Global

So the United States wants to buy hemp from the Ukraine. I suppose we should be happy. Anytime the U.S. government gives a country money that is not earmarked for weapons, we probably shouldn't too closely examine the unelected neo-liberals and neo-Nazis handling the cash. Nobody pays attention to the Saudi government or the oil, wars, and terrorism it provides in exchange for U.S. largesse. Of course if the hemp buy is part of a larger package deal that impoverishes the Ukraine for the benefit of Western plutocrats, gets NATO's nose under the door, threatens Russia, and encourages the NED to hire the companies that name paint colors in hopes of finding unique names for all the revolutions it's going to plan next, we may want to oppose the whole package. But isn't the precedent of connecting U.S. foreign policy in any way to a substance that benefits, rather than destroys, the environment of potentially great value? While buying hemp abroad might be a move against permitting the production of hemp at home, won't it just further fuel the argument that it's insane to make U.S.

On March 22 and 23, the Ohio Roller Girls (OHRG) “All Stars” and “Gang Green” traveled to Toronto Ontario for the 5th Annual Quad Cities Chaos Roller Derby Tournament. This was our hometown heroines’ third appearance there, where they have a solid record against two of the toughest teams in Canada: Toronto's “CN Power” and Montreal's “New Skids on the Block.” Ohio's B-team, “Gang Green,” also had a bout against Montreal's “Bay Street Bruisers.” The tournament also featured an appearance by Bloomington Indiana's “Bleeding Heartland.” All four charter teams played each other once. This left Ohio's two teams, the “All-Stars” and Gang Green, skating three bouts in a single day on the March 22. Ohio has several players skating for both Gang Green and the All-Stars teams, making it three bouts in a single day for some skaters and a total of four bouts in two days. Canadian announcers at the event noted Ohio skaters delivering on their reputation for endurance and their willingness to shrug of injuries and continue play.

Yes, Columbus, there is a Columbus Police Department Chronic Complainers List. After publishing a January 30, 2014 cover story “Are you on the Columbus Police’s secret blacklist?”, the Columbus Free Press has obtained a copy of a so-called “Caller Watch List” through a public records request. This list, along with other documents, raises new concerns surrounding the police department’s controversial inaction on phone calls from certain Columbus residents.

Two people listed, James A. Whitaker, Jr. and Bernadine Kennedy Kent, wrote an email to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien claiming they were unfairly included on the Caller Watch List. Their previous work as whistleblowers has provided evidence that led to the felony conviction of a vendor in the Columbus City School’s tutoring scandal.

The Free Press obtained the email trail including Whitaker and Kent’s email to O’Brien, and then another email that appears to be from O’Brien to Jeff S. Furbee, Chief Police Legal Advisor for City Attorney Richard Pfeiffer. O’Brien wrote: “Jeff – This makes no sense to me – is there a secret hit list these persons are on???”

Recent news out of Iowa has redirected attention to 2016 yet again. While most Democrats are staying focused on the tough slog ahead of this November’s midterms, a select few are more than preoccupied with a certain former Secretary of State who may or may not be, but almost undeniably is running for President in 2016.

According to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, Hillary Clinton leads New Jersey Governor Chris Christie 48% to 35% among Iowa voters. These numbers are striking because Christie was leading Clinton by 5 points in a Quinnipiac poll in December. The Governor’s Bridgegate fiasco having largely contributed to the downslide, it is still fair to say the gulf is impressive and will undoubtedly provide wind for the sails of Clinton supporters. As the clear and steadfast front-runner for the Democratic nomination at the moment, numbers like these confirm what one already suspects about Secretary Clinton’s decision to run.

People from Yemen and Pakistan and elsewhere have told me, and have testified in the U.S. Congress, that they have a hard time convincing their neighbors that everyone in the United States doesn't hate them. There are buzzing killer robots flying over their houses night and day and every now and then blowing a bunch of people up with a missile with very little rhyme or reason that anyone nearby can decipher. They don't know where to go or not go, what to do or not do, to be safe or keep their children safe. Their children have instinctively taken to crouching and covering their heads just like U.S. children in the 1950s were taught to do as supposed protection from Soviet nuclear weapons.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hart for Congress Committee
The CIA is out of control. The spy agency has admitted to conducting a covert hacking and file destruction operation against the Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee that was investigating allegations of prior illegal CIA acts. The CIA’s conduct constitutes a blatant and unacceptable act of intimidation against the critical civilian oversight of its operations. As CIA Director Brennan has confessed to hacking the Senate Oversight Committee computers, probable cause exists to believe the CIA has engaged in criminal and unconstitutional attacks on the very core of our representative government. This is unacceptable.

So the Republican Party pulled it off. On Friday, March 7 Ohio Libertarian governor hopeful Charlie Earl and his Lt. Governor Steve Linnabary found out they were no longer candidates. Through thuggish and authoritarian tactics the Republicans managed to knock the gubernatorial candidates of both the Ohio Libertarian and Ohio Green Parties off the 2014 primary ballot.

How did they do it?

Like any two-bit dictator, they did it by usurping the U.S. Constitution and simply outlawing all minor parties in the state of Ohio. It is very difficult to get signatures for a candidate when your party has been banned from the ballot.

In legal terms, it is called “irreparable harm.”

Before he was banished from the ballot, Earl was polling at 6% of the vote. Political pundits across the state speculated that he might cost John Kasich to lose his re-election bid. The day Earl initially announced for governor, a Republican Party Senator introduced a bill that would kill all minor parties in Ohio.

Critics aptly nicknamed the bill “The John Kasich Re-Election Protection Act.”

The iconic GI Joe line of military-inspired toys is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, but recent news suggests toymaker Hasbro is planning to mark the occasion by killing off the brand. The official GI Joe Con recently announced that Hasbro wouldn’t be attending the show. This news came as a huge surprise, since Hasbro has always been at the official convention to give fans a preview of the coming year. The reason for this turned out to be both simple and very significant: Hasbro no longer has a “GI Joe brand team,” the group responsible for planning, designing and marketing the toys. The toy line is dead. With its inherent ties to the US military, GI Joe has always been affected by American politics. Though the original 12” action figure was hugely popular when it was first introduced in the 1960s, growing cultural dissatisfaction with the war in Vietnam led Hasbro to make the line more adventure-oriented in the 70s. By the 80s, GI Joe was pretty much science fiction. They were still ostensibly an elite unit of US military specialists, but they were different enough not to scare off parents who remembered Vietnam.

Who knows, soon we might see headlines and cable TV shows asking: "Is Dianne Feinstein a whistleblower or a traitor?"

A truthful answer to that question could not possibly be “whistleblower.” It may already be a historic fact that Senator Feinstein’s speech on March 11, 2014 blew a whistle on CIA surveillance of the Senate intelligence committee, which she chairs. But if that makes her a whistleblower, then Colonel Sanders is a vegetarian evangelist.

In her blockbuster Tuesday speech on the Senate floor, Feinstein charged that the CIA’s intrusions on her committee’s computers quite possibly “violated the Fourth Amendment.” You know, that’s the precious amendment that Feinstein -- more than any other senator -- has powerfully treated like dirt, worthy only of sweeping under the congressional rug.

A tidy defender of the NSA’s Orwellian programs, Feinstein went on the attack against Edward Snowden from the outset of his revelations last June. Within days, she denounced his brave whistleblowing as “an act of treason” -- a position she has maintained.