Life, Love, and Liberty

Support Lt.Ehren Watada.

Just to clarify, if support our troops means I’d like to see them returned home safely than I’m on board. On the other hand, if support our troops is a reference to supporting them in their actions as individuals in invading and continuing to occupy Iraq than I can’t voice support for that. It wouldn’t be consistent to oppose a policy but treat those carrying it out as absolved from responsibility for their actions.

For two interesting discussions of this issue within the libertarian blogosphere, see
Charles Johnson and Roderick Long.

One of the most horrific events of the continuing Iraq war was the fighting in Fallujah. I remember watching with disgust at the destruction being visited upon the Iraqi city in the name of “liberation”. Recently, an ad in the leftist Z Magazine tipped me off to the existence of a documentary on Operation Phantom Fury. It’s a short production with only a 18 minutes running time but well worth the investment. Some proceeds also go to support Iraqi civilians in need. Whatever one’s position on the war, we should all be able to agree that suffering among civilians needs to be alleviated. This suffering is made very real in the images making up the film. The paradox of “liberation” through military force and occupation is made apparent by viewing the aftermath of battle. Refugees returning to their home town discover structures destroyed and an occupying army. The regulations and restrictions imposed from checkpoints to an ID wearing requirement show the nature of “freedom” under military rule. As for the operation’s success at winning hearts and minds, we are treated to fiery condemnations of what occurred by Fallujah citizens that leaves little room for hope in that area. For those interested in a look at a major event of the U.S. war in Iraq from an un-embedded perspective, I recommend checking out this documentary.

When it comes to 80’s pop music, I am not the most well listened fellow but I can’t get enough of the Fine Young Cannibals. The catchy pop beat they put out has me hooked but some specific songs really make me groove. Having only sampled the The Raw & the Cooked, I can’t speak from experience with their entire catalogue but it’s definitely enough for a tribute.

-She Drives Me Crazy

-Good Thing

-I ‘m Not Satisfied

-Tell Me What

-As Hard As It Is

Very good tunes to groove too!

I haven’t been involved in activism since working with Food Not Bombs and participating in protests against the Iraq war a few years back. Recently, I’ve decided to hop back into the fray. The issues I’m most concerned about are economics, war, and the drug war. In light of the last concern, I put together this writing with suggestions for direct action related to the War on Drugs. Let me emphasize that I don’t speak from much experience and I’m always looking for constructive feedback on my ideas.

-Researching where people are being tried for drug charges then staging protests outside. If strength in numbers than peaceful disruption (sit-downs and lock-downs) with an aim to making the process too costly or shutting it down.
-Passing out Fully Informed Jury Association material to jurors in an effort to encourage the defendant getting off by a refusal to convict.
-Groups of people who decide ahead of time to not take plea bargains if facing charges for a drug offense. Forcing the state to stay lockstep on the Sixth Amendment with overwhelming numbers of defendants could possibly lead to their release if the system couldn’t process all cases speedily enough.

On the question of sit-downs and lock-downs, I’ve got mixed feelings on whether they’d be a help or hindrance. The possibility of negative publicity and thus voters not feeling inclined to support repealing laws criminalizing currently illicit drugs is one concern. On the other hand, we’ve seen that where anti-drug war electoral initiatives are successful on the local level the feds sometimes step in. There’s also the fact that the lives and liberties of innocent individuals are at stake. Knowing that context and circumstances can vary widely among people, the effect of a conviction or jail time could be especially disastrous for some. Successfully monkey wrenching the state by not making it worthwhile to conduct unjust trials would be a glorious achievement. It’d require hefty strength in numbers and good coordination to pull off. In the end, this idea may be unrealistic but I’ll throw it out for constructive criticism.

Pop music phenomenon Michelle Branch has been providing me with some good sounds to listen too lately.

-Everywhere

-All You Wanted

Look up The Spirit Room if your interested.

Ex-Beatles star Paul McCartney isn’t someone I’ve had a lot of exposure too but I recently caught wind of an excellent song from this fellow. It’s called Maybe, I’m Amazed and has me addicted. Be sure to give it a chance by checking out the album McCartney.

Today I continue the trend of promoting musicians who’d yet to make an appearance on the blog with Jimmy Buffett under the spotlight.

-School Boy Heart

-Margaritaville

Check out the above and more on Meet Me in Margaritaville:The Ultimate Collection.

The New Jersey based rock star Bruce Springsteen makes his first appearance with Pink Cadillac. This tune was released on Born in the U.S.A. [Single] and audio clips in abundance can be found here.

Classic Irish singer Van Morrison provides us with two picks today.

-Brown Eyed Girl to be soaked up on The Best of Van Morrison.

-Moondance to be enjoyed on (who would have guessed!) Moondance.

In honor of my stepsister Roxy’s graduation from high school today, she’ll be providing our song of the day. The pick is the song Bowl of Oranges from the band Bright Eyes. Look for it on Lifted Or the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground that Roxy tells me is her favorite ablum from this group.