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If I object, in the United States, to the Israeli government’s brutal occupation of Palestine, most people will not only know what I’m talking about but also understand immediately what a hateful antisemite I must be.
If, on the other hand, I object, in the United States, to Morocco’s brutal occupation of Western Sahara, most people will have no idea what I’m talking about. Isn’t that actually worse?
Remarkably, the Moroccan government is armed, trained, and supported by the U.S. government, and escalated its brutality in response to a tweet by then-President Donald Trump, never corrected by Joe Biden.
Yet the presence of unarmed U.S. civilian protectors in Morocco prevent rapes and assaults and all sorts of violence simply by virtue of their being from the U.S. Even in the midst of atrocities committed with U.S. weapons, it is U.S. lives that matter.
Meanwhile, virtually nobody in the United States has any idea what’s going on.
In the world of policing where white men have set the rules for generations, two Black women will now be critiquing those rules in the city of Columbus—but they bring very different sensibilities to the task.
Janet Jackson is the first Chair of the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB). Jacqueline Hendricks is the first Inspector General (IG).
Columbus voters approved the creation of their jobs in an amendment to the city charter in 2020. Mayor Andrew Ginther hand-picked Jackson, who previously served as city attorney and a municipal court judge. She was recently elected by the other ten members of the board for a second (and last) one-year term.
By all appearances, Jackson hand-picked Hendricks over serious objections from at least one board member, in a less than transparent process. With 35 years of criminal justice experience, Hendricks had retired from the Detroit Police Department and was working for the first Inspector General's office there when she applied for the Columbus position.
While adapting to retirement and finding conditions in the University District more intolerable than at any time in 18 years of homeownership in a historic district abandoned by its city and its adjacent mega-university, during the past 15 months I have become a student of Columbus and a democratic activist. In developer-dominated Columbus, the University District has been sold and bought with the unhesitant approval of the legal and public guardians. In the process, I am known as a “civic leader” in City Hall, I am told, and also told “your name is mud” in Ohio State University’s Bricker Hall administration building. I began writing my regular “Busting Myths” column for the Columbus Free Press. At the same time, I am banned from the Opinion page of the Columbus Dispatch for calling it “muddled and uninformed” on its readers’ comments website. I have the ears and eyes of some in Columbus city government and the media as well as across the community. I have made more new friends and acquaintances than enemies—so far.
Workers on Wednesday (5/11) will install the new 100-foot Social Justice LEGENDS mural in the Jeffrey Plaza of the Washington Gladden Social Justice Park in downtown Columbus.
The mural is composed of more than 160 names of past social justice leaders from central Ohio and includes more than 50 terms or slogans identifying various social justice issues or causes. Formation Studio of Columbus created the unique design that weaves designated names and words to form the letters J-U-S-T-I-C-E that can be seen from a block away. Attached is a jpg file with an illustration of the mural prepared by Formation Studio.
The installation work will take place beginning approximately 10 a.m. and likely will continue at least through early afternoon. The social justice park is located at East Broad Street and Cleveland Avenue.
Contact information:
The Doo Dah Parade returns to Columbus Short North Art District, celebrating free speech and liberty with a satirical twist on Monday, July 4th.
The parade begins at 1 p.m. and will wind through Victorian Village and High Street, wrapping up with a live party and music at Goodale Park from 11 am – 7 pm.
The 39th Annual Doo Dah Parade’s Less-Than-Grand Marshal is 10TV’s Wake Up CBUS Anchor Angela An!
Remember, there’s no entry fee. You just show up!
For more incorrect info: www.DooDahParade.com
Panic attacks are one of those things you hear about but think won’t happen to you, however they are actually more common than you would think and sadly women are twice as likely to have one as men. So how do you know if you are having a panic attack and what should you do if you have one?
Symptoms of Panic Attacks
A panic attack can take many forms but most people who suffer will say that they feel like they are dying or that it feels like a heart attack. They are terrifying to experience with a mixture of the following symptoms:
Racing heartbeatChest pain or tightnessShortness of breath and/or feeling of chokingFeeling faint or dizzyNauseaShaky limbs or tremblingHot flushes, chills or sweatingTingling in fingers, numbness of body, and/or pins and needlesHealth blogger Adam Thornton, Essayroo and Paper Fellows, advises, “They last around 5 to 20 minutes and though frightening are not dangerous as they will not cause physical harm to you.”
Tuesday, May 10, 6-7:30pm, this on-line event requires advance registration
Join us for a discussion on the pervasive climate, politics, and health repercussions surrounding lead poisoning in Ohio. Following will be a brief discussion about how “Medicare for All” could benefit those in need.
Presenters
• Robin Brown, founder, CCOAL [Concerned Citizens Organized Against Lead], Environmental Injustice Strategy Consultant
• Diana King, Environmental Injustice Advocate and Organizer
• Matthew Noordsij-Jones, MD, Associate State Director of SPAN [Single Payer Action Network] Ohio
RSVP for this event by using this link.
Hosted by SPAN [Single Payer Action Network] Ohio.
On July 14 th of 2021, Congressman Tim Ryan, who defeated progressive Morgan Harper in the Democratic Senate primary, was celebrating. In a press release, Ryan’s office commemorated his ability to work with “House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) and colleagues on the subcommittee” in securing committee approval for a $65 million upgrade to the M1 Abrams Battle Tank.
However, before this press release, Ryan had previously been the benefactor of sustained campaign contributions from General Dynamics, one of the world’s largest defense contractors and the manufacturer of M1 Abrams, which has been built in Lima, Ohio, since the 1970s.
Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 5:00 PM
Last convened as a Commission in 2014, the Charter Review Commission reviews the Columbus City Charter and may recommend changes. The Commissioners are now holding a hearing to receive comments from the public on the topics and proposals discussed thus far and to come. Topics include the initiative petition process, open meetings by public bodies, and who may serve as acting mayor. Any resident seeking to submit written testimony should submit their testimony to the Commission.
Written testimony must be received two hours prior to the start of the hearing on the day of the meeting and should be emailed to John Oswalt at CRC2022@columbus.gov. Any resident wishing to appear via WebEx to provide testimony during the hearing should email John Oswalt at CRC2022@columbus.gov the day prior to the hearing to request a WebEx panelist link.
If you look at the steroid epidemic that has plagued the United States and the rest of the world for over 40 years, it is easy to see it was caused by what has been a bipartisan failure since the days Arnold Schwarzenegger opened the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio in 1989.
It began as just a bodybuilding contest back then but has expanded to become the largest public event in Columbus every year.
Many of the events at “The Arnold” are made up of youth competitions, but his core events cater to what I call “Steroid Nation.”
Strongman, bodybuilding and most powerlifting competitions at “the Arnold” have no credible testing for steroids. These freak show events dominate his advertising.
“The Arnold” steroid events have qualifiers in virtually every state in America. These local competitions are run by federations loosely aligned with “The Arnold.” I have seen myself that these events are where many young athletes are introduced to the “Dark Side” of steroid use.