Gov. Rendell's "Blah, Blah, Blah" Campaign Strategy

Grant R. Gulibon of the Commonwealth Foundation released a message on 05.15.06:

Ever had a conversation with someone who starts to tell a story and then, midway through, says "Blah blah blah" (or words to that effect) and then skips ahead to the end-without providing details on what happened in between? This often leaves the listener confused and wondering what important facts the speaker is omitting.

Well, whoever wrote Gov. Ed Rendell's first campaign commercial is that kind of storyteller-because the ad employs the "blah blah blah" strategy of relating the beginning and end of a tale about the governor's fiscal policies, while leaving out some critical information about what happened in the middle. And in this case, the story's listeners-Pennsylvania citizens-really ought to hear more about the Rendell record on taxes and spending.

See the rest in the comments or at their site.

UPMC mulls expansion plan - Pittsburgh - MSNBC.com

UPMC mulls expansion plan - Pittsburgh - MSNBC.com The site already has received zoning approval for a mixed-use development and has community support, Peduto said. The project also has been awarded $11.1 million in tax increment financing, as well as state grants to help overcome water and sewer line issues that have played a part in the project's delay.

First off, recind the tax break to the developer who didn't move on the development. We don't need to have that floating out there any longer.

Who is the most important voter?

Russ Diamond Podcast: Pennsylvania's Most Important Voter

Description: Audio podcast encouraging voters to support PACleanSweep candidates from Russ Diamond, Independent for Governor.

Vote for one:

A. Clean Sweeper on a bike.

B. Lead Clean sweeper touching up the bus stop and the ten million signs.

C. Inventor of the water tank, brush bike for removal of grafitti.

D. Brush building on the sidewalk.

E. Man picking crack.

F. Hand brush salesman on bike.

G. None of the above.

---

Leave your vote in the comments section of this blog.

An accidental Pittsburgher - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

An accidental Pittsburgher - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Kevin McClatchy had to squint.

Golly.

PNC Park is "breathtaking" -- or is it really built to take something else away from the people -- beyond one's breath. By the way, I'd say it is better to go to a swim pool and swim laps for a real 'breathtaking' experience. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, ...

More swimming pools could be reopened

More swimming pools could be reopened Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor said yesterday that he hopes to open 17 or 18 city swimming pools this summer.

That's up from 14 last year, but down from 31 in 2003.

What does the Aquatic Task Force say about these pools? (giggle, giggle)

Getting the pool ready to open. Unravel the "red tape."

This outdoor pool also resides, in part, under a building. So, the pool is part outdoor and part indoor. The building above is a "rec center" of sorts. It holds badminton courts. The city's stadium is next door -- just 50 yards away (behind and to the right of the photographer's position).

Writers Wanted for 'mind washing blog' -- not really

Here is a job opportunity for the Running Mates to sell some soap and sound off on all those pent up feel good stories.

Progress Pittsburgh Forums :: View topic - Writers Wanted: Writer’s Wanted

Writers for Pop City, a new e-magazine and Web site with features on economic development, technology and business, arts and culture, and remarkable people and places. The goal is to document the continuing transformation of Pittsburgh through lively articles that portray the authentic and thriving Pittsburgh. Contact editor at tcerto@adelphia.net and log onto www.popcitymedia.com.

Day of decision interview from Bill S of the Trib

Thanks for a great interview Bill.

Day of decision - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

You look back two years ago, out of 193 House incumbents seeking re-election, only 15 had opponents in both the primary and general election. This year it is a hundred and something....

A: I don't have any sense of that because I think that the people are not looking at it as a party problem but as a government problem. You would think that the Republicans would have more to lose, because they have been in control of the Legislature for 14 years. It's not an irrational argument for people to say, "Well, gee, 14 years you've controlled the House and our Senate - and where's our property tax relief?" But the Democrats haven't exactly been a force for change and improvement, either.... There really isn't a difference between the parties. It's not a partisan problem, it's a government problem. We need to reinvent our government in a way that actually responds to the needs of citizens - that addresses the real problems that we have, whether they are economic or social or anything else, and that people have confidence that it's working for their benefit. We don't have that now. The Issues.PA poll that came out yesterday shows that confidence in government is at an all-time low. That reputation is well deserved. The people in office have not done a good job. Period. End of story.

Read the entire article for more insights.

Prep for Bike To Work Week

Bike to work!

Scene from the West End on a recycle a bicycle event hosted by Citiparks in the past.

May 15–19 is Bike to Work Week!

Help get the word out about these fun events intended to network, grow, and promote the Pittsburgh bicycling community!

Monday, May 15 – Biker Breakfasts from 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
* Whole Foods, East Liberty
* City-County building, downtown
* Carnegie Library in Oakland

Tuesday, May 16 – City Council proclamation will acknowledge Bike to Work Week

Wednesday, May 17 – Bike Breakfast at Carnegie Mellon (8am outside of the University Center)

Wednesday, May 17 – Commuter Clinic

* Bike Pittsburgh Executive Director Scott Bricker will offer tips on getting to and from work on two wheels, 7 p.m. at REI on the South Side

Friday, May 19 – End of the week party at the Brillobox (Corner of Penn and Main in Bloomfield). Come out and meet fellow Pittsburgh bike commuters and Bike Pittsburgh – the folks working to make the city better for bicycling. Members get 1 free drink!

Learn more about Bike Pittsburgh at www.bike-pgh.org. We’re working hard to make biking to work, shopping, and exercising by bike safe and fun for everyone in Pittsburgh!

Bike to Work Week is part of Great Outdoors Week which includes Venture Outdoors Festival (May 20th on the North Shore between the stadiums) and Pedal Pittsburgh (May 21 at Station Square Amphitheater.

Encourage others to bike to work.

Offer to meet a coworker somewhere along the way —- such as the Eliza Furnace Trail or Highland Ave. -— so you can ride to work together.

Make the most of MapHub and ByCycle or get involved with a BikePool to find routes and fellow riders.

Host your own biker breakfast! Bring coffee and bagels to share with your coworkers who ride in. You’ll be very popular.

Talk to your employer about installing bike racks, lockers, and even showers to encourage more people to opt to ride instead of drive to work.

Looking for more information? Please feel free to contact info -at- bike-pgh.org.

Bicycle vs. car facts:

According to a survey conducted by the Federal Highway Administration, 40 percent of all trips are within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work. Yet more than 82 percent of trips five miles or less are made by personal motor vehicle.

Cycling at least 20 miles a week cuts in half your risk of heart disease compared to non-cyclists who take no exercise, according to the British Heart Foundation. The British Medical Association also recommends that you cycle daily.
Grant and Erik sit in the back seat of a bike in a bike shop -- before we purchase it. Photo from May, 2005, when we were in Chengdu, Southwestern China. We rode that bike all around that city for four weeks. We'd go back to various bike shops, on a near daily basis to get various fixes and adjustments. It was like a fine-tuned sports car.

A month later, as we were about to depart China, Erik and Grant got to wheeling and dealing with a crowd of bike "experts" and "prospective buyers." The bike was "for sale" and the boys were trying to make a bargain with some locals. None spoke English.

The model American male devotes more than 1,600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and searches for it. He earns the money to put down on it and to meet the monthly installments. He works to pay for gasoline, tolls, insurance, taxes, and tickets. He spends four of his sixteen waking hours on the road or gathering his resources for it. And this figure does not take into account the time consumed by other activities dictated by transport: time spent in hospitals, traffic courts, and garages; time spent watching automobile commercials or attending consumer education meetings to improve the quality of the next buy. - Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity

The bicycle also uses little space. Eighteen bikes can be parked in the place of one car, thirty of them can move along in the space devoured by a single automobile. It takes three lanes of a given size to move 40,000 people across a bridge in one hour by using automated trains, four to move them on buses, twelve to move them in their cars, and only two lanes for them to pedal across on bicycles. Of all these vehicles, only the bicycle really allows people to go from door to door without walking. The cyclist can reach new destinations of his choice without his tool creating new locations from which he is barred. -Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity

Erik and I at Ohio Pyle -- on a rest stop -- for That Dam Ride, a 2-day 140 mile trip. Photo from September 2005.

Beijing to boost patrol force for '08 Games to 50,000 - Friday May 12, 2006 7:52AM

Multiple fences beteen the spectators and field.

SI.com - Olympics - Beijing to boost patrol force for '08 Games to 50,000 - Friday May 12, 2006 7:52AM Beijing will build a 50,000-strong civil patrol force by 2008 to bolster security ahead of the Olympic Games, a Chinese newspaper said on Friday.

The force would comprise 70 percent permanent residents, 20 percent retired soldiers and 10 percent from Beijing's non-permanent resident population, the Beijing News reported.

Already 21,000-strong, the force would grow to 30,000 by the end of the year, the newspaper quoted police official Miao Lin as saying.

The government had already spent 200 million yuan building the force, the official added.

Patrol members were responsible for checking criminal activity, accident damage control, venue security, assisting in emergency situations and managing dangers within their jurisdiction, said Liu Yucheng, a Beijing Public Security Bureau official.

In addition to a fixed monthly salary of up to 700 yuan ($87), members would receive accident and injury insurance, and bonuses for assisting in emergency situations and making arrests that led to criminal charges, Liu added.

Police stop people and an instant crowd gathers right around the action. When we were stopped by the police, while on our bike, we were encircled within moments. The circle of onlookers was five deep and 20 or more around.

Walk For A Healthy Community for DePaul School for Hearing and Speech

We are almost a week away from the Fourth Annual Walk For A Healthy
Community presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at the Chevrolet Amphitheater in Station Square. We have a few very special announcements to make to all of those who've registered to support DePaul School For Hearing and Speech.

* Registration begins at 7:45 a.m. and it's recommended that you arrive for the Walk before 8:30 a.m.

More details in the comments section.

Brainstorming could remake Fifth-Forbes

Brainstorming could remake Fifth-Forbes Mayor Bob O'Connor's effort to chart a new course for the run-down Fifth and Forbes corridor Downtown takes another turn next week. But you'll need an invitation to take part.

By invitation only. Right. That is a fine way to get a consensus plan that you want. Just invite who you like.

This is no 'starting point.' The starting point is that the all the king's horses and all the king's men won't be able to fix Pittsburgh again. That start has come -- gone -- and proven itself to be true time and time again.

While Mr. Murphy came under fire for not being inclusive enough in his planning for the Fifth and Forbes corridor, Mr. Dettore does not believe that will be a problem this time around.

"I think every base has been covered," he said.

Every base -- now that POP has a blog -- they can say they have 'bloggers too.' There were few others who even knew what to do with the 'blogging concepts' back when there was a plan of public participation in 2000 and 2001. That was a joke too. Every base has been covered..... Give me a break.

They want to rush ahead and build upon the failures of the past.

The theme song, "Lay the Shovel Down" seems to fit again. As does the message, "think again."

Mr. Gallaher "was miffed...." Get in line pal. We've all been miffed. We've all been through it before.

Swimming season is here!

Indictments Announced In Huge Drug Bust

Good work. But, let's not call a big drug bust -- "fantastic for our city."

kdka.com - Indictments Announced In Huge Drug Bust "This is fantastic for our city," said Mayor Bob O�Connor.

Where are the visitors to the All-Star Game going to go to get their drugs? Not to a two-bit auto repair place nor a hauling company with trucks an at.

Help wanted: Drug pushers with nice cars and no record of zoning abuses. Come quickly while the city is still without a personelle director nor a 'weed and seed' director.

GOP's Hillman backs Democrat - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

GOP's Hillman backs Democrat - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Hillman said her endorsement of Wagner is part of the 'Run, Baby, Run' campaign, an effort to get more women elected to the state Legislature. Hillman also noted that there is no Republican candidate on the primary ballot.

Dormont pool group gets pat on the back

Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Laurel: To Friends of Dormont Pool Inc. A door-to-door campaign has raised enough money to open Dormont Pool this summer after all. The borough council this week reversed a decision to close the pool that's in need of major repairs. It also approved a deal that will see the grass-roots group pay for those interim fixes. The effort redefines for the better what the word 'community' really means."

PLUM Students Walk Out In Protest At Plum HS

WPXI.com - News - Students Walk Out In Protest At Plum HS ... About 60 students walked out of school in protest of the proposed 2006-2007 school budget.

In the new budget, students would have to pay a $50 participation fee to play sports or other activities.

Also, anywhere from six to 20 teachers positions could be eliminated.

School board officials said it is to help the district cut its budget, which is currently almost $2.2 million in the red.

The protesters said it's not fair to make the students have to compensate for the district's financial problems.

Student Sarah Urbanowicz said, 'We don't deserve to have our teachers cut who help us so much. This morning they told us we could write letters and stuff that would work but they didn't listen to us in the board meeting. Why would they listen to letters? We can't take this so we walked out.'

I Want My M-TV..... and make it free ... and where's Waldo?

Posted by Amy Gahran

Where Is That Stephen Colbert Video Now?

Stephen Colbert's now famous/infamous performance at the April 29 White House Correspondents Association dinner launched an online firestorm. C-SPAN shot and broadcasted the video, which was immediately recorded and widely reposted online by enthusiastic Colbert fans, Bush detractors, media critics, and others.

C-SPAN, which holds the copyright to that video, recently asked the popular video-sharing sites YouTube (http://youtube.com) and iFilm (http://ifilm.com) to remove the Colbert performance from their offerings. Both services complied. (Although, as of this writing, iFilm is offering an ABCnews.com closeup video of President Bush watching (http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2724944) Colbert's "audition tape" spoof -- and appearing none too pleased.)

C-SPAN recently announced (http://www.c-span.org/special/colbert.asp) that it has entered into a non-exclusive arrangement with Google Video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879) "in order to increase the Colbert event's free availability. We worked with Google because they agreed to post both dinner segments in their entirety with links to c-span.org."

Of course, the Colbert video is distributed far and wide, and is by now impossible to recall -- from the fan blog Thank You Stephen Colbert (http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/) and video-sharing site DevilDucky (http://www.devilducky.com/media/45146/) to respected media organizations like Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/politics/2006/04/30/colbert_press/inde
x.html) (where I first saw it).

I can understand C-SPAN wanting to protect its copyright. However, when news footage "goes viral," there's no containing or corralling it. So the question becomes, what can news organizations do -- if anything -- to leverage such viral runaways? Please share your thoughts on this in a comment below. I'd love to hear some ideas on this.

Are you ready for some.... 'soccer.'

"Soccer" in U.S. and "football" everywhere else, the sport with most fans in the world, will have its World Cup competition in Germany in June. Are you ready?
Soccer ball in front of a sports stadium in Chengdu, China.

Congress critters to hit against "my space" and other social sites with pending law

The problem with this proposed bill is it tries to draw a line that in the real world won't be so clear. It will be impossible to draw. Enforcement will be lax and a joke.

Perhaps a solution or suggestion could be vendor ethical practices that call for parental consent to enter such networks. This would rest on the backs of the vendors.

A couple of states attorney generals (or auditor generals) could force this issue to them -- in advance of a congressional law of blacklisting.

I think blacklisting, as the law is being hatched, is a bad idea.

Free D.C. event for student journalists

On Friday, June 2, "The Nation" and CampusProgress.org will co-host a FREE Student Journalism Conference at the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C.

Student writers will have the opportunity to come together for a day of conversations, workshops, panels, and trainings featuring numerous "Nation" editors and writers, including Katrina Vanden Heuvel, David Corn, John Nichols, Liza Featherstone, William Greider, Eric Alterman, Laura Flanders and Victor Navasky, among many others.

Registration is free including meals. A limited number of travel stipends are still available. Both undergraduates and graduate students are welcome.

The application deadline is May 15.

For more information, http://www.alternet.org/nationinfo or, to apply, http://www.alternet.org/nationapply

For progressive journalism, Kristina Rizga, Editor, WireTapMag.org

Online Journalism Awards: Entries Start May 15 to June 15. The entry form is not yet online, but will be available shortly.