Smoke-Free Pennsylvania – Business As Usual

I can’t believe I wrote about this a little over a year ago, but this just showed up again on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and I thought it was so ironic that nothing had really changed in all that time that I thought I’d write abut it again.

It looks as though the decision on whether Pennsylvania will go smoke-free has been delayed yet again.  You can read about it here.  It’s business as usual when it comes to politics and Pennsylvania.

Nader for President?

He can’t be serious?  I’m still one of the folks that think his running in 2000 handed the election to the Republicans, so I’m sure they are hopeful he’ll run again.  Heck, I’ll even start the conspiracy theory and say the Republicans are probably putting him up to this since they’ll have a tough time beating Obama (sorry Hillary, I just don’t see how you can stop him now).  He ruined it for Gore so maybe he can do a repeat performance.

OK, seriously, why would he run?  He can’t possibly think people would vote for him?  What does he have to offer?  This offers nothing but confusion and disruption.  He cannot possibly win.  He should fire any handlers that are telling him anything different.

Disclaimer: remember, I know nothing about anything (but even I think this is a stupid idea)

Pennsylvania – Bad news, good news

Bad news if you are a non smoker in Allegheny County, as it was a short 15 hours of smoke-free living in restaurants and bars as the state appeals court decided the new smoking ban will not be enforced until it hears an appeals case on the subject. Oh, and they have no time table as to when they will hear the appeal.

Good news if you are a resident looking to attend a state school for higher education. Or maybe this is just more of the same as it looks like the Governor believes we can afford to offer free tuition, but the people that run PHEAA do not agree. It’s easy to see that we have two sides that rarely talk.

Just another example of business as usual in the world of Pennsylvania politics.

Does Iraq wants us there or not?

British troops are to start pulling out of Iraq soon and the move is welcomed by the Iraqi president.

I don’t get it.  The move is welcomed?  Really?  Haven’t we been told over and over that we will only stay in Iraq until they don’t want us there any longer?  Until they no longer need us?  If this is really a welcomed moved, let’s send everyone home and make sure Talabani feels nothing but love.

You can’t have it both ways.

The day after Election Day

Here we sit, the day after Election Day. The Democrats have won the House and the early word is they have just won the Senate as well. I guess we’ll know for sure on the 27th when everything is certified, but with elections so close you can’t blame either side if they want to recount the votes.

Do we really think things are going to change? I’ve always gone the path of researching the candidates and then voting for the best candidate, regardless of party. Will it make much difference with the Democrats in charge or will it just be more of the same but with higher taxes and a few more trees to look at? We’re still at war, the same issues facing our country yesterday exist today, and I’m willing to bet they’ll be there tomorrow.

Maybe this will bring the country together in the middle. Maybe this will knock some of the arrogance out of some of the Republicans I know. But, I doubt it. They bitched before Bush, puffed their chests out as they owned the House, Senate, and Presidency, screaming that “you’re either with us or against us!”, and will just go back to bitching about anything that happens from this point on. Everything will be the fault of the Democrats from today forward. But that’s just some of the ones I know. I’m sure the ones you know are much different, right? The Democrats aren’t much better. If they would have had any kind of platform to run on in the past they wouldn’t have been in the situation they were in. You may not like what the Republicans stand for but at least they stand for something.

But let’s not lose site of the real accomplishment that happened this week – Britney finally filed for divorce from Kevin. My favorite quote so far is K-Fed is now Fed-Ex. Nice.