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As the grand jury’s decision on whether nor not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson loomed, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon told a TV reporter “he’s preparing for peace and war.”

What the governor did, in the tense uncertainty preceding the decision, was pre-declare a state of emergency and activate the Missouri National Guard to help contain the possibility of violent, anti-police protests. He also appointed 16 people, including several of the protesters, to a newly created “Ferguson Commission” to recommend solutions to the racial problems plaguing that community, which the killing of Michael Brown last August made unavoidably apparent.

Meanwhile, gun sales at local shops are through the roof and the local Klan is stirring, distributing fliers warning protesters that they’ve awakened a sleeping giant.

America, America . . .

Before we proceed further, let’s stir in a little Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today released the 2015 Corporate Equality Index, an annual report assessing LGBT inclusion in major companies and law firms across the nation, including 26 in Ohio.

Corporate America, propelled by the HRC and its foundation’s annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI), has led the way on LGBT inclusion for more than a decade. As the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT workplace equality, the 2015 CEI unveiled that a record 366 businesses – spanning nearly every industry and geography — earned a top score of 100 percent and the coveted distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.”

On November 7, 2014, while visiting Kabul, The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, noted that NATO will soon launch a new chapter, a new non-combat mission in Afghanistan. But it’s difficult to spot new methods as NATO commits itself to sustaining combat on the part of Afghan forces.

Stoltenberg commended NATO Allies and partner nations from across the world, in an October 29th speech, in Brussels, declaring that for over a decade, they “stood shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan.” According to Stoltenberg, “this international effort has contributed to a better future for Afghan men, women and children.” Rhetoric from NATO and the Pentagon regularly claims that Afghans have benefited from the past 13 years of U.S./NATO warfare, but reports from other agencies complicatethese claims.

Olentangy Liberty High School boys soccer coach Rick Collins surveyed the pitch at Columbus Crew Stadium and saw a lot of players standing dejectedly after the Patriots lost to Cleveland St. Ignatius 2-1 in the Division I state championship game on Nov. 8 at Columbus Crew Stadium.

Then one by one, the light bulb went off on what Liberty had accomplished: a fourth consecutive appearance in the state tournament.

“(After the game) the boys were disappointed. Some were crying,” said Collins, whose team finished 19-2-2 overall. “During the medal ceremony, guys were getting together and putting their arms around each other. It wasn’t long before they started smiling.”

“Getting to the state semifinals all four years was awesome,” senior forward Donny Deep said. “When we realized what we had done, we were pretty proud of ourselves.”

“Let’s hear you cheer! We’re gonna be in Tulsa next week but we wanna still be thinking about Columbus!” Kicking off the Saturday night costume contest, those words made something very clear: The 2014 Wizard Entertainment Brand Wizard World Ohio Comic Con was the arena rock show of comic conventions. It was overpriced, impersonal and utterly out of touch with its roots.

Dear Editor
  The mid-term elections have confirmed it- the Democratic party is dead. And Big Money killed it.
  Once upon a time, the Democratic Party stood for something. It stood for the average Joe, the lower class, the middle class, the upper-middle class. In other words, the 99 percent of the population that was not represented by the Republican party. The "little" people of this country had a voice, and that voice was the Democratic party. Each party served a clearly-defined constituency. The GOP served the interests of the super wealthy, and the Dems served the interests of everyone else.
  No longer. Now we have essentially a one-party political system in America. Call it the Corporation party. The Democrats are merely a watered-down version of the Republicans, who at least have always been honest about who and what they represent- the elite, the super-wealthy, the 1 percent, the corporations. The Democrats are new to serving a corporate master, and obviously they are confused.

Kim Bobo’s book, Wage Theft in America (2009) was the inspiration for starting a workers center in Columbus. Kim Bobo founded the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues and is well-known for her organizing and advocacy for a living wage and workers rights that currently has expanded into the Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) with affiliates throughout the U.S. Wage theft is a term created by the IWJ Worker Center Network. Their website identifies this as their number one issue their worker centers are focused on. They do this by holding employers responsible and advocating for new anti-wage theft laws at the state and local level.