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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Libertarian State Convention, March 27, 2010, in Harrisburg
The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania will hold its annual state convention March 26th and March 27th, 2010, at the Hilton Harrisburg in downtown Harrisburg. The convention will include outstanding guest speakers, the opportunity to participate in setting party direction for 2010, nominations for statewide office, and a chance to network and share ideas with freedom-loving individuals from across the state.
"We look forward to getting together in Harrisburg. We are also pleased to be one of many other liberty minded organizations sponsoring the 1st Annual “Liberty Banquet.” Senator Mike Folmer (R-48) will be the keynote speaker Saturday evening,” says Mik Robertson, State Party Chair. “His efforts to reform the Pennsylvania election code to benefit voters and improve the electoral process are a matter of concern to every Pennsylvanian."
Other speakers will be announced.
The convention will begin Friday evening with a welcome at 7:30 pm, followed by business meetings and workshops on Saturday. The Liberty Banquet begins at 7:00 pm on Saturday, March 27, 2010 and is co-sponsored by Campaign for Liberty – Harrisburg, Campaign for Liberty – PA, the LPPA, GOOOH and York 9-12 Patriots. A complete event list and registration form can be found at www.lppa.org. The convention business meeting and workshops are open to the public and are free.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Pittsburgh councilman calls for video, audio in cop cars
This could have and should have been done in the past two years by Bruce Kraus. Kraus was the chair of the public safety committee.
They found it okay to start installing "Red Light Cameras." All along I asked that the cameras be turned on, but pointed at the ones that work for the government first.
Pittsburgh councilman calls for video, audio in cop cars Pittsburgh Councilman Ricky Burgess is introducing legislation today that would require that all new city police vehicles be equipped with video and audio recording devices.
They found it okay to start installing "Red Light Cameras." All along I asked that the cameras be turned on, but pointed at the ones that work for the government first.
Shout it out Tim!
I absolutely support Tim Tebow's right to state his political beliefs loudly and proudly. We should soundly reject the concept that jocks should just "shut up and play."
More from David Z.
More from David Z.
Monday, February 01, 2010
I hope Pitt joins the Big 10!
Pitt should join the Big 10. That would be a wonderful move.
I have little confidence that it will occur, but let's hope.
I have little confidence that it will occur, but let's hope.
The site is closed, now. But only for a spell. While Bram's is gone for good?
File this under, WTF and Another one bites the dust.
A site, Wikileaks.org, a wiki, of course, and a scoop site, is down but not out. It hopes to make a return.
Meanwhile, Bram, in Pittsburgh at the PghComet.blogspot.com, took a bite of the dust and stopped.
Rule #1: Don't burn out!
A site, Wikileaks.org, a wiki, of course, and a scoop site, is down but not out. It hopes to make a return.
Meanwhile, Bram, in Pittsburgh at the PghComet.blogspot.com, took a bite of the dust and stopped.
Rule #1: Don't burn out!
Wishing Chair
Flashback to 2007. Singers knock the prior administration. Never seen before music video!
Sick humor
2 Brazilian?
The Secretary of Defense briefed the president this morning. They told President Obama that 2 Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq. To everyone's surprise, all the color drained from Obama's face. Then he collapsed onto his desk, head in his hands, visibly shaken, almost in tears.
Finally, he composed himself and asked, 'Just how many is a brazilian?'
This is not surprising, since he obviously has no understanding of a trillion either.
Meanwhile, in other news with Brazilian dollars, on double TIFed land,
Hazelwood center part of Sunoco's sale to Brazilian firm: "Hazelwood center part of Sunoco's sale to Brazilian firm".
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Fw: New Ken Arnold schools hire collection agency
From: "Bob Logue" <ucblogue@verizon.net
The Valley News Dispatch news story below is self-explanatory. But note, there is no mention of how the collection process would change for so called 'delinquent' homeowners. The question that needs to be asked is: Will Public Asset Managment be free to add fees to the 'delinquent' homeowners back taxes, penaties and interest. I don't know how that firm operates, but have read in other publications that another firm immediately adds $1,000 to any back taxes for each property. Which of course makes it even more unlikely the homeowner can dig themselves out of the hole...which means more sheriff sales.
Also, in the past, those homes 'delinquent' the longest were the ones that would be sold at sheriff sale first. In some areas I've read about in other newspapers, how long the home is 'delinquent' no longer determines when a property will be sold at sheriff sale. Vultures looking to get rich off someone else's misery can approach some of these collection agencies and urge them to put a more 'desirable or marketable' property up for sale before those that have been 'delinquent' longer. So the vulture can cherry pick properties. That way the collection company gets their money faster, as does the school district, county and municipal government. But is that fair to someone trying to come up with the money to dig themselves out of this alleged debt when their property is rushed ahead of other properties 'delinquent' longer, but less desirable...or in other words will bring the best returns when the vultures resell it.
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Friday, January 29, 2010
The Valley News Dispatch news story below is self-explanatory. But note, there is no mention of how the collection process would change for so called 'delinquent' homeowners. The question that needs to be asked is: Will Public Asset Managment be free to add fees to the 'delinquent' homeowners back taxes, penaties and interest. I don't know how that firm operates, but have read in other publications that another firm immediately adds $1,000 to any back taxes for each property. Which of course makes it even more unlikely the homeowner can dig themselves out of the hole...which means more sheriff sales.
Also, in the past, those homes 'delinquent' the longest were the ones that would be sold at sheriff sale first. In some areas I've read about in other newspapers, how long the home is 'delinquent' no longer determines when a property will be sold at sheriff sale. Vultures looking to get rich off someone else's misery can approach some of these collection agencies and urge them to put a more 'desirable or marketable' property up for sale before those that have been 'delinquent' longer. So the vulture can cherry pick properties. That way the collection company gets their money faster, as does the school district, county and municipal government. But is that fair to someone trying to come up with the money to dig themselves out of this alleged debt when their property is rushed ahead of other properties 'delinquent' longer, but less desirable...or in other words will bring the best returns when the vultures resell it.
The rich get richer...and the poor get evicted.
AFTER READING THE VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH STORY, BE SURE TO READ THE NOTE BELOW FROM A TAXPAYER WHO HAS HAD TROUBLE WITH JORDAN TAX SERVICE...ANOTHER TAX COLLECTION FIRM.
New Kensington-Arnold School District sells back tax claims to agency
By Jessica TurnbullVALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Friday, January 29, 2010
The New Kensington-Arnold School District will get a shot in the arm with an influx of tax revenue after it agreed to sell its claims to back taxes.
The district will receive uncollected real estate taxes upfront — about $1.43 million — from nonprofit Public Asset Management.
There is no change in the process for the taxpayers as taxes will continue to be collected by the Westmoreland Tax Claim Bureau.
"This will be an upfront injection of cash that will be added to the fund balance," said Jeffrey McVey, business manager.
In exchange for the cash influx, the district sold its tax claims for all uncollected taxes, McVey said. That means uncollected taxes will be sent by the tax bureau to Public Asset Management instead of the district, he said.
The board voted, 8-0, in favor of the agreement. Board member Eric Doutt was absent.
A transactional cost of 5 percent — estimated at $88,200 — is financed through the lender, he said. Current delinquent taxes are valued at $850,000 while delinquent taxes for the previous three years are estimated at $830,000.
"We will be able to budget our revenue more closely each year because we will have a better idea of what our returns will be," McVey said.
The district will benefit from the initial influx of cash and also will not need to deplete cash reserves in the future, he said. McVey said he spoke with business managers at other districts such as Mercer, Oil City and Clairton who are using Public Asset Management in a similar agreement.
"The only negative one of those managers said was that once you start, it is something you have to continue with," McVey said.
Terminating the agreement before the loan is paid means the district would have to repurchase the uncollected tax claims and the steady cash stream would be ended, he said.
The district will receive uncollected real estate taxes upfront — about $1.43 million — from nonprofit Public Asset Management.
There is no change in the process for the taxpayers as taxes will continue to be collected by the Westmoreland Tax Claim Bureau.
"This will be an upfront injection of cash that will be added to the fund balance," said Jeffrey McVey, business manager.
In exchange for the cash influx, the district sold its tax claims for all uncollected taxes, McVey said. That means uncollected taxes will be sent by the tax bureau to Public Asset Management instead of the district, he said.
The board voted, 8-0, in favor of the agreement. Board member Eric Doutt was absent.
A transactional cost of 5 percent — estimated at $88,200 — is financed through the lender, he said. Current delinquent taxes are valued at $850,000 while delinquent taxes for the previous three years are estimated at $830,000.
"We will be able to budget our revenue more closely each year because we will have a better idea of what our returns will be," McVey said.
The district will benefit from the initial influx of cash and also will not need to deplete cash reserves in the future, he said. McVey said he spoke with business managers at other districts such as Mercer, Oil City and Clairton who are using Public Asset Management in a similar agreement.
"The only negative one of those managers said was that once you start, it is something you have to continue with," McVey said.
Terminating the agreement before the loan is paid means the district would have to repurchase the uncollected tax claims and the steady cash stream would be ended, he said.
Hi Bob:
Here is some very important news for you and the rest of the Undercover/Spedunkie readers...
I had owed the City of Pittsburgh some back taxes due to my surgeries and not able to return to work as I had hoped...
I had gotten a Notice that my house was to be Sherif sale (posted) unless I had made arrangements for making payments to the City...I went to the City Tax Offices and made payment arrangements and made sure I made these payments along with the current property taxes (2009)...At times I even made payments that exceeded the payment amounts agreed upon...Now, I had called the City Tax Office today to ask why I haven't received the January Billing Statement for the past taxes...I was told that ALL back taxes to the City and payment agreements have been turned over to JORDAN TAX SERVICE as voted upon by the City Council!!!!
I have recently filed a law suit against Jordan Tax Services for not give me accurate credit for a back tax year (surgery)...I had paid the tax of to Jordan in 3 checks totalling 285.00..The tax bill was for 284.00...I sent in checks for 100.00, 100.00 and 85.00...Jordan credited the checks as follows 100.00, 74.00, and 84.00...I sent a letter showing the check copies and Jordan never corrected the problem...Next Jordan said they were going to Lien the property...I went to the local Magistrates office and filed suit + an amount to pay off the back taxes to the city...
If you know of people that are having any problems with Jordan Tax Service and have kept records of their payments and still have problems, people need to take Jordan Tax Services to court..Small Claims or their local Magistrates Office and ask for damages, pain, suffering and any type of legal expenses they have acrued...Otherwise I recommend a Class Action Law Suit....
One other note is to File a Complaint with the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office, in so doing one must send to them copies of all payments (canceled checks (front and back)) along with the form back to the Attorney Generals Office...Their is a local office here in Pittsburgh.. Bert
Fw: Our Pittsburgh House will be open for Rent, March 1
From: Wilburn Hayden haydenmsw@alumni.unc.edu>
Please get the word out about our house being available to rent. Thanks.
91 S 24th STREET, South Side Flats Pittsburgh,PA 15203-2233
Levels: Basement, First Floor, Second Floor, & Loft; Bedrooms: 3 with Loft (29X13); Baths Full: 2; Lot: 20.17X40.25; Inclusions: Dishwasher, Electric Stove, Microwave/Convection Oven Combo, and Refrigerator; General Information: BRICK HISTORIC HOME, Built in 1880; First & Second Floors and Basement CENTRAL GAS HEAT & AIR; Loft: Gas Heat and Large Window AC; Fireplace/Wood Stove: Living Room which can heat all of the 1st floor; SKYLIGHT; CIELING FANS; Floors: Hard Wood except Kitchen - Tile and 1 Bedroom - Carpet Parking: On-Street Parking; Directions: CARSON TO 24TH STREET
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=115825717624075350241.00047e3b3a02163898ea6&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.430469,-79.970276&spn=0.009865,0.022681&z=16
Contact: Wilburn Hayden, 647-344-0373 or whaydensw@hotmail.com Available March 1, 2010
Our Pittsburgh House will be open for Rent, March 1
It looks like you all have had more snow and colder temperatures than we have had this winter. I am not complaining, even at 18F last night.Please get the word out about our house being available to rent. Thanks.
91 S 24th STREET, South Side Flats Pittsburgh,
Levels: Basement, First Floor, Second Floor, & Loft; Bedrooms: 3 with Loft (29X13); Baths Full: 2; Lot: 20.17X40.25; Inclusions: Dishwasher, Electric Stove, Microwave/Convection Oven Combo, and Refrigerator; General Information: BRICK HISTORIC HOME, Built in 1880; First & Second Floors and Basement CENTRAL GAS HEAT & AIR; Loft: Gas Heat and Large Window AC; Fireplace/Wood Stove: Living Room which can heat all of the 1st floor; SKYLIGHT; CIELING FANS; Floors: Hard Wood except Kitchen - Tile and 1 Bedroom - Carpet Parking: On-Street Parking; Directions: CARSON TO 24TH STREET
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=115825717624075350241.00047e3b3a02163898ea6&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.430469,-79.970276&spn=0.009865,0.022681&z=16
Rent: $1400.00 per month, plus utilities.
Contact: Wilburn Hayden, 647-344-0373 or whaydensw@hotmail.com Available March 1, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Fw: PA Walks And Bikes PARTY!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: Pro Bikes <todds@probikesllc.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:40:36 -0500 (EST)
To: <mark@rauterkus.com>
Subject: PA Walks And Bikes PARTY!
| Having trouble viewing this email? Click here |
| ||||||||||||||
Pro Bikes | 5876 Forbes Ave | Pittsburgh | PA | 15217 |
S6 idea
Basketball star to speak about Mormon faith
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Former Utah Jazz star Thurl Bailey will speak about his Mormon faith Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Oakland Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The free talk is open to the public, and geared toward youth. Mr. Bailey, who was raised Baptist, spent eight years among Mormons in Utah before converting to the faith while playing basketball in Italy.
For details, call 412-831-7557.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10030/1032319-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml#ixzz0e75UYQSy
Friday, January 29, 2010
Trails in city parks to receive $3 million in improvements
Trails in city parks to receive $3 million in improvements The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the city's Department of Public Works has embarked on a $3.02 million improvement of trails in Schenley, Frick, Riverview and Highland parks.Wow. A park upgrade.
Work has begun in Schenley Park and should be completed by mid-summer.
Newspapers that charge for content. How is the P-G+ going?
The New York Times decision started to build a wall in front of its content last week. Meanwhile, Newsday of Long Island did the same not long ago, as did the Post-Gazette. With Newsday, the subscriber-based content had a relaunch that reportedly cost $4 million. However, just 35 paying subscribers signed up, each paying $260 per year. Go figure: $9,000 in annualized revenue for $4 million.
The ones that live upon putting ink on dead trees seem hell-bent on killing their watchdog stature as well as their businesses.
So, how many subscribers have come into the fold with the Post Gazette Plus endeavor. Would love to know.
The ones that live upon putting ink on dead trees seem hell-bent on killing their watchdog stature as well as their businesses.
So, how many subscribers have come into the fold with the Post Gazette Plus endeavor. Would love to know.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Fw: Help SLB Win National Competition, Facebook Fun, This week's guests (1/30)...
SLB (Saturday Light Brigade) has entered the 2010 HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition with a request for funding that would allow us to serve more youth in their own neighborhoods via SLB Express: Digital Mobile Media Lab, a green-energy-powered van that would contain work stations and field equipment allowing hands-on instruction in digital storytelling, audio production, photography and videography. In addition to exposing youth to technology firsthand, instruction would emphasize scientific and engineering principals underlying media creation and provide career exploration. Project partners include the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and PCTV21.
An important aspect of the competition is pujblic feedback and we have been encouraged to ask you to post your support and ideas.. Please visit http://dmlcompetition.net/pligg/story.php?title=582 to read and comment on The SLB Express. Working together, we can bring a great new resource to youth in our region! Comments are due 2/13. Thanks.
Facebook for SLB
More and more people are playing our on-air puzzles and games on Facebook. You can join in on the fun at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Saturday-Light-Brigade/173278000099 as you listen live via one of our 7 affiliates or at http://www.slbradio.org.
This week's Saturday Light Brigade will feature great acoustic music and plenty of puzzles for your on-air participation. Special guests include:
-- 7:20 am: Sarah DiLeo previews Unblurred, the monthly arts event put on by the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative. We'll also be joined by Flora Shepherd, a puppeteer who will be holding a walk-in shadow puppet-making workshop as well as a musical, country-western puppet show with local musician Missy Raterman at Voluto Coffee, 5467 Penn Avenue, 2/5, 6 to 9 pm.
-- 8:20 am: National touring children's musician and longtime SLB friend Justin Roberts previews his 1/31 (3 pm) show at the Rex Theater..
-- 10:05 am: Pianist Billy Robertson, a fourth grade student at Donaldson Elementary School, West Allegheny School District, plays live as part of our Youth Expression Showcase.
-- 10:35 am: Our Big Brother Big Sister of the Month feature welcomes Jinny Morgan and little sister Emily to our studios. They'll be joined by Sandra Eritano, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh.
-- 11:05 am: The Beagle Brothers perform live in our studios with their mix of country, old-time and honky-tonk music.
As always, you're welcome to be part of our live broadcast. Simply stop by our studios when the Children's Museum opens at 10 am. For directions, see http://www.slbradio.com/directions/shtml. Admission to our studios is free. Afterward, consider touring all of the museum (admission applies).
Thanks for being part of The Saturday Light Brigade!
SLB Radio Productions is a non-profit that has produced public radio from Pittsburgh since 1978. We produce a program of live music and talk ("The Saturday Light Brigade", Saturdays, 6 to noon), weekday workshops and related activities for children and adults from our studios in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
An important aspect of the competition is pujblic feedback and we have been encouraged to ask you to post your support and ideas.. Please visit http://dmlcompetition.net/pligg/story.php?title=582 to read and comment on The SLB Express. Working together, we can bring a great new resource to youth in our region! Comments are due 2/13. Thanks.
Facebook for SLB
More and more people are playing our on-air puzzles and games on Facebook. You can join in on the fun at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Saturday-Light-Brigade/173278000099 as you listen live via one of our 7 affiliates or at http://www.slbradio.org.
This week's Saturday Light Brigade will feature great acoustic music and plenty of puzzles for your on-air participation. Special guests include:
-- 7:20 am: Sarah DiLeo previews Unblurred, the monthly arts event put on by the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative. We'll also be joined by Flora Shepherd, a puppeteer who will be holding a walk-in shadow puppet-making workshop as well as a musical, country-western puppet show with local musician Missy Raterman at Voluto Coffee, 5467 Penn Avenue, 2/5, 6 to 9 pm.
-- 8:20 am: National touring children's musician and longtime SLB friend Justin Roberts previews his 1/31 (3 pm) show at the Rex Theater..
-- 10:05 am: Pianist Billy Robertson, a fourth grade student at Donaldson Elementary School, West Allegheny School District, plays live as part of our Youth Expression Showcase.
-- 10:35 am: Our Big Brother Big Sister of the Month feature welcomes Jinny Morgan and little sister Emily to our studios. They'll be joined by Sandra Eritano, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh.
-- 11:05 am: The Beagle Brothers perform live in our studios with their mix of country, old-time and honky-tonk music.
As always, you're welcome to be part of our live broadcast. Simply stop by our studios when the Children's Museum opens at 10 am. For directions, see http://www.slbradio.com/directions/shtml. Admission to our studios is free. Afterward, consider touring all of the museum (admission applies).
Thanks for being part of The Saturday Light Brigade!
SLB Radio Productions is a non-profit that has produced public radio from Pittsburgh since 1978. We produce a program of live music and talk ("The Saturday Light Brigade", Saturdays, 6 to noon), weekday workshops and related activities for children and adults from our studios in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
No iPad will ever belong to its owner
Today, Apple launched a computer that will never belong to its owner. Apple will use Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) to gain total veto power over the applications you use and the media you can view.
We've launched a petition calling out Apple's new product for what it is: a frightening step backward for computing and for media distribution. Can you read it, sign it, and share with friends?
http://defectivebydesign.org/ipad
Also, when you've signed, please take the time to share the petition on sites like Identi.ca and Reddit:
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/shareipad
Defective by Design's John Sullivan is on the ground at the Apple event with a group of protesters, letting the public and journalists know about the "Restriction Zone" Apple is constructing around their products. We'll be posting images from the event throughout the day, so sign the petition and please check back frequently and help us circulate these images.
http://defectivebydesign.org/ipad
This summer we saw the dangers of DRM on ebook readers, when Amazon deleted hundreds of copies of George Orwell's 1984 from readers' computers while they slept. Applying this control to a general purpose computer marketed especially for media distribution is a huge step backward for computing, and a blow to the media revolution that happened when the web let bloggers reach millions without asking for permission.
DRM and forced updates will give Apple and their corporate partners the power to disable features, restrict competition, censor news, and even delete books, videos, or news stories from users' computers while they sleep-- using the device's "always on" network connection.
Apple can say they will not abuse this power, but their record of App Store rejections gives us no reason to trust them. The Apple Tablet's unprecedented use of DRM to control all capabilities of a general purpose computer is a dangerous step backward for computing and for media distribution; we demand that Apple remove DRM from the device.
http://defectivebydesign.org/ipad
Thank you for your support!
The Vancouver Olympic Blues
by Dave Zirin
When I arrived in Vancouver, the first thing I noticed was the frowns.
The International Olympic Committee has leased every sign and billboard in town to broadcast Olympic joy, but they can't purchase people's faces. It's clear that the 2010 Winter Games has made the mood in the bucolic coastal city decidedly overcast. Even the customs police officer checking my passport started grumbling about "$5,000 hockey tickets." Polls released on my first day in Vancouver back up this initial impression. Only 50 percent of residents in British Columbia think the Olympics will be positive and 69 percent said too much money is being spent on the Games.
"The most striking thing in the poll is that as the Olympics get closer, British Columbians are less likely to see the Games as having a positive impact," said Hamish Marshall, research director for the pollster, Angus Reid. "Conventional wisdom was that as we got closer to the Olympics, people here would get more excited and more supportive." If the global recession hadn't smacked into the planning last year, with corporate sponsors fleeing for the hills, maybe the Vancouver Olympic Committee would be on more solid ground with residents. But public bailouts of Olympic projects have decisively altered the local mood.
I spoke to Charles, a bus driver, whose good cheer diminished when I asked him about the games. "I just can't believe I wanted this a year ago," he said. "I voted for it in the plebiscite. But now, yes. I'm disillusioned." This disillusion is developing as the financial burden of the Games becomes public. The original cost estimate was $660 million in public money. It's now at an admitted $6 billion and steadily climbing. An early economic impact statement was that the games could bring in $10 billion. Price Waterhouse Coopers just released their own study showing that the total economic impact will be more like $1 billion. In addition, the Olympic Village came in $100 million over budget and had to be bailed out by the city.
Security was estimated at $175 million and the final cost will exceed $1 billion. These budget overruns are coinciding with drastic cuts to city services. On my first day in town, the cover of the local paper blared cheery news about the Games on the top flap, while a headline announcing the imminent layoff off 800 teachers was much further down the page.
As a staunch Olympic supporter, a sports reporter from the Globe and Mail said to me, "The optics of cuts in city services alongside Olympic cost overruns are to put it mildly, not good."
But these aren't just p.r. gaffs to Vancouver residents, particularly on the eastside of the city where homelessness has spiked. Carol Martin who works in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, the most economically impoverished area in all of Canada, made this clear: "The Bid Committee promised that not a single person would be displaced due to the Games, but there are now 3,000 homeless people sleeping on Vancouver's streets and these people are facing increased police harassment as they try to clean the streets in the lead up to the Games."
I strolled the backstreets of the downtown eastside and police congregate on every corner, trying to hem in a palpable frustration and anger. Anti-Olympic posters wallpaper the neighborhood, creating an alternative universe to the cheery 2010 Games displays by the airport. The Vancouver Olympic Committee has tried to quell the crackling vibe by dispersing tickets to second-tier Olympic events like the luge. It hasn't worked.
The people of the downtown eastside and beyond are developing a different outlet for their Olympic angst. For the first time in the history of the games, a full-scale protest is being planned to welcome the athletes, tourists, and foreign dignitaries.
Bringing together a myriad of issues, Vancouver residents have put out an open call for a week of anti-game actions. Different demonstrations on issues ranging from homelessness to indigenous rights have been called. Protesters from London and Russia, site of the next two Olympics will be there. Expect a tent city, expect picket signs, expect aggressive direct actions. Tellingly, according to the latest polls, 40 percent of British Columbia residents support the aims of the protesters, compared to just 13 percent across the rest of Canada. Harsha Walia of the Olympic Resistance Network said, "We are seeing increasing resistance across the country as it becomes more visible how these Games are a big fraud."
The Games will also coincide with the largest and longest-standing annual march in Vancouver, the Feb. 14 Memorial Women's March meant to call attention to the hundreds of missing and murdered women -- particularly indigenous women -- in British Columbia. The Vancouver Olympic Committee asked the Memorial March organizing if they would change the route of the march for the Olympic Games. As Stella August, one of the organizers with the downtown eastside Power of Women Group, said to me, "We are warriors. We have been doing this for 19 years and we aren't going to bow down to the Olympics."
One thing is certain: if you are in Vancouver, and competitive curling doesn't get your blood pumping, there will be quite the spectacle outside the arena.
[Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.]
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Education Week: Scholars Identify 5 Keys to Urban School Success
Education Week: Scholars Identify 5 Keys to Urban School Success Scholars Identify 5 Keys to Urban School Success
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