School lunches and our economy
Editors:
The Dispatch recently highlighted, in its main front page article, the heartbreaking growth of eligibility for Ohio’s school lunch program. Due to the loss of jobs, continued economic pressure on Ohio’s working and poor families, the Dispatch article points out, a majority of Ohio’s public school students are now receiving government aid just to be able to have a decent, healthy lunch while going to school.
The Dispatch recently highlighted, in its main front page article, the heartbreaking growth of eligibility for Ohio’s school lunch program. Due to the loss of jobs, continued economic pressure on Ohio’s working and poor families, the Dispatch article points out, a majority of Ohio’s public school students are now receiving government aid just to be able to have a decent, healthy lunch while going to school.
Court to Vermont: "Drop Dead"
A federal judge has told the people of Vermont that a solemn contract between them and the reactor owner Entergy need not be honored.
The fight will almost certainly now go to the US Supreme Court. At stake is not only the future of atomic power, but the legitimacy of all deals signed between corporations and the public. Chief Justice John Roberts' conservative court will soon decide whether a private corporation can sign what should be an enforceable contract with a public entity and then flat-out ignore it.
In 2003 Entergy made a deal with the state of Vermont. The Louisiana-based nuke speculator said that if it could buy and operate the decrepit Vermont Yankee reactor under certain terms and conditions, the company would then agree to shut it down if the state denied it a permit to continue. The drop dead date: March 21, 2012.
In the interim, VY has been found leaking radioactive tritium and much more into the ground and the nearby Connecticut River. Under oath, in public testimony, the company had denied that the pipes that leaked even existed.
One of Yankee's cooling towers has also collapsed...just plain crumbled.
The fight will almost certainly now go to the US Supreme Court. At stake is not only the future of atomic power, but the legitimacy of all deals signed between corporations and the public. Chief Justice John Roberts' conservative court will soon decide whether a private corporation can sign what should be an enforceable contract with a public entity and then flat-out ignore it.
In 2003 Entergy made a deal with the state of Vermont. The Louisiana-based nuke speculator said that if it could buy and operate the decrepit Vermont Yankee reactor under certain terms and conditions, the company would then agree to shut it down if the state denied it a permit to continue. The drop dead date: March 21, 2012.
In the interim, VY has been found leaking radioactive tritium and much more into the ground and the nearby Connecticut River. Under oath, in public testimony, the company had denied that the pipes that leaked even existed.
One of Yankee's cooling towers has also collapsed...just plain crumbled.
"Snowed in in Seattle": A plea for peace to the White House
Most people know about being "Sleepless in Seattle." Well, I am "snowed in in Seattle!" But even six inches of snow in Seattle don't keep me from becoming steamed when I read the latest news reports on the activities of the U.S. war machine:
Ohio is on the frontlines to protect Roe v Wade
Today, as we celebrate the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion in America, Ohio is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. We are at the center of the battle over whether abortion will remain legal for the next generation.
Senate President Niehaus announced this week that he would resume hearings on the so-called “heartbeat” bill. This is an extreme bill that would outlaw abortion before many women know they are pregnant. There are no exceptions for rape and incest survivors.
Write to Senate President Niehaus TODAY and tell him to defeat the so-called “heartbeat” bill.
Supporters of this bill have turned the Ohio statehouse into a circus, hiding their efforts to outlaw abortion behind cutesy slogans and theatrics. But make no mistake about it, if enacted, their legislation would endanger the health and lives of thousands of women every year. We need your help to stop them.
Senate President Niehaus announced this week that he would resume hearings on the so-called “heartbeat” bill. This is an extreme bill that would outlaw abortion before many women know they are pregnant. There are no exceptions for rape and incest survivors.
Write to Senate President Niehaus TODAY and tell him to defeat the so-called “heartbeat” bill.
Supporters of this bill have turned the Ohio statehouse into a circus, hiding their efforts to outlaw abortion behind cutesy slogans and theatrics. But make no mistake about it, if enacted, their legislation would endanger the health and lives of thousands of women every year. We need your help to stop them.
Watch the outsourcing of votes today in South Carolina!
The Free Press received an email from Bev Harris of Black Box Voting that stated: "100% of South Carolina election results will be routed through Barcelona-owned Scytl/SOE before being released to the public." This should not surprise anyone who follows the freepress.org or blackboxvoting.org. The 2004 highly-suspect Ohio election results were routed through Smartech in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company under the control of Jeff Avebeck, a far-right Pentecostal Christian. This has not been properly investigated by authorities.
Black Box Voting also sent a video entitled "Video the Count: What to do on Election night." We're posting this to urge activists, especially in South Carolina, to watch the polls. Last November's elections in Franklin County, Ohio, home of Columbus -- the state's largest city -- the final poll tapes from the voting machines at all precinct sites failed to print, leaving no check or balance against the central tabulating and processing of votes in other locations.
Watch Black Box Voting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3_xFb1sWKU
Black Box Voting also sent a video entitled "Video the Count: What to do on Election night." We're posting this to urge activists, especially in South Carolina, to watch the polls. Last November's elections in Franklin County, Ohio, home of Columbus -- the state's largest city -- the final poll tapes from the voting machines at all precinct sites failed to print, leaving no check or balance against the central tabulating and processing of votes in other locations.
Watch Black Box Voting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3_xFb1sWKU
2012's civil liberties apocalypse has already happened
In case you missed it, President Barack Obama has signed a death knell for the Bill of Rights. It's a hell of a way to begin a year many believe will mark the end of the world.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) makes a mockery of our basic civil liberties. It shreds the intent of the Founders to establish a nation where essential rights are protected. It puts us all at risk for arbitrary, indefinite incarceration with no real rights to recourse.
The Act authorizes a $626 billion dollar defense budget (which does not include the CIA, special ops, various black box items, etc). Obama's signing statement says it does address counterterrorism at home and abroad as well as Defense Department modernization, health care costs and more.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) makes a mockery of our basic civil liberties. It shreds the intent of the Founders to establish a nation where essential rights are protected. It puts us all at risk for arbitrary, indefinite incarceration with no real rights to recourse.
The Act authorizes a $626 billion dollar defense budget (which does not include the CIA, special ops, various black box items, etc). Obama's signing statement says it does address counterterrorism at home and abroad as well as Defense Department modernization, health care costs and more.
Steve Cannon, a blind poet and arts patron faces eviction
"One of the worst things about being blind is that you gotta trust people," said Steve Cannon recently on his couch at A Gathering of the Tribes, an alternative salon and performance space on the Lower East Side.
Cannon was mulling over news he had just received from his accountant that someone's been taking money from Tribes, possibly one of the many volunteers he depends on to run the arts organization, which he started as a literary magazine in his apartment over twenty years ago.
Cannon was also pondering his next move in a legal wrangle he has been having with his landlord, Lorraine Zhang.
In 2004, Cannon sold the three-story townhouse at 285 East Third St to Zhang for $950,000, having lived there since 1970, long before the area became gentrified.
Cannon was mulling over news he had just received from his accountant that someone's been taking money from Tribes, possibly one of the many volunteers he depends on to run the arts organization, which he started as a literary magazine in his apartment over twenty years ago.
Cannon was also pondering his next move in a legal wrangle he has been having with his landlord, Lorraine Zhang.
In 2004, Cannon sold the three-story townhouse at 285 East Third St to Zhang for $950,000, having lived there since 1970, long before the area became gentrified.
Corporate personhood cannot withstand organized persons
There are many schemes now for undoing the doctrines under which corporations claim constitutional rights and bribery is deemed constitutionally protected "speech." Every single one of these schemes depends on a massive movement of public pressure all across the homeland formerly known as the United States of America. With such a movement, few of the schemes can fail. Without it, we're just building castles in the air. Nonetheless, the best scheme can best facilitate the organizing of the movement.
The U.S. Constitution never gave any rights or personhood to corporations or transformed money into speech. It ought not to be necessary to amend a document to, in effect, point out that the sky is blue and up is not down. If the Supreme Court rules that Goldman Sachs can send legislation directly to the White House and cut out the congressional middleman, will we have to amend the Constitution to remove the Goldman Sachs branch of government? Where will this end?
The U.S. Constitution never gave any rights or personhood to corporations or transformed money into speech. It ought not to be necessary to amend a document to, in effect, point out that the sky is blue and up is not down. If the Supreme Court rules that Goldman Sachs can send legislation directly to the White House and cut out the congressional middleman, will we have to amend the Constitution to remove the Goldman Sachs branch of government? Where will this end?
Keystone XL denied
The U.S. Department of State and President Obama, if only temporarily, handed out a big victory for human health and the environment this afternoon by rejecting the proposed permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
In the tense moments leading to the Congressional Christmas recess, Republicans attached a rider to the payroll tax cut extension calling for a sped-up, 60-day review process of the pipeline to leverage President Obama into approving the project. By attaching the pipeline review to a politically charged piece of legislation designed to extend a two-percentage-point payroll tax cut in addition to providing a reduction in Medicare payments to doctors and desperately needed extensions for unemployment benefits, Republicans ostensibly had the perfect mechanism to force a decision on Keystone XL in the favor of Big Oil.
This afternoon, the Department of State recommended to President Obama that he reject the presidential permit based upon insufficient time for a proper review and insufficient evidence that the construction of the pipeline is in the national interest. President Obama agreed.
This afternoon, the Department of State recommended to President Obama that he reject the presidential permit based upon insufficient time for a proper review and insufficient evidence that the construction of the pipeline is in the national interest. President Obama agreed.