Delta's Duplicity

Stephanie Dunlap reports on Delta Airline's conflicting benefits polices. Comair does not offer any domestic partnership benefits to homosexuals and does not have anti-homosexual discrimination protections. Comair's parent company, Delta, does have those benefits.

Comair is wholly owned by Delta, which goes above and beyond to demonstrate its commitment to diversity. Delta and its only other wholly owned subsidiary, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), both offer domestic partner benefits and an anti-discrimination policy, as do most other "mainline" airlines and their wholly owned connection carriers, Stark says.

It is a very bizarre policy to have a different benefit plan for a wholly owned subsidiary. It is ultimately more work to administer, but likely Comair's benefits are not as good and therefore Delta would have to pay more money to bring them into the main plan. That plan merger would allow for bigger bargaining power with the larger volume of participants, but would it outweigh the increase costs of better coverage? I don't think the company is purposely out to stick it to homosexuals in the benefits arena, but I really wonder why they don't have an anti-homosexual discrimination policy? Who at the Delta HQ wants to screw with more lawsuits?

My only concern is that there is still some reliance on the old Kentucky network of social conservatism. Kentucky is not what I would call Gay friendly, and most of Comair workers are based there. Delta should have made its division comply with corporate policy a long time ago, it should get on the ball and bring them into line with a common policy in all major corporations.

Ouch, That Must Hurt

Greg Flannery hits the CJC hard in his Porkopolis column this week:

Having lost most of its members as a result of anti-Semitic and homophobic rants, the CJC has lately specialized in picketing civil rights leaders, progressives and others who support the group's putative goal of police reform and racial justice in Cincinnati.

That might seem self-defeating, but it's entirely consistent with Livingston's modus operandi. For example, the protective order he was charged with violating had been initiated by fellow boycott leader Victoria Straughn, coordinator of Citizens Concerned for Justice.

"Someone" will surely not like Greg's comments. When a small number of people pretend to be a "large" group, any information to the contrary will surely be meet with childish vitriol. I will expect that this post will make it to the CJC's message board. "Someone" has taken to copying my posts to the CJC website and make it appear that I actually posted it there. I am sure the various posters to that board, most of which are the same "someone" under different screen identities, will call me names for bringing attention to Greg's column, but the truth needs to be said, and I am glad Greg is reporting it.

Something's Missing

OK, this WCPO story indicates:

Former Nativity School principal Bob Herring was fired by church parish director Marc Sherlock Monday over "philosophical differences," according to an archdiocese official.

The story then describes how 200 protestors, mostly parents and students, lobbied to get Mr. Herring reinstated. Since when are "philosophical differences" a good enough reason for protestors to not come up with the "real" reasons this man was fired. What "philosophies" are in question here? I think something is missing here. There has to be more to this story than a philosophical difference to account for firing a principal during the school year.

More from the Post and the Enquirer.

Cincinnati Hipsters Unite!

I can't comment to much on this story, I was not there, but I have to quote this part:

"These organizations are recognizing that they have to build young audiences," said James Czar, manager of information systems with Enjoy the Arts/Start, an organization that promotes art among young people. "Their older member base is eventually not going to be there, so they need to repopulate it now."

I doubt Mr. Czar would call himself a hipster, but I find it interesting this gathering was considered one of "hipsters." I have a negative feeling for the word and I am still unsure if it can apply to anyone in Cincinnati. For the record the dictionary defines a hipster as "One who is exceptionally aware of or interested in the latest trends and tastes, especially a devotee of modern jazz." Now, m-w.com has a more historical feeling of a definition:

Pronunciation: 'hip-st&r
Function: noun
Etymology: 4hip
Date: circa 1941
: a person who is unusually aware of and interested in new and unconventional patterns (as in jazz or the use of stimulants)

The modern usage from urbandictionary.com is the one that gives me the negative vibe:

someone, usually a teenager or 20something, who adheres to a counterculture ranging from indy-rockers to neo-hippies to skaters. they tend to define themselves by the music they listen to, and the outlandish clothes they wear. hipsters are opposed to other countercultures like goths, metal-heads, and gangstas, and they also avoid preps, eurotrash, white trash, and jocks

question: why does he only listen to bands that are never played on the radio?
answer: he's a hipster

So who is a hipster out there?

GOP Eating Their Own?

The Enquirer reports that the GOP has six possible candidates to run for County Commissioner against Todd Portune. The primary is coming up in March of next year, so the battle for money should be going on like a Thursday after Thanksgiving sale.

The real question is who will challenge Kabaka Oba to get the Democratic nomination to run for John Downlin's seat? John Cranley? Alicia Reece? Howard Bond?

The Democrats will be eating their own in the Race for Mayor of Cincinnati. Mark Mallory, David Pepper, and Alicia Reece are all talking about running for Mayor in 2005 as is the current Mayor, Charlie Luken. With an open primary, 2 or more Democrats could be on the ballot. That would be interesting.

Cincinnati Television News Spawns Another Political Candidate

Ken Lucas will not seek re-election, but Nick Clooney is running in his place. Nick's candidacy will surely garner a lot of attention because he is the father of George Clooney. George has slowly been dipping his toes in the water of political advocacy; I wonder how involved he will be in his dad's campaign.

UPDATE: more coverage from the Enquirer, FOX41, and ONN.

UPDATE#2: AP has the story on Yahoo and it hit the most viewed stories at #13

The Archbishop Knew?

This report from WCPO indicates that Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk was told about allegations of sexual abuse sometime between 1988 and 1994. If he knew about these allegations, why is Pilarczyk getting away with this?

Smells like 1970

The FBI is investigating anti-war protestors. Will the summer of 2004 election season make 1968 look like a picnic? I once again will predict there will be violence, to some degree or another, at the national political conventions next summer. Also from Reuters.

UPDATE: Wes Flinn comments.

MIAMI 49, OU 31

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.

A sweet victory against the dreaded BobKittens. I take joy in this win over the Alma Mater of many local journalists. I don't think this will help coverage of Miami in any way.

News Coverage: Enquirer, Post, DDN, & PD.

Mike Allen's Failure

From Mike Allen's Statement yesterday:

Hold them accountable.

Make sure this doesn't happen again.

I cannot tell you how many times or how many people have said that to me over the last year. But they were not talking about a serial rapist, or a multiple murderer, or the vicious rioters who brought our city to its knees.

They were talking about one of the most respected and revered institutions in our county - the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Mr. Allen's failure is exemplified by not answering the plea from the public who wanted "them" to be held accountable, instead he went after "it." Allen let individual priests who knowingly protected rapists and molesters go unpunished, not even releasing a list of names of those who were involved. He did this to help keep civil lawsuits from being filed against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Mike Allen stated that his office was confident that there were no priests active in Archdiocese of Cincinnati who has been accused of wrong doing as part of this scandal. He failed to assure the public by not considering two important questions:

1. Are any priests (or other staff) who have been accused of wrong doing active in any capacity in ANY church or organization ANYWHERE in the world that involves interaction with children?

2. Are any priests (or other staff) who knew about or covered up any wrong doing still active in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati?

If those questions were answered, I missed it.

The media coverage locally has been heavy, but restrained. The Enquirer has covered many angles of the story, but failed to raised or at least report the questions I asked. I figured if the crime was any other organization those questions would have been asked, investigated, and reported. In Cincinnati, a Catholic stronghold, the Enquirer knows its place and knows not to push the limits on criticism on the local Catholic Church and its leaders. The Enquirer editorial especially reeked of hollow repudiation of the Catholic Church and seemed to shift all of blame to the "tiny minority of pedophile priests to victimize so many." Read it Here: Editorial, Wells Column, Story1, Story2, Story3, and Story4.

Mike McConnell from WLW took a much more strong stance against the church. He refered to Mike Allen's attitude towards the Catholic Church as a "bow down respect," where it gets 1,000 times the usual benefit of the doubt. Mike, a life long catholic, even stated that he would not attend a church in the Cincinnati Archdiocese until Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk resigns.

Other Coverage: Post1, Post2, Post3, Post4, Post5, WCPO, WLWT, WKRC, NY Times, Plain Dealer, DDN, CNN/AP.

Deal with Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Reports are coming all over that the Prosecutor Mike Allen has made a deal with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk is beating the rap. There were several scenarios where Pilarczyk was potentially guilty of covering up multiple felonies. I think Mike Allen has let down the public. He should have gone forward with a full prosecution of specific priests for the cover-up of known rape and molestation incidents. Slapping the wrist of the church is about as harsh a treatment as Enron is getting. It is ironic that the plea agreement that is out there is being referred to as the "Flynt plea." Mike McConnell came up with the idea that is should be called the "Flynt-Pilarczyk plea" from no one. It is surreally that a church would basically admit to breaking the law. That is a blow to it stature in this city. It will be interesting how they will ever be able to preach on "morality" again without being laughed out of pulpit.

Coverage: Post, Post2, WLWT, and WCPO.

Bigot Bronson Rides Again

Reading Peter Bronson makes me wonder, Does he wear a Kaiser Bill moustache? Would he have voted to convict Scopes? Has Peter ever though about how ignorant he sounds?

You can say marriage is defined by God or biology. Defying either one is just asking for trouble.

Peter, marriage was created by MAN. No Gods were involved, and biology was not a factor. Marriage was created to reduce or stem conflict between tribes and between competing suitors. Marriage is a social contract.

You skirted around your opinions here and it is most sickening. Why don't you just make your bigotry clear so everyone can be sure? You don't want gays accepted or respected or treated equal because of your religion and your religiously rationalized views on what is "biologically natural."

I have news for you Peter. Your religion has no place in law. I hope you know this, and I wish you would accept it. Also some news for you, a Penis and Anus, and a tongue and Vagina are all biologically natural. You are just homophobic. You fear gays. I don't think you fear lesbians, but that is likely a whole different story.

Get specific on what is wrong is with Gay Marriage or even Civic Union. What harm will it cause and HOW will that possibly happen? Nothing much would change. Those gays living together now would still be living together if they were married. The only difference is that they would be in a more stable relationship.

You bring up the "children." Oh, it is always about the children. Peter, why don't you just say it: you fear kids might be "turned" gay. Get off the stupid bigoted myths. Homosexuality does not rub off on you. Peter you sound like an anti-miscegenationist from 1922 or 1952 or 1962. It is disgusting to hear you relegate a group of human beings to a sub-class.

I would hope that those who fear gays so much might seize on a compromise. Try out Civil Unions and tell me what is wrong with those? If you find something wrong, I challenge you to tell me what is wrong beyond your trite religious dogma.

UPDATE: Other Bloggers weigh in: Rantophilia and Greg Mann.

And a CityBeat in a Pork Tree

Stephanie Dunlap gives us a holiday top ten list worth reading.

Hegemo's Coffee Fix

Sarah at the Hegemo gives us her Cincinnati coffee hotspots. She does need to check out Kaldi's as she notes, and she also needs to check out Sitwell's Coffee House on Ludlow in Clifton.

Am I Missing Something?

I am not a fan of Eminem, but the folks at Source Magazine seem to be gunning for him. How do they really think he is a racist? The guy records some racially offensive slurs after he breaks up with this black girlfriend. (Yes, his black girlfriend) This makes him a "racist?" A white man who dates black women is a racist? I guess once again the term "racist" is being twisted, or redefined. I will remember that the next time I hear "cracker" used on 1230 the Buzz.

A White rapper is infringing on the "black man's" world, so he must be taken down, I guess. From this article it sounds like the guys from the Source are the ones who are "racist." This quote I think is filled with what some might call code words:

"Bringing this tape to the public is the latest chapter in The Source magazine's ongoing effort to expose influences corrupting hip-hop, including racism."

Who or What is corrupting hip-hop one might ask? I think the folks from the Source would say: "White Culture" or just "The White Man." I wonder how much they are rooting out racism in hip-hop directed toward non-blacks.

Domestic Terrorism

The CANDLES Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana was victim to arson and bigoted vandalism. "Remember Timmy McVeigh" was written on a wall of the museum. This is terrorism. This story is getting limited coverage. Tabloid stories like the Scott Peterson Trial and the police search of Michael Jackson's ranch are getting the cable news coverage.

CANDLES stands for "The Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors."

New Blog

Give SadGirlSeven a try. She has some choice words about CinWeekly in a post from last week. One suggestion that I think she needs to take under advisement: Permalinks.

2000 Hamilton County Presidential Results

I was just reviewing the 2000 vote totals for President in Hamilton County and they are not what one would have thought. I would have guess that Hamilton County would lean 60/40 Conservative to Liberal. What happened was significantly closer than that.

George W. Bush, GOP*******197,339 54.46%
Al Gore, Dem**************153,227 42.28%
Ralph Nader, Green*********8,871 2.45%
Harry Browne, Libertarian****1,187 0.33%
Pat Buchanan, Reform*******1,042 0.29%
John Hagelin, Natural Law****520 0.14%
Howard Phillips, Const. Party**195 0.05%
TOTALS*******************362,381 100.00%

Right Leaning 199,763 55.13%
Left Leaning 162,618 44.87%
362,381 100.00%

This makes me realize one big factor; Hamilton County is by far the most "liberal" of all of the surrounding counties. Bush got over 60% of the vote in all surrounding counties. I wonder how the city gets the conservative flack when outside the 275 loop has the bulk of the hardcore conservatives. I guess the local conservative control on nearly everything with an iron fist methodology keeps us liberals quiet.

Cranley for Commissioner???

The Business Courier is reporting that Councilman John Cranley is "pondering" a run against John Dowlin for Hamilton County Commissioner in next year's election.

Is it to soon for John to move on? His showing in the recent council race was fairly good, but council's reputation in the rest of the county is horrid, and he one of main faces getting press from council. He did well against Chabot back in 2000, but is there enough support? I guess John's support of the Elkington "Plan" will be a top priority with all of the extra time he will have next year running for office again.

IME Recap

Well, I did not deliver on the level of coverage I had hoped to provide. I was able to attend two sessions on Friday and only my own session on Saturday. I attended the Minority Voices in the Media and the Art of the Interview sessions on Friday. I was impressed with Kathy Wilson. I disagree with many of her stances, but she is really good in this kind of setting.

The most interesting element of the event was Kathy Y. Wilson's revelation that she was asked to take over Laura Pulfer's column a few years back. She obviously turned that down. This I am sure is old news to some, but was news to me.

My session on blogs and webzines went fairly well. I was not a total idiot, but I was not very well spoken. I hope everyone got something from it, but I am not sure if I provided much. I think the time was limited to the point where we did not have a ton of time to answer questions. I guess our presentations went on too long.

I was shocked to read that there was a theft of a camera and TV monitor. That sucks. It sucks that someone had to ruin a good event. I hope this theft does not put a damper on this event, and it is able to grow bigger next year.

For a fuller recap, check out XRay's recap.

UPDATE: In my haste to post this, I failed to comment on Stacey Recht and Amy Eversole's "The Art of the Interview" Session. I was impressed at how prepared Stacey and Amy were. Stacey especially had everything organized, including an excellent web page with examples of interviews she had gotten previously as well as a full audio recording of the session. I myself am not good at interviewing people, so I learned quite a bit on the best practices for giving interviews. If you listen carefully you might hear my questions on the audio recording.