Fresh Laundry

Panhandling laws beg lawsuit

"Why, oh, why" comes to light in this post, again.

Think again.

Downtown's "economic vitality" is the reason given for expanding laws and shrinking freedoms under the concepts of new panhandling laws.

Some must think that downtown's economic vitality hinges upon the down-and-out who are homeless.

The Downtown Partnership has been gathering its forces, plus the mayor and city council so as to leverage "partnerships" and gang-up upon the homeless folks.

I think of the playground order: "Pick on someone your own size."

City's panhandling limits beg lawsuit - PittsburghLIVE.com Civil rights advocates are warning that Pittsburgh's attempt to give the bum's rush to Downtown panhandlers could land the city in the same losing free-speech fight that has doomed anti-begging ordinances across the country.

In the name of economic prosperity, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is asking the city to limit when and where people can beg for money. Of particular concern are scraggly, unwashed homeless people who approach customers outside stores, restaurants and ATM machines. The partnership's proposal would outlaw begging at night and soliciting people as they enter many businesses.

Simply put: The keys to the revitalization of downtown's economic development don't rest with the homeless. Furthermore, those (i.e., PDP) that what to drive our partnerships on that pathway are not well suited for Pittsburgh's solutions.

Perhaps the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnerships is failing at its core mission of building partnerships and vitality.

SEA bills, debt and gambles miss. Place a better bet with a better direction. Sell the Convention Ctr as the Gambling Hall.

Tell me why! Why can't we kill off the debt of the SEA (stadium and exibition authority) by selling the Convention Center building as a stipulation of the new casino's opening.

SEA seeks help for center's bills - PittsburghLIVE.com The city-county authority had counted on the slots money to cover operating losses at the convention center, to pay off debt from its construction and to repay a 2004 loan taken out to cover earlier losses at the convention center. The state has allocated one slots-casino license for Pittsburgh, but such a facility is at least a year away from opening.

These guys are doing it all wrong. They are barking up the wrong tree with the wrong tune.

The time is right for the debt to go away. To get rid of the debt, get rid of its source. Then everyone wins.

In perpetuity --- phoey!

Mayor Murphy and the others who have been at the helm of the city have put us into a deep, deep hole. Years will pass before the city is able to lift itself. Hope is measured in decades as the debt is a "long-term obligation." Hence, the notion of a deal set by them that goes forever is no kind of deal at all.

The last deal that was cut, at the state level, is with the letting of the $50-million gambling casinos. That deal NEVER expires. That blunder is something I tried to prevent.

To sunset deals and legislation is generally wise.

To trust those who have broken the city to fix it -- in perpetuity -- is foolish at best.

City council wants more from nonprofits - PittsburghLIVE.com Council President Gene Ricciardi wants to make the charities' donations to the city a very long-term obligation.

'I believe it should be in perpetuity,' Ricciardi said. 'It should not expire in three years. If the nonprofits don't agree to that, then we need to go in another direction.'

New York's Power headed to South Central

We were charged on the highway today as we passed a convoy of eight cherry pickers from New York State headed south and west in Central Pennsylvania. They had EDISON Power logos on the doors and were chugging at moderate speeds (aprox 50 mph).

I told my sons to wave and give them a big salutes and thumbs up signs.

We are sure the men and machines with ample tools, road snacks and long-lists of jobs yet to do were headed to cover some of those in need in the wake of the storm.

Our prayers go out to them and they're families at home. Safe travels. Thanks for being so generous with your skills, energy and capacities.

OpenOffice.Org releases public beta 2

The second public beta release of OpenOffice.org 2.0 is now available for download, and techies everywhere should go get it. This beta release allows a broad user base to test and evaluate the next major version of OpenOffice.org, but is not recommended for production deployment at this stage.

I hope to press CDs with this program, and its source code, for handouts in the weeks to come.

This second public beta release is the result of many months' work
improving upon the first public beta announced in March, 2005. OpenOffice.org 2.0 introduces a new database module, implements the OASIS OpenDocument XML file format and a myriad of other new features and capabilities. The redesigned interface and enhanced document filters combine to make the application even more interoperable with other office suites and easier to use and learn, regardless of operating system.

OpenOffice.org Conference - 2005 is slated for Koper - Capodistria,
Slovenia, from 28 to 30 September.

OpenOffice.org is a fully featured open-source productivity suite available as a free download for major computing platforms in over 45 languages. Data is stored in an XML file format standardised for office documents by the international body OASIS. OpenOffice.org is developed, supported, and promoted by an international community of volunteers with its main sponsor and primary contributor being Sun Microsystems.

Soon to be held CMU events: College of Fine Arts

See the comments for full listings.

Carnegie Mellon's Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, Exhibition Animal Nature from August 26 - October 2, 2005, with opening reception September 2 from 5-8 p.m.

Cuarteto Latinoamericano concert at 7:30 pm on Thursday, September 22.

Philharmonic - Juan Pablo Izquierdo, Director of Orchestral Studies, conductor, September 28.

Drama Production of Lysistrata, the classic Greek “make love, not war” comedy, October 6 through October 15. See notes from Elizabeth Bradley, head of the School of Drama. "The notion that women, appalled by the cost of war, would rise together in protest to thwart aggression is an enormously .... "
BILL SEAMAN, lecture, 5 pm on September 6 to explore text, image and sound
through multiple technological forms, exploring the continuum between physical and virtual/media space. He holds a M.S. in Visual Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now heads the Digital Media Graduate Program at RISD.

And more.

Jerry's back

Jerry Bowyer promised you that he would be back on the Pittsburgh airwaves at the end of the summer, and he's true to his word!

Tune in this Thursday, September 1st at 3:00 pm to 101.5 WORD-FM. Jerry will do his show every weekday from 3-6 pm and looks forward to talking to his old friends on his new station.

Call the show and make Jerry feel at home at his new perch, as 412-921-TALK, (that is 412-921-8255.)

Cabela's -- Unreal.

What a store. Unreal. This one is in central PA near Rt. 78.  

This is a new development. Wonder what type of tax breaks were used?

The store is massive. Selection ranged from a trailer for six hunting dogs, log cabin for the hunting get-a-way, rods, guns, clothing and even flip-flops. The prices were okay. The selection is what is such an eye opener.

I guess one is a bit closer on Rt. 70 too.

While in Boston we went to REI and other fun rec shops.

Maine Street

We've been on our Maine visit. My two sons, 10 and 7, are now "surfers." They've been surfing, for real. I'm getting a burnt nose. And, the blog is idle, except for your comments.

Erik and Grant were both standing on the surf boards in the past two days. I was really proud of Grant for his last wipe-out, as he covered his head upon popping up for air. And, they're both good at it, too.

We're bunking down in Boston now -- and I guess we find ourselves in one of those 'hip' cities that Pittsburgh shouldn't try to become. See the comments for a new Allegh Institute report.

We'll hit a local UU Church on Sunday, Lexington and Concord tour and perhaps 5-wits.com as side trips. Perhaps we'll bump into Dave Copeland there. :)

Twins are our in future. Not ours -- more family visits. We didn't snag Stones nor Sox tickets, but have tuned into many of the games. So, we're not too, too "hip."

Disclaimer: As always, we have house sitters watching our pets as we are on the road. Nuff said.

At the beach

In Maine, summer 2005.

Summer Swimming Season Sendoff

We gathered this evening, with wonderful weather, at the Green Tree Swim Pool to celebrate a splendid year of summer swimming.

Here is a photo of myself and my two sons at one of this summer's swim meets.

Bill Straw, the head coach at Keystone Oaks High School, took the photo. He was our assistant coach this year.

I've got a lot of photos to organize and post in the months to come. Perhaps I'll start a "flashback" series and slip photos into the blog.

PA VERIFIED VOTING HOME PAGE

This site just came to my attention. What do you think?

PA VERIFIED VOTING HOME PAGE: "PA-VerifiedVoting.org

PAPER BALLOTS WITH ROUTINE AUDITS FOR PENNSYLVANIA'S ELECTIONS

What are Voter-Verified Paper Ballots (V-VPBs)?

Hardware for the kids

Green Tree Great White Sharks had its swim picnic and gives each participant a trophy. The ones on the team for five years get a special award. Medals were earned at the All Star Meet and the Championship Meet. 

Possible Casino Operators have been buying politicians for years.

The Post Gazette article on gambling money that flows to political candidates is a nice summary.

Gambling interests leave nothing to chance Groups and individuals with an interest in securing a state license for a slot machine casino in Pittsburgh have pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaigns of key state and local politicians during the past four years, with $137,550 coming after the gambling law was passed in 2004.

Gov. Ed Rendell has received $147,688 since 2002 from members of the development family that owns Station Square, a potential casino site. Since the gambling law was passed, he also has returned $15,000 from a license candidate.

He and other politicians who have received contributions from potential applicants say the donations will have no impact on who gets the lucrative license, which will be awarded by a state board appointed by Rendell and top legislative leaders.

The soft money is another major concern of mine. Untold millions have been put into various lobby interests and party interests too.

The state legislature has its own slush funds for the control of state-money, but there are other funds controlled by party that are for election efforts too. Real power comes as the various funds form a combination 1-2-3 punch. And on the bench sits a pipeline of addtional players who poised and perhaps poisoned with ambitions more giving to insure their sweetheart deals.

Some candidates have money. Some candidates have little. A great majority of candidates that have money did NOT get that money from the "support" of regular people who want "good government." Don't fool yourself. Most of the money came from people who want to buy off part of the system for their own benefit.

I am proud to say that I ran a campaign for state senate and was out spent 500-to-one by EACH of my opponents. Those guys spent money because the GAMBLING INTERESTS had given them money.

Goofy example: Gov. Rendell's money went to candidate Fontana, D, to be used to broadcast the message that candidate Diven, once a D now a R, voted for Gov Rendell's (D) budgets in the past.

The system doesn't make sense. And the scorecard used by the media to judge if a candidate is viable is not only worthless, it's harmful.

In 2005, I got 2,542 votes and raised $3,400. That means each vote cost about $1.33. In 2001 as a GOP candidate for Mayor, I got votes at $.60 each.

Meanwhile, in 2001 the big-boy Dems who ran for mayor got votes for $30 each. And in 2005, both of my state senate opponents raised nearly $1-million and got less than 20,000 votes for the victor and some 35,000 combined. They are in the range of $60 spent per vote, on average.

Reporters with newspapers and media should tell the public how much money the candidates need to spend to score a vote. What I'm talking about here is all election data that needs to be reported with different benchmarks. These numbers are easy to find and calculate.

Consider the other sums of cash that are spent in other ways from the operations of our governmental entities. Proclamations are given. Corporate welfare is given. Contracts are let without bids. So on and so forth.

Candidates who need to raise more than $10 a vote are not worthy to serve in public office.

Jerry Bowyer on Black and White Employment

BuzzCharts: Jerry Bowyer on Black and White Employment on NRO Financial The current black unemployment rate is at its lowest point since the recession year of 2001. Black unemployment is also lower than the average for the Clinton years.

I don't know the scope of those numbers. I image that they are nation-wide.

I wonder if the numbers for locals or for our region hold to the same outcomes?

At the end of the article, the author states "that African-American citizens tend to be closer to the Republican party on moral and cultural issues, but that they have been persuaded that Republican economics are detrimental to their interests." I'll not bicker with that statement. However, I'm not sure what Republican party he is speaking of. Some of the Republicans are heavy spenders. Gov. Ridge grew the government in PA while in office. The state house and state senate are controlled by Republicans and the budget and taxes are increasing too.

"... It could be game over for the Democrats."

Wishful thinking is always welcomed. Same too with educated thinking.

However, I don't expect to see a big outward migration of African-American voters away from the "D" and to the "R" side. That move is just too hard to make. Going from "BLUE" (i.e., blue state = Democratic Party) to "RED" is a massive jump. And, to get a massive amount of voters within a block to make that jump is a massive pipedream.

However, going away from "BLUE" and landing in a "middle ground" -- but not all the way to "RED" is a different saga and offers different outlooks. I think it is possible to get a large number of black-urban-northeast voters to leave the Democratic party. A major exodus is possible, should the right motivations be presented with gusto and reason. This is would be a major blow to the "new-deal alliance" that Bowyer mentioned.

But, I don't see massive number of people doing a switch like that of Anakin Skywalker. Anakin, a Star Wars character, went from Jedi to the dark side. Going from D to R is a massive shift that some can make -- but most won't. Sorry. That notion is just too radical, too bold, too much. Human nature and some issues about the present day Republicans are such that there won't be a massive parade of individuals joining the ranks of the GOP -- even if unemployment was set to zero.

A middle ground is needed.

I don't think that there are two sides. Even a coin has three sides: heads, tails and the edge. One can roll a coin or spin a coin on its edge better than if it is flat on heads or tails.

My political registration when away from "R" and I could not become a "D" -- because the top Democrat in Pittsburgh is Tom Murphy. I can't be in a party lead by Tom Murphy. The Ds have killed our city in many ways, politically.

I've found a home in a party that isn't "RED" nor "BLUE." It is more of a middle ground. It was an easy transition. It is well suited for me -- being a Libertarian.

Some Ds might become Libertarians. Some might be more at home in the Green Party. Some as Socialist Party Members. Some are okay to reject all parties and be an INDIE.

I think that the smartest Republicans can see the value in the exodus from the ranks of the Ds. But, insightful Rs can't expect the former Ds to join the Rs.

If Republicans worked to make ballot access, debate inclusion, and other political hurdles of free assocation easier to navigate, as expressed in the Constitution, then we all win.

Breakfast meeting with Mike T as a speaker.

Roges meet at the H.Inn near S.H. Village. That's State Rep, M.T., from the North Hills. He has family ties to the USC area. 

Understanding the New Markets Tax Credit Program and Its Importance to the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Region

Hold onto your wallets. Here is the latest ploy. If some running mates want to go -- take good notes and report back to us all, please.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005
8:00 a.m. until Noon
Buchanan Ingersoll PC, One Oxford Centre - 20th Floor, 301 Grant Street, Pittsburgh

Hosted by Congressman Mike Doyle, Allegheny County Councilman Dave Fawcett and the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area NMTC Community Development Fund Corporation invite you to attend a presentation on the New Markets Tax Credit ("NMTC") Program.

The NMTC Program has the potential to create both community development and financial rewards in Western Pennsylvania. Western Pennsylvania has been virtually ignored during the first three years of the NMTC Program. Congressman Doyle, County Council Member Fawcett, and the Corporation have taken the lead in an effort to change this and allow Western Pennsylvania to reap the benefits of the NMTC Program.

As a result, the presentation has been organized as a means of involving those persons whose professional and personal commitments lie in the community development area in support of an application for an award of tax credits under the NMTC Program that will be used solely for projects in Western Pennsylvania.

Prior to the presentation, program organizers encourage you to think of programs and projects within the scope of your organization's activities that are located in "low-income communities" and come to the meeting prepared to discuss the programs and projects and whether they qualify for the NMTC Program. Likewise, it would be helpful if would think about providing a commitment from your organization to support the Corporation's application under the NMTC Program. Your help will be of significant assistance to the Corporation in preparing a strong application for an allocation of NMTCs and increase its chances of success.

There is no charge for the presentation. Seating is limited.

Please RSVP at (412) 562-8437 or crimonek@bipc.com. If you have any questions in advance of the presentation, please call John Previs at (412) 562-8957 or previsjr@bipc.com.

Operation Clean Sweep askes: What to do about Judge CAPPY?

The Harrisburg Patriot News and concerned citizens groups are calling
on the Judicial Conduct Board to investigate Chief Justice Cappy's role in the recent pay grab by the Pennsylvania legislators.

It was recently discovered that Cappy met secretly with legislators. Cappy and all justices and judges also received a pay raise in the legislation. Following passage, Cappy publicly released a letter praising the "courage" of the legislators.

Cappy's problem stems from Articles 2 and 7 of the Code of Judicial Conduct which prohibits a judge from engaging in "political activity" and engaging in conduct that creates an "appearance of impropriety." Many believe lobbying legislators in secret is "political activity" and voicing approval of the legislators in a case that is sure to get to the Supreme Court creates an "appearance of impropriety."

OCS asks its members to join in on the call for an investigation by the Judicial Conduct Board by emailing a complaint to toni.schreffler@jcbpa.org. Let's keep the pot boiling!

Cornell: Conference on Language and Poverty in October, 2005

See the comments for details.