News and Music for the New Year

Listen to or download "News and Music for the New Year"

A selection of music in the context of current news to bring in the new year. First story looks at coal as an energy source from the point of view of the recent TVA's major coal combustion waste spill near Harriman in Tennessee. Also a call to participate in the Powershift event scheduled in Washington DC from February 27 to March 2, 2009 to protest the ongoing use of coal as a dominant energy source in the U.S. and around the world.

Also reviewed is the current bombardment of Gaza by Israel, supposedly in response to rockets launched from Gaza by Hamas. Over 200 Palestinians killed, over 600 wounded. One Israeli dead and several, according to New York Times report, "lightly" wounded.

Copy and paste these links into your browser to view video

- on coal spill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_-EL5Jrrmk

- on Gaza:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/12/27/multimedia/1194836610699/israel-attacks-targets-across-gaza.html

http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/breaking-news/1194811622186/index.html#1194836394876

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/27/von.ramattan.attack.cnn

The U.S. Campaign to End the Israel Occupation has issued an action alert with these suggestions:
* Contact the White House to protest the attacks and demand an immediate cease-fire. Call 202-456-1111 or send an email to comments@whitehouse.gov.
* Contact the State Department at 202-647-6575.
* Contact your Representative and Senators in Congress at 202-224-3121.
* Contact your local media by phoning into a talk show or writing a letter to the editor.
* Organize a local protest or vigil.
* Sign an open letter to President-Elect Obama calling for a new U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine at www.upfj.org