From Luke Feck's Yesterday's Cincinnati:
During prehistoric times what is now called the Ohio River flowed up the Little Miami River out Duck Creek Road, before most of that became highway I-71, and up toward Hamilton. It came back down part of the Great Miami River bed. The Licking River flowed on up the Millcreek Valley. There was a large lake over the Cincinnati basin (or at least high backwater), and a natural barrier across the Ohio around Anderson Ferry.
The Ice Age pulverized the Cincinnati area topography, making hills and fossil troves, and sticking the river back about where it should be-- to a point where you would recognize it.
Once the geography settled down, a band of so-called Indians settled the area around the time of Christ's birth. They were known as the Moundbuilders, but where they came from nobody knows.
The last of the Moundbuilders disappeared from this area about the same time Jamestown, Virginia, was colonized.
By 1669 Robert de La Salle was rowing past the future site of Cincinnati. He called the river "La Belle Riviere" or Beautiful River. Indians who hunted there called it "Oh-he-yo" or Great River.
Factoid: Mound Street in the West End is Cincinnati's oldest street and got its name because it was one of the Moundbuilder's mounds.
06 May 2008
05 May 2008
ODP Bears Responsibility for Putting Marc Dann in Office
The ODP chose Marc Dann over the better qualified Subodh Chandra in 2006 based only on Dann's party connections. To illustrate the ODP's thinking, here are excerpts from an ODP executive committee meeting I detailed in this post:
Priscilla O’Donnell: ...Of all of the candidates, I heard more excitement about [Chandra’s] candidacy than anyone else other than Strickland.
CJ Prentiss: This guy [Dann] has taken us to the dance. He has been on top of them, articulating and point out all the wrong that is done. On top of that, he has put out recommendations of what we can do right.
Pat O’Malley, Cuyahoga: I’ve got a couple of issues about this race. This is a race where we have to make a stand. I come from Cleveland, where Subodh is from, and I’ve been active for years. I’ve never seen him at a political function. I’ve never seen him help a candidate in Cuyahoga County. He’s not even known in Cuyahoga County.
Susan Gwin: I really take exception to Mr. O’Malley’s comments. The problem I have in this race is electability. How do we elect Dann, who has a reprimand from the Ohio Supreme Court in the past three years?
Varner: ...Dann is a team player and has been -- and would be even if he weren't in this race. Chandra, on the other hand, was the only candidate who wouldn't tell the screening committee on Saturday that he would support the entire ticket in the general election no matter who wins the primary. We want a team player in this race, and that is not Subodh Chandra.
And as I opined at the time:
What does Chandra bring to the table? Superior qualifications for AG.
What does Dann bring to the table? Attendance at Party events, name recognition in Cuyahoga County, vocal partisanship, and a Supreme Court reprimand.
When it decided upon an AG candidate, the ODP ignored qualifications and ignored the grassroots. And now they got burned in a most embarrassing fashion. I think it's safe to say that no one can imagine Subodh Chandra sending adolescent text messages between happy hours and hook-ups.
In addition to the matter of how the AG's office will resolve this scandal, there is also the matter of how the ODP will select its candidates in the future. Will it prioritize qualifications and the grassroots, or will it remain an insider's club?
Priscilla O’Donnell: ...Of all of the candidates, I heard more excitement about [Chandra’s] candidacy than anyone else other than Strickland.
CJ Prentiss: This guy [Dann] has taken us to the dance. He has been on top of them, articulating and point out all the wrong that is done. On top of that, he has put out recommendations of what we can do right.
Pat O’Malley, Cuyahoga: I’ve got a couple of issues about this race. This is a race where we have to make a stand. I come from Cleveland, where Subodh is from, and I’ve been active for years. I’ve never seen him at a political function. I’ve never seen him help a candidate in Cuyahoga County. He’s not even known in Cuyahoga County.
Susan Gwin: I really take exception to Mr. O’Malley’s comments. The problem I have in this race is electability. How do we elect Dann, who has a reprimand from the Ohio Supreme Court in the past three years?
Varner: ...Dann is a team player and has been -- and would be even if he weren't in this race. Chandra, on the other hand, was the only candidate who wouldn't tell the screening committee on Saturday that he would support the entire ticket in the general election no matter who wins the primary. We want a team player in this race, and that is not Subodh Chandra.
And as I opined at the time:
What does Chandra bring to the table? Superior qualifications for AG.
What does Dann bring to the table? Attendance at Party events, name recognition in Cuyahoga County, vocal partisanship, and a Supreme Court reprimand.
When it decided upon an AG candidate, the ODP ignored qualifications and ignored the grassroots. And now they got burned in a most embarrassing fashion. I think it's safe to say that no one can imagine Subodh Chandra sending adolescent text messages between happy hours and hook-ups.
In addition to the matter of how the AG's office will resolve this scandal, there is also the matter of how the ODP will select its candidates in the future. Will it prioritize qualifications and the grassroots, or will it remain an insider's club?
01 May 2008
"Clean Coal" Technology Coming to Cincinnati
The Business Courier reports that Vertus Technologies is partnering with Cincinnati Bulk Terminals to open a coal-scrubbing operation in Queensgate. Some further info:
Cincinnati Bulk Terminals is a dock and storage facility. It calls itself "tri-modal" because it has access to interstates, railroads, and the Ohio river. It will transport coal from around Ohio and Vertus will process it by "Reductive Thermal Processing," or RTP. This basically vaporizes contaminants from raw coal, resulting in a purer coal which can burn more efficiently and with less pollutants released into the atmosphere. The cleaned coal will them be shipped out to regional plants.
The stock price of Vertus' parent company, Nviro Cleantech, has been rapidly declining so this new initiative may help.
The main pollutants of concern in coal burning are sulfur, nitrous dioxide and mercury. Coal burning is the greatest contributor of mercury to the environment (as fish lovers are well aware). Other pollutants such as VOCs, hydrochloric acid and carbon monoxide are also present, as are trace metals cadmium, arsenic, cobalt, selenium, copper, nickel and lead. All of these are released into the environment during normal coal burning.
I was unable to find information about what happens to the contaminants after they are separated from the coal. It is a serious matter since the facility is close to the river and a sizeable human population.
Cincinnati Bulk Terminals is a dock and storage facility. It calls itself "tri-modal" because it has access to interstates, railroads, and the Ohio river. It will transport coal from around Ohio and Vertus will process it by "Reductive Thermal Processing," or RTP. This basically vaporizes contaminants from raw coal, resulting in a purer coal which can burn more efficiently and with less pollutants released into the atmosphere. The cleaned coal will them be shipped out to regional plants.
The stock price of Vertus' parent company, Nviro Cleantech, has been rapidly declining so this new initiative may help.
The main pollutants of concern in coal burning are sulfur, nitrous dioxide and mercury. Coal burning is the greatest contributor of mercury to the environment (as fish lovers are well aware). Other pollutants such as VOCs, hydrochloric acid and carbon monoxide are also present, as are trace metals cadmium, arsenic, cobalt, selenium, copper, nickel and lead. All of these are released into the environment during normal coal burning.
I was unable to find information about what happens to the contaminants after they are separated from the coal. It is a serious matter since the facility is close to the river and a sizeable human population.
29 April 2008
MSM: So Bad it's Beyond Satirizable
Three examples to demonstrate the absence of even a hint of perspicuity in the mainstream media's news reporting:
1) The Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Nobody cared about him before he mouthed off and nobody cares about him now. The story here is not what impact he has on the election; the story is that the MSM hasn't a clue about what to report and how to report it. All it can do is leech onto sensationalism and desperately and incessantly manufacture the visage of relevance. At first it was annoying, then frustrating, and now it is just plain pathetic, like a mid-life douchebag donning torn jeans and riding a Harley, hoping that people will take him seriously for what he is not. I shake my head and laugh at the Sunday morning roundtables of political punditry, so out of touch that they actually think their confabulatory cacophony lends legitimacy to non-issues.
2) Mortgage crisis. This is a perfect example of "unreporting." Unlike the Rev. Wright story, which doesn't matter, this one matters but is simply not reported in a substantive manner. We hear about families that can barley afford their payments or have lost their homes. We see their kids at the table. We see statistics about how many foreclosures there were this quarter, given to us in big letters and big arrows. The media offers us emotion and numbers.
But it doesn't offer answers. No interviews with the executives or boards of financial institutions. No questions to elected officials about their role. No news stories about bad business or bad government. What could have prevented it? What will prevent another crisis? Are terms like "more regulation" and "increased transparency" still faux pas in polite conversation among the gentlemen of streets Wall and K?
3) Miley Cyrus. As the difference between the MSM and "The View" diminishes daily we get stories like this, the topic du jour: How to talk to your kids about Miley Cyrus' racy photo. Maybe the parents can use the same talk they got about that Farrah Fawcett poster, or nothing coming between Brooke Shields and her Calvins, or Demi Moore's big naked pregnant belly on Rolling Stone, or Britney's beaver on every cell phone at school.
What's next? News stories about kids and their crazy music?
1) The Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Nobody cared about him before he mouthed off and nobody cares about him now. The story here is not what impact he has on the election; the story is that the MSM hasn't a clue about what to report and how to report it. All it can do is leech onto sensationalism and desperately and incessantly manufacture the visage of relevance. At first it was annoying, then frustrating, and now it is just plain pathetic, like a mid-life douchebag donning torn jeans and riding a Harley, hoping that people will take him seriously for what he is not. I shake my head and laugh at the Sunday morning roundtables of political punditry, so out of touch that they actually think their confabulatory cacophony lends legitimacy to non-issues.
2) Mortgage crisis. This is a perfect example of "unreporting." Unlike the Rev. Wright story, which doesn't matter, this one matters but is simply not reported in a substantive manner. We hear about families that can barley afford their payments or have lost their homes. We see their kids at the table. We see statistics about how many foreclosures there were this quarter, given to us in big letters and big arrows. The media offers us emotion and numbers.
But it doesn't offer answers. No interviews with the executives or boards of financial institutions. No questions to elected officials about their role. No news stories about bad business or bad government. What could have prevented it? What will prevent another crisis? Are terms like "more regulation" and "increased transparency" still faux pas in polite conversation among the gentlemen of streets Wall and K?
3) Miley Cyrus. As the difference between the MSM and "The View" diminishes daily we get stories like this, the topic du jour: How to talk to your kids about Miley Cyrus' racy photo. Maybe the parents can use the same talk they got about that Farrah Fawcett poster, or nothing coming between Brooke Shields and her Calvins, or Demi Moore's big naked pregnant belly on Rolling Stone, or Britney's beaver on every cell phone at school.
What's next? News stories about kids and their crazy music?
25 April 2008
Research Establishes Link Between Dinosaurs & Birds
4 out of 5 dentists agree that birds evolved from dinosaurs. The way to prove this is with DNA but unfortunately dinosaur DNA is pretty hard to come by.
Apparently, there is another way as shown by this research: protein analysis. The scientists analyzed protein from a T. Rex and compared it to modern birds. The result:
...molecular analysis of a shred of 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein – along with that of 21 modern species – confirms that dinosaurs share common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators.
And furthermore...
The scientists also report that similar analysis of 160,000- to 600,000-year-old collagen protein sequences derived from mastodon bone establishes a close phylogenetic relationship between that extinct species and modern elephants.
Two questions: Does T. Rex taste like chicken, and is there a link between Ken Hamm and modern humans?
Apparently, there is another way as shown by this research: protein analysis. The scientists analyzed protein from a T. Rex and compared it to modern birds. The result:
...molecular analysis of a shred of 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein – along with that of 21 modern species – confirms that dinosaurs share common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators.
And furthermore...
The scientists also report that similar analysis of 160,000- to 600,000-year-old collagen protein sequences derived from mastodon bone establishes a close phylogenetic relationship between that extinct species and modern elephants.
Two questions: Does T. Rex taste like chicken, and is there a link between Ken Hamm and modern humans?
24 April 2008
Plans to Abate Year-End Trash at UD
Back when I was fit enough to run around all evening, I used to play tennis at the UC courts regularly. It was a sad day for me and my pocketed-shorts posse when UC replaced those courts with freshman dorms. The courts were not replaced and as a result the tennis team was nixed.
Next to the courts were some other dorms, and next to them was a big dumpster. One day after playing near the end of spring semester my erstwhile tennis partner/lady companion noticed the overflowing dumpster. We dumpster-dove and eagerly perused the contents. I remember finding a steel mesh wastebasket, a baking pan and a Bearcat t-shirt with the tag still on it. There was lots of carpet, too.
There's a lot of good stuff if you're willing to walk around in a dumpster. And as I mentioned, it is not necessarily a turn-off for the ladies. From the college's perspective, however, it's not so fun:
At the end of each year, over 100 tons of unwanted items are left on campus when students move out. This large amount of trash has a negative environmental impact and costs the university a large amount in dumpster and landfill fees.
So UD is trying a new plan:
In order to minimize UD’s impact on the environment and cut these costs, the university has made changes that will provide students the opportunity to donate unwanted items as opposed to throwing them away...
Students with unwanted clothing, non-perishable food items, and household items are encouraged to donate it through the many choices UD has made available. From April 28 to May 5, students living in residence halls will be able to donate non-perishable food and clothing in lobbies. The food will be donated to the University of Dayton Summer Appalachia Program (UDSAP) and the clothing will be donated to St. Vincent De Paul.
Next to the courts were some other dorms, and next to them was a big dumpster. One day after playing near the end of spring semester my erstwhile tennis partner/lady companion noticed the overflowing dumpster. We dumpster-dove and eagerly perused the contents. I remember finding a steel mesh wastebasket, a baking pan and a Bearcat t-shirt with the tag still on it. There was lots of carpet, too.
There's a lot of good stuff if you're willing to walk around in a dumpster. And as I mentioned, it is not necessarily a turn-off for the ladies. From the college's perspective, however, it's not so fun:
At the end of each year, over 100 tons of unwanted items are left on campus when students move out. This large amount of trash has a negative environmental impact and costs the university a large amount in dumpster and landfill fees.
So UD is trying a new plan:
In order to minimize UD’s impact on the environment and cut these costs, the university has made changes that will provide students the opportunity to donate unwanted items as opposed to throwing them away...
Students with unwanted clothing, non-perishable food items, and household items are encouraged to donate it through the many choices UD has made available. From April 28 to May 5, students living in residence halls will be able to donate non-perishable food and clothing in lobbies. The food will be donated to the University of Dayton Summer Appalachia Program (UDSAP) and the clothing will be donated to St. Vincent De Paul.
22 April 2008
Art, Shvart
Have you heard the story of Yale art student Aliza Shvarts? I'm sure the corporate newsreaders are loving this one, but I don't know because I don't watch.
Anyway, here's the basic story:
Art major Aliza Shvarts ’08 wants to make a statement.
Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.
The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body.
Be sure to read the rest. What kind of faculty advisor would approve this project? This kind.
I've seen stuff like this before. Nonsensical and narcissistic, meant to exalt the artist more than anything else, despite the pseudophilosophical psychobabble meant to qualify it as serious, profound and significant.
Shvart's sophomoric foray into art is not art at all-- and I don't mean in the sense that it doesn't qualify as art; I mean in the sense that it's something else, an unwitting reflection of American zeitgeist disguised as performance art. Accidentally using oneself to illustrate the social psychology of narcissism and gender identity issues is an immature revelation of ineptitude, not a work of art.
And you don't have to take my word for it; Laurie Fendrich has street cred and here's what she wrote:
For those of us in the contemporary-art business, the Yale squabble isn’t all that interesting. Ms Shvarts’s undergraduate project sounds so, well, so undergraduate...
The dispiriting part about Shvarts’s tempestuous teapot isn’t really the art — whether it’s morally offensive, or not, or good, or bad — but the fact that putatively edgy art projects are really guided to completion by faculty advisers who inexorably turn what was once upon a time a fierce counter-voice to culture into soft, risk-free, pseudo-avant-garde exercises in calculated offensiveness.
Anyway, here's the basic story:
Art major Aliza Shvarts ’08 wants to make a statement.
Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.
The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body.
Be sure to read the rest. What kind of faculty advisor would approve this project? This kind.
I've seen stuff like this before. Nonsensical and narcissistic, meant to exalt the artist more than anything else, despite the pseudophilosophical psychobabble meant to qualify it as serious, profound and significant.
Shvart's sophomoric foray into art is not art at all-- and I don't mean in the sense that it doesn't qualify as art; I mean in the sense that it's something else, an unwitting reflection of American zeitgeist disguised as performance art. Accidentally using oneself to illustrate the social psychology of narcissism and gender identity issues is an immature revelation of ineptitude, not a work of art.
And you don't have to take my word for it; Laurie Fendrich has street cred and here's what she wrote:
For those of us in the contemporary-art business, the Yale squabble isn’t all that interesting. Ms Shvarts’s undergraduate project sounds so, well, so undergraduate...
The dispiriting part about Shvarts’s tempestuous teapot isn’t really the art — whether it’s morally offensive, or not, or good, or bad — but the fact that putatively edgy art projects are really guided to completion by faculty advisers who inexorably turn what was once upon a time a fierce counter-voice to culture into soft, risk-free, pseudo-avant-garde exercises in calculated offensiveness.
Artist of the Day
He's not local (not even close) but Naoto Hattori's work is worth a look during your downtime.
Sort of a sci-fi Dali meets Bosch. Check out gallery #2 for his variations on the Mona Lisa theme.
Sort of a sci-fi Dali meets Bosch. Check out gallery #2 for his variations on the Mona Lisa theme.
19 April 2008
Three Great Beers
Three great beers I've had recently:
Westmalle Dubbel
Chambarand
Duvel
My sister is in town with her bf, and his favorite beer is Duvel. I bought some for the occasion and as it turned out my parents did the same thing. So we had some good cheers last night. We had a good laugh at my dad's awful pour considering the bottle actually has pouring instructions on the label.
Today I bought some Moerlein OTR so he can sample our "local" brew while we grill some lamb, chicken, and pork. But that's assuming they get back from the Freedom Center before the rain comes.
Westmalle Dubbel
Chambarand
Duvel
My sister is in town with her bf, and his favorite beer is Duvel. I bought some for the occasion and as it turned out my parents did the same thing. So we had some good cheers last night. We had a good laugh at my dad's awful pour considering the bottle actually has pouring instructions on the label.
Today I bought some Moerlein OTR so he can sample our "local" brew while we grill some lamb, chicken, and pork. But that's assuming they get back from the Freedom Center before the rain comes.
18 April 2008
Labomatic
In a few years I might buy Jean-Robert's new restaurant and rename it "Labomatic" to reflect the new menu.
...researchers in the Netherlands and the U.S. expect to perfect a scalable process to produce cost-effective, in vitro (lab-grown), processed meats within five years.
If suitable growing media are perfected, Matheny says factory-grown meat could compete with meat from animals. After all, farm animals, due to maintenance requirements, convert little of what they're fed into what we ultimately eat. In vitro meat would have no waste, bones or offal to dispose.
“We've managed to make meat production much more efficient in terms of labor, but it wouldn't be as efficient as just one person pushing a button on an enormous incubator,” Matheny says. “There are also inefficiencies caused by meat production's unpredictable nature — the problems caused by biology and weather. It would be much more efficient economically if we found a way to decrease all that variability and bring the whole thing into a controlled setting.”
“Control is the main advantage,” Matheny says. “While we've gotten pretty good at controlling marbling in live animals, it could be done much more accurately in vitro. We could precisely control how much fat there is, its location, even the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids.
...researchers in the Netherlands and the U.S. expect to perfect a scalable process to produce cost-effective, in vitro (lab-grown), processed meats within five years.
If suitable growing media are perfected, Matheny says factory-grown meat could compete with meat from animals. After all, farm animals, due to maintenance requirements, convert little of what they're fed into what we ultimately eat. In vitro meat would have no waste, bones or offal to dispose.
“We've managed to make meat production much more efficient in terms of labor, but it wouldn't be as efficient as just one person pushing a button on an enormous incubator,” Matheny says. “There are also inefficiencies caused by meat production's unpredictable nature — the problems caused by biology and weather. It would be much more efficient economically if we found a way to decrease all that variability and bring the whole thing into a controlled setting.”
“Control is the main advantage,” Matheny says. “While we've gotten pretty good at controlling marbling in live animals, it could be done much more accurately in vitro. We could precisely control how much fat there is, its location, even the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids.
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