Category: Philadelphia

It’s rare you actually see a prosecutor bring the charge of Official Oppression, but they have done it Philly. The offense? A police officer who was flagged down by a woman picked her up and raped her in the back of his cruiser. Other charges stemming from the incident include 5 counts ranging from indecent exposure to rape.

Joey Vento, the proprietor of Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia, died of a heart attack. Wyatt Notes:

While he was definitely old school in his views, Joey was a terrific man. He always went out of his way to support the city’s police officers and firefighters, and loved this city very much.

I still remember meeting Wyatt and Rightwingprof at Geno’s a few years ago, before Rightwingprof passed away from cancer. While the news is certainly sad, if my main business were peddling cheesesteaks, I can’t think of a more poetic way to go. Better than cancer, to be sure, which I’ve seen enough people die from to think much of.

Only a city like Philadelphia would decide that it’s a good thing to put their Parking Authority on television. Of course, it has only backfired on the tourism staff, so I guess the Parking Authority doesn’t give a damn.

Today, I was witness to another example of the Philadelphia Parking Authority’s great-for-television personalities. A driver in one of their trucks started honking and swearing at a cab driver who wasn’t making a right on red. The PPA driver could clearly see the line of pedestrians crossing legally in front of the cab, but that didn’t stop his outrage.

The cab driver, to his credit, put his hand out the window and made a “hold on” type gesture. The guy had riders in the back, so no doubt he wanted to go. But that didn’t stop the PPA staffer from honking & swearing to “just fucking go already!” even as pedestrians still blocked the street. Even worse, the PPA truck wasn’t actually beside me. It was slightly behind me in the next lane, and I had my windows up and music on. Yet, I could still hear every foul word out of the PPA’s truck.

And somewhere, some bureaucrat was probably given a raise for putting the wonderful personalities like this on tv. It just reminds you that even if you’re not actually parking a car in Philly, the PPA still wants to make your life miserable – and possibly run over you if you’re a pedestrian.

The currently leadership of Philadelphia apparently has all their priorities straight. About as straight as a drunk trying to stay in the middle lane with .25 coursing through his veins. Apparently the scourge of the city these days is people walking around texting. Never mind armed robbers, flash mobs, and murderers. And definitely never mind there’s no such crime as texting while walking in Pennsylvania.

The only sad part about news like this is, if my current job prospects continue developing, I will soon be forking over an extra 3.5% of my income to the asylum wardens at Market and Broad. For the privilege, I don’t even get to vote against them.

There’s apparently a local trend in animal attacks for which I was previously unaware. I better start preparing.

When one party has complete control over government, little things like “laws” don’t really apply to them – especially if it’s an election law and the violation helps keep them in power.

It reminds me of what PAFOA’s Dan Pehrson warned about back in 2008 in regards to the lawlessness that exists in all corners of Philadelphia.

Yet, what baffles me the most is that these leaders wonder where criminals get the idea that laws don’t apply to them! Don’t they see the example they set so publicly? The willful defiance has made headlines for weeks, reminding residents that the Council, mayor and police commissioner consider themselves to be above state law. Why shouldn’t average citizens be as well?