Back in the fall of 2008, we opened our photo contest to pictures of babies and pets. We had previously held themed contests but in a rare generous mood offered a reprieve, with the threat that our next one would feature the categories “ethos,” “riboflavin,” and “Kierkegaard.”

Lucky for you, the powers that be have memories like sieves; when we brainstormed ideas for the resurrected photo contest, those were strangely omitted.

Instead, our three categories for the winter 2011-12 contest are “attraction,” “resistance,” and “ambivalence.” The deadline for entries is February 6, and the rules are below. We plan to publish the winners in our February 16 issue.

(Oh, what the hell: If you want to enter something in “ethos,” “riboflavin,” or “Kierkegaard,” be our guest.)

For many years, we asked our readers to fill out surveys to determine the best of the Quad Cities. We gave them categories and lines on which to write, and we tallied the results, and the winners were the top vote-getters in each category.

Our approach this fall was different. We reduced the categories to 20 and asked people to submit Tweets, videos, and short essays in support of their nominations. The aim was to give voice to individuals over the masses, and to allow people to argue for their favorites instead of merely noting them. The ultimate goal was to get past the obvious and automatic responses that seemed to often rise to the top in past surveys – to spotlight hidden gems in the Quad Cities.

(Editor's note: This is one of three articles on Ron Paul in the December 8 issue of the River Cities’ Reader. The package also includes Kathleen McCarthy’s “Ron Paul Personifies Iowa GOP Party Platform” editorial and Dave Trotter’s “Electability: Ron Paul Soundly Defeats Obama for These 11 Reasons” cover story.)

Voters memories’ are getting shorter and shorter, emboldening the mainstream media (MSM) to utterly fabricate information in order to manipulate public opinion regarding Ron Paul’s popularity and electability.

At the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference – an annual multi-day event of speakers presented as quintessential conservatives (Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, and Donald Trump all spoke at this year’s convention held in February in Washington, D.C.) – Fox News edited the footage it broadcast by inserting booing during the announcement that Ron Paul had won the straw poll (for second year in a row), when in reality he was getting loud cheers. Fox was called out quickly by direct observers and had to issue an apology, stating, “It was clearly a mistake; we used the wrong videotape.” Said Fox’s Bill Hemmer, “It’s an honest mistake. We apologize for the error. We look forward to having representative Paul back on our program very soon.” (RCReader.com/y/media1) How is deliberately altering footage, replacing fact with fiction, an “honest mistake”? What possible explanation could there be for altering any news footage in the first place? It begs the question: How much of this “editing” is going on in other parts of the news?

Leaders in the consolidation of Scott County emergency dispatch and record-keeping claim a number of benefits: that it has been and will be a good deal for taxpayers; that it has resulted in better interdepartmental communications between emergency responders; and that it will eventually reduce the amount of time between when an emergency call is made and when appropriate personnel are dispatched.

But is it, as originally advertised, saving money?

The answer to that question depends on how you look at it, but for property owners in Scott County, the bottom line is that their tax rates are higher as a direct and indirect result of the consolidation.

The Scott County overall tax-levy rate rose by 90 cents per $1,000 of valuation in Fiscal Year 2011, as the levy for emergency management rose from 5 cents to $1.05 – nearly all of which is funding consolidated emergency dispatch. Scott County dropped its levy rate outside of emergency management, and Davenport and Bettendorf have also lowered their property-tax rates, but the net financial effect of consolidation has been property-tax rates that are anywhere from 65 cents to 90 cents higher depending on where one lives.