Bad news from Cuyahoga County Council

art credit: snopes.com

Last night, and despite considerable opposition, the Cuyahoga County Council succeeded in its latest power-grab, creating the “Commission on Human Rights.” Cleveland.com reports:

Cuyahoga County Council on Tuesday passed legislation that protects the LGBTQ community from discrimination and creates a commission with the power to level fines if it finds discrimination did occur.

. . .

The legislation -- proposed by County Executive Armond Budish and sponsored by council members Dan Brady, Yvonne Conwell, Michael Houser, Dale Miller and Sunny Simon -- passed by an 8-3 vote along party lines. Republicans Nan Baker, Michael Gallagher and Jack Schron voted against the legislation.

. . .

It also creates the three-person Cuyahoga County Commission on Human Rights. If someone believes they have been discriminated against, they will be able to take that complaint to the commission, which could level civil penalties, award attorney fees, and order individuals to stop engaging in discriminatory practices if it determines that discrimination occurred.

. . .

An even larger crowd turned out for public comment again on Tuesday, with about 80 people speaking for and against the legislation as council prepared to pass it. County officials estimated that at least roughly 220 people attended the meeting.

Read the rest here. (Previous blogs here.)

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Cuyahoga County Council Votes tomorrow

This follows up earlier blogposts here  from our friends at Ohio Value Voters. On Tuesday, September 25th at 5:00 pm the County Council of Cuyahoga County, Ohio will hear public testimony against Ordinance No. O2018-0009 sponsored by: County Executive Budish and Councilmembers Brady, Miller, Houser and Simon and the VOTE will take place.

TOMORROW: COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING:

Event date:  Tuesday, September 25, 2018 - (5:00 PM)

Arrive about ½ hour early.

Address:  2079 East 9th Street, 4th Floor (corner of East 9^th & Prospect).

There is free parking across the street in the 900 Tower Prospect Street garage. Proceed north on 9th Street, turn right on Prospect and the parking garage will be on the right hand side. If you park on level 5 in the garage, the bridge connects you to level 4 of the Cuyahoga County Administrative Building. Remember to get your ticket validated at the security check point.

• Your attendance at the meeting does not require you to speak. You will send a message with your presence.
• Speakers should write-out testimony to be presented to the council
• No signs in the council chambers
• Speakers direct comments to entire council (not individuals)
• Sign-in sheet at beginning of meeting is required to speak
• Speakers are allowed three minutes
• No posters

Here is a link to the outrageous ordinance==>Ordinance 2018-0009

PUBLIC TESTIMONY REQUESTED AND 

COUNCIL VOTING 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25^TH 

AT 5:00 PM

The Cuyahoga County Council has been working to establish a county-wide "Human Rights Commission" that will affect every city, resident, business, and church in the county.  The three-person commission is intended to hear ALL cases of discrimination in Cuyahoga County relative to sexual orientation/gender identity.  LGBT citizens will be provided legal assistance paid for by our tax dollars.  This piece of legislation hurts business, puts our safety at risk, and punishes people of faith. This ordinance permits biological men, who consider themselves to be a woman, to enter a woman's bathroom or locker room in "all places of public accommodation."

Lightening up for a moment

Powerline has a weekly feature "The Week In Pictures." My favorite from this week:

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A legal immigrant is now an American citizen

This morning I attended a naturalization ceremony for foreign-born residents. The swearing-in took place in the Ohio District Court in downtown Cleveland, and there must have been at least 100 applicants present, most with family or friends. The presiding Magistrate Judge gave the proceedings a real sense of occasion. He began by leading the Pledge of Allegiance, and then talked a little bit about America’s founding documents and earning the right to citizenship, before administering the Oath of Allegiance. He also posed for photographs with each and every new U.S. citizen holding his or her certificate of citizenship. Most of those who were sworn in registered to vote before exiting the building.

I had not known what to expect, having read a report of a recent and pretty dismal naturalization ceremony in Brooklyn, where no friends or relatives were allowed in the room, and the presiding judge encouraged new citizens to take a knee. Fortunately, the ceremony I attended this morning was a joyful one, the courtroom lent the proceedings a formal elegance, and a well-known painting of George Washington at the signing of the Constitution (see above) was projected on the screen behind the bench. I had brought with me an American flag lapel pin for the new United States citizen, and my hanky. It was needed.

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Tech Researcher Epstein Warns Conservatives: Get Off Gmail!

image credit: 4thmedia.org

I’ve been reading about the thumb-on-the-scale algorithms built into searches and regular activities on Google, Facebook, YouTube, and so on. A tech researcher, Dr Robert Epstein, was a guest on Fox News a couple of weeks ago, so I recognized his name in an article today at Newsbusters. Here’s a sampling:

Google has more power and control than most people realize and a top tech researcher is warning about it.

In an interview at the D.C. premiere of the Creepy Line, a documentary on the dangers of Google and Facebook, Dr. Robert Epstein told the Media Research Center that Google was building personal profiles of users mainly through Gmail. He warned that Google was compiling information upwards of 3 million pages per user, and said, “The more they know about you, the easier it is for them to manipulate you without your awareness.”

Epstein explained what parts of Gmail Google used to create these profiles: every single part.

“I can’t even begin to emphasize how important it is that you not use Gmail. The problem is that it’s so extensive it’s hard to condense into a sentence or two. But the point is that they’re taking that information, not just from the emails you send, but even from the drafts, those crazy drafts that you decide not to send, that all becomes part of your personal profile. If you’re mentioning other people, that goes into their personal profiles.”

He mentioned that it didn’t matter if some users had emails outside of Gmail, those were on the profiles too.

. . .

[C]onservatives have “special reasons to be concerned” based on the leaked emails and videos from Google concerning the 2016 election. Detailing an article that he was about to release, he said, “I describe 10 different methods by which Google and big tech companies can shift millions of votes in the midterm elections coming up in the U.S. I estimate upwards of 12 million votes.”

In the Fox interview I watched, Dr Epstein made the point that the compiling of data and the manipulation of YOUR online activities to influence YOUR decisions, including your vote, are taking place and leaving no paper trail. Scary. Read the rest here.

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Ken Blackwell: another look at Ohio Issue #1

image credit: sunrisehouse.com

A week or so ago, Cleveland Tea Party posted a blog examining some pros and cons of Issue #1, which will be on the ballot in November.

Today, Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State, leads off his article “Ohio’s ‘Issue 1’: A Dangerous and Deadly Proposition” with:

They are at it again!  Liberal billionaires George Soros, Mark Zuckerberg and Nicholas Pritzker are attempting to force their left leaning ideology on Ohioans.

This time it’s by spending millions of dollars to weaken Ohio’s drug laws. Soros, Zuckerberg and Pritzker are the lead funders of state Issue 1, a dangerous state constitutional amendment that gives drug dealers a get out of jail free card.

They want you to believe their proposal is in line with marijuana reforms in other states. It’s not. They will say it’s in the interest of public safety, and will lead to better treatment options for addicted Ohioans. It won’t.

. . .

Drug abuse has had a disproportionate effect on Ohio families, and tragically, our state is ground zero in the fight against overdoses. Law enforcement officials are overwhelmed by the overdose crisis and we cannot afford, in terms of treasure and human suffering, more of these drugs on the streets. But that will be the legacy of Issue 1.

Read the rest here.

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Debate scheduled: Sherrod Brown vs Jim Renacci

art credit: digitaltrends.com

From Andrew J. Tobias at cleveland.com (posted yesterday):

The two major candidates for this year's Ohio Senate race will debate in Cleveland next month, organizers for the event announced Monday.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and his Republican challenger, Rep. Jim Renacci, have agreed to debate at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14 in Cleveland, about three weeks before the November election.

The debate will be held at the Westfield Insurance studio theater at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, according to the nonpartisan Ohio Debate Commission, which is organizing the event.

Two veteran journalists -- Ann Fisher, of WOSU public radio in Columbus and Russ Mitchell, anchor at WKYC-TV in Cleveland -- will serve as moderators. Tickets for the event are free, and organizers say more information about how to attend will be posted on their website, www.ohiodebatecommission.org, on Tuesday.

Stay tuned.

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