Category: Bob Small

Incumbent Pittsburgh Mayor Loses Primary

Incumbent Pittsburgh Mayor Loses Primary

By Bob Small

Ed Gainey, Pittsburgh’s incumbent mayor and the city’s first Afro-American mayor, lost in the May 20 Democrat Primary to Corey O’Conner.

O’Conner is expected to win in November. The last Republican to run the city was John S. Herron and his term ended in 1934.

O’Connor won with 55 percent of the vote and Gainey’s loss is considered a blow to progressives

O’Connor had a big advantage in mail-in ballots.

O’Conner, the son of a former mayor,  poured sizable contributions, particularly from developers, into advertisements critical of Gainey’s performance. As for his vision “To me, it starts fresh. Tomorrow starts a whole new election in the fall, and we’re going to need everybody to take that message of growth and opportunity to our fall election”

Tony Moreno, a former police detective, is the Republican candidate.

Ed Gainey came into office on “a years-long progressive winning streak of elections in Western Pennsylvania.

Now it looks line “control of the city” returns to the “old establishment wing”.

O’Conner attacked Gainey on “frequent turnover” at the police department, which lost hundreds of officers.

Meanwhile, Gainey’s campaign boasted that he “hired the city’s first unarmed community service aides” to respond to non-violent situations.”

It should also be mentioned that “ O’Connor raised three times as much cash as Gainey ahead of the election, the Post-Gazette reported. “

“We campaigned on opportunity and growth for everybody in Pittsburgh,” O’Connor said. “And I even said it last night: we have to build a city where we’re believing in ourselves again,”

Pittsburgh has a population of 303,255 (2023) but the Pittsburgh region has a population of 2.45 million. Does that mean most people want to live outside the city?

Lastly, Pittsburgh has had championship teams in Major League baseball, the NFL, and the NHL.

However, Pittsburgh Pipers Team History their only professional basketball championship was in the old ABA.

Incumbent Pittsburgh Mayor Loses Primary

Dems thankful for a Democrat Incumbent loss

Dems Thankful For An Incumbent Loss

By Bob Small

State Rep Kevin Boyle (D-172nd) was upset by Sean Dougherty in the May 20 primary and many Democrats were, no doubt, thankful, to finally have Kevin Boyle removed from office without their participation. There was, for instance, a pending warrant for a violation of abuse order. District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office “withdrew the warrant a day before the election because the warrant was not active”.

House Democrat leaders were in the process of trying to “create a new, bipartisan subcommittee to confidentially investigate cases of “incapacity” of an elected official.

Of course there’s the three-minute video of Boyle refusing to leave the Gaul and Malt House in Rockledge, Pa.

“I can f—— end this bar by the way,” Boyle said, later adding “this bar is done! Do you know who the f— I am? This bar is done tomorrow! “

Democrats control the House of Representatives by a 102-101 majority  “meaning his votes in abstentia allow the party to pass legislation for the time being.”

Meanwhile, there’s a bit of fog about the arrest warrant. Sources said that Boyle texted his estranged wife. But Krasner said officials learned that there is no active protection from abuse order Boyle could’ve violated. Krasner also added “there was a gap in information”.

English translation pending.

Sean Dougherty is the son of Kevin Dougherty, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. His uncle, on the other hand, is the infamous Johnny Doc, which was not mentioned on his campaign website.

He is a graduate of Chestnut Hill College, “ summa cum laude with a BA in Political Science and a minor degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. He obtained his law degree from Temple University in 2019. “ He currently works for the Duffy Firm. He lives in Fox Chase with his wife, Regina.

Aizaz Gill will be his GOP Opponent in November.

What’s The Problem With Fetterman?

What’s The Problem With Fetterman?

By Bob Small

What’s the problem with John Fetterman? Or is there one?

The problem with Fetterman is the theme of media coverage.

But is the coverage part of the problem?

In a letter to Dr. David Williamson — Fetterman’s neuropsychiatrist at Walter Reed — Adam Gentleson, the former chief of staff to Senator Fetterman said “We do not know if he is taking his meds and his behavior frequently suggests he is not”.

Leaving aside whether this is privileged information, isn’t it a tad strange that this is coming out now, the same time as what I’ll call “the Biden papers” are seeing the light of day.

It should be mentioned that “In the past year — from April 2024 to this March — Fetterman missed 77 of 381 votes, according to GovTrack. This translates to the highest 10 percent “among all senators in terms of total votes missed during each three-month stretch of the calendar in that time.”

This Associated Press article mentions an event where  Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me,” “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do” and slamming his hands on a desk” according to one person who was briefed on what occurred.”

This seems to be “hearsay” inadmissible in a court of law but admissible in the court of public opinion.

Fetterman, a Harvard graduate, is aware of his awkward persona Pa. Sen. John Fetterman: What to know about mental health

He once joked “I don’t even look like a typical person,” He came to Braddock, Pa., by the way,” as an AmeriCorps alumni to set up a GED program. “

He has frequently violated the Senate dress code which led to the passage of “the SHORTS, or Show Our Respect to the Senate, Act “

Part of Fetterman’s response saying he was open about his “conditions” and “it’s like so someone that was trying to accumulate my medical records and leak those things that’s part of this weird grudge for this hit piece.”

See also:

Statewide progressive group reportedly calls on Sen. John …

Pennsylvania Indivisible

How can a Senator be removed from office during a term …

What's The Problem With Fetterman?
So what’s the problem?

Not An Easy Time To Be Jewish-American

Not An Easy Time To Be Jewish-American

By Bob Small

It’s not an easy time to be Jewish-American

The theme of members of their religion being blamed for the actions of “their” nation-state continues.

Let’s simplify. Not one of us Jewish-Americans has a direct line to Benjamin Netanyahu nor do any Russian-Americans speak to Vladimir Putin.

The latest local expression of this was Barstool Philadelphia posting a sign reading “F##k the Jews”.

The two employees were fired and Dave Portnoy, the Jewish owner of Barstool, then pledged to send the two customers who ordered the sign to a tour of Auschwitz

“Rather than ruin a couple 20-year-olds lives maybe this can be used as a teaching moment,” said Portnoy.

The customers were later identified as students at Temple University.

Temple University suspended them.

We should add that we don’t believe antisemitism comes from Temple anymore than it comes from from, say, Swarthmore. Nor any less.

The Daily Mail notes that Portnoy credits New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft with the tour of Auschwitz idea. Kraft, by the way, has his own foundation.

In a further complication, Portnoy accused ABC’s Katie Katro of doing a “bait and switch” interview,

There have been other developments since then, which local news is carrying breathlessly.

See also Temple University student suspended after an antisemitic …

Not An Easy Time To Be Jewish-American

Who is the Superior Candidate For Superior Court?

Who is the Superior Candidate For Superior Court?

By Bob Small

The Pennsylvania Superior Court began in 1895 Superior Court of Pennsylvania and is one of our two statewide intermediate courts.

The 15-member court handles criminal cases along with civil cases not involving government. A seat has been vacant since Judge Daniel McCaffrey was elected to Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2023.

Currently, the Superior Court has eight Democrats and six Republicans.

Competing in the May 20 Republican primary for the nomination to fill the seat are Marie Battista and Anne Marie Wheatcroft.

Marie Battista served as assistant general counsel for the state Department. departments of health and state under governors Corbett and Wolf. She was also a prosecutor in Franklin and Venango Counties along with being a contract specialist for the Department of Defense.

“For those of you who know me well, you probably know that I never intended to be a lawyer. I wanted to a Radio City Rockettet, ” she has said.

She is a graduate of Keystone High School and Clarion University and obtained her law degree from Ohio Northern University. She also has a Doctorate in Education Leadership from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree from Westminster College. 

Chester County’s Ann Marie Wheatcraft has served on the Chester County’s Court of Common Pleas since 2012. She introduced “comfort dogs” in Chester County Courtrooms. Judge Wheatcraft had been an assistant district attorney in Chester County.

She has earned her undergraduate degree from Penn State University and her J.D. from the University of New Hampshire Law School. She has volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America and the Avon Grove Wildcats Football League

Judge Wheatcraft is endorsed by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. Marie Battista is endorsed by those skeptical of the state GOP.

Who is the Superior Candidate For Superior Court?

The SJP Encampment returns to Swarthmore

The SJP Encampment returns to Swarthmore

By Bob Small

The story of the National SJP encampment at Swarthmore College continues to evolve.

We know that there were nine arrests of SJPers, and only two of them were connected with Swarthmore. Having heard the story from KYW, I walked up from the train station and found the “tent city” in front of Trotter Hall. It turns out that if I had tried to enter by the Visitor’s Parking Lot, I might have been turned away as an “outside agitator”. The two persons from SJP who spoke to me handed out flyers, one from Writers Against The War On Gaza and another listing their demands, primarily against Swarthmore College’s collaboration with Cisco.

See SJP(@sarahjessicaparker) • Instagram photos and … for other demands.

By inviting outsiders to join the protest, the SJP, who have their right to protest, stirred up, as Don Imus used to say “a big bowl of stupid”. This gave the College Administration the right to do what they did. It should also be noted that the College intermittently blocked outside access to the Phoenix College Newspaper or that the Swarthmore Public Library had a strange malfunction.

Note; There are 18 pages to the most recent article from the Phoenix.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that this action actually began on April 30. A SJP spokesperson, Ash, said “We want divestment from Cisco because this is a tech company that is used to surveil Palestinians,” .

This is the Instagram Swarthmore SJP with it’s most recent updates.

For a You-Tube presentation, see Pro-Palestinian protests continue at on-campus encampments …

There was also a camp at Penn, among others country-wide. “We’re here to learn, not to fund bombs,” said Hilah Kohen a Falk Fellow in Jewish Studies.

See also

Pro-Palestine Swarthmore students establish a so-called “ …,

Swarthmore Students Begin Another Pro-Palestinian Encampment

Val Smith, president of Swarthmore College says that SJP inviting people from “outside the Campus Community to join them” led her to take action.

The actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu are being used as justification for both legitimate protest actions and increasing anti-semitism. That’s the current situation.

The SJP Encampment returns to Swarthmore

Was Musk Forced Out By The Mob?

Was Musk Forced Out By The Mob?
By Bob Small

The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk told investors, April 22, that his time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly.

From the outside, this could appear as a win for various US based anti-Musk activists.

However, one of the main opponents is a UK-based group Everyone Hates Elon (@everyonehateselon_) which came into existence, in large part, due to Elon tweeting “Free Tommy Robinson.” This controversial anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson is imprisoned due to his conviction on a libel case. For further information, see Meet Everyone Hates Elon, the Campaigners Attempting to …

Meanwhile, back in the US, there’s been a plethora of protests with over 60 protests in 50 states. These are more anti-Trump than anti-Musk, though it’s generally anti-government.

Forbes. Com listed 20! anti-Tesla protests with violent components in them.

This includes this event, on Match 7, my birthday in which “aman unintentionally set his clothes on fire while also setting fire to three Tesla charging stations with Molotov cocktails, in a North Charleston, South Carolina parking lot.”

Just one more example of the Molotov Cocktail Brigade a UMass Boston student was “charged with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device” in an attack on a Tesla.

Is there lawful possession of an unregistered destructive device? Just asking.

As far as reaction Editorial: Why aren’t Dems condemning anti-Tesla violence?

House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi gave Fox News Digital the cold shoulder when asked to respond to the string of violent attacks against Tesla.

Yet J. D. Vance, among others, quickly condemned the arson attack Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat.

The 50501 group continues, even locally. Counter-protestors may also want to attend.

Some UK and US groups opposing Musk/DOGE;

Everyday Racism

Hands Off 2025

Just Stop Oil

Rainbow Migration: Home

Refuse Fascism: In The Name Of Humanity We Refuse To …

#TeslaTakedown – Action Network

People – VOLCANO Group

On the other side, for far too many administrations, the government just grew and grew, despite the Party in charge. Now, a reckoning has arrived.

Prior to Elon, The Doge was the only Doge we knew.

Was Musk Forced Out By The Mob? By Bob Small The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk told investors, April 22, that his time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly.

The Hunting of Hunter Biden

The Hunting of Hunter Biden

By Bob Small

Yet another organization discovered through the links listed in the 2024 Bill of Rights Banquet Program. Thank you again, Carris and Eric. This is how I learned about Marco Polo 501 C (3); Garrett Ziegler and Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden is asking a federal judge to voluntarily dismiss his 2023 lawsuit against Garrett Ziegler and Marco Polo, an organization run by Ziegler that published Report On The Biden Laptop.

Because “no one is buying his artwork or memoir . . . (Biden) does not have the resources to continue to litigate this matter,” his team says.

For someone who claims to be short on money, Hunter gets around.

Even with Secret Service despite the law only applying to former presidents’ children aged under 16, per the Former Presidents Protection Act (codified in 18 USC, Section 3056). “

Maybe he qualifies as an emotional 15-year old.

Actually “Biden issued an executive memorandum before he left the presidency indefinitely extending Secret Service protection for his son”

Choose your parents well.

If the last name Ziegler has any resonance, he is the cousin of President Richard M. Nixon’s Press Secretary, Ron Ziegler.

Ziegler graduated magna cum laude with a degree in economics from St. Louis University in 2018. He was hired directly out of college by the first Trump Administration and was a policy analyst under Peter Navarro in the Office of Trade and Manufacturing

Marco Polo is a 501c3 research group “with a mission of exposing corruption and blackmail. Mission & Leadership – Marco Polo – Substack Founded in 2021, Marco Polo spent it’s first year writing the Report on the Biden Laptop.

So the last question. Why does any of this matter? Because (see below) the Bidens are not hiding and they seem to want to return to destroy what’s left of a once vibrant (whether or not you agreed with them) political p[arty.

The Bidens want back in

Joe Biden Launches a Comeback No One Is Asking For

The Hunting of Hunter Biden
Whatever could the be laughing about?

Emergency Rooms For Delco In Health Emergency

Emergency Rooms For Delco In Health Emergency

By Bob Small

In case you missed it Ridley Township latest to declare emergency over EMS and Chester-Crozier systems has just become a memory and Delaware County has become a third world county.

Delaware County and my world, Swarthmore, have also declared states of emergency. The only two major hospitals left in Delaware County are Lankenau and Riddle, The Delaware County Health Department should, operative word should, be working on this situation. Then there’s Delaware County Council which, I’d like to believe means well. Only State Senator Tim Kearney. of our local legislators, to my knowledge, has been involved with this situation.

Piggy-backing on Sharon Devaney’s excellent article this is a list of ER’s currently operating in Delco. We also listed those within 30 minutes or less from Swarthmore. Note; In Swarthmore, we’ve been told that Riddle is the first ER option and Lankenau is the second. After that, who knows?

Emergency Wards Serving Delco

Bryn Mawr Hospital, 130 South Bryn Mawr Avenue,Bryn Mawr, PA, 484-337-3000

Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, 1599 Lansdowne Avenue, Darby, PA, 610-237-4000

Adjacent Chesco Hospitals with Emergency Wards

Chester County Hospital, 701 E. Marshall St, West Chester, PA 610-431-5000

Paoli Hospital, 255 West Lancaster Avenue, Paoli, PA, 484-565-1000

Penn Presbyterian Hospital is the only adjacent Philly Hospital to Delaware County

51 north 39th St, 215-662-8000 (20 minutes)

Adjacent Emergency rooms in Delaware

Christiana Care, 501 W. 14th St., Wilmington, DE, 302-733-1000 25 m

St Francis Hospital, 701 North Clayton St, Wilmington, DE, 302-421-4100, 27m

Adjacent Emergency Rooms in New Jersey

Cooper Hospital, 1 Cooper Plaza, Camden, NJ, 856-342-2000 30m

Inspira Medical Center, 155 Bridgeton Pike, Mullica Hills, NJ 800-467-7472 limited hours

It might be prudent to call these hospitals before going, as they may also get very busy.

Emergency Rooms For Delco In Health Emergency

It’s Not Paranoia If It’s REAL ID

It’s Not Paranoia If It’s REAL ID

By Bob Small

For those of us who have read 1984 by George Orwell and wonder when it turns from a speculative work of fiction to a documentary, that time may be arriving.

Certain Federal Agencies will no longer be able to accept driver licenses or state ID cards come May 7.

The ACLU says REAL IDs will“facilitate the tracking of data on individuals “and bring government into the very center of every citizen’s life.”

Some of the advantages of real ID are “standardized verification across states”, “prevention of identity theft, and “improved public safety”.

Negatives include” privacy concerns”, “cost of compliance”, “potential for discrimination”, and “impact on state autonomy.”

Twila Brase, co-founder and president of the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, says REAL ID and digital ID may allow the federal government to “usurp state’s rights and assert unprecedented control over people’s lives.”

Another critic “James F. Holderman III, director of investigative research with Stand for Health Freedom, says “The widespread adoption of Digital IDs and digital wallets lays the foundation of a surveillance-based technocracy.”

Some Afro-Americans suspect a racist movtivation.

Scholars Simone Brown, Vanessa Holden, and Elizabeth Stordeur point out that the beginnings of state id’s and registries “can be traced to efforts to spy on the lives and movements of Black people living in colonial and antebellum America”.

This was also covered in Simone Browme’s 2015 book Dark Matters.

To read about the nightmare of trying to get a REAL ID see Getting my REAL ID was an real ordeal

See also:

Pennsylvania lawmakers propose fee exemptions for seniors under REAL ID Act

How to get a Real ID in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has a really low Real ID adoption rate – Axios

Real ID Exposed: It Is Worse than You Think

You may not need a Real I.D. in Pennsylvania after all.

Since we can use our passports for plane and train travel, the only downside to being real ID is our inability to participate in Federal trials. I can live with that.

It's Not Paranoia If It's REAL ID

It’s Not Paranoia If It’s REAL ID