Two very large marijuana plants in pots under a grow light

GW Pharmaceuticals: Savior of mankind or bane of human existence?

Once upon a time, there was a guy who knew a lot about marijuana. He attended cannabis conferences and participated in presentations. He hobnobbed with a wealthy well-known insurance magnate.  Eccentric described him, but he also had a wonky, biochemical side intent on legitimizing marijuana as medicine. He claimed he had “no beef with people who grow, smoke, or provide their own cannabis.” He decried the drug war’s toll on U.S. marijuana policy. 

But there was another side. He’s been portrayed as the master mind behind an unfair marijuana monopoly that patents plants, extraction techniques, medicines and extract inhalers – and then sues violators. A Monsanto that resorts to heavy-handed police state scare tactics. A purveyor of prohibition that prevents people from managing personal healthcare or growing personal medicine.

Young dark skinned woman in a burqa smiling and a young white man in a suit looking serious behind her

Politics rears its head only toward the end of the National Geographic documentary Science Fair. That’s when various people complain about the current status of science in the U.S., whose officials routinely dismiss research on issues such as climate change and environmental health.

Otherwise, the film is an uplifting celebration of high school students who vie for the chance to win honors at Los Angeles’ Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), a huge event that annually attracts 1,700 of the best and brainiest from across the globe.

Sure, the students are competing for a shot at fame and glory—and to impress the colleges and universities they hope to enter. But in the process, they put their intellectual skills to work on complex problems whose solutions could benefit us all.

The implicit message: If given half a chance, nerds could save the world.

 

Blonde woman with glasses holding her hand up as if swearing to tell the truth
From the beginning of time, according to the Bible, women were made from the body of a man, were created to help man, to give birth to men and to serve men. Women were a mere second thought in the plan, according to the Bible. Even though there are many Atheists, many people who don’t believe in the Bible, and even say they believe in women’s equal rights, these are some of the same people who subconsciously see women as inferior to men. The woman remains on the bottom pole of most countries, they are still fighting for their rights to be seen, heard and acknowledged as an important piece of society.   From the beginning of time, women have been treated as sexual objects, with the responsibility of providing sexual favors to men. They have been traded off as “prizes” during war times, they have been sold as sex slaves, they have been beheaded and stoned to death for committing adultery while their husbands have openly had mistresses. Women and young girls have been raped, tortured, and murdered by family members, friends of the family and people unknown. Rape laws from the ancient near east, in areas such as Babylonia and Assyria,
Gray haired woman smiling

Tuesday, Octobr 2, 7-10pm
1021 E. Broad St.
Jill Stein will be here to support Constance Gadell-Newton's race for governor.

Two stark protest signs one saying Keep Edith Home and one saying  Keep Families Together

Tuesday, October 2, 7-9pm, Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave.

Show your support for Edith Espinal by joining our neighbors and local communities of faith for a vigil as Edith reaches one year in Sanctuary at Columbus Mennonite Church.

A press conference will be held at 6pm before the vigil begins.

Hosted by Solidarity with Edith Espinal.

Facebook Event

 


 

Read this headline: “To Avoid Repeating Catastrophic Mistake of Iraq Invasion, Senate Bill Would Forbid Attack on Iran Without Congressional Approval.”

Consider these facts:

The Senate voted to let Bush attack Iraq.

So did the House.

The pair of them continue to fund the U.S. military occupation of Iraq to this day.

Older black man, bald with gray mustache and beard in a gray and white shirt holding a photo and standing in front of lots of other photos on the wall.

The Free Press is happy to announce that the family of Bill Moss is awarding the Bill Moss Award for an Outstanding African American activist posthumously to Columbus photographer Kojo Kamau. His work is on permanent display at the Columbus Museum of Art and exhibited across the U.S. and internationally. He traveled extensively and documented the varieties of cultures in North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. He is also known for photos of celebrities. He created an organization to promote and encourage blacka artists in 1979 called Art for Community Expression (ACE). Kojo passed away in December 2016 but his legacy lives on in Columbus. 

The Free Press Awards ceremony is Monday, October 8. 6-10pm at Woodlands Tavern, 1200 West Third Avenue in Grandview. There will be food, drink, an awards ceremony and live music by Willie Phoenis, Coffee House Rebels, Something Else and Gilded Sun. All are welcome, $10 at the door or sliding scale. 

Facebook Event

Black silhouettes of people on a walk to the right carrying backpacks and bags

Sunday, September 30, 2018, 1:00 – 5:00 PM. 

I stumbled upon Moroni for President purely by chance and boy, am I glad that I did. It just so happened to fit into my schedule covering the LA Film Festival so I popped into the ArcLight Theatre, not knowing what I’d see. Based on its name, I thought it might be a satire based on Trump about a moron running for the White House. But to paraphrase an old saying, don’t judge a film by its title. It turned out that Finnish filmmaker Saila Huusko and Dutch co-director Jaspen Rischen’s directorial debut was actually a documentary about someone named Moroni Benally, who indeed was actually running for president.

 

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