Local
SŌW Plated just opened three weeks ago in Upper Arlington strip on West Lane Avenue strip. They are a full-service, organic, made-from-scratch, locally-sourced vegan-friendly fine dining establishment with vegan and gluten-free options from appetizer to dessert. Their delicious Pesto Pasta was filled with abundant fresh microgreens and asparagus with an almond ricotta. Their indulgent Gogi Cobbler was decadently topped with a coconut-based vanilla ice cream. Whether it is fresh juice, a robust salad loaded with diverse phytonutrients, a hearty bowl of ancient grains and roasted vegetables or tofu and noodles with Asian flair, you will find fabulous vegan offerings to suit your palate and mood. Enjoy!
As a Kansas farm girl named Dorothy said long ago, there’s no place like home. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is one of the questions addressed in The Farewell.
Like last year’s Crazy Rich Asians, the new film shows what happens when Westernized Asians return to their cultural homeland. Coincidentally, the flick again features Awkwafina, though this time the rapper-turned-actor is the star rather than the comic relief.
When we first meet her character, a Chinese-born American named Billi, she’s talking over the phone with her beloved grandmother, Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao). We quickly realize that neither woman is being quite truthful with the other. Billi insists she’s doing fine, though she actually owes back rent on her New York apartment, and Nai Nai hides the fact that she’s in a Chinese hospital being tested for persistent health problems.
Not many people know that the infamous Jeffrey Epstein spent a lot of time in Columbus in the 1990s and owned the second most valuable house in Franklin County, in the plush Stepford suburb known as New Albany. Epstein came to my attention when I was an investigative journalist for Columbus Alive. The State of Ohio Inspector General David Sturtz, one of my sources, was gathering evidence against Les Wexner and Jeff Epstein regarding public corruption, bribery and information related to the murder of Columbus attorney Arthur Shapiro.
Sturtz referred to Epstein as Wexner’s “boyfriend,” but Epstein was more than that. He was an “international man of mystery” with ties to the CIA, the royal family, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and others. But, at the heart of it, he is perhaps our nation’s most well-known pedophile.
Echoing Greek tragedies, the local billionaire with his name on more central Ohio buildings than anyone and known for his generous philanthropy, is now caught up in Epstein’s human trafficking scandal.
I don’t typically get personal in my columns for The Free Press -- I usually rant about the latest antics of the two party system or the Ohio Republican Party -- but it’s time for me to reflect on my last year and a half in Ohio because now I’m leaving. Although my move is subject to several variables (including the ol’ bank account) it could possibly be for good. We’ll see.
I am deviating from my decision to not write about politics for about 136 words – with the understanding that Democrats and Republicans know that impeachment might not ruin the President’s reelection campaign.
The Democratic-controlled House should impeach. I assume The Republican-controlled Senate would not repeat their Nixon decision that demanded the President resign or make the decision to convict the President in the Senate.
My presumed outcome from the impeachment of the President is Democrats avoiding advertisements that say: ‘Democrats didn’t even believe their own Russian hoax.’ The President would tweet about the Senate not convicting him instead. There was nothing disrespectful to Republicans or praising of Democrats in these statements.
This doesn’t say the President will be reelected or not be reelected.
The only real message is regarding commercials you’ll watch while watching football vs. if you want to look at The President’s twitter.
Music Reviews:
Our sympathy to each victim's family and friends in Brooklyn, Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton. We send our thoughts and our promise to continue to work to stop this violence to them and to each of the injured. Brooklyn, NY - 1 death and 11 injured, Gilroy, CA - 4 deaths and 13 injured in El Paso, TX - 20 deaths and 24 injured, Dayton, OH - 9 deaths and 26 injured. Join us to mourn and then act for them. Ohio Legislators and the Governor need to act like they care about you and your family instead of the gun lobby. It is shameful that certain legislators are still pushing bills to allow permitless carry, stand your ground and carrying loaded weapons everywhere while reducing penalties. Nationally Presidential candidates are calling for action and Ohio Senator Brown is calling for the US Senate to vote on the background check bill immediately. There is no need for the public to own assault weapons. No need for the large capacity magazines. Assault weapons let these shooters kill so many in so little time.
Are you afraid to go to the grocery store?
Are you afraid to see a lone young white male amongst a diverse crowd?
What doesn’t make sense is that Hillary Clinton lost, so we were supposed to be safe, right?
If he had lost, there would be active shooters wherever non-whites and women gathered. Those were Trump’s own words. As if you forgot.
So why have disaffected white males continued to turn our gathering places slick with blood?
Perhaps there is an answer but certainly not a solution…Stochastic terrorism.
“The use of mass communications to stir up random lone wolves to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable,” states Daily Kos.
“The person who actually plants the bomb or assassinates the public official is not the stochastic terrorist, they are the ‘missile’ set in motion by the stochastic terrorist. The stochastic terrorist is the person who uses mass media as their means of setting those ‘missiles’ in motion,” continued Daily Kos.
Sunday, August 4, 7pm
Ohio Statehouse
There has been 2 mass shooting within hours of each other and one of those shootings was right here in Ohio.... The heartland of the United States. Please come to the State House during the day on Sunday, August 4th during the day and place flowers or a teddy bear on the State House steps in memorial of those who have lost their lives and for those who were injured during the mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH. There will be a candle light vigil and moment of silence starting at 7PM
Sat, Aug 3, 11am-7:30pm, MPACC Box Park, 925 Mt. Vernon Ave.
From 11am to 3:30pm, workshops will take place next door to the park, at 905 Mt. Vernon Ave., inside of the OSU African American and African Studies Community Extension Center. Complimentary lunch will be provided to workshop attendees with pre-registration. Space is limited. Register now at: sites.google.com/view/cbuswgfest/home.
The upcoming festival also boasts a live concert, beginning at 4:30pm, with a brief talk and signing by Syleena Johnson about her new book The Weight is Over: My Journey to Loving My Body from the Outside In. The first 50 workshop registrants will receive a free copy of the book and can have it signed by Johnson (must pre-register and attend the workshop). The live concert will feature local performers Shad Jones, The Tryangles, Christina Myles, Dr. E, Chris Brown and the WGFest Band, and, of course, a breathtaking headlining performance by Syleena Johnson.
Masonique Saunders was sentenced today. A reporter stated that she was sentenced to three years in the Ohio Department of Youth Serevices with the possibility of being released after two years on good behavior. Activists that had gathered outside the courthouse to advocate for minimum sentencing are sad and upset. See this article for more information on Masonique's case and this article on her plea deal.