Local
The Commander-in-Chief, President Donald Trump, has announced a new mission into the realm of martial excess. It is one that will surely enrich the aerospace industry while spreading the global battlefield to a new dimension.
Trump is calling for the creation of a new Space Force as a sixth branch of the U.S. military, to militarize the heavens.
“It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space,” Trump told a meeting of the National Space Council in mid-June. “We must have American dominance in space.”
To this end, the President has taken a page from Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” playbook. Reagan’s scheme, according to a recent article by Karl Grossman, was built around “nuclear reactors and plutonium systems on orbiting battle platforms providing the power for hypervelocity guns, particle beams and laser weapons.”
Grossman, a journalism professor at State University of New York/College at Old Westbury and author of the book The Wrong Stuff: The Space Program’s Nuclear Threat to Our Planet, has been reporting on the militarization of space for decades, says the move will likely spur a new international competition to weaponize space.
Tuesday, August 14, 6:30-8pm
Linden Branch Columbus Metro Library, 2223 Cleveland Ave.
We will network with each our get campaign updates on the Federal, & State policies and take action. All are welcome. We'll provide a light snack so let us know you are coming. Sponsored by the Sierra Club.
Monday, August 13, 7:30pm, Rambling House Soda, 310 E. Hudson St.
Join Columbus Community Bill of Rights [CCBOR] for an evening of protest, music, and singing along as we raise money for our ballot initiative. This event is hosted by CCBOR and Doug Morris, a guitarist and singer/songwriter.
Power to the people!
This event will be a fundraiser for Columbus Community Bill of Rights.
Tickets: eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-of-protest-music-and-singing-along-with-ccbor-tickets-48225131667?aff=efbeventtix
Hosted by Columbus Community Bill of Rights.
Saturday, August 11, 6:30-11pm
1021 E. Broad St.
Parking in lot behind house, side driveway or on street
Come to socialize and network with progressive friends. Music, food from Acre to Go, presentations on black history and the Columbus Community Bill of Rigthts.
Free, no RSVP required.
614-253-2571, colsfreepress@gmail.com
In the first Star Trek movie, 1979’s unimaginatively-titled Star Trek: The Motion Picture, there is a scene where the USS Enterprise gets sucked into a wormhole. This spatial anomaly wreaks havoc on time (or something) so everyone on the bridge is suddenly rendered blurry and left speaking in deep, distorted voices.
Kirk is lunging to-and fro in his captain’s chair. A bald lady is there, giving ominous countdowns to impact with some rapidly-approaching celestial body. I’m pretty sure the dad from “Seventh Heaven” is in there somewhere, maybe firing photon torpedoes as he drones on in his slow, time-warped voice.
It’s a truly awful movie, remembered only for its ambition (and failure) to live up to the spectacle of Kubric’s 2001 or the fun of Star Wars, and does not bear rewatching for clarification on any of this. The point being, the scene in question is slow, sucks, and seems to take forever to get anywhere.
“Words ‘n pictures, you can do anything with words ‘n pictures,” the late Harvey Pekar, writer of the “American Splendor” series famously said of the comics medium. Anyone wishing to see a concrete example of Pekar’s quote need only pick up a copy of the Columbus-produced graphic novel "Far Tune," written by Terry Eisele and illustrated by Brent Bowman.
The "Far Tune" of the title is a play on words, referring both to the name of the young Somali protagonist, whose name is Fartun, as well as to the song she shares with her late mother, who dies in a refugee camp in the story's prologue. Weighty issues are tackled in "Far Tune;" culture clash, religious conflict (most effectively, WITHIN the Islamic religion), generational schisms, and notions of class and gender. Although one could call “Far Tune” a young adult graphic novel, anyone of any age could read it and re-think the circumstances of their own lives in this large and prosperous nation we share.
Thursday, August 9, 2018, Noon
When Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Kennedy's retirement, we knew we were in for a fight. President Trump has vowed to appoint Justices who would overturn and gut Roe v. Wade, and that's what we anticipate should Kavanaugh be confirmed. Despite over 70% of his constituents supporting Roe v Wade, Senator Portman wrote an op-ed about Brett Kavanaugh, saying that he is glad that President Trump nominated him, and affirming his support for this dangerous ideologue. Let's show Portman what we think of that decision! Location: Outside of Senator Portman’s office, 37 W. Broad St., Columbus. Organized by Naral Pro-Choice Ohio. Facebook event
The Libertarian Party of Ohio is pleased to release our slate of candidates for state, federal, and local office.
Travis Irvine and J. Todd Grayson are running for Governor and Lt. Governor with a focus on criminal justice reform, decriminalizing marijuana usage, and the significant reduction of taxes and debt that drags against everyone’s future but especially those with the least among us.
Bob Coogan is running for Auditor of State bringing decades of experience in accounting, audit, and financial information technology from private and public sectors. Bob has the experience to ensure that Ohio and its more than 5,600 entities are using resources efficiently and effectively.
Dustin Nanna is running for Secretary of State. As the executive to run elections, issue licensing, and maintain the state’s records, Dustin brings his staunch support that government exists by the permission of the people and is dedicated to reducing overreach.
Looking into federal positions, the party has Dirk Kubala, Don Kissick, David Harlow, and Johnathan Miller running for US Congressional Districts (1, 5, 10, 15, respectively) across the regions of the state.
It is said in China, that a popular curse is to tell a person “may you live in interesting times.” Given the history of the world for roughly the past few centuries, mankind appears to be, not merely cursed, but damned. And in our present, things have become even more “interesting.”
Particularly in the years since 1945, the world has been almost literally burning, even given the end of the Second World War. The Cold War and its insane nuclear arms race, the proxy wars of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s and, most especially, the quagmire that most people refer to simply as the Middle East. It is this last subject that I will address here.
As an American Jew born in the early 1950s, I have watched the progress of things Middle Eastern, with interest and, often, horror. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I really explored, considered and, finally understood, how things got to be as bad as they are.
Tuesday, August 7, 2018, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
Night Out for Safety and Liberation is an annual event which takes place on the firstTuesday of August where we redefine and re-imagine what public safety means for our communities. Night Out for Safety and Liberation began in 2013, as an alternative to the more police-centric National Night Out, which highlights police-community partnerships as the pathway to community safety. Too often, conversations about public safety revolve around policing and punishment. But safety is about more than that—it’s about having a living wage job, healthy food, healthcare, housing, education, and more. Location: Bethel A.M.E Columbus, 2021 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43211. Facebook Event.