Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Summer Camp!

Mrs. Froth and I dropped The Frothling off at horseback camp for five days of riding and other camp adventures!  

Ruminating....

Pam Iovino defeats D. Raja in a special election for a South Hills State Senate seat. The district was gerrymandered by Republicans in 2010 to maximize a Republican's chances to win, and has historically been an "R" seat. And while I commend Allegheny County Republicans for nominating an immigrant and a person of color for seat, I have to wonder if the national Republican Party's racism and xenophobia cost Raja the election? Did many Republican or Republican leaning voters not turn out because they weren't willing to vote for an immigrant, or an Indian?

Democrats Flip State Senate Seat

Pam Iovino wins special election!

Just a couple more seats to flip and the state Senate turns blue!

Goodbye, Post Gazette

So the P-G called, and asked if they could help with renewing my subscription. I told them I wasn't renewing. She asked if price was the problem, and I said, no, its the direction the paper's taken over the past two years. 1: The cowardly decision to not endorse someone for president. 2: The racist MLK day editorial. 3: The batshit insane endorsement of Rick Saccone over Conor Lamb. It wasn't that the paper endorsed Saccone, it was the rational; He's an experienced state rep (who hasn't accomplished anything of note in Harrisburg over a decade aside from getting the state sued on state/church separation issues) and that Lamb will vote to impeach Trump (a "fact" not in evidence). The last straw was firing Bob Rogers and replacing him with an unfunny hack who regularly produces misogynist cartoons. She protested, "I'm just a billing clerk, I can give you the comments line." I said, No, you're a representative of the paper who called and inquired about why I wasn't renewing and I told you why. I've also been contacting your advertisers, so they know why your circulation is dropping. Now you have something to tell your supervisor when he inquires about success rates in re-upping subscribers.

I've subscribed to that paper for 30 years.  No more.

 

Rosfeld Not Guilty

I've avoided commenting on this case, because I wanted to get all the facts before coming to a conclusion. While I found the initial reporting on this tragedy troubling, I was also interested on why the prosecution didn't call a use of force expert to testify, and why they didn't call the driver of the car to testify. I found Rosfeld's testimony compelling, especially his describing that he thought he saw an object in Rose's hand. The law states that you must view the facts of the case based on what a reasonable police officer would conclude, and forced to make a split-second decision based on the facts at hand. Did Rose deserve to die? No. But is Rosfeld guilty of premeditated murder? Also, no, and so says not me, but a jury of his peers.

Steelerbation

So our local jock sniffers keep complaining about talking about Antonio Brown, yet they continue to talk about Antonio Brown.

Froth Goes To Nicky's Thai Kitchen

So yesterday was Mrs. Froth's birthday, so we bundled up the kids and headed to Nicky's Thai Kitchen for a birthday meal!  Mrs. Froth and I had been here once before for lunch, and we liked it, but we weren't sure how the kids would react.  The Frothling is an adventurous eater, so we knew she's be fine, but Frothette is a very picky eater, and the Frothite is not quite 3 years old, so we weren't sure about her either.

Frothette played it safe with the chicken noodle soup, but she was amazed at the size of the tureen it came in.  Luckily, Frothite helped out!  Frothite chowed down on pork dumplings, so much so that we ordered another six which she eagerly devoured.  The Frothling ordered mixed seafood with snow peas, and Mrs. Froth enjoyed a plate of Param Chicken.  AS for me, I had the Shitake Duck.  When our pleasant waitress asked me how hot I wanted it, I told her "Thai hot."  It was searingly spicily delicious, but a cup of hot sake and some Thai beer tamed the flame.  I also had the squid appetizer, which was very tasty.

We spent $200 including the tip, but it was a wonderful feast, and there were plenty of leftovers.  I took my leftover duck and mushrooms and made a nice udon soup for lunch today. 

Supremes Refuse To Hear Pennsylvania Gerrymandering Case

This is huge!

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an attempt by top Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers to delay drawing a new congressional map after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had found the current one unconstitutional.

What that means is that the Republican legislature will have to draw a partisan-neutral map that passes muster with Democratic Governor Tom Wolfe, and the Commonwealth's Supreme Court.  It also means that going forward, Pennsylvania's maps will probably be much more politically neutral for the foreseeable future.

SNOW DAY!

Sure, its a Saturday, and the kiddos are down in Virginia visiting their grandmother, but this is our first significant snowfall of the season (we got a light snow on Christmas) so I'm excited!  I don't think I could live someplace that didn't have four distinct seasons.  

Daryl Nutcase Doesn't Want You Touching Him

Once again, The Shame of Butler County makes an ass of himself.  From the P-G:

Mr. Metcalfe's comments, captured on video, came after the committee's ranking Democrat, state Rep. Matt Bradford of Montgomery County, was trying to make a point about a bill having to do with land use and, for a split second, laid his hand on Mr. Metcalfe's left forearm. The two were seated side by side at a conference table.
"Representative Bradford," said Mr. Metcalfe, interrupting Mr. Bradford in mid-sentence. "Look, I’m a heterosexual. I have a wife, I love my wife. I don’t like men, as you might. But stop touching me all the time."
He then added: "It’s like keep your hands to yourself. Like, if you want to touch somebody, you have people on your side of the aisle that might like it. I don’t."
A shocked Mr. Bradford — who, according to his official biography, is married to a woman and has four children — began laughing.
"We are officially off the rails," Mr. Bradford says, as his colleagues begin erupting in laughter

I think ol' Daryl may have some issues he needs resolved!