Thursday, May 28, 2009

Pittsburgh to Host Next G-20 Summit!!!!

See Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review; also G20's homepage. Also, BBC News who calls us a "shining example".

(It's happening. It's really happening.)

Pretty flipping awesome. Remember, not only will Pittsburgh be playing host to the world's most powerful leaders, but presumably also the world's finest and looniest protesters. Something for everyone!

22 comments:

  1. Do we have enough hotel rooms to handle this event? Or will protestors and the entire French contingent have to stay at a hotel in Cranberry or in Monroeville? This is also the weekend of the Great Race. Protestors vs runners?

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  2. As long as it doesn't affect Anthrocon, then I'm down. XD

    I can only curmudgeonly observe one group of people from Tonic at a given time.

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  3. Cynical me. The first thought I had was, "How will Mayor Steelerstahl McBeam embarrass us in front of the entire world?" My guess is he'll invite himself to their luncheon and stand awkwardly on stage while President Obama gives the welcome address.

    A bit more seriously -- Should there happen to be protests, Pittsburgh is probably the best place to have them from a public safety perspective. I've been to protests in a number of different cities, and it seems to me that Pittsburgh Police are the tops when it comes to being non-confrontational. Or maybe we just have more polite protesters here, I don't know.

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  4. Jerry, everyone wants to take credit for this event.

    Who do you think is responsible?

    Anyone care to venture guess?

    I think Arlen Specter is involved.

    monk

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  5. Clearly it was Pamela's Pancakes.

    That or the Republic of Ireland has just agreed to send 1,000 special forces to Pakistan.

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  6. This is great news for the city. It sure sounds like Yarone Zober is taking credit for it in this video.Personally, I don't care who is responsible. If Luke and Co. actually played a role - well, more power to them!

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  7. Although I agree that our police officers handle crowds well, if the powers that be were so worried about the security and safety of the city in having a Steelers parade almost to the point of canceling it, what to do with protestors of the magnitude historically present at the G-20?

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  8. Whoever is responsible deserves major kudos. I heard Kevin Evanto on the radio talking about it, too -- I'm sure the county deserves quite a bit of credit. Specter, too.

    Lord, I wonder what sort of backroom deals happened between Obama and Specter and whoever else. I imagine it was like a three-way trade in baseball. Specter gets the endorsement from Obama and a promise of support from Onorato, Onorato gets the G20 for his county, Obama gets another Democratic (in name only) Senator. Maybe???

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  9. Even if it was Specter who finagled to get the G-20 summit here, it is a chance to have the city shine.

    On another note, I am sick of Jane Orie taking pot shots at the city. A bean counters perspective on the basic needs of running a city is not reality. If anyone truly looked at some of the city departments,and divisions, that have been stripped to bare bones attempting to provide the necessary services a city requires she would have nothing else to say. No one will really look at that. I guess we should apologize for not having the resources of McCandless? How did the North Hills become a great place to live? Maybe because it is outside the once vibrant city of Pittsburgh?

    To say that there are other municipalities that are under fiscal oversight, and Pittsburgh should be treated just like them is a ridiculous statement. If the city of Pittsburgh is still the hub, which it is and many could argue jealously that it isn't, but it is, then support the hub, make it vibrant and the outlying areas you say are just as desperate will follow just like they once did.

    Who goes out of town and say I live in McCandless, PA, and who the hell knows where that is, if they don't follow with, just outside the City of PITTSBURGH!

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  10. Whoever is responsible deserves major kudos.He does. And it is not Luke, Yarone, Dan O or Fast Eddie.

    They all backed Hillary.

    The man responsible can clearly be seen here, here,and here.I doubt you will see him go on KDKA trying to claim responsibility.

    When you factor in the poor real estate market (see: negative equity) that exists in the other cities, Pittsburgh is a solid choice for a financial summit.

    Excellent work by the ambassador.

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  11. Really? Really? The person who is bringing the G-20 Summit to Pittsburgh is Dan Rooney? Really?

    The negativity gets old after awhile. You guys would probably pick up more support for otherwise good policy positions if you weren't so negative, whiny, and so damn self-righteous all the time.

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  12. I see no negativity in this thread.

    I think it's obvious the President picked Pittsburgh for three reasons:

    1) The overt connotations (our status as a symbol of how a depleted industrial town can reinvent itself into a gleaming environmental paradise of resilience).

    2) The subtle connotations (we're not meeting in Davos or Aspen or Belize someplace splendid to enjoy our power and money -- we're going to Pittsburgh to roll up our sleeves and work hard on the world economy)

    3) Our President is obviously taken with us, and I think its only fair to chalk that up to a team effort. So yes, Rooney.

    For the record, I give Ravenstahl and company lots of sincere credit for not fouling this up. It would have been pretty darn easy to fumble the white-hot opportunity by not dotting I's or crossing T's or by being overeager, and obviously everything went smoothly so that's awesome. The bragging some of the principle's publicity flaks are doing is a little tiresome and without any real support, but hopefully they're just being overzealous in support of their bosses.

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  13. Can't argue with The Truth.

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  14. THE TRUTH just submitted this comment:
    _____


    "The negativity gets old after awhile. You guys would probably pick up more support for otherwise good policy positions if you weren't so negative, whiny, and so damn self-righteous all the time".

    Indeed. The negativity gets very old.

    Especially when you watch our so called financial experts and advisors, those responsible for pulling the trigger on our financial deals, make mistake after mistake. They are in negative territory my friend.


    We are not even close to fufilling our financial obligations. Would it make you feel better if I lied to you and told you we were in good shape the way our mayor does?

    Pittsburgh is holding a financial summit, yet we are engaging in financial transactions where JP Morgan and their local representatives (see: Charlie and Greg Zapalla) are raking us, the residents, over the coals and getting away with it. (Eight figures my friend.)

    Why? Because he takes care of "Our mayor," his advisors and probably you.

    Guess who picks up the tab [*EDIT*].

    I do. And so do all the other people who live within the city limits.

    This is not me being "whiny". This me telling you that it is no longer acceptable. Social justice is alive and well, right here in Steeltown - Home of the G-20 summit.

    _________

    THE TRUTH: Seeing as how the cuss word did not appear in the first hundred characters, and the swear was not particularly ghastly, you would have gotten away with it ... if you were non anonymous. I'm not keen on anonymous people using profanity AT people.

    I've got to keep a FAQ on this stuff eventually.

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  15. Will the FAQ mention the failed campaign of C*&#&%l and Matt H?

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  16. I don't know whether the G20 conference will be positive, negative or neutral for Pittsburgh (and, I suspect, neither does anyone else).

    I also do not know how credit for arranging this event should be apportioned. But, at the local end of it, Dan Rooney seems as good a candidate as any. Ridiculing Rooney's candidacy seems lame, unless the point is that local involvement was minimal. Who else from this region is likely to have been positioned to push Pittsburgh's candidacy?

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  17. Very interesting reading

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09150/973856-84.stm

    Why do they throw the diversification word around so much and the minority community is still struggling to participate on every level?

    Now that Obama is the president, everyone is claiming to be his friend.

    But still treat certain ethnicities like 2nd class citizens in this City.

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  18. I can understand why Luke and Dan would want to push the idea that they are the President's pals, and maybe even why the Post-Gazette would play along, but color me skeptical.

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  19. Jeez guys...

    I'm telling you, G20 is all Arlen...

    monk

    PS:

    And, I'm thinking I should get him back on the horn to have the Boilermakers cut the weeds that obscure the Public Hearing Notice splashed across their newly aquired building's windows...Next to Alpark Terrace, Pittsburgh's Oldest Mobile Home Community...

    Elected Officials, "Know What I'm Talking About!"

    monk 'duplicate'

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  20. who care who got the summit here.

    I am sure that no one in City Hall or the County Courthouse had anything to do with the decision until it was decided to come here.

    from a secuity stand point all those rivers and compact triangle makes for better security planning too.

    I am buying up army surplus helmets and getting a vendor's license. I hope to make a killing selling them to the protesters. Plain:$10.00 With painted peace sign anf flowers: $15.

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