August 1, 2008 Link Roundup

This entry was posted by owl and bear staff on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 8:00 am.

Interview: Nas – The AV Club talks to the man whose debut, Illmatic, is widely considered “one of the greatest rap albums, period” (and is still unsurpassed by Nas himself).

Red Red Meat Reunite – The Illinois Entertainer reviews Red Red Meat’s much-anticipated reunion show.

Via His Blog, David Byrne Announces Collaboration With Eno – Owl&Bear is just taking this opportunity to promote Byrne’s blog, which is full of great insight from one of America’s most interesting living artists.

Interview: Edgar Wright – Just watched Hot Fuzz again last night, so this interview is timely and welcome.

86 Percent Of Americans Could Be Overweight Or Obese By 2030 – “If these trends continue, more than 86 percent of adults will be overweight or obese by 2030 with approximately 96 percent of non-Hispanic black women and 91 percent of Mexican-American men affected. This would result in 1 of every 6 health care dollars spent in total direct health care costs paying for overweight and obesity-related costs.”

Democrats Try to Break Grip of the Senate’s ‘Dr. No’ – Sen. Tom Coburn, (R, OK), dubbed “Dr. No” for consistently “[abusing his] right to stop the train,” will likely vote against the Mothers Act, the Protect Our Children Act, commemmoration of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as well as efforts to curb porn, cut drug use, help victims of Lou Gehrig’s disease, and improve life for victims of paralysis.

Watching the Watchers – Citizens of the world are pulling out their cameraphones and filming inept officials, deadly healthcare lapses, and thuggish cops, and posting damning footage of official misdemeanors to sites like YouTube. Let’s hope this trend continues to grow.

FactCheck.org: Big Oil Says 75% Greater Supply Than Reality – The oil industry claims that if we drill in currently out-of-bounds areas, we’ll be able to fuel the country’s 60 million cars for 60 years. Their math would probably be correct if this was 1978, but there’s one unfortunate problem: there are already 135 million cars on the road. But I’m sure it’s just an honest mistake. Big Oil wouldn’t lie to us, right?

EPA Tells Workers: Don’t Answer Inspector’s Questions – The Environmental Protection Agency illegally advised employees last month not to answer questions from journalists, the Government Accountability Office, or the agency’s own inspector general. Senator Barbara Boxer says, “[Agency administrator Stephen Johnson is] turning the EPA into a secretive, dangerous ally of polluters, instead of a leader in the effort to protect the health and safety of the American people.”

So Long Ted Stevens, It’s Been Good to Know You – Ken Silverstein summarizes the Pork King’s finest moments.

RNC Deletes Comments on Pro-McCain Site – A new spoof aimed at Obama’s friends got slammed with racist comments just hours after going live.

Psychotic Gunman Identified With Right Wing Ideology, Police Say – Police say a man who entered a Unitarian Universalist church during a children’s play and shot eight people, killing two, was motivated by a hatred for liberals and gay people. I wonder if he has anything in common with this guy (who has since removed his home address and phone from his site)?