Woodland Hills Aquatic Team : Job Openings

Woodland Hills Aquatic Team : Job Openings: "Woodland Hills Aquatic Club (WHAT) is seeking to immediately fill their head coaching position."

Pittsburgh Peabody

My $.02.

I posted my initial thoughts at the PURE Reform blog. Here they are again with numbers and a few extra points.

PURE Reform: Proposed options for future uses of Peabody HS: "Proposed options for future uses of Peabody HS"

#1 I think that the plan A should be for 150 IB kids per class, for a total of 600 students, not 500.

#2 Furthermore, I think that we can fit in 50 extra seats for a 13th Grade Option as well. So, round that to 650.

#3 The traditional Frick school (grades 6, 7 and 8) would need to stay at Rise&Shine Middle School. Frick's building is being used as a 6-12 Sci Tech High School. This should be part of the counter plans. What about middle school for IB track? Missing element must be proposed.

#4 Idea: Put 600 at IB Jr. High (Reiz), 200 in each grade (6, 7 and 8). Figure at the leap to HS, 20 kids go each to CAPA & Dice and some to other HSs and even CTE.

#5 By all means, the IB Middle School is NECESSARY to making the IB High -- work. Would 600 in that building be okay with the economics?

#6 Furthermore, the CTE students in certain grades would be able to have half-days at school and half-days at other sites / jobs, etc. The student load with half days could be greater on the CTE side? I know that the kids at South Vo Tech often were out of the building but still in 'school time' as they were on the job.

#7 I don't like the CISCO option. It is a dead technology. It is too much like that offered at computers at Brashear and the Sci Tech too.

#8 All our efforts in networks and tech should be with an open-source approach. Perhaps a computer programming / languages model -- to rely upon the thrust of writing and languages (foreign, PERL, JAVA, etc.) would fit.

I reserve judgment if the idea of a mixed IB / CTE school at Peabody makes the most sense. It is a worthy investigation, for sure.

The boutique option of only IB is something that Mark Roosevelt wanted, I dare guess. That isn't a priority of mine.

#9 How about an IB Jr. Sr High School with one or two CTE options -- such as Robotics and Open Source Programming. Don't get all overboard on new programs that would fill the CTE menu and eat up a lot of space.

#10 I think we should still demand a FULL CTE school to be built. State of the art, etc. Wonderful for the trades. That would be, I dare say, in a new site.

#11 I would like to see single gender, city-wide magnets for public high schools put onto the table. These could also include smaller single gender middle schools too. Perhaps there is a push for 6-12 schools. It might be present as an option.

#12 Put a boys high school at Westinghouse and a girls high school at Reizenstein. Or, do it the other way around. Or, flip the gender at the schools every three or four or five years. The other option would be to use OLIVER HS for one gender and Westinghouse for the other.
Put 75 kids in each grade, 6, 7, an 8. Put 100 or more in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12.

The single gender option would be cheap to implement.
The single gender option would sink or soar on its own merits. If they get a good program and good teachers, more will want to go there.
The single gender public option could and should compete for students with Oakland Catholic and Central Catholic.

#13 When I've sent email to the BGC in the past about ideas and schools -- they've never had a reply or even notice that the messages were read. A simple note in reply would be welcomed.

Sorry I could not attend the most recent meeting at the end of March. Had a conflict that could not be avoided. When is the next meeting? Keep us posted.

Pittsburgh's 3 mayoral candidates agree to debates

Pittsburgh's 3 mayoral candidates agree to debates: Three Democrats have agreed to appear in three televised debates before Pittsburgh's mayoral primary on May 19.

Incumbent Luke Ravenstahl and his challengers, City Councilman Patrick Dowd and attorney Carmen Robinson, will debate live on April 6 on PCNC, the cable news channel affiliated with WPXI-TV, the city's NBC affiliate.

KDKA-TV, the CBS affiliate, will air a taped debate April 15. And ABC affiliate WTAE-TV will broadcast a live, in-studio debate April 20.

All the debates will last an hour and air at 7 p.m.

Where is the P-G sponsored event? What about QED's event?

I think that the Jewish Foundation is also going to host an event, but it might be more of a candidate talk and less of a full-fledged debate.

Neighborhood groups, nonprofits, Sustainable Pittsburgh, -- time to step up!

Education spending of stimulus funding

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan just announced how states and school districts can begin receiving the first installment of education stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Read the full story.

Edweek.org is hosting an Open House through April 8, so you can get this type of breaking news and access to all of the vital coverage posted recently on the stimulus. Some highlights you won't want to miss while access is totally FREE:

• States Eye Education Stimulus to Fill Budget Gaps
  Local officials are crying ‘foul’ as a growing number of governors make a play for federal economic-stimulus aid for schools.
• Stimulus Providing Big Funding Boost for Early Childhood
  Advocates are betting that the billions of dollars for programs like Head Start are just a “down payment” on future expansion.
• K-12 Taking Primacy in Use of Stimulus Dollars
  Many states are targeting the new education aid at elementary and secondary schools, rather than toward higher education.
• Exclusive Video Interview: Duncan on States That Reject Stimulus Money
  U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan talked with Education Week about the stimulus, school reform, teacher issues, and his pick for deputy.

For complete coverage and to keep fully up-to-the-minute, visit our Schools and the Stimulus page. Stay easily updated on all of the stimulus news: download the Stimulus widget and place it on your Web site, blog, Facebook page, or other personal page. Or get the RSS feed on the stimulus.

In addition to digging into the stimulus, you should also visit our annual report on how well states are incorporating technology into their schools, Technology Counts 2009: Breaking Away From Tradition: E-Education Expands Opportunities for Raising Achievement. Read about the latest research on e-education, find out how to search the internet for quality content, see how your state compares nationally, and download your state report.

During the edweek.org Spring Open House, all articles are available gratis.

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Highlights, edited slightly for brevity are below. Looks like a rehab of Schenley High School is very possible and able to be justified fully.

- significantly more spending flexibility on school construction than many administrators had expected.

- Unveiling the first payments at a school in Capitol Heights, Md.

- funding could be a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.

- to invest significantly in best practices and scale up what works

- stabilization funds used to backfill cuts,

- allows districts to spend funds on new school construction. Lawmakers had opposed funding for school construction during the drafting of the $787 billion stimulus package, which President Barack Obama signed into law in February.

- “[School construction] has the potential to eat up a lot of these funds, particularly for states that don’t have severe funding shortages,” said Vic Klatt, a lobbyist with the Washington firm Van Scoyoc Associates, who previously served as the staff director for Republicans on the House education committee. “People who are hoping a lot of this money will go for education reform activities may be a little disappointed.”

- “In an urban district, if 30 percent of your schools are not [meeting testing benchmarks] and ... all your teachers are doing well on your evaluations, that’s going to be embarrassing.”

- connect student-achievement data to individual teachers,

- track students from high school through college graduation.

- Some states prohibit the sharing of data across systems for privacy purposes.

- more flexibility than anticipated to use money on school construction. The completed bill permitted districts to undertake modernization and repairs.

- Districts may spend on any activities authorized under the No Child Left Behind Act and other statues—including the federal impact-aid program, which authorizes funds for building new schools.

- Secretary Duncan said the interpretation offers districts the flexibility to work on construction projects that fit local needs. “There’s a need there—there’s a need to do renovation and rehabilitation,” he said. “You have areas that are significantly overcrowded, and children jammed into buildings. That doesn’t work.”

- ... spend tens of billions in taxpayers’ money on virtually anything—including new school construction,

- Districts can use the impact-aid authority to pay down past debt

- a state may not limit how a local district uses its share of the stimulus money.

- “While states allocate the funds, it should be up to local school districts and colleges and universities to decide how to use this emergency aid, not states,” the statement released by his office says.

- States do have discretion in deciding how to spend money in the $8.8 billion Government Services Fund, which can be used for “public safety and other government services,” including assistance for K-12 or higher education, as well as to support administrative costs associated with implementing reporting requirements.

- any states playing “shell games” with stimulus spending would disqualify themselves for future funding. He singled out the $4.35 billion in discretionary money he has dubbed the “Race to the Top” fund.

LTE: Give me liberty

Post-Gazette LTE 4/2/9

Give me liberty

It seems that President Obama's stimulus plan does come with strings attached. That really is no surprise. Over the past nine years we have come to expect the government to give at a cost. Be it "compassionate conservatism" or "hope," we the people end up paying the cost.

The Patriot Act gave us security with a loss of freedom and liberty. The Bush years led to deficit spending by the Republican Congress, and the current administration seems to be following suit. Is there really a difference in the two parties?

On issues of freedom and liberty both parties talk a good game, but in the end both regulate and impose laws that hurt both the individual and business. The Republicans wrap themselves in the flag and challenge your patriotism if you question their motives and policies. The Democrats
surround themselves with various groups and call you names if you disagree with the direction they want to take the country.

In the end, nothing is accomplished. Why? Getting things done means losing an issue to raise funds on or losing an issue to divide and scare the nation into voting against the opponent. Change is the last thing our elected officials in Washington and, yes, Harrisburg want. Real
change would involve them losing power and the citizens gaining power.

I challenge you to find what the government is not involved in as you go through your day. From the amount of water in your toilet to what you can eat or do, the government is there, helping you throughout the day. Big Brother is there whether you want him or not.

JOHN G. PARKS, Pleasant Hills

Cognitive dissonance in Pittsburgh and beyond: Blogging gets as bad as everything else.

Cognitive dissonance in Pittsburgh and beyond: Blogging gets as bad as everything else. Blogging gets as bad as everything else.

I would love to see the city sue for copyright infringement on a re-broadcasting of a city council meeting. That will be the day we get a new city solicitor, for sure.

If I was elected, I'd move to put a public domain statement on everything that the city does.

I'm a big fan of public domain.

As to the P-G interview, the first point would be a claim of fair use. There, humor helps. It is sorta a lampoon in a sick and twisted kinda way. The P-G lawyers are better served looking at employee buy-outs now, not campaign issue noise finding its way on YouTube.

Hell, Matt (or whomever), might want to send the P-G a bill for advertising its P-G web and turning the content into something that others should take notice of.

BTW, I remember when this came before council from the PWSA. It smelled bad then.

Laggard vs. Young Fluke. Humm...

I think that the YouTube clip is effective as a dis-credit to the mount of the campaign. We're watching. How one handles the bumps in the road are telling the most, it seems to me. There are sure to be other chapters.

Set the stage for the debates. They become more important as time shrinks. Carmen could rise as the two men sustain their blazing boyhood ways.

Men in Blue fast break to make officials red faced before the world

Chicago cops protest during IOC visit CHICAGO (AP) -- Chicago police officers unhappy with contract negotiations have picketed outside City Hall -- an action that coincides with a visit by an International Olympic Committee inspection team.

St. Louis TSA run-in

Notice that there are 61 comments. Many of them are better than the audio.

Pittsburgh may consider payroll tax for nonprofits

Mr. Lamb, city controller, misses the mark.

Pittsburgh may consider payroll tax for nonprofits: "Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb today proposed a tax shift that would lower levies on businesses, and shift some of the burden to nonprofit employers.

He asked city council and state overseers to consider seeking state approval for a 20 percent cut in the payroll preparation tax, now 0.55 percent of for-profit employers' payrolls, but broadening that tax to include the growing nonprofit sector, which includes hospitals, universities and some insurers.

The goal is not to punish the one sector that has growth. These Dems want to tax anything that moves. Wrong approach. Without the nonprofits, Pittsburgh is dead. Tax the nonprofits, Pittsburgh would die.

There is another approach. Tax was does NOT move. Tax land. Don't tax productivity. Do not tax work. Don't diminish earnings from service to better health and quality of life endeavors (as the nonprofits are, mostly).

We need to put on a moratorium on all nonprofit land expansion. We need to turn more of our physical spaces into taxable spaces -- not nonprofit, tax free spaces.

The land grab, the trampling of neighbors by the nonproft over the taxpayers is the real long term worry of Pittsburgh.

We need to tell the nonprofits that they can expand upward. Not outward.

We need to tell nonprofits to better utilize their existing spaces, consolidate what is already theirs -- but take no more.

We need the controller to lead an audit of all the spaces that are throughout the city and perhaps the county and measure, inch by inch, what is taxed and what is not able to be taxed with property taxes. What properties are owned by nonprofits? What are not?

Then the Pittsburgh nonprofit secret cadre of whimsical givers to Grant Street needs to sign-off on the land shrinkage plan.

This is an excellent time to make the ask as few are expanding. The Catholic Church is closing schools. They have too much land that isn't being used now. They would see a spike in the land value of existing holdings as if there is another nonprofit that wants to move -- they'll consider a move into what property the church already owns.

When you tax earnings -- government discourages earnings. That's wrongheaded policy.

I want nonprofits to flourish here. I want their employees to make money here. I just don't want the institutions to buy up all the land here as we'll have a big crash and my kid's won't be able to live here.

Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, an umbrella group of tax-exempt entities, needs to do an evaluation of the size of its umbrella. And, the city controller can help with an audit of the umbrella's footprint.

Pittsburgh is a space. The city is a space. Where the city is needs to be mapped -- and that is easily done, even with Google Earth for pete's sake. We need a grip on the spaces and the taxes associated with those spaces. That's the future of this city.

If the nonprofits want to build taller buildings, that is going to bring more value to the city. That density is going to be matched by private citizens as well. And, we'll need robust incomes -- without seeing them taxes at higher rates.

With Michael Lamb's position, we'll have higher costs of health care.

With Michael Lamb's position, we'll have government auditors snooping into the books of the Little Sisters of the Poor -- watching for hidden wage taxes.

Those are the wrong ways to lead a city.

The year-by-year breakdown has to be about the size of the nonprofit land holdings and NOTHING else. That's the breakdown that this city is hungry to understand and control.

Audit says Allegheny County sewer fixes could cost $21 billion

Is there any indication that these guys know what they are talking about other than a big cost to a government authority?

Audit says Allegheny County sewer fixes could cost $21 billion 'You should be aware that in the future, your sewerage bill is probably going to cost more than your water bill,' said Mr. Flaherty, adding that the amount of funding the authority needs over the next 15 years will be 'the largest municipal project ever undertaken in our area.'

The root of the problem isn't the what we flush -- our sewerage. No.

The problem is the rain water run off that mixes with the same pipes as what was flushed. In times of a downpour -- you don't want to be at the edge of the river unless you want to see brown trout and worse.

We need to catch more water in times of rain. We need a real awareness of wet weather management -- by land owners, rate payers, citizens and environmental do-gooders too.

Frankly, we need leadership.

Sadly, we've got bean counters in the controller's office and hacks on the authority boards.

View from the BurghChair: April Fools Is On Us

View from the BurghChair: April Fools Is On Us: "Since it's all a joke, on this April Fool's Day I found it appropriate to write about Pittsburgh's Campaign Finance and Ethics Reforms. I just can't stand it any more. Both issues are hugely important and indeed are related to each other. Like conjoined twins, one cannot exist without the other."

My comments:

America isn't the land of the level playing field. Rather it is the land of the free.

A level playing field means that the rich will have better tools to launder money. That's it. Don't fool yourself. Money laundering isn't what we want to teach and promote with our candidates -- so that when they get elected that are even better at it.

Access to politicians does NOT hinge upon campaign donations. Well, that isn't the only key. Those who are elected that don't return phone calls are generally not re-elected -- else they get jobs in the courts.

Chris Chandler's MUSE AND WHIRLED RETORT April 2009

Updated from yesterday, keep reading:

Chris is one of my folk music friends. He always has something fun to report. This month bring some big news for him. We'll need to get him to perform again for us in Pittsburgh.

T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D.. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.

April 1, 2009
Vol X Issue vI
Silver Spring, MD

As I am sure by now most of you have heard, things are pretty a buzz here in chandler land. So I want to first say thanks all of the letters of congratulations for my most recent little blip of recognition on the National Radar screen. Thank you Thank You THANK YOU! It has been a trip!

For those of you who don't know, In Barack Obama's recent national town hall meeting, a question was asked to The President of the United States by YES! Little ol me! I couldnt believe it either, I am still kind of in shock. But all the hype at home afterwards made it even wilder.

It was a simple question really. It was about breaking up the banks. I guess that is why they picked it. But still - Wow! Truthfully, I logged on to ask the question more or less on a lark and didn't think much about it. Then I got an email (a You-Tube message actually) saying it was going to be used!

I mean it's not like I asked all of you to go out there and vote for my question like the people wanting him to address Marijuana legalization. My favorite oxymoron BTW: Marijuana Initiative.

Anyway, I digress. I asked that if the financial institutes are too big to fail what steps are being taken to break them up so they will no longer be too big to fail. His answer, you will recall (at least I thought) was pretty lame. Basically he said, "Tougher regulation." At first I was (honestly) kind of pissed. But then, the phone started ringing and emails started pouring in. Sheeze, I have been trying to get national attention for 20, now 21 years (technically 20 years and 11 months, but who is counting?) and I get more attention for this one thing I did as a lark than the 13 albums I have put out combined!

It was nice hearing from a bunch of people I hadn't heard from in a long time. My mother was impressed. I got a bunch of extra hits on my web page (although not as many as you would think after kind of having a conversation with the President of the United States.) OK, it wasn't in real time or linear, and wasn't really even a conversation at all, I just had my name and home town of Stone Mtn, GA read and then a little U-Tube clip of me reading a from a piece of paper in my bed room. But it was on national TV.

Can't I say I had a conversation with the President of the United States? Can't I have my little moment, just for a second? OK maybe not. It is pretty amazing how many people will contact you just from one little blip on the national media.

Three different people went to my website and then telephoned me to ask if we were related because we had the same last name. Really. One of them called at 2 AM in the morning! I am going to have to remove my cell number from my website.

Well, thats the way I thought about it. It was cool. (except for that) But then, I get an email to the chandler.org account from a company called Schwartz and Lowman who handle advertising for Wachovia Bank. They liked the question too.

Ya see Wachovia was recently bought by Wells-Fargo. They want people to know, that they have heard our concerns and they understand. So they are launching an ad campaign. "Wachovia, we are still in the neighborhood!"

These guys had gone as far as researching my past little newsletters and found the one where I talk about the bank account I had when I was a teenager, and how it got bought by someone and then by someone else and then by First Union and then by Wachovia. Now that Wachovia has been bought by Wells Fargo and they received TARP money, AND in the wake of the AIG bonus brew-ha-ha they want to launch an add campaign. That's where the ad company comes in.

They want me to tell MY story in an ad. "Wachovia, We're still the same bank."

They liked me -- Chris Chandler taking his concerns to the president, and They want people to know that they too are listening.

It's cool I read the first draft of the script day before yesterday. They liked the angle, of little ol broke nobody folk singer trying to make a living and taking his little bits of money to his neighborhood bank and then the bank gets bought and sold. So he manages to get on National Television to ask the president about his concerns. There is a shot of Wachovia executives watching in a big board room and then deciding to invest in a play ground at an inner city elementary school. WAY COOL!

I start the shoot in two weeks here in Silver Spring. So, to any of my stage hand friends that are reading this, I know where you can get some work. I kind of have an in!

Twenty years on the road and FINALLY Chandler catches a break. I am going to be featured in a national TV ad for Wachovia- Wells Fargo. "Wachovia, investing in Neighborhoods since 1953." The thing that honestly excites me, aside from a national Bank hearing my concerns and doing something about it, is the pay. I will make more from this one ad than I did in all of 2008 and 2007 combined!

If any of you know any entertainment lawyers out there I could use a hand because honesty I am in a little bit over my head. There is all this stuff in this contract I just got about my likeness being owned, and what happens if there are repeat commercials. Like what happens if I become like the "Mr Whipple." of Wachovia? Or The Maytag Repairman?

I mean stranger things have happened. But I can't think of any. Wow what a weird two weeks!

Yes, I am still doing the tour in May with Danny Dolinger. I don't think it is going to change that much its just I will be able to make a bit more of a comfortable living for this one commercial. YAY! To comfort. But, don't worry. I will still be keeping it on the road. Speaking of such I will see you between the white lines!

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A.n.n.o.n.c.m.e.n.t.s.

The TV commercial should be running by late spring. I hope to be able to put an advance copy on my web site!
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As part of my contract Wachovia has agreed to forgive the $800 in bounced check charges was complaining about a few months ago. In exchange I have agreed to run an ad for them in this news letter for one year.

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Danny Dolinger and I are STILL doing the NE tour in May. We have some holes in our calendar and would be willing to extend the tour on either end. See dates below.
In particular we would like something in Baltimore and DC.

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Paul Benoit and I are looking for dates on the West coast for July for the Wachovia in your neighborhood House Concert Tour.
I haven't posted much but we have a lot of irons in the fire. We are looking for shows anywhere from Santa Cruz to Courtney, BC.
As well as a date in DC/Balto/Philly June 13 14ish He will be playing with me at X-Fest.

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Paul Benoit and I are looking for dates in England and or Holland for August. Again, nothing is posted but We have some irons in the fire. If you can be of some help here please let us know.

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The Box set continues to do well. If you are interested in obtaining a boxed set featuring the best of the past twenty years on the road click here.
I can still sell the ones I have before I have to add the Wachovia Logo to it.

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I hope to have a book out for the summer that is a compendium of the best of the past ten years of this news letter. T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.

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I have a different featured video on my home page each month. I have not completed a new one since the last George Mann Project. I am still working on one for Anne Feeney.

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T.H.A.N.K. .Y.O.U.!
Edward Lowman and Neil Schwartz at Lowman and Schwartz, Barack Obama for answering and staff for picking my question, Jill Hirshorn at Wachovia, Shirley Myers, Anne Feeney, Celene de Loach, The Baltimore Poetry Slam, Brian QTN, Joe and Jay, EEQ, Pat Barnes, CD Baby

H.E.R.E.S. .D.A. .D.A.T.E.S.
(see comments)

http://chrischandler.org/

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Here is the update:

The April 2nd Edition of The Muse and Whirled Retort from Chris Chandler
T.h.e. .M.u.s.e. .a.n.d. .W.h.i.r.l.e.d. .R.e.t.o.r.t.

The April the 2nd edition
April 2, 2009
Vol X Issue vi supplemental
Silver Spring, MD

APRIL FOOLS!

No, ladies and gentlemen - I am not now the Mr Whipple of Wachovia. But thanks so much for believing I was (those of you who did)

I am not sure if I enjoyed the letters of congratulations or the lengthy multi-paged screeds on the evils of Wachovia and how I am a major sell out.

Or even the little walks down memory lane from April Fools 5 years ago when I managed to convince many of you that I was now a motivational speaker for Lockheed Martin and would be opening for the Charley Daniels Band at the Paul Wolfowitz theatre in Langley, VA.

This time around, I managed to fool some of the smartest people I know. Zoinks!

I think my favorite might have been my own entertainment lawyer writing me asking, "What do you mean you need an entertainment lawyer?!"

Someone told me they had read it out in the blog-o-sphere first. HA! I have trouble traversing the Chandler-o-sphere so I will just imagine that part to be true.

OK OK. If any one of you had written me to say you asked a question in Barack Obama's town hall meeting I would have bought it.

Maybe I would have bought that anyone of you was becoming a spokes person for Wachovia. Where my BULL SH@#%*! Flag would have gone up is the fact that Wachovia Bank would hear our concerns and start investing in neighborhoods.

Now that IS a Whopper .

Well, in any event, I felt a second E-Mail is in order. Feel free to reply.

OK OK - I promise not to bug you guys with two E-Mails in a row like this often. I really try to make this strictly a once a month thing. I really do appreciate your kind words and thoughts.

I am going to wait to unsubscribe those of you who did so until after tomorrow in the hopes that this note will at least change some of your minds.

I won't bore y'all with another newsletter - other than to say

THANKS for all the responses.

I swear the people on this list are the absolute coolest folks on the planet!

And since so many of the coolest folks on the planet have asked -I

will give you a few highlights of what is really going on.

City-County merger goes nowhere fast

City-County merger goes nowhere fast City-County merger goes nowhere fast
It's been a year since officials proposed a referendum on governments' consolidation
Thursday, April 02, 2009
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It was pitched as a historic moment when, a year ago tomorrow, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl called for a prompt referendum on merging the region's two biggest governments.

With no concrete movement toward a referendum, it now seems to some like a false start.

That is not a false start. Rather, too little action. And what action they deliver when it comes is too late. This is the typical "little and too late" theme.

It is too little as they are only talking about a merger of the city and county -- and NOT the other 100+ municipalities.

It is talked about being too late as they did nothing in the past year.

Frankly, I have a much different focus and would offer a different type of leadership. The next merger to happen should be with our parks. Let's merge city, county and school district park assets.

Commonwealth Foundation Acknowledges Rendell's Economic Policies Are Working | Commonwealth Foundation

Because it is still not midnight:

Commonwealth Foundation Acknowledges Rendell's Economic Policies Are Working | Commonwealth Foundation “We’ve been wrong. Gov. Rendell has proven that you can in fact stimulate the economy by increasing government spending and debt,” Brouillette said. “We thought raising taxes on working families, increasing the debt on our children, and spending taxpayers’ money faster than it comes in was a formula for failure. But the new data from BIG—one of Gov. Rendell’s favored “economic development” projects—reveal that Pennsylvania in fact has become the first state to ever tax, borrow and spend itself to prosperity.“

UPDATE: Lawrenceville Dog Park | Chris Lugo's Bloggy Blog

UPDATE: Lawrenceville Dog Park | Chris Lugo's Bloggy Blog: "NO JOKE! Here’s the skinny on the Lawrenceville Dog Park effort:

We are currently in the process of acquiring the support of our local elected officials and community development organizations. We will presenting our proposal to them in early April. With their support, we will then present our proposal to the City of Pittsburgh and the Urban Redevelopment Authority in mid-April. We plan to have a dedicated site by May.

Pittsburgh won't audit water authority debt deal

Pittsburgh won't audit water authority debt deal Pittsburgh City Council voted tentatively against commissioning an audit of a Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority debt deal today, denying Councilman Patrick Dowd the review he has sought of the $414 million borrowing.

The finance deal smelled bad when I first saw it. All authority dealings need to be put under a microscope. Hell, I'm in favor of getting rid of all the authorities. Liquidate them all.

Plus, a good way to put real accountability into the authorities is not to micromanage each deal. Rather, put some real democracy into the operation of the respective boards. All authority board members should have to face the citizens after being appointed and pass regular 'retention votes.'

The board members need to watch the authorities. Now, however, we've got goofy governance.

Patrick Dowd is a board member of the Water & Sewer Authority. He should insist that they audit themselves.

But most of all, when it comes to audit capacity and powers -- engage the city controller. Mike Lamb, my loyal opponent, used the word AUDIT every other sentence when he was running for office. Get the controller and Lamb to do the blasted audits. We can hold Lamb accountable for audits -- or not re-elect him.

If there is a lack of audits, and I bet that could be the case, as Dowd is trying to make, then blame Michael Lamb, the city's controller.

The job of City Council is NOT to run audits. No way. The job of council is to handle the purse strings and to write legislation.

If council wants to choke the authority -- do so with votes at the purse strings. Dowd didn't deploy his true power when he should and could have. Votes matter.

Hosts Mayoral Debate: E-Mail Your Questions

WPXI PITTSBURGH -- The race for Pittsburgh’s next mayor is an important one, and that’s why WPXI is hosting a debate for candidates running in the May 19 democratic primary.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Patrick Dowd and Carmen Robinson will be in the WPXI studios for a debate on Monday, April 6 at 7 p.m.

The debate, moderated by Channel 11 News anchor Darieth Chisolm, will air live on PCNC from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be rebroadcast later on WPXI.

Your input is crucial in this process, which is why we're asking for questions you’d like to ask the candidates. Please e-mail your questions to Webstaff@wpxi.com.

Your question may be one of the ones chosen to be asked during the live program.

Please include your name and the area where you live.

If you post your questions here, too, I might ask it when I see these folks with my video camera in my hand.

Where Have All the Republicans Gone? - Blogs - Slag Heap - Pittsburgh City Paper

Where Have All the Republicans Gone? - Blogs - Slag Heap - Pittsburgh City Paper: "Where Have All the Republicans Gone?

We tried. But, the Rs do NOT play well with others.

When I was an "R" in the city, kicking up rants about TIFs and such, I was floored when suburban GOPers came out with a plan for Pittsburgh and they didn't even talk to us in the city.

I switched then to Libertarian.

I've been much happier since.

I hated what G.W.Bush did to the nation and the world.

I love what Ron Paul said and still says.

Even Mark DeSantis did a horrid job at playing well with others. There were indie and "L" candidates on the ballot, doing TV Shows for & with HIM -- and he worked against himself and us. DeSantis was a failure at building opposition forces to the mindlessness of one-party domination in this town -- as has been James C. Roddey.

call to help with audit of phantom ballots

Please Help Complete our Audit of Phantom Ballots
This Friday April 3rd at the Division of Elections!

We will meet at the Division of Elections at 10 am!

What: Phantom ballots occur when more eBallots are cast than
voter's signed in to vote on the touchscreen voting machines.

Where: The Allegheny County Division of Elections
6th floor of the County Office Building,
542 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

When: 10 am to 2:00 pm (Should only take about 2.5 hours with 6 volunteers)
How: Simple and fun! Follow the link to see how its done!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRtsKF4Ox2c


(We ain't April Foolin'! - 16% of the precincts have phantom ballots!)

Richard King, Ph.D.
kinggaines -at- comcast -dot- net

The Pitt News - Minority graduation rates lagging

Not a joke.

The Pitt News - Minority graduation rates lagging: "Minority graduation rates lagging"

Becky Reiser Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Graduation rates for Pitt’s minority students are almost 20 percent lower than those for white students. But Pitt isn’t the only school in the state experiencing this trend, which experts say traces back to grade school.

Information compiled by the state Department of Higher Education indicates that in 2007, the graduation rate, which measures the proportion of students who graduate within six years, for black students attending Pitt and its satellite campuses was 43.8 percent, while Pitt’s non-minority graduation rate was 62.3 percent.

Marilyn Barnett, an educational consultant and chairperson of the education committee for the NAACP of Pittsburgh, said that the disparity of graduation rates stems from problems in education beginning at the kindergarten level.

"The education gap causes polarization and low graduation rates," said Barnett.

Ishioma Opia, a member of the African Student Organization and the Black Action Society who will graduate this month, said she’s seen glimpses of this.

When the minority graduation rates are lower, she said, "It’s not because the classes are too hard. Some students don’t make it for financial reasons or because they transfer out."

Barnett said she believes the philosophy driving education is flawed. Most universities, she said, don’t spend enough time discussing ways to education people from all backgrounds in their classes.

"Teachers tell me they teach without seeing color — but they should see color!" said Barnett. "There is no effort to make students feel welcome. There is no diverse faculty, no history of all cultures. This turns kids off early, and you can see this as early as fourth grade."

Barnett described the "horn effect," which is when underrepresented groups’ grades decrease while other people’s grades increase.

The solution, she said, is to hire teachers who care and will hold their students to high standards. This strategy has prompted an increase in minority enrollment at private and charter schools.

Opia said that college students often face a different set of challenges than grade-schoolers and thinks part of the reason the minority graduation rates are low is because students tend to change their course of study.

"Students end up switching majors as juniors to try and secure a future," said Opia. They might realize that their field isn’t lucrative.

Job placement also causes students to strive for more degrees to become more appealing in the job market.

Opia is completing a major in rehabilitation science and two certificates, one in West European studies with a concentration in Spanish and one of pathokinesiology in rehabilitation.

"I have friends completing like, five majors so they can get a job," said Opia.

Barnett suggested that students would be more likely to graduate within six years if they are aware of the challenges they face.

"Under-represented groups need to understand their history, like civil rights," said Barnett. "There needs to be a psychological change in their minds to understand the social and political impact of civil rights."

Barnett said students shouldn’t use the struggle for equality as an excuse for delaying graduation or failing. Rather, they should use it to motivate themselves.

"People do overcome those models," she said, referring to Pitt’s statistics.

Some have said that the Pittsburgh Promise is but a bad April Fools Joke as too many of our kids that do go to college are not well prepared and are dropping out. So sad.

1million poured into new local swimming pool : Nottingham City Council

1million poured into new local swimming pool : Nottingham City Council: "This boost for local swimmers comes as the Government announces that free swimming for everyone aged 16 and under or 60 and over is to be extended from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2011. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is providing 140m to fund the nationwide free swimming programme, which will be available at all eight of Nottingham City Council's pools. Proof of age (which could include a Citycard or Leisure Card) will be required.

The Brits are going to be hard to beat in 2012 Olympics.

City to get less aid from local nonprofits

This plan of begging with the nonprofits was always a bad idea. Talk about pay to play! My solution is still pending.

City to get less aid from local nonprofits: "The City of Pittsburgh will get less aid from local nonprofit organizations than it did in recent years under a payment schedule submitted to City Council yesterday,

The city should do a complete inventory of all land owned by the nonprofits. Then the gross amount of nonprofit land should be reduced year by year.

Pittsburgh should call for and implement, in a cooperative way, a moratorium on all land expansion from the nonprofit sector. If the nonprofits want to expand, they should grow upwards. Or else, the nonprofits can rent from a tax paying owner.

County Announces Plans To Build Taxpayer-Funded Professional Wrestling Arena

Allegheny County authorities, along with the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA), announced today that a new, publicly-funded professional wrestling arena will be built in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood.

Persons close to the negotiations revealed that the $4.1 million structure will be erected next door to the Lawrenceville Moose at 120 51st Street.

Real estate taxes will also be excused as part of the deal for five years, according to county authorities. The tax abatement is a part of an economic stimulus plan to encourage small business growth.

Industry insiders call the deal revolutionary, especially since it falls on the heels of the Mickey Rourke-Oscar nominated, “The Wrestler.”

Landon Mark, real estate liaison for the county, says that breaking ground on the multi-million dollar experiment will occur within a few months. “Next to building the new hockey arena, and with the possible exception of a NASCAR track in the Hays neighborhood, this is simply the biggest, best news for the region in these tough times,” added Mark.

Funding will be made possible through money from the current Regional Asset District (RAD) budget. There is also talk of siphoning from a proposed half-cent “sin tax” increase on cigarettes to assist with overruns. Authorities say that naming rights is also a possibility.

Organizers and promoters with the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance expressed gratitude and applauded the decision. “The region has been a hot-bed for professional wrestling and this beautiful arena will be the crown jewel of the industry,” said Francis Gotch, senior vice president of real estate development.

Originally a warehouse, the future KSWA Arena will sport a glitzy outdoor waterfall, a parking garage for 200 cars, and a chain restaurant called HEADLOCKS.

La Lucha, a Mexican immigrant who has become one of the KSWA's most celebrated Megastars—and a former World Champion—will be on hand for an official announcement soon.

Special tax incentives will also be given to KSWA stockholders as part of the plan. The arena is expected to create dozens of jobs and should be open April 1, 2011.

Patrick Dowd talks about tip of iceberg with garbage cans

Updated with video, inserted below:


Patrick Dowd came to my neighborhood today to talk about the cost of garbage cans, again. He put a price tag on the one at 11th and East Carson Street, $1,010.

The inflated price of garbage cans is but the tip of the iceberg, so he said. Jeepers. Why talk about the tip of the iceberg? I want a candidate that is going to address much more than the pimples of life.

More to come.

I asked a few questions too.

Dowd claims Pittsburgh wasted $20 million: "Councilman Patrick Dowd outlined what he called $20.2 million in 'wasteful spending' by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration today -- almost all of it associated with a water authority debt deal -- and repeated his call for changes in how the city spends money."

To me, the irony of it all is what is NOT able to be seen. Putting a price tag on a garbage can is a ploy and it is a dumb ploy. It doesn't resonate with anything as it isn't really a huge deal in the bigger picture of life.

I don't want to spend money on a business district period -- trash cans or otherwise. Does he want to replace the spending on trash cans spent for a business district and get cheaper cans? Let's not just re-arrange chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

The real waste is government is the wasted capacity.

We don't have programs in the parks because we have too many dogs that have taken over the parks -- and too much red tape to get things done with volunteers.

I told Patrick that the biggest waste in the South Side was the closed, indoor ice rink that sits in a park that is behind a padlocked gate. The park is closed for the most part. The rink has been closed for five years. There is only one indoor ice rink in the city and that is the Civic Arena -- a place that is slated for the wrecking ball. The Pens get a new arena -- but our kids don't have a place to play. So, people move out of the city. Families move out of the city.

And Patrick was in charge of the parks committee for the past two years. Nothing got done with parks on his watch. Nothing due to his watch.

Furthermore the school district is no great model for reduction of wasteful spending. In contracts alone, the taxpayers paid out big bucks for Dr. Lynn Spampinato. She vacated her office at the PPS and went to US Virgin Islands with plenty of additional paydays and a golden parachute.

The school district fired Dr. John Thompson six months before his contract was to expire. I had no problems with the district telling Dr. Thompson his time with the district was finished, at the end of his contract. But, it made no sense in a prudent financial sense to release him of his contract before his work was finished. I hate to see folks getting paid for not working.

Government waste = Lynn Spampinato.

How much did she cost PPS?



Update on April 2:
Strings attached! Photograher asks, shouldn't Bruce Kraus write an ordinance about this?

Worse than being a Pitt fan is...

The only thing worse than being a Pitt fan tonight is being a Pitt fan and living in Philly.

Come on home. We'll leave a light on for you.

Lewis, Clark and Dog from Pittsburgh, Seaman

The Phillips Elem School Think-a-thon team goes into its competition today at Brashear High School.

Meanwhile, I'm going with the Chatham University women water polo players to Erie for three matches.

Updated w photo.

Pittsburgh approves first round of surveillance cameras

Pittsburgh approves first round of surveillance cameras: "Ending a 21-month selection process, the city of Pittsburgh today announced it has picked Maryland-based Avrio Group to deploy a network of public safety surveillance cameras, starting along riverfronts and extending into high-crime areas.

If they are going to point cameras into high crime areas, then there will be a lot along Grant Street, inside the buildings and among the Authorities too.

I want to point the cameras at the public officials before they are pointed at the citizens.

Great Re-Cap of the win over the X-Men

Pitt Blather — The Rantings Continue Permalink » Survive and Advance Talk about rewriting a legacy in half-a-minute.

As great as Levance Fields has been for Pitt, the senior was hardly anything special for 39 minutes. He had 9 points, 6 assists and 3 turnovers. He probably should have had more turnovers. He shot 3-9 at that point. Only 2-5 on free throws. He just had not come up with much in the most important game of his career. It looked like he would go down small and his team would join yet another Pitt squad that couldn’t break that barrier of winning a third game in the NCAA Tournament.

Then. Then. Then it all changed. Drilling a 3 with under a minute. Deep. Hand in the face. A “NO.NONONONONONONO! YES!!!!!” moment. After that coming up with a steal when Blair poked it lose and racing like he never raced before to the other end with a lay-in. Wow.

Nothing about this game was pretty. I do not understand what is wrong with Pitt in the first half. Whether it is playing too tentative because they don’t know how the game will be officiated. Whether it is overconfidence. Whether it is tightness. Obviously, Coach Dixon has been reaching them at halftime.

Still, it was ugly. Credit also has to go to Xavier for playing that hard and tough against Pitt. They also do well in this type of game and clearly it was their game as well.

Ultimately Pitt did enough. Pitt was tough enough. Physically and mentally. Never gave up. Never stopped.

Now this Pitt team gets to keep playing.

My reply:

Pitt wins if it can do three things. Really, only one, but I'll cover all the bases.

First, Pitt needs to take care of the ball. At times the team can't even make an in-bound pass.

Second, Pitt needs to get the rebounds. Tip it, swipe it, swat it -- whatever -- except have the ball hit you when your standing off the court.

Third, Pitt needs to score more points. I'll take #3 any time over 1 & 2. As long as Pitt scores more points, any way, any how, -- I'll be happy. Older of course, but happy and grey.

THESE BASTARDS: Culture under siege

THESE BASTARDS: Culture under siege Et tu, boy mayor? Must you treat us like lowly Morgantown dwellers? I'll bet this solves everything. No more fires. Nothing else in Oakland is flammable.

An era is ending. No more sitting on the porch discussing literature getting shit faced and skipping class. Now people will have to steal lawn furniture or milk crates and sit on those. They will have to defend and protect these new sitting implements from theft. This flies in the face of the whole dirty porch couch concept: that no one in their right mind would ever try to steal one.

City's lack of glitz now a selling point for conventions

Re-branding?

City's lack of glitz now a selling point for conventions VisitPittsburgh is now marketing the city as a glamorless destination for the post-luxury age.

I've been saying and wishing others would promote that Pittsburgh is a great place to be frugal -- and for living as a family. The combination of the two are slam dunks for most and better than what they've ever come up with.

Getting the casino means some new business. But, it also means others won't come. The net effect is marginal at best.

So, only VisitPittsburgh would begin to bill the city as less than glamorless a few months before the casino opens. Go figure. The timing is wrong again.

When one does organize an event, it is a draw to have a city that can function yet not distract those who attend. This means that the conference attendees go to the trade show, attend the lectures, have time to socialize among themselves in the profession. That's an ideal world for event organizers. Especially if the family of those attending can hook a trip too and have sideline activities -- like Kennywood, Sandcastle, Warhol, Science Center, and so forth.

One Dollar DVD Project Is No Longer... a one man operation.

Better than NetFlicks, sorta.

...no longer a one-man operation, that is.

Two assistants help get the orders out, now. I suppose it is a good thing the project is too much for me alone.

The DVDs are still a dollar each when purchased in bulk (over $100). Otherwise, they are now two dollars each.

http://www.onedollardvdproject.com/DVD-new/Order.html

Do not blame inflation, I am no longer able to do it all, at my age. Some will be bummed, sorry.

Smaller orders will be more costly. If regular, repeat buyers will order less often and buy more per order, little will change for them. Besides, why give the Post Office all the shipping charges, anyway?

Please, buy a box full ever so often and help this project continue to grow.

Also, a new Recurring Subscription Project is available. Receive monthly deliveries of the most popular or newest DVDs; four DVDs a month for only $9.95 or, nine a month for only $19.95. You will receive more than one copy so, pass the extras along to friends and neighbors after viewing.

Again, thank you all who work the front lines of the info war. Please, just consider me part of your support team.

Ron

http://www.onedollardvdproject.com

Pittsburgh Crosswalk Injuries Hit Five Year High - Target 11 News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

I care about pedestrian Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Crosswalk Injuries Hit Five Year High - Target 11 News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh: "'The problem with that area is it's a straightaway and people are leaving town and there just aren't enough traffic signals there to slow the traffic down,' said Hal Waldman, Price's attorney.

But, traffic lights are not the tool for slowing down traffic. Same too for STOP signs. Traffic lights are for taking turns. STOP signs are for stopping.

Slow down traffic with speed limits and enforcement.

Pittsburgh would be wise to build dozens, if not dozens of dozens pedestrian bridges and walkways -- away, above, below and apart from the traffic on the street.

Pitt prepares for possible NCAA riots - College Basketball - Rivals.com

Yes.

Pitt prepares for possible NCAA riots - College Basketball - Rivals.com: "Dave Jedlicka, president of the Oakland Zoo and a member of the Celebration Task Force, said he thought any student linked to destructive activity should be immediately expelled.

Ask the Obama Administration to address the obesity epidemic

Ask the Obama Administration to address the obesity epidemic by using some of the $650 million set aside for prevention and wellness in the economic stimulus package to strengthen the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO). CDC is the nation's lead prevention agency, yet DNPAO is funded at less than one half of one percent of CDC's budget.

Please go to the “contact us” section of recovery.gov. Insert a request for CDC obesity funding, such as the model comment below, and add a supporting fact of your own or one from the list of options below:

Please ensure that the prevention and wellness fund from the stimulus package includes a strong investment in obesity prevention by providing $90 million for the CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.


To support that request use one of the following or your own supporting fact:

* At the current funding, $42 million, CDC is able to support only 23 states. The remaining states receive no funds from CDC to address a condition that affects two-thirds of American adults, contributes to 112,000 deaths annually, and costs the nation $123 billion in treatment costs.

* Over the last ten years, the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity has begun to build a strong science base, effective programs, and national infrastructure to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The Administration should build on that initial investment rather than reinventing the wheel.

* With high rates of obesity in adults and children, the Administration can’t afford to not have a strong national obesity prevention program in place. Without sufficient investment in prevention, obesity rates are going to continue to wreak havoc on the nation’s health and health care costs.

* Funding CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at $90 million would allow it to support obesity prevention programs in every state.

* Even though all state applications were approved for funding, 13 states lost their obesity funding last year due to inadequate resources.

Campaign finance-plank-Dowd - Fix PA

Nice response. Now lets go and split hairs.

Campaign finance-plank-Dowd - Fix PA 1) I will introduce comprehensive, common sense campaign finance legislation that is tied to federal contribution limits within the first 100 days;

2) I will end the practice of awarding no-bid contracts to campaign contributors;

3) I will ensure that every contract over $25,000 will be competitively bid;

4) As an incumbent Mayor, I will not solicit campaign contributions from any firm that does business with the City of Pittsburgh or its Authorities;

5) I will make all finance reports electronically available to the public on the state and county filing dates;

6) I will ensure the creation of and integrate searchable electronic databases of all city contracts and all campaign contributions of all city elected officials.

7) I will publish my public schedule on the city's website so that any Pittsburgher can see who I am meeting with.

#7. Why not have your private and public schedule on the web?

Why not have the schedule on the web now?

Why not have the schedule on a personal site and not the city's site?

Why not have the main meeting room set up with UStream or some other video conference set up so that what is said is broadcasted and archived so others can see or hear exactly what happened?

#6. Why not do a database of your spending and incomes now?

Why not support the TRANSPARENT PAC ACCOUNT concept with private banks as a way to make a solution that is without any extra costs and overhead on city resources?

Why not meet with me to learn about and craft such a solution with a call to local bankers for a new type of account for local PAC accounts?

Why not ask all the other candidates you know in the city and county to migrate their bank accounts to these new TRANSPARENT PAC ACCOUNTS so that a critical mass rewards to early adopters and a new chapter in transparency is started in earnest?

#5. Why not make finance transaction data available as it occurs, not as the reporting periods dictate? Do reporting in real time, not with big lags.

#3. Why not insure that every contract greater than $5,000 be awarded after a competitive bid? Why the $25,000 ceiling?

Cal swimmers embrace unusual training methods

Cal swimmers embrace unusual training methods: "'At Rutgers I didn't think I would go any farther in swimming,' she said. 'I was just about ready to leave the sport. I wasn't where I wanted to be. I was frustrated with the whole thing - coaching, practices, meets, everything. Back East, it's very old school: Just pound out a lot of yardage. The coaching style is very removed. They tell the swimmers exactly what to do without a lot of positive feedback.'"

Program's goal is to knock down barriers, expose black youth to swimming : Local News : Memphis Commercial Appeal

Program's goal is to knock down barriers, expose black youth to swimming : Local News : Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Program's goal is to knock down barriers, expose black youth to swimming

By Wendi C. Thomas (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, March 19, 2009

Last summer city pools opened to tragedy: two teens drowned on the first day the pools were open in June.

Not this year, said Susan Helms, director of injury prevention and Safe Kids Mid-South at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center."

Big Job Fair -- the day after a posting closed

The city held a big job fair. Great. The city had an open job posting that closed the day before the job fair. Go figure. Not great.

PAC this to Zero-Land. The loophole is the PACs

From hot-pot-w-students

Start here, at Bob's blog: http://thebusmansholiday.blogspot.com/2009/03/peduto-campaign-finance-reform-by.html

My reply:

The loophole is PACs.

A union's PAC can give 2.5 times as much as an individual. But, a union PAC often has a city, county, regional and national PAC. And, it can have Grey PAC, Gay PAC, At-Home PAC, Retired PAC, Women's PAC, and so on. Anyone can make a PAC. PAC can then funnel money to candidates.

A rule follower could give $1-M to various PACs and they can all end up giving money to the same candidate for the same campaign.

When the rights of a mob, group or clan exceed that of the individual, red flags should fly.

1 hour and 20 minutes on the Kraus bill for sidewalk cafes

Bill Peduto is going to use his gavel. Finally. He is a bit hacked off today at city council for the spending of 1 hour and 20 minutes on a bill that had no amendments.

Too much talk. Too little action.

From NZ-whales

Mr. Kraus wants to thank everyone for all their help. That's called doing their jobs. Grandstanding stinks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kraus is always late to meetings. When I'm talking today -- he gets up from the table. When other members of the public are talking, Mr. Kraus is in the audience schmoozing.

Fixing it isn't everyone's duty. But to flag it is a great help.

My suggestion at another blog about fixing wiki pages when errors are noticed.

Life must be hard to know it all yet not have the technical / language skills to fix any of our bogus shared understandings.



Tip to Chris: At wikipedia.org, (and even FixPA.wikia.com) when you see something that is at odds with the truth, click the blue button at the top of the page called, "discussion." It is at the tab just to the right of the link labeled 'article.'

Then click again on the button, also at the top, called "new section." Sometimes a "+" sign is there. Then insert with the wiki language of plain old text in English to what you feel should be changes / adjusted / altered / inserted. Just go freehand.

Often two fields are presented, a title, like in a blog post. And a body field for longer chunks of text.

No need for any HTML nor WIKI mark-up. Just type like a blog comment.

Then after you are done, sign your nugget of insight by hitting the ~ (tide character) four times. That is way to the top left of the keyboard, often a CAP. It looks like this, ~~~~ .

That trick, ~~~~ puts your name and time stamp onto the posting.

Then leave the edits to others. Go about your merry way to other pages or whatever.

When busy, drop of comment onto the discussion page and move on. Hopefully others will get to the matter in due time.

I did this the other day at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Richard_Caliguiri

Perhaps some day the Caliguri page will get fixed to everyone's satisfaction.

(full thread)

The Pittsburgh Comet & Campaign Finance Reform

The Pittsburgh Comet: "If the ship leaks, we can look to where it's leaking.

My second comment at another blog goes like this:

If pay to play is the problem, then fix pay to play. You don't fix pay to play with campaign finance reform.

As you said, "If the ship leaks, we can look to where it's leaking." EXACTLY.

If you have a leak on the roof of your house, don't put in cement floors. Fix the roof.

The pay part should be okay, within reason. Don't make it criminal to give a donation to a candidate. We want people to be invested in self-government and the American process -- generally. However, we don't want special favors to be delivered to anyone. We don't want certain players to get the ball and our money all the time at the exclusion of others. Government isn't about making the rich richer despite effective operations.

The play part of pay to play is where the taxpayers get screwed. The play part is fixed with the elimination of all no bid contracts.

If you want to do business with government, we need to have a competitive bid process to insure that we buy the most and best for the money -- open to all.

Gaming the system is solved when the contracts and purchasing elements are with sealed bids and competition.

Campaign finance reform is another matter. It needs attention too. But, trying to make Campaign Finance Reform a wonder drug, magic bullet, and fix-it-all-solution, is sure to bog everything down and fail.

BTW, this was one of the failures of Peduto 2004 thinking. We're past that now, I dare say.

You don't fix one problem with an approach that isn't about the problem: Campaign Finance Reform

This is what victory looks like!

When Bill Peduto championed campaign finance reform in 2004, I was there saying, "Think again."

Peduto knew of the gang of 75 who were the pay to play mavericks. They ruled this town and took from its treasury, as needed, via their no-bid contracts. They come in all flavors from law firms to bond underwriters to URA designer weenies.

Peduto's aim, in part, was to fix this 'pay to play mentality.' So, he wanted to limit the size of campaign donations. The pay to play problems shrink as the size of the pay-offs are able to decrease -- generally. But, the root of the problem is the awarding of city contracts to friends.

In the case of Twanda Carlisle, she gave city money and city contracts for doing nothing, to family and friends. Those folks didn't give big campaign donations. They were paid, but they didn't even need to play the game with advance payments.

My point in recent years has been to the problem of letting city contracts to those who are hand picked. End all no bid contracts and the pay to play realm gets shattered.

This is what's on the table now. This is a major reform move. This is what I've been talking about and it is coming to pass.

Can anyone tell me any reason why we need any no-bid contracts in city government?

Next, gifts. Sure. We can start a gift abatement policy. But, that has to come from the individuals and it would be nice to have an Ethics Hearing Board too. Rev. Ricky Burgess is ranting about gifts and that's just fine.

The problem comes from enforcement.

What if I give you a ride home after a meeting? What if I let you use a cell phone to call home because of some special circumstances? These are much like NCAA Recruiting and Eligibility Rules. Have you ever seen or read the NCAA Manuals? Thick like phone books. Fairness. A college athlete can't get a new suit to go to a banquet to get an award. That's a deal breaker that will change the team's record from the last year.

A college athlete can't use the coach's phone to call home -- even if mom is home sick. Bang. Eligibility violations.

The mirco management of elimination of all gifts can get really unhealthy.

The thing to do is offer and reward the culture of gift elimination. But, don't legislate morals, as that's next to impossible to do.

We need to hire and elect wise and honest individuals.

The kicker gets to enforcement, in the final chapters of these discussions. Time to talk, again, about the 'scarlet letter provisions.'

If a person wants to buy property from the city, and that person owes taxes to the city on any property, the deal is off. The city won't sell property to tax cheats. The people who owe back taxes are blacklisted and can't purchase additional properties from the city. That's fine with me and a great law and policy.

I'd like to see the same thinking apply to these matters of campaign finance reform enforcement.

So, if a company has an employee that donates more money than allowed to a candidate, as established by these pending bills -- then what. I say that that company has to get a better grip on its employees, or owners, or board members. And, that company as a cheat on the campaign finance reform measures would be ineligible for any business dealings with the city. That company would be blacklisted and not be eligible for any contract with the city -- other than paying taxes, of course.

For example, consider the case of building a bridge or digging a tunnel under a river for the expansion of light rail. Some city contracts are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Buying a council member or five, or a mayor or field of mayors, is worth tens of millions of dollars. And, if the penalty is a $10,000 fine -- yet the contracts are worth half-a-billion, then guess what.

Those who wanted the Mon Valley Toll Road gave Bob O'Connor and Tom Murphy both -- lots of money. They wanted to send the road through Hazelwood and into the Mon Valley -- out to Thomas Jefferson and such. This toll road would be valuable to those land speculators. And, it was worth hundreds of thousands. Those deals flowed in 2000 and 2001. Both O'Connor and Murphy spend $1-M in the 2001 primary election. Much of that money came from Mon Valley Advocates.

Same too happened with gambling.

Wayne Fontana and Michael Diven both had money from the D and R parties in Harrisburg that amounted to $1M each for a state senate seat. Years of gambling money, from horse track, slots, casinos, resorts and such flowed to Harrisburg and they were flush for their candidates.

Some deals, like casinos, stadiums, convention centers, sports teams, mass transit, airports, mining rights, dams, etc., are big ticket deals. Fortunes are made on the backs of public money.

We need to say that those who are guilty of breaking our rules are not eligible for any government dealings. That goes for the givers who give too much. And, that goes for the takers who take too much. Both are guilty. Those who are guilty can do so in their private lives on their private time with their private funds -- and should be excluded from any transactions from the public treasury. This would include pay checks.

And, the scarlet letter would last as long as those who are in office stay in office. The expiration of the black-listing should exceed the duration of the term of public employment in any capacity.

Now, let's swing the conversation of campaign finance reform to the enforcement aspects.

Getting serious, again, with the school name game

Time to think about school names and mascots.

Pittsburgh Public School is starting a new high school. It opens, sorta, again, in the fall of 2009 and is going to be dedicated to the I.B. concepts. This I.B. style is short for International Baccalaureate.

We've been calling the school, "I.B. High."

Let's name at school: Pittsburgh International, Junior and Senior High School. The short name, PI High.

The mascot: The Olympians.

Now taking the court, Pi High Olympians of Pittsburgh.



This school comes from, in part, Schenley and its Spartan tradition. The Spartans were Greek. Same too the Olympians. I think the Olympian name does some justice to the Spartan tradition. They can be brothers.

Of course, the logo should not be the five interlocking rings as shown in the trademarked design of the International Olympic Committee. But, that is for another discussion on another day.

Twitter make me tweet rich

My twitter account is @Rauterkus.

Look to the left of the page to see my recent tweets.



Woops:

Rocketboom did a twitter video. I put in with embed on my blog. http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com. But, it seems to have been lost with a bug. Gone. Poof.
Background: I tried to put in a 'comment' but it was made into a 'tag' instead. So, I was hitting delete on each of the tag words. After 4 or 5, the entire video vanished.

After about 10 minutes, the video came back. And, I've since nuked the various bogus tags.

Dowd and Schenley High School

I watched the first moments of the Dowd talk about Schenley High School closing (and his big important role in that) and nearly choked to death.

After a cooling off period, (15 seconds) the resumed the watch brings the following.

Schenley's capacity was strong. There are district problems that were ignored for too long -- thanks in good part to Patrick's in-action. But, the capacity at Schenley wasn't one of them. And, by closing Schenley, the rest of the problems got ignored still. And, a new set of problems came into the scene.

With too much capacity, why endorse a plan to open NEW high schools? New U-Prep. New I.B. New Sci-Tech. The U-PREP is in a building with ability to hold 1,000 plus students and the first year had less than 150. So, thanks to Patrick -- we've got bigger problems.

Still no change in sight for Westinghouse nor Peabody nor Oliver nor Langley. Zippo -- still.

Schenley wasn't a problem! But, Dowd closed it and made it worse.

Dowd said, "For years, and years, and years (3x), people ignored the problems at Schenley." Well, Schenley's new windows were like 5 years old. The entire facade of the building, and roof, was brand new. BLIND SPOT.

Same crap was said by Mark Roosevelt. He said on the radio that the physical structure of Schenley had not changed for 90 years. Except the new swim pool, new gym and addition -- all modern in recent decades. Lies.

Money was spent on Schenley. Not enough on the walls. But, elsewhere.

The 'Rightsized plan' (old news on Dowd's tenure) was to close 20+ ELEM Schools. Except 1 = Schenley H.S. Some how that school, Schenley HS, was put into the mix with Elem Schools. Go figure. That was on Dowd's watch. We fixed that with outrage at the board.

The merry-go-round didn't stop on Patrick's watch. It tripled in speed, IMNSHO.


Bonus clip -- flashback:

Nolte movie seeks 1,500 student extras

Going to the movies and The Pete.

The Pitt News - Nolte movie seeks 1,500 student extras The Petersen Events Center is also a major character in the film “Warrior.” Brennan said that the Pete will be a gym and will possibly be transformed in to a Las Vegas set. The Pete will also be the setting during the film’s climatic scene, where the star battles opponents in a series of choreographed mixed martial arts tournaments. On that day of filming, more than 1,500 extras are needed to fill the Petersen gymnasium.

Speaking of which, is The Pete going to be open for students and fans to watch the basketball games this Thursday and Saturday?

City officials urged to link youth summer jobs program to academic performance - Pittsburgh Business Times:

What do you get in life with a lottery choice?

City officials urged to link youth summer jobs program to academic performance - Pittsburgh Business Times:: "Richard Flanagan, youth development director at Bloomfield Garfield Corp., urged Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and other elected officials to tie academic performance to youth job placement to maximize use of economic stimulus funding. Summer job candidates are currently chosen by lottery.

In Pittsburgh, you get to pick a school by lottery. That's bad.

In Pittsburgh you get to pick who to hire by lottery. That's bad too.

I agree with Mr. Flannigan. Hire based on merit. Imagine that.

Dowd blasts Ravenstahl for contributions from contractors

Getting closer.

Dowd blasts Ravenstahl for contributions from contractors 'On the first day of taking office, I would issue an executive order that would ban no-bid contracts for political contributors to elected officials,' said Mr. Dowd, whose 2007 council run was backed in part by a handful of lawyers and financiers that do business with the city. 'I'm sure at some point we will also say that we will have no no-bid contracts.'

One does not need to ban political contributions for people who have no-bid contracts if you eliminate all no-bid contracts. So, I'd say, as I have said in the past, the city should eliminate all no-bid contracts. There is no place for no-bid contracts in government.

Simple.

Otherwise, I don't like the removal of free speech for some on day one.

Furthermore, all donors to political campaigns can have their names and details visible as soon as the money gets deposited. And, as soon as the campaign spends any money, that gets reported as well. All incomes and all expenses of political action commitees -- starting with me -- can be made visible on the internet in real time.

Dowd blasts Ravenstahl for contributions from contractors: "Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb has said he is putting together searchable, online lists of contributions and contracts."

Too little and too late, Mr. Lamb. Get moving already.

St. Louis - Daily RFT - Libertarians Claim State Violated Homeland Security Policies

St. Louis - Daily RFT - Libertarians Claim State Violated Homeland Security Policies Libertarians are still rankled about a memo uncovered last week in which Gov. Jay Nixon and other state officials classify followers of Ron Paul and third-party candidates as possible militia members.

Yesterday, the Missouri Libertarian Party issued a statement saying that the memo in question (circulated by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, or MIAC) failed to follow U.S. Department of Homeland Security policies that prohibit political profiling and other civil rights violations.

Carmen Latrice Robinson's says "fighter"

UPDAED. See comments.

Humm...

Facebook | Carmen Latrice Robinson's NotesA Good Fight!

Safe neighborhoods, good schools and a strong local economy are the building blocks of a livable city; those goals will not become a reality without a fighter at the helm.

I AM NOT AFRAID of A GOOD Fight!

If you’re looking for an advocate and not a politician, vote for a fighter Carmen Robinson, as you’re Mayor May 19th.

G.W. Bush and Dick Chaney were always looking to start a fight.

Tom Murphy was always in 'fight mode' too.

I'm thinking, 'fire in the belly' is great -- if not necessary. However, I'm not excited in the least bit about one who picks to make fights.

The Kingdom of Heaven goes to the peacemakers. Making peace is rough.

Give us un-unflappable leadership. Give us a fixture for certain principles. Give us tenacity. Give us an underdog that isn't intimidated. Give us drive and determination. Give us the uncomfortable.

More than telling you are hungry for a fight -- deliver the actions. Engage in that mental toughness of a fight with bone-headed authority figures day-in-and-day-out. Who are your in a rumble with? How is it going? What ground are you going to protect. What areas do we need to recapture? Draw lines and see who falls on which side?

If you want to be a fearless fighter like the TV cartoon, Tazmanian Devil, jumping around in a huff without purpose, you'll get less than 400 votes and not do much but blow smoke and dust into the air.

Finally, some are less into the fight and more into the outcomes. Getting jazzed about the fight is almost a primal urge -- if not middle-school aged hubris. Rather, let's jump on the bandwagon of a victor. Let's celebrate the win together. That is with real mass appeal.

Goffyness of Governance

Bill would exempt some from yearly tax relief form: "under Councilman Patrick Dowd's legislation, residents 50 and older would only have to fill out the city's Act 77 tax relief form once. Then they would have their assessments frozen until they moved or reported an increase in income."

Making a tax freeze is a guarantee way to advance corruption, unfairness, and plant all sorts of other bad karma nasty ramifications.

This is politics 101 for dummies and Dowd seems to be the one who wants to go there now.

Pandering. Unsustainable. Unethical in the end.

The entire Allegheny County re-assessment boondoggle came about because of a 'freeze mentality.' Their bogus fix is a turn-back the clock solution. Live in the past. Stay there.

Meanwhile, the city and region shrink some more.

Dowd, or someone else, should take the high road on these important matters of self governance.

Schools dig into stimulus arithmetic

Don't let that cat out of the bag.

Schools dig into stimulus arithmetic For those who are hoping the closed Schenley High School building will be renovated, Mr. Roosevelt said, 'There's not monies sufficient to bring a project of that magnitude to the table, nor is it consistent with the very clear Obama administration edict that the money be used primarily on student gains.'

Do students gain when they have extra time on a bus?

Do students gain when those in 6th grade are put with those in 9th, 10, 11th and 12th?

Do students gain when $5-Million of additional money is to be spent in the summer of 2009 to fix up a school that will be given to a bulldozer in less than four years?

Do students gain when massive buildings sit empty?

I say that students gain when prudent investments of the past are continually realized into the future.

I say students gain when they can study and learn in a learning community, such is Oakland. Today, some will be walking to a play for a Spanish class field trip to the Oakland-based Cathedral. The topic of the play is an idealistic gent who took on some major opponents -- quixotic even.

I say high school reform is needed and must be in the back seat as we speed into a future with community participation with our schools.

The magnitude of fixing some plaster at Schenley High School has never been put onto the table in a fair, open and honest way. We don't need to fix the pipe organ. We don't need a lavish food court in the school. And the alternative costs are not put into the formula either. The magnitude is the uncertainty and doubt -- not a building with interior walls and ceilings that match what is found in some other schools.

Mr. Roosevelt expects the school system's innovations will prove effective. Prove that the past innovations have proven as much.

What about the Gifted Center innovations that have not come to pass?

What about K-8 schools?

What model of 6-12 grade schools has proven to work -- ever -- anywhere?

What about the ALAs? Why the flop? Why the uncertainty?

What about starting of school in mid August -- when we don't even know how many showed up for school on those days nor how hot the buildings were?

How are the kids doing in Duquesne's district? PPS has had a hand in that leadership innovation. Summary reports are where?

How are the Vo Tech kids doing in schools now -- since the closing of South Vo Tech? Where is the proven effect document with peer review, naturally.

The closing of some 20 school buildings in the past has made an impact. The Rightsizing innovation has saved money yet put dark holes into many communities. Where and how and when do we get to look at the effect of those empty buildings to places such as Knoxville and Hazelwood (with the still closed Gladstone Middle School)?

Here is a final question in our search for proof: What maget programs are effective? Why? How?

Save a radio show, The Edge of Sports

Updated: See comments.

Edge of Sports Nation: The People at Sirius/XM have decided that they will be no longer broadcasting Edge of Sports Radio. Their reason has nothing to do with the quality of the show.We have interviewed political/sports legends from Kareem Abdul Jabbar to Jim Brown; sportswriters from Sally Jenkins to Selena Roberts; sports sociologists from Dr. Graham Farred to Dr. Mary Jo Kane; and the most cutting edge bloggers from Michael Tillery to DK Wilson. We have also used the show to spur debates throughout the sports world from our interview with the late Pat Tillman's mother Mary to our conversations about the Firestone boycott before the Super Bowl.

This is the only show where sports and politics come together and that's exactly why it is getting the shaft. The high ups at Sirius XM LIKE the show but think it is too sporty for the political channel and too political for the sports channel. We need you to tell them otherwise. If you have never listened to the show, go to this link address.

http://www.edgeofsports.com/audio.html

If you do dig the show, or just support the concept of a radio show that brings these issues together, please send RESPECTFUL complaints WITHOUT profanity to the following email addresses.

MKarmazin@SiriusXM.com; SGreenstein@SiriusXM.com; JColeman@SiriusXM.com; GParsons@SiriusXM.com

If you are a Sirius/XM subscriber, go to http://xmradio.com/help/emailus.xmc?ch=167

---

Update:

E of S Nation. Well I'll be g-damned. We won. This is the quickest victory since Tyson took out Spinks. Or King Kong Bundy avalanched George Welles. It seems that hundreds of people emailed the top brass at Sirius/Xm this morning and told them to keep Edge of Sports Radio and in record time, it worked. We are going to be on Sirius/XM Sports Nation on weekends and we will still post the show to iTunes and on edgeofsports.com. Give us two weeks to get the paperwork signed and then we should be back.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent emails, faxes, or just vibrations to the Sirius/XM honchos. In fact, part of the deal is for me to ask folks to please please stop emailing them.

I haven't been this happy since game 6 in 1986. This almost makes up for picking West Virginia in the final four.

In struggle and sports,
Dave Zirin

Blog of the Allies, New Pittsburgh Blog

The Pitt News has a guy that is blogging on his own. He did the bit about the couches and I sent him a note that came back with this pointer. Nice, again.

Blog of the Allies: "Have you ever taken a wrong turn off Bates and ended up in East Berlin, 1984?"