I’m old-fashioned. I think you can only learn so much about a candidate by reading about him and watching him on video.

I believe you must experience a candidate up close and personal by seeing him speak, watching him interact with voters, and by having a face-to-face conversation.

Enter Jeff Crossman, the Democratic running for state attorney general. On paper and on video, he came across as a good candidate, but I wanted that real life contact.

I got it three weeks ago when the Parma-based state representative appeared before the Third Friday Democrat group in Columbus. I was not disappointed. The 50-year-old lawyer wowed me and the crowd with a straight up speech that Ohio has been poorly served by the current AG and his Republican cronies, that corruption has been running rampant in the Buckeye State, and that he had the backbone necessary to clean up the mess.

Crossman told the group that his opponent was sometimes careless with the truth and the public has a right to be angry at AG David Yost for inaction and obfuscation.

We begin GREE-GREE #113 with a celebration of Indigenous People’s Day led by TATANKA BRICCA and the reminder that whatever democracy and freedom we enjoy in America is rooted with our native peoples---especially with the Hodenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy.

JOEL SEGAL fills us in on the fight of Puerto Rico to rise again from yet another horrific storm, one that’s also brought terrifying death and destruction to much of Florida.

We then hear from CHRISTIAN NUNES, President of the National Organization for Women, as she and WENDI LEDERMAN take us on a deep dive into the core of women’s issues in the world today.  Roe v. Wade is “on the ballot” and, as Christian tells us, the issues cut far deeper than abortion.

The game may be almost over.

Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S.Davies put it this way:

“The irresolvable dilemma facing Western leaders is that this is a no-win situation. How can they militarily defeat Russia, when it possesses 6,000 nuclear warheads and its military doctrine explicitly states that it will use them before it will accept an existential military defeat?”

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Mass cremations lit up the night sky on Tuesday (October 11) in northeast Thailand during Buddhist funerals for 36 people, including 24 children, massacred by a ranting x-cop.

Dead children were dressed in newly-tailored clothes of their fantasy careers, including tiny white coats and uniforms for those who hoped to be doctors or nurses, military uniforms for would-be soldiers, or civilian outfits if they fancied becoming teachers or other work.

Local Buddhist temples refused to cremate the killer's corpse, so it was secretly burned at a temple elsewhere in a ceremony attended by a handful of his relatives.

The king arranged "royally-sponsored cremations" at three main Buddhist temples in and around Uthai Sawan town where the slaughter took place.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha flew to the small town to meet relatives and survivors, and led the main cremation ceremony.

Smaller cremations were being held at other nearby Buddhist temples where relatives also brought corpses in coffins.

Mourners suffered remembering the horror.

The Free Press community gathered Saturday, October 8 for the Second Saturday Salon. But it was a special salon event, as it doubled as the annual awards ceremony. This year, the Free Press honored Joe Motil with the 2022 "Libby" award for Lifetime Achievement in Community Activism.

Watch the video here

The Free Press is published by the nonprofit Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism (CICJ). Mark Stansbery, board member, emceed the event, held in the lovely party room at Mozart's Cafe in Clintonville.

Mark introduced Esther Flores, the 2021 Free Press Libby award honoree, spoke about Libby Gregory, former Free Press editor and namesake of the annual award. Libby was a tireless activist and advocate for human rights, as is Esther, who manages 1DivineLine2Health, a local nonprofit that works with "street sisters."