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Rage Against the Machine lead musician boycott against Arizona


TheLizard

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Rage Against the Machine lead singer Zack de la Rocha has enlisted dozens of musicians and activists to join The Sound Strike, an open call by artists to boycott the state of Arizona over its recently passed immigration law. The law passed by the Arizona state legislature, SB1070, requires local authorities to determine a person's immigration status if he or she is suspected of being undocumented.

Groups like Cypress Hill, Juanes, Conor Oberst, Los Tigres del Norte, Rage Against the Machine, Cafe Tacvba, Kanye West, Calle 13 as well as Oscar winning filmmaker and activist Michael Moore have signed on to the campaign, which was announced on thesoundstrike.net today.

"Fans of our music, our stories, our films and our words can be pulled over and harassed every day because they are brown or black, or for the way they speak, or for the music they listen to," de la Rocha wrote in an open letter announcing the campaign. "People who are poor like some of us used to be could be forced to live in a constant state of fear while just doing what they can to find work and survive. This law opens the door for them to be shaked down, or even worse, detained and deported while just trying to travel home from school, from home to work, or when they just roll out with their friends."

The website calls for additional artists to sign on to the boycott of Arizona, and asks fans to sign an online petition calling for the law's repeal.

Other artists who have already joined The Sound Strike boycott include Joe Satriani, Serj Tankian, Rise Against, Ozomatli, Sabertooth Tiger, Massive Attack, One Day as a Lion, Street Sweeper Social Club, Spank Rock, Sonic Youth and Tenacious D.

Satriani, recalling his own Italian-American grandparents' brushes with persecution during World War II, says he was approached to join the boycott by Tom Morello and subsequently contacted de la Rocha. "It's a tough issue," he says, "because I understand, if you live down there in one of those border town, you feel like you're under siege. But I think more brain power has to go into the solution to this. SB1070 just doesn't have enough in it to make it a good law. In the last 15 years the erosion of rights of American citizens has put us close to a police state. We teeter back and forth; that's what you have to be vigilant about. You can't just jump on something like this and stop thinking about better ways to solve problems."

Satriani says one answer is for the federal government to become a more active part of the solution. "We have a federal immigration department; they should be the ones dealing with this," he notes. "The local police have enough problems to deal with, and making them into pseudo border guards is ridiculous."

The guitarist says he feels "terrible about the idea of boycotting Arizona. I have friends there. I have a lot of fans there." His band Chickenfoot, in fact, recently released a concert DVD filmed at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix.

Already hip-hop acts Pitbull and Cypress Hill have canceled upcoming shows in Arizona to protest the law. Regional Mexican music acts Conjunto Primavera and Espinoza Paz have canceled their previously-announced Phoenix concerts, while their fellow Latin music stars Jenni Rivera and Wisin & Yandel will be skipping the state on their AEG Live-promoted summer tours.

"My personal belief is that the law, which is misguided and poorly written, is unconstitutional and will not survive the multiple legal challenges being filed," AEG Live president/CEO Randy Phillips says. "Until that time, however, the economic impact on the state from losing even a couple of tours might be enough for the legislature and the governor to realize that there is still a political concept called the tyranny of the majority which is just as dangerous to our democracy as illegal immigration, maybe more so."

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F*** them, they can stay out for all I care. They put the government and politicians before their own fans, like they think the fans had anything to do with that law being passed. The Government doesn't care about this boycott, in fact I believe they are for it. They are only hurting a small percentage of their fan base by doing this, while the group they are targeting against will see this whole stand go unnoticed. There are better ways to make a boycott stand and voice opinion on a subject than to simply refuse to hold a concert somewhere.

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ha ha what a bunch of douches. I guess that's to be expected from Rage though. Not making a difference even a little bit. I remember I saw Tom Morrello's new band at a big corporately sponsored festival last year and he started babbling unironically about how it was inspiring to see us all come together to solve the world's problems with rock n roll.

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I totally appreciate the sentiment of these artists, and support them in expressing their opinions (which I share). It's gone beyond the point where a boycott or anything else like this could have much effect, except to alienate their fan base in AZ. In the end it will hurt the artists, and change nothing. The courts are going to have to straighten this one out. :P

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F*** them

And the horse they rode in on...there have been laws for years and nobody wants to enforce them... So the state of Arizona made another law and once again nobody is going to enforce it...

As far as the judges and the court system :laughing:

My state has a big border with Mexico and they get in all the time but we take care of it...

Now,thanks to Arizona's law...We're going to have to make new laws and enforce them

Musicians are really hurting themselves by taking sides(one way or the other)

As far as letting the courts take care of it :thumbsdown: :laughing: The government is a joke...All of it...From the president to the people who represent me(and I voted for some of these scumbags)Sorry about the long post but...politics and music don't always mix

I apologize for the scumbag remark...instead of scum substitute douche or tea

:shades: :couch:

Edited by Guest
insanity
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"My personal belief is that the law, ... is unconstitutional ..." AEG Live president/CEO Randy Phillips says.

Where in the constitution does it say that people that lack the requirements to be in this country have a right to be in this country?

Riddle me THAT Mr. Phillips.

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Where in the constitution does it say that people that lack the requirements to be in this country have a right to be in this country?

Riddle me THAT Mr. Phillips.

I think he is referring to the search and seizure issue that arises when a law this vague and wide-reaching is put into practice.

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Groups like Cypress Hill, Juanes, Conor Oberst, Los Tigres del Norte, Rage Against the Machine, Cafe Tacvba, Kanye West, Calle 13 as well as Oscar winning filmmaker and activist Michael Moore have signed on to the campaign, which was announced on thesoundstrike.net today.

In other words, artists and bands that suck. It's only a matter of time for POO2 and stink to show up. Oh, wait, stink is too busy playing private concerts for ruthless dictators in Asia at the moment :beatnik:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1252566/Sting-plays-concert-daughter-boil-enemies-dictator.html

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I think he is referring to the search and seizure issue that arises when a law this vague and wide-reaching is put into practice.

It's not wide-reaching, though. The immigration status check is done when someone is stopped for committing a crime or is suspected of committing a crime. Besides, the law has to be vague and wide-reaching since illegal aliens don't have a knack for wearing signs stating they're breaking the law. It would be great if the govt. of Arizona passed some strict hiring laws with heavy fines to help pay for the incarcerations and deportations. Who would hire an illegal alien if they knew the fine was $10K, $20K, $30K per offense? :beatnik:

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the problem with that, BA, is that many many illegals are able to somehow obtain documentation that gives every appearance that they are legal, and employers are required to keep photocopies of those documents on file. If the illegal alien can "prove" they're "legal" with that documentation, how does an employer know?

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Nah, that's a buncha crap the corporations tell people (i.e., Walmart, fast food places, national construction firms). For professionals, it should be easy to tell what is fake documentation and what is not. They're not stupid; they pretend to be when it comes to this because for them it's aaaaaall profit and then they can blame it on someone else for their failure to do their own job of doing proper background checks (it's a bit analogous to how big oil blames the current catastrophe on the govt. regulations for off-shore drilling). For everything else, it's pretty cut-and-dry for the ones loitering the parking lots and blocks of Home Depot and Lowes. If anything, start there and work on up to the house cleaners, gardeners, and babysitters that white people hire. I think a $30K fine per gardener on a middle-class family should set a good example around the community that illegals are truly not wanted, or better yet put 'em in pink jumpsuits and make 'em live in a tent for a few weekends. That oughta drive the point home reeeeal fast :beatnik:

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I agree... I've heard much, much worse. Out of curiosity, what term would you prefer be used, Tim? Maybe there's something I'm not aware of... personally, I don't like the term "alien" just because it makes me think of little green people with huge bulbous heads and small mouths.

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I think that "illegals" is one of the most derogatory terms there is. It strips a person of his/her humanity.

I think the word "illegal" is accurate, not derogatory.

Everything and everyone needs a description. You are what you are.

What's next?

Don't call people who are incarcerated for a crime, "prisoners" because it might "offend" them.

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A lot of the illegals are the gypsy equivalent. I bet even zach de la cockroach would soon get sick of seeing his hometown deteriorate in living standards when the droves upon droves of poor, uneducated, unskilled, and lazy illegals take over - crowding schools, hospitals, and, unfortunately, even the jails; pretty much draining all public sources. There are parts of the southwest that have been destroyed so much, they look like a third world country. Santa Ana and parts of Lake Forest (California) look like a hurricane of trash blew right through :beatnik:

Video interludes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gNr_V-Xj5I

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=imSTMYzwW_k

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I just prefer the full term: illegal immigrants. They are immigrants and here illegally. "Illegals" just sounds dehumanizing.

Here's my problem with the issue: the blame is being laid on the immigrants - generally desperate people who see no other choice - rather than the system. It's the system here that is broken. These people are going to come here anyway, so if the process were streamlined it would save taxpayer money, allow law enforcement to concentrate on other issues, allow these people to get green cards at the very least, if not full citizenship, and provide tax revenue from immigrants who, at the moment, are not paying taxes due to their illegal status. To me, this issue falls under the common misconception that illegal=wrong. It's the law that is broken, not the people breaking it. Does a bad element cross over along with the good? Yes. Will tightening the borders prevent violent crime in this country? Of course not.

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I agree that the system is broken, which is why the citizens and residents of Arizona did something about it. The law would be better if both the illegals and those who hire them were to be penalised: one deported and the other to pay for their stay in jail and deportation. There should be more laws around the country like Arizona's... at the very least, it would prevent sucky bands from coming to your town :cool:

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You deport them, they will come back. Fine them for all the tax revenue they've ripped off and put together some sort of legalization plan for those that are already here like the one Senators Schumer (D) and Graham ® have proposed that already has the support of the President.

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how do they pay back the tax revenue if they're not employable because they're illegally here?

I'm dancing on both sides of this issue, really, because on the one hand I'm just as mad as anybody that I'm paying for people - who are not paying taxes because they're here illegally - to go to hospitals and have babies on Medicare, etc., at the same time if it weren't for that exact scenario, I wouldn't have my son.

So I'm curious about what people who are against it feel is the right way that it be done. Being Caucasian truly puts me in the minority here in my own state. There are areas of town everywhere that I can't even read the billboards because they're in another language I don't speak. Sometimes I think I'm the one who's here illegally.

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how do they pay back the tax revenue if they're not employable because they're illegally here?

Fine them for all the tax revenue they've ripped off and put together some sort of legalization plan for those that are already here

I think white people should get used to the idea that we're going to be the minority within the next few decades.

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again, though, how do they pay back the fine on the tax revenue they've ripped off?

I think a vast majority of them would not take the opportunity/understand the chance of becoming legalized if they could/ and if they did, where's the guarantee they'd make it? By the time they've spent enough time here to take the test and do it, they'd be so far in debt from fines levied against them for unpaid taxes they'd never catch up. And how does that pay US back for paying for their hospital/prenatal care, etc., and child care they've racked up before they become legalized?

It's a truly vicious cycle. Also, the concept of anchor babies, which is why they come up here to give birth in the first place. It's a goal to have a baby here.

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