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July 31, 2008

McCain Finally Gets His Very Own Song

With all these terrible tributes to Obama, it has seemed unfair that McCain hasn't had any unintentionally hilarious tunes penned for his campaign. But now that imbalance has been rectified, and it's almost too good to be true: it's a song called "Raising McCain" and it's by John Rich of Big and Rich. Honestly, this is the kind of stuff that makes me glad to be alive. Billboard has this quote from the song's lyrics:

He stayed strong,
Stayed extra long,
Til they let all the other boys out.
Now we've got a real man
With an American plan
We're going to put him in the big White House.
Refrain: We're all just raising McCain.

Does "house" rhyme with "out?" And is anybody else getting a weirdly homoerotic vibe? "Extra long," "real man," "raising"... no? You don't want to go there? Okay, but either way, it's just spectacular. Rich told Billboard that he'll debut the song tomorrow at "Country First," a festival in Panama City, Florida, with McCain in attendance. "The entire world is looking for a way to sucker punch us," said Rich, "I think John McCain is the guy to keep us safe." But who will protect us from terrible country-rock ballads?

New Music: Plastilina Mosh - All U Need is Mosh

When is a band not a band? Okay, the bio says Plastilina Mosh is a duo from Monterrey, Mexico, and they have albums and some hit singles just like other bands. But they sure don't take themselves very seriously. In a recent interview, multi-instrumentalist Alejandro Rosso said they didn't think of P-Mosh as a "career":

At this point, if you think about it, most of the groups that started with our generation, like Molotov, Control Machete, Zurdok, they're no longer here, and we go on with the same idea, that is to not take everything so seriously, we do not believe that we are the truth nor are we an innovative group. We are a project that amuses us and we take this lightly, and somehow it's worked.

It's worked, but it can be a little disorienting. For All U Need is Mosh, the duo's first album of new material in five years, they've reinvented themselves again, with strange, intriguing results.

Their more popular recent singles, "Mr. P-Mosh" and "Millionaire," have a bouncy avant-hip-hop sound, and I always kind of thought of them as the Mexican Beastie Boys. But I should have been thinking of them as the Mexican Beck: the LA singer helped sign P-Mosh back in 1998, and it's his genre-hopping career that the duo's most resembles.

All U Need is Mosh kicks off new wave-style with "Toll Free," an angular take on Franz Ferdinand-esque dance-rock. Oddly enough, the slightly awkward English lyrics actually work, giving the track a kind of winking distance. Things get even less serious from there: on Track 3, a crowd chants "Everybody wants to go to my party," an LCD Soundsystem-like chant over a groovy retro-Fatboy Slim beat. They name-drop Paris Hilton, evoking Brazilians CSS, whose invocation of the hotel heiress was so deadpan Ms. Hilton herself danced to it. Another costume change for Track 4, "Let U Know," where they become the Hives, banging out garage-rock chords. Where is this album going?

In a sense, the eclecticism serves to break down your defenses, and by track 8, "Going to Mars Bolton," the listener isn't sure what to expect. Here's what you get: a track that starts out strutting like a rock Daft Punk, with computerized, Frampton-like vocals, then mutates into a series of hypnotic synth arpeggios, evoking Boards of Canada, unexpectedly melancholy. Track 10 is a bass-guitar-led instrumental overlaid with what sounds like a drum cadence; that explains its title, "San Diego Chargers." These songs are listener-friendly but deeply strange, hinting at Rosso's classical and avant-garde history.

In refusing to take themselves seriously, Plastilina Mosh run the risk of the listener not taking them seriously either. But their "lightness" is like Milan Kundera's: a sense of freedom that's not without depth. "Mars Bolton" includes a quick sample, a woman's voice saying "What you intend to do with sound is of the utmost importance." How's that for not being serious. Somehow, P-Mosh can maintain both points of view: an ability to take musical leaps like nothing matters, while understanding that really, there's nothing else that does matter.

All U Need is Mosh is out August 5 on Nacional.

Grab an mp3 of "Arriba Dicembre" and stream "My Party" at RCRD LBL here, and an mp3 of "Pervert Pop Song" from MTV Tres here. Single "Let U Know" is out now on iTunes.

Oliver Stone on the President's Son

The barely credible drama of the Bush family has been compared before to the Kennedys, the Corleones, and even the Macbeths, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before Oliver Stone took it on.

And now he has.

Here's the trailer for W., the new Stone movie that takes viewers through the 43rd president's action-packed life. Josh Brolin—who apparently got really involved in the role—plays our president from his time as a college student through the days leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

Stone is no supporter of Bush, and the movie is sure to be unflattering.

Still, it doesn't look like there will be any big surprises in W. Bad student, bad businessman, bad governor, bad president. Sprinkle on a little drug use and alcoholism and it's the standard bad Bush presentation. And because this is Oliver Stone, W. will probably be full of lies. That's too bad, because there's not really much need for embellishment in this story.

One made up moment in the film occurs when George Bush Sr. is elected president: "I'll never get out of Poppy's shadow," W. tells his wife. "They'll all keep saying what's the boy ever done … I mean who ever remembers the son of a president?"

The future first lady then reportedly gives a deeply ironic three-word answer: " John Quincy Adams."

W. appears in theaters October 17.

—Daniel Luzer

July 30, 2008

New Ludacris Song "Obama Is Here" Not Likely to Help With Hillary Supporters

Here on the Riff, we've covered how conservatives have tried to attack Barack Obama by tying him to scary hip-hop music, as well as the good (and the not-so-good) hip-hop tributes to the presumed Democratic candidate. But none have stirred up the, er, pot, as much as good old Ludacris, who has released a new song that lauds Obama and insults both Hillary Clinton and John McCain. "Politics: Obama is Here" (amateur video above) includes the lines, "Hillary hated on you, so that b**** is irrelevant," and "McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralyzed." One can just picture Obama slapping his head in frustration here. Clinton supporters have already demanded Obama condemn the song, oh and whoops, look at that, he has, thanks Drudge.

The song itself, I must say, is terrible, and clearly the lyrics are pushing the boundaries in a desperate attempt to make up for its deficiencies. It's too bad, since Ludacris is generally pretty fantastic. After the jump, a couple of his standout videos to remind us why Obama had Luda on his iPod in the first place.

"What's Your Fantasy"

"Stand Up"

July 28, 2008

WANTED: Nanny/(Factchecker) to Start Immmediately (Downtown Frisco)

Spotted.
On Craigslist, via Gawker, this outlandish nanny job posting which, with a tinker here and there, could double as a MoJo internship listing, sorta... Have a read, and then decide, would you rather nanny 10 Upper East Siders or factcheck the world?

We're a family of ten an office of many. My husband editors-in-chief and myself, our 5 children 12 editors, 2 dogs 6 reporters, and cat creative director. For as long as we've lived Mother Jones has been in the city we have been lucky to have the same nanny/family assistant 700 factcheckers cycle in and out of our offices. Originally starting out as my eldest son's baby nurse fresh newbies and staying with us for nearly 19 years for up to two years before moving on as hardened vets.

I have had a hard relatively easy time meeting people that have been right for the position who are willing to work for no pay. We've sought help from agencies and other nanny finding job sites and have now moved here in search for some more dynamic candidates willing victims.

I feel that I must be up front cagey given the no-pay nature, this job is a VERY much so a FULL TIME job with NO some flexibility. Both my husband editors-in-chief and self several staff members work full time in jobs where it is essential for them to work long hours (hedge fund and fashion industry while raising small children).

The hours will generally be:
Monday- OFF, ON however, you may have some errands to run for the family office.
Tuesday- 9am-9/10pm, this late only during magazine production, promise
Wednesday- 7am-9pm, see Tuesday, minus "promise"
Thursday/Friday/Saturday- 3pm-11pm (You may stay much later, you may get to leave much earlier. We often have events boring deadlines on these nights.) We will buy you dinner when you are here till 11 on a Friday night, and sometimes beer.
Sunday- 10am-3pm (1st and 3rd weekend of the month) OFF, we aren't heartless.

I do need to be upfront when I say my children the magazine world can be a bit difficult. This job is very nontraditional in the sense that my kids are older and independent journalism is workaday still need someone to "parent" them 24/7. My Our reporters oldest son will be starting his first year at Columbia covering the conventions and election in the fall and will not be around much, but, will probably still need support. Picking up his dry cleaning, on their leads, doing research, if he needs anything for his apartment, scheduling doctor appointments, anything to help him them and their daily life run smoothly.

As for our 2nd son- he dear writer, he doesn't need to be cared for. He will pretty much look after himself but I do want someone that will be concerned with what he's doing with his time at home. Making sure he's studying writing and insisting that he needs to be more polite. He has a streak of rude (on rare occasion).

The younger three, editors, well, they're the one's you will have the most interaction with. They are 14 (son), 12 (daughter), and 9 (daughter). They are extremely particular, myself in extreme particular, and each have their own set of demands and little "isms" about them, but, I assure you they are entertaining, charming, and delightful most of the time.

Mostly impart (sic) to my children's ages demands the nanny factchecker will be expected to do some "family assistant" type jobs. This includes food shopping, light errand running, coordination of children's school and personal schedules, in a way that both my husband and I can access, walking dogs, and interfacing with our assistants dear readers.

You should be:
Younger (or older) and ambitious. This job is a lot of hours and not always easy for people that are not in shape to keep up with my kids demands (see above).

MUST be 100% adept with legal pads and able to speak PERFECT English, writer-speak.

MUST be presentable/polished (optional).

MUST have some college activism cred.

City D.C. savvy and Blackberry Cubicle Accessible.

HONEST-to-goodness workhorse.

AND willing to have at least a 2 year 4-month contract.

Compensation will be:
18 5 days "paid" vacation. Half All to be determined by you the rest by us our production schedule.
Health/Dental benefits (full, sorry, no plan) (after 90 daysagain sorry, never)

$60-75 k DOE Loads of Intangibles

Paid over time at the rate of $60 an hour cookies and our undying gratitude for any amount of time worked over 50 hours.

Option to live in our beautiful second apartment 6th-floor office located on 84th Sutter between Park and Lex Kearny and Grant for a reduced rent.

To apply for this “job” please submit the following:

"Resume" outlining your child care factchecking experience.

A brief explanation of why you want to apply dedicate yourself to smart, fearless journalism.

My family and I staff will review these as they come in and will contact you within 24 hours when we get around to it if we'd like to move you further along in the interview process. Please make the subject of your email- Nanny of 10 Factchecker of Mother Jones Position

*We're a nonprofit so it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

The Dark Knight: WSJ Says "Yay," UK Guardian Says "Nay"

While commenters had a field day with my admittedly rambling post describing the troubling pro-Bush Administration subtext in Batman: The Dark Knight, there have been a few heavyweight additions to the fight over the last few days. First of all, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece on Friday called "What Bush and Batman Have in Common" which looks at things from, well, the dark side:

There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past. … When heroes arise who take those difficult duties on themselves, it is tempting for the rest of us to turn our backs on them, to vilify them in order to protect our own appearance of righteousness. We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve.

While I found The Dark Knight's simplistic implications deeply troubling, they make Mr. Klavan want to touch himself. I guess churning out piles of 3rd-rate mysteries and Christian adventure stories, you may start to see things a little differently.

On the other side of the Atlantic, UK Guardian writer David Cox does what I couldn't, connecting The Dark Knight's sloppy neocon message to its failure as a film, saying that its ambitious subject matter could have made it "a fable for our times":

Unfortunately, the potential elements of any such message are lost in a welter of Hollywood clichés that may or may not be relevant. Thus, the Joker's nihilism turns out to have less to do with Bin-Laden's boringly purposeful agenda than with the gothic playfulness of the traditional movie mega-villain. Naturally, weaker players in the good guys' teams are turned by the enemy. After all, that's what happens in the movies, whether or not it does in the war on terror. … Hang on, you may say. We're talking allegory here, not dramadoc. No need to get too literal about all this. Yet the confusion matters. It provides a smokescreen behind which the task of weaving all of those casual allusions into some kind of coherent whole can be persistently ducked.

Like I said, looking at gigantic projections of nighttime cityscapes is always neat, but the more I think about it, the less happy I am that I gave these people my $17. And it's not like they need it: The Dark Knight is on track to become the biggest-grossing film of all time. Kind of makes 1997 seem like a million years ago, doesn't it.

Brian Eno and David Byrne to Join Forces Again

Sure, it's been 27 years since two of music's great pioneers put their heads together for a ground-breaking album, but hey, they've both been busy. Legendary producer Brian Eno and former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne have completed work on a new album called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and following in the footsteps of Radiohead, they'll be self-releasing it online at EverythingThatHappens.com. You'll be able to stream it free or buy the downloads starting August 18, but a preview track will be available for free on August 4.

The web site currently features a brief note from Byrne, revealing that he was the songwriter and lyricist while Eno did the music. In an interview, Eno calls the new material "electronic gospel," which could be good or bad, really, but doesn't sound much like their last album together. Their 1980 effort, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, fused quirky samples with wildly diverse rhythms, a pop-culture/electro/world-beat mish-mash that was way ahead of its time. In fact, I'm not sure we've even caught up yet: M.I.A.'s 2007 album Kala basically follows the same formula and it still seems utterly groundbreaking.

After the jump, check out "America is Waiting," the first track from Bush of Ghosts, which loops talk-radio samples over a rolling, Cabaret Voltaire-style beat.

July 25, 2008

Interview: "Garfield Minus Garfield" Creator Dan Walsh

As we entered the second half of 2008, I thought I'd take a look at Riff page view statistics for the year, just to see what online Mother Jones readers have been clicking on around this fun little blog. And what, dear Riffers, do you think was the number one post of the first six months of 2008? A post mocking George W.'s misinterpretation of a painting? A cynical look at coverage of the Iowa primaries? Abstinence pants? No, no and no. Our most-viewed post was my meditation on the subtext of late-capitalist anxiety in the comic "remix" Garfield Minus Garfield. Riff readers are stoned!

It turns out I was onto something: in the months since the piece's appearance on the Riff, "G-G" has been covered in The New York Times, Time Magazine, and The Washington Post; the latter tracked down original Garfield creator Jim Davis, who called the work "an inspired thing to do." So, who's behind this now-phenomenally-popular bit of inspired photoshoppery? Meet 32-year-old Irishman Dan Walsh, who turns out to be a really nice guy. He answered a few questions via e-mail about the strip.

So, was I onto something with my whole theory that Garfield Minus Garfield is about identification with the "product" in a fractured late capitalist society, or was I full of crap?

Yeah I think you were on to something. It's Jon's inability to "fit in." It's about being a sad, bored, lonely nerd on a Saturday night. I can't imagine why it became so successful on the internet ;-)

Part of G-G's appeal is its "bootleg" nature, but interestingly, most mashups are about addition rather than subtraction. Do you identify with "remix culture" or art pranksters like Banksy, or is this just a laugh?

I would say I do identify with the remix culture. I think all artists bootleg to a point (not that I'm claiming to be an artist!). But everything is derivative: music, art, literature. Anyone who says they're influenced by no-one is lying.

A commenter on my original post compared G-G to removing everyone but Kramer from an episode of Seinfeld, an idea which I thought was spectacular. Do you have any other ideas for subtraction art we should watch out for?

I've been wracking my brains for another subtraction premise since G-G took off and I've found nothing I've been happy with. There's a particular dynamic between Jon and Garfield that lends itself to the "minus" approach perfectly. Having said that I'd love to see that Seinfeld premise in action.

Why the heck was my post about you so popular?

G-G was insanely popular for a while. I mean crazy popular. My stats company dropped the site because it was screwing up their server and they couldn't keep up with the traffic. Since then it's calmed down. But I guess your review appeared on the radar at just the right time.

---
Check out the Garfield Minus Garfield archive here. Walsh also dropped a hint about a "development" of some sort regarding the strip to be announced soon, so stay tuned! What could it be? Will the Garfield balloon in the Macy's Parade be replaced by, er, the absence of a balloon?

New Music From Around the Blogs: Pierre de Reeder, Villa Diamante, The Game, Sam Sparro

Hey, do you like the New Pornographers, but have you always felt like there were just too many people involved? Well now you can get cozy with bassist Pierre de Reeder, who has a new album of acoustic tracks out August 12. He's kind of like a Canadian Jose Gonzalez. RCRD LBL has an mp3 of "The Long Conversation," which they say is helping them "chill and forget our aching hangover." You too?

I went out to local club Mezzanine to catch some of the hot new Argentinian DJs of Club Zizek fame last night, and that shuffly cumbia rhythm is still shimmying around my brain. If you're intrigued but put off by confusing foreign-language lyrics, check out a mashup over at the Muy Bastard blog by Zizek DJ Villa Diamante, combining young rapper Lil Mama with a minor-key cumbia backing track.

After the jump: a rapper gets existential, and a soul singer gets remixed to shreds

SoCal rapper The Game has a new album that's been delayed almost as much as Lil Wayne's was; appropriate, then, that the first leaked single features Wayne himself, going a little nuts with his Auto-Tune. The track is a piano-led meditation on death, chock full of references to deceased celebrities as well as a quick dis of Jesse Jackson. I found it at Pitchfork who found it at Nah Right.

Pardon My Freedom's got an mp3 (and some commentary in French) of a blistering new remix by the Count and Sinden of young Australian soul singer Sam Sparro's "21st Century Life." Their version does that thing I love these days, giving the vocals a big, drum-free hands-in-the-air moment, then crashing down out of nowhere with a giant wobbling bassline. Doesn't everybody love that?

July 24, 2008

Compare and Contrast: McCain Has His Own Awesome Poster

We here in the media elite sure like our liberal posters, since they reference things we studied in school and that makes us feel smart. But in the interest of equal time, let's take a look at some design work from the other side: via Marc Ambinder's blog at TheAtlantic.com, it's a John McCain campaign poster (right). Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. First of all, I'd say that my mom might have designed this on her rickety old PC, since it appears to use some sort of free PosterMaker software with Plug-In Faux Marble Borders, but the last 7 years have turned even my central Nebraska parents into screaming liberals, so I doubt she'd stoop so low. In the center, we have, well, The Ghost of John McCain, and this should be a lesson to graphic designers: go easy on the see-through filters on the over-70 set. What is cool is that apparently airplanes can fly out of McCain's head. He just thinks, "I'd like to launch some jets," and kafwoop, there they go, from his brain. Now, "Peace is Born of Wisdom" looks like a slogan from one of those Latter-Day Saints TV ads, a demographic that I understand he wants to appeal to, but then why abandon this classic look for a nonsensical reddish-white-and-blue banner featuring a generic "McCain 08" in a totally different sans-serif font? Argh! It's not even good at being bad!!! After the jump, see a larger-size version of the poster, and my theory about how the designer came up with it.

Russian Lawmakers Draft Bill to Ban Emo, Immediately Turning Everyone Emo

In a development that may qualify for Ironic Event of the Century, the saddest country on earth is looking into banning expressions of sadness. The Moscow Times reports that the Russian Duma is considering legislation that would regulate emo-themed websites and ban the neo-gothic dress and hair styles typical of the scene from schools and government buildings. The legislators claim that emo culture is "negative" and encourages anti-social behavior, to which a million My Chemical Romance fans say "duh," and also may lead to depression and suicide, to which I say, "not nearly as often as you'd like." Awww, sorry, too soon?

In case you're wondering what the hell emo even is these days, the proposed bill helps define it:

Emos, according to the bill, are from 12 to 16 years old and wear black and pink clothing. They have black hair with long bangs that "cover half the face," black fingernails, black belts peppered with studs and pins, and ear and eyebrow piercings, the bill says. The "negative ideology" of emo culture may push young people toward depression and social withdrawal, and the movement carries a significant risk of suicide… The bill also outlines what it calls a "spiritual and ethical crisis" facing Russian youth, including the high rate of alcohol abuse, teen abortions and "negative youth movements."

I'd just like to point out that spending more than 30 minutes in Russia carries a significant risk of suicide. Anyway, fans in Krasnoyarsk protested in an oh-so-adorable emo way, by pasting strips of red tape over their mouths and holding up signs that read, no lie, "Kill the State in Yourself." I don't even know what that means, but I think it's the title of the next Panic at the Disco album.

Okay, I love to poke fun at the emo kids but I'd much rather have Russian youth piercing their noses and jamming out to MAIO than joining Nashi. However, as the country empties out, it's probably only a matter of time before Nashi membership is mandatory, if only for repopulation purposes. Enjoy your floppy bangs while you can, russkies!

The Dust Off: The House That Crack Built

Back in the 90s, author Clark Taylor rewrote a nursery rhyme to tell the story of the illegal drug industry. One of those books with the dreaded tagline "valuable resource," The House That Crack Built is a fascinating artifact of the 1990s drug war.

Recent children's books about drugs are, well, somewhat less daring in their treatment of the issue.

The House That Crack Built is, of course, an artifact of a different period of time. But given that crack is still building many mansions all over the world, it's well worth a read for context.

—Daniel Luzer

Little Britain to Set Its Sights on America

If you've caught the comedy show Little Britain on BBC America, you'd be forgiven for being a little bit confused. While the format is good old sketch comedy, the sketches are performed by a duo, David Walliams and Matt Lucas, often in extraordinarily elaborate costumes and makeup. The bits are somewhat brief and all feature recurring characters, so it might be a little tough to catch up to them--the guy in the wheelchair can actually walk!--but once you do, the show can achieve absolute face-slapping hilarity with even the most subtle of twists, as each sketch seems to build on the last, in an ever-tightening spiral of parody. Moreover, the theme of the show is specifically British (with a vague notion of portraying the country's many fine citizens) so Americans might not quite understand the segment of society Vicki Pollard is mocking. Hint: Lady Sovereign.

When it was announced the show would be coming to HBO this year, many were even more confused—how was it going to translate? The show's portrayals are sometimes astoundingly over-the-top, like a weight-loss clinic where the instructor often ends up shouting "Fat cow! Fat cow!" at the attendees. If Matt and David take on some American archetypes, would they have the confidence to attack our fine citizens with the same gusto they show their own?

Well, we needn't have worried: the Daily Mail has some pictures of the new characters in store for us on Little Britain USA, and they look insanely, insultingly, hilarious. First we have muscle-bound jocks Tom and Mark, in apparently not-quite-realistic body suits, characters Walliams described as "possibly the most outrageous we've ever done." There's child beauty pageant hopeful Ellie Grace and her mother, who apparently has yet to understand Ellie doesn't really conform to traditional notions of beauty; and Bing Gordyn, the 8th astronaut on the moon, which I can't even say without laughing. The press release boasts of a guest appearance from Rosie O'Donnell and a few episodes directed by David Schwimmer, but it's all about Matt and David, a duo who have taken comedy in a strange, wonderful, and sometimes jaw-dropping direction. Like all great satire, you know it's gotta sting, but you can't help but shout "do us next!"

The three seasons of Little Britain are out on DVD, and Little Britain USA premiers on HBO on September 28.

July 23, 2008

Why Former Addicts Dread Addiction Memoirs

Below is a guest blog entry by MoJo author Maia Szalavitz:

I'm starting to dread reading about addiction. One would imagine that coming up on the 20th anniversary of my own decision to stop using cocaine and heroin that I would either be utterly bored by it or alternatively, entranced with a subject that touches on free will, morality, neuroscience, sociology, psychology and endless politics.

Typically, I engage in the latter obsessions—but when I read media portrayals of addiction like Sunday's front-page New York Times magazine excerpt of the its columnist David Carr's addiction memoir, I cringe.

It's not that I don't have sympathy and compassion for people who struggle with this disorder—how could I not? It's not that I don't recognize that other people will have different perspectives from my own. My problem is that virtually every addiction memoir—whilst strenuously arguing otherwise or, as in this case, self-consciously highlighting the clichés—tells the same story.

Meanwhile, other equally true stories of addiction go untold. And worse, these untold stories actually represent the majority of cases, according to the research data. For example, a large proportion of people who recover from opoid addiction do it using methadone—not abstinence. Ever read a methadone memoir? And most people who quit cocaine addiction do it without treatment or even self-help groups. Ever read that one?

Our failure to recognize these alternate stories means that we continuously repeat the same mistakes in policy and treatment. Then we go on congratulating ourselves for our understanding of addiction, believing we already have the answers!

Carr's story of 80's excess with cocaine dealing and using is unusual in the sense that he admits that he neglected his infant twins and beat his wife—your typical addict memoir leaves out or plays down the damage done to kids.

But, and here's where my dander goes up, Carr doesn't seem to realize that cutely admitting he messed up and "doesn't deserve" the good life he has now isn't enough to explain—let alone excuse—what he did.

Perhaps in the book he tells the story of how he came to be so uncaring and far gone as to leave his children in a car for hours the winter while smoking crack or shooting up. Perhaps there, he further examines his privileged position. And perhaps there he recognizes that a model of addiction that sees addiction as simple immoral behavior doesn't capture its essence.

In the article, however, his immorality is described as a simple consequence of addiction. The drugs made me do it, Officer. End of story.

Well, no. There are actually many addicts—and many more people who use drugs, even hard drugs like crack—who don't abuse or neglect their children. Or, who don't have kids because they know they can't care for them when high. In 20 years of studying and writing about addiction, what I've found is that drugs and even addictions don't create bad behavior all by themselves.

Yes, addiction can cause extreme stress on one's moral system, like any other hunger. When that ethical system has been attacked earlier by trauma, abuse, or neglect, that's typically when it fails—not just when someone takes a lot of drugs. Drugs alone aren't enough.

Under such stress, indeed, some people are willing to steal, kill or yes, neglect children to get what they want—but many others aren't. What should interest us is who does and who doesn't—and why, not the archaic story of drugs taking another guy—even a Times writer—down.

These distinctions are important because if addicts are simply immoral scum driven by evil substances that promote bad behavior, we already have appropriate drug policy. If, as Carr writes, what he deserved was "hepatitis C, federal prison time, HIV, a cold park bench and an early, addled death," we're already doing what we should be.

Lock 'em up, stigmatize 'em and sure, go on and refuse to provide enough clean needles and compassionate treatment to avoid such outcomes—that's what those halfwits deserve. They asked for it—they're all people who abuse and neglect children and commit all of the worst crimes.

When someone tells an unanalyzed story like this, which seems to almost justify child neglect because it ultimately got the addict clean, it simply reinforces that limited and misguided perspective.

Carr leaves out the most important things: the motivations, the history, the psychology, the brain chemistry and the racial and socioeconomic factors that meant that he didn't go to prison for 15 years (as he would have done under New York's Rockefeller laws for selling the amounts of cocaine he admitted selling) or contract HIV or hepatitis. He leaves unmentioned the critical factors that meant he could get a good job afterwards, when so many others cycle in and out of prison for doing exactly the same things.

Does anyone think a black man would have avoided a lengthy prison term in his circumstances, selling multiple ounces of cocaine? Do we think young black twins whose mother was drug-positive would even have been allowed to go home with her? Would either mom or dad ever have ever gotten those babies back?

If you are going to investigate your own story of addiction, perhaps you should interview not just people from your past, but academic treatment experts, sociologists, drug policy analysts, neuroscientists, psychiatrists and those who've actually looked at our bizarre way of dealing with this problem beyond anecdotes, community-based treatment and self-help groups. Reporting isn't just talking to people who were there—it's talking to people who have studied the subject and getting outside your own limited perspective.

I haven't read the book yet—perhaps it, unlike the article, contains this broader view. It's really hard to write outside your area of expertise—and the addictions field is filled with people who repeat discredited ideas as truths—so it's especially difficult to get past that if your only knowledge of addiction comes from the method by which you recovered.

I understand Carr wrote the book to pay for his daughters' college education, which is certainly admirable. But without going deeper, this excerpt serves as just another entertainment piece to titillate readers—and it reinforces myths that underlie our failed drug policy.

—Maia Szalavitz

Maia Szalavitz is the author of "Help At Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids," and Senior Fellow at stats.org.

Amazing Obama Poster Pays Tribute to Bauhaus Design

Jeez, I know I've already blubbered endlessly over the sophistication of Obama's graphic design, but you just gotta see this. It's a poster being used to advertise the senator's upcoming speech in Berlin, and it may be the finest piece of contemporary mainstream political art I've ever seen. All text is set at a 45-degree angle on varying shades of Obama Blue, with one thin swath of brick red emphasizing that "Tickets are not needed." Barack's profile is oddly de-emphasized, yet the whole poster seems to be covered in a subtle gradient, creating a definite glow from that side of the page. Some rabble-rousers think that any poster with a profile is Hitler-esque, but the blog Meaningful Distraction more accurately sees the poster as a tribute to classic German modernism, specifically the Bauhaus movement, which, like constructivism, revolutionized graphic design by setting type on diagonals, around corners, and even spirals. Of course, it fits right in with my theory about Obama's design being an example of his post-modern campaign, as much about the references as anything else, but whatever, it looks really cool. See a larger version after the jump.

Top Five: ABBA Songs

With the release of the new film Mamma Mia!, ABBA fever has returned: the soundtrack, which features the Swedish quartet's songs, has just hit #1 on the U.K. album chart, and the now-classic ABBA Gold just jumped back into the Top 5. While John McCain recently took some heat for admitting to enjoying a little ABBA now and then, I'll happily admit to ABBA-love. Not only am I gay, but I was just becoming aware of popular music during the band's heyday; and, perhaps most importantly, I'm half-Swedish. Ikea, meatballs, Bergman, it's all good. However, my admiration for ABBA is somewhat selective: I've always felt some of their songs were as transcendent as pop music can be, while others were either hyperactive and shrill or maudlin and overdramatic. Everybody's got their favorites, I'm sure, but here are mine.

5. "Take a Chance On Me" (from The Album, 1978)

One of my very first favorite songs (I was 7!), this song exemplifies my favorite thing ABBA did: soaring vocal harmonies. They're given free reign in an a capella intro that's one of the great openings in pop music history.

4. "Arrival" (from Arrival, 1977)

Hey Sigur Ros fans: ABBA was doing it better 30 years ago.

3. "Super Trouper" (from Super Trouper, 1980)

Supposedly the Beach Boys were fans of this song, and it's easy to see why: not only is the production astonishingly crisp for 1980, the vocal harmonies are so precise they're almost invisible.

2. "Does Your Mother Know" (from Voulez-Vous, 1979)

With Bjorn and Benny on vocals, this song is already unusual for ABBA, but it's made unique by its nods to '50s rock, ending up sounding like the distillation of every great song made in 1979, in one ecstatic package.

1. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (from Arrival, 1977)

The perfect balance of all things ABBA: a heartfelt ballad and a propulsive rhythm, overlaid with perfect production and awe-inspiring harmonies. See if you can stop yourself from getting chills during the otherwise-repetitive line, "We just have to face it this time, we do," as one vocal melody slowly slides down the scale. It's one of the grandest gestures of melancholy ever put on tape.

Okay, Riffers, have at it: I left out the big ballads and the disco stompers, I know. But if anyone wants to make a case for "The Name of the Game" or "Gimme Gimme Gimme," I'm all ears.

Country Music: Not Just for White People Anymore

I caught a free show in San Francisco's Union Square on my lunch break this afternoon—a country singer, with a voice rivaling Patti Loveless and Lucinda Williams. But this girl ain't your standard Nashville crooner: Miko Marks is a Michigan native, current Oakland resident, and the first black country singer that I personally have ever seen.

Though country, like rock n' roll, has its roots in black music, these days the twangy genres are not exactly renowned for their ethnic diversity. But Marks is a rising star, and she's not the only one: Turns out that while the rest of us were drooling over Amy Winehouse, black women have been taking the country world by storm. Other notable names are Rissi Palmer, Sunny Daye, and Vicki Vann. While all three women draw on a variety of musical influences, there's no question that the sound is country.

The country music establishment has started to take notice, as have the chroniclers of black popular culture: Ebony magazine recently profiled Marks as part of a feature entitled, "What Does Black Sound Like?" and more than one blog has applauded the women's foray into an almost-totally white musical sphere.

Those looking to delve deeper into the world of black pickers and strummers should check out the artists of the Black Banjo Gathering, as well as the Carolina Chocolate Drops and the inimitable Charley Pride. But I know they're not the only ones. Readers, who am I missing? What other black country or bluegrass artists should we know about? While you're thinking, you can check out songs by Marks, Rissi Palmer, and Charley Pride here:

The Dark Knight Turns Out to Be a Dick Cheney Fantasy

I know I just remarked on the proliferation of ridiculous Batman tie-in blog posts, attempting to grab some page views from a populace obsessed with this record-breaking film. But I promise this isn't a cynical grab for your clicks; I'm just pissed off and want to get it off my chest.

I finally got myself into an Imax screening of The Dark Knight yesterday, and sure, it was enjoyable. The extra-large shots of city skylines were impressive, the effects were well done, and Heath Ledger's performance was riveting, if only for the creepy back-of-your-mind sense that embroiling oneself so deeply in such disturbing emotions could easily lead one to dangerous self-medicating. But as the film reached its climactic denouement, I found myself getting more and more perturbed at its underlying message, which seemed straight from the office of the Vice President.

Afterwards, a quick search showed that otherwise-erudite reviews didn't reflect my concerns, with most critics won over by the film's expansion of the superhero genre into deeper, darker territory. But what, exactly, was the message emerging from the darkness? Finally, I Googled "dark knight dick cheney," and I found an article that expressed my feelings exactly: "Batman's Dark Knight Reflects Cheney Policy." You go, Washington Independent:

The thought of Vice President Dick Cheney in a form-fitting bat costume might be too much for most people