Road Apples, #131

Voter ID...Pennsylvania's poorly conceived and politically motivated voter ID law will not be enforced for the November general election.  As I have said several times, this is a solution in search of a problem.  The law should be repealed and the issue studied.  Where there is a history voter fraud perhaps a photo Id should be required.  Note, however, the sequence:  "Problem Identified" then "Legislation enacted".  If you can't identify and quantify the problem, then don't pass a law to fix it.  Simple.

Tom "Frank Drebin" Corbett...can't be a happy guy now.  Even my uber-conservative brother thinks the guy is going a poor job of governing Pennsylvania.  One get's the distinct impression that the governor either...

...doesn't realize how his policies come across to the majority of Pennsylvania residents

or

...doesn't care how his policies come across to the majority of Pennsylvania residents

Either alternative is far from ideal.  Whether it's corporate welfare (Shell made nearly 6 billion dollars in profit this year...during the months of April to June alone...and they need a kickback from US????), playing pass the buck with education funding (lower state funding and the difference is simply made up by local taxes) or the politically motivated voter ID law, clearly this guy has some mixed up priorities.  If this were any other state I'd say that his chances of getting re-elected were slim to none, but then again this is Pennsylvania.  We must maintain our "8 years of a Republican followed by 8 years of a Democrat followed by 8 years of a Republican..." pattern, no matter what.

Debating the Debate...I'm not sure I'm going to watch tonight's "sound-byte fest", also known as the Presidential debates.  Most people don't understand that the commission that sets these debates is basically a conglomeration of both Republican and Democratic political hacks who carefully orchestrate an event that excludes BOTH alternative candidates (such as Gary Johnson) and deeper discussions about the issues that matter.  No, these debates are more a beauty contest than anything else, save for the occasional major gaff that could in fact turn an election.

Mold in Scranton Schools...Much as been reported about mold in one of Scranton's public elementary schools.  Conventional wisdom and basic science teaches us that mold is the result of prolonged exposure to moisture.  But this is only partially true on Scranton.  In my (current) city, mold has a third cause:  gross incompetence.  It's no secret that the Scranton School District (like many in the NEPA) has been run at least partially like an employment agency for the connected.  One needs only look at the Scranton School District's off-again, on-again, and off-again anti-nepotism policy for validation.  One other bellwether:  in a business that employs, say, 1,000 people, how many (or what percentage of the workforce) ends up getting terminated for poor performance?  Say about 2-3% per year?  Now let's ask the same question about the Scranton School District.  I'm thinking that, over the last 5 years, virtually no one in the district has been terminated for cause.  That must mean that everyone is doing an outstanding job, right?  I know a moldy school on Prescott avenue that seems to provide evidence to the contrary.

Bottom line:  The Scranton School District has been poorly managed (word "managed" used intentionally, as opposed to "leadership") for decades.  There will be no accountability for this latest moldy school, just as there was no accountability for the last moldy school.

Speaking of the Scranton School District...I was honored to stop by Tom Borthwick's "Borthday" party and campaign kick-off last Friday.  I'm not going to claim that Tom will the savior of the district, if elected, but I will say that he is genuinely passionate about education.  I can't say the same thing about most (if not all) of the current board directors.  The Scranton School District needs less of the politically connected crowd making decisions, period.

Cars...Thanks to the crew at Jack Williams Tire & Auto in Moosic for selling me some great new tires for the Kia Rio.  I had bought tires at a competitor about a year or so ago and they were already failing.  I was very happy with the experience.  In other car news, Ms Rivers and I will be looking at cars this coming Saturday.  An initial, serious shopping expedition, if you will.  I'm thinking either the Nissan dealership in Wilkes-Boro (I love driving Nissan's when I get them as rentals, and the Rogue is the about the size I am looking for) or the Suzuki dealership in Pittston.  Could I possibly stretch this whole process out any longer?