A song that changed the world

Bob Marley's friend and songwriter, Vincent Ford, died today in Jamaica...he is the writer of what might be one of the greatest songs ever written: No Woman no Cry, a Reggae classic. May he rest in peace.

To welcome in the new year, I have posted a live performance by Bob Marley singing the song at a concert. It is amazing...Marley died almost 28 years ago, and yet his music only seems to grow in popularity.



"In this great future, you can't forget your past, so dry your tears, I say"

Time to be one nation again

How good and how pleasant it would be, before God and man, to see the unification of all Americans (borrowed of course from the great Bob Marley's 'Africa Unite')

Seriously, more than anything at all, this is what I want. If Barack Obama can manage to accomplish this, I will be the first one in line to offer him praise. Nothing angers me more than politicians who put their party ahead of the good of the country. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, is a good example. I really hope that Obama will move away from actions like Reid's. At the moment, I'm still trying to decide if Rahm Emanuel was a good pick to be Obama's Chief of Staff. On one hand, the man can be mean, angry, and extremely partisan, but on the other, he is of Israeli descent, and speaks fluent Hebrew. Could this be a signal to Israel that he intends will uphold America's alliance to the Jewish State? I hope so. I also hope that it will be a slap in the face to scumbags like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who embrace Obama's victory as a victory for criminal regimes across the world.

Say hello to Rahm, our president-elect's new chief of staff. He speaks Hebrew and his father immigrated to the United States from Israel.

Throughout my blog posts, I have always been consistent with my belief that hating the president gets us absolutely nowhere--in fact, I think that the violent hatred the anti-Bush/war movement has created the last few years is partially responsible for the situation the country and the world are in today. I want President Obama to exceed and I, like all Americans, am honored to see history made...that does not mean that our new president should be given a free pass. My greatest fear is that he will follow through on his commitments to the "antiwar" groups and pull our soldiers out of Iraq, even after so much sacrifice from both Iraqis and Americans. Thankfully, it appears Barack will not do that...the heroes of Iraq have already triumphed over the forces of terrorism.

There is another thing I am very thankful for...I am so happy to see the election process over with. After two years of obsessive reporting on the news, it has finally come to an end. Now, let's try to solve the issues with something other than words.

Smile, Haiti

Singer Wyclef Jean, who is a Haitian national, is putting together a relief effort for the people of Haiti, where a series of hurricanes have devastated the tiny Caribbean nation. Hundreds have died in one city alone, and the receding floodwaters are bound to reveal even more destruction as the days go by. Wyclef Jean moves me emotionally with his actions to try and make the world a better place.

It makes me think of Bob Marley's "Smile Jamaica" concert, which took place in 1976 and helped redefine the meaning of "one love". In an attempt to stop the civil unrest in Jamaica with the love of reggae music, Marley organized a concert in Kingston only to be wounded just days before the event, when gunmen broke into his residence and also injured his wife, Rita, and a friend. However, it did not stop him from going on stage for a full performance and bringing a smile to the faces of Jamaicans. I've always thought that Marley would be proud of Wyclef Jean and the Fugees' rendition of "No Woman no Cry" and I feel that without a doubt he would be proud of these efforts, too.

Wyclef's song "million voices" about the Rwandan Genocide gives me chills every time I listen to it.