I've called Governor Tom Wolf's shutdown order draconian, and it is. But he's a pushover compared to Bethlehem resident Arthur Curatola. At last night's City Council, he had two suggestions on coping with the Covid-19 pandemic.
First, no one should allow their cats outdoors. I have no idea why.
Second, restaurants should be barred from selling fried food and pizza. We should eat rice 'n beans instead.
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Wednesday, May 06, 2020
41 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
You can call Wolf's order draconian until the cows come home, and I doubt most people will pay any notice. You see, people care about their health, and the health of their loves ones. I was in line at a store in an area that is mostly Republican. We were there for an hour, chatting about what is going on with the virus. Not a single person bitched about Wolf. People are scared, and they should be. They are concerned that we will know it is safe to circulate again. They are concerned they will infect their parents, aunts and uncles. True story, Bernie. You should get some exercise and interview some people. This blog post was a bit thin, but you found space to sling crap at Wolf as usual. Doesn't it get boring for you too?
ReplyDelete1242am
ReplyDelete.0191% effective death rate in PA.
I am a Democrat.
Wolf is insane. NY is less restrictive!
People like this must be put down
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@ 12:42
" People are scared, and they should be".
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man...
"First, no one should allow their cats outdoors."
ReplyDeletei like the cut of his jib
"You can call Wolf's order draconian until the cows come home, and I doubt most people will pay any notice."
ReplyDeletewill you please stfu? this was not about wolf.
it was a joke
Our politicians are accountable to everyone. When necessary, call them out publicly.
ReplyDeleteI was not present, don’t know this man, Mr. Curatola. But, if he is a tax paying citizen who stood-up in public to express himself, to make his displeasure known, he gets my respect. Thank you, Sir!
As Wolf has entered the pantheon of asshole incompetent governors, this Bethlehem moron seems perfect for Wolf's cabinet.
ReplyDeleteBernie, I appreciate your blog and would love to see you deep dive the deaths by gender number. Dr Levine, of all people, has reported 100% of CoViD-19 deaths among just two genders. At a time when the doctor is being accused of cooking the numbers (last week, 200 Pennsylvanians were miraculously brought back from the dead by the good doctor), it seems unfathomable that only two genders have been affected. What gives with these numbers?
Can't wait to read your morning blog.
ReplyDeletePeople care about earning a living to feed their families.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what it has to do with COVID-19, but he's right that people should keep cats indoors. Cats are a leading cause of death for birds and mammals: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/outdoor-cats-kill-between-14-billion-and-37-billion-birds-a-year-study-says/2013/01/31/2504f744-6bbe-11e2-ada0-5ca5fa7ebe79_story.html
ReplyDeleteBO.?
ReplyDeleteSlow news day ?
Funny thing , Mr Donchez was asked twice last night about Musickfest and ignored that question both times.....there is no way Musick fest should be allowed this year,,,that would be totally assinine......
ReplyDelete12:42 AM
ReplyDeleteInteresting. So people standing in line didn't want to start a public argument.
I was in a similar line the other day, and nobody made any snide remarks about Trump either.
I guess both guys are doing a great job.
Lehigh Valley Ramblings has finally jumped the shark.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure that you're not back on the bottle, Bern?
Can’t understand why so many are willing to just accept whatever their politician says. Whether at this kind of public meeting or any other. If your politician claims something like “We can’t get enough PPG to allow elective surgeries in our hospitals, etc.”. Don’t just move on! Challenge their claim.
ReplyDelete‘Did you request what you need from another state, or from the Federal Government? If the answer is ‘Yes,’ follow-up with “ OK, Tell us the name of who you spoke to, and at what office.”
If your politician refuses to do this . . . . . They’ve been LYING to you!
Fellow posters, some politicians are ‘making-up shit as they go along.’ Don’t let them get away with it!
12:42am I do not doubt your story. However, in the next social experiment, ask the "not bitching about Wolf" crowd whether their household income or future livelihood was negatively affected by the shutdown. I'm self employed and my customers are all mom and pops throughout PA(53 to be exact) and they(and me) are speaking to a different reality than what you experienced in the grocery store. If my customers were in the grocery line with you, they would definitely use the word "draconian", as would I.
ReplyDeleteKeep your pussy home !
ReplyDeleteNeed a picture of this guy! So we know to stay away from him!
ReplyDeleteThe people who are advocating strongest to stay home are the individuals with a guaranteed income coming in. Retirees, pensioners, school teachers and government workers.
ReplyDeleteThe working class, who still cannot get unemployment checks 8 weeks in, are really struggling and they need to go back to work.
9:19 I see some teachers/retired teachers on FB and other social media, probably here too, railing against the people who want to reopen and save their business. The teachers fail to realize that by supporting stay at home, they are supporting the failure of the very people who's success provided them the historically high level of guaranteed pay and retirement they now enjoy.
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:42 said:
ReplyDelete"You can call Wolf's order draconian until the cows come home, and I doubt most people will pay any notice...not a single person bitched about Wolf. People are scared, and they should be.
Most people won't pay any notice? You seem to notice every time Bernie mentions Wolf, so it would seem to me that you're worried.
I also doubt you spoke to anybody about Wolf. I was out over the weekend in Allentown, and talked to a lot of people in the parks that I visited. The parks were packed, with a most people not wearing masks. The people I spoke to are pissed at Wolf, and also at Schweyer and Schlossberg.
Allentown is hardly a Republican hotbed, and it would seem that Wolf's edicts are opening quite a few eyes.
I have no idea about the political affiliation of this guy, his mental state, or even if he was just trying to be funny.
ReplyDeleteEven if he wasn't, I still cringe when I see a private citizen called out for speaking at a public meeting.
Maybe his views on cats and fried food are gaining support and I just haven't heard about it. But if not, I think it better to just let the comment die a quick death than prolong it in a blog and embarrass the guy.
Public meetings are already poorly attended, and many residents are afraid to speak their minds on the issues facing us. I would guess that many of us have said some stupid things in our lives, so I say cut the guy a break.
Instead of promoting public discourse and participation, which is the thing I like best about this blog, I think posts like this tend to chill it instead.
10:21 - That’s the point I was making. Our politicians and governmental bodies must be held accountable. Asking questions, making critical statements in-person, is essential in America. We should encourage what this fellow did, not make light of it. I was disappointed to see such an entry here.
ReplyDeleteI am not criticizing this person for exercising his right to speak. I have filed and even won lawsuits over the right to speak at public meetings. The right to speak does include the right to be an idiot. I thought what this fellow had to say was amusing. He is a frequent speaker and there is no doubt in my mind that he is undeterred by this post. You have a point, but when I attend meetings, I listen to and often react to what members of the public have to say. In Bethlehem, they are very often eloquent. Many of my stories, even my news stories, will include references to what they say. Sometimes, they can be ugly, especially in Bethlehem Tp. When that happens, I point it out as well. It is all part of the story.
ReplyDeleteAside from the humor, what this man makes clear to me is that there are people who think eating healthy is more important than individual liberty. That's kinda' scary. It also tells me that some people most think you can contract Covid-19 from a house cat, a possibility that has been discounted in the news accounts I've read.
Here’s my bottom line, Bernie. You smeared this private citizen by name. Could have just said “Some regular attendee at these meetings actually said . . .” This is where I stop posting.
ReplyDeleteScientifically, he's all wet. Cat owners can carefully lift their pets and wave them over and around suspected individuals to determine if they have CoViD-19. It's called a CAT scan and can be performed at home. Other household animals may be used if more detail is desired. Those are PET scans. Animals are our friends. We don't deserve them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the man on both points. Cats are little murders. I do miss the call of the whip-poor-will which has been decimated by feline murders. Second, obese have a greater risk of dying of a whole slew of things, let alone covid. Plus rice and beans/peas are damn good.
ReplyDeleteWe will have to continue the negations on the pizza though.
"This is where I stop posting." Thanks. Appreciated.
ReplyDeleteSmells like Don in here again.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to maintain a sense of humor. My unemployment app went into the vapor and nobody is responding in Harrisburg. I haven't received my stimulus money either. But my Nana did yesterday! She died in early '18, but it's the thought that counts. Trying to call IRS to send the check back. But they're not answering either. They'll probably send SWAT to corral me for the riff raff I am. Hope your global pandemic is going as well or better than mine!
ReplyDeleteAn earlier comment stated that "people are scared." People were scared after 9/11, but our government tried to allay our fears, rather than harp on every bad statistic. Yes, more people are impacted by Covid-19, but our elected leaders are being far more doom and gloom than they are championing the promise of the future. I guess "keep calm and carry on" is an antiquated notion.
ReplyDeleteWe have nothing to hear but fear itself.
ReplyDeleteFound one black cat.
ReplyDelete12:45 FDR in a 1941 speech,that began laying the groundwork for entering the US into WWII, proclaimed that we would have to fight(at a cost of 407,000 mostly young Americans) to ensure 4 fundamental freedoms...Freedom of speech, of worship, from want, and of fear. 79 years later another democrat, Tom Wolf, threw most of that out the window because of an unpublished model of grossly overestimated pessimism that was not evidence based.
ReplyDeleteI think Gov Wolf respects most of the Constitution. He just has problems with a few pesky amendments. Keep in mind, he cannot pass any law or levy penalties, despite what overzealous LEOs choose to do. That's up to our legislature in absentia. Sadly, all these charges will be dismissed and Constitutional violations will only be dealt with after this has passed. The cost of the lawsuits will be staggering and a type of superfund will need to be established to pay the damages.
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:51 said:
ReplyDelete"Dr Levine, of all people, has reported 100% of CoViD-19 deaths among just two genders. At a time when the doctor is being accused of cooking the numbers (last week, 200 Pennsylvanians were miraculously brought back from the dead by the good doctor), it seems unfathomable that only two genders have been affected. What gives with these numbers?"
You might be onto something.
Could this mean that those of the remaining x-number of genders don't have to worry about the virus?
Or was the disease manufactured as some sort a conspiracy that is meant to thin the herd of the traditional two genders?
Surely Dr. Levine and Governor Wolf aren't admitting that there actually ARE only two genders, and when they say otherwise it's not just to divide and score political points.
BO, maybe you're not as smart as you say you are. Newsweek article seems to suggest that cats can get Covid-19 as several tested positive. So whatever you said about that gentleman, you are below him in intellect or at least are less well read.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newsweek.com/can-animals-get-coronavirus-new-york-pet-cats-test-positive-covid-19-1499804
I never said that cats or other pets are unable to contract Covid-19. But research suggests it is "extremely unlikely" that a human can contract Covid-19 from a pet. Follow the science. https://www.sciencealert.com/can-you-catch-covid-19-from-your-pets-here-s-the-science
ReplyDeleteIf the Legislature is so inclined they can vote to overturn all of Wolfs actions. It is their call.
ReplyDeleteSome Dems would have to join, and that hasn't been happening. But that's about to change.
ReplyDelete