Local
Tuesday, January 5, 2021, 5:30 – 6:30 PM
Locally, two key inflection points have risen to the top of public conversation when talking about police reform: the City of Columbus’ 2021 budget and the renegotiation of the Fraternal Order of Police union contract. To shed light on these processes and how they form the parameters of what’s possible, the New Leaders Council of Columbus is (virtually) assembling activists, policymakers, and other experts for a deep-dive conversation on the FOP contract. Panelists will explain how these labor contracts work, what's in them, and answer questions from viewers. Join New Leaders Council Columbus on January 5th, 2021 at 5:30 pm via Facebook Live for this much-needed discussion. Facebook.
In the USA, hospitals are closings, health care workers are being laid off, substandard working conditions for nurses exist, lack of protective equipment, insurance companies’ massive profits without paying for hospital costs, millions uninsured and unwilling to have COVID-19 tests because of the cost. All these conditions are a result of hospital and staffing decisions are made on financial basis. Since elective surgeries were cancelled or postponed, hospitals have lost their primary funding source.
It is no wonder COVID-19 death rates are increasing, and are out of control.
Here are some numbers and facts:
* Eighty hospitals in the USA have closed this year.
* 80,000 nurses and health care workers were laid off or furloughed.
* 58,025 of the 138,707 private practice doctor’s offices closed from 3/2020 to 6/2020.
That is a reduction of almost 42%.
From Our Revolution Ohio:
Right now Americans are suffering, struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, find good paying jobs that might never come back. Congress failed to pass a stimulus package until the last minute and left out Survival Checks. Offering a measly $600 to Americans who are facing bankruptcy, foreclosure, hunger, reduced to levels of poverty unseen in generations.
This coming tax season, because of the heartless act of forcing Americans to pay taxes on Unemployment Compensation, millions of Americans will be unable to afford to pay it and will be left with the choice between food, housing or medication or paying taxes. We call upon Congress to implement a Tax Forgiveness program during the pandemic to help struggling Americans.
[BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 1.4.2020: A UK court ruled today Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange is not psychologically fit to face extradition to the United States, as he is a suicide risk, but endorsed the US prosecutor's legal theory that effectively criminalizes journalistic activity anywhere in the world. The US intends to appeal the ruling, and the UK is keeping Assange detained until the outcome of the appeal. Amnesty International put out the statement: "We welcome the fact that Julian Assange will not be sent to the USA, but this does not absolve the UK from having engaged in this politically-motivated process at the behest of the USA and putting media freedom and freedom of expression on trial."]
Former Wikileaks Editor and co-founder Julian Assange faces a UK court ruling Monday January 4th on his extradition to the US for journalistic work published overseas.
Sunday, January 3, 2pm, this event will be occurring via Zoom
You say you want a resolution? Well, you know, mindfulness for the New Year is the way to go.
Rational Mindfulness has been reincarnated, after a lengthy hiatus, in a necessarily new on-line format.
Especially in these times, life can be so stressful. It really helps to learn and practice evidence-based mindfulness techniques to manage stress and to become more compassionate. Especially for non-believers, it is important to do so in a science-friendly, rational atmosphere.
The Rational Mindfulness Group supports secular people in using scientifically-informed mindfulness and meditation practices to reduce stress, sharpen thinking, calm emotions, and enhance compassion. Our meetings combine various types of meditation, readings, and discussions. It’s a great place for both those who want to learn how to meditate and to become more mindful, and for those with some experience who want to try out new techniques and meet like-minded folks.
Columbus, OH) January 2, 2020 - Late in the evening of December 31, 2020, an unidentified shooter fired a single shot into the home of the family of Casey Goodson, Jr. as the family of Mr. Goodson was returning home from church and attempting to bring in the new year together, the bullet entered their home near the front door, nearly hitting one of Tamala Payne’s sons.
“We celebrated Christmas without Casey, but Jason Meade was home with his family. We tried to celebrate the New Year, missing Casey, and we were attacked in our home while Jason Meade was safe at home with his family,” Tamala Payne, Casey Goodson Jr.’s mother said. “Whatever their intent was, I want everyone to know we are unafraid and undeterred in our pursuit of justice for Casey.”
The story of 2020 is that not much happened and everything happened.
It started as a presidential election year with much at stake and is ending with an existential threat to democracy apparently repelled.
Just when the Democratic Party primaries were heating up in mid-March, many of us got cooled down with what amounted to two months confined to quarters.
The Land of the Free became the Home of the Quarantined.
About the time many of us were running short of toilet paper, Joe Biden was running up the score in the primaries and emerging as the Democratic Party nominee to take on the Mad King, the COVID-19 denier-in-chief and carnival barker telling us a slug of Clorox would kill the virus.
Those of us with a modicum of common sense turned to medical doctors, scientists and public health leaders and followed their advice, often brought to us by trustworthy news reporters and commentators.
We started wearing masks way before Halloween this year and we began washing our hands way more often than before meals.
To many, social distancing was a new concept. Not to me. I first experienced it at junior high school dances.
Saturday, January 2, 2020, 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Join us at the intersection of North Broadway and high as we demonstrate weekly for peace and justice. bring a mask and a sign or two. Facebook.
The Republicans may lose majority control of the United States Senate if they are unable to pick up one of the last two seats, both in Georgia where automatic run-off elections will be held Tuesday, January 5th.
The Republicans have secured 50 of the 100 total US Senate seats leaving them one seat shy of a majority. In Georgia, the two US Senate races were so close last November that local laws triggered automatic run-off elections scheduled for January 5th.
With the two Senate races neck and neck, voting rights activists have been fighting to get hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised voters back on track to vote.
The races will impact the Senate in the coming years since with Biden as president, if Republicans are not able to pick up another Senate seat, Vice President Kamala Harris will be able to cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate overpowering the Republican voting bloc for votes along party lines.
Trump’s team filed multiple lawsuits in battleground states alleging voter fraud even though, according to most major news outlets, Presidential Candidate Joe Biden won.
“There’s class warfare alright. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” – Warren Buffett
“The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.” - Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page - Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens
“Total liberty for the wolves is death to the lambs.” – Isaiah Berlin
Revisiting the Great American Retro-Reset 1970-2020 –
Democracy Down the Tubes?
As the prospect of the World Economic Forum’s proposed ‘Great Reset’ as an international response to the current Covid crisis looms, it’s worth reminding ourselves that other ‘resets’ - i.e., radical transformative shifts in the socio-political-economic structure - have happened before, historically and recently, at both the international and national levels.