2011 November » PureBunkum

Robin Hood’s Coming To Town

Nov 302011

President Barack Obama will visit Scranton today - to speak to lawmakers in Washington.

Lest you think otherwise, this is not a campaign stop.

Obama’s not coming to little old Scranton to make a big announcement or to look for Dunder Mifflin but “to push Congress to act to extend and expand the payroll tax cut that has given tax breaks to millions of families,” a White House press release says.

The Wall Street Journal says, “Obama Swing-State Visits Surpass Presidential Record.” The newspaper said that Wednesday’s trip to Scranton will be Obama’s 56th to a battleground state this year. How does he ever get any work done?

We already know Obama wants the Congress to extend his payroll tax cut and to make those greedy millionaires and billionaires pay for it, or to rob Peter to pay Paul. What we want to know, though, is why is it necessary to fuel up Air Force One and drag the secret service and the rest of his entourage to Scranton to tell us something we already know? The president could easily – and far less expensively – travel across town to our nation’s Capitol and speak to the Congress directly.

Obviously, the White House believes that we here in Northeastern Pennsylvania have the clout to get the job done. It also must believe that we are country bumpkins, who don’t know a campaign stop when we see one. But it’s always nice to see the President of the United States in person.

The Times Leader reported that Vice-President Joe Biden has been assigned to three critical states, including ours, for the campaign, which began after Obama was sworn into office in 2009. Good move, because we here love Joe, especially when he makes us laugh when he puts his foot in his mouth, which is quite often.

And our own Sen. Bobby Casey, acting in sync with the president, introduced legislation to not only extend the one-year payroll tax cut but to expand it in 2012. He said doing so is vital to boost the economy. How so, Sen. Casey? “We know this works. This is the right thing to do,” Casey said in a published report. Good answer.

The WSJ reported that Mr. Obama has attended 54 events in 11 battleground states over 42 days. In between, he’s managed to hit the golf course, go on swanky vacations with Michelle and the girls and kill Osama bin Laden. And he did push through health care reform, but no one seems to like it, and the U.S. Supreme Court will decide next year if it’s even constitutional.

So, yes, President Obama is a busy, busy man, and we’re very lucky that he’s dropping by to say hello and to speak to the Congress.

Just don’t call this a campaign stop.

- Betty Roccograndi

What Could Be More Extravagant Than 11 1/2 Weeks Off With Pay?

Local

Nov 292011

Luzerne County union official Paula Schnelly said she understands times are tough so her union isn’t “looking for anything extravagant.”

Well that’s good to know considering the deal unionized county employees already have is pretty extravagant, almost 11 1/2 weeks of paid time off and premium health care packages that cost them next to nothing.

So, we’re guessing that if they maintain the status quo during this 11th hour round of contract negotiations, they’ll be quite content, since who knows what a fiscally conservative (we can only hope) new county manager might do when those contracts expire. For now, he or she is powerless.

It will be interesting to see what our lame duck county commissioners agree to give county detectives and court-related workers before they hand over the reins of county government to the newly-elected county council. Voters did a great job, by the way, selecting 11 professionals from all walks of life. We’re off to a good start.

Hopefully, we won’t be disillusioned by their pick of a county manager, which is the most critical decision they will make.

If our new leaders have any intentions of cutting costs by reducing some of the extravagant benefits unionized courthouse employees receive, they’ll have to wait until all of those cushy contracts expire. Let’s be honest, paying a mere 10-percent of one’s costly health care premiums in this day and age is simply outrageous and certainly unfair to taxpayers. They would have been adjusted long ago if those in charge ran the courthouse as if it were their own business instead of the people’s.

Times Leader staff writer Jennifer Learn-Andes reported that county taxpayers pay roughly $15 million a year for courthouse employees’ health care coverage and collect from them about $1.2 million. If a husband and wife team worked at the courthouse, one was given $1,500 not to double dip. Not only are we paying the lion’s share of a married couple’s premium health care coverage, we’re forced to throw in a $1,500 bonus for one of them to opt out. Opt out of what exactly? Mr. and Mrs. Courthouse Employees get the coverage and the cash.

Is anyone wondering yet why the county is almost a half-billion dollars in debt?

So, now we’re back at the negotiating table, and it’s a win-win for the union. If the county commissioners simply renew their contracts for another three years, they have nothing to complain about. If they don’t, the union automically heads to binding arbitration, and we all know whose side arbitrators take.

Of course, county employees have a right to expect fair wages and benefits, but what about those who pay the bills, those who pay far more for their own health care coverage, those who are lucky to get three weeks off a year, not 11 1/2? And the courthouse crowd doesn’t even work an average 40-hour work week.

We can only hope that our new leaders will recognize that we are being taxed to death to pay for generous pensions and benefits for public employees, and that the courthouse treasury is not a bottomless pit.

The Times Leader reported that six of the county’s 11 unions have the right to seek binding arbitration while the other five can strike. Either way, taxpayers pay the price.

What else is new?

- Betty Roccograndi

Budget Problems? Well, Yeah, But We’re Still Taking Our Raises

Local

Nov 272011

Talk about conflicting headlines: Harrisburg files for bankrupcy. Three percent raises for legislators next week.

Wouldn’t it be great if your employer was struggling to make ends meet, but, regardless, you were still guaranteed a pay hike every year?

Well, we are the struggling employer, and state lawmakers are our employees, and this year’s automatic raise, which will hike their salaries from $79,623 to $82,026, is a go, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

But it’s not their fault they’re getting a guaranteed 3% cost of living adjustment. And it’s not their fault that each year this automatic COLA boosts their pensions. This was put in place back in the mid 1990s. So we’re supposed to get over it.

You’re probably thinking that our state representatives and senators could rescind this annual slap in the face to taxpayers, who are struggling with ever increasing tax and utility hikes. If you are, you’re probably also thinking that everyone will sit home on Black Friday or Black Wednesday next year.

Gov. Tom Corbett won’t accept his raise, he said. Will state lawmakers and judges follow suit? Will there be a Nativity scene displayed on the Luzerne County Courthouse this year without one single atheist complaining that he’s offended?

Will our local newspapers ask state senators John Yudichak and Lisa Baker if they believe they’re due a raise when education cuts were necessary? Will they confront state representatives Phyllis Mundy, Eddie Day Pashinski, Tara Toohil and the rest of them? If they’re doing their jobs they will, because taxpayers would sure love to know how they can justify fattening their paychecks and boosting their pensions when our state, like most others, are forced to make cuts each year to balance the budget.

Gov. Corbett said he’ll donate his raise to charity. Some lawmakers, including Yudichak, also declined their raises in the past, but most of them did not. First of all, we don’t want them to donate their raises to charity. We want them to suspend them until the economy recovers. Fat chance of that happening. Lawmakers from Pennsylvania to Washington know how to take care of themselves no matter how dire the state of the union or the state of the state is. They always have, and they always will.

In a statement, Rep. Brad Roae, a Republican from Crawford said, “It would be extremely arrogant for state representatives to accept a pay increase at a time like this.” It would, wouldn’t it?

And while we’re on the subject of arrogance, it’s simply incredible that we must continue to pay jury commissioners $10,000 to attend a single meeting a year. Our new Home Rule form of government eliminates these preposterous positions at the end of 2013. Although she could have collected another $20,000 over the next two years, Democrat Bonnie L. Markowski resigned from her post. We can’t imagine why. No word yet on whether Republican Frank Semanski will. But who could blame him if he didn’t?

All of our outrage should be directed at Harrisburg and at the latest 3 percent raise those working in our bankrupt state Capitol plan to take.

- Betty Roccograndi

Black Friday: The Bewitching Hour

Local, National

Nov 232011

Finally, the stores get us.

We want Thanksgiving out of the way as fast as possible. It’s a nuisance holiday standing between us and our Christmas shopping.

It used to be torture years back going through all those inserts in the two-ton Thankgiving Day newspapers, knowing we’d have to wait until 7 a.m. the next day to cash in on all those tantalizing holiday specials. It was cruel. How could anyone in her right mind concentrate on preparing a feast when she would rather be making her list and checking it twice?

Then the stores wised up and began opening earlier, like 5 a.m. That was more like it, even though the wait was still too long for the doors to swing open on the biggest shopping day of the year. Then they thought they were doing us a big favor when they moved Black Friday up to 4 a.m. Helloooooo. We want to be pushed and shoved when the clock strikes 12.

Our prayers have been answered. This year, some stores will kick off Black Friday at midnight. Now, they’re talking! Poor Cinderella had to rush home at that bewitching hour, but not us. We’ll be backing out of our driveways, high beams on, in the dead of night after getting no sleep. Thanks, Macy’s. Thanks, Walmart. Thanks, Kohl’s.

Hint to stores. Coffee would be a nice touch. Announce that you’re throwing in some complimentary Christmas cookies, and, trust me, my sisters will barge into your store first.

And what’s with Lowe’s not opening unil 5 a.m.? Or J.C. Penney? Penney shoppers have to wait until 4 a.m. to get their free Disney collectable snow globe. Get with the program, Lowe’s and Penney’s. You know what they say, you snooze, you lose.

Then there’s K-Mart. Taking no chances on shoppers using up all their disposable income elsewhere, they’re opening on Thanksgiving Day at 6 a.m. Go K-Mart!

But, it’s kind of sad because Thanksgiving is such a warm and cozy holiday and shouldn’t have to play second fiddle to Black Friday. But, let’s get real, Thanksgiving is also a real pain. We’d appreciate it much more if someone kicked Halloween to the curb and replaced it with Thanksgiving. Indian summer is still upon us. It’s a mellow time of year, perfect for setting aside one day to give thanks for our blessings But, noooooo, someone had the cockamamie idea to schedule it too close for comfort to Christmas.

So, hopefully they’ll be extra cops on duty at midnight because with all that traffic out there, there will surely be a lot of fender benders, not to mention road rage if someone dozes at a red light.

In all seriousness, though, I would personally like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night.

- Betty Roccograndi

Let The Lies Begin

National

Nov 182011

Wait just a minute! Didn’t Mike McQueary say he did tell the cops that he saw a 10-year-old boy being raped in a Penn State shower?

Someone better tell the cops this because they have no such record on file.

But, then again, McQueary also reportedly e-mailed his friends that he did stop the rape that he said he witnessed; he just didn’t stop it physically. Which could mean he stopped it through wishful thinking.

McQueary told his friends to trust him, that the truth in this sordid affair is not fully out. Penn State’s assistant coach apparently never watched the brilliant TV show, The X Files, whose message was “The Truth Is Out There,” with the caveat, “Trust No One.”

So whom can we trust to tell the truth regarding the 40 counts of sexual abuse leveled against Penn State’s former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky? The university’s athletic director and a vice-president have been charged with perjury and not reporting to the police McQueary’s account that he walked in on a naked Sandusky sodomizing the boy. So how can we trust them?

As for McQueary, he whined to his friends in a Nov. 8 e-mail that’s he’s being “hammered” for telling his father and Coach Joe Paterno what he saw and not the police. Come on, guys, “you know me,” he said and told them he had discussions with the police. Well, that’s a far cry from reporting the incident, which may be the reason there’s no file.

Police from State College and the campus both said they have no reports that anyone filed a complaint against Sandusky. So, nope, we apparently can’t trust McQueary either.

It would be great to interview former Centre County district attorney, Ray Gricar, who in 1998 arranged for a detective to hide in a room where Sandusky allegedly begged a mother’s forgiveness for showering with her little boy. Gricar didn’t prosecute and then went missing and is now presumed dead.

Investigators claim there’s no connection. Sorry, but this is one strange coincidence, so we can’t trust them either.

Then in yet another bizarre episode of The Penn State Files, Gricar’s successor, Michael Madeira said that he had information about a 2009 allegation against Sandusky, but because his wife’s brother was Sandusky’s adopted child, he turned the matter over to state prosecutors, the Associated Press reported.

Asked if he had concerns regarding his wife’s brother, he said this: “My wife hasn’t expressed anything like that to me, and I don’t know them well enough to have an opinion on that.”

Now, that’s one for the books. A former county DA has knowledge of possible child sexual abuse, and because his wife doesn’t give a hoot about the alleged victim, her brother, why should he?

Modern Family? Or a dysfunctional one?

Then we have Gov. Tom Corbett, who headed the investigation of Sandusky while state attorney general in 2008, saying the probe moved “as quickly as it possibly could.” That would depend on what the meaning of “quickly” is. In this case, it took three years for investigators “to corroborate the information received in the initial report.”

Everyone would have to agree that three years is a long time to allow a former assistant Penn State coach, accused of sexual abuse, to roam free, especially when he was in charge of at-risk youths at The Second Mile.

Oh, there’s more.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris is being punished for exercising his freedom of speech and backing Joe Paterno, his former coach. Franco, you don’t really believe in the Constitution, do you?

Franco was put on “hiatus” (is that like a suspension?) as the spokesman for The Meadows Racetrack And Casino after he criticized Penn State’s board of trustees for firing Paterno when he wasn’t charged with any crime. Can’t do that, Franco.

Funny isn’t it, that Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, who was charged with a crime, was placed on administrative leave. Vice president Gerald Schultz, who was charged with a crime, was allowed to retire. McQueary, who says he witnessed the rape of a young boy and may have walked away, is put on administrative leave for his own safety.

And Coach Joe Paterno, who was not charged with a crime, was swiftly fired – by phone – and without being allowed to tell his side of the story.

“The truth is out there.” But who’s telling it?

- Betty Roccograndi

Like The X Files: The Truth Is Out There

National

Nov 162011

Mike McQueary is now saying he stopped the rape; he just didn’t stop it physically.

We’re quite sure the 10-year old boy he said he saw being raped wished McQueary stopped it physically.

McQueary told a grand jury that he witnessed Jerry Sandusky performing a sex act on a young boy about 10 years old in a Penn State shower. Penn State’s assistant coach said both Sandusky and the boy saw him.

Then what? Did they continue to go at it? Did the boy scream for McQueary to help him or was he too frightened? Did Sandusky, who’s calling the sexual abuse charges against him horseplay, say anything to McQueary like this isn’t what you might think? Did he tell him to beat it?

Just what did happen in those 30-45 seconds McQueary told friends in an e-mail that he ”had to make tough impacting quick decisions?”

“No one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30-45 seconds,” he wrote in the Nov. 8 e-mail, which The Morning Call of Allentown obtained.

Well, we’re betting that the 10-year old wished he were in McQueary’s shoes at the time so he could run as fast as he could out of that shower.

As Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the two lead characters of “The X-Files” believed: “The truth is out there. Trust no one.” Each week these two FBI agents searched tirelessly for the truth, trying to uncover what they believed was a government conspiracy to thwart their attempts to solve cases involving paranormal phenomena.

That’s kind of what McQueary told his friends; ”You guys know me. The truth is not out there fully.”

Obviously it isn’t, because McQueary told the grand jury after witnessing Sandusky and the boy naked in the shower that he left and called his father first and Coach Joe Paterno the next day. Now, he’s telling his friends that, “I did stop it, not physically but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room.”

Well, what exactly did he do when he left that locker room? McQueary is also now saying that he talked to the police. He doesn’t say when.

Was it immediately following those shocking 30-45 seconds or when the investigation was already underway? There is a big difference there.

Meanwhile, Sandusky attorney, Joseph Amendola, told the Today show he believes he has identified the alleged victim from 2002. ”If we have found him,” he’s telling ”a very different story. He’s saying it never happened,” Amendola said.

What does he mean “if” they found him. They don’t know for certain whether they have the right person? Granted, nine years have passed, but come on, it’s either the one Sandusky showered with or it isn’t.

We’ll just have to keep following each new development of The Penn State Files: The truth is out there.

We just don’t know what it is yet.

- Betty Roccograndi

Horseplay OR BS?

National

Nov 152011

If we’re to believe Jerry Sandusky, it took 40 sexual abuse charges before it dawned on him that “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”

Speaking to Bob Costas Monday, the first interview since his arrest, Sandusky said he “could say” he touched the legs of minor boys, hugged them and showered with them.” Just horsing around, he said. When Costas asked him if he’s a pedophile, Penn State’s former defensive coordinator answered, no.

Costas would have scored the biggest scoop of the year if Sandusky said, yes, Bob, I obviously am a pedophile because what 50-year-old showers with naked pre-teen boys?

“I am innocent of those charges,” the 67-year-old Sandusky said.

His attorney, Joe Amendola, characterized his client as just a fun-lovin’ jock. Maybe we’d buy that if Sandusky was in the shower having fun with men his own age and not with 10- and 11-year olds.

“Jerry Sandusky is a big overgrown kid,” Amendola told CNN.

According to prosecutors, Sandusky is a big overgrown kid, alright, one who plays with not yet grown boys. One of the more repulsive accusations against him is Mike McQueary’s grand jury testimony that he witnessed Sandusky sodomizing a boy, who appeared to be around 10 years old, in the Nittany Lions’ practice center shower in 2002.

Everyone’s wondering why McQueary, a graduate assistant then, an assistant coach now, didn’t break it up or call the police.

Instead, McQueary indirectly brought down Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, whom he told the next day. Paterno reported what McQueary told him to his superior, but not to the police. Paterno was fired. Guilty as -not – charged.

Sandusky attorney Amendola accused the state attorney general’s office of throwing everything it can up against the wall, the Associated Press reported. He said touching a boy’s knee is not criminal conduct and that there were no complaints by the boy.

Does that mean that if a woman was raped and kept that ugly secret to herself for whatever reason, that no criminal act was committed because she didn’t complain?

But, let’s face it, a good criminal defense attorney can do wonders for his client. Remember the Dream Team who won an acquittal for O. J. Simpson? The only ones who didn’t believe that Simpson knifed to death his wife and her friend were the biased jury and, maybe, his Dream Team.

Today, the New York Times is reporting that 10 new “victims” in the sex abuse scandal engulfing Penn State have come forward. But are they victims who now feel safe coming forward after all these years or some looking to cash in on this monstrous scandal?

We’re wondering just how airtight the state attorney general’s case is against Sandusky and the university’s athletic director and a vice-president, who are charged with perjury and not going to the police with the 2002 incident Sandusky likens to horseplay.

Sandusky’s lawyer said that investigators don’t have “actual people saying, ‘This is what Jerry did to me.’ “ He said he’s trying to find them ”and when the time comes, and we are able to do that, we think this whole case will change dramatically.”

No doubt about that.

The big question is can he make the case that Jerry Sandusky was just your typical jock goofing off in the shower after a workout? Or will the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that for 15 years, Joe Paterno’s expected heir apparent was this creepy stalker who lured young boys into the locker room for something far more sinister than horseplay?

- Betty Roccograndi

A Common Thread: Watergate and Penn State

National

Nov 142011

Follow the money, said Deep Throat.

They did, and President Richard Nixon was forced to resign.

At Penn State, hopefully, the in-house committee and other investigators will follow the red flags.

Are we witnessing another Watergate here where the cover-up could be worse than the crime? Although what could be worse than a pubescent boy pinned up against the wall while a 50-something coach had his way with him?

Others covering it up, that’s what, because a cover-up may be directly responsible for other young boys forced to submit to a deviant’s sexual needs.

Some interesting details are emerging. First of all, the alleged child molester, Jerry Sandusky, abruptly retired in 1999. He was the heir apparent to Coach Joe Paterno but was told he was not going to get the job. Why, because he was unqualified or because some on campus were well aware of an alleged 1998 incident when an 11-year boy reported that a naked Sandusky had showered with him?

This man should have been stopped in his tracks right then and there. In an astonishing report by Patriot News reporter Sara Ganim, Sandusky, Penn State’s former defensive coordinator, met with that boy’s mother and begged for forgiveness while a detective hid in the next room.

Incredibly, nothing came of that investigation. Well, actually something did. Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar, who arranged that sting operation, has vanished from the face of the earth.

This is something right out of a John Grisham novel.

This sex scandal, which cost Paterno his job, has eerie similarities with Watergate. “I am not a crook,” said Nixon. Actually, he wasn’t a crook. His downfall was triggered by his loyalty to his closest aides, who arranged the burglary of the Democratic National Committee’s offices. As serious as that was, it pales in comparison to any cover-up which may have permanently ruined the lives of – at last count - eight boys.

A heartbroken Paterno was fired despite not being charged in this sordid affair. But he’s Joe Paterno, and even though he reported to his superior a 2002 accusation of Sandusky again in the shower with a naked minor, he didn’t go to the police. The jury is still out on his culpability. It’s simply difficult to believe that Joe Paterno who loved students as much as he did football would knowingly allow a sex fiend to roam free.

Even Gov. Corbett couldn’t directly answer Fox News host Chris Wallace’s question Sunday why the legendary coach was fired before all the facts are known. Corbett, a former state attorney general, said he respects the board of trustees’ decision.

Then there’s assistant football coach Mike McQueary, the eyewitness who walked in on Sandusky and a 10-year -old in the shower in 2002. He’s the one who told Paterno, and he’s the only one who has not been fired. It could be because he’s protected by the law which protects whistleblowers.

McQueary is the one who could have, and should have, broken up this repulsive assault, but he didn’t. Patriot News reporter Ganim said McQueary was the guy who once stepped in and broke up a knife fight in a dining hall. So why didn’t he scream at Sandusky to get off of the boy, if what he said he saw is true?

McQueary has been placed on administrative leave. At a press conference, Gov. Corbett was cautious in addressing his status with Penn State. “I would remind everybody, it would appear…I’m going to back off on McQueary.” Why, we wonder?

Interim football Coach Tom Bradley, asked if he was considering dismissing McQueary, said, “absolutely not.” Absolutely?

And why not, if Penn State President Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno, neither of whom were charged with either a crime or a cover-up, were abruptly axed?

What we know so far, and it’s already enough to make everyone sick, may only be the tip of the iceberg.

The only thing certain is that Penn State will be facing lawsuits galore, maybe even a wrongful termination one from Coach Paterno, who made Penn State what it is today and was not allowed to defend himself before the board or retire with a modicum of dignity.

He was not the one who molested young boys or walked in on what may have been a rape and then walked away.

Until someone proves that Joe Paterno was part of a cover-up to protect Penn State, I believe that firing him by phone was a ghastly way to treat someone who gave the best years of his life to this institution.

- Betty Roccograndi

Crucified For What He DIDN’T Do

Local, National

Nov 102011

With a Rose Bowl bid on the line, The Nittany Lions should boycott the remainder of its games, starting with Saturday’s last home game against Nebraska. Let’s see how ”much larger” Penn State really is “than its athletic teams.”

Before making Penn State Coach Joe Paterno its sacrificial lamb, firing him by phone, denying him the shred of dignity he sought after he gave his life to this university, board of trustees vice-chair John Surma said it had no choice.

It had a choice alright. It could have investigated the sex abuse scandal that has surfaced at Penn State FIRST and then acted. It did the reverse. It unceremoniously fired the man who made Penn State what it is today and then decided to appoint a committee to look into “the circumstances” regarding the charges that the coach’s former assistant sexually molested at least eight boys over the course of 15 years.

One would think that it was Paterno, and not Jerry Sandusky, who was indicted on these heinous accusations. Instead, when a graduate assistant told Paterno about one alleged incident in 2002, he reported it, not to the police, but to the university’s athletic director and vice-president. It was their job to report it to the police, but they didn’t.

Those two are charged with crimes. Paterno is not, but, even so, the board swiftly kicked the 84-year old remorseful coach to the curb.

If there was ever an example of the punishment not fitting the crime, this is it.

Does anyone even know exactly what that eyewitness told Paterno? For all we know, athletic director Tim Curley told the coach not to be concerned, that he was dealing with the matter.

Paterno seems too decent a man to bring further disrepute to his cherished Penn State, but if he filed a wrongful termination suit, he’d probably win it.

Despite not being charged with anything, Paterno volunteered to retire at the end of the season as tears flowed from behind his trademark glasses. He said he was “absolutely devastated” over revelations that Sandusky molested eight boys, maybe more. “It is one of the greatest sorrows of my life,” he said.

But the board of trustees beat him to it, probably assuming it would be hailed for doing the right thing. And some will see it that way.

For others, including the thousands of students whom were impacted by Joe Paterno and are rallying behind him, the board’s action will be viewed as an inquisition.

Guilty until proven innocent. This is America?

First, university president, Graham Spanier, who was also fired, cancelled Paterno’s press conference, denying him the opportunity to speak earlier this week. Then, when the coach appeared on the practice field Wednesday, within five minutes university officials erected tall wooden boards in front of a fence, the Associated Press reported. Gotta hide this dangerous animal from view.

Then the last kick in the teeth was to call Joe Paterno on the phone to tell him he was fired. This is how they treat the man who broke college football’s record with 409 victories and guided the Nittany Lions to two national titles, a man law enforcement has not charged with a thing.

Paterno, who has dedicated his life to students both on and off the football field, said he grieves for the children and their families and prays “for their comfort and relief.”

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I am as sickened as anyone that young, vulnerable boys may have suffered inestimable harm at the hands of a trusted adult, just as I was sickened to the core by the more far-reaching sex scandal that pervaded the Roman Catholic Church, my church.

I’m not even a football fan, let alone a Nittany Lions fanatic, but to break Joe Paterno so mercilessly, without knowing all the facts, is a tragedy.

Overall, Coach Joe Paterno is a good man. He deserved more from Penn State, much more. But it was apparently the easy way out for the board of trustees, for those without sin to cast the first stone – right through this legendary coach’s heart.

- Betty Roccograndi

Bless Them Father For They Have Sinned.

Local, National

Nov 082011

The Penn State scandal has a familiar ring, a sickening, disgusting ring.

Honestly, how does anyone get away with molesting young boys for 15 years? We turn to the Roman Catholic Church for some clues: higher- ups kept such crimes to themselves because there was sacred turf to protect.

In the case of the church, some officials, even in our little neck of the woods, knew their priests had toyed with altar boys and did nothing. Correction, they did do something. For years, they shipped them off to other unsuspecting parishes and hoped the problem would go away.

Disgraceful Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law allegedly covered up accusations of sexual predators slithering throughout his Boston Diocese and then was provided cover at the Vatican by none other that Pope John Paul II, who is on a fast track to sainthood.

In the case of Penn State, a stunned graduate student reported that he walked in on former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, who was in his 50s, sexually assaulting a 10-year-old naked boy in the shower.

One of those he told was Nittany Lions Coach Joe Paterno. But let’s not jump to any conclusions here. There are plenty of others doing that.

Now, 10 years later, we are told that there was a sexual pervert in the ranks of Penn State football, Sandusky, who was in line to replace the revered Paterno. Two university administrators, athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice-president Gary Schultz, have been charged with perjury regarding their testimony to a grand jury investigating the shocking allegations and with failing to report sexual abuse.

Everyone’s wondering why iconic coach JoePa, who did report to Curley what he had been told, did not report it to the police. Did he drop the ball, no pun intended? Well, we simply do not know, now do we?

We also don’t know why none of the victims’ families ever blew the whistle?

But this matters not because many are calling for Paterno’s head.

Several, including WILK radio talk show host Steve Corbett, called for Paterno to immediately resign. As in immediately, without knowing what Paterno did or didn’t do. One of Corbett’s nuttier callers said JoePa should go to jail. For crying out loud!

Another caller said if he had come face to face with Sandusky he might have shot the guy, put his gun in his mouth and fired. “Everybody in this state is a victim,” the obviously agitated caller said.

One of the most level-headed men I know, Tom Pugh, retired vice-president of Allied Services and a Penn State graduate, told The Times Leader, “This has nothing to do with Paterno. He did the right thing by reporting what he knew.”

Try telling that to a newly-formed Kangaroo Court on Facebook, who are also demanding Paterno’s resignation.

Sandusky faces 40 counts of sexually abusing minors, the Associated Press reported.

And talk about really, really strange. Keith Richeal, a co-author of a book on Jerry Sandusky, described him to the AP as “a loving father of six adopted children,” who “was kind to kids of all ages, including the students he dealt with.” The book is called “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story.” Kind of a weird name for a book, but now it may be an apt one.

If these horrific charges do play out and are confirmed, Jerry Sandusky was touched alright – in more ways than one. If so, we need to remember that this sick, sick man obviously needed help. If Penn State administrators enabled Sandusky by doing or saying nothing in order to protect an institution, well, quite frankly, they would be as twisted as he.

I am hoping that Coach Joe Paterno is not among them and that this is not how his illustrious career ends.

- Betty Roccograndi

“the stuff movies are made of”

Local

Nov 062011

That’s how attorney Joseph D’Andrea described Robert Powell’s daring heroics in snitching on his former partners-in-crime, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan. “This is the stuff movies are made of,” D’Andrea said, describing how Braveheart Bob wore a wire in the corrupt judges’ chambers and courtrooms and got them to admit wrongdoing.

May we add that Powell’s letter to the court, apologizing to everyone he harmed and thanking prosecutors for being nice to him, is the stuff Academy Award-winning performances are made of. We’ll dissect that letter in a minute.

Powell was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Friday for his key role in the “kids for cash” criminal conspiracy. Although he was a major player here, Powell had an epiphany, which coincided with a federal investigation into his role, and decided to cooperate. It paid off. Ciavarella and Conahan are serving 28 and 17 1/2-year sentences, respectively. They must be banging their heads against their cell walls after learning of Powell’s light sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod told sentencing judge, Edwin Kosik, that Powell’s assistance was key in getting Conahan to plead guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and in convicting Ciavarella on 12 counts when he opted to go to trial, The Times Leader reported in its coverage. When the feisty judge said, “He could have told the judges to go to hell,” D’Andrea said his client did, but later.

Come to think of it, Ciavarella could have told developer Robert Mericle to go to hell when Mericle offered him $1 million to introduce him to Powell, who was planning to build a new county juvenile detention center even though the county already had one. And Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid could have told Powell to go to hell when his company sought a $58-million lease to place juvies in his new facility. And when Ciavarella gleefully skipped down the courthouse hall to share his good fortune, Conahan could have told him to go to hell. We’re judges. We can’t take $1 million from Mericle.

But no one told anyone to go to hell because this was a deal made in heaven. Powell, Mericle, Conahan and Ciavarella all got rich off the backs of Luzerne County taxpayers.

In his long-winded mea culpa, Powell said he regretted not reporting the judges’ misdeeds earlier.

“I had the responsibility to say so and not to assist them in any way.” But, Your Honor, never in a million years did we expect to get caught.

“Eventually, I got the courage and refused their demands.” That did take courage, you know. Mark may look like a pipsqueak, Your Esteemed Honor, but he could be a vicious little SOB, as I woefully learned as did the kids he sent away.

“Similarly, when the former judges made their demands for money, I had the responsibility to refuse them.” But, hey, I was handed an offer I couldn’t refuse. I really did feel like the Big Kahuna when Skrepenak and Vonderheid so generously gave my company that $58-million, one-sided lease (in our favor, I might add). A 20-year lease from the county doesn’t come along every day, Your Most-Deserving Honor.

Begging for mercy, Powell relayed how he continued to attend his children’s school activities “no matter the personal attacks I knew I would endure.” Come on, Your Eminence, surely that counts for something. I’m not asking to be named Father of the Year, just a lighter sentence so I can again support my kids even though I run the risk of getting dirty looks from my neighbors and former friends.

Powell was expecting to receive the low end of the 12-18 months prosecutors recommended in exchange for his cooperation in nailing Conahan and Ciavarella . But in his letter before the big announcement, Powell said, “I completely respect this court, and I am prepared to accept your decision. I am confident your decision will be just.”

The decision was 18 months. His lawyer said he was disappointed.

Are you kidding me? Geez, Judge, I just poured my heart out to you, expecting, maybe, home confinement. And you give me this in return?

Go to hell, Kosik!

- Betty Roccograndi

Thank You For Taxing Us. And What’s With The Yogurt Guy?

Local

Nov 042011

What a sweet way to inflict a $52 tax on workers. No, we mean it. This was really sugar coating at its finest.

Wednesday night, Kingston Twp. supervisors began the process for taxing anyone who works there $52, The TImes Leader reported. Like other municipalities, the township needs the money.

Township workers may be upset about this added expense in these hard economic times, but they need to look at the bright side, as did township Supervisor Jeffrey Box.

“We would be collecting funds from those who enjoy the benefits of the township because they work here.”

How can anyone not want to pay this tax?

Actually, Box may have a point. The fall foliage in the township at this time of year is breathtaking. If you work in Wilkes-Barre, all you get to see are empty store fronts.

The soon-to-be imposed “local services tax,” replaces the $10 occupational privilege tax. That tax was collected from those who enjoy the benefit of working period.

Those of us who work in Wilkes-Barre also pay this $52 tax. One of the benefits of working there is the challenge of dodging potholes enroute to and from work each day. An added benefit is the thrill of making it home without getting mugged if stopping at a Turkey Hill.

And speaking of assaults, we turn to the yogurt guy. Surely, you heard this bizarre tale. Two women from Procter & Gamble were enjoying their yogurt and suspected that something other than blueberries was in it because it tasted funny.

It turned out to be their male co-worker’s semen.

Joseph Bartorillo, of Larksville, plead guilty to injecting his bodily fluid through the thin foil top of the women’s yogurt. No one knows how long he had been doing this, but, in this case, let’s face it, ignorance is bliss.

Why would he do such a thing? Damned, if he knows. He said he didn’t even know his victims.

Frankly, it would have been more comforting if he did know them and hated them for rejecting his advances and vowed to get even like the tenacious heroine on that delightful show, “Revenge.”

Isn’t it better to know that someone was targeting a specific victim rather than worrying that a serial sicko was on the loose in your neighborhood or lunch room?

Bartorillo’s attorney, Demetrius Fannick, said, “There really is no reasonable explanation for his actions.” Maybe he did it, to quote Bill Clinton, “just because (he) could.”

We wouldn’t be surprised if these two women file a civil suit against him. Surely, they will never, ever be able to look at yogurt again without gagging, even the yummy Greek kind.

As for the rest of us, we’d be well advised to keep our lunches under wraps. God only knows if there are any copy cat food tamperers lurking around the office.

After this story, I, for one, am glad Big Brother is spying on us everywhere, especially at the supermarket. Let’s hope he’s peeking into restaurant kitchens as well.

- Betty Roccograndi

Cordaro Banks On “One Of The Best Known Names Behind Bars”

Local

Nov 032011

Wheeler-dealer Robert Cordaro has hired the ”go to guy” if you find yourself in deep trouble with the feds. And that’s quite fitting, since Cordaro was considered the go-to guy if you wanted to do business in the city of Scranton while he was its head honcho.

Now as he faces life in prison, he’s gone to renowned attorney Alan Ellis, who wrote the book on getting sentencing judges to go easy on his clients. Really, he did write a book. It’s called, the ”Federal Prison Guidebook,” and Ellis claims that every federal judge in America has a copy.

Cordaro, the former Lackawanna County commissioner/convicted racketeer already had a top-notch legal team, but switching to the “go-to guy” buys him some time. Cordaro and the Sundance Kid, A.J. Munchak, will now be home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s while the new attorneys get up to speed on the case.

The two were expected to depart for prison on Monday, Halloween.

Trick or Treat!

For sure, this postponed date with sentencing judge, Richard Caputo, was a treat for Lackawanna County’s two alleged hustlers. If Judge Caputo hasn’t read Ellis’ book, he may want to, so he’ll know whom he’s up against.

Cordaro also hired Peter Goldberger, an appeals lawyer with offices near Philadelphia, The Citizens’ Voice also reported this week. “I can’t talk to you,” he said. Well, he probably could but apparentlywould rather not.

Ellis, who specializes in federal sentencings and has offices in Philadelphia, New York City, San Francisco and Shanghai, confirmed to The Voice that he’s getting onboard.

If this Alan Ellis is indeed the same one who has offices in Shanghai, Robert Cordaro may just have made the most important decision of his life in hiring him.

Alan Ellis joked on the newsmagazine, “The West,” that he’s “the travel agent of federal prisons.” The newsmagazine introduced him as ”one of the best known names behind bars.”

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth District called him, a “nationally-recognized expert in federal criminal sentencing,” while Federal Lawyer magazine said Ellis is “one of this country’s pre-eminent criminal defense lawyers.” These tributes are on his law firm’s website.

This is sure to be one interesting show-down. Cordaro is charged with some very serious white-collar crimes, like money laundering, extortion and racketeering. Ellis doesn’t believe that we should be paying billions and billions of dollars incarcerating those who commit crimes but are not a danger to society. Well, that would surely empty the prisons.

Ellis offers these interesting statistics: 94% of all federal criminal defendants will plead guilty while 6% ( that would include Cordaro, Munchak and Mark Ciavarella) will go to trial. Of those who do, 75% will be convicted. If they were aware of those odds, these local three musketeers took quite a gamble.

Depending on how he makes out before Judge Caputo, Cordaro might want to pass along Alan Ellis’ business card to Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, who are serving 28 and 17 1/2 years respectively for selling their judgeships to Rob Mericle and Robert Powell.

Speaking of Powell, his turn is up on Friday.

- Betty Roccograndi

A “Marriage” Made And Unmade In Reality Ratings Heaven

National, PB-Ometer

Nov 012011

Kim Kardashian thought her $10 million marriage would last forever. But, alas, she withstood about as much as she could after 72 days.

Her husband, rocket scientist Kris Humphries, discovered Kim was materialistic. During their courtship, she must have deceived him into thinking that all she wanted out of life was a modest home encircled by a white picket fence and filled with little children to love and nurture.

Despite his shocking discovery that Kim actually loves mansions and the Hope diamond, Hughes, an NBA player, said he’s determined to save his “marriage.” He has reason to. Kim made it clear she has no intentions of giving him spousal support.

Unbeknownst to me, I was the one who broke the shattering news to my two nieces Monday night when I mentioned in passing, ”Do you believe that goof is getting a divorce.”

WHAAAAAAT! they shrieked. NOOOOOOO. I almost fell over. Judging by their reaction, one would have thought that Kim was their BFF.

But everyone who follows reality TV knows Kim and her family and their mindless shenanigans. I’m not one of them, but I am following brother Rob on “Dancing With The Stars.” Kim has been in the audience, pouting snootily for the cameras.

So now everyone will have to tune into the Kardashians’ reality show on E! to see how Kim copes with the devastation of divorce. It won’t be easy, especially if Humphries persists in his quest for spousal support. She will need two hot stone massages a day instead of one.

Hopefully, he won’t demand back the 20.5-carat ring he gave her. Hasn’t this girl been through enough already?

But Kim’s not as shallow as some may think. She said she’s a workaholic, that she stayed up all night working on “wedding stuff.”

A source told People magazine that Kim “just wanted a fairy tale.” And what five-year old Cinderella wanna-be doesn’t? Oh, wait. Kim Kardashian is 31 years old.

The bitter truth is we have to share some of the blame here for Kim’s sad divorce. We are enablers. Her wedding made national news because viewers live vicariously through the Kim Kardashians of this world. If we can’t have a $10 million wedding, we might as well attend one, even if it’s only by sitting in front of our flat screen TVs with a bowl of popcorn on our laps.

So now it’s up to us to help this poor, little rich girl get on with the next 72 days of her life. We owe her that much. Her fairy tale marriage went up in smoke, stoked by irreconcilable differences. All he wanted to do was party, she complained, while she probably wanted nothing more than to stay home and bake pumpkin muffins.

Ryan Seacrist, who produces her show, told People, “She says she’s sad and got caught up in all that was going on.” Like the reported $18 million her wedding generated in TV rights and magazine deals.

Kim’s sad now, but she’ll get over it. She probably already has.

- Betty Roccograndi

PureBunkum

Robin Hood’s Coming To Town

What Could Be More Extravagant Than 11 1/2 Weeks Off With Pay?

Budget Problems? Well, Yeah, But We’re Still Taking Our Raises

Black Friday: The Bewitching Hour

Let The Lies Begin

Like The X Files: The Truth Is Out There

Horseplay OR BS?

A Common Thread: Watergate and Penn State

Crucified For What He DIDN’T Do

Bless Them Father For They Have Sinned.

“the stuff movies are made of”

Thank You For Taxing Us. And What’s With The Yogurt Guy?

Cordaro Banks On “One Of The Best Known Names Behind Bars”

A “Marriage” Made And Unmade In Reality Ratings Heaven

Follow Me

Polls

Archives

National

Site Links

Local Bloggers