Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Beware of Men Baring Almanacs!

I bought this Almanac a few weeks ago. I wonder if I am on a list of people to watch?

Run for your lives! Books of openly available information are going to get you!

Wes Flinn has something on this too.

Dowlin Is Running For Commissioner

John Dowlin made it official: he is running for the Republican nomination for Hamilton County Commissioner. He reportedly had "50 prominent Republicans" at his press conference supporting him, including anti-homosexual state Rep. Bill Seitz.

Republican Anderson Township trustee Russ Jackson, Jr. also announced he will run against Todd Portune the other Commissioner's seat up for election next year. 4 other Republicans are rumored to be seeking Portune's seat.

Hmmm. This looks interesting. A GOP slug fest? Will they get to bloody to win come November? I think Portune will be safe if there is any kind of significant GOP primary fight. Dowlin and DeWine should each win against the Democrat that is put up as fodder for that seat, which turns out to be Forest Park Mayor Stephanie Dumas. Maybe Jay Love will run for Forest Park Mayor?

More from the Post.

Damon Lynch IV Indicted

The Rev. Damon Lynch III's son, Lynch IV, was indicted Monday on theft charges allegedly relating to a multiple car break-ins. I still can't find a story on this in the Enquirer but it did make the Post.

Former Lt. Col. Ron Twitty's Stepson Found Shot

Allen Shannon, the 30 year old stepson of the former CPD assistant police chief, was found shot last night. He was pronounced dead on arrival at University Hospital. This is of course sad, but it creates something that I would guess is a awkward situation between Twitty's family and the police investigating the homicide. I find it more puzzling that Ron Twitty kept his job today as a fill in host for Jay Love on 1230 the Buzz. I think I might have called of work to support my wife. He did get a lot of sympathy from callers in the few minutes I listened.

Enquirer Story, WCPO, WLWT, and WKRC.

Tuesday, December 30, 2003

PolState.com: Former Hostage Anderson Running For Ohio Senate

Terry Anderson, former Middle East AP reporter who was held hostage for over 6 years, has announced that he is running for the Ohio State Senate seat in the 20th district. Anderson is a political rookie but thinks his experience as a journalist, a marine, a college professor, and businessman provides him with an ample background to serve in office. more........

Monday, December 29, 2003

Queensgate Correctional Facility?

It shows how much I know when it was news to me that we have a county correctional facility in Queensgate. I thought Simon Leis only had the downtown county jail to worry about. Does anyone know how the two facilities are used? One longer term than the other or one lower security? It appears maybe the Queensgate facility does have lower security, since someone escaped.

Concealed and Carry Lies

Here is an article on the Conceal and Carry website that tries to claim that Cincinnati's Murder Rate would be lower if there was a conceal and carry law in Ohio. This comment is most pathetic
To fight against legislation which has such proven results is nothing less than gross negligence, and they're getting people killed.
Guess what guys, the vast majority of the murders in Cincinnati are drug/crime related. "Innocent" people are not the majority of people being killed. I would bet a large number are felons and could not carry a gun even under the law being advocated. I hope people see this as an example of lying. Most advocacy groups’ spin there message and come close to lying, but they don't do it as bad as this.

More Kids Gone Wild?

It is never good when someone brings a gun to roller skating rink.

The Strippers are Coming.....The Strippers are Coming

The rumors that a Hustler Strip Club or porn store is coming to Covington are false. I have to admit; I did not hear such rumors. Were those rumors just fund raising propaganda for the CCV?

Traffic....Anyone?

This article brings great news for Columbia-Tusculum. A revitalized area along Columbia Parkway would be great. What sucks is that this means the East Side of town will get stuck in Traffic again. Columbia Parkway was just tore up for a sewer/drainage project and resurfaced. Now it will be torn up again for this project. The traffic will suck, again. I also wonder what this new "Columbia Square" will do to Parkway traffic. Will it become clogged with shoppers and diners? I love business expansion in the city, but we also need something to help with East Side Traffic woes. We have very few ways to get downtown. We don't have 75 to go down if 71 is backed up. I hope someone thinks about traffic this time, unlike when they had construction on Beechmont and Columbia Parkway at the same time.

By the Way

I am back in Cincinnati. My trip was great. The family is good. Florida was nice. I am happy to be back home though.

Chum for Bigots?

This column in the Enquirer reports that a former CIA agent alluded in Congressional testimony that an Al Qaida terrorist cell might be brewing here in Cincinnati. Now, I find this laughable, but I am pissed more. In the opinion of the Enquirer columnist the intended connect was that the Islamic Center up in West Chester was given money by the Saudi Government. Now, this is something for the government to keep an eye on, but the Saudi government gives a lot of money to a lot of Muslim centers all over the country. Why did this former CIA have to bring up Cincinnati? I think we have enough bigotry, hate, and fear to last us through the next year without any help from Washington.

I am very disappointed that they columnist did not get a comment from someone at the Great Cincinnati Islamic Center. Instead he got a comment from the Saudi Embassy. Why not ask American Citizens themselves what they think about being linked to terrorism?

Saturday, December 27, 2003

AP's Top Ohio Stories of 2003

The top one is fine, the black out, but #2 is the OSU national football championship? Please, give me a break. Sports news beat out the Ohio Troops in the Iraq war? Who voted on this list?

Enquirer's Loser of the Week

A happy New Years to this week's lone Enquirer looser, out going FOP President Roger Webster. He was booted from his post this week and I think the city is better for it.

Party Poopers

I guess standing is now a crime in Ohio. I guess sitting will be the next thing banned. All you will be able to do while at college is stand at attention in front of an adult (over age 30) and to sleep tied into your bunk at night. Meals will have to be eaten while walking, unless walking is banned too.

Battle of the GOP D's

Pat DeWine is looking to take the next political step by running against John Dowlin in the Republican primary for Hamilton County Commissioner. This will make everyone wonder two things: 1. Will Pat quite City Council? 2. If he does or if he wins the Commission seat, who will take his place on Council. I predict no on #1 and Leslie Ghiz on #2.

I have to wake up reporter Cindi Andrews to a fact about something she listed in the article
Kabaka Oba, a Cincinnati boycott activist, is the only Democrat who has filed for the seat.
It is a fact that Kabaka Oba is a militant black racist and separatist. I have no problem reporting that he is on the Primary ballot, that is reasonable. Just listing him as a "boycott activist" gives him some kind of legitimacy, when everyone with a brain knows he is just the black version of a KKK wizard.

The Post's Report.

Ohio: The Pulse of Presidential Politics

The Enquirer reports on the coming onslaught of politicking by both the GOP and Dems. Ohio is the bell -weather state of bell weather states. We always are fickle for Presidents, but this year with things looking to be a bloody battle (literally I think) the politics should be coming sooner than before.

One element of bias in this article is the description of Move-on.org's commercials as "anti-Bush." If stating what they believe is the truth makes their commercials "anti" something, I guess every Coke and Pepsi ad are anti-milk.

Thursday, December 25, 2003

New FOP President Speaks

The Enquirer reports on the new FOP President Harry Roberts. Some interesting facts on Sgt. Roberts: He lives in the city of Cincinnati, and he graduated from Withrow High School. Is this a break from the Elder voting block? Was this a vote against the old guard, or is they guy just an Eastside transplant to the old Westside guard? I really know nothing about this guy. Is he is new rational blood in the FOP or is he more of the same?

Rob Bernard Reponds

Rob Bernard responded to my post on a FOX News article. Rob makes the argument that religion should not be banned from public areas. I agree. Individuals have the constitutional right to make their religion known on a non-fixed basis. If you want to walk through fountain square carrying a cross, that is fine, as long as you don't interfere with anyone else. Erecting that cross (or Menorah or a 10' penis) is not something I find to be valid on public property. Secularized symbols of Christmas I have problem with having on public property. Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, etc are fine. They might indirectly refer to the religion, but they are not dogmatic teachings or divine symbols from Christianity.

What I don't think Rob sees is that from my point of view "sharing" should be voluntary.
I would argue that it is intolerant to keep religion out of public areas. The exclusion of religion from the public arena is simply taking another side in the religious debate. Putting up a big cross, nativity scene, menorah, Star of David or a giant Torah doesn't push your religion on others because they don't comply with that religious code. It doesn't say "join our religion and follow our beliefs or something bad will happen to you" it says "this is a symbol of what we hold dear and we want to share it." Opposing religious expression is as much a statement of religious beliefs as anything else.
Two points: First, a religious belief requires a belief in a god or gods or supernatural entities or supernatural creators. Opposing religious expression is not a religious belief, nor an expression of religion. Atheism is not a religion. Atheism is a belief, yet, but beliefs alone don't make a religion. A religion has to do with a god or the supernatural. Second point: in the above excerpt the "we" in the "is a symbol of what we hold dear and we want to share it" comment is what is the problem. This “we” is so varied that they only way to fairly determine it is not make it "we", but make it "me." If you want it on pubic property keep it to "me," if you want to make it "we" why not keep it in your church? If I want to share in your religion why can't I just go into the buildings with a big cross on top? Once I am there the "we" can share with anyone any type of in your face religious expression they wish, without any government intervention (except for established laws).

Keeping religion out of public places does not indorse atheism. The government should take a “don’t ask don’t tell” type view on religion. It should do nothing but protect the right of any individual to practice their religion and provide the ability to government workers (military, police, etc) who while on duty are unable to practice their religion. This is were military Chaplains come into play.

Also for the record, I don’t have anti-religious beliefs. Am I an atheistic-agnostic? Yes. Do I believe that all known religions are invalid? Yes. Am I against anyone being prevented from practicing their religion? NO! What I am against is people thinking that when they superimpose their religion on me or when they try to make me to comply with their religious dogma through law that they are practicing their religion. If pushing one’s religion on others is such a vital part of one’s religion (you know getting more members), then it sounds more like a Ponzi scheme.

Finally, if Rob or any religious person wants to celebrate their religion they have the constitutional right to do so. They can build a church and sing praises to “God” or “Satan” or “Ra” or “Odin” until their lungs turn blue. They can do that while walking down the street. What they can’t do is use the government to help them proselytize. The purpose of publicly expressing religion is to ADVERTISE it. Why do you advertise? To make people aware of your product. Outward expression of religion (mainly speaking about the big three monotheistic religions, but I think all apply) has two core purposes: to try and let others know what your religion is and to let others know you follow that religion. The first is a means of proselytization and second is a means of identification of compliance. That is a cold and clinical description of what outward expressions of religion are, but I don’t see any other valid explanation. If you don’t want to show off your religious beliefs, then you really would not need to express them. If you want people to act like you, what is often considered most pure is by acting upon those beliefs, instead of telling people you believe them.

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

FOP chief Update

The Enquirer has a full story today. In it Keith Fangman hints that there were sound reasons for Webster to be voted out, but did not get into it. There sounds like a huge backstory here worth telling. Will anyone ferret it out?

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

SoapBox Parking

Queen City Soapbox is Back! Ethan comments on shopping at Kenwood Town Center. He hits the parking problem and I can say that it was horrible the Saturday before this past weekend, so it must have been worse Sunday.

Let's hope Ethan and/or Chris comes back into the blogger world! The posts have been sparse over there and there commentary is missed.

Fair and Unbalanced: Faux News

A "story" on "Religious Restrictions or Religious Censorship?" is on the front page of FOX News. It is unsigned, but included a reference to a video report. I can't really find anything more biased than this so far this week. It not only paints a false picture it states this little tidbit as if it were bad:
Still, the number of bans on public displays of Christianity continue to grow. And while those symbols may have little value alone, many Christians fear that taken as a whole, that kind of intolerance will wind up creating not freedom of religion but freedom from religion in this country.
Now, first, it is not intolerant to keep religion out of public areas, that is a biased statement. It is intolerant when you feel the need to push your religion on others, just because they don't comply with your religious code. Second, what is wrong with freedom from religion? Why should I have to have my tax dollars go toward anyone else's religion practices?

What is the purpose of religious displays? The purpose and the intent are to promote the religion and gain followers, money and power. Why should certain groups be allowed to do that? I just don't understand what logical reason there would be to push religion in public areas other than to try and instill a theocracy.

What would be nice if FOX News would just give up their "Fair and Balanced" claim. With stories like this one, it is clear they don't want to be balanced, they want be biased and make the people that like them think they are being fair to "them." The "them" in this case is "us." Now when I say "us" I don't mean "them." Now again, when I say "us" I really mean "me, Al Franken."

If anyone got that poor joke/cultural reference, they might win a prize. Otherwise, just give Faux News the bird this holiday season.

Are You Shitting Me?

The Post has an editorial that sounds familiar to me. I don't know where I could have read this story before.

Oh, and you're welcome! Ah, well, you better thank Atrios instead.

A Glimmer of Hope?

The courts have dismissed a lawsuit trying to overturn the Hate Crimes Ordinance passed by City Council.

The lawsuit was brought by Sam Malone, Tom Brinkman, and CCV member Mark Miller.

Let us review here: two elected officials tried to prevent homosexuals from getting treated like the protections afford to people based on race, sex, national origin, ethnicity, and religion. Now, why would they oppose protection for homosexuals, but not oppose protections for people based on religion? Hmmm, I wonder why?

I understand how the CCV stand. They don't hold back. They hate gays. They want gays kept second class citizens or just weeded out of the society all together. What is with our two elected officials?

Brinkman is not really a mystery. He is a paleo-conservative. He wants to return to a time when a female exposing her ankles was considered public nudity.

I don't get Malone. What does he have against gays? Malone was the lone GOP pro-choice candidate for council, but he has a thing against gays. People have varied views that on some levels don't seem to go together well, at least not logically.

Webster Out as Cincinnati FOP President

Sgt. Harry Roberts is the new President. Was this voluntary or was Webster forced out? I assume it was by choice. I don't see any internal divisions in the CPD, but one never knows and the WLWT story lacks much detail.

Webster's recent actions in the wake of the Nathaniel Jones death were horrid. He fueled the flames of anger with his selfish comments at a time when he could have voiced his opinions in private, and not pissed off the black community. He will not be missed.

UPDATE: The Enquirer has the vote details. Webster was defeated in the election. He was defeated nearly 2 to 1. Fangman is back as VP. How big a deal is this? What caused the revolt?

Money Mistake

I loved how Money Magazine screwed up calling West Chester by its old name, Union Township. I find one problem calling this one of the best places to live. What they fail to mention is the problems they are having with such fast growing area. The schools and the government services can't catch up, and since the area is not a municipality, taxes are not easy to raise. This puts more stress on Bulter County, talking away from the rest of county. I would like to see what portion of City of Hamilton residents sale tax payments are used to fund police and other supports for West Chester Township. West Chester needs to incorporate into a city. That will raise taxes and keep people out though, so I guess they may sponge off the rest of the county for a while longer.

Post's Story. What is sad about this is that both papers found out about this story from a wire report.

Kitna 'Outrage' Story Part II

The Enquirer's story on the "Kitna hats" tries to go "deeper," but does it make it more than it appears. Where there only 500 hats sold in total? Who else sold the hats? How many other locals sold the hats? If "hundreds" bought them, is that a story?

Did the fact that a Catholic focused store was making a big deal out of this amount to a story? I know many don't like to bring up the differences between the Christian sects, but at its core is that not part of the story. I don't think Kitna is a Catholic, and wearing a hat like this would not be an expression of faith that I don't think would get much approval from a priest. If it got support after the fact, I still don't think that would be an acceptable tone for most Catholics. Evangelical Christians, which I assumed is Kitna's sect, are more often the in your face type of groups.

I think the story should have mentioned that various sects and that at a minimum indicate that a Catholic group was support Kitna's action.

From the story people need to stop invoking freedom of speech and freedom of religion when ever someone is prevented from doing what they want to do. The first amendment generally only applies to the actions of the government. The NFL can keep religious expression out in any form it wants from its action and its employees. It could keep out a specific religion if it so choose as well. It might loose a tax break if it did that and would loose a bunch of business, but that is about it.

UPDATE: The Post chimes in with an editorial that is all over the map. They say that yes Kitna techinically violated the rules and you can't make exceptions, but that it is no big deal. They however pumped up efforts to sell the hats. Does Scripps get a cut from "Kitna Hat" sales?

Guess Where I Went Yesterday!

Well, I did not do any blogging yesterday, which I am sure was a disappointed to 4 of my readers, but I had a good reason. I was at the beach. Well, not all of the day, but in the afternoon. The Temps were above 70, and the sun was out. I was able to find a small number of shark's teeth. This part of Florida is known for shark's teeth, old one's, that wash up on shore. They are mostly small, but there are millions of them just on the edge of the sand near the water. Collecting shark's teeth are one of the very touristy things to do here. The other is to wear shorts when it is only 60 degrees out.

Sunday, December 21, 2003

Another Hate Filled Christmas Message From Old St. Bronson

Yet another column from Peter Bronson filled with hate. It can't fail can it? Peter Bronson can't let his tired 1950's world go. His myth of what the 1950's were like would be a better description of what he wants. I am amazed. I don't know why he pushes his hate, but I also don't know what kind of a fairytale land he lived in when he grew up.

I spent some time last night talking with my father about his childhood during the 40's and early 50's. You know, the time when all was right in the world, except those horrible "commie pinko bastards." My Republican father told me how his single mother, single from a divorce, never spent a holiday at home in the apartments they live in. They instead traveled to relatives. They never had a fairly tale Christmas with a white picket fence and a father bring home the bacon. My dad did not even get a Christmas card from his father until he was about 45 years old.

Now this is the past that Mr. Bronson wants everyone forced to live in. We are to be required to succumb to his religion, his morals, his cultural traditions at schools and in the Media.

Peter then sings praises to the failure of a clothing retail company. I guess his prayers were "answered" with their drop in sales. I guess he will not mind the people who lose their jobs because of that drop in sales. I guess companies that don't adopt his Christian ways are just doomed to failure. They defiled his "god" therefore they should expect to fail, and the 22 year old working the register at the Kenwood Mall who gets laid off, she is your "sinner" Peter?

Bronson disgusts me. He is so gleeful in his hate for all things non-evangelical Christian it is almost sad. It is not sad because it is so horrid. If one did not know this man was educated, you could just pass if off as ignorance. It is not ignorance, it is just hate. He hates people who don't comply with his religion. What other explanation can there before a column like this 4 days from his religion's holiday about spreading joy to all.

It is so extremely pitiful for him also to praise the fascist organization know as the CCV. I am happy to call myself one of the critics of the CCV. As long as the CCV exists, I will oppose it in my writings. Someone must counter the dogma from Bronson.

Happy Fucking Christmas Peter.

Good Clooney Story, Dirty Politics Ahead

Here is a good story on Nick Clooney campaign for Congress. It was fair and gave voice to his critics and opponents. What was brutal was this quote about Nick's son George from Kevin Murphy, one of Nick's opponents:
"If Mr. Clooney decides to make his son an issue in the campaign, he will have to live with the positions and the statements of his son, who has succumbed to the Hollywood liberalism that is very far removed from Midwest values," Murphy said.
Now, what does this tell me? If Mr. Murphy gets the GOP nomination, then he will make George the issue, not Nick. It will not matter if Nick brings him up or not, just have George stand next to him a single event, which will make the papers, and that is all Murphy needs to try and play upon the mindless hate for "Hollywood." What do extreme Conservatives hate about Hollywood? Two things: gays and their stance on guns. Guns are the issue that drives hard conservative men into fits of rage, and gays are what make them fear their sexuality. I think that is at the core of this veiled threat from Murphy. I think Davis has enough sense not to make it much of an issue, assuming George is just there for a photo op.

This sounds like good old fashioned Kentucky Politics: down and dirty.

Piousness Sells

Well, I hope someone other than a church made a buck on selling "Kitna hats." I hope some will let me know if this was a big talk radio topic in Cincinnati. This issue has Bill Cunningham's name written all over it. Let's hope Cunningham is on vacation.

Saturday, December 20, 2003

Bush's Plan to Not Tax the Wealthy?

Kevin Drum comments on what David Brooks has to say about Bush's up coming State of the Union Speech. In it Brooks claims Bush will unveil his push to "reform" social security, unemployment insurance, and Medicare. Look for a whole new round of "newspeak" terms from Bush. Ownership of one's own "unemployed workers personal re-employment accounts seems to be where insurance is no longer the key element. You will save on your own, and the government and your employer will likely be off the hook for anything, assuming the market does not drop and your actually make enough money to saving anything.

Kevin's final analysis that Bush's intent is just a push to not tax any investment income and not tax corporate income, putting all tax revenue on the shoulders of the worker. That is what Kevin call's class warfare. Funny, I call it the same thing, but by calling it class warfare we will surely be accused of waging class warfare.

Ugh. Reason #5,550 of why I am not a Conservative.

Cranley Out of Commissioner's Race

Cranley's reasons were financial. He just raised 200K for his council run and it is believed he would need 500K for the Commissioner's run. I think he is hold out for making another run for Congress. I have no inside source on this, I am just speculating. John ran against Steve Chabot and for a very young candidate did well. He has become more conservative in his views and could be a challenge for Chabot under the right circumstances. Liberals are no big fan of Cranley, but the 1st Ohio Congressional District has so few Liberals to get votes from, Cranley might be in place to run for Chabot's seat, maybe when Chabot leaves at some point down the road.

Wearing Religion on Your Sleeve

Bengal's QB John Kitna has been fined for wearing a hat with a Christian cross on it during post-game press conferences. I was really bothered by Kitna pushing his religion. It is his right, but I felt it was rude to be so up front about it. I also felt that his choice of hats was poor. Most of the season he wore really cheap hats with "god" awful colors. It was a mockery of hats.

As far as his being fined for doing it, that strikes me as strange. I would have just warned him first. It is unknown if he was warned or not.

I hope the reactionary right does not want to make this into some kind of an issue. I am sure they will, but I hope they complain about the NFL, not anyone else. There actions are totally legal, and the 1st amendment does not apply in this case. The NFL limits what it players can say, it can limit their freedom of expressing their religion.

I am sure will see the freepers and Peter Bronson making an issue of this, and somehow blaming Bill Clinton for it. It must be a sign of the end times, so I guess I better stock up on water.

Damon Lynch IV Arrested

Rev. Damon Lynch III's son has been arrested on charges of breaking into cars. Yes, this is the son of the man who almost became a Cincinnati City Councilman and who is leading a boycott against Cincinnati.

If you find this ironic, then you are definitely not alone. I would guess that "living" in East Price Hill was not the best choice for Rev. Lynch. His son seemed to need more supervision. I will bet that cries of racial profiling or that his son was set up by the police will be used as his defense. Has Ken Lawson been hired yet?

I will have to wonder how many times "the white man" will be blamed. How many times will the Cincinnati Police be blamed? Will it all just be called a CIA conspiracy?

This should be a big news story, but it is getting little play. The Post has nothing online and the Enquirer has been silent. WLWT, WKRC, and the Whistleblower (who I think had it first) were the only news outlets to report it.

Friday, December 19, 2003

Media Merger Mania Beginning?

Scripps is adding 5 more TV stations. I guess WCPO will start recycling San Francisco stories too.

That Makes 70

The 70th Homicide in Cincinnati happened last night.

We Interrup Our Regular Programming.....

Just thought I would give a weather report from sunny southwest Florida. Yes, that's right; the Cincinnati Blog is on its annual pilgramage to the placial Griffin Family Estate.

The temperature is 60 degrees in the shade and there is not a cloud in the sky. The pool is damn cold, so we will have to get the heater going. It should hit 70 by Monday. I will just have to suffer until then in upper 50's low 60's weather.

I will try to keep on blogging all through my vacation. I will not be as Cincinnati focused. I will try to be lighter for the holiday season, but getting pissed about something is not difficult for me, and writing about it gets it off my chest. I still will be reading my email, so send me any local stories I might miss.

Enquirer Editorial Page Sees the Light

They ran an editorial page today praising Miami's football team and saying they should have been in a BCS bowl. I agree with them. They call for the NCAA to scrap the BSC system and go to a playoff. I agree with them there too.

Here is the problem. The Enquirer is located about an hour and some change drive from Yeagar stadium. It is a longer drive on game days. The sport page for the Enquirer provides a story before and after every game for the Football and the basketball team. That is all the boosting that occurs. There are the occasion story on Miami players or coaches that happend this year, which were much appreciated. This year the team was really good, so it figures more coverage would follow.

In normal years, Miami has to fight for space in the paper not with UC, which logically should be the main school the Enquirer follows, but with OSU and UK. That is a slap in the face. There are thousands of Miami Alumni in the Cincinnati Area. They are among the most influential people in the community. It would be beneficial to Miami and I think in earning more readerships if the Enquirer sports page would treat Miami better than it does, send a full time reporter to the games, send a photographer. Treat Miami like the 1A program that it is. Now, in comparison, the Local TV news is horrid. They give more coverage to the Elder football program than to Miami.

I beat the local media on this issue all the time. I think I will keep it up. I think that this game got great coverage from the Enquirer. I just think at least half of that coverage should be there for every Miami game, and for that matter every UC game. The Miami-UC football game should be given the same level of hype as the UC-Xavier basketball game. That may be asking for a lot, but they never happen on the same day, I think there will be room.

Rest of the Coverage from the Enquirer: Daugherty column, Ben's statement, Coach's comments and the game summary.

Big Ben Off to the NFL

Ben Roethlisberger made it official after last night's win in the GMAC Bowl that he is leaving Miami for the NFL. Ben is a junior in football eligibility, but is an academic senior. He will be missed by Miami fans, but he will find success in the pros.

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Reasons for War

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

MIAMI 49, Louisville 28

Love and honor to Miami,
Our college old and grand,
Proudly we shall ever hail thee,
Over all the land.

Alma mater now we praise thee,
Sing joyfully this lay,
Love and honor to Miami,
Forever and a day.


Great Win, Great Season, Great Team!

I wish Ben all the luck in the world. I think he has played his last game as a Redhawk.

Letter From a Fool

Here is a letter to the editor from today's Enquirer
Those against Bush hurting our nation

President Bush couldn't have made it any clearer at the get-go. "Either you're with us, or you're against us." What part of that don't you understand?

To the writer of the letter "Bush a divider, not a unifier" (Dec. 14): People that think like you are also the kind of people that caused this great country to lose the war in Vietnam. back in the '60s and '70s. You just feed the enemy.

I don't like to argue with anyone about war because it is true - no one really wins after you consider all the lives lost. But if you don't contribute to it, you have no right to profit from it.

By the way, I believe in the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy and even Santa Claus. If this makes me a compassionate conservative, so be it.

Ed Gruener, Colerain Township
Was Ed trying to be funny or is he just showing that he has the mind of child? I added the bold above, but it stands out all by itself. I don't think you are compassionate Mr. Gruener, I think you are a fool. You are a fool if you believe in fairy tales, and you are a fool if you believe in the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus. Oh, the fairy tale I think you believe in is the validity of this War and your "love it or leave it" attitude. I think your mindset is what is straight out of the 1960's. I think your stubborn mindset, also held by military leadership, is what lost the war in Vietnam. I really find it horrid that you think anyone should "profit" from a war.

I really hope you were trying to be a satire on conservatives who are ignorant (not all of the them are - cough, cough), but I fear that your letter was bona fide, grade A real. If this is who makes up a die-hard Bush supporter, I really don't get how people with half a mind flock to him like lemmings.

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Media Still Missing the Boat on WMD

It takes Diane Sawyer, queen of the celebrity interview, to actually push Bush on not finding any WMD in Iraq? To no one’s surprise this fact gets little play in the news. The fate of Saddam is the hot news. Bush dodging the questions and not answering the basic facts that his Administration said Iraq possessed WMD (the actual weapons), but none have been found, this is not getting much attention. That would seem to be news to me. That would seem to be huge news of either bad intelligence (which is their fall back spin) or just purely misleading the country on why we went to war.

I seriously hope that which ever Democrat faces Bush in a debate next fall beats that issue into the ground and refuses to let his spin go by. I can see Dean doing that easy. I don't know yet if Dean is the best Democrat to be President or not. I am glad I am not part of a political party. I don't want to have to pick from the 9.

City Council Shuffling

The Post is reporting that if John Cranley ran against John Dowlin for Hamilton County Commissioner, he would win. The Post story strongly indicates that Cranley could announce a run soon. Pat DeWine is also thinking about running. Who then steps up to take seats on Council?

In the GOP one might think Monzel would get the nod as a previous councilman, but he is also considering running for County Commission. I would bet Leslie Ghiz should get to fill out DeWine's seat if he were to leave for Commission. She got the next most votes for office of any Republican.

On the Dems side I have no idea. Bond and Britton were the other two people on the ballot this year, but they had no fire in their bellies. I see no one else on the bench for the Dems with any public record of accomplishment to rest on. Would they consider trying to recruit Damon Lynch? I don't think they would, but one never knows.

WHY?

So Bush now would back a constitutional ban on same sex marriage. I want to know why. I don't want his canned answer, "marriage is between a man and a woman." That reminds me of an answer a parent would give a child to the question why is the sky blue. There is full and complete answer as to why the sky is blue. There is a full and complete answer as to why Bush is against homosexual marriage, and why he does not support Civil Unions. I believe the answer is simple, but one he can't say without losing support. Bush will tolerate homosexuals, but he (along with a lot of other bigots) fears gay men. That would be homophobia by definition. There ignorance is based on religion and misconceptions perpetuated by bigots.

Gays exist. Bush needs to get over that fact. Then he needs to state why he is against providing equal rights and benefits to all people. Why does he favor special rights for heterosexuals? Hmmmm?

I would bet Bush would not care much about lesbians being married. I would posit that most homophobic men are not fearful of lesbians.

I still don't hear why people are against gay marriage and civil unions. All I hear are "code" words. Bigoted "code" words that I think make it clear to those who wish to keep homosexuals second-class citizens that they are on their side. Freedom from religious piety will never be achieved with an atmosphere where fear rules intellectual expression, as well as emotional expression.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

More Bronson, More is Missing

Now, I am shocked that in his latest column Peter Bronson did not take the opportunity, like many of his conservative comrades, to do a victory dance of taunts towards Democrats and liberals. Instead he takes a swipe at France, Arab TV stations, and the general anti-war movement.

What Mr. Bronson misses is a key fact about the issue of Mass Graves and crimes against humanity that he wants Saddam Hussein to face charges in a court of law.

When did most of these crimes take place? Ok, Gassing Iranian troops? In the 1980's. Gassing the Kurds in Iraq? In I think 1988 (or 1987?). The timing of most of mass graves? The vast majority of the people in mass graves are the Shiites and Kurds who dies after their uprisings in 1991.

Now, who has no right to use these issues as a political football, at least a credible or non-hypocritical argument? If you said George Bush and the GOP, then you would be right. Why do I say this? Why do I say it without a thought of the "good" Bush has done here? Simple, look and see who turned a blind eye to Iraq's use of chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, why that was the Reagan administration of course. Who did nothing when Saddam used WMD on the Kurds in his own country? Reagan again. Who let thousands of Shiite and Kurdish fighters get slaughtered in 1991? Well, that would have been George Bush the elder of course. His administration encouraged the rebellion and then let people get slaughtered when we refused to provide any significant assistance.

Now, Peter Bronson and company want to use avenging these horrid acts by Saddam as their reasoning for going after Saddam. WMD has once again been forgotten. Where is the report on what we have found so far? Anyone read that? Is it available?

If defeating tyrants is such a great feat, why didn't the GOP lead the fight to depose Milosevic in the Kosovo War? Instead they dragged their feet and wanted nothing to do with it, not even when we won. General Clark is even now testifying against Slobodan in a war crimes trial as I type, but his actions in the Kosovo War are being attacked by his military rivals and the GOP.

I find it so disgusting to see this kind of selective reasoning go on, and then part of the selectivity is to point out the other side's selectivity. (Yes, I know you can use that against me to a point too.)

I hoped that people would not use the war for politics. I wish the GOP would not lie about not using it as such themselves. They will surely blame every critic of the war of political grandstanding, but every commercial touting the win in Iraq next year will be just as exploitive of the over 458 (and counting) dead Americans. If anyone using winning a war as a means to win an election and then turn around and claim to care about people, then I really want to vomit. I predict I will be vomiting all through next summer.

Media Scum

Well, this is how you scare people into watching your local TV news. Put fear into the minds of parents of young children and they will do what ever it takes to "save" them.

Add in a picture of a young child that died from the flu and you have a full fledged community wide panic.

This is why the media, local TV news mainly, are scum. This will be the lead story for the rest of the week. It is sad that any child dies, but face facts, kids die often at Children’s Hospital. When a kid dies of cancer, where is the lead story pumping up the public to do something about cancer? Well, that is not really news either. It would be great drama. That is what local TV wants far more than news. If they want drama, why not just run ER reruns at 5:00 PM instead of useless health reports that reverse positions every six months?

UPDATE: The real local ER's are feeling the panic.

Monday, December 15, 2003

Warning, I will now be insulting a religious sect

Ok, with that caveat I shall go ahead and say that the extreme Christian fundamentalist morons at the "Answers in Genesis" compound in Northern Kentucky are about a stone's through away from insanity. Some of them are honestly a few radioactive isotopes short of a Carbon 14 molecule.

I can tolerate those who do not believe in evolution. I think they are wrong, ignorant, or just plain stupid, but they are not totally off the deep end.

The "young Earth" theorists in the creationist movement on the other hand are just pure idiots. For anyone who has taken basic Earth Science in high school to then actually think the Earth is only a matter of 6,000 to 10,000 years old is just ludicrous.

People can believe what they want to believe, but I really want to know why anyone takes this group seriously? Why would the Cincinnati Post take them seriously? Why don't they send a reporter to interview someone and ask some, oh....I don't know, CRITICAL questions?

The problem here is that it is pointless with the delusional folks at the creationist museum. They are part of a quasi-cult. The dogma they feed on is so circularly based, you can't tell where their head begins and their ass ends.

Full disclosure. If you don't know, I am an atheistic agnostic. I have my bias, but for the life of me, I just can't see why this group gets this kind of attention. It is like giving attention to NAMBLA, the KKK, or the New Black Panther Party. The only unfortunate difference, there are far more people who actually buy into the extreme creationist dogma than those extremist groups.

These same religious extremists most often correlate with other right-wing beliefs: anti-abortion, anti-homosexual, anti-intellectualism, and even anti-women rights. Yes, I am painting with a broad brush here, and their those who share some, but not all of these beliefs who don't fit into this category of paleo-thinkers. It is a cause for concern that these types of extremists are not shunned the way the KKK, NAMBLA, or the New Black Panther Party is. These types of extremists have money are have influence over a growing number of people. I will admit, they freak me out sometimes, and in the back of my mind I really don't trust them.

I hope I am just paranoid on this one. I don't want to be in Bush's Heathen Death Camps come 2005. (Tongue in Cheek, well just a little)

More on this from Wes Flinn, and Greg Mann.

Iraq: Time for Action

Ok, now that Saddam is out of the picture, this is the time to step up action. Send in more troops. Get the lid on security now while Saddam's followers are in the dumper. Time is not going to allow much dawdling; we need a first of the year change including more international human involvement with foreign troops or police forces on the ground.

If Bush sits back too long and tries to bid time to figure out what he is going to do about the mess that is an Iraqi transitional government, then I think he will have wasted another year of American's having to control the country. If he wants to turn over control to the Iraqi's by next summer and not have it turn into civil war, then he better hit the ground running now.

This is the test for Bush. Will it be home for the holidays for the administration or a new push for action? With Powell out of action for a while, I don't see Bush making much headway before January, which means no new troops for another month beyond that.

If April comes and we rotate large units of troops out, while security stays the same, I hope people on all sides, even the rabid Bush Hawks, will begin to question what the hell the plan is. Now, most of us rational folks (even many conservatives) have been wondering what the post-war plan was before the war even started. I just hope this cheerleading exercise does not lead to complacency by the media and the rest of the chattering class.