The Mighty Mississippi postage stamps

Not everyone cares. But I do. I send letters and notes and I like pretty or interesting stamps. My local USPS branch has diddly squat for stamp selection. The last time I was there the selection was four black history designs and one lunar New Year and a Valentine abstract beyond recognition. I bought the Valentine. Then I went home and looked on-line. It took about a week and $1.70 shipping and handling, but I now have some lovely "Mighty Mississippi" and "Historic railroad stations of the United States." The Mississippi river sheet is 10 different states (without location), and the rail stations block is 5 cities, although I only recognized Cincinnati, which by the way is spectacular if you ever want to see wonderful public art.

I suspect no one knows the location of the Illinois stamp "In Illinois, a sailboat passes limestone bluffs adorned with fall foliage in a photo by Walter Blackledge." (Waterways journal) I asked Chat and it gave me word salad. The closest I came was a comlex description of the limestone bluffs, only 2 small towns nearby.

https://www.usps.com/

Franklin Country death rate from Covid: .0066

I've been looking at the Ohio "Dashboard" for Covid this morning. The state fatality rate is .012 from Covid with 922,143 cases and 11,695 deaths. If your loved one has died of Covid, that's 100% for your family, however, closing down the state and listening to terrifying news every evening for .012 death rate seems callous for the rest of us, especially the elderly who can't see their families, and the young adults whose careers and businesses have been shattered.

Now a look at the counties. Huge differences in cases and death rates. Our three largest counties are

Franklin (Columbus, the largest, has gained 13.2% since the 2010 census), death rate .0066

Cuyahoga (Cleveland which was the largest in the 2010 census, but has lost 3.5% in a decade) death rate .013

Hamilton (Cincinnati) death rate .0069

Franklin Co. had the most cases, and the lowest death rate.

I looked at the race/age/poverty figures, and Cuyahoga (Cleveland) is older, with a larger minority population, and higher poverty rate. I'm no expert in statistics, but the spread between the races appears much smaller than the age spread. Because the co-morbidities increase with age, this could be the reason. In developing countries, for instance, the death rate is lower than the U.S. and Europe even though they don't have as good a health system. They have younger populations. (And maybe they were allowed to use HCQ?)  My friend Anna Loska Meenan, a retired physician, says India’s death rate is a fraction of USA, and they can buy HCQ over the counter.  Trump was right and was demonized by the media and the medical establishment.

https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards?

Board of Elections allows resident of Korea and Chicago to vote in Ohio

An interesting challenge here in Ohio failed—2 Democrats on the Board of Elections.  Although the challenged failed, this is why we need voter integrity checks—the people hired to do the job, don’t.

“The Board of Elections last Monday denied a challenge put forth by Mary Siegel of Ohio Voter Integrity Project in a three to one vote, despite overwhelming evidence that one Randy Simes did not meet Ohio's residency requirements in order to register and vote in the September 10, 2013 Mayoral Primary.

Mr. Simes currently living in Korea and previously residing in Chicago, Illinois was challenged based on the fact that he has no "fixed habitation" in Ohio and did not reside in Ohio 30 days immediately preceding the September 10th election. Mr. Simes registered at friend and business associate, Travis Estell's Over-the-Rhine condo during a five day visit to Cincinnati in July of 2013.

Mr. Tim Burke, Chairman of the Board and Mr. Caleb Faux both Democrats voted to deny the challenge along with Mr. Charles (Chip) Gerhardt a Republican. The only supporter was Mr. Alex Triantifilou, Republican Chairman.

In our opinion the evidence clearly demonstrated that Mr. Simes voter registration was invalid because Simes was a resident of Chicago when he registered in Ohio on July 12, 2013 and that he lived and worked in Chicago on and off from that date until his transfer to Korea in September. Mr. Simes, who is outspoken politically on Cincinnati City issues, wanted to vote in this Mayoral election both primary and general. He is employed by Parsons Brinckerhoff, the company that is supplying the streetcars. He is also the head of UrbanCincy, a blog that he ran from his former address in Chicago and now from Korea.

[from Simes’ website: “Randy has worked professionally as a planning consultant throughout the United States, Korea and the Middle East. After brief stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he currently lives in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam district.”]

The decision by Burke, Faux and Gerhardt was based on Simes' intent to return to Cincinnati after his 2 year employment in Korea. Mr. Simes had his mailing address on bank and credit card statements changed to Estell's address around the time he registered to provide evidence of residency. However, Travis Estell testified that he and Simes never discussed Simes moving into Estell's Cincinnati condo in 2013 or when he returns from Korea. Mr. Simes does not have any personal belongings at Estell's residence, further proof that Simes habitation is not fixed to Estell's address; the address of his voter registration.

We feel that the rule of law was ignored by the Board in reaching their decision. By disregarding Ohio's 30 day and "fixed habitation" rules, we fear that this decision opens the door for voter fraud in Hamilton County and elsewhere. We completely disagree with the Board's reasoning and are extremely disappointed by this decision. “ Ohio Integrity Voter Project, Oct. 19, 2013

I wonder who gets to tax him?

Voter fraud didn’t begin with Obama, and it certainly won’t end there at this rate

This article is specifically about three people in Cincinnati, Ohio who have been charged/convicted of voter fraud, Melowese Richardson, Sister Marguerite Kloos and Russell Glassop and 50 some whose ballots are in question. This is just one area, and I suspect in small districts it can make a difference.

I'm in favor of voter ID, and since I have to show ID for far less serious obligations than voting, like entering a state or federal building, or visiting my doctor, I'm not sure why liberals object when they don't for these other events. It would take pages to fill out the voter fraud history in Illinois where I grew up, infamous for the voting dead, the voting pets, and JFK stealing the state from Nixon in 1960, especially in the Chicago area.

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/03/12/cincinnati-poll-worker-indicted-for-voting-for-obama-six-times/

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-09-26-jfk-chicago-politics_N.htm

Pew estimates that in America about 24 million voter registrations are invalid or significantly inaccurate. More than 1.8 million dead people are on the lists, and about 2.75 million people are registered in more than one state.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-12/news/ct-oped-0612-byrne-md-20120612_1_voter-fraud-voter-registration-registration-rolls

I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm finally going to admit who I am

"Now the Republicans, you know when I, I talked about this earlier in the week. They said 'well, this is class warfare.' You know what? If asking a billionaire to pay their fair of taxes. To pay the same tax rate as a plumber or a teacher is class warfare, then you know what? I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm a warrior for the middle class. I'm happy to fight for the middle class,"

President Barack Obama stammered this at the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, OH, and he still doesn't come up with a figure for "fair," but his wife wears $42,000 bling to the DNC fund raiser.

The jewelry was "on loan," but the message was clear to all those who can afford this extravagance. "Vote for me and you'll have no worries."

Good-bye Cincy

The goal of Green Cincinnati Plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% in 4 years, 40% in 20 years, and 84% by 2050. This plan has 80 specific recommendations. Everything from riding your bike, to air drying your dishes to composting your garbage. And why are they doing this Earth Day repeat that anyone who lived through the 70s remembers?

"You‘ve seen and heard about it everywhere, from the media and the scientists to celebrities and your own family members. Earth‘s climate is changing, and we all are to blame." GCP Introduction

Because they saw Al Gore's movie and listened to some Hollywood starlet who reads script for a living say it is true. Helloooo Ohio--you used to be under a glacier. We are not to blame for climate change. There are a hundred good reasons to have clean air and water, but why don't you start with cleaning the trash off the city streets, the old mattresses from the underpasses, and requiring all the legislators to reduce their BMI and their hot air. The world would be a much cleaner, cooler place. No one has a clue how much greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by these measures, but I think we can guarantee that for every new "green" business or activity you bring to town that can smell a greenback a mile away, you'll drive ten established businesses out who won't be able to afford this idiocy.

Mayor Mallory needs to read Kids Against Anthropogenic Global Warming written by a 14 year old. Not everyone under 65 has been sucked into this silliness.

Our mission here at Kids Against Anthropogenic Global Warming is to make aware that AGW is nothing but an unproven theory. We don’t want to pay all these carbon taxes when they are enforced, especially if its for something unproven.

You go girl.

FLW tour group, 2006

We were a melting, but hardy group standing on the deck of the Boulter House in Cincinnati. The heat was oppressive, and the sun brutal. Twenty-six and a half folks talking nothing but architecture for three days. Well, the four year old found other things to talk about. I missed one of the group photos because I'd gone back to the bus to sit in the air conditioning. We are third and fourth from the right in the back in this photo.



Frank Lloyd Wright
Boulter House