This month marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Hollywood Blacklist. On October 27, 1947, screenwriter John Howard Lawson, the first member of what came to be known as the “Hollywood Ten,” testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee. (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7W3XbDZqO4.) The contentious, testy testimony before a gavel-banging Congressman in Washington launched the Hollywood Blacklist, wherein members of the motion picture industry who refused to “cooperate” with HUAC by informing on themselves and others about their leftist politics were forbidden from working in the movies until roughly 1960, when the Hollywood Ten’s Dalton Trumbo received screen credits under his real name (instead of a pseudonym) for writing Spartacus and Exodus.

Wednesday, October 12, 2022, 4:00 PM
We have a chance to both hold and gain ground on civil liberties this election season – but it's going to take all of us to make that happen.  

Join the townhall to hear from ACLU leaders who will outline our strategy for mobilizing people to vote their values – and how dedicated supporters like you can help in your communities.  

Tuesday, October 11, 6pm, this on-line event requires advance registration

Your health matters; learn how fossil fuels, that are the feedstock for plastics, are impacting the health of our children and our own physical and mental health.

With this latest report from the Physicians for Social Responsibility out about how PFAS [Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances] have been used in the fracking industry in Ohio, it is more important than ever that Ohioans and everyone in the Ohio River Valley and beyond understand the impacts of petrochemicals on their health. Use this link to view this report.

Many people don’t know that fracked gas is mostly used to make single use plastics.

Join us on October 11 at 6pm; please share this event widely!

RSVP for this event by using this link.

(The following is a fictitious memo from Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign manager to the governor. It is make-believe, but it contains much truth.)

Good morning, Governor!

It is another lovely fall day in Ohio. The leaves are turning. I am sure there is lots to be done on your farm, but it will have to wait until after Nov. 8.

Things are looking very good, governor, as you have lengthened your lead in the public opinion polls over you know who since the primary.

Your opponent and her advisers apparently had no plan beyond winning the May 3 primary over the upstart John Cranley, and they had to turn to Sen. Sherrod Brown to do a million dollars’ worth of TV ads to defeat Cranley.

While your foe was figuring out what to do next, you were quietly mending fences with the misguided Republicans who did not vote for you in the primary. That effort was advanced when you had to make that inconvenient trip to Youngstown airport to receive the blessing of none other than Donald J. Trump. How you managed to keep him from endorsing one of your opponents in the primary is a secret that I am happy to let you keep!

The following was presented by Becca Calhoun member of the Committee to Defend Julian Assange – Ohio at the Saturday, October 8 rally and march at the Ohio Statehouse and U.S. Federal Courthoue in Columbus.

Thanks to you folks who are giving your Saturday hours on this international day to defend Julian Assange. Thousands of people have now formed a human chain around Parliament in London demanding Julian Assange’s Freedom. There is a Hands Off Assange event at the Justice Department in D.C. right now, with a list of VIP speakers and public intellectuals who are defending Julian Assange because of what his prosecution represents. We marched down to the Federal Courthouse because this is the institution that is charged to keep the government’s actions in line with the U.S. Constitution and our cherished Bill of Rights.