Philly, You’ve Been Served! OR…Getting Soaked by the Water Works Restaurant

Mmmmm…Michael Karloutsos seems to be the kind of guy who has a lot on his plate.
Firstly, he has a restaurant to run, and prior to opening the Water Works he had almost no restaurant experience at all – that’s gotta be stressful.

He’s got loans to keep track of, runs a consulting company, has to keep straight how many people actually own the restaurant, he has to remember which political party he’s affiliated with and who he’s raising money for, which of his relatives is in jail, which of his friends might have ties to the mob, and who’s suing him.  On top of all that, he’s even helped out the school district!
Unfortunately for the city, having so many pots on the stove has caused him to completely miss the fact that he hasn’t paid any utility bills for years.  He does make a point, though  — he says he never got a bill from the city.  It makes some sense that you wouldn’t ante up until you got a bill, and nobody in city hall seemed to take notice either. I guess those folks in city government are really busy too, thinking up ways to raise more revenue for our beleaguered city.

Hmmm…maybe it’s time for a trip to the Water Works for a $35 pork chop and an $11 salad and then when I’m done, I’ll just casually make my way to the door.  If anyone comes after me I’ll tell them, “Of course I didn’t pay, I never got the check!”

I thought the building was prix fixe — utilities included!!

 

“Blindness is no barrier for Center City triathlete” (But dumbness may be. Go ask Alice…)

An article in today’s Inquirer about an exceptional individual who happens to be a blind para-athlete just further emphasizes how dumb our state government is.  Dumb as in idiotic.  They seem to think, mistakenly, that every single audio book has already been put online (“Huh? Whaddya mean there ain’t no app for that?”) so they can just trash existing valuable media from a local library.

Alice Lubrecht, the acting state librarian, can’t even be bothered to consider an alternative to the ill-conceived, money-wasting consolidation of Philadelphia’s historic library for the visually impaired.  And the Kafkaesque tale of the library’s potential demise is like going down the rabbit hole.

In a state that seems bent on destroying public education, it may be a little unrealistic to think they give a damn about reading.

Change in Harrisburg is long overdue…

FOP to Former Cop: Who do you THINK you are, some rich lawyer?!?!

Here’s a quote from John McNesby, an official with the Fraternal Order of Police:

He’s not respecting the uniform.  People died for that uniform. It’s not Halloween.

Who was he speaking about?

• Jimmy Binns, a local lawyer who’s acted in Rocky films
• Ray Lewis, a retired captain with 24 years on the Philly police force
• Jonah Hill, actor in “21 Jump Street”
• That guy from the Village People

If you guessed the ACTUAL POLICE OFFICER then you would be right.  In Philadelphia, there’s no crime we hate worse than a thought crime.  You can sell drugs, not pay your bills, create hazards for public servants, pummel innocent bystanders on the street, and a few other nefarious activities and you’ll probably get away with it.  If you engage in this sort of behavior because of SOME IDEOLOGY then you’re gonna get beat down.  Blocking traffic and destroying private property as part of a Phillies celebration — no problem.  Blocking traffic in an effort to call attention to economic inequality in America — you’re a menace to society!

We should probably just abolish the 1st Amendment – it causes so much trouble – and make the 2^nd Amendment #1.  It’s almost impossible for the average Philly cop to understand some sort of ideological argument, but easy to shoot somebody.  Why should they be forced to think so hard when they’d much rather just taser perps?  If we’re going to hold that 2^nd Amendment sacred, then it might be best to eliminate the 1^st.  Then, people might really think twice about opening their big mouths, so they’d be much less likely to get shot once everybody’s packing.  A win-win proposition.