This is an exposition of the photographic essay by William Pepper about the children of Vietnam that Martin King first saw on January l4, l967. Initially, while he hadn’t had a chance to read the text, it was the photographs that stopped him. As Bernard Lee who was present at the time said, “Martin had known about the [Vietnam] war before then, of course, and had spoken out against it. But it was then that he decided to commit himself to oppose it.” Pepper’s essay contains the most powerful creative energy on earth: truth force. It is as relevant 50 years later as it was in 1967. Martin King steadfastly exhorted all to confront and grapple with the triple prong sickness—lurking within the U.S. body politic from its inception—of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism.

For actor/activist James Cromwell and other ecologists, December 7, 2017 is another date that will live in infamy, as a Pearl Harbor Day for bald eagles, the symbol of America. As part of his ongoing struggle against fracking, Cromwell was back in court this week observing a hearing regarding the fate of the controversial Competitive Power Ventures power plant in Orange County, N.Y. Although there is currently a moratorium on fracking in N.Y. State, the disputed process is allowed just across the border. According to Cromwell, methane gas is drilled out of the shale fields in eastern Pennsylvania for transport via pipeline across State lines to Wawayanda, N.Y. Activists are anxious about the possibility of leaks, as well as fracking’s role in climate change.

Dred Scott lives!

With the Supreme Court’s declaration that President Trump’s third version of a Muslim travel ban is now enforceable, even as legal challenges against it proceed, the court and the country reopen the racism that permeates American history.

“The question is simply this: Can a negro, whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitution of the United States, and as such become entitled to all the rights, and privileges, and immunities, guaranteed by that instrument to the citizen?”

Donald Trump is tweeting about a particular spot in Hawaii. He visited it recently on his way to threaten war in Asia. It’s a big feature this week in lots of U.S. magazines and newspapers. It has a lovely name that sounds like murder and blood because Japanese airplanes engaged in large-scale murder there in 1941: Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor Day today is like Columbus Day 50 years ago. That is to say: most people still believe the hype. The myths are still maintained in their blissful unquestioned state. “New Pearl Harbors” are longed for by war makers, claimed, and exploited. Yet the original Pearl Harbor remains the most popular U.S. argument for all things military, including the long-delayed remilitarization of Japan — not to mention the WWII internment of Japanese Americans as a model for targeting other groups today. Believers in Pearl Harbor imagine for their mythical event, in contrast to today, a greater U.S. innocence, a purer victimhood, a higher contrast of good and evil, and a total necessity of defensive war making.

A press conference with a black man in a suit holding a mic for another black man with glasses and a white shirt to talk into and other people standing around watching

Columbus City Council members opened up their emails on November 20 to find a letter from Leah Aden, Senior Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (the “LDF”) calling for their attention. The LDF, which President Obama once called “simply the best civil rights law firm in American history,” sent a heavily footnoted letter to outgoing City Council President and future City Attorney Zach Klein announcing the “LDF is conducting a review of Columbus’ at-large electoral method for members of its city council. We have substantial concerns that this electoral method may violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 … by denying voters of color in Columbus of the equal opportunity to elect their preferred candidates to this important local body.” In requesting a written response by December 18, Aden wrote “We write to provide the city council with this information so that this body can pursue an inclusive, fair course of action and avoid potentially costly and lengthy litigation that may be required to ensure compliance with Section 2 and other applicable laws.”

The words Renee was HERE spray painted on a brown wall and a black woman with short hair and a red and white shirt with a black necklace and black pants stands against the wall looking to the right

We finished at most 25 percent, or hopefully 50 percent, of suffering through a horrible new presidency. 2018 will emerge as a chance for state and congressional changes – albeit one where money, gerrymandering and racism will try to destroy our democracy. Reminder: Putin was an unpopular figure in his country who has used a sex scandal and terrorist attacks to gain power, which let him do many things including decriminalize domestic violence and end term limits.

The Obama administration toppled Gaddafi in Libya. Look at the mess there. Imagine a foreign power like Putin working with the “Lewis Powell Manifesto.”  Will Oligarchy Tax Empowerment and student debt create indentured servitude here?

My point: in 2018 please use critical thinking: no matter what distractions present themselves. Putin and our carpet-bagging President will not create a utopia.

Albums of the Year

1. Kendrick Lamar - Damn

2. Jay-Z- 444

3. Tyler, the Creator - Flowerboy

4. Joey Badass - All-American Badass

5. Renée Dion- Haven

Local Album of the Year: Renee Dion - Haven

The word loading in purple at the bottom and lines going around in a circle on the right side

Do you use the internet? Like, at all? On your phone, on your laptop, on a big glowing gaming rig or a desktop held together with chewing gum and good thoughts? Then you should know we’re on the cusp of something that could destroy the internet as we know it: the end of government-enforced net neutrality.

Back in our June 2017 issue, I wrote about what net neutrality is and why it matters. But so much has been happening that it feels like years since then, so I’ll give you a refresher: “Net neutrality” is the policy that all internet traffic should be treated the same regardless of its source. Service providers aren’t allowed to throttle, for example, Netflix, which they might want to do to make their own streaming service look more appealing or so they can charge an extra fee to get it at full speed. Or they might just do it because they think it’s too much of a burden on their networks – they’ve done it before.

While the Netflix example is the most likely to spur your average citizen into action, it’s also vital to anyone whose politics fall left of center to keep the internet free from corporate control and censorship.

Four photos of men in band put together in one block, top left a white man with a brown beard playing a guitar and signing, top right a black man in a hat and goatee with plaid shirt and brown jacket leaning away from a mic while singing, bottom left a white man with grayish hair mouth wide open at mic and bottom right a bald man playing a guitar at a mic

On November 26, 1976, legendary Canadian-American rock group The Band performed their final concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. In addition to Rick, Robbie, Garth, Richard and Levon, the show featured a who’s who of rock royalty including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and others. The performance was filmed by Martin Scorsese, and subsequently was released as the concert film The Last Waltz. It is probably the greatest rock film of all time, and subsequent controversy makes it even better.

On November 17, 2017, Columbus put on its fourth annual tribute to the Last Waltz at the Newport Music Hall. As was the case with the original, a core group performed the role of The Band itself, playing 15 or so tunes featured in the movie and/or the soundtrack. In addition to these duties, they backed up a series of individuals impersonating the guest stars from Winterland. They were troopers for sure – I would think they were on stage for at least three and a half hours.

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