stuckincincy

Happy B'Day!

Happy B'Day, Campy!

That's life today. Here in Cincy this year, a man and woman were recently sent up for murder. He shot and killed a man, because his girlfriend said the victim stepped on her foot in a crowd. She pointed out the "dude", but it was the wrong guy. Their defense of their actions followed the usual fashion...blaming it on prejudice, bad childhood, Republicans, abusive upbringing, drugs and alcohol, addictive personality disorder, sexual dysfunction, you name it. Not their fault. Three got sent up the river forever for killing two who failed to pay their "turf tax". A 15 year-old hunted down and shot a 19 year-old in the face, because he "dissed" him. I could go on and on.

Makes sense...

Yes - very odd to me, too. I wonder it they're thinking it was a murder/suicide. Last week in the town north of mine, a man aged 49 shot his parents then himself, and Friday, a man broke into his recently divorced wife's home and killed her then himself. RIP, Steve.

I used CServe for a long time. The DOSCIM fit onto a 1.44Mb diskette. It was quite fast, even at 1200 baud. For forums, you used your own (billing) name. So politeness and good manners were the order of the day - no hiding behind pseudonyms. When AOL bought them out and allowed aliases, I quit and used Prodigy for a time. Modems - I probably owned 7 or 8 through the years. I still have a v.92 external serial modem in case the cable connection fails.

Are you wanting to save money of haircuts?

Great character actor, for sure. But what a marvelous job he did in one of the all-time great flicks, "Marty". That movie struck a chord, then and now. Nice job in tv's "McHales Navy", too. I though Joe Flynn's "Captain Binghamton" portrayal was the best among the cast.

Visit Ohio. And Cincinnati's county...Hamilton. We have the highest property taxes in the state, closely matched by Cuyahoga (Cleveland) and Franklin (Columbus). We have tax levies for everything. Invariably voted in by the large number of non-taxpaying folks on some sort of public assistance. Two years ago, a minimum wage increase - with an annual cost-of-living raise, was on the ballot and was voted in by Ohio citizens. The grocery store I usually shop at responded by firing workers, and installed four new self-serve registers - with a grocery belt. A small restaurant chain I patronize has cut hours, reduced staff, cut portion size, and raised prices. Their wait staff now has to watch the register, so they are angry. You used to be able to walk the check up, now you wait for someone to pick up the check and the money and return the change. I've no doubt that their tip take has fallen. In my view, their volume is way down. It's masked by the general economic downturn, but with mandated ever-increasing labor cost, they are doomed. Their workers will lose their employment. Our Democratic Governor, Ted Strickland, sweated bullets last year. There was a ballot initiative out there (which would have garnered enough signatures). It wanted 6 days of paid, no-question-asked sick leave for all OH citizens. In 15 minute increments, immediate upon notice. It would have been approved by the voters. Hot project at work? "Oh I have a headache. Gotta go.". Rough meeting coming up in a half hour? "My tummy hurts! See ya." A bit warm in the production floor, manufacturing a valuable sales order? "I feel faint. I'm leaving." The OH government is in the same crisis as most States - they have to find a way to protect their civil servants first, and maintain the gravy train for their most important citizenry - the public assistance crowd that reliably pulls the correct lever come election time. The legislature has been busy. They slapped a half-billion tax increase of hospitals, cooked up some more vehicle laws and fines, and so on. The latest business defectors are DHL - they relocated to KY, and NCR, an old-line company, is bugging out to Atlanta. My wife retires in 2 years - we can't wait to kiss OH goodbye.

How sweet of you...

Faulty memory perhaps - didn't that virago once get escorted out of Congressional chambers for uncontrollable deportment? I might be confusing her with somebody else...

RIP. Certainly one of the most recognizable character actors. And a very decent, ethical man: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001500/bio

There's no business like show business - NFL included. Simon Cowell of American Idol offered 144M, for sitting in a chair and being a snide snot... http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015649794

Since you seem open-minded, how about polygamy?

Is it too much to hope that your Celica hasn't fallen over a hillside recently?

Don't forget the Youth Day component of the extravaganza. It's important that kids share thing - quality time - with their current parental units. Today's child must have memories of Mom/Mom/Dad/Mom/Dad/Dad/Mom. These are the precious moments...

No attempt at humor can avoid the liberal knee-jerk kick in the nuts, eh?

Do you work for the Department of Redundancy Department?

I edited the post. 50 cents. No sense wasting a 50 cent beer day without a certain volume of semi-solid vomit coursing here and there.

We need a Poppinga/ 50 cent beer/ 50 cent hot dog/Youth Day. Memories are made of such...

Yes - but there you have the legal, if not the moral, commitment of marriage. Such an arrangement of convenience has entailing ramifications.

Happy. Brown should be appointed as Secretary of the Treasury....

No Mike Brown credit? Let's not be provincial...

Here are the President's comments: http://www.edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/0...ride/index.html There's the answer to insurance coverage. Claim you are gay, find an employed person with benefits, and glom off that person's employer. Perhaps kick over 50 bucks a month to your mythical partner to keep the scam alive. Gaming the US federal government is so easy...

IIRC, the new CBA was tossed on the table with 45 minutes to read, and vote yea or nay. Like the current congressional majority does. Mike Brown voted against it. When it comes to money, I don't think there's a sharper tack among the Gang of 32. Ralph may have correctly taken Brown's cue.