I just got back from my daily jaunt through the downtown. The Percy Brown’s parking lot was near full and had vehicles lined up waiting to pull in with their turn signals flashing. The central garage was filled to capacity, coned off and at the South Main entrance stood some guy telling people where to find alternative parking areas. The ground lot across the street from the YMCA was humming, and hordes of people waited patiently to cross South Main while in route to Wilkes-Barre Movies 14. And a throng of people were milling about on the sidewalks in front of the movie complex.

Now, I realize the moviegoers are only coughing up a buck a ticket, but they are flocking to downtown Wilkes-Barre to see second-run movies. I haven’t seen this much foot traffic in the downtown since, say, Franklin’s Family Restaurants circa 1985. Needless to say, I am frickin’ jazzed. And, no, I am not going to take in a $1 movie. I’m waiting until Friday afternoon when I can plunk down $7.50 each for wifey and myself, whatever it may cost me for the grand rodents, see a new movie and support my downtown merchants. Movies, lunch, substandard cheese crackers and a Sunkist soda on Public Square. Sounds like a plan.

So, The Times Leader has a new owner and lives on. That’s really good news for this area. The Citizens’ Voice has agenda written all over it. Namely, whatever the agenda of local, state and national Democrats, that’s the Voice’ agenda. It’s lame, it’s gotten stale and it is completely predictable. Or, you could say it sucks.

If I remember correctly, Times-Shamrock bought the Citizens’ Voice for, like, $700 or somewhere thereabouts. Okay, it wasn’t that cheap, but as newspapers go, it was about as expensive to acquire as a tiny bottle of ink and a used quill. It was a close-out, bargain basement price. They way I figured it, the asking price for the Times Leader had to be significantly higher than the Citizens’ Voice was a few years back. Therefore, it would be too much debt for the Shamrock empire to take on only to close a newspaper. At least, that’s what I was hoping.

Anyway, I’m pleased to learn that the Times Leader will continue on and offer an alternative to the Commissioners’ Voice.

Which leads me to Casey Jones, a columnist employed by said Times Leader. I have received numerous messages from folks wondering 1.) if I saw his piece about bloggers, and 2.) if I was going to comment on it. I was not going to, but why not?

In case you haven’t noticed, I rarely, if ever comment on any of his columns simply because I rarely, if ever get past the first or second paragraph of anything he penned. If it ever dawns on me that I’m looking forward to his work, I’ll e-mail Dr. Kevorkian and ask him for some tips on how best to off myself in a less than grotesque manner.

I really don‘t care what Casey Jones thinks about bloggers. Based solely on the easily forgotten content he has had published to date, it’s fairly easy to understand why he might set about busting on bloggers. In his industry, he can only look up at his peers, so it’s fun, almost reaffirming for him to have us to look down upon. Although, in the real world, he is forced to look up at the lot of us lowly bloggers. This guy makes Mini Me look tall by direct comparison.

Look here, Mighty Casey. Don’t go taking it out on me just because you need a step-ladder to retrieve your bottle of Flintstone vitamins from the top of the refrigerator. Yes, I can see over the top of the refrigerator. Yes, I can snag the mail without standing on the porch glider. And, yes, I can not only get my hand over a basketball rim, I can even see it without using expensive binoculars.

It must have been a slow news week if the best he could do was hack the nuts of those who blog. He claimed in not so many words that we don’t do our homework. Really? Well dig this. I do not own pajamas, let along blog in them. I do not drink coffee. And I don’t even know what a fu>king Klondike Bar is, so, so much for Casey Jones doing his homework--knowing what the fu>k he’s inanely going on and on about. Thing is, I’d rather be a colorful, yet lowly blogger than a boring troll-like creature.

Casey is to award-winning journalism what most drooling toddlers are to spelling.

Sez me.

Explore my shorts.

Based on what I‘m seeing in our downtown of late, 750 additional parking spaces will be much-needed in no time. Did I mention that I’m jazzed?

From WNEP:

I warned ‘em. How many freaking times did I warn ‘em?

First, we had this story and the lefties poo-pooed it. No! No! Those don’t count. They’re technically not Weapons of Mass Destruction. Not the bad kind. Not the new kind. Not the..Oh, eff you and Bush, too!!!

Question: Is phosgene gas not a weapon that could cause mass destruction?

Mustard gas doesn’t count?

Now the bed wetters have to pool their talents and explain (spin) this one away.

It’s interesting how a shell filled with jellified mustard gas could be depicted as dangerous by one group, and totally unimportant, almost innocuous by the very next group. One group is being far less than honest. One group denies reality. One group has gone damn near nutzoid. One group should not be trusted with our national security.

Fishing in Afghanistan. Or, was it Noxen? Oh, fiddlesticks! I cannot remember.

Later