Seeing beyond coal

People in the news

Deceased . . .
Michael Jackson: A pedophile freak who if he weren’t rich and famous would have spent the rest of his life in prison. That millions of people in this country are mourning his death symbolizes the moral depravity of our time.

Robert McNamara: Should have faced a firing squad 30 years ago. The fact that he lived into his 90s proves that the gods hate America.

Steve McNair: A decent, but by no means great, former football player who should have known better than to shack up with a crazy, unstable white girl.

On the way out . . .
Sarah Palin: A complete idiot who makes W. Bush look like Albert Einstein. The only reason right wingers fawn over Palin is because she’s pretty. Make her ugly and no one knows who she is. If Palin should somehow end up president of the United States, someone should nuke this country and put us out of our misery.

Gary Bonnell: A local blowhard with too much time on his hands. His decision not to run for another term on the East Liverpool School Board is the best thing that could happen to our ailing school system. Gary should write a book, but not about General Motors.

Mark Sanford: A pitiful Southern womanizer who should be dipped in shit and sent back to Argentina at taxpayers' expense.

Crossing over

by M. Stewart
I guess the only surprise is that it happened so soon after his death. Yes, Michael Jackson’s “ghost” has been caught on video. Soon, Jackson will be appearing to distraught believers on potato chips, grilled cheese sandwiches, and refrigerators. Time for Elvis to step aside.

One thing about humans that never seems to change: They will believe anything as long as it’s not real.

Local school board member Gary Bonnell must have been inspired by Sarah Palin this weekend; he too has decided not to seek re-election. According to The Review, the embattled local politician has decided to throw in the towel, citing as his reasons poor health and a “possible movie contract” associated with a book he plans to write.

I wasn’t aware of Mr. Bonnell’s literary talents, but if you get up early enough and read the newspapers, you learn something every day. The Review reports that a recent high-profile robbery at the Bonnell home involving young drug users had nothing to do with his decision. Naturally, the gossips are going to believe whatever they want to believe, especially if it’s not real.

I think I speak for all local writers—including those who have worked hard for decades perfecting their craft—in wishing Mr. Bonnell good luck with his literary endeavors. In the end, writing is easy. All you need is an idea, desire, and a computer. Good luck, Gary!

Sarah and Korean nukes

M. Stewart
I hope you’re all prepared to get outside and enjoy Independence Day. For the few of you who have yet to get started, let me offer up a few words on the weekend’s news. Two big stories have dominated: Sarah Palin’s resignation and North Korea’s missile launches.

Palin’s surprise resignation as Alaska’s governor has to be one of the stranger events of the summer. The de facto leader of the Republican Party has managed to keep herself in the news and tabloids since she suddenly hit the national scene last year as what turned out to be a disastrous vice presidential candidate. Now she’s calling it quits in Alaska. Why?

In a bizarre, rambling press conference Friday, Palin never got around to saying why she’s walking away from her job. Instead, she went on and on about … about … well … no one really knows. Whatever it was she said, many Republicans—all except those on the far right (and even many of those)—are relieved to see that Palin finally has decided to get offstage.

Although she didn’t seem to discount a run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, the general response from within the party is that someone who can’t even take the heat of a remote governor’s chair won’t make a convincing candidate for the presidency. Of course, there are a thousand other reasons why Palin wouldn’t be a credible candidate, but Friday’s move makes it easier for sensible Republicans to be nice about it.

One thing Palin did say on Friday was that defending herself against various ethics charges, some of which are still pending, is getting too expensive. As well, the more she seeks the limelight, the more she ends up looking foolish, and nobody wants that.

It will be interesting to see where she lands. There is a rumor already circulating that Palin has been asked to be a FoxNews commentator. If true, the move to conservative TV would get her the money she needs, but it certainly won’t keep her out of the national spotlight. I’ve always thought she would do well as an afternoon talk-show host. Whatever happens, I suspect we haven’t heard the last from Sarah Palin.

And what about those North Koreans? It’s one thing for a bunch of whacky commie anachronisms to jump around and talk loud; it’s something else for those same people to develop nuclear weapons and start blasting off missiles. What will the world do?

Naturally, everyone expects the United States to do something, but what’s wrong with letting the Chinese take the lead in managing its neighbors for a change? I can’t imagine China being comfortable with a rogue dictatorship firing short-range missiles off their coast. It’s just not practical for such an important emerging economic power.

I think it’s clear that something will have to be done before long. The last thing the world needs is to wait until nuclear warheads are placed atop those missiles. We can only imagine what the South Koreans are thinking right now. And what about the Japanese? They too are within range, and they’ve seen what atomic warfare can do first hand.

History of Columbiana County, Ohio

The KSU East Liverpool Digital Archive Project has completed work on a PDF edition of Horace Mack's History of Columbiana County, Ohio (1879). The 130-year-old book presents a thorough portrait of the county when most of the important people were farmers. Thanks to the East Liverpool Carnegie Library for supplying the original print edition of the book. Click to enlarge.

Changing lives, one at a time

by Rev. M. Stewart
I saw last week in The Review that Mayor Jim Swoger wants to meet with representatives of our beloved Ezra Center. Contrary to what the mayor has been hearing, several ORL commenters (or perhaps one posing as several) love and support this life-changing facility. One poster tells us that Ezra employs 80 people, which makes it one of the largest employers in the city!

I did not know that.

The way I see it, I need to quit whining and get into the drug and alcohol soul-saving business myself. To that end, I’m considering turning Ohio River Life into a Christian evangelical site, but only if I can get tax free status. It’s time to quit paddling upstream and just go with the flow. Please send checks (or cash) to Ohio River Life Ministries, P.O. Box 661, East Liverpool OH 43920. The more money you send, the harder I'll pray for you.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has listed our own Little Blue Run as one of 44 high-hazard impoundments of wet-handled coal combustion residues produced by electric power generating stations. The high-hazard rating does not indicate that failure is imminent, only that a future failure of the dam will probably cause loss of human life. Check the full list here.

The EPA places Little Blue Run in Shippingport, Pa., but we all know the dam itself sits right over East Liverpool, Ohio. (It’s funny how no one seems to mention this in the reports.) If loss of life should occur from a Little Blue Run dam failure, most likely the victims would be East End residents.

But it’s not going to fail. First Energy Corp. cares too much about East Enders to ever let that happen.

Lastly, how about this wonderful Mediterranean weather we’ve been having in the Upper Ohio Valley? Don’t let the leftist environmentalists fool you with all their fancy facts, charts, and graphs. Everything is just fine. Enjoy the beautiful summer weather!

God Hates Big Media (and everybody else)

Young woman

This photograph is from the collection of Randy and Kim Schneider. The image was printed from a glass negative made c. 1930 in East Liverpool. Click to enlarge.

Mark Sanford

by M. Stewart
I think everyone is confused by the recent actions of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. For the people of South Carolina, that he cheated on his wife is the least of their concerns; that he disappeared for a week without telling anyone is a serious problem.

During Sanford’s mysterious absence, his wife told everyone that he went into seclusion “to write.” Equally clueless, the governor’s staff claimed he went off to hike the Appalachian Trail and clear his head after a tough fight with the state legislature over federal stimulus funds. Both turned out to be lies.

The fact is, nobody knew where the governor was until he returned on Wednesday claiming that he’d been in Argentina with a woman. At this point, we have to wonder if even that story is true.

Bill Clinton and his Oval Office blowjobs pale in comparison to this guy. Assuming that Sanford took this trip knowing he’d be in big trouble when he got home, the people of South Carolina have every right to question his sanity and fitness to govern. The level of irresponsibility displayed here is off the scale.

Naturally, any thoughts of Gov. Sanford seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2012 have been squashed, but I don’t think this and other recent sex scandals will affect the reformation of the Republican Party much. Unless somebody comes up with a video of Rush Limbaugh banging Sarah Palin, the Republicans have their candidate already.

The death of libraries

by M. Stewart
Today’s Morning Journal has a piece on the state of Ohio’s pending library system cutbacks, and they include East Liverpool’s Carnegie Library. I spoke with library personnel yesterday, and their biggest concern is that the library will be forced to close its doors.

We are all aware that many states are suffering from budget problems associated with the international economic crisis, but this territory is nothing new for Ohio. It’s sad that cultural institutions like schools, museums and libraries are considered expendable in tough times, but that’s not new either.

For the most part, mainstream America has no interest in culture—especially here in the hinterland. If you can’t watch it on TV or buy it at Wal-mart, it’s not worth having. The suburban “shopping culture” has so thoroughly saturated our nation that most Americans are literally addicted to shopping—hence, the proliferation of sterile, cinder-block suburban shopping zones like Calcutta. This is what passes for modern American culture.

People around here aspire to living in the middle of these shopping zones largely because they can’t think of anything else to do. The idea of cities being centers of culture is long gone. I’ll admit that I’m not “with it,” that I’m old-school, that I’m a dinosaur. I’m simply unable to understand contemporary American values.

I would guess that most people in our area haven’t been in a library since they were in high school, so we shouldn’t expect much sympathy from them. These days, many of our high schools are shutting down their little libraries. As our colleges and universities continue to be transformed into vocational schools and job training centers, libraries are becoming unnecessary. The very word “library” is considered passé; libraries are now called “media centers.”

One way to see the drastic change in American culture over the last century is to look at the structures we build. It is inconceivable that anyone would construct a stunningly beautiful building like East Liverpool’s Carnegie Library in the 21st century. At the turn of the 19th-20th century when it was built, people understood libraries were cultural centers that cities could be proud of, but not anymore.

Andrew Carnegie’s idea of bringing culture to the working-class masses ultimately backfired. As it turns out, they don’t want it. Nowadays, the typical suburban shopper scoffs at the magnificent architecture of the old cities and towns. If it’s not a cinder-block cube stacked with shiny Chinese goods, it’s just an old building that needs torn down.

I’m sure there are at least a few ORL readers out there who still care about culture in our city. For what it’s worth, visit the Save Ohio Libraries web site and let Columbus know that you’d like to hang on to our library a little while longer. I know, I know. Eventually our beautiful Carnegie Library will end up a Christian drug and alcohol treatment center, but in the meantime, maybe we can talk the “education governor” into keeping its doors open for a few more years.

Death prayer

Protest is lethal in Iran. Here in the United States, if you don't like the president, you're free to pray for his death.

Mulberry Street c.1900

I've posted this picture of old Mulberry Street before on ORL, but my brother did some good work on the image with a denoise filter, so I thought it was worth another look. Click to enlarge.

Time for the Pottery Festival

M. Stewart
Well folks, it’s time for another Tri-State Pottery Festival. Opening day looks overcast, but the afternoon and early evening look good. I hope you’ll find some time to come down and enjoy the festival over the weekend.

I’ll be helping to judge the art show at Marshall’s Coffee Fusion & Tea on Friday. If you do come to town for the festival, plan to stop at Marshall’s and check out the art.

The KSU-EL Digital Archive Project is close to completing a digital edition of The City of Hills & Kilns, the 1984 history of East Liverpool by William Gates. Most people think that producing a digital edition of a book is merely a matter of scanning pages, but I can assure you there is much more to it than that. Nevertheless, we’re hoping to have it completed soon.

I’m not sure what the East Liverpool Historical Society plans to do with the digital edition of the book, but I suspect it will be made available to the public in the near future.

The Archive Project also is working on a digital editions of several other works of local interest. Artwork of East Liverpool and Vicinity (1895) is pretty much completed. The Poems of Sue Macbeth should be done before the end of the month. We’re also scanning an extensive collection of materials associated with various city development plans. Although most of those plans never got off the drawing board, they provide a fascinating window into the recent history of our city.

With the continued cooperation of the East Liverpool Carnegie Library and the E.L. Historical Society, the Archive Project hopes to create an extensive digital library of out-of-print books, historical materials and photographs associated with East Liverpool and the Tri-State Area.

If you have photographs, books, letters or any other printed items you think may be appropriate for a digital repository of historical materials, please contact me at the Kent State East Liverpool Campus.

More ways to profit from the ELO poverty system

by M. Stewart
I see in today’s Morning Journal where a juvenile who escaped from the Ezra Center attacked an 82-year-old minister on Dresden Avenue in the middle of the night after lying to gain entry to his home. Luckily the minister had a gun; otherwise, he might be dead.

Also over the weekend, my neighbors watched as two girls escaped from the Ezra Center and ran east on Fourth Street in broad daylight. I guess because there was no violence involved, the police weren't notified.

A few weeks ago someone set a mattress on fire in the Ezra Center, forcing the inmates out into the parking lot. Apparently unsupervised, one gang of inmates would have turned over a hospital worker’s car had not vigilant Fourth Street residents intervened.

Just in case you don’t know where the Ezra Center is, it’s directly across from the main entrance to East Liverpool City Hospital on Fifth Street, which makes it about 250 feet across the parking lot from our back door and other owner-occupied homes. The night of the fire, I watched as one teenager ran away from the center and disappeared down the alley.

If you’re going to the hospital, I’d suggest using the emergency room entrance. Whatever you do, don’t park in the lot beside the Ezra Center. Better yet, go to Beaver.

Connected somehow to The Way Station, another Christian business in town, the Ezra Center is a Jesus Camp for teenage drug addicts from around the state. According to its own Web site, the Ezra Center is “a comprehensive academic and residential addiction treatment program for adolescent boys and girls … [that] provides for physical, emotional and spiritual wholeness. Program participants are treated with respect and surrounded by staff that model consistency, character, faith, and a caring attitude, which in turn fosters improved sobriety, self-confidence and self-esteem.”

Uh huh.

I support the idea that communities should take care of their own bad kids, but that’s not what’s going on here. The Ezra Center's Web site brags about bringing drug-addled delinquents in from Geauga, Jefferson, Stark, Mahoning, Trumbull, Pike, Belmont, Wood, Logan, Sandusky, Ashtabula and Cuyahoga counties. But that’s not enough. The center “looks forward to serving all eighty-eight counties of Ohio.”

Those who profit from the Ezra Center have no concern for the reputation and safety of the neighborhood or the city. It's the money that counts.

On the east side of the neighborhood, it looks like the Elks Building is still being prepared to receive adult drunks and drug addicts so that some out-of-town evangelist can make a living curing them with Jesus. I could be wrong. Maybe the activity I've seen there is preparation for a proposed Microsoft research center.

Either way, it's clear that East Liverpool's number one industry--poverty--includes entrepreneurial Christians who keep finding new ways to exploit the poor for personal gain.

Maybe we should run ALL homeowners and business out and build a giant Christian prison right in the middle of town. The churches can be converted to prison chapels and the remaining homes can be used to house drunks, drug addicts, child abusers, and prison support personnel. The alumni center will make a great watchtower.

Hope you all come down for the pottery festival this week. When you’re here, feel free to tour the Ezra Center at 432 West Fifth Street, but be sure to call ahead. Phone: 330-385-7510. Fax: 330-385-7530

Barton Fink

Pens win third Stanley Cup!

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on their 2-1 victory in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. It was extra sweet to win the cup in Detroit! Goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury held off two great shots on goal in the final seconds of the game to seal the victory.

Schwarzenegger's call for digital textbooks

by M. Stewart
In an effort to save money, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided it’s time to ditch old-fashioned print textbooks and move the state’s public schools into the age of digital texts. (See Arnold’s own op-ed piece here.)

“It's nonsensical — and expensive — to look to traditional hard-bound books when information today is so readily available in electronic form,” Schwarzenegger argues. “Especially now, when our school districts are strapped for cash and our state budget deficit is forcing further cuts to classrooms, we must do everything we can to untie educators' hands and free up dollars so that schools can do more with fewer resources.”

Schwarzenegger is thinking of the book only as physical object. As such, the book takes up space, has weight and mass, costs a lot to manufacture and transport, etc., and if this physical aspect of the book is eliminated, a lot of money can be saved. The governor also argues that because expensive printed textbooks cannot be updated, they quickly become obsolete—a problem easily eliminated by digital texts.

Schwarzenegger makes sense on some level, but he seems to ignore the cost of the research, writing, editing, and, yes, manufacturing and distribution that goes into producing functional digital textbooks. The intellectual and production properties of the e-text are not free.

Arnold also is going to need a lot of electronic screens for these digital texts to be displayed. I’m sure there are a lot of computers in California, but careful reading is an individual act that takes time and concentration, and even if every student in California gets some version of a portable e-book reader, these devices are expensive and constantly evolving. Which do you prefer, outdated information or outdated technology? Which is more expensive to replace?

The fact is that the traditional book is a technology not easily dislodged. There is no question that we are in the process of moving written materials to digital formats, but the transition will take time. What Schwarzenegger doesn’t seem to realize is that the costs are merely redistributed, not eliminated.

Instead of focusing on costs, the real issue is improving the reading experience with electronic texts. When we get to the point where e-texts are better than books, the change will come naturally. It’s the consumer that drives the market.

In that light, consider Clive Thompson’s argument in The Future of Reading in a Digital World:

“We need to stop thinking about the future of publishing and think instead about the future of reading. Every other form of media that's gone digital has been transformed by its audience. Whenever a newspaper story or TV clip or blog post or white paper goes online, readers and viewers begin commenting about it on blogs, snipping their favorite sections, passing them along. The only reason the same thing doesn't happen to books is that they're locked into ink on paper. Release them, and you release the crowd.”

In other words, the future of the digital book hinges on readers’ (or students’) needs rather than the state’s need to trim its education budget.

The Ugly American

WARNING: Americans attempting to speak English. Check out this video of young Jewish Americans visiting Jerusalem. Listen particularly to the comments of the "political science major." I don't even know what to say about this.