Thursday, May 07, 2009

It Looks Bad For Portman and DeWine

Poll results show a clear problem for Republicans in Ohio.

Ohio is a fickle state, but at the present, the Dems have a statewide dominance. It will only take a drop in Obama's poll number to drag down Ohio Dems, but that is all that will make it possible (outside of individual candidates screwing up). The Ohio GOP can try a culture war, but I think they will loose. Portman and DeWine are not culture warriors and wouldn't be able to stomach it. At this very early point, I don't see a way to win that doesn't involve the totally collapse of the support for the President.

Kevin Osborne Appears To Be Bored

CityBeat Reporter Kevin Osborne appears to have little else to do except waste his time by feeding the ego that has taken human form in that of Jason Haap, aka the "Dean of Cincinnati."

Does anyone truthfully not understand why any political or civic organization would question the honesty and intentions of a Jason Haap or Justin Jeffery membership request? They are out for attention in any form possible (yes, I know I am giving them more) and their apparent goal of adhering to principle is about as honest a quest as the CityBeat News reporters claiming they operate without a massive political and often personal bias toward their journalistic subjects.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

CincyFringe BigBrainer - THE END?



Is this the End of BigBrainer? Will our heroic scientists survive love, sex, drinking, and slapstick hilarity?

If you wan to find out if this is the real end of series, you will have to get your Full Frontal Pass for the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. They are for sale now on the fringe website: www.cincyfringe.com.

The festival and your road to hilarity starts on May 26th!

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

New United Way Campaign

Kate the Great needs a diaper.

Err, no, that's not quite right. She just wants a diaper. Or she wants you to buy other people a diaper.

Seriously....the United Way has a new campaign: the Give 5 -- Diaper Drive. The idea is to give five bucks, which the Greater Cincinnati United Way will then spend on diapers. The diapers will be given to a bunch of local agencies who will distribute them to needy families in Cincinnati.

It's not a need that people like me (single and childless) typically think about, but it makes sense that this is an unmet-need for poor families. So go check out KRM or the United Way site for the details. There's also some sort of twitter thing, but not being hip enough for that, I'm sticking with the websites.

Off With Our Noses!

I have to admit: I haven't followed the whole "Let's Dissolve Amelia" thing terribly closely. I know it began when Amelia leaders proposed a village income tax. But I never understood why the solution was to disband the entire village, rather than to just exact revenge (at the polls) on the mayor and others.

Will Amelians really get better representation as township members? Won't their votes be diluted if the village is swallowed by two larger political subdivisions? It just seems a little bit like voting for dissolution is cutting off voters' noses to spite their faces....

The Race Is On

The Hamilton County GOP has announced that it is endorsing Brad Wenstrup for Cincinnati mayor. His resume is interesting, although unconventional. He's an Iraq war veteran who's never held elected office. Currently, he's a podiatrist.

The only thing that I know about his take on any issues, based on the Enquirer's coverage and his own website, is that he opposes the streetcar proposal. That'll turn about ten percent of City residents (and 90% of this blog's readership) into rabid opponents and another ten percent into faithful supporters. Most people (me, for instance) aren't going to be driven to the polls based on a candidate's stance on the streetcar (I'm just not going to get worked up over a proposal that has little chance of coming into fruition, given the difficulty of finding private investment dollars in the current economic climate).

I'm not sure that Dr. Wenstrup's lack of experience is a critical issue, given the relative weakness of the mayor under the current charter. Day-to-day, nuts-and-bolts executive operations are really handled by the city manager. So it'll be interesting to see what Wenstrup's positions on various issues are, and what he sees as the mayor's top priorities over the next four years.

So unless another candidate comes forward, it looks like the mayor's race will be Wenstrup vs. Mallory. Mallory is the clear favorite at this early stage, but I hope the election will at least provide the opportunity for interesting debate regarding competing visions for the city.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Best of Taste Awards

Polly Campbell has the round-up on the 2009 "Best of Taste" winners. You may remember that last year, we (well, Julie, really, but I agreed) were off-put by awards taken by national chain restaurants. That's not a problem this year: all of the winning dishes are from local restaurants.

Can someone tell me how I've been oblivious to Vitor's Bistro, which apparently has the most decadent French toast on the planet?