Bradford County shale well spews fluids
Thursday, April 21, 2011
By Sean D. Hamill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An equipment failure on a Marcellus Shale natural gas well in northeastern Pennsylvania late Tuesday night caused a blowout, allowing thousands of gallons of chemically laced hydraulic fracturing fluid to flow from the site for at least half a day.

More than 16 hours after the blowout began at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, frack fluid was still spewing out of the Chesapeake Energy well in Bradford County, county and state officials said.

Seven families who live adjacent to the site in Leroy were evacuated as a precaution, and a local farmer was told to not let his cows drink surface water on his farm, officials said.

The first sign of a problem Tuesday night was that the well lost pressure, which "means something broke," said Francis Roupp, deputy director of Bradford County Emergency Management, which was assisting the response.

The company began drilling this well Dec. 22, 2010, and it could be one of six wells on this well site, according to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection records.

Subcontractors for Chesapeake, one of the state's larger Marcellus Shale drillers, were in the midst of "well completion," the company said.

After the lost pressure, thousands of gallons of fracturing fluid began bubbling up from the well, though it was never a geyser, said DEP spokeswoman Katy Gresh.

The company said no one was injured and no natural gas had been emitted.

Exactly what caused the blowout won't be known until it is stopped and investigators can check out the well, Ms. Gresh said.

In hydraulic fracturing, up to 5 million gallons of fluid is injected into the well to help fracture the shale rock a mile below the surface, releasing the natural gas inside the rock.

Ninety-nine percent of the fluid is typically sand and water, with less than 1 percent of it made up of a cocktail of potentially hazardous chemicals that help in the fracturing process -- though with 5 million gallons, 1 percent could be as much as 50,000 gallons of chemicals.

Companies are required to notify state and local officials immediately of accidents such as this, but Ms. Gresh said DEP was not notified about the problem until 1:10 a.m., and Mr. Roupp said Bradford County didn't get a call until almost 2 a.m.

Chesapeake released only a written statement Wednesday and did not respond to interview requests.

Ms. Gresh said it took till mid-afternoon Wednesday for Chesapeake's crews to stop the fracturing fluid from running into a nearby tributary of Towanda Creek -- a state-designated trout stock fishery that eventually flows into the Susquehanna River.

DEP staffers were on the scene all day Wednesday testing the unnamed tributary and looking for environmental impacts.

"So far there's no evidence of an aquatic life kill," she said.

Chesapeake's crews eventually used heavy machinery to contain the spill and direct the continual flow into a large impoundment, Ms. Gresh said.

The company said it had hired Houston-based Boots & Coots well control specialists to come out and "respond if necessary."

DEP records show that Chesapeake has been fined seven times for a total of $61,101 over the last three years -- which makes it tied with Range Resources for the second-highest number of fines in the state next to Chief Oil & Gas, which had nine.

Five of Chesapeake's seven fines were for problems at wells in Bradford County, three of which were for different types of spills on well sites.

Despite that, Leroy officials said Chesapeake has been a responsive company when there have been problems there.

"Chesapeake has been pretty good," said Harold Shedden Jr., a township supervisor who also works part time grading the township's dirt roads. "If something goes wrong, they fix it. They broke our roads and they fixed it."

He said from what he has been told about Tuesday's blowout, "I don't think it will really do any damage, other than pollute the stream."

Despite Chesapeake's responsiveness, he said the influx of Marcellus Shale drillers -- he said there are at least eight well sites within four miles of his home -- has been a double-edged sword.

"Everything has gone up [in price] since they moved in here, gas, gravel, food. And no normal person could afford to rent a house up here now," he said. "So, in a way it has helped and in a way it hasn't."

Photo: Doug Oster/Post-Gazette
The Strube Stink Bug Trap hangs in a small bathroom in Doug Oster's Ross home. The first night the trap caught 10 bugs.

Stink bug traps lure buyers and bugs
Saturday, April 16, 2011
By Doug Oster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When 36-year-old Andy Strube lost his job and had to sell his house, he never could have imagined it was a good thing. He used his equity to rent a house for himself and his three children in Columbia, Lancaster County.

He found out quickly the place was crawling with thousands of stink bugs.

"The house was so infested we had entomologists from Penn State University taking bags of stink bugs out to analyze," he said.

He couldn't sit down to dinner without the bugs landing on his plate, and at night they would drop on his face while he was trying to sleep.

The pests actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Mr. Strube. When he couldn't find an effective control, he decided to invent something. He tested all sorts of different ways in his home, starting by trying to get the bugs to crawl onto a sticky substance. Through trial and error he realized the secret was to get the stink bug to take flight and land on the trap. He hung a coffee can covered in glue next to a lamp and that's when he realized they were drawn to light.

He began to refine the idea and, using skills from his former job in aircraft maintenance, he designed and built different traps. Each version caught more bugs.

Mr. Strube continued to study the insects, keeping a colony in an aquarium and researching things that attracted them. He discovered they couldn't resist a cocktail he created of peppers and squash and put the mixture in an interchangeable cartridge inside the trap. When the fluorescent light heats up the cartridge, it releases the odor which humans can barely smell, but the bugs long for.

Friends who visited the house saw the traps and asked for one. As they reported back their successes, a business was born.

The Strube Stink Bug Trap is $50; a replacement cartridge is $20. Each cartridge will last about a month and is meant to catch hundreds of stink bugs. The traps are being sold at hardware stores near his home and can be found online. Since he began offering them online, he's sold hundreds that have caught tens of thousands of bugs, he says. Mr. Strube adds that a good portion of his business comes from the Pittsburgh area.

After I wrote about his invention, he sent me one to test on my minimal stink bug problem. I only see one or two a week. Inside the package was a flier warning that the glue is extremely sticky. I found that to be very true as I managed to get some cardboard, the power cord and the rope that hangs the trap stuck in it.

I installed it in an upstairs bathroom, where I know many of the bugs enter the house. I caught 10 bugs the first night, and the trap continues to lure the insects. The company's Facebook page is filled with photos of traps littered with dead stink bugs.

But not everyone has been as lucky. Since I first wrote about the traps, I've heard from three people who have not had success. Mr. Strube has also talked to a couple.

He offers some tips to get the most out of the trap. The warmer the area, the more active the bugs will be, he said. That means upper floors and attics, where heat collects are most conducive to catching stink bugs. Leaving the trap in one place and letting it run all night are essential to catching stink bugs. Turn off any other lights in the room. The trap needs to be the primary light source.

Mr. Strube has been swamped with orders. His family and friends are helping him keep up, but he's sleeping just a couple of hours a night between shifts building traps. He's hoping to strike a deal with a bigger company soon to increase production. He's also working on setting up summer trials outdoors to improve the trap's efficiency in the field, and he hopes his trap will help farmers and gardeners this season.

Moving into a house infested with stink bugs might not be everyone's idea of a good thing, but for Mr. Strube and his family it's turned his life around.

"This has been a godsend to us," he said. "It's unimaginable. It's just so awesome to be able to help people. It's a feeling I really can't explain."

For information about the Strube Stink Bug Trap: www.stinkbugtrapsonline.com or 1-717-449-3015.

Missing bull semen package located
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Associated Press

COUDERSPORT, Pa. -- Police in north central Pennsylvania say they've solved the case of the missing bull semen.

Police in Sweden Township, near Coudersport, Potter County, say the package containing liquid nitrogen and 1,770 units of the bull semen were reported missing from a residence where it was to be delivered on April 2.

Police now tell the Bradford Era newspaper that the items were never stolen. Rather, a United Parcel Service driver left the package at the home, then went back and retrieved it after realizing it shouldn't have been delivered without someone signing for the package.

Township police Chief Bryan Phelps says the package was located in a UPS warehouse and has since been redelivered to the residence. The chief says the package is valuable for agricultural purposes.

The township is about 140 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

I have two things to share with my vast and loyal readership this morning. The second thing is the story posted below this post. The first thing is this: The grand jury trial of Barry Bonds for perjury and other charges cost the federal government over $75 million. That's FIVE times more than the federal government spent on the investigation into how 9/11 happened.

This story is just totally fucked up. And it all took place in my neighborhood.


School teacher, boyfriend charged in bank robbery
Saturday, April 16, 2011
By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Shadyside woman charged with her live-in boyfriend in the robbery an East Liberty bank Friday is a suspended Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher who already was being investigated for the theft of $21,000 in school computer equipment.

The teacher, Philicia Barbieri, 24, and her boyfriend, Alvin Carter III, 28, both of Marchand Street, were quickly apprehended by Pittsburgh police following the 10:15 a.m. robbery at Fifth-Third Bank in the 6000 block of Penn Circle South.

In affidavits supporting charges of robbery and conspiracy against the couple, police said both suspects told them they were desperate for money after their landlord came seeking rent Friday morning. Police said Mr. Carter further told them that he and Ms. Barbieri have a bundle-a-day heroin addiction and were months behind in their rent.

Ms. Barbieri told police that she and Mr. Carter had been a couple for four or five years and they only started using heroin about six months ago.

Ms. Barbieri, whose Facebook page said she is a 2008 graduate of Chatham University, was suspended from her job as a full-time substitute science teacher at the Pittsburgh School for the Creative and Performing Arts on March 29.

Pittsburgh police said she is under investigation for the theft of laptop computers from CAPA. No charges have been filed as the probe continues but Pittsburgh police Lt. Kevin Kraus said there is a possibility Ms. Barbieri will be arrested in that case, too.

As for the bank robbery, police said both Mr. Carter and Ms. Barbieri were seen outside the bank by a teller who recognized both of them because they had a joint account there until closing it in May. The teller even waved to Mr. Carter as he walked by but she said he did not see her.

Within five minutes, Mr. Carter, wearing a gray coat, gray skull cap and dark sunglasses, entered the bank and handed a different teller a handwritten note that read "GIVE ME $2,000 OR I'LL SHOOT YOU NO DYE PACKS." The phrase "I'll shoot you" was underlined twice, police said. The teller who knows Mr. Carter thought he was suspiciously dressed and saw him pass the note, police said.

The teller handed over $3,640 and Mr. Carter left the bank through a rear door, police said.

The bank retrieved for police account information for Mr. Carter and Ms. Barbieri which included photo identification.

Shortly after the robbery, Pittsburgh police Sgt. Ray Rippole and Officer Clarence Ford stopped the couple in the parking lot of the Pittsburgh Obama School at 129 Denniston Ave.

In Ms. Barbieri's purse, police found $1,440, they said. Mr. Carter told them he had handed her that money as they were fleeing and stuffed the other $2,200 in his coat, which he was not wearing when he was taken into custody.

Mr. Carter said he inadvertently left the missing money in the coat when he discarded it as he fled along with the other attire he wore during the robbery, the cap and the sunglasses.

The coat was discarded in a high traffic area and was not recovered, police said.

Where is Elisabeth Shue when you need her . . . ?

Actor Nicolas Cage arrested in New Orleans
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press
Apr 16, 5:25 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Actor Nicolas Cage was arrested after he got drunk in the city's French Quarter and argued in the street with his wife over whether a house they were in front of was theirs, police said Saturday.

The couple was in front of a home that Cage insisted they were renting, police said. When she said it wasn't theirs, Cage grabbed her arm, according to a police news release.

Cage started hitting vehicles and tried to get into a taxi, police said. An officer saw that Cage was drunk and told him to get out of the cab. Cage then started yelling at the officer.

The actor has been booked on charges of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness. He was released on $11,000 bond Saturday.

Representatives for Cage could not immediately be reached Saturday.

Cage has been a frequent visitor to New Orleans, where he has owned property and shot movies. He has also had financial troubles, despite being one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood.

He had been behind on taxes and has said he's had to sell numerous assets because of his finances. He sued his former business manager in October 2009 for $20 million, claiming the man's advice led him to financial ruin.

Cage won an Academy Award for his performance in 1995's "Leaving Las Vegas."

Tax Day
Friday, April 15, 2011 09:09 AM
Written by Rob Rogers

I hope that Americans preparing their tax returns this year will think of General Electric. According to reports (and there have been conflicting and confusing accounts on this) GE managed to avoid paying 2010 taxes by using available loopholes in the tax code. This isn't illegal but it does raise eyebrows. The average person has to work hard and pay his taxes while wealthy people and corporations end up not paying their fair share. It's time to fix the tax code so it is more fair for the poor, elderly and future generations.

THE FOLLOWING POST IS POST NUMBER 1000 . . .

What have I chosen to write about in Post Number 1000? Why, it's Pittsburgh, so the weather, of course.

I have heard a lot of people in Pittsburgh lately complaining about how this year, the cold, rainy, gray skies, dreary winter weather has continued into April, and this appears to be wearing on some people. Yesterday, on another of a seemingly endless supply of gray days, I happened to have a phone conversation with a man who is probably about my age about how, although originally from Pittsburgh, he moved away to Arizona, but has returned recently to be close to his aging parents. He said that he still has a house in Arizona that he has every intention of returning to some day. He said that Arizona has 327 days of sunshine per year, versus Pittsburgh's 57.

57?!

Now, even as someone who abhors the gray weather in Pittsburgh, I couldn't believe that the number was only 57. I bought Arizona at 327. But not so much the 57. So, as a constant seeker of the truth, I Googled it. Just a couple of links led me to the answer that I was seeking. And a story not so different from my own.


The Next Page: On the sunny side of the street
Sunday, January 07, 2007
THE REAL NUMBER OF SUNNY DAYS
IN PITTSBURGH IS 145 (NOT 59)
How do I know? I counted them.
By Brett Yasko
(Brett Yasko is a designer living in the Strip.)

Jim has been my best friend for the past 20 years. We grew up here. We both moved away for college and the start of our careers. I came back. He didn’t. The December before last, during one of his visits from Maryland, Jim and I sat at my dining room table, talking about what most best friends who haven’t seen each other in months talk about — the weather.

“Man, it’s gray today,” I said, looking out as a soft drizzle coated the asphalt of Smallman Street.

Jim smiled. “Well, you know,” he said, “Pittsburgh gets only 59 sunny days a year, so …”

Huh? What was that? “Fifty-nine? That doesn’t sound right to me,” I replied.

Jim nodded. “It’s true. Look it up sometime.”

After he left, I went straight to my computer for a Google search. Fifty-nine sunny days? No way. That’s only five sunny days a month. There’s no way that can be true. I typed “number of sunny days in Pittsburgh” and hit return. People would be jumping out of buildings. They’d be leaving faster than they already …

There it was in tiny black-and-white pixels: “Average number of sunny days a year in Pittsburgh: 59.” This was followed by more sites declaring the same thing: 59. 59. 60 (they rounded up, I guess). 59. 59. And to make matters worse, mixed in with the statistics were links to articles (several by this fine newspaper) quoting various people complaining about our gray weather and referencing that magic 59. And the majority of those quoted actually live here!

I was flummoxed. Surely I’m missing something. I mean, this isn’t Miami Beach, but 59 sunny days a year? I think I would have noticed. So I decided to do what any true Pittsburgher does — deny the data.

“I don’t believe these Web sites,” I e-mailed Jim that night. “There has to be some sort of conspiracy going on here.”

A week later he e-mailed me an online conversation he had with a real-life meteorologist from WPXI-TV (Jim just loves being right). She confirmed the 59 from someplace called the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. They have been compiling weather data for the past 50 years. Still sounded bogus to me.

But I humored Jim and read the attached report. Looking more closely at the fine print, it hit me: They say 59 clear days. Not “sunny” but “clear.” And, as I read further, a “clear” day is defined by the NCDC as a day with “zero to 3/10 average sky cover.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a day in Pittsburgh that had zero clouds and I don’t know how to gauge what “3/10” means without ever taking my eyes off the sky. But I do know that there are many days here where a mass of clouds will blow in, sit for a bit and then blow on by. And you’ll still go to sleep thinking to yourself, “It was a pretty nice day out today.”

And now it starts to make sense. Semantics strike again. People who live here and people who have never even been here see that 59 in isolation, with no indication of the parameters, and just assume that Pittsburgh is dreary.

It’s a lot like when people see the mill footage right after commercial breaks of Steelers games or remember their grade school history books and assume that smoke-belching steel plants still line our rivers. As with a lot of things in this town, “truth” lies somewhere in the perception. And, indeed, there is often a fine line between “sunny” and “gray” here — literally and figuratively.

So when the first of the year rolled around, I decided to do my own independent research. I would officially record the Sunny Days in Pittsburgh for 2006.

Now, I don’t claim to be the National Climatic Data Center. I have no high-tech gizmos and apparatuses. I do it the old-fashioned way: I look out the window or go outside and walk around. If it was sunny, I circled the day in my notebook.

A sunny day, by my definition, doesn’t need to be clear for the entire daylight hours. Clouds can be good every now and again. They break up the monotony and even cool things down for a spell. But if the sky is blue for a good part of the day and you can feel some warmth on your face — well, my friends, that’s a sunny day in my book. (Disclaimer: On the few days I was out of town, I called my sister and asked for her reading, strictly abiding by the above criteria.)

So, according to my calculations, the actual number of sunny days in Pittsburgh last year was 145.

Further observations about 2006 can be gleaned from the data I collected:

• May, October and November each had brutal stretches of gray.
• April and August were glorious.
• When Pittsburgh was on the national stage for the All-Star Game (July 8-11), the sun barely came out for any of it.
• We averaged 12 sunny days a month and 18 gray ones.
• The longest stretch of sunny days was seven (Dec. 9-15). And the longest stretch of gray was 13 (Aug. 24 to Sept. 5).
• There were only nine times when we had a sunny weekend (Saturday and Sunday). And only six times when we had sun from a Friday to a Sunday.
• We had 18 sunny Sundays, 19 sunny Mondays, 19 sunny Tuesdays, 21 sunny Wednesdays, 23 sunny Thursdays, 23 sunny Fridays and 22 sunny Saturdays.
• I have way too much free time on my hands.

But the most important observation is that when you’re talking about sunny days, 145 sure beats 59. And here’s to even more in 2007.

In the meantime, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve started keeping track of how much snow we have this winter. The 43 inches they say we usually get just doesn’t sound right to me.

Why do republicans hate Planned Parenthood? I mean, I don't hate them and I'm a man who once applied for a job there, and rather than interview me, they reopened their candidate search after they didn't find their "man."

GOP Rescue
Sunday, April 10, 2011 09:25 AM
Written by Rob Rogers

Everyone agrees that the deficits and spending need to be brought under control. But in any civilized society, there is an important balance between slashing spending and maintaining programs that help people survive. It makes me physically ill [Dave, too] to think that republicans can be so heartless when it comes to the needs of the poor and elderly and yet won't touch the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Then there are the social conservatives who want to tie issues like abortion and climate change to balancing the budget. They would go as far as shutting down the government before allowing money to go to health care programs for women or environmental protection. Thankfully, the budget deal was reached without bowing to these ludicrous demands, but rest assured, the attacks on Planned Parenthood will continue.

Survey: Pittsburgh top city of future
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
By Ann Belser, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Lately it seems Pittsburgh is the city every other city wants to be.

The latest list to put Pittsburgh at the top is fDi Magazine's North American Cities of the Future survey, which has Pittsburgh as the top city with a population between 250,000 and 750,000. Halifax, Nova Scotia, came in second in the category.

Sure, Pittsburgh is no New York City. That's because the largest cities, ranked as "major" cities with populations of more than 750,000, had their own category.

This most recent ranking is important because it goes out to an international audience, said Dewitt Peart, the president of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance. FDi Magazine is a division of the London-based Financial Times.

"The people who read and subscribe [to fDi Magazine] are those who are making site selections," Mr. Peart said. "Those readers want to know what places are hot, if you will."

The magazine asked locally based organizations to fill out a survey about their cities. Mr. Peart said the regional alliance, which filled out the information for Pittsburgh, spent somewhere between 20 and 30 work hours answering survey questions such as "Please name any key initiatives you are implementing to attract more investment" and "Please list the any [sic] major infrastructure and urban planning projects."

The survey also asks the average price for a three-bedroom house, average salaries for unskilled workers and the cost of electricity.

Mr. Peart said the magazine independently verifies information submitted.

Making the grade through the many independent measures of the region's successes tends to improve the image of the city in the world, like a constant marketing message.

The Allegheny Conference on Community Development has tracked other notable rankings:

• Most Livable City (ranked first 2010 by Forbes.com)

• Best Cities for Recent College Graduates (ranked second 2010 by The Huffington Post)

• Most Charity-Conscious Cities in America (ranked first 2010 by Charity Navigator)

• Most Affordable City to Date (ranked first 2009 by Match.com)

• Best Arts Destination (ranked third 2009 by American Style)

• Most Literate Cities (ranked fourth 2009 by Central Connecticut State University)

Then there are those rankings that the Allegheny Conference tracks, but does not exactly crow about.

For instance, ePodunk.com ranked Pittsburgh first as the most misspelled city in America. That 2001 ranking put Pittsburgh above Tucson (No. 2), Cincinnati (3) and, yes, the City of Brotherly Love (if your brother can't spell) Philadelphia (12).

And in 2010 the city was named 17th on the list for Riskiest Cities for Cybercrime by Sperling's Best Places.

DAVE: I don't own one Apple product.

JIM: I don't know why most people think that when it comes to Apple, you have to either love them or hate them and there's no in-between. I've never quite gotten that.

I have the original iPod Shuffle, and my wife has a later (current?) version. My kids each have an iPod Touch. They are all awesome, high-quality products that come as advertised and are very user-friendly. Most important of all, we all use our Apple iPods a lot, so they are not one of those things that you get because it's the newest, coolest thing and then after you have it for a week or two, it just sits around gathering dust.

DAVE: I have nothing against Apple. I'm sure their products are great. I just think that they're overpriced. At least they're just too expensive for me.

I watched "Love and Other Drugs" the other day. There was A LOT of Anne Hathaway to be seen in the movie. I think she's very attractive, but her skin is too pale for my taste.

JIM: She is very pale. Her and Anne Heche. What is it about the name Anne that turns women's' skin so pale?

Dude, $49 for an iPod Shuffle. And they are awesome.

DAVE: Women in general with "those kinds" of names. Helen, Emily, Laura, Megan. Evelyn. English-y names. All pale.

For $35, I got a really nice mp3 player from Samsung that has a screen, shuffle or not shuffle, and a bunch of functions that I don't use.

JIM: You left out Emma. She is also very pale. But I still love her.

DAVE: I guess if I had to pick a pale-y, I would take Anne Hathaway. She's come a long way from that Disney movie. She has a nice body. As seen almost completely in LAOD.

Obama 2012
Friday, April 08, 2011 09:10 AM
Written by Rob Rogers

Obama has officially launched his 2012 campaign. Conservatives are complaining that his timing is political (isn't everything a president does political?) Liberals have different complaints. They are disappointed in Obama because of unfulfilled campaign promises and the fact that he is a lot more conservative/moderate than he led them to believe.

One of the reasons why I love dogs so much is because they love us humans so much. Good dogs want nothing more in life than to please their masters. Unconditionally.

Breaking News: Manny Ramirez retired . . .

DAVE: Manny retired. I TOLD you he was done.

JIM: No way. I am shocked.

And at this point, I didn't think there was anything left that Manny could do to shock people.

That was a most excellent observation by you.

DAVE: As for the Rays, I thought they lost WAY too much in the off-season to be competitive in that division, but they may challenge the Pirates for who has the better record at season's end. Langoria is all they have, and he can't carry the team. The Rays are the 1993 Pirates.

JIM: Who was Manny's equivalent on the 1993 Pirates?

DAVE: Al Martin.

JIM: Not Chico Lind?

DAVE: It may surprise you to know (as it did me to be reminded) that Lind was traded to the Royals (I think) after the 1992 season and was replaced at second by Carlos Garcia.


Further internet research has turned up three other candidates for the Manny Ramirez on the 1993 Pirates: Lonnie Smith (yes, THAT Lonnie Smith), Glenn Wilson, or Lloyd fucking McClendon.

You know those black, snug-fitting, stretchy pants that have become so popular on the young (and not so young) women of the East End? On women with the right figure, those pants look great for going running, or working out, or going to the grocery store. On women without the right figure, those pants should not be worn outside of the home.

Brewed On Grant: Suffering Fans
Wednesday, April 06, 2011 09:32 AM
Written by Rob Rogers

Tomorrow is opening day at PNC Park. Will it be another year of disappointment, pain and suffering for Pirates fans? Will it be another record-breaking consecutive losing season (I think we are up to 18) ... or will the new regime (Hurdle) finally break the streak? Let's Go Bucs!

JIM: By the way, it was Sports Illustrated recently who wrote the article where they ranked Philadelphia Eagles fans as the "Worst" in professional sports and ranked Philadelphia Phillies fans as second-worst, right? Yeah, all they do is show up and sell out every single game and cheer for their teams. I could name about 20 cities just off the top of my head whose fans show no support whether their teams are good or not and don't deserve to have teams. And then there are fans like this:

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17768589?nclick_check=1

Not an isolated incident among fans in that area either. Last year, a fan was killed during a fight at an Angels game on opening day. But Phillies and Eagles fans are the worst fans in professional sports.

DAVE: East Coast bias.

JIM: You are missing out on a good start by the Pirates. Neil Walker is hitting .412 and leading the league in RBIs!

DAVE: Actually, it's rather nice just hearing about the Pirates, not seeing them. I will say this: Neil Walker is the kind of player who could ignite a young team and cause them to rally as the perennial underdog. Being from Pittsburgh gives him that extra motivation to work and play hard everyday. But they're still the Pirates.

DAVE: The last time I went to Uncle Sam's, a regular cheesesteak was $6.37. I made an extremely rare trip during the school year into Oakland this evening [Thursday] for a cheesesteak. $6.79. Prices keep going up at a much faster rate than my pay. I think I may be poor.

JIM: There was a front page story in yesterday's [Thursday] paper that the CEO of Wal-Mart says that there is going to be significant inflation soon. Prices of basic necessities are going to start going up for consumers. Going up big time.

DAVE: I think the CEO of Walmart is correct.

For the first time, maybe ever, I did not watch one Opening Day baseball game yesterday. Not one. I really think that my relationship with baseball has deteriorated so much that my interest level is not very high. My "goal" for this season is to not watch one Pirate game on TV. I know that I'm not going to be going to any games. But this season, I am going to try and avoid even watching them at all.

JIM: I did not watch one Opening Day baseball game yesterday either. And, I didn't even miss the games because I was playing basketball, which is my normal Thursday night activity. I stayed home from playing hoops to spend a little extra time with the kids before leaving for the weekend. Then, after they were in bed, I sat down and watched Grey's Anatomy with my wife. The worst hour of television I've ever seen in my life. It was a musical episode where all of the characters sang sappy songs instead of speaking their lines. Unbelievably horrible. And I watched that instead of baseball.

Rather out of nowhere, I am reminded that yesterday, April 1, was the birthday of my former high school law teacher, Terrence Muncie. I hope it was a good one, Mr. Muncie. You're not still driving that little red Fiero, are you?

Presenting microwave popcorn that doesn't require a bowl. Genius. Just the perfect thing for a bachelor who doesn't have a dishwasher and doesn't like washing dishes.

Brewed On Grant: Drill Tax Wednesday, March 30, 2011 11:04 AM Written by Rob Rogers Message to Corbett: The Marcellus Shale drillers aren't going to leave Pennsylvania if we do what every other drilling state has done and levy a tax on drillers. Stop acting as if the drilling companies are your real constituents.

I thank god everyday that I don't have to ride the bus anymore. The Port Authority is a joke. As is that fucking tunnel under the river.

Bus Cuts Monday, March 28, 2011 08:05 AM Written by Rob Rogers

When will we have solvent public transportation in Pittsburgh? The latest round of Port Authority cuts will have a devastating affect on the most vulnerable among us: those who can't afford a car or to pay for parking, those who depend on buses to get them to their jobs, doctor's appointments, the grocery store, etc., the poor and the elderly. It is a crime. It has gone beyond who to blame. We just need to fix it.

I received this in my mail over the weekend. I posted it because I wanted my vast and loyal readership to notice this man's hair. How in the world does someone close to him not tell him to abandon the Robin Hood look and get a respectable hairstyle worthy of a man in his position?! If you're going to spend the money to send people like me a photocard, then at least spend the money not to look like a dork.

P.S. I did not post this because the judge's name is Butler. Just a coincidence.

This was an actual handout at a professional development workshop that I attended for work last week. The intended audience was high school teachers. It was so elementary, I was actually a little taken aback. What the fuck is going on? Are the students stupid because the teachers are stupid? And the professional development is stupid because the teachers are stupid? Why does everybody seem so stupid?

Breaking news out of Florida . . .

MOM: Sidney has done it again. This morning he found a gecko in the living room and went on high alert and bit off the tail first, then banged it around and bit it and shook it to death. I praised him and gave him a treat. Perhaps I should put notches on his collar to keep track of his conquests!


Sidney the gecko hunter has caught five geckos since February 27th.

Brewed On Grant: Bus Bailout
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 07:11 AM
Written by Rob Rogers

Pittsburgh's Port Authority has been in financial hot water for way too long. Historically, their wages and pensions have been much higher than other cities. Former Port Authority CEO/General Manager Paul Skoutelas was awarded a $380K exit package and $9K a month pension. Sure, it was eventually reduced, but the pattern clearly shows that Port Authority's priorities don't rest with the ridership. Now they are forced to make tough cuts. Cuts that hurt the people who need public transportation the most.

The age-old question: How many republicans does it take to change a light bulb?


Battle of the bulbs: more life for incandescents?
A senator wants to overturn coming ban on energy-wasting bulbs
Sunday, March 13, 2011
By David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With apologies to Thomas Edison, the light bulb he made famous in 1879, the one that turns 90 percent of its electricity into heat rather than light, soon will be a relic of history.

That is, if a Republican-led effort fails to save the traditional incandescent bulb from planned obsolescence.

The Senate Energy Committee heard Republican arguments at a hearing Thursday to overturn the federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which would ban production of energy-wasting incandescent bulbs beginning in 2012 with the 100 watt. This would be followed by a ban on the 75-watt bulb in 2013, and ending in 2014 with a ban on 60- and 40-watt incandescent bulbs.

The lighting industry notes that the act only sets energy-use rules that traditional incandescents cannot meet, prompting the ban. But halogen incandescents do meet the standard.

California's ban on the 100-watt incandescent began already, Jan. 1.

Republicans in Congress are upset that the government, rather than market forces, is deciding the fate of the incandescent.

"Thomas Edison wouldn't be happy if he knew that Congress was essentially banning his invention," said U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who has introduced the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act to repeal the section of the 2007 act that would ban incandescents save for low-wattage bulbs used in niche or specialty devices.

"I think it's fine if someone wants to fill their home or business with the light from the new bulbs," Mr. Enzi said in a news release. "I also think it's fine if someone wants to buy an old-fashioned bulb because it works better for them. If left alone, the best bulb will win its rightful standing in the marketplace. Government doesn't need to be in the business of telling people what light bulb they have to use."

Mr. Enzi said compact fluorescent lamps, one of the more energy-efficient options available to consumers, contain mercury that could pose health problems if the bulbs break indoors. For that reason, proposed legislation also would exclude schools, day-care centers and nursing homes from federal light-bulb requirements if the alternative lighting contains mercury.

Other alternatives on the market -- halogen incandescent, light-emitting diode and even Electron-Stimulated Luminescence -- contain no mercury.

The Senate version of the Bulb Act has a companion version in the House that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.

"This is about more than just energy consumption; it is about personal freedom," Mr. Barton stated in his own news release.

Mr. Barton said 12 other Republicans co-signed his House bill to lift the ban.

At least one major environmental group has mounted countering action to preserve the ban.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental group with 1.2 million members, is hoping the Republicans' high-watt action to save the incandescent will burn out once reason is applied.

Saving the incandescent is akin to surrendering the refrigerator for an ice box, it said.

The council also notes that the 2007 act was signed by President George W. Bush, a Republican, with previous Republican presidents having signed energy standards into law for appliances and automobiles.

The bills from Mr. Enzi and Mr. Barton, with the support of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. [the crazy tea party lady], "would push aside innovation, derail plans for new job-creating lighting factories and eliminate an estimated $10 billion in annual energy costs savings -- taking as much as $200 a year out of the checkbooks of every U.S. household," an NRDC release stated.

New standards, it said, give consumers "more choice, not less," and will inspire light-bulb manufacturers to continue making innovations.

Jim Presswood, the council's federal energy policy director, said new light bulbs reduce energy usage without affecting light quality or output. Cutting demand for electricity also reduces pollution and improves health.

"We expect the standards to reduce carbon-dioxide pollution by 100 million tons per year, which is the equivalent of the emissions of 17 million cars," Mr. Presswood said. "The best way to reduce pollution is to reduce the need to run power plants."

Mr. Presswood said he's heard no notable complaints resulting from the ban under way in California. Yet, he said, the repeal action must be taken seriously.

"This is an excellent market rule spurring innovation, reducing pollution and saving people money," he said. "The only freedom it prevents is the use of an old light bulb. But what a difference there is between the old bulb and the new, with the advantages all on one side."

The only reason to buy an incandescent nowadays, he said, is as a collectible in hopes of having it appraised someday on the television show, "Antique Roadshow."

DAVE: The Mets released Oliver Perez with one year left on his three-year, $36M deal. The guy never turned into anything.

JIM: Couldn't throw strikes. You never know, one day something may just click for him. Be warned: he is exactly the kind of guy that the Pirates misguided management team always seems to take a chance on.

DAVE: You don't have to tell me. I was already joking about that with someone from work just a little while ago.

JIM: I wasn't joking.

DAVE: But you're the Joker.

JIM: There are some things even I can't joke about.

MICHELLE: Son of a bitch.

DAVE: For a Pitt basketball fan, that's pretty close to a Sid Bream moment right there.

Butler played a perfect game against Pitt. I knew they were going to be tough. These teams that Pitt NEVER play always give them fits. I said "fits." How old am I?

MICHELLE: It wasn't as bad as 2009, but it was close. Damn those little upstart teams with 12-year-olds for coaches.

There are not a lot of things in this life that inspire me. Dogs who have lost a leg and go on to live a normal life inspire me.

Bullies
Written by Rob Rogers

Monday, March 14, 2011 10:20 AM

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is slashing education funding to tragic levels but still refuses to consider taxing Marcellus Shale drillers. The White House is campaigning against bullying in schools ... what about bullying in state government?

I lost one of the original four hubcaps on my little car. It was ripped off by a pothole that I did not see at all. It was at night, and driving around my part of town has become little more than a challenging obstacle course. So, as the roads continue to deteriorate to a puddle of rocks, I was able to find the secret formula for good roads in a four-season climate which experiences the dreaded freeze-thaw cycle. And it was posted right on a public website.


Fixing roads now… and for the future. The right treatment for the right road at the right time. That’s the mandate for the City of Toronto's Transportation Infrastructure Management team as it goes about the task of repairing roads throughout the city.

The division’s goal is to keep the roads in a state of good repair at a minimal cost to the taxpayer. This cost-effective way of maintaining the roads is called “life-cycle costing.” It means fixing the roads as necessary to avoid costly maintenance in the future and, in essence, postponing the date when an old road would have to be completely reconstructed.

Typically, a major roadway is made up of an asphalt top and concrete bottom. In most cases, a new road’s asphalt has a life span of 18-25 years. As weather conditions and regular wear-and-tear occur, cracks and holes appearing in the road are repaired by City staff. The freeze-thaw cycle is a road’s worst enemy. When water enters the cracks created in the road, it actually has the strength and capability of lifting huge chunks of the asphalt.

After the road has been in existence for about 20 years, inspectors look at the road and perform engineering tests to determine if it needs a new surface. If the road is deemed to be in good shape, no work will be done at this point and the inspectors will return at a later date to re-inspect the road. If, however, the asphalt is in disrepair, the City will replace the asphalt surface.

If the road was in need of repair, but neglected at this stage, the deterioration would continue right through to the base of the road. The result would be a costly base reconstruction which usually costs about three times the amount of repairing the asphalt portion of the road. Usually, a road’s base will last about 50 years if preventative measures such as resurfacing are done periodically. If preventative measures are not undertaken, a road’s base might last only 25-30 years.

Taking steps to repave the road before it reaches a state of further disrepair has some obvious benefits. The work results in an improved road surface that benefits road users and also avoids the premature deterioration of the road’s base. Bridges and sidewalks are maintained in a similar fashion.

This might explain why certain road work is performed. Some residents might see a road that, on first glance, they don’t think requires resurfacing. But, by doing so, the City is prolonging the life of the road as well as saving money by avoiding a complete reconstruction. This process - that is the planned preventative interventions combined with financial modeling techniques - forms the basis of life-cycle costing. These techniques allow staff to manage “assets” better and assists in conveying financial responsibility to the taxpayer at large.

Life cycle costing has proven to be a cost-effective process in maintaining smooth sailing for Toronto’s road users and taxpayers.

I love Pittsburgh. Truly, I do. It's my home. Always has been, always will be. But it's true that I have a covetous relationship with Florida and all places tropical. Places where the sun shines almost every day. Today is one of the benchmark days in the course of the year for me and my dependent relationship with the sun. The day that we gain an hour of daylight at the end of the day. It's usually a pretty good day for me. But what did we gain this year? An extra hour of dark and gray skies? Please.

Okay. I'm going through Florida withdrawal. I miss the weather. And I miss Sidney. I need some sun, damnit.

DAVE: I can't believe that LinkedIn is still going. I thought even less of that than I did of Facebook. I really just kind of thought it was weird and awkward, the whole thing. A friendster for business associates. I need to get on there and delete my lame profile. You and I may even be connected through that. I can't remember the two or three people that I did that with when I was essentially forced to sign up.

By the way, by some coincidence I'm sure, after watching "The Social Network" for the second and decisive time, I deactivated my profile on FB. It's for women. At least that's how I feel about it. And sadly, I do judge women by how much time they spend on FB. Cindy spends FAR too much time on FB. It makes her unattractive to me. And that genuinely saddens me. I want her to be a fantasy woman from my life. I need one.

The Pirates have one night game during Spring Training (I turned down the invitation to go to the game with my father on Monday against the Rays.), and of course, at that one night game, there are, wait for it, fireworks. And even better than that, is that the last two seasons' fireworks nights have been rained out. And this year's is [Thursday] night, and the forecast for Bradenton is for rain all day. That's the Pittsburgh Baseball Club right there.

It's fucking good to be home. I miss Florida. I do. But I got to get on with my life. I'm not ready to retire to Florida.

JIM: What good is having high-speed internet if you're not using it to be on facebook???

Brewed On Grant: Reality TV
Written by Rob Rogers
Wednesday, March 09, 2011 10:21 AM

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward is going on "Dancing With the Stars." I feel sorry for the other dancers. They will have trouble concentrating with all those Terrible Towels waving in the audience.

Seriously, would you leave your young child alone with a Roman Catholic priest . . . ?

21 Pa. priests named in sex report are suspended
By JOANN LOVIGLIO
Associated Press
Mar 8, 8:47 PM EST

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Philadelphia archdiocese suspended 21 Roman Catholic priests Tuesday who were named as child molestation suspects in a scathing grand jury report last month, a move that comes more than eight years after U.S. bishops pledged swift action to keep potential abusers away from young people.

The priests have been removed from ministry while their cases are reviewed, Cardinal Justin Rigali said. The names of the priests were not being released, a spokesman for the archdiocese said.

"These have been difficult weeks since the release of the grand jury report," Rigali said in a statement. "Difficult most of all for victims of sexual abuse but also for all Catholics and for everyone in our community."

The two-year grand jury investigation into priest abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia resulted in charges against two priests, a former priest and a Catholic school teacher who are accused of raping young boys. And in an unprecedented move in the U.S., a former high-ranking church official was accused of transferring problem priests to new parishes without warning anyone of prior sex-abuse complaints.

Since 2002, when the national abuse crisis erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston, American dioceses have barred hundreds of accused clergy from public church work or removed the men permanently from the priesthood. The allegations against the Pennsylvania priests stand out because they come years after the U.S. bishops reformed their national child protection policies, promising to keep potential abusers from children.

The grand jury named 37 priests who remained in active ministry despite credible allegations of sexual abuse. After the release of the report, the second such investigation in the city in six years, Rigali vowed to take its calls for further reforms seriously.

In addition to the 21 priests placed on leave Tuesday, three others named by the grand jury were suspended a week after the report's release in February. There were five other priests who would have been suspended: one who was already on leave, two who are "incapacitated and have not been in active ministry," and two who no longer are priests in the archdiocese but are now members of another religious order that was not identified.

"The archdiocese has notified the superiors of their religious orders and the bishops of the dioceses where they are residing," the cardinal said.

The remaining eight priests of the 37 in the report were not being put on leave because the latest examination of their cases "found no further investigation is warranted," Rigali said.

"I know that for many people their trust in the church has been shaken," Rigali stated. "I pray that the efforts of the archdiocese to address these cases of concern and to re-evaluate our way of handling allegations will help rebuild that trust."

While the archdiocese formed a panel to handle abuse complaints after the 2005 report, the 2011 grand jury found it mostly worked to protect the church, not the victims. Rigali responded by retaining former city child-abuse prosecutor Gina Maisto Smith to re-examine complaints made against the active-duty priests that internal church investigators previously said they could not substantiate.

"Cardinal Rigali's actions are as commendable as they are unprecedented, and they reflect his concern for the physical and spiritual well-being of those in his care," District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement. "We appreciate that the Archdiocese has acknowledged the value of the report, and seen fit to take some of the steps called for by the grand jury."

The suspensions came on the eve of Lent, the Christian period for penance leading up to Easter.

Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said Rigali should have suspended the priests much sooner.

"There's a simple reason that dozens of credibly accused child molesters have recklessly been kept in unsuspecting parishes for years, instead of being promptly suspended. It's because Rigali and his top aides want it that way," he said. "They have taken and still take steps to protect, above all else, themselves, their secrets and their staff, instead of their flock. That's what two separate Philadelphia grand juries, working with two prosecutors, after two long investigations, found over the last six years."

Rigali's move to suspend the priests "was forced on him by the Philadelphia grand jury report, and is an act of desperation, not transparency," Terence McKiernan of BishopAccountability.org said.

"In Philadelphia, a Catholic official had to be indicted before the archdiocese finally began to comply with its own policies," he said. "We have no reason to believe that Philadelphia is unusual - in other U.S. dioceses, credibly accused priests are no doubt still in ministry, and review boards are protecting priests instead of protecting children."

AP Exclusive: Abusive priests live unmonitored
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press
Mon Mar 7, 6:53 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – The charges of child molestation came too long after the abuse to send Carl Sutphin, a Roman Catholic priest, to prison. Now he is spending his days in a doublewide mobile home, a short walk from day care centers and two elementary schools.

"I won't say I deny it. I do not deny it, no," Sutphin, 78, said in a frail voice as he leaned on his walker.

There are dozens of accused priests like him, from California to Maryland. To victims' advocates, that is dangerous.

They say church officials should monitor them in the same way that police track sex offenders and that the church should create special housing to keep predator priests away from children.

"Essentially, you have admitted or credibly accused child molesters walking free among unsuspecting families — and bishops are doing little or nothing," said David Clohessy, national director for Survivors of those Abused by Priests.

Advocates' calls raise questions about how far the church can go in monitoring people who have never been convicted, or even charged with a crime.

Plaintiffs' attorneys have worked with private investigators since October to compile a list of the priests' addresses, the most comprehensive accounting of the whereabouts of more than 200 clergy accused of abuse in civil lawsuits in Los Angeles archdiocese.

They hope to use it Thursday to persuade a judge to recommend the release of all church files for every priest or religious brother ever accused of sexual abuse in the sweeping litigation.

Those confidential files are at the center of a heated dispute that has raged between the church and plaintiffs' lawyers since the nation's largest archdiocese reached a record-breaking $660 million settlement nearly four years ago.

Plaintiffs want the files — which could include internal correspondence, previous complaints and therapy records — released, saying it's a matter of public safety. The church is pushing for a more limited release of information.

The list of addresses, obtained by The Associated Press, contains nearly 50 former priests and religious brothers from the LA archdiocese who live and work in 37 towns and cities across California, unsupervised by law enforcement or the church.

Another 15 are scattered in cities and towns from Montana to New York, while 80 more cannot be located despite an exhaustive search by attorneys representing those who have sued them for abuse.

The vast majority of the men have not been convicted — in some cases because the charges came too late — and are therefore not required to register with state sex offender databases.

It's a situation that has long bothered alleged victims of sex abuse, who have called on the church to do more to monitor former priests even after they have been expelled from ministry or have been laicized.

In Los Angeles, the archdiocese listed 211 names of credibly accused priests — a term the church uses to describe allegations that it believes are likely to be true — or those who had been named in civil lawsuits in a 2004 report to parishioners about clergy abuse.

The list did not include the priests' past assignments or current whereabouts.

Twenty-three other dioceses nationwide have published similar lists, but don't list their current addresses, Clohessy said.

Clohessy's organization is among those who have pressed the church to create special, church-controlled housing for credibly accused priests so they can be monitored.

"Bishops want to do the absolute bare minimum with predator priests, so they suspend them on the advice of defense lawyers and insurance companies and that's it, the priests are free to live and sometimes work and sometimes volunteer wherever they want," Clohessy said.

Church officials say it's not fair to expect them to monitor the priests, especially those who are no longer in active ministry.

The archdiocese policy has been to remove any credibly accused priest, said Michael Hennigan, archdiocese attorney. Most of those men have been laicized, are in the process of being laicized or have been removed from public ministry, he said.

Laicization is the Vatican process for ousting a man from the priesthood. Local bishops can also bar an abusive cleric from public ministry, which means the clergyman technically remains a priest but cannot participate in any public church work, such as celebrating Mass in public.

The archdiocese has no more responsibility for a laicized priest than a local school district would have for tracking a teacher who was fired with cause, Hennigan said.

He dismissed the idea of church-run housing for accused priests and religious brothers as impractical and unenforceable.

"We obviously don't have a police force and our mission has been to cleanse the priesthood, and we think we've done that effectively and well," he said Monday. "You think we should have a police force or a prison system?

"Once they're out, it's up to civil authorities to deal with them on behalf of society. It's really too much to ask the church to institute a prison system and no one could be forced to comply with it except voluntarily."

The idea of a church-controlled environment for priests accused of sexual abuse is not new.

In the early 1960s, the head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in treating molester priests wanted to buy an island to segregate them. He even made a $5,000 down payment on a Caribbean island for that purpose.

"It is for this class of rattlesnake I have always wished an island retreat, but even an island is too good for these vipers," Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald wrote to an acquaintance in 1957, according to correspondence obtained by the AP.

In 1960, Fitzgerald sent two priests from the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete to the island of Tortola to investigate the location — but his dream of an island monastery dedicated to trouble priests ended.

The new archbishop of Santa Fe overruled him, according to an affidavit by his successor, the Rev. Joseph McNamara.

Sutphin, 78, is one former priest whose presence in society continues to haunt his many alleged victims.

Sutphin was accused of abuse by 18 people and was charged with 14 counts of molestation in 2003 for sexually abusing six boys. The charges were dismissed, however, because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that set limits on the passage of time for prosecuting certain types of sex crimes.

One of the priest's alleged victims said he and his brother were abused by Sutphin the night before a fishing trip when they were in middle school. The brothers have never fully discussed the abuse and didn't tell their parents for years.

"My mom wrote a letter to the Catholic Church," said the man, who was granted anonymity because the AP does not typically name people who claim to be victims of sexual abuse. "They said they had addressed the issue and he would no longer come around."

The man, now 44, learned of Sutphin's address from the AP. He lives three miles away.

Finally. Even though the story was broken by "The New York Times." Well, at least SOMEONE is watching what's going on in Pennsylvania.


Radiation-fracking link sparks swift reactions
Saturday, March 05, 2011
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Reports this week of high radiation levels in Marcellus Shale waste fracking fluids and weak regulation of the industry have turned on a spigot of action by federal and state officials.

U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Lisa Jackson visited the agency's Region III office in Philadelphia Friday to ascertain the radiation issue will be addressed in an ongoing national study on the drinking water impacts of hydraulic fracturing, an industrial process used in shale gas development.

The EPA will seek data from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the drilling industry on radioactivity in the fracking fluid "flowback" water.

In a statement released following Ms. Jackson's meeting, the EPA said that while the national study progresses, it "will not hesitate to take any steps under the law to protect Americans whose health may be at risk," including enforcement actions to ensure that drinking water supplies are protected.

After a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemical additives are pumped deep underground under high pressure to crack the shale formation and release the gas it contains. As much as 20 percent of that fracking fluid waste returns to the surface with the gas and contains a variety of radioactive minerals from the shale.

The New York Times reported that hydraulic fracturing wastewater at 116 of 179 deep gas wells in the state contained high levels of radiation and its effect on public drinking water supplies is unknown because water suppliers are required to conduct tests of radiation only sporadically.

A number of public water suppliers, including the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and Pennsylvania American Water Co. said this week that they would voluntarily test for radiation.

State Rep. Camille Bud George, D-Clearfield, announced he will introduce legislation calling for mandatory and independent radiation testing of all public water supplies that could potentially be affected by Marcellus Shale drilling wastewater discharges, and requiring the drilling and gas companies to pay for the testing.

State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, renewed his call for a moratorium on drilling and said he will introduce legislation to toughen state Oil and Gas Act regulations on well siting around residences and streams, and impose a severance tax on Marcellus Shale gas production. Gov. Tom Corbett opposes such a tax.

"A moratorium is the most reasonable approach, especially in light of recent revelations about serious threats to our drinking water supply," Mr. Ferlo said. "This bill provides a framework for updating and improving regulations, as well as retaining the economic benefits of Marcellus Shale development."

In a statement issued Thursday, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, one of the most mainstream of the state's environmental organizations, called on Mr. Corbett to drop plans to open more of the state's forests and parks to Marcellus gas drilling.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.

Personally, I hope that my Jewish friends and neighbors have not been sitting around, waiting for the Pope to make this pronouncement. The Jewish people were never responsible for the death of Jesus, if, in fact, there is any truth whatsoever to anything that is written in the Bible. To me, it's just another pronouncement from some old man in Rome who is so far out of touch with the realities of modern society that he holds no credibility or authority in my world. My hope is that Jewish people are smart enough not to even care what this guy has to say. If he wants to make a pronouncement that means anything, then he should declare once and for all that any Roman Catholic priest who is found to have abused children is stripped of his title, thrown out of the church, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Now, THAT would be something worth writing a book about.


Pope exonerates Jews for Jesus' death in new book
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press
Mar 2, 8:42 AM EST

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI has made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ in a new book, tackling one of the most controversial issues in Christianity.

In "Jesus of Nazareth" excerpts released Wednesday, Benedict uses a biblical and theological analysis to explain why it is not true that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for Jesus' death.

Interpretations to the contrary have been used for centuries to justify the persecution of Jews.

While the Vatican has for five decades taught that Jews weren't collectively responsible, Jewish scholars said Wednesday the argument laid out by the German-born pontiff, who has had his share of mishaps with Jews, was significant and would help fight anti-Semitism today.

"There's a natural human tendency to take things for granted, and very often this tends to lead to a lapse in awareness and consciousness" about the risk of anti-Semitism, said Rabbi David Rosen, head of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee and a longtime leader in Vatican-Jewish dialogue.

He noted that the Vatican issued its most authoritative document on the issue in 1965, "Nostra Aetate," which revolutionized the Catholic Church's relations with Jews by saying Christ's death could not be attributed to Jews as a whole at the time or today.

Rosen said the pope's words might make a bigger, more lasting mark because the faithful tend to read Scripture and commentary more so than church documents, particularly old church documents.

"It may be an obvious thing for Jews to present texts with commentaries, but normally with church magisterium, they present a document," he said. "This is a pedagogical tool that he's providing, so people will be able to interpret the text in keeping with orthodox Vatican teaching."

The book is the second installment to Benedict's 2007 "Jesus of Nazareth," his first book as pope, which offered a very personal meditation on the early years of Christ's life and teachings. This second installment, set to be released March 10, concerns the second half of Christ's life, his death and resurrection.

All of this in the name of free speech and Christianity . . .

High court rules for military funeral protesters
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press
Mar 2, 10:58 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount anti-gay protests outside military funerals, despite the pain they cause grieving families.

The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court. Justice Samuel Alito dissented.

Roberts said the First Amendment shields the funeral protesters, noting that they obeyed police directions and were 1,000 feet from the church.

"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and - as it did here - inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker," Roberts said. "As a nation we have chosen a different course - to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."

Alito strongly disagreed. "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case," he said.

Matthew Snyder died in Iraq in 2006 and his body was returned to the United States for burial. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who have picketed military funerals for several years, decided to protest outside the Westminster, Md., church where his funeral was to be held.

The Rev. Fred Phelps and his family members who make up most of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed many military funerals in their quest to draw attention to their incendiary view that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

They showed up with their usual signs, including "Thank God for dead soldiers," "You're Going to Hell," "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," and one that combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fi, with a slur against gay men.

The church members drew counter-demonstrators, as well as media coverage and a heavy police presence to maintain order. The result was a spectacle that led to altering the route of the funeral procession.

Several weeks later, Albert Snyder was surfing the Internet for tributes to his son from other soldiers and strangers when he came upon a poem on the church's website that attacked Matthew's parents for the way they brought up their son.

Soon after, Snyder filed a lawsuit accusing the Phelpses of intentionally inflicting emotional distress. He won $11 million at trial, later reduced by a judge to $5 million.

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., threw out the verdict and said the Constitution shielded the church members from liability.

Forty-eight states, 42 U.S. senators and veterans groups sided with Snyder, asking the court to shield funerals from the Phelps family's "psychological terrorism."

While distancing themselves from the church's message, media organizations, including The Associated Press, urged the court to side with the Phelps family because of concerns that a victory for Snyder could erode speech rights.

Roberts described the court's holding as narrow, and in a separate opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer suggested in other circumstances, governments would not be "powerless to provide private individuals with necessary protection."

But in this case, Breyer said, it would be wrong to "punish Westboro for seeking to communicate its views on matters of public concern."

In case my vast and loyal readership has not heard yet, I have decided not to return to Pittsburgh from Florida until I get $3 million per episode of the sitcom that is my life.


DAVE: I have to give Tom Corbett credit. He is paying back the natural gas industry for all of their campaign donations, and he is not wasting any time in doing it. Pennsylvania is headed for a tremendous and precipitous fall. I am seriously starting to consider a move. Even TEXAS has stricter environmental regulations and a tax on natural gas drilling. But not Pennsylvania. Nope. We're just giving it away for nothing. Only in America. And it won't be long before a state public education at a school like Penn State will cost $30,000 a year. Maybe higher. The republicans want to cut off as much government funding to the general public as possible. Do you know what happens in an urban area like Pittsburgh when the government stops funding programs that benefit the poor? Crime goes up. Way up. And I am a lot of things, but being an alarmist is not one of them. In our lifetimes, we are going to see protests in the streets like the ones in Libya, with the government and the "people" fighting it out to the death with their guns. Blood will flow, my friend. Blood will flow.

JIM: I, like far too many Americans, am too busy just trying to keep up with my life to worry about such big picture things before it is far too late. Stuck at work here until God knows when on a Friday night. Been here since before 8 am and not leaving any time soon. No time to do things like eat or sleep, let alone worry about the fall of society.

DAVE: Understood.

Unfortunately, I fear that I will find myself on the frontlines of the revolution when it finally occurs. I will be standing with the poor against the government, the police, the national guard, the army, whatever. A society, any society, that fails to care for its poor is doomed to destruction. That's even in the bible. And I stopped believing in god when Bush "won" over Gore. If there was a god, he would never have let that happen. Unless it was in his plan all along to watch us destroy ourselves and start anew. Maybe we are due. I certainly never even considered it. Until it became clear to me and others like me where we were headed. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is in very bad shape. Our legislature is way too big, way too bloated, and way too expensive. But to protect their jobs and their benefits and their perks, they will cut programs to people who really need them. I need to get out of there. I love Florida. But this state is in pretty bad shape, too. 12% unemployment. No income tax, though. I should move to Boston. Or Toronto. But my life is in Pittsburgh. I can't imagine leaving. But I may have to leave for my own survival.

I don't think that I could have said it any better. But that's just my opinion . . .

Sunday Forum: Mouthing off in America
We've got way too many opinions and are way too willing to share them, laments writer STEPHEN RANDALL.
Sunday, February 27, 2011

You think too much. And you're not alone. Everybody's thinking too much. We live in an era in which it is important to have opinions. Not necessarily smart or original ones; almost any opinion will do as long as it's forcefully expressed.

When it comes to opinions, we're all living in an intellectual Costco, where it's volume, volume, volume.

It wasn't that long ago that opinions were something carefully considered and weighed, so that they'd stand the test of time and reflect well on the author. Thinkers were like gourmet chefs laboring over an elaborate meal they wanted to be perfect. But today, opinions are Big Macs -- thrown together hastily, served by the billions and not very good for you.

You probably don't want to have as many opinions as you have. But everyone around you has them. There's cable news, of course. Glenn Beck has plenty of opinions. So does Keith Olbermann (late of MSNBC and soon of Current TV).

When you sell opinions for money, the way Keith and Glenn do, it doesn't take you long to catch on that the more opinions you have, the more money you make. So, like radish farmers who grow more radishes in order to get rich, Keith and Glenn create dozens of new opinions per night.

But here's the problem: They're not very smart opinions. And they're forcing everyone around them, including you, to also have far too many opinions. We post them on Facebook; we tweet them; we express them in comments on Huffington Post or Town Hall. We've become junior-grade cable goons -- but paid much less.

We get angry too, just like Keith and Glenn. What's the point in having an opinion if it's not an angry opinion? If something upsets us -- like a member of Congress and a bunch of innocent bystanders being shot in Tucson -- we don't mourn, we fulminate. We assign blame. Or we deflect blame -- angrily.

It's hard to find the good guys when one side is self-righteously accusing the other side of lacking civility as if that were any more likely to spark violence than movies or video games, and the response is, weirdly, to defend a lack of civility as if it's a good thing.

Opinion inflation has invaded every aspect of our lives. It causes us to post our opinions about our dry cleaner on Yelp. Did you used to have an opinion about your dry cleaner, or was he just sort of there, like a shrub or a parking meter?

Did you even notice what George W. Bush wore on his feet? Probably not, but half the country wanted to weigh in on President Barack Obama's wearing of flip-flops to the beach.

If the Gap or Starbucks changed their logos a few years ago, would you have noticed? And more important, would you have run to Facebook (if it had existed) to cast your vote for the old Gap logo, as if it had always been a meaningful part of your life?

The Internet is a Petri dish of opinion inflation, breeding commentary like bacteria. Because few people do anything interesting or have anything factual to report, they toss off a short opinion. That, in turn, leads to opinion hyperinflation; just look at the comments sections on any blog.

Opinions quickly devolve from Big Macs into rat poison. Civility makes only a rare appearance, and facts are no longer facts. Evolution, climate change, gravity -- it's all one point of view against another. Everyone gets a vote, even the people who aren't particularly sane.

There was a time when thoughtful people tried to be balanced. The old-style political columnists were famous for saying nothing. They presented both sides of any given issue in an "on the one hand/on the other" fashion, pretty much allowing readers to form their own opinions, which -- lacking proper guidance -- readers rarely did. Walter Cronkite voiced so few opinions that when he uttered one -- about the Vietnam War -- it changed the course of history.

Of course, those days were boring. Today's onslaught of nonstop commentary everywhere you look is significantly more entertaining. Walter Lippmann was tedious; Arianna Huffington is not. Eric Sevareid could put you to sleep faster than Ambien; Sean Hannity is a shot of double espresso (with the new, not the old, Starbucks logo).

Now we're hooked. We don't go to a new restaurant to eat a meal; we go there to tweet about it. We can't post a link to an article without giving it some sort of grade. We criticize the music we listen to and the TV we watch. Awards shows have been reduced to weird Joan Rivers screeds about what celebrities are wearing on the red carpet. Each dress has to be deconstructed by a panel of experts and found wanting.

It's all turning us into surly teenagers who disagree with everything.

There's a certain irony, I realize, to expressing an opinion about opinions. And perhaps I should be grateful. Not only am I more entertained these days, but when I'm feeling lazy, I can switch from thinking too much to not thinking at all. I am so surrounded by opinions that I don't need any of my own. I can turn on Fox or MSNBC and adopt an entire political philosophy without knowing a thing.

Of course, the problem is that when I share that philosophy, I don't sound intelligent, I sound like a drunk arguing with an empty barstool.

On his old HBO show, Dennis Miller used to end his trademark rants with, "Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong."

He was right. I could be wrong, too. But he was also way too opinionated.


Stephen Randall is the deputy editor of Playboy. He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.