TBideon

Did anyone watch Boston Legal's series finale last night? One of the cases involved Denny and Alan marrying under Mass's legalized gay marriage laws (for financial and peace of mind reasons), yet a gay party sought an injunction against them since they weren't in love with each other. The "bad guy" really came across as a moron, his case basically being since Alan and Denny weren't gay, they shouldn't be allowed to marry even though the two clearly love each other (in every way other than sexual)

people who ask, "Can I ask you a question." Like fireants running underneath my skin Also, when you're talking in class and people sitting in front of you start twisting their necks and giving you the fish eye. Are they trying to read my lips or something??? T

I'm not sure if this is the right forum.... http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/12/click_here_to_view_the.html Cleveland wants to be first to have offshore wind farm in Lake Erie Posted by Tom Breckenridge/Plain Dealer Reporter December 08, 2008 08:41AM Categories: Economic development, Energy Local wind energy advocates feel they are in a race to plant the first turbine in Great Lakes water. The achievement would mark the region as a clean-energy innovator, not a smokestack laggard, officials say. .......

Why aren't the UAW heads going down to Congress as well? They certainly have as much to lose as the Big Three. The CEOs accepting a $1 salary means nothing if there are STILL those ridiculous $2000-$3000 legacy costs per vehicle, and the UAW has to take responsibility and make some substantial concessions. I think the most maddening thing about this entire situation is if I, who cannot easily afford my own health insurance, am footing the bill for a RETIREE'S insurance if those policies do not change and the bailout goes through. To pay for someone else's insurance (someone who isn't even producing anything) and not (easily) afford my own - that just boils my blood as much as anything else in this whole mess. "And how is that different from any of us having to pay for government programs for people who get any kind of assistance?" The difference is those government programs are public and the Big 3 are private companies, yet now (presuming the bailout goes through and the UAW doesn't make certain concessions) I'm going to be paying a retiree of a private juggernaut corporation something that I can barely afford for myself. It makes no sense at all - why are these retirees' struggles any more important than my own????

The jobs bank isn't even used by that many workers - it's the legacy costs that's the real concern

Restaurants prohibit hats to be fair. In addition to etiquette issues, some restaurants and perhaps patrons have concerns with people wearing do-rags (however unreasonable that fear is) and since black people (presumably) are the ones who predominantly wear them, to be fair restaurants just restrict all hats. I hope I don't draw ire with that comment - it's just what I've been told from friends who work at restaurants.

Well, isn't everything alleged until proven? It doesn't mean we don't put some, even a nominal, amount of faith in these kinds of stories, especially if there are other similar anecdotes. I don't have a problem with a restaurant imposing a dress code (if a restaurant wants to ban baggy clothes or hats it's their perogative) but this whole cover charge ordeal (usually the money goes straight to the bouncers up to a certain amount, then the restaurant/bar gets a small percentage) was ridiculous and if it happened to you twice, then it's been happening to others for sure

And another article - it's a shame that National City "reporter" (Theresa something) isn't included http://www.woio.com/global/story.asp?s=9443668 Paper Cuts: Plain Dealer Employees Laid Off With Morning Phone Call Cleveland, OH - The Plain Dealer has laid off 27 newsroom employees because of the struggling economy. The cuts on Tuesday were part of a previously announced reduction of 50 jobs at Ohio's largest newspaper, representing 21 percent of its unionized newsroom staff. The Plain Dealer first announced the cuts in October, citing poor advertising revenue and a struggling newspaper industry. The paper said it would begin layoffs if enough employees did not volunteer to leave. Editor Susan Goldberg says 27 employees were informed of the layoffs by phone. She wouldn't comment on whether the other 23 employees took buyouts. There were 299 employees in the newsroom, 238 of them represented by the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild. The Plain Dealer is owned by Advance Publications Inc. and has a daily circulation of about 345,000.

^^I don't know - the security guard acting abusive, possibly prejudicial, and the manager either ignoring or acquiescing this kind of conduct makes me wary of a place like that and the public should know about this behavior.

Why aren't the UAW heads going down to Congress as well? They certainly have as much to lose as the Big Three. The CEOs accepting a $1 salary means nothing if there are STILL those ridiculous $2000-$3000 legacy costs per vehicle, and the UAW has to take responsibility and make some substantial concessions. I think the most maddening thing about this entire situation is if I, who cannot easily afford my own health insurance, am footing the bill for a RETIREE'S insurance if those policies do not change and the bailout goes through. To pay for someone else's insurance (someone who isn't even producing anything) and not (easily) afford my own - that just boils my blood as much as anything else in this whole mess.

I was just going to post this. I'll give Mayor Jackson credit for being blunt about the city's ridiculous self hating attitude - his point about the all too often negative comments at receptions and business meetings certainly rings true at functions I've been to the last few months or so. And I've mentioned this on these boards but I'll say it again - Mayor Jackson is trying to attach Cleveland to the international community (Israel, France, Costa Rica, and now GERMANY!) and this is certainly an excellent approach to bettering our city. And MyTwoCents: THIS is the kind of thing I've been clamoring for Mayor Jackson to do - to have a statement (though I would have preferred press conference) to the media about the city, its negatives and positives, and what happens next.

Well, I'll say this about the economic disaster we're in - it's definitely going to help local schools' enrollments.

I notice that Ms. Goldberg didn't choose to participate in the voluntary buyout program as well. I know that layoffs are inevitable and that someone has to be the bad guy, but there has got to be a better way than an email like that. Couldn't they at least wait until after the holidays?

I still haven't checked it out. Was thinking about going on Saturday but had such a good time at Liquid Fusion that I decided against it

The Plain Dealer is such a rag - reading that Pittsburgh article just makes me even more mad at the PD than usual. That said, I visited friends in Pittsburgh last year and had a very nice time at some of the pubs. It's definitely a city on the upswing.

He has not had a real presence regarding this matter (or for many, other than a few vigils and rallys over the last few years). He has not reassured Clevelanders that things will be okay. Warm and reassuring statements directly to the media about our situation - with this one in particular being absolutely damaging to Clevleland - would help boost our morale and confidence, but Mayor Jackson has utterly failed to do this. I don't know what he's doing behind the scenes (it seems he is trying to connect Cleveland to the international community with the whole Paris and Costa Rica stuff, and that's fantastic), but he needs to be shown more and talking directly to us. He needs to inspire us and tell us exactly what he's done/doing for us instead of keeping quiet resulting in our useless speculating on what's going on behind closed doors.

I'm boycotting that blog. What a pointless waste of bandwith

Did the bank execs even go to DC? I gotta say this - I am proud of LaTourrete and Kucinich for doing what they could to prevent this ridiculous sale. I don't know much about LaTourrete and we all know about Kucinich's shortcomings (pun!), but they put their money in their mouth and probably fought this sale as best they could. Of course, then there's Mayor Jackson who hasn't done or said anything about this sale. I mean, can you imagine Bloomberg sitting quietly and not expressing ANY outrage over this loss if something similar were happening in New York. Come on Frank, at least have a press conference and talk to us and be involved in EVERY aspect of this transaction since it's going to drastically affect Cleveland. Remember Mayor White fighting tooth and nail to save and then bring back the Browns. This is far more important and we need Mayor Jackson to be communicating to Clevelanders about the sale, its potential rammifications, and what he was and is doing about it. Kind of like Bush in the last 6 weeks. What, are they hiding together?

Very interesting read.

If the South actually did technically secede and became its own country, then was this really a civil war? Wouldn't it just be a war between two countries? I presume the North never recognized the South seceding; thus, it would have actually been a technical civil war between men of the same country. But from the Southern perspective, when they refer to the Civil War as being the War of Northern Aggression, does that mean they assumed they were truly no longer part of the country and that this was actually not a civil war but instead just a war between two separate countries?

I have to disagree with some of these posts. Downtown Cleveland desperately needs some kind of visible police force at night. I'm a relatively big guy but even I get a bit nervous and extra vigilant (is that the right word?) when leaving work late at night and walking to Tower City alone, more so than I would think I should.

Is 20 minutes the optimal time?

The article wasn't saying everything is great in Pittsburgh - it was just focusing on the positives

Last night I was reading some of the cleveland.com comments regarding the article where Pittsburgh was being acclaimed for reinventing itself. Though I didn't find that article insulting in the least bit, since Pittsubrgh really has made great strides during the last few decades in its education (most important) and redevelopments, I then read some of the most bleak and sad comments afterwards that even bummed me (a pretty big Cleveland optimist) out. And that whole "Last one who leave turns out the lights" comment - uch, just heartbreaking everytime

"Cleveland attorney Fred Nance, under contract to lead medical mart negotiations for the county, said he is uncomfortable with setting a deadline to announce progress because it heightens expectations." Sounds like something our dear President would say