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Congratulate the Free Press Volunteer of the Year - Steve Caruso!

White man with grayish hair and beard with green parakeet on his shoulder

Steve Caruso was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised by nuns. He volunteered for The Philadelphia Folk Fest for 5 years, survived one immediate semester of college after high school, figured it was too then much went to Haight Ashbury after the height of hippiedom (’75), saw the debut of the Jeffrson Starship with the Grateful Dead in Golden Gate Park, “rollin’ the rug around.”

He saw the attempt on Gerald Ford’s life in San Francisco, a revenge attack by Sarah Jane Moore (now free) for pardoning Nixon. 

After traveling the country from one corner to the other in a spirit quest, Steve settled in Columbus late 1977. Being a campus street “urchin”/musician on free time between and after jobs for years and hanging with local progressives he started a coffee house at German Village, Golden Eagle Ice Cream, hosting the Columbus Poetry Group, Fred Anderle, Bill Cohen,  Donna Mogavera and others, then ended up at the King Avenue Coffee house.

Press conference - Columbus, Ohio, citizens demand supreme court justices recognize the people's rights and put the Columbus Community Bill Of Rights ordinance on the ballot

Round yellow logo with words Yes Columbus Community Bill of Rights and a fracking well in background

PRESS CONFERENCE/RALLY

 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

12:00 NOON

 

COLUMBUS, OHIO, OHIO SUPREME COURT

65 S Front St., Columbus, OH  43215

 

The Columbus Community Bill of Rights supporters will give a Press Conference to update all interested media where this landmark city ordinance initiative stands with the Ohio Supreme Court, and emphatically draw a line:  We can no longer default to the powers-that-be, if they fail to honor our democratic process and our inalienable right to protect our community.  Currently the court has a motion to reconsider their September 14, 2018 decision to keep the people’s initiative off the ballot based on a decision from a federal judge on September 19 to allow two unrelated initiatives on the November ballot. 

 

Tips and Tools #5: Building an Organization? Rain Follows the Plow

Gray haired thin man standing by a white paper flip chart in front of a group of people at a table
In building an organization sustainability and self-sufficiency are essential, but money is not what drives the creation and survival of an organization. There is no amount of money that can substitute for a clear and solid organizing plan.     In organizing, I always encouraged people not to worry about the money, but to first make the plan, focus fully on that, and totally believe that if the plan is good enough, then resources will follow. In expressing this principle at ACORN, I would always say, “rain follows the plow.” What in the world could that have meant?   In the “manifest destiny” development of America and its drive to populate the vast lands from coast to coast, unscrupulous land promoters launched thousands of “prairie schooners” on the sea of the western plains by dangling before landless farmers the dream that “rain follows the plow.” In truth, the western states were environmentally a desert, rather than the anthem’s “fertile plains,” but the hucksters were arguing that famers could break the soil and that would trigger rain.     In farming, we now all know better.

Keep Wayne Wild September General Meeting

Trees

Sunday, September 23, 2018, 2:30 -4:00 PM
Come join Keep Wayne Wild to learn how you can volunteer and contribute to the cause to keep fracking out of Ohio's only national forest. We'll be discussing our upcoming Fall Bioblitz, the Land Management Plan Revision for the Wayne, and more. Send us a message if you want to get on the agenda!  Location:  Columbus Metropolitan Library – Linden Branch, 2223 Cleveland Ave. Facebook.  

Blog: What Some Judges Don't Want You To Know

Painting of an older man with long gray hair and sideburns wearing a high white ascot under a black jacket

The states have the power to regulate the practice of law and discipline attorneys

What many Americans do not realize is that the States have the power to regulate the practice of law and discipline attorneys.  The following is primarily taken from the American Jurisprudence 2d Law Encyclopedia (the theory and philosophy of American law), Vol. 17 Attorneys at Law, Section 2 Power of state to regulate the practice of law, unless otherwise stated.  Citations have been omitted for ease and clarity of reading.

The responsibility of regulating lawyers is an important governmental function in the administration of justice and the responsibility has historically been reserved to the sovereign states.  Thus, a state’s authority regarding an attorney’s license to practice law is not preempted by the Federal Constitution, notwithstanding that the licensed attorney may also be a federal judge.

Justice for Donna Castleberry (Dalton) Rally at Columbus City Hall

Man with gray beard and sunglasses wearing a baseball cap holding a sign that says CPD out of control standing next to an older woman with gray hair pulled back in a ponytail looking down at the ground, very sad, wearing a white T-shirt with words "RIP Donna" on it and holding a sign with pictures of a young woman on it

A small group rallying at Columbus City Hall just prior to Monday, September 17th's Council meeting demanded justice for Donna Castleberry (Dalton. Local activist and preacher Gary Witte wrote: "Had the opportunity to stand with Donna Dalton's mom and dad. In their terrible greif they are demanding a real investigation into the murder of their daughter, Donna, by an undercover Columbus cop. All they get is silence and no redress. Donna was shot 8 times in the front seat of the cop's car. God bless this family."

Call To Action Columbus -The Death Penalty

Logo of a half circle in orange like the sun with orange rays coming out all around the top and words Ohioans to Stop Executions

Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 7:00 PM
Speakers:  Derrick Jamison, death row survivor, and Abraham Bonowitz, of Ohioans to Stop Executions.  Location:   Maple Grove UMC, 7 W Henderson Rd, Columbus.  Call to Action Events:  http://www.cta-columbus.org/future.  Call To Action Columbus meets at 7pm on the 3rd Wednesday of January, March, May, July, September and November at the Maple Grove United Methodist Church, 7 Henderson Rd (High St & Henderson Rd), Columbus, OH 43214.

Cooperative Capitalism

White bottle on a shelf with word Roundup on it

Poverty is inexcusable when as many as 45-million Americans are classified at or below the federal poverty guidelines. The Poor People’s Campaign of Rev. William Barber says that 140,000,000 Americans of all colors and races are ‘poor.’

Analysis of the track record of Wall Street’s boom/bust pattern of perpetual economic disaster leads to the conclusion that the system’s brokers make money on the uptick and by selling short do so on the downturn.

The last great recession that began in 2007 with the collapse of the fraudulent Wall Street bundling of spurious mortgages was followed by federal reserve intervention to shore up the very banks that precipitated the crash.

The next recession may be caused by the collapse of the automobile market when the surplus of unsold cars collides with the failed leases used to artificially prop up the disappointing sales of their highly inflated price vehicles. Or, it may come about from the failure of the Fracking Industry to produce enough oil and gas to repay their near-zero interest loans.

Lucasville Amnesty Tour

White banner with words The State is not negotiating

Tuesday, Sept 18, 7pm
Free Press office 1021 E Broad. Group 
Discussion on prisoner support strategy in Ohio. In the wake of the nationwide prison strike, we're organizing a short tour in and around Ohio to build and coordinate support for the prisoner leaders locked up at Ohio State Peninteniaries because of the Lucasville Uprising. 

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