Here are some raw, sobering statistics, presented with comparison. Simply click on the numbers to see the sources.

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Total number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan: 4,462

Total enrollment of Niagara University: 3,400

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Total number of U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq: 29,395

Total enrollment of the University of Buffalo: 27,220

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Total number of U.S. soldiers who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan combined: 1,400,000

Population of Philadelphia, the fifth largest American city, as of July 1, 2005: 1,463,281

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The average age of U.S. soldiers killed in both wars: 26

The median age of an American at the time of their first marriage: 26

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If your heart can handle it, see the fallen for yourself, and more importantly, learn their names.

So, in that spirit, let me point you to one of my favorite contemporary artists, Dale Chihuly, a glass craftsman extraordinaire. I’ve seen his work in several of my favorite museums, including the Columbus Museum of Art and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, and I also got to see one of his installations at the Franklin Park Conservatory, where his glass sculptures were imbedded within the various plant exhibits. Some were even set afloat in a pool of koi.

His work is an explosion form, a chaos of color. To see it is to barely believe it. Many of the pieces are overwhelmingly gorgeous and enormous, something you wish your mind had concocted, imagination come to life. For a moment there I thought I was over-selling his art, but I’ve looked over some more photos of it, and I’m not.

But Chihuly isn’t solely responsible for his work. Glass-blowing on his scale necessarily requires a team of skilled artisans, and his even more so: Chihuly is blind in one eye and lacks depth perception. His singular vision (no pun, I swear it, intended) seems to be to create pure beauty. With these groups of artists, he’s able to make, not just small objects someone might keep their home, but glass sculptures and chandeliers that can exist in public spaces.

From his website, you can find travelling exhibitions near you, galleries selling his work (you can look and not buy, folks — just don’t break it, ok?), and museums that have his work as part of their permanent collections. Even if “art’s not your thing,” it’s worth it to find out if Chihuly’s glass is near you.

Koi photo c/o this anonymous picture clicker.

Chandelier photo c/o this killer photographer.

Both photos depict pieces I’ve seen.

We thought we ought to suggest some ways to watch and download music^[1]. So that's what we're about to do. Right after we finish writing this introduction to the section that includes ways to watch and download music. It's coming right up. (Okay, I'll stop.)

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Watch:

We don't think video killed the radio star. We think it merely maimed the radio star. Here are some videos of songs we love, some energetic, some tres creative, some funny, all pretty damned progressive. (If you haven’t already, please do check out our post on The New Pornographers!)

• Below you’ll find Ani DiFranco belting out “Little Plastic Castles– on the aforementioned VH1. DiFranco is Buffalo, New York, born and bred, and she still keeps a home here. Her lyrics are progressive, her privately owned record label, Righteous Babe Records, is progressive, and she's a progressive investor. She recently purchased and renovated a church in downtown Buffalo scheduled for demolition. Read more about her here, and her label here, and her church-turned-music-venue-and-recording-studio here. You can also read a piece DiFranco wrote for The Nation.

• You might already be familiar with the U2 and Green Day number “The Saints are Coming,– but even if you are, it deserves another look. This is one of the few songs that I think really deserves to be painted with video images. We'd rather not say any more about it if you haven't already seen it. So, please do. We have a feeling you'll have some strong feelings about what could have been.

• We'd like to recommend checking out several of the videos by Ben Harper. Harper is a funk, folk, pop, rock, reggae, soul, multi-instrumentalist songwriter who dials it in, album after album. So listen to his work is to get kicked in the stomach in the most glorious way. If you like variety from one artist, Harper might be your man.

• Loose Fur is a tiny “super group– of sorts, made up of Wilco frontman, Jeff Tweedy, Wilco percussionist Glenn Kotche, and former Sonic Youth guitarist Jim O'Rourke. Their newest album, Born Again in the USA, is both a serious and sarcastic look at American culture, and the blending of faith and politics. They've come up with a rather hilarious video for “Hey Chicken.” Do check it out.

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Download:

1. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists is a band brave enough to tackle politics with sincerity and gusto, and at the same time they manage to avoid didacticism (the – “ism most of us find annoying). The latter is likely due, in part, to the band's pop, punk, folk blend that we find compelling and entertaining on its own. You can download over a dozen tracks from Leo's site, but we recommend, if nothing else, that you take a listen to:

• Loyal to My Sorrowful Country http://www.tedleo.com/audio/LoyaltoMySorrowfulCountry.mp3
• Ghosts http://www.tedleo.com/audio/Ghosts.mp3
• Bleeding Powers http://www.tedleo.com/audio/BleedingPowers.mp3
• Biomusicology http://www.tedleo.com/audio/Biomusicology.mp3
  

2. Kat Jones is a fantastic songstress, equal parts haunting, heartbreaking, and lush. She can be mellow as Mazzy Star, and she can rock like P.J. Harvey. Thankfully, she's neither completely, but rather the best of both. She's far too under the radar for our liking, so please give her a listen (she's got two MP3s for download), and support her music by buying an album or twelve. You can also stream a few songs over at her MySpace page.

3. Denison Witmer sings a kind of drowsy folk that I can't always get behind; I’m a bit more up-tempo at heart. That said, I know a lot of people dig his sound, and I do admire his lyrics, which are earnest and faithful. At HappyBirthdayDenison.com, you can download 33 (that's thirty-three, folks!) songs for free. Witmer does ask if you are going to download, that you make a small donation to one of two organizations: Partners In Health or Musicians On Call. Music as charity seems lovely to us, one progress packaged inside another.

Other progressive artists to check out and support:

• Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
• Steve Earle
• Dar Williams
• Public Enemy
• Over the Rhine
• Indigo Girls

To learn more about Progressive Wednesday, just click here, here, or here.

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[1] These are musicians we, by and large, love. We're not saying these are the best musicians out there. We're not saying there aren't many we've left off. Kindly let us know about other progressive artists, and we'll try and give them a blurb and a link. And we’ll give you a virtual hug.