Posted April 20, 20214 yr Ohio's lawmakers were always more than a bit out of touch, but this might cause a large percentage of Ohio's population to start looking at real estate ads in other states.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 20, 20214 yr 5 minutes ago, KJP said: Ohio's lawmakers were always more than a bit out of touch, but this might cause a large percentage of Ohio's population to start looking at real estate ads in other states.... Will be one heck of a tourist attraction for both sides for different reason.
April 20, 20214 yr It's appropriate. Both are bloodsuckers. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 22, 20214 yr On 4/20/2021 at 1:20 PM, KJP said: Ohio's lawmakers were always more than a bit out of touch, but this might cause a large percentage of Ohio's population to start looking at real estate ads in other states.... WTF!? such insanity. People like Mike Loychik need to be voted out! I don't care who his opponents are both within his R primary and the D in the general, I'll give money to both just to get #$!#%# like him out. This kind of stuff makes us looker dumber and dumber and certainly no one is going to want to invest money or jobs in ohio.
April 23, 20214 yr 2 hours ago, Pugu said: WTF!? such insanity. People like Mike Loychik need to be voted out! I don't care who his opponents are both within his R primary and the D in the general, I'll give money to both just to get #$!#%# like him out. This kind of stuff makes us looker dumber and dumber and certainly no one is going to want to invest money or jobs in ohio. I could live with a Donald J Trump park if Trump wants to invest 100 million and buy the land and park and build it and maintain it. Otherwise, the current name is fine.
April 23, 20214 yr I'm sure these kinds of things are popping up all over red state America. Your tax dollars hard at work!
April 27, 20214 yr Author "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 6, 20214 yr Author And the topic of discussion/debate was? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 11, 20214 yr Author The thought police... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 11, 20214 yr 8 minutes ago, KJP said: The thought police... Does the Ohio GOP take any ownership of their responsibility of making sure Ohio is flyover country?
May 11, 20214 yr 12 hours ago, KJP said: The thought police... Do folks really want our schools to teach our kids to be divisive based on their race, color, nationality, and sex? Seems like a recipe for disaster. I'm not that old, but when I was a kid I was always taught to treat people with the same amount of respect regardless of those attributes. I really think society has regressed a tremendous amount on this issue over the last decade or so and this is a good example - the state legislature is working to help set a public school curriculum that teaches our kids to not be racially divisive and people are somehow mad about it.
May 11, 20214 yr 10 minutes ago, Ram23 said: Do folks really want our schools to teach our kids to be divisive based on their race, color, nationality, and sex? Seems like a recipe for disaster. I'm not that old, but when I was a kid I was always taught to treat people with the same amount of respect regardless of those attributes. I really think society has regressed a tremendous amount on this issue over the last decade or so and this is a good example - the state legislature is working to help set a public school curriculum that teaches our kids to not be racially divisive and people are somehow mad about it. People do not understand the concept of CRT and that it is not meant to lead to a critical discussion on race, which on its surface would appear, but it is rather a subset of critical theory, which essentially looks to cast society in two levels, an opporessor and oppressed and divide people inot two categories. Why people want to give credance to this garbage is beyond me.
May 11, 20214 yr 7 minutes ago, Ram23 said: Do folks really want our schools to teach our kids to be divisive based on their race, color, nationality, and sex? Seems like a recipe for disaster. I'm not that old, but when I was a kid I was always taught to treat people with the same amount of respect regardless of those attributes. I really think society has regressed a tremendous amount on this issue over the last decade or so and this is a good example - the state legislature is working to help set a public school curriculum that teaches our kids to not be racially divisive and people are somehow mad about it. Some people believe that teaching that slavery was a big part of the financial development of this country is divisive. Some people believe that sexual orientation is a choice and teaching otherwise is divisive. We had a president say that latin american migrants were all criminals, and some would say that that is divisive. Do we want politicians determining what is divisive? "Divisiveness" is subjective and should not be the standard.
May 11, 20214 yr 2 minutes ago, Foraker said: Some people believe that teaching that slavery was a big part of the financial development of this country is divisive. Some people believe that sexual orientation is a choice and teaching otherwise is divisive. We had a president say that latin american migrants were all criminals, and some would say that that is divisive. Do we want politicians determining what is divisive? "Divisiveness" is subjective and should not be the standard. Divisiveness is a poorly communicated term by those who are troubled by the teachings of CRT and its counterparts. To your point, slavery is divisive and the sexual orientation of people can be divisive too. That does not mean we do not teach those concepts as part of our history, etc. The bigger theme here is that it is moving beyond providing education on those subjects. What schools are attempting to do, without even laying a proper foundation, is not just teach about subjects which may be "Divisive," but they are actively teaching people that it ok to hate each other and to treat certain people as unequal or lesser than or vice versa. The problematic thing is that instead of creating unity and common values, it seeks to break people into tribes and tribalism and stoke tensions between them until one side submits. It is destructive
May 11, 20214 yr 18 minutes ago, GCrites80s said: "Divisive" = white Republicans were wrong about something and refuse to admit it. Divisive is trying to divide things into classes, races, etc. instead of seeking solutions that unify us and find commonality. This does not mean we gloss over differences and seek homogeny, but it means we do not seek to tear others down as our first though or focus on minor slights and insetad we seek to recognize their goodness before we notice their flaws.
May 11, 20214 yr 3 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said: Divisive is trying to divide things into classes, races, etc. instead of seeking solutions that unify us and find commonality. This does not mean we gloss over differences and seek homogeny, but it means we do not seek to tear others down as our first though or focus on minor slights and insetad we seek to recognize their goodness before we notice their flaws. Jim Crow = "minor slights" I think this what the kids call "gaslighting".
May 11, 20214 yr 5 minutes ago, westerninterloper said: Jim Crow = "minor slights" I think this what the kids call "gaslighting". strawman
May 11, 20214 yr It's pretty hilarious to see someone go on the internet and lament how people don't understand CRT and then completely mischaracterize what CRT is. Some real hubris on display.
May 21, 20214 yr Author "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 28, 20214 yr Author State lawmakers really do want Ohio's largest cities to form city-states, don't they? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 29, 20214 yr 17 hours ago, KJP said: State lawmakers really do want Ohio's largest cities to form city-states, don't they? As someone who lives in a township and has worked from home all year, this will mean thousands of dollars back in our pockets. I'll be part home/part office for the near future but my wife seems to be looking at work-from-home permanently. I understood the need for the emergency clause even though it violated the principles of income taxing, but it makes no sense to continue it anymore. Further, it should have never been allowed to stay in place for as long as it did. People should pay income taxes where they are doing the work.
May 30, 20214 yr 7 hours ago, Ram23 said: I understood the need for the emergency clause even though it violated the principles of income taxing, but it makes no sense to continue it anymore. Further, it should have never been allowed to stay in place for as long as it did. People should pay income taxes where they are doing the work. I'm all for just getting rid of local taxes entirely and sharing state taxes equitably by population.
May 30, 20214 yr Author 10 hours ago, Ram23 said: As someone who lives in a township and has worked from home all year, this will mean thousands of dollars back in our pockets. I'll be part home/part office for the near future but my wife seems to be looking at work-from-home permanently. I understood the need for the emergency clause even though it violated the principles of income taxing, but it makes no sense to continue it anymore. Further, it should have never been allowed to stay in place for as long as it did. People should pay income taxes where they are doing the work. Except your private benefit is less important than the community's public benefit. Examples... People who live in jurisdictions that don't pay taxes to support sports facilities, museums, parks etc. should be required to show their ID when paying to determine if they should pay a higher amount to enter the property and enjoy what it offers. How sustainable is that? Or, if I walk/bike/ride the bus to a business/service/facility with free parking, I should receive a discount on my purchase there because, otherwise, I'm subsidizing the free parking. How realistic is that? Same thing if I get into an accident on a highway where I don't live. The police/fire/EMT should charge me for their response to the scene, including for directing traffic, accident clean-up and, of course, any transports to the hospital or morgue. Think we do that? Why is that only those people who receive the benefit from taxpayer-supported services should have to pay for them? Many of the things that bring the quality to our lives aren't sustainable if only we pay for them when we use them. You agree, but only when the subsidies and taxes others pay benefit you. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 1, 20214 yr On 5/29/2021 at 11:22 PM, KJP said: Except your private benefit is less important than the community's public benefit. I think this should be the theme of the Democratic Party's 2022 Congressional and State Legislative campaigns. :)
June 2, 20214 yr Author And here's another example of someone's private fears overriding the needs of the community.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 3, 20214 yr Author This is the sound of Ohio setting $50 MILLION on fire...the $50 MILLION it budgeted to encourage coasties to move here "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 3, 20214 yr 2 hours ago, KJP said: This is the sound of Ohio setting $50 MILLION on fire...the $50 MILLION it budgeted to encourage coasties to move here The only wind energy created by the Ohio Legislature is by their own mouths, and the planes flying over as Ohio continues its decline to irrelevance.
June 8, 20214 yr Author Is humanity is too stupid to survive? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 15, 20214 yr Quote Ohio Senate Republicans want to ban municipal broadband internet: The Wake Up for Tuesday, June 15, 2021 By Cliff Pinckard, cleveland.com Municipal internet: Ohio Republican lawmakers are trying to strangle municipal broadband programs in Ohio and hold up $190 million in proposed state funding to expand high-speed internet to underserved areas of the state, under language slipped into the state budget plan at the last minute, Jeremy Pelzer reports. Under the language, the 30 or so municipal broadband programs in Ohio – including in cities such as Fairlawn, Hudson, Medina, and Wadsworth – would not be allowed to operate so long as there is a private-sector company operating in the area, as there are in most, if not all of the cities. The changes, if passed, would lead to the closure of every municipal broadband program in Ohio and prevent any other municipality from starting one, according to opponents. Why who could this possibly be benefiting?
June 15, 20214 yr Author Ohio GOP, like the GOP everywhere, is lost/crazy And "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 16, 20213 yr The Anti-competitive Municipal broadband ban in the Senate Budget Amendment got unanimous condemnations from both Summit and Medina County Councils. In Medina County, their Port Authority funded a fiber ring it launched in 2010. Now, a Public-Private partnership is trying to wire up every home in the county for Residential service on an open-access network that allows multiple providers to use the infrastructure. In Summit County, the city of Fairlawn started FairlawnGig after trying to engage incumbent ISPs with subsidies to improve broadband and falling on silent ears. It now has a 61% take rate. They've garnered national attention for their efforts, getting accolades from PCMag.com and landing Fairlawn designation as one of the World's "Smart21 Communities of 2021" across 8 countries, one of only 4 in the US. They've been proactive about expanding: they were in discussions with Summit County to build a fiber ring to connect 31 communities in Summit County, 12 of which had reached out to Fairlawn looking for expansion to serve their residents CARES Act Funding was used to fund a fiber ring in record time last year as part of a criminal justice project to empower videoconferencing to avoid in-person hearings, connecting county and city of Akron buildings to the FairlawnGig network Fairlawn was given a contract for a Computer-aided dispatch network in Summit County FairlawnGig enabled the city to participate in an autonomous driving pilot and empower a better traffic management system Additionally, the city of Hudson operates its own municipal fiber network as well. The language in the Bill prohibits municipalities from covering areas that are served by "broadband" clocking in at speeds of at least 10 mbps download and 1 mbps upload, while the FCC's outdated definition is 25/3. 1.72% of the entire state falls into this classification of "unserved/underserved". This does not even get into the discussion of affordability and digital inclusion since access is only half of the picture (see DigitalC's EmpowerCLE+, whose customers enjoy Internet access for $18/month plus taxes). Why shut down capitalized services and prevent them from using public funding offered to them that they are otherwise eligible for? Lastly, why include policy in a budget bill? Here's a good podcast discussing the amendment: https://communitybroadbandbits.com/pushed-through-in-the-dark-of-night-ohio-senate-aims-to-ban-municipal-broadband/ Contact your state house and senate representatives! The budget will go to a conference committee to work out differences between the Senate and House versions and be voted on most likely June 27th. Edited June 16, 20213 yr by infrafreak
June 16, 20213 yr Opponents fear proposed municipal broadband ban would create state-sanctioned ISP monopoly https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/in-depth/opponents-fear-proposed-municipal-broadband-ban-would-create-state-sanctioned-isp-monopoly (warning: autoplays video) ================ I'm stunned that we still haven't gotten the name of whatever representative inserted this language into the budget bill. Because I would hope (probably in vain) that this would be career-ending for them, no matter how much they got from the cable behemoths and their aligned 501(c)(4) groups in exchange for this kind of skullduggery. This is well beyond a partisan issue at this point. As noted on https://muninetworks.org/tags-143, some of the cities in this state that have those muni fiber networks include Dublin, Fairlawn, Springboro, Wadsworth, and Hudson. Medina County is trying to expand their own system (not sure if that will end up merging with Wadsworth's eventually). Precisely zero of those are Democratic strongholds. If anything, the kind of equity-patronage groups that Republicans generally love to oppose ought to be the ones most nonplussed by muni fiber: smaller, wealthier communities have a much easier time installing it than larger, less affluent ones, meaning muni fiber is, for the moment, a rich-get-richer phenomenon in the world of the digital divide. The lead speaker in that News5 link isn't some anti-business activist, it was the CIO of the Crystal Clinic. I showed up at a couple of ward and townhall meetings in Akron when Fairlawn was rolling out FairlawnGig and pushed for us to crib off Fairlawn's notes, basically arguing that if they could do it, we could do it. The response was always a disinterested shrug and mumbled platitudes about funding. I always had to grind my teeth and bear it. If it were really a priority for Akron, the funding would be there.
June 16, 20213 yr The Appalachian lawmakers cannot realistically be against municipal broadband considering that the private sector has already declined to do business in many of their communities for 20 years.
June 16, 20213 yr Author "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 17, 20213 yr 23 hours ago, Gramarye said: Opponents fear proposed municipal broadband ban would create state-sanctioned ISP monopoly https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/in-depth/opponents-fear-proposed-municipal-broadband-ban-would-create-state-sanctioned-isp-monopoly (warning: autoplays video) ================ I'm stunned that we still haven't gotten the name of whatever representative inserted this language into the budget bill. Because I would hope (probably in vain) that this would be career-ending for them, no matter how much they got from the cable behemoths and their aligned 501(c)(4) groups in exchange for this kind of skullduggery. Has anyone seen any form letters or anything floating around that I can send to my senator and representative? I want to voice my complaint over this but I don't really know what to eloquently send (even though I'm sure I'll just get a generic response from a staffer anyway). “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
June 18, 20213 yr 13 hours ago, BigDipper 80 said: Has anyone seen any form letters or anything floating around that I can send to my senator and representative? I want to voice my complaint over this but I don't really know what to eloquently send (even though I'm sure I'll just get a generic response from a staffer anyway). Here's a great resource for tracking news: https://www.fairlawngig.net/munibb/ See also the following documents: https://www.fairlawngig.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FairlawnGig-New-Brief-2021-06-14-Final.pdf https://www.fairlawngig.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Resolution-Opposing-Broadband-Restriction.pdf https://www.fairlawngig.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Joint-Letter-OH-HB-110-6-9-21.pdf I contacted my State Senator yesterday and their aide had indicated that they were receiving a lot of calls with similar sentiments. I've only managed to receive the voicemail for my State House Legislator so far. Edited June 18, 20213 yr by infrafreak
June 21, 20213 yr Author "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 21, 20213 yr Author In addition to the above, there's some really weird, clueless stuff coming out of the general assembly this session (including this: https://www.wksu.org/government-politics/2021-06-15/ohioans-with-vehicles-worth-more-than-4-650-wont-be-eligible-for-snap).... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 23, 20213 yr https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/22/ohio-gov-mike-dewine-senate-proposed-broadband-changes-would-devastating/5309245001/ Gov. Mike DeWine: Senate-proposed broadband changes would be 'devastating' A proposal that would prevent many local governments from providing high-speed internet access would be "devastating" to Ohio's efforts to provide access to every Ohioan, Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday. "We've made it very, very clear: some of the proposed changes simply would be devastating to expand broadband in the state," DeWine said at a bill signing for unrelated legislation. ===================== Props to the governor for taking a both principled and rational stand against at least some members of his own party on this issue (and I still haven't seen the name of whatever Ohio Senator inserted this language into the budget bill).
June 23, 20213 yr 5 minutes ago, GCrites80s said: ^Sen. Robert Spectrum (R-Wanker Township) A name filled with irony. Do you think Spectrum Internet is on his donors list?
June 24, 20213 yr Author This is from friend Mary Anne Sharkey who was hired by Governor Taft as communications director.... Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman justified cutting broadband funds in the budget for rural areas by insulting people in those areas as not smart enough and too poor to own the equipment. I am not making this up. Here's what Huffman said about rural, Appalachia Ohio which ironically is reliable GOP country: "Huffman acknowledged that parts of rural Ohio lack good internet access. But he said that many people who live in those places might not have the equipment or technical sophistication to surf the World Wide Web the way millions of Ohioans have for decades. “(S)imply providing broadband services does not mean that people who may be able to access that will or can access that,” the Capital Journal quoted Huffman as saying when he unveiled his budget proposal. “They still have to have a piece of equipment of some kind — a computer, iPad, whatever it may be — they have to know how to use it...." So how does he explain that the average 10-year-old is more proficient than most older adults? The economy can not move forward without access to Broadband in these areas. Outrageous justification for stealing money to pay for income tax cuts that will benefit the monied class. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 29, 20213 yr Anyone know what this means? Quote It would additionally change the tax rate of the state’s new highest tax bracket, applicable to people making more than $110,650 in 2021, to 3.99%. For context, after the 3% income-tax cut passes, people in that bracket would pay a rate of 4.281%. https://www.cleveland.com/open/2021/06/final-ohio-budget-deal-would-fund-broadband-boost-school-funding-in-major-overhaul.html Thank you Cleveland Plain Dealer editors.
