B. B. King, Defining Bluesman

Tim Weiner The New York Times
“I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions,” Mr. King said in his autobiography, “Blues All Around Me.” Many of the songs he sang — like his biggest hit, “The Thrill Is Gone” (“I’ll still live on/But so lonely I’ll be”) — were poems of pain and perseverance.

Jeb Bush’s ‘Weird’ Iraq Answers

Jon Stewart wades through all of Jeb Bush‘s different answers on Iraq. Misheard the question. Mistakes get made all the time. These questions do a disservice to the soldiers. Really, is it so hard?

Southern Rites (HBO Documentary)

Producer John Legend set out to document the desegregation of a Southern prom, and discovered that it would turn into a much larger story. Airs May 18.

BB King - 'The Thrill Is Gone'

BB King (1993), a world-reknowned musician and blues ambassador, performing his biggest hit at the Montreux, Switzerland, jazz festival.

Friday Nite Videos -- May 15, 2015

Portside
BB King - 'The Thrill Is Gone'. BB King 'Swaps Some Blues' With a Prison Audience. Southern Rites (HBO Documentary). Jeb Bush’s ‘Weird’ Iraq Answers. Bernie Sanders: "Call Me a Democratic Socialist"!

Third Party Builders Meet in Chicago - Two Reports

By Dan La Botz; Ethan Young Portside
Two weeks ago in Chicago, 200 political activists from a variety of independent political organizations, as well as individual activists, carried out a rich discussion and an amicable debate about how to collaborate in the work of building a large political alternative to the left of the Democratic Party. Just days before, Bernie Sanders, declared his candidacy, running within the Democratic Party as a socialist. Here are two views on left electoral politics.