business, Drugs, economics, Health/Science, News, Politics

Public Option To Arrive By Christmas?

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So says at least one senator…

Health care reform legislation will be on President Barack Obama’s desk by Christmas, Americans will be mandated to buy insurance and those who can’t afford coverage will have a public option — or maybe they won’t, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, told reporters from around the country today.

Four of the five committees that have approved legislation “will have a public option,” as an alternative for people who can’t afford private coverage, he said during a teleconference organized by Families USA, a health consumers advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Born Again Revisited

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Band: Times New Viking
Release: September 22, 2009
Label: Matador

1. “Martin Luther King Day” – 9.0
2. “I Smell Bubblegum” – 8.7
3. “City On Drugs” – 9.2
4. “Born Again Revisited” – 8.5
5. “Little World” – 8.8
6. “No Time No Hope” – 9.4
7. “Half Day In Hell” – 9.1
8. “Something Moore” – 9.3
9. “2/11 Don’t Forget” – 9.3
10. “These Days” – 9.2
11. “(No) Sympathy” – 8.9
12. “High Holidays” – 8.4
13. “Hustlers, Psycho, Son” – 8.7
14. “Move To California” – 9.2
15. “Take The Piss” – 8.3

Comments: Beneath the static there is some level of goodness on here. Unfortunately, the better part of this album suffers from “not as good as Wavves” syndrome. The better tracks are the cleaner tracks…you know, the ones that aren’t layered in fuzz up to the neck. A good balance of 40% lo-fi noise and 60% breathable pop (like No Age) would be nice rather than the 75%-25% madness going on here.

Grade: 8.9

Crime, Culture Jamming, Drugs, economics, News

The Freeway is Free!

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Has Been Free I should say. I guess in March of 2009, former drug kingpin, “Freeway” Ricky Ross was released from prison for being a “model prisoner.” He was then sent to a halfway house and finally on September 29, 2009, he was completely released. How did I miss this?! Why didn’t anyone tell me? Here’s his Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1476132542&v=wall&ref=ts#/pages/Freeway-Ricky-Ross/183099564357?v=wall&ref=mf

Chris

Art, business, Crime, Culture Jamming, Drugs, economics, Entertainment, Films, Health/Science, News, Politics

How Weed Won the West…

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This is a trailer for the new Kevin Booth documentary. This time he focues specifcally on Marijuana (as the title clearly indicates) as opposed to his last film, American Drug War, which evaluated all or most drugs related to the drug war. I hope he include the reality of Obama’s (at least so far) abandoment of his campaign promises concerning law enforcement’s handling of drugs. Anyway, I’ll be seeing this soon.

Chris

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Break It Up

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Band: Jemina Pearl
Release: October 6, 2009
Label: Ecstatic Peace (Thurston Moore)

1. “Heartbeats” – 9.2
2. “After Hours” – 8.9
3. “Ecstatic Appeal” – 8.7
4. “Band on the Run” – 8.3
5. “I Hate People” – 9.5
6. “Looking For Trouble” – 8.7
7. “Retrograde” – 9.0
8. “Nashville Shores” – 8.8
9. “No Good” – 8.9
10. “D Is For Danger” – 8.7
11. “Selfish Heart” – 8.2
12. “Undesirable” – 8.5
13. “So Sick” – 8.9

Comments: With the Vivian Girls and Mika Miko, I felt a certain kind of like punk grrl vibe, but Jemina sounds like a girly girl just happening to sing punk. She’s really good at sounding clear, making me hesitant to call this natural garagey punk, which tends to be “dirty.” Overall, this sounds like cleaner garage a la Hunx, except with a pure female voice. It’s catchy, but I wouldn’t listen to it on a regular basis, other than maybe one or two songs.

Grade: 8.7

Boston based shows/fests – DIY, punk, noise