Friday, August 27, 2010

Miss Print Blogs on her Last Game of the Season

"Miss Print" of the Cincinnati Roller Girls (also known as Lauren Bishop of both the Enquirer and Cincinnati Imports) tells of her last game of the season. (CRG has two games left on the West Coast this weekend.)

Miss Print may have been disappointed with the way the game and her season ended, but I finished reading Lauren's post with the same thought I often have after reading her stuff for either her blog or the paper: Damn, that woman can write.

Conservative Poll Has Chabot-Driehaus Even

The Enqurier's Carl Weiser reported on the Politics Extra blog yesterday that in a Conservative Group's poll Chabot was leading Driehaus 47% to 45% with a +/- margin of error of 4.9%, making the race a dead heat.  This is something of a surprise.  Conservative polls are almost always going to lean towards the conservative candidate, usually based on the structure of the questions or the population based used for the sample.  A dead heat here goes against the conventional wisdom of this race, which in national press outlets was giving Chabot a big advantage.  This poll would sound to me on the surface to be good news for Driehaus, but there is a long way until November, and the economic news will drive this race.
 
This poll isn't a fair indication of much, but some of the internals are very interesting about people in the 1st district:
68% of those polled were age 50 or older.
45% of those polled make $75K or less per year.
71% of those polled are white.
50% are Male and 50% Female
51% are "Pro-Life" and 40% are "Pro-Choice"  (I thought this would be a much wider gap)
 
Steve Driehaus won:
17% of Conservatives
61% of Moderates
83% of Liberals

Is the Theft Related to the Lawsuit?

A tenant, Ramdake Lewis, of the Metropole is accused of stealing documents from a company in charge of the Metropole transition. There are many questions on what this all means, but I've get several initial inquiries that raise this incident up a bit. What are the documents and how do they relate to any of the lawsuits or complaints made on the Metropole renovation? Could any of these documents be evidence in the lawsuit filed against HUD and 3CDC? Could the motive for the alleged crime be that the man in question was looking for information he could give to attorneys in this case? Is this what some would call spying?

Was Mr. Lewis spying on the Model Group/Brickstone? Spying is a big word, but was the guy snooping around? Did he "steal" the documents as he is accused? If he did this, was he acting alone? Was he advised by anyone to obtain this information? The facts of the case are not known, but if this goes to trial, more details will emerge.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Give the Daily Show an Emmy For This NOW!!!

Jon Stewart is brilliant and this looks easy, but it is so well done, I almost peed. Yes, me, crusty blogger, Brian Griffin, almost peed my pants in laughter. The Daily Show summed up the fundamental problem with FOX News in a 9 minute gut busting segment. Watch and enjoy:
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Parent Company Trap
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party
I learn towards Team Stupid, but Team Evil makes really good points.

Via: Liberalfix.com.

UPDATE: The above embedded video seems to be updating with newer episodes. To see the clip I referended, check out the full show from Monday August 23rd.

Is Smitherman a Political Whore?

Who won't Chris Smitherman, local NAACP chapter president , suck up to? He's reportedly going to have a big public meet and great with the local Tea Party. Who is next on his list? Chris Monzel? Phil Burress? Westwood Concern? I'll keep my eyes peeled for a Smitherman press release that calls for the repeal/amendment of the 14th Amendment in support of a "Birther" issue. Smitherman's been in bed with COAST for a while, and his screed against Cincinnati Public Schools seems to be a left flank attack that does nothing but hurts students and provides Chris Finney a way to demagogue public schools without lifting a finger.

It wouldn't be, I don't know, normal of Smitherman to be working with people like the Mayor of Cincinnati or...I don't know...the President of the United States instead? These men are, oh, I don't know, elected officals who happen to be....black? This fact seems to be lost on Smitherman. Has the NAACP become colorblind or has Smitherman become blind of everything but his own ambition?

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

CEAs and Acclaims Combine

Rick Pender reports that CityBeat's Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Theater will join forces with the Enquirer sponsored Acclaim Awards. The Acclaims will go forward with Pender and Jackie Demaline serving on the organization's Executive Committee. This year's CEAs will be the last. Next May's Acclaims will be changed to include public voting awards. More details on the merger likely will come out over time, but hopefully the Acclaims process will be updated overall.

I'm disappointed that we can't sustain both awards programs, but the decline in support for arts in the local (and national) media I believe has forced this move. The biggest theatre production that lose out will be the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, which this past year did not get any acclaim awards, so stand to not get any nominations next year. The Enquirer gave limited coverage of the event and it wasn't clear how many Acclaim representatives were at the festival in an official capacity. Hopefully, that can be remedied inside the organization. Having an alternative category is critical to preserving part of the CEA's superior structure.

I am going to be sure to head to this Sunday's last CEA event at the Know Theatre. I hope all Cincinnati Theatre fans come out and say farewell to this awards program which has provided strong support for local theatre.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Fun Campaign Event

As a criminal defense attorney, I get invited to judicial campaign events all the time. They're pretty standard fare: pay $150 for entrance to some restaurant or bar, have a couple beers, and eventually listen to a judge or judicial candidate say a few words thanking everyone in attendance.

Judge Nadine Allen, running to retain her seat on the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, does things a little bit differently.

On Sunday, August 29, beginning at 4:00 at the Evendale Amphitheater, her campaign will throw a concert. Those scheduled to perform include Eliot Sloan of the Blessid Union of Souls. Bootsy Collins will make a special appearance, and the judge herself will take the stage with the Supreme Courtettes. (Judge Allen and the Courtettes won the Cincinnati Bar Association's "Idol" competition late last year.)

Admission is twenty bucks and includes food and beverages.

MPMF it ain't. but it'll probably be the most interesting campaign event I've been to in a really long time.