Concert Preview: Stout of heart -- and opinion By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Friday, March 19, 2004

Mike Stout doesn't beat around the Bush. He's mad as hell about the war in Iraq, and he's not gonna take it anymore.

On his eighth politically charged, self-released album, the 54-year-old Pittsburgher wages a shock and awe campaign that he calls "War and Resistance." The opening salvos will be launched tomorrow in a CD release party with activist singer-songwriter Anne Feeney at Bloomfield Bridge Tavern.

There's nothing subtle about Stout's approach to songwriting, no middle ground in his leftist ideology. In the Woody Guthrie tradition, his songs reflect contemporary issues without resorting to journalism. They're more like partisan op-ed columns that grab political opponents by the throat and don't let go.

Police union upset by plans to name park for Haymarket figure
The Chicago Federation of Police is trying to dissuade the Chicago Park District from naming a small Northwest Side park in honor of a woman described by one 19th century police official as 'more dangerous than a thousand rioters.'

In a letter to Park District board members, FOP president Mark P. Donohue said he was 'disappointed and disheartened' by plans to name the park after Lucy Ella Gonzales Parsons, the widow of a man hanged in 1887 for his purported role in the Haymarket Square bombing of the previous year.

A parks spokesman said Parsons' name was suggested by Chicago Parks historian Julia Bachrach in honor of Parsons' long work as a labor organizer and champion of women and minority group members.

The nomination was part of a larger effort to recognize more women in a system where only 27 of 555 parks are named after women.

On April 12, PBS is airing a 90 minute documentary American Experience: Emma Goldman Infoshop News
'On May 14, 1940, Emma Goldman died in Toronto. Denied entry into the United States for so many years, she was finally permitted, in death, to cross the border. She was buried in Chicago's Waldheim Cemetery, near the graves of the Haymarket martyrs, a group of anarchists and labor activists whose mid-1880s trial and execution had sparked Goldman's activism in America.'

Group aims to 'redefeat' Bush by registering Democrats By EMILY FREDRIX, AP
The name says it all: Committee to Redefeat the President.

ReDefeat Bush

Anne Feeney and Chris Chandler
Anne Feeney, from Pittsburgh, and Georgia native Chris Chandler are throwback political folkies who would probably make Woody Guthrie proud. They've dubbed their current jaunt 'The Anyone-But-Bush-Tour.' Feeney sings and plays guitar, and Chandler rants, er, speaks a la Henry Rollins or Jello Biafra. Peter, Paul and Mary are among the artists who have recorded Feeney's song 'Have You Been to Jail for Justice?' Chandler has collaborated with venerable list of contemporary singer/songwriters including Ani Difranco, Dar Williams, Martin Sexton and Dan Bern.

8 p.m. Sunday, Fogartyville Cafe, 800 17th Ave. W., Bradenton. Tickets: $12. Information: 741-9755 or www.fogartyvillecafe.com