Timing, as they say, is everything.

Just Saturday night, my lover and I took a stroll through the Southside to our favorite Cambodian restaurant and passed by a local confectionary called Chocolate Celebrations and the Milkshake Factory.  You may recall a certain Post-Gazette article fawning over two certain members of this family owned business, siblings Dana and Chris Edwards.  Their claim to fame is that both work for the White House.   I blogged about it here.   I wasn't impressed that two Pittsburgh kids work for the war machine presidency while their family makes a living schlepping ice cream to hardworking families who don't know any better.  Call me a liberal. 

Why do I bring this up?  Well, over the 72 hours, I have had visitors from multiple governmental sites surfing over to my little post by typing "Dana Edwards and White House" into their engines.  At first, I thought it was one of the "google myself" things.  But its coming from the House of Representatives, the White House, Securities and Exchange Commission and so forth. 

Just one of those things I keep noticing. 

Dana has friends in high places.  Or gives good milk shake.  

"Maybe the city's in a position to look for some security and let things settle down a bit," said Mr. Onorato. "We don't have elections to distract us."

h/t 2 Political Junkies

The PG's Bob Smizik takes Penn State to task for allowing Portland to ride roughshod over university standards, policies and common decency.

It's not like the Harris incident was the first against Portland. She had a long and documented history on the subject. As far back as 1986, Portland was quoted making an anti-lesbian statement. In such a comparatively unenlightened era, such behavior might be understandable. But to maintain such an attitude over some 20 years speaks to the ignorance of a closed mind -- something that should not be tolerated among leaders at a major university.

And what does the big mac-Daddy of PSU sports himself have to say about the whole thing (he hired Portland back in the day when he was athletic director)?

"She is doing what she wants to do," said Paterno, who hired Portland in 1980 when he was athletic director. "I hired Rene and have always been fond of Rene. I think she has done a great job. If she wants to get out of it, then that is up to her."

Uh huh.  Well, fortunately, he won't be hiring the next coach.  Rumor has it that Pittsburgh's own Suzie McConnell-Serio is at the top of the consideration list.  Now that would be very romantic, but I'd suggest PSU take a moment to ensure that McConnell-Serio "gets" it on LGBTQ issues.  She's on the record as stating that sexual orientation is a "personal choice" and that she'll respect personal choices.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement for affirming lesbian players, but a far cry from the Portland-menace approach.  If McConnell-Serio can keep her attention on the game and the players' behavior related to the game, more power to her. 

But wouldn't it be cool if Penn State hired an openly lesbian coach?