Monday, April 23, 2007
Best Practices in eDebates from MN - and Plans for 2008
Steven Clift, fellow netizen and hero of mine, has a wonderful web movie that covers some best-practices for online education for voters from various ventures he's helped to organize throughout the years. These efforts center upon web debates. I've loved being engaged in some of these past efforts as a citizen and consumer of the process.
His recent blog post.
Now Yahoo! et al are talking about holding Presidential online debates. How nice.
The press release from Yahoo! makes an important announcement. However, there have been plenty of online candidate debates. It is a bad practice to say that you are the 'first' in anything.
Web White & Blue hosted a debate in 2000. Check out this web movie,
http://www.e-democracy.org/movies/presidentialedebate.html
"Slugging it out" is the wrong theme. Internet formats should be designed to allow more in-depth answers and a substantive exchange and not to promote a flame fest. Cable television new political punditry can hurl insults there. Don't bring that shock and awe to the internet.
His recent blog post.
Now Yahoo! et al are talking about holding Presidential online debates. How nice.
The press release from Yahoo! makes an important announcement. However, there have been plenty of online candidate debates. It is a bad practice to say that you are the 'first' in anything.
Web White & Blue hosted a debate in 2000. Check out this web movie,
http://www.e-democracy.org/movies/presidentialedebate.html
"Slugging it out" is the wrong theme. Internet formats should be designed to allow more in-depth answers and a substantive exchange and not to promote a flame fest. Cable television new political punditry can hurl insults there. Don't bring that shock and awe to the internet.
Nomination Papers to download, print, sign and return to us
These links to PDFs hold the keys to the necessary paperwork for the nomination papers so we can get onto the ballot in November 2007.
Any eligible voter in the county can sign. But, the right paperwork must be matched with the right location of the voter.
Those that live nearest to me, on the South Side, in district 3, sign this paper:
http://Elect.Rauterkus.com/papers/petition-cc-3.pdf (PDF, 112k)
Those that live in city council district 7, (Len vs. Patrict in D primary), sign this paper:
http://Elect.Rauterkus.com/papers/petition-cc-7-pdf.pdf (PDF, 719k)
Those that live in city council district 9, (home of Twanda), sign this paper: http://Elect.Rauterkus.com/papers/petition-cc-9.pdf (PDF, 110k)
Anyone in the city can sign this paper:
http://Elect.Rauterkus.com/papers/petition-city.pdf (PDF, 720k)
Anyone in the county can sign this paper:
http://Elect.Rauterkus.com/papers/petition-county.pdf (PDF, 720k)
Second page (flip side):
http://Elect.Rauterkus.com/papers/2nd-page-petition.pdf (PDF, 614k)
We didn't have swim practice tonight. Sadly.
A link from the Carlynton School District web site reads as follows:
April 23, 2007
Dear Parent/Guardian:we
On Monday, April 23, 2007, a hand-written message was found on a bathroom partition of a boys’ restroom in the Carlynton Junior-Senior High School. The message suggested the author was going to ‘blow up’ the school on Tuesday, April 24, 2007. Unfortunately, this type of behavior is occurring on a regular basis in schools throughout Allegheny and the surrounding counties.
The police were immediately notified and are investigating this information.
While we may question the credibility of this threat, we always want to err on the side of caution. As a result, all activities occurring at the Junior-Senior High School for Monday evening are cancelled. The Allegheny County Police Department will complete a search of the building on Monday evening and the building will remain locked until 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.
No students are permitted to drive to school on Tuesday. An officer will monitor the driveway to ensure that only school personnel drive onto or near the school. All backpacks will be subject to search upon entrance to the school.
This message was specific to the Junior-Senior High School and no other building is involved. Still, we will continue to take our normal precautions in all of the buildings.
The search for the person(s) responsible for this behavior continues. Anyone with information regarding this matter is encouraged to contact the district at 412-429-8400 ext. 117 or the Robinson Township Police at 412-788-8115.
Thank you for your support and cooperation. School will be open and students are to report as usual.
Sincerely yours,
Michael A. Panza, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Steelers fear. Steelers are RENTERS. Buy Heinz Field and then let's talk
Steelers fear casino traffic on game days 'There's a whole different picture on the North Shore that needs to be looked at,' he said.The Steelers rent Heinz Field. The team has no sway unless it buys Heinz Field.
I think we should sell Heinz Field to the Steelers. And, let's sell PNC Park to the Pirates. And, let's keep the Civic Arena too, while we're at it.
These teams rent. If they were owners, we'd have another discussion.
Don Barden is going to own his casino.
Sun Microsystems chair touts open-source education for K-12 kids
This is the Pittsburgh Promise that I've been talking about for years. Back in 2000 I was asking for Open Source Software for our schools.
As I pass out CDs to the community members I see on the campaign trails, an installer of OpenOffice.org is generally contained.
Sun Microsystems chair touts open-source education for K-12 kids Sun Microsystems chair touts open-source education for K-12 kidsSUN is a great company. SUN has some great tools. You can help by taking the plunge and getting and using OpenOffice.org for your office productivity suite.
As I pass out CDs to the community members I see on the campaign trails, an installer of OpenOffice.org is generally contained.
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.
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?
Then we want you to participate in the Personal Democracy Forum, where the nation's leading technologists, campaign organizers, politicos, bloggers, activists and journalists come together in New York City for a high-level conversation about the new tools, sites and practices that are transforming politics and democracy.
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)
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