REI's grand opening in Pittsburgh: something special?

Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) is opening its first store (map) in Pittsburgh this weekend. Grand opening celebrations will run from this Friday (Oct 7) thru Sunday (Oct 9) at 412 S. 27th Street on the South Side.

During the grand opening celebrations, REI is going out of their way to attract bicyclists--they've arranged for Bike Pittsburgh volunteers to provide valet parking services to bikers in exchange for a $10 donation from REI to Bike Pittsburgh for each bike parked.

I'm happy that REI is coming to Pittsburgh. When I lived in California, I became a member of REI and often shopped at their stores. Yes, I became a member of a store. REI is a consumer co-op, meaning that for a one-time, $15 payment, anyone can become a member, which includes the right to collect "dividends" (an annual rebate on purchases) and the right to vote in elections for the Board of Directors. Another nice perk is the REI Visa card, which returns 1% of all purchases to the member in the form of the annual dividends--this is actual cash without all the gimmicks and limitations that other credit cards use.

So, does all of this make REI a "special" store? Or is REI just another big retail chain? I'm not sure yet, but I intend to shop there because the store offers a wide variety of high-quality goods. I haven't shopped around enough to know how well REI's prices compare with those of other stores because I often couldn't find REI's products at other stores; however, for the products that I did see at other stores, REI's prices were comparable, meaning that the annual dividend (up to 10%) is meaningful.

In many ways, REI does behave like any other retail chain. It started out in Seattle, but eventually opened stores all over the country, apparently without much concern for how this would affect the members in Seattle who established the store (as reported in Seattle Weekly). In the few years that I've been a member of REI, I've never voted for a board member--there just didn't seem to be any point to it. It seems that the only meaningful choice the members could make would be to transform the corporation into a network of locally owned stores; but as long as they provide good products at a reasonable price, there isn't a whole lot that I can say about the running of a nation-wide corporation.

REI does emphasize the contributions that they make to the community--they provide funds to maintain and improve trails and parks, they sponsor classes for neighbors, and they also provide support to groups like Bike Pittsburgh. The cynic in me notes that all of these activities serve to increase the market for REI's goods; however, they are honest activities and have good results--unlike, for example, how the Automobile Association of America lobbies for increased government subsidies for automobile use. The idealist (and optimist) in me thinks that REI may just be finding a good use for excess revenues since there are no capital owners expecting returns on their initial investments. Perhaps REI really does have a culture that values its customers and employees: even if Board elections don't allow the members to exert much control, perhaps the Board recognizes that the members expect it to act in a socially responsible manner and that's part of the reason that they continue to support the store.

Anyway, I suggest that you check out REI, and let me know if you have any opinions about its activities and organization.

One last note of interest is that the outdoors equipment market in Canada is dominated by a Co-op, the Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Voters guide effort just starting

Progress Pittsburgh Challenge

Q: Where can you find profiles of every candidate on the November ballot in the City of Pittsburgh?

A: Nowhere... yet!

We are calling on the entire progressive community of Pittsburgh -- all individuals and organizations who want to see better government in our region -- to pitch in and contribute to a community/volunteer driven effort to profile all of the candidates on the November ballot. Time is tight! With your help, we hope to have the basics in place by October 11. More information can be added between then and November 8, but we'd like to publish a printed guide, and for that we have a very tight deadline: October 18.

How to help:
1) View the existing voter guide in the Progress Pittsburgh Knowledge Base here: http://www.progresspittsburgh.org/DocumentPage.php?blockid=2111 -- and note that while we have pages for almost all the candidates, we're still missing a lot of information. If you see blanks, fill them in!

2) Post your interesting / relevant information on any of the candidates by editing their page. Instructions are here: http://www.progresspittsburgh.org/DocumentPage.php?blockid=145

This is a community effort, so let's get together as progressives and share our knowledge.

Questions? Email me at andrea@progresspittsburgh.org.

Thanks!

Andrea

Concert Series organized by Wilburn

Wilburn, the director of research for the Rauterkus.com campaign, is the organizer of this concert series. Here are the future dates.

Calliope Legends Concerts & The First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh Present the 2005-2006 Series

October 29 Ken Waldman with Mark Tamsula and Don Shean - www.kenwaldman.com

January 28 Lee Murdock - www.leemurdock.com

March 4 Lorna Bracewell - http://www.lornabracewell.com

March 25 Isla - http://islamusic.com

April 8 Coyote - http://www.coyotemusic.net

All concerts begin at 8 PM and are held at First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, 605 Morewood Avenue, Shadyside (at the intersection of Morewood & Ellsworth Avenues). Admission for the Evening is $15.00 at the Door, Students only pay $5.

Workshops are from 2:00 – 4:00 PM.

Catch each performer live on the Saturday Light Brigade (SLB) 88.3 WRCT- FM, with Larry Berger morning of concert.

Cleaning up the world one city at a time...

It looks like the theme for me this week will be "Pollution and alternative transportation."

Here's another good article from the science magazine Nature: Cities offer hope for cleaner world. The article surveys the pollution reduction programs that have been implemented in several cities and discussed at a recent conference of city governments.

Representatives of more than 20 world cities have gathered in London to trade ideas on how to address climate change. The summit is the first to bring together city leaders, rather than national governments, to discuss attempts at reducing greenhouse emissions....

We should expect cities governments to be more effective at pollution reduction than national governments because..."cities have control of transport, managing waste and future planning..."

Cities are also the place where most of the world's people live. This year, the proportion of the world population living in urban areas passed 50% for the first time. And because of their dense transport and power systems, cities account for 75% of the world's energy use.

The solutions covered at this conference apply to cities ranging from London and New York to Curitiba, Brazil. With such variety, I expect that Pittsburgh could find some solutions that are applicable here.

Save Gas, Money and the Environment with Properly Inflated Tires

A student group at Carnegie Mellon University surveyed the tire pressure of a bunch of cars parked on campus and concluded that on average, the drivers of these cars could save $432 a year (by increasing fuel efficiency) just by keeping their tires properly inflated. Of course, this also includes reductions in air pollution and gasoline consumption.

I know that America could accomplish many great things if we took small steps such as this to stop wasting our resources, and then reinvested those resources in ourselves and our communities. Kudos to Carnegie Mellon's Sustainable Earth Club for identifying a simple way to make a better world.

Treehugger: Bicycle Sales Are Exploding

With Mark out of town, I'll be trying to keep some interesting content on this blog. Here's an interesting report via Treehugger: Bicycle Sales Are Exploding.

Tea time! Brewing, Delivering, Distilling. Revolutionary kick-off.

One lump or two?

Secure the flavors of your choice. Insert your ideas and requests in the comments below.

I've got a new email blast that is going to go out from Hong Kong early next week. I'm calling Pittsburgh to join together and make a new, prudent revolution based upon ideas and deeds of common-sense governmental leadership. More to come shortly. But, what kind of tea fits your fancy? Orders please. Insert them into the comments section of this blog.

CollegeSwimming.com - Pittsburgh kid moves to coach at LSU

CollegeSwimming.com David Geyer, an assistant coach at Mecklenburg Aquatics for the past three seasons, has been named an assistant coach for the LSU swimming team, head coach Adam Schmitt announced Thursday.

Geyer, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., comes to LSU with five years of coaching experience in the collegiate and club levels. He will serve as recruiting coordinator for the Tigers, a post the 28-year old has experience in.

'He brings ability, organization and direction to our recruiting efforts here at LSU,' said Schmitt. 'His enthusiastic approach is an asset that will follow through with the things needed to help this program be successful. He also displays a tremendous ability of learning and leadership, values that will help lead us to our team goals.'

While at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club in Charlotte, N.C., Geyer worked with associate head coach Morgan Bailey. Before his three-year stint at Mecklenburg, Geyer served as an assistant at his alma mater of Shippensburg University from 1999-2001. He helped train all levels of athletes from developmental to national in his two seasons there.

A talented athlete himself, Geyer was a four-time All-American in relays at Shippensburg. He graduated from Shippensburg with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1999 before receiving his master's degree in counseling in 2001.

'I am excited and thrilled to be a part of a school that takes so much pride and has tremendous tradition in its collegiate athletics program,' said Geyer. 'As a part of this staff, I hope to assist and take the program to a higher level of performance.'

CollegeSwimming.com

CollegeSwimming.com: "The American Swimming Association University League is an association of student-run swim clubs from colleges and universities across the United States. ASA U., the first national collegiate club swimming league, was founded in response to the elimination of so many college and university swimming teams across the country. ASA U. welcomes all swim clubs affiliated with higher-education institutions and supports them in their inception, with hosting meets, as well as offering means of pooling resources, negotiating benefits, and setting standards for collegiate clubs. For more information and to join our effort to expand opportunities for college swimmers.

NCAA - coaching job for rasslers at Clarion

NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association Job Description Assistant Wrestling Coach Clarion University of Pennsylvania, a Division I Institution member in wrestling and member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and ...

Weisel Hostel, Creekside Art Sale

The second annual event was from noon to 4 pm.

A group of local artists and artisans give the opportunity to browse their collections. Perfect chance to get to know local artists, sip cider, listen to good music, or hike along the beautiful Tohickon Creek. Bring the whole family.

212 536 8749

The facility resides in a state park and is operated by Bucks County Dept. of Parks & Recreation.

My sister and brother-in-law, Geri Ann and John, live there and have house responsibilities.

Amusement Parks, Octoberfest, Casinos

Some have suggested that the new Pittsburgh Gambling Parlor be put at the Parkway Center Mall -- very near to Green Tree, yet within the borders of the City of Pittsburgh.

Octoberfest in Green Tree is this weekend. While at the Octoberfest, around the booth of the Green Tree Great White Sharks, I'll ask what the locals think of that idea.

The photo is of a defunct amusement park outside of Beijing. We passed this site on the way to The Great Wall. It looks like Disney. But, we'll be going to Hong Kong Disney on Tuesday. I'll take a few snapshots. Disney is getting some bad karma as it said it intends to open another Disney in a few years in mainland China. That won't be near Beijing, but near the other mega city, Shanghai.

The Parkway Center Mall idea for gambling has a few merits as it is already built, near a highway, near some hotels and the mall is hurting presently. But, it isn't as good as putting the new gambling casino within the existing Convention Center.

Voters should get to choose. Which one do you like?

Voters Choice Act -- Rally

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2005

For more information contact:
- Ken Krawchuk at 267-496-3332
- David Jahn at 610-461-7755

"VOTERS CHOICE ACT" RALLY HELD IN HARRISBURG

The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition held a kickoff rally to introduce their Voters Choice Act last Saturday, September 24th, in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. A crowd of 40 supporters gathered to hear representatives from Pennsylvania's largest third parties and independent campaigns. Among the speakers were the 1998 and 2002 Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Ken Krawchuk, Libertarian Party state chair David Jahn, former Green Party state chair Jennaro Pullano, Constitution Party national chairman Jim Clymer, Reform Party state treasurer Tom McLaughlin, John Murphy of the Ralph Nader campaign, and the 2004 Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik. High-resolution photos of the rally can be found at http://tinyurl.com/cht8k.

"We are heading for a political train wreck in 2006," Libertarian Ken Krawchuk told the crowd. "Over one million voting-age Pennsylvanians risk being denied their right to vote for the candidate of their choice." Because of a fluke in the existing ballot access laws, third party and independent candidates will need to collect approximately 100,000 signatures in order to appear on the statewide ballot in 2006, as compared to less than 3,000 for the two old parties.

Green Party's Jennaro Pullano focused on the impossibility of organizing so mammoth a petition drive. "Last year we had to work around the clock for four days to get our petitions ready for submission. I don't know how we'll be able to do it when the number is 100,000. That's the equivalent of getting everyone here in Harrisburg to sign our petition."

Jim Clymer of the Constitution Party noted that if Utah had Pennsylvania's ballot access laws, the Democrats would not be a political party, and if Massachusetts had them, the Republicans would not be a political party. "The major parties have conspired to make Pennsylvania one of the most difficult states in the nation to acquire permanent ballot access so they can maintain a monopoly stranglehold on the electoral process", Clymer concluded.

Reform Party's Tom McLaughlin focused on the statistics that result from Pennsylvania's draconian laws, specifically, that if not for third party candidates, 27% of the Congressional races would have no opposition, 28% of state senate races, and a whopping 56% of state rep races. "Republicans and Democrats try to muddy the waters or write us off as third parties", McLaughlin said. "We are not third parties, we are the only functional SECOND Party!"

John Murphy of the Ralph Nader campaign described in detail the extreme lengths that Pennsylvania Democrats went in order to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot, concluding that, "The very magnitude of that effort itself indicates that, under any conception of a democratic system, it is that very person who should be on the ballot!"

Libertarian David Jahn pointed out how third parties hold their own primaries at their own expense, then collect tens of thousands of signatures to get on the November ballot, while the two old parties benefit from taxpayer-funded primaries, then require no signatures to get on the November ballot. "This is a process that is not healthy, as it permits the major parties to run and elect sub par candidates with ease while our candidates are overwhelmed with ballot access hurdles."

At a reception immediately after the rally, the 2004 Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik addressed the crowd, comparing Pennsylvania's bad ballot access laws to the Jim Crow laws of old, since they create a second class citizenship supported by law.

The complete text of the remarks of the presenters can be found on the Coalition's website at www.PaBallotAccess.org.

The Voters Choice Act reforms Pennsylvania's draconian ballot access laws by leveling the playing field for third parties and independent candidates. Under the current law, Democrats and Republicans must collect 2,000 signatures to have their names placed on the statewide primary ballot, and none at all for the November ballot. However, to have their names placed on the November ballot in 2006, third party and independent candidates will be required to collect a minimum of 67,070 signatures, more than 33 times as many, despite a Constitutional provision that "Elections shall be free and equal".

The Voters Choice Act would change the definition of a minor political party from the current district-by-district electoral formula (2% of a recent winner's vote total) to one based upon statewide voter registrations (0.05%), and allow minor political parties to nominate candidates for all offices directly according to their party rules, and at their own expense, rather than by the existing, taxpayer-funded nomination papers process. Independent candidates would continue to nominate candidates for all offices via the current nomination papers process, but using the same signature requirements required of the two old parties rather than the current district-by-district electoral formula (2% of a recent winner's vote total).

A copy of the Voters Choice Act and its accompanying white paper can be found on the Coalition's website at www.PaBallotAccess.org.

The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition is an association of representatives from Pennsylvania's largest political third parties and independent campaigns, including the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the Constitution Party, the America First Party, the Reform Party, the Prohibition Party, the Socialist Party, the Unified Independent Party, the New American Independent Party, and the Ralph Nader campaign, among others.

The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition
PO Box 309
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
www.PaBallotAccess.org
PBAC@PaBallotAccess.org
Voice: (610) 543-8427
Fax: (215) 572-9248

Possible tone for the pending city council race: Matching seriousness of Old Faithful

Old Faithful. It's a technical place that happens in rare instances with the right conditions. It's more than just "hot air." It's something to marvel upon and respect. A treasure.

Going to the Opera -- In Italian -- with two intermissions!

The opera goers gathered outside of the school and the center on South Side. They headed to the cultural district after getting the insights into the opera at a class a few days prior. This is a wonderful program that my kids and wife enjoy. I got to take the photo.


Headed to the opera.

The show has two intermissions -- much like a hockey game with three periods. I expected that my youngest would be sleeping throughout the show, prior to departure. Wrong. He was on the edge of his seat all night. They arrived home after midnight. The sleep part came on Saturday morning.

Jennifer Madge, our violin instructor, played first chair too.

Big games -- or not

Pitt is behind, 27 to 0 in the second quarter at RUTGERS.

Big weekend of Red Sox baseball, hosting the Yankees.

My call-in to Pippy on KDKA-radio about the 5% windfall shrink to 0%

The South Hills' John Pippy, R, was on KDKA radio talking about the plan in Harrisburg that NUKES the provision that allows for a 5-percent windfall for taxing bodies as a result of new property assessments. Presently, a community with a new assessment can get up to a five-percent bump in gross tax incomes. So, for exmaple, the Penn Hills School District, which is part of Allgheny County, would have all of its properties with new assessment figures because the county did a re-assessment. The old values of the properties would up up to X. Then the new values of the properties would up up to Y. The law has said that Y can be up to 5% greater than X.

In essence, the present law kept the total municipal property gross close to zero, with a little wiggle room, i.e., the 5% fudge factor.

Some argue that the municipality can "raise taxes" by five percent without voting on a tax hike. Rather, the taxes were raised under the cover of the reassesement's new figures.

The controller's office, once held by Dan Onorato, needed to crunch the numbers and then could have taken a case to the courts fighting local school districts or boroughs who set the taxing levels too high so that the 5% limit was over-stepped.

The tax rates and the math that is matched with the new property values isn't "rocket science." However, the numbers are not simple and transparent for citizens nor elected officials as the benchmark is found within the sum of all municipality's properties.

Furthermore, the new assessment numbers are often in a state of flux. High percentage of people apply for appeals. So, the sum of the assessments is a moving target. Estimates are necessary within the process. Additionally, the county executive often makes blankt-changes to the forumlas and jacks around with the outcomes.

In a perfect, ideal world, no tax increases should occur without a vote for the tax increases. So, a zero windfall makes sense. But, we don't live in an ideal world.

Plus, this won't be enforced. It is a joke. It is a ploy. The legisilation is lame and feel good from Harrisburg represenatives --as usual. The new law doesn't get to the roots of the problem.

There have been many municipalities that have broken the existing five-percent windfall rule and NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. If the law gets broken and nothing happens with its enforcement -- then the law isn't worthy.

Another serious issue that was downplayed on the radio by Pippy, as a result of my on-air question, goes to 'new development.' Pippy said that this is not a big deal and he's wrong. Statewide, he is very wrong.

For example, there are many rural communities that are turning farmlands into new suburban housing. A township can see a new development with 600 or 6,000 new homes and need to take that into account when making the tax incomes match the citizen services. A community might need new police, new road crews, new garbage pick-up crews and streetlights -- because of new developments. So, the new law puts the township supervisors in a pickle.

What if Homestead, the site of the Waterfront Mall, had to keep its total tax incomes at zero -- the year that the Mall opened. Do police not cruise the mall and just go to those who paid the same from last year?

The new law needs to make some allowances for new growth and new tax incomes that were not there the past year -- and not have that included to the zero windfall benchmark.

Duhh!

The PA zero windfall proposal is a lot like zero tolerance in schools as well. A first grade kid that wears a Pirate costume to school for Halloween shouldn't be suspended for two weeks because of his sword and the zero weapon rule that ties the hands of administrators and teachers.

If Pippy wanted to do a better job -- put out the numbers from past tax increases from past assessments on a district by district basis. Then, go after the entities that took more than a 5-percent windfall. Pippy and others should enforce the existing law before they go ahead and create a new law.

If Pippy wanted to do a better job -- talk about and study, as well as enact, a different type of law that applies to an individuals tax situation that hits with new assessment figures. We need each household to add the numbers together and fight the good fight with tools that impact families -- NOT GROSS MUNICIPAL INCOMES.

Assessment buffering is needed. If we had assessment buffering -- we'd not need any ZERO WINDFALL LAW. And, assessment buffering, a point that I campaigned upon in my race for State Senate in 2005, makes a perfect solution for every tax payer throughout the state.

TCS: Tech Central Station - The Technorati Candidate

By all accounts, I'm a wired citizen and from time to time, a wired candidate. However, I've not yet gone overboard to predict a victory and only earn 5% of the vote.

TCS: Tech Central Station - The Technorati Candidate In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore found out that it was possible to win the popular vote, and still lose the electoral vote. In last week's Democratic primary for New York City Public Advocate, Andrew Rasiej found out that it was possible to win the blogger vote, and still lose the popular vote.

For the two months leading up to the primary election on September 13, Rasiej captured the hearts and minds of bloggers like no other candidate since Howard Dean with a technology-centric campaign that included a plan for citywide wireless Internet access, a video blog (in addition to a regular blog), and a plan for making 911 calls from the NYC subway. On the day preceding the election, in fact, 'Rasiej' ranked as one of the ten most popular search terms on the blog search engine Technorati. Anyone convinced of the power of the blogosphere to determine the fate of political careers (Trent Lott, anyone?) would surely have guessed that Mr. Rasiej was on the cusp of sweeping into office with a broad new mandate to revolutionize politics.

Massachusetts moves ahead sans Microsoft | CNET News.com

Five years ago I had a platform plank that called for actions like this. The movement is now, finally, taking root in the US in other states with better awareness of technology policy.

At times, it can be hard to show what isn't there. No Microsoft to oil the palm.

Massachusetts moves ahead sans Microsoft | CNET News.com Massachusetts has finalized its decision to standardize desktop applications on OpenDocument, a format not supported by Microsoft Office.
The state on Wednesday posted the final version of its Enterprise Technical Reference Model, which mandates new document formats for office productivity applications.
As it proposed late last month before a comment period, Massachusetts has decided to use only products that conform to the Open Document Format for Office Applications, or OpenDocument, which is developed by the standards body OASIS.

Thanks for the tip, Amos_thePokerCat.