Visible from Tarentum

Yesterday evening the surface of the Allegheny River was so undisturbed that the views of the opposite shore had wonderful reflections.

These pictures were taken from Riverview Memorial Park in Tarentum.

What a beautiful part of the world this is!

Scenes such as this will be very attractive to people who are considering buying condos at The Landing along First Avenue.

File under : Tarentum, park

Customizing MySpace

I've had a page on MySpace since sometime late in 2005, when I signed on because a friend invited me there. From the time I started the page I was daunted by the peculiar steps necessary in order to customize my profile page. I was so daunted, in fact, that I simply put off trying to fix it until I could get some decent instructions.

I made a few forays into Google searches for any hints about how one should do it, and kept giving up. Until this week. Thanks to Cynthia Closkey, a bona fide web designer active on Pittsburgh Bloggers, I found a pointer to an article by Mike Davidson who took on the challenge of writing the code necessary to customize a MySpace profile so it would look decent.

It took me a while to follow Mike's instructions and Cynthia's example. The problem I faced was that I usually edit code in the Windows notepad, but when I copied from notepad into the Myspace forms for editing my profile, something kept going wrong so that my graphics did not show up at all. Eventually, I simply copied Mike's code directly into the MySpace forms and edited the code right in the form. That worked.

I don't have all the design for my MySpace profile in a final form, but at last I have something that doesn't embarrass me, and I can fine-tune it at my leisure.

There are a large number of bloggers who have started their blogs on MySpace. Because my blog was already going strong when I signed onto Myspace, I decided I would simply use the MySpace blog to point to this blog. Feedburner's Headline Animator works very well for that purpose. A single entry in my MySpace blog has the code for the graphic that will be generated fresh whenever needed, and will always display the titles of a handful of my recent articles on this blog.

File under : web design

The plight of a stray cat

Friends on Second Avenue in East Tarentum have found a stray cat. Although the fur makes it look big, it is very skinny, and appears not to have eaten for a while.

The male cat has no tags showing its name, its owner, or what shots it has had. He seems good around people, and the fur around his neck appears to have had a collar at one time.

My friends cannot afford to take care of the cat, and have searched to find a shelter to which the cat could be entrusted. As it turns out, many of the local animal shelters are so pressed for space and resources that a cat would be euthanized in 24 hours if not claimed by the owner.

My friends have found a local "no-kill" shelter but would really like to see the cat returned to his owner. If you recognize this cat, let me know.

File under : Tarentum

Ka-chow! I saw "Cars".

A few weeks after it opened I went to see "Cars" and enjoyed it immensely. Although this is the first time I have seen a Pixar feature film in a theater, I have caught a few of them on video when visiting with people who were watching at home.

This is a film that has a wonderful message about the importance of having and valuing friends. At the beginning of the story the lead character "Lightning McQueen" has a reputation for having a lot of speed and ability but very bad relationships, having fired a string of pit bosses during his meteoric rookie season. By the end of the story he has learned not only how to be a friend, but how to show his genuine esteem for those who had inspired him.

As in many quest stories, the hero meets up with characters who impart to him the abilities he will need to conclude his personal journey. From the beaten-up tow truck "Tow Mater" he acquires the skill of driving backwards. From the incognito "Hudson Hornet" he learns how to make high speed turns on dirt. From "Sally", the Porsche that had left the big city to settle in Radiator Springs (the town Lightning calls "Hillbilly Hell" in the middle of the story) he comes to appreciate community and loyalty.

There is an interesting parable of blindness and sight buried in this story. Lightning has no real headlights, only stickers of headlights. Sally deflates his egotism by giving him the nickname "Stickers", referring not only to his fake headlamps, but to the swarm of endorsement stickers all over him. As a race car he thinks he has no use for real headlamps because all the racetracks are well-lit. But he learns in Radiator Springs that the Piston Cup is just an empty cup - a reality that is not illuminated for his nemesis "Chick Hicks" by the glare of the racetrack lights.

It was a great film. The animators and all-star cast of voices brought the personalities of the characters to life. The soundtrack was great. The backgrounds had so much detail that at points I wondered whether I was really seeing photographs on which the characters were superimposed. This film is definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

File under : movie review

Walk a mile in another person's mocassins - if you can make it

Much of the so-called "analysis" of what happened at the PCUSA General Assembly has focused on how things can be made to appear rather than what the Assembly actually said. The usual source for authoritative pronouncements has been the polemic material generated by opponents containing assertions of what specific proposals would do, while being selective in listening to what the proponents of the proposals were saying about their intentions.

We need to keep listening to each other. Dave Walker's cartoon today reminds me about the importance of perspective.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

File under: humor

Stability needed to ensure sustained change

Yesterday's Valley News Dispatch had an article about Monday night's meeting of the Tarentum Borough Council, but the article did not make it onto the VND website.

In the article questions are raised about whether the change in the presidency will mean a return to a style of local government that is not transparent to the public. The answers to these questions are important.

In my view Tarentum's local government needs a culture change more than a change of officers. A certain amount of stability in the leadership is a prerequisite for being able to see sustainable changes in the way the borough council functions.

Before the April ouster I had seen signs that President Magnetta was giving attention to the Sunshine Act, and that he was determined to ensure that the government functioned openly. I didn't get a chance to see him follow through on that.

After some initial serious concerns about Mary Newcomer's presidency, I had begun to see committees doing their work in public, and was looking forward to a further opening up of Tarentum's government. Her ouster this week interrupted that process.

The battle of personalities has got to stop long enough for any leader of the council to have an opportunity to take steps to open up the government and to be held accountable for success or failure in doing so.

I am concerned that near the end of the council meeting there was a vote to cancel committee meetings for the summer. I have been told that the Tarentum Borough Council does this each year and that I should not be alarmed. President Magnetta said that any committee chair can request a meeting if needed.

If the next Council agenda has the usual slew of motions coming from committees that did not meet publicly, I will take that as a sign of Tarentum Council's return to functioning behind closed doors.

File under : Tarentum, government, transparency

PUP report adopted without changing ordination standards

The 217th General Assembly of the PCUSA adopted the recommendations in the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church on Tuesday. The Presbyterian News Service story erroneously describes this vote "gives ordaining bodies greater leeway in applying those [ordination] standards to individual candidates for ordination."

At the center of the controversy is the so-called Recommendation 5, which was amended in the committee and again on the floor before it was adopted, so that it now reads

5. The Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church recommends that the 217th General Assembly (2006) approve the following authoritative interpretation of section G-6.0108 of the Book of Order:

a. The Book of Confessions and the Form of Government of the Book of Order set forth the scriptural and constitutional standards for ordination and installation.

b. These standards are determined by the whole church, after the careful study of Scripture and theology, solely by the constitutional process of approval by the General Assembly with the approval of the presbyteries. These standards may be interpreted by the General Assembly and its Permanent Judicial Commission.

c. Ordaining and installing bodies, acting as corporate expressions of the church, have the responsibility to determine their membership by applying these standards to those elected to office. These determinations include:

(1) Whether a candidate being examined for ordination and/or installation as elder, deacon, or minister of Word and Sacrament has departed from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness for office,

(2) Whether any departure constitutes a failure to adhere to the essentials of Reformed faith and polity under G-6.0108 of the Book of Order, thus barring the candidate from ordination and/or installation.

d. Whether the examination [assembly amendment: and ordination and installation decision] comply with the constitution of the PCUSA, and whether the ordaining/installing body has conducted its examination reasonably, responsibly, prayerfully, and deliberately in deciding to ordain a candidate for church office is subject to review by higher governing bodies.

e. All parties should endeavor to outdo one another in honoring one another’s decisions, according the presumption of wisdom to ordaining/installing bodies in examining candidates and to the General Assembly, with presbyteries’ approval, in setting standards.

I have highlighted the committee's amendment in green and the assembly's amendment in red; both of these changes mean that those commenting on the language in the originally published report are interpreting something other than what the General Assembly actually adopted.

So what is the significance of these changes? The original recommendation 5.d. attempted to limit what a higher governing body could review in an ordination decision to whether the examination had been conducted "reasonably, responsibly, prayerfully, and deliberately." It attempted to shield from review whether the examination was ultimately correct, and whether the ordination or installation decision made on the basis of the examination was correct. The language as adopted makes it clear that higher governing bodies can examine those basic questions.

There is no additional leeway given to ordaining bodies, and Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick said very plainly, "With the vote today we have not altered the fundamentals; we have the same standards as before."

It has always been the responsibility of ordaining governing bodies to make such decisions, and they have always done so with the possibility of review by higher governing bodies.

File under : PCUSA, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), vocation