Crashing the Parties, 10 pm Wed. QED

WQED, a public tv station that has been the subject of some criticism, is slated to air an interesting PBS primetime special Crashing The Parties 2004 from 10 to 11 pm this Wednesday.

The program challenges the conventional notion that third parties are "spoilers" with no constructive role in the process. It is to showcase the candidates and their political platforms.

Who wants to host a documentary screening house party?

This special gives voters a behind-the-scenes look at third party campaigns and conventions in the 2004 presidential race, showcasing the serious political alternatives to the Democrats and Republicans. The one-hour program focuses on four major third party/independent bids:

Libertarian Party (Michael Badnarik),

Green Party (David Cobb),

Constitution Party (Michael Peroutka).

Ralph Nader, and in addition,

other candidates' bids for their party's nomination are featured, such as Libertarians Gary Nolan and Aaron Russo.

My advance hunch is that the coverage of others who are NOT on the ballot is just to discredit the entire show. Why cover the others? Edit!

In most markets, "Crashing" debuts the evening before the first Bush-Kerry debate - showing PBS viewers the candidates who were shut out of the presidential debates. In a few cities such as Boston, the third party documentary is the lead-in program for the Bush-Kerry showdown on Sept. 30.

WASHINGTON POST LIVE WEBCHAT ON 3rd PARTIES & INDEPENDENTS!

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 1 p.m., PBS filmmakers Peter Koziell and Darren Garnick will be participating in a live Web chat about the making of "Crashing The Parties 2004" sponsored by The Washington Post. Join in the conversation during your lunchbreak! For more information, visit: www.washingtonpost.com and scroll to the bottom of the page for the "Live On-Line" links. Questions can be submitted earlier that day.

SEND "CRASHING" FEEDBACK TO PBS!

If you find the themes, scenes or commentary from "Crashing The Parties 2004" to be compelling, please consider sharing your thoughts with both your local PBS station and the PBS national network. The stations are always eager to hear from "viewers like you."

Sandy Heberer
PBS Programming
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314

And, contact QED directly.

The filmakers also appreciate feedback, crashingpbs@awardprod.com

Parenting woes or infrastructure issues

Its fixed! A new sewer cover and sidewalk has arrived. The city did its job, and cut down the three trees. The building owner did the sidewalk with cement contractors on Sept. 25. The saga started in early August. Not many drunks fell into the open hole.


Conventional wisdom says "bad parenting." However, I'm wondering if it is bad city infrastructure? Our children are falling between the cracks here. And, it takes little effort to get the right type of street treatments to prevent these types of accidents.

Notice that the storm gutter's slots are not the full length, but they do go in the direction of traffic. Bike riders have trouble with street coverings that have larger spaces as wheels get caught, flipping the rider. Inline skaters are sure to have issues. Many street treatments in Pittsburgh are bad for all sorts of reason.

Pittsburgh makes continual, classic mistakes and frustrates up the opportunities care for our kids. Pittsburgh makes parenting much more of a chore.



Seniors and children, yet alone drunks and little ducklings could get lost, hurt and perhaps wealthy by visiting our streets in Pittsburgh.

See the comment to learn more of a road study by the city. Sadly, these roads get attention every four years. An election is due next spring, so the Grant Street gang is making a list and will check it twice this fall so as to get the most votes.