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Sundays, January 5, 12, 26 and Feb 2, 2025, 3:00 - 4:30 PM
The Israeli war on Gaza – widely considered genocide – did not begin on October 7, 2023. This series will look at the background of Zionism and colonialism that laid the foundation for ongoing wars and today's violence in the Middle East. Palestinian dispossession, we will see, began more than a century ago.  

Jan 5: CONQUEST AND COLONIALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST DURING THE 20TH CENTURY: The roots of the contemporary Middle East go back to the First World War and its aftermath; the birth of Zionism as a political movement.

Jan 12: MANDATES AND REPRESSION IN PALESTINE AND BEYOND: The failure of the British colonial attempt to shape Palestine in conformance with the Balfour Declaration; Palestinian resistance and the first proposals for partition; Zionist terror; British, French colonialism in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.  

Jan 26: ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE AND “NAKBA”: The UN proposed partition of Palestine, Israeli declaration of independence and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from 1947 to the present; Arab and Palestinian resistance.  

Last night at 5:49 p.m., the Antrim, Ohio, volunteer fire department chief posted the first of four videos on its Facebook page of a raging fire at a well pad just off State Route 22. 

The location is a 5.7 miles – a seven-minute drive along SR 22 – from the entrance to Salt Fork State Park.

Information soon emerged that the fire was caused by an explosion at the Groh well pad (GIS coordinates 40.110854 N, 81.370555 W), owned by Gulfport Appalachia. Drone footage found one tank had completely collapsed with a second tank breached, the fire chief said.

As flames shot 100 feet into the air, authorities in consultation with Gulfport decided to let the fire burn itself out. SR 22 was closed and would remain closed for several hours.

This article first appeared on the Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio and the United States have a big problem with infant mortality. But the state government can take measures to significantly lessen it, the vast majority of Ohio economists surveyed on the matter said.

When infants die at high rates, it isn’t just a tragedy for them and their families. It also is expensive and it saps economic growth, a group of researchers reported last year in the peer-reviewed Cureus Journal of Medical Science. 

This article first appeared on the Buckeye Flame

Let’s face it: 2024 ended pretty terribly for LGBTQ+ Ohioans. 

On December 19, Ohio’s Republican lawmakers passed a bill that will force teachers and school staff to out LGBTQ+ youth and limit the mentions of LGBTQ+ identity in school curricula. 

This 11th-hour blitz capped off a two-year legislative session that saw Republican lawmakers advance a national trend to restrict the lived experience of LGBTQ+ individuals, and specifically transgender youth. Bills passed into law included:

Today, January 1st, 2025, is the first day in the new life of the Octagon in Newark (Ohio) as it opens to full public access after being besieged by a golf course over the previous century.

This Native American-built geometric structure, which has an adjoined circle with an observation mound, is arguably Ohio’s second most popular and mysterious First Nation earthwork when compared to Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio. Fascinating is how the Octagon, believed to be a ceremonial pilgrimage site used hundreds if not thousands of years ago, aligns with the northernmost moonrise which occurs every 18.6 years, and 2024 was that year.

Back in October at the Octagon during a public event on a night when the moon aligned nearly perfect with the Octagon (pictured above), the Ohio History Connection’s Dr. Bradley Lepper told the crowd those Native Americans who built and celebrated the Octagon did so to connect to the “rhythm of the cosmos so they would not feel alone.”

It turns out that it’s not easy, according to some claims, even in this time of great inequity, to manufacture elites – even in super selective universities and the vaunted Ivy League colleges based in the United States.

There’s no question that the glide path to the elite, if you’re rich or lucky, gifted, and do the work, you might have a shot at getting into an elite college. Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University, a little Ivy school, is clear that these elite schools are just shining the gold, rather than finding and mining it in the mountains, like they should be doing.

Ohio’s electricity demand may be surging, as a growing number of massive data centers operated by tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft commit to Ohio. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) will hold a public hearing 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 3 to gather input on how AEP will collect the costs of serving these data centers.

Here is a statement from Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis, Agency Director of the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel:

“While business growth in Ohio is welcome, these data centers, along with cryptocurrency mining operations, consume vast amounts of energy while contributing relatively few local jobs. Residential utility customers, who already pay steep transmission and distribution costs, shouldn’t have to subsidize these investments to benefit corporate giants.”

The five PUCO Commissioners will have to decide on the course to take: to protect Ohio consumers from shouldering these additional costs or to prioritize the interests of global tech giants.

OCC is encouraging AEP consumers to attend the hearing or submit comments online. See details below.

In person:

Dr. Bob and Dan-o picked songs that include their names like Dr. Robert by the Stones, Bobby is his Name, Daniel by Elton John, Danny Boy and some unexpected picks such as "Bob" by Weird Al -- a Bob Dylan-esque song entirely made up of palindromes.  

Listen live at 11pm January 3 and 10 streaming at wgrn.org or on the radio at 91.9FM
and
Mondays at 2pm streaming January 6 and 13 at wcrsfm.org or on the radio at 92.7 or 98.3FM

Archived on Mixcloud here

“First Day at Old First,” hosted by Old First Presbyterian Church
Wednesday, January 1, 12noon-3pm, Old First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.

Come hear what’s happening with Old First as a community and arts gathering space, a Third Place. Share hopes and ideas with neighbors, artists and community. New Year’s Day brunch from 12noon to 3pm. Donations appreciated. Live music and art!

Hosted by Old First Presbyterian Church

The Central Ohio Reuse Coalition (CORC) will launch a first-of-its-kind circular economy coffee shop reuse program in Ohio as an initial step towards reducing the approximately half-million single use coffee cups thrown away in Central Ohio daily. CORC is comprised of nonprofits, local sustainability groups, green businesses, faith-based organizations and committed individuals who live and work in Central Ohio. CORC is also a chapter of the Austin-based Plastic Reduction Project.

With grant funding from the City of Columbus and Upstream Solutions, and in partnership with S’wonderful Times Café in Bexley and Community Grounds Coffee Shop in Columbus, CORC is launching a reuse solution that keeps cups circulating in an open-loop system.