http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/index/ Media Roots Music Delivers the Freshest Beats to the Peeps of the Revoloution en marc.26@gmail.com Copyright 2009 2009-10-16T02:05:33+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/junkyard_empire_artist_page/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/junkyard_empire_artist_page/#When:03:28:28Z Look out world. Featured Artists, Junkyard Empire Artist Page 2009-06-03T03:28:28+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/know_your_enemy._then_bite_that_enemy_in_the_face/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/know_your_enemy._then_bite_that_enemy_in_the_face/#When:02:05:33Z Thoughts of Dan Choma of Junkyard Empire So I’m sitting here at a college bookstore killing time at my temp job. (Random shout outs to the folks at Adecco, I’m eating fancy tonight thanks to a temp job!) The job has had a bit of down time, so it’s been fun getting to know the people I’m working with. I’ve also gotten a chance to catch up on the news via my new iPhone (I’m accepting name ideas, hit me up) and found out that due to the receding economy and rising unemployment (in spite of the increasingly pointless Dow Jones figures, top down economics fixes the top while leaving us all unemployed, go figure…) the military has officially reached quota for new recruits for the first time in quite a while. Army is at 103% capacity, and National Guard stands at a healthy 104%. Alison, a woman I work with, is married to a National Guardsman. He’s been called to active duty recently, and soon will be shipped off overseas. Behind, he leaves his wife, twin girls, and a son. Alison, by the way, is liberal. Alison complained my first day about a recent showdown she had with a gas station clerk. She said she was wearing one of her “I’m married to a National Guardsman” T-shirts, and the gas station clerk attacked her for being a “flag-waving war mongerer.” The man attacked her personally for being a supporter of war because her husband serves. I know I’m gonna piss off a good amount of folks on this one, but what is this foolishness? I’ve seen it happen endlessly. I will be the first to say that I do not support war. I do not support our military action in Iraq, and I do not support our military action in Afghanistan. I do not support CIA training of terrorists in South America. But I support the troops, and I respect their families. Alison herself would agree that she does not believe in the war in Iraq, and she does not agree with the war in Afghanistan. We both know many people in the service that do not agree with these wars. But still, these men and women enlist and are required to go. These soldiers do not have a choice if they want to serve in a war they believe in, they serve in the war that their country sends them to fight. There is no military tribunal in charge of asking soldiers if they believe in the war. They are called, they go, end of story. Individuals attacking military families that have no choice in the matter simply piss me off. Since Vietnam, the vast majority of our military serves voluntarily because they desire to get out of the economic class that they are in. The military offers a good paycheck in hard economic times, (see today’s New York Times) a way to pay for college, and a light at the end of the tunnel for families stuck in wage slavery. Although there are the folks that do it for the love of fighting, most sign up to give their families a way out of the poverty that has been inflicted by the very same system that made war their only option. Attacking people that are serving their country voluntarily is wrong, and it’s the wrong way of attacking an amoral war. We live in a country where we have been provided with freedom of speech as well as venues with which we as individuals can participate in our government. We live in a place where we have access to our Republic, and we can organize in order to make a difference in what our government does. To me, attacking an individual for the sins of a country is lazy. It denies citizen responsibility. It denies that there are proper venues for change. It denies that we have been given any rights by leaving them unused and forgotten. If we forget our rights and take our frustration out on individuals, we give up our right to check and balance our own system and replace it with silly name calling and fruitless bickering. Plus, ostricizing the soliders makes for serious issues when these soldiers come home and become veterans. People who have served need our love and respect, not a hard shoulder from our collective moral compass. Looking down on soldiers who have served only guaruntees that we will relive the sins of our fathers by ignoring the wisdom that comes back from the trenches. And it leaves people who have given up a large portion of their lives for our freedoms left in the cold, alone when they need others the most. Chris Hedges talks of the obsession that we have with war in his book “War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning.” He does an amazing job of expressing how in times of war, both sides of an ideological difference are negated by making violence out of ideology. The ideology is forgotten as war drags on, and all that remains is the propaganda from both sides making the other side of the war out to be the enemy. As both parties and news outlets move further away from each other on the political spectrum, this ideological battle is starting to rage on between people on the homefront. And it’s dumb. Save the fight for your senators. Save the fight for your representatives. Save the fight for the protests. Save the fight for your blog. Save the fight and endite George Bush for war crimes. Save the fight to stop the next war and keep our troops at home with their families before there is even a need to send them away. But don’t attack the soldiers soon to be veterans. And please don’t attack the families who will (God willing) accept their loved ones back into their homes soon. It just shows you have nothing better to do, and are too lazy to fight the real enemy. If we channel our collective rage into the inboxes of our senators, the streets of our cities, and the steps of our capitols, we might just get our troops to come home. And let’s do it soon, there are families waiting. Opinion, Politics 2009-10-16T02:05:33+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/woah_its_been_a_while_since_we_updated/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/woah_its_been_a_while_since_we_updated/#When:23:56:41Z And a hell of a lot as gone down in the interim. So expect lots of blogs, and vlogs, and other announcements coming up in the very near future. But for now enjoy a FREE MP3 of Junkyard Empire’s 1st single and title track REBELLION POLITIK! (right-click to download) News 2009-09-21T23:56:41+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/bill_crinton/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/bill_crinton/#When:00:28:28Z Back in March two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were seized on the North Korean border and charged with espionage.  After being detained and found guilty it seemed as if the two women were going to have to settle into North Korean prison life for the long haul.  However to everyone’s surprise North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has just issued a special pardon to the two journalists.  This was all made possible by a surprise visit by one William Jefferson Clinton.  The amazing thing about the visit is Clinton was able to secure the pardon within hours of arriving in Pyongyang.  If this isn’t a clear example of Bill Clinton’s special baller status then I don’t know what is. Now I’m an educated fellow, I know that there are other reasons besides Bill Clinton’s presence that contributed to Kim Jong-il deciding to pardon the two journalists.  But let us pretend for a moment that the negotiations occurred as they would on South Park. I want to know what Bill Clinton said to Kim Jong-il that caused one of the world’s more oppressive leaders to immediately issue a pardon for two individuals charged with espionage. Since I don’t have a transcript or recording of what was said I’m just going to use my imagination: Opinion, Politics 2009-08-05T00:28:28+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/kiss_my_ass/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/kiss_my_ass/#When:23:08:04Z So Marc and I were watching the Henry Rollins Show last night and ended up having a disagreement about the interview with Gene Simmons.  Marc thought that Gene was just an industry tool who thinks music is all about money, not art, whereas I thought he was just sharing some truths he’d learned about the music industry and his sleazy nature masked what he was saying.  To sum things up Gene said that music as well as the music industry is in decline because of the selfishness of the fans. He also said money was the solution, not the root, to all evil, which was funny because in a sick and twisted way it’s true.  But now I’m sounding like a Republican. Opinion 2009-07-16T23:08:04+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/mcnamaras_war/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/mcnamaras_war/#When:05:01:42Z The Angel of Death has struck again.  In the latest of 2009’s KIAs former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara died on Monday, he was 93.  McNamara served under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and his watch included the invasion of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the escalation of the Vietnam War.  He was a controversial figure who later in life expressed regret over the decisions he had made.  After serving as Secretary of Defense McNamara went on to run the World Bank, later claiming it was out of sense of guilt and a desire to give back to people in developing countries. Opinion, Politics 2009-07-08T05:01:42+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/super_franken/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/super_franken/#When:23:08:12Z The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday finally allowed Al Franken to assume his seat in the Senate.  After a mind numbing 7 months of waiting, Republican Norm Coleman finally conceded.  This of course makes him the fabled 60th Democratic vote in the Senate, a development that grants liberals a super majority, removing from the Republican arsenal their ability to filibuster and hold up legislation they do not like.  This would be great if there was actually going to be a super majority.  However as we’ve seen in the past 6 months the main factor holding back a new progressive and liberal agenda is the Democratic party.  As many of you have noticed, and Bill Maher recently pointed out, the majority of democrats in this country have moved to the center right, while the Republican party has just moved towards being bat shit crazy.  So even though the Democrats technically have the power to steamroll through legislation like FDR did during the New Dealhttp://www.ipcc.ch/ they won’t I’m sorry to say.  Opinion, Politics 2009-07-03T23:08:12+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/the_king_is_dead/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/the_king_is_dead/#When:03:33:27Z Michael Jackson is dead!  It makes me sad that I am not old enough to have experienced Michael Jackson during his prime in the 80s. He is probably the first true musical legend to die in my life time.  I wish I could have been there when Thriller was released and Michael Jackson exploded as the King of Pop.  It is the biggest album of all time after all.  It doesn’t matter where you go in the world or who you talk to, everybody has a favorite Michael Jackson song. My generation doesn’t have anything remotely approaching that.  It’s a sign of the times.  The internet has flooded the market with so much music, most of it not worth listening to, that it has become almost impossible to accomplish what MJ did.  Michael Jackson was never exclusively associated with any one fashion or scene whereas most of today’s acts are. Opinion 2009-06-26T03:33:27+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/nothing_is_better_than_getting_ourselves_fucked/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/nothing_is_better_than_getting_ourselves_fucked/#When:01:03:49Z It seems that for the first time since President Obama took office his administration is truly doing something right.  Iran is at a cross roads right now; the country’s ruling religious elite are expressing real fear over the prospect that a counter revolution, led by Presidential candidate Mir-Hossein, may be at hand. One might ask what is the US doing to respond to this potentially historic situation? The answer is nothing.  And that is exactly the way it should be.  If we taint this remarkable process with the stain of American interventionism then we risk handing the Iranian establishment all the ammunition they need to squash this fledgling movement.  If a new government does arise from these protests it would be naïve to assume that it would be completely pro western.  However, this level of maturity on the part of the US hopefully signals a new willingness to work with other nations who do not agree with all of Washington’s policies.  I think the American people will be impressed with these results.  If US had not assassinated Mossadeq back in the 1950s we would not even be in this mess.  And that right there is the point.  Without our interference Iran would today be similar to Turkey, perhaps even more prosperous.  So let’s not make the same mistake twice.  President Obama, I applaud your policy of doing nothing.  Opinion, Politics 2009-06-17T01:03:49+00:00 http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/solarlion_on_myspace/ http://mediarootsmusic.com/index.php/site/solarlion_on_myspace/#When:07:23:07Z Be sure to drop by and say what’s up via MySpace! Featured Artists, SolarLion 2009-06-04T07:23:07+00:00