Let’s remove everybody’s chains…
Cheers and tears to MLK and President Barack Obama!!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2CHP071rnQ]
Check out this amazing portrait of our next President! It was made by Kev Moore’s partner, French artist, Miki. It really shows the worldwide respect that our country has gained by taking a step in the right direction by electing Obama. Maybe it takes the U.S. hitting rock bottom to spur our citizenry off of their couches and into realizing that many of the ways we do things need to be changed.
Below the portrait are some words about the piece from the artist, Miki, herself. Cheers, Miki! Very well done!
(Based on a photo by Bill Burke, pageonephoto.com)
So, my first Barack Obama portrait is finished.
I think it is quite different from the portraits I have seen from him on the net. On most of them the artists emphasize only one aspect of his personality.
This is not what I wanted.
I wanted to paint Obama as a human being, with all his facets:
his humanity, his leadership, his honesty, his hopes, his decisiveness…
Of course I never met him personally, so it can only be the Barack Obama I perceive through the TV and the photos I have seen from him. And I saw all of these qualities on his face.
I can only hope that I have caught a little bit of his soul…
And if you are wondering what he is counting…. words of course:
“Yes We Can!”
Things are going our way, everyone…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrXkBuWNx88]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02BV5Zah1Tw]
Now let’s see those sweet results roll in!!!
…and he’s got some things to say to counteract the douchebaggery of Mr. Lawless a couple posts below. Seems David is sans bloody saw blade codpiece…
*photo courtesy of Chris Buck
Pardon the bulk mailing. I Can’t Vote. I am an immigrant with a Green Card and, therefore, I am not eligible to vote in a federal election. FYI – I can get drafted (luckily, Daniel Berrigan burned my draft board’s records) and I pay taxes, yet I cannot vote for President. On Election Day, I see my neighbors heading to the nearby elementary school to cast their ballots. The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood – rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky – they all turn out in one day.
But most of you can vote. What can I say? The Republicans have made us less safe than before 9/11, bankrupted this economy, started an illegal war they can’t – and don’t intend to – finish, removed what sympathy (after 9/11) and respect the world had for the US, and have robbed US citizens of many of their basic rights. Global warming? What’s that? Science and education? Investment in our future? No, thanks – we’ll stick with a good ‘ole hockey mom. Ignorant, and fucking proud of it, as is always the case.
Although it looks like a shoo-in, it ain’t over ’til Florida. And there are plenty of racists in this country who will vote against their own best interests. So please, get to your local elementary school, post office, town hall, or whatever, and cast your vote and make this a country we can all be proud of. We can get out of this mess, and life can be better than it is.
David Byrne
NYC
We want to hear from all of you out there, whatever country you may be in, who you think is the right guy to become the next U.S. President. Let us know why below in comments. This is a big moment in world history…not just U.S. history.
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Everyone has been on the edge of their seats, not sure of who to vote for up till now. It is now that we can all breathe a sigh of relief; now that the political guru and musical icon who is known to “F*ck Like A Beast” with his rotary sawblade crotch, and who is known to the world over as the amazing…the one…the only…Blackie Lawless, of course of W.A.S.P. mega-fame, has finally laid down all the wisdom that we will need in order to step into the voting booths on Tuesday! Thank you for doing the thinking for us, Blackie…why can’t you be President instead?!
Click through for the Lawless Manifesto…
I’ve never been a big Everclear fan, but Bob Lefsetz just turned me on to their new song, “Jesus Was A Democrat”, which the band is giving away on their website…absolutely no strings attached (no email address, no pop-up ads, no nothin’). Here it is on their website. Grab it, take a listen, and conitnue reading. Why are they making it free? Lefsetz says it best:
…America is pissed.
America is pissed about so much. And feels too often that politicians don’t care about them. And there’s scads of ignorance, purveyed by biased talk show hosts and bloviating, supposedly neutral, TV talking heads. And everybody’s afraid. You get people saying Sarah Palin won the Vice Presidential debate and you wonder if you watched the same show. When I didn’t answer the questions in school, I flunked. And suddenly, by going to school, working damn hard, studying to get good grades to get into a good college, I’m an elitist, my opinion is to be discounted. I shouldn’t have gone to public school, I should have gone to a parochial institution, to be indoctrinated in viewpoints that don’t square with reality. Worse yet, be home schooled. That’s code for “Christian Right Education”.
Hate me all you want. Tell me you can get infections hanging with the underprivileged in regular high schools, that you can teach your kids better than those underpaid teachers. But what about socialization, what about opposing viewpoints? How can there be a dialogue when there’s not another side?
And that’s what we have in America today, only one side. Everybody’s on his own side, only speaking to himself, like-minded people. Who’s going to change the equation? Certainly not politicians, elected officials. Obama’s got to say he’s for drilling to get elected, because the person paying four bucks a gallon doesn’t know that it’ll take eons for said oil to reach the pump. We’ve got the businessmen raping and pillaging, the politicians lying, at best being expedient, and the only people we can count on to speak the truth have abdicated their power, their duty, their role. That’s what the job of the artist is. To question authority, challenge convention, speak the unpopular, if it’s the truth. And that’s what Art Alexakis and Everclear have done in “Jesus Was A Democrat”.
That is a large quote from Lefsetz’s argument but you should also read the rest here, because it’s pretty damn brilliant. He’s right, America is pissed, and I’ve never been more pissed about the ignorant thinking of some of my fellow Americans than right now….after seeing the McCain campaign chose Palin as a running mate (pure bullshit right-wing strategy that even Sarah Palin should be offended by), the lies that McCain’s campaign is spewing about Barack Obama (which Obama’s campaign is brilliantly taking the ‘stay positive’ moral high-road on), the bullshit emails from right-wing relatives in the sticks claiming that Bill Clinton is responsible for all the disasters of the past eight years (c’mon!), the scary YouTube videos of folks outside the McCain rallies in Ohio and Pennsylvania yelling that Obama is a terrorist (and somehow believing that), and all the other complete idiocy that bull-headed Republicans have to make themselves believe in order to stick with their party…which has now become more important than the well-being of other fellow Americans who live under different circumstances then they do.
(Click through for more…)
(Anyone get the ‘pickin’ pockets’ reference?)
Well, yesterday was Brooklyn’s famous Atlantic Antic street festival, the absolute best of all the New York street festivals because it’s massive, it’s the last gasp of organized outdoor fun before the cold weather kicks in, there’s live music, the food is amazing, there are plenty of adult beverages to enjoy, and it’s in Brooklyn! And, for me, it’s right outside my apartment door.
I didn’t get out there till about 3:30 because I was nursing a pretty hefty hangover from a late Saturday night, but quickly grabbed myself a bloody mary and a yummy Vietnamese sandwich and was on the up and up. I met up with a couple friends and ran into some others, but mainly spent the next couple of hours first with Red David and then just with my hazy hangover-headed self.
It was really nice to see all the Obama frenzy at the Antic this year. Everywhere I looked were people of different races, colors, religions, sexes, sexual preferences, musical tastes, and ice cream flavor preferences banding together in support of positivity, hope, and America’s future. You could get your picture taken with a life-size cutout of Barack, you could order an organic Obama burger, and even order Biden gelato. It reminded me of New Yorkers inate ability to see through bullshit, and it’s easy for us to see that there is only one presidential campaign right now which is running on truth and honesty…and it ain’t McCain/Palin.
Another highlight was walking by at the right time to watch a fantastic country rock band from west Jersey playing outside of Hank’s Saloon. I found that the band was called Citizens Band Radio, and these guys (and gal) know how to jam! It was cool seeing all types of people smiling and dancing to CBR’s music. Cheers to the band if they happen to stumble on this post!!! Keep up the good stuff!
And another highlight for me was scoring some new cheap vinyl! I got all of these for $1 each! And they’re all perfectly listenable. I’m listening to Fleetwood Mac’s cover of the Yardbirds’ “For Your Love” right now. Mystery To Me is a great album…I don’t think I even knew that the amazing song “Hypnotized” was done by the Mac. Here’s the full haul that I got for a total of $11…
I also, while I had the camera and records out, took some pics of the last couple vinyl scores I had over the last couple months. Click on through to see the others…
Well, speaking for the workaday people in this country, first we saw Rednecks for Obama and now we have Bluegrass legend (and friend of Jesus, mind you), Ralph Stanley endorsing our Barack Obama! This utterly amazing ad is running in southwest Virginia and is another ray of light on the horizon that real people are seeing through all the bullshit and recognizing the candidate who can bring positivity, heart, and compassion back to American politics. Go Ralph! And Go Obama!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUOfaIyv4Bs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1]
I totes thought I invented ‘Barack-tober’ but it’s looking like I’m not the first to think of it. I still think I invented ‘totes’ though. Anyway, let’s all hope this is a great month for Obama, so it’s all downhill come November.
Here’s some other pertinent posts for those of you who might somehow be on the fence…
The Beastie Boys Just Emailed Me
I love this. Unless your neck is clothed in kerchiefs made of million dollar bills…or you have a red pointy little tail and horns…you should be voting for Obama. These guys get it.
Hey all,
Our Election Day is growing ever closer (just about 7 weeks!), so you may start to see an occasional political post amongst the music here at NewmRadio. Don’t worry…democracy and rock & roll go hand in hand. I also have never felt so politically strong about something in my whole life as I do about Barack Obama and his policies of change, hope and positivity. I think that he is the candidate who has the best chance at reversing some of the things that have happened over the past 8 years…like our declining economy, our entrenchment in an unjust war, further degradation of the middle class, slashed environmental programs, slashed social programs, extreme corporate crony-ism, negativity, fear, lies, and the way our country is viewed by the rest of the world.
And never have I seen a campaign run by the people the way the Obama campaign is. Because of the way that this campaign has made me feel personally involved and empowered and excited for change, it is the first time that I have ever actually donated money to a presidential campaign and felt it my duty to help inform others. So as one of my little ways of helping Obama…and our country…win in November, I share some simple Obama facts that really display the difference of McCain and Obama’s economic plans and who they will effect most. All of this is available on the Obama Tax Cut website too, if you need to send something to your families and loved ones who might be ‘on the bubble’.
And here’s a great video of Obama talking about how we can start to heal our troubled economy.
Cheers to all of us, America, and our future!
Mike
Barack Obama will cut taxes for over 95% of American families.
(even though more than half of Americans think he’ll raise their taxes)
What’s your Obama Tax cut? Find out HERE!
Please E-mail your friends and family about ObamaTaxCut.com so that they can learn about what Obama’s tax policies mean for them. All numbers are from the independent, non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Obviously, you’ll note that filling out your taxes is a lot more complicated than just listing your income, filing status, and number of children — these are estimates based upon the stated policies of the candidates and average deductions claimed by folks in similar economic conditions. Luckily, Obama promises to simplify the filing process. The number reported above is the estimated difference between income taxes paid under current law and the taxes under the Obama plan.
How do we calculate your Obama Tax Cut?
Your Obama Tax Cut is calculated simply by summing the change in Individual Income Tax and Corporate Tax (yes, lots of people pay corporate tax) reported in the following tables compiled by the Tax Policy Center:
If you want to explain the differences between the bottom-line effect of the Obama and McCain tax plans to your friends and family with simple numbers, these are the key points:
- Obama will cut taxes for 95% of Americans
- McCain will tax 80% of Americans more than Obama
- Obama will only increase taxes for the top 1% of incomes; and this isn’t really an increase: he’s simply going to let the Bush tax cuts expire
Here’s a helpful chart to show your friends and family based on the same data I use (original image from the Washington Post):
ObamaTaxCut.com is a project of AlchemyToday.com and has no relation to the Obama campaign or any other organization whatsoever.
And this is what they had to say…
party people,
just wanted to reach out and make sure everyone is registered to vote
this year. in many states you need to register well ahead of time. this
is a friendly reminder so you don’t get caught with your pants down.let’s get obama into that oval office and get things back on track.
adam, mike and adam
…and I’ll be a second mike to second that emotion. Any other election feels like ‘yeah, vote for whoever you want to, just be sure to make your voice be heard’. While this election is more like ‘vote for obama or you’re a fucking asshole’. Long story short, it’s not just a regular old election this year…it’s a major turning point in US and world history, for that matter. Don’t be an asshole!
Wow! Dylan isn’t one to talk much about anything, much less politics…at least since the early-60s when he unwillingly became the ‘voice of his generation’…and completely sabotaged it by the mid-60s. Well, Dylan had a lot of good things to say about Democratic Presidential nominee, Barack Obama, when he spoke to the London Times recently. Here’s how it went:
“Poverty is demoralising. You can’t expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we’ve got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up…Barack Obama. He’s redefining what a politician is, so we’ll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I’m hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to.”
My thoughts exactly, Bob!
