David Rotenstein

Yay! I get to write a story about mob body dumps!!!

Squirrels, long blamed for blackouts and other power outages, breathed a heavy sigh of relief after reading this story. Don't be surprised if the next major metro blackout is blamed on fish falling from the sky, not squirrels frying on power lines!

Help Shape the Future of the Pittsburgh Equality Center Pittsburgh Equality Center, formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Community Center, needs you. PEC is an entirely volunteer-run organization that equips participants with resources and programming to serve the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community. The organization promotes education, advocacy, and social justice for all LGBTQIA+ people and allies in Western Pennsylvania. To better understand the unique needs and experiences of the community in Greater Pittsburgh, the Center is hosting…

To better understand the unique needs and experiences of the community in Greater Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Equality Center is hosting a community survey to assess those needs.

“Where the Bottles Break” lyrics: Buy low, sell high You get rich and you still die Money talks, people jump Ask how high low life Donald what's his names And who cares? I don't wanna know what his girlfriend doesn't wear Its a shame that the people at work Wanna hear about this kind of jerk.

John Gorka knew about DJT. It seems like everyone knew/knows about him except a large swath of the electorate. Gorka sings about the conman in the 1991 song, “Where the Bottles Break.” 1991! youtu.be/Xhig0mC10go?...

*Won't be long till the AI Bull heads for the china shop here #slopjects

Trump And Miller Compel Colleges Not To Enroll International Students Trump officials are using rules, policies and agreements to compel and discourage U.S. universities from enrolling international students.

Wow. Had not realized that Columbia’s settlement with Trump admin included a commitment to decrease international student enrollment. In what way does this help “combat antisemitism,” which is supposedly the administration’s objective?
www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

Bonnie has the right idea!

Not a fan of sharing current stories from a strike-bound paper, but this is too good to pass up. It's as if Pittsburgh had just one "red light district" and that the proliferation of vape shops is disconnected from Liberty Avenue's past.

One unexpected sign of growing old: gray nose hairs.

"Chianti, Coffins and Crime" won't work as a headline for a story I'm filing next week. I need to find a venue where a wholesome Italian neighborhood history story intersects with mob history and a funeral home turned social club.

#ScholarSunday Thread 236 Published on August 3, 2025

August is here, and with it my 236th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +

americanstudier.substack.com/p/scholarsun...

This is never gonna get old: watching towboats and barges pass beneath John Roebling’s suspension bridge connecting Cincinnati & Covington.

Historian here from Bruce Bartlett a better analogy: Today I am reminded of a Russian economist named Nikolai Kondratiev who calculated some statistics Stalin didn't like and was executed for it.

White House Rose Garden before and after. The left photo shows grass and flowers. The second shows how the grass and flowers have been replaced with concrete.

reminds me of those grey floor home remodels

Goettafest got me thinking: is there a scrapple festival in Pennsylvania?

There was even a refrigerated goetta vending machine.

There was every goetta combo possible, including BBQ & Asian.

I went to my first breakfast sausage festival: Newport’s Goetta festival, Goettafest!

I saw a post (can't remember OP) that suggested it was a moment for PA state troopers to relish ....

Yesterday I dropped in on a NKY museum and spoke with a staff member. She's a retired nurse who recalls working in an Arizona hospital where mobster Joe Bonanno was being treated for something. She shared a very colorful story about bringing Bonanno's meds & passing thru his security.

I suggested that my wife print this & put it into her brand new copy of “1984.”

Actually, they have won. What we now need is an effective resistance.

Everyone knows that unemployed people are like people infected with Covid. If you don’t count them, then they don’t exist.

YouTube video by pablo9227 "THE TEXAS TORNADOS " en vivo en Austin Tx.

RIP Flaco Jimenez.

A primer on the middle finger "🖕":

Stalin ass shit

American photographer John Vachon

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1941
#JohnVachon #Photography

How Scientific Empires End And what it means for America

The rapid decline of American science has few precedents in history, argues @rossandersen.bsky.social. We are witnessing an unparalleled act of self-sabotage:

Terrific story about creative entrepreneurs leaning into regional and neighborhood history. Covington owes some of its 20th century economic history to Cincy-based bootleggers who setup across the Ohio River.

It’s like I’m surrounded by riverboat history. This is an exhibit in the Cincinnati Public Library.

“The river flowing by is present time, upriver is the past, and downstream is the future” — Harlan Hubbard.