Monday, January 31, 2005

Target 5 Takes Action Against Bird Shit

An actual headline from WLWT's website: Target 5 Takes Action Against Bird Droppings. Yes, bird shit is the topic of hard hitting investigative journalism in our fair city. I am just going to pack it in now, I think I have seen it all in Cincinnati Media spectrum of mindless drivel.

Cincinnati.com Blogs

There are now more than just CiN Weekly's Staff Blog from the Cincinnati.com family of blogs, including bios or intros from the bloggers:
Photographers
Tech Tipsheet -- Bio
Sports Roundtable -- Bios
Pop Culture -- Bio
Popo's Sports Blog -- Intro
The Arts -- Bios

I am holding judgment in addition to the blogroll until I see how they go. One thing you will notice that is missing, a political/current events blog. I am please they have comments on all the blogs. I hope they don't need to be approved before they are posted, but the legal department may have butt in.

Witch in the Old Mill Creek

Today is your last chance to send in comments to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers on the project to widen the Mill Creek. You can still email your comments. Be sure to add "Mill Creek" to the subject line. Or you can call: (502) 315-6769.

Pete and Repeat Were in a Boat...

In reference to my post from yesterday and a comment from said post we get a history lesson via Kevin Drum.

Kids Today Are Uneducated

Kids today are either really uneducated on the workings of a Democracy or they are misled by equally uneducated parents.

Come on, have the government approve newspaper stories? Are these kids on crack or have they spent to much time in Pastor Bob's destroy the liberals bible study class?

Xer's or Just an Unknown?

Via Rob Bernard we get an article from the Dayton Daily News announcing changes to the paper, mostly the renaming of several weekly sections with the inclusion of "X" to the title. I don't know if this is some type of a marketing ploy to gain the attention of us slacker Gen Xers or if this is meant to trick teenage fans of the Xtreme Games into thinking their business reports are featuring Tony Hawk. Either way I don't think it will do much for circulation.

Chick Rock Fest

I don't know much about this event, but when you combine chicks, rock music, and the Southgate House it must be good. Look for it on April 8th and 9th.

More at their website www.chicksrockfest.com.

Everyone Hearts Berding

Jeff Berding has officially announced his candidacy for Cincinnati City Council. At his announcement once could not find a more motley crew of local politicians. Get this list as compiled by Greg Korte: Mark Mallory, David, Pepper, Charlie Luken, David Mann, Arn Bortz, Tom Brinkman, Pat DeWine, and Pete Witte. Are the last three actually going to vote for Berding? If yes, then I will applaud all three for being non-partisan, but does that make Jeff Berding another Dusty Rhodes, who is as much of a Democrat as Bob Taft.

I don't know much about Berding. I would surmise that as part of the Bengals organization he would likely be very pro-business. The article reports he already has raised $40,000. That kind of bread at this point in time puts him in line as the front runner to fill Pepper's open seat. The fact that he is only one of two declared challengers for council might have something to do with that as well.

Will Berding keep a Rucker or Harris from running? That I hope only depends on Reece's and/or Smitherman's choices to run for mayor, freeing up their seats as well.

Private Parts

When people push the privatization of Social Security they are failing to provide the details. Now, most people don't care about the details, even though the say they want to know them. When they start to hear about COLA's, administrative policy, and PIA's their eyes start to roll back into their head.

Even with that in mind I have a laundry list of unanswered questions, problems, and issues that would have to be answered, solved, and addressed before any private accounts were established.
  1. Who is eligible for a private account? What will be the cut off age?
  2. What percent of individual's contributions will be eligible for contribution?
  3. Will the tax status of the private account be on a Pre-Tax or After-Tax basis?
  4. If it will be Pre-Tax, that creates a tax cut, how will the massive loss in revenues be made up?
  5. If it will be After-Tax, will that point be made known when this is made to look like a 401K Plan?
  6. Who will administer these accounts? Employers? The government? Are Individuals forced to go to a Financial Institution on their own?
  7. Who pays the administration fees?
  8. Are administration fees included in Bush's Plan?
  9. What investments can be included? Private Funds? Stocks, bonds, options, futures, commodities? Anything? Who Decides what a person can invest in?
  10. Who manages those investments? Are they owned directly or in a mutual type fund?
  11. Who pays the brokerage fees? Are they straight fees or discounted?
  12. If these are collectively owned in mutual type fund, who does the accounting?
  13. If the private accounts are use, who then who votes the proxies?
  14. Will lump sum distributions now be allowed?
  15. Will beneficiary benefits continued to be offered.
  16. How will beneficiary, minor dependent, disability, and death benefits be funded?
  17. Does Bush's plan cap the level of earnings on private accounts to pay for existing and future "traditional" benefits?
  18. Is Bush using the "Cash Balance" type of retirement plan as his basis for this? Those type of Plans have not yet received favorable determination letters from the IRS.
I could on and on with questions that are not being asked by the media and not by politicians. This issues should be debated in public, and not just on CSPAN. CNN, FOX, MSNBC, PBS, talk radio, and we in the blogosphere should be discussing the details and understand it BEFORE a lobbyist writes the bill and passes it around an hour before the final vote.

In the Wood & Acropolis Chili Lose Battle to Stay

A Judge has ruled in favor of developers paving the way for the destruction of two long time UC and Clifton Heights establishments, In the Wood and Acropolis Chili. No indications on any appeals or other avenues to allow these property owners the continued rights afford to most all other property owners.

UPDATED for the Spelling Guy

Reaction to Police Shooting

Yes, it has been muted if you measure it by the media coverage. The Buzz appears to not have had a glut of angry callers. No negative comments outside the suspect's family have been heard, but since when has Cecil Thomas been a bellwether for the mood of black activists?

Allen - Collins Settlement

Mike Allen, former county prosecutor has agreed to pay Rebecca Collins $45,000 as part of a settlement of a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment. The lawsuit against the County is still pending.

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Yet More Typical Bronson Blather

Peter Bronson is at it again, but this time E Goods takes him to the woodshed, not me.

Irrational Delusionists

Today is the day for the war supporters to wave their flags over their eyes, sing Amazing Grace, and blow their back slapping wad on the Elections in Iraq. It does not matter to them how we got here (no WMD) and it clearly matters not, or at least does not matter today what will happen tomorrow (civil war). Today Dear Leader was able to take a bow, and anyone who dares says "big fucking deal" is with the terrorists. How many free societies have curfews the day of elections? How many have bombers kill 25 people and would at least 71 on the day of elections?

People who feel good about today are so completely delusional about the situation in Iraq. To them it is all about Bush's policies and their support for it. This is not about them. This is not about Bush's image. This is about the people of Iraq and they are not in good shape. We, at this point, know not how many votes were cast. We don't even have any election monitors to show no fraud. We don't know who will be appointed the leaders of the country. We have so many open questions about what will happen next, playing PR cheerleaders does nothing but provide political cover for Bush on the eve of his State of the Union address. We now will not only see a pull back of the rhetoric by the Bush administration, but a pull back of the press. Iraq will become just like Afghanistan, a faceless back story where little has changed since the last dictatorial government fell.

So I guess now I am a terrorist for not waving a flag for Dear Leader.Sorry about that. Sorry for not accepting the propaganda. Sorry for not conforming to the dogma. Sorry for wanting real democracy in Iraq. Sorry for wanting people to face the reality of state of Iraq and not the PR drivel coming from Dear Leader’s minions. I am not sorry for anything I have written. If you don’t like it, then tough. If you feel the need to tell me to ‘love it or leave it,’ I think you have shown why I had to write what I did and why I can’t stand still and let PR pass as truth.

Image Boost?

As a company P&G has many, many problems, but they are a plus for Cincinnati in both attracting new people to the city as well as their sizable charitable giving to various groups including a strong commitment to education and the arts. Will their mergers with Gillette boost the image of Cincinnati across the country? In the short run I think it is simply good press, so the answer is yes. Cincinnati as a Midwestern corporate HQ center is something that has been slipping as of late with the sales of Star and Provident, and this adds a boon to the Perception of Business leaders that Cincinnati is still a white collar Mecca.

The real benefit only comes with jobs jobs jobs. P&G states that the combined company will loose 6,000 jobs, but most of that will be overseas. On the surface this sounds like a plus for Cincinnati, but a loss for Boston. Over time this insures jobs here in Cincinnati and it could expand them.

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Cincinnati Police Shoot Suspect

The Cincinnati Police have shot a suspect outside a local nightclub. Information at this point that "some woman," as the WLWT article states, tipped off police that suspects in a car near by the club had a gun. The police located the car and the rest is unclear as to hot the suspect was shot twice. He is reportedly expected to live. The report indicates that the police stated a gun was found in the car. Reactions I have heard or read so far have not been irrational, let’s hope it stays that way.

Friday, January 28, 2005

No Win for Winburn

Publius at SaveOurCity believes former Councilman Charlie Winburn could win the Mayor's Race with a divided Democratic party between Mallory and Pepper. Publius is wrong. Winburn can not be elected Mayor with either Mallory or Pepper in the race. Pubis is right that it is possible, though not probable, that Winburn could win a 3 or 4 way race, but that only wins him the primary. Only the top two make it to the general election. Curtis Fuller won the primary in 2001, but lost the Mayoral race significantly a month and half later. If Winburn were to somehow win the primary then any of the three of Pepper, Reece, or Mallory would crush him in the general election.

It's Freaky Friday After All

We have a profile of the local Cragslist: Cincinnati. It is something that I fear could make Si Leis get his shorts in a wad.

Also, it is Final Friday and the KnowTheatre is performing and CA has the details and folks will be heading to Milton's afterwords.

British/Irish/Scottish Films

Here is a list of British,Irish, and Scottish films I have seen and really liked. Some of these may not have been a Hollywood production, but the topic was based somewhere from the British Isles. These are not in any special order.
  1. Enigma
  2. In the Name of the Father
  3. Much Ado About Nothing
  4. Richard II
  5. Trainspotting
  6. Gosford Park
  7. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill, But Came Down a Mountain
  8. Four Weddings and a Funeral
  9. My Left Foot
  10. Waking Ned DeVine
  11. Brassed Off
  12. The Quiet Man
  13. Shakespeare in Love
  14. Elizabeth
  15. Hope and Glory
  16. Braveheart
  17. Master and Commander
This is not a complete list of my favs, but a start. Anyone have any more or more importantly think I am out of my gourd on one of these actually being good?

Thursday, January 27, 2005

YNTG Done?

Kathy Y. Wilson is never an easy read, and her latest column is also foggy. I guess her weekly column Your Negro Tour Guide is done. I assume, but can't quite discern that she will continue to write for CityBeat, but not with the Race handcuffs. That I think is great. I like her writing, but the limits of race issues often left the same themes and same rhetoric. For her career I think it is best.

Unless I missed something cryptic, which is very possible, I think she is staying with CityBeat. If I missed something and she is not, someone please set me straight.