The concept is that smaller nuclear weapons would be more useable than our current nuclear weapons.

Critics such as Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-California) say this will make a nuclear exchange more likely "by erasing the taboo on the use of nuclear weapons. Russia has already indicated that it will develop new 'tactical' weapons in response and no one doubts our enemies will follow suit."

John Kerry agrees, and plans to reduce the nuclear threat by eliminating Bush's mini-nuke program, accelerating reductions in U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, and reducing stocks of dangerous highly enriched uranium and plutonium In Russia.

For more information on John Kerry's policies, inlcuding a comparison to Bush's nuclear weapons policies, click below:
http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/pr_2004_0601b.pdf

An excerpt of Take 1 is linked above, which isn't the more common version.

John Lennon sings and plays piano, Alan White plays drums, John Barham plays the harmonium, Klaus Voormann plays bass, and Nicky Hopkins plays electric piano.

The only difference in the lyrics I noticed is that in the common version, the first verse ends with "living for today," while in this version the first verse ends with the more communal "sharing for today."

This recording is available on "The John Lennon Anthology," a four-cd set of alternate takes of John Lennon's post-Beatles material.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of the lyrics of Imagine

Imagine all the people,
Living life in peace.
You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us,
And the world will be as one.

Imagine no possessions.
I wonder if you can.
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of Man.
Imagine all the people,
Sharing all the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

This song, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor," isn't political as far as I can tell, but I'm including it because it was performed at the end of a Friday broadcast of "The Al Franken Show" (July 23, 2004.) The hosts declared it "Pirate's Day" and Franken told pirate jokes at points in the show, while also doing serious interviews that day.

"The Al Franken Show" can be a model for others interested in doing liberal radio shows, to be both fun and informative. Take the pursuit of the truth seriously, but have some light-hearted moments, too.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Lyrics to "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" as performed on the show.

Original by Frank Luther and Carson Robinson (1928)

"(Knock)-king at my door."
"Who's that knocking at my door?"
"Who's that knocking at my door?"
Cried the fair young maiden.

"It's only me from over the sea", says Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'm all lit up like a Christmas tree", says Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll sail the sea until I croak, I'll fight 'n swear 'n drink 'n smoke,
But I can't swim a bloody stroke", says Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"I'll come down and let you in."
"I'll come down and let you in."
"I'll come down and let you in."
Cried the fair young maiden.

"Well hurry before I break the door", says Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll puff 'n fuss 'n rant 'n roar", says Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll spin you yarns 'n tell you lies, I'll drink yer wine 'n eat yer pies,
I'll kiss yer cheek 'n black yer eyes", says Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

There hasn't been as much news coverage of torure in Iraq recently as in late April and May when Sy Hersh of The New Yorker broke the story of Abu Ghraib prison and "60 Minutes II" broadcast photos.

But I believe the US is torturing Iraqi prisoners right now.

I say this because Bush publicly declared that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumseld, who implemented the torture, is doing "a superb job."

I also say this because the Bush Administration maintains that the excuse of "military necessity" allows it to nullify any laws, including the Geneva Conventions for the humane treatment of prisoners.

George W. Bush personally signed a memo on February 7, 2002 which told his staff to follow the Geneva Conventions "to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity." Bush was telling them to break the Geneva Conventions, and use "military necessity" as an excuse.

That memo is the only one not previously available to the publc which the Bush Admnistration released. They did so because they think the memo makes Bush look good, since it contains words like "humanely." But a careful reading shows an attitude that any prisoner suspected of being a terrosist, or suspected of knowing something important, has no rights.

The Bush Administration is witholding other memos about torture and the full report by General Taguba, not only from the public, but from the US Senate.

Bush continues to imply that "a few soldiers" are to blame (interview with Irish reporter Carole Coleman June 24, 2004.) This shows a lack of interest in changing policy.

If Bush wanted to stop the torture, he would be admitting the scope of the problem, telling Rumsfeld to resign, praising whistleblowers, and meeting with Iraqi prisoners.. Instead, Bush is blaming "a few soldiers."

A change is that Rumsfeld will be more careful about cameras then he was before the public learned about Abu Ghraib prison.

The attitudes are the same, however, and I believe the torture continues.

Andre Perkowski directed and stars in a video titled ""Torture: Tool, Technique, and Friend!," linked above. He plays the CIA officer. You can watch more of Andre's videos on his website.

For the whole thing, you can buy the album, "Ray Charles Anthlogy."

The lyrics to "America the Beautiful are by Katharine Lee Bates. They were written as a poem. Bates "wrote the original version in 1893. She wrote the 2nd version in 1904. Her final version was written in 1913."

Ray Charles version, which changes the order of verses but is faithful to the origninal, was released in 1972.

The music was written before the poem. Samuel A. Ward wrote the music for 'Materna' in "1882, nearly a decade before the poem was written. In fact, for two years after it was written it was sung to just about any popular or folk tune that would fit with the lyrics, with 'Auld Lang Syne' being the most notable of those. The words were not published together with 'Materna' until 1910, and even after that time, the tune to be used was challenged to some degree."

A lyric of "America the Beautiful" refers to loving "mercy more than life."

The American ideal of loving "mercy more than life" is important at this point in our nation's history. If we don't act with decency, then what do we represent?

John Yoo, as a Bush Administration Justice Dept. official, wrote a 2002 memo that if the military suspects a prisoner is a member of al Qaeda, that suspicion is enough that the Geneva Conventions on the humane treatment of prisoners is completely inapplicable. Yoo argues that such a suspect wasn't fighting for a coutry, and the Geneva Convention is between countries.

John Yoo is now a law professor at the University of California at Berekely., and so he receives money from Califonrnia taxpayers and trains future lawyers

A problem with John Yoo's conclusion is that when we're tourists in the Third World, we don't want a foregn govenrment arresting us and saying we're suspected terrorists, and therefore have no rights whatsoever, and it's legal for them to beat us and give us electic shocks.

Also, American soldiers don't just fight for a country. They're often part of a coalition. We don't want the enemy telling our soldiers that because they're part of an international coalition which isn't a Geneva Convention signatory as such, they have no rights.

The US should be a leader in human rights, the due process of law, and the concept of innocent until proven guilty.

Here are the lyrics to "America the Beauitful," as performed by Ray Charles.

----------------------------------------------------------
America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates (lyrics) and Samuel A. Ward (music), as performed by Ray Charles.

O beautiful for heroes proved,
In liberating strife.
Who more than self her country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America, America,
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine.

(you know when I was in school, we used to sing it somethng like this, listen here)

O beautiful, for spacious skies, .
For amber waves of grain, .
For purple mountain majesties .
Above the fruited plain.

(well, now wait a minute, I'm talking about)

America, sweet America!,
(You know) God done shed His grace on thee .
He crowned thy good,-yes He diid-in brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

(you know, I wish I had somebody to help me sing this)

America, I love you America,
My God He done shed His Grace on thee,
(And you ought to love Him for it).
'Cause He croweed thy good-He told He would-in brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.
(Oh Lord, Oh Lord, I thank you Lord)
Chorus: From sea to shining sea.

But a Pew poll (conducted June 3-13, 2004) found Bush has a job approval rating of 48 percent. I wrote this short poem on June 19, 2004..

----------------------------------------------------------
"48 Percent Approve" by Eric Jaffa

Death and destruction,
Greed and corruption
48 percent approve.

Lies and deception,
Stolen election
48 percent approve.

Is there anything despicable enough,
To make most Americans say No?
To make most Americans say Go!
48 percent approve.

In this takeoff on the song "Honky Cat," (published in1972, lyrics by Bernie Taupin, music by Elton John) , Jeanette Castillo suggests that George W. Bush is a plutocrat who should go to his ranch in Crawford Texas, and stay there.

The lyrics to "Get Back Plutocrat" are at her website.. The lyrics include (emphasis added):

Well, I’ve read some books, and I’ve read some magazines,
About your high-class felons and their evil schemes.
And all those fools on the tube, well, they said we were the fools.
They said, Oh, if you’re against the war – you don’t support our troops.

We say, Get Back, Plutocrat,
Better get ya back to the ranch!
Cause we’re sick of your wars,
And your corporate whores,
And oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
Regime change gonna do us good.

The version of the song linked above is lo-res and I edited out the first 5 seconds or so because I like it better that way. For a hi-res version with the 5 second intro, click here.

To learn more about Ralph Nader's impact, click the link for the video above or read a related article by John Pearce, who created the www.DontVoteRalph.net website. And if you're thinking of voting for Ralph Nader, please choose another way to support what Nader stands for.

For example:
Donate to Public Citizen, and vote for John Kerry.

Volunteer at Public Citizen, and vote for John Kerry.

Respond to the action alerts of MoveOn.org and vote for John Kerry.

We need to elect John Kerry so that George W. Bush can't choose three members of the Supreme Court.

I believe demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk. Let me give simple, responsible reasons: (1) It was a cakewalk last time; (2) they've become much weaker; (3) we've become much stronger; and (4) now we're playing for keeps.

More recently, the public learned that US troops are rounding up Iraqis from their homes in the middle of the night, holding them without due process, looting their life savings, and torturing them. Furthermore, on May 19, 2004, the US launched an airstrike in Iraq near the Syrian border which killed over 40 people attending a wedding party.

The song, "Operation Cakewalk," by Josh Wachtel and Alexei Panshin, addresses the predictions and reality of the Iraq War. Particularly, the hardships which US soliders face.

The lyrics and more songs Josh Wachtel and Alexei Panshin wrote and performed are at their website.

For decades he's been performing songs dealing with civil rights, labor, and peace (plus love songs and other topics, too).

I just want to provide a taste of one of the songs he recorded, which is available on the compilation album "If I Had Hammer: Songs of Hope & Struggle." The song was written in 1950 and recorded in 1956.

Excerpt of lyrics below; excerpt of audio by clicking the link in the heading above.

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream lyrics and music by Ed McCurdy, 1950
excerpt:

Last night I had the strangest dream
I never dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war

I dreamed I saw a mighy room
The room was full of men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again

And when the paper was all signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed

And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And swords and guns and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground

A lo-res version is linked above for fast loading.

For hi-res audio and the lyrics, visit boobooday.com.

Animation on how thousands of legal voters in Florida were removed from the rolls before the 2000 election. These legal voters, disproportionately black but many white as well, weren't notified until they appeared at their polling places on Election Day and were told they can't vote because they're "suspected felons."

For more on this issue, visit www.gregpalast.com.

For more on this topic visit VerifedVoting.org and VotersUnite.org. (VotersUnite.org shouldn't be confused with VotersUnite.com).

For people unfamiliar with the Marx Brothers, their names are Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo, and they really were brothers. They're big movie stars of the 1930s/1940s. One of their movies is called, "A Night at the Opera."

No Zeppo in this cartoon, but the animator does well with the other three.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's commission on weapons-of-mass-destruction in Iraq parallels the commission George W. Bush started to appoint this week (February 6, 2004).

George W. Bush and Tony Blair are each accused of exaggerating Iraq's wmd. Each man gets to appoint the men who decide if he exaggerated. Ordinary people accused of wrongdoing don't get to pick who investigates.

In the Blair case, there is also the question of whether the BBC was wrong to report that Tony Blair exaggerated when he said that Iraq could launch wmd within 45 minutes. Lord Hutton-who was appointed by Blair to lead the investigation-concluded that the BBC had acted terribly by saying Blair exaggerated, while Blair himself did nothing wrong. Two senior BBC officials have since resigned.

Howard Dean was running for President when this song was written, in 2003, and now he's endorsed John Kerry. However, Howard Dean is still politically active with his organization Democracy For America, which seeks to help Democrats get elected from the local level on up.

For more songs by Laramie Crocker, visit his website. His website also has lyrics and chords for "I Want My Country Back!" and his other songs.

The winner was officially announced on January 12, 2004, but the 26 finalists can stil be viewed online.

There is a takeoff on the above contest by Mark Spittle, Bush In 41.2 Seconds.

Fuck the FCC,
They don't deserve more powers.
Fuck the FCC,
Freedom of speech is ours.
--------------------------------------

Please call each of your Senators and ask them to vote against increasing FCC fines.

The toll-free number is 1-800-839-5276.

Sample phone words:

Hello, may I speak with the office of Senator ________?
(call transferred)
Hello, may I speak with someone about the FCC?
(call transferred)
Hello, I would like to leave a message for Senator ________ that free speech is extremely important, and so please vote against increasing FCC fines.

________________________________________________________________