‘Panem et circenses’, said the Romans - ‘Bread and circuses’. 

 This maxim served the Romans well. In times of crisis and whenever they needed a distraction from military defeats or political infighting at the highest levels, they simply entertained the masses.

 Caroline Wazir wrote an article in The Atlantic in 2016, linking entertainment and the need for political validation in the Roman Empire.

 “The Exotic Animal Traffickers of Ancient Rome” is a good summation of how thousands of rare animals - at least rare for the Romans - were transported to Rome to be butchered at the Colosseum. 

 The practice was used in the early years of the Roman Empire to win approval for ambitious emperors and, during the age of decadence, to distract from the failures of struggling Caesars. 

 Ultimately, the entire exercise had little to do with entertainment for its sake and everything to do with distraction.

I’m watching a rapper. She cusses. Kari Faux is from Little Rock, Arkansas. She lives in Southern California. She cusses.

Kari’s “Real Bitches Don’t Die Tour” played Columbus Tuesday. Kari’s show started with “Real Bitches Don’t Die” which is an angry diatribe about coping with betrayal and death which sounds like a celebration. She cusses in an anthem. “Real Bitches Don’t Die” is catharsis.

I took the number 1 from Olentangy River Road so I could look at the Wu-Tang/Nas/De La Soul sign in front the Schott.

I heard  “Real Bitches Don’t Die” from outside but wasn’t inside the Basement yet. I didn’t know if there was a room of women flailing middle fingers.

Kari’s past collaborators include Gangsta Boo, Devin the Dude, Childish Gambino, and Big Krit. I think Karl cusses during all those songs.

I walked in as Kari Faux launched into “Me First” which led a packed room of ladies’ screaming about orgasms. Kari Faux wants an orgasm from oral sex, a rousing finger banging, or a meticulous romp before a man ejaculates. I guess that’s mansplaining a ladies’ sexual desire. I will write from my experience……I’m a man.

Friday, September 1, 6:30pm
Goodale Park Gazebo, 120 W. Goodale
At 10am today, footage of the state-sanctioned murder of Ta'Kiya Young wss released to the public. This event will give space for you to express your frustrations while demanding accountability.

Sponsored by People's Justice Project

#JusticeforTaKiya

Staff at the Pickerington Public Library are organizing to form a union. If successful, they would become the third library system in Central Ohio to unionize through the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT). In 2021 and 2022, library workers at Worthington Libraries and Grandview Heights Public Library formed unions in affiliation with OFT. Fairfield County Library workers are also organized through the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

On August 10, the Pickerington Public Library staff formally asked the library’s Director and Board of Trustees to voluntarily recognize their union. Signed union cards were presented to the State Employee Relations Board (SERB) as well, the office which will count the vote. At least 73 percent of staff in the library system, spanning two locations, had signed cards indicating their support for the unionization effort.