Nick Spencer Interviews Dan Lienert

Nick Spencer has an interview with Dan Lienert the Forbes reporter who wrote a hatchet job on single life in Cincinnati. Lienernt's answers I think prove most of the negative commentary on his article correct:

1. He did not do much relevant prep work on Cincinnati.
2. He is comparing Cincinnati with the likes of cities 2 to 10 times larger and expects Cincinnati to be similar.
3. He did a half ass job trying to find anything here.
4. He must have been paid off by the West Chester Chamber of Commerce or Peter Bronson.

It felt like this guy was sent here to fulfill his preconceived notion of Cincinnati and his existing bias lead him to find what he wanted to find.  A little more effort and he would have find that life here for singles is not great, but not the crap hole he paints it to be.  Lienart is a poster child for a horrid 'nationalized' media, a type of Wal-Mart Media where local news, culture, and society are ignored or belittled.
 
If Mr. Lienert is met with pitchforks and torches the next time he comes to town, I hope he is not shocked.

Should Have Known Better

Now, what will the hawks say about David Kay's comments?  It boils down again to the two general possibilities:

• Bush misled, lied, fooled or sexed up the reasons for going to war or
• Bush is incompetent and made a really poor choice in going to war.

Now, I am sure to hear that their are other "possibilities," but they are derivative of these two.  If you think Bush was "duped" by the CIA then he is incompetent.  How could a good President allow himself to be manipulated into waging war?  Can't have your WMD and eat 'em too.

Palestinian Civil War?

News like this suggests that as soon as Yasser Arafat is dead or forced out of the West Bank, then power is up for grabs to those with the most guns and people to use them.  Israel will have little influence, short of choosing sides.  I doubt they will want to get in the middle of that kind of a fight.

Well Meaning, But Doing Harm

It is difficult to for me to criticism and old woman, but based on what she wrote in the Cincinnati Enquirer I must.  This paragraph in particular:

Do you remember the terrorist attacks on our land in 2001? These aggressors are busy all over the world right now, attacking and destroying millions of innocent people. Until they and those of their mentality can be brought down, no one will be safe to live in peace. At this time, "universal peace" is only a dream of uninformed dreamers.

What Mrs. Frisch fails to grasp is that the Muslims of the world are not out to rule the world, at least no more than the fundamentalist Christians.  Who is attacking and destroying millions of innocent people?  Oh, other than the United States of course.  Now, speaking of these dreamers that Mrs. Frisch is attacking I have to say that she is more of a dreamer than anyone she criticisms.  Anyone who rattles of the many good things the American Military did last century without acknowledging the many horrors.  She lamented that kids today don't know the history of this country, but I think she lives in a fantasy land where the history she "knows" is a John Wayne war movie.  People all too often, myself included, deny that what they have thought they hade known for years was really just propaganda.  I find that today War Hawks are living this myth far too long.  Denying that BushCo mislead the country in the war has become an affliction that I think may someday be categorized as much as Gulf War Syndrome.

Political State Report - OH: Diebold Machines Blocked From Use

My latest Polstate.com post is up:OH: Diebold Machines Blocked From Use

Ohio Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell (R), announced this week that he is halting deployment of the Diebold Election Systems’ electronic voting machines in three Ohio counties. Officials in Hardin, Lorain and Trumbull counties had selected Diebold machines for use this November. Each county will instead use their current voting system. Full post

I have not posted to PSR for several months, so I hope to pick up some slack going forward.

Ohio Sexual Politics Via the UK

Odd story to see in the Guardian. Ohio is the hotbed of the Presidential election, but to have a picture of the Lions Den sex shop as the lead? I am puzzled by one thing in the article. I have passed the Lions Den on the way to Columbus, but the article says it is in western Columbus. Is there more than one? And to answer the obvious question, no, I have never been inside it.

Good Stuff, Bad Drinks

Maggie Downs has another good topical column where she is allowed to give an opinion on a political issue. Good! Thank you editors for not killing this column. Please allow Maggie to give more opinions on political issues.

I don't like smoke. I however am very mixed on a law banning smoking in private businesses.

I think nicotinis will kill you, however. I am in favor of banning such a vile, vile thing.