Tom Morello, aka the Nightwatchman, talks about his track, “Midnight in the City of Destruction”, one of the 34 songs that makes up the Dear New Orleans benefit compilation. You can buy the album here: www.dearno.la

Song: ‘Get Up, Stand Up’

CD: Burnin\’

The late, saintly Bob Marley’s signature anthem has become a fill-in-the-blank template for righteous causes of all stripes. Not only is it the official fight song of Amnesty International, but Peter Tosh’s sung-spoken interlude – “You can fool some people sometime/ But you can’t fool all the people all the time” — has been called a precursor to rap.

Website:www.bobmarley.com

By Michael  Moore

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OpenMike 9/11/10
Michael Moore’s daily blog

I am opposed to the building of the “mosque” two blocks from Ground Zero.

I want it built on Ground Zero.

Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims
of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right
to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I
believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and
generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and
use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your
religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from
you.

There’s been so much that’s been said about this manufactured controversy, I
really don’t want to waste any time on this day of remembrance talking about
it. But I hate bigotry and I hate liars, and so in case you missed any of
the truth that’s been lost in this, let me point out a few facts:

1. I love the Burlington Coat Factory. I’ve gotten some great winter coats
there at a very reasonable price. Muslims have been holding their daily
prayers there since 2009. No one ever complained about that. This is not
going to be a “mosque,” it’s going to be a community center. It will have
the same prayer room in it that’s already there. But to even have to assure
people that “it’s not going to be mosque” is so offensive, I now wish they
would just build a 111-story mosque there. That would be better than the
lame and disgusting way the developer has left Ground Zero an empty hole
until recently. The remains of over 1,100 people still haven’t been found.
That site is a sacred graveyard, and to be building another monument to
commerce on it is a sacrilege. Why wasn’t the entire site turned into a
memorial peace park? People died there, and many of their remains are still
strewn about, all these years later.

2. Guess who has helped the Muslims organize their plans for this community
center? The JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER of Manhattan! Their rabbi has been
advising them since the beginning. It’s been a picture-perfect example of
the kind of world we all want to live in. Peter Stuyvessant, New York’s
“founder,” tried to expel the first Jews who arrived in Manhattan. Then the
Dutch said, no, that’s a bit much. So then Stuyvessant said ok, you can
stay, but you cannot build a synagogue anywhere in Manhattan. Do your stupid
Friday night thing at home. The first Jewish temple was not allowed to be
built until 1730. Then there was a revolution, and the founding fathers said
this country has to be secular — no religious nuts or state religions.
George Washington (inaugurated around the corner from Ground Zero) wanted to
make a statement about this his very first year in office, and wrote this to
American Jews:

   “The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud
themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal
policy — a policy worthy of imitation. …

   “It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the
indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their
inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States,
which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires
only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as
good citizens …

   “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land
continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants — while
every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there
shall be none to make him afraid.”

3. The Imam in charge of this project is the nicest guy you’d ever want to
meet. Read about his past here.

4. Around five dozen Muslims died at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Hundreds of members of their families still grieve and suffer. The 19
killers did not care what religion anyone belonged to when they took those
lives.

5. I’ve never read a sadder headline in the New York Times than the one on
the front page this past Monday: “American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever
Belong?” That should make all of us so ashamed that even a single one of our
fellow citizens should ever have to worry about if they “belong” here.

6. There is a McDonald’s two blocks from Ground Zero. Trust me, McDonald’s
has killed far more people than the terrorists.

7. During an economic depression or a time of war, fascists are extremely
skilled at whipping up fear and hate and getting the working class to blame
“the other” for their troubles. Lincoln’s enemies told poor Southern whites
that he was “a Catholic.” FDR’s opponents said he was Jewish and called him
“Jewsevelt.” One in five Americans now believe Obama is a Muslim and 41% of
Republicans don’t believe he was born here.

8. Blaming a whole group for the actions of just one of that group is
anti-American. Timothy McVeigh was Catholic. Should Oklahoma City prohibit
the building of a Catholic Church near the site of the former federal
building that McVeigh blew up?

9. Let’s face it, all religions have their whackos. Catholics have O’Reilly,
Gingrich, Hannity and Clarence Thomas (in fact all five conservatives who
dominate the Supreme Court are Catholic). Protestants have Pat Robertson and
too many to list here. The Mormons have Glenn Beck. Jews have Crazy Eddie.
But we don’t judge whole religions on just the actions of their whackos.
Unless they’re Methodists.

10. If I should ever, God forbid, perish in a terrorist incident, and you or
some nutty group uses my death as your justification to attack or
discriminate against anyone in my name, I will come back and haunt you worse
than Linda Blair marrying Freddy Krueger and moving into your bedroom to
spawn Chucky. John Lennon was right when he asked us to imagine a world with
“nothing to kill or die for and no religion, too.” I heard Deepak Chopra
this week say that “God gave humans the truth, and the devil came and he
said, ‘Let’s give it a name and call it religion.’ ” But John Adams said it
best when he wrote a sort of letter to the future (which he called
“Posterity”): “Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present
Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it.
If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the Pains to
preserve it.” I’m guessing ol’ John Adams is up there repenting nonstop
right now.

Friends, we all have a responsibility NOW to make sure that Muslim community
center gets built. Once again, 70% of the country (the same number that
initially supported the Iraq War) is on the wrong side and want the “mosque”
moved. Enormous pressure has been put on the Imam to stop his project. We
have to turn this thing around. Are we going to let the bullies and thugs
win another one? Aren’t you fed up by now? When would be a good time to take
our country back from the haters?

I say right now. Let’s each of us make a statement by donating to the
building of this community center! It’s a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization
and you can donate a dollar or ten dollars (or more) right now through a
secure pay pal account by clicking here. I will personally match the first
$10,000 raised (forward your PayPal receipt to webguy@michaelmoore.com). If
each one of you reading this blog/email donated just a couple of dollars,
that would give the center over $6 million, more than what Donald Trump has
offered to buy the Imam out. C’mon everyone, let’s pitch in and help those
who are being debased for simply wanting to do something good. We could all
make a huge statement of love on this solemn day.

I lost a co-worker on 9/11. I write this today in his memory.

“The man who speaks of the enemy / Is the enemy himself.”
                                                   –Bertolt Brecht

This week has seen the deaths of two long-time, highly influential political activists, Irwin Silber and Lucius Walker.

Irwin Silber was a writer, music enthusiast, and founding editor of a magazine called Sing Out back in the 1950s. As folk music rose in popularity and power in the 1960s, it also became a force for protest and free speech. Silber’s magazine helped spread the word, and support the growing folk music movement. He helped further the careers of outspoken performers like Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie.

Silber also wrote a number of books about folk music, and was once the head of an organization dedicated to promoting music of the American labor movement.

Baptist minister Reverend Lucius Walker was a long-time civil rights activist and humanitarian. In 1988, he formed an organization called Pastors for Peace, which focused on delivering to the poorest citizens of Latin America. He also repeatedly spoke out against, and violated, the unjust US embargo of Cuba. “The Bible says feed the hungry, clothe the poor,” he said. “It doesn’t say to starve the Communists.”

Walker also pushed for reparations by the US government to African-American descendants of slaves, and worked with other civil rights groups to fight against the Ku Klux Klan.

Irwin and Lucius embodied many of the qualities that we revere in American activism: dedication; courage; vision; and the refusal to back down from a fight.  The best way to honor their memory is to continue to carry on their spirit, and try to embody their ideals.

It’s a FREE SHOW with Street Sweeper Social Club, Presented by Miller Lite on Thursday, September 23rd at Bottom Lounge!

Doors 8pm | Street Sweeper Social Club 10:00pm

Song:  “Whats Going On“

CD: Whats Going On

The album is told from the point of view of a Vietnam War veteran returning to the country he had been fighting for, and seeing nothing but injustice, suffering and hatred.

Website: www.marvingayepage.net

With less than nine weeks remaining until Election Day, control of the U.S. Senate remains in play, as Republicans hold meaningful leads in five states currently held by Democrats, with six more Democratic seats remaining in our “toss-up” category. Since our last update two weeks ago, new polls have nudged our polling averages in a slightly more Republican direction in the more competitive states, particularly Florida, Kentucky, California and Washington.

Remember that to win an absolute majority in the Senate, the Republicans need to gain at least 9 seats (although as several Pollster and HuffPost commenters have pointed out, a gain of 8 seats would leave the Democratic majority dependent on vote of not always reliable Joe Lieberman).

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President Obama this week will call for tax incentives that would allow businesses to write off 100% of new capital investment through 2011 — moves that the White House says could save businesses $200 billion over two years.

The far-ranging tax proposal is one of a series of economic measures the White House planned to release this week. The first came Monday when Obama called for a $50-billion boost in spending on the nation’s roads, runways and railroads, his latest effort to respond to the stubbornly sluggish economy in a political climate turning against his party.

The $50-billion spending plan, Obama said, would put construction workers back on the job and rebuild deteriorating infrastructure.

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Song: Machine Gun

CD: Band Of Gypsys

 It is a lengthy, loosely defined (jam-based) protest of the Vietnam War, and perhaps a broader comment on conflict of any kind.

Website: www.jimmyhendrix.com