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One night last week, I caught a bit of "NewsNight with Aaron Brown"
which featured a story on the ongoing Coingate scandal in Ohio.
The spot featured an interview with a Political Science professor who
declared that Ohio now has the most corrupt state government in the entire U.S.
That interview was followed by an interview with another PolySci
professor who indicated that the "dubious distinction" of "most
corrupt" typically goes to New Jersey, but he also conceded that Ohio
is gaining fast on that particular title. A handful of Ohio officials
and agencies are now at the center of a host of federal and state
investigations.
Speaking of investigations...Tom Noe, the former big-time Republican contributor and organizer turned persona non grata
amongst his GOP cronies, is now starting to fight back against the Taft
Administration's efforts to leave him twisting in the wind. Late last
week, Noe's attorney indicated that Noe spoke directly with Taft
regarding his rare coin investments with BWC funds as far back as
May 2001.
On
May 13, 2001, as they changed into business suits after showering in
the locker room of Toledo's Inverness Club after a round of golf, Tom
Noe told Gov. Bob Taft about the $25 million rare-coin fund he operated
for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, according to an account
released by Mr. Noe's attorney yesterday.
And
Mr. Noe used the discussion to tell the governor "about his pending
application for the second $25 million coin fund," the statement said.
The bureau approved the second $25 million installment two months later - in July, 2001. (full article)
Avid followers
of the "Coingate" scandal will recall that Governor Taft has
consistently claimed that he had no knowledge of Noe's use of BWC funds
for rare coin investments prior to April 2005.
Add to this that Toledo Blade has published the speech made by Governor Taft at Noe's 50th birthday party "roast" in 2004.
At
one point in the roast, the governor joked about Mr. Noe's work as
chairman of the Ohio Turnpike Commission, saying that a toll booth
would be named after him.
"When
you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between Tom and the
turnpike: He's always taking our $, he's as dense as concrete, he's as
slick as asphalt, and he's adding a third lane around his middle,"
Governor Taft read from a prepared text that includes his
hand-scribbled changes in the margins. "...By the way, can't you just
imagine Tom Noe out there in that booth collecting tolls - scrutinizing
each coin to determine its actual value and cutting deals for drivers
who buy some of his rare coins." (full article)
So that "April
2005" story seems less and less plausible now, doesn't it? The
American Policy Roundtable and Ohio Citizen Action are leading the
charge for Governor Taft's impeachment through their new web site MoveOnTaft.org.
Interest is also
shifting to Noe's fundraising work from when he was chairman of the
2004 Bush-Cheney campaign in Northwestern Ohio.
Noe
is currently being investigated by the FBI and the northern Ohio
attorney general with respect to possible violations of campaign
contributions laws in the run-up to the 2004 American election. The
investigation focuses in particular on a 2003 Republican fundraising
event for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Columbus, Ohio. The fundraiser
was a big success, raising almost $1.4 million for the campaign. Noe
helped to raise at least $100,000 and sponsored a table at the event.
At issue is the possibility that Noe reimbursed attendees of the event,
who were required to contribute to the campaign. In this way, Noe may
have effectively contributed well over the $2,000 limit that
individuals are allowed to contribute by law. (full article)
So who says politics makes strange bedfellows? This group seems to fit together quite nicely, don't you think?
Our
family trip to Toronto was truly an adventure — Getting around a big
city with 2 kids (one of whom requires a stroller) certainly had its
trying moments...But all in all, it was a great time!
The drive from the US border to Toronto was really long. The fact
that we had to make quite a few pit stops along the way probably made
the leg seem all that much longer. When we were just outside of
Toronto, Thomai glanced at my Mapquest directions and noticed that I
hadn’t run a complete map to our hotel. In fact, the map and
directions that I had generated basically took us from our own front
door to some random point in downtown Toronto with no further
directions or landmarks. Adding to our predicament
was the fact that both of us had neglected to print out the address or
phone number of our hotel. Once we figured out how to change our
cell phone to digital roaming (I can’t wait to see our cell phone bill),
we were able to get some help from my sister back in Ohio.
Eventually, we got in contact with our hotel and we got some decent
directions on how to get to our final destination. By that point,
we were rather horribly off course, so we got to see a fair amount of
downtown Toronto neighborhoods on the way to our hotel. We even
passed through a couple of spots twice.
While walking through Toronto's Chinatown one evening, Thomai and Kalliope
ducked into a souvenir shop while I waited outside with Zoya, who was
fast asleep. While we waited for them to come out, a woman walked
up to me and asked me for directions. I apologized and told her,
“I’m not from around here.” She looked surprised and said,
“You’re not?” It was a proud moment for me, as I had clearly been
mistaken as a Torontonian. Luckily, a real Torontonian was
passing by around the same time and he was able to give the lady proper
directions. As she walked away, she looked back at me and said
“Thanks.” I’m still not sure what she was thanking me for, but I
think I said “You’re welcome” just to be polite.
Toronto is far and away one of the most politically progressive and
ethnically diverse cities we have ever visited. On a typical
evening, we saw street performers performing along side of political
and religious lecturers. One particular evening, we passed a
booth featuring information on civil rights atrocities in Iran.
The booth’s operators were affiliated with Iran Civil Rights Committee. I stopped for a chat and we had a short and friendly talk about politics, quickly arriving at common ground.
On
Thursday, Governor Bob Taft appeared in Franklin County Municipal Court
and tried to win back the respect of Ohioans. Mr. Taft did this not by entering a plea of guily but by pleading “no contest.” Is it the same thing? Well, not exactly...
n.
Defendant’s court plea that he/she will not dispute the charge of a
particular crime, also called nolo contendere. A no contest plea is not
an admission of guilt for the crime’s commission, but the judge will
treat the plea as such and proceed to find the defendant guilty as
charged. In cases that involve a potential lawsuit for damages by
someone who was injured by criminal conduct, a no contest plea will be
issued because it cannot be used as an admission of fault in the civil
lawsuit. (full definition)
Well, at the end of the day Governor Taft is still a convicted criminal
whether he plead guilty or otherwise. The Governor was fined $4,000 and
ordered to apologize to the people of Ohio. Now surely his
apology to the people of Ohio was straightforward and sincere,
right? Let’s see...
"I
am here today to publicly apologize to the people of the State of Ohio
for my failure to provide complete financial disclosure statements to
the Ohio Ethics Commission as mandated by law. I accept total
responsibility for my mistake, and I'm sorry.
"As
a public official, I am required to submit financial disclosure
statements on a yearly basis listing the sources of gifts in excess of
$75.00. My office had a system in place to ascertain the value of
tangible gifts in order to report them as required. Regrettably, I did
not establish an adequate system to monitor the value of golf outings
and other social events.
"As
recreation, I have played many rounds of golf with friends and
acquaintances. I paid for some of these outings, while others I did
not. I have now confirmed that forty-five golf outings over a period of
seven years exceeded $75.00 in value and therefore should have been
reported on my financial disclosure statements. In addition, over the
same period of time, six other social events and one gift were not
disclosed.
[...]
"As
Governor, I have made it clear that I expect all public employees to
follow both the letter and the spirit of the ethics laws, and have
demanded no less of myself. I have personally failed to live up to
those expectations, as well as the expectations of the public, and I am
disappointed in myself. I have a renewed commitment to correct the
problems that contributed to this situation and have already taken
steps to do so.
"Words
are not adequate to express the remorse that I feel personally for the
embarrassment that I have caused to my administration and to this great
state. I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology to my family,
friends, staff members, and all those who have supported me. Most
importantly, I want to apologize to the citizens of Ohio. I hope you
will understand that my mistake, though serious, was not a purposeful
one and hope and pray that you will accept my heartfelt apology and
allow me the opportunity to restore your trust." (full article)
So Ohioans are left with no admission of guilt and the continued
assertion that the whole affair was nothing more than a series of
innocent, well-intentioned mistakes. Is this how plain folks
“take full responsibility” or is this particular method reserved for
fancy elected-types?
We'd certainly like to say this is the end of the whole sordid tale,
but there's still the matter of the missing $12 million of Ohio
taxpayer money that has yet to be resolved. Afterall, it is
"Coingate" we're talking about here, not "Golfgate."
Franklin
County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien is finally putting the screws to Governor
Bob Taft (a.k.a. the great-grandson of former President William Howard
Taft).
Prosecutor: Ohio governor to be charged with 4 misdemeanors
Taft won't resign, spokesman says
COLUMBUS,
Ohio (AP) -- Gov. Bob Taft will face misdemeanor charges for not
reporting golf outings paid for by others, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Taft,
a second-term Republican and member of a distinguished U.S. political
family, would be the first Ohio governor to be charged with a crime. If
convicted of the four misdemeanors, he could be fined $1,000 and
sentenced to six months in jail on each count, though time behind bars
was considered unlikely.
Taft
will be charged later Wednesday, said City Prosecutor Stephen McIntosh,
who declined to comment further pending an afternoon news conference.
The governor will respond publicly on Thursday and is not planning to resign, spokesman Mark Rickel said. (full story)
Now, who would have thought such a thing could happen? I mean, if the television show "Bonanza” taught us anything, it’s that the good guys are the handsome fellows in the white cowboy hats, right?
Um...Come to think of it, Little Joe’s hat was black, wasn't it? Onward...
The
charges are the result of a two-month investigation by the Ohio Ethics
Commission into the governor’s alleged infractions. Although time
behind bars in considered unlikely, the charges could lead to Mr.
Taft’s impeachment under the Ohio Constitution. (full story)
The
House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment, but
a majority of the members elected must concur therein. Impeachments
shall be tried by the senate; and the senators, when sitting for that
purpose, shall be upon oath or affirmation to do justice according to
law and evidence. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence
of two-thirds of the senators.
There’s more in there, but that’s
really the gist of it. As my European friends might say..."Not
bloody likely.” In Ohio's House of Representatives, the
Republicans hold 60 seats to the Democrats' 39 seats. In the Ohio
Senate, the Republicans hold 22 seats and the Democrats hold 11.
Taft can (and probably will) keep his position as Governor regardless
as to whether he is convicted or he pleads out.
Tomorrow morning, Governor Taft
will appear in Frankin County Municipal Court to answer the charges
against him. Let’s try to remain optimistic about all this...This
could be the start of a whole new era for Ohio. Once we have a
convicted criminal as our Chief Executive, we can start to make all
kinds of changes. How about changing our state song to a gangsta
rap song? And maybe our new state flower could be the Opium
Poppy. As for our state motto...instead of “With God all things
are possible,” we could change it to “With BLING BLING all things are possible.” It could happen, you know. And then everyone in America would wish they had Bob Taft as their governor. Even Californians would be jealous.
In
light of the day’s tragic events in Athens, we extend our heartfelt
sympathies and sincere condolences to our family and friends in
Greece and Cyprus.
If they ever get the Antikythera Machine working again, hopefully it will work just fine with a regular old dial-up connection.
I would like to comment briefly on an interesting “Commentary” piece that I found in the online version of Kathimerini
(English version) earlier this week. However, in doing so I
must run the risk of exposing my relative shortcomings in the areas of
economics and Greek politics. Nevertheless, I am certain
that readers who are savvy in one or both of the aforementioned
areas will correct me wherever and whenever I am mistaken. Onward...
Greece
has broken yet another record in the technology race, being last among
European Union states on the list of fast Internet users. Fewer than
one in 100 users owns a broadband connection, compared to the EU
average of 10 percent. The huge gap is easy to explain: Greece has the
lowest number of fast Internet connections simply because it imposes
the highest charges. The fixed charge for a broadband connection in
Greece is 64 euros, while the total cost in Poland, that is, fixed
costs as well as a monthly subscription, is just 20 euros.
Some notes to provide a bit of perspective: Greece ranked
significantly higher than Poland in terms of GDP per capita in 2003.
Simultaneously, Greece ranked considerably lower than many other EU,
EFTA and “Candidate Countries” in 2003, coming in around 20% to 30%
below average. (source)
The estimated per capita income for Greece in 2004 was US$21,300
(ranked 43 overall). Compare this to Poland, with a per capita income
of US$12,000 (ranked 72 overall). (source)
[continued from Kathimerini article]
Realizing
the importance of fast/broadband connections, the conservative
government said before the elections that it would provide students
with cheap services. However, that government promise has remained a
dead letter, as OTE, the Greek telecommunications giant, charges 15
euros per month for broadband services with limited downloading. It
should be noted that an interministerial committee had proposed a
10-euro charge and unlimited downloading. The final offer is far from
being any incentive to students. Greece’s last place in fast Internet
use statistics inevitably has an effect upon its student population.
And all this at a time when everyone is talking about the need for the
education sector to catch up with technological developments.
The article goes on to declare that “The root cause of the problem is the pervasive role of the state in the economy...”
I respectfully submit that this statement should instead read “The root
cause of the problem is the state’s pervasive mismanagement of the
economy.” Presumably, there would be considerably less criticism
of the state’s “pervasive role” if the management of economic affairs
was much improved. To say that the Greek government has driven
its people to the edge of economic despair is increasingly apparent
these days. There are admittedly larger fish to fry than the
matter of broadband access in Greece, but the manner in which this
issue is being handled is a good example of the institutionalized
mismanagement of economic affairs in Greece.
[continued from Kathimerini article] Turning
economic logic on its head, OTE has said that it will lower prices only
after the number of subscribers has increased. At the same time, the
company wants to be the exclusive provider of subsidized connections
for students.
So, when demand increases, then
the price will go down? Interesting. My confusion when reading
this statement is probably due to the fact that I don’t really have a
firm grasp on the conventional economic definition of the term
“demand.” Let's look it up:
Demand
is the want or need or desire for a product that is backed by an
ability to pay. Demand is measured over a given time period. It is
determined by a number of factors including income, tastes and the
price of complementary and substitute goods.
Given the above explanation of “demand” — that is to say the "desire
backed by ability to pay” — it appears as though the tech-starved of
Greece are out of luck for now. There seems to be a rather myopic
perception of the concept of value
when it comes to broadband access in Greece. Where increased
broadband access would likely improve educational and technological
developments and increase and improve commerce thereby bringing some
relief to the terribly bleak outlook for the Greek economy, the instant
concern for OTE and the Greek government is how to get more money
now. It seems more than a bit backwards to say “If a few
people continue to pay more now, then more people will eventually pay less
later on.” Rather than imposing price controls that favor
consumers, the state leaves consumers at the mercy of the
"market." Good luck with all that.
The reluctance to institute price controls is in and of itself a
"control" of sorts given that the market is incapable of resolving the
issue when left to itself. At first glance, it is very accurate
to say that logic has been “turned on it’s head” in this
instance. It’s unlikely that the Greek people will soon
find a way to back their desire for faster Internet access with an
ability to pay unnecessarily exorbitant rates, particularly given the
myriad of economic problems which Greece faces at present. It’s even
less unlikely that Greeks will be able to collectively “pay up” for
broadband rates on a scale that is grand enough to drive prices down
rather than up.
Cui prodest? Clearly
there must be some benefit for a certain small group of individuals and
organizations if the powers that be can maintain the status quo. And so
long as this is the case, the Greek people are stuck with an economic
policy that concentrates all the benefits of cutting edge technology in
the hands of a privileged minority.
For those of you who think that it wasJerry Springerwho
finally succeeded in dragging daytime television into the toilet, I
respectfully submit that Maury Povich is making sure that it stays
there. I have been catching a bit of Maury in the afternoons when
I am changing clothes after work. To be honest, I am not so sure that
Maury ever came anywhere close to being a "respected" journalist or
television host. LikeBill O' Reilly,
Maury spent some time amongst the ranks of "tabloid television" when he
hosted "A Current Affair." When he finally got his own show, I don't
think he necessarily went all to hell right off the bat, but rest
assured that Maury is definitely a bottom-feeder these days.
From time to time, Maury features
shows on cheating spouses, shocking makeovers and a few of the other
standard talk-show topics. But these days, it seems the focus of
his show has shifted to paternity testing. For those of you who
are unfamiliar with this spectacle, the Maury show regularly (I think 2
or 3 times per week) invites women onto the show who are unsure as to
the identity of the father of their child (or children). The
alleged fathers also appear on the show. After the stage is set, a
confrontation ensues between the two parties but this is quickly
quashed by Maury who announces that he has the results of paternity
tests in hand. Once Maury announces the results of the test, one
of the two outcomes listed below follows:
(1) Maury announces that the
alleged father is indeed the biological father of the child/children in
question, at which time the father takes back everything he said about
how ugly the woman's kids are and he pledges to be a "man" and pay
child support, et cetera.
(2) Maury announces that the
alleged father is not the father of the child/children in question, at
which time the vindicated man jumps up whooping and cursing at the now
disgraced woman, calling her every name in the book as she runs off the
stage crying and screaming...while being chased by Maury and his camera crew.
It's all good and well for Maury
to say that he's giving tons of free paternity tests to people who
might otherwise be unable to afford them. Then again, paternity
testing might just as well be covered under a national healthcare plan,
which is something I'd prefer over Maury Povich any day of the week.
The obvious answer to the
question "How does Maury Povich sleep at night?" is that he sleeps with
his wife, the once-respected television reporterConnie Chung. Perhaps the better question would be: "How does Connie Chung sleep at night?" Further Reading Maury Show(official site) The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the Stateby Frederick Engels
I run hot and cold with my feelings towards Media Matters for America.
For one thing, MMFA is hopelessly entrenched in the defense of the
Democratic Party. This often compromises their mission to remain
"dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting
conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." In many ways,
MMFA epitomizes the classic critique of American liberalism as
articulated by the late, great American leftist Phil Ochs:
"In
every political community there are varying shades of political
opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken
group on many subjects. Ten degrees to the left of center in good
times. Ten degrees to the right of center if it effects them
personally."
That having been said, one of the most redeeming qualities of MMFA is
its continued archival of transcripts and clips that might otherwise
vanish into the "memory hole" at the hands of right-wing censors and
the mainstream media. My favorite recent example of this is the
MMFA posting "Pressure Getting to Novak?" in which they include laugh-out-loud video footage of conservative pundit Bob Novak
cursing and storming off stage during a live CNN broadcast. Novak
was apparently upset by some ribbing he was receiving from Democratic
strategist James Carville.
Say what you will about Carville, he seems to have accomplished what
special prosecutors and grand juries alike have failed to do thus far —
Carville has gotten Bob Novak crack under pressure. CNN has apparently suspended Novak for his liberal (pun intended) use of profanity on the air.
If you ask me, there are many things that are worse than saying the word "bullshit" on television. But I mentioned above, Novak is a conservative pundit...One who caters to the likes of the same
folks who raise hell over pop culture controversies like Janet
Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" and SpongeBob and Patrick holding
hands. One has to wonder if Novak's nasty language will likewise
make him a subject of scorn from his holier-than-thou brethren.
Somehow, I doubt it... Recommended Listening
"Love Me, I'm a Liberal" Phil Ochs
"I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night" Billy Bragg
In the previous installment of this series, I shared some details regarding some of the more "uncool" selections from my record collection...and
I received a bit of ribbing from some of you kind folks afterward. This
time, I'm writing a bit on a different (and slightly more embarrassing)
matter...It's time to talk a bit about my fondness for professional wrestling.
Now, I am not talking about the corporate monolith known as WWF/WWE
(although I must admit that this too was a passing fancy for me back in
the early to mid ‘90s). What I am referring to are the regional
pro wrestling outfits that were prominent when I lived in central
Kentucky back in the early ‘80s. 10 year-old kids find a lot of weird
stuff entertaining anyway...But I had never really seen anything
comparable to the spectacle of professional wrestling until 1982 or so
and it was really exciting. The two biggest promotions in the
Lexington area were Memphis-based Championship Wrestling and International Championship Wrestling (ICW). Championship Wrestling was home to Jerry "The King" Lawler around the time of his infamous feud with Andy Kaufman.
A lot of other big names came through Memphis (like Dutch Mantel, Bill
Dundee, Austin Idol, etc.) and quite a few of them made it to the
"big time" WCW and WWF promotions years later. Championship
Wrestling had a one-hour show that was on every Saturday when I lived
in Lexington. From time to time, I made audio tapes of the
episodes (this was long before we had a VCR) and I listened to them
over and over again. Every so often, the Memphis promotion featured a
jam-packed card at Lexington's Rupp Arena but most of the big events were held at the Mid-South Coliseum
in Memphis. I was lucky enough to make it to one of the Rupp
cards and I think I still have the original program from that event.
I have heard ICW referred to as an "outlaw" promotion. I think
this may have something to do with the fact that they resisted selling
out to larger promotions for a long time. ICW was run by the
legendary Angelo Poffo, the one-time record holder for consecutive sit-ups and the father of Randy "Macho Man" Savage
and Lanny Poffo. I think ICW aired on Sundays in Lexington and
the show was very gritty and low-budget. I never made it to an
ICW card, but the television show aired a lot of footage from
the Rupp events. One of the best matches ever was a
much-anticipated steel cage match between Savage and the super-evil
heel Ratamyus. ICW aired the entire one-hour match on television
about a week or so after the match had taken place at Rupp and it was
absolute gore and insanity. What I mean to say here is that it
was a classic match. It's been over 20 years since I saw this
match and it still stands out in my mind as a wrestling
masterpiece. I have been searching high and low for video footage
of this match for years, but no luck yet.
This was all high entertainment back then. There seems to be some
resurgence of interest in the "old school" independent wrestling
promotions of the '70s and '80s on the Internet these days. In
the recent past, I have been fortunate enough to acquire some VHS and
DVD recordings of old Championship Wrestling and ICW broadcasts.
One of the DVD sets is 12 discs altogether...That's 40 to 50 hours of
wrestling, folks. I still haven't made it through that set
despite the fact that I have had the discs for a while now. The
footage is really choppy, grainy and downright miserable in some
places, but these programs really take me back (Not to mention the fact
that it's a lot better to watch old crappy video than
to listen to an old audio tape of a wrestling match...yeesh!) I
have long since lost those old audio tapes anyway, so I was pretty
excited to find that I had scored some of the same episodes on video
some 20 years later.
About once a year, I get the urge to get the videos out and watch my
favorite parts. I am back in the thick of my annual wrestling
frenzy as I write this. It's proof that no matter how old I get,
there are just some things that I won't outgrow. In fact, I still
get all giddy when I see the old clip in which Jerry Lawler beats Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA title.
