Hating the City?

A news report today suggests that the sales tax revenue needed may fall short of that needed to pay off the debt for the two sports stadiums. One of the reasons given is that people outside the county are not going into it anymore to shop, they are staying up in West Chester.

This brings up two big points. One is regarding the level of people outside the country making up a big enough element of our sales tax base. Is this enough to really break us? Is there any analysis or just speculation?

The other point is where I go all the time. Suburbanites hate the city. There are many reason but they hate it. Most who we here from or I talk to act like scared little girls who either don't like city folk (meaning blacks and other minorities) or they don't like driving on busy streets. I don't know how they survive driving on the highways in the suburbs or the clogged interchanges around highway exits where most burbites live. I guess they hate cities. They like their stale carbon copied homes and strip malls. Buildings more than two floors also must violate some kind of fear of heights that must permeate through places like Mason and West Chester and Anderson.

Blackwell Not Making Friends

Ken Blackwell is earning points in his early bid for Governor by holding the GOP to the law by investigating possible abuses of campaign fundraising laws by Republican officials.

This is also political payback to Speaker Larry householder who has targeted Blackwell for a little internal GOP battle royal.

The Balancer

I guess this is how the balancing act works. We get an economic endorsement from the AP for Bush to counter the Kerry Coverage.

Kerry-Edwards

The Enquirer has gone wild with Kerry-Edwards related articles today:
Cleveland, Dayton first stops for Kerry-Edwards
Ky. Democrats pleased with addition to ticket
Edwards brings pluses, risks to Kerry campaign
Analysis: Edwards adds zing
Men, women on the street ponder pick
and an editoral:
Edwards brings excitement to race

You might think some of the editors must be on vacation this week. Otherwise we would have been lucky to get more than one story on the VP Pick.

Kerry's Running Mate

Kerry is reported to being naming his running mate today, first online and then at a rally in Pittsburgh. Tomorrow Bush comes to Ohio and is going to Cleveland and Dayton, not Cincinnati as first reported. I wonder if the threat of little police protection keep him away? Last time he was met with protestors at a rally here that disrupted his speech.

Anyway, it appears that it will be either Edwards or Gephart. Any last minute predictions? I envision the benefits of both, but neither strikes me as a bold choice.

UPDATE: AP is reporting it is Edwards.

Fear, It Works!!!!

Ed Bridgeman writes today that you better be scared to death of al Qaeda right here in Cincinnati. He seems to think that we must be paranoid about the boogieman coming to bomb Fountain Square or some such place.

I don't mind people keeping that mind, but to expend excess time or recourses to defend "terrorism" in Cincinnati would not be to look for Islamists. Instead we are much more open to domestic terrorists. There are not many of those either, so using fear to motivate people only makes people fearful, not safer.

QCF Discord?

Reports are that the removal of Michael Altman as editor of Queen City Forum Magazine was not so cut and dry. A source indicates to me that the structure of the organization was not such as to allow for Mr. Altman's removal without his own approval.

I have the feeling the magazine will be changing greatly. A battle may be brewing for various chunks of the operation. I fear that we will have two opposing magazines and a unified voice will be broken down into competing publications. It is not going to be a smooth transition.