It Sounds Bad, But It Could Have Been Worse

He could have been studying
in Hillman Library
on a Friday night.

If Not For Dan, Luke Would Be Getting Lonely (Ravenbergs Divorcing; University Gets Kids)

Several sources report that the debate regarding the Siege at Schenley Plaza, and in particular how to handle its aftermath, has become heated and is boiling down to the city and county (left) vs. every other person or authority inhabiting the planet Earth (right). And I mean every.

Any wagers on when Dan begins to step away from that podium?

The lawsuits should be a hoot.

Pitt Police Chief Tim Delaney: Serial Do-Gooder

A second development today (here is the first) that reflects well on Pitt police chief Tim Delaney:
Pitt students now welcome to bring lawyers to meetings with University representatives.

I am told Chief Delaney (in white shirt, at center, surrounded by substantially lesser men) pushed for this welcome change in policy.

Revealed: Police Standoff . . . Against Police

I expect a series of jarring revelations concerning the Siege of Schenley Plaza. Like this one.

University of Pittsburgh: Helping Students Since . . . Well, I'm Sure It Will Start Sometime

I recently noted that Pitt students should get the hell out of Pittsburgh within minutes of graduation (number nine on the list). Recent events indicate I could reconsider that point. New evidence indicates at least some Pitt students -- those desiring to acquire a useful law degree -- should leave sooner.

It has long been obvious, to anyone who compares Pitt's announcements of home football attendance with a 10-second scan of the stadium, that the University lacks a functioning Department of Mathematics. (Bob Smizik, I believe, once noted that if Pitt's attendance claim for a Halloween-week game were true, at least half the fans came to the game dressed as empty seats.)

Yesterday, the dysfunction spread to the School of Law (which has been declining for two decades, and recently fell from 57th to 71st in the U.S. News ranking).

Pitt has invited students confronting criminal charges consequent to the Siege of Schenley Park to tell their stories to the University -- and its police department -- in hopes the school (which has failed its students at every step of this situation so far) might grant indulgences (did everyone else miss the statutory change requiring the district attorney to answer to Pitt?). One catch: Pitt method of "helping" a student will include barring the student from bringing a lawyer.

ACLU legal director Vic Walczak, who attended a good law school, flunked Pitt's legal reasoning, calling it unconstitutional, insidious, and for a student, "dangerous."

(In fairness to dean Mary Crossley of Pitt's law school, it is possible she was so busy attempting to rehabilitate the law school's ranking that she and the rest of the faculty were unavailable to help the University arrange a legally defensible position.)

Were I a Pitt student, I'd listen to Vic Walczak (and my lawyer). Were I a Pitt law student, I'd consider calling Vic for a recommendation about a top-50 law school to which I could transfer.

UPDATE: Major change, thanks to chief.

Global Infinonymity (Post-G20 Edition)

It doesn't offset the losses sustained by downtown businesses, the Kent State-with-a-(rubber)-bullet weekend at Pitt, or the to-be-hidden millions in security costs, but the Pittsburgh G20 Summit generated at least two good things -- a smokin' soundtrack and Global Infinonymity.

These foreign sources have sent visitors after the G20's conclusion:
Japan - Canada - Norway - Romania - Bahrain - Brazil - Lithuania - Belgium - Iran - Netherlands - Palestinian Territory - Israel - Philippines - Sweden - New Zealand - Finland - Puerto Rico - Belgium - Guatemala - Pakistan - Italy - Switzerland - Australia - Germany - Estonia - France - India - Singapore - Macedonia - Ireland - Mexico - Denmark - United Kingdom - Saudi Arabia - Okatie, S.C. - Louisiana (Halliburton)

Visitors from Singapore were drawn to this. The Japanese sought this.

These Google/Ask/Yahoo searches delivered Intertubers:

pittsburgh pirates funny g20 sign
equate 1 5 6 12 in to 4
margaret poplawski pittsburgh
g20 event pittsburg pa
chris neverman
ravenstahl loser
Mrs Pancake number bonds to 20
can you drink alcohol at palace theater greensburg
who is infinonymous
and, my favorite this week:
who the hell is infinonymous

How Dumb Can A Republican Prosecutor Be?

A Mississippian refuses to let Mary Beth Buchanan be the uncontested answer to that question.

Sometimes Headline Says More Than The Story

Mark Ravenberg.

Attention University of Pittsburgh Students: Don't Get Mad . . . Get Even (With Luke)

Dear Pitt students:

"We have an old saying in Delta House," D-Day told Flounder in the finest motion picture achievement in American history: "Don't get mad . . . get even!"

Luke Ravenstahl, mayor of Pittsburgh (which shows what could happen if you wash out of Pitt and get stuck at a school like W&J, so study hard!), today pronounced the G20 a success and in particular said police acted "admirably."

Luke will be running for reelection in five weeks. What better way to respond to the Siege of Schenley Plaza than by voting this joker out of office?

First, the math (this is where we lose the boy mayor even if he is trying to follow along). In 2005, 60,000 votes were cast in Pittsburgh's mayoral election; the winner received 40,000 votes. In 2001, 53,000 votes were cast; the winner had 40,000. Before 2001, there are no records available because yinzers were not yet connected to the Intertubes. But Pittsburgh has been losing population for 40 years (that whole "hellhole" issue), so the long-term trend should be toward fewer votes cast.

Roughly 27,500 students are currently enrolled at Pitt's Oakland campus. I suspect that 22,000 are (or could become) Pittsburgh residents. Anyone living in a dorm (nearly 7,000) can register to vote in Pittsburgh. Anyone with a bed in Squirrel Hill, South Oakland, Shadyside, North Oakland, Point Breeze, East Liberty or any other part of the City of Pittsburgh can register. Anyone whose parents have a residence in the city can register.

Pitt has approximately 11,000 faculty and staff members. I estimate 4,000 reside in the city.

That's 26,000 potential Pitt votes. Of course, not one of the College Young Republicans can be expected to participate, so subtract seven. But I estimate that at least 2,000 parents of Pitt students are eligible to vote in a city election. So that makes 27,993.

And that, even a W&J kicker would recognize, is enough to deny Luke the mayor's office in a town as small as Pittsburgh.

The deadline for registering to vote in the November 2009 general election is Tuesday, October 5. One week. But registration is easy; information is here.

(Your elders also must do their part. Dok Harris and Kevin Acklin, the other two guys on the ballot, need to become a single opponent . . . by flipping a coin, if necessary. I will work on that.)

I call on Pitt's Student Government Board, the Pitt Democrats, every fraternity and every sorority (girls Luke is currently dating are excused), the cheerleaders (ditto), the dance team (ditto) and every other recognized student organization to participate in a massive voter registration drive during the next week. Register students, faculty and staff in class, in the cafeterias, outside the Cathedral, at the Union, at bus stops, in bars, at workout rooms and on campus buses.

Oh, and someone needs to visit the Allegheny County Division of Elections tomorrow to pick up 25,000 registration forms. Coordinate with the Acklin and Harris campaigns; if you move slowly enough, they'll keep up.

Luke thought it was cool to use a sonic cannon, pepper bags, rubber bullets, tear gas and nightsticks against innocent Pitt students this week. I think it would be cool to hear the entire student section, just before the fourth quarter of the Syracuse game begins, substituting "We beat Luke" for "Let's Go Pitt" during Sweet Caroline.

One mayor to take down, one week to go.
Let's Go Pitt!

UPDATE: Gloria advises that a student can download a registration form here, and deliver or mail the form to Allegheny County Division of Elections, 542 Forbes, Suite 609, Pittsburgh PA 15219. So long as the form is RECEIVED by the Division of Elections by October 5, 2009, the voter will be eligible to vote against Luke Ravenstahl in November.

Cop After Cop: 'How Were We Supposed To Know Pitt Teaches Those Damn Kids How To Turn Cell Phones Into Goddamn Movie Cameras?'

Although the Pitt News still has the best Siege of Schenley Plaza coverage, pixel for pixel, in town, the Post-Gazette's news coverage has improved greatly. (The P-G's Allegheny Conference advertising insert editorial page is spewing chunks, though.)

iReport and YouTube demonstrate that students with cellphones + rampaging police officers = video that should be handy in court or at police disciplinary hearings.

The Trib, meanwhile, seems paralyzed, likely by cognitive dissonance ('attack Ravenstahl and Onorato' vs. 'police beating lefties always good').

But the biggest local media news is that the Post-Gazette obviously has acquired a Google-compatible Intertubes apparatus.

Did I miss the telethon?

Prevaricators-In-Chief, Beware

Before Chief Tim Delaney and Chief Nate Harper get too attached to their lies stories about how the 'innocents' had been permitted to and had dispersed, and that all of the Pitt students rounded up by police had been 'there for a [culpable] reason,' they should consider this:

Reliable reports -- which, I am told, university employees can corroborate -- are emerging that a number of students studying in a library were aggressively rousted by police, forced outside (where they were promptly gassed), and physically assaulted with nightsticks and shields.

Oh, and one such student's parent is a trial lawyer.

And he's pissed.

Any chance that guy's name might be on a pink message slip on Nordenberg's desk first thing Monday morning?

It will be interesting to compare Pitt's treatment of students involved in Friday's festivities with Pitt's traditional treatment of varsity athletes who kick the hell out of other students, 12-year-old paperboys, or police officers. So far, it doesn't look good.

Today's G20=Apocalyse Sign, With Revelation

The first sign: After the city's repressive misconduct and Judge Lancaster's weakness indicated that the First Amendment would be suspended in Pittsburgh during the G20 summit, Jeff Reed botched two field goal attempts and Chicago's Bears kicked a last-minute field goal to claim come-from-behind victory against the Steelers.

The second sign: After Pitt responded to abuse of its students with silence from Chancellor Nordenberg (although, to be fair, he might have been busy) and a 'no reason to question the police' statement from jackass mouthpiece Robert Hill, Pitt became defenseless in the second half of a come-from-ahead loss to North Carolina State.

The confirmatory revelation: After Pittsburgh police trampled students and the Constitution in Oakland, and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl praised the police bureau for a job well done, the underdog Cincy Bungles converted two late fourth downs during the determinative drive in a come-from-behind victory against the Steelers.

Someone with a divine sense of justice, one could surmise, knows how to hit yinzers where it hurts.

Complaint? Tell The Citizen Police Review Board

Citizens may file complaints asserting misconduct involving the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in state court, in federal court and with the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board (created by citizen referendum during the period in which Pittsburgh police brutality precipitated a consent decree involving federal court/ACLU supervision). The first two avenues require a lawyer; the CPRB must respond to a direct complaint from a citizen. (The CPRB -- which Dan Onorato opposed -- accepts online complaints; I recommend a supplementary submission in writing.)

CPRB rules require that a complaint be filed within six months of the relevant police conduct. Complaints may be directed to:
Elizabeth C. Pittinger, Executive Director
Citizen Police Review Board
816 Fifth Avenue, Suite 400
Pittsburgh PA 15219
Telephone: 412-765-8023

I believe Beth Pittinger also would accept submissions from citizens concerning admirable police conduct. If an officer engaged in conspicuously noble conduct -- and was not among the cowards who concealed identity -- reward that gallantry.

Pittsburgh's G20 Soundtrack: Complete

It isn't over -- the bills will come due, the barricades must be dismantled, imported police are still driving back home with their trophy photos, some students must still sort through the aftermath of being arrested (for less commotion than Luke Ravenstahl creates at a Steelers game after consuming "some alcoholic beverages") -- but it is nonetheless time to complete the soundtrack.

The G20 summit was a major splash (Bill Flanagan, who apparently studies American History Since World War II exclusively, this morning called it "the first time this region mattered") but as it recedes Pittsburgh is still Pittsburgh -- a once-mighty region of great men and women reduced to a second-rate town of lessers who mistake running on fumes for progress.

Pittsburgh could be a jewel, but it is not. People with resources, talent and opportunity have left. Of the residue, those who succeed do so despite the dysfunction, the civic leadership vaccuum and the self-inflicted wounds of today's Pittsburgh. Written by Pittsburghers Joe Grushecky and Bruce Springsteen, the final song of Pittsburgh's G20 soundtrack celebrates a once-proud region's golden era, and its survivors: Homestead.

I was born in the corn fields of Kentucky
I moved north in '73
The war was still going strong so I found a job
Rolling steel in a foundry in Homestead

I worked beside a guy named Grzbowski
Who taught me how to keep safe
He said 'there's many a man
who lost the fingers from their hands'
You could wind up crippled or dead in Homestead

And the steel glowed in the white-hot chambers
The furnace spit fire and smoke
And the sunlight came through the cracks in the roof
The dust was so thick you could choke

I heard all the old stories
about the twelve-hour shifts in the mill
All the union brothers the Pinkertons tried hard to kill
Heard about Frick and Carnegie and the day the river ran red
How the union caved in, in Homestead

It was more than a job it was my family
I got married, settled down, bought a little home
And in the bars down the street, in the late summer heat
You never had to feel alone

I got work tearin' those old mills down
Until there's nothing left but the sweat and blood in the ground
At night we tuck our little babies in bed
We still pray to the red, white and blue in Homestead
I'm still livin' in Homestead
I'm in Homestead
Right here in Homestead
We're livin' in Homestead

A solo version from Joe Grushecky:


Every song on the soundtrack is a damn good song. Please listen. I'll leave 'em up for a while.
1. Homestead (Joe Grushecky/Bruce Springsteen)
2. Blowin' In The Wind (Bob Dylan)
3. One Trillion Dollars (Anti-Flag)
4. Highwire (Rolling Stones)
5. Teach Your Children (Crosby, Stills and Nash)
6. What's So Funny 'Bout (Peace Love Understanding) (Elvis Costello)
7. For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield)
8. Code of Silence (Joe Grushecky/Bruce Springsteen)
9. Before The Deluge (Jackson Browne)
10. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan)
BONUS TRACKS (Oakland remix): Know Your Enemy (Green Day), Ohio (Crosby Stills Nash And Young), The Times They Are A-Changin' (Bob Dylan), My Generation (The Who)

NOTE: I do not know why comments are unavailable, or how to fix it.

A Dose Of International Justice, Obama-Style

Motion picture director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland yesterday on an international warrant issued by the United States, which proposes extradition to hold him to account for feeding alcohol and quaaludes to a 13-year-old girl before raping her in 1977. Thanks to the current United States Department of Justice, Polanski, a proponent of accountability, may receive a chance to make amends for fleeing after pleading guilty.