Opinion

I have to admit the moment that California Rapper Nipsy Hussle dropped his new “Victory Lap” I thought maybe I should roll up to the strip club, and get myself a lap dance during one of the days the dances are only 10 dollars.

Normally, I end up chatting with strippers saying, “I'm an artist-writer. This is part of my process. Don’t get me wrong. I like naked ladies. But I'm in the midst of studying a performance art piece.”

Nipsy Hussle would think what I just wrote doesn't fully address or consider the point of strip clubs. My point is that Nipsy Hussle’s new album is the first proper gangsta rap album since we've been burdened with our current president who seems to be a real killjoy.

Maybe not the first since the new regime, but still gangsta Nip gives us a little some-some we’ve been hesitant to embrace. Don't get me wrong. Nipsy isn't a fool. He and YG made “Fuck Donald Trump,” which was an anthem that got them maced by the police during the video shoot for YG's last record.

Victory Lap’s big single, “Rap N***as” is unabashed Above the Law, as in “Black Superman” meets “Broken Language.” 

On January 23, 2018 in Kentucky a 15-year-old male student brought a handgun into Marshall County High School and killed two students and injured eighteen others. On Valentine’s Day a 19-year-old male student brought a AR-15 rifle to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and killed 17 students and teachers.  The next day in West Palm Beach a Port St. Lucie 14-year-old male brought two guns to school after making threats to “shoot up” the school. It’s reported that his mother insists the threat was a “joke.”

On February 19, five days later, a Florida Forest Hill High School 18-year-old student was charged with bringing a knife to school. He also had a gas mask and three days before had referred to the Las Vegas mass shooting to his classmates. On February 20, six days later, an Ohio Jackson Middle School seventh grader brought a gun to school and shot himself in the bathroom.

Did you know that in the first year of the Trump regime “anti-Semitic incidents” surged 57 percent, according the Anti-Defamation’s League (ADL) annual report. No Trump hyperbole, this was the single largest increase ever recorded by the ADL. Also on the rise are xenophobia, nativism, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism. In the most recent Associated Press poll, 57 percent of adults believe Trump’s a racist.

No one was incredibly surprised that Trump’s fan club, the neo-Nazi Patriot Front, was busy flyering down Indianola Avenue in Clintonville Monday, February 26 in broad daylight. Whenever local residents removed them, the flyers would soon reappear. The neo-Nazis have now flyered Clintonville four times in the last few months in addition to Hilliard, Worthington, Westerville, and Dublin. Clintonville activists and their allies made their values known with a large anti-racist demonstration Saturday, March 3, that drew about 60 people at the corner of North Broadway and High.

I will not begin this week by providing an overview of February. It was a month full of shootings and a disgraceful lack of interest from our national leaders. There is nothing more to say except every member of the legislative and executive branches should be filled with so much shame they do everything in their power to make March a profoundly superior month.

The fast-approaching midterm primaries and general elections are already taking their toll on the country’s progress. Discussions about real issues are at a minimum, and new legislation isn’t exactly flying through the Congress. Yet again, it is as though politicians are trying to prevent their opponents from gaining votes rather than earning them for themselves. This is a time when incumbents should be affecting positive change so they have a real record to run on. Challengers should be proposing grandiose, Earth-shattering plans to end generations of destruction and injustice. Instead, they are steering clear of everything remotely controversial and leaving far too much in a political no man’s land.

Trying to make sense about the recent silencing by non-human YouTube robots of many valuable, patriotic, truth-telling YouTube journalists

The report below is taken directly from Corbett Report # 332 by Gary G. Kohls, MD

“Those who question the government narrative and mainstream consensus are extremists who need to be dealt with. We can’t have free-thinking individuals roaming around our streets, spreading their damn truth!”

“In 2008, Cass Sunstein, a law professor who would go on to become Obama’s information “czar,” co-authored a paper entitled “Conspiracy Theories,” in which he wrote that the “best response” to online “conspiracy theories” is what he calls “cognitive infiltration” of groups spreading these ideas.”

If you are seeking authentic Italian fare bursting with flavor, Z Cucina of Grandview is absolutely one of my top recommendations to take your date, family or colleagues for a fantastic fine dining experience. They enthusiastically welcomed our vegan party offering a dietarily diverse menu and have wowed me with their culinary creations. Think whole foods, 100% plant-based options packed with nutritionally dense and delicious sauces, and balsamic reductions. I had a seasonal squash and cauliflower dish, a light, refreshing salad with sprouts and pine nuts, as well as a pasta with spinach, artichokes, basil, and tomatoes. Their traditional Italian bread is also vegan-friendly. Z Cucina is definitely on the docket for a future Columbus Vegan Meetup.

The Free Press is proud of our friend Malcom J who stepped in to help a bartender deal with an unrule customer, and got whacked in the eye with a broken beer bottle for his trouble. As of this printing, Malcolm is in the hospital and the condition of his eye is yet to be determined. Malcolm is a familiar face at our Free Press Second Saturday Salons and our facility is filled with his artwork. We wish Malcolm a speedy and full recovery. Here’s how you can help. There’s a GoFundMe site set up for Malcolm’s medical expenses. 

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Donald Trump administration has recently affirmed that it has a perfect legal right to remain in Syria as long as it wishes because it is fighting terrorism. The argument goes something like this: Congress has approved a bill that permits the US military to seek out and destroy al-Qaeda and associated groups wherever they may be. It is part of what is referred to as the Authorization to Use Military Force or AUMF. According to the White House, an associated group, the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS), remains currently active in Syria and the United States military presence is therefore legal until the group is completely eliminated, requiring no additional legislation or authority to remain in the country.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- A Belorussian woman and her nine companions from
Russia and Belarus, who are in jail for sex-related activity in
Thailand, sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy pleading for asylum in
exchange for alleged criminal evidence concerning Russians who may be
linked to President Trump.
   The 10 jailed people include Anastasia Vashukevich, a Belorussian
"mistress" of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, their handwritten
signed letter said.
   Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodkho and Russian
opposition leader Alexei Navalny were also named in their letter which
said "U.S. relations with Russia" and "very important information for
USA" were involved.
   "We have photo-video-audio of crymes [sic] of Russian government.
And I give them USA if you help us," it said according to Khaosod
English, a Thailand-based online news service which published a
photograph of the letter.
   Addressed "To USA Consul" it was written by Alexander Kirillov, a
Russian also known as Alex Lesley, who was jailed along with the
others.

General misleads voters on weapon of mass destruction F-35

here was a time when pretty much every American understood that the US Constitution provides for civilian control of the military. And there was a time when Americans understood that uniformed military were not to engage in civilian politics. Generals were free to be presidents or other high-ranking officials, but not till they were out of the military. Retired officers remain subject to a less stringent military code regarding political activity. The current president relies on several former generals, despite the five-year ban on such service, because it was waived.

Civilian control of the military is bedrock American constitutionalism. The president is the commander in chief. There is no parity, it is not a negotiated relationship – we have civilian control of the military. And most military officers have understood that the correct response to that assertion was “Yes, Sir!”