Ride of Silence - Update

1) We are riding in the morning rain or shine.

2) Sunrise is at 6:48 AM. So everyone is street legal when we
start at 7 AM. Front and back lights are always sensible, especially
if it is overcast.

3) Fyi, after consultation with the national Ride of Silence
organizers, what we are doing tomorrow is a "Ride of Silence style
Tribute Ride for c James Price, Anthony Green, (and other bicyclists
killed or injured). They want to reserve the name "Ride of Silence"
for the world-wide coordinated May event. We will get the title right
next time.

4) Remember, we are aiming to ride legal and sensible tomorrow.
All, please help marshal to that effect.

5) As to speed, let's consider the ride from Oakland to Penn
Avenue as a "transit" at a controlled but comfortable speed. When we
turn onto Penn Avenue, we'll follow Ride of Silence rules there and
back (slow, quiet, and respectful). Once we pass Penn Circle, let's
go in to controlled "transit mode" again to get people back.

6) I'll be looking for 4-8 riders to help control the front.
We'll also need some to sweep, and guide middle groups too.

7) I don't have a camera right now. Several people, please take
some pictures or videos to share.

8) Crossing the Bloomfield Bridge to return to Oakland, we can
stay in the right lane to turn left.



Jim Logan

SPIRE in Cleveland will NOT be hosting Division II Swimming & Diving Championships this year

The NCAA touts that it is an organization led and run by its membership. Today it proved that it does indeed listen to membership by announcing a change of venue for the 2013 NCAA Division II Championships.

Originally slated for the Spire Institute in Ohio, the 2013 Championships will now take place in Birmingham, Alabama with swimming taking place at the CrossPlex aquatic center. The original site was attacked for its inaccessibility of nearby lodging. The change is a win for swimmers and teams which were facing upwards of three hours of travel time with prelims and finals.

Fwd: Forum on the National Debt

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Suzanne Broughton <sbroughton@macconnect.com>


Friends,

I am sending this message to tell you about a forum for which I have
been very involved in the planning. I believe this is an important
topic for all of us: The National Debt. The League of Women Voters of
Greater Pittsburgh has been very fortunate to engage two experts to
help us understand this topic. I hope that you will considering
attending: September 20, 5:30 p.m., Rivers Club.

The forum is free. There is an optional dinner with the speakers
afterward at a cost of $75. Registration for the forum and/or the
dinner is necessary. The attached flyer contains a link to register.

Most Pittsburghers are familiar with Paul O'Neill's accomplishments.
Besides Alice Rivlin's positions listed on the flyer, she served on
the Simpson-Bowles Commission on the federal budget. She also
co-chaired, with former Senator Pete Domenici, the Bipartisan Policy
Center's Debt Reduction Task Force.

Even though the forum is free, it is the League's main fund-raiser,
through sponsorships and ads in the program book. It replaces our
Good Government Award dinner program, which had been our fund-raiser
for the last 15 years. If you know of a business or institution that
would like to be a sponsor of the forum or place an ad, please let me
know immediately so I can send the proper information. Time is short;
we need sponsors and ads by September 7 to print the program. Short
notice, I know.

Please feel free to forward this flyer as widely as you can.

I'm looking forward to this forum and hope to see you there.

Sue

Watch for bikers on the road

The cars always win.

Ride of silence on Monday

When: Monday, September 3, 7:00 AM. Gather at 6:45 AM morning)

· Ride rain or shine – if it's important, let's do it.

· Check the WPW website (www.wpwbikeclub.org) for any last minute messages

Start location: Oakland - Schenley Plaza (next to Carnegie Library)

CONTROVERSY IN TAMPA

You should also be aware that major controversy has developed at the convention over proposed rule changes which would take control over much of the nomination process away from the state and local parties and put it in the hands of the national leadership.  These changes are a direct assault on the traditions of the party and would silence the voice of the grassroots in much of the decision making process. Many grassroots activist groups and prominent leaders have come on board opposing the changes.  The Republican Liberty Caucus was one of the first, but we've been joined by Eagle Forum, FreedomWorks and many Tea Party Groups.  These are goups we're often at odds with ideologically, but we all agree that the integrity of he party and standing by republican principles is of the highest importance.Here are some resources to help bring you up to speed:Proposed Rule Changes from CommitteeMinority Rules Committee ReportRLC of Maine Statement on Rules ControversyMorton Blackwell (Virginia Delegate) Letter to DelegatesRLC Chairman's Letter to Delegates and ActivistsEagle Forum Statement on RulesFreedomWorkds Press ReleaseThis issue will be voted on again in committee Tuesday afternoon and go to the floor of the convention sometime later Tuesday.  We urge you to contact your state delegates today if you can and encourage them to support the Minority Report against the report of the Rules Committee. 

Let the games begin

Hear my commercial on talk radio! Bok, Atlas Snubbed

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ken Krawchuk via LinkedIn
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Subject: Hear my commercial on talk radio!

LinkedIn Ken Krawchuk has sent you a message. Date: 8/22/2012 Subject: Hear my commercial on talk radio! Folks: Yep, I'm running radio ads for my novel, Atlas Snubbed. They're running on Philly's new talk station, WWIQ, 106.9 FM. The station carries your typical roster of rightist pundits (Rush, Hannity, Beck, and the like) whose listeners are one of my prime target audiences (i.e., people who have read/are familiar with Atlas Shrugged), so you may notice how the spot is "somewhat" biased toward a far right audience. Yeah, well. Despite my Toastmaster background, it was a big challenge to put the thing together. Not only did it have to employ all the tools of the trade (attention-grabbing opening, call-to-action ending, strong structure, vocal variety, tight timing, smooth flow, proper word choice, lots of emotional content, and other general speechwriting tricks), it also had to be recited by a non-Toastmaster who could put into its delivery everything I would have. So as the announcer I chose long-time broadcaster Tom Doyle (host of "The Vinyl Revolution", 8-11 PM Tuesdays on www.z889.org), and I coached him through dozens of takes. You tell me if you think I succeeded, but to quote my daughter Carissa, "You made him sound like you!" Too cool. It just started running this morning, and sales are already coming in. Woo hoo! It'll be running all this week, a half dozen times a day. The schedule is below, and you can listen live at www.iq1069.com. And if it pays off, I'm likely to keep on running the thing until sales begin to taper off. If you can't wait to hear it, I threw an mp3 out on the book's website at www.AtlasSnubbed.com/CommercialTalkRadio.mp3 (case sensitive). An interesting task; something else to add to the list of unusual things I'd never done before. - Ken 08/21/2012 6:44:00AM 08/21/2012 10:48:00AM 08/21/2012 1:04:00PM 08/21/2012 5:03:45PM 08/21/2012 8:30:00PM 08/22/2012 6:13:45AM 08/22/2012 7:56:50AM 08/22/2012 9:58:50AM 08/22/2012 7:16:00PM 08/22/2012 9:55:00PM 08/23/2012 6:28:15AM 08/23/2012 7:43:00AM 08/23/2012 3:58:40PM 08/23/2012 6:45:00PM 08/23/2012 8:46:00PM 08/23/2012 9:45:00PM 08/24/2012 7:26:45AM 08/24/2012 5:53:00PM 08/24/2012 7:16:00PM 08/24/2012 8:16:00PM 08/24/2012 9:45:00PM 08/25/2012 10:44:00AM 08/25/2012 6:30:00PM 08/26/2012 9:32:00AM 08/26/2012 2:18:00PM -------------------------------------------- Ken V. Krawchuk Author, Atlas Snubbed: An Unsanctioned Pastiche Parody AtlasSnubbed.com Ken@AtlasSnubbed.com (215) Krawchuk (but never before noon on weekends) PO Box 260 Cheltenham, Penna. 19012 View/reply to this message Don't want to receive e-mail notifications? Adjust your message settings. This email was intended for Mark Rauterkus (Head Boys Swim Coach for Pgh Obama High School at Pittsburgh Public Schools). Learn why we included this. © 2012, LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct. Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

--
--
Ta.
 
 
Mark Rauterkus       Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com    
PPS Summer Dreamers' Swim and Water Polo Camp Head Coach
Pittsburgh Combined Water Polo Team

http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com
http://FixPA.wikia.com
http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

Be Libertarian with me for one election, he asks

Interesting ad. Lots of faces from the actor at the outset.

Greg's documentary is on its last day at Kickstarter

True story. Greg dove in Pittsburgh in August 1982 at Settlers Cabin when the USA Diving Nationals came to town. I was a journalist at that event on assignment for Swimming World magazine.

Greg won both the 3-meter and 10-meter events, of course. He was excellent.

A Pittsburgh Press sports reporter was at the press interview and asked Greg, "What is the difference between the 10-meter platform and the 3-meter springboard."

It was a serious question and I almost died myself -- embarrassed for that guy. Say what???

Greg said, "Well, the platform is 10-meters high and very hard. The springboard is with a bounce and just 3-meters high."

Next question.

My opinion of Pittsburgh's sports journalists has never been lower. And, I had just graduated from J-School at Ohio University some months prior.

I hope the film comes out and is a smashing success. I am sure it will be.

Winds of change email

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward
this email to a minimum of twenty people on their
address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United
States of America will have the message.
This is one idea that really should be
passed around.


_*Congressional Reform Act of 2012*_


1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.


2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.


All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.


3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.


4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.


5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.


6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.


7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.


Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in
Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their
term(s), then go home and back to work.


If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive
the message. Don't you think it's time?


THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!


If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete.
You are one of my 20+ - Please keep it going, and thanks.

Voter ID in PA hits national TV shows

After the race, some got Jordan's autograph

How is this for a running mate photo?



That is Jordan McNamara, sub 4-minute miler, after the Liberty Mile with a few of our PPS Summer Dreamers we had in the race.

Press event on Monday to push back on Voter ID

B-PEP, Alleghenians, NAACP Pgh Chapter and the Western Pennsylvania Black Political Assembly

Joint News Conference

Monday, August 20th, 2012

6:00 p.m.

St. James A.M.E. Church

Sumpter Hall

444 Lincoln Avenue

Pittsburgh, Pa 15206

Response to the recent Commonwealth Court decision to up hold the new Voter ID Law. 

Specify plans of action to counter act the Voter ID Law will be announced.

Permission Slip - not blog worthy, but FYI

Permission Slip for: ________________________________________ (students full name)

for ALTERNATIVE DISMISSAL on the last day of Summer Dreamers, Friday, August 17, 2012, for Swim and Water Polo's participation in the PIZZA PICNIC, BUS, and LIBERTY MILE running race is either:

Part 1:

APPROVED ___ <---- circle and initial

…. or ….

NOT ALLOWED ___ <----- circle and initial

Part 2:

After the race, getting home is:

with pickup expected ___ <---- circle

…. or ….

on team's bus <----- circle

says the parent / guardian:

NAME: (please print) ____________________________________

SIGNATURE: _________________________________ Date: ________________

Cell PHONE: ______________________________ Home PHONE: _______________________

(optional) WORK Phone: ______________________________

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Camp and School Use) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Coaches INITIAL: _____________ (& date) ________

School / Summer Dreamers INITIAL: _______________ (& date) ________

Permission Note and Details for Last Day of Summer Dreamers

The final day of PPS Summer Dreamers is Friday, August 17, 2012. This letter is for parents and guardians for swimmers and water polo players. Your urgent reply is desired so we can do a special events with your student that day – if you all agree and choose to participate.

SUMMARY:

Please fill out the permission slip and return it to the school or coaches.

This is NOT a mandatory activity. This is optional. Those that can not or wish not to participate can have a regular day at Summer Dreamers and go home on the regular school bus at 4 pm. Either circle and initial APPROVED or NOT ALLOWED so we know what to do with your child on Friday and to curtail any confusion.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to attend these functions. Join the students at the school at 1 pm for the camp assembly. Or, join the students at the afternoon swim starting about 3:30 pm at Ammon on Bedford Avenue and Memory Lane. Or, join the students at 4:45 for the pizza picnic at Ammon. Or, join the students at the race site on Liberty Avenue downtown, near the Convention Center, as the squad arrives at 6:15 pm. Or, come to the race on Liberty Avenue and cheer, but be there by the start at 7 pm sharp. Tip: Aim for Liberty Avenue near the Convention Center as it is in the middle of the 1-mile course. Or, join us as we cheer for the other runners at 8 pm. Finally, come to pick up your child and sign him out with the coach at the team bus along the course before 8:15 pm.

We expect to have nearly every student get home after the race with a pick-up by his or her parents or guardians after the race which will end for our students around 7:15 pm. So, a pick-up and sign-out between 7:15 pm and 8:15 pm is ideal. Those that need a ride home on the bus can get a ride HOME on the bus starting at 8:30 pm. However, we would much rather have your presence at the events and race so you can then travel home together.

Friday schedule:

• regular arrival to Uprep.
• Bring swim suits. Bring running gear. (shorts, socks, hat?, snack)
• Students with MORNING swim and water polo have a regular swim and water polo practice. Time is 9am to noon for students who have finished grades 5 and 7.
• Regular lunch from 12:30 to 1pm.
• Students in AFTERNOON swim and water polo go to the U-PREP auditorium at 1 pm for camp assembly with a “show and tell.”
• Students in MORNING swim and water polo go to auditorium at 1 pm for same camp assembly and “show and tell.”
• At 2pm, after the camp assembly:
  • Afternoon swimmers who are going to the special event "pizza picnic" and the Liberty Mile running race jog to Ammon swim pool. Put on your shirts. Put on your shoes. These students depart U-PREP and will not return to the school. (PERMISSION SLIP NEEDED to be completed earlier.)
  • Afternoon swimmers who are NOT going to participate in the special event stay at U-PREP and watch a sports movie about Olympics and go home regular ways at 4 pm as camp ends.
  • MORNING swimmers go back to academic classes as time permits.

At 3:30 pm, after the school day ends, the MORNING SWIMMERS:

• MORNING swimmers who NOT going to the special event stay at U-PREP go home regular ways by 4 pm as camp ends.
• MORNING swimmers who are going to participate in the special event "pizza picnic" and the Liberty Mile running race meet in the swimmers classroom space with Coach Mark at dismissal. Put on your shirts. Put on your shoes. These students get on a BUS (special team bus provided) and travel to Ammon swim pool at 4 pm. These students depart U-PREP and will not return to the school.
  
  
• Students attending the Pizza PICNIC and LIBERTY MILE running race:
  • 4 pm gathering and swimming at AMMON Swim Pool. (Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend.)
  • 5 pm, GatorAid and Pizza meal. (Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend.)
  • 5:45 pm, end swimming and head to the team bus at Ammon and go to the Liberty Mile Running Race. Swimmers will not return to the swim pool or the bus. (Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend.)
  • 6:00 pm, arrival at Liberty Avenue, near Convention Center. Students can keep their gear on the team bus for the duration of the race events.
  • Students and coaches walk around the running course and check into event. (Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend.)
  • Runners get race numbers and “race provided timing chip” for their shoe laces.
  • 6:30 pm, students put their gear into “team spot” for safe keeping for the race. (Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend.)
  • 6:40 pm, runners head to the starting line. (Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend.)
  • 7 pm. The race begins for our students. Race ends in 5 to 15 minutes. (Parents and Guardians are welcome to cheer.)
  • Students return race timing chip off of shoe sneakers to race officials at finish line.
  • Check outs with coach for parents/guardians can begin after the race ends about 7:20 at the “team spot” near the team's bus.
  • 8 pm. The race begins for the professional runners. We watch and cheer.
  • 8:15 pm. Gathering at the “team spot” by the team bus. Final remarks and recap. Pick up all gear. Check out with coach.
  • Go home with parents / guardians desired after checking out between 7:15 and 8:15 pm.
  • Award presentation and results may happen for some???
  • Lone bus departs for transportation home for students without a pick-up, 8:30 pm, expected.
    
    

Do encourage your students to perform with their best behaviors and represent themselves proudly. This is a team and athletic event. Coaches always have the right to bench players.

This optional opportunity for swim and water polo campers is available due to sponsorships obtained by the camp coaches from the race officials (Liberty Mile / Pittsburgh Marathon) who provided gratis entry, goodie bags, the bus transportation, and the pizza picnic plus their supporters, Elite Runners and Walkers, provided the running shoes.

Mark Rauterkus Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com
PPS Summer Dreamers' Swim and Water Polo Camp Head Coach

412 298 3432 = cell 

Today's Water Polo Game

Free Ademo

Check it out, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/adam-ademo-mueller-journa_n_1748057.html?utm_hp_ref=education#comments

Civil Rights and Swimming

The start of the modern Civil Rights Movement can be traced to the demand by Black veterans for equal access to beaches and swimming pools after World War II. A photo of a motel manager pouring muriatic acid on the heads of swimmers made front page news across the country and is widely credited with influencing the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the very next day. With few exceptions, virtually every attempt to integrate swimming pools and beaches resulted in violence, even after the Supreme Court overruled segregation. Most municipal pools chose to close rather than to integrate. Today most public swimming pools are as segregated as they were in 1964, including Minneapolis.

And,

The link between academic success and exercise, specifically cardio-vascular exercise, is clearly demonstrated. The more physically fit a child is, the better they perform academically. Swimming has the added benefits of teaching strategies to overcome fear and build self-confidence. Swimmers have the highest GPAs and graduation rates.

New film of a past event

A snip from yesterday's water polo game with middle school girls