What you have seen, O Americans, in New York and Washington and the losses you are having in Afghanistan and Iraq, in spite of all the media blackout, are only the losses of the initial clashes. If you continue the same policy of aggression against Muslims, God willing, you will see the horror that will make you forget what you had seen in Vietnam.--Ayman al-Zawahri

Sounds like a few of our democrat senators. No?

Who is the mental incontinent that posted this drivel on the forum page?

I wish he'd scream at me while out and about. But that's a whole other subject. -- Elmer, 11:21:00 08/06/05 Sat [1] The name is elmer come on down by the china queen and ask for me, I want you to explain to me what you would do if I screamed at you. You see I have no problem whacking anyone, I have nothing to lose. I have nothing, I sleep in the woods, or the city cellblock. Two weeks ago I was involved in a minor altercation in the old Neddoff's parking lot. I was arrested for kicking a man in the head while he was on the ground. Those 13 cents are very important to me and if you do not given them to me I get very upset. With your ever present scanner on your side I am surprised that you don't hear all the activity that happens in the plaza.

Want me to 'splain it? Why not? I'd do the same f**king thing that I do to all of the panhandlers that can't take no for an answer. My first response would be your basic NO!, and the follow-up (if needed) would be something along the lines of F**K OFF!!! It's not like I haven't had a few run-ins with these assholes. Whether it's spare change they want, a cigarette, or whatever else they may request of me, they always come away knowing full well that I could really give a flying f**k what they think, or how they might react.

The last time I encountered one of these derelicts real close like, I was explaining to him how I was going to smack my trunk hood off of his thick skull until he cheered up, when my uncle who works in the social services field recognized the guy, intervened and saved the guys life. I'm sorry if it bothers some of you, but I'm not afraid of these derelicts. And if everyone reacted to them in the same manner, they'd be catching a major hint, wouldn't they? Fact is, they prey upon the folks too skiddish to tell them where to go.

And then throw in the fact that I am always...that's always armed. Remember that Boy Scout motto? Be prepared, kiddies. That would be me. So if some scumball wants to dance, he's gonna get a painful surprise. And if he manages to disarm me, the back-up weapon will immediately come into play. They are both loaded at all times, have built-in silencers and have been broken in.

And exactly what did I miss while having my "ever present" scanner by my side? Vagrant calls? Panhandling calls? Drunks pissing behind the liquor store? What did I miss? To hear you tell it, one would think that shopping next to the Green Zone in Baghdad is much safer than visiting the Taco Bell, or Family Dollar. And I'm here to tell you that 1, you're full of sh*t, and 2, you sound like you need to either run away to the Back Mountain, or take some karate lessons.

Guess where Gage, Taylor and myself were this morning. Take a guess.

And please don't give me any bunk about local businesses losing foot traffic over these vagrants and their antics. Back in the day when I was managing a downtown eatery, the troublesome vagrants kept one eye out for the cops, and one eye out for Andy and myself. We would not tolerate their bullsh*t in, or anywhere near our business. We went out of our way to harass them rather than having them harassing our regular customers. Besides, why should the cops be allowed to have all of the fun? Show Charlie Weiss a picture of me and I guarantee you that he'll start cursing under his baited breath. And if by chance he doesn't remember my ugly mug, ask him about the guy that chased him two blocks, knocked him to the ground and punched his head off of the front of the old Chacko's until he surrendered the tip he stole from one of our waitresses. If that doesn't do it, ask him about that 100-pound bag of bakery flour that scored a direct hit on him after being launched from a second story window.

Or find Crazy Kevin and say, "Hit it, f**kface!" and see if that jogs his already clouded memory. I remember some panhandler screaming at a teen-aged waitress about ready to burst into tears because she wouldn't sell him a half cup of soup for half of the price listed on the menu. After having been briefed on his nonsense, I marched over to his two-top and told him to get the f**k out while he still could. He launched into some racial missive about me--the evil white guy--not caring about his situation only because he was a black man. Just to piss him off to the absolute max, I said, "Right! Now get the f**k out!" He immediately blew a fuse and after the briefest of struggles, I skipped him across those, then, brand new red paver tiles much like a gangly sprat of ten would skip a stone across a pond. Afterwards, that same teen-aged waitress told me that I didn't have to do that to "that poor man." My response to her? "Yeah, I did."

Don't talk to me about the big, bad street urchins lurking out there. I did my tours of duty and then some. While you were hiding behind the curtains and peeking out, I was the one getting punched in the Adam's Apple, smacking down the latest, drunken Bruce Lee wannabe, crashing through double-paned windows, disarming maniacs swinging crutches at me, and having to explain to wifey all the time why I had another blood-stained tie headed for the hopper. And trust me on this, those dregs that you speak of can smell fear a mile away. Your best bet is let them know that you could care less about how big and bad they think they are. Well, that is, if you're actually up to it. You'll have to make that determination all by your lonesome.

I had no problem with staring down the last generation of nitwits, and the next generation doesn't phase me in the least. Yet, you dare to tell me what it's like out there? Have you ever seen the gyrations a guy makes after having his spleen crushed with one well-placed kick? Do you have any idea how many times you have to smash a PCP-crazed guy's head off of a cigarette machine before he'll collapse to the ground? No? That's what I thought.

Am I a tough guy? I doubt it. But I can tell you this much: Not one of the customers or employees ever entrusted to me were injured by any of the miscreants that presented themselves on a regular basis. Each of the various scars on my body from those heady days has a wild story behind it. But no one else on my watch has a single scar to show from those days. I saw my duty and I did it.

But, according to you, I should be afraid to head on down for a soft shell taco?

Listen to yourself.

I'm sure we've covered this subject before. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter if people get hurt so long as the right people get hurt. Who could take issue with that even if they are afraid to make it happen on their own?

13 cents?

Bring it on!

You may be right, but I find it hard to believe that enough people would take to riding the rails to make this rail link-up a profitable endeavor. Never one to be reduced to peonage by any elected official, I don't think any of our three county commissioners know what they're getting themselves, or the lot of us into.

We're not talking buses, here. We're not talking fuel filters and a few tunes-ups. We're talking huge locomotives, passenger cars, train stations and hundreds, if not, thousands of miles of track to be restored, maintained and insured. If this was your call to make, would you make it? It really seems like a stretch to me.

Honestly, I don't think our current crop of county commissioners know how to prioritize. No matter what expensive plan has been presented to them, they seem eager to embrace and finance all of them. Show me a project they are not committing big, big bucks to, and I'll show you what deficit spending is all about.

As we now know, the Hilton project up in Scranton did not work out as promised, and as a result, Scranton is set to lose a quarter million dollars per fiscal year in community development block grant monies.

The city's annual budget, which already has problems, won't be directly hurt by the loss because community development block grant money isn't part of the budget. But repaying the loan will mean about $241,000 a year less for future economic development, blight removal, and other projects that benefit low- to moderate-income people in particular.

From LackawannaCountyNews.com

And what are our county commissioners using as collateral if their railroad project doesn't pan out?

Future community development block grant funding.

Sorry, but I don't like this one bit.

The latest from the Moonbat Patrol.

From the Citizen's Voice:

Referendum sought to give W-B voters say in legislative issues By Denise Allabaugh, Staff Writer 08/06/2005 Two Wilkes-Barre residents are trying to fight city hall. Denise Carey, founder of Wilkes-Barre Citizens for Safety, and Christine Katsock, president of the Wilkes-Barre Taxpayers Association, gathered more than 1,100 signatures on a petition to give voters a greater voice in formulating legislation pertaining to city government. They hope to have a referendum on the ballot in the November election. Their underlying issue is to grant the public a say in reopening the closed Heights firehouse. They said this petition is the first step to try to change the city's home rule charter. "Right now, the city doesn't have this language in their charter," Carey said. "We were able to go to the ballot and vote for the arena. Wilkes-Barre doesn't have that, so we can't vote on an issue. This language gives us the right to do that." Carey and Katsock filed their petition Friday with Luzerne County Director of Elections Leonard Piazza, who spent more than an hour reviewing each signature and striking any in question. In the end, they still had 991 signatures, which was 19 more than they needed to allow the petition to be reviewed by the Luzerne County Board of Elections. Piazza said he would submit it to Solicitor Neil O'Donnell and the board for review. O'Donnell said he would review it "with an eye toward compliance of the election code." "It is clear to the board that the underlying issue is the fire station in the Heights. This is an important issue to everyone so we'll give it a good look," O'Donnell said. City Solicitor Bill Vinsko said he also plans to give the petition a good look "because we want to make sure that it coincides with the rights the citizens have not only under our charter, but under state law." Vinsko believes citizens already have a voice in city government. "From a purely constitutional perspective, that's what the voting process is for. It seems like they want a greater voice than that," Vinsko said. "We will look at it carefully. If it's valid, we won't challenge it." More than 95 percent of people who signed the petition feel the closing of the Heights firehouse was "reckless and wrong," Carey said. Since the firehouse closed in October of 2004 as a result of structural problems, Carey has continually pleaded with Mayor Tom Leighton and council to reopen it. "I cried, I begged, I pleaded, I screamed and I've done everything under the sun since the day they closed it to get them to listen to our concerns," Carey said. "It just seems to fall on deaf ears." Leighton has continually responded that the city does not have the money to fix the firehouse or to hire enough firefighters to staff it. Yet, Carey argued the city has the money for other expenses, such as to demolish the canopy, build theaters and renovate the Hotel Sterling. The closing of the Heights firehouse followed the closing of the firehouse on Conyngham Avenue. Leighton's plan is to invest $50 million in the fire department over the next five years. His plan includes building a new $400,000 station at Hollenback Park and closing the station on Scott Street in Parsons. Katsock believes there should be five firehouses in the city. "Building a new one and closing three is not an option," Katsock said.

This is what can happen when un-checked egos make people incapable of admitting that their's is a fool's errand. First, it was about saving a neighborhood firehouse. Now, it's about the negation of leadership. Now, it's about mob rule. Now, it's about asking the consistently apothetic hoi polloi to suddenly differentiate between investments in our future and unneeded expenses. Now, sadly, it's about putting the city's future in the hands of folks that wouldn't know a sound capital investmest if it lurched forward and latched onto their teats.

Once the "Save our Firehouse" crowd crawled into bed with the perpetually ineffective activist crowd, you just had to know that this nonsense would result in petitions and ballot questions. Whenever the usual activist suspects lose at the polls, they draft even more petitions for referendums. And whenever a politico does something they don't agree with, they draft even more petitions for referendums. I swear, if one of their kids got screwed by a District 16 umpire on a pitch well off the plate, they'd be meeting well after dark and yammering on about the need for more petitions.

I've been told by a few people that I should get off of the backs of the folks in the Heights. F**k that sh*t. At first, their's was a movement worthy of praise. They wanted their firehouse reopened and they were willing to fight to make it happen. I had no problem with that other than the obvious fact that what they wanted to save was a glorified storage shed without a functional roof. But when they got to spinning yarns that had no basis in fact, I was put off by these people and their losing cause. Fact is, they will not accept the truth of the matter.

The Quad 3 folks, the Borton/Lawson folks, the ISO folks, and the City of Wilkes-Barre folks have all been painted as being liars by the Heights folks and that suggests that the folks in the Heights don't give a flying f**k what facts they are presented with. They want what they want, and they will disparage anyone who gets in their way. Tell me I'm wrong.

The charge was leveled that the mayor turned his back on SAFER grants, without anyone ever mentioning that SAFER grants would increase the city's payroll. Then the "slower response times" ball got rolling downhill, but as those of us with those "ever present" scanners know all too well, that accusation was total bunkum. Then, we were told that the city's ISO rating would suffer and insurance rates would increase as a result. That turned out to be even more total bunkum, but still, the Heights folks press on as if they were not already wrong on every issue they brought to the fray. Iffin' they actually get something right, I'll pass it along. But don't hold your frickin' breath. They are an arrogant, mistaken bunch, but look who's advising them.

And yet, these are the very same vaccuous folks demanding that any future legislative issues, or capital investments be put to a vote out here in Apothetic Land? And to make matters worse, they are totally serious!

Leighton has continually responded that the city does not have the money to fix the firehouse or to hire enough firefighters to staff it. Yet, Carey argued the city has the money for other expenses, such as to demolish the canopy, build theaters and renovate the Hotel Sterling.

And there for all to see is the folly of the woman that would be king. Federal, state, and county economic development funds cannot be diverted from the projects from which they were originally committed. When the governor of the state rolls into town with a big fat check for a theater project, the mayor cannot siphon off a few bucks to rebuild a glorified storage shed in the Heights. How do you think our last mayor got himself in a heap of financial problems he couldn't overcome? Denise is demanding that our mayor play fast and loose with the rules. Shows how little she comprehends. You'd think we'd have learned our painfully simple lessons during the previous, disasterous administration, no?

Check this. I grabbed this from Uncle Kanjo's site:

Listed below are projects for Luzerne County:

$9.8 million for improvements to Wilkes-Barre’s streets, including the downtown lighting project and parking facilities. Congressman Kanjorski secured $2.8 million of this total. The Senate added an additional $1 million for street enhancements and $6 million for the Wilkes-Barre intermodal transportation center.

Oh, sure!!! But why can't they fix the firehouse that time forgot???

I've told people this until I'm blue in the face, and I'll repeat it once more. If the county commissioners, the governor, and the Fedrule Govmint allocate funds for a specific project, that doesn't mean that the city is in a position to blow money it doesn't have. Apparently, Denise and Christine either don't understand that much, or they don't care. To them, all that matters is headlines and the next election go-round.

As for me, I will continue to support the more than capable leaders that we elected at the ballot box. I have no need of petition-carrying charlatans. I happen to possess just enough of a cognitive thought process to know that Tom Leighton is doing what needs to be done.

Building a new one and closing three is not an option," Katsock said.

Get a job already, will you?

See the date of that post? 1-7-2005? Have we been arguing about this stuff that long? Wow! First off, Tom...I've met you, I've talked to you on many occasions, and I even tried to chase you into a couple of structure fires for the sole purpose of catching some good pics. Simply stated, I know you're one of the good guys, so let's get that out there front and center.

And while I'm completely used to anonymous people throwing my previously published words right back at me, I have no problem with you doing the same. But, I will not back off whereas your demand that three men are required on an engine is concerned. If three men on an engine is what is required to ensure the safety of your men in the Nord End, or, say, Barney Farms, then two men on an engine in the Heights is putting your men at increased risk. I fully understand the limitations of the failing structure and the apparatus involved, but I think you've latched onto this Heights brouhaha so as to further your long-stated argument for more hires. And that won't get your pic pinned onto my dart board anytime soon.

But...I must admit that while I understand the administration's need to stick with the necessary five-year financial plan no matter what, when a structure fire does present itself, we have very, very little left in reserve from a firefighting standpoint. And while some of the folks at City Hall may not want to hear that coming from me, that's what the "ever present" scanner has been telling me.

In my mind, you'd be smart to divorce yourself from this Heights dog coop imbroglio, and fight for another engine being put in service on a daily basis. Being completely honest, you (the pro) and I (the nobody) both know that three well-staffed firehouses could easily serve this city, but you've decided to stick to this complete fallacy that our delapidated East Station is somehow irreplaceable where public safety is concerned. My thinking is, another engine and a few more men working out of three stations would do this city proud and then some.

If you were to call up an internet map of this entire city, it would resemble a land-locked peninsula. In other words, a firehouse in the Nord End, the south end, and one smack dab in the middle should be able to take care of business on a consistent basis. That is, in my mind, if we had one more engine in service and enough men to staff it when headquarters had already "cleaned house."

And if I may, I will reiterate this point:

Help us help you? I seriously doubt that I can. I think that ball rests squarely in your capable hands. Is there no middle ground from which you can all work from? We need not any further demogogic antics, useless rhetoric, or alienated citizens armed with petitions fraught with short-sightedness, or any further meandering missives. What we need is some sort of meeting of the minds.

Where once you guys were reduced to playing RIT, and Accountability games while structures burned away, now you've been freed from those shackles when the extension cords meltdown. But I remain firmly committed in my belief that you need to dump the losing cause in the Heights and get on with what the future of Wilkes-Barre demands of you.

What we need is some sort of meeting of the minds.

No?

Dude...I've listened to your exploits from the interior of burning structures for so long, there is no way that I could ever do anything but respect your fire-fighting expertise. But...on the political side of things, I'm beginning to wonder.

Sorry.

One less firehouse. One more engine. And the staffing thing is your ball to kick about. You're the union boss.

Do it, or make way for someone who can.

Yummie. Er, yukkie. Chocolate water? We should build a deflatable dam!

Gotta go. I've got the latest Bruce Willis DVD calling to me.

Buck the f**k up!!!

Later