cincinnati

Last week a judge in Hamilton County, Ohio, ruled that speed cameras in a local community just north of Cincinnati are illegal:

Hamilton County Judge Robert Ruehlman's emphatic and colorful decision was adorned with capital letters, bold print and exclamation points. In it, he said two speed cameras in the village of Elmwood Place, which were installed last year and caused considerable controversy in the community, violated drivers' "due process guarantees" under the Ohio Constitution.

"Elmwood Place is engaged in nothing more than a high-tech game of 3 CARD MONTY," Ruehlman wrote. "It is a scam that the motorists can't win."

He wrote in his opinion that even when drivers request a hearing to contest the $105 fines, "the hearing is nothing more than a sham!" The judge said any driver who comes in for a hearing will effectively have to argue against a written report "produced by the company that owns the speed monitoring unit." There is no ability to cross examine, Ruehlman wrote, while stressing the financial stake the company has in the tickets.

Another issue Ruehlman brought up is the issue of calibration of these cameras:

"The device was not calibrated by a certified police officer, but rather it was calibrated by Optotraffic, the corporation that owns the device," Judge Ruehlman wrote. "Remember, Optotraffic has a financial stake in the game."

Regular radar guns are calibrated by police officers, who have no financial gain off of tickets. Here the calibration is done by someone with a direct financial stake, so that is motive to lie and falsify documents.

Cincinnati's iconic skyline has been called one of the most beautiful around. One building that helps make up that skyline is the Chiquita Center. Today Chiquita has announced that they are moving their operations from Cincinnati to Charlotte, North Carolina:

Chiquita Brands International, Inc. will relocate its headquarters to Charlotte, N.C., the company announced Tuesday afternoon. The move is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.

A North Carolina economic development panel approved a $22 million incentives deal to bring the global headquarters of banana giant Chiquita Brands International to Charlotte earlier in the day.

Members of the committee said the move of Chiquita's headquarters, along with research and development laboratories, will eventually bring a total of about 417 jobs to the area. The jobs are supposed to pay an average of about $107,000.

Cincinnati, like many other towns in America, is struggling economically. This loss of high paying jobs and revenue will be a serious blow to the area.

But this story comes as no shock. These talks have been going on for sometime. Even Governor John Kasich's office was involved with trying to keep the banana man here, but they failed. I guess working to strip public employees of bargaining rights was much more important that focusing on keeping a key employer in the region?

I really wish our country would make such bold moves:

Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen.

From 1 July every Finn will have the right to access to a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection.

Finland has vowed to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

In the UK the government has promised a minimum connection of at least 2Mbps to all homes by 2012 but has stopped short of enshrining this as a right in law.

The Finnish deal means that from 1 July all telecommunications companies will be obliged to provide all residents with broadband lines that can run at a minimum 1Mbps speed.

And yet where I live (20 miles north of Cincinnati), you can go 1 mile from my house and be in an area that does not have broadband.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until someone listens; unless America embraces the cornerstone of the 21st century economy, our economic future will remain bleak. The problem is that we have to many dinosaurs making our laws and they don’t realize that their inability to adapt is killing us. We really need to follow what the Finns have done and embrace the technology that will continue to mold our future.

With Sean Hannity being forced by Fox top brass to cancel the live airing of his show from the Cincinnati Tea Party yesterday, we are given a new look into the Tea Party. I touched on it last night, but decided it really deserves it’s own space on the blog.

When it was announced to the crowd of around 10,000 last night that Sean Hannity wouldn’t be appearing, this is what happened:

Several people in the audience shouted “refund!”

[SNIP]

The Tea Party reported about $77,500 in ticket sales. It had budgeted $70,200 in expenses for the event, including security and other costs, officials said. However, there will also likely be extra costs, as the group said in a news release late Thursday that it would honor requests for refunds. It said an e-mail address to request a refund would be set up within 48 hours.

I thought the whole purpose of the tea party rallies was to protest “big government”? Aren’t they there to “denounce runaway spending by Washington”? That means these people should be happy to be there regardless of who is speaking.

Don’t these people understand capitalism? Tickets for the event ranged from $5 to $20 dollars, with all proceeds going to the Cincinnati Tea Party. This would be money to help organize future fund raisers and events, and is something that any political party or movement must do. It takes money to organize large events like this.

Last week Rupert Murdoch said that FOX shouldn’t be promoting the Tea Party. I guess FOX missed that memo. All day FOX has been broadcasting from the Tea Party in D.C. and then tonight you get this:

Jessica Brown reports from outside Fifth Third arena, where the Tea Party rally/Sean Hannity show taping will be held:

Justin Binik-Thomas, Vice President of National Affairs and Strategy for the Cincinnati Tea Party confirmed that the Sean Hannity show will now be a live show at 9 p.m. rather than a taped show at 6 p.m. The book signing will still begin at 4:30 p.m. The Tea Party speakers will be moved up to 6 p.m.

Yup – Hannity will be live from right here in Cincinnati tonight at a Tea Party rally. So much for what Murdoch said.

Last week I posted about how minority leader John Boehner wasn’t holding any town halls. Well it appears he has now decided to change course. And just check out where:

House Minority Leader John Boehner has agreed to answer questions in a town hall setting at the Voice of America Freedom Rally on Sept. 5 at the Voice of America Park Museum, Cincinnati Tea Party organizers said in a statement Monday night, Aug. 24.

Tea party organizers are expecting Boehner will to respond to citizens’ concerns about health care reform and the direction of the country in general, according to Sue White, manager of communications for the group.

Boehner can only face questions in a setting that is friendly to him. You can also be sure the media will cover this event, showing all the outrage. I just wonder if they will report that the even is at a tea party?

When Arlen Specter switched parties last month the chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party came under fire for posting a picture of a bald Specter and comparing him to Dr. Evil. Well the latest antics of Alex Triantafilou aren’t as derogatory, but could rather be chalked up as just idiotic ramblings:

Is the winner of American Idol a Republican? I watched about 60 minutes of that show all year, but it seems he was certainly the more conservative of the two finalists. The other finalist was very good and maybe more talented, but America voted for the more traditional person. On talent alone, I probably would've voted for the 2nd place finisher. Adam Lambert was very good. But, the winner, Kris Allen, was certainly more traditional and conservative in his approach.

Well he watched about 60 minutes more of American Idol than I did and I could careless if the winner was a Republican or Democrat. It just amazes me that this guy would even spend time on something like this. No wonder the Republican Party is in so much trouble.

This is a big decision:

In a stunning 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court today reversed its longstanding bright-line rule which had permitted warrantless car searches after an arrest, even when there was no concern for officer safety or the preservation of evidence. The case is Arizona v Gant.

Writing for the majority in this important decision, Justice Stevens held that the police may only search the passenger compartment of a vehicle, pursuant to the arrest of a recent occupant, if it is reasonable to believe that the arrested person might access the car while it’s being searched, or that the car contains evidence of the crime for which that person was arrested.

Drive up interstate 75, leaving dowtown Cincinnati and its common to see police with cars pulled over and them searching it. I got pulled over once and had to go through this. I know people who have been through this. Pulled over for speeding, then stuck with the police searching their car. It never did seem right, and now it isn’t.

Something else interesting in this case is how the votes went:

Interestingly, the votes were contrary to common stereotype. The majority, which limited police powers, included the two most right-wing justices in the popular mind, Scalia and Thomas. The minority, which would have expanded police powers, included two fairly liberal justices, Kennedy and Breyer.

Might take some work to get my mind around that.