National Do-Not-Flyer List

Throughout the country, we are giving folks more rights in preventing blatant abuses of privacy. Since 2004, you have been able to sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry - preventing telemarketers from bothering you. We have laws for Junk mail - where unless you are a paying customer of a company, you have the right to remove yourself from their mailing list. The Can-Spam Act of 2003 attempts to prevent spam from flooding our email inboxes (though it has some implementation issues.)

However, spammers and their ilk will continue attempting to flood us with unwanted garbage in every avenue possible. The latest attempt in Pittsburgh? Two anti-abortion activists have sued the city in an attempt to overthrow the anti-flyer law enacted to reduce litter. Where are they getting the money for this lawsuit? Pat Robertson.

"Kathleen A. Ramsey of Ross and Albert A. Brunn of Pittsburgh want to distribute leaflets they think will influence the results of the election. They are represented by the American Center for Law & Justice, an organization founded by evangelical preacher Pat Robertson."

Prepare for pictures of dead fetuses (preview if you have the stomach) to flood your car windshields in the coming months. It's not enough that abortion protesters feel the need to harass women seeking affordable health care at Planned Parenthood. (See some horror stories from last year's 40 days for Life.) For the next month, they will also have the legal right to leave garbage on your car. I recommend that you find the anti-abortion van and plaster it with pro-Sestak flyers.

I want to put my car on the Do-Not-Flyer List. Maybe in another few years?

Pittsburgh Cooling

Since November, US Steel and their contemporaries have been idling workers and plants around the region. Then, at the beginning of April, US Steel announced that they were putting the brakes on remodeling their Clairton coke plant. Bad news for area construction jobs and just as importantly bad news for the environment.

While it's widely acknowledged that Pittsburgh has drastically improved its air quality since the 50s, we still struggle with bad air quality reports. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Pittsburgh ranked at the bottom of cities, especially for short-term particle pollution. The improvements at Clairton (one of the worst offenders in the area) were intended to take a big bite out of our low ranking.

However, there is a bright side in all this idling. Without these plants running, and thousands of workers driving to them every day, Pittsburgh's air quality is improving. So, get outside. Walk to the unemployment office or your free classes at CCAC and breathe a little easier today. You may not be employed but at least you'll live longer.