Selective Policing - Veiled Racism?

New Allegations are hitting Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones in his office's treatment of Latinos, and Jones seems to have failed to understand that Mexico didn't bomb the World Trade Center:

"What if we stop bin Laden?" the sheriff wants to know. "What are we supposed to do? Say, 'Oh, you can go right on, sir, have a nice day. And stop by ICE's office and maybe turn yourself in.' It's gotten that ridiculous."

Last I checked, OBL wasn’t being sheltered by the Mexican government. I guess anyone not white is a possible terrorist to Sheriff Jones.

This is the guy who says he is trying to uphold all of the laws but seems to have an obsession with certain ones:

"'I took an oath to uphold all the laws of this state and of this country,' he said."

Damn, Sheriff Jones sure must have solved all of the crimes in Butler County.

I want to know if the Sheriff has all of this free time, why does he have a Cold Case Unit? If he can't solve all of the state crimes he has, why use man power to enforce a federal law that has no impact on his county?

The actions by Butler County officials are more and more taking the pattern of institutional racism, making me think of sheriffs in Alabama and Mississippi from the 1960's. This is not what should be happening in Ohio. Jones is pushing the limits of the law, and needs to be taught that he can't oppress an innocent group in hopes of finding someone breaking an insignificant law.

Theocracy In Action #814

What other reason would moronic legislators like Republican state Rep Keith Faber have for the religious state and federal mottoes being posted in Ohio schools?:

'The goal is to make sure that students have a basis to talk about the historical aspects of how this country was founded,' said state Rep. Keith Faber, who sponsored the bill.

'I don't think the mottoes are necessarily religiously based,' the western Ohio Republican said."

When you talk about God or god, you are talking about RELIGION! Simple facts seem to just fly by the theocrats. When you believe that "god" or "God" is an absolute "truth", then thinking it's not a religious concept is the kind of foolishly ignorant view one tends to have, like Rep. Raber.

Well, those mottoes are religious. ALL references to a god or God, and most certainly the Christian God, are religious references. They are what is called monotheism.

The only reason this type of thing is done is to appease the right wing Republican bent on establishing a theocracy in Ohio and the USA, and try create a fake issue to try and save Ken Blackwell from defeat.

Hanging signs in schools does nothing but divide students based on religion and create MORE conflict. Religion is not a unifying force in America! I wish people like Faber would start understanding that. Any attempt to use government to force religion on me is not a good thing! If you want to gain converts, fine, do it on your private dime using private institutions. This is not a difficult concept, but one the right wingers don't seem to grasp. I am once again sounding like a broken record, but I will not stop repeating myself as long as more attempts are made to establish a theocracy in Ohio or anywhere in the USA.

Russia Hates Gays

The right wing anti-gay bigots in the USA have new allies in their crusade against gays and lesbians. Russians appear to not hide their hate behind legislation, they show their hate with violence. I hope the Phil Burress type nut cases NEVER get to this level of insanity. I hope and I hope, but we should keep a watchful eye to their actions. Keep the hate pushers in check, and do not let their brand or level of bigotry go without retort.

Taste of Cincinnati Tales?

Anyone at or been to Taste of Cincinnati today? I am heading down tomorrow for the CiN Stage trifecta of 500 Miles to Memphis, Wussy, and THE HEARTLESS BASTARDS. Great line-up. It is going to be hot as well, so wear your sun screen!

You Don't Say

All is well, please move along!

(Yes Junior, its open)

Pick Your Battles Better

I believe it is a waste of time for anyone to try and have the Banks oversight committee's makeup altered. Instead, they should lean on the Mayor, Council, and County commission to push the issues they feel should be addressed in the plans for The Banks. Worrying about the color of skin or sex of the committee members doesn't get anything done.

People talk about "inclusion," but don't make the case for what that is supposed to be. If you are talking about quotas, well you are not going to make much headway. I have not heard any details from anyone about what is wanted other than

"The big question is, who will be in the room when decisions are made that will affect where hundreds of millions of dollars are spent and decisions are made that will affect African-American, Hispanic, Asian and other communities?" Love said. "We cannot, a decade from now, look up and see that we are lacking fair and reasonable inclusion after the Banks has been completed.

In Ten years how can we judge anything if we don't state what we want to happen? Don't give symbolic goals if you want tangible results, instead give tangible goals with realistic and possible results.

Riverfront Park Plan Updated

Will this park be a product of the Banks or will the Banks just disrupt its completion?

It sounds like by itself this project is going to take forever to complete:

Carden said the park will be built in five phases with the first phase taking two years to complete.

I really hope stages 2 through 5 are minor compared with stage 1.