Possible upcoming signs of the times.

Looks like another busy week with lots of possible sign of the times events.

Monday, February 27, 2006

• Norwood Republican Club Chili Dinner, 6:30 p.m. Norwood Community Center, 1810 Courtland Avenue) $5/adult; $3/child, phil heimlich (county commish.)

Monday, February 27, 2006

• Blue Chip Republican Club, 7 p.m. Monty's on Montgomery, 4108 Montgomery Road, disaster jean schmidt

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

• Committee to Re-elect Judge Martin, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
  Omni Netherland Hotel, cost $150

Thursday, March 2, 2006

• Republican Campaign School 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. 700 Walnut Street, Suite 309, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Be there or be square.

Fridays Jazz with Larry Coryell and Friends

On a somewhat unrelated note, this evening I attended a Fridays Jazz event and heard Larry Coryell (world renouned guitarist) with Mark Egan (awesome bass) and Paul Wertico (incredible drummer) and guest vocalist Tracey Piergross (quite a set of pipes!).

There are words to describe the music, but they are beyond me. If you get the chance, be sure to hear this group, and you are beyond safe in buying anything by any of these top-flight musicians. They are more than jazz artists, they are masters of many genres. Jazz is their center, but even if you're not a big jazz fan, you'll love this music. If you do like jazz, this group will knock you out of your socks. Along with their own work, they covered Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Thelonius Monk, Paul Desmond, and many others.

The venue for this show, the Hyatt Hotel Sun Lounge, was excellent. The crowd was laid back and friendly, and a great mix of young and old, uptown and downtown, urban and suburban. People were friendly, the drinks were reasonably priced, and the acoustics and ambiance were fantastic. Not too stuffy, not too wild, not too formal. My kind of night.

In the break between sets I got an autographed copy of Larry Coryell - Live at Sky Church in Seattle (Laid Back & Blues), which is not yet available in stores. I also and got to give Larry my new card.



Larry looked at the card for a few seconds and said "We should talk. I'll see you in cyberspace."

I don't know what that might end up being, but I look forward to the possibility.

For more on Fridays Jazz at the Hyatt, see www.jazzincincy.com.

For more on Larry Coryell, see www.larrycoryell.net.

Yesterday went well.

The bushman came, saw some protesters, raised $ 1.1 M for sycophant dewine, and left without bothering me. See http://www.unrelated.net/antiwar/index.html for Feb. 23 for details.

My plan for the afternoon...

I'm taking a vacation day at work to share my opinion with the community.

There are several organized vigils (see entrys below), and I wish them all the best, but I am planning to protest at one of my favorite locations, Montgomery Road at I-71 in Kenwood. That's busy all day, and likely to provide plenty of visibility.

This evening, I had planned to share my perspective with the Blue Chip Young Republican Club Happy Hour, 6 p.m., Longworth's, Mt. Adams (1108 St. Gregory St.), hosted by Nikell McCarthy. Now, however, I think I can do more good (more for the cause of freedom, integrity, honesty, courage, clarity, and American values) in Kenwood.

Ray

More on protest of disaster in chief visit.

From http://www.worldcantwait.net/

Bush Protest Detailsby mike Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006 at 10:42 PM

Protest Bush in Cinci--DETAILS This Thursday, 2/23/2006 4:30 PM Indian Hills City Hall 6525 Drake The commander in thief will be in Indian Hill on Thursday between 4-6pm. Probably showing up around 4:30. We are not allowed to demonstrate where he will see us.

City Hall in Indian Hill is the designated location. There were, at last report, about 50 people planning to be there, mostly from the Democratic party but also from moveon.org. 6525 Drake.

There is a park kitty corner to the city hall where you can park your car, maybe. Signs are fine. Bull Horns are not allowed. I hope ya'll can make it. If you have friends in So. Ohio or Kentucky, let them know!!!

Americans mark visit as failed chief executive supports sycophant.

(extracted from DFA email from Feb. 22, 2006, see entry from Tuesday, February 21, 2006, Bush And You Picture Only $10,000 (with dinner thrown in)! below for more info.)

Red Carpet Welcome to the Queen City for our Chief Executive is being planned and sponsored by Democracy for America (DFA) . For more info contact Bill Westerman (bwesterman@cnz.com) 765 647 2593 and Carol Danko (cardanko@yahoo.com) 513 382 0878.

On Thursday, Feb 23, DFA plans to place large signs and banners in conspicuous places around Cincinnati, primarily along the major traffic arteries, and mostly on overpasses. A similar effort is planned in South Bend, IN for a presidential mid-day fund-raising luncheon that precedes the visit down here.

Public gatherings in Cincinnati are planned at two locations, from 2pm through rush hour, near Indian Hill.

• One will be at the intersection of Montgomery Road and Cooper Road, in Montgomery, near the Montgomery Inn at 9440 Montgomery Road. Public parking is available close-by 1 block west of Montgomery Road, off Cooper at Shelly Lane.
• The second location (with special thanks to the Clermont County Dems) will be outside the Madeira Public Library in Madeira. There is an area between Euclid Ave and Camargo Road that will provide great visibility.

DFA Cincinnati also encourages young people and families to attend. After all, who will be (and are) affected most by the short-sighted and irresponsible policies of this Administration? For those who have not exercised their First Amendment rights lately, we think you’ll experience a wonderful sense of fulfillment and camaraderie.

The fund-raiser begins at 3pm, with dinner at 5pm, so we’d like to assemble around 2pm to catch many of the attendees on their way to the event.

Remember what Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: “There Comes A Time When Silence Is Betrayal.” And further, this quote from Abraham Lincoln, founding father of the Republican Party, who said: “To Sin By Silence When They Should Protest Makes Cowards of Men.”

Not doing anything important today? Come out and protest illegal spying and illegal war.

Protest against illegal spying --
Constitution Vigil, 4:30 PM
Federal Building at Fifth and Main
550 Main Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Protest against illegal war in Iraq --
Madeira Republican Club, 7 p.m.
Madeira Municipal Building (7141 Miami Avenue)
With Jean Schmidt & State Rep. Michelle Schneider.

Today's Op Ed...

Along with all hell continuing to break out in Iraq (today - big mosque bombings), rejection of democratic election results in Palestine, Iran nuke program still ongoing, fights over the death pealty (administration does want) and woman's individual choice regarding abortion (administration does not want), and the bushies staggering around claiming to be big promoters of renewable energy, we have this bit of a gem on the sale of port operations to the United Arab Emerates: "The administration signed off on the deal after it was approved by...Treasury Secretary John Snow," says the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Snow was chairman of CSX which sold its own port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, a year after Snow left to head Treasury."

Wanna bet there was money enough in those deals to make a few very rich people a whole lot richer. How about that Snow job? Was that a lucky coincidence, or what? (Can you say greed, cronyism, self-serving, conflict of interest, failure to protect, and potential malfeasance?)

Bush And You Picture Only $10,000 (with dinner thrown in)!

Another possible sign-of-the-times event is coming up Thursday evening, Feb. 23. That's when G.W. is expected in Cincinnati to headline a campaign fund-raising dinner for his dear friend and supporter, and author of legislation to make all administration spying efforts legal without judicial oversight, republican senator Mike DeWine.

Invitations for the event at the Indian Hill home of Margie and Mark Hauser, 7858 Deer Crossing (45243) have gone out to top GOP donors. Mark Hauser is president of the Hauser Group, an insurance firm. Margie is a composer and lyricist. (You've heard of her, right?)

As you might expect, the Hausers simply drip money. They gave nearly $30 K to the republican party in 2003/2004 according to Federal Election Commission records (like that was all they gave!). A high point not to miss -- the Hausers have over 4000 bottles of wine in their basement. But among the "haves," who's counting?

For the Bush-DeWine event, if you got an invite (command performance, I'd say) it costs $4,200 a person to attend or $10,000 for a photo with Bush.

On the lighter side, the Hausers had to make a few fires under some contractors to make it work that their fancy spread was ready for company, but by gum they pulled it off.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/13919107.htm

Be there or be square, as they say.

I know, lets outsource port operations!

Last week, the Bush administration outsourced significant operations of six of the United States' largest ports: New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami, and Philadelphia. The big winners of the deal? Would you believe Dubai Ports World, a company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)."

Sure, why not. No problem. Good people, really, and no internal problems at all. Really in a nice location, handy to Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Iran, and just a quick boat ride from Qatar.

The Austrailian government recommends you " exercise a high degree of caution in the United Arab Emirates because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against Western interests in the United Arab Emirates. Commercial and public areas frequented by foreigners are possible terrorist targets."

According to the CIA factbook online, the1995 UAE population of 2.5 million includes about 1.6 non-nationals, but of course the numbers are opent to question today, with about 3.4 million people as the current guesstimate. But on the optimistic side about 96% are Muslim., but only 16% are Shi'a. The numbers are old, but the CIA thinks that in 1982 the proportions ethnically were Emirati 19%, other Arab and Iranian 23%, South Asian 50%, other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8%. Note: less than 20% are UAE citizens.

Also according to the CIA, "the UAE is a drug transshipment point for traffickers given its proximity to Southwest Asian drug producing countries; the UAE's position as a major financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering; anti-money-laundering controls improving."

Yep, if I was looking to save money on port operations, I'd surely have a UAE company way up on my list. "It's in Dubai's interest to make sure this runs well," said James Lewis, who worked with the U.S. committee at the State and Commerce departments. (Now that is what I call reassuring!)

So, what alert color are we at now, Chertoff Cherry Red? And how about that administration of ours? What part of Duhbbya don't we get yet? (Hint - duh!)

Big week coming up.

Had a satisfying weekend. Saw the play Julius Caesar on Friday night, and held the sign of the times (The War Was Based On Lies) in bitter cold outside a republican club pancake breakfast on Saturday morning see Feb. 18, Breakfast. See http://www.unrelated.net/antiwar/ for more about that from my perspective.

A great lunch with friends and family Saturday afternoon, then I recycled a stationwagon load of paper, followed by an evening spent in recovery from a strenuous day.

Had a great breakfast with friend and family on Sunday, followed by lunch with fellow atheists and a pleasant afternoon on the web.

Next week, just work and some possible sign-of-the-time events:

• Madeira Republican Club, Wednesday, February 22, 2006, 7 p.m., Madeira Municipal Building (7141 Miami Avenue), featuring Jean Schmidt & State Rep. Michelle Schneider.
  
• Blue Chip Young Republican Club Happy Hour, Thursday, February 23, 2006, 6 p.m., Longworth's, Mt. Adams (1108 St. Gregory St.), hosted by Nikell McCarthy