Prescient Publishing and Music With a Vengeance

Hours after the July 7 bombing attack, London mystery writer Lew Matthews said in an e-mail to a Cincinnati friend, “I think the only Londoner with a half-smile on his face is a guy by the name of Chris Cleave, whose remarkably good first novel, Incendiary, about bombs going off in London, was published by Chatto and Windus — today. Serendipity? Or should MI5 and the CIA be taking a close look at this guy’s contacts book?”

That Cincinnati friend, CityBeat media writer Ben L. Kaufman, also recalled a disturbing coincidence from his London days: Just before President Kennedy was assassinated, a London morning paper carried a large photo of Barry Goldwater, with a Winchester rifle across his knee, under a headline that said something like, “The Man Who’s Gunning For Kennedy.”

Politics can get SORTA circular in the biggest small town in America. Last year musician Elliott Ruther helped Cincinnati City Councilman John Cranley mount a fight against the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) when most of its board, and Chairman Benjamin Gettler most of all, wanted to jack up fares on Metro buses while reducing service and cutting Sunday rides altogether. The contentious debate ended early this year in a tenuous compromise in which riders pay more but Sunday service remains intact.

Ruther first got involved because he moonlights as Cranley’s aide. Or maybe it’s the other way ’round. In any case, fledgling label Brown Room Records has donated a copy of Ruther’s debut album, Rock-N-Roll Conceived, to all 41 branches of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

(For CityBeat‘s review of the album, see “Rock-N-Roll Salvation,” issue of May 4-10.)

That’s generous of Ruther and Brown Room Records, but it’s also a bit subversive. The album’s last, unlisted track is “Upon Reading the Minutes of the SORTA Board.” With lines such as, “The plan puts us back at the back of the bus/ And it’s more than SORTA clear,” Ruther makes clear his own opinion of the transit agency, whose chairman happens to be married to Library Trustee Deliaan Gettler.

She, in turn, was the prime mover in getting “MTV Rock the Vote” kicked out of the Main Public Library just four days before the nonpartisan voter education concert was scheduled last year (see “Library Closes the Book on Political Discourse,” issue of Oct. 20-26, 2004). It seemed Gettler, who echoes her husband in heavy contributions to the Republican Party, thought she sniffed a political agenda she didn’t like.

Among those kicked out of the library, and very put out about it, was Matt Hood of the local band NSPCrew. And he, in turn, is now CEO of Brown Room Records.

Serenity and Untimely Death in Winton Place
Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche, an esteemed teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, is considering a visit to the Gaden Samdup Ling Buddhist Monastery in Winton Place. The rinpoche — or “reincarnated teacher” — was recognized by the Dalai Lama’s tutor as the 12th incarnation of the lineage of enlightened teachers of the Dagom sect.

In accordance with Buddhist practice, students must request teachings before a teacher can give them. Would Cincinnati benefit from a bit of Tibetan wisdom? Those who wish to request teachings are encouraged to send letters to Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche c/o Jamyang Lama, DGTL Buddhist Monastery 102 Clubhouse Drive, Bloomington, IN 47404.

A group of striking Steelworkers held a funeral for the Cognis Corp.’s integrity July 6, marking its passing in a ceremony outside the company’s gates in Winton Place. Since workers went on strike in February, Cognis has repeatedly refused to bargain, according to Bridget Doherty, spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO of the Cincinnati area.

On June 17, the company’s bargaining team sent a letter to the Steelworkers indicating that they were carving out part of the company to create Oleochemical LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cognis. This move could essentially reduce Steelworkers’ jobs from 270 to just 70 because the company refuses to negotiate a contract that would guarantee job security for those workers, Doherty says. In lieu of flowers for the mock funeral, union officials asked that donations be sent to the Steelworkers strike fund.

This article appears in Jul 13-19, 2005.