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Pho's Akron Pages

  • Post-Triptophan Randomness

    OK, as usual to get back into blogging mode, I need something easy, something trivial, something . . . random.

    Ran across this from xkcd in my Reader:


    Which also frequently depicts the Random Ten experience for me. Take, for example, the [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 9:00am EST

  • In Which a Tone Deaf Rock Fan Takes in the Worlds Best Orchestra


    The offer came in this week -- get comp tickets to a Cleveland Orchestra performance and "blog about the experience." When our schedule cleared up for Friday night, I accepted the offer and took Kid Z along. I assume the offer came to me because [...]
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    Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:58am EST

  • Hubbard High School and Why We Have a First Amendment


    If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.
    [...]
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    Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:59am EST

  • Today in the Akron Legal News -- Low Power FM

    What with the health care death match moving into the Senate and ongoing dramas over the budget, it's easy to miss the small bills floating around Congress. For today's column I flag one such bill, HR 1147, the Local Community Radio Act. The LCRA expands the authority of the FCC [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:00pm EST

  • On Akron's New Transparency (By Request)

    Jill asks about the back story of this ABJ story last week. The city of Akron is posting regular daily updates of income tax receipts. I have some things to say about a few comments from the interweb now that I'm back on top of things. Might' [...]
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    Posted: November 16, 2009, 10:14pm EST

  • Public Option Annie

    Work of a guerrilla musical theater group that infiltrated a national conference of the health insurance trade group AHIP. Thanks to the friend who passed this along. Enjoy.



    Apologies for any Ohio bloggers who may have hit this first. I have, as noted, been out of the [...]
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    Posted: November 11, 2009, 9:16pm EST

  • Tom Ganley in Akron

    Tom Ganley spoke before the Akron Press Club in early October and, yes, I'm just getting to it now. It's been a trying semester. Sue me.

    Anyway, with Ganley running the first ad in what looks like a media-heavy campaign and the ODP increasingly working to [...]
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    Posted: November 11, 2009, 3:28pm EST

  • Scientific Evidence that the Republican Base Is Crazy

    Some weeks ago I argued that the vituperative criticism of Obama from the right was not, as some suggested, driven by racism but was the result of the right wing being nuts. Not nuts in the sense that they disagree with me, but nuts in [...]
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    Posted: November 10, 2009, 9:26pm EST

  • Twenty Years Ago

    In 1984 I was on a study abroad program in Yugoslavia. One night we met up with some German students and sampled a great deal of the local malt beverage and got talking about politics. I (clumsily) brought up the idea of reunification and they shrugged it off. A pipe [...]
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    Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:18pm EST

  • ODP Talking Junk about the Republican Senate Primary

    The tasteful graphic above is from the Ohio Democratic Party website today. The link leads to a release riffing on an ABC News story about the Republican Senate Campaign Committee assuming a neutral posture in contested primaries in 2010. The presser notes:
    COLUMBUS - National [...]
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    Posted: November 09, 2009, 7:58pm EST

  • Randomosity: Resurfacing Edition

    So, kids, you know how the public health folks are saying that you can get reinfected with H1N1. Well, they speak the truth. Happily the second time through has been shorter. And BTW I took the kids in for Akron's free immunizations yesterday. A well run operation and the kids' [...]
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    Posted: November 06, 2009, 1:57pm EST

  • Today in the Akron Legal News -- 2010, It's On






    Today's Akron Legal News column hooks on the Wednesday after Election Day being, for us politics junkies, the official beginning of the 2010 election cycle. From that I take on a personal bugbear.

    Based on what we're hearing from Republican [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:01pm EST

  • Brunner in Town Tomorrow


    Secretary of State and U.S. Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner will make her case to Akron tomorrow, with a series of events. Tomorrow morning she is appearing on the Ray Horner Show on WAKR at 8:30.

    Then at 11:45 she appears at the [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2009, 5:01pm EST

  • Election Day Tomorrow


    Yes it's mid-term, but that means you will be in and out quickly. So first and foremost, VOTE!

    Since this blog is based on the increasingly tenuous assumption that people care about my opinions, a few thoughts/recommendation about the ballot.

    Of course I' [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 10:02pm EST

  • Today (Thursday) in the Akron Legal News

    For the handful of folks who read both this blog and my column in Akron Legal News, an announcement: This week's column appears in today's paper, not the usual Wednesday. There were some absences at the paper due to, yes, the flu again and things got moved around as a [...]
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    Posted: October 22, 2009, 1:54pm EDT

  • Mostly Non-Viral Return Post

    As you may have noted from my Twitter feed, I've been battling the flu for nigh on two weeks now. Don't know if it was swine or regular, but it certainly felt like the usual My head is finally clear enough for me to think about writing for public consumption [...]
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    Posted: October 21, 2009, 10:04pm EDT

  • McDonald v. Chicago; Another Attempt to Explain 2nd Amendment Incorporation

    Yesterday was the First Monday in October, meaning that the season has begun for Supreme Court watchers. One of the more interesting cases to watch will be McDonald v. Chicago -- another go-round for the new improved Second Amendment.

    Recall that in Heller v. DC, the Supreme Court found [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 10:22pm EDT

  • Charter Schools and Unlikely Ally for Strickland

    Interesting post last week on Flypaper, the blog of the Fordham Foundation, a free-market oriented, pro-charters think tank with roots in Dayton. They propose some logrolling regarding Gov. Strickland's proposal to freeze the tax cut for a year. As FP correctly notes, a ten percent cut in ed. funding' [...]
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    Posted: October 03, 2009, 10:05am EDT

  • Strickland's Big Blink

    Governor Ted Strickland announced today that he will seek to postpone the last installment of personal income tax cuts to plug the budget gap now that the video slots idea is in danger. Modern has a liveblog of the press conference and some reax. Some thoughts.

    [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 10:56pm EDT

  • In re Rifqa

    Later this month judges in Ohio and Florida will step into the culture war skirmish that is the Rifqa Bary case. If you haven't heard about the case, the facts outline as follows. A teenage girl of immigrant parents gets involved with things the parents aren't wild about. The parents [...]
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    Posted: September 29, 2009, 11:01am EDT

  • Tom Ganley Leads Off APC Senate Candidate Programs

    The Akron Press Club will host all four major candidates for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat this fall. This Thursday, Oct. 1st auto dealer and candidate Tom Ganley will speak. Details and reservation info here.

    OK, some may argue about whether Ganley is a major candidate. But' [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 10:19pm EDT

  • RIP William Safire

    Former Nixon speechwriter and op-ed columnist William Safire died of pancreatic cancer at 79. As the obits are noting, Safire was the first conservative columnist employed by the New York Times (Reasonable Right holdout David Brooks now holds what could be called the William Safire chair.)

    After [...]
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    Posted: September 27, 2009, 10:29pm EDT

  • Randomosity

    I'm trying to blog daily but it's Friday night and I'm tired. So I'll let the MP3s do the talking tonight.

    New Pornographers, "All for Swinging You Around"Charles Mingus, "Open Letter to Duke"Yo La Tengo, "The Story of Jazz"Elvis Costello, "Less than Zero"Shelby Lynn, "Life Is Hard"Bela Fleck, [...]
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    Posted: September 25, 2009, 8:32pm EDT

  • Not Racist So Much As. . .

    Professional Chatterers and bloggers have been going on for a couple of weeks now about whether attacks on President Obama are motivated by race. Pretty much every news1 story about opposition to Obama includes the question now, though the answer varies. Obama in a show of sportsmanship says it's not' [...]
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    Posted: September 24, 2009, 9:34pm EDT

  • 2010 and the Budget

    Yesterday's papers reported two stories that lay out much of the discussion for next year's gubernatorial election. In the first, social service advocates and providers and union officials are expressing dissatisfaction with the Strickland administration (from the Dispatch).
    Some of the Democratic governor's staunchest supporters, particularly leaders of social-service' [...]
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    Posted: September 23, 2009, 11:22am EDT

  • Deeper Meaning in Akron Primary Results: Ward 8

    Ward 8

    First off, since posting last night I've been confronted with evidence that my assessment of Sandra Kurt's volunteer corps was off. I was out of town over the weekend and apparently they made themselves known with canvassing and live calling. Hers was the only campaign we got [...]
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    Posted: September 09, 2009, 10:45pm EDT

  • Rambling Thoughts on Primary Night

    Here in Akron we have primaries going for City Council races. While flocks of candidates crowd the ballot, the election actually made only moderate noise, at least in my ward. Raymond Cox sent out a couple of mailers -- and that's pretty much it. A commenter some time ago went' [...]
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    Posted: September 08, 2009, 7:43pm EDT

  • What Kind of Democracy, Indeed?

    Some time ago, in response to my post endorsing Sandra Kurt for City Council, a commenter posted:
    What kind of a Democracy is it that allows 15 Democrat PC's win the endorsement of the entire Democratic Party?Wayne in Akron revisted the point with a link to an Eric Mansfield' [...]
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    Posted: September 02, 2009, 11:13pm EDT

  • Tomorrow in the Akron Legal News

    First off, insert the usual self-recriminations and apologies about not posting here. Suffice it to say that my estimate of the time it would take to get back up to speed after vacation, then get myself and the kids ready for school to begin this week for the lot of [...]
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    Posted: August 25, 2009, 10:52pm EDT

  • City Council Website Updates

    While I was out a number of campaign websites went live. OK Kelli Crawford's has been up awhile, but I'm just getting around to updating the sidebar. Anyway, the sidebar is up to date with respect to the campaigns that have contacted me, plus some candidates I have run across. [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 11:41pm EDT

  • Vacation's Over

    I didn't have that week of good blogging before heading out of town for two weeks, but we did have a fine vacation. We revisted Chincoteague Island again after going elsewhere last summer.

    As is custom, I've brought something for you all. Here's the Chincoteague drawbridge at dusk:
    [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 10:42pm EDT

  • Today in the Akron Legal News -- Nunchucks!

    Today's column in the Legal News takes on the nunchuck colloquy during the Sotomayor hearings. If you missed it, the Second Circuit case regarding Second Amendment incorporation considered a New York State ban on nunchucks.

    OK, once more in English. The Bill of Rights as written limits only the [...]
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    Posted: July 29, 2009, 8:31am EDT

  • A Limited Return Engagement

    This week is the week before our annual family summer vacation. Generally I have access to The Internets during vacation, but utilize it sparingly. We're in one of those unplanned and unannounced periods of blog silence which I'm ending now so as not to extend it to further absurd dimensions. [...]
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    Posted: July 28, 2009, 11:30pm EDT

  • Akron Candidates Roll Is Up

    As promised I've added a list of candidates with websites at left (third list down.) After my last post about the races I've been contacted by Will Padilla who is running in the crowded Ward 8 primary (site of the House of Pho) and Lisa Mansfield who is running for [...]
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    Posted: July 03, 2009, 9:26am EDT

  • R.I.P Judge Linda Kersker

    Linda Kersker passed away last evening in Cleveland Clinic after falling ill at a judicial fundraiser Tuesday night.

    I had gotten to know Linda when she was on the School Board and I was doing the public education advocacy thing. She could have given my little [...]
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    Posted: July 03, 2009, 8:55am EDT

  • Why the Marburger Plan to Save Newspapers Won't Actually Save Newspapers

    Yesterday we looked over the so-called Marburger proposal to allow newspapers (and presumably other content providers) to sue news aggregators for unjust enrichment. Since that post I've seen a couple others talking about monopoly of information, so I say again -- the Marburger plan would only protect reporter work product,' [...]
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    Posted: July 02, 2009, 8:54am EDT

  • Jeff Fusco Is Canvassing

    Count City Council at-large candidate (and Citizens for Akron Treasurer) Jeff Fusco among those getting a jump on the very very crowded field for Council this year. I didn't see him in my neighborhood but got a flier stuck in my door. Fusco is one of three at-large candidates, along' [...]
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    Posted: July 01, 2009, 11:05pm EDT

  • The Marburger Proposal to "Save Newspapers" Round up and Initial Thoughts

    Connie Schultz began what is rapidly becoming a national conversation about the economic future of newspapers with her Sunday column about a proposal by the brothers Marburger. Daniel is an economist at Arkansas State University, David is a partner at Baker Hostetler who represents newspapers, including the PD.
    [...]
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    Posted: June 30, 2009, 12:54pm EDT

  • City Council: Finley's Slate

    Last Thursday the latest salvo in the battle for the soul of Akron began as Joe Finley announced his slate for City Council. Finley is styling his slate "Democrats for Reform," though as the ABJ points out, he hasn't been specific about what needs reform and what these' [...]
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    Posted: June 30, 2009, 10:04am EDT

  • J. Ken Blackwell Acting as One of NRA's Hatchen Men on Sotomayor

    The Brady Campaign blog reports that the NRA and other gun lobby organizations are pursuing a "two-faced" strategy in opposing Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. While the NRA proper is quietly expressing "concern" about her nomination, certain NRA-affiliated individuals are bringing out the long knives. Among [...]
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    Posted: June 29, 2009, 2:15pm EDT

  • Recall Roundup

    Briefcase Radical called it before the polls closed, but like everyone else, he low-balled the final tally. Fem Dem has a brief post-election post up.

    Ohio dot com has full coverage. Some, but not all, of the anti-Plusquellic comment trolls are out. The loudest appear to [...]
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    Posted: June 24, 2009, 11:31am EDT

  • Whither Akron?

    So now it's time to ponder what all this means. Contrary to what the recall supporters say, the only messages they sent is that there aren't very many of them and they don't learn very quickly. The conventional wisdom was that the actual election result would be about ten percent [...]
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    Posted: June 24, 2009, 11:29am EDT

  • Following the Recall Results

    The best online place to be is Akron News Now which has a live feed from the newsroom. It's kind of cool -- you can see anchor Lindsay McCoy gathering info from online and from the BoE and relaying it to on-air talent. A bit of behind-the-scenes.

    One' [...]
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    Posted: June 23, 2009, 8:22pm EDT

  • Last Thoughts on Recall Election Day

    Mostly, if you haven't already, GO VOTE. The general impression, bolstered by anecdotal evidence and what the anti-recall camp has said about their internal polling, is that a clear majority are against the recall but that the pro-recall voters are fanatical highly motivated. It would really be a shame if' [...]
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    Posted: June 23, 2009, 1:52pm EDT

  • I've Got No Job, But I'm an Opera Fan*

    This evening I will be a guest blogger/Twitterer at Opera Cleveland's rehearsal for their performance of "Falstaff." Their publicity manager -- and Opera Chicken blogger -- is a blogging veteran whom I got to know back when we were trying the GABB thing. (And' [...]
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    Posted: June 17, 2009, 1:33pm EDT

  • Tomorrow in Akron Legal News

    My column for tomorrow will answer the question so many of you have been asking (OK, it was one Facebook Friend responding to a Tweet, work with me): what do I think about last week's case about residency requirements for city workers?

    The case, [...]
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    Posted: June 16, 2009, 11:29pm EDT

  • Fisher Campaign Mining Hillary's Email List. Brunner . . . Responds?

    Got an email today titled "Why Lee Fisher Is Right for Ohio." I've gotten some other Fisher communiques, so nothing unusual there. Upon opening I read, after the opening grafs:

    We are contacting you as an Ohio resident and a member of Hillary Clinton's online community. If you do not' [...]
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    Posted: June 16, 2009, 11:04pm EDT

  • Norka Notes

    A semi-regular round up of news and ephemera about our hometown.

    TV on the Internet

    AkronNewsNow has started a short Akron News video segment on the website (h/t Eric Mansfield who enthuses about the effort). Today's effort includes one substantive news story (Summit BoE staying open [...]
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    Posted: June 16, 2009, 8:57am EDT

  • Mendenhall Grasping at Straws Again

    Team Mulligan leader Warner Mendenhall's comment to last week's post about the recall warrants special attention. Quoth he:
    My opinion is based on knowledge of the city's current and future liabilities. The expert failed to include about $500 million in liabilities that are coming due--Sewers [...]
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    Posted: June 15, 2009, 11:43am EDT

  • Random Thoughts on a Friday

    Y'know what I really can't stand? When people use the word "literally" to mean "really." They apparently feel the need for an emphatic adverb but don't want to sound like middle schoolers so they misuse a perfectly innocent word. Yesterday on NPR coverage of the Cash' [...]
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    Posted: June 12, 2009, 8:09am EDT

  • Lee Fisher's Gay Marriage Flip Sends Me to the Wayback Machine.

    I've been asked offline who I'm supporting in the Senate primary. Frankly the contest is between two people about whom I have a hard time caring one way or another. I'll get to why Jennifer Brunner gives me the blahs at a later date. As to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher's, [...]
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    Posted: June 11, 2009, 10:26pm EDT

  • Early Pho Endorsement: Sandra Kurt for City Council

    My friend Sandra Kurt is running for City Council in Ward 8. I've known Sandra for a few years now, having met her at Summit County Progressive Dems. Professionally, she's an engineer but off hours she's a tireless advocate for causes she feels passionately about,' [...]
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    Posted: June 11, 2009, 8:33am EDT

  • Infinite Summer: Because at 1079 Pages, It's Still a Good Beach Read.

    As longtime readers know, I'm a big David Foster Wallace guy. So I was thrilled to hear about Infinite Summer, an online challenge/discussion forum dedicated to reading, discussing and celebrating Wallace's sprawling, daunting and ground breaking Infinite Jest over the summer. The "official" reading period [...]
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    Posted: June 10, 2009, 8:17am EDT

  • Casino Effort Calls and Raises

    Following up on posts from last week, the would-be casino operators who were subject to an injunction last week have moved to have the whole thing vacated. Their theory -- that Mahoning County Common Pleas doesn't have jurisdiction over a statewide petition effort makes little sense. Where violation of' [...]
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    Posted: June 10, 2009, 7:12am EDT

  • Ohiosphere Alum now Blogging for Brunner Campaign

    A quick and hearty congrats to my friend Jeff Coryell, late of Ohio 2006 and Ohio Daily, and now house blogger for the Brunner campaign. Personally I'm still not sold on her as the candidate, but if she keeps showing this level of taste and judgment, she'll [...]
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    Posted: June 09, 2009, 8:26am EDT

  • Law Dork pwns Time Magazine

    Yesterday the Supreme Court decided against hearing on appeal a challenge to the military's Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy. So first off, a pox on every headline writer who announced that the Court "upheld" the policy. One of the first things you learn in law school is that the Court declining' [...]
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    Posted: June 09, 2009, 7:57am EDT

  • Bankrupt: The Fundamental Incoherence of the Recall Argument.

    The nature of the recall campaign allows each discontented resident to project his particular gripe onto the Mayor. Job losses? Mayor's fault. Money spent retaining or wooing employers? Mayor's fault. Crime? Or "out of control" police? Check and check.

    As a result trying to take on the recall argument [...]
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    Posted: June 08, 2009, 10:41pm EDT

  • Recall Catch-Up

    With the recall election 15 days away, that will be a focus of this blog in the near term. A few developments from last week deserve attention.
    This week Akron FOP will vote on what stance, if any, to take on the recall. The fact that there is a [...]
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    Posted: June 08, 2009, 9:50am EDT

  • Casino Petition Update: Circulators Enjoined from Lying

    Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge James Evans handed the anti-casino crew a partial victory today. The judge found enough evidence of shenanigans (excuse the legalese) to intervene, but stopped well short of enjoining the petition drive.
    It is therefore Ordered that Defendant Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee and all [...]
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    Posted: June 05, 2009, 1:53pm EDT

  • Friday Randomness

    The kids are off school for the summer. This means that if I sleep in with them (as happened today) most serious blogging will have to wait until the evening.

    The sting of the Caveliers' early exit from the NBA playoffs is a lot sharper as we watch our' [...]
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    Posted: June 05, 2009, 11:21am EDT

  • Casino Petitioners Caught Loading the Dice

    Got a presser today calling out the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee (i.e. the hundred somethingth attempt to legalize casino gambling in Ohio) Folks working against the issue (yes, including some adjacent-state casino interests) caught some petition circulators erm bluffing a little with the facts. And caught it on video [...]
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    Posted: June 04, 2009, 11:26pm EDT

  • Oh Dear Blog, I Have Neglected You So

    It's time for a return. I haven't regained the fire in the belly to start blogging, but clearly it's time to fish or cut bait. Either this is going to work or I need to officially shut the Pages down.

    To that end I've started updating the sidebars. Mostly [...]
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    Posted: June 03, 2009, 4:05pm EDT

  • Jim Rome Show Smack-Off Results

    For the past three years I've posted the results of the Jim Rome Show Smack-Off. Given my anemic posting rate lately it would be wise to just let it go this year. But in really bugs some people I don't like very much which is a perfectly good reason [...]
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    Posted: May 08, 2009, 2:52pm EDT

  • Today in Akron Legal News

    In today's column I consider the recall effort. For the most part I discuss the merits of Change Akron Now's arguments only to say that they mostly come down to policy disagreements, which generally aren't considered the stuff of a recall campaign. Mostly the column considers whether Akron should consider' [...]
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    Posted: May 06, 2009, 9:36am EDT

  • Coughlin v. Renner and NY Times v. Sullivan

    While the blogosphere has been tittering about whether State Sen. Kevin Coughlin dallied with a staffer, some of us have been wondering why an alleged libel suit threat could possibly have spiked the story.

    If you are late to the story, Scene Magazine reporter James Renner was fired last [...]
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    Posted: April 23, 2009, 10:53pm EDT

  • Akron Press Club: The State of Ohio's Newspapers Panel

    The next program at the Akron Press Club will be a panel discussion featuring the Editors of three major Ohio newspapers. While they will discuss the state of the news business generally, one item high on the agenda will be the Ohio News Organization, a collaboration through which major papers [...]
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    Posted: April 22, 2009, 11:19pm EDT

  • Tomorrow in Akron Legal News (Shameless Plugs, Pt. 1)

    I've mentioned previously my latest writing venture, a biweekly column in the Akron Legal News. Tomorrow will be my fifth column since all this started. Since they haven't run me out yet, this seems solid enough to start blogging about without jinxing it. So I'll start posting a preview with' [...]
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    Posted: April 21, 2009, 11:23pm EDT

  • Random Weekend: Low Posting Zone Edition

    This week is APS spring break, so Prof. W has taken Kids Z and T out of town. While the cats are away the mice will work his butt off on projects that wouldn't fly if the kids were around. Not to say I won't post, but I have about [...]
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    Posted: April 05, 2009, 2:07pm EDT

  • Norka Notes

    Bringing it back -- an occasional round up of things Akron.

    First Energy Biomass Conversion -- The Akron-based energy company announced today that it will convert a Cleveland coal-burning plant to burn biomass -- basically farm waste. The conversion moves the plant into the (sort of) renewable and [...]
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    Posted: April 01, 2009, 10:51pm EDT

  • Brett Hartman Gets Stay of Execution

    From a joint statement by Attorney General Cordray and Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh:
    We are in the process of reviewing the decision of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. A stay has been temporarily granted by the Sixth Circuit and will remain in effect until the U.S. Supreme Court issues [...]
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    Posted: March 31, 2009, 10:53pm EDT

  • Why the Y Bridge?

    Since Team Recall has put the decision to spend stimulus money on fencing around the Y Bridge, it's worth contemplating the decision to go with that particular project. First off, Grumpy Abe does some well taken grumping about the ABJ's coverage last Friday (toward the bottom of his [...]
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    Posted: March 30, 2009, 11:46pm EDT

  • For my three or four readers who ...

    For my three or four readers who are also Whedonverse fans, sad news. Angel fan favorite Andy Hallett who starred as Lorne, The Little Demon Who Cried Apocalypse, has died at 33. Details on Eonline. (H/t Whedonesque) For those of you who understand, a tribute:



    [...]
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    Posted: March 30, 2009, 11:38pm EDT

  • Push Polling for the Akron Mayor Recall: Field Report and Call for Comments

    Commenter Eric announced that he got what sounded like a push poll call supporting the mayor recall campaign to which Warner Mendenhall is so generously donating his time. I got the call today which, along with some research on the internets, raises questions.

    The call is entirely robo. [...]
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    Posted: March 29, 2009, 11:20pm EDT

  • Weekend Randomness

    So how it's been going down is like this. I get enough school and writing work out of the way to back to the blog, put up a couple posts of varying quality and things start to hum. Then (this winter anyway) I get sick. For whatever reason, I just' [...]
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    Posted: March 27, 2009, 7:20pm EDT

  • Anti-Recall Site Launches.


    Citizens for Akron    , the official political committee countering Warner Mendenhall's recall effort err the entirely spontaneous grassroots recall effort that Warner Mendenhall is selflessly donating his time to launched their website today. They are still building it as it launches, so if you get' [...]
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    Posted: March 10, 2009, 4:00pm EDT

  • Warner Mendenhall Grasps at Straws

    Akron News Now has begun what they promise will be a continuing series on the back-and-forth between Warner Mendenhall and, apparently, anyone who works for the city of Akron but doesn't carry a union card. The first report concerns an email statement Mendenhall sent out about his lawsuit against' [...]
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    Posted: March 09, 2009, 11:36pm EDT

  • Pho's Akron Pages: Insufficiently Subversive

    A friend returned from a business trip to China with a gift: a screen shot my blogger from inside the PRC:
    He says that my blog is entirely accessible on the state-sponsored internet there. Kinda cool to think of people (OK, a white guy I've known' [...]
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    Posted: March 07, 2009, 8:09pm EST

  • State Recoverydotcom Sites: How Blue They Are.

    Researching yesterday's post about state recoverydotgov sites, I was curious about whether there is any pattern to party affiliation and putting up such a site. Since SocialGovernment proprietor Alexander Muir has already done a bunch of the legwork on the state sites, I asked him about it in' [...]
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    Posted: March 05, 2009, 11:43pm EST

  • Anti-Recall Group Hitting the Internets

    Citizens for Akron, the political committee that will oppose the recall effort that is now gathering signatures, has established at least the beginnings of a web presence. A website is currently sporting a placeholder page admonishing visitors "Don't sign it" with a promise of more to come and the' [...]
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    Posted: March 04, 2009, 10:23pm EST

  • Watching Ohio's Recovery.Gov

    Like a number of states, Ohio has set up a state version of the Obama administration's Recovery.gov, offer the promise of Web 2.o interactivity with the stimulus bill. The website/blog SocialGovernment offers an assessment of various state efforts, opining that Illinois has the' [...]
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    Posted: March 04, 2009, 10:20am EST

  • My Latest Gig

    Finally I can announce that as of last Wednesday I will have a biweekly column in the Akron Legal News. This has been in the works for some time, then the launch caught me napping. Anyway, I have a pretty free hand to write about [...]
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    Posted: March 02, 2009, 11:59pm EST

  • Return of the Randomness

    In my ongoing attempt to get back to regular blogging, I'm trying to bring back things that worked in the past. Longtime readers may remember the Friday random ten posts -- ten songs randomly shuffled out of my MP3 player, along with some similarly random observations. So here goes.
    [...]
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    Posted: February 27, 2009, 10:44pm EST

  • Browns Officially in Rebuilding Year #10

    The Cleveland Browns announced today that they are trading tight end Kellen Winslow to Tampa Bay for "undisclosed draft picks." Coupled that with the news that Pro-Bowl D-lineman Shaun Rodgers wants out and it's safe to say that the team will be contending for nothing other than high' [...]
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    Posted: February 27, 2009, 2:08pm EST

  • The Mayor Recall Begins Now . . . Okay, NOW.

    For a variety of reasons -- some of them good -- I've been off the blog for another protracted period. And for a variety of reasons -- some of them good -- I'm still not ready to give all this up. I've found that when getting back into the blog,' [...]
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    Posted: February 26, 2009, 11:21pm EST

  • Yes, the Apportionment Board Matters. A Lot.

    A Jill post from yesterday points to a Mark Naymik column about the looming primary fight to go after Sen. George Voinovich's soon-to-be vacant seat 2010. The column focuses primarily on the possible battle between Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for the nomination.' [...]
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    Posted: February 05, 2009, 9:41pm EST

  • Remembering Buddy Holly

    Fifty years ago rock pioneer Buddy Holly died when his plane crashed in an Iowa cornfield. The media retrospectives have reprised Don McLean's "Day the Music Died." I for one am not a fan of McLean's allegorical whine against Sixties rock, so it's just the day Buddy Holly (and Richie' [...]
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    Posted: February 03, 2009, 9:38pm EST

  • On Strickland's School Funding "Fix"

    Up until now, I've defended Gov. Ted Strickland on school funding. Yes he promised to fix the system and no he didn't offer a fix in the first budget cycle. But it made sense for him to get on top of things and wait until after the midterms before rolling [...]
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    Posted: January 29, 2009, 9:30pm EST

  • State of the State, First Impressions.

    Kind of like going to the grocery store with your dad and, after he spends the trip there lecturing about how times are tough and the family has to save money, he loads the cart with steak and seafood and puts it all on the Visa.

    More to come [...]
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    Posted: January 28, 2009, 6:36pm EST

  • Waiting for Strickland's State o' the State

    Tomorrow Gov. Ted Strickland delivers his State of the State address. Aside from the obvious (everyone's economy is now in the tank with ours! w00t!), the Governor is expected to offer at least the beginnings of his school funding fix.

    While Strickland made the smart move waiting to this' [...]
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    Posted: January 27, 2009, 11:01pm EST

  • Inaugeration Day

    For those of you still in Akron and out of the Dem loop, the hot ticket today is a watch party co-sponsored by Reps Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan at the Akron Civic. Details here.

    My teaching schedule neatly coincides with the event, so no tweets or [...]
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    Posted: January 20, 2009, 7:45am EST

  • They Love Me in France

    Just picked this up on a Technorati RSS feed. Apparently a French blog found the our coverage from 2006 when Obama met les bloggeurs at the ODP dinner and translated. Also posted on of Cindy's photos, labelled "Pho et Obama." My long gone college French' [...]
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    Posted: January 15, 2009, 10:30pm EST

  • Coughlin Running for Guv.

    In lieu of one of my mewling post about sorry I've been away and now the blog is back, let's just jump into it.

    To no one's surprise (least of all followers of the Pages) term-limited State Senator Kevin Coughlin has announced his candidacy for Governor. Given' [...]
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    Posted: January 14, 2009, 11:06pm EST

  • Rick Warren: His Purpose Is Not to Make Actual Sense

    President-elect Barack Obama has ticked off the LGBT community and their friends and allies (yr. blogger included) by offering the symbolically-charged inaguration invocation spot to Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback evangelical megachurch. Warren opposes gay marriage and campaigned for Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban in California.

    While [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2008, 11:29pm EST

  • I Believe this License Plate is Unconstitutional

    . . .though I don't believe the suit against it will ultimately be successful.

    This blog has reported earlier about efforts in Florida to create a Christian-themed specialty license plate. South Carolina has begun production and, as of this week, been ordered to stop.' [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2008, 10:47pm EST

  • Party Animals in the Sixth Circuit

    Remember the HAVA suit against Jennifer Brunner during the runup to the election? The Republicans filed suit against Ohio's Secretary of State alleging that she was violating the Help America Vote Act1. A three judge panel of the Sixth Circuit ruled that the suit should be dismissed, then the entire' [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2008, 11:55pm EST

  • Rod Blagojevic Is Why I'm Not a "Democrat for Blackwell"

    Some merry blogosphereic pranksters have started a "Democrats for Blackwell" Facebook group, advocating that the former Secretary of State and current far right commentator be elevated to RNC chair. The gag -- and it's a good one -- is Blackwell's radical conservatism coupled with his political incompetence will keep [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2008, 11:43pm EST

  • The GOPs Problems in a Nutshell

    In a HuffPo piece on the RNC looking at Howard Dean's fifty state model for inspiration, this nugget:
    "By relying on wedge issues to win, they've used issues to divide people and worked to appeal to an increasingly smaller group of people," said the aide. "Dean's point has not'" [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2008, 11:25pm EST

  • The Mayor Recall: How Very Akron of Us

    While the quixotic effort to recall Mayor Plusquellec appeared stillborn, a little more ink got spilled this week. Bob Dyer wrote an anti column infused with Dyer's usual ironclad grip on the obvious. Also Boring weighed in tonight.

    The campaign itself is unlikely to amount to much.' [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2008, 11:01pm EST

  • Announcements

    The series of posts on the legal road to Guantanomo has been postponed. I realized that it will cover material on the final and not all my students in the current class know of the blog. Happily, I realized this before hitting "Publish."
    Meanwhile I've hit yet another snag in' [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2008, 10:57pm EST

  • Ralph Regula (R-Canton) Coming to Akron Press Club

    Congressman Ralph Regula, the outgoing and longtime representative of Ohio's 16 district, will speak at the Akron Press Club this Friday, Dec. 12. Lunch begins at 11:45. Details here. [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2008, 11:21am EST
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