10 REASONS WHY YOU WOULD BE A GREAT SCHOOL DIRECTOR

Executive Session?

I have known many people who have served on various local school boards.  Most were concerned, hard-working citizens who displayed maturity, intregity, honesty and a willingness to work hard for the good of the community.  I’ve also known a few who were arrogant, self-serving jackasses, whose only concern was to get jobs for their friends and family members and living it up on the taxpayers dime.  So I got to thinking about what makes a really great board member?  What qualities should you possess if you want to serve in this important, unpaid position?  Here are a few of my thoughts (in no particular order),  on why you should run.

(10)  You’ve paid all your taxes

(9)   You haven’t stolen from any utility companies

(8)   Neither you or any family members have been shot, especially down there

(7)   You haven’t done any illegal hunting

(6)   You don’t abuse your spouse or fight residents after meetings

(5)   You haven’t been intoxicated and/or obnoxious in public

(4)   You’ve never operated an asinine, ignorant, poorly written blog

(3)   You never took money that wasn’t yours

(2)   You managed to get a college degree, are articulate, level headed and intelligent

(1)   You’d never miss 90% of the meetings

 

PENGUINS PROVIDE ANOTHER PLAYOFF CHOKE

Hockey fans in the area have to be disappointed once again by the performance of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.  For the fourth year in a row the Pens have underachieved and will spend the finals watching once again.  Despite bulking up the roster at the trade deadline, the Pens had another unfortunate, yet all to common, flame out.  It is not so much the fact that they keep getting knocked out by lesser seeded teams but, it’s how they have been getting eliminated.  Coming into these playoffs it was hard to imagine the team losing in worse fashion than they did to the Flyers last year.  Unbelievably, they did find a way that was in many ways, worse as they got bounced by the Boston Bruins, scoring only two goals in four games and NEVER as much as having a lead in any of the games for even one second. 

As the shock of another ugly performance wears in for the fans the team has responded by extending the contract of Head Coach Dan Bylsma and his staff.  General Manager Ray Shero also indicated he planned to keep beleaguered goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury as the teams top goalie for next season. 
Time will tell if this approach will work but, one thing for sure the patience of the fans is wearing very thin and the Pens better get it done next season or heads will roll for certain. 

 

RIP OFF PART 2–DAIRY QUEEN

WHERE DID MY PORTION GO?

Stopped over at the  NH DQ the other day.  It was the first time in a long time I’ve been there.  Generally, I don’t care for soft serve ice cream and it you think about it the only things they serve that are good are Blizzards and the like, which rely on adding a whole bunch of other things such as; cookies, cookie dough, fudge or chocolate bits etc., instead of relying on the taste of the ice cream itself.  It seems most of their efforts go in to masking the taste of their soft serve, mainly because by itself, it is not that tasty.  So if you want something that tastes good you have to get something else dumped into it or else you are left wanting.  The other thing that was very disappointing was the price and the awful portions they gave.  I ordered a hot fudge sundae with the works.  I handed over the $4.00 plus and what I left with was a disgraceful mess consisting of two little blobs of vanilla soft serve covered with a couple of spoonfuls of hot fudge and about six nuts, with a little squirt of whipped cream right on the top of the blob of ice cream and about three-fourths of a cherry. 

I could not believe my eyes when I got it home and opened the container.  I think if had wanted to I could have eaten it all at one time.  I remember when you went to Dairy Queen and left with a full container of ice cream and all the fixings.  Tasteless ice cream, small portions, I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon.

 

RIP OFF PT. 1–GIANT EAGLE DROPPING PRICES: YEAH RIGHT!

LOWER PRICES? I DON’T THINK SO

Now we are hearing all these ads about how Giant Eagle is lowering thousands of prices.  After shopping there the other day I’d like to know what prices have been lowered.  The commercial says it’s all  your favorite items like pudding.  I don’t know about you but I’m not usually out shopping because I need pudding.  I’m getting the feeling that this whole campaign is a joke.  The items I buy, fruit, milk, bread, eggs etc. appear to be going up, NOT down.  At the present rate of increase apples will be well over $2.00 a pound very soon and then comes $3.00.  Then what, one apple for $5.00?  It seems to me that these Giant Eagle Ads are about as believable as the political ads we get dumped on us every election. 

 

FREEPORT ROAD DRIVERS

Freeport Road

Though the vast majority of drivers that drive though Harrison Township on Freeport Road, do so safely, there are also plenty of speeders, drunks and careless drivers as well.  Those of us not addicted to booze or drugs have to be extra cautious when traveling that road, especially if you are entering Freeport Road from Broadview Blvd., which runs parallel to the main road.  There were something like 18 accidents in the Township in May and many occur right on Freeport Road. 

A big part of the problem are the idiots who speed for no good reason other than they are idiots and don’t have the intelligence to consider the possibility of their causing an accident.  Another big part of the problem are the number of people driving in our area,  who are on something like alcohol or drugs.  If you read in the Valley News Dispatch on occasion they publish the results of the State Police Check Points on the Allegheny Valley Expressway and it is scary how many DUI’s are caught in those traps.  If you consider that they may catch a dozen or two in a few hours, imagine how many are going along our streets on a full day.

I know the Harrison Township Police are patrolling more and setting up some speed traps of their own but, it needs to be done even more.  It is nearly impossible to make the drive from the Brackenridge line to the Walmart without seeing something going on or someone that needs pulled over. 

In my view, with a little common sense and consideration Freeport Road could be a quiet, peaceful and safe road.  There should rarely, if ever, be a catastrophic or fatal accident on this road.  The speed limits are well marked, there are plenty of traffic lights and stop signs, and with a continued police presence, no one should be dying there. 

 

 

THE OVERLY RELIGIOUS vs THE UNDERLY RELIGIOUS

The back and forth arguing on the editorial page of the Valley News regarding religion, the bible and what it means if becoming quite annoying.  Back and forth it goes between the religious zealots and the non-believers.  Each side trying to convince the other of what scripture means, who to pray to and why the other is going to burn in hell.  It is annoying mainly because no wrong or right can ever be proven.  It is an argument that can not be won.  The super religious will always believe they have God on their side and therefore are correct by default.  The non-believers, can not by there own beliefs and behavior, ever take the zealots seriously, since they don’t believe in the first place.

It’s just another battle of extremists on both sides, none of whom will ever be drawn in to a middle ground.The rest of us, in the vast majority, who believe religion has it’s place but, do not make it the overriding focus of our lives are left to read the drivel of both sides in the never ending arguments of religion, and the existence of a mystical figure called “God” as well as the accuracy or interpretations of the bible.  Please show us some mercy and let it go already. 

 

MOST ARROGANT AND CRIMINAL ADMINISTRATION EVER ?

Arrogance Personified

The bottom appears to be falling out of the Obama Administration.  The ongoing spate of scandals rocking the administration continues to grow.  What began with a blatant coverup of the attack on our embassy in Libya has now grown to include a scandal involving the IRS targeting of conservative groups and their efforts to gain tax exempt status to the bugging of the phones at the Associated Press Offices.   This administration has created an environment of bullying, intimidation and a disregard for the Constitution unheard of in American History.    A great deal of this is due to the arrogance and vanity of Barack Obama and his belief that he is above reproach, as well as, above the law.

His administration lied and withheld information regarding the attack at Benghazi and still continues doing so today.  He oversees an IRS that is going after American citizens who happen to be conservative   His leadership has has led us to an attitude of arrogance never before seen in this country.  Now word has come down that his administration is attacking American citizen’s with Drones.  Trouble with Obama and his followers is that they see nothing wrong with these behaviors and continue to ignore the rule of law.