Safety & The Right to Drive Like an Idiot

OK, so I was on my bicycle waiting at a light @ Spring Grove Ave. & Crawford Ave in Cincinnati, OH. There was a car next to me. I signaled a left turn - I heard another car pull up behind him so I signaled again, the light changed - I started to pull out - a car heading S on Spring Grove slammed on his brakes ~ his back end fishtailing & the car behind him slammed into his rear.
I stopped & looked around. The car that had pulled up was a Cincinnati police car. I went my merry way & figured the CPD was already on the scene.
Then it dawned on me - Both cars had every intention of running the red light when one or both of them saw the cop sitting there.
An argument behind banning red light cameras was that it increased the number of rear end collisions (although they reduced T - bone collisions) but here, an unsuspecting police officer caused the rear end collision. Granted, if the cars hadn't stopped, I would not be typing this out now, but I am a loser who rides a bike - not a proud car loan paying American Motorist, so, OK.
But the rear ending problem is still with us & our stalwart legislators like Bill Seitz need to solve this once and for all.
Perhaps requiring police to only use unmarked vehicles (and not pursue suspects). Perhaps disbanding whole police departments since their main purpose is government money grabs and, as our governor has pointed out - they are idiots.
The idea that signs painted lines on the road & blinky lights hanging out in the air should trump the skills and free will of the wetware & it's cyborg 4 wheeled appendages is ridiculous.

Can the police stop violent crime?

The mayor & city manager of Cincinnati have demanded the city police chief come up with a plan to stop street violence in the next 4 days. This comes after they discussed the chief's resignation.
But what can the police do to prevent crime? They are a reactive entity that arrests & investigates. After that it goes to the County courts & jails, etc.
If they fail to prosecute and rehabilitate, then the police just re-arrest & e-arrest.
People not cooperating with police for fear of reprisal need protections but, again, I think that falls into the realm of the county - maybe the prosecutor's office.
In a recent murder, the victim had been arrested at least once a year on not horrendous charges and in most cases the County courts dismissed charges, dropped charges and acquitted the guy. What lesson did he learn? There is no law.
WKRC & city councilman Chris Smitherman report that a man was telling people at the crime scene, after the man was gunned down, to not cooperate with the police. No idea if Smitherman photographed the man or identified him to the police.
WKRC also reported that a lot of the violence is in a particular area & suggest turf wars.
Maybe if the county kept up it's end the violence might diminish, meanwhile Cincinnati's administration will just use the mayhem as a backdrop for it's political theater

More from WKRC

The Proof of God's Existence

so, some chick in beefy Omaha has decided to file a lawsuit against all homosexuals. She claims to be the Ambassador of God.
I don't know how they are going to subpoena the invisible man in the sky who needs money but I'm sure they will find a way. When they do, and prividing God has suitable state issued photo ID, we might finally find out if God really exists.
And if he really does hate fags.

Omaha Journal Star article here

The Best Reality Your Tax Dollars Can Buy

That's right, folks, it's time for the annual liquor license renewal challenges.
Some of the poop going down in Cincinnati bars and stores is nothing short of a real treat. People selling stolen property, guns, dope...
People who say they can't speak English when they can. People getting into fights with police and inspectors...
And speaking of police? The way they report crime & force business owners into paying CPD overtime rates for security is like watching old time gangster movies with seedy gang bosses in the protection racket.
I'm always forgetting when to watch. Hopefully it won't be as bad as when Janke presided over the police side but Clown in Charge, Chris Smitherman & committee member Winburn should offer some possibility for antics.
The next meeting will be Monday April 13 @ 10AM
You can watch it here on a Windows computer or plug this into VLC (under File/OpenNetwork) on anything, mms://citicable.cincinnati-oh.gov/citicable.
And, of course it's on Slime Warner cable if you waste money on that crap.

Legal Pot - WTH ?

While Ohio is facing 2 - 3 competing ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana, Washington & Colorado are having their growing pains with the legal stuff.
Figuring out your federal taxes on something the feds still treat as illegal is only one issue.
The price on the open market is another issue. This statement kinda knocked my socks off.

"In the early days, we were able to get, like, $1,700 to $2,200 a pound, wholesale. Now it's like $700, $800 a pound,” he said. "That's not profitable at all. I've got most of my stuff stashed away for later."

OK, checking for inflation a pound of pot should go for about $800 nowadays. But part of the high price for, remember, a weed, was due to it being contraband and risky to grow, move & sell. Now it's legal, a weed that anybody can grow & this guy needs about $2,000 a pound to be profitable?
Granted, that's about what it costs me to grow a pound of tomatoes, but something ain't right here.

Read all about it at NBR.

Cults

On this date in 1978, almost 1,000 people in Jim Jones' Jonestown compound committed suicide at the will of their leader.
Locally an Ohio legislator & the head of a local organization, Ark by the River Fellowship Ministries, were convicted of receiving stolen property. Prosecutors labelled the organization a cult.
Some might argue that any religion is a cult but in my peabrain, a cult puts the leader above it's followers. That was the case of The Peoples Temple & The Branch Davidians.
Wonder if we'll get any more details on this. At least it wasn't a violent ending.

More on the Beck / Ark case here

Article 246

Should the Cincinnati Charter Review Task Force consider adding something similar to the Haitian Criminal Code's Article 246 into the Cincinnati City Charter?

Is considered a poisoning any attempt on the life of a person through the use of substances which can cause death more or less cleanly, regardless of the manner in which these substances were used or administered, and regardless of the consequences.
Is also considered attempt on life by poisoning the use made against a person of substances which, without giving death, will cause a more-or-less prolonged state of lethargy, regardless of the manner in which these substances were used and regardless of the consequences.
If the person was buried as a consequence of this state of lethargy, the attempt will be considered a murder.

Enacted in 1884, it basically makes making zombies through the use of potions & such, illegal & pretty much an act of murder.
While zombification isn't a huge issue in Cincinnati, better safe than sorry. You can let the task force know about your concern to nip zombification in the bud here

Your Intertube Immortality

The Uniform Law Commission is plotting ways for your online life to be handled in a secure way.
If your account goes dormant for long some providers just delete you. If your death is confirmed some places freeze your accounts.
Technically you are not allowed to let other people use your accounts as part of your terms of service with FaceBook & the like so you're not really allowed to let the executor of your estate access your stuff. Even if you did & put all your passwords into your will, that would become a public document after your demise. Seems like that last part has to have some kind of fix just going back to safe combinations. I dunno.
Anyway these guys are going to fix everything & change the service providers' TOSs.

Read more here

Mann Tackles Scalping

Cincinnati had an anti-scalping law but repealed it in 1982 - when Mann was in office. Why he's all hot on scalping now is anybody's guess.
Ohio has no anti-scalping laws & lets cities do what they want. Cincinnati quasi bans street scalping & requires some kind of license to resell from an office but internet sales go beyond the city's reach.
Scalping in Cincinnati went big time in the 90s when Bill Meister took to hiring people to buy tickets that he would resell. This came to a head when he managed to score almost half the seats for a Prince Purple Rain show.
Nowadays you just write/buy a program and bypass the pesky employees.
The current Lumenocity fracas was kind of inevitable & unfortunate but the only way to get around it is for the people to just not buy from scalpers. Of course then Prince would have played to a half empty arena & Washington Park would be about half empty for Lumenocity 2014, so…..
But I have no idea what Mann intends to do NOW. He's been around for all the other scalping controversies. He's been in legislative positions during those issues. How did he vote on repealing the anti-scalping law that was in place in the 80s?
Dude's weird...

Watching

While there might be some value in public executions & torture, it's not likely going to happen anytime soon. At least not while we have Democrats in office.
But would you want to watch a family member be executed?
In a recent execution, using an untried chemical cocktail, the children of the executed watched as their father died over a short period of time, 15 - 25 minutes. Shootings & beheadings take less time. Crucifixions take considerably longer. Regardless, even if your dad brutally raped & murdered young pregnant woman, watching him die is going to be painful. So why watch?
I've done one natural death watch. It's no fun but you don't want to leave the dying alone. But that's not an execution.
I don't get it, I think I would tell my kids to stay away. There's no reason to have that burned into your memory.

Fishwarp aarticle with an amusing misspelling here

Attention "Lane Takers"For all the cyclists out there wanting to "take the lane" for "safety", here's the scoop - you're illegal &, more to the point, rude.
Per Ohio Revised Code

4511.22 Slow speed.
(A) No person shall stop or operate a vehicle, trackless trolley, or street car at such an unreasonably slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when stopping or reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or to comply with law.
4511.27 Overtaking and passing of vehicles proceeding in the same direction.
(A) The following rules govern the overtaking and passing of vehicles or trackless trolleys proceeding in the same direction:
(1) The operator of a vehicle or trackless trolley overtaking another vehicle or trackless trolley proceeding in the same direction shall, except as provided in division (A)(3) of this section, signal to the vehicle or trackless trolley to be overtaken, shall pass to the left thereof at a safe distance, and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle or trackless trolley.
(2) Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the operator of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle at the latter’s audible signal, and the operator shall not increase the speed of the operator’s vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle.
And, specific to bicycles:
4511.55 Operating bicycles and motorcycles on roadway.
(A) Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable obeying all traffic rules applicable to vehicles and exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction.
(B) Persons riding bicycles or motorcycles upon a roadway shall ride not more than two abreast in a single lane, except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles or motorcycles.
(C) This section does not require a person operating a bicycle to ride at the edge of the roadway when it is unreasonable or unsafe to do so. Conditions that may require riding away from the edge of the roadway include when necessary to avoid fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, surface hazards, or if it otherwise is unsafe or impracticable to do so, including if the lane is too narrow for the bicycle and an overtaking vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
(D) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

SHARE THE ROAD

What Do You Want on Your Tombstone ?A lady in Florida is suing a Catholic Cememtery because they will not accept a tombstone emblazoned with logos of NASCAR & the Indianapolis Colts. The PIC claims that all tombstones need to have Catholic oriented imagery only.
It's their cemetery - they can do what they want.
What surprises me is that NASCAR & the NFL will allow the use of their logos on the tombstone in the first place.
The Spring Grove Cemetery doesn't appear to have any policies listed but other cemeteries seem ok with such imagery on headstones.This'n is in Indiana & has logos for a whole bunch of companies. Having an ad on your tombstone for Viagra is a particularly nice touch - doubtless it will lead to at least a few rumors about the interred's demise. Again, I guess the companies are ok with the use of their trademarks?

Daily Male article here

Article about the Greenwood grave here

The Bizarro World of the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of AppealsThe Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard a case where a non-state resident was denied a concealed carry permit. The law enforcement agency claimed it could not do a sufficient background check on the non-resident's history. The court was ok with that but then went on to say nobody really has the 'right' to carry a concealed weapon.
In my mind this second part is ass-backwards. Nowhere in the constitution does it say how you bear arms.
Still, the local law enforcement agency has a point & we would probably all be better off with better inter-agency communications between state law enforcement agencies. Maybe the NRA could come up with some system & the cash to implement it for police to do inter-state background checking.

Bizniz Inside story here

So, I got this neighbor... He lives in a rental that actually has a garage and short driveway. Out in front of his house there is only on street parking on one side. In front of my house and continuing west there is on street parking on both sides of the street. This guy has so many cars, his driveway is usually full. Dunno if he uses the garage for a car. The parking spaces across from his apartment are always full and he leaves his other cars littered on both sides of the street from my house up a few doors.
When I started to realize all these cars were owned by one asshole, my first thought was, "How the hell can he afford the insurance ?"
duh
He, of course, doesn't use them all. They sit on the street and get dusty. The street is a hill, so debris piles up on the tires. Every so often, I or one of he neighbors calls the city and he gets tagged, ticketed, towed. The cars don't all run of course, so when he gets red tagged, he has to spend a few hours coaxing the car back to life so he can drive it around the block and park it on the other side of the street.
Over the past couple years every utility in town has been digging up the street for one reason or another. The city puts up NO PARKING signs and the guy doesn't notice. Last year the WaterWorks towed him twice. Once they towed 2 cars at once. The guy had them towed back later in the evening. I watched as he directed the tow truck driver to deposit the dead beater to a spot immediately under a NO PARKING sign which the driver pointed out to the asshole, who, apparently, still had not noticed it's existence.
In the winter, the snow plows can't get anywhere near the curb, so the neighbors blessed with hosting his herd of crap all get to shovel an additional 6-7 feet of snow to get to the plowed street.
So this guy continues to live some 10th century nomadic goat herder lifestyle, investing in cars that only depreciate in value, hemorrhaging rent on an apartment that will never be his, pissing off the neighbors and devaluing the neighborhood, keeping the local tow truck business going and developing God only knows what kind of relationship with the guys at the impound lot.
If the dumbass would bail on the cars for awhile, he could save some money, buy a house in the country with a big garage or barn (which would actually appreciate in value) and then he could re-embark on his life dream of living in a junkyard without annoying everybody around him. Til then, he will just keep getting nickled and dimed on towing fees and tickets, etc..
His beautiful gray coupe across the street just got a ticket. It is street sweeping day and now there will be a lovely pocket of debris where his car sits.

Americans Want Choice
How long has the anti-choice movement been banging it's drum in an effort to deny women reproductive rights and choices ? It has been heralded as "one of the most massive and sustained expressions of citizen participation in the history of the United States".
Why ?
Because it's been a dismal failure. People just don't agree with the radical right.
In a bi-partisan nation, only one party gives the movement any credence and the Republicans have yet to deliver. A Democrat president and legislature could unravel all the little gains the movement has made over the course of a generation in just one term.
Maybe it's time for the petty attacks, the outright terrorism and hateful rhetoric to end and proactive efforts to stem the rising tide of unwanted pregnancies from happening in the first place.

American Conservative article here.

Keeping Up With Old Friends
Keeping up with your old friends from the Champion City just got a little easier with the addition of online radio and incident reports at the Clark County Sheriff's website.
The site, a FrontPage job, complete with frames, scrolling text and giant buttons has a host of information on it as well as videos of Knight Blaze, a band made up of Montgomery County law enforcement officers.
I guess I shouldn't be too hard on their site design, of course, since Ohio counties aren't exactly rolling in cash these days and the fact that they are adding functionality as they can is pretty cool.
When they can get pictures of jail inmates online we can see what our old pals are looking like nowadays.

oh, & by the way...
Shoveling your sidewalk is the law.
Sec. 723-57. Removal of Snow.
The owner, occupant or other person having the care of any building premises or unimproved lot of land abutting any street where there is a graded sidewalk or a sidewalk graded and paved, shall, within the first four hours after daylight after the ceasing to fall of any snow, cause the same to be removed from the paved or traveled part of such sidewalk. The provisions of this section shall also apply to the falling of snow or ice from any building onto a sidewalk.
Snow or ice shall not be moved into the gutter when the gutter has been previously cleaned, and in no event shall snow or ice from any area other than the pedestrian walk be moved into the gutter.
(C.O. 702-33; renumbered to C.M.C. 723-57, eff. Jan. 1, 1972)
Cross references: Penalty, § 723-99-I.
Granted, this does make it kinda hard on some single people who wind up working late, etc.
Seems like a real money maker, tho.
The idea that you can be sued for someone falling down on your sidewalk after you shovel is an urban myth. It is expected of a resident to know the hazards inherent in living in a region. You can be held liable if you go out and hose down your sidewalk when you know it is going to freeze.
Anyway, if you get pissed off at the shivering fleshbags slogging around in the street while you are driving by in your warm dry car with heated leather seats and a 6 terawatt stereo pumping your favorite jams outta 68 speakers, remember they could be walking on the sidewalk if folks had shown some responsibility and shoveled the damn things.

Does Ohio need to outlaw necrophilia ?
I think not. This is one of those issues where I side with the hate group, Citizens for Community Values in that I don't think specific sexual preferences should be legislated. Further, how your body is handled after your death is up to you. You decide if you want to be buried or cremated. You decide if you want your cousin to boff your corpse. I am sure there are people out there somewhere who want to engage in consensual necrophilia. I only hope I never meet them.
the crime is Gross Abuse of a Corpse.
From LaWriter:
2927.01 Abuse of a corpse.
(A) No person, except as authorized by law, shall treat a human corpse in a way that the person knows would outrage reasonable family sensibilities.
(B) No person, except as authorized by law, shall treat a human corpse in a way that would outrage reasonable community sensibilities.
(C) Whoever violates division (A) of this section is guilty of abuse of a corpse, a misdemeanor of the second degree. Whoever violates division (B) of this section is guilty of gross abuse of a corpse, a felony of the fifth degree.
Effective Date: 07-01-1996
This seems kinda vague and would probably unjustly outlaw consensual necrophilia.
In the case of Thomas Condon, it was really more about procedural errors that Condon had no excuse for committing. Any professional photographer should know to get the permission to photograph specific people for a for profit project.
In the case of Kenneth Douglas, he was clearly violating the young woman he was entrusted to care for who had just been viciously murdered. This was a particularly heinous and atrocious act that I don't think current laws have a severe enough punishment for.