Call for Videos for contest

Open Source Shorts is a screening of short films released under Creative Commons licences.

Creative Commons licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors and artists and build on the "all rights reserved" concept of traditional copyright to offer a voluntary "some rights reserved" approach.

With Creative Commons licences people are free to copy distribute and remix creative works without the threat of being labelled pirates. The screening will be followed by a short discussion on Creative Commons.

Support creativity support the commons.

This event is presented by local artist Kevin Flanagan at the Nuns Island Arts Centre, Galway at 5 pm Saturday 2nd of December, 2006.

I am currently seeking submissions. The criteria are straight forward. The film should be at most 10 minutes in duration, published with a ceative commons copyright licence and freely available to download from the internet.

I'm looking for variety and am open to different styles. Documentary, Narative/Non-Narative, Art films, and Music Videos.

To submit a film simply email kev.flanagan@gmail.com your details and a description of your film and a link where I can view and download it from.

End date for submissions is the November 10th.

http://kevflanagan.wordpress.com

http://kevflanagan.wordpress.com/open-source-shorts/

For more information on CC licences see http://creativecommons.org

Language Help with a price tag

If you are interested in additional language instruction for your child(ren), you might want this contact. Instruction is available in French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese.

Institute of International Art and Languages

A German class is starting next week in Highland Park and will be held every Tuesday from 4:00 to 5:30. The German instructor is a native speaker (a German women) with a PH D. in Art history and she will teach German through visual art and craft.

The fee for 9 weeks (1h 30m) is $202.50.

Original source: Christine Frechard-Harbison, Institute of Art and Languages, 1135 Mellon St., Pittsburgh PA 15206, 412 661 0177

Read the sign in an urban park in Chengdu with greenspace and water front treatments for pedestrians.

South Siders tell LCB 'enough already' to bar scenes

Chuck is a 'running mate' and he gets interviewed in the P-G about a pressing local issue, bars.

South Siders tell LCB 'enough already' to bar scenes

South Side residents and business owners say they are dismayed, but not surprised, that another orange 'public notice of application' for transfer of a liquor license has appeared on East Carson Street.

The notice of the pending application at 1311 East Carson has drawn a spate of protest letters to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

'Just what we need, another watering hole,' wrote Charles Nogal, who owns a ceramics business across the street. 'I think it is time to say enough already.'

A hell raising meeting was held last week on this issue. Jeff Koch didn't attend and he should have been there.

The meeting's prime presenter was Bruce Krane. Bruce Kraus was there and couldn't even keep his lips shut after being told to hold all questions and comments to the end, already. Yeah, we all know it is okay to call 9-1-1. Mr. Krane did do a nice job with the meeting.

We have a bar task force now on the South Side. It got decent coverage in the South Pittsburgh Reporter too. I'm sure that this group is making people quake in their boots now.

Presently, the South Side is over-run with bars.

Well, there isn't such a thing as a 'bar' in terms of the LCB (Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board). There are places to eat and some of these place can serve drinks. Every 'bar' on the South Side, and wherever else, needs to be able to deliver 30 hot meals to qualify as a joint that meets LCB requirements. That's like three packs of hot dogs and a hot plate, -- check.

We all agree that there are too many bars. But, not all of us agree on what to do about it. I'm a freemarket guy and made the observation after the meeting to any who might care to listen that 20 to 40 of these 200-or-more bars on the South Side are going to go out of business as soon as the gambling casino opens. Perhaps the slots parlor is granted to South Side's Station Square, then what!

You won't need a 'bar task force' to thin out the competition in a few months.

So, as I see it: There are short term worries. Then there are long-term worries.

Task force actions need to think about life here, before and after the casino opens.

Many of the bars are on the brink. Some have gone out of business. It is hard to keep the lights on and make a decent income when there are so many places. They are eating each other's hope for any of them to have a sustained business.

Frankly, the ones that are now just getting opened, are here way to late. They'll spend money on the re-hab and ramp-up. They'll not have a decent ROI (Return On Investment). They'll need to do something 'special' to survive in this marketplace. Otherwise they'll die.

Perhaps 20 will not be able to meet payroll. Perhaps some others will have their gas cut as they've slid on their bills. Some might need to churn with new owners as there are always new suckers who think that they want to own a cool venue in a hot area. There will be some corrections and they'll come from the invisible hand of the competitive forces of the marketplace.

Gotta run for now.

Statement before the the RAD Board

Statement before the On August 28, the Director of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh came before you and talked about future plans for the Library system, including plans to repair damage done by a lightning strike to the historic Allegheny Regional Branch of Carnegie Library—the nation’s first publicly-funded Carnegie Library, built in the neighborhood where Andrew Carnegie grew-up. She failed, purposely, to tell you of plans to abandon this historic library in favor of building a new library structure three blocks away, while allowing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to announce these plans only three days later!

They are playing the RAD board like a fiddle.

Glenn A. Walsh spoke before the RAD Board today, again. Here he was speaking before the Buhl and Old Carnegie Library on the North Side. It is the first of Carnegie's under his library formula.

Was that an election or a rubber stamp?

T. Martin posted something that caught my attention. The PA Supreme Court ordered that the retention vote for Nigro and Newman, one lost and the other won, was not an election. The voter numbers were not to count as a state-wide election.

So, if it wasn't an election, candidate Martin suggested that it was a 'rubber stamp.'

But, in this case, it was a historic stamp as one of the judges got stamped OUT.

Here are some rubber stamp images to ponder. Rubber stamps for sale.

Close up of rubber stamp.

Chop, chop, chop.

A more lavish, stone aged, timeless rubber stamp. These stone blocks are carved with a person's symbol / logo. They make nice tourist gifts as a reminder of a by-gone past.

Romanelli stuck with $90,000 bill for ballot dispute : The Morning Call Online

This is CRAP. I can't scream it loud enough. This sucks.

Un-democratic democrats are slime and the lowest thing in our political landscape today, in my not so humble opinion.

All democrats, this brings shame on you.

All friends of democracy need to pitch a fit on this too.

Romanelli stuck with $90,000 bill for ballot dispute : The Morning Call Online Romanelli stuck with $90,000 bill for ballot dispute

He is appealing ruling that found him short of required signatures.

By Josh Drobnyk Call Washington Bureau
| The state Democratic Party has hit Carl Romanelli and his attorney with a nearly $90,000 tab a week after the Green Party candidate lost a legal challenge to his bid to get on the U.S. Senate ballot.

The bill, submitted as part of a state judge's ruling that Romanelli is responsible for all costs associated with the challenge, includes more than $48,000 in attorney fees. It adds to what Romanelli described as a deepening campaign debt.

This is one of the major reasons why I pulled out of my race for PA Senate in the 42nd district.

I could be, and should be on the ballot on November 7. But, doing so puts me and my family on thin ice. Very thin -- as in $90k underwater thin.

This is a freeze out of the highest order.

Fighting for the right to vote is important. Fighting for the right to have your vote counted is also very important. But, they (un-democratic democrats) hi-jack who you can vote for -- and hi-jack ballot access -- and hi-hack questions that are presented to the voters. And, if you fight, you face a $90,000 bill.

When I went to court in the middle of August, 2006, the first thing I asked about was court costs. We were called to order, and I didn't sit down. "Your honor, I have a few matters that need your attention before we begin...."

Court costs were not part of the threat in the ballot challenge I was presented. But, I needed to know, up front, if my case would ever come to a point where I would be on the hook for paying for court costs. And, if I would ever be on the hook for paying for the opposition attorney fees. I wanted to have those facts understood and up-front before we were to proceed.

I hadn't even activated a bank account for my campaign. I had $0 in the bank in my PAC -- because the PAC wasn't even alive yet.

I was there without an attorney. I was there as a citizen candidate who had the right to be on the ballot because I had done the necessary paperwork and gotten the signatures to go before the voters for them to decide who should be the state senator.

It was estimated by a few good friends of mine that the opposition attorney had already racked up between $5,000 and $10,000 in legal charges. And, I hadn't yet begun to defend my campaign's hope of reaching the voters.

My court date was in mid-August, and today the newspaper are reporting today on yesterday's final outcome of the Romanelli appeal. That's the same timeline I was looking at.

It took another local, political friend, Titus North, and his team, more than a month of legal fighting, day-in-day out to get to a decision on his opportunity to be a candidate before the voters. His decision was known in mid September.

Titus North, Green Party Candidate for US Congress. He spent two weeks in a tent in Harrisburg to stay on the ballot. More than half of the challenges the Ds put before the judge were nothing but fiction.

I took this photo of Titus after Bob O'Connor's funeral mass on September 1. The proceedings in court were still underway that week.

This isn't unreal -- but a part of the bag of tricks of the un-democratic democrats. They have a standard play book, and this is what you do on 2nd down. Even if it is second down and less than a yard to go.

The United States sends men and women around the world to stand in harms way to fight for democracy. For what?

Wayne Fontana put that legal challenge against me -- and in doing so I feel that he greatly discounted the worth and dignity of all American veterans of all time. Wayne Fontana has a committee assignment that deals with Veterans Affairs. He needs to overhaul his sense of duty to them.

Wayne Fontana can stand up and tell veterans that they went to war to fight for this country and our freedoms and rights. Fontana can say, Democracy is important to our nation, except now, when Fontana is in charge of a stash of slush money that gives democratic cronies access to legal henchmen to knock down anyone who might offer peeps of challenges.

Bob Casey Jr, you stink.

Wayne Fontana, you stink.

Un-democratic democrats, you all stink.

Senator Jim Ferlo didn't file a challenge against his opponent. He doesn't stink.

US Congressman, Mike Doyle, you stink.

Tens of thousands of signatures that came from tens of thousands of citizens of Pennsylvanias didn't mean jack. Thousands of people got ignored. The judge sealed that decision and it was pushed along by the democrats. The big blame goes onto the backs of the democrats.

It took six weeks for the fight to occur in the courts. It took another six months of gathering signatures. Meanwhile, we have little else to talk about in terms of what Romanelli has to say on the issues. Skunked.

We all loose.

Perhaps Pennsylvania is 46th out of the 50 states in terms of job creation. But, I have a hunch that PA is 50th out of 50th in terms of its sense of democracy.

This is what is killing our state, our region and our city. People in power don't have respect for the big-minded values of what makes us different and something other than those we fight against.

Bob Casey Jr. does not get my vote.

Yes, it is being reported that the decision to knock Romanelli off the ballot is a big victory for Casey. No way. I see it in another way. Casey's goons knocked Romanelli off the ballot and knocked democracy in the teeth in doing so.

Then they issue a dental bill for $90,000 to be paid by the citizen candidate Romanelli. He works for the rail road. He went through hell just to get an attempt to try to serve his country and this is the thanks he gets -- from Casey and his cronies.

Perhaps it is Casey's wish to put PA back into the dark ages. He just wants to win. Screw that mentality.

Tiny brained leadership stinks. Fontana fits that mold too.

I'm glad I pulled out of the state senate race, before the judge, when I did. I'm glad I don't have a $90,000 bill to pay. Well, perhaps my bill would have been half of that. I'm still glad I don't have a $45,000 bill to pay.

Rick Santorum is no friend of mine. But Casey and Fontana and Doyle have proven to be mortal enemies to democracy. They don't believe that the people should decide, as I do.

Futhermore, I know of a lot of Democrats who are aiding and helping Rick Santorum. Likewise, I know of a lot of Republicans who are aiding and helping Bob Casey. When I ran as a Libertarian, I had a lot of help from Ds, Rs, Is, and Gs. People in the U.S.A. have a RIGHT to Free Association. It is understood and even healthy when there are different camps and different campers moving about from campaign and candidate -- as they so choose. Choice is great!

So, don't expect this crap to stick concerning how Romanelli, a Green, was 'funded' as some secret double agent for the status quo vangards. That is spin that resonantes with me much like what I've seen going down the drain in a toilet.

Romanelli took some campaign money from Rs. So what. Romanelli also took money from Ds, Greens and others. Casey takes money from Rs. Santorum takes money from Ds. So what. I'd love to see more and more folks fund third party folks because they love democracy.

It takes all types to make the world go around. Perhaps this is why Pennsylvania and our region are flat. Pennsylvania is old school. Pennsylvania is without the buzz of diversity, without inclusion. PA is where people get to ride on the laurels of their parents, Bob Casey, Jr.

People vote with their feet. People are leaving Pennsylvania. This is why.

People won't go out to vote for Bob Casey. Bob Casey and his cronies are clueless about democracy. Bob Casey is clueless about how to make peace.

Bob Casey doesn't win friend, influence people nor get votes by signing off on pay raise checks while State Treasurer, not showing up for work, nor kicking democracy in the teeth and sending a bill of $90,000 to those who just got kicked.

Hex... Humm.... Heartbreak.... Hardships... Healing

From Hex photos released to the public domain.

This photo collection is released into the public domain and is called, "Hex." Enjoy. Do what you wish with the images.

Template:Unencylopedia license - PittsburghPlatform: "Licensed under absolutely nothing. Have a field day. Abuse this for your own sick pleasures."

For most, it is hard to connect with the Amish. That relationship isn't "easy" to make.

Pennsylvania's legacy of being a place where religious freedom is respected is something that we should never forget.

Pop City - Giving Voice to Big Ideas

I was there. And, I've been the top point earner in the follow-up web site too. Big whup.

Pop City - Giving Voice to Big Ideas On a bright summery Saturday in September, hundreds of young Pittsburghers flocked downtown, clutching coffee and cartoon-like postcards, to fill classrooms at the Creative and Performing Arts High School (CAPA).

Sprout Fund boss, formerly with Jim Roddey and helper in the New Idea Factory, spreads some hype at the event. Click the image to see a snip of video.

Don't start school before LABOR DAY

We did not start school until AFTER Labor Day. We held out, because we were elsewhere, with a job, on travels, and not willing to come back for two days of school.

We love school. We don't love it before Labor Day in our family.

The "No Child Left Behind" slogan has a different meaning with us. We won't leave our children behind. We take em with us when we go.

INSIDE THE CAPITOL

Early start costs state

Starting school before Labor Day costs the state's economy $387 million, according to a report released last week by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. That was music to the ears of Rep. Robert Godshall, R-Montgomery, who has legislation pending to prohibit districts from starting school before the September holiday.

'The study confirms what has been my contention all along, that starting the school year before Labor Day harms the state's economy, especially the tourism industry, and has a negative effect on jobs,' he said.

Photo shows my child, Grant, leaving us behind. Grant was in an open-water swim race on the first day of school this year, Thursday before Labor Day. We were in Canada, where we should have been. (Click image for a larger view.)

Pa. Supreme Court rejects Green's bid to relax ballot rule

This was more than a Green bid to call an election an election. I was on my knees in prayer that the election in the fall would be called an election too.

AP Wire | 10/03/2006 | Pa. Supreme Court rejects Green's bid to relax ballot rule: "HARRISBURG, Pa. - The state Supreme Court dealt another blow Tuesday to a Green Party candidate's U.S. Senate campaign by refusing to reduce the number of signatures that minor-party candidates need to run for statewide office.

In a one-sentence order, the court upheld a state judge's decision in August that required Carl Romanelli to gather an unusually high 67,070 signatures to qualify for the Nov. 7 ballot alongside Republican Sen. Rick Santorum and Democratic state Treasurer Bob Casey.

Romanelli had argued that the formula for calculating the number of signatures should be based on last year's judicial retention elections in which state judges run unopposed and voters cast up-or-down votes on whether they should serve additional 10-year terms.

I hate one line decisions from judges.

It would not take a constitutional convention to fix this mess.

Mini Linux PC breaks $100 barrier

Need a new computer?

Mini Linux PC breaks $100 barrier a tiny, 200MHz x86-compatible mini PC for $99, in single quantities.

Tag Time

Online Fundraising Auction for DePaul School of Hearing and Speech

Make Your Bid to Support DePAUL SCHOOL FOR HEARING & SPEECH!!

Now is your chance to not only get all the great items you want, but to do it knowing you are helping support DePaul's mission to bring auditory/oral education to children with hearing and speech impairments.

A gala is slated for the days ahead. The fundraiser items for sale in an auction are now online.

cMarket - Online Fundraising Auction Services for Nonprofits: "'The Bus' Jerome Bettis Autographed Football
Authentic Pittsburgh Steelers limited edition foot... Priceless Bid Now --> $100.00

Mayor pushes to fill position - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Mayor pushes to fill position - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Ravenstahl yesterday also appointed Chief of Staff Yarone Zober to fill former Chief of Staff B.J. Leber's unexpired term on the Urban Redevelopment Authority. It hasn't been decided if Zober will chair the five-member board.

Gaming groups to meet - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Junket. Closed meetings. These guys are old school politicians in training. Its is shame. They don't speak for me.

Gaming groups to meet - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review After visiting casinos in Colorado and Missouri, members of the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force are holding closed-door meetings today with two of the three groups seeking a slots license in the city.

Using private foundation money, the task force members last week visited casinos operated by all three of the groups and met with community leaders. The meetings today will focus on design proposals by Isle of Capri Casinos and Majestic Star Casino.

Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, which would open Harrah's Station Square Casino, did not host the nine-member delegation and does not plan to participate in today's meetings.

League of Pissed Off Voters holds event

They used my slogan suggestion -- "Voting makes your teeth whiter."

Here are the details of an event:

Confused about who to vote for this November 7?

Come get the skinny on all the cats who are fighting to represent you!

What: Pgh. League of Young Voters Fall 2006 Candidate Forum

Where: The Union Project, 801 N. Negley Avenue, Highland Park

When: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 6:30 PM

Who: Candidates for U.S. Senate, House, PA Governor, PA Senate and House.

Light refreshments will be served!

Confirmed campaigns include:

Rendell for Governor (D)

Swann for Governor (R)

Doyle for Congress (D)

North for Congress (G)

Altmire for Congress (D)

Kluko for Congress (D)

Jane Orie for PA Senate (R)

Wayne Fontana for PA Senate (D) -- screw him (blogmaster's note)

Lisa Bennington for PA House (D)

Chelsa Wagner for PA House (D)

Shawn Flaherty for PA House (D)

Mark Harris for PA House (R)

(All of the opponents of these candidates have been contacted and many will most likely send a surrogate.)

What: Candidates or their representatives will speak for 3 minutes about the following issues: Urban public transit, diversity, employment/entrepreneurial opportunity, cultural amenities and smart growth. The audience (aka YOU) will have three minutes to ask each individual questions. Then the candidate will give a 1 minute closing statement in response.

Make an informed decision this November 7!

Get the 4-1-1 on the candidates who represent the 4-1-2 (and 7-2-4)!

The Tartan Online : Media advances include using blogs for news

This Running Mates blog might not save the world, but it might be able to help kill Maglev's arrival in Pittsburgh. Here we are before we board the Maglev in China.

CMU's newspaper gives some insights into a blog-focused lecture on Pitt's campus last week. I missed the talk to do some home repairs.

The Tartan Online : Media advances include using blogs for news However, blogging does have its beneficial points. On Wednesday, Ethan Zuckerman came to speak at the University of Pittsburgh as part of the university’s global studies program and International Week. Zuckerman is currently conducting research at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, studying information technology in developing countries. At the International Week event, Zuckerman spoke about blogging; he believes that weblogs can be used to close gaps in mainstream media coverage throughout the world.

Zuckerman founded Geekcorps in 1999. The program sends information technicians from more technologically adept countries to developing areas, including Africa, Eastern Europe, South Asia, and Central America, to teach basic software programming and other technology-focused skills. The idea is to enable residents of those areas to subsist off their own knowledge. For example, small businesses can be built on basic computing knowledge. The Geekcorps program has been so successful that it was recently announced as one of the Tech Museum Award winners.

Zuckerman, too, encourages his workers to keep blogs. He believes that they are useful forms of communication between the workers and the average citizen. Hopefully, the messages sent and the experiences described will have a lasting effect on the audience.

Some blogs do not carry a message so heavy in world change. Rather, some inadvertenly have a huge impact. For instance, the popular movie Snakes on a Plane was defined partially by blogging. The site www.snakesonablog.com helped influence different portions of the movie; it became a bulletin board for ideas for the movie. In fact, the site includes a link to “Snakes on a Forum,” from which people can post and collect ideas and thoughts. Now that the movie has been released to the public, Snakes on a Blog mostly carries humorous photographs, fan art, and random posts. The power of this site is incredible — it both promoted and shaped the movie.

While people like Zuckerman may advocate blogs as a tool to change the world, the typical teenager has other reasons for the addicting habit. First-year chemistry major Derek McQuade is one such teenager. Though he does not blog too frequently, he does encourage its use. McQuade said, “I don’t know why I do it. I just do.” Unlike of many bloggers, McQuade does not disclose personal information. He usually just allows a description of his day to suffice. “It’s really just for me. I mean if people read it, that’s great, but it really is just for me.”

CollegeSwimming.com -- NY Times and Rutgers Football

CollegeSwimming.com :: View topic - NY Times and Rutgers Football NY Times and Rutgers Football

Netflix Prize, get $1M

You know that two local Blockbuster stores have closed recently.

Netflix Prize: Home The Netflix Prize seeks to substantially improve the accuracy of predictions about how much someone is going to love a movie based on their movie preferences. Improve it enough and you win one (or more) Prizes. Winning the Netflix Prize improves our ability to connect people to the movies they love.

We saw Star Wars in China. And I'm certain that this isn't the way to get the $1M prize.

I'm still waiting for a review of The Guardian. Anyone?

Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership hosting an event on Oct 25

Interesting event that you might be interested in attending.

Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership In Pursuit of the Public Interest - Wednesday, October 25, 2006 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Athletic Association, Bigelow Room

Upcoming Events

What does the injunction, "Serve the public interest," really mean for public managers, and why is it important?

Dr. Carol Lewis, professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, will discuss different perspectives of public interest and offer a multi-faceted formulation of the public manager�s duty�a process that involves the current concerns of democracy and mutuality and the future concerns of sustainability and legacy.

In her systematic anaylsis of what defines the public interest, Dr. Lewis will highlight a case study of the reaction to the looting of Iraq�s National Museum of Antiquities in 2003 to illustrate the worldwide recognition of the legacy obligation to future generations.