Hill clergy lead effort to rebuff slots casino in Hill

OMG. That's short for either Oh my gosh. Or, in this case, might as well say, Oh My God!

Hill clergy lead effort to rebuff slots casino in Hill 'We don't want it in Pittsburgh, period. If it must come, let it go to the North Side or Station Square. We don't want it near our residential district,' he said.

Bless their souls too.

The ministers are now backing the plan for the casino placement at either the North Shore or at Station Square. That makes sense.

They are right in saying that few people live near the Station Square and the North Shore site. Those locations are already entertainment destinations. They are not residential areas.

But what kills the story is the fact that they hit upon Toyna Payne of Pittsburgh's City Council but gave a free pass to Gov. Ed Rendell. It was Rendell that was the one who put gambling into our local landscape. It was the state reps who passed the bills to allow it to arrive.

If the ministers had been against Ed Rendell in the past season, I'd have more understanding of their actions now.

The ministers are saying good things -- but it is too little and too late.

Russ Diamond was a candidate for Governor and he wanted to get rid of the gambling law. He wanted to nuke the entire bill.

Rev. Tom Smith of Monumental Baptist Church said, in the article, "This is our first action to ensure that the spiritual and economic well-being of this community is not compromised." The first action should not come a month before the final decision is announced. The news is expected December 20, 2006.

Folks, it is good to speak up. It is always good to speak up. When you speak up late -- fine. Do it. But, we really need more people to speak up sooner.

Frankly, the Isle of Capri plan should not be considered because of the silence treatment the public has been subject too from the Penguins. The "Lockstep Boosterism" and "contract agreements" of non-statements between the NHL's Penguins and the Isle of Capri effort to secure a gambling casino sucks.

The closed-mindedness stinks. It is only matched by the other killer action of hatching deals behind closed doors.

If the Penguins and Isle of Capri want to get into bed with each other -- fine. They can hop in bed with each other on their own time, and with their own dime too. Don't expect to win a public license for an exclusive gambling license from under the covers. Don't wager a secrecy campaign in our public spaces where we have the calling to be concerned as citizens, neighbors and taxpayers.

The pathway that the Penguins, as an organization, has taken is sad. I had hoped that the new ownership group would have been more bold and open-source in their ways. This amounts to a communications deal. And, the Blackberry's screen has gone blank.

The Penguins have fumbled an opportunity to connect with the city and region. But, fumbles don't really happen in hockey as the puck sits on the ice.

The Penguin ploy was to rush the ice with wave after wave of public officials to speak in support of the new arena. They had line changes down pat in the first period. They went to an early lead, sure. But once the counter-attacks came, the only defense was to field multiple goalies.

The entire process is built upon some false hopes. The new arena isn't the top priority. Oh well.

Retired sheriff to plead guilty to macing

The backlashes around Pittsburgh are real. The culture of corruption and insider tricks could use a big kick in the pants.

Retired sheriff to plead guilty to macing Recently retired Sheriff Pete DeFazio is expected to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count in federal court tomorrow -- the culmination of a more than five-year investigation into corruption in the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office.

Mr. DeFazio, who retired at the end of October, will plead guilty to macing. That charge is defined as denying a benefit to a government employee for not contributing to a particular candidate or political party.

Time will tell if this is the wake up call that is necessary.

We can dream, can't we?

City teams with Garfield businessman to provide bikes to needy

City teams with Garfield businessman to provide bikes to needy A Pittsburgh police officer walked into a Garfield bike shop two years ago, introduced himself, told the owner about some unclaimed bikes at the nearby East Liberty station and asked if he'd 'tune them up' so they'd be safe to give to needy children at Christmas.

'Sure,' said Jerry Kraynick. 'Let's take a look at them.'

Sure. Everyone should have a bike. But, I really want to say that everyone should have a safe bike ride on a safe bike lane on the roads.

Bikes need to be taken off of the sidewalks. Bikes on the riverfront trails are nice. But we need to bike to work, to shop, to church, to schools, to friends, to life!

Bike lane along a road in China.

Bike lanes look like this in Eurpoe. Big Ben was here!

The Recycle a Cycle program looked like this -- in Pittsburgh!

Thinking again about newspapers

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200612/hirschorn-newspapers

The Atlantic offers advice from VH1 exec and Inside.com co-founder Michael Hirschorn:

"Not only do you allow your reporters to blog; you make them the hubs of their own social networks, the maestros of their own wikis, the masters of their own many-to-many realms." He suggests the Washington Post create an interactive online universe around Dana Priest's intelligence reporting. "Turn the site into a clearinghouse for global intelligence information, rumors, conspiracy theories, and so forth ... Go even further: incentivize the critics and reporters by allowing them to profit based on the popularity of their sites; make it worth their while to stick around.

And another set of tips:

A 10-point prescription for ailing newspapers

Law to limit South Side Bar expansion faces red-tape until 2007

Councilman Jeff Koch introduced a bar bill concerning the South Side. The bill has been sent to City Planning where they'll do their magic and hold a public hearing. Then a public hearing will happen before City Council. The bill might be voted upon by city council in March, 2007.

The new law would apply to Local Neighborhood Business Districts. So, it won't impact upon places such as Downtown, South Side Works, Station Square nor the North Shore.

So, the bill isn't going anywhere fast.

Seven new bars are in the pipeline with the approval process now. Some of those could open and close again by the spring of 2007. Perhaps an additional 20 will come into being, even it is is only on paper, before the bar bill hits again.

All existing bars would be exempt from the law.

I value the conversation. But, I'm skeptical as to the outcome. My rants and insights will flow later.

Running Mates -- plays well with others -- want to work together

The only bit in the short video above, click image watch the video, that I have a bit of trouble with is the line that this type of collaboration was not even possible a few years ago. Not true. Before there was a Creative Commons, there was the DSL. And, before the DSL, there was the public domain. I still use the public domain for most of my offerings.

It is generally a bad policy to take credit for being the 'first' one who did anything.

'Pres. Romney' sounds good to one Pittsburgh blogger

deseretnews.com | 'Pres. Romney' sounds good to many Experience and agendas
The Frenches, along with Charles Mitchell, who works for a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., and Dawn Meling, a business banker in Pittsburgh, started the blog in July, prompted by the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Tennessee in March.
Romney finished second in a straw poll of potential 2008 contenders, behind Tennessee's own Sen. Bill Frist.

Charlotte Observer | 11/05/2006 | Coach closing gap for Olympic hopefuls

Charlotte Observer | 11/05/2006 | Coach closing gap for Olympic hopefuls Mecklenburg Aquatic Club creating post-college training center for elite swimmers

Swimming buzz...

R.I.P. Milton Friedman, 1912 - 2006

Info from Wikipedia.

Friedman advocated minimizing the role of government in a free market in order to create political and social freedom.

Friedman also supported various libertarian policies such as decriminalization of drugs and prostitution. In addition, he headed the Reagan administration committee that researched the possibility of a move towards a paid/volunteer armed force, and played a role in the abolition of the draft that took place in the 1970s in the U.S. He would later state that his role in eliminating the draft was his proudest accomplishment.

He said, as do I, don't put me in a box. Labels don't work.

He said that he was a libertarian philosophically, but a member of the U.S. Republican Party for the sake of "expediency" ("I am a libertarian with a small l and a Republican with a capital R. And I am a Republican with a capital R on grounds of expediency, not on principle.") But, he said, "I think the term classical liberal is also equally applicable. I don't really care very much what I'm called. I'm much more interested in having people thinking about the ideas, rather than the person."

Democracy Rising blast and Tim Potts has been on KDKA radio with Marty G

www.democracyrisingpa.com

It costs us about $30,000 a day for per diems (on top of salary and catered meals) when the legislature's in session. Today was not a session day, but the House Education Committee held an informational meeting.

This entitles lawmakers on the committee to collect a per diem for today. But as Capitol reporter Michael Race reported Tuesday in several northeastern PA newspapers, there seem to be few days when lawmakers can't collect per diems.

Race reported that retiring Rep. Gaynor Cawley, D-Scranton, in 2005 "claimed 210 per diems totaling $27,666 – more than the annual salaries of lawmakers in 30 other states that year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures."

There were only 80 actual session days in 2005. Not content with more than $100,000 in income, Cawley also voted for the pay raise.

No one begrudges lawmakers reimbursement for legitimate expenses. But since lawmakers don't have to submit receipts in order to get the money, there's no way to know whether these are legitimate expenses or not. That's why the IRS treats their per diems as additional income on top of their already generous salaries, benefits and other perks.

Wouldn't you like to see an online list of lawmakers and how much they collect in per diems every month? So would we. But there isn't one, and don't hold your breath for it. Read on.

Lame (-Duck) Quote of the Day

On Tuesday, House Speaker John Perzel (R-Phila.) and Majority Leader Sam Smith (R-Jefferson), newly re-elected to their leadership positions, talked about those of us, including reform-minded Republican lawmakers, who want higher standards of integrity in government. Smith said, "Their message was heard. But we don't want reform simply for reform's sake."

Really. How about reform for the citizens' sake? How about reform for the sake of democracy itself? How about reform to elevate Pennsylvania's pathetic standing among the states? We sure do need it.

Pennsylvania is the only state whose legislature has exempted itself from its open records law.

Pennsylvania is the only state whose Supreme Court has exempted itself from its open records law.

According to the Better Government Association, Pennsylvania ranks behind only Alabama and South Dakota in citizen access to public records, making it much harder than necessary to find out how government spends our money and makes the decisions we have to live with and pay for.

Pennsylvania is the only state that doesn't have all of its laws available to citizens free of charge on the Internet.

Pennsylvania has one of the worst lobbying control laws in America. Our new law ignores the 66 percent of citizens who want to prohibit public officials from taking gifts, meals, entertainment and travel from lobbyists, according to the Spring 2005 IssuesPA/Pew Poll.

Pennsylvania has the highest payroll for lawmakers of any state in America.

Pick your motive – to honor the citizens, to honor democracy, to end our national disgrace – but even reform for reform's sake doesn't look like such a bad idea to us.

Report Card arrive and other get to do things.

Pgh Public Schools provides report cards for the students today.

Light Up Night was last night for the South Side, while Pitt hosted WVU. You gotta finish in championship sports. Pitt was ahead at halftime. But scored no more points in the second half while WVU got 21.

Glad we didn't have any extra furnature to torch on the streets.

Tonight is Light Up Night for Downtown. Yawn. But in other downtown news, the families and kids of Phillips Elementary who are able get to go to the Opera in its outreach program. They'll see Romeo and Juliet. The rest of my clan goes while I'll be at swim practice.

Saturday morning our swim team goes to Hopewell for the second dual meet on the winter. Then, Ohio State hosts Michigan on Saturday afternoon. I agree with Mark Madden that the game with #1 and #2 and for the Big 10 title is a much bigger deal than the Steelers vs. Browns on Sunday.

But at 4 pm, I'll be at a violin concert with Pgh Music Academy performers at First Unitarian in Shadyside on Moorwood. Hope we can get the game on the radio.

Ms. Adventures on the Mon: LATE BREAKING NEWS: MARK RAUTERKUS ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR MAYOR; WILL RUN AS MEMBER OF "SAVOIR-FAIRE" PARTY

Ms. Adventures on the Mon: LATE BREAKING NEWS: MARK RAUTERKUS ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR MAYOR; WILL RUN AS MEMBER OF "SAVOIR-FAIRE" PARTY LATE BREAKING NEWS: MARK RAUTERKUS

My name is spelled correctly. The cat is out of the bag.


Ms., Ta!

Transportation Funding for Our Region’s Prosperity

This is slated for Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006. It is SOLD OUT. If you have been watching my Google Calendar, you'd know that already.

A free event is presented by: Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Leadership Pittsburgh Inc., Sustainable Pittsburgh.

Featuring Larry King, Deputy Secretary for Planning, PA Department of Transportation and a local reaction panel, this forum is being held the day after the Governor's Transportation Funding and Reform Commission will release their final report addressing the Commonwealth's transportation funding crisis. On hand to review Commission key findings and recommendations will be PENNDOT Deputy Secretary for Planning, Larry King.

Mr. King will be followed by a local panel that will provide insights and reactions to the high stakes challenge of solving the funding crisis as well as prospects for implementation of recommendations by the General Assembly and Governor. Panelists include:

Stephen Bland, CEO, Port Authority
J. Bracken Burns, Chairman, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission; Co-Chair Washington County Board of Commissioners
Jim Roddey, Member, Governor's Transportation Funding and Reform Commission
Barbara Simpson, Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network

3 Bs at Boyce Park -- Bikes, (skate) Board, and Bladers

A new area at Boyce Park in the eastern part of Allegheny County opens, called 3B. It is a skate park for bikes, boards and (roller) blades.

I hate skate parks. If I was in charge, they would not be built.

Skate parks are danger zones. Skate parks are fertile grounds for orthopedic injury and even if Dr. Freddie Fu paid to have them built, I'd say 'no thanks.'

On the opening day of the roller park in McKinley Park in the city, three kids went to the hospital. One broke his collar bone. Another was treated for a heat stroke. And a third had something to do with a bb-gun (speaking of "bs") shooting from up in the woods down onto the park.

Even as a big shot talked about how everyone here will need to wear a helmet, and it will be 'self-policed' for safety, there were a handful of kids out of the dozens who had no head gear. Go figure.

Rather than skate parks, I'd prefer trampolines.

In Australia, they have free standing trampolines. In Austria, we saw a barge on a riverwalk area that was equipped with a dozen, side by side trampolines.

The kids need activities where there is the hope of 'coaching' and 'teaching.'

Frankly, I don't mind gangs. I just want gangs with activites and leadership that we can trust, control and monitor. To me, being in an orchestra is a lot like being in a gang. But that is a 'good gang.'

PITTSBURGH MAYORAL CANDIDATES LINE UP FOR NEXT YEAR'S RACE in a photo at C's Smoke Ball

The Carbolic Smoke Ball: PITTSBURGH MAYORAL CANDIDATES LINE UP FOR NEXT YEAR'S RACE

No need for photoshop here. I'm in the photo, right in the middle, neither too far to the left nor to the right.

Home invader shot in head in Knoxville

Home invader shot in head in Knoxville A Knoxville man faces drug trafficking charges and weapons violations in connection with the shooting of one of two armed gunman during a drug-related home invasion robbery last night.

How do you read between the lines in this story?

A dad gets arrested for shooting a home invader. The the arrest isn't because of the shooting, rather the weed and the gun.

Perhaps the guy should get a medal for a brave act of self-devense rather than be put in jail and be seperated from his 2-month old baby. But, then again, mom is a 17-year old, with a 2-month old baby.

Perhaps the intruder who was on the floor of the home with a head wound pulled the pot into the house?

Perhaps the guy really isn't in jail -- but that is what the media and police want to tell everyone, including the other intruder who didn't get shot and into critical condition. He might be thinking 'revenge' for his buddy -- but that can't happen if the guy is behind bars.

Sounds like the story has a soap opera of possibilities. Whats the real story? Who has the scoop?

Miss Mallory's Support Page - Whats NEW

Miss Mallory's Support Page - Whats NEW November 8, 2006

Dear Friends,

We wanted to let you all know how much we appreciate your prayers and support; they are truly invaluable. We wanted to update you on Mallory. We were in New York for 2 1/2 weeks receiving the 3F8 antibody treatment. Before each injection she was premedicated with morphine and several other pain meds, for this is an extremely intense and harsh treatment. Each day I wondered how I would be able to watch our child endure another day of this stuff. And at the same time worried and afraid she couldnt tolerate the pain. But I knew we didnt have a choice, this could be the medicine we long awaited to stop her cancer.

The letter goes on.

See the comments for an invite from Mike to play mini-golf for her cause in the weeks to come. It would be fun and worth the support.

Races for controller, 5 City Council seats drawing swarm of hopefuls

Races for controller, 5 City Council seats drawing swarm of hopefuls Mr. Kraus, of the South Side Flats and an interior designer, criticized Mr. Koch for proposing the new station location without getting enough neighborhood input, and for voting to allow developer Soffer Organization to build three 165-foot towers in the South Side Works, despite community group opposition.

Mr. Kraus said his close race last year came despite the O'Connor administration's support of Mr. Koch. 'The political landscape has changed dramatically in the last few months,' he said.

Mr. Bruce Kraus went into the special election endorsement for the democrats last time and expected to win. He got toasted.

On election day, I'm sure Kraus expected to win.

Meanwhile, on election day, I had one wish above all others. I wanted Bruce Kraus to get second. I didn't want Kraus to win. I felt strongly in my heart and in my head that Bruce Kraus would have been the worst choice for our city.

Nine people were in the race and eight of us were pulling against Kraus by the end. If anyone of us has broken with him, instead of against him, he would have won. But, we were all witness to his campaign double-talk and his short falls of merit.

Bruce Kraus a lot to learn and got a lesson in the last race. But, I'm not sure how much of it will be turned into knowledge on his part. He needs to know that you don't run around on election day with gift baskets full of treats to give to those who work the polls -- as in the voting machines.

Kraus needs to know that you don't take an oath of office, if elected, and swear to serve the people of the district. Duhh. It isn't about giving people sheet cakes and ice cream at bingos. Rather, the oath of service is for a dedication to the consititution.

I'll do all I can to make sure we have person on city council who gets it. We don't need another like Tom Murphy running around on Grant Street. The city turned a corner of sorts and got rid of Tom Murphy-ish, power-hungry, logic-lacking, schmoozing-centric, miss-managed, over-spending politicians who dodge and weave when contronted with opposition concerning the depth of the issues and challenges of our time.

At the end of his tenure, everyone saw that Tom Murphy was a divider and not a uniter, to use a trite but true expression. The same mode of operation was seen on many instance in the 2006 campaign by Bruce Kraus. But that was at the outset of the Kraus public life.

Furthermore, I'm not the real rebel in spreading these observations. Dozens of others will do far more to sway public votes against Kraus in 2007.

Sure, the political landscape has changed because of Bob O'Connor's passing. And I'll offer a rant on Mr. Jeff Koch another time.

I'm reminded of a posting on a blog comment somewhere from the spring where one person rated Koch at a 10 on a scale of 1 to 100. I said I agree with the low rating. However, my scale goes from negative 100 to positive 100. That puts Koch in the middle. Bruce Kraus is in the negative 90 range.

Give me a do-nothing public official over a do-damange one any day.

PodCamp Pittsburgh -- humm.....

We purchased MP3 players for Erik and Grant when in China, two years ago.

Pod Camp wasn't really just about iPods and MP3 players. The pod experience is a much bigger world.

I have an iPod, now. But a couple of years ago, when we were in China. We purchased MP3 players for Erik and Grant. We got them there, then, because China is way ahead of where we are in the US in terms of use of these tech tools.

I was 'blown away' by Chengdu's computer row. It was an amazing place where there were shops after shops of high tech gadgets. We must have walked past a thousand places where one can but a MP3 player. Apple's iPods were there too, but not nearly as popular.

Erik and Grant came along with me to Pittsburgh's Pod Camp yesterday. We all had a good time. PodCamp was great. You can go and have a lot to experience even if you don't own a MP3 player or an iPod.

In the photo above, the MP3s are being sold for 339 RMB. That's about $40. We could bargain for lower prices and we got two MP3s, including rechargable batteries. And, the young women who are working the sales counter didn't speak English. But, that was okay. We worked everything out just fine. And, one of the players didn't work properly, so we took it back for an exchage the next day. A challenge, but do-able with our blond hair and good attitudes.

Even the smallest news stands have dozens and dozens of newspapers. Some papers might only be 8 or 16 pages. But, in Pittsburgh, if there is a news stand, it might only sell one paper. How could you get a news stand to sell a dozen different newspapers?