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Fields Are Burning – Music Inspired By Rodney King & The LA Riots

http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F11419098&show_comments=true&auto_play=true&color=ff7300 Jack Johnson (the band) – Fields Are Burning by nomowale

20 years ago today Rodney King was beaten by LA police officers after a high speed chase. The attack was videotaped by a resident in a nearby apartment complex, and later aired around the world. We all witnessed the brutality inflicted by men who were trusted to protect and serve.

Over a year later those police officers were acquitted, and that miscarriage of justice sparked one of the worst race riots in US history. The burning and looting was televised as well. We all watched as black people beat a white truck driver, and entire neighborhoods went up in smoke at the hands of local residents.

2000 miles away in Nashville, Tennessee, my roommate, Steve and I tried to make sense of it all. Steve, who is white, could certainly understand the anger, but couldn’t fathom why these people were so enraged that they would destroy their own community.

In those nights of frank discussion I found it difficult to explain the madness. It was hard for me to articulate to my white middle class friend the frustration and alienation that blacks in America felt at that time.

With this verdict we saw proof that our lives were meaningless in the eyes of the US legal system. Here was evidence that a man had been beaten unjustly, but the perpetrators were found not guilty. A jury of the officer’s peers – not Rodney King’s peers, mind you – said it was okay. This was the America we lived in every day.

Would I be next? There was no way to know.

A few weeks later, I wrote this song. It was recorded in 1995 by my band Jack Johnson for our album Round One. In retrospect, I’m not sure I articulated the anger any better, but I believe the recording, and especially the one-take solo by guitarist Paul Cochrane, captures the frenzy and fury of those long dark days.

Has America improved since then? I think so. But I still get that feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I see a squad car behind me. I wonder if that feeling will ever go away…

“Fields Are Burning”
Written by Kurtis McFarland
Performed by Jack Johnson (the band) for the album Round One (PC! Music)
Produced by Kurtis McFarland & Rob Feaster

Paul Cochrane – guitar
Simone White – drums
Ethan Pilzer – bass
Kurtis McFarland – vocals, guitar, programming

Raw Story: Liberal Activists Pledge to Oppose Obama in 2012

What do you think about this article from The Raw Story:

Hundreds of liberal organizers and anti-war activists have signed a petition pledging to oppose President Barack Obama’s renomination in 2012 unless he reverses course in Afghanistan and pushes for significant cuts to military spending.

“We vow not to support President Barack Obama for renomination for another term in office, and to actively seek to impede his war policies unless and until he reverses them,” the pledge reads.

Veteran activist and lobbyist David Swanson “…added that there’s something ‘incredibly dishonest’ about criticizing President George W. Bush’s war and military policies without applying those same standards to Obama.”

Many of these same activists supported Obama’s 2008 presidential bid even though candidate Barack made it very clear that his intention was to shift the focus of war from Iraq to Afghanistan. The argument then was we couldn’t afford another four years of Bush, and that McCain would be a continuation of the same failed policies.

While Obama is different from Bush, and isn’t as bad as Republicans make him out to be, the president’s continuation of Bush era policies – continued domestic spying, no closure of Guantanamo, the sanctioning of torture, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention Wall Street bailouts and pandering to corporate America – are indefensible.

But is this a wise move? Certainly there are other candidates who would be more acceptable to liberals (Alan Grayson and Russ Feingold are mentioned), but could they gain the political (and financial) capital needed to mount a credible opposition?

What about the ever present Green Party? Could they make a serious push in 2012 with backing from big name liberals who oppose Obama’s wars?

Is this struggle for the soul of America worth the risk of a President Romney or President Gingrich or a President Palin?

At what point do you sacrifice “standing on your principles” and “doing the right thing” for “political pragmatism and expediency?” Well, ok. Liberals have been doing that for years with support of the Democratic party. When will it stop? If not now, when?

The Raw Story: Hundreds of liberal activists pledge to oppose Obama in 2012

20 Questions That Could Change Your Life

What questions should I be asking myself every day?

Great question! I found this article on CNN.com while taking a break from a task I really don’t want to be doing, but that is necessary – fixing my washing machine. Once I finished toweling up the water that had poured onto the floor AFTER I thought the job was done, I decided a short breather was critical for the maintenance of my sanity. Otherwise, I would begin repairing the washer with a Louisville Slugger.


The article, originally posted on Oprah.com by Martha Beck, is written to women from a woman’s perspective (as if men don’t need to change our lives too). But these inquisitions aren’t feminine, and are just as meaningful to the manliest of men.

Like number two: Is this what I want to be doing? If you mean working on the washer, absolutely not. But I refuse to call the repair guy again and watch him spend ten minutes installing a $4 part only to hand me a bill for $120.

Or number fifteen: Where could I work less and achieve more? Okay. Maybe I could get more done by letting a professional handle the washer, and I could spend my time doing more important things. Maybe, but I’m too stubborn, and the sense of accomplishment I will gain from slaying the dragon in my laundry room is worth it. That is, unless the dragon slays me first.

Click HERE to read the whole list. These really are questions that could change our lives if we ask them of ourselves each day. They may not change your current situation, but if asked sincerely, they will give you a different point of view.

As for me, break’s over. I’m going back to attack the water-spewing demon in my laundry room with a whole new attitude. Namaste.

CNN.com: 20 Questions That Could Change Your Life


What We Can REALLY Learn From China

Chinese president Hu Jintao has almost completed his 4-day hang in DC with President Barack Obama. The two of them inked a snazzy little $45 billion trade agreement that won’t do much for working Americans, but will help both leaders improve their image with US consumers and job seekers.

Here’s a great post by former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, that explains exactly why this big deal isn’t a very big deal. Read the whole thing when you get a chance, but here is the part that resonated most with me.

China has a national economic strategy designed to make it, and its people, the economic powerhouse of the future. They’re intent on learning as much as they can from us and then going beyond us (as they already are in solar and electric-battery technologies). They’re pouring money into basic research and education at all levels. In the last 12 years they’ve built twenty universities, each designed to be the equivalent of MIT.

Their goal is to make China Number one in power and prestige, and in high-wage jobs.

The United States doesn’t have a national economic strategy. Instead, we have global corporations that happen to be headquartered here. Their goal is to maximize profits, wherever they can make the most money. They’ll make things in America for export to China when that’s most profitable; they’ll make it in China and give the Chinese their know-how when that’s the best way to boost the bottom line. They’ll utilize research and development wherever around the world it will deliver the biggest bang for the dollar.

Meanwhile, Republicans and deficit hawks are cutting publicly-supported R&D. And cash-starved states are cutting K-12 education, and slashing the budgets of their great public research universities, such as the one I teach at.

The bottom line? China has a national economic strategy that is based in the understanding that education will make them the economic powerhouse of the present and future. The US has no national economic strategy, and is cutting investments in education to the detriment of its middle and working classes.

When are we going to learn that investment in education is our best ticket out of this economic quagmire? Never if we keep closing schools and cutting higher ed spending.

Plight of the Black Republican

The Republican-led 112th Congress is now in session. GOP gains during the 2010 election were fueled largely by the inability of the punk Democrats to mobilize their own base.

Logic would suggest that this is a good time to recruit young blacks to the Republican fold. But, as this video demonstrates, being a black Republican isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

http://www.youtube.com/v/P288Tb8pkzU?fs=1&hl=en_US

Budget Hawks Threaten Job-Based Health Care

We’ll see how all those anti-universal heath care conservatives feel when their employers eliminate health coverage.

From Huffington Post:

Budget proposals from leaders in both parties have urged shrinking or eliminating tax breaks that help make employer health insurance the leading source of coverage in the nation and a middle-class mainstay.

The idea isn’t to just raise revenue, economists say, but finally to turn Americans into frugal health care consumers by having them face the full costs of their medical decisions.

Such a re-engineering was rejected by Democrats only a few months ago, at the height of the health care overhaul debate. But Washington has changed, with Republicans back in power and widespread fears that the burden of government debt may drag down the economy.

The dreamers who believe employers would increase pay if relieved of the burden of health care costs are the same dreamers who believe that trickle-down economics has improved life for Americans over the past 30 years.

Yes, Virginia. We may have lost our best shot at universal coverage with the compromise on Obama’s already compromising public option. We may soon lose our health care coverage altogether if budget hawks have their way and tax credits are eliminated.

Read the article HERE – Huffington Post: Job-Based Health Care Threatened

Former Vol QB Shuler Fumbling in Bid to Challenge Pelosi

What former Tennessee Vol QB Heath Shuler (D-NC) and his fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives don’t realize is that they didn’t lose this last election big because they aren’t “moderate” enough. The Democrats simply didn’t get enough done for the American people in the last two years.

They championed Wall Street over Main Street, big insurance companies over patients, war over peace. They lost because they didn’t do enough to excite the Democratic base after their history-making victory in 2008. If anything, they should have been MORE liberal, MORE different from the GOP.

I agree that Pelosi should step aside, but not for a more moderate minority leader. She should step aside for a BETTER leader – someone who can GET THINGS DONE for the American people. And if his decision-making as a Washington Redskin and his failure to understand the will of the electorate are any indication, Heath Shuler isn’t that leader either.

Huffington Post: Heath Shuler: If Nancy Pelosi Runs I’ll Challenge Her, And Lose

Man to TSA: ‘If You Touch My Junk I’ll Have You Arrested’

Flying is starting to become a pretty horrible experience. Between oppressive baggage check fees, ever eroding customer service and being subjected to privacy invasion just to get on the plane, it’s easy to understand why I prefer to drive on most long trips.

Case in point: The TSA’s new backscatter x-ray machines.

Check out this account by blogger John Tyner of his recent encounter with TSA. He was forced to leave the San Diego airport after refusing to enter the TSA’s backscatter x-ray machine (see below for a sample image from a similar machine), and refusing to have his genitals touched during a pat down.

I want to be as secure as the next person on an airplane, but why are we asked to submit to sexual assault or to having our privates viewed by TSA agents in the name of security? How can I feel secure if I’ve just been violated?

Johnny Edge chose to fight back. Here is an excerpt:

We both stood there for no more than probably two minutes before a female TSA agent (apparently, the supervisor) arrived. She described to me that because I had opted out of the backscatter screening, I would now be patted down, and that involved running hands up the inside of my legs until they felt my groin. I stated that I would not allow myself to be subject to a molestation as a condition of getting on my flight. The supervisor informed me that it was a standard administrative security check and that they were authorized to do it. I repeated that I felt what they were doing was a sexual assault, and that if they were anyone but the government, the act would be illegal.

Click HERE to read the entire post.

Have you ever been groped by TSA? Have you experienced the backscatter x-ray machine? Would you be willing to miss your flight in the name of fighting for your rights?

Unidentified Flying Missiles: What’s Your Theory?

Since the Pentagon won’t fess up to misfiring a missile, we’re left to wonder…What is that??

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2010/11/09/exp.nr.mystery.launch.cnn

It doesn’t look like a jet in the video, as this article suggests.

Could it be aliens? Or worse, some mad scientist testing a rocket?

This also brings all the talk of chemtrails to mind.

So what is your theory? What is that thing?

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© Nadir Omowale