City Club Mayoral Candidates Forum

Today's City Club Mayoral Candidates Forum is now accessible on YouTube.

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Cleveland Browns: new ways to lose

At American Thinker today, Silvio Canto, Jr. comments on the dozen Cleveland Browns players who decided to follow Colin Kaepernick’s "example" at the game over the weekend:

Over the years, we've grown accustomed to the National Anthem to start sporting events.  It means that the umpire is about to say "play ball," or the referee is about to flip the coin.  It's like a prayer before dinner or one of those moments when you see the big picture, where you are part of something bigger than yourself.

A few days ago, some of the Cleveland Browns decided to create their 15 minutes of fame.  They decided to take a knee during the National Anthem.

Here is the story:

On Monday, before their game against the New York Giants, a dozen Cleveland Browns players took a knee during the playing of the national anthem while several players placed a hand on the shoulders of kneeling players in a show of support, ESPN reports.

"There's a lot of racial and social injustices in the world that are going on right now," Browns rookie safety Jabrill Peppers told ESPN. "We just decided to take a knee and pray for the people who have been affected and just pray for the world in general."

Players said linebacker Christian Kirksey led the prayer.

"We did it out of respect," Kirksey said. "No disrespect for anyone, we just felt like it was the right time and the need to do it."

No disrespect for anyone?  What about respect for the National Anthem or the flag?

. . . a 3-13 team projected to go 2-14 should be grateful that anyone pays to see them play or gives them a uniform to wear.

The Browns are finding more ways to be losers. Sad.

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Candidates for Cleveland's Mayor

image credit: powerpuff Girls Wiki

Today, cleveland.com published a report of the editorial board’s meeting with the mayoral candidates, in the run up to the September 12 primary. The candidates:

Mayor Frank Jackson

City Councilman Zack Reed

City Councilman Jeff Johnson

State Rep. Bill Patmon

nonprofit restaurateur Brandon Chrostowski

activist Robert Kilo

entrepreneur Tony Madalone

resident Dyrone Smith

Former East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer

The report of the meeting is here. Also coming up, the City Club’s Mayoral Primary Debate, scheduled for August 25 at 12 noon. The TV broadcast of the debate on WVIZ is scheduled later that day in that popular time-slot, 11:30 pm to 1 a.m.  

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Eclipse link and Kite Fest

Here’s a link to NASA’s live feeds of today’s ECLIPSE! (Note that some of the live feeds "begin" before the eclipse itself begins this afternoon, so you'll get maps, diagrams, etc. before the real show starts).

And here’s a fun photo by Cleveland Tea Party’s roving photographer Pat Dooley taken at Cleveland’s 40th Kite Fest at Edgewater Park over the weekend.

[click on image to embiggen]

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Winning bigly

image credit: pinterest

Today I found another column, this one from R. Stephen Bowden on American Thinker, demonstrating why Tea Party people need to search for their news from multiple alternative sources.

If you get your political updates through ordinary channels – MSM; local news; the major newspapers; and popular website newsies such as Yahoo, Facebook, and more recently Drudge – you most likely feel that America is imploding, all due to the chaos of the Trump administration.

The goal is to wear you down, if not wear you out, until you agree that Trump must go.

The stakes rise with each new Trump achievement, commensurate with the rising decibel level of those who express outrage at whatever he says.  That's what happens when your cherished assumptions are disproven day after day.  It's comical and also understandable.  No one likes to admit that he is wrong.  Or that they are wrong on a regular basis.  It's embarrassing and humiliating – especially if you are touted as an expert journalist or commentator, at least by virtue of being on TV.

. . .

[there follows a splendid list of Team Trump’s achievements that go into the “America Wins” column]

. . .

Trump is winning – BIGLY.  It's almost too easy.  He's focused on results, period.  The rest is just distraction, much of it orchestrated by anti-Trumpers who insist that you really can get a different result if you repeat the same experiment enough times.  They still don't get it because they don't want to get it.  They have dug in their heels.  That's why I find it funny.  Trump is playing them every step of the way. 

Click here for the full column including the splendid list of Wins. 

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Monday’s Eclipse. Be Prepared!

photo credit: NASA eclipse 2017

Another warning via cleveland.com:

Planning to see Monday's eclipse with your own eyes? Be careful where you're buying your protective eye wear.

The American Astronomical Society has received reports of fake solar eclipse glasses being sold, and Amazon has issued refunds for glasses later found not to meet industry standards. Counterfeit glasses may claim to be certified International Organization for Standardization, imprinted with the code ISO 12312-2, but don't filter the sun's rays and can cause retinal damage.

The society has a list of approved eyeglass and filter vendors on its website, and says people should check glasses

Monday's solar eclipse is the first to span the United States in 99 years. But outside of a narrow path, most of the country will see the moon only partially cover the sun.

Looking at the sun might not feel painful, but it could cause blurry vision and temporary or permanent blindness, according to the American Optometric Association.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office, which monitors scams, offered these tips for consumers who want to safely view the event:

Call your local library. More than 2 million eclipse glasses were sent to libraries for distribution and for eclipse viewing events. Several Ohio libraries plan to hold viewing events where glasses will be provided.

Test your glasses ahead of time. Proper eclipse eye wear will block everything except the sun. Be cautious if you can see other lights or brightness through the glasses. Glasses should not have holes or tears.

Skip regular sunglasses. Wearing regular sunglasses or stacking multiple pairs on top of each other will not protect eyes from looking directly at the sun.

Get advice for using a solar filter. Cameras, cell phone cameras, binoculars, telescopes and other devices will need a solar filter to view the eclipse without damage to the camera sensor or the viewer's eyes. Consult with a professional for how to properly use a filter.

Best option: watch the eclipse on a TV screen. NASA info, maps, and live stream links are here and here.

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Conrad Black on the anti-Trump narratives

Bob Gorrell cartoon via The Federalist Papers 

Amidst all the media hysteria and political posturing in the aftermath of the Charlottesville riot, IMHO, Conrad Black is still thinking through the reporting and editorializing quite clearly. This piece is on the American Greatness website, and here are just a few morsels:

Almost everything about the Charlottesville riot was disgraceful except the conduct of the president. The move to take down the statue of General Robert E. Lee was nonsense. Lee has few rivals as the greatest general in American history (Grant, Sherman, MacArthur, and Eisenhower perhaps). He opposed the secession of Virginia from the Union but, as was common in the South then (and has not entirely died out in any region of the United States today), believed he owed his first loyalty to his state over the United States. He was less dedicated to the virtues of slavery than was Charlottesville’s most famous son, Thomas Jefferson, founder of the University, neighbor at Monticello, and, of course, author of the self-evident truth “that all men are created equal.”

. . .

As the day unfolded, it was clear that orders had been given to the local police to ensure that a serious fracas occurred. The police did nothing to disperse the armed groups on each side, on several occasions herded them toward each other to encourage combat, and then withdrew at times to facilitate the violence. It must be assumed that orders for an insufficient law enforcement and ineffectual rules of engagement emanated ultimately from the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, the ne plus ultra of Clintonian zeal and cynicism, and former Democratic Party chairman.

. . .

The facts of Charlottesville should be ascertained by impartial investigation, prosecution, and exposure, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has promised they will be.

This incident is of a piece with the mindless violence at Berkeley and other university campuses. The nihilists and anarchists of both sides want bloody conflict and vandalism, and most of the Democrats and the anti-Trump Republicans and the national media are trying to pin the phenomenon on Trump. . . .

Read the whole thing here.

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