I gave this letter to DNC Chair Candidate Sam Ronan to give to every DNC candidate. He has promised me that he will deliver it. I am also emailing it to their campaigns.

Greetings,

My name is Bijan Nader Sharifi, I am a former U.S. Army infantryman, first generation Iranian-American, and currently I teach high school art in a juvenile correctional facility. I have been concerned with U.S. policy in the Middle East since my time serving in the Army. I remember watching the events of Sep 11th, 2001 in our company training room on a small television surrounded by 150 other soldiers. We immediately knew after the second plane hit that there would be a war. I remember the conflicted feelings of shame and ethnic pride hitting me in the gut when my platoon sergeant thought out loud “that it was probably the Iranians”. I was relieved to find out that Iran had nothing to do with the attack and that there was a spontaneous candlelight vigil in Tehran that night. Soldiers in my unit unfortunately did not recognize the difference between Arabs and Persians and had not heard of the candlelight vigils all over the Middle East.

On November 21st, California secessionists calling themselves “Yes California” filed papers with the California Secretary of State proposing a November 2018 ballot measure that would ask registered voters whether California should secede from the US and become its own nation. If passed, the measure would strike language from California’s constitution that says the state is “an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.” It would also require a special election in March 2019 for the sole purpose of asking voters whether they’re really sure they want to secede. The measure has been dubbed Calexit after Brexit, which is shorthand for Britain’s vote to withdraw from the European Union.

Saturday, February 11, 2017, 6:30-11:00pm
1021 E. Broad St., parking in side driveway, front or rear parking lot
Join progressive activists for food, drink, art music and a presentation:

A former gang member, Sean Stevenson was incarcerated for 20 years as a result of his gang activities. He is now in a unique position to talk to youth about avoiding gang activity and violence.  In his program stop the violence he does outreach to at risk youth in Columbus.  He and his organization encourage young people to focus  s on education family and work instead of the gang lifestyle.

Connie Gadell-Newton is a criminal defense attorney in Columbus who represents the general public and activist in civil disobedience cases. She will give a know your rights presentation that covers what to do and what not to do when a person has police contact in their home, car, or at a protest.

Free, no RSVP required.
614-253-2571

Facebook Event

WASHINGTON DC -- Moments ago, Reuters reported that in a phone call between Russian and U.S. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, Trump rejected the possibility of extending the New START Treaty and derided the nuclear arms control agreement as favoring Russia.

The New START Treaty requires that both the United States and Russia reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550 accountable offensively deployed weapons by 2018, the lowest level since the 1950s. It also caps the number deployed land- and submarine-based missiles and nuclear-capable bombers. It does all this under rigorous on-the-ground inspections by both countries. 

In reaction to the press report, Bruce Blair, co-founder of Global Zero, the international movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons, issued the following statement:

A few blocks north of Old Worthington’s quaint downtown area, Executive Center, an unobtrusive brick office complex, is nestled between a bank and another office building, and surrounded by a generous parking lot. On most days passersby are unlikely to notice the building managed by international real estate giant CBRE, but on January 14th a group of protesters lining North High Street in front of Executive Center with signs bearing anti-racist slogans directed at Greg Anglin, one of its tenants, were hard to miss.

The “Demonstration Against Hate From Worthington To Whitefish,” was organized by Columbus’ chapter of Anti-Racist Action (ARA), to raise awareness about Morningstar Ministries’ ties to Daily Stormer, a neo-nazi news site popular with Alt Right millennials, run by Greg Anglin’s globe-trotting son, Andrew, who grew up in Worthington. On the site’s donation page Andrew Anglin listed his father’s Christian counseling office’s address in Worthington for cash donations, explaining that he and his site have been banned from Paypal and other electronic payment services.