Check Out Some Great Aerial Photos of Cincinnati

Check out some great aerial photographs of Cincinnati, including Downtown, the Rverfront, and Kings Island, from QueenCityDiscovery.

Here They Are: AMERICA'S MERCURY ASTRONAUTS!

There are a few Cincinnati City Council candidates who need their signatures verified, but everything's been turned in and the list of candidates for the ride of a lifetime are as follows:

Incumbents:
Chris Bortz (C)
Leslie Ghiz (R)
Wayne Lippert Jr. (R)
Amy Murray (R)
Roxanne Qualls (C/D)
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Cecil Thomas (D)
Charlie Winburn (R)
Wendell Young (D)

Previous Candidates:
Kevin Flynn (C)
Nicholas Hollan (D)
Christopher Smitherman (I)

New Candidates:
Jacqueline Allen (I) *
Mike Allen (I)
Kathy Atkinson (I)
Patricia McCollum (I)
Sandra Queen Noble (I)
Jason Riveiro (D)
Chris Seelbach (D)
Yvette Simpson (C/D)
P.G. Sittenfeld (D)
Catherine Smith Mills (R)

Write in Candidate:
Orlando Welborn

More from CityBeat and the Enquirer.

*Please note that CityBeat and the Enquirer have slightly different lists.  CityBeat includes Jacqueline Allen, the Enquirer does not.  CityBeat indicated J. Allen had turned in enough signatures, but was among those waiting for the signatures to be verified.  I am not aware that the verification were completed.

Help the Streetcar and All Rail Projects: Cincinnatians For Progress Fundraiser - Tonight!

Cincinnatians For Progress is holding a fundraiser tonight,Thursday August 25th, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at The Blue Wisp, 318 E. 8th St. There will be music by Dave Hawkins. There will be door prizes from Milton's, Iris Bookcafe, Park + Vine, Segway and others. Get there and support progress for Cincinnati.

A suggested donation is $20 to the general public, or $50 to hosts. If you can't make it tonight, you can contribute online here.

Chabot Hates Open Meetings and is Ignorant About Tax Rates

In case you missed the video, check out what happened when Republican Congressman Steve Chabot's staff directed a Cincinnati police officer to seize cameras of private citizens during a Chabot Town Hall event in Avondale at a publicly owned building.

I feel sorry for the police officer, but he should know better, and should have questioned the validity of "security reasons" when two television station cameras are there. Here is a tape of this from a third camera:



Here is more from the Enquirer's political blog. (If this was Steve Driehaus, this would have been front page news).

In other Chabot News, Steve Benen of Washington Monthly has a great story discussing an exchange, at I believe the same meeting above, where Chabot was advised that Federal Tax rates are the lowest they have been in 50 years.Chabot didn't believe it. He was told this by a voter, not likely one to vote for him, but a voter none-the-less. Benen gives Chabot-the-Ignorant the truth about Federal Tax rates. I understand that in the middle of a meeting, Chabot can't Google this, but as a member of Congress who is talking about tax policy, he should know this simple fact. What I fear is that he knows this, as do most Republican office holders, but he doesn't want any else to know this. They want people to think they pay far more taxes then ever before in hopes that the ignorant public will support cutting taxes, without a worry about how much their lives will change when they are asked to buy why they can't afford, assuming they want the same service the government provided. Republicans like Chabot want to destroy more government services for the public and will lie in order to do so. That's the modern GOP way.

The System Works! No Thanks to Republicans on Council

So, no laws had to be changed.  No, arms had to be twisted.  Instead, the Republicans Grandstanding on a non-issue just needed to waste some time.  None of that mattered.  The Oakley Skyline Chile Restaurant has approval to expand as it wanted.  If you hear any of the Republicans taking credit, ask them to explain what they did, exactly, to get his done.  If they don't have anything beyond a B.S. answer, then you can figure out what stinks.  If you can't smell what they say, then you have your nose up someone's behind.

Dear Chief Craig, Deters Is an Ignorant Political Hack

Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig was on WDBZ radio recently and reportedly was troubled by the comments made by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.  I can help Chief Craig here by telling him that Deters is a Republican who gets elected by making people in Hamilton County, mostly Republicans, scared of the City and of black people specifically.  That's what he does.  He's subtle about it, but he does it on purpose.  Case in point is Deter's ignorant comments about the incident on Fountain Square, where he compared it to Times Square and claimed "It's had one gun crime in the last three years..."

Well, let me help some more and do a quick Google Search on the topic:
1. April 5, 2010: 4 Shot, 54 Arrested in Times Square Easter Melee

2. December 10, 2009: Cop kills man in Times Square shootout

3. May 1, 2010: Car Bombing Attempt

4. January 7, 2011: Journalist Found Murdered in Times Square Hotel Room

5. August 21, 2010: Police investigate fatal stabbing near Times Square

6. August 12, 2010: Wizard of Oz Character Stabs Man in Times Square

7. July 17, 2011: Attempted Rape on Time Square

So, after a really quick search, I found two incidents of gun crimes (five dead), one almost tragic terrorist attempt, two fatal stabbings, one non-fatal stabbing, and one attempted rape. All of these happened with the last three years.  This is by no means a complete list, just a quick Google Search.  So, yes, Joe Deters is full of shit.  Times Square is a relatively safe place, far safer than it used to be.  I somehow survived walking with my high school classmates through Time Square in 1989 back in the old scary days, and lived to tell about it.  Time Square is still far more dangerous that Fountain Square has been or will ever be.  You can't find how many muggings or thefts in the news in NYC because those don't make the news.  Here in Cincinnati, sometimes it makes the news, on slow news days or when the victim makes for good pictures.

Bottom line, Deters makes stuff up to gain attention and make people scared of the City and Downtown specifically.   He does so, in my opinion, to make people scared and more open to his brand of fear politics.  Thankfully, I've not seen this from other Republicans in the same manner.  I'm still waiting for the next council meeting, where I hope it is not used as a political weapon. Having a police chief that is willing to not ignore the comments of people like Deters and is willing to call them on it is a refreshing spirit that I hopes continues.

Around the Blogs Recently: Things you Might Have Missed

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Carrie Bradshaw is full of shit stirs up the dating world with a summary of a recent two date night that came up empty.

McCoy on Movies has a take on Ann Hathaway's new movie One Day.  Editor's note: I, for the record, find Hathaway hot, but maybe not this movie, so much.