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.