The LuLac Edition #2496, August 17th, 2013

Our “Maybe I’m Amazed” logo.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that MotorWorld got their asses kicked in court for a work discrimination case to the tune of $750,000 bucks. It seems that a Muslim woman who was working for them got habitually harassed by her fellow employees. And according to published reports, she was one of their top sales earner! Like, where was management? Who was in charge when all of this was going on? The Citizen’s Voice reported that Fadwa Charnitski claimed in a lawsuit she was subjected to a hostile work environment and was fired because she is a Muslim woman from Kuwait. The lawsuit claimed MotorWorld fired her without an investigation or hearing after a baseless complaint that she called a customer "a stupid American." More power to her on that one if she did. I hate going to the movies because I hate the ignorant jerks from this area that talk non stop through the movie. But today we went to see that new movie “The Butler” and the beloved seniors in the theatre would not shut the **** up. Plus, this area is so convinced they are constantly getting screwed out of everything, that maybe she ran into an ignorant bastard on that day. But that does not outweigh the fact that management did nothing. Maybe the harassment has more to do with her being a successful woman and not a Muslim at all. I’ve known a few car salesman and they are pretty touchy about the size of their commissions and a few other things I won’t mention. I won’t even go into MotorWorld’s business practices regarding selling of parts but if I’m a woman, a minority, a friend of a woman or a minority, the last place I would even consider going for a vehicle would be there. And please don’t tell me we are the Valley With A heart and tolerant! Shit, we have companies that have now been found responsible in court for harassment and discrimination to one of “the team”. Just imagine how they treat someone they don’t know and work with. But hey, we love everybody around here, don’t we???
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that now we find out the Mayor’s brother, Brian Leighton did not even have the qualifications for that job he got at the Wilkes Barre Area School District. The slime balls who hired him, JOHN QUINN, LOU ELMY, DINO GALELLA, PHIL LITINSKI and MARY ANN TOOLE had to know he wasn’t qualified. But each and every one of them owe their allegiance to the Democratic machine (which is on the run with crap like this) because that’s how they won election to the board. Only in the Wilkes Barre Area School District could an unqualified individual get a job and say when found out, “Uh, the transcripts are on the way!” Anywhere else in freaking America, don’t you have to have those before you get the job? 
Once there was CETA, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act program. Now there’s the BFEMRP. That’s the Barney Farms Employ My Relative Program.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the Scranton Garbage fee billing office is sooooooooooo screwed up, even Senator Casey forgot to pay his 2012 bill because he never saw one. Casey did pay the 2013 bill on time and paid the 2012 one with interest. Really? Why should he pay interest and a late fee because the people in charge of the billing couldn’t even manage to send a bill to a guy who has lived in the same house for twenty years?
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……but not so much that the Luzerne County Council is getting some side way looks from the union leadership because the Council wants them to work Luzerne County employees to work 37 and a half hours! I’m sure if half of them had jobs in the public sector, they’d have nervous breakdowns! I saw on Facebook the other day that a County employee was leaving work early to go to an amusement park with his family. It said, "Working in the morning, taking the rest of the day off”. I wonder how anyone could tell the difference? Now, let me state that this is not the case with "all" public employees at the Courthouse. I want to be clear on that, there are many dedicated workers. But those many get tarnished by a few goldbrickers that make it impossible to proudly bear the title of public employee.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the largest silver nugget (1840 pounds) was found in 1894 near Aspen, Colorado.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that there are some people actually saying the FBI left town too soon when it came to the Wilkes Barre and Pittston Area School boards. Three people from the Wilkes Barre Area School Board got a prison sentence and the Superintendent from Pittston served jail time. Blatant disregard of school board policies (policies they voted on themselves) does not constitute illegality but the next step of outright criminality is just a few temptations away.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that it only took a few weeks for George Zimmerman to get in the news again. Zimmerman was stopped in Texas with a gun under his seat. This guy is a walking tabloid newspaper.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……at the crappy power signals I get in Wilkes Barre on FM. When I was growing up, FM was supposed to be “superior sound”. The FM signals for ESPN and The River come in fine at night but sound like AM 250 watters during the day. Reminds me of the old days when I had the transistor radio and pulled in stations like CKLW, WCFL, WABC and WKBW at night.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….but not much by the stories of the two “friends” who shot and killed their buddy and dumped his car and body into a gorge. You can’t fault the Scranton police for not saying it 1was a murder because I’m sure this helped flesh the idiots out. And then there was the woman who is charged with offing her boyfriend and calling it suicide. Coroner’s inquest scored big on that one. I guess the moral of the story here goes back to what your mom always said, “Pick your friends carefully”.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that Tom Corbett cannot or will not realize that by expanding Medicaid, that would reduce (according to published reports) the number of people who do not have health insurance to about 56%. That means those people not without, would be covered. But Corbett and this brand of GOP strikes me as those who don’t give a rat’s ass about those without. Now if they were oil companies asking for a handout…........something different entirely.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that Luzerne County District Attorney Stephanie Salavantis had the gumption to file a lawsuit to try and get more funding for her office. Even though Salavantis’ action will not go that far, you have to give her credit for giving it a try. Salavantis has grown into the job and is building a record here. Plus she can compare notes with her predecessor Jackie Musto Carroll who reportedly is under the dome again in a legal capacity for the County.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..at the speaking ability or lack thereof of State Representative Tarah Toohil in a public setting. When I was viewing the replay of the Swearing in ceremonies for Correalle Stevens for his seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, I caught Toohil’s remarks. I was struck by the faces of the Judicial powerhouses behind her as she went on. She’s been elected twice, seems personable but it was really painful to watch.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that no matter what Major League Baseball does, it can’t get out of the shadow of the NFL. When I was a kid, the July 31st trading deadline was the biggest thing in the summer next to the All Star Game. Sports Talk was filled on Wednesday night, not with who was being traded or kept but about Riley Cooper of the Eagles use of the “n” word while trying to jump a line at a Kenny Chesney concert. The trade deadline story was about the fifth story down. (And if you are an NFL players, don’t you have flunkies or boys to do that type of thing for you?) Then last week no current Hall of Famer went into Cooperstown on induction day. My friends who have businesses up there for HOF weekend took a beating because that weekend makes their year. And the NFL had 7 luminaries inducted Chris Carter Jonathan Ogden, Dave Robinson, Larry Allen, Bill Parcells, Curley Culp and Warren Sapp Very glad to see former Packer Robinson finally in. He was a member of those Super bowl I and II Packers.
MAYBE I'M AMAZED…..that the highest denomination of money on U.S. currency is the $100,000 bill. And here’s the guy on it. (See below).

MAYBE II’M AMAZED…….that WARM Radio’s signal still is not up to par. Fans of the Mighty 590 are not really happy trying to get some listen ability to the signal. We’re told the staffers are still trying to repair it.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that Congress has the lowest rating ever and with that, decides to go on vacation The reaction from visitors to the Capitol the other day was priceless. Imagine having tons of issues on your plate in private business and saying, “See ya, gotta go!”. That’s why no one respects Congress and even with his recently low ratings, Obama is seen by reasonable people as trying to do something.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that a polar bear can smell a seal from 20 miles away.
MAYBE I'M AMAZED.......that the Phillies would not let Manager Charlie Manuel go out gracefully. He turned the team around, got them to two World Series and won one. But loyalty is not abundant in MLB.