Updated: We did find a pool for next week's water polo. YES!

Today, Friday, Aug 20, I'm going to check out the open water swim practice with the Pittsburgh Triathlon Club. That happens at 6:30 pm at Washington's Landing.

Saturday, Aug 21, we've got some fun planned. We'll play water polo on Saturday at North Park's pool, Allegheny County facility, from 5 to 7 pm.

Pay $5 for adults or $4 for juniors or $3 for kids 12 and under at the gate.

Hope to see you there, even rookies and those that have not yet played this summer. The water there is great. Go early and enjoy the pool and its slide too.

North Park Pool closes for the season after swimming on Sunday, this weekend.

The swim schedule for public hours at Highland Park Pool the rest of the summer to Sept. 6 is as follows:

Mondays to Fridays: 1 pm to 7:45 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays: 1 - 5:45 p.m.

Citiparks pools will remain open through Labor Day as staffing levels permit. Meet at 5-6 pm for lap swimming and 6 to 7:45 for conditioning and tag.

Water Polo practice on WED, Thur, Fri, Aug 25, 26, 27, from 2:30 to 4:30 pm at Woodland Hills High School. Enter at the Athletic doors on the right side of the building. We'll be joining a group of kids at Woodland Hills as they begin their quest to form a water polo program. Woodland Hills has school on those days.

Early, Saturday, Aug 28, game at IUP vs. NJ Prep School. On your own.

Sto-Rox schools approve grade requirements for athletes

Sto-Rox schools approve grade requirements for athletes If Sto-Rox is going to keep up its tradition of athletic excellence, its athletes are going to have to be at least average students.
The Sto-Rox School Board last night approved a policy stating that students must have at least a C in all their core subjects to take part in sports and other extracurricular activities. Their grades will be reviewed weekly.
'We will not have a football team,' board member Luanne Schipani said, advocating that the board instead use the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League standard of a C average. 'You can have kid getting an A in English and an A in history, but maybe he's in trigonometry and he's struggling.'
Other board members said it was a matter of raising expectations -- and noted that with weekly reviews students who are struggling will get ongoing chances to raise their grades and regain eligibility. Ms. Schipani cast the only dissenting vote.
To be eligible under the previous policy, Sto-Rox students had only to be passing four classes total and three of their four core subjects.

I'm all about getting good grades. Academics are important.

But, it is also important to have opportunities. It is important to get and retain kids in activities that are motivational. Should sports be only for the smart?

Street gangs are happy with this new requirement as a set of kids are going to give up on school now. They will not be eligible. They'll skip. They'll not be engaged. They'll drop out sooner. They'll never go to tutoring. They won't hang with the right kids.

Then there is the matter of grade inflation.

And, another matter -- course selection. Why push yourself into the trig class when there is a chance that you won't cut it there so you won't be able to play basketball. So, the kids might graduate from high school having played sports but with out the challenges to advance to college admissions due to weak transcripts, weak SAT scores or else get into college and need to take remedial classes or else flunk out after one grading period.

What about the kid that is tossed into a family crisis and misses some school? Then he'll be off the team, out of the band, not able to cheer. That kid should be home with the books -- but what if home is the last place for that kid's time.

Then there is the problem of the kid that is a key player on the team -- and most teams have lots of those kids. Then he is wacked out of a game because of one class one week. That screws up the rest of the kids on the team too. The punishment is for all the kids and the entire program and the full school to feel. Hence, the pathway to not caring is accelerated. Not knowing who is in and who is out is not a way to build devotion. Devotion often starts with what is loved and then, later, can be applied to what is necessary. Sports teach transferable skills and valued lessons, as well as general fitness, can be absorbed by those who are getting a "D" or an "F" in one class this week.

Good luck with the program and new policy Sto Rocks. Let us know how it comes along for you.

Here in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, we've got a more aggressive grade and eligibility standard that what the PIAA rules enforce. Our teams are thin on participants, generally. Our drop out rate is too high. Our school spirit and the engagement is what it is.

Contempt exposed

Mark C of Plum wrote the intro and the following letter to the editor that is in the P-G:

Before our statewide candidates were extorted off the ballot, I had written a letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette where Republicans were my focus. The PG printed my letter today ("Contempt exposed") and it still was relevant given the removal from the ballot.

I also had an interesting conversation with their letter editor yesterday about my LTE. She called about a grammar mistake she had corrected before she sent it along to press, but we then talked about ballot access and how (my words) it's now effectively illegal to run for statewide office in PA as a third party or independent candidate. She's not a political editor, but she said she would pass along a note about our conversation and the LPPA contact web page to their political editor.

I mention this to remind everyone that a letter can be an avenue leading into a newspaper's editors. While there's no guarantee of an editor calling our banished candidates or our state chair, there wouldn't even have been a phone call without the letter. She also said that I'm in the PG blackout period, but she encourages other letters from libertarians.

Here's the letter (and check the last letter on this page):

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10231/1081046-110.stm  

Contempt exposed

Pennsylvania's Republican Party proved beyond any doubt that it holds in contempt anyone sympathetic to the ideals of the tea party movement or anyone critical of the two-party monopoly.

On Aug. 9 GOP operatives filed last-minute challenges to ballot access petitions of the Libertarian and tea party statewide candidates (governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. senator). According to spokesman Mike Barley, the state GOP supports the challenge.

Petition signatures can be invalidated for reasons as innocent as omitting a middle initial. What's worse, the challenge is "loser pays." Deep-pocket Republicans are immune if too few signatures are invalidated. Challenger candidates, however, face devastating financial liability if just one too many is invalidated. In 2006 the Democrats' challenge cost the Green Party U.S. Senate candidate $80,000 for his crime of running for office.

Given Pennsylvania's decline from decades of incumbent party malfeasance, it's no wonder they require Bonusgate tactics, coercion and threats to protect their career politicians.

GOP claims of being a kindred spirit to America's grassroots awakening are a glaring falsehood. It would be more in character of the party to suggest banning third-party and challenger candidates.

MARK CROWLEY
Plum

---

Update: Letter from a Libertarian candidate that got bumped from the ballot:

August 17, 2010


I am saddened to announce that thanks to the blackmail forced upon the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania by the Republican Party of our state, I am forced to withdraw from the governor's race. The Republicans presented us wit...h a Hobson's choice of withdrawing our candidates from the ballot, incurring no costs assessed to us by the Republicans, or going on to court after the signature review and potentially bankrupting the Party and its candidates by fighting for the right to remain on the ballot, being assessed inflated costs and associated penalties should we lose, as have most third-party candidates in the past several years.


This blackmail, unfortunately for the public, extends to the voters of Pennsylvania as well and hurts them, due to Pennsylvania's draconian ballot access laws, even more than it hurts the LPPA. Hundreds of legally registered voters in this state had their names removed from our petitions due to an error of signature or a change of address within their voting district, among many things that ordinary voters do not realize will affect their franchise. Further, given that the Democratic candidate for Governor is as anti-female and anti-rights as his opponent, Tom Corbett, my absence from the ballot presents the voting public of Pennsylvania with a choice that is no choice, for either of two conservatives who are unlikely to provide the sweeping changes in taxes and in control of the legislature that the residents of the Commonwealth sorely need. There will be no debate of land use value taxes. There will be no discussion of reforming the legislative system in the state. Women's rights and minority rights in the Commonwealth will not be protected substantially.


I thank the members and candidates of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania for their hard work, the members of the Green Party and the Constitution Party, as well as many Tea Party activists, for their work and their support of the other third-party candidates who ran for statewide office this year, and I especially thank the members of Gertrude Stein Political Club in Pittsburgh for their support as well. My deepest gratitude goes to Mik Robertson, our state chair this year, for his efforts in coordinating the Libertarian defense to the signature challenge and for his sacrifice of time, money, and family in the process. I also thank the voters of Pennsylvania who responded to Libertarian solicitations to sign our nominating papers, especially those many whose names were struck from our nominating papers by the Republican Party due to legal technicalities designed to prevent their signatures from being counted.


I urge Pennsylvania's voters to rise up against a system that takes away their real choice in selecting candidates to be on the ballot, and to contact their state legislators to demand that the state electoral code be revised to provide a true chance for what is supposed to be provided for in the state constitution, free and equal elections.


Marakay Rogers
"Let's make history together!"

Here is an option:

Write-In "Samuel E. Rohrer, Berks County" November 2, 2010 http://www.SamRohrerWriteIn.org
Volunteer at http://www.PatriotsForSamRohrer.org

With Arena Football -- Pittsburgh is going to be out of balance with Title IX

The sky is going to fall!

Ballot Access Press Event in Harrisburg

on the electoral process.

Pennsylvania is seen as one of the three or four most restrictive states in terms of the nominating procedure for candidates of alternative minority parties or who are independent. State law requires these candidates to collect a much larger number of signatures to qualify for the ballot than candidates of major parties need for their primary election ballot. That number varies widely from year to year under a complex formula based on voter turnout in previous elections.

The press conference will address the result of the recent actions, and will look at what can be done to address this increasing threat to the democratic process in Pennsylvania.
Senator Mike Folmer introduced the Voter’s Choice Act (SB 252) that would eliminate the current complex ballot qualifying formulas and enhance Pennsylvania’s democratic process by leveling the playing field for minority and independent candidates.

Those appearing at the conference will include:

Senator Mike Folmer, Prime sponsor of the Voters Choice Act (SB252)

Marakay Rogers, Libertarian Candidate for Governor

Kat Valleley, Libertarian Candidate for Lieutenant Governor

Doug Jamison, Libertarian Candidate for US Senate

Mik Robertson, Chairman, Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

Bonita Hoke, Pennsylvania League of Women Voters

Marybeth Kuznik, VotePA

Tim Potts, Democracy Rising

Bob Small, Green Party of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition.

Libertarians withdraw from statewide races

Libertarians withdraw from statewide races: "All three Libertarian Party nominees for statewide office in Pennsylvania abandoned their bids for the fall ballot today, leaving no third-party opposition to the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor and U.S. Senate.
Filing papers to withdraw were York lawyer Marakay Rogers, a perennial candidate who was running for governor; political newcomer Douglas Jamison, an engineer running for Senate; and Kat Valleley, a Bucks County homemaker seeking to become lieutenant governor. The action followed nearly two days of intensive scrutiny of their petition signatures.

We have Jim Roddey, and others just like him in the ranks of the GOP to thank for this. They think they know best. They think they can lawyer up to no end and then put the burden of their bill onto the citizen candidates. Jim Roddey thinks that in 10 to 20 years, his words, third parties are going to be big. Say what?

The action isn't after intensive scrutiny as much as it is about a calculated risk to pay more than $90,000 for the pleasure of NOT running for public office.

North Korea is Now Itself a Twitter Account | techPresident

North Korea is Now Itself a Twitter Account | techPresident: "Perhaps drawing on Hugo Chávez's tremendous success as inspiration, North Korea has joined Twitter. The Guardian runs its translation magic on the country's regime's first tweet, and comes up with 'Website, 'our nation itself' is a Twitter account.' Okey doke."

We used Twitter while in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Could also use my blog, as per August 6, days before the Games began. But, only then. Never could use a wiki nor wikia.

48 Hour Film Project Screenings

SCREENINGS
Remember to celebrate your film and lobby for audience votes. Postcards, signs, costumes, and other promotions are encouraged.

Wednesday, Aug 18
The Screenings will take place at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave.
Group A will screen at 6:30PM.
Group B will screen at 8:30PM.


Thursday, Aug 19
The Screenings will take place at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave.
Group C will screen at 6:30PM.

TICKET SALES
Tickets may be purchased night of the screenings at the door. Cash only please.

$8 or $6 w/valid student ID per screening.
We will be offering passes for all 3 screenings. $20 or $15 w/valid student ID.

Sounds like a fun date.

Pennsylvania: School Vouchers - mcall.com

Pennsylvania: School Vouchers - mcall.com: "The head of Pennsylvania's largest teachers union said Thursday he needs to take a closer look at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato's new proposal to offer 'grants' to poor kids in bad schools so they can attend a private school.
But Jim Testerman, the president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the union won't withdraw its support for the Democratic nominee, because he also favors full funding for public education and other causes near and dear to the union."

Spoken like a real union leader.

Pittsburgh councilman wants to protect city against drilling

I feel the earth move under my feet. I feel the sky tumbling down. Not because of the drilling next door. But rather because of the talk of 'rights' from a member of Pittsburgh City Council.

Pittsburgh councilman wants to protect city against drilling 'Rights precede the state,' he said. 'Rights precede government. Rights precede state statues and are superior to them.'

Rights, liberties, freedom! Yes.

But, as usual, I'm not certain that this is what we really need.

It is very hard to give rights yet insure that government grow and block things from happening with blanket denials by law under all conditions.

If it makes sense to drill in the city, then let's do it. I do worry about the lack of rights for property owners to sue for damages when an industry causes harm to a neighborhood.

Mostly, on a basic level of city leadership, here they go again. People on city council are hell bent on pushing legislation that begs for lawsuits. Bubble bills, bar saturations, and now no drilling ordinances have put the city on the pathway of frustration where only the lawyers get rich while the residents and citizens are left to pay the bill.

In other news, City Council's Patrick Dowd is looking for a project so big that it will be impossible to pay for in 50 years, like NASA's space station, a Pittsburgh canal to link Homewood to Hazelwood, or else an underwater amusement park (think Kennywood at the Point but 100 foot deep).

Sale of parking could aid other projects: "Councilman Patrick Dowd said the money should be allocated to the pension fund, used to retire debt or spent on a capital project so big that it couldn't be tackled with a normal 30-year bond issue. In other words, he said, the project must be worth giving up parking assets for 50 years."

Another blog thread on same topic: http://pghcomet.blogspot.com/2010/08/gasburgh-exploring-no.html

Rebecca's Breastroke

The point that I stress is the timing. The feet come up to recover the kick as the arms pull apart. The legs recover as the arm provides power. Then the arms can recover while the legs give the propulsion.

To often in scholastic swimmers, the legs stay together as the pull begins and then when the legs do recover and come up the arms are in a recovery too. That stops the swimmer's forward movement as the recovery of the legs is matched with the timing of the recovery of the arms. That's a no-no.

Mostly, swimmers need to kick breastroke sooner. Or, put another way, swimmers need to hold the glide of the arms until the legs are ready to explode up into the recovery.

Interesting

Same clip but posted on Viddler:



These highlights of the community meeting held last week at Westinghouse High School Library hit closest to home for my family. My kids go to Pgh Obama.

Their school is going to move from Reizenstein to Peabody. And Peabody has few windows and only slivers of natural light.

Plus, the sports elements are important to me too. I don't think that the new schools, with grades 6 to 12 are able to put the middle school sports teams into the same high school gyms without serious troubles. They don't fit.

Humm...

The issue of sports is more than just a conversation between adults, unless those adults can fabricate more hours in the day or else have the basketball teams practice outdoors.

Beach, climbing wall in plans for Mt. Lebanon pool - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Beach, climbing wall in plans for Mt. Lebanon pool - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Mt. Lebanon is considering $49.1 million worth of improvements over the next five years, including some to make the township's swimming pool more fun.
Next year, it would spend nearly $4.4 million to renovate the swim center; $3.2 million on sanitary sewer upgrades; $1.8 million to reconstruct 1 mile of streets; and more than $1 million for turf and lighting at Wildcat and Middle fields.
'Our swimming facility is over 30 years old, and it's just in need of some reconstruction work,' said township Manager Stephen M. Feller.
He recommends some spray features, a poolside climbing wall, a heater, a family slide and the installation of a beach area."

What about the water polo stadium?

Pittsburgh Public Schools had a community meeting last week at Westinghouse

Last week there was a community meeting at Westinghouse High School's library with written questions delivered to Mr. Lopez about the Excellence for All plan for high schools.

A big school board vote is due in the next week or so. They'll be with a multi-prong plan to do many things to the landscape of the schools.

- close Peabody HS

- shift Westinghouse High School to include grades 6, 7 and 8 to go along with grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.

- make the classrooms at Westinghouse split by gender so boys are in one class and girls in the other, most of the time. In the Vo Tech or CTE classes, they will be co-ed. And, we expect that some of the higher level classes will be co-ed too. But, time will tell.

- move the IB school, now at Reizenstein, called Pgh Obama, into the building at Highland and East Liberty Blvd known at Peabody. This move is slated for the fall of 2012.

- keep the robotics at Peabody, even when the school is devoted to IB.

- move the kids that go to Peabody into U-Prep or Westinghouse, based upon their address or upon a preference of avoidance of single-gender classrooms.

- Make one school that was recently made into a K-8 back to a K-5 so that the ones in grades 6, 7 and 8 can go to the Westinghouse school.

- Mess with another elementary school too.

- and a couple of other things.

Well, some of the meeting was captured on my video camera. That footage is being uploaded.


Part 1:



Part 1 but hosted on Viddler.com:



Part 2:



Part 2 but hosted on Viddler.com:



Highlights of part 1 and 2 for interested folks geared to Pgh Obama's move to Peabody and my question of sports fitting into the high school facilities with the arrival of middle schools as well.

This highlights clip is for all the Pgh Obama folks to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxn3O15ZE7g

Chief's threat draws suspects after Homewood shooting

Chief's threat draws suspects after Homewood shooting: "'Chief Harper was seriously contemplating canceling the midget league football season throughout the city because of the violence taking place in these recreational areas,' Ms. Richard said."

Triple ugh.

Stephanie wrote grom Harrisburg with an update to the ballot challenges

Jim Roddey approves of these Jackass ploys.

... Her email reads:

was very interesting. I left with a very hot head, not due to the weather either. I was only signed up for three hours, which was a good thing. I was flanked by two individuals who wanted to dispute nuances in signatures such as subtle loops and whirls allegedly not matching the voter's registration signature. These FLANKEES were very annoying and when I offered commentary I was summarily chastised by some youngster who fancied himself a mini Obama. It's good I wasn't there too long. The good news is that the FLANKEES didn't get to strike more than one or two signatures during that entire time, even though they fought to strike most of them. The other good news is that the two men who sat in the corner glaring at me with their arms crossed started moving around the room after I mentioned what an interesting article this might make....
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Ds and Rs make Mountains out of Mole Hills

Our crew of volunteers with the Libertarian Party of PA begins work in Harrisburg today on the review of the signatures challenged by the GOP to keep our statewide candidates on the ballot. We need to defend against not only the disenfranchisement of the citizens who signed our nomination papers in a show of support, but against the erosion of the electoral process in Pennsylvania.

We know that many of the issues raised in the challenge are not substantial. Disqualifying people from signing the nomination papers because they used a short version of their name, like Joe instead of Joseph, or because their signature is not exactly the same as when they signed the voter registration card forty years ago, or because the database has not been updated with their new address, or because they could not fit some specific piece of information in the block on the form, is not what the challenge process was put in the election code to do.
It is not too late to support our efforts!

We must be prepared to carry out our defense until this abuse of the system is stopped. This effort is not without cost, and you can help by making your contribution today. Please mail your offer of financial support to:

LPPA Treasurer Kat Valleley
22 Farber Dr.
Chalfont, PA 18914

or you may donate using PayPal on our website here:
http://www.lppa.org/actions/contribute-to-the-lppa.html
Your support is needed now more than ever, and is always appreciated.

Thank you,
Michael J. "Mik" Robertson, Chair, Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

Update:

Two Pa. third-party candidates pull out
By Peter Jackson

Associated Press

HARRISBURG - Two third-party candidates for statewide office said Monday they were withdrawing in the face of all-but-certain rejection of their nomination papers in state Commonwealth Court.
John Krupa, whose claim to be the tea-party candidate for governor was questioned by other leaders of the movement, filed papers withdrawing from the race midway through a review of his petition signatures.

"He didn't have the requisite number," Krupa's lawyer, David Montgomery of Pittsburgh, acknowledged Monday after lawyers for the Lock Haven tavern owner and his challengers spent the weekend sifting through his petitions.

Mel Packer, the Green Party nominee for the Senate, said he decided to withdraw because he lacked enough surplus signatures to defend his petitions against a concerted challenge by Democratic nominee Joe Sestak, a member of the House who beat incumbent Arlen Specter in the May primary. Packer said he did not have a lawyer or the money or time to represent himself.

"I can't afford that," Packer, a physician's assistant in the emergency room of a Pittsburgh hospital, said in a telephone interview. "I'm 65 years old. I'm still working. I've got kids in college."

Pennsylvania law requires third-party and independent candidates for governor and Senate to collect 19,082 voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Major party candidates need only 2,000 signatures, but they must win often-contested statewide primaries to be nominated for the general election.

The major-party candidates for governor are Republican Tom Corbett, the state attorney general, and Democrat Dan Onorato, the elected Allegheny County executive.

Sestak faces Republican Pat Toomey, a former member of the House from the Allentown area, in the Senate race.

Meanwhile on Monday, representatives of the Libertarian Party candidates for governor and Senate - York lawyer Marakay Rogers and engineer Douglas Jamison - and their challengers began reviewing their petitions in a process that was expected to take days.

The challenges to the Libertarian candidates, who also include the party's candidates for lieutenant governor, Bucks County homemaker Kat Valleley, were all filed by three Republican voters with help from the state GOP.

Rogers, who monitored the review Monday, is a perennial candidate whose most recent efforts included unsuccessful bids as a Libertarian candidate for state Superior Court in 2009 and for attorney general in 2008.

She complained that political outsiders' signatures get a more rigorous review than those of major-party candidates and that many voters' signatures are rejected for technicalities, such as addresses that do not match their voter registration.

"That knocks a lot of legitimate voters out of the process," she said.

Krupa, 59, a former Republican, was nominated for governor by the Constitution Party in March, but he said that party joined forces with a tea-party group, so he used its label.

The tea-party movement is a collection of conservative grass-roots groups, but Pennsylvania does not recognize any of them as a political party.

Among the people who challenged Krupa's candidacy was Diane Reimer, the state coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, who said she did not know him and called him an impostor.

Several Republicans also joined the Krupa challenge, and GOP officials complained that Onorato's campaign helped Krupa gather signatures, an allegation the Onorato campaign did not deny.


Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20100817_Two_Pa__third-party_candidates_pull_out.html#ixzz0wttTC4rP
Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else

3 wounded in Homewood when shooting erupts near football game

Ugh.

3 wounded in Homewood when shooting erupts near football game: "Hundreds of people were gathered around Stargell Field when the shooting occurred, watching a football game between teenagers from Homewood and the Hill District. Game organizers stressed that the shooting had nothing to do with the game, and said no players were hurt.
'This is a positive place for people to come,' said Monté Robinson, president of Homewood Community Sports. Mr. Robinson said hundreds of people gather to watch the weekend games.
'What it is, this little league is so popular in the neighborhood that everyone comes out,' he said. 'We do well for the most part, considering the balance of stuff going on in the neighborhood.
'It was an unfortunate incident. It was isolated,' he said."

Pgh Obama Middle School Cross Country -- get off on the right foot

Mr. Pitch, Frick X-Country Coach, -- or Pgh Obama is the real name -- is holding optional cross country meetings this week at 9 am on Tuesday and Thursday. This is for those in grades 6, 7 and 8 at Schenley Park's Track, up next to the Schenley Park tennis courts. They will go over the cross country course used in the middle school meets. And they'll start to do some running.

This is perfect for those who want to play water polo too. We'll swim with water polo on Monday and Wednesday at 10 am to noon at Kingsley. Then you can run on Tuesday and Thursday at 9 am at Schenley Park.

[412-public-news] Water polo anyone? And Run, Challengers, Run!

My email blast:

[412-public-news] Water polo anyone? And Run, Challengers, Run!: "[412-public-news] Water polo anyone? And Run, Challengers, Run!"

Hi All,

Hope your summer is ending in a splash, as ours is. With the help of
Kingsley Center and Wireless Neighborhoods, we are looking for new
water polo players: Boys, girls, men, women. Join us this week:

Monday, August 16, 10 am to noon at Kingsley Association.
Cost $0. http://www.kingsleyassociation.org/ , 6435 Frankstown Ave, 15206

Monday, August 16, 5 pm to 7 pm at North Park Swim Pool
Youth Admission, $3: Junior Admission ages 13 - 17 = $4: Adult, $5

Wednesday, August 18, 10 am to noon at Kingsley Association.
Cost $0. www.KingsleyAssociation.org, 6435 Frankstown Ave, 15206

Wednesday, August 18, 5 pm to 7 pm at North Park Swim Pool
Youth Admission 6 - 12, $3: Junior Admission 13 - 17, $4: Adult, $5

Saturday, August 21, 5 pm to 7 pm at North Park Swim Pool
Youth Admission 6 - 12, $3: Junior Admission 13 - 17, $4: Adult, $5

Starting August 23, we hope to have a schedule at Pittsburgh Schenley
/ PPS Obama at Reizenstein.

Call Coach, Mark at Rauterkus.com, 412 298 3432. Join the Facebook Group:
Pittsburgh Schenley Waterpolo

Next game is early on Saturday, August 28, 2010 at I.U.P. Games for
boys and girls, varsity and junior-varsity.

+ + +

I had a great time teaching swimming and water polo the past 5 weeks
with the Pgh Public Schools Summer Dreamers. Plus, we've been holding
open water polo play at Peabody HS. It has been great to have kids
from Shaler, NA and even a college player from CT join with our city
kids. (photos online). But we do need to recruiting additional players
for next week and beyond.

+ + +

In political news, it is a crying shame that the lawyers from the old
parties are mounting campaigns in the courts to challenge the
challengers and knock them off the ballot. Libertarians, Greens,
Indies and even some Tea Party candidates trying to flex some power
with the people at the ballot box in the General Election come
November in PA. But, those with power don't want voters to have a
choice on election days. Ugh. Ballot access presents one of the
greatest hurdles we face in PA in terms of building a healthy, shared
political life.

+ + +

Safe travels to everyone, everywhere. (Erik is in South Korea one more
week. Catherine and Grant go to Boston this weekend.)

Be safe with the start of the scholastic sports season too!


--
Thanks for listening!


Mark Rauterkus Mark.Rauterkus at gmail.com
Swimming and Water Polo Coach, Pittsburgh, PA
http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

It's Un-American

News Release
For Immediate Release—August 16, 2010
http://www.nepalibertarians.org
Lou Jasikoff at atiofny@aol.com or 570-945-5420

Wilkes-Barre, PA— The two behemoths of corruption known as the Democrat and Republican
Parties have, once again, challenged the petitions of all statewide third party candidates in
Pennsylvania. What has now become normal modis operandi by these parties of chicanery and
deception to insure only they can compete in the arena of ideas must not be tolerated any
longer and will not be without a fight. “Keeping candidates off the ballot is as bad, if not worse,
than denying one the right to vote,” said Lou Jasikoff, Chair for the Northeast Pennsylvania
Libertarian Party.

Jasikoff added “currently we have men and women dying in Iraq and Afghanistan to ensure free
and open elections there and yet both the Democrat and Republican parties found it necessary
– even in light of ‘bonusgate’ – to choke off access to the ballot and to give citizens less choice.”
“Joe Sestak himself filed to keep the Green Party off the ballot as its petitions were most
susceptible to challenge. Is the new game plan of the Democrat Party to attack those it views
as most vulnerable? And let’s not forget the Republican operatives in this endeavor challenging
the Tea Party and Libertarian candidates.”

Jasikoff concluded “the wretched place that both the Republican and Democrat parties -- and
only the Republican and Democrat parties -- have brought this nation must be addressed now.
The endless wars, a broken economy, a failing education system and never ending corruption
plus cronyism are the direct results of their policies. The system can only be fixed when new
ideas and competition are allowed into the political arena. It will never get fixed by limiting
voter choice, squashing voices and keeping qualified candidates off the ballot. It is
unacceptable and it is Un-American.”

For more information: Please visit us at http://www.nepalibertarians.org/, http://www.votemullen.com/,
http://www.vote4betsy.com/, or http://www.votebergman.com/ .

Update to the Title IX post

From a reporter. In part.

Thanks for the link and your earlier message. I just wanted to clarify one point in your blog -- we used data from 2003-2009. When we reported that the 2003-04 academic year was the last data available, that meant we could not go beyond that (in the past). The most recent data is from 2008-09 -- the 09-10 school year will not be available until October.

Fw: Practices Mon, Wed, Saturday at North Park

The email below comes from the NA's Tiger Water Polo. They played with us on Friday at Peabody. We'll go there and play with them this week at North Park on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 5 to 7 pm.

Hi Everyone,

We plan to hold practices this coming week at North Park on Mon, Wed and Saturday – all from 5pm to 7pm. Hoping that vacations are wrapping up for everyone so that we can get a full complement of players back in the water. I miss seeing everyone and look forward to having the kids together again this week. A few other things:

September 1^st marks the start of our Fall Season. The highlight of the fall is the Pennsylvania Middle School League. We plan to host one of the tournaments, just like last year, and we will plan to travel out east to play in one or two events (definitely the championship though! Last year Tiger Water Polo won the State Middle School Championships. We’ll see if we can repeat. It will take lots of hard work and commitment this fall. In addition to the state league, we are working on a local middle school schedule of games. We have kids from Shaler and the City of Pgh interested. Hope that it will work out – the more we can do locally the better. Also this fall, we’ll plan to compete in a couple of Northeast Zone events, most likely at Navy.

Our fall practice and game schedule is not yet finalized as pool time commitments always come to us last minute. Once the schedule is assembled – we’ll plan a parents meeting and send a flyer so that you can do your planning

The 14 and Under group wants to wish a fond farewell and good luck to Gabe Gaspar, Dominic Moore, Kiean Ashtari and Nate Horan who are moving up to the high school program this fall as 9^th graders. These guys have all been with us since the very beginning. We are happy for them, but are going to miss having them with us until their return later in the year.

We also want to wish a good luck and farewell to Mia Siclari, Laura Fox, Chloe Baierl, Abi Rubio and Caroline Bojarski who will also be moving up to the high school ranks. We are so proud of all of them and can’t wait to get them back after the high school season

Look forward to seeing everyone on Monday. Thanks.

Jim

Despite Title IX, female athletes trail in aid

Title IX, China style.

Update below:

Get on the bus, Gus.

Despite Title IX, female athletes trail in aid: "Thirty-eight years after Congress passed Title IX, women fill fewer roster spots and earn fewer athletic scholarship dollars than men both locally and nationwide.
At the five Division I schools in the area -- the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State, West Virginia, Duquesne and Robert Morris universities -- 46.9 percent of all undergraduate students in 2008-09 were women, but just 41.2 percent of all athletes were women, according to Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act filings. At each school, women accounted for a smaller percentage of athletes than they do undergraduate students."

This answer from E.J. Borghetti sucks. Pitt can't get away with that type of blow-off answer. They're talking to 'watchdogs' -- right?

'That information is complicated,' Pitt athletic spokesman E.J. Borghetti wrote in an e-mail, 'and because of the press of other business, we simply are not in a position to continue to compile and explain data.'

Let me hold your hand and help you with the big words. Let me get to the real work here. By the way, let's get your help so we can put the big P-G sign up at the next athletic event and give you a bigger sponsorship presence too.

I'm reading between the lines a bit. But, the P-G didn't bat an eye when Pitt Stadium came down, despite the big green P-G sign in the endzone.

Furthermore, the next part of the article reveals more suckage. The last available data came from 2003-2004! This is 2010! The folks in the last available data are long gone. That's not good enough.

Pitt was the only one of the five schools, according to Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act figures, where women earned a smaller portion of athletic financial aid than they accounted for total athletes in every year dating to the 2003-04 academic year -- the last available data."

Let's do the math. If it would take Pitt about 23 more female athletes to bridge the gap, according to Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act figures, then it would make GREAT SENSE to begin a women's water polo team and be even. That would fix everything. Get 23 women on the team and Pitt would be made in the shade.

Furthermore, Pitt has the water polo facilities. It has the capital cost covered. And, the expense of a few balls and swim caps are peanuts. Plus, there might be a way to double count some of the women on the swim team as also on the water polo team. But, as the program grows and develops, the team would have water polo players who are NOT the same as the swimmers.

At the University of Michigan, the women's water polo team has four goalies. Not a single water polo player at Michigan is also on the swim team. So, there are dozens of students walking around Ann Arbor because of the water polo team. These kids would not be there if water polo wasn't offered.

Western PA has a ton of high school swimmers. Many of those could jump to water polo to play a sport in college.

Furthermore, the men's water polo team can still stay as a club sport. And, today, there is a women's water polo team at Pitt -- but it is not a VARSITY sport. So, the overhead at Pitt would be easy to cover.

Pitt could also play some varsity games with Chatham University, a local VARSITY water polo program. Perhaps the teams could even travel together to some tournaments and host other tournaments in partnerships. Chatham has been playing varsity water polo, with its great facility in use, for a few years now. And, Chatham Cougars grew the sport from the ranks of a club team. And, Chatham does not need to worry about Title IX issues, as it is women's university.

Varsity Women's Water Polo team at Indiana University, Bloomington. The IU rivals are the U of M.

This is funny: Mr. Pederson used Pitt's women's basketball team as an example of the school's commitment to equality. When the university sought a new radio partner for its football and men's basketball teams, Mr. Pederson said any deal had to include a broadcast deal for Pitt's women's basketball games. Pitt football and men's basketball games will air live on 93.7 The Fan while Pitt women's basketball games will air live on 1320 WJAS-AM.

Let's do the math.

Radio partner for MEN's FOOTBALL + MEN's BASKETBALL = 2. Hence balance = 1 = Women's basketball. Mr. Pederson, 2 > 1. That's NOT equal.

Finally, I want to know more about the local universities. There is more to college than just the scholarships. What about CMU, W&J, Slippery Rock, IUP and PSU-Allegheny? What about CCAC too? If the P-G really cares about college sports in the region and women's participation, cover all the institutions at all the levels.

Update:

I just wanted to clarify one point in your blog -- we used data from 2003-2009. When we reported that the 2003-04 academic year was the last data available, that meant we could not go beyond that (in the past). The most recent data is from 2008-09 -- the 09-10 school year will not be available until October.

Thanks for the insights and clarity. Makes sense. Not much need to look back past 2003 in my humble opinion.

Football head injuries

Of course there are parents who won't let their kids play football. I won't let my two boys play.

I got to play at Catholic school in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8. I had neck injuries. Nothing too bad where I ever missed school. But my neck wasn't right and it would go in spurts. There were classmates of mine who were NOT allowed to play football too. I'm 51 and live in Pittsburgh.

My other big worry is soccer. I think that the use of the head in soccer is just as bad if not worse for one's health, long term. My kids won't play soccer either. We should outlaw the use of headers in soccer for all under the age of 14.

Sports should be a way to make for better fitness, wellness and humanity. Not worse. A September without football would be fine. We'd play water polo. We'd bike race. We'd play touch rugby. We'd do cross
country running and cyclocross (bike). We'd kayak.

Podcast of Edge of Sports show with Dave Zirin, http://www.edgeofsports.com/radio/rss.xml

North Allegheny visits PPS Peabody for water polo play on Friday the 13th

We don't know the real score, but it is safe to say we all were winners. Jim, the guy in the photo below, said it well. "It is a great day when we play water polo." And it was.

The guy on the bench was the ref. Jim coached the visitors. The Shaler crew was split between both of our teams. And Peabody's pool, and our kids, got a nice workout.

Warm-up swims.

Sheradan, our full-time goalie, and Grant, my son. Grant said he had four goals today. We were not counting -- yeah right. Our other goalies, Donald and Christopher, didn't show up. Boys, a sleep over is not an excuse. The game didn't start until 10:30 am.

Other notes of interest: Thanks to Marshall Melnyk for bringing your pal. Hope he comes back. He jumped in for his first time ever to play waterpolo into a game. And he held his own very well. Impressive.

Devon is on the wall with both hands. He swims at Allderdice and with the Kingsley Stingrays. He has been attending practice in the swim pool at Highland Park, 50-meter. Then he joins us right after that for waterpolo. He got a goal today!

In the water, everyone isn't equal -- but they are more equal than if on land.

Waterpolo is for girls and boys of all ages. Even former Penn State polo players / present day coaches get into the action. I'd love to get more adults playing with us. Then as we advance in participation, we'll be better able to break the groups into more similar settings.

Gay umpire's ordeal shows sad state of sports - MLB News - FOX Sports on MSN

Gay umpire's ordeal shows sad state of sports - MLB News - FOX Sports on MSN: "Ump's ordeal shows sad state of sports"

Urgent Rally

Earlier this week – and at the last possible moment – the Democrats and Republicans filed legal challenges regarding the ballot access petitions of EVERY third-party statewide candidate, regardless of party, plus a number of local candidates as well. Read the Inquirer story at www.tinyurl.com/2be88hu. A joint press release issued by Pennsylvania’s third parties is copied below.

Should the challenges succeed, not only will the candidates be summarily booted off the ballot, they could also be fined over $80,000. That’s what happened to the challenged statewide candidates in 2004 and 2006, and both the Pennsylvania and U.S. Supreme Courts have already upheld the legality of such draconian fines.

This sort of suppression of democracy is unconscionable. It’s time we take action.

This coming Sunday, August 15th, four separate rallies in support of voters’ choice will be held in Southeastern Pennsylvania at the homes of four of the politicos who are using legal shenanigans to crush their competition. We’ll be calling on them to renounce their unjust political games and let the voters of Pennsylvania have a true choice on the ballot this November.

The rallies will be held in South Philadelphia and near Media in Delaware County beginning at 12:30 and ending at 4:30. A map showing the exact locations and times can be found at http://www.tinyurl.com/RallyForVotersChoice . The rallies are intended to be peaceful, and since there are sidewalks at each rally location, feel free to bring the kids along for a valuable civics lesson. If you’re the artistic type, you may want to take a few moments beforehand to create some colorful signs and banners. I’ll be bringing along my picture of “Uncle Joe”, below. He seems to be the perfect logo for the event.

Please pardon the short notice. We only received word of the challenge on Tuesday, and the court proceedings start this coming Monday. Time is short. The time to act is right now!

See you there,

- Ken
--------------------------------------------
Ken Krawchuk
Libertarian for Pennsylvania Governor (1998, 2002)
Past Chair, Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (2002-04)

Duquesne men's basketball signs Jamaican-born player

Duquesne men's basketball signs Jamaican-born player: "Duquesne men's basketball signs Jamaican-born player"

The interesting facts: Two of the five are prep school kids.


Wright, nicknamed "Air Jamaica" was born in Jamaica, lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. and attended Brittain Academy in North Carolina.

The forward/center, Derrick Martin, is from Montgomery, Ala. and George Washington Carver High School and then the prep school is Flora MacDonald Academy in North Carolina.

A high percentage of the kids going to Duquesne next year are not straight out of high school. They went to a prep school for 13th grade. They got to mature and develop as players and students. They got to find the right match for them at the college ranks. They still have all their NCAA eligibility.

If these students went to CCAC, then they would not be able to transfer into Duquesne University and play right away. They would have also lost a year, if not two, of eligibility.

Pittsburgh Public Schools should get a 13th grade option for its students. Then our kids would not need to go to North Carolina to find a prep school.

Free food. But, there is more to the story than just the food.

Celebrate the Commitment &
Hard Work of 180 Urban Youth
Dear Stakeholders of the Youth Career Development System:

Let’s celebrate! The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation and its workforce development partner, the Eastside Neighborhood Employment Center, are pleased to invite you to a celebration of the success of our summer youth interns.

Your presence at the event will reinforce to the 180 youth the importance of their commitment to training and career development. Far too often, the negatives of the urban communities are highlighted. Media stories and images place the spotlight on youth that are involved in crimes and deviance. This is an opportunity for us to recognize urban youth and families that have displayed a commitment and strong work ethic throughout the summer. It is a vital step in the maturation process for these youth to see that their proper behaviors and accomplishments are recognized and valued by employers and community leadership.

Plans for the event include lots of food and entertainment. Some youth, worksite supervisors, and local and state leaders will briefly address the crowd to talk about their experiences and the importance of youth workforce development. The schedule for the event is:

Date: Monday, August 16th
Schedule: 3-4:30 PM - Food/Entertainment
4:30-5 PM - Success Stories
Location: BGC Youth Development Center
5321 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Attached, please find a flyer with all of the event details. We really hope that you are able to attend this important day that puts a spotlight on the amazing summer that we all experienced. Anyone is welcome to join us, so please feel free to spread the word about the celebration.

Yours Truly,

Richard Flanagan
Youth Development Director, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation
Director, Eastside Neighborhood Employment Center

On Monday at 5 pm, we'll be jumping in the pool to play water polo at North Park.

'Reuse The Igloo' Tries To Stave Off Civic Arena Demolition - Pittsburgh News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh

'Reuse The Igloo' Tries To Stave Off Civic Arena Demolition - Pittsburgh News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh: "'Reuse The Igloo' Tries To Stave Off Civic Arena Demolition"

Save the Civic Arena.

Start of school: 9:10 for middle school and 7:45 for high school.

The start time for Pittsburgh Obama grades 6-8 are 9:10 AM and the end time is 4:03 pm.
The start time for Pittsburgh Obama grades 9-10 are 7:45 am and the end time is 3:00 PM.

Woops. I was wrong. I had heard (bad rumor I guess) that the start and end of the school days for the middle and high school students would be much closer together this year. Perhaps I was wishing that they were more together.

It is weird to have two students in the same building be not be able to have them in the same realm of travel. But, I guess that is what they want.

Moreover, I was hoping that the school day would end for the middle school students so that the high school kids could start their afterschool at 3 pm and not need to deal with avoiding the physical education classes of the middle school students.

For instance, when the high school is done and ready to start swim practices, there is a one hour delay before they can get into the swim pool because there are middle school physical education classes until 4. Same too with the gym.

I'll be talking with the principals about this again within a week when I get to visit with them.

Last year they made a GREAT ACCOMIDATION for the swim team and nixed the last period middle school physical education swimming period when the bulk of the swim season arrived. The kids did other activities so that the 40 or more high school kids could swim and get home at a decent hour.

Perhaps something is in the works with getting the final period to be for health or for outdoors activity?

Open Letter to Students and Families of PPS Summer Dreamers, Health Smart at Peabody

From: Mark Rauterkus, swim coach

Date: August 13, 2010

With Summer Dreamers, we got to do some swimming. But there is a whole lifetime of fitness and learning that needs to continue. This letter is an invitation to join us for additional, ongoing fun at the swim pool with water polo.

Many of the students in Summer Dreamers made great progress in the three lessons at the Kingsley swim pool. Almost all who came got to the point of being able to swim across the pool in the deep end. Messages of closing your lips, body position, floating, head under, rolling, big strokes and kicking were blended with some high energy games and teamwork play.

We played a modified game of WATER POLO -- and I'm not sure about the kid's reactions -- but I had a great time. The lifeguards and camp leaders all played hard with the kids. The effort level was high and new rules were followed.

Everyone needs to know how to swim. Swimming can save your life. Use our city pools with Citiparks, our school pools with PPS, and the Kingsley Center opportunities. Visit the Allegheny County Pools, such as North Park. Be confident to swim at Sandcastle, the beach, and then one day, swim around off your boat while on vacation. I'd love for all the kids to be strong in the water. Now is the time to dedicate yourself to getting those skills and growing up fit.

Learn how to master flip turns, butterfly, breastroke, backstroke. Learn how to race and compete on a swim team. Train with a coach and team mates. Strive to be on a high school squad and do relays and participate in the City Campionships. Score goals in a real water polo game against out of town players.

When swimming is offered at school in gym class, get in the water. Ask the teachers to show you something new. Try new skills. Consider getting a job as a lifeguard too. Always respect the water and the environment.

Some of the students have splendid swimming talents. Most can become aquatic athletes with practice. If you want to continue with some structured instruction, see these details.

Join us for WATER POLO on:

Monday, August 16, 10 am to noon at Kingsley Association.

Wednesday, August 18, 10 am to noon at Kingsley Association.

Cost $0. www.KingsleyAssociation.org, 6435 Frankstown Ave, 15206

Plus, the Kingsley Stingrays are another option for year-round competitive swimming.

We had a great time. Let's keep going to the pool. There is much more to do, learn and explore. Develop into scholar athletes and responsible adults that value community fitness.

Hope to see you soon!

Today Show, Navy Seals, Water Polo

This is from months ago, but I'm just seeing it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Final Day of Summer Dreamers is here. I've been making some posters and gearing up for the final water polo tournament

The first ever Summer Dreamers Camp, organized by Pittsburgh Public Schools comes to a close on Friday. It has been five weeks and I've been helping with the Health Smart Camp that operated out of Peabody. Each week a different group of kids would join us and we'd cover some lessons and spend three days at the swim pool.

Tonight we built some posters for the end of camp wrap-up. Here are a few elements from those posters.

I'm not too sure how many kids will be swimming tomorrow with the Summer Dreamers -- nor with our other water polo group that meets at 10:30 am. In both sessions, we'll have some game play.

With the PPS Summer Dreamers, I've set up a end of season tournament. It is a work in progress as we'll have to deal with the kids that show. Some might opt for the zoo. Others will opt for flag football in the gym. I hope to get three or four teams. Not sure of the numbers -- so I've got both situations ready.

Furthermore, I'd love to get the kids excited about swimming and water polo into the future. All are invited to next week's practices. So, Summer Dreams is over -- but -- we can still meet for sessions next week.

The sessions unfold for the Summer Dreamers starting at 12:30 as lunch finishes. Then we hike up to the Kingsley Center. We'll have a huddle and welcome at 1 pm with all the kids and any parents that attend in the gym in the bleachers. Then we'll get into the activities. That needs to end by 2:20 or so for snacks, final certificates and a walk back to the school to catch our buses home.

Stay tuned for final results.

Championship Rules for the Summer Dreamers Water Polo Tournament:

EVERYONE PLAYS for a TEAM.
Team selection does NOT match Health Smart Colors perfectly.
1. Only ONE hand on the ball, else turnover.
2. Sinking ball is a turnover too.
3. Six players per team (unless adjusted). Subs sit out of pool at corner to wait for turn from coach.
4. Game is 1 period, 10 minutes.
5. Ejections are for 30-seconds or 1-minute by referee for brutal acts. Two ejections and out of the game. Third ejection is out of event.
6. No talk back to officials.
7. Be ready for next game without delay, sitting in chairs on pool deck.
8. Do not stand or walk behind the goals so you do not get hit by balls or cones.
9. Assistant officials help with goal and off-sides calls.
10. Games can end in a tie.
11. Total goals scored can help establish teams finish. Keep play moving!

Join us for WATER POLO play in the days to come.

After Summer Dreamers Ends, join Coach Mark and other city kids for more fun.

Monday, August 16, 10 am to noon at Kingsley Center.
Cost $0.

Monday, August 16, 5 pm to 7 pm at North Park Swim Pool
Youth Admission 6 - 12, $3
Junior Admission 13 - 17, $4
Adult Admission 18 - 59, $5

Wednesday, August 18, 10 am to noon at Kingsley Center.
Cost $0.

Wednesday, August 18, 5 pm to 7 pm at North Park Swim Pool
Youth Admission 6 - 12, $3
Junior Admission 13 - 17, $4
Adult Admission 18 - 59, $5

Saturday, August 21, 5 pm to 7 pm at North Park Swim Pool
Youth Admission 6 - 12, $3
Junior Admission 13 - 17, $4
Adult Admission 18 - 59, $5

Starting August 23, we hope to have a schedule at Pittsburgh Schenley / PPS Obama at Reizenstein.
Call Coach Mark Rauterkus, 412 298 3432.
Join the Facebook Group: Pittsburgh Schenley Water Polo

Four Team Schedule:
(First Team Defends Locker Room Side)

Game 1 = Green vs. White

Game 2 = Purple vs. Red

Game 3 = Red vs. Green

Game 4 = White vs. Purple

Game 5 = Red vs. White

Game 6 = Purple vs. Green

If time permits:

Game 7: Championship Game:
Top two teams play.

If time permits:

Game 8: Runner Up Game:
Other teams play.

Three Team Schedule:
(First Team Defends Locker Room Side)

Game 1 = Green vs. White

Game 2 = Purple vs. White

Game 3 = Purple vs. Green

If time permits:

Game 4 = Knock Out Game
Lowest Scoring team vs. Highest Scoring team

___________ vs. ___________

If time permits:

Game 5 = Championship Game:
Team not in Game 4, vs. Winner of Game 4


___________ vs. ___________


If time permits:

Game 6 = All Star Team vs. Adults

Calling Jim Roddey and the GOPers to let the people decide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 12, 2010

CONTACT:
Oliver Hall - (202) 248-9294

PENNSYLVANIA MINOR PARTIES CALL ON REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS TO WITHDRAW PETITION CHALLENGES AND TO CONDEMN USE OF PUNITIVE AND DISCRIMINATORY ELECTION LAWS TO SUPPRESS VOTER CHOICE

Major Party Challenges Filed Against Every Non-Major Party Candidate for Statewide Office in Pennsylvania Are an Assault on Democracy that Attempts to Deny Voters a Free Choice at the Polls, State Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties Say

HARRISBURG, PA – In a display of non-partisan unity on behalf of all Pennsylvania voters who desire a free choice of candidates in the November 2, 2010 general election, the state’s Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties today called on Republicans and Democrats to withdraw the nomination petition challenges that major party operatives filed against every non-major party candidate for statewide office in Pennsylvania. The minor parties also called on the major party candidates who are the intended beneficiaries of the challenges to condemn them as an attempt to suppress voter choice in the upcoming election. Under Pennsylvania’s uniquely punitive and discriminatory ballot access scheme, minor party and independent candidates may be ordered to pay $80,000 or more in litigation costs and attorneys’ fees if they defend against such challenges.

The Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties specifically called on Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett to condemn the challenge filed against Libertarian Party gubernatorial nominee Marakay Rogers. They called on Republican congressional candidate Pat Meehan to condemn the challenge to independent candidate Jim Schneller. And the minor parties called on Democratic senatorial nominee Joe Sestak to condemns and withdraw the challenge that he personally filed to Green Party senatorial nominee Mel Packer. Corbett, Meehan and Sestak must condemn the challenges whether or not they were involved in the filing, the minor parties say, because they are the intended beneficiaries.

"These petition challenges filed against every non-major party candidate for statewide office in Pennsylvania prove that when it comes to elections, Republicans and Democrats both stand against voter choice," said Constitution Party State Chair Wes Thompson. "Voters cannot allow our democratic process to be hijacked by private, entrenched political parties that want to decide who we can and cannot vote for."

"Pennsylvania Greens have fought to give voters a free choice on election day, and now we are asking voters to stand with us," said Green Party State Chair I.K. Samways. "Tell Joe Sestak that you oppose his anti-democratic effort to deny you a free choice of candidates in November."

"No one knows the potential for corruption to infect the petition challenge process better than Attorney General Tom Corbett," said Libertarian Party State Chair Mik Robertson. "It is a shame that so many soldiers have died to bring ballot choices to people in Iraq and Afghanistan, while the political machines in Pennsylvania work to restrict ballot choices for our own citizens."

In 2004, Pennsylvania courts adopted a uniquely punitive ballot access scheme, by authorizing the assessment of litigation costs against minor party and independent candidates who defend their nomination petitions when challenged by a private party. Prior to 2004, no state in the nation, including Pennsylvania, had ever ordered candidates to pay such costs. That is because, as the Supreme Court of the United States observed more than four decades ago in Harman v. Forsenius, "It has long been established that a State may not impose a penalty upon those who exercise a right guaranteed by the Constitution." Several landmark Supreme Court decisions since then have reaffirmed that states may not impose mandatory financial burdens on candidates and voters as a condition of their participation in elections.

Nevertheless, in 2004 Commonwealth Court Judge James Gardner Colins ordered independent presidential candidates Ralph Nader and Peter Miguel Camejo to pay $81,102.19 in litigation costs to the parties who challenged their nomination petitions. Relying on that unconstitutional decision, in 2006 Commonwealth Court Judge James R. Kelley ordered Green Party senatorial candidate Carl Romanelli to pay his challengers more than $80,000 in costs and fees.

Attorney General Tom Corbett’s Grand Jury investigation into the "Bonusgate" scandal subsequently revealed that employees of the State House Democratic Caucus had illegally prepared the Nader-Camejo and Romanelli petition challenges at taxpayer expense. The Pennsylvania courts still refused to set aside the judgments awarding costs to the challengers. The candidates continue to oppose enforcement of the judgments.

"In the wake of the Bonusgate scandal, which exposed rampant corruption in the petition challenge process, the Pennsylvania courts ratified a discriminatory ballot access scheme that subjects minor party and independent candidates to bank-breaking and clearly unconstitutional costs and fees if they defend their nomination petitions," said Oliver Hall, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Competitive Democracy, which is representing Pennsylvania’s Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties in a federal lawsuit challenging state election laws. "If Pennsylvania voters want a free choice at the polls, they must stand up for candidates’ rights to seek office, regardless of partisan affiliation."

The Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties say that Republicans and Democrats must pledge not to file nomination petition challenges until Pennsylvania’s unconstitutional election laws are reformed. The Voter Choice Act (SB 252), which State Senator Mike Folmer (R-48) and eight co-sponsors introduced in February 2009, would enact the needed reforms by eliminating the discriminatory requirement that minor party and independent candidates submit nomination petitions with tens of thousands of signatures. The bill, however, has languished in committee.

"The time is ripe for reform, but so far it’s business as usual in Harrisburg," Hall said. "The major parties are going all out to deny Pennsylvanians a free choice of candidates in November, and they will continue to do so until voters make it clear that they will not tolerate such anti-democratic tactics."

A caller after my call with Ron Morris and Jim Roddey said, "In Germany, Hitler won with only a smaller percentage of the vote. If you get a lot of folks on the ballot we could be electing someone like Hitler."

Hitler was NOT ever elected to office. He was appointed. It was corrected on the radio show.

The race for governor: Onorato's ploy - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "And a review of Mr. Krupa's nominating petitions, filed last week, shows that it's members of labor unions that have endorsed Onorato -- and even one of Onorato's campaign workers -- behind the petitions."

No way.

I would never call anyone who signed a petition to put a citizen onto the ballot a 'rat.'

Governor Rendell signed the petition to put another candidate on the ballot in a race where Rendell was running.

It is polite. It is civil. It is justified to help anyone get onto the ballot if the person's desire is to stand for political office.

Parking lease changes would slow rate hikes

This no compete zone is a huge sticking point in my view. I'd vote no just because of that element.

Parking lease changes would slow rate hikes: "The no-compete zone for Downtown parking garage construction initially covered an area roughly bounded by Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt boulevards, Liberty Avenue and Delray, Smithfield and Grant streets, plus an area bounded by Ross Street, the Boulevard of the Allies and the Parkway East. The new zone essentially connects those two areas, increasing the no-compete by zone many blocks.
Private developers and certain government agencies may continue to build public parking garages in the zone; the no-compete clause does not apply to them.
If the city and authority want to build garages for general-purpose public parking, the leaseholder would have the opportunity to prove revenue loss and seek compensation.

As a counter offer, I'd say a no compete for five years is fine. For ten years is less than ideal. Past that -- no way.

Green Party candidate expects to be removed from ballot

Mark Rauterkus and Douglas Jamison, Libertarians. Doug is runnig for US Senate in Pennsylvania in the fall 2010 general election.

Green Party candidate expects to be removed from ballot: "Mr. Sestak similarly was able to remove Robinson machinist Joe Vodvarka from the Democratic primary ballot this spring."

Two good reasons to never vote for Joe Sestak.

Judge orders identities of commenters be revealed

Different strokes for different folks. I just saying that I'm free to post as I choose -- and put my name to my comments.

Judge orders identities of commenters be revealed: "Anonymous bloggers beware. You may not be as anonymous as you think.
Forward Township Supervisor Thomas DeRosa has won a court victory in the action that he filed in November to uncover the identities of people who posted comments on an online bulletin board that he said defamed him."

I understand that some are not so fortunate to post freely. And, I also wish that we'd have more civility as well as hopes of privacy.

This was last year.... and we want to do it again!

Here we were in 2009 at Citiparks Swim Pool at Ammon Rec Center, Hill District.



We should do it again in 2010. We've been playing at Peabody High School. But, that ends in 2 more days. So, it would be great to move outdoors to either Ammon Rec or else Highland Park Pool.

I just sent this to Shelley, the boss of City of Pgh aquatics. I CCed to the Mayor and the Operations Director, Mr. Ashley. Mr. Ashley helped us get this started last summer.

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Hi,

The City Swim Meet was fun. Thanks! Good job.

I've struck out in recent months trying to get water polo at Citiparks
in the summer of 2010. Still, I'd love to hold another clinic / set
of practices this summer too. We have been playing at Peabody as I've
been helping with PPS Summer Dreamers Camps for middle school kids in
the afternoons. So, I might be able to get some of those kids into the
fold with a new effort.

Here is what I'd love to propose.

We could hold practices at Ammon Rec Center from August 16 to August
27, M-F, for 90 minutes. I think we did this from 11:00 to 12:30 pm in
the past.

I do not know when you are going to close Ammon. But, if you close it
the second week, I'd love to move the practices to Highland Park Pool. (FYI, Ammon closes as do most of the other swim pools as school begins and lifeguards go back to colleges.)

Is that possible? Do you have the hours for the guards?

Last year we had 50 kids playing water polo in The Hill District at
Ammon -- one day. It was great. POSITIVE stuff. Now they want to build
a new Y. Fine. Let's do this as a city thing so folks get into the
hill.

Furthermore, we've got some kids coming to play with us from Shaler.
And, a Pitt player too.

I know this request is late -- but -- I think it is worth it if we can
get a guard to open and get those water polo goals back in the water.
I have the balls, hats, and a number of kids in tow.

Do let me know. If it is out of the question -- let's be sure to make
a plan earlier this year for next year. We ran into the snow emergency
stuff when I wanted to meet with those at City Hall this year.

Ethics in Politics

Good job to Wayne Allen Root, Libertarian.

New Turf at South Side Cupples Stadium looks to be finished -- sans track

The new grass (artificial turf) at South Side's Cupples Stadium, a PPS facility, seems to be done. However, they are not going to do the track that circles the football field until later. There were some problems and the time to do the track is not present now as football season nears.

The best thing about the field is that it is flat and without a big crown. The soccer players will love it as the past field had a slant so that the balls would roll too fast to the sidelines.

Crying me a river: Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » All Statewide Minor Party Petitions in Pennsylvania Challenged

Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » All Statewide Minor Party Petitions in Pennsylvania Challenged: "An earlier blog post today said that a challenge had been filed to the statewide petition of the Pennsylvania Green Party. Since then, the Libertarian and Tea Party statewide petitions have also been challenged. See this story.
Tolerance for minor party and independent candidate election activity in Pennsylvania has drastically declined during the last 70 years. After 1938, and until 2004, no minor party or independent candidate statewide petition was ever challenged in Pennsylvania. But starting in 2004, such challenges have been filed every even-numbered election year in that state. A challenge to Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr was defeated in 2008, but challenges succeeded against Ralph Nader in 2004, and the Green Party statewide slate in 2006."

Here is my solution to this mess -- and I've been here and done that dance in the past.

If a challenge knocks the ONLY opponent off of the ballot, then the replace for that candidate is "NONE OF THE ABOVE."

If we had NONE OF THE ABOVE put onto the ballot, either by the force of a knock off or else as an automatic slot in all elections in PA -- then we'd be sure to have some choice and more competition for these elections.

West Mifflin school director cites death threats

West Mifflin school director cites death threats: "In the report, the workers said they made repairs to Dr. Graham's swimming pool and installed a new dishwasher. Later, the workers provided photos of the work alleged to have been done at Dr. Graham's pool."

Swimming pools are in the news again. But, not in a good way -- and with mentions of deaths -- and that's never in a good way. But here, it swirls in with ethics. Good golly. The Mon Valley is so special, isn't it.

All Choice Model -- can't happen -- back of the room whispers

At the meeting last night, there were a few board members attending and I had a short, whispered conversation with one from the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Sherry Hazuda. She asked some questions at recent meetings that goes along with my thinking that we should make the move to eliminate all feeder patters in the city for high school students. I want to advocate for an all-choice model.

Seems she heard that an all choice model is 'illegal.' What if the student does not make a choice? That student needs to be assigned to go to some school. That's the reasoning, so it seems.

Say what?

Okay, then. Let's assign all the kids in the city to attend Brashear High School. Then if they do NOT make a choice, they go there. Otherwise, they can make choices and go to CAPA, IB (Obama), Sci Tech, Allderdice, Carrick, Gateway Vo Tech (whatever Oliver is to be called), Single-Gender Westinghouse, U-Prep, Langley, -- etc.

Next objection, anyone????

City schools official makes pitch for single-gender academies

My question at last night's community meeting was hit upon in the discussion and then found its way into the Post-Gazette article today. I posted the question in the past at my blog and elsewhere (see comments).

City schools official makes pitch for single-gender academies: "Their inquiries about the plan were wide-ranging, addressing everything from the safety of the neighborhoods of the school campuses to how the Westinghouse campus would accommodate all of the boys' and girls' basketball teams with only one gym.
'This is not rocket science,' Mr. Lopez said, addressing the latter concern. 'This is about adults talking about a schedule.'"

Okay, let's take a deep breath and look at what was said in this answer.

First of all, my real question that I sent into the PPS site and also at A+ Schools was not asked. Only part of it was asked. And, my follow up question was a question -- based upon what Mr. Lopez said.

Mr. Lopez did do his homework. He knew what was coming, of course. His answer was blended to cover some of the un-asked parts of the question even.

A strange element of the answer he gave was to imply that things would work at Westinghouse with its six basketball teams because the adults involved at Westinghouse would communicate with each other and that those positive results have not unfolded at the other 6-12 school known as Schenley and Obama (both at Reizenstein) because that doesn't happen there.

My jaw dropped.

He also said that when he was in Michigan at a high school with one gym and six basetball teams, he could make the space work. There, at Berkley High School, they had varsity, JV and 9th grade teams for both boys and girls. Well, in Pittsburgh Westinghouse, as well as in Pittsburgh Obama/Schenley (also 6-12), we'll have varsity, JV and MIDDLE-SCHOOL teams. If a middle school program was put into Berkley, that should couldn't work. And, PPS does not do much with 9th grade teams -- and it should. Plus, you don't want to put middle school kids onto the court nor into the locker rooms with the high school kids. A 9th grade team and a JV team are very similar. Not so with a JV team and a MIDDLE-SCHOOL team.

Let's do the math. Even if the boys and girls teams can practice at the same time, with a big gym, then we'd have Varsity at 3 pm to 5 pm, JV at 5 pm to 7 pm and Middle School at 7 pm to 9 pm. Furthermore, I think Westinghouse might be an extended day school. The school day might end at 4:15 or 4:30 pm for others as the students are going to have work placements and job training and internships. So, the practice time of 7 to 9 pm might be welcomed as that might be when they are off of work, have eaten and back to the gym.

Even with 90 minutes per practice on the court, the schedule would be 3 to 4:30 pm, 4:30 to 6 pm and 6 to 7:30 pm. Then there are out of season conditioning times and open gym and such after 7:30 pm.

Then there are games, wrestling matches in the gym, baseball's pitches and catchers, volleyball's pre-season, cheerleader tryouts, etc.

And, this is to be a 'single-gender landscape.' So putting both the boys and girls into the same, but big, divided gym is happening too. Oh well.

Stay tuned for video, later this week, I hope.

Water polo play on August 10, 2010 at Peabody High School

Great day. We had three swimmers join us from Shaler as well as their coach. She had played water polo at Penn State University and has been coaching the kids in long-course swimming.

Max was there too -- as he is trying to stay in shape so he can swim and play polo in college in CT.

Jan had to get out early -- with a leg cramp.

A new swimmer came to practice straight from the Highland Park Pool and the Kingsley Stingrays practice. He is a swimmer, I think, with Allderdice.

We need to get the girls of Schenley to get into the groove.

Our goalies are playing very well. We can't get many balls past them. Keep it up S and C.

We'll play the rest of the week from 10:30 to noon. I have a few other bits of info to gather before we announce when play is going to happen next week. We might be able to play at North Park some time soon as well.

Tomorrow I expect to see Marshall and Grant as well as some others from Shaler.

Some of the footage above is from the ball-handling and shooting drills we did first, before splitting into two teams and playing a game. So that's why the caps are not on all the players in the early photos.

The Information War by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com

The Information War by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com: "The Information War
We're winning – and the War Party is losing…"

'Dogs coach Hill agrees to pay cut, new contract - Fresno State Football - fresnobee.com

'Dogs coach Hill agrees to pay cut, new contract - Fresno State Football - fresnobee.com: "'Dogs coach Hill agrees to pay cut, new contract
Says he's trying to help the athletic department, community."

Go Fresno State!