Connect-The-Dots (List Makers Edition) News: Post-Gazette Scooped By ... Post-Gazette Blog

The forces able to cause the Post-Gazette news desk (and editorial board) to continue to refuse to play Connect-The-Dots (List Makers Edition) appear to be unable to influence the proprietors of Early Returns.

How Republicans Broke Our Country, Chapter 2

The next time a conservative starts yapping about the size, cost, competence or accountability of government, show that person this article about the overpriced outsourcing of core government functions to inappropriately motivated contractors by overmatched and frightened federal officials in the wake of the September 11 attack, then show him the color-coded deficit chart, then ask whether that conservative has anything to say other than, "I apologize -- for everything Republicans inflicted on this country and our world in seven disastrous years."

Why Pay To Watch A Big Hollywood Production When The Original Inspiration Is Here And Free?

Ever wonder what Hollywood would do with a script obviously inspired by a session in which Pittsburgh's mayor addresses council?

It opens July 30.

(That must be Luke on the right; could that be a young Doug Shields on the left?)

Why Wait For Pulitzer Announcements When You Can Watch A Prize Be Forged Day-By-Day?

Ever want to watch a Pulitzer Prize be forged day-by-day?

You can start this morning.

Sunday Reading: Refudiate This! Edition

The Periodic Table: An elementally interesting series.

Afghanistan: It ain't over, but we lost, but that's O.K.

Holywood: The Passion Of Mel Gibson, the Sequel.

Wasilla, AK: A Shakespearean call on Muslims to refudiate.

Rock Bottom, AK: Fighting over a Jerry Springer star?

No Word On Whether Nutting Tossed The Kid For Failing To Overcharge On PNC Park Premises

Bob Smizik points to a story (Corey Giger, Altoona Mirror) indicating that not everything -- well, nearly everything, but not everything -- that occurs at or near PNC Park is ugly.

In This Jurisdiction, The Best Defense Is A Good . . . Relationship With The Right People

No disrepect intended toward Robert Del Greco, but the combined efforts of local police and a local judge (no indication yet of whether a phone call was involved) have produced a remarkably pleasant criminal justice experience for a well-connected local man, an outcome even more striking for occurrence in the courtroom of Jeffrey Manning, commonly perceived to be unsympathetic toward defendants.

(Of course, it isn't the first time. Or the second. Or the third. Or . . .)

Infinonytune: It Wasn't Me, George Thorogood / Delaware Destroyers
Infinonytune: Cocaine Blues, George Thorogood / Delaware Destroyers
Infinonytune: I'm Wanted, George Thorogood / Delaware Destroyers
Infinonytune: Wanted Man, George Thorogood / Delaware Destroyers

News From The Inbreeding Desk: Datelines McKeesport and Charleston, West Virginia

McKeesport's school directors apparently have concluded that their district is excellent, and that the best way to maintain that excellence is to begin continue a program of inbreeding.

The synergistic effects of Dan Onorato's regressive assessments and the school directors' inbreeding system produce two obvious Infinonytips for McKeesport residents:

1) Move.
2) Now.

UPDATE: Breaking news from the Inbreeding Desk: West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin reportedly has overcome the instinct to appoint his daughter -- creative resumeist Heather Bresch -- to the United States Senate, instead choosing his 36-year-old former mouthpiece, Carte Goodwin.

Harrisburg's Corrupt Cronies Dodge Magic Bullet

Leading a "bipartisan effort to scour the corruption and cronyism from Harrisburg" still seems the ideal public service assignment for Sen. Arlen Specter as his admirable Senate career approaches conclusion, but it appears Sen. Specter has chosen to tackle a less-difficult task: arranging peace in the Middle East.

Infinonytune: I Fought The Law, Bobby Fuller Four

Lacking The Courage Of Their Conniptions, Iowa Tea Partiers Scrap Hitler-Obama-Stalin Billboard

Too early to tell whether it was the Infiscrutiny, or perhaps a case of the merely unhinged pulling rank on the genuinely daft among right-wing outliers, but that Hitler-Obama-Stalin billboard commissioned by Tea Partiers in Iowa was papered over this morning.

The stain, however, remains.

Safe To Say Their Message Is Getting Out . . .

A billboard commissioned by the North Iowa Tea Party:

A Fine But Sad Day For Journalism In Pittsburgh

Journalism is a noble and (for those who prefer a decent society) indispensable craft; Pittsburgh's newspapers display two of good journalism's better features today.

First, the Post-Gazette recounts information concerning a competitor without slant, slight or rancor.

Second, the woman recounted was the type of person who makes some journalism admirable.

Infinonytune: Daily Records, The Who

Sunday Reading: Small-Town Edition

A century ago: Sam's still the man.

Court of Common Pleas: More bush-league "justice."

Grant Street: The inept bamboozling the gullible.

The Nine-Ring Circus: Dysfunction, as usual, reigns.

Bad Day On The Bench For Judge Rangos = Great Day For Lethally Negligent Gun Nut

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill Rangos had a bad day at the office today.

Michael Lanese -- who asked his nine-year-old twins to clean his guns without supervision after he attended a gun show with them, then fled the country after one child blew the other's brains out -- was before Judge Rangos for sentencing after police arrested him in Vietnam.

Judge Rangos sent Mr. Lanese home this afternoon, "time served," after observing:

"The damage here is done and it's not repairable."

That description covers merely 99 percent of criminal prosecutions and defendants (100 percent of homicides). Unless Judge Rangos has a soft spot for lethally negligent gun nuts with a lengthy reported history of poor parenting, today's decision is inexplicable.

Judge Rangos, never among the county's better judges, should not count today among her better on the bench.

A similar courtroom performance:

Disaster Looming Along Riding Trail Lane?

The Post-Gazette website has for more than 12 hours featured a skeletal report concerning a substantial fire at an unidentified home along exclusive (two-acre homesites) Riding Trail Lane in Fox Chapel. Why no update? Is the Post-Gazette waiting for confirmation of whether the situation qualifies as a disaster -- for example, if the affected property were insured for its assessed value instead of its actual value?

Infinonytune: Burning Down The House, Tom Jones