Sin taxes 1st in line to go up
You better drink up, its Last Call.

More than 800 to attend March for Life
This story got a little bit too much attention for my taste. Beyond the Enquirer WLWT-NBC, news updates from 700WLW, WXIX-FOX, and WKRC-CBS covered the local group heavily. I know I live in a right-wing strong hold, but these "marchers" are painted like good deeding children. I wonder how many of these kid's grades are influenced by their attendance? That is a good question for the Elder Administration, who authorized a group from their school to attend. The question I want answered is where were the so-called "right to lifers" during the anti-war protests this weekend? How do those who claim to fight for the life of all fail to fight for those who will undoubtedly die in a war? I realize that two trips in one week to D.C. is too much for anyone, but there was a rally last Saturday against the war which only had a couple hundred people. Where were these 800 people?

I myself am pro-choice on the abortion issue and I am fairly mixed on the potential war with Iraq, but I like to be consistent with my principles. That does not mean I don't have nuanced opinions on issue that seem to be similar, but I do keep to the big issues. If I were a "pro-lifer" I would not pick and choose which lives have value. If they want to protect the fetus, why not protect the humans too?

Hispanics largest U.S. minority
How does this effect race relations in this country? Will Hispanics be the hot political potato? Will the boycotters be glad? Well, that is obvious, no; they will call it a conspiracy against blacks and then call for stricter immigration enforcement. The real question that I think about is will there be increased problems between blacks and Hispanics? Some of the rhetoric from the fringe of the boycott suggests that there already is increased tension. I envision the Hispanic population in America blending in very easily, as it has been doing for over a hundred years now. It may take 10 to 20 years for the real influence of Hispanics to be felt on the political level of society throughout the country, but their influence will differ from that of any other minority living in America. Since I have a little Latin blood in me, I see this as a good occurrence for all.

John Schlagetter on the causes of crime.

Chris Anderson takes the Cincinnati Post to task for being lazy and relying on a flawed presentation of census data for a story that plays to the ills of Cincinnati unfairly.

Boycott Website Changes
Since the adult organizers of the CJC left the group, Nate and fellow ruffians have created a new website to promote their extortion of the city. On the website Nate is is asking for donations to be sent to his home address. I have to ask a question. Is it legal for Nate to accept donations on behalf of a nonprofit organization in this manner? Does Nate have a nonprofit corporation set up to accept donations? Since one of the members of the prior nonprofit pulled out, along with the person whose address was listed as its office address, is this entity legally still in existence to accept contributions on a non-tax basis? They use the CJC name on the new website, but is it theirs to use? These are questions I am just asking, I don't know the answers. I hope Nate and crew had Ken Lawson advise them before he accepts donations as his personal residence.

Gay man's slaying suspected hate crime
It is about time the Enquirer covered this story. Score 2 for Kathy Y. Wilson.

Protester wants Winkler disqualified from case
Mr. Summers might benefit from a long stay in an institution that can keep him from going over the edge.

Flyer Funny Business?
The Political Junkie brings up the coincidence that the Assistance City Manager's tenure in College at the University of Dayton overlapped with LaShawn Pettus-Brown. Mr. Pettus-Brown is currently wrapped in the Empire Theater scandal. Since UD's number of first year black students was 104 for 2002-2003 and 53 for 2001-2002, it is safe to assume that if the two men went to college there at the same time, they at least new of each other. This shared personal history in no way proves their possible friendship influenced the decision of the City to loan money to Mr. Pettus-Brown, but it raises a conflict of interest that should at a minimum be investigated by the City Manager, the Mayor, and City Council.

'Put the razor-wire back in our laws'
Attention Suburbs! Peter Bronson is joining the Boycott! He is trying to scare you to death about going into the City. The City is filled with "them," and if you don't keep "them" out of your neighborhoods, your crime will rise.

Peter, Why don't you just nuke the city? Why don't you just build a wall around the suburbs? Why are you playing along with the City Vs. the Suburbs battle? The Suburbs don't care about the City. They already have built barbwire fences trying to keep out "them." Peter is doing nothing but stomping on the City he seems to hate. He hates the people, except the "Christian" ones, he hates the government; he hates the larger number of liberals in the City. I hope Peter doesn't use Cincinnati as part of his return address when he mails out his Christmas cards, the embarrassment of not living in small rural conformist/homogenized crime free town must be gnawing at him.

My email to Pete covers one more problem with his column.

Subj: RE: Crime story (01/19/2003)
Date: 01/19/2003 11:02:47 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: CincyBlog@aol.com
To: pbronson@enquirer.com

Mr. Bronson,

You included Mt. Washington in your list of troubled neighborhoods?

"These are cries for help from ordinary people who are watching drug-crime cancer kill their neighborhoods. They came from Northside, Madisonville, Walnut Hills, Bond Hill, Mount Auburn, Over-the-Rhine, Mount Washington and College Hill - some of Cincinnati's oldest neighborhoods."

Well, I live there, and I don't agree with your pronouncement. I don't even know where you got that perception from? Could you have meant Camp Washington, maybe? You better tell your buddy Phil Heimlich that his neighborhood has some of "them" in it, so he can move.

Brian Griffin
Mt. Washington

When and if I get a response, I shall of course post it.

U.S. Troops Sharpen Skills in Afghanistan
Lt. Ryan Knight, from Cincinnati is quoted several times in the AP wire article.

Busloads Of Ohio Anti-War Protesters Head To D.C.
The main problem I have with these protests are the organizers. Sayrah Namaste is the local Cincinnati organizer for the protest held in Washington D. C. Today. On the website promoting local participation she links to the national organizing group A.N.S.W.E.R.. This is a loose coalition of every communist group in the country. Those groups are now largely made of radical unionists, religious groups (Islamic and Christian mostly), and extreme environmentalist groups, which is akin to a religion in the level of blind faith they live by.

These groups are playing on the pacifist and non-violence beliefs of many well-meaning local groups, but their goals are no different than Hamas. I think much of communism today is a hyper-religious communism. They give people what they want, a means to channel their emotions and provide a group to join. Identity is what troubles most people today. People don't know who they are and want to be told who they are and what they should do. Communists want them to be anti-capitalist and "pro-worker", a tired old myth. These groups are aligned or at least akin to the boycotters here in Cincinnati. Much like the boycott demands, A.N.S.W.E.R. ties racism, the red herring for modern progressive-populist politics, to everything. Money causes racism, war is racism, and white people are racism. Racism is that which causes non-whites to be non-white. A ludicrous statement, yet not far from their rantings. It is nothing different than the frame of reference used during the "red scare" of the 1950's. The media is letting it pass out of ignorance and self-interest. They are lazy and don’t do much research into who the are covering. They instead look for conflict that will create drama. Drama is what drives news coverage. If there is no Drama, then nothing is interesting, and therefore it gets no coverage. The public seems to be apathetic to all of this. It is nothing more than a game. To be honest, It basically is a real game. Who can spin the truth on the head of the pin the fastest without actually telling the truth? The participants whether on CSPAN or any media outlet or in any political office know what they say and do is a matter of perception, and is a calculated strategy to their sport. That is the game I watch. Who needs the NFL when the media/politics battles are on 24 hours a day?

As a side note, I have no problem with protesting. I am not supportive of this pending war, but I am not out right against it either. I am open to being honest about the use of military force. It is not a good thing, but a necessary thing. If Bush can make a case for why we need to go to war with Iraq, I will listen. Up to now, Bush has not made a credible or clear case. I just don’t think linking this War to every issue you have is going to solve anything. It is the same way the boycotter’s demands became a laundry list of every issue that could be linked to “them”. “Themism” as no ideological boundaries. All are infested and the wood is starting to crumble.

UPDATE: It appears that a Leslie Markworth from Cincinnati attended the protest and was quoted in the Vanguard of Nigeria saying: "I’m outraged and I have to do something about it." I just don't think she is really doing anything. Standing in a crowd yelling at nonsensical speeches from communists and their duped allies hardly seems like something worthwhile.

UPDATE2: Leslie Markworth got around at the rally. Islam Online quoted her as well in this section:

Demonstrator Leslie Markworth came to Washington in a group that took three buses from Cincinnati, Ohio.

"I'm outraged and I have to do something about it," she said.

"I would like to see Bush and his cronies postpone their decision to wage war on Iraq," Markworth said.

She and her friend Stephen Lavelle will travel 800 kilometers (500 miles) home overnight.

"I would like (Bush) to focus on real problems like the economy and unemployment," Lavelle said.

Her friend also from Cincinnati, Stephen Lavelle was mentioned in the Nigerian newspaper. Islam Online gave one really biased article, while the Vanguard's story was more factual.

UPDATE3: International R.E.S.P.O.N.S.E. takes on the problems with International A.N.S.W.E.R. as the organizers of today's march.

UC Law Students: Halt executions in Ohio
Students from the UC College of Law’s Urban Justice Institute issued a report Friday calling for a moratorium on executions until a commission can be formed to examine how the death penalty is administered in Ohio. There is no way in hell Bob Taft would do this, but this section from the Cincinnati Post's story seems disingenuous:

Taft's spokesman said the governor hadn't yet seen the UC study, but noted that Ohio's constitution prohibits the governor from issuing a death penalty moratorium.

It seems like they are taking covering under a faux shield from having to answer whether the death penalty is applied fairly in Ohio. Neither this section from the Ohio Constitution nor this Ohio Revised Code section would prevent the Governor from commuting anyone he saw fit to not execute in my layman's opinion.

That said, Taft is dependant on the far right of his party, who don't really like him much. He chose a pro-choice Lt. Gov. and has been slow to approve a law allowing anyone to carry a concealed gun anywhere in Ohio. Taft will obviously not do anything but execute those who get no legal reprieve from the courts.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer paints a harsher picture of Taft's reponse to the UC students. The article states:

Taft spokesman Orest Holubec said the governor rejected the students' report before even bothering to read it.

A very different take from Taft's hometown Cincinnati Post.

Downtown office buildings face higher vacancy rates
How does this compare to other cities? Does the 10 to 15 percent increase in unoccupied office space include only downtown or the entire city or is it the entire metro-region? This article leaves much out the details out to paint a one sided picture with no context. This is bad reporting in my opinion, it not only omits information, it has no real point and seems conjured up to fill a story glut.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger Coming to Cincinnati
The who's who of the CCV will certainly be in attendance in Norwood on the 20th for the Dr. Laura, hypocrite of America 2002, book signing. This will be the local theocratic fascist event of the year, please note it is a book signing, not a book burning. Please remind your neighborhood CCV member to leave their gasoline and matches at home.

Just to remind you, Laura Schlessinger is the women who regularly tells people how to live their lives on her radio “advice” show, while her own life would be fodder for the Jenny Jones or the Jerry Springer show. Her mother recently was found after lying dead about 2 months in her condo. Ms. Schlessinger blamed her mother for pushing away the family. Ms. Schlessinger I guess found it ok to shun her mother. I guess the "commandment" on honoring one's mother and father is subjective in her mind. When she tells children to do what their parents want, I wonder if they buy her advice, or if they just laugh at her hypocrisy. It is sad when anyone's parent dies, and how Ms. Schlessinger mother died, was horrible, but the way Laura Schlessinger has ignored the adage of "practice what you preach" is too much for me to lay off, especially when she will be visiting only a few miles from where I live. If hope her visit is short, useless, and she at least is subjected to a few protestors.

So Long Pat Barry, We Hardly New Thee
Well, Pat is and was a media veteran here in Cincinnati, but with the cancellation of his short run WKRC radio show, I will miss him being on the air. Pat was the only moderate voice from a current affairs talk radio show on Clear Channel’s stations here in town. Now we shall be treated to the rabid dog fascist stylings of Sean Hannity of FOXNews fame. Sean is one of the worst talk radio hosts in America. He is beyond being a shill for the GOP, he acts as their penis, while stuffing his trite GOP propaganda down his listener's throats. He is the walking poster boy for Conformist Republican Christians of America, Inc. Spinsanity had a great column on his slippery handling of facts and his nasty habit of myth perpetuation. Darryl Parks, local Clear Channel AM boss, is a man with only one purpose: get bigger ratings. He must feel threatened by the newly started ultra-right wing talk radio on WBOB. He seems to feel that he needs to shore up his programming, weed out any hint of "liberals," and pull back a conservative audience that does not like Gary Burbank's comedy and might be tempted by the moralizing of Michael Medved.

Local radio has taken one more step to oblivion, and another outlet for local discussion is gone. Now we get more of the same. The same topics, the same message, and the same propaganda. Soon FCC Chairman Michael Powel will be opening the gates to Clear Channel to own more, and local radio will be dead, except for what little local radio is on NPR. Local TV news is dead, local newspapers are holding on by a thread. I hope blogs catch on locally. Soon that may be the only means of public information and public discourse. Long live the Blog!

"Answers" in Genesis talk (2nd item)
Attention to all morons in Cincinnati, you can be treated to a wonderful morning of faux-science by the likes of the international man of creationist propaganda and lies himself: Ken Ham. Why would any religious person of with even a remote level of credibility promote this delusional man's rantings in a newspaper column? This guy thinks the Earth is only 6,000 years old. How can parents willingly allow their kids to be fed lies that this? The allure of theocratic fascist religions will never cease to amaze me.

Show Somebody the Money
Chris Anderson on the Empire Theater debacle. The folks on the Buzz's Week in Review on Friday used this a reason to slam Luken and Reece. I would like to blame all of city council for not following up on the issue, but most of the blame lies with LaShawn R. Pettus-Brown. John Schlagetter has a few emails with city officials on this.

NASA Sets Its Sights on Nuclear Space Rocket
The timing sucks rocks, but the idea is excellent. If Bush does release this as part of the State of the Union, I will be surprised and disappointed. The story will get missed in the Iraqi shuffle, and we will not be able to find the money for it right now. I hope the Democrats do not make this into an issue of affordability, but I fear they will. This issue is much too important for the usual partisan pissing match. The story was also in the Guardian

Homeland Security Research Center Meeting
The meeting was held in Columbus, but the center is based in Cincinnati. I don't feel any safer either way.