The future of rock and roll is passing

97X has not found a sponsor or investor to fund an Internet continuation of WOXY. Sledge has the same release and hints that his status with the new station, and the format of such, will be announced soon.

Ratings Ploy?

Is this just a ratings ploy on the part of Elton John? I guess because Al Sharpton did not win the Democratic nomination, it is because everyone is racist? The same would go for Allan Keys in 2000. Elton is reaching or his off handed comment was picked up by a race obsessed press. If he wants to say that the public are ignorant on picking vocal talent, he can and he would likely be correct. He is wrong to try and say American Idol is about picking the best singer. It is about picking a "star" who has the full package of "talent," beyond just the voice (yes I say this while laughing out loud.) In other words it is just a popularity contest. Who does Elton think are the majority of people voting for this? Teenagers are, or at least they are through their parents. Why would anyone be shocked that this turned into a high school popularity contest, not Star Search

By the way Elton, how racist can the voting be when largely the same voter base last year picked a black man as the winner?

Smitherman Jumping the Gun

Greg Korte reports on Councilman Chris Smitherman jumping procedure by issuing a memo to the City Manager asking to appoint a person to two City Boards. He was wasting his time, since only the Mayor can make those appointments, so his memo was misdirected.

What I want to know, did Chris or his staff keep a copy of that memo in their City Hall office or take it home for "safe" keeping.

Meet-Ups

I guess Carl Weiser missed the sensation of Dean Meet-ups in his gushing praise for Bush's organization which I would like to hear real numbers as to the number of people who attend that are either new to the GOP or at least new to party activities. That is what Dean did with that kind of process and did it out of thin air, not with big bucks behind it and not just make it sound like his campaign is "current."

UPDATE: Correction - Weiser did not "miss" Dean's influence in the article, let just say that it was buried and referenced once.

Bush Brings Campaign to Lebanon, Ohio

Bush will be in Lebanon next week at the Golden Lamb, owned by Rep. Rob Portman's family. Anyone got a reservation there? I hope this does not tie up traffic on I-71 when I am trying to get to work. This will likely be closed to the public, unless directly invited. If any protestors are allowed within earshot of Bush, I will my hat. They will be kept away. If anti-Bush protestors did what anti-Kerry protestors did at the Kerry rally here a few weeks ago, they would be arrested on the spot and charged with a serious crime.

Forced?

This story seems a bit forced. It is as if someone up the ladder said write a story on this but don't piss of the CCV. I wonder how this plays out in West Chester.

This kind of story is the problem with CinWeekly. This story calls for an opinion piece. CinWeekly has no opinion. This story should have a vibrant slam of the CCV and their puritanical crusade to push their religious standards on the rest of us. Instead we have quotes from the CCV, but no comment from anyone from WEBN, who had no comment. The story is thin. I would have preferred more content and background into the history of what kind of jokes WEBN uses and the motivation of the CCV and less reader comments, which are well, not very insightful.

Mr. Roberts

The film version is brilliant. The original stage version is supposed to be great. I hope to go see this. If anyone wants to go, drop me a line.

"Winning the War on Terror Tour"

The name of the BushCo campaign's effort to attack Kerry is actually called "Winning the War on Terror Tour" . I really hope that I never hear a Republican claim that BushCo is not politicizing "the war."

What I find distressing: Bush has only two messages. One is an anti-Kerry spin where they troll out the usual bullshit campaigns do. They try the “what you voted against” gambit. In case you are too ignorant to understand, most every time each party has a budget plan and they are voted on multiple times. Most party members vote in preliminary votes for their party's plan and against the other party's plan. That is the game. Both plans are usually 90% the same, but each party will vote against the other party's plan. Thus "Kerry voted against body armor" is as true as "Trent Lott voted against tax cuts."

BushCo's second message makes me wonder were the firefly girl is: "Don't change horses in midstream."

So that's it. Don't vote for the other guy and stay the course. That is all BushCo has to say at this point. No plans to do anything different. Their plan I guess is to ride the tax cut into the Promised Land? Do nothing and all will happen just as he planned. This is the man with leadership? He has a secret plan to win the War in Iraq and the "War on Terra," but if BushCo tells anyone, let alone Bush, then it may not work.

The Enquirer Buys the Onion

Newsreaders will be shocked to learn that the Cincinnati Enquirer has purchased the SATIRICAL publication The Onion. Peter Bronson will be covering the Michael Jackson Trial and Greg Korte will do the entertainment reporting. Jim Knippenberg will be editor.

Boris the Spider

Bugs in national spotlight
Bugs Bugs Bugs.....I guess April Showers brings May flowers, and Cicadas bring out the crap in the media (mp3). There is even a cicada watch section of the Enquirer's website.

Principal defends student editorial

Sounds like a pretty goodschool Principal to me. As the son of a former principal, I know how the politics of school boards can be. It takes courage to say no to them. When you say it and you are right, it fills you full of glee that can last for a month.

Auto Porn

I can't decide. Is Sam Malone's auto porn a bigger concern for the People of Cincinnati, or is Chris Monzel's campaign to screen ice cream truck vendors? What if just combined them? Mobile porn vendors! I like the idea. Hustler on Wheels. The Pornmobile. Has this been tried before? Would the market bare it? I think it would be a gold mine if someone where to try it. Simon Leis might pull it over for speeding every night though, just so he could look at the covers of the videos.

How can Log Cabin Republicans Vote for Bush?

Now, aside from the stealth pun in that headline, I really I do wonder how any gay republican could support Bush for President. Will this brave college kid or his family support Bush?

How can any human being support a party that puts on stunts designed to devalue and I believe dehumanize gays and lesbians? What I will also want to observe is how many Democrats and Moderate Republicans stand silently by and let Sen. Rick Santorum and others push their bigoted agenda using the platform of Senate Hearings.

Will these hearings finally identify the "threat" gay marriage causes to anyone? Will the bigots finally gain the guts and come out with their hate filled message, instead of code and veiled references to "the harm" a change in marriage would supposedly cause?

Anti-Abortion Website Keeping Tabs On Maggie Downs?

A hardcore anti-abortion "news" site reported the following:

"'More than one million people are expected to participate in the rally, which could make it the largest march for legal abortion in US history,' the Cincinnati newspaper predicted. The Associated Press said 'an estimated 750,000' were slated to converge on the nation's capital. "

Now I found this article by a general Google search and then wondered what "Cincinnati newspaper" they were referring to, since they had not bothered to quote it correctly. I just searched Google again and found a story from the Enquirer by Maggie Downs which included that quote. I don't really think they are watching Maggie's reporting, but it is just odd the way it was incorrectly quoted. I think Maggie was at the event covering it for the Enquirer. She did the same thing last year for the anti-abortion rally. I wonder if that rally met expectations? I wonder if this anti-abortion news site reported that?

Nate Loses First Round

Nate Livingston has lost the first round in his big to spout his racist dogma at city council meetings. Nate was also found guilty of criminal trespass and sentenced to 10 days in jail.

One Note to Kimbal Perry, Kevin Osborne, the photo caption writer at the Enquirer, and the editors of both the Post and the Enquirer: Nate is no more an "activist" than David Duke.

PD Reports Luken to Run for State Auditor in 2006

In an article describing the internal GOP power struggle between Ken Blackwell and Larry Householder we read that Luken "may run for state auditor against Householder in 2006." No sources of this information were given, so what it is based on it beyond me. Luken has stated publicly that he plans on running for re-election as Mayor in 2005.

Any comment from the Luken Camp?

Enquirer Fact Checking Problem

A reader, Barbara, emailed and pointed out a problem with Linda Oda's guest column on Autistic children. The reader, the parent of a child with autism, found the ending of the column troubling and "lazy.":

About autism

April is National Autism Awareness month. The autism spectrum is one of the fastest-growing birth defects, up more than 800 percent in the past 15 years. Studies have shown that autistic children tend to be born to parents who have above-average intelligence and are successful in their fields. Typically, siblings are either gifted in some area or are autistic as well.

For more information, go to the Web site of the Autism Society of America, www.autism-society.org.

Barbra pointed out that if you were to go to the website listed in the article you would read on the front page the following:

What is Autism?

Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. The result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, autism and its associated behaviors have been estimated to occur in as many as 2 to 6 in 1,000 individuals (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2001). Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle, and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism's occurrence. Frequently Asked Questions

The conflict? Compare this from the Enquirer column: "Studies have shown that autistic children tend to be born to parents who have above-average intelligence and are successful in their fields." and compare it to this "Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle, and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism's occurrence." Further digging in the autism website reports no known causes, but only some theories, none of which include an intelligence or career success factor. This definition seems to try and paint autism as a condition that tends to affect the affluent more than other groups. According to what I read on the website, this is not valid.

The rest of the column was excellent in my opinion at conveying some of the problems of parents with autistic children have. I do not mean to claim that autism is not something people should not be working to help cure or that Ms. Oda's comments should be ignored on the subject. Instead at the prompting of the reader I want to point out an error. If this error was part of the column or added by the editors is something the Enquirer might want to check out. Fact Checking is a dying element of journalism, which in newspapers is all but dead.

Bronson's Shame: Does He Even Notice?

He can't let it rest. He can't write a column about a POW without both slamming Cincinnati for not being faux patriotic enough nor can he resist trying to paint anti-war protestors as anti-troop:

'Because it hits so close to home,' Eyer explained. She didn't know Matt or the Maupin family. But her response is what makes small-town Batavia so different from big-city Cincinnati.

I saw it when we went to war, and Batavia rallied to support the troops while antiwar protesters yawped on Fountain Square. And I saw it again last night when the crowd stood and sang 'I'm Proud to be an American.' They can wave flags and reach out to someone in trouble because they don't have both hands full of cynical doubts and pretentious baggage.

Does Bronson have any shame? I have said nothing but positive comments on the Matt Maupin POW situation. I even watched some of the church service on TV where a preacher invoked BushCo's "the Iraq War is part of the War on Terrorism" propaganda. I held my tongue then, and will do it again now.

Bronson seems to want to just kill Cincinnati as much as Nate Livingston. Both men's answer is to drive everyone out, level it, and build each man’s version of a fascist utopia, all be it from different social/religious/race perspectives. I don't want to totally compare Peter to Nate. Nate's level of attention whoring, racism and bigotry towers over Bronson's. To be clear Bronson is only two of the three (not a racist).

UPDATE: Greg Mann also comments.

BushWorld

Maureen Dowd shows us life in The BushCo's World. This is a world where reality and truth are as plain as the emotion stirred up in the patriotically correct TV commercials airing all over Ohio.

Authority of Schools

With incidents like this one in Mariemont where 17 students were suspended for drinking beer in Germany where their parents allowed it and were I was legal for them to drink. Why do some school officials feel they must control children, in this case older teenagers, at every step? They broke no law. The rules of schools do not super jurisdictions. Let parents rule their kids outside of school. This sounds like paranoia about alcohol. When did the temperance movement gain so much power in a city of beer drinkers?

Full coverage: Enquirer, WLWT