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Young white woman smiling and Cheech and Chong

It would be the ultimate stoner irony and hypocrisy. But according to one police brutality activist, fully legal recreational marijuana could someday pay for Ohio’s “Cop City,” which may be built somewhere in Central Ohio.

“It’s very likely the AG [Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost] and Republicans will want to divert those funds for training. Representative Cindy Abrams, former law enforcement, introduced a bill to mandate funds be spent towards law enforcement officer training and equipment,” said Emily Cole, Executive Director of Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change (OFUPAC). This is the lobbyist arm of Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality, which was founded by Sabrina Jordan of Dayton who lost her son to police brutality in 2017. Jordan’s nonprofit represents 700 Ohio families who have also lost a loved one since the turn of the century to police violence.

Young white woman smiling and Cheech and Chong

It would be the ultimate stoner irony and hypocrisy. But according to one police brutality activist, fully legal recreational marijuana could someday pay for Ohio’s “Cop City,” which may be built somewhere in Central Ohio.

“It’s very likely the AG [Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost] and Republicans will want to divert those funds for training. Representative Cindy Abrams, former law enforcement, introduced a bill to mandate funds be spent towards law enforcement officer training and equipment,” said Emily Cole, Executive Director of Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change (OFUPAC). This is the lobbyist arm of Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality, which was founded by Sabrina Jordan of Dayton who lost her son to police brutality in 2017. Jordan’s nonprofit represents 700 Ohio families who have also lost a loved one since the turn of the century to police violence.

Really, Reilly? Charles Nelson Reilly – a fixture on stage and the little and big screens for about half a century, best known as a habitue of televised variety, talk and game shows plus sitcoms – attended one of America’s most renowned acting schools in Manhattan during the 1950s. But who knew that the comic performer – who appeared countless times in skits on The Dean Martin Show, as a panelist on What’s My Line?, Password and Match Game, as a guest 100-plus times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and as an actor in the sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir – studied acting under the revered Uta Hagen at New York’s fabled HB Studio? That his classmates at Herbert Berghof’s famed Greenwich Village acting outpost included Hal Holbrook, Geraldine Page, Steve McQueen, Orson Bean and many other luminaries – some of whom Reilly would go on to teach at HB Studio himself?

A friend of mine who follows international developments closely recently observed that the United States and Israel have “own goaled” themselves to become widely perceived as together the two most evil governments on earth. It is a judgement that is hard to disagree with regarding the Jewish state if one examines the abundant evidence that Israel is systematically committing war crimes against the largely unarmed Palestinian civilian population in an effort to bring about ethnic cleansing or even genocide in Gaza and on the West Bank. The process would include removing the Palestinians physically and/or killing them if they resist, which is what is currently taking place. Something like 10,000 dead Palestinian children attest to the brutality and inhumanity of the effort, together with nearly 400 doctors and nurses who were directly targeted plus more than 100 UN employees trying to bring aid to the civilians. What Israel is doing is monstrous, almost unimaginable.

What are we to say about a U.S. culture in which people can openly admire Germany for backing yet another genocide, and condemn warning of World War III as reckless endangerment?

Details about event

Monday, January 15, 11am-4pm, Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave.

The Ohio History Connection presents the annual MLK Open House. Celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King through visual and performing art performances. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the impact of Dr. King’s teachings and learn how his work changed the trajectory of the country.

Admission is free, but pre-registration is strongly recommended.

We will also be hosting a donation drive for Star House, a space for teens and young adults, to continue Dr. King’s legacy in acts of service to local communities. You may learn more about the mission of Star House on their website.

Most-needed items include the following:

• Winter coats

• Large insulated gloves and wool socks

• Winter hats

• Hand warmers

• New underwear for men and women (boxers/boxer briefs preferred for men)

• Sweatpants

• Leggings

• Solid color T-shirts

• Backpacks

• Blankets

• African American hair care products (oils and gels)

• Large new towels

Palestinian woman and flag

The January Free Press Second Saturday Salon was held on January 13 over Zoom.

Listen to the recording here.

Mark Stansbery of the Free Press Board, talked about the salon theme, ending militarism and building community. He introduced the first speaker, Rosan Eldadah. Rose relayed the tragic story of how she lost six family members, including small children, in Gaza during horrendous attacks by the IDF on civilians. Rose herself was harassed by the IDF prior to the current war and her family members detained and tortured.

The next speaker was Shayna Solomon, representing Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). She spoke about the work of JVP and their events in Columbus. Both Rose and Shayna emphasized the Israeli oppression and violence of Palestinians that had been going on long before the current situation and the importance of assuring that whatever changes may happen, the horror cannot continue past this war.

Woman teaching a college class

Especially in the United States but across the world, we witness a stunning recurrence of an at least 60 year old tradition. University presidents, most loudly former university presidents, publicly blame faculty—most directly tenured professors-—or the  many problems of  higher education today.

There are many motivations. Prominent today are selling books, deflecting all responsibility for their own and other institutions failings away from themselves and on to anyone else; and running for elective office.

In the 1960s and 1970s, faculty and also students were blamed for universities’ awkward and contradictory stances on civil rights and then anti-war movements. Later, it was affirmative action broadly defined from equal opportunity to Diversity-Equity-Inclusion, among many manipulated themes, intended to distract attention from administrative failures of leadership and refusal to accept responsibility. These illegitimate, unprofessional manipulations typically contradict administrators’ wholesale statements about the roles of colleges and universities in the social, moral, and civic orders.

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