Local

Skylab’s last party wasn’t a reunion of the history of DIY @ 57 E. Gay Street.

Last Skylab Party: Friday November 22, 2024

The current Skylab community danced with a reunion of late 90’s techno, Friday November 22, 2024. I ain’t saying 90s Techno wasn’t artistic or involved with Columbus culture. I think late 90s techno in 90s DIY circles were at a Space called Fire Exit. I don’t know if Fire Exit utilized FBK, Stevie Zeven, Fractured Eons, and Chris Mckee.

Do you consider Mouse on Mars an electronic group? I saw Mouse on Mars at Fire Exit.

I think the Elemental Crew were the techno deejay’s involved with Fire Exit. Elemental were involved with Titonton, Todd Sines ETC. I’d seen Titonton’s name from Skylab’s Instagram during this year. Titonton, Todd Sines ETC. weren’t at Friday’s event, but I talked with people who attended Fire Exit techno events.

FB, Stevie Zeven, Fractured Eons, and Chris Mckee weren’t wack. I kept realizing I didn’t hate the techno music.

Skylab’s living room was filled people drinking and conversation. People danced in the gallery.

Friday, November 29, 2-24, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
 Maple Grove United Methodist Church, 7 W. Henderson Road, Columbus.  Free parking is available in the parking lot just South of the church.  It’s accessible from Aldrich Road, one street south of Henderson, off north High Street.

Friends. Family. Freedom. Food. Music. Pets. Laughter. Nature. And dozens of other things. Despite political turmoil and a divided nation, we have so much to be thankful for.  Playing piano and guitar, Bill will sing songs linked to a wide variety of folks --- John Denver, Bing Crosby, Phil Ochs, Louis Armstrong, and Don McLean. Even Johnny Appleseed, Jiminy Cricket, and the TV show, “Golden Girls.” 

On several songs, Ann Fisher will add beautiful flute accompaniment, David Maywhoor will add percussion, and Joe Lambert and Joanne Blum will add soothing vocal harmonies. 

Friends,

It was announced recently that it appears the final count may now be in — and Trump has FAILED to win a majority of the popular vote. His final total, as of now, will be under 50% — or 49.83%.

This was no landslide. It was the smallest percentage of a popular vote victory in a Presidential election since Richard Nixon in 1968.

Here’s how little we lost by:

Just 12 votes per precinct across the entire United States!

That’s it. With Harris behind by just 2.4 million votes out of the 152 million who voted, that’s an average of just 12 votes per precinct across the nearly 200,000 precincts in the U.S.

A list of the reforms needed by the U.S. election system could fill, and has filled, many a book. But the fundamental reforms without which no others will have the needed impact are:

The people of the state of Maine just voted overwhelmingly to limit the amount of money an individual can give to a Super PAC. While there are serious limits on what an individual can pay to an electoral candidate's campaign, a political action committee called a Super PAC can spend unlimited money promoting a candidate and can take unlimited money from individuals -- or can in the state of OH but not any longer in Maine.

After several years of rejecting the Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity’s (OCTEQI) petition summary, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office on Nov. 25 finally officially accepted their summary of its proposed constitutional amendment seeking to end qualified immunity for peace officers and possibly other government officials in Ohio.

The OCTEQI believes, as other activists do, that the only way to curb police brutality is to change policy. Qualified immunity shields law enforcement and other state actors from personal liability (civil suits).

A November 8 ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court prompted Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to re-evaluate the summary and its title, “Protecting Ohioans Constitutional Rights.” His office had rejected the proposed constitutional amendment nearly ten times before, but the OCTEQI time and time again was unrelenting in its effort to gather the roughly 1,000 signatures for the AG to approve the next step.

Tuesday, November 26, 4-5:45pm
Wexner Center for the Arts [Heirloom Café] [lower level], 1871 N. High St.

This event will be a “table talk” session during which visiting Scholar Essam Elkorghli [Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington] will share and learn of the role of education in imperialism.

Join us on Tuesday, November 26, 4-5:45pm, at the Wexner Center for the Arts [Heirloom Café] [lower level], for a “table talk” on Imperialism.

Use this link to read “Black Agenda Report” articles by Essam Elkorghli.

On Saturday afternoon November 23 a spirited group of local Black church congregations and other activists marched through the Short North after last week’s gross and sad display of hate. They wanted the community to know their response was not based out of anger or vindictiveness. Instead, it was based on compassion and love for each other and their community – and sadness towards those who hide their own personal misery behind hate symbols, masks and guns.

Rev. Victor Davis from Trinity Baptist Church who helped organize the “Jericho March” told the Free Press afterwards that he preaches social justice “every Sunday” and you can’t “preach the Gospel without that message”, and that there is a sense, at this time in American history, progress has been made. Nevertheless, in many ways the song of hate remains the same. Both him and his congregation were shocked and rattled by what they saw on the news and social media from the previous weekend.

A Tale of Two Thanksgivings

With Thanksgiving just over a week away – and initial preparations for the holiday feast already underway in homes across the country – it has perhaps never felt more important to pause, take a breath, and reflect on the meaning of the season.

On Saturday, November 16, a small group of neo-Nazis marched through the Short North, near downtown Columbus, Ohio. 

The group chanted vile expressions of racism and white supremacy, including the phrase “Bow down, [N-word]!” according to Rev. Derrick Holmes, senior pastor at Columbus’ Union Grove Baptist Church, speaking on behalf of members of his congregation who witnessed the vulgar display firsthand. The cowardly neo-Nazis spouted this hateful rhetoric while carrying black flags with red swastikas and spinelessly hiding distinguishing features behind black concealing outfits and red masks.

The City of Columbus has opened four new food scraps drop-off locations. You can now bring food scraps to:

Beatty Park Community Center: 247 N Ohio Ave

Howard Recreation Center: 2505 Cassady Ave

Linden Park Community Center (behind building): 1350 Briarwood Ave

Carriage Place Community Center: 4900 Sawmill Rd

These join our existing sites at Bill McDonald Athletic Complex, Dodge Park, Scioto Southland Park, and the two Waste and Reuse Convenience Centers. Accepted items include fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, meat, bones, and soiled napkins.

Learn more at columbus.gov/foodwaste.