Going To The Dogs?

I read recently that our current County Council is going to turn Kent Park into a "Dog Park", at a cost of over $440 thousand dollars. My sons and me like to fish in that area, especially above the dam. While the concept of this park is a noble one, Imagine the legal ramifications of having it. Let's say a dog (like one of those nasty pit bulls) gets loose and mauls a child? Or the same pit bull attacks my little Chihuahua? Quote from the County Web Site: "There is a lot of public support across the county for dog parks. These are facilities set aside for dogs and their owners to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment,” Cartisano said. “This isn’t just a dog issue; it’s a people issue. We want to establish a fenced-in dog park where well-behaved canines can exercise in a clean, safe environment without disturbing other people, wildlife or property.” "Well-behaved canines" means over 70 percent of dogs (including our dog) will not be allowed into the park. C'mon now. Dogs hate other dogs. Chihuahua's are mean and nasty. Our's was an SPCA dog, and after he gotten sick, the vet saw evidence of abuse (cracked ribs), etc from the former owners. So will they have an obedience school at our disposal there? "A clean, safe environment without disturbing other people, wildlife or property." And the issue of trying to fish while hundreds of barking, snarling mutts isn't my cup of tea either. What about the locals? Would you like to work 3rd shift and have to come home to hear mutts barking while being forced to smell dog crap? My answer is to build a recreation center, complete with a "skate park". The youth of Delaware County need s p a c e more so than "Man's best friend". Kids today are in some areas (Springfield) forbidden to skateboard on public property. I would be the first to volunteer to oversee the children, and maybe even strap on my Rollerblades and show them a thing or two. To those who remember "Tot Lot", and "Box Hockey" in UD. Those were the good old days, before X Box, PS2, and even this Pandora's box in which I type this post, items that rob America's youth of an interactive personal childhood, complete with fights, friendship, competitiveness, and scraping your knee. Build a decent recreation center FOR CHILDREN, Not DOGS. Cheers. UPDATE - 7/22/08: According to the News Of Delaware County, The Dog Park is officially open tomorrow. Will Oni bring her Pit Bull to meet my Chihuahua? Posted on Tue, Jul 22, 2008 New county dog park opens July 24 in Upper Darby Delaware County Council invites dog owners who have well-behaved canines to enjoy the county's first dog park, located in Kent Park in Upper Darby.Dog owners can let their canine pals romp unleashed in the fenced-in facility, which is part of an overall renovation to the Kent Park facility. The dog park is part of Delaware County's extensive parks system, which features 11 parks and 616 acres of open, protected space that enhances the environment and gives people a place to exercise, enjoy nature and build community. The Delaware County Department of Parks and Recreation and Upper Darby Township are operating the dog park at Kent Park jointly. The dog park is part of a renovated multi-recreational area that features a playground, fishing area, and the separate fenced-in dog park, complete with a covered pavilion, benches, water and, of course, dog-litter bags. Kent Park is a scenic 10-acre stretch of green that runs along Darby Creek under the historic Lindbergh Bridge. Kent Park is a county-owned park that has traditionally been used for hiking and fishing. Advertisement The Kent Park recreational area is part of a broader plan to create a Greenway along Darby Creek. In response to dog owners, Kent Park offers a fenced-in area for dogs to get fresh air, exercise and playtime with other dogs. The Kent Park Dog Park features two fenced-in areas: one for dogs 25 pounds and larger; and one for smaller dogs. Both enclosures are double-gated to prevent dogs from getting loose. Park users are required to register their dogs with Delaware County/Upper Darby, and to abide by the rules and regulations designed to keep the park safe and well-maintained. Kent Park Dog Park is located in the 3900 block of Bridge Street, off of Baltimore Pike in Upper Darby. Hours are 8 a.m. to dusk daily. People must register their dogs to obtain a key fob for entrance. Current license and rabies inoculation are required. Registration is $20 per household; $10 for renewal; $10 for senior citizens and $5 for renewal. Limited Introductory Use: The computer system for the access key fobs is still being installed. Until that is complete, dog owners will have access to the dog park from 4 to 8 p.m. weeknights and 10 a.m. 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. People still need to register and they will be notified when the key fob system is complete.

David Landau - A One Trick Pony?

I've been interested in the up coming election for Delaware County Council in November now for a few months, thanks to David Landau moving into my town of Clifton Heights. I have visited both parties web sites, and although both talk a good talk, Fizzano Cannon, McGarrigle, and Lewis of Delco 2007 have EXPERIENCE and have served Delco well according to my observations, abit some issues that I'll describe below.

Wasteful Spending: To David: Why spend how many thousands of dollars to rent a campaign HQ here in Clifton? That is wasteful spending. Myself and other people residing in the "Blue Collar" section of Delaware County are quite content with the way things are running, and do not want to see Delco be consumed by Philadelphia, like it did to Mayfair, Roxborough, and the greater northeast, an agenda that you Democrats have been trying to do for decades!

Response to your Problem: I asked Nick Micozzie to look into a matter concerning a neighbor, and he responded. So did his Son and also Tom Judge, all Republicans serving Delco. They actually responded to me, so I in turn feel that they are worthy of being elected. That's what gets people elected. To be fair to you, your spokesman, George Matysik, has responded to me via email in a positive way, and insists that you are sincere in your ambition to serve us.

Cronyism: There is one issue that David brought forth, that has me interested. "The one trick pony issue" mentioned as the title to this post that has me interested in him. It's called Cronyism. I know of several people who own companies who have a lock on contracts in the county and have had for years, and why they do is not a secret anymore. Unfortunately, this issue is a non issue, as most voters in Delaware County are not self employed, and couldn't give it another thought. Another thing is the issue of Upper Darby, once a decent place to live, now turned into an extension of West Philadelphia. David, what would you be willing to do to resolve this?

Number ONE Problem: What I want County Council to do is to BAN Section 8 housing in Delaware County. Period. Scumbags who play the system represent over 95 percent of the applicants. Our so called "Tax Dollars" fund these people, while people like myself, pay top dollar to live in the area, not to mention NO HEALTH CARE. These are MY issues, and many other voters who will decide the outcome in November. Enough of ranting tonight, I need to find some work to do tomorrow as a self employed electrician so I can pay my bills. Cheers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Links to the candidates for Delaware County County Council: David Landau Just kidding, here's the real link to David's web site.. 10/8/2007 - *NEW* Ann O'Keefe for Delaware County County Council! Andy Lewis, Tom McGarrigle, Christine Fizanno Cannon Here's a blog that has a world of opinions on the above issue. The Haverford Blog Any other canidates running for County Council, etc, come this November please e mail me and I'll be most happy to add your link tho this post!

Go EAGLES!

The game is on! Eagles look wierd in their throwback jerseys, when they were called the Frankford Yellowjackets. There up at the moment 21 to 7. Let hope they hang on.. Cheers.

Hamsher Fever

A few days ago I posted something on both the Haverford Blog and our own forum, telling everyone that I was setting up a blogger meet at a local bar. I also stated that Jane Hamsher (of Firedoglake), Above Average Jane (of Aboveavejane), Akkam (from Akkam's Razor), and hopefully a few others could (not would) be in attendance. I was amazed of the flood of e mails that I received, 23 in all, asking me if Jane Hamsher was really going to be there! Cripes, don't people actually READ? I never said that she was going to be there, I said " Also in attendance could be".. I trully wish Jane would have shown up, but number one, I believe she lives in Virginia! Two, I don't know her personally, and if I did It's not like I could call her up and say: Hi Jane, this is Fran. I'm having a blogger meet at Peabody's and I want you here NOW! Even if I did know her, she would probably tell me to **** off, and I wouldn't blame her one bit. (Us Men are so demanding at times, aren't we?) Finally, I received one e mail from a liberal Democrat asking me if I could confirm that Jane Hamsher would be in attendance. Thankfully I read it and replied that Noooo She wouldn't be there, that I was only kidding! Two people did show up, and we had a good chat, abit brief. The first thing that they asked was: Is Jane here? P.S. I was hoping John Gault would have shown up..

Welcome to the United States of America!

Today I received an e mail trying to sell me citizenship to the United States. Gee, I though that I was already a citizen, being that I was born right here in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Intrigued, I clicked on the link. alas, it took me to some bs link farm website (I was expecting something different.) The ad got me to thinking.. What if everyone who made it into the US was automatically deemed a US citizen? This could happen only if certain things were changed of course, namely the U.S. constitution. But if George Bush would become supreme emperor of this country, he could throw the Constitution into the trash, and grant these people of his "New World Order" their wish. What do you think? Is that a good deal or what! Cheers to all you immigrunts!

It's Because We RULE!

Number of Lefties Bounces Back By Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Staff Writer Lefties have been bouncing back in recent decades, following a decline in the beginning of the 20th century, a new study shows. While lefties currently make up about 11 percent of the population, earlier studies found only 3 percent of those born in 1900 were left-handed. These claims led Ian Christopher McManus of the University College London and his colleagues to learn more about this change. "Left-handedness is important because more than 10 percent of people have their brains organized in a qualitatively different way to other people," McManus said. "That has to be interesting. When the rate of a [variable trait] changes, then there have to be causes, and they are interesting as well." To tease out the cause of the lefties' decline in Victorian times, the researchers looked at a series of films made between 1897 and 1913 by early filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, whose body of work forms the largest collection of early non-fiction films in the world. McManus and his team identified 391 arm-wavers in the films and compared the number of lefties and righties in the old movie to a more modern "control group" formed by searching for "waving" with Google Images. About 15 percent of the people in the old films waved with their left hand, compared to 24 percent of lefty wavers in the Google search, the study, published in the Sept. 18 issue of the journal Current Biology, found. The researchers compared these results to previous studies of handedness in writing and found that left-handed waving is more common than left-handed writing. After correcting for this bias, the researchers found that "the earlier Victorian rates of left-handedness are broadly equivalent to modern rates, whereas rates then decline, with the lowest values for those born between about 1890 and 1910," McManus said. The lefties in the Victorian films were typically older, which rules out the possibility of higher rates of mortality among lefties. The most likely reason that lefties dropped in numbers at the turn of the 20th century was possible social influence brought about by universal education and the industrial revolution. These two factors would have forced lefties into the spotlight as they learned to write in the classroom or clumsily used machines built for right-handers. "That would have exacerbated the stigma that any visible minority can experience, and the result could have been that left-handers found it more difficult to find marriage partners, marrying later, and hence having fewer children so that fewer of the relevant genes went into the gene pool," McManus told LiveScience. "And we do have evidence that around the turn of the 20th century left-handers had fewer children than right-handers."

A Bit Perplexed

How do you invite people to be contributors who post quality comments here when they choose to remain "anonymous"? Many "anonymous" posters have replied here with consise, to the point comments. E mail me if you have a knack for blogging, and want in on this Blog. Cheers.

No Smoking in Delaware County?

Cross posted from my personal blog Last night I went up to Roxborough to visit my Daughter Natalie. I wound up at the Parker Pub and was hanging out with her aunt Carrie (Pictured). Anyway, dumb ass me lights up a Winston. Carrie immediately told me you can't smoke in here! I forgot all about the recent smoking ban in Philly.

I grumbled for a second, then went out the door. Carrie followed me, and she also lit one up. I have to admit, going out the door to light up was a pain in the ass, and I found myself accepting the ban.
Delaware County has a proposal I believe to ban smoking in taverns.
I believe that it is a good idea, as it would curb me and others from a nasty habit.
Cheers..

Press 1 For English

Interesting.. The following senators voted against making English the official language of America back in June of this year: Akaka (D-HI) Bayh (D-IN) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Cantwell (D-WA) Clinton (D-NY) Dayton (D-MN) Dodd (D-CT) Domenici (R-NM) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Jeffords (I-VT) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Kohl (D-WI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (D-CT) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Obama (D-IL) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Salazar (D-CO) Sarbanes (D-MD) Schumer (D-NY) Stabenow (D-M)

Flashback - Where I was six years ago today

I thought about where I was and what I was doing on September eleventh, 2001. I was at Hilltop Preparatory School in Radnor, giving an estimate on a new fire alarm system. Today, I also was at the same school, replacing an exhaust fan, when the fire alarm went off at 9:03 AM. The alarm was a false one, but sent chills down my spine for a different reason. Six years ago today, America was changed, and almost 3000 people paid for this change with their lives. Thousands more have been sickened by toxins in NYC, and God knows how many more have died. Meanwhile, a token gesture today by the President to me wasn't enough. Mr. Bush... Quit side stepping this aggression of yours and either devote ALL of your energy to finish what you started in Iraq and elsewhere, or resign. And take Cheney and the rest of your cabal with you. America and it's citizens are fed up with you and your stonewalling, as Johnson did in the sixties in southeast Asia. Were are not stupid. We (even the youth of this country) are on to what you and yours are all about. We know about physics. We know about media manipulation, we know about mouthpieces like Bill O'Reilly and the others at FAUX who continue to this day to spew falsehoods about that fateful day. Give up, and while your at it, tell that guy who dresses up in drag to quit demeaning the first responders in NYC by running as as some super 911 hero to get votes. He ain't fooling anyone anymore. And neither are you. Remember 9/11/01