"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

Attention Phil Burress: live up to your own religion. You want truth or do you want the lies your group puts out about Article 12?

Phil and his theocratic friends violated the "9th commandment" when they fooled people into thinking any laws providing protection to people based on sexual orientation where "special" rights. They failed to worry about the "special" rights afford to people based on religion in the City Charter, but hey, religion is not a choice or anything. You are born thumping a bible or you the spawn of Satan.

Bronson on DeWine: K Street Special

Well, if you want biased journalism, Bronson can give you want you want. I mean, if I wanted to read this kind of puff piece I might have waited until the transcript of DeWine's next campaign video is released.

Enquirer Blogs from Athens

The Olympics bring out blogs from the Cincinnati Enquirer. This one is from some local Olympic athletes.

The initial post from Paul Daugherty's Athens blog leaves a lot to be desired, like most importantly complete sentences. He should be updating it today, but so far nothing. It is afternoon there now, so I think he could have sent something out by now. They also need to fix the link on their front page. This link comes from the front page of Cincinnati.com’s Olympic section.

I wonder how the logistics work for the blogs. Will each writer's post's update instantly or does it pass through an editor? Doc's post suggests the former.

Cold Shoulder For Winburn

Say it isn't so Peter. In your column on the Mayor's race you opine about whom the GOP could possibly having running and you don't mention Charlie Winburn. That is a snub and a half.

Kerry to Speak at VFW Convention Here in Cincinnati

John Kerry will be in town next week and address the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. Bush may address the convention as well. Who will have a the bigger protest both inside and outside the convention? I am assuming Bush will come to the event. He is avoiding the military record comparison, but he can't afford to appear like he is dodging the comparison either.

Cranley For Mayor?

Where the hell did this come from? Cranley has long been Chaz's boy, but this seems like a desperation move. John does not want to be left out of the most competitive campaign for mayor in his lifetime. Cranley had a much better shot at running for county commissioner. I give Korte credit for bringing up this:

But he's also rankled some with his proposal to redevelop Main Street into a beacon for the "creative class," especially after his chosen developer made a comment about Chinese restaurants that some interpreted as a slur. And he's been unapologetically pro-development, even in places such as Oakley where leaders opposed it.

I would bet Nick Spencer noticed that comment too. Nick commented yesterday.

I think the Enquirer's declaration that the mayoral race is in minor turmoil now is a factual observation.

Olympics

Hey, you might not have heard, but the Olympics will be onNBC starting on Friday. I look forward to this every four years. (Every two years for the winter games) I hope this year that we get some radio coverage. I could not find any in 2002 from Salt Lake City. I mostly hope NBC does not make this a Dateline/Today Show Olympics. I want to watch sporting events, especially the obscure ones. I don't want to watch a profile about the dying third cousin of a swimmer. I feel bad for them, but that is not what I tune in for. I get that kind of touchy feely junk the rest of the year from the infotainment on NBC News. I hope NBC's big cable networks will cut out the junk, and show me some handball, water polo and rowing, among others.

Minor Turmoil?

The Enquirer's editorial today about Luken's exit from the mayor's race is framed as "minor turmoil." That I think over states things. Anyone who was observing things new that Luken was going to be challenged by other Democrats. Pepper and Reece were going to make a run. Now if anything the field with Mallory in will firm up. Those who want it, will jump in, and the also-rans will bail.

What will be turmoil is depending on how many sitting council members run for Mayor is who will replace them on council? If Pepper quits his seat early to run for mayor, who will the Dems put on council? That is where we will see confusion and commotion.

Horrors of War

I have to wonder if the students mentioned in this article from the Enquirer "War in Iraq made real" really have been given a true understanding of the war in Iraq. I have they seen foreign news coverage that shows the blood, guts, dead bodies censored from American Television? If they have not at least seen a little bit of that, then they will have no idea of what "real" war is like.

What's With the Dress Codes?

In Louisville they have established a dress code for an entertainment/mall area during certain time periods. They keep people who dress in cloths like sports jerseys or baggy pants. They have keep around 500 people from entering the place so far.

How many lawsuits would be filed if this were done here in Cincinnati? What if we closed of Main street on weekend nights to traffic and let people walk around with beer? Would we want a dress code? Could we enforce one? What would the usual suspects say about it?

Hillary Treatment?

Will Alan Keyes get the same kind of threatment many conservatives gave Hillary Clinton when she moved to New York to run for senate? You don't need to even bother holding your breath, because no he will not. He was picked because he was black. I guess the GOP think they can just run a black candidate against another black candidate and that will somehow make the black community happy. I think it instead will piss many Illinois blacks off, especially those who would have been voting for the GOP candidate. Why the GOP thinks that he will be able to connect with anyone in the state in three months time is beyond me. Why didn't they try and promote a local official who can run and keep his current office? That guy can at least set up a future run at a statewide level next election cycle. This is just a way to get a little attention with someone who knows how to get cameras on him. Keyes is too extreme to win any state outside of the south, and could not win there because he is black.

Keyes has no shot at winning. He will have to rely on the GOP's all ready weakened infrastructure in Illinois.

Revisionism and Propaganda

It should not shock anyone that when someone, like a columnist, wishes to defend a position he or she took on an issue in the past, her or she will try and revise and extend their remarks after the fact. Peter Bronson is trying just such a ploy. In his column today he writes about a visit from an Iraqi who he says is thanking the USA for freeing Iraq.

Now there are two issues on this column that I want to address. First I will talk about Bronson's revisionism. It seems odd to me that Peter would bring these women's stories to light and not expect a certain point to come back to bit him in the ass. Peter says that "America" was right to invade and take over Iraq because of the way Saddam oppressed his people. One of the women had family members killed by Saddam back in 1991 during the Kurdish uprising. This was the same uprising that the USA failed to support, beyond belatedly starting the now fly zones. Why would she look past that big fact? Why would she not acknowledge it? Maybe she did, but that is part of history that Bronson would sooner forget, after all, it was a Bush who did not act to say those hundreds of thousands of people then, but his son claims this as the reason now.

When Bronson writes "The two women told me about mass graves, 300,000 buried corpses.." I have to point out that the vast majority of those corpses, which no number in mass graves was ever determined, occurred in Southern Iraq in 1991 when the Shiite Muslims revolted against Saddam and were left out to dry by the USA.

These are reasons that justify the UN opposing, and if it became necessary, invading and removin Saddam from power. This is not why the USA started a pre-emptive war, or at least not the reason the people of USA were given. We were told that Iraq posed a real threat to the USA, not a long-term possible threat that could happen in ten years. We were told we could not wait for the UN to act, we had to act before it was too late, before we here on US soil were attacked with help from or direct by Iraq.

That was the bill of goods we were sold. That along with the reasonable tact that Iraq was in violation of UN sanctions, which ended up being rather limited in the end anyway. We now have a propaganda tour from two women, who I frankly never heard of, who are on a tour to spread "their" opinions of why we fought the war.

I agree with helping establishing Democracy anywhere in the world, but I don't want to be tricked into thing that what these women are say has full truth to it.

The second issue revolves around why they were in the USA. Here are their bio's from the event Peter attended where they spoke:

Surood Ahmed is a women's activist from Kirkurk, Iraq and Taghreed Al Qaragholi, women's activist from Baghdad. Surood Ahmed is a Kurd and studied Agronomy at the University of Mosul. Her family suffered under Saddam Hussein's regime. Her sister, aunt and stepmother were killed by Saddam's Republican guard during the 1991 uprising in Kirkuk and she was wounded trying to fee the city. Since the liberation of Iraq she moved back to Kirkuk and reunited with her family. Ms. Ahmed works to promote democracy in Iraq and plans to help train women to become involved in the political process.

Taghreed Al Qaragholi was born and raised in Baghdad and graduated from Al-Athar University College. Under the Baath regime she was denied a higher education because she refused to join the Baath Party. Her father refused to serve in Saddam Hussein's army and was forced to go into hiding. She now is the administrative director of the Iraqi Independent Democrats, where she typed the new Iraqi constitution. She is an active member of the Iraqi Independent Women's Group which includes one of the six female ministers in Iraq's new government, and a number of deputy ministers.

What I find puzzling is that they somehow got funding to go on tour of the Midwest, appearing in Columbus at a similar event.

It is even more interesting to read a far better column on their visit to Detroit, where the ‘purpose’ of their visit was covered, not the Pro-War propaganda that Bronson spewed.

How many people really could buy the claims Bronson quotes?

They urged our troops to stay in Iraq. "Ninety-five percent of the people in Iraq feel like us," Al Qaragholi said. "Only 5 percent are from Saddam's group."

She should know. She was invited by the World Affairs Council of Greater Cincinnati to speak Monday night because she worked on Iraq's constitution as administrative director of the Iraqi Independent Democrats. She also works for women's rights. For Iraq, that makes her part James Madison and part Susan B. Anthony - and all fed up by anti-war Americans who think we should feel guilty.

"Guilty about what? We are free now. Now I'm not afraid," she said. "I assure you, they will find the weapons of mass destruction. They already have. Saddam was a weapon of mass destruction."

These strong and successful Iraqi women are also WMDs to neighboring regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, which use Islam to keep women veiled and powerless. "Ninety percent of Iraq is Islamic, but we refuse to have an Islamic state," Al-Qaragholi said. "That threatens their leaders and their regimes, and that's why they have made Iraq a battleground," she said of the terrorists and their Islamic-fundamentalist sponsors.

So either this women has poll numbers that are not known to anyone else, or her 95% claim is as I expect a fabrication. I laugh at Peter's Susan B. Anthony reference, which is often used by anti-feminists because of her contextual views on abortion. The WMD dismissal is right out of GOP Talking Points. I wonder where Surood Ahmed got those?

Now, the most serious issue that Ms. Ahmed is either in denial of or just ignorant about is the issue of people in Iraq wanting an Islamic State. She is so very wrong. Many Shiites want some type of Islamic State or one where Islamic law is practiced. That Islamic Law does conflict with women's basic human rights in most every Islamic country. Islamic rule or interference in Iraqi government is something that is a crux of the conflict between the three main power groups in Iraq. Kurdish autonomy is the other big sticking point, which not surprisingly was not addressed in Bronson's column. I don't know why it would be after all; propaganda can’t have bad news or skepticism and still be propaganda.

The People's Court

Da Dum...

This is the Defendant: He is accused by the City of Cincinnati of trying to hold a rally using "fighting words." "Fuck the Police" are the words he wants to utter.

Da Dum...

This is the Plaintiff: They are a City of Leaders who really don't have any backbone when it comes to dealing with racist idiots. They try and try, but they really don't have a clue how to stand up the hate speech that fills council chambers from member of Boycott B every week.

On the merits of this issue, I actually have to agree with Nate. The city is rather stupidly giving Nate and his racist Boycott B a cause to gain support. What the city should do is stand up the hate speech that they are forced to listen to. People like Chris Smitherman should stand up and denounce the Boycott B as the racists and bigots they are, instead of defending them when they want to spew their hate.

Another interesting tidbit is in the Cincinnati Black Blog's new policy about who can post to that blog:

There are two simple qualifications.

1. You must live or work in Greater Cincinnati.
2. You must be Black.

Easy enough. I thought so.

Now, I still assume anyone can comment to the blog, but having a race based membership requirement is, well, racist. The only basis I have for posting is that you have the same name and DNA as I do. My comments are open to all, but I reserve the right to edit what I wish.

Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce Supports Repeal of Article XII

It is great to see the local business community think at least with their wallets that this will help Cincinnati business in not only conventions, but in recruitment.

[VIA Nick Spencer]

Classic Misleading Heading

The AP editor who let this headline Feds Arrest Man in 2001 Anthrax Probe run should be fired. It totally misleads what happen. The man in question was not arrested for sending the Anthrax laced letters. He was arrested for assault on agents who were searching his house as part of the investigation into the Anthrax letter incident. This guy could be the guy, but the information in the article states nothing of the sort. The headline should be changed. If you see that is was changed on this story, please comment on it.

Enquirer: 'Bush getting to know Ohio'

He had better get to know Ohio or he will not win in November.

An Ignorant Bigot

The title of this post could be considered an oxymoron, but this letter the editor of the Enquirer illustrates the title well:

Gay marriage could lead to polygamy
The writer of the Aug. 4 'Your voice' column ('Gay marriage - what's all the fuss?') and anyone else who wonders 'gay marriage - what's all the fuss?' needs to read their Bible and Marriage Under Fire by James Dobson. Gay marriage will destroy the traditional family that God created from the beginning of time. When people say yes to gay marriage, who can say no to polygamy?

Not many can say that polygamy is good for families. What will happen to children when gay parents divorce? Will they have to deal with four mommies and four daddies? Whatever happened to the argument and documented fact that children need both a father and a mother to grow up developmentally healthy?

Lisa Gilbert
West Chester Township

Well Lisa, could you tell me how gay married could lead to this things? Can you provide any evidence? Anything? It you fear the law being cloudy, then put into the law that marriage should be between two people. Oh, and you forgot something Lisa, polygamy is not outlawed in that Bible you mention. The rest of your theocratic crap is fine for your church, but not for our government. Your bigot leader James Dobson does not have to perform Gay Marriages, but he should not get to keep other from doing it.

Stupid

Who is stupid enough to shoot firemen with a BB gun?

Charlie Speaks

I thought he wasn't running for Mayor again? His editorial sounds like a campaign speech.

We Have 'Festival Seating'

Council unanimously OK'd it. Good. We have been missing out on concerts at the Coliseum because of this ban. Typical Cincinnati fear has kept this ban on way to long. Crowd control today is serious business. A repeat of the 1979 tragedy is no longer realistic.

Pot, Kettle, and Bronson

In his criticism of Cincinnati City Council Peter Bronson dropped this little gem of a comment

Driving wedges is City Council's job description.

Hmm, who else drives wedges between groups in this city? Who pits suburbanites against urbanites? Who bits Christians against everyone else? Who pits the police against everyone else? If you said Bronson, you just might be paying attention.

Let it Go Joe

Joe Nuxhall sounds a bit whinny in press reports about his book. If he was forced out, why not speak up earlier if he wants to fight it or wait until after he is gone? Now there is nothing but awkwardness on the air the rest of the season. I wish he could have had a better PR spin for selling his book. This one has the whiff of tabloid fodder. And this one belongs to Joe's book publisher

Missouri Bigots Win

Missouri Dumps Governor, Bans Gay Marriage

Luken for Statewide Office?

Will Charlie run for Secretary of State? It makes sense. The Dems need a conservative to win some local votes. Would Luken fare well statewide? His reputation locally sucks, so would it be any better in Columbus?

CCA on Nate Jones Case

I think the CCA has given Nate Jones estate's civil lawsuit a bit boost. I myself disagree with their opinion that police caused his death by beating him, and the coroner disagrees. I don't really know what the details of the report stated beyond this article, but it seems they have taken the Nat Jone's estates private report and run with it.

That report conflicted with the official coroner's report. Does the CCA explain any differences, at least indirectly? Does the CCA address the failure of the Fire Department in leaving the scene? That outside of Nate Jones himself caused his death more than the police action.

The Bigots Are Ready

Anti-gay bigots claim they have the petitions ready to put an Gay-marriage amendment on the Ohio ballot. After these signatures were paid for, I wonder who really got the money for them?

I hope people know that this amendment in my opinion will ban state agencies from granting domestic partner benefits. That is pure hate trying to destroy gays. There is no other motivation with merit to warrant this type of action.

More on Luken

Howard Wilkinson has an article on Luken's past surprises and tribulations in Cincinnati Politics.

More form the Enquirer and Business Courier, and AP.

Chicagonati

For some unknown reason a movie is looking to shoot a movie that takes place in Cincinnati and is considering filming it in Chicago. How could Cincinnati not be cheaper? Hell, I bet the city would pay for movie to be shot here, unless it was the Tim Thomas story or Damon Lynch bio. Maybe it is a about Pete Rose.

Luken's Out

So who is left and what are their chances?

1. Mark Mallory only gains by having one less Democrat to crowd the field. I don't see a huge gain for him with Luken's departure.
2. David Pepper gains the most from Luken dropping out. He gains some money, as if he really needs it, but gains business leaders with influence.
3. Mark Painter gains the conservatives, which will be big.
4. Alicia Reece is likely not going to run, which was fairly obvious as soon as Mallory got into the race.
5. Charlie Winburn has been really quite since his supporters where wearing the Winburn for Mayor t-shirts at Board of Elections back in 2003.

Wes Flinn and Nick Spencer have more.

Also from the Post, WLWT, WKRC, and WCPO.


UPDATE: This announcement nicely drowned out coverage of the CCA's report on the Nathaniel Jones Death.

Fund It

We need a President who does not limit medicine's ability to fight disease using stem cell research. I wish more local doctors had balls, and less religious bigotry.

Uni-Government

Would it or could it work in Hamilton County? Who wants it to happen? In Indianapolis the Dems are now pushing for it, but the Republicans started it.

There have been calls for it locally by certain Republicans. I think their motive is power, not cost savings. Excluding the right leaning people fleeing to the far out burbs, most people in the county are Republicans, so any elections would produce a GOP controlled city government. Would anything good come from that? Well, if you want a right wing social agenda pushed on you, then you might just want it. As a form of government, uni-gov for the county makes great sense. In practice I fear the bigotry of the fundamentalists with money (CCV) controlling the legislature.

GOP Defectors

I don't know how many there are out there but this story reports on some right here in Ohio. I am sure I will not agree with them on many issues, but this year's election is becoming one where people are putting aside certain issues and voting against or in some cases for Bush. The best part is one of the people quote is from not only my part of Ohio, but lives just up the road in Anderson Township.

Understatement of the Week

Greg Korte has to win an award for Best Understatement of the week when he wrote this

Luntz, an MSNBC pollster with Republican leanings, was somewhat more scientific.

Luntz is not just a pollster with Republican leanings, but instead is the Man who puts the talking points into the hands of the GOP. An example is Here Other examples from: Disinfopedia, MediaWhoresOnline, and from the horse's mouth you can read his own selected press quotes on his website.

That being said, the article demonstrates an interesting trend about swing voters, they are not going to flow towards Bush. If
Bush can't win more than half of the swing voters easily here in CONSERVATIVE Cincinnati, where a moderate is another term for liberal out in Burbia, then Bush will have to start coming to the state every week in order to stay afloat.

Just as a reminder, Bush has no likely winning combination of electoral votes that does not include Ohio's votes.

Blues Fest!!!

Get the blues

Kerry Speech

So, what did people think of it? I actually did not see it at all. My impression was that it was pretty good. Any conservatives care to chime in with an opinion? I don’t want to open up a can of drivel, but rebutting them can be fun for rest of us.

I myself am tired as hell. I did not sleep much last night, so blogging today will be nearly nil.

Rant on what ever else you here too.

Treasurer Club

The first rule of Treasurer club: don't lose money. Hamilton County Treasurer Robert Goering reportedly has done just that in with a private estate he managed outside his duties as Treasurer.

Was this part of his public job? No, it was not. Is it fair to point out failings that relate to what his job entails? It sure is. If you mess up managing someone else's money, why should anyone trust him to manage the county's money? Ok, this is just one mistake he made, that happen to repeat is self over multiple years.

Wes Flinn has more.

Theocratic ‘Don Quixote’

Court asked to reconsider ban on Commandments: and away goes money down the drain.

Luntz in Cincinnati

GOP Pollster Frank Luntz was in Cincinnati for voter response to Edwards's speech. What a biased place to visit. Unless he handpicked people, he will get not only a right leaning group, but likely many 'I hate all things Democrat' people. Lutz would have been better off in Columbus, if he really wanted "independent voters."

Also, Korte really short sells Luntz:

Luntz, considered a focus-group guru in Washington, has done extensive work for Republican candidates around the country and is considered a pioneer in cutting-edge focus-group techniques.

Luntz is a Republican and works constantly to push GOP candidates and opinion. He has been the source of GOP talking points (pdf) for a long time.

Still No Love

Ray still is not showing local bloggers any love.

Bush Pollster

I got a call from a Bush pollster/campaign worker this evening asking me three questions:
Can President Bush count on your absolute support? Answer: Absolutely Not
Do you fear the Democrats with raise your taxes? Answers: No
Are you Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, or somewhere in between? Answer: Pro-Choice

The questions are slightly paraphrased, but very close to phrasing. After the last one the caller thanked me for my time. He was very polite, but I don't think he got the answers he was looking for. I wonder if he had more questions and cut it short after he understood I was not going to vote for Bush.

He also asked for me by name so I guess the GOP has me on their shit list.

‘Nationalization’ of Local News

Here is a logistical reason why local news organizations should produce their own content, and not rely on a corporate conglomerate to remotely run their website.

WLWT.com provides way too much repetitive news that is on the Wires hundreds of other places and then end up on Google News searches about Cincinnati, adding non-Cincinnati related stories.

Bipartisan?

With the divorce of Queen City Forum we got the Blue Chip Review. I pondered if the BCR would take a turn to the right. Well, this prominent link on the site suggests that it has.

Bush Falls

He took a tumble while riding a bike. Someone might want to keep him from playing Tour de France with the kiddies. I guess Bush really really wants to be Lance Armstrong.

No Home Town Love

Ray, show us locals some love, not just the national bloggers.

On the Ropes?

Is Phil Burress on the ropes from the beating he is taking for his bigoted movement? I think his back stepping might have to do more with the possibility that his group might not have enough signatures by the August 4th deadline.

It's All About Ego For Nader

ABCNEWS.com reports that in Michigan Nader supporters turned in 5,400 signatures of the needed 30,000 to get on the ballot. The Michigan GOP submitted 43,000 signatures on Nader's behalf.

I wonder how many of those were valid. In Ohio I believe the law states that you can only sign one candidate's petition per election cycle. I would guess, yes I am guessing, it is the same in Michigan. I wonder how many of the 43,000 came from GOP party activists who would have also signed petitions for Bush. Now, since I don't know Michigan election rules, the GOP may not even need to collect signatures for Bush, so the issue may be moot.

What this says about Nader is that he is in this for ego, not for pushing the issues. Nader has reportedly been stating he would not compete in states where his presence would significantly affect the outcome, like Texas and California. Michigan is not a slam-dunk for Kerry, which is why the GOP is anxious to have him on the ballot. Nader's campaign to seek access to the ballot is all for ego, all for what is becoming the face of a man who has lost touch with the public, and to a degree with reality.

[Via TPM]

Digital Radio

I love radio and the idea of digital radio broadcasts really intrigues me. My understanding of the technology is that along with the audio transmission a stream of data can be sent at the same time allowing text information to be transferred. While a song is playing the artist and title could be displayed as well as weather or other information.

What I wonder about is that will the digital broadcast open up more of the broadcast spectrum? Could two different stations broadcast at let's say 800 AM and 810 AM at the same strength and both not bleed into each other? My hope is that it will, allowing more radio stations to open up shop.

Chaz in Boston

Mean Jean Galvin provides us a campaign photo in the making of Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken at the DNC National Convention.

Haunting Chads

The ACLU is suing the State and local officials over the balloting method used in three counties. The good old Punch Card system is on trial and Hamilton County is at the center of it. We still are using the Punch Card and are scheduled to use it again this November. Have local media outlets determined how many ballots were not counted in recent elections because the machines did not read them? The last council race was close, was every vote counted? I would bet Damon Lynch would have liked to push that issue a bit farther than he did.

Bold Fusion

I did not attend Bold Fusion, the Chamber of Commerce event, which sought opinions of "Young Professionals." My reasons for not attending were rather simple: I had to work and paying for people to pick my brain is just wrong. Nick Spencer attending and gives a full recap of the event.

I don't think that a good enough cross section of people attended the event. Those who were able to attend either have really flexible jobs or are self-employed. I ultimately I view this as a waste of time, other than the powers that be figuring out that young professionals really don't see changing Fountain Square as important.

The Enquirer had a story and an editorial. Included also was the full text of UC president Nancy Zimpher's keynote speech.

There also was more from the Cincinnati Post