Some subjects are so controversial that it’s impossible to address them without raising extreme emotions.
  The Iraq War is one. Even though director Clint Eastwood avoided addressing the politics behind the war in American Sniper, the film still sparks angry reactions. While some viewers hail it as an anti-war document, others see it as a defense of an invasion that most Americans agree was a disaster.  

  Equally contradictory emotions are likely to greet the documentary Above and Beyond—or they would if it attracted any viewers who didn’t already agree with its sentiments. Directed by Roberta Grossman (Hava Nagila: The Movie), it details the efforts of flying World War II veterans who returned to the air in 1948 to defend the new state of Israel.

  It’s a compelling story, and an uplifting one for those who see Israel as these Jewish Americans did: a haven for a people who’d been the targets of the Holocaust, and who could never fully escape the age-old problem of anti-Semitism.

  Those of us in Ohio’s 15th district (the east half of Franklin County) should be proud to call Charleta Tavares our State Senator. Active in central Ohio politics for over 20 years, she has served as an Ohio House member, as a member of Columbus City Council, and is currently the Assistant Minority Leader in the State Senate. Charleta was the first African-American woman to hold a leadership position in the Ohio Legislature.
  Unfortunately, in 1998, J. Kenneth Blackwell bested Charleta in the race to become Ohio Secretary of State. Think of how different our state and country would be if Charleta, instead of Blackwell, had overseen the 2004 Bush-Kerry presidential election. No long lines. No flipped votes. No outsourcing the final tally. No stolen election and no second Bush administration.

A friend of mine invited me down to see the Bummer’s vinyl release at Strongwater Food and Spirits on March 6th. I was unfamiliar with both the Bummers and the other bands on the bill, and had also never seen Strongwater function as a live music space. At least things promised to be educational; I bundled up on what turned out to be the last cold night of the year.
  The cool kids release vinyl these days folks. CD’s are yesterday's beer coasters, relegated to traditional Celtic Music and Chad Mitchell Trio compilations. I think the vinyl thing is a little precious, a triumph of hipster revisionism, but that’s probably sour grapes -- the needle on my record player is broken.

The Charity Crowe Birthday Show at the Double Happiness club in the Brewery District turned out to be one awfully sweet way of kicking winter in the shins on its way out. Mammy, wotta night!
  A rainy-ass Friday night it was, the thirteenth as it were, and unlucky it wasn't. Well, maybe for the two lone singer/songwriters opening.
  Not sure of their names but I don't mind protecting the guilty. A twenty-something lad in jeans, jean jacket and hat strongly strumming a well-tuned guitar was the first of the night. He seemed to be on a futile quest his entire set to find the right key for his voice. Dylan based a career on this. So he went, singing and searching, ultimately crafting his own 'key of me,' the verses were OK but the choruses proved a vocal bridge too far. Not a song didn't he go off the rails when it came to the money lines. Ah, well. Dylan's done alright. I can't stand him sometimes but I love him.

By the time I leave Kentucky's federal prison center, where I'm an inmate with a 3 month sentence, the world's 12th-largest city may be without water. Estimates put the water reserve of Sao Paulo, a city of 20 million people, at sixty days. Sporadic outages have already begun, the wealthy are pooling money to receive water in tankers, and government officials are heard discussing weekly five-day shutoffs of the water supply, and the possibility of warning residents to flee.