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An interesting recent article by international lawyer John Whitbeck suggests that the billions of dollars that the United States gives to Israel annually is not technically “foreign aid” as the Jewish state is as measured by per capita GDP the 19th wealthiest in the world, ahead of countries like Germany. It is, instead “tribute,” which is defined as the “payment made periodically by one state or ruler to another, especially as a sign of dependence.”

This month the Ohio Senate’s Energy and Public Utilities Committee held the second hearing for a bipartisan billthat would repeal yet another unnecessary ratepayer-funded bailout implemented by the historically corrupt HB 6. SB 117 ends the costly bailouts going to two Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) coal plants – one called Kyger Creek, which is in Ohio and another called Clifty Creek, which is in Indiana. For anyone who needs a visual aid of how Ohio is different from Indiana, I recommend looking at a map and checking it out, especially if you’re a Republican state legislator.

The illicit street sale of “fenty” or fentanyl in Columbus is wreaking havoc with its drug dealing violence and overdoses. The opioid epidemic led to illegal sale of fentanyl in the first place, and the HBO documentary “Crime of the Century” is further exposing Cardinal Health of Dublin as culpable in starting this two-decade long scourge.

“Crime of the Century” by Academy award winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney premiered last week with Gibney telling national media that Cardinal Health and others pushed millions into addiction but their ownership and CEOs aren’t under threat of criminal charges.

Unintentional overdose deaths in Ohio finally started to subside in 2018, but this wasn’t the case for Franklin County. From 2012 to 2019 the county went from 191 deaths to 547 deaths a year, and the pandemic made it worse.

For over seven years, waves of Ohio State University students have been working tirelessly to remove Wendy's from their campus, drawing attention to the University's complicity in farmworker exploitation due to its ongoing business relationship with the only major fast-food chain yet to join the award-winning Fair Food Program. Year after year, students have peacefully demonstrated, marched, and even held a courageous weeklong fast in 2017 after the University went back on its promise to students and renewed its contract with Wendy's. This spring, building on the rich and lengthy history of student organizing at OSU in solidarity with farmworkers, the Undergraduate Student Body passed a unanimous resolution endorsing the Wendy's Boycott and calling on the University administration not to renew the Wendy's lease, which is set to expire on June 30.  As that date grows closer, the students' calls for justice have only been met with inaction on the part of the administration. But the fierce student organizers with the Ohio State Student/Farmworker Alliance are committed to fighting tooth and nail until Wendy's no longer has a home on their campus.

Sunday, May 16, 1:30pm, Bicentennial Park, 233 S. Civic Center Dr.

Ohio is coming together to stand in #solidarity against hate, hate crimes, racism, and violence in our community. We are #united, and we will have Asian American, Black, Jewish, Latino, LGBTQ, Muslim, Women, and more #representation.

We will have family-friendly activities like “chalk and bubbles,” and we will participate in a “community art build” hosted by the Columbus Museum of Art.

Parking will be available in nearby garages.

Please wear your masks, bring your signs, and observe 6-foot social distancing guidelines.

Saturday, May 15, 10am-12noon, Barack Community Recreation Center, 580 E. Woodrow Ave.

This event will be a workshop on “Re-Imagining Community” with discussion led by Adrian Jones, aka “Stuff.” Other community partners include Peoples’ Justice Project, Community Organizing Center, Social Justice Committee of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, and Southside Community Collaborative’s Teen Leadership Academy.

“In any social revolution, there are times when the tailwinds of triumph and fulfillment favor us, and other times when strong headwinds of disappointment and setbacks beat against us relentlessly. We must not permit adverse winds to overwhelm us as we journey across life’s mighty Atlantic; we must be sustained by our engines of courage in spite of the winds. This refusal to be stopped, this ‘courage to be,’ this determination to go on ‘in spite of,’ is the hallmark of any great movement.”

What Does it Take to Build Safe, Productive, and Healthy Communities? Resiliency, Engagement, and Vision

While the proposal for a global ceasefire during a disease pandemic has done the opposite of catching on, there are a few small signs of sanity and even of successful activism. While most big military spenders (including the super-mega-biggest one) have increased or kept their spending steady, the SIPRI numbers show a serious reduction from 2019 to 2020 in military spending by Brazil, and reductions as well by China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey (the only NATO member stepping out of line on this), Singapore, Pakistan, Algeria, Indonesia, Colombia, Kuwait, and Chile.

Chile is reducing its military spending by 4.9% in order to better address the health crisis. I did say “small,” but small percentages tend to be significant amounts of money when you’re talking about military spending.

Imagine this: Your parents were refugees from Vietnam in the 80s because of the Vietnam War. Your parents own a Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich) shop in Washington DC’s Chinatown where you grew up in public housing with your parents and 3 other siblings in this two-bedroom one bathroom apartment together. They did not get you out of public housing until they opened this shop because finally, they had disposable income! You have been conditioned your whole life to make it as a doctor or else you have failed your family. So, you worked your butt off your entire life to go to college even though you cannot really afford it. Got into Georgetown but chose to go to University of Maryland and commute from the DC area since you lived with your parents and could not afford to pay for room and board. You got full ride and then some because your story is so compelling, and your family is so dirt poor that rich people who needed to make themselves feel better about themselves used you as a charity case to pay for your schooling.

The Israeli government is threatening mass evictions of non-Jews and brutalizing protesters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jersusalem.

At least three U.S. senators have spoken out. All 100 U.S. senators should do so immediately.

Click here to quickly email your senators.