The point of CHOICE is not being delivered in these plans

Pittsburgh just got more Promising Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said the Promise alone won't stabilize enrollment. Parents and students need more choices. The district plans a new International Baccalaureate school for grades six to 12, a science and technology school and a university-affiliated school.

This gets to the heart of the matter in what I've proposed to the school board in some of my rants. Listen Brian.

When the I.B. program closes at Schenley High School, if it does, and it shouldn't, it will end a choice. There is no new choice by putting all of the I.B. Students into the new I.B. High that is now in the east -- at Reisenstein.

To increase the choices offered, offer TWO schools with I.B.

A new I.B. High coupled with the existing Schenley where I.B. is also present inserts choice.

Furthermore, the reduction of FRICK as a I.B. prep -- or ISA (International Studies Academy) magnet will diminish 'choice.'

The same held true when talking about the stadiums. Our city's landscape was diminished with the removal of 3RS (Three Rivers Stadium) and Pitt Stadium (where high school playoffs were once played) and the arrival of PNC Park and Heinz Field. The math was +2 -2 = NO NET GAIN.

If they had built Heinz Field and kept Pitt Stadium, then there would have been a net gain. The Peterson Event Center could have been built in Hazelwood, near to Panther Hollow.

With these schools, there is extra stength in the choice, options for families and flexibility of staff. For example, our elementary level music teacher is only in Phillips School for one day a week. The other days are spent at other schools. Same too could be the case for a teacher of Chinees or Japanees or Italian.

Likewise with the middle school program for the creative and performing arts. Rodgers Middle School is in the east part of town and it presently operates for grades 6, 7 and 8. Then some of those kids go to CAPA, downtown, for grades 9 to 12. Rodgers works! Same too with Frick.

Keep what works. Replicate it. Allow more options there!

If they want to make the Downtown CAPA a school for 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12th grades -- fine. But expand the high performing school and retain the existing high performing school in the process.

Forcing all kids to downtown for grades 6 to 12 is NOT giving a choice.

Likewise, there a kids that attend FRICK in middle school years and then attend a different high school -- such as Alderdice.

Keep Frick as a high school and put the new Science and Technology High School program in at Westinghouse.

Even with Phillips Elem, our school has two programs. One classroom in each grade is called a 'neighborhood school.' Meanwhile, the other classroom in each grade is called a 'language magnet.' Parents, students and those who are considering a move into the area can make the decisions that best suit the needs of their students.

With real school choice -- and the Pittsburgh Promise details worked out, Pittsburgh can better itself. We must insure that is so. But, we must not fool ourselves into thinking that there are choices when new programs arrive only to gut the good that was already present.

A+ Schools evaluates the Pgh Public School district -- yeah right.

Mayor looks back on banner week The announcement of UPMC's pledge 'will be seen in the future as being a very important day in the city of Pittsburgh,' said Michael Lamb, the county prothonotary, city controller-elect, and a founding co-chair of A Schools, which evaluates the district. 'We will begin to attract people who wouldn't have considered Pittsburgh in the past.'

Did Michael Lamb end his conflict of interest yet? He is to be the independent controller -- not a board member with A+ Schools as well as the elected controller.

Memo to SEA about the loss of Outback at PNC Park

CBS to Open a Concept Restaurant in Boston

CBS is expanding its brand into restaurants, opening its first eatery, called CBS Scene, next fall in Boston. The 15,000-square-foot restaurant will feature table-side televisions running CBS programming, as well as a store selling DVDs of network shows, T-shirts and other merchandise.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/12/09/kraft_cbs_focus_on_a_concept_restaurant

Perhaps they'd be interested in the location at PNC Park once filled by the Outback?

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

Don't put one of these on this year's Christmas list.

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store: "Availability: Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your credit card will not be charged until we ship the item. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available. Kindle Availability Due to heavy customer demand, Kindle is sold out. Because orders are prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis, please ORDER NOW to reserve your place in line. Your Kindle will not arrive by December 24th. Note that Kindles cannot currently be sold or shipped to customers living outside of the U.S."

Speaker # 28 -- you have 90 minutes to place a call

Back to the school board meeting tonight for more public comment. Join us. I just called and I'm #28. More than 100 have also spoken in past meetings. They are wearing everyone out.

Public hearing at the board tonight at 7 pm, Monday!

Sign-up at 412-622-3600 through noon for tonight's hearing and written testimony is accepted until 5 pm at boardoffice@pghboe.net.

There are two NEW board members, so at least there will be new faces. You can check out some previous testimonies at the Save Schenley website.

City Paper article.

Go -- call or write!

Thanks Jen for the update!

History Buffs -- and folks of community, literacy and redevelopment: Get to this hearing!

David Tessitor at City Council in Dec 4, 2007 about Carnegie Library of Pgh and North Side.

View Video

They want to close one of the very first library buildings built by Carnegie -- in the historic North Side. A grand park is with an abandoned building. The city is trying to fight abandonded buildings! This is the wrong way to go.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system should NOT close the wonderful, historic, beautiful building. The city can force its hand and make it stay open. Here, the city is trying to attack our history by being a sales agent for a goofy property for a replacement building.

Hearing set for opponents of new North Side library The Dec. 18 hearing begins at 5 p.m. at the New Hazlett Theater. Folks, the typical nonprofit weenies won't break ranks on this. PUMP, Pop City, RAD Tax takers and others are sure to sit on their hands and not raise a voice in opposition.

Hearing set for opponents of new North Side library
Sunday, December 09, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A group of petitioners against the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's plans to build a new branch on the North Side has been given a public hearing before City Council Dec. 18 at the New Hazlett Theater in Allegheny Center.

Dave Tessitor, a resident of Allegheny West, said 40 people signed the petition in favor of reusing the old Allegheny Regional branch, which has been unused since it was struck by lightning two springs ago. Since then, library officials have closed in on a ground-breaking, with architectural renderings for a new construction on Federal Street on the site of an old gas station.

At several presentations earlier this year by Loysen + Kreuthmeier architects, North Side residents turned out to offer feedback on designs for what would be a one-story library. After the architects made adjustments, the majority of attendees favored the plan.

But Mr. Tessitor said there have always been residents who believe the Allegheny Regional branch, an 1880s-era landmark built as a library in what is now Allegheny Center, should remain the neighborhood's library.

"What's the biggest thing we have going for us?" Mr. Tessitor asked, answering, "History." He said he believes an old library, refurbished to be cost-efficient, could be a bigger lure to development up the Federal corridor than a new one built in an area of "underachieving real estate."

The new Carnegie Library has been cited as a potential leader in revitalizing what is now a blighted Federal Street.

Carnegie officials have said they cannot sustain the operating costs of the old building and that it is not suitable to new programming needs.

A pending agreement between the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority, which owns the parcel at Federal and Parkhurst streets, and the Carnegie Library is on hold until after the hearing.

The Dec. 18 hearing begins at 5 p.m.

Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626.
First published on December 9, 2007 at 12:00 am

Older video from the archives:

David Tessitor speaking to City Council about Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's failures on September 12, 2006.

View Video

New Swimming t-shirt

From Grant

Grant, my second child, now 10, is in a swim meet on Tuesday, tomorrow. I'm the volunteer coach. The Phillips Elem School team goes to the city-wide swim meet at Alderdice at 1 pm. So, we got new t-shirts.

Speaking of shirts, I pulled one out from my stash. It was a shirt I designed years ago when I coached in Illinois with the New Trier Swim Club.

Its inspiration comes from sailing shirts. When in a sailing race, there are few chances to have directions put onto paper and held in one's hands. The hands are busy with the lines and sails and such. So, the instructions for the course are often put onto the shirt, printed upside down so it is easily read by the one wearing the shirt.

From swim-drills

We did this for meet behaviors. It is called, Phase One. Phase Two has yet to arrive.

Communicate about participation months in advance.

Arrive early and be ready to swim at the start of warm-ups.

Act, stay and be dressed as a team.

Know your times.
(past, best, goal, dream, standard, actual)

Only positive talk.

Cheer weird.

Talk to the coach before and after every race.

Just drink water.

Update your improvements.

Sign-up for more meets.

This conversation about the t-shirt came from our talk about Grant's coach this year at the JCC. He is a great young coach and he has a tatoo on his arm that says, "To do:
1)
2)
3)
4)"

His body art is functional. The tatoo, on the inside of his lower arm, is a blank template of a to-do list. Then he uses a ball-point pen and writes down the things that he has to do. He gets points in my book for being clever.

Tomorrow, we get to wear new t-shirts for the swim meet! Grant is in the 10-and-under backstroke. More about the meet in a day or so.

Tonight (Monday), at 7 pm, Erik, plays violin at the Frick Middle School, Pittsburgh Frick 6-8, at the holiday concert. Perhaps he can use the concert as an excuse for added protection at school today -- given how his team won the football game yesterday. Erik loves the Patriots. And, most of those close to him have come to understand this about him.

Yesterday's concert at PPG Wintergarden with the PMA (Pittsburgh Music Academy) was great. Stay tuned for photos.

Drink tax causing hangover

Drink tax causing hangover Besieged by criticism of the new 10 percent tax on alcoholic drinks, Allegheny County Council members have seen the relationship between Democrats and Republicans take a decidedly acrimonious turn.

Representatives of both parties have vowed to try to set aside political differences to undo the damage done by the tax debate and the accusations it generated.

Remember, no Libertarian voted for the drink tax.

I'd expect that the members of council would have a set-up to pass the drink tax and then try to blow smoke as to why some were against it. It gave some cover. Then one was in the deal to vote for it and leave council. Now they will try to patch things up and do the lockstep boosterism as a legislative body, sign of solidarity, whatever.

Why in the world was the alternative without ever a chance of passing? That is the big lie here. When options are never with a chance -- we all face continual defeat.

DeFazio was sharply critical of the 'manner in which it was presented.' That's kill the messenger statement. Statements about the message are absent. DeFazio needs to know he has a vote. His votes speak volumes. His votes hold the truth. Those that vote for the new taxes are for the new taxes. That's honesty. DeFazio voted for both new taxes.

If DeFazio or others didn't want to see the tax, he could have and should have voted "NO." And, if he had any other idea, it should have been presented. But he is only good for sharp, critical jabs that try to twist the real truth.

It is one matter to fight against the cutting of services to residents. It is another to fight against the cutting of residents. The county is shrinking!

iJustine’s BIGGEST Talkcast ever | TalkShoe Blog

iJustine’s BIGGEST Talkcast ever | TalkShoe Blog: "Welcome to the BIGGEST Talkcast ever page (even bigger than Leo’s!), staring Justine (iJustine) Ezarik. She’s already been doing Talkcasts on Sundays at 8:45 pm with hundreds of participants. Justine will be having some very special guests…stay tuned"

I wonder about the special guest. Could it be Bill Peduto? I'm thinking the guest could be Todd Rundgren. Todd did a show this weekend. He is generally all about new technology. iJustine might have gone to the show and hooked up with him there and offered an invite to the talkcast.

PA Healthcare Lobby Efforts from Chuck P

If you haven't done so already, please contact the following Members of the Health and Human Services Committee of the House of Representatives. Tell them you appreciate their co-sponsoring House Bill 1660, the "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act" and also their pushing for hearings on HB 1660 at the earliest possible moment.

Yours in unity,

Chuck Pennacchio
____________________________________________

Health & Human Services

Oliver, Frank Louis, Chairman
Seip, Tim, Secretary
Myers, John, Subcommittee Chairman on Human Services
Pashinski, Eddie Day, Subcommittee Chairman on Drugs and Alcohol
Wheatley, Jake, Subcommittee Chairman on Health
Kenney, Jr.,George T., Chairman
Benninghoff, Kerry A., Subcommittee Chairman on Human Services
Reichley, Douglas G. , Subcommittee Chairman on Health
Sonney, Curtis G., Subcommittee Chairman on Drugs and Alcohol

Bishop, Louise Williams
Cruz, Angel
Curry, Lawrence H.
Kirkland, Thaddeus
Manderino, Kathy
McIlvaine Smith, Barbara
Mundy, Phyllis
Payton, Jr.,Tony J.
Shimkus, Frank Andrews
Smith, Ken
Waters, Ronald G.
Cutler, Bryan
Gingrich, Mauree
Kauffman, Rob W.
Mackereth, Beverly
McIlhattan, Fred
Ross, Chris
Taylor, John
True, Katie
Watson, Katharine M.



FAMILY & BUSINESS HEALTHCARE SECURITY ACT
SENATE BILL 300 - HOUSE BILL 1660

#1 Visit our website at http://healthcare4allpa.org to learn more and to educate others.
#2 Lobby your State Legislators using the talking points below. Find your representative at: http://healthcare4allpa.org/legislators.htm
#3 Write letters to the editor, using the talking points below.
#4 Donate $10, $25, $50 – whatever you can – to our volunteer, citizen-centered education and lobbying effort: http://healthcare4allpa.org/donate.htm
#5 Circulate a petition and return it to us:
http://healthcare4allpa.org/documents/petition_s.pdf


Talking points:
1.4 million Pennsylvanians have no health insurance. Millions more are underinsured. Untold thousands more think they have good coverage until the corporate-run insurance company rejects their claim based on technicalities, "pre-existing" conditions—or denies life-saving procedures arbitrarily defined as "experimental."
We are left with a system that delivers reduced preventive care; delayed treatment; difficulty seeing specialists; costly co-pays & deductibles, and caps on treatment costs.
Single-payer universal healthcare replaces the "Medical-Industrial-Complex" of corrupt insurance companies and their allies with a simple plan using existing State and Federal funds, a 3% earnings tax and a 10% business payroll tax (a huge savings for most individuals and employers). The outcome would be an improved Medicare-For-All system of publicy-funded, priavtely-provided universal healthcare.
Once Pennsylvania demonstrates to the nation what 87 countries have already discovered, single-payer universal healthcare will become national policy along the lines of Congressman John Conyers' HR 676. Congressman Conyers made this point precisely when he came to Pennsylvania in April to endorse the "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act."
Over 100 Pennsylvania State Legislators have had discussions with Health Care for All Pennsylvania, and nearly half of them have signed up as co-sponsors.

As the only statewide single-payer campaign in the nation with bills before the House and the Senate, as well as the commitment of our Governor to sign the legislation upon reaching his desk, Pennsylvania is stands to lead the nation out of this crisis, much as we did in 1776.

Consider:
• Administrative costs for greedy insurance companies exceed 30% of the cost of healthcare compared to just 3% for Medicare. (This step would save Pennsylvania taxpayers 6-7 billion dollars.)
• The U.S. already spends double what most industrialized
countries spend per person on healthcare.
• 18,000 Americans die annually from being uninsured.
• Thousands of the insured die from services denied or
delayed by insurance companies.
• Life expectancy in the U.S. is among the shortest in the
industrialized world.
• Infant mortality rate in the U.S. is among the highest in the industrialized world. Only Latvia is worse.
• We pay far more per person than any other country.
• Approximately 50% of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. relate directly to medical bills.

Senate Bill 300
House Bill 1660

YOU MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. So act now and spread the word. Remember, we have the economic (savings, efficiency, competitiveness), moral (lives saved and enhanced), and democratic (65% of citizens want it) high grounds. Now we need to put our citizen power to work and demand single-payer universal healthcare!

Thanks for all you do.

Yours in unity,
Chuck
Chuck Pennacchio, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Health Care for All Pennsylvania
Chuck@HealthCare4ALLPA.org


HEALTHCARE FOR ALL PENNSYLVANIA
For more information, or to make a contribution, contact:
Health Care for All Pennsylvania
P.O. Box 828
Levittown, PA 19058

http://healthcare4allpa.org

The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Mayor's Office Celebrates Entire Week -- without fumbles!

The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Mayor's Office Celebrates Entire Week of Not F@#&ing Up: Late in the day, the Mayor decided against selling high school drop outs to UPMC for organ harvesting purposes.

Field trip chaperone tackles man trying to nab 4-year-old :: Naperville Sun :: News

Good news from a suburban midwest mall.

Field trip chaperone tackles man trying to nab 4-year-old :: Naperville Sun :: News Field trip chaperone tackles man trying to nab 4-year-old

Way to go dad. Gives added meaning to the slogan that Chicago is the city with big shoulders.

Live...From New York! It's PA Society weekend! (Heard in the Hall)

First, these guys make careers off of getting drunk off of public funds, then they get drunk on the real stuff, but in NYC to avoid the 'drink tax' that they left for us to pay, locally.

Live...From New York! It's PA Society weekend! (Heard in the Hall) The weekend that Pennsylvania politicos have been awaiting all year finally arrived, with less intrigue than last year but as much liquor as ever.

My slow down in blogging is NOT because I went off to New York.

Last night was a big night on East Carson Street in the South Side. We had Donnie Iris on one side of the street and Todd Rundgren on the other. Tonight there is a line outside of Club Cafe to see another popular act (sold out) and songwriter.

The Republican Eagle | Rauterkus and Simonson may fill out Port board

The Republican Eagle | Rauterkus and Simonson may fill out Port board: "Rauterkus and Simonson may fill out Port board"

Not me, but an 'open-minded' post.

Book Explodes Swift Boat Myths

Newsmax.com - New Book Explodes Swift Boat Myths: The foreword for the book was written by John E. O'Neill, the lead spokesman for the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth in 2004. One chapter that underscores the impact of the new media on the campaign has been made available online at ToSetTheRecordStraight.com. 'Rather's Ruin and the Rise of the Pajamahadeen' tells how ordinary citizens with computers exposed the phony documents '60 Minutes' used to attack George Bush's National Guard service, effectively ending Dan Rather's career at CBS News.

Sample chapter in PDF format.

---

Inkscape. Draw Freely.

Inkscape. Draw Freely. About Inkscape An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.

I've not used it, yet. Reactions welcome.

Ravenstahl, Onorato flush with cash

Poisionous snakes. That's all I have to say. (Inside Oak Hill joke with PittRants.)

Ravenstahl, Onorato flush with cash The $83,610 Mr. Ravenstahl raised during the month prior to the deadline was bolstered by $23,000 in donations on Nov. 8 from Boston-area residents, almost all of whom are listed on the report as associates of the developer Beacon/Corcoran Jennison. That developer, which plans to add to its Oak Hill public-private housing community under a deal the mayor brokered, hosted him in Boston Sept. 26.

Been "no mail" for more than 24 hours

I've been without the internet for more than a day. I'm still alive!

My wife is in Chicago. That hasn't killed us either.

But, we come Sunday -- its the Steelers vs. Patriots. I live with these big New England fans.... But, we'll attending a Christmas concert that starts at 3:30 pm on Sunday at the PPG Wintergarden. Violins are finished at 4:05. Hope the game is still a game by then.

That could be the end of us. Catherine comes home Saturday.

#21 -- RIP

We know #21 for baseball.

Another who wore that number, in another sport, was put to rest this weekend.

Click comments for David's statements.

Just today as I walked Grant to school, as the snow started to build, Grant and I talked about his first day of basketball practice slated for after school. He's on a team of 4th and 5th graders. One of his concerns -- picking a number for his jersey.

He asked what number he should pick.

Good question.

I didn't have a good answer.

Of course, the 5th graders get the first pick.

I told him that when I played basketball, we could only use numbers that a ref could display with two hands. Number ranges were 1 to 5, 10 to 15, 20 to 25, 30 to 35, 40 to 45 and 50 to 55. That's it. How old fashioned, I guess.

Swimmers don't wear any numbers. They should, I guess.

Meanwhile, Erik has his first swim meet today. He got is swim suit yesterday. A blue pair of lycra jammers with FRICK on the leg. Erik is more of a brief kinda-guy. Talk of old fashioned.

Guys today want to wear baggy shorts -- even in swim races. Might as well play basketball games and only shoot 3-point shots and never make a lay-up.

Oh, they do that these days too.

Can't wait for The City Game tonight. I'm sure we'll win!