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Attorney General Debate

Sunday, January 29, 2012   
Meet and Greet 1 p.m.   Debate 2 p.m.  

Wightman School Community Building

5604 Solway Street,  Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh

For Directions: www.carriagehouse.org/Wightman_House/about_wightman.htm

Co-Sponsored  by the 14th & 7th Ward Democratic Committee & 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club

Are you tired of hearing that no Democrat has ever been elected as the Pennsylvania Attorney General? This is the year we can change that.  Democratic Candidates Kathleen Kane and Patrick Murphy will be in attendance and presenting their case for their election as our Democratic nominee. Come join us. It’s free and we’ll have good food.  For more information contact Sam Hens-Greco at samhensgreco@gmail.com  or at 412-427-2486

OH MY!

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-blinq/Is-Tom-Corbett-running-a-state-or-a-circus.html

Is Tom Corbett Running a State or a Circus?

Journalists live and die by a standard often called the Cheerios test. That is, how will a story play over breakfast? Specifically, will graphic details and/or language render an average reader sick to her stomach, unable to chew and swallow?

I have pushed the limit on this test and must give props to my colleagues Angela Couloumbis and Amy Worden today for their artful handling of this  front-page story about Harrisburg's most bizarre bureaucrat.

I refer to the brief, righteous reign of Robert W. Patterson, a $104,470 official at the Department of Public Welfare who moonlighted at a conservative faith-based journal, where he wrote stories about semen as a mental health elixir for women.

Yes, that guy. The one who likened sperm to a no-cost and plentiful antidepressant and said women who take birth control pills do so at the risk of winding up spinsters.

Patterson, my colleagues explained, was hired in October by Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander as a special assistant. In addition to his duties lording over millions of poor Pennsylvanians, Patterson had a side job: He edited The Family in America, a journal published by a Midwestern research center that promotes the "natural human family" and opposes abortion, divorce and homosexuality.

In the journal, Patterson has weighed in on everything from what he called "misguided" programs that grew out of the 1960s War on Poverty - programs now administered by DPW - to what he described as a woman's ideal role in society: married and at home raising children, the story explained.

For instance, he wrote about research that he said showed that if women wanted to find "Mr. Right," they should shun birth control pills; and if they wanted to improve their mood, they should not insist that their men wear condoms lest they miss out on beneficial chemicals found in semen.

I have not had the privilege of meeting this shining star of state government, but he must be the only public official in modern history to argue that condoms are the enemy.

I am also super-interested in finding therapists who prescribe unprotected sex for depressed female patients. Anyone? Anyone?

Patterson, my colleagues found, also wrote that "semen-exposed women" [his phrase, fabulous isn't it?] perform better on concentration and cognitive tasks. If that's an established fact of science, why aren't parents injecting girls with the good stuff before crucial standardized tests and the SATs?

And, not to question Patterson's homophobic street cred, but women aren't the only people who can "absorb" semen. So can't gay men benefit from this miracle drug, too?

The Corbett administration quickly accepted Patterson's resignation after my colleagues began poking around. No one would say why such a luminary was hired for a six-figure state post, but let's not forget that Alexander himself has had an, er, notable tenure.

The DPW chief seems to see his job as punishing the poor, booting more than 150,000 people -- including 88,000 children -- off medical assistance and imposing an asset test on Pennsylvanians who receive food stamps.

While I'm thinking about it, Corbett also made a curious choice in his health commissioner Eli Avila, he of the badge, jacket and super-sized ego.

So what is it: Is the governor running a state or a circus? Wherever does he find these fellas?

-- Monica Yant Kinney

Running for Office is $$$$

Running for any office gets pretty expensive pretty quickly, and running for president burns up money faster than any other office. Lots of candidates sell t-shirts with their names on them to supporters to raise money, but the Obama-Biden re-election campaign is going above and beyond with some of the merchandise they have for sale this year.

The “Made in the USA” mug makes light of the “birthers” who questioned whether the president was born in the United States and who have been a lot quieter since Obama’s long-form birth certificate was released. That same document is printed on this mug, while on the other side, the president laughs that anyone would get so worked up about the natural-born citizen clause.

Click here to buy a Made in the USA mug

Barack Obama and Joe Biden have lunch together once every week, but the Vice President can join you every morning at breakfast. Start your day off right with a “Cup of Joe” mug.

Click here for Cup of Joe!

Later in the day, he will join you for your own private “Beer Summit” if you pick up this can holder, emblazoned with the Vice President’s photo and the toast “Cheers champ.”

Click here to buy the Joe Biden Can Holder

Finally, grill some burgers at a summertime voter registration drive wearing a “Fired up – ready to grill” apron and spatula with the 2012 logo.

Click here for the tailgate pack!