This happened at the swim pool today -- not

Sadly, these are not kids from Point Park University.

Baden Academy Charter School - Welcome

Baden Academy Charter School - Welcome: "With tentative plans to open next year for grades K-3, Baden Academy Charter School will eventually offer a comprehensive, arts-infused elementary and middle school program (K-8) based on a classical education model."

Good luck! The effort has its own Facebook page too.

City Council possessed by presidency politicking

City Council possessed by presidency politicking The last two years have seen the city's nine lawmakers swing wildly between those poles.

That isn't wild.

Olympics lesson: First step, show up.

First things first: Show up!

Olympics: Kohn ... Bobsledder on a mission: "And just like that, the soft-spoken Kohn was given the chance he has longed for since he was recruited to the team in 1990 after starring in high school football and track in Chantilly, Va.
'I put the beer down and got back in the gym,' the 37-year-old Kohn said with a smile. 'Every night for the last 20 years I've been dreaming about this. I guess there's a little flame inside of me that said, 'Hang in there, you never know.' That's what's always driven me.

Company pledges $400,000 for Washington's river trek

Company
pledges $400,000 for Washington's river trek: "Lockheed Martin vice
president and general manager Marshall Byrd also pledged a five-year commitment
of volunteer support from the company's 13,000 employees in the Delaware Valley
area for park maintenance and operations. The company, which also has major
operations in Denver and in Sunnyvale, Calif., specializes in human space flight
systems, communications satellites and missile defense systems."

A Christmas Story

Was on. Wax off.

We had our own Karate Kid moments in China at a Rec Center. I'll look for that video footage soon.

Top 10 Internet Moments of 2009

Top 10 Internet Moments of 2009

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas letter has turned into a Happy New Year letter.



Click the above -- as it is only 14 seconds long. Taken from my fuzzy, but new, Blackberry camera phone. I think I'm going to get another one as the camera is not working at all now.

Foundations help schools pay Roosevelt's $200,000 tax

Bad decision.

Foundations help schools pay Roosevelt's $200,000 tax: "The board also voted last night to name its new International Baccalaureate school in Shadyside the Barack Obama International Studies Academy. Officials said other cities already have named schools for Mr. Obama."

Bye Fred

One of the last bits of news that would have come to Fred, the Honz Man, was that Pittsburgh Public Schools had a board meeting and is selecting to name a new school after Barack Obama. B.O. High is going to be a part of the landscape of schools.

Then Fred expired.

He died early this morning. The school name decision was made and reported upon among insiders last night.

There is some question in my realm as to if the name was just too much to bare, or bear, if you are on radio.

Wacko, not Waco, Texas, a former home town of mine, is what Fred called me.

Then Bernanke gets man of the year. OMG. Let's End the Fed. Ugh. Pittsburgh would be better served to name the International High School as the Fred Honzberger High and not Obama High.

People are outraged at the school now designated with the Obama brand. It isn't going to be accepted as it is a tragic mistake that must be corrected. Not prudent at all.

What a day to name Tiger Woods the athlete of the decade.

$240K Needed For New South Side Dogs Park - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

Ken Wolf does not work for Bruce Kraus any longer.

$240K Needed For New South Side Dogs Park - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh: $240K Needed For New South Side Dogs Park
PITTSBURGH -- South Side dogs could have a new place to play by next spring.
Ken Wolfe, chief of staff for Councilman Bruce Kraus, said the idea for a new dog park is preliminary, but Kraus is optimistic the $80,000 line item will survive the city's budget process.
The dog park would cost about $240,000 but the $80,000 allocation would pay for the fence, which is the biggest hurdle, Wolfe said.
According to Wolfe, a third of the cost would be absorbed by the city's Public Works and another third would have to be raised.

I am glad that the dogs have been removed from the traditional parks. But, there are more things that can be done for the dogs than what is being offered here.

We've got a closed park behind South Side Hospital. What about that?

Even with the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium, I hate that there are more investements for sharks to swim than our kids. They've got a nice new pool. Not so much for people.

IB School in Pittsburgh

From US News & World Report:

The International Baccalaureate program is globally recognized for its ability to prepare students for a college education. High school students enrolled in IB classes can earn college credit two ways. They can take individual IB subject tests, for which they can earn credit at some colleges if they score high enough. Students also can opt to earn an IB diploma after completing a series of IB courses and writing an extended essay. Many colleges grant students credit for the IB diploma. This chart spotlights all the IB schools in the America's Best High Schools rankings sorted by the percentage of 12th graders that took at least one IB test at some point during high school.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2009/12/09/americas-best-high-schools-top-international-baccalaureate-schools.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a41:g26:r25:c0.007056:b20193411:z0&s_cid=loomia:methodology-americas-best-high-schools

Taxing Students is still foolish

Luke is on the wrong path with this.

My solution is different. He should focus on land. The city is mostly just a place. Pittsburgh has borders and only so many square inches. The land-grab over the years of Pitt taking over Oakland, and so on, have been huge. The main tax, and the one tax with the most "fairness" and best sense of justice, IMNSHO, is based upon land ownership. The nonprofits do NOT pay taxes on their land holdings. So, the total footprint of nonprofit land holdings should shrink. If they want to grow, force them to build upward, on less land, but with higher buildings. IF nonprofit land holdings (from stadiums to churches to universities to schools to jails to empty lots and all else in that realm) contracted, then more land gets taxed. Then values for all increase. A win-win for the economy and citizens / ratepayers occurs once Pittsburgh gets a grip on its nonprofit properties.

They own too much land. Shrinking nonprofit land is what Pittsburgh needs most of all. Nonprofits can manage their assets, and they can increase their cooperation -- without being taxed. They can start by putting more offices into leased and taxed spaces.

A 38th birth day. Guess

Venture a guess....

Hint: Not me.

Judge tosses Pittsburgh law aimed at limiting South Side bars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Judge tosses Pittsburgh law aimed at limiting South Side bars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "An Allegheny County judge Wednesday struck down a Pittsburgh ordinance aimed at stopping new bars from opening on the South Side."

Another huge defeat from the realm of poor solutions championed by Bruce Kraus. I never liked this law. I spoke against it in the past. It is short-sighted. It is illegal. It is an over-reach that fails in many regards.

What if a bar opens on the top of a building. Do you measure from door to door going up? Can two bars open in the same hotel, one on the first floor, such as in a hotel lobby, and another on the top floor? Go figure.

There are plenty of other things that can be done.

Furthermore, no bar ever came to my sidewalk to take a leak. The bars are not the one's that do the dirty deeds. It is the drunk patrons. And, if there are some at some bars that are doing bad things, those laws can be and should be enforced.

Tuition tax debate gets personal

Tuition tax debate gets personal: "Tuition tax debate gets personal"

Coaching: A Unique Bond

Coaching: A Unique Bond The relationship is so complex, both in and out of the pool.

Talk to any swimmer, and invariably a very memorable coach is brought up - current or past - and the impact that coach has had on the swimmer’s life.

Draft of today's swim memo

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASN94c3Pp4BpZGR6bnhqNmhfNzI4ZDZka2c1Z20&hl=en

Jazz Time

To enjoy, before her visit to Pittsburgh this weekend.