Chitwood's Blog

I think that Mike Chitwood should have his own Blog. Why? Well Gil Spencer has his, so does a Police Chief in Wales. and who can ever forget Joe Arpaio? He has an awesome web site! There is even another Mike Chitwood (any relation?) who has his own web site! C'mon Mike! Get yourself a Blog, or you can contribute here. G'nite

Benefit For Moira Shaughnessy - Get Out Your Green!

Via The Haverford Blog - A benefit will be taking place on March 17th, 2007 at Brownie's 23 East for Moira Shaughnessy, the Executive Director of The Ardmore Initiative. Moria contracted Viral Encephalitis, a condition that causes swelling of the brain. She needs our help. I don't know her, but I do know about the cost of long term health care and what a financial burden it can be. Below are some links to the story behind what happened to Moria. Remember your donation can make a world of difference. The Moira Shaughnessy Medical Fund c/o TD BankNorth 551 W. Lancaster Avenue Haverford, PA 19041 "Get Out Your Green": A Community Fundraiser to Benefit Moira Shaughnessy Gets Help from Amazing Musicians! In a blink of an eye, everything can change Get Out Your Green in Ardmore Aftershocks of 'a lightning strike' Cheers.

The Long And Short Of Life - "If You Want It"

Think about the title post for a fleecing minute if you will. Like Maureen Dowd and her accurate analysis of "The Secret", everyone, everyday, barters that they have some sort of edge on life. Well I've got news for them.. They're wrong. Having a nice warm afternoon here in Delco.

Testing A Taser

I'll sell you a Metal Halide cheap

I was going to make this post mainly about why GEO group should allow smoking out at the Meadows, but this got my goat in the Daily Times today. Seems that two families, namely the Longos and the Dunlaps, are leading the pack of several families who are on a vendetta against Springfield School District, who installed "Utility Poles"; namely Stadium lights on the field last year. Imagine on a quiet summer night having "God forbid" lights shining into your back yard! I deal with my neighbors motion light, as he does mine. It seems to me that the lights to these people are interfering with the quiet dark isolated community. I bet they don't have children in the school playing on the football team! Sport activities are tantamount to kids. Keeps them off the drugs and out of trouble, no? In other news that I read today in my favourite rag, there are two losers who like to throw hot coffee on cashiers after they open the cash drawer. The good thing is so far no one was seriously hurt. Even better, Wawa and 7-Eleven have put a total of 10 grand out for their capture and conviction. I am really slow work wise, and 10 K to me would be grand. With the warm weather coming, what will these loons do to try to conceal their faces?

Want Results? Speak to an AMERICAN!

A few minutes ago I finally got back online using my Business class DSL service with Verizon. Eariler I had lost the password to my Linksys router so I had to reset it. Of course in doing this I also lost all of the settings for my Static IP. No problem I thought, I'll just call Verizon. Yeah right. After "talking" to a female cyborg computerized voice, I finally was connected to a residential tech support person. He then transferred me to the business tech support, and, after providing all of my information for the umpteenth time, "Jerry", with his Indian accent, hung up on me! I called back, madder then a hornet, and when I finally got a human on the line, I told her that I want to speak to an AMERICAN. Not some moron in Pakistan or India who can neither speak good English nor know or care what my problem is! Enter Brad from Minnesota. He listened to what I wanted; Static IP, Default Gateway, DNS, etc, then provided it. I told him that I was on the phone for almost an hour, and I was finally relieved to speak to a knowledgeable, effective AMERICAN. So there you have it. If you use Verizon and need effective results to your DSL problems, ASK for an AMERICAN. If your lucky you may get Brad. Cheers.

Sounding off on "Sound Off"

If you live in Delaware County (and I assume you do) and have read the Daily Times, you have probably seen the "Sound Off" section. Sound Off is supposed to be a part of the paper that gives a chance for the "people" to speak. The problem with that concept, however, is that the average person is completely stupid and misinformed and basically just wants to read their messages in the paper the next day. I have noticed over the past 2 years or so that Sound Off is more of a forum to trash whatever political party the caller is against. I have a feeling though that it was always filled with tacky complaints revolving around misinformation or just plain ignorance. While some of these rants are comical, most can be categorized as eye-rollers. I'll use a few of the February 16th, 2007 Sound Off calls as everyday examples of how this section of the paper is sometimes completely unreadable. Who's in Charge?: "Is there anyone in charge of the asylum? Who is supposed to be watching our tax money in Harrisburg? They're just filling their own pockets, this way and that way. Who's in charge?" Ok...what exactly are you talking about? Filling their own pockets in what way (besides this and that)? Who's in charge of what? My guess is this is someone who just found out they owe $15 income tax to the state and don't understand why they should have to pay "them". Bumps for everyone: "....Brookhaven residents...want speed bumps (on Trimble Blvd)...I have another recommendation. Put them on the turnpike and Blue Route to slow down people up there also" Here's a common theme in Sound off. People in a town want something done, person in another town compares it to his town's own problems. Here's the problem with his advice - it's completely stupid. Besides wrecking your vehicle and causing severe backups for miles along 476, what will speed bumps accomplish? I'm assuming this person is only kidding (ha ha, good one). I hope. A straight shooter: "I know Mayor C. Scott Shields. He...doesn't care if you are gay...(he) has a problem with gays demanding privileges and protections that the rest of us don't get...Talk to him, read his articles or watch him on TV..." Ok...I really thought I was out of the loop, because I had no idea who C. Scott Shields was. Turns out he's the mayor of....Rutledge. I had no idea Rutledge had this kind of gay uprising! He's also a lawyer, so I'm assuming it's $250 per hour to talk to him, and for some reason I've never been able to catch him on TV (could be because he's the mayor of...Rutledge). What exactly are the gays asking for that "we" don't get? I'm guessing that the caller wouldn't be able to give me a good example anyway. Rush to Idiocy: "....Rush Limbaugh...feels the need to express his opinions about...Rex Grossman, Chicago's quarterback....Let me tell you a secret Rush...if you're good you're good and if you stink you stink" Ahh...I'm trying to figure out why I would care. You are calling a local newspaper to complain about a radio host, not even from the region, because you don't like him commenting on the NFL? Get a life. I'm not a big Rush fan either (well ok, at all), but when you nitpick, you nitpick. This isn't to say that every single Sound Off item is horrible. There were some in today's paper thanking people for help or commenting on current events without sounding completely dumb. I would like the Daily Times to have an Internet-style sound off - a message board where you can say whatever you want, but with the opportunity of others to call you out on it. It may lead to a lot of hurt feelings, but it will also allow someone to think twice about what they are complaining about.

Bee Mites?

Hardly something to thing about at 3:45 AM on a frigid February morning, but this may have a lasting impact on our food supply. Al-Qaeda behind this? I'm highly allergic to these baddies, so much so that I run like a pussie when one gets too close.. Mystery ailment strikes honeybees By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 11, 11:17 PM ET STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - A mysterious illness is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the country, threatening honey production, the livelihood of beekeepers and possibly crops that need bees for pollination. Reports of unusual colony deaths have come from at least 22 states. Some affected commercial beekeepers — who often keep thousands of colonies — have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees. A colony can have roughly 20,000 bees in the winter, and up to 60,000 in the summer. The country‘s bee population had already been shocked in recent years by a tiny, parasitic bug called the varroa mite, which has destroyed more than half of some beekeepers‘ hives and devastated most wild honeybee populations. Along with being producers of honey, commercial bee colonies are important to agriculture as pollinators, along with some birds, bats and other insects. A recent report by the National Research Council noted that in order to bear fruit, three-quarters of all flowering plants — including most food crops and some that provide fiber, drugs and fuel — rely on pollinators for fertilization. "We are going to take bees we got and make more bees ... but it‘s costly," he said. "We are talking about major bucks. You can only take so many blows so many times." One beekeeper who traveled with two truckloads of bees to California to help pollinate almond trees found nearly all of his bees dead upon arrival, said Dennis vanEnglesdorp, acting state apiarist for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture . Scientists at Penn State, the University of Montana and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are among the quickly growing group of researchers and industry officials trying to solve the mystery. • Although the bodies of dead bees often are littered around a hive, sometimes carried out of the hive by worker bees, no bee remains are typically found around colonies struck by the mystery ailment. Scientists assume these bees have flown away from the hive before dying. • Normally, a weakened bee colony would be immediately overrun by bees from other colonies or by pests going after the hive‘s honey. That‘s not the case with the stricken colonies, which might not be touched for at least two weeks, said Diana Cox-Foster, a Penn State entomology professor investigating the problem. Cox-Foster said an analysis of dissected bees turned up an alarmingly high number of foreign fungi, bacteria and other organisms and weakened immune systems. In the meantime, beekeepers are wondering if bee deaths over the last couple of years that had been blamed on mites or poor management might actually have resulted from the mystery ailment. "Now people think that they may have had this three or four years," vanEnglesdorp said.

Thought Crimes and Mistermeanies

I've been following the trial of Ernest Zundel, A German who denies the Holocaust existed was sent to prison for five years. Weather your Dov Zacheim or Mel Gibson, the fact that a person can now be sent to prison for not agreeing with something is more Orwellian than ever. Were "Six Million Jews" murdered in extermination camps in Germany during World War II? Most people say so. Me? I couldn't care less. Call me a cold hearted bastard, but there were over 160 million murdered world wide during WW2, from the "Rape of Nanking" in China, to the "Death March" of Bataan, to the Russian Front. Many ethnic groups, from the Poles to the Chinese to Filipinos and even Germans themselves were killed. How many American servicemen and women? Look up the bombing of Dresden and see how many civilians were outright murdered by Allied bombers, what some say was overkill. Some wacko extremist say that the Zionist were behind it all, making way for the Balfour Proclamation, so that the State of Israel could come into being. So how does this affect me, an American of Irish decent? (Although my Grandmom's maiden name was Spellman, no relation to the director.)It dosen't. Regardless of how I feel, the fact that a person can be arrested and locked up for pure thought doesn't sound to thrilling, eh? Anyone denying that we landed on the Moon? Three years hard labor for you! Have a thought in your head about Exxon/Mobile and other petro chemical companies ripping you off at the pumps? Don't agree with Homosexual Marriage? Hate George Bush? Hillary? Think that Obama is a Muslim spy? Your all going to an internment camp, courtesy of Halliburton. America and Americans have a right to exist..

A Nice Valentines Day Story

She’s my best friend’ 02/14/2007 By PATTI MENGERS pmengers@delcotimes.com COLWYN -- It’s Monday morning at the Hill house and the lady of the manor is in the midst of doing laundry. "I just threw it in the dryer and now I’m going to give him lunch," said Eleanor Hill referring to her husband, George. After more than 63 years of marriage, they pretty much have their daily routine down to a science. But, they both will tell you, there’s nothing routine about their devotion to one another."The first time I saw her I thought, ‘Wow, how lucky can you get?’" said George, who turned 88 Jan. 19."Oh, God’s been good to us. Whatever happens, we always come out on top. I don’t know what we’d do without one another," noted Eleanor, who will be 87 in September.The Hills were among more than 30 couples honored last Sunday at a St. Valentine’s Mass at Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Darby, celebrated for the fourth consecutive year by the Rev. Joseph Corley."It was a response to them saying they wanted more support for married couples," noted Corley, who has been pastor of Blessed Virgin Mary parish since 1998. Read on... It's good to read about something good in the news paper for a change.