought, if your “party” membership weren’t so lazy and self-entitled so as to let lack of parking derail your demonstration, then the majority of America that thinks you're full of shit might take you more seriously*.

You wouldn’t want to take the Hummer/Escalade/Expedition into the city anyway…parking’s a bitch. Besides, don’t you have to pick up little Muffie up from private school at three anyway???

*According to Ms. Weaver, 49% of America agrees with Tea Party values. Couple of quick questions and comments on that little "stat".

#1: 49% does not a majority make.
#2: Does that 49% believe in giving up on a cause if you can't find parking?

A Real Test

They wanna REALLY test out the plumbing in the CEC?

Give me a call...he he poop.

http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods/

Save The Civic Arena!

A new website has sprung up to help preserve the Igloo. Found it by way of an interesting Op-Ed piece in the PG.

If you don't want the Igloo saved, then whatevs. If you do, then go to the website. It's at the top of the links on my page. There are TONS of ways to get involved. There is an online petition in addition to tons of links to get in touch with local leaders to let them know how you feel.

If you want the Igloo to stay but don't say speak up, no one of consequence will know.

Wow, where has my head been??!!

I wrote the blog today that may get me investigated by the CBI (Corbett Bureau of Investigation), and I was so worried about that, I forgot about the bigger issue at hand!

I am going to have to choose between Tom Corbett and Dan Onorato for our next Governor.

Shit...

Surreal

No other words to describe it. Should be sad, but I'm just so shocked to see it, even though I knew it would come. Right now, just more in awe than sad. Plenty of time for sadness this summer...

The Ice melting for the final time

I'll miss you more than I realized Lady Mellon.

Dear Yinzer Fans:

Let me start by saying you have to take the good with the bad and everything has two sides. Pittsburgh sports fans are passionate, and that is a GREAT thing. While that passion is sometimes bad (i.e. screaming for a Malkin trade or Crosby trade*); it is that same passion that causes 5000+ to stand outside the arena in crazy weather to watch the Pens, or causes 250,000+ to attend victory parades. It’s the same passion that led to the birth of Steeler Nation, and the passion that makes Steelers and Penguins paraphernalia the most well traveled team symbols in the world. Most importantly it’s that passion that makes me proud to say that I am a Pittsburgh sports fan.

Now…Having said that: Hey stupid yinzer fans who don’t know their asshole from a hole in the ground when it comes to hockey: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!

So let me get this straight, Malkin didn’t get the Art Ross this season and you now want to get rid of him???? Got it. You want to trade him eventhough he played in 18 LESS games this year due to injury, still managed 77 points, and still averaged over a point per game.

EDIT: I got my stat of 18 less games from the Evgeni Malkin unofficial fan page. After checking NHL.com (should have checked there to start), he played 15 less games, not 18. He played a total of 67 games. Regardless of this, he still averaged over a point a game, and had he kept on that pace would have scored about 90 points.

Ohhh, I see, you want Staal to be the second line center and you think that if given the same number of minutes that Geno has, Staal will match or surpass Malkin’s point totals.

First I would be willing to bet that you were one of the “trade Staal’s” from last year. You remember; before he was a Selke finalist this year, he had a sophomore slump and he was very popular trade bait among the fans.

You remember that don’t you?

One of the reasons Staal is so effective is that he is a solid 2nd line center ON THE THIRD LINE. That is a match-up most teams do not have the defensive depth to match. Geno is a #1 Center in about 28 of the other 29 franchises in the NHL. He is playing on the second line here.

Just one more time so I have it right in my head; you want to take away that depth and that mismatch because Geno “only” scored 77 points this year and was in the top 20 scorers in the league.

Interesting logic.

I love Jordan Staal, and this is not meant to take anything away from him, but how do you know he is going to match Geno in points? You don’t know if Staal has the talent, even if given the minutes to match Malkin. Do you know if Staal will ever be able to put up 113 points in a season? I don’t, but I do know this; Geno can, because he did it last year.

Remember last year; when he won the Art Ross followed by the Conn Smythe?????

There’s a reason that Ray Shero is GM and you are not. That would be that Ray Shero is smarter and knows more about hockey than you do. That’s the reason that he gets paid to make this franchise competitive, and you pay to go watch this competitive franchise.

If you people had your way Staal would have been gone last year (no Selke nomination this year), and Geno would be gone this year (no more scoring titles for him in Pittsburgh). I get the feeling you would run Fluery out of town too.

Do us all a favor and go back to drooling over the Steelers and spank it while thinking about training camp. Let the people who have half a brain and understand the game root for the Pens.




*Lest we forget everyone that during Crosby's scoring slump during the 2008-2009, there was actual a yinzer fringe that was willing to "trade Crosby to add depth". Hmmmmm, where else would I have heard that...

No Title Required

Great moments are born from great opportunity.
And that's what you have here tonight, boys.
That's what you've earned here, tonight.

One game.

If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine.
But not this game. Not tonight.
Tonight, we skate with 'em.

Tonight, we stay with 'em, and we shut them down because we can!
Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world.
You were born to be hockey players -- every one of ya.
And you were meant to be here tonight.

This is your time.

Their time -- is done. It's over.

I'm sick and tired of hearin' about what a great hockey team the Soviets have.

Screw 'em!

This is your time!!

Now go out there and take it!



Fuckin Goosebump City!