Updates to my Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

These updates will take effect on May 25, 2018.
You are receiving this update in light of recent changes to data privacy laws.
As the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect, I am taking this opportunity to better describe my practices and make it easier for you to understand what information I collect and why I collect it.
5chw4r7z's updated Privacy Policy gives you a clear explanation of how I treat Customer Personal Data.
I promise not to share, spread or gossip about any of your personal data.
As long as you're buying the beer and cigars.
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books

People should talk about books more than they do.

We used to, before social media. Books take too long. Why invested hours and hours in a book when a facebook update only takes ten seconds?
At the same time, how do you think of new things? Imagine new things?
Books are the best way I know.
I've realized things this summer reading that I wondered why I didn't know when I was 20.

Somehow, this ended up as the summer of heavy books.
Not physically heavy. Mentally heavy. Maybe even spiritually heavy.
The Buried Giant and The Regional Office is Under Attack! two books that the authors could have written in a number of different ways. However they chose to write them in the most beautiful way possible. The books are works of are art.

A couple of the books, as I read the last sentence no matter how hard I squeezed my eyes shut the tears still leaked out.

These are a couple books that changed my view of the world and myself.

The Buried Giant / Kazuo Ishiguro.
The Regional Office is Under Attack! / Manuel Gonzales.
Blindsight / Peter Watts.
Dark Orbit / Carolyn Ives Gilman.
A Burglar's Guide to the City / Geoff Manaugh.
The Cartel and The Power of the Dog / Don Winslow.
Anathem / Neal Stephenson.
And every book you can find by Paolo Bacigalupi.
[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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There are both people who want change and people who fear change

Just over 14 months ago I expressed the hope that the events that led up to Ferguson would be a turning point in racial relationships and dialog in America.
That was really naive of me, the status quo will never willingly change.
I got a good education yesterday from the supercilious experts on facebook. Just like everything else, caring about your fellow man has become highly politicized. If you express concern for another human being you're a liberal. I thought caring just made me a decent human being.
Someone even posted a study showing African-Americans were less likely to be shot than whites. This is where we are now, rationalizing the murder of black men. Not that we haven't all been victim blaming for years.
Black lives right now in America absolutely do not matter.
And that is a damn shame.

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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they say you can't buy happiness

who the hell are they anyhow?

millionaire CEOs trying to beat next quarters projections by keeping wages low

the working poor trying to make themselves feel better about things they can't afford

people in the burbs trying to keep up with the Jones' and jealous of a neighbor's latest purchase

you absolutely can buy happiness, you just have to spend it on the right things

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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we all have blood on our hands

Whatever the fuck it is we've been doing it isn't working. We are actually enabling mass murder not discouraging it.
And I get it, I really do. The idea of not owning a gun is more disturbing to people than a mass shooting. But how many more Americans have to die so people can own assault weapons?
I wish I was more articulate because words are failing me right now. 30,000 Americans are killed every year by guns. What can we do exactly? We seem to have painted ourselves into a corner on this issue.
The conservatives want to pray, the liberals want stricter guns control laws. Neither of these two things are currently working. Sooner or later people will need to get angry and demand change.


[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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giving up your gun is more horrifing than mass murder

That's the only lesson I can take away from what is happening in America right now. I've asked this before, what other thing in America can kill people day in and day out (besides cars which is whole other blog post) and most Americans don't care.
My blog hero Tony Pierce who I wish I could write more like summed it up succinctly;

"if raves killed 12 people one day,
and 3 people the next day,
and 8 people the day after that
dumbass raves would be illegal by the end of the month.

if chicken fried steak killed people
and babies
and kids
and moms
and United States veterans who had just returned home from serving our country
day after day after day after day

you wouldnt see anyone being allowed to sell no chicken fried steak"
[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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Issue 22, the mayor wants to spend all the money

Saturday morning the Cincinnati Democratic party held a meeting on whether to endorse Issue 22. Two of the speakers seemed to encapsulate why most people are concerned with this permanent property tax.

Tim Mara is an attorney who is active in many environmental organizations. he was very outspoken against the stadium tax in the mid 90s.
"Burnet Woods, (a place the mayor wants to develop with restaurants and beer gardens) is designated by the Audubon Society as an “Important Birding Area,” a rare honor for such an urban location.
The proposed Cincinnati Parks Levy is, in actually, a proposal which could devastate our park system. It is a scheme to open up our treasured parks to development for the profit of a few."

Local civil rights activist Marian Spencer "our living legend"
"Paying debt back for the projects proposed would take an excess of 25 years. Can't repeal a tax until the debt is paid."
I've heard from reliable sources that Marian Spencer said later in the day the mayor called her and berated her over this statement.

Which lead me to this epiphany, there has been speculation about what a future mayor will do with this money which is completely off the mark.
The current mayor plans to spend all the money right now!
Whats to stop him from spending 500 million in the next year? We'll be paying his cash give away off for the next 100 years.


[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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nothing says public park like a chain-link privacy fence

While everyone is debating Issue 22, the Cincinnati Parks Levy, I hope they keep in mind the levy will only fund capital costs, not operating costs. Which means the city can build new parks, but not pay for ongoing operations.
What does this mean?
There are clues, our tone-deaf and relentlessly ill-equipped one man disaster "Accidental Tourist" of a mayor says he thinks private events like ones at Washington Park will pay for operations. So while we are paying for these new parks, the mayors buddies will be putting chain-link privacy fences around them and hiring hamfisted security guards to keep the public out. This is what we will be paying for, big money guys using dog parks as their smoking area and a permanent levy funding the mayors private checkbook.
Vote no on 22!

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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an open letter to our accidental tourist of a mayor

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an accidental tourist of a mayor and a taxpayer funded checkbook

Interestingly enough for some reason I have never heard anyone in Cincinnati complain about funding for parks. In spite of that when I heard about the new Charter Amendment to fund parks I thought "awesome!" who doesn't love parks. But the more I heard about the amendment the more ominous it began to sound. I was planning to post about it anyhow when I came across a breakdown of the amendment and what it implied from Ohioans for Taxed Constituents

Article VIII “AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CHARTER OF CINCINNATI TO ENSURE A SUSTAINABLE AND VIBRANT CINCINNATI PARK BOARD SYSTEM. ”

The first concept that voters and media need to understand is the difference between the Capital and the Operating Budget of the City of Cincinnati. This tax levy will raise money for Capital expenditures only and will NOT include a single penny for day to day operations of these new facilities or their day to day maintenance.
This levy would create the means to buy more park land and build on current Cincinnati Park land, but not give a single penny for the day to day normal operation of the park property even though increasing the number of buildings and facilities would increase the operation costs of the Cincinnati Parks.
The proposed Article would create an unsustainable situation which could even lead to the need to sell off Cincinnati Park land and facilities to pay for the operations of the other Park properties.
The second last paragraph of the proposed Charter Amendment contains a condition that is not guaranteed to any other Department in the City and comes with no way to pay for it. The 2nd last paragraph guarantees that, despite anything that is happening in the City that the Cincinnati Park Board would continue to get at least $2.3 million for its Capital Budget from the whole Cincinnati Capital Budget that all of the City Departments compete with each other for: including roads, police, fire, recreation, health and human services.
Besides tying the next City Government to the debt and unsound decisions made by the previous Administration, this Charter Amendment reduces the power of City Council and blurs the line between the Executive and Legislative Branches by the clause in the last paragraph of the Charter Amendment.

The most worry some potion of the ammendment is this in Section 9

(c) The remaining seventy-five percent (75%) of levy revenue shall be made available to the board of park commissioners to be spent in accordance with a parks capital levy program recommended by the mayor and approved by board of park commissioners.

We would be giving the mayor of Cincinnati a taxpayer funded checkbook forever. Future mayors and councils will be paying these off these expenditures with their hands tied for years to come.
You still want to vote yes just because you support the current mayor? Here is another reason to vote no on it. Say I run against the promise breaker and win. Guess what I'm doing. The entire streetcar route is getting turned into a parkway for streetcars, pedestrians and bikes only.
I'm voting NO.
[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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cycle paths vs psycho-paths

I've been wrestling with why bike paths, hell riding bikes, are so controversial. On the face of it bike riding would seem to be the most harmless activity in the world. Fresh air, exercise, sunshine! What's to hate.
But for some reason commuting by bike draws more angst than anything else in the city after the streetcar.
It got me to thinking about society and laws. Because what else binds society together besides rules, spoken and unspoken? And the unspoken rule is apparently that contributing members of society have to own and drive a car. I don't make up the rules but too many people have told me that my friends and I need to grow up and buy a one.
Could it be as simple as the entire issue is sour grapes over cyclists getting out of the car payment and road rage game?

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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red light cameras: the answer to the wrong question

When it comes to roads and traffic people are always asking the wrong questions. And once they become fixated on the wrong question they hang on to it like Captain Koons hung onto that watch in Pulp Fiction.
What is the best way to enforce red lights? Seems like a logical question. But its the wrong one.
I've been thinking about this because every time a light turns red downtown, up to four cars blast through it. 5th St and 7th St in the morning are particularly bad, you have to keep your wits about you.
I can think of two right questions, how about...

1) Why do drivers feel entitled to run red lights endangering pedestrians, bicyclist and other motor vehicle operators?

or

2) Why do traffic engineers design intersections that encourage drivers to run red lights?

Lets find the right question before we debate and outlaw the wrong answer.
[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
4 red lights ran

No justice, no peace

I try not to blog much about politics and national affairs because I'm not good at it. But this has been bothering me since last August.
I think years from now people will look back at right now as a turning point. Unfortunately, right now we live in a post-fact, victim-blaming world. There are serious human rights violations going on in this country and most everyone looks the other way.
Well guess what? It is not ok for police to murder Americans in the backs of vans. The media goes on and on about the riots when the protests and violence could easily be avoided. If we can't trust the people who are supposed to protect and keep us safe then what is the point?
The government should be apologizing and back pedaling but what do they do instead?
They double down.
A peaceful protest? Send shield and club wielding riot police in.
The tension isn't high enough yet?
Send in the National Guard with assault rifles. To confront Americans. In an American city. And who does everyone mock? The protesters. It makes no sense to me.
It sickens me that people think a citizen smashing a car window is somehow worse than the police murdering young African-Americans.
It is also not amusing that white society, after having carried a campaign of genocide against Native Americans, having fought a bloody civil war over slavery and then dropping a nuclear bomb on Japan, is telling the black community to calm down and be quiet.
I can't imagine what it must be like to go through life having society tell you your life doesn't matter. Then killing your friends or family indiscriminately to prove it.
African-Americans being angry and pushing back against a government that is terrorizing them is not a riot, it's a rebellion.

“Looting, too, is about power. ... Something you’ve been told you can’t have because you’re not human enough to live, let alone prosper.” ~ Mia McKenzie


[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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mono no aware

You better pledge your allegiance
You're not the only one
Listen up forefathers
I'm not your son
You better count your blessings
Kiss mom and pa
You better burn that flag
Cause
it
ain't
against
the
law!

~ the orwells[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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secret cigar society

River City News a few weeks ago ran a story on how many new bars and restaurants in Northern Kentucky are opening up smoke free. There was a good debate going on in the comments, not as brain dead as the commenters in Cincinnati's newspaper.
I mentioned that I hated that the law passed in Ohio as I liked to enjoy a cigar once in awhile. But after it passed surprisingly enough, I loved it. Its amazing to go to a bar and wake up in the morning without burning eyes, a sore throat and smelling like an ashtray.
Someone replied warning me about the slippery slope of surrendering rights.
DUDE, I said, police are gunning down unarmed American civilians in the street and you're worried about the state taking away your right to smoke in a bar?
People are crazy.

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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the right to lie in Cincinnati

The right to lie, yes it could be argued is lawful but is it right? This was a three year fight for the Clermont County based hate-group coast after Cincinnatians for Progress filed a complaint against them. The complaint came about after repeated tweets from from the group stating the streetcar was causing fire station brownouts. The city attorney at the time provided the group with all the documents needed to show the statements were false. But the Clermont county group was never one to let facts get in the way of their ideology.

The pertinent line in the ruling is; "...whether the state may force citizens to defend the “truth” of their political critiques before bureaucrats who may well have been appointed by the politicians being criticized"

Makes sense, but still the question is, it might be legal to lie but is it ethical?
[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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does Cincinnati have a self esteem issue?

When we hit Portland one of the places Ms 5chw4r7z wanted to try was Vodoo Doughnut. If you're on social media and follow people who travel you can't avoid the place. I've been seeing pictures of lines out the door for years. We tracked the place down, paid our dues in line and got our donuts. I have to say if I had ate them a year ago they would have been the greatest donuts I've ever tasted. But since Holtman's opened in OTR they're just awesome donuts, just as good as Holtman's.
Which got me thinking, there was a social media frenzy after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featuring OTR and a Cincinnati story in the New York Magazine.
Cincinnati has a self esteem issue. are we a little too desperate for validation?
The more I've traveled the more I've come to appreciate just how awesome the Queen City is.
The food scene is second to none, Cincinnati has architecture with a sense of history other cities would kill for.
Why does Cincinnati care so much about what everyone else thinks?




[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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The Square People

The Square People as defined by Thomas Friedman are "all those newly connected and aspiring middle classes".
Friedman says that leaders are finding that Square People are "a spontaneous third party that has emerged between themselves and their tame traditional opposition and, as a result, their politics is getting a bit crowded — and a lot more interesting."
He is talking about people in the middle east but I couldn't help but draw some parralells to what has happened in Cincinnati.
Friedman goes on to say that before the Internet a protest required the tedious work of organizing and this helped build infrastructure for decision making and strategies for sustaining momentum.

With social media we completely skipped that step, it makes for rapid response. Remember the frustration the mayor and some on council expressed when their supporters were outnumbered by 100 to 1 in council meetings for the streetcar and Central Ave bike lane?
This is The Square People's greatest strength.
But also their greatest weakness because at the end of the day nothing has fundamentally changed at 801 Plum St.
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the chronicles of never

I used to get defensive when I would hear things like "I would live downtown but there is no grocery" or "I would live downtown but there is nowhere to park" I was exhausted from constantly defending my decision to live downtown.
And of course the response to every new development was and still is it will spread crime and/or you'll get shot/mugged.
But now that I realize none of this is a reflection on me; I accept these comments as what they are. I've figured out that living in the urban core is a litmus test for a person willing to take on a certain level of bullshit to be close to the action. The closer you get to the fire, the hotter it is, but close to the fire is where the steel is forged.



The people I want to know are the people who view all those situations as constraints, hurdles and sometimes inspiration.
Those are the people I want rub elbows with, the fighters, the movers and the shakers. I'm always hoping some of that spirit rubs off on me.
I'm not criticizing anyone, everyone is as entitled to their opinion as I am. I'm just talking about how my personal view of the negativity has evolved.
[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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a couple cold days don't disprove climate change

It doesn't prove it either.
People have short memories, and attach too much relevance to anecdotal evidence, no one ever claimed that seasons don't exist anymore. Having a couple brutally cold days in January doesn't disprove climate change. Like anything else you have to step back and look at trends, not the unique experience you had yesterday.
Cincinnati had 38 days of 0° or lower temps in the 70's, 42 days in the 80s, and just 38 days from 1990-2013.
For those math challenged that is an average of 3.8 below zero days a year during the 70's, 4.2 days a year during the 80s and just 1.65 days a year from 1990 until now. So if you feel like this cold weather is unusual and you're less than 24 years old you are 100% correct.
It is unusual.

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