Archive for the Politics Category
Welcome to the dream. It’s important that, in spite of this historic and symbolic celebration of his birthday, each of us recognize that there remains so much work still to do in order that all people are able to truly experience the meaning of freedom symbolized in the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King.
How fortunate we are that we no longer have to wait for someone to help us make the dream a reality.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
Happy Birthday, Dr. King.
Melissa Etheridge is joining what is sure to be an enormous tax revolt on the part of the gay community in California in protest to the passage of Proposition 8. The proposition, in case you really don’t know about it, places a ban on gay marriage in the state of California, seeking to define marriage as being between only a man and a woman.
Voters in California have no idea what kind of trouble they’re about to cause in the form of tax revolt, especially with Governor Schwarzenneger’s proposed state income tax hikes. This story will surely continue to develop.
Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.
Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California.
Melissa Etheridge On Prop 8: You Can Forget My Taxes, California.
People people, we got to get over before we go under. I feel like we’re so close to this thing.
Daft Punk vs. Adam Freeland – Aer OBAMA
James Brown – Funky President (People It’s Bad)
These songs are posted with limited commentary because a) you’re all ready and b) the songs say everything I could hope to. You’re ready for change. You can feel it in the air. There is a restlessness all around you, and you’re right there in it. I could barely sleep last night, I got a total of maybe four hours of sleep.
Today we will make history.
You know, as do I, that after today the game is changed forever. No matter who wins, we have all won. Change is imminent here in America as we work to regain our foothold in the world, and I have strongly believed for a long time that the voice of that change will be Barack Obama.
As election day comes in America, I urge you that you must, absolutely MUST vote, regardless of whom you are voting for. I, for one, voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I voted Yes on Referendum Five here in Memphis, the Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) initiative. I hope you will do the same.
Today, moreso than at any election held in my lifetime, we must come together as one nation. I hope you already know what’s at stake. If you’re reading this and you haven’t voted, get up and go. Please. Your vote does matter and it is important.
With that, I say God bless Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and God bless the United States of America.
This is groundbreaking, earth-shattering, and like whoa.
New exclusive Nas. “Queens Get the Money,” the opening track to his much-discussed and untitled album, finds Nas in a Kid A mindspace. Rapping over a drumless beat from Jay Electronica he talks about bringing back Arsenio for hip-hop’s sake, dubs himself Nasty Nasdaq and shouts out kids in group homes. Will this be the album where Nas creates a new national anthem?
I normally shy away from reviews of artists whose sound follows so clearly in the paths of (and occasionally closely resembles) those of others whom I enjoy — namely Bruce Springsteen, Conor Oberst, Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg, Damien Rice and the like. I was sent a press reminder about David Ford’s terrific release Songs For The Road and had a chance to listen through the album. While I was listening I was stopped dead in my tracks by the next-to-last song on the record, entitled “Requiem” — a completely appropriate companion to the annals of historically great protest songs. “Every administration blames the one from last year,” Ford sings to us as if we should know he is right, “so when consequence calls, there’ll be nobody here.”
It’s more than simply a wonderful piece of work, fierce in its delivery and angry in its resonance — “Requiem” strikes me as a important and necessary piece of songwriting for the times in which we are currently living. It bespeaks and bemoans the tragedy of our excesses as a people, shames us (as good protest songs should) for being the victims of our own gluttony and fear. It paints a picture of the kind of fear that grips us for refusing to accept our part in the way things have become. This is a song whose time is right now, for better or worse. We’d all better start learning the words.
BONUS: David Ford performing live at legendary Sun Studio in Memphis.
Visit David on MySpace at http://myspace.com/davidford. Buy Songs For The Road from Amazon by clicking here.
I feel like absolute hell, but I know we can make it. I’m going to keep playing this song until I get through feeling crappy. Furthermore, never forget that YES WE CAN.
Listen to The Pointer Sisters – Yes We Can Can
Head over to Amazon and buy some Pointer Sisters downloads, or you can purchase Yes We Can Can: The Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings by clicking here.
