Custer Died for Ronald McDonald's Sins

Hats off to Tina Griego of The Denver Post, who handed her June 13 space over to the like-named Tim Giago of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe. Giago chronicled the short-lived history of George Armstrong Custer as a Happy Meal toy in South Dakota cities. Really. Seriously. McDonald's doesn't get major atrocities? If it hadn't been for Giago, corporate headquarters would have recalled all copies of the toy and claimed they had never really offered this giveaway. After all, there's no Stalinism quite as bad as corporate Stalinism.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Investigative Journalism!

Kids, if you look quickly, you'll see an interesting example of that endangered species known as investigative journalism. On Nov. 11, the Denver Post ran a cover story by Greg Griffin on the local subsidiary of Lehman Brothers, Aurora Loan Services, responsible for a significant portion of all sub-prime bundling back in the day. I know, New York Times and Wall Street Journal still pay for investigative stories, including ones on the ever-widening financial meltdown, amidst their ever-shrinking budgets. But to find a regional media outlet that still employs good writers to take the time to look behind the day's headlines and write analytical pieces is a wonder to behold. We won't be seeing many of these in the future.

At Last - An Activist Band Gets Mainstream Credit

Let's hear it for Denver's Flobots, who are always willing to perform benefits, speak out for human rights, and cause trouble when necessary. Everyone was bitching about the hip-hop group signing to a major label, but when their new album Fight with Tools ended up in Best Buy's national circular for $7.99 specials this week, I figured it was a good way to spread a radical message.

The Denver Post thought so too, and put Flobots on the front page of the print edition May 20. We need more mass-audience tales of shit-disturbers. Here's the video for their new song "Handlebars."