Tsunami "carpetbaggers" reap real estate profits

Bangkok, Thailand – Katrina's victims may learn lessons from Thailand's tsunami where DNA and real estate profits have become priorities, and thousands of survivors still cannot cope eight months after rescue.

Unlike impoverished Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, quake-propelled tidal swells hit Thailand's glitzy tourist zone, killing more than 5,400 Thai residents and foreigners.

It became a crash-course for U.S. and international aid workers dealing with relatively prosperous victims in vicious floods.

Investigators needed to quickly determine the identities of Thailand's tsunami toll — so relatives could file insurance claims, inherit property, and stay in business.

Interpol tried to ensure criminals did not fake their own deaths to dodge arrest amid the tsunami's chaos.

The uniqueness of popular tattoos became a valuable clue, identifying many Westerners' corpses in Thailand.

Expensive, private, American and other security firms became a growth industry, along with scam artists, clairvoyants and others seeking to profit from the hunt for missing loved ones.

LPFM comes to Columbus! An Open Letter to the Central Ohio Community from Simply Living

Dear Friends,

On October 5th, Simply Living and three other local organizations (Bexley Public Radio Foundation, Community Refugee and Immigration Service and Groveport Madison Local School District) were granted a long-awaited construction permit from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to build a Low Power FM (LPFM) radio station. (By definition, a low power station operates at 100 watts, which the FCC considers to cover a five-mile radius. In actuality the signal can cover up to an eleven-mile radius.) This action was the culmination of a series of filings and agreements which included a timeshare agreement whereby we share the signal, 102.1 FM, and programming with the three other permit holders. According to the permit, we have until April 2007 to put this station on the air. Pertinent to this process is the parallel effort of Columbus Community Radio Foundation to build a 170 watt translator station at 98.3 FM in Grandview, a station that by definition cannot originate programming but can pick up another station's programming and broadcast it to a wider audience, due to its higher power.

Coup d'tat in Ohio?

In April when I wrote "An Evening with Rod Parsley" for the Free Press, I noted that guest speaker former UN ambassador and presidential candidate Alan Keyes hinted to an audience of several thousand at Parsley's World Harvest Church that Ohio, with Parsley's guidance, would soon be an experiment, inspiration and model for Christian Nationalists throughout the country. Unfortunately, that section of my article was cut due to space considerations. (The whole piece can be found at my Theoconia blog (see below). Keyes' hints have now been made flesh with Parsley's new socio-political redemption project, Reformation Ohio.

Rally by hate group spurs insurrection in Toledo, Ohio

October 15th, Toledo, Ohio was the scene of a violent confrontation between police and demonstrators after Neo-Nazis held a rally in a African-American neighborhood on the north side of Toledo. The rally by the Nazis was promoted throughout the local media and anti-fascist activists from around the Midwest were gathered to protest as well as countless members of the community. As the crowd grew to close to 600 people, some eggs and other items were tossed at the Nazis who held up their white power signs in front of their faces as shields. The police responded by riding their horses out into the crowd and protecting the Nazis with shielded officers. They singled out a youth wearing a Cincinnati Red’s hat and arrested him without any explanation. The crowd grew indignant as the Nazis were then escorted by police to where residents believed they were going to begin their march.

The third wave of victims of Katrina/Rita

The devastation and misery created in so many lives by the recent hurricanes is horrible. And the outpouring of generosity and assistance by government, organized philanthropy and the general public is wonderful. It is impossible to be perpetually confronted with the scope of the tragedy and not want to respond.

And yet, here in Columbus, our homeless neighbors are being issued tickets by the police for “camping” on public land because the shelters cannot accommodate them, while evacuees are receiving free rent and utilities.

It has been a year since the City of Columbus bulldozed The Open Shelter facility on the Scioto Peninsula, hiding behind the official position that we were no longer necessary. And in that one year, our Advocacy and Day Center has worked with 4,000 different people – twice as many as last year, even though we no longer can provide shelter ourselves.

PA ia no different

As I understand from the governor's commission which looked into irregularities in 2004, the electronic voting machines in PA have no paper trail because it is not needed-- since all the machines are certified by the commission as safe and tamper proof.  In fact , according to the commission, the paper trail is considered a waste of money.  In other words the governor of PA through his commission says, "trust me--I vouch that these machines are OK."  and I guess that is supposed to be the end of it.   Unless someone in the press says that this is not a good enough answer and prods- the politicians.  Please investigate PA also.

Are they stupid, or are they lying?

AUSTIN, Texas -- One of our better political commentators, Tom Tomorrow, has boiled down our entire current political debate to one question: "Are they stupid, or are they lying?" This seems to me pretty much how it goes, each side reduced to accusing the other of living in an alternate reality.

Let's see if we can't find a way to frame the question that would allow an answer from empirical evidence both sides can agree on. When it comes to many actions of the Republican Congress, there is now a substantial track record of results. The evidence is in.

For five years now, the Republicans have promised us that business tax cuts would strengthen the economy, create new jobs, spur growth, foster investment, and bring beer and skittles for everyone. Over five fiscal years, the tax cuts have had a direct cost to the treasury of $860 billion -- with interest, $929 billion.

Protect sick patients

I am writing you to let you know about an important bill in the Ohio Senate that will protect sick patients and their caregivers. The bill is Senate Bill 74, the Ohio Marijuana Act sponsored by Senator Robert Hagan with the Ohio Patient Network.

http://ohiopatient.net/v2/content/view/65/88/

The Ohio Patient Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit coalition of patients, caregivers, activists and medical professionals who support the compassionate use of cannabis for various medicinal purposes. Our mission is to coordinate information between patients, medical professionals, and attorneys, as well as to educate the public and keep the interested current with the movement`s news. To learn more about OPN and our efforts please visit:

http://ohiopatient.net/v2/

The Ohio Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA), otherwise known as Ohio SB 74 introduced by Senator Hagan, is currently in committee. That committee is the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, chaired by Sen. Jim Jordan.

Contact info for Sen. Jordan:

Referendum votes

Tragic, tragic.
I agree with you,  and  just cannot  believe  people can be so dumb.
Sincerely,
John Wiseman

Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman on electronic voting

Thank you for printing Fitrakis and Wasserman's article on electronic vote shenanigans.  It is critical that we raise a cry about this.  It is absolutely unbelieveable that the American people have accepted this.

Even more alarming is this little story I will relate to you.

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