Let's do justice to The Hill. I love density talk

Let's do justice to The Hill - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Think wanton variety -- apartments, townhouses and multiple-family homes. Don't think tall. Think thick. Think Big Apple three-story brownstones. Think the South Side, not the Hill's suburb-like Crawford Village, which she calls 'admirable' but not nearly dense enough.

Expecting this generation of public-private power brokers to successfully rebuild a neighborhood destroyed by a previous generation of power brokers is, at best, a stretch. Gratz says success is plausible. But she also says it's a mistake to think the Lower Hill can be reborn without first fixing and repopulating the wrecked Downtown that former Mayor Tom Murphy's urban bumblings created.

No matter how the Lower Hill is developed, it'll be wise to ignore what politicians promise or predict. In 1956 Mayor Lawrence boasted at a conference on urban design at Harvard that, 'In my judgment, the redevelopment of the Lower Hill -- a giant bite from the core of the city -- will be the greatest of our Pittsburgh projects, under way or yet envisioned.' The Hill's still waiting.

Urban density works for me. Free market density works too. As does the land value tax.

When we tax the land and not the buildings, we'll get the most out of the development. But, they've already taken too much of the land for non-taxed ownership.

PAT 2007 Funding Crisis with links

Read it and weep. Great collection of links from running mate, G.W.

PAT 2007 Funding Crisis 2007 Pittsburgh Public Transit Funding Crisis: Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT)

Cullen Jones and Maritza Correia Star in New Documentary, Bring More Attention to Disadvantaged - Timed Finals

Cullen Jones and Maritza Correia Star in New Documentary, Bring More Attention to Disadvantaged - Timed Finals With a lot of attention being paid to the new factually based movie “Pride,” starring Hollywood heavyweights such as Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac, another documentary chronicling the trials and tribulations of a Boston inner-city swim team is also starting to garner some attention. According to The Morning Sentinel, the film, entitled “Parting the Water,” will be debuted as a work in progress at the upcoming Maine International Film Festival (expected release of 2008) and will present the story of an underfunded team trying to succeed against more well-developed suburban programs.

Most notably, the film features in-depth interviews with Maritza Correia, the first woman swimmer of color to compete for the US in the Olympics, and resident phenom Cullen Jones, ranked number one in the world in the 50 free for 2006, and also African-American. The film, amongst other goals, will likely shed more light on the inequality of swimming.

Speedo podcast covers Pride with Amada Beard

Speedo Pride Premier In the sixth video of the Speedo Make Waves podcast series, seven time Olympic medalis Amanda Beard catches up with the films stars Academy Award nominee Terence Howard, Bernie Mac, and Tom Arnold. She also spoke to director Sunu Gonera, and Jim Ellis, the real life inspiration for the film.

Opening night with interviews of many of the stars.

Phelps helps Jones makes swimming history

SI.com - More Sports - Phelps helps Jones makes swimming history Cullen Jones became the rare black swimmer to claim a world championship, joining Michael Phelps, Neil Walker and Jason Lezak on a U.S. team that just missed setting another world record while winning the 400-meter freestyle relay Sunday.

Other links:
USA Swimming - 20 Question Tuesday Archive

Cullen Jones Signs With Nike For Reported Two Million - Timed Finals

Filmmaking pair show works in progress Jenny Levison and Josh Waletzky, of Hoboken, N.J., will show their documentary films, 'Parting the Waters' in Maine at a film festival.

Creativity Exchange: Below the Belt Journalism

Hold the phone. Richard Florida on Bill Peduto and the "below the belt" knock by the P-G.

The Creativity Exchange: Below the Belt Journalism But I can't let the recent editorial hit-job by the Post-Gazette on Councilman Bill Peduto's decision to leave the race for mayor slide.

Is being a real force for change and being a truly good man one in the same?

The voice of Richard Florida is the voice of a guy who choose to flee.

Bill Peduto didn't give up his calling and his dream in pulling out of the race in 2007. He still has his job. He is still into politics. He still is keeping his campaign office open. He didn't go back to teaching kids how to read or giving care of the sick. Those devotions are still on the back burner with Peduto. He did go back to hockey, so he hinted. Go Pens Go!

The political establishment wasn't all over Peduto to get out of the race. Those facts are out and won't change. The political establishment was shocked by Peduto's quitting.

I'm glad Professor Florida took a stance. I'm glad he poked his blogging finger at the P-G for its poor actions and logic. But hit em square when you swing, without the huffing and puffing.

For the Post-Gazette to attack this ultimately personal decision using the words and tone it does is just unconscionable. It is a case of squelching of the highest magnitude - a nasty, negative, despicable journalistic mugging. The paper's leadership and editorial board should be ashamed of themselves.

I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a "sorry statement" from the P-G. But better than asking for the editors of the PG to be "sorry" -- how about a statement from the editors of the P-G that "it won't happen again."

Seeing the a statement from the P-G change its ways would be worth the anguish of Peduto falling of the sword last week.

Dormont grad for prez

Letter to the editor from a libertarian.

The Republican Party has presided over double-digit increases in federal spending and debt, more intrusive government, uncontrolled immigration and an interventionist foreign policy that has resulted in an ill-conceived and apparently endless war.

Most Americans oppose these policies, but the GOP's leading presidential candidates support them.

Now voters have a choice. Ron Paul, a nine-term Republican congressman from Texas and Pittsburgh native who graduated from Dormont High School in 1953, has announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination.

Rep. Paul, who ran for president as a libertarian in 1988, consistently votes for smaller government, less spending, lower taxes and personal and economic freedom. He often casts the lone vote in the House against legislation he believes violates the Constitution. He supports a foreign policy of strong defense and avoidance of foreign entanglements and pre-emptive wars.

Paul insists on strong enforcement of immigration laws. He favors local, not federal, funding and control of schools and the right to home-school. He's pro-life and for Second Amendment rights and against warrantless wiretaps, corporate welfare and abuses of eminent domain.

Like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, Ron Paul believes that government is usually the problem, not the solution. He's the only presidential contender who's serious about restoring government to the constitutional limits intended by our nation's Founders. He deserves our support.

Thomas Gillooly, Forest Hills

Terror Database Has Quadrupled In Four Years - washingtonpost.com

Terror Database Has Quadrupled In Four Years - washingtonpost.com U.S. Watch Lists Are Drawn From Massive Clearinghouse

Each day, thousands of pieces of intelligence information from around the world -- field reports, captured documents, news from foreign allies and sometimes idle gossip -- arrive in a computer-filled office in McLean, where analysts feed them into the nation's central list of terrorists and terrorism suspects.

Called TIDE, for Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, the list is a storehouse for data about individuals that the intelligence community believes might harm the United States. It is the wellspring for watch lists distributed to airlines, law enforcement, border posts and U.S. consulates, created to close one of the key intelligence gaps revealed after Sept. 11, 2001: the failure of federal agencies to share what they knew about al-Qaeda operatives.

Peduto bails - Trib says that's more than sad

Peduto bails - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review And unless someone files as an independent candidate for the November general election, untested Luke Ravenstahl will be elected in his own right, unchallenged.

That's more than sad.

It would be more than sad if Luke runs unchallenged. It is WAY MORE than sad to tell the reporters at the TRIB that I'm running so that Luke does not run unchallenged and have them do nothing.

I've gotten ink at the Trib for fighting on fatherhood issues, for fighting to reopen the closed indoor ice rink. And, that story is fresh again last week. And for Pitt / Oakland issues.

I've had a Trib photographer follow me on a Steelers Game Day when they played at Three Rivers Stadium -- but nothing ran in the paper.

When I die, the Trib is going to have enough information in its files to publish a special edition of the newspaper. They covered my life in political efforts but choose to print little of it. The Trib seems dedicated to the decline of the region. The Trib Editors score A+ and making frustrations, and that is 'more than sad.'

Swim Championships

Our league swim meet was today. At the end of the morning session, the little kids had given our team, Carlynton, a lead of less than 20 points. The older kids swam in the afternoon session. We finished in third place. Eleven teams are in the league.

Last year our squad was second. The year before, our first in the league, we were third as well. The host team, Grove City, won. The meet was at Westminster.

I took an hours worth of video. Stay tuned.

Our kids, and everyone, did well. Good energy throughout.

There were a lot of tight races. In one instance, Erik seemed as if he was going to win the 50 fly. But he squeezed in an extra stroke to fit his touch onto the wall at the finish. So, he got 5th place. Bang -- some of those races were t-i-g-h-t.

The kids from all the teams did a great job. So did the host. Way to go Grove City! Thanks! We'll get you next year.

Featured Article: Pride, the movie, covered in EBONY

Featured Articles Page Open Swim
Going the distance with Pride director, Sunu Gonera

N.Y. Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention - New York Times

N.Y. Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention - New York Times For at least a year before the 2004 Republican National Convention, teams of undercover New York City police officers traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest at the convention, according to police records and interviews.

Give me Liberty or give me a lot of NYC Policemen and Policewomen at our monthly Libertarian meetings at Ritters Diner on the third Thursday of the month, except in December, when we generally meet at John Harvards Brew Pub in Monroeville for a holiday party.

Peduto to keep options open come fall

Earth to Peduto. Come in Bill.

The blip Bill Peduto has put onto the radar screen concerning the November election is wonderful. People of Pittsburgh, as well as the media, need to be reminded from time to time that an election cycle includes both a primary and a general election. One is in the spring. The other in the fall. Both have a purpose and merits.

After Pittsburgh comes to understand that both the primary election and the general election are serious milestones, then we'll begin to thrive again. Thinking with less than half a brian isn't smart, desired nor inclusive. This attention to the reality of the overall situations is enjoyed.

However, the blip on the radar screen Peduto has cast has a weird trajectory when it comes to the mayor's race. So as to avoid any further hardship to supporters that remain, understand that an intersection with the 2007 general election between mayor and Bill Peduto is impossible. The candidate affidavit and ethics statement to be part of a political body includes a statement about NOT being part of a political party effort.

Really funny, however, is the concept put forth by Honz Man on his show at KDKA Radio. Peduto was on the air with Hon Man the day after quitting the race. Honz Man suggested that Peduto become a Republican and run for mayor. (sigh.)

The deadline to enter the R primary was the same deadline met by Peduto to enter the D primary, March 6, 2007. Deadlines have come and gone. Peduto can't be a Republican for the November 2007 general election for that simple time-warped reason. Plus, Peduto would not want to be a Republican for a zillion other reasons.

Luke Ravenstahl and his boss, Dan Onorato, would be much better suited at being Republican than Peduto.

Peduto to keep options open come fall Mr. Peduto, who effectively resolved the Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday with his surprising decision to abandon his candidacy, reiterated that he's made no decision on whether to pursue an independent candidacy in the fall.

If the top brass in Bill Peduto's machine want to open a spoof internet site and jump-start a run for dog catcher in the general election of 2007, let me know how I could volunteer as an associate webmaster.

Ron Paul on National TV

Youth Fitness Challenge Invite

Youth in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, andbeyond, are invited to participate in a non-profit fitness challenge coinciding with National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.

The challenge is free for all kids ages 6-17 years old. The program is developed to encourage all youth to live a more active and healthy lifestyle. There is friendly competition in 4 different fitness categories for trophies, prizes, and Dick's Sporting Goods gift-certificates. Pre-registered kids will also get a free t-shirt. The event is sponsored by the Western PA Police Athletic League and the United States Marines.

I attached a basic pre-flyer for the challenge... the event will take place at the Pittsburgh Sports & Fitness Festival Friday May 25th 2007 at the ExpoMart. I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks, Bill Viola (Director)

www.kidzchallenge.com
FRIDAY MAY 25th 2007 - 5:00 PM
MONROEVILLE EXPO MART

[412] Pride is in. Call in. Peduto is out. Thinking again about campaign finance reform.

[412] Pride is in. Call in. Peduto is out. Thinking again about campaign finance reform. Pride is in. Call in. Peduto is out. Thinking again about campaign finance reform.

Print as many coupons as you have in your party.

PAT's mess. First things first. We need RETENTION VOTES for all authority board members

PAT announced its cuts.

We need all authority board members to be more accountable. Honz Man on KDKA Radio is calling for elections for its board members. I agree to a point. We want accountability. We want democracy.

But, we don't need to hold elections for the board members. We could however use RETENTION ELECTIONS for board members.

With the retention vote, the boards could be filled with appointed volunteers. The mayor and county executive could find the citizens who agree to serve on the board. They would get nominated to the board. However, the board members would have to be RETAINED with a 'yes' or 'no' vote by the citizens.

Elections are costly. They cost on many levels. Getting people to run for offices is nearly impossible too. To campaign for a board member spot would be crazy in the real world.

Who is going to print buttons, signs, and place ads that say -- "Vote for me. I want to be on the parking authority board."

Elections cost the community at many levels. The expense of campaigns is but one sink.

We would decide.

Board members would work to make a name for himself or herself. Otherwise, they'd go in and out based upon global community reactions. Board members would stand on their own acts. Activist groups could wage campaigns against board members, vote "NO" for so-and-so.

Furthermore, the retention elections for board members could be made to be more strict than a simple majority. To get retained on the bench, a judge needs only one more vote than those that want to get rid of the judge 'no.'

To keep the board seat at the first election, a 50% YES retention vote would be needed. Then to keep the seat after 2 years, a 65% YES retention vote would be required. To keep the seat after 4 years, a 75% YES retention vote would be needed. To keep the seat after 6 years, a 85% YES retention vote would be needed. To keep the seat after 8 and beyond, a 95% YES retention vote would be needed.

Vote needs can be more than majority rules.

UCLA vs. Pitt -- buddies

A deal was hatched between the coaches of UCLA and Pitt men's basketball team. They agree to NOT play against each other, except if they happen to meet in the NCAA tournament.

Pitt's old coach won the contest last night and goes to the elite 8, but he got emotional with the cameras rolling.

Meanwhile, on the gridiron, Pitt does not play against Penn State. They don't play because they were rivals, not best of buddies.

Go figure.

I'm a coach. I have scheduled matches and contests. But I don't think like they do. In swimming, we have different perspectives.

When I'm a coach, I want my team to race against the teams that are coached by my friends. If you have a good or great team, I want to go against you. I say bring it on.

That that does not kill us, generally makes us stronger.

Swimming has a different method for keeping score. In swimming, the prime aim is to improve, not to win. Our mission is more about getting better, not being 'on top.' We want improvement, and we want great rates of improvement. Just as everyone gets older and moves forward, I'm most interested in accelerated rates to excellence.

I think it is a human trait to aspire to be better. That should be our target, more so than being king for the day.

Some are fine at being a big fish in a little pond. Some want to be a little fish in a big sea. I'd like to be a big fish in a healthy environment with diversity and schools that go with and against the currents.



The same general concepts hold true for me in politics as well. My running or not does not hinge upon the opposition being my buddie or not. Loyal opposition can exist.

I would have loved to have run against Bill Peduto. There would be many instances were growth could have been expected as we took discussions to different places. That makes people uncomfortable.

Too often, Pittsburgh's political landscape is about living in a 'comfort zone.' As a coach I want to push, pull, and use what leverage I can muster and find to take people out of their comfort zone -- to improve.

Bike Pittsburgh's BikeFest. Can I present?

Bike Pittsburgh � BikeFest BikeFest is Bike Pittsburgh’s annual celebration of two wheeled madness, showcasing Pittsburgh in all of its uniqueness and beauty.

I'd love to present at this year's bike fest. Topic: Bike Experiences in Chengdu, China, and Christchurch, New Zealand from Mark Rauterkus.

The presentation would be a multi-media slide show with a take-home CD ROM of all the images and more. I'm releasing my images into the public domain.

Furthermore, a chapter of the presentation would be a series of suggestions of ways that the bike landcape in Pittsburgh could be enhanced, based upon what I've seen and my vision.

I've biked across Texas, been a race director at triathlons, enjoyed The Dam Ride and Pedal Pittsburgh, plus I want to advocate for bike efforts in our region.

china - my bike

The link above is but a tip of what I'd share with the participants. Furthermore, with your help, I'd be happy to make the CDs or DVDs avilable for all participants in the program, beyond who might attend my session. I could make it available for about $.40 each. Perhaps you'd be able to invest $300 or so on this project.

We are going to be in Christchurch from April 30 to June 12 or so. At the time of the expo, I'll be in town. But, I coach swimming every morning, except the weekend.

I'd be available at night. It might be something we could do in a classroom or even at an outdoor theater / screen.

I'd be available to do it multiple times as well.

Let me know.

OOoCon Call For Papers - OpenOffice.org to Spain

OOoCon Call For Papers - OpenOffice.org Wiki Call for Papers

The 2007 OpenOffice.org International Conference will be held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain on 19th-21st September. See the Conference website: http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2007

The OpenOffice.org Community invites potential speakers to submit proposals for papers. Whether you are a seasoned presenter, or have never stood up in public before, if you have something interesting to share about OpenOffice.org - we want to hear from you.