Koch gets full time campaign workers now

We've been watching public works crews here in Chirstchurch -- thinking about you all in Pittsburgh. It is fall, so there is a lot of leaf collecting. The gardens are everywhere and are still blooming with plenty of different flowers. Plus, it is rugby season and there are fields everywhere. All are in great condition too.

Now I notice that Jeff Koch has picked up some fulltime campaign workers now that a few from the public works crew have been given a five day suspension. When they were on the job -- they needed to work.

If I was Bruce Kraus -- I'd be careful for what to wish for. Kraus should ask that the suspensions begin on May 16.

Watching the money

Watching the money The mayor's five-figure fans

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl finished out April with $695,906 in the bank, and nobody to spend it against, since his Democratic rival Councilman William Peduto dropped his mayoral bid in March.

Ron Paul's debate performance is setting the net ablaze

Great news starts to fill the sails of the campaign for the guy who should be the next US President.

ARLINGTON, VA – Congressman Ron Paul's support has soared since the first Republican presidential debate. Conservative commentator John McLaughlin, host of "The McLaughlin Group," cited Ron Paul as having given "the best performance of the debate." In fact, the Paul campaign's apparent strength has many other pundits scrambling to explain it. Paul campaign officials offer the following examples of the candidate's rising success.

Since the debate on May 3, Ron Paul:

1. Handily won two post-debate polls posted by event sponsor MSNBC.

2. Placed a close third (18%) in a post-debate poll on the conservative Drudge Report.

3. Won an ABCNews.com online debate poll with 84%.

4. Won a C-SPAN online GOP candidate poll with 69%.

5. Became the third most-mentioned person in the blogosphere, beating out Paris Hilton, according to the reputable Technorati.com.

6. Produced a YouTube.com video that was ranked the 8th most popular overall video, and the most-viewed political video.

7. Was featured, by popular demand, on the front of Digg.com.

8. Generated so many bulletin posts on MySpace.com that the site owner News Corp. blocked all additional posts about Dr. Paul.

9. Became a "most searched" term on Google and Yahoo!.

10. Saw a quadrupling of daily visitors to RonPaul2008.com.

"These figures speak for themselves," said campaign chairman Kent Snyder. "Ron Paul has quickly become a strong contender for the GOP nomination because of his powerful message of freedom and limited government."

Mayor, Police Chief Address String Of Violence - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

Mayor, Police Chief Address String Of Violence - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh Added Chief Harper, 'In addition, we will beef up our police presence in high crime areas and saturate the neighborhoods with bike patrol. In order to stop the cycle of violence, we must eliminate the target.'

The campus police in Cantebury use segways. The segway is a two-wheeled scooter that has computer chips to balance, big left and right wheels and an electric engine -- so speed is very good.

Police on bikes is a good thing for many reasons. However, the police on bikes need to stay off of the sidewalks while on their bikes. All zipping bikes need to be off the sidewalks.

Weekly swim plans for the national squad

By Martin, the head coach.

How sad is it to have a ribbon cutting for this

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Marmaduke Park is slated for Thursday, May 10, 2007 at 2:00 pm for the new concession stand and bathroom facilities.

Great news. A place to get hot dogs and take a whiz opens. Let's cut a ribbon and have a ceremony. Wonder if the ribbon looks like a roll of toilet paper.

About the Southern Trust

At our swim pool in Christchurch, there are two major sponsors. One is McDonalds. The other is the Southern Trust. I looked at the logo and name and thought it must be a bank or a credit union or some sort of financial organization for consumers. Well, it is -- kinda. And, it plays a role that Pittsburgh is trying to get a handle upon too -- with hockey arena funding and Hill District residents.

About the Southern Trust About the Southern Trust
Funding the Community

The Southern Trust works on behalf of the community in two important ways. We play an administrative role both in the generation of revenue from gaming machines and the returning of these revenues to local communities in meaningful ways.

Community Grants ...

Read more at the site.

Staff schedule for coaching

Hungary for hockey coverage and international sports

Posted by Steve Klein

NHL Capitals to Make News by Reporting It

It's no longer news to anyone that the Internet makes everyone a publisher. But does mainstream media fully understand the implications, and that alternative sources are becoming the news provider of choice -- especially when there is no choice?

The Washington Capitals (http://www.washingtoncaps.com/index2.html) plan to send four reporters to Moscow to offer hockey fans unprecedented coverage of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship (http://live82.ihwc.net/english/) now underway through May 13. The Capitals will partner with Clearspring Technologies (http://www.clearspring.com) to deliver audio, video and text content to their site for Caps fans, as well as to local, national and international media outlets via a specialized widget.

The Capitals have five players and two prospects participating in the tournament -- including their leading scorer and star, Alex Ovechkin (http://www.washingtoncaps.com/team/player.asp?player_id=17) , who will play for Russia. Although coverage will focus on the Capitals players and prospects, the reporters will provide coverage that will appeal to a world-wide audience.

The coverage team includes Mike Vogel and Sean Parker from the Capitals along with John Keeley and Mike Rucki of On Frozen Blog (http://www.onfrozenblog.com/) . Vogel and Parker produce the majority of the editorial content on the Capitals' site (http://www.washingtoncaps.com/index2.html) , named the NHL's best team site last year by Forbes.com. Vogel also writes the blog Dump 'n Chase (http://www.dumpnchase.blogspot.com) .

Keeley and Rucki are part of a four-person group that launched "On Frozen Blog" in October 2006 as "a haven for the hockey malnourished." And that's what this initiative by Caps majority owner and chairman Ted Leonsis is all about: Providing content and coverage in under-covered niches that mainstream media ignore for a variety of reasons.

"Our local media -- either because of lack of interest or lack of budget due to declines in circulation, ad revenue decreases and newsroom layoffs -- are not covering the World Championships of Hockey in Moscow," Leonsis wrote May 3 on his blog, Ted's Take (http://ted.aol.com/index.php?ID=873) . "The tournament is big news around the world so we have decided to invest and send four people to cover the event and then put all coverage on the Web for free. We will share the news with new and traditional media outlets and syndicate it far and wide.

"Web 2.0 makes it possible for us to get our coverage out to millions and millions of people, promoting our sport, our team and our players. Our coverage on the Web and in the blogosphere is starting to look like a well heeled major media enterprise compared to many traditional media outlets that must curtail their coverage due to lack of budget based on the fragile state of their old business model."

The Capitals have not made the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs for several years and often are treated like an afterthought in the NFL-Washington-Redskins-crazed D.C. metro area media. Leonsis is probably best known for his longtime significant relationship with AOL. But the Capitals are no plaything as far as Leonsis is concerned. He's obviously tired of waiting for the media to come to him and the Caps.

The coverage will include stories, audio and video interviews, photos and podcasts. The Capitals, through their relationship with Clearspring Technologies, will deliver the content directly to interested media and online outlets via a specialized Web-based widget. Media outlets and individuals with blogs or social networking pages can post the widget directly to their sites, where others can access the information.

I love the fact that there will be expanded coverage of international sports in the US. Generally, the US is way behind the rest of the world in all understandings of global discussions -- including sports.

Furthermore, I ask about the weirdness of the journalists that hail from the Washington Capitals. This crew to cover the games is not from the Washington Post. They are working for the NHL team.

Wonder what Mark Madden has to say about this?

The hotel rooms in Olympic Villages have never been the same since the hockey teams have come, crashed and departed. Now, perhaps, the apartment managers are going to need to watch out for the journalists too.

Newcomer challenges Onorato for Allegheny County post - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Newcomer challenges Onorato for Allegheny County post - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review And when a friend complained to him that Onorato was getting a free ride because no one -- Republican or Democrat -- wanted to take him on, Swartz, a Democrat, started his first political campaign.

No one. Well, there are some.

It is bad when the MSM (mainstream media) can't do math. And, when the math is only on one hand -- it is even worse.

One is bigger than none. Two is more than one.

Mayor's tax plan leaves out some city locations

The Luke plan is a bad plan. Luke's plan is a plan that plays favorites. Luke's plan is typical Pittsburgh. Luke's plan was hatched because Bill's plan was seeded. Both are bad.

Mayor's tax plan leaves out some city locations At a recent City Council hearing, Brightwood advocate Ed Brandt, fired by frustration, called the applications 'capricious and arbitrary. I have spent 15 years working on the North Side, and nothing tells me the logic of why Spring Garden and not Troy Hill, why Fineview and not Perry Hilltop [Perry South], why Manchester and not Brightwood?'

The way to fix this unfair plan, the Luke lie, is to give everyone a tax break.

A sift back to the land-value tax is a move in the right direction. It is fair. It is universal. It promotes freedom. It respects the marketplace. It works to insure a dense, urban landscape.

Move afoot to return marathon

Move afoot to return marathon In some incarnation, the Pittsburgh Marathon might be coming back next year.

Christchuch has a marathon. It will be held soon.

Where in the world is Grant?

From NZ train-trip

How many kids do you see?

The gang, (Catherine, Erik, Grant, and the two Pitt grad students) took a trip via train into the center of the south island to the Southern Alps. Then they had a four hour tramp. Then took a return train ride back to Christchurch. Some of the photos are now on in a Picasa album.

From NZ train-trip

Ron Paul on the debates

Part of BootCamp Pgh and our media + internet + politics session

Jennifer England from the League of Young Voters and I gave a presentation for an hour at the recent BootCamp.Pgh.org event about politics, media and internet. Here is a bit of that talk.

Pittsburgh - Swartz And All - Just don't say you didn't have a choice this May 15 - Views - Potter's Field - Pittsburgh City Paper

Pittsburgh - Swartz And All - Just don't say you didn't have a choice this May 15 - Views - Potter's Field - Pittsburgh City Paper

New Zealand has a certification level for assistant coaches

Not your typical rugby play. From last night's game

Enjoy some football!

Tickets for next week's game go on sale at 9 am on Tuesday. Let me know if you'd like to come and tailgate for the playoffs.

All aboard

From New Zealand

Saw a kiwi today

On the way to QEII swim pool today, on my bike, and passed a wetland area next to a park. There on the edge of the bike path -- none other than a small flock of kiwis. Kiwi's are birds. They are sorta rare. Nice treat.

Today I took in an aquatic class. More tomorrow.

On the way home -- I got our second flat tire on the bike. Called home and got a lift as we had some guests over for a family party. Now to fix the flats.

At the pool we got to see some canoe water polo too.