The Conundrum We Call Obama, 10/2/13

Today,
President Obama
called leading Republicans
to the White House to tell them
that he doesn't want to talk to them.

Just another day in Obamaville . . . 

If This Isn't 'Mean And Heartless,' What Is?

REMEMBER THIS: It wasn't the Republicans who put a fence around the open-air World War II Memorial, blockaded it and prevented veteran members of The Greatest Generation from visiting the memorial. 

That was the work of the Obama Administration and its US Parks Service under the Department of the Interior. 

And, get this: By some accounts, President Obama actually sent more people to close the World War II Memorial (7) then he did to defend our ambassador and his staff in Benghazi (5). You wanna talk mean and heartless? 

It's mean and heartless (and cunning and manipulative) to deprive our veterans of the right to visit their own, public open-air memorial. 

BTW: These open air monuments have never been "closed" during previous government shutdowns.

A Beautiful Night In A Beautiful City!

Last night was an absolutely beautiful fall evening in the city.
The sky was clear. There were no harsh winds. Weather-wise, it was the end of yet another perfect, golden day.
And the city simply shimmered in a newfound glow. An autumnal pause.
It was as if the Big Town settled into a languid afterglow, so pleased with itself.
To witness it was a simple joy.
Photo copyright 2013 by Dan Cirucci.

Obamacare's Sign-Up Day: A Disaster!

Wow! Great New Food Choices At Wells Fargo Center

Comcast-Spectacor, the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment firm which owns both the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center, and Aramark, the official concessionaire of the Wells Fargo Center, today unveiled a new, stellar line up of incredible new food options at the Wells Fargo Center. These delicious new food offerings will make their season debut when the Flyers host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m.

A new technology available to fans sitting in a Club Box seat is the ability to place a food or drink order on a touch screen tablet and have it delivered directly to their seat. Club Box seats also have an enhanced adult beverage menu featuring three-tier alcohol, including “Golia Vodka” and “Jack Daniel’s Honey."

The new food options include:

Asahi Sushi: Located outside section 116, this Bellevue Food Court favorite will offer their popular California roll, spicy tuna roll, eel roll and negiri.

Hot Diggity: Located on the concourse outside of the Cure Insurance Club as well as on the mezzanine level outside of section 202, this South Street favorite will feature several hot dog options including a Buffalo Dog and Chili Dog.

Lorenzo and Son’s: Located on the concourse outside section 102 and 114 as well as on the mezzanine level outside section 207 and 220, this South Street favorite and “Best Of Philly” winner will feature their famous large brick-oven pizza slices.

New spirits available include Philadelphia Flyers-branded wine called “Flyers Red” and “Flyers White” made locally at the Chaddsford Winery. Both wines are made with American blends and will also be available for purchase in liquor stores throughout the Tri-State area.

In addition to being the home of the Flyers and the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers, the Wells Fargo Center, one of the busiest arenas in the world, will once again bask in the national spotlight as the 21,000-seat arena will play host to both the 2014 NCAA Frozen Four and the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Comcast-Spectacor (comcast-spectacor.com) is the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company which owns the Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), the home arena for both the Flyers and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, the Wells Fargo Center, and four Flyers Skate Zone community ice skating and hockey rinks. In addition, Comcast-Spectacor is also the principal owner of Global Spectrum, the fastest growing firm in the public assembly management field with more than 100 facilities throughout the United States and Canada; Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage service provider; New Era Tickets, a ticketing and marketing company for public assembly facilities; Front Row Marketing Services, a commercial rights sales company; FanOne, a digital fan marketing company; and Paciolan, the leading provider of venue enablement, ticketing, fundraising and marketing technology solutions.

Monster Jam Truck In Marlton, Wed. 10/2 at 3

In anticipation of the upcoming Monster Jam spectacular at the Wells Fargo Center (October 4 –6), Chick-Fil-A customers can take part in Monster-Sized Car Wash with Monster Jam Truck "Crushstation" and Monster Jam Truck Driver Greg Winchenbach tomorrow at 3 PM.at the Chick-Fil-A at 22 Route 73 North (between Route 70 and Exit 4 of the NJ Turnpike) in Marlton. All proceeds of the $5 car wash will be donated to Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey, a non-profit organization that supports United States Military members serving abroad.

Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam, the world’s premier monster truck series, will rattle the Wells Fargo Center from Friday, October 4 through Sunday, October 6. Eight trucks will shake the earth of the Wells Fargo Center like never before including Grave Digger, Son Uva Digger, Grave Digger the Legend, Stone Crusher, Crush-Station, Monster Energy, Monster Mutt, and Hooked. Tickets are on sale now exclusively through ComcastTIX online at ComcastTIX.com, by phone at 800-298-4200 or in person at the Wells Fargo Center box office.

Governor Chris Christie Files Nominations

Governor Chris Christie yesterday filed the following nominations with the State Senate. The Governor’s nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the State Senate.

NOMINATIONS

NEW JERSEY EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES AUTHORITY

Nominate for reappointment Roger Bruce Jacobs, Esq. (West Orange, Essex)

            Nominate for reappointment Ridgeley G. Hutchinson (Lambertville, Hunterdon)

Oh, The Ravages Of The Government Shutdown

Awwww . . . . The congressional barber shop and shoeshine stand inside the Capitol are closed so members of Congress will have to let their beautiful locks grow a bit longer and their shoes become more scuffed (like the rest of us, I suppose). 

Also, the elevator operators* (Remember them?) are not on the job so members of Congress will actually have to push buttons to activate their elevators. 

If this isn't a calamity, we don't know what is!

*For those under the age of 60 (or maybe even 65) once upon a time elevators were operated by real, live people called "elevator operators." Yes, real people stayed in the elevator and operated it much as you would drive a car. They used a small wheel with a lever that usually moved right for the elevator to go up and left for it to come down, at varying speeds. And they had to slow down the elevator and break it at each floor that it stopped at making sure that the floor of the elevator was level with the floor it was stopping at. These elevator operators were quite spiffy and often wore uniforms. How do we know all this? Don't ask!

Bipartisanship: We Could Learn A Lot From Christie

Drawing a sharp contrast between Governor Christie’s bipartisan accomplishments and effective leadership with the gridlock and dysfunction of Trenton before his arrival, the Christie for Governor campaign today announced its 6th television ad of the General Election entitled “Bipartisan.”

When Governor Christie took office, irresponsibility and mismanagement in Trenton had left New Jersey at the brink of fiscal disaster. Governor Christie has taken the state in a starkly different direction and shown what strong leadership can accomplish, even with the reality of divided government.

In the 30-second ad, the Governor speaks directly and personally about his bipartisan approach to governing and the landmark accomplishments it has produced for the people of New Jersey.

“I stand up strongly for principles and I speak bluntly and directly, and I say what I believe. But I also know that my job is to get things done for the people of the state,” Governor Christie says in the ad. “Every accomplishment we’ve had in New Jersey – cutting taxes, cutting spending, improving education, tenure reform, pension and benefit reform. Everything we’ve done has been a bipartisan accomplishment. It’s my job to make sure that that compromise happens. You see, as long as you stick to your principles compromise isn’t a dirty word.”

By providing the leadership needed to find the common ground between getting everything you want and sacrificing firmly-held principles, Governor Christie delivered results for New Jerseyans that has defied the conventional wisdom of what divided government is capable of.

Government Shutdown: A New Level Of Arrogance

A partial government shutdown took effect at midnight.
Can the situation be resolved?
Consider the latest developments:
The Speaker of the House has proposed a bipartisan House/Senate Conference Committee to resolve the differences between legislation from the two Houses of Congress. This is the usual way that these issues are resolved. But an imperious president and a near-senile Senate Majority Leader have prevented this and rejected it once again. 

The Senate Majority Leader has answered this offer from the Speaker by calling the opposition "anarchists" and the president has rejected any negotiation terming it "blackmail."

 If that isn't arrogance (a kind word under the circumstances) we don't know what is.