Opinion

The state attacks its young people: Why? Of what are the state legislature, the majority on the State Board of Education, the governor, the secretary of state and attorney general afraid? What fears of losing power and control motivate them to institutionalize infantilization and its consequences of infanticide and stunted growth, all threats to the wholeness, wellness, and maturity of our nation? Why do they act unconstitutionally, against recognized modes of child development, with ignorance of the history and books they anti-democratically and inhumanely seek to ban?

This essay builds on my recent writing in Publishers Weekly and elsewhere on book banning as “the new illiteracy” and my testimony in the American Civil Liberties Union case suing a Missouri school district for its unconstitutional removal of books.

The title “Shen Yun: China Before Communism” above an image of a sprawling dancer was the first thing seen when picking up the February 13 edition of the Columbus Dispatch. Vague quotes of the “life changing experience,” connecting “heaven and earth,” and “explosive athleticism” littered the double-sided foldout advertisement. Tickets start at $80 for the March 5-6 performances here in Columbus. Noticeably absent from the ad was any mention of the religion behind it, Falun Gong – a racist, homophobic, anti-science, right-wing cult founded in the 1990s.

The Shen Yun Performing Arts organization was established in upstate New York in 2006. The six theater troupes of Shen Yun, including dancers and a full orchestra, train at the tightly restricted 427-acre Dragon Springs compound, headquarters of Falun Gong and their leader, Li Hongzhi. Shen Yun claims that they rebirthed five thousand years of China’s history there in upstate New York, “bringing back the rich and beautiful culture that the communist regime has been eroding.”

Prior to any analysis of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prior to the casting of blame and outrage — at Putin’s hubris, at NATO’s pernicious westward expansion over the last three decades — there’s this:

“Our world has become so interdependent that violent conflict between two countries inevitably impacts the rest of the world. War is outdated — nonviolence is the only way. We need to develop a sense of the oneness of humanity by considering other human beings as brothers and sisters. This is how we will build a more peaceful world.”

Too simple? Yada yada?

Chef Jennifer Deehan’s inspiration for creating the next generation of whole, plant-pure, healing food creations is driven by her personal transformation into healthier living after being diagnosed with a cancerous tumor three years ago. She has learned how to significantly decrease her chances of a recurrence by consuming a health promoting diet that is consistent with her love of animals and the planet that provides us life. Please support the success of her debut by attending this event:

Event: Vegan Chef Jennifer’s Culinary Debut 
Address: Mitchell Hall 224 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus (Downtown- Columbus State Community College Campus) 
Day/Date/Time: Thurs, March 10th, 2022 beginning at 6:00 pm
Purchase tickets must be purchased in advance here: https://mix.cscc.edu/#classes
You can follow Chef Jennifer at Instagram: @veganchefjennifer

he “Peaceful Atom” has transformed Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine into a nuclear war.

Like all nukes anywhere, Ukraine’s 15 operating atomic reactors are pre-deployed weapons of radioactive mass destruction. As a global threat to the future of human life on this planet, they have escalated this crisis to a danger level that parallels the apocalyptic US/USSR madness of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

As Putin’s troops penetrate the Ukrainian countryside, even a relatively minuscule attack on any of those power plants could blow out radiation far in excess of a nuclear weapon attack. They could (again) blanket Ukraine, Belarus and much of Europe with lethal radioactive fallout arriving in the United States within ten days. Their downwind death toll could dwarf Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Fittingly, the Russian assault quickly focussed on Chernobyl, whose April 26,1986 Unit 4 explosion blew out apocalyptic clouds that have since killed more than a million people worldwide.

The Ohio State University forces me to continue my series of public accounting for its series of leadership failures, threats to health and safety on and off campus, and irresponsibility to its neighbors—both homeowners and student renters. Slogans about safety and health proliferate. Actions do not.

Contrary to off-the-record comments by OSU’s Bricker Hall senior administration, my always-fact-based writing gives me no pleasure. (The President’s Office refuses even to acknowledge receipt of my efforts to communicate with Kristina Johnson when I ask them to do so, an overt discourtesy.) They do not understand that constructive criticism is not a contradiction in terms. This only reinforces their insularity and long-time disrespect to students, staff, faculty, neighbors, and the media—in other words, their public. OSU ignores legal Freedom of Information Act requests for public information; its “spokespersons” do not answer questions. This decades-old pattern should provoke widespread alarm and demands for reform.

The Ohio State University forces me to continue my series of public accounting for its series of leadership failures, threats to health and safety on and off campus, and irresponsibility to its neighbors—both homeowners and student renters. Slogans about safety and health proliferate. Actions do not.

Contrary to off-the-record comments by OSU’s Bricker Hall senior administration, my always-fact-based writing gives me no pleasure. (The President’s Office refuses even to acknowledge receipt of my efforts to communicate with Kristina Johnson when I ask them to do so, an overt discourtesy.) They do not understand that constructive criticism is not a contradiction in terms. This only reinforces their insularity and long-time disrespect to students, staff, faculty, neighbors, and the media—in other words, their public. OSU ignores legal Freedom of Information Act requests for public information; its “spokespersons” do not answer questions. This decades-old pattern should provoke widespread alarm and demands for reform.

First things first.

This was my first show since quarantine. 

Last time I was watching someone rap live, Organized Konfusion’s “Extinction Agenda” was a Hip Hop classic. Organized Konfusion wasn’t a soundtrack for 2021 because of COVID.

I breezed through the Schottenstein Center at 1pm. There was a line.

I went home because Schottenstein Center website said the first act wasn’t performing until 7pm. 

I was imagining teenagers having parents drop them off earlier. 

Rationale was: 

They haven’t attended very many shows. 

Fans didn’t want to miss anything.

 Why wouldn’t you make a day of it?

Akin to bachelorette’s events, Schottenstein Center Shows are probably really big events in someone’s year.

Someone works all year, attends school , and a favorite group is finally rocking Columbus.

Or in similar to where I was coming from….

Tyler’s show was the first show where someone could rap, and make songs corresponding with

The fact our country was finally recovering from a COVID. 

I want to have fun.

Hollywood is popularly perceived as a realm of romance and glamor. But over the decades the entertainment industry has also been the site of intense labor organizing and struggles between craft and trade employees against management and owners, in the form of studio executives, producers and movie moguls. In this article we take a look back at a teachable moment for organized labor: The 2007-2008 strike that rocked Tinseltown and how the workers organized to win one of the rare union triumphs during the Bush era.