CCPC Recommended

Randy’s Rants

Randy’s Rants is a series of essays by legendary Cleveland author, activist and CCPC Member Randy Cunningham. We’ll be featuring a different one each week for as long as Randy is willing to write them.

A Plague of Billionaires

CCPC Recommended

National

LA’s wildfires sparked by rare collision of climate events Downtown Los Angeles has received just 0.16 inches of rain since May 6 of last year and January is typically the wettest month in the region. Even worse, the region had an unusually hot summer which dried out vegetation even further. And finally, the unusually powerful Santa Ana winds made it virtually impossible to put the fires out once they got started. And of course climate change is once again intensifying these hydroclimate extremes.

Trump’s Propaganda Victory: The Rewriting of January 6 It took decades after the Civil War for defenders of the Confederacy to rewrite history and recast the Southern Rebels treasonous attack against the United States as an act of honor and courage. It took Donald Trump a mere fraction of that time to accomplish the same feat for his January 6, 2021 coup attempt. People can believe their own eyes and what they saw on TV that day or they can believe Donald Trump. And sadly many choose to believe Donald Trump.

Trump says he’ll pardon Jan. 6 defendants in the first hour back in White House However, Trump has remained vague on the scope of the clemency he’ll take. More than 1,500 have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, their conduct ranging from trespassing misdemeanor to assaulting police and seditious conspiracy against the U.S. government. But will he pardon the leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who have been sentenced to decades in prison for organizing the attempted coup?

Trump’s first day frenzy: Everything he promised to do on ” day one.” Lowlights include end the Russia – Ukraine war, cut federal funding for schools that teach CRT or mandate vaccines, end electric vehicle mandates, increase drilling and fracking for oil, end Bidenomics and begin MAGAnomics, end inflation, pardon the January 6 prisoners. And that doesn’t even include the immigration horrors, close the border, begin the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and end birthright citizenship.

Journalists anticipate a renewed hostility toward their work under the incoming Trump administration The return to power of Donald Trump, who has called journalists enemies and talked about retribution against those he feels have wronged him, has made news executives nervous. Possible threats are numerous. lawsuits of every sort, efforts to unmask anonymous sources, physical danger and intimidation, attacks on public media and libel protections and day – to – day verbal intimidation will all be a part of Trump’s fascist playbook.

Local

Cuyahoga County children died at an alarming rate in 2024, new report shows First, some statistical bad news.There were about 190 child deaths in Cuyahoga County in 2024. That’s 25% more child deaths than the 152 reported in 2023, one of the county’s best years in a decade. Most of the children, about 61% died of natural causes which was a common cause of death among infants less than 1 year old. But for those over the age of 1, homicide was the leading cause of death.

Cleveland saw a substantial drop in violent crime in 2024 And now some statistical good news. The City of Cleveland saw a dramatic drop in homicides in 2024, according to numbers provided by the city’s data dashboard. The city’s total for 2024 was 105 homicides. That is well below the recent high of 180 in 2020. Felonious assaults are also down from their peak during the pandemic, dropping from 3,061 in 2021 to 2,468 in 2024. Cleveland’s drop in violent crime mirrors a nationwide decrease since the pandemic.

Norfolk Southern Quiet as Concrete Falls From Lake Avenue Bridge Norfolk Southern owns 20 rail properties in Cleveland. Sixteen of them are in less than ideal condition with rusting beams and crumbling concrete. The worst seems to be the Lake Avenue bridge in Cleveland Ward 15. Last May Norfolk Southern ” took measures ” to clean up the bridge, scrubbing walls and throwing plywood boards above the sidewalks. But the repairs were only cosmetic and concrete continues to fall from the bridge and Norfolk Southern continues to be silent.

State

Here’s what to watch for in Ohio’s next legislative section Senate Bill 84 is likely to be reintroduced. You may recall that that’s the one that attempts to deal with ” liberal bias on college campuses. ” It also bans diversity, equity and inclusion trainingg in college campusses as well as faculty strikes. Property tax reform, shoreing up the pensions of police officers and marijuana laws are also on the table. The good news is that DeWine vetoed a few of the more extreme bills last year and may do so again.

Dr. Amy Acton launches Democratic campaign for Ohio governor in 2026 Dr. Amy Acton, who became a statewide celebrity of sorts in 2020 during the early part of the COVID crisis, filed paperwork last week to run for Ohio governor in 2026. Few expect her to be the only candidate from her party to enter the race. And the sad reality is that even if she wins the primary she will be a heavy underdog in the general election. On the other hand, 2026 is expected to be the usual midterm backlash against the party that controlls the presidency.

No trial dates. Endless disputes. Here’s why the First Energy bribery cases are mired in delay. The criminal cases against the executives accused of orchestrating the public corruption scheme, the securities lawsuit against the company brought by its investors, and the regulatory investigations from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are all still in the early stages of litigation.

Ohio Ratepayers Are Subsidizing Coal Plants. Report Says Owners Long Knew They Warmed the Globe Duke energy is among the companies enjoying massive subsidies 2019’s corrupt, but still not repealed, Ohio House Bill 6. A new report says Duke and its predecessor companies have known for 40 years that burning coal causes climate change. And of course they misinformed the public and promoted unproven, impractical technologies as a workaround. Anyone surprised?

Immigration

ICE faces budget shortage that could delay Trump’s mass deportation plans Immigration and Customs Enforcement already has a $230 million budget shortfall, even before the costs that will be associated with mass deportations. The cost of detaining and deporting migrants at the current level of enforcement are outpacing the $8.7 billion budget currently allocated to ICE by Congress. The American Immigration Council estimates that Trump’s mass deportation plan will cost more than $88 billion.

Mass deportation won’t solve the illegal immigration issue Ultimately, addressing illegal immigration with mass deportation will likely be as ineffective as using mass incarceration to fight the drug epidemic. For as long as there is a demand for labor, there will be a need for laborers. And that need will result in illegal immigration. This article suggests that to solve the illegal immigration problem we should make the illegal immigrants that are already here legal under a guest worker program.

Trump wants mass deportations. For the agents removing immigrants, it’s a painstaking process. It is a popular misconception that officers can sweep into a community and pick up a wide swath of people who are in the United States illegally and send them to their home countries. About 1,4 million people have final orders of removal. But only about 6,000 officers within ICE are tasked with monitoring noncitizens in the country and then finding and removing those not eligible to stay.

Immigration Continues to Drive U.S. Population Growth The U.S. Census Bureau just released its population estimates for 2024. It estimated that the nation’s population grew by nearly 1%, adding about 3.3 million people. Most of the increase was from immigrants ( 2.8 million ). Without immigration, the population would have only grown by about .15% ( 518,000 ). All 50 states added immigrant population and all but 3 states increased in population overall.

Black Lives Matter

‘ Our voices have been ignored:’ Activists say Cleveland officials have been slow to address city’s racial health disparities CCPC was part of a press conference last week at Cleveland City Hall in which the activist community demanded that city hall address the disproportionate health outcomes in the city’s Black community. It has been nearly five years since Cleveland’s official declaration that racism is a public health crisis, but meaningful progress has been very slow

Trump’s DOJ pick ignites alarm among Black leaders: ” Civil rights enforcement will be under attack from within.” Civil rights leaders are decrying Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, and the implications for Black communities and other marginalized groups. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Dhillon, an ultra – conservative Trump loyalist, could decide not to enforce federal statutes based on race, sex, disability, religion, or national origin.

Black American and African faith leaders band together to take on Trump and White Christian nationalism The newly formed Affirming Leaders Council is composed of Black American and African faith leaders The group is sounding the alarm in fear of Trumpism, global authoritarianism and an international decline in human rights. A second Trump term and its hostility toward racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, and its embrace of White Christian nationalism are also concerning on the continent of Africa.

Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing The U.S Justice Department and the city of Louisville have reached an agreement to reform the city’s police department after an investigation prompted by the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. The consent decree follows a federal investigation which found that Louisville police in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination in the Black community. Wonder if this type of thing will happen with Trump’s DOJ ( see above)

CCPC Banned Book Bingo Fundraiser

CCPC Banned Book Bingo Fundraiser Thursday, January 30 from 5 to 8 pm @ UAW Local 1250 Hall, 17250 Hummel Rd. Brook Park 44142. To celebrate our ninth anniversary we thought we would do something a little different and something that will be a lot of fun and informative! Robyn Forney from Red, Wine and Blue will be joining us to present Banned Book Bingo with prizes being awarded to those who say BINGO first after each round. Doors open at 5 and bingo starts at 6. We’ll provide pizza and if you want to drink, the event is BYOB. If you can’t make it but are able to donate please go to Donate to CCPC. If you can make it but are unable to donate, please come anyway!

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