Ways We can Fix PA's Budget Problems

1 End the Prohibition of Drugs and Prostitution and Tax it. Taxpayers are spending too much money to have the Justice System investigate and prosecute crimes and incarcerate these crimes. Taxing and Regulating is the way you tax the tobacco industry.

2 Infrastructure Builidng. We totally need to replace our gas and water lines across the state. Plus we need to build and replace out of date dams and bridges across the state. Shovel ready jobs do need money but they build a tax base-through job creation- that essentially pays for itself and then some.

3 Cleaner Energy sources. If Washington is too worried about debating this issue, the PA needs to step up to the plate and initiate this ourselves. This also requires money but pays for itself though job creation and tax money. We should be build dams across the state to power homes.

4 Build a High Speed Rail System across the state. Again if Washington doesn't want to show the initiative, then Harrisburg needs to. This creates even more shovel ready jobs and tech jobs for those who has to build and maintain the trains. It'll also allow people to shop between the major cities and not have to ride on an airplane. Sounds like a major win to me.

5 Education. There definitely needs to be some cuts in education, but not Corbett's dumb plan. First I'd take a long look at Charter Schools and how successful they really are. If they take money away from the public school system and are failing then they need to go. We should go to a County School system with the larger Counties having 3-4 School districts. You can still have the same amount of public schools but you're only paying for 1 school board, and 1 Superintendent. Drawing the new school districts up fairly will be the biggest fight but it's something that needs to be done. Closing down schools like Clairton, Monessen, and other poorer school districts across the state isn't the way to solve our problems-which is the route I think the state is going to go. A lot of school districts can't handle the amounts of students coming in from schools that closed down. That will force them to build new buildings. Which is a hell of a lot more expensive than my proposed route.

Yes I'm talking about spending even more money. But each of those idea's create jobs. Sometimes spending money to make money is a good thing. Corbett's plan takes money from education but he also plans to spend more money for law enforcement. Sounds like he hopes that tickets from speeders is going to help pay this thing off. .

What's Really Causing Your Gas Prices to Go Up

Disclaimer: The intent of this blog is to piss you off. There will be some vulgarity in this post. I want you all to be as pissed off as I am. I vehemently against the Federal Reserve and we need a new system of printing our money supply.

Its really not what you think to tell you the truth. I know that the Middle East crises-mainly Libya- has caused some uncertainty in the Oil market. But the fact of the matter is Libya is the #9 Oil Producing nation in the world. Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States are the Top 3 Oil Producing nations in the world.

Yes the Middle East is the scapegoat and always will be the scapegoat in instances like this. But the problem is QE 1 and QE 2. The purposes of Quantitative Easing is to devalue the dollar to make our exports cheaper for foreign nations to purchase and make imports more expensive for Americans to buy.

The problem with that philosophy is that we are seeing the prices of commodities worldwide skyrocket in value. Everything between precious metals to produce commodities are up. And Oil isn't any different.

Another problem with devaluation of our currency is that it forced other nations to do the same. We are in the mist of a currency war folks.

The Federal Reserve is destroying the Dollar. I hate to say this but things are going to get much much worse, before they get better.

What are we all going to do when our groceries get to the point we can't afford to purchase them? Inflation caused the food crisis in the Middle East-which ultimately caused the wave of Revolutions in the Middle East in the first place.

We are going to see 4-5 Dollars a Gallon at the pump sometime this summer. We are going to see very expensive prices at our grocery stores some time this spring to summer.

I really want our news stations to stop blaming the Middle East for the spike in gas prices. Its fucking disingenuous. Blame the Federal Reserve for crying out loud. They caused this mess. While we're paying higher prices, these rich motherfuckers are banking profits. Inflation is the hidden tax.

You want me to piss you off more. When the banks got bailed out in 07-08, the Federal Reserve bailed out off-shore banks. The Fed shipped off Billions of your money to off-shore banks.

Our monetary system is failing folks. And I want everyone to be prepared for the possibility of the Dollar Collapsing. Learn how to barter with your neighbors. One of you needs to grow tomatoes and cucumbers while the other grows lettuce and broccoli. Those are just examples for y'all to follow.

I hate to say this, but unless the Fed raises interest rates to 15-20%, its game over.

Lets Bust Some Myths about the Spread Offense

Ok I always loved hearing that "Pro Style" QB's cannot play the spread offense. Who was the star QB's at Texas and Oklahoma the past few years before this season? Oh yes I remember, their names were Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. What are they doing these days? Well damn Bradford is with the Rams and McCoy is with the Browns. But I thought spread QB's doesn't translate well to the NFL. Lets go a step further, what style of offense does the Saints, Patriots, and Colts run? It looks eerily similar to Spread Passing attacks of the college game from the Big XII Conference. Look people "Pro Style QB's" can thrive in the Spread Offense. Not every spread style QB is Cam Newton, Terrell Pryor and Pat White.

Pro Style RB's can come from a Spread Offense as well. Mark Ingram is a fine example of this as well as Rashard Mendenhall. You can also play power football from the Spread. Has anyone heard of the "Pistol" formation. Its where the QB is 5-7 feet behind the center with the HB right behind the QB. Newer innovations have a FB on either side of the QB. You could basically run the Steelers and the Pitt Panthers bread and butter "Power O" play out of the Pistol. An even newer innovation is the "Diamond Pistol" where you have 2 RB's on each side of the QB and an HB behind the QB. You can run a Wing-T misdirection or a Jet Style misdirection out of the Diamond Pistol. And the thing is NFL prospects can thrive in an offensive philosophy like this.

Lets look at the SEC for example; their top schools consistently at the top of the recruiting rankings and they all run Spread style offenses. Auburn runs a Jet Style Misdirection type running game. Alabama runs a Pistol, which is a power set out of the shot gun. Florida runs a Jet Style Power running set. And even LSU runs a spread style offense. Oklahoma and Texas of the Big XII run a spread passing attack and both of them are consistently at the top of the recruiting rankings. And guess what, all of those schools are sending kids to the NFL every year. Big OL like Marquis Pouncey from Florida translated well going to the NFL. Where is Pouncey going? Oh yes, the Pro Bowl. How many rookie Centers made it to the Pro Bowl?

Too many people assume based on nothing. Ok WVU liked to have a smaller OL. That does not mean that Pitt with Graham is going to do the same. Just because WVU thrived with a QB like Pat White does not mean that Pitt with Graham is going to do the same. People that base everything on what WVU did the past few season, does not watch college football. Or they would know more about the National Scene.

There is so much you can do out of the Spread and its the same with a Pro Style attack. You can be pass happy with a Pro Style attack the same way you could run power sets with the 2 different styles.

Pitt fans need to relax a little and enjoy this ride. Its going to be a fun ride.

Oh Boy; UPitt's Coaching Search More than a Disaster

I'll start this off by saying that I was on the side of getting rid of Dave Wannstedt. I know that the kids loved him and he was one hell of a recruiter. But in terms of wins and losses he wasn't getting the job done. When you have a 2 game lead-in the conference- and does not go to a BCS Bowl, a change needs to be done.

Now onto the frustrating stuff. When you fire man like Dave Wannstedt, you need to bring in a coach that you believe will do a better job than Wannstedt. And most of the time that requires you to open up the check book. If Pitt really wants to go to a championship level, Big East and National, you have to act like a Florida, Alabama, and Ohio St.

I've been reading some of these candidates resume's and some are wow candidates, and for the wrong reasons. I read Greg Roman's resume and the first thought that popped into my head is he could make a decent Offensive Coordinator someday. No joke. How is this guy even worthy of an interview?

I understand the lovefest for Tom Bradley. He's been a DC at Penn State for years and practically ran that program for the past 5-6 years. He's a proven recruiter within the state of PA. I get all of that. But when I watch PSU games, I notice his bend but don't break defense, his defense gave up 37 points to a Florida team that hasn't been as good as in past years. Fact of the matter is, we'd be getting the same style of team-on the defensive side of the ball- as we had with Wannstedt.

But here is where the fun starts. Pitt apparently offered him 1.6m dollars a year but wasn't willing to agree with him on Bradley's Assistant Coaches. Again, if he want to reach the next level we need to open up the pocketbooks.

I have no idea how much Tulsa's Todd Graham would require or Mario Christobal would require. But when it comes time to offering contracts to them or their assistants, pay them.

There is no reason why Pitt's HC shouldn't be the highest paid coach in the Big East. Should have at least looked at a Mark Richt, Gus Malhzaln, or even a HC within the Big East or ACC. Offer big time money and move on.

But instead of big time candidates, we're talking about Stanfords Greg Roman. Stop being cheap Pitt.

If we want to go this route, lets leave the Big East and become the MAC's 14th team. We're thinking like a MAC school right now, when we should be thinking like a Big 10 or SEC school. Pitt has the money, now use that money.

Whats Next for Pitt

Everything that could have gone wrong for Pitt since the resignation(firing) of Dave Wannstedt has gone wrong. From the vetting process to that fateful day for Mike Haywood.

John Seibel of 93.7 The Fan sums it up perfect on his facebook fan page;

"how is it that from the days prior to his hiring up to this very second, i have known more about michael haywood than the "search committee" that was supposedly vetting him? i'm not surprised by this story, yet those who hired him are."

This has to go back to the AD Peterson. How didn't a search committee or Peterson himself not know about Haywoods past and the fact that he had a kid with a women in her 20's.

Then I read a blog out of the NY Times and it looks even worse for Peterson. Learning that coach's are unwilling to work for him is very discouraging.

He(Peterson) was pushed out of Nebraska for almost the same reason. He attempted to ruin their traditions. And he went though a coaching search debacle almost as bad as here at Pitt. Its time for Peterson to go.

The worst part of this is now he isn't even "trusted enough" to make the next coaching hire. What a mess that has been created.

Mike Haywood just might have been a great hire for Pitt. We'll never know this. What we do know is he ruined his career whether or not the charges are true. And to be frank it doesn't look good for Haywood. It has been reported that the Police had to pull him off of the victim. He is facing Class D Felony charges for Domestic Violence, which carries a 6 month to 3 year sentence if found guilty.

I have no idea what's next for Haywood. The damage has been done for his career. I guess the NFL, CFL, or AFL are likely coaching destinations. I can't foresee too many college coach's willing to give him an assistant job. Hiring him at the college level would be devastating for recruiting. What parent is going to let their kid be coached by an alleged women beater.

Now the recruiting class that has looked to be the best during Wanny's tenure has been gutted. There are 7 recruits left and only a month away from signing day. The new coach has a lot of work to salvage what is left and work on bringing kids here. He may have to bring in JUCO kids.

The next coach is certainly going to have his hands full recruiting the 2012 class as well. Juniors in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation are seeing whats currently happening at Pitt as well. I'm not sure if they want a part of this program. And I can't blame them.

Steve Peterson created a mess by his actions and lack of researching candidates. Something has to be done about this. And to be honest, as much as Dr. Mark Nordenberg has done for the University, his job shouldn't be secure as well.

What a mess.

Who's Ready for the 6 Class Debate to Heat Up Again?

I know I am as an avid supporter of the 6 Class system. But there will always be those contrary to this issue especially on this side of the state.

I do hate the idea of playing our District Title games at Heinz Field. So I use Heinz Field as a terrible, terrible reason to hold back progress in this state.

There are some other issues that come along with the 6 Class debate, like when to start the season. I prefer the last Friday in August and not the Friday before Labor Day.

Fact of the matter is the only thing everyone can agree on is that the season is too long. Ending the week before Christmas is utterly absurd.

I have an idea that could cut the season by at least 2 weeks. 1 Cut the playoff field in half statewide, 2 (as I stated above) start the season the last Friday in August, like Ohio and other states.

But this is a little deeper than just when the season starts and ends. Lets talk about competition for a minute. On the Eastern side of the state you have most of your larger schools so the smaller 4A schools complain. But on the Western side of the state you have most of the smaller schools in the state.

Class 2A in the WPIAL is extremely large and could easily be fixed if we had more Class's. In 1A in the WPIAL, the level of competition is grossly unfair. Schools like Clairton, Rochester, Canevin, Springdale, Beth Center, and Monessen shouldn't take the field against the smaller uncompetitive teams like Avella, Mapletown, and West Greene. But it happens.

There are ways that the WPIAL can set up the playoffs and still have 4 WPIAL games at Heinz and still send 6 representatives to the PIAA playoffs.

The next Board of Directors meeting is on December 16th. I fully expect this issue to be brought up again and be highly debated this winter into spring and possibly summer.

I just hope the Board of Directors especially the WPIAL does what is the most sensible and goes to a 6 Class format.

Heinz Field- A Flawed Tradition

Last night watching the Steelers game reminded me of how much I hate the WPIAL finals being played at Heinz Field. The playing surface is downright horrendous and for other reasons I'm going to get into right about now.

I understand the average WPIAL's claim to tradition. But what is so bad about "in with the new and out with the old".

The WPIAL requires the Quarterfinals and Semifinals to be played at a neutral field with an artificial surface. What in the world makes the most important game(s) in our area to be different?

Is it really because the Pro's play there or what? Is it because of the FSN money because they refuse to go to more than one site?

Come on folks, this field not only has a terrible playing surface but the game day atmosphere is pathetic. Each game carries 5k to 10k fans in a 65k stadium. Are you kidding me?

Why not play the games at Cal U, or Robert Morris where the stadiums are much smaller, plus you have an artificial surface?

At the end of the day the kids aren't really going to care where the game is played. They're fighting for the right to be named the best team in the WPIAL, in their respective class's.

I think the people that care the most are the fans. Our -insert team- is going to the Ketchup Bowl, or our -insert team- is going to Heinz.

Lets talk about safety for a minute. Do any of you want any of your boys to get hurt in similar fashion that the one Miami Hurricane did in the Champs Bowl last season. He tore his ACL due to the playing surface being up to par.

The tradition is flawed plan and simple. The sooner Western Pa realizes this, the better off we all are.