If linear political theory is your idea of ivory tower musings, then this is right up your belfry.

Monitor no stranger to controversy
Yet another mess. This monitor sounds like a Prima Donna that sucks up cash for getting his beard trimmed.

Instapundit Referral?
Somehow I got a hit from an Instantpundit.com referral. I can't find my page listed in a post or the list of links on the 800-pound gorilla of Bloggers. A phantom link?

Americans need to know about Ramadan
I don't need to know anything about Ramadan, no more than I need to know anything about Advent, Yom Kippur, or Winter Solstice. There is no reason to say I must learn about any religion let alone another religion. I have no problem with the media wishing people a solemn Ramadan at this time, like they do for Christians, but for columnist to tell me that I should learn about just they want me to respect them is ludicrous. When a Muslim person or any other religion respects agnostics, atheists, freethinkers, and secular humanists, then I might care what they and their religion stands for.

New Cincinnati Based Blogs
Here are a few new blogs that I think are based from people in the Cincinnati Area. Once I have a chance to read them for a while, I might add them to my list of blogs.
DisOrganization
bHjp
Robbernard.com
KMCCARTY
Marcuga
Very Big Blog

McConnell turns his clout against some of his own
I am glad I don't live in Kentucky. This state is in the firm hand of the right-wingers for a long time to come. If you have any intelligence you would consider moving out of the state as soon as possible. Yes, I did just type that, so you can wipe the drool off your chin.

Online service targeted by IRS
I have no love for the Rich, but this smells of a fishing expedition. Why not just pull the phone records of everyone calling overseas to the Camen Islands and investigate everyone for tax evasion? Please note, that was a rhetorical question.

The Miami Student's Website is still not finished. Are they out of money? What gives? Why aren't the SAN classes making this a full yearlong project? We used to call The Student "The Stupid". I think they are earning the name most ceremonially now.

1979 casts shadow on Bruce's concert
With simple precautions, festival seating on the floor of the venue is safe. The panic and fear that lingers around local concerts is only perpetuated by Mother Cincinnati sheltering her little children. She allows no festival seating, no porn, no strippers, no controversial artwork, no beer at Riverfest, but she lets a Judge rule that people can carry around concealed weapons where ever they please.

Former officer sues Cincinnati
I wonder who his lawyer is. I think the city should not give him a payday for breaking the law. The PA's office should not have "pled" him down to no charges and just a "forced" retirement. If Mr. Taylor was innocent, why did he accept the deal to retire? Why did he not fight his charges? I would guess he wants money more than he wanted to be a police officer.

Judge orders Avondale charter school closed
It was only a matter of time for this to be mentioned:

Parents said the school was targeted because the school board and its students were predominantly African-American.

"If the school was all whites, they would not touch it," Ms. Spears said.

Is this the same "they" out to get Ken Blackwell?

Four teens charged in cross burning
The Enquirer shows with this article why it is the best news source in the region. The folks at FOX19 should be ashamed of themselves for the news "article" I posted about yesterday.

Four Arrested in Oxford Cross Burning
A three-sentence article. I know many of my blog posts can be smaller than that, but I would think a professional news outlet could muster up a few more facts on a story like this one. An indication of where these suspects are from? Their ages? What charges are they facing?

Council approves motion to remove monitor
What will the boycotter's reaction be? How will the election affect their momentum? Is this just an issue for Ken Lawson to handle, so the BUF and CJC will just lay low? They have been quite lately. Their website has not had any new press releases for over a month.

BBC NEWS: Press watches Bush waltz to victory
The BBC takes notice of election coverage here in the Queen City.

The victory is embellished with superlatives - headlines such as "Republicans waltz across Texas" in the Houston Chronicle and the Republican "elephant stampede" in Ohio, as the Cincinnati Post puts it.

But the Cincinnati Post also reflects the cynical views of some voters, with a cartoon showing a man reading the newspaper to his wife and saying "the mudslinger beat the muckraker".

The cartoon referenced:

The Godless Americans March on Washington made it on C-SPAN3 taped delayed. I wish they would have carried it live, and carried it on C-SPAN2 at least, but this is better than no coverage. Second class coverage is what we second-class citizens tend to get.

Election opens up judicial, clerk positions
I hope these appointments are up to the voters at the next election. Nepotism is not something that should go over in politics, but around this part of the state it is par for the course.

18-year-old arrested in West End slaying
Most of the murders in this city could be solved if more people, like the person in this case, called into Crime Stoppers and turned in the wanted criminals.

Shots fired outside bar
No one can say that Jim Tarbell does not take action. He not only lives in Over-the-Rhine, he is a City council man who does not just let thugs try and ruin a viable business and residential area. Kudos to Tarbell for calling 911. I would like to know if the kid arrested has job or has finished high school. Why not go home when the bar closes, get some sleep and either go to work or to school.

Mike McConnell Advocates Feudalism
Yesterday on Mike's 700WLW program he agreed with a representative from the Cato Institute in advocating a system of government where only property owners could vote when property taxes were the issue. He referred to the original system created in the USA, where only property owners were permitted to vote. I am sure Mike would predict this type of system would not get the votes to ever occur, but his anti-democratic (small d) ideas are what I find indicative of many conservatives and neolibertarians. Mike wants to limit the right to vote to the public, except those more likely to think like he does. This disgusts me and makes me a bit nervous. I was unnerved by his matter-of-fact conclusion to the validity of such a feudalist system of government. It was not something he saw remotely as undemocratic. To him it was fair. Property owners, gun owners, business owners, and the religious seem to get special rights under Mike's Feudalist system, while the individual who does not conform to his plutocracy gets the shaft.

E-mails between mayor and monitor
I am not sure what to make of this. It is more entertainment than informative. It does provide an overall frame of the relationship between Luken and Kalmanoff. I would share Lukens luke warm and later harsh actions towards Kalmanoff. Based solely on these emails, and other published accounts, it would appear that Kalmanoff put forth little effort to work within he city. He instead came at the city very nonchalantly, charging the city money to talk to the media. Kalmanoff did not even say much of anything of value to the media, so did the city pay him money to create his own positive PR? The selection of this man as monitor appears to have been a mistake, but who is to say anyone else would be better. This position is one prime for making a buck at taxpayer expense. I applaud Luken for growing a pair and standing up to what looks to be a dog and pony show hack, looking to monitor the city out of millions of dollars. Demanding a new monitor sounds like a reasonable action for the city to take. I am sure the chicken-littles and boycott bigots will call into the Buzz and claim Luken is a out to destroy the collaborative. I hope Chaz will ignore their knee-jerk race baiting rants and continue standing up to a monitor looking for PR and a payday.
UPDATE: The Post's Take.

Light-rail plan hits a wall of resistance
Well, I for one hope that I will not being living in this city in 20 years. The city will either be dead, or a parking lot.

It looks like all of the Issues in the City went down, except Issue 8, which kills campaign finance reform in the City.

Brinkman has won. The Caveman liveth.

Get Out There and Vote!

Enquirer and Post Endorsements: Something is Missing
Please compare these two slates of endorsements from the Post & KY Post and the Enquirer.

What is missing from the Enquirer's endorsements? Can we say Ohio Assembly House District 34? What they hell is the Enquirer smoking? Tom Brinkman the incumbent caveman conservative, as the Post puts it, against Dave Schaff. The Post picks Schaff, but the Enquirer makes no mention of this race. Last I checked this district not only includes part of the city of Cincinnati, including Mt. Lookout and Mt. Washington, but it includes Anderson Township. In fact the entire district is in Hamilton County. The Enquirer also ignored districts 29 and 30, which also are located in Hamilton county. Here is a graphic the Post was nice enough to include in its opinion page:



Are these races just non-issues for the Mighty Enquirer? Do they want to depress turnout and help the incumbents? Are they lazy asses? Or are they just inept? Who takes the blame for this Wells? Bushee? Or Whipple? It is bad enough they don't put their Editorial Page on the web; can't they at least complete the simple task of picking all of the political races from their home county? In 2000 the Enquirer Endorced Brinkman, why are they not now? If this right wing extremist hell bent on recreating the old west here in Ohio was their man back in 2000, why not speak up about it now?

GOP Robot Telemarketers
On Friday I got a voice-mail at home from Bob Taft. Tonight I got a phone call from a fast talking George Bush, who barely sounded like George Bush "asking" me to support Republicans, but the taking the cake if the phone call from Steve Chabot on Saturday. Chabot's record phone spam also asked me to vote for him. That is all fine and dandy if I was a Republican, but not only am I not a GOPher, I do not live in his congressional district. I know they changed his district on him this time, but I was not in his district in 2000 either, nor any election since I moved to Cincinnati in 1994. Since I am not registered with either party I also have not received any candidate mailings, only Issue mailings.

Issue 8 backers again don't file finance report
From the Article:

"We're not trying to hide anything at all,'' Monzel said. "The money just hadn't come in yet by the last report. In fact, they're still collecting checks. But nothing's being hidden.''

Did Monzel say this with a straight face, or did he have his fingers crossed behind is back. In my opinion, and I think even to the casual observing, Monzel, another "values" champion, is lying through is teeth. His group is obviously hiding the identities of backers to his Issue effort by having the fat cat donors hold back their contributions until the last finance report must be filed before the election, when a blitz of media air time will be purchased. Is that illegal? No. Is that honest? Hell No.

Campaign ads for secretary of state say there's a conspiracy against him
Here is another article about the now infamous radio ads from Ken Blackwell's Campaign. You would not believe who sent me the link, none other than Nate Livingston himself, or at least someone using that email name. I wonder if Nate’s real motivation for pushing this issue is because he is jealous of Blackwell’s tactics. Nate is part of the crowd that normally talks about the “conspiracy” against the “black man.” Nate might not like Blackwell stealing his issue. It reminds me of the GOP’s anger at Clinton for stealing Welfare Reform from them, and then using it to get elected in 1996. What I am waiting Nate to do next is come right out and call Blackell a “house slave,” or something even more offensive. I don’t like Blackwell’s campaign, and I would not vote for him if these Ads existed or not, but Nate’s hypocrisy on this issue is just as flabbergasting as Blackwell’s hypocrisy.

Police Crack Pepper Kidnapping Case
It appears however that they let one of the guys go. The other man reportedly confessed to the Pepper abduction. FOX19 reported the family of the at large man stated he will turn himself in early this week. If the family knows were he is and have not help police try and find him, then they should be charged with an obstruction charge. A member of his family actually had the gall to claim that the October 31st incident in Mt. Lookout was just a Halloween prank gone wrong. She stated on camera that they were using a "toy" gun. Mr. Watkins, the 18 year old at large, seems to have told one hell of a big lie to his family about what has done.

BRONSON: Answer Man rescues confused voters
Sorry Peter, you did not phrase your answer in the form of a question.

Pair charged in Pepper kidnapping, robbery
The Enquirer's take on the Pepper Kidnapping arrests.

Bengals 38, Texans 3


Nuff said.

Pepper Suspects Arrested
Ok, can we put any and all conspiracies to bed now? No more timelines, no more missing minutes, or delays in calling 911.

Godless Americans March On Washington, Nov 2, 2002
I cannot find a single report how this march turned out today. I was able to get 2nd hand information that organizers believe there were about 4 to 5 thousand marchers there. A small group of 25 Christian fundamentalists protested the march. This news blackout is appalling. C-SPAN did not even cover it. They may show it taped at some point, but let this go to prove the conservatives wrong, there is no atheist bias in the media, unless you mean the incredible bias against atheists and other secularist groups.

The organizers may have picked a bad day for the rally. It would appear that it could have gotten more coverage if did not conflict with the news media's free campaign coverage of George Bush shilling for every Republican in a close election on the planet.

Businessman sues for libel, slander
The odd thing is that this lawsuit revolves around actions which took place at the Ohio Renaissance Festival.

Who is running the Miami Student? The website appears to be undergoing a redesign, but it is now November and the newspaper has not had a working website all school year. What is with the slacking? On the eve of the Ohio game, one would think Miami could at least put up something against their student newspaper. At least give it the old college try.

Lawsuit: Punch cards faulty
Since the ACLU lawsuit involves Ken Blackwell, could Nate Livingston's motives for giving the Blackwell commercials to WLW tie into the lawsuit as a further attempt to defeat Blackwell?

St. Louis chosen to host 2006 nationals
"Other finalists for the 2006 nationals were Cincinnati, Cleveland and Minneapolis." Will the boycotters lay claim to this one?

Yale alumnus kidnapped, robbed, and released
Pepper's ordeal made the Yale Herald. It is nice when your alma mater pays attention to you.

Mike McConnell from 700WLW followed up on Friday with a little bit more information on the tapes of the race baiting radio commercials for Ken Blackwell. The news was that Nate Livingston provided those tapes to WLW. Nate is a little bigot, but a shrewd political operative. Ken Blackwell is what I am sure Nate would call the poster child for a "House Slave." I wonder how Nate got copies of those tapes? I wonder if it could have something to do with an individual who works at 1230 the Buzz with the same last name. The mystery will linger.

Miami U: Free Bill O'Reilly
Where do I start? A list will have to do.

1. I graduated from Miami University in 1994 and in my four years we never had cable in our dorm rooms, let alone the dorm at all. We only had cable at the student union (The Res).


2. Fox News is fair and balanced amongst 3 groups: neoconservatives, neolibertarians, and paleoconservatives. Everyone else gets little coverage, which usually is negative.


3. Fox News is just talk radio with pictures.


4. Economics major Aaron Sanders, who was quoted in the column, is the chairman of the Miami chapter of College Republicans, so his opinion is not biased?


5. Where is Bronson’s fair and balanced reporting? Why is he not calling for Miami to “Free Phil Donahue?” According to his column the Miami cable system does not have MSNBC either.


6. CNN does not have a liberal political bias. It has an intellectual bias.  CNN is not geared toward the anti-intellectual Bill Cunningham fan. CNN is more sophisticated, or rather it used to be until they started to go for the ratings by appealing to the lowest common denominator, and now their quality is falling.  It still is not down to the tawdry (yet pious) level of FOX, but it is on it’s way. For the record, MSNBC is generally crap too.


7. Why should Bronson even want to encourage college students to watch TV in the first place?  If you want intellectual political content, the print media is the only place you will find it.  Bronson can’t complain about the “liberal” print media with the abundance of the right-wing newspapers, political magazines, and the dominance of the Blogosphere by the right-leaning moderates.


8. Calling Miami professors in general "liberal" is basically a lie.  I would bet the Business school professors are at best 20% “liberal”, while 80% are moderates or conservatives. The rest of the university would most likely be maybe 50% liberal at a maximum.  The key here is that the business school, of which I attended, comprised of at least 25% of all students up to maybe 33%.  Calling Miami a liberal school is like trying to call Xavier a Baptist school.


9. Also, anyone who watches Bill O'Reilly’s show a few times knows the guys “spins” the issue before his argument begins. He has his plot line laid out of what he is going to grill his guest on, blocks the guest from saying anything he thinks is incongruent to his preconceived notion of “truth”, which is as objective as smudged ink blots.


10. Bronson should not be fooled. $1,750 could easily be paid by the College Republicans, one of the Miami Frats, or hell, get Mike DeWine to cough up the dough.

Peter should be happy as a peach with Miami. It is most conservative public university in the state. It has one of the biggest College Republican clubs in the country, certainly one of best funded too. Miami is no Bob Jones University however, so I guess that is what gets Peter's lion cloth in a bunch.

Candidates' quirks in question
This questionnaire was fine except for asking: "How often do you attend religious services?" That is a political question that does not fit in with the rest. Since in this country religion is a de facto requirement for public office, it clearly takes on a political tone when it is asked. You can be sure that many people will take how that question is asked as seriously as the candidate's position on school funding. Having it asked in this setting was a mistake.

Area Robbery Suspects May Be Linked To Pepper Crime
WLWT reports that David Pepper had no comment. I wonder if the doubters of Pepper's story have any less doubt. Since you can't beat a good conspiracy, I would guess they might hang on to it for a while.

Former Officers Sentenced For Restraining Local Man
They are off the force. As long as the FOP does not help them get back on the force the situation will be equitable for the city. The boycotters will cry for blood, but they will cry foul until they are installed as members of the Politburo of the “People’s Republic of Cincinnati.”

Less Than Half Of Ohio Voters Expected To Go To Polls
More than half of voters are lazy sloth’s.

Cincinnati Hopes For More Financial Aid For Police Reforms
This smells similar to an unfunded mandate, which is two words.

CityBeat: ANSWER in the Streets
I hope the read will note, this article describes the antics of transnational progressives or progressive-populists. These are not "liberals."

Chris Anderson posts on the Hate email at Miami University and more.

Today Mike McConnell from 700WLW played Ken Blackwell's commercials, which aired on 1230 the Buzz. These commercials were just as I reported last week. Mike unleashed on Blackwell for race baiting, and has vowed to never vote for Black well again. The commericals were shinning examples of race baiting, something that Al Sharpton would be proud to call his own.

The tag line of one of the commercials read: "They are out to get Ken Blackwell."

Mike reached Norm Cumings from Blackwell's Campaign for a comment. The "they", according to Norm, is really the Democrats and Union leaders denying jobs to qualified blacks, not the “white man” out to get the “black man.” Norm must live on the merry-go-round with all of the spin coming out of his mouth.

Gun-Wielding Boy Chased Out Of Local School
WLWT reported in their 11:00 PM live newscast that many kids and parents were not happy with the response of school officials. I will take bets on how many times race is blamed as to why this was not taken more "seriously" by officials. I use quotes on seriously because they seem to think it did not get the attention it needed. What kind of attention does it need? The police were called, and no one was hurt. I guess the myth that crazed youth gunmen never cause incidents in urban schools, only in suburban and rural schools, is not going to be mentioned much in the media.

CityBeat: Editorial: Change Is in Your Hands Tuesday
The big cheese at City Beat, John Fox, recaps the important races. I agree with his stances. Vote for Siebenaler, yes on issues 2 and 7, and no on issue 8.

Rhodes blasts Pepper plan for tax credits
The real news from this column is the apparent cease-fire in the Cranley - Fox Feud. It was no Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s, but it was fun for a little while. Let's all sing now:

Oh, the city and suburbs can be friends
Oh, the city and suburbs can be friends
One town likes their SUV's
the other likes big School Levees,
but that no reason why they can't be friends.

Metro folks need to stick together.
Metro folks can all be friends.
City folk dance with soccer moms now.
Suburb folk dance with a wild cow.

The Cincinnati Boycott Fraud Website is no more. Indications are that Nate Livingston got the website taken down. Reports indicate that Ross Wright was behind that site, while Nate Livingston was behind the “Friends of Karen Dewine” site. Both sites were filled with personal attacks. The alleged Ross Wright created site included home addresses of many of the boycott organizers, while the alleged Nate Livingston created site included home addresses and social security numbers of local political figures and members of the media. Neither site was any good, except at making personal attacks. Wrights site was more factually based, while Nate’s was more rumor based.

Qui tact, consentire videtur. He who is silent is understood to consent.


This is the emblem for the "No Hate" website at Miami University. The Latin phrase was something I looked up. I tend to agree with what it means, but that conflicts with freedom. If I am not silent and say I will defend the rights of bigots to say bigoted things, am I considered wrong by the "No Hate" crowd? If I defend one person's freedom to hate the haters, then am not doing the same when I defend the hater’s right to hate?

Anti-Gay E-Mail Sent To Miami U. Student Organization
The email was not ruled a crime, but it warrants protest and a headline. I am farther from anti-gay than any straight man can be, but why does this get coverage, when many hate crimes against whites go unreported in the news media? They have not published the emails anywhere on the web, but based on the quotes from it, the level of hate is not much worse than some letters to the editor I've read.

Hate e-mail ruled not a crime
Two Local TV stations did a story, like this, on this incident. The email writer is obviously a bigot, but where were the Local TV stations when people were assaulted in OTR by large groups of blacks? Which crime was a hate crime? One was just not even a crime, but the local TV stations seem to avoid OTR like the plague. Granted, most people do the same thing, but it is their job to report the news, and they have not been doing it.

Atheists, humanists plan own march on Washington
A positive article on atheists, I am impressed. If I had the time and the money, I would be there.

Channel 9 all set for big changes in newscasts
They put all of this money into a new set, but they are going to be moving out of this facility in a few years. If they want to make a big change, why don't they fire the consultants and go back to reporting real news, not fluff.

BRONSON: I vote for the beige guy
Peter, you have no one to blame for Taft, but your fellow Republicans. If you want to elect a Paleo-conservative to the Governorship, then you have better start paying off a hell of a lot of voters. Your far right-wing agenda does not sell statewide in Ohio. Bush won Ohio on a moderate Republican message, and Clinton won Ohio on New Democrat (moderate) message. Your extremist ideas only sell well at CCV meetings where Phil eats it up like a monkey loose in a Chiquita warehouse.

New Image Of Pepper Abduction Suspect Released

Why wasn't this picture release earlier? If it was not completed before Sunday, then why was it not?
Also from WCPO:

Police: Woman Removed Shirt, Bra At Indiana Airport
Was she arrested because she took her shirt off, or was she arrested for being old and taking her shirt off?

Intimacy with God
These guys are not responsible for their actions!!!! The porn made the do it!!!! Is Phil Burress a graduate of this "program?"

How do we train people to like trains?
A Yea for more buses, but a semi-Nay for Rail. What is lacking from Ms. Smith Amos is that even though I would not group her with the Anti-rail cartel she shares the inability to produce any alternatives to a rail system for this region. Yes it will cost a lot of money. It will never be a profit center, but the bus system will not either. Traffic on our highways will be too much to handle in the future, so I see no alternative to a rail system.

Are we children of God or cousins of seaweed?
For the Record: I am not a child of any “god” or “gods” or supernatural entities or supernatural creator(s). How Ignorant is Peter Bronson? What Peter fails to ask is this: How much DNA do humans and that soggy seaweed share? The answer is? I don't know. If we share any, which I am sure we do, then how can Bronson say we are not related? If Bronson's wish for a sky fairy to have waved its magic wand and "poof" humans appeared out of a little pile of dust one day is true, then how can he account that we share DNA with every living thing on Earth? Outside of the magic of his sky fairy he can't account for it. He just is happy that the Ohio Board made a Bushian decision and compromised the issue. Peter and his fellow fundamentalist Christians have the goal of getting their religion back into public schools, anyway possible. This decision is a backdoor to get it in. The only silver lining is that their philosophical and religious arguments are not going to be taught as science.

RedHawks Knock Off Toledo, 27-13
Love and honor to Miami,
Our college old and grand,
Proudly we shall ever hail thee,
Over all the land.

Alma mater now we praise thee,
Sing joyfully this lay,
Love and honor to Miami,
Forever and a day.

Chris Anderson also shares my sentiments about Ron Twitty's recent public comments. I still wonder if any of the 5 job offer's Twitty claims to have gotten are in Evandale. I still think he would like it there. Twitty and Steven Roach would make great partners. Think of the things they could chat about in between catching speeders and doughnut crumbs. They both have a hatred for their former Chief, both were run out of town on a rail, and both had a set of blind faith supporters unable to see their faults.

Queen City Soapbox: "Sneaky Phil Heimlich"
Chris Anderson gets on the case of Phil Heimlich, candidate for County Commissioner, Republican, and bigoted esquire. I am still flabbergasted that Phil Heimlich is running on an anti-gay agenda for a political office with no legislative authority. It does not matter how much he hates gays, he can’t do a damn thing to hurt them, nothing legal anyway.

Ken Blackwell Radio Ad
While listening to 1230 the Buzz and the high jinks of Jay, John, Sean, and special guest Don, I heard what I think was a political commercial for Ken Blackwell. In this ad, on a radio station target to blacks, the tagline of the message was along the lines of "They're out to get Ken Blackwell." The "they" is left very ambiguously to the listener. I found it t be very galling to use such a conspiratorial type of rhetoric in a political ad. What makes it offensive is that the ad was clearly targeted to the black community and it put forth the over all tone encouraging people to vote for Ken Blackwell because they (the white man) are out to get him. Blackwell has stooped to the lowest form of race politics. What is even more odd is that he was using race from his point of view, not from the more common side Republicans take. I hope just misheard the commercial or my white ears were bamboozled, but I doubt politicians have much honor left to try and win on their own merits, instead of the emotions of the voting public.

Cross burning in rural Oxford Twp. investigated
There are a couple of things the article leaves out or just forgot to clarify. The first is how did Mr. Legesse find the charred remnants of the wooden cross? Were they erected like it had burned on his front lawn, or was the wooden cross discarded in his yard? That leads to the second issue, are there obvious reasons Mr. Legesse would be a target of a cross burning? The act of cross burning is the signature means of intimidation of the KKK, so his race, ethnicity, or religion might indicate whether he was a target or not. Any activity by the KKK should be investigated fully by the police, but one point that makes little sense is that when black hate groups intimidate others, namely those on City Council, they are called activists or even civil-rights advocates. When hates crimes go on in OTR, namely egg and bottle throwing at whites driving through, it does not make the news. Here an incident that occurred 30 miles north of Cincinnati gets more coverage than multiple similar incidents that occur less than a mile from both daily newspapers in town.

UPDATE: WKRC TV reported tonight that this incident happened in the yard of Miami University Professor and is potentially considered a racial motivated hate crime by local police.

Enquirer files suit against school board
It is never a good idea for a news media operation to make their own news. Here they not only are making news, they are creating a scandal. I will give them credit for exposing the method in how the new CPS Superintendent was hired. It could have been much more open to public review, but the public would not have had any more input in who was hired. That choice was the school board's. The Enquirer now should not focus on a civil rights violation lawsuit, but instead go for a freedom of information order and publish all of secrecy methods used by the board and the various candidates. The Enquirer can then hold the School Board’s feet to the fire until the next election, when the people may judge the Board’s actions.

Issues of war, economy stoke campus activism
This is Faux Activism. Myopic ideas do not a justified position make. Pacifism is as valid a position as leaving your money in pile in middle of the street, thinking it will be safe.

Twitty Takes To The Airwaves
This man has no shame. He still clings to the myth that he did nothing wrong. The city is now better off that he is no longer on the police force. I would guess many in the black community would have wanted him to become the next police chief. How could they honestly support a man without enough character to tell the truth? I know why and racial politics is the reason. It should be alarming that 99% of the racial politics in this City is practiced by blacks. Those who practice it think it is the correct way to "promote change," which far too often translates to "get revenge on the white man." This type of bigotry is what is causing more friction in the city than all of the bigotry by whites.

WLWT Reporter's Brother: Sniper Suspect 'Sat On My Couch'
Next we will hear: Third Cousin of Metro Bus Driver States: 'Sniper mowed my lawn'.

Alert trucker: 'I'm no hero'
The local media are going to milk this part of the story dry. WLW is already beating its chest as the source of the trucker's information to make the call to the police. The rest of local media had their say: Enquirer, WCPO, WLWT, WKRC, WXIX.

Cincinnati police accused of beating African American residents to face lawsuits
If blacks have been abused in this city for years, why are there not more than 15 people filing a lawsuit? If this happens nearly ever day here in Cincinnati, then why are not nearly 300 people filing a lawsuit for this years incidents alone?

BRONSON: Harry Belafonte
Peter missed the issue on Belafonte. The slavery Belafonte speaks of is the slavery of blacks and people of color to the white man's Capitalism. Belafonte has all of the earmarks of a communist. I hate to sound like a Goldwater backer, but he's a "dirty commie." As a liberal I know one when I see one.

Charter school refuses to let inspectors in
It was only a matter of time before this was made in to a race issue. This school is operating illegally. School Officials should be held in contempt of court if they refuse to allow court ordered State inspectors into their facility. If a charter school is to exist using public (State) funds, then it must comply with the strings the State adds to those funds. Parents of these kids should put pressure on the school administrators to comply with the State, instead of playing the race card in the media. It is not a good educational practice to move a school during the school year. I question the abilities of those who let such a thing happen to a school. Parents should be concerned about those issues, instead of crying wolf.

The Cincinnati Post Endorses Taft
This is not a surprise for the Post. Taft is the hometown boy in a Republican controlled town. The interesting part of the editorial is in this quote.

That hasn't stopped the caveman wing of the GOP from whining about the smaller tax hikes that have been imposed, notably on cigarettes.

The caveman of the GOP in these parts can only mean Tom Brinkman. I don't expect he will get the Post's endorsement for the 34th Ohio State General Assembly Seat.

Jean Siebenaler has earned another vote.

Chris Anderson covers the unhappy folks in Oakley. The only problem with site I see with the location is that it is not very easy to get to, even though it is right next to the highway.

Jeff Ruby accused of disorderly conduct
The odd thing about this story is that on my hardcopy of today's newspaper this story was part of the Tri-State A. M. Report. It was the 3rd or 4th item in that report, but here it becomes a stand-alone story and gets top billing. Why the change? The stand-alone story is the same as in the A. M. Report and is not much of a story, only 5 sentences long.

The Whistle Blower
Is Monday the regular right-wing propaganda day for the Blower?

Zee at roadSassy comes down on the "Yuppies" on City Council. I am not on City Council of course, but I do generally qualify as a young urban professional. I am a pro-yuppie voter, if there is such a thing. I much prefer an educated professional instead of an uneducated person with "experience" when choosing public officials.

Hotseat 10/20/2002 Edition
Today's edition is a special covering the Hamilton County Commissioner's Race between Democrat Jean Siebenaler vs. Republican Phil Heimlich. Both candidates were present and were questioned by Peter Bronson, Eric Kearney, and Kathy Wilson. The show was handled as basically a traditional debate. The questions were generally fair from all present. Bronson showed his bias by allowing Heimlich and easy avenue to show his right wing stance on gay rights and abortion. The performances were interesting. I listened to this program on WVXU, so I did not see it on TV, but I would say Jean Siebenaler won the "debate". Phil seemed to be forcing his talking points into the conversation by bringing up the anti-gay issue and his endorsement from an anti-tax group. He sounded like a bigot by trumpeting "family values" as more important than worrying about repealing the anti-gay city charter amendment, and he went on further to tout his bigotry against gays in his closing remarks. Jean sounded good by being direct as to what county commission role was in the mix of local government, which is to just control a big pool of money, not pass "laws".

Phil will most likely win this race, with more money and more Republicans in the county. What is sad is that he has chosen to run his campaign on the right-wing social agenda of anti-gay rights and anti-abortion. Those are not issues that county commission has any influence over. He must be a little bit nervous about Jean’s stances on the issues, if he has to push his base to get out and vote. I was not going to vote for him before this debate, but I feel good about voting for Jean Siebenaler.

Belafonte Remark on Powel Starts Row
The Guardian used Belafonte's Larry King remake referring to Cincinnati. The use of the quote is out of context and it omits his referral to Los Angeles as well.

Chris Anderson's take on the David Pepper abduction and media aftermath.

Email from the GoGetter
John Schlagetter sent me this email in reponse to my criticism of Jay Love from 1230 the Buzz.

Subj: pepper-napping
Date: 10/19/2002 6:11:31 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: john@foregenitor.com
To: CincyBlog@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)



Brian: I think you're being a little hard on Jay. Based upon media accounts
of the incident, many questions remain. Had David been harmed, the approach
would have been much more serious.

He is accosted around 7:30pm on Hill Street by two Blacks initially
described as wearing ski masks and sunglasses. After dark. In Mount Adams.
Who thinks the cops wouldn't have been called to report suspicious persons?

By 7:47 (according to the Main Street ATM clock), David is withdrawing
money. (Today's Enquirer says it's 7:52.). This after having visited an ATM
on Victory Parkway, the still images from which we haven't seen, from either
his first reported visit or his return.

"Gino" is seen going past the camera as David is conducting his business.
From last night's Channel 5 broadcast, after David gets back into his car,
"Gino" again walks past the ATM camera! Is it possible David is describing
someone who was there but had nothing to do with what was going on? This
ATM is across the street and up from Carol's on Main- I hope the cops have
talked to folks who were there at the time to find out what they saw. And I
haven't read a description of the homeless person David says "Gino" said
hello to so he can be located and his witness statement can be taken.

The media reported the incident as lasting an hour and a half. Today's
Enquirer reports David calling 911 at 8:38, barely one hour after the
initial contact. Subtract the time out between riding the elevator up to
his office, calling Mike Yeazell his chief of staff, a friend, and his
parents, (who calls three people before calling 911?) and the 5-10 minute
drive between Monastery Street and his office, and you have about 30-45
minutes of activity. 30-45 minutes to go to the Victory Pkwy ATM, go to a
Provident bank location, go to the Main Street ATM, then back to the Victory
Pkwy ATM, then back to Mount Adams. We know criminals return to the scene
of the crime, but really!

Why go to the office instead of the nearest phone or even District 1
headquarters? Why not bail while out of the car on Main Street? Why the
neatly knotted tie and Diet Coke in hand while in the Scripps Center lobby?
Has the lobby guard been interviewed? Have lobby videotapes been reviewed?
Why on Thursday night in time for the weekend news cycle?

Legitimate questions about this incident remain. I like to think David
inherited his father's "calm under fire" persona, but many recount David's
thin-skinned approach to confrontation. Either the incident didn't occur as
David recounts it or he didn't repond the way he'd like us to believe.

Unfortunately for David, whatever veracity his recount has it pales under
the victimhood Democrats embrace (Alicia is "racially profiled" for driving
over 70 in a 55; John's brother's roommate is "beaten to a pulp" by guys
stealing flags, etc) and the "feel your pain" disengenuity Clinton
introduced which now allows David to "relate" to Cincinnatians who have been
"touched" by crime.

Of all the people to be mugged in Cincinnati, this guy in Mount Adams? It's
improbable beyond belief. And he talked about his role in the
Collaborative? As God as my witness, that part I believe. At its core,
this story is about the patently incompetent and crappy way Cincinnati media
report the news and their inability and unwillingness simply to report what
occurs and their pathological need and desire to editorialize and
characterize (Ms. Costello on Fox 19's 10pm news last night: "[Mr. Pepper]
rushed to the nearest phone." NO HE DIDN'T! HE DROVE TO HIS OFFICE!

John

My Response:

Subj: Re: pepper-napping
Date: 10/19/2002 11:26:17 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: CincyBlog
To: john@foregenitor.com

John,

I guess Ron Twitty was framed too, huh? Is 1230 the Buzz turning into conspiracy central? I thought the nut case Bill Boshears on WLW covered most of that. I guess since David is the son of "The Man," as Jay put it, he is presumed to be up to something sneaky? How do you drag Bill Clinton into this? Leave that kind of blather to Bill Cunningham and Rush Limbaugh. Let them find a way to blame Clinton for the depravity called the Bengals along with everything else they want, and the will do it.

The only factual issue with your time line is that Post reported that he drove home at about 7:15 PM and the ordeal presumably started before 7:30. The other major problem with your comments is that you seem to basing your concerns on the amount of time of the ordeal. The media reported the 90-minute time frame. You seem to infer that because the media was wrong in their time frame, which somehow supports valid speculation that Pepper was lying and possibly making the whole thing up. I almost get a tone from you that you would not be surprised that the media is in league with Pepper to help him politically.

Now, I do understand that Jay is trying to entertain his audience, but fermenting conspiracy and scandal is just crass showmanship. If you want to play games and poke holes into Pepper's ordeal, then I think you should be up to taking the little heat you get from me.

Brian

City vs. suburbs? Friction heats up
How much of this "War" is being fueled by Stories from the Enquirer? If there is a war, the suburbanites should not complain. They started it over 30 years ago when they started to migrate from the city. Should the City just sit there and take it, or should they do what is possible to shore up their economic base?

Abduction ordeal rattles councilman
I hope Jay Love read this part:

Mr. Pepper was mostly calm talking about the incident Friday. But shifting the subject to talk radio callers and water-cooler detectives who doubt his story, he became more animated.

This quote might make Jay feel good. If he is smiling, then he really needs to reassess his attitude.

City Council Combats Crime Wave
This story from FOX19.com was post 10 days ago. Here is a prophetic excerpt.

"If we're willing to put our money where our mouth is and support citizens on patrol and support more overtime and more visibility," started Democrat David Pepper, "I think the citizens will see we hear them, we hear their concerns, and we take it seriously and we're working very hard to do something about it."

City Council is also engulfed by a crime wave.

David Pepper Kidnapping & Robbery Coverage:
Cincinnati Post City Council member kidnapped, released
Enquirer Pepper reports he was abducted
Akron Beacon Journal City Council member says he was abducted at gunpoint
WLWT-TV Councilman In Good Spirits After Kidnapping
WCPO-TV Police Look For City Council Member's Abductors
WKRC-TV Councilman Reports Abduction & Robbery
WXIX-TV Cincinnati City Council member Abducted
WEWS-TV Ohio Councilman In Good Spirits After Kidnapping

The prize for the most crass coverage goes to Jay Love and 1230 the Buzz's Week in Review. The mocking of David Pepper's ordeal can only be rivaled by some of the callers' jokes claiming Pepper might have picking up these men for sex or drugs. Jay Love admitted, somewhat shamefully, that his first thought upon hearing of Pepper's ordeal was to laugh about it. I find nothing funny about it. I find nothing funny in bringing up on live radio that you laughed at another man's kidnapping. I wonder if Jay would have been dancing for joy it Pepper had been injured.

More Belafonte Coverage
From WLWT and WCPO.

Councilman David Pepper Kidnapped and Released by Gunmen
Two Black allegedly kidnapped and robbed David Pepper tonight. He was forced to drive, or was driven, around town for about and hour and a half and then released in front of the Scripps Howard Building. Police are still investigating. There is no word if this was a random crime or if Pepper was targeted. David Pepper is the son of the former head of Procter & Gamble.

Belafonte's Folly
From Tuesday's Larry King:

BELAFONTE: First of all, let me hasten to say, Larry, that this was never meant to be a personal attack on Colin Powell's character.

What it was meant, however, to be was an attack on policy, and the reference and the metaphor used about slavery -- it is my personal feeling that plantations exist all over America. If you walk into South Central Los Angeles, into Watts, or you walk into Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, you'll find people who live lives that are as degrading as anything that slavery had ever produced. They live in economic oppression, they live in a disenfranchised way. In the hearts and minds of those people, and millions of others, you're always looking for hope, and whenever somebody within our tribe, within our group, emerges that has the position of authority and power to make a difference in the way business is done, our expectations run high. Many times, those expectations are not fulfilled. But when such an individual is in the service of those who not only perpetuate the oppression, but sometimes design the way in which it is applied, it then becomes very, very, very, very critical that we raise our voices and be heard. And...

Is Harry just Damon Lynch III in Caribbean garb? Mr. Belafonte has clearly never been to OTR to compare it to Watts. The inclusion of Cincinnati into his diatribe of racially based communistic dogma can only be seen as a favor to someone or some group here in Cincy. The only other explanation I can conceive is some kind of playing card/gambling/river Freudian slip. Of all of the claims of boycotters the “economic oppression” has been the most outlandish. They are protesting the fact that there are poor people in a capitalist society. That is like being made that there is cheese on a pizza. Poor people exist. Poor people can only get “unpoor” by working their Asses off. They already get handouts in countless ways. I am in favor of providing the poor a safety net to help them survive. That is what I consider part of the government’s role, and since I’m a Liberal you shouldn’t be surprised. However, being a liberal does not mean I don’t embrace capitalism. Harry and the boycotters answer, at least on the surface, is communism for “their people” supported by the rest of us. In other words it is reverse slavery. “We” must atone for what happened to their ancestors by paying for “their people” now to get rich without lifting a finger.

Harry should listen to Colin Powel at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner. His assessment of Powel can only be chopped up to blindly pushing his extreme political agenda under the guise of civil rights. Communism by any other name still smells like shit to me.

Museum: Belafonte's comments not our view
I used to have a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. Belafonte. I do not any longer. I did not see the Larry King Show on CNN, but here is the transcript.

I have only read the comments regarding Cincinnati, which were as ignorant as one can get. I will read more this evening and post more comments later. I will have many many things to say about Mr. Belafonte. I would hope that the public see him for what he is, a communist.

Taft vs. Hagen Debate I
I missed the debate, but it sounds like it was interesting. Here are reports from across the state:
Enquirer, Cincinnati Post, DDN, Akron Beacon Journal, Plain Dealer, Toledo Blade, ONN

I think Jay Love and the entire caller base at 1230 the Buzz should take heed of Chris Anderson's comments.

Four People Indicted In Covington Civil Rights Case
Based on the charges these people appear to be total scumbags. I am not clear as to what the charge of "conspiracy to violate civil rights" entails. Which civil rights did these people violate? I did not know that private citizens could deny other private citizens their civil rights. I thought only the government or agents of the government could do that. The other charges sound clearly reasonable.

UPDATE: The news story on air is not what I would call an unbiased story. It paints an image of bad white people beyond the accused, and then the victimized black people. However, the news story does also include more of the details of the actions of these morons. The accused appear to be skinheads or neo-Nazis of some type. They are surely scumbags, but there are allegations they may have been "provoked" to some degree. If they claim such at trial, it will not go far. The harassment might get some slack if provoked, but adding in the actions like Nazi chants of "white power" is clearly racist crap. The victims may not have been perfect neighbors, but they surely do not deserve that kind of hate filled intimidation. This has all of the earmarks of a classic "hate crime."

Charlie Luken's Issue 7 stance is taken to task by Chris Anderson. Luken seems to be trying to play the West Side against the East Side. I thought the Mayor is supposed to unify the city, not try and create cross-town animosity. One could make a claim the Luken was drumming up a little class warfare, but I won't. (cough, cough)