Category: Pennsylvania

Our former Governor is apparently separating from his wife of 40 years. Says the Daily News:

Their e-mail makes no mention of divorce or the cause for the split. But Rendell has long been the subject of speculation involving younger women, typically leggy blonds. Rendell most recently turned heads last May when he arrived at a typical Election Day lunch at the Famous 4th Street Deli with Dr. Kirstin Snow, a state employee and former Miss Pennsylvania.

As a woman accomplished in her own right (Midge Rendell is a Federal Judge), I think she’s probably better off without him.

Thanks to Representative Scott Perry.

Do you have bets being placed on who’s Groundhog is right. Punxsutawney has the most famous of Groundhog Day celebrations, but there’s groundhog traditions all over the state that are lesser known. The holiday comes from German immigrants, where I understand they previously used badgers rather than groundhogs in the old country. Either due to lack of badgers in these parts, or perhaps realization of the inherent dangers associated with drunken revelers waking a North American badger, immigrants to Pennsylvania decided groundhogs were a reasonable substitute.

Senator Alloway has introduced the Castle Doctrine once again. Since the Senate is where it ran into trouble last session, it makes sense to start out there, though I’d be surprised it there won’t be a concurrent effort in the House. Hopefully with Corbett behind the effort, we won’t run into as many snags, and this can get passed quickly.

In the last week, I’ve had two wineries run ads that popped up for me on Facebook.  Unfortunately, it’s another example of how government regulation leads to more waste in the economy.  How is a Facebook ad an example of wasted money due to government intervention in the market?  Stick with me here while I explain:

Victim 1: Elyse Winery
All wine sold in Pennsylvania is governed by bureaucrats at the PLCB. According to the law, we cannot even purchase it out-of-state and bring it back in. According to the PLCB’s website, there are exactly 3 bottles available to the entire state. Three freakin’ bottles for the entire state of Pennsylvania, and they are located about an hour from here. What are the chances I’m actually going to go try their product? I would have been open to trying a new wine if a liquor store near me carried it, or there were more than 3 bottles in the entire state. As it is, I just felt sorry for the winery owners who are wasting their precious cash advertising to Pennsylvania residents who can’t even buy their wines (unless they live near the store the bureaucrats have deemed “worthy” to carry the Elyse product).

Victim 2: Gracianna Winery
The bureaucrats at the PLCB have decided not to allow us taxpayers to sample any products made by Gracianna Winery. We cannot special order (at a minimum of 6 bottles, typically), nor can we find it for sale at any retail outlets.

Victim 3: Chambord Flavored Vodka
Black raspberry-flavored vodka sounds intriguing. I first heard about it via an advertisement on a SEPTA bus driving around this area. Unfortunately, none of state stores located near the bus route actually carry the product. Anyone driving behind it would need to travel to another town to actually purchase the product. What the hell is the use of advertising it if you can’t even buy it at any of the government-controlled stores near the bus route? It’s certainly a lot more waste for Chambord than the two winery ads.

We need state liquor/wine privatization now. I realize that these products aren’t likely to appear on the shelves of any stores that will open under a private system near me. However, with market forces, I can reward those private sellers who do carry an interesting variety of wines & liquors. I realize that technically I could special order more products through my local store, but since most of the state employees around here make it clear that you are unwelcome as a customer in their store, it’s not something I’m likely to try anytime soon. If a private store was run by a reasonably friendly staff, then I’d likely approach them with requests to try new products I see advertised. Then, those dollars wouldn’t be wasted.

In the meantime, the PLCB staffers have declared war on us. I look forward to even worse service and more obnoxious employees getting in the way of my attempts to buy wine & liquor. Fortunately, the GOP has indicated they will try to have a privatization bill passed in the House by Memorial Day. That will be something worth raising a glass to on the holiday weekend!

Today is the last day of the Ed Rendell Administration.

Dick Winters, who’s E Company’s exploits were made famous in the book and HBO miniseries “Band of Brother’s” has died. He was born in Ephrata and lived in Hershey, not too far from where my dad lives now. Maj. Winters always seemed uncomfortable with people calling him a hero. That’s true of most real heros.

My first thought on this issue was agreement with Tam, and a chuckle over her characterization of the issue of the former DoD guy found dead in a landfill. But now it seems like some are saying this may not be a homicide after all:

William Fleisher, an ex-cop who co-founded Philadelphia’s murder-solving Vidocq Society, said that the discovery of eyewitnesses and surveillance video of a disoriented Wheeler before he died suggests that the 66-year-old man had suffered a head or brain injury.

And that apparent disorientation, Fleisher speculated, could have caused Wheeler to voluntarily crawl into a trash Dumpster – either seeking shelter, as happens sometimes among the homeless, or perhaps looking for his reportedly lost papers.

“He may have crawled into the Dumpster looking for his briefcase, or simply to get warm,” said Fleisher, who runs a Center City investigations firm, Keystone Intelligence Network.

Fleisher also agreed with increasing speculation that Wheeler – who was filmed Dec. 29, two days before his body was found, in a downtown office with no overcoat and holding a shoe – was the victim of a traumatic event such as a mugging, or a stroke.

Apparently homeless people sometimes shelter in dumpsters to keep warm, as sad as that is. So this kind of thing is not apparently unheard of. Still, my first thought of a body showing up in a landfill that doesn’t have a bottle of hooch clutched in its hands would generally be murder.

Even if this was a mugging, the mugger, in this case, could be charged with murder if his disorientation was caused by a blow to the head. You could make a pretty good police/legal drama with a story like this.

Capitol Ideas is reporting on the latest publicity stunt by Rep. Metcalfe, to deal with the illegal immigration issue, namely re-examining the 14th Amendment, which says:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

There’s been a lot of talk in originalist circles about whether this was even intended to apply to people who are citizens of another country who have a child in the United States. I suppose to whether you adhere to the school of originalism that says the intent of the founders is important, or whether it’s better to pay attention to what they actually wrote. What they actually wrote seems to mean to me that if you’re born here, you’re a citizen. I suppose it would hinge on “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

But regardless, while I appreciate Metcalfe’s leadership on Second Amendment rights, I find his demagogic promotion of populist issues (populist federal issues, I would note) like illegal immigration, tiresome.

The State Police have agreed to stop issuing fines for disorderly conduct for people who swear. Most of them appear to have been issued for people cursing at officers.