Tell It To Al

Fillmore East, 1970. Amalie R. Rothschild

The Grateful Dead gave all their stuff to the University of California, Santa Cruz, which has received $1.4 million in state and federal funds to organize it and make it available to the public.

Click here to read my column. I also talk about it on Fox Busines News.

Thought I’d dig through some video archives for footage to go with today’s column on the taxpayer-funded Grateful Dead Archive at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A videographer, who goes by “Jack Straw from Wichita,” captured some great Dead Head memories when the Dead rocked Denver in December 1990. Check it out:

What’s it like being unemployed, knowing all your friends are at work, watching basketball? I talk about it on the Wall Street Journal’s News Hub.

I talk about Greece’s financial problems and some of our own on Fox Business Live.com.

As Greece slips toward bankruptcy, it’s important to remember that its fate was foretold long ago in ancient myths.

Mythology, it turns out, provides a much more accurate portrait of reality, than, say, government accounting.

Click here to read my column on Greek myths.

Here’s a product that might get your mind of your Toyota: Deadly sling infant carriers.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission on Friday said it is investigating 14 infant deaths over the past 20 years related to those chic little baby straps.

The baby sling is a modern convenience that allows mothers to cradle their baby, talk on their cell phone and drink a Starbucks all at the same time. Unfortunately, it poses suffocation hazards, the commission reports. Whatever happen to just holding your baby?

Click here from more details from the commission’s press release. Click here to read a column I wrote earlier this year on other recalls.

Now I realize why I should have pursued a degree in library science instead of journalism, or maybe just gone to a lot more concerts.

Check out this job posting that my old college classmate, who is now a librarian in Fargo, N.D., sent me: Grateful Dead Archive Project Manager. Salary: $5,000 to $9,000 a month. Plus the full benefits that come from working at a major university.

Click here to apply, and if you get this job, dude, call me. It’s been a while, but I  have been to Terrapin.

This reminds me of a T-shirt I once saw someone wearing up in Boulder, Colo. It read: “Jerry’s Dead, Phish Sucks, Get a Job!”

Here’s the job description from the University of California, Santa Cruz website:

“Reporting to the University Librarian, the incumbent provides management of the entire Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant funded project, Virtual Terrapin Station: Blending Traditional and Socially Created Archives for Research, Teaching, and Cultural Enrichment. The Project Manager will be a member of the Grateful Dead Archive team and will be directly responsible for the planning, coordination, design, and execution of the archive exhibition website and community web publishing platform. The Project Manager will oversee communication with the IMLS (the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a grant-making federal agency) including interim and final reports. The Grateful Dead Archive is a multimillion dollar collection that has sparked international interest. This position is responsible for overseeing the creation and implementation of the “Virtual Terrapin Station” that will incorporate digitized content from the archive plus materials contributed from the Deadhead community. Specific responsibilities include the development of a detailed project plan to design the website, digitize material for it, build a rights tracking function, and oversee the development of software to enable the exchange of information between library systems. The Project Manager has responsibility for the timely and successful distribution of over $1.4 million dollars comprised of the original IMLS grant and matching Library funds according to strict rules and deadlines per the general terms and conditions of the grant.”

Wall Street remains unloved and unforgiven for the crash it helped cause, according to a poll by Harris Interactive released today, which found 82% of Americans want to sack it with more regulations.

“Hostility to Wall Street, and in particular, to the people who worked for Wall Street firms, increased very sharply after the 2008 crash,” Harris said in a press release. “There is no evidence that the American people have begun to forgive the people in Wall Street or to forget the huge problems that they caused.”

One the plus said, the Harris Poll found:

* 59% agree that “Wall Street is absolutely essential” and only 34% think it is not.

* 56% agree that Wall Street “benefits the country” but most of these people 44% believe it only does so “somewhat.”

Now, back to the more overwhelming negative perceptions uncovered by the survey:

* 66% agree that “most people on Wall Street would be willing to break the law if they believed they could make a lot of money and get away with it.”

* 65% disagree that “most successful people on Wall Street deserve to make the kind of money they earn.”

* 61% disagree that that “what is good for Wall Street is good for the country.”

Here’s one clue as to why people feel this way: 75% believe that “Wall Street firms should only pay bonuses when they are doing well and making good profits.”

Attitudes about Wall Street from 1996 to 2006 remained relatively stable, Harris reports, until the 2008 crash. Today, those attitudes show no signs of abating. Bottom line: Go ahead, Wall Street. Keep the money. It won’t buy you love.

Medical marijuana. Is it a front for legalization? Or a sincere attempt to provide remedies for the ailing?

One thing’s for sure. It’s a serious business

Click here to read column.

OK, this is getting weird.

Another driver of a runaway Toyota has time to call 911, but no time to throw the car in neutral or turn the ignition key? Click here to read all about it in this report from the Associated Press.

And click here to see my previous remarks on this ongoing phenomena.