Mike Abu
Lenny Cooke Failed and Then Found Himself
As a high school student in the early 2000s, Lenny Cooke was ranked higher than LeBron James. But due to a string of poor decisions, Lenny never made it to the NBA. I talked with the playground legend about failure, redemption, the current state of the...
The Exploitation and Crushing Capitalism of Fashion Week
Fashion week's upper class doesn’t have to do anything other than show up and get their photo taken. The people doing the least matter the most. If you can manage to pull off doing absolutely nothing other than standing there with a manicured smile...
The Dudes Behind Burger Records Feel Like Suge Knight Right Now
Burger Records was started by Sean Bohrman and Lee Rickard in Fullerton, California, five years ago. It has since become the musical juggernaut that hosts Burgerama, the two-day festival with groups like Ariel Pink and Black Lips. We sent Mike Abu down...
What the Sequester Really Means: The Poor Will Suffer More
The sequester is a set of automatic budget cuts that reduces funding for all discretionary programs at an equal rate. The cuts aren’t meant to eliminate any programs but simply reduce funding across the board. Get ready for some potentially disastrous...
What a World Without Hugo Chavez Looks Like
Hugo Chavez, the charismatic Venezuelan president, succumbed to his two-year bout with cancer on Tuesday, pushing the Latin American country into a new state of limbo. As the whole world watches, Venezuela now begins its inevitable transition to a post...
Climate Change Is the Real Fiscal Cliff and We're Doomed
Everyone is talking about how the lack of a budget agreement by the end of the year will result in chaos, but none of them are talking about the most significant dilemma facing our country. By not addressing climate change, we’re walking ourselves off...
Making It a Pain in the Ass to Vote Is the American Way
When you see all the troubles at the polls on today—the long lines, the people being turned away, the Rick Scott’s of the system refusing to budge on helping voter’s cast their ballots—don’t be surprised. That's just how we do it in the Land of the...
Rocky Anderson Knows Mitt Romney Well and Thinks He Has No Integrity
Ross "Rocky" Anderson is the former mayor of Salt Lake City who worked with Mitt Romney during the 2002 Winter Olympics. He's running for president as a candidate of the Justice Party, which he created to campaign on a platform of social justice. We...
Obamacare or Not: The Future of HIV/AIDS Care
After the Supreme Court held up Obamacare in June, opponents of the law invested their hopes in this Tuesday’s presidential election. If elected, Mitt Romney has every intention to repeal the legislation. For people living with HIV/AIDS, the stakes...
Horses, Bayonets, and the Sinking of Our Political Battleship at the Third Presidential Debate
The final debate lacked the novelty of the first debate, the antagonisms of the second debate, and Joe Biden’s laugh from the vice presidential debate. Everybody wanted to see it come to an end. We were ready to rip the Band-Aid off, even if a chunk of...
Obama May Have Won the Debate, But Mitt's Got a Binder Full of Bitches
I decided the best place to watch the showdown was at a bar appropriately named the Lost Love Lounge. It’s the type of place you could feel comfortable drinking away your sorrows in peace, at least until they come back around at 2 AM with a vengeance...
Biden, What the Fuck Was So Funny Last Night? Oh Yeah, Paul Ryan
The debates are like watching two jocks compete for a drunken floozy. Both guys seem like assholes, and you get the feeling that the girl deserves whichever chump she chooses. The rest of us are left lonely in the bleachers with stale popcorn and a...