Wednesday, November 24th, 2004

Radio Apex

Hey yall. Very few posts because I’m in Hawai’i. Here’s something to check out though as we give thanks…

APEX EXPRESS: Asian Pacific Islander Radio….Get on board!

Thursdays 7-8pm, KPFA 94.1 fm or www.kpfa.org

Thurs. Nov. 25:  On Apex, learn about the back-door draft –  a kind of revolving door that could un-justly put more people at risk to fight in today’s US army.  Apex hears from David Miyasato about the risks he faced; both in going into the military, and trying to get out of it.   And we’ll have some Thanksgiving poetry….Plus music, calendar and more.  Rainjita hosts and produces this week. Contact: Apex@kpfa.org; 510-848-6767×464

 

posted by @ 9:36 am | 0 Comments

Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

R.I.P. Errol Thompson

Ryan Moore from Twilight Circus brought this to my attention: the great reggae engineer and dubmaster Errol Thompson passed away this weekend. He was behind the boards on some of the most thrilling roots and dub records like the African Dub Almighty series, Dennis Brown’s Words of Wisdom, Yellowman’s Zunguguzungguguzungguzeng, and Culture’s Two Sevens Clash.

This from Ryan:

“Errol Thompson must have recorded many 1000’s of albums and singles in the 70’s. IMO he was the all time greatest recording engineer of reggae & one of the very best on the mix. Clear, open, FAT and well balanced..

He worked at the legendary Randys studio in the early 70’s and then later at Joe Gibbs studio..

Anybody here who has heard some vintage reggae has heard his work – he worked with everybody.

The last I heard, from a reliable source who was there, ET was working in the supermarket owned by his former musical production partner Joe Gibbs. Thus, no longer in the music business.

RIP ET!”

posted by @ 5:14 pm | 5 Comments

Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

More On The Back-Door Draft

Here’s the best article yet on David and the back-door draft. It’s the front-page NY Times today.

Two stunning stats: nearly half of all those called up through the back-door draft are requesting delays or exemptions. One in five have not shown up.

It turns out the problem was bigger than we all suspected.

posted by @ 9:38 am | 0 Comments

Saturday, November 13th, 2004

R.I.P. O.D.B.

Damn. That VH1 special was no joke. He really did look sick. Meaning not well.

STATEMENT FROM CHERRYJONES, MOTHER OF OL’ DIRTY BASTARD

This evening I received a phone call that is every mothers worst dream.  My son Russell Jones passed away.  

To the public he was known as Ol Dirty Bastard but to me he was known as Rusty.  The kindest most generous soul on earth.  I appreciate all of the support and prayers that I have received.  Russell was more then a rapper he was a  loving father, brother, uncle and most of all son.

 

With Love,

 

Cherry Jones

posted by @ 10:49 pm | 1 Comment

Friday, November 12th, 2004

Dis One’s Fo’ Gabby

Ever wonder why Iz says at the beginning of that song, “OK, dis one’s fo’ Gabby…”? Well, start here:

OK so yeah my subtitle says ‘dubwise’ and ‘hiphopcentric’, but when I’m in the mood for comfort food, it’s all about Hawaiian music. (And yes, Joni Mitchell—original hip-hop diva.)

It’s been one of those cursed years–interesting, eventful, exhausting. I’ve got to go home and get a big plate of beef stew, break some English (as the one called Lyrics Born asked me after a vacation to the islands–‘What language do you guys speak over there?’), and listen to some ki ho’alu.

It all starts with Gabby. Philip ‘Gabby’ Pahinui was the father of modern Hawaiian music, a master of the slack-key (ki ho’alu) guitar, and every Local’s hard-drinking, hard-living father figure. Folks called him ‘Pops’.”

For the rest of the entry, click to Stickershock.

posted by @ 6:46 pm | 2 Comments

Friday, November 12th, 2004

The Memory of El Salvador: Donald Rumsfeld Vs. Joan Didion

Donald Rumsfeld was in El Salvador, one of the countries in the “Coalition of the Willing” that still has troops in Iraq. The number of Salvadoran-born troops–including 370 Salvadoran citizens and probably more American immigrants–is likely well under 1000.

“We are deeply in your debt,” Rumsfeld said during a Veterans Day ceremony honoring U.S. and Salvadoran soldiers. He held up El Salvador as “a nation that understands well the human struggle for liberty and democracy.”

Here’s Joan Didion in 1982, documenting the misdeeds of the Reagan-backed anti-communist government:

Terror is the given of the place. Black-and-white police cars cruise in pairs, each with the barrel of a rifle extruding from an open window. Roadblocks materialize at random, soldiers fanning out from trucks and taking positions, fingers always on triggers, safeties clicking on and off. Aim is taken as if to pass the time. Every morning El Diario de Hoy and La Prensa Grafica carry cautionary stories. Una madre y sus dos hijos fueron asesinados con arma cortante (corvo) por ocho sujetos desconocidos el lunes en la noche”: A mother and her two sons hacked to death in their beds by eight desconocidos, unknown men…

It is largely from these reports in the newspapers that the Unites States Embassy compiles its body counts, which are transmitted to Washington in a weekly siaptch referred to by embassy people as “the grim-gram.” These counts are presented in a kind of tortured code that fails to obscure what is taken for granted in El Salvador, that government forces do most of the killing.

In a January 15, 1992 memo to Washington, for example, the embassy issued a “guarded” breakdown on its count of 6,909 “reported” political murders between September 16 1980 and September 15 1981. Of these 6,909, according to the memo, 922 were “believed committed by security forces”, 952 “believed committed by leftist terrorists”, 136 “believed committed by rightist terrorists”, and 4,889 “committed by unknown assailants”, the famous desconocidos favored by those San Salvador newspapers still publishing. (The figures actually do not add up to 6,909 but to 6,899, leaving ten in a kind of official limbo.) The memo continued:

“The uncertainty involved here can be seen in the fact that responsibility cannot be fixed in the majority of cases. We note, however, that it is generally believed in El Salvador that a large number of the unexplained killings are carried out by the security forces, officially or unofficially…

An addendum: After the civil war ended in 1992, the UN-sponsored Truth Commission attributed 85% of all human rights violations to the Salvadoran army, security forces, and death squads–institutions with deep training and links to US right-wingers like guess-who.

History loops, in sometimes strange and horrible ways.

posted by @ 3:48 pm | 4 Comments

Friday, November 12th, 2004

Oh Yeah I Also Write About Music

Something on Trojan Records for yall. Hoping to get enough energy to get a post up at Stickershock soon also.

posted by @ 3:01 pm | 0 Comments

Thursday, November 11th, 2004

Best News In 8 Weeks

Thank you for all of your emails, prayers, well wishes, everything. Looks like they have all paid off. Through Senator Daniel Inouye’s office yesterday, David received a two-line order from the Army today revoking his call-up. You did it!

Great coverage of David here and here.

He and his attorney will continue to field press calls, because we don’t know how many thousands could be in David’s exact situation but without any hope–just as David himself was. The back-door draft must end, and we hope to put the word out there to stop it.

And from the bottom of our hearts, thanks once again for all your positive vibes, we feel very blessed and want to continue to make noise about this issue.

———————-

November 10. 2004

PRESS ADVISORY

GULF WAR VET CALLED UP 13 YEARS AFTER DISCHARGE RELEASED FROM DUTY

Back-Door Draft Lawsuit Against The Army And Intense Media Interest 

Cause Army To Rescind Orders

Honolulu, Hawai’i–Today, Kauai, Hawai’i, resident and Gulf War veteran David M. Miyasato, who was called up by the Army 13 years after an honorable discharge, was released from his active duty orders by the Army. He had filed a lawsuit against the Army on November 5 in the United States District Court after receiving no response to his inquiries.

David expressed satisfaction with the revocation order. “Now I can move on with my life,” he said. He said he will return to his small auto window-tinting business on the Island of Kauai. He is married and has a new infant child.

His attorney, Eric A. Seitz, said, “This is a rare victory, not just for David, but for the thousands of others who may be in his situation as well.”

He added, “The back-door draft must be stopped. We don’t know how many others may have been called up illegally or may now be serving even though they have done their time. Many may be suffering severe financial hardships, just as David has for the last two months in his state of uncertainty.”

On the 5th, after being ignored by the Army for weeks, the Army responded within hours after Miyasato filed his suit, granting him an “administrative delay” for up to 30 days, and notifying Mr. Miyasato he would soon be receiving a “new report date”. Today, Senator Daniel Inouye’s office received a 2-line order stating that David’s call-up order had been “rescinded or revoked”.

Mr. Miyasato enlisted in the Army in 1987 for a term of eight years. His enlistment contract specified that he would serve on active duty for three years and then be enrolled in the inactive reserves for five additional years.

Mr. Miyasato reported for active duty on August 16, 1988. He served as a specialist E-4, driving a heavy equipment mobility tactical truck, delivering fuel, ammunition and other materials. He served in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the Gulf War.

He was honorably discharged on August 15, 1991. He then returned to Kauai while he remained in the inactive reserves. His enlistment obligations expired on August 15, 1996.

Suddenly, in late September 2004, the Army issued orders directing Mr. Miyasato to report to a military facility in South Carolina on November 9, 2004, “for no more than 24 months active duty.”

posted by @ 8:52 am | 10 Comments

Wednesday, November 10th, 2004

Hear David Tomorrow, Veteran’s Day

Hey yall, Gulf War vet David Miyasato and his lawyer Eric Seitz will be interviewed tomorrow on Democracy Now!, on at 8am east coast time and re-broadcast across the world during the day. The show will also be archived.

He will also be speaking on Washington DC’s WPFW live at 9:30 am EST.

Thanks again for all your support and well wishes!

posted by @ 1:15 pm | 0 Comments

Monday, November 8th, 2004

OK Damn

First of all, it will take me another week to catch up on all the crazy commentary yall have been dropping. Nice to see everyone is all McCartney and Jackson at the end tho. Except for my man here, dukes up!

Secondly, thanks to everyone with well wishes. Some more background: my cousin David Miyasato enlisted in the army in 1987. You enlist when you’re 18 for a lot of reasons. You do your time like they tell you–3 years through a war to an honorable discharge, 5 more on inactive duty. At that point, by contract, by rules that the Army has established, your obligations are finished.

In the 8 years after that, you start a family, try to provide for them, and then the Army wants to come back at you like they own you. It ain’t right. It’s the exact opposite of what this country is supposed to be about.

David was an ammo-supply driver. If you haven’t been up on it, here’s a taste of what kind of work that is.

But David is not trying to duck difficult, perhaps deadly work–like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and all these other chicken hawks who refused to serve. David is asking to be treated justly and fairly, according to the rules the Army set forth at the beginning. That’s not unpatriotic, it’s the most American thing to do.

Whether or not you agree the war is unjust and wrong, David has done his time.

posted by @ 8:20 pm | 1 Comment



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