Big Money

Raising money in the race for Mayor is not going to be a problem for Pepper or Mallory, who have raised $251,870 and $111,138 respectively. Once the GOP fields their candidate and start pushing in money, this should be the most expensive Mayoral race in Cincinnati history.

Expo Store In Oakley On Hold

The Expo Store, a Home Depot division, slated to be built in Oakley looks like it will not be built at all. Home Depot is stating they are evaluating the Expo store line and will not go forward with any new locations during that evaluation period. I think that means in real terms, they can't afford to build any stores right now or it means that the Expo locations are failing a business model and either will be scrapped or retooled. The land for the store is cleared. I hope Home Depot does not hold it hostage. The new retail center going up the Oakley area needs a full allotment of big box retail as a support ring to make the shopping experience work. That is what I think makes the Easton Town Center in Columbus work well, better than Newport on the Levee.

Mark Mallory PSA?

What is with the Mark Mallory Public Service Announcements on TV? These are not something sponsored by any government agency, they appear to be paid for by Senator Mallory himself. These are not labeled as campaign commercials, but in all practical purposes they are. They talk about snow storm damages and people who may qualify for state assistance. This is a shrewd move. He might even have been able to use official state funds for this, since the purpose was basically communications with constituents. He gets his face on the air and in the minds of possible voters.

It might be wise for him to report how these commercials were paid for. They are called a PSA, so could they be virtually free from Time Warner? Only production costs? They are running quite often to be an actual PSA. I think I have seen it about 10 times over the last few days, on various cable channels.

DDN: Coleman to Run for Governor

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman will will seek the Democratic nomination for governor of Ohio. He is reportedly set to announce later on today.

UPDATE: More from the Enquirer.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Ghiz Not Running

Stephanie Dunlap has a story on Leslie Ghiz which reports two issues: Ghiz will likely not run and Sam Malone was behind the snub to Ghiz. What I hope is just her public face, Leslie still defended the Party. She is a fool to stay in the local GOP. She should not believe that only Malone wanted her out. If the local GOP wanted to be fair and not let one person control them, then should have done something. Instead, they let the anti-homosexual bigot Sam Malone keep her off council. This has the CCV written all over it.

Me Blog Good

I am pleased that Cincinnati is well above the average in an intelligence ranking of cities. I hope this is just the actual city and not the Metro Area.

El Cometa del Risque

A woman in a Chicken suit. You would think you would see that fairly very often, but for me last night it was a first. Yesterday at Drinking Liberally the Chicken suit was not the highlight, but still fun. It was not a young chick either, so I can say that the experience, which from afar, was not as exhilarating as a man like myself might wish for.

The rest of the night was almost as enjoyable. Since several bloggers where there, the issue of blogging came up and specifically on stuff to write about. I of course did not take any notes, so I can't really regale anyone with the many great stories folks told or interesting topics that were suggested as blog fodder.

The raging debate I kept having in my head was whether "Junkie Barista" would make a better name for a rock band or the title of a new Yoga position.

I can't get one image out of head though. It has to do with the topic brought up about a hypothetical columnist sorting through a box of sex toys. It is something I think everyone would find disturbing, if it were true. You might be surprised to know Funnel Cake was not responsible for such an image.

Save Our City On Nate's Claims re 'The Boycott'

I don't like to say much about Nate, and I do not have to.

Pepper is In

Councilman David Pepper is officially in as a candidate for Cincinnati Mayor. He has money and business leaders on his side. A few interest points from the article.

1. No mention of Tom Brinkman as at least a possible candidate for mayor? He has been listed previously as a possible candidate, but could he or his confidants popped that trial balloon?
2. Pepper is dating a TV News reporter/anchor? I hope she does not report on any political coverage and I don't think I have to worry much, local TV news ranks local politics only above Pee-Wee Football scores in the level of coverage.

Who else will declare soon?

Ignorance

A man who thinks a sky fairy created man now spews right wing talking points about how to being the destruction of Social Security. Peter, as the rest of Social Security destruction movement does, fails to account for how his plan will add money to the trust fun to cover shortfalls, how they will pay for survivor benefits, how they will pay for disability benefits, how they will administer such a plan.

What they are not telling you is that they are doing what corporations are doing, putting all responsibility and RISK on the participant. What will people do if in 10 years we suffer another depression? That wipes out the market and with it the trust.

Peter and the money hungry idiots need to understand something that most miss; social security is an INSURANCE PROGRAM. It is not an investment plan. We have plenty of room in the IRA, 401(K) and 403(b) plans for people to make tax free investments.

This is about providing a safety net to people. Peter plays the game of trying to make people think it is an investment that can be quantified in Wall street terms. He needs to be thinking in Hartford terms. Does Peter want to let 18 year old kids opt out of Auto Insurance? I doubt it, but you never know. He may say if you are wealthy enough, then yes, because they can afford it. I guess that might be who he is looking out. The problem is that he is ignorant and that he is think about money now, and not about security in the future. Bill Gates could die a poor man. I could die richer than Bill Gates. That uncertainty is why we want to provide a safety level of income for EVERYONE to make sure they have a minimum level of income in old age. This is not about Frat boy Johnny spending his extra beer money. This is about the 20 year old shift manage at Burger King building a net to help augment their retirement.

The issue here is the get people saving in their 401(k) and IRA's. If you fear Social Security being gone in 40 years, fear not. If you still fear it, then get your ass saving. That way, as was designed, your PIA will be gravy.

[I have been working on a longer post on SSA. I will continue working on that and try and provide an outline of what BushCo is not telling you about how it plans on destroying Social Security.]

UPDATE: 1:30 PM - Where's Mine? Clarence Paige asked that rhetorically over 10 years ago as a description of what the average voter was thinking. Based on comment to many people in favor of privatizing Social Security come across as only thinking about themselves. This is what is cause the variation. If you can't think beyond yourself, then you are missing the point. We can't have a plan that fit each person trying to squeeze out a new Benz at retirement. We can't have a plan where you can opt out if you can "afford it" because that is fool hearty.

To also answer a comment who said that my car insurance comparison was flawed because you don't have to drive. True, you don't have to drive. You don't have to earn wages in this society either. If he wants to avoid SS, I suggest he win the lottery and live off the interest for the rest of his life. The minute he is dead broke at age 85, then I wonder what he is going to do?

This sounds like to me trying to make people responsible for maintain their own street or fire department or police department.

Community Web Activitsts

A great use of technology, community web sites are great, as long as people are connected to the web. The web divide is both economic and generational. Much like cable TV, there are still those who do not have cable, and not because they gave it up, because they can't afford it, mainly installing it in their homes.

Hamilton County Loves Porn!

A great column from WaPo last month showing that despite the anti-porn crusaders of CCV and Si Leis, Hamilton County consumes more porn than the average county.

About a year after the Utah case, a similar scenario played out in Hamilton County, Ohio, a conservative Cincinnati suburb. In 2001, under pressure from an influential local antiporn group, Citizens for Community Values, prosecutors filed obscenity charges against two local video stores for selling adult videos. The Cincinnati Enquirer launched an investigation of community standards and found that:

"Last year, more than 21,000 Hamilton County residents purchased 26,000 explicit videos from one of the nation's largest mail-order companies. A company spokeswoman described those sales as typical for a community of this size. . . . In January of this year, 182,000 Greater Cincinnati residents -- an estimated 70,000 from Hamilton County -- visited an adult Web site at least once. Nielsen - NetRatings found that 21.8 percent of all residents here who went online visited an adult site. The national average for January was 21.4 percent. In recent months, Hamilton County residents bought adult movies on pay-per-view TV at about the same rate as viewers did in other mid-sized TV markets. The numbers suggest county residents are quiet contributors to the adult industry's rapid growth. And with every purchase, they change Hamilton County's long-held notion of a community standard."

The data comes from the Enquirer, but that seems to have not made much of an impression on the anti-porn zealots.

[Via, you guessed it, Funnelcake]

What Ever Happened Too: CopWatch?

Cincinnati Copwatch was touted very heavily a few years ago. They had a $13,000.00 Threshold Foundation grant. Copwatch was a group related to CONTROL(Citizens Organizing Neighborhoods To Regain Our Liberation) which is affiliated with the Nati Youth Center. The website that used to house copwatch, www.cincinnaticopwatch.org, is no longer functioning. I have so far found online only one showing of some of the footage in some type of production, but it only seems to be a 10 minute segment of a 1:48 “film.”

The group got other grants as well, for a total of around $16,300.00, including a small grant from the OTR community council. I am all in favor of independent media. What I want that media to do though is show their work. Where is this group's work? Their self proclaim job was the to watch the police and catch police brutality on videotape. It they have it, why has it not been shown? I can think of two reasons. One, is that the footage is not good. Getting close enough to tape something without quality equipment is difficult. The other reason is that they have little footage to show. That could be because limited time of staff watching the cops, or because few incidents happened that could be considered police brutality, or it could be that they are not bothering to do anything and have used the funds and equipment for other purposes. The main issue is that the group has fallen of the face of the Earth. I guess their commitment was lacking or they didn't find what they wanted to find.

3rd Time the Charm?

No, Councilman Chris Smitherman will not get approval of a ban of taser use on children. He is grandstanding or hoping beyond hope that Mayday Malone will change his vote from 2 weeks ago. I think you can bet on grandstanding when it comes to Smitherman. It will make for a good campaign issue to run on in the Mayor's race. Something to use against Pepper? Where does Mallory stand on the issue?

Goodbye Johnny

The King of Late Night has died at age 79. I can only think of laughter right now. I think of Heeeeeere's Johnny, good jokes, bad jokes, Ed, Doc, comedians, and a great entertainer. He has been nearly silent since his retirement. He will be missed.

I hope Leno and Letterman can both do a great tribute, maybe even together.

Bronson's Ultimate Hacktacular

You know things are getting bad for Bronson when he crams three columns into one. What do we get? First we get some kind of Peter hates Detroit section that really makes no sense. That then has one of the most awkward segues in journalism history to a Peter Hates Cincinnati column, but then he tops himself with the No. 1 all time worst segue. He spins this all towards an attack on Jerry Springer. Now, people can hate Jerry Springer. That is understandable. Bronson's column is nothing but a hack job. It sounds like he visited a couple of websites and wrote a column, I mean does this think he just a blogger or something? Did they guy even listen to to the show?

Now, not only does he just not include anything specific, he makes what I believe is a false impression to anyone reading the coulumn:

But the old raincoat Springer is still slinging sleaze, like this "Shocking True Life Situation" on his Web site: "They haven't had sex in over a year! To complicate matters, Shavon's gay cousin Rob moved in with them, and now Rip has to confess he's been 'fooling around' with him!"

Right next to his "Springer for Ohio" Web site, his videos are reviewed by Amazon: "Breasts and brawls. Brawls and breasts. That pretty much sums up what this volume of the Jerry Springer home collection is all about."

Bronson is mixing up websites and I fear he is doing it on purpose. First he indirectly refers to www.jerryspringer.com, but does not list it, then he refers to "Springer for Ohio" which is not even a website. www.jerryforohio.com and www.springeronradio.com are the URL's for Springer’s radio show. Bronson then adds in a Amazon.com video review. What the hell does that have to do with anything?

If Bronson is gong to hit Jerry for his slime TV show, then fine, do it. Quote a show. Don't try and link his show to his Radio show when there is no connection other than Jerry himself. If you hate Jerry, then don't listen, but to say that Springer's TV show makes him unfit to have a political opinion then that should mean that Bronson will directly slam Bill Cunningham who even as a conservative wishes with all of his heart that he could have a TV show like Springer's. Cunningham's radio show has been as close to a Springer show as any on radio locally, outside of Howard Stern. How many strippers or sexologists were on his show? All be it his night show, when it was on.

Bronson should just pick a target. If he hates intercity culture in Detroit, then attack it. If he hates Cincinnati, then attack it, as he often does while living out in the burbs. If you hate Springer's radio show, why not listen to it, write down some objectionable quotes, and then complain about it? Instead we get nothing but hookers and 'homo's' from Bronson. Hell, if you are going to hold a man down for his past, then I guess Bush's past should mean something, and Arnold's past and present as a perpetuator of violent movies should matter. They don't matter, at least not to Peter, but sex does matter.

All of this from Bronson, a guy who thinks a sky fairy played in the dirt 6,000 years ago and 'created' human beings, how can we take his views on Condie Rice, Iraq, science, Social Security, police actions, culture, art, music, movies, television, taxes, foreign policy, urban development, economics, media, or the price of tea in China seriously?

And the Wolf Cried

In case you woke up this morning expecting to have a blizzard awaiting you outside, no, you were not imagining the local TV news weather reports saying such things, they were reporting up to 8 inches today. At this point they have stepped back just a bit from that claim. We might get an inch by night time.

Damn, I freaking changed plans for today because at worst I figured we get a similar level of snow as we had on Thursday. All we have right now are ice covered car windows, for those of us garageless, and a very light snow flurry here as of mid-day.

Paint the Town Blue

I made my way down to Alchemize for the event after skipping out early on the CA After-Five Walk in Oakley.

It was a great event. The snow hurt a bit, but local Dem/Liberal politicos were out in force. I saw Pepper, Cranley, too many Mallory's to count, Jerry Springer and his manwife Jene Galvin, and I even had an awkward introduction with Brian Garry. I don't think he is my biggest fan.

Jerry was introduced to the downstairs crowd and we heard a quick but painful "Jerry, Jerry" from the crowd. I was only mouthing the words, I swear.

Kaldi's Going Dry

Kaldi’s is giving up alcohol sales and changing its hours. Gone is late night food. This should be a plus to the Diner, but a negative to the Hipsters across the city.

Transplant Blues

Maggie has a follow-up column this week relating to her column last week.

I will take this opportunity to say to anyone who is a transplant to the city, or if you lived her all your life, or if you are one of a growing number of returnees: if you have a hard time finding something to do or meeting people, you should haul your ass to the next Cincinnati Advance event. In full disclosure, I am a board member for the group, as well as a regular attendee of their events.

Laughing

Hitting close to home? I figure this Cincy Harold article pissed off the GOP a bit, but I believe Leslie laughed over it.

Praise JEEEEBUS!!!

It was an act of "God" that made this propaganda happen, not political campaigners who exploited a 9/11 victim’s kid. That's not what happened here now, is it? (Yes, the last sentence should be heard in an overly sarcastic way, complete with vocal intonations).

Typical Bronson, on the day his boy ushers us into four more years of the American Dark Age, he choose to invoke his religion as the reason for Bush winning. Yes, Peter Bronson is doing nothing but carrying the Ark of the Covenant in front of his cultural war army. Fighting us pinko commie heathens with every knock he can. I mean, looking forward on how Bush could possibly unite the country in an honest manner, not in a love it or leave it cowboy tone, might be a way to further the debate, or even depolarize the county. Instead, Peter uses a puppy to gain the prayers of the suckers to heap more praise on his new Lord and Savior.

Socializing in a Balkanized City

Ok, we've had a little 'fun' here lately with Dating discussions on a tangent level. Cincinnati has been ranked as the second worst place for singles. As a romantically-challenged stout man, quickly passing my prime, I take clear notice of such rankings. (Please spare me the personal jokes, comments, put downs, or other mocking statements that people will make even though I ask them not to.)

Now, the first point to mention is that the poll is way way off in some of the ways it ranks Cincinnati, which stems mainly from unfair comparisons to NY, LA, and Chicago. This has been hashed over in the past, so I will not dive into it.

My question: Is there a special secret to the people in Cincinnati? The elements of the ranking are moot when it comes to dating. The issue is not do singles have things to do here, we do. The issue is: what makes people here so cliquish? Am I getting back into the native v. transplant debate? Yes, I think that is part of it. The other part that plays into it is the urban v. suburban divide.

I don't 'like' the suburbs. I never want to live in a cul-de-sac. I don't like spending time there. I have no reason to spend time there, outside of my job requirements. Many or most of my counterparts living out in the burbs I believe have a similar view to the city. Why this is I will not go into, but it exists and is not changing.

How does this hurt singles in our quest to find the perfect mate (or mates)? Is there a cultural or regional divide in the area that blocks off social interaction? I could throw in the West Side - East Side rivalry inside the city that could be just as divisive. Are we regressing back to the right-side - wrong-side of the tracks type of prejudice? It is not based so much on class, but on culture. If taken to an extreme and coupled with the growing political polarization, religious division, and socio-economic differences, this type of cultural divide could build up into something more strict or costly to the society, resulting in a Balkanized metro area with a caste system or social order with signs of the olden days, but with modern twists.

We now live in a city with localized fiefdomsgovernments, how much longer before those tribal like structures take hold in social relations, not just political relations?

Also, is this something unique to Cincinnati or significantly different here than other cities?

Fact Cat or Local Pol?

New blogger Publius atSave Our City revels a little about himself in a post today. He is headed to DC for the Inauguration. Now, my guess would be that Publius is either a local fat cat Republican who is going to cash in on his campaign contributions or is a connected politico who was able to score a hotel room and tickets to something related to the Inaugural.

He could just be a guy who can afford to go the event, but that is not as interesting or entertaining.

Strickland Out of Governor's Race

U.S. Congressman Ted Strickland is not running for Governor of Ohio. Those left in contention are Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic, U.S. Congressman Sherrod Brown, State Senator Eric Fingerhut, former Attorney General Lee Fisher, and Jerry Springer.

Coleman takes the lead in electability. Fingerhut has some name ID and organization, but lost big against Voinovich.

Stand Up to the FOP

Where are the union busting Republicans when you need them? The Police Union is once again trying to remove all power and control over the police from the City and keep if for themselves and their odd counterparts in crime, CPD management. I don't understand a union where your bosses get more attention and are protected more than the rank in file member. The FOP will put into jeopardy the contract negotiations for a 1,000 members because they wish to choose who becomes an assistant chief and other senior CPD managers, thus protected the jobs of a handful of people. The views of the City residents are just ignored.

This is representative of the biggest problem of the CPD, its 'us and them' mentality. A large portion of the CPD, and many many of the senior officers do not live in the city, and resent or even hate the people who live in the city. This I believe is a core reason for the bad community police relationship. Race is a factor in that. Culture and class are as well. It is a parallel to the city-burbs rivalry (feud) that exists in the county and metro area that is taking shape in the form of the new GOP cabal in county government.

A battle for county wide government is in the works and part of that is the goal of the GOP to take control and subdue the city, riding on its back on the way down into destruction.

Tsunami Relief, Inauguration Balls, & Paint the Town Blue

Queen City Forum has the lowdown on "Paint the Town Blue" an event at Alchemize sponsored by the Progressive Alliance. A night to help out people and a call to action for progressive/liberal minded people.

UPDATE: Link fixed.

Jammin' on Main, Dead

How did it die? Lack of turnout, or the cash strapped CSO?

Pettus-Brown Free

What? How the hell did this happen?

WMD Denial

Living in denial is not a great way to live:

Iraqi WMDs did, could still, exist

Regarding the letter 'Bush's Cincinnati claim proves false' (Jan. 15): A lot of people seem to be missing a significant point regarding the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There is no disputing the fact that Saddam Hussein did possess them and had used them before on the Kurds.

United Nations weapons inspectors did find that Iraq had large amounts of biological weapons and other precursor compounds for nerve gases. They also reported that Saddam willfully deceived the United Nations in regard to what they actually had.

The question isn't if he had them, it's what did he do with them? Keep in mind that some weapons of mass destruction can be so small they can be hidden in a toolbox or buried in the sand.
Steve Elmlinger, Florence

Steve, no the question is not what did he do with them, the question is either who lied to Saddam about having them or why did he lie about having more than he did. We went to war over an accounting problem. Iraq had not account for all of its weapons, which for BushCo meant that he still had them, even though 7 years of inspections, 12 years of sanctions, and another round of inspections found not evidence of anything other stockpiles. Time to admit that either Bush was lying (misleading) about WMD or he was so incompetent that he went to war with fully reviewing all relevant information. Oh, I forget though, Bush is infallible and has no responsibility for his actions.