It must have been something I ate

I guess I put too much Szechuan spice in the stir-fry the other night, because I had the most awful nightmare …

I dreamed I was watching this YouTube debate on CNN among the GOP presidential hopefuls, you see, and it turned into a sort of partisan ambush where the real attacks didn’t come from among the rival candidates, but through the questions posed to them.
There was this retired general who not only got to ask them a “have you stopped beating your wife”-style question about gays in the military, but was the only person allowed to stand up live in the audience and make a speech about the issue. It turned out he was a “plant,” an activist who cochairs a support group for Hillary Clinton’s campaign – a fact that CNN, in a huge lapse of either ethics or intelligence or both, failed to disclose and few in the media bothered to note. He then told CNN that "these guys are just partisanly homophobic" (partisanly?), so he couldn't have actually been interested in their responses in the first place.
But oh, that wasn’t all. Cyber-question after cyber-question chosen by CNN came in the form of hostile “gotchas” from people who, as you could tell by their tone and demeanor, already knew they weren’t going to like any answer these candidates gave. There’s a reason: This was a Republican debate on Democratic terms. A Barack Obama supporter’s question led listeners to believe he was a member of the Log Cabin Republicans. A former intern for a Democratic House member asked about crop subsidies. A student who asked about “criminalizing abortion” posted a photo of herself wearing a John Edwards campaign shirt. And on and on.
But the most frightening was the question by a sneering guy from Dallas, sticking the spine of a copy of the Holy Bible into the lens of his Webcam and snippily demanding – as if to say, How can anyone be so stewpid – of the candidates, “Do … you … believe … EVERY … WORD … OF … THIS … BOOK!” Meanwhile, somewhere in the background I swear I heard Barbara Walters pleading with Jimmy Carter to “be good to us” …

Then I woke up in a sweat, and realized it must have been a dream – because, as we all know, there is no such thing as media bias.

Cincinnati and Covington have similar elephants

Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. talked to the Covington Business Council yesterday, preaching the gospel of regional cooperation and working together to market the region.

Well, it would help if the Cincinnati city administration and Northern Kentucky's sanitation district find a way to stop running up big lawyer bills and staff time in a fight over Ohio River water quality that has gone on way too long. (The two sides have agreed to arbitration, which could be a healthy step.)

What struck me about today's story was that both riverfront cities have to deal with perception and reality surrounding two big elephants in their urban rooms: safety and schools. People don't want to be urban pioneers with their kids; nor do they want to feel fear in their neighborhoods.

There are great schools and great neighborhoods in both cities. And stirring examples of turnarounds in weak-performing schools. But much more must happen.

If I were Dohoney, I'd forget about building street car lines in these cash-strapped times. There are no issues more important than schools and safety. Solve those issues, and you have the tax base to do all kinds of cool things.

And Covington can be a model of urban renewal. If urban problems can't be solved in cities the size of Covington, there's no hope for Cincinnati.

Let's unite on both sides of the river for solutions to both issues, such as the Strive program that has amazing potential to encourage urban children to pursue higher education.

KY smoking ban gets surprising support

Political observers say the chances of Kentucky adopting a statewide smoking ban are about as likely as the University of Kentucky dropping basketball, but who would ever have predicted that one of the early supporters would be a business group?

That's what has happened as the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce adopted a position supporting a statewide smoking ban in "most" public places, and our story today talks about the reasons why -- primarily from a standpoint of workplace health and the costs to employers of smoking-related illnesses.

State Sen. Damon Thayer, a Georgetown Republican who supports almost everything the Chamber backs, had a two-word response last night at a Chamber meeting: "No dice." He went so far as to say he would actively work against any such measure. He argued that the free market already is dealing with smoking in many respects, and that any regulation belongs at the local level.

I should disclose here that I'm on the Chamber board of directors. I hate to sound like a politician, but I'm torn on this issue. I voted against the specific proposal, because it made me uncomfortable in general, and I thought "most public places" was too vague. I'm a former smoker who hates being around smoke, but I have a libertarian streak that bubbles up on issues such as this.

Those who find the Chamber's position odd should note that a member survey on the subject received an amazing response. About 800 members out of about 2,000 responded and nearly two-thirds of those responding favored some type of ban.

What do you think? You can respond here, or to a discussion board we've attached to today's story.

Baby steps in Pakistan

President General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan is now just plain old President and maybe dictator for life. He took off his uniform and shed the formal command of the army Wednesday when he handed over his ceremonial baton to a hand-picked army successor.

The Bush administration called this “a good step” in restoring democracy to one of our key allies in the War on Terror.

A few other “good steps” are still in order – releasing all the dissidents he’s locked up, restoring the judges he’s fired, ungagging the press he’s muzzled and holding a truly fair parliamentary election on Jan. 8. The definition of fair would be one in which someone opposed to Musharraf has an actual chance of getting elected.

Pakistan is still under the state of emergency Musharraf declared on Nov. 3. The emergency was that a lot of people were suggesting the country would be better off without him. The United States is willing to put up with this “one-step-at-a-time” routine because we fear the alternative to Musharraf might be a radical Islamic state hostile to our interests.

Except the radical Islamist appeal is only strengthened by Musharraf’s abuse of power. We better hope he takes a few more “good steps” soon, or our interests could be trampled under a real stampede of resentment.

The danger of police work

The case of Cincinnati Police Sgt. Bryce Bezdek illustrates the everyday danger of police work.

Bezdek is a traffic officer. He doesn’t do undercover narcotics work or hunt down homicide suspects. His job is generally to keep the highways safe – go after speeders and drunk drivers, enforce the myriad traffic rules, investigate accidents.

But today he lies in critical condition at University Hospital with a head injury suffered Sunday afternoon when a car being pursued by other officers plowed through a blockade he was helping to set up.

One instant he’s out on the interstate doing his job, the next he’s near death.
He probably never saw the faces of the suspects in the speeding car that led police on a seven-mile, high speed chase. They were drug suspects, accused of shooting up heroin in a suburban parking lot. The car fled when officers tried to pull it over in Colerain Township. As it approached Downtown Cincinnati Bezdek and another officer were in the median, deploying “stop sticks” to flatten its tires. Police said the suspect driver, Carmella Duley, smashed into a pickup truck and sent it careening toward the officers. It hit Bezdek with such force that one of his uniform buttons was embedded in the truck’s door frame.

No TV-style glamour, no special effects or headline grabbing crime spree. Just people fleeing the law and a traffic sergeant doing his job to stop them. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sgt. Bezdek and his family.

Another side to the foreclosure story

Reader Chris Lemmon of Milford makes an excellent point regarding the home foreclosure crisis, subject of many recent Enquirer articles such as Sunday's Data Center report on A1, Forum and editorial: While the focus of the blame has been on "predatory lenders," complex loan deals and a tough economy, sometimes the families themselves bear responsibility for their plight by "falling into the consumerism trap" – borrowing money to fill their houses with the latest gadgets and enjoying a lifestyle they really can’t afford. Lemmon writes that homeowners have a duty to learn about their finances and act responsibly.

"There are three sides to every story -- the borrower's side, the lender's side, and the truth. I would bet that if you keep digging, you would find some of the borrowers were just plain greedy when choosing to purchase a home they couldn’t afford three years ago and certainly would never have been able to afford when the interest rates were raised," she writes.

While some homebuyers were uninformed, misled or just plain defrauded on the terms of their mortgages, it's a good bet that others simply chose to ignore those terms. In general, our society has all but discarded the notion of saving and spending wisely -- the "consumerism trap." As with most financial and social issues, there is -- or should be -- a strong dose of personal responsibility involved. We deny that need at our collective peril.

What? Wait in line for Santa?

He knows when you've been sleeping. He knows when you're awake. And he knows that, as you dash between toddler gymnastics and play group, you just don't have time to wait in long lines at the mall.

So at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., families can now schedule an appointment for a personal visit with Santa in a "festive, intimate setting" (complete with the opportunity to purchase a DVD and premium 16x20-inch portrait of the special tete-a-tete).

Think of it. No other screaming tots to contend with. No having to worry that you're not getting Santa's full time or attention, or that he'll mix up your request with someone else's.

It's never too early to learn that you're special and that there's always some way to make sure you're not just a face in the crowd. . . .

A royal insult: '¿Por qué no te callas?'

History provides us with many examples of famous catch-phrases – the right words, uttered at just the right time – that have shown the power to change the course of events: FDR’s “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” (This week, I might add the late Mr. Whipple’s “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin,” but the Associated Press is reporting that its true authorship is in question.)

Someday soon, we may be able to add to this list the blunt suggestion, already a hot Internet buzz-phrase and cell-phone ring tone, by an exasperated King Juan Carlos I to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez during a recent summit in Chile: “Why don’t you shut up?” It was a classic and, in the case of Chávez, long overdue case of standing up to a loudmouth bully.

Chávez had disrupted the Ibero-American Summit, calling former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar a “fascist,” adding that “fascists are not human. A snake is more human.” There’s some specific bad blood here related to Spain’s role in a 2002 coup against Chávez. Still, “fascist” is Chávez’ favorite all-purpose insult these days against anyone who disagrees with him. When Aznar’s successor, Chávez ally José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, responded to defend Aznar, Chávez kept shouting over him. The king then wagged his finger at Chávez, exclaimed “tu” (the familiar form of “you”), then demanded: “¿Por qué no te callas?” Chávez fumed and has demanded an apology, although he’s also mumbled something about not wanting to get into a spitting match with Spain.

So Spaniards are loving it. Juan Carlos is already a national hero for championing democratic reforms after dictator Francisco Franco’s death, then thwarting an attempted 1981 military coup. Now they’ve put his phrase on T-shirts and coffee mugs. Videos on the confrontation abound on YouTube. And Spanish newspaper El País reports that a ring tone that does a remix on the king’s words has been downloaded more than 500,000 times.

More important, his words have galvanized anti-Chávez forces within Venezuela. It’s already become the slogan for their resistance to Chavez’ attempt to expand his power even further in a Dec. 2 constitutional referendum. Venezuelan T-shirts with the phrase have the word “NO” in large, uppercase letters, slyly signaling support for a “No” vote on that issue. So events may prove Juan Carlos’ little outburst in Santiago to be another example of the serendipitous power of words.

Sure, most of us would like public discourse on social and political issues to proceed in a civil manner, without name-calling or intimidation. But every once in a while there’s a place for a little incivility against boors, and sometimes the most rational course can be an expression of righteous anger.

For Beshear, lessons from Richard Nixon

A story and a speech this morning made me think about "Nixon going to China."

That's a reference to an historic event with a broad lesson: Significant policy change often takes leadership from a politician taking an unexpected position. The classic example is President Nixon's trip to China after decades of being a vocal opponent of Red China. Nixon made it palatable for other Republicans to shift their views.

Kentucky Gov.-elect Steve Beshear can help the state move forward by adopting that kind of approach to some issues that involve organized labor, both public and private sector.

State Senate President David Williams, a Republican, was in Wilder today talking to a Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce group about how public employee pension costs are an exploding problem for counties, cities and school districts across the state. No one is talking about reducing benefits for current workers, but let's agree that it's crazy that a state trooper could retire after 20 years at age 41 and have full medical benefits at no cost to himself for the rest of his life. No private sector employer can sustain these expenses. According to Williams, the pension fund will have a zero balance by 2022. That's a far-worse scenario than Social Security faces.

Beshear has pledged to deal with this problem. It only can be solved in a bipartisan way that will involve a credible Democrat working with the public employee unions.

The governor also appears to be inheriting a miserable budget situation -- far worse than the surplus outgoing Gov. Fletcher bragged about. Oh, that was before the election. (Over at Pat Crowley's blog today, there is an item about even bigger shortfalls facing Kentucky.)

One obvious way to reduce costs to taxpayers is to repeal all or part of prevailing wage law, which forces government to spend more on construction projects than a private sector developer would have to pay. For example, use a figure of $60 million or more just for projects needed at Northern Kentucky University. If NKU weren't a public institution, it could spend at least $6 million to $10 million less on these projects.

No one likes to see good workers make less money, but I have never been able to understand why wage rates should be higher just because the government signs the checks. The fear is that substandard work would result, but there are lots of other rules and laws governing construction quality, not to mention lawsuit threats. And what contractor would want to be known as the builder of, say, substandard school buildings?

There has been some political talk about at least rescinding prevailing wage for school construction. What a huge help that would be in resource-strapped Boone County, which has to build the equivalent of a new school every year to deal with growth.

Only leadership from a Democratic governor can make reform in prevailing wage happen. I can't think of anything else that would stretch dollars more or save the taxpayers so much, so fast.

Something's wrong with high schools

I'm hoping that last week's "Champions for Education" summit was the start of what has to happen to keep improving schools, not just in Northern Kentucky but throughout the state.

No offense to State Rep. Jon Draud and other candidates for Kentucky's education commissioner job, but I wish I could nominate Kati Haycock for the position.

Dr. Haycock, a national expert on education trends who is president of the non-profit Education Trust, wowed the crowd with a keynote speech that was filled with what I call "Hey, Martha" nuggets -- as in , "Hey, Martha, I didn't know that."

The problem with writing about great speeches, as I'm trying to do here, is that you can't do great speeches justice. Too much gets lost if the reader hasn't experienced the moment. But you can check out details of her presentation by clicking here. (I'd also encourage you to surf around to other areas of the Education Trust site. And you can read our recent, eight-part series on Kentucky schools by clicking here.)

The headline for me from Haycock's speech was this: In Kentucky, as in many other parts of the country, we have made excellent gains with elementary-age and middle school-age kids. But something is happening when these young people hit high school. The earlier gains are being lost. In Northern Kentucky, the percentage of kids at proficiency level in math and reading actually declines by 10 points in reading and 18 points in math between elementary and high school. And U.S. adolescents rank 24th out of 29 developed countries in problem-solving ability.

Haycock also debunked all the knee-jerk excuses you might have for why this is and gave concrete examples of where and how success is being achieved. (For example: "They're teens. It's hormones.") These declines aren't happening in other countries, and these declines are cutting across lines of income, race and class. It's not just about bad parents or whatever social stereotypes one might hold.

"When we really focus on something, we make progress," she said.

We aren't focusing enough on high schools, which means we aren't preparing nearly enough kids for successful lives. This is a critical point for leaders to process in Northern Kentucky, where a lot of laudable effort and money is going toward early childhood programs.

To Haycock, education isn't immunization -- where you "immunize" the youngster against whatever debilitating experiences come later. It's like nutrition -- your body needs constant, good nourishment to stay healthy.

Kentucky Gov.-elect Steve Beshear talked about the need to re-invent high school in his campaign platform. He needs to follow up, and he needs support and energy from every direction.

Health costs poised to consume U.S. economy?

A report issued Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warns that Medicare and Medicaid are on track to explode the federal budget, growing from 4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) today to 12 percent of GDP in 2025. “Without changes in federal law, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid is on a path that cannot be sustained,” the study says. That’s bad enough, but the CBO study’s look at the nation’s overall health-care costs is enough to give us all heartburn. It suggests that if those costs continue to rise unabated, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren may not be able to afford to do much at all except go to the doctor. Total spending on health care, it projects, will rise from an already hefty 16 percent of GDP to a full 50 percent of the nation's economy within 75 years – unless changes are made in federal law.

How can we slow that rise? The study suggests “generating more information about the relative effectiveness of medical treatments and changing the incentives for providers and consumers in the supply and demand of health care.” Simply stated, we still do not know nearly as much as we should about what works and what doesn’t. The current system encourages use of the most expensive treatments, even if they’re not particularly effective, the CBO says. “Comparative effectiveness” research should develop ways to target the most cost-effective options and change the behavior of doctors and patients through financial and other inducements.

But here’s the report’s kicker: The best chance for slowing the growth of health care costs, the CBO admits, comes not from the federal government, which seems unlikely to adopt real reforms, but from the private sector and state governments, which “would almost certainly have more flexibility to respond to (economic) pressure …” Changes there would then “exert some downward pressure” on federal programs. In other words, don’t look to Washington for a solution. It’s going to have to come from the free market, and from the states, those “laboratories of democracy.” That’s why initiatives such as Ohio’s new, bipartisan health-care reform task force, which is studying innovative ways to cover the uninsured and solve other aspects of this growing crisis, are so important.

Case of the missing pants

Should a man be executed when the state says it lost key evidence he insists would support his case?

That’s the situation in Kentucky vs. Brian Keith Moore, convicted of the 1979 murder of Virgil Harris in Louisville. Witnesses described dirt covered clothing the suspect wore.
At the time of the trial there was no such thing as DNA testing, but now there is, and Moore says he never wore the clothes in question.

Jefferson Circuit Judge James Shake ordered the garments tested with today’s technology, but police have been searching through evidence boxes for two months and can’t find the shoes and pants.

Moore claims another suspect, who has since died, set him up to get a deal for himself.
There was other evidence against Moore, but it was dirt on the pants and shoes that were used to place him at the scene of the murder. He insists new tests would cast doubt on whether he ever wore the clothes.

Should he be executed if there is a chance the missing evidence would have cleared him?
He’s been in jail almost three decades. I’d be willing to leave him there.

Anybody out there still reading books?

A National Endowment for the Arts study out later this month will document a decline in reading rates among adults and teenagers and a similar decline in reading test scores.

Other studies have shown that a significant number of children and adults don't read a single book in an entire year, and many children say they never or rarely see their parents read. A recent Book It! study showed that fewer than half of all parents set aside time for bedtime reading with their kids.

How important is reading to your family? What are the challenges to regular reading time -- busy schedules, too much TV, too much homework, too exhausted?

I'd like to interview some families about the struggle to find reading time and some teenagers and adults about how they fit reading into busy schedules. If you'd be interested in talking to me, email me at kramsey@enquirer.com. Thanks!

And people wonder why women don't report rapes

Dexter Ford's trial may show us just how absurdly far the definition of 'consenting adult' can be stretched.

Ford, who is homeless, is charged with the rape of a University of Cincinnati student just beside Taft Road in Avondale. Motorists saw the attack as they drove by and called police. They say the woman is on medication that makes her sleepwalk and was still asleep when they found her after the attack.

Now Ford's attorney said he'll likely use the sleepwalking as Ford's defense. "It goes to consent," he said. "How is he to know she is sleepwalking, if it's a dream 'yes' or a real 'yes'?"

What an insulting and infuriating line of reasoning. Maybe we could use such a defense for rapes of women who are intoxicated, in a coma, on life support. If she can't clearly say no, then the answer must of course be yes.

And certainly the details support the idea of an amorous encounter -- a young college woman, a homeless man, the intimate locale right off an exit ramp for I-71.

Ford has a string of convictions ranging from aggravated arson to possession of drug paraphernalia. I think if he's convicted, he deserves a life sentence, but instead the woman is the one who may end up with one. Ford told police he is HIV-positive.

Vote to put Nuxhall in the Hall of Fame

The Butler County Commissioners are starting a campaign to get native son Joe Nuxhall nominated to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It’s a good move, motivated by sentiment as much as hometown pride. Nuxhall has been fighting cancer and word came Monday that he is back in the hospital. He is a beloved character -- just go read the 200+ comments on the Enquirer's "Nuxhall get well" message board. But Nux, who was the youngest player in major league history when he first took the mound at age 15, deserves the recognition for his baseball achievements.

He is eligible for the Ford C. Frick Award, winners of which are enshrined in the Halls’sbroadcaster exhibit. Generations of Reds fans know Nux for his raspy voice, rather than his arm. He started in the booth 40 years ago and for most of his broadcasts was teamed with play-by-play great Marty Brennaman, who won the Frick award in 2000.

Fans can vote for the award by going to the Hall of Fame Web site. You can vote once a day every day in November. Three of the 10 finalists for the Frick award will be chosen this way.
I agree with the Butler County Commissioners. The Old Left-hander should be one of them.

Signs of the times

I see over on the Politics Extra Blog that Brian Garry, unsuccessful Cincinnati City Council candidate, claims to have "retrieved" all of his campaign signs by noon the day after the election. Good for him, although as some commenters noted, "retrieved" rather than "disposed of" probably means he's put them away in a garage until the 2009 campaign season. Hey, good for him anyway. I suppose it could also mean he didn't have that many signs to start with.

Other candidates should follow his example (of taking the signs down, not necessarily planning the next campaign). For instance, there were still plenty of Melanie Bates and Mitch Painter signs to be seen on the drive in along Columbia Parkway as of this morning.

Marathon Mom

I am personally very happy for Paula Radcliffe, who had a baby and nine months later ran the New York marathon. Go, Paula, go.

Just don't make this one more accomplishment other child-bearing women think they have to aim for.

Pregnancy and the recovery time from childbirth have been, for many women, one of the few sacred times in their lives when they can give themselves a little space, a little grace and respect their bodies without trying to correct or improve upon them.

Pregnancy isn't an illness, as people used to believe, but it is still a tremendously demanding physical event that women need and deserve time to recover from.

Paula Radcliffe is the women's marathon record holder who ran throughout her pregnancy. She did something amazing when she ran a two-hour, 23 minute marathon so soon after giving birth, and she did it beautifully, happily and well.

Other women can celebrate that fact without feeling the urge to extract a performance standard from it.

What's the cause of $100 oil?

Maybe I'm too cynical, but I can't escape the feeling that these skyrocketing oil prices have as much to do with a lot of speculation and game-playing in the oil markets as anything else.

Of course we need to conserve, and of course we need to move as fast as we can to alternative energy supplies. That's a good idea if for no other reason than to protect the environment and shed our dependence on unstable Middle Eastern nations, as columnist Tom Friedman often points out.

But that doesn't mean we should be paying $4 a gallon, which now seems likely in the near future, when real supply and demand don't justify it.

I call your attention to this article from breakingviews.com in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. Some highlights include assertions that oil in storage tanks around the world is near all-time highs, below-ground supplies are abundant and production is increasing due to higher prices that encourage drilling while demand is slowing.

The author, Cyrus Sanati, also has detail on how speculators are "artificially boosting prices." He said it costs Royal Dutch Shell about $9 per barrel to bring a barrel out of the ground while the full cost of production is around $30 per barrel.

That's a pretty hefty markup, even allowing for other expenses. It's Happy Holidays indeed for your friendly oil industry executives, sheiks and day traders.

Thou shalt not break thy cousin's kneecaps, either

Maybe Kentucky’s soon-to-be-ex-Gov. Ernie Fletcher had the right idea after all when he pushed last week to have the Ten Commandments installed at the state Capitol as part of an historical display. He just picked the wrong Ten Commandments. Had Fletcher waited a few days, he would have had access to another set of Commandments that not only would have avoided religious controversy but might have seemed oddly appropriate in Frankfort: the Mafia’s Ten Commandments.

Really. This typewritten list of 10 rules for the Cosa Nostra crime syndicate's associates to live by was among the documents seized by Italian police after their arrest Monday of Salvatore Lo Piccolo, believed to be the new head of the Sicilian Mafia. The Cosa Nostra’s reputed capo di tutti i capi was captured after a shootout at a villa outside Palermo in which the police outnumbered the mobsters 10 to 1. According to news reports, the cops celebrated with champagne at the stationhouse after they brought him in. Nice touch.

The 10 rules form a set of strict guidelines for younger Mafia members to follow. Most of them actually fit in quite nicely with the traditional Judaeo-Christian commandments, and offer guidance that Fletcher & Co. – or Patton & Co., or any other scandal-plagued Kentucky Gov. & Co. since 1971, for that matter – might have benefited from. Like Commandment No. 8: “When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.” Wow. Wouldn’t it be something if government officials anywhere actually lived by that rule?

Here, for the record, are the "Ten Commandments of the Mafia," imported directly from Sicily:
1. No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don’t go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty – even if your wife’s about to give birth.
6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can’t be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn’t hold to moral values.

Do you discuss your salary with your kids?

A small study showing that teens worry about their family's finances has got me thinking. As a kid, I didn't worry about my family's finances much mostly because I didn't know anything about them. Once in a while we had to tighten our belts, but other than that, things like salaries, investments, pensions, even monthly budgets were the stuff of conversations between my parents, not dinner-time talk with us kids.

My husband and I do talk about many of those things with our children. We also talk about for whom we voted, our career plans, how we balance work and family life, what we dream of for our future and how we make decisions. We ask our children's opinions on many of those things.

There's a growing body of evidence that children drive many family decisions, especially how money is spent. There's also concern that, whether from a lack of time or backbone, parents are abdicating their authority and responsibility to their kids.

Those are certainly dangers and ultimately harmful to children. But I believe the move towards more open discussion within families is a good thing. Passing on our values means letting our kids know how we handle credit cards and resolve work concerns, not just telling them what we believe.

The better they see into how we make decisions and handle problems, the better prepared they will be to manage their own lives responsibly.

The trouble with buying friends

When I was in the second grade, I took a small belonging of mine to school every day to give to the class bully, Karen. My goal was to make her my friend or at least keep her from picking on me.

I quickly learned two lessons -- you can't buy real friends and paying off extortionists doesn't work in the long run.

The same dynamics hold true in international political affairs. The United States spends billions of dollars to buy support, if not friendship, and to influence relationships between and among other nations, political factions and interest groups.

Pakistan is the newest example of how wrong that strategy often goes. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been a questionable friend at best, murky in his dealings with Islamic terrorists and brazen in his willingness to suspend the constitution, round up judges and silence media. For this, we've passed on $10 billion in peace offerings.

International relations are complex and often slimy. The U.S. isn't the only nation to do distasteful things to gain influence in a region. But when they don't work -- as they often don't -- we end up being, not only more despised than ever, but shackled to a corrupt leader who becomes a symbol of the greed and immorality of the U.S.

We need wiser long-term strategies -- and to ask ourselves if we're not being both foolish and arrogant to think we can micromanage other nations' affairs.

The riddle of Ernie Fletcher

Now it’s official. Ernie Fletcher is out as Kentucky governor, soundly defeated by Democrat Steve Beshear. What should we make of the ousted governor? I offer these observations:

First, the good. Fletcher was one of the smartest politicians on policy issues I’ve ever encountered. His grasp of the detail of diverse issues was impressive. He had good ideas where Kentucky needed to go and some first-term successes on issues that will take a long time to fix. And he was a great governor for “getting” Northern Kentucky and its contribution as an economic engine for the state.

But leadership success takes more than a brilliant grasp of the issues. Fletcher has reminded me of that. He either is one of the dumbest smart persons I’ve ever met when it comes to seeking and acting on political advice, or he’s just another self-absorbed politician who’ll say and do anything to keep his job.

I’ve preferred to think the former. But after watching the hypocrisy of a “reform governor” getting badly embroiled in an ethics investigation, followed by the mismanagement and pandering of his campaign for the past few months, I’m not so sure.

Fletcher’s campaign started out by a position shift on whether Kentucky voters should be allowed to vote on gambling. All he needed was a straw hat to play Prof. Harold Hill in the Music Man. (You know, Trouble with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for Pool.) And it got worse as the campaign flailed around, trying to find mud that would stick to Beshear. Painting Beshear as a gay-rights advocate didn’t work. Making him look soft on illegal immigration didn't work. They tried suggesting Beshear had ethical problems as an attorney on the collapse of Kentucky Central. They tried the anti-Christian, Ten Commandments gambit on Beshear. And on and on. In the end, Fletcher played to people's prejudices and made himself into a caricature.

They couldn’t even do a good job at pandering to the voters. Where was the classy, eloquent man I saw in his concession speech Tuesday night?

I still have a lot of questions regarding casino gambling in Kentucky. But I liked Beshear's ideas on the three “E” issues that matter most to me – education, economic development and environment. Time will tell if Beshear has the political acumen to navigate the waters that drowned Fletcher.

When Coach is another kid

There are plenty of good reasons school districts are looking outside their own teaching ranks to find coaches and club advisers. Many teachers want to spend their after-school hours focusing on lesson planning or collaborating with colleagues. Some take evening college courses. Others want to be involved in their own children's lives.

But school districts have to think a little smarter than Goshen High School did when it hired 19-year-olds as coaches. Police say Andrew Emerson, a teenage assistant football coach, hosted an alcohol-fueled party attended by students. And cheerleading coach Victoria Schattauer not only snapped a picture of a 15-year-old cheerleader topless, but peeled off her shirt and joined in the shot.

Someone sent the photo to a male friend's phone from which it was -- who could have imagined this? -- passed along from cell phone to cell phone.

Come on, Goshen. Asking teenagers to supervise other teenagers is a risky move. Thinking that it won't lead to social complications is a naive one. Schools get sued routinely as it is. Why invite more trouble?

Championing education in NKY

That was the headline Sunday that kicked off a week-long series by Kentucky Enquirer education reporter Bill Croyle that I hope a lot of people will take time to read.

There is no issue more important to Northern Kentucky -- and, for that matter, the entire metro area -- than education. Imagine finding world-class schools no matter what expressway exit you took. Then couple great schools with the advantages the region already has -- a relatively low cost of living, an attractive location and a great heritage of arts and culture.

There would be no stopping us.

Here are some of thoughts that went through my mind as I read Bill's Sunday and Monday stories:

-- The plumber or electrician coming to your house probably has gone through a lot more training than many people watching our children. According to Kim Townley, a University of Kentucky education professor, these are Kentucky's lax standards for child-care providers:

"You need to be 18, free of tuberculosis and pass a criminal record check," she said. "We know how important it is, yet we say you don't even have to have a high school diploma to do it."

-- The Nov. 14 "Champions of Education" summit will fail unless it attracts a diverse group of parents, taxpayers, business people and others. Educators have a lot of important things to say, but the summit can't just be about educators talking to themselves. To register, click here.

-- Boone County has a model "Success By 6" program to help kids be better prepared to start school. It's expanding to nearby counties, and that's a good thing. Experts say nothing is more important than school readiness. I was surprised to learn how much data and collaboration with teachers is needed.

-- Some troubling stats: In some of our school districts, as many as 1 in 4 students won't graduate high school, and the actual number likely is far worse. Nearly 1 in 4 of our teachers are eligible to retire today. How do we attract and retain great teachers? "You can't look at any (education) data anywhere and say Kentucky is leading the nation in anything," said Barbara Stonewater, director of the Northern Kentucky Council of Partners.

We've organized Bill's stories and links to other resources at a special page at NKY.com. This includes databases of test scores and school report cards. We've also launched a discussion board where you can share your thoughts about what needs to be done.

Gov. Fletcher: Whatever it takes

I've seen some desperate, last-minute election maneuvers in my time, but this one by Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher takes the cake. Click here.

It was no pile-on

Was it just good old fashioned, go-for-the-jugular debating or unnecessarily rough political campaigning in which a bunch of male candidates ganged up on their lone female competitor, leaving her looking flustered and peevish?

That question continues to reverberate after last week's Democratic debate in which front-runner Hilary Clinton took rapid-fire challenges from some of her male opponents.

Former Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro thinks it was out-and-out sexism. "We can't let them do this in a presidential race," she said. "We have got to stand up. It's discrimination against her as a candidate because she's a woman."

Some political analysts say Ferraro's statement and Clinton's later appearance at a press conference wearing boxing gloves -- "Six guys against Hilary," said the man introducing her -- are calculated to win sympathy from female voters.

I think it's a stretch to read sexism into the "attack." The other candidates found a weakness they've been waiting to exploit, a sense that Clinton is too good of a politician, too able to walk alongside a messy issue without getting her feet dirty. They highlighted it. That's good debating in my book.

PAVELISH on THANK YOU CINCINNATI

I would like to take this time to thank the people of Cincinnati and the Tri State for helping me in this run for City Council. The campaign started in January, just before the sudden passing of my wife of thirty years, plus, Kathleen, as a grassroots organization of immediate family and neighbors. Soon it grew to seventeen, then twenty three, and many of those faces were seen at summer church festivals. The hardest workers were my three daughters Tashia, Kelly, and Alex. Without them I would have been in trouble. They were ALWAYS there for me as we are a strong family. And granddaughter Hope was a big help, and a lot of fun.

Also, my sincere thanks go to my friends, neighbors, and others (six hundred of them) who kindly gave me permission to place campaign signs in their yards throughout Cincinnati. Words will never express how thankful I am. God Bless you all. And thank you for putting your trust in me as a independent grassroots candidate. I will remove the signs in short time as promised.

And my final thanks go to the handful of candidates who, behind closed doors actually helped me in this campaign. Though we have different platforms and approaches to Council, we do have the most important thing in common, WE ARE RUNNING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS.

Thank you all for getting involved in the process...

Steve Pavelish for FULL TIME City Council.
http://www.pavelish.com/

On November 6, Vote for John Eby

Alexis de Tocqueville stated ,” The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.” On Election Day the greatest of these functions-Voting- will decide the health of Cincinnati as a new city council will be elected. Like all of the candidates I strongly encourage each of you to exercise this right and privilege that keeps the “democratic experiment” and the American Dream vibrantly alive. It was President John F. Kennedy who urged us “ to seek not the Republican or Democratic answer, but the right answer.”

My campaign has stressed that many of our issues are not democratic or republican issues. They are human issues. I utilize and believe in words like opportunity, inclusion, and diversity. I have promoted building bridges not only on the business/economic level but more so on the human level. All council candidates talk about development. I stressed the most important of all development- human development. What do our decisions do for our citizens? How do they support and promote the general good? Fifteen years ago I chose to live in the city because I wanted a diverse community for my children. I wanted them to experience the greater Cincinnati that I did when I was growing up.

I’ve challenged you to imagine a Greater Cincinnati . A Cincinnati where clean safe streets are the norm. A Cincinnati where quality educational opportunities are there for all children. A Cincinnati where market rate affordable housing can create a higher quality of life for our citizens. A Cincinnati where better jobs lead to better pay and better services for all our citizens.

The great communicator, President Ronald Reagan, reminded us that “Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things. Freedom is the understanding that allows us to recognize shortcomings and seek solutions.” The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed me as a “doer.” The endorsement further said,” Eby may be the hardest-working and best prepared candidate out there. Eby has advanced specific, well thought out proposals. Eby is collaborative. Eby studies issues thoroughly with an engineer’s eye for detail and function.” I am honored by such words. I’m willing to do the best that I can do in seeking solutions to the shortcomings of Cincinnati . It’s time to stop imagining and start realizing our dreams. I’m John Eby and I’m running for city council. Exercise your freedom to vote. Be part of those seeking solutions.

PAVELISH on FINAL THOUGHTS

It's showtime and time to vote. All the candidates have chimed in with with bold promises, recycled plans, and magical solutions to move Cincinnati to the" next level". We have entered (trespassed) your homes with mass mailings of literature, radio ads, TV ads, door to door visitations, and the all famous (disturbing) robo-calls. The landscape is littered with campaign yard signs (some the size of sheets of plywood) and the even bigger billboards. Some candidates have yard signs in approved locations and some candidates prefer to" litter" the right of way along the City streets. And some candidates (or their staff) remove other candidates' signs (and blame it on kids). City politics has a "dark" side that somewhat caught me by surprise. I have run an honest campaign. I have run a respectful campaign. And I am running for the RIGHT reasons. Others, I'm not so sure...My campaign is based on a true grassroots effort, representing all people, all neighborhoods, all the time. My campaign has been free of political party and big money influence. Others, I'm not so sure...

Maybe the biggest surprise to me is that we are a city and nation who depends on government so much. If the schools need improvement, "Oh, a new government plan, policy, and testing will be the fix." I rarely hear the suggestion of personal responsibility and family involvement. And if we need to bring back our traditional neighborhoods, "Oh, we need a City plan. Lets assemble a focus group," and another tax levy to pay for it, instead of (what we should do) using the private sector and private assets to begin and complete the work. Yes, we now rely on government to think and do almost everything for us. Personal responsibility, respect, education, family, and the love of God seems "old fashion" and maybe a thing of the past. Yes, the politicians who come up with the "great" new government proposals and policies are the favored candidates and get the endorsements and media coverage. Yes, these are the "great thinkers". But the truth is, folks, that 42 years of too much government is the problem. 42 years of too much government had destroyed or nation, city, neighborhoods, schools, family, and faith.

But we are a capable people. We can do well all by ourselves. Our lives are best managed when government is a partner and no more. And City Council should learn to deliver the BASIC services and do it well before moving on to other ventures. And please keep in mind that in the last few months you have heard ideas and proposals from NOT THE GREATEST MINDS IN CINCINNATI, BUT THE BEST POLITICIANS...

FINAL QUESTION: How did we go from the "MOST LIVABLE" city of just a dozen or so years ago to the THIRD POOREST??

Cincinnati, be careful. Please be careful... God Bless you all.

Steve Pavelish for FULL TIME, ACCESSIBLE Cincinnati City Council
http://www.pavelish.com/

Candidates, it is time for some final words

The Enquirer Editorial Board opened this blog up to the 25 candidates for Cincinnati City Council more than a month ago. Of the 25, 23 have taken advantage of the opportunity to discuss the issues, lay out their positions and answer questions with the Enquirer's audience.

There are only a few days left in the campaign, so we thought it would be a good idea to suggest that the candidates take a last opportunity to sum up their positions and offer any final messages to the voters.

Thanks to all, candidates and readers, who participated. Good luck Tuesday and everybody please vote.

PAVELISH on FULL TIME COUNCIL

Julie Robers of Mt. Lookout asks the question about Cincinnati City Councilmembers and their part time work status and their true priorities.

Julie , I believe that City Council should be FULL TIME. I believe that Cincinnati is a big time city. I believe that Cincinnati is a major midwest city and FULL TIME leadership is needed. All the statistics show that PART TIME City Hall no longer works. I've campaigned on this since day one. But some politicians feel that FULL TIME Council would" get in the way at City Hall and try to micro manage everything." Even Channel 9 asked me about the micro managing "problem".

I believe that there is MUCH to be done. It would be a full time job just to streamline the building and zoning department. It would also be a full time job to meet with the investors (the ones that have left the City) and convince them to come back to the City, bring their assets, and jumpstart the rebuilding of our traditional neighborhoods. I believe that it is a full time job just to be accessible to our citizens.

But will FULL TIME Pavelish win?? Or will the voters elect part time AGAIN and start all over (on November 7) complaining about lack of a voice at City Hall.



Steve Pavelish for Cincinnati City Council

www.pavelish.com

P.S Julie, thanks for being involved in the process.

Campaign lessons on gambling and family

Before you go to the polls it’s always good to glean as many facts as you can about the issues and the candidates. Here are some recent gleanings that provide some universal electoral lessons.

Kentucky voters who Tuesday will decide the governor’s race between Republican Ernie Fletcher and Democrat Steve Beshear know that the big issue here is the future of gambling in the Bluegrass.

Challenger Beshear wants to pay for lots of new programs by legalizing casino gambling to go with Kentucky’s love of horse racing. He claims the gaming tables will bring in $500 million in new tax revenue per year.

Incumbent Fletcher says gambling is for losers and counting on Beshear’s numbers is a bad bet.

So Kentuckians might want to take note of what’s going on in neighboring West Virginia, where table games were added to slots at the racetracks two weeks ago. Far from diluting the pot, the new games seem to be raking in ever larger piles of cash. Mountaineer Race Track & Gaming Resort showed a 13.6 percent increase in play at the slots since Oct. 19, when it opened up 37 poker tables. Poker play jumped 46 percent from the first week to the second week. The supply of suckers – um, bettors – seems inexhaustible.

Then there is politics as a blood sport; the mayor’s race in tiny Montezuma, OH, (138 registered voters), is between incumbent Charlotte Garman and her younger brother, Daniel Huffman.

He says she has done a great job, but his friends urged him to run and he just couldn’t say no.

She said he’s highly qualified, although he knows nothing about the town’s issues and she has never known him to attend a council meeting.

Hey, lots of towns this size have trouble finding one candidate to run for office.

Ohio enjoys a $5 billion payday

The event received little fanfare, but the state of Ohio received a big budget boost this past week – a wire transfer of $5.05 billion into its accounts. Make that “transfers.” The state’s take from the recent sale of its future tobacco settlement payments was so huge it had to be divided into pieces of less than $1 billion each to comply with Federal Reserve regulations. This is serious cash, folks. Already invested, it’s earning the state $650,000 a day in interest. But government being government, they’ll soon spend it down.

The so-called “securititization” of funds due Ohio from the states’ 1998 agreement with tobacco firms is long overdue. State Treasurer Richard Cordray suggested it early this year, and the idea was eagerly embraced by Gov. Ted Strickland, looking for ways to pay for programs he wanted in the state’s biennial budget. But the concept had been floating around for a long time. Most notably, then-Treasurer Joe Deters argued for it in 1999, but his fellow GOP leaders shot it down.

It’s difficult to see why they would oppose securitization. Although the $5 billion is less than the state would have gotten cumulatively from the $380 million a year it was scheduled receive over the coming decades, it removes the risk that some tobacco firms won’t be operating – at least in the United States – in 20 or 30 years to keep paying up. And that risk is considerable: In 2003, for example, Ohio almost lost out on an $80 million payment until an Illinois judge reduced the amount Philip Morris had to post as bond in a class-action lawsuit. A number of other states sold their interests in the settlement years ago.

Who buys them? Investors who are in a better position to speculate on the future of U.S. tobacco companies than a state government. And there’s no scarcity of those investors. So many placed orders that Ohio could have sold three times as much as it had available. And when the bonds are fully repaid, the state will begin receiving tobacco payments again – possibly in 2031.

What will Ohio do with the money? Strickland wants to put most of it into school construction; much of the rest would go to offset property taxes the state is foregoing with its Homestead Exemption program for seniors. Strickland argues that the construction boom will create jobs. Possibly. At least the unions, which already are helping Strickland write his executive orders, will be happy. But you’d think Ohio would get more bang for the billion by putting it into Third Frontier-type initiatives to develop a 21st century economy – alternative fuel technologies, biomedical and more. Still, Strickland got it done, so it’s his call.