Quick bits

Back in town, the summer news is so slim I've got only weeklies and blogs to bring to your attention...

• From last week's CityPaper, an interesting speculation about a new effort to revitalize Philadelphia's Republican Party, headed by a new ringer brought in from DC (the GAO). Of course, they want to start by wooing back party members who switched registration to vote in the Democratic primary (probably for Knox or Brady).
  
  
• The new Philadelphia Weekly takes a look at the city's wireless network and its progress toward long-promised citywide access. Short answer: Users are finding that using the service is anything but easy. Why should this industrial network need a local signal booster, when I can easily access some 10 networks in my neighborhood that are emitted by regular end-user devices?
  
  
• America's Hometown takes a tour of the Navy Yard and developments underway there.
  
  
• AAJane offers a close reading of a scholarly paper by one of the candidates for Supreme Court Justice on this fall's ballot. It looks at sexual offenders, and offers a number of statistics and other insights (although many are grim).
  
  
• A flurry of interesting posts at Young Philly Politics includes:
  
  
  1. Thoughts on how SEPTA might spend money (current or future) improving its system.
     
     
  2. Dan U-A notes that current approaches to anti-snitching culture are a bit misguided.
     
     
  3. Ben Waxman wonders whether community organizing could help prevent crime. Councilman Wilson Goode suggests that economic disparity (especially in lending and employment) leads to despair and thence to violence.
     
     
  4. Sam Durso notes some recent developments in riverfront planning, including the release of Penn Praxis' long-awaited recommendations, as well as some speed bumps for the Foxwoods casino et al. Man, I'd love to see organic city neighborhoods such as Praxis envisions! Leverage what makes Philly great, don't torpedo it!! Not clear whether this arrives in time, but perhaps there are a few signs of hope...