THE ECONOMIST: Instead of opposing redistribution because people expect to make it to the top of the economic ladder, the authors of the new paper argue that people don’t like to be at the bottom. One paradoxical consequence of this “last-place aversion” is that some poor people may be vociferously opposed to the kinds of policies that would actually raise their own income a bit but that might also push those who are poorer than them into comparable or higher positions. The authors ran a series of experiments where students were randomly allotted sums of money, separated by $1, and […]
WORTH REPEATING: ‘Another Texas Idiot For Sale’
ABC NEWS: When Rick Perry arrived in New Hampshire one day ago, he repeated the state’s “live free or die” motto, telling an audience, “You’ve got to love that. What Perry may not have loved, however, is the treatment he received just 24-hours later at a meet-and-greet stop in this picturesque Seacoast town where he encountered about two-dozen protesters who shouted at him, held signs with slogans like “Another Texas idiot for sale,” and followed him into a cafe to yell some more. The protesters, some of whom were senior citizens and members of the New Hampshire Alliance For Retired […]
FOLK FESTIVUS: Q&A With Joel Plaskett
BY MEREDITH KLEIBER Joel Plaskett is no music-biz newbie. If you’re an American, his name may not yet be familiar to you, but Plaskett is among the most well known contemporary musicians in Canada. Hailing from the Halifax indie scene of the 90s, Plaskett cut his teeth with Thrush Hermit who hung it up in 1999. He went solo around the turn of the century and blew up in the great white north shortly thereafter. He kind of looks like Michael Cera but his taught, whimsical brand of pop-rock sounds like the second coming of Marshall Crenshaw, and as second […]
Christine O’Donnell Storms Off Set Of Piers Morgan
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: The trouble started when Morgan asked O’Donnell about a part of her book that discussed gay marriage. That’s when O’Donnell accused him of “borderline being a little bit rude.” O’Donnell repeatedly urged Morgan to drop the topic of gay rights, but Morgan would not back down, asking another question about the Pentagon’s repeal of its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Morgan at one point looked as though he was trying to hold back a smile, and insisted, “I think I’m being rather charming and respectful.” O’Donnell said the gay marriage issue is not relevant or what she […]
EARLY WORD: The Folk Implosion
BY MEREDITH KLEIBER If you live in the Philly metro area and have yet to attend the Philadelphia Folk Festival, well this is your year to start. The Folk Fest turns 50 this year and will be celebrating five decades of good, clean, crunchy, folky fun for the whole family this weekend when it returns to beautiful Old Pool Farm in Schwenksville. Once again the lineup is a heady mix of heritage folk artists and barn-burning upstarts. Below are our picks for the must-see performances of the weekend. And don’t forget to sample Yards’ special Folk Fest Lager, which is […]
TONITE: The Subterranean Homesick Blues Traveler
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] You can buy tickets HERE. ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: Zimmerman, Robert: Aka Bob Dylan, aka the Mystery Tramp, aka Napoleon in Rags. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Bob Dylan was the all-seeing eye atop the pyramid of rock–a razor-thin, tousle-haired visionary speaking in stoned parables and meth-riddles about the nature of transcendental consciousness from behind impenetrable black shades. His status as generational oracle was earned by a triumvirate of hallucinatory folk-rock albums–1965’s Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, and 1966’s Blonde on Blonde–that he would spend the rest of […]
If You Can Read This You Are Already THIS Doomed
[Artwork by MPOKimageworks] NEW YORK TIMES: Energy “will give us serious and sustained problems” over the next 50 years as we make the transition from hydrocarbons — oil, coal, gas — to solar, wind, nuclear and other sources, but we’ll muddle through to a solution to Peak Oil and related challenges. Peak Everything Else will prove more intractable for humanity. Metals, for instance, “are entropy at work . . . from wonderful metal ores to scattered waste,” and scarcity and higher prices “will slowly increase forever,” but if we scrimp and recycle, we can make do for another century before […]
THIS JUST IN: Trocadero Files For Bankruptcy
[Photos by JEFF FUSCO] PHILLY DEALS: Joon Associates Inc. and its President, Joanna Pang, asked for court permission to reorganize the Troc, lately a rock-and-roll concert venue, today in US Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia “to obtain a breathing spell from creditors while it negotiates a restructuring of its debts” according to the petition (US BC E.Pa. 11-16432). In her filing, Pang notes the high cost of cutting Ticketmaster a share of the proceeds for every show in the face of declining sales, along with declining ticket sales and unrelated litigation costs, for a cash flow squeeze that has started to […]
ARTSY: David Lynch To Release Crazy Clown Time
[Illustration by DAVMO] Visionary filmmaker David Lynch will make his solo debut as a musical artist this fall with Crazy Clown Time. Produced and written by Lynch, the album’s 14 original songs spotlight him on guitar and vocals. The album will be released on November 8 by independent British label Sunday Best Recordings / PIAS in America. Two tracks released late last year – “Good Day Today” and “I Know” – already have American and British critics buzzing about the album. The Los Angeles Times writes: “Frightening effects and mysterious lyrics: this is Lynch’s most unexpected venture to date.” The […]
BALLAD OF BUDDY ROEMER: He’s Singin’ Our Song
DAILY BEAST: Roemer officially announced his candidacy for president last month in New Hampshire, committed to returning power to the people. From his address to the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans: “I will attempt to beat the tyranny of the big check. If we don’t do this, the change that’s necessary to rebuild America will never happen. Because Washington is bought and sold.” On why change is needed: “Real people don’t have a voice in Washington, D.C. Special interest money controls the discussion… I will take no PAC money. I will take no special interest money. I will accept […]
RAWK TAWK: Q&A With The War On Drugs
[Photography by GRAHAM TOLBERT] BY MEREDITH KLEIBER You’ll be hard pressed to find a harder-working musician in Philadelphia than Adam Granduciel. When he’s not on tour with his own band, Philly’s own The War On Drugs, he’s either touring with The Violators, the band of close friend (and Drugs founding member) Kurt Vile, or completely engrossed in finessing experimental recordings in his Fishtown home studio. The War On Drugs’ new album, Slave Ambient, is essentially the product of those intense home-studio recording sessions, enhanced by Granduciel’s astute songwriting and the commanding synergy of the band. I caught up with Adam […]
POLICE: There Were Two Teen Wolf Pack Attacks Outside The Curfew Zone Last Weekend
FOX 29: Near Fairmount Park, around 34th and Huntingdon in North Philadelphia, police sources say a 50-year-old man was knocked from his bicycle, by a 13 year old, 15 year old and a 16 year old. They punched, kicked and stomped in the man in the head. His bike and watch stolen and he ended up in Temple University Hospital. People there are worried that teens flushed out of Center City and University City will attack elsewhere. Then at 12:40 a.m. on Sunday, the second attack was at 47th and Walnut, just five blocks outside the crackdown zone. A 22-year […]