News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
European media sources are reporting a swine flu panic in Ukraine. There have been 33 deaths from flu-like symptoms, 11 of which have been confirmed as swine flu according to Polskie Radio.
Poland is considering closing the border.
The Ukraine Health Ministry is planning to impose quarantine throughout nation according to Kyiv Post.
Was Obama Almost Denied Dover AFB Photo Op?
The only family to grant permission was that of Sgt. Dale R. Griffin.
Griffin’s casket was the last to be brought off the
C-17 cargo plane that carried the bodies of 15 soldiers and 3 DEA
agents killed this week in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon, in April, lifted an 18-year ban on media covering the
return of fallen U.S. service members if family permission is provided.
Since the ban was lifted the approval rate has been about 60 percent.
Tim Donaghy who grew up in Havertown, was graduated from Cardinal O’Hara and disgraced professional basketball by betting on games and fixing point spreads has had his tell-all book about being a NBA referee hit a roadblock. 
The publication of “Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA” has been canceled by Triumph Books citing libel concerns.
Unfortunately for the NBA that hasn’t stopped excerpts from appearing on the web of which if even 10 percent are true — especially regarding the treatment of Allen Iverson — would drive you to conclude that watching the league is a waste of time.
FBI Visits Turnpike HQ — FBI agents were reported at the Harrisburg head offices of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Oct. 22 and possibly Oct. 23. Apparently the US Justice Department has had a several months long investigation of corruption at the Commission.
The a six-lane widening project in the Valley Forge area was bid at $90 million and costs have reached $140 million.
The scandal includes large quantities of defective concrete and drainage pipes left unconnected.
Thank you, Gov. X.
Pension Law Change Bails Out Politicians Not Taxpayers — The state legislature was pushed by Philadelphia, last month, to change the law to let municipalities across the state pay less annually to account for investment losses, spread the payments out to cover the losses, and to artificially increase the value of their pension funds by 30 percent from 20 percent.
”This is not reform, this is just deferring costs to future generations,” said Richard Dreyfuss, a pension specialist and fellow at the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank in Harrisburg. ”We are putting less money in plans that are already underfunded and depleted by recent events.
That’s not a good recipe.”
See the Morning Call story.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, today, finally got around to publishing a in-depth report regarding the Luzerne County youth court scandal.
“How? Why?” they ask in the headline.
The scandal concerns the sending of hundreds of youngsters to private detention centers for often minor offenses such as fighting on the school bus. The centers were paid per prisoner and it is alleged the operators kicked back money to county judges to fill the facilities.
Judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella face federal racketeering, bribery and extortion charges. A federal judge, last month, rejected a plea bargain that would have sentenced them to 87 months saying it was too lenient.
In asking the how and the why, the Inquirer never felt it necessary to allot one of the article’s 2,000 or so words to identify the party of the men, which is the one that controls Luzerne County.
It starts with a D.
Their policy really does seem to be that party affiliation is redundant when dealing with Democrats. They certainly don’t feel it necessary to note the party when dealing with Republican scandals.
And, so when is Curt Weldon going to jail?
Bill Clinton For Township Council — Actually, though too a Democrat this one doesn’t have any scandals associated with him.
He’s the incumbent being challenged by Tracy Barusevicius to represent the First District of Upper Providence Township, Delaware County, Pa. The photo was taken on Manchester Avenue just south of the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology.
It looks like the claim that Philadelphia ACORN office booted James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles while they posed as pimp and prostitute was incorrectly reported by the old media.
The tape can be found here.
Brandywine Valley Great Scenic Route — They are the drives of a lifetime says National Geographic Traveler; the 50 greatest scenic routes in the world. They include the Almalfi Coast in Italy and rugged lonely Cornwall, England.
And of course Route 1 in Delaware County or part of it anyway.
National Geographic Traveler calls it the Brandywine Valley Drive. It starts at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, meanders down Route 52 to The Inn At Montchanin Village in Delaware, then down routes 100 and 141 to the Hagely Museum and Nemours Mansion, then back to Route 52 to Winterthur and then back to Pennsylvania to Route 1 and Brandywine River Museum, which is in Delaware County, then back to the Diamond State down Route 141 to the Mount Cuba Center and then to Wilmington, believe it or not. It’s the tax free shopping. Seriously.
So next time you are drumming your fingers at the light at 202 just realize you are about 10 minutes away from one of the 50 greatest scenic routes in the world.
The Rev. Al Sharpton has threaten to sue commentator Rush Limbaugh for this Oct. 16 piece in the Wall Street Journal in which Rush defended himself regarding the false, racially hateful statements attributed to him that received wide dissemination.
Sharpton takes issue with Rush’s statement that he “played a leading role in the 1991 Crown Heights riot (he called neighborhood Jews “diamond merchants”) and 1995 Freddie’s Fashion Mart riot.”
Good luck with that Al, LOL.
Since you appear to be a fan of the Wikimedia Foundation, which appears to be the source of the false quotes used to smear Rush, here’s what Wikipedia says about you, Crown Heights and Freddie’s Fashion Mart.
But unlike the Limbaugh quotes, I don’t think it would hard connecting the things attributed to you to the actual events.