Why I Don’t Like Cleveland

Because my Mom and Dad are being difficult about getting a passport I may be forced to spend 2 nights in the Cleveland area which is something I’d rather avoid.

Dad says “It’s not so bad.” I consider it a flat spot near Lake Erie and no amount of “western Reserveism” makes it any more attractive.

Indeed as they leave for their passport photos Mom made a point that she didn’t want a passport and that a woman of her age (and though she was a child bride she’s no younger than I am which is 120+) shouldn’t be forced to do it and the only reason she was getting one is because I insisted with my whim of iron.

So I guess I’m out of the will.

And now I’m looking forward to a sullen (and hopefully silent) pout every kilometer of Ontario we put under our wheels, but you know, it’s worth it. Not only is Cleveland the site of the 2016 Republican National Convention (I’m sure this looked like a big advantage to John Kasich at the time) but it’s also the home of Johnny Manziel-

Johnny Manziel Indicted On Domestic Violence Charges
by Lindsay Gibbs, Think Progress
Apr 25, 2016 1:47 pm

Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel has been indicted by a Dallas County Grand Jury on a misdemeanor assault with bodily injury charge.
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The details in the police affidavit, in which his ex-girlfriend is requesting a protective order, are extremely disturbing.
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The allegations against Manziel from the January incident are very similar to a police report stemming from an altercation with the same woman last October.

In that incident, multiple people called 911 after seeing Manziel driving erratically and arguing with his girlfriend in Avon, Ohio. She told police officers that Manziel “pushed her head against the glass of the car” and “hit her a couple of times in the car.” She also said that Manziel refused to let her have her phone, and she could be heard in a dashcam video saying, “I’m in fear for my life.”

However, the police report noted that the girlfriend seemed intoxicated while Manziel didn’t — though Manziel, who had spent 10 weeks at a drug and alcohol treatment center earlier in the year, admitted to having a couple of drinks — and suspended the investigation without pressing charges. The NFL also conducted an independent investigation into that incident, but said it did not find grounds for punishment.

and Tamir Rice-

Cleveland To Shell Out Millions For Tamir Rice’s Death
by Carimah Townes, Think Progress
Apr 25, 2016 11:21 am

On Monday morning, four months after a legally questionable grand jury decided not to indict the cop who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice, the City of Cleveland settled a $6 million wrongful death lawsuit with the boy’s family.

Rice was gunned down while holding a toy gun in November 2014, less than two seconds after shooting officer Timothy Loehmann exited his vehicle. Rice, who Loehmann and his partner described as an 185 pound 18-year-old, wasn’t given verbal commands to drop the fake gun before he was shot. Then Loehmann and his partner ignored Rice for four minutes as he lay on the ground bleeding.

In the year leading up to the grand jury’s decision, law enforcement officials hired by Rice’s estate to investigate the shooting concluded that the use of deadly force was “reckless” and “excessive.” A judge also determined that there was probable cause to charge Loehmann. But prosecutor Tim McGinty stalled the investigation and hired two independent investigators with known police bias who said the shooting was reasonable. Then he publicly smeared Samaria Rice, saying her search for justice was economically-motivated.