Slashdot Mirror

However, as I said, I'm guessing NYPD may use one a bit larger, not the popular $1,000-$2,000 ones like the DJ Mavic or Phantom.

This article claims the drone will be operated away from crowds and tethered to a building. Essentially, they could've accomplished the same thing with a camera on a pole, but methinks NYPD is just anxious to play with their new toys.

Amazon wears people out and throws them away.. They are one of the worst corporate feudal lords trying to dominate us. I'd love to see them broke up like AT&T. I'd love to see Bezos kidnapped by crazies and made to pay the worlds first billion dollar ransom.

Take your pick.
Pennsylvanians receive mysterious letters promising to expose them if they do not vote
Mailers attempt to 'embarrass people into voting' by revealing voting history to neighbors
GOP Mailer: We’ll Tell Your Neighbors If You Vote Democratic
Sleazy voter shaming letters coming by email, too, and some are inaccurate
A mysterious group is publicly shaming Pennsylvania residents with their voting records

And Minnesota too.
Creepy but legal: 'Voter shaming' letters showed up in Minnetonka mailbox

You do know how to use Google, right?

In Pennsylvania a doctor reported his patient drank more than a 6-pack a day and his license was revoked. The guy wasn't driving drunk, he just liked to drink at least a 6-pack a day. (I do too).

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5432...

This follow-up article says he was offered his license back if he got an ignition-interlock device, but he refused.

http://articles.mcall.com/2011...

You need to do a little research to see how far we have come, and how far we still need to go. Anyone up for a glass of coalmine drainage water?

This comment struck me as amusing since the EPA is trying to shut down facilitates that process coal waste and turn that waste into something useful (e.g. ingredients of portland cement). The Obama administration's all out war on coal has a hidden cost, which includes more slurry ponds, more pollutants being stored there than are necessary, and increased risk of ecological disasters.

So what you're saying is that we need to mine more coal so we have to make more ways of treating the effluent.

Got it. You want a gallon of that mine drainage orangewater? I have a special going now You pay for shipping, and I'll send you all you want.

You need to do a little research to see how far we have come, and how far we still need to go. Anyone up for a glass of coalmine drainage water?

This comment struck me as amusing since the EPA is trying to shut down facilitates that process coal waste and turn that waste into something useful (e.g. ingredients of portland cement). The Obama administration's all out war on coal has a hidden cost, which includes more slurry ponds, more pollutants being stored there than are necessary, and increased risk of ecological disasters.

From a story in The Morning Call :

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer [...] may have actually done Pennsylvania's effort a small favor by simultaneously voicing the administration's intention not to interfere with medical marijuana programs.

"There are two distinct issues here, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana," Spicer said. "Medical marijuana, I've said before, the president understands the pain and suffering many people go through who are facing especially terminal diseases and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana can bring to them."

When reading an Amazon web page, you are distracted by displays of other products.

Used books sometimes say the price is one cent, not the total price. The cost for shipping may be several dollars.

There are other areas areas where there is apparently no supervision.

Inside Amazon's Warehouse

More about Amazon: Inside Amazon's Warehouse

Quoting: "On June 2, a warehouse employee contacted OSHA to report the heat index hit 102 degrees in the warehouse and 15 workers collapsed. The employee also complained that workers who had to go home due to heat symptoms received disciplinary points."

Another quote: "When the heat index ranges from 100 to 114 degrees, Amazon 'typically' gives hourly breaks of at least five minutes and shifts heavier work to cooler times of the day, Forney said."

"On July 25, a security guard at the Amazon warehouse called OSHA and said the temperature exceeded 110 degrees. The guard reported seeing two pregnant women taken to nurses and that Amazon would not open garage doors to help air circulation."

"One employee said it's now like 'working in a convection oven while blow-drying your hair.' They said they received extra break time when it was hot, but production rates were not reduced.

"Ambulances responded to multiple medical assistance calls at the Amazon warehouse during hot days in May. So Amazon paid Cetronia Ambulance Corps to have ambulances and paramedics stationed at its two adjacent warehouses during five days of excessive heat in June and July."

"Another 15 people were transported from the Amazon warehouse to hospitals for further treatment, according to Cetronia, but none was in critical condition."

Amazon's response seems to me to be sophisticated lying. The response avoided all the issues:

' "The safety and welfare of our employees is our No. 1 priority at Amazon, and as the general manager, I take that responsibility seriously," Mortimer said. "We go to great lengths to ensure a safe work environment, with activities that include free water, snacks, extra fans and cooled air during the summer. I am grateful to work with such a fantastic group of employees from our community, and we partner with them every day to make sure our facility is a great place to work." '

http://www.mcall.com/news/nati...

"The man, 30-year-old Edward Archer, also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group when he was questioned after his arrest in the shooting late Thursday, police said. Archer's mother, Valerie Holliday, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he had been hearing voices recently and had felt targeted by police and the family asked him to get help."

Way to NOT pay attention Mr Rubio.

It's worth noting that you said nothing when another kook dyed his hair orange and murdered two dozen kids near Denver. The only difference was, James Holmes claimed to be the Joker, not a member of ISIS.

Shouldn't we arrest Bob Kane too?

Those with few --- if any --- choices left to them.

Workers said they were forced to endure brutal heat inside the sprawling warehouse and were pushed to work at a pace many could not sustain. Employees were frequently reprimanded regarding their productivity and threatened with termination, workers said. The consequences of not meeting work expectations were regularly on display, as employees lost their jobs and got escorted out of the warehouse. Such sights encouraged some workers to conceal pain and push through injury lest they get fired as well, workers said.

During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside, ready to treat any workers who dehydrated or suffered other forms of heat stress. Those who couldn't quickly cool off and return to work were sent home or taken out in stretchers and wheelchairs and transported to area hospitals. And new applicants were ready to begin work at any time.

An emergency room doctor in June called federal regulators to report an "unsafe environment" after he treated several Amazon warehouse workers for heat-related problems. The doctor's report was echoed by warehouse workers who also complained to regulators, including a security guard who reported seeing pregnant employees suffering in the heat.

In a better economy, not as many people would line up for jobs that pay $11 or $12 an hour moving inventory through a hot warehouse. But with job openings scarce, Amazon and Integrity Staffing Solutions, the temporary employment firm that is hiring workers for Amazon, have found eager applicants in the swollen ranks of the unemployed.

Inside Amazon's Warehouse: Lehigh Valley workers tell of brutal heat, dizzying pace at online retailer [2011]

This time last year, online retailer Amazon.com had ambulances parked outside its Breinigsville warehouse complex on hot days, with emergency medical personnel ready to take workers suffering from heat injuries to nearby hospitals.

Today, Amazon warehouse workers say the facility is refreshingly cool when it's hot and muggy outside. The company recently installed 40 roof-top air conditioners in its 615,000-square-foot warehouse, part of a $52 million investment in cooling its warehouses around the country.

The dramatic change comes nine months after an investigation by The Morning Call revealed difficult working conditions in the Lehigh Valley facility. Workers interviewed said they were pushed to work at dizzying rates in brutal heat. The heat index, a real-feel measure that considers heat and humidity, surpassed 100 degrees in the warehouse multiple times last year and sometimes exceeded 110, according to reports filed with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The company installed temporary air conditioning units last year after federal workplace safety regulators began inspecting the facility. But workers said parts of the warehouse, particularly its upper levels, remained unbearably hot even after the temporary air conditioning was installed.

Amazon gave water, fruit and popsicles to workers on hot days and relaxed its attendance rules on some days to let workers leave early, though they would lose pay.

The Morning Call obtained warehouse building permits using Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. Those reveal that Amazon first sought permits to install temporary air conditioning last July, several weeks after warehouse workers and an emergency room doctor who treated some of them for heat stress complained to federal regulators about conditions...and a contractor sought permits to install permanent air conditioning in early March.

21/2 months before Bezos announced at an annual shareholders meeting May 24 that the company [was]

The warehouse work is like slavery, just short of a whip - except they now use virtual whips to get their slaves straightened out.

Sure, there's a little perk called a slaves wage, after-all, they need them to be fed in order to do the miles of walking per day.

A written expose here.

It seems the highly 'exceptional' people in Jeff Bezos' circle have re-invented Taylorism, which is an abiding disregard for the well-being of workers. This indifference and disregard is called "scientific". Efficiency is something to be squeezed out of people second by second, the long-term effects be damned.

Like Radio Free Europe or Voice of America? Yeah we spend a lot of money putting out our message but they do the same thing. It's still a Spy v. Spy world and they have their propaganda engines and we have ours. There's also feet on the street, right now there's a trial going on in NYC and it really sheds some light into the low budget approach on how Russia pursues it's goals. One of my favorite quotes so far in talking about American Women:

"I have lots of ideas about such girls, but these ideas are not actionable because they don't allow (you) to get close enough. And in order to be close you either need to (have sex with) them or use other levers to influence them to execute my requests."

If you take a look at Russia Today, they spew a ton of propaganda, daily, all with English speaking ex-pats or well groomed English speaking Russians. It makes for hilarious viewing sometimes.

Well, given that parents can be liable for the debts of their adult children, I would argue in those states, they will never be fully autonomous.

So, if you live in any of these states:

Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia

the law says they are never fully autonomous, and you could be on the hook.

Grand, aint it?

http://www.mcall.com/news/brea...

it's more along the lines of risk that the fire will get away from you. and then it's not just your property that's in danger but your neighbors as well.

fine, lets tone down the hyperbole and think of a more suitable example than dogfighting and skunk raising.

your neighbor wants to turn their property into a club or a composting company. noise complaints are an invasion of property rights aren't they? and the smell, the constant smell.

i was trying to inject humor into it, you know, instead of just coming out and just staying you've got pretty shaky stances.

you've got a lot of faith in what your neighbors will and won't do, me i'd rather not risk a significant investment like a house on the good behavior of others. You know, it's not just a "pleasant environment" at risk here, it's also property values because generally that's linked in.

Most of the people working for Amazon are box shifters in warehouses. A lot of people claim those are de facto sweatshops.
http://www.mcall.com/news/loca...

So women still want to work there?

The president is paid 400,000 in cash but has -0- expenses. Why don't you add in all of the tax payer funded junkets and vacations, clothing, transportation (which is not just for business), and food? Add in his speaking engagement revenue, book revenue, and campaign fundraisers. In fact in 2011 Obama spent 1.4 BILLION (yes, that is with a B) on travel expenses.

I get it! Western leaders hide how much they make better than those in other countries. It makes them better liars, not better for their populace. Worse is that idiots believe the hand waiving while refusing to look at facts.

I'm more worried about oil to be honest. We get a lot of helium from natural gas production (typically about 1% of production is helium), which the US has been seeing a lot of these days.

Comparing one person flying across an ocean using party balloons to the 10s of millions of people driving to work every day is a non-starter. Oil is more precious to our society than helium, yet most of us waste it without a second thought (I drive to maximize MPG, but I don't cut down on driving).

MRI machines represent the largest use of helium, about 28% (weather and party balloons, 7%). If the Dr. can't get gasoline to drive to work to use the MRI machine then it really doesn't matter.

Usage Link: http://articles.mcall.com/2010-12-21/opinion/mc-helium-explaint-20101221_1_helium-balloons-natural-gas

This article about what it was like at an Amazon fulfillment center in PA. Backbreaking work with ever increasing demands topped off with many workers passing out from heatstroke. Inside Amazon's Warehouse: Lehigh Valley workers tell of brutal heat, dizzying pace at online retailer

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-allentown-amazon-complaints-20110917,0,7937001,full.story

read that and then contrast with this from ubuntu.com

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'.

You might think with these radically differences this might be a bad fit.

Maybe it was a few years back, but Ubuntu doesn't seem to even being developed by the same people who made it great. At least there are good alternatives to Ubuntu. Although if Mint doesn't stop with the configuring firefox to expressly not have google as a default search option or make it easy to add they will be losing users too.

Has B&N been running any sweatshops lately? If not, they can claim to be less evil than Amazon.

You seem to think that prosecutorial decisions are made by the FBI. That doesn't happen there, instead the decision is made by the US Attorney for that area.

Correct, mea culpa.

The minute the FBI gets involved it ceases to be a state matter

Not true. State and local law enforcement agencies are not subordinate to the FBI. However, if the FBI initiates an investigation there's no requirement to notify local LE or even the DOJ in some cases. The State is not prohibited from legal action until the DOJ files suit.

If you think the FBI ever hands stuff back to state or local law enforcement, you haven't been reading up on FBI much

Actually, the FBI frequently refers cases back to local jurisdictions, and for a wide variety of offenses such as child pornography, mortgage fraud, public corruption, and fraud. As you said (correctly), the prosecution is handled at the discretion of the US Attorney, and they can initiate, decline or transfer cases as they like. See USAM Chapter 9-27.001-.260

The FBI has no control over this process whatsoever as they are strictly an investigative agency. They do not...really make much of a decision about how far to pursue an investigation.

Not true. The FBI is a division of DOJ, but has full autonomy. The USAG appoints the FBI director, but does not have the authority to set or change FBI policy. The FBI can initiate investigations without a DOJ request and are not required to notify DOJ for certain investigation types. Similarly, the FBI can terminate an investigation on their own recognizance, regardless of DOJ direction. See DOJ Guidelines for Domestic FBI Investigations

You are correct the FBI did not direct the prosecution of this guy - that is DOJ's purview. But the FBI has it's own mission and prerogatives - it's not just DOJ's thug squad.

In the end, we really don't know who initiated it, who directed it, or at what point DOJ was put into the loop. So there is a burden on both parties. DOJ and FBI guidelines try to err on the side of avoiding costly, time-consuming or difficult cases where "substantial Federal interest is not served". I would argue this is true here. But the guy pled guilty, so it's all moot.

If I were the Akamai lead counsel, I would be super pissed though. There's no way they were in on this until the very end. That means the Feds let a known insider threat sit inside his network for years, stealing company data.

Dude, I don't know where you get your figures, hell I wish they were true, but according to this and this and every other thing I've read Intel made sure that AMD never rose above 20% of the CPU market. Sure they were popular with small system builders, that is what I'm typing this on as a matter of fact, but you have no idea how many boxes a Dell or HP cranks out in a year. I would argue that AMD wouldn't be in the shape they are now if Intel hadn't rigged the game.

As far as if Intel VS Google is a perfect comparison, no. At least not yet. We'll have to see the exact wording of the contracts (which I'm sure will be kept secret barring some whistle blower) to know for sure. I'd personally like to see EXACTLY how the payments are structured. If they offer X for selling...say 20% Android, and X+Y for 50% and X+Y+Z for 80%+? Then I would say that it is NO different than Intel, whose deals for buying only Intel were so good one likened it to cocaine. Don't think that just because Android is FOSS that makes it magic fairy dust that keeps it from doing evil.

When you are talking about the stakes here, nothing less than dominance of one of the biggest sources of news, info, and potential revenue, then the temptation by players to try to "hedge their bets" WILL be high. And until/unless we get to see the contracts I doubt we'll know for sure whether Google has crossed a line or not. But I wouldn't be surprised if the EU is already starting to take a look at Google, simply because of the enormous power they wield. In the 90s MSFT was the 800 pound gorilla, now it is Google. It remains to be seen if having that much power will corrupt them or not.

A tower outside of Allentown, PA was deliberately felled the same night. As it was a guyed tower, the vandals cut the guys to bring it down.

I get the Standard Speaker and the Pottsville Republican every day on the way to work, they have good articles about this. If you want more information from a local paper here try scouring The Morning Call.

The history of the license plate:

In The Hound of the Baskervilles [1902] by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are found unsuccessfully trying to catch a public hansom cab. Holmes, however, got close enough to the cab to spot its license number, which became a major clue in cracking the case.

This is the reality:

Deputy charged in assault on prostitute, [Aug 1], Mom pleads for daughter's safe return [Aug 1], Police say Sciota man tried to burn bar

You will find stories like these in every newspaper published in the last 100 years.

The license plate is not going to go away and it will be read by the neighborhood watch and the highway patrolman.

The policeman is first and last the successor to the watchman in the night. He needs to know who is out there. He needs to move quickly sometimes.

Now back to our story:

New York became the first state to require vehicle registration [1901] and California followed suit later that year. The first New York issues were homemade plates, bearing the initials of the owner without any numbers. Massachusetts was the first state to actually issue plates, beginning in 1903. By 1918, all 48 of the contiguous United States were issuing license plate. Although they were territories at the time, Alaska and Hawaii began issuing plates in 1921 and 1922.

License plates have changed significantly over the years. Early plates were not fancy -- just the state name or abbreviation, a registration number, and, more often than not, the year. Fancy lettering, reflectorization, slogans, county names, illustrations or logos peculiar to a particular state became more common.

Beginning in 1957, most types of North American plates have been a standard size, six by twelve inches. Prior to that, different sizes and shapes were not uncommon. Plates were normally rectangular, but oval, square, round, and triangular shapes were used. For a number of years, Kansas and Tennessee cut their plates to match the shaped of the state itself. The distinction for the most unusually shaped plates goes to Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada, which have their plates cut in the shape of a bear. Automobile License Plate Buying Guide

This news story mentions the Council for Secular Humanism, amongst other groups, complaining, but not the ACLU. And no mention of anyone being sued. Do you have a source for your claim?

Another thing to point out is their pension system. Just this week they announced they would be fucking over all the older employees by freezing the pension scheme in 2008.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4587204.stm
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT= 104&STORY=/www/story/01-06-2006/0004244179&EDATE=
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6020454.html
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/all-editorial1ja n12,0,6085827.story?coll=all-newsopinion-hed

How can we as the American people cope with a President that doesn't even acknowledge that what he's doing is illegial? How can we further cope with a Congress that hasn't already 'stopped the presses' by calling for immediate hearings on the matter? I don't mean hearings next week, or next month. I want hearings now. This is a grave threat to our liberties, and I want it addressed right now.

Of course, this President speaks about 'freedom', but does 'freedom' include not being able to openly discuss laws and policies?

Oh, and the 'fanboy' contingent that believes that civil liberties must be curtailed in a time of conflict need not reply, because I'm not listening, and I doubt Thomas Jefferson would listen to it either.

The below really bothers me. Someone may think that accepting that kind of offer admits no guilt, but in reality, it admits you're guilty. The logic is that if you are truly innocent, you should have no problem in court. But then again, the American judicial system is so messed up, especially towards juveniles/minors, it may be next to impossible to get a fair trial/proceeding.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b4_5kutztown-3 aug26,0,1647962,print.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed

Mike Boland, who represents one student, said his client probably will accept the offer. ''It doesn't require my client to acknowledge he is guilty of anything,'' he said.

Sometimes the answer is an unambiguous yes.

This was a few weeks ago:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b3_5breakinsep 13,0,6455949.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed
MERE COINCIDENCE!?!?


Well, yes, it probably is.

The fact is that "assault weapons" aren't any more dangerous than hunting rifles or any other semi-automatic firearms. In fact they're *less* powerful than many hunting rifles.

So if you had 10 friends, and you all decided to kill 1000 kids in a school, you'd prefer hunting rifles above AK-47s?

It's bizarre that Bush can claim to be the strongest anti-terrorism candidate, when he's allowing terrorists to buy these excellent tools from right inside the USA.

So, "X" being huge in the USA isn't quite right - it's on par with the GameCube, and vastly behind the PS3.

Also, you're slobbering for Halo2. I'll admit, Halo 1 was a spiffy game (I've got it on my XBox). However, the "must-have" game for the XBox is a game that came out at launch? It was the big push disc, the "reason to buy this console" by Microsoft, and, 3 years later, it's still the reason to buy this console.
PS2, on the other hand, has had a long string of "must-haves", from Dynasty Warriors 3 (which is what made me buy one) to GTA3, GTA:VC, the Madden series, FF:X, etc. I think that's the real reason why the XBox is lagging - the PS2, despite having older technology and slightly poorer graphics, has had much better (and more) games. The GC also suffers from older tech and limited storage space on their half-size DVDs, but by having the Nintendo Bloc of titles (Mario, Zelda, Metroid), they keep their sales.

I do have an XBox (on permanent loan from a friend), but with the non-backwards compatibility of the next version, it'll take a lot to make me want to buy one, particularly if I'm going to shell out $50 for Halo2 this Christmas and have it not be able to work on the $400 XBox2 next year.

-T

Here in Canada, (Ontario at least) I'd say there are about a 50/50 split of full-serve/self-serve gas stations. Generally, the full-serve stations are .2 to .7 cents per litre more expensive.

Hi!

You're not the first community to consider the idea. Kutztown, Pennsylvania has had a very successful experience in building out a Municipal Area Network--it would be well worth your while to study how Kutztown set about doing what they've done, and how they did it. Here's a brief overview PDF file from a vendor--it's a vendor's sales piece, but there's a good intro. A couple of key points:

• Kutztown has operated a municipal power company for 100 years--they had all kinds of experience with things like poles, bucket trucks, etc. In addition, they had existing utility rights of way.
• Kutztown did not enact a municipal franchise (that is, create a monopoly). They built out their fiber network alongside competing cable TV and telephone providers. The competitors grumbled--and IIRC Verizon threatened court action--but Kutztown played fairly.

More resources

• A copy of an article from the Allentown Morning Call describing the Kutztown project in more detail, including gripes from local utility competitors. Especially interesting is the article's comments on the experiences of the city of Ashland, Oregon in forcing substantial service improvements from their incumbent (monopoly) cable TV company:
  Wired in Kutztown (Note: this is a Word document, not an HTML page)
• Concord, Massachusetts review of Kutztown: this is an interesting paper by a Concord, Ma. resident who was evidently involved in planning a FTTH implementation there. Among other things, he includes notes from conversations with Frank Caruso in Kutztown (and Mr. Caruso's phone number), as well as statistics from Home Utilicom's first year of operation (400 subscribers out of 2200 households in town--they expect 700+ by mid-2003).
  Concord, MA study
• Hometown Utilicom: a little short on pizzazz but a place to start looking for contact information. Note that the home page includes a link to current HU statistics: 442 users as of 2/5/2003.
  Hometown Utilicom (Kutztown, PA)

A key point:
Note the user statistics on the HU web site, and carefully read the end of the David Allen paper: key to a successful buildout is reselling cable TV: Internet access alone doesn't generate enough revenue. That observation came originally from Frank Caruso of Kutztown (David Allen is quoting him in the paper).

Look at the existing municipal infrastructure--do you have the physical plant? Do you have billing systems, etc.? Are you overbuilding on top of an incumbent cable TV provider? Will Dartmouth College view you as a threat--or can you count on them for cooperation? What percentage of the town can you expect to subscribe for cable? For phone service? For Internet access? How firm are those figures? How did you arrive at them?

What kind of capital funding sources do you have access to? Is there any state economic development funding available?

What kind of peering/partnership opportunities do you have? If you have an incumbent cable TV provider, might you consider some kind of joint operating agreement? Might you consider some kind of joint operation with Dartmouth (considering the property taxes Hanover doesn't collect on college-owned property)?

David Allen of Concord, Ma., is entirely correct in his advice to the Town Selectmen: don't do this as a hobby, or a "let's see how it goes" kind of thing: do it as a business venture. That means a fully-thought-through business plan--and it includes key performance indicators and a hard-and-fast exit strategy if you cannot make your numbers. Kutztown has done it--learn from them, and maybe you can too.

Good luck!

Having gone to college in Bethlehem (Lehigh) and having spent a good deal of time in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area visiting friends, I can honestly say that the Wilkes-Barre area is far more depressed than Bethlehem.

The North side of the Lehigh is beautiful. The newly renovated Hotel Bethlehem. The Moravian College area (Main St.). Very few empty store fronts. (Wilkes-Barre can't claim that.) Beautiful historic sites. New development. A wondeful stock of well maintained older brick Victorian homes.

Though I can see how if you've only been to South Bethlehem, you might think otherwise. Still, even the South Side is improving. On a recent visit, I was amazed to see 3rd St (for those that know it) loaded with new stores, clean, and people shopping. (Bear in mind, this is happening even during a recession!) Bethlehem Steel closed 8 years ago. In its place on the old Bethlehem Steel property is the new high tech company incubation district. Hi-tech, biotech startups, fostered by below market rent and help from Lehigh. A new Rail intermodal terminal already functioning, providing replacement non-service-sector blue-collar jobs. A new natural gas power plant (more replacement jobs). A new hockey rink will soon be built by the Philladelphia Flyers. And the piece de resistance, the Smithsonian is planning on opening a large museum of industrial history around the old steel blast furnaces. Awesome!

In short, there's plenty of hope (and progress) in Bethlehem.

Go to Pittston, near W-B, and tell me about the empty lots, burned down buildings (just last week this huge downtown place went up) and vacant, decaying store fronts. The Wilkes-Barre area's number #1 employer is the government. #2 is Techneglas, which just layed off one of my engineer friends and who knows how many other workers. #3... the service industry (you know, minimum wage jobs like at CVS). So you have only one company bringing money -into- the W-B area, and they're having real difficulty.

On the plus side, the people are really really nice and real estate sure is cheap...

I dunno. Driving around the W-B area I get this feeling of hopelessness that I don't get in Bethlehem.

Now Allentown and Easton... feel free to dis those cities, because they aren't doing well like Bethlehem... Sorry about the rant. There's just no way you can say Wilkes-Barre is doing better than Bethlehem...

That's exactly what would have prevented the near tragedy when those miners were trapped not too long ago.

Hi!

The AP wire article that Excite quotes was written by a reporter in Philadelphia, presumably after reading this story which ran in the Allentown Morning Call five days earlier. The AP writer makes a couple of mistakes, and misses a significant point--a point that is made well in the Morning Call piece.

• Proetto (the perp) is not in danger of going to prison over this. He has already been convicted, and is nearing the end of a six-months probation sentence.
• Proetto is bringing this action to avoid getting labeled as a "sex offender"--because sex-offender rules in most states have all kinds of onerous restrictions.
• Proetto lives in Whitehall Township, which is in Lehigh County, but works (or worked--whether he's still employed as a policeman appears to be in question) for the Colonial Regional police force in Nazareth--which is in Northampton County.

Hi!

The AP wire article that Excite quotes was written by a reporter in Philadelphia, presumably after reading this story which ran in the Allentown Morning Call five days earlier. The AP writer makes a couple of mistakes, and misses a significant point--a point that is made well in the Morning Call piece.

• Proetto (the perp) is not in danger of going to prison over this. He has already been convicted, and is nearing the end of a six-months probation sentence.
• Proetto is bringing this action to avoid getting labeled as a "sex offender"--because sex-offender rules in most states have all kinds of onerous restrictions.
• Proetto lives in Whitehall Township, which is in Lehigh County, but works (or worked--whether he's still employed as a policeman appears to be in question) for the Colonial Regional police force in Nazareth--which is in Northampton County.

Hi!

Note, I don't have access to the article at the moment, so am not sure of the case specifics. If there was something more sinister in the defendents actions (i.e. stalking, attempted abductions, etc) then that's something different. But I have seen nothing in the comments posted thus far that indicate that way.

Excite must have picked up the story off the news wire--this story in the Allentown Morning Call ran on Feb. 15. The plaintiff, Proetto, wasn't just a creep making lewd suggestions. He was a police officer. The Morning Call article also notes that Proetto didn't go to any prison--he got six months of probation, and will "probably" ("probably"????) lose his job. He is bringing this lawsuit to avoid getting labelled as a "sex offender", and thus subject to all kinds of reporting requirements and harassment. (In most states sex offenders are required to register with the local police when they move into an area, and the police are required to notify neighbors, schools, and local associations. Who--as you might expect--sometimes have been known to take matters into their own hands.)