Slavery, it has been properly observed, is America’s original sin.  It is our first and foremost crime, the most adjacent cause of our civil war, and the source of the racial poison that continues to choke us today.  It is, if this can be said in a way that does not invite outrage and hyperbole, our Holocaust:  a mobile disaster that wreaks its ( Read more... )

So, here we are.

After years of ambiguity over the direction Barack Obama was taking as president, after months of nausea at the repulsive tactics his Republican opponents and the inexplicable support for Mitt Romney (the most worthless presidential candidate of my lifetime), after weeks of stress headaches whenever there was chatter about poll ( Read more... )

Yes, it’s time once again for that all-time family fun game, “What’s This Guy Worth?, or, Exactly How Rich and Out-of-Touch Are the Rich, Out-of-Touch Assholes Who Are Going to Tell Us How to Fix the Economy?”.

On our last episode, we examined the occupations and net worth of members of the U.S. Senate, and discovered that, shockingly, they are a ( Read more... )

Barring the promotion of Isaac from a tropical storm to a full-blown hurricane, and presuming it does not alight directly on the Tampa Bay Times Forum and slay all the Grand Old Party luminaries gathered there for the Republican National Convention (an occurrence which would provide, to me at least, the first ever compelling evidence of the ( Read more... )

With the selection of union-busting oenophile Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential candidate, the mystery of which wealthy Caucasian ideologue will stand next to him clapping for the next four months is over, and we can relax and enjoy the two make fools of themselves until whatever ridiculous decision the voting public decides to make on ( Read more... )

1.  Highly controversial choice meant to enrage readers, thus drawing lots of links and hits

2.  Conventional but ‘artsy’ choice to prove aesthetic credentials

3.  Completely ordinary choice that is actually the thing you like best, but you put it third so as not to seem obvious

4.  Another completely ordinary choice meant to lull readers into ( Read more... )

Also country, dance, and, well, everything that isn’t metal or rap.  There’s a lot of ladies on this list, and a lot of stuff from foreign countries, and two records by Texas-based singer-songwriters on MCA’s phonus-bolognus country subsidiary.  I realize that my picks this year read like those of a crazy person, and I’m not sure what to do about ( Read more... )

People are still making rap music!  Can you imagine?  Maybe it’s not a trend after all.  Foxy grandma even noticed some beats being jacked when she was watching Glee last week.  Thank goodness for the internet, where we can keep on arguing about ‘relevance’ and ‘credibility’ until the return of cows.  Meanwhile, here’s my ten favorite hip-hop ( Read more... )

If you get paid to write about music, you have to make top ten lists at the end of the year.  If you fail to do this Dave Marsh comes to your house and reads you Bruce Springsteen on Tour:  1968-2005 in its entirety.  So, here goes, first with my metal picks, then hip-hop, rock/pop, and finally, on Christmas Eve, my favorite albums of the year.   ( Read more... )

Dear geeks,

Congratulations!  It is my understanding that you have taken over mainstream culture recently, and while this has caused consternation in certain quarters, I am the magnanimous sort, and besides, whenever someone says the words “culture war”, my eyes glaze over like a Honey Baked Ham.

It has, however, come to my attention that you’re ( Read more... )