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On April 21 students and workers held a rally outside the office of OSU president Michael Drake to demand an end to the university's efforts to privatize its workforce and energy system.

Since the April 6 occupation of Bricker Hall, a coalition of student groups has kept up the pressure on the university to end its plans to privatize its energy services and outsource more of its employees.

On April 21 the #ReclaimOSU coalition joined forces with members of Communication Workers of America (CWA), the labor union that represents many OSU workers as well as Verzion employees who are on strike. They gathered at the South Oval and marched to the Ohio Union, shouting, “Hey Drake, step off it! Put people over profit!”

 “When the university sells out energy, that is a direct attack on minority and other workers at Ohio State,” said Maryam Abidi of the OSU Coalition for Black Liberation during a speak-out in the atrium of the Ohio Union. “Privatization is also an attack on the minority communities of Columbus,” she said.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry say that allowing family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its complicity in that crime would set a terrible precedent that would open the United States up to lawsuits from abroad.

Wonderful! Let the lawsuits rain down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream!

Someone asked me to find war lies during the past few years. Perhaps they had in mind the humanitarian pretenses around attacking Libya in 2011 and Iraq in 2014, or the false claims about chemical weapons in 2013, or the lies about an airplane in Ukraine or the endlessly reported Russian invasions of Ukraine. Maybe they were thinking of the "ISIS Is In Brooklyn" headlines or the routine false claims about the identities of drone victims or the supposedly imminent victory in Afghanistan or in one of the other wars. The lies seem far too numerous for me to fit into an essay, though I've tried many times, and they are layered over a bedrock of more general lies about what works, what is legal, and what is moral. Just a Prince Tribute selection of lies could include Qadaffi's viagra for the troops and CNN's sex-toys flag as evidence of ISIS in Europe. It's hard to scrape the surface of all U.S.

 

More than one million New York City residents participated in Tuesday’s presidential primary. I served as a poll worker on election day and it left me with many questions. Why did many would-be voters receive affidavit ballots on Tuesday? What do you do when everything breaks down at once? Once you go through this process, you have a newfound annoyance with the way New York conducts elections.

Upside down flag

Congressional Briefing April 21, 2016: "How Voter Suppression Efforts Are Threatening Our Democracy"

"It is democracy time!" were words that led into this historic congressional briefing, "How Voter Suppression Efforts Are Threatening Our Democracy." Sponsors were the National Election Defense Coalition and Transformative Justice Coalition. The moderator of the distinguished panel and members of the Congressional Black Caucus was Barbara Arnwine, former Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and presently co-sponsor of the Transformative Justice Coalition. What does the dismal handling of the primaries and caucuses held so far bode for the U.S. Congress?

Arnwine listed members of the Caucus who were present: Reps. John Conyers (former Chair of the House Judiciary Committee), Sheila Jackson Lee, Terry Sewell, Marc Veasey, Maxine Waters, Elijah Cummings, Hank Johnson, and others. 2016 marks the fifth year of intensive voter suppression. Long lines have marred proceedings in so many of the primaries and caucuses. Too

Newly-elected members of the Franklin County Democratic Party Central Committee assembled outside Ohio Democratic Headquarters on April 20.

The air crackled with anticipation on Wednesday evening as newly-elected members of the Franklin County Democratic Party (FCDP) Central Committee gathered outside Ohio Democratic Party headquarters. In a few minutes they would join a Central Committee meeting for the first time as voting members.

“We’re here because we deeply care about concretely improving people’s lives,” said Will Petrik, Central Committee member for Ward 18. “We believe in freedom, in democracy, in social and economic justice, and in making sure that everyone in the community can live a decent life.” Petrik is affiliated with Yes We Can Columbus, one of several coalitions who are trying to make the local Democratic Party more transparent and responsive to the needs of its constituents.

“I was elected because people in my neighborhood want a change,” said Mario Cespedes, Ward 40. “They want big money out of politics, and they want a debate around raising the minimum wage.”

Sign about event

Friday, April 22, 11am

Ohio State house one saatate capital 1 Capital square Columbus, Ohio 43215

Protestin unfair practices and bringing awareness.

Bob Fitrakis, Free Press Editor, will speak at this event at noon.

Red white and blue donkey Democrat symbol

This evening, the Franklin County Democratic Party Central Committee is holding its first meeting since the primary election to appoint new leadership. Before the meeting, elected leaders from Yes We Can Columbus, Count Me In, the Unity Ticket, and Franklin County Democrats United came together to promote shared values and goals to unite the local party.

The following quotes can be attributed to Mario Cespedes, a Ward 40 Central Committee member and leader with Yes We Can Columbus:

“I was elected, because people in my neighborhood want a change. They feel like our democracy is broken and their voice isn’t being heard. The folks in my neighborhood want big money out of politics and they want a debate around raising the minimum wage and empowering our local neighborhoods in Columbus.”

The following quote can be attributed to Deb Steele, Clinton Township Central Committee member and leader in the Unity Ticket:

What remains endlessly hinted at about the 2016 presidential race, but not fully articulated, is that something enormous — bigger than politics, bigger than America itself, perhaps — is trembling and kicking just below the surface, struggling to emerge.

I have a name to suggest for this hypothetical phenomenon: the New Enlightenment. Nothing less than that seems adequate.

There are millions of midwives at the ready — angry, despairing citizens — desperately hoping to assist in the birthing process . . . by being part of the Bernie Sanders campaign. I say this with full cognizance of the flawed, compromised nature of politics in general and the Democratic Party in particular. The political process is a stew of money and competing interests, power, compromise, cynicism and secret deals. But that’s not all it is.

It’s also the opening to our collective future. A failure to acknowledge this leaves the process in the hands of those who think they own it.

The New Enlightenment?

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