[Photo by CHICAGOKRISTI]  BY JONATHAN VALANIA Because some bands have greatness thrust upon them and other bands thrust greatness upon themselves. Because U2 knew that if they had it both ways, they could be bigger than Jesus. Because in the early ’80s, if you listened closely, you could actually hear Bono’s mullet. Because the Edge figured out early on that with the right ratios of pinging echo to pealing delay, the electric guitar could build cathedrals of sound that are holier than thou. Because Bozo-haired bassist Adam Clayton and pretty boy drummer Larry Mullen Jr. could make rock do what […]

Happy 99th, Mr. Guthrie, wherever you are. WIKIPEDIA: “This Land Is Your Land” is one of the United States‘ most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin‘s “God Bless America“, which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on the radio, he wrote a response originally called “God Blessed America for Me”.[1] Guthrie varied the lyrics over time, sometimes including more overtly political verses in line with his sympathetic views of communism,[2] than appear in recordings or publications.

Go Outside, by Cults from Boing Boing on Vimeo. RELATED:  Peoples Temple sprang from the heartland in the 1950s. Rev. Jim Jones built an interracial congregation in Indianapolis through passionate Pentecostal preaching and courageous calls for racial equality. Moving his flock to California, the minister transformed his church into a leftist social movement with programs for the poor. Political work by his followers elevated Jones to prominence in liberal Democratic circles by the late 1970s. He was head of San Francisco’s public housing commission when media scrutiny and legal problems spurred his retreat to Jonestown for what would be his […]

THE DRUM: H. L. Mencken, among the most influential writers of the early 20th century, opined that any journalist worth his salt knew that his job was “to please the crowd, to give a good show; and the way they set about giving that good show was by first selecting a deserving victim, and then putting him magnificently to the torture”. The smart journalist knows, said the “sage of Baltimore”, that “it is hard for the plain people to think about a thing, but easy for them to feel“. Silas Bent, who fell into (as he put it) reporting in New York in […]

NEW YORK TIMES: After the meeting at the White House, Republicans and Democrats offered differing versions of what by all accounts was a tense session. Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, said he raised the idea of taking what savings could be achieved now — roughly $1.4 trillion — and then having additional votes to raise the debt limit again before the elections in November 2012, with Republicans ultimately seeking a total of at least $2.4 trillion in cuts with no tax increases. At this, Mr. Cantor said, the president “got very agitated, seemingly.” Mr. Cantor quoted […]

NATIONAL JOURNAL: At the center of a firestorm over alleged phone-hacking, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation announced Wednesday that it is dropping its bid to buy the share of Britain’s primary satellite TV broadcaster that it does not already own. The dropped bid comes a day after a U.S. Senator encouraged officials to look into whether the scandal affected any Americans. News Corp.’s stock has been hammered by the widening scandal, shaving billions of dollars off of the company’s market capitalization. Shares in the company have plummeted from $18.13 per share right before the first reports of the phone hacking and […]

FRESH AIR When the energy giant Enron collapsed 10 years ago, top executives of the company faced criminal prosecution, and many served lengthy prison terms. In the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, hundreds of bankers went to jail. But the financial meltdown of 2008 hasn’t generated a single prosecution of high-level Wall Street players — even though the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil cases against some companies and reached financial settlements. That’s a result of new guidelines issued by the Justice Department in 2008, which have allowed prosecutors to take a “softer approach” to corporate crimes. […]

This must-see video for “Symphony in White, No.2,” the b-side of the  Wild Palms single, is a mini-doc of the Philly-based bliss-popsters’ recent performance at the First Unitarian Church. The audio is from the 7″, and the video features projections made specifically for the music by Klip Collective. Sun Airway plays the Pitchfork Music Festival on Saturday and WXPN’s XPoNential Music Festival on July 23rd. Sun Airway’s “Symphony In White, No. 2” from klipcollective on Vimeo.

COMMONWEALTH CONFIDENTIAL: Avila has grabbed headlines recently for his behavior around town. When he first came to Harrisburg from New York, he got into a dispute with a local diner owner over the freshness of the eggs in his egg sandwich. After exchanging words with the diner owner, Avila is alleged to have yelled: “Do you know who I am? I am the Secretary of Health!” He later sicced city health inspectors on the diner. Avila has also raised more than a few eyebrows for ordering spanking-new jackets, as well as a badge, identifying himself as the Health Secretary. He also ordered jackets […]