Local

I sawTariq Ali while watching Democracy Now. Tariq is a British Pakistani intellectual who was discussing Palestine. Tariq Ali shouldn’t be confused with Al Tariq of the Beatnuts.

Are You Ready?

The Rolling Stones wrote Street Fighting Man about Tariq Ali in the late 60’s. Street Fighting Man’s lyrics discuss social revolution against authoritarianism during economic, social oppression and the Vietnam War.

One of my ideas around my ANONROCKNROLL radio show is an idea that Rock N Roll was the soundtrack for Black Panthers, Weathermen, and 70’s leftist social revolution. I applied our reverence for the term Hip Hop determining Rock N Roll is proto-Hip Hop if you respect Panthers and reject COINTELPRO.

I decided I should read Tariq Ali because a left-wing culture was consistent with bands like Turnstile, Clairo, El-Michels Affair, Earl Sweatshirt and Badbadnotgood’s support of Palestine. El Michels Affair, and Badbadnotgood specialize in returning sampling into musicians by studying sampling. I suspect Earl Sweatshirt would like both Tariq Ali and Al Tariq’s debut,the Beatnuts Intoxicated Demons EP.

The DSA’s grassroots is music.

Buckeye Environmental Network (BEN), represented by Earthjustice, has filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and its Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management for unlawfully approving two new Class II oil and gas waste injection wells proposed by DeepRock Disposal Solutions, LLC near Marietta.

The suit, filed in the Tenth District Court of Appeals, challenges ODNR’s approval of the Stephan #1 and American Growers #4 wells. The lawsuit argues that ODNR issued these permits using outdated, less protective rules that no longer meet current legal or scientific standards. Both wells would inject millions of gallons of toxic and radioactive oil and gas waste into underground formations less than two miles from Marietta’s public drinking water source.

Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that will devastate access to life-saving hemp products for over 40 million Americans - including veterans, seniors, children with epilepsy and autism, and countless others who rely on hemp-derived cannabinoids for their health and well-being.

Buried deep in the federal spending bill is language that would ban nearly all hemp-derived THC products, including non-intoxicating CBD items that contain even trace amounts of THC.

The bill redefines hemp so narrowly that even full-spectrum CBD products will become illegal, banning any product with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, a threshold so low it would eliminate nearly every hemp-derived product currently on the market.

This reckless move would:

This is a public health crisis in the making.

We must act NOW.

Abstract

Surveys. You see them online from the City of Columbus Department of Development and the Columbus City Schools (CCS). They take a few minutes to finish and afterwards you might have a nice warm feeling of accomplishment. You took the time to share your opinion and those in power will listen to you and act upon it… Right? Not a chance.

Those surveys are not for you.

Those surveys are for the people who write them so that they can tell their supervisors that they asked for public input; and therefore have permission to do whatever they want afterwards.

Phase One of Zone In (AKA the corporate takeover of Columbus) collected surveys from citizens worried about the future of the city. Those surveys were ignored, and in the end, the wealthy developers got EVERYTHING THEY DEMANDED. Again, the survey allowed city government to pretend that they care about the people who pay taxes.

Not to be left behind, CCS published a survey for the public and in true form ignored any of the real problems that the district faces in the future. Their ONE AND ONLY SOLUTION to the budget problem is to cut school busing and maybe sell a few unused schools.

The Columbus Free Press celebrated our 55th anniversary last Saturday, November 8 and honored five community activists, plus one outstanding community organization.

Watch video here

The event was the November Salon and Annual Awards ceremony at the First Unitarian Universalist Church. Dan Dougan served as master of ceremonies.

Any time a public official makes an on-the-record pronouncement to the press, it represents an official statement. If a military man makes a false official statement, it represents a court martial offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The Fourth Commandant of The Marine Corps – Colonel Anthony Gale – was convicted by a court martial and cashiered for making just such a statement. The current commandant – General Eric Smith – should suffer similar censure for committing the same offense.

On January 15 of this year, General Smith looked members of the Pentagon press corps in the eye and told them that the Marine Corps had never signed on to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. This was a blatant falsehood. As he was speaking, his staff was frantically disestablishing the Corps' extensive DEI infrastructure and purging its websites of DEI related material. Including its personnel guidance contained in Talent Management 2030 which included the words "reinforcing diversity, promoting equity, and encouraging a culture of inclusion."

Editor's note: The election results from November 4th's Columbus City Council District 7 race between Tiara Ross and Jesse Vogel showed that Vogel won the most votes in District 7, but lost the election to Ross, who won the most votes outside the district. Under Columbus' odd district-based system, district candidates are voted on by the entire city.

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COLUMBUS CITY COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE - 11/6/25

Congratulations to Tiara Ross who will be the next Columbus CounciI member from District 7!

TRANSLATION

Without the transfer of tens of thousands of dollars from members of City Council she would have lost. We tipped the scales of local democracy to get what we wanted. She owes her loyalty to City Hall and myself; not you. She will obey everything we tell her.

I look forward to working with her to move Columbus forward. Every neighborhood and every family will benefit from her passion and heart for service. Her victory is not just for her but for every community that needs a fighter.

TRANSLATION

Tuesday, November 11,  5-6:30pm
Goodale Park Gazebo
An informal but informative affair, a time when people may share their views on the theme: Peace IS Possible. People may want to bring a chair or a blanket to sit on in the gazebo. I will have a microphone for us to share our thoughts on how peace is, in fact, possible.
Sponsored by Veterans For Peace, Central Ohio sponsored event. 

Saturday, November 8, 2025, 1:30 – 4:30 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 West Weisheimer Rd. in Clintonville.
Large parking lot available. 

This year is the Columbus Free Press' 55th anniversary!

We are celebrating by honoring five outstanding community activists and a community organization. We will honor: Bob Krasen, Healthcare for all Ohioans, Lezlie Combs - longtime community activist, Paul Becker - activist photographer, Julialynne Walker - Bronzeville Growers Market, Jawhara Qutiefan - Palestinian activist, Heer to Serve - Mutual Aid organization. There will be light refreshments.

This event is free, and all are welcome. Location:

Facebook Event.