PureBunkum

Someday Your Prince Will Come

It’s here! announced Boscov’s.  And not a moment too soon, we might add.

The new fragrance by Justin Bieber.  It’s called, “Someday,”  the new scent  “for Her That Gives Back.”

And for $45 for a 1.7-oz. Eau de Parfum spray bottle, you can give back to the teen idol a hefty commission for allowing some perfume company out there to use his name.  Are American consumers really that gullible?

We have no doubt there are a lot of  little girls who swoon over the Canadian heartthrob and will buy his perfume, dreaming that “Someday” they will find their own Justin or someone like him.  Splash a little “Someday” behind your ears, and your prince will soon be whispering sweet nothings in them.

“Never Let Go,”  says the “Someday” ad.   Hang onto Justin and make him even richer than he already is at the ripe old age of 17.  

And we’re pretty certain that as we speak, some enterprising perfume manufacturer is mixing that special intoxicating blend that will bear the name of Scotty McCreery, the new American Idol.  We all know it’s only a matter of time before fickle teens tire of Justin.

Marketeers have enticed us with Britney Spears’ “Curious,” Paris Hilton’s “Fairy Dust,” and Sarah Jessica Parker’s, “Lovely.”

So with that in mind, where in the world is Lady GaGa’s Monster Ball Eau de Toilette?  That one would surely drive your significant other crazy.

But all kidding aside, who  can blame these flash-in-the-pan celebrities for striking while the iron’s hot?  Fame is fleeting.  When was the last time you saw a Madonna fragrance on the shelves at Macy’s?  And if having a pretty bottle of Justin Bieber perfume makes a little girl happy, so what if we’re being had?

Now, speaking of  deals, but I’m not sure if it’s still on, last week at Sears, an enthusiastic voice came over the loudspeaker enticing shoppers to make 20 easy payments to lay away that snowblower.  It wasn’t even officially the first day of summer, but this guy was blasting to winter warning shoppers not to get caught offguard when that big snowstorm hits.

Geez!  summer just arrived,  but after the Fourth of July the stores signal that it’s pretty much over.  Watch for all those 60-percent off swimsuits (and another 20-percent if you have a coupon), not to mention the back to school sales.

And don’t forget, tomorrow begins Christmas in July.

- Bah Humbug

It could have been worse.  Someone could have thrown a horse’s head at the entrance of Al Hughes’  funeral home.

And he thought being  called a degenerate gambling addict in open court was bad.

That was, but Hughes may have bigger things to worry about now that his testimony seriously hurt former Lackawanna County commissioners, Robert Cordaro and A.J. Munchak.  He has a serious enemy lurking around.  Someone is apparently mad that he crossed Cordaro and/or Munchak.  Maybe mad is too mild.

Someone out there thinks Hughes is a rat and wants the world to know.  Scranton police are investigating a possible case of intimidating a government witness after someone spray painted RAT  on the front door of Hughes’ funeral home, his porch furniture, company signs, a garage door and two vehicles.  This is one determined rat hater.

Last week, Cordaro was convicted of  racketeering, bribery, money laundering and extortion among other charges while Munchak was convicted of bribery and extortion.  When their appeals run out after 100 years or so, they could go to prison for a lifetime.

Hughes testified during their trial that he delivered payoffs to Cordaro from a firm wishing to protect its county contracts.   Cordaro said after he was convicted that if you lay down with dogs, you get fleas.  He could have been talking about any number of the business people in Lackawanna County who testified that they had to pay the piper to keep their contracts when Cordaro and Munchak ruled.

So the big question is, does Al “The Bagman” Hughes’ testimony under oath make him a rat?

In movies like “The Godfather” and “Goodfellas” he’d be considered one.  And we’ll soon be hearing plenty about rats when Martin Scorcese and Robert DeNiro finish their movie based on the book, “I Heard You Paint Houses.”  That upcoming film is partly grounded in Kingston, PA, of all places, because the book contends that local mafia don, the late Russell Bufalino, ordered the hit on Jimmy Hoffa.

But this is Scranton, PA for crying out loud.  City of the Italian Festival and the Steamtown Mall, not to mention Dunder Mifflin and cute couple Pam and Jim.  We’re guessing that Scranton does not want to be identified as Little Sicily.

So who is this culprit/crimimal who may have intimidated a witness in a corruption trial?

The feds are on it.  U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith, whose team successfully convicted Cordaro and Munchak on not all but most of the serious charges against them, said he will use all the powers of his agency to protect government witnesses against the “bullying, cowardly and destructive conduct that was reflected in this incident.”

Then, according to The Citizens’ Voice, there was this statement from Cordaro’s lawyer, Wiliam Costopoulos, after the verdicts were read.  Costopoulos called Cordaro a “stand up guy,” who “was not going to cooperate” or “roll over on anybody.”

Is that what a rat does?  Is that what Hughes did?  Is that why someone’s trying to scare him?

- Betty Roccograndi

An Open Letter From The Teachers Union To The Taxpayers of the Crestwood School District:

Please take our side and not that of those tightwads on the Crestwood School Board, who refuse to give us more personal days off.  We know, you’re probably miffed that we only work 180 days a year already and have the entire summer off, but hear us out. 

The school half-year is very stressful, and we sometimes need a few extra personal days especially when it doesn’t snow that much in the winter.  You have no idea how much we live for those snow days and school delays when we only have to work a few hours before calling it a day.

Yes, we do get off a week between Christmas and New Year’s, but do you realize how unbearable the wait is until President’s Day weekend arrives?  So are we really being unreasonable asking the school board to allow us to convert our numerous sick days into some extra personal days?

But enough about us,  we urge you to attend tonight’s school board meeting and wear red to demonstrate to the Crestwood Scrooges how much you love and appreciate the teachers union.

We must confess, PureBunkum  authored that open letter.  The union stated its case in a full-page ad in The Times Leader on Wednesday, which probably cost a pretty penny.

And with full-day kindergarten on the line because of proposed budget cuts, some parents paraded their children in front of a lemonade stand, carrying signs that included, ”HALF DAY…NO WAY!”  There’s nothing more adorable than activist tots.

The teachers association, in its “Open Letter,” alerted students and taxpayers that the school district plans to send out a minimum of eight furlough notices.  It said “No one wants furloughs (Wanna bet?), especially the Crestwood Education Association.  It pointed out that not only will “one of our teachers” be out of work,” (and we are not like the rest of working class America), a furlough means a cut in your child’s education.”

The union said it came up with a plan which could save the school district about $1 million, and all that it’s asking in return is a one-year extension of its present contract, which we are guessing is a pretty good contract.

But that’s not  all it wants, said board member Gene Mancini.  He told The Times Leader that the union wants the option to convert additional sick days to personal ones and to increase the maximum of personal days that can be accrued, The Times Leader reported.

The union’s full-page ad doesn’t say this. 

It does say, “The teacher’s proposal would have guaranteed future years of the high quality education that Crestwood families have come to expect and deserve.”  What does that mean, that the union cannot guarantee high quality education if the school board rejects its proposal?

The letter ends, “Come stand with us for our children, for your children! (for our premium health care packages and unconditional job security).

They ask everyone to wear red to tonight’s board meeting “to support public education.”

We don’t know about wearing red, but if  property taxes in all school districts continue to skyrocket to pay for public school employees’ oversized pensions, family health care coverage and other perks, taxpayers may be seeing red.

- Betty Roccograndi

Wouldn’t it be nice if:

You were able to ask your bank to allow you to wait until the economy improves before you make that next mortgage or auto payment?

When you called UGI, you could just tell them you’ll pay the electric bill once market conditions get a little better.

You could pick up the phone and tell Verizon, you’ll be more than happy to pay your phone and cable bills once someone buys the used car you have up for sale.

And wouldn’t it be great if they all said, of course.  We will not foreclose on your house or repossess your car or shut off your electricity or disconnect your cable TV.

Wait.  You ARE the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, right?

Last Thursday the Chamber asked the Luzerne County Commissioners to postpone $4.7 million in loan repayments until the economy gets better.  Actually, the agency pretty much told them they had no choice because it doesn’t have the money to pay the county back anyway.

“We are merely asking for time, time that would give us the ability to properly return the maximum value, chamber representative Larry Newman told the commissioners.

Try telling that to your credit card company.

Hey, Visa, I know I owe you $3,599.23 this month.  I couldn’t help myself.  Bed, Bath & Beyond was having such great sales.  I’m just asking for a little time in order to properly return to you the maximum value of the credit you extended me.  It’s okay?  Thanks, I knew you’d understand.

The commissioners plan to grant the Chamber’s request at its Wednesday meeting.  Boy, where’s YOUR heart, PNC, UGI, Verizon, et al?

Newman, stating his case last week, said the Chamber ran into some difficulties partly because it’s been unable to recover the $12 million it invested in the downtown Wilkes-Barre theater complex, which it called “our gift to the community.”

First of all, it was not your gift to the community unless, of course, you used your own money and not that of taxpayers, to build Movies 14.

Newman told the commissioners that Wells Fargo has agreed to give the chamber “breathing room” to repay its bank loans.

Wow, $4.7 million here, $12 million there.  Whom else does the Chamber owe?

Isn’t this organization led by Todd Vonderheid, who as a county commissioner borrowed and borrowed and borrowed, leading us into one big fat hole?

All three county commissioners, Maryanne Petrilla, Thomas Cooney and Steve Urban said they will give the chamber more time to repay its loan, mainly because they are between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

However, if that extension is based on the economy getting better, they may be waiting a very long time.

- Betty Roccograndi

Talk about turning the tables.

For the past week and a half, prosecution witnesses have testified that they paid off former Lackawanna County commissioner Robert Cordaro and sitting commissioner A.J. Munchak because they were afraid of losing their county contracts.

Cordaro took the stand Thursday and agreed that those same witnesses were afraid, but not of him and Munchak, but of the federal government.  That’s why they testified they were the  victims of extortion and bribes, to save their own hides, Cordaro charged.

“You and the government gave them immunity to tell the story you wanted to be told,”  a defiant Cordaro told Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Brandler on Thursday.

The devil made them do it?

Robert Cordaro is hard to figure out.  When he was first arraigned on 40 serious counts of criminal activity, which could put him away for life, he strutted out of the courtroom and described the experience as not pleasant.

On the stand, he just about called everyone who testified against him a liar and accused the federal government of coercion.  A day earlier he blamed a federal judge for his legal woes.

Wednesday, prosecution witness Shawn Tuffy testified that Cordaro told him  U.S. District Court Judge William J. Nealon “has a vendetta against him,” and that because Judge Nealon “has a lot of juice,” Cordaro has been under investigation for several years.

Tuffy is also under investigation for mortgage fraud, he admitted on the stand.

So Cordaro believes there is this vast government conspiracy out to get him.  This bit of paranoia runs counter to the cool, well-dressed, seemingly confident Robert Cordaro who saunters in and out of the courthouse each day, smiling like the cat who just swallowed the canary.

He’s said all along that a jury of his peers will exonorate him.

Of course, that remains to be seen.  But really, is Bob Cordaro the only one telling the truth here?

Yes, he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a roughly four-year span, but, Cordaro said, it wasn’t kickback money or bribes.  He was living high off the hog – coincidentally while a majority county commissioner – because he had $350,000 in cash tucked away in safe deposit boxes and a home safe, he testified, according to The Times Leader’s trial coverage.

That’s a lot of money not to invest.

Cordaro said he paid for his purchases with cash after reading, ”The Millionaire Next Door:  The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy,” which gave him a clearer perspective of how he was spending his money.

The book’s right, of course, it’s much too easy to hand over that plastic credit card and lose track of what you’re spending.  The down side is when that monthly statement arrives, and you pass out on the floor .  Everyone should read “The Millionaire Next Door.”

Cordaro also had an explanation for signing a second sales agreement for $350,000 for the $700,000 home he purchased in Dunmore.  First of all, that wasn’t his idea, he testified, contradicting the rat who said it was.  Secondly, he said he signed the bogus agreement “Robert Co.”  because when he’s in a hurry, that’s how he signs his name.  It’s his ”fast signature,” he said.

Is the jury buying this, or will it ultimately determine that Robert Cordaro and  sitting Commissioner A.J. Munchak are two fast talkers?

- Betty Roccograndi

 Could anything top, no pun intended, Tuesday’s testimony that Robert Cordaro was a guest at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club in California?

Why yes, come to think of it, it could.  Taxpayers paid for the former Lackawanna County majority commissioner to party with the scantily-clad bunnies, according to testimony Tuesday in the corruption trial of Cordaro and sitting Commissioner A.J. Munchak.

And here Cordaro “didn’t want the public to get the wrong idea about him” when he purchased a $700,000 home in Dunmore.  Whatever could the public be thinking about him now, we wonder?

 Or more importantly, what is the jury thinking, especially after hearing Tuesday that Lackawanna County taxpayers may have also picked up the tab for $511 dinners and $123 lunches, in addition to the $10,500 fees for a Playboy-sponsored golf tournament?

But if all of that isn’t enough to enrage taxpayers in that county, this should.

When FBI Special Agent April Phillips informed Cordaro in 2007 that Executive Claims Administration (ECA), the company which managed the county workers’ compensation fund, was stealing from the county, Cordaro asked the federal agents to keep that under their hats.  That was after he told the agent  that the previous fund administrator was “stealing millions from the county.”

MILLIONS?”  Cordaro was sitting on that information?  If so, just what was he doing about it?

Agent Phillips also told the court, reported The Times Leader, that Cordaro “specifically” asked the FBI not to tell the other commissioners about their suspicions that ECA was ripping off the county.  This gets more outrageous by the minute. 

But when agent Phillips told him Munchak had already been informed, he said he’d “look into” the matter – the matter being the theft of millions of dollars from the county.

A visit to the Playboy Club kind of pales in comparison to this bombshell.

A county commissioner just learns that someone is stealing from the county, and instead of being shocked and outraged, he blames someone else and asks that it be kept quiet?  By the way, a principal in ECA was Cordaro’s personal friend, Charles Costanzo,  who was charged with stealing $600,000 from the county’s workmen’s compensation fund and is now in prison.

ECA’s Mark Boriosi  testified that he paid for Cordaro, Costanzo and himself to party at the Playboy mansion and was then reimbursed by the very same company which administrated workers’ comp claims.

When Cordaro was arraigned last year on 40 counts of criminal activity, he coolly walked outside and said, “That was not pleasant.”

We’re guessing that after Tuesday’s court session, the smiling Cordaro exited the courthouse and said, “Oh shoot.”

- Betty Roccograndi

Much has been said about not taking the path of least resistance.  Take a risk.  Be strong.  You never know what you’ll find if you venture outside of your comfort zone.

But for three Scranton businessmen, that was not an option, so they took the path of least resistance and paid the damn kickbacks – if that’s what they were, of course.

It all began innocently enough when newly-elected Lackawanna County Commissioner  A.J. Munchak  invited Don Kalina, of Highland Associates, to lunch.  It  got a little complicated though when he asked A.J. what he wanted to talk about.  Apparently not one to mince words, A.J. said, “We need some cash.”

This is what Kalina testified to at the corruption trial of Munchak and his former majority commissioner Robert Cordaro.

Munchak and Cordaro no sooner took their seats as the county’s majority commissioners in 2004 before they got down to business.  The two are on trial on charges they shook down area businessmen for hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for county contracts.  Is that any way for an accountant and a lawyer to act?

Anyway, if everything prosecutors allege is true, Scranton’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were real pros.

At lunch, Kalina did what any businessman worried he might lose millions of dollars in county work would do.  He promised Munchak he’d discuss with his partners in the architectural firm the cost of doing business.

Then, he probably headed to the nearest Rite Aid for some Pepto Bismol or to one of Scranton’s many bars for a double.

It didn’t take long for Kalina and his partners, Dominic Provini and Kevin Smith, to realize it really would be necessary to take that path of least resistance and pay up, they said on the stand.

But was Munchak satisfied?  Is a blackmailer when he gets his first cash-stuffed envelope?

Two months after the first drop-off of $30,000, Munchak wanted to do lunch again, Kalina said.  It didn’t sound as though A.J. was being threatening.  Maybe he was just hungry.

Or Not.

Munchak called him, Kalina testified, and said, ”Hey partner, we need to have lunch again.  We need some more cash,”  according to The Citizens’ Voice’s trial coverage.

“Again, we felt we were being extorted and needed to pay the money,”  (take the path of least resistance), Kalina said.

Wow!, Munchak and Cordaro, if what is being said about them is true, make Bob Reilly, Bill Brace, Brian Dunn, Thom Greco, Anthony Spinozza, Pat Patte and most of the others caught up in Luzerne County’s corruption probe, look like pikers.

Notice we didn’t include former judges, Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, or their benefactor, Robert Mericle, in this group.  They’re in a league of their own.

The case against A.J. and Cordaro was getting somewhat convincing until a defense attorney forced Smith and Provino, of Highland, to admit that they never spoke directly to Cordaro or Munchak or saw their partner Kalina deliver any money to them.

Then Munchak’s attorney, Christopher Powell, threw out this bombshell to Smith.

“The only thing you know is you gave Don Kalina $10,000 on three occasions,” Powell said to Smith.

Could it be that Kalina stiffed his own partners and kept their share of the path of least resistance? 

Is that reasonable doubt, we’re hearing?

- Betty Roccograndi