Anti-abortion rally causes stir
With a GOP run House, Senate, White House, and Supreme Court, why is it a surprise that the Smithsonian Institution would be abused by a gang of Kentucky Republicans? The Smithsonian is not a place to play politics, but the anti-abortion protestors generally adhere to an "ends justifies the means" attitude about their cause. If any left-leaning group abused the Smithsonian like this, the White House and Congress would be calling for an investigation. Instead, the Smithsonian is left to fend for itself. This breakfast was sponsored by a Catholic Group. Did that group lie to the Smithsonian officials, or did they participants just take advantage without any warning? I am glad the Enquirer reported this story, but I wonder who else did? The problem with the Enquirer's story is that in an accompanying puff piece on anti-abortion protestors who went to D.C for the protests, the story reports that they were at the breakfast at the Smithsonian. Why didn't the reporters ask the participants about the political activities at the breakfast? Did the reporters go to the breakfast? I see a bias, but is it in the reporting or in the editing? Yesterday's Enquirer editorial on abortion sounded like a slightly less than an extreme position on abortion, but one still riddled with propaganda. I have to keep on reminding myself, you live in a right-wing town. They know not what they do.

Taft Smack!
Chris Anderson gives us a super insider look at Bob Taft's State of the State speech. His initial draft takes Taft down a peg or two. Chris better watch out, SNL might want to steal this bit. I know I busted a gut laughing while reading it. I wish more voters could have heard about Taft's plans before last November's election, but who ever heard about a politician telling his constituents his real plans before an election? If you really care, here is the final version of the speech.

John Schlagetter has cornered Nate Livingston's html programming fingerprints. I wonder if anyone still thinks the http://www.friendsofkarendewine.com website is really run by a disgruntled conservative. If they do, I think they might be waiting in line to buy season tickets for the Red's Riverfront Stadium season opener all alone.

Tri-State Blog Round Up
Chris Anderson on Denise Smith-Amos's column and Article XII.

John Schlagetter on the State of the City Address. On Problematic for the People Jon is asked "What Am I Contributing?"

Rob Bernard tries to make hay with Jack Nicholson's alleged anti-abortion stance. This statement is from National Review's the Corner and has no support listed, so I don't trust it, and it does not preclude the possibility that Jack is both anti-abortion and pro-choice.

Abortion: 30 Years after Roe v. Wade.
Abortion should be legal. The debate can rage for hours about the issue, but it should be legal. The details as how it should be legal are not set in stone. There is room for compromise in how it is legal. In my opinion very few limits, if any, should be made, but those are elements that States can regulate. Beyond that, it is the choice of the women and those she wishes to confer with and confide in.

The Local Media has shown a dichotomy in coverage. The Cincinnati Enquirer has an amazing bias against abortion. They run stories praising kids for skipping school to go protest in D.C., but don't ask the kids why they don't protest against the War, a reasonable question for those who claim to "defend life in all stages." The most amazing element to this is that the reporter, Maggie Downs, filed the story in D.C. Either she went along with the protestors, or she is based in the D.C. area.

The Post on the other hand ran a serious of stories that analyzed the local availability of abortion, the current legal standing of the issue with the US Supreme Court, and the status of the law nationally.

John Schlagetter also provides his thoughts on today's 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

Marc at Chili Madness says Chicago was DAMN great, and no, he says he's not gay. It is on my list to see, along with Gangs of New York.

Sin taxes 1st in line to go up
You better drink up, its Last Call.

More than 800 to attend March for Life
This story got a little bit too much attention for my taste. Beyond the Enquirer WLWT-NBC, news updates from 700WLW, WXIX-FOX, and WKRC-CBS covered the local group heavily. I know I live in a right-wing strong hold, but these "marchers" are painted like good deeding children. I wonder how many of these kid's grades are influenced by their attendance? That is a good question for the Elder Administration, who authorized a group from their school to attend. The question I want answered is where were the so-called "right to lifers" during the anti-war protests this weekend? How do those who claim to fight for the life of all fail to fight for those who will undoubtedly die in a war? I realize that two trips in one week to D.C. is too much for anyone, but there was a rally last Saturday against the war which only had a couple hundred people. Where were these 800 people?

I myself am pro-choice on the abortion issue and I am fairly mixed on the potential war with Iraq, but I like to be consistent with my principles. That does not mean I don't have nuanced opinions on issue that seem to be similar, but I do keep to the big issues. If I were a "pro-lifer" I would not pick and choose which lives have value. If they want to protect the fetus, why not protect the humans too?

Hispanics largest U.S. minority
How does this effect race relations in this country? Will Hispanics be the hot political potato? Will the boycotters be glad? Well, that is obvious, no; they will call it a conspiracy against blacks and then call for stricter immigration enforcement. The real question that I think about is will there be increased problems between blacks and Hispanics? Some of the rhetoric from the fringe of the boycott suggests that there already is increased tension. I envision the Hispanic population in America blending in very easily, as it has been doing for over a hundred years now. It may take 10 to 20 years for the real influence of Hispanics to be felt on the political level of society throughout the country, but their influence will differ from that of any other minority living in America. Since I have a little Latin blood in me, I see this as a good occurrence for all.

John Schlagetter on the causes of crime.

Chris Anderson takes the Cincinnati Post to task for being lazy and relying on a flawed presentation of census data for a story that plays to the ills of Cincinnati unfairly.

Boycott Website Changes
Since the adult organizers of the CJC left the group, Nate and fellow ruffians have created a new website to promote their extortion of the city. On the website Nate is is asking for donations to be sent to his home address. I have to ask a question. Is it legal for Nate to accept donations on behalf of a nonprofit organization in this manner? Does Nate have a nonprofit corporation set up to accept donations? Since one of the members of the prior nonprofit pulled out, along with the person whose address was listed as its office address, is this entity legally still in existence to accept contributions on a non-tax basis? They use the CJC name on the new website, but is it theirs to use? These are questions I am just asking, I don't know the answers. I hope Nate and crew had Ken Lawson advise them before he accepts donations as his personal residence.

Gay man's slaying suspected hate crime
It is about time the Enquirer covered this story. Score 2 for Kathy Y. Wilson.

Protester wants Winkler disqualified from case
Mr. Summers might benefit from a long stay in an institution that can keep him from going over the edge.

Flyer Funny Business?
The Political Junkie brings up the coincidence that the Assistance City Manager's tenure in College at the University of Dayton overlapped with LaShawn Pettus-Brown. Mr. Pettus-Brown is currently wrapped in the Empire Theater scandal. Since UD's number of first year black students was 104 for 2002-2003 and 53 for 2001-2002, it is safe to assume that if the two men went to college there at the same time, they at least new of each other. This shared personal history in no way proves their possible friendship influenced the decision of the City to loan money to Mr. Pettus-Brown, but it raises a conflict of interest that should at a minimum be investigated by the City Manager, the Mayor, and City Council.

'Put the razor-wire back in our laws'
Attention Suburbs! Peter Bronson is joining the Boycott! He is trying to scare you to death about going into the City. The City is filled with "them," and if you don't keep "them" out of your neighborhoods, your crime will rise.

Peter, Why don't you just nuke the city? Why don't you just build a wall around the suburbs? Why are you playing along with the City Vs. the Suburbs battle? The Suburbs don't care about the City. They already have built barbwire fences trying to keep out "them." Peter is doing nothing but stomping on the City he seems to hate. He hates the people, except the "Christian" ones, he hates the government; he hates the larger number of liberals in the City. I hope Peter doesn't use Cincinnati as part of his return address when he mails out his Christmas cards, the embarrassment of not living in small rural conformist/homogenized crime free town must be gnawing at him.

My email to Pete covers one more problem with his column.

Subj: RE: Crime story (01/19/2003)
Date: 01/19/2003 11:02:47 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: CincyBlog@aol.com
To: pbronson@enquirer.com

Mr. Bronson,

You included Mt. Washington in your list of troubled neighborhoods?

"These are cries for help from ordinary people who are watching drug-crime cancer kill their neighborhoods. They came from Northside, Madisonville, Walnut Hills, Bond Hill, Mount Auburn, Over-the-Rhine, Mount Washington and College Hill - some of Cincinnati's oldest neighborhoods."

Well, I live there, and I don't agree with your pronouncement. I don't even know where you got that perception from? Could you have meant Camp Washington, maybe? You better tell your buddy Phil Heimlich that his neighborhood has some of "them" in it, so he can move.

Brian Griffin
Mt. Washington

When and if I get a response, I shall of course post it.

U.S. Troops Sharpen Skills in Afghanistan
Lt. Ryan Knight, from Cincinnati is quoted several times in the AP wire article.

Busloads Of Ohio Anti-War Protesters Head To D.C.
The main problem I have with these protests are the organizers. Sayrah Namaste is the local Cincinnati organizer for the protest held in Washington D. C. Today. On the website promoting local participation she links to the national organizing group A.N.S.W.E.R.. This is a loose coalition of every communist group in the country. Those groups are now largely made of radical unionists, religious groups (Islamic and Christian mostly), and extreme environmentalist groups, which is akin to a religion in the level of blind faith they live by.

These groups are playing on the pacifist and non-violence beliefs of many well-meaning local groups, but their goals are no different than Hamas. I think much of communism today is a hyper-religious communism. They give people what they want, a means to channel their emotions and provide a group to join. Identity is what troubles most people today. People don't know who they are and want to be told who they are and what they should do. Communists want them to be anti-capitalist and "pro-worker", a tired old myth. These groups are aligned or at least akin to the boycotters here in Cincinnati. Much like the boycott demands, A.N.S.W.E.R. ties racism, the red herring for modern progressive-populist politics, to everything. Money causes racism, war is racism, and white people are racism. Racism is that which causes non-whites to be non-white. A ludicrous statement, yet not far from their rantings. It is nothing different than the frame of reference used during the "red scare" of the 1950's. The media is letting it pass out of ignorance and self-interest. They are lazy and don’t do much research into who the are covering. They instead look for conflict that will create drama. Drama is what drives news coverage. If there is no Drama, then nothing is interesting, and therefore it gets no coverage. The public seems to be apathetic to all of this. It is nothing more than a game. To be honest, It basically is a real game. Who can spin the truth on the head of the pin the fastest without actually telling the truth? The participants whether on CSPAN or any media outlet or in any political office know what they say and do is a matter of perception, and is a calculated strategy to their sport. That is the game I watch. Who needs the NFL when the media/politics battles are on 24 hours a day?

As a side note, I have no problem with protesting. I am not supportive of this pending war, but I am not out right against it either. I am open to being honest about the use of military force. It is not a good thing, but a necessary thing. If Bush can make a case for why we need to go to war with Iraq, I will listen. Up to now, Bush has not made a credible or clear case. I just don’t think linking this War to every issue you have is going to solve anything. It is the same way the boycotter’s demands became a laundry list of every issue that could be linked to “them”. “Themism” as no ideological boundaries. All are infested and the wood is starting to crumble.

UPDATE: It appears that a Leslie Markworth from Cincinnati attended the protest and was quoted in the Vanguard of Nigeria saying: "I’m outraged and I have to do something about it." I just don't think she is really doing anything. Standing in a crowd yelling at nonsensical speeches from communists and their duped allies hardly seems like something worthwhile.

UPDATE2: Leslie Markworth got around at the rally. Islam Online quoted her as well in this section:

Demonstrator Leslie Markworth came to Washington in a group that took three buses from Cincinnati, Ohio.

"I'm outraged and I have to do something about it," she said.

"I would like to see Bush and his cronies postpone their decision to wage war on Iraq," Markworth said.

She and her friend Stephen Lavelle will travel 800 kilometers (500 miles) home overnight.

"I would like (Bush) to focus on real problems like the economy and unemployment," Lavelle said.

Her friend also from Cincinnati, Stephen Lavelle was mentioned in the Nigerian newspaper. Islam Online gave one really biased article, while the Vanguard's story was more factual.

UPDATE3: International R.E.S.P.O.N.S.E. takes on the problems with International A.N.S.W.E.R. as the organizers of today's march.

UC Law Students: Halt executions in Ohio
Students from the UC College of Law’s Urban Justice Institute issued a report Friday calling for a moratorium on executions until a commission can be formed to examine how the death penalty is administered in Ohio. There is no way in hell Bob Taft would do this, but this section from the Cincinnati Post's story seems disingenuous:

Taft's spokesman said the governor hadn't yet seen the UC study, but noted that Ohio's constitution prohibits the governor from issuing a death penalty moratorium.

It seems like they are taking covering under a faux shield from having to answer whether the death penalty is applied fairly in Ohio. Neither this section from the Ohio Constitution nor this Ohio Revised Code section would prevent the Governor from commuting anyone he saw fit to not execute in my layman's opinion.

That said, Taft is dependant on the far right of his party, who don't really like him much. He chose a pro-choice Lt. Gov. and has been slow to approve a law allowing anyone to carry a concealed gun anywhere in Ohio. Taft will obviously not do anything but execute those who get no legal reprieve from the courts.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer paints a harsher picture of Taft's reponse to the UC students. The article states:

Taft spokesman Orest Holubec said the governor rejected the students' report before even bothering to read it.

A very different take from Taft's hometown Cincinnati Post.

Downtown office buildings face higher vacancy rates
How does this compare to other cities? Does the 10 to 15 percent increase in unoccupied office space include only downtown or the entire city or is it the entire metro-region? This article leaves much out the details out to paint a one sided picture with no context. This is bad reporting in my opinion, it not only omits information, it has no real point and seems conjured up to fill a story glut.