Sopranos Finale Goes On and On and…

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mojo-photo-sopranos.jpgIs this a sign maybe David Chase was onto something, the fact that nobody can stop talking about the thing, almost two weeks after it aired? Here’s some updates, fallout, and more parodies:

– The accompaniment to the finale, Journey’s 1981 hit, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” has surged back into the charts in the wake of the show’s publicity, reports Billboard.biz, up 371% in digital sales (currently residing at #26 on iTunes), with their Greatest Hits album up 111%. Grab A+D’s freestyle mix of the track for your next party: “Don’t Stop Believin’ In Planet Rock” (mp3)

– Wanda Sykes gave her theory about the show’s ending on Conan O’Brien last night: “He whacked his family. The son’s annoying, whining all the time, the daughter can’t park… he just whacked ’em.” Alternately, for evidence supporting the “Tony is dead” theory, check out, ahem, tonyisdead.com.

– Hillary Clinton’s spoof video drew over 500,000 hits to their website, according to her people, beating the day they launched the freakin’ campaign. Even Giuliani brought it up, saying “I still prefer my ‘Godfather’ imitation, but you know, I have a lot more practice at it.” Whichever random Clinton aide thought this thing up, give them a damn raise.

More parodies after the jump.

– The Pittsburgh Pirates are getting in on the act, with a little less success than the Clintons:

– Ever wonder what the Godfather would have been like, directed by David Chase? Well, now you know:

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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