PhilaNet.com

Sat., July 26, 12:00pm, Demonstration to Stop the Drone War Command Center at the Horsham Air Guard Station. Route 611/Easton Road and County Line Road, in Horsham, PA.

Continues the last Saturday of the Month, Noon – 2p.m., after more than a year. Join the campaign! Bring umbrella in the event of rain, sunblock, and water bottle. Features large banners and signs, bell-tolling, music, reading names of drone strike victims. ‘DIE-IN’ symbolic witness demonstrating the consequence drone strikes. Large drone replica display

Philadelphia, June 20, 2014 – Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability released theGreenworks Philadelphia 2014 Progress Report, which highlights a range of successes, including tripling the number of greened acres that capture the first inch of rainwater before it enters the City’s sewer network in the last year, from 102 in 2012 to 323 in 2013.

“With the leadership and collaborative work of City staff, community partners and elected officials, Philadelphia has seen gains in all five of the Greenworks target areas,” said Mayor Nutter. “The pace and scale of implementation continues to grow, demonstrating that support for sustainability efforts is only getting stronger. Our Administration will continue to work to reach our goal of becoming the greenest city in America.”

The report outlines the status of work on 15 measureable targets in five topic areas: energy, environment, equity, economy, and engagement. Five years into the six-year implementation timeline, work on 160 of the 164 initiatives is either complete or underway. In 2013, Philadelphia surpassed its goal for improved air quality for the first time since Greenworks was released and showed an 8% decrease in citywide greenhouse gas emissions since 2006.

Other results include:

* More than 100 new food access sites, including farmers markets and businesses participating in the Healthy Corner Stores Network, have been established across the city. This exceeds the originalGreenworks goal of 86 new sites.
* For the second consecutive year, Philadelphia exceeded the Greenworks 70% waste diversion goal. Nearly all municipal solid waste is diverted from landfills through waste-to-energy and recycling programs.
* Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s TreePhilly program has planted 100,000 trees since 2009.

“Annual reporting is a core function of our office and allows us to regularly share sustainability-related information with the public,” said Katherine Gajewski, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “One great benefit of tracking data on a yearly basis is that we are able to identify interesting and informative trends. We know and can document, for example, that weather patterns are a very influential driver of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and air quality. Having information like this helps us to target our work and make better decisions.”

Major initiatives planned for 2014-2015 include the launch of Philadelphia Bike Share program and the development of the City’s climate adaptation plan.

A Poe Protest at the Liberty Bell

PHILADELPHIA — Activist N. A. Poe scored a victory for common sense in the City Of Brotherly Love. Poe has been pressing for reasonable drug laws for years. While protesting at the Independence Mall Federal Park in the Old City section of Philadelphia, he was wrongfully arrested during a peaceful demonstration. Then, this Spring while still on probation, Poe ran for City Council. Although there was no victory, he did garner 5% of the vote.

Today, Poe’s legislation passed.

Moral of the story: if you can’t beat ‘em… try to join ‘em… if that fails… beat ‘em.

Philly NORML reports: “‘Breaking 6/19/2014: Today the full Philadelphia City Council approved a bill to reduce marijuana penalties and stop custodial arrests.

“This is nothing short of a historic day for civil rights in Philadelphia,” said PhillyNORML Co-Chair Chris Goldstein, “We can now stop the practice of having the harshest penalties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for having a small amount of marijuana.”

Sponsored by Councilman James Kenney the measure downgrades cannabis possession of 30 grams or less to a civil offense, making the fine $25.

Philadelphia currently arrests more than 4,000 people each year for small amounts of marijuana. City policy required every offender to be put into handcuffs and a holding cell; a practice that is not replicated anywhere else in Pennsylvania. The new policy should save the city more than $4 million dollars each year in the Public Safety Budget.’”

THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, 222 N 20th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103 — The Franklin Institute just got bigger!

Be among the first to explore the newest and largest core exhibit designed to help you understand more about the most complex and misunderstood vital organ in your body.

Scale the 18-foot-tall neural climb. With each step you take, watch the larger-than-life neural network burst with light, color, and sound, reflecting how your brain sends messages throughout your body.

Morph a life-size photograph of yourself into a homunculus—-a figure of crazy proportions that represents how your brain maps your body by the complexity of its movements.

How good is your memory? Find out when we challenge you to remember a short code to open a safe. Sounds simple, right? Perhaps at first, but it will be a real test of your mind as the code gets longer and longer with each try.

Walk through the street scene that at first glance appears normal, but is filled with optical illusions that conflict with what your brain is expecting to see. The mind tricks are sure to amuse and confuse your brain, as well as help to explain how your brain processes what it sees!

Don’t miss these 3 exhibits also included with admission to the museum:
* Circus! Science Under the Big Top
* 101 Inventions That Changed the World
* Ocean Soul, a National Geographic Photography Exhibit

Ozone action days happen when the ground level ozone becomes hazardous to your health. In essence, this means you should try not to breath. Certainly, do not suggest that your kids go outside and play. More people die from air pollution than guns… way more. Please do not pull the trigger.

Here is an example from June 17, 2014 issued by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection:

Ozone Action Warning:
Air Quality Index (AQI)
106
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Health Message: Active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
ACTION DAY

Forecast Discussion: Tuesday will be an Air Quality Action day for ozone for the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Full sun all afternoon, along with temperatures rising into the 90s °F, will promote ozone formation. An Appalachian lee trough will form east of I-95, which will be a focus for pollutant accumulation. Warm air arriving aloft will limit mixing. As a result of these factors, ozone will increase into the Code Orange range. Rising humidity and westerly transport aloft from the Ohio River Valley will increase particles into the mid-Moderate range. **Extended Forecast: Wednesday will be hotter and more humid, but stronger winds in the afternoon and the chance for convection in advance of a slowly moving cold front will limit ozone to the upper Moderate range. Particles will remain in the mid-Moderate range. The cold front will slowly move through the area on Thursday. Temperatures will decrease, although it will remain humid. Thunderstorms forming in the afternoon will limit both ozone and particles to the low Moderate range. -Huff/Catena/Ryan

Glen Foerd on the Delaware’s popular concert series starts Thursday, June 26^th, at 7 pm. The first concert will feature the funk and jazz sounds of the local trio, Get Happy.

Get Happy includes organist Scott Coulter, guitarist Mark Forchic and drummer Kris Rudzinski. Together they have played at festivals including The Swedesboro Jazz Festival and Victory Lakes’ Jam on the Lake. Their music includes the songs of Miles Davis, and other jazz standards, as well as pop and rock favorites including The Beatles and the funky sounds of the Meters.

Glen Foerd’s July 17^th concert will feature the big band-era music of the Monday Blues Swing Orchestra. On August 21^st concert goers will be treated to the 1920s speakeasy sounds of Drew Nugent and the Midnight Society.

Concerts will be held in the estate’s outdoor event structure overlooking the Delaware River and will feature one hour uninterrupted sets beginning at 7:00 pm and ending at 8:00 pm. Admission is pay what you wish, with no set admission price. Proceeds from the concerts will benefit the Glen Foerd estate and the concert artists. Guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs, pack a picnic dinner and enjoy the show. This year’s concert goers can also purchase tasty treats from Buttercream Cupcake and Bakery’s Cupcake Truck.

Glen Foerd on the Delaware is the last of the grand Philadelphia riverfront estates open to the public. Its mission is to connect visitors to the legacy of Glen Foerd through programs in the arts, nature and history and to preserve and protect the landscape, buildings and collections for the enjoyment and enrichment of the community and future generations. Glen Foerd is a Fairmount Park property operated by the Glen Foerd Conservation Corporation in cooperation with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and supported in part by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Glen Foerd on the Delaware
5001 Grant Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19114
215 632 5330

Mayor Michael A. Nutter released a letter that was sent to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), announcing that the City of Philadelphia intends to compete to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Just a week after winning a fierce court battle for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Lewis Katz died in a plane crash. Known for being a Jewish philanthropist, Katz made for stories in the local news over the ownership of the area’s largest newspaper. Headlines in the paper he would eventually takeover read, “Katz accuses Norcross of ‘innuendos and lies’ in Inquirer battle.”