Pete Seeger with Ray Anderson's Placard Poems

Bill Quigley rounds up some stats on arrests of war resisters in the US:

"We can never forget that everything that Hitler did in Germany was 'legal,' and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did was 'illegal.' It was 'illegal' to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany, but I am sure that if I lived in Germany during that time I would have comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal...we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension.� We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

There have been over 15,000 arrests for resistance to war since 2002. There were large numbers right after the run up to and invasion of Iraq. Recently, arrests have begun climbing again. Though arrests are a small part of anti-war organizing, their rise is an indicator of increasing resistance.

The information comes from the NUCLEAR RESISTER, a newsletter that has been reporting detailed arrest information on peace activists and other social justice campaigns since 1980. Felice and Jack Cohen-Joppa, publishers of the NUCLEAR RESISTER, document arrests by name and date based on information collected from newspapers across the country and from defense lawyers and peace activists.

Since 2002, the NUCLEAR RESISTER has documented anti-war arrests for protestors each year:

2002 - 1800 arrests
2003 - 6072 arrests
2004 - 2440 arrests
2005 - 975 arrests
2006 - 950 arrests
2007 - 2272 arrests
2008 - 810 as of May 1

"Arrests for resistance to war are far more widespread geographically than most people think," according to Cohen-Joppa of NUCLEAR RESISTER. "Yes, there are many arrests in DC and traditional big cities of anti-war activity - like San Francisco, NYC and Chicago, but there have also been anti-war arrests in Albany, Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Bangor, Bath, Bend, Brentwood, Burlington, Campbell, Cedar Rapids, Chapel Hill, Charlottesville, Chicopee, Colorado Springs, Denver, Des Moines, East Hampton, Erie, Eugene, Eureka, Fairbanks, Fairport, Fort Bragg, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Great Dismal Swamp, Hammond, Huntsville, Joliet, Juneau, Kennebunkport, La Crosse, Los Angeles, Madison, Manchester, Memphis, Newark, Northbrook, Olympia, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Portland, Portsmouth, Providence, Richmond, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Fe, Smithfield, Springfield, St. Louis, St. Paul, Staten Island, Superior, Syracuse, Tacoma, Toledo, Tucson, Tulsa, Vandenberg, Virginia� Beach, Wausau, Wheaton and Wilmington just to name a few."

"In fact," notes Cohen-Joppa, "in 2007, anti-war arrests were reported during 250 distinct events in 105 cities in 35 states and the District of Columbia.  So far in 2008, arrests have been reported at 65 events in 43 different cities in 19 states and D.C."

photo credit: Christopher Dunn | www.utahphillips.org

U. Utah Phillips died this week. Heart failure. Aged 73.

Utah Phillips was a folk festival staple in Northern California over the years - as a folk singer, labor organizer, peace activist, storyteller, and poet. He was also a very visible presence - full white beard, flowing white hair, and usually a big ol' hat with a colorful shirt and suspenders. He was as much a historian as a singer - his songs educated his audience as he told the story.

A long time resident of Nevada City, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, he was the self-titled "Voice of the Great Southwest."  Born Bruce Duncan Phillips, he took the name U. Utah Phillips as a tribute to fellow musician T. Texas Tyler. His other influences included folk singers Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Hank Williams.

An Army private during the Korean War, Phillips referred to this experience as the turning point of his life. Affected by the devastation and human misery he had witnessed in Korea, back in America he faced the now-familiar difficulties of returning combat veterans.

He became a drifter, riding freight trains around the country. Phillips got off a train in Salt Lake City, destitute and drinking, and wound up at the Joe Hill House, a homeless shelter. He later ended up working at the Joe Hill House, and Phillips credited Ammon Hennacy, the social reformer, pacifist and anarchist who operated the facility, with having provided him with a philosophical framework around which he later constructed songs and stories. In 1968, he ran for the U.S. Senate for the Peace and Freedom Party. And lost. He eventually left Utah for the folk community in Saratoga Springs, and released his first record in 1973. Most of the songs on his early albums are railroad related - a single from his first record, 'Moose Turd Pie,' tells the story of a work gang repairing railroad tracks in the southwest, and saw extensive airplay in 1973. 

He was a proud member of the Industrial Workers of America, the Traveling Musicians' Union 1000, and Grand Duke of Hobos. He was also a member of the great Traveling Nation, the community of hobos and railroad bums that populates the rail lines in the Midwest, and has been an archivist of their history and culture.

He partnered with a number of people over the years - from filling in for Kate Wolf when she became too sick to perform, to Rosalie Sorrels, to Ani DeFranco. His songs have been performed by many, including Emmylou Harris, Tom Waits, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Joe Ely and others. He received a Grammy nomination for his work with Ani DeFranco and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Folk Alliance in 1997. After his ability to travel was hampered by heart disease, he hosted his own weekly radio show, Loafer's Glory: The Hobo Jungle of the Mind.

Despite his 38-year career as a folksinger, he claimed that he never lost his stage fright before performances. Though he started out as a singer, he was hesitant about his guitar playing, and over the years his concerts became increasingly based on storytelling instead of just song. He claimed his personality brought him fans. "It is better to be likeable than talented," he often said.

He had a way with words right up to the end... I particularly like the letter he sent out a few weeks ago to family and friends, knowing the end was in sight. "Utah here, with a rambling missive pandect and organon regarding my current reality..." You can read it all here. 

Among his many soapboxes, one of my favorites was his taking issue with NPR for accepting corporate donations, the 'Talking NPR Blues'. I've excerpted the end of it below, but it's worth a full listen.

I got tired of being treated like a veg
So I called up the station and canceled my pledge
In a mighty act of liberation
Sent the money off to my community station

I said "I love you"

But if you blow it
I'll sure as hell let you know it
I'll knock the radio off the shelf
Buy a transmitter and do it myself

Whitebeard the Pirate

This is radio station H O B O
Broadcasting on a vagrancy of 60 to 90 days
Signing off
For now.

Let us do a War Plan like exercise on planing a wedding in Jaipur.

To begin with you need an auspicious date.Let us consult a Pandit ji.He will consult a Panchanj or a computer and fix an auspicious date favourable to both boy and girl according to their horoscopes for their long life and happy marriage.

There are more than 500 event organising companies and  numerous travel agents who will be happy to help you organise the wedding from pre wedding ceremonies to shopping for wedding finery to sightseeing for the guests, printing and distribution of invitation cards, wedding cake, choreographed  ladies sangeet,venue,caterers even choice of honeymoon destination with hotel package is done by the wedding planner- or you could do it on your own.

Once the date is fixed,all services are booked accordingly for that date and advances are paid. Let us begin with the venue.There is such a wide variety of venues available that your choices will only be restricted by money or prior bookings.Name your choice A grand Palace(Hotel Rambagh Palace),A small Haveli (Devi Niketan Or Raj mahal Palace on Sardar Patel Marg)A fort(Jai Garh or Nahargarh).Venue for reception( Sisodia Rani Ka Bagh or SMS convention Center or Rajputana Sheraton Hall).

Now you have to find that perfect Wedding card.Kashi nath ji ki Gali situated in Gopalji Karasta,in Chaura Rasta,in the Walled City.There are about 40-50 card shops here and they sell about 30 lac cards every year to people coming from all India.Cost of the card ranges from Rs.1 to Rs.500.There are more than 700 different sorts of cards available at a time.People are preferring hand made cards made in Jaipur presently.

An army marches on its stomach so does a good wedding.Menu? Your hearts desire.Just name the cusine you want.It will be there gracing the buffet tables on your wedding day.Money is the only object.

So for a catering service- 'Caterers' on Bhagwandas Road,Jaipur Quality Sweets,Off Ashok Marg- for Vegetarian food.  Mohan's Opposite Neelam Hotel for Non Vegetarian catering.They are top of the line.

Jaipur is such a big tourist destination and marrige hub that it consumes flowers worth lacs of rupees every day.Keeping this fact in mind the Agriculture Department has decided to introduce floriculture in the city and alwar with the help of M/s Florance Flora ,Bangalore.They are going to cultivate jarbera,dutch rose and statis. And who can deny it a lot of flowers are a must in a wedding.They give wings to the brides singing heart. Event managers have gone a step further and are providing theme/season based flower decorated stages and wedding venues.They also use artificial flowers and vibrant colors and multicolored lights.For a different look they are even using dried flowers for decoration.

 Big part of you time will be spent on buying stuff for the wedding.Or renting it for the day.This is the list of bazaars of Jaipur and what is sold there.The best thing to do is to provide the eldest relative with a car and a bright young man to shop for those little things you know nothing about but without which an indian wedding is incomplete.These things are available in the walled city only.
THE LIST

Rana's in Johri Bazaar for Bridal Lehanga's and sarees.

Raymond's on M.I.Road for suit lengths.

Rajputana's on panch batti for Achkans,shirts.

Mojari on Shiv Heera Path for jooties.

Jodhpur Tailors for Jodhpuri coat.

Bhuramal Rajmal Surana for Jewellery.

Relince Fresh,Big Bazaar at 22 godam, Spencers,Tru Mart,Subhiksha, National Hand loom,More... for Fruit Vegetables Groceries

Tej Tent Decorators on Sardar Patel Marg  Crockery,Chairs,etc

You will need a vediographer and a photographer and some friends who can shoot photographs well so that a  record can be kept of the happy event.And remember it should be all digital for the marriage blog or website or for that live broadcast on the net for the near and dear overseas who could not make it to the wedding.

These are the days of Bachelor and Bachelorette parties.So you have to decide the venue and the menu.If the guest list is only of a few intimate friends have the party at your home and have the food delivered from the nearby restaurants. Get your own wine and music.The other choice is- rent a lawn in a club and get a caterer to run the show.Or get a room in a hotel- let the hotel feed the party via room service.

If you do not know people whose chauffeur driven cars you can borrow for the duration of the marriage you will need to hire a fleet of taxis.Any travel agent will be able to help.For the groom An Elephant Or a mare Or a stretch Limo and for the bride a Palki no less and a Brass Band  from the 200 odd avilable to accompany them.You have to book them all&Pay the advance.They will be there on the appointed day right on time because they have other marriages to attend to also.

Do not forget to book the beauty parlour for the bridal Makeup.And the groom needs to visit a Salon too.One more booking.

A lavish suite for the first night in one of the palace hotels.The Groom has to be reminded to buy an expensive jwellery for the bride for the 'Muh Dikahi Rasam'. 

No indian wedding is complete without the Barat.You will need Dj, Light Wallas, Band, Mare,Elephant,Firecrackers,your friends to walk in the procession and dance in the street ahed of the barat.Youngest male member of your family will ride  with the groom as the child image of Ganesh.In Rajput weddings  the barat is formed by the male contingent only of family and Friends of the groom.  

Finally the Barat reaches the brides home.Dwar pooja is done.Rest of the ceremoneis take place one by one. Pheras take place.The Bride and The Groom take the seven vows. 

 If they still do not believe that they are married.They can get their marriage registered right after the ceremony by the marriage registration officer at the wedding venue it self by paying the requisite fees & the officers travel allowance etc. and get their certificate duly signed and stamped.

The Guests offer their best wishes and some money.Everybody has dinner.The couple leave to get their elders blessings after which they retire for the night. 

Couples from all walks of life-from all parts of the world come to Jaipur-to tie the knot.In the process they see their dreams come true on this earth. They are richer for the experience and poorer for the money they drop here.But-there is always a but-the locals have to suffer the noise pollution late night DJ parties,Traffic Jams,booked venues,overbooked trains and flights. sudden increase in price of milk and vegetables and sweets,scarcity of petrol, cooking gas&new small denomination currency notes.A lot of cooked food-which was not consumed in the party- is just thrown away on the street.It could be given to the homeless in jaipur. 

Web Sites for Women

www.sitagita.com

http://www.shineforwomen.com/

Matrimonial Sites on the Web.

http://www.bharatmatrimony.com/

http://www.shaadi.co.in/

http://www.jeevansathi.com/

http://www.secondshaadi.com/index.php

 
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Zwischen dem jungen Guthrie in Woodstock und dem reiferen Guthrie in Tucson liegen 40 Jahre. Viele aus Guthries Generation haben nach einer kurzen Aktivzeit als Hippies den langen Marsch durch die Institutionen angetreten. Guthrie sieht heute aus, wie einer der den 68er-Idealen treu geblieben ist. Das zeugt vielleicht nicht von viel Mode-Bewusstsein - aber immerhin von einer konsequenten Haltung.
Jetzt, da die Baby-Boomer und Fidel Castro zeitgleich in Rente gehen, ist es Zeit für einen Rückblick:
"1968 begann ein Mentalitätswandel, der unsere Lebensart bis heute maßgeblich prägt – unsere Ansprüche, unsere Umgangsformen und unser Körperbewusstsein ebenso wie das Verhältnis zwischen privater und öffentlicher Sphäre. Der Wandel war so tief greifend, dass wir uns seiner Auswirkungen erst mit historischem Abstand gewahr werden können."
Das stammt von der Website der Ausstellung "Die 68er - Kurzer Sommer - Lange Wirkung" die vom 1. Mai bis 31. August in Frankfurt zu sehen sein wird. Der Berner Andreas Schwab hatte die Idee zu dieser spannenden Ausstellung und ist für deren Konzeption verantwortlich. 

Genre:Singer/Songwriter

Now as you all know, well some of you anyway, that i am not the worlds biggest fan of the singing muse Bob Dylan.

I saw Bob Dylan in the 80's in concert with Tom Petty. I went along to see the main man Dylan and i wasn't to fussed about Tom Petty singing as i just wasn't into his music. That Changed. Bob Dylan litrally fell asleep on stage bored with his audience and bored with music generally. I don't know what was going on in his head on that day bit it was obvious he didn't want to be there.
However i paid some good money to be there. Up to the batters plate stepped up one Tom Petty and SAVED the concert with a home run of songs.
After that concert you could say i was a convicted "Petty" thief. I lost respect in Dylan as one of the greats after that concert but at least i walked away with a better admiration for Tom Petty. However all things being equal, i do like Hurricane song very much and is a most worthy entry in "The Definitive 1000" . I guess Bob "gave a shit" that day when he recorded it in the studio.

For more Bob Dylan see Number 929
For Tom Petty see Number 969

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Rolling Stone gave 12 enties into their top 500 and considered "Hurricane" was not good enough which is nuts considering Dylan ever only sang 3 decent songs) and the Album ranked at Number 174

This song has a crowbarred rating of 61.6 out of 108

Previous Song 840 ..... Next Song 842

Tags:Bob Dylan, 1976, Singer Songwriter, Tom Petty, YouTube, Music Video, Rolling Stone Magazine, Crowbarred, New Zealand, Crowbarred Unleashed, The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time, Mellow Mix Volume 1

Te Wairoa

Number 929

Bob Dylan

"Like A Rolling Stone"

(1965)
.

.

Genre:Folk Singer

Rolling Stone Magazine will be jumping up and down over this entry, yelling "Cakes and PIES!!" "Cakes AND PIES!!!" Clapping their hands like a "special needs" puppy over icecream.

Yes Mr Rolling Stone Magazine, it is indeed a fine song, but is it that good enough of a song to give Bob Dylan 5 Stars for every album released since, & for the rest of his life ???

CAKES AND PIES !!!! YES (just give them the icecream willya)

Anway, truth is Bob Dylan is the immortal pilot of poets. (we have one here in Dirkadirkastan (NZ) called Sam Hunt ~ He dont sing tho thankfully) His influence on other artists are nothing short of amazing. (Just dont ask me why)

For more Bob Dylan see Number 841

Rolling Stone Magazine get the last say here, so go for it Fido (cakes and pies !!!!!!) after all it is their NUMBER ONE song on the Top 500 Songs Of All Time

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number 1 and the Album ranked at Number 4

This song has a crowbarred rating of 54.6 out of 108

Previous Song 928 ..... Next Song 930

Tags:Bob Dylan, 1965, Folk Singer, Music, YouTube, Music Video, Rolling Stone Magazine, Crowbarred, New Zealand, Crowbarred Unleashed, The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time, Mellow Mix Volume 1

Search Artist here

1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Whangamata

The earth will be going
Before we know it
Throw down your guns, people
We’ve already won the battle for survival

CHORUS:
Do we know what we are walking on?
Do we know what we all live upon?
Can we walk with a lighter touch
And live with a wiser love?

Enchanting blue magic
Is this little planet
And blessed are we, people
Blessed to be here upon it

CHORUS:

Take up that love, people
We've only begun the battle for survival

Peter Mayer

http://www.petermayer.net/music/

The man himself appeared on awful breakfast TV this morning in the studio answering questions and giving a 'performance' of his 1966 hit 'Sunshine Superman' which I remember so well.

It was perhaps a great pity they didn't allow him to sing rather than the very poor mime that viewers were treated to. The signs were there before he even opened his mouth with the note perfect to the original intro.

Predictably quizzed about the sixties by the Thunderbird puppet look-alike, Andrew Castle and his presenting partner, Donovan dropped a few names but was nevertheless very interesting in his answers in spite of his somewhat 'old hippy' persona. I kind of warmed to him I have to say.

From a career that was all about the sixties when he was quite prolific, Donovan provided some good music I reckon - most of it tucked away as album tracks rather then the very commercial stuff most people are aware of.

I always recall him being regarded as a 'second-rate Dylan' which I felt slightly unfair as both singers took their influences from the same people such as Woody Guthrie and began in the same place. Naturally there has never been a lyricist like Dylan nor probably ever will be, but I felt there was a place at that time for Donovan's more gentle and ethereal style in the pop music of the day, opposed to Dylan's more acerbic outpourings.

Main impression from the TV this morning was that if this guy ever wrote a book about his life I would definitely buy it. He would have a long and thought provoking tale to tell. Complete with a lot of huge names who were of his acquaintance in those days.