Millennials mobilize to stop Trump

On July 21, the last day of the Republican National Convention, activists across the nation rallied at the offices of Republican politicians and corporations sponsoring the RNC to denounce the racism, xenophobia, and misogyny expressed by Donald Trump. In Columbus the focus was primarily on Trump’s disdain for green energy.

“No more coal. No more oil. Keep your carbon in the soil!” shouted a dozen young protesters outside the Columbus office of Senator Rob Portman. “Don’t give in to racist fear. Immigrants are welcome here!”

 “We’re trying to make people aware of the dangerous rhetoric that Donald Trump, Senator Portman, and the rest of the Republican Party have put into their platform: attacking the environment and not moving in the direction of clean energy,” said David Miller, organizer for NextGen Climate. “Donald Trump complains about the EPA and has talked disparagingly about the movement for clean energy. Gutting the EPA is a very dangerous position to take.”

Thursday, July 21: Rally and march to end the assault on black lives

The Movement for Black Lives has called for a national day of action on Thursday, July 21 to take a stand against oppression and violence against black people. In Columbus a march is planned for 6 p.m. from the Ohio Statehouse to the Columbus Division of Police a few blocks away.

“In the wake of the national outcry over the police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, we’ve seen black folks and allies put their bodies on the line to fight for a world where black lives matter,” said Tynan Krakoff, a lead organizer with the Columbus chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a group of white people organizing white people to fight against racial injustice.

Shoot....like this.

Best Speech a U.S. President Ever Gave


Diablo Shutdown Marks End of Atomic Era

Shoreline and nuke
As worldwide headlines have proclaimed, California’s Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) says it will shut its giant Diablo Canyon reactors near San Luis Obispo, and that the power they’ve been producing will be replaced by renewable energy.

PG&E has also earmarked some $350 million to “retain and retrain” Diablo’s workforce, whose union has signed on to the deal, which was crafted in large part by major environmental groups.

Pokemon invade Columbus!

Pokemon Go screenshot

Layered over our city is another reality, a virtual world of Pikachus and Squirtles and… lots and LOTS of Drowzees, for some reason. (What’re you implying about Columbus, Niantec?) The Grandview post office is now a Pokemon gym, complete with twenty-somethings hanging around outside defending it. Short North wall murals are now Pokestops. Public spaces like Mirror Lake and Goodale Park are full of gyms, Pokestops, and newly-minted Pokemon trainers. And all over the city, people are walking around looking at their phones even more than usual.

Pokemon Go, a new mobile game from Nintendo and Augmented Reality Game pioneers Niantec Labs, was a massive hit from the moment it launched. And for good reason: For a generation of gamers, going out into the real world in search of Pokemon has been a lifelong dream. And at the low, low price of Free (with microtransactions) there’s little to stop anyone with an interest from downloading the game and playing along.

New ‘Ghostbusters’ haunted by ghost of funnier original

The all-female title characters of 2016’s Ghostbusters can bust ghosts just as well as their 1984 forebears. Just don’t expect them to bust a lot of guts in the process.

Despite its overall quirky charm, the original film was primarily a Bill Murray comedy. It was fun to watch the other Ghostbusters spout pseudo-scientific jargon as they tried to save New York from a spectral invasion, but what made it funny was Murray’s wry attitude to the whole thing. He was too busy trying to romance Sigourney Weaver to take his job seriously.

The main problem with the new Ghostbusters is that despite its comedically adept cast, no one is given the chance to fill Murray’s laconic shoes. Nor, unfortunately, are they allowed to take Ghostbusters in a revolutionarily new, female-centered direction. Certainly nothing on a par with director Paul Feig and star Kristen Wiig’s 2011 buddy picture/romcom, Bridesmaids.

The God of War

 

There’s Mars, the god of war, perched in a parking garage in Dallas, annihilating the enemy with utter impunity. Mars, you sicko! Just listen to President Obama:

“By definition, if you shoot people who pose no threat to you — strangers — you have a troubled mind. What triggers that, what feeds it, what sets it off, I’ll leave that to psychologists and people who study these kinds of incidents.”

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