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The G-20 in Pittsburgh

On Tuesday, Sept 22, activists from Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh and other cities held a mock funeral procession to demand better policies for addressing the AIDS pandemic, a day ahead of the arrival of delegates for the G-20.

The approximately 50 participants in the New Orleans-style funeral march drew a mix of interest, irritation, and amusement from onlookers in the business district of downtown Pittsburgh.

At the head of the funeral march where pallbearers carried a cardboard coffin, a man shouted into a microphone while someone else carried a portable amplifier, “when people with AIDS are under attack, what do we do ?” and marchers shouted in unison, “fight back!”

Amidst the early afternoon bustle of an weekday, the demonstrators repeated this call-and-answer and similar chants as the funeral march made its way around the perimeter of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the site of the G-20 Summit later this week.

Erica Goldberg works with ACT UP Philadelphia. She said global health is not on the agenda of the G-20 Summit.

Tom Friedman's idiocy atomique

France's atomic power industry is a failed radioactive flame. Its 58 reactors are unpopular, unsafe, uneconomical, dirty, direct agents of global warming, weapons proliferators and major generators of atomic waste for which there is no management solution.

But self-proclaimed "green advocate" Thomas Friedman seems to think otherwise. In his just published New York Times op ed "Real Men Tax Gas" Friedman applies the term "wimp" to those who fail to fight global warming. But in true corporate style, he can't face the hard truths about France's industrie atomique. To wit:

1) In denial verging on psychosis, Friedman says France has "managed to deal with all the radioactive waste issues without any problems or panic." In fact, France's unsolved waste problem has thousands of ultra-hot fuel rods building up at reactor sites, just like here. Its hugely expensive attempts to reprocess spent fuel cause devastating radiation releases into the English Channel and elsewhere, prompting continual demands from around Europe that they stop.

ACORN

An album release of holy proportions

On Friday September 4, I went to an album release party for the Artist named “Fly Boy” at Expressions. I didn’t know what to expect from him but he brought a powerful performance. Being that Fly Boy was a Christian Rapper, he chose to have other Christian Artists open and warm up the audience for him. Artists included were “Jahova’s Boy,” “Har-vey,” “Icee Jake,” “Zero” and “Star.” They all delivered a powerful performance and the crowd was eager to see where Fly Boy would take the emotion.

Fly Boy came in with a lounge style instrumental performed by the live band that he had with him on the stage. During one of his songs he called his group “Fly Mental” to the stage and about a third of those standing joined him on the stage to perform an interlude which was just amazing. Fly Boy decided to announce in between his next song that everyone on the stage with him doesn’t just say it, they live it.

Wingnuts United for Shouting

Boehner and fellow Republicans Stump For Opposition to Waxman-Markey Bill

US Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and US Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) hosted what was billed as an "energy summit" at the Ohio State University's 4-H Center on Sept 2, 2009. Joining the panel of Republican lawmakers opposed to Waxman-Markey, the climate bill which the House passed in June, was Christopher C. Horner, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism). Though a press release described event as a "town-hall meeting", perhaps a mistake from one of the lawmakers offices, the panel took no questions from the sparse audience.

House Minority Leader Boehner said "the president said that with cap and trade, only the polluters are going to pay. But who are those polluters? One of them is AK Steel. Under the proposal, AK Steel would be out of business, because their competitors in India and China will be able to produce steel at a much cheaper rate."

U.S. Drug War Priorities in Need of Re-Evaluation

On August 26, 2001, syndicated columnist David Broder penned the Op-Ed, "U.S. Drug War Priorities in Need of Re-Evaluation", which appeared in the Columbus Dispatch among a number of Midwest newspapers. Just eight days later, FBI agents joined a raid on the Rainbow Farm in southern Michigan and killed the well-known marijuana reform activists, Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm.
Reacting to this tragedy, I wrote the following LTE to the Columbus Dispatch:

Dear Editor,

Bob Blog: Roll over Damschroder and tell Rove the news

I’m always amazed at the political career of Matt Damschroder, Deputy Director of the Franklin County Board of Elections. He’s just been named to the bipartisan Committee to Modernize Voter Registration (CMVR).

Matt first came to political prominence in Columbus when he managed the right wing “Flag Lady’s” campaign for City Council. The visibility of her little flag shop on High Street allowed her to do much better than expected in a close defeat.

Matt went on from there to be known as “the chauffer” – the guy who drove around and literally wheeled around former Franklin County Republican Party Chair Michael F. Colley. He went from being Colley’s wheel-man to replacing Colley as the Franklin County Republican Party Chair.

The Columbus Free Press seeks your input on The American Clean Energy and Security Act, which is headed for the U.S. Senate this fall

****To whoever may be interested in responding to the following arguments made against the legislation, which is also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill, here are many of the points made at a public event that US Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and US Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) hosted on Sept 2, 2009, at the Ohio State University.
Your input will be added to this article if you phone in, email, or otherwise communicate your ideas. Send comments to:
thomasover@gmail.com and/or phone them in at 614 202 0178. ****

House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R-OH) said "the president said that with cap and trade, only the polluters are going to pay. But who are those polluters? One of them is AK Steel. Under the proposal, AK Steel would be out of business, because their competitors in India and China will be able to produce steel at a much cheaper rate."

Ohio’s Democratic Leaders Spurn Their Party’s Traditional Values

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and House Speaker Armond Budish claim to be Democrats. But in the biennial state budget they approved in 2009, they gave Ohioans more reasons to wonder whatever happened to the Ohio Democratic Party that once billed itself as “the party of the people.”
Trickle-down Dems?
In recent years, state Democratic leaders have endorsed tax cuts for the richest Ohioans. Strickland boasts of his support for the across-the-board 21% income-tax reductions enacted in 2005 by Republican Gov. Bob Taft and the then-Republican General Assembly. The cuts were to be phased in over five years, and Strickland has protected them since becoming governor in 2007.

Moreover, in his first year in office, Strickland expanded Ohio’s homestead exemption to include wealthy older Ohioans, even billionaires. The exemption excludes property taxes on up to the first $25,000 of a home’s market value and previously applied only to older Ohioans making below a certain income level.

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