Local Libraries Rolling the Dice and Betting on Casino's Success

As many local Pittsburghers know, earlier this year the Carnegie Library announced the closing of several local branches, including one in Lawrenceville (see photo, left, isn't it lovely?). The library system, like many other nonprofits, has been hit hard by the recession: decreased funding and ever-escalating costs.

Thanks to a number of public rallies, town meetings, and coverage by the local print media in the ensuing months, these libraries--and their patrons--were not going to go down without a fight. While the Commonwealth is not exactly rolling in money, the State House just passed a bill to bring needed funds to City libraries.

The Post-Gazette recently reported that libraries now have an angel investor in an unlikely place: the local casino. Okay, not exactly an angel investor, since the Rivers Casino will be required to give the money through a one percent tax on gross revenues. An additional one percent from the Casino will be earmarked to help fund County libraries and the new Monroeville Convention Center.

Of course, the amounts that are being bandied about are estimated figures, based on what they expect/anticipate (or hope, if you're a pessimist) the casino's revenue to be. To sweeten the pot and to help ensure that the Casino will actually have a better chance of reaching these projected revenues, it would be permitted to expand gaming to include table games.

This legislation is not a done deal, though: it must also pass the State Senate, and not everyone is happy about revenue coming from a required Casino tax. And Pittsburgh City Council has "pledged" $600,000 to support the Hazelwood, West End, Beechview, and Lawrenceville Branches. But as we all know, pledging support and actually cutting a check may be two completely different things.

Pennsylvania State Representative Chelsea Wagner has been vigorously fighting against closing any branches. Ms. Wagner contends that any money provided to the Library be tempered with oversight of where exactly this money will be going. Wagner feels that so far the Library has provided inadequate information about any plan to help raise money for its operational support. "They have not shown any indication that they're going to rev up their efforts to cover their operating costs."

One way the Lawrenceville branch in particular could raise money is through rental income. They have an old auditorium in the basement that for years has been unused. It's fallen into disrepair, but get a bunch of volunteers to spruce it up and rent it out.

Speaking from personal experience, I know how difficult it is to find an auditorium in Pittsburgh at an affordable price. There's lots of great venues--the Hazlett, City Theatre, the Frick, Filmmakers, and Charity Randall. But you've got to pay upwards of $1,000 a night, which is completely out of reach for many nonprofits and other community groups.

The Lawrenceville Library Auditorium may not be as posh as the theatres mentioned above, but it doesn't have to be. Charge a fraction of what those venues charge, invite everyone from political debates to dance recitals to rent out the place. It would go a long way to build goodwill amongst the neighborhood, and the Library would have a nice, regular revenue stream: non-restricted revenue that can go straight towards operational costs. And that's what I call a winning hand.

Area Casino Not Such a Sure Bet

Those of you living in Pittsburgh may remember all of the hoopla associated with the preparation and launching of the Rivers Casino, which recently opened.

First was the debate over where to put this casino. After the powers that be rejected an offer by one developer (who promised to not only build the casino uptown but also to build--completely free of charge--a new arena), the winner ended up being developer Don Bardo. Bardo, whose winning bid placed the casino on the north side, promised, with local politicos joined at his hip, lots of things. Oodles of revenue to reduce everyone's real estate taxes! A boon to the local tourist industry! And who can forget Smokey Robinson, Bardo's bud and business partner, who was going to be a frequent headliner in the casino's lounge.

Not long after the new casino broke ground last year did Bardo get into financial trouble and lost (or couldn't come up with the promised) financing. Another consortium picked up where Bardo left off, and the casino opened to very little fanfare.

A terrific story in the Post-Gazette reported that the Rivers Casino is doing significantly less business than anticipated, and the S&P has reduced its creditworthiness by a notch.

The whole casino debacle has had me scratching my head for so long it's any wonder I have any hair left. To this day, I cannot understand how a plan that included not only a casino but a free arena was passed over by Bardo's north side casino.

It's not a huge surprise to me that the casino is not doing well. For one thing, how the hell do you get over there? The location of the casino is in no man's land, sandwiched between the Carnegie Science Center and Heinz Field in a section of the north side that is completely inaccessible to pedestrians and difficult to reach by car, thanks to a mystifying labyrinth of roads.

The new casino is offering no free shuttle service, which to me is a major misstep. The only shuttle in operation is privately owned and costs $10 each way. While the casino advertises having a complimentary garage, there have been reports that on Steelers game days patrons had to pay up to $50.

Unlike many casinos, the Rivers is becoming famously stingy on its amenities: no free alcohol, soft drinks sparingly doled out, and the casino's "Players Card" giving away very few freebies and players reporting better luck on the machines playing with cash rather than with the Card.

I hate to say I told you so, but I never bought into Ravenstahl's and Onorato's rhetoric that all this money would pour in, which would translate into property taxes being slashed. We're in the middle of a recession, people! No one has money to spend.

The other big problem with the Rivers Casino is the competition. The Meadows racetrack added a casino at about the same time the Rivers opened. Unlike the Rivers, it's right off a major interstate, has ample free parking, and also offers harness racing. While it is south of the city, the Meadows has the advantage of an easy drive and a well-marked route to get them there.

Of course, one only has to drive a bit further on Route 79 past the Meadows to get to Wheeling Downs. There, guests can enjoy the slot machines, and harness racing, and table games. It would be interesting to me to see what kind of decrease Wheeling Downs has experienced from fewer Pennsylvania gamblers. My instincts tell me it's not been much of a dip.

I can't stand the fact that we have gambling in Pittsburgh in the first place, but with that said, if we're going to have gambling here, we might as well take steps to make the casino as attractive as possible. The Rivers can step up to the plate and start offering free shuttle service from downtown, pony up more freebies (especially for Reward Card holders), and offer visitors superlative service. The county (or appropriate powers that be) should take the necessary steps so the Rivers can add table games, making it market competitive and to ensure its long-term success.

Pittsburgh: Finally Back to Normal

The G-20 is now history, and participants, political pundits, and members of the media are lauding Pittsburgh and everyone involved in organizing and coordinating the Summit itself. Luke Ravenstahl is going to throw out his back for all of the patting on the back he's given himself. But--the buzz around town is that we did such a good job that Pittsburgh is being considered for the 2012 G-20 as well as the 2012 Republican National Convention.

The latter, I am sorry to report (not), will likely not come to fruition, due to an insufficient number of hotel rooms in the downtown core, but we'll all have to wait and see if the G-20 returns in three years.

The e-magazine Pop City has a photo slideshow that contains--not to sound cheezy--really striking and dramatic images. Speaking of dramatic images, this blog's own Nut Bar got his 15 minutes of fame when a Post-Gazette photog snapped him marching in the Peoples Protest last Friday (see photo, right). All I can say is, I'm glad I'm on his good side, most of the time anyway, because he's looking pretty intense in this pic, staring down Officer Friendly in his patrol car.

All in all, I would agree with the experts and call the G-20, overall, a success. But where it failed was giving the G-20 attendees an abysmal view of the downtown core. By banning virtually everyone from that area and with vendors boarding up their storefronts, all you needed were a few tumbleweeds and it would look like a ghost town. I understand the need for security, but it's really unfortunate that G-20 delegation had to see the downtown in this manner.

I also realize that previous G-20 summits attracted tens of thousands of protesters, so initially it made sense for Pittsburgh to ramp up the police presence. But as far as protests go, it was pretty much a flat tire from a security perspective. The protest on Thursday was unpermitted (you need a permit from the city to have a march) but a group of self-proclaimed anarchists convened anyway at 40th Street (yep, that's four blocks from my house) and were stopped by the time they got to 32nd or so. Of this group of a few hundred, only 10 people or so were arrested.

The "main" protest occurred on Friday, which was permitted and organized by many groups, including the Thomas Merton Center. This event was organized, well run, and as the police put it "were policed by the protesters." None of the 8,000+ protesters were arrested, which I think is a great testament to the ones doing the protesting as well as the police for exercising good judgment.

What I don't understand is why, why, why, when the main protest concluded, they didn't ratchet down the number of police. At this point, having thousands of officers didn't make much sense: many came in to manage rowdy protesters, and there wasn't really anything for them to do. Why not send the out-of-town officers on their way?

A lot of people are speculating if hosting G-20 was worth the trouble and expense. I think it will certainly help the city in the long-term. Showcasing Pittsburgh on the national news in a positive light can only be a benefit and will help in what I would call the "branding" of the city. But like most branding, it's often hard to quantify the results.

However, in the meantime, the city has to deal with the short-term consequences. I have not heard the latest figures, but even with federal assistance, the city is going to be stuck with a multi-million dollar bill for security. What I want to know is where this money is going to come from. If it ends up coming from my wallet, I won't be too happy about it.

Also, in what I consider a major drop of the ball, downtown eateries and retailers suffered needlessly. The P-G reported that many restaurants, having been told by VisitPittsburgh to expect hordes of people in the week before and week of G-20, stocked up on food and liquor. Then these same restaurants saw the fencing go up, essentially shutting off their venue from anyone from the G-20. Since VisitPittsburgh was one of the major players in the planning of this event, I'd say they have a lot of 'splaining to do.

So one thing I'm going to do is make it a point to visit at as many downtown restaurants as I can. If they're hurting from the G-20, it will give me an excuse to call up a friend to meet for a cocktail. Dirty martini, anyone?

Welcome to the War Zone!

Many friends of mine know I'm a huge fan of end-of-the-world movies. If it's about the world's impending doom or after a handful of nuclear bombs have detonated, I'll be first in line at the theatre. My obsession is so bad that several months ago I had a vivid dream whose story mimicked the new show "Flashforward." But I'll save discussion of that dream--and end-of-the-world movies--for another post.

Because right now, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that Pittsburgh is preparing for the end of the world. My seven block walk from the bus stop to the Law & Finance Building this morning was spooky: lots of boarded up storefronts, street traffic reduced to next to nothing, and the handful of people on the sidewalks were all walking purposefully, eyes downcast. I also saw a lot of police officers: in squad cars, on motorcycles, and on foot with dogs.

This afternoon I'm perched in a downtown office building overlooking the courthouse. Car traffic has not increased, but the silence is pierced by the regular sound of sirens. I just saw a convoy of ten police vehicles gunning down Grant Street--two I noticed from Montgomery County (that's the Philadelphia area, for those unfamiliar with Pennsylvania) and for the last two hours, it's been nonstop beeping and sirens.

But this is the last "normal" day downtown: tonight the barricades go up to cordon off the G-20 zone from the rest of us (code for civilians and those mean, despicable protesters). From what I understand, unless you are involved with the G-20 (delegates, media, police, G-20 volunteers, etc.) or live downtown, no one gets in or out.

During the Summit, buses will be diverted, dropping off passengers on the other side of downtown, for those poor souls who have the misfortune of having to work downtown, outside of the G-20 zone.

For all of Obama's good intentions of letting Pittsburgh showcase all the wonderful things to do and see here, I'm not sure what the G-20 delegates are going to make of all of this. Opinions expressed in recent news articles feel that Pittsburgh will end up losing money rather than making money, based on the added costs for security.

As if this makes it all better, the Summit planning committee will be outfitting volunteers and other helpful individuals with this special pin (shown above). So welcome to Pittsburgh, G-20-ers! Don't mind all of the barbed wire and boarded up buildings--we're the most livable city in the country!

EarthEcycle update

Just a quick update regarding an earlier post regarding EarthEcycle. Since my original post, the EPA has turned back now two (it was originally one) cargo shipments allegedly originating from EarthEcycle headed to South Africa.

As recently reported in the Trib EarthEcycle has asked for an administrative hearing with the EPA, to say, as Jeff Nixon himself (I'm assuming it was him, since he posted the comment anonymously) said, get all of the facts out.

However, EPA spokeperson Deb Berlin said that the request from EarthEcycle came after the deadline given to the company, so it remains to be seen if EarthEcycle's request will be approved.

The Trib further reported that the Monroeville warehouse still contains discarded computer and electronic parts, and that the company stands to potentially be fined up to $37,000 a day if found out of compliance by the EPA. Stay tuned!

Julie & Julia; Julie and that Bobby Guy

Today I went to the movies to celebrate a financially profitable month (thank you, air bed and breakfast) and to escape the hottest day of the summer. Taking the suggestion of a couple friends of mine, I went to see Julie & Julia.

I can't recommend this movie enough: Nora Ephron did a marvelous job interweaving the stories of the two principal characters: Julia Child and her diplomat husband, Paul; and Julie Powell and her editor husband, Eric. I suspect that Meryl Streep will get the lion's share of attention in her portrayal of Julia, but to my mind, Stanley Tucci did just as brilliant a job. The two of them had genuine chemistry and became Julia and Paul quite convincingly onscreen.

Kudos also to Amy Adams and Chris Messina, who also did a great job as Julie and Eric. They gave what I thought were not-over-the-top performances (I mean this as a compliment) and also had a nice on-screen rapport. And of course the fifth star of the movie was the food, and my God, if you don't leave the theatre ravenous, then there's something wrong with you.

Going into the movie I knew more about Julia than I did Julie and of course knew that Julie had written a blog (before everyone and their brother wrote one, myself included). But I knew nothing about what prompted her to start writing. Turns out she had a job in lower Manhattan post-9/11 in a part customer service rep, part ombudsman, part whipping boy as she helped families of the victims. It also turns out that she was also a writer with a half-finished novel and a circle of friends who were uber successful.

On the eve of her 30th birthday, her husband suggests writing a blog, and once she got the idea of working her way through the entire Child cookbook, she took to it like a house afire. As a blogger myself, I shared in her blogger-related joy in parts of the movie ("I got my first comment!" she excitedly shared with a co-worker, then quickly deflates when the identify of the commenter is revealed; then, later "I got 53 comments and they're all from no one I know!").

The movie got me to thinking about this blog, and I thought I'd tell you all why I started mine. Because I guess it never occurred to me to tell you. Duh.

When I was a little girl I loved two things: reading and writing. Growing up in a small town in a fairly remote area, reading gave me an opportunity to be, as Isak Dinesen said, "a mental traveler." And writing gave me the chance to create worlds of my own.

I never thought I was smart enough or good enough to write for a living, so I went to school and took business classes and got a job at a bank. Then fate intervened and I found myself out of a job a few years later. After some "what do I want to do with my life" moments, I decided to go back to school. I got a job at CMU, and took two writing classes there, which I loved. It didn't hurt that I had the good fortune of having some of the smartest English majors in the classes and very supportive professors.

So I graduated and I did a bunch of stuff: consulting, marketing at an engineering firm, working for a bunch of trade associations, and finally starting a charity. When the time came to look for a job last year, I knew I wanted to get back to doing more writing as part of my job.

There's a company in Pittsburgh that is the go-to place for writing, strategic planning, branding, etc. I'd been applying for every available job, when finally I got an interview. As interviews go, it was a weird one, with a guy I'll call Bobby and a girl I'll call Betty (which may or may not be their real names). They made a bunch of snarky, inside-y type of jokes, and I got the sense that sitting at the table interviewing me on the pleasure scale was somewhere between a root canal and having your motherboard crash.

Post-interview, Bobby tells me I have to take a writing test, and emails it to me. It's a draft of a magazine article. It's dreadful. I've been allocated no more than 2 1/2 hours to either re-write or write one from scratch. I research the topic, write the article, checking punctuation, etc., and email it back. Then I get an email back. Apparently it is so bad that Bobby not only doesn't want to hire me, but won't even consider having me work freelance.

Talk about deflated. Then angry--I have a writing degree, dammit. From CMU--known for its writing programs, yes, plural, programs! Then--oopsie--I realize I'm forgetting one trifling detail: I hadn't written anything of any length in over three years! Three years! Of course I sucked!

So just like a marathoner has to stretch muscles and go for a run each day, I decided I had to exercise my brain--or at least the part of the brain that allows me to string words together, anyway. So I had to find a way to write: on a regular basis, doing research, finding topics, coming up with something interesting to say.

So this blog was born. This isn't Tolstoy, but it's my little mental stretching of those writing brain cells. And saying I designed and write a blog looks not bad on my resume. So thanks, Bobby, for giving me a figurative kick in the pants when I was getting too big for my britches. I owe you one. And your weird little friend, too.

Two Attacks: One Local, One Worldwide

I saw the headline on Yahoo! -- shooting in gym kills at least 3, injuring others. It didn't mention the city, and I assumed it happened somewhere else. Then I saw my friend Lori posted on Facebook: "Just wanted to let everyone know I'm okay. I'm a member of LA Fitness, but I wasn't there this morning," and I realized that the shooting happened here in Pittsburgh.

According to reports, George Sodini entered the Collier Township gym and sprayed bullets into a group of women gathered for an early morning exercise class. Then, after killing 3 and injuring 10 more, he turned the gun on himself.

Acquaintances and co-workers recall Sodini seeming like a normal enough guy. Sodini, 48, worked at K&L Gates, doing IT work for the prestigious law firm for the last ten years. He owned a small, tidy home in Scott Township, where his neighbors describe him as friendly, although not overly so.

But it seems Sodini had lots of secrets, which he shared online. Like Richard Pawlawsky, the individual who killed three police officers this spring in Stanton Heights, Sodini also chronicled his ramblings via an online diary. It's full of racial and political epithets, hatred directed at his family, his friends, and his employer.

Fueled by self-proclaimed loneliness, lack of happiness in his life, and his perceived rejection by women over more than a decade juxtaposed against the "young girls here [who] look so beautiful" at 24 Hour Fitness, he begins a plan: arming himself and killing. Read his online diary and you'll find evidence that within his "normal" exterior laid a very troubled man.

While Sodini took great lengths to leave some sort of legacy through his diary (where he urges "copy this to netgroups, where my voice will speak forever"), another individual halfway around the world from Pittsburgh was equally intent on removing the voice of another.

Yesterday, social networking sites Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, and the site that hosts this blog, Blogger, were all hacked into. Facebook, LiveJournal, and Blogger (for the most part) stayed online, but Twitter's site completely went dark.

Ordinarily my response would be so what, these sites are fairly frivolous and the worst that could happen is that you have to wait a few hours to take yet another inane Facebook quiz. However, according to published reports, the attack was carefully planned and orchestrated and had only one target: an individual going by the user name Cyxymu.

So what's so special about this guy Cyxymu? Cyxymu is reportedly from the former Soviet republic of Georgia and has been making some statements that made some people angry. So angry, in fact, that they decided to silence Cyxymu by bringing down these web sites. The fact that not only Cyxymu, but the other millions of users also went offline, was apparently just collateral damage.

Internet experts have tracked the hackers location to Abkhazia, a territory along the eastern coast of the Black Sea that's in dispute between Russia and the Republic of Georgia. The presumed thinking was, shut down the websites, and it will shut up the person.

Many of you know that in 2003, I started a nonprofit that brought together volunteers with charities that needed help. Pretty innocuous, right? As it turned out, another charity didn't like what we were doing and threatened us with a lawsuit. When we didn't back down, four weeks later our web site was hacked into and destroyed. Coincidence? I never thought so. The FBI were called in and traced the hackers to overseas, where their jurisdiction ended, and the case was closed.

It was bad enough that this happened, but the hackers hacked into the server and not only destroyed our site, but the 50-60 other sites on the server, not unlike these hackers that brought down an entire site in an attempt to silence one person.

No one wins when a hacking like this takes place. And as these hackers will discover, it won't shut down a single person or a single organization. A few weeks later, my web site was back online, intact and just as strong as ever. I suspect the same will happen to Cyxymu.

Buy One Get One Free Applies to Groceries and Sometimes...Diplomacy

You can laugh at Bill Clinton all you want, but he is the "git er done" man of the hour, paying a visit to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and successfully convincing North Korea to free Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two American journalists arrested in March for illegally crossing the border into North Korea.

Clinton was an unexpected choice, doing what I'll call a "Jimmy Carter" (an ex-president pressed into service to do some quasi-diplomatic work) and sitting down with Kim Jong Il, who, according to an Associated Press report has not met with a prominent leader from the West since allegedly suffering from a stroke a year ago. In fact, Carter might have been a more logical choice, since he himself sat down with Kim Il Sung, Jong Il's father, for similiar, unofficial diplomatic talks in 1994.

The situation of using Clinton reminds me of a slogan used in Clinton's first presidential campaign: buy one, get one free. In that case, it referred to electing Clinton (buy one) and getting the brainpower of Hillary, too (get one free).

It's interesting that this time, roles have been reversed, with Obama appointing Hillary and getting Bill for free. Many politicos squonked about Bill being a detriment when Hillary ran, and I will admit he publicly said some pretty reactive, stupid, off-the-cuff remarks. But maybe, like Carter, he has found his ken as a behind-the-scenes guy smoothing the way with prickly dictators and even closing a few deals.

I'm sure the commentators will express trepitation that he will overextend his power and influence, usurping not only his wife's role as Secretary of State, but of Obama's as well.

And I mean this as no disregard to Clinton (or Albright before her), but despite many Americans thinking that the world is an enlightened a place as we are when it comes to the role and status of women in work and society, it's not. Certainly it's safe to include North Korea into this less-enlightened category.

And while I don't think that anyone should replace Hillary Clinton (or any female in that position) as chief diplomat, perhaps in countries where we know females are treated as third-class citizens, adding to the mix a seasoned (and yes, male) diplomat such as Bill Clinton (or Bill Richardson or John McCain or even Jimmy Carter) makes infinite sense. Especially someone who has a long-standing, positive relationship with a person or country that historically has not been an ally.

Since the journalists' arrest and sentencing Obama, Hillary Clinton, and others in the State Department have issued public apologies to North Korea and asking for the immunity of the arrested journalists. And there were indications that perhaps it wasn't falling on deaf ears.

In July, Ling (through a phone call to her sister Lisa Ling, herself a National Geographic Channel correspondent) reported that she and Lee were never transferred to prison after sentencing, but were rather being held in what was classified as a "guest house". It was speculated that while they were not free per se, their kind of house arrest was preferable and more humane than in transferring them into the North Korean jail system.

I have long said that North Korea is the country to watch, especially with Kim Jong Il at the helm. Not to discount the unrest and atrocities in other parts of the world, but we sometimes tend to forget this little island country that now, suddenly, has nuclear capability and a leader that doesn't always seem to think too rationally. I am hopeful that this is but a small step in a series of other steps to open up diplomatic talks with North Korea.

Vick Becoming a Steeler? A Dog of an Idea.

Michael Vick (shown left, with his attorney) is asking for a chance. I don't know if this has involved getting on bended knee and groveling, but the former Atlanta Falcons star did meet Wednesday with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell concerning Vick's possible reinstatement.

We Americans tend to have a short memory when it comes to things like this, so let's recap what Vick did: using money he earned playing football, he funded a dogfighting ring: an activity that is not only illegal, but immoral and downright deplorable. This activity took place in a house that Vick owned, again paid for with revenue from football.

If you are not familiar with dogfighting, it is a brutal, horrible bloodbath of a "sport"--dogs are bred to be aggressive, to attack animals, and to fight to the death. People pay to see this, and apparently Vick was happy to bankroll this operation.

When these charges first surfaced in 2006, Vick denied any involvement. His denial continued for months, until his former associates presented evidence against him, and testified against him at the trial. Vick was subsequently found guilty of charges associated with operating a dogfighting ring, and was sentenced to 23 months in a federal prison. Personally, I think the punishment of 23 months did not fit the crime, but that discussion I will save for another post.

So now Vick wants to return to football. I have mixed feelings about this (again, for another post), but his reinstatement is up to Commissioner Goodell. Sources say reinstatement will likely happen, perhaps with a four-game suspension once Vick is signed with a team.

Of course, speculation is running rampant about who might sign Vick. Experts agree that once signed, keeping Vick out of the limelight would be advisable, so a starting quarterback position would be all but out of the question. With this (possible) scenario in mind, it's likely that the team most likely in a position to sign Vick would be an NFL teams who already have a solid starting quarterback already, but might need a relief, second-string player.

And who might those teams be? The New England Patriots and....the Steelers! An article published on Yahoo! reported that the Patriots and Steelers "both have fan bases that would be accepting of the team taking a chance on Vick."

What? What?!! Pittsburghers may have a mentality that said "give the kid a chance" when it came to electing Luke Ravenstahl, but there is no way on God's green earth that Steeler fans are going to come close to embracing this former operator of a dogfighting ring.

Not to mention the players themselves: many of the Steelers are dog owners and admitted animal lovers, including Deshea Townsend, Charlie Batch, Jerome Bettis, and Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers has lent support to area animal shelters: shelters that provide a safe haven to the kinds of dogs that fall victim to organized dogfights.

I can only hope that what the experts are speculating is just that: speculation. But let's nip this thing in the bud, and tell the Steelers organization that despite what the experts think, we don't want to see Vick on the bench, wearing a black and gold jersey. You can contact the Steelers organization and tell them exactly what you think about the idea of Vick becoming a Steeler. Here's their contact information:

Administrative offices:

Pittsburgh Steelers

3400 South Water Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15203-2349

Phone: (412) 432-7800

Fax: (412) 432-7878

Not Too Late for the Fairytale Ending

Figure skating is a solitary sport. You train alone, with your coach. You get up every morning before the sun comes up, to spend hours in a cold rink. Jumping and falling, jumping and falling. The same series of movements, over and over, with toe pointed, head tilted, hand fluttering just so. Always with a smile on your face.

Every day of the year you train: ballet and dance lessons. Weight training. Running. Workouts in the gym. And twenty hours every week in the rink.

Yours is a sport that despite having a newer, more quantitative scoring system, you’re still judged on everything from the color of your panty hose to the number of sequins on your outfit. Your off-rink life is judged. Are you humble? Are you articulate and well spoken? Do you come from a respectable family? Do you deserve to win?

You don’t have a life outside of your sport. Every morsel of food, every swallow of liquid is parsed out and monitored. You give up friends, you give up school, you give up a social life, you give up a life with your family. You’re 15 years old and can’t remember a time when life wasn’t like this.

Your sport is a series of qualifying contests that leads up to one big contest. There’s no coverage of the qualifying contests, like all of the football games that lead to the super bowl. No one in TV Land cares who won the Midwest Sectionals or the New England Regionals. In your sport, the only thing people are interested in and tune into is the Big Event: The US Nationals.

With Nationals, it’s the equivalent of the last play of the Superbowl, fourth down, and you’re the quarterback trying to throw the winning pass. You have less than seven minutes to show the judges you are worthy. There are no mulligans, no do-overs. You have one chance: one slip of the blade, one fall spells failure.

You approach the ice and think about the thousands of hours of practice, the $100,000 or so each year you and your family spend to get you to this point. In this sport, everyone sacrifices.

The winner and runner-up receives parades, glory, and a chance to compete internationally. Anything less than third place is a disappointment and another year to train--and hope.

Given all of this, you have to wonder why anyone would want to become a competitive figure skater. Maybe it’s the feeling of propelling yourself and flying in the air. Maybe it’s the combination of artistry and athleticism.

In 1994, skater Nicole Bobek was asked why she skated and she just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Because I like it.”

Bobek had what coaches would call raw talent. She was an easy--albeit sometimes sloppy-- jumper, and yet being a bit rough around the edges, had a lightness and grace about her on the ice. Growing up never knowing her father, Bobek and her mother, a former skater from the Czech Republic, formed a close-knit bond.

Listen to skating commentators today, and septagenarian telecaster (and former Olympian) Dick Buttons will still wax poetic at the grace of Nicole Bobek. It's rumored that because Buttons went on and on about Bobek's signature spiral (in photo, right), that it served as a wake-up call for other skaters, including Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen, who ended up with signature spiral sequences of their own.

Bobek’s ascent into elite figure skating did not come easily. Her skating record could diplomatically best be described as irratic. One year she came in fourth, the next 16th. She earned a reputation as being rebellious and difficult: she smoked cigarettes and had a mouth like a sailor, which of course only endeared her to me.

She had ankle problems, and weight issues, and sometimes lacked a commitment in her training. In the course of her career, she hired and fired a dozen coaches in a sport where a coach is regarded much like a marriage partner: one you stick by through thick and thin.

However, in 1995, 16 year old Bobek, despite herself and against all odds, won the U.S. Senior Ladies Nationals. She later went on that year to place third in Worlds. You might not remember Bobek because, despite her gold at Nationals and a bronze at Worlds, subsequent performances were not as good: she placed third in 1997 and 1998, earning her a berth on the 1998 Olympic team, where nerves and injuries got the better of her, and placed a disappointing 17th place.

Sadly, Bobek did not get the storybook ending that she very likely wished for. A few days ago Bobek was arrested as part of a large drug ring that sold and distributed methamphetamine.

You can't help but wonder what happened to Bobek. If you look at her MySpace page, you see a girl whose hero is her mom, enjoys doing charity work, and who hopes to be a mother “someday”. Three years ago, she even made her acting debut acting alongside Oscar winner Sean Penn.

Bobek’s self-declared hero, her mother, is standing by her daughter’s side, posting the $100,000 bail and saying she will help her in whatever way she can. She still has faith in her daughter, saying that she is a good girl and got mixed up with the wrong crowd.

Bobek is only 31, and it breaks my heart that someone so young with so much going for them becomes seduced by drugs. I hope that she doesn't see herself as a has-been, but a smart, funny, intelligent girl that made some bad choices. I hope that her mom continues to stand by her, to help her daughter make some better choices, so she can get clean, take accountability at the charges in front of her, so she can have another chance at the fairytale ending that she--and everyone else--deserves.

150 Years

That was the sentence recently handed down to Bernard Madoff, proprietor of the now-infamous Ponzi scheme that bilked scores of people, trusts, and nonprofits out of their retirements, pensions, and endowments.

While Ira Sorkin, Madoff's attorney (shown with Madoff), asked for leniency and suggested a sentence of 12 years, Judge Chin (my new hero) disagreed and gave Madoff the maximum permitted by law.

"Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil," Chin said in his remarks, which brought with it applause and cheers from the gallery, many of whom were Madoff's victims. "I simply do not get the sense that Mr. Madoff has done all that he could or told all that he knows," Chin added, a sentiment shared with many, including this blogger.

Those in the courtroom reported that Madoff sat or stood impassively while victim after victim took the stand and told their stories of money and trust lost. When it came time for him to make a statement, Madoff said that he was sorry: ""I will live with this pain, with this torment, for the rest of my life. I live in a tormented state knowing the pain and suffering I have created," but his statements left most victims unmoved.

In the courtroom, Madoff literally and figuratively stood alone, with the absence of any family members in the gallery. Moreover, Judge Chin stated that the court received not even a single letter of support, testifying to any good deeds or charitable works. "The absence of such support is telling," Chin said. I'll say. Even serial killers can count on their mothers or someone to provide a statement, or ask for leniency, but Madoff only had his hired hand, attorney Sorkin, at his side.

Madoff's wife finally broke her silence in a statement on the day of sentencing claiming that she had no knowledge of the true nature of Madoff's business. "From the moment I learned from my husband that he had committed an enormous fraud, I have had two thoughts--first, that so many people who trusted him would be ruined financially and emotionally, and, second, that my life with the man I have known for over 50 years was over." Anyone else find her ignorance hard to believe?

While Madoff and his wife have agreed to sell their assets (including a Manhattan penthouse, Long Island estate, villa in France, Palm Beach mansion, and other valuables), Mrs. Madoff will still be left with $2.5 million. I can't strongly enough express how wrong I think that is. She should be left with nothing, just like all of the people who invested and are now left penniless.

It has also been reported that Madoff's two sons, Andrew and Mark, borrowed a combined $31.5 million from their father. I think these loans should be paid in full, with the proceeds paid as restitution to swindled investors.

And in fact, while I'm thinking about it, I think that any money, any pathetic earnings that Madoff makes while working in prison should be garnished and distributed to his victims. It might just mean a few cents every year for each victim, but the satisfaction in receiving this sort of compensation might just be priceless.

When No News Isn't Necessarily Good News

This story broke a little over a week ago, but it's an important one that I wanted to share. The Archives of Internal Medicine (a JAMA--Journal of the American Medical Association--publication) reported on a study completed at Weill Cornell (New York) Medical College regarding notifying patients of test results.

The news, in short, is not good: the study showed that an average of 7% of the time, patients whose test results were abnormal were not notified by their doctor, with some failure rates as high as 26%. Practices whose record keeping was part paper, part electronic fared the worst over those practices that were completely paper or completely electronic.

The study also surveyed doctors about in-house procedures for notifying patients of their medical test results. The findings of this survey were equally alarming: the average process score was 3.8 out of 6, with most medical practices not using all five of the basic processes suggested in literature. Further, most practices did not even have in place explicit guidelines for notifying patients of results.

Doctors say that the volume of patients and lack of time make it difficult to contact patients. But if practices don't even have a protocol in place about patients' medical tests results, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone in the practice to notify patients, let alone the doctor.

Doctors are busy, there's no doubt about it. And given the decreasing amounts of money medical practices receive through health insurance reimbursement, doctors are only going to get busier and this situation is likely to get proportionately worse.

You'd think that doctors would be more mindful of this negligence, given that we live in such a litigious culture. Failing to provide a patient abnormal test results could certainly have disastrous results. But apparently this is happening, sometimes as many as one in four times.

This is clearly an example where you need to be the advocate for yourself, and badger the doctor's office for the results. Because just because you don't get the "all clear" from the doctor doesn't necessary mean everything is okay.

Hello and...Buh-Bye

In what has to be the longest contested race ever, the Minnesota State Supreme Court unanimously ruled what many of us have known for a long time: that Al Franken is indeed U.S. Senator. With this senatorial race now finally concluded, the number of Democrats in the Senate now total 60, giving them a majority and making them filibuster-proof. In theory, anyway.

Franken gave a very nice victory speech in which he praised Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who has, in many respects been doing the work of two senators in the wake of not declaring the Franken/Coleman race. "But she’s only one Senator," Franken said. "And it’s time that Minnesota, like every other state, had two."

Many pundits wonder if Franken, an outspoken author and critic of everything from Rush Limbaugh to Beltway Bandits, can play nice with others now that he himself will be one of those inside the beltway guys. Franken is nothing if not stupid and I believe he will approach the job with humility and an eagerness to learn. Franken will be serving on the judicial committee, and might I suggest he use his time in committee meetings learning at the knee of Pennsylvania's senior Senator, the newly-Democratic Arlen Spector.

The usual blustery Norm Coleman, the now former Senator from Minnesota was unusually nonblustery in his concession speech, which is just about the nicest thing I can say about the man. Now that the race has been decided, all kinds of rumors are buzzing about as to what his future holds. Might I suggest running for Governor...of Alaska!

It seems a vacancy has recently become available, as Sarah Palin abruptly announced in today's press conference (reported in an excellent article by the Associated Press) that she is stepping down as the 49th state's governor. Nut Bar and I caught an excerpt of her speech, and we both turned to each other and went, "Huh?". She rambled about the "millions of dollars down the drain" but never said what millions of dollars she meant. She has mastered the ability of speaking a great deal, but saying absolutely nothing.

In her speech, Palin made no statement about her future, short or long-term, but is apparently not ruling out a (God help us) presidential bid for 2012. 2012 is a long ways away, but I think, I hope, in this case, Americans will have a long memory when it comes to Sarah Palin. By the end of the race, she managed to alienate most people (Democrats and Republicans alike), and her post-campaign PR has maintained a steady downward path. Between the continued sniping between her camp, the Republican National Committee and the McCain camp, to the arrest of Bristol Palin's almost mother-in-law on a multitude of drug charges, to the swirl of talk of ethics violations, she was, in many ways, painted into the proverbial corner with no way out. Or quitting to take a rest while she plans her 2012 comeback, if one believes the Palin-philes.

However, not surprisingly, Palin has plans for writing her memoirs, and has inked a deal with HarperCollins that most guess is in the mid-six figures. So perhaps this will shed some light regarding her sudden resignation. Or maybe it will be 400 pages of dribble drabble. I'm voting for the latter...

Follow-Up Post: Chris Brown Pleads Guilty to One Felony Count

In an earlier post, I reported the news of an alleged altercation between rapper Chris Brown and his then-girlfriend, pop singer Rhianna. Allegedly the two of them had gotten into a heated argument while Chris was at the wheel of the car, with Rhianna receiving a black eye, concussion, and several lacerations.

Afterwards, Chris Brown denied the charges. Rhianna has kept a low profile, and reports are that she broke up with Brown and has been cooperating with the police and the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

Monday, Brown appeared at his hearing, and it was announced in court that an eleventh hour plea agreement had been reached. Brown pled guilty to assault, which is a felony. He received five years probation, must serve 180 hours of community service, and attend an anger management class. Brown has both a protective and stay-away order, forbidding him to harass, stalk, or come within 50 yards of Rhianna.

The plea was an eleventh hour development, because Rhianna apparently did not know of the agreement, and appeared at the courthouse, for the purpose of testifying at the hearing. Formal sentencing will take place August 5th.

I think Brown (and his attorney) saw the writing on the wall that Rhianna, despite early vacillations, was cooperating with authorities and that if left to a jury, the result may well have resulted in a stiffer sentence, including jail time.

I want to applaud Rhianna for wanting to see this thing through, cooperating with authorities, and finding the strength to be willing to testify against her former paramour. And I think Brown is doing the right thing with the plea barging, and hopes he takes the probation and the conditions of his sentence seriously, and learns something about himself in the process.

Brown's attorney reported that Brown will be performing his community service in his home state of Virginia, to be near his family. And I bet one thing Brown's mama will be serving her son is a big serving of humble pie.

"Customers Should Avoid the Red Line"

Such was the title of the first press release issued shortly after an inbound train stopped at the Takoma Park Metro Station was rear-ended by another train. An understatement, if I've ever heard one.

The following is an exerpt from a subsequent WMATA press release which provides more details:

"This is an incredibly tragic day and our hearts go out to the families of those who suffered fatalities and to those whose loved ones are injured,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe. “We are committed to investigate this accident until we determine why this happened and what must be done to ensure it never happens again.”

Metro officials do not know the cause of the 5 p.m. Monday collision and are not likely to know the cause for several days as the investigation unfolds. Both trains were on the same track headed toward Shady Grove Metrorail station, according to preliminary reports. The female operator was on the trailing train.

What? The "female operator was on the trailing train"?! What the #*$& does that have to do with anything? I could see if it was a drunk operator, or a hopped up on coke operator, but a female operator? I don't see how the gender of the driver had anything to do with anything.

Oh, wait, I get it those female drivers, yeah, right. Maybe she was PMS-ing--you know how hysterical they get "at the time of the month". Or she probably got dumped by her boyfriend, that'll put any female on the edge. Everyone knows men are far better drivers, and this would have never happened if a stable, unemotional male was behind the wheel! Okay, I'm overreacting, but isn't that an odd thing to put in a press release? I'm just sayin'.

I digress and I don't mean to make light of what was really a horrible tragedy. At least six people have died and over 75 people have been critically injured, making this the worst accident in the history of WMATA. Right now there doesn't appear to be any clearcut answer as to the cause for the crash, so it could be anything, including faulty driving, female or not.

I used to work in Silver Spring, which is on the red line, one stop from the Takoma Park station. It is entirely conceivable that former co-workers of mine were on one of the two trains that collided, due to the time of the accident. I am waiting to hear if anyone I know was on the trains, and if so, if they are okay.

I'm really sending my prayers for everyone that was on that train, and according to WMATA, it could have been as many as 1,200 people. Even though it was rush hour, the crash site was near the beginning of the red line, so I am hoping that the number of passengers was less that what they're saying it could be. So in this case I'm hoping that wishing it makes it so...

My House's 15 Minutes of Fame

Two weeks ago I get a call out of the blue from Jodi, a reporter over at the Tribune-Review. She found my profile on Airbnb and told me she's doing a story about people renting out rooms in their house. Sort of a "how people are coping with the recent economic downturn" kind of article.

James Knox from the Trib came over and took this picture of me lookin' smirky, but damn, he made my house look good! All those "Flip this Flippin' House" shows I watch on HGTV and seeing all those staging tips finally paid off! By the way, the wooden tray on the bed was made by my favorite woodworker, Mr. Dad.

Jodi, who if she was 23 she was a day, tried to get all Woodward and Bernstein on me, asking about the six percent tax "that I'm entitled to pay them", which became more of a highlight in the story than I think it needed to be. And she didn't use my best quips, like "my sister has always called this house the bed and breakfast and now it actually is!"

But no matter, all press is good press, right? And I think the published piece turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. And this weekend I got my first reservation through Airbnb (the rest have been through craigslist) and another for next weekend. As my Mom would say, "Wheee!"

Best Burger Ever. And Goodbye to a Gentle Giant.

I was reading Jorge Garcia's recent blog post about his favorite burger joint, P.J. Clarke's in New York City. Someone commenting on Jorge's blog mentioned that P.J.'s was ranked 21st by Burger Rankings, so of course I had to see if my favorite hamburger place made the list, Pittsburgh's own Tessaro's.

Unfortunately, Tessaro's didn't appear on the listing, so I decided to take a cue from Jorge and wax poetic about my favorite burger.

For the uninitiated, Tessaro's is really a Pittsburgh culinary institution. Tessaro's is co-owned by brother and sister Kelly and Ena Harrington, who bought the restaurant in 1985. Neither one of them had restaurant experience before (Kelly used to be a teacher, Ena a former attorney), but they soon had a successful restaurant with a loyal following.

Tessaro's in a nondescript-looking, narrow storefront tucked into Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. Inside, a long, shiny wooden bar dominates one side of the room, the other has small tables that seat two and can be combined for larger parties. It's a tight squeeze on the seating side, with the host actually lifting and moving the table so the person (or persons) seated against the wall can actually get to the seat.

Fortunately for all of us, in the mid-1990's, Kelly and Ena bought the rowhouse next door, tore down the connecting firewall between the two buildings, and doubled the floor space. The result is a cozy, dark, bustling place with tin ceilings, dark wood, with the small tables topped with tablecloths made of old, soft denim fabric.

Everything is hardwood grilled, with seafood, kebabs, chicken, and barbeque ribs (just on Thursdays--and Fridays, if there's leftovers) included on the diverse menu. But Tessaro's is really best known for its burgers. Also grilled, the hulking, half-pound burger can be served plain or gussied up with cheddar, dry bleu cheese, sauteed mushrooms or onions, and the more pedestrian lettuce/tomato/onion toppings.

Tessaro's doesn't have a deep fryer, so the usual sides of fries and onion rings aren't offered on the menu. Instead, diners can choose home fries, which are peppered with onions cooked on the flattop, making a crunchy, chewy, and flavorful alternative to fries.

Another restaurant anomoly is Tessaro's lack of desserts on the menu. People who want something sweet after dinner are directed next door to Crazy Mocha, for a piece of cake and an espresso. Desserts just allow people to linger, co-owner Kelly once explained, with lingering meaning fewer table turnovers. And with the line of people to get in often spiraling outside and waits as much as 45 minutes, it was wise of the Harrington's to omit dessert from the menu.

Kelly, a big bear of a guy with shaggy hair and beard, acted as host, manning the postage stamp-sized entrance and spill-over of people outside. Tessaro's doesn't take reservations, and Kelly never took names, and knew most people by sight or by name. When a table became available, he would just give you a beckoning, "come on over" gesture, and corral people over to their tables.

Ena is more diminutive both in size and personality, but she is no shrinking violet: Ena is, in a word, unflappable, and can quiet the loudest drunk with a withering look, one of those "I knew you when you were in diapers/your parents raised you better than that" glares that speaks volumes.

The last time I visited Tessaro's was April 17th with Tim, and Ena was playing hostess. "Finally gave Kelly the night off, huh?" I said to her as we came in. She just rolled her eyes and led us to our table.

What I didn't know at the time was that Kelly had actually been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He later had a stroke and passed away on May 11th, just two days after his father, famed prosecutor Dennis Harrington lost his battle with cancer. There was a wonderful tribute to father and son in the Post-Gazette, which is how I learned of Kelly's passing.

Kelly was just 57 and was just one of those guys that you instantly like, a gentleman that was truly a gentle man. He will be missed by many people, and visiting Tessaro's will never be the same without Kelly greeting us at the door.

"My Plane Dove Into the Hudson and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt"

It's hard to believe that you can survive a traumatic experience like a plane crash and then have to worry about how to pay for your medical bills. But that's the current state for many of the passengers of Flight 1549, the USAirways flight that, after having its engines conk out due to flying into a flock of geese, emergency landed in the Hudson River five months ago.

The New York Times is reporting that AIG, the insurance giant that provided the aviation insurance to USAirways, is balking over compensating the survivors of Flight 1549. According to a USAirways spokesperson, all passengers were paid $5,000 for what USAirways calls "their immediate needs"--which in my opinion was a nice gesture of goodwill that they weren't under any obligation to do. And while not mentioned in the article, I think it's safe to say that the airline provided gratis travel to family members of those injured, as well as to fly the survivors to wherever they needed to go. While USAirways got a lot of good press that undoubtedly helped their business, they have acted very decently towards the Flight 1549 survivors.

As the NYT's story points out, making insurance claims in the case of an airplane crash is not as straightforward as a claim on your homeowner's insurance. For example, when the chimney on my house was struck by lightning, I called my insurance carrier, got three quotes, and received a check to make the necessary repairs.

Because in the case of Flight 1549, there was no fault on the part of the pilot or the plane itself: like the thunderbolt that hit my chimney, birds flying into the engines constitute what the insurance industry calls an "act of God".

As the Times story states, "If there is no negligence, then arguably there is no liability, and no obligation [for insurance carrier AIG] to pay claims." So that leaves the passengers with legitimate claims at a bit of a stalemate with AIG. The irony is that if the pilot hadn't landed the plane so expertly and people on board were killed or more severely injured, the victims and the survivor's families would have a better chance of getting money from AIG than what actually happened.

Apparently AIG is telling Flight 1549 passengers to use their own insurance to pay for things like the concussion or broken leg they suffered. But as passenger Tess Sosa points out, there are some injuries that can't be treated with a plaster cast and a band-aid.

Sosa, her husband, and two small children were on the flight (Sosa was sitting with one child, her husband was seated in a different part of the plane with the other), and says that the trauma she experienced and the guilt she feels running towards an exit with her son, leaving her husband and other child behind, haunts her.

Certainly other passengers will be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder--how could you go through an experience like that and not have some psychological issues about what happened?

These passengers do not strike me as money-grubbing people trying to stick it to AIG. It seems that being compensated for medical bills and subsequent therapy is reasonable. But, as the NYT piece points out, it may take passengers months and maybe years before AIG compensates them for their medical bills for injuries immediately after the crash, and no guarantee of any money for things such as therapy.

I can't help but think that this is AIG's way of figuratively shrugging its shoulders and saying "we're bankrupt, the government has told us to buckle down on our operations, we're simply doing what the government directed us to do."

I don't think that the window of opportunity has closed yet for AIG to do what I think is the right thing to do and provide monetary compensation to the passengers. It's like the old car repair ads of "pay me now or pay me later"--the pay me now is always cheaper than the pay me later, where in this case the passengers are all going to lawyer up (a few of them already have), and file a class action lawsuit. And somehow I have a feeling a jury is not going to believe that AIG doesn't owe these people some money.

"What a Dump!" Indeed

Sometimes free comes with a price, as the Post-Gazette reported in today's story about e-cycling gone awry.

Most electronic products contain heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead and are considered to be hazardous waste. Because of this, most landfills will not accept these kinds of products as is. The items must first be broken down, and any parts containing hazardous materials must be sent to a place like a smelting facility, where the metals can be melted down and either re-used or properly disposed of.

In today's age of advanced technology that makes many electronic products out of date or obsolete in a shorter amount of time, the amount of electronic waste is increasing at an alarming rate. Two recent developments have escalated the amount of electronic waste: first, updating old CRT computer monitors with new flat-screen models, and replacing old, analog TV's (which will quit working today -- unless you buy a converter box) with wide-screen LCD or plasma TV sets.

As you might imagine, companies have sprung up that dispose of these heaping piles of discarded electronics. While many of them adhere to guidelines set up by the DEP and the EPA, some do not. Two individuals employed by EarthEcycle (founded by a former Allegheny County employee) have blown the whistle on their former employer, claiming that the company collected the discards and dumped them in the lot behind a former car repair place in Homewood.

According to the P-G story, several local charities partnered with EarthEcycle to collect and recycle old electronics. Jeff Nixon, Owner of EarthEcycle, allegedly told these charities that EarthEcyle would collect used electronics, re-sell items that were salvageable, and then properly dispose of the rest. The charities would get a portion of the profits from the sale of the salvageable material. Among the charity participants were the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society.

But Raymar Dawson and Jason Ivey, two of the nearly two dozen day workers employed by EarthEcycle, reported a different story: electronics that were never tested, and literally dumped from collection containers to an abandoned lot in Homewood or former Levin's warehouse in Monroeville (photo shown above). Dawson and Ivey, who answered ads on Craigslist, were assured by Nixon that they would be hired on a full-time, permanent basis. However, after being paid cash for wages, the pair were not paid at all for their last two weeks of employment.

And what of the charities? The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, one of the charities that partnered with EarthEcycle, has received only $10,000 of the $150,000 it says EarthEcycle owes them in donated electronic goods. The Make-A-Wish Foundation reports that it is continuing to collect electronic goods for EarthEcycle, but has not received any monies to date.

Watchdog group BAN initially raised the flag against EarthEcycle, which prompted the EPA and the DEP to look into BAN's allegations. EarthEcycle is now facing charges for violation of hazardous material management regulations for the treatment, management, and exportation of hazardous materials.

Among the charges is that EarthEcycle exported used computer equipment overseas and failed to mark shipping containers and documentation as containing hazardous material; improperly disposing of hazardous material; and failing to notify the EPA that it was exporting the material overseas for re-use.

Nixon and EarthEcycle have 30 days to answer the EPA's charges and must also provide a detailed plan to properly dispose of the electronics it has already collected. Not complying with the EPA's demands may result in penalties levied against EartheCycle of up to $37,000 a day.

This story is doubly sad to me because this was borne out of good intentions by the donors, who wanted to dispose of their electronics responsibly, and the charities, who wanted to do something good for the environment and make some needed revenue in the process.

So what's a person to do with discarded electronics--or other items that need to be re-cycled? The City of Pittsburgh has an excellent web site that provides details on how to recycle everything from your day-to-day trash like aluminum cans to old kitchen appliances and the carpeting you just pulled out from your living room. The city also offers free composting classes, and provides a comprehensive list of all of the things you can recycle.

As far as electronic items go, the 2009 schedule for hard-to-recycle items outlines the different drop off locations. The program is in cooperation with the EPA, and does charge a fee for collecting electronic items. But to me, the fee is small compared to the peace of mind knowing that your cast-offs will be disposed of properly.

Tragedy at the Holocaust Museum

Barely two months after Richard Pawlawski allegedly shot and killed three police officers here in Pittsburgh, it appears that another white supremacist has struck again.

The Associated Press has just released a story about a man who entered the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC and opened fire into the crowd. Because this just occurred a few hours ago, details are still incomplete. But the AP did report that an individual described as an "elderly gentleman" opened fire into the crowded museum, which receives 1.7 million visitors every year. The assailant, using what was described as a rifle, exchanged gunfire with a museum security guard, and both are in critical condition.

The alleged shooter is James W. von Brunn, 89. Von Brunn was arrested and served more than six years in a federal prison for trying to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve Board. When arrested in 1981, he was found with a knife, gun, and a sawed-off shotgun.

Von Brunn has a web site associated with him that highlights (lowlights?) his book "Kill the Best Gentiles", which he describes as "a carefully documented treatise exposes the JEWS and explains what you must do to protect your White family." Other writings include "Hitler's Worst Mistake" and "Liars, Murderers, Rats, and Thieves," all diatribes against Jews, African-Americans, and other minority groups.

I discovered that the domain name of the website is registered to a Steve Reimink. Reimink, a supporter of presidential candidate Ron Paul, popped up on a number of websites concerning issues about illegal immigrants. Among those was an email to President Bush that said, in part: "We further demand that there not be any amnesty given to illegals, NO free services, no funding, no payments to and for illegal immigrants. We are fed up with the lack of action about this matter and are tired of paying for services to illegals." No word if Reimink was involved, or had knowledge of von Brunn's plans at the Holocaust Museum.

Because this happened in Washington, DC, literally just steps from the White House, that this will be a wake-up call that violence can happen anywhere, and that no one is really safe from people with weapons intending to do harm, all in the name of an extremist belief. I hope that some good can come of this, and that congress will pass gun legislation designed to prevent this from happening again.

I Need A Hug...And Perhaps a Gun

Well, this week just keeps getting better and better, and to paraphrase my friend Lakeisha's catchphrase, I am definitely not feeling the love in the room.

In the "I should have seen this coming" category, the office manager at the CPA firm tells me that "she didn't want to tell me Friday" (why? why?), but "this is our slow time and we don't need you any more." Subtle, huh? Then she said, "you can work the rest of the day (gee thanks, since it's 3:45 and I leave at 5:30), or through tomorrow, or through the rest of the week. Whatever I want."

Whatever I want?! What I wanted was a #*$&#* job from you, not some conciliatory you-can-work-out-the-week making the same temp rate I got 12 years ago. It's still not clear how much longer I will be working beyond tomorrow. My plan is to milk as much time out of them as possible, since I'm now close to--hooray--becoming eligible for unemployment, and the more weeks of work I can rack up, the better.

This experience has taught me a number of things: saying you're a Christian is a helluva lot different than actually being one, don't take anyone at their word, don't agree to anything in return for future compensation, and --when you get mad, don't bring firearms to work.

Although for the last thing, this experience has given me greater insight into why disgruntled workers return to their former places of employment with a shotgun and a whole lot of bad attitude. I've got the attitude, but believe I am showing considerable restraint in not going to the sporting goods store for a gun.

Once I got the news it took me quite a while to email the prospective tenants, realtor, insurance broker, mortgage broker, and home inspector to let them know all bets are off and my home buying plans are on hold. So I can kiss that cute little house in Highland Park goodbye, unless a miracle happens and I get a job before someone comes and scoops up that house. But I'm not holding my breath.

One bright side is that now that I'm amongst the land of the unemployed, that gives me more time to hang out with my slacker friends, chief amongst them Nut Bar and newly-unemployed Tim and Gino (come back to Pittsburgh, we'll have slacker fun, you'll see). Yeah! I see movie days, music and drinking days, laying out in the grass doing nothing days...

This Oasis Was Just a Mirage

Well, my job search continues. While the CPA firm is still in play (I’m still temping there) and as Tim, Nut Bar, my Mother, and everyone else points out, I am working, making money, and there are more positives than drawbacks there. But temping is not getting me a job, and momma needs a job so she can buy that pretty house in Highland Park!

When talks stalled at the CPA firm, I resumed (or rather, amped it up) my job search. And miraculously, I found an oasis in the desert of job searching—literally. It was a program director job at a company called Oasis and sounded suspiciously like what I did at PSVN: managed volunteers, managed programs, did most of the accounting functions, worked with community charity partners, and on and on it went. I wasn’t the only one who saw this déjà vu all over again: a former PSVN volunteer even mailed the job description to me.

It appears that this is one oasis that just merely a mirage. I sent in my resume and the next week got a call from the Executive Director, who asked me when a good time would be to come in. She suggested 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, and when I asked if a later time might be available, she suggested 4:15 p.m. on Friday.

Friday came and I got to Oasis’ office and told the receptionist who I was and why I was here. A disembodied voice called out, “Your interview was yesterday,” and out comes the Executive Director. After I insisted it was Friday and she insisted it was Thursday, we were at a bit of a stalemate. I said I was sorry multiple times. I suggested that we might find another date and time, and she firmly refused. Three times. I wished her well in her candidate search and left.

My being upset and nearly in tears turned to anger, I’d have to admit. My mother will tell you I have the best memory of anyone she knows. I admittedly have more stress going on (aforementioned house and other things I’m afraid I won’t be discussing on a blog) than usual, but after the “hall of shame” bus ride post-non-interview I consulted my notes. There, plain as day, was “Friday” written in, with the time. But these days, that and two bucks will get you a coffee at Starbuck’s.

But as Tim and my Mom pointed out, do I really want to work for someone who doesn’t even allow for the possibility that she might be wrong? I think I’d feel like working with a jail warden who believes all inmates should serve their time and that second chances are not a possibility. My mother called her Cruella Deville, a description I rather like.

So it’s back to hitting the pavement, working at the CPA firm and looking for a job. Keep your fingers crossed that my little house in Highland Park will still be available after this craziness is over.

What's Worse: A Self-Admitted Snake in the Grass, or Hypocrites Cloaked in Christianity?

I once worked at a place where shortly after I started, people began warning me about the Executive Director. "He lies," one co-worker whispered. "Don't believe a word he says," confided another. While the ED, whom I'll call John had the reputation of being a bit of a snake charmer, he was the first one to admit all his flaws, including the snake charming bit. So for me, his candor was refreshing and we always got along great--because I knew what I was dealing with and he wasn't pretending to be something he wasn't.

Fast forward to my current situation. As many of you know, I have been working for over two months at a company. What started as four-week temp job as a way to make a little money quickly turned into a very enjoyable experience. My direct superior is a former minister who acts more like Jolly Old St. Nick than an imperious clergy member. We immediately bonded over inane trivia and he appreciated (his words) my sharp mind and quick wit.

About a month into the temp job, he and I began having informal talks about my joining the company as an employee. I named my salary requirements, and he didn't balk. My temp contract was extended and St. Nick told me that the company would pay me a differential in salary because he said "if we tell the temp firm to raise the rate by $3, you'd probably get 25 cents of that." The way we left it, we were going to get through May 15th (end of their busy season) and then ink a deal.

In my glee of finally nearing the finish line with this job search, I got to work looking for a new house, which I found. I began showing my house to prospective tenants. I began the paperwork to get pre-approved for a mortgage.

Last Friday, St. Nick takes me to lunch and tells me that the company wants to hire me and wants to offer me a salary -- a range $10-15,000 less than what we had last talked about. It seems they don't have the money, and apparently never had the money. Next, they offered me a consulting contract, knowing full well I wanted full-time employment. "We thought since you file a Schedule C anyway," the President said (WHAT? Since when do I file a Schedule C?), "that you could work for us for 3 months as a contractor."

This whole time, the organization had been smugly patting itself on the back because they never signed a contract with the temp agency. Ergo, in their mind, they don't owe them any money. As you might imagine, the temp agency had a different idea and is now demanding money. The last time we met, the President said, "You know, if we have to pay them a fee, it will come out of the budget for this position (i.e., out of the pathetic amount they've offered me, or will completely scrap the differential they promised to pay me)."

Now, this is a for-profit company, and I expect there to be a little lyin' and schemin' along the way. But this company happens to loudly advertise itself as a "Christian-based" organization. Christian based? Christian based! What Would Jesus Do, indeed. I suspect he's spinning in his grave, with people donning the cloak of Christianity to act in what I can only characterize as un-Christian-like.

The negotiations are still going on, and of course I'm looking for another job. But whenever they're done dithering and actually offer me an employment contract, I may just take their miserable job, work the 90 day trial, close on my house, and then get the Hell out of Dodge. And I think Jesus would understand--and may even forgive me. The "Christians" are on their own, though.