New Site Format

You are not seeing things, I have updated the site. I am still working on things, so please bare with me. I am archiving the old comments, and will try and put them somewhere, but likely they will not be linked to their old post.

If you see any problems, errors, or ways to improve the site, please comment.

Berg Murder in Iraq, Untold Story

The Nick Berg execution in Iraq has many unanswered questions and XRay Magazine probes them. I am not one for conspiracy, but at a minimum there is more to the story with the news that Berg's father was being watched by a hardcore rightist website. Covington has more.

Build More Jails?

With Si Leis uniformly acting as if he was the sole deity in the universe, he has decreed that certain women facing trial for lesser offenses will not be held in the county jail. They will instead be sent home. Leis reportedly has asked for a new jail in the past, so what is he waiting for now? Leis is not immune from pulling political stunts to make his point, please refer to his billing of Bill Clinton for security coverage for an example.

What is the underlying problem to cause this capture and release? Are more women being arrested and we don't have enough space in the female areas of the jail? Are we solving more crimes? I don't think we have stopped many thefts in the county, Leis should know that. So, What gives? Why must this happen? Why have we not built a new jail? Are we holding convicted felons in the jail who can't fit into the state system?

Shocking Peter Bronson

I don't know if this counts as a true flip-flop or not, but Bronson is defending rich Indian Hill people for wanted to keep people out of their publicly funded parks. I always thought Peter wasn't a classist. I did not know he wanted to treat the rich differently than the rest of us. I guess if you have the money, you can buy government.

Oh, by the way, this is not really a shock, in case my sarcasm was lost in transference to the written word.

Quotas Suck

A Wisconsin Daily newspaper is asking for pro-Bush letters, mainly because they don't get enough and want to "balance the perspectives." They don't get enough of the GOP astro-turf. I would advise that Post-Crescent of Appleton, Wisconsin contact the Enquirer and asked for the piles of pro-Bush drivel they have lying around in the letters to the editor files.

Chiquita Spin

If I understand this article correctly, Chiquita is claiming that their payments to Colombian rebels was just a normal business expense commonly used by US companies in Central America.

Special payments by U.S. companies in Latin America - whether for faster telephone installation or security services - are known as 'facilitating payments' and are allowed under U.S. law. Chiquita says it and other American companies have done it for years.

Are they really comparing paying protection money to criminals to telephone installation? Do restaurant owners get to deduct the expense of paying of the mafia to assure their deliveries are made on time? What a large pair of bananas they have.

The New WOXY

We still will have a modern/alternative rock station to kick around. As I reported earlier from Sledge's blog, the new station will keep the same format. I would expect the station to be more "mainstream" and compare more to 97.3. I myself would love kind of a classic alternative/punk/new wave/grunge rock station that played the likes of the Clash, U2, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, and the like.

Gun Nuts, Oh the Stupidity

Ohio Gun Nutt part of the OFCC have written a list of businesses they are boycotting because they don't allow people carrying guns into their establishment.

Once again gun nuts are seeking SPECIAL RIGHTS, this time through acts akin to blackmail.

Frisch's response is the best:

"We're OK if they choose to boycott our stores," said Karen Maier, vice president of marketing for Cincinnati-based Frisch's Inc., which has posted signs banning weapons at all corporate-owned Big Boy restaurants in Ohio. "We don't want firearms in our stores."

What right do gun owners have to force their "rights" upon others via civil business interference? I hope none of these guys pushing this boycott are against the boycott of Cincinnati. The must approve of the method, if they attempt to use of themselves.

Idiots. Just Idiots. They have their guns, but they will not feel good until they can take their faux penis and intimidate everyone possible with it.

Chiquita paid rebel groups

My first question about the Enquirer's story is simply: Did Uncle Carl know? From the article:

Chiquita said the Justice Department was contacted after the company discovered the groups were listed on the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organizations list. The list names 37 organizations, including al-Qaida as well as three groups in Colombia.

A Justice Department spokesman declined Monday to comment on the investigation. U.S. law makes it a crime to knowingly provide resources to terrorist organizations.

If Carl Linder was still part of the company when this happened, I hope he is being including in the investigation.

More from CNN.

Local Pols' Views on Rummy

Korte rounds up the views and statements of local and regional politicians about Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld. They all seem to hem and haw a bit, but support Rumsfeld staying.

I myself don't really care much if he stays or goes. I don't see the policies changing either way. We might even get Wolfowitz instead, and that is a scary thought.

Rummy should not be the fall guy for Iraq. The chains of sorrow should hang around the neck of Bush himself. Dumping Rumsfeld helps Bush's keep moderate votes, so in political terms I would hope Bush keeps him.

We're the Killer Bees!

Here's the 411 on the damn cicadas.

Backhanded Praise?

Bronson column today about 1230 the Buzz comes across as backhanded praise. Mostly because of his admitted original preconceived notion about the station. After the riots the Buzz did come across much like an Al Jazeera. I don't know if one time of calm a storm, namely the mini-riot in Winton Terrace, will erase the mouthpiece they give to the likes of Kabaka Oba and William Kirkland, two of the infamous Boycott B and two of the most avoid racists in town.

New Enquirer Managing Editor

Hollis Towns is the newest member of the Enquirer. He takes over a vacant position at the number 2 spot. He was previously at the Kalamazoo Gazette, so how will life in a much larger city affect his work? I wonder if anyone will notice his race? Do all senior editors get their picture in the paper when they are hired? It didn't happen here.

Bush's New Campaign Motto

Jeff Stahler gives us The Buck Stalls Here.

This was Radio X

Dig out the hankies for the end is near for 97X. Memories are full and the future of rock and roll is bleak. A station that was beyond a cliché, hopefully will not become one. More from the DDN.

The only funny thing is that Matt Sledge was listed two times (both repeated online to make four) in the memories section; he must have spent a lot of peanuts to get that much press.

Theocratic Fascists At Work Again

he National Press has noticed the work of one David Langdon, who is working to put on the ballot an amendment to the Ohio Constitution to ban gay marriage. I guess DOMA is just not strong enough of homosexual oppression. He wants to make sure it would take a huge effort to change the bigot backed state law.

Langdon is a far far right winger, so far right he supported the Constitution Party, a reactionary Conservative Christian group. An Ohio Democratic spokesman, Dan Trevas, sums up the situation politically on what it means to the Presidential race:

"I'm sure this is the [work of] general conservative movement," Trevas said. "Do I believe Bush-Cheney is rooting for them to do it? Sure, but I don't think they're involved."

Bush and gang don't really want bigots like Langdon getting press where they don't push Bush, but they would like his support if they could get it. This is where denouncing your allies is ethically the thing to do. It is a politically difficult task to swallow, something that will likely cost votes. Bush and most relevantly Ohio Republicans will dismiss this by ignoring it. That might be a mistake. Every vote in Ohio will count and if this guy goes for the openly theocratic fascists, instead of the closeted types, then Kerry is even better off in Ohio than he is now.

Hooray for Nancy Reagan

Yes, that Nancy Reagan. Mrs. Regan is publicly calling for stem cell research. Too bad the anti-abortion extremists have Bush over a barrel. His pre-9/11 cutting the baby in a 1/5th to 4/5th split against federally funded research has been lost on society. I gladly praise Mrs. Reagan for taking this action.

Cicada Sound

This Dayton Daily News article indicates that the real problem with the cicadas is the noise they make. One person told me that is what will drive you nuts, not them get in your hair.

I am sick of the stories, but this one about the noise I would tend to believe.

'Journalistic' Fellatio

Here we find Peter Bronson 'worshiping' at the alter of the Prophet Bush.

Fringe Fest

Thank you Enquirer! This festival is not the normal for the Enquirer to push in such a big article, but this coverage should go a long way to bring in people to the performances. More Here, and also Here.

For the full deal check out the Fringe's website.

This plus a mention along with the Know Theatre Tribe in a Jackie Demaline column, not bad for a Sunday.