Why Aren’t We Talking About The Ties Between the Armstrong County Billboards, White Nationalism, and Domestic Terrorism?

Peanuts Racist

Inflammatory question? Perhaps. John Placek denies that he is a racist white man, but spends thousands of dollars ‘trolling’ Worthington, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania with racist, white nationalist content. And as he told WPXI, he plans to erect two more billboards somewere nearby. When we look at the early deconstruction of white nationalism’s role in the […]

92-year-old Cat Colony Caretaker Receives Food Donation through #CatFoodDrivePgh

Cat Food Drive Pittsburgh

One of the advantages to donating bags of food to our drop-off either in person or via the Amazon wish list is that the food is in the hands of the caretakers within a matter of days. Someone recently donated this bag of food   Within a few hours after arrival, it was taken to […]

Being Acknowledged on International Women’s Day by Statewide Pennsylvania Organization

International Women's Day 2019

Flipping the Script: a New Twist on Our Q&A

AMPLIFY LGBTQ

For the past 13+ years, I’ve been creating Q&A’s for a range of people – actors, writers, performers, politicians, allies, culminating in the 2015 launch of the #AMPLIFY Q&A archive of LGBTQ stories from Western Pennsylvania. As we near #AMPLIFY 300, I thought it would be a good opportunity to ‘flip the script’ and put myself on […]

Worthington Man Behind Racist Messages Plans to Erect Two Additional Billboards in Armstrong County

Worthington Armstrong County racism

Last week, the Kittanning Leader Times ran a comprehensive article on the racist billboards posted along State Route 422 in Worthington Borough. The article is behind a paywall so if you’d like to read it, you will need to invest either $2.99 for a days access or $20 for a month. The reporter, Jon Andreassi, […]

The Future of #FishFryFriday in the post Grand Jury Report era of Catholicism

For the past five years, I’ve hosted a (semi) regular feature on my blog – Fish Fry Fridays. This series of blog features me and Ledcat visiting area fish fries and writing up reviews. Here’s how it works. We visit a different fish fry each week. The location is determined first by proximity to the […]

‘Take your blog and get the hell out of our town’ – Some Folx from Worthington, Armstrong County Are Not Happy With Me

Dame Judi Dench

Content Note: racism, bigotry, rape culture Please click the links for the backstory. In mid-February, I posted about racist fear-mongering billboard content on an electronic billboard in Worthington Borough, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Along with describing the billboards, I shared 11 suggestions for getting involved to resist this messaging. A few days later, the billboard’s lessee […]

Ride Like The Wind

Windstorm Pets

That was some kind of windstorm. Our inconveniences were relatively mild. Our electricity went out around 9:30 PM Sunday evening, literally as Bette Midler was performing Where the Lost Things Go on the Oscar broadcast. We decided to head up to bed and also to round-up the critters to be contained in our bedroom with […]

Q&A With Butler Native & Playwright Sarah Kosar About American Debut of ‘Mumburger’ at Carnegie Stage

Mumburger Pittsburgh

Tiffany in Mumburger is gay but it’s not something that is discussed as an issue in her relationship with her parents because it isn’t an issue. It’s a part of her but it’s not the thing that defines her in her life or her story in the play. The more we see LGBTQ people having […]

Ten Years Later: Looking Back at the 2009 Steel City Stonewall Democrats Endorsement Meeting

Steel City Stonewall Democrats Endorsement 2019

I’m resharing/reposting this post from exactly ten years ago – my summary of the 2009 Steel City Stonewall Democrats endorsement meeting. I’ve included the comments. You might notice a similarity with the modern incarnation of progressive Dems – both candidates and activists (and commenters). And the criticisms that I’m irrelevant, self-serving, and demanding as well […]