We'll be using the internet from a private apartment in BJ

Beijing Olympic Games 2008 Xinhua: Internet speedy and stable - just expensive: "Xinhua: Internet speedy and stable - just expensive"

The cost seems expensive however:

Renting a Broadband IC card or a WLAN from July 25 to August 25 costs 3,500 yuan (500 US dollars), while renting a WLAN plus info 2008 costs 8,450 yuan

Also from Slashdot:

“Working for the Olympics as an IT contractor, I recently moved to the Media Village (where all of the reporters live) and was surprised the there was no free internet. BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games) is charging a ridiculous amount of money for ADSL service: for 512/512 it costs 7712.5 RMB (1131.20 USD); for 1M/512 it costs 9156.25 (1342.95 USD); for 2M/512 it costs a whopping 11,700 RMB (1716.05 USD). That is for only one month! For extra features like a fixed IP? That costs an additional 450 RMB (66 USD). I just can’t believe that not only do I have to deal with the Great Firewall of China, but also pay through the nose to use it!”

I suppose China has to get back some of the money for hosting the Olympics. To get internet connected in a private apartment the connection fee is about 300RMB and monthly charge of around 150RMB.

Suckers, those MSMers. Giggle.

We'll be using the internet from a private apartment in BJ

The cost seems expensive however:

Renting a Broadband IC card or a WLAN from July 25 to August 25 costs 3,500 yuan (500 US dollars), while renting a WLAN plus info 2008 costs 8,450 yuan

Also from Slashdot:

“Working for the Olympics as an IT contractor, I recently moved to the Media Village (where all of the reporters live) and was surprised the there was no free internet. BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games) is charging a ridiculous amount of money for ADSL service: for 512/512 it costs 7712.5 RMB (1131.20 USD); for 1M/512 it costs 9156.25 (1342.95 USD); for 2M/512 it costs a whopping 11,700 RMB (1716.05 USD). That is for only one month! For extra features like a fixed IP? That costs an additional 450 RMB (66 USD). I just can’t believe that not only do I have to deal with the Great Firewall of China, but also pay through the nose to use it!”

I suppose China has to get back some of the money for hosting the Olympics. To get internet connected in a private apartment the connection fee is about 300RMB and monthly charge of around 150RMB.

Suckers, those MSMers. Giggle.

word of the day

And update from our friend in China in advance of the trip to BJ

Wow. Locals call Beijing, BJ. My wife is now being hip and using that term.

See the comments for details.

The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition): WISE Suggestion Made by TSCSF Commentor!

The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition): WISE Suggestion Made by TSCSF Commentor!: "Nice call, Mark!

Thank you.

I've been right before in making some bold and correct calls.

I was right about South Side Hospital. UPMC Sports Performance Center with those dwarf football fields should be behind South Side Hospital in the now closed park.

I was right about the South Side Police Station too.

I was right about the cheats in Harrisburg in elections as well -- and proved it in 2006.

Oh well. Thanks again.

---

Another blog gave me a plug today too. See:
http://burgherjon.blogspot.com/2008/07/burghosphere-all-stars-come-to-blog.html

Grand finale set for 'Pittsburgh Celebrates 250' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Grand finale set for 'Pittsburgh Celebrates 250' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 'Pittsburgh Celebrates 250,' set for Oct. 3-4, will climax with a Zambelli fireworks display that will turn Pittsburgh into a colossal birthday cake, with the skyscrapers of the Golden Triangle transformed into giant candles.

I think that the Opening of the 2008 Olympics in Bejing, China, will beat the pants of the Zambelli show. I am not sure. But, that's my hunch. China invented 'fireworks' before the rest of the world figured out how to slice a pizza.

I'll let you know in about 10 days.

I do get some serious joy at the possibilities of being a lead in the parade as a Libertarian in a canoe. Perhaps we (my sons and I) can take the place of the Native American.

An Oct. 4 flotilla that starts at Brunot Island on the Ohio River and includes commercial, private and non-motorized watercraft. It will replicate a similar event in 1908 that celebrated the city's 150th anniversary, when the watercraft were led by a lone American Indian paddling a canoe. It also will mark the final voyage of the Delta Queen, the last of the original paddle-wheel steamboats to ...

Nice foot

Football.

Are you ready for some football?

Soccer Donut Stunt

Hilltop residents looking for help

Hilltop residents looking for help'Continuing gun violence is why my Hilltop is falling apart,' Kraus said in a recent interview. 'The No. 1 key to turning a neighborhood around is safety. It takes political will to allocate the money.'

Well, to begin, for the record, Post Gazette info on the main character of this story is off. The woman they refer to is an insurance case manager at Children's Hospital which is a bit different from being an audiologist!

As for the statement by Mr. Kraus, it is typical.

A lack of safety will turn a neighborhood to the worse.

However, a blanket of safety will NOT turn a neighborhood to a thriving, dynamic place. Being safe and feeling safe will help, of course. But, safety is not the key to prosperity.

Living under an authoritarian state can be very safe. Having police at every corner can be safe. But, there is more. Much, much more. And, by more, I do not mean more wire taps, more drug busts, more DUI check points, more remote cameras, more grocery stores even.

Furthermore, there is not a clear connection between 'political will' and 'allocation of money.'

Bruce Kraus if brimming with political will to allocate money. He'll give to his political pals. He'll take from his political foes. He'll nag about politics and cry for more political will. He is a politician, two-faced and without logic -- as the politicians around here have been trained to behave.

I don't scorn political will. Just those who discount it on one hand and expect it on the other.

The real issue I have is the connection of political will and money. This is what Kraus and the others on Grant Street fail to understand. There is no money left in the budget. They want to spend like this is Pittsburgh in the 1960s. They want to give away stuff to places where there is political will. They want to buy votes. They want to bribe folks into moving here. They want to spend our money and have that be understood as an investment into the community from the politicians.

The political will walking around money is gone. Tom Murphy and the ones that came before Bruce Kraus have spent it all.

All the hanging baskets of plants and lipstick on the business district with the right shades of paint can't fix this city again. They don't get it. That isn't safe for anyone of us.

Local Activist Questions Where Weed And Seed Money Is Going - WPXI

Pittsburgh

Local Activist Questions Where Weed And Seed Money Is Going - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh: "Local Activist Questions Where Weed And Seed Money Is Going"

Hat tip to BurghReport:

The Burgh Report: Fox Chapel Soccer Clinic Funded By City Weed and Seed?: "Fox Chapel Soccer Clinic Funded By City Weed and Seed?"

I've been waiting for a call back from Weed and Seed folks on matters much like this.

PURE Reform - Parents United for Responsible Educational Reform

Brand new web site! Welcome to the Pittsburgh digital landscape.

PURE Reform - Parents United for Responsible Educational Reform: "Parents United for Responsible Educational Reform ('PURE Reform') grew out of the movement to keep Schenley High School. All along, many parents had questions and concerns about high school reform in general, including concerns about high schools needing the most improvement but which have not been a focus of the reform process."

My only $.02 is the 'reform' word. Bill Ogden has a statement on 'reform.' When he hears 'reform' he often worries about so much reform that the result is 'de-formed.' Sorta cute. Sorta makes sense.

I'm excited to see parents unite for responsible education.

Mark Roosevelt's plan is reforming -- and really deforming.

Tickets in Beijing for Olympics -- pack a lunch

Olympic ticket sale in Beijing starts stampede

Thousands of eager fans who had waited for up to two days swarmed sales windows Friday for the final batch of tickets to next month's Olympic Games, knocking people to the ground and bending metal barricades in the chaotic crush.

Private Council meetings to halt

Private Council meetings to halt Private Council meetings to halt
Democrats met behind closed doors

This is another reason to not be a Democrat.

They should all resign. They've done much to advance the city's image as a smokey city.

Wilburn, our present house guest reports that it can be Smokey City or Smoky City -- as either way works for the Smokey Mountains!

Poverty leads to playing lottery, study says

I predict that I will not win the lottery.

Poverty leads to playing lottery, study says Poverty leads to playing lottery, study says

I don't play the lottery. But, I'm not rich.

A professor taught that the lottery is really a stupid tax. That has nothing to do with being rich or poor.

Olympics: China urges US athletes to focus on friendship 2008 Beijing Olympic Games - News - Yahoo!7 Sport

Olympics: China urges US athletes to focus on friendship 2008 Beijing Olympic Games - News - Yahoo!7 Sport China on Tuesday said US athletes should focus on building friendships at the Beijing Games, in a curt response to US President George Bush's call for them to be 'ambassadors of liberty'.

'We hope and believe that all athletes, including American athletes, attending the Beijing Olympics, will make efforts to promote friendship among the peoples of the world,' foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

Being a friend, and being an example of liberty, are two faces from the same side of the coin.

Your best fried loves you for being who and what you want to be. And, to be whatever and whoever means that you've got choices and freedom to self evolve.

Everyone needs friends and running mates who are there out of a duty for both the friendship and its enduring hope of liberty.

Freedom and liberty can be kind and gentle. Friends care. Friends are open and honest in unselfish ways, in loving ways.

Friends challenge others to do well and to do right. But it is much like a teacher and student relationship. The teacher learns more than the student in many instances. Friends learn from each other. Friends give and share respect. Friends have relationships because we can.

I want to make new friends with thousands of others from around the world. This will be fun. This will be enriching to me. This will be a way to be more free.

Proposed playground disputed in Schenely Farms - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Contradiction:

Proposed playground disputed in Schenely Farms - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review But a few neighbors of the center in the historic east Pittsburgh neighborhood fear that children playing on slides and swing sets will make noise late into the night and that already high traffic volumes created by visitors to the center will worsen if the playground is built.

Children and kids are often a contradiction to old and dying.

Get over it. Let the playground be built on the private property.

The children won't be there late into the night. Kids go to sleep at 8 pm.

Board OKs merger of city arts schools

Board OKs merger of city arts schools Board OKs merger of city arts schools

For months, I've been saying that the merger of the middle school and high school is a bad idea. Recently, I've been less vocal because of our summer schedule. But, it still sucks.

Once again, the Pgh Public School District is doing the wrong thing. First, it is going against the wishes of many thoughtful parents and prime customers. We pay the bills. We get yanked around again.

This is bad news.

CAPA is not a clown car!

CAPA High School should expand. It is a school that is working better than the other high schools in the district. It has a growth opportunity with the addition of new floors within the building complex downtown. Put in more high school students. Expand the program that is doing well.

Rodgers Middle School is one of the very best middle schools in the city too. Same with Frick Middle Schools. Lots of middle schools are very bad. They do the wrong thing by messing with the best middle schools and do nothing with the worse.

Rodgers should not be put downtown. We don't want middle school students with high schoolers. We don't want yellow school buses on the downtown streets on weekdays in rush hour traffic.

Police station's move to hilltop worries South Siders - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Police station's move to hilltop worries South Siders - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 'Our big problem is that the news stations quoted our mayor as saying that they had to make a decision between murders and drunks. That's totally erroneous,' McCoy said. 'We've had stabbings, shootings, armed robberies and we've had people mugged on a nightly basis.'

McCoy filed a petition with Pittsburgh City Council seeking a public hearing about what she believes is a lack of police protection in the South Side and the revolving door of police commanders who have supervised the Zone 3 station. The hearing is scheduled for Aug. 12 in council chambers.

USA 2008 Olympic Team - A for Athlete

USA 2008 Olympic Team - A for Athlete USA 2008 Olympic Team

The list of the athletes is on the wiki.

Pennsylvania did well in terms of numbers of Olympians headed to Beijing.

Pittsburgh has some mentions too, mostly as a former home town.

Key:

* Name, Date of Birth (Month/Day/Year), Hometown, Birthplace, Current Residence, Sport, Event/Position/Weight Class/Horse

Watch for:

Marvell Wynne II, 5/8/1986, Poway, Calif. (hometown), Pittsburgh, Pa. {birthplace), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, (Current) playing Soccer, as a Defender.

Lauryn Williams, 9/11/1983, Miami, Fla., Pittsburgh, Pa., (Rochester HS) Miami, Fla., Track and Field, 100m

Allison Schmitt, 6/7/1990, Canton, Mich., Pittsburgh, Pa., Canton, Mich., Swimming, 200m Free, 4x200m Free Relay http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Lauren Crandall, 3/17/1985, Doylestown, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., Chula Vista, Calif., Field Hockey, Defender http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Michael Friedman, 9/19/1982, Pittsburgh, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., Colorado Springs, Colo., Cycling, Track Madison

Since this is a wiki, if you know these folks, or want to do the research on them, post them to their page.

---

Meanwhile, at the other end of the bleachers, the International Olympic Committee just announced the news that the Iraqi teams are being banned from the Beijing 2008 Olympics saying the government missed the deadline to address accusations of political interference.

iPods, MP3 Players Can Hurt Ears Of Young Listeners - Consumer News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

Catherine got some media coverage at TV 11.

iPods, MP3 Players Can Hurt Ears Of Young Listeners - Consumer News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh: "Dr. Catherine Palmer, director of audiology at UPMC said , 'Certainly these devices have potential to damage hearing. They can be set that loud.'

In fact, they can register more than 115 decibels.

That's about the equivalent of an ambulance siren.

Channel 11 teamed up with UPMC to see just how loud some kids are playing their iPods and MP3 players.

Using a device that has a simulated ear and decibel meter, Channel 11 reporter Stacia Erdos and Palmer went to a local pool to check out music levels.

City council members that watch this video will get a headaches

They have few if any answers to these questions.

Purpose and process are are foreign to what most do and understand on Grant Street.