Green Event with 2004 Presidential Candidate in Pittsburgh

David Cobb (Green Party Presidential Candidate, 2004) and Titus North (Green Party Candidate for Mayor of Pittsburgh) are slated for a House Party/Fundraiser at 2140 Wightman St., Pittsburgh, PA 15217 at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2005.

Suggested donation for the fundraiser $10.

David Cobb is billed as a true hero of Election Reform, a passionate speaker, and he is definitely one of the strongest National voices for fair and auditable elections.

Gipper, gadfly, or GOPer

Gipper or gadfly? - PittsburghLIVE.com: "Allegheny County's Republican Committee should not consider the coming mayoral election as an inevitable failure. Bob O'Connor, poised to snatch the Grant Street throne from Tom Murphy, began his political identity as a registered Republican.
Yes, a Republican.

Word on the street says Tom Murphy was a Republican as well. And, he went to the established Republicans early in his ramping up for elected office and put the cards on the table. He sold his soul to them in some early meetings and got into bed with the Allegeheny Conference.
To this day, many Pittsburgher folks are sure Tom Murphy isn't a Democrat. I was on a talk-show and this same noise came up. It is everywhere. Tom Murphy acts like a Republican comes from the Dems and the denial of Tom Murphy as a pawn of the Republicans is bold too.
Tom Murphy used to speak to Jim Roddey, R, County Executive, every day while both were in office. They were tight. They were reading from the same playbook until late 2001. Roddey wanted Murphy to win election in 2001.
Life here isn't so much about Rs and Ds. Salena might wish it was, because that is the national sizzle that makes smoke for the business model to scale up to bigger and different accounts in the political PR world.
Bob O'Connor is cut from the same cloth as Tom Murphy. Both are the leading Democrats in the city. Both are for status quo. Both are for corporate welfare.
The article says the sky has already fallen on Pittsburgh. Well, I'd say it fell, sure. But, today is a new day and it is falling again. The sky is still going to fall -- and further debt is sure to mount. There is still a valid reason for sounding the alarms when the city's budget for 2006 calls for an additional $25-million in new debt.

FreeMarkets founder Glen Meakem contemplates future in politics - PittsburghLIVE.com

Trib article Meakem said he doesn't have faith in the Pittsburgh electorate to put people in place that will make real change. He said he supported Bill Peduto and Michael Lamb in the Democratic primary, and urged that one of them pull out of the race and support the other in order to present a realistic chance against front-runner and eventual winner, Bob O'Connor, whom he doesn't view as a strong agent for radically transforming the way the city does business.

Both Lamb and Peduto are partly to blame for O'Connor winning the D's spring primary. I wish there was more teamwork among the challengers. Sadly, they fumbled those opportunities.

Dollar Bank Junior Great Race

I guess this can be the 10th annual -- but -- there was a time when the race was stopped in its tracks by Mayor Murphy. Refunds were given. A crisis was needed to waive in the face of residents of the city and suburbania and Harrisburg. Murphy's wisdom put a stop to the race despite the facts that The Great Race makes money.

WPXI.com - WPXI-TV - Dollar Bank Junior Great Race
The Great Race has Fun for the Entire Family, today, Sunday, September 18, 2005, at Point State Park.

Register your junior athletes in this non-competitive race for children 12 and younger. $5 for pre-registration; $7 on Sept. 18.

Start setting examples for your children while they are young. Encourage them to participate this exciting day of family fun that promotes health and fitness.

Parents can make this event more memorable for the kids by running with their children in the 1-Mile Fun Run.

Beginning at noon, Point State Park will be hopping. Children of all ages will enjoy meeting with favorite mascots, silly class and face painters.
www.rungreatrace.com.

Packet pick-up and late registration will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Recruiting grassroots leaders

Here is an interesting call for grassroots leaders from Alan Keyes. Grassroots leaders wanted for Renewamerica.us

RenewAmerica is looking for dedicated activists who would like to 'make a difference.'

The purpose of RenewAmerica is to inspire and develop grassroots leaders who are committed to advancing the principles of our nation's great Declaration of Independence and its framework for implementation, the U.S. Constitution.

We call this philosophy "Declarationism."

Our goal is to identify -- and prepare -- those individuals who believe enough in these uniquely-American ideals to DO SOMETHING, not just watch from the sidelines.

An appeal for leaders:

We're looking for self-motivated, patriotic Americans who are willing to lend their time, talents, and knowledge to building a nationwide grassroots movement of dedicated activists--activists who are willing to sacrifice for the cause of liberty in the tradition of their forbears.

Are you possibly such a self-motivated citizen-activist? If so, we'd like you to become an official member of RenewAmerica -- authorized to represent RenewAmerica in your sphere of influence (within guidelines set by the organization).

We'd also like you to consider organizing your own local chapter of RenewAmerica -- built upon Declarationist principles, but reflecting your own particular interests, perspective, and focus. Each chapter is meant to be fundamentally autonomous and distinctive, within guidelines created by RenewAmerica.

All chapters are local franchises of the RenewAmerica name and concept.

Are you interested? Do you have sufficient "moral heart" to lead out in reclaiming our republic? Are you willing to inspire and teach others to emulate your example--at least, are you willing to try?

What we have in mind is a unique organization that is built from the bottom up, and thus has much deeper roots and greater strength than any "top-down" political organization. We're absolutely serious about making this grassroots vision a reality.

We believe nothing else will work.

Please join us!

As our nation continues to show signs of increasingly-destructive erosion of the foundation our Founders gave us, there is great urgency to ACT in setting things right, within the parameters of basic decency, respect for law, and faith in God, through grassroots activism inspired by effective grassroots leaders.

If you've had enough disillusionment with our political process, with our government, and with powerful lobbies and special interests, consider becoming a recognized member of RenewAmerica--and also think about forming a franchised RenewAmerica chapter in your area.

Ultimately, our plan is to have over a million individual RenewAmerica activists in place throughout our country--and at least one RenewAmerica chapter in every county.

Visit the site and even see the CHAPTER FRANCHISE AGREEMENT, plus a Declarationists of America, Unite handbill. And as usual, reactions welcomed.

Tire clean-up nets nearly 600 from the landscape!

Bev of the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Assn posted a recap of the weekend efforts on a tire pick-up project.

We gathered 319 tires without rims and 70 tires with rims. Today's total is 389. From the same area we pulled out 150+ on April 17, 2004 and nearly 100 September 14, 2003 for a grand total of close to 600 tires! There might be ~10-15 left buried so deeply in mud that they cannot be removed. There is a great deal of trash that was bagged and piled for a later clean up. If you drive down Brosville, you will see the tires all piled for Monday pickup...

There will be photos in the Trib tomorrow and in the Reporter. The PG was also there sans photographer.

Thanks to the South Side Chamber of Commerce and Tier1 for the funding to pay the $0.75-$2.00 per tire fee for Proper Tire Disposal!

I am so very happy that we started cleaning this illegal dump area 2 years ago and have had such a great success, that new dumping has been curtailed with our surveillance! This is all due to the StepTrek calling attention to our public stairways. Thanks to all of you that will be very sore tomorrow!

We will be meeting at 9:00 am next Saturday to clean up the StepTrek routes. We will be at the UPMC SS Lot 21st & Josephine Streets. We will make our final pass on Saturday 10/1 for last minutes pick up. Then, the StepTrek is Sunday October 2 from noon to 4pm! We could use volunteers as early as 8 am.

Email Bev to help with the Step Trek. Or, just sign up and take the urban down and uphill hike!

Her Hopes Can Come True

Email from a pal in Pittsburgh's west end.

Mark--

Thank you for posting information about the eminent domain hearing on your blog. Incidentally, congratulations on your issue-oriented campaign for the Pa State enate. Your opponents waged one of the worst campaigns I have ever seen. Reading their ads, I felt embarrassed for both of them. I hope to see you in the running for City Council in the future.

Sincerely,

Kathleen

My Pet Goat: A cease and Desist letter sent to volunteers helping in the wake of Katrnia - OMG

My Pet Goat: "Cease and Desist

As background, our Katrina data project is a group of volunteers who are trying to aggregate data from numerous Katrina-related websites so that it's easier to search....

Read the rest there. I have much more to say about this, should I find the time.

Flashback: Any guess what these girls are doing? (Leave your ideas within the comments.)

New Climbing Wall to open -- we'll visit an older one in HK

We'll be missing the opening of the REI store on South Side Works. Harbor City in Hong Kong has a climbing wall too. Grant is giving it a whirl in this photo. Bike Pittsburgh was looking for some volunteers for bike parking duties on the opening days. Wonder if the union on strike will make a fuss with them as 'scabs?'

See ya soon. Tonight we are hosting a mini-party with two grad students and their buddies. In a couple of weeks, the two students join the four of us (photoed above) for a two week trip to Hong Kong.

Downtown in their dreams.

Candidates seek new Downtown plan. Downtown in their dreams.

If this was baseball, Weinroth hit a triple while O'Connor sat on the bench and sent in a pinch hitter.

Where in the world is Bob O'Connor? I'm not interested in hearing from a spokesperson. Bob is silent on Fifth and Forbes. Bob is silent on the budget. Bob is silent on property taxes. Bob is silent on closing schools. Bob is silent on everything. Furthermore, Skrinjar and Weinroth's statements are with serious holes and don't satisfy my urge to get Pittsburgh to thrive.

At least we heard George W. Bush repeat one of my often used phrases -- we want to thrive and not just survive. He was speaking about New Orleans in a prime time speech.

Candidates seek new Downtown plan - PittsburghLIVE.com The city needs to stop trying to do real estate development, Weinroth said.

I'd rather hear, "the city needs to stop doing real estate development." One could say, stop trying, just do it. Don't plan again -- just go.
But the headline, "candidates seek new downtown plan" is at odds with what Weinroth said. Weinroth wants a marketplace plan and that is simply no plan at all.

Meanwhile, the twisted logic in Dem's side is horrid. Bob wants downtown as a neighborhood. Neighborhoods have neighbors and residents. So, "If you have a population of residents, the businesses will find their way there," Skrinjar said. Yes, but, downtown is cramed and full of business now. Or, at least it was full of business to the point that downtown living got to be too expensive. The business influences elbowed out the residents, mostly. So I wonder how businesses can follow residents when the landscape is already overwhelmingly that of business.

Or, let's look at the other side of the landscape. A neighborhood -- say Fox Chapel -- has a lot of residents with a lot of spending power too. That does not mean that businesses can go there and follow them just because there are residents.

Even on Rt 28 we had to build with a major TIF (tax break) a suburban mall -- Pittsburgh Mills. Sure, that isn't quite within the limits of Fox Chapel proper, but it is for those shoppers. The county government officials had to bribe the businesses to go there.

So the O'Connor plan is to empty downtown of businesses, make downtown more residential, then hope more businesses are going to move there from say the mall at Pittsburgh Mills.

I don't want to subsidize housing for rich people.

ANOTHER PITTSBURGH ROAD TRIP for PA Clean Sweep's Russ Diamond

Russ Diamond will be traveling to the Pittsburgh area once again on Monday, September 19th. There will be a TV taping with Bruce Krane on PCTV 21, which is scheduled to end about 2:30 pm, but after that, we'll be looking for another informal get together in the evening.

If you'd like to help out by being our point of contact for such a gathering, please email info -at- pacleansweep.com. We had a great time with everyone who came down to Station Square on Wednesday evening and we hope to repeat that with another batch of CleanSweepers! It was great to meet everyone in person!

Speaking of road trips, for those of you in other areas of PA, why not help organize a road trip to your neck of the woods? All we need is a backyard barbeque or some other informal setting to help reinforce the PACleanSweep excitement and get new people in your area involved! Email info -at- pacleansweep.com if you think you could put something together in your area.

On the Snake River

Flashback: From September, 2004. Photo of Erik, Grant and I speaks to the bi-polor city we live in. Sometimes is it good to get away from it all and cherish the memories.

Bad week for the airlines

Bad week for Delta and Northwest. Like this is going to make us feel better? Remember when all the cities had crime -- so we are just like them. Remember when the rust belt north lost its population. So, we are like them? I say think again. Too many leaders just go along and follow.

ESPN.com gives Swann some ink in race for PA Gov job

ESPN.com - NFL - Garber: New arena Swann lacks experience, but celebrity status a plus

AlterNet: WireTap: To Have and Have Not -- unplanned parenthood thrives in Ohio

A longer read about Kent, Ohio, and the kids in the high school.At one school, 64 girls are pregnant.

AlterNet: WireTap: To Have and Have Not: "Timken High is a well-policed fortress; it's a shame the real threats -- politically motivated ignorance and soul-crushing boredom -- lie within its walls.

In the net. Market House soccer is about to begin. If you have younger children, especially if they've not been on a sports team in the past, the activity is worth your investigation.

Eminent Domain gathering here in Pittsburgh

Kathleen Walsh at Ridgemont neighborhood friend from back in the Fifth-Forbes days wrote with this info. I put in for a time to speak.

The State Government Committee will be holding a hearing on eminent domain at 11:00 am., Sept. 22, City Council Chambers, City-County Building, fifth floor. The public is invited to attend. People who wish to speak must register before the hearing by contacting Susan Boyle by either email, sboyle@pahousegop.com or by phone (717-772-3465).

She will schedule speakers as time permits. Please attend whether you plan to speak or not. There are very few speakers scheduled thus far.

... After our struggles of the past, it will be very sad if the committee comes to Pittsburgh and does not get a full picture of the problems we have had and of the community's deep opposition to eminent domain.

I am sure you are aware of the recent Supreme Court decision which approved the use of eminent domain to transfer property to private parties for so-called economic development, which is just the sort of legalized theft that we fought against.

In response to that decision, a number of states are considering legislation to restrict the use of eminent domain. In Pennsylvania, two bills have been introduced, House Bills 1835 and 1836. You can find the text of these bills at www.legis.state.pa.us. The hearing is concerned with problems that have been experienced with eminent domain, and what type of reform is needed.

Operation PA Clean Sweep's leader, Russ Diamond, visited Western PA

Photo by Mark Rauterkus. Click image for enlarged view.
Leaders from Operation Clean Sweep gathered (Sept. 14) at 5 pm at Crawford Grill in Station Square. I was able to attend, with 18 others on two days notice.

Russ Diamond recorded some segment with Clear Channel to play on six various radio stations in the days to come.


Photo by Mark Rauterkus. Click image for enlarged view.
Feeling especially tidy, so enjoy the bonus photo of a helper. Send me a photo of you and your dust-pan, and we'll see if we can make you famous for cleaning up PA Politics by getting a new house and senate in 2006.

Road trip to DC for techie talks in the wake of Katrinia and other storms ('n at)

Does anyone want to go to DC for an event?

N-TEN and HumaniNet invite you to a unique conference that will focus directly on the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in humanitarian relief operations and post-crisis development.

ICT and Humanitarian Relief:
Being prepared, launching your response, and creating sustainable change
Monday, Oct 17 * Omni Shoreham * Washington, DC
Register: http://www.nten.org/conferences-ict

From the Katrina Response to the Tsunami to Darfur to Afghanistan, humanitarian relief operations depend critically on the effective use of information and communications technologies (ICT). In both emergencies and ongoing relief efforts, humanitarian relief operations present enormous ICT challenges: working environments with non-existent or damaged communications and support infrastructure; the need to interoperate with other aid organizations and government agencies; and managing massive logistical problems and information flows. Successful relief operations that bring about sustainable change depend upon early preparation and planning.

Over 100 key program and operations managers from NGOs, government, and the technology industry will meet in Washington, D.C. on October 17 to discuss lessons learned in the tsunami response and other relief operations, with an emphasis on practical, on-the-ground solutions and near-term opportunities.

This conference will bring together practitioners with hands-on experience and fresh ideas about the use of ICT to share "lessons learned" and innovations, to identify opportunities for collaboration, and to craft best practices. The conference will focus on ICT in all phases of relief operations: preparation and planning; emergency response; long-term relief; transition to self-sufficiency.

Please see the conference agenda page at http://www.nten.org/conferences-ict-agenda for more details on the sessions available for the day. We will address such topics as best practices for ICT preparation and planning, "day one" communications and connectivity, tools for collaborative information sharing, and the need to plan for ICT support of long-term, sustainable reconstruction projects.

At the conference, we will form informal communities of interest around the main themes and technologies to maintain the momentum of the networks and recommendations that emerge from the discussions. Cost is $100 for N-TEN members, $150 for non-members.

Camron Assadi, Marketing and Business Director
N-TEN, The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network http://www.nten.org
(415) 397-9000 main
(415) 397-1833 fax
camron@nten.org

South Side Market House to begin fall programs soon

Market House soccer to begin shortly. News was in the South Pittsburgh Reporter.

The photo above was taken of the kids giving each other a handshake at the end of the game, a tradition at the Market House.

The Market House is a Citipark Rec Center and Senior Center. The Rec Center activities were closed by Mayor Murphy a couple of years ago. All centers were shut. The Market House has re-opened to kids activities again, to some degree, but NOT by the city as it was. Parents and volunteers have a much bigger role in the programming now.

Youth soccer sign-ups are slated for 6 pm to 8 on Monday, Sept. 19 and Thursday Sept. 22 at the Market House.

The programs will be held Mondays, Tuesdays and Thrusdays. Age groups are 4, 5 and 6 year olds from 4:15 pm to 5. The 7, 8, 9 and 10s are from 5:15 to 6 pm.

The games are once or twice a week, after a few weeks of practices. Family night ends the program on December 2.

Open to boys and girls, the nonrefundable fee of $10 is required at sign up. Call 412 488 8390 for more specifics.

Badnarik Class about Constitution

This class and home study program is condensed into just two hours (meeting in Harrisburg and King of Prussia) and comes with the book and 12 hours of instruction on DVD. Cost is $120.

This is a great opportunity for teenage homeschool students. Details in the comments. Now if only we could get our Congressmen and Senators to sign up!

Michael Badnarik is a teacher on the US Constitution and ran for President of the United States. I voted for him -- rather than "W" or Kerry. Badnarik visited Pittsburgh and spoke at a meeting I helped to organize in Mt. Washington.

Michael Badnarik will share with you the little known and lesser understood history and original intent of the Constitution. According to Congressman, Ron Paul (R-TX), "Michael Badnarik has created a constitutional primer that will edify and entertain schoolchildren and seasoned libertarians alike. He does an excellent job of demystifying our founding document, demonstrating that ordinary Americans can and should understand the Constitution and how it applies to their lives."

"Introduction To The Constitution" with Michael Badnarik, Seminar and Home-Study Program, Download the PDF flyer.

Two Pennsylvania classes this month:

Saturday, Sept. 24th: Harrisburg, PA
2:00 - 4:00 pm, Harrisburg Hilton and Towers
1 N 2nd St, Harrisburg, 17101
Contact: Quince Eddens 717-608-5806 (cell)

Sunday, Sept. 25th: King of Prussia, PA
2:30 - 4:30 pm, Philadelphia Inquirer Building
800 River Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406
Contact: Jim Baab 610-574-1222 (cell)

Attend the 2 hour mini-course and receive the course book “Good to be King” and the in-depth, 12 hour DVD set. All for $120.

Register now at www.constitutionpreservation.org

Even if you think you know the Constitution well, you’ll be shocked at how much you were never taught.

Next Meeting of the Allegheny County Libertarian Party at Rauterkus.com

Come to our office at 108 South 12th Street, South Side, for the next monthly meeting of the Allegheny County Libertarians: 7 pm on Wed. Sept. 21.

Windy City event features Pittsburgh speaker - Monetary Conference

Chicago Monetary Conference is to be held from September 29 to Oct 2, 2005. Pittsburgh's Dan Sullivan will be one of 25 or so speakers. Steven Zarenga is the main organizer. http://www.monetary.org/2005conference.html.

Lessons from Hurricane Katrina (via Libertarians of PA)

Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania
3863 Union Deposit Road #223
Harrisburg, PA 17109
1-800-774-4487
www.lppa.org

For Immediate Release:
Date: 09/14/2005

For more information contact:
Doug Leard (Media Relations) or David Jahn (Chair) at 1-800-R-RIGHTS

Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
Pennsylvania Should Encourage Private Responses

Harrisburg, PA -- The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPA) extends its deepest sympathies to those who lost so much from Hurricane Katrina. In the days ahead, much national attention will focus on how the loss of life and property could have been minimized and on policy matters regarding disaster preparation and costs.

Local, state and federal responses to Katrina are not within the LPPA's scope, but lessons learned that apply to Pennsylvania are. One observation is that in times of crisis, communities that are highly dependent on government are highly vulnerable if all levels of government can't coordinate, predict and prepare for every possible contingency.

The lesson is that citizens and local communities need to accept their personal responsibility for self-reliance in times of crisis and that government must not obstruct private relief efforts. To that end the LPPA suggests a legislative review of state laws and regulations to identify those that deter emergency preparedness and response. Some obvious focus areas include:

* Private Organizations Aiding Disaster Recovery – From the Salvation Army to Wal-Mart to churches to credit unions, private organizations have been effective all along the Gulf Coast. We should ask our own private organizations how Pennsylvania can avoid obstructing their efforts during a disaster here. In addition, local businesses and service groups, being on the ground here, should be given latitude since they have invested locally and have special incentive to minimize damage and maximize recovery.

* Medical Licensing Requirements – Out-of-state medical professionals kind enough to offer their services along the Gulf Coast were stopped due to licensing issues. The rapid or automatic granting medical professionals a functioning status here should be a high priority.

* Absolute Right of Self-Defense – In a time of crisis, citizens’ right to self and community defense must not be impeded or questioned by government authorities. Nor should it be for those volunteering for the relief effort.

* Keep Vicitms’ and Responders’ Affairs Private – Some private organizations helped to arrange victims’ mail delivery to their offices where some of that mail was illegally opened and monies taken from victims who received aid. State private property laws should reinforce failed federal laws in these instances for victims and responders.

LPPA spokesman Doug Leard added, “Of course, a well-balanced state budget, a lean state legislature, a healthy economic climate, the absence of parasitic slush funds, would make it easier for Pennsylvanians and private organizations to make preparations and to actually assist during a time of crisis. That in turn makes it easier for the state to step in when truly necessary."

It is still best to walk your bike on the sidewalk. Perhaps I'll make a whole campaign out of nothing else but good city-living guidelines. Forget about heavy subjects, such as freedoms or subsidization of rich people's housing for downtown loft apartments -- just don't burp in public nor play your car radios too loud.
Photo by Mark Rauterkus.

The Salvation Army facility will include a concert hall space that can also be used for Sunday Worship. 

Western Avenue work paid for by those who live on that street

The model has changed for the worse, here again. If a road needs to be improved -- those who have "frontage" on that road are going to pay more.

I am against all types of non-democratic weeie-driven, improvement districts that live upon soft money and extra fees and taxes. BIDs = Business Improvement Districts. BIDs are ways to increase taxes as if the residents are not paying enough already. BIDs also come up with fancy ways to spend more money.

Funds OK'd for Western Avenue work URA director of business development Robert Rubinstein said legislation creating a Western Avenue Business Improvement District, and allowing the assessment, would be introduced in council within weeks. Council would have to conduct a public hearing before voting, he said.

When roads get paved because those who live there are paying more for the paving -- it is a case of the rich getting richer. We won't need to pave the roads in the poor neighborhoods.

Road paving decisions need to come from the most prudent logic, based upon fairness, giving economics of the community some weight and allowing opportunities for citizen input and critique. Presently road paving decisions are often about patronage. This move to BIDs makes the special interest groups get more clout and more attention to scares resources.

Road work in progress somewhere in the world.

Bankrupt city BUYS another property, spends more, further hurts downtown

This is no "redevelopment group" -- it is government. The URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) gets money from taxes and does NOT pay taxes.

Redevelopment group adds another property - PittsburghLIVE.com

The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority added another property Tuesday to its growing cache of buildings in the Fifth and Forbes corridor Downtown.
Authority members unanimously approved the purchase of a 4,100-square-foot building at 218 Forbes Ave. owned by George S. Aiken for $350,000. The purchase means the authority will own at least 18 buildings in the Downtown corridor.
Redevelopment director Jerry Dettore said the building was needed to complete the authority's ownership of a cluster of properties around Aiken's restaurant, George Aiken's Delicious Prepared Foods, which will continue to operate for up to five years. Dettore said his agency has been buying Downtown buildings to prepare the city for Mayor Tom Murphy's plan to attract a major company to develop a large retail district.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft plans to outsource more, says ex-worker

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft plans to outsource more, says ex-worker Microsoft is on track to outsource more than 1,000 jobs a year to China, according to blistering evidence released yesterday in Microsoft's increasingly nasty spat with Google over an employee who jumped ship in July.

In a revelation that highlights the complexity of China President Hu Jintao's visit to Seattle and Microsoft on Monday, legal filings detailed claims of how Microsoft had offended the Chinese government by not outsourcing as many jobs as promised to Chinese technology vendors.
Slashdot comments

Russ Diamond, lead organizer of PA Clean Sweep, visits Pittsburgh on Wed, 14th

Russ Diamond, the lead organizer of PA Clean Sweep, is due in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. We're meeting with him at 5 pm at the Crawford Grill in Station Square. I'll try to attend.

Free Movie at Pitt -- 9 pm on WED -- "Busted"

The movie, Busted, is to be shown this wednesday in room 120 in David Lawrence Hall at the University of Pittsburgh.

"Created by Flex Your Rights and narrated by retired ACLU director Ira Glasser, BUSTED realistically depicts the pressure and confusion of common police encounters. In an entertaining and revealing manner, BUSTED illustrates the right and wrong ways to handle different police encounters and pays special attention to demonstrating how you, the viewer, can courteously and confidently refuse police searches."
http://www.flexyourrights.org/busted

Grant S is headed home after delivering supplies to the Gulf

katrinaWay to go Grant S. He took a turck load of goods to the gulf in the wake of Katrina. He wrote (via Kathy and edited slightly by the webmaster) in part:

... PS I found four lost salvation army trucks, and got them provisioned again, and got national guard to donate ice and water until the head office in Jackson was able to re-supply them. They thought they thought they may have been looted or worse, but they just ran out of gas and got lost with no communications. And they ran out of provisions. Have pictures of all this, with me in some, just to make Ray jealous. Now that the women will see ME in he man mode.

HOT, buggy and wet. The sand bugs like to bite me. Safety is good and lots of good people are down here helping. Stayed in a huge Baptist Church last night. Many good people arriving from all over now. I am coming back soon. Food is gone, and I am tired.

Love to all G

Grant S -- you are our hero. Safe travels home. If you want help uploading those photos and telling your story on the web -- give me a call.

Spammers' Speed Trap: Posting some snares in the wake of Katrina

katrinaWe need to come up with a plan to set some traps to place within the databases built in the wake of Katrinia and People Finder efforts.

Humm.... More thinking and documentation to do.

BTW, the FEMA decoder rings are on the back burner for now.

Eternal vigilance: Libertarian ideology: give it a break!

Adam's recent blog entry, now at his own blog, starts on the harsh side but is right on the money at its close. I call myself a "common sense libertarian."

Eternal vigilance: Libertarian ideology: give it a break!: "Humans need to embrace multiple ideologies, recognizing that the real world includes great uncertainty and humans have a number of concerns which may complement or conflict with each other. They also need to think more like engineers, treating the world as raw material that can be shaped, bit-by-bit, into one's ideal.

Need a skipper. Take your pick.

Jim Leyand is in town. Get out... These are the guys that should manage the Pirates.

Quiz: Who are these fellows? Where was the photo taken?

Perhaps the Pirates would be able to get both for a good price.

Unloading a City Park Asset to the Salvation Army -- discussions to start.

Post agenda is slated for 1:30 on Tue, Sept. 13, 2005, to talk about the plan to turn over a City of Pgh Park to the Salvation Army. They hope to create a new Kroc Center. The Park is in Brighton Heights on the city's North Side.

LIVE CHAT: Embracing NCLB: One School's Experience

WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 14, 6 p.m., Eastern Time

WHERE: http://www.edweek-chat.org

Rail Road Flat Elementary, an impoverished, 100-student public school in rural northern California, has become one of the highest-achieving schools in the state and last year was a state nominee for "national model of excellence" status. The school's success has been attributed to strong student discipline and a heavy emphasis on the kind of teach-to-the-test learning that is often frowned upon in more affluent areas. "There's a need for structure," says Rail Road Flat teacher Randall Youngblood. "If I was teaching in another socioeconomic group, it might be different." But what are the drawbacks?

In this chat, Youngblood will discuss his school's approach to academics and classroom management and its attitude toward state and national policy.

Submit advance questions here.

For more information on Rail Road Flat Elementary, read the article "One-Track Minds" in the Aug./Sept. Issue of TEACHER MAGAZINE.

No equipment other than Internet access is needed to participate in this text-based chat. A complete transcript will be posted shortly after the chat's completion.

Gregg Behr efforts at Forbes Funds

Nonprofits need clout in Pittsburgh -- yeah, right.

Forbes Funds, Copeland Fund, Tropman Fund, Wishart Fund, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Any charitable organization, incorporated as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation and serving Greater Pittsburgh, can become a member of the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership (GPNP) by contributing a minimum of $100.

Petition calling for indie commission of feds after Katrnia

Signatures are gathering at on online petition to send an unmistakable message that Americans want answers in the wake of Katrinia. They want 50,000 people to support an Independent Commission -- by Wednesday.

Sign the petition.katrina

Duquesne Light -- here we go again?

Are we going to be treated to some new, decrative lighting treatments?

Duquesne Light Making Significant Investment in Region, Creating New Jobs State, County and City Officials to Join Company at Groundbreaking

Morgan K. O'Brien, Duquesne Light president and chief executive officer, will make a major announcement and provide details tomorrow regarding the company's commitment to its customers and the Pittsburgh region.

Scheduled speakers include Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Yablonsky, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy.

WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: 2835 New Beaver Avenue, Pittsburgh 15233

In the past, the big civic improvement from Duquesne Light was the lighting of a bridge over the river. More was spent on the lights for the bridge than it would have cost to hire eight new teachers to focus on 9th grade math in the city schools. Most of the city school kids in 9th grade fail algebra one. Most get "F"s (or did when the bridge lighting need long jam was cleared).

I'm not sure of the city students' math scores now -- but -- I have a bet that I could find 101 better uses for the bridge lighting project without much thinking.

Mike Brown resigns as director of FEMA.

Hit the road Jack. FEMA director resigns. 

Photo is from a sidewalk in "Peoples' Park." The people were not fooled. Good to see some accountability.

More news of 2006. But what about 2005?

It used to be, and still is, IMHO, bad form to put a lot of noise into the coverage of elections that are two or three away. It is better to devote most of the talk to the next elections. Why fuss and fast-forward to 2006 fall when 2005 needs to be made clear. If this coverage was in addition to 2005 mentions, I'd not gripe.

U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart of Bradford Woods (www.peoplewithhart.com) is thought to be potentially vulnerable, although the Dems seem to think Murphy is the more vulnerable of the two. Still, two Dems have lined up to challenge Hart already -- Georgia Berner of Butler County (www.georgiaberner.com) and Jason Altmire of McCandless (www.jasonaltmire.com).

Peters Township Democrat Tom Kovach

The seat in the congress is held by Tim Murphy, R. Every two years there is an election for these seats. Next up, 2006.

Kovach, a loss control engineer for an insurance company, a Navy veteran with a Masters degree from Pitt's GSPIA School, once ran for state House against Republican state Rep. John Maher, and he is mounting a grassroots, issues campaign (www.kovachforcongress.com). Taking a page out of Santorum's book, Kovach is already door-knocking in this three-county district.

Thanks for the pointer to Jon Delano, and his PSF email.

Next crisis: FEMA will issue decoder rings.

I can see the future, and it looks interesting for FEMA and decoder ring makers with big political PAC accounts.

We used to worry about electronic voting machines and paperless ballots. Next it will be decoder rings.

In the hours after the storm, the helicopters will drop decoder rings on the areas impacted by the storm. Other FEMA officials will station themselves at highway rest points and truck stops to hand out rings to those who supply DNA samples.

The rings will help with database management and authenticity.

That Dam Ride -- concluded. I'm going to rest now.

My son, Erik, 10, and I spent the weekend bonding -- while covering 140 miles on a two day bike trip, That Dam Ride.

Great weather. Great trail. Super everything. My boy was great too.

Note to world: I saw three bits of litter on the trail, all today. That's it.

We spent the night in the tent. Sadly, the tent did not make it home with us. Thank goodness there was a lost and found and friendly, responsible locals who helped me get the tent back on Monday. YES! Thanks! The tent is home again.

On the second day, Erik caught onto the skill of "drafting."

Day one we rolled out at 8:03 am under a big cover of fog. Got to the campsite, mile marker 59, at 4:30 pm. The last 20 miles were hard. The ice cream stop with 11-miles to go was NECESSARY.

On the second day we rolled out at 7:47 am -- as in 747 time to fly. And we did. The first 40 miles we must have averaged 12 mph, going 14 or 15 mph in stretches in a few packs. We got to the final spot, mile marker 128, at 3:05 pm. Plus, we had a 45-minute stop.

All in all -- great time.

Nice tunes last night by Wado Young.

I didn't take the digital camera. Got a few film photos from a throw-away camera to post later.

What's next? Perhaps the Junior The Great Race (on Sunday afternoon) and then the Great Race. What else are we missing?

Letter to the editor about Katrinia and its lesson

Worthy of a reprint here:

Lessons from Katrina

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Not surprisingly, the "blame game" is in full swing, an aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Individuals are busy pointing fingers and agreeing when the blame is placed on everyone in sight -- everyone, that is, except you and me (and they are not too sure about you).

They are expecting perfection from a government that cannot perform even its legitimate basic functions well.

The excess reliance on government, relieving the individual of responsibility, was initiated in the 1930s and has proliferated since.

This misguided thinking is not what grew this country and made it prosperous; this misguided thinking is bound to make this country poor.

This philosophy says it is the government's fault if people are poor, and that all are entitled to an affluent old age. This is embodied in our failing Social Security system.

When are people going to stop relying on the government to do everything? Perhaps Hurricane Katrina will help us to become sane?

George J. Heideman, Ligonier

16 to 10 -- Ohio U wins. I'll send a POST CARD of thanks to Steve Pederson!

Game goes into overtime and not a single offense score in the entire game.

Relentless works for me.

Fans rush the field after the game -- to hear the band's post game show!

Thanks Steve Pederson!

Athens -- Party -- Excitement

Tied, 10 to 10, with a field goal by Pitt with 7 seconds on the clock.

OU and Pitt are playing a splendid TV game.

The Burgh Blog: Annoying Burgher of the Week = Dr. King

The Burgh Blog: Annoying Burgher of the Week It is a school official.

Bobcats are beating Panthers headed into halftime

The OU Band takes the field -- and the scoreboard might change from 10-7 to 17-7 -- as the OU Marching 110 rock and roll.

Go Bobcats!

Sorry Wanny.

Let's see what the second half brings. Sorry the ESPN 2 coverage didn't show a few measures of the band's performance. :(

By the way -- I'm an 1982 Ohio University graduate. I'm pulling for MY University -- a place that was very good to me and good for me.

---

Our tent and sleeping bags, as well as new bike rack (thanks Nancy) and gear is packed for the weekend road trip. Erik, my oldest, and I are doing a 69-mile trek on Saturday and a return 69-miles on Saturday.

So, I'm no mail until Sunday night. I might wake up around Tuesday!

Keep the pork out of Katrinia Relief Aid

Following last week's devastating hurricane and flooding in the Gulf region, Congress acted quickly to pass an initial $10.5 billion relief package. On Tuesday, President Bush asked for an additional $40 billion, bringing the total to more than $50 billion. This amount could double to $100 billion.

History has shown Congress' propensity to take advantage of emergency supplemental spending bills by inserting funds for their member's own pet projects. Even though funds are desperately needed by Hurricane Katrina's victims, members of Congress will undoubtedly still attempt to insert some self-serving pork. Already, there are calls for aid for drought relief in the mid-West, even though such funding could be provided through the regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2006, which Congress has yet to approve.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) has challenged members of Congress to block funding for unrelated pork projects in its aid for hurricane recovery and to help offset the costs by returning the $24 billion for the 6,400 earmarks in the recently enacted highway bill. Please write to your legislators today (http://www.cagw.org/site/R?i=cAy3qmMdFsDC3dBGW4FSgg.. ). Urge them to sign CCAGW's "Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge," through which they can vow to oppose any project or provision that is not directly related to the impact of Hurricane Katrina in any supplemental appropriations bill that provides funds for hurricane relief.

Emergency supplemental bills have become a magnet for pork because they do not count against House and Senate budget caps and such bills are always signed by the President. Past examples include:

· In April 2005, the $80 billion Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief (H.R. 1268) included $25 million for the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery in Montana.

· In October 2003, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) grabbed $1.4 million for three projects in Pennsylvania, including $1 million to establish centers of excellence for the treatment of autism, in the fiscal 2003 Emergency Supplemental portion of the fiscal 2004 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act.

· In April 2003, the $78.5 billion War Supplemental Appropriations bill included 29 unrelated projects, which cost more than $348 million, including: $110 million for the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa; $22.7 million for a Capitol power plant; and $200,000 for Light of Life Ministries in Allegheny County, Pa.

Congress' propensity for pork has already impacted the government's ability to protect New Orleans residents by wasting funds on parochial pork-barrel projects that could have gone toward improvements on the city's breeched levees. This is just one example of taxpayer dollars serving member's home state interests and not solving infrastructure problems of national significance. This week, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released its annual Prime Cuts report, listing the worst $2
trillion in government spending and detailing a plan to stop Congress's skyrocketing spending and redirecting funds to important national priorities. The savings from Prime Cuts could be used to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

If there has ever been a time for Congress to reject pork and cut the waste, that time is now. The widespread devastation and loss of life resulting from this disaster should shame members of Congress into forgoing egregious spending that will hinder recovery efforts and add to the deficit. Please write to your Representative and Senators today and urge them to sign CCAGW's "Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge" and not waste precious tax dollars needed by struggling disaster victims: http://www.cagw.org/site/R?i=XC3rVrNbSql6yylhZaJxMQ..

Sincerely, Thomas A. Schatz, President, CCAGW

VOLUNTEERS SURF and SCRUB THE WEB TO HELP RECONNECT FAMILY AND FRIENDS

FOR MEDIA:

Contact: Sue Cline: Volunteer : Katrinalist.net : Communications & Media Phone: (804) 230-3456
Contact: Marty Kearns: Volunteer : Katrinalist.net : Communications & Media (C ) 202-487-1887
Contact: Zack Rosen: Volunteer : Katrinalist.net : Technical and Engineering Lead (C) (724)612-7641

WASHINGTON, Friday, September 09, 2005 — The largest collection of data on the web about evacuees and survivors has been pulled together by volunteers and programmers working long hours for the last week. The http://www.katrinalist.net is a collection of survivor information from across dozens of sites. The project was launched to provide information on survivors to family and friends across the web. The http://www.katrinalist.net site forms a needed complement to a pending launch of newer efforts to organize data by the Red Cross, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.

The "official sites" will be focusing on new more structured data collected from people in shelters and from those interacting with government programs and relief organizations. http://www.Katrinalist.net is the complement to whatever official collection all the informal data from bulletin boards, discussion forms and sites across the web. Katrinalist.net will provide data to Katrinasafe.com (also know at this blog as the jagoffs.)

Those seeking information on family should first search www.katrinasafe.com and then www.katrinalist.net. These sites represent the best collection of data and the best hope for helping family and friends locate each other.

Evacuees wishing to inform loved ones of their location can register or post information about survivors at http://www.katrinasafe.com/WebEntryApplication/entryform.aspx

Report a Missing Person at http://www.katrinasafe.com/WebEntryApplication/InquiryEntryForm.aspx

These are all voluntary and self-reporting tools. All media outlets and those hosting discussion boards, search tools and other information on survivors or offering connections to families are asked to redirect search traffic and data input to these sites.

Additional Background:
The project was launched as the core team started to realize that too many sites were collecting data and stories on families looking for or posting the status of their friends and neighbors. In the moments leading up to the storm dozens of sites launched services to help their members, including: New Orleans Newspapers (NOLA.com), TV and radio sites, Craigslist, CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo, Blogs and the Red Cross. In the hours following the storm companies, college students and volunteers began to set up databases for people to add and search information.

On Friday the 9th, The American Red Cross, with support of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement launched a web site and hotline to help assist family members who are seeking news about loved ones living in the path of Hurricane Katrina.

Dozens of message boards have sprung up around the country since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, promising to throw a technological lifeline to families that have been ripped apart. At the same time, the proliferation of registries has also made it increasingly difficult to figure out where to find information on missing loved ones.

"If I'm a refugee trying to find my brother, I would have to search 20 databases and 25 online forums," said David Geilhufe, chief executive of the Social Source Foundation, a charity set up to create software for other non-profits. "It's a huge problem."

Enter Katrinalist.net. The all volunteer team created a searchable directory of persons displaced or affected by Hurricane Katrina, consolidating over 25 different online resources into one central, searchable repository. PeopleFinder Interchange Format, (called 'PFIF') is a new, standardized data format implemented in XML.

Katrina People Finder (www.katrinalist.net) helps in the organization of data about people affected by major storms such as Hurricane Katrina and speeds searches by allowing many organizations to contribute to a central repository. The interchange format of Katrina People Finder makes automated search and retrieval of data about people quick and easy. Common data will help automated systems to connect displaced individuals via automatic categorization and matching.

The Kartinalist.net PeopleFinder database now contains just barebones information -- such as name, phone number, last known address and status. But Dean Robison of Salesforce.com, a San Francisco software firm that is providing the technology to run the consolidated database, said it could easily be expanded in the future to speed rescue and relief operations in further disasters.

The Power of Community

The Katrina PeopleFinder Project mobilized hundreds of volunteers over the Labor Day weekend to make an immediate difference. That immediate difference is at http://www.katrinalist.net/, a searchable database of almost 400,000 PeopleFinder Interchange Format-compliant, volunteer-entered, missing and found persons reports from across the web. Having a single, searchable resource is critical due to limited internet access for evacuees and their families. The team plans to turn its attention to housing and job solutions next, creating a centralized technology solution that aggregates a comprehensive resource set from sites all across the web, standardizes them, and makes them searchable from anywhere.

Project Contributors
CivicSpace Labs (http://www.CivicSpaceLabs.org) is a funded non-profit organization and community collaborating with the Drupal (http://www.Drupal.org) project to develop a free/open-source software platform for online community organizing. CivicSpace enables bottom-up people-powered campaigns to operate on a more level playing field with more traditional top-down organizations, and, similarly, allows top-down organizations to leverage the power of grassroots organizing.

Salesforce.com Foundation (http://www.salesforcefoundation.org/index.html) was officially launched in July 2000 by Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell. The launch of the Foundation came less than a year after the launch of the company with the goal of building philanthropic programs at the very beginning of the company's existence rather than waiting until the company had reached a certain level of 'comfortable success'. Our belief is if emphasis is placed on social programs from a company's inception, the value of service will be a core cultural value that is built into the fabric of the company.

Social Source Software (http://www.social-source.com/) creates world-class software specifically for nonprofit and non-governmental organizations, usually under an open source license. Social Source Software works with organizations seeking to create enterprise grade websites, web applications, and other types of software.

Craigslist (http://www.Craigslist.org) From its humble beginnings as an e-mail newsletter sent to friends in San Francisco, Craigslist has grown to be one of the largest online community bulletin boards, with 175 Craigslist sites in all 50 US states, and 34 countries. Craigslist was one of the earliest community sites to coordinate hurricane relief, rescue and reunion for Katrina survivors.

It is a sidewalk. Not roller blade way nor speed way. No bike riding here.

Don't ride your bike on the sidewalks of the South Side! Get off and walk. A few customers of stores have gotten run down by fast moving bike riders in recent days. Get onto the street and go fast or walk on the sidewalk.

Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances: RIP to the ICA

We need oversight. The ICA isn't dead yet. It has acted like it is worthless. But that is another problem.

Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - PittsburghLIVE.com R.I.P.: The Pittsburgh oversight board. With the departure of Bill Lieberman from the board, there's really no need for the board to exist. Gutted of any members who don't have marionette rods attached to their mouths, the board has been reduced to a rubber stamp of the companion Act 47 board. It's a great victory for gubernatorial thuggery; it's a very sad loss for the concept of independent oversight.

I've suggested that Joe Weinroth be nominated to fill the open position on the ICA board.

The need for the board is there because the Act 47 folks can't be trusted, nor can the city's leaders. We do have a need for oversight. The reasons are there as sure as the debt is huge.

Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - Parking

City council does have some skin in the strike by the union that operates many parking lots.

Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - PittsburghLIVE.com To Pittsburgh City Council. It passes a resolution in support of the striking parking lot attendants and accuses the lot operators of 'union-busting.' First, the council has no business entering this fray. Second, its resolution only affirms that it doesn't have a clue about finances in general. It's this kind of mind-boggling lapdogging that played a major role in Pittsburgh's fiscal downfall.

The city owns the PARKING AUTHORITY. The Parking Authority should be taken apart.
I spoke to the union leader and he agrees with me. The Parking Authority is part of the problem. The Parking Authority should be NUKED.
Furthermore, the URA is building parking garages. That's an important connection that can't be ignored. The city council has a seat on the URA board. That is another connection.
That said -- I don't think that the resolution was worth hill of beans. But, there are ways to get involved and do better work than what we've seen.

Statement in the Aftermath of Katrina via OMB. My reactions within (long)

The essence of needing and expecting action is fine. But, how actions are accomplished and what is asked for (in hindsight) is strange in this OMB statement.

OMB Watch - An OMB Watch Statement in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina reminds us why it is necessary to have a strong, accountable federal government. In a time of crisis we need a unified, coordinated and effective response. To accomplish this, the federal government must exert leadership and be prepared to act. Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated -- as no sloganeering about the role of government could -- the dangers of assuming that smaller government is always better, or that federal responsibilities should be shifted to others. As Katrina has shown, when the federal government refuses to shoulder its responsibilities and chooses instead to pass the buck, lives are put at risk and chaos ensues....

I think Katrinia reminds us why it is necessary to have a diversified and effective response. The unified part was the problem, not the solution.
Leadership is earned -- like respect. It isn't something to EXERT. When the Federal Government MUST EXERT LEADERSHIP then we've got serious problems brewing, much worse than even Katrina.

True, many of our elected leaders who we expected to act didn't. They were ill prepared to lead, to act, to work, to fix and to help. They were frozen in time. The outcomes were glaring and caught on television news.
I am one who generally clamors for "smaller government." I don't ever say smaller is ALWAYS better. Always and never are avoided, as are "first" and "only."

We agree:
No doubt, the Fed need to shoulder responsibility.
No doubt, lives should not be put at risk.
No doubt, chaos ensues after a disaster. But, more chaos would occur if a unified effort shifted more responsibilities to itself, at the expense of other efforts, and then broke down.

It is like data. Back-ups are always a good idea.

We need good backups. We need redundant systems.

Just think of the World Wide Web. It thrives because all the data and efforts are not in one place with one god-like place of responsibility.

Just think of nature. The diversity is what makes splendid results. The king of the jungle is but a name. Ants, birds and reptiles all function without needing to get permission from the lions -- yet alone wait for the lion to live life for them.

Do doubt we need coordinated and effective. Unified, however, not so much.

We'll be stronger when there is diversity.

We'll be more accountable when there are other systems out there doing the job too.

The Feds are being held accountable today (or in the weeks to come) because the news crews (CNN, Fox, etc.) were at the New Orleans Convention Center and the reporters didn't find clean water, organization, doctors, nor food. Other voices and other avenues need to be free flowing -- not controlled from one central command.

I want accountability, but a great deal of that happens with marketplace forces that are proven in moment to moment efforts.

The one size fits all approach takes a lot of time at the tailor's shop before it can be applied. Meanwhile, deaths mount higher. We have to think it through and plan in advance. But there are times to act. A smart network has smart nodes. I want strong independence throughout.

Why has it been acceptable to provide tax breaks primarily for the richest in our society when basic human needs have gone unmet for so many?

Because they had the votes, that's why.

You want tax breaks, you line up some good reasoning, some good arm twisting, and you deliver the votes. Often the votes can be purchased. We have too many in the political realm who are able to be bought. That's special interest and money at its worst.

By the way, I hate corporate welfare. That is one of the worst types of tax cut.

I agree again that we need to have our government tackle the jobs of what government should be doing. Dams, locks on the rivers, road re-paving, bridge repair, rodent control, etc. They need to stick to the knitting. They need to watch the public treasury too. Large scale projects that make sense for the collective good need to be done. But, too many large scale projects are PORK and sexy. Those efforts take away from the non-sexy, routine, boring projects.

If you take care of the basics and repair what you have as top priorities -- you won't get ahead in politics and government. There have been millions poured into our state (Pennsylvania) for GAMBLING interests. We don't have gambling, but that is where the money is. The money is for the new, not the rehabs. The money is for the change, the churn, the speculators -- not the inner city.

It is easy to focus on one developer and a greenfield vs. a diverse neighborhood and many owners with many stakeholders. Easy does not deliver the best solutions however.

In our city, it is easy for the mayor or the county executive to call to the north side and have a meeting with four people all in the office: Rooney (Owner of the Steelers), McK (owner of the Pirates), S. (owner of leases to parking), URA (urban redevelopment authority). Easy. No home owners are there to deal with. Perhaps if the meeting get a bit wider in scope, they'd call HEINZ (woops, Del Monte) and talk about the catchup factory (woops, loft apartments). No need to call Pgh Wool -- eminent domain took them out of the picture years ago.

Meanwhile, if the mayor wants to call to the south side and have a meeting -- that meeting is going to erupt into a thorny brew-ha-ha with special interest groups, block watches, small business, non-profits, kids groups, out the wazoo. Once parking is raised, then nothing gets done for another week of venting. Its a mess.

Democracy is messy. Government is messy.

The South Side is thriving.

The top-down plans of the north side suck. The latest move is to spend $400-million on a subway line extension that goes under the river to get more people to the ball games. Nuts. Nobody wants that -- except for the four people who meet at regular intervals in the mayor's office.

I agree, we have too many misplace priorities.

By the way, our Democratic Governor who might one day run for President, Rendell, wanted to cut the gas taxes right away. That was his quick solution. And now that stance is being put onto the back burner with him.

BTW, this rub with the estate tax to help nonprofits (good for Red Cross and others) does not square with the idea that the government needs to shoulder the responsibility. The thinking became unclear to me with that example.

The cuts to food stamps, Medicaid and student loans are made so bigger bailouts can be made the next cycle. The university community of LA was just before Congress yesterday to ask for $500-million. So, a cut in student loans last season turned into free tuition and retention pay for professors next season. My point, is that there is a lot of smoke here. The knee jerk reactions are going to rule the day. The powerful gain power by controlling it and giving it out as they desire -- while noise and FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt) justifies the take-it-while you can mentality.

One shocking element about the events unfolding as a result of Hurricane Katrina is that few people, if any, have accurate, up-to-date, life-saving information. With a toxic stew roiling through the streets of New Orleans, the public's right to know about dangerous chemicals in their communities and the present dangers of large scale commercial coastal development becomes ever more important. Thousands of facilities in the Gulf Coast area -- ranging from gas stations to oil refiners to large petrochemical plants -- were buffeted by Hurricane Katrina and many may be leaking into the flood waters, but there is little information available about these facilities. Every community has dangers and knowledge about them can help us prevent disasters and react more quickly and properly when disasters strike. The federal government should take affirmative steps to insure that emergency responders and the public know about dangers in New Orleans and in all of our communities and require that companies make responsible efforts to minimize these dangers.

Agree.

The best way to get the info out to the people is to avoid a unified approach. Peer review, multiple sites, multiple flows of information are needed.

Meanwhile FEMA and Microsoft are teaming up to put a unified database of survivors together -- locking out others.

Underlying all the Gulf Coast devastation is a shocking injustice that must be addressed: a disproportionate number of poor and people of color were affected, reflecting broader and persistent societal inequities. The issue is not new, it has just been ignored. Some would argue we have been losing ground on this front for years. Here, too, there is a positive role the federal government can play, yet little leadership or political will is in place for that to occur. Ronald Reagan once quipped, "My friends, some years ago the federal government declared war on poverty -- and poverty won." As Hurricane Katrina has made so clear, this is no laughing matter; it is time the fight be taken up once again.

Agree: The governments fight on the war on poverty was a loss. Poverty won. So, why then do you want to increase food stamps, increase governmental handouts, increase student aid -- via governmental sources. You're conflict within your statement are hard to understand.

Poverty beat the feds -- so some advanced the fix to come via the faith based programs.

Determining what went wrong in New Orleans and other areas of the Gulf surely will be complex; a veritable labyrinth of local, state and federal actions -- or inaction -- is in play.

It isn't hard to understand, but it can be made into a complex problem.

A huge storm hit. Before the punch of the storm was delivered, people were not nimble enough to flee. Too many were not free and capable of moving quickly and on short notice.

Before the punch of the storm was delivered, too many people were in unprotected spaces. Buildings and security were not strong enough to weather the storm.

One system break-down leads to other systems breaking. Electricity, phone, power in hospitals, etc., etc. Not enough freedom, choice, back-ups, flexibility, individual decision making throughout.

After the storm hit, the wave of relief needed to be matched with a counter punch. The leveraged power of the counter punch was hindered on many instances. It was slow and weak at first.

The rush of relief faced many red-tape hurdles. For example, doctors were sitting for days with mini hospitals -- but could not treat the needy because of a state license issue. The hurdles were killers.

To run and be coordinated, our body has one group of muscles that flex and contract while other muscles lengthen, loosen and relax. Step after step this happens. Move - Relax - Move - Relax. Its the coordination thing! There seemed to be a lot of counter moves that stopped actions of willing helpers. We needed to be able to RELAX rules (and laws) to permit doctors to come in and treat our sick without the fear and uncertainty of loosing one's license a month later.

So, there isn't much flexibility built into our system. We are not good at relaxing as a society because we have too many hyper rule makers who don't think it through and see the bigger picture.

Individuals can make good decisions. All the decision making can't be uploaded to one mega brain.

Better decision can be made if things are out in the open for all to see.

As the toxic stew of flood waters recedes and assistance accelerates in aiding the people affected by Hurricane Katrina, Congress is beginning to look at what went so terribly wrong in responding to the crisis. That process must be independent of politics, as was the 9/11 Commission, and it must be open and accountable.

Agree with open and agree with accountable -- but we don't agree about the politics part. Dream on. This is Congress. Plus, politics is a part of life.

Push for open ways -- and don't push for the avoidance of politics. Expect it. Deal with it.

If we had Libertarians and Greens run the INDEPENDENT Investigation -- then we might have something to talk about. But Ds and Rs are going to be themselves, as they were before the storm. I'd like to see more parties with people in Congress. That would help to defuse the red-state vs blue-state games they both play.

Politics is part of the fabric of America and it needs to be dealt with -- not ignored or wished away. To ignore politics or wish it away is childish.

But we call on Congress to go beyond investigation and recommendations for fixes to the Gulf Coast disaster. Now is the time to move beyond ideology and realign our national priorities. True leadership requires action: enact responsible policies and budgets to support the safety and productivity of all Americans, not just in the aftermath of this storm, but over the long haul, no matter their race or status.

I'd counter with this closing statement. True leadership requires votes -- plain and simple. If you want to realign our national priorities, something that I agree we need to do, we need to realign our votes. Then its done. There is nothing so powerful.

We need to make sure all those people can vote. Plus, we need to make sure that all voters, everywhere, are casting smart votes.

Getting good people into office for the right reasons is going to fix a lot of the problems that plague our country. Kicking other people out of office for the right reasons is going to work wonders too. One is positive, the other is negative. We need to be strong on offense and not give away any gains on defense. Put the right ones in -- and toss the bums out.

The right ones (i.e.,creditable individuals who are candidates) are not going to be thrilled to build gambling casinos on the coast lines. The right ones are not going to be thrilled to make a Super Dome for $500-million and let neighborhoods be endangered due to cracked and crumbled infrastructure -- ripe for flooding.

I think this is going to boil down to the power of the voters and voter education. We must make smarter use of our votes in every office from local to national.

Rats!

Officials spar over city's rodent funds A proposal to take on the city of Pittsburgh's rodent population had city officials gnawing at each other yesterday.

What a shame and pitty. We can't even get on the same page, from within the same party, to take care of this pressing problem with rats.
Nobody is going to want to keep living in the city with these rats running around.

Flashback quiz: This isn't a rat nor is it a bobcat. Furthermore, it isn't a racoon. What is it? (Click to see comments for answer. Click the image to see a larger version.)

In football, the Ohio University Bobcats play the Pitt Panthers tonight -- in Athens, Ohio. Safe travels to all. Enjoy. Be sure to watch the OU band play pre-game, halftime and post-game. That is well worth the trip. That's what I'll be missing the most.

MoveOn -- OMG

Last night's 11 pm news showed a short story from Washington DC and Katrina. MoveOn sent protesters to rally in DC as to how the federal response in the Gulf was too slow, etc.

My wife (not too political) wasn't happy.

Her thoughts -- rather than a picket and a protest in DC, grab a broom and get to work helping someone somewhere.

One does not need to go to the Gulf Coast to help, by the way.

Main Page - Recovery 2.0 - a WIKI and people are gathering next week in S.F. too

Main Page - Recovery 2.0
Our goal is to be ready for the next disaster so people can better use the internet via any device to better:
1. share information,
2. report and act on calls for help,
3. coordinate relief,
4. connect the missing,
5. provide connections for such necessities as housing and jobs,
6. match charitable assets to needs,
7. get people connected to these projects - and the world - sooner.

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: People Finder Tech

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: People Finder Tech: "There are over 50 sites on the web set up to help New Orleans evacuees and their loved ones find each other. Problem is, none of these sites talk to each other, so people trying to find their family and friends end up having to find and search every one of the sites, just in case the names they were hoping to see only ended up in a single database. The PeopleFinderTech team has set out to implement a standardized data format (PFIF, or PeopleFinder Interchange Format) for these sites, making it possible to search many (hopefully all) of the databases in one go. The database, when completed, will live at http://katrinalist.net.

The project is well underway, but still has some major hurdles to leap before it's ready -- and here's how you can help.

To apply for FEMA aid online, Katrina survivors will need IE 6 - Computerworld

Jagoffs smell.

To apply for FEMA aid online, Katrina survivors will need IE 6 - Computerworld To apply for FEMA aid online, Katrina survivors will need IE 6 Mac and Linux users will have to seek FEMA help by phone.

Just a few minutes ago I wrote a letter to the Creative Commons talk list with an update. I'll put that in the comments of this post.

Univ. of Pittsburgh has a club for LIBERTARIANS. The first meeting report follows.

Hi all! We had the first meeting of the Pitt libertarian club last
night, and I think it was a great success!

We had around 15 people come, many of them freshman students.

A few of them were there to get more information, and we had several that already knew alot about the LP that wanted to be very active (perhaps even meeting more than monthly) and raise funds.

We ate 4 out of the 5 pizzas we had (the 5th one was free...they had an extra one I think), cracked some jokes, discussed the politics of South Park and threw around some T-shirt ideas (one student's idea and later drawing of an elephant humping a donkey and the resulting hybrid was hilarious).

We also have another student named Scott, who is in the National Guard, whom shall be interesting to talk to in future about the geopolitics of the military.

Re: Dave E and CMU Libs: It turns out that 7 PM is too early, as there are several people that had night classes (Scott even skipped his first Calc class because he wanted to attend so badly!), so we decided to push the time back to 8PM, perhaps with a video to start things off and let the stragglers coem in. Dave, do you think you and the CMU people can work with this?

I've got to run now...more later!
DaveP

Evil Jagoffs = MS and Katrinasafe.com

http://www.katrinasafe.com/OtherLocatingSites.htm

These guys can rot in hell.

The list on that page has 27 sites but does NOT include KatrinaList.net. Meanwhile, a group of volunteer netizens in a loose network there (and elsewhere) pounded the web and merged data from countless sources and crammed tens of thousands of records into a new standard interchange format. People were working their fingers to the bone and not a link to that site -- nothing.

The FEMA, Red Cross, Microsoft corporate folks did a hijack and some seemed to have left the citizen centric project after unloading poison pills.

Jagoffs.

This is ten days after the storm and that end-all, be-all mega site is just coming online.

By the way, all the work done in terms of bits and bytes by the volunteer network has been submitted and uploaded to the jagoffs' site. They got the data already. And they should have been given it. We all agree that the data should be out there -- far and wide. But, the data ain't coming back. And, the net isn't going to be there for the next update yet alone the next crisis.

I really gets me mad when some people don't play well with others. And, when it is by design -- it is worth a little name calling.

It feels like Steve Leeper or Tom Cox has their hands in this.

Well, more windmills await around the next bend and in the days ahead. Perhaps good, open cooperation will champion for 10-weeks then, rather than 10 days.

Perhaps after all those boneheads at FEMA get sacked, the next crew will arrive and see the stupidity and fatal flaws in thinking and process and security and accessibility and outreach and stability, etc.

Or, there is always the "INVESTIGATION" to come.

Flash slide show of 55 images from Katrina

Defining images of a disaster, from PaynterExtra.org that requires the Flash plugin.

SI.com - Olympics - Koreas agree on unified team for 2006 Asian Games

Playing well together is nice.

Generally I say that the mind leads and the body follows. Sometimes the body leads and the politicians follow too. Sports are a venue for improvements of relationships. I love to see advances in sports be transfered to other pursuits in life.

Sports Illustrated The two Koreas agreed to field a unified team for the 2006 Asian Games.
The agreement came during a meeting between the heads of the North and South Olympic organizations in the Guangzhou, China, the South Korean Olympic Committee said Thursday. Details are still to be worked out.

The nations also tentatively decided to form a unified soccer team for exhibition games against Brazil next spring in Pyongyang and Seoul.

Sports exchanges between the Koreas have flourished following a breakthrough meeting of the two nations' leaders in 2000. Athletes from the North and South marched together at the opening and the closing ceremonies of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.

The 2006 Asian Games are scheduled for Dec. 1-16, 2006 at Qatar.

A geek's-eye view of hurricane relief - Science - MSNBC.com

Good ink on a project I'm assiting with -- slightly.

A geek's-eye view of hurricane relief - Science - MSNBC.com

But now there is much more brewing -- another storm. A fork of sorts. The FEMA and Red Cross and Microsoft folks seem to want to be a uni-center for data. But there are many others who are skeptical.

Katrina: Recovery Information Protection Act (RIP A)

Dan Chaney sent an email to katrinadev. We are working on a people finder application for use in the wake of Katrina. His post is at the top, followed by my reaction.

The Recovery Information Protection Act (RIPA, a term I completely made up as I was typing this in...) would be legislation designed to protect the information being posted in order to find survivors from being used for any other use, such as spam, commercial interests, etc. With the best of intentions, people are providing data on themselves and other individuals in order to find them. However that same data can be used for less altruistic purposes unless there are specific prohibitions against it. As generators of systems that collate and expand that data, we need to be aware of this issue. I am NOT suggestion we scale back efforts in any way, shape or form, the priority of finding people remains the highest priority (I'm not changing FamilyMessages' input screens, for example and we're continuing the PFIF implementations.) Nonetheless, a parallel effort to protect the use of that data should begin.

1. Does anyone know of existing legislation that would cover this issue?

2. Can anyone recommend US Congressional contacts that would be helpful here? I believe this would require quick action at the federal level (and that isn't the contradiction it seems if it can be a rider onto an emergency funding bill) but federal level is the only way to make it apply safely to the Internet.

3. Is there a downside to such legislation? (Let's assume it is narrowly drawn but precedent setting nonetheless)

I recognize this isn't a key issue for most of us focused on the technological, immediate and demanding issues but I'm hoping to help them head off another set of problems tomorrow by sidestepping them today. No one in their situation needs to deal with a million telemarketers with scams designed to play on their misfortunes,
financial or otherwise.

-dan

---

Hi,

Dan, Good, proactive thread... Nice thinking. You open a big can of worms.

However, I don't think your proposed legislative direction makes for a good outcome. It is NOT something I'd want to push in the real world. But after slamming the core of the ideas -- I'll attempt to offer a better solution / direction / approach (perhaps we'll agree). So, Dan, nice jucy can of worms -- but no thanks. I'll take a different flavor -- say a JAR of worms.

READERS, this has NOTHING to do with "DEV" on the pressing software / network application. So, it will be my ONLY posting to this list. I'll take the concepts to the WIKI, however, and my personal blog. You can stop reading now if busy and only interested in the bits and bytes.

First off -- there is a NATIONAL Do not call database. They also exist on a state by state basis. We also have one in our state.

(FYI, I don't agree with DO NOT CALL LISTS either -- and my name and #s are not in that db. But, that is another point well beyond this.)

Plus, local state attorney generals can be at the forefront of your concerns. An attorney general could -- and should perhaps -- stand up at a press briefing (while talking about gasoline price gougers, etc.) and cover what you put forth in your concerns. The attorney general can say -- "HANDS off to the unscrupulous." Otherwise, you'll feel the wrath of my office, blah, blah, blah.

I'm fine and would even support you taking these concepts to any and all Attorney Generals of each state.

Next, in the marketplace, there is sure to be a lot of backlash to any firm who might mine for sales given these reports. Is Lands End going to do a special Down South Gulfin catalog for the fall season and try to target victims of Katrina? No way.

The data, as we'll be finding out, is going to be very, very fluid. People are on the move. A relationship with a moving target is hard to use in a direct marketing campaign.

Next there is delivery of goods purchased, etc.

But, on the other hand, the people are getting, so says the news, a $2,000 debit card. So, catalog sales and efforts would be possible.

Then there is the matter of the necessary navel gazing that needs to be done by those in office now -- as to the delays and investigations, etc. These guys need to take a long, hard look in the rear view mirror. They are in a reactive mode, sadly. This effort for new legislation is proactive and where they should be -- but they are not. I don't think it will resonate with any office staffers at this time.

This could be a good campaign point to mention in 2006 races, for sure. But it would need a lot of buzz to take root -- when roots are so frail.

Furthermore, why don't we allow the marketplace to heal when it can -- not make these people islands where there can't be outreach. Some want normal relations without "special interest" pockets of "isolation."

For example, perhaps there is a truck load of work boots for $5 a pair headed to the Gulf or a shelter -- and handbills are delivered. Who is to say that those efforts ( relief in part, commerce in part ) CAN'T occur except by special order of FEMA or some other bureaucrat.

I think the tone needs to be "buyer beware" and "protect yourself" and "don't be slopp with your personal security."

However, this does lead to the points of ELECTIONS and VOTER Registrations.

Since 2001's hanging chad fumbles and follies -- we've done more damage than good in efforts of Voter Protection, vote counting, and so on.

What if you are running for school board in Houston and there are 15,000 new neighbors -- and you gotta go door-to-door in the next month, before a November election. ???

We do need, as open-source folks, have good measures of freedom and responsibility -- BOTH are needed.

Furthermore, I think we need to elbow a few along the way in terms of "democracy" and "inclusion" and allowing every voice to count and/or be heard.

This (people finder) is a massive project where each individual needs to be accounted for. The same is true in our American society with voting. Each individual needs to be able to have the opportunity to cast a vote. Not just men. Not just land owners. Not just residents since before Katrina. There is a dignity and worth to every human that DOES not change because of situations (skin color, neighborhood,
parents, job status, etc.)

I don't think we need to be MORE controlling -- but instead insert more LIBERTY -- and have a big sense of the core justice avenues. In America -- we vote. We do JURY Duty. We are all innocent until proven guilty.

Generally, too, we have freedoms to associate and free travel -- and free trade.

We are sure to need efforts of protection -- but, IMHO, they need to be geared to inclusion -- not isolation.

---

More to come, I'm sure. I just thought of another option.

How about a Creative Commons License that prevents commercial use? I'll email Lessig.

Polo anyone? I hope so. Play begins this weekend at CV.

Dripping with desire -- I'm ready to re-enter the game.

In the early 1990s, I published what is thought to be the best book on water polo, authored by then four time and now five time Olympic Coach, Monte Nitzkowski.

Around the same year, I started some water polo activities at Plum High School. We played there twice a week with adults and high schoolers in a co-ed practice. We did drills and wash-scoring mini-games.

When I coached the Foxes, two of the seniors did "senior projects" with water polo. We even had a joint practice with another high school team to play polo. And, our Firday AM workouts were designed to not include lane lines. We often worked on water polo skills as a change of pace in our overall conditioning sessions.

When we went to China in May and June, 2005, I got to play twice a week with the men's squad against a college women's team. The Physical Education College was starting a water polo team for the women and they needed competition. I was happy to participate.

This weekend a new water polo program is starting in Pittsburgh, at Charties Valley High School. It is open to kids from throughout the area.

The Pittsburgh Water Polo LeagueAction and sign-ups are to start this weekend. The league presents the youth of the area an opportunity to join a water polo team and compete against other teams for the league championship. It is more like an "in-house league" as all the players come from the same location and no travel is involved. It is a great chance to learn the sport and play games against your friends.

This league is open to any boy or girl in 9th to 12th grade.

We need to have many additional water polo programs in this region. It is a great game and keeps many more kids in their respective aquatic programs.

In California, there has been a recent (last 8 years or so) trend to build mega water polo programs for kids of all ages. Some of the teams there now have a couple thousand participants.

I think a good program in the area could include adults as well. And, of course, it is a co-ed activity.

Best of luck to the participants and leaders at the CV program. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to attend, even as a spectator, one weekend in the future. I would have like to be more involved on a day-to-day basis, but our travels this fall prevent me from attending too many of the sessions.

The guys were larger, older and stronger -- but the water makes everyone much more equal.

Photo flashback: More water polo photos from June 1, 2005, while in China.

RUMOR: Show Me State converts prison into apartments / shelter for 10,000 Katrina survivors

This is a working post where the outcome isn't known -- yet. Help with insights is welcomed. Just leave a comment below, please.

I heard in Pittsburgh (from a trusted source, a grad student at Pitt with family in Missouri) that 10,000 people are taking shelter in apartments that were converted from a former PRISON.

Kwel idea. Take a closed prison, rush to convert the spaces to apartments, host your neighbors in need.

But, I can't find any news of this -- yet. Pointers would be helpful. So, in my search I wrote to a journalist with a byline in MO who had done a recent article on ways locals are helping and he replied within minutes:

To the best of my knowledge, that's merely a rumor.

Missouri recently closed an old prison and opened a new one, and I know people have floated the idea of using the old prison, but I don't believe it's happening.

Thanks!

Tony

Meanwhile, what has become of the old Allegheny Prison on the North Side?