It’s been nearly two years since a mob of entitled straight white males took on the uncreative handle of “Gamergate” (Can we stop with the “gate”s already?) to harass and threaten women in gaming-related geek spaces under the guise of “ethics in journalism.” In that time they managed to bring attention to the ugliness faced by women in the game industry and games journalism and get mentioned as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, but they didn’t actually manage to stop video games from occasionally being about people other than them.
 

That’s because most big game companies have decided to stay on the side of Good. Even Intel, which slipped up by removing their ads from the Gamergate-targeted web site Gamasutra, aggressively made up for it by not only reinstating the ads but publicly supporting other targets like game critic Anita Sarkeesian and the LGBT-geared GaymerX convention.
 

On Wednesday, May 3 supporters of Palestine from across the state testified before the Ohio House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee in opposition to House Bill 476, bipartisan legislation that would prohibit state agencies from contracting with a companies or individuals who are boycotting Israel or divesting from Israel.

“We are opposed to HB 476 because it violates our free speech,” said Don Bryant from the Cleveland area, one of the 14 who testified. “To outlaw BDS is to outlaw a non-violent form of resistance against the oppression of the Palestinians.”

BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) is an economic strategy for pressuring Israel to end its occupation and colonization of Arab lands in Palestine, dismantle the Gaza Wall, and recognize full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Shadowbox Live has staged several music retrospectives that were both entertaining and enlightening. The result is that troupe patrons have a leg up anytime the conversation turns to Joe Cocker, Pink Floyd or even the Beatles.

With its current musical revue, Front Street Funk, the emphasis is more on “entertaining” than on “enlightening.” I can’t say I walked away with much new insight into the genre that gave “Papa” a “Brand New Bag.”

Then again, that could be partly my fault. Maybe I missed some of the information the show doled out between tunes because I was so busy tapping my foot, watching fellow patrons dance and, at one point, actually dancing myself.

Calling itself Columbus’ Green Renaissance Network, Saturday April 23, marked the “Earth Day BirthDay” of Columbus’ newest Low Power FM Radio station, WGRN-LP 94.1. Victoria Parks, volunteer programmer for WGRN, answered some questions for the Free Press giving us the skinny on WGRN:
FP: Where can our community tune-in to WGRN-LP and what is Low Power FM radio?

Central Ohio activists Marilyn Welker, Bob Hart, Ellen Baumgartner and Chuck Lynd were among the 400 people arrested on the steps of the US Capitol during the “Democracy Spring” – one of the largest civil disobedience actions since the Vietnam War protests, demanding a democracy that works for everyone. They were supported by another Central Ohioan, Kathleen Gmeiner. Between April 11th-18th, 1,300 people were arrested.