The October 2003 issue of Playboy included the must-read article “Siege at Rainbow Farm” chronicling the events leading up to the dramatic 5-day standoff between the farm owners and the FBI that left two gay marijuana activists dead in Michigan. The Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism, which publishes the Free Press, was mentioned in the article as an ally of the hemp festivals thrown at the legendary Rainbow Farm. The Free Press was one of the few newspapers that gave extensive coverage to the killings which occurred just prior to September 11, 2001. More than anything else, the article documents the vicious reactionary agenda of right-wing Republicans and their Bible-thumping buddies in northern Indiana and southern Michigan who will go to any length to keep the population from smoking pot. Now if we could just get the ATF to attack the pharmaceutical companies that addict thousands to their happy pills Prozac and Zoloft we could have a real war on drug pushers.

We’re excited to give you a heads-up on the launch of the second phase of our “Think Before You Pink” campaign, which offers an alternative look at the pink-ribbon marketing promotions that were especially prevalent during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This year’s “Think Before You Pink” campaign focuses on companies that promise to donate a portion of their profits to breast cancer charities but, at the same time, use chemicals in their products that may actually be associated with the development of the disease. For instance, major cosmetics companies such as Avon, Revlon, and Estee Lauder all market themselves as allies in “the fight against breast cancer,” but they also use endocrine-disrupting chemicals that may be linked to the disease.

An ad publicizing the campaign appeared Friday, October 4 — on the op-ed page of the national edition of the New York Times. You can see a preview of the ad now, along with loads of information, at our updated campaign web site: www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org.

George W., in his quest to raise more money than any other presidential campaign in U.S. history – the old record was $100 million by Bush himself in the 2000 election – came to Columbus for a $2000-a-plate fundraiser on October 30. The SEIU, the Ohio Democratic Party, the Sierra Club, Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich for President supporters and others demonstrated against the Resident’s policies that have cost the nation over 3 million jobs, the worst performance since Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. The loss of jobs, the record half-a-trillion-dollar yearly deficit and the U.S. occupation of Iraq were the predominant issues of the protest.

One prominent local Republican told the Free Press that many Columbus GOP members did not “appreciate the President coming in so close to the election and sucking up all the Republican funds for his presidential campaign.”

Stonewall is launching a community service effort for a wonderful local organization, Project OpenHand, which provides meal delivery, a pantry, nutritional counseling and education for persons living with HIV and AIDS. What we are asking is that folks donate any new toiletry items and personal products, such as shampoos, razors, toothpaste, lotions, etc. Especially needed are personal paper products. Project OpenHand is in great need of these products to use in their pantry for clients. All items can be dropped off to me at Stonewall anytime between now and early December. This will truly make the difference in the lives of Project OpenHand’s clients and it is an easy way for you to help!

So -- clean out your bathrooms and closets, gather up all of your hotel travel items that are collecting dust, go through your collection of Bath & Body Works gifts received, and never used -- and drop off a bag (or box, or two!) to Stonewall. If you are heading to the Center over the next few weeks- why not remember to bring a few items for the drive.

For information on Project OpenHand call 614-298-8334,

The climax of the big demonstrations against President Bush on his recent London jaunt was the toppling of a papier-mache statue of the commander in chief -- a reprise on the carefully staged pulling down of Saddam's statue in Baghdad earlier this year. If those London jokesters had tried this in Miami during the recent protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit, it's a pretty safe bet they would have been gassed, tasered with electric stun guns, battered with rubber bullets, arrested and charged with felony counts costing them thousands until a judge threw the charges out.