TV Movie?

Is this article a pitch for a TV movie of the week? The plot points and the drama is there. The only thing that sucked was that the writer had to drag in blogs into a talk radio discussion. Sure, Oba had a blog for a while, but didn't dive into blogging like his talk radio obsession.

Election Mess

How do you trust an election process with Ken Blackwell monitoring his own election for the top Ohio job?

More on Cincy's YPs

Brendan at spacetropic discusses the Mayor's YP Cabinet and how YP groups could improve.

Will the RNC Bail Out Ken Blackwell?

The Columbus Dispatch has a poll out today on the governor's race that has Ted Strickland leading Ken Blackwell 47% to 27%. 20 points is not impossible to overcome, but it will take money. Lots of money. More money then Ken Blackwell can raise on his own. He is going to need the help of the national party. He may get it, but he may not.

Also in the article is a second poll where Mike Dewine is trailing Sherrod Brown 45% to 37%. Mike is going to need quite a bit of money as well. The RNC is going to value keeping a sitting Republican in the Senate, over trying to hold on to a governor's seat they could still loose even if they give Blackwell a billion dollars.

It is still early, mistakes can be made, circumstances can change, but if Blackwell hasn't cut Strickland's lead significantly by mid September, then its going to be very difficult for him to win. Look for Blackwell to go negative soon, ala DeWine.

Enquirer Business Section Clarifies

In a story today about the moving of Chad Munitz from the City's Economic Development Director to EVP at 3CDC, we get the truth about the Fountain Square Delay:

It announced last week that a planned early-September reopening of Fountain Square, in the midst of a $43 million renovation, had been pushed back five weeks until mid-October. Roughly $50 million of additional private development is already under way in buildings around the square.

Good reporting!

On Chad Munitz, I know nothing about him, but his new position indicates he is going to be a key person at 3CDC. If there are development deals already in the works, lets hope he can land them, especially ones for Vine Street.

MidPoint Schedule Out

Via Citybeat's updated blog we get the word that Midpoint's Schedule is out. I say great! The list of bands has been out for a while, but now we'll get to know where to go. Small problem: Alchemize, J Hall, and Jekyll & Hyde's are listed as venues. Am I missing something, or didn't we just go through a little thing on this blog about these clubs all closing? Granted, Jefferson Hall moved to Newport, and Alchemize is moving most likely to Covington with a new name. Does this mean that the former locations of the three will be opened up as venues for the event by the festival or other private groups? Or will new bars be opening in those spots under new management?

Logically I would guess that each of the three locations will be open as temporary as bars, and each former operator may even have leeway to open them as a full bars just for that weekend. Anyway, the locations work great. Only thing missing is more food on Main Street. The line at Lucy Blue is going to be a mile long.

Crappy Story

Can someone at WLWT do a little reporting before you post a story like this? The story doesn't say anything about how the poll was conducted and the allegations made by the Schmidt campaign are slanderous as quoted. Granted, those quotes are surely cherry picked for effect.

I personally want Wulsin to win, and I have a totally disgust for Jean Schmidt, who is all the extremist she is painted to be, however the demographics of this district are clearly fertile ground for GOP candidates. On the other hand, Jean has not won a ton of friends in the local party team, and had a bloody primary.

Mallory's 'YP Kitchen Cabinet'

I am interested in the Mayor's idea of a 'YP Kitchen Cabinet', but I am very concerned about who is included on the Cabinet. Lumping this into Bold Fusion is the wrong approach. The Mayor should not limit this to the Chamber's corporate crowd. He should expand its reach and break out of the YP mold that is incasing the Cincinnati scene like a dish of bad jell-o.

Yes, I say this as the President of a group, Cincinnati Advance, that is considered a YP group. What I think the Mayor needs to be sure to do is include a wide variety of YP organizations, not just the usual suspects, and not just the corporate/upper income 28 to 35 year olds. A start would be to change Bold Fusion to a weekend event that doesn't cost more than going to a Reds Game.

Why be more inclusive/diverse? Well, frankly because most of the YP groups are lead by the same people. There is a very obvious insulation problem in the YP scene in town and Bold Fusion leads, in part, to that insulation.

I hope this concept leads to something more than just talking about what needs to be done to make this city a better place. Instead I look for this group to be a place to gain help for ACTION from the Mayor and the City.

Losing Kentucky?

Is the GOP losing steam in the Blue Grass State?

Tent Jail

Where did they pull this plan from? It sounds like it was thrown together a bit quickly, and few are behind it either at the county or the city. Where is the City going to get the 6 million bucks from and why should the city put up any of the money anyway, the county is responsible for jailing people, not the city.

The idea may be a good one, if we need more space now, and Si Leis should be building one if he is dumping criminals on the street, but the county should pay for all of it.

The Enqurier At Least Tried

In general I think this Enquirer article tried to be fair to the atheist and agnostic kids at Camp Quest, but they fail intellectually in the second paragraph:

This week, 31 atheist and agnostic youths from Ohio, Kentucky, New York and other states have gathered in Butler County for Camp Quest, one of a handful of summer camps nationwide where children are taught there is no God.

I added the bold to illustrate the intellectual problem, agnostics do not hold the belief there is no "God." Agnostics lack the knowledge that there is or isn't a "God" or gods or other supernatural entity. To the uneducated or the belligerent, there is not a difference, but the difference is quite clear. To make it even simpler, agnostics just don't know.

The second problem is that I really, really doubt that Camp Quest teaches the children there is no "God" and when that was written it was intended to be the Christian "God." The kids are more likely taught, as the article does suggest later on, to seek rational ideas and concepts based on critical thinking and empirical reasoning. They likely are taught to not to hold equivocal beliefs based on emotional rationalization alone, but instead use science, logic, and objectivity to guide their choices in life.

If everyone used this way of thinking, at least a little bit, we would have a society and a world with far less strife than we have now.

Changes at Ink Tank - Big Rummage Sale

At InkTank Everything Must Go!

Final Friday (July 28th) Blow Out Sale as Rubbish Kicks The Can

It's been a part of InkTank from the day we opened our doors here at 1311 Main Street, but we're on the grow, and therefore it's time to bid a fond adieu to Rubbish, the perpetual yard sale. So help us out, won't you? This Final Friday marks the beginning of a giant blow out sale which continues for the rest of the month of August. EVERYTHING MUST GO. Can't make it this Final Friday? Come on down to Second Sundays On Main. You don't want to miss this sale. Some of the treasures we have available include desks, dressers, picture frames (lots of them), microwaves, a George Foreman Rotisserie (you have to see it), bar stools, books, lamps, space heaters, a brand new espresso machine, vcrs, foot baths, wine racks, luggage, copper fence posts and art. We have crap you never knew you needed! August is coming up. Don't be caught without an August gift for that special someone.

Why this sudden change you ask? Although Rubbish has served us valiantly, providing some income and part time work to some of our Drop Inn Graduates and attracting people into the arms of InkTank, it's a a lot of hard work to run a retail business and change a city at the same time. After debating the issue for a few months we decided it was best to rethink the space and create something more in lne with our mission. The new space will reopen on August's Final Friday. Stay tuned for details, but for now I can tell you the new space will feature a brand new look with more room for community based writing projects, performances and meeting opportunities, AND an entire section dedicated to local authors' publications. In fact, if you are a local author and would like to see your work made available for sale, please contact Emily Buddendeck.

For all InkTank Info, check out their website at: www.inktank.org.

Cranley Doing Well

John Cranley is doing well in the fund raising race for the 1st Congressional District. Can he turn the corner and gain the votes too? I haven't seen any polls, but Cranley stands a fair chance to win, in this conservative district.

Man Killed Outside of Bar

Horrible news, which will surely drive the press and the city-haters into a frenzy.

More on Alchemize's Move

This time we gain a perspective from Covington officials.

Honestly, it is surprising to gain this much press for something that isn't even final yet. What attracts the Press to a situation like this?

Now, I am going to ask the anti-Nick crowd to play nice, and keep your venom to yourself. You look like Children. I know who most of you are anyway, so please, don't be an ass.

Andy Gets Out Safe

Andy Hajjar owner of Andy's Mediterranean Grill had to get out of Lebanon via Syria. Glad he got out safely.

Great News, IF!

Great news for downtown with word that Prosecutor Joe Deters is working to close down the Metropole Apartments on Walnut St. across from the Aronoff Center.

Now, there is one big IF to this, it depends on the City/County to find homes for those displaced by the shutdown, which is supposed to happen. It is not going to be easy, and hopefully the cost will be nil to the law abiding people, mostly elderly, who will feel some short term discomfort with this move. In the long run, if the City/County pull through, everyone will be better off.

Question: Why doesn't this happen more often? Why isn't this happening with the crack houses in OTR?

Bottled BarrelHouse Beer

Great news for beer lovers. This also gives Cincinnati something we've not had for a while, a local bottled brewery. Cleveland might be drinking Barrellhouse as well as Great Lakes beers soon.

More Hate

Some nut is again targeting a local Mosque with death threats. Little is done to try and root out the anti-muslim sentiments in certain sectors in the area. Why is that? Why do people continue to let this type of nutcase hate to fester?

Hate Starts With Our Leaders

When Bigots like KY Sen. Dick Roeding (R) are allowed to speak out hate without feeling pressure from within his own party, you know something is wrong.

When are the Log Cabin Republicans going to bolt the party?