Dove's Eye View

A Song We Need Now

Bob Dylan is my mother's age. While he finger-picked in Greenwich coffee houses, my mother was sitting in at a lunch counter in Lynchburg, VA., trying to get a cup of coffee for her African American sister in the movement. Mom went to jail, then married my dad after she got out, went on to protest the Vietnam war and try to change this world we live in.

I grew up hearing about Dylan. He wasn't God in my house - J.S. Bach was - but I knew my parents' friends worshipped him. All the more reason to ignore him when I hit my teens. I liked Patti Smith, the Talking Heads, the Slits, James White and the Blacks, sometimes the Ramones, always the Stones. Also worshipped George Clinton, and swam in a sea of early hiphop in my days on the Lower East Side, 1980-84. Dan Zanes and the original Del Fuegos were my pals in college. I had no idea why Dylan was so important - his style didn't appeal to me in those days. The myopia of youth.

Watching the PBS documentary last night I was struck by several things. One of them was how much the punky mannerisms of my generation owe to Dylan in 1966 - the twitching, hand flapping, downcast eyes, head thrown back with eyes still looking away, a glance at the audience and then a scowl into the distance. And how much our late 70s shouters owed to his growl.

Another thing I realized, not last night but three years ago at a Tikkun conference in New York just after 9/11, is how Dylan's songs last. We sang "Blowin in the Wind", a congregation of progressive Jews, Christians & Muslims, holding hands at the Society for Ethical Culture, and I wept because the lyrics and the music were so right.

So this morning as I fry onions for my Arab literature class (long story), I put on Dylan's Biograph. "Masters of War" came on and I began weeping. It wasn't just the onions:

Come you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that build the big bombs You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

-Bob Dylan

Why, forty years later, do we still have masters of war?

Men and women dying for oil?

Old people drowning for want of a dollar for the levee, while their grandsons ship out to kill "sand niggers"?

Bob Dylan has lit me up this morning. I've had one foot in bourgeois America for the last decade and I am ready to turn my face away. The America I love is under attack from the right. I don't know what I'm going to do but this rag-head half-Arab ain't gonna be a complacent housewife no more.

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows...

Women to bike for peace across Middle East

From The Beirut Daily Star: Women to bike for peace across Middle East.

A group of more than 300 women from 34 countries are due to ride on bicycles into the Syrian capital, Damascus on Sunday as part of a regional tour to promote peace and change the stereotypes about Arab women in the Middle East, organizers said. The Middle East Women's Bicycle Ride will begin today in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. From Damascus it will stop in Jordan before continuing to the Palestinian territories.

Almost all the countries the women will pass through are conservative societies.

"The main goal of the Women's Bicycle Ride is to support women. Women and children suffer more from wars than others and could make peace by raising awareness in society," Mona Ghanem, chairperson of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs said.

"We plan in future to organize exhibitions and seminars to promote the concept of accepting others and build leaders in our society," she added.

Leen Husary, public relations coordinator at Areeba Company, one of the organizers, said the goal is to support Arab women and children and strengthen their ability to express themselves, especially on the subject of peace.

"The impact of the Women Bicycles Ride in 2004 encouraged us to organize it this year again," she said. The event is sponsored in Syria by the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, Women for Peace, an organization established in Sweden in 2002, and the Areeba Company.

Josh Landis in the New York Times

Syria Comment blogger Joshua Landis has an op-ed in today's New York Times: Don't Push Syria Away.

Mr. Assad's regime is certainly no paragon of democracy, but even its most hard-bitten enemies here do not want to see it collapse. Why? Because authoritarian culture extends into the deepest corners of Syrian life, into families, classrooms and mosques. Damascus's small liberal opposition groups readily confess that they are not prepared to govern. Though they welcome American pressure, like most Syrians, they fear the deep religious animosities and ethnic hatreds that could so easily tear the country apart if the government falls.

Nonetheless, Washington seems to be pursuing a policy of regime change on the cheap in Syria. The United States has halved Syria's economic growth by stopping Iraqi oil exports through Syria's pipeline, imposing strict economic sanctions and blocking European trade agreements. Regular reports that the United States is considering bombing Syria, and freezing transactions by the central bank have driven investors away. Next week, United Nations investigators will begin interviewing top officials in Damascus about the bombing death of the anti-Syrian politician Rafik Hariri in Lebanon, a matter that many expect the United States will bring before the Security Council. Politicians and businessmen alike here are convinced that Washington wants to bring down the regime, not merely change its behavior.

Nonetheless, the two countries have much to talk about: both are trying to solve their Iraq problems. They share a common interest in subduing jihadism and helping Iraq build stability. But instead of helping Syria help the United States, Washington prefers to make demands. The Bush administration believes it will be an easy matter for Mr. Assad to crack down on the Syrian Sunnis, who are giving comfort and assistance to mostly Arab fighters traveling though Syria.

Conservative Conserves

From the SF Chronicle: ORGANIC BY THE OCEAN "On a sprawling dairy at the mouth of the Smith River, a staunch conservative farmer and his family make a business decision: to raise cows and chickens the natural way."

Alexandre sometimes hears himself slandered as "a bleeding-heart environmentalist." He cops to the environmentalist part, while separating himself from "those protest fools, who don't get the first thing about what it takes to build a road or a business, either one."

"The organic path is the right game at the right time," he said. "It's fully consistent with true conservatism. I can build a business that lets me make payments on my land. And it's truly sustainable. This way, we'll be able to feed more people for a much longer time."

The Dove doesn't understand why so many right-wingers are contemptuous of environmental concerns. Wouldn't a conservative want to conserve our planet? The consequences of neglect can be seen in Louisiana, where wetlands destruction and disregard of environmental questions have contributed to the scope of the disaster.

Good for the fellow in the linked article. May we see more conservatives getting these ideas.

Oakland's ties to New Orleans

From the Oakland Tribune, a piece about Oakland's ties to New Orleans includes local efforts.

Following is a list of some of the local events and efforts to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

-Canned or boxed food, pajamas for children, men and women, underwear and socks, towels, bedding, personal hygiene items, transistor radios, batteries, can openers and alarm clocks are being collected at the St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County district council offices, 9235 San Leandro St., Oakland between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. today and between 9:30 a.m. and noon Sunday.

-Pastor J. Alfred Smith Sr. of Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 International Blvd., is holding a meeting of local religious and community leaders to coordinate relief efforts. The meeting is at noon today.

-The Bay Area Blues Society will collect money for the American Red Cross at its "New Orleans in Oakland" stage at the Art and Soul Festival today from noon to 5 p.m. at 14th Street and Broadway in downtown Oakland. A New Orleans marching band and Maria Mauldaur and her Louisiana Hot Band will be featured.

-The American Red Cross and the First Covenant Church of Oakland will hold a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday at the Redwood Heights Recreation Center, 3883 Aliso Ave., in Oakland. The church is also holding a fund raiser with a barbecue, music, games and a carwash between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday at the recreation center.

-Direct Line Tele Response has joined forces with the Rotary Club of Berkeley to take calls for the American Red Cross. The company has logged a total of $291,000 in donations so far and will donate all fees, charges and income generated through the service to the American Red Cross. The company will also make a matching donation.

-Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) is collecting supplies and donations for the relief between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building, 1301 Clay St. in Oakland.

-Students at Zion Lutheran School in Piedmont collected nearly $1,000 by selling hot dogs and sodas Friday. Money came from students, their families and staff members.

Cuba honors Katrina victims

From Yahoo! News: One minute of silence in Cuba for Katrina victims.

Cuba's parliament, led by President Fidel Castro, set aside politics momentarily on Thursday and stood for one minute in silent homage to the victims of Hurricane Katrina -- before quickly returning to normal business and condemning the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

"The whole world should feel that this tragedy is its own," National Assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcon said.

Heavy rainfall lashed western Cuba and downed power lines when Katrina swung across Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, but the island escaped the devastation seen in the United States.

"The news pained and saddened Cubans. In their name, we wish to express our profound solidarity with the people of the United States, state and local authorities and the victims of this catastrophe," Alarcon added.

Castro, dressed in his trademark green military fatigues, stood with his head down for the minute of silence.