Ry Cooder -- Jesus on the Mainline

From "Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have A Ball", a film by Les Blank taped at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA on March 25, 1987. Awesome solos by George Bohannon and Ry using slide on mandoguitar!

Movie: The Trials of Muhammed Ali

A new documentary examines the struggle Muhammad Ali faced in his conversion to Islam, his refusal to fight in Vietnam, and the years of exile that followed before his eventual return to the ring. "The Trials of Muhammad Ali" premieres in New York City at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Friday Nite Videos -- May 3, 2013

Portside
Flash mobs strive to overcome the chasm between the two opposite meanings of 'actor' -- one who acts, or one who performs while others watch. In a flash mob, ordinary people act, momentarily seizing and transforming a public space with their actions. As they catch the spirit of the moment, the audience become actors too. Also, Muhammed Ali, Plan B, Ry Cooder, and a Black/white prom in Wilcox Co, Georgia.

Major Challenge to Labor Rights in California - Two Articles

Peter Scheer, Kitty Felde
In a scarcely-noticed lawsuit filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, a conservative nonprofit, the Center for Individual Rights, claims that California's system for collecting dues or fees from public employees abridges free speech. RELATED: 10 California teachers are suing in federal court to stop mandatory fair share fee collection. The lawsuit seeks to expand last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision involving union activity in a California special election.

Charter Teachers Unionize, Charters - The Truth, Moratorium on Standardized Testing

Dan Mihalopoulos, Frank Pepper, Randi Weingarten
Teachers at one of Chicago's largest charter- school networks - run by the United Neighborhood Organization - have voted to organize into a union. Public school teacher, responds to question - what is behind charter schools. Idea of a motivated community of adults - parents, teachers, administrators - creating a unique school from the ground up, designed to serve that particular community - are not charter schools. AFT calls for moratorium on Common Core testing.