Havana Martini Club Moving

No, its not moving out of downtown. Instead they are moving to Tower Place Mall. Yea, this does seem kind of weird to me. I liked the club. It had pricey Martinis, and I am a beer drinker, but it provided an interesting offset to the Backstage area around the Aronoff and CAC. The location they are going to is right on 5th Street across from Macy's. This fits well with the Fountain Square Plan. It does not work for business around 6th street, which has now lost the Masionette, La Normandie, and Skyline recently. Shifting business around downtown is an expensive game of musical chairs, but in the long run is what will have to happen for the Fountain Square Plan to work.

I would like the lower Main Street area to bloom, which comes close to the 6th Street area. That could be a great residential/retail area, with small business thriving on what could be a huge downtown populace.

"I'll Get You My Pretty"

Great cartoon on Schmidt and the GOP from Jeff Danziger. It's several days old, but still good.

Catholic Services Discrimination?

On the surface the Catholic Social Services of Northern Kentucky could be discriminating in against homosexuals. Yes, I am sure that is a shock to everyone. A Christian Church invoking bigoted policies? You don't say!

Well, there is more at stake. In the cases of birth control and abortions, the Catholic services has a default out. They don't perform those services
for anyone, so no clear way to invoke discrimination. If Catholic services does offer couples counseling to non-married people, then that is discrimination to not to so for homosexuals.

If they only offer counseling to "married" couples, then they may have legal cover. It is bigoted discrimination, but it may not be illegal.

The humorous part is that the Agency director Bill Jones thinks that the requests for counseling did not come from actual gay or lesbian people, but instead from those trying to "test" the agency:

"I think there are some other people who will be really distressed that we are serving anyone who is gay or lesbian," Jones said.

He suspects the four phone calls that prompted the formal policy review this spring were from people "trying to catch us," violating church teaching, Jones said. "In the past people have called to ask where to get an abortion and to ask us to buy birth control pills. ...

"We feel some of those were test calls, to see what we would say."

That sounds like the prudes don't trust the "liberals" who well are feeding gay homeless people. I guess they are supposed to die in the streets like the heathens they are. WTF.

Schmidt Roundup

Westender has a great round up on all things Jeannie-cakes over at Clark Street Blog.

They're in College

I have to wonder how embarrassed this kid is after his parents are pissed that their goody-goody son saw people having sex on a video in a class IN COLLEGE.

It's college! They are adults! Let them grow up and stop babying them! Also, just so we are clear: THIS IS FUCKING COLLEGE. The woman complaining, Mary Lenke, went to the length of withholding her son's name. Lucky for him. Not because it will affect his grade, because it will save him the trouble, for now, of facing the horror of public embarrassment from his classmates. Where will the idiotic prudes end their crusade against porn? Is this woman connected with Phil Burress?

Schmidt Makes SNL

You know you are a national laughing stocking when you make the Weekend Update section of Saturday Night Live.

It's official: Jean Schmidt is a national laughingstock. She was just lampooned on the "Nightly News" portion of Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey compared Ms. Schmidt with Mr. Murtha, noting that the latter had served in the armed forces for 37 years before being elected to the House. She speculated that prior to becoming a congresswoman, that--judging from her outfit--Ms. Schmidt had probably been a "1970's American gymnast."

The only thing likely missing from the SNL bit were references to Schmidt’s roles in Gymkata and American Anthem as the evil East German Judge bent on foiling the chances of the Western powers to triumph again!

Liar or Stupid?

Jean Schmidt is either a liar or stupid. Well, she could be both, but in this case I am going to choose liar. Her answers don't add up. In the article in reference to her floor comments she states:

"I did not intend to suggest that they applied to any member, most especially the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania. I therefore ask for unanimous consent that my words be withdrawn," Schmidt said.

When she claims to not have intentionally singled out any Democrat, that is clearly not the case when she said this on the floor of house:

A few minutes ago I received a call from Colonel Danny Bubp, Ohio Representative from the 88th district in the House of Representatives. He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do. Danny and the rest of America and the world want the assurance from this body - that we will see this through.

She clearly LIED! On the floor of the US House she relayed a message DIRECTLY toward Rep. Murtha. She choose it and she INTENDED it as an attack on Murtha. She is surely sorry that she did it, not for doing it, but for the response she got.

More shame is that the “Colonel” she referenced is not in Iraq, he is sitting on his ass in Columbus, Ohio as a theocratic-fascist Ohio House of Representatives member. The impression she gave and that much of press is giving is that the “call” was from a solider in Iraq. This was from another right wing idiot here in Ohio. The shame for Ohio just keeps on piling on.