The RUNNEL -- chunnel -- Pgh big dig -- and cranks

I've been speaking for months and months about the sillyness of the under river tunnels for a light-rail extension to the stadiums on the North Side. The idea needs to be taken off the tracks and stopped. Some editorial folks at the Trib, especially Bill S., agrees. Link.

... railed on about how pitifully few people the 1.2 mile boondoggle would carry. How badly its construction would tear up both banks of the river. How the idea would never even be considered if it weren't for that "free" 80 percent federal contribution.

And how, except for a few cranks and free-market ideologues at the Trib, everyone was so gung-ho to build it - including Specter and his allegedly conservative comrade, Rick Santorum.

Great news, except the part about the "few cranks." I could resemble that remark. And, what good does it do?

The cranks, the "naysayers," -- we citizens -- are the ones who know best.

Why would he do this?

To me, the Trib and this friend of the "free market" is p*ssing in his own breakfast cereal.

Comments about the treatment are welcomed here. Comments about the meat of the transportation elements should flow into the transportation blog.

Talented Women

Mark Rauterkus, (Union Maiden) Anne Feeney, and Amy Carol Webb at our South Side home.

On the radio for an hour.

Amy Carol Webb and the gentleman from Oklahoma, Chris Moore, while in KDKA radio studios.

KDKA Radio, 5 to 6 pm on Sunday

Amy Carol Webb and I are slated for the Chris Moore radio show for 5 pm this Sunday. Please tune in. I won't do any singing.

Rather, a broken record might be more fitting

Trib whispers "... see Mayor Tom Murphy come dressed as the Invisible Man. Given the mayor's increasing reclusiveness, he won't even need to buy a costume."

Yard Sign: "This is campaign trickery," said Hoeffel

Another reason to avoid yard signs comes from the brotherly love folks to the east:

Birds of a feather? Well, they only have left wings - PittsburghLIVE.com

Those "Kerry & Specter for Working Families" signs that began popping up in eastern Pennsylvania last week were not disingenuous attempts by the senator to link himself with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the Democrat presidential nominee.

Actually, it was a disingenuous attempt by Republican political consultant Roger Stone to link Specter to Kerry.

Suburban Republicans do their best to kill city

Suburban Republicans do their best to kill city

My letter to Brian

Hi Brian,

I saw the news of the 18-page letter in the Trib on 10-20-04 --- and that same day I went to the election office and changed out of the GOP party.

Amy Carol Webb, a singer/songwriter and friend from Florida, and I are to be
on KDKA Radio's Chris Moore show, 1020 AM, from 5 to 6 pm today - Sunday.

I'll share some news for you and the listeners then.

For fun, here is one of here songs:
"Be careful punching ballots if you can't find the hole."

http://65.254.51.42/~player/history/audio/AmyCarolWebb/CantFindTheHole.mp2

Give a listen.

She has a new verse about electronic voting machines, paper trail and voting
UNPLUGED.

Very clever.

But I'm also prepared to cover some ground about local politics too.

As for the money points --- you're too old school and too media centered in hopes of selling soap. Why spend $1-million to get a risk in the chance to get a $90K job as captain of a sinking ship? We don't really want a mayor's race with those costs as the debt is an anchor and the candidate is beholden to others then.

This week's event pointers

Films

Western Westmoreland Republican Club invites you to a showing of a film by by Dick Morris, Fahrenhype 9/11, a rebuttal to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 at 7 pm on Thursday, October 28 at Lincoln Hills Country Club. Join us for an evening of truth, unity and a tribute to the American Soldier past, present and future! The Public is Welcome! Admission is Free. http://www.farenhype911.com.

Michael Moore was headed to Penn State University as well.

HAUNTED HALLOWEEN BIKE RIDE

Friday, October 29, starting at Washington's Landing at 6 pm to 9 pm, Cost: $20 Bike Pittsburgh & Venture Outdoors Members, $25 others. Sign up: (412) 255-0564.

This easy-paced ride and fundraiser will take us all over Pittsburgh to various haunted buildings. We'll be making plenty of stops to tell stories and give local haunted history. A fully supported ride with treats and drinks provided along the way, participants are encouraged to ride in costume, but please make sure that you wear something that will not get caught in your wheels or chain, and that does not impair your normal field of vision. Helmets are required, but you can decorate them! Benefits Bike Pittsburgh.

Trying to keep the streets from getting too "scary" when it's not Halloween. Come out and enjoy a pleasant evening of stories and legend while helping to support an important local cause. Please bring a bike light if you have it; loaners available with advance notice.

More
If you have an event, send it me, Mark -at- Rauterkus -dot- com. I'll give it a mention in this blog.

World Series

Boston (think Tea Party) vs. St. Louis (hometown of the famous Anheuser-Busch Brewery).

Boston (J.F. Kerry's home) Red Sox win. Triumph bring tragic death to student shot by police while in a mob. Now the Boston Mayor sabre rattles about a prohibition. The overly rash reaction by the Mayor to a tragic death following the game gives an opportunity to make a point to the blog world.

"If you shut down the bars, the problem will get worse," said Alan Eisner, executive director of the Massachusetts Hospitality Association. "At least in a licensed premise you have supervision."

Another decent quote from a blog in Pittsburgh, "Unless the cop was drunk, alcohol had nothing to do with her death."

Presidential candidate, Libertarian, Michael Badnarik could put out a call to create web ads for sports blogs. With a press release, some eye candy and computer code, sober baseball fans and political junkies who crave a free world and an end to the war on druges would be able to inject messages in alternative avenues to drive home some points and buzz for the final innings of the campaign.

Yard sign: Politics is compliated. Democracy is messy. Voting is simple.

Bush vs. Kerry: Candidates more alike than different on tech issues

PG: Bush vs. Kerry: Candidates more alike than different on tech issues

I am going to offer strong distinctions next to my opponents on tech issues in 2005. Sadly, some on Grant Street today have been there long enough that I'm not sure that they can even spell email. And for me to point to spelling as a strong suit is fiberglasting. Many on Grant Street need to move to the private sector for a while so the city can retool.

On copyright policy:

Most of my content is put into the public domain. I was one of a few who helped to push Netscape to the Eureka Squared! concept for putting its web browser code (remember the browser wars) into a tar ball into the public domain and to release under a more liberal Mozilla public license. Later, Mozilla changed its license policy. I also pushed for the DSL (Design Science License) years before there was any Stanford based Creative Commons. Now the CC is moving too far back into the corporate sphere with too many options and restrictions.

While the trade group will not comment on either candidate's platform, at least one high-powered member has expressed annoyance with the candidates' silence on tech issues.

Intel Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett told a crowd of tech workers earlier this week that the country is losing its global competitive edge and that Bush and Kerry, in their debates, virtually ignored the country's declining tech infrastructure.

Pittsburgh has lost its tech advantage. We should have 80 wired senior centers, rec centers and community outlets with cable modems. These factors are part of the city's cable franchise agreement that are now being squandered by Tom Murphy's administration.

We should have the parental dashboard functional for all the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Then parents can check on real-time matters at schools -- like if the kids are in class or not.

Wiki kick-off this week

A fantastic evening with Amy Carol Webb and political presentations

The 2004 Voter Education and Concert Showcase with Amy Carol Webb was held on Thursday, October 21, 2004, at Sunnyhill.
Order of events in PDF. Archives to be posted at S6.CLOH.Org.

The Sunnyhill blog links to two of Amy's songs.
If You Can't Find the Hole
Be careful punching ballots
If you can't find the hole
Or you could see your civil rights
Jerked out of your control
You could find your chad left dangling
In some partisan unknown
So be careful punching ballots
If you can't find the hole

The early concert features Amy Carol Webb from Florida, and a new verse to the song that included touch-screen voting machines and the desire for a paper trail. The other two songs were, Oh Abraham and my favorite, Think Again.

When does the curse vanish?

Red Sox ... how sweet it is. The Sox are, after all, one of the big-league teams that employ Pittsburgh Pirates. Wish we could send Boston a new toll-taker for the Mass Pike, i.e., Tom Murphy.

We lost our soccer game tonight by the score of 11-1. So, in a small way, ever so small, I share the same feelings of the Yankees. Isn't it great how sports can unite?

But music has the power to unite as well, perhaps more so than sports. We are really excited about the visit from Amy Carol Webb. She is so good. Hope to see many of you there. Don't miss it.

State court tosses fire union's referendum

AP Wire | 10/20/2004 | State court tosses fire union's referendum Commonwealth Court Judge Joseph McCloskey rejected the referendum on Wednesday - less than two weeks before the Nov. 2 election - saying that the petitions that 24,000 city residents signed were unclear.

This judgement is another golden invitation to 24,000 citizens to pack up and leave town. The judge and the mayor are telling the world that they know better than the rest. The voice of the citizens has become meaningless in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh nears meaningless status too.

Earn $100 on Nov 2

Details on the recruting of poll watchers follows. Pick up some cash, insure democracy.

Dan Schwartzbauer:
Randy Vulakovich:
Jason Davidek:

The Republican State Committee is recruiting individuals to assist at the Polls on Election Day.

Requirements:

Be a registered voter in Allegheny County

Work at a designated polling location from 7 am to 8 pm

Watch to make sure votes are cast by legal, registered voters only

Attend one of the 1-hour training sessions

You will receive: $100, meals, an invitation to the Victory Party that evening in Downtown Pittsburgh, satisfaction that you made a difference for your country this election day.

Assignments will be handed out at the mandatory training session you attend.

Training Session Locations and Dates

Only attend one session.

Thursday, October 21, Holiday Inn, Oakland, University Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 from
4 to 5 pm.

Thursday, October 21, Moon Township, for location information email mwalters@pagop.org from 7 to 8 pm.

Monday, October 25, The Great Hall, Ross Township, 1001 Perry Highway, Pittsburgh, PA 15237
7 to 8 pm.

Anyone interested, please email NAME, PHONE NUMBER and E-MAIL ADDRESS to
voterintegrity@hotmail.com. Okay to pass this message on to others. Use the link that looks like an envelope to send to friends.

(FYI, I'm not involved with this effort. I'm just passing along the info. You are free to decide.)

That could leave a mark

Ball goes over the wall in Yankee stadium, hits a fan standing in the front row right in the tummy. The fan is wearing a black pull-over hoodie. Not a flinch. Umps, at first, think the ball hit the top of the wall and the batter only got a double. That guy or gal is going to be on the AM shows. The score went to 4-0 for the Sox after a huddle with the men in blue.

Kwel. Teamwork. Doing the right thing.

At least the fans in NY know how to keep their hands in the pockets. Such poise and discipline. That's a great example of how culture becomes progressive.

Chicago's lesson was understood. Going under cover and fearing for your life for days is a poor artifact of going to a playoff baseball game.

Let's get to game seven.....

Well, it's time to re-blog at 11:42 pm as the riot geared police empty onto the field and line its edges. One more inning. My little Sox fan has been sawing logs since the 6th inning.

New book: Good to be King

Author: Michael Badnarik The book has just been released on Oct. 19, 2004.

One of my standard slogans and stories is, "All the king's men and all the king's horses can't put this city together again." So, I like the title, Good to be King. For Pittsburgh, a slant would be, "Good to have Authorities."

CNN.com - Cities find Wi-Fi future

CNN.com - Cities find Wi-Fi future - Oct 18, 2004: "Jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon?"

I've been jumping on the tech bandwagon, and that includes wi-fi, for some time. This is a major campaign plank. I'm not sure many on Grant Street today even know how to spell email.

Present mission, saving the city's cable television services.

Check out the WORD file is on this page, down a screen or so.
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/gs/html/contract_bids.html It details a RFP (Request For Proposals) for a firm / operator to handle the duties of putting the two city council meetings onto cable.

Yesterday at the PIIN public action, County councilwoman, Brenda F., told me that she was not going to vote for the county to spend money to put their meetings onto a cablecast.

Heavy Or Not