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Thursday, December 7, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM
At this week's huddle, we'll metabolize the Dec 6 webinar, "Not Just Cop City, Issues at the Heart of the Movement" webinar series. We'll also review what we've done, who's doing what, and what's coming up to Stop Cop City. Join us to get activated or to jump back in. Unitarian Universalists.
Today, the Ohio Student Association condemned the House Higher Education Committee’s passage of Senate Bill 83 — the Higher Education Destruction Act — with a vote of 8-7.
The Ohio House Higher Education Committee’s sudden passage of SB 83 this morning has left students feeling horrified and betrayed. Certain politicians have claimed that SB 83 was written with the interests of students in mind, but since students have made it clear that this bill is in direct opposition to their interests and lawmakers are still moving it forward, that claim rings hollow.
For months and months, students have organized testimony workshops on campus, written and submitted testimony, sent letters, met with legislators, and organized direct actions on their campuses and at the statehouse in opposition to SB 83.
A “Unicorn” in the world of business and finance is a privately held company which has raised $1 billion from investors (i.e., Wall Street). Here in Columbus the much-hyped Olive AI, which was a privately held digital health-care company seeking to automate routine hospital administrative tasks, was a Unicorn. And just a few years ago its valuation on paper reached $4 billion.
But as the world of healthcare and Wall Street now know, this Columbus “Unicorn” has gone extinct. The venture capitalists who flooded Olive AI with $1 billion in cash, such as Columbus’s Drive Capital LLC, are desperately trying to get something in return by selling off the remains.
What is disturbing is how venture capitalists saw Olive AI as the greatest of Unicorns. It was regarded as the healthcare IT company to receive the most venture capital funding ever. Exactly how much Wall Street cash Olive AI lost is unknown, some estimate it could be over $100 million.
Note: What is Ginther doing at the Climate Summit in Dubai? Is he taking lessons? Having a vacation? Watching the “sun rise” over a city with a skyline?
More importantly, who paid for his trip?
Never bet on Andy, Council, their division heads, or overpaid for quality of work ad agencies getting anything correct. Their consistency, historically, is against all odds. If our world were random, City reality and reality of the ground would occasionally collide. But never in Columbus, Ohio.
Andy outdoes himself in his latest dishonest screed, that appears on the first Sunday of December in the anti-editing, non-news Columbus Dispatch beside editor Robinson’s almost every other day “guest essay.” She is unique in the history of Opinion page editors.
In his latest, Andy begins with an exceptionally rare statement: “Columbus is growing faster than ever before—that’s a fact.” I was not aware that the City and “mayor” recognized “facts.” In this case, he is correct for recent growth but incorrect over the city’s more than 200-year history.
In the 50th year of Hip Hop, Kool Herc, Nas, Wu-Tang, De La Soul, Armand Hammer and Heiro immersed Hip Hop everywhere from Yankee Stadium into venues, record players, phones, computers and smart TV’s. Hip Hop was tangible.
I didn’t feel small watching Kool Herc and Chuck Schumer live from Mass Appeal’s streaming Yankee Stadium's celebration. Schottenstein Center was a comfortable place to sit for Nas, Wu, and De La Soul near Ohio State University. Souls of Mischief greeted me at A+R bar in Downtown Columbus.
New York’s Armand Hammer showed a Columbus vibrance in 2023 with the NY duo’s acclaimed album released from Fat Possum. Fat Possum released Columbus, Ohio’s Camu Tao’s solo record. Fat Possum is reissuing Definitive Jux's catalog. Run The Jewels El-P’s solo work is available from Fat Possum.
I’m drinking oatnog and vodka, I’m playing Killer Mike’s friend Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun as festive music.
I received something in the mail from legendary Def Jam publicist Bill Adler which would make a unique present for Hanukkah. Kwanza, or Christmas.
Wednesday December 6, 3pm, Ohio Statehouse
This is a critical moment – we must take action now to protect trans youth in Ohio.
Anti-trans lawmakers at the Statehouse are fast-tracking hearings to pass House Bill 68. This radical, anti-trans legislation would ban critical, gender-affirming healthcare for minors. Ohioans have made it clear in our most recent election: important, private medical decisions should remain between Ohio families and their doctors – not the government. An opponent hearing is scheduled for later this week and a committee vote is imminent. Now is the time to speak up! Join us at the Statehouse on Wednesday at 3 p.m. to voice your opposition to this discriminatory bill.
This transphobic bill was amended earlier this year to include a provision that would ban trans girls and women from playing on sports teams that match their gender identities. HB 68 is a clear example of extreme government overreach and state-sponsored bullying of trans and gender-nonconforming Ohioans. Ohioans did not ask for this. Ohioans do not want this.
"Dream Scenario" is a clear metaphor for the toxicity of overnight fame on the average person. It also critiques cancel culture and the dangerous impact of our era's constant interconnectedness. Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli ("Sick of Myself"), he allows Nic Cage to deliver one of my favorite performances of his in years.
The story follows a dull, forgettable, hapless family man named Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage), a tenured professor with a deep passion for evolutionary biology and worries about his own anonymity. One day, Paul discovers he is appearing in other people's dreams at an alarming rate.
Like his real-life presence, he's a non-intrusive observer in strangers' bizarre dreams. He unexpectedly becomes an overnight celebrity, gaining the recognition he's always wanted, but not for the reasons he'd like. As the dreams turn violently nightmarish, Paul is forced to confront his newfound fame as his life spirals out of control.
It is difficult to believe that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated fifty-five years ago. Given the state of race and racism in America today, it is definitely a propitious time for a reassessment of his life, work, and legacy.
The Pulitzer Prize winning book Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David Garrow, was the first full scale biography of King and published in 1986. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years by Taylor Branch and also a Pulitzer Prize winning book, was published in 1988. Both men subsequently published two more books about King’s life and work in, but that has been decades ago.
It is difficult to believe that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated fifty-five years ago. Given the state of race and racism in America today, it is definitely a propitious time for a reassessment of his life, work, and legacy.
The Pulitzer Prize winning book Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David Garrow, was the first full scale biography of King and published in 1986. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years by Taylor Branch and also a Pulitzer Prize winning book, was published in 1988. Both men subsequently published two more books about King’s life and work in, but that has been decades ago.
Editor’s Note: As described in the last Mary Jane’s Guide article, the Governor and General Assembly indicated that they want to make substantial changes to Issue 2, which passed on November 7th with the approval of over two million Ohio voters. These controversial changes are occurring at the last minute with the introduction of two bills, H.B. 326 and H.B. 341, intended to modify certain sections of the Ohio Revised Code that already contain the Issue 2 ballot language. This is a tight timeline if these modifications are to be made before December 7th, Issue 2’s effective date.
Here is Mary Jane’s planned testimony, should lawmakers hold hearings.
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December 4, 2023