More Kraus -- well -- more folly

The drinking game for Kruas begins with the word, "mix."

"Mr. Kraus said one of the things he hopes to accomplish is to 'remove himself from the mix' and to have the experts explain how a proactive approach can be good for everyone. He says he often hears that all the problems in South Side could be solved with more police.

'Once we’ve had a police officer introduced into the mix, it’s already too late,' the councilman says. He believes by incorporating the RHI principles it will greatly reduce the number of incidents in the neighborhood. 'It’s not about punishment or enforcement, it’s about behavior.'"

Bruce Kraus is a member of Pittsburgh City Council. He wants to be in charge of everyone's behavior. It is about behavior so he thinks. His behavior?

It is NOT about behavior Mr. Kraus. Not for you. Never.

As a member of city council, keep your nose out of the behavior of everyone else.

Council has a job to do. Mr. Kraus is clueless as to that job. That's why they have to buy thinking from consultants for $250,000 for PARKING.

The job of city council is to uphold the constitution. When and if behaviors are clashing with the rights of others, then it is time to act.

Kraus and City Council want to spend $250,000 on a parking study

They want to spend $250,000 on a parking study. Golly.

My councilman, Bruce Kraus, Mr. Folly himself, was quoted on the air on KDKA radio saying, "This is the most important decision city council is going to make all year." Furthermore, he said he wants to be sure that council does all its homework.

WTF?

No. That isn't true. City council wants to pay others to do its homework. I would have no problem if city council did the homework. The heavy lifting of what to do and why and how is NOT being done with city council as they are buying it from consultants -- at the price of $250,000.

Do it yourself.

We hired those on city council -- or more to the point -- we elected them. We want them to do the job. They should be the consultants. They should roll up their sleves and put on their thinking caps. They should burn the midnight oil and figure it out -- without burning big bucks on a consultant.

Where is the bid for that job, by the way?

Is this pay for play too?

Here is what city council and the mayor should do with the parking garages. Sell them. Sell them over the course of a few years so the value does not crash out of them by flooding the market.

Don't lease the garages -- sell them. Get the cash and make the cash as much as possible.

British Olympic Association criticises British Swimming for Youth Games omission - Telegraph

British Olympic Association criticises British Swimming for Youth Games omission - Telegraph: "Andy Hunt, the BOA chief executive, said: 'While we understand that occasionally the circumstances or timing of an Olympic event may prove difficult for a sport to fulfil, it is of course disappointing for Team GB if athletes from a particular sport are not able to participate.'
A British Swimming spokesman blamed the decision on the packed international calendar, with the European Championships in Budapest in August and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.
'We have to look at our resources both in terms of coaches and athletes,' said the spokesman."

Up and down the court. He shoots. Scores, Blocked. Rebounds. Fast break, Too many dribbles. Benched.

Shar out again as W. Mifflin girls basketball coach

Wednesday, June 02, 2010
By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Phil Shar, the West Mifflin Area High School girls basketball coach who was fired a year ago after publicly criticizing the district's former superintendent, then rehired two weeks ago, is now off the job again.

Mr. Shar was removed from his coaching position yesterday by Superintendent Janet Sardon, whose action was based on a grievance filed by the teachers union and on two legal opinions she received on the issue -- one from district solicitor Jack Cambest and the other from Stuart Knade, chief counsel for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

The West Mifflin School Board voted to give Mr. Shar his head coaching job back at its May 20 meeting, but even before the vote was taken there were questions about whether it was legal for Mr. Shar, who is now a school board member, to serve as coach.

Mr. Shar had planned to serve as a volunteer and take no stipend.

After he was removed from his coaching position in June 2009 after several nasty public disagreements with former superintendent Patrick Risha, Mr. Shar ran a write-in campaign for the school board and won, beating out incumbent Diana Olasz. He took office in December and several weeks later filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the district, alleging that his right to free speech was violated. The suit demanded damages and a return to his coaching position,

Last month, the suit was settled for $30,000. Shortly after the settlement, the board majority voted to return him to the coaching position. It's unclear if that vote was also part of the settlement, as there was a confidentiality clause in the settlement that prevents either side from discussing it.

However, at the time Mr. Shar filed his suit, Mr. Knade of the school boards association said it violated the school code for Mr. Shar to serve as both school director and coach.

Mr. Knade said Section 324 of the state school code stipulates that "you cannot be employed by the school district in any capacity until after the expiration of your term in office regardless of if you resign."

Mr. Knade said that meant that Mr. Shar could not return to coaching, even on a volunteer basis, until the expiration of his four -- year term, even if he resigned.

Dr. Sardon said Mr. Cambest held the same legal opinion and union president Tom Ruffing said the union's attorney Stephen Jordan gave the union the same opinion.

Dr. Sardon said the district will not hold open gyms for the girls team until a new coach is named. However, she said Mr. Shar could continue to coach the girls summer league program because it is not a district-sponsored program.

After his reinstatement on May 20, Mr. Shar said he had received legal opinions saying he could coach provided he received no pay. Mr. Shar could not be reached for comment today.

Mary Niederberger: mniederberger@post-gazette.com; 412-851-1512.

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10153/1062510-100.stm#ixzz0pht1eCYM

I want our kids to be involved within gangs that we control -- like basketball teams, orchestras, and other school-sponsored activities.

Visiting CMU and watching online

The Alumni Association is pleased to announce that President Barack Obama will make an address this afternoon from Carnegie Mellon's Wiegand Gymnasium. A live videostream of the event is being made available to all Carnegie Mellon alumni. For more information, please visit www.cmu.edu/multimedia/obama/.

According to the White House Press Secretary, the president "will discuss the state of our economy, the future we need to seize, and the path we choose to get there. He will talk about the progress we've made in building the New Foundation he discussed at Georgetown last year, as well as the work we have left to do."

President Obama's Address from Carnegie Mellon University
When: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - 1:35 p.m.

Live Webstream:
For more information and to view the address, visit http://www.cmu.edu/multimedia/obama/.

Free Marc Emery

He is from Canada and never came to the USA. Yet, he is in jail here. Send him home. Free Marc Emery.

Government reform a pipe dream, ALCOSAN appointment shows - Blogs - Slag Heap - Pittsburgh City Paper

Government reform a pipe dream, ALCOSAN appointment shows - Blogs - Slag Heap - Pittsburgh City Paper: "As we've written repeatedly, the members of city boards and commissions are allowed to continue serving on boards even after their terms expire ... until the mayor either moves to renominate them, or to replace them with someone else."

Chris Potter, think again.

Nope. I hate your suggestion.

As the terms of the appointment come to pass, then the member on the board is removed. Done.

Once the board is moved to the point where there are not enough members to have a quorum, then the body should evaporate. All assets are put into orphans court.

We need to liquidate these authorities, not further empower them with inaction from those who are accountable.

Of course, the Citizens Police Review Board is NOT an authority. In that case, once a membeer's term has expired, then if that seat is not filled by a qualified and confirmed member by appointment, then the position is filled by the executive director on an interim basis.

For many years I've called for all authority board positions to be held more accountable by election at the polls via RETENTION VOTES. If a person does not meet the necessary percentage of votes at the election - Should Adam R be retained as an authority board member for ALCOSAN? Yes - or No. Then so be it.

Ravenstahl calls Carnegie Library's finances into question - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The Mayor didn't sneeze. Rather, he is getting his VETO pen ready. Bruce Kraus says "God bless" to Mayor. Sign.

Ravenstahl calls Carnegie Library's finances into question - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "'God bless him,' said Councilman Bruce Kraus, who introduced the measure with six co-sponsors to ensure its veto-proof passage. 'We've heard loud and clear the importance of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for the quality of life of the residents of Pittsburgh.'
No council member said yesterday that his or her vote would change. Harris said she was not sure how she would vote if the mayor were to veto the legislation."

To Marty Griffin: If a funeral gets hijacked, then trespassing has occurred.

The rub with your feelings is with the local judge who says damages were not inflicted.

This is LESS of a constitutional issue and more of a JUDGES SUCK issue.

But if a SHOUT OUT happens in a church from an unwelcome intruder -- then damages should be paid by the one who makes a problem in a place where they are not legally permitted to be.

A funeral picket along public rights of way is in poor taste, but it is free speech that should be protected. The right to free speech does stop at the entrance to the funeral. I want free speech.

Other topic: NO damage is caused to the police officer if a citizen puts up a middle finger.

Chris Chandler has had roots in New Orleans. Recently he moved to California.

New very cool Featured Video at www.chrischandler.org

T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T

June, 2010
New Orleans, LA
Vol issue
By Chris Chandler
5-30-10

Hell Yea! The Gulf oil spill is now the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history, "We're #1! We're #1!"

One hundred and fifty years ago, corporations were granted the same rights as people under the constitution. Absurdly based on the 14th Amendment which was intended to free the slaves, and then used to make sure those former slaves stay indebted servants to a new over-seer: the over-class.

It is called corporate personhood.

For years, the way I saw it was if corperations are people then the Revolutionary War was more of a corporate take over. The Declaration of Independence should read:

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one company to dissolve the financial bands which have connected them with another.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all corporations are created equal, that they are endowed by their CEOs with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of profit.

If "corporations" and "people" are synonimes than it is not much of leap to say The Constitution might as well read:

We the corporations of the United States, in order to form a more perfect merger, establish profit, insure domestic product, provide for the common defense, promote the corporate welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to our shareholders…

Ever since "personhood" was established, corporations have been winning court cases granting them due process, equal protection, freedom of speech, etc. chiefly the ability to donate to political causes in the same way that people do.

I have been against this concept for years.

But alas, after this incident in the Gulf of Mexico (soon to be known as The Dead Sea) I see the error in my ways. I say give them full citizenship and treat them as such.

If they want the rights of citizens they should also have the accountibilty of citizens. I mean, I know if my negligence caused the death of eleven people I would be in jail. Not to mention the destruction of Mother Earth they should go to jail for mom -slaughter.

So, I say first, put the entire corperation on trial – everyone on the payroll. How do you like you corperate personhood now? Put 'em on trial for for manslaughter. Mom-slaughter. Put them in jail for poisoning the food chain – 'cos in prison you often do shit where you eat.

I envision not just the CEO going to prison but every congressional appologizer. I wanna see every CEO GO TO PRISON! every CFO, every CIO, CISO CPA and CP3O-- GO TO PRISON. Every VP SVP and VIP for that matter. They are corperate persons afterall.

I wanna see every desk jockey, paper pusher, trader of stock, stock holder, share holder, folder holder, folder stuffer, every secretary to the secretary and secretary to be hired… GO TO PRISON, I wanna see every delivery boy, and office carpet vacumer go to prison just for being corporate persons.

Make an example of them – just like you make an example of the guy sitting in prison for smoking dope in his own apartment in the ghetto.

I wanna see the leathernecks go to prison, the pipe fitters and every oil rig inspector and inspector of the inspectors GO TO PRISON.

And if there is not enough room in the prison, let out the guy who is in there for smoking dope in his own apartment.

I wanna see the writers and the actors in those BS BP ad campaigns "Beyond patrolium, a greener oil company" GO TO PRISON!

I wanna see every gas station attendant and BP convenience store cigarette dealer and car wash brush ceaner GO TO PRISON.

I envision whole gas pumps dressed in orange jump-suits quivering with their little Bristish accents as a large scary man, quoting the 14th ammendment says, "insert prison joke here."

I wanna see every user of every British Patrolium GO TO PRISON. I wanna see every user of petrolium go to prison.

I SHOULD TO GO TO PRISON,

As we all watch the BP bank accounts and the bank accounts of Halliburton and Transatlantic for that matter drained while they are paying the billions,.. quadrillions in reperations.

Instead what we have is a bunch of oil slick lawyers proposing caps on compensation to congress via campaign donations.

Talk about cap and trade.

I thought you guys were against that. But le' me tell ya pal your liability cap blew out when that blow out preventor valve blew and I say it is time to BILL BABY BILL!

I say you should drain your coffers by employing every idle shrimp boat captain and his crew in every idle boat in every port from Gulfport Mississpi to clean up your mess.

Use the community we have.

Even if you spend all of the 14 billion you made in profits last year. All of the 16 you made the year before that – you should spend every dime hiring every out of work oyster fisherman in Pensacola and unemployed seafood resteraunt waiter in New Orleans.

I wanna see your share holders standing on off ramps holding buckets with signs that read "will work to pay locals for their loss."

And as for Haliburton and Transatlantic? Its no wonder Haliburton droped the name "Black Water.".

Transatlantic? You knew your oil rig was too big to fail. That's why you were claiming it was from the Marshall Islands – which is an oil company with a flag.

It should have come as no suprise that Marshall Island inspectors might be a little lax on an oil rig heading to the Americas since America did its nuclear testing there and completely blew one of the Islands off the face of the earth.

But since you did choose to fly the flag of the Marshall Islands, I say it makes you an Illegal Immigrant and I find myself suddenly agreeing with the State of Arizona and you should be deported. All of you.

It makes you a foreigner – and a crime like this – perptrated by a foreginer can only be viewed as foreign eco-terrorisim and the place you should be deported to is Guantinimo Bay where you can sit in your little orange jump suits and be waterboarded – with water, from the Gulf YOU DESTROYED.

Girl Scouts planning to close 6 camps

Girl Scouts planning to close 6 camps: "But interest in those rustic experiences has waned, and Girl Scout membership has declined. Today -- two years before Girl Scouting's 100th anniversary -- only 25 percent of the members of Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania participate in camping activities.
Meanwhile, the region's membership fell to 35,500 last year, or 6,500 fewer than in 2007, when five smaller councils merged as part of a national realignment. That's better than the national trend -- 12 percent of eligible girls belong, compared to 9 percent nationally -- but leaders still recognized a need for reassessment."

Get out.

We have made 9,939 posts to this blog. Running up to the 10K benchmark

This blog post is counted as 9,940. And, it is as good a time as any to consider a 4th of July invite. The 10K posting is a great reason to celebrate this year. What will the 10,000th blog post bring?

<> 

	Something to shoot for, 10,000 blog postings!
From Polo

The month of May delivered 107 blog postings. We'll be very close to 10,000 in early July!

Everyone is invited to our home on the evening of July 4, 2010. We're having an open house and a celebration to mark the 10,000th blog post here.

We always have a 4th of July party. We supply the LemonAid and some crafts for the young set and all young at heart. We watch fireworks from our deck after playing in the park and tossing a few water balloons.

Bring snacks to share if you can.

Don't stay much past the end of the fireworks, as we'll be needing to get up to go to swimming practice the next morning. And, don't come before 6 pm either as we'll be cleaning the house then and trying to recover from the past swim practice or 5K or bike ride or river paddle.

Just for the record, I've got other blogs, wikis, photo and video sites as well. I'm not worried too much about a summary of the total postings.

Tech Pointers of Mark Rauterkus = 369 Posts
Sunnyhill-Dot-Org = 248 Posts
eVote Blog = 225 Posts
Erik Rauterkus Blog = 128 Posts
Transportation = 277 Posts
Grant Rauterkus Blog = 147 Posts

Carlynton, SUUSI, ABCs of sports, Market House, Allegheny and a few others are sorta dead and just digital dust.

I've made 7,712 edits since October 28, 2004 to Wikia.com wikis. The FixPA.wikia.com site, formerly Platform.For-Pgh.org has 4,788 articles. The A for Athlete wiki has 1,793 articles since May 2008. I've got 147 videos on YouTube. Viddler holds 360 videos. Blip.TV has 159 videos of mine. I've got 467 friends on Facebook and have no clue as to how to count the number of updates I've made there -- and I don't play farm nor mafia games either.

At twitter, @Rauterkus has made 4,739 tweets, follows 1,999 (but I'm stuck at the darn 2K limit), and with 1,207 followers. @Rauterkus_p0 has has 67 tweets but I get to follow another 1,076 there.

With Picasa, my one photo site, I'm way over quota with 127 albums and 5767 MB of storage.

How many times have I posted at other people's blogs is unknown. I've been enjoying PureReform recently since a number of the others have quit.

Before the internet, I published books. But I always used recycled paper, even back in the early 1990s. Now, I always choose to use recycled electrons.

Excellence for All meeting in May 2010 with Mark Roosevelt

Mark Roosevelt visited with a group of parents on Thursday, May 27, 2010, at Pittsburgh Obama. This is the monthly "Excellece For All" meeting organized by Mark Conner, the district's leader with parent engagement.

Containers and tasks.

These are great meetings if you care about our schools and the overall district. They will resume in September 2010 and are worth the effort of attending. And, they generally provide a decent meal for all the busy parents on the night of the meetings.

I didn't run the video on the start of the meeting as it was more of the same song and dance that we've all come to know. But, as the meeting got past half way, and as the questions would arrive -- I pulled out the camera.

Comments welcome, of course.

Stuff on teacher data:



Adolescent Literacy:



Performance Pay



Parent portal, community learning outreach hub, summer months and open schools:



School Security and safe travels on buses.


Labor relations and first questions. What about closing of schools? Peabody, IB mentioned. What about Gifted? What about getting more African American kids into Gifted programs?



Questions part 2 has to do with central staff, union cooperation, but bunk about the union cooperation with sports, and getting the union contract out of the coaching of city sports teams.

Sports is in there as something that needs attention.

Final part of the Q&A. It is 23 minutes so I moved it off of YouTube. The first part goes to the skeleton plan that just passed the PPS Board that week about CTE. The rest of the CTE is pending. Questions of process were raised.

---

Summer fun:


This might be a plug for CTE, (as in Vo Tech), and the culinary arts programs. Plus, part two is for another CTE offering, cosmotology. Perhaps our school board should spend some quality time this summer watching TV, especially, this network, to get some ideas as to what programs to put into the mix for Pittsburgh's Career offerings in the years to come.

How UPMC's overseas operations blossomed in 14 years

Way to go UPMC.

How UPMC's overseas operations blossomed in 14 years: "You wouldn't know it from the 1,300 employees running 14 operations in six foreign countries and the nearly $100 million in annual revenue from records management, cancer centers, general hospitals, biomedical research and a transplant center, but UPMC did not have any grand strategy when it started its international efforts nearly 14 years ago."

So the next time the Mayor of Pittsburgh wants to do something silly -- like a student or sick person tax, beware. They may take their toys and go away.

Alle-Kiski Valley's human-powered boats boom in popularity - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Alle-Kiski Valley's human-powered boats boom in popularity - Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewWhile powerboating has been popular for years in the Alle-Kiski Valley, the real boom regionally has been in human-powered boating.
The Kiskiminetas River, which forms the border between Westmoreland and Armstrong counties, has seen tremendous growth in kayaking and canoeing.
Neill Andritz owns River's Edge Canoe and Kayak Rental in Gilpin with his wife, Evelyn. The outfitter offers 22-mile runs down the Kiski from Avonmore to the Schenley section of Gilpin, where the Kiski enters the Allegheny River.
He said his business just keeps getting busier. The Andritzs outfitted 800 customers in 2007. In 2009, the number jumped to a 2,000.
'It is due to the fact that the Kiski has made such a miraculous comeback,' Andritz said.

Rand, Korea, AZ law, and better shows

Kelly Awards: Creative high schoolers give it their all

Way to go Schenley!

Kelly Awards: Creative high schoolers give it their all: "That seemed especially true this year, when the talent and the awards were so evenly spread. At Saturday's gala, the 16 awards were spread among nine schools, with only Pine-Richland (4), Pittsburgh Schenley (3), and Central Catholic and Baldwin-Whitehall (both 2) winning more than one."

Cycle in a Ride of Silence - Memorial Day

Thanks to Jim Logan for this:

Ride of Silence - Memorial Day - 7 AM - In memory and tribute of cyclists killed by vehiclesAdd a comment »
Started by Jim Logan, VP Product Engineering at Vocollect Healthcare Systems, Inc.
What is a Ride of Silence?
Cyclists riding slowly (no faster than 12 MPH) in silence (public assembly) and in the below goals:
o Mourning those cyclists killed or injured
o Cycling is not going to be chased or intimidated off the streets we legally share
o Cyclists want only to share the road with motorists
o Making motorists aware of the life long legal, as well as life changing, problems that can ensue from killing a cyclist



On Thursday May 27th Donald Parker, 52, of Clearfield Rd, Hampton Twp, was struck by a car and died while commuting. The Western PA Wheelmen and Bike Pgh are endorsing a Ride of Silence (http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php) that will ride portions of Don's commuting route. We will start at the Waterworks Mall in Fox Chapel and ride to the Intersection of Harts Run Rd and Saxonburg Blvd. At that point the we will turn around, and the official Ride of Silence will start, as Don was struck and killed climbing the hill on Harts Run Rd from Saxonburg Blvd to Dorseyville Rd. Approximately there-and-back mileage is 16 miles.

You are encouraged to wear a black arm im memoriam of riders killed, and a red arm band if you have been injured by a motorist.

Plan:
- We assembly at the Waterworks Mall Parking in Fox Chapel lot near the Dollar Bank end of the parking lot at 6:45 AM, leaving at 7:00 AM.
- We ride the 8 miles to Harts Run Rd and Saxonburg Blvd.
- Those who wish to ride a shorter distance should meet us at the intersection of Harts Run Rd and Saxonburg Blvd at approximately 7:45 AM.
- On the return, we will ride silently from from Saxonburg Blvd to Harts Run Rd in memory of Donald and other riders killed by vehicles.
- We will ride as a group, slowly there and back, at least until we get to the top of the descrent back down Fox Chapel Rd.
- Please treat this ride with the dignity it deserves.
- Helmets required.
- We will recruit road marshalls for the front and rear of the group the day of the event.

Jim Logan

Obituary: Gary Coleman / Star of 'Diff'rent Strokes' who wanted to be more

Obituary: Gary Coleman / Star of 'Diff'rent Strokes' who wanted to be more: "Mr. Coleman was among 135 candidates who ran in California's bizarre 2003 recall election to replace then-Gov. Gray Davis, whom voters ousted in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Fitness and Wellness Tests

Maybe you can take a look at this system: http://www.fitstatsweb.com/

It incorporates fitness and wellness tests from nationally recognized protocols and also let you add your own tests and standards. There is an adult wellness version available and it's made for large testing programs.

Francois Gazzano, Moncton, Canada