Opinion
Director/co-writer/co-star Dennis Dugan’s Love, Weddings & Other Disasters is a mildly amusing romcom mainly distinguished by the presence of two superb thespians: Oscar winners Diane Keaton (she was awarded the Best Actress Academy Award for 1977’s Annie Hall and of course starred in many other Woody Allen classic comedies) and Jeremy Irons (1990’s Reversal of Fortune, for which he scored that coveted golden statuette for Best Actor). The proverbial curtain lifts on Disasters with an eye-grabbing, death defying opening reminiscent of James Bond films, as well as with a knowing wink to the movie’s title. However, the aptly named Disasters rapidly descends downhill from there, literally (if you watch this flick you’ll see what I mean, but I don’t want to commit that critical capital offense of plot spoiling).
We are all grieving. We grieve the loss of our normal freedom to come and go; to hug a friend; to sit in “The Shoe” with 80,000 other people cheering the Buckeyes; to gather at our local watering hole and share an evening with friends old and new.
Yes, we are all grieving. Some of us have lost loved ones to COVID. For us, the grieving process will have to play out. We are all pissed of at “the stupid virus” as my 6-year-old grandson calls it. Many of us have moved past denial into acceptance. It sucks, but it is what it is.
We’ve become expert negotiators, bargaining for a better deal: “I’ll wear the mask in the grocery store but not in the park.” Of course, there IS no entity to bargain with, there’s only a very cagey virus that takes advantage of the ignorance of a few to wreak havoc on our country.
In a few words, a close associate of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, summed up the logic behind the ongoing frenzy to expand illegal Jewish settlements in Israel.
“These days are an irreplaceable opportunity to establish our hold on the Land of Israel, and I’m sure that our friend, President (Donald) Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu will be able to take advantage,” Miki Zohar, a member of the Likud Party was quoted in the Christian Science Monitor.
Things you can do to help me, world peace, and your friends:
Encourage people to sign up for one of these lists:
Articles. (That's this one.)
Step one: Defeat Trump. OK, now comes the hard part.
We have to take back the country, and what I really mean is take it “forward,” beyond situation normal — endless war, structural racism, consumer culture and ecological devastation — and into what one might call planetary stewardship.
This sounds, of course, absurd, as though there’s any facet of the American status quo, political or economic, that would abandon its interests and embrace a vision-in-progress: of a world that has transcended nationalism, borders and war . . . of a world that has transcended us-vs.-them thinking and dominion over Planet Earth.
Idealism, man! There’s nothing Americans are better at than mocking it. Nonetheless, beyond the mockery, I believe there is an enormous segment of the population that understands the need to create real peace and believes — or wants to believe — in a future that is not caged in the past. Does such a movement have any resonance, any hope of political traction?
As Americans wait to see who will officially take the presidential oath of office in January, many of us are simply breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, one of the most tumultuous, indecent times in American politics has (almost!) come to an end. Life is slowing down again. The sun feels warmer and the tap water tastes better. Heck, some people are even sayingthe election of president-elect Joe Biden (after Rudy Giuliani confirms the results, of course) could usher in a return to the decency we once had in our politics. And while that may be what most of us fatigued Americans want, it’s hard to say if it’ll happen anytime soon.
By all accounts, the frontrunner to be Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of Defense is Michèle Flournoy. It’s a prospect that should do more than set off alarm bells -- it should be understood as a scenario for the president-elect to stick his middle fingers in the eyes of Americans who are fed up with endless war and ongoing militarism.
Warning and petitioningBiden to dissuade him from a Flournoy nomination probably have scant chances of success. But if Biden puts her name forward, activists should quickly launch an all-out effort to block Senate confirmation.
Antony Blinken is not the Secretary of State the United States or the world needs, and the U.S. Senate should reject his nomination. Here are 10 reasons:
1. A president elect who has been part of every disastrous war for decades should not be nominating for Secretary of State a key advisor who helped him get numerous critical decisions wrong. Biden was the committee chair who guided the Iraq war authorization through the Senate with Blinken’s help. Blinken helped Biden into catastrophe after catastrophe in Libya, Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere. If Biden claims to have regrets or to have learned anything, he’s not yet showing it.
2. Blinken has been part even of Biden’s hairbrained schemes that weren’t acted on, such as the plan to divide Iraq into three separate puppet states.
3. Blinken has supported Trump’s bombings in Syria and arming of Ukrainians, militarism that went beyond Obama-Biden policies.
4. Blinken has urged that campaign promises of ending endless wars not be taken too seriously.
UPDATE DEC. 6: The Columbus City Council hearing on this issue has moved to December 14th, so letters are still needed!
The award-winning neighborhood institution, Kossuth Street Garden (KSG), is in grave danger.
A developer wants us to go away so he can build 10 expensive homes on 641 E Kossuth Street. But to succeed at this point, he needs changes approved by the City of Columbus for zoning and variances, based on advice of our South Side Area Commission.
The site of our majestic and beloved 12-year-old award-winning community garden was sold and the new developer now wants us out, as he will build 10 new "affordable homes" at $250,000 to $350,000 each and likely ask for tax abatements next spring. The land is zoned "commercial" and the developer needs a "residential" zoning change in order to build.
New owner Tracy Cohen, the Carroll, Ohio developer, offered to sell us the section where the garden/green space is on October 23 this year.
But then on November 10, he went back on his promise, as that would impact his bottom line and decrease his profits.
Last year, I had a conversation about forgiveness with a friend who grew up in Jim Crow Nashville. He opined that black people forgive white people too much and too soon. (I rather doubt he’s forgiven racist whites or their repressive Jim Crow system.) As is often seen after an unspeakable tragedy afflicted on African Americans by whites, the former has routinely been quick to step forward and absolve the white community and the perpetrator with the healing balm of forgiveness. We should stop doing that, he said, because time and time again they have shown us that they are not deserving of it.
I grew up in the Black church–as did my friend–and I know that Black Christianity sees forgiveness as a commandment and something that helps bring us closer to salvation. It also seeks to ensure that blacks are not captives of or wiped out by white supremacy and terrorism; that we not only survive, but thrive in this racist country; that we are not defeated by anything whites inflict on us. Martin Luther King, Jr., frequently reminded us that suffering is redemptive.