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Classic Rockers Reprise 'No Nukes' Initiative Browne, Nash, Raitt Urge Congress To Halt Loans For New PlantsPOSTED: 4:22 pm EDT October 23, 2007 WASHINGTON -- Rock musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash are putting a new millennium twist on their 1970s anti-nuclear message, urging Congress not to approve federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants. "Thirty years ago, we felt that this monster was dead," Nash said. "It's trying to raise its ugly head." Nearly three decades ago, the three were prominent in the anti-nuke movement, helping organize the "No Nukes" concerts at Madison Square Garden that...

The government has decided to accommodate members of the former army, security and other organizations the U.S. administrator Paul Bremer had disbanded shortly after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The move signals a change of heart by a government which until recently insisted on excluding army and security personnel who served the former regime. Some members have already rejoined the newly established police, army and security organizations but the majority had been fired. The U.S. decision to sack members of the former ministries of defense, information, and interior as well the various security and intelligence organizations is still seen...

There is always a moment during a raging battle when one side realizes that the field has been won, and the other side collapses in retreat and confusion. The curious thing about the Iraqi insurgency is that this moment has arrived, yet both the victors, in this case the Americans and the Iraqi government, and the losers, Al-Qaeda and the other jihadist groups, are reluctant to acknowledge it. But make no mistake, the battle has been turned and we are witnessing the beginning of a jihadist meltdown. Six months ago, many of the strategists behind the Sunni insurgency, faced with...

Judge Sides With Original Supernova In 'Rock Star' Suit Ruling requires Tommy Lee's band to change name following show's finale. David has defeated Goliath. According to a Tuesday (September 12) ruling by San Diego Judge John Houston, the producers of CBS' "Rock Star" are going to have to come up with an alternate name for Supernova, the band made up of Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee, Voivod's Jason Newsted and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. Last month, the original Supernova — an Orange County, California, punk trio — filed for a preliminary injunction in San Diego's U.S. District Court...

*It looks like Eddie Murphy and Melanie Brown, AKA: "Scary Spice" and Mel B, are feeling each other so much that they are going to go all the way. Reports say the actor/comedian, 45, and the former Spice Girls singer, 31, have scheduled their nuptials for this September. The so-called "dream wedding" is scheduled to be held at the historic Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

The politically charged documentary "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" has been picked up for worldwide distribution by the Weinstein Co. A release is tentatively scheduled for the fall, possibly right before the November elections. The film revolves around the aftermath of singer Natalie Maines' statement at a 2003 London concert, where she said, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." It chronicles death threats, political attacks and radio boycotts against the country trio, and that could make the film a political hot potato as well as potential ammo should longtime Democratic...

So what do you do if you're an old and washed-up, or not-so-old, but increasingly forgotten actor anxious to regain the spotlight of celebrity? As a rule, you look to associate yourself with a project that might jump-start your career. It is nice to be asked to participate in a project popular with the public. You jump at the chance for a supporting role in a Steven Spielberg movie. It's even better when the show is the rage of Hollywood itself and generating the all-important "buzz" among Tinseltown's sycophantic critics. If you're desperate enough, you'll latch on to this project,...

Live 8 hero Bob Geldof has been forced to cancel two concerts in Italy because of lack of public interest, after only 45 people turned up to see him perform in Milan, Italy's La Stampa newspaper reported on Saturday. Geldof walked out of Milan's 12,000-capacity Arena Civica on Friday without playing, given the paltry attendance. His manager explained that a concert for less than 400 people would not be viable, the newspaper said. The 54-year-old Irish rocker, who said he had flown in from South Africa for the gig, sought to placate angry fans afterwards by promising to give a...

But don't question theirs (gallon-sized hat tip: Coalition of the Swilling)... The Chicks can't hide their disgust at the lack of support they received from other country performers. "A lot of artists cashed in on being against what we said or what we stood for because that was promoting their career, which was a horrible thing to do," says Robison. "A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism." "The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism,"...

It’s not the first time he's said it, but Guns 'N Roses frontman Axl Rose has claimed that his band's new album will be released before the end of the year. The album 'Chinese Democracy' has been recorded with various line-ups over the past ten years and umpteen previous touted release dates have come and gone with no actual album release. The singer announced the latest release plans while making a surprise appearance on a New York radio show. Co-host of the Eddie Trunk show and former Skid Row frontman, Sebastian Bach, phoned Rose live on air. The reclusive singer...

Country trio the DIXIE CHICKS are planning to re-ignite their feud with US President GEORGE W BUSH in a provocative new song. The group sparked controversy when singer NATALIE MAINES publicly criticised Bush during a concert in London in 2003 - and fans staged bonfires, where they burned CDs and merchandise after calling the girls traitors. That led to Maines sobbing during an apologetic interview on US TV. But the feisty singer remains defiant and has penned new tune NOT READY TO MAKE NICE, which addresses the controversy surrounding her concert comments. Maines teamed up with former SEMISONIC frontman DAN...

Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court represents a grave threat to our fundamental liberties. His record makes it clear that he is a conservative activist who will put his personal ideology above the rule of law.If Alito replaces Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate justice who represented the swing vote in many cases, some of our most fundamental rights are at risk. Alito won't stand up to a president's abuse of power. He has said that the Constitution does not protect a woman's right to choose. And he has consistently used the bench as a launching pad for his conservative...

<p>New Orleans descended on New York for two concurrent concerts, dubbed From the Big Apple to the Big Easy, Tuesday night to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Big names such as Dave Matthews, Simon and Garfunkel, and Elton John filled the bills of the shows held at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden, but New Orleans acts from the Meters to the Neville Brothers were the focus of the evening's entertainment. Piano player and studio whiz Allen Toussaint led the house band for the first segment of the MSG concert, alongside Late Show With David Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer. Together they hosted a rotating panel of guests that included Lenny Kravitz, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett and New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas, who performed her classic "Time Is on My Side," famously covered by the Rolling Stones in 1964. Aaron Neville joined Toussaint for a chilling take on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," sung against a backdrop of horrific images from flood ravaged New Orleans.</p>

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During the 32 years I covered Washington for the Los Angeles Times, I learned that leaks from anonymous sources are crucial to informing the public. In the debate over what Karl Rove said when and to whom, and over the role of confidential sources in general, that must be underlined: Without leaks, without anonymity for some sources, a free press loses its ability to act as a check and a balance against the power of government. The stories that have depended on confidential sources, and often on classified information, are legend: Watergate in the Nixon administration, the Iran/Contra scandal and...

The president of the National Organization for Women declared a "state of emergency" for women's rights and planned a march on the state Capitol as news of Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement reverberated through the group's annual convention. NOW president Kim Gandy told about 800 NOW members Friday that women need to send a message that they won't tolerate "extremist" judges who set back women's rights. "This is our time. This is our challenge," Gandy said as the crowd replied by clapping and chanting, "Hell no, we won't go" and "We won't go back." The group shifted the agenda for their...

Just wanted to post this because I have yet to attend a concert in 2004-2005 where there has not been one instance of Bush bashing. Just took in a Def Leppard concert with Tesla opening for them. Great show. Hit after hit after hit after hit. One of my favorite songs from Def Leppard has always been God's of War from their 14 million selling "Hysteria" (which had every song but two played tonight). Def Leppard obviously has waned in popularity over the years but they have always been about one thing...rock and roll and delivering it to their fans....

Seventeenth-century Islamic brassmakers were far ahead of European peers, engineers sayContact: Kurt Pfitzer kap4@lehigh.edu 610-758-3017 Lehigh University Archaeometallurgists announce findings after four-year study of astrolabes Manufacturers of brass astrolabes in 17th-century India were two centuries more advanced than their European peers, says a doctoral student at Lehigh University who just completed a four-year study of astrolabes. Brian Newbury, who earned a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering in May, said the high zinc content in astrolabes fabricated in Lahore (now in Pakistan) proves that brass made there in the early 1600s was produced by a co-melting technique that was not...

Why is Garry Trudeau doing a "Doonesbury" sequence inspired by disgraced Republican-friendly reporter Jeff Gannon? "I'm not sure it's commonly understood to what lengths this administration is willing to go to bypass the 'filter,' as Bush calls the media," the cartoonist replied in an e-mail interview. "The president made it official Wednesday -- his Justice Department (news - web sites), fresh from signing off on torture, apparently thinks propaganda's OK too." When asked if he thought the press has underreported the Gannon episode, pundit payola, and other examples of media manipulation, Trudeau said: "It's not that it's been underreported so...

HAVANA -- About 200 intellectuals, activists and artists from Latin America and elsewhere issued a letter Monday urging the top United Nations human rights watchdog to side with Cuba in an expected battle over the communist country's rights record. A U.S.-backed resolution to condemn the island's record is usually presented at every spring meeting in Geneva of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which this year was to open Monday and run through April 22. No resolution targeting the island has emerged this year, but Cuba expects such a proposal will be presented and considered in mid-April. Last year's resolution passed...

Looks like the TV Land Awards Show is trying to gain some 'legitimacy' by treading into territory the Academy Awards skirted around - bashing Bush. The MC (never heard of him) opens the show with a quip about W's lousy jet pilot skills. Now I understand that TV Land covers dated shows, but that's no excuse for dated jokes. Then we get a long monologue from the Smothers Brothers, with the punchline being the tried and tired poke at W's and his so-called lies about Iraq. Ground breaking stuff. I now understand why shows about a talking horse, a Martian...

You know what I just heard Senator Kennedy say? Senator Kennedy (impression) said, "I do not retract from my view that Iraq is George Bush's Vietnaaaam." Now, this is from a guy who's out there today to set the new agenda for the Democratic Party, to explain to the country just who the Democrats are and why they do have the values of the United States. This man's not even smart enough anymore to look at polling data or the election results! Before he said, "Iraq is George W. Bush's Vietnam," he had spent some time saying, "Don't make a...

LOS ANGELES (AP)-NBC hasn't received any calls about the F-word that Motley Crue rocker Vince Neil dropped during the live New Year's Eve broadcast of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.""Happy f--ing New Year, Tommy!" Neil said to bandmate tommy Lee shortly after midnight Friday.

Since his little F bomb tirade on Bush the other night, I've looked over his list of movies. It's amazing. This guy has done absolutley nothing in the last 14 years. The only movie that you could say he starred in was National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation. He had brief forgetable cameos in Orange County and Last Action Hero. And a lot of the movies he's been in, I've never even heard of. This is a guy who's carrer has stunk. If it wasn't for the Vacation Movies, nobody would even know who he is. And this little temper tantrum he...

It was meant to be a recreation of one of pop's finest moments, where the cream of the British music scene came together in the name of charity. Instead it turned into an egofuelled squabble between one of rock's elder statesmen and a flashy would-be pretender.

Just heard this bit news on WTMJ 620 AM about the kerry rally in Madison, WI. There is no print version to reference, so for right now you'll just have to trust what I heard. First, a little background: Kerry appeared in a big rally in Madison, Wisconsin yesterday. This itself is odd because Madison is known as the Berkeley of the midwest. It's an area Kerry should have sewn up by now. They brought in Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters / Nirvana) to draw the crowds. They even brought in busloads of people from Iowa and Minnesota....

In 1984, a musically clueless Ronald Reagan tried to co-opt Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" as a campaign theme song. Never mind that the song was a pointed indictment of the government's failure to make good on its promises to Vietnam-era veterans, the Great Communicator's operatives couldn't see past the chiming chorus and tried to recruit Bruce to the Gipper's cause. Springsteen demurred. Four years later, another Republican presidential hopeful, Sen. Bob Dole, again attempted to adopt the Springsteen anthem for his campaign. The Boss quietly told him to knock it off. Fast forward to 2004. After steering clear...

"Our goal is to change the direction of the government and change the current administration come November." -- Bruce Springsteen, writing a guest editorial in Rolling Stone magazine. Attention, all Bush-loving conservatives! We need to talk about your taste in music. Do you have anything by any of the following artists: Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Usher, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Five for Fighting, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Jurassic 5, Keb' Mo' and/or Death Cab for Cutie. If so, I regret to inform...

There was one brief and fairly subtle political moment in the show, though it was easy to miss. During "Right Now," the video screen showed photos of George Bush under the message "Right now ... nothing is more expensive than regret." Unlike the reported reaction at Linda Ronstadt's controversial Las Vegas show, the aisles were not clogged with angry patrons storming the exits.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former top U.S. officials are blasting the Bush administration for reopening a rift with Europe by excluding critics of the war from prime contracts for Iraq's reconstruction.</p> <p>"I thought we were in the process of acquiring support rather than alienating it," former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said. "And I think it's petty. I really do think we should not be in the business of alienating people."</p>

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA -- Former President Bill Clinton urged the Bush administration Friday to sign a nonaggression pact with North Korea to help end a yearlong standoff over the Communist state's nuclear weapons program. Addressing a crowd of South Korean politicians and celebrities, Clinton expressed hope that six-nation talks on the nuclear crisis -- which China is trying to put together, possibly for December -- would produce a "verifiable" agreement in which impoverished North Korea would give up its nuclear and missile ambitions in return for food, energy and other economic aid. President Bush has ruled out a nonaggression treaty...

The Clinton Formula Excerpts from Michael Tomasky's interview with the former president The bulk of Bill Clinton's time now is devoted to his book and to the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, which delivers medicines to sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. But there's always time for politics. The Clinton on display here is combative, and he has some surprising things to say about how this election's crop of Democrats needs to do more than just ape what he did in 1992. But let him tell it. Michael Tomasky: I'd like to begin by talking about the historical moment. Karl Rove wants...

Many people today refer to the time in which we live as the age of globalization, and for most Americans, it has brought enormous benefits. In the eight years when I served as president, roughly one-third of U.S. growth came from trade. Our country's enormous increase in productivity was in no small part fueled by the application of information technology across all sectors of the economy, the continued outreach to people throughout the world and the openness of our borders to immigrants who continued to replenish the energy of our entrepreneurial system. It worked for us. But interdependence is not,...

Gus Van Sant, Michael Stipe and Moby are among the celebrity judges looking for the best anti-George Bush advert. Political website MoveOn.org has launched Bush in 30 Seconds, "a political TV ad contest to help us find the most creative, clear and memorable ideas for ads that tell the truth about George Bush's policies." Other people involved as judges in the competition include Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, filmmaker and author Michael Moore, comedian and actor Janeane Garofalo and actor, comedian and musician Jack Black. The advert will be broadcast during the week of Bush's 2004 State of the Union...

MONTREAL - Metallica are taking legal action against independant Canadian rock band Unfaith over what they feel is unsanctioned usage of two chords the band has been using since 1982 : E and F. "People are going to get on our case again for this, but try to see it from our point of view just once," stated Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We're not saying we own those two chords, individually - that would be ridiculous. We're just saying that in that specific order, people have grown to associate E, F with our music." Metallica filed a trademark infringement suit against...

The Dixie Chicks aren't the only Texas natives bashing President George W. Bush.Sandy Duncan who is performing in South Carolina, told a local paper that she questioned the decision to go to war, and wishes that rather than President Bush, the United States had a leader who was 'globally aware' and 'really smart.''I just wish men would quit thinking they could just duke it out with each other,' the native of Henderson, Texas, told the Times and Democrat.'I don't have all of the facts, and who knows what's really the truth, but I really don't respect [President Bush's] way of...

Americans objecting to the anti-war rhetoric of Hollywood celebrities are no longer remaining silent, but are starting to fight back with their own grass-roots offensive. They're on the attack flooding actors, talent agencies and anti-war groups with their own thoughts on the possibility of war with Iraq, and what they think of the public stances being taken by many entertainers. "These [celebrities] are abusing their stature and they need to be informed that there is a lot of America who vehemently disagrees with them," says Los Angeles radio talk-show host John Kobylt. "They need to be put back in their...

A STATEMENT OF CONSCIENCENot In Our Name     L et it not be said that people in the United States did nothing when their government declared a war without limit and instituted stark new measures of repression.   The signers of this statement call on the people of the U.S. to resist the policies and overall political direction that have emerged since September 11, 2001, and which pose grave dangers to the people of the world.   We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers. We believe...

<p>RADNOR, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Ted Danson will portray a spiritual medium he consulted in real life to try to contact his late father.</p> <p>Danson stars as best-selling medium James Van Praagh in the CBS movie "Living with the Dead" on April 28 and 30.</p>