Music Ruled by Terror

Censorship has always been an issue with music in our own country, but looking at Afghanistan's history on the subject I now know that it is something a lot more serious.

During the rule of the Taliban more musicians were murdered for their music than authors and journalists during the same period of time. Musicians have been and still are being threatened and persecuted, but now, at least, they are able to bring the issues to the table and discuss them. In 2005 the organization Afghanistan Music Foundation was formed by 130 musicians in order to promote self expression without the restraints of censorship.

It is shocking how much Afghan musicians have had to go through and it really puts it into perspective how much freedom we have here.

Stifled Free Speech in the CBS program "Free Speech"..Oh Irony

CBS has a program called "Free Speech" where supposedly they allow invited guests to come and speak about whatever they want. However, when Bill Maher was asked to be on the show Maher was denied the chance to talk openly about his opinions against organized religion. Instead, CBS gave Maher a list of topics of which he could speak about. There were lots of YouTube clips about this, but I found Maher on O'Reily's program the most entertaining.

Peace On Earth (P.O.E.)

When we were talking in class about the Cold War and the fear of communism infiltrating into the United States I automatically thought of the brilliant film; Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. There is no greater film that shows the absurdity and fear of communism masked with bloated egos and intense macho-ism. It was directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick in 1964 and starred Peter Sellers.

Kubrick gives a sardonic look at the world during the 60's and the Cold War. When the delusional General Ripper decides to give command to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union because of his belief that the communists are after the American people's "precious bodily fluids" with fluoridated water we see the irrational fear and paranoia that many felt at the time.

Another theme of the movie and of the times is the newly discovered sexuality. The film is flooded with sexual innuendo (and some very blatant sexual references). General Ripper blames communists for his inability to perform sexually and Dr. Strangelove suggests that in order to preserve humankind after nuclear war it would be necessary to save the most physically attractive people where there would be "ten females to every male." Of course the last scene in the movie is that of Major "King" Kong riding a suggestively shaped bomb to explosion. The sexual themes in the movie are numerous, but also reflect the time as it was estimated by one Harvard phsyician, Charles Walter Clarke, that if there should be an atomic bomb attack on the American people that "moral standards would relax and promiscuity would increase," giving rise for "sexual chaos" (Tyler May 93). Kubrick was one of the first to show the sex obsessed culture at the time.

This film gives great insight to the attitudes of the Cold War and suggest that everyone see it!!

1.) Tyler May, Elaine. "Explosive Issues: Sex, Women, and the Bomb."

Free Speech TV

So, when I was searching through various medias that promote free speech I actually found that there is a television station called *drum roll* Free Speech TV! It is a non profit station that is supported by the public. Here's the website to take a closer look: HERE

It seems odd that we even need a station like this or NPR on the radio etc. I mean, isn't all of the media supposed to promote free speech? Everyone always uses Fox News as a prime example of biased news, but that makes me wonder about all of the more subtle programs on TV. Even though the Daily Show is a counter attack on what is shown through major network news, it also is biased against certain figures, but is it their responsibility to give news? The Daily Show is on Comedy Central while Fox, NBC, ABC etc are supposed to be an aid to the public. Free Speech TV and PBS have to rely on donations and they are two sources that strive to give fair news, but the major networks are earning big bucks that draw people in with their fancy graphics, TV personalities, and skewed news. Should the public have to search out unbiased news? I don't think so.

Who's free to speak?

I've been thinking about Wednesday's class and the topic of who gets to decide who is free to speak. It was interesting analyzing the ads because even though they were wanting the slaves to be "free" they still didn't want black people as equals. I'm sure they didn't want any blacks in power and the idea of a black president wasn't even plausible to them. There just seems to be a lot of hypocrisy during that time. There's a lot of hypocrisy now over the same subject. Who decides what is freedom and who decides who is free to speak? The people in power don't seem very interested in listening to different opinions and different beliefs, so it would be very easy for them (without the critical eye of the public) to stifle unwanted voices. I wouldn't go as far to say that the public is aware of everything that the government does, but we have been trained to look at it objectively.

Soundtrack for Social Change

This year we are facing one of the most exciting presidential runnings ever. Next week is the California primary elections and so in honor of this I composed a list of my top 10 political/protest songs. These songs are sure to spark some sense of change.

1. Bob Dylan- "Blowin' in the Wind"

2. The Clash- "London Calling"

3. Creedence Clearwater Revival- "Fortunate Son"

4. Tom Waits- "Road to Peace"

5. Black Sabbath- "War Pigs"

6. John Lennon- "Imagine"

7. Marvin Gaye- "What's Going On?"

8. Public Enemy- "Fight the Power"

9. Arcade Fire- "Intervention"

10. Bruce Springsteen- "Born in the U.S.A."

Jamie Meets the Interweb Part I

The trek continues...