The Pausch legacy

Pitt girl at theburghblog.com remembers a certain CMU professor:

"Randy Pausch died and I'm just flabbergasted at how fast the end came rushing up to him once it got close enough to see him.

"I realize there are those that say that Randy Pausch is no different than anyone else who dies of pancreatic cancer, but I disagree. He didn't go quietly into the night. He spoke out about it and the need for research. He fought it publicly. He tried to leave lessons not only for his young children, but also for us. And the lessons were being learned the world wide, as friend Goob once informed me [about] the incoming pile of mail and gifts that were pouring into CMU. Gifts like cards from children, handmade blankets and quilts.

"I didn't give him anything. But he's given me a big giant box labeled "PERSPECTIVE" and it really is a wonderful thing to pry open and peek into when life gets weird."

Who's a moron?

Two Political Junkies (2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com) spots U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, on the floor of Congress taking issue with shock jock Michael Savage's sensitive comments about autistic kids, to wit:

"I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron.' "

Doyle's reaction: "If Mr. Savage wants to find someone acting like a moron, he should simply look in the mirror."

Tough talk

The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat (angrydrunkbureaucrat.blogspot.com) offers this take on billionaire Neil Bluhm's warning to a Senate committee that if the Gaming Board doesn't quickly approve his takeover of the Majestic Casino, the project likely will fall apart:

"I mean, it's not like Bluhm is going up to the Legislature and the Gaming Board, sticking a gun to their head and saying 'approve this or die.' It's not that at all. Rather, he's going up to the Legislature and the Gaming Board, sticking a gun to their head and saying 'approve this or you lose the casino, the tax revenue, property tax relief, money for the new arena and any money that would have gone to the Hill District.' It's not like it's a threat or anything."

Tough love

This just in from local blog Carbolic Smoke Ball (carbolicsmoke.com):

"NEW YORK -- Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm was summoned to the George Washington Bridge yesterday afternoon to try to talk down Noah Swayne, 33, who was perched high above the Hudson River preparing to jump. Mr. Swayne, married and the father of three, was depressed because he had lost his job last month in an economic downturn.

"The New York Police Department asked Mr. Gramm to assist in the hope that he would impart some 'tough love' to the would-be jumper and convince him not to 'whine' about the loss of his job. Mr. Gramm made headlines ... when he was forced to step down as an adviser to the McCain campaign because of comments accusing America of becoming a 'nation of whiners' about the economy."

Tag, he's it

Spot On at The Burgh Report (burghreport.blogspot.com) weighs in on the 2 1/2- to 5-year prison sentence handed down to repeat graffiti offender Daniel Montano:

"Sometimes moral incoherence of the kind Mr. Montano espouses is a pose that artists take on to sound deeper than they really are."

Still ... "with open air drug dealers and muggings, the occasional mailbox with alternative decorations is not a big deal. There is some difference between gang banger tagging and folks that try to create guerrilla artwork. I think both are wrong, but 2.5 years [in prison] hanging with drug dealers and violent criminals?

"Somehow I doubt this guy is going to come out of prison an improved citizen."

McSexist

At InTheseTimes.com, Kate Shepperd tears into John McCain's policies and attitudes toward women:

"McCain is ignorant about pay equity, wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and likes to brag about his 'sexual conquests' and visits to a strip club."

She quotes Katha Pollitt of The Nation: "To vote for McCain, a feminist would have to be insane."