Conversation: Phish Chroniclers Richard Gehr And Parke Puterbaugh
Parke Puterbaugh and I have at least a couple of things in common. We’ve both covered music for some of the same magazines, and we’ve both written books either with or for or at least tolerated by Phish. The Phish Book, published in 1998 and, ahem, currently out of print, was a collaboration with the…
Dave Matthews Band Offers ‘Haiti Relief’ EP
In addition to their Music for Relief track, the Dave Matthews Band is offering five previously unreleased live track for sale on its website. The Haiti Relief Project EP (and a limited-edition T-shirt) will benefit Dave Matthews’s Bama Works Haiti Relief Fund. The EP costs only $5. Moreover, proceeds from all other merchandise the band…
Health Care Reform Issue Update: The Situation, The Solution and Fist Pumpin’ in Health Care
As part of HeadCount’s “What’s Your Issue?” campaign, we publish regular updates on each of six issues. The following is our latest Health Care Reform update. Since the last health care update, MTV’s reality show “Jersey Shore” and the character “The Situation” have been fist pumpin’ their way into the cultural spotlight. Perhaps it’s just…
Community Question: Solutions on Climate Change
Last fall, we had a poll measuring how many of you had health insurance and where you got it. About 35% of you said you were without insurance, and it kicked off a great stream of comments posted online. We’re now going to start asking a new question every few weeks. We invite you to…
Howard Zinn: 1922-2010
Howard Zinn, who died of a heart attack yesterday at age 87, was an Air Force bombardier before becoming a politically engaged historian, civil-rights activist, vital Vietnam War opponent, prolific writer, indefatigable instigator, and probably the country’s best-known demystifier of American mythology, largely through his best-selling 1980 book, A People’s History of the United States….
The State Of The State Of The Union
Tonight at 9 p.m. EST, President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. The president will cover terrorism, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the relief efforts in Haiti, but the bulk of his speech will focus on the economy, job creation, and the needs…
Interview: Michael Franti, On Beyond Tree-Hugging
If every administration gets the pop star it deserves, the current White House resident could do a whole lot worse than Michael Franti, with whom he has more than biracial parents in common. Franti released an optimistic single, “Obama Song,” shortly after the election, ended up playing three inauguration galas, and, per his comments below,…
Goodbye Campaign Finance Reform
If you were already concerned that big business had its hands in politicians’ pockets, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday to allow corporations and unions to spend as much money as they want to support or attack congressional and presidential candidates. Many, including President Obama, worry about the almighty dollar…
Thomas Friedman Nails It
Although most of “More (Steve) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” is devoted to National Lab Day and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman led off today with something I suspect we’ll be hearing more of as the November elections loom larger. (Even considering the source.) The most striking feature of Barack…
New York City Civic Corps, At Your Service
Everyone knows New York City is a special place. Residents also know that New York has real problems: homelessness, joblessness, working poor, and a struggling education system are but a few of them. Last year as the global economy sank into a brutal recession, Mayor Mike Bloomberg used stimulus funding from President Obama’s American Recovery…