Want some free fatherhood info for your organization?

National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) just released two RFPs for bundles of resources that community-based organizations can apply to receive at no charge. All that is required to potentially receive these resources is a little time and effort to write a brief proposal.

Please spread the word among your contacts. I have attached an announcement about the resources.

www.fatherhood.org

National Fatherhood Initiative Announces Two Request for Proposals (RFPs): We are currently offering quality resources FREE to eligible organizations.

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For more information about the Daddy Pack™ opportunity, or to apply, click here Questions? Email us For more information about the Fatherhood Resource Center opportunity, or to apply, click here Questions? Email us *organizations may apply for, and possibly receive, both sets of resources* To learn more about the National Fatherhood Initiative visit www.fatherhood.org

Visit FatherSOURCE Learn more about our programs

Part time job

Environmental work in the city

The Pennsylvania Resources Council is currently searching for four to six part-time contract project assistants to support PRC staff in implementing a neighborhood recycling awareness campaign in the City of Pittsburgh. Interested individuals should send a cover letter and resume to David Mazza, Western Regional Director, via fax (412-488-7492) or email davem@ccicenter.org ASAP.

Invite: You can visit with us on the 4th of July

We are having our annual party / open house. Last year, Russ Diamond came to mingle and socialize.

Schedule: 6 pm badminton in the park by our house, 12th and Sarah Street. If you don’t want to play or watch badminton, plan to show up at the house (108 S. 12th Street) any time after 7 pm.

We’ll have the usual arts and crafts and some “water” games.

We supply napkins, plates, utensils, cups and lemonade and chips. If you want something more exciting (and we hope you do), please bring some to share (food or beverage).

You’ll be viewing the downtown fire works from our NEW deck just after dark. Yes, it is NEW. The deck is higher, larger, and really, really nice.

Plus, the room on the third floor where heads were often hit on the ceiling has changed as well. Come see the new room with 3 meter tall walls. We invite you to write a message on the unfinished inside walls (This year only!) that will be preserved with the house when we put up the final walls.

Everyone is welcome – please feel free to bring friends, relatives, etc.

If you need to reach us, email at mark@rauterkus.com.

Hope to see you. You can check out some of our New Zealand scrapbooks too.

Mark, Catherine, Erik, and Grant (plus our two cats)

PS: We're playing three evenings of coached water polo (any level) on July 1, 2 and 3 at the Crafton pool. Email for more information – it will be lots of fun.

The 'Burgh Works, A Pittsburgh Jobs Blog: Pennsylvania State Police Unveil New Cadet Recruitment Website

We have a problem with the recruitment of officers in the city and state. Perhaps one way to deal with the problem is to have fewer police forces. New Zealand has one police force for the entire nation. I don't advocate that solution, but it is interesting to study it. Today I talked to the Chief of the Pgh School District Police about that concept as we both were getting lunch at the Pickle Barrel.

The 'Burgh Works, A Pittsburgh Jobs Blog: Pennsylvania State Police Unveil New Cadet Recruitment Website We were notified recently that the State Police have unveiled a new cadet recruitment site at www.patrooper.com. The intent of the website is to make it easier to obtain information on becoming a Trooper as well as testing schedules and what current requirements are in effect. We found the new site very easy to navigate and well designed from a graphics standpoint. Information was easy to find and the overall effect is very web 2.0 (audio and video). State Police recruiters will be in attendance at our next big job fair on July 25th at Mellon Arena.

CollegeSwimming.com reports on White House visit: Brief - Body Suit? Bush Ops For Jammer

CollegeSwimming.com::Brief? Body Suit? Bush Ops For Jammer Auburn, which has won five consecutive men's national titles and five of the last six NCAA women's championships, presented the President with a beach towel with his name embroidered on it and both men's and women's Auburn swimsuits.

Blog Rankings:

This blog, Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates, was ranked #7 in the original rankings of the most influential political blogs in Pennsylvania.

Blue Flu Alert: Mayor wants 10 city officials to resign by Friday - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Insanity looks like this:

The mayor wants 10 city officials to resign by Friday - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Say 10 guys resign on Friday. And, say they walk off the job too. Hell might begin to freeze over.

I think this 'resignation request' might be the straw that breaks the back of a few of these guys. But, what about all ten? Solidarity could be very interesting.

Meanwhile, city residents get the shaft.

I know how hard it is to get good people to agree to run for public office. Getting great people to work in the public sector for goofy leadership, without being elected, is going to be much harder.

People vote with their feet. When things are not right, they notice. They walk. They don't subject themselves to crazy situations. People leave the city to live elsewhere. And, people will not have a great attraction to come to the city as residents nor as directors.

Rudy missing in action for Iraq panel - Newsday.com

Rudy missing in action for Iraq panel - Newsday.com WASHINGTON -- Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel's top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said.

Giuliani left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war.

Iowa -- let it rain let it rain let it reign

Ron Paul Excluded in Iowa

Iowans for Tax Relief and Iowa Christian Alliance will host a presidential candidates forum on Saturday, June 30th in Des Moines. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson, and Tom Tancredo will participate.

Ron Paul, however, will not participate. Why? Because he wasn’t invited.

We heard about this forum from numerous supporters in Iowa who asked why Dr. Paul was not going to participate. Those supporters assumed that Dr. Paul was invited.

The campaign office had not received an invitation so we called this morning; thinking we might have misplaced the invitation or simply overlooked it. Lew Moore, our campaign manager, called Mr. Edward Failor, an officer of Iowans for Tax Relief, to ask about it. To our shock, Mr. Failor told us Dr. Paul was not invited; he was not going to be invited; and he would not be allowed to participate. And when asked why, Mr. Failor refused to explain. The call ended.

Lew then called Mr. Steve Sheffler, president of the Iowa Christian Alliance, to talk with him. Mr. Sheffler did not answer so Lew left a message. He has yet to respond.

Why are the Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance excluding the one Republican candidate who scored at the top of every online poll taken after the MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN debates? Why are they denying Iowans the opportunity to hear from the Republican presidential candidate whose popularity is growing by the day?

We couldn’t get answers to these questions from Messrs. Failor and Sheffler. Maybe you’ll have better luck. Their contact information is below.

It's ironic that on the same day we learned the Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance excluded Dr. Paul from their candidates forum, we received a call from ABC News confirming Dr. Paul’s participation in its nationally broadcast August 5th debate to be held in Des Moines.

Kent Snyder, Chairman
Ron Paul 2008


Contact Information

Edward Failor
Iowans for Tax Relief
2610 Park Avenue
Muscatine, Iowa 52761
Phone: 563-288-3600 or 877-913-3600
Fax: 563-264-2413
E-mail: itr@taxrelief.org

Steve Sheffler, President
Iowa Christian Alliance
939 Office Park Road, Suite 115
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
Phone: 515-225-1515
Fax: 515-225-1826
E-mail: slscheffler@iowachristian.com

Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette: Peduto Says Cool Hand Luke Out In Left Field

Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette: Peduto Says Cool Hand Luke Out In Left Field He Might As Well Ask For (Dan) Onorato's Resignation While He’s At It

During today’s City Council session, Councilman Bill Peduto read the City Charter rules as they pertain to the firings of department heads and directors. Something Mayor Lukey should have done prior to waving his hand, trying to get most of the 5th floor to disappear.

A couple of embarrassing points for an administration which is building its legacy on embarrassment ……

Great recap at the insanity that the rookie Mayor has caused.

I don't like to have an insult of being on some kind of meds, however. That is just silly and does not help the cause. There is plenty to be upset about for what it is without putting in some fictional boogie man causes.

Libertarians to gather on WED night this week.

Click here to check out
The Libertarian Party of Pittsburgh Meetup Group!

Working on a special event with Pirate game for end of summer for lifeguards and swimmers

Save the date: Sunday, September 30, 2007. That is the last game of the year for the Pittsburgh Pirates. We hope to pull together a special event with the game to honor and celebrate the end of the summer. And our special focus will be the swimmers, coaches, lifeguards and fitness participants and leaders who make the summer-time days safe and enoyable.

Ideas, co-organizers, volunetters are welcomed to join this effort.

Write to me via Mark -at- Rauterkus -dot- com or call my cell: 412 298 3432.

Nameless, faceless bloggers -- and why they occur withing and without the media

At another blog there is a thread about posting comments from those who don't sign their names.

One theory says that the anon postings are from those in the media. By and large, I don't agree.

Because one is in the media is not an excuse to use anon, UNLESS, you're media in Fiji. Fiji has had a military take over. The general / dictator has had a thing against bloggers and free press. So, anon bloggers and postings are needed, else one would be jailed or worse.

I venture that there are 100 or so that use, with monthly postings, the "Anon" handle. Perhaps 10% are media.

If there are anon posters in the media -- what the hell are they scared of? Are they chicken to stand by their words? Are they spineless?

For example, Jon Delano (KDKA) and Bob Mayo (WTAE) use their names, generally, I assume. Others in the media do as well.

The media has a job to do -- and that is to report. If the media people leverage influence to sway the news in ways they desire by using "anon" postings on blog comments, then there are concerns that should be pulled into the open. Does anyone want to pick a bone with media people posting in "anon" ways here?

My conclusion: I feel that they don't do that. It doesn't happen much.

Media posting in regular ways as anon is too bush-league for even the media around Pittsburgh.

Anon postings come from people who are citizens and fearful of powerful ones who are in government and in hiring capacities for other reasons. And, that fear is justified. And, those people are NOT generally 'media folks.'

Finally, I'm certain that the media folks READ blogs and do research. But, they'll be less engaged as people who 'post.'

Agree, or not? Use the comments and tell us why.

R.I.P. -- times NINE

Nine firefighters died in Charlestown, South Carolina, in a furnature warehouse blaze. Seems the roof fell on them.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/19/charleston.fire.ap/index.html

Life is precious. Let's end this theme on the blog now, shall we.

Update:

Terry Hoeppner, Big Ben's college coach, dies: "Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner died today of complications from a brain tumor, a university spokesman said. He was 59."

Another RIP: WESLEY, (Wes) THOMPSON reports that his mother passed away.

Unfortunately the Lord chose to take my mother, Mildred Thompson, home on Sat. 6-16. Friends will be received fron 7-9 Mon., & tues. 2-4 & 7-9 at Thomas Smith funeral home 930, Center Ave B, Blawnox PA 15238. A service will be held Wednesday morning 10 AM.

Hat tip to Kathleen Stewart of the western side of Pgh.

Pennsylvania lost a leader. RIP Dr. George Osborne

He was a leader at the PA College of Optometry, an audiologist, a professor. He helped to launch the Pennsylvania Accademy of Audiology. He hired a couple of Univ. of Pittsburgh graduates. He has been a pioneer in distance education. He was a pilot.

Last Friday, the College announced with great sadness that Dr. George S. Osborne, Dean of the School of Audiology died suddenly on June 14th.

The Memorial Service for Dr. Osborne is as follows:
Friday, June 22nd at 7 p.m.
Paoli Presbyterian Church
225 S. Valley Road, Paoli, PA 19301
Phone number at the church is 610-644-8250

Should you like to get a condolence note to the Osborne family, we ask that you send it to our offices here at PCO, and we will be sure to have all communications forwarded to the family.

PCO
Alumni Office
8360 Old York Road
Elkins Park, PA 19027

Dr. Osborne's family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to
PCO Foundation's George S. Osborne Scholarship Fund.

Presidential candidate Ron Paul drawing diverse crowds - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Article in the Sunday Trib about my favorite candidate for US President, 2008, Dr. Ron Paul.

Presidential candidate Ron Paul drawing diverse crowds - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review What struck the candidate ... was the diversity of the crowd.

'Young and old, hippie types and business types, Republicans and Democrats and independents, anarchists, people who hate the IRS and the Federal Reserve,' said Ron Paul, a Green Tree native, Dormont High School alumnus and Republican congressman from Texas' Gulf coast.

Diversity works for Libertarians. Diversity works for me too.

Medical Marijuana should be defended.

Most of all to those who are NOT convinced already, my friends in Pittsburgh should get behind Ron Paul, because he is a home-town hero.

When was the last person from Pittsburgh in the White House -- as President?

This quote that "Everyone knows he's not going to be the nominee" is total crap. But, those are they types of quotes I expect from the Tribune Review.

Politics is partly about the power of ideas. And, if politics is going to improve, it needs to be ALL ABOUT the power of ideas. Politics is in the toilet because it is about money and NOT about ideas. Politics is in the toilet because it isn't about the future.

Polls that don't register his candidacy are not worth a wasted breath. But, the Trib cares about spreading the soiled goods.

Ron Paul's wife, Carol Wells, is also from this area. Not like T. Heinz. This are Pittsburgh's people.

Dormont. You gotta love this guy. He was a state track champion. He was class president. He didn't play football -- so his head wasn't bashed about!

Sure, there are a lot of good things that the government does. The government needs to protect freedom. Protect privacy. Protect the people from the government.

Greater words can not be said about a guy in politics if you listen to what Tom DeLay said about Ron Paul. "You always understand where he's coming from." That is key. That can't be discounted.

Earmarks never worked for Dr. Paul. YES!

I've said all along that we need to nix the earmarks in Western Pennsylvania that come here and HURT our economy. The tunnel under the river for light-rail expansion is a great example of an earmark that doesn't work.

Then the Trib goes out of its way to interview the opposition of Dr. Paul. Talk to Ds in Dr. Paul's area. Talk to DeLay, 'the hammer' -- an in-party foe to Dr. Paul. Paul won after a controversial redistricting. I remember that period. Texas had a strike. It was a mess.

Rudy Giuliani sharply rebuked him, so the article goes. Really, Guiliani was rude and dull and without any rebuke. Duhh. Rudy gets a thank you note for being one to tango with, but Rudy was flat foolish. Rudy's attack on Dr. Paul is going to be the telling moment of Rudy's career.

School Sports -- merge the City League with the WPIAL

Now is the time, when school is out and when sports teams are not taking all the available attention, to have serious conversations about scholastic sports.

The Pgh Public Schools has its own "City League." The City League needs to be taken apart. Rather, the city schools need to merge in and among the schools in the W.P.I.A.L.

Talk of consolidation mergers and metropolitanism has loomed large in recent years. Both scorn and infatuation spills. I'm willing to push to make sports, our playgrounds and our extra-school activities be the ones to step to the line next and MERGE.

We need to get the city kids playing well with the suburban kids.

We need to get the city school administrators understanding the competition. The school administrators in the PPS district are too insulated from the rest of Allegheny County.

We need the boosters in the city to see how boosters in suburban districts operate.

We need to be competitive -- and competition in sports is a week to week, day to day, and minute to minute ordeal. In sports, we keep score all the time.

Let's merge.

Ron Paul, the Mahatma by Gary North

Ron Paul, the Mahatma by Gary North

I was watching Gandhi recently, as I do every year or two. It is inspirational to me. It tells the story of a man who could not possibly win the battles he chose to fight, but did anyway. There is no doubt that it is a propaganda film, funded in part by the Indian government. It scrambles his chronology. But, on the whole, it got the story right. Mohandas K. Gandhi, a lawyer, was able to transform Indian politics. He did this through force of moral character and shrewd tactics that made every official response either 'Damned if we do; damned if we don’t.' I read 'The Gandhi Nobody Knows' when it was published in 1983, a year after the movie was released. I know the strange side of the man. But he mobilized a huge nation without recourse to violence. That was his great legacy.

I also like the movie because it is the story of a failed empire. By 1945, the British Empire had spent itself into near bankruptcy because of two wars. It was a pale shadow of itself. It would soon grow much paler.

Great quote: The public does not know who Ron Paul is. But TV viewers who were politically active enough to go to the websites of the broadcasting networks are big supporters of Paul.

World Record gets cut by 10-seconds

Swimming World has some fantastic swim news for Americans. A new mega star is born. This, to me, is way more impressive than the U.S. Open.

Flash! Ziegler Shatters Evans' World Record in 1500 Freestyle

MISSION VIEJO, California, June 17. SHE'S been tracking her idol for years, winning world titles and living up to the high expectations placed on her shoulders. Sunday night, swimming at the TYR Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo, California, Kate Ziegler passed Janet Evans on the long-course scene. Contesting the 1500 freestyle, Ziegler lopped an unheard of 10 seconds from Evans' 1988 standard of 15:52.10.

Already the winner of the 200, 400 and 800 freestyles at the meet, Ziegler saved her best for last and went 15:42, a time that is almost unfathomable. Ziegler, the two-time defending world champ in the 800 and 1500 freestyles, has been compared to Evans since she arrived as a rising force on the national scene. At the World Championships earlier this year in Melbourne, Ziegler posted a mark of 15:53.05, the second-fastest in history at that moment.

In Mission Viejo, she attacked the 30-lap event with a vengeance, moving ahead of world-record pace from the get-go. Obviously, since she broke the record by 10 seconds, there was never a question whether she would remain on target. It was only a matter of how low she would take the record, which was the oldest on the books, set March 26, 1988 in Orlando.

Considering Ziegler broke the oldest effort by such a large margin, one has to consider the swim as the finest performance in history. Forever, debate will rage as to which swims are the most impressive, but Ziegler at least can make a strong case for the distinction. Ziegler, of course, is trained by Ray Benecki of The Fish.

Check SwimmingWorldMagazine.com for more coverage of Ziegler's record-breaking swim.

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