8/30/2005

Come Together

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there are hundreds of thousands of people now homeless in America. Millions without power (No refrigerator = rotting food) A lot of these people have nothing left but the shirts on their backs. I just was browsing the MSM news on the TV and saw a woman being informed that her son's grave and hundreds of others were uprooted, and emptied out of their caskets. The time to act is now. No squabbling about where's the money coming from. Imagine what is happening down there. Imagine what is going to happen in the next week or two. In every passing day, hundreds of people will die from dehydration and disease is surely to come. I was quite happy to receive this letter today but it failed to address the money issue, other than to donate. "Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman" To: frannyward@yahoo.com Subject: Hurricane Katrina Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 22:29:50 -0400 (EDT) Dear Francis, Hurricane Katrina has passed and now the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama must begin the process of rebuilding. Our thoughts are with those who were affected by this powerful storm. During times like these, there is no room for politics and partisanship. This is a time when we all come together to help our neighbors. Due to the size of this storm and the area of impact, the cost for recovery will be staggering. For that reason, we are asking you, our supporters, to make a donation to hurricane relief efforts. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army provide shelter, food, water, blankets and clothing to those who have lost everything. We appreciate your willingness to help these groups. Your generosity will help the people impacted by the storm begin the process of rising up and recovering from this disaster. Thanks for all you do. Sincerely, Ken MehlmanChairman, RNC And I thought that the GOP didn't care! I was wondering what FEMA is doing to mobilize first responders. As you know, FEMA better known as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the "people in charge" of both natural and man- made disasters. What I didn't know is this:
"FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003."
FEMA is appealing to the residents of the affected areas who evacuated to stay put, and are as I type this, sending hundreds of personal to coordinate relief efforts. Here is a news statement from FEMA. I actually am thinking of just what I can do to help, other than to send money. Maybe join the CERT program? Has anyone really ever volunteered to go so far away? My sister in law, who works for State Farm, has been to Florida and other states in the past after hurricanes to set up comm posts. And as the price of gasoline skyrocket's "I saw it go up 9 cents today on Oak Ave, in Primos" this is going to affect us all. Your favourite WAWA coffee, Milk, Budweisers, Air Conditioning, Heat, etc, all will be affected by a storm named Katrina. Let's hope this is the last of the season. The Chevron Pascagoula Refinery

Rigorous Intuition: Crash on the levee

I'm not the only one who aware of what's going on.

8/28/2005

CommonSense: The Continuing Exploitation of Chester by Delco Politicians

Amazing information and a good read to those who want to know what's really going on in our county government. Thanks Peter and welcome to "I Live in Delaware County"! Feel free to post here anytime.

8/26/2005

Interviews & Snap on's

It was a pleasure to finally see the article that Alex Rose of the Daily Times interviewed me about a few weeks ago. Basically, the article is to the letter, and I was pleased with it. Thank you Daily Times! So now that's the cat's out of the bag, I was hoping that a swarm of net surfers would be posting away on the forums, and clamoring to be contributors of this Blog. I was wrong. It seems that the majority of people who surf the net treat it the same way they do the television. If they don't find it interesting or interactive, they just change the channel. That's all fine and dandy with me. I'll explain this at another time, as I am too upset to do it in a logical and calm way. Let's just say that if I came into your home and replaced a 3 way switch, and 3 weeks later it failed, would you be hesitant to pay me? You bet your snap-on's you would! Then to tell other's that I am a "Deadbeat" for not paying a bill that I really do not have the legal obligation to pay, being that the vehicle isn't even mine? But don't worry, you will be "paid" in full. I'll never recommend you two to anyone ever again. Have a great weekend!

8/21/2005

Quick Notes

Our web provider recently asked me ( forced more like it) to change the password to the site. I forgot to also change it on blogger. I have reloaded the blog and all who posted comments should see them show up. Sorry for the inconvenience.

8/17/2005

Chump Change?

With two more Delaware County lawmakers reversing positions and refusing to accept their "unvouchered expense" checks, a majority of the county's 15-member delegation in the Pennsylvania General Assembly has postponed their salary raises until next term. From the Daily Times today the above has me laughing. Why? Because in a nutshell the "Times" and other print media exposed what goes on in Delaware County and Pennsylvania when it comes to your tax dollars. Imagine giving yourself a 16 to 34% raise! And doing it late at night, like a cockroach coming out to feast on the crumbs on the kitchen floor that you failed to clean up. Locally, only ONE member of the house of representatives actually voted against this cowardly thievery. A one Greg Vitali, a Democrat representing Haverford and Radnor Townships. And, the kicker is, Vitali was penalized for it!

Since when is it "OK" that one puts the party and their wallets before the Country, State, City and Town? What has become of our elected officials? Are they all T.O. wannabes? Are they that smug and feeling so invincible that they think they can get away with these things? Democrat, Republican, it makes NO difference. BOTH parties have some members that are corrupt, mismanaged, and constantly jockeying for political leverage, while patting themselves on the back for a "Job well done". Today I read Rep. Nick Micozzie quoted in a letter to the Times saying this:

"Forget about guys like us, I got scars going all the way back to 1979. It's the family, the kids. The Micozzie name is well known in the area and you make us look like a bunch of crooks," Well Nick, a raise of eleven grand minimum while the "minimum" wage in PA hasn't been addressed in years dosen't sit well with a lot of people. This is not to say that Nick Micozzie and others haven't done a good job for their constituants mind you, I like Nick and vote for him everytime. It's just the way they now are whining about this issue that finally made me post this blog.

I can't vote myself a raise witout losing clients.This also makes A lot of people "voters mind you," angry. It's getting to be like that movie "Network", when William Holden screams out the window, "I'm mad as hell, and I ain't going to take it anymore!". The multitude of bullshit that is going on here in Delco and across the nation today is unbelievable. Just read the Haverford Blog sometime, and see what Haverford people think.

Iraq? Yes! Stay the course, as long as it isn't my kid over there! Price of gas? "It's because of supply and demand I hear on FAWX NEWS. Locally and across Pennsylvania I see all the back tracking because of the media fallout over this vote. My opinion? Secretly, your all banking on the hope that the "sheeple" won't remember this vote. Too late! Come 2006 things WILL change in Delco the way they should have 70 years ago. No more "War Board" or cronyism. Either both parties shape up or ship out. Put your constituents first! How they voted HERE.

P.S. Happy Birthday Pete, you old fart..

8/10/2005

Nextel - DONE!

From one of my many blogs.. Today in the Daily Times I read about a guy who was “alledgely” stabbed by his girlfriend after she peeked at his Nextel camera phone and saw pictures of him and another woman doing the nasty. Is he an idiot? Or did he want her to see them? Seriously, I think that they were his “Trophy” pics. You know, the ones you used to take of you and your girlfriends and be scared shitless that the lady at the PhotoMat wouldn’t look at them? (You knew she did by the nasty look she would give as you picked them up.) Today, things have changed. Digital camera’s abound, “Web Cams” are the norm, and voyeurism goes on. Speaking of voyeurism, I did a quick google search of the word and was shocked to find that it is labeled here as a “disorder of sexual arousal”. Heh. I used to call it a peeping tom.

8/05/2005

Flood Insurance

Delaware County is getting 'new' Flood Insurance Rate Maps. What does that mean? Well the requirement for flood insurance is based off of these maps. And no, your lender isn't the one requiring it, Congress is. They created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968. Why? Because many insurance companies went belly-up from flood claims. After that most insurance companies wouldn't offer flood insurance. Some still do though, mostly overseas companies, at an increadibly huge cost. The lenders though determine if you are required to purchase flood insurance though they do a very half-ass job in this determination usually paying some other company to do it for them. Homeowners Insurance does NOT cover flood damage. Don't have a mortgage/home equity loan? Your not required (mandatory purchase of flood insurance is enforced through the lenders) to purchase it though you really really really should get it if your live in/near the floodplain. So anyway, Delaware County maps have been updated. If you want to look at them go to your municipality (usually a planning/zoning department but something the building permitting office). Think the floodplain is wrong? Better have some data and by data I mean engineering data proving that its wrong. Think the road names suck? Go ahead and comment back to the municipality, who may or may not bring that to the government (depends if they agree), who will then change it. Here is the official NFIP site. The NFIP is one of those few government programs that make a lot of sense. Money goes into the program from insurance premiums. That money is used for employee salaries, floodplain mapping, mitigation programs, and a host of other related stuff. Congress has recently been throwing taxpayer money into the pot to push things along and create modernized maps (read: digital) for the entire nation in about 5-7 years.

8/04/2005

Latoyia Figueroa - Missing in Philly

I've been thinking about this young woman ever since I first saw a story about her here in the local paper. With all the mainstream medias attention on Natalee Holloway, I think that Latoyia's family needs equal exposure. Some info: Latoyia is 24 years old, 5'2", 130 lbs, with a tattoo of the name "Angel" on her right wrist and another tattoo "IZHANAE" (Her Daughter's name) on her left arm. She is 5 months pregnant. She was last seen on July 18th wearing a tan top and black pants in the area of S. 52nd st. Do you know how many young woman go missing each year in the U.S.? Thousands. How many receive major/national news coverage? Just a few. How many "minority" women? Not many. I saw just one report on "FOX" news about Latoyia. Then it's right back to Aruba looking for Natalee. BOTH of these young women need to be found. It kind of ticks me off that the MSM cares more about their ratings than actual people. Let's face the fact here. Natalee is White, Latoyia is Black. And that my friend is why no coverage. And that's the real story.