Apparently the city of Pittsburgh who claims to be “A Most Livable City” has never heard of traffic calming. If they had, the intersection at 29th and Liberty, where my office, a gym, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre among others, would have received some sort of treatment to help us navigate the highway known as Liberty Ave safely.

Since I have worked here I have witnessed four accidents during work hours and am forced to play chicken with speeding traffic. When I first contacted Pittsburgh’s non-emergency line, 311, about it this is the response I received.

None of the signal warrants are met at this location; therefore a traffic signal cannot be installed. However during evaluation, it was noticed that many of the crashes were at night. Because of this, lighting has been increased at the intersection by replacing a light pole and replacing the light with a higher wattage variety. The stop signs have been replaced to ensure reflectivity. The storage container was on the corner has be relocated to allow better visibility of oncoming traffic from southbound 29th street.

Apparently there are even more accidents happening outside of business hours in addition to the few I have witnessed and documented. Great that they addressed these issues, but none of them address the accidents that happen during the day, nor do they address pedestrian safety issues.

After my coworker was struck this morning I contacted them again and immediately received a response telling me there is nothing they can do and to contact my state representative. The Federal Highway Administration governs the installation of traffic signals and our intersection doesn’t qualify for one.

What about lowering the speed limit? What about a pedestrian signal? Nothing. They don’t care. I am afraid that just like on Braddock Ave outside of Frick Park, that it will take a death to address the issue.

This the city’s idea of traffic calming? It clearly isn’t working.

I always find it fascinating to look at the various news websites after something like the healthcare reform vote last night. It’s pretty clear to me that if you’re only going to one news source for your news you’re doing it wrong.

Landmark health care reform heads to Obama’s desk
A sweeping bill overhauling the U.S. medical system goes to President Obama’s desk on Monday to be signed into law.

Stupak Called ‘Baby Killer’ on House Floor
Following the vote on the massive health bill, Republicans challenged the Democratic bill’s language barring federal funding of abortions, saying it was weak and would effectively allow public funding for abortions.

The House passed the overhaul — now what?
Relieved Democrats may still be celebrating the passage of landmark health care overhaul legislation, but Republicans in the Senate still have an opportunity to try to derail the bill.

Health Care Bill PASSES
After more than a year of virulent debate, Democrats marched through a throng of jeering protesters, whose slurs recalled a Washington of the 1960s — when the party forced civil rights legislation and Medicare through a fiercely divided Congress. Against unified Republican opposition, they built on that foundation Sunday with the passage of a health care reform bill that extends coverage to 32 million Americans and tightly regulates the insurance industry.

US House passes historic health reform
The US House of Representatives has narrowly voted to pass a landmark healthcare reform bill at the heart of President Barack Obama’s agenda.

There was a heated conversation this evening about politics and at one point it turned to gun control and how Barack Obama was going to take away an American’s right to bear arms. This isn’t the first time I have heard this, in fact I have heard it about John Kerry, a gun owner.

So I did a little bit of research on my own.

Responding to District of Columbia v. Heller, Mr Obama pointed out that Justice Scalia (Appointed by Ronald Reagan) had, while ruling that the DC ban went too far, acknowledged that the right to bear arms is “not absolute and subject to reasonable regulations”.

He then says, “I think it’s important for us to recognize that we’ve got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families. We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people’s traditions.”

Basically he leaves it up to municipalities to decide what to do.

I personally don’t own a gun, nor have I ever fired one. Even though I don’t trust the majority of Americans to do so, I respect and somewhat understand one’s right to own and carry a gun. But with this comes great responsibility. If you can’t go through a background check and wait a couple days or respect a law that requires a safety lock on all firearms then perhaps you aren’t responsible enough to own a weapon.

From my research all Barack Obama wants is reasonable control that will perhaps prevent another incident like the one that occurred at Virginia Tech.

I think that’s both reasonable and fair.

Dear Rich Lord,

I am responding to your article found at… Linking to the Bike Pittsburgh post rather than the article itself…

I commute to work on a bike three days a week and drive the other two so I see both sides of the story that you didn’t present. From my point of view both cyclists and motorists break the law daily.

I cant remember the last time I saw someone actually obey the posted speed limit, or didn’t witness someone floor it to get through a yellow light. Every day I see at least five people on their cell phone, not paying attention to the road or their surroundings.

I challenge any of your sources to give me a day when they don’t experience these things as well.

Your sources point out a small subset of cyclists in Pittsburgh who put themselves and others around them in danger with reckless riding habits. When I am on my bike I am defensive, safe and predictable as are the majority of cyclists I encounter daily. I slow at all stop signs and I stop and cautiously go at all stop lights when it is safe to do so. I don’t obey the laws exactly as they are written, but neither do 90% of the drivers I encounter.

I believe your contributors should take a long hard look at their fellow drivers habits before they choose to criticize the way cyclists share the road. Cycling is here to stay, we are not going anywhere. Time to get used to us and work with us to make our city a cleaner, better city.

Sincerely, Ryan Sprake

I was shocked the other day when the news casually mentioned that Pittsburgh was #2 behind Los Angeles for most polluted city.

Could have fooled me.

I have been to LA and Phoenix and have seen the clouds of smog than linger over them. I was in Joshua Tree National Park and saw the huge cloud of smog that prevents us from seeing as far as we once were. I have been to Philadelphia, Cleveland, New York City etc, these cities are far more filthy. But this study article points out air pollution measurements, and the saddest thing to me comes from this statement.

Although much of the country may have a stereotype of Pittsburgh as a blue collar, steel mill town, Leikauf says that’s no longer the case. According to him, more than 80 percent of western Pennsylvania’s particulate matter actually drifts from Ohio power plants.

80% of our air pollution comes from another state. That pisses me off.

read the story

Eric Meyer has a good article about his home state banning people from getting married.

His points reflect my views entirely.

On her radio show recently, Dr. Laura Schlesinger said that homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura which was posted on the Internet.

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Law and how to follow them.

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. The passage clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? – Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with People who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy Considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan, James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus University of Virginia

Who receives the most of the federal tax money? Red States. Who has the highest divorce rate? Red States. (Scroll down to Divorce Rate by State) Who has the highest murder rate? Red States.