U2's "Walk On" From a Tribute to Heroes Concert

Springsteen's "My City of Ruins" on The Tribute to Heroes Telethon

On this contentious anniversary of 9/11, I thought I would post this. This is the opening song of the A Tribute to Heroes concert, a benefit concert for the victims of 9/11 that took place on 9-21-01. Truthfully, I don't think I have ever been so proud to be a musician as when I saw this. It's a nice song, but in the context of that performance it was, well...everything, at least everything it needed to be. Sometimes you really do need a voice and a song.

9/11 and Star Wars Death Star Convergence

College Humor has some great satire on 9/11 tropes, commemoration, and conspiracies via stormtroopers reminiscing about the Death Star

Chile's New Museum of Memory and Human Rights

LAT has a story on Chile's new Museum of Memory and Human Rights:

By Chris Kraul
December 28, 2009

Reporting from Santiago, Chile - What they'll leave in and what they'll leave out -- that question haunts Margarita Iglesias as she considers next month's opening of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights.

That Chile is recognizing victims of its military dictatorship in a striking new "monument to memories" is positive, said Iglesias, both a victim and a historian of Augusto Pinochet's bloody 17-year rule. As a high school student activist in Santiago in 1975, she was tortured before fleeing with her family to France.

"It can't be just a horror show. The political movements and conditions that led to the coup and its aftermath must be explained. If not, how can you understand how state terrorism came about?" said Iglesias, 51, now a University of Chile professor.

The $19-million museum that opens in downtown Santiago on Jan. 11 is dedicated to the 31,000 murder, torture and kidnapping victims of the 1973-90 military dictatorship of Gen. Pinochet.

Museum directors are keeping a tight lid on the specific exhibits, hoping for maximum effect.

read the rest HERE

Today is Daniel Pearl World Music Day

Daniel Pearl World Music Days are "an international network of concerts using the power of music to reaffirm our commitment to tolerance and humanity." The 7th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days take place during the entire month of October.

About Daniel Pearl World Music Days (from their website):

The seeds were planted....

On February 22, 2002, a day after the world learned that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl had been brutally murdered by his captors in Pakistan, conductor George Pehlivanian, Danny's neighbor and friend from Paris, was scheduled to lead the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra as a guest conductor. Deeply troubled by the news, he was initially reluctant to perform; instead, he decided to defy the evil by proudly dedicating the concert to Danny.

"As the orchestra played Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, I finally understood the triumph of hope over despair," said Pehlivanian. It was an emotional and exultant concert, ending with 15 minutes of sustained applause.

After Danny's funeral in August 2002, in the spirit of his love for music, his family decided to inspire hope and unity by inviting people everywhere to dedicate a musical event on the day he would have turned 39 years old - October 10, 2002. Thus, the seeds were planted for Daniel Pearl World Music Days, now two weeks of worldwide "Harmony for Humanity" concerts- reminding the world of the principles by which Danny lived, the universal power of music, and our shared humanity.

Visit their website HERE