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