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posted by gyma Prediction: there will be lots of Kindle 2s for sale on eBay very soon. [graphic]

posted by gyma What a surprise! Hating brown people is actually bad for business. Huh.

P.D.'s Pub - Pittsburgh, PA USA (Purple Tuesdays Open Stage)

1. Let it Bleed (Rolling Stones)
   [on Strat w/Shane (drums), Matt (bass), Kip (keys)]
   
   
2. Butterfly (original)
   [on Strat w/Shane (drums), Matt (bass), Kip (keys)]
   
   
3. Shelter (Mother McCree's Garden)
   [on Strat w/Shane (drums), Matt (bass), Kip (keys)]
   
   

posted by gyma From a poll Gallup released today: Of six possible ways of addressing Social Security's long-term funding challenges, most Americans favor two, both of which would affect only wealthy Americans. Sixty-seven percent think "higher-income workers" should pay Social...

P. Dowdy & co. have organized a community mtg. about the Marcellus Shale drilling for tonight.

Time: Tonight. Doors: 6:30, begins at 7
Place: Teamsters Temple in Lawrenceville

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July 29, 2010Posted By - Emma VenezieSource Credits - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ---Ronnie Wood's art will be displayed in the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio; photo courtesy of emusic.tv If you're a fan of the Rolling Stones, a new form of entertainment is coming your way: guitarist, Ronnie Wood, is showing off his artistic skills in the form of paintings and other art that will be

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett is trumpeting his “no tax” pledge on the campaign trail.
Against a backdrop of waterfalls, palm trees and lush vegetation, Corbett told a group of supporters at Longwood Gardens he’s the only candidate who will lower state spending next year.
Corbett says Pennsylvania’s taxes are too high, and the levies are dragging down the state’s economy.

"That’s why I’ve signed a no new tax pledge. I would note, though, that my opponent has not signed that pledge, nor do I think he’s going to sign a tax pledge like that. In fact he has developed, he has implemented the largest single tax increase in the history of Allegheny County."

Corbett is referring to the alcoholic drink tax that helped fund the county’s Port Authority. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato dismisses the “no new taxes” pledge.

"His proposal is simply not real, and he knows it. It’s simply political rhetoric, and it’s a political gimmick."

The next governor will likely face a multi-billion dollar deficit in 2011.
The Senate’s top Republican, Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, has said he “doesn’t see how” Corbett could pass a budget without raising new revenues.

The estate of a former Pittsburgh area man allegedly abused by a priest filed suit today in Allegheny County Court against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. The lawsuit says that 39 year old Michael Unglo committed suicide May 4 at a Massachusetts facility after the diocese stopped paying for his mental health treatments. Unglo, who grew up in Etna, attempted suicide two other times. Unglo was an altar boy and was allegedly sexually abused in the early 1980's by Richard Dorsch, a priest at All Saints Church in Etna. Dorsch was arrested in 1994 for molesting another boy. Dorsch was sentenced to jail and banned from the ministry.
Unglo attempted suicide in June 2008 and a month later the diocese began paying for his treatment. According to the estate, the diocese sent a final payment of $75,000 on March 17 and indicated there would be no further payments.
In a statement, the diocese said that it had not received notice of the lawsuit.
"Without any legal requirement to do so, the Diocese of Pittsburgh readily provided hundreds of thousands of dollars for counseling and residential treatment for Mr. Unglo in recent years and continued to do so up to the time of his tragic death. The Diocese of Pittsburgh denies any negligence in this matter and cannot accept that any action of the Diocese contributed to or was responsible for his death. The facts of the case will bear this out. Suicide is a complex tragedy that can deeply affect surviving loved ones. We continue to offer our sympathy, prayers and support to all touched by this tragedy."

Denver Zoo Welcomes Its First Baby Orangutan in 25 Years - Paw Nation

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posted by gyma There are already too many squirrels raiding bird feeders, so why not? LONDON — A supermarket has defended selling squirrel meat as a "sustainable" form of food, amid protests by animal activists who accused him of cashing...

It's Raining Glenn: TPM Braves Week Four Of Beck University | TPM LiveWire

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posted by gyma Where oh where does the GOP find these people? If Tennesseans go for him, this will be a very entertaining race worth watching.

"These boxes have to go through security. Not that they have bombs in them or anything—it's just all boxes have to go through."

— Ana playing post office with with wooden blocks and Pet Shop animals

-Agent Ska-

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The other day I was searching Amazon for a digital edition of the poems of Emily Dickinson, and was pleased to find a digital edition for a few bucks. I know that Project Gutenberg has a decent edition of the original publication of the version her family first published, but the first publication changed her punctuation and invented thematic groupings. I was very happy to see that Amazon appeared to be offering a digital edition of R. W. Franklin's edition.What I didn't know was that, even though the reviews of Franklin's edition appear on the page for the Kindle edition, the poems in the Kindle version are the versions already available for free through Kindle. After I bought the $1.99 Kindle version, I realized I had paid for out-of-copyright poems that I already had downloaded in a different, free, ebook.It was only a couple bucks, and I should have previewed the book before buying it. Nevertheless, I called customer service. Before I even finished explaining my problem, the employee had already deleted the file from my Kindle and said I'd be refunded.I was so happy, I said I would post about my experience on my blog.So there you go.I do wish the Kindle iPad app offered a dictionary. Because the iBook app does have a dictionary, I would have to say that the iBook is superior for reading complex textbooks, but the Amazon selection is much better.

The problem with dieting is that I feel like one of Skinner's superstitious pigeons.

Nearly eighty people gathered today at a regional forum held by the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania (HAP) to discuss issues involving the severe housing crisis in the state. Consumers, developers, real estate professionals, community activists and politicians spoke about the state’s problematic housing market and shared ideas and initiatives that might help fix the situation.
Executive Director of HAP, Liz Hersh, shared statistics about Pennsylvania’s housing market. She says in Allegheny County, hard working families, seniors, and people with disabilities are struggling to find and maintain affordable homes.
• 42% of families who rent are living on $23,850 or less.
• 71% - 80% of families living at or below 30% of Area Median Income (AMI) face severe cost burdens.
• There are only 31-40 units of affordable housing for every 100 of these working families.
• The housing wage is $14.04 per hour—the wage needed to afford the rent of a 2-bedroom apartment. The minimum wage is $7.25.
• 13% of all renters are 75 or older, while 26% are 25-34 years old.
• 32% of homes were built prior to 1940, and most owners struggle to keep them in good conditions.
Hersh says Allegheny County needs 21,545 more rental units that are both affordable and available to the lowest income renters. That number is approximately ten times larger than any other county’s in southwest Pennsylvania. She says the state needs 220,000 more rental units.
The housing crisis is affecting homeowners, low income people, children, senior citizens, the economy and the government. According to Hersh, more than 43,000 children are homeless in Pennsylvania, and 1/3 of these children have psychiatric disorders by the age of 8.
HAP board member Ellen Kight says for these reasons Pennsylvanians must join initiatives to reduce the housing shortage. She says ultimately, HAP seeks to “influence public policy in ways that improve the health and ba

From the P-G (and New York Times):

"PHOENIX -- A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration enforcement law from going into effect, a ruling that at least temporarily squashed a state policy that had catalyzed a national debate over immigration.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against sections of the law, scheduled to take effect today, that called for police officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws and required immigrants to prove that they were authorized to be in the country or risk state charges. She issued the injunction in response to a legal challenge brought against the law by the Obama administration.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the law and has campaigned on it for election to a full term, promised to appeal the injunction, and legal experts predicted that the case could end up before the Supreme Court."

Carnegie Mellon University hopes to unveil a new infrastructure research laboratory by the end of the year.

The university announced today that it has partnered with IBM to create the IBM Smarter Infrastructure Lab on the school’s main campus.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Chair Jim Garrett says the idea is to help businesses and governments make informed infrastructure investments. Garrett says the lab will do that in two ways.

“We’ll have researchers that are working on new technologies and new areas of development, but also bringing in various government authorities [and] municipalities that have already collected some data and want to better understand their system and better understand what might be done with that data to help them better manage their infrastructure.”

Garrett says for example, some water authorities already contract companies to collect data on the state of their distribution systems. The lab would simply compile that information and help the authority understand where to invest its money.

Garrett says the project is part of the Pennsylvania Smart Infrastructure Incubator, which will build two laboratories at a cost of $2.2 million with investments from the state, the university, IBM, and Bombardier, Inc.

As the Onorato Campaign asks: "What's wrong with this picture?"

This photo was taken within the last few days at the Bradford County Fair in Troy, PA. We see what looks like a taxpayer-funded table with a banner displaying the official seal and government website of the Office of the Attorney General. On top of that table is a stack of forms from the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection - a service paid for by our tax dollars.

No problem so far.

But there's more... On top of that same table is promotional literature and buttons for Tom Corbett's campaign for Governor.

So, it's inappropriate for an elected official to use resources from their taxpayer-funded government office to promote their campaign.

And, yet, that seems to be what Tom Corbett is doing in this photo.

Sometimes reality interferes with a politician's rhetoric. And sometimes the evidence is just too plain to ignore.

Any mingling of politics and official business, however remote, is a delicate subject for Corbett, who has made his name prosecuting legislative corruption in Harrisburg through the so-called Bonusgate investigation. In that scandal, government employees were convicted, and others still stand accused, of doing campaign work on the taxpayer’s dime.

The Chariot: Wake up! Be mindful and engaged. Falling asleep at the wheel is a bad idea - literally and figuratively