Dayton Pundit

http://daytonpundit.com/site/?p=315 I…Saw…’Iron Man’! Published by DP Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) forges a new conscience while being held captive in Afghanistan With the weather being gloomy, my significant other (and mother of our two children) asked if we could go to the movies in honor of her ’special’ day today. Since she usually favors ‘chick flicks’ or other such fare, all eyes were ready to go into ‘roll’ mode until she said she’d like to see ‘Iron Man’. Not wanting her to change her mind, I readily agreed and we took to our local movieplex for an afternoon matinée. I will be mentioning details of the movie here so if you haven’t seen the film and don’t want me to ruin the story, do not proceed any further. (continue reading at the link provided above--DP)

http://daytonpundit.com/site/?p=329 Marc Dann Resigns Published by DP Under immense political pressure from his party and Governor Ted Strickland (right), Ohio attorney general Marc Dann (left) resigned late this afternoon Just one day after Ohio House Democrats filed nine articles of impeachment against him and an inspector general investigation was authorized, Attorney General Marc Dann resigned late this afternoon at a hastily arranged news conference in the state capital. Standing beside him while he made the announcement was governor Ted Strickland, who later said that no deals were used to entice Dann to step down. First Assistant Attorney General Tom Winters will head the office until Strickland appoints a permanent replacement and they will have to run against a Republican challenger in November’s general election to complete the rest of Dann’s term (ending in January 2011). (continue reading at the link provided above--DP)

I'm not sure if we're actually 'taking over'...we'll just document the h*ll out of the event ;) ;)

Thanks for the kind words, 'CDM'...

To all UO readers, I wanted to take this opportunity to announce the first anniversary of my blog 'The Dayton Pundit' and our associated message board 'The Dayton Stoop'. I've posted updates about our progress on these sites early in our existence (I even ran a banner ad here for awhile) and over the months we have grown into a very close and thriving community. While most of us are expatriates of the slowly dying Dayton Daily News' 'Speak Up!' forum, we have attracted some new members from outside that site to help broaden our topics of discussion (and I have SIGNIFICANTLY pared them down from the original version of 'The Stoop'). From cooking to cars to humor politics to sports...we try our best to cover it all. I originally started the domain on a dare from a close friend so that I would have more incentive to get serious about blogging. With all the work I put into the message board, it didn't get the amount of attention it needed to succeed. Since the beginning of the year, I have been able to focus more on it and have covered a range of subjects (mostly politics) but I've also talked about other things. Here's just a sample (click on the underlined links below to view the story): Local and state: -- an emotional visit to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center -- the Ohio Democratic primary -- President Bush's visit to the National Museum of the United States Air Force -- the arrest of a fugitive suspected in the death of a Dayton-area marine -- Karl Rove's campaign stop in the 'Gem City' -- the investigation by TV's 'Ghost Hunters' of several haunts on Wright-Patterson AFB -- last month's earthquake -- the funeral for Army SSG Matt Maupin -- the current scandal surrounding the Ohio attorney general National: -- the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's death -- the 13th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing -- continued controversy surrounding the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman International: -- the assassination of former Pakistani president Benazir Bhutto -- World Autism Awareness Day -- Matt Lauer's recent world tour (I also post some of these items at my diary at the Daily Kos) I try to post at least 2 to 3 items per day (I do take a day off every week or so to 'recharge' my creative 'batteries') so if you check in every other day, you'll see plenty of new items to browse through. I'd again like to thank Urban Ohio for whetting my online interest in setting up my forum. I would hope to achieve a fraction of the success that UO has attained (and the 2,000+ membership) and invite you again to come by and give us a try. V/R, The Dayton Pundit

Another update...as many of you here are probably well aware, 'UrbanOhio' recently migrated to a new web host because of timeout and accessibility problems with their former one...well, 'The Dayton Stoop' was in the same predicament (we had the same host) and recently took the same steps to mitigate them... As of today, our site is now on a LunarPages host server and appears to be experiencing NONE of the previous problems which plagued us over the past 5-6 weeks... Soooo...if you were not impressed with 'The Dayton Stoop' due to that issue, now would be the time to come back and take another look... Have you seen this banner lately?

Tomorrow will be two months...we're going strong (now at 60 members) but another 'bump' may bring our site to the attention of a few more folks... Have you seen this banner lately?

This will be MY last post in this topic...I posted this over at 'The Dayton Stoop' over on Sunday night but this board was down...BTW, we are now at 53 members--and still growing! Keep looking for the ad banners or click on the link below: www.daytonstoop.com Happy Month-iversary! To all, Today marks the one-month point in the short history of 'The Dayton Stoop'. On May 10th, I created this site as a place where I envisioned people coming together to connect and communicate. While it was supposed to be subordinate to my blogging passion, it quickly became my online 'raison d'être'. As I mentioned over at my blog (http://daytonpundit.com/site/?p=16), it took off a lot slower than I thought it would (we needed 5 days to get our first 10 members to sign up and another week to crack the 20 level). As of today, we are sitting at 49 and are continuing to grow as people tell other folks about our board (I'm also surmising that the cross posting over at 'Speak Up!' and the advertising at 'UrbanOhio' aren't hurting us, either). This site could not exist without the support of its members and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for believing enough in 'The Dayton Stoop' to sign up. I also realize that there are some 'lurkers' out there who peek in on us from time to time. My hope for that unknown constituency is to someday post something here that will cause them to finally feel compelled to register and express their opinions like the rest of us already do. If you glance at the board stats, you can see that I've been online here for over 6-1/2 DAYS out of these first 31! During that time, I've added the lion's share of posts and topics and I'm now looking at trying to slow my pace down a bit (however, breaking events can always change those plans). I do want to get back to a regular blogging schedule and have a few in the works--if I can just discipline myself to stop scanning the news sites! Again, thanks for your support! Long live 'The Dayton Stoop'! V/R, The Dayton Pundit

Done...

Thanks for the feedback...and we now have polling! :clap: :clap: :clap: Should President Bush pardon 'Scooter' Libby due to his recent conviction and sentencing in the CIA leak investigation case? http://daytonpundit.com/forum/index.php?topic=675.0 Come by and cast your votes...

The transformation is complete...come by and take a look at the new and improved 'Stoop'!

To all current (and potential) 'Stoop' members, I have received various comments and feedback about the unwieldy structure of our board. I originally intended to have a very organized site with separate categories for easy categorization and recall; however, I might've gone a little overboard (there are currently 265 separate boards in 13 categories). What I intend to do is to take the board down at 4PM today for a short period (hoping no longer than 2-3 hours) and attempt to consolidate/rearrange what's already there into a more manageable system. I may make changes to some post titles (most of them are mine) but I will not alter any of their content. I will send you a follow-up message letting you know when I'm finished. Thanks for your patience. DP

Have you and UncleRando been talking to Montecarloss??? That was his opinion as well...

Have you seen this banner lately? To all, I haven't been to UrbanOhio in quite a while but it has had a long-lasting influence on me. I go by the name 'The Dayton Pundit' these days and I've started up a new blog to exercise my 1st Amendment rights on a regular basis. This metamorphosis has led me back here to ask some of you a favor. Let me provide some background first... Due to the steady degradation of my primary message board (the Dayton Daily News' 'Speak Up!' site) because of moderator neglect and anti-social behaviors among a small percentage of the total membership, I've taken it upon myself to provide other frustrated members another place where they can meet online without enduring the 'flame wars' and other dysfunctional behaviors. I called it 'The Dayton Stoop'--just like the step(s) out in front of your own house. Back in the day (well, before computers and cell phones), people used to 'network' via these architectural structures to talk about what interested them or to keep in touch with their neighbors or friends. T Although it started slowly, our numbers have steadily grown. After our first month, we currently have 41 members and that figure includes most of the more reliable 'Speak Up!' regulars (there are still some 'diehards' hanging on over at the other place). The problem I'm running into is that most of us know each other rather well and the interpersonal 'chemistry' is tantamount to one hand clapping. This has led me to look outward and take the next logical step of advertising the board here at UrbanOhio (look at the top and bottom banner ads to see the logo below) in order to increase our membership and provide some 'new blood' for the site. If you do come by and visit us, you'll notice that it has a familiar feel to it. The board runs SMF software (just like this site does). It is a very organized site and is centered primarily around Dayton-related issues (its suburbs are well represented, too) as well as all flavors of politics. There are also areas for hobbies, events, and a 'soap box' to allow folks to just get something off of their chests. It's still a work-in-progress so there may be changes in the months to come. I am not trying to 'steal' any of this board's members (y'all are doing very well and currently over 1350 strong)--I'd just like to 'borrow' some of you Daytonians from time to time (if that's OK with your admin staff). I'm guessing that many of you visit one or more message sites due to your individual interests and favorite topics. Your participation at 'The Dayton Stoop' would be a welcome addition to our current group and could help us grow into another UrbanOhio-like community. Come by and visit for a while...everyone's welcome! www.daytonstoop.com

I used to be assigned at the National Air Intelligence Center (they added '& Space' after I left) and our office's mascot used to be a small green plush alien. There was a quasi-fictional mini-series on the Sci-Fi Channel a few years back called 'Taken' (I think Spielberg had a hand in it) and it featured the 'hanger' you mentioned. http://www.scifi.com/taken/dvd/taken-miniseries.html I personally believe that's it is a hoax but over the years it has blended into the overall personality of the Dayton area...at least these 'aliens' weren't named Wilbur and Orville...or were they??? :wink:

I'm guessing you won't be heading outside all weekend :laugh:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/21/rep-tim-ryan-blasts-the-administrations-iraq-record/ From Crooks and Liars website: Rep. Tim Ryan Blasts the Administration’s Iraq Record By: Jamie Holly on Thursday, September 21st, 2006 at 2:26 PM - PDT Submit or Digg this Post Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH 17th) is no stranger to delivering some powerful speeches on the floor of the House and today was no exception: (video of the comments available on the website linked above) Ryan: "This administration wants to talk about anything but the war and the economy. They want to change the debate whenever they can" He was on fire today as he brought up all the problems going on with Iraq and how the White House refuses to acknowledge them. He finishes with providing a break down of the costs of the war in Iraq, right down to the hour - which is $11.5 million/hour...

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/ Sep. 17-18, 2006 -- SPECIAL REPORT. On Jul. 14 and Aug. 8, WMR reported on convicted Ohio Rep. Bob Ney's longtime intelligence role for the CIA. More details are emerging about that role. The following is what WMR reported last month on the Ohio Republican: "WMR has learned that covert Iranian backchannels employed by a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of [Valerie] Plame's Brewster Jennings & Associates network were thoroughly compromised by the White House leak. The member of Congress, who, like Plame, had been an earlier CIA "non-official cover (NOC) energy consultant" in the Middle East during the late 1970s and early 80s, and who was familiar with the early weapons of mass destruction proliferation involving the A. Q. Khan network of Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, was compromised and he and his connections to the Brewster Jennings & Associates intelligence network and Iranian government contacts were made known to adversarial intelligence agencies. The staff of the member whose covert Iranian contact network was compromised was targeted and tainted with Jack Abramoff money, putting the U.S. Representative in extreme political jeopardy... Here's the link for the 8 August entry (scroll down through the postings) http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/2006_07250809.php Here's the link for the 14 July entry (scroll down thorugh the postings) http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/2006_07040716.php

I was watching last night's Daily Show where Jon Stewart was interviewing former US Senator Gary Hart. Like most of Jon's guests, he was 'hawking' his latest book ('The Courage of Our Convictions: A Manifesto for Democrats'--now available at Amazon) but during their banter, he was sharing his personal 'long term perspective' of our current problems--something that you expect from an elder statesman. That got me thinking...have today's politics become so partisan and insulated that this revered breed of citizen is now considered unnecessary or 'old fashioned'? Could our 'culture wars' be turning possible modern-day Churchills away from mentoring the arena they once ruled because of a political 'yardstick' or social 'litmus test' of the current players? Who might I be talking about? Hart would be a good example. During his interview, I was captured by his presence on the set (I believe if the sequence of personal scandals could've been reversed between him and Clinton, Hart might've been our 42nd president). Since he left the Senate, he has served the public in a variety of roles (co-chaired the Hart-Rudman Committee that reviewed US homeland defense in the late 1990s, sits on several foundations extolling non-partisanship and international cooperation). He also earned his PhD in politics in 2001 and has written several books on current events as well as historical retrospectives--all this while practicing law in Washington, DC. According to answers.com, an 'elder statesman' (although masculine, the term has been used for both sexes) is "a prominent, highly experienced older man, especially one acting as an unofficial adviser". Wikipedia.org states that "when a politician retires, he is often referred to as a 'respected elder statesman' by his supporters". Presidents used to transition to that role when they left office; however, in recent memory, I can only remember two in recent history (Carter and Nixon) who did something besides the 'rubber chicken circuit' and big-payday speaking engagements. Of the other living 'exs', Clinton is probably next in line behind Carter (Bush I and Ford are octogenarians or nonagenarians respectively) with his disaster relief pleas (with Bush) and other philanthropic endeavors of his foundation. Besides presidents, who else is out there? Former presidential candidates (Dole, Dukakis, McGovern)? Former senators (Mitchell, Nunn, Simpson--although their 'contemporaries' Byrd and Stevens are still slugging it out under the Capitol dome)? Cabinet members (Albright, Powell, Kissinger)? I'm guessing that many of them opted out of this status elevation due in part to the rising resentment of politicans and partisan politics. Career public servants often sacrificed the monetary privileges enjoyed by their private-sector constituents and the lucrative 'paydays' offered by the lobbyist industry are just too hard to ignore. It's sad that in these troubled times we choose to shun those who from their past may have the solutions to today's problems...

To all, I'd hate to pull a 'William Safire' here but I needed to comment on something I've noticed in many of the replies already posted to this thread. One of the intangible joys a person experiences when they receive their diploma/degree/certification is the satisfaction of knowing they EARNED that reward rather than just 'getting' it. IMHO, 'getting' implies a sense of entitlement instead of accomplishment (like a teen expecting an allowance because he/she expects to receive one instead of actually doing things to earn such a stipend). With ever increasing tuition fees, today's students might feel that a degree might be a 'quid pro quo' for their attendance and their (parent's) money. However, like a sporting event, it is only an admission to that 'venue' and does nothing to guarantee the team's (or student's) success when the 'contest' is over. I would hope our learning institutions still require their students to successfully demonstrate understanding of the present materials prior to conferring their concurrence and presenting the certifying document. If that is not the case, then our educational system has a lot more problems than previously thought. As a 'multi-grad' (I listed my degrees above but I skipped my HS diploma and a variety of military training schools graduations), very few things come close to the feeling you get when you look at that piece of paper and close the mental 'loop' between toil and reward. So drop the 'got' and proudly affirm that you have earned your degree! :speech:

From the 7 September entry on http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/ : After the November 2004 presidential election, this editor reported on massive vote fraud, particularly in Ohio. Sources within the U.S. Intelligence Community provided information on the financing -- via foreign funding sources, covert intelligence networks, and illegal pseudo-banking routes -- of programmers, election officials, and others to ensure that Bush and Cheney captured Ohio's critical 20 electoral votes. Pursuant to a federal law that permits the destruction of ballots, including absentee ballots, 22 months after a federal election, ballots from the 2004 Ohio election were scheduled to be destroyed on Sept. 2, but the intervention of Columbus-based attorney Cliff Arnebeck and the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights with the U.S. Court in Columbus resulted in a protective order being issued for ballots and voting records in all 88 Ohio counties. This decision upset the corrupt Ohio Republican Party and its gubernatorial standard bearer Kenneth Blackwell, the Secretary of State who helped engineer the 2004 electoral vote fraud coup in his state, who wanted to begin the document shredding process in Sept. 2. Not only can the ballots and voting records now be used in a major civil rights case against Blackwell, in which he is accused of "inequitably distributing voting resources, suppressing votes, and spoiling ballots" in the 2004 election, but may also serve as major evidence in impeachment hearings against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney when Michigan Rep. John Conyers becomes the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, if the Democrats, as expected, win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Blackwell still clings to the fast-eroding stance that the 2004 Ohio vote was legitimate. ... Here's the link to today's US District Court declaration by Mr. Phillips' (has many more details and photgraphs): http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/VotefraudOhio.php

^^ Yep, them be the Trojans! Almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in college football! I've fallen out of favor for FSU over the years. Always felt sorry for them for not winning the big games in the late 80's and early 90's...when Bowden passed Joe Pa a couple of years ago as college's winningest coach, they went 'off the list' forever! :x

- Wilkes College (now Wilkes University); Wilkes-Barre, PA; pre-med (only attended 1-1/2 semesters--dropped out and joined the AF shortly thereafter) - Community College of the Air Force; AAS; Communications Technology - City Colleges of Chicago; AAS; General Studies - Joint Military Intelligence College; Washington, DC; BS; Intelligence) - Troy State University (distance learning); MS; International Relations I am now in the defense contracting industry.

Magyar, I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania so our 'whipping' state was New Jersey ("you from Joisey...I'm from Joisey...what exit?") My wife grew up in Illinois so they picked on the 'Hoosiers'...

Jeff, Is that the barber over by 'Five Points'? I've never been there (used to get my 'GI cuts' on base and now I visit Super Cuts) but I heard it was a real 'throwback' kind of place (reminicent of Floyd's shop from 'Mayberry RFD'). Cat, The only place I've heard of (other than 'Ken') with 'tucky stuck on the end is 'Huber-tucky' (aka Huber Heights). Fairborn ( http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Fairborn,_Ohio ) is rather spread out. I live out in Rona Hills--outside of I-675. The town covers almost all of the immediate perimeter outside WPAFB and includes Wright State University all the way up to the border with Beavercreek. There are some parts of the town that scare me (Dayton-Yellow Springs Road near 'Apartment-tropolis', some of the residences back behind the old Palmer South Elementary School--I believe it's now called the 'Intermediate School'). The downtown has a certain character about it, especially around Halloween (Foy's goes all out with decorating their stores and the building ledges overlooking the main street). After living 10 years of my adult life overseas, this annual dose of 'uber-kitch' reminds me of the things I did without while serving my country...