First Shot: Thanks, But No Thanks

by | Sep 6, 2007 | News

After five years and more than $26 million—and despite countless protests and petition signatures—the new women's jail in Chicopee officially opens for business this month.The minimum- and medium-security facility will house more than 200 women from...

Between the Lines: The Welfare State

by | Sep 6, 2007 | News

The U.S.A.'s military spending is now close to $2 billion a day. The country is beginning its seventh year of continuous war, with no end in sight. On the horizon is the very real threat of a massive air assault on Iran. Few in Congress seem willing or able to...

CD Shorts

by | Sep 6, 2007 | Music

Goodnight LovingCrooked Lake(Dusty Medical)When I first listened to this record, I knew what I was hearing was familiar, but couldn't quite place it. Thank God I now know that the music of Goodnight Loving is generally referred to as "cow punk," a hybrid...
Nightcrawler: A Charitable Creep

Nightcrawler: A Charitable Creep

by | Sep 6, 2007 | Music

He may front one of the nation's most popular tributes to one of the so-called slacker generation's greatest heroes, but when Negative Creep's Josh Enemy noticed a disturbing trend among his students at Performance Music in Westfield, the Cobain clone says...

FreeSport: Another Chance

by | Sep 6, 2007 | Leisure

All my life I have successfully avoided the trappings of modern jock-dom. Never driven to win, I've lacked the confidence, skill, and brute machismo necessary to be competitive. Shunning team sports became my credo. But my one chance at glory—in my mind, at...