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Two of the last four commercial nuclear power plants under construction in the United States—both of them at the V.C. Summer site in South Carolina—have been cancelled. A decision on the remaining two, which are in Georgia, will be made in August.

“DING DONG, Summer is dead,” says Glenn Carroll, one of a core group of safe energy activists who have labored for decades to rid the southeast of these last four reactor projects.

Pictures of a bag of health sugar and certified organic food against a bright colorful tie-dyed background

What to buy

Buy Fair Trade Items

The term “Fair Trade” may conjure up a variety of images in the minds of consumers today: “hipsters” sipping on special coffee, higher priced sections of produce at the grocery store, all-hemp clothing and handbags, or an overall vision of a “natural” lifestyle. Many of us, however, don’t know what the Fair Trade industry truly consists of. There is more to this craze than meets the eye. In a nutshell, Fair Trade is all about ethical business practices and individual consumers using their purchasing power to decide what kind of world we live in.

What is Fair Trade?

Concisely explained on non-profit Fair Trade USA’s website, this industry practices “rigorous social, environmental and economic standards (that) work to promote safe, healthy working conditions, protect the environment, enable transparency and empower communities to build strong, thriving businesses” (http://fairtradeusa.org/what-is-fair-trade).

Time magazine cover with heavy white haired man holding American flag and words Yanks to the rescue

Why would Russia meddle in a U.S. presidential election? They were just returning the favor.

This Time magazine cover from July 15, 1996 documents it all. The United States bragged about helping rig the Russian presidential election that year, helping drunken authoritarian Boris Yeltsin remain in power.

How and why could this happen? A good place to start is the book Rewriting Russian History: Did Boris Yeltsin Steal the 1996 Election?

Yes he did. And the U.S. directly meddled in the election.

Yeltsin was much beloved by U.S. neo-cons because he allowed the massive expansion of NATO into the former Soviet bloc and U.S. and western corporations to control many Russian natural resources.

Going into his 1996 re-election campaign, Yeltsin’s poll numbers were worse than Trump’s and opinion said he was unelectable.

U.S. political operatives came to the rescue, many tied to former California governor Pete Wilson, becoming Yeltsin’s “secret campaign weapon,” according to Eleanor Randolph of the LA Times.

Bird's eye view of the serpent mound, a green snaky looking thing on the ground, surrounded by trees

Built by native peoples roughly 2,000 years ago, the Ohio Earthworks – such as Serpent Mound and the Newark Octagon – are on the threshold ofachieving global recognition by the United Nations.

An Ohio Earthworks application for World Heritage Site inscription as designated by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has been in the works by Ohio archaeologists and other experts for over ten years and is set for submission sometime in 2018.

Currently, the Ohio Earthworks are on the “US Tentative List”, but those working on the application told the Free Press they believe it’s just a matter of time before Serpent Mound and the other earthworks become inscribed. There are over 1,000 UNESCO sites across the globe, but Ohio has none.

Inscription would no doubt rectify the past as European settlers and their ancestors demolished many of Ohio’s pre-historic effigies, mounds and burial sites, seeing them as nothing more than piles of dirt.

Biblical-looking men with their arms raised to heaven around a big gold flashy light

Editor's note: In March of 2017, researchers from the British Museum excavating an archeological site in Greece made one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century. Sealed in a clay jar was a copy of the lost third epistle from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. The letter addresses Paul's growing concern about the Church of Corinth's use of Christian Rock praise bands in worship services. What follows is a verbatim translation from the original Greek.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes.

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Girl with lots of tatoos

Bishops, the notorious unisex barbershop originally from Portland, OR is opening its first location in Columbus. By fostering a culture where people can be “different together”, the new shop will empower locals to act more boldly and feel more confident in their individuality. Accessible pricing and a sharp, unpretentious staff makes self care attainable at Bishops.

An hourglass with the earth on top and a dark gray skyline on the bottom with the words an inconvenient truth to power

Thursday, August 3, 7-9pm
Gateway Film Center, 1550 N. High St.
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. 
Former Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world to train an army of activists and influence international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes -- in moments both private and public, funny and poignant -- as he pursues the inspirational idea that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/huX1bmfdkyA
Join us for a panel discussion immediately following the film including:
Rev. Susan Smith (Crazy Faith Ministries) - environmental justice
Chad Stephens (Sierra Club) - energy efficiency
Cathy Cowan Becker (Sierra Club) - Ready for 100 campaign

Cartoon of Trump with yellow hair and orange jumpsuit from prison

Angst, fear and loathing are the overwhelming emotions six months into the disastrous Trump presidency. Just exactly who, or what, do we have at the helm of the United States Ship of State, and the little red button that could end life as we know it?            

This month’s Free Press cover depicts a Trump regime floundering in rough sea waters, with the Don confident, but clueless.

The planet and its leaders are watching in horror as the ship appears to be capsizing. Trump and his fools enrich themselves, all the while gleefully decimating domestic social programs, dooming the environment and destroying our nation’s relationships around the world.

Charles Wince, the artist, is asking: just who is steering this ship of fools?

A buffoon? A bully? An oft-bankrupt billionaire businessman? A Benito Mussolini in the making?

Simply put, what we have is an international criminal hell-bent on continuing his crime spree within and without his corrupt administration. Making the world safe for oligarchy.

Casinos, luxury hotels equals money laundering

Women with dark hair leaning over hiding her face with a book, Saving Banksy

I watched Saving Banksy in my boxers at 4am. This Netflix feature is one of my favorites of this summer next to Rick & Moraty, Dumb and Casual on Hulu. I had just polished off some Ramen with peanut butter, siracha, just a hint of the garlic and random vegetables sauce. I call it “Pad Thai that doesn’t cost 10 dollars.”

After spilling some broth on my shirt, I watched Revok, Risk, Banksy’s bombing partner Ben Eine and various people discuss a Banksy painting that was procured from a rooftop, and raised issues of the commodification of art.

Once the film ended, I noticed Eva Boros was credited with executive producing and screenwriting, I kind of knew this from the Columbus musicians that sound tracked some of the film, and social network feeds that didn’t quite register in my brain prior.

I said, “Hey this women is from Columbus.” I hit her in the DM, and later we exchanged this email. The Free Press had a production deadline looming. If you’re from Columbus, and/or friends with Miss Boro, I apologizes for the brevity.

Where were you a Columbus “local” in Middle School?

Upper Arlington. I went to Jones middle school.

Naked man's back with red glow at the bottom and him holding it as if in pain

Call me crazy, but I’ll never forget how thrilled I was the day I discovered I could crack my own back.

It wasn’t a matter of money. One of my best friends was a chiropractor with a posh if minimalist office just a block or so around the corner from my office at the time, 30 Fifth Avenue. I would swing by during his mid-morning or late afternoon lull and he’d take care of me in a New York minute: cervical, mid-thoracic, sacroiliac joint.

He wasn’t one of those chiros who loaded you up with Standard Process supplements on your way out the door. No, he stuck to his knitting – subluxations of the axial skeleton – and I appreciated that. But was this what I had to look forward to: maintenance care for life? De-kink my neck and back, un-torque the SI joint-- month after month, year upon year? Turns out it wasn’t.

My self-care discovery happened completely by accident. We were on the floor stretching after, what was it, an “Abs of Steel” or “Botsu Booty” class at my gym. All this lying on the floor and exhalation stuff was kind of new to me, but once I gave into it cool things started happening.

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