The future of labor in America is being decided on the streets of Madison.

An outcry against tyranny, Prometheus Bound illustrates one man’s struggle against the brute force of a ruthless dictator. Written by Tony and Grammy Award-winning playwright and lyricist Steven Sater (Spring Awakening) with music composed by Grammy Award-winning System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian, this new musical is inspired by Aeschylus’s Ancient Greek tragedy about the heroic struggle of Western civilization’s first prisoner of conscience. A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus stages this world premiere production in OBERON, immersing the audience in an environment that has theDionysian energy and rebelliousness of a rock concert.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND PROMETHEUS BOUND:

The American Repertory Theater, in partnership with Amnesty International, is dedicating Prometheus Bound to eight Amnesty actions to free prisoners of conscience. The A.R.T. will be dedicating specific performances to prisoners of conscience around the world (see “At a Glance” section for specifics). Letters will be collected and post-show demonstrations will be held, hoping to shed a light and demand equal human rights for all. We are reaching out to community and student human rights organizations to join us in this initiative. For further information go to http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/amnesty

__________________________________

WHEN: February 25 - April 2, 2011
See “At a Glance” for details — please note non-traditional schedule.

RATING: Recommended for 13 and older.
RUNNING TIME: Eighty minutes, no intermission.

On Monday night, Wisconsin’s week-long protest against Gov. Scott Walker got a soundtrack.

Five thousand people squeezed into the Monona Terrace exhibition hall to hear Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Wayne Kramer of the MC5 curse Walker’s plan to undercut public employee unions. Walker got called every name in the book – “motherfucker,” “asshole” – but the acoustic show was still overwhelmingly peaceful and positive. Morello and friends focused on marshaling the protesters’ energy for continued resistance to the budget bill that would strip away unions’ collective bargaining rights.

The predominantly young crowd batted around balloons and waved signs, some with defiant messages and others with almost self-mocking jokes. (My favorite: “Scott Walker Eats Kittens.”) Union representatives began by speaking about the cause, but none of them more passionately than Morello, who came on next as the night’s MC. In bright orange T-shirt and cap, he made a direct connection with the Cheesehead throng, taking on their cause as his own.
“This has been the most inspiring 24 hours of my life!” he said, to deafening cheers. “You have your hand on the wheel of history!”

The first performer was guitarist Ike Reilly, a friend of Morello’s from Libertyville, Ill., who gave him a ride to Madison when his flight got cancelled. After Reilly’s slightly unfocused set (I wasn’t quite sure what a song about getting wasted had to do with anything), Boston’s Street Dogs arrived to lead the crowd in rousing political sing-alongs like “Up the Union” and Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” But then they too ended with a song about getting wasted.

Focus, people, focus!

Kramer, with the words “Stay Free” painted on his guitar, had no trouble staying on message. He looked like a balding, bespectacled grandfather, but he sure didn’t sound like one with his furious strumming. “I’m sick and tired of payin’ these dues,” he sang. “Finally getting’ hip to these Republican blues!”

Finally, it was Morello’s turn to attack his acoustic guitar, and he seized the moment. He immediately got fists pumping with an electrifying labor song: “The union men and women standing up and standing strong!” But his music wasn’t all fire and brimstone – this is an actual musician, interested in dynamics and delicacy. The contrasts made his agit-prop barnburners, like “Maximum Firepower,” even more powerful.

Morello is a galvanizing figure – funny one minute, fearsome the next. More than just mouthing slogans, he seems to have a sophisticated grasp of the issues. He gave the impression of someone who is fully capable of sparking a revolution based on economic justice.

Morello brought the audience onstage for his closer, “Worldwide Rebel Song,” then concluded by saying, “Gov. Walker, here we come!”

If I were the governor, I’d be scared out of my wits.

MADISON, Wisconsin (CNN) — Wisconsin’s growing demonstration over a budget bill continues Monday with guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame planning to play for the protesters a day after Republican Gov. Scott Walker signaled no retreat on the measure. Supporters call the bill vital, but opponents label it union-busting.

The growing crowds gathering daily in Madison, the state capital, over the issue exceeded 50,000 on Saturday, according to an official estimate, and shows no sign of abating.

“History is happening in the streets of Madison, Wisconsin and I’m going to be there,” said a statement by Morello, who will perform in his solo identity as The Nightwatchman.

Calling the proposed budget law “unjust,” Morello said he will join “teachers, students, firefighters, policemen, Green Bay Packers, nurses, steel workers, construction workers and religious groups that are filling the streets to protest.”

He referred to Walker as “the Mubarak of the Midwest” in reference to the Egyptian leader ousted by popular protest, and accused the governor and unnamed corporate allies of trying to “rob American workers of their fundamental rights.”

The budget repair bill proposed by Walker to address a $137 million shortfall through June 30 would increase contributions of state workers to their pensions and health insurance benefits. It also requires collective bargaining units to conduct annual votes to maintain certification, a costly procedure, and eliminates the right of unions to have dues deducted from worker paychecks.

Last week, 14 Democratic state senators essentially boycotted the legislature and went to Illinois to prevent a quorum from passing the bill. The measure’s opponents say they won’t allow a vote unless Walker negotiates on the plan to eliminate collective bargaining rights for everything but wages.

Walker rejected such a deal Sunday in an interview on “FOX News Sunday.”
He called the Democratic complaint of union-busting “a red herring” and said significant changes were needed for budgetary reasons, but that powerful public employee unions had been able to block the necessary adjustments.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Prefix

Perez Hilton

KROQ.COM

The Alternate Side

Onion AV Club Milwaukee

WASHINGTON, DC - The public disclosure today by WikiLeaks of tens of thousands of US diplomatic cables included many of special interest to Armenian Americans, most notably a “smoking gun” revelation that Turkey has aggressively used the Turkey-Armenia Protocols, particularly the prospect of its ratification, to pressure American leaders against US recognition of the Armenian Genocide and in favor of a pro-Azerbaijani settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“These files are a smoking-gun,” explained ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “They reveal the remarkable candor with which Ankara has, from day one, sought to pressure the United States to enforce it preconditions for the Turkey-Armenia Protocols. It’s painfully clear from the words of Turkey’s own leaders that, rather than seeking peace, they instead sought to use the prospect of the ratification of these accords to block the Armenian Genocide recognition and to force a pro-Azerbaijani resolution of Nagorno Karabakh.”

In a February 25, 2010, confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffery noted that Turkey had made it clear that its ratification of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols was predicated on Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s approval. Specifically, in describing a February 18, 2010, meeting between U.S. Under Secretary of State William Burns and Turkey’s Undersecretary of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Sinirlioglu, Jeffery writes:

“Sinirlioglu appealed for ‘simultaneity’ between Armenian Protocols ratification and the Minsk Process. He emphasized ‘a strong reaction’ against the protocols among ruling party MPs had to be overcome before the government would hazard a ratification effort. He warned Congressional passage of an Armenian genocide resolution would ‘complicate’ his government’s domestic political calculations regarding ratification. He said if something acceptable to Azerbaijani President Aliyev can found, then ‘we can move’ the protocols forward.”

Read the rest of the press release here.

I imagine everyone reading this knows that that is bullshit, and that being attracted to someone who is your same gender doesn’t somehow make you “less human” than being attracted to someone of another gender. There’s not a “them” and an “us”, there’s just a big old “we” that covers everybody.

Recently, there have been some high profile examples of gay American teens who were bullied or harassed so severely that they killed themselves. They preferred death to the misery that some malevolent assholes felt like dishing out. These deaths are tragic, and their lives could have been saved if this homophobic bigotry had not been endorsed or tolerated by their schools and communities.

One positive movement on this front has been a new YouTube channel created by sex advice columnist Dan Savage. Called the “It Gets Better Project”, it is a series of videos made by gay adults, explaining how miserable they were as teenagers, who now have happy lives. The idea is that some desperate gay teens may see these testimonials and gain hope and strength for the future. Please check out those videos, and upload one of your own, if you think it would help.

And more directly, here at Axis of Justice, we received an email from James Bennion, a young activist in Davis County, Utah. He has been working to get a Gay-Straight Alliance organization instituted at his high school campus. These school clubs are dedicated to bringing together queer teens and straight teens, to work together against homophobia, and push for policies that prevent harassment and violence.

Unfortunately, James has faced roadblocks at every turn from school administrators, but remains determined. He feels that these clubs are necessary to help gay teens in his area, as they face frequent prejudice and hate.

James is looking for musicians who will be (or would be interested in planning) concerts in Utah to help raise money for the Utah Gay Straight Alliance Network (a project of the Utah Pride Center). “It wouldn’t need to be anything big,” he says, “even a

person with an acoustic guitar and a mic would be more than enough. We are open to just about anything, as long as it would bring attention to the cause.”

We’re hoping that some Axis fans are musicians that could help out James and the Utah GSA. Please contact him at bennion(at)hotmail.com (replace (at) with @).

More: www.serjtankian.com

BORDERS ARE…
by Serj Tankian

Borders Surround
Borders Bound
Borders Marginalize
Borders Frame
Borders Divide
Borders Kill

Borders are the ultimate man-made walls separating and differentiating us beyond our cultures, beyond our beliefs, beyond economic hierarchies.

Borders are subjective, unnatural lines drawn by humans delineating land, water, and air for partisan collective utilization.

If borders were natural, other animals, in fact all beings would be bound by them. Obviously, they aren’t.

Indigenous cultures never recognized borders, cognizant of the fact that the land owns us and not the other way around.

Borders lead to war, occupation, and bigotry, even genocide.

Worst of all, borders are a deceptive, yet constant reinforcement of the notion that we are alone, separate from each other and all things around us.

The multi-layered borders of our lives stratify separation in its undignified definition.

There are people dying in Kashmir due to border disputes. Shots are fired daily between North and South Korea over border disputes. The Berlin Wall separated the German people for almost half a century, at the border. Israel and Palestine continue to endure conflict over their borders, and the predecessors of modern-day Turkey (Ottoman Empire) felt they had to carry out genocide to protect their borders.

Borders represent the foundation of civilization, expansionism, abusive capitalism, and presumptive occupation.

Floods don’t recognize borders.
Earthquakes don’t recognize borders.
Diseases, famine, and drought don’t recognize borders.

Why should we?

We deserve to live without the borders of mind, body, and spirit.
Given the unprecedented changes we are witnessing in the world.

We really have no choice.

Until today.

Today I realized why the situation has seemed so bleak.

I happened to be listening to an old radio interview I did several years ago with anti-racist activist Tim Wise. We were talking about the Minutemen and the beginnings of the new anti-immigration movement. Tim was saying that it’s completely rational for these white Americans to be afraid for their jobs, but that they were jumping to the wrong conclusion by blaming immigrants from Latin America for their problems. The real story, he said, is that powerful corporations are exploiting workers around the globe, and governments are pitting workers against each other with “free trade” treaties. American jobs are not in danger because of Mexicans crossing the border to feed their families. American and Mexican jobs are in danger because vicious corporations and uncaring governments are crushing us.

That’s the real story. Illegal border crossings as well as the anti-immigration movement in the US are not the story, they are reactions to the actions of greedy corporations and corrupt government policies by people trying to live and survive.

After listening to this interview, I realized that our outlook is so bleak is because we’ve been telling ourselves the wrong stories.

The story is not that immigrants stealing American jobs, it’s that corporations screwing over any worker they can. The story isn’t that one oil company had a huge industrial accident in the Gulf of Mexico, it’s that nearly all corporations do their best to make money no matter how many lives or environments they destroy. The story isn’t that America is trying to fix Afghanistan with soldiers and bombs, it’s that the United States has perpetually overthrown governments it didn’t like and replaced them with governments it did. The story isn’t that Democrats are cowards and Republicans are villains, the story is that they are powerful people who have agendas and are susceptible to the influence of money and public opinion.

I’m not saying that every story has to be a towering tale. Every person is important, as is everyone’s story. But we need to remember how our little stories relate to the bigger stories.

This perspective is important. For as long as there have been these horrible stories above, about power and oppression and corruption and greed, there have also been stories of opposition. Wherever there is a story of injustice, there is also the story of someone who fought against it. Stories of oppression are matched by stories of rebellion. Stories of failure are followed by stories of renewal, struggle, and then victory. Stories of war, stories of peace, stories of hate, stories of love, stories of fear and stories of hope.

What I’m saying, folks, is that we’re living this story now. Your breath is the paper, your voice is the ink, and your every action spells a word on the page. Together, we write the plot with our very lives, never knowing what the ending will be.

The story that we tell will have a happy ending. I know this because we hold the pens.

Volunteers: Tom Morello, Mary Morello, Allie O’Brien, Kirsti Ann Urpa, Nicole Marie Mire, and Leah Cevoli with AOJ Host, Leah Cevoli.

To Volunteer, please email Allie O’Brien.

Then, if you’re like most people, you said “what the hell is Net Neutrality?”

“Net Neutrality” is a extremely boring name for a very important concept. It’s like the First Amendment of the internet. It means that no matter what internet provider gets you online, the only one who controls where you go and what you see is you. You can create your own website, you can check your email, read the news, or buy items online, and the company you pay for internet access can’t do a damn thing about it.

Imagine some of the alternatives: you try to visit your favorite website, but the site takes forever to load because they didn’t pay off your internet provider. A website criticizing some corporation is suddenly “not found”. Your online business starts losing sales because an internet company would rather use their bandwidth for wealthy corporations instead of your small enterprise. Or most likely, we could get two internets, separate and unequal: a high-speed, corporate-dominated internet, and a “public” internet, with independent sites that are hard, or impossible to view. It would be like a phone system, where you could barely hear your family or friends when you called, but got a crystal clear connection when you were calling to pay your cable bill. Or a road system where the only paved roads went to big chain stores, and you had to take dirt roads to get anywhere else.

Since the government has been avoiding actually doing anything about net neutrality, internet giants Google and Verizon cut a deal outlining what they plan to do regarding free and open access to the internet. First, they are totally dumping net neutrality for wireless internet. If you’re using Verizon for wireless internet, you can see what they let you see, and that’s it. They say that (for now) they will keep net neutrality for wired internet connections, but with loopholes that could make for the “separate but unequal” internet we mentioned above.

This guy sums it up pretty well:

We really can’t rely on corporations to be good citizens when they make profits by screwing us over. And we can’t rely on the government either, because they seem to want to bury their heads in the sand. So we’ll have to make the government do the right thing.

What can you do?

The Save the Internet Coalition has a quick and easy list of things you can do, and an easy form to contact your Congresspeople to tell them how you feel.

If you live in Minneapolis, the Federal Communications Commission (the government agency that is SUPPOSED to be regulating on this issue) will be holding a public meeting Thursday, August 19 where you can make your voice heard. Or you can contact the FCC directly by email or phone numbers (remember, be polite, they’re less likely to listen to you if you’re, y’know, calling them names).

Unless we step up, we may lose the freest, most democratic form of media the world has ever known.