BLOOMBERG NEWS: In his speech last week on the Middle East, President Barack Obama left little doubt that America stands with the people of the region in their demand for change. This puts the U.S. on a collision course with Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has emerged as the leader of a new rejectionist front that is determined to defeat popular demand for reform. One would have expected Iran to lead such a front, but instead it is America’s closest Arab ally in the region that is seeking to defeat our policy. Though the president made no mention of Saudi Arabia […]

[Illustration by DONKEY HOTEY] PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Gov. Tom Corbett may be seeking opinions from his shale commission whether the state Senate-proposed drilling impact fee is a tax, but the group whose no-tax pledge he signed has issued its decree: it breaks the pledge. “Make no mistake, this proposal is a tax increase based on any honest and objective analysis,” Norquist wrote in a letter to Sen. Mary Jo White, whose committee would need to approve the impact fee, and other lawmakers. “As such, a vote in favor of Senate Bill 1100 also represents a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, […]

2011 is turning out to be quite a year for Robert Pollard. The hugely successful Guided By Voices reunion tour is doing victory laps at Pitchfork, Northside, Hopscotch and Sasquatch Festivals, a tribute album is coming out for Record Store Day (including Pollard covers by Flaming Lips, Lou Barlow, David Kilgour, James Husband, Blitzen Trapper, Thurston Moore), and, believe it not, new White House Spokesman Jay Carney declared in a press conference that he’s obsessed with Guided By Voices. January, February and March saw three remarkable albums by Pollard projects (as well as a live Guided By Voices triple-LP) and […]

Raphael Saadiq plays The Electric Factory tomorrow night.

MINNESOTA INDEPENDENT: Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed a bill to legalize marijuana for terminally ill patients late Friday evening, saying he sides with law enforcement opposition to the bill. Bill proponents say they will introduce a constitutional amendment to bypass the governor, noting overwhelming popular support in the state on the issue. “While I am sympathetic to those dealing with end-of-life illnesses and accompanying pain, I stand with law enforcement in opposition to this legislation,” Pawlenty said in his veto letter. MORE RELATED: Joni Whiting, whose testimony of finding marijuana for her dying daughter brought tears to many legislators’ eyes, had […]

FRONTLINE:  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has become internationally recognized since the publication last year of thousands of secret U.S. documents. But Bradley Manning, the Army private alleged to have provided the documents, remains largely a mystery. Who is Bradley Manning? How did he come into contact with a trove of secrets and, allegedly, with WikiLeaks? And what might have motivated the largest leak of classified information in American history? Investigating those questions for tonight’s film WikiSecrets — check local listings — FRONTLINE sought to understand Manning through extensive interviews with his father, friends and others he confided in during the […]

NPR: In the decade since its publication, Michael Azerrad’s book Our Band Could Be Your Life has taken on a sort of biblical quality among fans of independent music. So it’s no surprise that this concert — 14 current bands performing the songs of 13 icons of indie rock at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan — occasionally felt like church. The lesson of the book — if nobody else is doing it, do it yourself — was repeated many times, and more than one musician credited Azerrad with clarifying the lessons of the earlier age at a moment when they […]

RELATED: This is the famous/infamous ‘Eat the Document’ clip. It’s now 7am. The sun is up over Hyde Park. The limousine trip is nearly over. Lennon is stoned, Dylan is about to be sick. This footage is from May 27th 1966 during Bob Dylans tour of England. In the taxi is John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Bobby Neuwirth, friend of Dylan’s and temporary sound recordist; D.A. Pennebaker film-maker; Tom, a chauffeur. Filmed by D A Pennebaker, famed filmmaker who also captured the footage for Dylan’s ‘Don’t Look Back’ 1965 tour film, this was intended for inclusion in Eat The Document, but […]

INQUIRER: Gov. Christie plans to seek approval for a proposal that would deny Medicaid coverage to adults in a family of four with an annual household income of little more than $6,000, down from the current $30,000. A single mother raising three children who earned as little as $118 a week would not qualify for the government-funded medical coverage. The eligibility-requirement change […] would follow Christie’s eliminating – for the second year – a long-standing line item that would provide nearly $7.5 million in funding to family-planning clinics. […] On Monday, Democrats linked Christie’s opposition to funding the family-planning clinics […]

1. Dengue Fever, the disease, “is manifested by a sudden onset of fever, with severe headache, muscle and joint pains (myalgias and arthralgias—severe pain gives it the name break-bone fever or bonecrusher disease) and rashes. The dengue rash is characteristically bright red petechiae and usually appears first on the lower limbs and the chest; in some patients, it spreads to cover most of the body. There may also be gastritis with some combination of associated abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Other symptoms include: bladder problems; constant headaches; severe dizziness; and uncontrollable laughing,” according to Wikipedia. Dengue Fever, the band, […]