Obama's Beacon of Light Commercial

Cincinnati was the host city for the NAACP annual convention this past week. The convention brought in over 10,000 delegates from around the country. Perhaps even from around the world.


Both presidential candidates were guest speakers at the conference. Barach Obama was in town early in the conference and as expected was warmly received.


Those of us that were not present have been treated to seeing the Senator's non-stop advertisement on the TV this past week. This is the one in which he is wearing a button down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up sans tie and suit jacket. He is addressing a town hall style meeting of ethnically diverse folks that all nod in agreement with his words. He says, and I quote,


"We are a beacon of light around the world. At least that's what we can be again. That's what we should be again. The single most important national security threat that we face is nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. What I did was reach out to Sen. Dick Lugar, a Republican, to help lock down loose nuclear weapons. We have to lead the entire world to reduce that threat. We can restore America's leadership in the world. I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message."


The commercial facts are accurate. Lugar and Obama co-sponsored a bill that made it easier for the United States and its allies to track and interdict shipments to terrorists of weapons of mass destruction. It also included $25 million to finance the destruction of conventional weapons in the former republics of the old Soviet Union. The bill was folded into a State Department measure and passed the Senate by unanimous consent, instead of a voice vote in December of 2006. I suppose the purpose is to show that Obama can work with Republicans if elected.

Well the premise of the bill was very good, but the Soviet Union is no longer a threat. Iraq and Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Lebanon are the countries that seem to have the corner on the terrorism market. Iran is taunting the world by saying, "We are poor little lambs just trying to build a nuclear power plant. We would never build nuclear weapons. Please do not pay attention to that man behind the curtain providing weapons to Lebanon and Palestine."

Senator Obama cannot wait to become President so he can pull the United States armed forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe he is working with Dick Lugar on another bill to finance the destruction of conventional weapons in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

As far as being a beacon of light around the world, those are glorious words for a politician to say. It beats, "I promise two chickens in every pot."

Words like that might have worked for Jubilation T Cornpone and Henry Hill, but this is 2008. We want substance and action.

If The Ocean Was Whiskey...

When I was a kid, my Dad owned a couple of small neighborhood grocery stores. He named them the Dixie Food Market. There was one in Latonia Kentucky on the corner of 45th and Decoursey Pike. He had a package liquor license for both businesses.

In the middle of the Decoursey store was a cage in which he kept the liquour under lock. Of course he was not afraid of it escaping. But he was concerned about theft. Every Sunday morning he had to put boards on the outside of the liquor cage to prevent it from being seen. It's a Kentucky law.

Mostly what he sold was whiskey. It came in all shapes and sizes of bottles and it had interesting names like Ol' Grandad, Crab Orchard, Old Crow, Heaven Hill, JTS Brown, Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Old Forester, Kentucky Tavern, Ancient Age, Rip Van Winkle, Four Roses. I could go on and on.

Today my wife and I went to the Party Store in Bellevue Kentucky to shop. I have never been a fan of whiskey, much less a drinker of alcohol. I confess to being drunk on only two occasions, both of which I have regretted. At the Party Store I decided to walk down the whiskey isle to see if those old brands were still being produced. It brought back memories. Because it was up to me as a lad of 11 or 12 to put up the whiskey on the shelves of that old liquor cage. So I knew most of the brands.


What I saw at the Party Store was a shocker. My dear Daddy would have been amazed.


As an explanation, the normal size bottle of whiskey is called a fifth, which means a fifth of a barrel. This is 750 ml. A quart of whiskey, 1000 ml, is slightly larger than a quart of milk, which is 947 ml. A fifth of Jack Daniels was priced at $44. The smaller sized bottle, 375 ml, sold for $24. Unbelievable!

The old favorite at my Dad's store JTS Brown was a mere $16 for a fifth. Most of the popular labels that I recall from my youth that sold for around two or three bucks were now in the $40 price range. I even saw some imported and domestic products that were selling for over $500 a fifth!

Those old railroad engineers that used to come into Dad's business to get a bottle to keep them warm on their long trips wouldn't have been able to afford whiskey at today's prices. As I remember a fifth of JTS Brown or Old Crow sole for $3.75 back in the day.


I'll finish my Brita filtered, pitcher-aged Newport Tap now.

Have Gun Will Travel

...reads the card of a man"


This was one of my favorite TV shows. It was in an era when the most popular television series were Westerns. The Lone Ranger, Wild Bill Hickock, Rin Tin Tin, Maverick, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, Wanted Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson.

I could go on an on.

Have Gun Will Travel stands out from the rest for several reasons. Each show was a morality play. It was probably one of the few shows to be on television before becoming a radio series. The main character is never identified by his real name. He is called Paladin.


Paladin is a name derived from ancient Roman times and was a high level government official or one belonging to Palatin Hill, the home of the emperor. It later was used to identify the 12 retainers or knights of King Charlmagne that protected him and did good works. It is from the latter definition that the character is named.


Oddly enough he is named in the first episode. To pay off a gambling debt, he is forced to hunt down and kill a mysterious gunman named Smoke. As Smoke lay dying of a bullet wound, he reveals that he was not a criminal gunfighter, but a protector of the helpless and disinfranchised. He calls his killer a "noble Paladin". Not only did the name stick, but Paladin adopted the all-black clothing that Smoke wore and became the avenging angel of those in need.


Paladin lived in The Carlton Hotel in San Francisco and lead the life of a dandy as he enjoyed the finer things in life. According to his history, he was a West Point graduate and an officer in the Union Army. He spoke many different languages and was well read in the classics. He was also a world traveler and had a passion for the law. He only killed when necessary. Frequently he would quip lines from classical works. You could also tell he was a military historian as he would strategize out his plan to overtake his opponent. When he was in his gunfigher persona he dressed in a black hat, black shirt, black jeans and black boots. His gunbelt and holster were black. He wore a black mustache.

At the Carlton Hotel, Paladin has a Chinese servant named Hey Boy that sets up his appointments, greets any guests, takes messages and does everything else required of a gentleman of leisure. Paladin charges a steep fee for his services. $1,000 plus expenses.

Paladin carried a Colt 45 caliber handgun in a fancy black holster with the knight head chess piece engraved in silver. The handgrips of the Colt were made of ivory. In his belt was a 2 shot derringer that he often had to use. On his saddle was a Winchester 1892 rifle with the logo engraved in the rifle's buttstock. Inside his gunbelt was a hidden Lady Derringer that he frequently had to use.

As impressive as his arsonal was his business card. A picture of it closed the show as Johnny Western (that's the singer's name) sings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7hcoyE-Bow">

"Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.
A knight without armor in a savage land.
His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind.
A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin.

Paladin, Paladin Where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin, Far, far from home.

He travels on to wherever he must
A chess knight of silver is his badge of trust.

There are campfire legends that the trailmen spin.
Of the man with the gun Of the man called Paladin.

Paladin Paladin Where do you roam?
Paladin Paladin Far, far from home
Far from home. Far from home."

The show lasted for five seasons and the main character was played by Richard Boone.

On Being Of Irish Heritage

I love my job. I sit in front of a computer, pull up data and talk with people all day. It beats the heck out of digging ditches or working in retail. The folks I talk with are usually nice and happy for the information and suggestions that I offer.

I normally greet people by announcing that my name is O'Hara. I think that greeting is fairly straight forward. I pronounce it clear as a bell. "OH-HAIR-AH" However the usual comment is, "Oh, like the Airport?" Well no, that would be O'Hare. Or I get, "You say your name is Hair?"...or "How do you spell that? You mean there is an OH", which inevitably leads to the question, "Is there also an apostrophe?".



But the thing that irks me is when I hear someone say, "Oh, so you're an Irishman." Well not really. My great, great grandfather, who was long gone before I came on the scene might have migrated from Ireland. My family never talks much about it. But I'm from Kentucky.



Years ago when I first started going out with the girl that became my wife, her father would taunt me with Irish slurs. "You know that an Irishman is nothing but a N (fill in the N word) turned inside out" or "My daughter could do much better than to go out with an Irishman." I ignored his lack of tolerance and chalked it up to the times in which he was raised.





However whenever someone says to me, "Oh, so you're an Irishman" I have to wonder when they speak with Jose Lopez do they pose the question, "Oh, so you're Mexican?" or when they talk to Janice Ngorski do they say, "Oh, you're Polish" or when Letiesha Jones speaks with them do they pose the question "Are you Black? Well you don't sound Black."

I'm certain the folks mean well and are just making small talk. I go along with it.

Heck being anything Celtic is cool in this age. It's big at Irish Heritage festivals and Renaisance festivals to have a Celtic surname. Now if I could only learn how to play my guitar in DADGAD tuning.

Ohio Is Missing The Point

In yesterday's news I read the State of Ohio is being sued by the manager of the downtown Cincinnati Hustler store. For those of you that are not aware, Hustler is a dirty book store that sells pornography.

Ohio implemented a law in January that requires those convicted of sexual crimes to register as sex offenders. Most states have adopted similar laws to the benefit of society. However Ohio's law would require those that pander obscenity by selling obscene materials to register as sex offenders.

I certainly have no use for the Hustler store or any other store of it's nature. Such establishments are blights on our community. However there are legitimate establishments that sell material that may be construed to be obscene.

I love to read and I visit Barnes and Nobles, Borders and Joseph-Beth Booksellers on a regular basis. All of these stores sell books and magazines that under Ohio's law or by any reasonable person could be considered obscene. Will the clerks at these bookstores be subject to the sex offender law?

Ohio's law was derived from National Child Exploitation Bill that was signed into law last July. This bill created a national data base of child molesters and required that anyone convicted of such a crime register with local government as a sex offender.

Many states have carried this a step further and labeled anyone convicted of a sex crime, whether the victim is a minor or an adult, as a sexual offender and require they register. The names are published and are searchable via the internet.

http://www.familywatchdog.us/

It is my opinion that Ohio is overstepping the spirit of the law. The law was conceived to identify those that have been judged as criminals that potentially could become repeat predators. These are people that have already committed heineous physical acts against someone and need be avoided at all costs. I appreciate the data base and have viewed it several times. I have identified two offenders that live not far from my home.

I believe that causing sellers of books to register under this act is without merit and dilutes the law. Ohio needs to revise it's code.

More on Human Trafficking

Last time I voiced my opinion about CityBeat Magazine running advertisments for establishments that promote pandering and illicit sexual activity. The key point of my rant was aimed at such establishments that promote sexual slavery. A recent raid of Asian massage parlors in the area brought this fact to light.






On the drive home today I listened to a public radio program called The World.

The subject was about a Mexican woman. After being married for several years her husband plotted with his friends to sell her into sexual slavery. According to the program this mode of operation happens time and time again. Young Hispanic men sweet talk girls into marriage for the purpose of entrapping them into bondage in the sex industry in tourist towns such as Tijuana and Alcapulco.





This is the year 2008 which is 143 years after our own Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation and we are nearly 50 years from the horrible race riots and the death of Martin Luther King. Yet there are those in our own country and the country that borders us and slavery still exists.

CityBeat's Community Values

There's always something happening on the River. So goes the words of an old song.

In Cincinnati it's a fray between the Citizens for Community Values and CityBeat, a newspaper that is distributed for free to anyone curious about the liberal slant in the city.


First here is a little history. The Citizens for Community Values is an organization started and run by a fellow named Phil Burress.

He is a former union negotiator for trucking companies and is now working full time in his crusade to save Cincinnati from porno, pandering and strip clubs. He has been quite successful in his venture. He has also developed a reputation as a bully by doing whatever it takes to get the job done. Phil acknowledges that he was a former porn addict and by turning away from that lifestyle he saved his life.

CityBeat can be found in dispensers around the city for free. It is published on a weekly basis and it a nice source of what is going on around the greater Cincinnati area. The news and editorial content of the paper are extreme left wing and in my opinion sometimes border on being ridiculous. But then there are some columns that are very enjoyable to read. By the fact that I am aware of the papers content demonstrates that I look at it on a regular basis.

So why the fray? In it's back pages CityBeat includes many adult services advertisements. Adult services are code words for prostituion, but I suppose you cannot say what you are really selling and still maintain an air of legality. Some of the advertisements are fairly large and others are 3 line classified ads.

A month ago there was a major prostituion raid in Cincinnati, southern Indiana and northern Kentucky that shut down a number of Asian massage parlors. These establishments were well advertised in CityBeat.

The owners of the parlors/brothels were all of Asian descent. It was determined by law enforcement the owners had brought young women into the country for the sole purpose of prostitution. In an effort to give the appearance of legality the owners stated they were merely receiving 100% of the money the ladies obtained for the legitimate massage and any profiting by the women was up to those women. They further admitted that was the only way the ladies were paid.

The CCV held a press conference to announce it's plans to require CityBeat to stop running ads for adult services. The organization had signatures of prominent Cincinnati officials on it's petition. CityBeat was not invited to attend the conference. CityBeat later unleased an editorial and held it's own press conference on Fountain Square. Their reply was they would do what they damn well pleased and would the CCV mind it's own business.



In my opinion, people that are looking for prostitution are going to find it. As the world's oldest profession it is sadly not going away. It is a sad, sad business that is morally, physically and spiritually degrading to both parties. I have to agree with the Citizens Committee when they said that CityBeat's continuation of the ads is all about money. Those ads pay the rent. 



On the other hand, CityBeat points out that other publications, such as the phone directory also carry those advertisements.

What really bothers me is what touched off this debate. One of the indicted owners of the Asian massage parlors admitted to the police that she had driven 40,000 miles this past year delivering girls to massage parlors throughout the country. To get this same lady out of jail, her bail was set at $50,000 cash. Her husband posted the bail by reaching in his pocket for a large roll of bills and pulled out $50K, handed it to the baliff and stuffed the rest in his slacks.


These people are making a very large amount of money by dealing in human trafficking aka slavery. If CityBeat continues to run ads promoting this type of business, they are turning a blind eye to a shameful problem. And that is wrong!



150 years ago in this same part of the country were printing firms that produced newspapers and posted advertisements for slave auctions. The Toni Morrison book, movie and opera about Margaret Garner, the escaped slave that killed her daughter, to prevent her child from being returned to slavery actually occurred not far from where I now sit.
I would think that CityBeat, a liberal publication that prides itself on sharing the views of the downtrodden and promotes freedom and free thought, would abhor slavery. Yet they are vehement in their right to publish advertisements for businesses that promote human trafficking.

Why would they want to stand toe to toe with those printers and publishers that in years gone by printed posters announcing sales of slaves? Were not those same enteprenuers as culpable in the slave trade as the slave owners?

I'll tell you the reason. Money!

Shingles

First I have heart problems. And now my torso is covered with an itchy, bumpy rash.


I mowed the lawn a couple of weeks ago. I'm very allergic to poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac and other nasty weeds, so I'm very good about taking a shower after mowing to get any fluid from the weeds off of my skin. However shortly after this I noticed a patch of what looked like contact dermatitis on my right side. I tried using over the counter remedies such as cortizone and calamine lotion but didn't have any good results.

This week it started spreading across my upper torso and around my neck so I went to the doctor to have it looked at. By golly I have Shingles.




It's itchy and nasty and the prognosis is that when the rash goes away I will be in pain. Lucky me. Lucky, lucky me!






I feel that I should put on a hood, ring a bell and scream "unclean! unclean" whenever I come in contact with people. This is the pits.

If you are not aware, Shingles is caused by a herpes zoster virus that lays dormant in the nerve roots of anyone who has ever contacted Chicken Pox aka vericella zoster virus. So as you get older and fondly remember those wonderful ol' days of your youth and long to relive your childhood, your body says to you, "OK Bub. You wanna' remember your childhood? How about when you had the chicken pox? That oughta' teach you."

Shingles is contagious until the blisters scab over, which is factual, but totally disgusting. If you had chicken pox as a child, then shingles is not contagious to you. If you are a child or an adult who has never been immunized or not contacted chicken pox, then exposure to someone with shingles will result in chicken pox.


Be careful of what you wish for.

End of lesson.