|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
|
PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS ON HOW THE 'FREE TRADE' CASE FOR OFFSHORING AMERICA'S JOBS HAS COME UNGLUED Roberts on the sensational exposure of the faked "gains" and phantom stats of the free traders. Who was America's most anti-imperialist president? Try Grover Cleveland! JoAnn Wypijewski on the unlikely hero of Hawai'i's restoration movement. Alexander Cockburn reports on evangelical Christians in crisis amid fresh onslaughts by forces of darkness. The Warbler's Parable: Rosa Miriam Elizalde on the black-masked visitors to Cuba defying the US economic blockade.
|
|
Today's Stories June 30 / July 1, 2007 John
Ross Alan
Farago Peter
Quinn Robert
Fisk Uri
Avnery Judith
Siers-Poisson Saul
Landau Ralph
Nader Mike
Whitney Jacob
Hill Kenneth
Couesbouc Missy
Beattie Ramzy
Baroud Leonard
Peltier
June 29, 2007 St.
Clair / Frank Brian
Cloughley Patrick
Cockburn Gilad
Atzmon Dave
Lindorff Jennifer
Matsui / Kevin
Zeese Daniel
Klimek David
Michael Green John
Chuckman Website
of the Day
June 28, 2007 Bill
Quigley Vijay
Prashad Margaret
Kimberley Winslow
T. Wheeler Philip
Rizk D.
K. Wilson Bill
Williams Mahmoud
El-Yousseph Richard
Rhames Paul
Krassner Website
of the Day
Marjorie
Cohn Dr.
Susan Rosenthal, MD Alan
Farago Carla
Blank Matthew
Abraham Sunsara
Taylor Russell
D. Hoffman Robert
Weissman Sen.
Russ Feingold Paul
Buchheit Website
of the Day
June 26, 2007 Jonathan
Cook Ralph
Nader Corporate
Crime Reporter Ron
Jacobs Martha
Rosenberg John
Chuckman Denny
Haldeman Anthony
DiMaggio Stephen
Fleischman William
S. Lind Website
of the Day
Paul
Craig Roberts Jennifer
Loewenstein Bob
Anderson Robert
Pollin Patrick
Cockburn Eva
Liddell Dan
Bacher Larry
Atkins Mark
Brenner James
Rothenberg Website
of the Day June 23 / 24, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Jeff
Taylor Oren
Ben-Dor Gary
Leupp Robert
Fisk David
Rosen Russell
Mokhiber Alison
Weir Robert
Fantina D.
K. Wilson Nicole
Colson Stephen
Soldz, Steven Reisner and Brad Olson Dave
Lindorff Benjamin
Dangl Michael
Dickinson Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
June 22, 2007 Andy
Worthington Sherwood
Ross Eliana
Monteforte Robert
Weissman Richard
Rhames Christopher
Brauchli Ramzy
Baroud Ehud
Krinis, David Shulman and Neve Gordon David
Michael Green Kathryn
Webber Website
of the Day
June 21, 2007 Peter
Linebaugh Natsu
Saito Ron
Jacobs Saree
Makdisi John
Stauber Scott
Liebertz Tom
Clifford Robert
Jensen Michael
J. Smith Jeb
Sprague Website
of the Day
Omar
Barghouti Andy
Worthington Margaret
Kimberley Robert
Weissman Russell
D. Hoffman Rannie
Amiri Stephen
Lendman Dave
Lindorff David
Swanson Anne
Dachel Website
of the Day
June 19, 2007 Ralph
Nader Dr.
Shepherd Bliss Bill
and Kathleen Christison Jeff
Leys Dave
Zirin Chris
Floyd Ben
Terrall Anthony
Papa VIPS Linda Flores Website
of the Day
John
Ross Paul
Craig Roberts Martha
Rosenberg Norman
Solomon Don
Santina Isabella
Kenfield James
Brooks Eva
Liddell Sam
Husseini Akiva
Eldar Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn John
Halle Robert
Fisk Andy
Worthington Uri
Avnery Fred
Gardner Saul
Landau P.
Sainath Missy
Comley Beattie Alan
Gregory Walter
Brasch Website
of the Weekend
June 15, 2007 Alan
Farago Andy
Worthington Michael
Simmons Franklin
Lamb Gary
Leupp John
Ross Website
of the Day
June 14, 2007 Michael
Donnelly
Faisal
Kutty Harry
Browne Charles
Jonkel Steven
Higgs Bruce
Dixon Bruce
K. Gagnon
Website
of the Day June 13, 2007 Glen Ford Marjorie Cohn Bill Christison Charles Jonkel Silvia Cattori Richard Gott Firmin DeBrabander William S. Lind Keith Rosenthal Website of the Day June 12, 2007 Jeffrey St.
Clair Paul Craig
Roberts P. Sainath Ralph Nader Omar Waraich Dave Lindorff Harvey Wasserman Malini Johar
Schueller Ramzy Baroud Website of
the Day
June 11, 2007 Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Uri Avnery Norman Solomon Eva Liddell Rannie Amiri Rachel Voss Christopher
Brauchli D. K. Wilson Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn George Ciccariello-Maher Saul Landau Robert Fisk Brian Cloughley Ron Jacobs Ward Boston Conn Hallinan Leonard Peltier Lawrence Davidson John Ross Kate Allan Fred Gardner Stephen Fleischman Monica Benderman Geoff Bailey Missy Beattie Patrick Dyer Tim Lengerich James Irani
Gary Leupp Michael Tillery Michael Simmons Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
June 8, 2007 Serge Halimi Patrick Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair
Paul Craig Roberts William Blum Joshua Frank Lance Selfa Dave Lindorff Lawrence Ferlinghetti Website of the Day
Marjorie Cohn Soldz, Reisner
and Olson: Soldz, Reisner
Paul Craig Roberts Bill Quigley Silvia Cattori Carl G. Estabrook Ellen Taylor Corporate Crime
Reporter Brenda Norrell D. K. Wilson Kevin Zeese Website of
the Day
Alain Gresh Gary Leupp Steven Sherman Bruce Dixon Corporate Crime Reporter Brian M. Downing Ron Jacobs George Bisharat Nicole Colson Bruce K. Gagnon Website of the Day
June 5, 2007 Michael Neumann Jonathan Cook David Vest Robert Fantina Hoffman, Parsneau and Chowdhury John V. Walsh Richard Cretan Adam Engel William S. Lind Myles Hoenig Jim Minick Website of
the Day
Nizar Latif Diana Johnstone Gregory Wilpert Paul Watson Susan Rosenthal,
MD Richard Ward Eva Liddell Zahi Khouri Evelyn Pringle China Hand Karyn Strickler Website of the Day
June 2 / 3, 2007 Alexander Cockburn Marc Levy Martin Smith Diana Johnstone John Ross Uri Avnery Sunsara Taylor Richard Neville P. Sainath Missy Comley
Beattie Nisrine Abiad Rannie Amiri Margot Pepper Eric Stewart Ralph Nader Dan Bacher Shaun Harkin Richard Rhames Frederick Hudson Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
Dave Marsh Saul Landau David Phinney Robert Jensen Stanley Heller Yifat Susskind Robert Weissman Paul Buchheit William S.
Lind Sherwood Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
Robert Bryce Patrick Cockburn Gary Leupp Kathy Kelly Marjorie Cohn Chris Kutalik
Corporate Crime Reporter Dave Lindorff Website of the Day
May 30, 2007 James Ridgeway Franklin Lamb Terrence E. Paupp Uri Avnery Alan Maass Rock and Rap
Confidential Ralph Nader Nirmal Ghosh Jean Daniels Tom Barry Website of the Day
Stephen Soldz Eliza Ernshire Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff Evelyn Pringle Mike Whitney David Swanson John Holt Cynthia McKinney Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day
Bill Quigley Col. Dan Smith Cindy Sheehan Dr. Susan Block Jeeni Criscenzo Douglas Valentine Website of the Day 
Subscribe Online
|
Weekend
Edition Rolling with the StonesSeven Hours of BangingBy PHYLLIS POLLACK With seven hours of footage on four discs, the newly released Rolling Stones' The Biggest Bang four DVD set features two concerts in their entirety from the band's Bigger Bang tour and countless snippets on the road, from what has become the biggest selling rock tour of all time. Despite the sentimental decision to credit the film's executive producer as being the late Ian Stewart, the box set was conceived by the Stones and their tour promoter Michael Cohl, in conjunction with his company Concert Productions International, in conjunction with the band. Their last joint effort, the Four Flicks DVD set, sold 19 million copies, and ranks as the highest selling full-length concert DVD in U.S. history. A masterpiece film documenting the band's Forty Licks tour, Four Flicks historically noteworthy performance footage includes essential tour highlights that includes film from the Stones' show in Los Angeles at the comparatively intimate Wiltern Theater, one of the most coveted tickets of the tour. Like its predecessor Four Flicks, The Biggest Bang is available exclusively through Best Buy. On The Biggest Bang, clearly, the climax of the DVD set is the band's Rio De Janeiro gig, a free concert attended by one and a half million people. It is here in the four disc set where the cinematography is at its strongest, and the cameras angles are at their best, when the intensity builds in the face of the challenges the crew has to overcome in order to generate the perfect sound, band security and crowd control. The Rio show is seen in its entirety, along with a mini-documentary noting the immense preparations needed to successfully manuever this ambitious event. The other full-length concert
in the box set is the band's date in Austin, Texas at Zilker
Park on October 22, 2006. If it's true that everything is bigger
in Texas, it was certainly true when it came to the Pirate Code,
with Stones guitarist Keith Richards, always a seemingly incandescedent
site, with his grey eye shadow, black eyeliner, gripping one
of his blond Fender guitars as the band opens the show, railing
into ''You Got Me Rockin.'' In the film's extras, the only real personal insight displayed interestingly comes from drummer Charlie Watts, who in an overly modest confessional, laments what he feels are his weak points as a percussionist. It is almost surreal listening to him talk about his regrets as a musician, given his immense playing ability. Arguably, the Stones have the greatest rhythm section in rock and roll. In an impromptu offstage segment, Bernard Fowler, an eloquent vocalist, sings a jazz version of ''Miss You,'' accompanied by Watts. This is not surprising, given Watt's past works with Fowler, including the exquisite album, Long Ago And Far Away. In various scenes, Mick Jagger is dons a rust colored, feathered coat with a matching red feathered hat, as the frenetically prancing lead singer struts his stuff in his newschool pimped out attire. While performing ''Midnight Rambler,'' with Jagger on harp, the band switches syncompations, going into their ''Oh, don't you do that'' vamp; Jagger vamps down the ramp with more swagger than a model on the runway. The film also casts light on the B-stage, where the band plays songs from its repertoire that include ''Miss You,'' ''Rough Justice,'' ''Get Off My Cloud'' and ''Honky Tonk Women.'' Among the featured guests on the disc is blues artist Bonnie Raitt, who performs the spiritual number ''Shine A Light'' from the band's masterpiece album Exile On Main Street. This marks her first stints with the Stones, as Raitt had just joined the Stones to open shows with them three days before in Los Angeles, the city the band had returned to yet once again during the Bigger Bang soujourn, making the City Of Angels the last U.S. date of the tour. Raitt had just punctuated that last U.S. by date performing ''Dead Flowers'' at Dodger Stadium. Now, for the final North American tour date, Raitt is seen on the DVD, performing with the band at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. Other special guest in The Biggest Bang package include Pearl Jam's Eddy Vedder, who sits in for ''Wild Horses.'' For those who can not hear enough versions of that song, as with The Biggest Bang, Bernard Fowler's 2006 solo album, Friends With Privileges, is also worth scoring. Like Fowler, Chaplin also released a solo album in 2006, Between Us, a splendidly produced and thoughtfully constructed, eloquent disc on Big Karma Records. The band is checked into their
hotel in Brazil. What happens at the Licensed film of the Superbowl performance in Detroit is coupled with a discussion of the censorship that surrounds the half-time show subsequent to Janet Jackson's ''wardrobe misfunction.'' Jagger humorously remarks, ''Hopefully both of us still have our core values in tact.'' Don Was, producer of the Bigger Bang album, appears to make a sardonic remark about the television network's effort ''to protect the family values of the planet earth.'' Richards discusses his having written the folk song ''Hurricane'' in 2002, then later donating it in order to help raise money for Hurricane Katrina Relief. Jagger makes light of the hypocrisy and the arbitrary, hence absurd nature of censorship. It was an extremely difficult, slow, and arduous process for the band to be granted permission to play in China. The DVD details the band's first show there, along with their arrival. The Stones are given a list of songs that they can not play, which includes ''Beast Of Burden,'' ''Honky Tonk Women,'' ''Brown Sugar'' and ''Let's Spend The Night Together,'' about which Jagger remarks, ''You can blame that one on Ed Sullivan.'' Jagger and Leavell express their amusement surrounding the abusurdity of the selection of songs that the Chinese government has chosen to ban the Stones from playing in its country, a place where its citizens can only purchase lyrically censored versions of Rolling Stones albums. At a press conference in Shanghai, Jagger approaches the topic in a tongue and cheek manner, stating, ''I am pleased the Minister Of Culture is protecting the morals of the ex pat bankers and their girlfriends who are going to turn up (to the show).'' Ironically, the Chinese government allows the band to perform the song ''Bitch,'' which they do at full tilt. The Stones also play ''Wild Horses,'' this time with musical guest, Cui Jian, a Chinese recording artist. When discussing China, Richards, still thrillingly lifelike in his handcuffs, scarves and trademark skull ring, stays true to the Pirate Code, uttering, ''You tell me I can't go somewhere, I'm going to find a way in.'' The DVD offers visual clips from hotspots on the tour that include The Hollywood Bowl, New York and the Bay Area. There is more from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Jagger plays keyboard during a memorable version of ''Worried About You,'' complete with a falsetto voice and a one-phrase rap. Saitama, Japan and Tokyo Dome are also in the mix. With more than fifty songs performed on The Biggest Bang, further highlights from the film include haunting back-up vocals from Lisa Fischer and Bernard Fowler, and Woody's inspired soloing during ''You Can't Always Get What You Want.'' Richards' signature anthem ''Happy,'' and the painfully expressive ballad ''This Place Is Empty'' are among the film's highlights. A kind of subliminal running theme, Richards arrives in various destinations, stating, ''It's good to be here. It's good to be anywhere.'' One love. Phyllis Pollack lives in Los Angeles where she is a publicist and music journalist. She can be reached through her blog.
 |
CounterPunch Books of the Crossroads: HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG By Daniel Cassidy  Click Here to Buy! How the Press Failed The Gang's All Here: Judy Miller, Bob Woodward, Rupert Murdoch, Bill O'Reilly...End Times Leaves No Reputation Unstained!  Buy End Times Now! CounterPunch Books! Saul Landau's Bush and Botox World with a Foreword by Gore Vidal  Click Here to Order!  Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair           The Occupation by Patrick Cockburn   Humanitarian Imperialism By Jean Bricmont               CITY BEAUTIFUL By Tennessee Reed        Bruce Springsteen On Tour By Dave Marsh                   |
Cocacabana
Hotel in Rio De Janiero stays at the Cococabana, as the film
keeps the band members' private lives private, with the footage
in the film solely limited to showing scenes of their public
life on the tour. Therefore, do not expect to see the likes Bobby
Keys and Keith Richards throwing TV sets off the balcony of a
hotel window, ala Robert Frank's unreleased film that sits on
one this writer's shelves. There is much going on around the
band that is seen in The Biggest Bang, however. The logistics
of the Rio show are documented in the film, as are the work-related
responsibilities of a number of members of the crew. Inflatable
tongues punctuate the film, as seen during the live shows.