Ex-Congressman Chris "Chris" Carney will be mounting his trusty steed once more and making a run for the Pennsylvania congressional seat he lost to Tom Marino in 2010. Scheduled for June are a series of meet and greets with Carney and various movers and shakers throughout the district, rallying the troops, energizing the base...that sorta thing.

Question remain as to what exactly will constitute the boundaries of the 10th⁽¹⁾ District by the time Carney makes it official. You can follow along at home with this handy map of PA congressional districts. This Washington Post account by Chris Cillizza gives a better overview of the rather complex chess moves involved than we could ever hope to deliver.

By moving Scranton out of Barletta's 11th and into Holden's 17th district, shifting Marino's 10th district west and giving Barletta the northeastern corner of the state, Barletta could have a much safer district. - Washington Post

Are you ready to rumble?

^{(1) UPDATE: We should mention that parts of the 10th Congressional district may very well end up being part of the 11th and vice-versa.}

May's judicial primary was a cluster-fuck of mind-boggling proportions. Here in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, voters were greeted by a laundry list of more than 30 candidates hoping to fill 16 open slots on various benches.

“Sixty-three percent believe that pressures from past contributors would affect a judge’s fairness and impartiality to a great or moderate extent.
- Policy Center report.”

Adding to the confusion was a dubious practice known as “cross-filing” which compels judicial candidates to snag a spot on both Republican and Democrat sides of the ballot, negating the already vague line between the two parties.

Independent voters were shut out of the primary game completely, leaving them home alone, throwing canned peaches at their television sets. “Two and a Half Men” is somehow even worse sandwiched between endless commercials featuring grimacing candidates cavorting with their Stepford-children and nodding intently as septuagenarians complain about “those people.”

Judges are on the ballot in thirty-nine states and Pennsylvania has been a part of that club since 1850. According to a survey by the Policy Center 65 percent of Americans want judges to run for office – even though 70 percent of them think fund-raising has a negative effect on a how a judge will rule once in office.

“Sixty-three percent believe that pressures from past contributors would affect a judge’s fairness and impartiality to a great or moderate extent. - Policy Center report.”

Despite the apparent support for judicial elections, voters might not realize there are viable alternatives to the current system of exhausting and easily-corrupted politicking.

After all, there's got to be a better way. Right?

While we're looking forward to getting our face painted at the Wyoming Valley Riverfest it's a bit disconcerting to see Chesapeake Energy listed as one of the sponsors of the event. Chesapeake Energy is one of the prime movers and shakers behind the nascent natural gas industry that has launched a questionable gold-rush in parts of rural Pennsylvania.

Susquehanna River named America’s ‘Most Endangered River’
The Susquehanna River has been named America’s Most Endangered River for 2005 by American Rivers, a national conservation organization...Outdoor recreation, much of it water based, generates more than $4 billion for Pennsylvania’s tourism industry. However, thousands of stream miles in the Susquehanna watershed are on the Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘dirty waters’ list.- PA Department of Conservation

The future of the Susquehanna river looks bleak at best and companies like Chesapeake Energy are the main targets of activists and anyone else concerned about the environmental impact of fracking.

Fundraising makes for strange bedfellows. The fox is guarding the hen house etc. Insert your own analogy here.

“True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes” - Edward Halifax

UPDATE: Riverfest Embraces Toxic Sponsors

Fracking Spill In Pennsylvania Prompts Chesapeake Energy To Suspend Gas Drilling Across State

There Will Be Fracking

60 Minutes Weighs in on Fracking Controversy

Mysterious Fracking Fluid

PA Department of Conservation

Rivercommon.org

Citizens-Voice scribe Andrew Staub peels back another layer of the mysterious workings of Wilkes-Barre's $3 million surveillance system. (read it here)

After accusations that command center employees were more interested in catching cat-naps than cat-burglars, somebody got the bright idea to install a camera in the command center to keep tabs on those in charge of keeping tabs on the criminal underworld.

"City police Chief Gerard Dessoye said Wednesday the camera is non-operational, but "it makes sense" that it might one day monitor the array of expensive, grant-funded computer monitors that provide officers a real-time view of goings-on in the city..."  -Citizens-Voice 6/9/11

It's all very meta.

"It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma..."

Eye in the Sky Lies?

Arbitrator says Wilkes-Barre City's Surveillance Cameras Violate Union Agreement.

“Someone to Watch Over Me..."