CDC calls for stronger protections.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has nominated Howard Lutnick to serve as secretary of commerce in the incoming administration.  Lutnick, who is currently the CEO of the financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald and the co-chair of Trump’s presidential transition committee, was competing for the post with his fellow transition co-chair Lind McMahon, who was head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, and with the former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Lutnick, a strong proponent of rebalancing American trade through the use of tariffs, will provide important support for Trump’s broadly protectionist economic platform. The nomination provides important insight into the chaotic debate within the Trump camp and the Republican Party broadly over economic policy. Pre-Trump Republicans generally supported free trade, and many politicians elected on free trade platforms remain in government. Within the Trump camp, there are also divisions over whether tariffs should be leveraged to obtain more favorable trade terms or used for the protection of American domestic industry. Trump himself has gestured favorably towards both approaches. Lutnick, who takes the latter position, was also a potential candidate for secretary of the Treasury and the favorite pick of Elon Musk, who endorsed him in a post on X Monday. The future Treasury Secretary remains a prize for whatever camp ends up with the spot. One possible pick is Scott Bessent, a major Trump donor and economic advisor who argues for using the threat of tariffs as a negotiating tactic, but who is seen by more protectionist players as a “business-as-usual choice.”  The post Howard Lutnick Appointed Commerce Secretary appeared first on The American Conservative.

‘Based’ Senator From Utah Lands New Role To Work On Unleashing American Energy

It wasn’t just the cover of the Purple One’s shelved 1987 LP ‘The Black Album’ where things got dark.

Public Image Ltd, also known as PIL, led by the Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon, announced their first tour dates since 2023. The group has scheduled dates in 2025 in the United Kingdom and Ireland next May, July and August. Lydon considered not touring anymore after the death of his wife Nora and the longtime manager John 'Rambo' Stevens in 2023. However, during a recent spoken word tour, the musician said he was "overwhelmed" by the love and support he received by the fans. “I thought that might be it. After losing Nora, and Rambo, I couldn’t see a way through. I’d already committed to the spoken word tour, this spring, and I never let anyone down – I always stick to my word – so I had to do those dates. The thing is, people were so overwhelmingly positive, and they asked me to tour with PIL again. With so many people asking and with the band meaning so much to them, I couldn’t just stay on my sofa and not tour – tempting though that obviously is.” Public Image Ltd 2025 tour dates May 22 - Bristol O2 Academy 23 - Ware, Stone Valley Festival South 24 - Bournemouth O2 Academy 29 - Barnsley Birdwell 30 - Newcastle Boiler Shop 31 - Norwich Epic Studios June 12 - Dublin 3Olympia, Ireland 13 - Limerick Dolan’s Warehouse, Ireland 14 - Cardiff Depot 26 - Hastings White Rock 27 - Newark Stone Valley Festival Midlands 28 - Oxford O2 Academy July 3 - Leicester O2 Academy 4 - Lincoln Engine Shed 5 - Portsmouth Guildhall 30 - Sheffield Leadmill 31 - Northampton Roadmender August 1 - Holmfirth Picturedrome 7 - Blackpool Rebellion Festival 8 - Durham Stone Valley Festival North 9 - Coventry Empire 15 - Cork City Hall, Ireland 16 - Belfast, Putting The Fast In Belfast (supporting Stiff Little Fingers) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YNw3L-mE0g The Sex Pistols recently reunited and made a few shows in the United Kingdom but without John Lydon.The post Public Image Ltd announces 2025 tour dates appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

One of the godfathers of Thrash Metal, Dave Mustaine, played a crucial role in Metallica's early years before becoming an even bigger part of the genre with the formation of Megadeth. But, of course, it was a long way to the top, and he struggled to learn guitar when he was young. In an interview with Steve-O (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), he recalled that he learned more about the instrument through a book and from the younger brother of his sister's boyfriend. Dave Mustaine recalls how he learned to play the guitar "The hardest part for me was learning how to tune because I didn't have anybody to teach me. So, I had to figure out what it said. There was no Internet back then. It was back in... '74, I think, was when I first started playing." "'Mel Bay' was the name of the guitar book, and it just had normal guitar chords and didn't have any scales, didn't have any runs, nothing like that. And we just went from there, learning how to play chords, and to when I got a turntable and started putting vinyl down and listening to songs." "My sister had started dating some guy, and his little brother played guitar too, and he helped show me a little bit about guitar playing and a little bit of the beginning nuances. I had a cousin named Johnny, back then he had a Gold Top Les Paul. It was so beautiful. And that was the first guitar I ever did a power chord on, was that Gibson Gold Top Les Paul," Dave Mustaine said. Mustaine is the only member of Megadeth who was part of all the releases. Right now, the band is also formed by Dirk Verbeuren (Drums – Since 2016), James LoMenzo (Bass – Since 2022) and Teemu Mäntysaari (Guitar – Since 2023). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIy-3YSqjV8&feature=youtu.beThe post Dave Mustaine recalls how he learned to play the guitar appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

Michael Schenker is eight years younger than his brother Rudolf Schenker. They played together in Scorpions in the 70s but their relationship was never really good. Michael always criticized Rudolf calling him a bully and in an interview with Eddie Trunk he said that again. Michael Schenker criticizes again his brother Rudolf "No. I just know that I have been a very big part of creating Rudolf as a musician. (Laughs) I don't think without me, he would have been there, and maybe the other way around the same way. But the thing is that I have to protect myself from Rudolf. Every time he wants to do something with me or every time they wanna do something big and they need my name, he misuses me. And I'm very sad that he keeps doing that." "He's seven years older than me. He's a bully. He has been abusive to me for many, many years. He has distorted my image for many years, and he just pretends as if nothing ever happened. I guess, 'cause I asked other people, 'Hey, how does your older brother treat you?' And they say, 'Oh, exactly the same.' So I think it's just the thing they do. They think they own you, they can do with you whatever they want. I'm seven years younger. 'That's just my little brother, nobody, blah, blah, blah.' He continued: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpXJCflwjBY&pp=ygUlc2NvcnBpb25zIG1pY2hhZWwgc2NoZW5rZXIgYW5kIHJ1ZG9sZg%3D%3D "I have no idea how these people, how their heads and their brains work, but the fact is I helped the Scorpions, I jump started them, and they forgot everything about it. And it's not the Scorpions that are the bad guys — or actually nobody is really the bad guy. It's just Rudolf is just a crazy, weird person. I don't know what drives him. But I don't wanna be connected to it." "So I don't wanna be distracted with my vision every time I give in and say, 'Okay, I'll do something with Rudolf,' and then he abuses me or uses me disrespectfully. I don't know why he keeps going like that, but it's just kind of very, very strange. I don't know what's wrong with him. I don't know why it's so important for him to be bigger than his little brother," Michael Schenker said. Schenker first joined Scorpions in 1969 when the band already existed for four years and remained as a member until 1973. He left the group to join the British band UFO, becoming a fundamental part of their sound and helping them to become one of the most influential Hard Rock bands from that era. He stayed with them until 1978 when he returned briefly to Scorpions before starting his solo career.The post Michael Schenker criticizes again his brother Rudolf appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

There has always been a strong connection between horror movies and heavy metal music since the inception of the genre. Black Sabbath's name was inspired by a horror movie, and their decision to write songs with doomy lyrics was also influenced by the fact that people paid to be scared in movie theaters. That link continued during the next decades and there is an interesting connection between Anthrax's album "Among the Living" and the classic horror movie "Poltergeist II". The link between Anthrax's 'Among The Living' and 'Poltergeist II' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BczYggORfjg&pp=ygUccG9sdGVyZ2Vpc3QgYW1vbmcgdGhlIGxpdmluZw%3D%3D Besides the title track, the album has famous tracks like "Indians", "Caught In a Mosh" and "I Am the Law". Some Anthrax members like Scott Ian and Charlie Benante are big fans of horror movies and were part of a few films and documentaries about the genre. The interesting thing is that there is a connection between their 1987 album "Among The Living" and the classic horror movie "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" released in 1986. There is a big similarity between the creepy movie character Reverend Henry Kane, portrayed by the actor Julian Beck and the weird man on the cover of the album of the Thrash Metal group. The band's drummer Charlie Benante, who was the responsible one for choosing most of the album covers of their albums, revealed that the movie was an inspiration. He said that in an interview with Robert V Galluzzo in 2008. The "Among The Living" thing, which was pretty cool. The cool thing with that is I had this concept of this cover that was similar to the Stephen King story (The Stand), and Scott had these lyrics. But we didn’t talk about it together." Charlie Benante continued: "I just told him the concept, and he was like 'That’s weird! Because I have lyrics that I’m basing on the Stephen King book!' And it just ties itself together. I remember at the time, we saw this movie Poltergeist (II) and the guy scared the hell out of us, his face was just so scary!" "We just wanted (the cover guy) to look like that, and he’s 'among the living', ya know? So, that’s how that came about. And then I totally changed things up for the next record with the big yellow and red thing, but I’d like to forget that one. (Laughs)" Charlie Benante said. The album cover was made by Don Brautigam, who was also responsible for Metallica's "Master of Puppets". One year later, in 1988, he also made the cover for Anthrax's "State of Euphoria". The movie and the album Directed by Brian Gibson, Poltergeist II shows the Freeling family in a new house, once again facing evil supernatural forces. Like the first movie, the sequel was also successful at the box office. It cost about 19 million dollars and made over 75 million dollars. The Anthrax album was also commercially successful for the band. It was their breakthrough record that made them finally leave the small clubs and play in arenas and stadiums. It was critically acclaimed and helped the band to be mentioned among the Big Four of Thrash Metal. The record was produced by the legendary Eddie Kramer, who worked with Hendrix, Kiss, Alice Cooper and more. Benante reinforced the message that Among The Living was about good and evil in an interview with PureGrainAudio in 2016. Benante said: “Poltergeist had a very strong visual image to me and I liked the way it looked. I was always into horror, and 'Among The Living' was basically about good and evil. It was just about how much evil there is amongst us.”The post The link between Anthrax’s ‘Among The Living’ and ‘Poltergeist II’ appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson is one of the most influential singers in the history of heavy metal. He joined the band in the early '80s, replacing Paul Di'Anno, and became a crucial element in making the band even more commercially successful. His vocal range opened up new possibilities for songwriting and changed the course of their career. We know that his main influence and biggest hero has always been Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, but what is his opinion on Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant? Bruce Dickinson’s opinion on Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant Although Led Zeppelin never was his favorite band, he likes the group and was influenced by them and Robert Plant. He even told Metal Hammer in 2016 that "Ramble On" was one of his favorite songs of the band. “I was always a bigger Purple fan than Zeppelin. But I never saw either Zeppelin or Purple when I was a kid, when they were in their heyday. Zeppelin were adopted by American radio big-style.  But I’ve got to confess that the thing I loved most about Zeppelin was their English folk roots. Not their copies of American blues tracks. ‘Ramble On’ is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs. But that’s just me,” Bruce Dickinson said. It's interesting that he mentioned that song because it is from the band's second album "Led Zeppelin II", released in 1969. Because he told Classic Rock in 2024 that he only got into Zeppelin after listening to their second album. "(The first vocalist that inspired me) One hundred percent Ian Gillan on Deep Purple’s 'In Rock'." "I bought a third-hand copy of it that was scratched to fuck, and I knew every note and scratch on it. After that I went straight to 'Made In Japan', which is one of the greatest live recordings ever. Then there was the first Black Sabbath album. I didn’t get into Led Zeppelin until later when I heard Zeppelin II." For Bruce Dickinson, Robert Plant was one of the bases of Heavy Metal singing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQpVjjOgngE&pp=ygUjaXJvbiBtYWlkZW4gY29tbXVuaWNhdGlvbiBicmVha2Rvd24%3D The Iron Maiden vocalist also thinks that Robert Plant is one of the bases of Heavy Metal singing, alongside Ian Gillan and Paul Rodgers. He said that in an interview with Metal Rules back in 2000. “There are basically 3 bases for the metal style of singing. If you join aspect of these 3 singers, you have everything. These 3 singers are Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) and Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company). If you join them in various combinations you have everyone was always talking about well,” Dickinson said. He curiously had the chance to cover the Led Zeppelin song "Communication Breakdown", from the band's first album. The Iron Maiden version was released in 1990 as the b-side of the single "Bring Your Daugther To the Slaughter". Besides Plant's performance on the albums, Dickinson also praised his live performances, especially when the band was recorded playing live in Danish TV shows, for example. “Led Zeppelin IV” is also one of Bruce's favorites Besides "Led Zeppelin II", Bruce Dickinson also liked the band's fourth record as he revealed on the website of his BBC Radio show called “Masters Of Rock” back in the 2000s. He listed the album among the 15 essential records that everyone should listen to. Released in 1971, the album has classic tracks like “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, “Stairway To Heaven” and “Going To California”. The album was produced by the band’s guitarist Jimmy Page and doesn’t have a title on the cover. Only features an old portrait of a man and four symbols chosen by each band member.The post Bruce Dickinson’s opinion on Led Zeppelin appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.