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Friends. Freedom. Food. Music. Parents. Children. Pets. Laughter. Emotions. And dozens of other things. Despite the virus, racial injustice, and many other challenges, we all have so much to be thankful for.
So join me (Bill Cohen) from 7pm to 8:30pm on Friday, November 25 as I sing a unique concert of songs that express gratitude for all that we have. It’s our ninth year for this Thanksgiving-themed concert.
Playing piano and guitar, I’ll sing songs written by, made famous by, or inspired by, a wide variety of folks: John Denver, the Weavers, 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.
Besides the music in the gratitude concert, we’ll hear some thoughtful quotes, reminding us of our many blessings. No sermons here but words of inspiration and emotion from sources as varied as Albert Schweitzer, Rod Serling, Gandhi, Einstein, and Buddha.
I’m looking right now at the Ohio River, that great and beautiful stream whose name is said to mean just that, in poetry and on place mats. But has anyone heard that explanation and seriously believed it? Perhaps many Ohioans do believe it, and that is why we have the state legislature that we do.
As is typical of American place names claimed to come from native languages, the story of the name Ohio is a fish tale, so to speak. The state name came from the river, of course. But there has not been scholarly agreement on what the name is supposed to mean, though there is consensus that it comes from Seneca language. The Seneca have long lived nowhere near the Ohio River, and once occupied the Ohio Valley for only a short time, as invaders, so this is reason for suspicion off the bat.
I am a journeyman with IATSE Local 12, the local stagehands’ union. We’re freelance artisans and laborers who build the majority of theatrical productions in Central Ohio.
We’re also the primary builders (and uninstallers) of the dozens of trade shows that go through the Greater Columbus Convention Center near the Short North. Whereas the theaters tend to work longer and more irregular hours for us, the Convention Center gigs are predicable, 9-to-5 jobs that often last longer.
Being a dyed-in-the-wool theatre kid, I strongly prefer the magic of a theater to the cold concrete and fluorescent lights of the Convention Center. On the other hand, the regular crews at the Convention Center tend to be a little more blue-collar and have a more ribald (vulgar) sense of humor than most of the regular theater crews.
Here’s a video of John Oliver denouncing FIFA for putting the World Cup in Qatar, a place that uses slavery and abuses women and abuses LGBT people. It’s a video about how everyone else glosses over nasty truths. Oliver drags in Russia as a past World Cup host that abuses protesters, and even Saudi Arabia as a possible host in the distant future that commits all sorts of atrocities. My concern is not just that the U.S., as one of the planned hosts four years hence, gets a pass on its general behavior. My concern is that the U.S. has far outdone FIFA this year, and every year, in Qatar. The U.S. has put six things into that horrific little oil dictatorship, each of which is worse than the World Cup.
Stored in a nondescript Columbus office complex is a massive cache of Ohio’s most important Native American artifacts. Also stored there are the remains of roughly 7,200 Native Americans whose grave sites were dug up by archeologists or looters over the previous century or longer.
These remains and the 110,000-plus funerary objects found with them have been stored by the Ohio History Connection in near secrecy, but what can’t be denied is what they represent.
That Ohio, and the Scioto River Valley in particular, is hallowed and historical ground for many who claim First Nation ancestry. A history the white man tried to erase with shovels, bulldozers, and his insatiable appetite for more.
“It’s abundant, it’s everywhere, but it’s silent,” said Alex Wesaw of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, who was hired in 2020 to run the Ohio History Connection’s American Indian Relations Division, which, surprisingly, was only just established at the end of the last decade.
As Thanksgiving rolls around again this year, it’s time to once more get in your Republican family members’ faces about the harsh realities that their political party is creating –– whether they fully understand those realities or not. After all, it’s only been two years since one of the most controversial elections in American history –– and two years away from another that will have massive implications on democracy in our state and country as well. However, this past midterm election was equally important –– and while the majority of Americans succeeded in showing up and realizing that importance, it’s fair to say that Ohio voters failed to fully grasp the gravity of our own state’s situation. Ohio’s democracy is slowly teetering on the edge of fascism –– and Republicans are to blame.
Earlier this week tickets for Taylor Swift's tour went on sale. Maybe at this point you're thinking, "What does that have to do with me?" Stay tuned, dear reader! The fact that fans couldn't buy tickets and that the sale had to stop while secondary markets were price-gouging is a direct result of Ticketmaster's unchecked, concentrated monopoly power—and that's why we need government action to help consumers and artists.
Six out of ten people in jail have not been convicted of a crime. They simply cannot afford to pay their cash bail and are awaiting their court trials. The financial implications for taxpayers include an estimated quarter of a billion dollars spent each year to incarcerate these folks.
For the accused who can’t afford to pay cash bail, the financial ramifications of sitting in jail compound each other. They could suffer the loss of their job, an eviction, loss of custody of their children, additional health concerns, or a long-term impact on their credit rating.
Cash bail is paid to the court by the accused to get out of jail and returned when they appear for trial. Bail bondsmen, essentially loan companies, are often used to come up with the amount, but they charge on average a 10% nonrefundable fee.
When you buy union, you're supporting good jobs in American communities, jobs that provide living wages and benefits, safe working conditions, and dignity and respect for work. Look for these quality products, produced by union members, when preparing for your Thanksgiving feast.
The following list comes to us from Union Label and the products are made by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM); the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers-USW (GMP-USW); the Machinists (IAM); UNITE HERE; the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); the United Steelworkers (USW); the United Farm Workers (UFW); and the Teamsters (IBT).
Set the Table
·Anchor Hocking (GMP-USW)
·Bennington Potters (UNITE HERE)
·Clauss knives (USW)
·CorningWare (USW)
·Cutco knives