WCPO's Dennis Janson is trying his hand at blogging. DJ has in the past done commentary on WCPO's news broadcasts, but now is attempting it with his blog: Spare Change. So far there is only one post from last Friday. The post was purely commentary on the "No-Call List" which is about to take effect, but is being challenged in court.
Some criticism: first Dennis needs to loose the "centering" in his posting, that makes his post look like a poem. It might be poetry to DJ's ears, but it will not be taken that way by most readers. The more troubling problem is that this is written as broadcast copy, right down to his tag line at the end. Blogging is a literary form of journalism. Broadcast journalism conventions come across even more hokey in text form than on air. I hope Dennis revised his method and writes to a reading audience, not to one watching him. I also am disappointed that there is not more than one post. The element of blogging that makes it fun is the timeliness to it. If he is going to hand his copy to the web editor once a day, they might want to not call it a blog. He might want to provide reference links to what he is talking about, that adds depth to a blog post, and is generally part of the "standard" format for blogs. I welcome the addition of a professional outlet's blog, but at this point it needs more in it before I can even blogroll it, which is something he needs. Blogs are built on networking, and DJ's blog lacks any links to other blogs.
In light of the SacBee controversy of newspaper blogs, I wonder what kind of editing Dennis is subject to. So far it sounds like he will be edited to a degree, but until more posts arise, we will have to wait and see.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Midpoint Music Festival
This is what happens when local people put on a local event with the cooperation from nearly all corners of the community, success. 30,000 people!!! I was one of those partake in MMF. I was impressed with both the turnout and the quality of the music I heard. I hope this event returns next year and I hope the national media takes notice. If the city would put the 100K earmarked for John Elkington instead into hiring a PR person to market MMF to the national market, we might double the turnout.
Monday, September 29, 2003
Being Made an Example?
Could Judge Patrick Dinkelacker have picked a worse target than an alleged rape victim to make an example for those who refuse to testify in court after filing complaints against people? His actions have been protested now by presumably rape victims support groups. Dinkelacker could have done a service to society by not picking this person to jail, while dismissing the case against the accused. I am concerned as to why this woman who go this far and now choose not to testify against her alleged attacker. Either she is being threatened or she made up the whole incident. Either way this is just a mess, and Dinkelacker's actions do nothing to help the situation.
The Fallible Peter Bronson
Greg Mann of Notes from Ground Level takes Peter Bronson to task for his column bashing the Ohio Supreme Court's Ruling on Conceal-Carry. Mr. Mann exposes Peter's ignorance of the law and even more his ignorance of the "Conservative" ideological view on interpretation of the law, which is generally how the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in upholding the existing law banning the carrying of concealed firearms. Peter seems to not like to hold true to his conservative values when they conflict with a need to appease a core constituency of the "conservative movement."
Meet the Whistleblower
The Genie is out of the bottle for Jim Schifrin, the one man show behind the Whistleblower Newswire. Mr. Schifrin is 64 years old, older than I would have thought. That is not a slam, by any means, just a credit to him. He has more sources than the best reporters in town. Often some of what he writes is mean and harsh and offensive, but in general he is mean and harsh and offensive to just about everyone. I am not surprised the Blower has been banned from City Hall, but I am saddened by it. If Dusty Rhodes can take the ribbing, why can't Luken and Lemmie? My highlight is that in tomorrow's edition of the Blower, the regular "Real Faxes From Real Subscribers" feature, my blog here got a reference in response to an email I sent on the Plain Dealer article:
At least the Blower doesn't get all blogged down. --The Cincinnati BlogI am happy I have not been skewered yet, but if he reads this I am sure to get my comeuppance.
New Blog: Unfolio
Unfolio a new locally based group blog has opened its doors:
After considerable deliberation on a name and design for this blog, we have finally opened our doors. Welcome! We are a blog, nay, a community, for the discussion of architecture and design and the events and ideas that surround them. (So of course we would take a while on the design.) My colleagues, Cindy, Carl and Mary, and I are all students of architecture at the University of Cincinnati with varying interests and aspirations. We hope that you will enjoy our discourses and possibly even join us in discussing the issues that shape our world today.I bid everyone a welcome to the Cincinnati Blogging world, and I hope they enjoy what I consider fun. My readers may disagree, but hell, it is fun for me.
Sunday, September 28, 2003
MIAMI 42, UC 37
Friday, September 26, 2003
More Miami U. Strike
The University has issued a press release on the Strike and they appear to not be backing down on anything. The rumors on the Strike are rippling throughout the campus. Reports are that the bulk of the push for the strike came from the Dinning Hall staff, who are amongst the lowest paid of all full time employees on campus. Less than half of the almost 900 staffers "covered" by the union were actually union members, around 400 to 450. Allegedly 70 of those members quit the union from the point the negotiations when down hill last month, and only 300 voted on the contract, so likely many more are no longer be members. Reports are that most of the non-dining hall staffers will break picket lines on Monday, no matter if the Strike is resolved or not. The physical facilities crews had a large percentage show up for work today, likely a majority of workers in those departments.
Reports also were made that some Professors either held classes off campus, or planned to do so because some students or the professors themselves did not want to "cross the picket line." That seems stupid. I assume if those students want to honor the same picket line they will not eat anywhere on campus, and will not even enter their dorm rooms, in fact since the grounds crews are covered here, they can’t step foot on campus and should just leave all together.
Reports also were made that some Professors either held classes off campus, or planned to do so because some students or the professors themselves did not want to "cross the picket line." That seems stupid. I assume if those students want to honor the same picket line they will not eat anywhere on campus, and will not even enter their dorm rooms, in fact since the grounds crews are covered here, they can’t step foot on campus and should just leave all together.
Niger-Gate?
This is fresh news via Talkingpointsmemo.com: MSNBC is reporting that the CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate the White House for allegedly leaking the identity of a CIA agent, a violation of federal law. The agent in question is the wife of Joseph Wilson, former Ambassador to Iraq and envoy sent to Niger to investigate reports or speculation that Iraq was seeking uranium from the African country. Wilson “discredited” those reports, but Bush still used the claim in his state of the Union address.
This story hitting on a Friday night is not a shock, burying news is the standard MO for this administration top to bottom. The timing may not matter, assuming the press does not ignore it. No one in the Bush camp can escape the power of the subpoena. This will be a test of life after the Independent Council Statute. Will John Ashcroft conduct a fair and impartial investigation? Will Congress hold hearings? Will Congress at least keep tabs on the thoroughness of the DOJ investigation?
This story hitting on a Friday night is not a shock, burying news is the standard MO for this administration top to bottom. The timing may not matter, assuming the press does not ignore it. No one in the Bush camp can escape the power of the subpoena. This will be a test of life after the Independent Council Statute. Will John Ashcroft conduct a fair and impartial investigation? Will Congress hold hearings? Will Congress at least keep tabs on the thoroughness of the DOJ investigation?
Miami University Workers Strike Causes Football Game to Loose TV Coverage
Well, this will accomplish nothing but make another generation of business leaders hate unions. Good Long term planning there Local 209 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees! Do you even have strike fund? Here is the kicker:
This is the kind of union that I really can't support. What are they fighting for? Now, I don't mean for people to spout off Union Rhetoric. The dispute was down to something like 6 points. The issue was about power. The union wants to take away power from the University. I can understand this point. Power to the people is a tempting path, but when only 35% of the people the union claims to represent actually vote on striking, and only 165 people voted to strike (19% of the total 860). How is that power to the people? That is power to a small minority of the people.
The TV coverage of "the Game" is being cancelled according to this post on www.miamihawktalk.com from a credible source. Reasons for the cancellation are related to the strike, which looks to make its big show at the football game. Having no TV coverage does take away a possible PR weapon the Union could use if they wanted to disrupt the actual game. Miami may be able to pick up another game later in the season, but official word will come later on today.
UPDATE: Here is the official press release from Miami on TV coverage being cancelled. No details were given as to why, specifically the game was cancelled in this release.
More details on the strike from the Miami Student: Here and Here. Both stories are very fair and show mutliple sides of the issue.
UPDATE#2: The Enquirer has caught up with the story.
About 300 union members voted.The union claims to represent 860 workers. In reality the 560 other workers, or close to it, are likely not actual paying union members. They will probably still be at work today. Miami is bringing in temporary workers to help feed the students. I wonder how many workers from the dining halls will actually not work and make it difficult to feed the students. That is kind. An unconfirmed report from last night indicated that the Shriver Center (the student union, aka the “Res”) was locked up. It is normally open 24 hours a day.
This is the kind of union that I really can't support. What are they fighting for? Now, I don't mean for people to spout off Union Rhetoric. The dispute was down to something like 6 points. The issue was about power. The union wants to take away power from the University. I can understand this point. Power to the people is a tempting path, but when only 35% of the people the union claims to represent actually vote on striking, and only 165 people voted to strike (19% of the total 860). How is that power to the people? That is power to a small minority of the people.
The TV coverage of "the Game" is being cancelled according to this post on www.miamihawktalk.com from a credible source. Reasons for the cancellation are related to the strike, which looks to make its big show at the football game. Having no TV coverage does take away a possible PR weapon the Union could use if they wanted to disrupt the actual game. Miami may be able to pick up another game later in the season, but official word will come later on today.
UPDATE: Here is the official press release from Miami on TV coverage being cancelled. No details were given as to why, specifically the game was cancelled in this release.
More details on the strike from the Miami Student: Here and Here. Both stories are very fair and show mutliple sides of the issue.
UPDATE#2: The Enquirer has caught up with the story.
Always Glad to Help
Jack Shafer of Slate's newest piece, "The Rat of Baghdad" came out on Wednesday and believe it or not I actually was able to provide some background information for his story. I tracked the reporters who were in Baghdad during the Iraq War, so he was able to get an idea of the players in question that affected New York Times reporter John Burns, the subject of Jack's story. I am not mentioned in the piece; my posts back during the war were just a research too for Jack, but hell, I will take credit for anything I remotely may have had a hand in. If my work can provide any positive service or value to anyone, then I actually feel like what I do is worthwhile, beyond keeping me sane of course.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Even Liberal FOX News
FOX News has a story that David Kay's report on WMD in Iraq has so far produced little or nothing. What I find most interesting is that there is no author listed for this story other than "Fox News" and that the following was included in the report:
Seriously for a second, I think FOX News can no longer consider that they, in their own minds of course, are even remotely objective or "Fair and Balanced" if they don't report the fact that Bush's main reason for going to war was that Iraq was a threat to the USA through the existence of WMD and a future threat with on going WMD programs. If there are leaks from the administration that David Kay has found neither WMD nor any serious ongoing WMD programs, then Bush may be losing some of his conservative support. No one likes to be lied to. Liberals did not like being lied to be Bill Clinton, but in the end his lies did not harm anyone outside his family so it was easier to overlook them. Bush misleading people on this did cause harm to others, and that is unforgivable, even for one of his fellow Republicans. They will still support the ends of the Iraq war and defend Bush on that, but they will not be able to refute the lack of WMD, and thus loose one edge in the debate on Bush’s foreign policy.
This is really wishful thinking on may part for FOX News. I hope this is their tact, even if just for one day it is still a nice respite from the propaganda. The rest of the conservative media will likely still rattle on by downplaying the importance of WMD to Bush's threat claims or by just ignoring it all together. And so it goes.
UPDATE: What was I thinking? I am a sucker. FOX suckered me, well a little. I missed a key word in the excerpt I used above, "weapons programs." I missed the "programs" part and just read weapons, and thought it meant WMD. I should instead be screaming about the clear bias in this story, but it is a shock they even ran it. I guess Bill O'Reilly should get the praise still, even thought he did not really follow up with Rice when she failed to answer the WMD questions.
UPDATE#2: Nothing yet from the 800-pound gorilla nor the Corner on this story. If is from a source they can't claim is "biased," now can they?
The United States and Britain made their case for war arguing that Saddam's weapons program was an imminent threat to their national security.Couple this with the fairly tough questions asked of Condi Rice by Bill O'Reilly, one has to ask, has FOX News turned on Bush? I know, I know, they have always been "fair and balanced." (Cough, Couch) The only other possibility I can fathom is that Al Franken infiltrated the GOP News headquarters and spiked someone's coffee.
Seriously for a second, I think FOX News can no longer consider that they, in their own minds of course, are even remotely objective or "Fair and Balanced" if they don't report the fact that Bush's main reason for going to war was that Iraq was a threat to the USA through the existence of WMD and a future threat with on going WMD programs. If there are leaks from the administration that David Kay has found neither WMD nor any serious ongoing WMD programs, then Bush may be losing some of his conservative support. No one likes to be lied to. Liberals did not like being lied to be Bill Clinton, but in the end his lies did not harm anyone outside his family so it was easier to overlook them. Bush misleading people on this did cause harm to others, and that is unforgivable, even for one of his fellow Republicans. They will still support the ends of the Iraq war and defend Bush on that, but they will not be able to refute the lack of WMD, and thus loose one edge in the debate on Bush’s foreign policy.
This is really wishful thinking on may part for FOX News. I hope this is their tact, even if just for one day it is still a nice respite from the propaganda. The rest of the conservative media will likely still rattle on by downplaying the importance of WMD to Bush's threat claims or by just ignoring it all together. And so it goes.
UPDATE: What was I thinking? I am a sucker. FOX suckered me, well a little. I missed a key word in the excerpt I used above, "weapons programs." I missed the "programs" part and just read weapons, and thought it meant WMD. I should instead be screaming about the clear bias in this story, but it is a shock they even ran it. I guess Bill O'Reilly should get the praise still, even thought he did not really follow up with Rice when she failed to answer the WMD questions.
UPDATE#2: Nothing yet from the 800-pound gorilla nor the Corner on this story. If is from a source they can't claim is "biased," now can they?
Hats Off to Todd Portune
Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune, the only Democrat on the commission, has been the GOP's political enemy here for many years. People on the right really don't like his politics and his political tactics. Todd has been going through some very difficult health problems that have left him in a wheel chair. He still has long road ahead before he will be able to walk again, but for now he goes forward and now is able to get around town on his own. I hope people can look at Todd, no matter his politics, and admire the man for this kind of effort. He gets a lot of flack from people, and often it is not underserved, but I tip my hat to him for his courage, ability to face life head on, and his strength to keep on working towards walking to work real soon.
Concealed-Carry: Tradition Rules the Day
It is odd. This has been a law for 144 years, in one form or another, and yet "conservatives" want to change it. I am please that the State Supremes did not go off the deep end and rule that guns owners have more rights than those seeking freedoms of speech, the press, or of religion.
This supports my belief. You have the right to own guns and keep them on your property nearly in way you want to. If you take them off your property, then you can be regulated by the State. That is fair. It is also constitutional for the State legislature to change the laws on Conceal-Carry, which the GOP controlled government wants to, but they are playing to much politics with it to agree on a reasonable type of law. I hope the Taft camp and the extremist camps stay at odds. That will keep more idiots from carrying a gun under their coats this winter. The fewer, the better.
For the gun nuts out there, guess what: no matter how much you try and invoke the tainted studies by Mr. Lott or anyone else, you will not gain much ground with me, so don't bother. I am for the current Ohio gun laws. Keep your guns on your own property if you don't want the State to get involved, otherwise quite your whining or get your GOP leaders to compromise with each other. We liberals are not to blame for the State government here in Ohio. The conservatives have control, they don't care about what we think anyway, so why blame us?
The Enquirer's editorial is odd too. They seem to be saying "Damn you Supreme court, why couldn't you have been an activist court? We hate activist courts, mind you, but when they benefit our side, we'll just looking the other way, and ignore the hypocrisy." I'm reading between the lines, so don't nit-pick please. I wonder how many gun nuts will blame the liberals on the court for this adherence to precedent.
This supports my belief. You have the right to own guns and keep them on your property nearly in way you want to. If you take them off your property, then you can be regulated by the State. That is fair. It is also constitutional for the State legislature to change the laws on Conceal-Carry, which the GOP controlled government wants to, but they are playing to much politics with it to agree on a reasonable type of law. I hope the Taft camp and the extremist camps stay at odds. That will keep more idiots from carrying a gun under their coats this winter. The fewer, the better.
For the gun nuts out there, guess what: no matter how much you try and invoke the tainted studies by Mr. Lott or anyone else, you will not gain much ground with me, so don't bother. I am for the current Ohio gun laws. Keep your guns on your own property if you don't want the State to get involved, otherwise quite your whining or get your GOP leaders to compromise with each other. We liberals are not to blame for the State government here in Ohio. The conservatives have control, they don't care about what we think anyway, so why blame us?
The Enquirer's editorial is odd too. They seem to be saying "Damn you Supreme court, why couldn't you have been an activist court? We hate activist courts, mind you, but when they benefit our side, we'll just looking the other way, and ignore the hypocrisy." I'm reading between the lines, so don't nit-pick please. I wonder how many gun nuts will blame the liberals on the court for this adherence to precedent.
Cats and Dogs Living Together
The apocalypse meter must be rising because I agree with Peter Bronson's column from yesterday. Peter ripped into the past of John Elkington who the Mayor and Councilman John Cranley are trying to get as a consultant/developer for some type of vaguely defined Main Street project.
The only problem I have with this column is that it should have been written by Maggie Downs. She has written a lot about Main Street, she knows the people involved, and she is perfectly capable of getting the same quote from Louisiana and Georgia as Peter did. Why did she not do the column? The only reason is that Peter wanted to, and the Paleolithic columnists always get their way or that the Paper wanted to see this issue fail, and Peter can help reach the right people (those with the money) to help pull the carpet out from under any development of OTR, or at least any under the current Mayor. Why would Bronson really care what happens on Main Street? Would he ever even go there? Maybe if they started a Solid Rock Church instead of a Hard Rock Café he might.
The only problem I have with this column is that it should have been written by Maggie Downs. She has written a lot about Main Street, she knows the people involved, and she is perfectly capable of getting the same quote from Louisiana and Georgia as Peter did. Why did she not do the column? The only reason is that Peter wanted to, and the Paleolithic columnists always get their way or that the Paper wanted to see this issue fail, and Peter can help reach the right people (those with the money) to help pull the carpet out from under any development of OTR, or at least any under the current Mayor. Why would Bronson really care what happens on Main Street? Would he ever even go there? Maybe if they started a Solid Rock Church instead of a Hard Rock Café he might.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Ohio in Play for 2004?
The latest UC poll suggests that Ohio is not a lock for Bush in 2004. Ohio is a bell weather state for politics. So goes Ohio, and more often than not, so goes the election. A 55% approval rate, down from 76% is a big hit. Iraq policy is only part of the cause. The Economy is surely the main reason for the drop. This poll is fickle, as are Ohio voters, so come next summer, this poll should be a good indicator of what is to come.
Miami-X
The Miami University student body president has invited, with the approval of the Sports Department, all Xavier University students to attend this weekends Miami-UC annual battle for the bell football game. No doubt this will piss off the Bearkitten faithful, but intercolligate relations has never known a better gesture. This is a great PR story, and surprise, surprise it is a positive story about Miami in the Enquirer. Well, it was written by Mark Schmetzer who is the semi-official Miami University beat writer for the Enquirer.
Vigilancia Politica 20030924
A fun week with even more on McMain Street. Elkington does not come off to wonderful in the various references in the column. No picture this week, I did not take my camera with me to Oktoberfest as promised, and I wish did. I missed quite a few bizarre pictures. The people with the Cole and Malone stickers on might have been the most interesting. I guess drunk people will wear any kind of stick, if you just ask.
A fun week with even more on McMain Street. Elkington does not come off to wonderful in the various references in the column. No picture this week, I did not take my camera with me to Oktoberfest as promised, and I wish did. I missed quite a few bizarre pictures. The people with the Cole and Malone stickers on might have been the most interesting. I guess drunk people will wear any kind of stick, if you just ask.
Monday, September 22, 2003
Ooooo, a "Protest"
Nate has been busy. I guess all 6 protestors will have some fun being racist on Fountain Square. Just lovely.
Why the Leaks on 9/11 Planning?
Who is leaking all of the information on the alleged additional plans of the 9/11 terrorists and why is it being leaked? Is it being leaked to discredit Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in the eyes of the remaining terrorists? It is to taint a jury pool? I assumed he would be headed for either a foreign court or for a military trial. He would presumably be open to trial as a co-conspirator of 9/11 under U. S. criminal law, as well as New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania state laws. Doesn't this leak give him a slam-bang fair trial appeal before anything happens?
This smells fishy to me. If he is being held by the CIA then either the CIA lacks the ability to keep its mouth in the face of gain some positive PR, or it was part of some other plot to either push outstanding terrorists to act with haste or to back off from something impending. What ever the reason it leaked, I don't like it.
This smells fishy to me. If he is being held by the CIA then either the CIA lacks the ability to keep its mouth in the face of gain some positive PR, or it was part of some other plot to either push outstanding terrorists to act with haste or to back off from something impending. What ever the reason it leaked, I don't like it.
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