Filed under: music, pop culture | Tags: death, interview, king of pop, michael jackson, thriller
There will undoubtedly be many, many tributes to Michael Jackson today after his untimely death at age 50. Here’s a video compilation of interviews from CNN.
Here’s the video of the Iranian student who called into CNN’s “American Morning” to provide a ground picture of the protests. Contrast with the official government TV picture of the climate.
A study in contrasts: CNN provides two clips with very different views on Iran.
In the first clip, a student identified as Mohammed (to protect his identity) pleads for intervention from the President Obama and the international community. In the second clip, the government-run Press TV depicts calm streets in Tehran and shopowners open for business.
Filed under: global justice, world | Tags: ahmedinejad, iran, melody moezzi, moussavi, protest, underground railroad
As we know, the foreign media has been banned from covering post-election unrest in Iran and citizen journalism has filled the void. I thought this YouTube video provided a ground-level picture of aid to protesters. The accompanying information reads:
Tehran, Iran 7 Tir Sq on the 22nd of June. People helping a injured – When the hospitals are taken over by Basij and Police you find other ways to help injured – First Aid “Iranian style”. They are burning paper to then put the ashes on wounds to prevent infection.
Stay Strong, Brave Iranians
:: THE WORLD IS WATCHING ::
CNN broadcast an incredibly moving interview with Melody Moezzi, an Iranian-American author, who provides an overview of the brutal actions of the Basij, the abandonment of politics, and the development of safe havens/underground railroads. Despite political views, Moezzi says, “We’re all in the opposition at this point, because we’re opposed to murder.”
She emphasizes the fear and the hope of friends and relatives in Iran. About the murder of Neda on Saturday (Neda means “the voice” or “the call” in Farsi) , Moezzi asks: “How do you say to a woman who’s dying, ‘Do not be afraid’? Because she’s a martyr.”
Here’s the clip:
Filed under: music, pop culture | Tags: das racist, fake patois, pizza hut, rap, taco bell
I don’t quite know what to make of the rappers Das Racist.
Just heard their song, “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” that consists of, well, the duo repeating the lyric “I’m at Pizza Hut/I’m at Taco Bell/I’m at Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” repeatedly. Part caricature, part social commentary, part serious hip hop, the song (as well as others like “Fake Patois”), plays on rap and rapper stereotypes. It’s also messing a little bit with the audiences in that Al Yankovic-kind of way.
The Village Voice has a great meta-interview with the duo: Himanshu, whose parents are Indian, and Victor Vazquez (aka Kool A.D.), whose multi-racial roots are from a mother born in Italy and a father from Cuba. Chime in with your thoughts.
Filed under: global justice, world | Tags: amnesty, myanmar, nobel, political prisoner, suu kyi
Nobel Laureate and peace activist Aung San Suu Kyi turns 64 today as she awaits trial for violating the terms of her house arrest under Myanmar’s ongoing military regime. She has been under house arrest for more than a dozen years for her opposition to the brutal regime. She is one of the more than 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar.
It’s important to continue putting international pressure on Myanmar’s leaders, who have put Suu Kyi on trial and are holding her in Yangon’s Insein prison. An online campaign, www.64forsuu.org, has been established. Amnesty International, of course, continues to provide a pipeline of information about Suu Kyi’s wrongful imprisonment.
Filed under: global justice, world | Tags: iran, maddow, moussavi, protest, soccer, world cup
Rachel Maddow provides an insightful overview of the people’s protest in Iran: the brave political rebellion of the undenibaly recognizable Iranian soccer players competing in the World Cup (the world’s largest sporting event, rivaling the Olympics); the division among top cleric leaders; and the importance of today’s Day of Mourning events.
Opposition leaders including Mir Hossein Moussavi will convene the hundreds of thousand civilians in a national Day of Mourning today–the sixth straing day of protests–in an attempt to martyr those who have been killed in suppression by the Iranian government. Interesting to note that these leaders are attempting the same strategy that they used successfully in the 1979 overthrow of the Shah.
Let’s hope that today’s actions make an impact.
Filed under: gay rights | Tags: civil disobedience, dan savage, doma, gay march, washington
The “National March on Washington” is planned for this coming October. Intended to be a grand show of gay and lesbian protest for equality–the nation’s largest–it will serve as a bookend to the famous gay rights march in the 80’s during the AIDS crisis. The National March on Washington is planned for Columbus Day weekend; activists such as Cleve Jones, a friend of Harvey Milk, are in support of the event. Others believe it will not be effective because congress is not in session, and that there is not sufficient planning time.
Dan Savage proposes an interesting alternative: civil disobedience. One gay or lesbian couple on the doorstep of the White House, refusing to move and then arrested. It would drum up a bunch of media attention, and be, as Savage puts it, “The couples would keep coming. Every day an arrest. Drip, drip, drip.”
What do you think? Want to help organize, volunteer to be arrested, or spread the word?
Filed under: art | Tags: civilization, marco brambilla, poetry foundation, video
Video artist Marco Brambilla created this very cool video for the elevators at the new Standard Hotel in New York City. The montage is created from more than 400 video loops of found footage, including iconic images like the scary Marshmallow Man from the Ghostbuster movies, roller coasters, marching bands, and all kinds of craziness.
When I was at the Associated Writing Programs conference last March, organizers had done a similar thing with those boring elevator monitors, transforming them from hotel announcements or CNN to screen short, animated films produced by the Poetry Foundation. Strange to be riding thirty floors in an elevator and listening to an animated version of “Let Us Consider” by master prose poet Russell Edson.
