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.

The Offense was an alternative music fanzine published by Tim Anstaett that appeared between April '80 and March '82, according it its Facebook Event page. Anstaett covered the punk and alternative music scene in Columbus from 1982 through 1989. Some Columbus-ites will remember the campus scene when Crazy Mama’s was the place to be.

The Offense was “…one of the longest-running and most prolific punk fanzines of the midwest. The fanzine was one of the primary sources in the US for information on post-punk and goth acts of the time as well, with features on Nick Cave, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Wolfgang Press, and other acts. This run includes the rare unnumbered Cave Report issue, a one sheet issued to report on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' visit to the Midwest,” writes www.divisionleap.com.

The inaugural Columbus Covers Columbus (CCC) festival, held in January of 2018, was based on a unique idea. The two-day festival would feature Columbus musicians playing cover sets comprised entirely of the music of other local acts.

The concept was an immediate hit, selling out its first night and packing the Shrunken Head for a weekend of entertainment that included live podcasts and stand up sets from top local comedians. For the event’s organizer, Columbus performer Tony Casa, putting on the whole affair was a step outside his comfort zone.

“I was horrified...once I started, I realized it was a much more intense task than I had previously planned,” Casa remembers of the weekend. “I was pretty damn nervous for the entirety of the event, until we sold out day one.”

When you’ve already made strides in one field, stepping into a new role can be intimidating. As frontman for the popular Columbus band Zoo Trippin’, Casa has achieved heights most local acts can only dream of. For his first foray into event planning, CCC was a learning experience – one that he undertook almost single-handedly. 

President Donald Trump’s move to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan last month certainly sent the Washington establishment into a tizzy. However, the action will show, as journalist Matt Taibbi wrote, the real divide in our nation’s capital – those who oppose war and those who are for it, profit off of it and probably just enjoy it. It has been the American way for quite some time now.

Every day millions of domestic workers — house cleaners, nannies, eldercare workers, and home health aides — care for our nation’s homes and loved ones. But these domestic workers have been excluded from many of the basic labor protections that other workers are guaranteed.  That’s why the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) — the nation’s leading voice for dignity and fairness for domestic workers — along with Senator Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, just announced the national Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.  This Bill of Rights would close legal loopholes that have historically excluded domestic workers. It would create protections for domestic workers like fair scheduling practices. It would strengthen support networks for domestic workers who are survivors of sexual assault.