page 8 The Public Record • July 16, 2009 www.phillyrecord.com
Former STATE SEN. VINCE FUMO is having a great week. It appears letters from local machine Democrats have swayed US District JUDGE RONALD L. BUCKWALTER to reduce Fumo’s sentence from the Federal guideline of 2127 years down to less than five years. And what the heck? I mean, he was only found guilty of 137 counts of defrauding the State Senate, the South Philly charity Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods and the Independence Seaport Museum. He was also found guilty of trying to obstruct a Federal investigation into his tax cheating. GOV. ED RENDELL was laced with psychotherapy as he wrote, “I do believe, however, we are all complex people,” continuing, “This sometimes-ruthless politician had and still has a sense of social responsibility.” I guess that “sense of social responsibility” kicked in when he wasn’t stealing, lying and being “ruthless.” What a guy! Do you think if you or I defrauded taxpayers and lied about it we’d get the same leniency? Democrats should consult a dictionary the next time they want to use words like honest, forthright, ruthless and socially responsible. Those words can’t possibly mean what they think they mean. But then again, this is Philadelphia; corrupt and contented. Speaking of “honest and forthright” in a proper context we can all understand, City Controller candidate AL SCHMIDT had his campaign-office grand opening last Thursday at 507 S. 2nd Street, followed by a fundraiser sponsored by The Loyal Opposition at Paddywhacks. A fantastic turnout included WARD LEADERS SUZANNE HEANEY (2nd), MIKE CIBIK (5th), AUDRA BUTTS (16th), MATT WOLFE (27th), KEITH TODD (30th), (Cont. Page 9)
Because I’m a dedicated news geek who enjoys the whole “front-row seat for history” part of being a journalist, I’ve had the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as my soundtrack at the office this week. It’s been awhile since the last batch of Supreme Court confirmation hearings — the hearings for Justice Samuel Alito — and I was particularly interesting in knowing two things: (a) What kind of scrutiny will Judge Sotomayor face, particularly from the Republican minority, and (b) What role will her being the first Latina to be considered for the nation’s highest court play in such scrutiny? The answers: (a) As much scrutiny as a minority party that seems intent on alienating anyone who doesn’t think the 2nd Amendment is the most important part of the Constitution can give, and (b) Race appears to be playing too much of a role, at least to me. I’m glad people are asking Judge Sotomayor questions about her judicial decisions, her temperament, and whether or not she believes in established precedents on such things as abortion rights, gun laws and other important issues. But when you spend more than 30 seconds trying to make this woman apologize for saying her experiences as a “wise Latina” make her better equipped to make some decisions than a white man (something Republicans didn’t seem to mind when Justice Alito brought up the part his experiences have played in his judicial decisions during his hearings) or whether or not a Judge has played nice with her 2nd Circuit colleagues (thank you, Lindsey Graham), you’re wasting time. And you’re also not talking about the issues we really need (Cont. Page 20)
Yo! Here we go again with this interesting tid bit that was sent to me by my friend George L. It concerns a sticky subject – Scotch Tape. Scotch Tape was invented in 1930 by a 3M Co. engineer Richard Drew. When cellophane food packaging was being used more and more, Scotch Tape was developed to insure a moisture-proof sealant. Other tapes at that time required water to activate the sealant on the tape. It was not possible to use this type of tape on cellophane. First-year sale of this tape totaled about $33. Today over 90% of us use transparent tape. One conception of how much tape sold in the United States is to think of wrapping it around the earth about 165 times. Most of it is sold to be used to wrap gifts. As you might guess, about one half of its sales are between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was first called cellulose tape and was made with adhesive in the edges. This was quite sufficient for sealing food packages but not enough to tape other things, as it often fell off. Someone wrote to the company stating the ‘scotch’ boss ought to put more adhesive on the tape and not only on the edges. The 3M Company agreed. They redesigned the tape and renamed it Scotch Tape. The name ‘Scotch’ stuck. The new tape was a great improvement over the old. During the great depression Scotch Tape helped folks to make do by scrapping and conserving. Because Scotch Tape was so popular, the 3M Company actually hired workers during the Depression and did not have any layoffs. During World War II the 3M Co. produced over 100 different types of tape for the government. Scotch Tape production for the civilian market was cut back but not stopped. Their customers were demanding Scotch Tape. After the war, 3M opened a plant in Minnesota and that plant is still in operation. There it produces millions of roles of Scotch Tape in many varieties. I’ll bet almost every home and office in America. There are so many ways to use it that its use is only limited by our imagination. And so, over 75 years later, an idea that at first was not very profitable has held the world together in more ways than just being an indispensable item. Where would we be without it?
A recent poll conducted among the 300 million people who reside in the United States determined there were a total of 146 people who felt that the Obama stimulus plan was not working. Coincidentally, they all happened to be employed by the Federal Government as Members of Congress and, as a further coincidence, Republican Members of Congress to boot. In summary, the only people who are against the plan are the Republicans inside the Beltway. Congress authorized the spending of $787 billion and at this stage only “6.8% of the money has been spent.” These are the words of Republican Sen. John Kyl from Arizona. To rephrase the mathematics, 1% of $787 billion would be $7.87 billion, so, with less than 1% of the stimulating money spent, that is enough for the Republicans to declare the program a failure. Of course there is no need for logic in politics. When George W. Bush was President, the Republicans were falling over themselves to authorize the spending of large sums of public money to bail out the banks. Three months later, they are against any kind of public spending of this nature. By contrast, billionaire Warren Buffett is calling for a second round of spending to stabilize the economy. Buffett, you will recall, has been a phenomenally successful investor. The action of the Republican leadership reminds one of the old jokes that they tell about Brooklyn Dodgers diehard fans who were seated in back of home plate on opening day at Ebbets Field. The Dodger pitcher threw his first pitch and it was a called “ball.” The one fan turned to the other fan and said, “another lousy team.” (Cont. Page 9)
Snooper’s MAN OF THE MONTH: What a pleasure it was to meet and greet this wellknown “ICON OF BUCKS COUNTY”. He’s known as “Big Bear”, former Pro Wrestler, 6 ft. 11 in. and weighing over 270 lb. This gentleman is well respected and does so much for many charities. This pick is easy an easy one– HON. PAUL SCHWANGER. Recently he held a Special CASINO NIGHT to raise monies for THE SHRINER’s CHARITIES, and I can tell you, ‘The Bear’ came through with ‘flying colors’. Yes, it was a night of Entertainment and Casino games, and also a few surprises thrown in. This gentleman is available for any of you who may need help in raising monies; believe me, “BIG BEAR” will do it. Please call him at (215) 659-6706, tell him his friend The Snooper asked you. MR PAUL SCHWANGER has asked me to tell you he’s always available for you. Snooper’s F.Y.I. Bureau: I was told you can’t discuss or, for that matter, mention anything NEGATIVE about MICHAEL JACKSON. Excuse me, but if my memory serves me right, didn’t they flaunt all the negatives about ELVIS PRESLEY, including his DRUG PROBLEMS? Hey, King of Pop was also a true “DRUGGIE” and I’ll admit none of it should have EVER happened to either one. The tragedy of both of these MUSICAL ICONS was they had so much more to give, and WE were all deprived of their amazing talents. Mr. Jackson’s problems will be with us forever, and The Media will not let us forget it. A DARN SHAME! Snooper’s TV Communications Files: We all now use the recent “mandated” DIGITAL TV. I first was absolutely against it. After all, there was nothing wrong with my ANALOG TV. I must admit, now that I have it, I’m beginning to enjoy it. Did you know just about every one of your local TV stations have three outlets? Example: TV-6 has TV6-1, TV6-2, and TV6-3, and you’ll find each one different unto itself. One of my favorites is 35-1 (Mind), 35-2 (The Arts), and also 35-3 (News Info). Yo Chief, they just had HON. BRAD MOSS, a Municipal Court Judge, on TV 35-1. Check out this station, you’ll love it! MIND TV is really for all of you to participate in and get involved. GREAT TV! Snooper’s SPECIAL EVENT: This is one we get to do every year and let me tell all of you, it’s one I really enjoy doing. Yes, it’s “THE GREG HENNIGAR MEMORIAL FOOTBALL TOURNMENT”. Whew, how time does fly? It seems we did this one only yesterday. Greg was the wonderful son of DOUG HENNIGAR, who happens to work for JUDGE BRAD (Cont. Page 9)