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Today's
Stories
December 19 - 21, 2008
Jeffrey St. Clair
Salazar and the Tragedy of the Common Ground
December 18, 2008
Phillip Doe
The Man in the Hat: Salazar and the Status Quo
Ronnie Cummins
Vilsack: Another Shill for Monsanto
Jesse Sharkey
No School Left Unsold:
Arne Duncan's Privatization Agenda
Saul Landau
Postcard from Venezuela
Peter Morici
What's Next for the Fed?
Dave Lindorff
Prosecuting Bush and Cheney for Torture
Panos Petrou
Days of Rage in Greece
Jeff Cohen /
Norman Solomon
The 2008 P.U.-litzer Prizes: the Stinkiest Media Performances of the Year
Worthy Group of the Day
Organic Consumer Alliance
December 17, 2008
Peter Lee
Pushing Pakistan Over the Edge
Conn Hallinan
Angels and Demons in Mumbai
Mike Whitney
Bernanke's Fatal Flaw
Jeff Halper
Obama and the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Alan Farago
The Audacity of Parkland
Peter Morici
The Big Hole
Norm Kent
Obama Lights Up
Col. Douglas MacGregor
The Price of Expediency
Margaret Kimberley
Blacks and Gay Rights
Ron Jacobs
The Myth of the Good Guy:
Waiting on a President to Do the Right Thing
Worthy Group of the Day
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
December 16, 2008
Vicente Navarro
A Forgotten Genocide: the Case of Spain
Patrick Cockburn
Each Shoe was Worth a Thousand Words
Thomas Michael Power
Back to the Pump: an Economic and Environmental Dead End
Jason Hribal
Orangutans, Resistance and the Zoo: the Story of Ken Allen and Kumang
Farzana Versey
Straw Warriors and the Pantomime of Patriotism
Wajahat Ali /
Ahmed Rashid
Indian Muslims: Defining Their Loyalty
Mats Svensson
The Order to Destroy has been Given
Paul Fitzgerald /
Elizabeth Gould
Mumbai Terror's Afghan Roots
David Macaray
Workplace Violence and Termination Etiquette
Howard Lisnoff
Left Control of Academia? The Case of William Felkner
Worthy Group of the Day
AWR: the Last, Best Hope for Saving the Big Wild
December 15, 2008
Andy Worthington
Hit Me Baby One More Time: a History of Music Torture in War on Terror
Franklin Lamb
Why Hezbollah Stiffed Carter
Karl Grossman
Dr. Chu's Nuclear Prescription
Brian Cloughley
Land of the Free (To Torture and Imprison Without Trial)
Mary Lynn Cramer
Stiglitz's Foolishly Flawed Morality
Steve Early
From Nicky Pockets to Blago:
Why Pay-to-Play is Bad for Labor
Thomas Christie
Pentagon Train Wreck Awaits Obama
Ken Paff
Remembering Ron Carey: a Great Labor Leader
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
What is India to Do?
Dave Lindorff
A Hero of Our Time: Muntadar al-Zaidi
Alan Farago
The Artless Dodger
Worthy Group of the Day
Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund
December 12 / 14, 2008
Alexander Cockburn
Hail to Chicago, Beacon of American Values
Michael Hudson /
Jeffrey Sommers
The End of the Washington Consensus
David Price
The Leaky Ship of Human Terrain Systems
Jeffrey St. Clair
Nukes Up the Hudson
Frank Barat
An Israeli in Gaza: an Interview with Jeff Halper
John Ross
Writing a Thesis in Blood
Binoy Kampmark
Humanitarian Imperialism: Obama and the Genocide Task Force
David Macaray
Killing the Auto Bailout: a Dagger to the Heart of Organized Labor
Ralph Nader
Antidotes to Plunder: a Holiday Reading List
Eamonn Fingleton
Whatever Happened to Iris Chang?
Lawrence Velvel
Why Blagojevich Might Be Acquitted
Behzad Yaghmaian
The Housing Crisis: a Timebomb China Can't Defuse
Sam Husseini
Putting the Pro in Protest
Tom Barry
Incentives to Detain:
How Immigrants Drive Prison Profits
Howard Lisnoff
Why I Went to Jail
Laura Carlsen
Mexico's Immigration Problem
Raj Patel
The WTO and Other Fairy Tales
Ron Jacobs
The Manufacturing of History
Paul Watson
Risky Business Down Under
David Yearsley
They Also Serve Who Only Pull or Tread
Lorenzo Wolff
So You Want Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star...
Kim Nicolini
Finally, a Vampire Movie You Can Sink Your Teeth Into
Susie Day
Proposition 1984: the Problem with Heterosexuals
Poets' Basement
Gibbons, Lerch and Crete
Worthy Group of the Weekend
Energy Justice
December 11, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
Total Defeat for U.S. in Iraq
P. Sainath
After Mumbai
Vicken Cheterian
The Zarqawi Generation
Ray McGovern
Will Obama Buy Torture-Lite?
Dedrick Muhammad
Post-Racial Racism at the Post: the Undying Obsession with Black Family Values
Lee Sustar
Victory at Republic
Peter Morici
The Big Drag
Ayesha Ijaz Khan
Must They Hate Us So?
George Wuerthner
Another Subsidy to Big Timber?
Christopher Brauchli
Mr. Berg's Strange Obsession
Worthy Group of the Day
Animal Balance
December 10, 2008
Ismael Hossein-Zadeh
Whose Interests Will Shape Obama's Change?
Mary Lynn Cramer
The Multi-Trillion Dollar Question
Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Nuclear Weapons Obsolescence
Joshua Frank
Breaking the Stranglehold on Middle East News Coverage
Jack Ely
Stop Sobbing About Free Music Downloads: a Message to the Music Industry from the Lead Singer of the Kingsmen
Steve Conn
An Obama Public Works Program?
Lee Sustar
Republic Workers Target Bank of America
Glen Ford
The Die is Cast
Stephen Lendman
The Persecution of Syed Fahad Hashmi
Nadia Hijab
The Face of America
Dave Lindorff
We All Need a Union
Website of the Day
This One's For You, Senator Dodd
December 9, 2008
Mike Whitney
Card Check
Fawzia Afzal-Khan
Us vs. Them
Ghada Karmi
The UN Resolution That Time Forgot
Dave Lindorff
A Car Dealer Explains Why the Bailout is a Raw Deal
Steve Breyman
Notes on a Green Economy: Managing Stuff in the 21st Century
Lee Sustar /
Nicole Colson
Raising the Stakes at Republic
Rev. William E. Alberts
God of Our Fathers
Martha Rosenberg
Bill Richardson: Secretary of Bloodsports
Sam Husseini
How Holbrooke Lied His Way Into a War
David Macaray
The UAW in Peril
Website of the Day
This Toxic Life
December 8, 2008
Steve Early
Is Obama Backing Off a Crucial Pledge to Labor?
Michael Hudson
Obama's Favoritism: Wall Street, Not the Auto Industry
Patrick Cockburn
Talking to a Lashkar Militant
Diane Farsetta
An Officer and a Conflicted Man: McCaffery, the Pentagon and Fleishman-Hillard
Paul Craig Roberts
Chapters in Imperial Hypocrisy
Daniel Gross
The Chicago Sit-Down Strike
Saul Landau
To Bail or Not to Bail?
Harvey Wasserman
Why John Bryson is Unfit for Energy Secretary
Mike Ferner
The New Generation of "Non-Lethal" Weapons
Norman Solomon
The Silent Winter of Escalation
David Michael Green
The Other Foot
Website of the Day
The Remains of Detroit
December 5 / 7, 2008
Alexander Cockburn
Honeymoans From the Left
Brian Cloughley
Shambles in Afghanistan
Paul Craig Roberts
Muslim Revolution: How Washington Arrogance Helped Drive the Mumbai Attacks
Liaquat Ali Khan
Mumbai and the Kashmir Tinderbox
Farzana Versey
Mumbai's Charge of the Lightweight Brigade
Peter Lee
Pakistan Nears the Breaking Point
Peter Morici
Slouching Toward a Depression?
Ralph Nader /
Toby Heaps
Junk Cap-and-Trade
Yinon Cohen /
Neve Gordon
Obama Could End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Will He Meet the Challenge?
Wajahat Ali
Perverse Justice: the Holy Land Foundation Convictions
Johnny Barber
Aswad's Story:
Illegal Detention and the Declaration of Human Rights
Alan Farago
Fallout from the Pass-Through Economy
Jeremy Scahill
Obama Doesn't Plan to End Occupation of Iraq
Mike Whitney
Powergrab in Ottawa
Ranjit Hoskote
Jahiliyya Versus Jihad
Carl Finamore
Thank God I'm an Atheist! (Or Boy is Bill O'Reilly in for a Big Surprise)
Marjorie Cohn
Obama and Women's Rights
Norm Kent
Tommy Chong, the Unanticipated Warrior
Missy Beattie
What Lies Ahead
Binoy Kampmark
Committing Suicide On-Line: the Briggs Case
David Macaray
The Best and the Brightest Redux: Too Many Brains, Not Enough Humility
Nancy Stohlman
Relational Activism
Ron Jacobs
Irreverent Politics Then and Now
David Yearsley
Thematics From the Golden Past
Lorenzo Wolff
Troubled Songs of Home and War
Poets' Basement
Orloski: The Door Opener
Website of the Weekend
In Prison My Whole Life
December 4, 2008
Ece Temelkuran
Inside the Ergenekon Case
Ralph Nader
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Who Will Seize the Moment?
Harry Browne
The Bush-Obama National Security Strategy
Eamonn Fingleton
The American Car Industry: a Riposte to the Knockers
Conn Hallinan
The Syria Attack
Mike Whitney
Fiasco in Somalia: Another CIA Cock-Up
Stewart J. Lawrence
Obama and Latinos: Richardson, Alone, is Not Enough
Paul Fitzgerald /
Elizabeth Gould
Message to Obama: Stop Killing Afghanis
Karyn Strickler
Show Us the Green, Before We Show You the Money
Jennifer Matsui
Obama-Cola: the Great National Temperance Beverage
Website of the Day
"He Ain't Got Laid in a Month of Sundays..."
December 3, 2008
Andrew Cockburn
What's Wrong with the U.S. Military
Sheldon Rampton
Mormon Homophobia: Up Close and Personal
Robert Weissman
Nationalize GM
Yifat Susskind
From Mumbai to Washington
William Blum
The Obama Bummer:
Vote First, Ask Questions Later
Alan Singer
The Ghost of the Defunct Economist
David Macaray
Trampled Under Foot at Wal-Mart
Martha Rosenberg
Born With a Statin Deficiency? Line Forms to the Left!
Mats Svensson
The Crimes Have No Period of Limitations
Website of the Day
Why Bill Richardson's Nomination Should be Opposed
December 2, 2008
Jeremy Scahill
Obama's Kettle of Hawks
Paul Craig Roberts
The New Arms Race
Ayesha Ijaz Khan
The Mumbai Terror Attacks: Is Pakistan to Blame?
Sarah Anderson /
John Cavanagh
Skewed Priorities: How the Bailout Dwarfs Spending on Other Global Crises
William Blum
The Mythology of the War on Terrorism
John Ross
Mexico's Drug War Goes Down in Flames
Dave Lindorff
A Tale of Two Terror Attacks
Nicola Nasser
A Peace Process That Makes Peace Impossible
Steve Conn
Operation Redskin Removal
Robert Bryce
Coal Hard Facts
Website of the Day
Country, Funk, Soul
December 1, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
From Baghdad to Mumbai, by Way of Pakistan
Damien Millet /
Eric Toussaint
Obama's Economic Team:
Records of Failure
Vijay Prashad
The Fires in South Asia
Deepak Tripathi
Obama's Foreign Crises
Joshua Frank
Madam Secretary Clinton and the Middle East
P. Sainath
The Unlikely Martyrdom of Free Market Jihad
Alan Farago
The Right's War on Regulators
Binoy Kampmark
Sydney's Ball and Chain
Chris Genovali
Silent Fall
David Michael Green
Hope You Die Before You Get Old
Stephen Martin
The Chinese are Coming, the Chinese are Coming!
Website of the Day
Robert Rubin: Coward, Liar or Both?
November 28-30, 2008
Alexander Cockburn
In Time of Trouble
Mike Whitney
The Obama "Dream Team": Rubin Clones and Other Fakers
Ted Honderich
What is the Meaning of Obama's Election?
Tom Kerr
Preserving Filthy Lucre (Or Becoming My Dad)
Mike Ely
The Conquest of New England
David Yearsley
Hymns of the Conquest
Deepak Tripathi
Uproar in Police-State Britain
Sonja Karkar
Gaza's Death Throes
Ramzy Baroud
Salvation in a News Broadcast
Robert Weitzel
Israel's Settlement on Capitol Hill
Robert Roth
Can We Create a Movement for Change?
Carlos Fierro
Obama and the End of Racism?
David Macaray
How to Kill a Union
David Rosen
A New Sexual Agenda
James Cockcroft
Indigenous People Rising
Stan Cox
The Most Disappointing Gift
Steve Conn
Talking Turkey About College Basketball
Stephen Martin
The Electromagnetic Pulse and Economic Warfare
Richard Rhames
Busty Bimbettes, Bombs and Brand Obama
Kim Nicolini
Women as Products and Cannibalistic Achievers
Lorenzo Wolff
A Battle Cry for the Confused and Vulnerable
Poets' Basement
Woods, Harrison and Corseri
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Weekend Edition
December 19 - 21, 2008
Big Sound Can't Conceal Lack of Heart
Does Coldplay Give a Shit Anymore?
By LORENZO WOLFF
The importance of any given artist is dependent on only one thing. You can chart their lasting effects, the people they influenced or the new techniques they pioneered, but when you get down to it all that matters is how much they care. Great artists give everything they have as honestly as possible at every show and every recording. That’s where Coldplay's newest record Viva La Vida falls short; it doesn’t sound like they give a shit.
Since their breakthrough album Parachutes in 2000, Coldplay has been making music that sounds big, and Viva La Vida sounds huge. The album seems like a cohesive work because of the epic feeling Brain Eno’s production lends to it. An enormous budget and very good  players make every song a titanic construction.
But this is all overcompensation. It doesn’t sound like these big arrangements were meant to complement the vocals, but rather to hide them. Chris Martin’s voice squeaks from behind all this, in a way that’s more pathetic than endearing. He’s going through the motions, hitting high notes when he wants to be exciting and falling down to a whisper when he tries to be intimate, but it’s all just a scam. No vocal tricks or big production can conceal his faults. He sounds too self-conscious, too controlled, and too rigid to be truly earnest.
But maybe it’s overly demanding to ask for honesty from everyone. True, it’s a difficult thing to really bare yourself for everyone to see. There are undeniable benefits to playing music in a way that feels comfortable, and maybe that’s enough for some people. But it all feels like a waste of time. If I choose to sit down and listen to what Chris Martin has to say for 45 minutes, the least I expect is honesty. The least I expect is to feel like he’s concerned with the things that he’s saying. If Martin doesn’t care, then why should I?
Lorenzo Wolff is a musician living in New York. He can be reached at: lorenzowolff@gmail.com
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