D-day nears for lesser-known candidates

If this is D-Day, then I'm about to parachute behind enemy lines some 48 hours before the other troups storm the beach. Frankly, I'll be hitting the beach on August 2, as we take a week long trip to the east coast to see family.

But my petitions are now notorized. I've got more flowing into me from some other sources. They'll go out in a next day envelope on Thursday, I expect.

Philadelphia Daily News | 07/26/2006 | D-day nears for lesser-known candidates D-day nears for lesser-known candidates
Deadline's Aug. 1 for nominating papers
By BOB WARNER warnerb@phillynews.com 215-854-5885

Time is running out for independent and third-party candidates hoping to get onto Pennsylvania ballots in November.

With less than a week to file nomination papers before an Aug. 1 deadline, none of the potential statewide candidates has yet assembled the 67,070 voter signatures needed.

Russ Diamond, a founder of the PA CleanSweep campaign to dump state lawmakers who supported the legislative pay boost last summer, said yesterday that his campaign for governor has only 25,000 signatures in hand.

Hundreds of petitions with additional signatures are still making the rounds, but Diamond described it as 'a close call' whether he'll collect enough.

'This is the week we're standing by the post office box, waiting for the stuff to come in,' Diamond said.

Pa. gaming board gets loan to keep running

PennLive.com: NewsFlash - Pa. gaming board gets loan to keep running HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's slot-machine gambling agency has received an infusion of more than $10 million in loans from two other state agencies to keep it afloat, a Treasury Department spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The Treasury Department signed off on Monday on the transfer to the Gaming Control Board of $6.6 million from the Revenue Department and $3.85 million from the State Police, said Treasury spokeswoman Karen Walsh.

The funds come from $36.1 million the Legislature appropriated for the startup of slot-machine gambling in Pennsylvania, a project still in the developmental stage that backers hope will generate $1 billion annually for property-tax relief. Tax relief, right. Such a joke. What they are doing and what they promised are not the same. This is shameful.

Voters may see plans to downsize council - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Voters may see plans to downsize council - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Motznik said a seven-member council would cut costs, increase efficiency of government and still allow enough seats for minority representation across the city. A five-member council would be too small, he said.

Motznik's plan is a hedge. It is less political, because it is less urgent. So, it is less effective in its roll out. The theme of too little and too late comes to the forefront again from this council.

I still think that council and every elected official in the city should be living on half of its pay until the OVERLORDS are removed from the landscape. We've got ICA and Act 47 still here. Once they are gone, then normal pay could resume. And, the ICA and Act 47 folks should only get their full pay once the job is done and the city stays OUT of its financial crisis. Pay them a small retainer and put the funds into escrow.

I think the real problem is yet to be addressed. City council needs to be a legislative body. They need to write ordinances. They don't need to follow-up on pot holes. They need to oversee the spending. They need to write a budget and plan on financial matters. For the reasons that are obvious, they fail at what they are to do and then go ahead and do other things that they should NOT be doing.

Council needs to stick to its jobs. The Mayor needs to stick to the administration's jobss. But, we've had TOM MURPHY that fired the Mayor's Complaint Center staff. And we've had council folks who gladly filled those roles because they didn't understand what really needed to be done.

USA Swimming - 20 Questions for David Salo

USA Swimming - 20 Question Tuesday Archive Dave Salo has gone from a high-profile club coaching job to being the head coach at the University of Southern California. He talks about the challenges he faces, and what it means to hear from his former swimmers in this week’s 20 Question Tuesday with special correspondent Bob Schaller.

Judge orders Slippery Rock to reinstate female teams

Pushing polo into the front page.
Just last night we introduced dozen of kids on our swim team to water polo, playing an organized game of keep-a-way with caps and a ball in the last half-hour of a swim team pool party. Then the next day, the P-G runs a story on water polo on its front page.

Our three day water polo clinic is to start on Thursday this week.

We swim against the community team in Slippery Rock. This winter we went to SRU and had a meet and we all talked about this program closing a good bit. I sent along a letter to the school speaking my displeasure of the decisions.

Judge orders Slippery Rock to reinstate female teams Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania must reinstate its women's swimming and water polo teams after a judge ruled its decision to drop them violated federal Title IX guidelines.

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CollegeSwimming.com: Eight Slippery Rock University swimmers and head coach Jim Yeamans have sought legal methods to preserve their program. In January, the University announced the elimination of the men's and women's programs along with six others in an effort to shave $350,000 from a $2 million deficit. Rachael Bienias, Beth Choike, Heather Walbright, Jessica Student, Liz Penning, Laura Sanford, Emily Campbell, and Sarah Sander, along with four other non-swimmers are seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting Slippery Rock from cutting the sports. The suit was filed in District Court in Pittsburgh with assistance from the Women's Law Project.

Soccer: Extreme Makeover for USA next spotlight team

SI.com - SI Exclusive - Soccer: Extreme Makeover - Tuesday July 25, 2006 1:08PM A year out from World Cup 2007, the U.S. women's team is younger, more creative -- and as brash as ever

After the U.S.'s disappointing first-round exit at the recent World Cup, the attention of U.S. Soccer has already shifted toward the new-look women's team, which is in the midst of a six-month residency outside Los Angeles in preparation for the 2007 Women's World Cup in China. And while the purpose of its three-game exhibition series this month is to develop chemistry among the many new players on the roster -- the Americans will look for their fifth straight win of 2006 when they meet Canada this Sunday in Cary, N.C. -- forward Abby Wambach can't help but take a playful dig at her male counterparts. 'We're trying to get a couple of games under our belt,' says Wambach, 26, cracking a wry smile, 'and give some of the American fans a good soccer team to watch.' (Ouch, babe.)

TalkShoe - Talkcast - The Vigilant American

TalkShoe - Talkcast - The Vigilant American: "The Vigilant American"

Champions!

Combined Team Scores

Place Team Points

1 Crafton Crocodiles Swim Team - CROCS - 999
2 Scott Township Swim Team - SCOTT - 791
3 Mt. Lebanon Piranhas - LEBO - 679
4 Green Tree Swim Team - GT - 546
5 South Fayette Summer Swim Team - SF - 342

Are all created equal -- or not?

Podcast in MP3 format from Russ Diamond.

Jumping into the fun!

Heroic in the wake of Katrinia -- and fallout since. This Doctor had been at UPMC

My Friends:

I write, with regret, to inform you that one of our dear friends and most respected colleagues, Dr. Anna Maria Pou, is in urgent need of your support. Please read this message and join me in helping her.

Anna is a distinguished surgeon and teacher who has earned national recognition for her contributions to the field of Otolaryngology. Anna was on duty at New Orleans’ Memorial Medical Center during the week of hurricane Katrina last year. The city was inundated with flood waters, the hospital was left without power in 100-degree-plus heat, and the prevailing conditions were absolutely desperate. As most people know, there was no rescue for people left behind until almost a week after the hurricane.

Dr. Pou worked tirelessly for nearly six days helping the seriously ill patients and also the hundreds of people who sought shelter in the hospital. The conditions were unspeakably poor, and in the soaring temperatures with no water or food, many patients (nearly 40 individuals) died, despite great effort to save them. The majority of those patients were elderly people who had been admitted to the hospital’s LifeCare unit, a place typically reserved for long-term care and for terminally ill persons. Some of the others who died were frail older people who had been transferred to Memorial from area nursing homes. A few were younger people who succumbed to lesser illnesses that were exacerbated by the extreme state of affairs.

By personal accounts from nurses, doctors, administrators, and support personnel who knew Dr. Pou, and had worked with her closely in the months before Katrina, her work during the crisis was “heroic”, “selfless”, and “distinguished”. With a handful of other dedicated doctors and nurses, she worked without sleep and without nourishment, and she declined an early opportunity to evacuate the hospital in order to care for those who still needed help. At great self-sacrifice, she prevented further loss of life and has been credited with saving multiple people from dying.

Apparently there were a few individuals in the hospital who could not understand why so many people were dying. Allegations were made, egregiously accusing Dr. Pou and the others of giving too much narcotic pain medication, even using the word “euthanasia”. This attracted national news coverage which became absurdly sensationalistic. Because of the widespread news coverage, an official investigation was launched.

Dr. Pou has now been arrested and accused of 2nd degree murder, along with several nurses. The reaction of experienced legal and medical observers is that the investigation was handled unprofessionally, conducted outside official jurisdiction, and that the conclusions have been based on disputable information.

It is my expectation that once all the facts are known, Dr. Pou will be recognized as one of several compassionate, dedicated professionals who did the best they could do under absolutely desperate circumstances, and that all allegations of misconduct will be shown to be unfounded.

However, her defense will be very costly, and it will not be covered by malpractice insurance. Therefore Dr. Pou’s professional reputation AND her personal assets are at substantial risk. Remember, this kind of thing could happen to any of us who happen to be on call when a disaster strikes.

We have organized a legal defense fund to help her fight this battle. I am asking you to consider making a contribution of $500 to $1000, or more if you can do so, as soon as you possibly can.

Donations can be sent to our office at the address below.

Please make checks out to:

Anna Pou MD Defense Fund

Please help.

Respectfully submitted,
Daniel W. Nuss, MD, FACS
Professor and Chairman
LSU Department of Otolaryngology
Head and Neck Surgery
533 Bolivar Street, 5th Floor ENT Suite
New Orleans, LA 70112

Proposal for Relay Carnival as part of the SHSSC, South Hills Summer Swim Clubs

This did not get approved, but the existing relay carnival meet was a downer, IMHO.

Comcast Kiss-Butts. Testing 1, 2. Testing. Did anyone hear that?

Shortly after PA's infamous Great Pay Raise of July 7, 2005, the leader in the fight against the legislature recorded a 5 minute interview to be aired
across Pennsylvania on the CNN Headline News channel.

But Comcast never aired it.

Could it be that Comcast was loathe to show a government critic after they got $40 million in "economic development" aid from the state? Could it be in deference one of their most famous employees, a governor-turned-sports commentator? Or could it be that they were afraid to offend Comcast Newsmakers' biggest population of interviewees - incumbents running for re-election?

We'll let you decide for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXR-WU8y-pA

Can meat be green?

We'll find out today at our Sunday Church Service at Sunnyhill. Break a leg Lee.

Blog from Anne Feeney's Relation -- and Leaving Lebanon on a Turkish Highway

Great cities have died, New Orleans and now Lebanon. This is tragic.

This pointer came in Anne Feeney's blast email. She was due to travel there.

blog.myspace.com/40188690 Once the fighter jets leave and the smoke clears, Lebanon is going to have hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to repair just to get back to a base to rebuild the economy. The tourism industry will be set back another 10 years. And to finance this reconstruction, Lebanon will be forced to borrow heavily from international institutions largely dominated by the US. So as the Lebanese begin to gather their lives back together, Israel�s closest ally will take on an increasingly influential position in Lebanon.

Teen hero 'just doing my job' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Laurel was at the Championship Swim Meet this morning and we talked. She is also a member of the Green Tree Great White Sharks (swim team). I was a volunteer coach and board member with that team last year, when she was also on the team.

Laurel is a hero. Sure, she did the job in the right way in the right time as a lifeguard. But there is more. She is a solid person and with a great attitude and a gem to be around.

Teen hero 'just doing my job' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review A member of the Keystone Oaks Girls swim team, Martinez has been an avid swimmer since she was 4 years old and hopes to continue swimming competitively in college. She is a lifeguard at the South Hills Jewish Community Center in Scott.

Amy Torcaso, manager at Dormont Pool, is proud of the way her lifeguards responded to the incident.

'Laurel did what needed to be done. They all did,' Torcaso said. 'This reinforced the fact that we have trained them well.'

The lifeguards' work impressed Jane Mitchell, a regular swimmer at the pool.

'They didn't stop for even one second,' said Mitchell, 74, of Dormont. 'Everyone ought to be proud of the lifeguards we have here.'

Undefeated -- and victors at Championships

The Summer Swimming Championships were held today -- and we won! The Craton Crocs won by more than 200 points, over Scott Township, Mt. Lebo, Green Tree and South Fayette.

The meet was run well and hosted at Scott. Hats off to all the volunteers.

Our squad was solid without any weakness, despite the usual rash of vacations.

For the family, in the 11-12 boys breastroke -- Erik won and Danny (also of Crafton) got 2nd. Erik's Medley Relay won too.

Grant's 8-under free relay won as well.

The All-Star Meet is slated for WEDNESDAY.

Pew Internet - Bloggers, new storytellers

Pew Internet: Pew Internet - Bloggers Bloggers: A portrait of the internet's new storytellers

Summary: A national phone survey of bloggers finds that most are focused on describing their personal experiences to a relatively small audience of readers and that only a small proportion focus their coverage on politics, media, government, or technology. Blogs, the survey finds, are as individual as the people who keep them. However, most bloggers are primarily interested in creative, personal expression – documenting individual experiences, sharing practical knowledge, or just keeping in touch with friends and family.

Blog readership is up, way up. But same too is blog authoring. Most bloggers are unpublished elsewhere -- but I find it more telling that 44% say that they have published elsewhere.

I think that there are some major distinctions to understand. For example, some kids can swim while other kids are swimmers. Likewise with blogging. Some bloggers are writters while others are story tellers. For many bloggers, they tinker with the tools of the times and have little to say. Meanwhile some are brief because they don't craft the story nor do they resemble sotry-tellers.

Here is another example. Some can play music on a CD player. Others can make music -- by singing along. Yet the singer/songwritter is a musician who can compose, communicate and craft works that make culture.

Same too with blogging, blog readership, commenting and authoring to a degree. It takes all sizes and shapes, but at first blush it is not obvious as to who's up to what because.

Most bloggers do not think that they are doing 'journalism' and that is depressing. We need more citizen jouralists. We really need them in Pittsburgh.

Steroids' side effects keep O'Connor in the hospital

Steroids' side effects keep O'Connor in the hospital

One of the things that is going to stink about this -- as far as a human interest story -- is the MAYOR's CUP. That's a tournament of baseball and softball games with various ages. In a couple of weeks they'll play at PNC Park. Hope Bob can attend. Bob is a big supporter of baseball.

S. Side group backs Station Square casino plan

File this under the category: "You can't bite the hand that feeds you."

I didn't attend the press event at 10 am at Cafe Allegro, but would have wanted to had I not been at swim practice until noon. Reactions from others welcome, about the facts.

I don't put a lot of 'faith' into the acts of the SSLDC. I've been at odds with them most of the time. They don't really represent citizens. Yet they (SSLDC) would try to grab that power and credit. They are a group in our community. But the SSLDC does not represent the community.

The SSLDC has been pushing the "south sider bus," funded by the Station Square money. Remember the folly of the Ultra Violet Loop. We're talking same sillyness.

The SSLDC must figure, and perhaps rightly so, that the Station Square project has some upside. But, if they are on the outside, their wishes won't get the play. So, they've sold their soul to the devel -- or just sold out by taking the first land grab.

Them theirs gold in thar hills -- and we're grabbing for it.

S. Side group backs Station Square casino plan: "S. Side group backs Station Square casino plan
Community group to receive money from developer

Thursday, July 20, 2006
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The South Side Development Co. today endorsed Forest City Enterprises' proposal for a slots casino at Station Square and agreed to work with the developer on the impact of the casino if it is built.

Months and months ago, folks were trying to sway me to embrace the Isle of Capri plan by coming out strongly against the Station Square location for gambling. That thinking is twisted in its own way too.

I'll need to get to the heart of the matter in the next posting, as to if they are putting on the pressure to do the right things -- or just worry about facade elements and roofs that are not black. So, my question to my neighbors and the SSLDC folks -- is this a skin deep endorsement as expected or is there some real issues that are being tackled?