IHOP

Can anything bad happen when you go to an IHOP, outside of health problems from long term reliance oo pancakes as a source of food?

An A or and A- ?

Maggie Downs' column today states that with the passage of Issue 3 Cincinnati has passed a test. I agree, but Ohio failed with Issue 1, so the city's grade is at best tainted with the fact that over 46% of the people voted to keep Cincinnati anti-homosexual and to prevent civil unions. That number indicates that people want to keep homosexuals as second class citizens.

Maybe the metaphor I am searching for is that yes we got an A on this test, but we are still failing Humanity 101.

City Services For the Poor to Suffer

The Mayor is proposing budget cuts to programs that will hurt many people. The poor will feel it most. Fire protection Brown-Outs got headlines, but when we cut money to help food banks and women's shelters the news will be muted and the reaction from the public will be nonexistent.

Elections? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Elections

David Broder's column in the Cincinnati Post laments Florida where if you are unopposed and you don't have anyone register as a write-in against you, then you do not appear on the ballot and are automatically made the congressman. I don't know if this applies to all elections in Florida or just Federal Offices. Sounds like someone needs to reform the law. Write-in candidates should not be required to register beforehand, and the public should know who is up for election at least on election day. We have another reason to pity Florida. We in Ohio dodged a bullet this year and would have had total chaos if the vote had been a little bit closer. We still have a very small chance to have that chaos if the provisional ballots go all Kerry's way. Many still hold out hope. I don't and those that do are grasping at straws.

In Case You Missed it

What has been considered one of the most disgusting articles after the election can be read here. It has made the rounds in the blogosphere and if you haven't read it, please do and then understand why I am pissed off.

Now, I am sure that this guy's views are not in the majority among conservatives, but it surely has a significant portion and a growing segment that does feel emboldened by Bush's bare majority win. This write is the type of person I don't trust and for those who silently let him blather on don't make me feel very positive that the country will "heal."

Will the Millworks Kill Downtown?

Will the new mall coming to Oakley in 2006 kill downtown and other retail and entertainment districts around town? This will be more "upscale" so it does appeal to the Mason-Kenwood-Hyde Park crowd, so will that crowd now stay away from Downtown? Are they even going there now?

This seems to make any development for Fountain Square, the Banks, and Main Street back burner efforts.

The only question outstanding: how much will this cost tax payers? In cash, loans, or tax breaks.

UPDATE: Nick Spencer comments in support of the new delvelopment.

Someone is Lying

Warren County Officials are sticking to their guns that the threat on election day was a "10." I think someone might want to mention to someone out in Mason that the Kings Island Eiffel Tower is not real and is a fraction of the actual size.

This is ridiculous. Either the FBI is lying when it says they did not issue a threat against Warren County or that someone in Warren County was looking to make a name for them self and even keep out people from watching the vote counts at the same time.

I says this as I sit in BK, yes BK, blogging during lunch, on the edge of Warren County. This makes me want to laugh, but at the same time cry that people in public office would actually think that a rural county would be a target for terrorism. I know the Bush folks have managed to make a whole lot of people think they, even in their rural home, are targets for international terrorism. Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable, NOOOOO!!!!! People are stupid enough, and these officials show they are, to believe that terrorism is going to hit them, when there is no tangible evidence that anyone is a target out side of major cities or facilities that could cause large amounts of damage. Even then, we are still safe here. Simon Leis and Warren County folks need to take a step back and stop helping Bush mislead the country into living a perpetual state of fear and panic. We all know that is the state of society which makes it easiest to govern. If people are afraid, then they are easier to influence, which in part worked like a charm last week.

Choose and Lose

Korte reports the following from Councilman Sam Malone on who should take Pat DeWine Seat: 'The issues that were instrumental in (President Bush) maintaining his seat are critically important,' Malone said. Translation: Only rock-ribbed social conservatives need apply.Gee, I wonder what Malone will do? Malone has illustrated that he is firmly anti-homosexual, which, campers, makes him a bigot.

I for one would play the gender card on Malone if I were Ghiz. If you want the women's vote, you will do well by putting a woman on council. That might open the door for Barb Trauth, who is in Malone's right wing zone of comfort.

Nick's Picks

Nick Spencer has posted his ideal city council:

1. Me (well, come on, what did you expect?)
2. Fanon Rucker (probably not interested, but he would be great)
3. Laketa Cole (exceptional constituent service, great on Neighborhoods)
4. Jim Tarbell (Commitment to the Center City and the Arts)
5. Dave Crowley (Impeccable Character, Strong Record of Service)
6. Leslie Ghiz (smart, likeable, easy to work with)
7. Damon Lynch III (some really good ideas, represents the unheard voices of our city)
8. Pete Witte (not as bad as you might think, though he has his moments. A working class guy who cares about development and safety)
9. John Connelly (a sincere person with interesting ideas, though I certainly don't agree with many of them).

Now who does Nick leave off off the current list: Sam Malone, David Pepper, Alicia Reece, John Cranley, Chris Smitherman, and Pat Dewine.

Now DeWine got elected to the county commission, so I don't know if Nick would have left him off or not. Pepper and Reece are both likely running for Mayor. Cranley has been toying with something similar but, likely will not. The real losers are Smitherman and Malone. Smitherman gets the special knock because he and Nick both ran on the Charter ticket. Nick is a moderate Replublican and Smitherman is a Democrat, which makes the Charter label rather limited in material impact, but Smitherman has lost some significant support amongst moderates for his defense of extremist boycotters (B and some A's). Malone is a Burress Bigot, so no shock there.

I don't think I could fill out a full slate yet, but I know who on Nick's list I would not vote for: Lynch, Witte, and Connelly.

Lemmie Out?

WLWT is reporting that Cincinnati City Manager Valerie Lemmie may resign.

No official reason or other rationale was given in the report, other than "timing," which makes no sense. The article states that a new administration will be coming in soon. We have over a year before a new administration will be coming in. How is that soon?

Lemmie has been a luke warm city manager. Nothing great, but nothing bad has come down. Her tenure may be short lived, and no one seems to care if she stays or goes. She has few detractors, most outspoken are the boycotters (A and B), but they will denounce everyone even if they don’t say a thing.

I don’t think she will leave, now especially with this report out there. At best this is a trial balloon to gauge the Mayor’s or council’s reaction to see if they throw any support her way.

Enquirer Praises Elizabeth Edwards, but...

They praise her for setting an example, but they don't set an example and condemn Bill Cunningham's spiteful words.

Jailbird Bronson

Peter Bronson is carrying the water of local Sheriffs who want new jails. It takes something that Peter and others want to eliminate: Tax revenue. Jails cost money. We do need a bigger and better jail, but it takes money and it takes organization. I vote we put the jail in downtown Sharonville. That land could be much better used, and Leis could use his helicopter to shuttle the prisoners to the courthouse at will.

Stabbing Cancels Bogart's Concert

Stabbing cancels Bogart's concert but remarkably Marilyn Manson appeared at the Taft last night to little notice.

This Is the Day the 'Lord' Hath Made

The same BIGOT (big enough?) who brought you Issue 1 is now making threats against companies for supporting civil rights in the form of Issue 3. Phil and his fascist theocrats can do what they want. Boycotts rarely work. They might be looking at how Sinclair Broadcasting was brought to its knees by some liberal bloggers. Phil is cocksure, blindly bigoted, hateful, and not filled with much foresight if he think he can tangle horns with P&G on morals and win. This wanna-be Joe McCarthy is hated by many, even some porn loving conservatives, and with this stupid tact he may be the first victim of blow back in the culture wars. Over reach is what some conservatives are warning against and this is their first chance to show if they have balls.

I therefore am waiting to see how many Bush supporters out there who are disgusted by Burress will do more than just mumble under their breath at him and finally take action against a man who used hate and bigotry to get your candidate elected.

The Post Is Deaming

Wake up! Wake up sleepy head.

All of the issues the Post thinks its endorsement earned them (us in their foolish mind) will not get any attention from Bush. If we are lucky our congressman who never have done much for this area at all will actually vote for some of this stuff, but I doubt it. If we get the Brent Spence Bridge it is because it a trade route, not because it will help Downtown. If they bridge were up in West Chester, you can be sure it would be bought and paid for ten times over come 2005. Everything else on their list will not help the conservative suburbs, so no Republican will give a damn, which is true of local issues as well.

Yep, That's About Right

Moffett: Ohio voted for pulpit, not pocket:

Conservative Republicans in Cincinnati and Columbus, who may have had different ideas about the economy or war, found common ground in the fear that lesbians might commit to relationships with each other.

The only disagreement is that the fear of gay men is higher than the fear of lesbians, but that point is still valid.

Bill Cunningham is a Scumbag

Ratings whore Bill Cunningham is a jerk, but even I did not think he was this bad:

From the November 3 edition of The Sean Hannity Show:

HANNITY: They're gonna think they weren't vitriolic enough. They're gonna think they weren't mean enough and they're gonna go out there and do the same thing: Attack, attack, attack, undermine troops and the president during a time of war and that is not gonna get them elected anywhere.

CUNNINGHAM: Well, it's over because Elizabeth Edwards has now sung.

HANNITY: Oh, you know, you're cruel.

CUNNINGHAM: [Laughter]

HANNITY: No, be nice, will ya? Where -- we gotta be gracious in victory.

Cunningham should be fired. I hope Darryl Parks was listening. I am sure this will just him a raise, because no stunt is to low for WLW. This even made Hannity uncomfortable. This on the same day she is diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

[Via MediaMatters]

Nick Spencer Is Running For Council

Nick Spencer has announced he is running for Cincinnati City Council.

CiN Weekly Blog

Well, Well, Well, how should I react to this? At this point it is lighter than their normal magazine and to my surprise a real blog, not like the other filtered blogs the Enquirer has tried at the Olympics. This one actually accepts comments, which I am surprised they are doing and once I have linked to it I wonder how many of my trolls they will get making things over there a mess. Sorry if that happens.

They also have a filtered kind of blogger for a day section with readers posting mini-editorials.

The whole thing is packaged at their new hub of reader feed back.

The format of the blog is ok. One point I did not like was date was a bit small for my taste, which from my point of view tells me if their blog is up to date. The other really, really big thing missing is a BLOGROLL. The concept of interaction with other blogs or websites has not yet caught on totally. That is a mainstay of most all other blogs, but it also is something that does happens at a "professional blog" like this one, which I am sure is laden with some level of rules on content, posting, linking, excerpting, and political views.

Content wise I expect maybe a little more depth than the print version of the paper, which keeps things way to short, but I expect little actual political commentary to surface. Whether they are forbidden from doing so or just don't want to, I don't know, but I expect more personal anecdotes than personal stances on issues facing the city, state or country.

Shifting Sands

Greg Korte has written a fairly good analysis of why Article XII was voted down, but he leaves out one important fact I thought he might have determined. Overall how did the vote in the city for Issue One compare to Issue Three? He gave some examples of precincts that inexplicably voted for both Issues, but not an overall number. The numbers are not yet finalized for proper comparison, but I think an initial number should be available. CW would be that votes in the City for Issue 1 would match those against Issue 3, but that was clearly not the case in example precincts Korte listed. I plan on doing an analysis once the detail precinct vote totals are made available.

UPDATE: A commenter points out that the article does include the number of voters who voted against Issue 1 in the city and the results of the Issue 3. 52.9 against Issue 1 and 53.8 for Issue 3. These are supposed to be both of only City of Cincinnati Voters and neither number includes provisional ballots. The phrasing in the article is not as clear as I would have liked, but when it is pointed out to me I can see it there, hidden behind a reference to Hamilton County.