Labor history to take place in Cincinnati

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Some unions dissatisfied with the AFL-CIO plan to formally establish a new federation Sept. 27 in Cincinnati.

Details on the convention are in flux, including which unions in the Change to Win Coalition will participate.

Certain to attend are the three unions that defected from the AFL-CIO last week: the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Four other unions also are among the Change to Win insurgents. Three of those are still affiliated with the AFL-CIO - the United Farm Workers, the Laborers' International Union of North America and Unite Here, which represents textile, hotel and restaurant workers. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America left the AFL-CIO in 2001.

The article continues by explaining why Cincinnati was chosen:

Cincinnati was chosen for its central location, because Ohio is "always up for grabs, politically," and because it is home to Cintas Corp., the laundry company that is the target of a coordinated organizing campaign by the Teamsters and Unite Here, said Jim Papien, a spokesman for the Food and Commercial Workers.

Between the 2004 Presidential election, the Taft scandal, last week's 2nd Congressional district special election, and this upcoming labor meeting, Ohio has become a regular hotspot for national political news, information, and events.

According to a recent Enquirer article, the

Change to Win Coalition has been in discussions about holding a daylong meeting as early as next month at the Millennium Hotel Cincinnati on Fifth Street downtown.

A sales executive at the Millennium also confirmed that discussions have been ongoing but said no deal has been signed. A representative for Change to Win said the group should be ready to discuss plans in more detail by early next week.

Question for the commenters:

Will Ohio's new role in national politics soon be forgotten or is it here to say?

This post was made by Josh Nelson of Cincinnati News.

The kindness of strangers...or elected officials

Courtesy of Joe Wessels, apparently some prospective council members and mayoral candidates aren't exactly falling over themselves to be courteous to reporters. You'd think that someone about to run for elected office would want to put their best foot forward for those that write about their campaigns (and eventually help to shape voter's perceptions of them). If reporters can't get a few minutes of their time, do we really expect them to pay attention to private citizens?

Adam

Reality Bytes

Brother, can you spare $9 million

I always get a bit nervous when people start discussing the funding of pensions. Now comes word that under-budgeting will force taxpayers to chip in $9 million to fully fund the city pension fund. Just from an amateur's perspective, it seems that a bit too much of the funding is dependent on investment gains. With the unpredictability of the stock market recently, perhaps there are better methods to funding that don't include reducing benefits.

Adam

Reality Bytes

Some humor for a Monday morning

Courtesy of Covington, click here if you want to send your support to Karl Rove. Whitehouse.org is also kind enough to copy the e-mail to other patriots like Novak, Hannity, Drudge, etc.

Adam

Reality Bytes

Paul Daugherty article

A few weeks ago Maggie Downs wrote an article about her boyfriend's sky-diving crash and the difficulties of a long re-hab ahead. Today Paul Daugherty writes a spectacular piece on her boyfriend (Jason Yasuda), the death of his friend (Sean Crossman), and what draws people to skydiving. Daugherty is always worth reading, today more so than normal.

My turn to rip on Bronson

Ohh, how I would have loved to have found a column of Bronson's to agree with. But unfortunately that's not going to happen today, as he uses the deaths of five local soldiers to tell us that we should all blindly believe that the war in Iraq is just, and anyone that doesn't must hate America.

The crux of this article comes from the statement he got from Iraq veteran John Detling, who said that "people who say 'I suuport the troops but I don't support the war' can't have it both ways. Talk about demoralization.". This line has become typical of the Bush era black/white 'you're with us or against us' world attitude.

I really don't mean to disrespect Mr. Detling, but one of the capabilities we have is to be able to hold two opposed views in our minds and be able to confront both individually. I support the troops; I greatly admire the job that they perform every day for their country, and I'll gladly shake any of their hands and give them a pat on the back (I will also contribute money so that they can have the top-line Kevlar battle armor that this administration refuses to provide for them, but that's another story). I also can appreciate that the troops don't get to choose their assignments; that is done for them. I may not believe in the mission they're sent to, but I sure hope for their sakes that they accomplish it and get home as quickly as possible. But in the Bush world, I hate the troops, which must mean I hate America.

And can we please stop with the 'your protest of the war demoralizes the troops and gives aid and comfort to the enemy'. The enemy can't even get running water, I doubt they get Fox News out there. Bronson says that most soldiers believe we're winning; I've heard as many that would say otherwise.

Bronson then goes on to quote some 'private CIA' group that says that the recent attacks are signs that the enemy is desperate (the last throes argument). Again, considering the attacks are becoming more frequent and more powerful, I fail to see how this all works. I sincerely hope they're right, I'm just not holding my breath.

Adam

Reality Bytes

Criminal checks for subsidized housing

This enquirer article explains the reasoning behind requiring criminal background checks for federally subsidized housing. Hamilton County has stopped accepting applications for the funding until they are able to implement a program to eliminate people with a criminal record.

"The over-saturation of Section 8 housing already has had a detrimental impact on too many neighborhoods," DeWine said. "The least government can do is ensure those with criminal backgrounds are kept out of this program. If you go to neighborhoods like Westwood and Price Hill, folks there are certainly feeling the effects of Section 8 housing there. They don't need criminals living there."

Apparently Dewine would prefer to see criminals living on the street where they are more likely to continue committing crimes.

This year, Hamilton County will spend just over $18 million on rents for 2,738 subsidized housing units. Its program is separate from that operated by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. The metropolitan housing agency will spend $41 million this year on about 7,200 subsidized rental units, spokeswoman Kelly Kramer said.