Gun laws will never change (and you’re (probably) going to be OK)

by Tim McMahan

The arguments for or against gun control are as useful as the arguments for or against abortion or legalizing marijuana or conservative vs. liberal or tax vs. spend or cats vs. dogs. You’re either for or against, and no one cares because their side of the argument is so galvanized that they’ll never change their minds.

Or maybe the avalanche of Facebook messages, the ones that sprouted up...

The Compact Disc is Alive and Well (for now)

by Tim McMahan

Billboard Magazine last week presented the final music sales numbers for 2012, and it appears to be filled with woe for the future of the compact disc.

The CD, which first became commercially available in 1982, has seen a steady decline first with the emergence of Napster (the first effective mp3 distribution device) in 1999 and then with the launch of Apple’s iTunes (and the invention of...

Project_Censored

by Eric Stoakes

http://www.projectcensored.org/

The Year in Music: 2012 (or 1969?)

by Tim McMahan

Every year at about this time for more than a decade, I’ve written a “Year In Review” article for The Reader that looks back at the events of the past 365 days and outlines the trends and direction of the coming year in popular music. This year, Music Editor Chris Aponick is handling those duties, but if I was writing a YIR article, the main message would be this:

Imagine that it’s 1969.

A...

One Does Not Bear Arms Against A Rabbit

by John Heaston

Gun violence and the wide availability of assault rifles are rightfully in the center of debate following last week’s massacre. We are an unusually armed country, with almost enough guns for every single person.

An important overview is offered by the nonprofit investigative news outfit Propublica and their “The Best Reporting on Guns in America.” Their summary introduces Jill Lepore’s New...

The Project, Pt. 1: Love It or List It?

by Tim McMahan

I suppose it’s time to talk about the house.

In the background during all the misadventures noted in this column over the past year was (and is) the ongoing drama of our remodeling job. We’d been saving our money literally for years to remodel our current home. It’s a great house, don’t get me wrong -- a fantastic house located on one of the best streets in Omaha, the undecipherable J.E....

A Second Opinion

by Kandra Hahn

Calculations for the cost of extending Medicaid in Nebraska as a critical piece of the Affordable Care Act have been incomplete and probably overstated, said experts at committee hearings of the Nebraska Legislature last week.

No voice in Nebraska has spoken louder against the Medicaid extension than Governor Dave Heineman’s, saying it would cost “hundreds of millions of dollars” and “lead...

The Club Is Open: Cursive Takes Over O’Leaver’s

by Tim McMahan

Sunday as I was leaving Lowe’s on Dodge Street with Matt Maginn I ran into my brother-in-law Steve headed on his way in. In years past I would have introduced Matt to Steve as “the bass player of Cursive, one of the most important rock bands that Omaha and/or Nebraska has ever produced.” But instead I said, “Steve, this is Matt, the new co-owner of O’Leaver’s.”

Yes, you read that right....