Court Trial Underway in Britain

I am owed £60 million in royalties, wails Bob Marley's bassistBy Hugh Davies
(Filed for Daily Telegraph: 17/03/2006)

A musician in Bob Marley's band, the Wailers, launched a £60 million royalties lawsuit in the High Court yesterday claiming that, had he lived, the reggae star would have taken care of him financially as he had always done when they toured the world together.

Aston Barrett, known as "family man" because of his penchant for domesticity (he has 52 children), gave a broad smile in the witness box, telling Mr Justice Lewison: "Bob took care of the business; I took care of the music."

Barrett, a former member of the Jamaican band the Upsetters, who had a British hit the late 1960s with Return of Django, was hired by Marley for his distinctive bass sound and his expertise in obtaining international success.

Sitting in a court chair, he demonstrated how he handled the music with a technique called "shuffle bubble", playing an imaginary organ, and singing "eeh, oh, eeh".

With his dreadlocks twisted into a pony tail and his hearing impaired - "Too much music" - Barrett told of his years with Marley in concerts with acts such as James Brown, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Taj Mahal in London, San Francisco and Jamaica before the singer died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 36.

Listening intently was Marley's elegant widow, Rita, who with seven of her children and five record companies are resisting the lawsuit.

Barrett, now in his 60s, insisted that Marley had promised members of the band equal shares of the royalties from hit albums, including Natty Dread, Rastaman Vibration and Babylon by Bus.

He said he so trusted Marley that he urged him in a telephone call between Jamaica and America to sign a contract on his behalf.

The case is set against the murky background of Jamaican reggae, where its rastafarian performers, with their unintelligible patois and belief in the divinity of Haile Selassie, the late Ethiopian emperor, face murder, dubious contracts and drug disputes, with fortunes being made from their work.

Stephen Bate, counsel for Barrett, recalled tension in Kingston in 1976, when the music was identified with politics, and Marley, his wife and manager Don Taylor had been shot and wounded during political unrest in Jamaica.

He said that Barrett's father disappeared in 1985. He was found "with his body dismembered - he had been decapitated". Two years later, Barrett's brother, Carlton, the Wailers' original drummer, was "shot and killed".

Mr Bate said: "Aston Barrett and his brother literally created the sound of the Wailers, though not for a minute to detract from the extraordinary songwriting ability of Mr Marley. It was the Barretts' unique sound which brought the Wailers international success. The Barretts were the bedrock of the music."

Universal-Island Records Ltd and the Marley family say that Barrett surrendered his right to further royalties in 1994, giving up all claims in return for a payment of several hundred thousand dollars.

"He said he would always take care of us," Barrett told the court.

Mr Bate said that, when Marley died, his client and brother were left "desperately short of money" but, he added, the brothers' financial problems began after Rita Marley became the administrator of the estate. They felt they had been paid only a proportion of what they were owed, but they had no option but to sign an agreement."

The case continues.

Court Move for Bob Marley Royalties

The Press Association Thursday March 16, 08:34 AM

Bob Marley's bass player Aston Barrett is beginning a High Court battle for a multi-million pound slice of the late Reggae legend's royalties.

Aston is one of several musicians who worked with the Jamaican star and who have been involved in courtroom claims since Marley died without making a will in 1981.

There was a settlement in 1994 between various members of Marley's backing band, the Wailers, and record companies after years of litigation in Jamaica, America and Britain.

But now Aston, on behalf of himself and his drummer brother Carlton, who was murdered in 1986, is claiming a partnership agreement with Marley, copyright in six songs and royalties from recording contracts in 1974 and 1975.

These were the years when singer-songwriter Marley recorded some of his greatest albums which still have worldwide appeal.

Aston went ahead with the action after the High Court refused an application by Universal-Island Records and UMG Recordings in 2003 to have the claim struck out as an abuse of process of the courts or because the musician had already accepted a settlement.

The bass player, now in his 60s and father to 52 children, could receive a payment of up to £60 million if successful.

Jammin' away winter in Jamaica

This Caribbean island offers visitors a blend of the familiar and exotic
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/26/06
BY SUSAN REIGLER
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

While it looks relatively small on a global map, the Caribbean is a richly diverse area, culturally and geographically.

From tiny islands to the coastal countries of Central America, escapes there can be urban or ecological.

If you must choose just one Caribbean destination for a quick winter getaway, the 4,400-square-mile island country of Jamaica could be just the place.

Thanks to such exports as jerk chicken, Blue Mountain coffee and reggae music, U.S. visitors will find a few familiar features in this otherwise exotic destination.

Because of Jamaica's history as a British colony (the Brits captured it from Spain in 1654 and were in charge until autonomy was granted in 1947), the official language of the country is English, peppered with patois catch phrases such as "No problem, mon."

But be prepared for the rough-and-tumble of the cities. Hustlers and drug dealers often approach tourists. Therefore, many first-time visitors opt for resort stays.

Kingston
Jamaica's capital is a city of about 700,000. It's a good base of operation if your stay is limited and you want to experience the country's history, cuisine and night life, with a sprinkling of beach activities.

Reggae fans should check out the Bob Marley Museum, situated in a red brick house that served as the Tuff Gong recording studio. It's Kingston's most visited tourist attraction.

Another popular attraction is Devon House, an 1881 mansion furnished with period antiques that provides a glimpse into the island's colonial history. Two of the city's better restaurants, the Grog Shoppe and Norma's on the Terrace, are inside a former carriage house and in the courtyard.

Venture across Kingston Harbor to Port Royal for a tour of a now-sleepy backwater that was once the pirate capital and later the center of British naval authority in the Caribbean.

Montego Bay

MoBay, as it's known locally, is Jamaica's second-largest city (population 120,000) and its resort capital. From budget-conscious tourist hotels to private, upscale resorts, there are accommodations for all size bank accounts.

Downtown has a collection of late-18th- and early 19th-century stone and timber buildings, with the cobblestone-paved Sam Sharpe Square as a focal point.

For recreation, there are several beaches, including Doctor's Cave Beach and Walter Fletcher Beach. Both are home to food courts, cafes, changing areas and facilities for water sports. Reggae parties are regularly scheduled. Three championship golf courses — Half Moon Golf Club, SuperClubs Golf Club and Tryall Club — are just east of Montego Bay near Ironshore.

Guided tours of Montego Bay Marine Park, which stretches along the coast for almost six miles, include coral reefs and mangrove islands. Waterfowl residents include pelicans, egrets and herons, while the tea-colored water is home to barracuda and tarpon.

Restaurants tend to stay open into the wee hours, with music blaring and drinks flowing. The famous Pork Pit features open-air munching on jerk chicken and pork on picnic tables.

Negril
Negril, with a population of 4,000, is at the western tip of Jamaica. It has the reputation of being the most laid-back city on the island. There are nude beaches here. But in recent years, it also has developed a notable ecotourism industry.

This is due, in large part, to the Great Morass, a dense mangrove swamp that is a refuge for rare animals and plants including crocodiles.

Negril also is famous for its nightly reggae concerts. Big-name bands perform at MXIII and Roots Bamboo.

Family of reggae legend marks 13th Marley Fest in Miami

Marley's family: 'We celebrate our lives through him'
BY EVELYN McDONNELL
emcdonnell@MiamiHerald.com

For 13 years, the family of the late music legend Bob Marley has been the defining feature of Miami's annual funky reggae party, the Marley Fest. But beyond their formidable legacy, the mother and sons of the Third World's first superstar hadn't necessarily earned their headlining status. Until now.

Saturday's Marley Fest at Bayfront Park has been named Jam Rock after the breakthrough success of Damian ''Jr. Gong'' Marley's second album, the Grammy-winning, gold-certified Welcome to Jamrock. Robert Nesta's youngest son set a record for most first-week sales by a reggae album (86,000) when Jamrock debuted on Billboard's Top 10 in September. Those sales were propelled by the success of the title track, a gritty anthem about poverty and violence in Jamaica.

Brother Stephen ''Ragga'' Marley, who coproduced the crossover hit, says it was just a matter of time before the Marley name reentered the charts.

''If the people get the music, it will have that success,'' he said over the phone from the Lion's Den, the Marleys' studio in South Miami. ``That was the problem: getting music to people in that mainstream. We make the music good.''

The Marleys have become a growing cooperative cottage industry over the last decade. Damian, Stephen, Julian and Ky-Mani -- all of whom perform Saturday -- have steadily released albums and toured, often working together through their Ghetto Youth label. Damian's '01 release Halfway Tree won a Grammy for best reggae album. Two weeks ago, Jamrock won two Grammys: for best reggae and best urban/alternative performance.

''It has a lot to do with momentum,'' Stephen says. ``His last record never do so well, but in streets it gain a lot of respect. Through that, everyone was looking for this record. The song was perfect for that. It's important in the lyrics, yet the beat was heavy, a hard beat. The people in the club appreciate that.''

Jamrock broke through in part because it fit in with the thundering sounds of hip-hop and reggaeton (both of which genres have their roots in reggae). But in a sense, the sons were following the mix-it-up spirit of their father, who brought the message music of Jamaica to a rock audience in the '70s.

''You still have people who just want to have a good time, who don't want to hear something too serious,'' Stephen says. ``Then you have people who love brain food. If you can, give them the best of both.''

BUILDING ON SUCCESS

The other siblings are hoping to build on their brother's success. Stephen is finishing up his own CD, which he describes as ''the next page of the book.'' Albums by Julian and Ky-Mani are in the works.

The clan, including Marley matriarch Cedella Marley Booker, will share the stage at Bayfront Park, as they do at every Marley Fest. 'These festive things that have to do with our father, they're more in a celebrating vibe. We don't say we're going to do a concert. We do it together, more than, `This is Damian, this is Steve.' We celebrate our life through him.''

Earlier this month, the Marley siblings and others performed in Ghana for the second annual Africa Unite concert. Last year's, in Ethiopia, marked the 60th anniversary of Bob's birth. Bob's widow, Rita, plans to make them an annual event in different African countries.

This year sees a more somber marker: the 25th anniversary of Bob Marley's death from cancer at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (the artist stopped here after falling too ill to fly on his way from treatment in Germany to Jamaica). He was 36. Stephen says there are no plans to commemorate his passing: ``We're addressing the life.''

The festival is an important date in the Marleys' calendar, their chance to give back to a city that has been the family's base in the United States since Cedella moved here in '78.

''This city is our second home, after Jamaica,'' Stephen says. ``This is one of the only places we come. Miami is our family. People love our father here. We give back to them.''

`WE ALL ARE ONE'

The third son of Bob Marley says the family is not letting the success of one sibling disrupt the harmony of a clan who do not all share the same blood lines, yet have banded together. (Bob had 10 children by eight women, and adopted two children of Rita's as his own). Damian is not letting fame go to his head, Stephen says.

``We're getting treated properly. We talk about these things. We make sure we know.''

But thanks to Jamrock, this year's Marley Fest, which as usual includes a food drive, should be a bigger celebration than ever.

Reggae's Universal Groove

RAGGA MUFFINS FESTIVAL DEMONSTRATES MUSIC'S GLOBAL SCOPE
By Andrew Gilbert
Special to the Mercury News

At a concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last month, Gilberto Gil decided to tap into a universal groove.

The Tropicalia hero has written literally dozens of hits; now he serves as Brazil's minister of culture. But instead of focusing on homegrown songs, Gil played a set of Bob Marley classics. Within minutes, the audience packed into the Morro da Urca theater was moving to ``Positive Vibration,'' and then we all joined in on the refrain of ``No Woman, No Cry.''

The concert was a powerful reminder that reggae is a global force, and more than a quarter-century after his death at the age of 36, Marley is the music's international icon. That's exactly the point of the annual Ragga Muffins Festival, which rolls into the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium tonight, and up to San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.

While the headliner at tonight's show is Jamaica's ``Cool Ruler'' star Gregory Isaacs, the program includes an array of reggae talent, such as the United Kingdom's Misty in Roots, German-born roots-reggae vocalist Gentleman and Santa Cruz's Soul Majestic.

``Bob Marley may be the most internationally recognized person and musician in the world,'' says Moss Jacobs, producer of the four-city Ragga Muffins tour. ``It's not a surprise that across Europe, Africa and Japan, reggae is homegrown music. Gentleman is huge in Europe. Misty in Roots are legendary in the U.K. For us, it's fun to be able to expose Americans to the music's international scope.''

No Ragga Muffins artist better captures the infinitely malleable nature of reggae than 26-year-old Matisyahu, a Hasidic Jew from West Chester, Pa., whose hit ``King Without a Crown'' has crossed over from alternative radio stations to mainstream outlets such as Live 105. Blending phrases of Yiddish and Hebrew with his English lyrics, Matisyahu delivers his verses in a sing-song rasta roots style that often gives way to dexterous beat-boxing and an Ashkenazi cantorial wail.

As unlikely as Matisyahu might seem, he brings a spiritual consciousness to his music that's ``completely harmonious with the essential nature of reggae,'' Jacobs says. ``That's one reason why reggae appeals to all shapes and colors. It's a stimulating, spiritually charged form of music that reaches across age, color and economic strata.''

Another element in reggae's widespread appeal can be found in Marley's enduring, defiant call for social justice. That's the message that first caught the attention of Michael Franti, who performs with his group Spearhead on Saturday at the Bill Graham Civic. The San Francisco program also features Matisyahu, Gregory Isaacs, Gentleman, Misty in Roots, Dezarie and Marley's former band the Wailers.

Franti vividly recalls the first time he heard Marley's music on the radio, as a 13-year-old in 1980. The song was ``Coming in From the Cold'' from the classic album ``Uprising,'' and the anti-war message imprinted itself deeply on his consciousness.

`` `Would you let the system/ Make you kill your brother man?' '' Franti says, quoting from the lyric. ``I was so moved by that.''

While Franti (who also headlines the ``Santa Cruz Dayz'' show Friday at that city's Civic Auditorium, on a triple bill with guitarist Keller Williams and the female percussion ensemble Goddess Funk) has been a leader among politically engaged progressive musicians since he co-founded the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy in the early 1990s, he has also found inspiration in Marley's romantic side.

``He wasn't afraid to write songs about how much he loved his girlfriend and put them next to songs about standing up and fighting,'' Franti says. ``I think that's the single most important thing I've taken from Marley. I want to write about the full rainbow of human emotions, not just anger and politics.''

Like Jacobs, Franti sees Marley as the era's transcendent musical figure, an artist whose message has reached every corner of the globe. More than charisma, love and justice, he credits Marley's irresistibly loping groove as the ultimate source of his appeal.

``In America we're taught that Elvis is the king of rock, and the Beatles are the princes,'' Franti says. ``But as you travel the world, it's Bob Marley who's the icon of popular music. You can dance to every song; that's the thing that made his music so universal.''

‘Weed for All’ at Marley’s Birthday Bash

Bob Marley Day Bash

If the police had attempted to push the full force of the law, a good number of crowds who turned up last Sunday to celebrate the 61st birthday of Bob Marley at the Trade Fair would have been arrested and charged for their association with ‘weed’- as active or passive smokers.

The crowd most of them in Rastafarian colours of red, yellow, green and black and wearing dreadlocks of all shapes and sizes, sang, danced and smoked marijuana in ecstasy.

For those who do not smoke the stuff, but love reggae music, as well as the law enforcement agencies there appeared to have a ‘memorandum of understanding’ that every one suffered the joys of the ‘food for the brain’ for the period that the programme lasted.

The aroma of the drug pervaded the whole area and patrons who did not know how it felt to be high may have experienced it first hand.

Thick smoke from the numerous puffs from several mouths hung overheard especially when the lights were thrown on the large crowd and that was enough to let one know the extent of smoking that was going on at the concert.

For all that ‘ getting high’ there were no awkward incidents of note of peace and love. The mega star band backed Ghana’s Batman who thrilled the large crowd who just loved him for his presentation and stagecraft.

It was beautiful, refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable and the crowd sang, yelled and danced to the pulsating music of the reggae treats from Steel Pulse, Dean Frazier and C Sharp, Tamlins, Chaka Demus and Pliers as well as the I Threes.

The Marley brothers were the toast of the crowd as they took turns to sing songs from their father’s repertoire of thought provoking and inspiring reggae songs.

The concert, dubbed Africa Unite was organised by the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation as part of activities arranged to celebrate the late Bob Marley’s 61st birthday and to rekindle the vision and aspirations of the reggae legend.

The Ghana version was the fourth held worldwide to celebrate reggae star’s birthdays.

The other three were held in Jamaica, Florida and Ethiopia.

Jamaican Honour for Marley Home

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - The house where Bob Marley once lived has been designated a protected national heritage site by the Jamaican government.

An official ceremony to mark the designation took place Tuesday at the home, now a museum that showcases the recording studio Marley built as well as memorabilia that once belonged to the reggae superstar.

"This ensures that for future generations nothing will be changed without the consent of the National Heritage Trust. It will always look as it did when Bob was here," Jacqueline Lynch-Stewart, manager at the museum, said Wednesday.

A plaque marking the occasion was unveiled by Marley's daughter Stephanie and government officials. It bears the words, "One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain," taken from the singer's hit song Trenchtown Rock.

Marley, who died in 1981 at age 36, is widely credited with introducing reggae music to an international audience in the 1970s.

He was born in rural St. Ann parish, but spent much of his formative years in the Kingston ghetto of Trench Town. He moved to the upscale house once owned by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell in the early 1970s.

Marley rarely lived in the wooden house after he was shot there during rehearsals for a concert in December 1976.

Lynch-Stewart says 20,000 people annually visit the museum, which opened in May 1986.

Jamaica, Mon - Caribbean Escape

For food, nature, wildlife, warm up to Jamaica
By Susan Reigler
sreigler@courier-journal.com
C-J Travel Writer

Surely the most alluring phrase to pop into one's mind in the middle of winter is "Caribbean getaway." The reality of gray days, winter-weather alerts and heating-bill sticker shock is pushed aside by visions of sun-dappled beaches, impossibly blue sea and sky, and rum-laced drinks in tall glasses.

While it looks relatively small on a global map, the Caribbean is a richly diverse area, both culturally and geographically. From tiny islands to the coastal countries of Central America, escapes there can be urban or ecological.

If you must choose just one Caribbean destination for a quick winter getaway, the 4,400-square-mile island country of Jamaica may be just the place.

Thanks to such Jamaican exports as jerk chicken, Blue Mountain coffee and reggae music, the first-time American visitor will find a few familiar features in this otherwise exotic destination.

And because of Jamaica's history as a British colony (the Brits captured it from Spain in 1654 and were in charge until autonomy was granted in 1947), the official language of the country is English -- peppered with patois catchphrases such as "No problem, mon."

But do be prepared for the rough-and-tumble of the cities. Hustlers and drug dealers often approach tourists. Therefore, many first-time visitors opt for resort stays.
Kingston

Jamaica's capital is a city of about 700,000. It's a good base of operation if your stay is limited and you want to experience the country's history, cuisine and night life, with a sprinkling of beach activities.

Reggae fans should check out the Bob Marley Museum, in a red brick house that served as the Tuff Gong recording studio. (It's Kingston's most visited tourist attraction.) Hourlong tours close with a short film about Marley's last days.

Another popular attraction is Devon House, an 1881 mansion furnished with period antiques that provides a glimpse into the island's colonial history. Two of the city's better restaurants, the Grog Shoppe and Norma's on the Terrace, are located in a former carriage house and in the courtyard.

The Grog Shoppe is famous for Sunday brunch and dishes up fare such as roast suckling pig with rice and peas. Domestic and imported beers are on tap. Norma's is at its most atmospheric at dinner, when lighting is provided by a multitude of candles, and starters such as red pea bisque are followed by jerk specialties.

Venture across Kingston Harbor to Port Royal for a tour of a now-sleepy backwater that was once the pirate capital and later the center of British naval authority in the Caribbean. A walking tour includes Fort Charles and other historic sites.

Lime Cay, 15 minutes by boat from Port Royal, is an uninhabited island with white sand beaches. Bring your snorkeling gear and a picnic.

For a more land-based experience of Jamaica's natural beauty, visit the 200,000-acre Blue Mountains-John Crow National Park, about an hour by car from the capital. A hike up Blue Mountain Peak (the island's highest at 7,402 feet) winds through coffee plantations and banana groves and into dense, bird-filled woodlands.
Montego Bay

MoBay, as it's known locally, is Jamaica's second-largest city (population 120,000) and its resort capital. From budget-conscious tourist hotels to private, upscale resorts, there are accommodations for all size bank accounts.

Downtown has a collection of late-18th- and early-19th-century stone and timber buildings, with the cobblestone-paved Sam Sharpe Square as a focal point.

The square is named in honor of the slave who, in December 1831, urged his fellow slaves to passive revolt. The Christmas Rebellion turned violent, however, with several plantations burned and more than 1,000 slaves killed. But the revolt led to British Parliament's passing the Abolition Bill in 1834.

For recreation, there are several beaches, including Doctor's Cave Beach and Walter Fletcher Beach. Both have food courts, cafes, changing areas and facilities for water sports. Reggae parties are regularly scheduled. Three championship golf courses -- Half Moon Golf Club, SuperClubs Golf Club and Tryall Club -- are just east of Montego Bay near Ironshore.

Guided tours of Montego Bay Marine Park, which stretches along the coast for almost six miles, include coral reefs and mangrove islands. Waterfowl include pelicans, egrets and herons, while the tea-colored water is home to barracuda and tarpon. (Game fishing is another activity.)

Restaurants tend to stay open into the wee hours, with music blaring and drinks flowing. The famous Pork Pit features open-air munching on jerk chicken and pork on picnic tables tucked beneath shade trees. At the upper end of the dining scale is the Houseboat Grill, a floating restaurant featuring Caribbean fusion fare.
Negril

Negril, population 4,000, is located at the western tip of Jamaica. It has the reputation of being the most laid-back city on the island. (There are nude beaches here.) But it has also, in recent years, developed a notable ecotourism industry.

This is due in large part to the Great Morass (is that a great name or what?), a dense mangrove swamp that is a refuge for rare animals and plants including crocodiles, red- footed coots, butterfly ginger and pancake lilies.

The Royal Palm Reserve, within the Great Morass, features a boardwalk that snakes through the swamp well above the jaws of hungry crocs, and a 44-foot-tall observation tower.

For those with an interest in wildlife of another sort, Negril is famous for its nightly reggae concerts. The big-name bands perform at MXIII and Roots Bamboo. Don't bother trying to find a written schedule. Concerts tend to be advertised by announcements from megaphone-equipped cars that circulate through the city's streets.

Reggae legend Big Youth is finally visiting Australia

Big Voice
February 3, 2006
By Kate Welsman

MORE than 30 years ago, when Bob Marley first graced the stage with his conscious style and accessible lyrics, there was another artist who was tearing up Jamaica with his deejay approach.

Born Manley Augustus Buchanen, he has been known for most of his career simply as Big Youth. Next week marks the first time the elder statesman of reggae has visited Australia.

Big Youth's place in music history has been assured through his pioneering Jamaican deejaying that changed the sound of reggae in which producers left space for chatting over the music.

As rival sound systems competed for the freshest sounds, Big Youth, who has worked with all the big producers such as Prince Buster and Lee "Scratch" Perry, rose to rival Marley in popularity.

From his first single, S 90 Skank, produced in 1972 by the then unknown Keith Hudson, about the cult Japanese motor bike and the dangers of riding it too fast, to his latest album Musicology, he has remained a compelling, vigorous presence.

Big Youth's career has been a series of firsts: the first to record the I Threes, the first to experiment with mixing chatting and singing, and, as legend has it, the first to sport dreadlocks on stage and album covers at a time when it was illegal to do so.

Then there's the matter of his teeth, which are embedded with red, green and gold jewels.

Speaking from Kingston, Big Youth extols the value of his "spiritual message" in apocalyptic terms.

"Righteousness must prevail!" he thunders. "People are seeking righteousness in these times of difficulty. There is too much war and not enough care in the world.

"On my shows and the new album I am returning people to roots to look beyond the devastation."

In a voice that falls somewhere between a purr and a growl he expresses contempt for slackness, or gangsterism in dance hall, a style he believes is only a fad in the history of Jamaican music.

"A generation of indiscipline has taken over, they who ignore righteousness and roots, but people continue to find inspiration from my music and words. I talk about their difficulties and problems and they take strength from that."

Over music that has continued to challenge bland sensibilities and simple pop melodies, Big Youth, the former mechanic, is coming to deliver. We'd better be ready to receive.

Big Youth and Third World play the Prince Bandroom, St Kilda, supported by Heartical HiFi and Ranking Yoni, on Wednesday.

GORE BLASTS BUSH FOR 'DANGEROUS BREACH'

Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C.
Mon Jan 16 2006 12:40:14 ET

Congressman Barr and I have disagreed many times over the years, but we have joined together today with thousands of our fellow citizens-Democrats and Republicans alike-to express our shared concern that America's Constitution is in grave danger.

In spite of our differences over ideology and politics, we are in strong agreement that the American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims of the Administration to a truly breathtaking expansion of executive power.

As we begin this new year, the Executive Branch of our government has been caught eavesdropping on huge numbers of American citizens and has brazenly declared that it has the unilateral right to continue without regard to the established law enacted by Congress to prevent such abuses.

It is imperative that respect for the rule of law be restored.

So, many of us have come here to Constitution Hall to sound an alarm and call upon our fellow citizens to put aside partisan differences and join with us in demanding that our Constitution be defended and preserved.

It is appropriate that we make this appeal on the day our nation has set aside to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who challenged America to breathe new life into our oldest values by extending its promise to all our people.

On this particular Martin Luther King Day, it is especially important to recall that for the last several years of his life, Dr. King was illegally wiretapped-one of hundreds of thousands of Americans whose private communications were intercepted by the U.S. government during this period.

The FBI privately called King the "most dangerous and effective negro leader in the country" and vowed to "take him off his pedestal." The government even attempted to destroy his marriage and blackmail him into committing suicide.

This campaign continued until Dr. King's murder. The discovery that the FBI conducted a long-running and extensive campaign of secret electronic surveillance designed to infiltrate the inner workings of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and to learn the most intimate details of Dr. King's life, helped to convince Congress to enact restrictions on wiretapping.

The result was the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA), which was enacted expressly to ensure that foreign intelligence surveillance would be presented to an impartial judge to verify that there is a sufficient cause for the surveillance. I voted for that law during my first term in Congress and for almost thirty years the system has proven a workable and valued means of according a level of protection for private citizens, while permitting foreign surveillance to continue.

Yet, just one month ago, Americans awoke to the shocking news that in spite of this long settled law, the Executive Branch has been secretly spying on large numbers of Americans for the last four years and eavesdropping on "large volumes of telephone calls, e-mail messages, and other Internet traffic inside the United States." The New York Times reported that the President decided to launch this massive eavesdropping program "without search warrants or any new laws that would permit such domestic intelligence collection."

During the period when this eavesdropping was still secret, the President went out of his way to reassure the American people on more than one occasion that, of course, judicial permission is required for any government spying on American citizens and that, of course, these constitutional safeguards were still in place.

But surprisingly, the President's soothing statements turned out to be false. Moreover, as soon as this massive domestic spying program was uncovered by the press, the President not only confirmed that the story was true, but also declared that he has no intention of bringing these wholesale invasions of privacy to an end.

At present, we still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently.

A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government. Our Founding Fathers were adamant that they had established a government of laws and not men. Indeed, they recognized that the structure of government they had enshrined in our Constitution - our system of checks and balances - was designed with a central purpose of ensuring that it would govern through the rule of law. As John Adams said: "The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them, to the end that it may be a government of laws and not of men."

An executive who arrogates to himself the power to ignore the legitimate legislative directives of the Congress or to act free of the check of the judiciary becomes the central threat that the Founders sought to nullify in the Constitution - an all-powerful executive too reminiscent of the King from whom they had broken free. In the words of James Madison, "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."

Thomas Paine, whose pamphlet, "On Common Sense" ignited the American Revolution, succinctly described America's alternative. Here, he said, we intended to make certain that "the law is king."

Vigilant adherence to the rule of law strengthens our democracy and strengthens America. It ensures that those who govern us operate within our constitutional structure, which means that our democratic institutions play their indispensable role in shaping policy and determining the direction of our nation. It means that the people of this nation ultimately determine its course and not executive officials operating in secret without constraint.

The rule of law makes us stronger by ensuring that decisions will be tested, studied, reviewed and examined through the processes of government that are designed to improve policy. And the knowledge that they will be reviewed prevents over-reaching and checks the accretion of power.

A commitment to openness, truthfulness and accountability also helps our country avoid many serious mistakes. Recently, for example, we learned from recently classified declassified documents that the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized the tragic Vietnam war, was actually based on false information. We now know that the decision by Congress to authorize the Iraq War, 38 years later, was also based on false information. America would have been better off knowing the truth and avoiding both of these colossal mistakes in our history. Following the rule of law makes us safer, not more vulnerable.

The President and I agree on one thing. The threat from terrorism is all too real. There is simply no question that we continue to face new challenges in the wake of the attack on September 11th and that we must be ever-vigilant in protecting our citizens from harm.

Where we disagree is that we have to break the law or sacrifice our system of government to protect Americans from terrorism. In fact, doing so makes us weaker and more vulnerable.

Once violated, the rule of law is in danger. Unless stopped, lawlessness grows. The greater the power of the executive grows, the more difficult it becomes for the other branches to perform their constitutional roles. As the executive acts outside its constitutionally prescribed role and is able to control access to information that would expose its actions, it becomes increasingly difficult for the other branches to police it. Once that ability is lost, democracy itself is threatened and we become a government of men and not laws.

The President's men have minced words about America's laws. The Attorney General openly conceded that the "kind of surveillance" we now know they have been conducting requires a court order unless authorized by statute. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act self-evidently does not authorize what the NSA has been doing, and no one inside or outside the Administration claims that it does. Incredibly, the Administration claims instead that the surveillance was implicitly authorized when Congress voted to use force against those who attacked us on September 11th.

This argument just does not hold any water. Without getting into the legal intricacies, it faces a number of embarrassing facts. First, another admission by the Attorney General: he concedes that the Administration knew that the NSA project was prohibited by existing law and that they consulted with some members of Congress about changing the statute. Gonzalez says that they were told this probably would not be possible. So how can they now argue that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force somehow implicitly authorized it all along? Second, when the Authorization was being debated, the Administration did in fact seek to have language inserted in it that would have authorized them to use military force domestically - and the Congress did not agree. Senator Ted Stevens and Representative Jim McGovern, among others, made statements during the Authorization debate clearly restating that that Authorization did not operate domestically.

When President Bush failed to convince Congress to give him all the power he wanted when they passed the AUMF, he secretly assumed that power anyway, as if congressional authorization was a useless bother. But as Justice Frankfurter once wrote: "To find authority so explicitly withheld is not merely to disregard in a particular instance the clear will of Congress. It is to disrespect the whole legislative process and the constitutional division of authority between President and Congress."

This is precisely the "disrespect" for the law that the Supreme Court struck down in the steel seizure case.

It is this same disrespect for America's Constitution which has now brought our republic to the brink of a dangerous breach in the fabric of the Constitution. And the disrespect embodied in these apparent mass violations of the law is part of a larger pattern of seeming indifference to the Constitution that is deeply troubling to millions of Americans in both political parties.

For example, the President has also declared that he has a heretofore unrecognized inherent power to seize and imprison any American citizen that he alone determines to be a threat to our nation, and that, notwithstanding his American citizenship, the person imprisoned has no right to talk with a lawyer-even to argue that the President or his appointees have made a mistake and imprisoned the wrong person.

The President claims that he can imprison American citizens indefinitely for the rest of their lives without an arrest warrant, without notifying them about what charges have been filed against them, and without informing their families that they have been imprisoned.

At the same time, the Executive Branch has claimed a previously unrecognized authority to mistreat prisoners in its custody in ways that plainly constitute torture in a pattern that has now been documented in U.S. facilities located in several countries around the world.

Over 100 of these captives have reportedly died while being tortured by Executive Branch interrogators and many more have been broken and humiliated. In the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, investigators who documented the pattern of torture estimated that more than 90 percent of the victims were innocent of any charges.

This shameful exercise of power overturns a set of principles that our nation has observed since General Washington first enunciated them during our Revolutionary War and has been observed by every president since then - until now. These practices violate the Geneva Conventions and the International Convention Against Torture, not to mention our own laws against torture.

The President has also claimed that he has the authority to kidnap individuals in foreign countries and deliver them for imprisonment and interrogation on our behalf by autocratic regimes in nations that are infamous for the cruelty of their techniques for torture.

Some of our traditional allies have been shocked by these new practices on the part of our nation. The British Ambassador to Uzbekistan - one of those nations with the worst reputations for torture in its prisons - registered a complaint to his home office about the senselessness and cruelty of the new U.S. practice: "This material is useless - we are selling our souls for dross. It is in fact positively harmful."

Can it be true that any president really has such powers under our Constitution? If the answer is "yes" then under the theory by which these acts are committed, are there any acts that can on their face be prohibited? If the President has the inherent authority to eavesdrop, imprison citizens on his own declaration, kidnap and torture, then what can't he do?

The Dean of Yale Law School, Harold Koh, said after analyzing the Executive Branch's claims of these previously unrecognized powers: "If the President has commander-in-chief power to commit torture, he has the power to commit genocide, to sanction slavery, to promote apartheid, to license summary execution."

The fact that our normal safeguards have thus far failed to contain this unprecedented expansion of executive power is deeply troubling. This failure is due in part to the fact that the Executive Branch has followed a determined strategy of obfuscating, delaying, withholding information, appearing to yield but then refusing to do so and dissembling in order to frustrate the efforts of the legislative and judicial branches to restore our constitutional balance.

For example, after appearing to support legislation sponsored by John McCain to stop the continuation of torture, the President declared in the act of signing the bill that he reserved the right not to comply with it.

Similarly, the Executive Branch claimed that it could unilaterally imprison American citizens without giving them access to review by any tribunal. The Supreme Court disagreed, but the President engaged in legal maneuvers designed to prevent the Court from providing meaningful content to the rights of its citizens.

A conservative jurist on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that the Executive Branch's handling of one such case seemed to involve the sudden abandonment of principle "at substantial cost to the government's credibility before the courts."

As a result of its unprecedented claim of new unilateral power, the Executive Branch has now put our constitutional design at grave risk. The stakes for America's representative democracy are far higher than has been generally recognized.

These claims must be rejected and a healthy balance of power restored to our Republic. Otherwise, the fundamental nature of our democracy may well undergo a radical transformation.

For more than two centuries, America's freedoms have been preserved in part by our founders' wise decision to separate the aggregate power of our government into three co-equal branches, each of which serves to check and balance the power of the other two.

On more than a few occasions, the dynamic interaction among all three branches has resulted in collisions and temporary impasses that create what are invariably labeled "constitutional crises." These crises have often been dangerous and uncertain times for our Republic. But in each such case so far, we have found a resolution of the crisis by renewing our common agreement to live under the rule of law.

The principle alternative to democracy throughout history has been the consolidation of virtually all state power in the hands of a single strongman or small group who together exercise that power without the informed consent of the governed.

It was in revolt against just such a regime, after all, that America was founded. When Lincoln declared at the time of our greatest crisis that the ultimate question being decided in the Civil War was "whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure," he was not only saving our union but also was recognizing the fact that democracies are rare in history. And when they fail, as did Athens and the Roman Republic upon whose designs our founders drew heavily, what emerges in their place is another strongman regime.

There have of course been other periods of American history when the Executive Branch claimed new powers that were later seen as excessive and mistaken. Our second president, John Adams, passed the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts and sought to silence and imprison critics and political opponents.

When his successor, Thomas Jefferson, eliminated the abuses he said: "[The essential principles of our Government] form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation... [S]hould we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety."

Our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. Some of the worst abuses prior to those of the current administration were committed by President Wilson during and after WWI with the notorious Red Scare and Palmer Raids. The internment of Japanese Americans during WWII marked a low point for the respect of individual rights at the hands of the executive. And, during the Vietnam War, the notorious COINTELPRO program was part and parcel of the abuses experienced by Dr. King and thousands of others.

But in each of these cases, when the conflict and turmoil subsided, the country recovered its equilibrium and absorbed the lessons learned in a recurring cycle of excess and regret.

There are reasons for concern this time around that conditions may be changing and that the cycle may not repeat itself. For one thing, we have for decades been witnessing the slow and steady accumulation of presidential power. In a global environment of nuclear weapons and cold war tensions, Congress and the American people accepted ever enlarging spheres of presidential initiative to conduct intelligence and counter intelligence activities and to allocate our military forces on the global stage. When military force has been used as an instrument of foreign policy or in response to humanitarian demands, it has almost always been as the result of presidential initiative and leadership. As Justice Frankfurter wrote in the Steel Seizure Case, "The accretion of dangerous power does not come in a day. It does come, however slowly, from the generative force of unchecked disregard of the restrictions that fence in even the most disinterested assertion of authority."

A second reason to believe we may be experiencing something new is that we are told by the Administration that the war footing upon which he has tried to place the country is going to "last for the rest of our lives." So we are told that the conditions of national threat that have been used by other Presidents to justify arrogations of power will persist in near perpetuity.

Third, we need to be aware of the advances in eavesdropping and surveillance technologies with their capacity to sweep up and analyze enormous quantities of information and to mine it for intelligence. This adds significant vulnerability to the privacy and freedom of enormous numbers of innocent people at the same time as the potential power of those technologies. These techologies have the potential for shifting the balance of power between the apparatus of the state and the freedom of the individual in ways both subtle and profound.

Don't misunderstand me: the threat of additional terror strikes is all too real and their concerted efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction does create a real imperative to exercise the powers of the Executive Branch with swiftness and agility. Moreover, there is in fact an inherent power that is conferred by the Constitution to the President to take unilateral action to protect the nation from a sudden and immediate threat, but it is simply not possible to precisely define in legalistic terms exactly when that power is appropriate and when it is not.

But the existence of that inherent power cannot be used to justify a gross and excessive power grab lasting for years that produces a serious imbalance in the relationship between the executive and the other two branches of government.

There is a final reason to worry that we may be experiencing something more than just another cycle of overreach and regret. This Administration has come to power in the thrall of a legal theory that aims to convince us that this excessive concentration of presidential authority is exactly what our Constitution intended.

This legal theory, which its proponents call the theory of the unitary executive but which is more accurately described as the unilateral executive, threatens to expand the president's powers until the contours of the constitution that the Framers actually gave us become obliterated beyond all recognition. Under this theory, the President's authority when acting as Commander-in-Chief or when making foreign policy cannot be reviewed by the judiciary or checked by Congress. President Bush has pushed the implications of this idea to its maximum by continually stressing his role as Commander-in-Chief, invoking it has frequently as he can, conflating it with his other roles, domestic and foreign. When added to the idea that we have entered a perpetual state of war, the implications of this theory stretch quite literally as far into the future as we can imagine.

This effort to rework America's carefully balanced constitutional design into a lopsided structure dominated by an all powerful Executive Branch with a subservient Congress and judiciary is-ironically-accompanied by an effort by the same administration to rework America's foreign policy from one that is based primarily on U.S. moral authority into one that is based on a misguided and self-defeating effort to establish dominance in the world.

The common denominator seems to be based on an instinct to intimidate and control.

This same pattern has characterized the effort to silence dissenting views within the Executive Branch, to censor information that may be inconsistent with its stated ideological goals, and to demand conformity from all Executive Branch employees.

For example, CIA analysts who strongly disagreed with the White House assertion that Osama bin Laden was linked to Saddam Hussein found themselves under pressure at work and became fearful of losing promotions and salary increases.

Ironically, that is exactly what happened to FBI officials in the 1960s who disagreed with J. Edgar Hoover's view that Dr. King was closely connected to Communists. The head of the FBI's domestic intelligence division said that his effort to tell the truth about King's innocence of the charge resulted in he and his colleagues becoming isolated and pressured. "It was evident that we had to change our ways or we would all be out on the street.... The men and I discussed how to get out of trouble. To be in trouble with Mr. Hoover was a serious matter. These men were trying to buy homes, mortgages on homes, children in school. They lived in fear of getting transferred, losing money on their homes, as they usually did. ... so they wanted another memorandum written to get us out of the trouble that we were in."

The Constitution's framers understood this dilemma as well, as Alexander Hamilton put it, "a power over a man's support is a power over his will." (Federalist No. 73)

Soon, there was no more difference of opinion within the FBI. The false accusation became the unanimous view. In exactly the same way, George Tenet's CIA eventually joined in endorsing a manifestly false view that there was a linkage between al Qaeda and the government of Iraq.

In the words of George Orwell: "We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield."

Whenever power is unchecked and unaccountable it almost inevitably leads to mistakes and abuses. In the absence of rigorous accountability, incompetence flourishes. Dishonesty is encouraged and rewarded.

Last week, for example, Vice President Cheney attempted to defend the Administration's eavesdropping on American citizens by saying that if it had conducted this program prior to 9/11, they would have found out the names of some of the hijackers.

Tragically, he apparently still doesn't know that the Administration did in fact have the names of at least 2 of the hijackers well before 9/11 and had available to them information that could have easily led to the identification of most of the other hijackers. And yet, because of incompetence in the handling of this information, it was never used to protect the American people.

It is often the case that an Executive Branch beguiled by the pursuit of unchecked power responds to its own mistakes by reflexively proposing that it be given still more power. Often, the request itself it used to mask accountability for mistakes in the use of power it already has.

Moreover, if the pattern of practice begun by this Administration is not challenged, it may well become a permanent part of the American system. Many conservatives have pointed out that granting unchecked power to this President means that the next President will have unchecked power as well. And the next President may be someone whose values and belief you do not trust. And this is why Republicans as well as Democrats should be concerned with what this President has done. If this President's attempt to dramatically expand executive power goes unquestioned, our constitutional design of checks and balances will be lost. And the next President or some future President will be able, in the name of national security, to restrict our liberties in a way the framers never would have thought possible.

The same instinct to expand its power and to establish dominance characterizes the relationship between this Administration and the courts and the Congress.

In a properly functioning system, the Judicial Branch would serve as the constitutional umpire to ensure that the branches of government observed their proper spheres of authority, observed civil liberties and adhered to the rule of law. Unfortunately, the unilateral executive has tried hard to thwart the ability of the judiciary to call balls and strikes by keeping controversies out of its hands - notably those challenging its ability to detain individuals without legal process -- by appointing judges who will be deferential to its exercise of power and by its support of assaults on the independence of the third branch.

The President's decision to ignore FISA was a direct assault on the power of the judges who sit on that court. Congress established the FISA court precisely to be a check on executive power to wiretap. Yet, to ensure that the court could not function as a check on executive power, the President simply did not take matters to it and did not let the court know that it was being bypassed.

The President's judicial appointments are clearly designed to ensure that the courts will not serve as an effective check on executive power. As we have all learned, Judge Alito is a longtime supporter of a powerful executive - a supporter of the so-called unitary executive, which is more properly called the unilateral executive. Whether you support his confirmation or not - and I do not - we must all agree that he will not vote as an effective check on the expansion of executive power. Likewise, Chief Justice Roberts has made plain his deference to the expansion of executive power through his support of judicial deference to executive agency rulemaking.

And the Administration has supported the assault on judicial independence that has been conducted largely in Congress. That assault includes a threat by the Republican majority in the Senate to permanently change the rules to eliminate the right of the minority to engage in extended debate of the President's judicial nominees. The assault has extended to legislative efforts to curtail the jurisdiction of courts in matters ranging from habeas corpus to the pledge of allegiance. In short, the Administration has demonstrated its contempt for the judicial role and sought to evade judicial review of its actions at every turn.

But the most serious damage has been done to the legislative branch. The sharp decline of congressional power and autonomy in recent years has been almost as shocking as the efforts by the Executive Branch to attain a massive expansion of its power.

I was elected to Congress in 1976 and served eight years in the house, 8 years in the Senate and presided over the Senate for 8 years as Vice President. As a young man, I saw the Congress first hand as the son of a Senator. My father was elected to Congress in 1938, 10 years before I was born, and left the Senate in 1971.

The Congress we have today is unrecognizable compared to the one in which my father served. There are many distinguished Senators and Congressmen serving today. I am honored that some of them are here in this hall. But the legislative branch of government under its current leadership now operates as if it is entirely subservient to the Executive Branch.

Moreover, too many Members of the House and Senate now feel compelled to spend a majority of their time not in thoughtful debate of the issues, but raising money to purchase 30 second TV commercials.

There have now been two or three generations of congressmen who don't really know what an oversight hearing is. In the 70's and 80's, the oversight hearings in which my colleagues and I participated held the feet of the Executive Branch to the fire - no matter which party was in power. Yet oversight is almost unknown in the Congress today.

The role of authorization committees has declined into insignificance. The 13 annual appropriation bills are hardly ever actually passed anymore. Everything is lumped into a single giant measure that is not even available for Members of Congress to read before they vote on it.

Members of the minority party are now routinely excluded from conference committees, and amendments are routinely not allowed during floor consideration of legislation.

In the United States Senate, which used to pride itself on being the "greatest deliberative body in the world," meaningful debate is now a rarity. Even on the eve of the fateful vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq, Senator Robert Byrd famously asked: "Why is this chamber empty?"

In the House of Representatives, the number who face a genuinely competitive election contest every two years is typically less than a dozen out of 435.

And too many incumbents have come to believe that the key to continued access to the money for re-election is to stay on the good side of those who have the money to give; and, in the case of the majority party, the whole process is largely controlled by the incumbent president and his political organization.

So the willingness of Congress to challenge the Administration is further limited when the same party controls both Congress and the Executive Branch.

The Executive Branch, time and again, has co-opted Congress' role, and often Congress has been a willing accomplice in the surrender of its own power.

Look for example at the Congressional role in "overseeing" this massive four year eavesdropping campaign that on its face seemed so clearly to violate the Bill of Rights. The President says he informed Congress, but what he really means is that he talked with the chairman and ranking member of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the top leaders of the House and Senate. This small group, in turn, claimed that they were not given the full facts, though at least one of the intelligence committee leaders handwrote a letter of concern to VP Cheney and placed a copy in his own safe.

Though I sympathize with the awkward position in which these men and women were placed, I cannot disagree with the Liberty Coalition when it says that Democrats as well as Republicans in the Congress must share the blame for not taking action to protest and seek to prevent what they consider a grossly unconstitutional program.

Moreover, in the Congress as a whole-both House and Senate-the enhanced role of money in the re-election process, coupled with the sharply diminished role for reasoned deliberation and debate, has produced an atmosphere conducive to pervasive institutionalized corruption.

The Abramoff scandal is but the tip of a giant iceberg that threatens the integrity of the entire legislative branch of government.

It is the pitiful state of our legislative branch which primarily explains the failure of our vaunted checks and balances to prevent the dangerous overreach by our Executive Branch which now threatens a radical transformation of the American system.

I call upon Democratic and Republican members of Congress today to uphold your oath of office and defend the Constitution. Stop going along to get along. Start acting like the independent and co-equal branch of government you're supposed to be.

But there is yet another Constitutional player whose pulse must be taken and whose role must be examined in order to understand the dangerous imbalance that has emerged with the efforts by the Executive Branch to dominate our constitutional system.

We the people are-collectively-still the key to the survival of America's democracy. We-as Lincoln put it, "[e]ven we here"-must examine our own role as citizens in allowing and not preventing the shocking decay and degradation of our democracy.

Thomas Jefferson said: "An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will."

The revolutionary departure on which the idea of America was based was the audacious belief that people can govern themselves and responsibly exercise the ultimate authority in self-government. This insight proceeded inevitably from the bedrock principle articulated by the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke: "All just power is derived from the consent of the governed."

The intricate and carefully balanced constitutional system that is now in such danger was created with the full and widespread participation of the population as a whole. The Federalist Papers were, back in the day, widely-read newspaper essays, and they represented only one of twenty-four series of essays that crowded the vibrant marketplace of ideas in which farmers and shopkeepers recapitulated the debates that played out so fruitfully in Philadelphia.

Indeed, when the Convention had done its best, it was the people - in their various States - that refused to confirm the result until, at their insistence, the Bill of Rights was made integral to the document sent forward for ratification.

And it is "We the people" who must now find once again the ability we once had to play an integral role in saving our Constitution.

And here there is cause for both concern and great hope. The age of printed pamphlets and political essays has long since been replaced by television - a distracting and absorbing medium which sees determined to entertain and sell more than it informs and educates.

Lincoln's memorable call during the Civil War is applicable in a new way to our dilemma today: "We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."

Forty years have passed since the majority of Americans adopted television as their principal source of information. Its dominance has become so extensive that virtually all significant political communication now takes place within the confines of flickering 30-second television advertisements.

And the political economy supported by these short but expensive television ads is as different from the vibrant politics of America's first century as those politics were different from the feudalism which thrived on the ignorance of the masses of people in the Dark Ages.

The constricted role of ideas in the American political system today has encouraged efforts by the Executive Branch to control the flow of information as a means of controlling the outcome of important decisions that still lie in the hands of the people.

The Administration vigorously asserts its power to maintain the secrecy of its operations. After all, the other branches can't check an abuse of power if they don't know it is happening.

For example, when the Administration was attempting to persuade Congress to enact the Medicare prescription drug benefit, many in the House and Senate raised concerns about the cost and design of the program. But, rather than engaging in open debate on the basis of factual data, the Administration withheld facts and prevented the Congress from hearing testimony that it sought from the principal administration expert who had compiled information showing in advance of the vote that indeed the true cost estimates were far higher than the numbers given to Congress by the President.

Deprived of that information, and believing the false numbers given to it instead, the Congress approved the program. Tragically, the entire initiative is now collapsing- all over the country- with the Administration making an appeal just this weekend to major insurance companies to volunteer to bail it out.

To take another example, scientific warnings about the catastrophic consequences of unchecked global warming were censored by a political appointee in the White House who had no scientific training. And today one of the leading scientific experts on global warming in NASA has been ordered not to talk to members of the press and to keep a careful log of everyone he meets with so that the Executive Branch can monitor and control his discussions of global warming.

One of the other ways the Administration has tried to control the flow of information is by consistently resorting to the language and politics of fear in order to short-circuit the debate and drive its agenda forward without regard to the evidence or the public interest. As President Eisenhower said, "Any who act as if freedom's defenses are to be found in suppression and suspicion and fear confess a doctrine that is alien to America."

Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction. Justice Brandeis once wrote: "Men feared witches and burnt women."

The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk.

Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the Bill of Rights.

Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment's notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march-when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously?

It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.

We have a duty as Americans to defend our citizens' right not only to life but also to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against the present danger posed by the intrusive overreaching on the part of the Executive Branch and the President's apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.

I endorse the words of Bob Barr, when he said, "The President has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will."

A special counsel should immediately be appointed by the Attorney General to remedy the obvious conflict of interest that prevents him from investigating what many believe are serious violations of law by the President. We have had a fresh demonstration of how an independent investigation by a special counsel with integrity can rebuild confidence in our system of justice. Patrick Fitzgerald has, by all accounts, shown neither fear nor favor in pursuing allegations that the Executive Branch has violated other laws.

Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress should support the bipartisan call of the Liberty Coalition for the appointment of a special counsel to pursue the criminal issues raised by warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the President.

Second, new whistleblower protections should immediately be established for members of the Executive Branch who report evidence of wrongdoing -- especially where it involves the abuse of Executive Branch authority in the sensitive areas of national security.

Third, both Houses of Congress should hold comprehensive-and not just superficial-hearings into these serious allegations of criminal behavior on the part of the President. And, they should follow the evidence wherever it leads.

Fourth, the extensive new powers requested by the Executive Branch in its proposal to extend and enlarge the Patriot Act should, under no circumstances be granted, unless and until there are adequate and enforceable safeguards to protect the Constitution and the rights of the American people against the kinds of abuses that have so recently been revealed.

Fifth, any telecommunications company that has provided the government with access to private information concerning the communications of Americans without a proper warrant should immediately cease and desist their complicity in this apparently illegal invasion of the privacy of American citizens.

Freedom of communication is an essential prerequisite for the restoration of the health of our democracy.

It is particularly important that the freedom of the Internet be protected against either the encroachment of government or the efforts at control by large media conglomerates. The future of our democracy depends on it.

I mentioned that along with cause for concern, there is reason for hope. As I stand here today, I am filled with optimism that America is on the eve of a golden age in which the vitality of our democracy will be re-established and will flourish more vibrantly than ever. Indeed I can feel it in this hall.

As Dr. King once said, "Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us."
END

Honouring Bob 2006

Observer Reporter
Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Following a largely triumphant gathering in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa for his 60th birthday last year, the celebrations of the birth of late reggae king Bob Marley move to the west African nation of Ghana which will host this year's Africa Unite Bob Marley celebration show on February 6, the singer's birthdate.

The announcement was made at press conference at the Bob Marley Museum, 56 Hope Road on Monday night, with both Africa Unite co-ordinator Dennis Wright and Marley's widow Rita giving details of the upcoming special.

Wright announced that the artiste roster for the Ghana event will include Culture, featuring Joseph Hill, The Marley Brothers, the I-Threes, The Tamlins, Chakademus and Pliers, Steel Pulse, Dean Fraser and C-Sharp. Sharing the billing are African artistes Mz Bell, Batman, VIP and the Megastar band.

Other celebratory activities are scheduled for The Phillippines, Belgium, and amjor cities across the US from February through April.

For her part, Rita Marley outlined that the concert, which unlike last year's free event in Addis will attract a cover charge, would benefit the recently established Marley Health Care Centre in the Ghanian town of Konkonuru, which has become her second home. "We are focused on children, and even though we are still doing a lot fore the children here in Jamaica, I really want to help the children in Ghana."

During the launch, Mrs Marley also asked for a moment's silent reflection at the recent passing of the regional head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, His Eminence Yebuna Yeseaq, whom she said had long been a firm supporter of the Marleys. Director of the Bob Marley Museum Jacqueline Lynch-Stewart updated the audience on the activities totake place locally for the Bob Marley birthday, which she said would focus not so much on entertainment but on culture.
"We're going to feature drumming, dub poetry and dances as well as workshops and displays," she said.

Speaking to Observer following the launch, Mrs Stewart said the Foundation had not received any official word from the ggovernment regarding the proposal to confer national hero honours on Marley. The representative at the Culture Division of the Ministry of Education Youth and Culture was said to be unavailable when contacted, and similarly the Cabinet secretary. A considerable lobby had emerged in the months leading up to Marley's 60th birthday to have hero honours coincide with the occasion, but the movement appears to have lost traction since then.

Plans are to stage the Bob Marley 62nd birthday celebrations in South Africa in 2007.

The REGGAE Boys of Dog Sled Racing

from The Scotsman
by LOUISE GRAY

JAMAICA may seem an unlikely breeding ground for winter sportsmen, but it has already produced a bobsleigh crew - and now it is set to send a dog sled team to race in Scotland.

The team, formed with the help of Scottish mushers, will be swapping the Caribbean for the Cairngorms when it competes at the Aviemore Sled Dog Rally later this month.

Devon Anderson, the chief musher, is hopeful of success - although he admits he has never seen snow.

Eventually, the squad hopes to go all the way to the dog sled world championships and even the 2010 winter Olympics. That would emulate Jamaica's bobsleigh team which took part in the 1988 Games in Calgary, inspiring the John Candy film Cool Runnings.

"We have a lot of talent in Jamaica," Mr Anderson said. "Once we are put to the test we will always try and do our best. In future we should do well, if and when it gets to that point."

Mr Anderson was in Scotland in the summer when Alan Stewart, the owner of the Cairngorm Sled Dog Adventure Centre, taught him how to run dogs. "I am looking forward to the race and to seeing Scotland again," he said. "It is a new adventure, a new challenge for me."

He was instrumental in setting up a kennel in Jamaica for the country's first dog sled team. At the moment the "sled dogs" are a mixture of labradors, rottweilers and mongrels from the streets. The team is based at the tour operator Chukka Caribbean Adventures and is sponsored by the multi-millionaire country music star Jimmy Buffet, and Bob Marley's record producer, Chris Blackwell.

The nine dogs are trained in the early morning and evenings to avoid the worst of the heat.

Mr Anderson, 42, said: "It was a new challenge. I know it is surprising to see someone from Jamaica in the tropics do a sport that is usually done in the snow. Everybody I talk to about it is very excited."

Danny Melville, the manager of the team, has great faith both in Mr Anderson and his deputy, Newton Marshall.

He said Mr Anderson had an "incredible affinity" with animals, enabling him to run a successful team. "Mushing is not just about training and fitness of the dogs," he said. "The dogs will perform for the musher. I am confident we will do just fine, and I am looking forward to the event in Scotland and future events."

Mr Melville, whose grandfather is Scottish, added:

"Jamaica is known not just for its reggae boys, but for its athletes. We did well in bobsleigh, so why not on dog sled?"

Get Ready to Rocksteady

The Vail Daily News, Vail, Colorado

WEST VAIL - The Yellow Wall Dub Squad, an original authentic roots reggae band comprised of Jamaican studio session musicians, tours to the Sandbar in West Vail Tuesday for a rocksteady party.

The band was formed by the late Fazal Prendergast along with reggae ambassador Amlak Tafari. Fazal, who passed away in a tragic car accident on April 1, was an original recording sessions musician who had been recording since 1974 in Kingston, Jamaica, working at Rockers International backing the Augustus Pablo in Rockers Allstars Band - the first original Dub band ever created.

The Yellow Wall Dub Squad consists of original members Stevie Love on guitar (Jamaica) and Alton "Sandrum" Vanhorn on drums (Jamaica) along with Peter Tomlinson on keyboards (Jamaica), Donavan "Itawe" Cunningham on bass (Jamaica), Balboa Becker on trambone (USA), Garrett Kobsef on saxaphone and flute (USA) and manager Robert Oyugi (East Africa).

The band presents an eclectic mix of music from the rock steady, ska and rockers era.

Itawe, also known as Donavan "Danny Gitz" Cunningham, was born and raised in the hills of St. Ann, Jamaica, in the farming community of Prickly Pole, just a few miles from the home where Bob Marley grew in Nine Mile. He began his musical career in 1992, where he was given the name "Danny Gita" or "Danny Gitz" due to his growing reputation as an outstanding guitarist. Since then he has recorded as a sessions musician and extensively toured Europe, Australia, North America, Mexico and the Caribbean playing the bass, rhythm guitar and singing harmony for artists such as Sugar Minott, Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, Gregory Isaacs, Everton Blender, Yami Bolo, Iqulah, Ini Kamoze and many more.

On any given day you can hear Itawe's guitar licks playing on the radio waves of IRIE FM all over Jamaica in taxi's, busses, clubs, schools and beaches. He has played rhythm for many major festivals and stage shows, backing every major artist, including Luciano, Tony Rebel, Warrior King, Richie Spice, Jah Mason, Junior Reid, Cocoa Tea, Beanie Man, Mikey General, Black Uhuru, Errol Dunkley, I Wayne, Kyan, Angie Angel, Queen Ifrika, Sugar Minott, Freddy Mcgregor, Fanton Mojah. "Danny Gitz" recorded with Morgan Heritage playing rhythm for their number one hit, "We feel love," as well as "She's Still Lovin' Me" and more. He has also recorded for Sugar Minott, Kyan, Capleton, Sizzla, Luciano and helped compose much of Iqulah's latest released album, "Rastafari Forever," on which the Marley brothers are featured.

Over the years Itawe has been writing, composing and laying tracks in Jamaica, Europe, and North America for his upcoming album, "Journey to Life." He recently released a single in France, "Babylon Bridge," with the popular reggae group Broussai.

For more information on the Yellow Dub Allstars show featuring Itawe, call the Sandbar at (970) 476-4314.

GG on theYear in REGGAE Music (2005)

Gregory Gondo Special Correspondent
Financial Gazette (Harare)
http://allafrica.com/

Well it sure feels great to be back doing what I can do best--talk about my favourite subject--reggae music. And this week I will cut straight to the chase. No punany business talk, girl lyrics or anything like that seen?

Before I go into the main feature of the week, let me recap on what happened during the past 12 months in the world of reggae music.

I start off on a sad note. You may recall that I informed you in this column of the death of singer Junior Delgado. Remember the lyrics:â-oeTricksters, Girls dem a tricksters, Nine months gone, No baby bornâ-oe? (How so true, if you ask me.) The man who the reggae world knew as Jooks died on April 11 at his residence in London.

Born Oscar Hibbert on August 25 1958 in Kingston Jamaica Junior Delgado, who was a close friend of the late Dennis Brown, was also known for his 1985 hit single Broadwater Farm In London which talked about crime and poverty on a north London housing estate of the same name.

As if that was not enough, on June 11 another reggae star went the way of the flesh. Her name was Jennifer Lara. She died in Kingston Public Hospital from brain haemorrhage. Jennifer Lara who was 52 years old at the time of her death, was probably best known for her hit single entitled Consider Me which was recorded on the rhythm track of Delroy Wilson's I Don't Know Why. She also provided backing vocals for the likes of the Ethiopians, Dennis Brown and Freddy McGregor.

Yes ,these stars are no more, but we give thanks and praises for the good music that they bequeathed to us. Their deaths truly hurt because they could have given us more of the inspiring music but we have to accept it as part of life's rich tapestry.

On a brighter note though, in July one of reggae music's leading veterans Little Roy returned to the stage for the first time in 26 years. The show was held at the Cable and Wireless Golf Academy on Knutsford Boulevard in Kingston. You might want to know that Freddy McGregor's Prophecy and George Nooks' Tribal War were remakes of Little Roy's originals.

Little Roy, who was born Earl Lowe, claims that although Toots Hibbert is credited for giving reggae music its name, he was infact the first to use the name reggae when he did a song entitled Reggae Soul for producer Prince Buster in 1967 which he also claims was the first song of the genre. He started out with two friends, Harold Burgess and Barrington Bailey both of whom now play in the horns section of Bunny Wailer's band.

During the period under review, Dub poet Mutabaruka, who was here last year for the Zimbabwe International Book Fair launched a collection of his poems. The volume is entitled The First Poems/The Next Poems. The poems, which Mutabaruka claims he wrote when he was about 16 years old, were first recorded between 1990 and 2000.

Not to be outdone, the in-demand musician, Lloyd Parks, leader of the 30-year-old We The People Band released his long-awaited CD called Genuine Gold.

It features artistes Lloyd Parks says he used to look up to. These include Marcia Griffiths, John Holt, Ken Boothe, Boris Gardner and Nadine Sutherland, among others. Lloyd Parks is the father of keyboardist Jacqueline better known as Tamika. It runs in the family as you can see.

And last but not least, around mid-year, Buju Banton of Boom Bye Bye fame scored a hit through a duet he did with Anthony Cruz. It would seem like when it comes to duets or collaborations as they call them in Rasta parlance, Buju Banton has the Midas touch.

His tune with Anthony Cruz entitled Place Too Bloody in June hit the number one spot on the B Mobile Mega Jamz Reggae and the South Florida Reggae Charts. It also made the top ten on the New York Reggae Chart. Previously Buju Banton had scored big hits with songs such as Pull It Up and Who Say both of which he did with Beresford Hammond, Too Young (with Cocoa Tea) and Second Class Love (with Carol Gonzales). That is all I had on some of the highlights on the reggae scene in the past 12 months.

This week I had intended to profile drummer Lowell Dunbar and bass player Robert Shakespeare better known as Sly and Robbie. But their handlers have not yet responded to my e-mail. As soon as I get the response I will feature this duo widely believed to be one of the world's best rhythm sections. Reggae music commentators call them the Rythm Twins.

Sly and Robbie have promoted, among others (through their Taxi label), Black Uhuru, Beenie Man and of course Red Dragon who, on one of his songs, talks about dresses that reveal as much as they should cover courtesy of the provocative slits. Remember him saying â-oewe call them scandal slits because it exposes the girlin you knowâ-oe

Be that as it may, we will never run out of ammunition. There is a lot to talk about in reggae music you know. You might also want to know that I received a positive response on the feature on Bounty Killer who had two shows in Babylon recently. The first show was held at Stratford Rex (London) on November 6 and the second one was held at Club Isis (Nottingham). My childhood friend with who I herded cattle back home in Mahusekwa (Marondera), Alexander Mharapara who owns Y2K Promotions and his Jamaican friend Chris of Chris Platinum Promotions promoted the shows.

Requests, requests, requests! They are coming in thick and fast. And this week most of you wanted me to feature the man who calls himself the High Priest of Rastafarian Movement. I am talking of Keith Blair better-known as Anthony B. To me personally, he is Peter Tosh reincarnated. Others say he is the personification of African consciousness in reggae. He dwells on the serious themes of hope, resistance and love.

Infact he is so big that according Jet Star Reggae News of January 1998, his single Nah Vote Again, was a major factor in making the Jamaican elections of 18 December 1997, the most peaceful one "since the insidious cancer of gun violence was introduced in West and Central Kingston, prior to the elections of 1967".

Anthony B himself admits that he was inspired by Peter Tosh. I remember that on one of his CDs entitled Live At The Battlefields he sang:â-oeLegalise marijuana, You will have a better world, Reaching out to my mentor, I 'n' I say this is the meaning of reggae music across the world, One love, equal rights and justice, Give it up for Peter Tosh, Everyone is crying out for peace, non is crying out for justice, But they will be no peace till there is equal rightsâ-oe

What is more, Anthony B is as controversial as the enigmatic Wailers founder member who was well known for his short-fuse temper. At Sting 2004 the firebrand chanter delivered a scathing criticism of the Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson and the policies of his government. Shades of Peter Tosh at the 1978 One Love Peace Concert when he attacked the prime minister and the shistem. Infact, controversy should be Anthony B's middle name so to speak.

Check what he says on one of his songs on the Live At The Battlefields album . . . I 'n' I say rastafari is not here to confuse, Rastaman is here to teach you, Rastaman is here to educate you, Reggae music beat down the walls of Babylon, Wipe down oppression, Set the captives free, I wanna see people with love for humanity, I and I say burn the Queen of England for slavery and racial discrimination, I and I burn Pope John ina Vatican, I burn Bush and I burn Bill Clinton, I burn Hitler, Tony Blair, I burn Mussolini, I burn P J Patterson, I burn Seagaâ-oeNow you cannot get any more controversial than this. Can you?

Just like notable reggae singers such as Bob Marley (Mellow Moods) Peter Tosh (Bush Doctor) Toots Hibbert's Mytals (Monkey Man) Justin Hinds and The Dominoes (You Are A Jezebel), Twinkle Brothers (Chant Rastafari), Anthony B honed his vocals skills in the church and school choirs.

He made his debut as DJ with the Saggy Hi-Power Sound System after which he moved to Portmore in the parish of St Catharine in 1988 where the Lovers Choice Sound System was ruling the roost. There, he met with DJs such as Professor Nuts, Baby Wayne, Mad Cobra, Little Devon, Determine, Mega Banton, Ricky General and Terror Fabulous who collaborated with Nadine Sutherland on the international hit, Action.

But one thing distinguished Anthony B from his stable mates--he refused to do girl lyrics even though they were the in thing in the 1990s. It was not until 1993 therefore that the uncompromising Pan-Africanist achieved modest success with his debut single The Living Is Hard, which he did as a duet with the Half-Pint sound-alike, Little Devon. Even after this success most notable producers such as Black Scorpio and King Jammys were apparently not convinced and they were reluctant to immediately sign him on. It was only Garnett Silk's producer, Richard "Bello Bell" of the Star Trail Label who "took the risk" and signed Anthony B.

Hits started flowing in quick succession. These included Repentance, Fire Pon Rome and Raid Di Barn. This culminated in his landmark debut album Real Revolutionary. Then came the other albums, Universal Struggle, Street Knowledge, Power Of Creation and Live At The Battlefields. And Anthony B has never looked back. He is perched right at the top of the present wave of DJ music, tearing up the dancehalls.

In local dancehalls Anthony B's most popular tunes are Damage and Rumour. If you don't know these tunes, then you haven't been to the ball. Gwaan Anthony B. He has also done collaborations with Culture (Two Sevens Clash) and Mighty Diamonds (Pass The Kutchie).

A special thanks to all those who have supported this column, Dennis Wilson (UK), Dr Richard Guzha (US), Sheasby Huwait Saruwaka (New Zealand), Alexander Mharapara (UK), DJ Biscuit, Clutton Patsika, Motsi Sinyoro, Weston Mazhawidza, Alan Matsikure, Simba Chihono, Nicola Ndoro, George Chisoko and of course my significant other Auxilia and our beautiful children Chipo, Farai and Tinotenda. That will include all of you who I could not mention here. God Bless you all.

Hey folks I have enjoyed writing this as much as I should. Just remember that I love you and you and you baby.

My name is GG.
http://allafrica.com/

Rastas to honor `Lion of Judah'

Community to mark anniversary of Selassie's ascension in Ethiopia.
By Alva James-Johnson
Staff Writer, Sun Sentinel
Posted November 5 2005

Ras Rainbow was yearning for a glimpse of God when the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I graced Jamaica with his presence. So at first, he did a double take.

"I was looking for a tall man, but he was short," Rainbow said, recalling the magical moment in 1966 when Selassie got off the plane. "A lot of people said, `How God so little?' But the Rasta said, `Don't worry 'bout that, he's the most powerful man in the world.'"

That was April 21, 1966, when thousands of Rastafarians made the pilgrimage from every corner of the island to witness the arrival of the man they consider "King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Conquering Lion of Judah" at Kingston Airport.

"It was a historic moment to see so many people come to see one person," said Rainbow, of Opa-locka. "It inspired me to come out of certain things. I'm not rich, but now I'm rich in spirit and I try to do my best anywhere I live."

At 61, Rainbow will celebrate another historic event in the Rastafarian community -- the 75th anniversary of Selassie's ascension to the Ethiopian throne, which drew dignitaries from far and wide to the African nation Nov. 2, 1930.

On Sunday, South Florida Rastas will re-enact the king's coronation at the Lauderdale Lakes Multi-purpose Center with a colorful display of royal pageantry. The event will feature seven custom-made symbols of kingship, including replicas of the triple crown of Ethiopia, the sword of Solomon, an imperial scepter and golden globe. Royal white attire is required.

Born Tafari Makonnenin, Selassie claimed to be the direct descendant of the queen of Sheba and King Solomon. He used the title "Ras," meaning prince, which when combined with "Tafari" led to the term "Rastafarian" adopted by his followers.

Haile Selassie means "Power of the Trinity." He never claimed to be God, but Rastafarians have considered him the black Messiah ever since the Jamaican black nationalist Marcus Garvey quoted the Bible as saying, "Princes would come out of Egypt and Ethiopia would stretch forth her hands unto God."

Selassie's reign ended in 1974 during a military coup. He died under house arrest in 1975, but Rastafarians are convinced he still lives.

"We know our flesh comes to stay a certain time, but the spirit in the flesh can never die," Rainbow said. "So we have him alive all the time, because we know his work and his spirit live in us."

While there are no official statistics on the number of Rastafarians living in South Florida, experts say there are thousands and the population is growing.

"This is the second-largest Caribbean community in the United States, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's the second-largest Rasta community," said Ras Michael Barnett, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Florida International University.

Adherents of the faith are mostly known for their knotty dreadlocks, strict vegetarian diets, smoking of ganja (marijuana) and the reggae music made popular by Bob Marley and other Jamaican artists. But Rastafarianism is also a movement that fights against injustice and what Rastafarians consider the "Babylonian" establishment that oppresses the poor and people of African descent.

"Rastafarians have seen religions to be as negative as often as they have been positive," said Don Rico Ricketts, a member of the South Florida Rasta community. "We like to say Rastafari is a way of life because it indicates a wider world view than just the religious world view."

Divided into three main houses or denominations, Rastafarians hold different views on issues ranging from divinity to lifestyle. The branches are: The Twelve Tribes of Israel, the BoboShante House and the Nyahbinghi Order.

Some Rastas attend weekly spiritual gatherings called "binghis" to practice their faith from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Others attend binghis only on special occasions to commemorate the birthdays of Garvey and Selassie and also Selassie's coronation and his trip to Jamaica.

Adwa Donovan, 31, lives in a North Lauderdale neighborhood with her boyfriend, Steven Gordon, who she calls her "Kingman."

"When I told my mother I want to be Rasta, she said not in my house," she recalled. "She's a traditional Pentecostal."

But Donovan said devotion to Selassie offered her freedom.

"We don't believe in following doctrine," she explained. "Jah [God] speaks to the heart of all of us."

Alva James-Johnson can be reached at ajjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4523.

Judge Not - Buju Banton Has Message Of Love, Hate

Note from REGGAE.com - we would like your thoughts on this one - who is man to judge? Judgement belongs to the Lord - Jah Rastafari!

November 22, 2005
By KENNETH PARTRIDGE, Special to the Courant

Buju Banton says his music, reggae music, is meant to "eradicate negativity from the minds of the people." He also says it's the "voice of God" and the music of the world - a sound designed to free you from shackles and point you in the direction of hope.

That is, of course, unless you're gay, since Banton, like fellow reggae artist Beanie Man, has recently come under fire for singing songs with violently homophobic lyrics. Banton is facing assault charges in Jamaica after the brutal beating of six gay men, a crime he's pleaded not guilty to.

The contradiction implicit in Banton's so-called positive message was on full display Sunday night at Toad's Place in New Haven, greeting concert-goers before they even stepped foot inside the club. Outside on York Street, protesters held signs and chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho; homophobia's got to go!" as fans lined up to see the show.

The protest was spearheaded by the Queer Political Action Committee of Yale, and organizer Hugh Baran said he hoped to send a clear message to Toad's.

"This is the first stop in our campaign to get Toad's to pledge never to have artists like Buju Banton," Baran said.

Despite the demonstration, Banton drew a strong crowd. For most of his set, he steered clear of controversy, hopping and twitching wildly across the stage while his dreadlocks swung freely and his voice - an earthy rasp that's part dancehall bark, part roots-reggae croon - was used for uniting, not dividing.

On "Not an Easy Road" and "Hills and Valleys," Banton sang for the oppressed, doubling over on certain lyrics as if their weightiness was weakening his knees. The audience joined in on "Untold Stories," which, with its simple guitar accompaniment, sounded like Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

By the end of the set, though, Banton was ready to speak out. He ditched the tenderness of "Wanna Be Loved" and went into an unapologetic anti-gay tirade, calling those who could not procreate "heathens" and dismissing the idea of same-sex families.

Distressingly, the crowd seemed largely to support these statements, some fans waving Rastafarian flags and cheering loudly as he spoke. He followed his rant with an encore performance of the song "Love Sponge," though by then it was clear there was only one kind of love he was willing to tolerate, let alone soak into his heart.