Where's My Refund?

Where's My Refund?: "To get to your personal refund information, be ready to enter your:

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Camp Wellstone to host a session in Northern Va

If you want to work full-time in the political world, as a candidate, a campaign manager or a local organizer, this is a great educational opportunity.

Wellstone Action - Camp Wellstone: Camp Wellstone
Camp Wellstone: Northern Virginia from 5/9 - 5/11/08

Register today!

Backpacker Magazine - Enjoy Pittsburgh in 60 Minutes

Backpacker Magazine - Enjoy Pittsburgh in 60 Minutes: With plans for the world's longest urban linear park (it'll cover 128 miles along the city's rivers) in the works, Pittsburgh is quickly becoming a serious bike town. Get a preview on a 25-mile circuit starting at the Smithfield Street Bridge. Pedal the Eliza Furnace Trail upriver to the Panther Hollow Trail. Follow this rolling macadam to the 300-acre Schenley Park for a lung-burning one-mile loop. Then lollipop back onto Panther and head toward the city again on Eliza Furnace. bike-pgh.org

New Chairs for City Council on various committees

City Council redo of its committee structure.

Harris = Public Works
Deasy = Intergovernmental Affairs
Kraus = Public Safety
Motznik = General Governmental Services (internal, purchasing)
Payne = Human Resources (employee benefits)
Dowd = Urban Recreation
Peduto = Finance and Law
Burgess = Land Use and Economic Development

No big news.

Shields = council's president.

The only thing that stands out in my view is the tiny assignment given to Jim Motiznik. Perhaps if he behaves for the next six month's they'll put some added burden into his realm of responsibility: I'd suggest push-carts and stadium vendors / ticket scalpers got into the domain of the committee of General Governmental Services.

Matress Factory, greening, Earth Day

Paperless memberships to this blog, Mark Rauterkus and Running Mates, have been offered, in honor of Earth Day, for the past 25 years.

This paperless membership program was the first in the history of the internet.

Pittsburgh Earth Day . com

Stop Teacher Strikes Website

Stop Teacher Strikes Website 2008 CANDIDATE SURVEY

Rhode Island Univ. Eliminate Men's Swimming

CollegeSwimming.com::Rhode Island Latest to Eliminate Men's Swimming: "The University of Rhode Island announced that four NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics programs will be discontinued, effective at the end of the 2007-08 academic year. Sports affected will be: men's swimming, men's tennis and field hockey. The discontinuation of gymnastics had been previously announced.

This is your brain on Council: Theory: 'An obstacle downstream propagates upstream.

Vedana - Eric Case's Weblog 'An obstacle downstream propagates upstream. If you're not allowed to implement new ideas, you stop having them. And vice versa.

When you can do whatever you want, you have more ideas about what to do.

So working for yourself makes your brain more powerful in the same way a low-restriction exhaust system makes an engine more powerful.'

That explains most of what happens on Grant Street and the people there.

In a time of crisis, the ones that made the crisis are least capable of fixing it.

City Council for Dummies -- or -- is it "of" ??

Hello Sir:

My name is "d" (name NUKED BY BLOGMASTER). This is rather unusual but I was wondering if you could help explain to me how our city council works.

I spend a good amount of time reading and your name seems to pop up frequently around causes I feel strongly about as well. While I am not a registered Libertarian, I do hold many of their beliefs about personal freedom and responsibility.

I guess I finally got fed up when I read the article in the PG about Councilman Burgess proposed use of discretionary funds. How can a government use public funds for something that does not benefit the entire community? From what I gather, he is going to give this foundation around $212,000. That is enough to employ four full time police officers for his district for an entire year.

This is just another example of the people making decisions in this city being poorly qualified for the position.

Last week, a house in the North Side was riddled with bullets from an assault rifle. This is the North Side, not the Gaza Strip. Also last week, task force officers were shot at during an arrest in St. Clair Village. Yet all last week, the council spent their time arguing the schematics of billboard legislation.

I know this is a big rant and your not at all responsible, but I guess I was just hoping to hear that someone else out there is fed up with status quo here and cares about this city enough to make changes.

Thank you for your time sir and I am sorry if this makes very little sense.

My reply via email:

Yes, life in Pittsburgh is fragile. We need to stay involved -- and do better in our government.

I've been ranting for years. It is good to know that some of the ranting helps -- and it is nice to know others listen from time to time.

First thing -- I'll take your rant below and turn it into a blog posting. And, I'll send you an invite to post on my blog. When you get rants like this -- we need to share them. Too many times, people don't care. So, apathy is the worst and first hurdle.

Next, if you'd want to be a Libertarian -- join us. But, that isn't necessary. I've got friends from all around the political landscape.

Call if you wish.....

My extended reply for the blog:

So, do you want to hear how city council is to work or should I explain what happens now. The way council behaves today and in the recent decades is NOT how it should happen. Hence, the city is in a terrible pickle.

Generally, council meets on Tuesdays to cast final votes. The standing committee meeting is on Wednesdays. Most of the council meetings and public hearings as well as post agendas are listed at my Google Calendar. You can subscribe to it and follow along. Feel free to go there and give them a piece of your mind as they often seem to miss place large chunks of theirs.

The meetings are to begin at 10 am -- but they never do. They are tardy and too timid to turn on the video cameras and audio before the start of the meeting. That would insure that the meetings happened on time.

On the Tuesday meetings members of city council give out a lot of proclamations. These are ways to kiss butt to mucky mucks in the community and endear votes in the future. The meetings then start 30 or 50 minutes later than the normal 20 minutes delay those days.

The purpose of city council is to pass legislation and to control the purse strings. The members of council like to play administrative roles too, and that is a big problem. Council should not be 3-1-1 operators. The role of council is to legislate. Write ordinances. And, of course, protect the public purse.

So, you are justified to be outraged with the $200K give-a-way of money by the new member on council, Rev. Ricky Burgess to a nonprofit.

City council has slush funds and other money tucked into remote parts of the city budgets, going back to 2001 era even. They spend some of that money in 2008. But, it came from 2003. Go figure.

Council members have been know to be crooked too. Twanda is in jail. Just ask some, like Tonya or Bruce about the one's that went before them.

Folly happens weekly. In most instances they run around in circles like a dog that chases its tail. The big issues of the city get little or no attention.

Perhaps it is a lack of common sense, creativity or real-world experience.

Generally, if you are good at council -- or if you are bad at council -- you get promoted to another role in government. Council is a stepping stone -- and you know who gets stepped upon -- the citizens and often public trust. But, at least there is a revolving door of sorts.

Now I'm not the smartest guy in the world either. I understand that. I've run for council twice -- both as a Libertarian. That's a sure fire way to 'not get the job' because only those of the D party win elections in Pittsburgh. But, my goals have never been to win the election as it is to fix the city. The city gets far along on the pathway to healing itself the day a "Libertarian" gets elected to public office, be it mayor, controller or member of city council.

Breaking the status quo by winning elections from outside of the D-party would be a huge break from tradition. Frankly, I don't want to walk in the legacy of what the local Ds have done to our city. I'd much rather raise a bit of dissent as best I can and avoid their slime.

But, there are many, many ways to help. Different strokes for different folks. Do what you can. And, don't burn out.

My ranting about Rev. Burgess and his give-a-way is below. Scroll down a few posts.

Water Polo Match from Saturday at Chatham with bonus clinic

This file comes from Blip.TV in Qucktime and takes a LONG time to load. it works, but it might take a couple of hours to load. Tip. Open a new tab in your browser and walk away. Turn down the volume on the computer.

Click To Play

Alan Keyes to announce break with GOP in Hazleton, PA :: AlanKeyes.com

Alan Keyes to announce break with GOP in Hazleton, PA :: AlanKeyes.com Alan Keyes to announce break with GOP in Hazleton, PA

HAZLETON, Penn. — Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes has chosen April 15 to make a major announcement of his intentions, following indications he has broken with the GOP.

A life-long Republican who has increasingly cited the party's failure to match conservative rhetoric with actual performance in the political arena, Keyes said he will reveal his reasons for departing the GOP at a press conference scheduled for 8:30 pm ET, at the Best Western Genetti Inn in Hazleton, PA.

Radio gossip goes 'bitter'

Marty Griffin, KDKA Radio, says Pat Ford is making the rounds setting up TV news interviews. Perhaps he'll make a counter attack.

Ford is still getting paid.

That story about Barack Obama's "bitter" remark that got the pundits roaring this weekend was broken by citizen journalist Mayhill Fowler at the HuffPost's OffTheBus. An Obama supporter, Fowler didn't nearly anticipate the firestorm her post would cause. Her editor Marc Cooper describes the process of developing and posting the piece, noting that Fowler "employs a highly-personalized, reflective narrative style to her unconventional reporting – an approach that would be, indeed, non-grata, within the official campaign reporting bubble. It violates almost all of the conventions of traditional reporting (though not its ethical code) and that's what makes it all so damn interesting." Have we reached a new phase in journalism when a piece from an "amateur" can incite such a firestorm?

Fight high cost of textbooks with Open Source Ways

I've been a book publisher and a college book store worker. Some of the books that I put into the marketplace were used as college text books.

In recent years -- I've been an advocate of open source content and open source ways.

This is what victory looks like!

Faculty members fight high cost of textbooks: "He and hundreds of other faculty members have signed a statement of intent to use free, online, open-source textbooks whenever academically appropriate.

It is GREAT to see front page coverage of open source advancements.

By the way, I had "open source" planks within my run for public office since the year 2000.

Meanwhile, in another education story in today's newspaper, on the front page of the local section, is the story that Pgh Public Schools is extending the school day by 10-minutes starting in the fall of 2008.

The benefit for education would be 100-times greater if schools and the PPS district would shift to OPEN SOURCE materials compared to the extending of the school day by 10-minutes.

All the computers should be running on open source operating systems.

All the text books should be in migration to open-source licenses.

All the content generated by the district should be placed firmly into the public domain. And, those rich landscapes of insights need to be harvested, bundled, toiled with and turned to for every task.

City school day to be 10 minutes longer Pittsburgh Public Schools officials are hoping it will give them a new opportunity to show that every minute counts in the race to raise student achievement.

We should raise student achievement. And, I feel student achievement would soar to a much higher level by going to OPEN SOURCE materials throughout our public schools. This open source approach would do more than longer school days (by 10 blasted minutes) and do more to help the budgets as well.

Tartans : Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

The Tartan Online : Extra! Extra! Read all about it!“Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” was picked as the theme of Spring Carnival 2008. Many committee chairs believed that this theme would give organizations much freedom and flexibility in choosing a Booth topic.

On Friday, we went to see some improve at CMU. Our week included water polo at Chatham and W&J, a student tour at Duquesne Nursing, comedy at CMU, teaching at Pitt (of course), a seminar at USC (Upper St. Clair). Lots of college stuff can fill your week(s) in Pittsburgh.

Ron Paul's visit to Gettysburg

The Patriot News http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/04/ron_paul_campaigns_in_gettysbu.html
The Chambersburg Public Opinion http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_8865018
The York Daily Record (linked to by York Dispatch) http://www.inyork.com/local/ci_8896953
The Evening Sun http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8901481

CBS 21 http://youtube.com/watch?v=oQjCSG-zDyg
NBC 8 http://www.wgal.com/video/15857028/index.html
ABC 27 http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0408/510772_video.html
FOX 43 http://fox43.trb.com/news/?track=nav

Here are some video links of the Gettysburg rally to pass amongst our fellow Paul supporters.
Media Spot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHmfgSwm9t4

Main Presentation
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1238338/ron_paul_gettysburg_college_4_11_2008_p1_of_2/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1238938/ron_paul_gettysburg_college_4_11_2008_p2_of_2/

Here is another video link, this is from the press conference
http://www.vimeo.com/890032

Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette says "Thank You." I say I'm not convinced.

Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette: "One battle behind you, God knows how many more lie ahead. But together you can do it.

So far they delayed the building of a mega electronic sign on a new building.

I'll hold off on the praise and saying 'thank you' until there is something of serious consequence accomplished.

For example, I'll scream "thanks" under the clock at Kaufman's once there is a new law that FORBIDS all NO BID CONTRACTS for the city and all associated authorities.

Yes, this isn't just about the sign. And, it isn't just about what they claim to be 'due process' with the proper zoning board meetings. This is about 'No Bid Contracts.'

Getting to the roots of the real problems is what I'm wishing for from those five you mentioned. I've seen nothing to signal that they are headed for an attack on the roots of problems. I still only see them batting at the leaves on the tree of suffering.

14-4 was the score of the first ever home water polo match at Chatham University

The the last game of the first season -- but in the first ever game at Chatham, the woman water polo players had their hands full playing Penn State Behrend. Chatham is a club team this season and turns into a VARSITY team for 2009.

Stay tuned for video.

Pittsburgh man drowns in Florida

So sad.

Pittsburgh man drowns in Florida: "Officials say a 50-year-old tourist from Pittsburgh drowned off Daytona Beach Shores, Fla., in an area where rip currents were seen.

Beach patrol Capt. Scott Petersohn said beachgoers spotted Paul Peters of Pittsburgh floating in waters offshore Friday afternoon.

When lifeguards reached him they found he was unresponsive and took him to a hospital. He was pronounced dead approximately two hours later.

Rip currents were spotted in the area where Mr. Peters was swimming, but it was not clear if they were a factor in his death.

A great reason to be a swimmer.

Are your kids signed up for swimming lessons?

Adults -- what about you? Can you swim? Are you in shape to battle or float out a rip tide?

Let's work to make sure that vacations don't end like this.

Adults can be taking swim lessons too.

Local cycling team to compete in major race - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Local! Here! Athletes.

Local cycling team to compete in major race - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Local cycling team to compete in major race

Six on the team include:
Chris from Mechanicsburg (200 miles)
Turner of Renfrew (30 miles)
Eliot of Lock Haven (173 miles)
Justin of Philadelphia (310 miles)
Brett of Wind Gap (306 miles)
Adam of Oswego, NY (365 miles)

Some home-team. The Tour of Pennsylvania expects to have 22 teams. They will be here June 29.

Marriage law draws crowd

Shame, implore, fear, injustice, moral, cowardice. Humm. Did he say "na-na-na-na-na" too?

Marriage law draws crowd City Councilman Bruce Kraus yesterday described such a qualification and the entire move to ban civil unions as a 'mark of shame.'

He implored members of the Judiciary Committee and the Legislature to stand against the constitutional amendment.

'This need not become your mark of shame, but rather your call to courage,' he said. 'The courage to overcome fear and injustice; to leave behind moral cowardice.

Here is an invite. I'd love to have the text of the Bruce Kraus statement put into the comments of this blog. Click the button below. Copy text. Paste.

As a Libertarian, I am all in favor of live and let live approach. Government should net set the bounds for behavior among men and women as they choose their life partners.

We need a strong constitution so as to limit the scope of government. So, it makes little sense to craft a new amendment to the constitution that diminishes rights of individuals.

People that want to wed, marry, get into unions, have life-partners -- whatever -- should stand together, in love, before their place of worship, and swear to each other. That's great. And, it is often a religious act. At its roots, it is a 'willing act' of couples that choose to be with other.

Religion is optional. In an ideal world, state involvement would be optional too. But, at the least, the government involvement should be minimal.

The proposed constitutional amendment makes government's position a maxim, a 'deal breaker.'

No thanks.

By the way, I still would like to see the full statement from Mr. Kraus, and any others who have published their public comments. Pointers are welcomed.