McCain: Romney Favored Iraq Withdrawal

How is this for spin?

McCain: Romney Favored Iraq Withdrawal / QCTimes.com: "SARASOTA, Fla. - John McCain accused Mitt Romney of wanting to withdraw troops from Iraq, drawing immediate protest from his Republican presidential rival who said: 'That's simply wrong and it's dishonest, and he should apologize.'

The fight for Florida grew ever more intense Saturday ahead of the state's pivotal primary as a fairly civil debate over economic records and leadership credentials spiraled into an all-out showdown.

As the two candidates campaigned along the state's southwest coast, McCain sought the upper hand with a new line of criticism, telling reporters in Ft. Meyers about Iraq: 'If we surrender and wave a white flag, like Senator Clinton wants to do, and withdraw, as Governor Romney wanted to do, then there will be chaos, genocide, and the cost of American blood and treasure would be dramatically higher.'

American Treasure. Isn't that the name of a Hollywood pretend movie -- oh... it is "National Treasure."

National Treasure Photos: "Still photographs of 'National Treasure'"

New mayor vows 'high-caliber' Games

SI.com - Olympics - Beijing mayor vows 'high-caliber' Games - Saturday January 26, 2008 1:18PM Beijing's new mayor took office Saturday and promised the Summer Olympics would make China proud.

In brief remarks to reporters after being appointed by the legislature, Mayor Guo Jinlong twice mentioned the Olympics in August, underscoring the event's importance to the city and China's Communist Party leadership.

Humm. Bob O'Connor was mayor and the Steelers won the Super Bowl. That was a quick score to a young term in office. Some five or six months later came the US Open at Oakmont. That was a rush -- for the mayor, of course. And, I understand that Oakmont is NOT in the 'city.'

Well, how about the guy who steps into the job in Beijing -- and the whole world is due to show up for the Olympics on August 8, 2008. This is sure to put a spotlight -- and pressure -- on the host city.

Of interest is the word to describe the pending games -- 'high-caliber. Gun laws aside, understand that they invented fireworks in China!

High School Highlights: Schenley's streak hits 69

High School Highlights: Schenley's streak hits 69:

This gives another good reason why the Pittsburgh City League needs to be eliminated.

In swimming, there are no teams at Oliver and Westinghouse and Perry.

CAPA has NO SPORTS.

It is not any fun to go through years of play with league opponents and always win.

Let's raise some standards. Let's get the city kids playing in the WPIAL on a day to day basis.

Let's have a city league tournament, or tip-off classic, or all-star post-season match. The city teams would still play against each other from time to time. But, the city league squads need to have 'competition' that makes sense.

Fact Check of GOP debate in Florida

By Calvin Woodward of the Associated Press on Thursday's GOP debate.

Fact Check: Misfires in GOP Debate

WASHINGTON - A number of assertions in the latest Republican presidential debate went unchallenged because candidates spent more time criticizing Democrats from afar than challenging - and correcting - each other face to face.

THE SPIN: John McCain took issue with a questioner's statement that he favors "mandatory caps" on greenhouse gas emissions.

"No, I'm in favor of cap-and-trade," McCain said.

"And all we are saying is, 'Look, if you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, you earn a credit. If somebody else is going to increase theirs, you can sell it to them.' And, meanwhile, we have a gradual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."

THE FACTS: McCain has proposed mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions.

The Arizona senator has been among the most vocal supporters in Washington of capping greenhouse gases, proposing legislation to do that several times, and criticized the Bush administration for resisting mandatory measures.

In a cap-and-trade system, companies that outperform pollution requirements could sell the right to pollute to companies that don't meet the limits. But overall emissions would have to come down, and ever more stringently as years pass.

The bill McCain co-sponsored with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman last year proposed that pollution allowances be cut by two-thirds between 2012 and 2050. A section of the bill is titled: "Mandating Emissions Reductions."

THE SPIN: Mitt Romney boiled down Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan to what he regarded as its essence: a government giveaway.

"Her health care plan, quite simply, is one which says, 'Look, we're going to give health insurance to everybody by the government.'"

THE FACTS: Clinton's plan does not propose that the government give everyone health insurance. Most people and companies would pay for it, like now.

The New York senator proposes that the government help those who can't afford the insurance to buy it, so that everyone can be covered, and uses tax credits to small business and other spending to try to make that possible. Existing health insurance plans would be preserved for those who want it, while people could choose to join other programs she proposes to create.

THE SPIN: Rudy Giuliani again talked up his record as New York mayor.

"I'm the only one who's actually turned around a government economy. I mean, the reality is, when I became mayor of New York the economy of New York was in very, very bad shape - tremendous deficits, 10 1/2 percent unemployment, 300,000 jobs gone. We turned that around, cut unemployment by more than half, brought in 450,000 new jobs, and we cut taxes by 17 percent."

THE FACTS: The unemployment rate fell from about 10 percent when he took office to a little over 6 percent before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, rising after to 7.6 percent. The rate did not fall by more than half.

On deficits, an analysis by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that he inherited a $2.3 billion deficit in 1994 and produced surpluses during his mayoralty, but projected a $2.8 billion deficit in his last budget, released the spring before the attacks.

THE SPIN: Mike Huckabee aired his proposal to eliminate federal income, investment and payroll taxes in favor of a national sales tax, an idea he has likened elsewhere to "a magic wand relieving us from pain and unfairness."

Questioned about a 30 percent sales tax, he said "it's 23 percent" if the government is to bring in the same money it is getting now. He said his plan "untaxes the poor, untaxes the elderly."

THE FACTS: A mathematical exercise is required to understand why 30 percent and 23 percent are both applied to the plan.

If an item costs $100 before tax and $130 after tax, that's $30 more, which most shoppers would consider a 30 percent rate.

But proponents of the sales tax cast it another way. They say that because $30 is 23 percent of $130, the rate is really 23 percent.

Huckabee does not exempt the elderly from the tax, despite claiming he "untaxes the elderly."

By that, he means that he thinks most retirees keep their spending under the poverty-line level, and so would be sheltered.

clever comments @ Fred08.com: An Outside Insider's View

techPresident – Fred08.com: An Outside Insider's View The Internet candidate is the one who embodies the authenticity, accessibility, and responsiveness of the medium not just in what he or she does online, but in what he or she does offline.

Property Taxes, Rauterkus / Palmer, 108 S. 12th Street and Dan Onorato's ploy

Got this letter in the mail that goes to the heart of our Dan Onorato's claim that he doesn't raise property taxes.

We live on the South Side.

Parcel ID: 0003-M-00383-0000-00

108 S. 12th St
Legal Description: Fred Bausman Plan 22 Lot 20x80 S. 12th St Cor BR
Adish
2 1/2 STY FRA HSE 108
17th Ward
Tax Status: 20 - Taxable

Notice is hereby given that the real estate assessed / Market Value for the above mentioned property has changed as shown below for the year 2008.

This change is a result of a building permit change.

Comparison to Prior Market Value

Land Value from 11600 to 17300
Building Value from 94500 to 124900
Total Value from 106100 to 142200

Please be advised that you have the right to appeal the Office of Property Assessments determination by filing a Special Appeals Form with the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review (Appeals Board) within thirty days of the date of this notice.

The Assessed/Market Value listed above does not include any exemptions. If you qualify for any Special Acts Abatements, the Office of Preoperty Assessments will make the adjustments for county tax purposes only.

This notice pertains to Assessed / Market Value only. Your property tax bills are calculated and determined by separate taxing bodies. Questions about your tax bill should be directed to your school district, municipality or the Allegheny County Treasurer.

Primer on Delegates and the Conventions. Will be interesting.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/25/2008 | Could tight election races in both parties lead to brokered conventions? Republicans don't have super-delegates, but the rules on how delegates vote are basically left to the state and territory parties. More than 650 GOP delegates could arrive at the Minneapolis-St. Paul convention unpledged to any candidate, while more could be only informally bound to vote for a candidate, according to Jay Cost, a University of Chicago political science graduate student writing for www.realclearpolitics.com. Republicans require 1,191 delegates for the nomination.

This year the national conventions for both old parties might be interesting. I'm sure, according to my hunch, that the GOP convention will be wild. I was talking to someone on the phone and he said he expects fists to be flying on the floor of the Republican convention.

eVote Blog pointer. The same machines are used in Allegheny County

eVote Blog: The iVotronic voting system failed to count over 100,000 votes in various races across the state of Florida in the November 2006 election.

Dan Onorato was the one who insisted that Allegheny County purchase the iVotronic machines. This week he also insisted that there are no problems with these machines.

The voting machines used in Allegheny County are junk.

Comedy Night -- at Bishop Canevin High School

View the Comedy Night 3 website, click here.

Bishop Canevin High School will proudly present Comedy Night 3 this Wednesday, January 30, in O'Connor Hall at St. Paul's Seminary in Crafton (2900 Noblestown Road), 7:30 p.m.

The show will feature the following alumni comedians: national stand-up headliner Jesse Joyce '96, Darrin Hall '97 and Justin Janosko '98 of the comedy band The Lifetime Guarantee and the singing comedian Tim Dimond '04.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW

Grab a group of friends and join us this Wednesday! This event is open to the public. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for all area high school students. All proceeds benefit Bishop Canevin High School as the comedians have donated their time-and-talent free-of-charge.

- To order tickets online via Credit Card, click here.

- To print off a ticket form, click here.

- Or call (412) 922-7400 ext. 20.

Last year's Comedy Night was attended by more than 300 people so make sure to avoid the sellout and get your tickets early. Some tickets may be available at the door but we strongly encourage you to pre-order tickets.

Please feel free to forward this e-mail to your friends outside of the Bishop Canevin community who might be interested in attending.

MEET THE COMEDIANS AT THE AFTER PARTY

Bishop Canevin High School is excited to team-up with event sponsor The Hop House (located up the road from Bishop Canevin and St. Paul's Seminary on Noblestown Road) for the first-ever Comedy Night After Party!

This will be your special chance to meet our comedians and to catch-up with classmates, faculty and friends of Bishop Canevin High School.

In addition, simply present your Comedy Night 3 ticket that evening at the After Party and you will receive a 10% discount on your order.

For more information on The Hop House, click here.

Bishop Canevin High School Teacher Mr. Tim Fazio discusses Comedy Night 3, click here.

SEE JESSE JOYCE ON KDKA-TV'S MORNING SHOW THE DAY BEFORE COMEDY NIGHT 3

Jesse Joyce will be on KDKA-TV's Morning Show, Tuesday, January 29. Make sure to tune in around 9 a.m. or visit the BC Blog Tuesday afternoon to watch the appearance!

City school board votes to fire facilities chief

City permits slow construction -- go figure.

City school board votes to fire facilities chief ... aggressive construction timetable for Colfax was thrown off kilter by a groundwater problem and lengthy delays getting city permits.

What is wrong for the PPS to do 'aggressive construction.' The district has aggressive departures. It does not need to expand buildings in an aggressive way with its contractions in the number of students.

Do what needs to be done over time.

This crisis mode from the rash and rush superintended is unwise.

The district needs to be deliberate.

And The Media Says Nothing

Great post from Char about the drink tax and a few statements from Gov. Ed Rendell on the radio.

Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette: And The Media Says Nothing

I've been, by choice, trying to NOT tune into the radio in the recent week(s). It is part of the political healing for my soul that I've self prescribed. I'm a recovering candidate and tinkering with the hope of NOT falling off the wagon.

Look ma, no hands!

Petitions are in the office -- and they are gathering dust, sans signatures.

This is hard work.

Char, go, go, go. I'll slink back to my parallel universe and might even jump into the swim pool and do some laps.

radio interview transcripts with Glenn Beck

Radio interview, yesterday, with Glenn Beck and Ron Paul about the economy:

Daily Dose "... tell me what’s happening with the economy."

PAUL: "Well, it’s making the correction that was inevitable due to the malinvestment and the unbelievable debt accumulated due to a federal reserve policy. Once they create credit out of thin air, they cause business people, savers to do the wrong thing and you always have to have a correction. So dealing with the recession is very difficult because the cars with a few years ago and we have to work our way out of this, which means there has to be a correction.... "

Read the rest at Daily Dose.

Get on the train

College aid stuff from last night

Last evening, I attended the Financial Aid information session at Schenley presented by PHEAA with additional information on the Pittsburgh Promise. I am surprised that there have been very few substantial changes in student aid since I "retired" as a financial aid counselor at the community college 20 years ago. The amounts have changed of course but the types of aid and the procedures for applying are basically the same. A few key points:

1. Complete the FAFSA form even if you do not think that you will qualify for state or federal grants. Many colleges will want the information on file before awarding any institutional money. Also, if your child is a 2008 or later graduate of a Pittsburgh city school who meets the attendance requirements, the FAFSA will be required for the Pittsburgh Promise. Even if he/she does not plan at this time to attend one of the qualifying schools (Allegheny County school or state university or state related), plans do change. He/she is eligible for up to $5000. If he/she starts out of state but decides to come home to PA after a semester, part of that money would still be available.

2. File the FAFSA as early as possible. Even if you do not file your income taxes before April 1, it is important to file the FAFSA using estimated numbers as soon as possible. Some campus-based aid is limited so it is good to have your application in as soon as possible. It also might help make that decision of which school to choose, based on the aid that they are offering.

3. Ms. Hargrave, from the local PHEAA, gave several web sites for additional information.
EducationPlanner.org
PHEAA.org
collegeboard.org

Eddie Jones, from PPS central office spoke briefly about the Pittsburgh Promise. They are still working on the Promise and additional information will continue to be released. The list of eligible schools contains 65 public and private schools in Pennsylvania, although a number of those schools are branch campuses of the major universities, Penn State and Pitt. Technical schools, such as the Bidwell Training Center, ITT Tech, Culinary Institute, in Allegheny County are eligible. The student must be in at least a certificate program. There is an incentive for remaining in the city system. A child who attends k-12 is eligible for up to $5000 per year; 1-12, up to 95% of $5000; and 9-12, up to 75% of $5000. As the program is further established and the proposed graduation exam is in place, the amount will rise to $10,000 per year.

My apologies to the representative from NEED; I forgot to write her name. She spoke very briefly on the college/career advising program. On February 11, NEED is co-sponsoring with Schenley a workshop to help with the completion of the FAFSA form. Please see the information below:




-----Original Message-----
From: Arlene Tyler [mailto:ATyler@needld.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 1:00 PM
Subject: UPDATED * FAFSA Completion Workshop Flyer










NEED "preparing the workforce of tomorrow with educational assistance today"

Arlene Tyler Holland
NEED . Student Services Department
PHONE: 412.566.2760 . FAX: 412.471.6643 . WEBSITE: www.needld.org
United Way Contributor Choice Code: 250 . Combined Federal Campaign Code: 33076
EMAIL: Atyler@needld.org

Since 1963 offering "last dollar" funding and helping young African Americans learn about, aspire to, prepare for, apply to, and complete college.

NEED has MOVed
EFFECTIVE November 1, 2007 the new address is:
Warner CENTRE, 332 Fifth Avenue, First Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Open education initiatives

Over at my tech pointer blog, a new blog I'm now using for links, I've pointed at and signed The Cape Town Open Education Declaration.

Tech Pointers of Mark Rauterkus: "The Cape Town Open Education Declaration: 'Cape Town Open Education Declaration:
Unlocking the promise of open educational resources'" link

More and more educators are stepping up to make open education a reality. Examples of open education in action include:

• CC Learn
  
• Centre for Open and Sustainable Learning
• Connexions
• Curriki
• Learning Activity Management System (LAMS)
  
• OER Commons
• Free High School Science Texts
• Moodle
  
• MIT Open Courseware
  
• Open Courseware Consortium
• WikiEducator

Pittsburgh 250 nonsense - letter to editor from Donn

Ron Morris has Moes. I've got Running Mates. I'm going to make Donn a new running mate.

Pittsburgh 250 nonsense - Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewPittsburgh 250 nonsense

I read Colin McNickle's column about the warped thinking behind the public relations campaign for the Pittsburgh 250 celebration with great interest ("Stop this nonsense!," Jan. 20 and PghTrib.com).

I reread it with great dismay, because he hit the proverbial nail on the head.

I do not see this region progressing -- just look at the low immigration numbers. The hungry and business-savvy immigrants who can't wait to start small businesses to live the American dream are smart enough to stay away. To me that speaks volumes, as did McNickle's well-thought-out column.

Look at the fiasco of the Hill District "community leaders" who are strong-arming the city/county or anyone else for a taxpayer-funded supermarket near the new arena site.

Why don't they ask Giant Eagle why it won't build one in their "hood"? They probably already did ask and did not like the answer. How pathetic!

Bill Flanagan, Pittsburgh 250's executive director, and his legions at the Allegheny Conference are of good intent and well-compensated, but he is like Nero fiddling while Pittsburgh burns!

Donn Nemchick, Munhall

Council OKs parcel sales to Downtown developer

This is a continual problem -- the abstaining vote. People are elected to go to meetings and make decisions. Show up. Be in the room when the vote happens. And, vote YES or vote NO. To abstain is to scream weakness. Being weak happens because the administration has NOT given the member of council enough information. Then a "NO" vote should happen. Or, a weak vote to abstain says, I'm easily moved and this time the buy-off is too light.

Members of council are NOT hired (elected) to be my voice. They are elected to insure that the voice of everyone is protected. Rights of 'free speech' need to be understood and preserved. So, these folks are not elected to 'be my voice.' However, they each are elected to vote upon matters for the people of the district. They get the pay-check -- and they make the votes.

If they vote to abstain -- then they should not get a paycheck that week.

If they vote to abstain more than three times a quarter -- they should be impeached.

What if the guys on public works abstain from putting out salt on a day like today? They would be hounded for not doing their jobs. By the way, the salt truck just went down the South Side side-street.

What if the enviro services crew was to abstain from picking up trash?

Council OKs parcel sales to Downtown developer Council's vote was 5-0, with Darlene Harris, Bruce Kraus and William Peduto abstaining, and Dan Deasy out of the room.

Some council members were concerned because the sale price is much lower than what the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority paid for the parcels.

The URA is selling off properties on the principle of buy high sell low. The URA uses taxpayer money. The URA often champions deals where taxpayers get less money. The URA is working for the wrong side. Go figure.

The URA should be liquidated.

The URA is in the market and the property downtown stays inflated. The old, old owners of the G.C. Murphy Co. store used to have a business. It went bust. They closed the store. But, the owners could squat on the property and not sell it for more than a decade. When did the G.C.Murphy store close its doors? The hopes of re-opening the store was not ever in the cards.

The property could stand vacant for years -- because of the URA. They all knew that government money was going to come along, some day, and buy them out. The URA was an enabler for things that hurt the city -- vacant downtown properties.

If the URA had not been around, the old owners of the G.C. Murphy store would have shut down the business and sold the property as they didn't want to pay taxes year after year. The property could have been purchased by anyone -- such as a Millcraft-like developer, from the old owners, on the cheap.

The taxpayers get screwed coming and going.

The property is put into mothballs. The sales price from the store owners to the URA is much higher than it should be. The taxes are not paid for many years. Then the sales price to the next developer is much lower than it should be. Furthermore, the longer the URA holds the property, the lower the sales price. They want to flip it after a huge delay so that the windfall can best be realized by the next developer -- not the taxpayers.

The exit for the bad situation is a bitter pill -- but -- the bad situation was made much worse by the URA from the outset.

The URA and the governmental weenies have made downtown "a boarded-up, depressing place."

If I'm in charge -- Pittsburgh would liquidate the URA. Urban redevelopment in Pittsburgh lags because of the URA.

Rudy Running Third in Florida

Political eyes turn to Florida.

Newsmax.com - Rudy Running Third in Florida Giuliani received just 15 percent of the votes, down from 36 percent in a Herald poll last November, even though he has campaigned heavily in Florida and virtually ignored the races in New Hampshire, Michigan and other early decision states.

I hope Ron Paul beats him again!

Demand the Truth

Demand the Truth Petition to Media: Demand Balance in 2008 Election Coverage