Another shell game - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

This is what a lie looks like. This is what a liar does. Meet Dan Onorato, the guy who said no local tax money would go for the new arena.

Another shell game - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Pennsylvania's taxpayers already have spent millions on the new Penguins arena despite assurances they would be held harmless.

'Loans' of $19.7 million for site preparation from a state capital fund have morphed into grants. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato have said no local tax money would be devoted to the project.

But speaking in such highly technical terms belies the fact that all Pennsylvania taxpayers -- of which 'local' taxpayers are a significant subset -- are helping to pay for the hockey arena.

Money to buy the land under the Civic Arena, land that is owned by the public, is going to be purchased back from Penguins in 10 years. So, $15-million needs to be put aside now. \

Large sums of money is being put in reserve today to purchase land in the future to the benefit of the Penguins ownership. The team ownership would have a new areana and would have fumbled on the development of the area around the new digs.

Go figure.

Any way you size it up -- Onorato lied.

Half the money is from the city. The other half is from the county. In total, all of it, $15-million, is from city residents as we live in both the city and the county.

I don't want the public authority to buy back land that is already owned by the public.

Furthermore, I want the new arena to be owned by the Penguins. That's going to be public land too.

This is a deal that is as bent as a hockey stick.

By the way, we'll get a free skate in two sessions at the Civic Arena for RAD Days. Oh my gosh. How wonderful. See the Google Calendar along the side of this blog for September 25.

Meanwhile, the only other indoor ice rink, on the South Side, is still closed. And, there is little hope of it opening as the city rejected all the proposals that arrived in May 2007.

They are putting away $15-million for the Penguins and can't release the land where another hockey rink sits, that can be used by city and county residents. We don't need $300,000. Nope. We need the city to grant permission for a developer to make that opportunity real.

Rumble: Hampton & Deer Lakes bad boys

What's up with that?

KDKA radio news is making sure everyone knows that this was NOT a school sanctioned event. A few went to the hospital.

City Council OKs TIF for Bakery Square

No TIFs.

City Council OKs TIF for Bakery Square City Council OKs TIF for Bakery Square Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Last night, City Council approved $10 million in tax increment financing for Bakery Square in Larimer.

The financing plan for the Walnut Capital Inc. development at the site of the former Nabisco plant at Penn Avenue and East Liberty Boulevard was proposed by the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority and is still awaiting action by the city and the Pittsburgh school board.

Half of the money will help with the cost of the garage. The other half will help pay for the traffic lights and construction costs of turning Penn Circle into a two-way roadway all around the circle.

This was a "County Council" matter, not as reported, by City Council.

There was a County Council meeting last night at 5 pm. And, the meeting was NOT on the internet, as it should have been.

Regulation, Free Trade and Mexican Trucks

Regulation, Free Trade and Mexican Trucks ... Within the next few days our borders will be opened to the Mexican trucking industry in an unprecedented way. A 'pilot' program is starting which will allow trucks from Mexico to haul goods beyond the 25 mile buffer zone to any point in the United States . Officials claim this is being done with utmost oversight, but Americans still have their legitimate concerns. Rather than securing our borders, we seem to be providing more pores for illegal aliens, drug dealers, and terrorists to permeate. ...

Happy New Year!

Enjoy!

Let's blend cultures with this post, as it seems to be the year to bash China.

From hex

One bomb away from losing rights by Robyn Blumner

From ads - political

Source: http://tampabay.com/

Published September 9, 2007

For months, Democrats in Congress had resisted White House demands that they pass a bill to approve warrantless domestic wiretapping. Democratic leaders were willing to make small technical fixes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but not give the president a swath of new, unchecked powers to eavesdrop on Americans.

Then a funny thing happened. Just before Congress took its August recess, President Bush and Republican leaders in Congress started suggesting that an al-Qaida attack was imminent in the nation's capital.

Bush told the nation in his weekly radio address on July 28 that "America is in a heightened threat environment," and "our national security depends on" passage of his version of the wiretap bill.

At about the same time, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., shared that he had been warned that "disaster could be on our doorstep." He said people should leave Washington until Sept. 12 to be safe.

The Democrats, nervous that any domestic attack would be blamed on their failure to let the president ignore the Constitution, predictably caved. At least temporarily, they handed Bush the power to intercept Americans' international communications without court oversight, swatting away the explicit protections of the Fourth Amendment like an annoying gnat.

Then, with mission accomplished, the imminent threat disappeared. We didn't hear another thing about it.

Accusing opponents of inviting the next attack on American soil if they don't acquiesce is one of the administration's favorite tactics. That is how it passed the USA Patriot Act and later its reauthorization, as well as the disgraceful Military Commissions Act of 2006. It is also how the administration beats down those on its own team who deign to raise civil liberties concerns.

A fascinating piece in today's New York Times Magazine features extended interviews with Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith, a conservative lawyer who for nine months headed the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. In vivid detail, Goldsmith describes how the administration used the specter of terrorism as a means to expand the power of the presidency.

This was especially true, according to Goldsmith, of Dick Cheney's top aide, David Addington, who once told Goldsmith that if the OLC ruled against an administration policy, "the blood of the hundred thousand people who die in the next attack will be on your hands."

Addington seemed to relish the coming of another big one and what powers loyal Bushies could arrogate in the aftermath. Goldsmith recalls him saying: "We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious (FISA) court."

In other words, after one more terrorist attack, the administration could get Congress to wipe away any kind of warrant requirement for domestic spying.

These fly-on-the-wall insights are contained in Goldsmith's soon-to-be-released book, The Terror Presidency. He is donating the profits to charity, Goldsmith told the New York Times, so no one will think that he is doing this for the money.

Goldsmith came on board at the OLC in October 2003 as a true believer in broad executive power and the need for exigencies in the face of dire threats, he told the New York Times. But he couldn't countenance the many constitutional excesses of the White House, particularly its open contempt for the other branches of government.

Goldsmith said he regularly clashed with White House insiders, Addington especially, who was always the "biggest presence in the room" and Cheney's proxy.

Goldsmith said he infuriated Addington by determining that the Fourth Geneva Convention applied to all Iraqi civilians, including terrorists and insurgents. The administration was used to picking and choosing to whom the Conventions applied.

And Addington was again enraged, Goldsmith said, when the OLC head withdrew two legal opinions that came to be known as the torture memos. One had been used to give the CIA legal cover to engage in abusive prisoner interrogations.

Goldsmith - flashing his right-wing stripes - expressed in the New York Times interviews lingering regard for some of his former colleagues. But with the same breath he explained how they demonstrated an almost pathological disregard for the law.

In his book, according to the New York Times, Goldsmith wrote that they did to FISA what they did to other objectionable laws: "They blew through them in secret based on flimsy legal opinions that they guarded closely so no one could question the legal basis for the operations."

Team Bush and its "one bomb away" agenda would use the next attack to finish the job of consolidating the nation's power in one man. And since Congress is demonstrably cowed into submission by the mere prospect of the next bomb, imagine how it will fold when the next one actually falls.

The resiliency of our constitutional system is only as strong as the will of the leaders we have defending it. Which is to say, not very - not very, at all.

St. Petersburg Times

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Ference 412.648.1066

mference@katz.pitt.edu

IEE seeking innovative, incisive entrepreneurs for 2008 Entrepreneurial Fellows Center Class

Pittsburgh, PA – September 14, 2007 – The University of Pittsburgh Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE) at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business is looking for a few good entrepreneurs. Now recruiting for the Entrepreneurial Fellows Center Class of 2008, the organization is calling all leaders of high-growth businesses interested in unmatched educational seminars, mentoring and networking opportunities.

“High-growth entrepreneurs need immediate and practical suggestions for dealing with organizational growth, complexity, transitions and performance so that they can meet increased demand and successfully compete on a larger scale,” said Ann Dugan, assistant dean and IEE executive director. “Our program offers a unique balance of the many different things an entrepreneur needs to succeed.”

The course consists of a comprehensive, 10-month Katz certificate program that includes monthly presentations by Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business faculty and respected business leaders, one-on-one mentoring with an experienced entrepreneur, and access to an interactive, private online service offering an exclusive forum for students, mentors and Katz faculty to share ideas. After graduation, alumni continue learning with Alumni Association programs and discounts on future Katz educational programs.

“Our students have put their learning to work and as a result have outperformed their industry counterparts,” Dugan said. “According to a recent survey of alumni, participating businesses have seen tremendous growth since becoming involved in the program, including a 69 percent increase in assets, a 56 percent increase in annual sales, a 31 percent increase in number of employees, and a 32 percent increase in average wages per month. These are the tangible results of the Entrepreneurial Fellows Center program.”

Alumni of the program are today’s dynamic leaders, successfully navigating the challenges of a complex entrepreneurial environment. All business leaders interested in applying for the Entrepreneurial Fellows Center Class of 2008, which will run from January through December 2008, can learn more by contacting Mike Ference at 412.648.1066 or mference@katz.pitt.edu.

######

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE) at the University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business helps businesses grow and prosper in all stages of their lifecycle. From conceiving an idea to creating a legacy for future generations, the IEE provides education, advice, and innovative services to entrepreneurs through FirstLink, PantherlabWorks, Small Business Development Center, Entrepreneurial Fellows Center, and Family Enterprise Center.

Our mission is to be the innovative leader of economic renewal and growth serving enterprising people and businesses in the Region.

www.pittentrepreneur.com

David Adams speaks again

Click To Play

Video from today's city council meeting.

Are they going to turn this into a drive in instead?

Waterworks Cinemas to close after tonight's shows: The Waterworks Cinemas will close at the end of business tonight. The 10-screen complex on Freeport Road behind the Waterworks Mall opened in 1990.

9/11 A time to remember

Libertarian Party pays tribute to victims of 9/11 and renews commitment to our country's founding principles

Press Release from the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, PA – The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania today pays tribute to the 30 Pennsylvanians who died in the 9/11 tragedy. The LPPa also pays tribute to more than 170 Pennsylvanians who lost their lives since then in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the government’s war on terror.

"Our hearts go out to those who have lost family members as a direct or indirect consequence of the 9/11 attacks," stated Doug Leard, LPPa Chair of Media Relations.

The LPPa also asks Pennsylvanians to today reflect on the individual liberties on which our country and Commonwealth were based. The party pledges to continue its efforts to preserve and where necessary restore these liberties.

Unfortunately, the government has used 9/11 as a pretext to attack many of these liberties. The Patriot Act has damaged our fourth-amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure and our fifth-amendment right to due process. The Military Commissions Act has effectively eliminated hapeas corpus for foreigners and U.S. citizens traveling outside the country. The Real ID Act establishes national identity cards.

In the name of the war on terror, Washington has embroiled our troops in the Iraq war. In the name of security, the government has nationalized 43,000 transportation security jobs. Since 9/11, government bureaucrats have increased their spending by more than 40%. On this day, the LPPa renews our commitment to small, limited government dedicated to peaceful international relationships.

Michael Robertson, LPPa Chair, commented “Our nation was founded on the ideal of Liberty, which so many people have fought and died for. It makes our country a beacon of hope to all people, and if we lose our Liberty, then surely the terrorists have won."

Interesting crash course on PFAs, DV and public life

City Council got an ear full of valued info today at a post agenda concerning our shared public life, jobs, hires, anger, protection from abuse, and -- of course -- domestic violence.

More to come.

Tonight there is an event on the North Side. See my calendar.

Petition for the voters of Allegheny County - don't raise taxes -- put it to a vote

KDKA radio host, Marty Griffin, is talking on the air about a new petition so a question can be put before the voters. Interesting.

I called the show to ask about the nexus of the petition.

I was engaged in talks about two weeks ago about another petition effort. I also talked at the Labor Day parade with this individual. He was working on the form and and its associated electronic version / PDF.

Are these petition efforts the same? I hope there is some coordination among the two.

Marty said that many were working on the question including those at the Allegheny Institute.

Update: I did swing by the KDKA Radio Station reception desk and got a copy of the form from Marty Griffin. I've been checking matters out with the election department, county clerk, Allegheny Institute and other interested players.

Voters should have a voice. Furthermore, Dan Onorato is NOT going to be happy with the call for a vote. He wants to raise the taxes. He wants to be king and not be subject to the will of the people. Heck, Dan Onorato can't even pick the proper voting machines despite getting excellent advice on what to get from experts.

We need, and I advocate for, more questions on the ballot in the city and Allegheny County.

Once 500 signatures are gathered on the petition, the matter goes before Allegheny County Council. They can then put the matter onto the ballot -- or not.

Getting 500 signatures, with the help of KDKA radio host, would be a slam dunk. Putting the word out that this petition is buzzing in the neighborhoods with Marty's help would kick start someone on County Council.

I don't think they should dream up new taxes. The Democrats in Pennsylvania and Allegheny and the city are great at the creation of new taxes -- and fail in efforts of getting new jobs and residents.

Russ Diamond and PA Clean Sweep, working election magic again

PACleanSweep to Announce Intentions on Retentions

PACleanSweep, a non-partisan organization aimed at reforming state government in Pennsylvania, will hold a news conference Thursday, September 13 in the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg to announce its intentions regarding November's judicial retention elections.

PACleanSweep was instrumental in the ouster of Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro in 2005, marking the first time a member of the Commonwealth's highest court was not retained by voters. The organization followed that effort by recruiting or aligning with over 110 candidates for legislative seats, accounting for over one-third of all challengers in the 2006 primary election.

35 PACleanSweep candidates won their primary races, seven of whom defeated the sitting incumbent head-to-head. Eleven PACleanSweep candidates eventually won legislative seats in the 2006 general election, accounting for 20 percent of the total 55-seat turnover in the General Assembly during that historic election year.

The group's efforts for the 2007 judicial retention elections will be based on the results of an informal survey offered to visitors to the PACleanSweep.com website and its 5500 email list subscribers.

The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the public is invited to attend.

Divers know dangers, take plunge anyway - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Divers know dangers, take plunge anyway - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review take plunge anyway

The rivers are scary... so the urban lore sustains itself. Nice 'feature article.'

Hardy won't seek Fayette commissioner seat - Tribune-Review

Wow. Mr. Hardy is out of the race.

Hardy won't seek Fayette commissioner seat - Tribune-Review Fayette County Commissioner and 84 Lumber founder Joseph Hardy announced during a campaign rally Sunday that he is withdrawing from the commissioners race. About 1,200 Hardy volunteers and supporters attended the rally, which doubled as a Steelers game day party, at the Fayette County Fairgrounds.

During halftime, Hardy's campaign manager and spokesman, Jeff Nobers, stood at the podium with Hardy and broke the news. Nobers said the crowd was saddened by the unexpected announcement, but supportive and understanding.

Hardy, 84, a Republican, is serving his first four-year term as commissioner. Nobers said Hardy went on with the rally as a way to thank his supporters.

Broken hearts are brutal.

Domestic abuse by police gets city hearing

Domestic abuse by police gets city hearing

Big time article. We'll see what the hearing brings.

Ron Paul slated for TV at 8 pm on Monday

Ron Paul will be on the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News tomorrow. The show is on at 8 pm.

Pitt A.D. Long finalist for Arkansas job

Pitt A.D. Long finalist for Arkansas job Pitt A.D. Long finalist for Arkansas job

Now Pitt will be able to make another change to its logo and mascott, for another $100K or more.

The next guy or gal should bring back the Script Pitt -- or be asked about it.

And, what is the trend in colors? Isn't the mustard gold the new pink?

Where the presidential candidates line up on war in Iraq

Where the presidential candidates line up on war in Iraq Mr. Paul, the most passionate opponent of the war among the GOP candidates, unsuccessfully proposed legislation that would have removed all troops from Iraq by the spring of this year.

If you care about peace, you'll hang a Ron Paul sign in your window. Make one yourself.

'Reforming' pensions, US Airways & the Chinese - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

'Reforming' pensions, US Airways & the Chinese - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "'Reform' is one of those words that politics has rendered meaningless."

Exactly.

Reform has become 'deformed.' Once reform of this and that happens, it is a short step before all is deformed.

Rather than talk of reform here -- I often want to do other things.

First, we need to replace.

Second, redirect.

Third, reform.

The worst thing would be serious reforms implemented by the jerks and clueless politicians that are in office these days.

For example, Dan Onorato can't choose the right voting machines. He can't even manage our democracy despite being told by experts and advocates for democracy what we needed and what to choose. Onorato picked the wrong voting machines -- against strong advice otherwise. I don't want him to lead reform efforts.

The Row Office Reform effort was goofy as well.

Rather than putting forth a package deal where all the various row offices were considered with one yes or no vote -- the citizens should have been able to vote on the future of each row office as an individual decision.

Elect a sheriff? Yes - or - No.

Elect a treasurer? Yes - or - No.

Elect a clerk of courts? Yes - or No.

Look at how hard it is for Luke Ravenstahl to see what is ethical or not. He is the worst person to help make up new rules for the ethics code. He can't do it. He can't even understand that letters to the mayor from ethics hearing board chairs are not private correspondence.

This is why we can't have LUKE reform the rules that govern the ethics hearing board. Rather, we need to replace, re-direct, then reform.

All the talk about reform needs to take a back seat to more urgent talk -- REPLACING the politicians that are in office now.