Editorial

George Will confirms Nixon's Vietnam treason

Nixon

Richard Nixon was a traitor.

The new release of extended versions of Nixon's papers now confirms this long-standing belief, usually dismissed as a "conspiracy theory" by Republican conservatives. Now it has been substantiated by none other than right-wing columnist George Will.

Nixon's newly revealed records show for certain that in 1968, as a presidential candidate, he ordered Anna Chennault, his liaison to the South Vietnam government, to persuade them refuse a cease-fire being brokered by President Lyndon Johnson.

Nixon's interference with these negotiations violated President John Adams's 1797 Logan Act, banning private citizens from intruding into official government negotiations with a foreign nation.

Green Party endorses Columbus Community Bill of Rights

 

At their July 8, 2014 County Central Committee meeting, the Franklin County Green Party endorsed the Columbus Community Bill of Rights. Co-Chair Bob Fitrakis called for “a return to localism where local people control their air and water and are not at the mercy of corporate polluters.”

The Columbus Community Bill of Rights proposes an Amendment to the Charter of the City of Columbus. A group is collecting signatures to put a citizens’ initiative on the ballot that will give Columbus residents local control over the extraction of hydrocarbons and protect the unalienable rights for pure water, clean air, and safe soil. The Community Bill of Rights would free Columbus citizens from "toxins, carcinogens, radioactive substances, and other substances known to cause harm to health.”

The Franklin County Green Party holds that human rights take precedence over corporate profit. “We do not believe corporations have the same rights of flesh and blood people, and living human beings have the right to decide what goes into their air, soil, and water,” Fitrakis stated.

Letters to the Editor July 2014

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Dear Editor
SB 310 Is Bad for Business
Much of the debate about

controversial Senate Bill 310 focused on increased energy costs to consumers. But what about Ohio businesses? The Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy and the Ohio Advanced Energy Economy recently released a report that details the increase in energy costs that will be born by Ohio commercial enterprises. The increases range from from nearly $17,000 for commercial customers of Dayton Power & Light to a high of almost $32,000 for businesses served by Ohio Edison. Duke Energy Ohio will pass on increased costs totaling more than $30,000 and businesses in central Ohio can expect an increase of more than $23,000 from AEP Ohio.

Ain't No Love in the Intertoobz

 

I'm on a mission of love here y'all. I swear that I am. But every time I see a Facebook post crying to the heavens about the end of net neutrality, all I feel is seething rage. So many people so upset over something they know nothing about. What's worse is that I see it coming from progressives, even self-described radicals. I see these people talking about how this new government decision has ruined the open Internet, and how hard it will make it for innovators, with seemingly no awareness as to how they've been parroting the talking points Republicans have been using since before Reagan.

In many ways I shouldn't be surprised. It's not their fault. Silicon Valley be straight killin' it at the snake-oil-selling game. Almost all of the terms we use to understand the technological/capitalist developments in the past 35 years, “Web 2.0”, “open-source”, the “sharing economy”, hell even “the Internet”, the concept of a “technology industry”, and yes “net neutrality” are disingenuous constructions that serve an ideological purpose.

THE AFTERMATH OF ELECTING A BLACK PRESIDENT IN AMERICA

 

 

For those of you who don’t know it, aftermath means: result, consequences, outcome, upshot, repercussion, and the after effects of an event or action. In other words…what happens after a thing occurs.

The aftermath of electing a Black President in America should come as no surprise to anyone. At least not to those who haven’t been wearing blinders to the fact that racism is and has been alive and well in America regardless of the outward appearances to the outside world and even they aren’t fooled.

The rise in the number of different hate groups in America has risen so much that, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in 2012 the KKK chapters dropped from 221 to 152 in one year. Did you know that the Ohio-based Brotherhood of Klans was the second-largest Klan association in the country, with 38 chapters? And to think President Obama won Ohio electoral votes both times.

Let’s fight poverty, not the poor

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the so-called “War on Poverty” that President Lyndon B. Johnson declared when the official poverty rate was at 19 percent. Five decades later, the poverty rate stands at 15 percent with 46.5 million people living below the official poverty line, which is about $23,000 for a family of four (2012 Census Data). More than 20 million people earn less than half the poverty line, in other words, they live in extreme poverty in the richest country in the history of the world. The statistics are even more depressing when we consider that the child poverty rate (under age 18) is an alarming 21.8 percent. Even worse, for children under the age of 5, some states register poverty rates of up to 36 percent. The failure of the so-called “War on Poverty” to actually end poverty and the socio-economic problems associated with it is due to the fact that the program was systematically aimed at fighting the poor rather than poverty and its root causes. The late economist Hyman P. Minsky exposed these flawed strategies since the early days of the war on poverty in the mid-1960s.

Venezuela has pop charts too

It's May Day and I'm supposed to be inspiring. Revolution for the equilibrium. That was my goal when I started at this fine publication, and today would be the day to do it. May Day, the anarchist Super Bowl, a day home to more than a few massacres. The world's favorite day for militant demonstrations, though near as I can tell, the only march in Columbus today is about raising the minimum wage. “Give Ohio a Raise,” that is literally the rhetoric that Obeezy used in the State of the Union. The Democrats' game is it's a way to wrest control of the narrative leading up to the midterms away from the ACA, which is to say that after November, all this magical DCCC-lead concern for economic justice will magically vanish. Which almost illustrates my point for me: recently I've been feeling despondency in even engaging in politics, which is a counter-revolutionary impulse, especially when we in the seat of the global hegemon. America is one big gated community, with all attendant Trayvon Martins and George Zimmermans. What I think I'm trying to do with this modest column is fuck shit up at the HOA meeting.

Columbus City Council Deceived Citizens About Public Access TV

 

 

Shortly before the Columbus City Council election last November, The Free Press ran an article about the candidates’ positions on whether public access TV should be restored in Columbus. (The Free Press, Oct. 31 – Nov. 6) It’s now clear that when the article came out, the incumbent candidates were hiding more than just their positions on the issue. They and the rest of council were deceiving the public.

Independent candidate Nicholas Schneider made his support for public access TV a major issue in his 2013 campaign. Republican candidates Brian Bainbridge and Greg Lawson also expressed support for restoring it. But the Democratic incumbent candidates, Troy Miller, Eileen Paley and Priscilla Tyson, kept silent about the issue.

The three challengers used The Free Press article as an opportunity to further explain why they think public access TV is important for the community. The incumbent candidates didn’t respond to The Free Press’ requests for their positions.

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