A river, a bridge and several kayaks

On an overcast but otherwise pleasant Saturday morning in late September, about 300 volunteers set out on a litter sweep of the Kokosing River. By the time the mud they stirred up had settled, the volunteers had collected more than six tons of trash. That included nearly two tons of tires — 171 of them.

These folks don’t mess around.

Not that I expected they would. Earlier in September, some of the volunteers — The Kokosing River Rats — helped with the Friends of the Mohican River Watershed cleanup, covering the river from Greer to Brinkhaven. In short, they kicked ass, digging out tires and heavy debris from what is considered one of the most scenic stretches of the Mohican.

On Sept. 21, it was time to return the favor. Representing the Mohican Watershed group, I headed down to Millwood on the Kokosing with my friend, Elaine, and my Grumman canoe. I wanted to help and get down and dirty with these folks on the Kokosing, but I had an ulterior motive. Our Mohican crew is a relatively new group, having only two cleanups under our belts. I wanted to see how a well-established group conducted a river sweep.

White man smiling and holding a sign saying Safe Water for our Kids

The people of Toledo, along with supporters of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR), were disgusted to find out in early May of this year that language was inserted into the state budget bill, just before the House passed its version of the budget, to undermine LEBOR and Rights of Nature in Ohio. Which representative was responsible for adding this language and who or what group was behind it? I, and other members of the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) set to find out.

On February 26, 2019, the people of Toledo passed LEBOR with 61% of the vote. This landmark law granted rights to Lake Erie and its entire ecosystem to exist, flourish and naturally evolve. It also empowers citizens – as part of that larger ecosystem, and who have the right to a healthy environment – to stand up for the lake when those rights are violated. This is the first-of-its-kind law in the United States to grant rights to an entire body of water and its ecosystem. Similar rights of nature laws have passed in Australia, New Zealand, Ecuador, India, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

Red and black diagonal stripes in background, Earth with a fist holding a carrot, bombs reigning down and words Food Not Bombs

Sunday, September 29, 2019, 2:00 – 7:00 PM
We’re cooking to share a meal outside the downtown YMCA shelter again — bring whatever vegan(ish) food you can find, or just bring yourself to help prepare the meal, or just come over for conversation and company. New people are Always welcome! The address on the event is where the cooking itself will occur. (We're test-running a new cooking location that is a bit bigger, and is wheelchair accessible)

Ohio State University will raise the minimum wage of about 3,800 non-union employees to $15 per hour next year. In making the announcement on August 30, OSU President Michael Drake used the language of free market ideology.

“This effort is in keeping with a competitive marketplace and…the university’s commitment to invest in individuals and families throughout our Buckeye community,” Drake said in a press release. He said nothing about a living wage or economic justice. He used phrases like “competitive marketplace” and “investing” in people — crediting the pay raise to a strong labor market.

In other words, the free market is working as it should. “A rising tide lifts all boats,” John F. Kennedy said. If an economy is strong and growing, everyone will benefit from it. Right?

Jonathan Shapiro’s Sisters In Law (based on the cleverly titled 2015 book by Linda Hirshman) is about the U.S. Supreme Court’s first two female justices and their relationship on and off the bench. In an irony of history rightwinger Ronald Reagan appointed the first woman to sit on the high court. Stephanie Faracy portrays Sandra Day O’Connor like the screen version of Doris Day wearing robes. The Arizonan comes across as a not too bright all American gal and goody two shoes, who really doesn’t stand up for what is right.

 

On the other hand, Clinton Supreme Court appointee Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Tovah Feldshuh) is a feisty East Coast Jew with a lifelong devotion to equal rights for women. If O’Connor is one of those people who go along to get along (for instance, according to the play she waffled on abortion rights), Ginsburg is cut more in the crusader mold and perceived as being “pushy.” (Which, as she correctly points out, is code for an anti-Semitic trope - calling Jews “pushy” is like labeling Blacks “uppity”).

 

Words COSI's Scioto Sweep

Saturday, Sept 28, 9am-12pm
Scioto River
COSI Columbus' Dynamic Hands-On Science Center!, Green Columbus, and Keep Columbus Beautiful are joining forces alongside many local organizations and corporations such as Accenture, NiSource, The Nature Conservancy, the Ohio Environmental Council, Sierra Club and many more to clean the Scioto River within the I-270 loop at 8 sites in just one day!

The Passage of California’s Controversial Senate Bill 276 Reveals that PharmacoFascism is Alive and Well

(Minnesota’s legislators, just like state and federal legislators everywhere, are universally vaccinology illiterate; they are hungry for campaign donations; and big pharma’s lobbyists are there to accommodate them)

Below is a list of Big Pharma-bribed California Democratic Party lawmakers (none of whom recused themselves from voting for the SB276 bill due to their blatant conflicts of interest!). Also listed is the amount of money they had accepted from multinational drug companies or their lobbying groups:

The list was published in an important article that was written by Sayer Ji, founder of GreenmedInfo.com. Read the full article at:

https://greenmedinfo1.ontraport.com/e/XOA/6gLNO/7JT/zFP2CccvlQ

The delightful computer-animated feature Abominable is one of those rare movies that will enchant adults and children alike. Set mostly or entirely in present day China, the 97 minute movie about an Abominable Snowman starts out in Shanghai then embarks on a road trip throughout the People’s Republic. Various destinations in the “Middle Kingdom” are vividly brought alive via exquisite, eye-popping, jaw-dropping animation.

 

Abominable is a co-production of Dreamworks and Shanghai-based Pearl Studio - the two studios previously collaborated on the 2016 3D computer-animated Kung Fu Panda 3. With its Eastern locales and predominantly Asian cast, one could say that SoCal-based Dreamworks is “pandering” to Chinese ticket buyers in the world’s most populous country, where what appears to be a form of state capitalism has produced an enormous urban middle class with disposable income.

 

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been fooled.”-- Carl Sagan: "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"

Further below is the final draft ofNational Security Presidential Directive 9 (NSPD-9): Defeating the Terrorist Threat to the United Stateswhose first draft had been authored by President George W. Bush’s National Security Team. It had been sent to him one week before 9/11/01 - on September 4, 2001!!

 

People outside holding banners one saying Wake Up
It was a great day at the 2019 Educate a Legislator Day on the 25th. Over 40 people registered for the event. The day started with a meet and greet over coffee and sweet things. Citizens started right away meeting with not only their own representative but also every legislator that we could get our foot in the door. They held a rally in front of the Riffe Center with lots of great banners.There were plenty of police there to make sure we behaved ourselves. Well, we did this time anyway. During the rally, the clergy attending attempted to deliver our letter to the governors' office. Oh, course DeWine would not come out of his office but sent three people from his office down to accept the sign-on letter.  

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