Road Safe America Petitions For Highway Safety
As a fan of a couple of bands that have inspired me to drive as far as possible, whenever possible, to see them, I’m no stranger to road trips of every variety. Countless hours in the car have provided me with great memories and cemented many a friendship. During my freshman year of college in…
Cuban Musicians Awarded U.S. Visas For First Time Since 2003
The U.S.-Cuba Cultural Exchange has announced that Cuban musicians will be allowed to perform in the United States and Puerto Rico for the first time since 2003! The State Department has supplied visas to singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés and composer-conductor Zenaida Romeu. Milanés will perform in Puerto Rico next month and possibly later in the…
Update: Financial-Aid Amendment Withdrawn
Although an estimated 200,000 students since 1998 have already lost their financial aid due to the Higher Education Act’s anti-drug provision, Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) withdrew his amendment to the House’s new Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Souder’s amendment would have continued denying financial aid to students with drug-possession convictions. The bill is…
Should Students Convicted of Pot Possession Lose Financial Aid?
A vote is expected today on a controversial amendment to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 introduced by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN). The amendment seeks to strike out reform in the SAFRA that would allow students with drug possession convictions to receive financial aid for college, while barring only those convicted of…
Mary Travers 1936-2009
Before there was Joan Baez, there was Mary Travers, who died yesterday from complications associated with the chemotherapy she was undergoing for leukemia. As the visual focus of Peter, Paul and Mary, Travers added beatnik sex appeal to the earnest commitment to good works that characterized early-sixties folk music in the wake of straighter lineups…
Kurt Cobain is laughing in his grave
Like a bull in a china shop, Kanye West ruined what seemed to be an important moment for country singer Taylor Swift. As she accepted her award for best female video, West jumped up on stage and took the microphone to say – “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” Really, dude?…
Dude, Where’s My Czar?
New Left Media goes above and beyond the call of duty and gets some truly fantastic and hilarious interviews with these passionate teabaggers during the 9/12 protests in Washington, D.C . These people are pissed off. They’re mad about “Obamacare.” They’re really mad about black women having abortions. And they’re really, really mad about czars…
Harry Shearer On The Continuing Plight Of New Orleans
Harry Shearer, the voice of multiple Simpsons characters and a member of Spinal Tap, has been a relentless critic of the government’s response to the 2005 disaster in New Orleans. The Economist asked him eight questions recently, but this response to this one seemed to nicely summarize his informed take on the government’s failure to…
No Doubt, Coldplay, Monsters Of Folk Playing Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit
Or if you don’t want to watch the whole thing: The Bridge School announced that Neil Young, No Doubt, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Fleet Foxes, Wolfmother, Sheryl Crow, Gavin Rossdale, and the Monsters of Folk will perform at both nights of the school’s annual benefit at Mountain View, California’s Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 24 and 25….
Joan Baez: Human Being, Pacifist, Folksinger
Before there was Ani DiFranco there was Joan Baez. Bob Dylan’s former muse was pilloried as “phony Joanie” in the American press because of her public protests against America’s involvement in Vietnam and then for visiting Hanoi. Numerous causes later, the folk-singing pacifist, 68, is enjoying a late-game surge of interest with last year’s Steve…