Judge blasts ban at county Democratic Committee meeting - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Un-democratic democrats are the worst.

Judge blasts ban at county Democratic Committee meeting - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 'This is America. I issue rulings on the same Constitution that guarantees us all freedom of speech and access to information.'

I worry about the First Amendement a bit too. However, I also realize that it was cold outside the IBEW HALL today and the wind was blowing hard. I'm on the outside. I stayed on the outside.

I talked to about 100 people today, give or take. I didn't give anything but my business card. I didn't take anything either, but observations, of course. This is America and freedom still happens here -- on sidewalks, generally. One woman did share a grumble to me about my being present. That's okay. It is her right to air her thoughts as well.

What was the verdict for Judge C.D.Jones II today. Did you see him? Did he search out MacYapper? IMHO, he would have had better luck getting votes if he would have attended the Pens Flyers game.

Thirsty?????

Democrats Back Ravenstahl For Mayor - Politics ... another step hopefully in the right direction ...

This drinking game never goes away.

Anyone know who "invented" it? Who should be nominated for inventing it? Or, who endorses the drinking game to this day?

From china - foods

Pennsylvania Politburo: Skyrocketing Costs and Secrecy

The Three Rivers Post & Standard -- The Pennsylvania Politburo: Skyrocketing Costs and Secrecy (ok… so officially it is called the General Assembly) is being further exposed being the bloated mess that it really is.

Ravenstahl wins county Dem mayoral nod over Peduto

Hot News:

P-G In two races for the Pittsburgh Public School board, Stephanie Tecza won the endorsement over Heather Arnet and incumbent Dan Romaniello lost decisively to challenger Sherry Hazuda.

To the Peduto fans, as I said to his campaign manager on the sidewalk, and posted elsewhere: 2009 and win by addition.

I'm not saying, like I keep telling my son, that I want one or the other, Bill or Luke. Neither are what I think Pittsburgh needs. But, I think the jury is still out about 2009 -- and I want it to stay out until 2009. Others don't.

As for the upsets, there were a lot of them. That's wonderful.

Ravenstahl wins county Dem mayoral nod over Peduto In county council's contested endorsement votes, three incumbents lost endorsements to challengers. This included a loss by Councilwoman Brenda Frazier of Stanton Heights to Matt Arena.

...

In the crowded race for Twanda Carlisle's city council seat, the incumbent lost the endorsement to Rachel Cooper, daughter of District Justice Kevin Cooper.

Lamb's one vote margin is interesting. Doug Shields should pull out of the race and just run for his seat. How far back was T.C. in the numbers for the City Council seat? Sheilds could be a deal maker for either Mike or Tony.

---

Update: I've seen some numbers, and Doug Shields did okay in the three-way race for City Controller. I am retracting what I posted above after seeing the numbers. He must make a decision -- but Shields staying in the race might make good sense.

Democrat Endorsement News and Notes

I arrived at the Democratic Endorsement venue on Pittsburgh's South Side early in the afternoon because I was asked to come down and support my friend Bill Peduto.

There's no question he SHOULD be our next mayor.

There were a lot of "incumbent" Luke Ravenstahl signs. Why everyone got out of the habit of referring to him as "interim," I'll never know. As of today, our interim mayor hasn't won anything other than a race of name recognition in his own back yard.

There were too many for a just-turned 27-year-old with virtually no leadership record. That's what you get when you have a disasterous, yet big money governor and a well-connected, seemingly hardworking Allegheny County executive shutting down every usual artery of campaign funding. Qualified leaders be damned, the funding fix is in.

Anyhoo, I ran into a number of friends from the neighborhood. There was one candidate who I will not name who REPEATEDLY called me an entirely different FIRST AND LAST name, despite being in earshot of me re-introducing myself to another colleague.

Embattled city councilwoman Twanda Carlisle's group had a table riddled with presumably her own campaign-funded fancy mugs inside the voting room...why she was allowed inside and everyone else was reduced to handing out pens, writing pads and other trinkets out in the hall, or outside for that matter is anyone's guess. Let's hope her mugs were not someone else's work, and she was presenting them as her own (you may remember her mother's boyfriend was paid a year's worth of city-taxpayer salary to write an essay about her constituency. It turns out the paper featured reams of "borrowed" statistics and observations from a legitimate scholarly study).

I noticed dozens of familiar faces and friends. Let me start by saying Bill Peduto has lost considerable weight and looks 32 instead of 42. Somehow his morning treadmill routines help him lose weight, while my own treadmill and weight lifting routine has only increased my size and weight.

It'll be interesting to see how this vote turns out. When a guy like Governor Tony Soprano is involved, I'm always a little worried.

If history holds true, Pittsburgh mayoralty winner could serve a long time = pure hog wash!

Status quo, hog-wash thinking hits the P-G again today concerning the Dem party primary.

If history holds true, Pittsburgh mayoralty winner could serve a long time With two young candidates running in a one-party town that usually re-elects mayors, voters in the May 15 Democratic primary could be picking Pittsburgh's leader for a decade.

Throw the bums out votes happen in these parts, now. Sala Udin isn't in office. Barbara Burns isn't in office. Michael Diven isn't in office. Lots of state reps are not in office.

Tom Murphy is still eligible to be our mayor, but he had the wheels come off of his agenda. A mayor that becomes 'dead in the water' sinks and won't run again.

I think that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has an easy time winning the primary election in 2007 and all the other times it is going to grow to be more and more difficult.

Even if William Peduto wins the primary, and then somehow wins the general election, he could be a one-time, two-year mayor.

Even if Luke becomes 'golden' and reverses his ways in terms of performance, I expect that Luke won't be mayor for a long period. Life would be a hell of a lot easier if Luke was a State Senator or a worked an administrative job for a bigger deal state or national figure.

Finally, the mayor's job in Pittsburgh needs to be put under a term limit. I'm in favor of a term limit for a city's top administrator.

If Peduto wins the office of mayor, I have a fleeting vision that he'd be happy being Pittsburgh's last mayor. He'd look to a metropolitan model and the city would just blow away in a water-main break in a season or two.

Sure, the process hits a milestone today. But Rich Lord, I'm sad at your article's lead. Did John Craig edit it?

In a city that hasn't driven a mayor from office since 1936, that person could be mulling whether to run again in 2013 and 2017.

No, no, no. We drove Tom Murphy out of office. Tom Murphy won in 2001 by spending $1-million and getting 30,000 votes in the spring. Murphy won by the skin of his teeth and was wounded politically. Tom Murphy could not have won in 2005 because he was driven from office.

Mayor Murphy could NOT come to any neighborhood for public meetings. He wasn't welcome. Mayor Murphy, a marathon runner, could NOT even keep a marathon in this city.

You should have a better grip on history. I hate to see it when others try to re-write history.

With Tom Murphy, even the ultimate Frisbee players in town came to see Tom Murphy for what he was. He lied to them back in 2000, 2001 -- to get votes. He fooled them for a spell. But, that was the last gasp for Murphy. He could NOT even hold together the URA any longer.

If a mayor does a poor job or even an average job -- he or she will be gone, driven from office.

Bill Peduto and Luke Ravenstahl are like two peas in the same pod. Peduto is running a cautious campaign. On the net folks have asked, "What are you waiting for?" Even the P-G quote that Peduto 'seems ready to' -- that's not very aggressive. Peduto's camp has been sheltering some of his older, finished campaign position papers. They could snow Luke under 20-feet if they just opened the floodgates in Wonkville, rather than seeming to be ready to about to one day try.

Both candidates have a similar vision in that they want to to turn Pittsburgh into something that it isn't. Peduto's Goden Quadrangle is like Luke's 'significantly different place.' Same pod, different peas.

They both call to more 'experts.' They both have ideas, BUT choose to hold back. The sad thing is the P-G gives them a free pass to do so.

Opposition comes from both to the Pgh leg of the Mon Valley Toll Road, but for Luke it is after an "IF".

Both want to expand government. Luke wants government to help pay for a wet lab. Hell, we can't even get voting machines that work well. What is government's role? Peduto's government owned building seem to need diapers. It is a spit rag for one and a diaper for the other. Two peas, same pod.

Guys -- how about if the city cared a bit for the babies, the children, the kids and the PEOPLE of this city. I want to put attention onto the people, not bricks and mortar projects. They are so Murphy like. They will fail. The city's tax base isn't capable of paying for a new arena for the Pens yet alone a building that bleeds us empty.

Enough for now. (First posted at 7:40 AM)

More at City Planning on Bar Bill -- and Video Taping of Meetings

A number of weeks ago, I went to a city planning meeting at 200 Ross Street, Downtown. There was a packed house as they were talking about the Bar Bill. The planning committee took a vote and the bar bill went down in flames. But, while I was there, I pulled out my video camera and took a few moments of tape.

After I walked out of the room to be sure to get my kid as he exited from school that day, the meeting came to a stop. Announcements were made and signs were posted on the door. NO Recording of Meetings Allowed!

Calls were made. Freedoms are funny. You don't need to ask permission to flex one's rights.

Well, the new video policy is now on the pending agenda and will be talked about on Tuesday at the 1:30 meeting. I don't think they'll get to this topic until 2:30 or so. My child walks out the school's doors at 2:35 pm.

I don't really want to get arrested. But Anne Feeney is singing at a house concert on Sunday at 4 pm, and she has a wonderful tune about going to jail for justice. Perhaps if there are others with a video camera -- they could serve as a body double.

It would be nice if a fellow blogger, such as The Busman, could set up their video cameras around 2 pm and see what unfolds.

An update from the director about the bar bill is also on the agenda. They all got an ear full from residents last Wednesday night.

PLANNING COMMISSION March 6, 2007

Briefing

1:30 p.m.
a. FLDP #0707 – Bridgeside 2, Smith
b. PDP#0712 - 521 Shady Avenue, Shady Avenue Apartments, Smith

AGENDA
2:00 p.m.

A. Approval of February 20, 2007 Commission Minutes
B. Correspondence
C. Plan of Lots, Tymoczko
1. Subdivision – Mellon Street Plan of Lots No. 3, Mellon Street and Livery Way, 11 th Ward
2. Consolidation – Museum Park Hotel Plan of Lots – Forbes Avenue east of South Craig Street, 4th Ward
D. Hearing and Action
4. ZCP #739 – CUA C-689, Becks Run Road, Tymoczko

E. Director’s Report
Green Building Task Force
Bar Task Force
Staff Recommendation on Video Taping
Downtown Investment Report

F. Adjourn
Division of Development Administration and Review
City of Pittsburgh, Department of City Planning
200 Ross Street, Third Floor
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Refresher Training... and travels and our military movie escapes

From family - travels

My blogging has been busy. I'll blame it on the Admiral's departure. The People's Republic of Pittsburgh: Refresher Training...

Meanwhile, my sweetheart and her mom have departed to Pheonix for five days. The boys and I are gearing up for some war films on DVD. Recent gems we've enjoyed, beyond The Guardian, include Fly Boys and Annapolis. The movie, The Marine, came into the house and left again without being watched because the snow days ended.

Suggestions of DVDs welcomed.

Extra photo, just because I can. From family - travels,

Pittsburgh Comet's retraction of a historical fact

From texture - misc.

The Pittsburgh Comet Bill Peduto's Blog: Sucks

Councilman Bill Peduto is the first major party candidate for mayor in Pittsburgh's history to have launched a weblog.

Not really.

I think it is fair to say that Peduto's blog is lacking. The Luke Ravenstahl site isn't even worth the recycled electrons to complain about.

It also sucks to re-write history with information that isn't accurate.

I don't need to my name inserted into the Comet's blog as the first major party candidate for mayor in Pittsburgh to have a weblog. However, Bill's name should NOT get those honors of being first, even though it sucks.

---

Update 1:

B.R. of the Comet wrote to me via email on Friday afternoon, after I informed him of the facts:

That is different. I will make an immediate correction to the article, and I will run a full, separate correction after the weekend.

Good.

---

Update 2:
The Comet blog has been updated, thankfully.

Councilman Bill Peduto is the first major party mayoral candidate to have launched a weblog in a while. (Rauterkus & Carmine both had blogs as Republicans in 2001).

This thread was first published on 3-2-07 at 1:03 pm.

When it rains it pours -- what's that about an ounce of prevention next to a pound of cure

From texture - misc.

N.O. asks whopping $77 billion in claim to corps Submitting a claim for a staggering $77 billion, the city of New Orleans joined tens of thousands of would-be plaintiffs who rushed to beat a Thursday deadline to alert the Army Corps of Engineers that they may sue for losses resulting from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina.

Also joining the queue were Entergy New Orleans, the city's bankrupt electrical utility, which is seeking $655 million, and the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, which put in a claim of about $460 million, spokesmen for the agencies said.

On page four of the article:

Nagin's press office e-mailed the news release about 20 minutes before Air Force One lifted off from Louis Armstrong International Airport, concluding President Bush's visit to the city Thursday, the 18-month anniversary of Katrina. During the trip, Bush visited a Central City charter school and sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Nagin during lunch at a Treme restaurant.

WPIAL swim update: 5 school records broken at Carlynton

Coach Mike has pink hair. I need to bring a camera to the swim pool on Monday.

The Carlynton High School kids swam very fast at WPIALS and made great time drops and established five school records!

Today's big time award: Wilburn Hayden, Ph.D. getting honored as PA's Social Worker of the Year!

From people & vips

We're proud of you Wilburn! Way to go.

He and his family are in Harrisburg today for a big banquet as he's getting honored as Pennsylvania's Social Worker of the Year.

Wilburn's been the boss of the Univ. of California PA's academic program for those seeking a Masters Degree in Social Work. He is the expert about all things concerning blacks in Appalachia. He was been working with Molly Rush and others to advance PUSH, a single-payer health coverage plan for Pennsylvania that is much unlike the one championed by Governor Ridge. He is on many boards, locally from the musical Calliope to the First Unitarian Church and the eco nonprofit on the South Side.

Finally, he, his wife, and son have been great friends. Plus, he has been on the Elect.Rauterkus.com committee as director of policy research for recent campaigns.

Now we've got to plan for more trips to Canada. He's taken a new role as the head of the school of social work in Toronto at York University. They are very lucky. Today I'm kicking myself again for sending him that job posting.

Jack Wagner, AG To Release Scathing Report On Port Authority

kdka.com - AG To Release Scathing Report On Port Authority

Way to go Jack!

Google moves ahead with plan to open up federal Web sites (2/21/07) Government Executive

Google moves ahead with plan to open up federal Web sites (2/21/07) Government Executive Google is making strides on an initiative to make information stored on public government Web sites more accessible to people looking for it, but challenges remain, officials with the search engine company said Wednesday.

From texture - misc.

Challenges remain in state, county and city government as well.

If and when I'm elected, I'll insure that all documents and data are on the web and structured within a site so the content is accessible for all Internet searches. Furthermore, I'd insist upon Plain Language so as to eliminate jargon in government communications.

I'd use open source tools, creative commons licenses if not plain old public domain, and other goodies such as Sitemaps.org tools so as to remove technical hindrances to search engine Web crawlers.

It took Google months of meeting with officials at many agencies in DC to make progress. Still, Google faces misconceptions. "Literacy about search engines is lower in the federal government than in the private sector." No joke. Literacy about technology and the free exchange of information, yet alone literacy itself, might be low in some corners of governement.

Yesterday I got an answer to my request of last week seeking an electronic file of the nomination papers so I can get onto the ballot. I'll need more than 3,000 signatures on legal sized paper forms. I asked for an electronic version of the form from the election department and was told I can't get one.

Eighty percent of visitors to government Web sites arrive through search engines rather than the home page "front door." Only about 5 percent come directly to the sites, he said, and because about half of all government Web pages remain inaccessible through search engines, a substantial percentage of people are passing up information they would otherwise find.

A part-time Web manager was able to implement the Sitemaps tool in eight hours. Jeepers, in turn that utility simply opened 3 million documents to common search engines. That's bang for the buck. That's effiency.

I want to put every element of the lists of lists into Google Maps, for the city and the county. If we can map Mars and Moon -- why not Brookline and Beechview.

National Nuttyness

Hersh: Bush Funneling Money to al Qaeda-Related Groups



Some quotes: America, my country, is ... running covert operations. ... He was seen as too ethical. ... Went through Iran-Contra in the 80s.

City schools: tutoring program cut & parents to pow-wow

City schools' tutoring program cut despite success: "City schools' tutoring program cut despite success
Program was lifting math achievement, helping blacks catch up, study shows

Reorganization of the Pittsburgh Public Schools last summer largely did away with an after-school tutoring program that a Rand Corp. study showed was boosting math achievement and helping black students catch up to white peers in that subject."

Go Theresa Smith: Where is the meeting, exactly?

Parents seeking more input in Pittsburgh schools

QuickTime: See how the WashingtonPost.com harnesses the net

How To via Washington Post & Apple

And as evidence of cutting-edge reporting.

The Bobblehead Politician - washingtonpost.com

The Bobblehead Politician - washingtonpost.com If America had a Crooked Pol Hall of Fame, Vincent J. Fumo would deserve a room in it.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, we've got an upgrade from the PG, Early Returns.

Colorado Cowboy Professor's stadium and arena re-cap

ColoradoCowboyProfessor:: Now Back in Old Wyoming...with that wind ever blowin'...: Major League Facilities/Stadiums Report Major League Facilities/Stadiums Report

The Pittsburgh Comet shoots foot with a poor use of the Libertarian tag

The Pgh Comet is making another mistake. This one can't go past without me taking a public swat at it.

The posting on Speculation 2007 was very good up to this point. Then a nerve was hit.

The Pittsburgh Comet Real Answer: Peduto certainly seeks to fashion our Democratic party into a left-center coalition -- with a Libertarian streak, actually, on tax breaks and subsidies. The 'Libertarian Left' is totally in right now. If Peduto puts that together, that is potent stuff. But he still needs to add a couple of wagons to his wagon-train.

There is NO LIBERTARIAN STREAK within William Peduto. None. Zippo.

There is a lot of good within Bill Peduto. There are some nice ideas within his plans. But, those items don't have LIBERTARIAN roots. No way.

There is an expression I use from time to time. When you go WEST long enough, you end up in the EAST. But this doesn't apply to Peduto at this stage in the game.

I think Bill Peduto could mature into a Libertarian in another decade or two. But, he isn't there now.

Bill Peduto came from Dan Cohen's office. These guys hate the people in that they will work against referendums. They will always put trust into bigger government. They think that they, (in office, in government) know better.

The best case use of "Libertarian Streak" in association with Peduto would be, "Peduto takes office and Libertarians streak for New Hampshire to join the Free State Project." Perhaps Libertarians could shriek at Peduto's proposals if they choose to stand their ground and don't vote with their feet.

There is nothing Libertarian about Peduto's use of tax breaks and subsidies. That is big government, Republican. You could fix the posting by calling it a Roddey-like streak. Or, a Allegheny Conference-ish streak. Or, a URA-streak.

I agree that the "Libertarian-anything" is totally in right now. But, that isn't what Peudto puts on the table. Libertarians are hip. Libertarians are like the South Side. The South Side has pockets that are very Libertarian.

A Libertarian tax cut is universal. It is for everyone. It is for any kind of building. It is for every kind of use. It is driven by market place demands -- not some weenie in government who needs to see an artistic credit coupled with a re-use credit coupled with energy efficient red tape.

The REAL ANSWER of the LEFT LIBERTARIAN is a tax on the land. The simple, elegant, proven Libertarian solution -- or streak -- isn't part of Bill Peduto's pitch.

Peduto's plan and Ravenstahl's plan are very similar when contrasted with a real Libertarian plan. Those two have put forth Democratic Plan(s).

In no way, shape or form do I want Bill Peduto to be the one to carry the water for the Libertarian-streakers.

Your advice to Bill is with mixed feelings too: But he (PEDUTO) still needs to add a couple of wagons to his wagon-train. That's so Democratic and not Libertarian. For Peduto to get closer to the Libertarian wagon-train of policy points he isn't going to need to add. Rather, he'd need to subtract.

The Libertarian way is small, lean, nimble, simple. Think Johnny Appleseed as a Libertarian. That's not a wagon-train. Think Daniel Boone. Think Green Mountain Men.

In your post, to make your point, call it the "Gore-Roddey LEFT", not the "Libertarian Left."

As for "maverik Mike Dawida" -- Oh My Gosh. John McCain, at age 70, isn't a maverick any more. Dawida is ... well ... I won't even waste the time to type what I think and then need to defend it.

Think again about your descriptions. A couple of the concepts fail, much like a beam in the convention center. But, I did giggle at the nuts and bolts joke on the blog.

Who's The Boss? Ravenstahl Video Making Rounds On YouTube - News

Who's The Boss? Ravenstahl Video Making Rounds On YouTube - News Ha, ha, ha.

Let's continue the joke.

If it is in the city's and region's best interest to have Luke and Dan work together, one taking the lead on city issues, the other on county issues, then, perhaps, the logic holds that I might have a leg up on them. Since I'm bucking for both positions, plus four others, I'd never have to stand before an audience and pass the buck and say, "Ask the boss."

If you want tight integration between the mayor and the chief executive -- then it makes great sense to vote for the same person for both. Then, the blending of one to the other is a complete overlap.

The buck stops here, with me, as long as multiple personalities don't emerge.

Think of the time we'd all save. There would be no waiting around to see what the other is going to say, think or do.

Think of the money we'd all save. There would be no need to have extra benefits with health insurance, auto perks, retirement and wardrobe expenses. I wouldn't need to wear six suits, say, all at the same time. No way. I promise, I'll only wear one suit -- and to "sweeten the deal" -- I'll pay for it.

Once the "who's the boss" issue gets traction in the MSM beyond the Bussman, I'll take-off in the polls.