mwoodwar's blog

Musicians and the Environment

musicians-environment - New York Times

THE typical high E string on an electric guitar is a stainless steel filament 32 inches long and one-hundredth of an inch thick. It weighs perhaps as much as a few paper clips — not a lot of raw material, but enough for the Barenaked Ladies to concern themselves with on their recent North American tour, which conclude

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America's Sad Song

I'm not sure if sadness, or disgust is most responsible for this letter.  As the news from Lebanon continues to filter in, I can't help but wonder if America's song has gotten so sad that we're not longer capable of reacting with basic human compassion.

I don't endorse what Hezbolla did, but let's remember that the three people they kidnapped were in fact soldiers.  These are men in uniform, who make their living by being in harm's way. 

Israel has responded with massive force against a civilian population.  We recoil as if walking on broken glass when we hear that Iran and Syria provide support to Hezbolla, but remember, we provide over $3,000,000,000 in annual aid to Israel.  Much of this is in the form of helicopter gun ships and smart bombs.

As the Red Cross runs out of body bags in Qana, where 34 children were killed, the U.S. government pets and plays fetch with the dogs of war.  Condi Rice tells the world  that it is 'not yet time' for a cease fire, as if she was protecting overly eager children from taking cookies from the oven before they were done.

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A wonderful Jazz Fest

I just want to send a huge thank you to all of those who worked so hard to pull Jazz Fest together again this year.  It is a tremendous amount of work and effort, and our whole community is the richer for it.  This year we were blessed with great weather, a great lineup, and a S M O O T H running show....thanks

 

 

Get your own Blog

I invite anyone within the Watertown Bubble to sign up here, and create your very own Blog.  You are free to talk about and share whatever is of interest to you.
At various times, we've had some spirited participation, but ultimately there were just too few of us to keep the momentum going.  WatertownOnline is a free community resource, and I hope that you'll use it.
Mark

Local Food Initiatives in Nashville

Arpil 7th - 7 pm at the Belcourt, here in Nashville, celebrate Tennessee organic Growers and consider the film "The Future of Food" with the filmmaker, Deborah Koons Garcia. Here are the details. Nashville Future of Food

We Love Our Veterans

Bush has outdone himself on this one:

Gulf War Veteran Gets Placebos Instead Of Real Medicine

The sweet irony

Two days ago the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department unceremoniously posted an eviction notice on the farms gate calling for the farm to be vacated by March 6th (next Monday). That would leave current crops in the ground to be plowed under by a developers bulldozers. The intended replacement for the farm is a warehouse intended to serve (primarily) Wal-Mart.

Here's a smart policy from 'our boy'

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- New tax breaks are available to anyone who wants to help the environment by purchasing fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. But if owners of small businesses really want to save money, they can get even bigger federal tax breaks by buying the largest gas-guzzling SUVs.

The whole sad story

The more things change...

Despite over a hundred years, this quote of Mark Twain's seems as true today as it did when he wrote it:

The loud little handful will shout for war. The pulpit will warily and cautiously protest at first...The great mass of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes, and will try to make out why there should be a war, and they will say earnestly and indignantly: 'It is unjust and dishonorable and there is no need for war.' Then the few will shout even louder...Before long you will see a curious thing: anti-war speakers will be stoned from the platform, and free speech will be strangl

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If this wasn't so true...it would be funny

I came across this little gem today, and thought that I'd pass it on. It is a video stream, so I'm not sure about dial up connections...but it is well...funny I guess.

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