Wyoming

Elevation 8262.

Save our * (city, summer, steps, schools, stadium, ...)

The Pittsblog asks about the Iron City message, "Save Our City." I wrote, with typos over there and reposted:

On one level, I smile at the "Save Our City" campaign. At its most basic sense it is a call to "care." The Iron City Corporation trumpets a tune that gives a wake up to action in a civic sense. The message is less, "buy our beer" and more "we live here too." I think of the saving as a lifeguard who shows up at the swim pool guard chair and cares to insure that everyone is safe, alive, and healthy at the end of the day.

Too many corporations are worried too much about its own next customer, marketing its specific product. Meanwhile the marketplace is in a serious decline. The city is half of what it was. Those that are NOT here would have made for a larger, core customer base -- drinking a lot of beer.

Q: save if from what? My A: "rust, decline and apathy."

Tip: better to leave a message over on the Pittsblog and not here. And, Iron folks, it's better to bring a beer truck and not a case a beer to our family reunion next month -- along with a case of t-shirts.

Schools + County + City = hope = Formation of a new Pittsburgh Park District

The new plan that hit tonights TV news calls for our County Executive to form a charity to help to develop the parks. That approach isn't a ticket to success. Parks and kids shouldn't be with non-profit oversight.

Meet Up, 7 pm third Wednesdays - Beehive

Come to the Beehive on the South Side, now with a no-smoking room, breathing deeply, at 7 pm on Wed. Sept. 15. Ken is the new leader of the Pittsburgh's Weblogger group. Let's make some waves!

Community Technology Center Site Coordinator

Wireless Job for Peabody: JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Title: Community Technology Center Site Coordinator
Salary Range: $28,000-$32,000 plus benefits package
Position Start Date: Fall 2004

Looking to trade links

Other networks and pointers are welcomed, as I'd love to get links for my blog elsewhere. You can link to your blogs, as well as other pages at my link center. Leads, please email me.

Homespun Bloggers Best Of Submission Tips

mudphud11-at-yahoo-dot-com

Remove the "X" parts and put in the correct HTML code, either quotes or the close the /A.

Join us on a hill walk on October 17, 2004

The South Side Slopes is full of interesting steps that snake through the urban neighborhoods. This non-competitive hike inclues a bit of history, entertainment and down-home-up-the-hill friends of all shapes and sizes. A two-for-$15 special goes to October 4.

Outreach

The time to network and extend in various fronts with others so as to build better solutions is here. Within the comments is a slice of some of these efforts.

Resignation chatter

PG coverage of resignation chatter

It is not worth the effort to offend Mr. Roddey, nor is it my duty to defend him either. Nonetheless, it would be great to see City Councilman, Jim Motznik, write a letter to Gov. Ed Rendell asking for help in getting the resignation of Tom Murphy.

To Jim's credit, he spoke of the resignation of Mayor Murphy, on the record, some weeks ago. His quote was something like .... "After we (City Council) passes this Act 47 plan (oversight), then we should ask for the resignation of Tom Murphy."

Like Luke's mention of resignation weeks before, the statement was stronger than double-speek, but not direct enough. Try this for blunt talk: Mayor Murphy should resign. The resignation would come for the good of the city. His time is finished as he can't get his agenda off the ground.

Yard Sign built with recycled electrons

Debate coverage and C-SPAN shows

C-SPAN's coverage of the first presidential debate is at 1pm ET Monday, September 6, 2004. The only two to show were Green Party Presidential Nominee David Cobb and Libertarian Party Presidential Nominee Michael Badnarik. It was held in New York City during the Republican National Convention.

Sunday, September 5, at 7:45 AM EST The program Washington Journal hosts Janet Brown, Executive Director, Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), for live call-in. Ms. Brown will talk by video link from Boston about the status and history of presidential debates. She will respond to telephone calls, faxes, and electronic mail from viewers.

The telephone numbers to call to find out why all the candidates are not being allowed in the debates are:

Washington Journal: Democrats (202) 585-3881

Washington Journal: Republicans (202) 585-3880

Washington Journal: Others (202) 585-3882

According to a recent Rasmussen poll, 68% of Americans want Michael in the debates - including 67% of Republicans and 64% of Democrats. Sadly, Ms. Brown, the CPD, George Bush, or John Kerry are in the minority and don't want democarcy for America.

People who don't care about open debates are careless people with democracy and don't care about the American people.

The Badnarik campaign footed the lion's share of the bill for the debate in NYC, as the Cobb campaign simply did not have enough financial resources to cover the expenses. To be clear, the Badnarik campaign was more than willing to help out our third-party brothers. Several Green Party members were more than generous to help defray the cost.

No Yard Signs

Another great reason to avoid YARD SIGNS comes to from Florida. Election day in Florida was Tuesday. Days later, Frances, a hurricane, arrived. The political signs stuck all around the state are sure to be fast-moving in-flight objects making life more dangerous, ripping down electrical, phone, cable lines and causing nasty property damage as they scrape and puncture.

I hate yard signs. I doubt I'll ever spend a nickle on yard signs in any campaign.

Pitt football

Ohio University visits Pitt for a football game on Sept. 11. See the comments for invite to the OU tailgate on the Gateway Clipper.

Pitt's first game of the season, slated for South Florida has been wash out due to Frances. The teams are slated to meet either Friday, December 3, or Saturday, December 4. Good decision.

Music is important -- but out of bounds

Music has a great place and role in all cultures, and one day I'll put more muscle into the S6 efforts. But is Slam Bush.net out of bounds?

Personally, I don't think it is wise to be so "negative" and "slam Bush." -- But I am all in favor of dissent and am also all in favor of good humor. We need to all 'lighten up.' So, in some ways, this is good. See the comment section for the details of an event in Pittsburgh with Sala Udin and Bill Peduto.

Linux in Government: Will Schwarzenegger Terminate Windows?

Linux in Government: Will Schwarzenegger Terminate Windows?: "Linux in Government: Will Schwarzenegger Terminate Windows?"

Four years ago, in my platform for Mayor, I pledged to make Pittsburgh an open-source leader. This plank is sure to surface in future campaigs as well. But now, the rest of the world has passed our ability to blaze new trails in these elements of technology. We can still lead, but perhaps not be the first. In 2000 and 2001 -- the concepts of open-source were original stump issues. In 2004 and 2005, others have worked on the issues and those efforts are sure to lend credit to the challenges at hand.

When we go to open source, we'll have better tools and save money. It isn't always as simple as the A-B-Cs. But, technology is something that can bring serious advantages to Pittsburgh's public landscape, if we have the leadership that gets it.

Not many political contributions are available from the poor children.. , but then one always has Microsoft.

Pens Practice Rink part of plan

PG reports Practice Rink for Pens part of plan

Kansas City Start coverage Kansas City.com/mld/kansascity/business/9567443.htm?1c on process for new arena for NBA / NHL

News flash: Tom Murphy, senior vice president of corporate communications at Sprint Corp. is named to the Kansas City planning committee for the development of a new, indoor arena there. Sprint has agreed to pay up to $2.5 million annually for the arena naming rights.

Closed door dealings, presentations stink

The city committee that will decide who will design the arena will conduct its interviews and deliberations behind closed doors.

“I don't want anybody to disturb the committee from paying close attention,” said Kansas City Councilman Terry Riley, one of the nine members. “We don't want anyone lobbying for one group or another. We want the best team for Kansas City.”

Assistant City Manager Rich Noll, who also is on the committee, said the decision to bar the public did not violate the Missouri Open Meetings Law.

“It is a working session,” he said. “There's no legislative activity going on and no public policy being addressed at that time.”

Closed South Side Indoor Ice Rink needs attention

If the Penguins want to have a practice facility, as they should, how about a look again into the now closed, indoor ice rink on the South Side. The rink is closed. The facility hosted Pens practices and had a rental connection when it was orginally covered. The NHL All-Stars held practices there.

Better yet -- a swim pool

Rather than putting in a practice ice, I'd love to see an aquatics complex within the scope of the new arena project. The Univ. of Florida has a 50-meter pool and diving towers within its basketball facility, tucked behind the stands. The spaces are not wasted around the edge of the arena.

When we visited China, I was impressed at the ongoing use of the space along the edge of the downtown stadium. Ballroom dancing, roller skate rink, and a casual dining area was put into action along the ramps and landings of the outdoor stadium. The indoor arena in China hosted a stock market. Photos pending.

Wasted Spaces

Sure, PNC Park hosted a concert that featured "The Boss." Other business events occur at PNC Park from time to time, and at The Great Hall in Heinz Field. But, these are too few and too far between.

Its great to see High School football games as part of the Rib Cookoff this weekend. Let's hold more regular events at these facilities. Why are we not playing scholastic soccer at Heinz Field on the other nights this weekend? Or, in the spring, when the demand on the field is less, we should have events with local teams.

We have public facilities and they should be used around the clock in other uses and around the calendar with other special events.

Bye-bye UV Loop

UV Loop Goes Bye-Bye -- PG coverage
The end of the road for the UV Loop is of little suprise to me. It was far too empty. Its course was bad as well. Sure, the support was amazing. But, it wasn't sustainable. It was a good idea that needed constant evolution.

After riding the UV Loop on a number of trips, mostly just for fun, I noticed how it wasn't effective. Same too with the new water taxi. A course re-do was needed. A few back and forth routes would have been much more productive. And, in turn, would have been sustainable. Some of the suggestions I made to the organizers at the outset of the UV Loop would have been significant. It needed 10 to 100-times the ridership, and the loop wasn't able to provide those passenger trips.

China and the Olympics

My pre-Olympic prediction that the Olympians from China would perform very well in Athens rang true. The strong medal winning performances by China and Japan make Beijing in 2008 something special. The I.O.C. President, Jocques Rogge was in agreement and spoke highly of Asian nation performances. The Athens Games is where Asia has awakened. He expects Asia to be a full strength for the Beijing Games.

The women's volleyball team from China held a practice before they played the US squad -- and they didn't even use a ball. The announcers watched the practice, 90 minutes, and not a ball to be found. Final game score, 25-18.

The divers from China are amazing. They took six out of eight gold medals. Photos from our trip are yet to go online. However, any of the 10-year old divers in Chengdu would have been able to breeze to a WPIAL diving title. And, there were 20 or more very talented, hard working kids in the pre-teen ages.

China got 31 gold in Athens, but had a goal of 20 and had 28 gold in Sydney. Japan had 16, making the best for them in 40 years. South Korea was 12th with eight golds.

Ping pong -- China got three out of four golds. After the games more ping-pong comes into the spotlight as a diplomatic tool for China and its neighbors.

In badminton, China got three of five golds.

China looms large in swimming, gymnastics, rowing, track-and-field, shooting, basketball and weightlifting. Ethiopians passed at the end of the 10K by said that they assumed they were a full lap ahead of the Chinese runner, Xing Huina (women).

Others to watch include South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan Indonesia. The South Korea women archers won an 11th straight gold -- completing a 20-year streak, unmatched in any other sport at the Olympics.

This blog

Readability and Attribution

The web's we weave are not always as visible and clear as they could or should be. In interest of time, fair use, and repetition, links to other articles are generally put within the rants that occur on this blog. I do a good bit of external linking on all of my sites.

From time to time I should thank, in public, the editors and writers of the PG and Trib. Of couse their conent is used most often for fodder to these fires. I do try to give them credit in each instance. I avoid academic footnotes, but should try to be less sloppy.

As I see clever and helpful writting, I often post a kind mention directly to the writers.

In the future, the aim is to use both the "blockquote and "ITALIC" formats to better isolate material that is lifted from the other sources.

First day of school

The kids are back to school, starting today. But, today also marks the first day South Vo Tech is empty. There was summer school.

Fifty percentage of all eleventh grade students score below proficiency in math in Pittsburgh Public Schools. For eleventh graders who scored below the proficient level of reading, there has been small improvement as the percentage decreased from 41 percent in 2002 to 39 percent in 2004.

The percentage of African Americans that scored below proficient in math is a staggering 82.5 percent in 2004 (virtually the same as the 82.7 percent in 2002 (but an improvement over the 84 percent in 2003)). The results are slightly better on the reading part of the test: 72.1 percent scored below proficiency in 2004. The group scored better than those who took the test in 2002 (74.1 percent), but not as well as those who took the test in 2003 (71.8 percent).

The students who are closest to graduating and entering the workforce and higher education are doing the worse.
Policy Brief in PDF formatted version from the Allegheny Institute

My suggestions: Split up the Pgh Public School District with one HORIZONTAL slice and a number of vertical ones for the K-8 levels. I'd love to see three to five new school districts come into formation. Each district with its own elected school board, superintendent and geographical area would be constructed for students from K to 8th grade. Then the existing PPS District would be city-wide and only need to focus on the education of the high school aged students.

I coached at New Trier High School, named at the time by Town and Country magazine, the very best public high school in America. It was. The New Trier school district is a 9-12 district. It has a number of other districts that feed into the high school. Each of the other districts, smaller, are able to focus upon the education of the younger kids, grades K-8.

Pittsburgh's Public Schools, as a district, is too big. It is too hard to get volunteers, focused attention on learning, and other challenges into solutions.

My kids are excited about the new school year. My hope is that everyone feels the same and that the desires to learn never fade. And, as a parent I know that I can best impact the kids in their youngest ages. And, when it comes to teaching higher level lessons, like those found in high schools, great teachers are necessary. We need to overhaul our approach to education in Pittsburgh, and a split in the district would be a great solution.

To hedge his adventure, our oldest boy did ask last night if it was still possible to take Semester at Sea. Not this year Erik.