I heard Kendrick Lamar’s first single from his new album, “Swimming Pools (Drank),” shortly after seeing him perform in Chicago this summer. When I first heard it, I was concerned with what it meant in terms of the direction of his (technically speaking) second studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city. The song is noticeably produced…
Indie veteran groups Spoon and Wolf Parade have been around for decades. Both have released albums to critical acclaim, both have headlined national (and even international) tours and both have reached the beloved land of Indie Stardom. Now, frontman of Spoon, Britt Daniel, and Co-leader of Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner, join drummer Sam Brown in the forming of supergroup…
Just a few months ago in September, I wrote a piece for The Concordian Politics called “Charting a Course”. The gist of the piece was basically the idea that the United States needs to disabuse itself of the notion that it can unilaterally shape the affairs of the world to its liking. In the United Nations the…
Fox News and MSNBC have something very important in common: people aren’t listening to a word they say. Voter trust in the media is reaching new lows, with only 26% of Republicans saying that they trust the media a “great deal” or a “fair amount.” 60% of Americans say they trust the mass media “not very much”…
It should be obvious to anyone who follows the news even cursorily that the biggest issue in Washington right now is the matter of the upcoming “fiscal cliff.” If this seems like an overly dramatic expression, it’s because the issue itself is extraordinarily dramatic and, if allowed to transpire, threatens to unleash a host of…
The swirling controversy surrounding the resignation of the director of the CIA, former four-star general David Petraeus, because of an extramarital affair is extremely perturbing. Surprisingly, the affair is perhaps the least bothersome piece of information about the whole situation. This is in no way to diminish the significance of General Petraeus’s actions; he made…
In 2004, 60.4% of eligible voters cast their vote at the polls, as compared to 54.2% in 2000. In 2008, that number rose yet again, with 62.3% voting. However, in this election of 2012, America followed up its two steps forward with a step backward: only 57.5% voted. While voter turnout wasn’t as bad in 2012 as…
The 2012 campaign was supposed to be a nail-biter. Republicans were convinced they had an incumbent in the White House who was vulnerable, both because of the weak economy and because of deep-seated divisions among the electorate. The strategy was an old one for Republicans: find some kind of wedge to break the electorate in…
The GI Bill provides a valuable service to those who have provided an invaluable service to America. After World War I, veterans returned home to a bleak outlook: the Great Depression was taking root and the benefits promised to them by the government weren’t being given out. Veterans were living on the streets that they…
It’s the Dream to move to America, pull oneself up by the bootstraps through hard work and dedication, and eventually get to an ultimate, desired destination. It’s the Dream to provide for a family, have a safe and comfortable home, and to be considered one of the people. When people are in desperate situations and…