Op-Ed
Obamacare (The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) PPACA has been alternately called both things. In the hyper-ideological world our political system labors under these days, the reality is that the PPACA is both to different constituencies.
Here in Ohio and in the other states whose political power structure maintained the vociferous and unanimous opposition to the law, PPACA is looking less like a godsend and more like a Rube Goldberg contraption that won’t provide the solution to the health care access crisis.
In states who have, on the other hand, dealt with reality and implemented the law to the best of their abilities; i.e. set up state exchanges, expanded Medicaid etc, tens of thousands of their citizens are benefiting from gained access to insurance if not financial protection from medically precipitated financial crisis.
The man on the phone was talking very fast. I thought perhaps he had a lot to say but a short time to say it. I was wrong. It turns out he had lots of time, scads of it, far more time than I would have preferred to allot him. But I am polite on the phone, I listened to the bastard ramble on. What the conversation concerned is unimportant, it was an admonishment at the end that starched my collar.
The fellow wanted to foist some documents upon me. I did not want them, but he insisted. “I can fax them to you,” the cad announced.
I explained that I did not have a fax machine and that he'd be better off emailing them to me. “Just send them as attachments,” I said.
That's when things got interesting.
“You should really have a fax machine,” the meddler mumbled.
I didn't say anything, still being polite.
“If you had a fax machine,” the obtruder continued. “I could just fax these over to you.”
“Yes, but I don't,” I said, still holding my tongue.
“You might want to think about getting one,” he went on.
Still I remained mum.
We have seen this act before. It always appears innocent to the untrained eye, but those who pay close attention can sense when something is rotten in Denmark, or in this case Dennison Place.
Concerned citizen Frank Zindler smelled something foul in his neighborhood when he was notified that this year he wouldn't be voting at the Thompson Community Center, where he's cast his ballot for three decades. Instead Frank was told to go to the Ohio Student Union on campus to exercise his franchise.
On the surface it sounds like a reasonable replacement for his usual polling station. It's public, it's open and easy to find. How can anyone complain they are being inconvenienced, as Frank did?
Frank saw a fly in the ointment when he launched a recon mission to scope out the new polling place. What he found caused him to write a letter to the Columbus Dispatch.
In that letter he explained a clear and present danger to his neighbors' voting rights. There's no place to park.
Sure, there's a fairly large parking garage attached to the Ohio Union. But, as Frank pointed out in his letter, there's just one itty bitty problem.
President Dwight Eisenhower is often admired for having avoided huge wars, having declared that every dollar wasted on militarism was food taken out of the mouths of children, and having warned -- albeit on his way out the door -- of the toxic influence of the military industrial complex (albeit in a speech of much more mixed messages than we tend to recall).
But when you oppose war, not because it murders, and not because it assaults the rights of the foreign places attacked, but because it costs too much in U.S. lives and dollars, then your steps tend in the direction of quick and easy warfare -- usually deceptively cheap and easy warfare.
But when you oppose war, not because it murders, and not because it assaults the rights of the foreign places attacked, but because it costs too much in U.S. lives and dollars, then your steps tend in the direction of quick and easy warfare -- usually deceptively cheap and easy warfare.
In 1980, after receiving the nomination of his party, Ronald Reagan kicked off his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Miss., at the Neshoba County Fair. Neshoba County is not someplace you just drop into; you have to want to go there. It’s a small town remembered largely for being the site of the horrid 1964 murders of three young civil rights volunteers, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. Reagan went to Mississippi to give a speech that focused on states’ rights and the dangers of big government. He went to send a message — and it was heard clearly across the South.
States are rightly hailed as laboratories of democracy, places that can experiment and try out programs and ideas that, if successful, spread across the country. But from the earliest days of the Republic, states’ rights has always been the doctrine of reaction. It has been invoked to stop national reform and to protect local privilege.
States are rightly hailed as laboratories of democracy, places that can experiment and try out programs and ideas that, if successful, spread across the country. But from the earliest days of the Republic, states’ rights has always been the doctrine of reaction. It has been invoked to stop national reform and to protect local privilege.
As the Syrian crisis continues to play out according to the brackets of a chemical weapons agreement, one thing is certain. Politicians inside the beltway persist in contributing to the discussion. From the Left, the situation in Syria is a tragedy but falls short of a warrant for American intervention. From the Right, the crisis has cried out for U.S. action since protests began two years ago. Amidst this political back-and-forth, however, one salient group remains in the background, if not ignored altogether. This group is defined by academics who have actually studied the matter at hand.
Whereas politicians used to be consulted through the mainstream media in order to gain valuable information, they have now become ends in themselves. A congressman or congresswoman who appears on any news program is now merely offering his or her opinion regarding Syria. Should the United States intervene in Syria? Politicians spent a great deal of time appearing in several venues to offer their perspective on this question.
Whereas politicians used to be consulted through the mainstream media in order to gain valuable information, they have now become ends in themselves. A congressman or congresswoman who appears on any news program is now merely offering his or her opinion regarding Syria. Should the United States intervene in Syria? Politicians spent a great deal of time appearing in several venues to offer their perspective on this question.
An Intimate Experience
Giving head is so pleasureful and intense. There are few things that can compare with the intimacy of this sexual act. Placing your mouth into the heart of sensitivity and sexuality to cause arousal, manipulating the movements of your tongue, lips, face, hands all at once, concentrating so many nimble movements - solely to give your partner pleasure. Think of all the variations of sensations that can be applied. It is a personal decision and a beautiful expression of intimacy.
Getting’ Down
If you’re thinking about the possibility of submitting to head, I recommend learning about a variety of techniques, including the reading list at the bottom of this article, and the video, Nina Hartley’s Guide to Oral Sex (www.nina.com). If you have a partner that is unwilling, I suggest bringing up your desires in a neutral setting, outside of the bedroom first. If your partner is hesitant about oral sex, and doesn't want to watch the video or discuss the possibilities, I don't recommend pushing the issue.
Image
We are in desperate need of documentary filmmakers at Fukushima.
The Japanese government is about to pass a national censorship law clearly meant to make it impossible to know what’s going on there.
Massive quantities of radioactive water have been flowing through the site since the March 2011 earthquake/tsunami.
A thousand flimsy tanks hold still more thousands of tons of radioactive water which would pour into the Pacific should they collapse.
An earthquake and two typhoons have have just hit there this past weekend, flushing still more radioactive water into the sea.
The corrupt and incompetent Tokyo Electric Power Company will soon try moving 400 tons of supremely radioactive rods from a damaged Unit Four fuel pool, an operation that could easily end in global catastrophe.
By now you've surely seen the cover of this week's issue and may have wondered just what we at the Free Press are up to with our mask of Andy Ginther. Many of you are probably asking yourselves if we are ripping off Columbus's former independent weekly newspaper, The Other Paper. The answer is, yes. And no.
Actually we are paying tribute to The Other Paper, an homage if you will.
For many years TOP graced its Halloween issue with a mask of someone in the news, either locally or nationally. While TOP was owned by Max Brown and his company, CM Media, they did a good job putting forth an informative and often entertaining paper. We respect those efforts even now.
A number of us at the Free Press (including myself, Richard Ades and John Petric) worked for CM Media for many years, and have fond memories of our working lives on Sinclair Ave.
I shall be so happy when Election Day has come and gone. Its passing will mark the end of the annoying television ads we are currently suffering through.
The most galling of these are aimed at Columbus voters, urging them to vote for Issues 50 and 51, the school levy package asking for $515 million over the next 5 years – a 24 percent increase in school property taxes.
One of the commercials features Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, who stares into the camera while dead panning the mantra issued by Columbus mayor Michael Coleman.