Two hands holding images of a family in a circle

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.

Black woman with updo wearing a yellow suit

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.

Josh Mandel and John Kasich appear to have spent upwards of $5 million of taxpayers' money on their vain pursuits of a U.S. Senate seat.

Ohio Treasurer Mandel spent nearly $2 million on TV ads pushing him off as a nice guy who supports charity.

Governor Kasich is nearing the $3 million mark in secret spending of taxpayer money on security, travel and lodging while he runs for president, peddles his book and maybe runs for the Senate.

Do the math. Kasich has spent 300 days of the last 2 years out of state and not doing his job at an estimated $10,000 a day. That adds up to $3 million down the drain.

Imagine what the combined $5 million could do to fight the opioid epidemic that Kasich purports to care about.

Speaking of Kasich's latest "book," Two Paths, it limped into the 13th spot on the New York Times best-seller list three weeks ago only to drop out of the list the following week.

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow the pirate

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is awash in mysteries, but the biggest is existential in nature. Namely, why does this flick exist? 

In 2003, Disney gave us the first film in the series, The Curse of the Black Pearl, starring Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow. The eye-shadowed scamp of a pirate was such a hit that the studio brought him back in a trio of sequels that drowned the original’s charm under scattershot plots and frantic action sequences.

Despite critical brickbats galore, Disney continued to earn shiploads of booty from the series, which is why Depp is back with Dead Men Tell No Tales. The title of this fifth installment is based on a quote from the chief villain, Javier Bardem’s Capt. Salazar, who reveals that he and his cursed crew leave one man alive from each ship they attack because they want someone to tell the tale.

Of course, that’s assuming anyone is capable of explaining the tale. Like its predecessors, Dead Men is a convoluted mess involving undead or missing parents, curses, quests, revenge and a series of magical objects: a compass, an unreadable map, a mythical island and Poseidon’s trident.

Cartoon of girl black/white on one side and on color on a computer surrounded by technical symbols

So far, the Trump administration has been every bit the worst case scenario we feared. And while some of the agendas of his underlings have been thwarted by just how outlandishly villainous they are, others are more likely to slip under the radar of the average American. One of the latter is the very idea of an open internet.

Under President Barack Obama’s FCC, the internet was ruled to be a public utility, in recognition of the importance it plays in the lives of everyone from Netflix bingers to homeless people using smartphones to look for work. This let the FCC regulate internet service providers, and they used that to put in place privacy protections and maintain net neutrality – the principle that all internet traffic, no matter if you’re visiting Facebook or your friend’s obscure blog, must be given the same access.

Trump’s FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, has already dismantled our privacy protections, letting our ISPs spy on us so they can sell our data for even more profit. Now he’s looking to kill net neutrality. Get ready for your favorite sites to be held ransom, throttled unless you (or they) pay a premium.

Two hands going around the earth

Alliance for Ohio’s Future Plans Public Demonstration Against Fracking on Ohio’s Public Land
Alliance for Ohio’s Future will hold a public demonstration on Wednesday, June 14th at 1pm at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus to protest HB 49, a state budget bill that contains Amendment HC 2241, which strips the governor of the power to appoint members to the 4-member Oil and Gas Leasing Commission, and gives these appointment powers to the speaker of the house and president of the senate.      

A list of bands with a lot of handwritten notes all over it

I began my month certain that Metallica possessed the mother bread of justice. I feel they understand the human condition and have a special role in American culture. Everyone I know says, “I love the first three or four Metallica albums.” Metallica only got popular during the past 25 years.

In 2017, Monday is dedicated to Metallica. Tuesday is dedicated to bands influenced by Metallica. In 1989, they couldn’t even win the Grammy over Jethro Tull.

The month ended with me watching Metallica begin their set at Rock on the Range screaming in Columbus: “Hard-Wired to Self-destruct.”  This was in front of the largest crowd I’d even seen for music in Columbus. This is from Metallica’s platinum album of the same meme.

How do you interpret this meme?  Human death drive?  The condition of our country that appears to have spited themselves into Russian subterfuge? Who are the fall guys for the oligarchical revenge of the one percent?

If a FISA warrant falls in the Russian Mob’s woods does it record a sound? Do they reference technology that leaves issues of surveillance, hacking and electronic mishaps? 

Football player running with the ball in his arm in brown and orange uniform

A gay football player. Even today it seems to be something very rare in the game.

Growing up, football was always my outlet to get out whatever I had built up inside me. When those pads came on, I felt at home. I started playing football in third grade, and I still fall more in love with the game every year I play.

I grew up in a very small town called Richwood, Ohio, and graduated with a class size of barely 100 students. In high school I never had a problem with standing out. I made friends with everyone and tried to stay positive and nice to every kid in the school.

My coming-out story is a little different from many others you see today. Freshmen and sophomore year of high school I knew I was gay, but the thought of anyone knowing that part of me was single-handedly the most terrifying thought in my head, especially growing up with a family full of farmers who weren’t really exposed to that kind of thing yet.

I was always terrified with the locker room talk that went on about gays and how gross they are and how wrong being gay is. Yes, that talk was there. It just pushed me further into the back of the closet.

A cinnamon bun with a sign on it saying Sticky Buns

Do you ever wonder how vegans survive, or rather, have the discipline to live without dessert, or actually believe vegans live a life of such stinking deprivation? Are you a would-be-vegan or a new vegan desperate for vegan dessert in what seems like a vegan dessert desert? Wonder and despair no more. These Columbus locations provide delicious, decadent vegan dessert options:

Wednesday, May 31, 4-10pm
Denmark on High, 463 N. High, 2nd floor
This is a great way to meet other Friends of Community Shares or just have a relaxing time at one of Columbus' most innovative Cocktail Lounges. Even if you don't drink..., they have other innovative soft drink selections and small bites. In addition they are locavores and source almost all of their supplies and ingredients within the state of Ohio, and much of it within a 35 mile radius. 
15% of all beverage sales for May 31st will be donated to Community Shares of Mid Ohio.
http://shortnorth.org/businesses/denmark-on-high/

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