page 10 The Public Record • February 19, 2009 www.phillyrecord.com
Well fellow Trunksters, it’s official: The liberal “spendulus” bill was signed this week and Wall Street has responded with a resounding thud. A 300-point drop on the Dow to add to the 2000-point drop since PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA was elected. Do you think the media would be screaming about such a horrible performance if SEN. JOHN McCAIN had been elected? You all know the answer to that question, but nary a word from the mainstream press. Why? Because they sold you on this guy and now they are fully invested; journalism – shmernalism! One other fact: more Democrats in Congress voted against this “porkulous” scam than Republicans voted for it. And who voted for it, you ask? None other than our own SEN. ARLEN SPECTER. Locally, it looks like we have a DA candidate, despite some sage advice from this cellulite-ridden rock star. Former Democratic Sheriff candidate MIKE UNTERMEYER has thrown his hat in the ring and from all accounts is a good guy who is willing to put forth a strong effort. This puts our Controller candidate AL SCHMIDT in a tough spot. Traditionally, the Controller spot plays second fiddle to the DA candidate, who would steal precious time, money and resources from or man Al. Toss on top of this the fact Philadelphia Forward Executive Director BRETT MANDEL has decided to run against incumbent “yes man” ALAN BUTKOVITZ on the Donkey side of the house, and Schmidt finds himself in a much different position from just a few weeks ago. Not for nuttin’, but this two-ton terminator is throwing all his peanuts behind “Honest Al.” Is City Committee going to “rubber-stamp” Mr. U just to fill a slot like always? Nothing personal, but Mr. Untermeyer has to prove his conservative bona fides ASAP and show he’s not (Cont. Page 23)
Last Friday night, the City of Philadelphia lost another Police Officer, the fifth one killed since 2006. John Pawlowski was killed while trying to stop a gypsycab robbery in Logan. The dude that shot him, Rasheed Scruggs, is in Albert Einstein Medical Center with gunshot wounds. You see, he may have killed a cop, but he ended up with some lead in his own behind. Pawlowski was a five-year veteran, had asked to be transferred to the 35th Police Dist. (the late Officer Chuck Cassidy was also based there) and was about to become a father for the first time when he died. He had on a bulletproof vest, but the bullet Scruggs hit him with managed to nip a space just outside of the vest. When Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey talked to reporters on Saturday, he said of Scruggs, “These guys should not be among us, period. Lock ‘em up, throw away the key, build another prison, don’t let ‘em out. There are some people who are just not salvageable. Period. And he’s one of them.” But he didn’t stop there. When asked how many times Scruggs had been hit by bullets during his altercation with the police, Ramsey said, “He wasn’t hit enough. That’s the only thing that matters.” Now I understand he was speaking out of anger when he said that. If I were Charles Ramsey, I’d be more than a little angry too. Twenty-five years old is entirely too young to be dead. It’s especially too young for someone who is serving his city to be gunned down. However, when you go around saying that a suspect “wasn’t hit enough” when it comes to his being shot, you con(Cont. Page 23)
Yo! Here we go again with things you learn about when you live in Georgia. 1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road. 2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,997 of them live in Georgia. 3. There are 10,000 types of spiders; all 10,000 of them live in Georgia, plus a couple no one’s seen before. 4. If it grows, it’ll stick ya. If it crawls, it’ll bite cha. 5. “Onced” and “Twiced” are words. 6. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy! 7. “Jawl-P?” means “Did y’all go to the bathroom?” 8. People actually grow and eat okra. 9. “Fixinto” is one word. 10. There is no such thing as “lunch”. There is only dinner and then there is supper. 11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you’re two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. 12. “Backwards and forwards” means, “I know everything about you.” 13. The word “jeet” is actually a phrase meaning “Did you eat?” 14. You don’t have to wear a watch, because it doesn’t matter what time it is, you work until you’re done or it’s too dark to see. 15. You don’t push buttons, you mash em. 16. “No. Jew?” is a common response to the question, “Did you bring any beer?” 17. You measure distance in minutes. 18. You switch from heat to A/C in the same day. 19. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal. 20. You know what a “dawg“ is. 21. You carry jumper cables in your car – for your own car. 22. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, barbecue sauce, Tabasco and ketchup. 23. The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require six pages for local high-school sports, motor sports, and gossip. 24. You think the first day of deer season is a national holiday. 25. You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit “a bit warm”. 26. You know all four seasons: almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas. 27. Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime known as “goin‘ Wal-Martin’“ or “off to Wally World.” 28. You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good chicken-stew weather. 29. Fried catfish is the other white meat. 30. We don’t need no dang driver’s education. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive, dagnabbit. Now you may not believe these sayings are genuine Georgia sayings. They are valid – I’ve been there.
Snooper Scooper: Hats off to those professionals of The 1st Judicial District’s WARRANT UNIT. Let me warn all you ‘deadbeats’ who owe enormous sums of monies on ALL your traffic tickets: They’re coming to get you. YES, I can tell ALL OF YOU these ‘pros’ don’t play, because they do mean business. I can tell all of you TRAFFIC DEADBEATS you will PAY, one way or another! What is really scary is these Warrant Officers can come any time, any day, and they may be at your front door right now. I suggest you let them in, because you’ll soon find out “THEY DON’T SELL WOLF TICKETS”. Call TRAFFIC COURT! Snooper’s Sports Extra: Here we go again with baseball and its STEROID PROBLEMS. Yes, now we have ALEX THE FRAUD, aka Alex Rodriguez of The New York Yankees. I can’t believe these players are so stupid as to ruin their oncegreat careers. Never mind a possible HALL OF FAME induction. Forget about it Alex, it will never happen. SHAME. Snooper Sighting: The gentleman we all saw recently on FOX NEWS, regarding a criminal who was shot and killed, was MR. PETER DACKO, a former Court Crier for the Municipal Court. He is now officially RETIRED, and he was quite upset, especially since it happened in his neighborhood. He stated, “This just doesn’t happen here where I live”. IT DID! Hey Pete, it’s happening everywhere. We live in bad times. Snooper’s UPDATE: Well, apparently The Mayor’s budget problems are for real. This City is in deep trouble, and we must all ‘pitch in’ and do whatever it takes to ‘bail’ us out. The Mayor has already stated, “There will be NO FEDERAL BAILOUT for Philadelphia.” He also stated, “There (Cont. Page 23)
NICHOLAS STAMPONE, a legend in Democratic Party politics, a former ward leader, State Senator and Sergeant at Arms of City Council, has passed on at age 82 after a long illness. He distinguished himself as the leader of the 41st Ward. Among his many accomplishments was accumulating a collection of political memorabilia, buttons, which is reputed to be one of the finest in the Commonwealth. His recreation room is covered with buttons from political campaigns of bygone years to the present. He is survived by his wife of many years DELORES, his daughter KATHY and his son-in-law TONY RADWANSKI, who is a former chief of staff in the City’s Controllers Office under JONATHAN SAIDEL. Tony has a fine singing voice in the style of Frank Sinatra. He and his father-in-law, who was a gifted harmonica player, performed at many ward affairs and in neighborhood bars. He was succeeded as ward leader by his good friend MIKE McGEEHAN, who is a State Representative. His wake at the Galzerano Funeral Home, next to the rectory of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was extremely well attended. The crowd extended outside the parlor and around the building. Among those in attendance were the Chairman of the Party BOB BRADY; STATE SEN. MIKE STACK; Supreme Court JUSTICE SEAMUS McCAFFERY; COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA VERNA; COUNCILWOMAN JOAN KRAJEWSKI; and Municipal Court JUDGE FAY STACK and her husband MIKE. Common Pleas Court JUDGE EUGENE MAIER and his charming wife LANA celebrated President’s Day with a buffet dinner at their townhouse in the Fairmount part of Philadelphia. It was a night of laughter and good conversation. Among those in attendance were AL DRAGON and his wife BARBARA; JERRY SCHANIE and his wife BETTY; Senior Common Pleas JUDGE RICARDO JACKSON; and well-known Philadelphia printer GENE JACOBS and his wife PHYLLIS. This week marks the start of the first week for circulating nominating petitions for the various court vacancies, including the District Attorney’s office. Among those running for the office of district attorney are SETH WILLIAMS, DAN McCAFFERY, MICHAEL TURNER, DAN McELHATTON and BRIAN GRADY. There is just, roughly speaking, one week left in February and three weeks to go in March. Soon the first day of spring will be upon us; nevertheless, be careful outdoors for black ice.