Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Well composed cityscape Tony. Love the boat approaching the bridge, looks like you had a great sunny day for this one.

Best, Holger

Last week our city adopted another Syrian refugee family, this makes

75 so far. We put into place a system where the Syrian family lives

with a Pittsburgh family where they will learn English, prepare for

their citizenship and find a job, once they are able to live on their own

then we adopt another family.

There are 10's of thousands of Syrian family's still waiting in the

wings but we feel this is the best way to give them an honest start.

You see, when people are gainfully employed and educated they

tend not to blow themselves up and taking out others around them.

You never hear a restaurant owner, a welder, a doctor blowing

themselves up.

Adding propaganda to a photo diminishes it regardless of its quality.

Tony, colorful, vibrant shot of a modern city. I don't think propaganda is correct as most definitions include the notion that the ideas pushed are false or biased. You expressed an opinion and some facts. They were in fact totally unrelated to the photo, anyway. Nice shot and great attitude- bravo Pittsburgh! G

Thanks, we need to educate the uneducated

Ask France, Germany, even Sweden how they like their refugees. Barbarians along with those in need -- Charlie Hedbo, Bataclan, Bastille day. Sharia law would really work those on the left, what with treatment of women and gays. 80 Sharia courts in Britain, Trying in Texas and elsewhere in the USA.  Global Caliphate the goal. Pull off the blinders. Educate yourself! You started a political forum under the guise of critique of an entirely unrelated photo. So be it!

You just made my point Sandy, thank you. Look at the background of these men who committed these horrific acts, they were the out casts. No job, unable to have relationships, they did not "fit in" , what do they have to live for.

On the larger scale what have you done to help the situation, or will you continue to fan the flames.

An uneducated man is a dangerous man

We have an obligation to help people, if they understand what we are about and we the same, there will be less strife in this world.

As the great philosopher Rodney King once said, "Can't we all just get along"?

You & Loretta & Mr. Obama can hold hands and sing kumbyah. 

There is an implacable foe intent on destroying our way of life, by their own statements willing to kill all of us to do it.  It is necessary to name the enemy and as a nation act to stop them. Unfortunately the current bunch just tiptoe around with half measures, afraid to offend in the face of slaughter.

Never been much for turning the other cheek or cuddling vipers to my chest. We have enough immigrants good and bad, legal and illegal.  Adding more with enemies inevitably in the mix only exacerbates the problem.  There aren't enough jobs for the citizens and others here now. With the state of the economy and the debt Mr. Obama has run up we certainly can't afford freebees.

Neither of us will convince the other and you can be as insulting as you care to be.  If we continue down the current path we will end up like Europe and the Middle East. There is an old Arab story about letting the camel get its nose in the tent....

Sandy, I apologize, I seriously mean that, I never meant to offend you in any way.

I know your angry, we all are, it is a different world we live in, sometimes I just don't understand. One piece of advice for guys our age, anger is not good for our health, staying calm for us is just as important as diet and exercise. Peace my friend 

Now for something completely different

Tony, we were recently in Pittsburgh.  This is a nice river image. I prefer the color version for a bright tourist message.  The B&W is bleaker, perhaps more artistic.  Larry

Glad to hear from you Larry, I hope you are well my friend. This is on the banks of the Monongahela River right in downtown.

Tony, no sweat, no problem.  S

Pittsburgh, PA was a huge steel town from 1860 to 1970, during the 70's imports of steel killed the industry here and many workers lost their job.

Back in the 1980's I was in the hospital for minor surgery, my care taker was Nurse Ed, back then male nurses were not seen too often but Nurse Ed you could not miss. He was a huge man, hairy, gruff voice but knew his stuff. I got to know Ed and found out he was one of the displaced steel workers. Ed knew steel was not coming back to western PA or America for that matter, so he got training in health care, became a nurse.

Ed did not make the kind of money he made in steel but he was happy to work, indoors, air-conditioned and he said that the pay was fair for the task he preformed. I hear people say, "There are no jobs" and just like Nurse Ed, there may be no jobs in the field you were in but there are jobs all around us, you just have to look and be trained.

Health care in Pittsburgh is real big, nurse shortages, we have to go overseas to recruit. HVAC people are in demand, we have business owners that are having trouble finding qualified workers. Google has opened an office here, hiring 300 workers with another 400 in the next two years.

Instead of complaining that "There are no jobs" look a little, get trained, stop complaining and get to work.

There you go again! Put down the cool aid.  Step away from the ObaMedia.

The economy is crappy. A very large number of people aren't even looking for work any more because there are no jobs that pay better than the dole. I have heard people on welfare mocking those who work on more than one occasion, and that out here, in a state with relatively good unemployment. Do the math on the highly praised $15 an hour minimum wage the left is pushing -- $15X 40 X 52=$31,200 less SS & Medical.  Darn, you can do a lot with that, if you have a time machine. Most of those jobs aren't worth $31 K to employers, so a lot will vanish.

Except for a brief period during the Carter Regime, another incompetent Dem, I have been employed or working since I graduated college. Now retired, I have one part time job and could have others.

I don't believe we'll be talking again ex about photography.  No point in it.

Since when did working at McDonalds become a career ?

And I am not putting down the cool-aid, thankyouverymuch.

And why if you are retired are you working a part time job? Did you not plan for your future, established a savings account? Get involved in a 401K? Reduced debt? There are jobs out there, you are not looking in the right place. The Department of Labor and Industry, the Wall Street Journal and many other credible financial publications say that 3 million health care workers will be needed come 2020 to take care of the aging baby boomers. National auto chains, Midas, National Tire and others are having a problem finding qualified mechanics. There are many, many more

Don't depend on the Republican'ts or the Democan'ts to take care of you, they don't care about you, they can't even do their job and that is to protect you. YOU need to be first priority.

Put down the spatula...... . . .

Always insults, poor little fellow. Your lack of insight is profound.

Why is it when you present facts from a credible sources to someone they turn around and call you insulting?

accusing someone to be on an hallucinogenic drug is not nice.

And the line "We have enough immigrants", what if the citizens of America said that about your people when they tried to enter this country. We all come from immigrants.

Do something good for this country instead of complaining and bashing it.

I honestly feel you said I was insulting because I made you feel uncomfortable about your retirement. Typical human reaction.

This is fun, ok, your turn.....

I can't in good conscience engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.

I have given statistics from reliable, credible sources, because it goes against what you think you discount them as fraud, inaccurate, hog wash. This is no doubt a result from the news media's attempt to frighten you, which guarantees viewership, be afraid, be very afraid.

I presented a journalistic piece on how kind my city is on people who are less fortunate and you defecate on it with your un-substantiated and warped views of the world.

Hopefully after this you will leave me alone.

Shell Chemical Company has announced that they will build a Cracker Plant just outside Pittsburgh, wonderful news. This 1.8 billion dollar project will bring 6,000 construction jobs to the area and the plant itself will employ 5oo permanent jobs, great paying jobs.

As industry like this comes to the area, other business opportunities will follow, roads need to be constructed, businesses will sprout up, restaurants, stores, appliance retailers, car dealerships, real-estate will become important and the list goes on.

Pittsburgh is only one city that is making a difference in America, we are putting people to work.

We are not a country of quitters, we never relied on our politicians to take care of us, we are innovators, survivors, don't let anyone tell you different

In this political season in America we sometimes hear, no more immigrants. This makes me think of my grandparents who immigrated from Germany at a time, Germany was getting aggressive with the world.

My grandparents gave birth to a son, my father, Lawrence. My dad was in World War 2, he was awarded 5 Battle Stars, first wave at Normandy, The Battle of the Bulge, The Battle of the Rhineland. He was a real hero and a bad ass.

Canada has accepted so just under 30K Syrian refugees. In a program similar to what the City of Pittsburgh is doing, family are staying with family's, learning the language, having the children go to school, finding work for the fathers. Soon they will assimilate into society, obtaining their citizenships and contributing to the growth of their new home.

This system of vetting refugees is working, by living with them Canadian family's can vet the visitors, track their progress.

It is good to see not everyone is frightened of people from other lands and give opportunity to those who need help.