The News from David Rovics: All the News That's Fit to Sing release

 first published 6th September 2014.

David Rovics really does bring you all the news that's fit to sing. What's more, he could be doing it in your town, on his next tour.

"...what’s striking about Rovics is his enduring and seemingly tireless commitment to the life of a radical grassroots troubadour, and his ability to bring first-hand reports of local struggles from around the world to each community that he visits." Wally Brooker
Here's some examples.You can probably find others, here. For the sake of proper music listeners (who need an album, thanks very much) I have constructed a soundcloud playlist. For the news-oriented types, the article is linked to the quote below.

Soundcloud: The News from David Rovics

Oil Train
"America's Exploding Oil Train Problem”
Last July, a tanker train filled with North Dakota crude derailed in the middle of the night in Lac-Mégantic, a small Canadian town near the border with Maine; the resulting inferno killed 47 people. Since then, derailments in Casselton, North Dakota, and Lynchburg, Virginia, have led to evacuations. The Lac-Mégantic disaster spurred protests from fire chiefs and town officials who said that they were ill-equipped to deal with a possible derailment.

The Commons
“Will Detroit's Water Be Privatized or Recognized as Commons?”
Detroit: “The People’s Water Board is working to have water recognized as a Commons, an entity that serves and is managed by the public. In this world of privatization, the Commons is a powerful antidote to predatory capitalism.”

Has the Bombing Begun?
“US Sending 200 Troops for Drills in Ukraine: Pentagon”
“The presence of 200 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will mark the first deployment of US ground troops to Ukraine since the Kiev government's conflict with pro-Russia separatists erupted earlier this year.”

Syria, 2013
“Syria is Not a Revolution Any More- This is a Civil War.”
Like many others, the three men are bewildered at what has become of their war. Their alliances – and their goals – are shifting. The regime is far away, the jihadis are near – and seem unstoppable. Their resources are dwindling; their families are shattered. Their villages and farm lands are lost to regime militias. Their allies are at best unreliable, and at worst actively conspiring against them.
They are a businessman, a smuggler and an army defector who became respectively the political officer, treasurer and military commander of a once-formidable battalion in northern Syria.

Good Kurds, Bad Kurds
“Pentagon Warns That Isis has Global Aspirations as US Continue Iraq Strikes.”
America’s own effort to build an international coalition against Isis advanced on Tuesday as well, as Britain and six other nations agreed to provide the Kurdish peshmerga militia with small arms, ammunition and other supplies.

Mudslide
"Banner Suspended Above Downtown Roanoke, Calls Out Coal Baron Billionaire"
Roanoke, VA – "Early this morning members of Mountain Justice, Rising Tide North America and Radical Action for Mountain’s and Peoples’ Survival (RAMPS) hung a banner, suspended between two downtown buildings on Jefferson street in Roanoke. The groups are acting in support of community demands in Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee that billionaire coal baron Jim Justice stop poisoning water, exposing communities to devastating mountaintop removal coal mining operations and leaving central Appalachia a public health disaster."

His Hands Were in the Air
“Ferguson and Global Struggle for Justice.”
“The Justice Department has formally announced a civil rights probe of the police department in Ferguson, Missouri, where the unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown was killed last month. The announcement follows weeks of protests sparked by Brown’s death that brought to light allegations of racial profiling and other police abuses against African-American residents.”

Minimum Wage Strike
“Nearly 500 Striking Fast Food Workers Arrested, Fight for 15 Intensifies”
“Nearly 500 fast-food workers—in uniforms from restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s—were arrested Thursday during a 150-city strike, as the fight for $15 and union rights intensified across the country. Thousands of cooks and cashiers walked off their jobs from more than 1,000 stores, chanting “We Believe That We Will Win,” and vowing to do whatever it takes to secure higher wages and union rights.”