Julio Pino in the News Again

In today's Beacon:

The head of Kent State's history department was relieved of his duties for approving a professional leave to the United Arab Emirates for a faculty member who has contributed material to a jihadist Web site.

John Jameson was fired because he didn't follow university protocol in granting the fully paid leave for Julio ''Assad'' Pino, a Muslim convert and associate professor. Jameson remains a tenured professor.

Kent State spokesman Ron Kirksey said the university would have taken the same action with other department chairs in similar situations.

He said Jameson should have approached the interim dean of the college, then the provost's office instead of authorizing the leave on his own for the Nov. 1 conference.

Jameson said the reason for his firing was more subtle.

Some administrators and faculty ''were upset because Assad was going to this area of the world'' and didn't want any more bad publicity about him, Jameson said.

Here is where it gets interesting:

Pino said he was eager to take part in the six-week program on Arabic language and culture sponsored by the Zayed House for Islamic Culture in the city of Al Ain. Some American imams are taking part in the program, according to news reports.

Pino is there now, but jumping on the next flight back because he can't afford to take the time unpaid.

This is the latest example of Pino's odd arrogance. Instead of acknowledging that he holds a minority view that makes people uncomfortable, he sticks it all in people's faces and dares you to tolerate him. Instead of acknowledging that he shouldn't have gone near Global War and explaining carefully what he did and did not contribute there, he wraps himself in the First Amendment, deepening the suspicion that he was the jihadist blogger and not just a source.

And now. Any rational person would understand that a radical Muslim logging time at a Mideast Islamic Center would raise questions. So do Pino and his chair makes sure everything is done to spec? No. He gets oral authority to travel on the taxpayer's dime and jumps on a plane. And now we are all shocked shocked that the chair lost his position.

Further reaction from Puddle Pirate.

Earlier posts.

Mike Moran's Rollout for House 42

Democratic Hudson City Councilman Mike Moran formally announced his bid for the Ohio House 42nd District in an invitation-only press conference in Cuyahoga Falls today. The 42nd is currently held by Republican John Widowfield who earlier this month badly lost an election for Cuyahoga Falls Clerk of Courts.

As the list of attendees made clear, Democrats are targeting this race to be one of the four pick-ups needed to win control of the House. Moran was introduced by Minority Leader Joyce Beatty (that's the two of them at the podium in the photo). Other Representatives in attendance included Brian Williams (41), Steve Dyer (43) and Matthew Szollosi (49). Also in attendance were Stow Mayor Karen Fritschel, Common Pleas Judge John Quinn, three members of Cuyahoga Falls City Council, and of course, Lisa Zeno Carano, the woman who took the shine off Rep. Widowfield.

Also attending were officials from the House Democratic Caucus, several members of Summit County Progressive Democrats PAC, blogger Jeff Coryell and yours truly. And Moran's wife Barb and their two young daughters.

Mike Moran is an impressive candidate on several levels. First off, when I posted about his race and signed up for email updates on his website, I had a personal email message within two hours thanking me for the post and inviting me to the presser.

Moran is one of those rare finds -- a guy with a gaudy resume and political skills to effectively make the case for himself. He has degrees in civil engineering and law, experience as a big firm lawyer, a sole practitioner and a manager in the legal publishing business. He works the room with barely contained exuberance -- it's not for nothing that his publicity still shows him laughing. He keys it down significantly -- maybe a little too much -- from the podium.

His stump concentrates on core Dem issues: Education, health care, jobs. As the son of a doctor with siblings also in the medical field, health care is clearly his driving passion.

I was most impressed by our conversation afterwards. I asked if he had any specific policy ideas. He said his main focus is on getting past labels -- i.e. pro and con "universal health care" -- and instead study the system to find where improvements can be made.

He may get grief for not "having a position" but I find this refreshing. While he explained this in the context of talking to an insurance executive who spoke to his Rotary club against universal health care, fact is progressives are as bad, if not worse, about this sort of health care orthodoxy. Aside from his fits of clownishness, it may be the trait Kucinich and his supporters share that I find most grating. If a health care proposal offers anything less than a total single payer universal system that wipes out all that came before, the proposal is given labels like "corporatist" and the candidate is accused of riding in the pocket of the insurance companies.

This is bad politics and nuking the entire system to replace it with something new, huge and untried is bad policy. Moran talks about working toward goals -- efficiency, affordability and access. I'll pass up grand schemes and liberal orthodoxy for a hard-working policy nerd working for incremental improvement any day.

Marc Dann Coming to Akron

Since Marc Dann is the hot topic today, it's as good a time as any to publicize his upcoming appearance at the Akron Press Club. He will be here Friday, November 14 at the usual 11:45. Details.

He will speak on "Looking Back, Looking Ahead," which for no other political figure in Ohio would sound so loaded.

C'mon down, Jerid and see your big bear. Holla!

Updates from All Over Akron

The ABJ carries three pieces today updating stories previously featured here on the Pages. First, the proposed new downtown parking garage that caused the Federal judges such consternation has been redesigned to cross Dart. Ave.

The five-level addition will be constructed across Dart Avenue with a tunnel added for the thoroughfare to continue between Main and Market streets.


* * *


The new addition would be farther from the federal building than the existing Superblock garage, located behind the Akron Centre complex on South Main Street. The expansion would run west across Dart Avenue.

The judges have signed off on the revised plan.

''They are not opposed to what we are doing over there,'' said James Weber, a construction division manager for the city.

Construction is to begin in March and take about 14 months. Dart will be closed during con
struction, reopening when the project is complete.

Also finalized are plans for Portage Path Elementary. Portage Path became a point of particular contention in Akron Public's construction plans when earlier iterations had the school taking up space currently occupied by the Highland Theater.

Finally, a sidebar buried next to the reefer of the parking deck story (not the more logically connected Portage Path story) we learn:

Akron has contacted grocers across the country about a long-promised grocery store for the Highland Square area and now has a ''good prospect,'' Adele Dorfner Roth, an economist for the city, said Monday.

''It's about getting the right thing to work there,'' said Roth, who gave the Akron City Council's planning committee an update on the project. ''We don't want to just throw something together.''

Council members, who have been deluged by e-mail from residents frustrated by the empty corner at North Portage Path and West Market Street, asked Roth to provide a list of the grocers the city has talked to and why they rejected the prospect.

And here is my favorite part:

Council members asked Roth to find a way to better communicate with residents about the progress of the search.

Good luck with that.

On the Latest Kucinich Kraziness

As funny as it was to hear that Dennis Kucinich is "thinking about" Liberpublitarian Ron Paul as a running mate, the puzzled reactions are hilarious. Yes, I understand why people think they couldn't run together. After all, Ron Paul wants to abolish every governmental department in the name of "liberty" and Kucinich's signature issue is establishing a new cabinet-level Department of Peace. Yes, it seems odd.

Until you remember that nothing is more important to Dennis Kucinich than making sure that people are talking about Dennis Kucinich. Notice that we have been talking about him the past three days? This despite his infinitesimal chance of becoming President?

Mission accomplished, Dennis. Now promise to make Britney Spears a U.N. Envoy. Good for another couple of days.

New Sources on the Chief Source

Akron-based group blog The Chief Source just got a little bigger with the addition of two new bloggers Chandra and Annie. I've gotten to know Annie over the last couple of months and look forward to watching her move into blogworld. You can read Annie's inaugural post on the Ohio-5 special election and Chandra's on providing affordable birth control.

Always good to have new perspectives in the blogosphere. Welcome and good luck to both.

Judge Eve Belfance Running for Court of Appeals

Municipal Court Judge Eve Belfance is running for the seat on the Ninth District Court of Appeals being vacated by Judge Lynn Slaby. Judge Slaby must retire under Ohio law, having reached age 70 during the last term.

Judge Belfance told me she was considering a run when we bumped into one-another recently. Word is now out that she is in and I was trying find an email contact for the campaign to get confirmation -- an odd exercise given that she lives a block away, but . . . Anyway, confirmation came in the form of a fundraiser invite, so safe to say she is in.

Given the recent allegations of Court of Appeals decisions being influenced by party politics and campaign donations, this election should interesting, for a Court of Appeals election. If elected Judge Belfance would be the third Democrat elected in as many tries after years of Republican hegemony on the Court. It is her second try at this level, having run a good but unsuccessful campaign in 2004.

Currently she has a website, judgebelfance.com, set up for her campaign this year for a full Muni term and never fully constructed after it became apparent that she was unopposed. It's unclear whether she will run on that site or get a new url for the Court of Appeals race -- I think she can run as Judge Belfance but it's one of those picky areas in judicial election rules.