Sweet gift. Thanks!

The Grable Foundation this morning announced it will give $5 million to the Pittsburgh Promise over five years.

It was described as the biggest gift ever by the 32-year-old philanthropy.

The foundation will give the college scholarship program $1 million annually for five years. After that, it will consider additional gifts.

Splendid.

Theresa Smith

December 2, 2008 412-921-5927 OR 412-969-4991 (mobile)

Long-time Community Advocate Announces Candidacy for Pittsburgh City Council District 2

(PITTSBURGH) – A 20-year community advocate, volunteer and mother, who for the last three years has served as secretary for the 28th Ward Democratic Committee, has announced her candidacy for Pittsburgh City Council District 2.

Theresa Smith, 49, is seeking the seat vacated by Pittsburgh City Councilman Dan Deasy, recently elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Smith, the married mother of three and grandmother of two, serves on several school and community committees. Over the last two decades, her volunteerism has spanned across Allegheny County, and in some cases, statewide, earning her results and recognition.

The Westwood resident is president of the Crafton Heights, Westwood, Ridgemont Community Council; vice president of the Westwood/Oakwood Athletic Association; is active in both the Sheraden and Banksville community organizations and has volunteered on several Mount Washington area projects. In her role as the West End coordinator for the Pittsburgh Campaign for Student Success, she helped to create jobs and formed a team working toward creating a community multipurpose center to serve District 2 residents.

She also is a Weed & Seed committee member; the West End coordinator for the Moms & Cops program and was instrumental in working with elected officials and community leaders to reopen the Zone 6 police station.

Building upon her platform that an engaged, active community is a stable one, Smith intends to continue with the initiatives that have made her a highly reliable community advocate. She plans to advance her efforts to develop programs to unite communities, maintain a strong police presence and reduce neighborhood blight. In fact, Smith formed the South West Enhancing Environment Program (SWEEP) a program to help end blight and bring homes in the region up to Bureau of Building Inspection (BBI) codes and the South West Eco-Evolution Team (SWEET) the first West End environmental program, which is responsible for creating a bike/walking trail out of recycled materials amongst other projects. The Pittsburgh native continues to work with local community leaders to form a new community development corporation and has begun a new position as a supplemental educational coordinator.

City building inspectors slow to respond in some cases, audit finds

City building inspectors slow to respond in some cases, audit finds: "Around one in six complaints submitted to the city of Pittsburgh Bureau of Building Inspection 'languish for an average of over nine months,' according to a City Controller's Office audit released today.

Controller Michael Lamb characterized that as a 'distressing' finding in an audit that otherwise found that the bureau, though understaffed compared to similar cities, is getting permits issued within reasonable times and beginning to modernize."

Michael Lamb is bringing down the house.

Hey Michael, you live is city council district 2. Who are you going to support for the new city council member?

Are you going to do anything in that race -- or do as little as possible?

I expect Michael will not look out for the greater community and rather look out for Michael Lamb -- and not make any endorsement nor pledge of support on the campaign trails.

If he played it neutral and down the middle -- but hosted a series of public meetings where he was the moderator of community debates, then he'd be creative, outgoing, energetic, engaging and fair to the democratic process and each citizen candidate putting it out on the line.

I could host pan-partisan debates -- but I've done that before. And, I'm going to come down on a side among the candidates as well. So, I'm not Mr. Neutral on this race, even if it is outside of my formal city council district.

I'm thinking about bailouts

Bailouts in the making.

Details, details, details.

Bailout elves at work.

Bailouts that might fit in your car's cup holder.

Tall order bailouts should be about this tall.

Fragile. And, you can't stop at one.

Australia’s Net Censorship Sparks Outrage

Another good example of how government is not generally the place to obtain the best answer to the pressing questions of today's society.

SitePoint - Australia’s Net Censorship Sparks Outrage: "Australia’s last try at censorship, the AU$84 million NetAlert program put forth by former PM John Howard, was cracked in a half hour by a 16-year-old Aussie named Tom Wood in August 2007. Upon hearing about Wood’s feat, the government added another layer of filtering to beef up the system — Wood got through the new filter in 10 minutes.

SitePoint � Google’s Operating System Arrives - But Not From Google

SitePoint � Google’s Operating System Arrives - But Not From Google: "Now, tiny Emeryville, California-based Good OS, has taken the browser-as-OS idea a bit further with the announcement of their latest operating system, dubbed “Cloud.” Good OS is most famous for the gOS, a Linux distribution that debuted last year on the Everex gPC, a $199 computer sold at Wal-Mart. gOS is a slimmed down version of Linux that is made to specifically play nice with web applications and web-centric apps like Google Calendar, Docs, Gmail, Skype, YouTube, and Firefox.

The new Cloud OS product, which was announced today at the Netbook World Summit in Paris, France, is specifically designed for netbooks and nettop computers. Cloud boots “in seconds” into a browser that is specifically designed to make access to cloud based applications, like Google’s suite of web apps, quick and easy via a built-in Mac OS X-like dock that has been added to the browser. Notice that the browser looks a lot like Google Chrome, which is open source. That seems unlikely to be a coincidence."

Busted Coverage: Booze, Ladies And Football � Cuff ‘Em: 34 Cited At Backyard Brawl, Mom Goes Down For Backyard Boxing, 2 Boise Athletes Visit Jail & UW Harassment

Busted Coverage: Booze, Ladies And Football � Cuff ‘Em: 34 Cited At Backyard Brawl, Mom Goes Down For Backyard Boxing, 2 Boise Athletes Visit Jail & UW Harassment: "We’re pretty disappointed in the drunken news out of Pittsburgh for the Backyard Brawl. Only 34 underage drinking citations were handed out.

Does anyone know those two shown in the photo?

Some noise from A+ Schools

What is the Value Added at Pittsburgh Public Schools? What is PVAAS anyway?

If you are looking for answers to these questions join us for a PVAAS briefing on Wednesday, December 3, 2008. The meeting will be held from 6PM to 8PM at Pittsburgh University Prep in the Milliones Facility, 3117 Center Avenue in the Hill District.

Jennifer Ross from the PA Department of Education, Dr. Linda Lane, Deputy Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and three PPS Principals, Melissa Friez from Peabody, Derrick Hardy from Vann, and Cindi Muehlbauer from Arlington, will be on hand to lend their perspectives and expertise and answer your questions.

Because we value your time and participation, A+ Schools will provide dinner as well as childcare for children over 1. Please let us know you are coming by calling (412) 258-2660 ext 101. RSVP TODAY!

PVAAS is new information made available in A+ Schools’ 2008 Report to the Community released earlier this month. PVAAS is measure of growth in PSSA achievement produced by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. PVAAS estimates whether or not selected grade levels made progress no matter where their starting point was. If you haven’t already seen the 2008 Report to the Community you can check it out at www.aplusschools.org/cspr08.html. Let us know if you would like a hard copy by emailing us at info@aplusschools.org.

Community View on Good Governance

A+ Schools believes that the Pittsburgh Public Schools are vital to the success of the region. We believe good school board governance is essential to improving our schools. To that end we would like to understand how the community views the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ school board governance. We would appreciate your responses to this brief online survey (the survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete). Your responses will help us identify and communicate the community’s expectations.

Access the survey by visiting this link:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228KG6CLXLV.

PPS Budget News

A public hearing will be held TOMORROW, DECEMBER 2 at NOON to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the Preliminary General Fund Budget for 2009. It will be held at the Pittsburgh Public Schools Administration Building, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Conference Room A in Oakland. Other key dates are as follows:

12/08/08: Regular Public Hearing - 7:00 p.m. - Administration Building, Conference Room A

12/17/08: Legislative Meeting - 2009 Budget Vote

All budget related materials can be accessed online. Public feedback can be provided to the Parent Hotline at (412)622-7920, to the Superintendent via an e-mail to: superintendentoffice@pghboe.net or via mail.

Colaizzi named city schools' new president

Colaizzi named city schools' new president: "The Pittsburgh Public Schools board has elected Theresa Colaizzi of Greenfield as its new president.

Mrs. Colaizzi was elected tonight (with six votes in favor. Three board members -- Mark Brentley, Sherry Hazuda and Randall Taylor -- abstained.

Mrs. Colaizzi follows Bill Isler, who served as president for five years. Mr. Isler was elected second vice president. Thomas Sumpter was elected first vice president.

In remarks following her election, Mrs. Colaizzi praised Mr. Isler. She also said, 'Tonight, I commit to all of you that I will chair this board with a spirit of optimism and collaboration.'

Mrs. Colaizzi, 48, was an active parent before joining the board seven years ago. She is the mother of two Allderdice High School graduates and the owner of a hair salon, Hair Etc.

Mrs. Colaizzi's term on the board is up this year. She told me she would decide about January if she will run again for another four year term or not. Wonder what this new role does to her plans for eventual retirement.

Mrs. Colaizzi is the board member from my 9th of town, for what it is worth.

She isn't so fond of technology. At least I felt that she was very harsh on past Chief Technology Officers for PPS.

Hope she reads the tech position from India out on my blog earlier today. There is a pointer to a PDF with some keen insights into what could and should be done with learning about computers and communications. That plan applies to some 20-million school children. And, it is now fully about open source technology.

Swim Cuts for WPIAL Championships

The chart shows the cut times for the WPIAL Swim Meet.

Boys and Girls times are show. Some schools are triple A -- others are double A.

Click for full size. Reprinted from WPIAL.org

Navy Seal hits South Side river's edge

UPMC Sports Performance is now offering Navy SEAL Fitness Classes. Classes will be conducted at both the South and North UPMC Sports Performance locations in Gibsonia and the South Side. Experience the dimension of elite fitness and personal conditioning that is applicable to all athletic pursuits and you.

All classes are taught by a genuine Navy SEAL of 25 years. For all ability levels... men and women alike! This program is guaranteed to vault you to superior level(s) of personal and athletic fitness. A universal conditioning regimen that SEAL's actually employ... which is virtually applicable to any recreational, sport and athletic activity! Ideal training and conditioning for all middle school and high school athletes, future military prospects, law enforcement, fire fighters and more!

Days: Monday and Wednesday mornings... weekly.
Time: 6:00 to 7:00 AM
Location: UPMC Sports Performance Complex... SOUTH SIDE: 3300 South Water St @ Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Cost: $250.00: Per person... for one 8 week block of training. (You can start training on any Monday AM... that you choose.)
*** NOTE: (All UPMC employees receive a $20.00 discount.) ***
POC: Dan Toth: USN/SEAL/Retired - ISSA CPAT - UPMC Sports Performance Complex - Director of Performance Camps - (C) (412) 926-5204

NOTICE: "This program is neither affiliated with no obtained programming associated with the University of Pittsburgh's Neuromuscular Research Laboratory research, Office of Naval Research/NSW Award #N00014-07-1190"

Message to President-Elect Barack Obama from a Libertarian

Today's "Monday Message" is primarily one for . Though the Bush administration, which has undoubtedly been one of the worst in American history, will be leaving office on Jan. 20, 2009, there is little room for celebration as Obama looks to take over as commander-in-chief.

Obama's attitude towards wealth, the marketplace and economics is reason enough to worry about his administration in this extremely fragile economy. But, there are other areas where Obama must tread with care if he wishes to follow the Constitution and foster an environment of liberty that has been lacking these last eight years.

Therefore, the Libertarian Party wishes Obama the best of luck, and offers him the following suggestions for his presidency in the following areas:

* Civil Liberties:

This is one area where we thought Obama could bring real change to the table following the Bush administration, which held the protection of civil liberties about as high as they regarded things like the flu and traffic jams. However, when Obama's feet were put to the fire, Obama sold out and capitulated to the enemies of freedom during the reauthorization of the Amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

It's not unjustified to be skeptical of Obama when it comes to upholding civil liberties.

If Obama looks to separate himself from the Bush administration, he should—and must—work to undue the legislation of the last eight years that have left Americans incredibly vulnerable to government surveillance and spying. We must have our liberty restored and the despotic surveillance tactics of the "War on Terror" abolished.

Secondly, Obama must not use the Department of Justice as a tool to bend and break the law as he sees fit, as the Bush administration frequently did. The DOJ has much work to do to rebuild its reputation with the American public, and it can start with the Obama administration.

* Economic Freedom:

The necessity to defend and protect the marketplace from regulation and interference by the government is key to the long-term prosperity of the nation. This point cannot be stressed enough.

The Bush administration believed it had a right and duty to get involved in the economy when they thought it wasn't working to their standards. Instead of letting the market work out its problems, Bush got involved and turned a bad situation into a worse one.

Obama should take a hands-off approach to the economy, stepping in only to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected. Any attempt to "redistribute" the wealth through regulation or taxation should be avoided at all costs. If this is attempted, it will have dire consequences for the economy.

* Social Freedom:

Usually you don't have to jump on Democrats about protecting social freedom, but as of late, Democrats have increasingly become more heavy-handed when it comes to personal choice in people's lives.

The "global warming" hysteria and push for more regulation of Americans' diets has put Democrats in the same corner as those who seek to institute moral standards through government regulation.

Obama must buck this new trend by Democrats and work to protect individual choice—even if it seems like the government needs to help people make these decisions. Obama can also take this opportunity to reform national laws that make victimless crimes a federal matter.

* The War:

This has to be one of the most obvious areas for improvement, yet one are that Democrats have consistently failed in since regaining control of Congress in 2006.

The power to end the war in Iraq is now in the hands of Obama. He also has a power to finally end what we began in Afghanistan long before we began military action in Iraq. What he must do is avoid moving troops from one theater to the other instead of simply bringing the troops home.

It is time for Obama and Democrats to follow through with earlier promises.

If Obama takes all of these suggestions, we will have one of the best presidencies in American history. If he takes none, then we will surely see times far darker than those under the Bush administration.

In all likelihood, we will see improvements over the Bush administration in some areas, and setbacks in others. This is why it is paramount that the Libertarian Party be a strong, shining beacon of liberty for all Americans looking for true change from the last eight years.

Live free,
Andrew Davis, Director of Communications, Libertarian Party

Palin is back to work on campaign trails in Georgia

The general election of 2008 is not over, just yet. Georgia, due to strong vote totals for 3rd party candidate(s), has a run-off election. I wonder how that is going?

Anderson Cooper 360: Blog Archive - Morning Buzz: Palin-She’s baaaack � - Blogs from CNN.com: "Sarah Palin is on the campaign trail today for fellow party member Saxby Chambliss. He is in a crucial run-off race for a US Senate seat in Georgia against Democrat Jim Martin tomorrow.

This Georgia race has implications for the wider balance of power in the Senate. If Chambliss loses and the Democrats win the still TBD Minnesota senate race, Dems would have a filibuster proof majority. For her part, if Palin sways the vote successfully, her ability to rev up the conservative base will be in the spotlight.

Exit polls after the election showed her popularity fade with some, others still see her as the best speaker in the Republican party, and her name continues to be one of most searched on the internet. Gary Tuchman will follow her today in Georgia and report tonight. Are you glad to see her in the spotlight?

Attention Zombie students and district leaders

The lead story in today's OpenOffice.org email newsletter has this bit of news:

A breakthrough in curriculum change for 201 m students and adoption of Open Source Technologies in schools

...finally had a major breakthrough with NCERT, the body responsible for setting curriculum for 201 m school students in India. In the last 30 years, this is the first time that they have come out with a syllabus that has no reference to Microsoft or Oracle products. This impacts more than 201 m students in India.
The details of the syllabus can be found at

http://www.ncert.nic.in/html/syllabus.htm

Here, in Pittsburgh, and in the US, people are worried that the right flavor of black history, women's history, international history, world creation, etc. is taught in the schools. All are worthy discussions.

However, the one discussion that should be of prime focus now, in Pittsburgh, is that the right flavor of technology is being taught and deployed with our schools. In September of 2009, Pittsburgh Public Schools is to open a new Science and Technology High School and Middle School. That school will span the grades of 6 to 12.

I want to work to insure that our kids in Pittsburgh are being exposed to, in a day-to-day basis, open-source software tools, principles and methods. This is something that INDIA is doing now. And, Pittsburgh should not be left behind in the dust.

CMU is a world leader in many realms with open source technology. CMU generated more lines of code in LISP than anywhere else in the world. All of it is in the open.

We need the Science and Technology School to embrace open source software.

We need to discount the Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp license agreements and expenses. They are, after all, all about what the older white guys have to say -- not ethnic and culturally diverse -- if this was put into the same apples and oranges bucket. Yes, Bill Gates = Christopher Columbus. Yes, Bill Gates = Andrew Carnegie too.

Pittsburgh's new public high school and middle school built around science and technology needs to be built with a strict adherence and devotion to open-source software, such as is offered with OpenOffice.org and thousands of other software tools.

Finally, the school's sports team mascot should be The Zombies!

Making minorities feel more at home in school

Making minorities feel more at home in school: "Many high school history courses take a survey approach, giving students the highlights about many important events during a particular period.

Kenneth Smith has a different plan for the Pittsburgh Public Schools' new course on African-American history. Mr. Smith, a course developer, said students will study multiple perspectives on black history, gather information from primary sources and write their own interpretations of history.

When the schools want to invite Libertarians to lead a civics class or develop a text book -- let me know. I'm a minority too.

If the Founding Fathers were around today, they'd be in the minority as well. And, to be sure, back then, they didn't have a monopoly.

The entire celebration of Pittsburgh's 250th is a very European-centered educational event. What was going on in Pittsburgh 300 or 400 years ago?

The I.B. education is more of a world view too. But, with a world view, I dare say, you can't just have three text books.

Let's see a report card that lists the 100 steps that were part of the settlement with the PPS and the advocates. List them. Then list the plans. Then list the outcomes in the early years. Then list the present day outcomes. Then have a check off that shows complete satisfaction or not of the progress of that point by all involved (PPS administration, teachers, board, students, parents, taxpayers, advocates, government).

Who is on the district's equity advisory panel. When do they meet? Where are the minutes of their past meetings? Can those meetings be put on cable TV or else capture the audio and turn them into podcasts (such as with TalkShoe.com).

60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper and Michael Phelps

My photo from the 2008 Olympics:
The TV show from CBS:
Watch CBS Videos Online

End The Fed interview slated for WDUQ for Monday AM w Dave Powell

Listen for a phone interview about the End the Fed with Katherine Fink that should air Monday morning sometime (no idea when).

http://www.wduq.org/audio/index.html

We're gearing up for the pending trip to Southern California

Long Beach Swim Club @ Yahoo! Video

End the Steelers at Patriots game at end of 3rd quarter and turn on 60 Minutes and Michael Phelps interview

The game in Foxboro, Mass is wet and getting ugly. End it now. Let's turn on the 60 Minutes show and watch Michael Phelps interivew. Run it twice. We don't need to see it eight times -- but we don't need to see Cassel drop balls again either.

I'll either LIVE BLOG the interview -- or else follow Twitter.

Cafe Witness: PittGirl and the Trouble With Being Anonymous

Cafe Witness: PittGirl and the Trouble With Being Anonymous: "PittGirl and the Trouble With Being Anonymous"

My posting in that thread is repeated here:

esides the fact that I was part of the persona that was PittGirl -- I am also Mark Rauterkus and NOT Anonymous.

Great post Justin.

Folks, the "blow-back" situations in this town are "real." I dare say that they are not "everywhere" -- but I'm sure that they are strident here.

It is hard to be yourself on the internet. But, it is nearly impossible to get people to do other things -- such as run for public office. There are a few "cancers" in our greater community -- and the "blow-back" cancer needs to be buffered.

Since, "being boring" can't count as a "secret" (i.e., all harbor some secrets) -- Justin should know that I have no other secrets -- other than the one at the top of this reply. But that cat was let out of the bag a while ago.

This should be a topic of further discussions as there are some long-term, deep-rooted, important concepts that need community-wide understanding. When we wash away the need to be anonymous, many of the other hang-ups that cripple our region are sure to diminish greatly.