Human Rights
I was happy and grateful to learn from the staff of Senator Beth Liston that she canceled her plan to take part in the propaganda tour to Israel that was planned and paid for by the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) that was intended to whitewash the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Upon learning of the trip last week, Baladana (Palestine Society of Columbus) launched an action alert campaign to persuade Dr. Liston to abandon her plan to visit Israel and to meet her constituents and listen to their concerns.
Ohioans should not entertain the Israeli genocide. I am proud of her courageous stance and for listening to the concern of her constituents. Our precious tax dollars should not be used to support the genocide in Gaza and for murdering women and children.
People who are true to their Jewish and Christian faith would not support the genocide, child murder, forced starvation and expulsion, and neither should any US lawmakers.
Central Ohio hosts a number of outdoor farmers’ markets providing freshly-harvested produce. Leading a group of these markets is Abbe Turner, a farmer herself. Abbe is the new Executive Director of Common Greens which runs five local farmers’ markets every week. Be it a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday, Common Greens has one or more markets in action that day. Operating times for downtown’s Pearl Alley, Clintonville, Bexley, Upper Arlington and the innovative OhioHealth’s Riverside farmers’ markets can be found at the Common Greens website. You have until the end of October to catch the action, except for Clintonville’s market where they will tough-it-out through November.
For the 2025 season, Abbe was excited to recruit 30 new vendors. Common Greens now hosts 170 unique vendors including both home- and farm-based specialty food producers. Market volunteers help to count attendance. “This season we are on track to record 140,000 shoppers,” Abbe said in excitement.
500,000+ March in Labor Day “Workers Over Billionaires” Events Nationwide
This Labor Day, more than five hundred thousand laborers, families and community members showed their resistance against the billionaires and corporations who continue to hoard wealth and power at workers’ expense.
This is a pivotal moment for working families. Billionaires are stealing public dollars, separating families and destroying U.S. democracy in their pursuit of profit, but in the streets and on the shop floor, in union halls and the halls of Congress, working people are rising up and fighting for freedom, fairness and security. Working Americans won’t be scared away by the billionaires taking over our government.
Highlights include:
Donald Trump has signed an unconstitutional executive order banning protected speech. He is ordering that anyone who burns an American flag should receive a year in jail.
So I guess it doesn’t matter if the flag is desecrated, but only how you desecrate it. MAGAts seem to think this is OK.
Trump did pardon J6 MAGAt terrorists for using flagpoles with the flag to attack Capitol Police.
And he seemed OK with Kid Rock’s attire.
And in the Oval Office, which Kid Rock must have confused with Waffle House, and with the way Trump decorates, who can blame him?
And Trump desecrates the flag with his ping-pong paddles, which you can find in the Trump Store.
Today, over on GoComics, a MAGAt told me my school shooting cartoon should be removed because it’s disgusting. GC is a private platform, but the MAGAt still proved how he feels about protected speech. The only speech he approves of is speech he wants to hear, just like Donald Trump.
Friday, August 29-Saturday, August 30, 10am-4pm
Virtual Statewide Conference on Policing, Criminal Legal System, and Immigration. We have some amazing speakers who will touch on topics ranging from immigration, wrongful conviction, to policy, etc. Guest speaker: Eric King
If you have not already, you can register with the link below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0jZLhNLkXoFNJk3cK95m1elgL70YXvIjIpgclEOZfE1sJwA/viewform?usp=header
In a landmark decision on Tuesday evening, August 19, Whitehall City Council unamimously passed an ordinance that simultaneously bans conversion therapy for minors and legalizes LGBTQ+ inclusive non-discrimination protections. This makes Whitehall the 37th location in Ohio to pass an LGBTQ+ inclusive non-discrimination protections and the 14th location to ban conversation for minors.
This critical step ensures legal protection from discrimination in the City of Whitehall for all residents, including those who are LGBTQ+, and it ensures that LGBTQ+ youth in Whitehall will no longer be subjected to the harmful and discredited practice, which has been widely condemned by medical and mental health professionals.
This article first appeared in The Buckeye Flame
As trans individuals and advocates in Ohio, we know that our community is facing extraordinary challenges right now. The fear, the hate, the legislation—it’s all real, and for many, it’s overwhelming. We completely understand that for some, leaving a state like Ohio—where anti-trans laws, rhetoric, and fear-mongering are rampant—might feel like the only viable option for survival. And for those who can afford to make that move, who have the resources and support to relocate and rebuild their lives elsewhere, that might be the right decision for their physical and mental health.
But here’s where we feel the need to speak up: When we start to frame “getting out” as the only solution, we risk abandoning the very people we’re trying to protect. Ohio isn’t just a place on a map; it’s home to thousands of trans people who, right now, are counting on the people who have stayed—who have chosen to dig in their heels and continue the fight, no matter how difficult.
Last week, Ayman Soliman and his attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) unlawful termination of his asylum status. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey P. Hopkins issued a 14-day Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and advised the parties that he could continue this relief once a new habeas petition is filed.
Asawin Suebsaeng at Rolling Stone is out with a vital article that explains who Ayman Soliman is to his friends, community, and the families at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital — and why the government’s “case” against him isn’t a case at all. See excerpts below and read the full piece.
The kind of person Ayman is
