Meet the 'Anti-Genocide Generation'

My View , John Griffith
Gloucester Daily Times

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently devoted one of his columns to the task of labeling my generation "Generation Q - the Quiet Americans."

Friedman acknowledged in his piece that young people today "are not only going abroad to study in record numbers, but they are also going abroad to build homes for the poor in El Salvador in record numbers or volunteering at AIDS clinics in record numbers."

But he chides this generation for being "too quiet, too online, for its own good, and for the country's own good."

However, when I think of the many amazing people with whom I have worked in the Darfur movement, within a student group known as STAND: An Anti-Genocide Coalition, I cannot help but respond with a yelp of astonishment, a cry for help and attention in the media and a shout-out for all these amazing students.

Here's a sampler of the young people you should be reading about far more than Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan:

* Sunish Oturkar. I have seen this Northeastern University student run a Boston Darfur student group meeting in the midst of a Faneuil Hall dining area with hundreds of the apathetic milling about, munching the latest Quincy Market fare without the slightest notion that history was being made at a nearby cluster of tables. Running rallies for Darfur on his campus or on Boston Common, Sunish is anything but quiet.

* Daniel Millenson. As a Brandeis University junior, he had already been featured in a Wall Street Journal article (July 19, 2006: "Sudan-Divestment Activists Get Act Together") before he was old enough for more typical collegiate activities, like ordering a beer. As executive director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force, he has helped lead more than 20 states to divest their pension fund investments from Sudanese-linked companies in a targeted manner that does not hurt the Sudanese people, while it attacks the central government's ability to finance the genocide.

* Kyoko Takenaka and the students of Newton South High School STAND. Now the regional coordinator for all STAND high school groups in the northeast, Kyoko and friends culminated months of activism last spring with a state radio concert that helped raise more than $20,000 to help refugees through STAND's parent organization, the Genocide-Intervention Network or GI-Net.


How can you stand up with this never-quiet generation of students? How can you help this organization that is the fastest-growing student organization in American history, with more than 700 chapters in North America - all founded following the U.S. congressional declaration of the genocide in 2004?

STAND is holding a Darfur Fast, asking people not to give up eating but to give up one luxury for one day and contribute that money to the DarfurFast fund. This fund, directed by GI-Net, helps protect families trying to eke out a life in squalid refugee camps in Eastern Chad and Western Sudan.

Sadly, many Darfuri women face a kind of Sophie's choice. If they send out men to gather firewood for cooking, the men will be killed. If they go out themselves, while successfully bringing back wood, the women are likely to be raped.

GI-Net's Civilian Protection Program provides fire wood patrols or propane cookers so that families may avoid such awful choices.

Would you give up a grande latte and send your $3 savings to STAND to help protect a woman scavenging for fire wood? Could you stay home from a weekend of skiing and send the savings to GI-Net's Civilian Protection Program?

In James Michener's "Space" there is a passage I'll never forget. During the Dark Ages in Europe, a supernova occurred thousands of light years away that lit up the sky for weeks on end but went unrecorded in all European accounts of the day. We know about that astronomical event because contemporary Chinese scientists recorded it. Michener's message was that a light may blaze in the sky to lead us, but if we don't pay attention, we'll probably miss it.

In the age of mass communication, we should not miss the opportunity to follow the light that is the Anti-Genocide Generation. These young people insist that genocide in Europe, in Africa, in Asia - anywhere it happens - creates for us the responsibility to protect the victims. You can contribute by donating online at www.nustand.org (the Web site of Northeastern University's chapter of STAND) or by sending a check to NUSTAND with DarfurFast in the memo line to Northeastern University, c/o Campus Activities Office, 228 Curry Student Center, Boston, MA 02115.

John Griffith of Essex is an engineering student at Northeastern University interning at Raytheon.

*taken from WWW.AXISOFJUSTICE.ORG

U.S. Senate passes spy bill, phone immunity

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. phone companies that took part in President Bush's warrantless domestic spying program would receive retroactive immunity from lawsuits under a bill passed overwhelmingly Tuesday by the Democratic-led Senate.

But it was unclear if the Democratic-led House would also approve the measure to shield firms from potentially billions of dollars in civil damages.

About 40 civil lawsuits have been filed accusing AT&T Inc , Verizon Communications Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp of violating Americans' privacy rights in helping the government's warrantless domestic spying program started shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Passed by the Senate on a largely party-line vote of 68-29, the bill backed mostly by Republicans would replace a temporary spy law set to expire this week that expanded the power of U.S. authorities to track enemy targets without a court order.

In addition, the Senate bill would bolster the protection of privacy rights of law-abiding Americans swept up in the hunt for suspected terrorists.

Bush and Congress agreed last month to a 15-day extension of the expiring surveillance law -- to this coming Saturday -- to provide more time to resolve differences.

House Democrats, who have opposed immunity, plan to bring up for a vote as early as Wednesday another proposed extension, this one for 21 days, a top aide said.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said: "We do not need yet another extension, yet another delay. We need to focus on getting our work done."

Bush urged the House to set aside "narrow partisan concerns" and pass the Senate measure so he can sign it into law.

"This good bill ... provides a long-term foundation for our intelligence community to monitor the communications of foreign terrorists in ways that are timely and effective and that also protect the liberties of Americans," the president said in a statement.

NATIONAL SECURITY CITED

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John Rockefeller of West Virginia broke ranks with many fellow Democrats in pushing to immunize phone companies. Yet he criticized Bush for starting the spy program without congressional or court approval.

"Anger over the president's program should not prevent us from addressing the real problems that the president has created," Rockefeller said.

He warned that without immunity some private firms may decline to help protect the nation.

Opponents, including civil liberties groups, complained that the measure's protections of privacy rights were inadequate and its immunity unwarranted.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, voted no, saying: "I believe that the White House and any companies who broke the law must be held accountable."

The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requires that the government receive the approval of a secret FISA court to conduct surveillance in the United States of suspected foreign enemy targets.

But after Sept. 11, Bush authorized warrantless surveillance of communications between people in the United States and others overseas if one had suspected terrorist ties. (Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Source: Reuters North American News Service

*taken from WWW.AXISOFJUSTICE.ORG

Labels: tom

Some 600,000 displaced in Kenya

Three hundred camps for displaced people have been set up in Kenya

The United Nations believes up to 600,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Kenya as a result of the violence that followed elections. Head of the UN emergency relief operation, John Holmes, said about 300,000 displaced people were in camps, with the same number living elsewhere. Talks aimed at resolving the political crisis have resumed in Nairobi.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, acting as mediator, is confident the two sides will reach a deal this week.
Funding appeal

Mr Holmes has returned to Helsinki from a three-day fact-finding mission to Kenya, where he visited camps in the western Rift Valley which have seen some of the worst fighting following December's disputed presidential election result.

"It is a tragic situation in a country which is seen traditionally as a haven of calm and prosperity in a very difficult part of the world" says John Holmes, United Nations

President Mwai Kibaki won the poll, but supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga claimed the vote was rigged. The ensuing political and inter-ethnic fighting is thought to have left about 1,000 dead.

Mr Holmes said there were 300 camps for displaced people - the hundreds of thousands not in camps were probably sheltering with family and friends, he said.

The UN has appealed for $42m (£21.6m) from the international donor community, but Mr Holmes said it had received about half of that amount so far.

"Many have nowhere to go and will be in these camps for some time before they are able to go home and many of them are not sure they will be able to go home," he said.

"We need to consolidate the camps. Three hundred is a very large amount to deal with."

*taken from WWW.AXISOFJUSTICE.ORG

Labels: tom

The Nightwatchman Guitar tablature

California’s Dark TABS

Capo 2nd Fret
E
It started in basements
A
And it started in sheds
E
It started in backyards
A E
And was hidden under beds
E7
I turned on the TV
A sus 4 E
Don't believe a word they say
E7
We can't stay here
A sus 4 E
And we can't get away
A E
There's a riot on Sunset
A E
And fires burn in the park
A E D sus 4 D
The sun has set my friend
A E
And California's dark
And over the screaming
I heard a clear voice
I looked at my choices
And I made a choice
Smoke and ashes
Tonight hide the stars
The stop lights are red now, love
We've come for what's ours
There's a riot on Sunset
And fires burn in the park
The sun has set my friend
And California's dark
E
Come stand among the rattlesnakes
At the side of the desert road
And close your eyes and listen
A E
To the music hard and cold
Tonight the moon is blackened
Tonight the doors are shut
Behind the shuttered windows
A E
We pray the sun will come up
E7
For something walks across these fields
For which there is no name
You might have heard different
A
But I was there when it came
E7
It will start with a spark
And a great fire will grow
Don't know how I know it
A
But I just know
There's a riot on Sunset
And fires burn in the park
The sun sets everywhere
And the whole damn country's dark
There's a riot on Sunset
And fires burn in the park
The sun has set my friend
And California's dark
Outro
E A G E


One Man Revolution

Capo 2nd Fret
F# minor
On the streets of New York
The cabs don't stop
A
On the street where I live
E
They called the cops
B minor
Found a noose in my garage
Now how 'bout that
C# minor
So tonight I'm in the bushes
With a baseball bat
F# minor
Cause I'm a one man
A
I'm a one man
E
I'm a one man revolution
B minor
I'm a one man
C# minor
I'm a one man
F# minor
I'm a one man revolution
The time is nigh
A
The day is dark
E
There's only one solution
B minor
I'm a one man
C# minor
I'm a one man
F# minor
I'm a one man revolution
On the streets of Havana
I got hugged and kissed
At the Playboy Mansion
I wasn't on the list
On the streets of Cape Town
Shit's ready to blow
I don't know how to get there
But I'm ready to go
Cause I'm a one man
I'm a one man
I'm a one man revolution
I'm a one man
I'm a one man
I'm a one man revolution
The time is nigh
The day is dark
There's only one solution
I'm a one man
I'm a one man
I'm a one man revolution
D A
Sacrifice and neon lights
E F# minor
Slaveships don't wait
D A
Love many, trust few
E C# minor
And don't be late
F# minor
In my nightmares
The streets are aflame
And in my dreams
It's much the same
And on the streets of L.A.
They know my name
And if you've come this far mister
E
Maybe we're one and the same
I'm a one man
I'm a one man
I'm a one man revolution
I'm a one man
I'm a one man
I'm a one man revolution
The time is nigh
The day is dark
There's only one solution
I'm a one man
I'm a one man
I'm a one man revolution


Let Freedom Ring

Capo 4th Fret
Intro
G C C/B A minor
G G/F# E minor
E minor
There's a man homeless and hungry
A minor E minor
There's a wind that's hard and biting
There's a song in need of singing
A minor E minor
There's a fuse in need of lighting
G E minor
It's no secret the day is coming
G E minor
And it's a day I hope to see
But if they ask
If they ask you brother
A minor
Who told you that
E minor
You didn't hear it from me
G
Let Freedom Ring
C C/B A minor
Let Freedom Ring
A minor
Let Freedom Ring
G G/F# E minor
Let Freedom Ring
There's a book with seven seals
There's a beast with seven heads
There's seven angels on seven horses
There's seven vials with seven plagues
So if you hear
If you hear a knocking
On that door
Just let it be
But if they ask
If they ask you brother
Who told you that
You didn't hear it from me
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Where the righteous
Where the righteous stood
And where the righteous
Where the righteous fell
There's a voice
That's soft and whispering
Coming from the bottom of the well
And I tried hard to remember
To remember what that voice said
Over and over
Over and over
I repeated those words
Inside my head
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring
Eminor
And if they ask
If they ask you brother
A minor
Who told you that
E minor
Tell them it was me


The Road I Must Travel

E B
Well I climbed the seven summits
C# minor B
And I swam the seven seas
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
I fought in the jungles
C# minor B
And I fought in the streets
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
Once I had a reason
C# minor B
Don't know what it could be
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
Well I sang to myself
C# minor B
That I want to be free
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
E B
I walked the empty desert
C# minor
And I was burned in the heat
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
I crossed the frozen wasteland
C# minor B
And in the bitter cold did freeze
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
And I will knock on every door
C# minor B
For I do not have a key
C# minor A
And the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
Well I sang to myself
C# minor B
That I want to be free
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
E B
They shot a man in Soho
C# minor B
Couldn't guess his age
C# minor A
I found his empty journal
E
I filled up every page
B
I called up my state senator
C# minor B
They said he wasn't there
C# minor A
The secretary took my name
E
And man she sounded scared
B
So I counted my misfortunes
C# minor B
I added up the blame
C# minor A
I picked through all the garbage
E
I checked off all the names
B
I read in the newspaper
C# minor B
They'd questioned all my friends
C# minor A
They hoped that they could find me
E
Before I struck again
B
Well I sang to myself
C# minor B
That I want to be free
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
E B
So when thirsty I will drink
C# minor B
When hungry I will steal
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
So tonight I walk in anger
C# minor B
With worn shoes on my feet
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
And I will sing to myself
C# minor B
That I'm gonna be free
C# minor A
But the road I must travel
E
Its end I cannot see
B
There's a sign along the highway
C# minor B
But it's too dark now to read
C# minor A E


The Garden of Gethsemane

Capo 4th Fret
A minor G
On the side of the dirt road
A minor
An old Chevy wreck
G
I climbed through the window
A minor
I sat in the back
G
I gathered my thoughts
A minor
With my head in my hands
G
My next of kin
A minor
My list of demands
C G A minor
I slipped from shadow to shadow
C G A minor
I saw things I should not see
C G
The moon rose high
E minor D
Over the Garden
C G A minor
The Garden of Gethsemane
I know who I'm for
And who I'm against
I pulled the shades tight
I built me a fence
I dug a tunnel
Deep and wide
I sit at the bottom
And wait for the night
I slipped from shadow to shadow
I saw things I should not see
The moon rose high
Over the Garden
The Garden of Gethsemane
Morning has come
Clean clothes on the line
There'll be no tomorrow
I rise and I shine
If you swallow the coin
From the wishing well
Your dreams will come true
In heaven or hell
I slipped from shadow to shadow
I saw things I should not see
The moon rose high
Over the Garden
The Garden of Gethsemane
Take my hand
Down we go
Take my hand, love
Down we go


House gone up in Flames

Tuned down ½ step
D minor
It's in the grain of the wood
It's in the needle's rust
C
It's in the eagle's claw
D minor
It's in the eyes you trust
It's in the jackal's dreams
It's in the sleet and the hail
C
It's in the unmarked box
D minor
That came today in the mail
It's in the dead man's pocket
It's in the child's first sin
C
It's in the Constitution
D minor
Written in very small print
It's in Colin Powell's lies
It's in the shaman's trance
C
It's in the cellar waiting
D minor
And it's in the best laid plans
F C
We could cut and run
D minor
And take half the blame
C
Don't stop now
G
That's why we came
House gone up in flames
It's in the National Anthem
It's in the scurrying roach
It's in the closed partition
'Tween first class and coach
It's in the relentless fever
It's in the lonely room
It's in the hands of fate
And it's in the pharaoh's tomb
It's in the rich man's dreams
It's in the poor man's hands
It's in the body bags
Along the Rio Grande
It's in the evening shade
It's on the zealot's tongue
It's in the widow's tears
And it's in the miner's lungs
We could cut and run
And take half the blame
Don't stop now
That's why we came
House gone up in flames
It's in the moon's dark spin
It's in the cloudless sky
It was in St. Peter's denial
That he'd thrice deny
It's in the distant thunder
It's in the whispered prayer
That they won't find us hidden here
Beneath the stairs
So consider yourself lucky
And watch what you say
I got what I wanted
You might get the same
It's in the bold print nailed
To the cathedral door
It's in the black cold pressure
On the ocean floor
We could cut and run
And take half the blame
Don't stop now
That's why we came
House gone up in flames


Flesh Shapes the Day

E
Now you might have heard different
But I know it's a fact
That Jesus, Mary, Joseph
And the Apostle Paul were black
A
Ten letters I am writing
Each one reads the same
E
Nine circles I am drawing
One around your name
B
Land and freedom
Steel and faith
A
Tooth and bone and wire
E
Skin, scar, dirt and fire
B
It doesn't matter who you are
A
It does not matter what you say
G E G E G E
Flesh shapes the day
Now it's clear as a pillar of smoke
And broken Starbuck's glass
Yeah, I support my troops
They wave black flags
They wear black masks
All the roads are closed
Smoke is rising from the fields
The monsters left their cages
An angel set them free
Land and freedom
Steel and faith
Tooth and bone and wire
Skin, scar, dirt and fire
It doesn't matter who you are
It does not matter what you say
Flesh shapes the day
A G E X6
Veteran's hospitals
And witches spells
Low to buy
And high to sell
And little girls
Collecting shells
And memories
Upon the shelves
And ringing bells
And high school choirs
And faithful dogs
Beside the fire
And billionaires
And open bars
And early exits
And judgments hard
And land and freedom
And steel and faith
And tooth and bone and wire
And skin, scar, dirt and fire
It doesn't matter who you are
Does not matter what the fuck you say
Flesh shapes the day


Battle Hymns

Capo 3rd fret
D minor F
Battle hymns for the broken
B flat A minor
Battle hymns for the misled
C A
Battle hymns for the wretched
D minor
The forgotten and the dead
F
Battle hymns of redemption
B flat A minor
Of solidarity and pride
C A
Battle hymns we will be singing
D minor
At the turning of the tide
D minor F C
D minor
Can you explain to the mothers
F
And the fathers of those
C
Who come riding home in coffins
D minor
In their military clothes
d minor
Shiny medals pinned
F
To their dead teenage chests
C
While the trumpets blare
D minor
And you lie your best
So ask all you want
F
From the dusk til the dawn
C
The answer's still no
D minor
Cause brother I'm gone
Battle hymns for the broken
Battle hymns for the misled
Battle hymns for the wretched
The forgotten and the dead
Battle hymns of redemption
Of solidarity and pride
Battle hymns we will be singing
At the turning of the tide
F C A
Can you explain away the sleight of hand
And the criminality
Of spending souls for oil
Well in the mirror I can see
I am the path that leads down
I am a dark and bloody hall
I'm the reaper, executioner
Hangman, judge, and the law
So tie a yellow ribbon
Round the oak tree on the lawn
But the cavalry's not comin'
Cause brother they're gone
Battle hymns for the broken
Battle hymns for the misled
Battle hymns for the wretched
The forgotten and the dead
Battle hymns of redemption
Of solidarity and pride
Battle hymns we will be singing
At the turning of the tide
So I'm sharpening my shovel
I'm firing the kiln
I'm blind and I am purposeful
A martyr on the hill
The dream you might be dreaming
Might be someone else's dream tonight
I'm the whisperer of misgivings
I'm the fading tail light
I'm the call for retribution
From the back of the smoke filled hall
I'm the vow of bitterness
I'm the poison in the well
I've a photographic memory
Of the deeds I will avenge
I'm the cold in the river hollow
I've a hatpin, I've a plan
I don't care of cause or consequence
Head shaved and body lean
I'm the go‐getter, the score settler
I'm the shadow on the green
There's a flock of blackbirds flying
Nearly ten thousand strong
Who set off this morning
And brother they're gone
Battle hymns for the broken
Battle hymns for the misled
Battle hymns for the wretched
The forgotten, for the dead
Battle hymns of redemption
Of solidarity and pride
Battle hymns we will be singing
At the turning of the tide


Maximum Firepower

A minor
This one's for the shoeshine boy
And the farmer in debt
Each string is barbed wire
Each chord is a threat
G
This blues guy I met
That never had a hit
A minor
Said you don't gotta be loud, son
To be heavy as shit
Well I'm the triggerman, baby
And tonight I'll prove
That this machine here
Well it kills fascists too
G
And don't be surprised
If the sermon on the mount
A minor
Next time is delivered
In a little coffee house
D minor
Cause somebody here's
Gotta let them know
A minor
I doubt it's me
But here I go
E minor
I hit the button
Tape started to roll
G
The song's got fire
But it's got no soul
C G A minor
There's a lonely stretch of blacktop
G
Between here and home
C G A minor
Drop down into the valley
Piano playin' in the living room
F A minor
And when you see the white barn
G A minor
You'll know the journey's through
C G A minor
My dog's barking in the backseat
G A minor
Cause he knows it too
A minor G
You'll need a fake passport
And fix your disguise
And don't fire, sugar
Til you see the whites of their eyes
I turned the other cheek
But now I'm through
The skin you're in
Makes choices for you
I was checking off names
And I came late to dinner
Seems the slices of pie
Keep getting thinner and thinner
Brothers and sisters
Rejoice and repent
The landlord's dead
You can keep the rent
You got twelve fine friends
But one of 'em's rotten
There's a hole out back
Ain't got no bottom
Forty days in the wilderness
Forty sleepless nights
I'm confused, half blind
And sure I'm right
There's a lonely stretch of blacktop
Between here and home
Drop down into the valley
Piano playin' in the living room
And when you see the white barn
You'll know the journey's through
My dog's barking in the backseat
Cause he knows it too
F
Officer please
I won't be long
A minor
Called the radio station
Requested this song
F
I had my doubts
About what I knew
E minor
So I turned it up
G
Then it sounded true
A minor
Kiss the ring
If the Queen will let you
But come over the fence
And the dogs will get you
On a rope hung the traitor
On a hook hung the meat
You and me are missing persons
C G
Til we're counted in the streets
A minor
So seize the time
And storm the tower
And come correct
With Maximum Firepower
For the sins of the fathers
The son he must pay
The Nightwatchman giveth
C G
And he taketh away
D minor
Thought hard about this next line
Pretty sure it's true
A minor
If you take a step towards freedom
It'll take two steps towards you
E minor
So mister I ain't scared
And mister I ain't worried
G
Cause on that lonely stretch of blacktop
I sit as judge and jury
There's a lonely stretch of blacktop
Between here and home
Drop down into the valley
Piano playin' in the living room
And when you see the white barn
You know the journey's through
My dog's barking in the backseat
Cause he knows it too
The clock strikes the hour
Tonight we ride
You've got three more seconds
To choose sides


Union Song

Capo 3rd Fret
Intro A E7
A
For the fired auto workers
Who were twisted, tricked and robbed
To the peasant in Guatemala
In a sweatshop got your job
And she can't feed her family
On the pennies that she makes
Meanwhile the crime rate's rising
Up and down the Great Lake states
Like vegetables left in the field
The signatures smell rotten
On the contracts and the deeds
That push the race down to the bottom
As they load the rubber bullets
As they fire another round
I'm heading into the tear gas
Dig in man, hold your ground
D
For Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez
Who fought in their own time
A
For our brothers and our sisters
Up and down that picket line
E
For the unnamed and unnumbered
Who struggle brave and long
A
For the union men and women
Standing up and standing strong
Si nos quedemos
Juntos vamos a ganar? Si !
Hit em where it hurts
And bite the hand that feeds
You might get one to three
Or probation and a fine
But I know where I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be right on that front line
For Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez
Who fought in their own time
For our brothers and our sisters
Up and down that picket line
For the unnamed and unnumbered
Who struggle brave and long
For the union men and women
Standing up and standing strong
Now dirty scabs will cross the line
While others stand aside and look
But ain't nobody never got nothin'
That didn't raise their voice and push
Like the steel worker in Ohio
The miner in West Virginia
The teacher in Chicago
Janitor in Mississippi
From the sweatshops of L.A.
To the fields of Mission Flats
There's a thunder cloud exploding
And I'm free at last
Like Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez
Who fought in their own time
Like our brothers and our sisters
Up and down that picket line
Like the unnamed and unnumbered
Who struggle brave and long
Like the union men and women
Standing up and standing strong


The Dark Clouds Above

G
Never listened to the pain
C G
Never listened to fortune or fame
Never listened to eagle or dove
C G
Never listened to anger or love
D C G
But I listen to the dark clouds above
Never answered to the call
Never answered to nothing at all
Never answered when times got rough
Never answered to anger or love
But I answer to the dark clouds above
Never waited for dollar or dime
Never waited for signal or sign
Never waited when they screamed enough
Never waited for anger or love
But I'm waiting for the dark clouds above


Until The End

Intro
A minor C G A minor F C A minor G E minor
A C
No one knows who gave the orders
G A minor
No one asks about the crime
C
No one looks behind the curtain
G A minor
No one questions why
C
The only time we've got
G
Is right about now
C
I cross my heart
G
I take the vow
C G
I'll never turn
A minor
I'll never bend
G
I'm with you now
A minor
Until the end
Tonight's the test
Tonight's the time
I am the punishment
That fits the crime
I'll break the bricks
I'll pick the locks
I don't got nothin'
But I'll give what I got
I'll never turn
I'll never bend
I'm with you now
Until the end
Ten trials whose outcomes
All fixed from the start
Nine judges sitting counting
Their money in the dark
Eight towers of iron
Surround the desert town
On a cold December morning
Seven martyrs knocked them down
Six fathers still waiting
For their six sons to come home
Five mothers who know better
And accept that they're gone
Four years I've been hunted
Still I breathe free
Three times I shot the sheriff
And did not spare the deputy
Two prayers I'm praying
Until we're together
One promise I'm keeping
Tonight and forever
I'll never turn
I'll never bend
I'm with you now
Until the end


Alone without you

Capo 5th Fret
A minor C A minor
Sick of the waiting praying and hoping
A minor C A minor
Sick of the cold whispered dreams and not knowin
C G
Sick of the strength that it takes to keep going
A minor G A minor
Sick ‘cause I’m losing this fight and it’s showing.
D minor A minor
Aye
G A minor
Unforgivable but true
D minor A minor
Aye
G A minor
I’m alone without you
Sick of the fear and Sick of the cold
Sick ‘cause it’s worse for the weak and the old
With two broken legs I’m climbing this hill
Sick of deciding who gets what in my will
Unforgivable but true
I’m alone without you
F
Sick ‘cause I’m stuck on the wrong side of town
A minor
Sick ‘cause I’m pulling but still sinking down
G
Sick ‘cause I can’t turn this whole thing around
E
Sick ‘cause I’m too weak to hunt somebody down
Unforgivable but true
I’m alone without you
Sick of this hammer and litany of sins
Is banging and burning I can’t stand the din
Sick ‘cause the darkness keeps sinking on in
Sick to be leaving my family and friends

Labels: tom

The Devil's Bargain

By: JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

The Devil's Bargain: Sweatshops and the American Scheme
Posted January 2, 2008 | 05:04 PM (EST)

"They hit you...They hit you in the head...To make you work faster."
--Nicaraguan Factory Worker

The so-called season of giving is officially behind us. Even in these sluggish economic times, Americans still managed to spend more than $50 billion in gift-giving. Now that all the gifts have been opened, all that is left is for us to enjoy them.

Yet I can't help but wonder whether our pleasure would be dimmed were we to truly understand what is involved in bringing these gifts--at the bargain prices Americans love--to our homes?

Writing for the Texas Observer, Josh Rosenblatt notes in "Buy Some Stuff, Enslave Somebody" that "the expanding global economy demands that corporations seek out the cheapest possible labor to maximize profit, and stimulate growth and innovation. With free trade has come an explosion of global inequality that has left more than 2.8 billion people living on less than $2 a day."

This inequality makes it possible for Americans to buy more and more while paying less and less. But as the National Labor Committee (NLC), an organization that investigates and exposes human and labor rights abuses committed by U.S. companies producing goods in the developing world, points out, "The people who stitch together our jeans and assemble our CD-players are mostly young women in Central America, Mexico, Bangladesh, China and other poor nations, many working 12 to 14-hour days for pennies an hour."

Some in the business world insist that the business sector's efforts to tap into the vast pool of willing and cheap labor in poorer countries are all about free market economics. However, critics such as the NLC consider the resulting dehumanization of this new global workforce to be the overwhelming moral crisis of the 21st century.

Unfortunately, this remains a moral crisis largely ignored by the American people--except, of course, for the occasional media blitz when a celebrity is found to be peddling wares manufactured in sweatshop conditions. For instance, who could forget the media circus surrounding talk-show personality Kathie Lee Gifford's tearful 1996 confession that her clothing line, which was being sold in Wal-Mart stores across America, was indeed being produced in Honduran sweatshops that employed young girls and pregnant women to sew garments for 20 hours per day in extreme heat for only 31 cents an hour?

Chain retailers like Wal-Mart that sell low-cost goods manufactured overseas by workers who are allegedly paid less than the minimum wage, forced to work long hours, not given overtime pay and even beaten in order to keep them working grueling shifts have become easy targets for human rights groups. The company that once urged consumers to "Buy American" is currently the largest importer of goods made in China, which is one of the world's worst labor abusers. Yet Wal-Mart was not the first company to take advantage of cheap global labor in order to achieve a bigger bottom line, nor will it be the last to do so. Furthermore, mega-retailers are not solely to blame.

We, the American consumer, have perfected the art of indulgence and avoidance. As Rosenblatt observes, "We in the wealthy West, living and dining off the fruits of their labor, can honestly say we are unaware of the devil's bargain we bought into. Or that if we do know, the problem is simply too great to comprehend and beyond our means to do anything about, save changing our lifestyles entirely. Best, in other words, not to think about it."

However, we must think about it. And in thinking about it, at some point we must realize that there is a moral dimension to our buying habits. As long as we are willing to buy, buy, buy at lower and lower prices without a care for how those goods were produced or where they came from, corporations will continue to seek out cheap labor, which invariably goes hand in hand with inhumane working conditions.

Thus, change must start with you. For starters, you can check out the National Labor Committee's website, www.nlcnet.org, for a list of companies with questionable ties to sweatshops and cheap labor. If you're not willing to stop doing business with those companies, then you can at least urge them to change their practices.

Savitri Durkee and William Talen, leaders of the Church of Stop Shopping, star in a documentary making its way across the country, What Would Jesus Buy? They believe now is a good time to urge companies which have given into pressure on climate concerns by becoming more environmentally friendly to recognize human rights concerns by committing to carry goods manufactured in worker-protected environments.

You should also encourage your local church or synagogue to take a moral stand against sweatshop labor. Christ advocated for the poor and urged his followers to reach out to the less fortunate. Christian organizations that claim to emulate Christ should speak out against slave labor. If only large Christian ministries would take a stand and urge their parishioners to boycott large chains that foster inhumane labor practices and working conditions, it could go a long way toward changing conditions around the world.

Finally, the next time you head out the door in search of another great deal, remember that your bargain could be coming at someone else's expense. For instance, here's what a report on a Korean-owned factory had to say about its working conditions:

Toilets and canteens were unsanitary. Some managers screamed at workers or pressured those who complained to resign. And many women, who comprise 88% of the plant's workers, said they were denied time off for doctors' appointments. One pregnant worker who had a note from her doctor about a high-risk pregnancy was not allowed to leave until five hours after she complained of pain. She lost the baby.

-Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

*taken from WWW.AXISOFJUSTICE.ORG

Labels: tom

How the Iraq war's $2 trillion cost to U.S. could have been spent

How the Iraq war's $2 trillion cost to U.S. could have been spent

Jan 21, 2008 04:30 AM

CRAIG AND MARC KIELBURGER

In war, things are rarely what they seem.

Back in 2003, in the days leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon adamantly insisted that the war would be a relatively cheap one. Roughly $50 billion is all it would take to rid the world of Saddam Hussein, it said.

We now know this turned out to be the first of many miscalculations. Approaching its fifth year, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers nearly $500 billion, according to the non-partisan U.S.-based research group National Priorities Project. That number is growing every day.

But it's still not even close to the true cost of the war. As the invasion's price tag balloons, economists and analysts are examining the entire financial burden of the Iraq campaign, including indirect expenses that Americans will be paying long after the troops come home. What they've come up with is staggering. Calculations by Harvard's Linda Bilmes and Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz remain most prominent. They determined that, once you factor in things like medical costs for injured troops, higher oil prices and replenishing the military, the war will cost America upwards of $2 trillion. That doesn't include any of the costs incurred by Iraq, or America's coalition partners.

"Would the American people have had a different attitude toward going to war had they known the total cost?" Bilmes and Stiglitz ask in their report. "We might have conducted the war in a manner different from the way we did."

It's hard to comprehend just how much money $2 trillion is. Even Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world, would marvel at this amount. But, once you begin to look at what that money could buy, the worldwide impact of fighting this largely unpopular war becomes clear.

Consider that, according to sources like Columbia's Jeffrey Sachs, the Worldwatch Institute, and the United Nations, with that same money the world could:

Eliminate extreme poverty around the world (cost $135 billion in the first year, rising to $195 billion by 2015.)

Achieve universal literacy (cost $5 billion a year.)

Immunize every child in the world against deadly diseases (cost $1.3 billion a year.)

Ensure developing countries have enough money to fight the AIDS epidemic (cost $15 billion per year.)

In other words, for a cost of $156.3 billion this year alone – less than a tenth of the total Iraq war budget – we could lift entire countries out of poverty, teach every person in the world to read and write, significantly reduce child mortality, while making huge leaps in the battle against AIDS, saving millions of lives.

Then the remaining money could be put toward the $40 billion to $60 billion annually that the World Bank says is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, established by world leaders in 2000, to tackle everything from gender inequality to environmental sustainability.

The implications of this cannot be underestimated. It means that a better and more just world is far from within reach, if we are willing to shift our priorities.

If America and other nations were to spend as much on peace as they do on war, that would help root out the poverty, hopelessness and anti-Western sentiment that can fuel terrorism – exactly what the Iraq war was supposed to do.

So as candidates spend much of this year vying to be the next U.S. president, what better way to repair its image abroad, tarnished by years of war, than by becoming a leader in global development? It may be too late to turn back the clock to the past and rethink going to war, but it's not too late for the U.S. and other developed countries to invest in the future.

-Craig and Marc Kielburger are children's rights activists and co-founded Free The Children, which is active in the developing world. Online: Craig and Marc Kielburger discuss global issues every Monday in the World & Comment section. Take part in the discussion online at thestar.com/globalvoices.-

*taken from WWW.AXISOFJUSTICE.ORG

Labels: tom

Jim Goodnow's "Yellow Rose" Bus Destroyed by Suspicious Fire

Jim Goodnow and his bus, the Yellow Rose, both have suffered a terrible tragedy.
Jim, who was at Camp Casey with Cindy Sheehan in August of 2005, got the Yellow Rose shortly thereafter and has been a fixture at actions around the country ever since. In recent months, Jim has been providing transportation to Iraq Veterans Against the War for their various tours and other activities. Last night, Jim escaped a fire of suspicious origins that destroyed the bus. Luckily Jim is all right.
This message was passed on by Bill Perry, a vet and anti-war activist.
The "Yellow Rose" bus, was totaled by fire, around 9:30 pm, Friday night, 1/11/08
This bus, often mired in controversy since the IVAW "Dirty South" tour that left Philly in June, and had Active Duty BBQ's @ Ft Meade, Ft Jackson, Camp Lejeune, Ft Benning, and other Southern Military Posts ( Including an IVAW benefit by Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, and AudioSlave, in Virginia ) as well as backdrop for many a Demonstration, and Ft Drum, NY, organizing parties, has finally died.
Goto www.axisofjustice.org to see a photo that shows the huge "Don't Attack Iran" and "Impeach Bush" logos, that let everybody on the highway know just how the occupants felt about the state of the state.
Owner~Operator~Driver (and Veteran) Jim Goodnow pulled into a South Jersey Truck Stop, to catch a 3 or 4 hour nap. Jim saw, in retrospect, some suspicious activity outside the bus, and about 20 minutes later, the entire engine compartment, and back of the bus was engulfed in flames.
Mr. Goodnow speculates that the cause could have been anything from ARSON, to ATTEMPTED MURDER. He plans to notify the ATF Arson Squad on Saturday morning.
Stay tuned....
Be Well, RAISE HELL !
Bill Perry
Delaware Valley Veterans For America
Disabled American Veteran, VVAW, VFP, VFW, VVA
A fund has been set up and is tax deductible.
Checks can be made out to: Veterans For Peace, Chapter 106 (please spell this out) Put in memo line: BUS FUND
Mail to:
Bernie Jezercak
1804 Tree LIne Drive
Carrollton, TX 75007

*taken from WWW.AXISOFJUSTICE.ORG

Labels: tom

The Nightwatchman answers questions posed by Jade of AFI

JADE: There was a time when artists like Bob Dylan had a massive impact on social awareness, but, for various reasons, music as a cultural force has been on the wane for years. RATM also uses music as a political and social platform, do you believe music still has a capacity to reach the hearts and minds of its listeners?

Labels: tom

I will post a variety of musical, political, and cultural tidbits here from time to time for your information and enjoyment. Altogether now....PUSH! Tom Morello

Labels: tom

Stay tuned for blog posts from Timmy C...

Timmy C will be posting blog entries soon. In the meantime, feel free to post comments.

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Stay tuned for blog posts from Brad...

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Stay tuned for blog posts from Tom...

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