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There exists, I suppose, some slight chance of this one making it into the State of the Union address, no doubt in a distorted, bellicose, and xenophobic disguise. Typically, there's no chance of any announcement at all.
We're stopping another war.
There are a million qualifications that need to be put on that statement. None of them render it false. A bill looked likely to move through Congress that would have imposed new sanctions on Iran, shredded the negotiated agreement with Iran, and committed the United States to join in any Israeli war on Iran. This would be a step toward war and has become understood as such by large numbers of people. Efforts to sell sanctions as an alternative to war failed. Tons of pushback has come, and is still coming, from the public, including from numerous organizations not always known for their opposition to war. And the bill, for the moment, seems much less likely to pass.
This is no time to let up, but to recognize our power and press harder for peace.
We're stopping another war.
There are a million qualifications that need to be put on that statement. None of them render it false. A bill looked likely to move through Congress that would have imposed new sanctions on Iran, shredded the negotiated agreement with Iran, and committed the United States to join in any Israeli war on Iran. This would be a step toward war and has become understood as such by large numbers of people. Efforts to sell sanctions as an alternative to war failed. Tons of pushback has come, and is still coming, from the public, including from numerous organizations not always known for their opposition to war. And the bill, for the moment, seems much less likely to pass.
This is no time to let up, but to recognize our power and press harder for peace.
BREAKING News: “Keystone XL Pipeline Clears Major Hurdle; State Department Report Raises No Major Objections.” However, this study was outsourced and was done by a Canadian Company with financial ties to the company building the pipeline.
The Koch Brothers bought the only refinery in North America which can refine heavy oil from Sunoco about two years ago in anticipation of the Pipeline being built. The heavy oil now refined by that specialty plant comes from Venezuela. It costs much more than oil from the Tar Sands. The Koch Brothers are spending large sums to get conservatives who have no interest in the environment, to support building the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Secretary of State Kerry, who has the responsibility of evaluating it, recommends that the Keystone XL Pipeline be built. President Obama will make the decision soon. Secretary Kerry hates Venezuela because the leaders stole his wife's Heinz tomato farms and ketchup factory in Venezuela.
The Koch Brothers bought the only refinery in North America which can refine heavy oil from Sunoco about two years ago in anticipation of the Pipeline being built. The heavy oil now refined by that specialty plant comes from Venezuela. It costs much more than oil from the Tar Sands. The Koch Brothers are spending large sums to get conservatives who have no interest in the environment, to support building the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Secretary of State Kerry, who has the responsibility of evaluating it, recommends that the Keystone XL Pipeline be built. President Obama will make the decision soon. Secretary Kerry hates Venezuela because the leaders stole his wife's Heinz tomato farms and ketchup factory in Venezuela.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Security forces and six million residents are
worriedly preparing to survive a 19-day "shutdown Bangkok" protest
beginning on Monday (Jan. 13), designed to topple the elected
government amid fears that the military may help the urban
insurrection by staging a coup.
Street clashes have killed at least eight people during the past two months of protests leading to the shutdown which plans to cripple Thailand's government and economy until the end of January.
Tens of thousands of anti-election protesters plan to erect huge stages and makeshift defensive structures at several key intersections, congesting the heart of Bangkok.
"Even demonstrations that are meant to be peaceful can turn confrontational, and can escalate into violence without warning," the American Embassy said on Tuesday (Jan. 7) in an e-mailed "security message for U.S. citizens" describing the upcoming shutdown.
Thousands of people staged a "practice" march in Bangkok on Tuesday (Jan. 7), cheering the stocky protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, thrusting cash into his hands, and begging for his autograph.
Street clashes have killed at least eight people during the past two months of protests leading to the shutdown which plans to cripple Thailand's government and economy until the end of January.
Tens of thousands of anti-election protesters plan to erect huge stages and makeshift defensive structures at several key intersections, congesting the heart of Bangkok.
"Even demonstrations that are meant to be peaceful can turn confrontational, and can escalate into violence without warning," the American Embassy said on Tuesday (Jan. 7) in an e-mailed "security message for U.S. citizens" describing the upcoming shutdown.
Thousands of people staged a "practice" march in Bangkok on Tuesday (Jan. 7), cheering the stocky protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, thrusting cash into his hands, and begging for his autograph.
Our national economy should be a vibrant job market for our communities, and not one that benefits wealthy corporations at our expense. This is why I’m urging my elected officials to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
To know the TPP, I had to learn about NAFTA. The North-American Free Trade Agreement, signed by President Clinton in 1994, was to herald job creation and improve trade relations among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. However, 20 years later, American jobs are outsourced, income inequality has increased and Mexican farmers who have subsequently lost their jobs are coming to the US for work, causing immigration tension. This is what happened when regulations were manipulated in the name of “free trade.” The adminstration and corporations are now suggesting another free trade agreement, the TPP.
To know the TPP, I had to learn about NAFTA. The North-American Free Trade Agreement, signed by President Clinton in 1994, was to herald job creation and improve trade relations among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. However, 20 years later, American jobs are outsourced, income inequality has increased and Mexican farmers who have subsequently lost their jobs are coming to the US for work, causing immigration tension. This is what happened when regulations were manipulated in the name of “free trade.” The adminstration and corporations are now suggesting another free trade agreement, the TPP.
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Greg Murray wasn’t overly excited when he first heard Columbus was going to get a National Hockey League team. Now the public address announcer for the Columbus Blue Jackets can’t imagine his life without the team.
The deep-throated baritone celebrated his 500th game behind the microphone in a 5-2 loss to the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 25. “It’s a little embarrassing to say, but (the decision to build an NHL franchise here in Columbus) really didn’t register on my radar,” Murray says with a chuckle. “I had no background in hockey whatsoever.
“A friend of mine is really into hockey. I’d go over to his house and he’d have a hockey game on. You know how a Labrador sort of cocks his head to one side and looks at you? That’s kind of the reaction I had to hockey. I was like ‘I just don’t get it, dude.’”
Murray more than gets it now. His 500th game as an announcer was part of a historic week for the team.
Columbus:
*had its 500th game at Nationwide on Jan. 21 with a 5-3 win over Los
Angeles;
*celebrated its 1,000th game as a franchise on Jan.
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Last weekend (January 24th through 26th) the Greater Columbus Convention Center was filled with magical girls, Power Rangers, heroes, monsters, elves, demons, and gray-skinned people with candy corn horns. Ohayocon 2014 brought together geeks from all over the Midwest in a celebration of not just anime but video games, tabletop gaming, video gaming, and everything else the kids are into these days.
“Kids” is the operative word, too. Ohayocon is all about the youth culture of geek culture, the cutting edge of anime and all related forms of entertainment. Though anime has been imported to the US since Speed Racer debuted with a notoriously awkward translation in the late 60s, it’s picked up considerable steam as the generation that grew up with Pokémon aged and became a serious market for streaming video services like Netflix and the all-Japanese Crunchyroll.
Instead of having to wait for months if not years for a show or movie to be translated and released in the US, fans can watch new episodes of popular shows like Naruto Shippuden and One Piece online at the same time that they’re airing in Japan.
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In the Robert Louis Stevenson novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde,” a good-natured physician transforms into the evil Mr. Hyde after
taking a potion. All it used to take for Jamie Caton to make a transformation from a soft-spoken coed to a fierce, “win at all costs” competitor was to slip on a basketball uniform.
The 5-foot-10 forward for the Capital University women’s basketball team fouled out 10 times in the last two seasons while the rest of her teammates
fouled 11 times combined.
“I try to be a really nice person off the floor so people are shocked to see how intensely I play when they come to a few games,” says Caton, who leads the Crusaders in points (12.7 points a game) and in games fouled out (three) in the first 16 games of the season. “Coach (Dixie Jeffers) has said I’m the nasty girl on the court and the nice girl off the court.
“Sometimes that nasty girl comes out and it gets me into trouble. In basketball you only get five fouls. I’ve had many games when I’ve used all five.”
Caton used her intensity and aggressiveness to her advantage in a 74-72 win over Marietta on Jan. 22.
Eleven-hundred workers in eastern Ohio are trying to regain their jobs because AEP is increasing unaffordable rates to electrical consumers like Ormet, the company where these workers had jobs. Workers shouldn’t be caught in the middle of corporate greed.
Will you join us at our phone banks at the Ohio AFL-CIO (395 E. Broad St, Columbus) to call Union members and working families, to demand fairness for workers, from AEP?
Good jobs---with family-sustaining pay, retirement security, and healthcare---are at risk, and AEP, the Public Utilities Commission, and Gov. Kasich all have a hand in this. Politicians who are attacking jobs with so-called right to work are not even acting to save good, Ohio jobs. Our phone banks will talk with union members and allies about keeping these workers on the job and we will connect them by phone with an AEP office to leave a message that working families and electricity users don’t accept this.
What: Phone banks to Save Ohio Jobs & Beat Back Right to Work
When: Tuesdays & Wednesdays: 4:00pm - 6:00pm and 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Ohio AFL-CIO, 395 East Broad St, Columbus
Will you join us at our phone banks at the Ohio AFL-CIO (395 E. Broad St, Columbus) to call Union members and working families, to demand fairness for workers, from AEP?
Good jobs---with family-sustaining pay, retirement security, and healthcare---are at risk, and AEP, the Public Utilities Commission, and Gov. Kasich all have a hand in this. Politicians who are attacking jobs with so-called right to work are not even acting to save good, Ohio jobs. Our phone banks will talk with union members and allies about keeping these workers on the job and we will connect them by phone with an AEP office to leave a message that working families and electricity users don’t accept this.
What: Phone banks to Save Ohio Jobs & Beat Back Right to Work
When: Tuesdays & Wednesdays: 4:00pm - 6:00pm and 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Ohio AFL-CIO, 395 East Broad St, Columbus
Much has been printed concerning the “data-scrubbing” scandal in the Columbus City Schools (CCS) district. Less has been revealed about the more blatant criminal theft and misappropriation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) tutoring funds.
As a result of the Tuesday, January 27 release of State Auditor David Yost’s long-awaited report on student data tampering, four principals were immediately fired and Columbus Schools data czar Steve Tankovich may be facing possible criminal charges.
Yost also told reporters that former Columbus Schools Superintendent Gene Harris may have known about the illegal activity: “There’s a reasonable inference, at least based on our interviews that she was at least aware of what was going on.” Yost is sending the information he gathered in the data tampering scandal to the Columbus City Attorney’s, Franklin County Prosectutor’s and the U.S. Attorney’s offices.
Buried in the report on page 90 is a brief reference that federal law may have been violated: “In addition to violating federal laws under No Child Left Behind and potentially invoking the penalty provision of Revised Code Section 3301.0714(L)….”
As a result of the Tuesday, January 27 release of State Auditor David Yost’s long-awaited report on student data tampering, four principals were immediately fired and Columbus Schools data czar Steve Tankovich may be facing possible criminal charges.
Yost also told reporters that former Columbus Schools Superintendent Gene Harris may have known about the illegal activity: “There’s a reasonable inference, at least based on our interviews that she was at least aware of what was going on.” Yost is sending the information he gathered in the data tampering scandal to the Columbus City Attorney’s, Franklin County Prosectutor’s and the U.S. Attorney’s offices.
Buried in the report on page 90 is a brief reference that federal law may have been violated: “In addition to violating federal laws under No Child Left Behind and potentially invoking the penalty provision of Revised Code Section 3301.0714(L)….”
Not many citizens of Columbus are aware that if the police think you report too many crimes – or complain about them – Columbus’ finest will put you on a “list” and simply ignore your complaints.
The history of how a whistleblower or concerned citizen becomes a “chronic complainer,” blacklisted by the Columbus Police, is well-documented in public records.
Take for example Bernadine Kennedy Kent, the woman who initiated the federal investigation into vendor theft and fraud in the Columbus City Schools system. At the same time Kent was acting as a whistleblower and igniting a federal investigation into the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) funds, she was being blacklisted by the Columbus Police.
How to become a chronic complainer
Kent, a former Columbus City Schools vice principal, runs the nonprofit advocacy group PASS – Parent Advocates for Students in School. In 2006, Kent filed complaints with Columbus Police against the Columbus City Schools for theft and fraud in NCLB funds. When this did not yield results, Kent provided information to the FBI that launched an investigation into the Columbus School’s tutoring program.
The history of how a whistleblower or concerned citizen becomes a “chronic complainer,” blacklisted by the Columbus Police, is well-documented in public records.
Take for example Bernadine Kennedy Kent, the woman who initiated the federal investigation into vendor theft and fraud in the Columbus City Schools system. At the same time Kent was acting as a whistleblower and igniting a federal investigation into the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) funds, she was being blacklisted by the Columbus Police.
How to become a chronic complainer
Kent, a former Columbus City Schools vice principal, runs the nonprofit advocacy group PASS – Parent Advocates for Students in School. In 2006, Kent filed complaints with Columbus Police against the Columbus City Schools for theft and fraud in NCLB funds. When this did not yield results, Kent provided information to the FBI that launched an investigation into the Columbus School’s tutoring program.