Sarah Git Your Gun....McCain's Choice is Underwhelming For Women

photo courtesy of a cool Kodiak dude
Sarah Palin? Ya know what? I don't vote for prom queens. I could care less about the gun stuff and if she wants a moose burger God bless her, but when it comes to my body? My Body My Choice and that pretty much somes it up. What she does with her body is her choice, but her choice shouldn't have to be my choice...if she made it to Vice President it would be a blow to things like Roe v. Wade .

And apparently perkey Governor Sarah has been up to some dirty political doings in Alaska? Something about a little ol' ethics investigation?

Monegan says he was pressured to fire cop (7/19/08)
PALIN'S EX-BROTHER-IN-LAW: Former commissioner says governor's husband, others asked him to investigate trooper Wooten.
By MEGAN HOLLAND
mholland@adn.com
Published: July 19th, 2008 02:08 AM

Former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on Friday said that since Gov. Sarah Palin took office, members of her administration and family pressured him to fire a Palmer Alaska State Trooper to whom her sister was involved in a bitter child custody battle.

Monegan said phone calls and questions from the Palin administration and the governor's husband, Todd Palin, about trooper Mike Wooten started shortly after Monegan was hired and continued up to one or two months ago.

I think John McCain used speed dating to pick his choice for Vice President. (Or he's letting little johnny in his pants choose?) Face it, McCain had might as well concede now. The handwriting and hairspray is on the wall. I assume Tina Fey will be playing her in the Lifetime made for TV movie?

Palin will appeal to religious right zealots who probably feel my blog and snarcasim is sinful (high praise if so)...I just hope there are still enough Americans out there with sense?

Now here's the funniest Palin thing I have seen yet and it comes from the Borowitz Report:

August 29, 2008

McCain: Obama Lacks Experience Running 5,000-Person Town in Alaska

Extolls Veep Pick's Qualifications

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz)used the announcement of his vice-presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, to blast the experience of his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill), arguing that Sen. Obama has never been the mayor of a 5,000-person town.

"The Presidency of the United States of America is the toughest job on the planet," Sen. McCain said. "And my friends, the best testing ground for that job is being the mayor of a 5,000-person town in Alaska."

Sen. McCain unleashed a savage attack on Sen. Obama, claiming that his Democratic opponent would be "at a loss" when faced with the challenges of running a 5000-person municipality in Alaska.

"Let's say a constituent calls you and says that a caribou has wandered onto his front lawn," he said. "My friends, Barack Obama wouldn't know what to do."

He used the hypothetical situation to draw a sharp contrast with his vice-presidential choice: "Sarah Palin would take out her gun and shoot the caribou."

Mr. McCain said that an understanding of foreign affairs, Congress, and other issues that a president has to deal with is "overrated," adding, "That's what Presidency for Dummies' is for."

While saying that her "vast experience" was the main reason he selected Gov. Palin, Sen. McCain said that she also had the other three qualifications he was looking for in a vice president: "She is pro-life, pro-drilling, and willing to housesit."

Here's what the Swamp is saying:

Posted August 30, 2008 7:00 AM

by Jill Zuckman

DAYTON, Ohio -- On his 72nd birthday, Sen. John McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a little-known, tough-talking social conservative with corruption-fighting credentials, to be his running mate, rattling the dynamic of the presidential race.

Saying he has found "the right partner to help me stand up to those who value their privileges over their responsibilities," McCain introduced Palin, 44, the first female governor of Alaska, to a stadium filled with more than 12,000 exuberant voters Friday -- the largest crowd of his campaign.

She "knows what it's like to worry about mortgage payments and health care and the cost of gasoline and groceries," said McCain, who first met Palin in February. "And I am especially proud to say in the week we celebrate the anniversary of women's suffrage, ... a devoted wife and a mother of five."


With the surprise choice of Palin, McCain reached out to women voters, union members and people worried about the economy. He also reassured social conservatives and Evangelical voters with Palin's strong anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage stance.

But Bill Burton, a spokesman for Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, derided the pick, as did Democratic lawmakers and liberal interest groups, many of whom issued statements calling Palin's selection "a Hail Mary pass" and a sign of "political panic."

Here's an Alaska Blog I will be following: Kodiak Konfidential - News Opinion Wild Speculation:Where an Alaskan curmudgeon turns his jaundiced eye to life,
politics and society in Kodiak and around the state.

Here is what some of my faves are sayin':

Tony Phyrillas:

The phone was ringing off the hook at Chester County Republican headquarters Friday after Sen. John McCain announced his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president, county GOP officials report.

"We were swamped with telephone calls as soon as the announcement was made," Christine Thomas, executive director of the Republican Committee of Chester County, said in a written release. "This is a historic ticket. We received calls from Republicans, Democrats and Independents. The enthusiasm was amazing."

Uhhhh...Tony....you have lost me at "hello" on this one, and what did you expect to come out of the Chester County GOP home of Art "let the puppies die" Hershey?

PAWatercooler is being a little more circumspect...they are just putting it "out there"

Here and let's check out the New York Times:

News Analysis
Choice of Palin Is a Bold Move by McCain, With Risks
By PETER BAKER
Published: August 29, 2008

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain spent the summer arguing that a 40-something candidate with four years in major office and no significant foreign policy experience was not ready to be president.

And then on Friday he picked as his running mate a 40-something candidate with two years in major office and no significant foreign policy experience.

The selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska proved quintessentially McCain — daring, hazardous and defiantly off-message. He demonstrated that he would not get boxed in by convention as he sought to put a woman next in line to the presidency for the first time. Yet in making such an unabashed bid for supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, he risked undercutting his central case against Senator Barack Obama.

“Here’s what I’m worried about,” said Ed Rogers, a Republican lobbyist and former aide to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. “McCain had to protect his reputation as an opponent of status quo Washington. He had to pick someone with the shortest Washington résumé. He did that. He picked someone the right wing is going to be happy about. But it’s a gamble.”

“The question is,” Mr. Rogers continued, “what does it do to the argument that Obama’s not ready?”

Let's get real: McCain picked her because the old goat thinks he will be able to control her (doubtful), and because she comes from a part of the country up for grabs. Can we have religious right for breakfast, mommy dear, mommy dear? (With apologies to Supertramp...)

Local Blogger Jailed in China During Olympics

Man, they throw bloggers in jail and try to play "let's pretend" with the age of gymnasts....and then there was the little fake singing girl....nice people in that Chinese Govt, eh?

Posted on Tue, Aug. 26, 2008
Detained in Beijing, journalist talks about his ordeal
By Robert Moran
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Brian Conley, an independent journalist from West Philadelphia, knew he was taking a risk when he traveled to China to make videos of pro-Tibet protests during the Olympics.

The 28-year-old video blogger figured he might get caught, detained briefly, then be deported.

Well, he and five other Americans affiliated with the group Students for a Free Tibet got arrested.

But after a 22-hour, on-and-off interrogation, he was taken to jail far from the middle of Beijing and given an inmate's uniform.

"I realized, we're here for a while," said Conley today in a telephone interview from New York.

He was freed Sunday after six days behind bars.

The Chinese government had set-up special zones for people who wanted to demonstrate during the Olympic games, but no one had their applications approved. Two Chinese women in their late 70s were sentenced to a year of "re-education through labor" for applying too many times.

Critics have accused China of human-rights abuses in Tibet, which has been under a police and paramilitary crackdown since riots in March.

A member of Students for a Free Tibet asked Conley whether he would like to document pro-Tibet protests during the Olympics.

Conley has gained notice for his video blog called www.aliveinbaghdad.org, which has Iraqis recording everyday life.

Conley agreed to go to China and was joined by Jeffrey Rae, a New York photographer who is originally from Wayne. They arrived in Beijing on Aug. 10 and checked into the Bo Tai Hotel....Late that night or shortly after midnight, there was knocking on the door. It was the police. "I was told at the time they were investigating alleged threats against foreigners by other foreigners and by Chinese people," Conley recalled.

The police took everything Conley and Rae had in the room. After some driving around, Conley was taken to a nearby hotel and held in a conference room.

They kept asking: "Why are you in Beijing? What are you doing here? Who sent you here?"

He kept replying that he was a tourist. He acknowledged recording a protest but said he just happened to be there when it occurred...."My experience in China prior to that was great. Everyone was being friendly," he said. "But it was all kind of an illusion."

Conley said his treatment in China was "further indication of why I need to do this work."

See FreeTibet2008 or beijing6 for more - they also have a free tibet photo set on flickr

Checking out The DNC Via The Blogosphere

Ok, so I think that it is super cool that blogs have a place in this convention. I have two so far that I will be following locally:

Delco at the Democratic Convention
Gerald Lawrence blogs from the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Gerald Lawrence is a lawyer who lives on the Main Line, and friends tell me he may be some sort of political legacy making his own name? All I know is what he is writing is honest and heartfelt to the reader. He's writing like he's a wide eyed country boy in the big city for the first time, which I actually like.

The other blog, belongs to someone who is not a blog virgin and hopefully the blogosphere will be more kind this time?

Daylin's Daily Denver Digest

State Rep. Daylin Leach's blog thus far is quite humorous...hopefully people don't use this blog as an excuse to bring up the other blog from a long time ago - I say that issue is so blog tired it ain't worth it.

Now, I have to be honest, I wonder why we are having these conventions at all if everyone knows who it's gonna be at the end of the day? So I guess this is an excuse for guys and gals to get on their "best" behavior and party like rock stars? I will admit that while the RNC2000 in Philadelphia was cool, I never saw so many married men on the make as I did THAT week.

Here are some other things for you to read:
Blog Shack: At new media tent, words and beer flow freely
By Mary Anne Ostrom and Lisa Vorderbrueggen
Bay Area News Group
Article Launched: 08/26/2008 01:30:18 AM PDT

DENVER - Think of it as Animal House, but with a corporate sponsor. The free beer starts at 1 p.m. The couches are comfy. And the words flow from the Big Tent day and night.
Some 500 bloggers from Berkeley's Daily Kos to Susan "the Neon Nurse" from Lamar, Colo. (pop. 9,062), are crammed into what, it turns out, is a not-quite-big-enough tent to meet the crush of bloggers descending on Denver this week.

The two-story, 8,000-square-foot tent, a few blocks from the convention center where traditional media types are holed up, is advertised as new media central for the convention.

With sponsors including Google, YouTube and Digg, the Big Tent also underscores how the blogging community is going mainstream.

On Monday, visiting reporters had to pass through two check points after getting "press" credentials to cover the tent story. PR representatives milled among the bloggers, who scarfed down burrito lunches donated by a local restaurant. Sprint loaned Silicon Valley-based Momocrats broadband cards and AT&T gave them phones.

And what was on the tent's flat-screen TVs? CNN.

"It's old media meets new media. It's new media meets new media. I'm just here to meet somebody," laughed Matt Cooper, the former Time Magazine investigative reporter who blogs and writes for Portfolio, a national business magazine....Apple, Yahoo and Microsoft also are in Denver. But marketing-minded Google is making the biggest splash at both this week's Democratic convention and next week's meeting of Republicans in St. Paul. Google has teams of people encouraging delegates and bloggers to use an array of Google-owned technologies offered by YouTube, Blogger.com and Picasa, a photo service. Yahoo is hosting public policy forums with Democratic party leaders.

"Four years ago there was no YouTube," said Steve Grove, news and politics director of YouTube. "This time we have delegates uploading videos from the convention center." He also has won a coveted spot behind the convention podium from Denver where he intends to catch instant interviews of many of the convention's top draws and immediately post them.

Anyone with a phone could turn themselves into a citizen journalist. Sheila Dowd, a Momocrat from San Jose, on Monday was moving from event to event, eating up the opportunity, even though she would miss her 5-year-old's first day of kindergarten.

"We're tearing it up, using cool tools," Dowd reported, including Twitter and blogging software coveritlive.com.

While the tent has become a handy marketing tool for hot-tech companies, it also is providing an outlet for diverse blogging voices.

Jill Stanek is a conservative, anti-abortion blogger from Chicago. The Democratic convention organizers had turned down her credential request, but "I'm being treated cordially here," she said.

Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, is blogging from the Big Tent, too.

(Now I am pro-choice, but the DNC is stacking the blogger deck by not allowing conservative bloogers, aren't they?)





Washington Times:Bloggers get credentials, report from media center
Karen Goldberg Goff Tuesday, August 26, 2008

DENVER | A mere four years ago, just three dozen bloggers were allowed access to the Democratic National Convention, relegated to a spare corner with a couple of card tables to call their work space.


A blogger uses a webcam to record happenings at the Democratic National Convention on Monday at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The convention has credentialed 120 bloggers for regular media access. (Getty Images)

Times have changed.

At the 2008 convention here, several hundred bloggers have a two-story media center, parties to attend and their own panel discussions, including "Who's Driving Whom?: The Blogosphere vs. the Mainstream Media."

That's a good question. Never have so many members of the nontraditional media gathered to observe, criticize, upload video, air audio and have their voices heard in cyberspace. And because the mainstream media have gotten into the blogging act within the past four years, the line between a blogger and a reporter can be a fuzzy one.

"Traditional media and new media have blurred boundaries," said Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association. "The future logical conclusion is that it will be one big thing."

For now, the biggest differences are the perspectives and the story length, said Joseph Graf, an assistant professor of communications at American University who studies blogs and politics. Bloggers who captain their own sites tend to report from a particular perspective, be it liberal, conservative or gender politics. Posts may be much shorter than typical newspaper stories, but they also are more likely to be passionate or inspire readers to take political action.

"Bloggers have an important role," Mr. Graf said. "In some cases, major media have co-opted blogging. But bloggers for mainstream media sites don't bring the attitude of independent bloggers."

Clearly, the corporate and political worlds are recognizing the power of the blogger. The Democratic convention has credentialed 120 bloggers for regular media access at the convention. More than 3,000 applied for 500 spots in the Big Tent, the 8,000-square-foot blogger media center constructed in Denver's lower downtown for the convention. About 200 bloggers will attend next week's Republican National Convention.

The Big Tent is sponsored by sites Google and Digg as well as the liberal blog Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com). Bloggers pay $100 for access to the tent, which features food and beverages, massages and comfy couches.

Bloggers and 'Qikkers' Amplify New Media Voice at The Democratic National Convention
Content syndication widgets from NewsGator consolidate blog posts and mobile phone video streams, presenting ultimate source for unfiltered convention action
Last update: 12:36 p.m. EDT Aug. 25, 2008

DENVER, Aug 25, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- As bloggers and video bloggers gain influence over presidential politics, the electorate has a fresh way of tracking their portrayal of this week's Democratic National Convention in real time. Denver-based NewsGator Technologies is aggregating new media feeds in content syndication widgets especially for the convention, enabling any individual, media company, webmaster or social network to freely grab and plug the widget into their own site. These widgets are views into the real action at the convention from an aggressively unfiltered perspective.

The "NewsGator Big Tent Widget" http://www.bigtentdenver.org is a Web-based window that captures, consolidates and displays blog posts (RSS feeds) the instant authors publish them. The widget will show the latest content first, with priority on hot topics and popular blogs. Anyone can grab the widget with a single click and share it with readers, viewers, and friends, or just keep it on their personal start page. The widget is named for the Big Tent new media center built for the convention.

The "Qik Convention Widget" http://qik.com/dncwidget is a similar content syndication app that consolidates and streams live video as mobile phone users capture it using Qik's phone-to-web service. Qik enables some of the world's most immediate and dramatic citizen journalism, and Qikkers were instrumental in breaking stories in Beijing during the Olympics.

Oh and I want to hear from people who know about Hillary's "PUMA" people - PUMA is apparently an acronym for Party Unity My Ass.

They have their own blog, these "cougars" do: P.U.M.A/Party Unity My A…

Hopefully these PUMAs won't embarass themselves like all those pathetic Main Line Cougars who bar stalk younger guys for sport. Because Main Line Cougars, you are so pathetic you deserve to be an endangered species.

PUMAs On The March
By Ryan Grim
Aug 25, 2008

(The Politico) DENVER -- A crowd of about three dozen women and one man are marching down 16th Street in support of Hillary Clinton, chanting "No we won't," "18 million votes" and "No secret ballot."

A group of local Denver residents stop to cheer them on. "Yeah, don't cave!" shouts a self-described Republican named George. "Go Hillary!" The marchers, who say they are affiliated with PUMA Pac, cheer in response.

Salon:Angry PUMAs on the prowl in Denver
They don't care if they make Chris Matthews happy, or if they make Hillary Clinton look bad. They don't even care that she wants them to stop.

By Rebecca Traister

Aug. 26, 2008 | DENVER -- "This is where you see the civil war!" burbled Chris Matthews, experiencing near-asphyxiatory pleasure on an outdoor stage in the sweltering Denver heat, while behind him two competing groups, Obama supporters and the PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) backers of Hillary Clinton, chanted "Obama! Obama!" and "Hillary! Hillary!" at each other. Matthews looked as though he might wet himself as a camera panned the crowd, and he declared, "We're at ground zero!"

Actually, he was about six blocks away from the Pepsi Center, the crowd behind him was probably no more than a hundred strong, and at least one of them was dressed as a toilet, (a gesture that seemed to have nothing to do with Clinton or Obama). But this is how media fantasy gets made, a miniature tableau of political discord, played out in front of a couple of well-placed television cameras and a television host who finds fetishistic, hyperbolic meaning in everything having to do with the defeated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her still-sore supporters.

Whether they knew it or not, the PUMAs who had congregated next to the MSNBC stage were making the night of the man who has done everything in his power to destroy their purported heroine. They held aloft Clinton signs and hand-markered cards reading "Stop Delegate Intimidation!" and "South Jersey PUMA." At one point, three women and three men holding "McCain" signs started a melodic chorus of "Clintons for McCain, sweetie, Clintons for McCain, sweetie," in reference to Barack Obama's bad habit of referring to women by that diminutive. Next to them, a man in an Obama hat shouted, "You're all irrelevant! Jesus!"

But irrelevant is not how the protesters will be portrayed by a media that has been salivating over the possible disruption of the Democratic convention -- by angry, broom-riding succubi! -- for weeks. Never mind that there were probably no more than 50 shouting PUMAs.

Now if only Hillary ever looked so good Bill might not have gotten interested in cheap blue dresses- I found "PUMA Art": Wow...a cult following....oh and so y'all get some learnin' done today this is what a "Cougar" is:

Cougar : An older woman who frequents clubs in order to score with a much younger man. The cougar can be anyone from an overly surgically altered wind tunnel victim, to an absolute sad and bloated old horn-meister, to a real hottie or milf. Cougars are gaining in popularity -- particularly the true hotties -- as young men find not only a sexual high, but many times a chick with her sh*t together.

Oh meow! Cougars must be PUMAs...LOL..on the Main Line someone said a lot of Cougars hang at Flemings? Read about Cougars here....and now back to the DNC...and maybe a PUMA thing or two more for a giggle:

More Puppy Mill Hell: This Time in West Virginia

I saw a report on Fox News and NBC10 this afternoon. About a puppy mill operation that was busted and 1000 dogs and puppies rescued. A lot seem to be dachshunds. And all these dogs have lived their lives in cages - can you imagine? You know what happens when they come out of these cages? Even adult dogs need to learn how to walk. And these owners, Sharon and Edwin Roberts have operated this HUGE puppy mill since 1961! Are they Amish or Mennonite? People are saying no, which means that those who are using that premise to advocate for NOT passing PA's puppy mills (like Art Hershey), have lost an argument.

We need more of a sweeping national and federal set of reforms when it comes to these puppy mills, because a lot of times these puppy mill operators simply pull up stakes and relocate elsewhere - much like that asshat from Oxford, PA Michael Wolf, who has now relocated to either North or South Carolina. Has anyone bothered to check up to see if he is doing it all over again?

So, this is why bloggers like Dog Politics, The American Sporting Dog Alliance, The Sporting Dog Defense Coalition, and many more piss me off to no end. These measures currently being discussed in PA don't discriminate against the Amish and Mennonites, and any group AGAINST the PA Legislation isn't against it for the welfare of the dogs, it is for their own selfish reasons (and I dare you losers to comment on this - bring it)

(I will note that the PA Federation of Sportsmens Club has a comprehensive write up HERE)

It's all crap. We need reforms to protect dogs in Pennsylvania and this country.

Check out the articles on the West Virginia situation, which is truly sickening:

FOXNEWS.COM HOME > U.S.
About 1,000 Dogs Rescued From West Virginia Kennel
Monday, August 25, 2008

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — The longtime owner of a Parkersburg-area dog kennel has surrendered her approximately 1,000 dogs to humane officials after authorities executed a search warrant on the property over the weekend.

Sharon Roberts, who has operated Whispering Oaks Kennels since 1961, also agreed never to operate a dog-breeding business again.

"They said 'If you don't voluntarily give up the dogs, we will arrest you and put you in jail and charge a fine for each dog here,"' Roberts told The Associated Press Monday. "What would you do?"

Authorities said the dogs were never let out of their cages and rarely, if ever, touched by a human being.

Roberts, however, disputes those allegations.

"How can you raise dogs without worming them and vaccinating them, trimming their toenails and grooming them?"

"We petted them and played with them and held them," she said. "They rode around on a golf cart with us. They were very well socialized."

Humane Society rescuers said the dogs, mostly adult purebred dachshunds, stumble when they try to walk on grass, tile or carpet because they've spent their entire lives on wire mesh floors.

"Imagine you live your entire life inside your house — one room inside your house — and you never leave it," Maryann Hollis, director of the Humane Society of Parkersburg, told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel for Monday's edition. "Once a week, somebody dropped groceries at your door. That's what life was like for these dogs — just one room, wire mesh, and you pooped where you slept."

HSUS >> HSUS in the Field >> HSUS Disaster Center >> Disasters Latest News
1,000 Freed from W.Va. Puppy Mill
August 24, 2008

Yesterday morning in Parkersburg, W.Va., a cycle of animal abuse that lasted nearly two decades was finally broken. Local authorities raided the Whispering Oaks Kennel and found one of the most prolific puppy mills in the state's history.

By the end of the day nearly 1,000 neglected and abused dogs were freed from the horrendous industry that traps hundreds of thousands of dogs in a dismal cycle of suffering.

Also see Wayne Pacelle: a Humane Nation

Huge puppy mill shut down in Parkersburg
By Scott Finn

RESCUE ME

If Ron Hershey is Related to Art Hershey , Do PA Dogs Need Another Hershey in Harrisburg?

The puppy mill cheerleader Art Herhsey is not running for reelection it seems. Probably because he knows he wouldn't win. But Ron Hershey, who IS a relative of Art's IS running.

PA is having enough problems with Puppy Mills without lengthening the Hershey legacy, eh? And he is not so independent, either, is he? Where does RON Hershey stand on Puppy Mills and the current pending legislsation that his relative is trying to kill?

Nationally, we made the mistake of a Bush too many...maybe Chester County should avoid a similar mistake with another Hershey?

Posted on Wed, Aug 20, 2008
Independent joins race
By Marcella Peyre-Ferry; Special to Oxford Tribune

Ron Hershey, a distant relative of State Rep. Art Hershey, joins the candidate race.An independent candidate with a familiar name will be on the November ballot for the 13th District state House seat.

Fighting for the seat occupied by longtime state Rep. Art Hershey, who is not seeking re-election, will be Oxford Borough Councilman Ron Hershey. Also running are Democrat Thomas Houghton of London Grove and Republican John A. Lawrence of Kemblesville.

"I don't think that will hurt me, although it might hurt me with some Democrats," said new candidate Ron Hershey. "Locally, here where I'm known in the Oxford area, my name will be recognized. At the other end of the district, I don't know how will they know me."

A distant relative of the 25-year Republican representative, Ron Hershey may have the same last name, but he was elected to his borough post as a Democrat and switched party affiliation to independent in February before collecting signatures to be placed on the ballot.

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Explaining why he has chosen to joint he race at this point, Ron Hershey said, "I enjoy politics, and it's crossed my mind before. The ideal time would have been two years from now, but since Art is retiring, it's now. I think I can be a good candidate for this district."

Ron Hershey, 50, is a self-employed contractor with a small retail business in Australian wear. Married 20 years, he and his wife, Shirley, have three daughters: Elizabeth, 13; Sarah, 11; and Anna, 5.

He is a graduate of Oxford Area High School and attended classes in science and government and international relations at Lincoln University in the early 1990s.

Running as an independent could make his battle tougher, or it could be an advantage....."A lot of people are happy there's an alternative," he said. "I feel very comfortable as an independent and don't have to toe the party line. I think that it's an asset that I'll be new and not being tied to a party at this point is an asset." Hershey said a new face can appeal to more people.

"I think they're looking for somebody like them, somebody that's down to earth and on their level - just a good person."

Hershey describes himself as a moderate.

"You need to bring things closer to the middle and compromise," he said.

While collecting signatures door to door, Hershey said, he found people seem to be most concerned about property taxes and open space....If he should win election, he plans to continue some of his predecessor's policies.

"Art, over the years, he's always been available to his constituents, and I'd like to continue that," he said. "I think if I went as an independent I'd get their attention. As an independent, I guess some of the parties would come after my vote."

Like Art Hershey, Ron Hershey is a supporter of agriculture, having worked as a herdsman on a dairy farm for 10 years.

"I would certainly support agriculture. I've been involved in agriculture most of my life," he said.

Hershey said he hopes to have a website soon, but for now he can be reached at 610.405.4733

Art Hershey Is An Unfeeling Dog Hater

Art Hershey, you sicken me. You are a State Rep. From Chester County and a Farmer, but you were elected to represent more than select factions. You ignore letters from concerned Pennsylvanians over the Puppy Mill Bills, so I have decided to get your name out there on the web a little bit more.

People out there, this is ART HERSHEY:

This is what Art Hershey wants to protect:


Want to contact Art Hershey and tell him he is an inhumane asshat for trying to kill this legislation by burying it in nonsensical amendments? Herre:

Go to Art Hershey's website www.arthershey.com. Make sure you check out his hypocritical "pet tip" link - what a jackass.

Rep. Arthur Hershey
13th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
(610) 593-6565
(717) 783-6435
www.ArtHershey.com
Contact: Tricia Lehman
House Republican Public Relations
(717) 772-9840
www.pahousegop.com

Don't forget ArtTV

For more on Puppy Mill Bills check this LINK

Read this press release that was about animal cruelty that occured right in Art Hershey's own backyard: CHESTER COUNTY KENNEL PLEADS GUILTY TO DOG LAW AND CRUELTY VIOLATIONS, SURRENDERS DOGS July 25, 2008

Also read this press release:

SECRETARY WOLFF: PENDING LEGISLATION WOULD HAVE SAVED DOGS KILLED BY BERKS KENNEL OWNERS
Current Law Allows Commercial Breeders to Shoot Dogs

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff released the following statement in response to the shooting of 80 dogs at two Berks County kennels:

“The recent shooting of 80 dogs at two Berks County kennels is saddening. The decision by commercial breeders to kill healthy dogs instead of paying to repair a kennel and seek veterinary care is alarming, and will likely outrage many people. Unfortunately, the killing of the dogs was legal under current Pennsylvania law.

“The two kennels involved have both voluntarily closed, but until our state’s outdated dog law is changed kennel owners may continue to kill their dogs for any reason they see fit, even if it is simply to save money. We can’t afford to wait any longer to pass legislation that would ban commercial kennel owners from killing their dogs.

“House Bill 2525, introduced in May, would allow only veterinarians to euthanize dogs in commercial breeding kennels. The bill would strengthen current dog laws and provide better standards for the health and safety of dogs in commercial breeding kennels without burdening other types of kennels that house dogs. The legislature has an opportunity to pass this important legislation this fall, and they should -- as doing so will assure that this activity will be illegal in PA commercial breeding kennels moving forward."

Rather than seek medical attention for dogs suffering from fleas and fly sores, kennel owners Ammon and Elmer Zimmerman of Kutztown shot all 80 of their dogs to save costs. The Zimmermans, owners of A&J Kennel and E&A Kennel, voluntarily surrendered their licenses on July 29 after killing the dogs.

Dog wardens inspected E&A Kennel on July 24, noting several violations for kennel sanitation and maintenance. Wardens also noted fleas and fly sores on 39 of the dogs and ordered veterinary checks. Wardens issued four citations for violations and planned to confirm the veterinary checks during a follow-up inspection. The wardens were notified on July 29 that the owners of both kennels chose to destroy the dogs and dismantle the kennels.

For more information on House Bill 2525, visit www.DogLawAction.com

And Art The Fart? Check out these videos where they talk all about you - I got a YouTube update a few hours ago:





(You have to turn the volume up loud - the sound is off on these)

Amanda Kaletsky Opens For Coldplay

Sigh...I can say I saw her at local coffee houses...and now she's opening for Coldplay. Wow!

Comcast, You Greedy Bastards

I hope the Roberts clan chokes on fois gras somewhere...NBC10 is reporting that Comcast is charging Conshohcken fire victims from Riverwalk for burned up equipment. Note to Comcast: errr you should be sending the bill to the property owners not the tenants. You total ASSHATS!

NBC10:Comcast Charging Residents For Equipment Lost In Condo Fire

Some of the fire victims from the Riverwalk at Millenium condominium complex are concerned they may have more to deal with.

They're telling NBC10 and the property management of the apartment complex that Comcast is going to charge residents to replace any cable boxes destroyed in the fire.

We reached out to Comcast and the company says it's true....Fire victims will have to cover the cost, but that residents should get reimbursed by their insurance companies, whether they are renters or homeowners.

How much will fire victims have to pay?

Comcast says, “We don't share specific information about our costs, but they can vary depending on the type of box - HD boxes, Digital Video Recorder, etc. We're doing all we can to accommodate our customers who were affected by the fire.”

Perhaps Seeking Solutions With Suzanne can find a better one?

Have a heart Comcast..oh that's right, you are a utility company so it's not possible....

Conshohocken Fire Uh Ohhs Keep Piling ON...and ON...and ON

More, more, more....

CBS3 New Revelations Emerge In Apartment Inferno

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (CBS 3) ― Owners and borough officials were alerted more than two years before the catastrophic Riverwalk inferno that there was a lack of sprinkler protection, an investigation revealed.

The enormous 8-alarm inferno erupted at the Riverwalk at Millennium luxury apartment complex in Conshohocken on August 13, destroying two buildings and damaging several others.

In the wake of the massive blaze, CBS3 has obtained the first access to a trail of permits, inspection reports and violation notices going back to when construction on the complex was first beginning nearly five years ago....In a report dated December 3, 2006, a line from a report read in part: "In attic there is no fire protection at all."

Another dated June 16, 2006, read: "Bldg. completely sprinklered/attic is wood but has no sprinklers at all?"

In March 2006, another reports read in part: "Attic is not protected. No sprinkler, heat det./smoke det. - wood frames and paneling."....The documents showed the builders obtained what is called a "code variance" meaning under the new code that they were permitted to build under, sprinklers in the attics were not required.

The developer nor borough or state officials did not offer any comment

And high five to this blog post (see all comments - VERY interesting)- CLICK HERE

The plot thickens and Miss Marple will be coming out of retirement on this one I think....But I have to ask, is Conshocken Borough trying to dish developer dirt to deflect attention from their hallowed borought halls?

I still can't believe this article from 2007:

Portsmouth arson ruled out
01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, September 20, 2007
By Richard Salit Journal Staff Writer

Also see this firefightingnews

And this thing I googled:

January 16, 2007
Mass appeals to save our Alewife wild
by Ian Marvinney

So...while officials try to wash their hands of this one, I hope the media keeps it alive. I do believe codes and a borough are at fault as well...I am no legal beagel, but seriously? It's not rocket science to look at how things came to be...somebody or more apporpriately, several somebodies approved this...was Conshohocken so desperate for new living spaces they rushed? Makes you wonder about those other new apaprtments or townhomes across Fayette on the other side of Elm, huh?

Inside Today's Bulletin
Conshohocken Fire Ruled As Accidental
By: Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
08/19/2008


The tenants have formed an association and are up on Facebook under Riverwalk Tenants Network

Oh and then I also discovered this:

ConshyCares

All because someone sent me this:
Tenants of Riverwalk Apartments Form Association
© Business Wire 2008
2008-08-18 22:54:02

The Riverwalk Tenants Network Press inquiries: Anthony J. DeFazio, 484-532-7783 tony@defaziocommunications.com Tenants of the Riverwalk at Millennium, the $51 million luxury apartment complex in Conshohocken, PA, have announced today the formation of an association that will organize and advocate on behalf of the interests of residents displaced by the August 13th fire. The Riverwalk Tenants Network will establish an online forum for tenants to share updates and challenges with the progress of their reclamation efforts and provide a unified voice for tenants to communicate with key stakeholders.

The Riverwalk Tenants Network will reconnect friends and neighbors in the community and identify challenges as well as success stories associated with progress of their efforts to reclaim possessions, file insurance claims and secure legal as well as psychological services. The organization will also communicate short and long term occupancy needs of residents of the two unaffected buildings to business, legislative and non-profit service providers as well as serve as a liaison to property management and various ownership entities.

As many as 375 tenants who formed the backbone of Riverwalk Apartments, a tight knit residential community that is part of a master planned "work, live and play" neighborhood along a one mile stretch of the Schuylkill River, were rendered homeless after a massive fire engulfed the complex forcing hundreds to seek alternative housing and supplies for five days. As many as 180 residents who have been permanently displaced at two of the buildings are still residing in hotels and/or living with family and friends in the surrounding area.

The organization has set up a user group under the name Riverwalk Tenants Network on the popular social networking site Facebook (www.facebook.com) to gather names and build an archive of stories. There, tenants can join the group and list concerns while reconnecting with friends and associates. The organization will utilize the forum to communicate updates and help people come together, regroup and rebuild their lives. It also plans to hold an in-person meeting Thursday, August 21st to support organizing efforts and develop an agenda.

For more information about the Riverwalk Tenants Network, please contact Tony DeFazio at DeFazio Communications, 484-532-7783 or tony@defaziocommunications.com

Checking Main Line Art Scene And Attitudes

One of the things I love most on the Main Line is the Wayne Art Center. They have really cool programs, their gallery shows are great - for example I really enjoyed the 2008 Plein Air - it was fabulous. Here are some of my faves from that:
And I have a few artist friends that participate in shows. And the Wayne Art Center really has fun classes and nice instructors - great kids and teens programs and they have a gift shop.

But that isn't the only Art Center I haunt on the Main Line. There is also the Main Line Art Center

From an aesthetic standpoint, I actually prefer the architecture of the Main Line Art Center (cool old mansion house), but it doesn't have the same feel as the Wayne Art Center. The Wayne Art Center is like a well oiled tank run by pleasant people. The Main Line Art Center always seems disorganized and the crabby person I always see scurrying about with messy looking hair is apparently the Art Center Director. I am not going to name names, but I have been to some of their shows as well, and one time when I had interaction with her I thought, well, she was exceedingly unpleasant. Unpleasantness, the pervasive feeling of chaos, and art are not a recipe for success, are they?

The best times to be had at Main Line Art Center is to attend their craft show around the holidays and their members and faculty exhibitions. The place also acts like a shell for other events. But again, attitude is everything. If the people felt more welcoming, well I would go more often I think. And what is with the front door? Sometimes it isn't open and you have to go around the side.

And another thing I want to look at is the Bryn Mawr Film Institute

I love the Bryn Mawr Movie Theater and I love the fact that people got together to save it, and people are going to think I a, being bitchy, but I have to ask:

Why is their ladies room always so dingy, dirty and smelling of well..urine?

And why is the place always seem so dirty? I go there often to see movies and I could get past the uncomfortable seats and having my toes run over by the executive director when she flies down the aisle at warp speed in her chair if the friggin' ladies room was ever clean. I am sorry, but dirty bathrooms in public places just skeeve me out.

I have also gone to their benefits. Great parties, but honestly, I always end up hanging with the people we attend with because the actual film institute people are rather insular. And one time I made the mistake of congratulating that executive director on a fabulous event - it was a casino theme - "Casino Royale" - and well, I love James Bond so I thought it was terrif. I happened to pass by the director woman, so I leaned down to tell her "great party". She looked at me and wheeled away. I didn't expect her to throw her arms around me, but the abruptness was a little disarming in a negative way. Those tickets were kinda pricey. A friendly smile would have sufficed....

The only theatre thing I can compare Bryn Mawr Film Institute to is People's Light and Theatre Company in Malvern.

Well, it's a different kind of theater, but you know what? It's a nicer place to be. People's Light is a class act all the way. I just love an excuse to go there...it's always a wonderful experience, and much like the Wayne Art Center, the people are just nice.

So I don't know. Maybe some locales come with a certain kind of attitude. Maybe that is why I support the Pennsylvania Ballet and avoid the losers at the Philadelphia Orchestra like the plague. I don't know I just get tired of the Orchestra constant cold calls and mailings for money when they don't really issue an annual report, combined with the fact that they ever hired that Star Trek -esque arch obnoxious Maestro, Christoph Eschenbach with his Nehru collars that looked liek they escaped from an insane asylum for Members Only Jackets. I don't care if he is leaving, he's what made me stop going to concerts. Along of course with the we'll take any volunteer housewife if they have a big checkbook attached attitude towards volunteerism. Taking everyone has worked against them...Those volunteers plan the dumbest most boring parties - doesn't matter if they are individual committee events or things like Opening Night, which this year is October 4th, so haven't they already "opened" at this point? Opening Night used to be the bomb, but the past few years it has bombed. This year I don't expect any better. And it's so like a corporate write off with all these corporations buying tables and the people representing the corporations don't know concert or even basic etiquette and look, well, uncomfortable in their finery at their corporate tables....Fortunately for me, I already have several somethings to do on October 4th...one is to attend Chester County Day. Another great event not spoiled by mean people who have had too many nips and tucks....

When You Think of The Fire In Conshohocken, Remember the Face of Tilly

It's the whole pet thing. I just can't not get schmoopy and sad when I see those pet owners on TV pleading to search for their pets. I just can't blame them. Pennsylvania drives me crazy because dogs are just property - like an ear of corn to a farmer, or a pair of shoes to the average consumer. Pets are more than a possession...they are part of our families and for the unconditional love our pets give to us, well, who can blame these poor people? So when people are talking about the fire remember this face:This is Tilly, or Matilda, and she survived the Conshohocken Fire

I swear I had tears running down my face when I saw the reunion:


So here's the latest: a lawyer named Robert Mongeluzzi has indeed filed a class action lawsuit as per the DelcoTimes. I Googled the guy and chasing construction cases is his specialty apparently. Never heard of him. Of course I think that Montco DA Risa Vetri Ferman's spankin new Political Corruption Unit might wish to take a look at Conshy and what Margaret Gibbons sagely refers to as "The Kingdom", just for fun, don't you think so too? Or should she just go municipality by municipality, borough by borough and be done with it? Eeegads! I digress....so back on topic: Conshy fire.

Lots of residents on TV say they might be moving. Can't say I blame them. Living near a construction site would be bad enough, but living there knowing what happened and that you came close to that? Yikes.



Class-action suit filed in massive Conshy fire
By the Delco Times Staff 08/18/2008

A lawyer Monday announced he had filed a class-action lawsuit in response to the massive fire that destroyed a Conshohocken apartment complex last week.

Robert Mongeluzzi held a press conference to say that five people have already signed on the suit, which names the firm working on new construction at the site. Hudnreds of people were left homeless in the blaze.

Mongeluzzi specifically criticized use of an acetylene torch in the construction process

It is believed many more victims of the fire will likely sign on the lawsuit.

Return to Riverwalk
By: MATT BRETZIUS, Times Herald Staff08/18/2008

CONSHOHOCKEN - After several days of questions and overflowing emotions, Sunday promised a return to some sort of normalcy at the Riverwalk at Millennium apartment complex, as a number of residents were allowed to return to their homes for the first time since Wednesday's fire.

Residents of buildings two and three were able to permanently move back in, after registering with a checkpoint outside the complex.

"Today is just a day to welcome back the residents," said Lauren McDonald, manager of communications for Bozutto Management. "It seems that the vast majority of residents who are moving back in feel extremely lucky and relieved. Their apartments are in extremely good shape considering the scale of the fire."

McDonald said the move-in was an orderly process that started at 10 a.m., with residents living on the first floor of either building coming in first. The second floor move-in was set for 11 a.m., while the third and fourth floors were scheduled for noon and 1 p.m. respectively.

Many locks and doors in buildings two and three were damaged upon being forced open to search for people and pets, but temporary locks have been installed, and doors and hardware are to be replaced very soon.

Residents who lived in the heavily-damaged buildings one and four met Friday night to learn the fate of their homes.

Question: Was there any looting of damaged apartments or was that just a rumor?

Posted on Mon, Aug. 18, 2008
Back home to pick up the pieces after blaze
Residents return to Conshohocken apartment complex on salvage missions.
By Matt Katz
Inquirer Staff Writer

The lucky ones returned yesterday morning to throw out stinky food from their refrigerators, reset the flashing "12:00" on their clocks, and unpack after four nights away.
They were happy to be home, but they also took time to peer over at the remains of the two severely damaged buildings at Conshohocken's Riverwalk at Millennium complex and wonder about what could have been.

"You almost feel guilty for feeling happy that it didn't affect you," said Preston Moritz, 37, whose two-bedroom apartment was unscathed by Wednesday's fire along the Schuylkill.

The eight-alarm blaze started in a building under construction and destroyed two others, causing up to an estimated $80 million in damages. The fire smoldered for days and struck a blow to the revitalization of the borough.

Moritz said it was simply random that eight months ago he rented a unit in one of two buildings that were spared, just yards from a building that is now uninhabitable.

"It's these things in life, these innocuous things in life, that change everything," he said.....Elected officials are scheduled to tour the site this afternoon.

Oh and here is the website for that Bozzuto Management and a memo they have posted on Riverwalk:

Bozzuto: Attention Riverwalk Residents

And here is the Riverwalk at Millenium website: Riverwalk - check out the floor plans. Pretty pricey for Conshy, eh? I notice that they have not listed the fire in their recent press releases, eh? And nothing acknowledging it on the O'Neill site, either? It happened, right? Why not even a tasteful yet brief release acknowledging event and that they are there for people or something? Yikes! Yet the latest release I see is something for LLBean? Wow. Hey - chekc out their residential page for projects in the works and wonder like me which ones will be built in a similar fashion to Riverwalk? Like this Mill Creek thing? Or the Rock Hill thing?

Oh eeek! Bad form: the "Stables" little web page is still up.

One little tiny detail: don't Acetylene Torches have more than one valve? So are they saying that the torch was left on, or it was just there and hot and caused a fire?

Here are 2 things on torches:

Oxy-Acetylene Torch and Oxy-fuel welding and cutting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors....

....unfortunately my fence is not tall enough...

So my little slice of heaven is ideal: old homes (which I love), gardens full of tumbling flowers, the sound of children playing (we have lots of the cutest kids ever on our street and surrounding roads, lanes, etc.)

Unfortunately, have you heard the old adage "good fences make good neighbors"? Yep, 6 feet is definitely too short when I am dealing with my rear yard neighbor whom I will call "Hot Tub Johnny" or HTJ.

Hot Tub Johnny got the house and his ex-wife got a new husband...I don't think he ever got over it. He's a nice guy, but the millennium means that HTJ has discovered Match.com and various other sites (one site ultimately rejected him, I can't remember which, but I was chewing the inside of my mouth when he told my beloved over a beer one time - it was like that commercial).

Our back meets his at a slightly odd angle...and after we lived through his I- hate-all- women-pony-tail-and-Harley days, followed by his sports car days, he got a hot tub. Then he started Internet dating. It's been downhill ever since...

His hot tub isn't so close that it should bother us, but his back yard is like naked acres with one of those motion detector spotlights. And some of his gals have performed late at night for the whole neighborhood...from the big haired Jersey girl who got ditched when she thought they were getting serious because he wanted her help picking out an armoire to the bad whiskey and cigaretted drunken voiced chain smoking "Moan-a" - You can guess why we called her Moan-a, right? HTJ is a LITTLE hard of hearing and they would tie a load on and well, the rest is history.

Moan-a got the boot after what most in the neighborhood believed was a short lived engagement, and there have been miscellaneous female sightings ever since- it's a hot topic when HTJ has a date- they arrive for a try out, most never return after one night. But now, he's started importing. We had a couple other Jersey gals, but today, today the import came all the way from Alabama. Yes, Alabama - I saw when my BFFs and I were out for a good walk with hot gossip on a nice day (I'll fess up, we were checking out an open house in the 'hood- it'll never sell at that price, but anyway, back to the topic at hand: HTJ). He must like this one because the bad movie soundtrack music is wafting over the lawn and I can see the grill starting up. Guess he wants to give a down home gal some BBQ. Anyway, HTJ is a nice neighbor with interesting tastes and I guess he's lookin' for love, which is human, but every once in a while I have to be utterly female and give a critique. Maybe I am getting a little too old for the live porn courtesy of his hot tub...I don't care what he does ya' know? I just don't want to see or hear it....if my fence could only be over 6 feet and if only his home wasn't situated slightly higher than ours...

Now, at least he's harmless...some of my other neighbors are terrific too, except there are a LOT of very bored stay at home mommies with too much time on their hands. And what bugs me about them is how they all boss their hubbies around when they sit on their arses all day. Oh yes, I know the stay at home mommies union is going to set out with a lynch mob against me, but these moms aren't hard cases - they all have day nannies, ooodles of babysitters, and live-in nannies. These women have nothing to do all day but think up something to whine about when their dearests come home...I just don't get that, is all. Nor do I get their need to be on cell phones at all times, even when they are talking to someone in front of them (I find that the height of rudeness)...of course my favorite with the 10 for high degree of difficulty is when they get in the mom-arks (SUVs and minivans) and drive and text and yell at their kids while juggling a hot skim latte...that is amazing...of course occasionally they take out oncoming traffic or a neighbors hedge, but hey...mommy's gotta do what mommy's gotta do...

However, the mommies are getting a new addition - someone I thought we would never see again after she found sucker number two and moved to a community more expensive then the Main Line. But I guess doing it the old fashioned way (she got preggers) has it's pitfalls....she's back....the Man Eating Barracuda who knows no boundaries is baaackkkk.This woman is the stuff urban legends are made of - there was no date, no hubby, no fiance spared. If she took a shine to your man, she had no problemo with slipping the old phone number into the pocket. I think I first fell in love with my beloved when he handed her her number back when he first met me and said no thanks he preferred to dance with the gal that brought him (so sweet).

Well now Man Eating Barracuda is back and believe it or not living the freak down the road. I was out trimming perennials and saw her trot by with her spawn in a stroller...and yes, I will admit I hid behind a rhododendron.

Well, hopefully our paths won't cross much and she won't be around long...I imagine she'll be out shopping for number 3 in no time. But seriously? This one is everything wrong in a woman - and the shame of it is she is smart and attractive. But she never respects boundaries. If she goes shopping on the street, my money is one the "mommies". My neighborhood stay at home mommy mafia will chew her up and spit her out.

So that's it for the Suburban Drama....I think I might sell this as a script for Desperate Housewives or Weeds....it's definitely not Sex and The City material...might do for Swingtown, too...

Speaking of goodneighbors and fences, read this:

Berkeley Daily Planet Home & Garden:
About the House: Good Neighbors Make Fences
By Matt Cantor
Thursday June 26, 2008

Having browsed the local flea market for years, I have consistently observed that many of the dealers-in-miscellanea seem resolutely unable to confine themselves to the stalls they have been issued.

There are always a few—or more—who attempt to push over the edges, to set their wares up to the left and right of the clearly marked lines of their own assigned space. On any given flea-market weekend, I can expect to hear numerous requests to move items off of someone else’s stated turf—and I have heard more than a few full-blown disputes. I find it interesting how hard it is for people to be happy with their lot (as it were) and how deep the sense of injury amongst those who have been invaded by an inch or two. The capacity for umbrage is great in the human animal.

At the flea market, conflicts usually were resolved within minutes. But in our courts, boundary disputes fill the dockets every year: ask any judge. So many of these complaints seem to be of a kind that might easily be resolved with a simple discussion, but it’s not in the genes. Boundary issues seem to bring out the very worst in all of us. I include myself, of course. I remained so angry at my rear neighbor that we didn’t speak for years. At one point—because we simply could not sit at the same table and speak—I needed my friend Ed, a local attorney, to resolve a relatively straightforward dispute with him.

I recently discovered that the fellow had passed away over a year ago—and I realized that I had held anger, fear and resentment toward him for all this time in which he had not even been on the planet. How terribly and awfully ironic, eh? Again, I’m not alone. It seems to be a part of who we are and how we operate in the world. Ed shared with me that he, with all his legal knowledge (he’s also a genuinely loving soul and a dear friend) had been through a similar trial (pun intended) for several years. Many of you reading this may recognize yourselves in this scenario.

How many of our wars are based on this reptilian, mid-brain thinking, our ancient selves alive and stalking in the world of pagers and ICBMs? It’s funny and sad—and it’s not unusual. ....We both lost perspective and in the end needed attorneys to settle the matter for us. Luckily, both of our attorneys had the good sense and ethicality to keep us out of court—and to find a sensible way to make us both miserable. Our ensuing hatred of the law and lawyers should rightly have been our hatred of our own stingy and uncompromising selves. ...In all cases, try to meet some neighbors before you buy and ask them to tell you of any concerns or past problems that they have experienced.

The theory of enlightened self-interest seems to me to apply very well in these circumstances, not to mention the golden rule. While it can be incredibly difficult to see beyond our own small selfish concerns when it comes to neighboring issues, the stakes are really quite high: Being your daily happiness and your sanity. And this is equally true when you’re the new kid on the block or an old-time resident. Good luck and good neighboring—and may you turn out to be smarter than I was (which isn’t actually all that hard).

Rendell Grandstanding For the Dogs...Hope He Follows Through

Sorry, I just do not have much faith in Governor Media Hound...I fear his new legislation will be like the rest of his media circus seeking legislation during his duration as Governor: All Bark and No Bite.

Sun, Aug. 17, 2008
With shootings in mind, Rendell touts kennel bill
He took his own dog, Maggie, who was rescued from a puppy mill, to the Center City news conference.
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Staff Writer

With his puppy-mill-rescue dog by his side, Gov. Rendell made an impassioned plea to the legislature yesterday to pass a bill that aims to make sweeping improvements in the state's commercial kennels.
Rendell said the "brutal killing" of 80 dogs at two licensed kennels in Berks County had shed light on the horrible but legal practice of euthanizing dogs by shooting them.

"Dogs who live in this type of kennel are valued only for the sale price of their offspring," he said at a news conference at a Center City dog park. The owners "would shoot the dogs rather than pay for vet care."

Sometime between July 24 and July 29, Elmer and Ammon Zimmerman of Kutztown shot their small-breed dogs - most of them poodles, cocker spaniels and shih tzus - and threw them in a compost pile after veterinary exams were ordered on 39 animals for fleas, according to officials with the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement.

Elmer Zimmerman said in an interview last week that he felt he had no choice because the warden had told him the state was trying to close down commercial kennels, an assertion the bureau denies.

"The warden said to them that if they would like to surrender dogs, we would make arrangements with the Animal Rescue League to surrender those dogs," bureau director Sue West said.

The case has stirred public outcry to ban the killing of dogs by gunshot. On Friday night, about 200 people turned out for a candlelight vigil organized outside Elmer Zimmerman's dairy farm by animal-welfare groups including North Penn Puppy Mill Watch, Main Line Animal Rescue, and Lancaster County's United Against Puppy Mills.

House Bill 2525 would make it illegal for anyone but a veterinarian to euthanize a dog ....First-time violators would face a maximum fine of $500 and up to 90 days in jail.

The bill also would increase cage sizes, ban wire cage flooring, eliminate cage-stacking, and require outdoor exercise areas and annual veterinary exams.

It stalled in the House Appropriations Committee last month, just before summer recess, after Republicans loaded it up with more than 100 amendments.

Rendell, who also yesterday announced plans to increase the dog-law enforcement staff by 13, including a veterinarian, had strong words for Republican House members, especially Rep. Art Hershey (R., Chester). Several of Hershey's 17 amendments would strip out major provisions of the bill, including cage size and access to water.

Ok so the fines are NOT enough. PA sees dogs and other pets as property. We pet owners see them as members of our family, so as long as there is that gap....well then..Now let's not forget to pick on Rep. Art Hershey. He's an asshat of momumental degree.

Want to tell Art Hershey he's as asshat?

Here is his website: ArtHersheycom:

Serving Pennsylvania's 13th Legislative District

Tell Me What You Think
Thank you for visiting my online office. Please fill out the form below to contact me on any state-related issue. Or, if you prefer, refer to my office information below to call or visit me. My staff and I are happy to help.

District Office
Rt. 10 & 41
P.O. Box 69
3157 Limestone Road, Suite 2
Cochranville, PA 19330
Phone: 610-593-6565
Fax: 610-593-7041
Hours: M-F 9:00 - 4:30

[Contact form]

Art Hershey (Republican)
Chester County (Part)
Occupation:
Farmer/Legislator

Art baby, you sure ain't popular:

KittyZen:PA HB 2525 - Rep Art Hershey makes bad call

They say Art Hershey is a Mennonite, which like Amish, are agriculatural/live stock folks by tradition, right? As a fellow farmer, can Art Hershey even distinguish what pets are? Not being rude, but these folks view pets as a livestock commodity, not something to get attached to, correct? Much like an ear of corn or wheat sheaf?

ACTION ALERT! - Dog law bill in serious jeopardy
— Rose Hayes (June 23, 2008 11:36 PM)
From Sarah Speed, Humane Society of the United States:

HB 2525 Is in serious jeopardy in the PA House Agriculture Committee.

The Committee members are being bombarded with calls, e-mails, letters, and visits from breeders all over the state.

The breeders are howling so loudly that the dogs are being drowned out! Breeders have filled the room at every hearing and even our supporters on the committee are balking under the pressure and claiming that HB 2525 is unnecessary.

On Tuesday, June 24, the House Judiciary Committee will be voting whether to outlaw breeders from performing their own surgical births, debarking, and tail docking in HB 2532 in room Irvis G-50 at 10 a.m. On that same day in the same room, the House Agriculture Committee may be having a vote on HB 2525.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We need warm bodies in those seats to come early and give the animals a voice!

We also need calls to go into the House Agriculture Committee members to let them know that the animals cannot be forgotten for the breeders' greed.

House Agricultural Committee Members:

Mike Hanna - 717-772-2283 (Chairman Majority)

Gary Haluska - 717-783-7548 (Vice Chairman Majority)

David Kessler - 717-787-2769

Mike Carroll - 717-787-3589

Mark Cohen - 717-787-4117

Scott Conklin - 717-787-9473

Richard Grucela - 717-783-3180

Peter Daley - 717-783-7558

Harold James - 717-787-7517

Babette Josephs - 717-787-8529

Tim Mahoney - 717-772-2174

John Myers - 717-787-3181

Frank Oliver - 717-787-3480

Tim Solobay - 717-705-1887

Tom Yewcic - 717-783-0248

Rosita Youngblood - 717-787-7727

Art Hershey - 717-783-6435 (Chairman Minority)

Bob Bastian - 717-783-8756 (Vice Chairman Minority)

Mike Fleck - 717-787-3335

Karen Boback - 717-787-1117

Michelle Brooks - 717-783-5008

Gordon Denlinger - 717-787-3531

Jim Cox - 717-772-2435

David Hickernell - 717-783-2076

Rob Kauffman - 717-705-1951

Mark Keller - 717-705-7012

David Millard - 717-772-0094

Dan Moul - 717-783-5217

Tina Pickett - 717-705-1949

Ya know loving dogs and cats isn't a Republican or Democrat thing, so let's not make it about politics, ok? Let's get this crap passed, and rid Pennsylvania of Puppy Mills and disreputable breeders and pet stores, ok? After all, if there was a lot less of that going on, maybe dog rescue folks could see their families once in a while?

Also see MLAR and ASPCA and LCA and HSUS for more.


Support no kill shelters, animal rescue, and spay & neuter programs in your community...save a life ---- rescue a dog

Conshohocken Fire: "They built so much so fast"

All consuming. Yes, that is what this issue is: much like a fire, all consuming.Here's the Inquirer update:
Sun, Aug. 17, 2008
Growing concerns in fire's aftermath
In Conshohocken, optimism singed with reservations
By Diane Mastrull, Larry King and Allison Steele

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

As wisps of smoke still lingered from Wednesday's horrific blaze along the Schuylkill, local planners and redevelopment experts were in agreement. Almost certainly, they said last week, the makeover of Conshohocken would survive even this.

The fire, which destroyed two occupied apartment buildings and the unfinished skeleton of a third, proved catastrophic for hundreds of displaced tenants. The buildings' developer, J. Brian O'Neill, estimated damages to be between $50 million and $80 million.

But officials said it hardly would block the continuation of Conshohocken's river-centric renaissance aimed at converting industrial brownfields into residential, commercial and recreational venues.

No sooner was the fire under control than O'Neill had pledged to rebuild "with a vengeance, because we believe in Conshohocken."

"This," he said late Wednesday as firefighters started to roll up hose, "is a revitalization that cannot be set back."

Mixed with an optimism, however, are warnings from land-use experts and Conshohocken residents that this once down-and-nearly-out factory town, which got its new lease on life two decades ago, is showing signs of serious growing pains that could wind up turning the borough into a place to avoid.

From last week's flames, they say, should emerge a review of Conshohocken's comeback so far and a thoughtful exploration of where it should lead.

"They built so much so fast," a rattled Jean Marie Haubert, 51, said as she watched the fire consume a section of the new part of the town that has been her home for 18 years.

Rachelle Gunn, 24, who has lived in Conshohocken for most of her life, said most locals hadn't embraced the Riverwalk plan.

"I don't think Conshohocken is meant to be this extravagant, Manayunk-type place," Gunn said yesterday.sat "They're trying to put all of this stuff into what's really a very small town, and I just don't see it fitting in here the way they want it to."

Nearly 400 people occupied the four apartment buildings at Riverwalk at Millennium, two of which the fire destroyed. The complex was part of a multiphase O'Neill project to develop 60 acres near where the Blue Route crosses the Schuylkill Expressway.

But long before O'Neill was developer Don Pulver - considered by many the grand architect of renewal in Conshohocken and West Conshohocken, the smaller borough across the river.

Pulver was a veteran Center City office developer who had the foresight to buy options on 34 riverfront acres in the Conshys as a battle played out in court during the 1980s over the long-stalled completion of I-476. In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ended the dispute, paving the way for the missing stretch of the Blue Route....With a healthy infusion of federal redevelopment funding, Pulver started building in two towns eager for something new.

They had hemorrhaged population - 17 percent in the 1970s alone when two of the area's largest employers, Alan Wood Steel and Lee Tire, shut down.

Starting in the 1980s, Pulver developed one million square feet of office space packaged in towers of glass and granite that loom at river's edge - in all, a $300 million investment, he estimates.

And he's not done. He has approved plans for 7 Tower Bridge, a $60 million, 10-story, 250,000-square-foot office tower on a piece of Conshohocken's riverbank not far north of the fire scene.

Pulver looked down on Wednesday's conflagration from his seventh-floor office in West Conshohocken. Afterward, he called it "a blip" on the revitalization front, saying he expects the lost apartments to be rebuilt "in months."...But they and Pulver's offices have also brought a lot of traffic that causes frustrating backups on local roads daily, and some tension among longtime residents who have not yet adjusted to seeing so many newcomers in their restaurants and shops. Add to that the persistent fear of getting all those people to safety if the river floods, as it has been known to do.

Greg Leone, 40, who lives in one of the apartments that was left untouched, said he hoped the blaze would force local officials to reevaluate whether the town's infrastructure could accommodate so many people. In the days after the fire, he said, local officials sometimes seemed at a loss at how to handle the hundreds who were displaced.

"I understand that this is overwhelming for a little community like this," Leone said. "But that just underscores the point that if you're going to build these big buildings here, you have to know what you're getting into and be prepared for that."

Leone and his girlfriend, Alicia Dennis, had already planned to move out of Riverwalk by the end of next month, they said yesterday....In light of how swiftly the building went up in flames, she said, she no longer feels safe there....Steve Nelson, who also has had a hand in Conshohocken's rebirth - first as a county planner hired by the borough in 1985, and now as a member of its planning commission....Nelson was pleased when Riverwalk became the first residential project on a riverfront long the site of only industry.

He was equally enthusiastic about the Stables, once O'Neill's plan had morphed from office high-rise to residential tower to a more modest apartment complex. O'Neill had backed off his original proposals amid community concerns about the impact of a 20-story apartment tower on already severe traffic problems....The fire left Nelson saddened but no less bullish about Conshohocken's mile-long waterfront, less than half of which has been redeveloped.

"There's a lot of land left," he said.

You know what? We should be taking a long hard look at development in our communities in suburbia from county to county, municipality to municipality...because we don't seem to be able to handle the growth - look at what that guy above said about traffic. Totally true. And look at infrastructure - those stinkin' utility companies we rely on do not keep pace with construction - there is nothing to make them do upgrades as land is developed into new residential, or exisiting residential is reconfigured inot more densely packed residential. A few years ago, I got stuck on the Fayette Street Bridge during a snowstorm. There must have been a turf war between PennDOT and Conshy, because nothing was plowed or salted and then all of a sudden, there I was, literally stuck on the freakin' bridge for like four hours at least in the snow. It was equal parts maddening and scary.

Here's how Firehouse Forums describes it:

FWDbuff Forum Member:Breaking News- Massive Conflagration, Conshohocken Borough, Montgomery County, Pa. CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. (The home of Hale Pumps) MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA. (Philly suburb) MASSIVE CONFLAGRATION

5 LARGE WOOD FRAME APARTMENT BUILDINGS HEAVILY INVOLVED AT THIS TIME. Original fire building has collapsed into the foundation. Companies heavily engaged in exterior firefighting using large caliber streams and aerial devices. Was at 5 alarms, probably closer to 6 or 7 by now. Montgomery County East AND west LDH task forces both dispatched. Numerous units drafting from the Schuykill River........

dragonfyre Forum Member: We were dispatched around 1900 to stand by at Spring Mill (Montco Station 45). We're in another county (Berks) and about 50 miles away.

The funny thing is that Spring Mill was my first station and I'm a life member there.

JTFIRE80 MembersZone Subscriber Just got back from the scene a bit ago. Last I heard, I think they said 11 alarms. Sh!t construction, initially has access problems due to multiple fenced off area's, low water pressure (always have had crap water), eventually drafted from the river, saw some companies there from waaaayyy far away that I've never heard of. Mostly all defensive ops from the get-go. I'll post all units o/s in the morning

SteveDude MembersZone SubscriberWe seem to be picking these up in London quite a bit these days... Wooden construction has used quite a lot in the building boom of the last decade when it was virtually unheard of before. (King John banned it following the Great Fire of London in '66.... 1666 )

The most notable and similar to the fire Yesterday was this one in Colindale North London in 2006.

Ok, well then. I am not a fireman...god bless them for what they do...which is why I am not sure how to take this media report from Fox29:

Analysis: Volunteer Firefighters' Response To Conshohocken Fire
Last Edited: Thursday, 14 Aug 2008, 5:50 PM EDT
Created: Thursday, 14 Aug 2008, 5:50 PM EDT

With five buildings in Conshohocken considered a total loss, critics question whether firefighters acted quickly enough to stop the flames. The vast majority of firefighters in Montgomery County are volunteers, which is also the case in Conshohocken. That of course means most firefighters would be at work or at home when any call comes in, and that in turn could delay the response time. But that didn't appear to be the case this time.

When the very first call came in to 911 at 4:50 Wednesday afternoon, the volunteer firefighters at Washington Station 36 in Conshohocken were already at the firehouse-- for a barbeque. "Yesterday's call, we were here, so we were there," They lost no time getting to the scene. County records show they arrived in about seven and a half minutes. They did lose valuable time though as they attached their hose to a fire hydrant. "An employee came out of the office building and struck our supply hose, and that broke," Zinni explained. Which meant, as the fire burned out of control and threatened to spread to nearby buildings, the first responding firefighters didn't even have any water. Their fire truck shows the damage, where the heat started to melt the lights and singed the driver's seat.

"We didn't have no water supply so our engine, our ladder, both vehicles at that point in time, both apparatus had run out of water," Zinni said. "So we were basically back there cooking." For ten very long minutes. The incident commander immediately called for backup from neighboring fire companies, which are also staffed with volunteers. "Most of the guys either leave their families at the dinner table or they're leaving their jobs," Zinni explained. And that does take additional time, to drive to the firehouse and gear up....

Personally, I am more concerned with codes that allowed that building to be built as is. After all, it's a quasi industrial area, and that would mean industrial vs. residential codes, correct? Or was there a special code to allow this to get built much like whatever is going on for O'Neill in Lower Merion Township that I have read about in the newspapers for the past couple of years?

The media has reported residents getting up signatures to hire a lawyer. While I concur we live in too litigious a society, I do feel that money talks, and if municipalities, counties, developers, the Commonwealth of PA, etc all have to worry about paying out of pocket on fire related law suits, it is probably the quickest way to (a)get a long look at how developers do business (b) get a good light shined on how the historically problematic Borough of Conshohocken does business, (c) How Montgomery County does business (d)how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does business with regard to what is that thing called? The Municipal Planning Code?

Seriously, while I might adore some pretty new buildings around, how many do we need? Like McMansions, can we have too much of a "good" thing?

There have been some other articles over the past day, and given the fact that I think O'Neill was an investor in the reinvented Inquirer,I am somewhat amazed as to the volume right? I am also cognizant of the fact that we can't just look at O'Neill, because let's be honest and look at all the local residential developers around here, ok? How many of them build similarly? That is why we have to look at how development is done in PA and all these municipalities and cities, right?

Here is the rest and check the happy reunion one tenant had with their beloved pooch :

Sat, Aug. 16, 2008
Tearful pet owner's prayer is answered
By Robert Moran and Bonnie L. Cook
Inquirer Staff Writers

Talk about a doggone happy ending.

Sara Meyer, 26, had all but given up hope yesterday that her 4-month-old puppy, Tilly, had survived the mammoth fire Thursday in Conshohocken.

Meyer issued a tearful plea on TV: couldn't anyone search her wrecked fourth-floor apartment at the Riverwalk at Millennium for the tiny Yorkshire/Maltese mix? The burned-out apartments were off-limits to civilians as demolition crews began work.

"Can someone do anything to get the dog out and see if she's alive?" Meyer pleaded before TV cameras.

"We were the last ones to see her alive," said pet sitter Tish Bellingham. "I put her in her crate right before the fire."...."We have a lot of hope that she survived the fire, and that it's still possible to get her back," Bellingham said to those gathered.

She was right. Montgomery County sheriff's deputies, responding to a faint bark, searched Meyer's apartment and found the gray and black Tilly still in her crate, dehydrated but alive

Posted on Sat, Aug. 16, 2008
The disaster was "totally predictable"
By Jeff Gammage, Diane Mastrull and Larry King
Inquirer Staff Writers

Here's the problem with living in an apartment building that sits beside an active construction site, as several hundred Conshohocken residents learned to their horror on Wednesday:
If the site catches fire, it emits heat far more intense than its occupied neighbor can withstand - and might set that structure alight.

"It is a totally predictable and anticipatable disaster," said Vincent Brannigan, professor of fire-protection engineering at the University of Maryland, after a spectacular fire ravaged the Riverwalk at Millennium luxury apartment complex on the Schuylkill.

Fire investigators already have determined that the fire jumped to occupied buildings after starting at the Stables, a 309-unit complex that was under construction.

"It was a stick building," Conshohocken Fire Chief Robert Phipps said. "You're looking at a lumberyard. Have you ever seen a lumberyard catch fire? That's the way this building went up."

Developer J. Brian O'Neill has rejected any suggestion that an abundance of wood framing played a role in the aggressive pace of the fire. In interviews, he defended the buildings' construction as faithful to code, insisting, "Everything was done right."....The blaze lit the Conshohocken waterfront, stopped SEPTA commuter trains, and slowed Schuylkill Expressway traffic as it destroyed two apartment buildings and left 375 people homeless.

"We don't build with wood," said Don Pulver, who probably more than any other developer drove the revitalization of Conshohocken. "If we did, I'd certainly think about having fire protection from day one. I think a lot of people will be thinking about doing that going forward."

On Wednesday, heat from the fire was so strong that it melted the windows of fire trucks.

"They were talking about shutting down the expressway," Phipps said. "And we were worried about the older houses on [nearby] Elm Street and Hector Street. . . . This building probably went up within two minutes, three minutes."....Mayor Joseph Collins said borough inspectors regularly checked the construction site and found no violations. Sandra Caterbone, the borough council president, offered a strong defense of O'Neill, saying he "follows our codes to a T."

Brannigan, the Maryland fire authority, said the codes are precisely the problem....Gladwyne-based architect Herman DeJong said that as he watched news footage of the fire racing across the roofs of Riverwalk, he was struck by what he didn't see.

There were no vertical separation walls, what builders call parapets, jutting up through the roof to separate the tops of each apartment. Typically, parapets extend a few feet through the roof, like short walls.

Those layers of fire-rated gypsum board are "a good feature to ensure the fire won't go from roof to roof," DeJong said. At the least, he said, they impede fire from spreading.

Without parapets, and with "so much food for the fire," Wednesday's conflagration "was basically waiting to happen," he said.

"My hope is that this will be a serious wake-up call for better construction methods

Cantabrigia
Alewife developer built property that burned down in Philly
Posted on August 14, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under City life

Ellen Mass from Friends of the Alewife Reservation ....following the huge fire that destroyed hundreds of apartments in suburban Philadelphia. J. Brian O’Neill, the guy who developed the huge complex that was supposed to signify the revival of the riverfront down there, is also developing property on the Cambridge/Belmont border.

Personal note: My sister and her husband live in that apartment complex. Fortunately, her apartment was not one of the ones that was severely destroyed, but she’s not allowed inside at all and looters are on the prowl. I’ve been to that complex outside Philly several times and a.) it’s very nice, but cheaply constructed and b.) it’s removed from any residential area (which did not help when the fire spread). Will this fire curtail the plans O’Neill has for Belmont/Cambridge? Who knows....

Oh and this thing from a blog I never read before but stubled upon:

Tredyffrin Township Political Notebook:Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Bad form on the part of O'Neill Properties' Mike Devine

The end of each BOS meeting is reserved for new matters from citizens. The operative word is of course - CITIZENS. It is bad enough that at the end of a long meeting, residents have to stick it out to the end - to address issues with the BOS. It is worse when a local developer decides to usurp that time to bring up a matter to the board. Not only was it NOT a new matter, it was not brought up by a citizen....So then... what did Mr. Devine bring up? Apparently, Tredyffrin Township is difficult to do business with. They are frustrated. They would like escrow monies released. While Mr. Devine said he wanted to remain positive, he had a hard time restraining himself. Mimi Gleason chimed in - and in her own words - could not keep it positive. Can't say that I blame her. O'Neill Properties and its surrogate Mr. Devine were completely out of order last night.

Devine actually tried to make the argument that somehow, they sell Tredyffrin - that somehow - we should be grateful to them. And that as a result, they are being treated unfairly. Sorry to break the news to you Mr. Devine and Mr. O'Neill....But Tredyffrin's standing in the area is due least of all - to you....Perhaps O'Neill is still stinging over the fact that he could not build his condo complex on 252...

Ouch...that's a bad review....