Personal Democracy Forum – Technology Is Changing Politics: Google Personal Democracy Forum Scholarships: Free Registration for Politicos and Non-Profit Professionals
Are you a campaign staffer blazing a new trail in online politics? A non-profit professional trying new technologies with great results? An activist with ideas about the next big thing to change elections?
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Monday, April 23, 2007
Personal Democracy Forum – Technology Is Changing Politics
Running Mates and readers of this blog should not let this pass without putting your skin in the game.
Take Your Father to School Day -- planning and event
I can't attend this meeting:
My reply:
I wish you all the best on Take Your Father To School Day. But..... I'm not going to be any help to you all. My family and I are going to go to New Zealand on April 28 -- and return around June 9.
We subscribe to the "leave no child behind theory" -- so we take our kids abroad when we go. :)
My wife is going to be teaching a course there and help them with some issues in her field. We'll explore, study, swim, play music and soak it in.
My advice:
I'd love to see a FALL version of Take Your Father To School. When the dads get into the school after the school year has finished, the impact isn't as great, I dare say. I'd love to see dad's get a leg up on knowing teachers, classmates, parents of classmates, and such. By May, the years is behind us.
Could we build upon the tradition and hold FALL take your father to school day as well as a spring session too?
Perhaps there can be a survey taken this year asking that question and some open-ended questions. We did that once, but it sorta got taken into the realm of the administration and out of the hands of the volunteers. Oh well.
Committee Members:If you want to go, lend a hand, assist with the planning, take some action.
Mr. Mark Brentley, Board Member would like to invite you to a Take a Father to School Day Planning Meeting on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. in the Board Office located at 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, Oakland on the 2nd floor. Please enter the Administration Building on the Bellefield side. Please RSVP at 412-622-3770 or via email at boardoffice@pghboe.net. We look forward to seeing you on Friday.
Robin Wenger, Board Executive Assistant, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Board of Directors - Room 245, 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 -- rwenger1@pghboe.net - 412-622-3770 (Phone)
My reply:
I wish you all the best on Take Your Father To School Day. But..... I'm not going to be any help to you all. My family and I are going to go to New Zealand on April 28 -- and return around June 9.
We subscribe to the "leave no child behind theory" -- so we take our kids abroad when we go. :)
My wife is going to be teaching a course there and help them with some issues in her field. We'll explore, study, swim, play music and soak it in.
My advice:
I'd love to see a FALL version of Take Your Father To School. When the dads get into the school after the school year has finished, the impact isn't as great, I dare say. I'd love to see dad's get a leg up on knowing teachers, classmates, parents of classmates, and such. By May, the years is behind us.
Could we build upon the tradition and hold FALL take your father to school day as well as a spring session too?
Perhaps there can be a survey taken this year asking that question and some open-ended questions. We did that once, but it sorta got taken into the realm of the administration and out of the hands of the volunteers. Oh well.
Ohligarchy: Candidates At Large
Ohligarchy: Candidates At LargeCheck out the bottom line of this post. One word.
City aide's cosmetics sales pitch rebuffed
City aide's cosmetics sales pitch rebuffed: P-G article.This doesn't look good. When you put lipsick on a pig, you still have a pig.
Candidate disclosure rules in Pa. brew court battles
PennLive.com: NewsFlash - Candidate disclosure rules in Pa. brew court battles: "At the center of the ballot-access cases is disagreement over what must be reported on the one-page 'statement of financial interests' that candidates must file with the state Ethics Commission as a condition for having their names listed on the ballot. The other condition, imposed by the state Election Code, requires them to gather enough voters' signatures to qualify for the office they are seeking.
Candidates can be challenged for failing to meet either requirement — putting them at risk of being thrown off the ballot only weeks before an election.
The required disclosures on the financial statements are relatively superficial — only the names of companies or other sources of income, for example, not dollar amounts or other details."
Diaspora Developments
Mike M and others at Pittsblog.Blogspot.com and elsewhere are talking about a manifesto.
Bridges are nice. But, the notion that I'd love to use as a story of Pittsburgh would be 'gang planks to Pittsburgh.'
Think of a large ferry boat, pulling up to a pier and in about 30-seconds, 200 people spill, from two levels, into the city's streets.
I'm not talking about those dinky foot bridges that take 40-minutes to empty the Majestic before or after a ball game. I'm thinking big, wide, mulit-level gang-planks to transfer mobs of pedestrians.
Okay, here goes my mind dump to take the conversation to another level. All in all, part of the charm of being Pittsburgh is our attraction everywhere else. But, part of the harm is to only talk about and only focus upon ourselves. We need to look beyond our borders. But, we also need to look within and allow others that come to raise their colors from time to time. I think that this diaspora can and should go both ways.
I'd love to see Pittsburgh's "REUNION HALL." Or, better yet, five such "reunion halls."
I'd love to see a CMU club. We've got a HYP (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) Club. But this doesn't need to be 'stuffy' -- just a Tartan kinda-place. Build it in Hazelwood.
I'd love to see other cities and regions have Reunions Days here in Pittsburgh. Folks from Cinci, NY, Boston, Chicago, Canada, etc., could have a places and times to gather -- monthly. Of course these could be commercial venues. Folks with a St. Louis connection meet at Bar Louie on the first Saturday of the month, for example.
Every parade, festival, road race (i.e., Great Race, etc.), and event must cross the river in some shape or form.
Small city rivalry among small sports teams should occur. First, the city schools need to be a part of the WPIAL. Furthermore, sports teams, such as swimming, rugby, ultimate, golf, tennis, etc., etc. should have regional teams to battle on regular basis. This takes the sister-cities notions to new heights. Little leaguers in Brentwood could play against Youngstown. Divers in the South Hills should dive against Bowling Green. Footballers from West Mifflin should play against a squad from State College.
The largest event in the Convention Center each year should be a youth technology summit.
A new magazine, Teacher from Pittsburgh, should be created. We've been exporting teachers to the rest of the nation. They all have classrooms. They should get scholarships to travel back home.
Every college in PA should have a new scholarship to attract Pgh Public School grads to their campus -- Pittsburgh Promise like.
AND, every grad at every college in PA, if not the region in future years, should be given big-brother/big-sister/mentor opportunities and housing / home ownership options to move to Pittsburgh with their degree and perhaps for grad school / start of career.
Grads from Slippery Rock, Westminster, Nova, PSU-Johnstown, should all have clearly marked homes in The Burgh.
Pittsburgh needs urban campgrounds.
Pittsburgh needs a few new youth hostels.
Pittsburgh needs out-of-town newspaper deliveries - news stands.
Pittsburgh should open a "Metro High" that would be for transplants to Pittsburgh.
Time shares happen at the beach in N.C. I think that a few high rise time shares could flourish in the city. Many people from around the world would be happy to come to Pittsburgh for one week a year, if they had a nice place to stay. They'd take in ball games, shop, and visit.
Three or more of the area Pittsburgh Catholic High Schools should open dorms and present prep schools options. Resident students could be part of the mix at Bishop Canevan, Seton LaSalle, OLSH, Quigley, North Catholic, etc.
Pittsburgh should open all its schools to school choice so students and families can choose whatever school fits best with the person.
Pittsburgh's Westinghouse and Peabody should be turned into single gender schools, and open to the regional students. (Think Oakland & Central, but public.)
Every High School in Allegheny County should be encouraged to host reunions.
Venues on Grant Street and throughout Pittsburgh -- in quasi public settings -- should be made to be much more accessible for weddings, wedding anniversary celebrations and family reunions.
Diaspora - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Diaspora
Bridges are nice. But, the notion that I'd love to use as a story of Pittsburgh would be 'gang planks to Pittsburgh.'
 |
| From planning-urban |
Think of a large ferry boat, pulling up to a pier and in about 30-seconds, 200 people spill, from two levels, into the city's streets.
I'm not talking about those dinky foot bridges that take 40-minutes to empty the Majestic before or after a ball game. I'm thinking big, wide, mulit-level gang-planks to transfer mobs of pedestrians.
Okay, here goes my mind dump to take the conversation to another level. All in all, part of the charm of being Pittsburgh is our attraction everywhere else. But, part of the harm is to only talk about and only focus upon ourselves. We need to look beyond our borders. But, we also need to look within and allow others that come to raise their colors from time to time. I think that this diaspora can and should go both ways.
I'd love to see Pittsburgh's "REUNION HALL." Or, better yet, five such "reunion halls."
 |
| From DHCC - mt-was... |
I'd love to see a CMU club. We've got a HYP (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) Club. But this doesn't need to be 'stuffy' -- just a Tartan kinda-place. Build it in Hazelwood.
I'd love to see other cities and regions have Reunions Days here in Pittsburgh. Folks from Cinci, NY, Boston, Chicago, Canada, etc., could have a places and times to gather -- monthly. Of course these could be commercial venues. Folks with a St. Louis connection meet at Bar Louie on the first Saturday of the month, for example.
Every parade, festival, road race (i.e., Great Race, etc.), and event must cross the river in some shape or form.
Small city rivalry among small sports teams should occur. First, the city schools need to be a part of the WPIAL. Furthermore, sports teams, such as swimming, rugby, ultimate, golf, tennis, etc., etc. should have regional teams to battle on regular basis. This takes the sister-cities notions to new heights. Little leaguers in Brentwood could play against Youngstown. Divers in the South Hills should dive against Bowling Green. Footballers from West Mifflin should play against a squad from State College.
The largest event in the Convention Center each year should be a youth technology summit.
A new magazine, Teacher from Pittsburgh, should be created. We've been exporting teachers to the rest of the nation. They all have classrooms. They should get scholarships to travel back home.
Every college in PA should have a new scholarship to attract Pgh Public School grads to their campus -- Pittsburgh Promise like.
AND, every grad at every college in PA, if not the region in future years, should be given big-brother/big-sister/mentor opportunities and housing / home ownership options to move to Pittsburgh with their degree and perhaps for grad school / start of career.
Grads from Slippery Rock, Westminster, Nova, PSU-Johnstown, should all have clearly marked homes in The Burgh.
Pittsburgh needs urban campgrounds.
Pittsburgh needs a few new youth hostels.
Pittsburgh needs out-of-town newspaper deliveries - news stands.
Pittsburgh should open a "Metro High" that would be for transplants to Pittsburgh.
Time shares happen at the beach in N.C. I think that a few high rise time shares could flourish in the city. Many people from around the world would be happy to come to Pittsburgh for one week a year, if they had a nice place to stay. They'd take in ball games, shop, and visit.
 |
| Think urban time shares for Pgh. From planning-urban |
Three or more of the area Pittsburgh Catholic High Schools should open dorms and present prep schools options. Resident students could be part of the mix at Bishop Canevan, Seton LaSalle, OLSH, Quigley, North Catholic, etc.
Pittsburgh should open all its schools to school choice so students and families can choose whatever school fits best with the person.
Pittsburgh's Westinghouse and Peabody should be turned into single gender schools, and open to the regional students. (Think Oakland & Central, but public.)
Every High School in Allegheny County should be encouraged to host reunions.
Venues on Grant Street and throughout Pittsburgh -- in quasi public settings -- should be made to be much more accessible for weddings, wedding anniversary celebrations and family reunions.
Activist planning education rally, May 17
Activist planning education rally An East Liberty activist yesterday said the Pittsburgh Public Schools' restructuring efforts aren't enough to lift black, poor students out of 'subservience' to white, higher-income peers, and he called on residents to join him in an education rights campaign.This would be a good time to rally against the broken promise of the Pittsburgh Promise. I won't be there.
Salvador Wilcox, chief executive officer of Education Innovations Inc., has planned an 'Education Crusader' rally for 11 a.m. May 17 outside school district offices in Oakland. 'Education Crusader' is the name of Mr. Wilcox's blog.
While he said students and teachers should consider walking out of their classrooms to take part, school district and union officials cautioned against that.
2 strong women seek nomination to school board district 2
2 strong women seek nomination to school board district 2 Mrs. Tecza, 44, of Polish Hill, is an employment specialist at Achieva, an organization for people with disabilities. In her previous role there as an education advocate, she helped disabled students get instructional programs meeting their needs.
Fidelis of Sigmaringen - Happy Feast Day St Fidelis
Fidelis of Sigmaringen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is April 24.
Michael Badnarik on internet radio
When Michael Badnarick was a candidate for US President, he came to an event I hosted in Mt. Washington. It was a busy night, and I didn't take video or photos, sadly.
Passion.
A powerful or compelling emotion or feeling.
Boundless enthusiasm.
As far back as I can remember, I have always loved Liberty. The first memories I have are of me wearing my navy blue Cub Scout uniform, marching in a Fourth of July parade. I remember being very proud, waving to my mother and father as they watched from the curb.
Since then, my passion for Liberty has grown exponentially, motivated in large part by the realization that most of what my government does is unconstitutional. I knew that somehow, some way, I was going do something about it. I ran for Texas State representative, and then surprised myself by running for President of the United States. My fellow Libertarians surprised me even more by making me their 2004 Libertarian nominee in a stunning "come from behind" victory. That success led me to devote two more years attempting to win a seat as the first Libertarian in Congress.
Today - disallusioned with "politics as usual" and the corrupt elections foisted upon us by the use of electronic voting machines - I have decided to attack the problem from a different angle. I am going to combine my freedom of speech with my burning desire to restore our Constitutional republic to its original standard of ethics. Tomorrow, April 23rd, I begin a new career as the host of a new radio talk show called Lighting the fires of Liberty!
The purpose of my program will be to share the love I have for freedom, and the ideals upon which the founders created this great nation. Naturally, I will talk about the Constitution and quote frequently from many of our early patriots, but I want my program to be different. I want to inspire people! I want to instill an all consuming and burning passion for Liberty! I want my listeners to experience the same level of patriotic fervor that Patrick Henry experienced when he exclaimed, "Give me Liberty, or give me death!"
I want you to laugh and share the joy I feel, knowing that we live in the greatest country the ever existed on the face of the earth. I want you to get angry when you realize that the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the REAL ID Act are blatantly unconstitutional, and threaten the very lifestyle we love so much. I want you to be moved to tears when you listen to Ray Charles singing "America... America... God shed his grace on thee!"
I am very proud that I will soon be a member of the WE THE PEOPLE RADIO NETWORK, along with other Liberty activists such as Alex Jones, Dr. Katherine Albrecht, Jack Blood, Peymon Mottahedeh, Mark Koernke, Debbie Stevens, and others. Not only that, but I've been given the very prestigeous "morning drive time" slot every weekday from 7:00am until 9:00am, Central Time. I invite you to listen online at www.WTPRN.com, and call in to express your passionate views on the air. The call-in number is 512-646-6449.
The guest for my very first program will be my mother, Elaine Badnarik. She is the person who taught me to read, to love learning, and to pursue every adventure and activity with all of the passion I could muster. In all of the ways that are truly significant, I am the person I am because of the example that she set for me. Tomorrow is your opportunity to call in to speak with her personally on the air.
Finally, this is the very last time I will broadcast a message to every eMail address I have collected during my last two campaigns. I know that many of these address are now obsolete, however I haven't had any way to know which ones those are. Now that my website newsletter program has been modified to successfully distribute messages to the thousands of addresses I have collected, I will make this announcement - and then delete everyone from the list! Therefore, if you want to continue receiving my newsletter, you will have to visit www.ConstitutionPreservation.org and re-subscribe to the newsletter one last time.
Thank you for your past support of my political campaigns. I am honored that so many people thought I was worthy of their time and endorsement. I hope that many of you will now become avid listeners of my program. Fortunately people in the Pacific Time Zone will not be required to wake up at 5:00am to hear me because my program will automatically be archived on the website the moment my program goes off the air. I am no longer a candidate, however as long as I am able to breathe, I will continue...
Lighting the fires of Liberty, one heart at a time!
Michael Badnarik
Think Free Be Free - Welcome to ThinkFree.ca
Think Free Be Free - Welcome to ThinkFree.ca ThinkFREE is dedicated to helping achieve a freer and more just society, where authority is achieved without deception and exercised with restraint, understanding, accountability and compassion. We employ educational seminars, guerrilla videography, Notarial justice, advocacy, public action and dance. (Seriously, never doubt the power of dance)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Film extras ad ruffles feathers in Christchurch
Film extras ad ruffles feathers in Christchurch - New Zealand's source for entertainment news, gossip & music, movie & book reviews on Stuff.co.nz Christchurch Public Domain AuthorityPerhaps I'll announce that I'm a candidate for another office. I could run for the board of an authority: The Christchurch Public Domain Authority.
DVD handouts at BootCampPgh.org
At yesterday's event at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, I passed out some DVDs of a movie.
Hope you enjoy the film.
 |
| From ads - political |
Hope you enjoy the film.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Luke pimps Les Ludwig's slogan again
Les Ludwig coined the slogan, "Do more with Les." Les ran against Bob O'Connor. Luke -- this quote rubs me the wrong way.
A single payer health system, as designed by people in Pittsburgh already, would do wonders to the city's budget. It could give PA a competitive adantage and it makes for a system-wide fix helping small business, large business, government workers and every citizen.
Getting all the health insurance from one provider also has the risk of sinking the city when the contract comes due in a couple of years.
There is some security in diversity.
Getting all the health insurance coverage from one provider is like a single, bigger band-aid.
A fitness program too!
Health-care switch to save city millions 'It is a significant savings for us, as a city that continues to do more with less,' Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said while unveiling the arrangement yesterday.How about if the city just does what it must with what it has. I don't really want Luke to do more. No more property tax abatement. No more boneheaded spending.
A single payer health system, as designed by people in Pittsburgh already, would do wonders to the city's budget. It could give PA a competitive adantage and it makes for a system-wide fix helping small business, large business, government workers and every citizen.
Getting all the health insurance from one provider also has the risk of sinking the city when the contract comes due in a couple of years.
There is some security in diversity.
Getting all the health insurance coverage from one provider is like a single, bigger band-aid.
A fitness program too!
City Ethics Board Still Can't Get Together - News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh
City Ethics Board Still Can't Get Together - News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh 'I think you look to what's important for this commission to do going forward,' said board member Kathy Beuchel.
Why We Think We’re Unhappy and What Not to Do About It
Cato Unbound � Blog Archive � Why We Think We’re Unhappy and What Not to Do About It One obvious reason for our willingness to believe in widespread malaise is the proliferation of books, movies, articles, and other media that tell us how horrible things are these days. Part of the story has to be that bad news sells better than good news. “If it bleeds, it leads,” as they say. University of California, Davis psychologist Michael Hagerty suggests that this is one reason most Americans think that their life has improved, while most other Americans’ lives haven’t.
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