When thinking about Larry Farnese these days, I keep thinking about the old Moody Blues song 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.' In this case, however, it's 'Every Good Boy Does NOT Deserve Favour.'

Farnese may be a decent guy with decent progressive views, but there are a lot of arenas where he could bring those positives into use. I don't think elected politics is one of those arenas. Not every progressive has what it takes to be an elected official.

The seeds of my doubts about him were planted last Fall, and ever since, his actions have only served to reinforce my doubts.

There’s something funny going on when it comes to Vince Fumo these days. And I don’t mean funny ‘strange.’ I mean funny ‘ha-ha.’

Let’s face it. It was never any great stretch of the imagination to expect that Vince Fumo might end his career being labeled a crook. There was always an air of shadiness to his powerful dealings and his money deals. People recognized that he brought a lot of money to the city even as they suspected he liked to take a little taste for himself. People recognized that he was a powerful politician, while at the same time recognizing that sometimes that entailed running roughshod over people, legal procedures and common ethics.

I don’t think anyone was really surprised when that 139 count indictment came down, and if in the end he is found guilty…well, it will only be surprising in that he didn’t figure out some way to weasel out of it all.

I know, it's such a cheap and easy target...but that's the sort of mood I'm in tonight, so I wanted to have a little fun. So Vince Fumo, needing to raise money for his high-priced legal defense against the 139 count federal indictment against him for conspiracy, fraud, obstruction of justice and filing false tax returns, has decided to put his Green Street house up for sale.

I share the despair and anger of many here over the number of murders here in Philadelphia. I also was particularly affected by Saturday's murder of a 14 year old bicyclist at 9th and Federal. Partly because, yes, this is just around the corner from me. Partly because of the fact that it took place alongside a playground filled with children on a summer afternoon. Partly because of the randomness of it, that such a minor altercation could so swiftly lead to a deadly conclusion.

On the other hand, it also angers me that this particular murder gets so much more media play largely because it took place in a 'good' neighborhood. Yes, part of the media attention also stems from the circumstances, but in truth a lot of the gunfire deaths in this city, in 'bad' neighborhoods, are also shockingly random, involve bystanders, and explode from minor altercations. No, I fully believe that neighborhood is the prime factor in the media play.

First of all, an update on the Samir Benakmoume 1352 Lofts sidewalk grab at Broad and South. According to John Doe over at PhillyBlog:

Got the following info in another email......

I was in contact with Brian Abernathy from Councilman DiCicco's office and found out the following:
The case is at 1:30 PM on Wednesday, July 11th in room 426 of City Hall. This is the city taking action against Sami, not him appealing. The city contends that the only way to deal with the problem is for him to remove the terrace altogether. The case is absolutely public and anyone can attend, although there probably wouldn't be an opportunity for us to testify.
I will be there, anyone want to join me?

I haven't been able to access the city court pages this morning. Can anyone confirm if this info is correct???

Congratulations, Philadelphia! You've just given birth to a brand new Redevelopment Zone!

In the waning days of the recent City Council session, three more square blocks of the city were given the official designation of blighted and thereby corralled within the bounds of the 9th and Ellsworth Redevelopment Area--WARNING! PDF file!. This was done over the near-unanimous opposition of the community. Everyone agrees that there is one building, taking up one quarter of a block, that truly is a blight on the neighborhood. But the rest of the 'blight' consists of a newly vibrant commercial strip and my own lovely block of owner/resident homes.

Join me for a tale of a stubborn city councilman, a group of angry homeowners, worried immigrant businessmen, and some curious real estate deals.

Yesterday, I happened to come across This Notice of an Emergency Preparedness Exercise the city will be conducting this Sunday:

On Sunday, June 24, 2007, local, state and national officials are conducting an exercise to test the delivery of emergency medicine.

Postal carriers will deliver small, empty, cardboard boxes that represent medication to approximately 52,000 households in the Germantown (19144), Fairmount (19130), and Boulevard (19149) areas of Philadelphia. A Philadelphia Police Department officer will be with each postal carrier as part of the test.

For this test, this empty box is meant to represent emergency medications that would prevent people from becoming sick from a bioterrorist attack.