DAVE: I've noticed the emergency snow route signs popping up around the East End, and I was waiting to hear how they were going to work until I read the story in today's [Thursday] PG online. I may have mentioned to you at some point that I lived in Toronto from 1985-1987. That's 25 years ago. And when I lived there, emergency snow route signs and snow removal were already an everyday part of life in winter. I realize that Toronto has more experience dealing with snow, but that was still 25 years ago. The one criticism that I have of the signs, however, is that they fail to say what should be obvious, but in Pittsburgh, sometimes you have to spell it out, literally: NO PARKING.

BP: I know – they aren’t cooperating with information or responding to questions from Council.

As most of my vast and loyal readership know, I have never been married, and I have no children. However, I have recently been talking to my friend Sarah about the goings on with her four-year-old son. And she was telling me about this idea that she had stolen from a seven-year-old girl. And I wanted to share it with my readership, because I thought it was such a great idea. Maybe this is already out there and being done by children by the millions, and I'm just finding out about it now. But here it goes. Sarah's son is too young to read or write. So, in order to prepare a wish list for his annual visit with Santa Claus, she had him cut toys out from the Toys-R-Us holiday catalog (which is really quite enormous) and make a collage of the cut-outs on a piece of construction paper to take to Santa. I thought it was brilliant.

Post number 900 . . .

You know, it has never occurred to me that Oprah Winfrey and her best friend Gayle are gay. NEVER. And frankly, I don't care. Why Barbara Walters would even ask Oprah to talk about that in their upcoming interview truly baffles me. Is that a big rumor out there to which Oprah feels compelled to respond? If it were me, I would just tell the public to spend their time worrying about something more important. There are certainly plenty of other issues from which to choose.

Just in case you had forgotten about the bed bug issue, I have it on good authority that the Courtyard by Marriott across the street from Shadyside Hospital recently had bed bugs. Now, that's not that far away from where I live. I really don't want to deal with bed bugs. I really don't. I've never had a bug problem of any kind. I heard from my mother that my niece recently brought lice home from her daycare and infested my sister's entire house. But I have never had anything like that. When I was an adolescent, I had athlete's foot once at summer camp, and once I had jock itch. But that's it for me. I hate fucking bugs.

DAVE: If Brady had taken that hit to his nose, not only would there have been a penalty, but Brady would have been ushered out of the stadium and off to a hospital to consult with a plastic surgeon right away. In his UGG boots. Ben is a tough guy. I give him a lot of credit for that.

MICHELLE: Another reason to hate Brady! Ugh!!!! I concur though - Ben is tough. He is constantly getting shellacked, but he never throws his offensive line under the bus like another cry-baby QB did a few years ago.

DAVE: My old high school friends made fun of Ben throughout the Buffalo game, and kept calling him a drama queen, just like the yinzers do. There are plenty of things to find wrong with Ben. His toughness, to me, is never in question. In my opinion, he is the toughest quarterback in the NFL.

I've been using the word shellacked lately. Even in defeat, Obama made the word cool.

DAVE: So, a while back you sent me a Pennsylvania parody of the song California Gurls by this Katy Perry person (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhFHqNKnfes&sns=em). For the first time ever, just the other night, I actually saw her perform the actual song. Is she a hot little number among the younger crowd?

JIM: Yes, very much so. I think.

DAVE: I'll google her just to sneak a peek.

Now, for a more serious question. I really want you to answer this question honestly. Do you wish that John McCain was the President right now, instead of Obama?

JIM: That is honestly a question that I have never pondered. No, I don't think that I do.

DAVE: Well, if you thought my previous comments were insightful, let's see what you think of this. I think that the country is in the process of creating another divide between the north and the south, as a direct result of a black man having been elected President. I believe that this divide could eventually lead to civil unrest and violence.

DAD: I believe that the divide between the north and the south has never really healed; it has been there ever since Reconstruction. The election of a black man to the presidency has sharpened it. The animosity of the whites toward blacks is, in my opinion, the sole reason that the solid south has gone from democrat to republican. The southerners were so upset with the passage of the civil rights act under LBJ that they harkened to Nixon's "southern strategy." The "southern strategy" was nothing more than a code phrase for "Come with us and we will protect you from the n-----s." The same bigots who ran the south before (and called themselves democrats) are still running the south (but now calling themselves republicans). As for the unrest and violence, I believe things will cool down if the republicans are successful in their aim of limiting Obama to one term. This country is already violent and the Supreme Court has made sure that there can be no controls on weapons. If Obama gets another term, we could see things disrupt.

Who will give the United States of America a bailout . . . ?

DAVE: This story was in today's [Wednesday] PG online. And the other day there was a story about how the prices for houses in Pittsburgh continue to drop.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10335/1107286-53.stm

Also, I see that it's virtually inevitable that Social Security is going to be cut. Considering that 43% of the U.S. population has less than $10,000 saved for retirement, government-run pensions are gone or in severe jeopardy, and many jobs don't even pay enough for families to save any money, there is going to come a time in this country when the majority of the population is going to have no money and be completely dependent on the government to save them. That's not going to be a good time, certainly exponentially worse than anything that we've experienced in recent years, and yet nobody is doing anything about it. I suppose the theory is that by cutting the deficit, we are saving future generations from bearing that burden, but future generations won't have any money anyway. I don't get the impression that anybody really knows what they're doing.

DAD: Interesting and revealing article. I wonder if Mayor Luke is aware of the situation. Also, your commentary is very interesting and insightful.

Hot Item

Written by Rob Rogers

Get ready to see millions of frantic shoppers pushing and shoving each other to be the first to get one of a limited number of hot items this holiday season. No, I am not talking about Black Friday. I am talking about people looking for work.

Tom Brady is the new face of UGG boots for men. And yet the Steelers can't beat this Madison Avenue darling?! This ONE quarterback, with the help of his evil genius coach, is the one guy who the Steelers appear unable to beat?! Remember those two recent Super Bowls for the Steelers? Yeah, they were great, no question, but neither year did they have to face the Patriots in the playoffs. And frankly, I'm sure many of us, including me, was happy that we didn't have to play them. The number of Super Bowls might still be four.

It is not uncommon for me to feel alone in a room full of people.


Unless there is a dog present. In which case, I know that I have a go-to friend in the room.

Have you heard about this yet? Apparently, in just two years, the Lukester has spent $200,000 in overtime pay for his personal Pittsburgh Police escort. Now, that's $200,000 in overtime pay, in addition to their regular pay. So, the Mayor of little old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania feels that he needs AT LEAST 24-hour police protection that has gone beyond the officer's regular salaries to result in $200,000 in overtime. And as Bill Peduto has pointed out, that money did not come out of the mayor's personal budget, but rather out of the Public Safety budget, meaning that that money was taken out of the Public Safety budget for the ENTIRE City of Pittsburgh in order to provide a police escort for one man: our Mayor. Former Mayor Tom Murphy was in office for 12 years, and he didn't spend that much in police overtime during his entire administration. The Lukester appears to have no clue.

The Tunnel of Love is on schedule to be completed by March 2012. But will there be a Port Authority left in 2012 to run the thing?


North Shore Connector said to be on schedule and under budget
Friday, November 26, 2010
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As if the challenge of urban subway construction weren't enough, there are a few urban myths for the Port Authority to deal with as North Shore Connector construction advances to the home stretch.

No, the Allegheny River is not leaking uncontrollably into the subway tunnels.

No, the grades at both ends of the tunnels aren't too steep to allow for removal of a disabled train.

No, the authority won't be too broke to operate service to the North Shore when the project is completed in March 2012.

The project is alive and well and 83 percent complete, said Winston Simmonds, the authority's rail operations/engineering officer, during a walking tour of the 1.2-mile, $528.8 million extension of the Light Rail Transit system this week.

"Still on schedule and under budget," Mr. Simmonds said, making his way through tunnels where there were a few construction-related damp spots but no gushing leaks and, sadly, no sign of that truckload of cash that a political TV commercial showed being dumped into the project.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10330/1106180-53.stm

Gail is the vice president of our condo board, and she almost never contributes to any discussion, unless it directly affects her. Then we hear from her.


GAIL: Hi everyone,

The person is here to take out my drafty air conditioners and replace with bricks and mortars.

He was here at the peak of the rat phase in the past - so knows of our previous problem - he said we still have rats outside (at least in my garden area) as he sees rat poop out there....

Not sure how often we have check-up visits - but it is needed now it appears.

Thanks, Gail

DAVE: It might be bunny poop.

GAIL: I will explore in more detail.... maybe there are pictures on the internet so I can differentiate.

DAVE: Now, THAT sounds like a fun afternoon, Gail. We do have a family of bunnies that lives on the grounds, and I would imagine that their poops are similar looking. I haven't seen any signs of rodents, inside or outside of the building, but that doesn't mean that a "check-up" by a professional exterminator isn't a good idea. I just don't want to leave any rat poison on the grounds that might cause harm to the bunnies. I'm sure we all feel that way.

GAIL: Ok - Cliff tells me he knows rabbit poop and rat poop (he is the one who crawled in the depths of a hospital as an administrator when they had rats - he NOW does roofing, not hospital administration) - and it was rat poop on my deck - so I would say - let's have a professional consultation to get rid of the rats and save the rabbits.

Thanks, Gail

My quest for comfortable, well-fitting jeans ended today. Not because I finally found a pair to my liking. No, but rather because I gave up and returned my most recent purchase of Gap skinny jeans in a 32 x 28. I think some people just aren't meant to wear jeans because they don't have quite the right body attributes necessary to properly wear them. I don't have hips and I don't have an ass, so I really have nothing to hold a pair of denim jeans in place on my waist, other than a belt, even if I'm wearing the proper waist size. I move around a little bit, and the next thing you know, the jeans are hanging lower than my waist and my butt crack is sticking out. I seem to be constantly hiking my jeans up. It's just too much work to be fashionable and have at least one pair of well-fitting jeans. I give up. I'm just going to stick with my Gap cords, the material of which is not as heavy as denim. Sometimes they dip a little low, but most of the time, they stay in place at my waist much better than any pair of jeans I've tried on. I love my cords.

JIM: I didn't shave for four or five days. My wife pointed out that I had some gray whiskers. Gray, Dave.

DAVE: You didn't shave for four or five days? What came over you? I have news for you, Jim. You are surprisingly un-gray compared to others our age. My beard is almost entirely gray at this point. I have a gray beard, Jim. You're in good shape, I'd say.

JIM: When I'm working past midnight every single night, getting up a little early to make sure I have time to shave just doesn't seem like a priority.

DAVE: I like your rebel spirit.

JIM: I have no spirit of any kind. My spirit was broken a long time ago.

And so it begins . . . this is for all those women out there who vote republican . . .

GOP blocks pay equity measure in Senate
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans have succeeded in blocking a measure designed to reduce wage disparities between men and women.

The 58-41 vote to take up the Paycheck Fairness Act fell short of the 60 needed to overcome GOP opposition. Republican senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who had been targeted by Democrats as possibly voting against a filibuster, in the end decided not to cross party lines.

Civil rights groups, labor leaders and the Obama administration all supported the bill, which would make employers prove that any disparities in wages are job-related and not sex-based.

Republicans and business groups said the bill would expose employers to more litigation by removing limits on punitive and compensatory damage awards.

Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that his group "strongly supports equal employment opportunity and appropriate enforcement of the Equal Pay Act (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, this bill would, among other things, expand remedies under EPA to include unlimited punitive and compensatory damages, significantly erode employer defenses for legitimate pay disparities and impose invalid tools for enforcement by the Labor Department."

Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey co-sponsored the bill and voted for it.

"I am disheartened that legislation aimed at making sure women in Pennsylvania and across the country are paid the same as men for doing the same work has been blocked by the United States Senate," said Mr. Casey.

The bill was one of the first measures passed by the House last year after the election of President Barack Obama, who said he was "deeply disappointed" by the failure of the Senate to bring the bill up for a vote, claiming that "partisan minority of senators blocked this commonsense law."

The Paycheck Fairness Act would have provided women with legal resources to challenge wage discrimination and help to eliminate the wage gap. Among the bill's many provisions, the bill would have closed loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and prevented retaliation against workers who disclose the amount of their wages. In addition, the bill would have provided increased support for negotiation skills training programs for girls and women.

Pennsylvania, which has one of the worst gender gaps in the nation, would have been significantly impacted by the bill, said Heather Arnet, CEO of The Women and Girls Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based group which seeks to promote equality for women throughout the region.

"We are terribly disappointed that partisan politics trumped civil rights today," she said, calling it "a sad day for Americans everywhere when half the Congress refuses to stand up for our rights and freedoms."

TSA Agent

Written by Rob Rogers

Airport security has taken on a new urgency with revealing body scans and aggressive pat-downs. I am all for tighter security, but at what point do our personal civil liberties get tossed out along with our unapproved liquids? Hard to say, but I hope the Transportation Security Administration can strike a balance.

DAVE: Since you are more familiar with the health care bill than I am, do you know if the part whereby all adults with pre-existing conditions can get health insurance has gone into effect yet? I know that it has for children, but I did not think that the adult part had gone into effect.

DAD: That part has not gone into effect yet for adults and probably will not until 2014, if there is anything left of the health care law by then.

DAVE: Don't get too discouraged. I'm convinced that the American memory and attention span is so short now that we could see another vote for "change" in 2012.

Apparently, Jeff Reed IS, in fact, done in Pittsburgh. It's the end of an era. And thus begins the Shaun Suisham experiment at Heinz Field.

Why do big movie studios keep giving M. Night Shyamalamalan tons of money to make movies? He's done. Done like Jeff Reed, done. He made ONE great movie (if no one spoiled the ending for you). Spoiler alert: Bruce Willis is dead the whole movie. Personally, I kind of liked Unbreakable. But the rest have been garbage.

DAVE: Taken as a whole, the Auburn cheerleaders may very well be the most attractive college cheerleaders I have ever seen.

JIM: You like those Southern Belles.

DAVE: When they look good and they're not coated with gaudy make-up, I like any cheerleader from anywhere.

JIM: I'm down with that.

JIM: I've always liked the SoCal girls from USC. More diversity. At places like Auburn, all the girls look exactly the same: like Barbie.

DAVE: The cheerleaders at yesterday's [Saturday] Auburn game did not, surprisingly, all look like Barbie. There were a lot of slim, nicely toned brunettes in the crowd. But you're right, USC is probably consistently the best. It's funny that I was just thinking that exact same thing yesterday.

JIM: I actually went out to a bar to watch Monday Night Football this week. Stayed out until the game was over too. You old man.

DAVE: What's a bar?

JIM: You old man.

George Bush forgives Kanye West.
Isn't that nice?

DAVE: Now that Corbett has won the election, we're seeing more commercials here for natural gas companies that want to drill into the Marcellus Shale. My only hope is that the City bans drilling inside the city limits. Since you're out in the boonies, they might want to drill under your house. There's Dylan's college education right there.

Pu Pu

Written by Rob Rogers

Luke Ravenstahl, the mayor of Pittsburgh, just returned from a trip to China. He wrote a column for the PG called, "What I learned in Asia." I am guessing the column was written by some of the more mature people in his office. For what Boy Mayor really learned, see the cartoon below [above].

The new old Gap logo has turned from dark navy blue to red. You know what that means? It's OFFICIALLY the holiday season. Time to get your holiday groove on.

DAVE: It is good to have Randle El and the trickeration back.

MICHELLE: Trickery IS good. Of course I didn’t see that play until this morning [Tuesday] – I fell asleep and woke up when it was 27-7. I wasn’t expecting the Bengals to stage an attempted comeback!

DAVE: Truth be told, I didn't see it until this morning on ESPN. I fell asleep on the couch and slept through the end of the game. Old man.

MICHELLE: LOL! Good – I don’t feel so bad!

Pittsburgh-based rapper Khalifa arrested during N.C. show
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh rap artist Wiz Khalifa began tweeting almost as soon as he was released from a North Carolina jail this morning following his arrest Monday night during a show on the campus of East Carolina University.

"[W]akin'. . . bakin' . . . wrist still achin'," the 23-year-old rapper, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, tweeted at about 9 a.m. after he was released from the Pitt County Detention Center near the campus.

Khalifa appeared this morning in a District Court in Greenville, N.C., to, among other things, seek to have his $300,000 bond reduced and to pay bail money for members of his entourage who were also arrested.

The arrests came after campus police raided his tour bus and found about two ounces of marijuana.

Before the raid, Khalifa was heard saying that he liked to get high before performing. He said it was "not abnormal" for him to spend $10,000 a month on marijuana.

Hours before the show, he tweeted, ". . . smoke outs in Greenville nc tonite. fall thru wit ur finest plant life."

Some news reports said the show was stopped 45 minutes into the program and after he announced his fondness for cannabis.

Court records in North Carolina show he is charged with trafficking in marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of pot in his mobile residence.

Police found 57.5 grams of marijuana on the bus, according to court records.

The rap sensation and Allderdice High School graduate has been on the 60-city Waken Baken tour since mid-September. The single "Black and Yellow," from his forthcoming Atlantic/Rostrum debut, is No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is receiving airplay on Top 40 stations, including Pittsburgh's Kiss-FM (96.1)

He's scheduled to play sold-out shows at the new Stage AE venue on the North Side on Dec. 16 and 17.

#freewiz is the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter this morning.

In response to the Twitter traffic, Wiz tweeted, "man, jail sux! but bein taylor'd doesn't," which appears to be a reference to his fan site, dubbed The Taylor Gang.

As for his posse on tour, Wiz tweeted this morning, "finna get tha rest of these fools out and grab sum grub."

Regardless of my personal views on marijuana, I do think that it is ridiculous how many people get put in jail for minor possession charges. In my work with unemployed people to help them get ready for and find jobs, a common problem for many of them is that they have criminal records, frequently related to small-time drug activity. And these are young people, aged 20-30, whose job options are hampered terribly by their criminal records, many of which probably could have been avoided if they could have afforded to hire the kind of attorney that I would hire if I found myself in a bit of a jam. There are just so many of these kinds of people in our society who want to work but who can't get hired. Meanwhile, our jails are overcrowded with prisoners, many of whom are in there on minor marijuana offenses. I'm not saying that I am in favor of the legalization of marijuana, but I do think that it should not be placed in the same criminal category as cocaine and heroin. That's just silly.


Panel debates merits of legalizing marijuana use
Saturday, November 06, 2010
By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The cost to incarcerate prisoners in the United States -- including nonviolent marijuana offenders -- averages about $26,000 per year.

Certainly, said Federal Public Defender Lisa Freeland, there are better ways to spend the government's money.

Even so -- as part of a panel at Duquesne University's Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law on Friday-- she was not willing to go so far as to say marijuana should be legalized.

"I'm not here to advocate for the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana or any other drug," Ms. Freeland said. But, she continued, the public must know, "There are substantial costs -- both financial and human," to the continuing high rate of incarceration in the United States.

About 500,000 people in this country are currently incarcerated on drug offenses.

Those include tens of thousands of people being held for crimes involving marijuana.

At the continuing legal education seminar on Friday, medical and legal experts debated the issues of legalizing either medical or recreational marijuana use.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10310/1101242-53.stm

DAD: About the recent election: Expect Republicans in the House, who have promised spending cuts to balance the budget, to spend tens of millions of dollars on investigations into Obama administration "corruption." While Boehner said he would be willing to sit down with the President to explore common ground, Mitch McConnell said that the GOP's priorities are balancing the budget, getting rid of the "health care spending bill," and stopping the bailouts. He went on to say that in order to do that they need to get someone in the White House who will not veto the Republicans' efforts. Just proves that their agenda all along was to get rid of Obama.

DAVE: Did you see Boehner crying when he was talking about the American dream? Pathetic.

Of all of the republicans' promises, I actually don't think that they would really stop the bailouts. Those are their friends who are getting the bailouts. I think that was just anti-Obama rhetoric to get elected. Some people think that the republicans will do absolutely nothing in the next two years (other than kill health care reform) because they win either way: If things get worse, it's Obama's fault. If things get better, they will take credit. But the best policy for them may be no policy whatsoever. And frankly, that's probably just as well.

DAD: I did see him crying and you are right; it was pathetic. Also hypocritical since he is now wealthy. As Republican whip a few years back he was also a bag man, delivering checks on the floor of the House from the tobacco industry to members of the GOP caucus.

The statements by Mitch McConnell were not made prior to the election, but the day after the election. So they cannot be dismissed as just 2010 campaign rhetoric. They may be 2012 campaign rhetoric. They cannot stop the bailouts, because that money has already been given to the banks (and some of it repaid) and I know of no one who wants to do any more bailouts or that any are needed. I think they will do the extension of the Bush tax cuts as well as try to repeal health care. Obama will veto an outright appeal, although he may agree to some modifications in the law. It will be interesting to see if Obama vetoes a tax cut extension bill for the wealthiest. He has said all along that he favors extending the tax cuts to those earning less than $250,000. Whatever he vetoes, the Republicans do not have the votes even in the House to override. It takes 2/3 of both houses to do that.

Discretion is raising your eyebrow instead of raising your voice.

DAVE: Well, yesterday (Tuesday) did not turn out well for the Democrats.

DAD: That's the understatement of the year! I am not surprised by the PA Governor's race and not particularly disappointed. Dan Onorato was a very weak candidate.

Let the House Republicans push their agenda and see what happens to the country. Perhaps then the Democrats will come back stronger in 2012.

JIM: I was wondering the other day what happens to the facebook accounts of people who die (or any other kind of online accounts people may have)? There must literally be thousands of people every day now who die who have facebook accounts. Do their families need to contact facebook and get their accounts cancelled? Do they just live on in cyberspace indefinitely? After some period of time, does facebook just deactivate or delete accounts that haven't been logged into? How does that all work?

DAVE: FB is nefarious, in many ways. It used to suggest people with whom I maybe exchanged emails once in my life, and I didn't even have their email address in my address book, but they came up as suggestions, anyway. A lot of first and only dates from my past reappeared. And so did my deceased Aunt Betty. I got sick of seeing FB's friend suggestions, so I turned off that feature. But I assume that my aunt's profile will live on indefinitely. I suppose a person could try and contact FB about deceased people, but I don't know what their policy is on that.

JIM: Kind of creepy, don't you think?

DAVE: Completely. That's why I don't post anything on FB other than two innocuous photos and my basic hometown info. In today's job market, that's also a good idea since employers are checking FB and myspace now for signs of issues.

These tech companies are something else. And many of them have an office at CMU where all kinds of shit goes on. They are working on robots over there that are going to take away even more human jobs than they already have, and I just don't understand why we endorse (and the government funds) research into areas that will eventually replace the need for humans in certain areas. That doesn't scare me as much as it makes me mad.

JIM: Control your emotions. It's hard to be a Quiet Observer if you're mad.

DEFEND CHANGE. VOTE DEMOCRATIC.

McShenanigans . . .

DAVE: Have you heard that McDonald's is re-introducing the McRib sandwich in every McDonald's in the country for the first time in 16 years on, of all days, November 2nd? That can't be an accident. I'm just not sure which party it benefits the most.

DAD: I had not heard that story, but I did see another one about McDonald's in today's (Saturday) newspaper. One man owns most of the McDonald's franchises in Ohio. Last week the employees of all of his franchises received a note along with their paychecks. The note told the employees that if the Republicans won control of Congress in the election November 2 he would be able to expand his work force and increase their wages and benefits, but if the Democrats retain control of Congress, he would have to cut wages and benefits and even consider layoffs. The Justice Department is investigating this for election law violations.

Dave and Jim talking about jeans . . .

JIM: I am told to try True Religion. I know nothing about them, but my guess is that they must be pricey.

DAVE: With me and jeans, it's gotta be Levis or Gap. It's just the way I grew up. And I paid $64.50 for these jeans, which is like double what I normally would pay for a pair of jeans. I've been wearing them for a couple of days now, and no one has said anything or looked at me weird, so I guess I'm okay. But I REALLY fucking hate the "decorations." I want jeans (and all pants, for that matter) to be one, solid, consistent color.

JIM: I like Levis. They've always seemed to fit me the best. Surprisingly though, Old Navy is not bad. You might want to give them a shot. Are they owned by Gap? I think maybe they are, so then maybe it's not a surprise.

My wife is definitely not into me paying the price for Levis though.

DAVE: I just checked the True Religion website. $200-$300 and I didn't see anything special. But thanks for the suggestion.

JIM: Wow. Is that for one pair of jeans? I might tell my wife I want a pair of True Religions. Just as a joke.

DAVE: If she thinks that Levis are too expensive, then yes, definitely tell her that you want a pair of True Religions. $319 for many of them.

JIM: That's funny.

DAVE: Also, and you may already know this, but I never pay full price for Levis because they are almost always on sale at Sears and JCPenney for $29.99, as opposed to a retail of $44.

DAVE: Some of the True Religion jeans have flaps on the back pockets and special decorative stitching on the back pockets. I ain't into that. And they have button flies. Where do you stand on that issue? I HAVE to have a zipper fly.

JIM: Do they still make button flies? I have to say that probably the last pair of jeans I ever bought for myself (since my wife does all my clothes shopping now) was a pair of Levis button fly 501s and I loved them. That was many years ago though. In fact, either last Christmas or the one before that, my parents bought me a pair of Levis. They were the wrong size and I had to go to Sears to exchange them. I have to admit, I was extremely intimidated by the zillions of styles of Levis jeans available now. I had no idea. I was completely lost and overwhelmed. All I wanted was a regular damn pair of Levis jeans.

DAVE: A lot of jeans still have the button fly, especially Levis, which still has the 501. You're right that there seem to be a lot more numbers and colors and patterns than there were when you and I were in college. But if Kathy is buying all of your clothes for you, then you've been insulated from all of the changes in the great big world of denim. And it's totally bonkers for women. You would never have even suggested True Religion if you had checked out their website first. Not for us, my sensible friend.

Speaking of which, Old Navy does not offer 28L. So, it's the Gap or nothing, now that Levis has eliminated anything shorter than a 30L, just like everybody else. Guys my height are forced to do all of their pants shopping online if they want them to fit properly and not have to be tailored. But even Levis doesn't offer 28L online. Which is bullshit. What do men in China and Japan do? They're generally shorter than Americans.

JIM: I'm 5'9'' (maybe 5'10") and my pants are all 32L. And they fit me fine.

DAVE: Yes, that makes sense. I do think that you are a little bit taller than I am, so probably 5'10". But the reason why I wear a shorter length than you, for instance, is because I have a very low waist, and I have no ass, so all of the pants material that would normally be around a person's ass is left to just hang on me, giving me what some of my friends have called the "poopy pants" look in the back as my pants droop from my body. That extra material adds extra length to my pants, so I need to buy a shorter length so that I don't walk on my jeans. I told you this was an issue for me. It's tough being a man without an ass.

JIM: I tried to avoid letting you draw me into this conversation as fodder for your blog. However, I think I have failed miserably.

DAVE: I guess you will just have to wait until tomorrow morning [today] to find out. Plus, I will also be featuring a conversation about jeans with a young lady friend of mine. Just so you know, I never have a conversation with the INTENT of making it blog material. Sometimes it just works out that way.

Dave and Precious talking about jeans . . .

DAVE: I finally found a pair of jeans that I like, although I could really do without the crotch and leg whiskers. I must now wear these jeans for the rest of my life so that I don't have to go through that again.

PRECIOUS: Do you mean you like them enough to put up with the "whiskers"? That's a horrible phrase, by the way...

Sorry you're having such trouble finding a pair of pants. Have you considered going to a tailor?

DAVE: I realized how far apart you and I are on the subject of jeans. Clothes, in general. And I'm perfectly fine with that. You and your mother are helping to stimulate the economy, and we all appreciate that. But I don't like to spend more than $50 on a pair of jeans, and you probably spend $200-$300, easy. I like the pair that I bought from the Gap. I spent $64.50 plus $7 shipping and handling for them, making them the most expensive pair of jeans that I've ever bought. But I think they look good on me. And as I said before, they FEEL good, which for me, is a very difficult trait to find in a pair of jeans. They're slim fitting, so there's really no room for a pair of boxer shorts underneath them, so I'm going commando these days. Reminds me of college.

PRECIOUS: I see.

Well, just so you do know that we do share some experiences of fashion, I too have trouble buying jeans. It's hard for girls, in general. Designer jeans are made for models. The length is outrageous. So, I often have trouble finding a pair of jeans that don't drag on the ground and I usually end up at the tailor, sacrificing the shape of the leg but at least obtaining a proper length. I know how frustrating it can be. This is why I don't buy jeans very often. I have a few pairs that I've had for a long time. Otherwise, I wear a lot of skirts.

DAVE: You do wear a lot of skirts. That's cool. Well, of course buying jeans would be exponentially worse for a woman, that goes without saying. And I guess going to a tailor wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I guess they can make pretty much any pair of jeans fit, right?

Well, I will be curious to get your opinion of my jeans choice the next time you are in town. They're VERY unlike me, traditionally. But at 41, I find that I'm still evolving. And desperate for a good fit.

Frankenmayor

Written by Rob Rogers

Halloween is a time for haunted houses and scary monsters. Sometimes local government is the scariest place of all!

DAVE: I was in Oakland today [Tuesday]. It's beautiful this time of year. And the fall foliage is nice, too.

JIM: Milt used to say that all the freshman looked so new, like they were wrapped up in cellophane.

DAVE: You've told me that before after I wrote something similar to what I wrote. Being around a university, even at my age, is somehow invigorating sometimes. I would love to teach or work with college students.

Have I mentioned to you that I predict the next head coach of the Dallas cowboys will be . . . wait for it . . . Bill Cowher?

JIM: Bill Cowher, huh? I guess that makes sense in a lot of ways. But I don't see it.

DAVE: You know, ESPN likes to put Hannah Storm front and center when there's a big sporting event, like tonight's Heat/Celtics game. And I firmly believe that Hannah Storm can talk about sports as though she is a man, and not sound like she's been rehearsing, unlike many of the now ubiquitous female sideline reporters in football. But ESPN also puts her out there because older fellas like you and me think she's pretty hot for a woman her age. I know I can't help myself. I don't want to want to bang her, but I just do. It's her flat stomach.

JIM: Yes. Her stomach is flat.

DAVE: I wonder if she's had labiaplasty?

JIM: Does it matter?

DAVE: If I have to tell you, then I guess you're one of the lucky ones.

JIM: I don't feel lucky.

I'm 5'9" tall, I have a low waist, and my pant size is 34W x 28L. Most stores don't carry anything shorter than a 30L. 30L is too long for me. The pants gather around my ankles on top on my shoes like an accordion, and I don't like it. And as I've already talked about on my blog, I have been on a campaign of sorts to find pants that fit me the way that I think that pants should fit me. I have these little matchstick legs and absolutely nothing for an ass, so I need slim cut pants. Maybe even skinny cut, if you can believe that. But on my little chicken legs, skinny cut pants don't look like they're gripping your legs like they often do on the young people. But I've also discussed on this blog that I just want plain, blue jeans. I don't like the crotch whiskers and the distressed marks and all that business. But the ONLY major line of men's clothes that makes a 34W x 28L skinny jean is Gap. And these days, Gap really likes the crotch whiskers and the distressed marks and all that business. So, what was I supposed to do? I tried several different brands and cuts of jeans, but the only pair that fit me the way that I wanted them to fit and felt comfortable the way I think jeans should feel were from Gap. So, I bought 'em. And there is no room in these suckers for boxer shorts. Photo posted below for your amusement.

Election Day is only ONE WEEK away . . .

Nonexistent Bush

Written by Rob Rogers

Ok. Bring it on all you "Bush is no longer president" ranters. I know that every time I refer to the disaster that was the Bush administration I set myself up for criticism. But even the most severe Obama haters have to admit that the republicans have conveniently forgotten who really got us into this mess in the first place. Bush racked up the huge deficits, started the wars and created the stimulus and bailouts and yet Obama gets all the blame. Bush may no longer be in office but his presidency is still adversely affecting us.

Before the Phillies game on Saturday night . . .


JIM: My daughter's birthday party is tomorrow from 5-7 pm. And then a bunch of little girls are coming back to our house for a sleep over.

DAVE: Yeah. Have fun with that. I hope you're prepared not to get much sleep tomorrow night.

JIM: What I am prepared for is missing the Phillies game.

Damn it.

DAVE: Good point. You're screwed, Mr. Blondie.


After the game . . .


JIM: I got to watch the game last night. The whole damn game.

DAVE: I just want you to know that I am here for you when you're ready to talk about it.

JIM: I'm not ready.

JIM: By the way, no matter who wins the World Series, I guess Benji Molina is guaranteed a ring. That's got to be a nice situation to be in. Fucker.

DAVE: There you go. Let it out.

JIM: What a terrible, awful weekend.

DAVE: Pitt won. Go Pitt!

JIM: I'll tell you where to go.

DAVE: Aren't you at least happy for Freddy Sanchez? Poor guy, stuck on the Pirates, and then World Series.

JIM: Dude can hit.

DAVE: This quote appears on Jason Altmire's official House website:

"Prior to his election to Congress in 2006, Jason spent 15 years in health care policy, working as a congressional staffer, a hospital association executive and for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center."

I think that pretty much explains why he is so adamantly opposed to health care reform.

DAD: You've got that right. Rahm Emanuel, when he was still in congress, was the chair of the Democratic House Campaign Committee. He helped the democrats capture congress in 2006 by recruiting "conservative" democrats to run in GOP held, conservative districts. Now it has come back to bite the democrats.

I have some news. Apparently, Jason Altmire is no longer a democrat. I heard on a political talk show that I was watching last night that any reference to the word "democrat" had been removed from his website. So, I checked it out. He has two websites. There is his official House of Representatives website (http://altmire.house.gov/), and then there is his campaign website (http://www.jasonaltmire.com/). It's true. The word democrat does not appear ANYWHERE on either of his websites. So, Altmire is no longer associating himself with the democratic party going into an election with a republican. He's neither a democrat nor a republican, although his campaign commercials suggest that he's a republican. I'll tell you what he is. A politician. If I was a member of his constituency, I would not vote for him. I wouldn't vote for his republican opponent, either. I simply wouldn't vote for either of them. Both candidates are presenting themselves as anti-Obama, so neither one of them would get my vote. And by poking around on his House website, I discovered the likely explanation for why he has been so adamant about voting against health care reform:

"Prior to his election to Congress in 2006, Jason spent 15 years in health care policy, working as a congressional staffer, a hospital association executive and for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center."

My father forwarded me an email last night that contains an interesting idea about those who serve in Congress.


Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below:

A. Two Six-year Senate terms.
B. Six Two-year House terms.
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms.

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present, and future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, who would serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

News from Mom in Florida. This is part of how so many dogs end up needing to be adopted or rescued. If this couple from two houses down from my parents are moving into a retirement community, how long will it be before my parents do the same?


MOM: We have just found out that Marilyn and Ken are moving to a retirement community very close to here. The bad news is that Gertie [their miniature dachshund] cannot go with them so she is up for adoption. I thought about it and decided it would not be a good idea for Sidney. He is so used to being an only dog and having another dog might cause some problems. Gertie does still pee in the house and I will not put up with that. So, Sidney will continue to be our only dog and I think he would prefer that.

Yesterday on ESPN, Steve Young said that the origin of the big hits in football that everyone is buzzing about lately was the 3-4, zone blitz defensive scheme that was invented by the Steelers in 1993. And as a Steeler fan who has some recollection of that time, I think he just might be right. The Steelers have always been on the cutting edge when it comes to defense. It's just what they do. The NFL has been outlawing defensive moves invented by the Steelers since the 70s. But maybe that's a good thing when it comes to player health. I, for one, don't want to see football become like the movie Rollerball. The 1975 version with a young and rather studly James Caan. Not the old gangster character that he is today.

NFL stops selling photos of Harrison's illegal hit
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NFL has taken down photos that were for sale of illegal hits that earned players large fines.

The league said Wednesday an outside vendor used an automated process to post pictures online for fans to buy, but the system would be changed to ensure photos of illegal hits were not available.

Three defensive players were fined at least $50,000 each Tuesday after a series of violent hits in Sunday's games raised concerns that the NFL's disciplinary policy wasn't doing enough to prevent head injuries. The league now plans to start suspending players for particularly dangerous hits.

Steelers linebacker James Harrison, fined $75,000, criticized the photos' presence in a radio interview Wednesday morning, saying "I guess they want to get their money on the front end and the back end."

The NFL says: "We regret the mistake."

Yesterday was the first day that I had to apply moisturizing lotion to my face because it was just too dry not to. I held out as long as I could. Now, this will be a virtually daily ritual until April or May. Swell.

DAVE: One of the interesting things for me about wearing slim fit jeans is that there is no room under them for boxers. Maybe tighty whiteys, but I don't wear them. So, I've been going commando since I got my Levi's 512 Slim Fit jeans. I think this is why I didn't wear underwear in college. I kinda like it.

FOCKER: I uh don't know about this.

DAVE: Commando, Focker!

Straight from the Sarasota-Manatee Herald-Tribune . . .

I've personally never written a letter to the editor. But a lot of retired people like to do that. Including my father. And he mailed me a copy of the letter that had been cut out of the newspaper. So old school.

From today's Post-Gazette:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10290/1095895-455.stm

Angela Sanders, 35, the prostitute from Alaska, was arrested for prostitution last year in Illinois, where she now lives, and has also been busted in California, Texas, Arizona and other states. She came to Pittsburgh because she "heard it was the place to be," police said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PcL6-mjRNk&feature=player_embedded

What's Joe thinking . . . ?

Mmmm. They sure do have tasty ice cream in Pittsburgh. This is much better than the ice cream that Barack and Michelle serve at the White House. So yummy.

DAVE: I don't know if it's a common practice among MLB teams, but my research has discovered that the Pirates no longer give away complimentary tickets that are, in fact, marked "complimentary." Now, when they give away tickets, the tickets have a listed price of $1, even though no one pays for them. So, the Pirates must have given away tens of thousands of tickets over the course of the season, many of which probably never made it into PNC Park, and yet they could still consider those tickets "paid tickets" because of the $1 price on them. Pretty sneaky stuff. Team President and former MLB Corporate Officer Frank Coonelly knows how to work the system.

JIM: That does not surprise me at all. What surprises me is what prompts you to do so much "research" about a team that you profess not to care about.

They're here. First the stink bugs, and now this . . .

Community college Downtown center closed due to bedbugs
Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Community College of Allegheny County's Downtown Center will be closed at least until Monday because of bedbugs, the school announced today.

And it may stay closed after that, according to the school's web site.

College officials said Tuesday that the bugs were found at the end of last week. A trained dog was brought in Sunday to inspect the area and the landlord has agreed to treat six suites in the building for bedbugs. The work by an exterminator was scheduled to begin this afternoon.

DAVE: Have you seen the woman to whom Favre may have sent photos of his johnson? She's very hot.

JIM: No, I don't think that I have. Put a picture of her on your blog.

DAVE: Done.

DAVE: Since I don't have to wear the fancy pants that you do, lately, I've been getting the slim fit for jeans, cords, and chinos. I find them much more to my liking than what is considered the traditional cut these days. Those pants are much too baggy for my little matchstick legs.

FOCKER: I want you to know that I discovered my first gray eyebrow hair.

DAVE: So, is that a "no comment" on the subject of slim fit pants, then?

Dude, you're gray. I don't have any gray in my eyebrows, although there are plenty of other hairs doing some crazy ass shit. I trim those hairs with my beard trimmer. Gray Focker.

FOCKER: No, in fact, I strongly agree with you on slim fit pants, but you know, you always liked your pants slim back in college.

DAVE: I was just thinking the other day about how ridiculously baggy and oversized the jeans were in college. I always get the image of Mike B. in my head in his big ass jeans. The problem is, perhaps you've noticed, that if you want what used to pass for regular fit in college, you have to order in slim these days. And there are a lot of pants that you can't get in slim. Oh, well.

DAVE: I'm not digging all the pink around the NFL. And it's for the whole month, which in this case, is five Sundays.

JIM: Yes. I hate to say it, but I am kind of sick of it too.

DAVE: No Social Security COLA for 2011. The democrats CANNOT catch a break going into these elections, even though they had nothing to do with the lack of an increase.

DAD: You've got that right. Of course, even though they had nothing to do with it, the voters will blame them. I am resigned to the fact that the Republicans are going to gain control of Congress. When they screw up things even more in the next two years perhaps the voters will wise up.

Apparently, stink bugs can swim under water. I guess that means that I'm actually going to have to crush their crunchy little bodies in the Kleenex before I toss them into the toilet. That's when they're supposed to smell like sweaty feet.

Generally speaking, I think that it is safe to say that I do not normally embrace change. But I am not among the many critics of Gap's new logo. And I'm still trying to get used to the fact that the store's name is "Gap," rather than "The Gap" like it was for, like, my entire life. "Fall in to The Gap."

Landscapers have taken over Walnut Street. Travel at your own risk.

I have never said or written the following phrases:

At the end of the day, . . .

It's all good.

Having arrived in Florida on Sunday night, Sidney hunted down and killed his first gecko yesterday.

In Dave's World, the cost of shipping and handling would be a flat $5.00 for anything that you could fit in, say, a shoebox. Including shoes.

DAVE: Do you see enough of Hannah Storm to have an opinion about her looks? And her incredibly flat stomach.

JIM: Isn't she the one that people complain that she dresses inappropriately for her age? I think she's pretty hot, isn't she?

DAVE: I go back and forth. But her body for a woman her age is fantastic, if you're into the slim thing.

JIM: I trust your judgement on that.

Speaking of women who look good for their age, what's up on the Cindy front?

DAVE: Funny you should ask. She had said that after she got through the first week of school with her two boys, then we would set something up to meet for coffee. But I haven't heard from her. So, this morning, I emailed her just to coax her along.

JIM: Kids can keep you busy.

I have a hard time hearing certain people when they talk on their cell phones. Just a handful of folks, but I can barely make out what they are saying. I think it's the ones who rest their phone on their shoulder and hold it up to their ear. I think it puts their mouth too close to the phone, and their words get mumbled. I've asked my friends to pull their mouth back from their phone, but they don't seem to heed my request. So, I've gotten to the point with some people where I just let them talk, and I don't know what the fuck they are talking about. I don't have this problem with most people on cell phones. That's why I think it's the shoulder-resters that are the problem. They're all severe multi-taskers who probably can't possibly spare one hand to hold the phone the way Alexander Graham Bell intended.

Man who left pot in son's Elmo backpack pleads guilty
Friday, October 01, 2010
The Associated Press

UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- A father will spend six months to two years in jail after pleading guilty to hiding his marijuana in his son's Elmo backpack, which the boy mistakenly took to school with the drugs still in it.

Thirty-three-year-old Ronald Washington, of Uniontown, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of children and marijuana possession charges Thursday.

Police say Mr. Washington called the school where his son attended kindergarten in April and told officials he needed to get something from the Sesame Street-themed backpack. That prompted school officials to search the bag and call police when they found more than three ounces of pot.

The problem with many democrats in Congress is that they're pussies . . .

Fascist Regime

Written by Rob Rogers

Poor Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. This election season they are being buffeted with criticisms and ugly names. Campaign ads are attacking their policies. Politicians are keeping their distance. And those are the Democrats!

One of the many, many great things about living in Pittsburgh is that you can email the writer of an article in the Post-Gazette, and they will respond to you. I dig that. That's how I would be if I worked for a newspaper.

My mother had me go through a bunch of old photos recently, and I came across this classic. Not only am I wearing a turtleneck like I seem to be in so many other photos from my youth, but it also appears that I was a bit of a dandy when I was a little boy. I'm pretty sure that my mother chose that outfit. Yikes.

The shuffle feature has got to be the greatest invention for the listening of music.

DAVE: The Astros traded away Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman, and they got better.

JIM: It's amazing how that happens, huh? The Pirates did that too. The Pirates traded away Adam LaRoche and they got...oh wait. Well, they got the first part right; they traded away Adam LaRoche.

I was amazed and dumbfounded by many things in that article about the Pirates you posted on your blog the other day. But the thing that stuck out to me the most was 15 wins on the road. How can a team only win 15 road games the entire season? That has to be close to some kind of record. I can't imagine a team winning less than that.

So the question becomes: why such a big disparity in the Pirates' home and away records?

DAVE: That's a great mystery. Since PNC Park opened in 2001, I believe the Pirates have generally had better home records than on the road. That has often been used as the argument for going to see the Pirates play at PNC, because despite how bad they have been over the years, there was always close to a 50/50 chance that you would see them win at home. This season, I think, is the team's worst road record in its history (several of those milestones set this year). I also think that I heard that 15-66 is the record, so by winning last night, they will not tie the all-time mark for worst away records. They suck.

Stink Bugs

Written by Rob Rogers

Stink bugs. They are everywhere these days. I couldn't resist including the little pests in a cartoon. But narrowing down the list of targets was very difficult. I managed to slam Pittsburgh's declining population, Harrisburg, the Pirates (too easy), and even the state's Department of Homeland Security and their goofy terror bulletins. Stink bugs I had to leave out include Marcellus Shale drillers, PennDot, the Boy Mayor, the LCB, etc. I'll have to wait for the next stink bug cartoon to get them all in.

DAVE: So, what do you think about an 18 game NFL season?

JIM: Asking for trouble. Aren't there enough injuries already? I mean, every year, to me at least, it seems that the teams that are lucky enough to stay healthy are the ones that make the playoffs, and then the healthiest out of those teams is the one that wins the Supe. Is that really the way it's supposed to be?

It seems to me that owners are being greedy, and they will probably get burned for it in the end, one way or another.

DAVE: Agreed. I am in favor of reducing the number of pre-season games from four to two, but I don't think those two games should be added as regular season games. But like everything else, it's about the money.

JIM: NFL owners, as a stereotypical whole, are (I think) very, very smart people. Or at least smart businesspeople. Is it possible that they see the glory years of the NFL coming to an end and this is their way of grabbing as much money as they can before the train wreck?

DAVE: That, my dear Mr. Blondie, sounds more like some cockamamie theory that I would come up with. I like the way you are thinking. And you may very well be right.

JIM: I'm just asking the question.

This story appeared in the Post-Gazette yesterday. In it, the Pirates claim that their average game attendance actually went up slightly over last year. In a word: bullshit. The Pirates management cooked those numbers, just like they cook their financial books. There is NO WAY that more people went to Pirate games this season than went last season. The Pirates are so desperate to say SOMETHING positive about this disastrous season. They are lying to the fans, again, only this time they're lying to them about how many of them there are.


Pirates Notebook: Final attendance slightly up
Monday, September 27, 2010
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pirates have regressed in just about every facet in 2010, from pitching to hitting to defense to the overall record, but one of the few upticks came at the gate.

The crowd of 23,208 for the home finale Sunday raised the total attendance at PNC Park to 1,613,399, highest at the stadium since 2007 and the 17th-highest in the franchise's 124-year history. The average crowd of 19,919 was an increase over the 19,479 of last year, and seven games were sellouts.

Although that average crowd is the fourth-smallest in Major League Baseball, it also represented what is expected to be one of the few increases. And the National League, as a whole, is expected to show a decrease.

"In what has been a very disappointing season, Pirates fans have given our players championship-caliber support," team president Frank Coonelly said. "While several clubs in baseball are asking why more fans are not coming to their games, we are fortunate to play in front of vocal, sophisticated and energetic fans who have supported our club through an incredibly trying time."

Coonelly cited two possible explanations.

"First, Pittsburgh is, quite simply, a great baseball town whose love of the Pirates is as deep and rich as the history of this proud organization. Second, our fans finally see a young core of players who care about winning as much as they do and who have the talent to make winning a reality. In return, this young group feeds off our fans' remarkable passion, as reflected in the disparity in our home and road records."

The Pirates finished 40-41 at home but are 15-59 on the road.

"Pirates fans are winners, and they deserve a winner in return," Coonelly continued. "We understand how fortunate we are to have such great support and take seriously our responsibility to deliver that winning team."

The franchise record for attendance was 2,436,139, in PNC's first season, for an average of 30,076.

These days, being what is now apparently considered a "liberal" democrat is becoming downright depressing . . .

Tom Corbett

Written by Rob Rogers

Be afraid. Be very afraid. State Attorney General Tom Corbett wants to steal your health care. Corbett is one of the state attorneys general who filed suit to block Obama's health care reform bill. Corbett is also running for Governor. On the campaign trail he is saying he's in favor of improving health care for Pennsylvanians. Interesting how he always forgets to add, "if I don't sabotage it first."

Segway owner dies after falling off river cliff
Sep 27, 9:53 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) -- A wealthy British businessman who owns the company that makes the two-wheeled Segway has been found dead in a river in northern England after apparently falling off a cliff on one of the vehicles, police said Monday.

The body of 62-year-old James Heselden and a Segway personal transporter were found in the River Wharfe and he was pronounced dead at the scene, West Yorkshire Police said.

Police said a witness had reported seeing a man fall Sunday over a 30-foot (9-meter) drop into the river near Boston Spa, 140 miles (225 kilometers) north of London.

"The incident is not believed to be suspicious," police said, indicating that they do not believe anyone else was involved.

Heselden, who bought control of the New Hampshire-based Segway company in December, made his fortune through his firm Hesco Bastion Ltd., which developed a system to replace sand bags to protect troops.

Hesco Bastion is based in Leeds, near the tough Halton Moor area where Heselden grew up. He left school at 15 and first worked as a coal miner before becoming a businessman and philanthropist. Hesco Bastion said Heselden recently gave 10 million pounds ($15.9 million) to the Leeds Community Foundation, raising his total charitable giving to 23 million pounds.

"Jimi was an amazing man who, apart from being a wonderful success story for Leeds due to his business acumen, was also remarkably selfless and generous, giving millions to local charities to help people in his home city," said Tom Riordan, the chief executive of Leeds City Council.

The battery-powered Segway, which is stabilized by gyroscopes, was invented by Dean Kamen, who founded the company in 1999.


The story keeps getting updated by the AP: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_SEGWAY_DEATH?SITE=PAPIT&SECTION=NATIONAL&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I hate that Michael Vick is currently playing very well as the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.

If members of my vast and loyal readership read this column full of both facts and opinions and then still want to vote for a republican--for Governor, for Senator, or for President in 2012--then there is nothing that I will ever be able to do or say that will convince you otherwise. And that makes me feel sorry for you, and sorry for the rest of us.


Goodbye, middle class
The rich get richer, as the rest of us drown in the tub
Sunday, September 26, 2010
By Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10269/1090084-149.stm

Stink-bug invasion likely to get worse
Saturday, September 25, 2010
By Lena H. Sun, The Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- Shaped like shields and armed with an odor, dime-size brown bugs are crawling into area homes over windowsills, through door crevices and between attic vents in such numbers that homeowners talk about drowning them in jars of soapy water, suffocating them in plastic bags or even burning them with propane torches.

In the process, some people are unwittingly creating another problem: When squashed or irritated, the bugs release the distinctive smell of sweaty feet.

Get used to it, experts say: The invasion is only going to get worse.

"This is the vanguard," said University of Maryland entomologist and extension specialist Mike Raupp. "I think this is going to be biblical this year," he said wryly. "You're going to hear a collective wail in the Washington area, up through [Maryland's] Frederick and Alleghany counties, like you've never heard before. The [bug] populations are just through the ceiling."

The change in season, as days shorten and nighttime temperatures start to dip, is nature's call to the brown marmorated stink bug -- pest extraordinaire -- to leave its summer gorging grounds and seek refuge inside. What's happening now is a massive population shift from orchards, cornfields and gardens, to suburban homes, office buildings, hotels -- the urban U.S. equivalents of rocky outcroppings in the stink bug's native Asia.

Stink bugs are harmless to people and their possessions. They don't bite. They don't sting. They're not known to transmit disease. But their population has grown so tremendously that they are not only causing vexation to homeowners but also, for the first time, wreaking damage to fruit and vegetable crops -- from peaches and apples to soybeans and corn, and even ornamental shrubs and trees.

There is no easy way to kill lots of bugs at once. They have no natural predators in the United States; existing pesticides don't work effectively. They travel easily -- hitching rides on the backs of buses, in packing materials, on cement blocks -- and adapt to winter in homes. As a result, they have flourished, spreading to 29 states since they arrived in Allentown, Pa., in 2001, likely stowaways in a shipping container from Asia. They are native to Japan, Korea and China, where they are known as "stinky big sisters."

And now, they are causing a stink in the mid-Atlantic region.

Experts say homeowners should prevent the pests from coming indoors by sealing cracks with caulk and using weather stripping around doors and windows. If the bugs do get inside, residents can vacuum them up, remove the bag and put it in the garbage.

The danger, though, is that squashed stink bugs can smell up the vacuum cleaner. Experts warn against using pesticides not intended for residential applications because that can cause illness and make homes unsafe -- and might not solve the problem.

Because so little is known about the insect, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and several universities are studying the bug's basic behavior and biology and identifying natural ways to control it.

Scientists don't know, for example, whether this winter's heavy snows gave the bugs extra insulation from the cold, or whether the summer's heat and drought created ideal conditions for reproduction.

I received a job announcement in my email today. The job was working for a Green industry start-up, and the position announcement said, "This full-time position includes vacation and holiday pay and an insurance stipend." An insurance stipend? Is this the direction that we're headed as a knee jerk reaction to health care reform? Here's some money, now go find your own health insurance?! That will never work. Because Obama and his supposed Democratic allies in the Congress were unable to get the public option included in the law. So, where are people going to go to get private insurance with their insurance stipend? If they have pre-existing conditions, then they can't get insurance. THAT part of the law hasn't gone into effect yet for adults. Thankfully, as of yesterday, it did go into effect for children. Because insurance companies were denying coverage for children with illnesses. But health care reform made that illegal. Because we as human beings were not capable of seeing how uncivilized and inhumane is it to deny health coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. How can ANYONE be against that? Other than republicans and Jason Altmire.

Don't Ask

Written by Rob Rogers

Our brave men and women in the military deserve better than to be treated like second-class citizens. The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is discriminatory, bigoted and, frankly, unconstitutional. How can we ask these men and women to risk their lives to protect our basic freedoms ... and then deny them the same basic freedoms?

Having only one bathroom in every apartment in which I've lived has never really been a problem. Until yesterday. Now, significant tile work has to be done in my shower that will take at least two or three days. I have no place to take a shower. It's my only one. Yikes.