Thursday, June 30, 2005

Cincinnati teens on 1230 AM

An interesting idea from 1230 the Buzz.

Fountain Square Plan Back on Track

City Council overrode the Historic Conservation Board's veto of the project's plan to move the Fountain.

Odd Population Trend

I can't explain the first ring burbs losing population. Is Blue Ash Shrinking? Could it be a large number of people are stupidly only wanting brand new cookie cutter homes? Could it be minorities moving in and the white moving out again? (I hope this is not the case). Or is it just an anomaly?

UPDATE: In another article we get one answer:
That trend, Mallory argued, points to a problem Cincinnati shares with its closest neighbors: an older housing stock.

Mallory said he would de-emphasize the new houses being built at Citirama sites in favor of rehabilitating vacant buildings in a "block-by-block, street-by-street" approach.
Rehab is the way to go, but for some unknown reason, people want to live in a world like the Desperate Housewives. Don't people see that their lives suck living out in a world where you can't tell one house from the other?

Good

No charges will be filed for teen's abortion

This had witch hunt written all over it. Glad that it was resolved.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Sam Malone Case: The Plot Thickens?

The Enquirer is reporting that a county lead investigation was begun to review how police handled interaction with social services regarding reports of child abuse by Councilman Sam Malone on his son. Joe Deters stated a Grand Jury reviewed this as well and found no criminal wrong doing. Sheriff Simon Leis's department is handling the county initiated investigation and the final report is expected to be submitted to him on Thursday.

What does this mean? Well, the details are might thin, but someone complained about how police handled reports of child abuse by Malone. What is lacking is do they mean the night the incident occurred which caused Malone's arrest or could there be prior incidents the police did not handle correctly? Were there prior incidents that police did not report to social services? How good are records of police calls and patrol visits?

Just to avoid confusion, I want to make it clear that I am trying to read between the lines of why this investigation was called. Simon Leis would not waste much time on this if there were not at least plausible allegations or complaints.

UPDATE 9PM: WCPO has more and tonight will have even more on their I-Team. Yea, it may be over the top, but the situation warrants all the attention it can get.

Fountain Square Plan Stumble

The Historical Landmark Board has vetoed the Fountain Square plan to move the Fountain. City Council reportedly will be able to over rule the veto, but they must do so today at the last meeting before Council's summer break, if the Plan is to stay on track. They could call a special meeting, but the votes are likely there to keep the plan going.

Partisan Hack on the Bench?

GOP party man gets a Federal judgeship recommendation, a payback for doing what it took to give Bush Southwest Ohio?

Who will replace him at the Hamilton County GOP?

Cincy Young Professionals

The Brian and Joe Show on WAIF 88.3FM will be joined by three great guests discussing young professionals in Cincinnati: The Enquirer's Maggie Downs, City Council candidate Nick Spencer, and Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber Sid DÂ?Souza. 10 AM today or check out the POD Cast.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Support For Religious Freedom

The Supreme Court refused to to hear several other cases involving separation of church and state and let stand lower court rulings that prevented religious displays in schools and one theocratic town council in South Carolina from beginning its meetings with a prayer praising Jesus Christ. It will not keep the theocrats from trying to push religion onto others, but it might make them more reluctant to waste their money. This will keep them at bay until Bush gets more Scalia type theocrats in courts.

Credit

I give full credit to the courthouses in Kentucky that quickly removed the Ten Commandments from the courthouse walls after the SCOTUS ruling. I applaud the willingness to honorably follow the rule of law.

Republican Putsch in KY

Purging Democrats from government jobs appears to have been one action taken by the Republican Administration in KY to gain and maintain power in the state. Now, who was pissed about someone being compared to Stalin? First we get torte allowed to happen under the Bush Administration, now we get a Putsch in Kentucky. Where's the next 5 year plan?

Bush Speech is Waste of Time

Here is how you know Bush is weak President. If George Bush wants to address the Country on the Iraq war, then he should be sitting at his desk talking into the camera telling us his views. He should have the courage to face on his own.

Instead he is playing to polls and marketing advisors and is holding his speech in front of a friendly military crowd at a military base and will likely be surrounded by soldiers, who will be cheering for Fearless Leader. He asked for Network air time for this, but this is just like a campaign speech, not an address to the country. THIS IS PURE PROPAGANDA. There can be no doubt of that. He will not have any new ideas or content. It will just be a rally around the president because his poll numbers have dropped like a rock and midterm elections are just around the corner.

This is the real Bush. He is worse than every other modern President and plays games with the public, especially when it comes to going to war. I hope people don't see this speech as anything more than a PR stunt. I know the faithful will eat this up like pigs at trough, so I am sure the Propaganda will work on a quite a few.

Monday, June 27, 2005

King Solomon Speaks

SCOTUS found a way to cut the baby in half.

Why Gun Violence?

What is causing the recent up tick of gun violence recently? Most of the incidents I would put on drug related idiots. This incident outside a dance club reportedly starting as an argument. Why would there be guns in the hands of these young 'kids?' I would guess they are not drug dealers. Do they have the guns on them as a result of conceal & carry laws? I doubt that. Do they have them out of fear? Maybe. Do they have guns out of some warped need for instant power and respect that they can't seem to earn any other way? I would guess yes. How is this type of problem addressed? How do young adults become ego driven fools who can't refrain from shooting people over schoolyard type conflicts?

Drum Beat Grows

Questions continue to mount over the relationship between Gov. Bob Taft and those advising on investing in the Coin Deal where millions of dollars in coins went missing. The campaign contributions to the senior state officials were huge: Petro, Montgomery, and Blackwell all got big bucks from the investment companies managing much of the state institutions' money. The questions will continue until someone is thrown overboard. There are two ways for this to happen. The first is the easiest: dump Taft. The second is for it to be a primary issue and one of the three in the race is attacked by the others. That would be more difficult, but it sure would be fun to watch and even better when a Dem would win the governorship next year.

Questions also mount for the GOP Governor in KY.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Downtown Dying

It looks like Downtown Mason is not a hot spot of activity. I guess the small town "life style centers" and big box retail are just killing everything. Well, with all of the plans to build up Downtown Cincinnati, I wonder if anyone can lend Mason a hand?

Why Does Deters Hate Cincinnati?

By saying that the city's future is 'bleak' because of the gun violence, it is clear that Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters hates the city. I mean, you can't speak ill of the Luken Administration. If you do, you provide aid and comfort to the Criminals who surely will see this on TV and in the newspaper and know they have a divided county where they can just divide it more and not have to worry about ever being caught.

Yes, Virginia, I am joking. I am not joking when I say Deters cares little about the city. It is my opinion that Deter is the poster child for a large percentage of those who have left the city for the burbs and now do not care much about it. They take a Nero view to anything happening in it, not remembering they are a living in suburban Rome, where the fire won't stop because of a white picket fence.

Hamilton

Why would you jeer a peace march? The situation in Hamilton sounds and looks more like something from a 1964 newsreel showing civil rights marchers with racists yelling at them. The media reports, which are a limited means to understand the story paint a grim picture of a small neighborhood.
Concern, fear began before blaze broke out
City leaders denounce vigilantism
Pastor from Mexico helps sooth residents’ spirits
Suspect identified
Unity Prayer Walk briefly interrupted
Latino community worries as tensions continue
The father of girl does not appear to be helping much. I at first thought he was trying to calm things down, but when he joins the crowd yelling at a peace march, then he becomes part of the problem facing that community. His daughter should get all of our sympathy for the horrible crime done to her, and every action must be taken to catch the person responsible, but the father should not turn that into an "us vs. them" belief that has no relation to justice for his daughter.

GOP Needs Turnout, Dems Need Money

What I get from this Enquirer Article "GOP counting on ads, Dems on shoe leather" is that the GOP is using mass marketing to gain in as many of their base, which in this district is high, to gain votes. The Democrats don't have the bread yet to do that and are instead going door to door to make the personal connect ion to voters, which in the end may get more new voters out to vote. Whether they vote for the Dems or not is what the Dems have to worry about.

Schmidt is running this campaign like she is the incumbent, which not only is offensive to liberals, it should offend regular Republicans who don't want to be taken for granted. Filming a TV ad in Washington? What kind of arrogance does a person have to possess to take off a day of a campaign to fly to DC to shoot a commercial, when she has just over a month before the election? Schmidt should have to earn the seat, not just be awarded it because she pulled off an upset in a divided primary.

Hackett needs cash. If he can match television ads with her, tout his military service in Iraq, and connect on a personal level with voters face to face, he has a chance. He will not get any help from the mainstream political opinion makers in town, which will either back Schmidt or just ignore it altogether as a perceived exercise in futility. Hackett is not an experienced enough politician to really be underestimated, but he is setting the ground work for 2006. Don’t count him out this time around yet, but I think the more effort he puts in, the better off he will be either this year, or next.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Newsworthy?

The facts presented in this WCPO story about an alleged sexual assault paint a picture of something that seems like something other than how it is presented. The headline indicates something approaching rape occurred in a class room at UC. In reading the details of the story it sounds like a guy got aggressive and touched and kissed a woman when he should not have.

This is an attack? This is News? I don't want to trivialize improper sexual advances, but touching a breast does not rank a story on WCPO. The guy sounds like a dirt bag, but this is the kind of thing that warranted a slap across the face, not a police report. I am basing this totally on the news story that while it sensationalizes the fact it reports, it may not be reporting all of the facts. This type of thing surely happens every night at local college bars and parties. Just because it happened in a class room, WCPO has chosen to make this a story and ride the hype and fear of UC parents who might be more inclined to watch WCPO or read the website.