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Green Day Lennon

Green Day Lennon

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Oh, I’m in heaven. Billie Joe Armstrong sings “Working Class Hero.” I heard the whole song for the first time last week.
Here’s a short teaser video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoiEZbEm3JA[/youtube]

As soon as you’re born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool,
Till you’re so f*cking crazy you can’t follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they’ve tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can’t really function you’re so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you’re so clever and classless and free,
But you’re still f*cking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There’s room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like all the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

Like Cindy Lauper’s version of “Strawberry Fields,” and Alanis Morrisette’s “Dear Prudence” (see below) – this is better than the original.

Instant Karma: The Campaign To Save Darfur is Amnesty International’s new Make Some Noise campaign. In the spirit of peace high profile artists such as Green Day, U2, Black Eyed Peas, Snow Patrol, Postal Service, Regina Spektor and more are coming together in one tribute album covering songs by John Lennon. Proceeds from this album go to aid Amnesty International in the fight to Save Darfur, Sudan. The music video for Green Day will be premiered on MTV and iTunes on 5/30. Proceeds from your purchase of the video in iTunes will also go towards the fight. For more info on the album and the cause go to www.instantkarma.org.

You might also like to check out Come Together – A Night for John Lennon’s Words and Music.

It was performed – as planned – in New York a few weeks after 9/11.

US Secret Jails in Yemen?

US Secret Jails in Yemen?

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BBC NEWS | Americas | US challenged over ‘secret jails’

Two Yemeni prisoners have claimed they were held in secret, underground US jails for more than 18 months, Amnesty International has said.

The human rights group has called on the US to reveal details of the alleged secret detention of suspects abroad.

Amnesty has said it fears the case is part of a “much broader picture” in which the US is holding prisoners at a network of undisclosed locations.

The US state department had no immediate comment to make.

Action: Markey Amendment Support

Action: Markey Amendment Support

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There are growing reports of the United States handing detainees over to countries that use torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Amnesty International has reported cases of people being transferred into the custody of countries such as Syria, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia in violation of US and international law. This practice of “extraordinary renditions” contravenes the obligations to uphold the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and the Convention Against Torture. It is illegal, impractical and immoral. The Markey Amendment is a step toward restoring the rule of law and protections of fundamental human rights.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE RIGHT AWAY

Phone number: 1-202-224-3121

— As a constituent, I am calling to urge you to support the Markey Amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act (HR1268), which prevents funds being used to outsource torture.

— I am very concerned about increasing evidence that the United States is involved in a practice known as “extraordinary renditions” to transfer individuals into the custody of countries that have a well-documented history of using torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

— The US has “rendered” detainees to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Syria where individuals have reported being held and tortured and have eventually been released without charge.

— This practice does not make us safer and violates fundamental human rights and principles that are important to me.

— Please vote in support of the Markey Amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act. Thank you.

(this post from an email from Amnesty International)