Weekend bits

Three stories caught my attention this weekend. In ascending order of noteworthiness:

1. Charges against the antiwar grannies were dismissed, the judge ruling their sit-in at military recruiting center a form of protected speech (or somesuch).
   
   
2. Bob Brady may not be saying whether he's in or out of the mayoral race, but he's having meetings about it with other party bigwigs, including attempts to dissuade Saidel from a run... [More here about racial calculus, and about Brady's resume.]
   
   
3. A full page spread in the Sunday Inquirer was devoted to the Great Expectations project, an effort to define public priorities for the future of Philadelphia, rather than letting sound bites and political connections direct the discussions during next year's elections.

   Lesson One for the Next Great City: Stop waiting on a grimy political culture to do the necessary things. Start doing them yourself.

   Sounds pretty neat, and worth being part of. The print version included a list of currently scheduled civic forums, which are in a large number of city neighborhoods during January -- that list and a registration form are available online here, and more info about the longer-term goals and schedule of events can be found here.