The City of Toledo's parking and meter issues

As pointed out in this Blade article, Toledo's government has been enforcing parking meters like vultures. Many downtown businesses are complaining of persistent harassment by parking officials.

This is one of the reasons I got tired of living in the city. Ridiculous traffic, roads, and enforcement are very inconvenient to deal with. It's no wonder there was a huge exodus over several decades from city cores. Their big governments are filled with massive waste and corruption. That takes a measurable toll on city infrastructure and parking.

Court nixes Toledo's vicious dog rule

Someone finally told them to stop stealing and killing family pets. Yes, the government actually went onto family property, took their dog away and killed it. All because it was of a certain breed they decided was vicious.

"They were family for us. Me and my children are very hurt about it," Mary Kowalik, 30, an unemployed mother of three, ages 3, 4, and 10, said yesterday. 

She said the puppies' mother wasn't aggressive and never had attacked anybody. 

The hubris of these government officials (thugs) is simply amazing. They think they know how we should live. They aren't afraid to use their own ridiculous opinions to make laws that other people suffer under. When will democracy ever stop? Just because they are elected, all of a sudden they are able to take family's pets away and kill them. Where is the logic in that?

It is yet another perfect example of what happens under local democratic government. At least they were told to stop enforcing this rule. There are still countless other idiotic laws all over this country that ruin millions of people's lives. It's not just an isolated bad case in an otherwise good system of government.

New Toledo mayor raises salaries

Its great that his office costs less than the previous mayor. But it is still completely absurd to raise his assistant's salaries while at the same time proposing to increase the city income tax. Toledo is in a 40 million dollar deficit, and he really thinks this is a great idea?

Local politicians are so out of touch with reality, it is truly mind boggling. They are quite happy to live at the expense of the working class while providing little in return above what people would voluntarily purchase. This is the reason they have to take our money by force.

If the new mayor was really serious about balancing Toledo's budget, he would consider cutting all public worker pay to no more than 5% of the city's median income. As I have said before, there is no reason public workers should be making any more than what the average employee makes in the city.

According to the article, the mayor's office is still costing taxpayers $763,906 for 11 people. Sure, it's less than the previous mayor. But it is still nothing to be proud of, in my opinion. The median salary of a typical male in Toledo is only $35,407. For 11 people, this would be $389,477. So they are making twice as much as the average worker in the city.

The mayor's office is being paid well for providing no practical benefit to our economy. They aren't producing goods or services that people would voluntarily pay for. So why on earth are they making so much more than the average salary?

Former Obetz officer pleads guilty to sex charge

A bad cop is actually being punished for hurting someone. He could get up to 5 years in jail. This is rare. I still have some problems with this story.

• We don't even know if he will face hard time. No sentencing yet.
• Any normal person would have been charged with rape and a heap of other things. So this scumbag is still getting special treatment.
• I'm not sure what the normal bail is for rape in ohio. But $30k and 5 years in jail seems pretty light. 
• That's even if he gets any time at all. We'll see when the time comes.

I'm glad they are actually doing something. But, too many cops have gotten away with much worse behavior. So far this still looks like a slap on the wrist.

Police shooting of Linda Hicks is justified

This shouldn't surprise anyone. The police department's firearm review board has deemed that the shooting of mentally ill woman Linda Hicks was justified. I'm sure her family must be so relieved! Now they can get on with their lives and stop worrying. The cop who murdered their loved one is completely absolved.

Toledo's chief cop Navarre said they were going to do some more training because of community outcry. Great, I guess next time they kill someone it will be even more justified. Meanwhile, if you see one the boys in blue out on the town, you better drop to your knees and beg for your life. If they tell you to do something you better listen, because they are above you. After all, they wear a fancy blue costume and a shiny badge.

Perrysburg area SEAL accused of beating Iraqi

The Iraqi people have faced a lot of abuse over the past few years. There is so much money and life being wasted there, all because people like this willingly join the US military. There is no way I will ever believe these soldiers are "defending America" from terrorists by engaging in foreign aggression and occupation. Yet they still force me to pay for their actions with my hard earned dollars.

I have no sympathy for soldiers who wind up in the kind of situation this young Perrysburg SEAL is in. I don't even know if he or his Iraqi accuser is really telling the truth. Why should I believe someone just because they are American and wrongly claim to be defending me?

Nowhere is the crushing defeat of government failure seen than in this dreadful military occupation. Which is only possible because these young people voluntarily fight for a lie. It's all the more puzzling that people who supposedly believe in Liberty and Freedom will lend themselves to such vicious militarism.

I think it was a mistake for the US army to have even be created. Anti-Federalist #10 does a decent job of explaining why. If humans ever finally get tired of too much government, maybe some day they will even manage to scrap State armies all together and rely on the private Production of Security.

Democrats lambaste bill to kill state income tax

Ah, Dems and their unwavering faith in taxes. If there's one thing a Republican could do that I might possibly like, it would be to kill the state income tax. But the way he is trying to sell it stinks. That is by claiming that government spending cuts won't be necessary. Then another Republican chimed in and said it would take huge sales tax increases to make up for the shortfall. That reminded me even more why both parties are completely useless.

If I could get one thing through to people, it would be that Republicans are not anti tax or anti government spending. Yet somehow, people still insist on believing it. Especially leftists who are in denial. It never ceases to amaze me.

Going back to the article, it quotes another Dem asking again how they would be able to spend as much money on education, prisons, and medicaid, and property tax relief. As for the first three, I would severely cut ALL of those.

County computer consultant set up re-election Web site for Bill Mason

A company owned by one of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason's former employees has collected $1.1 million through a no-bid contract to oversee computer operations in Mason's office.

That is a lot of money. You can build a significant e-commerce site for less half that much. I'm glad to know our government is "working" so well for them. What would we ever do without these corrupt goons? How could society possibly survive without the State running the show like this? Pretty easy I would say.

CWRU agrees to limit Kindle use until accommodations can be made for blind students

I'm not exactly sure how discrimination law applies to this case. It's one thing to decide not to hire someone solely because of a disability. It's something else entirely to say that someone's use of technology actively hurts you.

The actual DOJ press release isn't entirely clear now the ADA applies in this case..

It is a core priority of the Civil Rights Division to strengthen and expand the educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

How does this "agreement" fulfills that mandate? Are they really trying to tell me that holding regular people back actually strengthens those with disabilities? I'm all for helping the disabled, but this isn't the way to do it.

Why should the vast majority of students suffer needlessly just because their device isn't yet ready to serve a handful of people? Can someone please explain how is this is beneficial for the common good? Here is a university in Ohio that could have been leading the way in efficiently using technology. Now because of the government, they can't. Just another prime example of injustice caused by the State.

Ohio man leaves $3 million to Archbold community college for student scholarships

See, not all rich people are evil. Here we have a multi-millionare who gave a bunch of money to his local community college. I've talked to some liberals who flat out scoff at the idea that rich people are generous and can provide a lot of benefits to their community.

Some even claim that libertarians would rely too much on this charity. As evidenced yet again, I really don't think that is the case. There is actually a long tradition of philantropy in the USA. Kind of a shame that this idea is almost lost in our modern world.

Government, on the other hand, is not charity. It is force. Every government fails to provide even the most basic promises to the people. The sooner we stop believing in the fantasy of the State, the better. Charity and voluntary trade are the best tools we have to make society a better place.

ISOH/IMPACT

This is my favorite local charity. They are located right down the street from my house and spend $.97 out of ever dollar on the people they help. This is huge, and I would highly recommend that everyone look into them. They do a lot of disaster relief all over the world.

Their mission statement:

to Reach Out & Serve Others in the name of Christ through disaster relief and development projects at home, across the United States, and around world.

This may turn off some critics of religion. But, from what I can tell, they really do help a lot of people and are well known in the Toledo area. That is more important to me than what religion they are. I am a huge believer in Charity and giving back what you can to the community. A lot of people are hurting out there, and the more I can help the better. Take a look at their page and please donate if you can.

My only rule is that I try to find out whether the charity takes money from the government. If they do, like the Red Cross and others, they will never get a dime from me. Otherwise, I only donate to small charities or individuals in need.

The public school cash cow

A former TPS administrator has been accused of stealing a staggering $660,000 from Toledo and $181,000 from Cleveland Public Schools. Not only that, but newer revelations tell us that he ordered investigations and background checks of board members and school critics. With public money of course.

Will anyone ever be held responsible for not doing their job and checking up on where all this cash was going? Doubtful. I wonder how many requests for new school taxes will be put through next year.

The government kills your dogs

The Toledo Blade ran a story about a recent pit bull party held at SylvaniaVET animal hospital. As usual, the government's callous disregard for life (this time animal life) shines through. It's sad that the 35 people who showed up found it necessary to even be in this situation. The Toledo city council recently decided that so-called "pit bulls" are inherently vicious. People are now allowed to own only one. Ohio is the only state that deems pit bulls as inherently vicious. Gee, thanks for protecting me from these horrible animals.

There has recently been a lot of controversy about the number of dogs that Toledo and Lucas County have been killing. They even killed one family's dog and lied to them and tried to cover it up. It's amazing that we still trust government with responsibility over animals. I am completely disgusted that my tax dollars are used for things like this.