How to Run -- or stand -- for public office, class on Jan 24

This is always a worthy investment of time. Would be nice to see Mark DeSantis attend.

The League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh will present our biennial workshop on How to Run for Public Office on January 24. We do this in odd-numbered years because we believe that most candidates get started in local elections. We will focus on municipal councils, mayors, school directors, County Council and the district judiciary.

The workshop will be held at Point Park University Center, 414 Wood St., Rooms 212 and 213 from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. A continental breakfast will be included. The cost is $50 per person.

The workshop will cover the details of filing nomination petitions and other documents, working with the political parties, understanding the office sought, and running an effective campaign. There will be an opportunity for participants to interact informally with a person who has run for and served in the office sought. There is more detail and a registration form on the attached flyer.

Please forward this information to anyone you believe might be interested in attending or might know someone who would be interested. The wider it is distributed, the better.

The flyer is is also on the League's web site. We welcome any links to it. The address is http://palwv.org/pittsburgh/RunForOffice.pdf
I would be interested in knowing about any links posted.

We look forward to seeing you or any of your friends and associates, their friends and associates, and anyone we can reach through this email at the workshop.

Thank you for your help.

Suzanne Broughton
President, League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh

Hey, you. Get onto my cloud.

Call out to artists in Pittsburgh. I'm looking for 3 others who MIGHT want to make/dabble w creation of a VIDEO wall w 12+ monitors. Ping me.

CollegeSwimming.com::Auburn's Quick Diagnosed With Inoperable Cancerous Brain Tumor

Sad, sad news.

CollegeSwimming.com::Auburn's Quick Diagnosed With Inoperable Cancerous Brain Tumor Auburn men’s and women’s head swimming and diving coach Richard Quick has been diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor. One of the most recognizable names in the swimming and diving community, Quick is a six-time United States Olympic coach who has directed 12 teams to NCAA titles.

The Conversation went dark too

With all the talk of burnout and bloggers going AWOL, don't over look the silence from Jonathan Potts.

The Conversation: "Good night and good luck"

His is another blog that I miss. His last post was in September 2008. He was around for four years. But, he had lots of years prior in other roles in the media.

If the burden of blogging is too much for you to bear -- send a digital wink my way and we'll see if it makes sense for you to tag along as a "Running Mate" and just blog under your byline here. But, if you do give-it-up --- do so without pulling the plug on the archives.

Now 2008 is nearly only a memory.

Firmware Verification - DRAFT letter

I'm going to send my own letter. This is a draft from David Powell, my party's chair. I'm the vice-chair. As such, I can be more of an attack dog. I hate it when a bureaucrat plays gatekeeper and closes volunteers, taxpayers, voters, citizens and experts from a watchdog opportunity.

David Powell

Chair, Libertarian Party of Allegheny County

924 Chislett St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15206 

(412) 661-1135

Mr. Mark Wolosik
Manager, Division of Elections, Allegheny County
604 County Office Bldg., 542 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2953
(412) 350-4500

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Dear Mr. Wolosik:

I have been informed that on Monday the 22nd the Division of Elections carried out a procedure to verify the integrity of the software contained within the iVotronic DRE voting terminals employed in Allegheny County. Though many members of my organization would prefer a voting system enabling voters to be sure their votes are recorded as cast, as long as the voters of our County must use paperless electronic voting machines we would certainly hope for any available assurances that they may be operating properly. So it is good news that the County is pursuing this matter.

Unfortunately, I have also been informed that the individual designated by our party to observe the process, Ronald Bandes, was not permitted to participate. Mr. Bandes is a graduate student studying Information Security, Policy, and Management at Carnegie Mellon University and has also served as a poll worker. As you may recall, in the November 2008 general election our party fielded candidates in the state-wide races for President, Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, and also for the 35th district of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. We of course wish votes for our candidates to be accurately counted, and were looking forward to the informed observations which Mr. Bandes volunteered to provide.

I am not an attorney, nor otherwise intimately familiar with the Pennsylvania Election Code. As a layperson, it would seem only natural that all parties with candidates on the ballot in the November general election would be entitled to observe election procedures on an equal basis, in accordance with the requirement in Article 1, Section 5 of the Pennsylvania Constitution that elections be “free and equal.” So that we can plan appropriately for upcoming elections, could you please provide me with your understanding of which provision(s) of law govern who may appoint observers for firmware verification events?
Sincerely and Respectfully,
 
Dave Powell, Chair
 
Allegheny County Libertarian Party

The Marketing Student | Generation Y Marketing Insights � A Look At How Gen Y Communicates

The Marketing Student | Generation Y Marketing Insights � A Look At How Gen Y Communicates: "A Look At How Gen Y Communicates"

My $.02 about the article pointer above.

Frequency of email use is LOW, IMHO.

Facebook includes all blogs?

Tweets?

Blog comments = wall post?

IM=chat?

What about conf call rooms such as TalkShoe.com?

This is why I like Twitter -- pointers to clips like this, for car freaks

The new car is called, the 2012 Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition.

Rule change sanity in swimming

Effective January 1, 2009 at all North Texas Swimming, age-group defined, sanctioned meets:

* Swimsuits worn by females for all 14 & Under defined competitions shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor past the hip.

* Swimsuits worn by males for all 14 & Under defined competitions shall not extend above the hips nor below the knees.

Great rule above. Time for some video fun, however.

This swim suit, worn by Grant in his younger days, shown in the video below, is not going to be legal in a swim meet in Dallas in 2009.

How to qualify for the Ironman Championships

By Nathan Hangen

The Ironman Championship in Kona, Hawaii is the holy grail for triathletes looking to reach professional status. Just like the Boston Marathon, you have to qualify in a qualifying race to gain entry to the Ironman Champsionships.

Athletes may gain entry into the Ford Ironman World Championship by earning a qualifying slot at one of the 29 worldwide qualifying events - open to citizens of all countries - held throughout the year. Qualifier races vary in length, ranging from 70.3-distance (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run) to full Ironman distance (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run). Each event awards Ironman slots to its top age-group finishers, with some races also awarding professional qualifying slots. Athletes may also gain entry by being selected through the Ironman Lottery. You can generally find a list of races at Ironman.com, as well as a list of current qualifiers.If you qualified last year and wonder if you are automatically quailfied for the current year, unfortunately only the age group winners and top ten professional athletes are invited to return. Everyone has has to re-qualify.

If you do not qualify outright, the Ironman does hold a lottery where you may have a chance to participate, however typically slots unknown until all qualifiers are completed. If your country does not have any qualifying races, the only alternative is to race in another country or apply in the lottery. Unfortunately, your chances in the lottery are extremely slim.

Before the race, you must declare your status, and race in that division. Professionals must hold a valid professional/elite card or a letter from their country's federation. This must be submitted with the application. If you qualified as an age grouper and want to race as a pro, you must re-qualify as a professional earning a pro slot. If you race as a professional athlete during the calendar year, you may not race as an age grouper in IRONMAN for that year and the following year.

There are cutoff times that can disqualify you. Currently, the swim is 2.4 miles and the cutoff is 2 hrs. and 20 min., the bike is 112 miles and the cutoff time is 10 hrs and 30 min from the beginning of the race and the run is a full marathon which is 26.2 miles and the cutoff time is 17 hours from the beginning of the race.

Typically, a triathlete trains for 20-22 hours per week to prepare for an Ironman, although you might need more time if you are new to triathlons or Ironman distances. A good rule of thumb when training for each event is:

Miles per week swimming: 7 (11.3 km)
Miles per week biking: 232 (373.3 km)
Miles per week running: 48 (77.2 km)

Lastly, here are the current and future dates of the Ironman World Championship:

2009: 10/10/2009
2010: 10/9/2010
2011: 10/08/2011
2012: 10/13/2012

To prepare for an Ironman or any other Triathlon distance, visit the Triathlon Training Guide. If swimming is your weak event, be sure to read about the Tri Swim Coach Program.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nathan_Hangen

Will you stand

In other cultures, it is the common way to "stand" for public office. Here, we "run" for office -- sadly. There is little that makes me more upset than seeing a bozo politician run around seeking votes, like a chicken with his or her head cut off.

Song by Amy Carol Webb, a Florida friend who has played gigs for us in Pittsburgh. We expect and hope to see here in January.

Football

Tonight -- we get to cheer for the guys in purple. Go Northwestern.

Pitt is in the Sun Bowl. As for the Rose Bowl, I'm not sure who I'll cheer for. I love USC and Pete Carroll. So, I might be joining the anti-Nit gang for this one.

NFL insights:

Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009:
Falcons at Cardinals NBC, 4:30 p.m. ET
Colts at Chargers NBC, 8 p.m., ET

Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009:
Ravens at Dolphins CBS, 1 p.m. ET
Eagles at Vikings Fox, 4:30 p.m. ET

Teams with a first week bye:
AFC byes: Titans, Steelers
NFC byes: Giants, Panthers

Bram falls off rocker

Just posted at Bram's blog. he seems to think that the field for the 2009 mayor's race is about to close. The race has yet to begin. He wants to put out a 'last call' for candidates, it seems.

My reply:

Last call, what a joke. You don't get to proclaim 'last call.' And, it ain't happening now, fur sure.

In the last go-around, Mark DeStantis was unknown until after he was a write-in, in MAY.

It wasn't until New Year's Day, Jan 1, 2001, that Josh Pollock came boldly onto the scene with a front page P-G article about his race. His ink was the first to spill in that year and there might have been 7 Ds in the race that year.

It is a long road Bram. Don't do what the others do and declare others the 'lamb' before it begins. Progressives are to be 'open minded.'

The 'done-deal mentality' has been killing Pittsburgh for many decades. That has to be outed and put to an end.

Those who wish to champion the status quo are sure to rush the last call and end before it even began.

Christmas Gift for all Running Mates Blog Readers and Twitter Followers

I wanted to purchase a Christmas gift for all the faithful readers of the blog and the 300 or so who follow on Twitter. But, I was torn at what to get for all of you. And, I'm on a budget. (My W2 for 2008 is going to have $0 income.) Plus, we've got this nagging problem with the global economic meltdown coupled with the news industry/journalism/newspaper meltdown. So, I need to be prudent. Finally, with our amazing trip to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, I felt it would be exciting to bring you back a gift from the Olympics. We did bring back more than 200 gifts for our family and closest neighbors and friends. But, sadly, until now, we didn't have the capacity to share a gift for all the readers and Running Mates.

The other day my wife and I were chatting about the arriving Christmas cards and letters. Then it struck me. She and I were both tickled by Steven's note. Steven is a chef. He wrote that he had been doing some cooking at home to ready his family for the holidays -- while crafting his letter. Cookies were coming out of the oven and rather than sending everyone a dozen cookies, he sent those on his Christmas list the recepit for his cookies. Bam! Within the letter we had the formula for Steven's Christmas Cookies, a wonderful treat.

Perhaps we'll test and then re-gift Steven's gift in the future -- but now on to your gift.

It's a hat.

It comes from Beijing. No instructions necessary. Great when the sun is high and the heat is around 30-degrees C. Works with all different newsprint, regardless of the language -- sorta multi-lingual. Easy to export and import and does NOT require a hologram insignia of a branded logo.

This is the official gift hat of this blog, Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates, given on 2008's Boxing Day -- a day when all 20 of the teams in the Premier League are in action.

The hat is not so good for the next Steelers games. But, other local blogs have that covered. You might find this a splendid hat for watching the next test match of the West Indies Cricket Team now playing in the southern hemisphere.

Enjoy.

Read, Avoid Extinction

I've been thinking more about burnout and how many need to avoid it. Plus, how some are failing and burnout is winning. A rash of blogging burnout has hit within Pittsburgh. My top bit of advice to community participants is simple: "Don't burn out."

Couple this aim of survival in the community commons with another pressing, personal mission quest -- literacy -- and I'm like a pig in a mud-puddle.

Back in the day, I hooked up with Phil Yeh, a talent and ball of energy that this world has a hard time containing. His words work with a call to "Read. Avoid Extinction."

For our blogs to work, for our communities to work, for our schools to work, for our landscape to work -- from Kiwis to Mao to the Long-Nosed Gar -- we've got to work together, avoiding extinction.

This is the way to finish

It takes a village!

Same race, different angle -- underwater view.

Santa and Tomlin

Ho, ho, ho.

No, no no!

Peace on Earth. How about Pittsburgh?

Man Shot In Homewood - kdka.com: "Police are investigating a shooting this afternoon in a Pittsburgh neighborhood.

A 19-year-old man was shot in the thigh at about 4:30 p.m. along Formosa Way in Homewood.

Christmas Eve brings another city shooting. Gives new meaning to "You better watch out."

Decision on Lamar Advertising from Zoning Board about the Electronic Sign on the Parking Authority Building on Liberty Ave

Bram sent me this huge PDF, more than 6 megs in size. It is uploaded to the web for your easy access.

http://rauterkus.com/PDF/ZBA_Lamar.pdf

I have not read it, yet.

Are girls' sports being cheated?

#2? Or, Peace?

Are girls' sports being cheated?: "Ms. Frietsche, senior staff attorney with the Women's Law Project, did some research on her own and found what the advocacy group called 'pervasive and severe' inequities in girls' athletic opportunities.

Instead of suing the district or filing a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, however, Ms. Frietsche decided to be a good sport and give the school district a chance to make things right.

Did Michael Lamb come out of the bottle to talk about an audit?

An audit is one of the last things the district needs when talking about its sports programs.

The score is like 85 to 3. We're getting smeared. We all are getting a good-old beating. The boys, the girls, the parents, the boosters, the coaches, the sports-minded citizens, the kids.

There are plenty of 'pervasive and severe' failures in all types of athletic opportunities in Pgh Public Schools when it comes to the overall sports and fitness programs. This spans parks and recreation in the city and the county. This covers engagement with club teams and general utilization of the facilities.

If the board pays $10K for only an audit of Title IX, they the board will have an audit of Title IX and nothing significant will unfold for the greater good of 'fair play' and 'sports participation.'

This quote goes to the top of the list for 2008 and might land Ms. Arnet as my nomination for Pittsburgher of the year. "We want to make sure our athletic opportunities in the Pittsburgh Public Schools are just as competitive as suburban districts," Ms. Arnet said.
But, I've never seen anything to back up that talk, until this audit.

Even with the audit, there won't be any changes. An audit is a way to buy time and wreck it for another season or three.

Athletes, not just female athletes, do much, much better in school and out of school than the non-athlete. This isn't a boy or girl thing. It is about being coached, being motivated, being pushed, being fit, being part of a team, being challenged, being pulled, being exposed to excellence, being put under the lights, being strong.

"... (A)thletes are less likely than other(s) to abuse drugs or alcohol, develop eating disorders or have an unplanned pregnancy and more likely to go to college. The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education says female athletes also have lower rates of breast cancer, heart disease and depression."

I love sports in schools. I love sports in life. I love it when guys and gals do sports. My prime sports, swimming and water polo, are great sports for everyone.

It is time to overhaul the sports programs in the city, big time!

Start with the formation of booster clubs at the I.B. High, Science and Tech and U-Prep -- and CAPA.

Pick a mascot, such as the Zombies and Olympians.

Join the WPIAL.

Get coaches accountable, along with the principals.

Open up the buildings.

Call me. Or, return my calls as I'm calling you -- again.

---

December 13, 2008: After school cuts stir fears of kids home alone, USA Today

As states and districts cut back on extracurricular activities, more children may be left at home while their parents work to make ends. Such unsupervised children and teens may be at greater risk for getting into trouble, potentially leading to higher crime rates, extracurricular advocates say. (Thanks to A+ Schools)