Paul McCartney Family Advocates Meatless Mondays
Tired: Fish on Fridays. Wired: Meatless Mondays. Today noted vegetarian Sir Paul McCartney, along with his daughters Stella and Mary, launched a new Meat Free Monday campaign to extol the environmental, health, political, socioeconomic, and spiritual virtues of reducing our collective intake of bird, fish, and animal flesh. The livestock industry is reportedly responsible for…
‘Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love’
Documentaries about non-Western musicians can sometimes frustrate English-speaking viewers by leaving them wondering what singers are actually saying in their lyrics. But producer/director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi clarifies things nicely in her scrappy new doc about the politically passionate Senegalese superstar, Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love. All the singer-composer-bandleader’s French and Wolof lyrics are…
Bob Weir on the Fund-Raising Trail
HeadCount board member Bob Weir has been known to take a break from RatDog and his occasional reunion tours with his former Grateful Dead bandmates to play the occasional house concert. Most recently these have consisted of fund-raising events for his favorite politicians. On June 20, for example, you can enjoy a “summertime BBQ and…
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani Breaks Judicial Ground
On June 9, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Guantanamo detainee specifically mentioned by President Obama as suitable to be tried in the civilian court system, pleaded not guilty in a federal district court in Manhattan. Ghailani is being held at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center. In a well-publicized speech on May 20, President Obama criticized the…
Man on the Lot: Health Care Reform
Going Viral at the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup
Last week I attended the two-day Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup in San Francisco. It was fantastic. I got to speak with youth marketers about their innovative campaigns and promote HeadCount’s new strategic plan. I was most impressed by two corporate campaigns that use the Internet to provide young people with creative outlets for self-expression: Ashoka’s…
Man on the Lot: What Issue Matters to You Most?
What Now? HeadCount’s New Campaign
“What is HeadCount doing now that the election’s over?” That’s a question I get asked almost every day. I’ve got a ton of answers, but if I had to sum it up, I’d say, “We’re gonna make $!#@ happen.” When Marc Brownstein and I launched HeadCount in early 2004, it was a time when many…
Rock the Earth at Bonnaroo
Rock the Earth has confirmed the lineup of its fourth year of environmental programming at Bonnaroo, where it will host panel discussions, artist interviews, films, and performances on the fest’s Solar Stage. Founder Marc Ross will host a panel discussion on the topic of “Social Change Through Music” on the Solar Stage each day at…
Democrats Mock GOP Dinner, Non-Showdown Ensues
If there’s one thing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee knows how to do, it’s take advantage of the follies of their Republican rivals. Witness the Sarah Palin invite fiasco, for instance. Now sure, the Dems could have just let the headlines about infighting and egos at last night’s National Republican Congressional Committee gala fund-raising event…