Your Tax Dollars At Work 1: New Hubble Photos
This image of the Omega Centauri star cluster, just a few thousand short light years away, is one of a bunch of amazing new images captured by NASA’s refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. When I stumbled across it, I couldn’t help but be reminded of another equally recent and joyfully spacey image. …
What The Heckle?
It wasn’t quite as dramatic as hurling a shoe. But Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) is already suffering from his ill-advised outburst during Barack Obama’s speech on health-care reform last night. GOP leadership made him apologize to the President, who accepted it. And Rob Miller, Wilson’s potential opponent in the 2010 election for his congressional seat,…
Meet The Plastic People Of The Universe
Inspired by Frank Zappa and the Velvet Underground, Czechoslovakia’s Plastic People of the Universe played a pivotal role in the 1989 “velvet revolution” that replaced the dictatorial general secretary of the Czech Communist party, Gustav Husak, with the country’s first elected president, playwright Vaclav Havel. When the band was arrested in July 1976, Havel’s petition…
R.E.M., MoveOn.org’s ‘We Can’t Afford To Wait’ Video
MoveOn.org asked members to “share photos showing how they and their loved ones are suffering under our broken health care system.” R.E.M. provided the music.
Narcotourism And Decriminalization In The Americas
I haven’t found anything in the American press as incisive on the issue as this Guardian analysis of Mexico’s and Argentina’s decriminalization of recreational drugs for personal use in relation to our very own war on (some) drugs. it suggests that decriminalization’s consequences for both governments and nonusers may not be pretty in the short…
Interview: Political Strategist and Obama Campaign Media Adviser John Del Cecato
Ever wonder who actually wrote most of the Obama campaign ads that were filling the airwaves this time last year? It was a thirtysomething Deadhead named John Del Cecato, who managed to mesh gears with his favorite band while also helping get his candidate elected. He was then named one of Politics Magazine’s “Rising Stars”….
Pnuma Trio Giving Away Show For Conscious Alliance
Pnuma Trio is drawing attention to Conscious Alliance’s food-distribution efforts by offering a free download of their set from STS9‘s “Day Out of Time” celebration at Red Rocks Amphitheater in July. I was at the DOOT show and Pnuma threw it down, as always. The set includes new tunes “DAB,” moresamples,” and “avid” from their…
Van Jones Resigns
Van Jones, the Obama Administrations Special Adviser for Green Jobs at the Council on Environmental Quality–AKA the “Green Jobs Czar”–resigned from his position late Saturday following increased criticism for authoring The Green Collar Economy and for his ties to groups like the Apollo Alliance, ACORN, STORM, Color of Change, and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights….
Motown Turns 50
It’s the 50th anniversary of the founding of Motown records, and some of the biggest household names in American music are talking about the impact the Detroit-based record label has had on their lives. Patti LaBelle, Wynonna Judd, Ted Nugent, Anita Baker, and President Bill Clinton all share their stories. Clinton has the coolest by…
Montana And The Right To Die
This week the Montana Supreme Court hears oral arguments for and against allowing doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill state residents. The hearing follows a December 5, 2008, ruling by Judge Dorothy McCarter, who said the Montana constitution guaranteed its citizens this right. Since the issues arise solely under the state constitution, no further appeals are possible…