Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Newport Pavilion News

The commercialization of Newport continues:

FRANKFORT -- A state panel on Monday approved $92 million in industrial revenue bonds for developing an office and retail project in Newport.

Developer Bear Creek Capital plans to use the bonds authorized by the Kentucky Private Activity Bond Allocation Committee to construct Newport Pavilion, an office and retail development planned for the Cote Brilliante neighborhood.

Why the taxpayer should pay for this sort of thing is beyond me. Let the developers use their own money - or round up investors.

The city of Newport will issue the bonds. An agreement Bear Creek has with the city calls for the developer to pay the city $383,594 annually in lieu of taxes for 25 years.

That method of financing proved controversial in a Kenton County retail project earlier this year when Kenton County Judge-Executive Ralph Drees opposed it.

Cincinnati developer Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate wanted the bonds for redeveloping the Crestview Hills Mall project, but Drees said no. He argued that the location of the mall, just off Interstate 275, made it attractive enough that Anderson could easily obtain private financing for it. Anderson ultimately went that route, securing a $50 million loan, and the project is now moving forward.

The development has the support of Pendery and Brandt:

On the Cote Brilliante project, Campbell County Judge-Executive Steve Pendery and Newport School Superintendent Michael Brandt offered their support for Newport Pavilion.

But don't make your shopping plans yet. The imminent domain question is still pending.

Several residents whose houses the city wanted for the project went to court to block it. When Campbell Circuit Court ruled in the city's favor, the homeowners appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, where a decision is pending.

I still think the city's going to lose this fight - and should. You can't use imminent domain purely for the purpose of economic development. That was never the laws intention.

Why the Left Lost

There are millions of Americans out there who share the goals of the Democratic Party - yet vote Republican. Every election they're pushed into the hands of the Republicans because of nitwit "journalists", "entertainers", and "intellectuals" who are out of touch with reality.

Case in point:

"Their new health care plan will probably be a return to leeches." - Maureen Dowd

"I hope we all realize that, as of November 2nd, gay rights are officially dead. And that from here on we are going to be led even closer to the guillotine." - Larry Kramer

"Freud stayed in Vienna until Hitler had completely taken over the country, but I don't want to be wrong about when it's time to leave. My fear is that I won't know when to get out." - Peggy Bowen, BBC News

You can't make this stuff up. The sad thing is this isn't just rhetoric, they really believe this nonsense.

Crazy Like A Fox

James Carville is crazy...but crazy like a fox many times. While most Democratic commentators have missed the meaning of this election and fail to comprehend the total drubbing they received, Carville gets it.

He recognizes that things are bad and that his party must be "re-born." Here's his idea:

Mr. Carville, who had just returned from a vacation at Disney World with his family and wife, Republican strategist Mary Matalin, at times seemed unable to put into words just how much of a hill Democrats have to climb.

He said he is considering writing a book about what direction Democrats should go.

One possibility, he said, was to embrace a reform-oriented, anti-Washington agenda. That would require the ability of members of Congress to reject pork projects for their districts and stake the party's fortunes on fiscal discipline.

This is a fantastic idea. Look, the Dems used to be the party you couldn't trust with your money. Now, thanks to Bush and his friends in Congress, you can't trust the Republicans either. Whoever gets back on the right side of this issue will - I think - have a huge advantage over the other party.

Monday, November 08, 2004

Where Did He Find the Time?

I always knew Calvin Murphy was a prodigious scorer, but this is ridiculous.

Murphy's large family tree falls under scrutiny at trial
By ANDREW TILGHMAN

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Calvin Murphy's extensive family tree — including 14 children he fathered with nine women — came under close scrutiny Friday as the local basketball hero went on trial, accused of molesting five daughters more than a decade ago.

Murphy, a 56-year-old retired Houston Rockets player and former TV commentator, sat silently as prosecutors told jurors that he sexually abused the girls between 1988 and 1991, when they ranged in age from 6 to 13.

Priceless

This headline pops up at least once a year.

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
By Fox Butterfield

The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell.

So if you put criminals in jail, crime drops. That just doesn't make sense.

Time to Pay the Piper

Operation Phantom Fury has begun in Fallujah. What are we going to do?

"We're going to start at one end of the city, and we're not going to stop until we get to the other side," said Lt. Col. Pete Newell, a battalion commander from the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division.

I think he means it.

Pops is Buried

We buried Pops' old body this morning. It was a gorgeous day - sunny, crisp and cool. We had to lug dad up the side of a hill (me, Dave, Dan, Bob, James, and the funeral home guy), but luckily it wasn't too far. We sang, had a brief service, then said our final goodbyes.

We took roses off the casket and placed some over mom's grave. It's funny, we only bought one plot when mom died. We figured Pops would be buried a mile away. Since he didn't care where he was buried, we didn't really care either. But it turns out that the morning Lynn called the cemetery, a guy returned his plot in favor of mausoleum space. His plot was 10 spaces down from mom's - in the same row. Pretty cool.

Anyway, as we're driving through the cemetery on our way out, this huge buck waltzes past the van. We stopped in awe of this majestic creature. Kate and Maggie thought it was really neat too. It reminded me of what Pops must feel like now...young, strong, free, and not a care in the world.

Who Dey!

Bengals thrashed the Cowboys, but the 'boys are awful. I'm having a hard time determining if we're getting better or not. But hey, a win is a win.

Also, here's more on Chris Perry:

Dayton Daily News: Chick Ludwig Q: Will the Bengals re-sign Rudi Johnson to a long-term deal or let him go via free agency? If he does leave, will Chris Perry be the featured back next year? Does Perry have what it takes to carry the load? There must be a reason the team drafted him in the first round, but his injury history and college scare me.

A: My gut feeling is that Rudi won't be back. He wants to return, but his agent wants a deal similar to what Corey Dillon got (5 years, $26 million) in 2001. The Bengals made what they believed were solid offers in the offseason, but Schaffer turned them down. As for Perry, the jury is out on whether he can be the featured back because he's been hurt. I really like him as a person, but I don't believe he's physical enough to take the pounding of 20-25 carries a game at this level. Perry looked good at Michigan, where he had room to run behind a monstrous offensive line. But folks, this is the NFL, where holes close quickly. To me, he's a complimentary back in the mold of a Brandon Bennett.

So Marvin moved down in the first round to draft a complimentary back? Not good. However, I've heard a couple of times now that Shaun Alexander (free agent at the end of the year) has interest in returning to Cincinnati. But will Mikey pay him?

Hollywood on the Outs

It seems that the Dems may have finally realized that Hollywood types are a liability at the polls.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood is licking its wounds after an election that saw voters not only reject the candidate it anointed -- Democrat John Kerry -- but repudiate the values that the liberal stronghold cherishes.

Now, amid the second-guessing and recriminations that inevitably haunt the losing side, some are beginning to ask: Has Hollywood become a liability to the Democrats?

Political analysts said that polarizing figures such as Michael Moore -- whose "Fahrenheit 9/11" documentary bitterly attacked President Bush -- alienated Middle America as much as they galvanized the faithful.

I'm Back

Took the week off to say goodbye to Pops. It was a good week with family and friends coming into town to pay their respects.

I'm tired, but ready to return to my normal life.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Pops Is Home

Pops finally made it home, and I don't mean to Newport. He died last night around 10:00.

We had a great day. Lots of laughing, lots of crying, and lots of singing. It's amazing looking back over Pops' life and seeing what the Lord has done for him.

We're still finalizing funeral arrangements, but it's going to be a grand celebration.

Monday, November 01, 2004

It's Important, But Let's Not Go Overboard

Bush Win Would Mean Dark Times
World Would Perceive Support For Preemptive War
by Helen Thomas

The presidential election on Tuesday is one of the most crucial in American history.


I continue to hear this from both the Left and the Right. Thomas qualifies her statement with "one of the most", but most pundits and politicos come straight out and say this is the most important election ever.

Look, this year is clearly an important election for the war on terrorism and domestic policy. But isn't every national election critically important? Doesn't every President and Congress shape the future both for the living and future generations?

I mean, is this year's election more important than 2000? Think how the world would be different with Algore in charge. How about 1980? Four more years of Jimmy Carter would have compounded the disaster of the previous four years and emboldened the Soviets. What about 1984? Reagan finished off the greatest evil of our time.

I think people just need to relax. This election is important - but it's still only an election.

BBC Biased? Nooooooo

This is a "news" story from BBC correspondent Barbara Plett:

The world watches the unfolding drama as the man who has become the symbol for Palestinian nationalism seems to hover between life and death. Though full of uncertainties, Mr Arafat's life has been one of sheer dedication and resilience.

To be honest, the coverage of Yasser Arafat's illness and departure from Palestine was a real grind. I churned out one report after the other, without any sense of drama.

Foreign journalists seemed much more excited about Mr Arafat's fate than anyone in Ramallah. We hovered around the gate to his compound, swarming around the Palestinian officials who drove by, poking our microphones through their dark, half-open windows.

But where were the people, I wondered, the mass demonstrations of solidarity, the frantic expressions of concern?

Was this another story we Western journalists were getting wrong, bombarding the world with news of what we think is an historic event, while the locals get on with their lives?

Yet when the helicopter carrying the frail old man rose above his ruined compound, I started to cry... without warning.

In quieter moments since I have asked myself, why the sudden surge of emotion?

I'll tell you why, because you love fascist, murdering, Jew-hating bastards.

Pops Update #6

Pops' condition has continued to deteriorate. There really isn't a lot they can do for him right now. They've taken him off dialysis. His kidney infection is in his blood now, and the most potent drugs have had little affect.

The next step to prolong his life would be to intubate him and put him on a ventilator to help him breath (he still has fluid on his lungs and pneumonia). But Pops didn't want that. They'll keep him on oxygen and continue to give him antibiotics, but we'll no longer take measures to prolong the inevitable.

So this morning they'll move him to a regular hospital room and then send him home in a day or so with hospice care. Pops is tired and ready to go home...first to Newport and then to Heaven. He longs to see his Savior face-to-face and to see mom again.

We had a great day yesterday. He opened his eyes a few times (hasn't done that in days) and was talking some (though he's hard to understand). I sang him some of his favorite worship songs. He kept saying "Let's go home" and "Let's get out of here." He throws his leg over the side of the bed and tries to lift up. I don't know where he gets his strength.

Soon he'll be back in his house - the house he raised his family in, the house where he played with his 13 grandchildren. We'll have a great party celebrating Pops' life and his impact on his family and friends and community. And finally, we'll celebrate his transition from this temporary life to his eternal reward...a glorified body in the presence of his God where he can run and jump again.

If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat

Philly's Democratic Mayor accidentally stumbles into the truth:

MATTHEWS: Let's talk resources. how much money are you getting to run this city operation, this get out the vote campaign? a couple million bucks? How much money is being spread around by the campaign to win Philadelphia? I heard you're aiming at higher an 350, but to get that, that's a lot of street money, to use a term we're all familiar with, isn't it?

STREET: That's an awful lot of money. We will distribute -- we have distributed to our party workers probably between -- between $750,000 and $1 million, and that will probably be doubled or tripled by the other efforts that are going on.

A Man in Full

Author Tom Wolfe on the presidential candidates:

Tom Wolfe on Bush, in the Guardian: "I think support for Bush is about not wanting to be led by East-coast pretensions. It is about not wanting to be led by people who are forever trying to force their twisted sense of morality onto us, which is a non-morality. That is constantly done, and there is real resentment."

Tom Wolfe on Kerry: "He is a man no one should worry about, because he has no beliefs at all. He is not going to introduce some manic radical plan, because he is poll-driven, and it is therefore impossible to know where or for what he stands."

Beware Red States

Here's something to keep in mind:

November 1, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden warned in his October Surprise video that he will be closely monitoring the state-by-state election returns in tomorrow's presidential race — and will spare any state that votes against President Bush from being attacked, according to a new analysis of his statement.

The respected Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors and translates Arabic media and Internet sites, said initial translations of a key portion of bin Laden's video rant to the American people Friday night missed an ostentatious bid by the Saudi-born terror master to divide American voters and tilt the election towards Democratic challenger John Kerry.

MEMRI said radical Islamist commentators monitored over the Internet this past weekend also interpreted the key passage of bin Laden's diatribe to mean that any U.S. state that votes to elect Bush on Tuesday will be considered an "enemy" and any state that votes for Kerry has "chosen to make peace with us."

The statement in question is when bin Laden said on the tape: "Your security is up to you, and any state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security."

That sentence followed a lengthy passage in the video in which bin Laden launches personal attacks on the president.

Yigal Carmon, president of MEMRI, said bin Laden used the Arabic term "ay-wilaya" to refer to a "state" in that sentence.

That term "specifically refers to an American state, like Tennessee," Carmon said, adding that if bin Laden were referring to a "country" he would have used the Arabic word "dawla."

MEMRI also translated an analysis of bin Laden's statement from the Islamist Web site al-Qal'a, well known for posting al-Qaeda messages, which agreed that bin Laden's use of the word "ay-wilaya" was meant as a "warning to every U.S state separately."

"It means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president, it means that it chose to fight us and we will consider it an enemy to us, and any state that will vote against Bush, it means that it chose to make peace with us and we will not characterize it as an enemy," the Web site said, according to MEMRI's translation.

I'm so glad the major media has shared the ENTIRE translation with us. But then, that wouldn't be helpful to the cause, would it.

Huh?

I mean, really, what can you say.

Former CBSNEWS anchorman Walter Cronkite believes Bush adviser Karl Rove is possibly behind the new Bin Laden tape. Cronkite made the startling comments late Friday during an interview on CNN.

Somewhat smiling, Cronkite said he is "inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing."

Good News for Bush

Good late economic news.

Employment Growth Accelerated in October: U.S. Economy Preview

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. employers probably added 175,000 workers to payrolls in October, the most in five months, while the unemployment rate held at a three-year low of 5.4 percent, the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists shows.

Chris Heinz, Moron

Think the Bushies will be passing this around in Florida?

October 31, 2004 -- THIS campaign is ending just in time before someone gets hurt. John Kerry's stepson, Chris Heinz, 31, displayed his mother Teresa's famous lack of rhetorical restraint at a recent campaign event with a group of Wharton students. Philadelphia magazine reports: "Heinz accused Kerry's opponents - 'our enemies' - of making the race dirty. 'We didn't start out with negative ads calling George Bush a cokehead,' he said, before adding, 'I'll do it now.' Asked later about it, Heinz said, 'I have no evidence. He never sold me anything.'" Heinz also reminded writer Sasha Issenberg of Pat Buchanan by saying, "One of the things I've noticed is the Israel lobby - the treatment of Israel as the 51st state, sort of a swing state." Buchanan was blasted as an anti-Semite years ago when he cited Israel's "amen corner" in Congress.

That will play well down there.