The new Pittsburgh blog askcherlock.com takes on John McCain's accusation that Barack Obama attacked his age:

On CNN today Wolf Blitzer asked Obama for his reaction to remarks made by McCain that Obama has Hamas in his pocket. Obama responded, "This is offensive and I think it's disappointing ... because John McCain always says 'I am not going to run that kind of politics,' and to engage in that kind of smear is unfortunate, particularly because my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his ... so for him to toss out comments like that is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don't need name calling in this debate."

With that, McCain alleged that Obama had made a slur against him because of his age. Huh? I watched the interview and at no time did I discern any type of slur toward McCain. Obama has taken the high ground consistently when issues regarding Hillary have arisen, and he is doing likewise with the McCain attack.

The Oregon primary is coming up on May 20 and, according to stateline.org, Oregonians who called a voter information number recommended by Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury reached a different sort of hotline -- the kind that offers "an exciting new way to go live, one-on-one, with hot, horny girls." The glitch came when Mr. Bradbury's office accidentally switched the correct 866 toll-free area code to an 800 area code. Mr. Bradbury released an apology and emphasized, "Don't call that wrong number."

PGH IS A CITY (pghisacity.blogspot.com), chides the restaurant owners and members of the public who demand the elimination of the Allegheny County 10 percent drink tax and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who is standing firm behind it. Since the tax is bringing in more money than expected, PIAC suggests that everyone settle for a 5-percent tax and then shut up. This advice appears under the heading: "Something I learned in kindergarten: compromise."

The 414 Grant Street blog (414grantstreet.blogspot.com) takes a whack at the mayor:

We're only a year away from the 2009 Democratic primary for mayor, and with the disastrous nature of Luke Ravenstahl's short tenure ... Luke could be the first sitting mayor in Pittsburgh's modern history to lose his seat. But unseating a sitting mayor is tough; just ask [the late] Bob O'Connor, who lost twice to Tom Murphy. Of course, there are no super strong candidates who appear ready to take on the Boy King at the moment ... The most likely first-tier contenders today are [Patrick] Dowd and [Michael] Lamb. Second-tier contenders include the likes of Jake Wheatley, Bill Peduto, Dan Frankel, Doug Shields and Harry Readshaw.

414 Grant Street also takes a swing at the Pirates:

Foxsports.com recently listed the Buccos as the worst franchise in America ... not just in baseball, but in all major league sports in America. Now that is embarrassing, especially when you consider that we were ranked as worse than some other pretty hapless franchises. The Pirates have a rich and successful history, but that is all but forgotten amid 15 consecutive losing seasons. Frankly, this team and its ownership group doesn't deserve PNC Park.

2 political junkies (2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com) tips its hat to state Sen. Vincent Fumo for helping to torpedo the bill that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, which the PG has described as "in a deep coma" and "probably dead." Mr. Fumo offered an amendment that would have essentially prohibited divorce since proponents of the measure kept emphasizing that they wanted to "protect" marriage. 2pj thanked Mr. Fumo "for rubbing their noses in the 'protection' excuse."

Welcome back to Pittsburgh Christina, of christina speaks (christinaspeaks.com), but what's going on with you and your vegetables? To wit...

Dear Celery,

Why are you so disgusting? Seriously. Also -- why do you exist? You taste so bad, and your texture is so stringy, and you are a droopy shade of green. No one likes you. People pretend to like you but really they just eat you after they've drenched you in ranch dressing or blue cheese or because their mouths are on fire after eating wings and they'll shove anything down their throats to stop the crying and screaming.