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The Teacher takes on one of the most divisive issues in the world today: the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians. And it does it in a way that is thoughtful, provocative and dramatic.

The title character is Basem El-Saleh (Saleh Bakri), who teaches in a poor community in the West Bank. Anyone who’s seen the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land—or the final episodes of the Netflix series Mo—won’t be surprised to learn that Basem’s students have more to worry about than passing tests.

Two of them, brothers Yacoub and Adam (Mahmoud Bakri and Muhammad Abed Elrahman), return from school one day just in time to see their home torn down by Israeli forces. “It was just their turn,” Basem explains to British social worker Lisa (Imogen Poots), noting that most houses in the village have been marked for demolition.

Adding to the residents’ worries are the Israeli settlers whose red-roofed homes can be seen multiplying in the distance. Though the settlers have moved to the occupied territory illegally, the residents know the government is likely to take the newcomers’ side if any dispute arises. 

The current situation in Afghanistan is undeniably linked to the 1990-1991 Gulf War. This earlier conflict could have been prevented if then President George H.W. Bush had told Saddam Hussein that Iraq would be blasted back into the stone age if the Butcher of Baghdad even considered invading Kuwait before it happened. Saddam definitely would have backed down if he had been threatened with retaliation before he made that disastrous decision. But the first Bush administration misjudged him and mismanaged the situation to allow a minor crisis to grow into a major one. Even though the president had been a former director of the C.I.A., he was clueless or pretended to be clueless when dealing with this situation. Maybe he thought that involving the United States in a war would make him more popular than using diplomacy to prevent one. His approval ratings did hit an all-time high just after the war before the collective failure of his foreign and domestic policies led to his defeat in a landslide in 1992.

Wednesday, April 9, 5:45-8pm
Bethany Presbyterian Church, 206 N Garfield Ave, Columbus, OH 43203
Join the Columbus Safety Collective Campaign tonight to gather signatures at this event. The campaign is focused on establishing an alternative emergency response system that serves all Columbus residents. The ballot measure, when appropriate, would dispatch EMS and mental health workers to help someone in a mental health or addiction crisis, instead of the police.

But first, we have to collect 25,000 valid signatures to get it on the ballot for November's election. We believe that together, we can build an anti-racist, health-centered approach to public safety that also promotes accountability and justice in our city!

We'll be meeting at 5:45 to gather signatures at the Columbus City Council District 7 Candidate Forum. As you walk into the event, look for our team with clipboards, petition books, and pens!

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The “Columbus Way” is notorious for co-opting the ideas of grassroots activists for its own gain. Just ask former mayoral candidate Joe Motil, and it has happened again. This time to the “Saint of Sullivant Avenue,” the moniker the Free Press gave to Esther Flores who has worked tirelessly to help Hilltop and Franklinton “street sisters and brothers” in their struggle with addiction to illicit street drugs.

Flores, a registered nurse, runs the 1DivineLine2Health “harm reduction” drop-in at 2424 Sullivant Avenue. She’s been helping the addicted and all the challenges they bring, such as human trafficking, violence, homelessness, and disease, since 2015. She had the courage to be a Sullivant Avenue harm reduction pioneer and has risked everything to help thousands, many of whom are women and their children.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Hoarded wealth that could transform millions of lives corrupts. The unprecedented wealth of today's multi-billionaires corrupts absolutely.

The incredible imbalance of wealth in today's United States corrupts not just the tiny number of people hoarding most of it, but also the political and social system in its entirety.

Forbes magazine recently introduced its list of billionaires like this:

"The world’s billionaires have always been rich and powerful—but never more than now. That’s particularly true in the United States, where Donald Trump was sworn in (again) as America’s billionaire-in-chief in January. This time around, he’s giving the billionaire class more control over the government than ever before. His right-hand man is the planet’s richest person. His administration includes at least ten billionaires and billionaire spouses."

Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 1:00 – 1:30 PM
Due to the number of executive orders, immigration raids, and other policy changes, Episcopal Migration Ministries is scheduling weekly immigration calls. EMM will share updates and resources and will be joined by the Office of Government Relations and the Chief Legal Officer.

Spanish interpretation will be available.  

Register here.

Mayor Ginther's and Columbus City Council's decades long continuation of granting tax abatements to wealthy developers and corporations have robbed hundreds of millions of dollars from our Columbus Public School coffers, let alone contributing to escalating property taxes that are forcing senior homeowners into foreclosure or having to unnecessarily sell their homes to unscrupulous investors. Columbus City Council will be voting tonight on two Enterprise Zone 10-year 75 percent tax abatements totaling $5.125 million.   

With the upcoming Republican Party's state budget cuts in public education dollars a certainty, how in good conscience can a Democrat-controlled City Council located in the state’s largest public school district give away $5.1 million in property tax abatements in exchange for one company’s 15 $20-an-hour jobs and the other company’s 12 $24-an-hour jobs? These jobs will result in a meager $2,550 per month of City income tax revenue, or $30,600 annually, versus a property tax giveaway of $510,029 annually. 

I don’t know where Blueprint’s 2005 record, 1988 stands in the history of Columbus records. I know it’s one of the best albums our city has ever released. I just haven’t made a ranking.

In the least, I won’t rank every Columbus record I like while reviewing a concert in Grandview. I know Blueprint’s 1988 is one of the most important records our city created. Blueprint performed Columbus Classic 1988 at Natalie’s. We were bumping a Rhymesayers Classic complete.

Natalie's was packed. I looked around. I understood why people attended. I worked with Blueprint’s Weightless Recording for years.

I promoted the original release party for 1988 with Blueprint’s label Weightless in 2005. I’ve seen Print at DJ PRZM’s events, Scribble Jam, Newport, Comfest,  Skully’s, and Carabar etc. RIP PRZM.

I’ve watched Print in San Francisco, and various Illinois cities. I watched Detox and Blueprint every week for three years at Cafe Bourbon Street during So What Wednesdays. DAYMON DODSON RIP. Peace Sinkane.

Watch protest video here

A huge crowd braved the rain Saturday to go to the Ohio Statehouse and protest President Donald Trump and his administration. It was one of more than 50 such events scheduled for Ohio on Saturday and Sunday and more than 1,400 nationwide. 

The Ohio Statehouse is in full swing, doing what it does best, which is to try to boost fracking of our beloved state parks, wildlife areas, and public lands. However, push back DOES work -- we've already gotten positive changes into one bill, and we need to keep pushing.