Music Review: Songs From the Front Porch
Corporate media attempts to drain us of all passion. We are constantly bombarded by images of shallow performers promoting fashion and consumerism attempting to silence our need to be nothing more than consumers and an exploitable workforce. In this dark context Michael Franti’s new album Songs from the Front Porch is an exuberant burst of light and inspiration.
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Blue Jays Slugger Carlos Delgado Stands Up to War
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Carlos Delgado is known throughout the baseball world as one of the most feared sluggers in the game. Last year the 32 year old All-Star hit 42 homers and drove in 145 runs. He has averaged almost 40 home runs a year over the last six seasons. Lately he has put the baseball world on notice that he will use his fame to fight the US’s war on the world.
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Spiderman: Proletarian Hero?
While Fahrenheit 9/11 was the box office hit during its first week out, this summer’s blockbuster smash so far is Spiderman 2. Reviewers laud it, audiences line up to see it, everyone’s singing its praises. ' You’ve got to see this movie' one friend told me, 'it’s so cool! I left with a smile.' Another said, ' I really liked Spiderman; he’s so adorable. He tries so hard, but he just can’t get it right.'
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Against the Grain: Krauthammer's French Follies
It is interesting to read between the lines of some of the ultra-right’s more illogical proponents – such as Charles Krauthammer who regularly bloviates on the last page of Time magazine. Krauthammer's attacks on the French indicate the lengths to which the far right will go to distract attention from the bankruptcy of Bush's Iraq war policy.
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Dim Coverage Given to Abortion-Ban Ruling
Coverage of the San Francisco ruling earlier this month on the abortion ban shows how the political polarization surrounding reproductive rights has invaded the supposedly impartial territory of journalism.
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War and Tax Cuts
More Americans have died in Iraq than in all U.S. military operations since Vietnam combined. Reserve and Guard members on extended duty in Iraq and Afghanistan have lost savings, homes and businesses. Now the Army is recalling thousands of honorably discharged soldiers who served less than eight years on active duty. Meanwhile, millionaires are getting tax breaks.
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War Ain't No Sunshine
In Ray Bradbury’s 1953 story, Fahrenheit 451, the lead character, Guy Montag, a fireman, questions his job - which is burning down houses found to have books - after observing some people’s willingness to go down in flames rather than live without their books.
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The Bush Economy: No Reason for Optimism
John Kerry is too pessimistic, says the Bush administration. The economy, it insists, is booming, and voters are tired of hearing about negative assessments of the economy. With 8.2 million men and women officially listed as unemployed, however, it is difficult to say what we have to be optimistic about.
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Burn, Baby, Burn: A Review of Fahrenheit 9/11
Micheal Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 is a documentary everyone should see. Pundits on the far right and in the corporate media who insist this film is 'liberal propaganda' are absolutely correct; if propaganda is the connective tissue which makes relevant facts accessible to the average person, then yes, this is certainly propaganda.
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Against the Grain: Safire's Hollow Musings
William Safire, one of the ultra-right luminaries featured regularly in the New York Times', has decided that NATO is now a 'hallow alliance.' In two recent Times’ columns, 'The Hallow Alliance' (6/28) and 'Beware of Certitude' (6/30), he tells us why NATO is in trouble, and at the same time reveals by his subtext the imperial ambitions of his far right buddies.
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