Thanksgiving is gone and no thanks were given for the House Democrats’ unfolding plan for a quick, tidy, Christmas-wrapped impeachment package. Why are they doing it like this? What are they thinking? Why not take the fight to the president on all the available grounds? What is the rationale for a rushed process based on a fraction of presidential infractions? Why deliberately give up control of the narrative when you have mountains of evidence on your side?

That’s where the Democrats appear to be taking us. At this point, no one knows how it will turn out, and I long to be wrong in my apprehensions. But there’s not much to work with here. Democratic leaders don’t even explain their thinking publicly. The state of play as this is written seems unchanged from what CNN reported November 21:

For luxury condo or apartment developers, we have heard it’s feast or famine. So it’s no surprise they want density in our coolest neighborhoods, which is bad enough. Worse is how they are building boorish and Easton-like monsters without any empathy for current residents or historical preservation.

Nothing is sacred to them. Not even German Village, the city’s most historical and aesthetic neighborhood.

Indeed, three conceptional development proposals have stalked German Village over the previous year to two years. They are faceless and unimaginative. You know the kind: a square beehive of glass and concrete.

 “We are now at a place where all of a sudden this group of developers have turned and looked South and said, ‘There’s some opportunity there. We can take advantage of the destination, the charm, the identity of German Village for our projects. And we are here to make money. This is the game we play and we are not here to make your life good,’” says Katharine Moore who served as Executive Director of the German Village Society for over a decade. “They are taking advantage of what we’ve spent years creating with care, blood, sweat and tears.”

The past year marked many major milestones for marijuana. Michigan voters passed an adult use ballot measure in November 2018, with the first business licenses issued on December 1. In June, Illinois became the second Midwest state to go full legal, doing so via legislature. Federally, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed the Safe Banking Act in September, the first step to opening this system to cannabusinesses. Then, just days ago, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act easily passed out of U.S. House Judiciary Committee and onto the House floor for a full vote. This groundbreaking legislation would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), require federal courts to expunge records for prior marijuana convictions and basically end the drug war.

The pillars of prohibition are crumbling.

Nile Vegan Ethiopian Restaurant just opened in October 2019 on OSU campus on Worthington and 8th (so bring coins for the meters if you aren’t in walking distance or prone to public transit). Their owners are transplants from Toronto Canada and have brought a completely new 100% vegan ethnic restaurant to Columbus open 10am-10pm, seven days per week.

If you have never had Ethiopian food before, savor the delicious new distinctive flavors and textures, where eating with your hands is the norm. The flavors are authentic, the food was filling and delightful. The establishment is quite pleasant, conscionable about all things sustainable, and has a very minimalist and anti-plastic approach to their business processes and supplies. Treat yourself to an exotic new experience and discover this fabulous vegan flair on Ethiopian fare.      

VeganShift and the Columbus Vegan Meetup will be having a lovely holiday Vegan Wine and Vegan Cheeze tasting at 6:30pm on Thursday, December 19 at Savor Pint, 4440 Indianola Avenue.