This speaks for itself...Classic!
CNN.com - CNN Political Ticker Storm's wrath strikes Giuliani «
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
A sign for Rudy Giuliani? Lightning strikes during answer
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Skybus and Megabus
I decided to try out the two new ultra-cheap transportation options in the US. I booked tickets to Chicago and Milwaukee on Megabus (www.megabus.com) for $1 each way and tickets to LA/Seattle for $10 each way on Skybus (www.skybus.com)!
Last year I flew from London to Oslo for one penny (albeit a British penny) each way on RyanAir and it really wasn't too bad.
I look forward to reviewing the US versions after my trips.
Stay tuned...
Last year I flew from London to Oslo for one penny (albeit a British penny) each way on RyanAir and it really wasn't too bad.
I look forward to reviewing the US versions after my trips.
Stay tuned...
Friday, June 1, 2007
Skirt Power!
Pentecostalist refuses to wear pants
US World News
NEW YORK, May 31 A bus driver of the Pentecostal faith said she may sue the New York Transit Association for firing her just because she refused to wear pants.
Tahita Jenkins, 33, explained to her bosses that the standard issue bus driver's uniform, which required the wearing of pants, was against her religion, The New York Post reported Thursday.
She even went as far as to bring in a note from her pastor at the Holy Ghost Headquarters Prayer Band Mission of New Beginning Deliverance Church in Far Rockaway, in the New York borough of Queens, requesting that she be allowed to wear a skirt at work.
But even that didn't work and officials in the transit department insisted that she must either wear pants or culottes or lose her job.
Transit officials fired Jenkins on Tuesday and she is now considering filing a lawsuit.
A similar suit involving Brinks Inc., the armored security service, resulted in a Pentecostal woman being awarded $30,000 and offered her job back, although she had to wear culottes as a compromise.
US World News
NEW YORK, May 31 A bus driver of the Pentecostal faith said she may sue the New York Transit Association for firing her just because she refused to wear pants.
Tahita Jenkins, 33, explained to her bosses that the standard issue bus driver's uniform, which required the wearing of pants, was against her religion, The New York Post reported Thursday.
She even went as far as to bring in a note from her pastor at the Holy Ghost Headquarters Prayer Band Mission of New Beginning Deliverance Church in Far Rockaway, in the New York borough of Queens, requesting that she be allowed to wear a skirt at work.
But even that didn't work and officials in the transit department insisted that she must either wear pants or culottes or lose her job.
Transit officials fired Jenkins on Tuesday and she is now considering filing a lawsuit.
A similar suit involving Brinks Inc., the armored security service, resulted in a Pentecostal woman being awarded $30,000 and offered her job back, although she had to wear culottes as a compromise.
Sci-fi writers join war on terror
Sci-fi writers join war on terror
'CRAZY IDEAS'
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY
From laser weapons to test-tube babies, science-fiction writers have imagined hundreds of futuristic technologies that were or are being developed and used by the government or produced for the public. Among them:
From author Robert Heinlein: cellphones, remote-controlled robot arms, microwave ovens, water beds.
From author H.G. Wells: atomic bombs, airplanes, television, joystick controls.
From author Arlan Andrews: tourist spaceships, downloadable pocket-sized books.
Looking to prevent the next terrorist attack, the Homeland Security Department is tapping into the wild imaginations of a group of self-described "deviant" thinkers: science-fiction writers.
"We spend our entire careers living in the future," says author Arlan Andrews, one of a handful of writers the government brought to Washington this month to attend a Homeland Security conference on science and technology.
Those responsible for keeping the nation safe from devastating attacks realize that in addition to border agents, police and airport screeners, they "need people to think of crazy ideas," Andrews says.
The writers make up a group called Sigma, which Andrews put together 15 years ago to advise government officials. The last time the group gathered was in the late 1990s, when members met with government scientists to discuss what a post-nuclear age might look like, says group member Greg Bear. He has written 30 sci-fi books, including the best seller Darwin's Radio.
Now, the Homeland Security Department is calling on the group to help with the government's latest top mission of combating terrorism.
Although some sci-fi writers' futuristic ideas might sound crazy now, scientists know that they often have what seems to be an uncanny ability to see into the future.
"Fifty years ago, science-fiction writers told us about flying cars and a wireless handheld communicator," says Christopher Kelly, spokesman for Homeland Security's Science and Technology division. "Although flying cars haven't evolved, cellphones today are a way of life. We need to look everywhere for ideas, and science-fiction writers clearly inform the debate."
Bear says the writers offer powerful imaginations that can conjure up not only possible methods of attack, but also ideas about how governments and individuals will respond and what kinds of high-tech tools could prevent attacks.
The group's motto is "Science Fiction in the National Interest." To join the group, Andrews says, you have to have at least one technical doctorate degree.
"We're well-qualified nuts," says Jerry Pournelle, co-author of the best sellers Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer and dozens of other books.
Pournelle and others say that science-fiction writers have spent their lives studying the kinds of technologies and scenarios Homeland Security officials have been tackling since the department began operating in 2003.
"We talk to a lot of strange people and read a lot of weird things," Bear says.
At the Washington conference, Bear offered to put biometrics researchers in touch with movie special-effects experts. The experts might be able to help the government determine how to match the face of someone walking through an airport to a grainy photo of a known terrorist.
Bear's latest book, Quantico, is a sci-fi thriller that has FBI agents and a bioterrorism expert racing to hunt down a homegrown terrorist.
"We'll play 'What if?' with anything," says Sage Walker, an emergency medicine physician turned sci-fi writer and the only woman in the group. She says the discussions with government officials "tend to be very intense and far-ranging."
So are discussions between the writers. During a coffee break at the conference, Walker, Bear and Andrews started talking about the government's bomb-sniffing dogs. Within minutes, they had conjured up a doggie brain-scanning skullcap that could tell agents what kind of explosive material a dog had picked up.
The 9/11 Commission called the 2001 terrorist attacks a result of the government's "failure of imagination." For this group, Walker says, there's no such thing as an "unthinkable scenario."
Why offer their ideas to the government instead of private companies that pay big bucks?
"To save civilization," Ringworld author Larry Niven says. "We do it in fiction. Why wouldn't we want to do it in fact?"
'CRAZY IDEAS'
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY
From laser weapons to test-tube babies, science-fiction writers have imagined hundreds of futuristic technologies that were or are being developed and used by the government or produced for the public. Among them:
From author Robert Heinlein: cellphones, remote-controlled robot arms, microwave ovens, water beds.
From author H.G. Wells: atomic bombs, airplanes, television, joystick controls.
From author Arlan Andrews: tourist spaceships, downloadable pocket-sized books.
Looking to prevent the next terrorist attack, the Homeland Security Department is tapping into the wild imaginations of a group of self-described "deviant" thinkers: science-fiction writers.
"We spend our entire careers living in the future," says author Arlan Andrews, one of a handful of writers the government brought to Washington this month to attend a Homeland Security conference on science and technology.
Those responsible for keeping the nation safe from devastating attacks realize that in addition to border agents, police and airport screeners, they "need people to think of crazy ideas," Andrews says.
The writers make up a group called Sigma, which Andrews put together 15 years ago to advise government officials. The last time the group gathered was in the late 1990s, when members met with government scientists to discuss what a post-nuclear age might look like, says group member Greg Bear. He has written 30 sci-fi books, including the best seller Darwin's Radio.
Now, the Homeland Security Department is calling on the group to help with the government's latest top mission of combating terrorism.
Although some sci-fi writers' futuristic ideas might sound crazy now, scientists know that they often have what seems to be an uncanny ability to see into the future.
"Fifty years ago, science-fiction writers told us about flying cars and a wireless handheld communicator," says Christopher Kelly, spokesman for Homeland Security's Science and Technology division. "Although flying cars haven't evolved, cellphones today are a way of life. We need to look everywhere for ideas, and science-fiction writers clearly inform the debate."
Bear says the writers offer powerful imaginations that can conjure up not only possible methods of attack, but also ideas about how governments and individuals will respond and what kinds of high-tech tools could prevent attacks.
The group's motto is "Science Fiction in the National Interest." To join the group, Andrews says, you have to have at least one technical doctorate degree.
"We're well-qualified nuts," says Jerry Pournelle, co-author of the best sellers Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer and dozens of other books.
Pournelle and others say that science-fiction writers have spent their lives studying the kinds of technologies and scenarios Homeland Security officials have been tackling since the department began operating in 2003.
"We talk to a lot of strange people and read a lot of weird things," Bear says.
At the Washington conference, Bear offered to put biometrics researchers in touch with movie special-effects experts. The experts might be able to help the government determine how to match the face of someone walking through an airport to a grainy photo of a known terrorist.
Bear's latest book, Quantico, is a sci-fi thriller that has FBI agents and a bioterrorism expert racing to hunt down a homegrown terrorist.
"We'll play 'What if?' with anything," says Sage Walker, an emergency medicine physician turned sci-fi writer and the only woman in the group. She says the discussions with government officials "tend to be very intense and far-ranging."
So are discussions between the writers. During a coffee break at the conference, Walker, Bear and Andrews started talking about the government's bomb-sniffing dogs. Within minutes, they had conjured up a doggie brain-scanning skullcap that could tell agents what kind of explosive material a dog had picked up.
The 9/11 Commission called the 2001 terrorist attacks a result of the government's "failure of imagination." For this group, Walker says, there's no such thing as an "unthinkable scenario."
Why offer their ideas to the government instead of private companies that pay big bucks?
"To save civilization," Ringworld author Larry Niven says. "We do it in fiction. Why wouldn't we want to do it in fact?"
Congratulations Pittsburgh!
Congratulations Pittsburgh, You've (or yinz/yunz, in Pittsburghese) taken the first important step towards a two party system...
GOP mayoral candidate DeSantis unfazed by obstacles
Mark DeSantis
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Mark DeSantis sat in his sparse South Side office Wednesday, cradling his company's latest investment -- a plastic sphere of tiny wireless cameras called a "MobileFusion Ball."
The prototype might one day help soldiers or police officers safely survey a room filled with gunmen and hostages.
But DeSantis, soon to mobilize a political campaign, knows it will take a lot more than stealth technology to unseat Democratic Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
A day after learning he captured enough Republican write-in votes to challenge Ravenstahl in November, DeSantis said he is undaunted by the young mayor's enormous popularity and fundraising advantage, the Democrats' voter registration dominance in Pittsburgh, or the fact that a Republican hasn't been mayor since 1933.
story continues below
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"We need profound reform, and that really crosses any party affiliation or party lines," said DeSantis, 47, of Downtown, who founded the technology consulting firm Formation3. "Pittsburgh has some very serious problems."
He notes that a typical major U.S. city spends 12 percent of its budget to pay off long-term debt. Pittsburgh spends about double that.
"The debt and liabilities are really off the scale," he said. "Unless it's addressed right now, directly, on a grand scale, it will overwhelm this city. It will overwhelm our ability to take care of ourselves. And to me that's a big deal."
Shrinking the size of government to bring it more in line with the city's declining population, and combining city and Allegheny County services, are some of the issues he plans to discuss during his campaign.
DeSantis intends to rely on his deep background in business and politics, which Ravenstahl, 27, of Summer Hill, lacks.
DeSantis worked under President George H.W. Bush as a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz. He worked as a management consultant with a technology consulting firm in Virginia.
Ravenstahl, a one-term city councilman who inherited his job in September when Mayor Bob O'Connor died, said he would take any Republican challenger seriously.
"I think if a good enough candidate came forward with good ideas, I think anybody can win," Ravenstahl said yesterday.
He said he decided not to wage a campaign to capture the majority of GOP write-in votes in the May 15 primary in an attempt to run unopposed in the general election.
"I'm a Democrat," Ravenstahl said. "I didn't feel I wanted to pursue that at this time."
Party pride didn't deter another Democrat, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, from pursuing Republican voters. Onorato, who will run unopposed in November, used an automated phone bank to woo Republicans. They rewarded him with 1,844 write-in votes, nearly triple the 623 netted by Matthew Drozd Jr., the son of County Councilman Matt Drozd.
A preliminary tally gave DeSantis 910 write-in votes, compared to 294 for Ravenstahl and well more than the 250 DeSantis needed to get on the ballot.
Ravenstahl said he would debate his opponent.
"Sure, I'm willing to talk about the issues," he said. "If I feel he's serious enough about his candidacy, it's something I'd be open to doing."
City and county Republicans must get serious about DeSantis' candidacy to pull off what many consider an improbable -- if not impossible -- victory, said Jerry Shuster, a University of Pittsburgh political communications professor.
"All of the Republicans have to coalesce around him," Shuster said. "They have to be able to put together the nucleus of a campaign team that handles everything from low-level door knocking to high-profile fundraising."
Ravenstahl has a big head start, with $695,905 in his campaign account. DeSantis has zero.
But he has been involved in winning Republican causes before, as a volunteer with Jim Roddey's successful 1999 campaign for county chief executive. He worked for Roddey's transition team.
Roddey said DeSantis is intelligent and articulate, understands politics, and loves Pittsburgh.
He believes DeSantis is running in order to highlight the city's serious financial woes, which "have been swept under the rug."
"I think Mark would favor cutting the size of city government, combining city services with county government and cutting the size of the fire department," Roddey said. "He has a lot of ideas that are sound, but are not going to be popular with the labor unions."
Mark F. DeSantis
Political party: Republican
Age: 47
Background: Born in Oakland and reared in Sharpsville, Mercer County.
Family: Single
Occupation: President of Formation3, a technology consulting firm.
Education: Graduate of Kennedy Christian High School in Hermitage; bachelor's degree in American studies and master's degree in business administration, from the University of Dayton; master's degree in technology management from American University, Washington; doctorate in public policy from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
Background: Was a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce under President George H.W. Bush; served as aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz; worked as a management consultant with Booz, Allen and Hamilton, a technology consulting firm in McClean, Va.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.
GOP mayoral candidate DeSantis unfazed by obstacles
Mark DeSantis
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Mark DeSantis sat in his sparse South Side office Wednesday, cradling his company's latest investment -- a plastic sphere of tiny wireless cameras called a "MobileFusion Ball."
The prototype might one day help soldiers or police officers safely survey a room filled with gunmen and hostages.
But DeSantis, soon to mobilize a political campaign, knows it will take a lot more than stealth technology to unseat Democratic Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
A day after learning he captured enough Republican write-in votes to challenge Ravenstahl in November, DeSantis said he is undaunted by the young mayor's enormous popularity and fundraising advantage, the Democrats' voter registration dominance in Pittsburgh, or the fact that a Republican hasn't been mayor since 1933.
story continues below
<a href="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/pittsburghlive.com/pittsburghtrib/s_510260.html/811917349/Position1/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_June07/DB_nothing_300x250.txt/34363131626538613436356662363430?http://dollarads.h2media.com/dollarads/nothingtohide/"><IMG SRC="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_June07/http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/richads/dollarbank/nothingtohide/300x250_PL.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></a>
"We need profound reform, and that really crosses any party affiliation or party lines," said DeSantis, 47, of Downtown, who founded the technology consulting firm Formation3. "Pittsburgh has some very serious problems."
He notes that a typical major U.S. city spends 12 percent of its budget to pay off long-term debt. Pittsburgh spends about double that.
"The debt and liabilities are really off the scale," he said. "Unless it's addressed right now, directly, on a grand scale, it will overwhelm this city. It will overwhelm our ability to take care of ourselves. And to me that's a big deal."
Shrinking the size of government to bring it more in line with the city's declining population, and combining city and Allegheny County services, are some of the issues he plans to discuss during his campaign.
DeSantis intends to rely on his deep background in business and politics, which Ravenstahl, 27, of Summer Hill, lacks.
DeSantis worked under President George H.W. Bush as a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz. He worked as a management consultant with a technology consulting firm in Virginia.
Ravenstahl, a one-term city councilman who inherited his job in September when Mayor Bob O'Connor died, said he would take any Republican challenger seriously.
"I think if a good enough candidate came forward with good ideas, I think anybody can win," Ravenstahl said yesterday.
He said he decided not to wage a campaign to capture the majority of GOP write-in votes in the May 15 primary in an attempt to run unopposed in the general election.
"I'm a Democrat," Ravenstahl said. "I didn't feel I wanted to pursue that at this time."
Party pride didn't deter another Democrat, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, from pursuing Republican voters. Onorato, who will run unopposed in November, used an automated phone bank to woo Republicans. They rewarded him with 1,844 write-in votes, nearly triple the 623 netted by Matthew Drozd Jr., the son of County Councilman Matt Drozd.
A preliminary tally gave DeSantis 910 write-in votes, compared to 294 for Ravenstahl and well more than the 250 DeSantis needed to get on the ballot.
Ravenstahl said he would debate his opponent.
"Sure, I'm willing to talk about the issues," he said. "If I feel he's serious enough about his candidacy, it's something I'd be open to doing."
City and county Republicans must get serious about DeSantis' candidacy to pull off what many consider an improbable -- if not impossible -- victory, said Jerry Shuster, a University of Pittsburgh political communications professor.
"All of the Republicans have to coalesce around him," Shuster said. "They have to be able to put together the nucleus of a campaign team that handles everything from low-level door knocking to high-profile fundraising."
Ravenstahl has a big head start, with $695,905 in his campaign account. DeSantis has zero.
But he has been involved in winning Republican causes before, as a volunteer with Jim Roddey's successful 1999 campaign for county chief executive. He worked for Roddey's transition team.
Roddey said DeSantis is intelligent and articulate, understands politics, and loves Pittsburgh.
He believes DeSantis is running in order to highlight the city's serious financial woes, which "have been swept under the rug."
"I think Mark would favor cutting the size of city government, combining city services with county government and cutting the size of the fire department," Roddey said. "He has a lot of ideas that are sound, but are not going to be popular with the labor unions."
Mark F. DeSantis
Political party: Republican
Age: 47
Background: Born in Oakland and reared in Sharpsville, Mercer County.
Family: Single
Occupation: President of Formation3, a technology consulting firm.
Education: Graduate of Kennedy Christian High School in Hermitage; bachelor's degree in American studies and master's degree in business administration, from the University of Dayton; master's degree in technology management from American University, Washington; doctorate in public policy from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
Background: Was a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce under President George H.W. Bush; served as aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz; worked as a management consultant with Booz, Allen and Hamilton, a technology consulting firm in McClean, Va.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.
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