Commissioner Dowlin to Run Again
The 73 year old will seek another term next year for Hamilton County Commissioner. Dowlin is anti-rail and it would be nice to get someone not as set in his ways, yes you can read old in that comment. Age is not a factor, but when based on age you don't wish to change, that becomes a problem. This fellow thinks "Even though he opposes light rail, he says were it adopted today it would take 30 years to implement and he was[sic] other, faster alternatives." Just because he will not alive to enjoy a rail system is not a reason for it not to pass.
This announcement will surely piss off some Republican upstarts from the Northern Suburbs, who are surely itching to run.
UPDATE: The Enquirer reports that Dowlin will likely face a democratic challenge from former state Representative Wayne Coates. The Post reported that the GOP chairman Mike Barrett felt there would be no competition. Barrett thinks Dowlin's name will carry him through. What name? Sure, his has the advantage of incumbency, but it is not like his name is Luken, Deters, or Heimlich.
Saturday, August 16, 2003
More Power Outage Fodder
It is not newsworthy, but the rain yesterday knocked my power out here at the palatial Griffin Estate. I was at work at the time, but I had to reset a clock and my stereo was on "demo," a sign the power was out.
Giz over at afternoon.para-bellum.net reports of some more significant power outages recently in Delhi, but still relatively short. Giz's blog needs permalinks. Both incidents are noteworthy for local news, not national news. 50 million people losing power is national news and demands coverage. Some talk radio folks were scolding the media for making to much of this. I guess they don't know anyone in the area's hit. This was huge news and it got big coverage in part do to the simple fact that the TV networks are headquartered in the affected areas. When news is close to home, human journalists are opted to give it more attention. That is in part why Detroit and Cleveland's troubles got little attention. This power outage makes it clear that local news coverage is not well served by national networks. The Ohio News Network (ONN) did a good job here in Ohio with Ohio specific news, mostly carrying feeds from Toledo and Cleveland TV stations.
The Cincinnati Post has the typical "are we ready" story. Here's the Enquirer's story.
Lawmakers are "demanding" answers. Give it a rest folks. Let the water pressure build up before you start the blame game. Both Democrats and Republicans in Washington are playing this game, so if anyone tries to say one side is worse than the other you might want to correct their ignorance.
UPDATE: Ethan Hahn has some thoughts.
It is not newsworthy, but the rain yesterday knocked my power out here at the palatial Griffin Estate. I was at work at the time, but I had to reset a clock and my stereo was on "demo," a sign the power was out.
Giz over at afternoon.para-bellum.net reports of some more significant power outages recently in Delhi, but still relatively short. Giz's blog needs permalinks. Both incidents are noteworthy for local news, not national news. 50 million people losing power is national news and demands coverage. Some talk radio folks were scolding the media for making to much of this. I guess they don't know anyone in the area's hit. This was huge news and it got big coverage in part do to the simple fact that the TV networks are headquartered in the affected areas. When news is close to home, human journalists are opted to give it more attention. That is in part why Detroit and Cleveland's troubles got little attention. This power outage makes it clear that local news coverage is not well served by national networks. The Ohio News Network (ONN) did a good job here in Ohio with Ohio specific news, mostly carrying feeds from Toledo and Cleveland TV stations.
The Cincinnati Post has the typical "are we ready" story. Here's the Enquirer's story.
Lawmakers are "demanding" answers. Give it a rest folks. Let the water pressure build up before you start the blame game. Both Democrats and Republicans in Washington are playing this game, so if anyone tries to say one side is worse than the other you might want to correct their ignorance.
UPDATE: Ethan Hahn has some thoughts.
Friday, August 15, 2003
Not MY Bag
I am sure to be pressured by my co-workers to try this, but I will not join the insta-date group described in Maggie Downs' latest column. I hate first date chitchat and doing it over and over again in one evening is about as appealing as having my teeth drilled. I will stick to randomly meeting women in bookstores. Judging a person by what they read and how they drink expensive coffee is more my style of date screening. I guess I better start setting foot in bookstores more often, and keep my nose out of my book. I have had no luck with this approach, but hey, it beats having to expose one's inability to socially interact with other human beings. (I have to work on that inner monologue.)
Follow-up: Couldn't I have found a better cliché than "having my teeth drilled?"
I am sure to be pressured by my co-workers to try this, but I will not join the insta-date group described in Maggie Downs' latest column. I hate first date chitchat and doing it over and over again in one evening is about as appealing as having my teeth drilled. I will stick to randomly meeting women in bookstores. Judging a person by what they read and how they drink expensive coffee is more my style of date screening. I guess I better start setting foot in bookstores more often, and keep my nose out of my book. I have had no luck with this approach, but hey, it beats having to expose one's inability to socially interact with other human beings. (I have to work on that inner monologue.)
Follow-up: Couldn't I have found a better cliché than "having my teeth drilled?"
Hispanics vs. Whites
Here is the problem with this article about housing discrimination. I am 1/8th Latino. My Great Grandmother was from Panama/Columbia. She was "white." So, like most others out there, the Enquirer wants to paint Hispanics/Latinos as one monolithic group to compare with monolithic whites, a nice simple "black and white" story. I would surmise that most of the Hispanics in question were Mexican, and were mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white). So what are we trying to compare here, ethnic groups or races? There is no "Hispanic Race," and comparing race is really a no win action. Ethnic discrimination would have required the disclosure of the white people's ethnic groups, unless they are some how considered falsely blanketed as "ethnic Americans." I therefore find this report to be comparing apples and oranges. I would consider without much evidence that Mexicans and other Latin-American ethnic/nationality groups are treated poorly by landlords and often discriminated against. I wonder how many non-white landlords treated the Hispanic people differently than white landlords.
UPDATE: Similar treatment in the Post.
Here is the problem with this article about housing discrimination. I am 1/8th Latino. My Great Grandmother was from Panama/Columbia. She was "white." So, like most others out there, the Enquirer wants to paint Hispanics/Latinos as one monolithic group to compare with monolithic whites, a nice simple "black and white" story. I would surmise that most of the Hispanics in question were Mexican, and were mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white). So what are we trying to compare here, ethnic groups or races? There is no "Hispanic Race," and comparing race is really a no win action. Ethnic discrimination would have required the disclosure of the white people's ethnic groups, unless they are some how considered falsely blanketed as "ethnic Americans." I therefore find this report to be comparing apples and oranges. I would consider without much evidence that Mexicans and other Latin-American ethnic/nationality groups are treated poorly by landlords and often discriminated against. I wonder how many non-white landlords treated the Hispanic people differently than white landlords.
UPDATE: Similar treatment in the Post.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
FOX News is a Sucker for Power (Blackout Story)
FOX News just reported they had reports that the power was out in Dayton and even Cincinnati. At this point no one else is reporting Dayton, and none of the Dayton outlets are reporting that. I can surely testify that Cincinnati's power is working fine. Rumors really have no place being reported on a story as big as this. People in this part of the state clean out Kroger’s when an inch of snow is forecasted. If even a few ignorant souls believed the faux reports, it might turn tragic. Jumping the gun is a fault of most Cable News Outlets, and FOX is known for hyperbole.
UPDATE: WLWT-TV is reporting no local outages. A Dayton TV station did report a report in Middletown, Ohio (between Dayton and Cincinnati.
UPDATE #2: The Enquirer is reporting there was an unrelated power outage in Middletown that cut power to the south side of town due to a transformer going down after 5 PM tonight. This outage was not related to the larger outage affecting NYC.
FOX News just reported they had reports that the power was out in Dayton and even Cincinnati. At this point no one else is reporting Dayton, and none of the Dayton outlets are reporting that. I can surely testify that Cincinnati's power is working fine. Rumors really have no place being reported on a story as big as this. People in this part of the state clean out Kroger’s when an inch of snow is forecasted. If even a few ignorant souls believed the faux reports, it might turn tragic. Jumping the gun is a fault of most Cable News Outlets, and FOX is known for hyperbole.
UPDATE: WLWT-TV is reporting no local outages. A Dayton TV station did report a report in Middletown, Ohio (between Dayton and Cincinnati.
UPDATE #2: The Enquirer is reporting there was an unrelated power outage in Middletown that cut power to the south side of town due to a transformer going down after 5 PM tonight. This outage was not related to the larger outage affecting NYC.
Theocracy Today, Theocracy Tomorrow, Theocracy Forever
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is refusing to comply with a Federal Court Order. The difference now as opposed to 40 years ago is the President in the White House. Bush wants a country like Roy Moore wants: One Nation, One Religion: No Exceptions. George Wallace veiled his beliefs under "states rights." Will Roy Moore do the same? Religious bigotry is growing in this country, and those who don't bow down will find it more difficult to live as they choose. Roy Moore and his allies will likely veil their actions under the banner of victim hood, the poor Southern Christians can’t seem to rid themselves of those Northern Heathens. History repeats itself, and the culture wars will wage on in earnest. I plan on defending mine, but I wonder why I have to. Why does my culture worry Mr. Moore? I don’t share his religion, and I legally can’t be judged under his religion in a government court, so why does he seem to think otherwise? Rule of Law is a bedrock of our society. It does not bend for a religious zealot.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is refusing to comply with a Federal Court Order. The difference now as opposed to 40 years ago is the President in the White House. Bush wants a country like Roy Moore wants: One Nation, One Religion: No Exceptions. George Wallace veiled his beliefs under "states rights." Will Roy Moore do the same? Religious bigotry is growing in this country, and those who don't bow down will find it more difficult to live as they choose. Roy Moore and his allies will likely veil their actions under the banner of victim hood, the poor Southern Christians can’t seem to rid themselves of those Northern Heathens. History repeats itself, and the culture wars will wage on in earnest. I plan on defending mine, but I wonder why I have to. Why does my culture worry Mr. Moore? I don’t share his religion, and I legally can’t be judged under his religion in a government court, so why does he seem to think otherwise? Rule of Law is a bedrock of our society. It does not bend for a religious zealot.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
CityBeat Sells Out?
Ok, I read this letter to the editor in today's CityBeat and I had to re-read the editor's response a couple of times to make sure I read it straight.
I am floored that CityBeat would basically admit that they removed the column in order to increase circulation. Are they positioning themselves to better compete with the Enquirer's weekly? The new Enquirer weekly will surely be available at Kroger's and every other grocery stores in the tri-state area. Compromising content for the sake of sales is the best way to maintain your market position. The activist friends of CityBeat call it selling out.
Ok, I read this letter to the editor in today's CityBeat and I had to re-read the editor's response a couple of times to make sure I read it straight.
I read this and it says to me that CityBeat pulled the Savage Love column from the print edition in order to get the newspaper back into Kroger stores. Savage Love is a syndicated love/sex advice column run in many alternative weekly newspapers across the country. It's content can be "graphic "at times, and I mean graphic in the sense that most parents would not want their young kids to read it. Removing the content that might be considered "objectionable" would make the publication more retail friendly.
Where's the Love?
I'm writing to ask you to please reinstate Savage Love in your weekly print edition. This was one of my favorite columns in your paper.
I'm disappointed to learn you have made this a Web-only column in order to increase traffic to CityBeat's site. Dan Savage's column is available online at many Web sites and will not necessarily increase traffic to your site.
I wrote a protest letter to Kroger when they removed your paper from their stores because of the addition of Savage Love. Asking your readers to jump through this extra hoop now seems unfair.
-- Charles Mitchell, Mount Washington
Editor Responds: Yes, we're making Savage Love a Web-only column in order to increase traffic to our site, but it's been moved from the paper primarily in order to help us increase CityBeat circulation.
I am floored that CityBeat would basically admit that they removed the column in order to increase circulation. Are they positioning themselves to better compete with the Enquirer's weekly? The new Enquirer weekly will surely be available at Kroger's and every other grocery stores in the tri-state area. Compromising content for the sake of sales is the best way to maintain your market position. The activist friends of CityBeat call it selling out.
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