Best of Cincinnati Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Living Out Loud

Finally, Alone

By Frances L. Harp

My Facebook status on Jan. 8: "I drove home calmly and safely, keeping the RPMs low as I navigated the steep hills. I stepped into enormous silence, so brilliantly alone, with the snow moving, but seeming so still all around me. I opened my mouth to taste and to let out a deep laugh. A perfect moment: I am grateful for this solitude."

Worst Week Ever!

Jan. 27-Feb. 2: Worst Week Ever!

By Danny Cross

If you've ever seen Jean Schmidt in person, you know that she looks just like she does in pictures and on TV (kind of mean). The Enquirer reported today that after President Obama's state of the union address Schmidt looked like herself but was acting like somebody who actually respected the president.

On Second Thought

Supreme Court: Let's Fight Words With Words, Not Muzzles

By Ben L. Kaufman

It didn't take long before I realized the true horror of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision freeing corporations to spend freely to support political campaigns. It wasn't the new potential for corruption or wealth drowning out other voices. It's the promise of more campaign ads on local TV.


Porkopolis

For All the Wrong Reasons

By Kevin Osborne

When a Jan. 25 e-mail exchange between Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune and Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke became public through a leak, it lifted the veil on the thinking of some political bigwigs. The pair began the exchange to discuss who should be appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board of Elections and ended up opening an ugly window into inter-party dealings and behind-the-scenes jockeying.


Living Out Loud

Ten Days in January

By Larry Gross

Jan. 6: The first major snowfall of the winter season is predicted for tomorrow, and I'm ready. I tell myself I live in the Midwest because I like the change of the seasons and snow can be beautiful. When the snow comes, I'll build a snowman. I always liked doing that when I was a kid. Jan. 8: Alright, it can stop now.


Worst Week Ever!

Jan. 20-26: Worst Week Ever!

By Danny Cross

It's bad enough to get a text message from your girlfriend when you know she's driving a car, but when your dad hits you with an ROFL while he's on the road driving a big rig, you know several things are wrong (ROFL). That's why the U.S. government today formally banned truckers and bus drivers from texting while behind the wheel.


I Shall Be Released

Magnetic Fields, Patty Griffin, Retribution Gospel Choir, Pat Metheny and I See Hawks in L.A.

By Brian Baker

Patty Griffin's voice lies somewhere between Emmylou Harris's crystalline Country beauty and Bonnie Raitt's Blues-fried rasp, giving her a perfect instrument to interpret the largely Black and Southern Gospel tracks on her new album, 'Downtown Church.' It was recorded in a Presbyterian church in Nashville that once claimed Andrew Jackson as a congregate, and Griffin sang the songs from the church's pulpit.


On Second Thought

Separation Between News Reporting and Opinion Is Like Church and State

By Ben L. Kaufman

Believe what you want, there is a difference between news and advocacy. Forget that and it's editorializing, a corrosive mixture of news and opinion in the guise of news. Exhibit A: the recent Enquirer story reporting as fact a local woman's ability to foretell the future. If that weren't enough, the paper provided contact information for anyone wanting a private "reading."


Editorial

'A Labor of Love'

Supporting local independent businesses is 'who we are'

By John Fox

CityBeat readers are being urged to “shop local” this holiday season and support Greater Cincinnati’s economy by supporting locally owned independent businesses. Everyone who pledges to spend at least $100 of their holiday gift purchases to “shop local” will be entered into a drawing for a prize package from participating businesses.


Dear Maija

Conflicted in Colerain

By Maija Zummo

Dear Maija, I’m in a fantasy baseball league with a coworker and a bunch of his weird family members and their friends. Last year my buddy won a football league that most of these same dudes were in and nobody paid him the league fees.


Wessels

Stories Still to Tell

By Joe Wessels

Hopefully this isn't goodbye. But with the way things are in this economy and in this world today, I'm being forced to take a break from this column. We hope it can come back in the fall. Meanwhile, I'll be putting my reporter’s hat back on and writing in the news section.


Politics From The Alternative Press
As a Cash-Strapped State Prepares to Cut Services, Billions are Being Doled Out
What about all the other sugar out there, the taxes the state of Washington doesn't collect? There's a bureaucratic mountain of them. Over the past two years alone, they have accounted for a record $98.5 billion in potential tax revenue the state never got.... From Seattle Weekly.
Vermont Legislators Admit Cheating the System... Are They Justified?
State Rep. David Zuckerman (P-Burlington) has a confession to make that might sound to some like political suicide. He bills taxpayers for his “mileage” to and from the Statehouse — as much as $152 a week — even on days when he gets a ride with fellow lawmakers or lobbyists.... From Seven Days.
Chief Justice John Roberts Should Be Impeached
It is time for an enterprising and courageous member of the US House of Representatives to file articles of impeachment against the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts. The charge: lying under oath. The case in question: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.... From Boston Phoenix.
In Memorium of the Anti-War Warrior: Howard Zinn, 1922-2010
Howard Zinn was like a daddy to Boston University students of the Vietnam War era. The author of A People's History of the United States has been revered by generations of students, reviled by more conventional academics, and, mostly, re-read.... From Boston Phoenix.
Middle East Pieces: Obama Gets Schooled
Barack Obama had worse failures to address in his State of the Union message, but a few days earlier he owned up to the most foolish miscalculation that his administration had made in its first year. He confessed that he had not understood the obstacles to an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.... From San Antonio Current.
 
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