- Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has lots of opinions and
plenty of contempt for the world. The bombastic, egomaniacal leader – and sole
remaining original member of his band – has fired verbal salvos at hundreds of
people in the past couple decades for various sleights, both perceived and
otherwise. His view of his own importance in the rock and roll world may be
bloated and disproportionate to what Smashing Pumpkins have accomplished, but
that has never stopped Corgan from sound off when the urge strikes him. The
urge struck this week when online mega-retailer Amazon allegedly leaked the
track listing for the reissue of the Pumpkins’ 1998 album, “Adore.” The cash
grab/re-release is slated for Sept. 23 and although a second release of an
album never looks like a great move by a band, this one is amped up as much as
a recycled project possibly could be. It will consist of 107 tracks on seven discs,
featuring demos with Rick Rubin, home recordings, outtakes and live recordings.
Corgan accused Amazon of letting the track listing slip in a Facebook post that
has spread quickly. “Amazon decided to break an agreement and post track
listing of ADORE first; despite assurances otherwise that asked us to
wait," Corgan wrote. "OBVIOUSLY I've had the 'Adore' tracklist for
four months, and could have posted anytime." According to Corgan, he
wanted to inform the fans himself about the track list. He also views the
incident as symptomatic of a larger problem in the music industry. "The
record business as you already know instinctively is quite bad; and some would
say music hasn't been in such a disadvantageous place in the culture since the
selling of commercial music began in the early 1900s," Corgan noted in a
longer post on Smashing Pumpkins’ official website. "And I for one have
been very outspoken about what I would say are harmful business practices, the
kind which place artists in an exploitative position visa vie their rights and
ownership of their own work." Rage on, Billy……..
- Australia ain’t got time for hardline crackdowns on environmental
abusers. The fun-loving blokes and sheilas from Down Under are always up for a
party or just a crazy night at the bar, but when it comes to protecting the
planet’s ecosystem, the interest level is low. The Australian Senate stepped up
and took the first step to lead this charge when it voted to scrap a
controversial carbon tax. The vote makes Australia the first nation in the
developed world to scale back legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and the conservative government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott couldn’t
be happier. Abbott surged to power last year promising to abolish the “toxic
tax” which he said threatened the world's 12th-largest economy. Like a good
conservative, he’s a lot less concerned with protecting the planet than he is
with protecting the bottom line and the senate delivered a jolt to that line of
thought with a 39-32 vote to repeal the carbon tax. What does this result mean?
Simply put, 348 companies will no longer have to pay a penalty on carbon
emissions, currently just under $25 a ton. Instead, the government plans to
replace the tax with a taxpayer-funded $2.4 billion "Direct Action
Plan" that will pay industry incentives to use cleaner energy, but imposes
no overall limits on greenhouse pollution. Abbott touted the repeal of the
carbon tax as great news for families and businesses. “Scrapping the carbon tax
is a foundation of the government's economic action strategy,” he said in a
statement. The vote isn't playing as well abroad as environmental groups
respond to one of the world's largest per capita greenhouse-gas emitters and
its many coal-burning power stations giving a ginormous middle finger to the
planet. A recent poll showed that 88 percent of Aussies agreed it was important
for Australia to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide, but only 46 percent
supported the carbon tax. In other words, we like the idea of being
eco-friendly, but we don’t want to suffer at all to be part of the effort………….
- Watching Germany win the World Cup was an exercise in
observing domination, with Die Mannschaft cruising to their
fourth world title by allowing just three goals for the entire tournament.
Although their country doesn’t have a reputation for having a great sense of
humor or a ton of friendliness or charisma – an undeserved reputation on some
level – seeing the Germans roll through the 32-team field in blitzkrieg fashion
was impressive – and so are the post-Cup actions of starting midfielder Mesut Özil. Özil and his teammates not only won global acclaim, national
favor and one damn nice trophy for their efforts in Brazil, but they also
earned in excess of $400,000 each for their triumph. As most of them earn a
nice chunk of change playing for their respective club teams, virtually none of
the players was in desperate need of the infusion of cash. When the $400,000
landed in Özil’s bank account, his lack of pressing financial need met directly
with a great effort he undertook before the tournament began. Prior to the
World Cup, Özil generously donated money to pay for important surgeries for 11
sick children in Brazilian hospital. That would have been more than enough
philanthropy in a country where he neither lives nor plays, but not for Mesut Özil.
He took to Twitter just days after winning his first world title to announce
that rather than help 11 children to correspond with the 11 players on the
field during a game, he was aiming bigger. “Dear fans, prior to the # WorldCup
I supported the surgery of eleven sick children. since the victory of the #WorldCup
is not only due to eleven players but to our whole team, I will now raise the
number to 23. this is my personal thank-you for the hospitality of the people
of Brazil. # Bigshoe # Brasil2014,” Özil tweeted. For
the math-challenged, that adds up to 34 children who will receive vital
surgeries because of a man they may never meet and whose team b*tch-slapped
theirs 7-1 in a World Cup semifinal. Helping one child for each of the 23
players on the German national team may not be the lasting headline from the
2014 World Cup, but it shouldn’t be far from the top of the list………
- There are no bad reasons to run across the United States. New Hampshire
resident Jessica Goldman found her reason over the past three months and it
drove her San
Francisco’s City Hall to New York City’s City Hall, a journey of 3,200 miles
that spanned 91 days, eight pairs of shoes and gallons of sweat. The run was to
raise money for people with brain injuries, a cause that came to Goldman’s
attention after she witnessed a car crash that left one man with serious head
trauma. “There are so many people going through these struggles, and a lot of
times it’s invisible,” Goldman said. “They definitely need some help and
advocacy to help them get through that.” She planned and mapped her own run and
averaged nearly 35 miles a day, including the final day of the run when the New
York City skyline came into view. Upon arriving, she became a media darling for
a couple of days and used her hard-won platform to promote her cause and let
the world know about the struggles people with brain injuries have to deal
with. “They lose their jobs. They lose their ability to use transportation and
get around,” she said. “Just the strain that it puts on the entire family is
just very overwhelming.” Goldman raised more than $25,000, according to Mary
Reitter, executive vice president of the Brain Injury Association of America.
Goldman’s trek was all the more impressive because she did it pushing a cart
she used to carry her belongings through snow, severe storms and pesky bugs
that nibbled at her exposed skin. Mix in distracted or uncooperative drivers
who refuse to yield an inch for pedestrians and it was a harrowing venture at
times. Many people followed Goldman online and some came out to support her as
she became just the second woman to cross the country on foot solo and
self-supported, according to USA Crossers, a group that records
transcontinental trips. With her journey complete, she can put her firsthand
knowledge as the owner of a massage therapy businesses to work to find some
relief for her aching body………
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