Folksingers

A long time ago in a land far away, I started hearing this new (to me) music that told stories. Some guy named Bob Dylan had written some songs and Peter, Paul and Mary made them popular and they were actually being played on the radio! What was this all about? Off to the record and sheet music store for me.  There were whole sections devoted to this genre and like a kid in a candy store I started buying up all I could afford. I learned about Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Buffy Saint Marie, Tom Paxton, Leadbelly, Elizabeth Cotton, The Rev. Gary Davis and many, many more singer/songwriters of the past and present. The library even had songbooks I could check out including copies of  "Sing Out" magazine. Next up, buy a guitar.

Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941

Bob is 67 years old today. When I was a young man the first song I learned on the guitar was "The times they are a changin'".

I still have the "Bob Dylan Songbook" I bought before I joined the army and knew just about every song by heart.

"These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."
-Thomas Paine, 1776

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will be reprising the Winter Soldiers hearing, Thursday March 13 to Sunday March 16. If you are not familiar with the first Winter Soldiers hearings, here is the Wiki entry.

My challenge after the fold.

If you want it.
Got this email last night. I will be at the Peace Memorial Park to follow Yoko's wishes and play a recording of "Imagine" by the 8 year old granddaughter of one of my band mates.

Didn't see any other diary on this and I think it is one of those days we should remember. What do you remember about John?

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, it became "All quiet on the western front." An armistice signed at six o’clock that morning took effect and brought a cease-fire to the "War to end all wars." Since that fateful hour, most nations, which fought in that conflict, observe Armistice Day. The United States in 1938 made it official with a proclamation that states in part: "...it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and...inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples."

To all Senators and Representatives,

Please read the following and then explain your vote.

Amendment IV.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing
the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What is so difficult to understand about this language?

On Veterans Day  2004 I posted this about the oath of enlistment.

It ended with;

My first allegiance is to The Constitution of the United States; my first duty is to protect it from all enemies, foreign and domestic; and my vow of obedience to the President of the United States expired in 1993.

Therefore, I stand today opposed to my President, and the anti-American, un-Constitutional, unpatriotic Administration for which he serves as figurehead. I will do my part to voice my opposition, educate the populace, diligently support my political causes, and work with others to restore American freedoms to their former glory.

As a soldier, I made a promise. As a veteran, I will carry that promise with me to the end of my days.

In June of '05 I wrote "The Promise".

Follow me on the flip.

Yesterday the Vietnamese victims of agent orange/dioxin appealed a 2005 ruling which denied them class action status  (233page PDF of the opinion) VVAO vs. Dow etc. in which the defendants used the "government contractor defense."

Never mind that

"The initial government criteria for defoliation agents stated that the selected agent should "be safe to handle while in storage, shipment or operation . . . [and] . . . should not be injurious to the health of man and animals who come in contact with it during and after military applications."

Early on Memorial Day morning I visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Portland with some of my veteran friends as we do every year. We go up early to miss the traditional militaristic ceremonies and rhetoric, to honor our fallen brothers and sisters in arms quietly, for as General Ulysses S. Grant, eighteenth President of the United States said, "The one thing I never want to see again is a military parade".

We do not need the fly overs and taps. We don't need the 21 gun salute. The names are seared into our collective experiences and all we want is an end to the insanity of war. It is obsolete.

Something different for those of us who are news weary. I got my first guitar when I was 16 (1964) during the folk music resurgence. It was a no name blond acoustic 6 string that in retrospect wasn't a bad Axe all thing considered. Decent action, good sound and projection, well built and made in America. The first song I learned was "The times they are a changing," by Dylan. I would hang out at the Cafe' Orpheus, a small coffee house on SW College St. right by Portland State College (now PSU), soaking up the folk tunes and their magic. Sold this guitar when I joined the Army in 1967 (as not to get drafted).

Continued below the fold.

"Did I ever thank you soldier...?"

This simple question begins a song written by my friend and mentor, Sean Slattery. Known as "Papasean" by those of us in Veterans For Peace chapter 72, he was our balladeer and link to the glory days of the Vietnam War protests. "Papasean" died Wednesday, March 7th, his 68th birthday.

Did I ever thank you soldier, for goin' off to war?
And leavin' home and family, for some far distant shore?
Did I ever tell you soldier, how I feel so damn ashamed
of the way that you were treated when you came back home again?

I don't have an image hosting site account, but you can see this with his pictures on the  VFP 72 chapter website here.

His story below the fold.

From Jen over at "The News Blog"
If this has been diaried I'll delete

Oh Fuck

Jen here. About to tuck into the 10 PM news, a drink, and bed.

Talked to Gilly this PM. Contrary to what one of his doctors said to my face yesterday, they now think that he has another valve infection. The exact term is "vegetation near the valve," which I guess is what they say because "infected snot" isn't a medical term.

Seriously, I'm pissed off. Gilly is somewhat passive about this--I'm trying to tell him to go through with the full chest CAT scan that he's slated for, just to double check that a) it really is the heart valve that's leaking and b) that it is the locus of infection, not something else that is infected (and his valve is just catching shit like a lobster trap).

Two questions I have for all 08 Presidential contenders is, "Would you support the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court?" And, "What is your position on International law in general as relating to Article VI of the Constitution?"

Amnesty International: US Threats to the International Criminal Court
The United States of America is the only state that is actively opposed to the new International Criminal Court. US opposition to the Court can be traced back to the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) in 1998, where the USA was one of only 7 states to vote against adoption of the Statute. Reportedly a major reason for not supporting adoption of the Statute stems from the refusal of the international community to grant the United Nations Security Council (of which the USA is a veto holding permanent member) control over which cases the Court considered, instead favouring an independent Prosecutor who - subject to safeguards and fair trial guarantees - would make such decisions.

While checking out the Wes article on Huffington, I ran across this piece by
Paul Rieckhoff.

What Were They Thinking? VA Cartoon Makes Light of Vets' Mental Health Issues

This is crazy.
(Link to a screen grab)

That's from a Flash animation "training video" the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs have made for doctors at veterans' hospitals to help them understand and treat troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-deployment mental health issues.

That's right. This is supposed to be for doctors. Not eight-year-olds.

Armistice Day, the truce ending the First World War came at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. The world celebrated, and called it "Peace Day" to honor military veterans and the peace they secured.

November 11th became, Armistice Day, a day that in 1926 the Congress proclaimed "...it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations..." A legal federal holiday was established in 1938, and in 1954 Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day.

teachervet's diary the other day got me going again on the reason why it is so important to have vets witnessing their experiences. He mentions he has been active with Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace. These two organizations are perhaps the most under reported on anti-war groups out there. Here on dKos we see and hear about them a lot, however in the MSM, they seem to be non-existent. You might see a picture now and then mixed in with others at a demonstration of a VFP or IVAW flag or member, but nothing substantial.

Finding only 2 diaries with 11 responses on the Lt. Watada saga,here and here, I thought I'd add my 2 cents worth on this most important topic. The back strory is that First Lt. Ehren Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the unlawful war and occupation in Iraq. On June 22, 2006, Watada said, "As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must refuse that order."

This is the oath the Lt. took when he was commissioned.

"I, Ehren Watada, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of Second Lieutenant, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God." (Established July 11, 1868)

Compare this with the oath an enlisted inductee takes,

My outrage meter gets pegged all the time over some of the stories coming out of the Mess in potamia, but this one takes the cake, no pun intended.

Does this question from the story make your head explode?
QUESTION: SGM A.: "Can the lobster tails be cut in half?"

Lobster fucking tails!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My gast is flabbered. This makes pizza delivery by Hueys in VN pale by comparison. We had company parties in the hangers about once a month with steaks and such where I was stationed, which came out of the company funds and were a great moral booster. But this is ridiculous.

I look for a diary on this, if one has been posted, I'll delete.