Fwd: BGC needs help with worksite placements for 150 amazing seniors-Friday meeting

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <RFlanag@aol.com>
Date: Jan 10, 2017 4:08 PM
Subject: BGC needs help with worksite placements for 150 amazing seniors-Friday meeting

Hello Local Business Owners and Partners,

Local young adults need you to help them become the workforce of tomorrow!

The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation is seeking businesses and partners that are willing to host high school interns who are participating in our College and Career Readiness Program. This is an exciting opportunity to play an active and supportive role in shaping the career of a young adult in our city. 

We have 150+ 12th graders in our program from all over the city. These students have a very diverse range of career interests. Our hope is to recruit a similarly diverse range of employers so that each student can participate in an internship that helps them develop their career interests.

BGC has funding from the 3 Rivers WIB to pay these students while they participate in an internship with your company.

Please join us for a College and Career Readiness Program Internship Meeting to learn more about what it takes to host a 12^th grader intern and to get to know our staff and program participants.

When: Friday, January 13th, 2017

Time: 8:30 AM

Where: The Children's Home of Pittsburgh, 5324 Penn Avenue

Please RSVP to Rick Flanagan, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation if you plan to attend by calling 412-353-9594 or by completing and returning the attached

FAX BACK FORM to 412-441-6918.

Attached is a letter that has more details about this program and how to get involved.

Fwd: Fast and furious

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Hemington

I realize that these missives have been coming fast and furiously, but the attached article by Jonathan Rosenblum in Tikkun is an important contribution to our understanding of what needs to be done in the era of Trump and Republican dominance.  It also exposes the futility of depending upon the tired nostrums of the neoliberal New Democrats for band-aid solutions.  It is certainly not the whole answer; and it is clear that labor unions in the form we have come to know them will never return to the positions of power within the economy which they once occupied.  This is not because of a particular fault with the idea of organizing, but the changing nature of manufacturing in the era of technological mechanization and robotics.  Indeed, what Rosenblum suggests is a powerful merger of the organizing impetus with a view toward expanding to a more global arrangement of continuing to defend what they now have while at the same time expanding alliances with other groups seeking to change the direction of neoliberal destruction of common needs.  If there is any real hope in the coming years, it will take this type unionizing effort and cooperation among divergent groups seeking not just inwardly focused goals, but goals shared among the larger sphere of communities in need.

John

•  Article, Unions in the Trump Era, PDF

Fwd: Looking at 2017 . . . and beyond

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Hemington

Attached is a 2017 New Year's prospective by James Howard Kunstler.  For those of you who are not familiar with Kunstler he is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger.  He is best known for his books The Geography of Nowhere, a history of American suburbia and urban development, The Long Emergency, and most recently, Too Much Magic.  Kunstler is an interesting character on the American scene and can probably best be characterized as a progressive-libertarian to the extent that any characterization is possible.  Whatever else one may say Kunstler is always provocative, opinionated and, more often than not, pretty much on point with his assessments.

I send this article along with a couple of caveats:  (1) it is rather long – 16 pages but well worth the time and effort; (2) it almost certainly contains viewpoints that will offend some of you; and (3) he does not, in my opinion, have a good understanding of sovereign money, credit and debt as I note where it occurs in the piece.  This, however, is the norm in American society as most of us still believe that the country operates on a gold standard (at least in principle) and as far as the Congress and the President are concerned so do they – at least insofar as they are willing to let on to the public.  But whenever more funds are needed for the military or for corporate/financial subsidy there is never a problem.  What it means, however, is that some of the dire predictions about the U.S. not being able to pay its debts or that the interest on the debt will become a crushing burden is simply a delusional fiction used to justify devastating austerity policies intended to crush federal social safety nets and justify their privatization. 

What should be clear to most, but it is always ignored, is that the enormous increase in the national debt over the past 40 years should have, according to the debt alarmists, caused the U.S. to have fallen into a Zimbabwean-type hyper-inflation and nothing could be further from the truth.  This should be particularly obvious given the massive multi-trillion dollar spending required to sustain our endless wars in the Middle East and elsewhere and the $29 trillion allocated to bailout the banks and insurance companies following the 2008 financial crisis.  Having said this much of what Kunstler suggests might happen in the new year is highly probable and should be taken seriously. 

Also attached in support of Kunstler's concerns is today post from Wall Street on Parade dealing with the risk of the U.S. money center banks to European banks through derivative holdings which should be taken very seriously given the extreme weakness of numerous European banks particularly in Italy, Germany and France.

With that, welcome to the Orwellian world of 2017!

John

Links (to a number of articles from the past year)

• In 2017, the wheels finally come off - article
• Wall Street Banks have $2T European Exposure - article - PDF

Fwd: Lifeguard Swimsuits $12.95! Hard to beat this price. Hurry. Going fast.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Click here to view the online version.

Fwd: Tyranny Fighters Report

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julian P Heicklen <jph13@psu.edu>
Date: Mon, Jan 2, 2017 at 10:34 AM

Hi Tyranny Fighters:

ORLANDO COURTHOUSE ARREST, 12-5-16

The arrest: On December 5, 2016, at 11:45 am Julian Heicklen, Mark Schmidter, and 2 ladies entered the Orange County courthouse courtyard in Orlando, FL.  The 2 ladies sat on a bench far from the public sidewalk leading from the parking lot to the main entrance of the courthouse.  Mark and Julian went to the public sidewalk, where they could not see the ladies.  Julian held a sign reading JURY INFO and held out one page Nullification by Jury flyers.  Some people walking from the parking lot approached Julian and took a flyer.  Mark stood about 6 feet from Julian and just observed the event.

At about 12:00 noon when Heicklen had given out about 15 flyers, Heicklen was approached by 3 columns of 8 sheriff officers each (24 total sheriff officers) and told that he was trespassing on private court property and had to leave.  Heicklen refused to leave.  He was placed under arrest.  The police officers started a discussion with Heicklen.

While this was going on, a plain clothes person approached, started mumbling from some document, which Heicklen thought was someone telling him to believe in Jesus.  Actually he was a court official reading the trespass law to both Mark and Julian.  Julian was annoyed by this and asked him to stop reading.  He did not.  Heicklen ordered him to go away.  He continued reading.  Julian said that if he did not go away, he would hit him in the face.  He continued reading.  Julian jumped up and approached him wielding a fist.  The officers stopped Julian, placed him and Mark in handcuffs and declared them under arrest.  Mark objected because he was only an observer and not a participant.  The officers did not care.

Julian charged with 3 misdemeanors and 1 felony

1. Trespassing on public property after warning
2. Threatening public servant
3. Assault
4. Threat, throw, or Discharge Destructive Device

Items 1 and 2 are correct

Items 3 and 4 are outright lies.

Julian went limp, another officer showed up with a wheel chair for Julian and wheeled Julian to a building adjacent to the courthouse to interrogate him.  He was searched but the only items had were a kleenex pack and the U. S. Constitution, plus his flyers and signs, pen and writing clipboard.  No ID, no money.  There were 2 interrogators and 2 sheriff officers present for the interrogation.  Everything, except the U. S. Constitution was taken by the police.  While Julian was still in the wheelchair, with both hands in handcuffs,  some time was spent discussing Heicklen's previous appearances at other courthouses, which Heicklen was delighted to discuss at great length.  

Finally questions were asked about the present event. Julian immediately went dead silent, bowed his head, and refused to even look at anyone.  He was wheeled away, taken to the courthouse to face a judge in court.  The judge asked his name.  Heicklen answered "Call me Honey."  The judge then asked the court stenographer for Heicklen's name and other information.  The judge asked other questions but Heicklen just hung his head and said nothing more.  The judge said somethings to the court stenographer, which Heicklen could not make out.  She typed a paper and gave it to Heicklen.  It included charges which were as given above.  Parole was not permitted for any of the charges.  The  arraignment date was set for January 12, 2017.

1. Nine days in prison: After the arraignment, my hands were placed in handcuffs, leg irons were placed on my legs, and I was put into a van with 5 other males and 5 other females.  A metal sheet separated the males and females, so we could not see each other.  After about a 20 minute ride, we reached the county prison.  There we had the hand and leg cuffs removed, were stripped of our clothes, and put into prison clothes: a tee shirt, undershorts, pants and slippers.  After we were registered, then we were led to our male and female "hotels."  The male hotel is a large lounge filled with guards and prisoner helpers, 2 TV sets, a telephone, and a few tables with chairs.  Surrounding the lounge were the cells.

I was assigned to cell #1, a private room for 1 person.  It was 10' x 10', and 15', high.  At the ceiling was a very large light which was kept on 24/7.  Also there was a sink with a toilet connected to it, a small shelf to keep small bathroom articles, a towel, and a cot.  There were no sheets on the mattress.  On the second day a body bag and blanket were added.  Also I was given a pen and pad to keep notes.  The lights and TVs were kept on 24/7.

Meals were given in your cell at 5:00 am, 11:00 am, and 5:00 pm.  Breakfast consisted of half of a small FL orange, some liquid identified as milk, corn flakes, 2 slices of bread, and sometimes a salami.  Lunch and dinner were brought to the cell and consisted of a half baby orange, the funny milk, lettuce, and 2 slices of bread.  Sometimes a slice of salami was also included.  In addition the lunch and dinner food had meat, potatoes, and beans, all of which were uneatable.

The lobby was open to the prisoners from 2:00-4:00 pm.  After breakfast and dinner, 3 guards and the nurse arrived with my daily pills, took my pulse rate, blood pressure, and temperature.  Mark Schmidter had given the nurses all of my daily pills.  I did not receive my "at home" breakfast addition of a shot of prune juice each day.  As result, I made only 1 bowl movement during my 9-day stay.  it clogged the toile, but after a few days someone came and unplugged the toilet.

On 3 consecutive days I made requests for access to the law library.  On the 3rd try, I also included additional requests.  All of the requests were ignored.  We were allowed 1 free telephone call.  However I did not use it, because I have early Alzheimer's disease and could not remember any phone numbers.

During the 2-hour open lounge daily time, I was allowed to enter the lounge and visit with other prisoners, watch TV, and make telephone calls.  However the temperature of the whole prison was kept at about 60  degrees fahrenheit.  I was not allowed to take my blanket or any other item out of the cell.  Consequently, I rarely left my cell, and then for only a short time.  I had caught a cold within 24 hours of my arrival at the prison.

In the lounge, I met 2 other prisoners who where helpful.  Both of them joined Tyranny Fighters.  One of them gave me 3 of the prison library books to read and one of his own to keep.  One of the books: "The Covenant House" was about the Catholic home for wayward children in Manhattan, NY.  I read the stories of several children.  After each story I cried heavily: not only tears but my body shook heavily for about 15 minutes after each reading.  I also read 2 of the other books.  I kept the 4th book "40 days to Freedom" which the inmate gave to me as a present.  I have yet to read it.

On the 9th day in prison I was notified of my release.  A public defender had arranged for me to be paroled on $8000.00 bond.  My own clothes were returned to me.  Five other men and five women were handcuffed and driven to the courthouse where we were dismissed until arraignment to come.  Mine was set for January 12, 2017.  I called Mark Schmidter who picked me up, took me to the bail bondsman who arranged my bail at $8000, of which I had to pay $800 at that time.  Mark took me home for the next several days where we met with several lawyers to prepare for my arraignment set for January 12, 2017.

Mark and 1 of the 2 others who had accompanied me were also arrested and were waiting for arraignment on January 5, 2017.  Mark was imprisoned for 1 day before release.  The other arrested lady was released 9 hours after being charged.  Several days later the state attorney dropped the charges against Mark and the  woman.  My charges and trial dates were not changed.

On December 26, I left Fort Lauderdale and flew to Newark airport  where I stayed until I left for Israel on December 27 and arrived in Tel Aviv on December 28.  The Orlando courthouse still has my carry bag with my "Nullification by Jury", "Duty of a Witness" and "Legalize Marijuana" flyers, FIJA pamphlets, a clipboard, and "Jury Info" and "Legalize Marijuana" signs.

I am now living in Jerusalem, Israel with no intent to ever return to the United States.  I wish to be buried in Israel, among my people.  I hope that my family will not desecrate my body by burying it in the United States.

Yours in freedom and justice—Julian

100 Years: Woodrow Wilson and Counter Thinking -- A Libertarian Rebuttal

Thanks to Tom Woods for these insights:

We've heard a lot about all the great people who died in 2016. To my mind, though, by far the most important is someone mainstream America has never heard of.

The man I have in mind was probably the most knowledgeable living historian in the libertarian tradition, and a man who influenced me greatly.

I am referring, of course, to Ralph Raico.

Professor Raico had a vast knowledge of the history of liberty, from the ancient world through the maligned Middle Ages, and on through the Industrial Revolution to the present. He refuted myth after statist myth in his iconoclastic work, and left the establishment view in shambles.

The year 2017 marks 100 years since Woodrow Wilson's horrific decision to intervene in World War I. Professor Raico was an expert on the contested question of war guilt in that war, and he was withering on Wilson's foreign policy.

As we recall Wilson's decision this year, we ought to revisit Professor Raico's treatment.

If you are unfamiliar with Professor Raico's work, I'm linking you to a free copy of his excellent book Great Wars and Great Leaders: A Libertarian Rebuttal. It's been made available to the entire world at no cost, thanks to the heroic Mises Institute:

https://mises.org/library/great-wars-and-great-leaders-libertarian-rebuttal

Christmas Tree Recycling Program

Allegheny County's Recycling Program allows for a drop off of Christmas trees through Monday, Jan. 16 at nine regional parks during regular hours of operation, dawn to dusk.

All lights, decorations, tinsel and stands must be removed. The trees will be mulched and used in county parks. The following are the drop-off locations:

Types of Governments

Fwd: Pittsburgh Parent Power

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Hill District Consensus Group" <hdcg@wildapricot.org>
Date: Dec 22, 2016 4:56 PM
Subject: Pittsburgh Parent Power
To: "Mark Rauterkus" <mark@rauterkus.com>
Cc:

Attention Hill District Consensus Members

(((((((Port Authority is changing their bus fare system!)))))))

Beginning January 1, 2017, Port Authority will eliminate its two-zone fare system and instate a single-zone system in which all riders will pay $2.50 with a Connect Card. Riders paying with cash will pay $2.75. Transfers for riders paying with a Connect Card will remain $1. There will be no transfers for riders paying with cash; riders paying with cash will pay $2.75 for each trip. Port Authority will eliminate the Downtown free bus zone. The free light rail zone will remain. Peak-hour surcharges on light rail will be eliminated. All riders on all bus routes will pay their fare as they board the bus. With the exception of those who require special accommodations, riders will exit from the back doors. Pay-on-enter will go into effect for light rail in mid-2017. Until then, please board as you currently do. Port Authority will charge $1 for new and replacement Connect Cards. Port Authority will offer a new $7 day pass good for unlimited rides within one calendar day, and a Kid's Connect Card that entitles children between the ages of 6 and 11 rides at half-fare.

To find out more go to www.PortAuthority.org&nbsp;

Unsubscribe

Fwd: Failure of Empire

---------- Forwarded message
From: John Hemington

As we glide into the Christmas season in anticipation of an entirely new experience in the coming year, it is an appropriate time to examine the folly of empire exemplified by efforts of the United States to enforce its domination on the rest of the world for the past sixty-six years or so.  We, the American people, have lived in a delusional bubble when viewing the activities of the governments we elect.  By this I mean that we consistently fail to see the activities of our government in the same light as the rest of the world.  We blindly believe the propaganda spewed forth by the organs of government, the defense department, the intelligence agencies and the media justifying and extoling our actions in the world. 

Now we are entering into a whole new paradigm of "leadership" with the election of Donald J. Trump as the next leader of the misnomered "free world".  It is no longer satisfactory to cling to the old myths of American exceptionalism as the "essential" nation guiding the world to freedom and democracy.  We must come to recognize that the United States is, in fact, the "evil empire" generating death, destruction and devastation wherever it positions itself in the greater sphere of operations.  The Trump team is certain to extend and expand the nationalist furor in an ongoing attempt to subject the rest of the world to our demands and decisions no matter what the consequences for humanity – and they may well be dire.

Unfortunately, until the American people come to realize the devastation and destruction being done in their name and rise up to demand that enough is enough, nothing will be done to staunch the horror of our actions.  It now appears that there are no limits beyond which the Trump administration will not go in an effort to turn the nation and the world over to a neoliberal/neoconservative clique of despotic warriors intent upon total domination of the planet.  What we are about to witness is insanity on a mass scale.  Thanks to the United States effort to destabilize the Middle East the world has become more chaotic than at any time prior to the First World War.  The non-state terrorism is matched tit-for-tat by officially sanctioned state terrorism with aerial drones, sanctioned torture and unprecedented attacks on sovereign nations the rule of the day.  This will not end well.  And with an incoming president who seems to be unable to think beyond the latest Twitter insult cannot end well.

I would like nothing more than to be wishing everyone a Merry Christmas at this time of year, but it is difficult to call up a jovial spirit while looking at what will be facing us in the New Year.  My sincerest wish is that we all survive the next four years and somehow manage to resurrect both the spirit and the reality of idea of the United States as a beacon of hope and justice for the world.  Not an empire, but an example of how things can and should work.  But it will take all of us working together in community for this to become a reality.  We can no longer divide ourselves on artificial issues and maintain hope.  If there is to be hope it must come with understanding and cooperation.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and (to the extent possible) a happy new year.

Do read the attached article.

John

Article

Re: Awesome: NYU professor gets huge promotion after triggering SJWs

On Dec 21, 2016 3:28 PM, "Tom Woods" <tom@tomwoods.com> wrote:

December 21, 2016 View this email in your browser Michael Rectenwald describes himself as a lifelong left-liberal. When he took to Twitter to respond to the safe-space, delicate snowflake, win-by-intimidation atmosphere on campus, the result was pretty much what you'd expect: his colleagues took it as an opportunity to examine their own behavior and open a dialogue with people of different views. OK, well, duh, that's actually not what happened. That's never what happens, as you and I well know. The nice part of the story? Rectenwald got the last laugh in a major way. He was a thrill to talk to. Treat yourself to this episode:   http://www.tomwoods.com/809 Potpourri: (1) My first-ever tough-love email to my entrepreneurship mailing list: http://happyearner.com/my-first-ever-tough-love-email-to-my-list/ (2) We've got Christmas specials going at LibertyClassroom.com. Material things are fleeting. Knowledge is forever. You know what to do: http://www.LibertyClassroom.com Tom Woods Share Tweet Forward to Friend Copyright © 2016 Tom Woods, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at tomwoods.com, bernieiswrong.com, or contrakrugman.com. Our mailing address is: Tom Woods PO Box 701447 Saint Cloud, FL 34770 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Fwd: Fare Policy Changes Coming Jan 1st!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Chandana Cherukupalli" <info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org>
Date: Dec 20, 2016 3:34 PM
Subject: Fare Policy Changes Coming Jan 1st!
To: <mark@rauterkus.com>
Cc:

Hey all, Just a reminder that beginning January 1st, Port Authority will be instituting its new fare policies. All areas will be Zone 1. For those with a ConnectCard, the fare will be $2.50, and transfers will be $1.00. For those paying with cash, the fare will be $2.75, and paper transfers will be eliminated. ConnectCards will now be sold in Goodwill and other neighborhood locations in addition to Giant Eagle Stores. For a full list of vendors, please visit http://www.connectcard.org/connectcard-locatio ns.aspx While PPT supports the implementation of one fare throughout the county, we are concerned about the elimination of paper transfers as there is inadequate infrastructure to reload the cards. Low income riders that use cash will be hit the hardest. Riders that cannot afford weekly or monthly passes and need to upload money when they have cash on hand may have difficulty if there are no vendors near them. Those that do not have credit cards/bank account or internet access will not be able to use the online reloading system. The blog The Incline has a more detailed account: http://theincline.com/2016/12/20/change-is-coming-to-port-authority-buses-heres-what-you-need-to-know/. If you are having difficulty finding a ConnectCard vendor near you, please let Port Authority know this is a problem. Call Port Authority Customer Service at 412-442-2000. For more information, call us at 412-216-9659 or email us at info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org and get involved! Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address or to stop receiving emails from Pittsburghers for Public Transit, please click here.

Fwd: Russian Hacks

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "John Hemington" <jehemington@verizon.net>
Subject: Russian Hacks

Interesting and worth reading.

http://theduran.com/uk-ambassador-craig-murray-ive-met-the-person-who-leaked-them-podesta-emails-not-russian-and-its-an-insider/

John

• Article in PDF

Update

Mayor Flees as Government Workers demand their year-end bonus pay

Protest by government workers who are demanding their bonus pay.



Article.