The Need to test Politicians for Human DNA

Dude, here, in Campbell County KY, is a perfect example of why we need to test politicians to see if they are actually human beings, subterranean aliens or just Boogie Boys. While maybe just being a mutant - better safe than sorry.

Contrasts in Journalism

As the newspapers roll out their endorsements, it's interesting to see who they pick and, especially with the Cincinnati Enquirer, how they pick. The Fishwarp should have ben given some sort of award for twisting, writhing, backpedalling endorsement of John Cranley for mayor. Their endorsements this year have almost been on a par and their endorsement of Mitch McConnell is right in there.
Meanwhile, The Lexington Herald Leader is pretty darn clear in theier endorsement of Alison Lundergan Grimes and so is the Louisville Courier Journal.
The Fshwarp is the paper of record for a chunk of Kentucky, so it's not like they should keep their mouth shut but the timidity of their endorsement contrasted against the 2 Kentucky papers (one also a Gannett paper) is striking.

Mitch, Mitch, Mitch...

Strategies

Republicans tend to campaign around buzzwords & associating opposition candidates with a few politicians that they pillory - Obama, pelosi, Reid…
I don't see this being done by the Democrats so much. They never turned the word 'conservative' into a curse word the way Republicans, Like Reagan did.
It surprisses me the Dems kept Pelosi & Reid in their positions of leadership after the last elections because they wer such damaged goods.
Anyway, McConnell, like Chabot & so many other Republicans, has done this with his Senate opposition, Alison Lundgren-Grimes, who, in turn, has gone all Sarah Palin on the boy.
Now, there's an obvious GOP response to this that the SWGOP would get right away, but poor old Mitch didn't seem to get it. oh well...

Heroin & Tolls

As the talk about building a new bridge between Covington & Cincinnati that would require tolls for financing goes on (&on&on&on) there's another discussion about heroin abuse, an epidemic that has people crossing state lines over the existing bridgs.
What would tolling the bridges, existing & new due to the cross state heroin trade?
Tolls for the imagined bridge would all need to go to that bridge but tolls on the other bridges could go to not only the new bridge & existing bridge maintenance but some could go to chemical dependency programs as well.
Of course, getting stuck in traffic on the bridges would also afford a guy a great opportunity to shoot up…

Motivaations

One has to wonder why some people are so concerned with building a new bridge over the Ohio River to help facilitate Interstates 71, 74 & 75.
A new report indicates that human trafficking tends to follow the interstates & cites a concentration along I-75.
The hottest areas for the sex trade are listed in Northern Kentucky where folks are most adamant about a free ride and in Sharonville, OH, home of the CCV.
hm

Read more at the 'Warp.

Who Needs a Bridge ?

Flying cars, hovercraft, amphibious cars, rocket packs, winged back packs, ultralight aircraft, ferries…
The reason to build a $300 BILLION 14 lane bridge that will blight Covington, KY just keeps getting weaker. Now Amazon announces it is looking into delivery by drone. Packages can be flown up from Hebron to your Cincinnati doorstep - no bridge necessary!
Stop the madness - forget the bridge - it's the past - we should move forward.

Horror Sells - Bridges

hey, buddy, wanna buy a bridge? YOU WILL DIE if ya don't!OK, this is pretty wack. For starters, the last couple of times I went over the BSB it was like a race track - ZERO congestion.
Given the slow growth of Ohio's, Kentucky's and Tennessee's populations and the decline in Michigan's AND coupled with millennials driving less - where do they get the notion the highways will continue to get more congested?

A lawyer, a podiatrist and an electrical engineer walk into a bar - er - a legislative chamber and vote on a farm bill.
what a joke...
Fishwarp meanderings here

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.

Give it Back, Kentucky
A letter writer at the Fishwarp asks why Senators Paul & McConnell take federal money but deny it to New York & New Jersey in the form of disaster relief.
Indeed. Kentucky gets $1.45 on their tax dollar while New York & New Jersey are two of the leading donor states in the U.S., receiving respectively $0.79 & $0.55 on their tax dollar. Why should they routinely subsidize Kentucky just to have their senators block emergency aid?
Paul & McConnell need to clean up their own back yard.

AVOIDING TOLLSPeople have been writing LTEs to the Fishwarp saying they will use alternative routes over the Ohio River if a new bridge requires the payment of tolls. The paper just ran an article detailing how professional drivers will, among other things, use alternative routes.
So, my question is, if these alternative routes are so viable, why pay $3 BILLION dollars for the daggone thing if nobody is going to use it?

Tolls on Bridge ?
While the KYTease protest a libertarian funding of a new Ohio River bridge & promote socialist subsidies, it seems the Nolanists are going to trump the Trotskyites.
But how do we console these embittered travelers?
I suggest giving the fleeced bridge users with some entertainment. yup, holographic robot go go dancers!
With this enticement, people will flock to the new bridge & the incresed use of the bridge will pay off the construction costs in a fraction of the time John, Steve & Ray are predicting. As a bonus, the reduced use of other bridges will cut the amount of maintenance spending that they require. All in all a win win situation for everybody.

Ohio Native Finds Roots in Slavery & Rule of Law

John Legend and Wanda Sykes on PBS' Finding Your Roots
I usually don't watch this show & I seriously don't like John Legend (& I'm lukewarm on Wanda Sykes) but I found the Legend segment of this episode interesting. It gets into the nature of the relationship of slaves and masters outside of the typical liberal caricature and it gets into interstate law regarding people and property. Ohio & Kentucky come out looking pretty good (except for some KY scumbags) but VA comes off pretty lame. They were, of course, one of the original American states that demanded slavery be legal in "the land of the free" & blocked recognition of our Caribbean neighbor, Haiti.

Fucking Cheerleaders

This chick could get 10 years in prison for banging a 16 yr old?
ferreal?
She should lose her job as a teacher of course & if the pro sports guys have any morals stipulations in their loony world, they should be applied - but jail time?

We Are Not Alone

Cincinnati City Council is battling itself over laws to curb the stealing of metal. People are stealing siding off of houses, copper pipes from plumbing & air conditioners and it's costing property owners thousands of dollars - frequently more than what the thieves get for selling the metal. City council is trying to regulate the sellers & buyers in the city. Problem is, we don't live in a vacuum. People just sell the scrap outside the city limits in Ohio or Kentucky. We need to address this on a state basis & even then, border towns like Cincinnati & Cleveland will need cooperation with Pennsylvania & Kentucky.

Fishwarp story here.

MAPS !

About 40 years in the making, Kentucky unveils the most detailed state mapping in the US.
Take that Northwest ordinance.

UK story here

Worst Drivers in the Tristate ?
Living in a border community, especially a 3-way border community, rivalries arise. A common one is, who is the worst goram state for driving? The debates are endless but Car Insurance Comparison has given us the answer.
Kentucky
By a landslide. At #7, they are in the top 10 worst states in the country. Contrasted against Ohio, which at #41 is the top 10 best states for drivers. Indiana is somewhere in the middle because, as we all know, Indiana is average average average…..
Of course, if you look at their numbers, the rankers don't even follow their own numbers, so Ohio & Indiana might be in an eternal quibble, but manoman, Kentucky, where people stop at the end of entrance ramps because it's always easier to merge into 60MPH traffic from a dead stop? No question. Stick to horses, guys.

Buying a Bridge
Politicians are lining up with ideas to pay the $3 BILLION price tag for a new I-75/I-71/I-74 bridge over the Ohio river. The talk of tolls has got people freaked out. Proponents say bridge traffic will increase significantly but with higher gas prices, and stagnant to shrinking populations in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio & Michigan, that doesn't seem likely. To pay for the bridge in tolls, it would cost about $1.75 a trip to pay the thing off in 30 years, at which time it's estimated it will be in need of replacement. Dunno if a toll can be applied to an interstate but we need to be creative here.
First thing that comes to mind is advertising. Naming rights would be obvious. What company wouldn't want their name associated with traffic jams and bottlenecks? Billboards over the roadway & off to the sides might be tacky but these things don't pay for themselves. I'm thinking a metal structure could also be used as an antenna to broadcast radio ads at the cars while they are on the bridge. It could jam the entire frequency range for the limited area to guarantee listenership.
With the use of tolls, most commuters & professional drivers would use electronic "EZPass" type doohickies but a good number of people would have to stop & pay. We could rent out spaces around the waiting area to mobile vendors selling hot dogs, t-shirts, pizza, commemorative banners & such.
Random prizes could be awarded - a sort of lottery system. Poor people would drive back and forth all day long. Go Go dancers in cages along the bridge might bring in some repeat business, too.
Of course a reality TV show could promote the use of the bridge. D.O.T. Apprentice, anyone?
We are overlooking the obvious here, of course. Why even build a bridge? I am sure our local idea man, the illustrious Chuck Windbag is already working on a plan to use rubber floater pontoon ferries, operated by boy scouts, to transport cars across the river following a colored rope drawn from shore to shore.

Previously

Fishwrap article here.

World Equestrian Games
My sister is into animal competition. yeah, she's probably on a PETA hit list somewhere...
Anyway, she decided to volunteer at the World Equestrian Games. This ain't a horse race like the Kentucky Derby, it's more about training agility & whatnot. So as she told me more & about where all the competitors were coming from I actually paid a little attention to her. When a guy with a deep voice & British accent laid it out for Laure Quinlivan's council committee, I listened & started to realize how big this thing was. I mean physically big. It's the biggest one they have ever done. It's the first time it's been held in the USA & people from all over the world are flying their horses here for the event. I have seen horses freak out in a trailer, I can't imagine flying a bunch overseas.
One of the interesting competitions is Para Dressing which is designed to allow physically disabled people to work with their horses. This is another first for the WEG.
Anyway lame Fishwrap coverage here and here with plenty of dumb comments.