So after the record heat of last weekend I put in my air conditioner…well, the weathermen on the news channel said that it was going to be another week of blistering heat with no relief in sight until this coming weekend. First it WAS going to rain and then it WASN’T going to rain..thus the heat wave would continue. So..what happens…it RAINED..and the wind came and cooled things down to where it was a nice sunny day. So here I am with an air conditioner stuck in a window which I can’t open to let in the cool breeze..and this all on the say so of the TV weathermen…..I think they should all get real jobs.
Obviously these should be in July and August but last week almost broke the heat record for Philadelphia ! It got up to 88 degrees here in the City of Brotherly Love. The record for the same days is 90 in 1929. I almost put my air conditioner in. Now its back down to the nice, crisp 60’s..which is what I prefer, and what it should be for the month of April.
The grass cutting service showed up to cut my lawn for the first time this year. It looks beautiful..neat and as green as can be. Makes me feel like taking off my shoes and walking around on it. Ahhh the joys of Spring.
On Tuesday, Commissioner Ramsey expressed his frustration over “flash mob” incidents blamed for a number of violent attacks. At least four people were assaulted, including an officer, during the latest flash mob incident on South Street Saturday. Surveillance cameras in the area show hundreds packing the street.
A pizza worker said he was punched and kicked dozens of times while attempting to retain the overwhelming crowd.
“I’m not in the social work business here, we’re police officers, we are gonna lock ‘em up. They can go crying to their mother and father a little later on,” said Ramsey.
The police commissioner even lashed out at parents of teens involved in the melee.
“You had them, you raise them, you take care of them. When they come to me, I got something else for them,” Ramsey said
Should parents be held accountable for the actions of their kids who participate in these flash mobs? I think the kids might behave a bit better if they knew their actions would cause them grief at home. What do you think?
This is another of those nasty street games that kids have come up with to amuse themselves. Its called “Catch and Wreck,” . In the game, a group of children congregate to beat, strike and stomp adults they believe may be homeless. In the two recent attacks at Finnegan Playground at 69th Street and Grovers Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia neither victim was homeless.
Police learned about the “catch and wreck” game when they brought a large group of neighborhood youths to Southwest Detectives for questioning Friday night after Moore was assaulted. “They were all saying the same thing, laughing at us, like we didn’t know what it meant,” Walker said. “They said, ‘It’s something stupid we do for fun.’” Police, he said, believe it’s a new phenomenon.
This is just another example of parents not knowing what their kids are doing..or maybe they don’t care what they are doing. This isn’t throwing snowballs at cars..this is serious stuff. This is the kind of thing that happened when Jon Venables and Robert Thompson abducted a two year old boy in England and beat him to death with bricks and iron bars before laying him on the railway track where he was cut in half. When questioned the boys..who were 10 years old and the youngest to be charged with murder …said ” We had nowt ( nothing) better to do”.
When kids think this sort of thing is “fun” you have to wonder about their home life. Don’t tell me that its not the parents fault..don’t tell me its societys fault..these kids haven’t been taught the basic values. How can beating someone sensless be ” fun”. How do they even come up with hurting people because they have nothing better to do?
Several Philadelphia City Council members expressed concern about how the soda tax would be collected and whether it would simply be spread around to everything consumers buy.
“Can the revenue department collect this tax?” Councilman Jack Kelly asked city budget director Stephen Agostini. “We can’t dictate to people how and what they’re going to buy and how they’re going to buy it.”
Kelly raised the point of fast food restaurants, which frequently offer self-service soda fountains. How could they charge different prices for regular soda and diet soda?
Nutter Administration officials have repeatedly said that taxing soda would not only raise needed revenue, it would help fight childhood obesity.
“Why target one particular industry?” asked Councilman Bill Greenlee. Although not in favor of it, he mentioned taxing Tastykakes or Cheesesteaks, since they also are not healthy.
Other council members expressed frustration that the mayor has not trimmed the size of city government enough.
“There’s just no cuts,” said Councilman Bill Green about the mayor’s budget proposal. He said the Nutter Administration still has not detailed what cuts would be needed if taxes are not raised.
http://cbs3.com/local/soda.tax.philadelphia.2.1568225.html
A real brew-haha has beer lovers in the City of Brotherly love frothing over with anger.
To one side, the suds uproar is borne out of typographical errors, hard-to-spell beer names and archaic, Prohibition-era liquor laws. To the other, it’s a simple matter of making sure bars and beer manufacturers aren’t scamming the system.
It all came to a head after an anonymous complaint that a Philadelphia bar was selling beer that had not been properly licensed with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, an agency created after Prohibition in 1933 to regulate the sale of alcohol.
That tip led to raids last week at three upscale bars, where police confiscated three quarter-kegs and 317 bottles of beer that were not believed to have been properly registered with the state. Raids at Memphis Taproom in Philadelphia’s Kensington section, Local 44 in west Philadelphia and Resurrection Ale House downtown caught the couple who run them by surprise.
“I feel like there are a lot of typographical errors that caused this,” said Leigh Maida, who received calls from staff around midday March 4. “The laws were really developed before there were so many kinds of beers.”
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100312/D9ED1S3G0.html
When did St Patricks Day turn into ” Drunk Week” in Northeast Philly? Every St Paddys Day..the weekend before actually..all hell breaks loose on Frankford Avenue and the surrounding area. Why? Because the weekend before St Patricks Day people are allowed to roam the streets with open cups and bottles of beer, harassing passersby, climbing lamp posts, cursing, making lewed gestures and generally making a drunken nuisance of themselves.
Yes, I know the bars love it, they get to sell a lot of booze. They even run buses..The Shamrock Express up and down Frankford between bars so that people getting absolutely blotto on booze have transportation between bars. You may think this is fun, but to those of us who have to shop on Frankford or who just want to go for a walk in our own neighborhood its bloody hell. When did St Paddys Day become Drunk Week and who sanctioned the open beer cups ? There were four police cars sitting at Cottman and Frankford all yesterday. Wouldn’t these police officers be better employed chasing criminals instead of having to baby sit a bunch of drunken louts? It just makes me sick.
Well..some idiot says that January was the warmest on record. I don’t know what planet he’s on but it isn’t this one. More snow fell last night in Philadelphia. Gale force winds blew over everything in their path..including my garbage cans. I have no idea where the lids are today. Garbage can lids are like socks, you always end up with one missing. I still haven’t figured out socks yet so missing garbage can lids will take a bit more time.
Anyway, snow isn’t as bad as last time, cars aren’t really snowed in and if you are lucky enough to have been on the side of the street that gets all the sun there won’t be a lot to shovel. Just as well cuz I’m all shovelled out.
Brian Westbrook was released Tuesday by the Philadelphia Eagles, ending an often-dynamic eight-year run that was marred by various injuries.
A former All-Pro, the 5-foot-10 Westbrook led the league in yards from scrimmage in 2007 with 2,104. He rushed for 1,333 yards and accounted for 12 touchdowns that season.
But he spent much of last season on the sidelines, missing eight games with a pair of concussions and an ankle injury. Westbrook had only two touchdowns in 2009.
He was due $7.25 million next season.
Eagles coach Andy Reid said he called Westbrook with the news Tuesday morning. Reid said Westbrook should still have an opportunity to play for another team.
“Brian is one of the greatest Eagles of all time and he is an even a better person and leader,” Reid said. “In my mind, there has not been a more versatile running back that the NFL has seen.”
Reid said he thinks Westbrook still wants to play.
LeSean McCoy, who rushed for 637 yards with four touchdowns in 16 games as a rookie, will become Philadelphia’s No. 1 running back.
Found a great new place to eat in Northeast Philly. “Super Star Pizza” located at 7340 Frankford Avenue, Philia 19136.
They do great pizzas, strombolis, seafood platters, burgers, buffalo wings and a host of other delicious eats. Try their chicken fingers or maybe a hoagie or a grinder They have daily specials, lunch specials, and family specials. All day pickup and delivery. Free lunch delivery for schools and business. Their motto….The best in town. You ring-we bring?
Call at 215-333-0335, or 215-333-0337, or 215-333-0339. Tell them Mel from thephillydog website sent ya.