Local
Now that the National Entertainer-In-Chief election is over, what to do?
Here's what not to do: Overanalyze.
Donald Trump won in the Electoral College. How did he do it and still lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes? If only 80,000 votes were changed in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Blah, blah, blah.
The simple explanation is that America is tired of the Clintons, and Hillary was not an inspirational figure. Late-deciding voters did not want to face four years of boring television and social media from the White House, so folks shifted over to TV celebrity Trump because they were choosing a National Entertainer-In-Chief, not a Commander-In-Chief.
Boredom is the mortal enemy of many of our fellow citizens, not Putin. In fact, a lot of people find Vladimir a charismatic figure like Trump.
In a another case of over studying, Washington Post and New York Times columnists recently have praised Sen. Rob Portman for a magnificent campaign. What a political genius that Portman, they wrote, citing all sorts of reasons for his rout of Ted Strickland.
For the past six months, I have had the pleasure and displeasure of working at The Neighborhood House (NHI). The pleasure has been in working at a settlement house that was established in 1902 to serve the homeless, jobless, hungry, adults, children, pregnant mothers, families and people of all races who need community services to become and remain self-sufficient. The pleasure was in providing hope and encouragement as well as resources to meet the settlement goals in Franklin County.
The displeasure was in watching the NHI become extinct as programs were cut and ended at a pace that showed no compassion for the people that it served or the employees that worked at the NHI, some for several years.
Let’s start with the first deception which clearly rests with the NHI Board Members. Now I’m going to assume that the NHI board has a job description in place, which is a standard practice with non-profit organizations. However, if it does have a job description, then the question that arises is: what are they doing or what have they done to “save” the NHI from failing after 114 years of service.
Run The Jewels (El-P and Killer Mike) just sold-out the Express Live 3 weeks before the Hip Hop duo’s January 16th show in our fair city.
Run the Jewels are resonating because the music is futuristic and they speak their minds. El-P and Killer Mike were in Ferguson the night of the Michael Brown verdict. They campaigned for Bernie Sanders.
So their latest album, RTJ3 is hitting an important stride at the beginning of 2017.
RTJ3 opens up with “Down” where Killer Mike states, “One time for the Freedom of Speech/ Two Times for the right to hold heat.” There is a refrain that says, “I could’ve died y’all.” Then El-P arrives demanding attention with bold statements, as one “who dodged his own lobotomy.”
Obviously there are multiple factors that lead to a musical act connecting with how a mass of people feel.
Free Press Heroes: Local activists at Standing Rock
The Free Press recognizes the Central Ohioans who stood in solidarity with Native Americans and others protesting the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock in 2016: Heidi Detty, Bob Studzinski, Bruce Kiracofe, Michael Ulrey, Elizabeth Castro, Michael Vinson and Rudy Gerdeman, who was hit by water cannons and tear gas. These brave water protectors are appreciated by Tunkashila. The Free Press is proud to support these local activists who put their bodies on the line against those who poison water in the name of profit. Mitakuye oyasin.
Free Press Salutes: Jill Stein
Indeed, it is the new legislative dark age in Ohio as Donald Trump awaits his coronation. The barbarian hordes that are sacking our state were unleashed by other forces prior to the new emperor. It was Obama’s feds that decided to pull the deepest, darkest oil and gas from underneath our state and allow the motherfrackers to vandalize the Wayne National Forest, Ohio’s only national forest.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) opened its online auction on December 13 to lease the first 1600 acres of the pristine forest. The toxic plundering and pillaging begins with a minimum bid of $2 per acre. If it goes poorly and we get the minimum, at least we’ll be up a whopping $3200 for drinking radioactive sludge. Setting the lowest possible bar for government policy, BLM District Manager Dean Gettinger said “The project does not violate any federal, state, local or tribal law or requirement imposed for the protection of the environment.” So, bring your more than 900 toxic and secretive chemical compounds and suck radioactive wastewater from the bowels of the earth.
Standing Rock Benefit Shows
Jan 6 - 7pm-2am, Woodlands Tavern, 1200 W. Third and Jan 7 – Bossy Grrls Pin Up Joint, 2598 N. High St.
Six musical acts come together at Woodlands to raise money for the Standing Rock Water protectors in North Dakota.
7 pm - Canadian Waves
https://canadianwaves.bandcamp.com/
8 pm - The Cadence
http://www.thecadencebluesband.com/
La La Land is the most exhilarating film of the year. That becomes obvious before the title credit even appears.
Opening on the scene of a backed-up Los Angeles freeway, the camera eventually settles on a woman who begins singing and dancing about her determination to make it in show business. Others join in the catchy song as the camera wanders along the line of cars in a giant production number that gives the impression of being shot in one long, intricately choreographed take.
By the time the words La La Land appear on the screen, we’ve been blown away by the sheer audaciousness of writer/director Damien Chazelle’s vision. All that’s left is to be charmed by the romance that slowly percolates between his charismatic leads.
Mia (Emma Stone) is a would-be actor who drags herself from one disappointing audition to the next in between shifts at a coffee shop located on the Warner Bros. movie lot. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a pianist working at a nightclub where he’s forbidden to play the jazz that winds its way through his DNA.
At the final stage before beginning what would have been a lengthy and costly jury trial, a plea deal was reached yesterday when Franklin County prosecutors dropped two of the three charges against Tynan Krakoff, a lead organizer with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). Krakoff pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a 4th degree misdemeanor. He was sentenced to forty hours of community service and a $250 fine plus court fees.
Prosecutors dropped the other two misdemeanor charges: failure to obey a police officer and pedestrian in the roadway. Before taking the plea deal, Krakoff was facing a maximum penalty of one year in county jail or $2,000 in fines.
Krakoff was arrested on July 21 near the Division of Police building in downtown Columbus. That protest was organized by SURJ in collaboration with People’s Justice Project. Over 150 marched in the street without a permit, demanding justice for the police killing of Henry Green. Krakoff was the only protester arrested.
On Sunday, December 18, dozens of supporters will gather at the Ohio statehouse for a candlelight vigils asking Ohio electors to vote their conscience and stop Donald Trump from becoming president. Unite for America launched the effort in response to news of Russia’s involvement in the U.S. election, concerns about foreign bribery and conflicts of interest for Trump, and news of Trump’s team felonious intimidation of Electors have left many questioning whether he is fit to be President.
A bipartisan group of Electors, in response, is demanding President Obama to instruct the CIA to brief them on Russia hacking our democracy before Monday’s vote. Several Electors, including Texas Republican Elector Christopher Suprun, have already vowed not to vote for Trump, instead opting to vote for a “responsible Republican alternative,” such as Republican Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.