Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Category: Canadian Jazz

The Kind: of music I want at my club.

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33 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2013 at 6:22 AM

    I know this has nothing to do with jazz but I suggest that the MSM has been negligent in it's coverage of Nate Harper and his side business. The issue at hand is the fraudulant use of Minority Contracts.

    I believe current legilsation encourages shell companies and the use of figure heads.

    I think the City Controller should conduct an audit to determine the legitamacy of Minority Owned Companies doing business with the City. Perhaps the FBI and the IRS should take a peek as well.

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  2. LeadbellyFebruary 24, 2013 at 4:45 PM

    "Pigmeat"

    Just look here mama
    Don't pick pig meat the way you do
    Don't pick pig meat the way you do
    Don't believe it's pig meat
    Ask anybody in the neighborhood

    Don't believe it's pig meat
    Kind that you won't regret
    Don't believe it's pig meat
    Kind that you won't regret
    I got something about this pig meat
    Sweet mama ain't told you yet

    I was born and raised in the country
    Mama but I'm staying in town
    I was born and raised in the country
    Mama but I'm staying in town
    You don't believe it's pig meat
    Mama from my head on down

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  3. QuaitheFebruary 24, 2013 at 6:44 PM

    The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.

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  4. MHFebruary 24, 2013 at 7:01 PM

    The seneschal with BO is fine though.

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  5. InfinonymousFebruary 24, 2013 at 8:21 PM

    Bob Nutting says he is 'incredibly optimistic.'

    Luke Ravenstahl says he is 'not a target.'

    Bill Peduto and Michael Lamb say 'I'm the one.'

    The Orie sisters say 'Plea bargain? Shove it.'

    Another day in InsolvenCity.

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  6. MHFebruary 24, 2013 at 9:17 PM

    Insisting that you're not a target when you know it can't be proven otherwise, that you can win an election, and that you get a trial are all in keeping with the U.S. constitution and a functioning society. Being optimistic after 20 years of losing is just delusional.

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  7. GOPFebruary 25, 2013 at 5:43 PM

    Mayor Luke has a fine financial record to run on.... Pension Fund Investments performed @ a rate higher than the City Controller perdicted...

    Debt was paid down.

    Revenues are up.

    Young people are begining to talk about the upside of the 'Pittsburgh Promise'.

    ....looking for some odds, before I bet on Luke: odds on favorite!

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  8. NONKFebruary 25, 2013 at 6:22 PM

    Michael E. Lamb: Name Your Chief of Police! Bill Peduto is going with: Wiz Khalifa (?)

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  9. Bram ReichbaumFebruary 25, 2013 at 6:52 PM

    This whole logic of there being "targets" at all is probably faulty. Who says that's how the authorities always do things? Maybe they're just assessing the situation. Similarly this whole drumbeat of there being "more to this" from above could be off kilter. The feds look for you to fix the problem. "Can you fix it? Go fix it, or else." Why bring you to trial if you'll shape up? The SEC never brought a bank to trial, why should the FBI round up yinzers? Given the justice dept may have had it up to here already. Now, the media, that's another/related story. Lots can trickle through the media if reporters and editors stay bold and credible; and if community members stay engaged and optimistic. Enough can filter through to sway Justice or to sway this election -- and thereby break the corrupt neoliberal establishment. Then we can better preserve and enhance its redeeming qualities.

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  10. MHFebruary 25, 2013 at 8:43 PM

    Pension Fund Investments performed @ a rate higher than the City Controller perdicted...

    For frack's sake. You're supposed to predict pension funds perform at a rate that reflects historical returns. How did the fund do in 2008? The mayor isn't supposed to have anything to do how the pension fund is invested and if he does, that's a very good reason not to vote for him. Thinking like this is why I wanted the state to take it over regardless of the doom. Next up: Why I should be happy that my life insurance company won at Keno.

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  11. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2013 at 8:51 AM

    Bram, did you just compare the Mayor to Wall Street while at the same time suggesting he may be involved, but is getting a pass by the FBI? That's giving Luke a lot more credit/power than he deserves, and accusing the FBI of what is probably a crime for not prosecuting a criminal.

    I'm no fan of the mayor's, and it's driving me crazy that the way people are jumping on this conveniently timed scandal is making me defend him for the sake of facts vs. speculation. Of course he's going to focus on the fact that he's not under investigation.

    On a different note, while this clearly went on under the mayor's watch, didn't it also go on under Lamb's? I don't understand why he gets not only a pass, but to campaign on it. Seems like Peduto's the only one without blame here, and he's been the quietest.(Also, the most reasonable.)

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  12. Helen GerhardtFebruary 26, 2013 at 9:36 AM

    I'm very concerned about Lamb's role in all of this. I plan to ask him about it at the next mayoral debate on March 17th, if not before.

    Special events office channels millions in off-duty Pittsburgh police pay

    Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/special-events-office-channels-millions-in-off-duty-pittsburgh-police-pay-676920/#ixzz2M0kulCRn

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  13. Not NONKFebruary 26, 2013 at 9:46 AM

    "... why should the FBI round up yinzers?"

    Career advancement comes to mind. Locally everyone knows that Luke Ravenstahl is easy pickings, but at the Justice Department, a mayor is a mayor is a mayor.

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  14. Bram ReichbaumFebruary 26, 2013 at 10:15 AM

    Anon 8:51 - Even if we suppose for the sake of argument that something criminal occurred somewhere along the line and somewhere at the top, that's exactly what I'm saying. He's like Wall Street, too interconnected to fail. That's another reason to accept these headlines as more evidence of mismanagement and disinterest, make a broader political case for incompetence and unsuitability, and thank our lucky stars. Camping out in front of the Federal Bldg like a bunch of groupies gets nobody anywhere.

    Which is not to say don't bother following the money.

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  15. Anon 8:51amFebruary 26, 2013 at 10:21 AM

    http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/3549263-74/police-lamb-office#axzz2LrC6Z8eJ

    Looks like Lamb is getting some scrutiny.

    “I think to suggest that I should have known about an account that was set up specifically for the purposes of keeping it secret from me is a stretch,” said Lamb, who is running for mayor

    Helen, I hope you ask him about this statement. To say that he is short-staffed, as he did, is one thing. To allude to the idea that it's not reasonable for the Controller to spot theft if the thief tries to hide it... then why have a controller?

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  16. Anon 8:51amFebruary 26, 2013 at 10:33 AM

    Bram,
    I didn't see your reply before my last post. While you may be correct, I'm pretty skeptical that the mayor of Pittsburgh is so well connected that the FBI would have the slightest worry about him.
    It is possible that they simply don't want politics mucking up an investigation into a police dept. that has been forced into their attention quite a few times in recent years.
    It's also possible that there is a connection to him, and he's hoping it won't come out before the election. That's a pretty big gambit, but if it's inevitable then there isn't much to lose going all- in.
    Still, from what I've seen, I don't think the mayor has(or thinks he has), any evidence connecting him to the crimes.

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  17. Helen GerhardtFebruary 26, 2013 at 10:40 AM

    "Then why have a controller?"

    Yes.

    He reminds me of the Lt of my platoon in Iraq, absolutely upright herself, but unwilling to dig hard for the dirt going on outside of the scope of her direct gaze.

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  18. Bram ReichbaumFebruary 26, 2013 at 10:46 AM

    Anon 10:33 - I agree there's no evidence of anything criminal at the top. There's a startling lack of curiosity on Luke Ravenstahl's part where the money being spent around him is coming from. Instead of playing complicit he's playing dumb, and it's an amazing tour de force.

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  19. InfinonymousFebruary 26, 2013 at 10:47 AM

    Regarding the "fact" that someone is "not under investigation," and general questions concerning targets, subjects and witnesses:

    From the United States Attorneys' Manual:

    9-11.151

    Advice of "Rights" of Grand Jury Witnesses

    It is the policy of the Department of Justice to advise a grand jury witness of his or her rights if such witness is a "target" or "subject" of a grand jury investigation. See the Criminal Resource Manual at 160 for a sample target letter.
    A "target" is a person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime and who, in the judgment of the prosecutor, is a putative defendant. An officer or employee of an organization which is a target is not automatically considered a target even if such officer's or employee's conduct contributed to the commission of the crime by the target organization. The same lack of automatic target status holds true for organizations which employ, or employed, an officer or employee who is a target.
    A "subject" of an investigation is a person whose conduct is within the scope of the grand jury's investigation.

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  20. Helen GerhardtFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:03 AM

    @Bram

    No evidence of anything criminal at the top?

    Mr. Crawford said he was "100 percent positive" that the mayor and Mr. Huss knew that the card was linked to a non-governmental account, "and I am willing to take a polygraph test to verify that."

    "You can say the cards were given to us specifically because they wanted to avoid the media tracking what we did and where we went through the Right-to- Know [law]," Mr. Crawford said.

    Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/ex-bodyguard-mayor-knew-of-credit-union-debit-cards-676387/#ixzz2M1Noat6I

    Maybe Mr. Crawford's attestations can't yet be considered definitive without further confirmation, but surely eye witness accounts can be counted as evidence?


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  21. Bram ReichbaumFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:07 AM

    Anon 8:51 am and Helen - In fairness to the Controller, the Controller's office budget was decimated in Act 47 (easy target). It takes real staff time and energy to double-check information that comes over from the executive branch. The official audits are the big projects, and anything else besides the bean counting is a bonus.

    In fairness on the other side, somebody like Michael Lamb should have known the police side-job deals were a mess long time ago. He has dealings with the police union. And he read the Comet, the Admiral's posts in 2007. That's why he did so well.

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  22. Bram ReichbaumFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:08 AM

    Helen - Yes, there's certainly the Crawford public testimony. Man, that guy was smeared hard and fast.

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  23. Helen GerhardtFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:42 AM

    Oy, sure, a Controller can't do everything, but I gotta say I'm clutching my head at your assurance that Lamb had read the Admiral's posts on this whole moonlighting mess. To me, that seems like far more direct culpability by inaction in spite of such big red arrows indicating a need for a thorough audit of the arm of executive government that wields so much direct, potentially abusive power.

    Yeah, you gotta pick your battles, where you're going to muster your forces, energies, resources. Seems like the clear abuses of security guard power (while in City uniform) and the resultant lawsuits that Pittsburgh had been hit with would make such an audit a top priority.

    Did Lamb tell you he'd read those posts, or otherwise indicate knowledge of them - did he comment on them publicly, cite them, talk to you about them?

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  24. MG GuyFebruary 26, 2013 at 12:40 PM

    Lamb took over the controller's office in Jan. 2008. Before that he was the prothonotary (head of the county department of court records) from 2000, and worked in the that office from 1992. He's an attorney and his dad was in the state house and senate for 15 years. Mike Lamb's entire life has revolved around the inside baseball of local politics. To argue that he was busy or that his office is underfunded and that's why he didn't know that something was going on with the money the city gets from the police department is wishful thinking and, frankly, diminishes his ample experience and accomplishments.

    There will be a mayoral candidates forum on March 17 at Pittsburgh Obama school in East Liberty (the former Peabody High School). By all means, let's ask Mike some questions too.

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  25. Bram ReichbaumFebruary 26, 2013 at 1:11 PM

    Helen - No, I was being facetious. The prothonotary and I arranged a blog interview during his candidacy for Controller not long after those People's Republic of Pittsburgh posts. That's all. If I had it to do over again, I'd ask him to audit police side jobs. #headdesk

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  26. Helen GerhardtFebruary 26, 2013 at 1:17 PM

    Ever the straight man, or woman - or turnip. Yours truly.

    :)

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  27. Anon 8:51amFebruary 26, 2013 at 2:05 PM

    March 17th? So we'll all be too drunk to drive to S'Liberty. Clever, Ravenstahl.

    As far as "Lamb had to know": Everyone I've talked to(not insider people, just people) just assumes Lamb started this whole thing. Most just shrug it off as politics, and hope it'll lead to some needed changes. I'm withholding my shrug until I know whether Lamb really did get the ball rolling, and how long he knew before rolling said ball.

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  28. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2013 at 3:14 PM

    The parade and St. Pat's celebrations will be the day before, Saturday.

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  29. Anon 8:51amFebruary 26, 2013 at 3:53 PM

    Anon 3:14pm: You, sir, are no Irishman.


    "This administration's response has been to look for who to blame." said the City Controller, while blaming the Mayor.

    Now would be a good time for people to point fingers at Lamb, and set up Peduto as the not-Luke candidate. Unfortunately, this is Pittsburgh, so Luke will stumble into victory by dividing a large group of people who all agree Luke shouldn't be mayor.

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  30. MONKFebruary 26, 2013 at 6:52 PM

    I'm sending out for some "Bud with Lime".

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  31. MONKFebruary 26, 2013 at 6:57 PM

    First Peduto Advertisment: will be his last...

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  32. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2013 at 1:00 AM

    If you're following this story on the PPG, lamb getting hammered for failure to oversee money which seems to be in his job description . Comments decidedly against ML.
    Now BP is noticeably absent from the stone throwing , but then he has been behind the scenes or on council for near 20 years so I guess he's happy to not be tied into this particular shit storm. Just the same, the average Joe Dem not real keen that BP not seeking endorsement, like being a Dem is a bad thing in the DemBurgh!

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  33. Bram ReichbaumMarch 2, 2013 at 1:19 AM

    Anon 1:00 AM - the average Joe Dem has no idea there is an endorsement. There's an advantage, but the trend in the City has been against it.

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