Reading Between the Lines

I am going out on a limb now with some nit-picky analysis of the announcement that the Bush Administration is introducing 6 new regulations to allow religious organizations to receive federal funding for programs that provide community “services.” Claims to the kind of services are varied and unverified. What makes me cringe are the comments made by Jim Towey, the head of the White House faith-based office (and no this is not the group looking for WMD’s in Iraq):

"These six new regulations and the four finalized ones represent a continued march by the president in the faith-based initiative's effort to spread compassion in our country and make sure that the most effective programs are funded," said Jim Towey, the head of the White House faith-based office.

The bold was added. Now, “to spread compassion” sounds very close to “spreading the word,” one of the evangelical crowd's many rhetorical bumper sticker phrases. Additionally, with Mel Gibson’s movie out there called “The Passion”, then “compassion” could have a more obvious context. Now I am a reading into this quite a bit, but the language could have been constructed with more care, like avoiding “crusade” when talking about going after a group of Muslim extremists.

Not to be outdone with himself, Jim Towey continued:

"He wants to see results. This is not about funding religion, but about funding results and identifying the most effective providers and knocking down the wall that separates the poor from these programs."

It is not about “religion,” he says, but that depends on how one defines religion. I think my definition and his might differ greatly. His reference to “knocking down the wall that separates” is such very unfortunate use of language. That phrase was at best a Freudian slip, or at worse code words to Christian Conservatives looking for payoffs for their obedience to King George. What this policy is doing is knocking down the wall of separation between church and state. Direct or indirect funding of religion is a violation of the 1st Amendment. It is compounded in violation when the details of who is being funded and who is not being funded. I would how to see at least a few Pagan drug clinics funded, but I will not hold my breath.

The Hegmo's Creative Class Warfare

Please welcome a new blogger to the fray, Sarah at thehegemo.blogspot.com. She appears to be a Cincinnati blogger with an interest for the international, hockey, and music. Give her a read.

Wyatt Earp Eat Your Heart Out!

Well, the only good thing I can say about this pro-gun "protest" is that they at least are strapping on their leg irons. None of the conceal and carry pussy stuff for these guys. They don't just want you to be fearful they might have a gun, they wish to remove all doubt, and let the fear manifest it self in fact. Now this goes contrary to the protest leader's comments:

"I'd like for that 80-year-old woman walking down the street to be able to have a gun in her purse,'' Ferrier said. "It doesn't work the same if she's got it out where someone can see it.''

It has more of an effect. Which works better: the fear that someone might have a nuclear bomb in their garage, or having the nuclear bomb on their front lawn? Guess what, the bomb on the front lawn "works better," so to speak. Neither works better in the long run. Carrying around guns is not going to change society for the better. It will just make a few people feel more important and give the weak another crutch to live by. Crime will not go down because Grandma has a gun. Grandma will just end up shooting the next man who comes to her door mistakenly thinking he is a burglar. Fear is a two way street. It can motivate you and it can motivate others.

MIAMI 41 Colorado State 21

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.

Details: MURedhaws.com,Enquirer, Cincy Post, DDN, Rocky Mtn News, Denver Post.

Miami Student's Failings

I sent the following email to the editors of the Miami Student today. I added the links:

To the Editors,

When reading the "MU ranks low for gay tolerance" story by Harper Lee yesterday (09-19-2003) I was perplexed by part of this quote used in the story:

“It’s conservative,” said senior Katie Hladky, a co-presidents of Spectrum, a student-run organization for gay, lesbian, transgender, and straight students. “When something like 60 percent of students are born-again Christians, they in general aren’t supportive of gay people or gay rights. This is not a good place to be gay.”

Now, Miami's student body tends to be more "conservative" than most public universities, that is a fact. Miami is home to a huge Frat/Sorority system that has never been strongly open to gays and lesbians, but 60% are "born-again Christians?" Unless things have changed in this society somehow in the nearly 10 years since I was at Miami, then I think Katie Hladky, co-president of Spectrum, lied. Compounding the matter both the writer and the editors from the Student failed to add a rebuttal or at least a clarification as to the validity of her claim. It is not like the statistic she quoted is somehow debatable. If she said maybe 25% or even 33%, then that could go unchallenged, but to slander the University as I believe she did with hat claim is really uncalled for, and it is a disgrace when the student newspaper facilitates it.

Additionally, the article refers to the Princeton Survey of what I believe was 351 of the top universities, based on a Student survey of 106,000 students. Now that comes out to 301.99 students per survey on average. How many students at Miami were actually in the survey? How many gay/lesbian students were in the survey? That may be difficult to determine, but how many members of Spectrum were in the survey? Was Katie Hladky in the survey? With comments that she makes about the university, it would not be surprising that she would rank Miami the 5th worst with her slanted views. If you want to know how many people are people are Ohio State Buckeye fans in the State do you spend all of your time in Columbus asking questions? Or maybe do you branch out. Did this survey do that? Where those questions asked? Why also was this survey the lead when it is a month old? If you want to run a GBLT story, just run it straight up, don't hide it behind the credibility of Princeton.

On a side note, from your editorial on tolerance the following sentence appeared: "Spectrum, Miami’s alliance of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and queer students annually sponsors Awareness Week." What is a "queer" as opposed to a gay, lesbian, or bisexual? Is this a typo, something "new," or just the appeasement of splinter group with a hang up on language?

As a Miami Alumnus who is a full bore social liberal, I find disheartening to see that ideas are toss out there without any forethought or at least an explanation as to their meaning or purpose. Gay/lesbian rights are very important, and something I fully support. What I don't support are activists trying to disparage people and places with falsehood in hopes of trying gain hollow support for their ever-changing cause.

Sincerely,
Brian Griffin
Class of '94
Cincinnati, Ohio

I don't like it when activists are treated with kid gloves, especially when they are allowed to make stuff up without even a short editors note.

Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati

Beer!!! Brats!!! Beer!!! What three words are more beautiful in the whole wide world of city festivals? This year should be the typical. I plan on heading down this afternoon. Drink a few, eat a ton of food, and take a few snap shots of the event. I might post one or two if they turn out well. What I will be paying attention to is the little yet loud members of the CJC who plan on protesting the event. Last year there was a slight altercation between the protestors and some patrons of the event. This year I expect nothing less. I would expect to see more security on Fountain Square. The altercation will not boil up until later on when people have had a few more beers. The protests will continue tomorrow, assuming all of the protestors don't wind up in jail. Tomorrow might be the more apt time for trouble. At 4 PM the "Chicken Dance" will take place and everyone and their Fräulein will be on the square, plus the football game with the always rowdy Steeler fans will just be ending, so a recipe for high jinks is ever-present.

For info on the event go Here. Plus the Enquirer coverage Here. Protest information is here.

Theocracy on the March in Ohio

A Findlay, Ohio state representative is organizing an effort to pass a bill to get the State of Ohio to establish the Ten Commandments (part of his religion) as the foundation "on which we base our ethical, moral and legal dilemmas."

I would hope this would only get the extreme Republican support, like my Rep. Tom Brinkman, but 15 other reps have signed on. This is political grandstanding taken to the maximum extreme. People are using their religion as a campaign issue. This is not This is a wedge issue. If you are not "Christian" enough, then you are not worthy of holding office, at least in the eyes of the fanatically pious Christian.

This effort should be opposed, but will anyone in state government have the courage to face down theocratic fascists? Religiosity is yet another test that is being measured as the basis of your character. In the past it was your level of anti-communistic fervor. Today it is both "patriotism" and religion. If you are not absolutely in support of both concepts, as has been defined by the GOP, then you are one of "Them," a treasonous atheist European. I proudly am very patriotic and proud of my country. I think the President and his government currently in power is horrid. I am an atheistic agnostic. I consider myself as honorable, ethical, “moral”, and any clergyman in the world. I guess I am one of “Them,” and increasingly I am glad that I am.


More coverage: NBC4Columbs, ONN.

Insta-Drivel

I know I am behind the trend here, but have to point out that Glenn Reynolds (aka the 800-pound gorilla) has gone from semi-neutral moderate, to all out foaming at the mouth Kool-Aide guzzling end justify the means mega-hawk.

Glenn's Tirade is filled with anecdotal reports that he finds supportive of a viewpoint that is totally contrary to the reporting coming out of Iraq. Even Fox News does not paint as rosy a picture as Glenn seems to paint. Iraq is not going well. It does not take a genius to figure that out. It does take a strong person to admit when you are wrong about a policy. Glenn and the Blog-hawks cannot find it in them to admit that although the heavy fighting was done brilliantly, the aftermath was not planned and is not getting better. Now sure, not ever town in Iraq is horrible, but the parts that are bad are not getting better and any efforts to change are as rapid as a new bottle of Ketchup. I am tempted to edit my blogroll.

Should we leave Iraq? Hell no. We should stop lying about the need for help, mainly more troops, and start working quickly with the UN. Hat needs to go in hand. Let the French ego grow. Bush does not care about our international image, so why does he care about looking bad at the UN. Oh, wait, he does care about how his supporters see him, and he can’t look like a weasel to them. The hawks will be pissed if we don’t stick to the plan that is not working. Lovely.

I have to repeat Josh Marshall’s question: Where is the Kay report? Where are the WMD’s that we “knew” where there.

UPDATE: Glenn continues to drink the Kool-Aide, he even links to the MRC.

Nick Spencer Goes Nuclear

Yesterday council candidate Nick Spencer challenged the efforts of Charlie Luken and John Cranley to hire John Elkington as a consultant for Main Street development. At the OTR Chamber of Commerce luncheon Nick raised questions as to why the city is not considering the problems Mr. Elkington has had in some of his development project outside of Beale Street in Memphis. Nick's comments appeared to have not only put Mr. Elkington back on his heels, they also pissed him off enough to not show up for a meeting planned with Nick later on yesterday afternoon.

Support for Elkington is falling more and I would not be surprised if no vote occurs to even pay him. If the money for Elkington is denied, I hope that does not kill development for Main Street. Nick's had the quote that summed up the core problem with how this "plan" to hire Elkington was hatched:

"This has been put together by three or four guys who came up with this in a room somewhere and they don't want to be pressed on details," he said.

I will have more on this story in next week's VigPol.

More from the Enquirer.

Ohio's Interstate Highway System Has Been Completed

After 38 years it is finally finished? Why now are we talking about widening those same roads? Why are we not thinking 30 years ahead instead of 5? In 30 years will need a rail system to parallel the highway system? Will we need air corridors to handle the low-level plane traffic? Do we need to be investing in Mass Transit now? YES!

Miami Student Caught Counterfieting

Ok, this story got a bit too much coverage:
Enquirer
Dayton Daily News
WCPO
WHIO
ONN

The News Record's former editor steals several thousand dollars and it barely makes the news.

The original story goes to the Miami Student. It would seem the other outlets read the "Student" on occasion.

Star 64 Where Are You?

The remotely located news broadcast from WB-64 had been delayed, but they have picked the local "host," Former WXIX reporter Kimberly Moening. This will be a general waste, but it might put a little fire under FOX-19's belly and push them to be the real "local" 10 o'clock news by actually covering nothing but local news for the full hour. Ok, I am dreaming, but a man has to dream sometimes.

Mixing up Analogies

Peter Bronson needs to revisit the story of Mutiny on Bounty in his column called: "Mutiny on the Butler County Republican Bounty." Pete illustrated his column by telling a tale of Capt. Horatio Hornblower. The problem is that Hornblower was not on the Bounty. He was not even a real person. Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian were the duo that made the story's antagonist and protagonist. I would surmise that Pete knows this, but chose to mix up his analogies simply because of the alliteration of Horatio Hornblower. He is taking license with literature, but I don't think that is what people expect in a column. It was nice to see Pete expose the conflict in Bulter County Republican Party and in the entire column he did not blame Bill Clinton or a liberal. He did correctly refer to Democrats as a Moby Dick type creature. This characterization is valid because Bronson and most hard-core Republican pundits do come across as Captain Ahab most of the time.

School Prayer Gets a Midday Update?

An annual event gets a midday update? Why is this story being pumped up? Who is the Enquirer trying to impress (or piss off)? This story is a puff piece that is fit for inside the paper, it is not breaking news worth knowing about before tomorrow, if then at all.

Beyond its inclusion as part of the updated paper, usually reserved for "breaking" type news, there is the balance problem. This is written as a human-interest story, where it gives no alternate views. It is reasonable to write such story if it is meant for the Temp section. If this ends up in the Metro section, then it should at least included some counter viewpoint. Now what are those viewpoints? Well there are responses to comments like this one from the article

"I think it is just wonderful we have a society today that accepts this,'' said Herring of Colerain Township. "So many are against allowing God and prayer anywhere.''

This statement is false. There are not "many" against allowing prayer or "God" "anywhere." There are people who wish to maintain the separation of Church and State. It is legal for kids to pray in school, as long as they do so on their own time, or silently without causing any disruption. Why was there no counter argument to this viewpoint? If this is a puff piece, then why include such a harsh and false statement (albeit debatable by some fundamentalists)?

Now this statement is not legally an issue:

"I'm not ashamed,'' Johnson said after the 25-minute program of song and prayer. "Let our community know we have Christ in our school.''

It is a concern of the attitudes of those who seek to indoctrinate children with religion at schools. Most of those who want to put religion back in schools, want to put Christianity back into schools. This is fact. The savvy politicos will try and make it monotheistic, but that still fails the legality test. I wonder if Peter Bronson will question the lack of balance is this story and at that school, as much as he did Miami University's choice of Convocation speaker. I kind of think he will be giddy as a boy burning ants with a magnifying glass over this article.

UPDATE: Matt Weiler comments(rants) on this as well.

Vigilancia Politica 20030917
Another shorter one. We are in the doldrums of the campaign. Things have not quite gotten into full schmooze mode yet. Next month will be when things start getting nutty. This week the highlight, or lowlight, is my spiffy picture. I need a new camera, mostly because I want a better quality digital, but this one will have to do for now.

Enquirer's New Weekly Rag

Steve Novotni, XRay Magazine Editor, has the lastest scoop on the Enquirer's up and coming weekly newspaper. By the sound of things this is going to be a waste of space. It sounds like überffluff. If there is any original news, and I mean hard news, I will be shocked. If you find “Betty Crocker” receipes in “Cin” (or Barge), I would not be surprised. They might be trendy recipies for Jello-shots circa 1993, but hey, we are in Cincinnati after all.

No word yet if “Cin” will have any kind of website. I doubt my idea will be used. I wonder if CityBeat will take up the group blog idea? I doubt it. I don’t think either CityBeat or the Enquirer could stand for “unedited” content and for people linking to other publications.

More Grandstanding from the Queen

The Queen of City Hall and her one women show of grandstanding was out in full force today:

"We can't be prepared for terrorists if we don't have simple security measures in place right here at our own City Hall," Reece said. "We're trying to send a message to people when they come to City Hall that we're trying to make it safe for you."

Yes, Alicia, the terrorists are surely targeting Cincinnati. Maybe we will get attacked in 10 years. 2013 should be about when the terrorists find Cincinnati on a map.

More on Clear Channel

The Enquirer has belatedly gotten a story online. The Business Courier had the scoop and since this hit on the weekend, no one was available for comment. This article included comments from Mike Kenney, regional vice president for Clear Channel, that seem much more disingenuous than Saturday's article.

"We looked at McFarland and Third streets. We looked out on West Third Street. We looked at other buildings downtown. In fact, I spent almost all my time looking at buildings downtown," Kenney said. "It just didn't work out."

Riiiiiight. Almost all of your time. The issue is money. They got it cheap. It is simple as that. Cheap and they have no need for to be downtown when they do nothing downtown (oh except the reds and bengals which is a big nothing for the rest of the city). It would be nice if the WDBZ picked up the slack by starting a real newsroom. I will not be holding my breath for that, but someone has to cover city hall, and they will be right across the street after all.

The Buzz Board

1230thebuzz.com has moved into the internet interactive mode with the addition of a message board. I applaud the move. There are currently no other major media outlets with a well structured forum. I encourage everyone to register and post away. I most also inform Nate: I have all ready registered cincyblog as my ID, so he can't pretend he is me on the Buzz's boards.

More McMain Street

This article in the Enquirer is a hose job. No one with an opposing view was quoted; no critical points were even sited. Where is Nick Spencer's quote? Did McCauley even call him? This is a PR job for Cranley and Luken. Sources indicated that the ordinance hiring John Elkington for $100,000 is looking like it will fail. Cranely's plan may not even get 4 votes. I wonder if Elkington is positioning his firm to collect far more money from the develpment deals, not from this useless study. Why doesn't he just develop locations on his own? If he can make money on it, then the building permits should not be a bid deal to pencil whip through council.

This article just pushing the same talking points as before. We don't need recycled ideas from other cities. How many Planet Hollywoods are now dust? Lets also look at who goes to Main Street? Young professionals go to Main Street. Where do older folks go? They go to bed at 11:00 PM. Why are you looking at a King Records theme Hard Rock Cafe for Main Street? James Brown's music is great, but it will not serve the population that goes to Main Street. A Peter Frampton bar might get national backpage coverage (for all of 2 minutes), but 21-35 year olds are not going to want to kick it on the dance floor to "Do you feel like I do?"

Earth to John Cranley! THINK LOCAL! Put the stale entertainment on the Riverfront or around Fountain Square. That way the tourists (suburbanites) can find it without having to ask a city dweller for directions. They hate talking to someone not protected by a lead lined SUV, those people(me) are freaky. After all, if you don't want to live in the suburbs, there must be something wrong with you. (Cough, Cough)