We’re coming up on Thanksgiving, and that means shoppers will be out the day after Thanksgiving for the start of the Christmas consumer season.  But this year, instead of heading to big box retail for Black Friday, why not join Cincinnati’s Green Friday?  Support the local economy and local jobs by shopping local for Green Friday the day after Thanksgiving!  And to make an even bolder statement, get a couple rolls of dollar coins and spend those when you conduct your holiday shopping at locally owned businesses.  Remember, spending coins is good for the environment, and it costs less to make, too!

I think it would be cool if a coalition of local businesses would link together and offer, say, a modest discount for anyone spending dollar coins—which would be interpreted as a sign of support for Green Friday.  Additionally, by distributing these coins as change to other customers, the act could draw awareness to a variety of topics:  the environmental and economic benefit of using coins instead of paper bills; but more interestingly, the coins would serve as a visual reminder of how locally spent dollars circulate!

I think it would be neat to imagine a proliferation of dollar coins on the local economy, as a sign and a reminder of the benefit of supporting Cincinnati’s economy.

Freestore Foodbank

Ever since engaging the first “Battle of the Blogs,” I have had the Freestore Foodbank on my radar.  Obviously, this is a great resource that helps people in our community.

Happen, Inc.

On the one hand, Happen, Inc. is radically different from something like the Freestore Foodbank.  But this is a great addition to the Cincinnati community, providing access to art projects to anyone who stops in the studio, free of charge.

The Cure Starts Now

Keith Desserich is a high school classmate of mine, so obviously I’m interested in the story of his family, and in The Cure Starts Now.  I recently purchased a copy of Notes Left Behind, and Elena’s Blueberry Pie is my ice-cream of choice whenever I go to Graeter’s.

Village Life Outreach

When my wife signed us up at our new doctor, I didn’t expect him to be a high school classmate—but since I’ve been a patient of Dr. Christopher Lewis, I’ve read up on Village Life Outreach.  It seems like this local group does great work helping others.

Conclusion

So, on the one hand, my interest in these organizations all relate to some personal experience or connection.  And they are all so radically different.  Two are local groups serving local people—Freestore Foodbank and Happen, Inc.  But they have such radically different missions.  And then The Cure Starts Now and Village Life Outreach are local groups serving wider audiences.

Anyway, I’m just musing on some local groups, and thinking about how much money I might be able to contribute this season—and how much should go to how many different places.

Democracy Now reports that the total number of Americans going hungry is likely even higher. The report is based on 2008 data when the unemployment rate maxed out at 7.2 percent. Since then the unemployment rate has jumped to over ten percent. David Davenport runs the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

David Davenport: “I anticipate that as the months go on, the next four to six months, we’ll continue to break distribution records, we’ll continue to have to expand programs like the mobile pantry, and we’ll continue to have to do more and to do it with less resources.”
The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy and highest infant mortality rates as well as the most adult and child poverty in the industrialized world. We’re #1 indeed!

Sadly the are corporate shills that engage in class warfare that try to deny the fact that people go hungry in the world’s only military Superpower. According to this Robert Rector, an “analyst”  at the conservative corporate think tank the Heritage Foundation said, “Very few of these people are hungry”. And “When they lose jobs, they constrain the kind of food they buy. That is regrettable, but it’s a far cry from a hunger crisis.”

The Reagan-Bush junta also tried to deny the fact that people in the United States were going hungry in the 80’s. But the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington advocacy group, began a survey that concluded otherwise. (They like to call themselves “Compassionate Conservatives”. I can think of many things to call them but that’s not one of them!)

In order to solve such a serious problem we as a nation first have to acknowledge it is real and we must work hard to find real solutions. The NAACP and the AFL-CIO have called on the Obama administration to do more to create jobs saying the stimulus hasn’t gone far enough.

You can help out people in our area by clicking here and making a donation. 

Yesterday, I happened upon this website by the self-styled “Friends of WAIF.”  The site is incomplete, claiming to be under construction—but it calls for a boycott of WAIF’s Fall Memberthon.  No dates are given, so I’m not sure if the Fall Memberthon has passed already.  A quick look at WAIF radio’s actual website doesn’t provide any clarity, either.  The WAIF alert hasn’t been updated for five years.  Nevertheless, this under construction website indicates a grassroots movement by parties interested in protecting Cincinnati’s community radio station down at 88.3 FM.

From the Friends of WAIF home page:

Friends of Waif
Take time to leaf through the site and follow the narrative of WAIF and the corruption that is going on at this public member funded radio station.  Help us take down this board. 

Our Vision
To free WAIF FM of the cancerous board of trustees, Donald Shabazz, Alubanjo Adigunm and Howard Riley. They have poisoned a once wonderful place to do radio and we are bound and determined to remove them from office.

How We’re Different
We truly want community radio not a board that attempts by any means to hold on to positions for their own gratification or for the personal gain that can be strained out of the meager resources of WAIF.

Years ago, I co-hosted a show on WAIF with a guy named Derrick Blassingame.  I had a lot of fun working with Derrick on that show.  For reasons that still make no sense to me, Derrick and I were banned from WAIF for life.  I think it’s because we talked to CityBeat when they did a negative story about the station.  Say what you will about me or Derrick, but this new website shows that there are others out there getting treated badly by the station—and it looks like they are trying to do something about it.

When asked to respond to these concerns, Hunsucker was quoted as follows:

These so-called medical experts,” he says in a gruff, laconic voice through tobacco-stained teeth. “Screw ‘em. What do you want me to do, walk in lockstep?”

More insight from a recent NASCO client proposal:

Another unique aspect of the NASCO program is that we use the Heimlich as the first response to a drowning victim….(All) of our experience with investigating lifeguard response to drowning shows that approximately six out of seven trained guards (with certifications across all agencies) refuse to do “mouth to mouth” on a victim. We have never had a refusal to do the Heimlich.

In other words, NASCO’s standard of care is based on accomodating the needs of squeamish lifeguards who may resent performing yucky mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It’s unclear if such an approach accommodates the needs of customers at NASCO client pools, three of whom drowned last summer.

Now some other creative thinkers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have named Hunsucker to a committee studying - as Dave Barry says, I’m not making this up - safety and first aid:

The Lifeguarding/Bather Supervision Technical Committee will include, but not be limited to, lifeguard qualifications and training, staffing of lifeguards and attendants, provision of lifeguard equipment and placement requirements, safety training (CPR, AED, etc.), first aid equipment and facilities, and guidance for unguarded facilities.

This committee is part of a larger CDC project:

The Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) is intended to transform the typical health department program into a data-driven, knowledge-based, risk reduction effort to prevent disease and injuries and promote healthy recreational water experiences.

It might be a good idea to keep Hunsucker away from the “diseases and injuries.” That stuff can be kind of yucky.

Here’s our message to those who made the decision to appoint someone with Hunsucker’s disdain for medical expertise to a CDC committee: screw ‘em.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the economist who came up with cap-and-trade in the 1960s, Thomas Crocker, said, “I’m skeptical that cap-and-trade is the most effective way to go about regulating carbon.” Crocker said he favors imposing a firm tax on emissions that would be easier to enforce.

According to this several Democrats opposed the bill for not going far enough to reduce pollution. Environmentalist critics say the emissions cuts are too low and could be easily avoided through flawed methods of monitoring compliance. The measure also provides billions of dollars in subsidies for the coal industry.

Here’s Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s critique of Cap and Trade:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: “The bill allows two billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, roughly equivalent to 30 percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions. Supporters of the bill point out that coal use will increase by 2020, because electric utilities will continue to use dirty coal, the prime source of pollution. With two billion tons of offsets per year, we’re told electric utilities will reduce carbon emissions at places other than their generating plants. So they really don’t have to actually decrease their emissions, and coal-fired CO2 emissions will increase through 2025. No wonder there are twenty-six active coal plant applications. Increased CO2 emissions will be our gift to the next generation. Apparently, the planet is not melting; with this bill, it’s just getting better for polluters.”

In a press release Congressman Kucinich gave more details about his opposition.

“I oppose H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The reason is simple. It won’t address the problem. In fact, it might make the problem worse.

“It sets targets that are too weak, especially in the short term, and sets about meeting those targets through Enron-style accounting methods. It gives new life to one of the primary sources of the problem that should be on its way out– coal – by giving it record subsidies. And it is rounded out with massive corporate giveaways at taxpayer expense. There is $60 billion for a single technology which may or may not work, but which enables coal power plants to keep warming the planet at least another 20 years.

“Worse, the bill locks us into a framework that will fail. Science tells us that immediately is not soon enough to begin repairing the planet. Waiting another decade or more will virtually guarantee catastrophic levels of warming. But the bill does not require any greenhouse gas reductions beyond current levels until 2030.

“Today’s bill is a fragile compromise, which leads some to claim that we cannot do better. I respectfully submit that not only can we do better; we have no choice but to do better. Indeed, if we pass a bill that only creates the illusion of addressing the problem, we walk away with only an illusion. The price for that illusion is the opportunity to take substantive action.
“There are several aspects of the bill that are problematic.

1. Overall targets are too weak. The bill is predicated on a target atmospheric concentration of 450 parts per million, a target that is arguably justified in the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but which is already out of date. Recent science suggests 350 parts per million is necessary to help us avoid the worst effects of global warming.

2. The offsets undercut the emission reductions. Offsets allow polluters to keep polluting; they are rife with fraudulent claims of emissions reduction; they create environmental, social, and economic unintended adverse consequences; and they codify and endorse the idea that polluters do not have to make sacrifices to solve the problem.

3. It kicks the can down the road. By requiring the bulk of the emissions to be carried out in the long term and requiring few reductions in the short term, we are not only failing to take the action when it is needed to address rapid global warming, but we are assuming the long term targets will remain intact.

4. EPA’s authority to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short- to medium-term is rescinded. It is our best defense against a new generation of coal power plants. There is no room for coal as a major energy source in a future with a stable climate.

5. Nuclear power is given a lifeline instead of phasing it out. Nuclear power is far more expensive, has major safety issues including a near release in my own home state in 2002, and there is still no resolution to the waste problem. A recent study by Dr. Mark Cooper showed that it would cost $1.9 trillion to $4.1 trillion more over the life of 100 new nuclear reactors than to generate the same amount of electricity from energy efficiency and renewables.

6. Dirty Coal is given a lifeline instead of phasing it out. Coal-based energy destroys entire mountains, kills and injures workers at higher rates than most other occupations, decimates ecologically sensitive wetlands and streams, creates ponds of ash that are so toxic the Department of Homeland Security will not disclose their locations for fear of their potential to become a terrorist weapon, and fouls the air and water with sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulates, mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and thousands of other toxic compounds that cause asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, and pulmonary and cardiac problems for starters. In contrast, several times more jobs are yielded by renewable energy investments than comparable coal investments.

7. The $60 billion allocated for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) is triple the amount of money for basic research and development in the bill. We should be pressuring China, India and Russia to slow and stop their power plants now instead of enabling their perpetuation. We cannot create that pressure while spending unprecedented amounts on a single technology that may or may not work. If it does not work on the necessary scale, we have then spent 10-20 years emitting more CO2, which we cannot afford to do. In addition, those who will profit from the technology will not be viable or able to stem any leaks from CCS facilities that may occur 50, 100, or 1000 years from now.

8. Carbon markets can and will be manipulated using the same Wall Street sleights of hand that brought us the financial crisis.

9. It is regressive. Free allocations doled out with the intent of blunting the effects on those of modest means will pale in comparison to the allocations that go to polluters and special interests. The financial benefits of offsets and unlimited banking also tend to accrue to large corporations. And of course, the trillion dollar carbon derivatives market will help Wall Street investors. Much of the benefits designed to assist consumers are passed through coal companies and other large corporations, on whom we will rely to pass on the savings.

10. The Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) is not an improvement. The 15% RES standard would be achieved even if we failed to act.

11. Dirty energy options qualify as “renewable”: The bill allows polluting industries to qualify as “renewable energy.” Trash incinerators not only emit greenhouse gases, but also emit highly toxic substances. These plants disproportionately expose communities of color and low-income to the toxics. Biomass burners that allow the use of trees as a fuel source are also defined as “renewable.” Under the bill, neither source of greenhouse gas emissions is counted as contributing to global warming.

12. It undermines our bargaining position in international negotiations in Copenhagen and beyond. As the biggest per capita polluter, we have a responsibility to take action that is disproportionately stronger than the actions of other countries. It is, in fact, the best way to preserve credibility in the international context.

13. International assistance is much less than demanded by developing countries. Given the level of climate change that is already in the pipeline, we are going to need to devote major resources toward adaptation. Developing countries will need it the most, which is why they are calling for much more resources for adaptation and technology transfer than is allocated in this bill. This will also undercut our position in Copenhagen.

“I offered eight amendments and cosponsored two more that collectively would have turned the bill into an acceptable starting point. All amendments were not allowed to be offered to the full House. Three amendments endeavored to minimize the damage that will be done by offsets, a method of achieving greenhouse gas reductions that has already racked up a history of failure to reduce emissions – increasing emissions in some cases – while displacing people in developing countries who rely on the land for their well being.

“Three other amendments would have made the federal government a force for change by requiring all federal energy to eventually come from renewable resources, by requiring the federal government to transition to electric and plug-in hybrid cars, and by requiring the installation of solar panels on government rooftops and parking lots. These provisions would accelerate the transition to a green economy.

“Another amendment would have moved up the year by which reductions of greenhouse gas emissions were required from 2030 to 2025. It would have encouraged the efficient use of allowances and would have reduced opportunities for speculation by reducing the emission value of an allowance by a third each year.

“The last amendment would have removed trash incineration from the definition of renewable energy. Trash incineration is one of the primary sources of environmental injustice in the country. It a primary source of compounds in the air known to cause cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases. These facilities are disproportionately sited in communities of color and communities of low income. Furthermore, incinerators emit more carbon dioxide per unit of electricity produced than coal-fired power plants.

“Passing a weak bill today gives us weak environmental policy tomorrow,”

The interesting part?  There were some counter-protesters that had gathered with this group and one of them, a concerned citizen from Minnesota named “Robert Erickson”, actually got on the list of speakers.

Erickson delivered a scathing speech denouncing immigrants who come to take American jobs and encouraging the crowd to send the immigrants “back where they came from”.  It wasn’t until the last third of Erickson’s speech that it became clear that he was actually talking about European immigrants.

By this point it was too late as the crowd was already solidly behind Erickson as he denounced how European immigrants inflicted genocide on an entire population and stole land from this county’s true inhabitants.  He even finishes his speech by leading the crowd in a “Columbus go home” chant.

Here is video of his speech:

This piece is cross posted here.

Cincinnati – About 100 leaders with the AMOS Project will ascend on the Hamilton County Building today around 12:15 for a “Justice Revival” that includes singing, exhortations, and prayers.  The AMOS Project is calling for a local hiring process on the Banks Project.

In August, the AMOS Project, through a Freedom of Information Act inquiry, requested a copy of the entire certified payroll on the Banks Project from the beginning through July.  After weeks of analyzing the data of the payroll, AMOS discovered that about 6% of all people working on the Banks Project come from the city of Cincinnati.

“As people of faith, we are concerned about stewardship, fairness and opportunity,” said AMOS Project President Pastor Gregory Chandler.  “Cincinnati deserves better, and we believe a fair process can be put in place.” 

Later today, a small delegation of AMOS Project leaders are meeting with John Deatrick, the Banks Project Executive, about a fair local hiring process.

All contractors on the publicly funded, prevailing wage portion of the Banks Project are required to submit Certified Payroll for the workers who do construction work on the Banks Project.  This includes the employees address, the craft and skill level, the hours worked each day and the wage.  Ten AMOS Project volunteer leaders analyzed and compiled all the addresses for the workers, and then mapped where they lived. 

The leadership team discovered that workers were coming as far away as Florida, Georgia and Texas to work on the Banks Project, while a small number (29) of people working on project live within the city limits.  Although many people listed their address as being in Cincinnati, when mapped, AMOS discovered that a significant number of addresses claiming “Cincinnati” were from all over the county, leaving only 6% of the number of people who work on the Banks Project coming from Cincinnati city limits.

The AMOS Project is a coalition of 30 congregations in Greater Cincinnati, dedicated to promoting justice and improving the quality of life for all residents. 

Tuesday COAST argues equal access to City Hall before United States Court of Appeals

Council allows pro-tax rallies, but not those advocating limited government

COAST attorneys will appear before the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, November 17 to defend the Preliminary Injunction it received nearly a year ago requiring City officials to provide equal access to certain spaces within City Hall for press conferences and rallies promoting limited government.

In February of 2008, Cincinnatians Active to Support Education and 60 other individuals and organizations rallied inside City Hall to support a massive tax increase for Cincinnati Public Schools.  Only months later, COASTer Mark Miller requested that the City allow a rally in that exact location for organizations supporting the ballot issue promoting a ban on red light cameras and proportional representation.  He was denied such access.

“The City grants or denies access for press conferences and rallies based upon the viewpoint of the speaker,” said Chris Finney, lead counsel for COAST in the litigation. “That is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.  Judge Barrett properly enjoined the City from continuing such unconstitutional practices, and we are proud to defend that victory for common sense, fairness, equality and the Constitution in the Court of Appeals.”

COAST challenged the discriminatory policies of the City in federal court.  In that action, Federal District Court Judge Michael Barrett issued a preliminary injunction against that City policy, finding that it violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.  The City has appealed that decision to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, one step below the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The oral argument is scheduled for 9 AM Tuesday at:

United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
6th floor-West Courtroom
Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse
100 East Fifth Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

In 2008, COAST and its partners in the WeDemandAVote.Com coalition collected 15,000 signatures to place before City voters a ban on red light and speeding cameras.  The WeDemandAVote.Com coalition members are the NAACP, COAST, the Libertarian Party of Ohio and the Green Party of Southwest Ohio. 

Despite organized opposition from the Democrat Party, Mayor Mallory and a host of big-givernment advocates, and despite the discrimination COAST and the WeDemand Coalition faced in achieving access to the interior spaces of City Hall, voters enacted the ban, the first in the nation.  Since then, voters nationwide have adopted such prohibitions. 

COAST frequently brings suit to fight for access to governmental forums on equal footing with pro-tax forces, including suing Sheriff Leis in 2007 over the Super-Sized jail tax, suing Cincinnati Public Schools over abuse of school yards for political signs, and suing the Fairfield City Schools for sending home pro-levy flyers with school children. 

“Some day, politicians and bureaucrats will learn,” said Finney, “that they cannot abuse the power of their office to advance their big-government agenda.  COAST stands firm in stopping these particularly pernicious practices.”

Here is the text of his pledge:

Berns Says Take the Pledge

I promise to buy only MADE IN THE USA FOR CHRISTMAS

Signed ___________

Jim Berns is contacting friends, family and all citizens and asking them to take the Buy Made in the USA for Christmas Pledge.

Made in China put it back

Mexico, Canada, U.K., Germany etc. our trading partners are ok too.

In 2009 our deficit with China was nearly $200 billion

I have been to China twice and there are no Made in the USA products in their stores!

To check which countries are trading partners go to:

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/

I just finished watching the last half of Lincoln Ware’s television show, and he was talking about the Empowerment Experiment.  His guest was Maggie Anderson, co-founder of that movement, and they discussed the challenges facing her family in actualizing the experiment.  In short, the Anderson family decided, for one year, only to give their money to African American owned businesses.  Living in an affluent Chicago neighborhood, this meant skipping nearby retail amenities while searching for the black owned grocer, the black owned clothier, and so forth.  What if the Anderson family lived in Cincinnati?  Who would make the list of retailers?

On Ware’s program, Anderson discussed the difference between those industries with high black representation—like finding a car wash, or a hair styling location—versus those with low representation—like the fact her family never located a black owned pharmacy. 

Personally, I have not focused on the ethnicity of retail owners as much as focusing on the concept of “local” shopping.  One of my favorite shops, Park + Vine, is owned by Dan Korman—who is white.  Now that I’m reflecting on the issue, it’s got me to thinking where and when I support black professionals.

I do have a black dentist—Dr. Bronson in Bond Hill.  He is one of the best dentists I have ever had.  For years, I suffered from a sensitive tooth, and past dentists always told me to use Sensodyne toothpaste.  When I met Dr. Bronson, he told me about a research article he’d been reading recently—which indicated that lots of the extras packed into modern toothpastes (like whitening agents, and so forth) actually contain chemicals that inhibit calcium development, or something like that.  In short, perhaps I needed to try a very basic toothpaste with no extras.  I switched to a plain version of Tom’s of Maine, and have never had any teeth sensitivity since!

I also have a black doctor—Dr. Lewis.  What a great guy is Dr. Lewis!  In addition to being the most thorough doctor with whom I’ve ever worked, he has a great humanitarian streak.  Read about him here.  The story behind guys like Dr. Lewis remind all of us about how we need to try and do better, in all ways.

Then there are the handful of locally owned restaurants my family likes to support.  Some of these are white owned, and some black owned.  I don’t know that any are owned by other ethnicities.  Back when I lived in Kennedy Heights, there was this great place called “Las Americas Bakery.”  Contrary to my initial thoughts, it seems to be doing quite well.  But since I moved from that side of town I don’t go there any more.

There are diverse owners down at Findlay Market, too—though this year I seem to go to Findlay Market less than I intend.  Most our shopping happens at Kroger, though we do make an occasional trip to Jungle Jim’s.  He’s Italian, I guess.

Anyway, what I’m saying is that I wonder what the list of businesses would look like for a local family trying the Empowerment Experiment.  What are all the black owned businesses?  And what might that list look like when adjusted for, say, the Latino population?  Or what would it look like if only featuring women owned businesses?

It seems like resources of this sort should be more readily available—and if they are, I don’t know about them.

Today’s Enquirer features this item about the new “Race to the Top” initiative from the Department of Education (led by Arne Duncan).  By creating a “competition” between States to create the best reform plans, the Department of Education has also created a system that will manufacture winners—and by extension losers.  Everyone should pay attention to the ways in which we pit states, school systems, school buildings, teachers, and ultimately students against one another in the race for limited resources destined for unequal allocation.

From today’s Enquirer:

The official start for federal “Race to the Top” education funds was Thursday, making available $4.35 billion in potential funding to states beginning next year. States apply for it by showing that their plans to reform public schools are better and more practical than other states’ plans.

This reminds me of a book I read by Alfie Kohn - The Case Against Competition.  Here is Kohn himself reflecting on the work:

That may sound extreme if not downright un-American. But some things aren’t just bad because they’re done to excess; some things are inherently destructive. Competition, which simply means that one person can succeed only if others fail, is one of those things. It’s always unnecessary and inappropriate at school, at play and at home…

There is good evidence that productivity in the workplace suffers as a result of competition. The research is even more compelling in classroom settings. David Johnson, a professor of social psychology at the University of Minnesota, and his colleagues reviewed all the studies they could find on the subject from 1924 to 1980. Sixty-five of the studies found that children learn better when they work cooperatively as opposed to competitively, eight found the reverse, and 36 found no significant difference. The more complex the learning task, the worse children in a competitive environment fared.

Now the very educational fabric of our entire nation will be subjected by Arne Duncan’s Department of Education into something that looks like a reality television show contest.  Those who play the game win the big prize, and the rest go home, losers.

If the county has a large amount of money set aside for educational reform, why not split it fairly among all the states, and award it after specific reform plans pass a certain rubric?  Certainly some will get the money before others, but none would be left behind?  Or, why not target only the bottom performing states, offering them the money first if they can create a reform plan?

From the Enquirer:

It is the biggest set-aside for education reform in U.S. Education Department history, said Arne Duncan, education secretary.

“Only the best proposals will win,” he said. “We’re going to reward states and (school) districts who are willing to fundamentally challenge the status quo and get dramatically better.”

States seeking the first, largest round of awards must apply by Jan. 19. Awards will be announced in April. If they wait to apply or their applications are rejected, they get another chance in June for awards in September.

Duncan said he does not know how many states will receive money.

“I think we will have a very vigorous competition,” Duncan said. “If we have 15 states (that win), that’s great; 12 states ... or three states, that’s great.

Just look at how they are talking about this concept—like it’s a raffle at a church festival, or something.  Something is wrong here.  Fundamentally wrong.

Please help us spread the word by telling anyone you think would be appropriate, friends and community members etc. We are anticipating your participation in a thoughtful evening.

We need everyone who has been so helpful in this ongoing struggle to contact Jeff Rumpke, affirming their move to make these recycling jobs into regular hires, but demanding priority for previous temporary workers.

Bellow is a template letter for you to mail to Jeff Rumpke. Also, feel free to use this if you’d like to call Jeff Rumpke’s secretary at (513)242-4401 x3637

Community support has gotten us this far, and now we are at an important turning point in winning justice for day-labor workers!

In Peace & Solidarity,
Sincerely,
The Staff, Members and Volunteers
The Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center
40 E. McMicken
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513.621.5991
website: http://www.cworkers.org
cworkers@cinci.rr.com

November 12, 2009

Rumpke Reycling
Jeff Rumpke, Regional Vice President
3800 Struble Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45251

Dear Jeff Rumpke,

I am writing to urge you to do the right thing for Rumpke, and for our community, and give priority in hiring to Line Sorters who worked for Rumpke through the day-labor agency TLC. I was a supporter of the day-labor workers long struggle to receive the living wage, and I was disheartened to hear that they were all laid off soon after finally getting the pay that was rightfully owned to them. I feel that Rumpke can now send a message to our communities that Rumpke respects the dignity and hard work that so many workers have shown time and again to the company.

Former Day-Labor Rumpke workers have the training and they have proven the commitment. Please stand with the community and hire the laid off day-labor workers!

Sincerelly,
(YOUR NAME HERE)

Check out the Cincinnati Coalition of Reason.  It’s where I just found the following media release.

#

Cincinnati’s Godless Billboard Taken Down

For Immediate Release

(Cincinnati, November 12, 2009) In the wake of “multiple, significant threats,” the downtown billboard that says, “Don’t Believe In God? You are not alone,” came down early this morning. It had been up only since Tuesday afternoon at Reading Road and 12th Street, one block south of Liberty Street. It is being moved to a new site today at the Sixth Street Viaduct.

Around 2:00 PM yesterday, the United Coalition of Reason, which paid $3,875.00 for a one-month run of the billboard, was contacted by Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati. Lamar reported that the landowner of the site had been threatened over the billboard’s message and wanted it taken down. Lamar only leases the land the billboard stands on. 

“We weren’t given the landowner’s name or precise details,” reported Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason. “Nor did we pursue them. It was sufficient to learn that this person had received multiple, significant threats and that Lamar would act quickly to alleviate the problem.”

Edwords added: “Lamar was most apologetic to us regarding the situation. It was a development they hadn’t expected. Nor had we. Nothing like this has ever happened to us before.”

The new location on the 6th Street Expressway, U.S. Highway 50, is owned by Lamar Advertising of Cincinnati and therefore isn’t subject to landowner restrictions. The billboard will face east, visible on the left to traffic traveling west out of the city across the viaduct toward the suburbs of Delhi and Price Hill. 

Shawn Jeffers, co-coordinator for Cin CoR, the Cincinnati Coalition of Reason, which is the local organization the billboard advertises, sees this controversy as evidence of the billboard’s importance.

“Everything that has happened shows just how vital our message is,” Jeffers said. “It proves our point, that bigotry against people who don’t believe in a god is still very real in America. Only when we atheists, agnostics and humanists come together and go public about our views will people have a chance to learn that we too are part of the community and deserve respect.”

On its website at CinCoR.org, the Cincinnati Coalition of Reason describes itself as “a collection of nontheistic groups in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky working together to increase awareness of secular-minded principles and organizations.” The coalition was launched on November 10 when the billboard first went up.

“We are now more committed than ever to the goal of making our presence known,” Jeffers added. “Hopefully this turn of events will cause more and more nontheistic people in Cincinnati to realize how necessary it is to get organized. Only by working together can we end prejudice against philosophical and religious minorities.”

The United Coalition of Reason has now funded fourteen campaigns this year. Each has involved a billboard or public transit ads. They have appeared in places as far flung as Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; Morgantown, West Virginia; Newark, New Jersey; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego, California. On November 10, three were launched in Ohio: in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus.

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The Cincinnati Coalition of Reason ( http://www.CinCoR.org ) is a group of like-minded member organizations from the greater Cincinnati area that advocate science and reason as the most reliable sources of knowledge and truth.

The United Coalition of Reason ( http://www.unitedcor.org ) exists to raise the visibility and sense of unity among local groups in the community of reason by providing funding and expertise to help them cooperate toward the goal of raising their public profiles.