Monthly Archives: July, 2012

July 25, 2012 - JTMP was on hand to meet the Tour De Frack activist bicyclists as they arrived in the DC area today. We met them at the Maryland Great Falls Park Visitors Center as they ended their bike run from Butler, PA to Washington, DC. Check out a video of the event below, including an acoustic guitar performance by Zach, and for more information and the scheduling of Tour De Frack week, click here.

July 24, 2012 - Tour De Frack is on, and the activist bicyclists will be arriving in the DC area tomorrow at the Maryland Great Falls Visitor Center at 11:00 AM, with a picnic concert by Zach Freidhof, so come on down and have some fun and help us kick off the Tour De Frack lobbying efforts to take our concerns about fracking to the federal level. There will be events all week, here is some of the schedule:

July 25 - 11:00AM - MD Great Falls
July 26 - 10:00AM - Capitol Hill, DC
July 27 - 9PM - Concert at Church in DC

FULL SCHEDULE - CLICK READ MORE

July 21, 2012 - The all-girl activist punk band "Pussy Riot" from Russia is on trial in Moscow for a political free speech action/stunt they pulled recently at the cathedral of the largest Russian Orthodox Church, and the trial has divided the country over how far free speech should go and how far the state should limit free speech, and have ran into the powerful Russian Orthodox Church. The women, who often perform in public scantily clad to attract attention to their message, have battled Vladimir Putin over the years because they see his policies as anti-women and authoritarian that limits free speech.

In February of 2012 the 5 women briefly "took over" the altar at Christ the Saviour Cathedral and chanted, "Mother Mary, Drive Putin away!", and did a high-kicking cancan-style dance. They were arrested, but a judge has released them because many have children they need to take care of. The girls face up to 7 years in prison if convicted. Read more on HuffPo here, and check out a video below from MYNEWZCENTRAL on YouTube interviewing Russians on asking them how they feel about the trial. (Photo credit: IgorMukhin/Wiki)

July 21, 2012 - One of my favorite singers, Emmylou Harris, has set up a non-profit called "Bonaparte's Retreat" to rescue dogs that are unadoptable and ran out of time at the shelter. She and her associates at the organization rescue the dogs sometimes literally at the last minute, and finds them permanent and loving homes.

The org is named after one of Emmylou's longtime animal companions that traveled with her for so many years, and she turned her Nashville backyard into a shelter for animals that needed rescue. Check out the website for Bonapate's Retreat here, and watch a great video from Today interviewing Emmylou and showing some of the rescued dogs below. (click on pic)

July 8, 2012 - Hip-hop artist Frank Ocean came out last week and announced he is either bi-sexual or gay (I am unsure) saying his "first true love was a man", and has not faced a feared backlash and uproar from the hip-hop world and fans. This was seen as a bold and risky move, some saying it would jeopardize his young career in the ultra-macho world of hip-hop. There were death threats and hate speech directed towards him on Twitter by some people which was to be expected, but mostly the uproar has not been there; maybe signaling a shift in attitudes towards homosexuality in the hip-hop world. Read more about it on NYTimes.com here.  (Photo credit: Sweisscheese/Wiki)