Hint: It involved me, my head, my reporting, a Lima city councilman and a gun.

Go ahead. Guess.

Post from: Ron's Rants

Apparently, we all agree that raping and stabbing to death a 14-year-old girl is bad, but when it comes to trying to find a vein in a prisoner’s arm 18 times, that’s too much.

The ACLU, which opposes the death penalty, again is urging the governor to drop the death penalty. I hate to say this, but the group is doing the right thing (finally) in opposing the death penalty. Rather than its usual legal attempts, the group should urge lawmakers and the governor to change the law. Most people, even those of us who don’t favor capital punishment, see the legitimacy of using it against society’s worst offenders. That doesn’t mean we believe it should be used, only that we recognize it can be used. Not so the ACLU.

And, in unfortunate but tyypical ACLU fashion, the group makes having to poke a guy’s arm 18 times sound dreadful:

ACLU Calls on State to Stop Executions Indefinitely

Third Execution Plagued by Problems in as Many Years Illustrates Need for Immediate Moratorium and Review of Procedures

LUCASVILLE, OH- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio called on state officials to immediately put a halt to executions, following the attempted execution of Romell Broom. The procedure was botched after the execution team failed to locate a viable vein after several hours of searching. Late Tuesday afternoon, Governor Strickland delayed Broom’s execution for one week in light of these problems.

This follows two other botched executions in Ohio beginning with Joseph L. Clark in May 2006 and Christopher Newton in May 2007. Both of these executions were eventually completed despite officials struggling to find viable veins on the men.

ACLU of Ohio Staff Counsel Carrie Davis said, “Governor Strickland must not allow another execution to happen in Ohio. The system used to carry out executions has been shown to be faulty and dangerous. Given these troubling facts, it would be irresponsible to continue the execution only one week later.”

In June 2008, the ACLU won a challenge to Ohio’s execution procedures by showing that it was not guaranteed to be quick and painless, as state law requires. The case was before Lorain County Common Please Judge James Burge in the case State v. Rivera. Following the case, the state altered their execution procedures in order to comply with state law. The attempted execution of Romell Broom used the new procedures developed by the state.

“Whether under the old procedures or the new procedures, Ohio’s execution system is fundamentally flawed. If the state is going to take a person’s life, they must ensure that it is done as humanely as possible. With three botched executions in as many years, it’s clear that the state must stop and review the system entirely before another person is put to death,” Davis added.

The ACLU of Ohio previously filed Apanovich v. Wilkinson, which challenged the state’s refusal to allow the public to watch the “intubation phase” of the execution where catheters are inserted into the veins of the condemned. As a result of the case, the state installed closed circuit televisions so the intubation phase of the execution process could be viewed.

Post from: Ron's Rants

Ohio woman arrested for spanking

CINCINNATI (AP) - Police say a woman has been arrested for allegedly spanking another woman’s 2-year-old son in a store.

Gloria Ballard was due in a Hamilton County court later Wednesday to face an assault charge.

Cincinnati police say the toddler said something that apparently annoyed her inside a Salvation Army store on Tuesday. Police say she then told the boy’s mother she didn’t know how to take care of her son, put him over her knee, and spanked him three times.

Police say the two women didn’t know each other and that the 44-year-old Ballard wasn’t given permission to touch the child.

Post from: Ron's Rants

Is it making fun of President Barack Obama in your eyes, or is it making fun of his Republican detractors on the school speech he gave Tuesday?

I’ve got a couple calls from liberals or Democrats or something who seem to think this is a slam against Obama.

Post from: Ron's Rants

From The Associated Press:

Police: Ohio robbery suspect asked victim for date

COLUMBUS - Police say a suspect in a home robbery was arrested when he returned to the home about two hours later to ask the victim for a date.

Police say 20-year-old Stephfon Bennett of Columbus was among three men who robbed a couple late Sunday.

Columbus police Sgt. Sean Laird says the woman recognized Bennett as one of the robbers when he returned to asked her out. She had a relative call 911.

Police say Bennett was arrested in front of the home. He was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of aggravated robbery and was being held in the Franklin County jail on $100,000 bail.

A public defender had not yet been assigned to Bennett’s case.

Post from: Ron's Rants

Obama reduces 2010 pay increases to 2 percent

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama notified Congress on Monday he is reducing pay increases for federal workers from 2.4 percent to 2 percent.

Using powers employed by his two most recent predecessors, the president cited the national unemployment rate and the budget busting federal payroll.

Obama also said that he would decide by Nov. 30 on the need to take action on “locality pay,” wages over and above the base federal rates that are determined according to geographic living costs and comparable private-sector pay.

The locality pay set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010, would have added an average of 16.5 percent to the wages of federal workers, meaning that the pay increase as outlined by statute would have totaled 18.9 percent throughout the federal system.

In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joe Biden, who serves as president of the Senate, Obama said he was taking action because the 2.4 percent increase mandated by statute would cost $22.6 billion in 2010. He said he had budgeted only for a 2 percent across-the-board increase at a cost of $19.9 billion.

Obama said he was invoking powers to put in place his own pay plan in times of a national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the nation. Former President George W. Bush used the authority previously, as did President Bill Clinton before him.

“With unemployment at 9.5 percent in June to cite just one economic indicator, few would disagree that our country is facing serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,” Obama’s letter said.

Obama said he did not believe his order would affect the government’s ability to attract or keep employees.

“To the contrary,” his letter said, “since any pay raise above the amount proposed in this alternative plan would likely be unfunded, agencies would have to absorb the additional cost and could have to reduce hiring to pay the higher rates.”

Bush used similar language and arguments when he intervened in federal salaries in November 2007.

Post from: Ron's Rants

Someone has set up a Facebook page to challenge the FDs, anyway: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111256528714

Post from: Ron's Rants

Police: Drunk Ohio student OK after hit by train

BOLWING GREEN, Ohio (AP) - Police in an Ohio college town say a student who was resting off a night of drinking near train tracks is OK after being hit by a train.

Police in Bowling Green say the 19-year-old was lying down near the tracks early Friday when he heard a train whistle blow. They say he jumped up and tried to get out of the way but was grazed by the engine.

Police have charged Michael Irwin of Waterville with trespassing and underage consumption of alcohol.

He was treated at a Bowling Green hospital and released.

Post from: Ron's Rants

“With the amount of work they expect from us, 2 percent is not what I believe we are worthy of,” Saine told The Lima. “Look at what doctors make. If it wasn’t for teachers, you wouldn’t have doctors or lawyers.”

One wonders who is responsible, going on Saine’s logic, for murderers and lifelong welfare recipients. How about multi-generational poverty? Why, that also would be teachers.

Saine is unhappy Lima teachers will get only a 2 percent raise each of the two years in their new contract. So, going back to How to Whine Like a Teacher 101, Saine points out that teachers provide one of the building blocks any successful person needs. Saine just happens to overlook a lot, a whole lot.

• The 2 percent is one of two raises teachers will get. Teachers and their unions whine too much to remember they get an automatic yearly step increase in addition to the usual contractual increase. Must be rough to get two raises each of the next two years.

• Doctors get sued for screwing up. Teachers do not. Doctors end up on the front page when they screw up, and they could end up being out of their chosen profession. They pay an incredible amount in insurance to guard against lawsuits. Teachers blame parents, lack of school funding and pay.

• Oh, yes, there’s this: We’re in a recession. Unemployment is up everywhere. Those who still have jobs have seen their pay and hours cut, but poor teachers only get two raises this year and next. How will they ever survive?

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 From The Associated Press 

Bengals, Ohio Lottery team up

CINCINNATI (AP) - The Cincinnati Bengals are teaming up with the Ohio Lottery on a new instant scratch-off game that offers the chance to win special Bengals prizes.

The $5 game offers up to $100,000 in prize money, and players also can win season tickets, special team access, autographed footballs, and game-worn jerseys.

The Bengals say they are pleased to help raise funds for Ohio schools, while Lottery officials expect the game to reach new potential players.

The game kicks off in late August.

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