Here is a surge that I can live with. A surge that all can enjoy for generations ot come

Top of the Ticket : Los Angeles Times : Breaking News: A Ron Paul surge in Nevada Breaking News: A Ron Paul surge in Nevada

Boy, oh, boy! Hidden behind all the hoopla, headlines and the Nevada caucus victories of Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton is one little-noticed but stunning political development and number:

Ron Paul, the one-time Libertarian candidate and 10-term Republican congressman from Texas, was in second place. That's right, Second Place. The 72-year-old ob-gyn who's always on the end of the line at GOP debates or barred altogether, was running ahead of John McCain, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, in fact, ahead of....

all other Republicans except Romney, who easily captured his second state in a week after Michigan.

Romney will flame out soon enough. Otherwise, we're all toast.

The big news -- Ron Paul! He has em right were he wants em.

Romney Win -- Everyone is rich for a month. Stimulus package works to crash the economy from shore to shore for sure

This money is going to grow on trees.

Newsmax.com - Romney Win Announced on Fla.-Bound Plane The $233 billion economic stimulus package Romney unveiled is more aggressive than plans offered by President Bush and rival John McCain.

The big-ticket item is a proposal to allow any business to write off 100 percent of all new equipment purchases for the next two years, retroactive to Jan. 1. It carries an estimated price tag of $81 billion in 2008.

In addition, the tax rate on businesses would be cut from 35 percent to 20 percent over two years, with the first 10-percent cut this year costing $51 billion.

Individuals, meanwhile, would benefit from a proposal to reduce the lowest income tax rate from 10 percent to 7.5 percent, which would cost an estimated $28 billion.

Beware of politicians with big cardboard checks. Ed Rendell is famous for this.

What is worse, politicians with bigger checks, hefty checks, checks that are measured against the GNP.

The stimulus package sounds good. It might sound great to the high-rollers in Las Vegas. They like to gamble.

Meanwhile, the payout is going to be in monopoly money.

Furthermore, its the economy stupid -- but -- only a fool would ignore the spending and still want to heighten the war all along.

In other news -- Ron Paul was in second place when I saw one news report. He was within spitting distance of 3rd -- but second is GREAT!

So, Fox News ignored the news of Paul in 2nd. It is so bad that I can't even link to it. Sucm.

Americans for a Free Republic

Americans for a Free Republic: "The Smear Campaign against Ron Paul"

This is required reading for John K. And, he gets to read and comment about the article. That is to continue the thread.

John K has been good at the depositing of smears concerning topics that are far out of bounds.

The tone is very 'wordsmith' and 'teacher' -ish. Humm... Wonder if that is a legit use of a non-word. Of course young people can being to understand the internal toughness necessary.

He speaks of an empire -- a liberal / neocon cempire.

National Citizens Congress, says Edwards & Rauterkus

John Edwards, D, wants an annual National Citizens Congress. It would insure that people get heard.

Humm....

I was able to campaign for the city controller post and called for a Citizens Congress for the city of Pittsburgh. So, that 'citizens' congress' idea works for me.

I'm not sure of the details, like its cost. He called for 1-million people to gather each year. Sounds like a million man march, perhaps.

There is another theme, however, that makes sense to discuss. The best way to make sure that every person gets to have a voice and have those messages get delivered is NOT to block all blogspot dot com web sites in a firewall for the city's computer network. That's exactly the wrong way. That's what should NOT be done.

We need to examine rights. Those in office need to make sure that every citizen has the right to speak. This is basic 'free speech.' People in government need to work harder on the deliver of rights to all.

Notebook: Parents at root of Gordon decision

He said, and she said seems to be ruling the day. It is bad when unfounded rumpors get put in the papers.

It also stinks that the Athletic Director is not being quoted. The chain of command with the superintendent doing all the talking is ugly.

Furthermore, I don't like that the policy that they NEVER talk about personnel matters to the media. The guy worked with great reviews for the district for decades. There are no problems. The professional reply is to be honest. Say something like, "Neil Gordon has been a great coach. He has done nothing wrong on the job. There has been no cause for termination nor ethical fumble on his part at all -- not in the slightest."

Clear the air on the history with people who have done good -- if not great -- jobs in the past.

Part of leadership is about management of the future. The board has the right to open positions as contracts expire. But objectives can be set. New measures can be recorded. Performances can be supervised.

Notebook: Parents at root of Gordon decision: "Vecchio also claimed some district residents are unhappy because Gordon hasn't won enough championships and that he was looking to become Penn-Trafford's coach.

When told Penn-Trafford's coaching position isn't open, Vecchio said, 'Well that's what we've been told.'

I'm going to take a leap of assumption here and blame a few parents for kicking up a storm in that situation. It generally boils down to some out of control parents.

Furthermore, the parents are not able to be put back into good places because the school administrators are so weak. The administrators are not grounded. They have little minds and little capacity to talk about values and character and lessons of life.

Schools today are in such a mess. I heap most of the blame on school administrators. And, those at the top are the one's who have the biggest burden.

Of course everything is political too. The school boards are bonkers in many situations.

TV news by Mary Robb Jackson

2nd Finish in Fifth Fails to Dim Paul’s Hopes - New York Times

2nd Finish in Fifth Fails to Dim Paul’s Hopes - New York Times: "Violet Zharov, a student at Carnegie Mellon, also traveled here this week to volunteer. Ms. Zharov is active in a MeetUp group for Mr. Paul that has grown from a couple of dozen supporters to more than 1,000."

Coach Gordon ousted at Penn Hills High School as football coach

Bam! Penn Hills should give walking papers to the mascot -- the "INDIAN" -- before it gives the ax (err, tomahawk) to the head coach. Coach Gordon was at Penn Hills when I was there. He wasn't the head coach then, but he was an assistant coach. We just celebrated our 30th high school reunion. The rest of my Mr. Gordon stories can wait -- as today's news is brutal.

Gordon ousted at Penn Hills Penn Hills has decided it does not want Neil Gordon back as coach after 22 seasons. Gordon, who won 156 games and guided the Indians to the WPIAL title game only two seasons ago, said he was 'blindsided' by his removal.

Perhaps he can do color commentary on the high school sports network like Bill Cowher's gig.

Is Mr. Gordon still the Athletic Director? Is that direction still on the map?

Update from the Trib article: Gordon retired as Penn Hills' athletic director following the 2006-07 school year and was working on a supplemental contract this past fall. Such contracts come up for review annually and are filled at the discretion of the school board, according to Teresita Kolenchak, public relations coordinator for the Penn Hills School District.

"A decision was made," Kolenchak said. "It wasn't a vote. No vote was taken."

That does NOT wash with me. No vote. That's not a decision I can live with.

Coaching in the region is important. And, the coaching relationships with schools here stink.

Because this is 'typical' does not make it 'right.' It is wrong.

Schenley and Schools update from Amy M

Two emails, from the past two days, edited ever so slightly.

Great news, we hope, that a tentative agreement has been reached between the board and the teachers' union. Let us hope that both sides will ratify the agreement. It was a very positive sign that they continued to meet until they came to an agreement. The school district could not afford to have a strike on top of all the other problems that it is facing -- declining enrollments, low test scores, controversy over new programs and closed school, etc., etc. etc.

Schenley PSCC meeting this evening (1-16) in the library at 6 pm. Focus is Math/PSE.

I never sent the promised follow-up on our meeting at Panera on Sunday. Nine of us gathered to exchange ideas and report on separate committees that have been meeting. At this time, we are aware of 3 separate committees that are working on various aspects of the Schenley/Frick/IB World situation.

Building/fundraising--There is an active committee that is focusing solely on retaining the Schenley building as a school. It has two offshoots: fundraising/grant writing and engineering. Although they are not ready to give a report to us yet, the group is actively working to save the building. Additional information will be released at a later date.

Alternative Options-- This group has formulated questions about high school reform plans and their implementation and met twice with Mr. Lopez. They continue to push for answers to some questions that haven't been fully answered yet, to gather as much information as possible about what changes are being planned, and to push for more parent and community input at the beginning of these processes rather than tacked on the end. Jen Lakin is in this group, if you would like to send her suggestions for questions to be included.

IB World Steering Committee -- Andie Karsh is representing the parents on this committee that is meeting with Cate Reed (and others) from the High School Reform Task Force. It also includes teachers from the IB program among its members. They have discussed among other topics how the 9th graders will be housed at Frick. The next meeting which is being held in the morning when Andie cannot attend is to focus on recruitment for the IB program.

8th grade parents-- Although not yet an official committee, parents of 8th graders who are considering the IB program are trying to organize their own set of questions and concerns in regard to the immediate future of the IB program. The future freshman class will have a huge effect on the future of the IB program. There are many problems that need to be worked out if our 9th graders are going to be housed in a separate building. Parents and students need to be HEARD.

After hearing the "reports" from the different committees, we tried to get some talking points for the Jan 14 board hearing. Barbara Brewton has given me permission to reprint parts of her speech to the board (see below) because those of us who were there Monday night thought that she did an excellent job of disseminating our thoughts.

Monday board hearing; 31 scheduled speakers, but 4 or 5 did not speak. About 11 spoke about the CAPA/Rogers merger detailing the lack of space, etc. Their comments reinforced the Schenley message "Don't change a program that is a huge success" without clearing thinking of the consequences of your actions. Several others spoke about changes to the Miller program or about reform in general. Thanks to the 5 speakers from Schenley who again tried to get the board to slow down. Mr. Roosevelt and 3 board members were not at the hearing because of contract negotiations that were going on at the same time. Although they missed some very good speeches, the results of their meeting certainly was worth the missing of the hearing.

Barbara Brewton's speech:

I speak tonight as a parent of a Schenley High School student and a concerned resident of Pittsburgh. I would like to first and foremost than you, the Board, for requesting the recent informational meetings on plans for high school reform to help you make the best decisions on this very important issue. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to process all this information, to gather input from your constituents and to make such weighty decisions. I respect your position and would like to offer comments that I hope will be useful concerning the decision-making process.

Please involve parents. Find the common themes that emerge in response to plans for high school reform and address them before moving forward. Ask the administration for a detailed, comprehensive plan that outlines what the District's high schools will look like in 5 and 10 years. What is the nature of the commitments, such as that with Pitt's School of Education that is necessary to make these plans successful? Are the plans equitable across neighborhoods and socioeconomic lines? Do they respect what is good about Pittsburgh--innovation undergirded by tradition and people who are passionate about doing what is best for their children and their communities?

Finally, I respectfully urge you, the Board, to postpone any major decision or expenditures of resources until these questions are explicitly and carefully answered. There is too much at stake. Once sold, Schenley High School would be gorever gone. School communities, once dismantled, would unlikely ever come back. I fear that this is precisely the goal of current plans for high school reform. But I believe that this school district can acheve even greater progress toward sweeping and equitable academic improvement by harnessing the energy and resources of all the stakeholders.

For me, there has been a silver lining surrounding the possible closure of Schenley. My quiet, 16-year old daughter, Anna, has found her voice. She has spoken here, rallied outside the building and attended meetings where she is the only student. Anna, like many other students who are engaged on this issue, is "Being the Change" that we want our children to be in their world. While she is bitterly disappointed about moving to Reizenstein her senior year, she wanted me to convey that it would be a move she could more readily accept if she knew that Schenley would re-open after the necessary renovations take place. As her parent, I have very serious concerns about the transition plans for next year, ranging from student and teacher morale to extracurricular activities to fractured student spirit by placing 9th graders in a different building. But, like my daughter, I believe that it is a sacrifice worth making if Schenley is preserved.

I know that this has been a long email but I wanted to catch everyone up on what has been happening behind the scenes. If you have anything to share with the group, I will pass it on. IF you wish to be removed from this list, please let me know.

amy moore

---

Today's note:

The topics for last evenings PSCC were special education and math. Ms. deChicchis gave a brief overview of the PSE at Schenley. Approximately 130 students come under the special ed department ranging from students with learning disabilities that need accommodations to a small group of students receiving life skills in a self-contained classroom. Students are prepared for advanced education or for entering the work force.

Math--Mr. Fitzioris gave an impromptu discussion of the math program which at the high school level is probably the most difficult subject to discuss because of the different options. For mainstream or PSP who did not have algebra in 8th grade, the sequence is Alg I, Geometry, Alg II and Elem Functions. Beginning next year, any student who has not scored at least proficient on the PSSA will take an additional math class. CAS students and those who had algebra in 8th will take Geometry, Alg II, Elementary Functions, and Calculus. Advance math students who had geo in 8th grade have the option of taking AP statistics or registering for a college math class as a senior. To further confuse the picture, Unified Math had previously been taught but is being phased out. For students graduating in 2009 and after, 4 credits in math are required. Students (and parents) should contact the student's counselor if there are any questions regarding the sequence of classes or possible substitutions.

Upcoming Dates--Financial Aid including the Pittsburgh Promise is scheduled for next Wednesday, January 23 from 6-8 pm in the Schenley Library. If you have a senior planning to attend any post-secondary school, you should plan to attend this session to hear what needs to be done to apply for the Pittsburgh Promise money. Parents of juniors should also attend to start planning for next year; this new money that is available from the city could alter your plans.

Feb. 11--program on NEED scholarship. Additional information will be sent as I receive it.

Feb. 20--the next PSCC meeting will be on High School Reform

April-- a meeting will be held with the parents of current 10th graders to discuss the IB program.

---

update 3:

Financial Aid Nights at Schenley High School are slated for January 23, 2008, from 6-8 pm in the Library. Another is February 11, 2008, from 6-8 pm in the library. Mr. Ed Jones will also be in attendance to talk about the Pittsburgh Promise.

Parents of eighth graders were trying to get together to share information about the upcoming changes. If you want to become involved or would like additional information, contact Jen Lakin. Get her email from the blog owner (Mark @ Rauterkus . com) or peek into the comments of this posting.

Pittsburgh Planning Commission member won't be asked to resign - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By all means, if I was mayor, I would NOT ask the meeting skipping Pitt fan and Planning Comission member to resign.

Pittsburgh Planning Commission member won't be asked to resign - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said he won't ask Planning Commission member Todd E. Reidbord to ...

Rather, I'd flog him.

Perhaps he can't be fired -- technically. But, he can be told that the 'air ball' he pulled makes him not worthy for the work that is before the city now -- and into the future.

His airball doesn't fit the sports-talk. Frankly, he simply went way out of bounds. When the game is on and it is crunch time -- you don't shrink from your responsibilities. It was 'gut-check time' for the planning commission. That session was billed as "the most important planning meeting in our lifetime" -- so blogged Bram. And, it lived up to that hype.

A weird twist in sports and life is shown in the running away from their governmental responsibilities of both Luke Ravenstahl (mayor) and this donor/developer appointed member of the planning commission. Luke went to the same game and missed the same meeting. Plus, Luke has been know to ditch important public forums in the past to hit a golf outing. These two guys get paid to lead in political settings. However, being sports spectators is a top priority for them. They would rather go to sports games and watch other people play games rather than fill the important roles in the political realm with life impacts where they are policy players.

They have their priorities upside down. They are clueless as to what really matters.

Meanwhile, my life is the opposite. I've devoted my professional life to sports participation, coaching, fitenss, etc. My hobby time goes to politics. Go figure. I've run from a practice to attend a public hearing. Meanwhile, they go AWOL in public hearings when they should be at the table to sit in the stands.

In all seriousness, Luke does not need to fire this guy. If I was mayor, I'd not need to fire him because different policies and measures would be put forth. Things would take care of themselves as I've called for more voter accountability into the system in dealing with all boards and every board member.

In my more ideal world, all board members, even planning commission board members, would face regular "RETENTION VOTES."

So, this guy from Walnut Capital was appointed to the Planning Commission Board by the mayor. In this case, Bob O'Connor gave him his seat. City council approved the nomination. Fine. That would not change. The appointments would still occur. However, the people should be able to go to the ballot box at regular elections and cast votes for retention for all the members on these appointed boards and commissions.

If we don't like the way people behave when appointed ot the boards -- the people should be able to take them off by voting them out.

Pennsylvania has these types of 'judge retention votes' too. We voted "NO" for Judge Nigro. He lost his seat on the bench because he was a jag off.

Retention votes would be easy to administer, occur without the need of expensive campaigns, and would give accountability back to the people.

Folks on these boards, now mostly nameless and faceless, by design, would have to shape up or else be shipped out by the voters.

I want retention votes for all boards and authority members. Then we'd be able to vote this guy out of here.

Perhaps we should start the petition to get this question put onto the ballot for the general election. We could call this the Reidbord Ballot Question.

Should appointed board members in the city's various commissions and authorities be subject to retention votes according to a strenuous forumla based upon first appointment and years of service.

New Hazlett Theater from noon to 7 pm -- women and arts among community elements

Looks kwel. Would love to get a re-cap of the events.

New Hazlett Theater ... we will explore the value of the arts in communities and cities. The symposium will feature a panel discussion and workshops centered on Pittsburgh success stories with arts as a factor in community development, exploring national trends and delving into what might happen next here in the SW Pennsylvania region.

If you are going or if you attend, blog about it here.

If you wish you knew about this event, and others like it much sooner, then you are not watching my google public calendar. Subscribe to it! Stay aware.

GOP council members talk back to Onorato - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Dan Onorato is a king of pretend. Onorato passed lots of phantom budgets as part of Pittsburgh City Council. Dan, the tax man, learned under Tom Murphy. Dan Onorato was part of the problem and helped to usher in TWO sets of OVERLORDS for the city because of continuous miss-management of budgets, incomes, and killer expenses.

GOP council members talk back to Onorato - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 'The county executive lives in the real world, and he isn't going to engage in funny budgeting with phantom revenue,' Kevin Evanto, Onorato's spokesman, said. 'The county has a balanced budget with actual revenue streams, and we're going to continue operating under that budget.

A real answer is due from the administration. What about those costs we paid for the courts that didn't get covered from the state?

Insults don't make an answer. Unless, the answer points to more wrongdoing by Onorato. Cover up?

Onorato says he lives in the real world -- but ask him what year he lives in? Onorato rolled back the property taxes to a 'base year.' Onorato fell down the rabbit hole some time ago. Onorato lives in a fantasy world where changes to the Lincoln Bedroom are more recent than the changes to the more wealthy suburban property values.

South Vo Tech High School was a Second Chance School for many

South Vo Tech High School is gone. It was closed in a boneheaded move of the Pgh Public School District Administration and School Board.

John Edwards, D, candidate for President, speaks of "second chance schools" as part of the solution to combat the 'drop outs factories' and high drop out rates.

Many of the students who attended South Vo Tech were there because they didn't fit in a prior school. Some went straight into South after 8th grade. Many were transfer students.

Pittsburgh needs to re-open South Vo Tech! We need that type of school among the choices for kids and families.

Dennis Perrin: The Liberal's Ron Paul Problem - Politics on The Huffington Post

Dennis Perrin: The Liberal's Ron Paul Problem - Politics on The Huffington Post: "What bothers liberals, TNR's James Kirchik among them, is that Paul is the only presidential candidate who is seriously running against the state. This includes anti-imperialism and calls to end the Drug War. Given that Hillary and Obama are nowhere near this mindset -- quite the opposite -- means that anyone who is must be a bad person. If those newsletters didn't exist, hit men like Kirchik and the libloggers who support him would find something else to smear Paul with. Because, at bottom, they oppose any dismantling of the war state (recall Kos' shitting all over Kucinich). They simply want their preferred candidates to run the machine instead.

Pittsburgh Hoagie wants to go to the head of the class

Pittsburgh Hoagie: All meat no filler: Tuesday items: "If the hike is high and my school board member, Floyd McCrea, is in favor of it I will run against him in the next district election."

Matt hints that he may run for school board.

The edumacated scream, "Ouch!"

Last week's purchase -- no regrets

I was holding my breath. I need a new computer. Well, last week I went ahead and placed an order for a new one. But, MacWorld is slated for this week.

Today the new line-up of Macs is out -- and my purchase isn't blown out of the water.

I'm not getting a laptop. And, the new one just talked about today looks fine, but it isn't what I crave. It doesn't fit my budget.

I am interested in the Apple TV upgrade however. That might need to be an investment in the weeks or months to come. I'd be able to do a TiVo like recording of city council meetings and then burn them to DVDs. The archives power could offer lots of fine leverage in the months and years to come.

In other news, I hope iJustine gets here bandwidth back and has good fun in S.F.

Duck and cover -- hide and obstruct -- the LAW is getting ready to kick in doors and YANK out those video poker machines

Pittsburgh City Council, bill number 2008-0024:

Resolution authorizing the city to enter into a grant agreement with the PA Gaming Control Board for the receipt of grant monies in the amount of $181,129 for ENFORCEMENT and PREVENTION of unlawful operation of illegal slot machines and illegal gambling.

Texas Hold Em tournaments -- watch out.

Church Bingos -- beware.

NCAA Tournament Bracket Organizers -- take note.

Super Bowl office pool participants -- clipping expected.

Tavern owners with video poker machines -- the Onorato tax was just the beginning.

I'm not happy to have these thugs -- PA GAMBLING CONTROL BOARD -- paying off our police department. I don't want our police department giving up turf to them. And, I don't want the police to do the dirty work on their behalf.

$181K covers the salaries of a lot of crossing guards.

I'd love to see the details of that 'grant.'

Can it be posted to in full?

This is the work for Bruce Kraus to push ahead. Meanwhile, citizens get pushed around.

Furthermore, the money used for enforcement is going to cost the taxpayers. There won't be those funds available to pay for reductions in property taxes, as promised. And, the heartache that these police acts are going to cause are sure to wreck businesses and destroy family investments. The fines, penalties, jail time and unpleasant reactions in dealing with the guys in badges is costly.

These guys are not going to be working to improve the valet parking services at the new casino. These guys are going to be crawling around all parts of the city, undercover.

Have the slots parlor operators take care of their own matters. Don Barden can hire private investigators if he feels that gambling incomes are slipping outside the reach of the monopoly that he was able to purchase from the state.

---

The commander from NARCOTICS and VICE goes to the table to talk about the bill.

Kraus wants to amend the bill to read from slots machines to "all electro mechanical gaming devices."

Money is coming from the confiscated -- asset forfeiture funds. This is used for 'buy money' on the streets, said Commander Huss. Funds allow officers to work in conjuction with other agencies, DEA, ATF, DA. The city reaps a portion of those funds.

What is the criteria for spending and not spending these moneys?

Predominantly for equipment and 'buy money.' But -- if you ask me -- the criteria and predominance is not the same. It includes weapons.

Officers in the vice unit will be used. This is for overtime for existing officers. Not new hires.

The grant has $30,000 is for public outreach. Kraus thinks it is for education. Telling bar owners that these devices are now illegal. They want a 24 hour tip line. Advertising, billboards, newspaper ads. Give people the opportunity to give the info to the police to give up their neighbors. The tips can come via 3-1-1.

BBI is charged with dispensing the licenses for gaming devices. None of the money goes to that department. BBI does not have an enforcement role when it comes to illegal gambling.

The city is still going to turn a blind eye to video poker. Cost is $250 per machine.

Money is to rental vehicles, $30,000. Do we have a fleet in the city? Why are we renting cars? When you switch out the cars they are less obvious.

Some money is for CPA services. Why hire them? To look at the books of their providers.

Motznik wants the entire city to be targeted, not just specific locations. Motiznik is going to rat out a few locations, after the meeting.

Gambling is going to put a strain on the public safety of the city -- so wonders Dowd. What level of activity do we anticipate seeing. Are the funds going to cover the costs we'll incur.

This is all new to us, said Huss. This is money to try to curb illegal gambling. They want all the gambling to be legal, in the state sanctioned joint owned by out of state developers. Huss said that a big cost in another area was for medical expenses on people tripping over a big curb. -- Say what???!!! --

What is going to be the increase demand on the police force, EMS, etc. We are going to have a greater strain.

Huss said that they'll be bringing the STATE POLICE and In-House SECURITY.

Burgess talked about money that is seized and then put back into operations of the police. If money is taken from district 9 -- is it put back into district 9? Is there any judging as to putting the money back into the community from where it was taken from? Is there any thought about that? Are there documents and data to see how much money is seized and how it is put back in use.

Huss -- I've never looked at that. We've kinda looked at that on the whole -- citywide.

Harris asked for more advertising on illegal drugs so that the public can call in for their tips. Harris wants the neighbor rat line to be put on the city cable channel. Wheere to get drugs in the city. There are silent complaint forms and the phone to the police office works.

Humm.... $70K confiscation narcotics trust fund is being spent. The 'lock box' mentality. What is the criteria on spending money from this trust fund. Otherwise, we should NOT have the trust fund. Wants to stay true to the creation of the trust fund. Peduto will abstain. Worried that the public will think that the police are not being targeted.

Pin ball machines.

That is the 'intent.'

Where are the project naratives.

Great opportunity for citizen observer, said Peduto.

So, everyone on council is ready to expand the scope of the enforcement.

Planning commissioner ducks meeting for Pitt game - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Planning commissioner ducks meeting for Pitt game - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Planning commissioner ducks meeting for Pitt game

If I'm appointed to the Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board, I won't cut out of any meeting to go to a Pitt basketball game. I might skip out of the country to attend the Olympics. So, I pledge to only skip meetings for multi-sport, international contests. I swear.

Mayor Ravenstahl should ask for his resignation.

We have too many pressing issues in Pittsburgh to let the slackers rule.

I did leave a note and follow-up with an email to Mayor Ravenstahl about my willingness to serve on the Ethics Hearing Board, should I be invited. That appointment could do a lot for 'diversity' -- as I'm not a member of the clergy nor a lawyer nor of the D party.

Then the news has this quote from a guy who does NOT give a quote, but gives this gem:

"I don't think it's appropriate to come to my office without an appointment," said Reidbord.

It is still a free country, pal. To show up to an office to ask a question and get a quote is not a crime.

The problem is that the developers morph into politicians as politicians encroach the tasks associated with that of developers. I'd like to get it straight. I'd love for developers to develop and stay the heck out of the way of matters of governance. And, I'd love for those in government to not play the role of 'developer.'

The last line of the article asks: "The public's voice should be heard every step of the way," he said. "Who do the commission members serve, the public or special interests?"

The commission members serve the needs of the special interests. Well, some of them do. Some may not.

Give this guy the boot!

If we had what I have asked for for years -- retention votes for board members -- we'd be able to vote this guy out. They get appointed. They are not accountable. It would be simple to have the politicians appoint these board members and then have their respective names put on the ballot at various periods for votes -- either YES (to retain) or NO (to dismiss). There would be no need to campaign. There would be accountability.

Got $900 M -- host the 2016 Olympics. Such a bargain for them. A hefty building price for 2016 Games - Tuesday January 15, 2008 5:48PM

SI.com - More Sports - A hefty building price for 2016 Games - Tuesday January 15, 2008 5:48PMOrganizers of the American bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics unveiled plans Tuesday that include $900 million in new and temporary venues, and promises a 'spectacular' experience in the heart of the city.

Let's see, if Pittsburgh didn't build that tunnel under the river for light rail expansion -- we'd be half-way to hosting the world for the Olympics.

That math is still with a few missing factors, I dare say.

Wonder if Chicago has to do a CBA (Citizens Benefit Agreement) for each of those venues?

In Pittsburgh city council, Bill Number 2008-0019, introduced today, asks for $250,000 for the Department of Parks and Recreation to construct splash zones, aquatic playground facilities.

Dennis K is before a judge to get into a D debate

This topic, debate inclusion / exclusion, might be good enough for its entire blog.

As I post this, Dennis K, D, is before a judge. He got the word that he would be in the debate. Then they changed their minds and sent a 'so sorry' letter to the campaign.

Now they are in a court room.

Dennis also pressed the vote recount in NH to a judge.

He must be climbing in the polls.

A paper that covers a special demographic in Michigan gave endorsements to Dennis K and Ron Paul. I saw that only in passing, so I don't know of the details.

Petition for Drafting Mike Bloomberg for President | Unite For Mike

I'm not going to sign, but, I'll take a peek.

Petition for Drafting Mike Bloomberg for President | Unite For Mike Mike Bloomberg, please become a candidate for the office of President of the United States

Oil prices are up. The economy is failing. Well, puttering.