Psst, Wall Street occupiers, move to Alabama

Who says there are no new manufacturing jobs being created in America?

Carpenter Technology is going to build a spanking new $500 million state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that will create oodles of jobs.

Unfortunately, that plant will go up in Limestone County, Alabama, near Huntsville, and the jobs will swing south from Reading to Dixie.

The Limestone cowboys "put together a very compelling package including various tax initiatives, infrastructure grants, and training programs," revealed one of the CarTech carpetbaggers.

So what does Limestone have to offer, besides cheap labor?

Four golf courses, a fiddlers convention, the Von Braun Center, a dogwood festival...sounds kind of nice. The unemployment rate is about 7.2% and is sure to go down.

Here's the press release put out by the CarTech flacks.

Republicans not quite sure how to game the presidential election in Pennsylvania

Apportion electors by congressional district? Popular vote takes all? Slate has this nugget:

Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, became incensed at testimony from League of Women Voters and Common Cause representatives endorsing an inter-state compact to ensure that the popular vote elects the president. Folmer’s reaction built as he compared the movement to the rise of Nazis in Germany.

“If we go to a national popular vote, we might as well get rid of all 50 states,” Folmer said red-faced, before committee (chairman Chuck) McIlhinney reined him in.

Slate's David Weigel: I'll have to be the skunk here and point out that the Nazis didn't actually win the popular vote while there were fair elections in Germany. Maybe the people who got elected in a fluke Republican wave aren't the best judges of how a 220-year old system should be fixed?

Hideous people stealing newspapers, forcing newspaper to take drastic measures

Diagram that sentence. (Hat tip to Kim Z.)

Frisky West Reading fuzz accused of tasing folks for fun, posting videos on YouTube

As if the DA didn't have enough on his plate, now he has to investigate allegations that two of West Reading's finest, Matthew Beighley and Ryan Phillips, used their department-issued Tasers to zap unsuspecting fellow cops, relatives and ladies around the squad room and at a costume party.

Imagine, you're minding your own business, downing a Monster drink, and then -- KAZZHOWWEY!!! -- your fanny feels like it just woke up after a night in the electric chair.

The kooky coppers then supposedly posted evidence of their mischief on YouTube, which the DA has since had taken down, depriving others of sharing in the pranksters' mirth until the DVD comes out.

Betcha these guys enjoyed snapping towels at unwitting classmates in the boys locker room.

If things don't go well for the officers, they always can launch a second career on "Jackass."

Weekend open thread

Have it your way.

Holiday weekend open thread

Speak your piece between mugs of frosties and meatless burgers on the barbie.

Reading braniacs celebrate possible departure of Police Chief Heim with intelligent discourse

Reading police Chief Bill Heim is job hunting. That's because Joe Eppihimer will surely be elected mayor and will replace the chief with his fourth cousin, Louie, on his mother's side, at a salary of $565,000.

Heim is looking westward, at the city of Cincinnati, and his departure would leave the city in a lurch, with less than a year to go in Tom McMahon's tenure as mayor. (Did we mention police chief is a patronage job, doled ut to friends, relatives and/or campaign contributers. Crime won't go down for nuthin' no matter who gets the post.)

Heim is one of the 10 finalists in Cincy, which emans his chances are slightly less than Scotty wrapping up the crown on "American Idol." but that isn't stopping from newspaper readers from celebrating, in their own mean, vicious, racist way.