diaspora

I do think that there needs to be some sort of reform in the binding arbitration process when it comes to some of these contracts. I don't agree with the process laid out in SB5, but the current one has management terrified to take it all the way through the process and frequently just accepting what comes out of fact finding. It's a real tricky situation out there. Unfortunately, politics is going to get in the way of real reform. That's not to say that the service providers don't care about their jobs, they clearly do. It's just that the politicians will try and score as many cheap political points as possible and never really work to fix things. In the mean time we'll get words like "accountability" that end up having no meaning.

That sound very nice. It'd be nicer if we had a patron.

^^that's really nice. I haven't done much to my home, other than painting. We have plans, but haven't managed to come up with the cash to do the projects yet. I'd love to take down some ceiling tiles we have in our dining room and our office to check out the plaster that's above and see why they hung a new one. The biggest projects would involve knocking down the enclosed porch and replacing the picture window that was replaced with french doors (leading to the front porch). We'd love to turn our home back into the 1920 craftsman that it was.

Let me preface this by saying: i'm the son of teachers and my dad was a union-rep, but i'm not in a union. I have yet to find an argument that convinces me that merit based pay is a satisfactory solution to the "problems" in education. There are a lot of factors that come into play with individual students that are out of the hands of teachers. From how much sleep a student gets, to what they eat when they're at home, to the family life that surrounds them, to the teachers that the student had before...all these issues compound as the students progress through school. It's very difficult to take an 8th grade student (who reads at a 2nd grade level) and teach them enough to get them to pass a standardized test at grade level. Personally, i'm on the fence about standardized testing. There need to be some standards for students in general, but on an individual level it's very difficult to apply that standard based on the specific situation of the student. NCLB is an absolute mess. It has an unreachable goal of 100% of students passing. That's not going to happen. It never has, it never will. 100% is perfection. It'd be like saying a pitcher is a failure because he only throws no-hitters and not perfect games. Education needs reform, but unfortunately, teachers are taking the brunt of the anger. Administrators, superintendents and school boards are more likely the culprit. And for the record, it is possible to fire bad teachers. You just have to be consistent with your punishment (the same as anywhere else) in order for it to stick if it gets appealed...this is the same with cops, fire fighters and other union employees. The problems are frequently management and their application of discipline.

Breaking down Ohio's budget Written by Barry Horstman and Jessica Brown I'm amazed at how much this is going to hit some of the townships around here. Delhi looks to be taking a more than 60% decrease based on the cut to local government and the estate tax?

I was shocked at how quickly the homes in the area came down for the Kennedy Connector. I used to live (rent) in one of them and this project is one of the reasons we moved (buying a house was another) and one week we drove by and it was there, the next week we went by and it was a flat lot.

i could see an Aldi going in downtown.

actually, many of the roads in those pictures are pretty heavily traveled. they're spokes bringing people into the center of the city for work. They are pretty nasty for pedestrians, though.

That comment section is awesome. I know every recent college grad i talk to says "i wish there were more strip malls and more Olive Gardens around here." and "I think this place could use fewer sidewalks and be much more spread out...and when are they going to do something about the Death Tax?" Yep, those are the things that will attract twenty somethings.

I do believe our very own XUMelanie was interviewed for the Cincinnati Enquirer article about the census. Of course, I wish that she'd stayed in PR, but I'm glad she could be one of the ones to help increase the population downtown.

don't forget, that charity (or free healthcare) is only for certain things that the provider agrees with.

yeah, i haven't seen a lot of Crowe's recent movies, because most of them really look like they suck. I was going to watch an episode or two of Firefly on Netflix but my PS3 needed an update...so, instead i found that movie on HBO. It was awful. The last Crowe movie i saw was A Beautiful Mind. I wonder where that actor went.

I tried Graeters this year in Cincinnati. They were about the same as they were from Busken. It's just sad that i have to settle for this when growing up i had Hamtramck just down the road.

i get that Ridley Scott was going for a Saving Private Ryan type scene...but do something else. that was so out of place.

Worse than Kevin Costner's did??? Did you know that Robin Hood's father developed the Magna Carta? Did you know that the French invaded England? Did you know that English Archers were mounted and found that their long bows would work wonderfully in close quarters instead of at a distance and they frequently engaged in hand to hand combat? Most amazing...did you know that the French used Higgins Boats for military landings (as the Allies did on D-Day)? It's a movie and i suspend my disbelief most of the time...but give me a break. that was appalling.

I watched Robin Hood (Russell Crowe) last night...and it made my history degree hurt.

I was just looking and i think it does. significantly. It's a huge bill and i could be missing something, though. I'm hedging like crazy right now, because they've made this incomprehensible, but there is a table in there that suggests teachers could max out (with masters degrees and experience) at $32k.

This whole thing is just astonishing to me. taking rights away from people, cutting pay to the middle class and giving more profits to corporations. When does the estate tax go up in front of the legislature? i can't imagine they'll leave that on the table. I mean, people with $338,333 need to get a break, you can't expect someone to create a lasting upper class if they have to pay taxes.

And Kasich just named the man who headed up the company that ran the failed prison to be the head of the DOC.

Oh god...don't privatize the prisons. Arizona has had a lot of problems with breakouts and things since they did that.

Really? you don't understand their frustration with being consistently told that their city is garbage? They shouldn't be sensitive to depictions around the world as nothing but bombed out buildings? "jokes" about Iraq being a better destination than their home shouldn't bother them? i mean, i think Detroiters have every right to be pissed about that. I think people in that city have every right to having a chip on their shoulder. They're the ones left behind to pick up the mess. I'm sensitive about this topic...i was born there and lived there most of grade school. I grew up in the same house my mother did on the east side. we moved to the suburbs (inner ring) and Detroit was always a stone's throw away.

I believe the WCET (Towncenter) garage is $40 for everyone. There has been discussion to tear it down as the city owns it and i think it costs more to operate than they make. Rates used to be $20 a month until recently.

ah, he's not really attached to it then. Just make him something awesome and he won't be able to resist it. Besides, it's just the one time (to start) right? what's the harm?

what kind of vegetarian is he? does he eat fish? and what sort of meal do you want to have? We eat somewhat vegetarian in our house but all of our stuff is more like comfort food (black bean burgers, etc)...we really like eggplant Parmesan...and man, is it good.

dude shouldn't take himself so seriously...and in most cities there is no Mayor/Manager/Council triangle that allows everyone to blame someone else. People complain about Mallory a lot around here, but i don't see what it is he's supposed to be doing. There is a professional City Manager who is supposed to run the city...and there's a Council that sets down the rules for running the city. What's the Mayor supposed to do? run the council meetings and break ties. That sounds like the Vice President's job.