Two-part ‘Editor’s Notes’ – sex & violence and more tea
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 11 March 2010 03:07
This edition of “Editor’s Notes” is a two-parter — first half about sex and violence (oh boy!), and the second, um, yep, more on the tea parties.
Gore = bad / Skin = good
Channel-surfing Sunday night, I stumbled upon a horror movie on the SyFy Network. The 2008 movie “Midnight Meat Train” stars Bradley Cooper, the actor who recently got a big break in “The Hangover,” so I decided to give it a few minutes of my attention.
State tries to equate tragic accident with cold-blooded murder
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 04 March 2010 01:57
There he goes again.
Athens County Prosecutor Dave Warren’s office is once again overcharging a defendant in a high-profile criminal case.
In an ongoing news story, Warren’s office is charging Matthew R. Culbertson, 26, of Rhoric Road, with multiple counts, including murder, in the accidental shooting death of a female friend. A murder charge usually requires the intent to kill someone, and seldom is used to prosecute suspects in accidental killings.
OK, maybe these particular tea parties/libery bells are different
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 25 February 2010 00:58
If I were giving advice to U.S. Rep. Zack Space, I’d tell him to steer clear of any of the potential ambushes that an umbrella group for Ohio tea parties and conservative groups has planned for the months leading up to the May 4 primary.
That is, unless the Ohio Liberty Council disavows the racist and violent rhetoric that has become common at tea party events across the country, and promises that its members will act like civilized adults rather than a lynch mob. (The group insists that it treats its guest speakers civilly and respectfully, but more on that later.)
Snow is a good catalyst for wool-gathering, pencil-sucking
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 18 February 2010 01:08
I’m nothing if not in tune with the times. Thus, a bullet-pointed column about snow and related topics:
• If given a choice between the hottest, muggiest day in the depths of summer or an average cold, snowy day in early February, I’d pick the hot, humid day every time. This may be because because I’m a native Southerner, having been born in Daytona Beach, Fla., exactly 55 years ago today.
GOP attacks on necessary budget deal show what’s coming
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 04 February 2010 00:42
A rough outline of how Republicans will go after Democratic state Rep. Debbie Phillips has become apparent in the wake of Republican Mike Hunter announcing his candidacy for her seat and Athens County Republican Party Chair Pete Couladis submitting a letter to the editor supporting Hunter and attacking Phillips.
Hunter and Couladis weren’t shy about ragging on Phillips for supporting the budget deal in December that relied upon delaying the fifth year of an income tax cut approved in 2005. The 4.2 percent fifth-year tax cut, which hadn’t gone into effect yet, will be delayed for two years.
On health care, at least the government’s motives are right
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 28 January 2010 00:48
It was a typical Saturday morning at the Athens Post Office. Several people in line, two postal employees behind the counter, and each transaction seemingly having the complexity of negotiating peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
But it just seemed that way because I’m an impatient guy, and had places to be, people to see, things to do – or to be honest, I just wanted to go home and take a nap.
Lay off the sheriff, and gee, health-care reform sure would have been swell
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 21 January 2010 10:12
A couple more Editor’s Notes, reflecting my cranky mood. Dang it, I’m a man, not a robot!
SOME PEOPLE ARE ALREADY taking cheap shots at Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly over the fact that his 28-year-old stepson has been arrested and charged with drug trafficking. It seems that the irony is just too rich to pass up — the hard-charging anti-drug sheriff having shared a household with a dude who was allegedly selling oxycodone.
Will semesters hurt local business? Will party change?
Written by Terry Smith
Monday, 18 January 2010 21:55
A lot of news broke last week and I wasn’t able to react quickly enough to throw together commentary in my usual slot in Thursday’s paper. So here’s a special Early Week edition of Editor’s Notes. (Of course, this may mean that my cranial cavity is a dry socket for Thursday’s issue.)
ONE STORY THAT DIDN’T GET a lot of initial attention but which will have substantial impacts in Athens is Ohio University Provost Pam Benoit and the university deans’ decision to shorten the semester calendar that goes into effect in two and a half years.
'Avatar' really annoys the top pointyheads on the right
Written by Terry Smith
Tuesday, 12 January 2010 16:22
I just spent the last hour reading four conservative critiques of the James Cameron blockbuster “Avatar” that’s currently breaking box-office records.
With the pundits’ pile-on, one can’t help wondering whether the right has finally tired of attacking President Obama and his administration. More likely, they’re just taking a break. Shooting at a big, easy target can’t be all that fun.
Wood heat has benefits, but give me a thermostat any day
Written by Terry Smith
Sunday, 10 January 2010 21:48
Dennis Powell’s column today brought back memories of the two winters that I spent in what seemed at the time the coldest and snowiest place on earth.
Memory thus sparked, I’ve decided to list the pros and cons of heating with wood, as I remember them from living in the Salmon River region of Central Idaho.
Just what you’ve been waiting for – my hopes for 2010
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 31 December 2009 05:53
Things that I’m hoping for in 2010…
• That this whole “Internet” fad winds down. Once the novelty wears off…
• That the dudes and dudesses who take their smoke breaks in front of uptown businesses, for seemingly half the day in bitterly cold weather, realize they look like nothing more than drug addicts, and particularly slobby drug addicts at that, flicking their cigarette butts onto the sidewalk. Not to mention the whole issue of self-inflicted cancer, emphysema and heart disease.
A Christmas stocking full of politics, politics, politics
Written by Terry Smith
Thursday, 24 December 2009 02:51
It’s time for a holiday edition of “Editor’s Notes,” with nothing about the holidays other than this opening wish for a Merry Christmas and/or Happy New Year to all!
About those bribery charges…
Susan Gwinn’s most ardent supporters almost certainly will take an “I told you so” approach to the dismissal Monday of two bribery charges against her.
Here’s some grades for how the state leadership has responded to the ongoing budget impasse. (If the thing magically gets resolved before this is published, I think most of the grades still apply.)
• The governor gets a C. It’s Ted Strickland’s administration that’s responsible for hatching the hare-brained scheme to balance the state budget with nearly a billion dollars hinged to a controversial (and ultimately failed) plan allowing slot machines at racetracks in the state. When that scheme fell apart, Strickland and other state leaders, unsurprisingly, were left with a massive hole in the budget.
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