Monthly Archives: April, 2012

APR 20, 2012 - Ted Nugent is in the news again, this time for shooting off his arrow rather than his mouth. In 2009 when he was filming his "Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild" show for the Outdoor Channel, he shot an arrow and wounded a bear, and didn't chase down the bear and assure the kill; which is very unethical to many hunters. He is entering a plea agreement with the Alaskan authorities, which reads that Nugent "failed to locate and harvest the wounded black bear". 4 days later Ted shot and killed a different black bear, and transported it off Alaska's Sukkwan Island. The problem is Alaska's bear season limit is 1, and the first bear Nugent shot is considered his first kill. Under a plea agreement he will plead guilty to one count of transporting an illegally hunted bear. 

"Uncle Ted" won't get any jail time, but he will have to do Public Service Announcement videos for a year emphasizing the importance of hunters being familiar with the regulations in the areas they hunt (can't wait to see those).  He will face a hefty fine ($10,000), be on probation for 2 years, and no hunting in Alaskan or US Forest Service lands for those 2 years. Ouch. Oh, and he got caught by the Lacey Act, which should drive conservatives crazy. They have been upset at that law since the Gibson Guitar plants were "raided" in 2011 by Federal officials for alleged illegally harvested wood from Madagascar. Read about Ted's trouble with Alaskan authorities on LATimes.com here.   (photo credit: Weatherman90/Wiki)

APR 20, 2012 - The youth vote is crucial for Obama in his bid for reelection, so the President has commenced a tour of key states pushing for Congress to extend the lower interest rates on student loans. The 3 state tour, through North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa will be aimed at young people who lately have been strapped with student debt once they leave college. If Congress doesn't act, rates will double after July 1 to 6.8%. Read more on Reuters.com here.   (photo credit: graciepoo/Flickr)

APR 20, 2012 - Jon Bon Jovi who is part of President Obama's White House Council for Community Solutions has teamed up with Spark Action, a website that will be a digital platform for young people to come and "submit their ideas and spark measurable action in their community".  Jon Bon Jovi tells us in a PSA (watch below) that as a result of the tough economic times, there are over 6 million young people not in school or unemployed, and tells of how he met with smart, young people bristling with ideas; and they said they needed a place to go to help change things. So, the Spark Action web platform was created. Bon Jovi urges young people to come to the website and submit their ideas for solutions to these tough economic times, and they can be discussed and voted on by all who take part. 

Fore more information on this check out the White House Council for Community Solutions website, and also check out the Spark Action website by going here.

JTMP recognizes Levon Helm's major influence on musical culture, and thoughts and prayers to him and his family.

APR 19, 2012 - Writer Naomi Wolf, who started  a controversy commenting on Katy Perry's "Part of Me" music video, continues to call the video "war propaganda", and wrote an Op Ed on ReaderSupportedNews.org saying:

“The whole videography of the scenes at Camp Pendleton - in which Perry crawls through an imaginary minefield, trains underwater, learns she can do the impossible, etc - is straight out of Leni Riefenstahl: the same angled, heroizing upward shots, the same fetishization of physical power, of gleaming armaments, and of the rigor and mechanism of human beings cohering into living militarized units. There is something else about the video: it feels … like an ad; specifically, a focus-grouped, consumer-tested ad to attract more women to join the Marines.” 

Watch Katy Perry's video below, then read the Op Ed by Naomi Wolf on ReaderSupportedNews.org here.   (photo credit: Thomas Good/Wiki)