Opinion

Jorgé is an American citizen, but this doesn’t mean he’s unaware of how cold and demanding some gringos from the middle of Ohio can be.

Jorgé, who asked not to use his real name, told the Freep he works for FedEx but said “they are not taking this COVID thing seriously.” He has asthma so “I’m not going in.”

Jorgé’s landlord told him and his roommates rent was due on April 1st. Knowing his tenants may not make rent, this Grove City landlord said they could set up a payment plan – but only after they provide bank statements, a letter from their employer saying they were laid off, documentation they are not receiving any government assistance, and agree to a credit check.

“As for that part, we told him no one is going to be able to do that for you,” said the 20-something who’s active with local left-leaning progressive groups. “These people are more concerned for their investors than the people they build their livelihoods on.”

It’s one thing to be 20-something and white in conservative-leaning Ohio (Trump land) during the pandemic – than 20-something and Hispanic. Then take that a step further: Hispanic and undocumented.

I know it’s stiff competition, but hear me out.

The threat of nuclear apocalypse is higher than ever. The threat of irreversible climate collapse is higher than ever and massively contributed to by militarism. The trillions of dollars being dumped into militarism are desperately needed for actual defense against these dangers including spin-off catastrophes like coronavirus. But military jobs and weapons production jobs (producing weapons for dictatorships and so-called democracies around the world; the U.S. handles 80% of the globe’s foreign weapons sales) are being deemed “essential” and actually being boosted with more funding.

As this lockdown drags on, excitement is at a premium. Foghat’s “Slow Ride,” once just a guilty pleasure, has now become a breakfast tradition. Which is another way of saying that a new album to review felt something like Christmas in April. All the more interesting because the Devil Doves are a band I have been writing about for a long time.

Commit to the Bit is something of a sonic departure from the percussive acoustic guitar attack of previous Devil Doves releases. Compared to albums like The Devil Doves and Also Playing, the tracks have a fuller sound with more sonic depth. This is in large part due to the emergence of keyboardist Jeff Straw, whose fingerprints are all over the album. While in the past he at times seemed to be adding Nicky Hopkins-esque gloss to already completed songs, he is now frequently the driving force behind arrangements.

In conjunction with percussionist Kyle Davis’ cajon work and the odd electric guitar, the result is a highly accessible sound that anyone should be able to get into quickly (if not instantly)

Grassroots action’s immense upset victory in Wisconsin shows we can overcome even a rigged election.

In November, you must do it again.   

When Trump tries to steal or cancel the election, our informed non-violence must rise to protect and win it. 

Neither the human race, nor American democracy, nor the US economy will survive more of this. Our further existence as a species depends on you.  

Much of the upcoming election will be through Vote by Mail (VBM).  Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Hawaii already use it with great success.  

VBM is probably (as Winston Churchill said of democracy) the worst election system there is…except for all the other ones. 

Huge problems are virtually certain.  We need to be prepared to deal with them.

As people grapple with a planetary pandemic an exciting new movie is premiering just in time to commemorate the 75th anniversary of what marked the end of a much of our last global conflagration. Enemy Lines is available to rent or own on April 24 shortly before the platinum jubilee of Victory in Europe or V-E Day, May 8, 1945, which signified the Allied victory over Hitler and Mussolini. Swedish director Anders Banke’s World War II movie also reminds us of the all but forgotten Mission Alsos, and in doing so provides film and war buffs with a highly entertaining history lesson.

To fully grasp the extraordinary nature of Major Kaminski’s (Ed Westwick) daring operation, imagine if you will if a team of Nazi irregular soldiers had infiltrated New Mexico circa 1943 in order to “extract” nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, chief of the Manhattan Project’s staff, from Los Alamos in order to bring the scientist back to the Fatherland in order to work on Germany’s “heavy water” experiments to create an atomic bomb.

When Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud (the Father of Psychoanalysis), wrote his famous 1928 book, Propaganda, he titled the first chapter of the book “Organizing Chaos”. The first part of this article are quotes from the first chapter of the book. It is obvious that Bernays doesn’t try to sugar-coat what he thinks are the reasons why propaganda is necessary – and not even evil - in a modern society.

Probably the most telling admission appears in the tenth paragraph of the first chapter:

“…the manipulation of news, the inflation of personality, and the general ballyhoo by which politicians and commercial products and social ideas are brought to the consciousness of the masses. The instruments by which public opinion is organized and focused may be misused. But such organization and focusing are necessary to orderly life.”

The next dozen paragraphs relate the essence of the book:

After watching Mayor Ginther’s online interview with Channel 4’s Colleen Marshall on Wednesday, I have to ask, why has it taken our Mayor nearly 19 years to recognize and address the obvious inequalities that exist in the African-American communities of Columbus?

Never before has this question had more weight or relevance than during the pandemic.

Mayor Ginther said Wednesday he would focus on those who were most in need. Homeless, those in need of food, and affordable housing. Working with the Community Shelter Board, Urban league, YMCA.

Nearly 30 percent of Columbus is African American, and the issue of racial disparity is confronting us once again in terms of blacks being greater infected by the virus due to economic and social disparities.

Unfortunately, the virus further exposed the inequality where it matters the most – our overall health. Yet Ginther has been an elected official since 2001. Columbus School Board from 2001-2007, Columbus City Council from 2007-2015, Council President from 2011-2015, and Mayor of Columbus from 2016 to today.

In just a short period of time the world in Russia has changed for
everyone. I’ve started to notice how people around me are going mad.
They’ve started blaming and avoiding other people, making social
distance the priority of their lives. These people are well-educated,
well-off, with flexible minds. It doesn't matter who they were in their
life “before corona”. Now all of them are afraid. And that's the reason
for their madness.

They are afraid to go to the office, walk, meet with their friends and
just do what they usually do. And all of them are repeating the same
mantra - the situation is _very_ serious; we don't want the Italian and
American scenario be repeated here. One person told my friend: “They
cancelled the Cannes Film Festival”. They never did that before. So it
does mean the world is close to catastrophe.

Would you say it's the pandemic of coronavirus that is changing Russia?
No, I'd say it's the Pandemic of Fear that did it.

Of course, no politician wants to see all these human victims (and the
fall in their own ratings). But do they really know what to do?

The folks at City Barbeque have always prioritized helping their communities—both financially and with food—and this current public health crisis is no different. Everyone on the team wants to support those serving so selflessly right now, and has identified a way to thank the doctors, nurses, medical personnel, and hospital staff at Ohio State University Hospital for the incredible sacrifices they’re making. The fast-casual has launched a partnership with its guests to provide meals at no cost to the heroes on the front lines of this crisis.

For every $5 raised, City Barbeque will provide a slow-smoked sandwich and two homemade sides (valued at $12) to a health care worker fighting to save lives at Ohio State University Hospital. Guests are invited to help support and thank the medical professionals in their communities, and 100% of funds raised will be used to feed medical personnel.

As I mentioned in a previous review of a Richard Nixon biography, Watergate was the beginning of my fascination with politics and American history. The hearings were high theater, and one of the most interesting political spectacles ever. In The Watergate Girl, Wine-Banks tears down the curtain of the legal drama and shows us, among other things, what it was like to be the only woman on the team of lawyers who were prosecuting the president and his henchman.

Wine-Banks was thirty when she was tapped to join the team of prosecutors charged with finding out the truth of Watergate and ensuring justice for the American people. She had been the only woman on the criminal prosecution team in the United States Department of Justice. Smart and always thoroughly prepared, she was assigned to appellate work, but it wasn’t long before she noticed her male colleagues were trying cases in addition to their appellate work. She was told that it was too dangerous for a woman to do so as many of those being prosecuted were members of organized crime groups. She pushed back and was soon prosecuting cases.