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In a society where world population is on the rise and citizens are increasingly connected through technology, theorists claim the infamous “six degrees of separation” has narrowed to “three degrees.” How many individuals know someone who has battled cancer, struggled with diabetes, dealt with seizures or contracted HIV? Likely everyone reading this knows at least one person dealing with one (or more) of these severe health concerns. The need for consistent access to healthcare increases significantly when combining those challenges with environmental factors such as: pollution, pesticides, volatile chemicals and shrinking biodiversity. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in eight deaths worldwide is linked to air pollution exposure.

Norman Mailer wrote there are two types of brave men. Those who are brave by the grace of nature “the naturally brave” and those who become brave by “an act of will.”

Boxing gyms are filled with the former. The “naturally brave” announce their presence loudly. They substitute courage for training. They boast. They brag. They climb into the ring unprepared. They lose and disappear as quickly as they arrived.

Those who become brave by an “act of will” follow a different path. These young women and men come to the ring humble and aware of what they don’t know. They watch, listen and learn. They understand that any defeat is temporary and each time they rise from the canvas they do so stronger than when they fell.

Day-by-day, round-by-round, their skills grow. Unsteady swipes transform into artful combinations of jab, cross and hook. Agile foot work complements increasing quick hands. Fear is overcome. The fear of being hit. The fear of hitting. The fear of answering that opening bell and standing toe-to-toe with your opponent for ageless minutes.

After a second public hearing where citizens again strongly opposed the amount as way too high, Columbus City Council unanimously enacted a $12,707.79 annual limit on contributions to candidates for city offices. Council member Michael Stinziano, a lame duck who leaves office Feb. 22, was the only member at the hearing.

Citizens speaking there denounced the limit as a sham benefiting incumbent officeholders and big-money donors under the guise of protecting the public. Speakers generally supported an amount between $250 and $3000, which is more in line with the limits in comparable cities.

They said a lower limit would motivate candidates to seek support from and represent regular citizens instead of a small group of wealthy donors. 

An ineffective limit favoring incumbents and easily avoided

Accepting applications through Thursday, February 21, 7:30 p.m. ET

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) seeks clinicians who want to serve the nation’s underserved rural, urban and tribal communities.

It’s been almost 70 years since the idea of climate change was introduced to the world — 70 years of compiling data, furthering research, and building the kind of ironclad case that only science can build. And yet, there is still a very large portion of our population that dismisses it as coincidence or political conspiracy or both.

It’s difficult to argue against science, particularly in this digital age when technological advances eliminate all hints of theory from the science. However, as we’re dealing with human beings with human agendas; even when the science appears sound, people still have a difficult time seeing the truth.

The same can be said for many other threats that plague our planet and our own health and mortality, though these are not mutually exclusive. A better distinction may be direct threat, as any threat to our planet will also be a threat to us as humans. Unfortunately for everyone whose lives have been impacted, asbestos falls into the category of direct threat.

What is Asbestos

Energy and all its concerns are being solved every day in conversations held by big media pundits and dinner table enthusiasts. The problem is that no one is doing the work – or at least, almost no one.

Headlines will often read that jobs are plentiful in solar and wind industries, but this is not a reality for many employees in related fields around Ohio. Also, many electric customers who pay a surcharge for renewable energy to turn on their lights and charge their smart phones do so purchasing Renewable Energy Credits from a regional marketplace, which only indirectly supports the transition to a clean grid. Thankfully, current Ohio law requires Ohio’s investor owned utilities (IOU), like AEP or First Energy, to generate more electricity from renewable energy each year, reaching 12.5 percent by 2027.

In December, Ohioans from all around the Buckeye State testified their convictions to Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO) board members holding an important hearing. A resounding message spoke of the good it will do for skilled workers that build the proposed 400MW solar system in Highland County.

Herbalism is the people’s medicine – allowing people to grow medicine alongside their food and take charge of their health. Herbalists Without Borders (HWB) People’s Clinics give people access to help and refers them to ongoing help when needed. It is the holistic ER that so many need but have not been able to access before.

What is HWB? It is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on delivering heath care and food justice worldwide through a fifteen specific projects: they deliver trauma training for practitioners, run community herb apothecaries and people's clinics, and they practice international borderless medicine (similar to Doctors Without Frontiers in places of famine or war).

HWB hosts medicinal seed saving projects and community gardens, have a veterans’ resiliency holistic clinic in Washington D.C., and run the Keepers of Herbal Traditions Project in Puerto Rico.

Resolutions:

I want to write more about music and less about politics. While responses to our current regime is dominating everything, unless some Republican's switch sides... is there anything you want me to write that would tell you something you don't know heading into 2020.

Research the names, history and roles of major intelligence agencies. We know the CIA is the United States Intelligence agency. The Russian GRU is the name that applies to which was once the KGB. What about our neighbors Canada, and Mexico? Seems like China's intelligence agency would probably be part of the conversation. A better understanding of how the world is intertwined might help us understand the reality we live as we watch our internet and cable news.

Best Restaurant Comeback

One of the best Chinese restaurants in Columbus is back. Helen Asian Kitchen, which owner Helen Jiao sold in 2017 to take care of her husband while he struggled with cancer, reopened in 2018 with Helen Jiao returning to the helm. Her awesome hot stir-fried cauliflower is back, as well as her assortment of handmade dumplings (yes, even soup dumplings). Here’s a great tip for vegans – order the stir-fried cauliflower with added raw tofu. The tofu cooks in the hot oil heated by the sterno that comes lit under the serving dish and adds an extra punch of creamy protein to the dish. It’s amazing.

– Susan Halpern

Best Art and Well-Being Event

When it comes to going incognito online and spouting-off on how you really feel about African-Americans, immigrants, leftists and poor people, the unhinged Right Wing have embraced this ability with unabashed love.

The problem for them is, they sometimes get caught. They are disgraced and lose their job. And if a Columbus Division of Police officer from the under-siege Vice unit is posting on a local progressive-minded activist group’s Facebook page that Columbus sex workers are better off dead, then the FBI needs to investigate.

Everyone knows the story of Donna Dalton, the young mother who was shot 8 times in August by Columbus Vice undercover officer Andrew Mitchell, who was already under investigation by internal affairs.

Public outrage and speculation against Mitchell erupted, and Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs suspended him. Citing the Vice unit’s arrest of porn-actress and Trump liaison Stormy Daniels earlier that summer, Chief Jacobs then suspended all Vice operations. Jacobs subsequently transferred the ongoing Vice investigation to the FBI.