Global

In case anyone in central Ohio didn’t know, the movement for marijuana law reform is alive and well. Two major cannabis liberation events happen this spring in Columbus, the Global March for Cannabis liberation and the 16th annual Hempfest. Both events were organized by The Ohio State University chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The May 4th march saw two hundred people turn out on a rainy afternoon to rally at 15th Ave and High and then proceed down High to Goodale Park for a bonafide smokeout. A month later, on June 7th, over ten thousand festivalgoers flooded the South Oval for a day of political speakers and regional musical acts.

The experience of protesting Bush’s imperialist agenda on a military base was an eye-opener for some of us from Columbus -- freedom of speech may still be alive, but its voice is faint. The whole event at the Dayton Air Museum was orchestrated to give them the ability to keep us fragmented with the least visibility possible. Most certainly this is the reason that the event was moved at the last minute from Philadelphia, where United for Peace was planning a mobilization.

Progress with Economic and Environmental Responsibility, Inc. (PEER) announced that it will lead an Initiative Petition Drive to amend the Columbus City Charter. The Initiative will allow voters to elect an as yet undetermined number of district or ward representatives in addition to the current seven at-large council members. The goal of the Initiative Petition Drive is to ensure comprehensive representation for all of the neighborhoods within the City.

PEER supports a public policy agenda featuring truly representative government and efficient planning for Columbus and Central Ohio. PEER thus supports growth policies which allow for commercial and residential development but which also promote the reuse and redevelopment of the central city while preserving key environmental assets in the area.

The now-forming Third Hand Bike Cooperative has received enthusiastic support at its one fundraiser and six meetings. The Co-op has adopted the Third Hand name and the mission to advocate socially and environmentally responsible transportation and recreation through the promotion of bike use, bike culture, and community education in the Columbus metropolitan area. This project is just getting rolling, and anyone who has interest is more than welcome to help. Contact info@thirdhand.org or Jason at 614-222-8933. Weekly meetings are currently at 7 PM, Thursday at 205 East Crestview Rd.

The legalization of medical marijuana is an issue that is gaining momentum on a grass roots and national level. I turned into a supporter after watching what the radiation and other drugs did to my grandfather Fred Luffman as he battled both cancer and the ‘medication’ he was given. The ‘medication’ along with the cancer robbed him of his ability to sleep and of his appetite. If you take sleep and food away from the human body it really cannot even fight more mundane illnesses such as the flu with much vigor, not to mention a disease as powerful and ravaging as cancer. Fred, in an effort to gain some appetite, sleep, and ward off the pain of his disease turned to medical marijuana. If John Ashcroft and President Bush had their way my grandfather would have spent his dying months in a penitentiary instead of with his family. While real life stories like these are compelling, every movement needs someone to stick their neck out. They need a person who is willing to call upon the powers that be and tell them to look at the issue from another perspective. That person, in the case of medical marijuana, is Ed Rosenthal.

     We’re living in an era when news coverage often involves plenty of absurdity.

     That’s the case with routine U.S. media spin about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So, on the July 29 edition of NPR’s “All Things Considered” program, host Robert Siegel and correspondent Vicky O’Hara each recited scripts referring to a “security barrier” that Israel’s government is building in the West Bank. The next day, many news outlets -- including the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, New York Times, Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press -- also used the “security barrier” phrase without quotation marks, treating it as an objective description rather than the Israeli government’s preferred characterization.

            AUSTIN, Texas -- Oh great, now we have a bunch of Texas Democrats hiding out in Albuquerque (which is very difficult to spell), and I'm here holding the bag, trying to explain what this particular spate of lunacy in our state is all about. Spare me, Lord.

            OK, if I really have to do this deal ... see if you can think back to when you were a kid -- 5, 6, 7 -- and you were always getting blamed for something one of your siblings had done, or you didn't mean to knock over something but your old man whopped you for it anyway.

            The classic cry from the heart is, "BUT IT'S NOT FAIR!" Naturally, further on down the line, all of us experience some variant of John F. Kennedy's observation that "life is not fair." Exactly when, where and under what circumstances we give up on expecting life to be fair obviously varies from cancer to KIA to divorce to other of life's more malicious surprises.

In the glow of the Iraq war's initial military success, most American peace activists felt profoundly demoralized. Between the war's portrayal as a glamorous spectacle and Bush's seemingly overwhelming support, many who'd recently marched by the millions felt isolated, defensive, and powerless, fearing their voices no longer mattered.

            Week after week, Bush and his people have been getting pounded by newly emboldened Democrats and liberal pundits for having exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and his still-elusive weapons of mass destruction. One day, CIA Director George Tenet is hung out to dry; the next, it's the turn of Paul Wolfowitz's team of mad Straussians. On the other side of the Atlantic, the same sort of thing has been happening to Tony Blair.

            They deserve the pounding, but if we're to be fair, there's an even more deserving target, a man of impeccable liberal credentials, well-respected in the sort of confabs attended by New Labor and espousers of the Third Way. I give you Rolf Ekeus, former Swedish ambassador to the United States and, before that, the executive chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) on Iraq from 1991 to 1997. These days, he's chairman of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a noted dovecote of the olive branch set.

The Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee [AFSC] announces the documentary release of...

CorpOrNation:  The Story of Citizens and Corporations in Ohio

Do we live in a true democracy?

CorpOrNation exposes the historic corporate rise to power in Ohio, the barriers citizens have fought to create a true democracy for themselves, and detailed assessments of  government influence by corporations  through "corporate globalization."  Spanning Ohio’s history from 1803 through present-day struggles between citizens and corporations, CorpOrNation suggests strategies for citizens to overcome current threats to citizen-led democracy and the corporate takeover of society.

Rich with analysis and history, CorpOrNation, produced by the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee, features interviews with people from the Ohio AFL-CIO, Ohio Public Interest Research Group, United Steelworkers, Ohio Family Farm Coalition, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Program on Corporations Law and Democracy, and student activists discussing corporate farms, factory lockouts, “veggie libel” laws, and regional “free trade” agreements.