Local
"Barbie" is a clever, colorful comedy that expertly balances contemporary women's issues, social satire, and personal discovery. It smartly critiques societal norms in today's changing social landscape. We are currently in a time where we are gifted a Barbie movie that is both profoundly moving and insightful.
Directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written with Noah Baumbach, the film showcases their knack for addressing important issues and presenting them in a tangible yet thought-provoking way. Gerwig keeps cinephiles in mind as she wisely includes jokes about the red pill from "The Matrix," the snow globe from "Citizen Kane," and the male definition of Coppola's "The Godfather."
In recent years, and again this year, to my knowledge, only a single member of either house of the U.S. Congress has said publicly, prior to voting No on a military spending bill, that he or she planned to vote No because the spending was too high. The same individual has done this more than once, and nobody else has done it at all. That individual is Senator Bernie Sanders. He says he will vote no on his website and in The Guardian. He does not say “I encourage my colleagues to join me in committing to vote No unless military spending is reduced rather than increased,” and I wish he would say that. But, of 535 or so members of Congress, 534 have not done what Sanders has, not this year, and not at any point in recent memory. It’s possible that some Libertarian has done it, advocating for tax cuts for gazillionaires rather than — as Sanders advocates — moving the funding to human and environmental needs, but I’ve publicly asked innumerable times for everyone’s help finding such an example and have yet to find one.
Tuesday, July 25, 2023, 8:00 – 9:30 PM
Across the country and right here in Central Ohio, the far right is using schools for steppingstones to power, scapegoating and endangering LGBTQ kids and enforcing curriculums that teach lies about our country. And they rely on the support of white parents and white voters.
In deep partnership with SURJ national, the Central Ohio SURJ Chapter is building a program to out-organize the far right in majority white communities in Central Ohio and to work for school systems that serve all students. Whether it's campaigning for local school board candidates, pressuring your local school board to pass a resolution to not comply with the far right's agenda, or joining a national remote team to support the local work, we need you.
Sunday, July 22, 6pm
Old Town East Community Gardens, 775 Oak St, Columbus
Pack up a picnic and join OTENA for Music in the Garden. The free concerts will feature local bands and musicians playing jazz, blues, pop and/or soul music at the Community Garden on Oak Street.
Saturday, July 22, 7:30pm
Old First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.
Free concert - People's Jazz Quartet led by Kevin Cox on saxophone.
Part Three
Very real debates continue about appropriate expectations for children of different ages and for variations especially by social, physical, and intellectual conditions at each age. Astonishingly, human differences play no role in Reading Recovery. In fact, in their response to dyslexia educator, Reading Recovery actually attempted to deny that well-established, not uncommon human condition. Read their statements and especially the International Literacy Association’s ignorant and failing effort to defend them from well-documented criticism from the dyslexic community. (See International Literacy Association, Dykstra)
For at least two decades and especially since 2017, the most sustained criticism of Reading Recovery comes from dyslexia experts including teachers and parents. The most detailed and documented critiques come from Pamela Cook and her colleagues, especially their peer reviewed “The Reading Wars and Reading Recovery: What Educators, Families, and Taxpayers Should Know” (2017), “Effective Early Literacy Practices: What We’ve Learned and How to Replicate in Your District” (2017), and “Response to ‘The Truth about Reading Recovery” (2020).
Ah, for those halcyon days when the president of the United States was an intellectual and a serious reader. And he can sing, too!
In Grace, Cody Keenan, Obama’s chief White House speechwriter, takes us back to the period from Wednesday, June 17 through Friday, June 26 in the penultimate year of the Obama presidency during which some of the most consequential events during his administration happened and played themselves out.
Prior to working in the White House, Keenan began his career in politics as an unpaid employee in the windowless mail room of the late Senator Ted Kennedy. By the time he left to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, he was a legislative aid. Over one summer break during the first Obama presidential campaign, he worked as an intern for Jon Favreau, a junior speechwriter formerly with John Kerry’s presidential campaign staff, and then returned to college in the fall to finish his degree. After Obama’s election, he was hired by Favreau to become part of the speech writing team at the White House. When Favreau left, Keenan was named chief speech writer.
The Columbus Dispatch ran an op-ed by Tim Ryan — the former Ohio Congressman now employed at a fossil fuel industry-backed organization — on July 24. Ryan asserted that expanding our use of natural gas is necessary for accelerating progress toward climate goals. If we care about a livable future on this planet, we will heed the warnings of nature over the false claims of the fossil fuel industry.
July 14 – August 19, 2023
Cultural Arts Center, 139 W. Main St
Curated by Char Norman, invited eight artists explore themes around climate change and conservation. As the world rushes headlong into a climate crisis, learn how art can help us understand what’s happening and give us inspiration to confront the challenge.