Trees are environment’s best friend

Trees are environment’s best friend

The beginning of the 21st century has brought a lot of attention to climate change. With all the concern over this could-be environmental condition, I have wondered why the Environmental Protection Agency and the nursery industry have not put more emphasis on planting more trees everywhere.

All living plants take in greenhouse gas (co2) and change it into oxygen. Trees give our environment the biggest bang for our buck because of their ever increasing size and the amount each tree consumes of co2.

This is the balance that nature intended and how living plants and man need each other to exist. Someday I might hear the environmentalists and nursery industry explain the lack of public awareness of this fact.

In the meantime, I want to tell you about some great shade trees that grow well and also supply good fall color.

Additional benefits include shade to keep our home cooler in the summer and then dropping those leaves in the fall to let the winter sun help heat the home. Trees also are dirt blockers trapping dirt particles on their leaf surface until rain washes it to the ground below. Trees in leaf also absorb surrounding noise, keeping our home more peaceful. Let’s start with the maple family, a family of trees that grow quite well here in the tri-state.

Maple Autumn Blaze - A great red maple with beautiful red fall color. Relatively fast growing. Average mature size is 40-feet tall and 20-feet wide.

Maple Fall Fiesta – The most colorful and the fastest growing ofthe sugar maple family. Large dark green leaves that turn orange/red in the fall. Average mature size is 40feet tall and 30-feet wide.

Red Oak –The red oak is the best oak tree to plant in the tristate. Unlike it’s cousin the pin oak which is in the red oak family, the red oak turns a beautiful shade of scarlet and this tree drops all of its leaves in the fall.

Average mature size is 50-feet tall and 25-feet wide.

Zelkova Green Vase – Vaseshaped with upright arching branches. Orange to bronze-red fall color. Fast growing to average size of 50-feet tall and 25 feet wide. Leaves are similar to American Elm.

Taxodium Common Bald Cypress – A stately tree that looks like an evergreen during the growing season. It is actually one of three deciduous conifers. Small cones mature in fall. Pyramidal growing, fast growing beautiful tree grows 40-50-feettall and 15-18-feet wide.

Ginkgo Autumn Gold –This is a male ginkgo bearing no fruit. A handsome symmetrical conical form with a beautiful shape growing 50-feet tall and 25-feet wide. Great gold fall color with all the leaves falling in just 24-36 hours in late fall. Pest free as history has it is the only tree to survive the great fire of China.

Linden Greenspire –Maintains a single leader with a nice branching habit. This little leaf linden is about care free as any tree. Grows to 40feet tall with a beautiful rounded shape growing to 20-feet wide. Does well in difficult planting areas.

There are many other great varieties of flowering trees to consider as well, especially if the planting space is limited.

A final tip when planting any tree, please remember that with balled and burlap trees, you don’t want to plant or have planted any tree with a trunk larger than 2 1 ⁄2-inches caliper measured 6 inches from the ground.

Larger balled and burlap trees have 50 to 75 percent of their roots left in the nursery when dug and those trees will not grow for several seasons until the cut roots start to regrow enough to take in more moisture for the top of the tree. In fact, the same tree with a 2-inch trunk caliper will outgrow the larger one in just a few years and cost a lot less topurchase and plant.

Denny McKeown is owner of Bloomin’ Garden Centre 

Another View -- John Kasich: Balancing the budget is a moral imperative

Another View -- John Kasich: Balancing the budget is a moral imperative

By JOHN KASICH

This month, I introduced a comprehensive and real plan to balance the federal budget; shift money, power and influence out of Washington; and grow our economy. Under my plan, America would have a balanced budget for the first time in 15 years.

Balancing the federal budget is a moral imperative that politicians in both political parties have ignored for decades because they are unwilling to make the hard decisions. As a result of politicians’ unwillingness to control spending, every child born in America today is saddled with $57,000 in debt. It is fundamentally wrong to burden our children and grandchildren with our debts because we are unable to say no to more spending.

I know we can balance the budget because I’ve done it before — in Ohio and in Congress. In the ’90s, I was Budget Chairman of the House Budget Committee and served as the chief architect of the first balanced budget since man walked on the moon. When I left Washington we had a projected $5 trillion surplus. I could not fathom Washington blowing through that money, but they did. In a rare instance of bipartisanship, Republican and Democrats worked together to spend the surplus and create record debt.

When I became governor of Ohio our state faced an $8 billion budget hole — nearly 20 percent of our revenue. Many said we could not solve the deficit without raising taxes, but we found a better way. We transformed government and made the hard decisions necessary to balance our budget. Today, the $8 billion budget hole is a $2 billion surplus — and we have cut taxes by $5 billion the most of any sitting governor.

Ohio now has the fewest government employees in 30 years. We’ve controlled the growth of Medicaid. According to media reports after adjusting for inflation and population growth, we actually shrunk the size of Ohio’s government.

We can and must balance the federal budget again. I’m the only candidate with a plan to make it happen. My proposal freezes non-defense discretionary spending and sends money, power and influence back to the states. Education, transportation, Medicaid, welfare, and job training will be transferred back to the states because I believe that New Hampshire can make better decisions on those issues than unelected bureaucrats in Washington.

We will also reform entitlements. Our reforms will curb the growth of Medicare and Medicaid — major cost drivers for the federal government.

As we balance the budget for the first time in a generation we will also invest more in defense. It is vital that we rebuild our military to meet the threats of the 21st century. The world needs a strong America and my budgets will make sure our military is strengthened.

We will also cut taxes for individuals and businesses to boost our economy. We will kill the death tax. We will restore America’s global competitiveness so we grow jobs here at home and businesses don’t ship them overseas. We will encourage innovation and risk-taking by job creators and we will rein in the IRS so it treats all taxpayers fairly.

By making the hard decisions, sending power back to the states, and growing our economy, we will balance America’s budget within eight years. I have a plan to balance the budget. It will take leadership, vision and courage. But, we know it can be done because we’ve done it before.

“Enhanced Carry” Bill Making Waves

“Enhanced Carry” Bill Making Waves in Michigan BY TIM SCHMIDT - USCCA FOUNDER

With nearly every mass shooting recently—and throughout history—occurring in a gun-free zone, there's been a re-surging dialogue among law-abiding concealed carriers urging politicians to eliminate these crime-targeted areas once and for all. And in Michigan, it looks like people are listening. According to guns.com, “A pair of bills in the state senate that would swap the current ability for permit holders to open carry in Michigan pistol-free zones for the right to concealed carry, won approval in committee Tuesday.” Republican Senator Mike Green and Majority Leader Arlan Meekhok sponsored the bills—SB 442 and SB 0561, respectively—which “allow for an exemption to gun-free zones for permit holders who apply for and are granted an endorsement. This form of ‘enhanced carry’ is in use in other states such as Mississippi, where permit holders obtain additional training and then, after providing a certificate from a state-approved instructor, are granted an endorsement, which allows legal carry inside most places publicly posted as being gun-free.” Green’s measure specifically would allow permit holders to “carry concealed inside areas such as schools, day cares, bars, hospitals, college dorms or classrooms, casinos, religious facilities or entertainment venues that seat more than 2,500 people, which are currently off limits under state law.” On hand to testify on behalf of Green’s bill was John Lott, President and Founder of the Crime Prevention Research Center, the nation’s foremost authority on the relationship between guns and crime. Among Lott’s claims was something that anti-gunners seem to continually ignore: that it is the behavior of permit holders, rather than the actions of criminals, that should determine where we allow law-abiding citizens to carry guns. In reference to responsibly armed Americans and whether or not this specific group is committing crimes, Lott noted: “It’s hard to find any other group in the population that has as low of conviction rates for misdemeanors or felonies. Permit holders actually even have lower rates of convictions or arrests for misdemeanors or felonies than police officers do.” The statistics show, he said, that police officers are convicted of misdemeanors or felonies about 1/30th the rate of the general population, and that permit holders are convicted at a rate equal to 1/6th or 1/7th the rate of officers. That means, just as people like you and me have been saying all along, that law-abiding gun owners really are the “good guys.” The anti-gun argument that gun-free zones stop crime is getting old, and—as John Lott’s testimony helps point out—is grossly incorrect. It’s high time we put that argument—and gun-free zones across the country—to bed where they belong. Take Care and Stay Safe, Tim Schmidt Publisher - Concealed Carry Report USCCA Founder

Tax dollars fund exclusion of blacks

Tax dollars fund exclusion of blacks

By Ron Jackson is a black communications professor and former dean of the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.

I am a two-time alumnus and former dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Arts & Sciences. I am currently a UC professor, and never have I been so disappointed in the direction of the university with respect to diversity and inclusion than I have been in the last three to four years. This is not the fault of the chief diversity officer. This is a structural concern.

In the wake of university Police Officer Ray Tensing’s killing of 43year-old black male Sam DuBose, those on campus have been treated to programs ranging from administration- sponsored yoga and art exhibits to panels and student forums. In what looks more like a nongenuine PR tactical move than an earnest preface to structural change, the administration has invited the campus community to come to vent, express themselves and share thoughts. The newbies who are experiencing these tactics for the first time fill the room and listen carefully for anything that might signal a shift in how the university leadership intends to address the campus racial climate. To their chagrin, almost nothing happens.

Meanwhile the University of Cincinnati either chooses to ignore the catalyst for the DuBose killing or are too busy covering their behinds. In either case, longtime alumni and community members who have witnessed routine cycles of racism at UC every few years shake their heads, hold private phone conversations and murmur words like, “I can’t believe this is still happening!”

The catalyst for the UC police killing of Sam DuBose, just like the killing of two other black males at the university in the last five years alone, is a racially exclusionary campus climate with recruitment structures to match.

The university will adamantly deny this, but here are the facts: In 2000, there were 3,394 (12.6 percent) black students at UC’s main campus and 19,622 whites (72.7 percent) out of 26,985 total. In 2008, there were 2,978 (10.1 percent) black students on main campus compared with 21,568 (72.8 percent) white students. In 2015, there are less than 2,500 (7.3 percent) black students on the main campus and approximately 25,000 (73 percent) white students, and the total population has risen to over 34,000 students on the main campus, and 45,000 students overall on all three campuses. Do you see the trends? The white student population is increasing and the black student population is declining. This abysmally low number of black students (despite overall student population increases) is complemented by the declining number of full-time black faculty on main campus, now at less than 5 percent of 2,000.

The University of Cincinnati gets 18 percent of its budget from the state of Ohio. That $204 million comes from taxpayers like you and me. We are essentially funding racially exclusionary practices at UC. Our tax dollars continue to help pay for a campus police department that has killed three black males in the last five years alone. Our tax dollars pay for a university that has facilitated major declines in African-American faculty and student enrollment.

These are our tax dollars at work to fund systematic racial exclusion at UC. When will enough be enough? It’s time to hold Ohio state lawmakers, UC Board of Trustees and UC leadership responsible for systematic structural change that remedies these problems. The Black Unity Coalition in Cincinnati – composed of students, faculty, staff, alumni, clergy, business leaders and community members – has begun circulating a petition with now over 200 signatures.

NOTE: To readers. What is missing or could be better about the opinions expressed in the above?

The Smoking Gun In Benghazi

The Smoking Gun In Benghazi

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Now we know conclusively that even as she paraded the video condemning the prophet Muhammad as the supposed cause of the Benghazi attack, Hillary Clinton knew full well that it had nothing to do with the video and was entirely and exclusively caused by a terrorist attack.

Documents disclosed at the Benghazi Committee hearing highlight the duplicity. It began while shots were still being fired.

At 10:00 p.m. on the night of September 11, 2012, while the Benghazi consulate was still under violent attack, Hillary released a statement blaming the anti-Muslim internet video for inciting a protest that led to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

That was what she publicly told the American people. That was the line pushed by the Obama Administration.

But privately, just one hour later, she sent an email to her daughter saying that "Two officers were killed today in Benghazi by an al-Qaeda-like group."

And the following day, she repeated this unambiguous analysis of what had caused the tragic murders and, once again, described the situation in Libya as a "terrorist attack".   Notes of her phone call to the Egyptian Prime Minister on September 12, 2012 made no mention of the anti-Muslim internet video that she publicly claimed described the situation in Libya as a "terrorist attack."

The mail to Chelsea and her phone call with the Egyptian Prime Minister are the smoking gun, showing that Hillary knowingly, deliberately, and repeatedly lied in linking the attack to the video.

While Hillary adduced no evidence that the Benghazi attack was linked to the video, she did explain that the entire environment in North Africa was infected by animosity triggered by the video.

But that was not the case in Benghazi.  It was a terrorist attack, not a spontaneous demonstration gone awry as both Obama and Hillary would have us believe.

And why did they want us to believe it?  Because it was six weeks before Election Day and Obama had taken credit for reducing al-Qaeda to the "junior varsity."  Obama could not afford to have the American voters know that the J.V. was now the Varsity.

They lied.  And now we have the proof.

Respect for Our Founding Documents Begins with an Understanding of American History

Respect for Our Founding Documents Begins with an Understanding of American History

The Father of the Constitution, James Madison, famously wrote that the rules set out in our founding document are in a sense just “parchment barriers”. At the time, Madison was making an argument for the Constitutional checks and balances that ensure a limited federal government. But Madison’s words are also a reminder that the system the Founders established -- a system that has kept Americans free for more than two centuries -- works only when citizens recognize and respect its wisdom.

Today many Americans lack an appreciation for the Constitution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, threatening the Founders’ vision of a limited government of the people, by the people, and for the people like never before.

Certainly, there are ways to address these issues through the ballot box. But perhaps more than anything else, those of us who are concerned about our country’s future need to encourage and help Americans -- and especially young Americans -- to understand its past.

Historically, a primary aim of our educational system was to prepare Americans to exercise their responsibilities as citizens. Students actually learned American history, including an appreciation for the Constitution and its principles. The effect was what Ronald Reagan termed an “informed patriotism,” which allowed Americans of all backgrounds, faiths and walks of life to trust in our system of government

.

The collapse of American history in our schools has undermined this consensus about what it means to be American. Our national memory has begun to slip away, and as a result, so has our attachment to the revolutionary ideals for which our nation stands.

The lack of knowledge about America’s past is one of our most fundamental challenges today. Recent results of a Department of Education National Assessment of Educational Progress survey suggest how significant it is: Just 20 percent of fourth-graders, 17 percent of eighth-graders and 12 percent of twelfth-graders are at grade-level proficiency in American history.

Only one in three fourth-graders can identify the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. Less than half understand why George Washington was an important leader in American history. And most fourth-graders don’t know why the Pilgrims left England.

These are alarming findings and suggest that we’re letting our shared understanding of what it means to be American disappear.

The effort to educate our young must begin by working to emphasize American history in our schools, since this is where most children form their ideas about our nation's past. But if the numbers we see in test results tell us anything, it is that we can no longer trust American history education to our schools alone. Each of us has a responsibility to pass on stories about our country’s past to the young people in our lives.

Visits to historic sites like George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon or Independence Hall in Philadelphia are also wonderful ways to inspire a love for American history. And of course, interactive online courses, television programs like Liberty’s Kids, and educational games like Oregon Trail can teach important history lessons, too.

Our consensus about what it means to be American is slowly eroding, along with our understanding of American history. Passing on the stories of this great nation to the next generation might be one of the most important civic contributions we can make. If you are concerned about the future of our country, take time to talk about American history with the young people in your life.

The Story Behind Biden's Decision

The Story Behind Biden's Decision

By Edward Klein

Which ever way it goes — Biden to Launch a Presidential Campaign or Biden Takes Himself Out of the Running — the headlines and TV graphics have already been written by news outlets that have been preparing for the moment when Joe Biden finally makes up his mind whether to run for president.

None of the coverage, however, is likely to tell the story behind the story—the intrigue and deliberate deception at the highest levels of the political system that would ultimately determine Biden’s decision.

According to sources close to Biden, the vice president and President Obama, who has been urging Biden to run, have had numerous discussions about Biden’s chances of taking on Hillary in the Democrat primaries and knocking her out of the presidential race. In those talks, Biden has expressed doubt that he would be able to overcome Hillary’s advantage in timing, money, organization, and ground game.

The only way he could see himself getting into the race, Biden reportedly told the president, was if the White House assured him that it would support the FBI’s investigation of Hillary’s improper handling of classified documents on her private e-mail system and also encourage Attorney General Loretta Lynch to bring down an indictment against Hillary.

An indictment—even a misdemeanor—would almost certainly doom Hillary’s chances of getting the nomination.

In public, Obama has been reluctant to criticize Hillary. For instance, he recently told Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” that he didn’t think Hillary intended to “hide something or to squirrel away information” on her private e-mail server and that she didn’t endanger national security.

Other sources—in this case, those close to the White House—admit that the president was being deceptive with Kroft because, as the head of his party, he has to be careful not to be seen as dissing the Democrats’ leading candidate for the presidency.

What’s more, the White House sources go on to say, the president doesn’t want to publicize the hidden depths of his blood feud with the Clintons.

In fact, these sources confirm that Obama sings a different tune in private. The president and his senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, have made it clear to James Comey, the director of the FBI, and the prosecutors in the Justice Department who are working in close collaboration with the FBI, that the White House wants a thorough investigation and, if warranted, a vigorous prosecution.

The sources report that the normally No Drama Obama recently threw a major fit in the Oval Office when Hillary asked for another meeting to discuss the FBI investigation.

“He leaped up from his desk and threw a rubber ball that he often plays with across the room,” a source said. “He paced the floor, his voice was raised, and told his aides, including Jarrett, to make sure that ‘any smidgen of wrongdoing’ that is in the Hillary files is turned over to the authorities.”

The source quoted Obama as saying: “I never want to see her [Hillary’s] face again. I never want her or Bill in this house lecturing me. They have no respect for this office or for me and I’m not taking it any more. She has lied about everything.”