Titanic Pittsburgh

I realize that Pittsburgh as the Titanic is perhaps a cheap and overblown analogy in a way that the movie never was - cheap that is because the movie was certainly overblown. The previous Captain steered us into an iceberg and then jumped overboard. Now we have a choice to make about who will steer the ship. We have three basic choices.

One pilot says that the giant gash in the hull is a serious problem that we can't ignore, but if we throw a few deck chairs overboard, we'll be able to ride safely back to port.

Another pilot had been screaming that we were about to hit an iceberg, but everybody ignored him. Now that we have hit the iceberg, he wants the crew to start trying to fix it to buy us time while we radio for help. Unfortunately, there is no one on the crew who want to fix the ship because it is "not their job" and they don't want to be put in a different job. The chance of outside help coming in time is also slim, but maybe the only chance to save passengers and possibly the ship. But nobody thinks he is qualified because he couldn't get anyone to listen when he said we were going hit the iceberg.

The oldest pilot says that if he had been steering the ship we wouldn't have hit the iceberg (even though the first pilot has pointed out that the old guy had the iceberg listed as a "safe harbor" on his charts). Furthermore, he won't even steer the ship, but he will find the best person to do the job. If you're wondering why he seems to have forgotten about the hole in the hull and why no one has called him on it, well, join the club.

Can you guess who the pilots are:

1 - the deck chair pilot is:
2 - the chicken little pilot is:
3 - the old guy is:

Greetings from a Blue State

If science is now to be challenged in Kansas, shouldn't the following then be challenged in public schools, per their governmental line of thinking? ....

Top 10 Facts Now Open to Debate in Kansas Public Schools (with apologies to Letterman)

10 - The prime number system

9  - Einstein's theory of relativity

8  - The earth is round

7  - 2 plus 2 = 4

6  - There was an ice age, and dinosaurs roamed the earth

5  - Water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen

4  - The Republicans have an undisputable mandate

3  - Jesus is the true savior of all people on earth, whether they know it or not

2  - The Republican, religious right, as Jesus directed, is kind and understanding to their fellow neighbor, be they black, white, gay, Jewish, Muslim, CEO, employee, Democrat or even moderate Republican

AND, IF ALL SCIENTIFIC FACT IN KANSAS IS NOW OPEN TO DEBATE, SHOULDN'T THE NUMBER ONE DEBATE IN THE CLASSROOM (TO BE DEBATED AS EQUALLY AS DARWINISM) BE.... 

 

Number 1  - ... God created man

 

(Please pardon any offenses to Christians, as I am, indeed one, also.. albeit one who learned to help others, rather than fear them. I also realize jokes in  society must now be delineated as such beforehand, as in THIS .IS..A..JOKE... every one a Maserati !  ... zoom)

 

Greetings from a Blue State are provided by an anonymous friend - I can take no credit for them, but since I do post them, I share the opinions expressed by my fellow Blue.

GOP obscenity

The GOP is backing away from its obscenity and censorship campaign. They realized that Dick Cheney would not be able to say a fucking word.

Driven Away

Mike Diven just doesn't get it. When the press and Clean Campaign people called him on his misleading "family" photo showing a picture of him and his nephews, Diven responded with a classic politician's pretzel - "My grandparents passed away also so I can't pose with senior citizens?" This is the kind of retort that demonstrates exactly the kind of political leadership that we can't get enough of in SWPA. It would be horrible if a candidate actually decided to raise the bar, rather than limbo under it. And believe me, the sight of Diven (or Fontana) doing the limbo is not a sight we want to see. I know he's switched parties, but Mr. Diven could use a week in Bill Clinton's "The Many Definitions of 'Is' Workshop."

Law & Disorder

In a local political party headed by ex-con Ben Woods, can you really expect anything less.

Allegheny County Democratic Committee Vice Chair, Ben Woods - (convicted of 17 counts of conspiracy, extortion and tax evasion in 1989, served his time and is now back in politics).

Pittsburgh Mayor, Tom Murphy - grand jury investigation over the fire union contract deal that helped win his last election.

Pittsburgh Firefighters Union Chief, Joe King - subpoenaed in the Murhpy investigation, not clear if he will be investigated.

Allegheny County Coroner, Cyril Wecht - grand jury investigation if he used his office for personal business and financial gain.

Allegheny County Sherriff, Pete DeFazio - federal investigation of fundraising tactics

Allegheny County Sherriff, Lt. Commander Richard Stewart - indicted for perjury in the DeFazio investigation.

Allegheny County Sherriff, Captain Frank Schiralli - indicted for perjury in the DeFazio investigation.

Makes you proud.