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This week is your last opportunity to sign up for the 2021 Race For Repro Freedom which kicks off this Saturday, October 9 and runs through Sunday, October 17th. This is a virtual 5k race that is open to EVERYONE! Not sure how to sign up? Watch this quick video and sign up today. Dont' forget to support our amazing teams and check out the prizes below, too!
A recent article and a recent book have raised this familiar topic anew for me. The article is a super uninformed dud of a hatchet job on Michael Ratner by Samuel Moyn, who accuses Ratner of supporting war by trying to reform and humanize rather than end it. The critique is terribly weak because Ratner tried to prevent wars, end wars, AND reform wars. Ratner was at every antiwar event. Ratner was at every panel on the need to impeach Bush and Cheney for the wars as well as for the torture. I’d never even heard of Samuel Moyn until he wrote this now widely debunked article. I’m glad he wants to end war and hope he can be a better ally in that struggle.
It’s bad enough that mainstream news outlets routinely call the Pentagon budget a “defense” budget. But the fact that progressives in Congress and even many antiwar activists also do the same is an indication of how deeply the mindsets of the nation’s warfare state are embedded in the political culture of the United States.
The misleading first name of the Defense Department doesn’t justify using “defense” as an adjective for its budget. On the contrary, the ubiquitous use of phrases like “defense budget” and “defense spending” -- virtually always written with a lower-case “d” -- reinforces the false notion that equates the USA’s humongous military operations with defense.
Back in the old days, a proto-version of the Black River’s described themselves as something called “Electric Americana.” I don’t know if they are still using that phrase in their marketing materials, but as I was working on this review for their latest album it jumped back into my mind and stayed there.
I am on record as arguing that Americana is not a type of music. Indeed, fresh off a pot of coffee in 2014 I referred to it as “this loathsome catch-all, this black hole of description, this perfidious non-thing.” Perhaps a bit over the top, but the years have not really changed my mind.
Death Penalty Abolition Week for Ohio Faith Communities (“Abolition Week”) officially starts this Thursday, October 8 and runs through October 17. The events are already getting buzz in local media and we know that our decision makers in Columbus are listening!
Here’s an official list of events for Abolition Week:
Abolish the Death Penalty- Official RAC Ohio Campaign Launch
October 7 at 8 pm
Join Ohio’s Reform Jewish congregations as we kick-off our Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. Learn about what Judaism has to say about this issue, hear from those directly impacted and find out the next steps to take action to abolish the death penalty in the Buckeye State.
Featured Speakers: Ricky Jackson, Ohio Death Row Exoneree & Dr. Donna Mayerson, Psychologist.
Open to all, register here.
Being Puerto Rican is complicated in the capital of Ohio. My descendants come from the native islanders, the Taínos, Spain, and West Africa. Puerto Rico was originally known as El Boriquén and the natives Boricuas. Nowadays, the official language is Spanish with many words influenced by the Taínos.
The tradition is we speak in Spanish with our elders. Unlike my generation and younger we speak Spanglish among each other. Our gene pool is mixed. We are easily mistaken for people from other cultures. Our history involves colonialism, slavery, revolts and resiliency. Puerto Rico politics are complicated. It is a colony of the USA. The US Naval and Marine forces practiced missile bombing on the small islands around it. As a result, people began to suffer from cancer. Environmentalists and advocates have gone to jail by voicing their concerns demanding the demilitarization and clean up from the radioactive waste and missiles.
IN-PERSON ABSENTEE VOTING
Franklin County Board of Elections, 1700 Morse Rd,, Columbus, Ohio 43229
DATES AND HOURS (subject to change)
October 5 - October 22 (Weekdays Only - Monday through Friday) 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
CLOSED - Monday, October 11, 2021
October 25 - October 29 (Weekdays Only - Monday through Friday) 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 30 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sunday, October 31. 1:00 – 5:00 PM
Monday, November 1 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM
ELECTION DAY - Tuesday, November 2
REQUEST ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION ONLINE AND BY MAIL
You are entitled to vote by absentee ballot in Ohio without providing a reason.
Absentee ballot applications may be obtained from the Franklin County Board of Elections or the Secretary of State. The Ohio Secretary of State’s website is www.voteohio.gov, and their phone number is 1-877-767-6446.
https://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/Voters/Absentee-Voting#
Can't Gerrymander Statewide Races
While the Republican's once a decade gerrymander hangs in the balance, it is well to remember that one class of races cannot be grotesquely reshaped. Statewide contests, which fully encompass the often jagged borders of Ohio, are immune to the stuff. It would be wise for Democrats to concentrate on them.
A few months ago, I was sure that the Ohio Supreme Court would step in, slap the redistricting commission's and Ohio legislature's hands and force the creation of intelligently shaped districts that would have a slight Republican advantage after tossing out the horribly GOP-skewed ones. Three appeals to the high court already have been filed but any decisions will come in December at the earliest.
No less prominent journalists than cleveland.com's Andrew Tobias and Ohio University's Thomas Suddes are hinting that Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor will join the three Democrats on the court in voting 4-3 to throw out the gerrymanders and form fair districts. O'Connor went against the grain last decade, but was outvoted by her Republican colleagues.
On Saturday, October 2nd 2021 more than 1,000 people attended the Rally for Abortion Justice at the Ohio State House in Downtown Columbus as part of the 2021 National Women's March. Demonstrators in Columbus and at 600 other marches around the country showed up to support the right to access abortion care. The unpreceded Texas law banning nearly all abortions in that state shocked many advocates for reproductive health care.
Abortion access is under attack in Ohio as the 1st hearing for Ohio Senate Bill 123, a "trigger ban" that would criminalize abortions in Ohio, entered Senate Committee with support from two Republican sponsors on September 29th. Also the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear the Mississippi case which could overrule Roe v. Wade in the session starting this October 2021.
At the rally demonstrators held signs that read "My body, my choice" and "Anti-abortion laws are part of systemic racism," and "If you can't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?"
SB 117 and HB 351, two bills to repeal the OVEC coal plant bailouts from HB6, are currently stuck in committee and we need calls to the committee members to put pressure on them to pass these bills out of committee! Below are sample scripts and the numbers for all the committee members on the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee and the House Public Utilities Committee. I have also attached a PDF of this document, as well as a PDF with talking points for those of you who would like more information. Please feel free to personalize the script. It is helpful to make calls to all of the committee members, but if you are in one of their districts, please prioritize that representative and note when you call them that you are in their district.