Happy Walpurgisnacht Everybody !

Paul McGuire is an Idiot
The name Golden Dawn is used by a zillion people, organizations & companies. Trying to link the Greek political party to an occult organisation that is not satanic and at the same time labeling it as satanic is ignorant as hell.
McGuire's pathetic ramblings here

4 Reasons Funerals and Disney are SimilarA Simple, Village Undertaker, who happens to work for The Borg of funeral homes cites 4 reasons the funeral industry should look to Disney & the hospitality industry for a glimpse of the future.

• Reason 1. Both deal with emotions.
• Reason 2. Both are about memories.
• Reason 3. Both are expensive outlays of resources.
• Reason 4. Both rely heavily on their customers to refer friends and family to their services.

Probably the biggest most glaring difference is that Disneyland isn't real & your dead loved one is. Or was, maybe that's the loophole...
Funeral homes don't generally rely heavily on movie franchises & 3D cartoons, either.
I hope he doesn't want to introduce plushies and animatronics. Well, ok, I could go for animatronics maybe.

For the whole analysis go here

and just to fair, there's more than one Borg of the funeral industry.

Streetcars
Time to put a bullet in the head of this ZombieIt's time to give these anti-streetcar arguments the true death. The brain dead, zombie arguments just keep resurfacing like the moans and groans of a zombie horde. There's no reasoning with them. As John Swift put it, "You cannot reason someone out of something they were not reasoned into.". We need to employ Conan McClelland's strategies.

Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up.
If you have a gun, shoot 'em in the head. That's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat 'em or burn 'em. They go up pretty easy.

It's stupid, a boondoggle, a waste of money, city clounsel, layoffs, brownouts…
These are not arguments - they're not even true.
The subway all over again, actually has a grain of truth as rising prices have put the cost a little higher than what was forecast years ago, but the increase is nothing compared to the whopping price increases following WWI.
We need to issue the bonds for current costs & build this thing. It's time to move on.

aw, c'mon, baby, I promise it won't be like last time...Superfluous Redundancy takes a look at John Cranley's budget tactics.

Chris Smitherman's Theme Song
While Slitherman intends to lock out the media from a NA CP meeting where members intend to seek his ouster, it's kinda hard to keep this stuff under wraps nowadays when everybody's phone doubles as a camera. Of course, now that he's an angry Republican, he might go all Steve Chabot on his splintering minions.
But what's the Sillyman want to hide? Is he afraid he might lose his temper? That his goons might get a little over zealous with the membership?

Fishwarp tells all here

UPDATE Well, apparently, it was a pretty raucous night at the NAATP as Smitherman's right hand man, racial separatist Jim Clingman, had police remove the executive board member who wanted to introduce a motion to ask the chapter president to resign before she could even speak. People outside urged members to join the newly formed local chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network civil rights group.

"It’s a shame what the NAACP has come to be," Robert Richardson Jr. said. "He (Smitherman) tries to find a way to suppress those who disagree with him."

After the meeting, Smitherman fled the church flanked by bodyguards.

more

Gwyneth Paltrow? People, please....Looking at People magazines "most beautiful women" I was surprised to see Paltrow at the top of the list. Then I saw the 9 runners up. ok, I'll give 'em Jane Fonda & Pink, but the rest?
OK, So here's Blogging Isn't Cool's definitive Top 10:

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The Louisville Harolds
A group of high school kids in Louisville, KY who organize & attend funerals for the homeless & indigent are the subject of a documentary called The Potters Field.

Chabot, Wenstrup Support CISPAIt should be no surprise the big business / big government Steve Chabot supported CISPA & trampled citizens' rights. He did it before with SOPA. Brad Wenstrup, a newbie, blank slate & darling of the faux libertarian COA T supported the bill that would introduce warrantless searches into your various online accounts and permit businesses & employers to snoop your files, too.
Another day, another GOP power grab and more centralised government.

Miss Us Yet ?

Is Cincinnati Ready for Fashion Trucks ?
While downtown Cincinnati has a nice fleet of food trucks that's actually set to expand, to date has not got on board with what some say is the next big mobile craze - fashion trucks.
These aren't the folks selling socks out of the back of Ryder trucks but places with dressing rooms & informed clerks what you'd expect from a high end bricks & mortar establishment like Target.
yeah, I don't get it - maybe you could set these things up outside cemeteries to provide proper attire for funerals.

More from CNN

WCPO Explores COAST / NAACP Voter Fraud ScandalIs Smitherman willing to produce the petitions he found questionable?
Read all bout it here

From City Beat

Petitioners against the city’s parking plan are supposed to get their final tally on referendum today, but a new video shows at least some of the petitions may have been signed without a legitimate witness, which are needed to validate a signature.

More here

This is what Cincinnati really needs.

Spring Steak Out
The Cincinnati Rollergirls & The C&D present the Spring Steak Out April 21st from 4 until 8 - a $10 steak dinner!

Happy 420 Day Everybody !

Saturday, besides being 420 day, is Record Store Day. Northside's Shake It will be offering 10% discounts on purchases with the donation of a canned food item. They will be offering special releases by The Greenhornes on vinyl and a CD by Chuck Cleaver & Lisa Walker of Wussy. Cleaver & Walker will also be performing at 8 while Brian Olive will be performing at the store at 6.

Radical Obstructionist Power Grabbers Piss Off Business CommunityWotta surprise, the radical anarchist anti-business antics of the NA CP & COA T cabal have drawn the ire of pro-business groups like The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, 3CDC and businesses like Al Neyer, Messer Construction and Towne Properties.

The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, 3CDC and individual businesses including Al. Neyer, Messer Construction and Towne Properties united to file a friend of the court brief Friday objecting to Common Pleas Judge Robert Winkler’s ruling against the parking lease.

Just like their boy in congress, Steve Chabot, who keeps screwing with the business community, this cadre is undermining the business community and killing the economy and job growth. They call themselves Republicans? No - purely power grabbing Erisians.

The result is to deprive such ordinances of needed certainty," "This result would cripple economic development potential in the City."

No shit.

Fishwarp article here

Brownouts ?
Thanks COA T & NA CP.
Enjoy your bloody referendum, bitches

Article that quotes ringleader and non resident of Cincinnati saying he is thrilled with the outcome of his labors here

Wild Carpathia
Sorry, no sweet transvestites from a probably not transsexual Transylvania, but it does have Prince Charles' rapier wit.
Anyway, I bring this up because Romania & other countries in Europe are facing a problem of massive land grabs by a small number of private entities subsidized by governments that have cut spending in many other areas.
See more at arc2020

What's With the Skinny Parking Lane ?
and what's with the placards on the poles ?




Dunno if it's Cincinnati drivers or American sportsmen but when they add NO PARKING AT ANY TIME & a Bike Lane they get really skinny parking lane. It's the new math, I guess.

Not knowing who decided the world would be better off killing, maiming & terrifying people at a marathon, one could theorize it's someone who hates marathons. Unlikely, but there's a chance. More likely is that it was somebody riding the wave of publicity the world renowned Boston Marathon gets every year. Cincinnati's Flying Pig marathon does get people from around the world but it's not very well known by the average shmoe in Bucharest.
So why are the Flying Pig organizers worried about an attack here? Beats me. Maybe it is someone who hates marathons. Maybe it's people with an obsessive hatred for Jean Schmidt. Locally, we should probably be more worried about the bengals or Reds having good seasons.

Article not worth paying for here

Everybody's a Thereminist
The "gestures" you use on your tablets & phones were just the beginning, now we're going to add a z axis to your repertoire. If you are an experienced theremin player (& who isn't?) you're probably halfway there.
Apparently people are all caught up in patenting the gestures. While not patented, some people just own some gestures….

El Reg story here

Sending Coal to NewcastleIn a drama of politics, religion & necro-voting that would have made the Marquis de Sade blush, a nun who filled out & mailed her roommate nun's absentee ballot postmortem will get, essentially, probation. The funny part is that she will be required to do community service. Isn't that kind of a major part of nunning anyway?
yeah, that'll teach her!

Fishwarp story here

Glad to See You Go
The fact that Cecil Thomas was term limited was one of the bright points in a rather dismal political season. Unfortunately, he still wants to inflict folks with his ineptitude and in his last act as a councilman, he wants to dump his old lady on us. Take my wife - please…..
I HATE DYNASTIES - Kennedys, Bushes, Winklers, Mallorys and now, I guess Thomases. It's just not what American society is about.

Channel 9 Channel 9 article here

When Civilization Goes MadThis story kinda freaks me out. A guy up in Maine just splits home back when he was 20 to live alone in the woods. He survived by stealing food from nearby campgrounds. One of the few luxuries he had was a small portable radio that he used to listen to talk shows. heck, if I listened to local talk radio, I'd probably head for the hills, too. Anyway, he's doing his thing for about 27 years, some people living in the area just left food out or him to keep him from breaking in, and he finally gets caught stealing from a group camp.
OK, so now the various government agencies are going to spend a fortune incarcerating him, prosecuting him & "treating" him. The end result? This guy & everybody dealing with him are going to be miserable & the taxpayers will get fleeced in the bargain. Why not just let the guy live the way he had & just have "food drops" for the guy every week/month? It would cost less, he's been doing this for 27 years so people already know what he likes, and everybody will be happy.

The Culture of DeathWell, ok, maybe not the culture but the business of death…..

It was a common sight to see some men come into the shop from the county with a long cornstalk in his hand — a measure of the length of someone just dead.

The Springfield Noose Son takes a look back at the funeral business in the 19th century.
Springfield was also at the forefront of the burial vault biz, too - originally meant to deter grave robbers & now just serves to make life easier for cemetery grounds keepers.

Could It Happen Here ?Greece has a lot of problems not the least of which is it's Golden Dawn Party. Long considered a joke, as hard times hit the ancient nation people are falling back on their bibles & guns and that just happens to be a prime message from the party. Their nationalistic & racial policies have garnered them a small share of the parliament. The members of parliament have diplomatic immunity so their actions, beating people they don't like & urinating on TV station doors goes on with no repercussions.
Could this happen here in the US?
Actually, Cincinnati has a gang that is similar in nature, the unholy alliance of COA T & the NA CP. These extremist fringe groups currently have a similar percentage of reps on the Cincinnati city council and, while they have no diplomatic immunity, they have tried to sue for the ability to lie with impunity - a major pastime for these agitators.
But a tendency towards violence? You tell me.And there was the time Chris Smitherman had to be restrained from attacking someone at city hall..And just who attacked councilman Seelbach on a downtown street? Neither of these groups, like the Golden Dawn, like gays much.
Similarly to Greece's Golden Dawn, they approach their cause with an almost religious fervor. Their rhetoric is often laced with biblical references and they might very well believe themselves. They don't seem to have an alliance with any churches - some members have actually been sued by their churches and Winburn seems to have ditched his church as soon as he got a job on council.
The closest parallel to mythology I can see is Smitherman's Cerberus to Finney's Hades. The problem here is that, when they think they need not answer to the laws of men, they solicit ballot signatures from the mentally addled, order signature collectors to fudge the forms & destroy newspapers with unflattering articles about them.
Their boys on the council, with their mad and frequently illegal schemes, are like the Mantle Brothers of Cincinnati politics.
Between madness, zealotry and ambition, there is no telling what they might eventually do. Just how far will they go ?

Feeling Safe or Feeling Lucky ?
In a recent Bizniz Courier article it was reported,

[In a recent survey] 73 percent felt safe downtown, 93 percent felt safe during the day and 82 percent felt safe during the early evening, all improvements over last year.

But why? Everyone knows downtown Cincinnati is a virtual abattoir. Congressman Wenstrup said the town was worse than a war zone. Why would anything change?
Look at the source - Follow the money.
It's a business rag. Of course they want you to feel safe so they work with the liberals in Hollywood to bombard you with horror & violence to numb you to the true terror of Downtown Cincinnati. This way, they can entice you to come to the most dangerous place in the universe, fleece you and then watch you die.

NPR is reporting that DC Comics is introducing the first mainstream transgender character in Batgirl. This almost seems like a step backwards, however for a genre full of trans species, biological mutants, radioactive mutants, body swapping, alien, cyborg, ghost, plant-animal characters. Compared to Congorilla & Metamorpho, transgender seems almost pedestrian.

Jonathan Winters Discusses His Ohio Roots
Jonathan Winters, RIP
Speaking of which, one of my favorite movies, The Loved One

Former She Club to be Razed

Toxic Reasons - 1980The She Club & the Forest Park Plaza, in erudite Dayton, Ohio is set to be razed & redeveloped.
The She Club hosted such acts as The Human Switchboard, Avalanche, The Ramones & Toxic Reasons.
DDNoose story here

Cincinnati's Future - With or Without Vision & Leadership
5chw4r7z takes a look at Cincinnati's future with a loser opportunist like John Cranley or with a visionary leader like Roxane Qualls.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Daco-Romanian Continuity
I almost feel sorry for the text reader - voice simulator program thingamabob. Anyway, the debate over the history of this area is pretty interesting.

Happy Birthday, BillBill Dickhaus of Ace Hardware in sun splashed Northside is 88 today.
Hopefully Duke can keep his power on.
Old video here

Oh Please
Frankly, I think it's a good thing to know that your meat is body parts.

The street I live on slopes down to the east & the lots are terraced down the street. Every year around this time I get light coming in through both my east & west windows as the morning sun reflects off the windows of the house to my west. I get the little sun island thingies all over the place.

Happy Sunday
Luna

NAACP Efforts to Shut Down Half of Cincinnati's Fire HousesNA CP, working with COA T imperil Cincinnatians by closing fire houses & firing police in mad power grab.
Read more at WCPO

Do You Believe in Magic ?How about Bigfoot? Chem-Trails? How about shape shifting alien lizard men?
I got no answers but if you want to know what kind of company you're keeping if you do, Public Policy Polling has just released their results of a survey on Conspiracy Theory Beliefs.
¾ of Americans believe Obama is not the anti Christ. Twice as many Republicans believe in a secret NWO. More than 1 in 10 people believe or might believe the world is ruled by shape shifting alien lizard men. Black people are pretty darn sure Paul McCartney never died & was subsequently replaced.
Things to think about when riding the bus.

What? No "Streetcar Tax"?While a radical coterie have been hyperventilating like Henny Pennys about Duke Energy imposing a "streetcar tax" on SW Ohioans - it appears it was all just hysterical, fear-mongering FUD. What else have they got wrong? From the Fishwarp:

Duke also dropped its request for the power to pass along the cost of moving utilities for large government projects. The request was widely opposed by Southwest Ohio customers outside of Cincinnati, many of whom incorrectly believed it would have stuck them with the bill for moving utilities for the city’s streetcar.

BrinkmanshipPeople don't seem to understand the tactics of Chairman Brinkman's merry cadre. Why would a right wing group be opposed to the government getting out of the parking business & focussing on core responsibilities ? They never squawked when the Son of the Suburbs suggested the county sell off parking at fire sale prices and surrendering all control.
And what a difference with Chairman Tom when a Democrat & Republican governor propose the same idea.
When Ted Strickland was governor, he had a budget hole that needed to be fixed. He had a limited time to do it & he only had a few options. He opted to sell slots licenses to Ohio race tracks. Chairman Brinkman allied with Ohio clergy, some unnamed out of state financiers & threatened a referendum on Strickland's plan which, due to time constraints, wouldn't be feasible - he scrapped that idea and terminated tax breaks enacted by previous governor Taft. Republicans labelled Strickland a "tax hiker" and cost him votes. When Republican Kasich won the election, he promptly sold slots licenses to the race tracks with nary a peep from the chairman. In fact one of the guys from the chairman's junta took an appointment from Kasich. Payoff?
Now fast forward to The chairman's latest ploy in Cincinnati - it's the same plan. A budget needs to be had & the government put one in place but was thwarted by the chairman's cabal taking advantage the timing.
Don't Republicans like public private partnerships?
That's not the issue, policy isn't the issue, fiscal responsibility isn't the issue, good governance isn't the issue - the issue is Republicanism. They need to frame any Democrats as failures so they can get Republicans into office. ANY Republican - these clowns support Charlie Winburn.
It's a kinda scorched Earth / rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven sorta strategy.
It's certainly nothing good for SW Ohio.

Resumes
The Business Insider has an article about a guy producing photos for a daily newspaper using an iPhone for a camera & Instagram for editing. Granted, daily newspaper photography isn't usually great, yesterday's papers are used for lining bird cages, washing windows & drop cloths etc…. But is using a phone & Instagram something to put on a resume?
The skills needed to put a picture in the paper used to mean something and there were a lot of skills & tools needed to get that picture into ink on paper. First, you needed a camera (& a guy who could use it)Then you needed a darkroom to develop the film.Then an enlarger to make your photo print. Then you needed to get a halftone made which required a process cameraThese suckers required 2 rooms & then another darkroom to develop the film. To make the halftone dots on the film, you would mout a glass plate in front of the film. The glass plate had cross hatched diagonal lines scribed into it. All this photographic work was done by hand - no processors.
If you wanted to do local tone manipulation on the image there were a number of "dodge and burn" techniques available to the photographer but at this stage, the job would go to a dot etcher.I couldn't find a picture of a dot etcher but every one I knew was a little off, so this one will do. They would live up to their name by applying a weak solution of potassium ferricyanide to the film to "etch" the dots on the film. Then the film would go to a stripper (I couldn't find an acceptable image) & then on to a platemakerand then off to the press.
It was a long & tedious job & took not only a lot of people to do it but a lot of people to make the tools & materials to make it all work. Now a guy snaps the pic, sloshes it into a layout program, sends it to the press & a plate is burned, processed & mounted and printing commences.
It was a strange feeling when I saw my darkroom dismantled. I started to understand the saying, "I've forgot more than you'll ever know".
A&B, Dektol, Rubylith, Wratten 1A, Robertson, Crosfield, Scitex, dragon's blood, that weird photo transfer product whose name I forget? PMS? PMT?
Putting this crap on a resume would just confuse the average HR clown nowadays.

Zombie Hookers ?Looking for some strange gray? Try Zimbabwe

Ratonagh