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In this case, the tiny group of wealthy financiers, tea party supporters and out of town petitioners sponsoring this ridiculous proposal are calling it by the misleading name of “Cincinnatians for Pension Reform” (CPR). However, unlike the medical procedure by the same name, this one would kill its patient!
WHO IS BEHIND CPR?
If you said; “It can’t be Cincinnatians, our own home town folks would never push something this bad,” then you are actually right on the money!
What about the 7,000 signatures filed by the so-called “Cincinnatians for Pension Reform?” Actually, that phony group paid nearly $70,000 to the California Company Arno Petition Consultants to bring in and put up out of town petitioners in order for them to collect the signatures needed to qualify for ballot status.
Star Wars: Episode VII rumors have been running rampant ever since the new film was announced the moment Disney purchased Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise from creator George Lucas.
First the rumors all circled around who would direct the new franchise, and that was finally settled when Disney hired Lost creator and the man responsible for the resurrection of Star Trek, J.J. Abrams to lead the charge.
Next came the rumors about the old cast members from the original series returning in some capacity for the new films. We then heard about actors such as Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher going on diets to drop some pounds so they could appear in the new movies.
Now the latest rumor involves an actor who was in both the original series and the prequels released by George Lucas, who could be making a return from the dead (sort of) in the new movies that will begin with Star Wars: Episode VII in 2015.
According to several news sites, Ian McDiarmid is apparently rumored to reprise his role as Emperor Palpatine in the new Star Wars series.
In my line of work attention to detail is essential. Too bad more people in the workforce can't say the same.
A few days ago, while taking a stroll around our stately digs here on E. Broad St., I encountered one of the many security guards who patrol our block, which includes The American Red Cross of Greater Columbus, hence the security. We chatted a moment before he pointed out that a road crew from the City of Columbus had been through the alley behind our buildings. The crew had scraped the surface with a road grader. The security guard explained that they were planning to repave said alley.
I happened to be headed for the parking lot when a crew returned to accomplish the “paving.” The five-person crew swept through a block-long stretch of alley in under 30 minutes. It was a sight to see. And not a sight such as the Grand Canyon or amber waves of grain. No, it was a pitiful sight to see.
One person drove the asphalt truck while three more workers walked behind, spreading out the noxious goo that spewed from the back of the truck. A fifth worker brought up the rear on a steamroller, flattening out the asphalt as he went.
Big comic book events, both on the page and the big screen, have traditionally been a Summer thing, but with an impressive list of upcoming films, comic crossover events and even a TV show, this year Marvel Comics has a Fall line-up that's just as exciting as any June.
The biggest event is the release of Thor 2: The Dark World, coming to theaters on November 8. In the second post-Avengers Marvel Studios movie, the God of Thunder will be facing elves that make the ones in The Hobbit movies look like a bunch of peace-loving hippies. Played by Doctor Who's Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston, the villainous Malekith leads his dark elf army to attack both Asgard and Earth and Thor will need the help of all of Asgard's warriors, including his brother Loki, if he's going to defeat them. Tom Hiddleston's Loki is a major fan favorite after the first Thor movie and Marvel's The Avengers and they couldn't have done the sequel without him. The filmmakers even went back and shot more scenes with him because they felt there just wasn’t enough Loki!
If you’re the type of gambler who enjoys a long shot, the 2013 Columbus City
Schools levy might just be the bet for you.
On Nov. 4 voters will be presented with a 9.01 mill levy, effectively adding just over 300 bucks of taxes per year for every $100,000 worth of home a resident owns. It will generate half a billion dollars over five years, most of which will go to general operations, teacher training, the renovation of ten schools, adding access to tech and proving Pre-K for more of the city.
All of which sounds fine and dandy. The issue is that one mill of the levy will go toward (cue the gasps) charters schools. That means that for the first time ever a $42 million chunk of the taxpayer pot will be accessible through a partnership between CCS and qualifying charters.
Making matters worse for the district is the levy is all or nothing. House Bill 167 required going to the ballot with recommendations from Mayor Michael Coleman’s Columbus Education Commission. Efforts to split the levy into multiple ballot issues failed, meaning the ballot issue will sink or swim with charter schools.
My, my. The coverup starts in the Columbus Dispatch Metro section lead which begins, “[Franklin] County election officials say they think a clerical error is to blame for 19 Columbus police officers having their voting addresses listed as the Downtown police headquarters.”
Now, if a lower-class black male had used his work address as a voting address, and tried to vote in the inner-city Driving Park area, the headline would have read: “Massive voter fraud uncovered in urban inner-city precinct: ACORN is suspected.”
It is a fifth-degree felony to intentionally register to vote at your work address instead of your residence. The police might enforce the laws, but it doesn’t mean they obey them.
As the Dispatch pointed out, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, who supervises the vote in Ohio, “…isn’t particularly concerned about police officers registering their work address.”
The Free Press has been getting it right since 1970. When no one else would champion the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, the Free Press editorialized on behalf of the gay community and universal human rights. When environmentalists were considered crazy tree-huggers on acid, the Free Press pointed out how they were right on sustainability. When no one would take on this town's modern day robber barons and their wholly owned political subsidies, the Free press exposed the secret world of the power elite. The work of the Free Press has been so valuable to the public its contents have been archived by no fewer than three major data bases for more than two decades. In honor of that tradition the Free Press offers articles from the archive.
Opposition to a U.S.-led attack on Syria is growing rapidly in Europe and the United States, drawing its strength from public awareness that the case made for attacking Iraq had holes in it.
A majority in the United States, still very much aware of Iraq war deceptions, opposes arming the "rebel" force in Syria, so heavily dominated by foreign fighters and al Qaeda. And a majority opposes U.S. military action in Syria.
But that public opinion is only just beginning to get expressed as activism. With Republicans more willing to actively oppose a war this time, and some section of Democrats still opposed, there's actually potential to build a larger antiwar movement than that of 2003-2006.
Thus far, however, what's discouraging an attack on Syria is the public uproar that was created back then over the disastrous attack on Iraq.
President Barack Obama's preferred method for dealing with targeted individuals is not to throw them into lawless prisons. But it's also not to indict and prosecute them.
On June 7th, Yemeni tribal leader Saleh Bin Fareed told Democracy Now that Anwar al Awlaki could have been turned over and put on trial, but "they never asked us." In numerous other cases it is evident that drone strike victims could have been arrested if that avenue had ever been attempted.
A memorable example was the November 2011 drone killing in Pakistan of 16-year-old Tariq Aziz, days after he'd attended an anti-drone meeting in the capital, where he might easily have been arrested -- had he been charged with some crime.
Missile-strike law enforcement is now being applied to governments as well. The Libyan government was given a death sentence. The Syrian government is being sentenced to the loss of some citizens, buildings, and supplies.