Andrew Warner

I was dragged from the beautiful state of Ohio and forced to spend a couple of days in Las Vegas with family, friends, and family friends. I am back now with a few more insights and a few extra dollars in my pocket.

I gambled for a little bit and was able to come back with more money then I arrived with, a feat not repeated by anyone else in my large party. I am weird when it comes to gambling. Putting money in the middle of those green tables just feels like putting it in the trash can if you ask me.

This being the first time I ever really gambled (most likely my last), I have a few insights I didn't have before I stepped on my economy Southwest Airlines flight. What's with that airline anyway? Affordable rates come at the cost of poor service and a rush for cramped, general admission seats. I would have chose Delta to show some hometown love, but unfortunately had nothing to do with the booking of the flight. Mostly I walked away with the knowledge that Las Vegas isn't really worth the trip. I say that excluding the fact that I had another great experience seeing the Blue Man Group which is in my opinion one of the greatest shows on Earth. I can't help but wish we could make Cincinnati one of their few permanent homes in the United States.

With the talk of gambling becoming a part of Cincinnati, a first hand look helped me realize even more so how wrong it would be for our own economic development to bring this type of business into our fair city. True that gambling adds a lot of business and bright lights to a city such as Vegas or Atlantic City, but the only winners seem to be the few hands that hold ownership to the casinos. We have casinos in driving distance and that is more than enough. We need economic development, but we need smart, responsible development where the entire community wins and not just a few large business owners.

I feel pretty disconnected due to the internet access that costs $12 a day in Vegas, but I am trying to plug back in quickly to get things going for the upcoming new year. It's good to be back home. It seems no matter where I seem to go I am always excited to get back to Cincinnati.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments   

The Senate voted 51-50 in favor of the largest cuts to student aid in history making it even harder for the "have-nots" of America to attend college.

The $12.7 Billion (State PIRGs' Higher Education Project) is the largest of any of the cuts in the new budget and the financial burden will be put on students and families who borrow money to pay for school.

From the higher education project:

"Rather than cutting lender subsidies, the bill derives approximately 70% of its savings from higher loan interest rates for borrowers and redirecting excessive student and parent payments to private lenders."
Essentially what this means is that the "average student borrower with $17,500 in loans could then have to pay an additional $5,800 in interest payments" says studentaidaction.com.

This is a good display of the priorities of our current congress. They are interested in providing new tax cuts for the wealthy while placing a heavier burden on those who need to take out student loans for used textbooks and overpriced tuition.
The Student Aid Alliance looks ahead to the next 10 years where undergraduate enrollment will increase by 14 percent; "Eighty percent of these students will come from minority backgrounds, and one in five will live in poverty" they say. However, with these scheduled budget cuts many of these people will not be able to afford the rising price of school.

The state of Ohio already suffers from high tuition prices caused by a lack of funding from the state. 311,492 Ohio college students (the 6th highest of all states) will be affected by this large slash in the budget.

The bill now must move back into the house where it will be voted on again. If you are a student, have children in college, or have children who you want to attend college than you need to contact your representative and tell them that this is wrong. We must promote higher education for all people regardless of amount of income.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments   

The battle to tap into the vein of the Alaskan Wilderness for a trickle of oil was lost again thanks to a saving vote against the party line by Senator Mike DeWine.

DeWine was one of two Republican Senators who took the side of 40 Democrats and 1 independent in order to defeat Alaskan drilling that had been attached as a rider to a military spending bill.

Senator Ted Stevens has gained notoriety on The Daily Show and the Colbert Report for his unusual and often downright crazy antics in the Senate. He is the Senator who wouldn't allow oil company executives to be sworn in when they were under investigation; as a measure to make sure they didn't have to tell the truth (we can only assume). The battle to open up ANWR to drilling has been a "25-year crusade" that he continues to lose even now in the most opportune of times.

In reality the drilling of the ANWR would be a very small step in decreasing our dependence on foreign oil. Other measures such as increasing our fuel emissions standards or developing alternative fuels would have a much more lasting effect on our dependence of foreign oil.

Anyone who opposed the drilling in one of our last wildlife reserves owes a thank you to Senator DeWine who once again has proved to be intelligent and brave enough to rise above the party line.

We have to remember that if we lose this battle once then we lose one of our last wildlife reserves and can never get it back. With the war in Iraq, soaring gas prices, and a Republican controlled government crazy Ted Stevens was close to drilling and taking away the land that is home to so many species and even indigenous peoples.

Thank the man of the hour Mike DeWine by contacting him through his Senate Homepage.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments   

The West End is crying foul as a group of churches and social service agencies are trying to build a "mall" for the less fortunate citizens of Cincinnati. The community is worried about property values, attracting a "bad element," and other such by-products of social services.

A one-stop shop for social services is something that I have been a supporter of for a long time and CityLink is a step in the right direction for the city of Cincinnati. With consolidated services it is easy for people to find the necessary outlets to turn their lives around when they need it the most. It seems most people agree with me and other CityLink supporters... until it comes to their own neighborhood.

The West End seems to be a good candidate for the spot especially considering the organization investigated other options, including the Over-The-Rhine area where there was simply not a lot with enough land to accommodate the facilities that are needed. Many on the West End feel that the city and CityLink are showing favor for the OTR and downtown area by choosing this site; essentially they feel these groups are hurting the West End to improve other areas that the city feels more invested in.

Nate Livingston is quoted as saying this:

I travel through the West End a lot and I see boarded up buildings and nobody is doing anything about them.Why are the people so against somebody trying to do something for this community?"

It is a difficult position to tell people what is good for their own community but sometimes it is necessary to look at the bigger picture and not get bogged down in the worries. The West End is close to downtown and OTR where many people currently are receiving these social services. This neighborhood would benefit greatly from a new development like CityLink in the long term if the group is successful in helping people become productive citizens again. Effective and efficient social services will create more stability in the West End and our center city in the long term.

It is a hard sell when people feel their future and neighborhood are in jeopardy but Mark Mallory said it best when he told us that "We have to get back to that responsibility to create a brotherhood, where we look out and care for each other as a community."

We can not just keep casting people off as Mark Mallory described. At some point we need to step up and say we are going to take care of all of our citizens where and when they need it the most. That is exactly what CityLink is doing and that is why I support their efforts and hope the West End will be a welcoming and caring community.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Open letter to Representative Thom Collier

Representative Collier,

You have proposed HB 591 that would strip municipalities of the ability to provide citywide Wi-Fi.

Municipal broadband has the incredible ability to improve public services (such as police, ambulances, any other field work done by the city), bridge the divide "between those who benefit from technology and those who don't by making the internet more accessible and affordable", encourage economic development, attract new businesses and residents, and generally improve the quality of life for Ohio's residents.

With all of the apparent support for community wireless and the price gouging we suffer from companies such as Time Warner, I am curious what the motivation is for a ban of municipal wireless.

Dayton is one such city that is establishing a such a program that would be paid for by advertisements on their splash page. This of course is one way to prevent raising taxes significantly and is a route that some cities have gone with already.

It appears that this bill would be state government overstepping its boundaries and interfering with city affairs. Aside from that it seems that you are proposing this bill in favor of big business and at the expense of Ohio's cities and citizens.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you and learning more about the reasons for your proposal.

E-Mail Collier and share your opinion
Or Find Your Representative

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments   

This nation is becoming too similar to a battered spouse that we would see in a cheesy television drama. President Bush keeps smacking us in the face and telling us if we knew what was good for us we would shut up and be thankful.

Living our lives in fear, the majority of this country followed Bush into Iraq because Saddam Hussein had WMD's pointed right at us with his finger on the trigger. This turned out to be a lie and Bush told us to shut up and be happy that we were spreading democracy to an unstable region of the world. In reality it was a pre-emptive war of aggression that is clearly a war crime and should warrant an impeachment.

He told us the Patriot Act would be good for the country and if we were to go one day without it then our buildings would crumble under terrorist attacks and all hell would break loose on our soil. Remember 9/11, it will happen again if we don't live with the Patriot Act they would tell us. So our spineless legislators said okay Mr. Bush, your approval ratings are soaring so we better go along with you.

Now President Bush is trying to defend domestic spying without warrants. Anyone who has been taught how to read can study our bill of rights for a brief moment and see that spying on domestic citizens without warrants is clearly illegal. Again we hear the same song and dance about how this is a necessity and without such spying programs our lives are instantly in danger again.

Like anyone who is being battered and intimidated it is time to tell President Bush that enough is enough and kick him to the curb. The rights Bush continues to trample on were fought for and preserved with American lives throughout the course of our entire history. Lying to the country to drag us into a war and violating the Bill of Rights in such a blatant fashion needs to be enough reason for us to say goodbye to this administration and move on.

Yet we keep him around for some reason. Tonight (12/18) he will come on TV from his oval office, look us in the eyes, and tell us everything is going to be alright. We need to stop listening for the sake of our friends and family serving in the armed forces, ourselves who they could be spying on right now, and the American belief system in general. I've said it before and I am sure I will say it again; enough is enough and it is time to hold Bush accountable for the crimes he continues to commit.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 6:40 PM | Permalink | Comments   

When Mark Mallory was endorsed by the two prominent Republicans Stanley J. Aronoff and Richard Finan it was plain to see that Mark Mallory had great "consensus building" skills. At least that's one way of looking at it...

Mallory's opponent David Pepper was a rising star in the Democratic Party. He has incredible fundraising which is easy to see by his record high total for money raised in the city of Cincinnati. He has support nationwide which is obvious when you see that he was able to have successful fundraisers as far out as San Francisco. On top of that he is a pretty young guy with moderate views and a prominent name, the kind of Democrat that rises to the top.

Mallory, generally considered the more liberal of the two Democrats, racked up a high number of endorsements throughout the campaign. Most surprising of these endorsements came from high ranking Republicans Finan and Aronoff. In the press release they were quoted with Mallory's talking points. "I am endorsing Senator Mark Mallory because I found in him the unique ability to be a consensus builder in both parties," said Finan. That's a line that might as well have fallen out of Mallory's mouth.

Do these two Republicans really believe that much in the consensus building skills of Mark Mallory or are they similarly aligned politically? Or did Finan and Aronoff have other plans when releasing their endorsements?

One theory that is on the street is that the endorsements from Finan and Aronoff were not so much an endorsement of Mayor Mallory, but more a way to stop Pepper before he became too much of a problem for Republicans at the state and national level, which with a win in this election there was no doubt Pepper would have Republicans worried for years to come.

It's more than possible that Pepper's potential had Ohio and Hamilton County Republicans running scared and lining up behind ANYONE who could stop this potential juggernaut. Had Pepper won this election than we would most likely be seeing his run for governor in 8 years which would be a winnable race for a candidate of his background, political views and seemingly endless resources.

I have said numerous times and everyone knows that Pepper has the groom to reach the highest office possible in the United States. Much like a disease the Republicans stopped and contained him before he spread out of control and was no longer treatable. No doubt Republicans are sitting back and congratulating themselves for a job well done in flushing Pepper out of the political system... At least for now.


(Find this article and more at The Cincinnati Beacon)

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments   

A few days have passed since the death of Tookie Williams. Tookie was infamous as one of the founders of the Crips but became an "antiviolence crusader" to the point he was nominated for a Noble Peace Price. Up until the moment he died he claimed his innocence while those close to him continue to tell people of his wrongful death.

Tookie could be seen as a shining example of our prison systems capability of rehabilitating people. His complete one-eighty earned him respect and many followers throughout the international community but did not stop California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from allowing the execution to happen.

At the same time this is happening we are trying to spread the ideals of western democracy to the middle east and more specifically Iraq. Strangely enough we are the only western culture that still practices the death penalty. Are these the ideals that we want to spread throughout the world?

It's hard to discuss the death penalty in a logical manner any more because both sides have their opinion and neither side wants to listen to the other. Each side has a few stock points and that is as far as this argument can really go. But we need to keep raising our voices and continuing to discuss what it means to put people to death.

It's hard to think of the death penalty and not look to the 8th amendment of the United States Constitution which states there shall be no "cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." For some the death penalty apparently is neither cruel nor unusual as it is common place in American culture at this point. The irony of it all is that we have become such a Christian nation as we can see by the '"War on Christmas" and Bill O'Reilly's all-out campaign against those who say the words "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

Many of these same Christians (primarily many of those leading the Republican Party) are some of the death penalties strongest advocates. It seems that they prefer to subscribe to Hammarabi's Code of an "eye for an eye" instead of the 10 commandments handed to Moses that include "Thou shall not kill." I don't believe there are any riders on that commandment that talk about "just killings" or "just wars," but many seem to make it acceptable for themselves.

The beauty of being human is that we do not have to kill one another or subscribe to the laws that govern rats, dogs, or monkeys. Why does America continue to hold itself back and fall into the trap of old, vengeance motivated justice?

We have a system that puts people death who are often innocent or even those who have been successfully rehabilitated by our prison system. We have a country that is primarily Christian who teaches only love and yet we continue to judge people in a manner that takes God or a higher power out of the equation.

As Americans we often pride ourselves on having the greatest way of life on earth. We have freedom (sometimes), we live in a culture of abundance, we have democracy. We go against what is right about our country when we put people to death. Lethal injections, gas chambers, rickety electric chairs to me are all cruel and unusual. Let people live their lives. Give these people the chance to rehabilitate, find god, feel sorry, say they're sorry or prove their innocence. Killing each other for any reason is always wrong and as long as we continue to do it we have no reason to spread our way of life to anyone.

(You can find this article and more at The Cincinnati Beacon)

Posted by Andrew Warner at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments   

On this site I have talked about the The Patriot Act and why it represents all that is wrong with our country. It stands in direct opposition to the ideals of liberty and freedom that our country was built upon. However, our House of Representatives have voted to to extend the Patriot Act.

President Bush has played the threat card practically saying that if we don't have this legislation for one day then terrorists will see this as an open window of opportunity and starting flying planes into our buildings again. Is that true? You'll have to decide that for yourself.

In spite of the danger alert (if we're lucky they will start talking about the terror colors again) some Senators are threatening to filibuster the Patriot Act. Senator McGovern of Mass. had this to say:

If we enact the bill as written, a little bit of the liberty tree will have died.

Representative Meehan also of Mass. had this to say:

At a time when so much of the world questions our commitment to our own values, I urge my colleagues to show the American people and the world that we will defend our country but we will do so in a way that protect those rights that make it worth defending.

There is obviously some in our legislature who have the reason to see that much of the Patriot Act is a violation of our constitutional rights. Hopefully President Bush's all too familiar threats of fear will not make it possible for this legislation to slide through.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Ohio state law allows people to give 50$ to any state campaign and get it back on their tax return.

I was unaware of this law but am happy to share the information now that it has been passed on to me. This is a creative way to allow people to give money to a campaign that can't usually afford to do so. It is also a very limited type of publicly funded elections which is very progressive by Ohio standards. If you act quickly you can donate once now, and then once in 2006 to the same statewide candidate. Candidates will definitely be able to find something to do with your 50-100 dollars.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Written for The Cincinnati Beacon.

State Representative Catherine Barrett has announced her candidacy for the State Senate after a lackluster 8 years in the state House. This leaves the people of house district 32 and Senate district 9 needing some real representation.

Eric Kearney inherited Mark Mallory's seat for the State Senate in spite of hardly being a member of the party. His main qualification for the seat is that he can raise a lot of money. He has given money not only to Democratic candidates but to ultra conservative Republicans Kenneth Blackwell and Joe Deters.

Challenging him for that Senate seat is State Rep. Catherine Barrett has proposed 4 bills in her 8 year career. While she has taken the time to co-sponsor 124 bills she is not one of the co-sponsors on HB 263; a bill to provide universal health care for all Ohioans. A bill that would be especially important to her district, as many people under her representation are poor and lack proper health care coverage. In contrast, one of her 4 proposed bills was a motion to designate March as:

2nd Chance of Life: Saving Babies, Supporting Families Month.

That is a touching gesture, but is sentimental at best.

With Barrett leaving her seat to challenge the Republicrat Eric Kearney, the house seat is vacant. Hopefully some prominent Democrats who have a chance at victory will step up and run in the primary.

Last weekend I got the chance to hear speeches from excellent city council candidates Reverend Damon Lynch, III and Christopher Smitherman. Both finished just short of election to city council, but would find more success in state elections. Both have a grip on the problems facing greater Cincinnati and how to fix them. With two minute speeches in a field of 31 candidates it is hard to understand what a candidate is about. Hearing these candidates have the chance to go in depth was a refreshing experience. This showed me either of them would be successful in a primary or a head to head race as compared to an at large debacle of dozens of candidates.

Both of these men are candidates of action which disturbs some, but would serve as a pleasant interruption to the sleepy representation we have had. A house district is much smaller than the whole city of Cincinnati (only about 100,000 people). They would need less money to get their positive message to the voters.

Those names are fresh in my head and I'm certain there are others out there who could do the job. We need people who are in touch. We need people of action. Democrats deserve candidates who are actively fighting for the values of their party.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments   

The Washington Post reports that the US won't join in binding climate talks.

While the Kyoto Treaty seems to be a thing of the past for the United States, the Bush administration continues to deny that global warming is real.

As Americans we appear to be divided on this issue. The worry is that if we start conforming to these standards then our economy may take a hit. A rather shortsighted fear. Obviously when the world ends as a result of natural disasters and global warming our economy will mean jack.

One hundred and fifty seven countries approved the Kyoto Treaty to reduce emissions. The only two industrialized nations to not comply with the treaty are Australia and the go-it-alone cowboy, the United States. Without the participation of the leading environment destroyer (us), global emissions have still been reduced by 2%. A modest number, but it is still an improvement where much more is needed.

While the Bush administration drowns in their piles of special interest money, many cities are taking initiatives on their own in reducing emissions. The Washington Post cites Salt Lake City as one such example. They have lowered their emissions by 5% in only three years, an incredible improvement in a country where we are so used to dragging our feet on such initiatives.

The world is ready to move ahead and is being held back by the stubborn leaders of our country. I am all for cities taking a grassroots approach and making the changes on their own, but our executive branch is making a joke out of us worldwide. Hatred continues to build over the United States growing arrogance and future generations will suffer for it.

Our urban core is bothered as much as anyone in the country. We have incredibly high asthma rates, signs on our freeway that burn with the message "smog alert," and just a general shade of gray that seems to rest on our shoulders. It is time for our president to stop listening to the oil companies that pay for his career and start listening to the coughing, wheezing, and incredible suffering of its citizens.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Written for The Cincinnati Beacon

"One day, like anything, things will change" said Christopher Smitherman.

Citizens and candidates who "lost" in this years councils election aren't taking time to sulk or feel sorry about themselves. Instead they took time on an icy Saturday morning to begin organizing and rallying for change. Candidates from different view points and different parties came together to talk about ways we can change the system and improve the democratic process.

The event organized by Cincinnati Voter Choice included former city council candidates Reverend Damon Lynch, III, Nick Spencer, and Christopher Smitherman.

Damon Lynch was scheduled to talk about "black participation in elections" and brought some new perspectives for some. He put things in perspective by telling the audience that blacks in America are outnumbered 8-1, and when "a rabbit is fenced in be 8 hungry hound dogs how much does the rabbit's vote count in what's for dinner?" he asked the audience. Lynch went through a breakdown of numbers of this years election and contested the fact that "blacks didn't come out to vote this year." He said it would be unfair to say that as we now have a black mayor and two black council candidates.

Instead of dwelling on race he looked at the wards with the highest turnouts which tended to be upper to middle income neighborhoods such as Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights. The lowest wards tended to be poor. Lynch told us that this is what we need to look at, we need to find a way to help poor believe in the voting system again. "If we want higher turnout [we] are going to have to build a base in other communities."

Lynch also said that voters sent a clear message in this election. That message being that people who are perceived as "loud and militant" are not welcome. Christopher Smitherman would later weigh in on this and say that "this city is not ready for an intelligent black man on their council."

Nick Spencer, who most would agree is cut from a different political cloth than Lynch or Smitherman, spoke to the group about publicly funded elections and how it would change the face of Cincinnati politics. He said that the 40 to 50 thousand dollars that a Spencer or a Lynch raised was only "a drop in the bucket," compared to the 200,000+ by the challengers who were able to win the election.

"As a candidate you spend so much time trying to raise money... far more time than you probably ought to through the course of a campaign just begging for checks," Spencer said. "The money aspect of this has gotten so overwhelming."

Spencer suggested a campaign to bring back the publicly funded reforms that were victorious in 2001 would need to walk hand in hand with other reforms such as proportional representation. He also said that this year "there were no dedicated reporters" to the city council race, and essentially we had two reporters covering the mayoral campaign.

Christopher Smitherman spoke last and spoke the loudest. He came to talk about ways to get more people involved in the political process. Something he believed in, while in office he always kept "an open door policy."

He stressed the idea that people feel "disconnected and disenfranchised" from the political process. As a financial planner he was also cited a disturbing and growing separation between the rich and the poor.

Smitherman waded into many different topics. He sounded off against the media in this town saying that "The paper of record, the Cincinnati Enquirer, is really a political machine. Their objective is to support corporate America... Their job is to get Jeff Berding elected." He also said that he could no longer support that paper in good conscience.

He said that race is the elephant in the room at council, and because he talked about it he was labeled a "troublemaker." He mentioned that when he was on council talking about people stealing money the issue was racialized and people were confused as to why he wasn't "working towards racial reconciliation." This furthered his image of being someone who causes problems on council and not someone who was trying to stop corruption.

He told the group of progressives that "if you're progressive, you're in trouble" in regards to the elected council. He also discussed the hypocrisy of a group he has dubbed as "Limousine Liberals" who he gives the slogan: "I'm really liberal, but I'm rich and I want to keep it a secret" as well as protect their wealth.

As a council member he said that "I saw corruption, I saw greed, I saw people giving contributions to councils members, and the council members voting in favor of those who gave." He cited the fountain square deal as a prime example, saying the Enquirer is still lying about the numbers. The new council is "really not interested in getting at the corruption" either he said.

He told the audience that "proportional representation is clearly the way to go" and that "if you continue to disenfranchise citizens then you are going to get the same results." Which according to him is corruption and disconnection with the people.

There was also a panel discussion about the differences between proportional representation and district representation. Nate Livingston of Unite Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Black Blog presented the case for district representation. The room seemed to have more PR supporters, but those same supporters agreed that a compromise would probably be best. One such compromise was multimember districts where PR would be used in each individual district.

"Our system right now isn't working" said Smitherman. Those in attendance and those who spoke seemed to agree on that much. Cincinnati Voter Choice plans to continue the dialogue and put forth a means to change.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 3:41 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Written for The Cincinnati Beacon.

David Crowley has been labeled a troublemaker by many after objecting to certain rule change proposals but attempted to set the record straight on WAIF Radio's "Real Talk Live."

New city council person Jeff Berding proposed a set of rules to "clean up the chaos at city hall" before his term even began. Many members of the new council agreed with changes with the exception of Council members David Crowley and Laketa Cole.

Crowley and Cole formed "the death pact" shortly after the new rules and the passing up of David Crowley for the chair of a committee.

Today the Dean of Cincinnati and Justin Jeffre had David Crowley on "Real Talk Live" to discuss the recent controversy that he has been at the center of; including council's rule changes and the brewing feud with Mark Mallory.

Among his disagreements with the new rules Crowley noted that he has always stood up for people's right to speak at city hall, as well as peoples right to speak in general. He was the lone dissenting voice on a new rule that would cut out citizens input from the television broadcasts of council meetings.

Crowley made an especially strong point that he has a desire to separate his personal disappointment of being passed up for the chairmanship of a committee and his disagreement with the new council rules.

"I have always been a team player and I have 4 years on council that prove that," said David Crowley.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Published for The Cincinnati Beacon and The Independent Eye.

America is leading the way in defeating the Kyoto treaty on climate change and is devising a strategy to get European nations on board.

The Kyoto treaty is an environmental agreement with relatively little weight in regards to actually fixing the problems. Environmentalists for the most part agree that it would be progress.

A group that is primarily funded largely by Kyoto Treaty opponent ExxonMobil has what some see as a controversial lobbying method. Chris Horner of the group Competitive Enterprise institute believes that Europe's now slumping economies may be receptive to an anti-Kyoto message.

Trying to build a coalition of support in Europe Horner wrote this:

In the US an informal coalition has helped successfully to avert adoption of a Kyoto-style programme by maintaining a rational voice for civil society and ensuring a legitimate debate over climate economics, science and politics. This model should be emulated... to guide similar efforts in Europe.

Opponents of Kyoto believe that if enforced it will hinder economic growth through tight regulations. There is nothing illegal about the type of lobbying is being performed.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments   

My subpoena told me to arrive at 9:30 and I of course was a few minutes early so I wouldn't miss my name being called. My name was called at about five minutes until 4.

I was called to testify on behalf of someone who feels he is being wrongly arrested repeatedly. So much so that he even refused the opportunity to leave jail because of what they would make him agree to. (I will give the details of his case if he tells me to.)

This was my first appearance in court as I have never been arrested and have never really known anyone who would call me as a witness until now. I had heard that our courts were clogged with too many cases and that they are incredibly slow but this was beyond belief.

Jurors, witnesses, they all have lives and the court is as unaccomodating as possible. If waiting from 9:30 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon in a hallway is standard operating procedure than something needs to be fixed. More judges, more court space, whatever it is that is needed we need to get it. No one should have to sit in a hallway for an entire day especially if they are doing their civic duty by testifying or being a member of the jury.

Not only that but public defenders seem to be an interesting breed. I was not contacted by either side of the case before hand to see why I would be testifying or what facts I would be testifying to. I myself didn't know until I was practically sitting on the stand. Public defenders seem to be overworked (as most people know), and because of this they are always looking for plea bargains and paying little attention to the case and their client.

I will follow up on all of this.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Written for The Independent Eye

"I remain excited and enthusiastic about the Banks" said Mark Mallory in a press conference today.

A day after Corporex pulled out of the Banks deal, and only a few days into his term Mark Mallory is looking to assure the city and its citizens that the Banks is still going to happen.

The process will be long and require a lot of planning. He said that "we remain committed to that, as does the county," and that the project "will be a joint process between" the two entities.

Mark Mallory has already sat down with the mayor of Covington Butch Callery and plans on meeting with a number of other mayors from the county as well as the region. Mallory said that the Banks is part of the regional development and that at least far as entertainment issues are involved, "there is no river between us."

Mallory mentioned that Mayor Callery and himself are trying to figure out a way to establish better transportation between northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. He said it was a "casual conversation" between the two of them, but they are coming up with some very exciting ideas. One possible transportation improvement would be something of a river ferry between the two separate parts of the region.

Mallory also discussed transportation issues with congressman Steve Chabot. The mayor said that Chabot is all for helping with the transportation situation.

Mallory brought in rules committee chair Jeff Berding to help him further explain the rule changes that have some citizens in the city concerned. Berding explained that there were no rule changes that will limit citizens input even though all rules are being investigated. Mallory pointed out that the rules committee will meet regularly and address rules issues as they arise.

Mallory made it known that he is aware some people are concerned with some of the new rule changes but was quick to remind that "as [he] campaigned [he] said [he] wanted to change the way things were done in the city of Cincinnati."

Berding echoed that point by saying that this mayor was elected because he wanted to "end the chaos at city hall." "These rules are critical to answering the mandate of the voters," he said.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Written for The Independent Eye

President Bush campaigned saying that he was the choice if we wanted a safer homeland. Why is our government getting F's and D's when being graded on how well they are protecting us?

The bi-partisan 9-11 panel that gave the failing grades was established to prevent America from being attacked on our soil following the terrorist action of 2001. Four years down the road Bush and the government have failed to take the proper steps to make America safer.

From the NY Times:

"The American people ought to demand answers," said James R. Thompson, a Republican commissioner and a former Illinois governor. "Why aren't our tax dollars being spent to protect our lives? What's the rationale? What's the excuse? There is no excuse."

Republicans are some of the president’s strongest critics in regard to the squandering of money that was meant to protect Americans.

Looking at these failing grades we have to ask ourselves the point of the war that we are fighting. With billions of dollars, as well as 2000 American soldiers lives lost, the war has failed to make us any safer.

From Andrew Sullivan:

I think I speak for millions of my fellow Americans when I say that we are fervently anti-war not because we're some cartoonish Sheehan-style peaceniks but because the war in Iraq has failed utterly to protect us from terrorism here.

Talks of withdrawal have heated up in recent weeks, and as we continue to look at the facts we continue to find there is no reason for us to be in this war that was built on lies to begin with.

Americans were suckered into electing this president with fear and patriotism. Their campaign wanted us to think that Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, or whoever was holding mustard gas or nuclear weapons right over our heads and that this war was necessary.

Look at the report card and see the results of the quagmire in Iraq and then decide if this war is still what you voted for.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments   

With the banks deal falling through, our side of the river remains bare except for two overpriced and under used stadiums.

This deal falling through is demoralizing for myself as I am sure it is for the rest of the citizens of this city. The county hijacked this deal from the city because they planned on getting something done quickly without the involvement of more elected officials and egos. That was something people could have complained about, but chose not to because we are so desperate for something happening downtown. Instead we are back to square one with nothing to show for the last few months.

We need to find a way to get shovels into the ground, get buildings up and just fill them. Some type of development is needed and our downtown suffers every day that there is nothing there. Earlier today I looked towards the Banks with optimism. I imagined a full Paul Brown stadium with jubilant fans leaving the stadium to go spend more money at the neighboring establishments... But our downtown will remain what former mayoral candidate David Pepper frequently pointed out it was, "a one stop shop."

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Written for the Independent Eye

John Cranley has promised that his city council duties won't suffer as a result of him running for Congress, but what are the implications of his run for higher office?

Cranley points to the fact that city council is a part time job and that he will have plenty of time to run for congress, work at his law firm, and run a major American city. This is a full plate that makes the busiest of people cringe.

We have to think of the possibility that Cranley will leave his seat on council and explore the possibilities of what will happen if he chooses to pursue another position.

Looking at the City Council Results from this year we have to look at who Democrats will turn to fill Cranley’s hypothetically vacant seat. This pick has the potential to define the identity of the Democratic Party in Cincinnati depending on which faction of the Democratic party they pick their candidate from. Speculation for a while now has indicated that David Pepper is likely to return to his seat on council that is still warm from when he left it to run for mayor. This would be another victory for the faux Democrats that seem to be running the Democratic Party in Cincinnati.

The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth finishers are vastly different candidates, but are all African-American men. The first Democrat of the group is Damon Lynch, III. He has had two impressive finishes without being able to gain a seat on council, but obviously hasn’t had the helpful tool of incumbency or big money to push him over the edge. This would be a logical appointment, as he is the next finishing Democrat and obviously has a great deal of support from the Cincinnati community. If Democrats pass him up for the managed competition supporting, corporate welfare loving, David Pepper, the party will alienate their progressive base that it is supposed to represent.

If David Pepper is a choice, then one has to naturally assume that Vice-Mayor Alicia Reece is a choice as well. She obviously forfeited her council seat in the same fashion that David Pepper did, a failed run for mayor. I see no reason why David Pepper is a more qualified choice for the Democratic Party then Alicia Reece. If Democrats pass up both Lynch, and then Reece while giving David Pepper a seat, they are sending a clear message of who they stand for and who they represent.

The question we all have to ask ourselves is when did the Democratic Party become the party of rich, white, male lawyers?

Posted by Andrew Warner at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments   

The Cincinnati Bengals all but sealed their playoff appearance yesterday when they defeated division rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While it's not politics, a successful football season can change the "climate" of a city. Growing up in Columbus I got to see the effects that a Buckeye win or loss could have on the entire city. Everyone was happy with a win (sometimes rioting out of joy), and everyone was sad with a loss (sometimes rioting out of anger and sadness).

In a city that is considered to be on a "down swing" by many it is good to have something that citizens of our underrated city can have something to cheer about. While racial tensions have been running high for year, all colors and creeds seem to rally behind our football team. It may not be the most noble of causes, but it is a cause that everyone seems to like.

Hopefully we will have a downtown that develops and enjoys a run-off of the Bengals success. We need to get "The Banks," or whatever they end up calling it, complete so that people have a place to celebrate our playoff victories in the coming years. In Cincinnati, who would have thought we would ever be worrying about that.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments   

A little man with a big ego... He is a top vote getter who thinks he is on to greener pastures after a couple days as number 1.



What I am interested in is the implication of him leaving the council. As a member of the faux Democrats which I often discuss, he just may have a chance in a primarily Republican district. Republicans have not had a hard time holding on to these seats in southwest Ohio. Cranley is one of the pro-life Democrats who may be able to win their hearts yet.

What will happen if Cranley wins or leaves his seat to run a more effective campaign? There are a few possibilities, and the Democrats choices may define their future in the city of Cincinnati. With Cranley leaving his seat (hypothetically) they could go to the next top vote getter of the Democratic Party, Reverend Damon Lynch. The other most obvious choice is that they may go to another faux Democrat – most likely returning David Pepper to his still warm council seat.



These choice obviously represent two different sides of the Democratic spectrum in the city of Cincinnati. Pepper obviously carrying on the tradition of Democrats who sell out labor causes and Lynch who white people tend to fear. Lynch's policies are more Democratic, focusing on social justice and equal opportunity.

If the Democrats throw out David Pepper as a solution, then it is time to throw out the Democrats in Cincinnati. Democrats and voters deserve to get what they vote for, and in a city council race voters are primarily looking at party on top of name recognition. Democrats by their nature are supposed to be progressive, but time and time again we see their values which are stated in all their platforms pulled out from under the voters. While I am not one, Democrats deserve better.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments   

I have been tinkering around with this blog just for fun... The Dean of Cincinnati and I are working on a new superblog/alternative newspaper the The Cincinnati Beacon. It will be worth checking out or even contributing to if you have something to say.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments