Pittsburgh looks at Electronic Signs

CITY OF PITTSBURGH
ZONING CODE REVISIONS
ELECTRONIC SIGNS
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.
First Floor Conference Room
200 Ross Street
The City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning will be conducting a public meeting to discuss revisions to the Zoning Code to address the use of Electronic Signs in the City of Pittsburgh. Both off premise (advertising signs / billboards) and on premise electronic signs will be considered. Public input is very much desired.
Contact Dan Sentz (412) 255-2233

Pirates fans do not show up to PNC Park. We should bring back Three Rivers Stadium

During the 1990 through 1993 seasons at Three Rivers Stadium Pirates’ attendance averaged 1.9 million. And, during the last four years of play at Three Rivers Stadium, 1997 through 2000, attendance averaged 1.6 million. So it is safe to say that after ten years, PNC Park has not proved to be the answer to Pirates poor attendance. Maybe an apology to taxpayers who opposed using tax dollars to fund the park is in order.

United Nations World Environment Day 2010 Pittsburgh

United Nations World Environment Day 2010 Pittsburgh: "Pittsburgh has been selected as the North American host city by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to join World Environment Day 2010. Pittsburgh-area government officials, business indexes, organizations and individuals will schedule a series of World Environment Day events, as well as events taking place during the six weeks that “bridge the gap” between Earth Day on April 22 and World Environment Day on June 5. The events will highlight the theme for celebrations in Pittsburgh, “Biodiversity — Ecosystems Management and the Green Economy.”"

Man who banned himself from casino must forfeit jackpot

This is a kick in the teeth. When I say "opt out" -- they really mean it.

Man who banned himself from casino must forfeit jackpot A man who won a $2,001 slot machine jackpot at Erie's Presque Isle Downs & Casino will forfeit the winnings, and be charged with trespassing, because he had previously banned himself from the casino under a state program to help problem gamblers.
The state police have not identified the 55-year-old Waterford Township man who won the jackpot Friday, sometime between 10 a.m. and noon.

NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness - Mental Health Support, Education and Advocacy

NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness - Mental Health Support, Education and Advocacy: "Easy-to-understand information about mental illnesses, mental health care, diagnosis, treatment and recovery."

Fw: sweet little project in Mt. Lebo for August for Athletes of different ages

From: Larry Evans

Here's the skinny on a unique Mount Lebanon Village Intergenerational Games set for Saturday, August 14 at Mount Lebanon Park and the Cedar Blvd fields. The softball games will be using the 16" leather Chicago Softball!    Should be a gas!               

412-445-2951

Mount Lebanon Village Intergenerational Games

This summer, there is a new game in Lebo town -the Mount Lebanon Village Intergenerational Games being held on Saturday, August 14, 2010, 9am-2pm in Mount Lebanon Park.  Mount Lebanon Village (MLV) is a community oriented, non-profit organization established in 2009 to give residents of Mount Lebanon 50 years and older the practical means, confidence and peace of mind to enjoy life in their own place of residence and in an environment they value as they grow older.

The MLV Games present a way to get to know our neighbors, to enjoy a day of playing together and to celebrate our common bonds. The Village Games are designed to bring together old friends and new acquaintances, pairing people of different ages and generations.  The idea is to partner adults over 50 with someone under 50.  The pairings could be with a son, daughter, grandchild, friend or neighbor – or maybe even some husband and wife teams!  Partners will spend the day participating together in the activities of their choice.  It will be a fun packed day of gently competitive team sports, individual pursuits and group games, followed by a picnic and prizes. Participants will be given a chance to win prizes for every event in which they partake.

The Village Games will open with a 9am "Chase Your Elders" one mile fun run/walk in Mount Lebanon Park where older folks start first, followed by a staggered progression by their younger partners so that all may finish at about the same time. 

From 10am-1pm in Mount Lebanon Park, choose from a wide variety of friendly co-ed, intergenerational team sports including volleyball, softball, soccer, basketball, tennis & bocce as well as measure your athletic skills in a 50 yard dash, punt, pass and kick, free throws, target toss & radar gun stations, plus enjoy old fashioned games  like a treasure hunt, relay races, water balloon toss, horseshoes, shuffleboard, hula hoops , scrabble, checkers & chess.  You can also engage in creative activities such as an inter-active story-telling session led by the Pittsburgh Wing and a Prayer Interplay Troupe.

Beginning at noon, enjoy an old fashioned picnic provided by Pittsburgh Barbeque at the Mount Lebanon Tennis Center Founder's Room and Deck. Enjoy delicious food to live music. Ted Sohier of WQED will be picnic MC and prizes will be drawn throughout.

REGISTER at http://mtlebanonvillage.org/. by JULY 31^st to receive a nifty Mount Lebanon Village Games T-shirt!       http://www.mtlebanonvillage.org Further Information: 412-343-4054

Larry Evans
417 Kurt Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15243
c412-445-2951
h412-341-1486
f412-571-1647
leifevans@comcast.net

Mellon Arena roof may open one last time

This is bullshit.

Mellon Arena roof may open one last time: "Officials are exploring the idea as part of a grand finale for the 48-year-old building, which will close this summer and give way to the Consol Energy Center, which is opening across Centre Avenue. Mr. Roberts said SMG is pursuing a 'couple of options' for a final act."

No, they want to close the Civic Arena. But, it won't give way to the new Consol Energy Center. When a mother gives birth to a new child -- the parents do not commit suiside. These are not cars where you buy a new one and trade in the old one with the dealer. These are places -- and the new building can sit next to the other one. They are not in the same place.

They did not need to tear down Pitt Stadium to build a new basketball venue. Pitt could have built the new basketball venue along the river in Hazelwood, by the Parkway East. Pitt did build a new baseball field and is going to use the old field for a track. Jeepers, there was a fine track within Pitt Stadium.

The Pirates could have built PNC Park -- woops -- the Pirates didn't build PNC Park. PNC Park could have been build without the need to tear down Three Rivers Stadium.

Dubai drops out as host of 2013 swimming worlds - USATODAY.com

Dubai drops out as host of 2013 swimming worlds - USATODAY.com: "Swimming's world governing body is looking for a new venue for the 2013 world championships after Dubai dropped out as host.
FINA said it had agreed with officials in Dubai on Saturday not to proceed with the bid, which Dubai won last year ahead Moscow and Hamburg.
FINA said Dubai wanted to focus on developing swimming at grass-roots level rather than stage a second world event inside three years.
Dubai will remain as host of the short-course world championships scheduled for December.
Shanghai is hosting the biennial world championships in 2011."

Ten Minutes, Ten Calls: Help Stop State Budget Cuts

From: "Ron Cowell"

We are happy to share this Action Alert from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. The increased funding for school districts proposed by Governor Rendell and included in the budget approved by the House of Representatives, and many other education and human services funding items, will be in serious jeopardy if the Legislature balances the 2010-2011 budget by cuts alone. Please call your legislator today! Please forward this Action Alert to your friends and colleagues.

http://www.eplc.org/

ACTION ALERT @ Pennsylvania State Budget
Tell Harrisburg: No More Cuts! End Special Interest Tax Breaks to Preserve Jobs and Services

This week, the state House will vote on a bill that will reform the tax system, raise needed revenue, and preserve health care, education and human services.

Today, take ten minutes to make ten calls to ten legislators who will be critical votes on HB 2435:

Rep. Harry Readshaw 717-783-0411
Rep. Jarret Gibbons 717-705-2060
Rep. Deb Kula 717-772-1858
Rep. Frank Burns 717-772-8056
Rep. Rob Matzie 717-787-4444
Rep. John Evans 717-772-9940
Rep. John Hornaman 717-772-2297
Rep. Mike Hanna 717-772-2283
Rep. Frank Farry 717-260-6140
Rep. Kate Harper 717-787-2801

Then forward this alert (today) to ten people -- staff, clients, friends, neighbors -- and ask them to make ten calls!

Don't Forget to Call Your Own Lawmakers

If you haven't done so already, call your own lawmaker to ask for their support of HB 2435 and then follow up with an email to your legislator.

Need your rep's phone number?

Find your House member by county or zip code

Access an alphabetical list of House members

Access a list of House members by county

Here's What to Say

I am a constituent and I want you to support HB 2435.

Before making additional service cuts that will hurt Pennsylvania families and our fragile economic recovery, please raise new revenue.

Solving the budget crisis with cuts alone will leave thousands more Pennsylvanians vulnerable and will cost jobs.

We can no longer afford tax loopholes and special tax preferences.What Does HB 2435 Do? HB 2435 will end Pennsylvania's last-in-the-nation status on taxing smokeless tobacco and bring us in line with other energy-producing states by enacting a gas extraction tax. HB 2435 will close corporate tax loopholes and end a special tax break -- the vendor discount -- that gives $9 a year to small businesses but $12 million to 10 lucky billion dollar companies. Read more about HB 2435. Learn more about the Better Choices for Pennsylvania coalition The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center is a non-partisan policy research project that provides independent, credible analysis on state tax, budget and related policy matters, with attention to the impact of current or proposed policies on working families. Learn more: http://www.pennbpc.org/ .

Fw: Help from the South Side Community Council

From: Andrew Lang of Oxforddevelopment.com

Subject: FW: Help from the South Side Community Council

South Side Residents and Others...  Below in red and attached were forwarded to me from Bryan Woll who works in the office of Councilman Bruce Kraus.  This event Tuesday June 8^th starts at 9:45am at Station Square could be worth attending if you are interested in what can be done to improve our neighborhood.  Online registration is at www.RHIevents.org/Forum/PA or call Alexis Hahalis at 831-469-3396 ext. 2.

As you may know, the Councilman is hosting a Responsible Hospitality Institute Regional Forum in Pittsburgh on Tuesday June 8th at Station Square. This one day event will give stakeholders on the South Side and throughout the city and region an opportunity to learn about managing mixed-use neighborhoods with daytime and nighttime economies, as well as residential areas nearby.

Thanks,

Bryan Woll, Office of Councilman Bruce Kraus
Pittsburgh City Council, District 3
City-County Building, Suite 510
414 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: 412-255-2130
Fax: 412-255-8950

Oxford Development, a firm that wants to tear down the Civic Arena, is working with this HOSPITALITY Zone thingie. Great. And, an intern runs it all.

PENNSYLVANIA EDUCATION POLICY FORUM, Free, Breakfast, this week

If you have not already sent your RSVP, there is still time!

You Are Cordially Invited to Attend

PENNSYLVANIA EDUCATION POLICY FORUM

“Western Pennsylvania Regional Breakfast Series”
Sponsored by The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC)

Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Holiday Inn Select - University Center - Oakland

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
There is no fee for the forum, but please RSVP as soon as possible since seating is limited.
You may RSVP for the May 27 Forum by using our easy on-line reservation system which is available by clicking on http://www.eplc.org/forum_westernpa.html  or faxing the attached form..
Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues, but everyone must RSVP to attend.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m. Current and Hot State Education Policy Issues Update and Discussion led by EPLC Staff and Guests
§ The 2010-2011 State Budget Debate
§ School Employee Pension System Proposals
§ PA Fiscal Challenges and Proposed Tax Changes
§ State Board Proposed Regulations Concerning Nutrition
§ State Board and Common Core Standards
§ Special Education Funding Reform Proposal
§ Charter School Legislation
§ Empowerment Act Legislation
§ PA’s “Race-to-the Top” Re-application

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Join us for an informative and robust discussion about current education policy issues that are being actively considered by state officials now and will be addressed during coming weeks before the Legislature adjourns for the summer!

Be ready to add your voices to those who will demand a responsible state budget for the 2010--2011 fiscal year that begins on July 1.

Learn how you can become active with the Pennsylvania School Funding Campaign that urges the Governor and General Assembly honor the six-year K-12 education funding reform plan begun in 2008.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thanks to our Sponsors!

The School Finance Project of The Education Policy and Leadership Center is currently supported by generous grants from The Maurice Falk Foundation, Fulfilling the Dream Fund, and the William Penn Foundation.

The Western Pennsylvania Breakfast Series of the Pennsylvania Education Policy Forum is also supported by additional financial support from the following organizations:



A+ Schools
Association of Pennsylvania State College and
University Faculties
AFT Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators
Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units
Pennsylvania Association of Pupil Services
Administrators
Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools
Pennsylvania Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development
Pennsylvania School Boards Association
Pennsylvania State Education Association
Center for Educational Leadership - University of
Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
Educational Testing Service (ETS)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
There is no fee for the forum, but please RSVP as soon as possible since seating is limited.
You may RSVP for the May 27 Forum by using our easy on-line reservation system which is available by clicking on http://www.eplc.org/forum_westernpa.html or faxing the attached form..
Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues, but everyone must RSVP to attend.

Swim clinic (week long practice opportunity) for Pittsburgh Public School kids

PPS Swimmers Offered Opportunity to Practice with Stingrays Week of 6/21

The Kingsley Stingrays swim team would like to congratulate elementary, middle-school, and high-school swimmers in the Pittsburgh Public Schools on their accomplishments over the past school year and to offer them a way to continue developing their swim ability this summer.

During the week of June 21st, 2010, selected swimmers from the PPS will have the opportunity to practice with the Stingrays and to receive additional targeted coaching from Coach Hosea Holder in order to improve their swim technique. The program will run from 8:30-11:00 on Monday-Friday at Highland Park Pool.

Interested swimmers should e-mail kingsley_stingrays@yahoo.com or call 412/687-3494.

Coach Holder was recently profiled by WQED-TV for his teaching and technical expertise, which routinely help swimmers become stronger, more fit, and more focused. (The show can be viewed online at http://wqed.org/ondemand/onq.php )

Kindly forward this information to all PPS swim coaches and athletic directors so that they can share it with interested swimmers and parents.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Kingsley Stingrays Swim Team
kingsley_stingrays@yahoo.com

Nanny State goes global | The Barr Code

Considering the OUTLAW of HAPPY MEALS?

Nanny State goes global | The Barr Code: "Santa Clara County recently voted to outlaw the sale of McDonald’s “Happy Meal” toys and a host of other novelties (including coupons from which a patron might download a song) provided by restaurants as a bonus for customers who purchase certain drinks or food items."

Mark Brentley's barbs strike Pittsburgh school board

P-G has an article on Mark Brently, Pittsburgh Dad and elected member of the Pgh Public Schools Board of Directors.

Brentley's barbs strike Pittsburgh school board A board member since 2000, Mr. Brentley, 53, who represents North Side and Hill District residents, is known in city politics and education circles for his consistent and searing commentary on how the inequities of race and class affect the quality of public education and life in Pittsburgh.

Sports Mgt Camp for big boys

If you know any current or former athletes interested in sports as a career, there's a great opportunity this summer in New York you may want to pass along to them.The Diamond Sports Big Apple Career Camp will be offered from July 25th to 30th, providing student-athletes a rare opportunity to gain a competitive edge in the field, and meet executives from ESPN, HBO Sports, the NY Mets and more, at Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Red Bull Arena, and Madison Square Garden.A career in sports is the "next best thing" for millions of student athletes looking to make their mark off the field.  If you know any students who may be interested, here's a great way to support them.Make sure they mention they heard about this from the National Coach Survey, and they will receive a Special Offer: 25% discount off the registration fee. Deadline: June 14th.Seating is limited, for more information www.NYSportsCareers.com or 914 872-4036.John KellyPublisherNationalCoachSurvey.org57 Todd Hill CircleGoldens Bridge, NY 10526www.NationalCoachSurvey.orgJKelly@NationalCoachSurvey.org
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Fw: Instructions to Jurors

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Fw: [DW] New publications on open government data in Canada and around the world

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-----Original Message-----
From: Steven Clift <clift@e-democracy.org>
Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 16:33:09
To: newswire<newswire@groups.dowire.org>
Subject: [DW] New publications on open government data in Canada and around the world

From: Jonathan Gray <jonathan.gray@okfn.org>
Date: Sun, May 23, 2010 at 4:17 PM
Subject: [open-government] New publications on open government data in
Canada and around the world


These links to two recent documents on open data from the Canadian
government might be of interest to folks here!

 http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-14-e.htm
 http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-15-e.htm

....

Jonathan Gray

Community Coordinator
The Open Knowledge Foundation
http://blog.okfn.org

http://twitter.com/jwyg
http://identi.ca/jwyg

_______________________________________________
open-government mailing list
open-government@lists.okfn.org
http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-government

-----------------------------------------
Group home for Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire:
http://groups.dowire.org/groups/newswire

Replies go to members of Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire with all posts on this topic here:
http://groups.dowire.org/r/topic/7kMp2WacOIBMKzDE1ebbob

For digest version or to leave Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire,
email newswire@groups.dowire.org
with "digest on" or "unsubscribe" in the *subject*.

Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire is hosted by Democracies Online - http://dowire.org.

Stupid on the left and on the right.

Dan Sullivan may have wrote and posted on the public Libertarian list:

I love it when the Libertarian Party gets stupid right-wing and left-wing posts on the same day, and we get to address them both at once. Then people can see that responding to right-wing stupidity does not make us left-wing and vice versa.

Yes, Rand Paul was naive for getting sucked in to this argument. So did Ron Paul get sucked into such arguments when he was young. The conclusions that Rand will go down in flames for this beg the question of why Ron didn't go down in flames for similar statements when he was inexperienced.

Yes, Regan Straley is right that Maddow is "a clearly insincere partisan masquerading as a journalist," but so is Regan Straley for preaching such hackneyed superficial analysis. His analysis breaks down, first because he does not deal with the underlying question of privileges enjoyed by businesses, money lenders, landlords and employers, and then because he fails to see that the anti-discrimination laws are "compensatory" privileges to tenants, borrowers, customers and employees who happen to enjoy "protected minority status."

Never has there been a case of a tenant sued for refusing to rent from a protected minority landlord, a customer for refusing to patronize a protected minority business, a borrower for refusing to borrow from a minority lender or an employee for refusing to work for a protected minority boss. The implicit, never-stated assumption is that landlords, bankers, sellers and bosses have an artificial advantage over tenants,
borrowers, buyers and employees. There is some vague truth behind that assumption, but before we get into what that truth is, let us examine where Regan's failure to consider that advantage causes his analysis to break down. Here is his key piece of illogic:

> At some point in the distant past, our society came to a general
> agreement that it was unacceptable for the proprietor of a restaurant
> to bludgeon his customers with a steak mallet, drag them into the
> kitchen, force their bodies through the meat grinder, and turn the
> results into the nightly special. While I'm not comparing the severity
> of the offenses, our society has reached a similar conclusion with
> regard to our restaurateur discriminating against customers or
> employees on any basis other than their public behavior.

What Regan misses is that it is illegal for the proprietor of a restaurant
to bludgeon *any* person with a steak mallet. However, it is not illegal
for him to refuse service to anyone other than a protected minority. That
is, he can refuse service to me for any reason whatsoever, but he
cannot refuse service to a person with protected status unless he can
prove that his motive was not discriminatory on some protected basis. I
I have seen this double standard abused myself, as when a black
employee accused me of calling him a nigger in order to get leverage
with our employer. (Actually, I had called him an asshole.) My wife
worked alongside a black woman who sued her way through college
and got a "Ph'D," because she never figured out that there is no
apostrophe in that title, and who was the worst employee in her
department, who was never fired for fear that she would sue the
college. The other employees, both black and white, were glad that she
missed so much work, because she was such an incompetent teacher
that she did more harm than good.

A few years back, some of us helped expose the hypocritical lawsuit
against Pizza Hut by the Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission
because Pizza Hut did not deliver into black neighborhoods on Rodney
King Riot Night. Earlier that day, black leaders from church, community,
civil rights and social organizations marched down the streets, not so
much to protest the acquittal of the police who beat Rodney King, but to
plead with people not to engage in violence against whites that day.

Pizza Hut's national office, wanting to avoid putting their drivers in
danger, decided not to deliver in black neighborhoods that night, and
that night only. For that they were sued, and had to spend tens of
thousands of dollars defending themselves for taking the black leaders
seriously.

Now, the right seizes on examples like this, which are all too plentiful,
to rail against anti-discrimination laws, and the left either pretends such
examples do not exist or insists that the harm of discrimination by the
presumedly privileged class is a greater harm than the damage done by
false accusations. Nobody, on the left or the right, look at the deeper
questions. Just what are the privileges enjoyed by money lenders,
landlords, businesses and bosses at the expense of everyone else?

Let us first look at the money lenders, the only people against whom
Jesus engaged in violence. The value of money comes from
production. Indeed, inflation is often described as "too much money
chasing too few goods." Clearly, it is those who produce goods and put
them on the market who give value to money. Yet we turn the money
over to banks to lend to the producers of wealth who created the value
behind that money, even as we tax those producers, This clearly
transfers wealth from the producers to the money lenders, creating a
privileged class.

Then we have the landlords. It is a confusing term, because we tend to
think of the owner of an apartment building as a landlord, even though
his building is capital, and the land under the building might only be
10% of the total value of his property. Then we tend to think of US Steel
as a capitalist, when the overwhelming majority of their asset value is in
land, including but not limited to vast tracts of coal, iron ore and natural
gas. US Steel "owns" that land, coal, etc., not because they produced it
or got it from someone who produced it, but because the state issued
titles declaring that land to belong to them. In so doing, they declared
that nobody else shall have access to any of that except by the consent
of US Steel.

US Steel then employs landless and nearly landless people to work for
them. Although US Steel also rents out real estate, mostly in old
"company towns," the notable thing is that all tenants are dependent on
landlords, who literally own the earth. Now it happens that landlords
tend to be white and tenants tend to be black. (In Pittsburgh in 1990,
white households were 2/3 owner-occupied and 1/3 renter-occupied.
Black households were exactly the reverse.) If landlords, through social
compact, decide not to rent to blacks, then blacks have no permission
to be on the planet. Or, if they decide to only rent the worst land at
inflated prices, as was the case before the anti-discrimination laws,
then blacks are held down.

The purpose of the civil rights laws was not to bring about justice by
abolishing privilege, but by artificially equalizing conditions among the
"underprivileged." That is, it was to guarantee that underprivileged
blacks got to pay tribute to the landed aristocracy on the same terms as
underprivileged whites.

Of course, because they could not confront the privilege itself, they had
to create various artificial devices that worked rather clumsily. And, of
course (always of course), privilege milked these artificial devices to get
more privilege. Thus we see that, before anti-discrimination laws, small,
competitive businesses were far more likely to hire blacks and other
minorities than were big businesses that enjoyed monopoly privileges.
Yet, after the laws went into effect, the big businesses got most of the
"affirmative action" grants and subsidies, and small businesses got
most of the anti-discrimination lawsuits.

So, what would libertarians do? Some still pretend that no privileges
exist, or refuse to make the connection between these privileges and
the host of compensatory regulations that they spawned. However,
many libertarians, including LP founder David Nolan, would abolish
some privileges and tax others, removing taxes from productivity.

If land were taxed heavily on its value, and other taxes phased out, the
landlord without a tenant would be no better off than a tenant without a
landlord. This would not only make it easier for people to find housing,
but to start their own businesses and create more jobs.

As to banking privilege, it could be abolished outright. Money could be
directly issued into circulation, not through expanded government, but
by simply removing the payroll tax and possibly all of the income tax.
Any inflationary effects could be offset by phasing out Fractional
Reserve Banking, the privilege of lending money the banks don't
actually have.

Right-of-way monopolies (streets, road, sewer, electricity, railroad lines,
etc.) could be government run, and government could do a good job
with them if they weren't distracted doing all manner of things they
shouldn't be doing at all.

This was, in fact, the core economic agenda of the Progressives,
before progressivism was hijacked by socialists. Progressivism began
with the abolitionist movement and the Free Soil Party, whose slogan
was "Free Land, Free Trade, Free Men." They never got along with
socialists, because they wanted to abolish privileged and make the
state weaker, while the socialists wanted to make the state stronger by
introducing all sorts of compensatory privileges.

The same was true of the liberals before progressivism, and the same
is true of the greens today. Privilege loves socialism, because socialism
derails attempts to confront privilege head on. As a result, everyone
has an equal right to be a borrower, a tenant, an employee or a
customer, but an ever-shrinking privileged elite gets to do all the
lending, landlording, employing and selling.

Reagan later wrote in a reply to Dan, in part:

I'm certain that you would regard much of my philosophy as "leftist equalization of conditions among the underprivileged," even though in reality it seeks to dissolve the very same unnatural influences of privilege and coercion as your philosophy does. And while my philosophy also includes much of what would make up a "moderate" Libertarian platform, we could still never work together toward shared goals because you already have me pegged as "left," and therefore unworthy of consideration.

He would be wrong. Dan may have pegged one as "left" -- but that would NEVER curb Dan's (nor mine) as unworthy for future work partnerships. All are worthy for consideration in my (and I dare say, our) lives.

Jessica Hardy, USC swimmer, get the call she wanted, sorta. They left some issues unresolved for 2012, dangit.

------Original Message------
From: SI com Alerts
To: Mark Rauterkus
ReplyTo: cnnalerts@cnn.com
Subject: 2004 Athens Summer Games News
Sent: May 21, 2010 11:04 PM



Alert Name: 2004 Athens Summer Games News

Court rules for swimmer Hardy, rejects WADA appeal
05/21/10 07:45 PM, EDT
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jessica Hardy was expecting an important call, so she had the coach hold her cell phone alongside the pool while she went through her normal morning workout at USC.
Read the full story at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/more/05/21/swim.hardy.ap/index.html

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Fw: [school-discuss] UNESCO Conference on ICT in education extends discussion to general public

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: Guido Arnold <watsolldat@googlemail.com>
Date: Sat, 22 May 2010 01:11:00
To: <schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net>
Subject: [school-discuss] UNESCO Conference on ICT in education extends discussion to general
public

Hello,
I just found this and thought it might be of interest:

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=30484&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

I think the UNESCO is already pretty much in favor for Free Software,
but a few more advocats on that platform can't hurt ;)

Greetings,

Guido