Greg at The Cincinnati Group is Saying Bye

Sad to see Greg hang up his blogging tights over at the group blog: The Cincinnati Group. His writing was good and his voice will be missed.

Subtle Truth

In an editorial from the Enquirer today about population growth in the exurbs, a hard truth slipped out in a very subtle way:

Not only do many of us want to be close, but not too close, to principal cities, we want to be near interstates.

What's so subtle? Well, the truth that comes out is that many, I would say most, living in the exurbs around Cincinnati are searching for some time of perfect flux of life, where everything is available to them. They want the little town to live in, but want a life line of the big city’s excitement once in a while to break up the monotonous life. They problem is, that they can’t have their cake and eat too. They can’t just neglect the city, except when they want to go to a game, and expect everything to be perfect, or forget going. If you want something to be there for you, you have be there for it, and those living the city are escaping their ill found fears for the faux safety and prosperity of the exurbs.

The other subtly to read into the line “but not too close” rings of socio-economic bigotry (or even more subtly a slight racial bigotry). The cultural milquetoast world that is the exurbs is what I believe is a reactionary desire for Boomers (and a growing number of Xers) to relive the small community feel they grew up in, where everyone knew everyone in their neighborhood, nothing changed, and people lived happily ever after, without fear or at least in the denial of the existence of fear. Well, except the fear of outsiders.

It is as if TV fiction were their guides to living. Be it the cliché of Leave it to Beaver or the modern cultural pariah of Reality TV. Reality TV even has been accepted by many as a sense of “living.” If they can’t risk escaping the blandness of the same houses with different colored SUVs in the driveways, then why not live out extreme make-overs on television, where you only risk missing out on some other program selling you the latest way become something you are not, and never will be.

It is sad. It is what I think is really killing culture in America. The exurbs reject most of original culture coming form the city, and instead consume the national diet of marketed mainstream media product. In the city people are making their own art, music, dreams, and lives. We still get fed off of much of the same media diet, but we also don’t limit it to the media that is out to feed off us, not feed us. If the exurbs started interacting with the culture in the city and maybe celebrating where they live by creating home grown media ideas, or just simply not worrying about how close you are to the city, their lives might be enriched a little. A little change can go a long way, even for a desperate housewife living out in Mason. Interacting with the City of Cincinnati is the only thing that makes it worth while living near it. If the exurbs don’t do that, and do it often, they will become what I fear will be the intellectual ghetto of the 21st Century America, if it is not there already.

Someone Else is Using the Theocracy Word

Once again it is not me, but I sure wish it was. From Howard Dean:

"The issue is: Are we going to live in a theocracy where the highest powers tell us what to do? Or are we going to be allowed to consult our own high powers when we make very difficult decisions?"

Indeed!

[Via Atrios]

Don't Blame Me

I am not the one saying that Sen. Bill Frist is flirting with theocracy. I agree with it, but I am not saying it.

Sen. Reid (Mormon) I think is saying it much better than I could.

UPDATE: More at DailyKos.

Brinkman Makes It 'Official'

Tom Brinkman, is running for the US House. Where is Si Leis to tell him to resign his current office? He was just re-elected after all.

I don't know anything about Former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwen, who also is running. He sounds like a district jumper, looking to make waves.

The GOP blood bath should be fun, will there be time for a debate?

WOW!

I am pleased Maggie Downs was able to write this column, especially on the heels of Bronson's anti-woman diatribe earlier in the week.

White Flight

Call it green flight, cultural flight, idiot flight, but people are leaving Cincinnati, yes they're suburb bound, they're leaving Cincinnati, cause they're scared of downtown. Yes, I am referencing a song, and if you don't know it is by Jake Speed, then you should be listening to it.

The SUV line near the end is subtle, but hilarious.

Brad for Mayor?

I don't know anything about Cincinnati Mayor 2005, but have fun!

This is My Rifle...This is my Gun

Original thought is not something you will find in Bronson's latest column where he seeks to oppress and control women. This all part of an effort to try and outlaw the legal actions of Planned Parenthood. If Peter is all for making sure everyone can know the personal and private medical records of women, why not tell me where every single person who owns a gun lives? Oh, sorry, that is a 'real' privacy. It is one thing to oppress a woman (the right-wing does it at the drop of a hat), but to get in the way of a man and his gun is a cardinal sin.

Tax Man

Make sure you get your taxes done. I did mine last night. Ohio's are all online. I did my Federal return over the telephone, and at the end of the call a recording said this year is the last year to file by phone? Who is the idiot who chose that? The are going to the Internet, instead. How many poor people own a computer? Not many. How many own a telephone? Nearly all. Why not make it easier for them and keep the file by phone option??? There are idiots out there who think that the Internets® is the answer. What they forget to think about is the cost of OWNING A COMPUTER AND PAYING FOR INTERNET ACCESS. What about the blind? Some do use computers, but wouldn't a blind person find it much easier to use the phone system? How is this not a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Anyway, make sure you get your taxes done today, and mailed by tomorrow night at midnight.

Miami Football Schedule Out

Get your tickets while they’re hot. TheRedHawks 2005 Football Schedule is as follows:

Sat., Sept. 3 - at Ohio State
Sat., Sept. 10 - CENTRAL MICHIGAN, 2 p.m.(Homecoming)
Sat., Sept. 17 - at Kent State
Wed., Sept. 28 - CINCINNATI (ESPN2), 7 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 5 - at Northern Illinois (ESPN2)
Sat., Oct. 15 - AKRON, 2 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 22 - at Eastern Michigan
Sat., Oct. 29 - at Temple
Sat., Nov. 5 - BUFFALO, 2 p.m. (Parents' Weekend)
Tues., Nov. 15 - BOWLING GREEN (ESPN2), 7 p.m.
Mon., Nov. 21 - at Ohio
Thur., Dec. 1 - MAC Championship (Ford Field; Detroit/ESPN)

The UC game on a Wednesday? That is very odd. Miami is playing way too many weekday games, all for a "good" reason: TV. Having national attention for the battle of the bell will be good, as will Miami's upgraded football stadium.

Taking Jeffre Seriously?

I am not sure if Greg Korte is forcing himself or was forced by the PTB to take Singer Justin Jeffre serious as a candidate for Mayor. At this point I still do not take it that seriously. This article illustrates that Jeffre has what can be described as an eclectic political point of view. He pushed for Nader, but did not vote for president in 2000. He has never voted in a city election. He might think he is serious, but he has yet to demonstrate it.

He might be smart to seek the Charter endorsement, and Charter might be crazy enough to give it. With Smitherman out, Charter only has Tarbell left to run for them, unless Curtis Fuller wants another bite at the apple. Jeffre might end up a Charterite. I will not wait with baited breath.

Wow Look at All the Choices!

All of the Republicans running for Portman's Seat all I assume think they can win. The two getting into the race are also-rans and seem to be wasting their time. The guy from Mason sounds like a real winner. When you have to describe yourself as morally conservative, either you are playing to the bigot vote, or you have something to hide in your past.

All of these choices and I am not going to vote for any of them. Are we ever going to get a Democrat to announce? It is becoming clearer to me that the Dems have just written this off. It may be just as well. Anyone who currently holds political office would be a fool to charge against this windmill. The money machine will make sure that what ever the Dems do, they will not get much press, or much good press. It is so sad that this becomes a battle between hard core conservatives and extremist conservatives. That is not democracy, that is semantics.

Taking Advantage of the Weakest

Pastor Kurt Strassner worries that gambling takes advantage of the weakest people. Many would say that is exactly was most religions do, especially when they are looking to fill the offering plate.

Insert Head in Sand

Bronson opines on the 2001 riots and like a good conservative has not changed a bit.

And City Council still can't get it together to support the cops, who are the city's best hope.

That is his solution, support the cops? Support them how? Support them as they do what, sit on their hands during contract negotiations? The police are part of the problem, not a solution. The racist/bigot activists are part of the problem. The racist/bigot suburbanites fearful of the city are part of the problem. Everyone is part of the problem. That means there are, as of now, no quick solutions. It might mean there will never be a solution, short of a Boycott B style separation of the races, which is hardly a solution, more like a radical quack's bandage over a pus oozing sore.

Is Smitherman In?

Smitherman is in for the council race, but out for his bid for mayor. Will Charter put anyone up? Tarbell? Justin Jeffre?

Smitherman really wants to be mayor. He seems to be power hungry, with the green horned desire to win a lynch pin to his political mindset. He should win back his council seat easily, but will not be one of the top vote getters. He has pissed too many people off and have little to show for it other than making waves (treading water some might say).

Bob Taft In Action

We seem to be able to afford a tax cut in Bob Taft's world, but can't fund public libraries. Now I will get some whack job reactionary who would be happy if the state got out of the library business, and instead make everyone go to the book store. We all 'know' that knowledge is power, and those with the money should be the only ones with the power.

Censorship in Cin City

No, I'm not talking about the government. This is not a post on the action of government Censorship. I am referring to the knee-jerk prudes at Tower Place Retail, LLC. who without saying a word have done their part to censor art. I am of course discussing the denial by Tower Place Retail from allowing the Fringe Festival to use the former Closson's store space.

What I don't understand from this story is what really happened. Did Tower Place Retail, LLC. really deny the space, or did their representative Christi Begley, manager of the Tower Place Mall choose to on her own? Also, how does Madison Marquette fit into all of this? Are they the operator/developer of the Mall, not the owner?

There are a couple of bullshit issues here. The Closson's area is not even part of the "family-friendly venue," it is not inside the mall or on the same block. Additionally, only a block over rests the Hustler Store, so bitching about "family values" is rather moot. Art is something the anti-intellectual crowd fears, so falling back on the "family" is a convenient code.

It is most amazing to me that the Mall Managers backed out since this is the same mall that allowed a cult to use actual internal mall space to get new recruits. I guess a few swear words are going to kill babies, but taking the money from brain washers is a fine and honorable way to be "family friendly." I guess if you are a fringe religion with money to burn, you get your way. If you are instead a ?fringe? arts festival pushing individual expression of ideas, you must be stopped at all cost.

Where is art lover Peter Bronson on all of this? Last year he whined like a little girl and then was later bitch-slapped back into the real world. Did he drop a dime on the festival? I doubt it. I don?t think Fringe Fest has enough Google Hits to catch Peter?s eye. I don?t think there has been a CCV email denouncing it yet either, so it will only be a matte of time for Bronson to rant on it. He instead is spending his time bashing schools and homosexuals at the same time. (Note to Peter, Condoms don't kill people, people do. They save lives too, but only if people use them.)

This entire incident sounds something like what happened to the local Rock the Vote event last year, where one mindless person complained to the library and cancelled the event literally at the last minute.

Finally it is odd that Editorial pages moan when people get a face full of pie, but do not hit at businesses who crush art without the slightest care for fairness. Businesses have the "right" to use their property as they see fit. This is how and why the government should continue and increase its support for the arts. They only type of art one gets from businesses tends to be entertainment, as opposed to art. You get clichéd ideas wrapped in pretty faces. You don't get the zenith of thought and expression. A Jimmy Falon movie is not Citizen Kane, it is not even Star Wars: Episode III. The Theater, visual arts, and music can't be left to the whims of the rich. If you do then you either get endless Movies about Biblical bowel movements, or you get popularity contests.

If you support art in Cincinnati, makes sure you volunteer for Fringe.

If you wish to voice your opinion, there is a way to contact Mall Management. Be respectful and do nothing to make things worse, that means no anger, and of course nothing to get you or anyone in trouble with the law.

Wes Flinn and Nick Spencer have more.

Praise be to 19th century art from the Enquirer, but not a word on fresh art today.

Roh Street Cafe Open Again?

They were supposed to open on April 9th. Did they open? The fire in the neighboring church sanctuary was very significant. If they were able to open up this fast, they must have done a lot of work to get the place back in shape.

Another Local Conservative Blogger

I am surprised there are not more like: The Political Influentials. This one is from Warren County and sounds like a far right-winger. Warren County might as well be Texas when it comes to politics. I might read it mainly for inside GOP tones, which I don't get much outside of the city moderates. I don’t know about adding it to the blogroll. I like to hear from both sides, but this side does not seem like something I want to promote on a regular basis.