Opinion

An Earth without art is “meh.” In the last year, since COVID lockdowns and restrictions began, artists have turned to creating art to cope with isolation. The arts community in Franklinton marked the one-year anniversary of the global pandemic with a special art show, which was all about change.

The March exhibition at 400 West Rich, “Evolution in Isolation” was a tribute and a reflection on the year that showcase some of the artistic changes that have taken place since the Pandemic began. Artists have had to find ways to create meaningful pieces of work over the last year.

The description that 400 Square gave in promoting this exhibit could be comparable to our everyday lives since the pandemic began: “There was a ‘before’ the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is not yet an ‘after.’ Everything has changed, and these changes are reflected nearly everywhere we look, including our artwork.”

In the derelict and nearly extinct Westland Mall, where the current owner couldn’t care less about the cratered parking lot, there’s still one last tenant hanging on – and for those who enter this tenant’s premises, they must unload their gun and never, ever take a picture or video of what goes on inside. You could also easily lose your life here too, as was the case back in September.

Welcome to creepy and dystopian 21st-centruy America in all its splendor.

The Westland Mall’s glory days have come and gone but may rise again. In 2019 the entire 88 acres was bought by LGR Realty of Columbus and they have designs on finally demolishing the mall to build condos and offices, or mixed-use.

But like many commercial-leasing companies/developers they have a (greedy) disconnect about what’s best for the community, what’s truly important, and needed. And just like Westland Mall’s moon-scaped parking lot, LGR Realty doesn’t seem to care what the mall’s last renter sells or the repercussions.

When a lost soul attempts to reclaim himself in the American way, it becomes, far too often . . . we all know this . . . another mass murder.

In the past week or so, there have been two more of them.

“This cannot be our new normal. We should be able to feel safe in our grocery stores. We should be able to feel safe in our schools, in our movie theaters and in our communities. We need to see a change.”

When I first saw this quote by U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse, whose district includes Boulder, Colorado, site of one of the shootings, I initially misread that last sentence and thought, oh my God, he’s right. We need a sea change!

Originally published on August 3, 2012at: https://duluthreader.com/articles/2012/08/03/100731-what-were-the-brain-altering-psych-drugs-that-the

The most recent episode in the peculiarly American epidemic of mass shootings happened yesterday, March 22, 2021, in Boulder, Colorado. Everybody knows the bare details as broadcast on the mainstream media and most people are expecting the seemingly inevitable – and illogical – revenge/retaliations against Middle Eastern immigrants.

The lone shooter in Boulder was a 21-year-old Syrian-born man named Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa. He hasadmitted to the shooting.

A week earlier Alissa had legally purchased the murder weapon, a semiautomatic AK-15-style Ruger assault pistol.

Six years ago, on March 26, 2015, the US green-lighted and provided logistical support for the Saudi bombing of Yemen that continues on a daily basis. The US/Saudi war, which includes as allies the several members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, is an undeclared war, illegal under international law, and an endless crime against humanity. The US and the Saudis have dropped cluster bombs on Yemen since 2009. Yemen has no air force and no significant air defenses. Two years ago, even the US Congress voted to end US involvement in the war, but President Trump vetoed the resolution.

Is it possible that the country is truly rebuilding itself . . . from the soul up?

Deb Haaland has been confirmed as head of the Department of the Interior. A Native American congresswoman and, as she describes herself, 35th-generation New Mexican, has been given the reins of the department that has essentially been at war, not simply with her people but with the planet itself and, therefore, all of us, pretty much since its inception. That is to say, the department’s values are those the European colonialists brought with them to the new continent: steal the land from those who live there, then proceed to exploit it.

The Lorax speaks for the trees.

Trump canceled him.

Trump’s Zombie Cultists are in a snit about Dr. Seuss. They whine about questioning his older books over issues of racism, sexism, and antisemitism. They moan about a “cancel culture.”

WE CALL BS!!!!

Theodore Seuss Geisel’s sixty-plus books have sold more than 700,000,000 copies worldwide. They are uniquely brilliant …charming, funny, irreverent, sassy, thought-provoking. They preach tolerance, fellowship, responsibility, good will, creative thinking … all the stuff Trump and his disciples so clearly hate.

Anti-authoritarian (Yertle the Turtle) and anti-materialistic (The Grinch Who Stole Christmas), Seuss provoked (like Mad Magazine), some of the first out-of-the-box excursions for millions of readers, young and younger.

Like early Disney, the Marx Brothers’ Day at the Races, and other ancient icons, some of Dr. Seuss’s early works have cringe-worthy passages with racist and sexist imagery.

Jeff Chang Reminds Flexner Hip Hop was the thing he liked.

I was informed an important book was being re-released while I was planning to watch the new Fred Hampton movie.

Can’t Stop Won’t Stopcan function as the encyclopedia of rap.

Can’t Stop Won’t Stoprelease date was March 16th.

I attended a virtual meeting with community radio producers in which Jeff Chang, who wrote Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, was discussing the 2021 edition of his 2005 book.

BSA Hip Hop 7pm 92.7 / 98.3 wcrsfm.org is my radio show.
http://wesflexner.com/2021/03/12/bsa-hip-hop-3-11-21/

Recent statements made by US officials suggest that Washington will continue to pursue a hardline policy on Venezuela. The new Biden Administration, however, needs to urgently rethink its approach.

US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, remarked on February 3 that he “certainly” does not “expect this administration to be engaging directly with (President) Maduro.” Namely, Price expects that the Biden Administration will adhere to the strategy of its predecessor, which is predicated on completely ignoring the current government in Caracas. 

I learned yesterday that Babachu Spriggs, a friend of mine with whom I had frequently performed music on Wednesdays at noon at a church in downtown Columbus, has died.