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I have to confess I feel a bit like a middle-aged groupie, but I just can’t stop telling people about William Davis’ new book, “Undoctored.” Dr. Davis is a Milwaukee cardiologist known for his New York Times bestselling “Wheat Belly” books.

And in case I’ve already lost you or am at risk of doing so, let me just quickly share this:

“Excess fat melts away effortlessly, joint pain and skin rashes recede, acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome symptoms reverse within days, fibromyalgia and ulcerative colitis begin a powerful retreat.”

This is what he witnessed, as more or less unexpected side effects, after he’d convinced his patients to give up wheat for 30 days for their heart health. Imagine if these were the side effects you or someone close to you experienced from something the doctor or, more likely the physician’s assistant, had prescribed.

The health benefits were so dramatic, and his book so successful, it launched a new career for him: from cog-in-the (broken)-system cardiologist to personal health empowerment crusader.

I found a magic little coffee shop and I'm going to keep it as much a secret as I can. I do not want to share it with you cultural appropriators.

No two coffee shops are the same, say the platitudinous. Not so, not so, crazy bald-head. They, anymore, unanimously seem the same, more or less. Back in my country, the character flavor of the shop itself lives or dies as much as the bean roast. What does it take to become a coffee shop of distinction, to join the Royal Order of His Highness's Favorite Caffeine Hook-Ups?

Though I'm early in my new relationship, the unceasing pleasure I will build up a little more. My new infatuation-turned-I-think-this-is-the-real-thing java joint is as special as the time I was cruising the back roads of England, north of London, and I found a little lane canopied with lovely spring-budding trees, sculpted farmland on either bucolic side, rustic as the quaintest shire in Middle Earth. Something about it more quaint than the hundreds of quaint lanes of the green, green isles of our original home. That's how special my magic little coffee shop is.

Sunday, June 4, 12noon-3pm
Whetstone Park Of Roses, 3923 North High Street
Join Columbus DSA at the Whetstone Park of Roses to relax and enjoy springtime with fellow socialists! Feel free to bring your kids and dogs!

It's requested, but not required, that you bring food to share. Please see the Google doc linked below for more information and to let us know what you'll bring.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GmYduoJiomLAxm7SXCEwtzyiGxuUqsz3Y5ca89-yzME/edit?usp=sharing

While Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is getting most of the attention as the Co-Chair of Donald Trump’s “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity,” the appointment to that Commission of notorious election rigger Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s former Secretary of State, is the real threat to democracy.

Blackwell played a role in Ohio’s 2004 election parallel to that played by Florida’s Secretary of State Kathleen Harris in the 2000 election. He co-chaired George W. Bush’s re-election campaign in Ohio. Blackwell is a far-right Republican who administered Ohio’s 2004 election using an “all the above” barrage of tactics pioneered throughout the Third World by the CIA and other covert operatives since the beginning of the Cold War.

Prior to the election, Blackwell established a wide range of measures aimed at systematically disenfranchising potential Democratic voters, and for electronically shifting the vote count to guarantee a Bush-Cheney victory.

Saturday, June 3, 10am-12:30pm
All across the country, Marches for Truth - peaceful demonstrations focused on demanding the truth - will be arranged on Saturday, June 3rd. This event will be a rally supporting the March for Truth movement. Our goals are simple:

1. Congressional investigations should be properly resourced and pursued free of partisan interests, and/or an independent investigation must be established.
2. As much information should be made available to the public as possible, and as soon as possible.
3. If crimes were committed or if collusion is discovered, it must be prosecuted.
4. The President must be held accontable for the untruths he is perpetrating.

Driving north on Route 23 from Columbus one will see strip malls and big box stores spreading like a cancer toward Delaware. Just a short distance from the intersection of US Route 23 and State Route 315 in Delaware County is a place worlds away from the retail jungle to the south. The Stratford Ecological Center is a 236 acre oasis of woods, wildflowers and sustainability that is dedicated to reconnecting people with nature, educating children and reminding adults of where our food and fiber come from.

I visited there recently for a half-day class on edible wild plants. Included in the class was an educational walk in the woods and a lunch made from the wild plants found in the fields and woods of the center. The hickory nut pie, sweetened with honey harvested from the center's own hives, may have been the culinary highlight of my life.

As an African American woman, I started elementary school during the Jim Crow Law era. I went to middle school and high school after the Civil Rights movement helped end the law. As an adult, I have watched the country still practice the philosophy that we, Americans and all people that live here, are “separate but equal.” 

I have watched the people of this country that I love, go about the business of “play acting” that the laws of Jim Crow no longer exist. That minorities, specifically, Black minorities, have the same rights as the white person that they live next to, that they work with, worship with and sit next to in school. We as a people, have been able to “try to get along” with each other, especially in public, regardless of our real thoughts in private. 

I first saw Betsy Ross at the Blind Engineer's CD release party at Ace of Cups in July of last year. I only managed to catch a couple of songs, but I remember being impressed by the band and especially the playing of their bass guitarist. So when I heard that they were opening up for the Oklahoma City act Skating Polly at the Rumba Cafe last Monday I headed on over. I'm fond of Rumba anyway – it's walking distance from my house and I can drink all the whiskey I want. And their shows tend to start on time.

The show started with the Time Cat, a power trio from Akron that plays that vague mixture of punk/pop/rock that has dominated the indie scene for the last several decades. They did a lot of stop/starts and were well rehearsed, and beyond that they were about what you would expect.

Thursday, June 1, 1-2pm
Ohio Statehouse
Join hundreds of faith leaders from around Ohio and Reverend William Barber II for a Moral Rally against unjust Congressional legislation that would decimate the health care of Ohio children, families and seniors.

Free Press Hero – State Representative Bernadine Kennedy Kent

Rep. Kent is a Freep Hero for introducing House Bill 137. Currently, 49 states require law enforcement officers to be mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. Ohio stands alone as the only state without this requirement. Teachers, medical personnel, attorneys and other professionals are already required under Ohio law to report cases of child abuse and neglect. Kent has firsthand knowledge, as a former school administrator and tutor, witnessing credible evidence that young children were being molested and raped. The police detective assigned to the case never wrote up an incident report or contacted Children’s Services. Kent and House Bill 137 will correct this large oversight.