Was that a Hurricane in Pittsburgh Last Night?!

I don’t really trust weather reports.  Around here, they always seem to get it wrong – either the big snow they predict turns out to be flurries, or they say it’s going to rain, and the sun is out all day long.  But, when they warn about a snow storm or torrential downpours, I at least am prepared (mentally at least) for them to happen.

Yesterday, the only thing I was aware of was that it was probably going to rain.  So, when I left to pick Gabby up for an evening of poetry and the Pittsburgh Symphony, I brought my umbrella.  I stopped at the MAC machine first…and it was just starting to sprinkle.  By the time I drove from the South Side to Point Breeze – all of what 5 miles? – it was pouring.  Gabby raced to get into my car, and we were off to downtown.

That’s when it started getting interesting.  It was raining so hard I could barely see the car in front of me.  When we pulled up to the Church that was holding the performance, it was coming down hard…and the wind was racing making the rain come down in every direction.  We decided to sit it out in the car until it slowed down.  It usually rains hard for a few minutes and then drastically slows.  Well, it didn’t seem to slow, in fact it only seemed to rain harder.  And then the hail started coming down.

At that point the streets around downtown Pittsburgh were flooding and looking to get worse with every passing second.  So Gabby and I decided to go home.  An hour and a half later, we made it to her house – after trying to go about 5 different ways and definitely going through high rushing water that you’re advised to stay away from.  Gabby’s house didn’t have power, and her basement was flooded.  I waited the storm out there for a bit before trying to make it back to the South Side.

When I left around 8pm, it was still raining, but normal rain.  Fifth Avenue wasn’t flooded any more whn I got to it, so I relaxed a bit and kept driving.  And then the rain started coming down harder and harder.  And the roads started flooding all over again.

Somehow, I safely made it home.  I’m convinced it’s only because my car is somehow a land/water machine…kind of like those Ducky Tour Boats.

Gabby eventually got her power back and now gets to start drying out her basement.

The point:  where are the weather FORECASTERS?  By definition, they’re supposed to prepare us for weather BEFORE it happens.  Yes, all of the local news stations were more than happy to start covering the storm nonstop…but that’s not good enough.  They need to figure out how to know these things are going to happen ahead of time and to let people know.

Wohoo – Regola quits Senate race

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08225/903590-178.stm

Thank goodness. However, it’s not surprising that Regola is blaming the media’s “unfair coverage” for his withdrawal. The guy can’t ever take responsibility for ANYTHING. Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County and Hempfield Township are so much better off without this shady, disgusting character in office.

Regola seeks to expunge charges

According to the AP, PA Senator Bob Regola wants to “erase all records of [his] arrest, including his mug shot and fingerprints.”

This is ludacris. He was charged with felonies and now wants to act like nothing ever happened? Not guilty does not mean innocent. Remember O.J. Simpson?

I’m sure the Farrell family would like to expunge this whole tragedy from existence, too. But, they can’t…they lost a son.

The Allegheny County Drink Tax

It’s been a long day and a fun evening…I’m quite tired. 

There’s a lot about Pittsburgh politics/government that don’t make sense to me.  The drink tax is one thing.  I don’t think it’s fair that every person who wants to enjoy a glass of wine or beer or whatever inside the Allegheny county lines should have to fund the Port Authority.  It’s not fair that small business owners are forced to charge higher prices.  Public Transportation is important, but it is not a given, and when a public agency has been mismanaged for so long, why is it my responsibility, as an occasional drinker, to pay for it?  Or why is a restaurant owner – a person taking a financial risk yet trying to contribute to the county’s economy – responsible?

But, that’s not even my biggest problem with the whole issue.  Lately, groups have been pushing to get the drink tax on a ballot this November.  Wow–what a modern notion…let the VOTERS decide if they want their drinks to be taxed in order to fund anything – let alone a corrupt Port Authority. 

Leave it to Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to screw that up.  Shady Dan Onorato and his cronies have somehow fixed it so the referendum that was up for vote tonight goes something like this:  voters can vote to have the drink tax…OR have their property taxes increased.

WHAT?

For those of you unfamiliar with Allegheny County politics, property taxes are a hot issue around here.  I guess because they were being raised and raised a few years back because the morons running this area have no idea what they’re doing.

Anyway, I need to read up more on the issue and all of the proceedings (which I will do, don’t you worry!).  But I would like to ask these crazy politicians one thing – particularly Dan Onorato (who thinks he’s PA’s Governor-in-training):  why does repealing the drink tax automatically mean that property taxes have to be raised?  I don’t see or understand the correlation to a tax on drinks (that are already taxed once through the state’s liquor system - don’t get me started on that) and property taxes.  I understand that decades of fraud and bad behavior at the Port Authority have caused the agency to be totally strapped for cash.  I don’t agree with funding it through taxation, but I’ll save that argument for later.  I don’t see how there are just NO OTHER OPTIONS other than two – drink or property taxes – to fund the county’s transportation. 

Dan, can you please explain that to me?  Because from where I’m sitting, it just looks like you and your County Council buddies are dropping the property tax card just to make sure the drink tax isn’t repealed. 

Crappy Headlines

In today’s 24-7 news cycle, everyone with a web site or TV channel is constantly vying for our attention – which means headlines and leads are more important than ever. But lately, I’ve been feeling that the media either thinks we’re stupid, or they are too lazy to try and come up with a good, solid and accurate headline.

For example, a couple weeks ago I read an AP headline: Dungy hopes Manning recovers quickly from surgery. Really? That’s absolutely shocking that a head football coach would hope that his MVP Super Bowl-winning quarterback would recover quickly from surgery. How is that even “news?” Even if this is just a typical update story on Peyton Manning’s recovery, couldn’t they have done better? I don’t know about you, but that headline irritates me so much that I didn’t even bother reading the article.

Friday, post-gazette.com had an article in prominent placement on their home page titled Poverty leads to playing lottery, study says. So you mean being filthy rich and having more money than you know what to do with doesn’t cause you to play the lottery?! Get out of here! I didn’t read the article – I just wondered who authorized and spent money on such a stupid study that really just stated the obvious.

Sometime last fall, it was all over the news that Elisabeth Hasselbeck was taking a maternity leave from The View. She was pregnant with her second child at the time. It had to have been a slow news week for that to even be considered news – or a headline. What pregnant working woman doesn’t take a maternity leave? Now there’s something to write about – and an appealing headline!

And, I could go on and on with examples.

Today, Adele handed me a section from yesterday’s New York Times, and as I was glancing through it, I couldn’t help but love every single headline I read. From Putting the Dream Car Out to Pasture to Blogging’s Glass Ceiling to The Breakups That Got Under My Skin – they all enticed me and made me want to at least find out what the article was about.

Wait a minute – isn’t that the purpose of a headline?!

Maybe I’m just weird (wait – don’t answer that). I don’t know if it’s because I’m a marketer/writer that I notice these things, but better headlines would make the world such a much more interesting place. Or something like that

Did John Peck f-up the Louis Farrell case?

As if that question could be any more rhetorical. But, watch the below video starting at about 6:45…very interesting insights into how this whole situation was inappropriately handled from the very beginning.

http://www.wpxi.com/video/16946068/index.html

It’s so sad that elected officials – who we, as citizens, are supposed to put our trust in, cannot handle their jobs and act shady. This case is about the tragic death of a 14 year old boy. Getting to the bottom of what happened was their job, and they didn’t do that. Anyone who votes to re-elect either Regola or Peck (when/if he runs) is an absolute moron, in my mind.

So excited for the new 90210!

September 2 is the premier! Yay! And, the best news of all is, Brenda’s back!!!! Wohoooo!

Tori Spelling to write another book!

As a new Tori Spelling fan, I’m excited that she’s following up sTORI Telling with another memoir! Supposedly it will be about motherhood, and if she writes it in the same conversational, fun and witty style of her first book, it should be pretty entertaining. I just hope there are pictures again!!

The Louis Farrell Tragedy

I love when people write letters or emails or otherwise speak their minds when they’re upset about something.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s about bad customer service or a life changing issue – I admire people who take the time to eloquently put their thoughts together to let their voice be heard.  I’ve emailed NBC sports when I havent agreed with their extra sports coverage, reporters who aren’t getting the facts straight, newspapers who focus on one side of the issue and businesses who have given me less than satisfactory service. 

I just came across this wonderfully written letter in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune Review.  Here’s the excerpt:

I found Rhonda Miller’s comments about the outcome of the trial of Sen. Robert Regola beyond distasteful (“Acquitting Sen. Regola,” Letters, July 15 and PghTrib.com).Miller wrote that “Members of the media seemed to foam at the mouth, fueled by Democrat fervor, waiting to devour the freshman senator and his family.”

This case was not about Democrat vs. Republican. It was about perjury, negligence and reckless endangerment, all issues that could apply to anyone, regardless of his political affiliation.

Furthermore, if any family is in danger of being “devoured” through this tragedy it is the Farrell family.

 

First, they tragically lost a beloved son. Then, his death was ruled a suicide, seemingly because of lack of evidence to the contrary.

Finally, Miller wrote that Regola was acquitted because of “the bravery of the 12 men and women on the jury.”

If only Regola and his son possessed the bravery to tell the Farrell family what happened on that tragic night almost two years ago.

Then, maybe they would find some peace and not have to be revictimized by the judicial system and people like Miller who refer to their beloved, sensitive, life-loving son Louis as a “troubled young man.”

Bob Regola Verdict: O.J. Simpson was Not Guilty, too

As my faith in the American Judicial System declines even further….

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08193/896421-100.stm