People
Al Warner was my friend and comrade in arms. He served as board president of the Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism, publisher of the Columbus Free Press, during a tumultuous period. We were exposing corruption from the local school board, to the city, and to the state.
Al was many things, but first and foremost, he was tenacious. Like a pitbull on a pantleg, once he got ahold of an issue involving corruption against schoolkids, he refused to let go.
Al was progressive, intellectual, and thoughtful. And his show “At the Table” was enlightening. The axiom at the table was simple – either you’re at the table or on the menu. And many times Al invited himself to the table to defend the rights of poor and underserved children.
I fondly remember him as my co-host on “Fight Back!” on WVKO where Al did verbal combat in defense of social justice and equality. Al and I also worked very closely to preserve the mission of Columbus’ Africentric School. On more than one occasion, Al personally funded lawsuit to maintain equality for all children and defend staff members under fire from the reactionary forces of the status quo.
Columbus “Vice” Squad in Action: Somehow the Columbus Police missed evidence over the years that their chief spokesperson was into kiddie porn, but they did manage to put together a major sting operation to arrest stripper Stormy Daniels at the Sirens Gentlemen’s Club for brushing her breasts against two undercover cops. Email obtained by CNN indicates that Columbus police officers targeted Daniels for arrest here in Columbus.
If you think Stormy Daniels’ arrest was a set-up for political reasons, the history of the Columbus Police suggests you are absolutely right.
In our city there’s been a long-standing operational link between the police vice squad and those who investigate political crimes. Free Press Editor Bob Fitrakis wrote a series about this in 1999 in an anthology called Cops, Coverups and Corruption. Then-Columbus Police Commander Curtis Marcum used the so-called “police intelligence unit” to spy on and blackmail local politicians and political radicals.
The Free Press Salutes – Anti-ICE protestors and Columbus Sanctuary Collective
The Free Press salutes Anti-ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) activists who shut down city streets around ICE headquarters in downtown Columbus, attempted to occupy the ICE office and erected a two-story wooden tripod structure in front of the building with a sign reading "ICE RUINS LIVES HERE" on Monday, July 9. Demonstrators held signs reading "Abolish ICE" and chanted "No Borders, No Wall!"
Police descended on the demonstrators, bringing in a hook and ladder firetruck to remove two activists one attached to the top and one to the bottom of the handmade structure. Columbus Police arrested a dozen activists, charging them with trespassing and/or obstructing police business. Ten of them spent the night in the Franklin County Jail and pleaded guilty the following morning. Their attorneys Bob Fitrakis (this paper's editor) and Connie Gadell-Newton categorized the protestors' actions as "nonviolent civil disobedience in the finest tradition of American dissent." Judge Barrows indicated he agreed with them.
After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, nobody other than his widow, Jacqueline, suffered worse than his brother, Robert, the attorney general. For Robert, his relationship with his brother was everything; he scarcely existed outside of it Pain was seared into his face and was palpable; within a few weeks after the murder, he seemed to have aged years. The death of President Kennedy and the end of all they hoped to accomplish so unsettled RFK that family and friends feared for his well being. In the end, it was his wife, Ethel, who brought him around. A very devout Catholic, she was certain that the president had gone straight to Heaven and they would be together again for all eternity.
As the midterm election heats up in Ohio, it’s time to recognize the important role minor political parties play in our bellwether state, as well as across the nation. Although commonly referred to as third parties or alternative parties, the ideas behind these groups are popular and can have a major impact in the future of our nation’s political landscape as the millennial generation continues to look for its voice.
For example, in my personal experience I always considered myself a Democrat -- I turned 18 in August 2001 and was an adult for one month before we entered a post-9/11 world. During my formative college years I quickly grew to resent the Bush administration and their war mongering, socially conservative, anti-civil liberty agenda. But as the Democrats eventually took power in 2008, I started to realize that they had a similar corporate, anti-populist agenda that differed from my own and I looked elsewhere for where exactly I fit in. I took my political activism seriously and knew that my generation had a lot of work to do to make a difference in the future we were inheriting.
WCBE is proud to announce its very own Community Relations director, Johnny DiLoretto, will do his community relations thing in high style this July 4th when he assumes the not-so-honorable throne as the Less-than-Grand Marshal at the 35th annual Doo Dah parade.
“My first thought was ‘Who was their first choice?’ Surely, someone better was unavailable…” DiLoretto joked. “I'm still in shock about it. It’s such a mark of distinction here in Columbus,” he said. “And, it’s such a no-holds-barred, throw-caution-to-the-wind-anything-goes event, it’s just a perfect fit.”
WCBE president, Dan Mushalko, quipped, “There can be no lesser honor than to be a less than grand marshal. We’re so proud of Johnny for stooping to this level and we desperately hope no one associates him with WCBE on the entire parade route.”
All joking aside, Mz Doo Dah, ChairChick & Queen of Doo Dah, Deb Roberts assures that DiLoretto was indeed their first less-than-grand choice this year. “Johnny's a man about town. He's funny. He's a survivor of Sinclair Broadcasting, and,” she added, “he's a man who knows how to make some fun!”
You’re in good company. Maybe you don’t know any vegans personally – except maybe Eriyah, but here’s the names of some famous vegans you may already admire:
Stevie Wonder
Dennis Kucinich
Joan Jett
Angela Davis
Jessica Chastain
Coretta Scott King
Ariana Grande
Joaquin Phoenix
Jennifer Lopez
Erykah Badu
Ellen DeGeneres
Woody Harrelson
Barry White
Peter Dinklage
Moby
Chaka Khan
Morrissey
Grace Slick
Bryan Adams
Russell Simmons
James Cameron
Ellen Page
Al Gore
Jay-Z and Beyonce
Alanis Morrisette
Peter Max
Betty White
Stevie Wonder: "We have to be about making our planet more greener, the urban areas more sustainable for the children. We can't just talk about it, we have to be about it."
Jessica Chastain: “I guess it’s about trying to live a life where I’m not contributing to the cruelty in the world. … While I am on this planet, I want everyone I meet to know that I am grateful they are here.”
Joaquin Phoenix: “It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.”
As you read this, the Columbus Dispatch is engaged in one of the most despicable character assassination series of articles against populist Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dennis Kucinich that I’ve ever seen. In the Dispatch’s latest smear piece, they claim “Kucinich ‘has a track record of helping to spread … disinformation.’” Ironically the Dispatch, while accusing Kucinich of doing it, has been busy spreading disinformation about him.