dirty little secrets

What are some of the best kept secrets on the Main Line? You name it, basically....

Here in Brigadoon no one knocks their spouse around, does drugs, drinks, is sexually provocative....yet they will freely tell you at cocktail parties what body part has been augmented, how much they paid for the new boobs, and how many pairs of hookerish Tory Burch slides they have, and what bells and whistles the Ferrari they never drive has...how many appliances are in the kitchen that has never even had the stove turned on in it .....you hear they shipped a kid off to boarding school, but what you don't hear about is why some of those kids get shipped off and so on....

Drug and alcohol use in particular are swept under the carpet in fine and constant tradition. Yet, without fail, when someone along the Main Line dies oddly or tragically, all you have to do is read the obituary for key words. One recently, where the deceased shall remain nameless, sent up a million warning bells:

"loved...fast....speed....thrill...larger than life"

Hmmm.... then this one obituary basically says how a relative imagined the decedent strolling along picking daisies and looking at birds in the sky. It was simply too prosaic, with too many odd buzz words strung together as if the author was having a hard time justifying the undoubtedly untimely death perhaps? Or is it easier to imagine the deceased as they wished them to be as opposed to the way they really were?

Not to make life of any family's undeniable grief, but let's get real? This one obituary of note in particular sent off warning signals and opened the door in a case where saying less would have been more...that and the fact that another member of the family ended up in police briefs in one paper all the ironic hell the same week that this flowery obituary appeared? Come on, you might as well have taken out a huge billboard on the Surekill that said "screwed up disaster family with problems".

So it makes you look into things and wonder: could some tragedy have been avoided if they had acknowledged not one, but perhaps several members of the same family had issues?

But will that happen? Probably not. All you will hear about is the tragedy of it all...and the real tragedy of course deals with the surviving family, doesn't it? Will they drown their sorrows collectively? Or deal with a dragon of an issue simmering below the surface?

But hell, that is half the fun of the Main Line. Everything is all about the public image, the public persona....have to live up to standards....can only be human behind closed doors, and even then, on odd days of the month only, right?


So death with be celebrated with pomp and circumstance, the deceased will be memorialized and feted as larger than life....and oh yes, they will "celebrate" the deceased with a memorial service undoubtedly designed to assuage the guilt of surviving family members, who have to know there WAS a problem, and if the problem had been really dealt with years ago, maybe there would be no funeral and memorial service, right?

But that is the Main Line...we hear about scandalous divorces and all seem so shocked that the wife got used as an emotional and physical punching bag, or the long suffering husband looked the other way while wifey cheated her ass off with some old geezer she met at the "club" (note: must say "club" with Locust Valley Lockjaw).

But what if people were a little more honest, eh? Would we be better off?

Seriously, wouldn't it be freeing for example to be able to say what an assh*le or bitch someone is? Wouldn't it be freeing to say they are the tackiest people alive and seriously if they have so much money why do they have such Christ awful taste? Wouldn't it be freeing to say "X, you are a total alcoholic, would you please go to rehab and NOT hang all over us at neighborhood parties?"? Wouldn't it be freeing to say "you bought that car instead of a penis extension"? Wouldn't it be freeing to say "honey, if your husband is a plastic surgeon and you are a shining example of his handiwork you should sue him and get a refund"?

But on the Main Line you can't say those things... you can only think them as you sip your martini and pop your valium....It's all so scandalous, dahhlings....and it doesn't have to be...but that is the Main Line....status, status, status...even when the house is going to foreclosure and creditors are hauling off the cars and furniture...it's all about status.

AHHH, the Main Line...ain't no place like it.

Why is The Main Line SO Homophobic?

Now seriously, who is gay marriage hurting? Me? No, actually my heterosexual relationship is just fine, thanks. And we know that other couples with alternative lifestyles (or alternative to ours at least) choosing to commit to each other has no effect on us. It's their relationships, not ours, and who are we to judge?

However, there are SO many homophobnes along the Main Line of Philadelphia it is utterly frightening. The irony of course, is that many homosexual relationships are stronger and healthier and more devoted that heterosexual ones.

Anyway, apparently someone in the staid and often stodgy Suburban and Wayne Times apparently had the temerity to write an editorial on the topic of gay marriage. Oh shocking Muffy! We might have to admit that Skipper and Susie's child is gay openly! Oh how very shocking!

Seriously, I don't know anyone named Muffy, Skipper, or Susie thank the good lord. You get the point, however. The point that anything deviating from the norm is a horror. Well, I was reading these letters to the editors, and honestly, who knew? Who knew that some Main Liners could have their collective heads shoved any farther up their preppy flat asses as they troll around in their summer Madras? Honestly...the Main Line is homophobic. And for what good reason? NONE. Shame on these people - one man compares same sex marriages to global warming- check out these letters:

Posted on Thu, Jun 26, 2008
Letters From Readers

No such thing as gay marriage

“Homosexual marriage” is an oxymoron. It goes against the laws of nature in that they cannot procreate. It ignores a fundamental principle of life, nature and the universe, the duality of life. This duality is well illustrated by an ancient cosmological aspect of Eastern religions, the Yin-Yang, symbolizing a duality in life, nature and our experience.

It would do what? Amend over 5,000 years of society, education, culture, tradition, specific teachings of three of the world’s major religions and the tenets of two more? In addition, homosexual marriage would alter, amend, redefine, restructure and/or dismantle marriage and the family. The family has been the basic building block of communities, countries, empires and nations throughout history, especially our unique American culture.

It would change the above. For anyone to suggest we change the culture that gave birth to freedom, liberty and democracy unequaled throughout 5,000 to 6,000 years of human history, a culture which freed slaves, gave equal vote to all, addressed human issues and civil rights in a manner unprecedented over the millennia and accomplished goals only dreamed of is....obtuse.

Regarding two recent writings in this paper, Ted Meehan’s assertion about the framers, self-evident truths and the constitutional aspects regarding the Defense of Marriage Act, I think, is correct. There are self-evident truths not articulated in the documents, articles and instruments of our nation. Murder? Rape? Pillage? Burn? Steal? The Golden Rule? Marriage is a special station in life to be revered and cultivated.

In Rachel Perry’s editorial using theological and religious terms — creed, sanctity, sacred, revered — to defend same-sex marriage, teachings of the world’s five major religions need to be addressed. People may have defined marriage; however, marriage and religion are so intricately entwined that it might as well have come down from heaven on a sunbeam, again a religious term, which opens up another can-o-worms....Homosexual marriage/unions are continuing abandonment of common sense in an already careening society and culture, and a disregard for the nature of procreation, the nature of the universe and the laws of nature. It is a contradiction on a most fundamental and visceral level and is not viable. To offer otherwise is analogous to thinking a double-ended extension cord will safely propagate electricity.

Further, none of the arguments to support same-sex unions or marriage hold water. It is not the same as interracial marriage, ending slavery or giving equal vote to all. It is unlike anything else in history and is out of sync with nature.

It is not nice to fool with Mother Nature. Global warming, anyone???

John Aiken,Wayne

Argument against same-sex marriage

Suburban news reporter Rachel Perry has written an editorial, “In defense of marriage” (June 5), in response to the letter “No gay marriage” (May 29) by Ted Meehan. I believe there is more to her claims than meets the eye.

The difference in their views on marriage appears to stem from the question of who “should get to decide what constitutes a marriage…” It is clear to me that Mr. Meehan’s worldview is based on the Word of Jesus Christ including the Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments. An important part of this is the realization that God hates sin but loves sinners. Today, all too many feel compelled to mock and ridicule Christianity and religion in general, a condition unfortunately common throughout human history. Yet, amazingly, Christianity continues to thrive despite efforts to stamp it out.....To bring the guilty to justice, it was necessary to overrule Hitler’s positive laws with nature’s or God’s laws. Under Nazi positive law, gas chambers were perfectly legal just as are abortuaries here at home, even though all Americans know deep in their hearts that abortion is outrageously evil and their numbers far exceed those exterminated in the Nazi Holocaust.

“Same-sex marriage,” an oxymoron, cannot be fruitful and hence cannot contribute to the great chain of life, God’s great miracle of creation. Sad to say but the homosexual lifestyle lends itself to the culture of death. On the other hand, a heterosexual lifestyle embraced in holy matrimony lends itself to a culture of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the goals derived from the Word of God and embedded in America’s Declaration of Independence by the Founders.

In reply to Mr. Meehan’s statement that “calling things that are not marriage by the same name… risks confusing members of society, especially children,” Miss Perry advises you to “make sure you read Meehan’s oh-so-compelling concerns for the ‘confused’ children.” Can anyone tell me what, if anything, “oh-so” has to do with it? By all means, take Miss Perry’s advice and reread Mr. Meehan’s letter (May 20) at our local library. It makes eminently good sense.

Cyrus J. Sharer,St. Davids

What a bunch of homophobic freaks we live among. Same sex marriages hurt no one. What is so wrong about those in other types of committed relationships wanting to legally have what many of the rest of us take for granted? These men who wrote these letters should be ashamed of themselves. Wonder what would happen if we took a look into their pious lives?

Verizon Sucks...Pass it On

VERIZON SUCKS. PASS IT ON. BOYCOTT FIOS, 'CAUSE FIOS IS AN UNFAIR MONOPOLY...OR DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR COPPER WIRE IS?


Now, go ahead, Google "Verizon Sucks" or "Verizon Fios" and get blown away by complaints....well,here is the story that Verizon doesn't want you to know about:

Do you realize that if you move into a house, apartment, condo, whatever that is wired for Fios you can't get anything else? Ergo, if you can't afford Fios you are f*cked? That is is Fios or nothing? Did you know that when Verizon technician are running Fios fiberoptic crap they are REMOVING copper wire? Do you realize that public utility commissions in states like Pennsylvania know all this and can't do anything? WHY can't they do anything? Because Verizon might use utility rights of way, but they do NOT consider themselves a utility....therefore they answer to no one. They are creating a sneaky monopoly

Verizon's copper cutoff traps customers, hampers rivals
By DEBORAH YAO
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — When Henry Powderly II ordered Verizon's FiOS fiber-optic service, he knew he was about to be connected to the future of telecommunications.

He also got unplugged from its past. Which meant that while Powderly was gaining features, he was losing some telecommunications options.

Verizon's installer removed the copper wires that used to carry Powderly's phone calls, as he knew the company would. But for most of the world, copper still links homes and businesses, as it has for a century.

Verizon's new high-bandwidth fiber lines are capable of carrying not only calls but also Internet data and television with room to grow. But once the copper is pulled, it's hard to switch back to the traditional phone system or less expensive digital subscriber line service.

And Verizon isn't required, in most instances, to lease fiber to rival phone companies, as it is with the copper infrastructure.

What's more, the next owner of Powderly's house will face higher bills with FiOS than another home with copper. Right now, for instance, Verizon's DSL plans cost as little as $15 a month. FiOS Internet starts at $30 a month.

"I was not given an option," said Powderly....Mark Cooper, research director at the Consumer Federation of America, says there are other reasons for snipping the wires.

"They don't want to maintain it. They don't want the expense and they don't want the competition," he said.

Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, incumbent phone companies like Verizon must lease their copper network to rivals. That's generally not the case for next-generation fiber systems.

So far, Verizon has filed more than 100 notices with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to retire portions of copper throughout its network..Unlike copper-connected phone service, FiOS doesn't work during power outages once a backup battery goes out — not even for emergency calls. Home alarms and certain other devices work best with copper.

Rabe said Verizon will restore copper to homes if the customer insists, but would rather not reconnect the copper and will try to persuade the customer to agree.

Verizon FIOS insures future monoply
Om Malik, Friday, October 14, 2005 at 1:34 PM PT Comments (56)

....My problem is that Verizon monopolizes your house once FIOS is installed. By removing your copper wire you are now forced to stay with Verizon until other carriers have fiber optic capabilities. I did not find out about this until I wanted to switch back to DSL to save some money. They said “Nope, can’t”

How many of you have Fios in your community? How many can get clear reception on government public access channels? Have you heard that Fios has caused fires? Here, check this out:

Consumerist: Verizon Fios Sets Another House on Fire

$1800 For FiOS House Fire Family Is Just An Advance, Says Verizon

A Philly family is the latest to have their house set on fire after Verizon FiOs installers drilled through their electrical line. The Sammlers says the smoke from the fire and chemicals used to fight it ruined all their possessions, $58,000 worth. Verizon has offered the family $1,800. What will the Verizon Policy Blog have to say about this incident? Probably something along the lines of, "while the smoke at the Sammler house may be gone, the desire of customers still clamoring for the blazing hot speeds of FiOS is yet to be quenched!"

Warrington couple sues Verizon over fire [The Intelligencer via Network World]

And read this:

Washington Post: Verizon FiOS Fiasco

Verizon FIOS -Posted: 2006-11-08 by Cheryl Fleming
Never order FIOS service!

Verizon Fios

Stop the Pain, Verizon!

Fire, smoke, raw sewage, and, hey, do you smell gas? Yup, Verizon's here.

FiOS TV Still Sucks

Unanswered Email to Verizon..April 29, 2008 @ 9:51 pm · Filed under Rant, Technology, General

now what?

Someone mentioned to me the other day that the babe who tried to run for the GOP slot in the general election for the PA 17th Senate District is still running around like a chicken with her head cut off? Is it true that this person is all about "V" for Vendetta? Will this person cross her party lines to try to help get revenge on the person who beat the skirts off her in the primary? Is that what it means to be a "good" Republican or "life long" Republican? (Not that bragging about being a Republican is super fab, anyway. Truth is to admit that these days is rather embrassing, huh?) But shouldn't this local politico just tend to business where she currently holds office and not take off for summer break?

I wonder whatever happened with the Attorney General thing surrounding those funky ballots?

And is this,this,this, this,this, this,and this all related? Jimminey Crickets Batman! And everyone thought what occured in the past was bad enough?

If you were this politician, wouldn't you wish to be less infamous instead of pretending to be almost famous?

Well here's the 411: The campaign trail didn't end in the champagne trail, so unless dollface is running for something else, mebbe it's time to take down the campaign website and preserve some semblence of dignity?

(And the Katherine Harris thing? Saw it referenced in a random blog post and thought these photos on other blogs were darn funny...)

Oprah, Read This Book!

Dear Oprah,
I don't have the spare change to rent a billboard outside your studios to get your attention. So I am just going to hope you have some staffer that Googles for you regularly. I am also hoping you will continue to put your money where your mouth is with new authors.

So I read this book by a Philadelphia area young African American. He is a teacher, and his book is incredible. I believe we should foster young authors, and I am a self-affirmed book junkie. So have you read the first novel by Erec Smith?

So Oprah, you need to read ASAP Creamy Nougat by Erec Smith, and it deserve a place in Oprah's Book Club.

Here check this out about the book Creamy Nougat:

Ross Mclure, an ambitious and rather cocky graduate student, is given the chance of a lifetime: to conduct an experiment that tests the true liberation of the liberal-minded.....Creamy Nougat is a novel that deals with the human quest for self-identity and peace of mind amidst physical,racial, and socio-economic tensions.
Lighthearted and with shock value very much intact,Creamy Nougat is a relatively comic account of issues that are often broached with the utmost seriousness.

Even if you aren't Oprah, this book is well worth a spot on your book shelf. It's a great read, and that's the long and short of it....
I heard about the book when someone sent me an e-mail about it with a couple of reviews that include:

"Creamy Nougat, by Erec Smith, is a perfect read for 2008. Between our culture's obsession with 'political correctness' and being in an unprecedented election year, where both a woman and an African American man are running for President, there is no better time to revisit what it is we really think. Creamy Nougat plays with the age old adage 'you can't judge a book by its cover' and challenges its readers to reflect on their own bigotry, no matter how innocuous they once thought it was. In this brilliant, funny, and at times, outrageous debut novel"

How could I not buy the book? I was just plain curious....I am glad I bought it.

Tales of The Main Line Rich and Nasty

The Main Line used to be a genteel place worthy of the Philadelphia Story......yet today, one of the more amusing Elvis Costello comments ever occasionally comes to mind:

"Rich people have their problems --I wish I was one of them."

....
So, the Main Line got rocked by the tawdry tale of the people named Pouls who wrote a big fat chack to the Baldwin School and then decided they didn't like a teacher...so they got her fired. Philadelphia Magazine covered it in an article titled "Class Warfare
Did Michael and Sheryl Pouls use their muscle to get Baldwin School teacher Patsy Tollin fired? Or are Tollin’s old-school ways out of date? For the first time, both sides in the Battle of Baldwin tell their stories. A Main Line tale of power, wealth, scandal, and what happens when New Money collides with old traditions
By Jessica Pressler

(Of course can it be said all of the private schools have tales they don't want publicized and have lived with some degree of fear since this story was told?)

And then there was that other article titles "The Have Mores"

Recently there was the coverage of the Villanova Faux Heiress who lived like a queen, while the poor and challenged she was supposed to be housing fairly lived in squalor. That would be Rosalind Lavin, the cee u next tuesday who could afford a "mansion", air plane, etc, etc in Villanova:

'A nice place,' despite sqaulor
Lavin: I can't afford fixes at Ivy Ridge
By DANA DiFILIPPO
Philadelphia Daily News
difilid@phillynews.com 215-854-5934

ROSALIND LAVIN has a personal aircraft, a gated Villanova mansion with a swimming pool and tennis court and mansions in Florida and New Jersey.
But the Main Line multimillionaire says she doesn't have enough money to fix bent sprinkler heads and other "life-threatening" code violations city inspectors found at Ivy Ridge, the Roxborough assisted-living home she owns and was forced to close this week after federal authorities pegged her as a slumlord.

Lavin 'knows how to exploit the system'
By KITTY CAPARELLA
Philadelphia Daily News
caparek@phillynews.com 215-854-5880

YOU'RE NOT alone if you're still haunted by the fact that Rosalind Lavin got off so easy.
You're not alone if you think she should have been criminally prosecuted for the horrific conditions endured by the residents of her personal-care homes.

I continue to be contacted by readers appalled that Lavin, who lives lavishly on the Main Line, was able to get away with paying $700,000 and avoid acknowledging wrongdoing to resolve a federal investigation.

Last week's settlement also required Lavin to close the Ivy Ridge home, the fourth of her facilities to be shuttered in recent years, for sickening conditions - including residents who lay in vomit and feces on filthy linen, without enough food or medicine.

Then of course, there is the perennial favorite gal, The Nanny Beater....Susan Tabas Temper

But don't be faint of heart! Sometimes God Don't Like Ugly, and as Brooke De Villanova (bless her chatty heart) is reporting in the July 2008 Philadelphia Magazine that sometimes what goes around comes around:

Brooke de la Villanova: High Society
By Brooke de la Villanova

Real estate may be in the doldrums (Edgar is still trying to unload our condo in West Palm), but it feels like everyone’s moving. The Main Line intelligentsia is buzzing ..... and Sheryl and Michael Pouls (of Baldwin School tussle fame) are rumored to be looking for ­buyers for their Gladwyne digs and their pad in Longport, for a California relo.....Speaking of Longport, poor Hilarie and Mitch ­Morgan. An off-season visit to their hacienda there turned up a most uninvited houseguest: a squatter! ......Finally, what scion of a filthy-rich local patriarch just bought his estranged wife a new manse in Bryn Mawr as part of their pending divorce settlement? She’s hardly lonely in that big house — reports are she’s already cozy with a local billionaire. Proof that when it comes to alimony, dumplings, that band in the ’70s was right: Love hurts.

Stiletto Can't Afford Trash Removal?

So yesterday afternoon (June 23, 2008) I was in Bryn Mawr with a gal pal, and we were going to park and go in and check out Stiletto and a couple of other cute shops. Stiletto has totally fierce shoes, and the Imelda Marcos in every woman would make you at least check out the store...even if the prices are completely ridiculous and the staff quite arch to say the least. But I digress....the point of this post is that as we were sitting in traffic in front of the store trying to figure out where the freak we were going to park (parking is a problem), the front door of the store opened and out popped this tall blond with longish, curly hair who works there. She was carrying a trash can from inside the store. She emptied the store trash can into the municipal trash can outside.
We couldn't believe it! Is business SO bad that they can't afford trash removal? And what if the trash had sensitive customer or store information? It's not like they shredded the trash....we found a place to park, and walked down to Stiletto. My friend decided she did not want to shop in a store that disposed of their trash in such a haphazard as well as obnoxious manner - her comment is that taxpayers who can't afford to buy shoes in Stiletto are paying for Stiletto's trash to be removed by putting it in the can on the street. Can't say I disagree. The photos you are looking at were taken by my friend with the camera on her cell phone. It is what the shoe woman dumped out of the store trash can. For what they charge on shoes, they can't afford trash removal?

Shame on Stiletto for being cheap in a bad way. Identity theft is no joke, and more importantly? If they can't afford to have their trash removed that is pretty pathetic. Good thing there are so many shoe stores around.

We don't find Stiletto so fierce anymore....

Curt Weldon, You Sly Ol' Dog You...

Curt Weldon is a curious cat. He got shown the door by Joe Sestak thank goodness...but we will forever remember him for duaghter gate (as in if daddy can't get you a good job, who can?), and his other scnadalicious issues.....like the fact that he helped keep a repeat DUI offender out on the road...John "Digger" Dolan - a notorious druken namedropper by all accounts.

So what is Curt up to now?

TPM Muckracker: Weldon's Staffer's Wife Took Money from Weldon's Associate
By Andrew Tilghman - June 10, 2008, 1:32PM

The federal corruption probe of former Rep. Curt Weldon's office is grinding on. Turns out one of the Russian businessmen the Pennsylvania Republican was promoting was giving undisclosed payments to his chief of staff's wife.

The chief of staff, Russell Caso, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in December, but the actual source of the cash given to his wife was not identified. Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the money came from a group called the International Exchange Group, run by Vladimir Petrosyan.

The not for profit group paid $19,000 to Caso's wife, mostly for editing work that was never done. The Journal reports that Petrosyan, a prominent Russian with ties to the Kremlin, was a fixture around Weldon's office on Capitol Hill.

Posted on Wed, Jun. 11, 2008
Weldon transfers campaign cash to legal fund
By Mark Fazlollah and John Shiffman
Inquirer Staff Writers

Under investigation by the Justice Department, former U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon has transferred all of his campaign money to a fund he established for his legal defense.

Weldon, a Republican who represented Delaware County for 10 terms, transferred roughly $80,000 over several months from the Weldon Victory Committee to the Weldon Legal Expense Trust, according to federal election records. Weldon closed the campaign fund May 22. Federal Election Commission rules allow campaign funds to be used for legal defense work if it is related to a person's activities as a candidate or officeholder.

Philadelphia lawyer Jeffrey M. Lindy confirmed that he was trustee for the defense fund but declined to comment further. Weldon's lawyer, William J. Winning, declined to comment. Weldon has denied wrongdoing and has predicted that he will be vindicated.

The FBI's investigation of Weldon, which broke publicly two weeks before the congressman's failed 2006 reelection bid, has focused in part on deals involving Russian and Serbian firms that Weldon's lobbyist daughter represented. The probe is examining whether Weldon exerted any illegal influence to help those companies do business in the United States.

Federal agents have searched four businesses and homes in the Philadelphia region, removed documents from a Russian energy company's Florida headquarters, wiretapped phones in Washington, and subpoenaed records from Weldon's congressional office.

Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney declined to comment yesterday.

While he was a congressman, Weldon and his daughter, Karen, traveled to Russia and met with executives of the company whose Florida offices the FBI raided, Itera International Energy. Itera paid Karen Weldon's firm $500,000 for lobbying in the United States, records show.

The agents also raided the home of Delaware County Republican powerhouse Charles Sexton, who was a partner in the consulting firm.

In December, Weldon's former chief of staff pleaded guilty to failing to report $19,000 that was paid to his wife through another Russian company.

Lawyers, Nukes, and Money: The Strange Case of Weldon's Russia Plan
By Sharon Weinberger June 11, 2008 | 12:00:00 PMCategories: Cash Rules Everything Around Me, Crazy Ivans, Crime, Nukes

Our new book, A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry, isn't all road trips and sightseeing. In between travels to nuclear bunkers and missile test ranges, we paid visits to gadflies of the nuclear world who we thought could help us plan our travels. That's how we (well, Sharon, anyhow) ended up in the office of Curt Weldon, the former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania.

Weldon, for those of you not familiar with the former lawmaker, was famous for securing funding for some Russian flying saucers, his conspiratorial belief that a classified program had identified several of the 9/11 terrorists, and his determination to insert himself in nuclear issues, ranging from North Korea to Iran. It was actually the Russians that got him in trouble. We'll get back to that.

Harper's Magazine: Congressman Weldon and that Murky Russian Non-Profit
By Ken Silverstein

Friday, June 13, 2008
Curt Weldon Update

But sheeeet, that ain't all the fun with Curt...take this trip down memory lane:

MSNBC: FBI reportedly probing Rep. Weldon/Investigation allegedly into consulting contracts for Republican’s daughter
updated 8:45 p.m. ET, Sat., Oct. 14, 2006

WASHINGTON - The FBI is investigating whether U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon used his influence to secure lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, two people familiar with the inquiry said Saturday.

The inquiry focuses on lobbying contracts worth $1 million that Weldon's daughter, Karen Weldon, obtained from foreign clients and whether they were assisted by the Republican congressman, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the criminal investigation....Those two people familiar with the investigation confirmed that federal agents were examining Weldon's work between 2002 and 2004 to help two Russian companies and two Serbian brothers connected to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. They had hired Solutions North America Inc., a company operated by Karen Weldon and Charles Sexton, a Republican ally of the congressman.

7th Spotlight: Crisis ahead for Weldon?
William Bender, Of the Times Staff
10/15/2006

By early Friday evening, it looked as if U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon would escape the bad news that tends to plague his campaign late in the workweek. There was nothing akin to a Pentagon report debunking his Able Danger theories or a Keystone Poll showing his opponent rapidly gaining ground.


Overall, it had been a decent week for the embattled congressman. Kim Jong Il was partly to thank for that. His decision to detonate what was likely a nuclear device took some of the punch out of Democrat Joseph Sestak’s repeated attempts to tie Weldon to the cybersex scandal involving U.S. Rep. Mark Foley and House leaders.


Instead of asking Weldon whether he supported House Speaker Dennis Hastert or RNCC Chairman Tom Reynolds -- both of whom have campaigned for Weldon in the district -- reporters were asking him about North Korea, where he has led congressional delegations and criticized the Bush administration for its foreign policy.....Then, like clockwork, the former Marcus Hook mayor who can’t seem to catch a break these days was blindsided late Friday night by a McClatchy Newspapers report about an FBI investigation into whether his daughter and a senior campaign adviser illegally profited from his political influence in Washington.

Most daily newspapers covering the 7th District race ran with it in their Saturday editions. So did the Washington Post, placing the Weldon investigation alongside a Foley update and a story about U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleading guilty for his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal. By Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press, having independently confirmed the FBI investigation with two anonymous sources, was running wire copy that soon appeared on Web sites across the nation.....The Justice Department is reportedly looking into whether Weldon, beginning in 2002, misused his influence to help his daughter and longtime Springfield GOP leader Charlie Sexton obtain about $1 million worth of lobbying contracts for their firm, Solutions North America Inc.

The Los Angeles Times broke that story in February 2004, detailing how Karen Weldon, then 29 years old, and Sexton, now a major player on Weldon’s re-election campaign, landed contracts from the Russian companies Itera International Energy Corp. and Saratov Aviation Plant and the Serbian Karic Foundation.

Repeat DUI offender fails to show up for his sentencing

John "Digger" Dolan, the self-styled antiterrorism warrior and serial drunken driver, has flown the coop.

Delaware County Court Judge Charles C. Keeler issued a warrant yesterday for the arrest of Dolan, a purveyor of telecommunications software who has had friends in high places.

Mattera said that in the letter, Dolan also claimed he was being pursued by "an Arab-American Philadelphia Inquirer reporter," whom Dolan said had "links to al- Qaeda." He did not identify the reporter.

Dolan's accusation came after an article in yesterday's Inquirer. The story reported that U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.) had twice asked House members to allocate $5 million to Dolan's company for antiterror software that flags suspicious telephone calls.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Got Yer New Homeland Security Chief Here, Chief!

Don't worry about that "vetting" stuff Boss--this guy is a real go-getter, just the sort of young fella who likes you, which is the kind of young fella you like. Yeah, he's had a couple of hard knocks in his past that the damn press likes to pick on people for, that'll blow over in a couple of weeks.

(via Philly InkWire)

By Mark Fazlollah
Inquirer Staff Writer

John "Digger" Dolan, a former president of the Main Line Young Republicans, likes to drive a Mercedes and hobnob with politicians.

Dolan, 44, now of Wilmington, considers himself a soldier in the war on terror. He designs telephone software for that war, and he's offered it to Uncle Sam - with help from a friend.

U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Delaware County) has twice asked House committees to allot $5 million for Dolan's software company. In June, Weldon asked the CIA's chief of clandestine services to meet with Dolan.

There's another side to Dolan, though: He drinks and drives. When he's caught, he sometimes drops names: Weldon, Tom Ridge, the Department of Defense.

Dolan faces sentencing today in Delaware County, where in 2002 he drove drunk into a crowd of July 4 revelers in Radnor. Between 1988 and 2003, he had five drunken-driving convictions, resulting in jail terms ranging up to six months.

When Philadelphia police stopped him in March, they say he reeked of alcohol and couldn't recite the alphabet, but managed to tell them to "call Tom Ridge."

Dolan has also used another man's identity. Last month, as an Inquirer reporter looked on, Dolan answered in a Philadelphia courtroom to another man's name. That man says he has tried to get his old ex-friend Dolan to stop using his name.

Dolan, interviewed in jail on Dec. 4 after an arrest in Maryland, said any news article about his driving record would hurt the war on terror. "You're helping the enemy if you write about it," Dolan said at the Cecil County jail, where he was serving 10 days for disorderly conduct.

Contrarian: The Thin Booze Line
Do the worst drunk drivers go unpunished because they have so much in common with the people who would punish them?
By Noel Weyrich

It’s a kind of philosophical riddle, like the one about the tree that falls in the forest with no one around to hear it.

Is a slimeball any less a slimeball if the system lets him slide?

Take the particularly viscous John “Digger” Dolan. This 44-year-old software entrepreneur racked up five drunk-driving convictions between 1988 and 2003, but he’s still driving around. Back in 2002, Dolan drove drunk through police barricades into a crowd at the Radnor Fourth of July celebration. He was sentenced to jail time but never served it, because the Delaware County prosecutor’s office admits they forgot all about him. Finally, last December, when the Inquirer started poking around after Dolan got caught driving drunk yet again, the judge in Media set a January court date. By then, Dolan had fled to Europe.

Drinking isn’t Dolan’s only bad habit. He is a talented artist whose medium is bullshit. A onetime head of the Main Line Young Republicans, Dolan claims he’s developed anti-terrorism software, so he tends to throw Tom Ridge’s name around whenever the cops pull him over. He’s also got quite a sense of humor. Last December, Dolan told Inquirer reporter Mark Fazlollah that he deserves a break since he quits drinking “regularly.” Then, while Dolan was in Sweden, he complained in a letter presented to the court that Fazlollah has ties to al Qaeda.

When a malignant kook like Digger Dolan eludes justice this easily, you have to wonder if it’s the system that needs a sanity check....

Nice friend, Curt

No Joke. George Carlin is Dead.

No...it's not a joke. The master of the "Seven Dirty Curse Words" is dead. Of heart failure. First Tim Russert, has a heart attack and dies and now Carlin. Maybe America's men had better pay closer attention to their health? Ciao George, you will be missed...I was weaned on your humor...you taught me how to curse...affirmed my belief that Catholicism in a modern world left a lot to be desired and it was o.k. to question it on occasion...You were o.k. George, and you will always be a national treasure...

Blooomberg: George Carlin, 71, `Seven Dirty Words' Comedian, Dies (Update1)
By Patrick Donahue and Brian Lysaght

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- George Carlin, a Grammy award-winning comedian whose routine about ``The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television'' was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court decision, died of heart failure in California yesterday. He was 71.

Carlin went to St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, yesterday after complaining of chest pain and died at 5:55 p.m. local time, publicist Jeff Abraham told the Associated Press. Abraham didn't immediately respond to a call requesting confirmation.

Carlin was one of the country's best-known comedians in the 1970s, an anti-establishment icon who appeared on popular television programs such as ``The Tonight Show.'' He wore long hair and a beard when most comedians were clean cut, and combined a bug-eyed stare with irreverent observations on politics, religion and modern life.

He was arrested for violating obscenity laws in 1972 in Milwaukee and his ``seven words'' routine, in which Carlin describes at length the words that are banned on television and radio, found its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1978, the justices ruled 5-4 that the Federal Communications Commission has a right to regulate spoken-word performances on public airwaves to prevent children from hearing profanities.

VOA:Comedian George Carlin Dies
By Keming Kuo
Washington 23 June 2008

One of America's most popular and often controversial comedians, George Carlin, died in Santa Monica, California. He was 71.

From the early 1960's, through the beatnik, folk and hippie eras, to today's cutting edge humor, George Carlin has entertained generations of Americans. He starred in several movies, wrote a popular book, "Brain Droppings," appeared in several television series and was a guest 135 times on legendary talk show host Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show. But George Carlin will be best remembered as a wise and witty stand-up comedian.

That excerpt, from "Son of WINO," recorded in Washington's long-closed night club "The Cellar Door," was in one of George Carlin's many comedy albums - two of which were honored with Grammy Awards.

George Carlin was born in New York City, the son of newspaper industry parents. His father was an advertising sales representative for several newspapers; his mother was a manager of the Philadelphia Bulletin's New York office, as well as Good Housekeeping magazine

Village Voice: Say It Ain't So: George Carlin Dies
Posted by Harkavy at 8:39 AM, June 23, 2008

George Carlin is dead, but his words live on. Especially his big seven from his monologue "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" on the 1972 album Class Clown

Why women should NOT get bombed in public

Someone sent me this. It's pathetic. Women never look good bombed.

"She's a mess."

Congress Kills Extension of Unemployment Benefits

The economy is in the crapper, with many on the verge of disaster, yet yesterday Republican Congressmen decided to vote against extending unemployment benefits. But then of course, it always has been easy for those with money to say everything is fine, isn't it?

House To Regroup For Another Shot At Extending Unemployment Benefits
Thu. Jun 12, 2008

The House will again take up legislation today that would extend unemployment benefits for as much as 26 weeks after the bill came three votes shy of winning the two-thirds majority needed for approval Wednesday.

The bill, which was on the suspension calendar and needed a two-thirds majority to pass, failed on a 279-144 vote. All 230 Democrats present voted in favor of the bill, along with 49 Republicans.

"We are not going to let this stand," said House Majority Leader Hoyer, who argued that the extensions are needed to help Americans get through the economic downturn.

"We expect to have that bill on the floor tomorrow," said Hoyer speaking at a briefing after the vote. "It is not ... proper policy for us to walk away from taking this action simply because we lacked three Republican votes."

The bill will be considered under a rule today on the floor, and will only need a simple majority to pass.

Action on the bill comes after the Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate had surged to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent in April -- the largest monthly increase since February 1986.

The House measure, overwhelmingly approved by the House Ways and Means Committee in April, is similar to a provision included in the war supplemental spending package approved by the Senate last month.

But House Democratic leaders want to try to pass unemployment insurance as a stand-alone bill, which would help rein in the package's cost and possibly win Republican support and avoid a veto of the package.

.....The vote on the bill came after OMB said Wednesday that President Bush would veto the measure, noting the best way to help workers is to foster an economic environment that creates jobs by passing pending free-trade agreements and making permanent the president's tax cuts that will expire over the next two years.

OMB added that, historically, the 5.5 percent unemployment rate is low, but said the White House could support legislation that would offer a 13-week extension to high-unemployment states alone.

The legislation would provide 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits in every state to workers who exhaust the 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, and, in states with higher levels of unemployment, an additional 13 weeks would be available, for a total of 26 weeks of extended benefits.

The bill defines high unemployment as a seasonally adjusted 6 percent total unemployment rate or a 4 percent insured unemployment rate.

During House debate on the bill, Republicans argued that the measure would change long-standing policy by removing a requirement that workers must have worked for at least 20 weeks before being eligible for 12 months of benefits.

Republicans Kill Extended Unemployment Benefits
by Chairman George Miller
Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 03:11:13 PM PDT

(Just a forewarning, this is a hit and run entry.)

To the Republican members of Congress who live in a Washington bubble, it might seem like everything is fine with the U.S. economy right now. But to American workers, we’re in a recession. Over 300,000 American workers have lost their jobs since the start of the year, and there are 8.5 million workers who want a job but don’t have one. Making matters worse, workers and their families must cope with rising energy and food costs and the fallout from the housing crisis.

Chairman George Miller's diary :: ::
For laid-off workers, the paychecks stop coming, but someone still has to put gas in the car to drive to school and church and run errands. Paycheck or no paycheck, someone still has to buy groceries, and someone still has to pay the mortgage. House Republicans apparently don’t care about any of that. They apparently don’t believe that workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own deserve some help making ends meet while they look for new employment. And they apparently don’t understand that helping workers also helps the economy by injecting demand into it.

With the unemployment rate rising quickly, there are many American families who need this assistance. Democrats in Congress will not stop pushing until workers get the help they need in these difficult times. It is the right thing to do for workers and it’s the smart thing to do for the economy.

MSNBC:UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS TO BE EXTENDED?

House Republicans Kill Extended Unemployment Benefits (Rep. George Miller)
June 12th, 2008

DUMP THE PUMP JUNE 19th, 2008

The message is pretty darn clear: DUMP THE PUMP ON THURSDAY JUNE 19th! Walk, take the train, or bus...just leave your car at home and DO NOT buy gas on June 19th 2008! Do your part - tell those oil companies to take their inflated gas prices and shove it.

Realtor Spin is So HOT

Funny thing about Realtors is their perception of reality. They will sell their mothers to complete a sale and get commission, won't they? Can it be said that the problem with the economy that can be attributed to real estate is the fault of Realtors and mortgage people? Can it be said if they didn't so artificially inflate home prices, were more honest with buyers and sellers about value and the dangers of doing funky mortgages things would be better?

From McMansions to humble abodes, Realtors sure do get creative. For example, when a newspaper reports about a problem house in a particular area, and then report at another time a potential development issue, how do they talk about it?

Are they honest, or is it welcome to neverland ranch? How do they spin "full disclosure"?

All homes are pimped out like hookers on a Saturday night, which hey, is the job of a realtor, I get it. But seriously, I know it's hard out there for a pimp, but I am sick of realtor spin....and Realtors and others who do not like or agree with this post can just bite me. It's the First Amendment that says it's ok for me to call Realtors home pimps.

"Sex" Sells, But is The Sex and The City Movie Soul Satisfying?

Sex and the City was my show! I have watched every episode a million times, without getting bored. I love Sex and The City. I have Candace Busnell's books...all of them....So we got up a posse to go see the movie....it was us and a million other women in stadium seating. Some women dressed up. There were city and suburban mommies out for a hot night on the town who were missing Charlotte, Big, and Carrie, and young twenty somethings wearing too much makeup and seemingly wondering what Samantha Jones would teach them. No one seemed there for Miranda, character killjoy....there were also scads of older women there - as in late fifties and above. If guys had a brain, they would go to this movie just to meet women...but anyway....



I waited for two and a half hours, for one moment:


But what of the rest of it? Was it all tied too neatly with Prada bows? Was it all one big advertisement for Manolos, Louis Vuitton, Glaceau water, Vogue and a million other high end product placements?


Was it more like Sex and the Ark and all the animals are mated off predictably in the end like Stanford Blatch and Anthony Marantino? Anthony despised Stanford in the series, yet in the movie, the gay pair gets partnered off?



In a nutshell, you have the "girls", and yes they are older (but then so am I). You have Carrie as a slave to fashion, or at least Patricia Field's interpretation of fashion. The fashions and costume changes which were touted like the second coming of Anna Wintour fell flat in my estimation - especially on Sarah Jessica Parker (who as an aside has gotten eating disorder-skelator thin it appears). In only a couple of places is Carrie Bradshaw costumed believably for the character, and one of which is the wedding dress shoot for the onscreen "Vogue". And what was up with the GD bird on her head when she was dressed for her BIG wedding fiasco? Patricia Fields missed on the dressing for the movie. It's like she wanted the women to look ugly and uncomfortable. But if she did, Madam with the purple hair succeeded...just like the Opera length strand of pearls Carrie Bradshaw aported with everything (including wearing to bed)...it was a little too old sorority pledge pearls-with-T shirt-I -love-Delta-delta-delta....

So back to the movie: Charlotte gets preggers after not worrying about it anymore (and her adopted daughter "Lily" is a scene stealer as is Kristin Davis in general). Charlotte's life is believable and her character remains true to form.

Samantha Jones is also true to form and shows humanness, or femaleness by admitting she is gaining weight due to stress eating in an unfulfilled relationship with Smith the hottie. She also provides the parable/Aesop's fable that women have to be things for themselves, not craft their lives solely around others at expense of self. I totally dig that Samantha Jones rescues a little dog.

Miranda is still the unfortunate hard ass, but Cynthia Nixon has brought a new awkwardness to the role - she seems uncomfortable playing a straight woman now that she has "come out". I think Miranda should have "come out" as well. THAT would have been more realistic then the parochial Steve-as-schmuck-who-cheats scenario. And would you have forgiven Steve? But then again, weren't most of you over your bartender/waiter phase by 25 years of age?

Big, ahhh, Big. Have you ever had a Mr. Big in your life? Once upon a time I did, but I wouldn't have married him, nor stayed with him for as long as Carrie. But Chris Noth doesn't disappoint, and his character remains true even if some costumer made him look like an extra for the "Sopranos" with that black tie/black shirt/dark suit combo.


And Jennifer Hudson? So delightful, and because she is so delightful, why did she play a role that is reminiscent of Mammy to Miss Scarlett? And Candace Bergen? Was that really her or a man in drag impersonating her? What is wrong with her? She looked fat and awful didn't she? And my lovely Stanford? He was like an extra.

Don't misunderstand me, I adored the movie. But I do feel it could have been done better, and more realistically. It was a bit predictable: we all knew "Big" would get cold feet at a big wedding, and that everything would have been tied up in a neat package at the end. BUT what about Carrie as writer? You never saw her write anything, really. And as for the "Big" wedding fiasco, know what I would have preferred? I would have preferred that Big and Carrie have gone through with the "big" NY Public Library wedding and have seen more of the movie devoted to them coexisting as a married couple.

But you knew we had to have the Carrie and Big Break Up Drama. Carrie was achingly real during the break up part of the story line, as were her gal pals.


And when it comes down to it, that is the story: the love affair with NYC and the relationships of four women as friends. But I would have preferred a more adventuresome script. This Cosmo, in the end, while tasty was a little watered down...but Big was still delicious....and yes, sigh, the SATC junkie and me would see this movie a dozen more times just to soak it all in....

Alycia Lane is Like The Black Widow/Poison Ivy....or Somethin'

(First I would like to state that Alycia's replacement, Susan Barnett , is a pug nosed boob in the anchor chair...she is the one who routinely butchers names and pronunciations on the air with Kewpie doll meets Barbie Botox efficiency and she is one of the ones who mispronounced the now late Anne d'Harnoncourt's name today...)

Okay, so Alycia Lane is like a black widow spider or Poison Ivy take your pick....So first came the news that Booker got the boot:

"Q102 morning host Chris Booker was fired after today's show, along with co-host Angi Taylor and show producer Blaire Galaton. The station, which had recently demanded Booker play more music during the show, seeks to go to a more music-heavy format, we're told..... the mid-1990s will remain, and will serve in an unknown capacity at the station. Booker joined Q102 about two years ago and had a year left on his contract. Typically in radio if a host is fired on a management whim and not for any fault of his own, he would be paid out the life of his contract. Booker did not immediately return a request for comment this morning. Booker's girlfriend Alycia Lane, fired by CBS3 in January, is on a national search for a television job..."

Booker likes his Latinas - his last gal pal was a sister or relative of JLo apparently? But now, perusing Tony Phyrillas, I read the following:

Just when you thought it was safe to watch KYW Channel 3 Eyewitness News comes word that the FBI raided the home of news anchor Larry Mendte after his fired co-anchor, Latina bombshell Alycia Lane, complained that somebody hacked into her private e-mails.

The station's Web site describes Mendte as a "target" of the FBI investigation, according to The Associated Press....Lane you will recall was fired Jan. 1 from her $700,000-a-year newsreader job after she was charged with assaulting a New York City policewoman last December. The most serious of the charges were dropped by a judge. Lane has filed a lawsuit against the TV station claiming wrongful termination. She had three more years to go on her contract.

Mendte joined KYW 3 in July 2003. His new co-anchor since Lane's firing is the very blonde Susan Barnett, who was named Lane's replacement in April.

YIKES! Had to Google...had to:

Posted: Monday, 02 June 2008 6:42AM
Anchor Larry Mendte Off Air Pending Federal Probe
by KYW’s Jim Melwert

KYW says newscaster Larry Mendte won't be on the air "pending further investigation."

The CBS-owned station released a statement Sunday saying it's cooperating with an investigation by the US Attorney's office.

Mendte is under investigation by federal authorities according to his lawyer....says the investigation is a result of claims made by Alycia Lane who co-anchored with Mendte before she was fired in January.

Mendte's lawyer said earlier that FBI agents approached his client last Thursday and searched his home in connection with "claims made by Alycia Lane."

Lane's lawyer, Paul Rosen, has denied that his client had made "any claims involving anyone" and says the FBI decided what direction to take the investigation.

How does she turn hacking into e-mail an FBI case? Seriously? How many of you have had your computer comprimised? Did the FBI help you out? Very curious, and sounding oh so female vindictive bitchy...does Alycia need to chrun up the drama since she and her honey are unemployed?

Everyone should just stay away from her, right? Weird bad things follow her like a Storm cloud in a Peanuts cartoon...only worse...

FBI focus: Did Mendte blab about Lane e-mail?
The FBI is investigating whether the CBS3 anchor gossiped about messages from her lawyer.
By Michael Klein, John Shiffman and Andrew Maykuth
Inquirer Staff Writers

CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte opened former colleague Alycia Lane's private e-mail account hundreds of times over many months, sources told The Inquirer yesterday, and the FBI is investigating whether he passed on gossip about Lane to the media.

In part, federal officials are trying to determine whether Mendte intercepted communication between Lane and her lawyers about her lawsuit against CBS3, which fired her in January

.


Willdo: Radio Host Fired For First Time Ever

Chris Booker has been fired from his morning show drive-time job at Q102, the Inquirer reports in a rather huge headline on the front page of Philly.com currently. (The website also switched from a photo of Booker himself to one of him and girlfriend Alycia Lane. Good move!)...Booker told Mike Klein he was surprised: "I've been fired before for low ratings, but never for being No. 1."

John's Philadelphia / South Jersey Blog: Knowing Alycia Lane Can Be Dangerous to Your Job
Monday June 2, 2008

Do any of the rest of you know Alycia Lane? I met her a couple of times at press previews for new exhibits in the area, but I'm certainly glad that I can say I was not one of her friends or co-workers.

I found last year's story about Alycia's emails to the married guy in California kind of odd. I found the original story about the incident in New York City somewhat suspicious in that I found it hard to believe that Alycia would hit a police officer intentionally.

The story, however, just keeps getting stranger. It seems now that anyone who knows Alycia or worked closely with her has a pretty good chance of losing his job.

Just a week or so ago we learned that Alycia's boyfriend, Chris Booker, was booted as morning host at Q102. DJ changes in radio are not unusual, but it's rare that the guy who's number one in his timeslot is shown the door.....the FBI is investigating whether Alycia's CBS3 co-anchor Larry Mendte opened Alycia Lane's private Yahoo e-mail account and possibly leaked information he read about Alycia's private life and her suit against CBS3.

(All this happy news in Philadelphia the Goldfish Bowl almost made me miss Tatum O'Neal's drug bust today - wonder if she'll keep the FX "Rescue Me" gig?)

Au Revoir, Malhereusment: Anne d'Harnoncourt Dies Suddenly

If you live in the Philadelphia area, or are an art aficionado, you are undoubtedly reeling like I at the sudden death of Anne d'Harnoncourt of the Philadelphia Museum of Art...she made that meuseum what we know it as today...if I may be so bold, she rescued it from doom and boredom.

It is really sad when fabulous Philadelphians like this die....sigh...if Anne d'Harnoncourt had been at the helm of the Barnes, that b.s. dilemma probably would never have occured, eh? Anne had style and smarts and a big Julia Child laugh (some newscaster on KYW 1060 described her thusly today) - of course not one local T.V. reporter could properly pronouce her name...but then again half of them can't speak standard English and talk with their hands to the television audience like they are directing traffic....sweet dreams Anne...I didn't know you personally, but thought you were a class act.

Anne d’Harnoncourt, art museum director, dies at 64
By Peter Dobrin
INQUIRER CULTURE WRITER

Anne d'Harnoncourt, 64, the formidable, high-spirited personification of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and an indefatigable advocate for the arts as central to the city's identity, died Sunday night.

She died at her Center City home of an apparent stroke after a surgical procedure, said Art Museum chairman H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest.

"It's a shock and it's very sad. It's unimaginable - the museum world without her," said Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a friend and colleague for decades. "There's no question that she was one of the very few people at the very summit to whom all museum directors and curators would look up and consult. She was a very big influence on the international museum group that meets every year. She was just someone who made a difference wherever she went."

In Philadelphia, she made a very big difference. Twinning partnership skills with the aristocratic Robert Montgomery Scott, the pair took a slouching institution with aged facilities and questionable relevance and parlayed it into one of the most vital comprehensive art museums in the country.

"She was our de facto cultural leader, our rock," said Gov. Rendell...She was largely responsible for launching the city's modern concept of cultural tourism with a blockbuster 1996 Cezanne retrospective that drew nearly 800,000 viewers...A tall, handsome woman with a vocal range somewhere in the viola range, Miss d'Harnoncourt was born Sept. 7, 1943 in Washington D.C., a scion of an illustrious arts family that included a cousin from the Austrian side of the family, famed conductor Nikolas Harnoncourt, whom she called "Cousin Niky." She grew up an only child up in Manhattan, where her father, René d'Harnoncourt, a painter and expert in an expert on both Mexican and American Indian, was director the Museum of Modern Art.

She attended the exclusive Brearley School, and at Radcliffe...During her tenure, her staff produced major retrospectives on Brancusi, Barnett Newman and Dalí, as well as surveys on the Pennsylvania Germans and 18th century Rome....Donations in her memory may be made to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, P.O. Box 7646, Philadelphia, Pa., 19101-7646.

You know, if she dieddue to surgical complications, what hospital was she treated at? Also, the volunteer committees are a tad dysfunctional at PMA, but that woman made you forget all about it...what a tremendous loss.....


Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Dies Unexpectedly at 64
By ARTINFO
Published: June 2, 2008