CARBOLIC SMOKE BALL LINKS

2008-07-18T13:08:00.001-04:00

2008-04-05T22:23:00.001-04:00

2008-04-04T22:57:00.000-04:00

TV Hightlights: Educational show about tornado that lands atop witch, causing her shoes to shrivel up

NEW YORK - This news source does not "plug" specific television networks, but I heartily recommend the educational show that airs tonight at 8 p.m. EST about a Kansas tornado that tosses a house in the air while a little girl lies unconscious inside. Then it lands atop a wicked witch whose shoes shrivel up as she dies, and the scene shifts from black and white to color. A most original and informative program.

2008-04-04T22:53:00.002-04:00

Mark "Deep Throat" Felt slithers out from the excrement of prevarication that encrusts his wretched being
On the thirty-first anniversary of President Nixon's resignation, we take time to examine the man who brought him down

EDITORIAL - Traitorous FBI agent W. Mark Felt slithered out from the excrement of prevarication that encrusts his wretched being this summer and revealed that he was the "Deep Throat" of Watergate. It should surprise no one that the liberal elite, who for 31 years have tried to dupe us into thinking that the Watergate cover-up and rampant criminality of the Nixon administration were somehow "wrong," is staunchly opposed to criminal charges being brought against this turncoat.But no less a moral authority than G. Gordon Liddy declared Felt guilty of violating the ethics of the law enforcement profession when he fed information to Bob Woodward that helped topple the Nixon administration. It is, of course, completely beside the point that Felt was only forced to sneak around parking garages with Woodward because of the criminal actions of Liddy and his cronies, not to mention the President of the United States.Another impeccable source, Watergate criminal "Chuck" Colson, condemned Felt because he "could have stopped Watergate." Exactly right! It is about time we put the blame for Watergate squarely where it belongs -- on Mark Felt!This is what you get when you have a free press with nothing better to do than to snoop around for government abuses - a whistle-blowing Judas Iscariot like Mark Felt. The Fuhrer's denunciation of the conspirators who tried to murder him in 1944 applies with equal force to Felt and his liberal sympathizers: "I'm glad the Schweinehunde have unmasked themselves."Glad, indeed!

2008-04-04T22:53:00.000-04:00

Mark "Deep Throat" Felt slithers out from the excrement of prevarication that encrusts his wretched being
On the thirty-first anniversary of President Nixon's resignation, we take time to examine the man who brought him down:EDITORIAL - Traitorous FBI agent W. Mark Felt slithered out from the excrement of prevarication that encrusts his wretched being this summer and revealed that he was the "Deep Throat" of Watergate. It should surprise no one that the liberal elite, who for 31 years have tried to dupe us into thinking that the Watergate cover-up and rampant criminality of the Nixon administration were somehow "wrong," is staunchly opposed to criminal charges being brought against this turncoat.But no less a moral authority than G. Gordon Liddy declared Felt guilty of violating the ethics of the law enforcement profession when he fed information to Bob Woodward that helped topple the Nixon administration. It is, of course, completely beside the point that Felt was only forced to sneak around parking garages with Woodward because of the criminal actions of Liddy and his cronies, not to mention the President of the United States.Another impeccable source, Watergate criminal "Chuck" Colson, condemned Felt because he "could have stopped Watergate." Exactly right! It is about time we put the blame for Watergate squarely where it belongs -- on Mark Felt!This is what you get when you have a free press with nothing better to do than to snoop around for government abuses - a whistle-blowing Judas Iscariot like Mark Felt. The Fuhrer's denunciation of the conspirators who tried to murder him in 1944 applies with equal force to Felt and his liberal sympathizers: "I'm glad the Schweinehunde have unmasked themselves."Glad, indeed!

2008-01-03T14:17:00.000-05:00

2007-12-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

2007-11-22T11:46:00.000-05:00

2007-10-08T22:38:00.000-04:00

2007-09-14T07:04:00.000-04:00

2007-09-04T07:35:00.000-04:00

2007-09-04T07:32:00.000-04:00

2007-09-04T07:31:00.000-04:00

2007-09-03T21:51:00.000-04:00

2007-09-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

2007-09-03T21:28:00.000-04:00

2007-09-03T21:25:00.000-04:00

2007-09-03T21:16:00.001-04:00

LINKS

2007-09-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

THE AMERICAN ROADSIDE

I'M FROM THE GOVERNMENT. I'M HERE TO HELP (Site of State Rep. Jesse White)

PITTSBURGH BLOGGERS (Blogging headquarters in Pittsburgh)

MS. ADVENTURES ON THE MON (The fabulous Ms. Mon)

A BIG FAT SLOB (Because freedom's untidy)

A SPORK IN THE DRAWER (Great site)

ANGRY DRUNK BUREAUCRAT (Pittsburgh political insider)

BURGH BLOG (The voice of Pittsburgh -- most influential blog in town)

BURGH REPORT (Leading political clearinghouse)

DELANO'S DEN (The great Jon Delano)

FROTH SLOSH B'GOSH (Revered Pittsburgh site)

HAVE A GOOD SANDWICH (MIKE WOYCHECK, PITTSBURGH'S BLOGGING GURU)

I HEART PITTSBURGH (Essential Pittsburgh site)

KGB REPORT (Pittsburgh's premier source of jokes)

MARK RAUTERKUS & RUNNING MATES (The man who should be mayor)

METROBLOGGING PITTSBURGH (Spectacular site)

PITTSBLOG (The gold standard of Pittsburgh blogs)

PITTSBURGH P*ST-GAZETTE (A one of a kind must-read)

SCRIBBLED NOISE (Sports, music, you name it)

SPORTSOCRACY (Big time sports site)

STOP. JUST STOP (Leading blog from the center)

TEACHER. WORDSMITH. MADMAN. (A genius who's also a blogger)

THE BLACK AND GOLD BLOG (Astute sports site)

THE CONVERSATION (Smartest blog in town)

THE IDEAS BUCKET (Agent Ska)

THE PITTSBURGH COMET (Bram Reichbaum's Pittsburgh clearinghouse)

TUNESMITH & ANTHONY (Biting satire)

2 POLITICAL JUNKIES (The leading Pittsburgh blog from the left)

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, ANDY VAN SLYKE? (Pirates, non-stop)

A PARLIAMENT OF ONE

BERKS DEMOCRATS

BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS

BOBBO'S BLOG

BURGHBOY BLOGS

CHRIS & NATALIE

DITTOHESTON.COM

JO JANOSKI'S BLOG

JOHN-STEPHANIE.COM

JUDY SCHNEIDER'S WRITING LAB

LEFT OF CENTRE

PART TIME LOVER/FULL TIME HATER

PENNSYLVANIA YOUNG DEMOCRATS

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF PITTSBURGH

PIE'S REVIEWS

PITTSBURGH HOAGIE: ALL MEAT NO FILLER

PITTSUBURGH LESBIAN CORRESPONDENTS

PBRTV

PUBLISH OR PERISH

RANDOM THOUGHTS, RANTS, AND WHATEVER ELSE I WANT TO SAY

RATLANDS

SCOTT'S SPOT

SHE'S SO FABULOUSLY LAZY

SNEAK PEEKS BY LOUISE YEISER

THE BIG CAT'S MEOW

THE HEATH LEDGER

THE LEAGUE - PITTSBURGH

THE PENSBLOG.COM

THE SMEDLEY LOG

THE TURNING POINT

THE VIEW FROM CONFUSION HILL

THIRTEEN BALL

THREE RIVERS FISHING REPORT

UNCLE CRAPPY

UnSpace

V AS IN VICTOR

WONDER HOW I CAME TO FEEL AS FRAGILE AS A BROKEN BONE

YOUR BREEZEWOOD ON THE PA E-TURNPIKE

MACYAPPER (Iconoclast John McIntire)

POST-GAZETTE'S BLOG 'N' GOLD

ROB OWEN'S TUNED IN JOURNAL

POST-GAZETTE'S EMPTY NETTERS

2007-06-12T17:54:00.000-04:00

2007-05-23T16:45:00.000-04:00

2007-03-21T21:27:00.000-04:00

2007-02-11T08:57:00.000-05:00

CLICK TO READ THE TOP STORIES OF 2006

2006-12-31T18:09:00.000-05:00

(1) Pittsburgh's new disaster early warning system will blare siren ten minutes before every Pirates game
(2) Mayor O'Connor awaits clearance from state-appointed oversight board to enter heaven
(3) Violence escalates in Iraq: Shiites gun down chief foe Sunni Corleone on Causeway in retaliation for murder of Sollozzo Hussein
(4) Jerome Bettis in rash of Detroit burglaries, key to city used to access safes, bank vaults
(5) World's first hands-transplant patient meets, slaps face of world's first face-transplant patient
(6) Snowstorm traps TV anchors on Television Hill, they resort to cannibalism
(7) Mayor wants to build identical arena next to original to simulate beautiful woman from the air
(8) Lemieux upset that Canadian businessman drops bid to buy Penguins, says he'd like to slap his Balsillie
(9) Pirates investigating why adult novelty male organ was launched into crowd during Hot Dog Shoot
(10) Gerald Ford hailed for restoring integrity to stumbling, tripping
(11) Sally Wiggin apologizes for wardrobe malfunction during Steelers Prime Time that exposed her right breast
(12) Joey Porter credits off-season workouts with Don Rickles for improving quality, cruelty of trash-talk
(13) Tanker loaded with oil, pesticide, insecticide, nuclear waste rams Rachel Carson Bridge, sinks
(14) Plastic citizens of Miniature Railroad and Village threaten to leave town unless city builds them a new miniature sports facility
(15) Steelers name Cyril Wecht as team coroner
(16) Pittsburgh City Council denies Mayor Ravenstahl's request for genuine Red Ryder 200-Shot Carbine Action Air Rifle, cites fears he'll shoot his eye out
(17) Aryan and Steeler nations deface Squirrel Hill home of woman who struck Roethlisberger
(18) Shuffleboard court found on deck of Noah's Ark
(19) Abu Ghraib prisoner pyramid to headline new Las Vegas Cirque show called "Prisonnier"
(20) Rendell failed to check into background of new gaming commission chairman, Al Capone
(21) Dick Skrinjar says Mayor O'Connor fully capable of running city even when comatose
(22) Greg Brown accused of puncturing eardrum of local waitress
(23) Narcissists protest, want same-person marriage legalized
(24) KDKA suspends anchorman for "insufficient grief" in wake of Steelers' latest loss
(25) Rendell not concerned about election, focusing his attention on dethroning Takeru Kobayashi as champ at next year's Coney Island hot dog eating contest
(26) Defeated Santorum returns to Penn Hills but can't remember where he "resides"
(27) Joey Porter's dogs hire attorney Jim Eckler to represent them
(28) Police raid raucous frat party only to discover it was Mayor's inaugural ball
(29) Popeye dead, sailor man succumbs to E Coli after consuming bagged spinach
(30) Ex-People's Court judge Wapner brought in to speed Saddam trial to conclusion, verdict expected in 15 minutes
(31) ExxonMobil CEO Moe Howard accused of price, eye gouging
(32) Special prosecutor says Karl Rove may have outed Liberace
(33) Man impersonating Vice President pulls woman over on Parkway
(34) Wecht: Second stingray, hiding on grassy knoll, involved in Steve Irwin's death
(35) Barry Bonds' teammates say his steroid physique not drug induced, Giants' slugger had third testicle implanted
(36) Cowher hints at quarterback change, may bench Roethlisberger, play Barabbas
(37) Madonna bows to public pressure, returns Luke Ravenstahl to village where she adopted him
(38) Train derailment at Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad and Village dumps two ounces of Ethanol, forces evacuation of 30 miniature homes
(39) Bush pushes to keep North Korea from buildingAtomic Fireball Candy factory, vows to prevent proliferation of candies of mass destruction
(40) Santorum stresses his Italian heritage, hits campaign trail with Chef Boy
(41) Edgeworth Borough police investigate Negro sighting
(42) Port Authority begins work on Neighborhood of Make-Believe trolley, fare hike to pay for make believe improvements
(43) Zombie filmmaker George Romero tapped to be be Pirates new GM due to proven track record for raising the dead
(44) Pens retire Lemiux's athletic supporter, will raise jock to rafters at start of opener
(45) FDA recalls insecticide Raid because of high incidence of life-threatening disease in insects
(46) Litvinenko died of same radiation dosage that unleashed Godzilla
(47) VP denies shooting friend, says real gunman was on grassy knoll
(48) Venus de Milo to get breast enlargement to boost crowds at Louvre
(49) Autopsy: King Kong died of heart failure, 'twas cholesterol that killed the beast
(50) Found: Nostradamus prediction that proves he was prophet: "Future people will consider me a fraud"

Editorial of the year: Excessive shaking at ballpark urinal is appalling

2006-12-04T09:32:00.000-05:00

2006-10-28T13:07:00.000-04:00

JOIN US EVERY FRIDAY FOR OUR WEEKLY ROUND-UP ON THE DVE MORNING SHOW, 102.5, WITH JIM AND RANDY.

2006-10-07T20:43:00.000-04:00

2006-09-28T23:28:00.000-04:00

2006-09-10T22:56:00.000-04:00

The New York Times

2006-09-09T23:56:00.001-04:00

September 9, 2006
Baby-Faced Mayor Takes Over an Aging Pittsburgh
By IAN URBINA

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7 — At 26, many people haven’t even decided on a career. Luke Ravenstahl is already the mayor of Pittsburgh.

In the four short years since he left college, Mr. Ravenstahl has mastered the art of being at the right place at the right time, and last week he became the youngest mayor of any major city in the country, after the previous mayor, Bob O’Connor, died of a brain tumor.

But now comes the hard part. As he strives to be taken seriously and take charge of a city only recently back from the brink of bankruptcy, the baby-faced Mr. Ravenstahl said that even the smallest decisions felt weighty.

What to wear to the Steelers game? Stick with his standard blue jeans and football jersey or don a button-up polo and black slacks, setting a more serious tone at his first public appearance since Mr. O’Connor was buried?

“I guess I’m taking it one decision, one day, at a time,” Mr. Ravenstahl said Thursday before heading to the game, having chosen the awkward hybrid of football jersey tucked neatly into pressed suit pants.

Mr. Ravenstahl is a young man taking over an old steel town that has lost all its mills, nearly half its population and much of its downtown commercial district in the last several decades. Having just ascended from being City Council president, he now faces difficult contract negotiations with city firefighters and has to draft a city budget with approval from two state oversight bodies that have been mandated.

Shy and business-minded, Mr. Ravenstahl, a Democrat who said he averaged 12 Diet Pepsis a day, also follows on the heels of one of the most popular and gregarious politicians in the city’s history.

“Ravenstahl is a perfect storm of ambition, political pedigree and luck, and it has taken him far,” said Morton Coleman, a professor of social work at the University of Pittsburgh. “But it has also left him with a lot to prove.”

For Mr. Ravenstahl, whose résumé consists largely of playing football in college and working as an account manager for a courier service, the first challenge may be to loosen up.

“With our mayors, Tom Murphy was the guy who wouldn’t know what a tailgate party was if he got invited to one, O’Connor was the guy throwing the tailgate party, wearing the chef’s hat, and Ravenstahl is the guy nursing a beer in the corner and trying to decide whether it’s safe to double dip that chip,” said Sean Cannon, a political writer for Carbolic Smoke Ball, a satirical Web site and the city’s equivalent of The Onion.

Asked if he is nervous, Mr. Ravenstahl looked at his Steelers jersey before offering an impish grin.

“He’s a young guy too, you know,” Mr. Ravenstahl said, pointing to the number 7 and referring to Ben Roethlisberger, the 24-year-old Steelers star who last year became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl ring. By his side, Mr. Ravenstahl’s press secretary — a white-haired man at least 30 years his elder — nodded quietly.

Mr. Ravenstahl, who got a $40,000 raise, to $94,157 a year, by going to mayor from councilman, has yet to develop an agenda of his own, but he is eager to strengthen the city’s economy.

“The rap on Allegheny County, where we are located, is that it’s the second-oldest county in the country,’’ he said. “But Pittsburgh has 50,000 college students, and our challenge is to figure out how to retain them and to increase downtown development.”

Mr. O’Connor was known for taking weekly strolls through different neighborhoods and chatting up residents about potholes and the city budget. His face is plastered on billboards everywhere that read “Let’s Redd Up Pittsburgh” — a campaign intended to straighten up (or, in Pittsburghese, “Readying up”) the city.

Mr. O’Connor’s brief tenure corresponded with a sense of renewed hope in this city of 325,000. Shortly after he took office in January, the Steelers won the Super Bowl for the first time since 1979. Then, in July, the city was the site of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, which attracted thousands of tourists.

“The biggest problem with Luke right now is all the uncertainty surrounding him,” said Doug Shields, who was elected the new City Council president on Tuesday. “He’d be a fool not to use O’Connor’s playbook. At the same time, he is going to need to establish himself as his own man.”
One of the biggest uncertainties is how long he will remain in office. The city’s lawyers have said that, according to the city charter, Mayor Ravenstahl’s term will not expire until November 2009.

Other lawyers, however, including the chairwoman of the city Democratic committee, have argued that Mr. Ravenstahl must face the electorate next year, and the matter is likely to be decided by the courts. Mr. Ravenstahl, who under the charter had the option to turn down the mayor’s office after Mr. O’Connor died, said he intended to run, regardless of when the election was held.

Fate has played a role more than once in Mr. Ravenstahl’s political rise.
Last December, after rival City Council factions deadlocked over who should be president, Mr. Ravenstahl emerged as the compromise candidate, becoming the city’s youngest council president ever. That put him in line to succeed Mr. O’Connor.

In 2003, Mr. Ravenstahl cashed in on his family’s political name (his grandfather was a state representative and his father is a widely known district judge) and toppled a seasoned incumbent.

Growing up on the city’s North Side in Observatory Hill, a neighborhood of firefighters and police officers, Mr. Ravenstahl attended one of the area’s most prestigious Roman Catholic high schools. He graduated in 2002 from Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., where he was a star kicker for the football team. After college, he married (his wife, Erin, is a beautician) and he worked for a courier service before running for a City Council seat.

“Luke is very mature and doesn’t make the same mistake twice,” said John Banaszak, a former Steelers defensive lineman who coached Mr. Ravenstahl in college.

Mr. Banaszak recounted a game early in Mr. Ravenstahl’s career when he was told to kick a squib kickoff toward the sideline in hope of keeping possession, but instead he kicked it down the middle. The opposing team recovered the ball and ran halfway up the field with it.

“I chewed him out, and he never disobeyed an instruction the rest of his career,” Mr. Banaszak said, adding, “I think he takes that same wisdom with him in politics in that he knows when he is getting good advice and he follows it.”

Jim Motznik, a councilman and an ally of Mr. Ravenstahl, said concerns about Mr. Ravenstahl’s age would dissipate once the city saw his work ethic.

“Luke’s age will come up,’’ Mr. Motznik said, “but you will see it’s just a temporary question. It came up with the presidency role, but those questions went away very quickly.”

Mayors elsewhere have been younger. Jeff Dunkel was 18 in 2001 when he was elected mayor of Mount Carbon, Pa., a borough of about 100 residents in Schuylkill County. Small towns in New York, North Dakota and elsewhere have also elected teenagers as mayors.

But, according to the United States Conference of Mayors, Tallahassee, Fla., is the only other city with a population over 100,000 that has had a mayor as young as Mr. Ravenstahl — Scott Maddox, who was 26 when he was elected in 1995. Detroit, Cleveland and Dearborn, Mich., have had mayors who were 31, the conference said.

Mayor Ravenstahl said he was still coming to terms with the challenge he faced.
“Last night at the wake I was very emotional,’’ he said, “and that’s when it hit me that this is real. I only then started to think that this was actually happening and I will be leading the city.”

At City Hall, the mood remained somber. On Friday city crews finally took Mr. O’Connor’s name off the double-glass doors to the mayor’s office and began painting on Mr. Ravenstahl’s — a move purposely delayed until the day after the funeral, even though Mr. Ravenstahl has officially been mayor for a week.

At the Third Avenue Deli, a sandwich shop frequented by City Hall regulars, the owner, Jimmy Cvetic, said he was withholding judgment on Mr. Ravenstahl.

“I call him Cool Hand Luke,” Mr. Cvetic said. “He’ll be all right, but he’s going to need a cool hand to get through this.”

Sean Hamill contributed reporting.

The New York Times

2006-09-09T23:56:00.000-04:00