Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Fwd: There was no gas attack in Douma, Syria

------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John H
Robert Fisk is perhaps the best and most knowledgeable journalist operating in the Middle East in this or any other time.  His incredible coverage of the Iran-Iraq War, documented in his masterpiece of on-the-scene journalism, The Great War for Civilization:  The Conquest of the Middle East, 2005, Alfred A. Knopf, stands alone in the annals of wartime journalism.  He lives in Lebanon and speaks fluent Arabic and Hebrew.  Fisk was one of the few Western journalists to have travelled to Douma following the alleged gas attack where he interviewed a doctor who was there at the time and numerous residents who were also there all of whom said that there was no gas attack as reported by the New York Ad agency funded 'White Helmets' which is a group notorious for spreading anti-Assad propaganda in league with the U.S. and Britain.

Attached are two articles, the first by Robert Fisk and the second concerning his article, please read them both, they are not long.  It is high time that Americans recognize that it has been our government, in league with the government of Britain, which has been fomenting and expanding efforts to spread anti-Assad propaganda as part of our demonization of Russia project.  There is little doubt that Assad is not a particularly nice guy, but his government has been fighting a civil war against terrorists, most of whom are not Syrian nationals, who have been funded and directly supported by the U.S., Britain and France at the behest of Israel.  We in the West are the ones consistently violating international laws and norms far more grievously than Assad and the Russians have ever done in Syria.  Under longstanding international law, Syria, Russia and Iran are acting lawfully in Syria.  We are the ones spreading terror, horror and devastation across the Syrian nation – and the time has come for the American people to stand up and reject what is and has been done in our names in that devastated nation.

John 

Articles in one PDF


Friday, April 13, 2018

Act 47 recommends -- Throwback to June 30, 2004 and the Trib

Pittsburgh has a new acting director of Citiparks in early 2018, and I'm excited to meet with him about some fun summer plans.
This is a snip from the Tribune, June 30, 2004 when a divided council passes the Act 47 plan. The headline in this part read: Key recommendations of the Act 47 recovery plan:
Playing well with others, in the city, took a beating in those times and never fully recovered.

Impossible is nothing

Do not remember where we were here. Might have been Beijing, but I doubt it as i am wearing some type of name tag. 

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Fwd: I'm doing this for my daughter.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geno Tucker

Hey:
I don't think we've met. My name's Geno, and I'm a volunteer with the People's Justice Project, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative's partner in Columbus. I've been spending all my free time collecting signatures for our statewide ballot initiative so my daughter won't face the same injustices we face today.


There are opportunities to get involved all over Ohio, and with less than 90 days til our deadline, we need all the help we can get.

Growing up, I lived with my grandma in Linden, a neighborhood on the north side that has suffered years of neglect and disinvestment. Without programs or community centers in the neighborhood, I started getting into trouble. Two years ago, things changed. My nephew, Henry Green, was killed by the Columbus police, which led to big protests around the city.

I realized how all these problems in our neighborhoods are connected and what we're up against. But what we have is power in our numbers. The criminal justice system is a cycle that keeps people down - and I hate that it took me so long to realize it.


Geno Tucker



Content marketing and a SXSW presentation

Content strategy guides the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, reusable content.

http://braintraffic.com/blog/the-truth-about-content-broken-dreams-and-the-big-fix


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Re: More damning information about Israeli government abominations


On Wed, Apr 11, 2018 at 8:44 PM John H wrote:
Below are links to a three-part discussion on The Real News Network concerning the newly released movie The Occupation of the American Mind made by Sut Jhally and Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame).  This film deals with the massive propaganda effort employed by the Israeli government to convince the world, and particularly Americans, that Israel is the victim in dealings with Palestinians.  In this country at least, their efforts have been enormously successful largely because of the full blown complicity of virtually all major media outlets as well as official governments pronouncements and policies.  The results of this are disheartening and disturbing, but there is some hope as many young university students (including a large number of Jewish students) have awakened to what the Israeli policies and practices relative to the Palestinians really are.  Increasingly large numbers of older Jewish Americans are also becoming concerned that these policies are not only wrong, but actually endanger the survival of Israel as a state within the community of nations.  These are excellent discussions and I encourage each of you receiving this to watch all of them.  They each run around 20 minutes or so.

The last link, I just received from a friend, concerns a video interview with Max Blumenthal conducted by Abby Martin on The Empire Files in 2015 and since published on YouTube.  The interview was titled A Jewish American of Israeli Fascism and has now been blocked in 28 different nations.  It has not as yet been blocked in the U.S. and a link to the interview is in the article.  Do take the time to watch it before it disappears here also.  Blumenthal, the author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, is a highly respected author and well-known Israeli critic.  He believes that the YouTube ban was instigated by the Anti-Defamation League since it showed light on policies and practices that Israel would like to keep in the shadows.

Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:




  John

Penn Hills Baseball - Team photos

Click image for larger view. 

Robins

First year of organized baseball. One game I made all three outs in the same inning. Our team was up at bat. I played second base and was jazzed that we were winning by so much. Then we took the field and my team mate, Kevin, (middle of the photo) revealed that obscure stat to me on my at-bat performance that past inning.

Orange team. 

I think we went with colors as the team name. I stayed, by choice, in farm league. Our teams always had a lot of double plays.

Back row: Timmey, Frankie, McBunney, Mr. Will.
Middle row: Maxwell, Me (Mark Rauterkus), Danny Anderson, Janokaweki, Higgins.
Front row: Dave Cioca, Duffu, Garry, P. Beraradino, M. Beraraino (brothers I guess). Spelling unsure. Source is scribble on back of photo.

Mavericks. 

Back row: Mr. Finn on back left, then me, Mark Rauterkus, ? George Boyle, Dan Anderson, Terry Flaherty.
Middle row:
Front row:

Angles:

Back row: Coach ?, me, Mark Rauterkus, ?, Timmy Meyers, Coach, Coach.
Middle row: Tommy, Jan B, Randy R, Binywild, Sammy.
Front row: Straw, Kevin, Joey, Mark Kucher, ?, ?

Fwd: On an on the outrages go . . . they just get more outrageous

----- Forwarded message ----------
From: John H


Watch this The Real News Network interview and see if there is any way you can still have any sympathy at all for the fascist government of Israel.

 

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=21546

 

John


Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Fwd: 2018 Kids Triathlon Registration Now Open



Registration is now open for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh's 2018 Kids Triathlon Series!

The first race will be Saturday, July 21st at South Park (for ages 7-12), and the second will Saturday, August 4th at North Park (ages 7-15).

Athletes of all abilities are encouraged to participate. Learn more and register your kids today by clicking the registration buttons above!

All proceeds benefit Habitat Pittsburgh's affordable homeownership and home repair programs for low income families in Allegheny County. If you are also interested in fundraising, click the link below to start today!  
Click here to learn more about our South Park race, and click here to learn more about our North Park Race. For more information about Habitat Pittsburgh and the services we provide, click here.

If you have any questions, email or call Habitat Pittsburgh's Development Coordinator, Stephen, at sehart@pittsburghhabitat.org or 412-450-8520x18. We look forward to seeing you on race day!
Connect with us
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh | 6435 Frankstown Blvd, Suite 100, Pittsburgh, PA 15206

 About our service provider
Sent by sehart@pittsburghhabitat.org in collaboration with


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Ta.


Mark Rauterkus       Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com
Swimming and Water Polo Coach, Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA
http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

Fwd: Mozilla’s Internet Health Report.

------ Forwarded message ---------
From: Mozilla

What do cryptographers in Egypt, cyberviolence experts in Canada, open-source developers in Brazil, journalists in Afghanistan, and AI watchdogs in the United States have in common?
 
 

Mozilla's 2018 Internet Health Report is ready!

Read It Now

Hey Mark,

If you're reading this, you're one of the nearly 50% of people in the world on the internet. That also means 50% of the world's population still isn't online.

Surprised by that? Were you surprised that up to 87 million people on Facebook had their data used by Cambridge Analytica for partisan political purposes without their knowledge?

Technology is advancing so fast that it's hard to get a handle on the opportunities and challenges. People feel vulnerable to 'fake news' and online security threats everyday. All the while, shoes can order pizza, and artificial intelligence helps doctors diagnose disease outbreaks faster than ever. The health of the internet is not just a technical issue, it's a human one.

Just how healthy is our internet? Check out the 2018 Internet Health Report.

Through data, research and stories we show how the internet is evolving. What does 'security' mean in a world where our phones, watches, cars, and vacuums are all online? What is driving the onslaught of fake news? How big is 'too big' when it comes to tech giants?

Read the Report

For everyone who is trying to make the digital world better, we hope the 2018 Internet Health Report will help inform and inspire.

Thank you,

Solana Larsen
Editor, Internet Health Report
Mozilla Foundation

 
 

 

Mozilla is a global non-profit organization dedicated to keeping the internet in service of people, not profit. We rely on contributions from supporters like you to fund our work and fuel the movement for a healthy internet. Will you chip in today?

Connect with us
Facebook Twitter

Thanks for reading!

Mozilla
Donate to Mozilla   |   Download Firefox

331 E. Evelyn Avenue Mountain View CA 94041
LegalPrivacy
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Ta.


Mark Rauterkus       Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com
Swimming and Water Polo Coach, Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA
http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

Monday, April 09, 2018

Fwd: The more things change . . .

-------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John H


The more things change . . .  well, let me rephrase that, with the Democratic Party things really don't seem to change much at all.  Oh, there's a great deal of rhetoric about change and a "new" liberal vision and a big tent and all . . . but really, nothing much has changed since the Party totally botched the last presidential election by pushing out the worst possible anti-change candidate when the nation was ready for some real change.  Instead we inherited a fake change con-artist and now have to live (or die) with the results.

John

Links



Newspaper coverage: National Fatherhood with Evelyn Hines, Erik Vecere and Mark Rauterkus

Photo in December of January as the Christmas tree was still up.

Erik was 8 and Grant was 5.

Tribune Review article.

Fwd: [Art-All-Night] Call for Artists and Volunteers


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Art All Night <cfa@artallnight.org>
Date: Sun, Apr 8, 2018 at 9:58 PM
Subject: [Art-All-Night] Call for Artists and Volunteers
To: <art-all-night@artallnight.org>


CALL FOR ARTISTS AND VOLUNTEERS

The 21th annual Art All Night will be held April 28th - April 29th, 2018. This year we have a new location, the 1st floor of The Highline, 196 South 4th Street in the South Side of Pittsburgh PA. The show will be open to the public from 4 p.m. Saturday all night long until 2 p.m. Sunday. View art, hear music, create art, meet friends, and make memories "All Night" long!

Artists

We invite you to submit one (and only one) piece of artwork during this one-of-a-kind neighborhood event attended by over 15,000 people each year. Artist registration instructions are available at www.artallnight.org where you can use the online registration system anytime. We HIGHLY recommend registering online as registration lines at the event can get long. Artists submitting art pieces must show a photo ID during both registration and pick up.

All artwork must arrive READY TO HANG or be displayed. Wall mounted pieces must be ready to hang from a nail(s). A limited number of clips will be available for unframed artwork. Registration is Saturday April 28th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m sharp. We do not accept any artwork after 2 p.m. Pick up is Sunday April 29th, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Video artists must submit their work by Monday, April 23rd. Please visit our website for more details.

Volunteers
We need everyone to help with this wonderful event by volunteering. Shifts are as short as 2 hours and we need YOU. Your help is the only way the show goes on and the only way it continues. Please help us put on one of Pittsburgh's great events. Check out the volunteer section of the website www.artallnight.org.

VERY IMPORTANT: Build out is Saturday April 14th and 21st from 10am to 2pm at The Highline, 196 South 4th Street. We have a compressed time line so participation is critical. Please bring a ladder and screw gun and help assemble panels.


Art All Night... No fee. No jury. No censorship. 412-235-1950

Please forward this message to your friends!
_______________________________________________
This message was sent to mark@rauterkus.com

Art-All-Night mailing list
Art-All-Night@artallnight.org
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Unsubscribe: https://www.artallnight.org/mailman/options/art-all-night/mark%40rauterkus.com

To unsubscribe sent an email to

Art-All-Night-unsubscribe@artallnight.org
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Ta.


Mark Rauterkus       Mark.Rauterkus@gmail.com
Swimming and Water Polo Coach, Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA
http://CLOH.wikia.com
412 298 3432 = cell

Saturday, April 07, 2018

Quora: Q about other games for soccer players

Water polo a bit, if you are up for it. But the best suggestion is a new sport and game for the water with a special aquatic disk. Google SKWIM.

First, the water is a great setting for fitness.

Second, SKWIM is played with a short, rounded fin. It is great for leg strength, flexibility, stamina, and even core work. Legs matter greatly.

Third, passing, defense in passing lanes, keeping, transitions, strikers and play around the pitch is more like soccer with SKWIM. Team handball and water polo are different where everyone advances deep into the offensive zone.

Fourth, SKWIM is a social, quick, visual game where non verbal clues, body position and fakes with some tricks are effective. It isn't a power game as it is more for touch and feel.
Fifth, like soccer SKWIM is a no contact game. Also like Ultimate, but in the water.

Six, On the water, like on the turf, but not soaring over head, is SKWIM. PASSING need to go between players on the same team after a touch or skim on the water, not air-to-air. The height of the game of SKWIM is more soccer and hockey like.

Seven, SKWIM goals are large, as are soccer's, but it fits into a wide variety of swim pool and open water settings. Likewise soccer. The ball and a wall and the number of games seems to be only left to imagination. Likewise the water and a SKWIM disk. Shoot into a gutter, end zone, floating island goal, whatever. We call it a SLOT STYLE format when it plays more like soccer or "air hockey. " The free play elements are similar between the games.

Lastly, the ethics and personal values of SKWIM are worthy of noting as teamwork, loyalty, and especially water safety, are not to be ignored and discounted. Everyone needs to have the ability to swim so as to save self or else a friend or child around the water. Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death among kids and adolescents, especially boys and especially people of color and of economic disadvantages.

So, consider SKWIM as the best world-wide game for in the water that makes a warm embrace for soccer players in aquatic recreational times. 

Friday, April 06, 2018

Wednesday Sports Medicine Symposium with UPMC

There's still time to register for a free Sports Medicine Symposium co-hosted by the Pittsburgh Steelers® and UPMC Sports Medicine at Heinz Field on Wednesday, April 11.

The program, 
Prevention and Management of Injuries in High School and Youth Sports, will feature guest speaker and gold medalist, Amanda Kessel. Click here to download the outline of the full agenda.

PLEASE NOTE: Community-based coaches of all sports and levels, as well as school athletic directors and athletic trainers are welcome to attend.


Don't delay in reserving your spot. Register at 
heinzfield.com/sportsmedsymposium today.
 

Fwd: Want to know where the economy is headed?

--- From John H

If you are interested/concerned about where the economy is headed watch the Laura Flanders interview with economist Michael Hudson linked below. This portion of the interview is 17 minutes and well worth your time. The rest of the interview is also very good if you are concerned about Amazon.

http://michael-hudson.com/2018/04/high-cost-economy/


John

Fwd: And the crazies just keep on coming . . .

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John H


Well folks, things just aren't getting better as we move deeper and deeper into the muck of empire gone berserk!

John

Links:



Thread of Paul of KDKA on FB


Mark Rauterkus posted: I do not remember the KDKA hosted debate among ALL the candidates on the ballot for the recent election for US Congress. Remember when the corporate media in town did the freeze out of the Libertarian who was not spending millions in advertisements for a 6 month job. That's pay to play folly that KDKA was a big part of promoting. Yet the margin of difference between Coke and Pepsi was twice as great with the third choice. Woops. 

Corporate bean counters at KDKA have a hard time counting to three when it comes to choices to offer the voters in terms of debates. Or, just don't do any at all.


Paul Martino Kdka: The standard in most of these debates is...if a candidate is polling less than ten percent, he or she is a fringe candidate with virtually no chance of winning. Therefore it makes sense to focus on the legitimate candidates who will be the eventual winner.

Mark Rauterkus That is a top-down standard that is shameful. It is a corporate policy that is undemocratic and not what we urge you to do. The standard is also that the super-majority of the voters do not even go to the polls because of BS standards such as that.

The real standard is set when the election department puts who is ONTO the ballot. If the person is on the ballot, the standard is achieved. 

We don't need some newsroom, corporate, suit wearing person with power telling citizens who is fit to be on the stage because they didn't pay the advertisement dollars for air-time nor hire the polling corporate buddies to tell you what to do. 

If you really feel strongly in what you post, you should retire. There is no hope for being a journalist then. 

In the real world, the third party person had twice the difference as to who won. In the real world, the third party person is the one who moves the policy for the future. In the real world, a bulk of the Ds and a bulk of the Rs are not going to change their minds and vote a different way because of the debate. Meanwhile, the third party person who is a voter -- a THIRD of the voters these days are INDIE, L, G, S, C, and Unaffiliated, are going to decide who wins. 

People vote with their feet. The region and the city is in decline, still, due to the bias against the individual, perfectly illustrated with this corporate policy. 

You've made Sinclair speak sound like the the song of angels.

Mark Roberts: Mark Rauterkus Sorry. Not everyone can play.

Paul Martino Kdka: Mark Rauterkus the League of Women Voters uses a standard similar to this. Has there ever been a libertarian candidate in the state to receive ten percent of the vote or more?

Mark Rauterkus: Paul Martino Kdka I did.

Mark Rauterkus The League of Women Voters are part of the problem too. The non-voters are crushing them too.

Judy Haluka" This has been true forever. It is called efficient use of resources. Why would you spend vakuable resources on a candidate that has no hope at all?

Mark Rauterkus: Because it is STUPID to think with only HALF A BRAIN. 

BECAUSE it is not efficient to to discount / ignore / prison / embargo / freeze-out / and frustrate a rather large segment of the citizenship. 

The third party candidate represents the 1% or 2% of that minor party as well as the greater majority, 40-60% of the citizens who choose to NOT VOTE AT ALL. 

And most of all, how EFFICIENT are the USE OF RESOURCES so as to SPEND more than $5-million for a job that lasts 6 months (as the term is going to end in 2018) and pays less than $200K annually? The entire efficient use of resources is a total joke because these other candidates in this case BURNED MONEY. They are the definition of INEFFICIENT resource squandering. Did it cost them $200 per vote received? The Libertarian in this case got people to vote for his campaign at $.50 each. Who is efficient, really? Why are the big-spenders the one we want to go to congress and have influence over treasury, taxes, and constitutional matters?

My Quora Answer to a sports question:

by Mark Rauterkus, Swim & Water Polo Coach
Sports are games. The games have rules. The realm of these rules and game play makes an alternative reality. This is pretend importance and escape from life. This is high drama of meaningless outcome. Entering the bubble of sports is fun.
Sport is unscripted too. Outcomes are uncertain. Think mystery. Who wins and who is the goat is for all to see. Sport often delivers new terms and jargon. The language gets twisted in sports with new meanings and pretend signals with superstition and superstar play. GOAT, for instance, means GREATEST OF ALL TIME.
Sports put humans at their very best in my opinion. We go higher, faster, longer in quests for greatness. Be the strongest and be a better self every week, every day, hour and minute growing a passion of excellence.
There are some take-home messages from sport for life. The lessons of sport can transcend into life. Sports should help, illustrate and encourage society and individuals to be better. Through sport and because of sport, rise up and be a better citizen, student, parent, professional.
If one does not like sports, well, fine. Different strokes for different folks. Try golf instead. Golf gets a pass into the world of sports because the thought of bashing small balls with such great force and accuracy is to scary to imagine out of the context of sports.

Tuesday, April 03, 2018

Fwd: Another disgusting subservient action by the U.S. regarding Israel

---- Forwarded message ---------
From: John H

This is sadly depressing, but entirely expectable.  We are the evil force in the world puppeteered and controlled by an Israeli fascist government.  The Real News Network is one of the few media outlets which will document these vile actions with full detail.  They deserve our support.

Monday, April 02, 2018

Fwd: Now for some esoterica

-------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John H

Today was a bad day for Mr. Market with the indexes down substantially Bloomberg mentions that this is because there is a 'blackout period' for corporate purchases prior to the corporate reporting period, but then it add an interesting caveat:  "S&P 500 firms have bought back almost $4 trillion of their own shares since the bull market began nine years ago, data compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices show."  One does not have to look very far to see why the market has maintained such a high level with really very little economic activity to show for it.  On the other side of the pile is the impending and ongoing collapse of cryptocurrencies.  I realize that this may well be esoterica for most of you, but it is an interesting sidelight for those who believe that cryptocurrencies will somehow replace sovereign money systems.  Attached are two pieces from Wolf Richter of Wolf Street discussing the cryptocurrency collapse and the not-so-novel idea that the U.S. Dollar is about to lose its status as the world's reserve currency.  Gold bugs and others have been salivating over this prospect for many years now, but it just doesn't seem to be coming to fruition any time soon.  In fact, it may well be much more likely that we will see a nuclear war before we see the Dollar collapse.

  John

Article on the collapse 

 

 

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Ta.
 
 
Mark Rauterkus       Mark@Rauterkus.com 
Executive Director of SKWIM USA, a 501(c)(3)
PPS Summer Dreamers' Swim & Water Polo Camp Executive Coach
Middle School Swim Coach at The Ellis School
Former Varsity Boys Swim Coach, Pittsburgh Obama Academy
Recent Head Water Polo Coach, Carnegie Mellon University Women's Club Team
Pittsburgh Combined Water Polo Team

http://CLOH.org

412 298 3432 = cell

Sunday, April 01, 2018

Fwd: The coming nuclear war with Russia

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John H


Ready or not we Americans are facing an imminent possibility of nuclear war.  This should not be an idle fear for this nation as forces in our national security, military and political institutions are racing headlong in an effort to both demonize Russia and to force it into an untenable corner both politically and militarily.  Russia has very clearly spelled out that it will only be pushed so far before it has no choice but to retaliate with the only military option it has to compete with the U.S. and NATO – that is nuclear weapons.  This is made clear in the two attachments to this e-mail.  The first is another excellent analysis by Jim Kavanagh (The Polemicist) which I heartedly encourage everyone to read in full.  The second by Brian Cloughley is also highly pertinent to what is now very much on our collective doorstep. 

John

Links



This is not an April Fools Joke, but it is extremely dangerous to our democracy