One of the best times of the year has arrived and I am more than excited, I am ecstatic with the prospects of what awaits over the next three days. Tonight my shows of choice include:
The Seedy Seeds at 7:30 at the SCPA Corbett Theater
The Watson Twins at 9:30 PM at the Know Theatre
Jessica Lea Mayfield at 11:45 at the Know Theatre
Be sure to keep tabs on live.mpmf.com for Tweets and texts from all over the festival.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Chamber Of Commerce 'Endorsements'
The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce released a scorecard of candidates for Cincinnati City Council. As would be expected, the endorsed Republicans got a uniform high score, along with Charterite Chris Bortz. Vice-Mayor Roxanne Qualls also got a mostly high score.
The Cincy FOP Likes Sexual Harassers
I always wondered why the Cincinnati FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) would stand behind police officers who abuse their power, fighting to keep bad cops on the force. Well, it just may be a fetish they have. The FOP have reportedly endorsed disgraced former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen for Cincinnati City Council. Allen settled a lawsuit with a former staffer for sexually harassing her. Abuse of power by the top legal man in the county is alluring to some people. The police union leadership likes to play it kinky, at least in politics.
I've not found a full listing of endorsements from the FOP, but I would feel really embarrassed to be listed along side Mike Allen if I were any candidate.
NOTE: The Fire fighters reported endorsed him too. That's just sad.
I've not found a full listing of endorsements from the FOP, but I would feel really embarrassed to be listed along side Mike Allen if I were any candidate.
NOTE: The Fire fighters reported endorsed him too. That's just sad.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Waiting on COAST's Casino Sidewalks Causing Deaths Tweet
I am waiting, totally on pins and needles, for the latest Tweet from COAST. I'm expecting it to read something like "$16.8M Casino sidewalks cause brownouts to all fire houses for a week, thousands to die."
Hold on, you say? That's not fair? Sidewalks are funded by the capital budget and the Fire Department is funded via the Operating budget? Hmm, that's crazy Streetcar talk! Everyone knows that via magical (and illegal) means, the City could violate the law and use that Sidewalk money to save cops jobs! We all know that, right? Right???
The four Republicans on council wouldn't vote to spend money $16.8M to fund sidewalks to promote a private endeavor when that money could be spent on saving police and fire jobs, would they? Especially when that endeavor is gambling. Isn't that a sin in Charlie Winburn's eyes?
Is my snark getting through to everyone? Yes, today the city is set to approve spend $16.8M in funds to build street and sidewalk construction around the new casino and if the committee vote there is no one against it. Only Chris Bortz is questioning where the funding is coming from, which is a fair question. The Republicans on council are not questioning it, yet they play into the lies that anti-Streetcar forces put forth, claiming that capital funds in the budget could be used to prevent police or fire layoffs (or "brownouts".) For the record, I am for the new streetscape, but I would like the source of funding of it to have some help, like from the State. The people of the State of Ohio voted to put the Casinos in, so if there is public funding needed for any part of it, the State should pony up for it, not just the localities.
None of the those anti-streetcar forces are screaming about $16.8M in street work that will actually redirect traffic. They I guess like to gamble and are not doing anything to prevent the city to spend money on the Casino. Again, COAST (the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes) seems to be rather subjective on the "Spending" part of their name. I've seen others call them "COA T" in comments on other blogs and on the Enquirer's website. Well, here's another example to fit the hypocrisy of that group. It fits well with all of the lies they spew.
Hold on, you say? That's not fair? Sidewalks are funded by the capital budget and the Fire Department is funded via the Operating budget? Hmm, that's crazy Streetcar talk! Everyone knows that via magical (and illegal) means, the City could violate the law and use that Sidewalk money to save cops jobs! We all know that, right? Right???
The four Republicans on council wouldn't vote to spend money $16.8M to fund sidewalks to promote a private endeavor when that money could be spent on saving police and fire jobs, would they? Especially when that endeavor is gambling. Isn't that a sin in Charlie Winburn's eyes?
Is my snark getting through to everyone? Yes, today the city is set to approve spend $16.8M in funds to build street and sidewalk construction around the new casino and if the committee vote there is no one against it. Only Chris Bortz is questioning where the funding is coming from, which is a fair question. The Republicans on council are not questioning it, yet they play into the lies that anti-Streetcar forces put forth, claiming that capital funds in the budget could be used to prevent police or fire layoffs (or "brownouts".) For the record, I am for the new streetscape, but I would like the source of funding of it to have some help, like from the State. The people of the State of Ohio voted to put the Casinos in, so if there is public funding needed for any part of it, the State should pony up for it, not just the localities.
None of the those anti-streetcar forces are screaming about $16.8M in street work that will actually redirect traffic. They I guess like to gamble and are not doing anything to prevent the city to spend money on the Casino. Again, COAST (the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes) seems to be rather subjective on the "Spending" part of their name. I've seen others call them "COA T" in comments on other blogs and on the Enquirer's website. Well, here's another example to fit the hypocrisy of that group. It fits well with all of the lies they spew.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
More COAST Bigotry
Are we just numb from the bigotry and veiled racism that flows from the people behind COAST? I starting to think we are heading that way, but Kevin Osborne of CityBeat has a strong blog post outlining what the latest incident entailed. The surprising source of the bigoted graphic came from a black UC student who, according to Osborne, has volunteered on local GOP political campaigns, including Council member Amy Murray.
Si Leis To Retire At End of Current Term
Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis announced last week that he will not seek reelection after the end of his current term.
The Enqurier reports that Leis stated his Chief Deputy, Sean Donovan, plans to run for Sheriff next year. I know nothing about Donovan, but I would think there would be many possible candidates considering running. I am not sure a Leis supporter would get a lot of Republican primary support, since Leis broke with the party on many issues recently, namely with his belief that the county needs funding and can't be starved to death by Monzel and Hartmann.
The Enqurier reports that Leis stated his Chief Deputy, Sean Donovan, plans to run for Sheriff next year. I know nothing about Donovan, but I would think there would be many possible candidates considering running. I am not sure a Leis supporter would get a lot of Republican primary support, since Leis broke with the party on many issues recently, namely with his belief that the county needs funding and can't be starved to death by Monzel and Hartmann.
Don't Tell Leslie Ghiz, But She's Ignorant on Issue 48
I am just not sure if Leslie Ghiz has read the text of of Issue 48, the anti-rail charter amendment, but she's in favor of banning all rail projects in Cincinnati for a generation. Well, she likely will claim otherwise, but she seems to think Issue 48 only covers the Streetcar, but as the Enquirer reported, all six experts consulted for the story agreed that the Issue could ban the City from enacting any type of rail project. I guess her prior "not right now" position on the streetcar really means never, which I believe is what it was all along.
At this point, Ghiz seems more about defeating the Mayor and anyone who criticizes her, than she is about improving the City. She's starting to sound more like a COAST member every time she makes a public statement. I can't find a Republican running for office in Cincinnati who doesn't sound like a COAST flunky.
It is so disappointing that the local Republican party has chosen to run all of its candidates on the same tone and strategy as National Republicans. It does nothing more than divide us, but alas, that's the point.
At this point, Ghiz seems more about defeating the Mayor and anyone who criticizes her, than she is about improving the City. She's starting to sound more like a COAST member every time she makes a public statement. I can't find a Republican running for office in Cincinnati who doesn't sound like a COAST flunky.
It is so disappointing that the local Republican party has chosen to run all of its candidates on the same tone and strategy as National Republicans. It does nothing more than divide us, but alas, that's the point.
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