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Love thy enemy? I get a chance to do so on a regular basis, thanks to the email (or nasty-mail) I sometimes get in response to my column, e.g.:

“Must be a dearth of anyone with anything intelligent to say for the News to put your drivel out for us to chew on. Not going to go over ridiculous points you made . . .  not worth my time. Next time offer a cure. Otherwise it’s just reportage that we already know.”

I have an advantage here. When I get a communique like this, I know the writer read my column in a regular newspaper, not a progressive site on the Internet — and that’s a good thing for multiple reasons. One: The mainstream media is often fearful of a viewpoint like mine, which is critical of war and nukes and nationalism and border cages and such, so I always feel delight on learning I’ve made it into mainstream print. Two: Hearing from someone who hates what I’ve written is the essence of across-the-aisle communication. So what if the letter hits me like a verbal bullet? The writer exposed himself to a counter-viewpoint, expanding his awareness of the world. Let me do the same.

Propaganda is most impactful when people don’t think it’s propaganda, and most decisive when it’s censorship you never knew happened. When we imagine that the U.S. military only occasionally and slightly influences U.S. movies, we are extremely badly deceived. The actual impact is on thousands of movies made, and thousands of others never made. And television shows of every variety. The military guests and celebrations of the U.S. military on game shows and cooking shows are no more spontaneous or civilian in origin than the ceremonies glorifying members of the U.S. military at professional sports games — ceremonies that have been paid for and choreographed by U.S. tax dollars and the U.S. military. The “entertainment” content carefully shaped by the “entertainment” offices of the Pentagon and the CIA doesn’t just insidiously prepare people to react differently to news about war and peace in the world. To a huge extent it substitutes a different reality for people who learn very little actual news about the world at all.

Sundance, Executive Director of Cleveland American Indian Movement (AIM), will present a brief history of the Native experience in Ohio since contact with white colonizers, and a brief description of the Land Back Rights of Nature and the Land Back Movement: where do they interconnect, where do they diverge? Sundance, Executive Director of Cleveland American Indian Movement (AIM), will present a brief history of the Native experience in Ohio since contact with white colonizers, and a brief description of the Land Back Movement. Did you know the Cuyahoga River was never ceded by indigenous people; the east bank was taken in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, while the west bank was taken in the Treaties of Fort Industry in 1805.  Watch the Ohio Community Rights Network Video here. 

“Texas patriots,” as they call themselves, call for secession from the Union, harkening back to their fictionalized idyllic days of the short-lived Republic of Texas. They fantasize about the war for independence from Mexico (fought to preserve slavery in Texas) and the recently reinvented “glories” of the battle at the Alamo. Texas Republicans legislate not only for “patriotic” history but for the removal of depictions of Mexicans in accounts and displays of the Alamo.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022, 10:00 AM
With new nuclear arms races, confrontations over Taiwan, Ukraine, the South China Sea and Kashmir, the stakes for this Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference and the world couldn’t be higher. Yet, the bar that diplomats have set for a successful NPT RevConf couldn’t be much lower. To send a powerful message to the UN and to build our national and international abolition and peace movements, the Peace and Planet network has organized an online conference in which movement leaders and analysts will share their expectations for the Review Conference and spell out what our governments must do to ensure full implementation of the Treaty.  More information and registration for the online conference here.

Imam Mohamed Hassan Adam had been a leader in the Somali Muslim community of Columbus, Ohio and also in the interfaith community of Columbus, Ohio. He had been an imam at Masjid Abu Hurairah Mosque on the Northeast Side of Columbus and a prominent member of the local Muslim and Somali communities.

He had been reported missing on 12-23-2021; his body was found the following day [12-24-2021]. His death has been ruled a homicide but official information about the cause of his death has not yet been released.

Several hundred of us gathered yesterday [12-31-2021] outside of the First Congregational Church [and next to the Washington Gladden Social Justice Park]; we then marched to Columbus City Hall for a rally with many different speakers.

President Biden created the Interagency Task Force on Reunification of Families in Executive Order 14011, one of his first acts in office. Now, the government is seeking recommendations from the public about this Task Force. We know that all families deserve to reunite! Take these actions below to send this message to the Biden administration TODAY.

FIRST, click to send a message to the Task Force.

On the right side, there is a message already written that you can send. If you are personally affected by deportation, we recommend you delete the pre-written message and use this space to write about your own experiences. When you are done writing the message, hit the red button to send!

Your story and name WILL be included on a federal website. Do not share sensitive or private information. If you prefer, you may use an “alias” rather than your real name.

Your contact information will NOT be included on the website.

2021 began with Trump attacking the Capitol to stop the election verification. Or in the least showing he could get away with murdering police, and physically intimidating Congresspeople.

2021 finished with Covid resurgence and Build Back Better in peril.

The fact that I can figure out easily what is being expressed with “Let’s Go Brandon” but could not really tell you wtf Build Back Better is or if it cares about my existence, I finished with a conclusion:

Someone spent 2021 ruining communication.

I feel like Biden/Harris are like well-intentioned parents whose kids experienced trauma.

In 2020, they watched their kids watch George Floyd murdered broadcasting everywhere. People’s grandparents died from Covid.  Another group of kids decided to riot January 6th.

Someone spent 2021 confusing everything.

Biden/Harris needs break everything down to the simplest:

Showering regularly, wearing a mask prevents Covid, the Flu, strep throat, and Cooties.

It’s winter so Covid cases are going to increase because people are indoors and can spread germs.

Friday, December 31, beginning at 2pm
First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St., and ending at Columbus City Hall, 90 W. Broad St.
Join us in a solidarity march for Imam Mohamed Hassan Adam. This march and vigil will be to show support and to call for justice and accountability.
The march will begin at 2pm sharp at First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St., and will conclude at Columbus City Hall, 90 W. Broad St., where there will be speakers from the Muslim and interfaith communities.
For questions please contact:
• Imam Horsed Noah at <horset80@hotmail.com> or at 408-613-6015
• Amina Barhumi at <abarhumi@cair.com> or at 614-763-6557
Hosted by CAIR [Council on American-Islamic Relations] Ohio and Faith in Public Life.
Facebook Event

Maddening media misconceptions

1.     Can the media, popular culture mavens, and politicians begin to remember yesterday? Or last week, last month, six months, one year, four years, two decades, etc., let alone a significant amount of historical time? They need to remember the Trump Agenda and its damages—economic, health, civic, unemployment, inflation, racism, violence, divisiveness, for example; and cease unsupported comparisons with Ronald Reagan/ism, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, LBJ, FDR, and so on.

2.     Avoid the myth of the “educated American.” Understand today’s failure of American education, especially the dramatic expansion of nonpublic schooling and STEM, decline of history and civics, but still recognize that there was never a golden age to which to return.