Philadelphia Inquirer Dirty Linen Exposed

Philadelphia Inquirer Dirty Linen Exposed
Once upon a time half the residents of the Philadelphia area read the Sunday Inquirer albeit today once suspects that half may not even know the publication exists.

For those that remember its relevance,  former Inky reporter Ralph Cipriano is doing yeoman’s work at BigTrail.net covering the saga among the battling Democrats who own the publication regarding the firing of editor Bill Marimow.

It’s fascinating writing and shows that straight reporting can be far more interesting than the entertainment garbage that now passes for news in the dying dinosaurs. Cipriano makes the implicit case that the dinosaur may not be dying — at least as certainly — if they actually did its job rather than be a mere mouthpiece for the union-backed establishment that runs — and corrupts — the City of Philadelphia, and by extension the state.

Did you know that the Carpenters’ Union dumped $45 million of its pension fund into the Inky when it was sold  to a group led by Brian Tierney in 2006? You wouldn’t if you depended on the Inquirer for news. It lost most of it. On the other hand, it kept a crusade from being launched to reform things at the city’s miserable failure of a convention center.

“They don’t hand out prizes for
pissing people off,” Cipriano notes. “And that’s what the job of journalism often is. To
create a newsroom that Ed Rendell wouldn’t feel comfortable in.

For a scorecard as to who is on what side in the Marimow fight — owners Lewis Katz and H.F. Lenfest want to keep him and owner New Jersey Democrat boss George Norcross with Publisher Bob Hall want him gone — visit here. Tidbits include that the rage aimed at Marimow is based on a claim that he leaked a plan to cut the paper’s editorial pages by 50 percent and the paper has lost 24 percent of our readers in the last year. Free clue, maybe normalizing homosexuality is not as popular as you guys seem to think it is.

Hat tip Bob Guzzardi

 Philadelphia Inquirer Dirty Linen Exposed

Pa Debt Rises $1.75 Billion

Pa Debt Rises $1.75 BillionWith the kudos bestowed, appropriately, upon the state legislature for cutting the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program debt ceiling from $4.05 billion to $3.45 billion,  taxpayer activist Bob Guzzardi note that the state increased the debt burden on Pennsylvania taxpayers  by $1,753,862,000 when SB 1002 became Act 69 on July 9.

Guzzardi points out that the bill passed the State Senate unanimously and the House 189 to 14.

None of the nays were a Democrat.

“They can’t help themselves and what does this tell you about who benefited?” Guzzardi says. “It tells me the Philadelphia Building Trades Unions benefited.”

Guzzardi praised Eli Evankovich (R-54) and  Ryan Mackenzie (R-134) for being among the nays. He expressed disappointment that John McGinnis (R-79) and Daryl Mtecalfe (R-12) were not.

“If the full authorization of $1,275,000,000 were sold at an interest rate of 3.25 percent, total estimated debt service would be $1,753,862,000 or $87,693,000 each year for 20 years,” Guzzardi says.

Pa Debt Rises $1.75 Billion

Italian Stuffed Meatloaf Via Chef Bill Sr

Tonight’s meal by Chef Bill Sr. was Italian meatloaf stuffed with hard-boiled egg and boiled ham, smothered with a special tomato sauce, with pasta on the side.

It was served with a simple garden salad by Mrs. Chef Bill with a homemade Merlot. The dessert, apple crisp with fresh apples, was also by Mrs. Chef Bill.

The meatloaf fresh from the oven.

The stuffing in the meatloaf

 

Visit BillLawrenceDittos.com for Italian Stuffed Meatloaf Via Chef Bill Sr

 

Visit BillLawrenceOnline.com for Italian Stuffed Meatloaf Via Chef Bill Sr

 

Visit BillLawrenceTrivia.com for Omnibits

Bills Made Law Oct. 25

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has these bills into law reports the Pennsylvania House Republican blog.

House Bill 493 – Amends Capital Facilities Debt Enabling Act, changing the definition of a capital project and reducing the size of the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP). The bill also establishes process by which RACP projects are approved by the Governor’s Budget Office. The bill reduces the RACP debt ceiling from  $4.05 billion to $3.45 billion.

House Bill 1481– Amends the Insurance Company Law, bringing Pennsylvania’s insurance laws fully into compliance with the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act and requiring insurers to maintain a risk management framework and complete an Own Risk Solvency Assessment to prospectively asses the risks associated with an insurer’s business plan.

House Bill 1483 – Amends the Portable Electronics Insurance Act, permitting an insurer to terminate a customer’s enrollment under a portable electronics insurance policy upon 30 days’ notice for nonpayment of a premium and requiring an insurer to provide at least 60 days’ notice to vendor policyholders and insured customers when terminating or altering a portable electronics insurance policy.

Senate Bill 379 – Enacting the Benevolent Gesture Medical Professional Liability Act, prohibiting benevolent gestures made by professionals from being admitted as evidence of liability in a subsequent medical malpractice proceeding.

Joanne Yurchak Common Core Questions

The following is a letter written by West Chester educational activist Joanne Yurchak to David Sumner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission. Very good questions, Joanne. Common Core Questions

Dear Mr. Sumner:

After months of extensive research into the Common Core “State” Standards initiative (CCSS — recently renamed “PA Core Standards”), I am becoming increasingly concerned with regard to its unquestionable deleterious consequences on our students and our educational system, and also its fiscal impact on Pennsylvania’s fragile economy.   In listing the various reasons why I oppose the CCSS, I speak from the perspective of a retired educator who has taught at the university level for decades and also as the grandmother of four public school students.

Although my personal primary concern of this transformational, untested initiative is the loss of local control, I shall first address the fiscal aspect since it is crucial that legislators and regulatory agencies understand the enormous fiscal impact that Common Core will impose on Pennsylvanians.  The initial costs and ongoing execution of the CCSS will be prohibitive, resulting in massive unfunded mandates at a time when our Commonwealth is facing severe budgetary problems, including an exponentially expanding pension crisis.  Initial and continuing costs for implementation will involve hiring countless additional staff, extensive training of both new hires and current teachers, purchasing new instructional materials and technology equipment, developing and aligning curriculum to the CCSS, providing remediation and project-based assessments, and administering and grading the innumerable mandated assessments, some of which will include essay and open-ended response items.  Many of these costs will undoubtedly be the responsibility of local districts.

A major fiscal concern involves the Keystone exams which, under the CCSS Chapter 4 regulations (General Provisions for Academic Standards and Assessments), will be required for graduation (Algebra I, Literature, and Biology, with more to be added in later years).  Students who don’t pass these exams can repeat them until they do.  Those who continue to fail them must be remediated and/or given project-based assessments, which will undoubtedly prove to be exceptionally costly, particularly in the poorer districts.

It is astounding and inexcusable that no fiscal impact study was undertaken before PA signed on to the CCSS in July of 2010, but it is even more reprehensible and unfathomable that no complete fiscal analysis has been forthcoming to date, even though legislators have repeatedly requested this information from the PA DOE.

The Pioneer Institute and the American Principles Project estimate that the cost of implementing the CCSS in PA over the next seven years will be $645 MILLION.  Although this high figure has been disputed, the PA DOE themselves, in their initial requests for Race to the Top funding from the Federal Government (a document that can be obtained on-line), stated that, along with the federal dollars being requested, it would require an “ongoing phase-in of $2.6 BILLION to districts in new state monies,” to implement Common Core.  The PA DOE stated specifically to the Feds that these amounts “are both necessary and sufficient to meet and sustain the ambitious goals summarized in our application.”  Legislators and regulatory agencies should be aware of these enormous cost estimates that were presented to the federal government by the PA DOE in 2010, but are they?

Misrepresentations and Misleading Statements re: the CCSS by the PA DOE

In my opinion, the adjectives used by the PA DOE to describe the CCSS, namely, “VOLUNTARY” and “STATE-LED,” are deliberately misleading.  Deception of this sort tends to lessen the credibility of any other statements that the obviously biased PA DOE makes with regard to this initiative.

“State-Led”????  The National Governor’s Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO, which represents state education commissioners), in partnership with Achieve, initially led the creation and execution of the CCSS.  In spite of their official sounding names, the NGA and the CCSSO are essentially trade organizations who received huge grants from special interest groups and corporations, many of which will profit from the implementation of the CCSS.  Achieve is a nationwide education reform organization that, according to its own web site, currently “provides technical assistance to states in their standards, assessments, curriculum and accountability systems.”  Its web site also notes that Achieve has provided “Common Core ‘boot camps’ to a number of states in the Network to support implementation efforts.”

“Voluntary”???? At a time when the country and individual states were undergoing a calamitous fiscal crisis (2010), the federal government offered strong incentives (bribes) for states to adopt the CCSS.  Stimulus funds and the possibility of “opting out” of the extremely unpopular “No Child Left Behind” (NCL were offered to states as an enticement to adopt the Common Core standards.  A state could not get “Race to the Top” stimulus money unless they signed on to the standards.  Indeed, a major fiscal concern of the states is that the CCSS will lead to Title I monies being withheld from low income schools if the federal government isn’t satisfied with a state’s compliance to the CCSS standards.

Diane Ravitch, a former assistant U. S. Secretary of Education under both Bill Clinton and GHW Bush (and a former CCSS supporter), disputes the contention that the CCSS are “state-led,” saying: “President Obama and Secretary Duncan often say that the Common Core standards were developed by the states and voluntarily adopted by them.  This is not true.  They were developed by an organization called Achieve and the National Governors Association, both of which were generously funded by the Gates Foundation. There was minimal public engagement in the development of the Common Core. Their creation was neither grassroots nor did it emanate from the states.”

The PA legislature was bypassed completely in the decision to implement CCSS in PA.

The PA State Board of Education (an unelected committee) “adopted” federally-controlled CCSS in math and English (ELA) on 7/1/2010 with an effective date of putting them into place of 7/1/2013.  Standards for other subjects (science, history, etc.) were to be added later.

Although writings by the PA DOE lead one to believe that this initiative was widely publicized to the public and to legislators, and particularly to those on the Education Committees, the opposite seems to be true.  Although the PA legislature has the “power of the purse,” they were not provided with any fiscal analysis of this initiative (as is noted above).  After attending several official meetings and hearings on Common Core over the last several months and speaking to various legislators, I have no doubt that most legislators, including many on the Education Committees, were virtually clueless until just recently as to the particulars of this initiative and its potential deleterious budgetary and educational impacts on Pennsylvanians.  Just as egregious is that few parents, school board members, and taxpayers understood or were aware of the transformative educational implementation that was to begin in our schools in July of 2013.

Finally, just a few short months before full implementation was set to occur, hearings were held in Harrisburg which enabled proponents and opponents to present their cases to the legislature.  It is inexcusable that public hearings such as this were not held before PA signed on to the CCSS and began the expensive process of implementing them!

One has to wonder why this transformational initiative was kept under the radar for so long.  Emmett McGroarty, a CCSS opponent, provides the most reasonable explanation: “The NGA (Natl. Governor’s Assn.) wanted to implement its plan quickly and avoid the tedium of the democratic process.  If given the chance, the people — through their elected representatives — might muck around with, or reject, NGA’s eventual product.”  The fact that an unelected committee such as the PA DOE made such a momentous decision with little if any input from our State Legislature and our citizens is a subversion of the democratic process.

Federal Control Means…
Lessening or Loss of Influence of Parents and Local School Boards on the Educational Process

Participating CCSS states must align 85% of their standards with the National CCSS with only 15% flexibility.  This imposition of federal control will lessen or eliminate the influence of parents, teachers and local school boards in providing a curriculum tailored to their individual students’ needs.

Although the PA DOE insists that the CCSS is state-led and state-controlled — even to the point of their using a marketing technique of changing the name from “Common Core State Standards” to “PA Core Standards,” the fact remains that PA received money from the federal government in RTTT funds and that money has stipulations attached.  Although theoretically it is standards that PA has to align with national standards, these standards are tied to curriculum and assessments.  The federal government will be able to effectively control the Common Core curriculum by virtue of the fact that the results of the assessments that are based on the relatively inflexible CCSS standards are tied to funding.

Maggie Gallagher, a Fellow at the American Principles Project, states:  “Common Core advocates continue to insist that Common Core does not usurp local control of curriculum, but in practice high-stakes tests keyed to the Common Core standards ensure that curriculum will follow…Once a state adopts Common Core, its curriculum goals and assessments are effectively nationalized.  And the national standards are effectively privatized, because they are written, owned, and copyrighted by two private trade organizations (NGA and CCSSO).”

Joseph A. Califano, Jr., former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, wrote, “In its most extreme form, national control of curriculum is a form of national control of ideas.  Unfortunately, in three short years, the present administration has placed the nation on the road to a national curriculum.”

The CCSS was neither field-tested nor validated before states (including PA) signed onto it.

There is no empirical evidence that implementation of the CCSS will improve our educational system or learning outcomes.  Diane Ravitch, a proponent-turned-opponent, in an article entitled: “Why I Cannot Support the Common Core Standards,” stated: “The Common Core standards have been adopted in 46 states and the District of Columbia without any field test.  They are being imposed on the children of this nation despite the fact that no one has any idea how they will affect students, teachers, or schools. We are a nation of guinea pigs, almost all trying an unknown new program at the same time.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wouldn’t consider allowing the distribution of a drug to the general populace without extensive field-testing. Why should our students be guinea pigs in a pricey educational experiment to determine whether the latest educational design works?

There is far too much focus and time spent on assessments.

A West Chester school board member told me that 17 days will be spent on assessments this year; other local school districts have reported even more testing days.  The excessive focus on assessments and their influence on evaluations will put tremendous pressure on teachers to use their 15% “flexibility” to teach to the test — an educationally unsound practice — instead of providing unique and interesting supplemental modules that establish a love of learning in their students.  Many have opined that the Common Core initiative will resemble the vastly unpopular “No Child Left Behind” on steroids!

There are many other concerns that I have about the CCSS that are equally as important as those noted above.  Two of these are the data mining of students and potential for indoctrination in subjective areas such as social studies and science when the federal government is in control.  I’m sure that other individuals will provide detail for these consequential issues.

It is unfortunate and unconscionable that too many proponents of Common Core support this initiative because of the financial benefits that they will receive from its implementation.  In spite of pressures from these sources, I hope that our legislature and regulatory agencies will come to their senses and see that it was a huge mistake to sign on to the CCSS and effectively “sell our souls” to the Feds.

Although the PA DOE has been lobbying tirelessly to convince everyone that it is Pennsylvania and not the federal government that is in control, the fact that PA has taken money from the Feds with stipulations attached invalidates their contentions in this regard.  Unless we return the money from the RTTT grant to the Feds, refuse any more of their money, and obtain a written release, the state of PA will not be in control!  It is disappointing that Governor Corbett has recently applied for additional grant money for early childhood education.  This further entangles us in the web of national control.

I strongly urge everyone in the legislature and regulatory agencies to stop the implementation of this disastrous initiative before we are so entwined that we cannot disentangle ourselves from it.  Our children must not be used as guinea pigs in an educational experiment!

Joanne Yurchak Common Core Questions

GOP Destroying Tax Vote Looms

SB 1, aka “The Transportation Bill” aka “The Income Destroyer Bill” aka “The Republican Suicide Bill” may be voted on by the Pennsylvania State House this week, reports Teri Adams of the Independence Hall Tea Party Association.

The bill calls for a 30 cent per gallon tax hike on gasoline, among other things. It was approved by the Senate in June but tabled when those crazy Tea Party types in the House put up a fuss. Well, it looks like it’s now time for round two and the establishment “Hey, It’s Not My Money” Republicans seem to think they can make enough of a deal with the “IT’S MY MONEY, GIMME, GIMME, GIMME” Democrats to overcome the Tea Partyers.

Gov. Tom “I Need No Stinkin’ Second Term” Corbet has promised to sign it.

“Just so you know, Governor Tom Corbett and a majority of the PA Senate  refuse to call a gas tax increase of roughly $.30 a gallon a ‘tax.’  Just substitute the euphemism ‘revenue’ for the word ‘tax’ and allow them to take you to the cleaners,” said Ms. Adams.

She notes that the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry also supports the bill as parts of the state’s infrastructure is indesperate need of repair.

“But State Representative Stephen Barrar (R-160) informs us that the $2.5 billion Transportation Bill is laden with pork for bike trails and other parks and recreation spending,” said said. “Representative Barrar suggests that while bridge repair is necessary, the additional spending is not.”

Also, the citizen cannot afford a 30 cent per gallon gas tax hike.

Ms. Adams and her association suggest Governor Corbett and the PA Assembly cut spending elsewhere in the budget or pass the Liquor Privatization Bill and use the fees generated from the sale of liquor licenses to cover the cost of repairing the bridges.

“Why is it that our Governor and State Senators always look to our wallets as the solution to their funding problems.  Do they not understand that our wallets are empty?” She said. “Do our elected officials not know how to prioritize budgetary matters?”

She asks that citizens call House Majority Leader Mike Turzai at 717-772-9943 and tell him to table SB1–the Gas Tax Bill!

“Then call your State Representative and tell him/her to VOTE NO on SB1 if and when it comes up for a vote,” she said.

To find your legislator and/or legislator contact information, visit here.

Ms. Adams thanked  Dom Giordano and Rep. Barrar for bringing this critical issue to light.

GOP Destroying Tax Vote

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Jerky Treats Sicken Pittsburgh Dogs

JJerky Treats Sicken Pittsburgh Dogserky Treats Sicken Pittsburgh Dogs –Remember, your best little buddy is better off eating your Christmas dinner than jerky snacks made in the PRC.

The Food and Drug Administration is asking pet owners and veterinarians to call them if their pet has become sick after eating jerky pet treats, reports CBS Pittsburgh.

At least 3,600 dogs have been sickened since 2007 and 580 of those pets died.

Waggin’ Train Chicken Jerky Tenders, a product made in China and distributed by Nestle Purina is specifically mentioned.

The FDA is taking complaints at 877-689-8073

 

Jerky Treats Sicken Pittsburgh Dogs, Some killed

New Debt Helps Dem Rich

It turns out that increasing the debt ceiling to $17 trillion helps the filthy rich — who are mostly Democrats — just as we figured.

Victor Davis Hanson, writing on PJmedia.com, reveals that with today’s interest of 2.2 percent we are paying about the same to service the debt as we did in 1997 when it was $5.4 billion.

Protecting 911 Callers

Protecting 911 Callers — The House approved a measure to protect the privacy of individuals who dial 911, reports state Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

HB 1041 gives an exemption from the state’s Right-to-Know law for records containing identifying information to an individual calling a 911 center unless a court rules it would be in the public’s interest to disclose the information. The bill is designed to protect the identity of a caller to prevent cases of retribution against informants and to ensure the public has a sense of safety and privacy when reporting a crime or other emergency.

House Bill 1041 now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Protecting 911 Callers

Corbett Has Debt Reduction Bill

Pennsylvania Gov.  Tom Corbett has been given a bill reducing the RACP debt ceiling and the state parks remain open. He’s a better man than Obama it seems.

Continuing its commitment to fiscal responsibility, the House sent to the governor a measure to curtail the level of public debt for projects funded by the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), says State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

RACP provides grants to local communities for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic and historical improvement projects. The funding may be used for the design and construction of facilities that are economic development projects which generate substantial increases in employment, tax revenues or other measures of economic activity.

House Bill 493 will immediately reduce the RACP debt ceiling from the current $4.05 billion to $3.45 billion. The bill does not eliminate the economic development grant program, but redefines it to make it more financially viable.

Decreasing the Commonwealth’s debt load and reforming RACP is an important step in bringing integrity and transparency to the way Pennsylvania does business.