Op-Ed
The U.N. and Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International recently released a flurry of deeply flawed reports on drone murders. According to the U.N.'s special rapporteur, whose day job is as law partner of Tony Blair's wife, and according to two major human rights groups deeply embedded in U.S. exceptionalism, murdering people with drones is sometimes legal and sometimes not legal, but almost always it's too hard to tell which is which, unless the White House rewrites the law in enough detail and makes its new legal regime public.
When I read these reports I was ignorant of the existence of a human rights organization called Alkarama, and of the fact that it had just released a report titled License to Kill: Why the American Drone War on Yemen Violates International Law. While Human Rights Watch looked at six drone murders in Yemen and found two of them illegal and four of them indeterminate, Alkarama looked in more detail and with better context at the whole campaign of drone war on Yemen, detailing 10 cases. As you may have guessed from the report's title, this group finds the entire practice of murdering people with flying robots to be illegal.
When I read these reports I was ignorant of the existence of a human rights organization called Alkarama, and of the fact that it had just released a report titled License to Kill: Why the American Drone War on Yemen Violates International Law. While Human Rights Watch looked at six drone murders in Yemen and found two of them illegal and four of them indeterminate, Alkarama looked in more detail and with better context at the whole campaign of drone war on Yemen, detailing 10 cases. As you may have guessed from the report's title, this group finds the entire practice of murdering people with flying robots to be illegal.
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 3/11/11 earthquake/tsunami.
At 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, flushing still more radioactive water into the sea.
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 3/11/11 earthquake/tsunami.
At 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, flushing still more radioactive water into the sea.
Cleveland fans have lived with the Indians name and logo for decades, but it is time to wake up and confront the fact that "Chief Wahoo" is a racist symbol that does real harm to real people. Why do something about it now? Because the logo should have been eliminated years ago. This isn't about "political correctness," it's about respect for fellow humans.
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Cleveland Baseball has a rich and storied history spanning more than a century: from Bob Feller to Rocky Colavito, from Municipal Stadium to The Jake, from 455 to Tom Hamilton and "the corner of Carnegie and Ontario." We broke the color line in the American League in 1947, the year before we won our second World Series. As we write the next chapter of Cleveland Baseball history, let's not pass on a racist legacy to future generations of fans.
Sign Petition<?a>
Cleveland Baseball has a rich and storied history spanning more than a century: from Bob Feller to Rocky Colavito, from Municipal Stadium to The Jake, from 455 to Tom Hamilton and "the corner of Carnegie and Ontario." We broke the color line in the American League in 1947, the year before we won our second World Series. As we write the next chapter of Cleveland Baseball history, let's not pass on a racist legacy to future generations of fans.
I was going to write about the current labor dispute between SEIU Local 1 and ABM that resulted in a janitors' strike last week, but apparently some of the documents involved contain information that needs to be redacted, so we're just waitin' on that FOIA. In the meantime, life is a precious gift, and every day spent alive is a miracle. Fall is here people and it is gangsta.
I know nobody picks up this righteous newspaper to hear my life story, but a few context-relevant details are necessary. For the past six years, I have spent my time in that seasonless simulacrum of a world known as California. I haven't experienced crisp autumn air, real apple cider, the sensation of walking over fallen leaves while wearing socks, tailgating in real football weather since I was in high school. As I contemplated my ignominious yet triumphant return to Ohio, fall was what I was looking forward to the most. And yet, when I came back, I was worried.
Fall has always been that most ephemeral of seasons.
We believe there are two things a public entity should demonstrate before going to the ballot for a levy: trust and merit. The public entity should earn the trust of voters through complete transparency, and the public entity should present a ballot proposal that has obvious merit. With Issues 50 and 51, we have questions about both those prerequisites.
It is beyond obvious that the Board of Education has taken a low profile during this levy campaign, and the public has not heard directly from the Board, but from a million dollar advertising campaign organized by the Mayor’s Office. However, it is the Board of Education that should be held responsible for previous transgressions, and for levy promises. There has been much solid reporting on the transgressions, but no media has been able to nail the Board of Education down to some obvious inconsistencies in its response.
We ask that the Columbus news media pursue solid answers to these questions from the Board of Education prior to the levy, so that voters can have complete information prior to casting a vote.
1. Background: Columbus City Schools has been unclear on its beliefs about data scrubbing.
Last week the Free Press suggested that our city should not be named after a genocidal conquistador. So far we have three nominations to re-name Columbus. Keep your suggestions coming to: bob@columbusfreepress.com.
Nominations:
Home of the Whopper
Arawak City: Native people Columbus encountered in 1492 when he landed, lost, in the Americas.
"Perunaville" or "Perunatown": Dr. Hartman's Peruna, the turn of the century elixir that was vastly popular (and was 27% alcohol, which no doubt accounts for the popularity) was largely responsible for creating Columbus as an urban center for more than state government. See more at:
http://614columbus.com/article/columbus-200-white-lightning-in-a-bottle…
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Dear Lady Monster,
I'm not sure if I'm able to have orgasms with my partner. I can come when I'm by myself, but it's really hard for me to get to that same point with someone else. I'd really like to, and feel like I should be able to. When I'm high I get really close to it, but then it disappears. The sex feels good, but I'm frustrated about why I'm not coming.
“To Come. Did you come? Did you come? Good. Did you come good?” - Lenny Bruce
Think of the importance we place on those two words when it comes to sex. Our society is very goal-oriented when it comes to sex. We want to be sure we come, that we come simultaneously, and with earth-shattering kabooms. That's usually not how it works.
For some an orgasm may not be achieved with another person. Some people have a difficult time because of past sexual trauma, or other PTSD, being vulnerable enough to let go in front of a partner, or are tightly wound with stress and cannot get to the point of climax.
Egads, my least favorite American holiday approaches, Halloween. Actually I have no real beef with Halloween, it's the holiday's grimy companion, Beggars Night, that gets my guff.
I shudder to think of what ghastly outcomes will befall us this year. The neighborhood ruffians take particular aim at the Peaves household and it has grown steadily worse with each passing season.
Years ago, wishing to fit in at our new home, we showered the local brats with all manner of sweets. I objected to the cost but Mrs. Peaves insisted on (what she called) “doing the right thing.”
So for years Beggars Night cost me a pretty penny and the local riff raff filled their bellies with sweets from the likes of Mars, Nestles, Hershey and their bedevilled brethren in the candy business.
No thought was ever given to how the Peaves family was contributing the the obesity of our neighbors' children, or what bills they may have incurred from their family dentist.
That is until Mrs.
Remarks at New York University forum with NYACT.net
The primary problem with weaponized drones is that the weapons murder people. And they murder people in a way that looks more like murder to a lot of observers than other forms of military murder do -- such as murder by indiscriminate bombing or artillery or infantry or dropping white phosphorous on people. When President Obama looks through a list of men, women, and children at a Tuesday terror meeting, and picks which ones to murder, and has them murdered, you can call it a war or not call it a war, but it begins to look to a lot of people like murder.
The primary problem with weaponized drones is that the weapons murder people. And they murder people in a way that looks more like murder to a lot of observers than other forms of military murder do -- such as murder by indiscriminate bombing or artillery or infantry or dropping white phosphorous on people. When President Obama looks through a list of men, women, and children at a Tuesday terror meeting, and picks which ones to murder, and has them murdered, you can call it a war or not call it a war, but it begins to look to a lot of people like murder.
What if we had politicians who believed in the abolition of war with as
much passion as the Republican right believes in the abolition of taxes?
For me, the question that immediately follows is: What kind of politics draws power from resources other than the deep pockets of billionaires? Just because the world is sick of war, how will that ever translate into serious political action to defund standing armies and ongoing weapons research? How will it ever cohere into a consensus that has political traction? Does Washington, D.C. only have room for one consensus?
For the Democrats to stand moderately tough against GOP right-wing zealots in defense of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Social Security, there’s no way they could also — even if they wanted to — stand tough on, let us say, nuclear disarmament or a movement toward demilitarization. Such concepts aren’t on or anywhere near the fabled “table” of national debate; they’re as marginalized as segregated restrooms. This is a deep problem from the point of view of anyone looking clear-eyed into the future.
For me, the question that immediately follows is: What kind of politics draws power from resources other than the deep pockets of billionaires? Just because the world is sick of war, how will that ever translate into serious political action to defund standing armies and ongoing weapons research? How will it ever cohere into a consensus that has political traction? Does Washington, D.C. only have room for one consensus?
For the Democrats to stand moderately tough against GOP right-wing zealots in defense of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Social Security, there’s no way they could also — even if they wanted to — stand tough on, let us say, nuclear disarmament or a movement toward demilitarization. Such concepts aren’t on or anywhere near the fabled “table” of national debate; they’re as marginalized as segregated restrooms. This is a deep problem from the point of view of anyone looking clear-eyed into the future.