Cincy Young Professionals

The Brian and Joe Show on WAIF 88.3FM will be joined by three great guests discussing young professionals in Cincinnati: The Enquirer's Maggie Downs, City Council candidate Nick Spencer, and Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber Sid DÂ?Souza. 10 AM today or check out the POD Cast.

Support For Religious Freedom

The Supreme Court refused to to hear several other cases involving separation of church and state and let stand lower court rulings that prevented religious displays in schools and one theocratic town council in South Carolina from beginning its meetings with a prayer praising Jesus Christ. It will not keep the theocrats from trying to push religion onto others, but it might make them more reluctant to waste their money. This will keep them at bay until Bush gets more Scalia type theocrats in courts.

Credit

I give full credit to the courthouses in Kentucky that quickly removed the Ten Commandments from the courthouse walls after the SCOTUS ruling. I applaud the willingness to honorably follow the rule of law.

Republican Putsch in KY

Purging Democrats from government jobs appears to have been one action taken by the Republican Administration in KY to gain and maintain power in the state. Now, who was pissed about someone being compared to Stalin? First we get torte allowed to happen under the Bush Administration, now we get a Putsch in Kentucky. Where's the next 5 year plan?

Bush Speech is Waste of Time

Here is how you know Bush is weak President. If George Bush wants to address the Country on the Iraq war, then he should be sitting at his desk talking into the camera telling us his views. He should have the courage to face on his own.

Instead he is playing to polls and marketing advisors and is holding his speech in front of a friendly military crowd at a military base and will likely be surrounded by soldiers, who will be cheering for Fearless Leader. He asked for Network air time for this, but this is just like a campaign speech, not an address to the country. THIS IS PURE PROPAGANDA. There can be no doubt of that. He will not have any new ideas or content. It will just be a rally around the president because his poll numbers have dropped like a rock and midterm elections are just around the corner.

This is the real Bush. He is worse than every other modern President and plays games with the public, especially when it comes to going to war. I hope people don't see this speech as anything more than a PR stunt. I know the faithful will eat this up like pigs at trough, so I am sure the Propaganda will work on a quite a few.

King Solomon Speaks

SCOTUS found a way to cut the baby in half.

Why Gun Violence?

What is causing the recent up tick of gun violence recently? Most of the incidents I would put on drug related idiots. This incident outside a dance club reportedly starting as an argument. Why would there be guns in the hands of these young 'kids?' I would guess they are not drug dealers. Do they have the guns on them as a result of conceal & carry laws? I doubt that. Do they have them out of fear? Maybe. Do they have guns out of some warped need for instant power and respect that they can't seem to earn any other way? I would guess yes. How is this type of problem addressed? How do young adults become ego driven fools who can't refrain from shooting people over schoolyard type conflicts?

Drum Beat Grows

Questions continue to mount over the relationship between Gov. Bob Taft and those advising on investing in the Coin Deal where millions of dollars in coins went missing. The campaign contributions to the senior state officials were huge: Petro, Montgomery, and Blackwell all got big bucks from the investment companies managing much of the state institutions' money. The questions will continue until someone is thrown overboard. There are two ways for this to happen. The first is the easiest: dump Taft. The second is for it to be a primary issue and one of the three in the race is attacked by the others. That would be more difficult, but it sure would be fun to watch and even better when a Dem would win the governorship next year.

Questions also mount for the GOP Governor in KY.

Downtown Dying

It looks like Downtown Mason is not a hot spot of activity. I guess the small town "life style centers" and big box retail are just killing everything. Well, with all of the plans to build up Downtown Cincinnati, I wonder if anyone can lend Mason a hand?

Why Does Deters Hate Cincinnati?

By saying that the city's future is 'bleak' because of the gun violence, it is clear that Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters hates the city. I mean, you can't speak ill of the Luken Administration. If you do, you provide aid and comfort to the Criminals who surely will see this on TV and in the newspaper and know they have a divided county where they can just divide it more and not have to worry about ever being caught.

Yes, Virginia, I am joking. I am not joking when I say Deters cares little about the city. It is my opinion that Deter is the poster child for a large percentage of those who have left the city for the burbs and now do not care much about it. They take a Nero view to anything happening in it, not remembering they are a living in suburban Rome, where the fire won't stop because of a white picket fence.

Hamilton

Why would you jeer a peace march? The situation in Hamilton sounds and looks more like something from a 1964 newsreel showing civil rights marchers with racists yelling at them. The media reports, which are a limited means to understand the story paint a grim picture of a small neighborhood.

Concern, fear began before blaze broke out
City leaders denounce vigilantism
Pastor from Mexico helps sooth residents’ spirits
Suspect identified
Unity Prayer Walk briefly interrupted
Latino community worries as tensions continue

The father of girl does not appear to be helping much. I at first thought he was trying to calm things down, but when he joins the crowd yelling at a peace march, then he becomes part of the problem facing that community. His daughter should get all of our sympathy for the horrible crime done to her, and every action must be taken to catch the person responsible, but the father should not turn that into an "us vs. them" belief that has no relation to justice for his daughter.

GOP Needs Turnout, Dems Need Money

What I get from this Enquirer Article "GOP counting on ads, Dems on shoe leather" is that the GOP is using mass marketing to gain in as many of their base, which in this district is high, to gain votes. The Democrats don't have the bread yet to do that and are instead going door to door to make the personal connect ion to voters, which in the end may get more new voters out to vote. Whether they vote for the Dems or not is what the Dems have to worry about.

Schmidt is running this campaign like she is the incumbent, which not only is offensive to liberals, it should offend regular Republicans who don't want to be taken for granted. Filming a TV ad in Washington? What kind of arrogance does a person have to possess to take off a day of a campaign to fly to DC to shoot a commercial, when she has just over a month before the election? Schmidt should have to earn the seat, not just be awarded it because she pulled off an upset in a divided primary.

Hackett needs cash. If he can match television ads with her, tout his military service in Iraq, and connect on a personal level with voters face to face, he has a chance. He will not get any help from the mainstream political opinion makers in town, which will either back Schmidt or just ignore it altogether as a perceived exercise in futility. Hackett is not an experienced enough politician to really be underestimated, but he is setting the ground work for 2006. Don’t count him out this time around yet, but I think the more effort he puts in, the better off he will be either this year, or next.

Newsworthy?

The facts presented in this WCPO story about an alleged sexual assault paint a picture of something that seems like something other than how it is presented. The headline indicates something approaching rape occurred in a class room at UC. In reading the details of the story it sounds like a guy got aggressive and touched and kissed a woman when he should not have.

This is an attack? This is News? I don't want to trivialize improper sexual advances, but touching a breast does not rank a story on WCPO. The guy sounds like a dirt bag, but this is the kind of thing that warranted a slap across the face, not a police report. I am basing this totally on the news story that while it sensationalizes the fact it reports, it may not be reporting all of the facts. This type of thing surely happens every night at local college bars and parties. Just because it happened in a class room, WCPO has chosen to make this a story and ride the hype and fear of UC parents who might be more inclined to watch WCPO or read the website.

Traffic Camera Plan Vetoed

Charlie Luken vetoed a plan this week that would have installed cameras at street corners to catch traffic violations on film and then ticket the offenders by mail. I generally don't like big brother creeping in on me as I walk or drive the streets. I was not up in arms over this one. I don't drive through red lights. If they started to record your speed down Columbia Parkway, and started issuing tickets, well, I would be out with picket signs and megaphones. Here I don't like it, but I am doing that which most Americans live by: if it doesn't affect me, I don't care. I do care, just not enough to take action. Mayor Luken, however, took action for me. I agree with this action.

Why not Wi-Fi outside?

Outdoors computing, do you do it? I have done it on Fountain Square and was not impressed. On my next day off, I may try out Piatt Park downtown. I am more interesting in indoors Wifi, mostly because I can there rain or shine, year round.

WVXU Buyout Approved

The FCC has approved the sale of WVXU to WGUG (2nd item). WVXU will change formats by Aug 24th. That format reportedly will be a drop of music and much, if not nearly all, of its locally based programming.

Free WiFi Coming to Four Locations in July

Project Lily Pad will by mid-July have free WiFi in Fountain Square, Government Square, Findlay Market, and Hyde Park Square. Excellent!

Bigotry Running Wild in Hamilton

The alleged rape of a nine year old white girl by a Hispanic man has unleashed ethnic hate in some Hamilton neighborhoods. Reports of threats against Hispanics are coming in, and the ugly face of bigotry is once again clouding Bulter County. It is amazing how quickly blame can shift from the actual suspect to anyone who shares an ethnic or racial background with that suspect.

Airman, Jesus Is The Only Way You Will Fly Jets

Will this be called an attack on Christianity because people are taking steps to keep religious freedom alive in a public institution? How can one practice one's religion freely if they can't force and pressure others into following it? (Feel the sarcasm)

Outsider Police Chief

It has taken forever and has been met with near rebellion from the police union, but the city is expected to hire a new assistant chief from outside Cincinnati. That will be a first for Cincinnati. I hope it is the first step in building a new atmosphere in the police force and ushers in a new age of cultural diversity in the CPD management.

How will people complain about it? They will find a way, but I just wonder how.

Zeleznik Moves to WVXU

Maryanne Zeleznik, news director at WNKU, will become news director at the combined WVXU and WGUC stations once the station merger is approved by the FCC. Maryanne Zeleznik is a great asset to local news and hopefully will be positioned to create much more local news for the two stations.

The article has this nugget too:

There's also a chance that Zeleznik and Hanselman could be heard on WNKU-FM later this year. Singleton says he's interested in exploring a local public radio news cooperative with WGUC-FM, WVXU-FM and Miami University's WMUB-FM (88.5 MHz), which Eiswerth proposed last year.

If the four stations combine news resources, I believe it would be a boon to local news in the area. It also could maximize quality levels and cost savings. That might open up more money for other local programming.

Taft Hires Lawyer

It is a criminal lawyer which he may need if possible ethics violations prove true or if Cointgate continues to grow. Taft may be in trouble. How will this affect the 2006 governor's race? Will it boost Dems? Will it tag all of those part of the Taft Administration, nearly all of the GOP field?

Still Supporting the Arts

I am glad that the City of Cincinnati was able to continue supporting local arts groups like the Know Theatre, Enjoy the Arts, and the Cincinnati Arts Association. It sucks that the overall funding level was cut well over 50%, but half is better than none.

CAC Renovation Campaign

The way this article paints CAC's plans to improve their exhibitions, it gives the appearance (or maybe just the tone I detected) that CAC is already obsolete and needs improvement. I think the contrary. It is a vibrant place with great things happening. I don't know why they need the improvements, but I don't think a place like the CAC is hurting.

The Brian and Joe Radio Show

Check out WAIF's the Brian and Joe Radio Show. Brian Mueller and Joe Wessels have put together a weekly show with local news, talk, and interviews with Cincinnati area happening people. It is every Wednesday at 10 AM. If you can't hear it live, like me, the archives are up and running.

During Fringe I was able to meet and chat for a bit with Joe Wessels about his show. I've be added their show's website, which is a blog, to my blogroll, so have a read and listen.

Ignorance, Again

It amazes me to no end when someone like Shaunna Howat writes a column with the most assumptive tone that reeks of ignorance and of blind faith in the Bush Administration. "It's us against them," she rattles off from behind her column. I don't know if she has been serving in the military or not, but I doubt it. This smells of astro-turf on the surface, but it is so blindly written by an ignorant person, that I doubt it.

Why doesn't Shaunna just advocate executing the prisoners? If they are all guilty because George Bush says so, why not just kill them? Who needs the rule of law? Who needs the Geneva Convention? Shaunna has the undertone of hate and revenge seething between the lines. It is subtle, but she is holding back, not wanting to appear like a blood thirsty ghoul.

Shaunna is the kind of ignorant person that endangers the American Democracy. Anyone whiling to blindly accept everything their leadership says is a fool. Anyone willing to blindly support the actions of this administration is willfully ignorant and a fool.

In the Name of the Father

I hope these candidates for mayor are more than just their father's child.

David Crowley Writes on Advocate.com

Councilmember David Crowley pens "A Father's Day tale" discussing the efforts to repeal Article 12 here in Cincinnati, which banned equal rights for people based on sexual orientation. He also talks about the power of conversing with people about issues directly, not in the political rivers, where people are detached from the humanity involved.

Charlie Winburn: Religious Bigot/Theocrat?

When reading the quote from the article in the Post, I can make no other conclusion that Winburn is both a religious bigot and theocrat, bent on establishing a Christians only government.

In the former book, Winburn writes, "We Christians must clean up politics. It is our job to elect only born-again believers to public office.

If officeholders are not Christian and refuse to obey the laws of God, we must work hard, under the law, to unseat them."

This is the best the GOP have to offer? Granted, it would take a socially liberal Republican to even get my attention, and that at this point is very rare, or even impossible

I applaud Leslie Ghiz for skipping Winburn's Sermon. I am flabbergasted that Damon Lynch III showed up. If he was there as a spectator, that is fine. The article leaves open how or why Damon was there, but it does not bode well for an endorsed Democratic candidate to support Winburn who spouts oddly hardcore support for the Cincinnati Police. Winburn takes a nuanced stance in supporting the police, but comes out on their side on most points.

Lynch can be noncommittal on the mayor's race, but he might go a long way in presenting a team player attitude to Democratic voters by saying that he will vote for one of the three Democrats running. Showing up at a GOP event and telling a reporter you don't know who you are going to vote for is either really bad press management, or a shot across the bow of the Dems. If Lynch says he wants to branch out to other groups for support, most would say he was talking about non-blacks, not Republicans.

Hype and Fear

The shooting downtown was shocking, but this type of hype ridden analysis will create panic and unwarranted fear. Did people freak out when a suburban trucking company was the scene a crazy guy going on a shooting spree? No, but because this is downtown and the scaredy cats living outside the city will use an isolated incident as a further reason to support their irrational fear of the City. Why do people bother living within 100 miles of a large metro area if they can't take news about a shooting in a city?

Yes, this was freaky and unnerving. It is not indicative of life in downtown.

Baby, If You Ever Wondered....

Maggie Downs has found the simple truth of life:

But as I sat at the event and listened to my peers speak, I realized that not much has changed since grade school.

We simply want the same things we always wanted.

We want people to play with. We want recess and activities. We want yummy snacks. We want music class, computer labs and art. And we want a bus to take us home at the end of the day.

Yes, even beyond my occasional 'teenage angst' attacks where I am 15 years old again for a few minutes of sheer terror, we are otherwise not much beyond life in the 2nd grade. When I was in 2nd grade I think I was watching WKRP. I actually like the idea of a WKRP museum. I think a WKRP festival might be more fun. Who would not want a huge game of "Are you a Bailey Quarters or Jennifer Marlowe kind of man?" I myself would be a Bailey kind of a guy.

Some Good News

City Council approved the 3CDC Fountain Square plan. This should work. It will be difficult during the construction, but it will worth it, once the retail plan is realized.

Banks Troubles

The Federal Government may cut funding for the Banks project now that the County took over the show. Add that to the city council troubles, which Nick Spencer indicates would not pass this plan, and we have a plan sinking.

The problem with the plan is that it is going to be a sterile mini-burbia tone for the non-urbanist, smack dab in the middle of a city. What it needs is an urbanists touch. 3CDC should have been keep involved. We don't need a Newport on the Levee feel on the Banks, people don't want to live there. We need something we character, and this plan has nothing to indicate it has that.

GOP Pick Winburn For Mayor

So sayeth the Cincinnati Post's Kevin Osborne. His article points out issues that make Charlie Winburn not only look nutty, but sounds like a snake salesman:

Winburn is the founder of the Encampment, a College Hill church where he often preaches and performs exorcisms.
......
Winburn is the author of a book about Biblical economic principles entitled, "Releasing the Money Anointing: You are Anointed to Receive Money!"

The power of Christ compels me to paint Charlie Winburn as a looney tune.

More should be out on this later on today.

Ok, this is Freaky

Man accused of shooting into downtown crowd. It was at 6th and Vine, Damn.

Question for Brinkman

Will Tom Brinkman run for Mayor of Cincinnati? Will Charlie Winburn instead get the GOP endorsement? If Winburn is going to get it, what are the GOP bigwigs waiting for, other than Brinkman making up his mind?

Schmidt vs Hackett

Hackett is no shock, but who was thinking Jean Schmidt was going to win? Did she even think she would win? How did she pull this one off?

This should be an interesting race. Hackett needs a lot to win, but it is not impossible.

DeWine just tanked. How do you waste a million dollar war chest? It proves that few moderate Republicans voted, or just that few, if any, exist in this district.

More from the Enquirer.

Dealer on Cincinnati Fringe Festival

Fred Pastry needs to fess up on the elaborate displays of Dog Porn that 'someone' was lusting for on a daily basis during Fringe, instead of dreaming of Jason Bruffy's "Mr. Willie." When you lust for dogs in thongs, you can't hide it for long. Please roll over and admit your addition Fred.

Primary Results

I am heading out to Drinking Liberally, so feel free to post the primary results. If you would rather a few beers, come on over to the Comet in Northside at 7:30 or so!

Speaking of the Square

Council is ready to rubber stamp the Fountain Square plan. Let's get it done and get going. If they city can get this going it can put attention on Main Street (all the way down to 6th street) and let the county hang out there with the Banks project.

Turf War?

The battle over the Banks comes to a head with city council lashing out. This has the hands of the County's toxic twins (DeWine and Heimlich) all over it. They have been out there running their own little show behind closed doors. They want the city out of it. Why? Why was 3CDC left out of the process? Who is making money on this deal and whose back is being scratched?

June is Busting Out

You may have missed the news, or you really may not because I don't think anyone has reported anywhere they fact that a new restaurant has opened up downtown. Rise and Shine has redone the former Frisch's Restaurant on 6th Street and is open and running. It is a part of a significant change to the lower Main Street area with Mana's going strong and the rehab of the Fort Washington Hotel. This is making the area behind the Arnoff center into yet another up and coming area with strong retail, residential, and restaurants. I wonder why you have not read about that.

Heartless Bastards on NPR

The link on NPR is not up yet but the Heartless Bastards were profiled this morning on NPR's All Things Considered Morning Edition. A local band is on the way up. They are listed as playing Alchemize on July 23, but they may not be back through town as much with a record deal and national attention. Good for them!

UPDATE: Here is the link to the story.

Blame City Council?

Nick Spencer points out another positive step going on in Covington's MainStrasse. Covington officials are considering shutting down traffic in the MainStrasse area on weekends and allowing opening containers in the streets. This is an idea Nick and CT had a while ago for the Main Street area here in Cincinnati. That idea was just dropped like most efforts the city was considering for the Main Street area. This is what I mean when I say that they city can't focus on more than one thing, and the Fountain Square Plan is all they have right now on their minds. They are not taking steps to keep a vital and vibrant area from growing in favor of building up an area that caters to a static population.

Fringe 2005 Ends! Long Live the Fringe!

Jackie Demaline has a nice closing article on this year's Fringe Festival which ended last night. I wish to personally thank those from Cincinnati Advance who represented our growing organization very well. I had fun myself volunteering, even when I wasn't on a shift I pressed myself into service to do a little bit of heavy lifting. Let me tell you, the bases for lighting beams are freaking heavy when you take them up a flight of stairs in the dying heat of Memorial Hall.

The shows were great, the performers where great, and it was best to be able to walk right up after a show and shake their hands and talk about it. That is the part of Fringe most people don't take advantage of, but that was there every night at the Bar Series. I went to all but 2 of the bar series events, and let me tell you, I am damn tired. I can't imagine how tired those who did 1,000 times more work during the Festival than I did feel.

I look forward to next year's event and hope those who came out to volunteer or see a show will be back next year and keep up their involvement with the Community. We would love to have you all take part in any or all of the Cincinnati Advance Activities.

Death of TV?

With the 800 Pound Gorilla in advertising saying they are cutting back on TV ads, does that signal the beginning of the demise of television as the number one media type? Has the Internet and other direct networking conduits finally taken a chunk out of the boob tube?

Down to the Wire

Today will be a very heavy day for the 2nd Congressional District candidates. They will be out and about all over the district begging for votes.

Who is going to win? Since I am not a registered member of either party, I will not be voting tomorrow. I don't like telling people who to vote for by giving endorsements. I would normally say who I am voting for, but since I am not voting, I am not saying who I would vote for. Instead, I offer predictions and invite others to chime in with theirs.

The Democrats: Paul Hackett will win. Sanders is the only other person with any possible chance, but I think with the Dem organizations backing him, Hackett will pull away with a solid margin.

The Republicans: This one is tough. There are four who could win: DeWine, Brinkman, McEwen, and Schmidt. Even with Schmidt's Enquirer endorsement, I think she will finish fourth. Even with his rabid support on this blog, I think Brinkman will finish third. It is tough to then pick the winner. DeWine should have won easily with his funding and organization, but he has big time enemies. McEwen is as much if not more of an opportunist than DeWine and should not really be a factor, he has no fresh ground team. I believe it will be very close between the two, but that to the surprise of the right wing conservatives, DeWine will win.

Yet Another Quiz: What is Your World View?

I am not one for online quizes, but I saw this one on Shwango and it was interesting.

You scored as Modernist. Modernism represents the thought that science and reason are all we need to carry on. Religion is unnecessary and any sort of spirituality halts progress. You believe everything has a rational explanation. 50% of Americans share your world-view. Modernist 88% Materialist 88% Postmodernist 81% Existentialist 75% Cultural Creative 38% Romanticist 25% Idealist 13% Fundamentalist 0% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

UPDATE: I took it again and am something different. I am just fickle? No, not really, the same top four I had are the same top four again, just in varied order.

You scored as Existentialist. Existentialism emphasizes human capability. There is no greater power interfering with life and thus it is up to us to make things happen. Sometimes considered a negative and depressing world view, your optimism towards human accomplishment is immense. Mankind is condemned to be free and must accept the responsibility. Existentialist 81% Modernist 81% Postmodernist 81% Materialist 75% Romanticist 56% Cultural Creative 31% Idealist 25% Fundamentalist 6% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Enquirer Endorsements Are Out

The Enquirer has made endorsements in both 2nd Congressional District's Primaries set for Tuesday.

For the GOP they picked: Jean Schmidt. This is a bit of a surprise to me. I would said they would have gone with McEwen or DeWine, but it appears both men's negatives of being opportunist office seekers turned of the Board.

For the Dems they picked: Paul Hackett. This was not a surprise. Hackett has been the favorite to win the primary for quite a while now. This just helps further that end.

Even More on the Banks

The Enquirer is pushing the Banks Project again today.

This time we get inside the developer chosen by the County. Korte's descriptions is of a political player who knows how to grease the wheels, but who has a track record with some past bumps. This effort seems hasty. Will there be follow through? I am very skeptical that we will see the plan executed to the maximum. Something will happen, but how long will it take? If the county pushes this forward, then great. I think the City should stick to Fountain Square until that is done, then just hop on to the Banks if things work out. They already look like they are on the outside of this project, so why no stay on the outside and just reap the benefit of it getting done, if it gets done?