2nd District Candidates Set

The primary candidates are set for the 2nd district special election. The Democratic Barber didn't make it. Those to watch are DeWine, Brinkman, Schmidt and the wildcard Minamyer for the GOP. The Dems only hope I think is Paul Hackett, based almost solely on his resume. None of the candidates, outside of Saunders, has any experience in politics.

On the Other Hand

Even though Jammin' On was great, an AP feature today brings the failure to improve OTR to light. I agree that efforts to start to change OTR have failed, especially the movement to bring back Vine Street, but we are 4 years removed from a riot. We have activists who still do not want to work with anyone who does not submit to their viewpoint. We have head in the sand suburbanites who just don't care that much about the poor, especial in the City. Mostly we have people doing their own thing and not thinking big picture. We have the Kroger Garage and the Art Academy of Cincinnati going forward, but Main Street has been stagnant. I see potential, I don't see action and this year being an election year we are going to here plan after plan, but are we going to see action? Not likely.

Subtle Knocks on DeWine from Brinkman

Tom Brinkman in no way comes out directly and says anything about Pat DeWine's divorce and other personal negatives in this email reported on BCR, but he sure as hell hints that they exist:

Pat is proving once again why he is not suited to be our Congressman. Please let your friends and neighbors know what Pat DeWine is doing. Ask them to spread the word that Pat DeWine is NOT suited to be our Congressman. This has nothing to do with how he has conducted himself in the past, this is about how he is conducting himself NOW.

Now, there is one contradiction here, if he "once again" is doing something, than how is this not about both what he has done in the past and is doing now? The hint I am referring to is the question Brinkman leaves hanging: How did he conduct himself in the past? What is he talking about? The answer is left for the reader to wonder, but is a rather obvious, to politicos yet subtle to average Joes/Janes, jab at DeWine's affair/relationship with a political activist and his divorce.

Jammin' On a Success

Dylan of Buckra

Jammin' On was a great event this year, I believe the turn out was solid and the variety of music was pretty good. Jake Speed & the Freddies, Buckra, and the rock-a-billy sounds of the Kentucky Struts were my favorites.

The only complaint came from a friend who said that the sound guys in this town suck. Last night there were 6 sets of sound crews out there. I can imagine that using the C team is not the ideal. If Midpoint is to be as big as it can be and with a really great music scene in Cincinnati, we need to get our local sound guys in tune with the varied musical styles. Folk, Funk, and Heavy Metal need different mixes.

Malone Arrest Fall-Out Begins

In today's updated Enquirer article we get more details as to how Malone’s actions were reported to police. If you beat your child so much that they need to go to the hospital, yes folks, something is really wrong, and something criminal happened. The hospital staff will report you if you do these kinds of injuries to your children.

The most outlandish statement and one that should destroy his chances for a GOP endorsement for Mayor go to former councilman Charlie Winburn:

"When kids are unruly, parents have to be responsible," said Charlie Winburn, a longtime friend of Malone's family and a former councilman. "Sam is a great, responsible father. He ought to be commended for disciplining his child."

Now, I might give Charlie the benefit of the doubt only if he did not know of the details in the article, like the kid having to go to the hospital after being beaten by his father. If he knew about that and other details reported in the media, then Winburn is a monster to think that a person should be "commended" for beating a teenager. We don't live in the 18th Century Mr. Winburn.

Alicia Reece's comments should have just been to offer "no comment," but they were generally neutral, with a hint of what Winburn said.

The big hat tip goes to Republican Pete Witte. According to the article Pete called for Malone to resign. That is an extremely courageous thing to do, it is the right thing to do, and after the initial run of facts, I think it spells doom for Sam Malone's career. More facts could come out to change things, but with the information presented by medical personnel, the police, and no denial from Malone of doing the beating, the evidence is stacked against Malone. Therefore Witte's stance will become I believe the stance of the majority of Republicans. If not, then the Dems have an issue. It would be a gutter issue to use, and might in the end backfire if used incorrectly, but a subtle slam against any candidate, like Winburn, who supported Malone would be effective. A full attack on Sam Malone would be not only be fair, it would be the right thing to do.

GOP County leader Mike Barrett's response was not courageous like Pete Witte's, but he gave the totally neutral line that he had to give to the press at this point. It is only a matter of time however before Barrett will have to change his tone and then the Party will have start to pressure Malone to resign. If they don't, Leslie Ghiz may be the only endorsed Republican on council next year.

I wonder when we will get a comment from the CCV, Malone was their man on council after all.

More from WCPO here and here. It appears the rest of the local mainstream news media took the weekend off.

UPDATE: WLWT has more. It hasn't made the AP Wire yet to my knowledge.

UPDATE#2: Nick Spencer comments and joins Pete Witte in calling for Malone to resign now.

Councilman Sam Malone Arrested

First thing that comes to mind is holy shit, but that just does not put into words the change this puts into City Politics. Councilman Sam Malone was arrested for beating his 14 year old with a belt. This is not just a little beating:

A police report said Malone hit his son with a belt, causing injuries that included swelling to the chest, arms, back and buttocks.

A spokeswoman for children's services in Hamilton County said doctors at a Cincinnati hospital contacted the agency Friday night after they found welts and belt marks on the boy's body.

"Parents are allowed to physically discipline their children," said Laurie Petrie, spokeswoman for the county's Department of Job and Family Services, which includes children's services.

"But this," she said, "would be beyond what we would consider normal discipline."

What kind of a human being can beat their own child in such a way as to cause swelling to his chest, arms and back? If it was just on his buttocks, Malone might have survived this, but he should go to jail if this is true.

I hope everyone can agree on this. Some out there might be in favor of corporal punishment, but this is assault. I can understand spanking a young child who can't be reasoned with, but beating your teenager with a belt does nothing but gets your grandchildren beat up in about 20 years.

If anyone tries to defend Malone on this one, you really are reaching. I hope his son is able to get through this.

Malone should immediately resign his council seat and quit politics. If the GOP endorses him, they really will have sunk to a new low.

I hope no one calls this good family values.

Chilifest Cancelled

There will not be a 23rd annual Cincinnati Chilifest this year, but it seems the organizers will try and bring it back this year. Last years event left the organizers 90K in debt. The event occurs in September which is a hard month to contend in. College Football fans are pulled away, baseball, and Oktoberfest eats up people's attention.

More Conversations

Well, I thought I would have one last conversation post after my week of what some called weed induced rantings or reasons #112 that I need to get laid. Well, since I don't smoke anything, let alone weed, and since well the other issue is just nunabiz, I will take it that my conversation went over like a lead balloon.

You stay the same and people complain, you try something new and people complain. You call bigots, bigots, and people complain. I have learned one thing from my experience, people complain, and like to complain. I think I also learned that people don't like my rantings all that much.

Well, you have not read the last of them! I am going to try and broaden my mind a bit more than I have been. I will try and interject a little more culture into the blog than I have been doing. I don't know how or what, but when I am not posting on current events and you see photos, then you will know.

Keeping things fresh has to be something even I try and do. That is saying a lot, for me.

Congrats Wes!!!

A big congratulations go out to Wes Flinn on his new job starting this fall. We all shall miss you.

Pettus-Brown vows to rebuild theater

LaShawn Pettus-Brown almost pulls an OJ.

The Social Leagues

Something I do all the time is constantly consider if women are in or "out of my league." It is almost an instinctive response to meeting someone new. Admitting I am at least partially shallow is not going to be a popular opinion, especially to women. I think my understanding that I myself am nothing to drool over gives me a little cover coupled with my honestly. Since I have come out and spilled the beans on the leagues, I have to ask, are these leagues all in my head, or do they have something of a non-formal and certainly flexible definition that none-the-less holds true?

Now, when I say "out of my league" most people are likely going to focus on appearance. I consider that a significant portion of what I mean, but most certainly not all the factors. Is that fair? Well, from my point of view it is not so much fair, it is something of a reality. Usually it is not what I think of others, it is what I assume they would think of me. That is the interesting part, does our opinion of others really only depend on how we judge ourselves?

No matter how much people want to avoid it, appearance matters. That sucks. It is horrible, but it is reality. It is a human reaction that is not going to change. In my own biased opinion of myself, I rank kinda-sorta average, maybe a little below on some factors and little above a couple of others. What is funny, I think, is that if polled, 2/3rds of people would view themself as average, whether they are or not. If polled secretly they may have a completely different view. Appearance is very subjective and often based on comparison and sample size. Just because it varies though, does not mean it is not valued.

Beyond appearance there are other factors to consider which are really what in the end matters: intelligence, wealth or class, maturity, age, personality, interests, cultural background, and temperament. There are other categories and other variations, but these are what come to my mind most often. Does anyone ever think that people are out of their league when it comes to personality or interests? Sometimes people might say that a smart person is out of their league, but not necessarily in the sense that they are better, just different. Difference is not always valued, unless it creates an identity people can relate to.

Beyond the normal comparison of supermodels and movie stars, are there really people out of your league? Do you walk down the street and say people who might share your same interests, intelligence, temperament are beneath you in social status?

What makes up social status? How much of it is based on appearance and how much is based on other factors? Is appearance ever not a factor?

What I think plays into this is the mystery surrounding what causes two people to be attracted to one another. There are common factors and conventional wisdom that seem to hold true, but then you see a couple together and can’t fathom how they are in anyway compatible. That seems not to matter much when you notice how happy they are together. As a single guy, I can't seem to fathom that kind of happiness.

What I will laugh at now is anyone who claims to be happy, but can't put into words that which makes him/her happy.

Dems Offically Endorse Lynch and Berding

The recommendations were accepted by City Democrats for 6 additional candidates beyond the three incumbents: Jeff Berding, Damon Lynch, Eve Bolton, Samantha Herd, Cecil Thomas and Wendell Young.

Berding is causing grief among some, but to me Lynch is still a disappointment. At this point I would not even consider voting for the man. Could I change my mind? It would take a lot, but it would be possible. If Lynch publicly retracts his past statements on calling police rapists, if he retracts a call for an "afro-centric" curriculum in CPS, and if he says he does not support what was a boycott and declare once and for all that one does not exist. He does that AND his positions are reasonable AND he makes the effort to represent the entire city, then I may vote for him.

I expect some of this is part of his plan and is why the Dems are now supporting him, or at least enough Dems to get a deal to get the endorsement. What I do not expect is Lynch to meet the requirements needed for to vote for him. Because of that I think he is a big mistake to endorse, and gives a lot of fuel to the GOP and by default to Charter. The GOP will just be running against Lynch. Malone against Lynch will I think be how the TV commercials may go, subtly of course. This will pull away liberals like me into the Charter camp. Roxanne Qualls would be a great Charterite right about now, in my book.

Nate as more from the meeting. How much of it is true? Well, that depends on how much Nate spun it. It is worth a read if for nothing else than to see Nate defend Damon Lynch. I though Nate and Lynch were bitter enemies, have they made nice or is Nate just circling the race-based wagons?

Learning

How do you learn something? How long does it take you? Do you have learn by doing or can you translate instruction into action? What about observation?

Back in school I learned little or no information from the classroom, other than what the teacher was going to ask on the test had a direct relationship to the topics he or she covered in class.

I learn best by either following written directions, yes I actually read them when I buy a new bookcase at Target, or I learn by observation and then using imitation along with trial and error.

I do not learn well in teams. I personally don't function at my best in teams on most levels, unless I have no clue what is going on, or when I have people who know how to manage, which is often lacking. When I learn something new with a team it ends up that I get it, and then teach the rest by example or by a step-by-step walk through.

I would hate having someone over my shoulder telling what to type or which button to push. The funny part is that what I do for people all the time in my job.

Can anyone learn to do anything? Could I learn to perform surgery? Are there tasks that people just don't have the ability to grasp? It seems to me that if there are people who are able to document any process correctly, then I should be able to complete that process. It doesn't work that way, but conceptually if we had the directions, could we just make a nuclear bomb?

Questions for Summit Country Day School

If you are going to only allow "Catholics in public life" speak at your who school "whose positions run contrary to the church," then I guess you are going to not allow anyone gay, anyone divorced, anyone who has lied, anyone who has killed someone, anyone who supports the death penalty, or anyone who is not Roman Catholic to speak or for that matter work for your school. Those are the teachings of the Catholic Church, so then you are going to screen out everyone who has not broken those rules?

When will Summit Country Day issue a political test to its staff to determine where they stand on these issues? If they don't, are they simply going to ask who they voted for and then judge based on that? That would be an odd split. Which is more important, being anti-abortion or anti-death penalty?

Thin Skinned Cole

Laketa Cole needs to look past minor pranks. She now will be tagged as the person responsible for removing the barricade on 13th Street, all because she raise a ruckus over a flier. That pushed Enquirer reporter Greg Korte to write a news story and then make her the focus of what some view as opening back up the door to drug dealers.

She should win back her seat anyway, but she might loose a few moderate votes. This would not have been known if she would have just taken it and moved on, don't arm your opponents with your own anger.

Blue Collar, White Collar, & the Future

When I was in college I was trained a what I believe was and is one of the best public university undergraduate business programs in the country. We were taught how to be corporate soldiers. Whether it was accounting, management, marketing, or Finance, all of us learned the tools needed to run any corporation. What we didn't learn were the operations of what that corporation might do. We didn't learn how to build anything. We didn't learn to design much, beyond a few spreadsheets. Some of us can sell, but we didn't learn about what we are selling.

20 years ago it would take about 25 people to do what it takes 5 to do, in about half the time. The ratio in the future will likely increase in its efficiency. Where will that leave our workforce?

What plans are in the minds of our corporate leaders and political office holders? Are they thinking it will all just work out? Do some think that in 50 years we will not build or make anything and only provide services to the world? It appears that is the model we are heading towards. China, India, and South America will make everything, and we will sell it and buy it. The job skill sets in America are shrinking. There are fewer companies that doing fewer things. Will there be enough jobs to support our economy? How long can we make money when we are just trading sticks of butter, taking a cut in each transaction? Would it not be better to not only sell the butter, but make it too? Do we not in the long run make more money when we don't out source everything? At some point the market for outsourcing will crash, and companies will scramble to find people to answer the telephone, let alone find people to service their Servers or make their toothbrushes. What companies are looking beyond stock price? What are we going to do when consolidate everything as far as we can? Will CEO's ever care about anything other than share price?

One for 'Us,' and None For 'Them'

Abraham at Political Influentials brings up an interesting column about how Evangelical Christians are not Monolithic. This is a true statement, technically. When it comes to social issues I think it wrong. That is the point of the whole theocratic movement, to impose a social order on the society based on conservative Christian religious dogma. It will be "open" to variation, but only those where Christians can swallow it, so to speak. The reactionaries are not going to make everyone be Baptists or even be born-again, but what they don't seem to understand is that not everyone is Christian, and because they (me) are not, that should not be a reason to discriminate against them, nor should it a be license to use the government to try and either force or even just encourage religion or more likely a particular brand of religion on anyone.

I think history is missed on people. In the past the evangelical Christians oppressed Catholics in this country. The Catholics gave some back too, but catholic discrimination was not just common, it was the norm.

Today we have something relatively similar. The Evangelicals have evolved. They are tolerant of most other Christian variable, and to some degree to Jews and Muslims. Inside the evangelicals you still will get plenty of blood loss over whether you are a KJV fan or you push forward with NIV or some other heathen text. The tolerance level is far dicier and has we have seen lately in the new outright oppressive against other non-monotheists. Admitting this reality is a big debating point though.

I fully agree that the 'born-again' Christians are not going to view the same issues the same way. They do however have a slew of issues that they move in crisp step with far and above all other Christians. There is no middle ground on abortion or homosexuality or other social issues. Do they disagree on taxes? Sure they do. The political spectrum of view points in many churches though I think is shrinking.

In the column though one thing was really missing: debate on anti-gay stances. It is quite clear that evangelicals most often either out-right anti-homosexuals, or they compartmentalize the issues. Think of being against gay marriage, but not being anti-gay. I don't see a difference, they often nuance it. It is the same as the cliché: "hate the sin, not the sinner." Well, when you are not religious, you don't sin, it is not applicable as a concept, so again, it is failure to grasp that people live outside your frame of reference.

Abraham had a funny, which I don't think was intentional in his post:

Evangelicals Are Not A Monolith

I've seen quite a few references to theocracy lately. If you're interested in another point of view read this opinion article from an evangelical. He offers some insight on what they stand for.

The bold is mine. It is subtly funny. A better choice would have been "some of them” instead of "they," but I got the overall point of post.

Loss of Cinergy?

What will the effects be on the loss of Cinergy's HQ? The back office will surely lose jobs, but how much of the operation can be handled from NC?

The Soundtrack to Life

Is the intense love of music and the emotional and social connection it instills, as well as the cultural identity it can provide, a modern phenomenon? Is it something that only infects some of us? Is there a gene for music appreciation?

Music is one of the most unifying and yet deviding elements of American Culture today. We are divided by class and race. Music is an element of the identity we profess, whether we are a headbanger, a gangsta, a cowboy, or a wine and cheese taster. Yet within out subcultures we can share songs that fill you full of memory and sense of time or tone that can take you out of your current reality.

What makes music so vital to some, yet just background noise to others? To me, music is like a vital element to living. I need it as much as I need sleep. I don't need just sounds, I need music. What I think of music and of sound or of noise is what someone else might find enlightening. That variation is part of the mysticism of music that defies logic. How can people not at least like some of the Beatles? I know it is hard to fathom but it is true.

Then there are those who just like background noise, just a monotone movie soundtrack that adds a little foundation to their existence, but nothing they will remember the next time they hear the same song. Think of a Ritz cracker to the cheese. Bland on bland. Are those who like easy listening looking to just numb their brains to the pain? Do those who instead embrace as wide view of music reach out to it the variations that contain, dear I say it, soul? I think it is really more like emotion, depth, or something more than just contentment.

I like music that has power, emotion, beauty, complication, and is vibrant. I listen to it for the emotion it can cause me to emote. Music is not like the drapes or a seat cushion. It is art. Art is what I think separates the wheat from the chaff, and the music from the mind numbing drivel. How we tell the difference is what I think is the rub. That is where the conflict and division comes in.

Why though are more of those under say age 50 more into music, than those over it? My parents for example love music, but they don't just turn on the stereo and listen to it, while they do something else. I do that constantly. Is that just us or is it another element of just growing older?

City Cards

CNN had a side story last week on pooling of regional attractions into a discount plan in the form of a car or pass that allows users to get discounts to several places in the area.

The idea is brilliant, but they need to take it one step further, even if it has a certain Disney quality to it. What a better way to market and to steer tourists to the entertainment areas of the city than to have admission bundling. This allows places like the Museum Center, the CAC, and Newport Aquarium to allow users to buy one ticket to all three places for one price, which ends up being a discount over three individual tickets, but it means all three can be a reason for tourist to stay over night in the city, not just an afternoon. This could bring a family from Dayton or even Cleveland to downtown for a couple of days. The tickets could include transportation between each attraction, making it easy for those fearful of city street driving. Throw in a deal somehow with a sporting event, and you really could have a nice little mini-vacation. This type of trip is the only type of tourism that makes sense for areas like Cincinnati.

I would through in Kings Island, but just don't know if the tie in would work. It might work as well as the sporting event, but its location, so far out of town, takes away some of the ease added with downtown transportation. A family could park their car and be shuttled cheaply around the urban core area. Adding a trip out to Mason adds cost that may not work.

[Via SoC]

Sidenote on SoC; Publius has added a second blogger to his blog: Hayek.