This Week with David Rovics

He spent most of his short life feeding off of algorithms, and now the algorithms are feeding off of him.

We're at another one of those seismic moments in technological development as it applies to the arts and most other things.

With the addition of Amherst, Massachusetts, the Ministry of Culture's October tour of the northeastern US now includes 10 confirmed gigs! And I recorded a little musical October Tour PSA as well... Radio and other audio people please feel free to use!

Olympia's beloved Zahid Chaudhry remains in ICE detention in Tacoma. A wounded veteran of the US military, in his wheelchair, was detained by ICE. A cherished member of the community and a loving father, taken from his small children. Here's Chet Gardiner's lovely remix.

Most people in Olympia seem to know Zahid Chaudhry, and everyone who knows him loves him, including me.  He's the most effusively affectionate leftwing military veteran in a wheelchair you're ever likely to meet.  And now he's in ICE detention, being tortured in Tacoma. More info:  keepzahidhome.carrd.co

Party in the USA.

What's one thing that just about all of us can do right now?  I've got answers.

And I don't even live in Gaza.

What do we need? Historical knowledge, vision, optimism, organization, and deep culture. When do we need it? Always.

A song for a photograph, for the photographers, the artists, the journalists, and all who are finding effective ways to tell the stories.  In this case, the stories of a genocide.  Latest remix from Chet Gardiner.  If anyone knows where to find the photo I wrote the song about, please tell me.

In preparation for Sunday's vigil for Gaza that I'll be singing at (12-2 pm at 12th and Hawthorne SE here in PDX) I did a livestreamed concert from my living room to practice some relevant songs.

While Israel continues its genocide of the Palestinians, all the Republicans in the Senate and half of the Democrats voted once again to continue facilitating the genocide. This song names the names of the genocide-supporting Democratic Senators, all of whom should obviously not be in positions of power -- all of whom should be locked up in the Hague, for that matter. This version is another brill...

Another powerful remix from Chet Gardiner to drive home the message of the song I wrote just the other day, following announcements from Israel-supporting, war-profiteering leaders like Starmer, Carney, and Albanese that they might just consider recognizing the state of Palestine  --if there are any Palestinians left alive come September, and if Hamas gives up and the Palestinians who haven't been...

The western powers talking about recognizing the state of Palestine sometime in the fall if certain outrageous conditions are met is the very definition of the term, "gaslighting."

After 22 months of Israel's total war on the children of Gaza, Senator Bernie Sanders put forward a bill to stop sending arms to the Israeli death machine.  All the Republicans in the Senate voted against it, along with half of the Democrats.  These 24 Democratic senators who voted to support Israel's ongoing genocidal war have names.  And after initially trusting an AI chatbot to give me correct...

After 22 months of Israel's total war on the children of Gaza, Senator Bernie Sanders put forward a bill to stop sending arms to the Israeli death machine. All the Republicans in the Senate voted against it, along with half of the Democrats. These 24 Democratic senators who voted to support Israel's ongoing genocidal war have names.

If it weren't for a very long flight, all the kangaroos and kookaburras, and everyone driving on the left side of the road, I might have thought I was still in the USA.

This song is probably my best songwriting effort on the awful subject of Israel's continuing genocide of the Palestinian people by mass starvation. Chet Gardiner has provided us with another stellar remix.

Some distinctions between Auschwitz and Gaza? Gaza is much bigger. And the genocide is being financed and armed by the US and most of the rest of the western world.

Vivien Langford was at last weekend's Gaza solidarity rally in Sydney for 3CR Community Radio, and she made this audio montage from the rally, featuring an amazing speech from someone from the Australian Jewish Council, followed by Kamala and I singing "I Support Palestine Action," and an announcement about the National Convergence on Canberra, which we will be singing at today, tomorrow, and Tues...

Maha Almassri is a Palestinian grandmother from the Gaza Strip who was staying with her son in Sydney, New South Wales, after fleeing Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, when one morning she was abducted by police in a pre-dawn raid and put in detention, where she remains today, with no explanation, and no recourse but detention or "self-deportation."  Maha is one of several Palestinians who have been...

The British courts have regularly been finding Palestine Action innocent of any wrongdoing, in the group's efforts to smash the war machine, deeming them to be on the side of international law and British law, and deeming the state and the arms industry to be breaking the law. In light of this state of affairs, the British parliament has acted decisively, passing a law with an overwhelming majorit...

As the daily American-and-Israeli massacres of starving Palestinians in search of food parcels continue in Gaza, Chet Gardiner has delivered a powerful remix of one of the many songs I've written in recent months on this subject, borrowing a line I heard from a reporter on Al-Jazeera, "The Food Lines are the Front Lines Now."

Evening in the Americas when I received this brilliant remix from Chet Gardiner, and at the very moment I received this mix I was hearing news on Al-Jazeera about yet another morning massacre in Gaza, of starving Palestinians knowingly risking a likely death by Israeli machine gun fire in order for a slim chance at obtaining a small sack of flour.  The abhorrent Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's Hung...

This is the 3rd of 3 Selections from My Life as a Protest Singer.  The full 11 episodes of My Life as a Protest Singer are available in the Everything folder that all members of my CSA have access to.  If you appreciate my musical (and/or other) efforts, have disposable income to speak of, and might be willing to part with a few bucks a month to keep me on the road, making recordings, etc., please...