In a recent AP article, Kasich's erratic and often contradicting habits are discussed. His animated mannerisms sound ominously like Sillyman's. Gayle Channing Tenenbaum's description, "it’s a rare day when Kasich doesn’t say something that surprises" is the kind of thing echoed by nurses in nursing homes full of Alzheimers patients. "It’s interesting to watch him because you just don’t know what particular thing he’s going to be grabbing onto at that particular moment". The article further points out irrational, conflicting behavior, "He is candid yet secretive. He is acerbic yet personable. He quibbles over media access yet is omnipresent on Twitter and Fox. He’s made a cause of taking on public workers after spending most of his life as one". Compounded with what the article describes as a constantly manic demeanor, a disheveled appearance and not caring about personal consequences, it kinda makes a guy wonder if the new sheriff might just be suffering schizophrenia.
In a recent Fishwrap article about Cincinnati possibly using battery powered streetcars they posted pictures of old trolley cars from the 20s to the 60s. If this is how they will cover the replacement bridge proposed to span the Ohio River, I guess we can expect slideshows like this.
FWIW, needing a recharge every 5 miles makes the battery idea sound kinda pointless. I think we should be thinking about Mentos & Diet Coke rocket powered vehicles instead. Imagine the possibilities….
Little Amyrillis Vermont was trampled to death by the Thompson High School marching band after rushing out into the street chasing candy thrown out by the local Shriners in the Independence Day Parade. "It was awful" commented Alma Hix, "First it was the trombones, then the cornets and then the reeds. oh God, the reeds… "It was relentless" claimed Ewart Dunlop "The Thompson High offensive line has nothing on the marching band", quipped Mayor Shinn.
Sound kinda nuts? That's because it is. Even though area officials know of no "candy-related injuries" at parades they are banning the practice of parade participants throwing candy out to kids due to pressure from our shadow government, the insurance industry. An organizer in Kettering cited a child being injured rushing into a parade to greet her parents. No candy involved. Maybe the solution is a minimum age for parade attendees. Shackles for minors has always been a good idea in my mind. Maybe chicken wire along the parade route. Maybe everyone should sit at home and watch parade entries walk past a camera in a studio in front of a green screen. Viewers could then select the background of their choice. ugh - how much safety do we need?
Remember the 2010 election? Remember the message? JOBS, ECONOMY, 300,000 LOST JOBS, NO NEW JOBS, AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT, HOPE What did we get? Outlawed passenger rail, mass transit cuts, eviscerated schools in favor of a failed charter school system, gave away liquor sales money to an unaccountable venture capital scheme, trampled womens' rights virtually outlawing abortion, privatized prisons using unproven theories, expanded gambling against the voters' wishes, attempts to compensate teachers, police and firemen as poorly as possible, more state laws restricting municipal authority, bait and switch legislation and taxation. What's next? Boy Howdy. Instead of freeing up alcohol sales, legislators have decided to continue to restrict beer content in Ohio while neighboring sates, Indiana, Michigan & Kentucky impose no such restrictions. Talk about making the state competitive. You ever think you've been lied to?
The closing of the Washington Park restrooms while a parking garage is being built underneath (fairly eliminating the park temporarily) has sparked a rather goofy protest & looks at the issue as an affront to a particular group of people, the homeless. Community leaders & homeless advocates say the developers claimed they would make public "Portapotties" available which seems reasonable since some have already been brought in for the construction crews. The Fishwrap article has a big no comment from the developers, 3CDC, however. Apparently a restroom is planned for the new park. Still, since the park is closed, why have restrooms? Meanwhile, there are a number of relief agencies in the area who should likely find it in the framework of their mission to provide restroom facilities for this demographic. Over at the Asylum, the Dean kinda gets it. Where you have a large pedestrian population, regardless of financial status, you need more frequent restroom facilities. If you're driving or biking you can usually get to a large business or gas station that offers public facilities (actually they are for customers). Malls, with their large pedestrian populations always offer restrooms. An area like downtown Cincinnati, unlike a mall, does not have one manager / owner so organizing adequate public facilities is kinda difficult. The area from the Ohio River to McMicken Avenue and from Dalton to Gilbert is a wee bit larger than the average mall, too. The Dean brings up a technological solution, and there are others, but it's going to be more of an organizational & political challenge than that. Also, as we clamor for pedestrian friendly neighborhoods the need will arise there, too. Clifton has Burnett Woods & a public library, but neighborhoods like Oakley & Northside pretty much just have public libraries. These smaller communities don't have the public buildings or large stores that offer facilities like the CBD, either. There is a real issue here but tying it to a construction zone & the homeless is really distracting & politically shortsighted.
As Ohio cities grapple with diminishing tax revenue, cutting into their safety budgets has become inevitable. Urbana has cut 14% of their officers giving the city 1.6 officers/1,000 residents. Cincinnati is around twice that with about 3.3/1,000. One of the budget saving options law enforcement is taking is going high tech.
"High-tech equipment like red-light traffic cameras and computerized dispatching systems help enforce the law with fewer officers and reduce redundancy in paperwork functions."
Cincinnatians, after a fear campaign by COA T & NAACP, banned red light cameras. Now we get to pay more for less service. As the state gobbles up more and more of our tax dollars & offers less and less in return Ohio cities are going to be hurting. As the state hamstrings the cities through budget cuts and ham fisted legislation, there looks to be a very bleak future.
In a piece at The Daily Undertaker, Mr McNally points out, "A Cemetery remains relevant only when it is involved in the life of the community it serves." and goes on to illustrate his point with the story of a jazz service at a Delaware cemetery. Such events at funerals aren't too uncommon but in this case the deceased expired some 50 year ago. Locally, Spring Grove Cemetery has a number of activities and the local Kiwanis have resurrected Memorial Day services at Wesleyan Cemetery but those are cemetery wide events. Dunno what their policies are for grave specific events like this jazz memorial. Delaware Online article (and video) here.
I was just going to post this on PhaseBuch but they said my message was "spammy and abusive".
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Whither the Old SCPA ? REPOST
Originally posted in January. Cincinnati's old SCPA building is probably one of the most beautiful warehouses in the world. Valued at over $10 million, it is probably one of the most expensive per square foot, too. It's proximity to the future casino has any number of possible developers as well as community leaders thinking. Unfortunately, state law forbids the school board from selling the property, instead demanding it be offered to the someone involved in the failed Ohio charter school program. Would we want these guys getting their mitts on this place? While almost unfathomable, I think that would be worse than CPS owning it. Otherwise getting real estate, especially prime real estate out of the hands of Cincinnati Public Schools hands can almost always be a good thing. Will our new TEA inspired Republican Ohio let CPS sell the property to a private developer? It would seem to fit into their smaller, less intrusive, business-friendly rhetoric. Or will their blind hatred of public schools & the dreaded, evil teachers lead them to "just say no" to any request by a school district?
For images of the building & it's interior, click, here.
Cut Taxes ?
Republicans run around saying, "cut taxes" like they have tourette's syndrome. Facing a budget deficit of about $33M, Republicans on the Cincinnati city council want to cut taxes and ~koff koff~ cut spending. They are not really bringing anything to the table for cutting, tho. Hell, even COA T is questioning their logic. Lippert, as usual, has nothing. Murray wants to merge city and county services. Nice but that could take years. Ghiz wants to eliminate the Department of Environmental Quality which, I thought, had never been funded anyway. She wants to cut convention subsidies, close rec centers & cut the pay of non-union workers. This Republican love affair with unions in Cincinnati is so strange. Bortz wants to privatize, cut health clinics, cut departments, charge waste fees & generally get about 1/6th of the way to a balanced budget. The Fishwrap reports on the issue here and has a handy but ham fisted "what would you cut" doohickey for your amusement. I came up with a $7M surplus with no earnings tax increase which I actually might support if it was sunsetted in a year or two to get us past this current economic period. I opted for a $20 trash fee but I think it should be lower. Perhaps no trash fee but every other week trash pick up and fees for yard waste. Appliance & furniture pick up should probably be eliminated or charged for. If the state & county offer health clinics, I see no reason for Cincinnati to continue with them. I'd need more details on that one but I opted to close them. I'd bag DARE, school resource officers & school nurses. The schools have their own budget, let them deal with it. Save human resources but scrutinize recipients. I saved pools, neighborhood support & even opened rec centers. I put a freeze on union raises (sorry conservatives®). I didn't screw local workers home communities. I saved council pay but I think that should be reduced. If you pay any attention to the complaint authority, it's pretty obvious we don't need it. They find (rightfully) for the cops 99% of the time. I kept 144 firemen. The aging building stock in the city demands that. I fired 127 cops which is kinda crazy but I couldn't fire fewer. I paved the streets but as noted in a previous post that needs to be made more efficient. One of the Windbag's suggestions was to privatize the management of off duty police details. The police department estimated that cost $900,000 a year. Another option was to take it out of off duty pay received by the officers to the tune of almost $5/hr. At $900,000 a year this would mean about 10 people in the police department are working full time just to manage this service. That's crazy. Like the road maintenance, I don't know as the number of people is the problem so much as gross inefficiency and abysmal management. With modern technology, how many people do we need, tho? Anyhoo, go for it. See if you can balance the budget.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Don't Know Much About History
When I was a kid I liked old stuff. Loved tales of old and mythology. But I hated history classes. In high school I used summer school to get them out of the way. Thing is, here and there, a teacher might deviate from the book, show a movie or bring in a guest lecturer & I would find myself enthralled. After years of believing I hated history I realized what I hated was how it was taught. From what I have seen, nothing is improving & Pat Buchanan's latest post, The Dumbing Down of America, points out it may be worse than I thought. As the concerted effort to improve kid's math and science has had limited results, history has taken a back seat. Nowadays I can't get enough history. It's incredibly important to know how we got here if we want to set a proper course for the future. It's important to understand our American role in a holistic world history. Revisionist special interest oriented history needs to be avoided. Unfortunately the latter begets the former and it seems to be the way the education industry is headed.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Horror Sells
Rob Zombie Woolite Ad
Used to be "sex sells" was the bottom line in advertising. Nowadays it seems to be horror. Above is an ad for Woolite made by horror rock horror movie impresario Rob Zombie. Recently Sears did up their website for zombies. And now Dirt Devil gives us this bit of horror.
Laundry detergent? Department stores? Vacuum cleaners? All pretty standard home & family type stuff. The spate of vampire TV shows is one thing but the creep into advertising mainstream stuff is kinda odd. This probably says something about the mood of our society. Hopelessness? Fatalistic? Out of control? Beats me. It might just be a warped sense of humor. Whatever. I like it.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Take Your Bike Lane With You
Emily Brooke, a student at the University of Brighton has created BLAZE, a bike mounted laser that projects a bike lane/sharrow image onto the road to alert zombies motorists of the bicycle's presence. It helps with blind spots. It won't do anything for willful blind spots, of course. I think what it really needs is some way to mark the passing distance to the left of the cyclist and where a car traveling, at some set speed, should begin to move over to accommodate the cyclist. Brooke notes correctly that most bike/car collisions occur when the motorist pulls out in front of the cyclist and her device addresses that quite nicely. Brooke intends to develop the invention in Massachusetts at Babson College.
Any Way the Wind Blows
Ohio governor Kasich has reached a deal with casinos who already had a deal with the voters of Ohio that increases/decreases tax revenue but more importantly expands gambling in the state without voter approval. When trying to plug a hole in the state budget, Democratic governor Strickland proposed slots at race tracks. He was set to have the state legislature vote on it & believed it would pass. As I posted before, this measure was opposed by a coalition of Republicans and church groups who demanded Ohio voters make the decision. This effort was led by Cincinnati Republican Tom Brinkman, COA T founder, ally of the CCV and no stranger to campaign ethics violation charges. Let Ohio Vote was was no exception. The result was no slots at tracks and the cancellation of a tax cut extension for Ohioans that was capitalized on in the next gubernatorial campaign by Kasich, who characterized it as a tax hike. One of the anti-slots campaign leaders is actually a Kasich appointee today. Do these guys talk? Will these conservative® Republicans cry foul and demand a public vote again or will this be a case of, it's ok if a Republican does it?
Monday, June 13, 2011
Job Security ?
Looking for job security> Get onboard the road crew redoing Hamilton Avenue. In almost 4 years they have yet to complete resurfacing 1.2 miles between Groesbeck and Ashtree. The right turn lane from eastbound Ashtree onto southbound Hamilton has been closed & under construction for over a month. At this blistering pace, the entire city of Cincinnati could be repaved / paved by the year 5000. You want to talk about boondoggles….. hell, maybe Tom Luken just likes watching men working with big machines.
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Rapid City Flood of 1972
On the night of June 9, 1972 the Canyon Lake Dam failed & the Rapid Creek flooded sending a wave of water & debris down foam the Black Hills into Rapid City, South Dakota killing 238 people and destroying over a thousand homes. Heavy rains in the mountains, approx 15" in 6 hours, produced the destructive wave crashing through town late at night. The river levels were back to normal early the next day. A devastated area of Rapid City has a new life now as Memorial Park.
Apple's New Digs Dunno why they didn't just go ahead & make it look like a Quicktime logo
This article discusses & has a video of Steve Jobs hawking his new Apple HQ to the Cupertino city council. While there's some amazing stuff in the presentation, the most amazing thing is that he never asks the city for money. That would never happen around SW Ohio.
It appears that Springfield's monopoly cinema ownership plan isn't paying the dividends they expected. None of the Chakeres cinemas have gone digital yet, hence - no 3D for the Champion City. I was raised, like my mom, going to Chakeres theaters in Springfield. I went to school with the kids who, I guess, now run the show. I felt weird going to their competitors theaters. Nowadays I have no more desire to watch a movie in a dark room full of strangers than to read a book projected on a screen in a dark room full of strangers. I have always found 3D movies to be cheesy & gimmicky with directors "creating" scenes for the effect that have nothing to do with good 2D layout. While the technology may have improved of late, I'm not so sure my aging hardware is compatible anyway. Still, I worked in an industry dominated by film and, after years of hearing the industry would soon be filmless, it finally was. The Sleeping Giant needs to get a move on. Anyway, I'm surprised the author of this Noose Son article didn't find any film enthusiasts who, like vinyl enthusiasts like their music on old LPs, prefer their movies on film, scratches & all. Yes, there was a time when scratches weren't a post production effect. Well, ok, it was a post production thing, but…..
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Friday, June 03, 2011
The Dynamics of Community
In a previous post, I mentioned a book about the origins of an upscale neighborhood in Springfield started almost 100 years ago. I got sidelined with colonial history tho, but now I'm back in early 20th century Ohio (will be back in 18th century England this afternoon). What's blowing me away is the community's community and level of self serving altruism (?) of the developers. One resident had a barometer and, lacking up to date Doppler weather radar among other things, would hoist a flag to let neighbors know the weather forecast. New residents were given fliers explaining the flag code. The developers had purchased a large area of land and were developing in sections. In the unstarted sections they provided tennis courts that could be flooded and frozen over in the winter for ice skating. They helped out with polo fields, quoits courts, baseball diamonds & horseback riding areas. The neighborhood opted out of city garbage pickup & using mandatory 5 year homeowners association fees, funded their own trash pickup. The fees also covered sidewalk snow removal using a horse-drawn plough. I don't know if a neighborhood can opt out of trash pickup nowadays. With all the red tape, it might cost the city more to avoid a particular area. Last residential developer I heard about was the Erpenbecks & their crazy soap opera of lies, cheating & dealing. These homeowner association rules & fees are frequently challenged nowadays and are defeated in courts by cranky neighbors. The neighborhood was tied to an adjacent country club and there was pretty much just one business district in Springfield at the time. It was likely the neighbors all recreated at the same place, worked in the same business district & ate at the same restaurants, went to the same theaters, etc. Nobody had TV's or internet & radio was just aborning. I would guess that less than half the residents in "the Country Club District" are members of the Springfield Country Club today. Today, in Cincinnati, one could probably track a block of residents to workplaces scattered all over town & across state lines. That's mainly attributable to the automobile but everybody has cable or satellite TV, internet, game stations & whatnot as well. The latter techs fairly kill any of the hope Jane Jacobs might have expressed in The Death and Life of Great American Cities. There are still communities but they tend to be more like skeletal overlapping networks. Even the more old style neighborly communities seem kind of inbred, incestuous & creepy to me. It frequently seems like the leaders are more social activists than just caring neighbors. I dunno. Maybe it's just me. Then, again, if we had had 21st century communications & jet airliners in the 18th century would America still be part of Great Britain in a larger more skeletal networked empire ?
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
I Don't Ask Anymore
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Memorial Day Weekend Fun
ok, sure, you can go downtown to Taste of Cincinnati (aka Linefest) and likely get murdered (because everybody who goes downtown DIES !!!) Or you can enjoy a safe, comfy extended weekend in the pastoral splendor of tranquil Northside without the fear of C.H.U.D. eating your children.
Saturday Veterans Traveling Memorial Wall - all weekend Spring Grove Cemetery - 4521 Spring Grove Avenue all weekend Whale of a Tale Family Enrichment Center - 4244 Hamilton Ave. noon Square Dance North Presbo Church - 4222 Hamilton Avenue 7 - 10 PM Bostic Family Tent Revival Band Playfully Yours Northside Tavern - 4163 Hamilton Avenue 10PM Coliseum (I'm guessing not that Coliseum_, Sweet Cobra, Autumn Rising Mayday - 4227 Spring Grove Avenue
Monday Clifton Memorial Day Parade Middleton @ McAlpin Avenue 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM Memorial Day Services Wesleyan Cemetery - 4003 Colerain 1 PM Monday Knights The Comet - 4579 Hamilton Avenue 10PM
Columbus Vice
Senator Tim Grendell R of Clevo wants more money for the sale of Ohio's liquor sales to John Kasich's private VC group than what Kasich has proposed. This is certainly in keeping with Kasich wanting to soak private businesses for every possible penny, but in defying Kasich's "best deal", is a mere elected official stepping out of bounds? Kasich doctrine indicates the people of Ohio are best represented by private consulting firms in New York - not by their votes or elected representatives. Will Grendell's defiance earn him a Seitz-like smackdown?
Animal Rights Crazies Thwarted in Tragedy Exploitation
PETA couldn't find a billboard vendor in the Dayton area to carry their planned billboard comparing eating meat to infanticide citing the death of a baby microwaved by her mom (who was later convicted of murder). The race baiting Southern Christian Leadership Conference found it racist (no surprise). I don't think that's what the billboard vendors were opposed to. Noose Son story here.
Ensuring Ohio's Representation
To ensure that "the [Ohio] taxpayers interests are represented" in new casino deals Ohioans did not vote for, "Wall Street" John Kasich is having his high priced consultants talk with the casino operators slated for Ohio's 4 voter approved casinos. If you want to go - you can't. It's private. If you wanted to go anyway, you would have to travel to New York City, NY.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The Springfield Arcade
The Springfield, Ohio Arcade many years ago. This is where the Springfield Inn is today. The upstairs was a hotel with a lobby and bar at the south east corner (far left). This would have been about a block from the old train station. The bar still existed as The Ringside when I was a lad. The hotel degenerated & closed. I always wondered why malls didn't have residential built in. Maybe in some kind of Mad Max future, people will just live in cars in the mall parking lots…. The image and a bunch of other pictures of old Springfield can be found on the Springield History site.
American Can Remodeling
Video by Driven31
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Failing Newspaper Resolves to Fix Government
Taking a page from the Nancy Spungen playbook, the Cincinnati Enquirer has decided to solve the problems in City Hall. Can we strengthen city leadership? Complete with polls (interactivity!) and video (multi-media!), the Fishwrap gets off to a really slow start in examining the people and organizational structure of municipal government while stroking their exurban readership. How unbiased the extremely Republican® publication can be isn't even debatable. They vow to keep this up through August. Can they make it that long without any more layoffs? Stay tuned.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Macho Man
Randy Macho Man Savage died today in a 1 car wreck - or maybe his dying caused the wreck... The video above is a good snapshot of all the glitz, drama & melodrama that is professional wrestling. Macho Man gave us all a lot of great memories and made a lot of money for some people.
What the hell ever happened to Mean Gene ?
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Northside Farmers Market at Hoffner Park
Northside Farmers Market at Hoffner Park Wednesday, May 18 (pay no attention to the date in the video)
OK, so I'm careening down a hill and miraculously I'm going to get a green light at the bottom. Just gotta look out for idiot cage pilots pulling out / turning in front of me. A guy from the right hand side street pulls up & starts to run the light, sees me & stops. I made the next light but got stopped at the one after that. While standing there waiting for the light to change a motorist pulls up next to me. He starts shouting "hey" & "guy". I finally look over & the guy is looking at me. Lo & behold, it's the guy from the last traffic light. He tells me riding a bicycle is dangerous. He tells me he almost "clipped" me. I told him I knew "cycling was dangerous" and "you have to watch where you're going". So did the guy think cycling was inherently dangerous? Balancing a couple hundred pounds on 2 skinny wheels with maybe 2 square inches of surface contact? Or did he want to inform me that, because his ilk was spastically bouncing around in 2,000 pound fire bombs like pinballs, bicycling was dangerous? Seriously, dude, watch where you're going. Next time it may not be a bicycle & I doubt you want to be as cavalier when that Kenworth is bearing down on you at 60 MPH.
Northside Community Council Meeting Concerning Shooting of David "Bones" Hebert
OK, time for the heavy stuff. It's been announced that 2.5 men will continue without Charlie Sheen. Ashton Kutcher will be replacing him but his character has yet to be announced. I am not a big Kutcher fan and a late 2.5 Men watcher. Sheen was pretty much walking through his role. The supporting cast pretty much did the work. The writing for the kid, Angus something, had not evolved as the kid grew. The show really was getting kinda stale. So 2 things. What to do with the Charlie Harper character and what to do with Kutcher? Whatever the changes are, hopefully they will include changes for the kid. I guess that's 2.5 things. ha ha Being a sick bastard, killing Charlie Harper would tickle me pink. Perhaps passing out in his car as it rolled off a cliff? Viagra overdose? Simple heart attack? Rose hacking him to pieces with a carving knife? The polite solution would be to have him disappear. That way, if things get patched up between Sheen and the producers, he could come back. oh, the hi jinx….. What to do with Kutcher? Obviously a shlep who walks into good fortune will be the role with him taking in Alan, the kid & Berta. Alan's first wife's little brother would work. She would, of course hate him. It could require a new set which would be nice. IIRC, Kutcher's Kelso character in That 70's Show was supposed to have made it rich as a game developer. This scenario could work nicely with Alan & kid. So, if Jim Belushi can get cast as a lawyer, why can't Conchata Ferrell?
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Crazies Leslie Ghiz Jumps the Shark
Following a special City Council meeting, Councilwoman Ghiz phoned in to WLW and chided the "crazies" at the meeting. Prosperity theology preaching, exorcist Charlie Winburn added channeling John Cranley to his repertoire as he peppered the city manager with dozens of trivial questions. Councilman Wayne Lippert couldn't tell the difference between a surface rail system that travels through the city and an elevated rail system that travels around the city. An obese man who clearly eats more than he needs lectured the mayor on needs. Tom Luken wandered around spouting gibberish till security finally removed him. Luken, a mass transit opponent unwittingly wore a pro-streetcar button till his handlers noticed and removed it.
An ACLU guy made threatening gestures at a concerned OTR resident. Chris Smitherman was picking fights, yelling at people & accusing people of being misconceived. He had to be restrained by security as well.
But are these the crazies of which Ghiz spoke? nope. She agrees with Smitherman. She pointed out that while she is angry now she has not been in the past. Maybe bitchy, whiney & catty….. No, she cited residents, businessmen, investors, other educated professionals who support the streetcar investment for being "The Crazies". How much is the word of a woman who cites Karl Rove as a hero worth? Indeed, between Ghiz & Cunningham anything goes. Cunningham decried the streetcar loop length for being both long and short in the matter of minutes. For a play by play of the meeting, check out 5chw4r7z' The Revolution Will Be Tweeted. NOTE I could only get the WLW page o load correctly in Innernet Exploder. Lin - Mac, no go. WLWT coverage here.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Cherry Picking ?
At the Windbag's special council meeting, rookie councilman Wayne Lippert accused city manager Dohoney of cherry picking his streetcar comparisons. Lippert cited the most obvious comparison as being the Detroit people Mover. Does this look like the Cincinnati plan? Apparently Wayne thinks so.
When the guy said he had an open mind about the streetcar, I was thinking of something different.
For Lux
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Cincinnati's Bizarro GOP
So, the Republicans on Cincinnati city council call a special meeting at the last minute to discuss transportation infrastructure but the topic they wanted to cover had already been scheduled weeks earlier for a report in the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee meeting to be held the day before. None of the Republicans attended the meeting. Wendell Young, a Democrat, attended although he is not on the committee. In fact none of the Republicans are on the committee. Transportation and infrastructure are incredibly important to commerce, industry, safety and the quality of life in the city. Why is nobody in the supposedly pro-business Republican party on the committee? No, in Cincinnati the GOP is too busy kissing labor union asses. Is this why the Republican state legislature hates Cincinnati?
Streetcar Already Driving Economic Development
Due to the unprecedented success of this blog - nary a week goes by that somebody hits the site looking for pictures of Ashley Bulgari or some guy in Bwangi Ghanghi shows up hitting "Next Blog" or some Eurotrash lands here looking for some 70s rock music shit - I have started a new blog, Fiendish Dreaming. Yes, it is just my dreams. Yes, the name is taken from one time Cincinnatian, Winsor McCay's cartoon strip. Yes, if you already thought I was mentally unstable these glimpses into my dream world should clinch it. Yes, I will censor (a recent visit to a whore house has some missing parts). Yes, names will be named. Yes ~in summary~ it is EVERYTHING you ever wanted to waste your time reading online!
Saturday, May 07, 2011
13 Pages of Local History Gold The cover contrasted with a current Google Earth rendering
Back in 1940 the Urban Land Institute, a construct of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, concocted a set of proposals to strengthen the "downtown" areas of large cities across America that had suffered from the decentralization of their residents & businesses. I found the summary for Cincinnati at the Hamco Library. At 13 whole pages, it took more time to get it than to read it. but it's full of goodies. The introduction:
Cincinnati has a distinct character which individualizes it among American cities, Because of the high calibre of its citizens this community has built exceptional ideals, not only in its governmental. industrial and. business life, but likewise in its pursuit of educational and cultural objectives. Among cities it stands high as a comment in which to live and. to do business it likewise deserves its enviable reputation for good government and financial stability Nevertheless, It Is quite apparent that Cincinnati now stands at the crossroads as between becoming a static or retrogressive community, or, by forward looking action, becoming the great focal point for a large surrounding territory, The time is here when the citizens must decide what the City has the capacity to become, and. what they desire it to "be in the way of a City. Quite obviously the citizens of this metropolitan area do not wish to see Cincinnati retrogress There has been a long period during which the City has done little else but endeavor to meet the pressing problems which have confronted it from year to year. The time is at hand when the City must adopt a constructive long range program leading to systematic procedure over a period of time and the taking of those steps and the making of those improvements necessary to arrest decline and to assure progress.
Other tids:
Population: 452,852
90% of the population was born locally.
10% of the population is colored.
During the past decade there haB been a loss of approximately 6% of the substantial population, which has been supplanted, by negroes, migrants from the Kentucky and Tennessee mountains, and persons seeking the relief bounty of the City.
The central business district bounded by Plum, Central Parkway, 3rd Street and Broadway contains:
230 specialty shops
38 hotels
30 office buildings
19 banks
14 theaters
12 department stores
9 five & dimes
6 apartment hotels
Office building vacancy: 15.8% (down from 1933's 28.9%)
Single family residence vacancy <1%
Since 1922 266 buildings razed - 24 built
Debt: $35,774,917
1 car / 4.29 persons
There are a number of recommendations including eliminating on street parking in the CBD, build parking under the streets, build traffic bypasses, widen Liberty, Harrison & Gilbert, construct a crosstown artery using the Rapid Transit ROW from Oakley to Central Parkway, save Music Hall…. Seriously, good geek fun.
Come on, Cincinnati, quit screwing around. Just institute a pay per bag yard waste pickup system like everybody else in Hamilton County has.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Spring Grove Cemetery Summer Hours in Effect
Spring Grove Cemetery's regular visitor hours (8A - 6P) are extended on Monday & Thursdays to 8P from now to September. This means you can catch the evening sun on the blossoming flora 2 nights a week. yay! NOTE: the southern gate closes before the northern gate (pictured), so don't freak out (too much) if you think you are locked in.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
The Greatest Story Ever Told
I really need to just move to Japan.....
Friday, April 29, 2011
MoBo Bike Sale
Interested in bicycling but don't want to make a huge investment? Interested in bicycling but can't make a huge investment? In a world where "entry level" bikes are $400 - $600, it can seem daunting. Living in Cincinnati has advantages, tho. MoBo Bicycle CoOp is having a sale 4/30 from 11AM to 5PM with refurbished used bicycles that will get you where you need to go without busting your wallet. Most bikes are priced from $40 - $100. Head on down to 1415 Knowlton Avenue in scenic Northside & put some steel between your legs and feel the wind across your face!
Congratulations to the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge NASA Astro Picture of the Day
Monday, April 25, 2011
A Kasich Kasino
Resurrections
It's not every day a ghost sign comes back to life. Back in December, I noted The Old Timber Inn had painted over their old mural that was pretty much a ghost sign at the time. Happily, it's back. Now, will the people in the windows return?
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Are You an Addict ?
Are You an Addict ? Do you avoid going places because you can't smoke there? Do you avoid going places because you can't drink there? Do you avoid going places because you can't park a car there?
Cincinnati Streetcar Attracts Families
The goal of the Cincinnati streetcar is to facilitate & enable people to live in an area of the city that is not terribly amenable to an auto-centric lifestyle. While auto addicts call it an amusement park ride for elitists, one can clearly see from this video it is a boon for families. Herding kids in and out of buses & minivans can be a nightmare and on buses, a parent has to contend with impatient fellow passengers as well. The ease of entry & exit can help the harried urban parent immeasurably. Anybody who has ridden a bus knows the inconvenience of baby carriages. Modern streetcars with wider, lower doors and open space inside, make using a baby carriage a snap. The allure of urban living for single YPs is ok but attracting more solid families is what the urban core needs.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
CDC Predicts Smoking Bans in All 50 States by 2020
Fortunately, Ohio has John Kasich at the helm, who will deregulate us to prosperity. He knows the businessman needs freedom to choose whether to let people smoke in his establishment. Kasich, a hero of the TEAse, will give us smaller less intrusive government & get these onerous anti-smoking laws off our backs and out of our bars. States he wants to emulate, Texas and Mississippi, don't have smoking bans. Soon, Ohio will be on that list, too. God save Kasich.
Every year local liquor sales permits are reviewed by the city and recommendations are made by the city to the state as to objections for license renewal. Cincinnati has over 1,000 licenses and usually fewer than 20 merit objections each year (contrary to what the local media might have you think, most people are AOK). The state of Ohio makes the final decisions. What flags establishments are frequent police runs and complaints from neighborhood groups, institutions or individual citizens. This year, nutjob Chas Winburn has decided that the process is flawed, subject to a lawsuit & he wants to have a review of all the local licenses every year. This desire to burden the city with needless paperwork is probably why COA T endorsed the dumbass. If nobody's complaining, why bother? What's strange is that last year Winburn wanted to implement a policy where, if anybody was shot in or around a licensed establishment they would receive an automatic license objection. Now he feels such incidents are being judged unfairly? Once again, he has wetted his finger & thrust it into the air to see which way his political fortunes blow. Councilmember Wendell Young is concerned about who gets new licenses. Laketa's staff could have surely told him this. An applicant for a liquor sales license submits paperwork to the state, provides personal info including criminal convictions & financial viability. He agrees to background checks and the state informs the local government, law enforcement & nearby institutions of the application. Other than law enforcement, they have 30 days to file an objection. In Cincinnati, the neighborhood community councils are informed, the applicant is urged to meet with the councils and city councilmembers can certainly arrange to attend those meetings. The community councils' opinions weigh heavily on objections. If the police see problems emerging with an existing permit holder, they work with the establishment to keep it open. I think there is some room for corruption there but I don't know There has been some strong arming of some places, The Phoenix Cafe immediately springs to mind. Some objections are frivolous & are usually tossed out. Councilwoman Amy Murray summed it up nicely, that it is a subjective process but counclilmembers have to do their best. Winburn's concepts of introducing science are laughable. Laketa Cole's "matrix" idea was kinda helpful but poorly implemented by the police. It certainly wasn't science, tho. Winburn's tergiversation & kooky ideas waste time, money hurt morale & slow the business of the city down. I see no evidence of success of his custom made Jobs Creation committee. The man should step down now.
Media Bridges is offering up some of their old Apple computers with a starting price of just $39. They will install Office for another $35 (Neo Office is free). They have iMacs, eMacs & G4x2 MTs. An iMac G3 is, essentially, a doorstop. It might be fun to smash with a sledgehammer like the guy in the video is doing. You might use it as an iTunes computer but you will probably still want another drive if you have any kind of library..... Forget about watching funny pet videos on YouTube. Proceeds will go to fund their low power radio station WVQC @ 95.7 FM, which, if you don't live next door, you can listen to on your computer - like your new old iMac G3. Media Bridges is at the NW corner of Race & Central parkway.
Ya Wanna Buy a Prison ?
Lately, people in Ohio have thought they had "done deals" with the state only to find it's "new sheriff" has decided to change the rules midstream. Will John Kasich's rewriting the contract with casino operators give pause to any private entity interested in taking over Ohio prisons? I would think so. There are pitfalls in privatization to be avoided and a recent study indicates savings through privatizing 2 other Ohio prisons might not have actually occurred. If, after a couple years, Kasich decides he wants more, how likely is it he will toss out his contract & just concoct another? Private prison operators (and I know you guys read this blog), take my advice - have an army of lawyers on hand if you do business with this guy.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
I live on a street that slopes down to the east. Around this time of year (and in another 6 months) the morning sun will shine in all my east facing windows. It also reflects off my western neighbor's windows & shines in through my western windows. With all the little sunny spots on the floor, I can only imagine the confusion this conundrum would cause a cat.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Keller's to Reopen
Keller's IGA, in Clifton, will reopen by fall under new ownership & possibly with a new name. Being Cincinnati, the name Keller's will probably still be used for years to come. The new owner, Steve Goessling intends to remodel the store & shift focus a bit. The last owner wanted to do pretty much the same but lacked funds. Goessling, with other IGAs under his belt, appears to be on sounder financial footing. This store can't open soon enough. Fishwrap story here.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
New Documentary - TSA - Your Ass is in Our Hands
ok, it's not a documentary. It's a Hustler porn movie. But who better than Hustler to mock heavy handed civil rights violations for your protection? I am assuming all the best stuff is in the trailer.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Selling a Streetcar
Today and tomorrow, April 12 & 13 there will be an open house at city hall promoting the Cincinnati Streetcar. Having lost almost $52 million dollars in federal transit money through back room dealings by state level GOP extremists and the one sided and ill informed local media, one might think the plan was dead. Hell, WLWT even teased that it was before telling a snippet of truth. While the open house may be informative and might even sway some skeptics, they won't go, so it won't matter. The media, on this issue, has been dominated by opponents. How certain people get all the quotes and others are completely ignored is beyond me. If I knew maybe more people than the 5 or 6 people from India hitting "next blog" every day would read this thing. At a recent meeting in Columbus, Christ Hospital testified they had planned on a $352 development on the streetcar route if built. Proponents repeatedly cite that private investment along the route would dwarf the city's infrastructure investment. This one development was almost 3 times the public investment. Sibcy Cline testified that home owners in the area were interested & it was driving up values. Nobody reported on this. Even WVXU, an NPR affiliate - the right's pariah, ignored it choosing, instead, to report the antics of an Anderson Township comedian & the delusional fantasies of a guy too far gone to attend the meeting himself. TV stations interviewed Chris Smitherman but ignored any number of coherent supporters like John Schneider, Brad Thomas, Randy Simes, Jake Mecklenborg, Bob Richardson.... Are they just hoping to catch some crazy out of Smitherman? Are they hoping Finney will go off on another foul mouthed rant? Are they just gambling on catching something sensational like Evel Knievel breaking every bone in his body? ONE local media host actually takes a serious & objective look at things. Unfortunately he doesn't deal in soundbites & catchphrases like "boondoggle" and "choo choo". So who wants to watch that? Newsmakers The streetcar isn't an easy thing to grasp & can't be explained in a catchword (that I can think of). People will not research on their own. People want to have info spoon fed to them in pre masticated bites and they want them when they want them. The vast majority of people will not go to an open house or watch a boring presentation at a city council committee meeting. The see the morning news, They listen to the radio in their car to and from work. They might catch the evening news & probably catch some of the late news. If streetcar proponents cannot get their message into these venues (or anybody else) all the polite, genteel informative discourse is pointless. It's not wether the plan is good or bad, it's just advertising. PS- hey Atherton! It's the Gateway Quarter not Corridor!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Smitherman Announces Run
The Fishwrap reports that Chris Smitherman, cable TV & radio superstar, president of the local NAACP, master financial planner and prior 1 term city councilman is planning to run for council in 2012 but his imminent election will not preclude him from running for mayor in 2013 - another sure win. Smitherman's clear mind & level head will give us the bold leadership & vision that the city needs. His broad support from the FOP, COA T, NAACP, the Greens & Westwood Concern will make for a real Can Do city! His productive relationship with Cincinnati Public Schools is just the plus we need to turn the city around.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Ridgewood in the Country Club District
Tuesday April 12, Tamara K. Dallenbach will sign her new book Ridgewood in the Country Club District from 5 to 6:30 PM at the Clark County Heritage Center in Springfield, OH. The Ridgewood neighborhood grew Springfield northward in the 1910s & was the brainchild of Harry S. Kissell. Kissel, a Wittenberg College graduate, civic leader & 33rd degree Mason, saw the need for better financing options to increase home ownership which he was convinced was the cornerstone to better communities. Standard home loans required 50% down & a 3-5 year payoff. Kissell worked with the feds to reform banking through the National Housing Act of 1934. He helped to establish the National Real Estate Boards, the Ohio Real Estate Board & Springfield Real Estate Board of which he served as president as well. He also worked to establish zoning regulations that would protect the homeowner's investment.
Kissell right of Theodore Roosevelt & the president of Wittenberg College on the far left
Ridgewood is an almost textbook example of what planners saw as the ideal suburban community. To make it work, Kissell needed to ensure the entrance was a grand and stately boulevard. To do this, he needed the zoning regulations to guarantee the setback of the houses. One of the best examples of the windy streets with staggered houses is probably Brighton between Sunnyside and Harding Rd.
Corner of Pythian and Brighton
People thought Kissell was nuts & the development doomed to failure but he persevered & ultimately moved the "millionaire's mile" from East High St. to North Fountain Blvd.
Kissell's house on Fountain Blvd 1927
another house on Fountain Blvd 1926
Ridgewood Elementary School
Access to the Ridgewood neighborhood required a streetcar and the gazebo type stops still exist altho the wooden seats have been replaced with metal seats. They were popular gathering spots for degenerate teenagers in the 60s & 70s. The Kissell Company gradually moved away from real estate sales & development and into mortgage loans. It eventually became one of the largest financial institutions of it's kind. It was the first mortgage loan company to computerize mortgage accounting, escrow control, tax analysis & insurance records in the 60s. Eventually Pittsburgh National Bank bought the company and spun off the real estate division. It was purchased by Robert Christol, also a Springfield Real Estate Board president, who renamed the company eponymously. That company dissolved in 1991 after his death. Kissell died in Cincinnati in 1946 where he was serving as Ohio Real Estate Board president. The book isn't on Amazon, the Ohio Book Store isn't big on Orange Frazier, but the book is available at the Heritage Center & on Orange Frazier's website (with an outrageous shipping fee).
Noose Son story here. UPDATE: Noose Son adds photo gallery including a rendering of aforementioned streetcar stops.
Friday, April 08, 2011
Remembering Riots
About 10 years ago Cincinnati was semi-rocked by rioting. While the cause cited is a young black guy getting shot while playing hide-n-seek with the police, the inability of the police to notify his next of kin, his mother, seems to have been the real catalyst. Why had the police failed to inform his mom? She went by a number of names & aliases and her acquaintances were reluctant to help police find her. She blamed police. Why was the guy shot? He had accumulated a string of arrests & warrants in just 19 years that most people don't achieve in lifetimes 3 times as long. When he fled from a policeman who recognized him & asked him to talk, a chase was on and the other officers joining in did not know the extent of his crimes. With just the number of offenses they assumed they were looking at trouble. When he & an officer surprised one another in the dark maze of alleys Thomas was using for his game of cat & mouse, shots were fired. Most of Thomas' offenses were related to driving & his not facing up to his legal obligations. A tragic waste. A big issue brought up was the number of Blacks who had been killed by police officers in Cincinnati over the years. All the casualties racked up by the police had been black. Of 15 only a couple were questionable. Frequently the police were just returning fire. This was routinely glossed over. Article I remember my white co-workers in Over the Rhine being almost terrified to come to work. The night shift workers needed letters citing their good reason for being out and about after the curfew. One guy was almost crying about how he couldn't risk his life there because he had a wife and children. Meanwhile I went out and stood at the bus stop looking down Findlay at an armed police line a block away. When the bus arrived it had a cracked window. The black woman sitting behind it looked tense but confident. Race relations on the bus were fine. Later, at the grocery, the mood was pretty upbeat. The clientele being about half black / half white generally had the attitude of people planning for a snowstorm or a Superbowl. People were preparing for the curfew buying soda, beer, chips, pizza, junk / comfort food, etc. The lines at the check out were long and chatty. That evening I sat on the front porch and enjoyed the quiet. My middle aged ass kinda liked this curfew thing. Images of the riots & protests were interesting. The black people under 30 including teens & preteens seemed to look like what wealthy white college students would call a spring break. Unorganized vandalism & looting... The Over the Rhine Credit Union, established to fill the void left by traditional banks and to offer financial help to the neighborhood residents, was trashed. Meanwhile the black folks over 30 tended to march in an organized way protesting fairly specific issues. People traveling to Cincinnati to participate in something they knew nothing about? Priceless. In the aftermath, the Collaborative Agreement was hatched. Mayors and ex-mayors from Boston & San Francisco offered to give Mayor Charlie Luken advice as they had dealt with similar issues in the past. They had claimed that dealing with socio-economic issues along racial lines would be a failure & that socio-economic issues need to be addressed as socio-economic issues (!). Luken, in typical Cincinnati form, said he would deal with it himself - as a race issue. The Collaborative Agreement was so called because it dealt with a number of Black advocacy groups that debatably even represented anybody and had various agendas. Too many chiefs? yup. Within a few years, Luken tried to end the whole thing because egos & interests of the Black citizens groups had led to their disolution, lack of cohesiveness & coherence. A police monitoring system was established to find out if police were engaged in racial profiling. The surveying method was ill-conceived and when results were analyzed by the pros at UC, they claimed they couldn't really draw any conclusions since the surveys didn't ask the right questions. A citizens complaint panel was established that finds 99.9% of complaints against police unwarranted. To assume that all the police reforms of the last 10 years are the direct result of the Collaborative Agreement would be naive. Police policies were already changing in 2001 and continually evolve. The biggest impact was probably the police slowdown in Over the Rhine. This allowed criminal activity to flourish in the area and provide a base to grow throughout the entire city. When Sheriff's deputies showed up, the area immediately changed for the better. We are still cleaning up. A number of Black advocacy groups have engaged in establishing expensive & business crushing rules & quotas on various government projects. Liberal white apologists see this as a positive thing. The advocacy groups engaging their constituents & helping them better their lot as conservatives would prefer isn't happening much, but when groups like COA T, with their anti-government agenda can count on groups like the NAACP to help them antagonize government, it's unlikely to hear them speak up. Another result was the "Boycott of Cincinnati". Among other things, black performers, after contracting to do shows, reneged & cancelled their contracts. In the case of Whoopi Goldberg, this unprofessional conduct mainly hurt local non-profit organizations. What's changed? The biggest change in police work since 2001 has been a policy to "work smarter", video recording of stops & the use of tasers, non-lethal when used on relatively healthy people. The "black community" seems to be a little more cooperative with police in recent years. That's seems to be about it. The riots did reinforce the stereotype of the uncontrollably violent negro in the minds of many predisposed Whites. Most people aren't exactly "where they want to be". They can blame others for their lot in life. They can blame classes defined by race, sex, religion, region..... It's normal. When others enable them to believe their prejudice a snowball effect ensues. Some people say we need to chat & dwell on past slights. It won't work. I cannot hate the Italians who tormented my ancestors. I cannot hate the crimes and oppression of Africans, English, Catholics, Swedes.... - that's about as far back as I can go - on my ancestors. Sorry. At some point you have to move on.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Did the Ohio Democrats Grow Some Balls ?
Not really. State legislators are crafting legislation that would allow for recall elections for members of the state government including the governor. Currently there is no such mechanism. Unfortunately, since Ohio is in the grip of single party rule, any such bill would be defeated, if not in the legislature then with an executive veto. Of course it would never make it through the legislature on the best of days. This is something that needs to be done by the citizens on their own. Maybe the Dem legislators can spark some interest in the voters, tho. NAH, that would be leadership.....
If Ohio's governor, John Kasich, really wanted to make the state a leaner, more business friendly place, a really good place to start would have been it's draconian liquor laws. Ohio directly controls hard liquor sales & through a maze of laws & price controls manages to screw up beer and wine sales, too. While the state "allows" entrepreneurs to sell alcohol in retail outlets, everything up to that point is under strict control. Kasich's hints at TEAism might have led one to believe he would want to embrace free markets and reduce government regulation, making it easier for Ohio entrepreneurs to realize the American dream. But, no, Kasich has decided to keep the cash cow under soviet-style state control and lease it to his semi-private, oversight-free JobsOhio outfit to fund their statist venture capitalist adventures. The mandatory price markups will stay in place. The uncompetitive wholesale purchasing will go on - continuing to give Ohioans higher prices and fewer choices. The uncompetitiveness may not be an issue in Dayton & Columbus but border communities that must compete with the free markets in other states, especially Kentucky, are hit hard by these anti-competetive policies. Apparently, promoting competition & free markets seems pointless to Kasich's JobsOhio guru, Mark Kvamme & Ohio TEA doesn't seem to have a problem, either. Given TEA's constituency, they might prefer prohibition, anyway. Ohio's path to corporatism marches on. Unfortunately, the trains won't be running on time.
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.
In an interview with Dan Hurley, Lippert claimed to not remember the third I - Independence. Not surprising as he has voted straight party line since his appointment. He is apparently supporting Chas Winburn's effort to take the streetcar off the table even tho, in the same Newsmaker's interview he couldn't come up with a valid reason to oppose streetcar development & furthermore went on to say that "nothing" was off the table. The Integrity I appears to be faltering. Hurley asked Lippert about a number of issues that have been burbling about for some time & Lippert replied repeatedly that he would have to study the issues. Seems that if you actually want to serve it would be because you care enough to know what is behind these issues. I don't know if this falls under the I of Integrity or Intelligence. Maybe in George W Bush's idiot savant theory he thinks ignorance makes for a good representative. Berding quipped that a major factor in his choice of a replacement was finding someone who would be a thorn in the mayor's backside. Maybe this is where Lippert will excel.
A Google search for berding, intelligence, independence, integrity here
Great Minds
While the Dove World Outreach Center's "trial & execution" of a C'oranne was juvenile at best, it also harkened back to the good old witch trials. At least they didn't hurt anybody this time. This, of course, set a gaggle of peace loving Moslems into another murderous frenzy. Because of Terry Jones' heresy (burning paper) a mob in Afghanistan stormed a UN headquarters & slaughtered, maimed and injured people. In typical riot efficiency, no Floridians fell victim. No Americans were killed. Does that matter to these kill crazed loons? Probably not. These folks resent their country being occupied by the US. Lessee, why are the bastard Americans there? um, oh yeah, the Afghanistan people were harboring and supporting a terrorist organization that had murdered THOUSANDS of people around the world.. The bloodthirsty rioters have called for justice & want the Floridians to be punished to the full extent of the law. I agree. The pertinent law would probably have something to do with burning trash without a permit.
Well, apparently no singing frogs but a 96 year old time capsule has been found in the Clark County Veterans Memorial Hall cornerstone. It was unexpected, so partially damaged, but, otherwise, the contents are described as in excellent condition. The Clark County Historical Society plans on exhibiting the contents as soon as possible. Noose Son story here.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Creating Jobs & Eliminating National Debt Made Easy
To hell with all the pansy-ass hand wringing liberals & "cut it and they will come" neo-cons, here's how we fix Amerika. Foreign debt? Easy & step 1 - tell 'em we aren't paying. Done. If they don't like it, we bomb 'em. Since they will either not do business with us because their nations are nuclear wastelands or they just don't like us not paying them, we will have to start making our own stuff. Necessity is the mother of invention doncha know? Our manufacturing base will take off overnight & we will have jobs & a booming economy again. raw materials? We just take 'em. The rest of the world will think we are so bat shit crazy-violent, they will let us take whatever we need. Problem solved - Amerika is proud and strong again.
Cincinnati Iconography
Stylized images of Cincinnati icons and landmarks available on shirts, mousepads, clocks and other merchandise.
Hyde Park, Queensgate, Over the Rhine, Northside, Newport, Union Terminal, Music Hall, The Jockey Club and more.
