Album Review: "Swing Lo Magellan" by the Dirty Projectors

Generally characterized along the lines of indie or experimental, Dirty Projectors has released albums time and time again that keep its genre hazy. Ecstatic, mostly difficult-to-hum-along-to polyphonies are the band’s home turf.

Dirty Projectors’ newest album “Swing Lo Magellan” is maddeningly catchy and weird, boasting more funky thrummings (as in the wonderful track “Gun Has No Trigger”) and intimate songwriting (but no fewer vocal harmonies) than 2009’s “Bitte Orca.” But it is also one of the band’s more listenable ““ aka more pop-sounding ““ records yet.

Movie Review: "The Amazing Spider-Man"

In this fast-paced new world filled with young minds that long for rapid-fire entertainment, ten years is now an adequate amount of time for a remake.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” has been infamously racking up comments for the past year that sound like “Why?!” and “It’s too soon!” Luckily, those complaints can now come to a halt, because this reboot was worth every penny, and while the film isn’t “better” than “Spider-Man” or it’s sequel, it doesn’t have to be.

Supreme Court upholds Obama health care mandate in landmark ruling

A landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare.

Many young people, including students and college graduates, tend to be uninsured, said Dr. Dylan Roby, a professor of health services at the UCLA School of Public Health.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court stated that it is constitutional for the federal government to require all citizens to obtain health insurance meeting federal standards or otherwise pay a fine of $695 per person or $2,085 per family.

UPDATED: Gov. Brown signs key funding bills for UC, CSU

Just hours before his midnight deadline, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a budget Wednesday night that includes several key bills allocating funds to the University of California and California State University systems.

AB 1502 and SB 1016 are part of 21 budget bills that the Legislature voted on today in an attempt to beat the buzzer on the midnight deadline to get the Budget Act of 2012 signed by Brown.

Judge orders release of names of UC Davis officers involved in pepper spray incident

An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled today that names of police officers in a report on the November pepper-spraying incident at UC Davis can now be released, despite arguments from the University of California police union to prevent the disclosure.