Riverfest red, white and boom
"During Riverfest, Cincinnati police reported about 15 arrests for minor incidents like alcohol violations,..."
I saw no fights, no one getting beat up, no bus drivers being attacked, and there were a hell of a lot more people there than the Black Family Reunion. There were also more unsupervised teenagers from far more neighborhoods all mingled together, yet no mob violence occurred. How is this possible? I saw bikers there, I saw skater punks, I saw jocks, and preppies. How could there not have been a mob of kids fighting? Don't kids just do that? Hmm??

The fireworks were really good. I saw them from the serpentine wall, right across from Newport. It was the prime viewing location. The highlights were the spinwheels on the Taylor-Southgate Bridge, and the series of beam fireworks that arced over the crowd. I do not think it could have been much better, except I was so close I could not hear the many radios around me over the fireworks themselves.

Satan not welcome at prison
Ok, no how can anyone with a brain not see that religious freedom is not just the freedom to practice a brand of Christianity or of monotheism. Who determines what a "recognized" religion is? What authority will declare Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, and Snake Handling Protestants ok, but consider Wiccans, Satanists, and Bokononist not ok. How can anyone who advocates allowing Christian missionaries to run free in prisons, not allow any religion to run free? Many Christians are against allowing Islam to go unfettered in prisons. One such Christian is convicted felon Charles Colson, former Nixon official convicted as part of the Watergate affair. Chuck fears the rise of Islam in prisons. I must laugh at this kind of a person, this kind of hypocrite. I wonder what Peter Bronson would think about this? I would guess he would either agree or at least sympathize with the criminal Colson.

Christians cry religious bigotry when they are not given preferential treatment by the government or the media, but when they move to oppress the practice of other religions, they say the are doing their "god's" work and seem to forget about religious freedom. Theocracy is back in vogue with the red states, and it will be the death of freedom if it spreads.

Ohio's troubles pose little threat to Taft
It appear the Enquirer is one again behind the times or sees numbers in a vastly foriegn manner. The article states this: "Early polls suggest that most statewide GOP candidates will coast to victories in November. One of the newest governor's race polls, conducted Aug. 23 through Friday by a Columbus newspaper, found Mr. Hagan trailing Mr. Taft by 8 percentage points. "

But this AP story: Poll: Taft 8 percentage points ahead of Hagan tells a different story. I realize that the reporters most likely did not have this poll when they wrote this story, but that is what you get for writing the story early, and then taking vacation.

BRONSON: For whom do unions fight?
Ok, now is Bronson Union bashing or not? He bashes the public employee unions and their support for Democrats, but he praised the local AFL-CIO for not caving into the boycotters. Bronson is a shill for the GOP, the party still beholden to the Boss's small and large, yet he seems to be trying to gain the votes of union members. Does Peter want to break the unions or does he want to keep their organization and gain the votes. Is it principle or is it pure political jockeying. If you said the latter, you are today's winner of the obvious! Come on down to city hall and gain your prize: a big fat lobbyist trying to buy your vote. The rest of you will get the home version of our game "Screw the workers, gains some votes."

Riverfest, fireworks end summer with bang
I shall be there and I will be watching for uncontrolled crowds. I wonder if Jay Love will be there, or will he be too fearful to attend?

What happened at Huntington Meadows?
A good follow-up from Greg Korte. I hope to see a follow-up in six months on what has happened with the former residents, the property, and any investigation into potential wrongdoing.

Miami stuns UNC - again
Love and honor to Miami,
Our college old and grand,
Proudly we shall ever hail thee,
Over all the land.

Alma mater now we praise thee,
Sing joyfully this lay,
Love and honor to Miami,
Forever and a day.

Fight Song Audio (RP)

Football game ends with attack
Another bunch of thugs who need to be arrested. Gee, I am saying this without knowing what their race(s) were! How about that! I can form an opinion without assuming what a person's race was. Yea for me! I will be waiting to hear on the talk shows how this event pans out vs. the aftermath of the Black Family Reunion. The race of these punk kids will define which radio station, WLW or WDBZ, devotes more time to this topic. I wish it would not, but it will.

I would raise one issue about the Enquirer printing this story. When a group of people in Over-the-Rhine attacked a motorist on Vine Street and started a mini-riot, it took Peter Bronson to report the story in his column. This story got not only newspaper space, it made at least WLWT-NBC yesterday. I again do not know the races of the kids involved, but does that have anything to do with the level of coverage this story has gotten? I do not mean the coverage because they have been black, I mean because they have been white.

Voters to decide drug issue
Yet another statewide story gone missing from the pages of the Enquirer and Post. This ballot issue should bring many advocate ads on both sides, that might get ugly. It sounds like a fun time for all!

CincyNation.com seems to be showing a clear bias in their comments on this story:
"Jail the leader, just like the old South during civil rights movement
The 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals upheld Nathaniel Livingston Jr.'s conviction and sentence for disrupting a speech by Mayor Charlie Luken at the Oktoberfest opening ceremony in Fountain Square. It reminded us of the old South. If all else fails, jail the leader. Link to story"
Where the hell did they get this? This "us" they mention, is that the same "us" that is a boycott supporter? This comment is unfair and unjust. Nate Livngston deserves what he gets. He is no civil rights leader; he is a bigot, a racist, an opportunist, and an attention whore. Trying to compare him to the civil rights leaders of the 1960's is ludicrous, and it is even more outlandish to compare his prosecution to acts of the Old South. I have not seen this website exhibit such unabashed bias before, but I will have to keep better watch. It is one thing to comment on story and criticize it, but it is another thing to make outlandish exaggerations with no basis in fact. CincyNation has made a big mistake in mixing its news links with it editorial. If they want to be a blog, then be a blog, don't try to be an objective source of news, and bait and switch it with opinion.

GUTIERREZ: For blacks only
Karen Samples Gutierrez again is telling us that the white community is perpetuating segregation. I again ask for examples of it. Do we perpetuate segregation by simply acting out the mainstream culture, instead of embarrassing the urban black culture? Are we racists because we do not accept the desire of some of black community to be submissive to their culture? If we don't accept them we are bad, but if they don't accept us, they are just celebrating their own culture? This is nuts. Karen, I think you are out on a limb of selective freedom. I can't be myself without oppressing them, but they can be them self without any repercussions. This is the epitome of a double standard, and I can see nothing but "white guilt" overtaking reason.

CAA capitulation prompts resignation
The key paragraph: "Judge Jones said Friday that he could not tolerate a decision by the agency board to move its annual dinner out of a downtown hotel simply because board members were afraid after being threatened with physical harm."
This sounds like it vindicates the lawsuit by the Cincinnati Arts group and it supports Peter Bronson's Column. Why the newspaper only has Nate Livingston as a spokesperson is a mystery. How can anyone trust a convicted criminal's claims? Was he the first person called or the last person called? Linda Newman and Amanda Mayes were not answering their phones? Nate’s claims were rather dubious, at best. These threats should be investigated. This has all of the earmarks of extortion. I hope the police and/or Mike Allen do not shy away from the firestorm that would be created in going after the "thuggish" boycotters who made these threats to the CAA.

I wonder what it took to get this story into the newspaper and to get it as a top story? This kind of incident has in the past only been in Peter Bronson’s columns. What changed in this set of facts? Does Judge Jones’s words carry more weight? Does a former Mayor, Bobbie Stern, raise so many eyebrows that no one can avoid this story? I hope the Enquirer keeps this kind of reporting up, and does follow-up and see if any prosecutions occur. Will Mike Allen look into this? Will the CJC find a patsy? Stay tuned.

W. Chester officials try to shut out adult shops
More fascism on the March. Why are people listening to Phil Burress? Why do they embrace theocratic fascism? I know many people need to be told what to do, especially when they are told to tell others what to do, but do they have a shred of individuality or freedom? I guess they fear the young boys will grow up to be guys who like to look at naked women. That sounds like something horrible!!!! Oh the humanity!!!!!!!

BRONSON: Spin cycle
When a spinmeister is whining that his spin is not working on the media at large, I must just take a moment to dance around the room singing and yelling in complete and utter bliss.

SMITH AMOS: Lincoln Hts. reunion
Denise Smith Amos has hit double with this column. She correctly and cogently covers both angles of this situation and calls out those who have made a bad situation that had improved, even worse.

CityBeat: Burning Questions "Do You Want to Know if a Politician Uses Racial Slurs?"
The answer to that question is yes. I want to know. I want to know everything a politician does that relates to his job or a current issue in the consciousness of public discourse. The case that Greg Flannery brings up is not as clear-cut as he alludes with his comparison to Dick Nixon and the Nixon tapes. One is a first hand source: the Nixon tapes. The other is a second hand source: the deposition.

For the record, I think Simon Leis Jr. is a fascist, and should not be in office. I also think Simon Leis has many other prior actions that have bordered on or been in full violation of either the law or of department policy or both. Facts of these actions have been reported in the past and are only relevant here as a measure of Leis's credibility.

Credibility is the crux of this case, and where the media’s trust lies. This issue has at its core an issue of credibility on the part of Mr. Leis and William Engleman. I do not know who is telling the truth here. It is legally a moot question in regards to the discrimination lawsuit, which caused the issue to come to the surface. That lawsuit was settled. Media outlets have to judge whether or not these allegations have any merit to them, and if those allegations are “news.” If they pass those tests, then they should print the story.

These allegations were not just the rantings of some nutcase off the street. Instead a former member of the Sheriff’s department, while under oath made them. Even though there are other allegations made about this source, from a sworn statement from Mr. Leis, it is a credible enough source to be reported. The allegations as indicated would be news in any situation, but they take on greater meaning in light of the police-community relations issues that have been the forefront of nearly all political discourse in this city for the last 2 years.

The Post and Enquirer, as well as the rest of the local media (except for City Beat), were derelict and should have reported this story. I am surprised that the TV outlets have not reported the story with a hot button issue (the "n" word) that can draw big ratings. However, I do not see a disingenuously hidden agenda on the part of the local in not reporting this story. The only hidden agenda that might exist is the same agenda that keeps stories like Peter Bronson’s BRONSON: Tainted vote in a opinion based Column, instead of a straight news story. That agenda is an attempt to avoid inflaming a tense city. In this case I think the story would spin the Lt. Col. Twitty case into an even more racial charged battle than it is, if that is possible. I wish the other media outlets would not worry so much about reporting the truth, instead of keeping an image, whether the image is of a peaceful city or a righteous civil rights crusader.

I am glad Greg wrote this article, but there is one major problem with it. He is concerned with whether or not Leis said a racial slur. This is the holy grail of racial politics. In this case the real issue is whether or not Simon Leis fired an employee because of her race. Greg did not ask that question in his article, and as far I know, no one else has either. That is the material story. If the only evidence to that story is the racial slur, then I see no proof of discrimination. If there were valid reason to fire this person, then no matter what level Leis’s alleged bigotry rose to, saying what he is alleged to have said would not have risen to the level of discrimination. The problem is that the world at large would not see it that way. The “n” word is like yelling fire in a crowed theater in this country, and no matter how deplorable Leis is as a person, words alone do not make discrimination.

Chris at Queen City Soapbox comments on City Beat's Porkopolis. I agree with Chris on his support for Dave Schaff running as the Democrat nominee for the 34th House District against Tom Brinkman. I would vote for a monkey or dead man instead of Tom Brinkman. Brinkman is a far right zealot, hell bent on theocratic anarchy.

Press Release from Boycotters - 08-28-2002 (pdf format)
This is just filler. If this press release were food, it would be an empty taco shell. The boycotters are championing a recent editorial and some alleged comments from the City Manager to try and push their negotiations proposal forward. They have no meat to feed the public. Instead they have hollow motives. They are trying to bait and switch the City. They are raising a fig leaf, but they are not out to negotiate, they are seeking the capitulation of Luken and the Council. This group does not speak for countless ragtag list of inbred organizations that claim to support the boycott. Nothing positive can come from this group, short of calling of the boycott.

Two more hotels pull sex movies
Why do we tolerate this form of Theocratic Fascism? Why do we allow religious zealots to extort legal and vibrant businesses? Why do allow public officials to waste time with the private lives of individuals, doing no one any harm, while ignoring the many thefts and robberies that go unsolved?

Tristate A.M. Report: "Festival says no to ride provider" (scroll down)
Well, it would appear that the planners of the Lincoln Heights festival will not be using the amusement ride vendor who had pulled out from the festival last week. It appears that the organizing committee decided they did not want the company because they "didn't feel the crowd would be accepting of them." That infers that the organizers feared that the vendor's rides would either be boycotted or the equipment and/or ride operators would be in danger of possible hostility, verbal or physical.