You’ve most likely seen the numbers on US prisons that have been making the rounds. More than one in every hundred adults in the United States is in jail or prison, amounting to more than 2.3 million Americans behind bars. This record rate of incarceration in the “land of the free” far exceeds that of any other country, both numerically and as a percentage of the overall population. State governments shell out an average of $50 billion a year on corrections, while the feds pick up the bill for another $5 billion, according to a study by the nonpartisan Pew Center On The States that included data from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics and Bureau of Prisons.

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No matter what the song may say, it’s not a small world after all – there are plenty of places to travel in the world, so do yourself a favor and make your next vacation destination as far away from the fucking Congo as you can. As a matter of fact, pull out your map and just draw a big “X” on all of West Africa.

Why?

Well, for starters, police in Congo have recently arrested 13 “sorcerers” accused of shrinking and/or stealing men’s penises. That’s right, fucking sorcerers. That’s cool as hell in a Dwight Schrute kind of way, but in real life I want nothing to do with any goddamn sorcerer, much less one that’s trying to steal my dick. Full Article »

The New York Times reported today that Rupert Murdoch is moving to tighten his already-imposing grip on American news media, striking a tentative deal to buy Newsday, which would be his third New York-based paper, for $580 million from the Tribune Company. If Newsday goes to Murdoch, it would put him in control of 3 of the nation’s 10 largest-circulation papers (the others being The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post). Full Article »

As some of you may have heard, Scarlett Johansson has been working on a record with the guitarist from TV On The Radio since last summer. For some strange reason, I’ve been waiting with baited breath. I can’t fucking explain it. I haven’t been this fascinated by the very concept of an album since William Shatner’s Has Been. I mean, the idea of Scarlett Johansson recording an album, in and of its own, isn’t quite as surreal as a Bill Shatner album produced by Ben Folds. But here’s the kicker: Scarlett’s album is 10 Tom Waits songs and one original.

So yesterday an email blast went out from Special Ops, the intarwebs marketing firm tasked with promoting Scarlett’s album, entitled Anywhere I Lay My Head, due out May 20th. The email blast featured a “listening party” stream of 6 full songs, which you can hear if you check out the full review.

Around the same time the email blast went out, the single, Falling Down, showed up on iTunes and Amazon and a bunch of other places. Johnny noticed it somewhere and alerted me to how godawfully bad it was, at least in his opinion… And mine… At first anyway… Full Article »

A week or two ago I caught wind of a quote that was making the rounds, a completely unfounded, naïve dismissal of middle america: “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or antitrade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Those of you who have been following the war over the Democratic nomination don’t need to be informed that this quote came from Barack Obama.
Mr. Obama has of course since admitted that he “chose [words] badly.” And lord knows I’ve been known to shoot my mouth off without thinking, so I sympathize with the dude if it’s as simple as that.

I’ve been to middle America. And I’ve seen some insane shit there. Kids with guns. Pregnant 16 year olds with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Religious zealots screaming savage profanities at homosexuals. All the hippies and liberals have heard plenty of stories about how fucked up the rednecks are. But I’ve been there, and while lord knows I’ve never been known for tact, I would never make such a broad generalization. Even if I was rapping with a bunch of San Francisco libs as Mr. Obama was.

You know what’s worse than not understanding the people you’re employed to serve? Thinking you understand them and being totally dead fucking wrong. Full Article »

The local indie record store used to be a sacred place for music lovers like you and me, people for whom music is so much more than a tool to fill the silence. Long before Ebay, you could find limited-edition pressings, rarities, posters and hard-to-find merchandise in the darker corners of your local record shop. There always seemed to be at least one in every college town, and finding them was almost as much fun as finally tracking down that rare Wipers vinyl or (sickeningly overpriced) Dylan bootleg from ‘69 that you’d been looking for since before you could tie your own shoes. They were the go-to spot for hipsters and fanboys to mingle and expose one another to underground gems, the guy behind the counter making no effort to conceal his elitist, condescending smirk while ringing up your selections. It was all a part of the experience.

The internet has unceremoniously rendered these gems entirely obsolete, bringing every musical Holy Grail a fan could dream of to their fingertips with a few clicks and keystrokes. Forever gone are the midnight release party rituals, the mystery and exhilaration of discovering a new album in person. Full Article »