A viral cell phone video of a nine-minute long police assault of an unarmed man inside a Livingston Avenue convenience store on September 1, horrified and sickened many people who viewed it.

The video, shot by a bystander inside the store, shows a black man being attacked and brutally beaten by men, who look like skinheads, who turned out to be plainclothes members of the Columbus Police gang unit. The store owner insists he did not call the police on Timothy Davis, who had not committed any crime in the store. Later, the officers can be heard on police bodycam video saying they followed Davis into the store because there was a warrant for his arrest.

DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse may be dealing a death blow to local ownership of WBNS-TV.

The satellite and cable television conglomerate has blacked out Channel 10 in a dispute over carriage fees. This had cut access to CBS-TV programs and local news to approximately 20 percent of the 920,000 television households in the Columbus TV market for three weeks by late September with no end in sight as The Columbus Free Press went to press.

Yes, it is possible to view Channel 10 with a digital antenna and some of its programs through the internet, but most viewers will not bother and will watch other channels. This puts Channel 10's No. 1 news rating in jeopardy and may vault Channels 4 or 6 to the top.

Advertisers tend to pay a premium to be on the No. 1 news station in a market. TV ads are sold based on audience size. When audiences are reduced significantly, stations must give either rebates or provide makeup spots. Both remedies are costly to the station.

DirecTV and U-Verse were paying Channel 10 a fee for the privilege of carrying its signal. The blackout puts those payments in jeopardy.

Renee Dion’s newest album Haven is probably my favorite Columbus release. Musically, the R & B singer sits somewhere between Sade and Charlotte Gainsboug.

This kind of begs the question. Is R & B the most vibrant form of music right now?

John Legend has pretty much taken a place next to Bruce Springsteen as mainstream liberal America’s favorite entertainer. The Weekend, Rihanna and Beyonce are constantly releasing music that could almost be trip hop if the songs didn’t operate so smoothly.

Obviously, this can work within the same thesis that Drake and Diplo are the same guy. 

Never forget DJ Khaled’s is a man who was a Miami DJ who came from the NYC Golden-era of Hip Hop surrounded by the rise of Miami Bass, Latin Music, No Limit, Cash Money and various influences.

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- President Donald Trump's White House invitation to meet Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on October 2 allowed Bangkok's coup-installed military government to gain prestige and legitimacy while the junta's political opponents are fearful, muzzled and without a strong leader.

"Prayuth and the generals crave legitimacy, particularly from the U.S. and E.U. who have criticized revolving-door coups and governments in Thailand over the past 10 years," Paul Quaglia, a former C.I.A. officer in Bangkok, said in an interview.

"The U.S. press corps, unrestrained by Thai military censorship and hostile to a Trump administration, is likely to raise embarrassing questions about...palling around with coup-sponsoring generals," said Mr. Quaglia, 68, who is now the Bangkok-based director of PQA Associates, a private security concern in Hong Kong.

"President Trump looks forward to reaffirming the relationship between the United States and a key partner and longstanding ally in Asia, the Kingdom of Thailand," the White House said September 25.

“Peace” clubs in U.S. schools are likely to teach that a local bully is afraid and in need of help. They are much less likely to teach that about entities involved in the actual subject of peace (meaning the absence of war), such as — to take the example momentarily most prominent in U.S. propaganda — North Korea.

“Ignorance about the Korean war,” writes Blaine Harden, “has . . . led to the cartoonish ahistorical understanding many Americans still have of contemporary North Korea. They know that a family of clownish-looking dictators named Kim has created a hermit state armed with nuclear weapons. They know that it is wildly belligerent toward the United States. But most do not know that the fears of North Korea’s isolated citizens are firmly rooted in history: they are afraid that Americans might once again raze their country. Thanks to the bombs and napalm dropped by the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, the Kim family is able to stoke anti-American hatred and perpetuate its rule, all while telling a terrifying, fact-based story that most Americans have never heard.”