tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22511590236565053002024-03-05T21:48:30.461-05:00Nothington PostPar droit je puis bien complaindre et gemirUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-86150208318273934372016-12-02T13:59:00.000-05:002017-02-07T22:11:12.168-05:00The Types of Women You'll Meet in Northeast PAHave you wondered why you sit at the bar all night while the men around seem oblivious to your presence? You can blame the following types of women for discouraging NEPA men from approaching you.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1. Vegan Girl - Her face is a work of art (classical art not modern art). She's short and thin but a little curvy. She likes organic food and is a vegan. She shows all the signs of liking you as she gives you undying eye contact, speaks to you in a girly, high pitched voice, and laughs at your otherwise unfunny jokes. She gives you her number. You text her a day later and receive no reply. Several days later she sends a text message stating that she's been with her boyfriend since age twelve and that she's happy with the relationship.<br />
<br />
2. Soldier's Unhappy Girlfriend - She's of average height and body weight. She usually has wide hips, small breasts, and big eyes. Her facial bones are more pronounced than Vegan Girl's, making her appear less elegant, but she compensates for it with bigger eyes and an overall high estrogen look. She's not happy with her soldier boy. He's short and stupid, but his undaunted persistence has netted him her companionship. She flirts with you, hoping that you'll give her an excuse to run away from him, but his persistent texts police her conscience, and she returns back to him with an air of moral sanctimony.<br />
<br />
3. Cat Lady in Training - She's not old enough to be a cat lady yet, but she's on her way. She's pretty--sometimes so pretty that she gets hundreds of likes on Facebook. In her photos she never appears with a guy, but in nearly every one cats and dogs flank her on all sides. Her looks vary greatly. She may be thin with big beautiful eyes or have sexy curves with average-sized eyes. She can be tall, average in height, or a little short. But she's always single.<br />
<br />
4. Disney Princess - She has pale skin, big sparkling eyes, and a V-shaped torso with wider shoulders than average. She often has big boobs, though not in every case. She's average to short in height. Overall she's quite attractive, but conversing with her can be quite difficult because unless you're interested in the Disney movies she watched as a little girl, you'll strain to find things to talk about. <br />
<br />
5. Hypergamizing Latina - She's Hispanic. She has a beautifully crafted face and an hour glass figure. She has a cosmopolitan sense of sophistication from the city whence she came. In spite of her sophisticated ways, she prefers the typical NEPA white guy. The reason for this involves her line of descent. Her female Amerindian ancestors survived because they married white Spanish men who provided for their kids. These women must have been more attracted to such men than their fellow Amerindian women. Meanwhile, the Spaniard men who took them as wives probably preferred a white Spanish woman but settled for an Amerindian one because white women were scarce in the Spanish colonies. Therefore, on both sides she's hails from people having genes that disposed them to be attracted to whites, and it's not surprising that she is. It doesn't hurt matters that white skin is still seen as a status symbol in Latin American countries, something to which any woman subject to the forces of hypergamy gravitates. She likes you, but if you're like most white guys, you only want her as a girlfriend and later settle down with a white girl.<br />
<br />
6. Zipped Lip Girl - She clams up whenever you're around. She may twist her lip into a grimace <a href="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/bd2a6be28433310c8e3c18f305e9a90f94ac9dbb/c=0-29-1456-1970&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2016/02/24/USATODAY/USATODAY/635919181946336905-AP-LONDON-OLYMPICS-ARTISTIC-GYMNASTICS-WOMEN-50591229.JPG">like that one gymnast chick</a> of Olympics fame. She never looks you in the eye. Trying to get a word out of her is like pulling Excalibur out of its stone. She often has light skin, dark hair, a fine-featured face, and a flawless complexion. She's thin to average in weight and may have wide shoulders like the Disney Princess type. She can be astonishingly beautiful, but little is known of her life because although she talks heartily to her friends, she's mute in your presence.</blockquote>
Because the guy thinks you're probably one of these six types, he walks past you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-57199786130570060692016-08-05T19:46:00.001-04:002017-02-07T22:14:31.489-05:00The Ten Worst Places to Work in Northeast PA<i>Northeast PA <a href="http://www.pahomepage.com/news/report-scrantonwilkes-barre-one-of-most-miserable-cities">is rated</a> one of the worst places to live in the nation, and our previous two posts have documented some of the reasons for this. If NEPA is one of the worst places to live, it must also be one of the worst places to work. Therefore, NEPA's worst employers must be the worst of the worst. Here, we examine Glassdoor, Indeed, and Google Reviews as we plunge into the depths of the NEPA employment world.</i><br />
<br />
<b>10. Telerx </b>"Bleak Obscurity"<br />
Glassdoor Rating 2.6<br />
Reviews: 194<br />
Hanover Twp, PA<br />
<br />
Complaints of favoritism, micromanagement, no room for advancement, and the company not valuing employees abound in Glassdoor comments concerning the Hanover Twp and Pittston locations.<br />
<br />
<b>9. Highmark Blue Cross</b> "Misery Spreading like Cancer"<br />
Glassdoor Rating 2.3<br />
Reviews: 328<br />
Wilkes-Barre, PA<br />
<br />
Blue Cross in Wilkes-Barre was reportedly a nice place to work until Highmark took over and started making life hell employees. Discontentment with Highmark is not unique to workers in the Wilkes-Barre office. Highmark, which has offices nationwide, has an abysmally low Glassdoor rating (2.3) for such a large company (10,000+ employees). None of the top ten worst places to work nationwide have as low rating <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/worst-companies-to-work-for_us_575b26b0e4b0e39a28ada793">according to the Huffington Post</a>. In short, Highmark has collected a lot of human misery into one organized unit and extended some of it to Wilkes-Barre.<br />
<br />
<b>8. Regional Hospital of Scranton</b> "Houseful of Neglect"<br />
Glassdoor Rating 2.1<br />
Reviews: 5<br />
Scranton, PA<br />
<br />
Employees
and patients allege it is understaffed. Employees also claim management
is incompetent. (Only five reviews appear on Glassdoor which by itself seems insufficient to draw conclusions from, but because 35
reviewers on Google gave the hospital an identical rating of 2.1 out of
5, we concluded that there must be some serious problems with this
place.)<br />
<br />
<b>7. Paper Magic Group</b> "Going in a Downward Spiral"<br />
Glassdoor Rating 2.0<br />
Reviews: 22<br />
Moosic, PA<br />
<br />
Complaints of nepotism, management not valuing employees, bad supervisors, and a general sense of decline can be found on the Glassdoor page along with <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Paper-Magic-Group-Reviews-E344693.htm">a rating of 2.0</a> which is low for a company of this size.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Romark Logistics</b> "No Hablo Ingles"<br />
Glassdoor Rating 1.9<br />
Reviews: 8<br />
Hazleton, PA<br />
<br />
Complaints of low pay, bad management, and a dearth of English-speakers are to be found on its Glassdoor profile.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Kane is Able</b> "Dead End Jobs"<br />
Glassdoor Rating: 1.8<br />
Reviews: 12<br />
Taylor, PA<br />
<br />
The name is a play on words which refers to the Bible story of Cain and Able, who are the two sons of Adam and Eve. The story goes that Able, a shepherd, sacrifices his best lamb to God while his brother Cain just throws in some crops. God likes Able's sacrifice better, leading Cain to envy Able so much that he kills him and thus commits the first act of murder. This seems to be a fitting reference because according to reviewers on Glass Door, Kane Is Able offers a lot of dead-end jobs:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"They always find a way to give u no room to advance" (October 2015) and "They don't promote from within" (November 2014) and "[they don't give opportunities to] seasoned employees" (January 2016).</blockquote>
Unlike Highmark, which is based elsewhere but extends its misery to NEPA, Kane is Able is based in NEPA but extends its misery throughout the country, much like the next company on our list. <br />
<br />
<b>4. McCarthy Tire and Auto</b> "All in the Family"<br />
Rating 1.7<br />
Reviews: 9<br />
Wilkes Barre, PA<br />
<br />
Friends tell us McCarthy Tire gives deals to insiders and price gouges people who are not in their clique. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/mccarthy-tire-and-automotive-centers-wilkes-barre">One Yelp review</a> confirms some of this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We gave these guys a fair shake by taking our small fleet of vehicles (8) here for almost a year. Several times we had to talk to the manager because of blatant price gouging on the bills for our basic maintenance and today we just received the last one we will ever get from them. We dropped a truck off to get a wheel baring replaced and the inspection done about 3 weeks ago. It took them about 10 days to get it done, which in itself is unacceptable, and now today we received a bill for $3,900. These guys are a complete rip off and I would never recommend them. If I could give them negative stars I would.</blockquote>
According to reviews on Glassdoor McCarthy Tire also treats its employees badly. In typical NEPA fashion, top positions are reportedly filled by incompetent family members who rule over minimum wage peons and abused middle managers:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is a family business and they keep it that way. Family is loyal but not always in touch with what is actually going on. Communication and attitude are terrible among employees.... Bosses will keep piling on work and treat you like you aren't a human being. Management gives the impression that they actually care and work hard, but it is far from the truth. One minute they will tell you about all the things you are doing wrong, and then the next minute they head to the golf course or go on vacation. They have unrealistic expectations and truly believe everyone under them is replaceable...The pay leaves a lot to be desired: it's as if they think they are still operating in the 1970's... HR is pretty much worthless as they are nothing but liars. (Taken from Glassdoor entries ranging from November 2014 to May 2016).</blockquote>
<b>3. Outsourcing USA</b> "Under a Microscope"<br />
Glassdoor Rating 1.4<br />
Reviews: 16<br />
Dallas, PA<br />
<br />
The Times Leader, which also has a <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Times-Leader-EI_IE230137.11,23.htm">low Glassdoor rating</a>, did a <a href="http://timesleader.com/business/492009/behind-the-business-lynn-banta-of-outsourcing-usa">puff piece</a> on USA Outsourcing, interviewing CEO Lynn Banta who cited having a law degree from the Delaware Law school, the old name for Widener, which is <a href="http://law-schools.startclass.com/">currently ranked 153 out of 205</a> accredited law schools in the nation.<br />
<br />
Multiple <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Outsourcing-USA-EI_IE753033.11,26.htm">Glassdoor entries</a> claim this allegedly family-run business has low pay, no opportunity for advancement, mandatory overtime, high turnover rates, incompetent managers, and, as one former employee relates, extreme micro-management:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Logging every second of your day was the worst. In most places it's pretty standard to clock in and out for lunches and to tell supervisors when you'd like to take a 15 min break, etc. However here, every minute of your day was tracked. Went to the bathroom for 7 minutes, better be logged as 7 minutes. Had to talk to a supplier for 3 minutes about an ad? Log that 3 minutes. Imagine cataloging every minute of your day for 8+ hours.</blockquote>
<b>2. Jack Williams Tire and Auto</b> "Good Old Fashioned Slavery"<br />
Glassdoor Rating: 1.4<br />
Reviews: 10<br />
Avoca, PA<br />
<br />
Complaints of poor communication, lack of planning, low employee morale, high turnover "with most warehouse employees leaving in the first 90 days", micromanagement, having to use "1982 DOS" computer software, charging workers "for everything", poor benefits, no room for advancement, no raises, mandatory overtime, and no set schedule can be found on Glassdoor comments ranging from November 2015 to June 2016.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Mid-Atlantic Youth Services</b> "Reign of terror"<br />
Glassdoor Rating 1.3<br />
Reviews: 9<br />
Pittston Township, PA<br />
<br />
This for-profit juvenile detention center has an incredibly low average Glassdoor rating. A reign of terror allegedly prevails in the Pittston location that consists of favoritism, mandatory overtime, high turnover, and back-stabbing:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You constantly need to watch everything you say and do because people get fired left and right. You can't trust most of your fellow staff to back you up regarding anything unless you're the "clique" type and all of you regularly hang out outside of work. The rumor mill is awful. The place is a revolving door of staff. Pay is not worth the risk of what can happen to you in this type of place [because many youths are dangerous]. Upper management treats supervisors like kids. Staff are always told to give their opinions about helpful changes but are punished for giving them. You WILL be mandated to stay past your scheduled shift. Staff constantly call off. Staff are not cared about whatsoever unless they have been deemed a favorite. Sups talk crap about staff in front of other staff. No opportunity for advancement. Employee morale is always terrible. You are expected to have no life outside the place. You may need to work doubles on holidays. Backstabbing co-workers are common. And if you try to be fair to the Christian kids, the Muslim kids will get offended and try to get you fired. (Glassdoor Comments range from May 2014 to March 2015.)</blockquote>
Indeed.com also has some additional horror stories concerning Mid Atlantic Youth.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<i>Addendum</i><br />
<i>There is no doubt that many small NEPA busineses are just as bad or worse than</i><i style="font-family: sans-serif;"> </i><i><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">the ones presented here</span></span></i><i style="font-family: sans-serif;">,</i><i> but they fly under the radar because they are small enough that they do not generate enough former employees to substantiate a large number of Glassdoor reviews. For example, TABcom in Hazle Township and LT Verastro in Scranton have low Glassdoor ratings of 1.8 and 2.1 respectively, but each has only five reviews, which do not constitute a high enough number from which to predict that additional reviews would make for a similarly low rating. It could be that those companies were unlucky enough to suffer only bad reviews from disgruntled employees and no good reviews from satisfied ones even though theoretically there may be many satisfied employees. However, once a company starts to receive 9 or 10 reviews and they're all low, something must be amiss. Admittedly, some companies in this list have only a four or five reviews from local locations but corresponding low ratings from other areas solidify the notion that the company has systemic problems wherever it goes. If any of these companies have had serious restructuring since 2015 then we apologize for any reviews made based on past circumstances.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-15330668550560560252016-07-10T02:29:00.000-04:002016-07-20T19:41:26.246-04:00Ten (More) Reasons to Leave NEPAEight months ago we published an article called <a href="http://nothingtonpost.blogspot.com/2015/11/ten-reasons-to-leave-nepa.html">Ten Reasons to Leave NEPA</a>. It was comprehensive, but this list will give the reader a more intimate understanding of the dark social underworld that is Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA).<br />
<br />
<b>10. Demographic Asymmetries</b><br />
NEPA is place where people go to die -- not live. In other words, if you're young and want to experience life, then go to an area with good-paying jobs and other energetic young people like yourself. But if you're old, have made your money, and want to live in a place with a cheap cost of living where your retirement dollars won't be sapped away to rapidly, then NEPA is ideal.<br />
<br />
If you're young but incapable of earning much money because you have low intelligence or a disagreeable personality, then NEPA has plenty of low-paying jobs for you. It also has drug users in need of drugs in case you want to sell drugs to them.<br />
<br />
The scarcity of good jobs in NEPA has resulted in several demographic trends. For one, there are very few Asians in NEPA because Asians tend to gravitate to high-paying areas like Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. In NEPA, a few people from India live in Mountain Top but that's about it.<br />
<br />
Secondly, blacks and Hispanics have been flocking to NEPA since the late nineties. Many blacks go on welfare and many Hispanics do the cheap warehousing jobs which "Americans won't do" (well, at lease not for NEPA wages of $9-$10/hr).<br />
<br />
The typical black or Hispanic family which moves to NEPA for the cheap cost of living doesn't produce quality white collar employees, so employers often recruit high IQ blacks and Hispanics from outside the area to comply with racial quotas. The majority of these talented minority recruits eventually leave the area for the same reasons most of NEPA's whites do: there is more opportunity elsewhere. NEPA is sort of a proving ground for them until they can get to greener pastures, so they are transient figures for the most part. Most of the minorities who come to stay, however, are usually of a low socioeconomic status and are either here for cheap labor or welfare.<br />
<br />
Also, a few white trash also move to NEPA. They serve as clients for the black and Hispanic drug dealers of Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Hazleton. However, there are very few of them compared with the masses of blacks and Hispanics.<br />
<br />
The end result of these migrations is that there are four times more white baby boomers in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/ Hazleton (W-B/S) metro area than white millennials as compared to the national average and five times more white baby boomers than white children under ten years of age. In short, the data suggest that NEPA is a terrible place for a white millennial to look for a future spouse and an even worse place to start a family. W-B/S is ranked 374 out of 381 Metro areas with respect to the percentage of white children under the age of five versus the overall population. Only places in Hawaii or southern Texas that are essentially populated by Polynesians and mestizos, respectively, exhibit lower proportions of white kids. 1<br />
<br />
Below some graphs illustrate aforesaid data.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjUp0KRp3VLipi7wu7kH-OxqxjCa-M5m5WaIEdn8CNXoLByX7KycHyAfWcNFgTM0F16vllYuVlhnUiEFRffjm1a0uvcE4vVfulPijsn5oJ8p7duwXWcgVb9lTWVI9iAMA55uBiGEQPKXY/s1600/NEPA+demographics+-+Copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjUp0KRp3VLipi7wu7kH-OxqxjCa-M5m5WaIEdn8CNXoLByX7KycHyAfWcNFgTM0F16vllYuVlhnUiEFRffjm1a0uvcE4vVfulPijsn5oJ8p7duwXWcgVb9lTWVI9iAMA55uBiGEQPKXY/s640/NEPA+demographics+-+Copy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In figure 1 we see that in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Hazleton (W-B/S) metro area nonwhite males and females far outnumber whites in the 20-29 age bracket aka millennials. In figure 2 we see the reverse: white males and females far outnumber nonwhites in the 65-74 age bracket, aka baby boomers. Figure 3 shows the raw data used in the pie charts and uses a color scale of red being low, yellow being average and green high.. Figure 4 shows the age breakdown of white females in the W-B/S metro area versus the national average using the same color scheme. About 43% of females are white in W-B/S and 70% versus 43% for the rest of the nation. The bottom row shows how W-B/S has only about a third of the number of white females as compared with national average in the millennial age bracket (age 20-29 or the 7th and 8th columns above) but how they are actually over-represented in the baby boomer bracket (age 65-74) to the tune of 118% or 18% higher than the national average. The bottom row is also color coordinated with yellow being at the national average, red below it, and green above it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
A valid critique of looking at only at the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton / Hazleton metro area is that outlying heavily wooded suburbs such as Dallas, Clark's Summit, Mountain Top, etc, are a high percentage white. However, in these places live the sort of snobby, detached elites who own the slave-driving warehouses and dysfunctional family-run businesses that torment the NEPA masses. You're probably not in their clique.<br />
<br />
Rural areas around NEPA, which lay farther still outside the suburbs, contain some friendly, albeit simple-minded folks. Lehman and Sweet Valley are most representative of such areas. If you don't mind country living, that is, mounting a quad for a woodland romp on occasion or cutting enormous amounts of grass on your giant lawn or comparing the rack of this year's slaughtered deer to your buddy's, then it's not a bad life. However, if such activities offer you no pleasure then you'll find yourself in bad company.<br />
<br />
<b>9. Apathetic and/or Needy Friends</b><br />
If you're lucky enough to find friends in NEPA, they usually come in two varieties.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYdHq7XZJ8YEdz2URCrAclMjiEcXxYeuYO6drS7KBVnt2fNgsmg8V4UvSdz-9JVyeJOZ1skDdCcyXbaRJsP7YKtHgG1V95AJWiBWJUK2aacA7PxCHAYg-ZRJBvlkN8IebeF1rwJiioc4/s1600/pepe-the-frog-meme-17.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYdHq7XZJ8YEdz2URCrAclMjiEcXxYeuYO6drS7KBVnt2fNgsmg8V4UvSdz-9JVyeJOZ1skDdCcyXbaRJsP7YKtHgG1V95AJWiBWJUK2aacA7PxCHAYg-ZRJBvlkN8IebeF1rwJiioc4/s200/pepe-the-frog-meme-17.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I know that feel bro"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>1. The first is the kid you grew up with who's smart but too lazy to embark on a career. He settles for demeaning job in a call center or a retail outlet where he is ruled over by hostile emotional women having IQs one to two standard deviations below his. He lives with his parents and still hangs out with his old high school buddies, playing magic cards and video games while staying in a constant state of failure to launch. <br />
2. The other type of friend is one who tries at life but fails. He's smart -- but not smart enough. He can't keep a job for more than a year. He complains endlessly about his situation but seldom endeavors to improve his employability by acquiring marketable skills. He holds out for the one good job he'll never get. His life is a viscous cycle of disappointments, and he broadcasts his repeat loop of burdens to you endlessly. He uses your shoulder to cry on so often that sooner or later you have to cut ties with him, lest you drown in his tears.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<b>8. Social Anxiety as the Social Norm</b><br />
Go to any normal location in the United States, and you'll find that many strangers are polite and friendly.<br />
<br />
This is not the case in NEPA, where store clerks gruffly scan your items without acknowledging your presence. If you try to introduce yourself to a stranger at a bar, coffee shop, or anywhere else, the person usually will not look you in the eyes or even in the direction of your face and will mumble one-syllable replies. One has to devise a strategy for breaking down this proverbial wall. Thus, even brief social interaction is a chess game to get the other person to start conversing. <br />
<br />
In other areas of the US, however, you can simply say hello and the person will respond with like enthusiasm. Social dysfunction is the exception in most places but in NEPA it is the norm.<br />
<br />
<b>7. Fear of Social Interaction While Sober</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeAwB_IcBYlq3QW7iTs_V_XeRgyngyRc1jFH8J_ingcAUsh_7_sN3gyK9ISPh8CZeWjwo1BddrtQPUwz6SUq0GOty6rgQtlHwVKh8SQvQa908N6J1WekYL5Q4LTXAeP_MjJ_zkV7-pwQ/s1600/beer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeAwB_IcBYlq3QW7iTs_V_XeRgyngyRc1jFH8J_ingcAUsh_7_sN3gyK9ISPh8CZeWjwo1BddrtQPUwz6SUq0GOty6rgQtlHwVKh8SQvQa908N6J1WekYL5Q4LTXAeP_MjJ_zkV7-pwQ/s200/beer.png" width="169" /></a>If a friend invites you to his house and you try to strike up a conversation, he'll shove a beer in your hand. If you keep trying to talk, he will keep handing you beers until you're drunk and quiet. Indeed, the inhabitants of NEPA are most gracious with giving out beers. But they will not, and perhaps cannot, give you a moment of sober conversation, which perhaps costs them more on a psychological level.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Scarcity of Jobs</b><br />
One reason why nepotism is so rampant in NEPA is that people's family members often have immediate income needs, so many businesses become family affairs. Perhaps this is a self-reinforcing spiral, with fewer jobs provoking more nepotism resulting in more workplace inefficiency, lower profits, and eventually, even fewer jobs, more nepotism, etc.<br />
<br />
As evidence of the scarcity of jobs, if one goes to Indeed.com and searches for jobs within a 25 mile radius of Allentown (which isn't in NEPA but the Lehigh Valley) over twice the number of jobs appear in the search results. One might attempt to chalk this up to differences in population density. However, this is not entirely the cause. There are 608,763 estimated people within a 25 mile radius of Allentown and 320,557 of Wilkes-Barre. As of writing this there are 10,111 jobs on Indeed within a 25 mile radius of Allentown and 5,078 within 25 miles of Wilkes Barre.<br />
<br />
For 25 mi of Allentown: 608,763/10,111= 1.66% of the population needed for work.<br />
For 25 mi of Wilkes-Barre 320,557/5,078=1.58% of the population needed for work.<br />
1.66% / 1.58% = 5.1% more jobs for hire in Allentown than NEPA per capita. This is above the 5% margin of error typically used is statistical surveys. Measuring the overall population rather than the working population may seem misleading, since before we stated that NEPA has a high per capita of baby boomers, many of whom are retired. But consider the distribution of these jobs from the following graph:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilhQ-WXsAsuNmxAD1lrxOI7Te6SpzppXGZjV3jkfAuHEK3uhzJzIAK6HrR5Dko35zdI56KINf0lrXwxFc7ACFaEnMppnPdyEVM0C8g8x5kBqo60ezphtc_ehoNhXXQSwHZPy3fGWJb2Zs/s1600/allentown+vs+wb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilhQ-WXsAsuNmxAD1lrxOI7Te6SpzppXGZjV3jkfAuHEK3uhzJzIAK6HrR5Dko35zdI56KINf0lrXwxFc7ACFaEnMppnPdyEVM0C8g8x5kBqo60ezphtc_ehoNhXXQSwHZPy3fGWJb2Zs/s400/allentown+vs+wb.png" width="400" /></a></div></div>There are more jobs within the $20k-35k in Allentown but more in the $35-45k in Wilkes-Barre. This probably reflects truck driving jobs so common in NEPA, which pay around 37k per year. Notice also that jobs paying above $45k are more common in Allentown. In sum, the Lehigh Valley overall has more jobs per capita available on Indeed.com and more that pay high wages (above $45k/year).<br />
<br />
In any case, NEPA employers often complain that they cannot fill blue collar positions with people who will show up to work, yet they reject most applications of college graduates since most jobs are blue collar. These days it is not uncommon for a college graduate to need any job, including blue collar work, and since backward NEPA employers still think college degrees as rare as they were in the 70s and as such refuse to hire college grads, they will continue to suffer poor workplace performance.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Disappointing Dating Scene</b><br />
In number five of our previous top ten reasons we documented how there is a high ratio of males to females in Luzerne County among millennials, being as high as it is in China, where there is a national crisis of men not being able to find wives. We also alluded to the physical detriments of NEPA women overall, such as a tendency toward poorly developed secondary sexual characteristics. In ten of this list, we proved that the number of millennial white females is very low on a per capita basis in W-B/Scran/Haz, being at only about a third as high as the national average. For every one white female milennial in NEPA there are three in a typical place in the US.<br />
<br />
In spite of women being picked over, few and far between, and less attractive on average there are still some eye catching young ladies in NEPA. However, if you're able to get one, they will usually fall into either of the two following categories:<br />
<br />
1. Semi-retarded Disney Cartoon-Watching Girlfriend - This girl is by no means literally retarded. She performs her job at at call center or retail outlet with the utmost robotic efficiency. The problem is that arrested development has manifested itself in her leisure activities, which include watching Disney cartoons that she saw as a little girl. She often has pets, which, together with movie trivia, occupy the farthest reaches of her consciousness. She is always a white girl and usually is light-complected. She has a beautiful face and usually has large breasts and narrow hips but some have wide hips and small breasts instead. Communicating with her is a test of self-control as one must avoid using long sentences or referring to abstract concepts which might cause her eyes to glaze over. She typically shows interest in you at first but quickly becomes bored with you unless you can put on an act of being a normie <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Chad">chad</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://66.media.tumblr.com/42307561a9d7484e1c17d290d715a2cd/tumblr_o2gc64CgsW1qikd1oo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/42307561a9d7484e1c17d290d715a2cd/tumblr_o2gc64CgsW1qikd1oo1_500.jpg" width="320" /></a>2. Hypergamizing Latina Girlfriend - Hypergamy refers to mating up, or choosing a mate who is better looking, wealthier, or more popular than yourself. It is the subject fairy tales about a lowly peasant girl marrying a prince charming. Whereas men tend to be more sensitive to the physical aspects of hypergamy, ie, they want someone who's better looking than they are, women are more sensitive to the social manifestation of hypergamy, ie, they want a man with higher social standing than they have. Social status isn't just related to wealth however. It also manifests itself along racial lines. In countries whence Hispanic girls come, lighter skinned elites rule over dark-skinned mestizos and/or mulattoes. After many centuries of native Amerindian and black women gaining status by marrying white Spaniard men, an attraction to white skin is practically embedded in the DNA of Hispanic women. Thus, they will settle for white men who are less attractive relative to the white race than they are to their mestizo or mulatto racial cohort. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see an ordinary-looking white guy in NEPA with a knockout beauty of a Latina. The white guy gets morphical hypergamy by getting a thin curvy woman with a pretty face and the Latina gets the white skin status she craves out of her mate. If you're a white guy who wants a woman who's the same race as you but not significantly less attractive, the deck is stacked against you in NEPA. However, you can get a beautiful Latina girlfriend quite easily because of hypergamy.<br />
<br />
In short, we can expect that the few pretty white girls available in NEPA have arrested development due to having lower intelligence since NEPA, as expressed in the last list, is in the <a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/most-and-least-educated-cities/6656/">bottom quintile</a> in educational attainment and education levels are correlated with intelligence. Moreover, we can expect an abundance of young Latina women to be available because many millennial women are Hispanic, so the fact that these are the only two (defacto) options is not surprising.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYizI25GUGN-rkcSwvhUdbfwcXmlMhyyhLG8569PqsrjENofnQICeonU66tX4CUQY6BV5dr0ZmDGPDmf1uU3CtwGL_-3KM_CwzgQJkWZWHLn00haoXLo8wPbHlvMyjeATP-YudWeryOhM/s1600/dating+in+NEPA.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYizI25GUGN-rkcSwvhUdbfwcXmlMhyyhLG8569PqsrjENofnQICeonU66tX4CUQY6BV5dr0ZmDGPDmf1uU3CtwGL_-3KM_CwzgQJkWZWHLn00haoXLo8wPbHlvMyjeATP-YudWeryOhM/s1600/dating+in+NEPA.png" /></a></div><b>4. Behind the Times</b><br />
Northeast PA is said to be between twenty to forty years behind the rest of the country. Casual observations verify this. It is not uncommon to see women in small credit unions using carbon paper and fax machines rather than modern printers or the Internet. They would never hire a young person who would pester them to stop living in a 70s movie set.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsW-b2bRX4n8nKgtKRcMxA_ak1LzzU3Kwi-FxNRE9RWQSvH_kxkubMupbsRrD4PAPZvIkvi8RQLlXqJoFwxiogLOT9Nyf_S4CBHe7qwyFkeie0xtCqxdkZFoXgU4BwXRvc8JBNT3Nvso/s1600/ceolo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsW-b2bRX4n8nKgtKRcMxA_ak1LzzU3Kwi-FxNRE9RWQSvH_kxkubMupbsRrD4PAPZvIkvi8RQLlXqJoFwxiogLOT9Nyf_S4CBHe7qwyFkeie0xtCqxdkZFoXgU4BwXRvc8JBNT3Nvso/s320/ceolo.png" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coelacanth Fish: Fossil (Above) Living (Below)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Also, much as the coelacanth fish was thought to be extinct but later found as a living specimen, old cars you'd never think are still driven are common in NEPA. They're <a href="https://scranton.craigslist.org/search/cta?max_price=3000&max_auto_year=1998">not classic cars</a> either, just old, beat up, living fossils that have stood the test of time.<br />
<br />
As a final example, throughout America smoking was more common <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZRlhBDHgdni4_JjwLo3qDtDlythUpmcHpLKcTnpMuhDDw49IM6EdxORThIzJ0cWyLVwdIcvR_k4dj7obpZQSqqQMKDVQ31cNnOMNrMq8S2xknkEN3-hP_sQo2B_T-gMLYiRg2e0mCSOv/s1600/Smoking+1900-2006.JPG">in decades past</a>, but in NEPA it remains quite popular. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton exhibits the <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/01/03/30-cities-with-worst-smoking-problems-from-memphis-to-honolulu.html">second highest</a> cigarette consumption per capita in the nation. NEPA also has the highest number of chain smokers in the nation. The effect of this is that young women <a href="https://quitsmokingcommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/smokers-face.png">age faster</a> and their voices become deep and raspy, as their grovelized vocal chords deliver a decidedly masculine tone.<br />
<b></b><br />
Whether it be workplace procedures, transportation means, or lifestyle habits, NEPA is out of the loop.<br />
<br />
<b>3. No Entry Level Jobs</b><br />
An old saying goes "if you can make it in New York City, you can make it anywhere". This is not true with respect to NEPA. One fellow we knew who had a degree in English could not find a job in NEPA that paid more than $8/hr. He moved to NYC and now works as an editor and earns a decent salary. It's tough to make it in NEPA -- not because of competition as it would be in the Big Apple -- but because employers are lazy and only want people with tons of experience who require no training. Any job market is better than NEPA.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiti853Xg2We1En3sDUfS5YRNAWzzIIhONruxLsHWBnpKtVCyyxvpVVLDzqaZzydH0yYdbX2-CdH09QGAqOplrA31TjoMp0hCFFtyd5QKlYfjOIBmIvK1LgplaYgm1Di6Xm2h4i1_I5WU/s1600/crabs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiti853Xg2We1En3sDUfS5YRNAWzzIIhONruxLsHWBnpKtVCyyxvpVVLDzqaZzydH0yYdbX2-CdH09QGAqOplrA31TjoMp0hCFFtyd5QKlYfjOIBmIvK1LgplaYgm1Di6Xm2h4i1_I5WU/s320/crabs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Staring into the NEPA Abyss</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>2. Jealousy</b><br />
When crabs who are stuck in a bucket notice one of their fellow crabs succeeding at efforts to climb out, they often pull him back in. This analogy is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality">applied to humans </a>who hate to see others succeed and who similarly pull them down. Because all negative behaviors are more common in NEPA due to brain drain and sanity drain, we can expect jealously to be common, all things being equal. Add to this the fact that NEPA is a proverbial bucket in which most individuals are unwillingly stuck, and you have a recipe for especially high levels of jealousy.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Arrogant Normies</b><br />
Some people deserve to be a little aloof. For example, Nikola Tesla spent most of his time alone, and justifiably so. If he were alive today, we would not expect him to put aside discovering the next scientific breakthrough to meet with normies and discuss TV sitcoms, the score of last night's game, the best place to get chicken wings or <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Music-1.jpg">sub-1100 SAT Score</a> music. Generally, he would not like to skip from subject to subject without ever getting into depth about anything like what happens in so many normie conversations. Since he was a kind man, he probably would have done so if he had had unlimited time, but he was mortal and condemned to live only so many days on this earth, so he limited himself to communicating with people through other ways, such as through lighting their homes with AC electricity, something no normie could ever hope to accomplish.<br />
<br />
But imagine the pure evil of normies who shun others for not having adequate knowledge of movie trivia or the cheapest local discount stores or craft beer. Do said normies deserve to be aloof?<br />
<br />
Because the zenith of shared knowledge does not surpass normie levels in NEPA, their attitudes are considered high brow and set the tone for the culture. Need we say more?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br />
During the early part of the 20th century it was said that the coal miners of NEPA were birds of passage, ie guest workers who tentatively lived in northeast PA until they could find better work elsewhere. In other words they never had a sense of permanence. They were Europe's poorest who roamed the world in search of work that could physically sustain them. They had to buy their stuff at the company store, which did everything it could to tie them to area by getting them in debt and thus make them a captive population.<br />
<br />
Being an early coal miner was horrible work. They died in their forties of black lung, ie their lungs becoming nonfunctional from the accumulation of coal dust. They lived shorter lives than wildmen hunter gatherers and the South's former black slaves. The backbreaking work left them eager for spirits which they drank to ease their aches and pains in corner bars. Despite their daily eclipse in the mines they played football and baseball on the weekends, exchanging coal dust for soil dust in raucous physical contests. Their spirits could not be trapped in the mines even if their livelihoods were. <br />
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Granted, NEPA still has beautiful green landscapes, charming reminders old ethnic traditions, and stylized architecture from bygone eras. Many people have fond memories of growing up in NEPA. But today the beauty of its land and former inhabitants serve as reminders of potentialities unlived, such as a kiss never made, a battle never fought, and a song never sung.<br />
<br />
Today NEPA's inhabitants no longer physically go into the mines, but their world is a subterranean Hades of stupidity, insanity, spitefulness, and old age.<br />
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A phoenix cannot rise from its ashes if it remains in them. Nor can it appreciate its ashen struggle unless it is freed. It's time for the remnant of worthy souls in NEPA to be the last birds of passage to leave.<br />
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The way to fondly think of NEPA is through the lens of nostalgia. One should strive to be the beleaguered traveler who returns to NEPA to see the ghosts of his past and pay respects to a land and former inhabitants that time has forgotten and which posterity may fail to remember.<br />
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Notes<br />
1. SEX BY AGE 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates US Census FactfinderUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-68808568655271280842015-11-09T22:48:00.002-05:002016-09-11T20:28:11.516-04:00Ten Reasons to Leave NEPAThe subject of how bad it is to live in Northeast Pennsylvania or NEPA has been addressed by the <a href="http://theweekender.com/archive/1917/news-wk_cover-50395957-9-reasons-nepa-sucks">Weekender</a> in a column entitled "Nine Reasons why NEPA Sucks" but we thought we'd come up with some new content because our critiques will be a little more comprehensive since we don't rely on advertisers whose profits come from the region. <br />
<br />
To start with, six of the top ten <a href="http://www.roadsnacks.net/these-are-the-10-worst-places-to-live-in-pennsylvania/">worst rated towns in Pennsylvania</a> are located in NEPA.They are in bold.<br />
<ol>
<li>New Castle</li>
<li><b>Nanticoke</b></li>
<li>Johnstown</li>
<li><b>Wilkes-Barre</b></li>
<li><b>Shenandoah</b></li>
<li>Corry</li>
<li><b>Hazleton</b></li>
<li><b>Dickson City</b></li>
<li><b>Tamaqua</b></li>
<li>Chester</li>
</ol>
Let's look at specifics as to why NEPA towns ranked so high.<br />
<br />
<b>10. Crime</b><br />
Usually the most crime ridden areas in the United States are places where <a href="http://www.colorofcrime.com/">large numbers of poor blacks live</a>. For example, the <a href="http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/deadly-2013-lands-wilkes-barre-on-murder-capital-list-1.1861496">top 5</a> in 2013 were East St. Louis, IL; Camden, NJ; Gary, IN; Chester, PA; and Saginaw, MI which are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_St._Louis,_Illinois#Demographics">97%</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden,_New_Jersey#2010_Census">48%</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary,_Indiana#2010_census">85%</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester,_Pennsylvania#Demographics">75%</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saginaw,_Michigan#2010_census">46%</a> black, respectively. Even though Wilkes-Barre is only <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkes-Barre,_Pennsylvania#Demographics">11%</a> black, its crime rate was still incredibly high. It was the <a href="http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/deadly-2013-lands-wilkes-barre-on-murder-capital-list-1.1861496">18th most dangerous city</a> in the entire country in 2013. The setting for much of the crime is Sherman Hills, a series of run-down section eight apartments allegedly run by neglectful <a href="http://citizensvoice.com/news/troubled-sherman-hills-getting-new-owner-1.1650550">orthodox Jews</a> from New York. Murder is largely relegated to the warring factions of gangs who infest these projects and nearby areas of the city, but should you be an over-active critic of crime, you may find yourself dead like <a href="http://wnep.com/2015/05/03/vigil-for-neighborhood-advocate-killed-in-wilkes-barre/">Donald Bachman</a> or <a href="http://citizensvoice.com/news/michael-onley-known-as-dj-mo-killed-in-wilkes-barre-shooting-1.1568090">Michael Onley</a>. In Scranton the situation is a little better, but you may want to refrain from participating in Uber in <a href="http://wnep.com/2014/05/23/16-year-old-charged-in-scranton-cab-drivers-murder/">certain areas</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>9. Beggars</b><br />
Wilkes-Barre may not have the charms of big cities, such as sky-scrapers, cultural events, etc, but it has big city levels of beggars. One cannot avoid being asked for money if one walks through Wilkes-Barre's Public Square on a summer day. In all directions various vagabonds lay about on benches. Bathrooms in the vicinity are tightly monitored because bums attempt to wipe themselves down in them. For this reason the Barnes & Noble on the square <a href="http://timesleader.com/news/local/553316/heroin-overdose-leads-to-death-in-barnes-and-noble-in-wilkes-barre">often</a> has its bathroom closed.<br />
<br />
Normally pan handlers ask for a dollar or a quarter, but if someone claims to have suffered an auto accident and to be in urgent need a large sum of money for their car, try asking them to call the police for help. If they immediately dismiss the idea and become reluctant to speak, then you've got a scam artist in your midst.<br />
<br />
<b>8. Prevailing Misery</b><br />
According to <a href="http://citizensvoice.com/news/study-nepa-unhappiest-region-in-the-country-1.1724527">a study</a> in 2014, Northeast Pennsylvania was rated first out of 177 metro areas in unhappiness. Few people below retirement age live in the region because they want to. Usually some health problem keeps them around, be it theirs or that of a sick relative who needs their care.<br />
<br />
<b>7. Drinking</b><br />
It used to be said that "there's a church and a bar on every block" in Northeast PA. However, corner bars are becoming less common and have been replaced by cliche ones that blast music that makes conversation difficult and drinking easier. According to one survey, the area <a href="http://citizensvoice.com/news/scranton-w-b-among-most-indulgent-cities-1.1849010">was ranked 4 out of 105</a> metro areas for alcohol and cigarette consumption. Alternatives to the smoky bar scene exist, such as vaping lounges and coffee shops, but they are few and far between and are mostly frequented by cliques of aloof college students.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Nepotism</b><br />
If you end up working for a family-owned business in NEPA, you'll end up doing all the work while the owner's better-paid family members boss you around. These people are often incompetent and seldom held liable for their actions.<br />
<br />
Just to get a job you have to know someone, but unless you're related to them then you'll be stuck at the bottom. The feudal system is alive and well in NEPA, and if you're not of royal blood, you'll be relegated to subsistence wages as a peasant.<br />
<br />
<b>5. A High Boy-Girl Ratio</b><br />
According to the 2010 census, the ratio of men to women among 25-29 somethings in Luzerne County is the same as it is in China, 100 boys for every 93 girls. This situation in China has been <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/14/opinion/china-challenges-one-child-brooks/">recognized</a> as a crisis by major news outlets, but Luzerne County's situation remains unrecognized.<br />
<br />
Moreover, in NEPA women aren't just disappointing numerically. Qualitatively speaking, their secondary sexual characteristics seem more often like an inarticulate afterthought than well articulated feature.<br />
<br />
<b>4. Brain Drain </b><br />
Poor students do well in climbing the achievement ladder in NEPA, but they don't stay. Only <a href="http://citizensvoice.com/news/graduating-job-seekers-more-likely-to-look-outside-nepa-1.1920529">27%</a> of area college students plan to seek employment in the region following graduation. The result of this is that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Hazleton area ranks in the <a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/most-and-least-educated-cities/6656/">bottom quintile</a> in educational attainment, specifically, 124 out of 150 regions in the country. Most people in their mid to late twenties do not have a college degree.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Bad Job Selection</b><br />
Let's look at the <a href="http://www.usawage.com/popular/jobs-northeastern_pennsylvania_nonmetropolitan_area-pa.php">top ten</a> occupation categories in NEPA:<br />
<br />
Rank/ Job / Salary<br />
1 Retail Salespersons $21,630<br />
2 Cashiers $18,530<br />
3 Combined Food Preparation and Fast Food $17,990<br />
4 Office Clerks, General $26,480<span class="text_exposed_show"><br />
5 Waiters and Waitresses $18,060<br />
6 Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers $37,540<br />
7 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants $29,780<br />
8 Registered Nurses $64,380<br />
9 Stock Clerks $20,200<br />
10 Freight, Stock, and Material Movers $28,780</span><br />
<br />
Only one of these categories requires a college degree.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, the average yearly salary in NEPA is $30,890, which is considerably lower than the Pennsylvania state average of $35,640. <br />
<br />
<b>2. Apathy</b><br />
One friend relates that he tried to start a band but had trouble holding band practice because other members couldn't get transportation. The band dissolved.<br />
<br />
Ambitious, outgoing, lively young people move to urban hubs or developing areas around them, and those who remain are hostile, cliquish, and live in a semi-comatose manner. They don't have conversations, they don't have hobbies, they don't have sex. Vegetating in front of television is their preferred pastime. When they do go out, it's in cliques, and they seldom interact with strangers. The females adopt pets as a outlet for their motherly energies until their wombs go barren, and if they do have a boyfriend, they avoid all contact with other men, including casual conversation. Sexual restraint among young women seems stronger than in tribal Saudi Arabia.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Predatory Corruption</b><br />
Prison is frequently retirement home for NEPA elected officials, most notably Ray Musto, Bob Mellow, Greg Skrepenak, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conanhan. The crime of the latter two is particularly disturbing. As county judges, they sentenced children who misbehaved in school to a for-profit prison in return for kickbacks. These children all went to public schools and were disproportionately poor and middle class. The scheme was dubbed Kids for Cash and made national news. But that didn't stop the NEPA elite at Wyoming Seminary from <a href="http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/wyoming-seminary-rethinks-mericle-field-name-1.1558933">attempting to name</a> their athletic field after real estate mogul Robert Mericle, owner of the for profit prison, who allegedly issued the kickbacks to the judges. The hostile mentality that many of the NEPA elite have for the poor and middle class is a legacy of the coal mining days, when the descendants of 18th century immigrants from Connecticut, known as the Connecticut Yankees, oppressed poor Catholic coal miners by attempting to make them indebted to the company store and by conspiring to keep out industries which would compete for their labor so they could be paid as cheaply as possible. In other words, the Connecticut Yankees' descendants wanted a captive, impoverished population from whom they could profit. So did Robert Mericle in the 2000s.<br />
<br />
A lesser known but similarly predatory scheme has been dubbed <a href="http://nothingtonpost.blogspot.com/2011/07/facts-in-glodzikrobbins-dispute.html">Cars for Cash</a>. Leo Glodzik, a heavily tattooed truck operator, was charging exorbitant impounding fees to the people whose cars he towed as the towing contractor for former mayor Tom Leighton's administration. Glodzik was connected with city attorney Bill Vinsko and Leighton is believed by many to have known about the scheme. The $600 a night impounding fees Glodzik charged people prevented the poor from retrieving their cars and amounted to de facto theft. Several Wilkes-Barre police officers allegedly received discounted cars from Glodzik which had belonged to poor people who couldn't afford to pay to get them back. The majority of city council members looked the other way. Current Mayor Tony George was at the time the only councilman to speak out against it. After failing to persuade other Wilkes-Barre City officials that the tower had to go, community activist Mark Robbins, who had been a victim of Glodzik, petitioned County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis to do something about it, but she had someone on her staff who was related to then Wilkes-Barre city police chief Gerald Dessoye, so she declined. Not until Glodzik took the bait of $1,000 that Feds planted in one of the cars he towed, did a full investigation take place. No local authorities ever investigated Glodzik. His accuser Mark Robbins is one of few rich people in the area who seek justice for the poor and unconnected. There are a few good people left in the Valley.<br />
<br />
Here's my advice for NEPA life:<br />
<ol>
<li>Avoid Sherman Hills and Coal Street in Wilkes Barre because they're hot zones for crime.</li>
<li>Avoid Public Square in Wilkes-Barre to avoid being heckled by beggars.</li>
<li>Avoid bars. Patronize coffee shops and restaurants. Try meeting people in <a href="http://www.meetup.com/">Meet-up</a> groups online.</li>
<li>Understand that you will not get a good job as long as you remain in the region.</li>
<li>Understand that you will have to dumb yourself down to get by socially.</li>
<li>Understand that few people are interested in participating in social events and you may have to seek them outside the area.</li>
<li>Understand that you must either live the single life or lower your standards for looks and personality in a potential mate or pray for a miracle.</li>
<li>Understand that you will never reach your fullest potential while living in NEPA.</li>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-5876344666114023032015-01-25T18:56:00.001-05:002016-09-11T20:30:28.002-04:00A Parkade of Horrors in Wilkes-Barre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuKal6y75LX992ikMDdJGTeXk1H5HqjWy0Lq-Sv7UEc9qjhuIzgfHV6v81xow60fpAyd4TkHz_HgqGvDAUFxLZpYM_zaha6mLCxdNM_HT85bP-1wYLMjHIL9a9TK853LdPFOYTjaQLTo/s1600/towerofdoom.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuKal6y75LX992ikMDdJGTeXk1H5HqjWy0Lq-Sv7UEc9qjhuIzgfHV6v81xow60fpAyd4TkHz_HgqGvDAUFxLZpYM_zaha6mLCxdNM_HT85bP-1wYLMjHIL9a9TK853LdPFOYTjaQLTo/s1600/towerofdoom.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Urine trouble if you set foot in this Wilkes-Barre parkade's stairwell. You may notice pools of a substance other than H2O of which the entire stairwell reeks. At the top floor are discarded beer cans from many bums seeking a warm refuge from a Wilkes-Barre January as they almost magically transform an intoxicating substance into a disgusting one.<br />
<br />
Should you walk on other stairways, you may have to dodge pools of vomit, flattened pizza slices, and mysterious dark clumps of things that are disfigured beyond recognition.<br />
<br />
And be careful when walking to the nearby Movies 14 Cinema since an extremely slick oily substance seems to have been dumped all over the stairs leading there.<br />
<br />
In fact if you're going to see a horror movie, it would be cheaper and perhaps more horrifying to simply walk around in this parkade on a wet and rainy night where odors permeate the moist air and things from the dingy ground stick to your shoe. You could get more of a thrill while at the same time refrain from contributing money to liberal Hollywood. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-40566715326459414842014-01-09T17:39:00.003-05:002014-01-09T17:42:21.780-05:00WVW Teacher should not be Charged with a FelonyA 31 year old school teacher from Wyoming Valley West High School had sex with a 18 year old student. She should not be charged a felony because it's not as it would be if she were a man.<br />
<br />
Gender equality is ideology.
Gender difference is biology. No ordinary woman who is 31 years old can
overpower an ordinary young man, aged 17 or 18. Therefore the sex was
consensual, barring any blackmail. Moreover, the <i>nature </i>of the sex did not
involve a dominant adult pursuing a submissive minor as would be the
case with an adult man pursuing a female minor. Moreover, a young woman is more sensitive to bonding from sex than a young man, and it's physiologically more of a commitment for a young woman than for a young man.<br />
<br />
Equivocating the
relationship of an adult woman and male minor with an adult man and
female minor is biologically incorrect.<br />
<br />
While ideology is a noble effort to
escape biology, we shouldn't totally dismiss biological
considerations such as gender differences in our efforts to escape
nature. <br />
<br />
A misdemeanor would suffice as a legal punishment.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-87864097221075838312013-05-11T16:39:00.005-04:002013-06-30T22:38:31.315-04:00A Lickable Guy: Wilkes-Barre Policeman Makes National News<img alt="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/cumberlink.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/78/778d5db8-b89d-11e2-a91b-0019bb2963f4/518b8baa988ed.preview-620.jpg" class="decoded" height="400" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/cumberlink.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/78/778d5db8-b89d-11e2-a91b-0019bb2963f4/518b8baa988ed.preview-620.jpg" width="312" /><br />
[Photo from FOX News]<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
May 9, 2013 -AP<br />
A northeastern Pennsylvania city official says a blog photo showing a
woman poised to lick the badge of a moonlighting officer outside a bar
probably isn't a crime, but may violate department regulation. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Wilkes-Barre spokesman Drew McLaughlin says the police chief is
investigating that photo and two others showing a provocatively dressed
woman posing on the hood and the trunk of a police car. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The spokesman says no officers are pictured in the police cruiser
photos, but that the photo of the woman poised to lick the officer's
badge could violate regulations if the officer were actively
participating in having the photo made. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Wilkes-Barre officers are allowed to moonlight to provide security at bars through a program run by the police union. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Based on evidence in the photo, police believe the badge licking occurred more than a year ago.</blockquote>
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Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/09/pennsylvania-police-chief-probing-badge-licking-photo/#ixzz2T18XyabJ" style="color: #003399;">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/09/pennsylvania-police-chief-probing-badge-licking-photo/#ixzz2T18XyabJ</a></div>
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<b>Commentary: All's fair in love and Wilkes-Barre</b></div>
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Several incidences in the Banana Republic of Wilkes-Barre involving the city's finest have preceded the revealing of this pic.</div>
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First, they have a creepy relationship with the city's contracted tow truck operator, Leo Glodzik of LAG Towing, and have reputedly harassed innocent people on his behalf. <a href="http://citizensvoice.com/news/glodzik-loans-luxury-vehicles-to-cops-1.1466390">Wilkes-Barre police officers have received</a> cars on loan from him in spite of being in a position to increase his earnings by having more cars towed--a direct conflict of interest. When reporters waited outside city hall to get some answers, the cops actually <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-umaXJy2ITQ">tried</a> to issue them citations for trespassing.<br />
<br />
Additionally, Wilkes-Barre city police refuse to enforce a provision of the contract with Glodzik which reportedly mandates that he submit logs of all his tows to police so they can ensure he is charging industry standard. Several years passed without Glodzik ever submitting any records, while he routinely charged double and triple the standard price for a tow.</div>
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Second, police Chief Jerry Dessoye is <a href="http://wbtruth.blogspot.com/2013/06/first-in-multi-part-series-questions_25.html">alleged to have frequented</a> a crack house on McLean Street and to have refused to shut it down.</div>
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In short, many of the city's police are thugs. Most probably aren't, but if there were any good men in the department, there would have been some whistle-blowers. Perhaps the crime spilling into the city from New Jersey, New York, and Philly has caused a war-like atmosphere among the cops where morality takes a backseat to survival. If this is true, then the incompetent mayor has only made the city more attractive to criminals by building Coal Street Park near the locus of many violent crimes in the city. Oh well. All's fair in love and the new Wilkes-Barre.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-64855262780940455822013-03-07T18:36:00.001-05:002013-03-07T18:41:24.017-05:00Rand Paul Hits Home Run with FilibusterRand Paul's filibuster was a hit--even with Obama's media outlets such as ABC News and MSNBC. Although they often purposefully obscured his reason for filibustering, ie the fact that Brennan couldn't assure Rand that Americans wouldn't be targeted, most of the media gave a favorable presentation of his stand.<br />
The Huffington Post (...) gave Rand the most publicity of the major liberal outlets, because compared with ABC/NBC/CBS, it is far less pro-establishment, less connected to the White House, and more likely to prioritize civil libertarian values above conformity with Washington.<br />
<br />
Rush Limbaugh had Rand on his show today, and allowed him full reign to discuss the problems with the proposed drone policy. <b>Limbaugh seemed to be reluctantly supportive of Rand, but nevertheless he gave Rand plenty of time to speak and had a respectable discourse with him.</b> This is a huge victory for Rand because he was given a platform in the difficult-to-crack neo-con talk radio syndicate.<br />
<br />
Laura Ingraham wrote an article praising Rand, a rare thing for her to do with someone who isn't a neo-con like she is.<br />
<br />
The same could not be said of the vile neo-con Mark Levin, who astonishingly has no mention of the name Rand Paul anywhere on his site, even regarding an article specifically about Rand's filibuster. Levin, a bloodthirsty warmongering Zionist, cares much more about Rand voting for Chuck Hagel and thus against the wishes of the Lobby than he does about Rand protecting our freedoms.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Rand chose a good issue to make a stand on. Virtually every sane
American, liberal, conservative, libertarian, etc, can identify with the need for a trial by jury.<br />
<br />
Rand chose a good nominee to filibuster, because <b>Brennan is a non-Jewish white guy, so Rand cannot be calumnied as anti-semitic or racist by the sneaky media for opposing him. </b><br />
<br />
Finally, Rand energized his pro-liberty base after previously doing some things that had discouraged them, such as voting for NDAA2013, supporting sanctions on Iran, and refusing to discuss Bilderberg.<br />
<br />
And in any sense, the genuineness of Rand's filibuster, bourne out by the fact that his speech was substantive throughout, is something most people want more of in politics.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-51134781543339095812013-02-27T21:06:00.002-05:002013-03-08T21:43:46.987-05:00Rand Paul Nullifies any Benefit from Israel Visit with Hagel YayRand Paul has likely lost all credibility with militant neocons like Mark Levin for voting in favor of Chuck Hagel, who has made remarks concerning the Israel Lobby's power.<br />
<br />
Paul went on Levin's show in January, pledging his love for Israel while recounting his recent visit there, yet he squeezed in one little bit that Israel's embargo against Palestinians in Gaza should be ended because the economic prosperity Gazans would gain from trading with the rest of the world would induce them to attack Israel less. Rand framed it as being good for Israel, so Levin let it pass. Rand was very submissive to Levin's expectations of belief in Israeli infallibility.<br />
<br />
But it seems like Paul's vote for Hagel will finalize his expulsion from the neocon talk radio syndicate's realm of consideration in 2016, because actions speak louder than words. Indeed, Paul has nullified any creds he got from his "cheap date" with Israel during his visit. It seems he is thrashing about in vain, trying to adhere to his non-interventionist foreign policy convictions on the one hand, while trying to appease the Lobby with the other.<br />
<br />
Christians United For Israel (CUFI) campaigned hard against Hagel. Although <a href="http://hamsayeh.net/world/2423-ehud-baraks-cousin-misdirects-americas-christian-zionists.html">not headed by a Christian</a>, CUFI is the standard bearer of Christian Zionism and seeks to exploit the innocence of evangelicals for the good of the Israel Lobby. Evangelicals are more likely to compromise on Chris Christie's recent acceptance of Obamacare than go against their belief that any opposition to Israel or its Lobby warrants a curse from God. So Rand has lost credibility with them.<br />
<br />
But Rand has gained points with people like Pat Buchanan who perceive Hagel to be the least militaristic option Washington had to offer, despite his support of sanctions against Iran and drone strikes everywhere.<br />
<br />
However, Rand's own father, Ron, opposed Hagel for not being anti-war enough.<br />
<br />
You can't please them all.<br />
<br />
In any case, it's a shame that evangelical churches and the media at large brainwash people to believe that being conservative means having an unquestioning support of war with Israel's opponents. The best we conservatives can do is spread the truth about the apostate belief of Christian Zionism, the lack of threat from Iran, the reason why America should not start wars to ensure Israel's illegal settlements continue to expand, and the real place where radical Islam is gaining ground: Europe via mass immigration.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-37563963183147718012013-02-07T15:37:00.001-05:002013-05-18T15:19:30.073-04:00Ponytail Man Likens Friendly Sons to Magdalene Laundries <i>Disclaimer, the author of this post is not a member of, nor affiliated with the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick</i> <i>organization</i>.<br />
<br />
If a bunch of Irishmen host a dinner for men, then they want women to be wrongfully imprisoned, according to WILK's ponytail man.<br />
<br />
Ponytail man is trying to allege that the same impetus that led the Friendly Sons to be a boys only club was behind the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, which were a cultural tragedy that ruined the lives of many women. This not true.<br />
<br />
<b>Magdalene Laundries Background</b><br />
The documentary <i>Sex in a Cold Climate</i> covers the tragedy of the laundries. After Ireland won its independence from Great Britain in 1922, the new Irish government took over asylums formerly run by the British and converted them into partial laundries. But it wasn't just crazy people who filled them anymore. If a woman got pregnant out of wedlock, or was
found to have had sex out of wedlock, or even if she was raped through no fault of her own, she
could be sent to the laundries for life. A girl raised in an orphanage who did no wrong could even be sent to the laundries for the "offense" of being pretty. The only way out was either escape or emancipation by someone on the outside, since imprisonment in laundries was actually not bound by any law and was only held together by public shame. Of course, the nuns who ran the laundries worked the women extremely hard and were often shockingly cruel and abusive. Orphanages weren't much better as sometimes priests would abuse girls. A film based on true stories of the laundries is <i>The Magdalene Sisters. </i><br />
By the way, do the Friendly Sons do any of these things? Obviously no.<br />
<br />
<b>Why the Laundries and Friendly Sons are Unrelated</b><br />
Pony tail man says the laundries and all male gatherings are caused by the patriarchal society. However, there are many things that would seem to play a larger role than male dominated societies.<br />
<br />
One would be the strict Catholicism that pervaded Ireland during the 20th century. The idea of Catholic guilt was very strong. It wasn't Catholicism per se behind the laundries because Catholics elsewhere never founded any such laundries in the 20th century* but rather a particular brand of Irish Catholicism involving hyper self-shaming. This shame was practiced by both men and women. If it were exclusion based on sex that caused the laundries to come about,
then Why was Ireland the only country to have them? There were plenty of other nations throughout the 20th century where all-male groups abounded, and none of them had Magdalene laundries. Moreover, the Irish Catholic church was not nearly as powerful in the US as it was in Ireland, so this explains why nothing similar arose in America. <br />
<br />
Furthermore, Ireland had been oppressed by the British for hundreds of years, and maybe they took it out on their women. Blacks' proclivity to use corporal punishment on their children is often explained as a reaction to having suffered oppression from slavemasters and Jim Crow. Granted, oppression does not necessarily cause people to oppress themselves, but it may dispose them to do so. In any case, Irish in America were never oppressed like they were in Ireland and formed no laundries. <br />
<br />
<b>Affirming solidarity between men is not the same as oppressing women.</b> All other things being equal, a group consisting solely of men has more in common than a group consisting of both men and women. There is nothing wrong with a group of men getting together as men, and in fact, there is a healthy masculine camaraderie which helps bring them together as a group. How someone could say this is evil is puzzling. For being a collectivist, Ponytailman seems to exclude collectives of well-off Irishmen from the realm of legitimacy. But I'm sure he'd have no problem with wealthy Arab men meeting among themselves. Furthermore, he would probably have no problem with poor men dining together as men. <br />
<br />
<b>Feminists want Power not Equality</b><br />
Feminists complain that there aren't enough female congressmen, CEOs, judges, etc. But you never hear them complain that there are too few female garbage collectors, sewage treatment plant workers, coal miners, telephone pole wire repairmen, or slaughterhouse workers. They never complain about women missing out on miserable things men have to do--only the things that carry with them prestige or power. So this is why Ponytail man would have no problem with, say, a group of poor factory workers having an all male dinner. The epithet that Mr Ponytail is a <a href="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531487_457048854348701_865678408_n.jpg">Marxist</a> is dead on.<br />
<br />
<b>What you can do</b><br />
If you would like to be a counter-Revolutionary and affirm the Friendly Sons' justification in having their dinner, write them at info@friendlysons.org<br />
_____________________________________ <br />
<br />
* One might argue that convents were sort of prisons in the middle ages
where innocent women were usually sent against their will, but in many places, nuns of that time had slightly
more freedom than the nuns of today and enjoyed the privileges of
reading and writing which were denied to most men and women at the time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-82414987610562054212013-02-07T02:03:00.001-05:002013-02-18T17:11:04.387-05:00Hollywood Underestimater Reviews Tron Legacy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDi9eMIe_GmeXGS9wNS70bGMXIa2QtjOEo0MmnjwQhYp38wwuj" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDi9eMIe_GmeXGS9wNS70bGMXIa2QtjOEo0MmnjwQhYp38wwuj" border="0" class="decoded" height="223" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDi9eMIe_GmeXGS9wNS70bGMXIa2QtjOEo0MmnjwQhYp38wwuj" width="400" /></a></div>
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The uniquely incandescent clothing of characters, vehicles, et al, is what initially lured me into watching Tron: Legacy. I was in the mood for such a rawly reduced presentation of form and light. The film prioritized special effects, and was artful in a stylistic sense. But every action of the characters seemed to be covered with a nonchalantness that didn't allow for a lurid enough presentation for the viewer to digest as meaningful.</div>
<br />
<b>However, the saving grace of the film is the female character Quorra, who is the love interest in the plot.</b> Tron Legacy was plagued by all the typical modern Hollywood annoyances: Characters with overly terse speech, a plot choked out by excessively long action scenes, but Quorra offered some relief. <br />
<br />
Quorra is a human-like program within the game who has mysteriously acquired a special evolutionary development which other human-like programs don't have. She takes a liking to the main character, Sam Flynn. She displays natural behavior that girls often exhibit when they're around guys they like. These include viewing from afar, giving a lot of eye contact, and prioritizing being together with him. These are innocent female behaviors that Hollywood seems to have tacitly banned in other films. Her damsel in distress quality is heightened by the fact that her life consists of the dark gray drudgery of her cyberworld. In a way, her position of situational weakness and innocence really heightens her ability to love because worldliness and manipulations are absent and unable to block her longing. In spite of her weakness and innocence she is still a smart, strong woman. It is a amazing that a female character who exemplifies feminine virtues such as purity and self-sacrifice squeaked through the Hollywood feminist screen. <br />
<br />
Her love-interest, Sam, could have been a little more into her, and the paradigm of her being a computer program sort of gets in the way of a nicer love story. It would have been better if he showed a liking to her earlier in the film. Only when Sam's father avers her equivalence to humanity does he seem to appreciate her. Apparently he is not susceptible to the "indefinable charm of weakness" Oscar Wilde spoke of in women, which Olivia Wilde's character Quorra displays. Anyway, [Spoiler Alert] in the end, she saves Sam, and Sam saves her. Is such a story not the whole point of romantic love? Perhaps a going theme of the movie could be that true love stands alone.<br />
<br />
The dynamic of Kevin Flynn and Quorra both being partial yet different creations of Sam's father is interesting as well; almost as if they are his unrelated children of his. The movie will explain why this is so... It is interesting how their romance evolves from a side-issue to almost being the main thing at the end of the movie. But even at the end, it is presented in a sort of distant nonchalantness that pervades the film. Maybe it's supposed to be representative of the indifference people have toward things in a video game world, where one "dies" as often as every minute.<br />
<br />
Another theme could be that certain life situations are worth risking it all to escape from. The American Revolutionaries did this in the Revolutionary War. Many people undergo life-threatening surgeries and treatments to get out of horrifying illnesses. This sort of scenario occurs in Tron Legacy.<br />
<br />
As a final note, the soundtrack was handled by the House/Techno group Daft Punk. The music often felt like it was building up to something which it never got to, but overall it seemed to fit well with the film.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, if you're looking for a movie that doesn't command much but delivers in a few small ways, as in the glow in the dark designs and nonchalant, yet severe damsel in distress element, then Tron Legacy is worth watching.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-73517818002398853942013-01-16T16:00:00.002-05:002013-01-17T20:48:59.876-05:00The Hagelian DilemmaPat Buchanan, an ardent opponent of the neocons, has <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/2012/12/28/why-the-war-party-fears-hagel-n1475015/page/2">endorsed</a> Obama's pick Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. But Ron Paul will not go so far, and seems to imply that the enemy of the neocons--Chuck Hagel--is not necessarily Dr. Paul's friend.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ronpaul.com/2013-01-13/ron-paul-chuck-hagel-john-brennan-will-carry-out-obamas-foreign-policy/">from RonPaul.com:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Hagel has shown some admirable willingness to advise caution overseas. He is seen as unenthusiastic over the prospects of a US war on Iran, which is certainly to be welcomed. But let us not forget that he did vote for the war against Iraq, he has expressed support for multi-lateral sanctions on Iran, and last year he wrote in the Washington Post that, on Iran, he supports “keeping all options on the table, including the use of military force.” Nevertheless because he does represent a more moderate voice in foreign policy than the neo-conservatives can tolerate, they are dragging his name through the mud. <b>In choosing Hagel, then, we can hope the president is signaling that he will pursue a less aggressive foreign policy in his second term. But we cannot count on it.</b></blockquote>
This is a confusing issue because although Hagel may not be a Paul Wolfowitz-like neocon, he certainly is not on board with an ideal Paulesque/Buchananite noninterventionist foreign policy. Should someone vote against Hagel for being too pro-war? or vote for him to stick it to the neocons? Is Hagel as good as it gets in terms of aversion to war with Iran? It seems Ron Paul doesn't trust Hagel to avoid war but Buchanan does. <br />
Paul gained his nickname "Dr. No" by holding every vote to a strict standard. This standard includes an opposition to militarism abroad. But holding to this standard may force Obama to nominate someone more pro-war than Hagel. This dilemma gets to the heart of politics as to whether compromise is ever justified.<br />
<br />
Finally, the sad fact is that neocons and Ron Paul alike oppose Hagel for opposite reasons. Politics makes strange vote coalitions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-26809442459199122402013-01-09T16:51:00.003-05:002013-02-06T14:04:13.439-05:00In Defense of Alex Jones<i>Disclaimer: The Nothington Post staff does not subscribe to any of Alex Jones's conspiracy theories, nor his sensationalism, celebrity worship, and other errors.</i><br />
<br />
Jones was uncomposed and overly boistrous in his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-tsHlDviuA">debate</a> with Piers Morgan on gun rights. People say that he made liberty people look bad. Indeed, maybe he did. Many conspiracy theorists theorize that he is a double agent who is trying to make liberty people look bad. But it seems Jones's conduct during the debate was a manifestation of his spark plug personality and not deliberate sabotage. That same fiery temperment has made him famous and has also drawn many people to liberty philosophy. Even if he isn't a calm debater, people need to remember the good that he has done.<br />
<br />
It's a fact that many Ron Paul supporters found the liberty movement through Alex Jones. Moreover, Jones always supports honest, anti-establishment, pro-freedom candidates like Debra Medina and Kurt Haskell. Despite his conspiracy stigma, Jones has the largest following in the liberty movement, with many fans not totally on board with liberty as well. <b>The worst side effect of his conspiracies may be an overexuberant distrust of government among his followers, but consequently, no Alex Jones supporter could be found to be the chump of a cynical politician.</b><br />
<br />
It's funny because even conspiracy people are developing conspiracies against Jones, saying that because he doesn't tout their worldview enough, he is an agent for the Illuminati or something. But even if this is somehow true, which it isn't, Jones has brought so many people to be "awake", as they call it, that the Illuminati or whoever would have to be totally stupid for sponsoring him.<br />
<br />
<b>Jones has a lot of legitimate information on his show that the rest of the media ignores.</b> For example, Jones covers the Bilderberg meeting, an important meeting of world elites that the cowardly mainstream media ignores for fear of being called conspiracy theorists. Like the G20 or any gathering of world leaders, Bilderberg deserves attention, and Jones has nothing to lose in covering it.<br />
<br />
In sum, Jones makes valuable contributions to journalism and the liberty movement despite his regrettable conspiracies.<br />
_______________<br />
<b>Correction</b><br />
We initally gave as an example of the mainstream media ignoring Michigan's law that oppresses small hog farmers at the behest of big
agra, and related that Jones had covered it. But we subsequently found an ABC News article about it, so we were wrong that the media ignored it. However, one could say that major media outlets did not cover it enough. If they had publicized it like they did the Trayvon Martin case, then Michigan probably wouldn't have any problems now with oppressive farm laws.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-71979325509595076302013-01-04T02:47:00.000-05:002013-08-08T16:35:39.290-04:00Gun Grabbers Use Propaganda Not ReasonGun grabbers such as the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Corbett-Uncensored/117862304934026?ref=ts&fref=ts">ponytail man</a> waste no time in using recent news of mass shootings as propaganda to fit their preconceived agenda of taking people's guns. They justify exploiting news of murders for political gain by saying that "if this particular gun control law were in place, fewer or no people would have died," and then they act as though those people who would oppose such laws somehow endorse the murders. If gun grabbers are going to throw the first punch, pro-gun people have a right to respond.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>First of all, the gun grabbers are selling snake oil. They do not know for sure that the laws they propose would prevent murders.</b> If clip sizes are reduced, then a killer could bring additional clips. If quotas are put on clips, a killer could bring an additional weapon. Economics tells us that there are substitute goods that can be used in place of goods to fulfill the same purpose, so even if all guns are successfully banned, alternative weapons and methods of killing would be sought by killers. If a killer wants to kill a certain number of people, he can find ways to circumvent bans.<br />
<br />
It'd be one thing to introduce statistics on gun deaths in the US and and to estimate how many lives a proposed law might save. But in that case, the law would be somewhat testable, and if it failed to reduce deaths, then the gun grabber would look bad. To escape potential statistical scrutiny, gun grabbers opt to play on people's emotions by using news events of mass shootings or shootings involving famous people. <b>You get the idea from these media propagandists that ordinary people who are shot individually elicit no need for anti-gun laws, as if their deaths are less important.</b> Indeed, they are less important to the gun grabber, because they are not as useful in drumming up support for anti-gun legislation.<br />
<br />
To answer the question as to whether people "need" to own high powered guns, I quote Sidney Painter in his book on <a href="http://obscurelure.blogspot.com/2011/05/homeland-security-et-al-ushering-in.html">French Chivalry</a>: "Until the non-noble class obtained wealth, leisure, or a cheap, easily used, and effective weapon, the position of the feudal aristocracy was perfectly secure" (page 3). Notice that maintaining feudal aristocracy is partly reliant on the rulers (or government) possessing far superior weaponry to the commoners. The founding fathers wanted to make sure common people could defend themselves against, say, indian raids instead of being helplessly reliant on the government to protect them. Thus, the power structure would be unlike a feudal system in which only rulers could offer sufficient protection. <b>In a land of liberty, commoners deserve to have effective weapons. </b>These weapons should be as potentially effective in defense as the most effective weapon possessed by government agents who deal with similar threats. But because gun grabbers promote government coercion and not liberty, they see no need to support the right to own high powered firearms for people without government-granted status.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-49575067502937149272012-11-23T03:55:00.004-05:002012-11-28T20:29:00.391-05:00How Rand Paul can Win in 2016Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh will try their best to derail Rand's presidential candidacy just as they did to Ron Paul. They will never mention him unless he becomes a threat in the polls, and if he does, they'll call him a nut, say he's <a href="http://nothingtonpost.blogspot.com/2011/12/mark-levin-deceitful-collectivist.html">anti-American</a> for opposing the military industrial complex, and use other garbage pejoratives. Hannity will lament that Rand is the "only" Republican candidate he cannot support. Glenn Beck will <a href="http://nothingtonpost.blogspot.com/2011/06/glenn-becks-double-standard.html">fawn</a> over neo-conmen like Santorum again. FOX News will commence with the usual combination of blackout and subtle ridicule. The National Review will extol the most fiscally liberal, pro-war candidate. These people are not stupid and know that Rand takes after his father... a lot. In fact, Limbaugh has already mocked Rand for his run-in with the TSA, and Levin has mentioned Rand in a tone of voice lush with hatred. <b>Phony conservatives like Levin and Limbaugh influence many voters.</b><br />
<br />
<b>The 2012 Ron Paul campaign had way more grassroots support than any other.</b> Ron Paul bumperstickers abounded months before the primary in each state, often as early as September 2011. Romney bumperstickers were only became evident in September of 2012. Ron Paul events routinely drew thousands. Romney was lucky to get more than several hundred. <br />
<br />
<b>But the grassroots support was not enough.</b> The sheeple Republicans voted in the primary for the candidate the media said "could win": Romney. That is, the one who could win within the acceptable paradigm of being the world police and continuing unsustainable spending.<br />
<br />
<b>What's missing from the Liberty Movement is an elite media presence</b>. But elite media presence requires support from rich, powerful people. The American Revolutionaries had wealthy financiers in 1776, and a good many of the wealthy elite, especially on Wall Street, need to be converted to liberty. Once this happens, it will be easier for a pro-liberty talk radio show host to become as popular as a Mark Levin or Sean Hannity.<br />
<br />
As far as candidates for talk radio go, perhaps the best hope for the urban areas is Peter Schiff, who has a radio show advancing a libertarian worldview. But we still would need a conservative Christian who will speak to middle America. Most people won't admit it, but Alex Jones has influenced many people to become Ron Paul Supporters, and guessing from the local scene, as much as 15% of all Ron Paul people were directed to like Dr Paul and liberty itself by Jones. Indeed, Jones professes to be a Christian, but he isn't quite conservative in the way he does things. His sensationalism and conspiracies may not appeal to most Republicans. We need someone who can speak to conservative social sentiments while also tactfully promoting liberty, small government, and a non-interventionist foreign policy without any conspiracies or obsession with globalists. Tom Woods may be decent for a "Firing Line" kind of show on PBS if the liberal PBS would allow such a show, but as a radio host, Woods's keen intellectual mind may be too fast for the average person. Jack Hunter may not be gregarious enough for radio. We need someone. If Jones gains popularity, it would certainly help, but non-conspiracy people will be better able to sway undecided voters toward Rand.<br />
<br />
As far as television, FOX News needs to reinstate Judge Andrew Napolitano's Freedomwatch, and it needs to become as popular as "The O'Reilly Factor". A Buchananite Republican needs to get a show on some network, and maybe Lou Dobbs could lean more towards liberty. Stossel needs to be put on prime time more often. <b>We need to win these little "elections" before we can win Rand the big one</b>. I am confident that if liberty people have half as much time as the neo-cons, they will do just as well, if not better.<br />
<br />
Print media is picked over by liberals and shallow moderates. The New York Times will never employ another Henry Hazlitt. In any case, every single copy of the National Review must be replaced with the American Conservative as soon as possible. Get your friends to switch. The New American, The Freeman, and Reason Magazine all need to gain prominence as well.<br />
<br />
This is not to say that we can slack on grassroots efforts, as those will have to be stronger than ever to bring about a Rand victory.<br />
<br />
Anyway, it seems impossible that we'll have representatives in elite media by 2015, in time to sow seeds for the 2016 presidential primary election. But unless we reach the masses on this level, we're finished. <b>The Internet and word of mouth can only do so much</b>. We must reach the sheeple.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-40240535655174690092012-11-23T02:02:00.002-05:002012-12-17T19:37:17.891-05:00The Other 1% is Politically Irrelevant?One percent of Americans voted for Gary Johnson for President on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2012. Die-hards for freedom are about one percent of voting Americans. <br />
<br />
After Obama's second victory, Left-liberals were quick to conclude that people who want more freedom are politically irrelevant. Granted, a liberal might construe social libertarian stances such as legalization of some drugs, immigration "reform", and even gay "marriage" as "acceptable" stances for freedom, with all others being completely irrelevant to the "progress"ive consensus.<br />
<br />
It should be mentioned that Gary Johnson supporters were not the same as Romney supporters. They weren't going to put up with any candidate who supported the brown-shirtesque TSA, ominous legislation like NDAA2012, a growing welfare and warfare state, a falling dollar, etc. Both Obama and Romney never once claimed to stop any of these things, with Romney only seeming to promise to slow down government growth (except for in "defense" spending).<br />
<br />
So, the other one percent, the Gary Johnson supporters, are they politically irrelevant? For the time being...yes. Johnson failed to accumulate the difference of votes between Romney and Obama in any state, not even being able to enjoy the status of spoiler that would be awarded by sarcastic reporters.<br />
<br />
However, <b>Gary Johnson/Ron Paul supporters can become politically relevant, but they must increase their numbers dramatically.</b><br />
<br />
Several ways to do so are:<br />
1. Talk to friends and educate them about liberty. Don't just vie for their votes given their existing, non liberty-oriented ideas. Maybe branch out to them on some liberty issue they support and then give them the full dose.<br />
<br />
2. Organize outreach programs. Educational programs such as Foundation for Economic Education should take precedence. Hand out flyers in public places concerning liberty issues or ideas. <br />
<br />
Political campaigns need to take a back seat for a while. <b>There is no sense in running in elections to get votes from socialists and military worshipers, when neither have an appetite for freedom.</b> Only in places where victory is possible, such as in Thomas Massie's congressional seat, should liberty candidates be given a lot of attention. This is not to say that third party candidates such as Gary Johnson who are severe underdogs should not run. They should run, but their campaigns should be un-apologetically pro-liberty. Nor should they consume all the time of liberty individuals or distract from winning people over to liberty philosophy.<br />
<br />
People need to stop thinking campaign to campaign, and start thinking in the long term. If Gary Johnson die-hards could become at least 15% of the voting population, they could be able to sway enough fickle and lenient people to vote in many more liberty Republicans than the three congressmen and two senators* to be in the Federal government as of 2013.<br />
<br />
3. Give up truly irrelevant things to make more time for liberty. Sports especially need to take a back seat, unless you're actually profiting from it like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsCUjnabT84">Peyton Hillis</a>. When we have more freedom we can again indulge in such things.<br />
<br />
4. Finally, giving up is exactly what the "progress"ives and poser neo-cons want Gary Johnson/Ron Paul supporters to do. Winning the hearts and minds may be difficult and perhaps even impossible given the loyalty institutions of socialism tend to ensconce from people who have lived with them. But perhaps, the reason we're here in the first place is that liberty people haven't been vocal enough to counteract the temptations of socialism (if doing were possible).<br />
<br />
5. This talk of secession is nonsense. Not that secession is bad per se, but we simply don't have enough influence in any state government to commence with seceding anywhere. We might as well theorize about the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin. When we reach heaven (Lord willing), we'll find out, and when there is a heavenly atmosphere of liberty in a given state, we'll discuss secession.<br />
___________________________________<br />
*They are Amash, Massie, and Bentovolio. Walter Jones and Dennis Kucinich are helpful as well. The Senators are Rand Paul and Mike Lee.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-5461729768076209222012-09-22T14:57:00.001-04:002012-09-22T15:17:36.444-04:00Tom Corbett Lies at RNCAccording to PA Republican delegate <a href="http://anthonyantonello.com/">Anthony Antonello</a> of Pittston, Tom Corbett lied when announcing the delegates choices. There were 72 total delegates and 67 supported Romney. When announcing the allegiance of the remaining five delegates on the Convention floor, <b>Corbett lied saying they supported "Paul Ryan", when in fact they supported Ron Paul!</b> Antonello, Tom Boggia, Brian Dougherty, Tom Martin, and Thomas Brown <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/PA-R">all</a> supported Ron Paul but had their positions misrepresented by the soulless Pennsylvania governor.<br />
<br />
Lemmings in the GOP have said that Tom Corbett is "a good Christian man". I wish I could ask them whether they think he told a "good Christian lie".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-27551629126587689042012-09-11T22:26:00.002-04:002013-08-26T15:16:48.475-04:002012 Pennsylvania Election Endorsements<b>Federal Candidates</b><br />
President: Gary Johnson (Libertarian)<br />
US Senate: Rayburn Douglas Smith (Libertarian)<br />
CD 10: Phil Scollo (D)<br />
CD 11: Lou Barletta (R)<br />
CD 17: Laureen Cummings (R)<br />
<br />
<b>State Candidates</b><br />
Attorney General: Marakay Rogers (Libertarian)<br />
Auditor General: Betsy Summers (Libertarian)<br />
State Treasurer: Patricia M. Fryman (Libertarian)<br />
PA 120 Aaron Kaufer (R)<br />
PA 119 Rick Arnold (R)<br />
PA 12 Daryl Metcalfe (R)<br />
<br />
<b>US Congressional Candidate Endorsements Outside Pennsylvania</b><br />
Kesha Rogers (D) TX -22<br />
Kurt Haskell (D) MI -7<br />
Justin Amash (R) MI -3<br />
Kerry Bentivolio (R) MI -11<br />
Art Robinson (R) OR -4<br />
Thomas Massie (R) KY -4<br />
Randy Weber (R) TX -14<br />
<br />
<b>Explanations</b><br />
<b>Gary Johnson, President</b> -Why not choose the lesser of two evils in Romney? We believe Romney will be very similar to George W. Bush or fusion of Bush and Obama. We expect from him: unnecessary wars with Iran and Syria, retention of a significant amount of Obamacare, and increased overall spending largely due to increases in "defense" spending. Romney will expand TSA molestations, drones spying on Americans, NDAA 2012, and many other anti-freedom trends. Such incremental increases in tyranny and fiscal irresponsibility are the very things people are mad at Obama for. Romney has already shown a liking for strong arm tactics in his maneuvers to prevent Ron Paul from being considered for a vote at the GOP convention, and God knows what he'll be like once elected. Finally, for every neo-con warmonger such GW Bush, there follows a left-wing despot like Obama. Although Romney may be slightly better for the business climate today, in the long run he represents a temporary slowing down and not a reversal of detrimental policies.<br />
<br />
Every four years, sages clamber for the American people to stop compromising and vote against a candidate who represents the establishment coterie of a political party which has had 150 years to be corrupted. And every year the mindless masses, due to a prisoner's dilemma mentality and fear, vote to keep out the major party candidate they dislike most. A lot of this is due to brainwashing in the media that accentuates differences between Republicans like Romney and Democrats like Obama, when functionally they are nearly identical. Obama maintained Bush's increases in spending, and George W Bush increased the benchmark of annual federal spending by more in his last four years than Obama has in his first four years.<br />
<br />
Those voting for Gary Johnson know that they are voting for an honest man. Johnson is actually more qualified to run for president than Romney, having served two terms as governor instead of one, and having been named one of the most popular governors during his tenure unlike Romney. <br />
<br />
Prior to becoming governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson started a business from the ground up which would eventually employ over one thousand people, and unlike Romney, he never received a bailout. <br />
<br />
Johnson aims to solve all the problems of the day. He favors sustainable, sane levels of defense spending, and has a track record as governor of reducing spending and balancing the budget. Johnson knows how to say no, and has the backbone to veto all forms of excessive spending. His libertarian philosophy is conducive to a small government that permits maximum freedom for all. Thus, <b>Gary Johnson is actually different from Obama in his preferred policies.</b> Until the GOP and their talk-radio brainwashers allow the people a candidate such as Gary Johnson, they will not receive votes from anyone who is honest and fully informed, who also cares about fiscal well-being and personal freedom.<br />
<br />
Libertarian Party candidate <b>Rayburn Smith</b> understands liberty and is a fiscal conservative. He will vote to curtail waste in the "defense" budget, and will oppose the burgeoning police state mentality and draconian measures such as NDAA2012. <br />
<br />
Rayburn Smith's Republican opponent, Tom Smith (no relation), is an idiot who does not think for himself and believes the consensus among the Republican establishment is the only standard of truth. Case in point, Tom Smith deferred to Pat Toomey and Allen West on the indefinite detention clause in the NDAA 2012, without ever developing an opinion of his own on the subject. His only opinion seems to be conformity with the establishment. Tom Smith also stated that we must have a "balance" between liberty and security. Politicians only say that when they want to take away liberty, never when they want to allow more of it. <b>It is clear that Tom Smith will not stand up for your freedom as long as he can use that ridiculous rationale for backing down.</b> On the other hand, Rayburn Smith makes liberty a priority will protect us from tyrannical legislation.<br />
<br />
The video below displays Tom the moron Smith's answer to a question on NDAA. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Hvh3XJCOl3M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-31772509249649280552012-09-01T22:48:00.002-04:002012-09-19T21:35:23.952-04:00Letter to NuPo: Wilkes-Barre Walmart has Unbearably Long LinesMany people are complaining about the excessively long lines at the Wilkes-Barre Walmart. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/walmart-wilkes-barre">One</a> commenter reports "They have like 20 cash registers and only put on 3 cashiers." <br />
<br />
Each line is at least five customers long on any given day. <b>It almost feels like a welfare line, and to a degree it is, since many of the people pay with food stamps.</b><br />
<br />
The Wilkes-Barre Walmart store manager ought to be replaced with someone who will not force customers wait a half hour in line. There ought to be a protest and a public awareness campaign to stop the idiot manager from making our citizens' lives miserable. <br />
<br />
Hiring more cashiers would mean more local jobs and would probably encourage more people to shop at Walmart since they would not have to suffer the inconvenience of long lines. But the miserly manager probably cares more about pinching a few extra pennies by not scheduling an adequate number of cashiers, just to give a little more money to the Walmart corporation.<br />
<br />
But if all Walmarts were similarly understaffed, it could mean lower prices across the board in addition to more profits. Thus, the cost of a lower price would not only be felt in sweatshops in Asia but also in the long breadlines at Walmarts.<br />
<br />
However, other Walmarts, such as the one in Pittston, reportedly get by fine without such long lines, so the Wilkes-Barre one should be able to do so as well. Moreover, the Wilkes-Barre Target and Kmart always seem to have plenty of cashiers, and they seem to be able to turn profits.*<br />
<br />
The Wilkes-Barre Walmart's scandalously long lines must be hard on cashiers too, because if there were more of them, they would conceivably get a break instead of having to constantly scan and bag items for impatient, grumpy customers.<br />
<br />
The goal should be NEVER a longer than three minutes waiting time per customer: about the length of time it would take to wait behind a shopping cart packed with stuff that is paid for with a slowly-validated welfare card.<br />
_______________________________<br />
<br />
More Complaints about Wilkes-Barre Walmart's lines:<br />
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/walmart-wilkes-barre">http://www.yelp.com/biz/walmart-wilkes-barre</a><br />
<a href="https://foursquare.com/v/walmart-supercenter/4b4632f2f964a520d01926e3">https://foursquare.com/v/walmart-supercenter/4b4632f2f964a520d01926e3</a><br />
<br />
*We do not know how much additional profit could be generated by under-staffing cashiers, and how much this additional profit would be used to lower prices nor the degree to which it would affect the overall price of items. However, if one Walmart has long lines due to insufficient cashiers and another has plenty cashiers, then the one with long lines is effectively subsidizing, to a degree, the low prices of the one with sufficient cashiers. This is not fair, and there should be a uniform sufficiency of cashiers among all Walmarts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-11127868584751620982012-08-27T22:35:00.001-04:002012-09-01T21:55:27.237-04:00The Associated Press's Puff Piece for RomneyAP "reporters" Brian Bakst and Glenn Adams portray Ron Paul delegates as the lawless ones and Romney as the sophisticated peacemaker.<br />
<br />
They do not bother to find out whether the Maine GOP actually violated parliamentary rules or whether complete removal of its delegates was justified, nor do they ask why the GOP has broken its own bylaws to depose rightful Ron Paul delegates. <br />
<br />
After Romney lawyers got Ron Paul delegates unlawfully thrown off the ballot in Massachusetts, the rotten AP reporters, Brian Bakst and Glenn Adams, portray Romney as the compassionate peacemaker in their puff piece. <br />
<br />
How could Bakst and Adams be so wrong accidentally? They must have been either biased toward Romney or paid to be so. Here is their ridiculous AP article:<br />
<blockquote>A group of Maine Republicans supportive of Texas congressman Ron Paul for president have been ejected from the state's national convention delegation.<br />
The Republican National Convention's credentials committee voted Friday to replace 10 of the 20 delegates after determining their election as delegates violated party and parliamentary rules.<br />
In a peace offering [?!], Mitt Romney's campaign has announced plans to air a tribute to the libertarian-leaning Paul during the convention.</blockquote><br />
<b>Ben Swann tells the real story:</b><br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cQvszfnOSY8?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-17824493337308983102012-08-02T20:08:00.001-04:002013-08-26T15:16:48.473-04:00Aaron Kaufer releases Economic PlanCandidate in the Pennsylvania State House in the 120th district, Aaron Kaufer, has released his economic called PA First. It advocates various tax breaks to draw small businesses to come to Pennsylvania and create jobs. These jobs would bring relief to an area with extremely high unemployment. Additionally, in order to protect the many seniors struggling to pay property taxes, Kaufer has proposed eliminating the property tax. A severance tax on gas drillers would serve to bring revenue to the region.<br />
<br />
A Republican, Kaufer is endorsed by former opponents of Democrat Phyllis Mundy: Tim Mullen (Libertarian '10), Bill Goldsworthy (R '10), and John Cordora (R '06). Sources close to the NuPo say he is drawing support from many former Mundy supporters as well. <br />
<br />
Kaufer hails from Kingston, and probably has the most support there. Some speculate that this is the reason Phyllis Mundy has recently allocated extra grant funds to that locality.<br />
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/POn0w-T9JjQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-68215176035752692422012-08-01T00:10:00.001-04:002012-09-01T21:55:27.265-04:00'Hollywood Berater' Reviews Dark Knight Rises"Too much in one film" might adequately sum up the plot of "Dark Knight Rises", which involves an apocalyptic scenario, a political coup, the dark knight rising, and a plethora of new characters, including a tougher, post millennial catwoman and a new police sergeant who looks up to batman despite in spite of what others say. Besides all the typical faults one finds in a modern action movie, "The Dark Knight Rises" has some redeeming qualities, yet is not the masterpiece people say it is.<br />
<br />
<b>Good News First</b><br />
The film addresses some loose ends left by the Dark Knight, the previous film, the primary one being the lionizing of Harvey Dent and vilification of the batman.<br />
<br />
It also represents a major shift from previous films. Non-superhero characters play a much larger role, which is actually refreshing. Superheroes and villains from most modern films seem as though they are the only forces that can steer the plot, as if they are omnipotent, and this gets old. But regular people have sort of a complementary role this film. <br />
<br />
However, the superheroes retain their absurdly elevated Kung Fu powers and infinitely superior intellects from previous Christian Bale batman films. Bane and the bad guys seem to be a little too overwhelming, and makes the viewer feel helpless. <br />
<br />
But the film portrays to a greater extent the human side of the batman and is perhaps more focused on Bruce Wayne. <br />
<br />
<b>Catwoman</b><br />
The same could not be said of the catwoman; as we don't get to see much of her human side. She plays much more of a minor role than Michelle Pfeiffer's catwoman of Batman Returns. She also lacks that "<a href="http://thinkexist.com/quotation/she_lacks_the_indefinable_charm_of_weakness/328189.html">indefinable charm of weakness</a>" that Pfeiffer's character had, and we don't get to know much about what makes her tick--or hiss. Anyway, one of the redundant action scenes could have been cut to make more room for her. <br />
<br />
Speaking of the ceaseless action, the suspense was too prolonged, and the audience could have used a few more opportunities to catch their breath via comic relief or breaks in the action.<br />
<br />
<b>Why so Serious?</b><br />
It is interesting how Batman went from being a POW-BAM comedy of the sixties, to an artful Tim Burton film of the early '90s, to being a collection of brooding super-ninjas of the post millennial period. <blockquote>Interestingly enough, a bat just whizzed by my head as I finished the prior sentence. We've had problems with bats in the attic here at NuPo headquarters, so today the exterminators came and implemented a contraption that makes a high-pitched sound that bats can't stand. Being roused by the sound, three bats came out of nowhere and were bounding about the air. Just like batman, they were drawn to darkness, seemed to pop out of nowhere, and performed aerial dive bomb attacks (at your writer).</blockquote>These bat-like behaviors must have been the inspiration for the combat manoeuvers of Christian Bale's batman. I wonder how the next generation's batman will fight?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.windows7themes.net/wallpaper_large/batman-the-dark-knight-rises-wallpaper-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://cdn.windows7themes.net/wallpaper_large/batman-the-dark-knight-rises-wallpaper-3.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Regardless, the NuPo movie critics tire of super-serious super hero movies. The whole point of superheroes is that they're supposed to be theatrical, since we all know full well that superheroes aren't real. In a theatrical atmosphere, we can suspend our usual scrutiny and live in their fantasy world. But the modern batman series tried too hard to be realistic, and as stated before, left a bad taste of superheroes who were not human enough.<br />
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Speaking of 'why so serious?', the villain Bane is far less flamboyant or charismatic as was the Joker. We probably won't see anybody imitating Bane or dressing up like him. Bane resembles a hideous real-life action figure of a pro-wrestler and speaks with an irritating voice.<br />
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<b>Political Implications (or lack thereof)</b><br />
Rumor had it that the film had a politically conservative message. The movie mentions that the laws of Gotham had significantly reduced crime because they had "teeth" in them, which bespeaks of the modern "conservative" trend of taking away freedoms in order to further alleged security. Aside from that, no real political bias could be found. The villains were not similar to the Occupy crowd for many reasons, the foremost of which was that some of them were corrupt rich people, the very sorts Occupy opposes. Moreover, there were good cops who showed bravery, and cowardly cops too; Good rich people and bad ones, etc. No political agenda was evident.<br />
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<b>Rated PG 13?</b><br />
The movie should have had an R rating because of its excessive action and suspense which literally causes a pounding heart. There are some dark, disturbing concepts in the film, and a sort of concise, morose opining that the characters do which rubs off on the viewer in a weird psychological way. This film is definitely not recommended for anyone under 18, perhaps even under 21. Those with sensitive hearing may want to wear earplugs, especially when Bane speaks.<br />
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<b>Conclusion</b><br />
If you liked Christian Bale's previous Batman movies, you'll likely find this one fulfilling. Wait for it to come out on video, since it's a little much for a movie theater visit.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-7267672979701905832012-06-16T21:11:00.004-04:002012-09-01T21:55:27.268-04:00Rand Paul's Endorsement of Romney was a Tactical ErrorMany contend that Rand Paul's Endorsement of Romney was bad because it went against the principles of liberty. Given Romney's record and platform, this seems true.<br />
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<b>But Jack Hunter and others say that although the endorsement may have violated Rand's principles, it was a practical decision that will help Rand Paul in 2016. This is far from being the case. Rand Paul will not have a chance in 2016 as long as the media remains populated by its current cast of characters.</b><br />
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Rush Limbaugh is a de-facto hired gun of the Republican establishment. He attempts to appear like a grassroots conservative, but when it comes to endorsing candidates, he often chooses liberal Republicans over constitutionalists. Limbaugh endorsed Bob Dole over Pat Buchanan in 1996. He favored the neo-con husks over Ron Paul in 2008 and 2012. He used the carbon tax-supporting pseudo conservative Sarah Palin as a proxy to drum up support of the more obviously liberal John McCain. Even Christine O'Donnell, a so-called conservative favorite of Limbaugh, endorsed Romney in December of 2011 before any primaries took place. Although Limbaugh endorsed O'Donnell, he totally ignored constitutionalists Debra Medina, Peg Luksik, Sam Rohrer, and many others who ran against liberal Republicans in the primaries of 2010. And of course, Limbaugh admitted to carrying water for George W. Bush, who many consider a to be liberal.<br />
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Limbaugh stated this when the TSA assaulted Rand Paul:<br />
<blockquote>Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has been detained by the TSA at the Nashville airport. He set off the alarms and refused a pat-down, so they detained him. He sent his dad a note about it and it’s become a big story out there. Now, if this had been Ron Paul, you couldn’t really blame the TSA. You have to admit, Ron Paul almost sounds like an Islamic terrorist sometimes. ha-ha-ha Gotcha.</blockquote>This is the kind of treatment Rand can expect to receive from Limbaugh in 2016. In the quote above, Limbaugh doesn't place Rand in same category as his father Ron--"terrorist"; however, he achieves an important psychological objective. He associates Rand Paul with mockery. He trivializes discontentment with the TSA and trivializes Rand Paul. Limbaugh has been known to use the same joking technique to associate Obama with the DC Snowstorm and earthquakes. In other words, the listener will have a subconscious negative association created from Limbaugh's calculated jest. Every time they think of Rand, they'll remember the TSA joke.<br />
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The rest of conservative talk radio was also against Rand's father. Laura Ingraham's thing was to never mention him. Sean Hannity said Ron Paul was the only candidate he <b>couldn't</b> vote for. Mark Levin, who already disliked Ron Paul, became hysterically angry with him after getting in an argument with supporter Tom Woods over the constitutionality of the Libya war. Michael Savage appeared to like Ron Paul at first, even having him on his show, but eventually reverted to calling him an anti-semite.<br />
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FOX News anchormen Bret Baier, Carl Cameron, and Chris Wallace all disdain Ron Paul as borne out by how they ignore him when listing candidates, roll their eyes at him when he speaks, and ridicule him for running. Ron Paul supporter Andrew Napolitano lost his show with the FOX Business network in spite of its high ratings. Newscorp is the parent company of FOX News along with the Wall Street Journal, which had a very strong pro-Romney bias and participated in the black-out of Ron Paul.<br />
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The National Review has put Marco Rubio <a href="http://raymondpronk.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/maroc_rubio_national_review1.jpg?w=544">on its cover</a> and portrayed him as a conservative leader. Rubio is a firm supporter of the TSA and strong advocate for tyranny. The NR already has their man for 2016. (NR did put Ron Paul on its cover but only to <a href="http://c5.nrostatic.com/images/cover_overlay_110919.jpg">ridicule him</a>.) They will either ignore or ridicule Rand Paul. After all, the stark raving warmonger John Bolton writes for them.<br />
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Therefore, the most influential conservative media didn't favor Ron Paul and supported other candidates. <b>For the same reasons they opposed Ron, namely his support of peace, non-interventionism abroad, and ending the Fed and drug prohibition, they will also oppose Rand.</b> Even if Rand makes some political votes to appear like the tyranny-loving Rubio, the establishment would prefer to go with a solid supporter of tyranny in Rubio and not take a chance on Rand who may revert back to supporting freedom.<br />
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The so-called conservative media controls what the majority of conservative Republican primary voters think, because they control the information. Voters will seldom hear about Rand, and thus will suspect that he is obscure, unelectable, or "out there", much as they did with Ron. So even if Rand tries to win over Republican voters by endorsing Romney, Rush Limbaugh will nevertheless ignore Rand in 2016, and most of his listeners will only consider seriously the candidates Rush talks about, which will probably include Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio and <b>not</b> Rand.<br />
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Moderate Republicans will not want anything to do with someone like Rand to begin with, since their values lie elsewhere.<br />
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The primary thing Rand's endorsement has succeeded in doing is alienating would-be and former supporters who are anti-war, anti-Fed, and against the political establishment. This will probably not affect the liberty movement as a whole to a significant degree, but it will hurt Rand. Therefore, Jack Hunter, who has made some really good points in the past, is totally wrong that the endorsement of Romney will help Rand since Rand has alienated many who would have been his base...unless Hunter becomes more popular than Rush Limbaugh in media and can influence more conservatives to like Rand Paul. In that sense, we hope Hunter will do so and prove the thesis of this article wrong.<br />
________________<br />
Resources<br />
<i>Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment</i>, Jamieson & Capella, Oxford University Press, 2008<br />
A good book for those interested in techniques Limbaugh uses to manipulate his listeners. It actually proves that those who listened to him were influenced to believe George W. Bush was more conservative than people in the same demographic who didn't listen to him.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-57049806247086142952012-05-15T19:55:00.001-04:002012-09-01T21:55:27.252-04:00Letter to NuPo: Notes from Meeting about W-B City Parking AuthorityThis is a letter by Mark Robbins concerning the latest boondoggle by Wilkes-Barre City government. <br />
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<blockquote>1) Leighton met privately with some parking authority members prior to the meeting. When the issue of the Sunshine laws came up, Atty Murray Ufberg (Rosen Jenkins and Greenwald) provided a legal answer as to why it wasn't a violation.<br />
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2) Alan Wolstetter (Fox and Rothschild) showed up. Nobody knew if he was going to show or not. (J.J. Murphy's relative, Patrick Murphy, is an attorney at Fox and Rothschild.<br />
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3) Desman (Parking consultant firm) is supposed to give a valuation figure tomorrow (Wednesday). We will see if it is $20,000,000. My concern is consultants will often, in response for payment, tell you what you want to hear.<br />
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4) Wolstetter is still under the $10k cap imposed from the last meeting.<br />
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5) I questioned why, in the face of the report Josh Moyer wrote, they were still interested. I told them that once a deal was signed, the relationships between businesses and city parking will be altered forever. A private firm will not care to work with businesses. We are selling our city.<br />
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6) I asked to see the financials in regards to the $ 20,000,000 number. Apparently it was pulled out of a hat.<br />
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7) If there are no buyers, the city will have wasted $150,000 - $200,000 in money. That's a lot of money for a "no" answer. <br />
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8) Remember... 40 % of the fee ($8,000,000) will not go to revenue producing assets. It will go to retire debt. That is a brutal up front cost.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2251159023656505300.post-64257079935255174852012-05-03T16:58:00.001-04:002012-09-01T21:55:27.262-04:00Luzerne County Libraries Reject Ron Paul DVDA graduate from King's College reports that most libraries refused to put a DVD documentary about Ron Paul's first presidential campaign called <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/For-Liberty-Revolution-Watered-Withered/dp/B002QFJC7Y">For Liberty</a></i> into their collections.<br />
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<b>Accepted <i>For Liberty</i></b><br />
Wilkes University<br />
Osterhout Free Library<br />
Scranton Abington Memorial Library<br />
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<b>Rejected <i>For Liberty</i></b><br />
King's College<br />
University of Scranton<br />
Hoyt Library<br />
Back Mountain Library<br />
Hazleton Public Library<br />
Kirby Library (Mountain Top)<br />
Abington Community Library (Clarks Summit)<br />
Mahanoy City Public Library<br />
Shenandoah Public Library<br />
Lancaster Public Library (Duke St. location)<br />
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Below are his words:<br />
<blockquote>I gave a copy to public libraries in Hazleton, the Back Mountain, Mountain Top (Kirby), and Kingston (Hoyt). The only public library in Luzerne County to accept the DVD and put it into their collection was the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre. <br />
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I spoke with a librarian there who said that since I had donated to the other libraries so long ago (August 2011 or seven months ago) and since those libraries still hadn't put it out, they must have rejected it. When I called each of them up in December 2011 and asked why they hadn't displayed "For Liberty", they all said that the DVDs simply had not been processed yet. None of them would admit that the DVD I gave them was refused, which must have been the case.<br />
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<b>It is a sad state of affairs that people in charge at the Hoyt, Hazleton Public, Back Mountain, and Kirby libraries are so anti-democracy that they refuse to accept DVDs that feature a political candidate they presumably don't like</b>. Other libraries to reject it were King's College, Mahanoy City Public, University of Scranton, the Abington Community Library in Clarks Summit, the Lancaster Public Library on Duke St, and the Shenandoah Public Library.<br />
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In addition to the Osterhout, libraries to accept the Ron Paul DVD into their collections were Wilkes University and the Scranton Abington Memorial Library, and Wilkes even sent me a kind letter of thanks.</blockquote><br />
<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GR4WYqabTxU?version=3&feature=player_detailpage"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GR4WYqabTxU?version=3&feature=player_detailpage" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0