Bill Moyers On Obama’s Health-Care Problem
The esteemed journalist Bill Moyers was on “Real Time With Bill Maher” Friday night, where he elegantly laid out the frustrations progressive voters are experiencing with the Obama administration, especially with regard to health care and the war in Afghanistan. Watch his half-hour interview (split into three parts) here, here, and here. A sample of…
Dancing About Politics: Trey Anastasio, Dr. John, SMAP
Links we’re in like with: The Boston Herald interviews Dr. John. “Did Katrina make you a political artist?” asks Jed Gottlieb. “I’ve been at that political stuff since the second record I made,” replies the Night Tripper, adding, “People outside of New Orleans have no idea what it’s like in the city. Half the population…
Former Health-Insurance Flack Tells All
It took him twenty years, but the former head of corporate communications at Cigna, one the country’s largest insurance companies,has had a radical change of heart regarding his industry. In various interviews and in front of a Senate panel, Wendell Potter has courageously revealed the lies and deceptions behind the insurance industry’s massively funded campaign…
Farm Aid Fighting Factory Farming
Farm Aid teams up with Headcount each year to register concertgoers to vote at our annual Farm Aid concert. But Farm Aid is about much more than incredible music. Started in 1985 by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young (Dave Matthews joined the Board of Directors in 2001), Farm Aid’s mission is to keep…
Argentina Decriminalizes Marijuana
Argentina’s supreme court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that punishing adults for personal marijuana use is unconstitutional. The decision is grounded in common sense. What you put into your body is your business as long as you don’t infringe upon the safety and rights of others. The Argentine court ruled that: “Each adult is free to…
Sen. Edward Kennedy 1932-2009
Ted Kennedy’s political career paralleled the evolution of liberalism in the United States. Here’s what writer, professor, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich had to say about Kennedy’s legacy: America has had a few precious individuals who are both passionate about social justice and also understand deep in their bones its practical meaning. And…
NRDC Criticizes EPA For Ignoring Contaminated Drinking Water
A commonly used herbicide has been making the news lately because of spikes in the chemical’s levels found in the drinking water of Midwestern and Southern towns. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a report Monday documenting the levels of atrazine in the water and calling out the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for ignoring…
Laal, Pakistan’s First Communist Rockers
NPR did a nice segment on Pakistan’s Laal, whose name means “red” and whose music matches “revolutionary poetry” with traditional South Asian beats. Check out the group’s video for the title track of their debut album, Umeed-E-Sehr, or “hope of a new dawn,” below. Laal’s red star rose last year, when then-president Pervez Musharraf removed…
Juanes’s Cuban Peace Concert Draws Protests, Death Tweet
The “Peace Without Borders” concert organized by Colombia singing star Juanes has provoked death threats, demonstrations, and old-fashioned record burnings from militant Cuban exiles in Florida. On August 15, Juanes told police that someone had sent him a Twitter message stating, “I hate what you are saying but you will die for defending your right…
Andy Warhol’s Crazy Closet
Who else beside Andy Warhol would have an autographed photo of a naked Jacqueline Onassis stuffed in a carboard box for decades? Warhol was apparently the ultimate pack rat, and the Andy Warhol Foundation is coughing up $600,000 for archivists to make sense of his collection. Warhol was never one to throw things away. In…