Local
The COP 26 climate talks took place in Glasgow, Scotland last week. COP stands for Conference of Parties – it is the annual meeting of countries of the world under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to discuss and make commitments for dealing with the climate crisis.
Although COPs occur every year – and have been happening for the past 26 years – some COPs are more important that others. Most important in recent history was COP 21 in Paris, when for the first time all nations of the world agreed to make their own voluntary commitments, known as National Determined Contributions, to fight the climate crisis.
Although the total of national commitments in Paris was not enough to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) – the limit that the agreement set – the nations did agree to meet every five years to ratchet up their commitments. COP 26 in Glasgow – rescheduled from 2020 due to the covid pandemic – was the first meeting at which these additional commitments were to take place.
Here’s what happened at the November Free Press Second Saturday Cyber-Salon on November 13.
Free Press Board member Mark Stansbery kicked the salon off by showing a map of Africa and how the US has exploited it. See image below.
Mark also gave a tribute to Free Press volunteer from the 70s, Sue Urbas. See image below.
He then played a great music video about unions, called Hold the Line (scroll down page to see video).
Monday, November 15 - Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Sunday, November 14, 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Note: My apologies for misspelling Chase Meola’s last name. No offense was intended. To other readers, I am not minimizing the very real crime problems. As a retired professor, University District homeowner, and critic of the institutions involved, I do not speak directly for students. I am advocating for a serious, sound, honest, and responsible set of crime reduction and safety policies and their enactment by Ohio State, the City, and Columbus Police Department (CPD). We have not seen that.
Cannabis Crossroads. Ohio history. New bills. Decrim successes.
Selected bites of fresh cannabis news sliced from the headlines, with a legislative flavor and sweet Ohio twist. Sources are linked.
Mary Jane’s Library:
The tall, grey-haired, 60-year-old attorney Steven Donziger gave a final hug to his son last Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Donziger had spent over two years confined in his Manhattan apartment, restricted by a judge-ordered GPS ankle bracelet. And now his first destination would be the nearest jail, to which Steven, a supposed flight risk, drove himself.
After the years spent on house arrest throughout an intimidation lawsuit and facing an $800,000 bail bond – the highest in U.S. history for a misdemeanor – Donziger will now spend the maximum sentence of six months in a federal prison. The alleged crime was contempt of court, but the real crime was Donziger’s successful lawsuit against Chevron, which resulted in $9.5 billion in damages being allocated to Ecuadorians affected by their deadly pollution in the country.
Not a penny of that $9.5 billion, however, ever made it to the people of Ecuador. Instead, Chevron weaseled their way out of the damages and launched a billion-dollar show trial against the attorney that stuck up for the indigenous people of Ecuador.
Corporate cancer
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83906590837
Meeting ID: 839 06
Since we aren't getting together in person, we can gather for a couple hours on the second Saturday night of each month from 7-8:00pm Eastern Time on Zoom.
Topics:
COP 26 report;
Nazek Hapasha, Policy Affairs Manager of the League of Women Voters and the Fair districts Campaign will review the Ohio election results and expectations for policy impact from the results;
Native American Heritage Month;
Travis Irvine will update us on the corruption surrounding House Bill 6 and the fallout.
and more!
Q & A included.
If you have any announcements for the
progressive community, contact us:
colsfreepress@gmail.com.
Former Columbus City Council candidate Joe Motil continues his years of objecting to the City of Columbus providing developers with tax abatements if they set aside a small percentage of housing units for those with annual incomes from anywhere between $35,220 - $57,800. He spoke at the Columbus Development Department’s hour-long community question and comment meeting last night at Barack Recreation Center on their proposed Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) Residential Tax Abatement Policy Update Recommendations.
Thursday, November 11, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom
Register
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.
How do we unite to create a more just and sustainable vision for the future? What are the possible next steps?
Presentation to be followed by a live Q&A