Sunday, February 07, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Invitation to view a photo from Gwendolyn's Picasa Web Album - Pittsburgh Snowstorm Feb 6, 2010
You are invited to view a photo from Gwendolyn's photo album: Pittsburgh Snowstorm Feb 6, 2010 Message from Mark Rauterkus: Some nice photos of the South Side today. We got out as well. If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gwenix&target=PHOTO&id=5435310184530200162&aid=5435309674353117633&authkey=Gv1sRgCK2wz7eM5qHfaA&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account. |
Fw: PA Democrats Unanimously Endorse Single Payer Health Care
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
*February 6, 2010*
Contact: Pedro Rodriguez
Given the healthcare reform deadlock in
“Not only does Pennsylvania now have the Democratic Party on board with the Single Payer healthcare for all,” said Healthcare for All PA executive director
Added Pennacchio, “
Presenting the resolution before the voting body of 301 Democratic State Committee members was Tom Herman, Chair of
*Pennacchio is the leader of a statewide coalition founded in 2004 to guarantee comprehensive healthcare for every Pennsylvanian, Healthcare for All Pennsylvania is a registered 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organization including citizens from all walks of life.
Molly Rush
PUSH [PA United for Singlepayer Healthcare]
Health Care for All PA
If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.
--Australian Aborigine Woman
Molly Rush
PUSH [PA United for Singlepayer Healthcare]
Health Care for All PA
If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.
--Australian Aborigine Woman
Former Pitt players Dinkins, Session took different rout to Super Bowl
Former Pitt players Dinkins, Session took different rout to Super Bowl Darnell Dinkins once thought he could get there, too.This is why I'm cheering for the SAINTS. Go #80! Go Spartans!
He did, just not quite as he expected back when he was a star quarterback at Schenley High School. Not only did he not make it as a Super Bowl quarterback, he never played quarterback in the NFL or even in college at Pitt.
But Dinkins is here, playing in his first Super Bowl, and so is another former Pitt Panther, Clint Session. They are here in part because they changed positions during their days at Pitt.
Play: Marx in Soho
We will be hosting the play at the Graduate School of Public Health Auditorium on Saturday February 20th at 7:30 pm. It is free and will be followed by a discussion kicked off by members of the endorsing organizations.
There will be a large number of books for sale after the play including other titles by Zinn like A Peoples History and Peoples Voices.
There is also another corresponding event the evening prior to the play. Brian Jones will be hosting a talk on Black Liberation and Socialism also followed by discussion at the meeting room in Panera Bread Company on Forbes Avenue in Oakland. The talk will be at 7 pm.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Fw: [school-discuss] FLOSS, Microsoft, and Governments
-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Kahn <jj2kk4@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 12:42:08
To: <schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net>
Subject: [school-discuss] FLOSS, Microsoft, and Governments
Since our discussion of Elevate America,
I have been doing some exploring. The
more I dig, the more interesting it gets.
Here are some tidbits:
In the Missouri State Office of
Administration, the Information
Technology Services Division--through its
Information Technology Education Center--
offers classes for state employees. Two of
the classes are entitled "Linux
Fundamentals" and "Advanced Unix/Linux."
The Education Center also has a library of
technology-related books for employees to
use; two of the volumes are _LINUX User
Basics_ and _Using Linux_.
The Missouri State Public Defender System
suggests the use of OpenOffice and Google Docs.
Several agencies of the Missouri state
government use GNU Mailman.
The entire web site of the Missouri Public
Service Commission is built with Plone.
The Missouri State Library heavily uses Drupal.
For retailers who need to handle confidential
lottery information, the Missouri Lottery System
advises using GNU Privacy Guard.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education (DESE), in its periodic
newsletter, has had stories on both the K-12
Linux Terminal Server Project and the CoSN K-12
Open Technologies Leadership Initiative. In
addition, DESE heavily relies on Moodle.
Now the punch line. From fiscal year 2000
to the present, Microsoft has received the
following amount from the Missouri state
government for software licenses, consulting,
and various other products and services:
US$3,196,676
Please note that this figure represents only
taxpayers' money that went directly to MS; to
calculate indirect costs (forced hardware
upgrades &c) would be more difficult, but it
is safe to say these have been substantial.
My sources are available upon request for
anyone who is interested; for now, I want to
do a step-by-step summary of how things look:
(1) In the Missouri state government there are
a substantial number of people who are aware
that FLOSS exists and have tried out a variety
of FLOSS programs.
(2) Some of these people have decided that
FLOSS is good enough to use in their agencies
and to recommend to users outside the government.
(3) Notwithstanding points (1) and (2), Microsoft
has a pipeline solidly plugged into the Missouri
state treasury and is consistently pumping out
hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Again,
it should be emphasized that this does *not*
include indirect costs of non-FLOSS systems.
Now a few questions:
(A) Have any parties within the FLOSS community
examined the FLOSS vs. non-FLOSS debates in the
context of the waste of taxpayers' money?
(B) What kinds of data-gathering (preferably
by students) and analysis have been done in
this area, and how recently?
(C) In this area, what contacts have been made
between the FLOSS community and potential
allies, such as activists, journalists, and
lawyers? We also musn't overlook challengers
for public office who are hunting for issues
they can clobber incumbents with.
My fellow Americans: I encourage you to put
your students to work hunting down the various
FLOSS/Microsoft/money ratios and relationships
in their city, county, state, and federal
governments. Let's see how much fun we can
have between now and the November elections.
I ask residents of other countries: what are
*your* governments up to?
Joel
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Haloscan - gone. Another one bites the dust
Haloscan is being shut down on: Feb 18, 2010
The Haloscan hardware and software is physically failing and we have no choice but to discontinue the service.
Two Options: Switch to Echo or Export your comments FREE.
Although we can't rescue Haloscan, we are trying our best to limit the negative impact on users. To do this, we have worked hard to provide 2 options for Haloscan sites.
Log in now to make your choice and continue without interruption
Libertarian State Convention, March 27, 2010, in Harrisburg
The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania will hold its annual state convention March 26th and March 27th, 2010, at the Hilton Harrisburg in downtown Harrisburg. The convention will include outstanding guest speakers, the opportunity to participate in setting party direction for 2010, nominations for statewide office, and a chance to network and share ideas with freedom-loving individuals from across the state.
"We look forward to getting together in Harrisburg. We are also pleased to be one of many other liberty minded organizations sponsoring the 1st Annual “Liberty Banquet.” Senator Mike Folmer (R-48) will be the keynote speaker Saturday evening,” says Mik Robertson, State Party Chair. “His efforts to reform the Pennsylvania election code to benefit voters and improve the electoral process are a matter of concern to every Pennsylvanian."
Other speakers will be announced.
The convention will begin Friday evening with a welcome at 7:30 pm, followed by business meetings and workshops on Saturday. The Liberty Banquet begins at 7:00 pm on Saturday, March 27, 2010 and is co-sponsored by Campaign for Liberty – Harrisburg, Campaign for Liberty – PA, the LPPA, GOOOH and York 9-12 Patriots. A complete event list and registration form can be found at www.lppa.org. The convention business meeting and workshops are open to the public and are free.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Pittsburgh councilman calls for video, audio in cop cars
Pittsburgh councilman calls for video, audio in cop cars Pittsburgh Councilman Ricky Burgess is introducing legislation today that would require that all new city police vehicles be equipped with video and audio recording devices.
They found it okay to start installing "Red Light Cameras." All along I asked that the cameras be turned on, but pointed at the ones that work for the government first.
Shout it out Tim!
More from David Z.
Monday, February 01, 2010
I hope Pitt joins the Big 10!
I have little confidence that it will occur, but let's hope.
The site is closed, now. But only for a spell. While Bram's is gone for good?
A site, Wikileaks.org, a wiki, of course, and a scoop site, is down but not out. It hopes to make a return.
Meanwhile, Bram, in Pittsburgh at the PghComet.blogspot.com, took a bite of the dust and stopped.
Rule #1: Don't burn out!
Wishing Chair
Sick humor
2 Brazilian?
The Secretary of Defense briefed the president this morning. They told President Obama that 2 Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq. To everyone's surprise, all the color drained from Obama's face. Then he collapsed onto his desk, head in his hands, visibly shaken, almost in tears.
Finally, he composed himself and asked, 'Just how many is a brazilian?'
This is not surprising, since he obviously has no understanding of a trillion either.
Meanwhile, in other news with Brazilian dollars, on double TIFed land,
Hazelwood center part of Sunoco's sale to Brazilian firm: "Hazelwood center part of Sunoco's sale to Brazilian firm".
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Fw: New Ken Arnold schools hire collection agency
The Valley News Dispatch news story below is self-explanatory. But note, there is no mention of how the collection process would change for so called 'delinquent' homeowners. The question that needs to be asked is: Will Public Asset Managment be free to add fees to the 'delinquent' homeowners back taxes, penaties and interest. I don't know how that firm operates, but have read in other publications that another firm immediately adds $1,000 to any back taxes for each property. Which of course makes it even more unlikely the homeowner can dig themselves out of the hole...which means more sheriff sales.
Also, in the past, those homes 'delinquent' the longest were the ones that would be sold at sheriff sale first. In some areas I've read about in other newspapers, how long the home is 'delinquent' no longer determines when a property will be sold at sheriff sale. Vultures looking to get rich off someone else's misery can approach some of these collection agencies and urge them to put a more 'desirable or marketable' property up for sale before those that have been 'delinquent' longer. So the vulture can cherry pick properties. That way the collection company gets their money faster, as does the school district, county and municipal government. But is that fair to someone trying to come up with the money to dig themselves out of this alleged debt when their property is rushed ahead of other properties 'delinquent' longer, but less desirable...or in other words will bring the best returns when the vultures resell it.
New Kensington-Arnold School District sells back tax claims to agency
By Jessica TurnbullVALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Friday, January 29, 2010
The district will receive uncollected real estate taxes upfront — about $1.43 million — from nonprofit Public Asset Management.
There is no change in the process for the taxpayers as taxes will continue to be collected by the Westmoreland Tax Claim Bureau.
"This will be an upfront injection of cash that will be added to the fund balance," said Jeffrey McVey, business manager.
In exchange for the cash influx, the district sold its tax claims for all uncollected taxes, McVey said. That means uncollected taxes will be sent by the tax bureau to Public Asset Management instead of the district, he said.
The board voted, 8-0, in favor of the agreement. Board member Eric Doutt was absent.
A transactional cost of 5 percent — estimated at $88,200 — is financed through the lender, he said. Current delinquent taxes are valued at $850,000 while delinquent taxes for the previous three years are estimated at $830,000.
"We will be able to budget our revenue more closely each year because we will have a better idea of what our returns will be," McVey said.
The district will benefit from the initial influx of cash and also will not need to deplete cash reserves in the future, he said. McVey said he spoke with business managers at other districts such as Mercer, Oil City and Clairton who are using Public Asset Management in a similar agreement.
"The only negative one of those managers said was that once you start, it is something you have to continue with," McVey said.
Terminating the agreement before the loan is paid means the district would have to repurchase the uncollected tax claims and the steady cash stream would be ended, he said.
Fw: Our Pittsburgh House will be open for Rent, March 1
Please get the word out about our house being available to rent. Thanks.
91 S 24th STREET, South Side Flats Pittsburgh,
Levels: Basement, First Floor, Second Floor, & Loft; Bedrooms: 3 with Loft (29X13); Baths Full: 2; Lot: 20.17X40.25; Inclusions: Dishwasher, Electric Stove, Microwave/Convection Oven Combo, and Refrigerator; General Information: BRICK HISTORIC HOME, Built in 1880; First & Second Floors and Basement CENTRAL GAS HEAT & AIR; Loft: Gas Heat and Large Window AC; Fireplace/Wood Stove: Living Room which can heat all of the 1st floor; SKYLIGHT; CIELING FANS; Floors: Hard Wood except Kitchen - Tile and 1 Bedroom - Carpet Parking: On-Street Parking; Directions: CARSON TO 24TH STREET
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=115825717624075350241.00047e3b3a02163898ea6&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.430469,-79.970276&spn=0.009865,0.022681&z=16
Contact: Wilburn Hayden, 647-344-0373 or whaydensw@hotmail.com Available March 1, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Fw: PA Walks And Bikes PARTY!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Having trouble viewing this email? Click here |
Pro Bikes | 5876 Forbes Ave | Pittsburgh | PA | 15217 |