By Randall Richards Performing Music to Protest & Educate: Past, Present, & Where to From Here?
When I started a couple of volunteer music venues as listening rooms which I named “Coffeehouses”, one in Leavenworth, Washington and a second, in Sunapee New Hampshire (which is still going strong), Little did I know the history of the term CoffeeHouse.
I recently happened to stumble upon this interesting definition of the term, but never realized its origin when I had created those coffeehouses in the states. Interesting how things turn out: “GI Coffeehouses” were a consequential part of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War era, particularly the resistance to the war within the U.S. military. They were mainly organized by civilian anti-war activists as a method of supporting anti-war and anti-military sentiment
. The FTA Roadshow was explicitly created in the ’70’s as a counter to Bob Hope’s pro-war USO tour. Original cast, from left: Gary Goodrow, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Peter Boyle, Dick Gregory, and Barbara Dane at the Haymarket GI Coffeehouse near Fort Bragg.
We started the first venue in Washington State because I had been a professional pianoplayer for years, and budding singer/songwriter on the guitar. I wanted to perform in a supportive listening room environment.
I had taken note of one such venue in a Sedona, AZ bookstore. Since I could only find bars and pubs, where venues treated the artists as background musicians, I wanted no part of that.So I decided to give it a shot by approaching a local hotel owner who was willing to let me set up on Friday nights in his unused conference space and stage in Leavenworth, WA. More on that winning formula in another piece.
New Zealand: Fast forward to New Zealand, 2021 in the thick of mandates, and other general draconian measures pushed upon the population, based on a injection that was neither safe nor effective. We started having occasional bonfire music jams, and a like-minded Saturday Market, primarily for our freedom loving community (but all were welcome) in the Upper Clutha region of the South Island.
About six months ago I decided to apply to be one of the 16 international chapters of Jam For Freedom, backed by Eric Clapton. We were welcomed with open arms.
We have yet to hold our inaugural event. I’m still in the process of reaching out to additional musicians in the country who have been part of either the Wellington Protests, were featured in The River of Freedom and We Came Here for Freedom documentaries. Once we have a critical mass of freedom loving musicians, we’ll create an event,
We’ll also create traveling Jam For Freedom (Coffeehouse type roadshow), starting with the South Island based on the Coffeehouse formula I had started in the U.S., but simply a mobile version. That means a featured performer, followed by an open mic, a “trained” listening room audience, and passing the hat for the musicians, venue hire, and roadshow expenses,). I have a van, a waterproof trailer for the music gear, and just need some JFF branding for the vehicle and a stage backdrop.
Vietnam: My family and I just toured of Vietnam, and I’m now writing a few pieces, not about the tourist side, but the impact of the war museums, the wonderful people we met, the stories I was told, and most recently, a book I’m reading called Understanding Vietnam explaining not only the war, but the deep seated psyche of the Vietnamese. During a visit to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Min City, I found these images on display:
Yo koi Kumiko sings to solders in the artillery battleground in Quang Binh Provence, 10 December, 1973“A rally against US aggression in Vietnam from Japan’s Beheiren, Tokyo, 1972
This might be the time to premise some the articles I’m working on about Vietnam’s view of the US Occupation of Vietnam. They call it the “American War”, by the way. I went to Vietnam with some ingrained knee-jerk conditioning, courtesy of our government’s controlled media in the states. That paradigm quickly dissolved. Of course I could see Vietnam’s plugging their side of the story as well. But I do have discernment, and will talk about that in later posts.
Although there is a history of protest music from the US side I assume there’s more about Vietnam’s side, protesting war. However, this was the first time I it was on my radar. The historians will write about such protest songs being written now, not only about anti-war, but about various nefarious agendas that aim to curb our freedoms, hurt our children and enslave the world’s population. Music is one of the best ways to call out the troublesome behaviors of those powerful people in charge who obviously don’t have our best interests in mind.
Comedy is a another avenue to opening the dialogue where direct debate and conversation often fail to bridge the gap between different paradigms. Jim Breuer’s Somebody Had to Say It, is a case in point.
So wish us luck with our Jam For Freedom adventure here in New Zealand! If you’re a musician get in touch! If you’re a friend of mine, who happens to be living stateside, or elsewhere, I also invite you to join in the conversation on our Jam For Freedom Telegram chat or the International Telegram group. Even though the NZ chat is focused for us here in New Zealand, I feel, the more the merrier. We could use the moral support! Did you guys hear that… Kirtana, Neal Fox, Scot Bergeron, Conspiracy Music Guru?
THANKS TO: A special thanks goes to those New Zealand musicians who performed at our protest on Parliament grounds and were featured in those documentaries mentioned above, and to those who have joined our Jam For Freedom NZ Telegram Group. Also thanks to all the steering committee and volunteer members of the West and East Coffeehouses who have worked hard to deliver live music in a listening room for so many years.
A special acknowledgement again to Neal Fox for being ahead of the curve, and for his unflinching creative stance in music compositions and film-making productions, and sticking it to the “all powerful”. You can see his work here.
Learn more about the Coffeehouse concept here. Start one in your community! You learn more about Randall’s music here. Our music studio is open for musicians-in-residence who would like to be pampered and be free to write and record in our small studio set in the mountains of the Southern Alps of NZ.
By Randall Richards Yesterday, I attended the NZDSOS, (New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out With Science) called “Empowering Change” held in Christchurch. There were range of speakers from as far away as the UK and the US, who informed and inspired an audience of six-hundred. The event will also be held next weekend on the 28th of September in Auckland and tickets are still available here. The lineup is impressive:
The event was emceed by former Quantas Senior Pilot, Graham Hood, who did a fabulous job of setting a compassionate, humorous tone, but one with a “Time to roll up our sleeves”, pitch, where we need to spread the truth about what’s really going on today in the field of health. Speakers informed, inspired and motivated the crowd, with deep dives into the facts, productive strategies and tactics going forward, and the psychological realities ahead. These speakers had either been mandated out, sidelined from their leadership roles in medicine, and all had faced censorship of one sort or another. What they all have is a sense honor, humour and determination that wowed the crowd and left us feeling like we will all get through this. Below are some snippets of the key speakers.
Graham Hood opened the event by saying, “We’re living in perilous times. One thing COVID has done – We’ve found our tribe, and that is a positive of the past few years. But we still have to fight to have bodily autonomy, and sovereignty.” He then asked the audience, “Fear. What is fear? It’s False Evidence Appearing Real.
“Wuhan presented us with images of people dying in the streets then, a whole bunch of companies were racing to develop a vaccine.” Dr. Peter McCullough was asking, ‘Hey wait! has anyone looked in the cupboard to see what might already work such as Vitamin D or Ivermectin?’ There was a solution, but, that would make the emergency act null and void. So what did they do? They deregistered and shut down these doctors lives.” Hood went on to mention a good maxim: “Identify the problem before you solve it.. There aren’t that many problems that have to be solved immediately.” “During my flying career as a pilot, we were trained, in a crisis, there is an emergency message we are trained to use, ‘Captain YOU MUST LISTEN’. so the co-pilot can get the attention of the pilot. So in this case, we say, ‘Government, you must listen, you are are seen as only protecting your backside.” He then welcomed the first speaker.
The well-spoken, (and well prepared) Dr. Angus Dalgleish gave a talk entitled, “Early covid virus Observations and how they promote cancer” He started by stating, that there exists negligence and incompetence on a grand scale.” Dr. Angus, presented an incredibly detailed series of slides showing, in short, why the virus was a setup and wasn’t at all what we were told. Since I’m not a science writer, I won’t go into the details, but in another piece, will point out resources and links for readers to gather their own conclusions. Suffice it to say this fellow knows his stuff and is sticking to his story. He said, “A Vaccine was not needed in the first place and the whole thing was run like a military operation.” Adding, “We were told ‘you’re the only one who’s thinking this way, so shut up.’ Well, I will not shut up.” That got the our audience going. In one of his closing remarks he said, “The biggest problem we have at this time is censorship.”
Dr. Paul Marik, is a leading edge doctor from South Africa, currently in living in the U.S. His talk was entitled , “Patient Empowerment/People Empowerment,” He started by stating, “Shedding is a real issue. That’s the bad news. But there are things we can do to mitigate the the negative effects.” He asked, “Where we were in the past, with lockdowns and mandates, was not a good place. And now, where we want to go to?”
“We have to empower ourselves, going forward. Excess deaths, the experts say, are from COVID and global warming – (Just a reminder, excess deaths are deaths of people who shouldn’t have died). You can’t trust the medical journals, because the data is manipulated and false. There is something else causing these excess deaths.” Marik showed a slide from life insurance data showing proof of young people dying. and another slide showed, the more vaccines, the greater the chance of getting COVID. And yet another slide clearly showed the uptake in cancer related deaths. He stated, “Cancer is preventable. It’s a disease of modern mankind part of the Hominidae family. So why is that chimps don’t get cancer? Something in our lifestyle in what we eat and what we do.
A recent example is the super model Elle MacPherson, who ignored her doctor’s medical advice, and shares her secret of surviving cancer.”
“Here are a few things you can do.” Marik stated, “Vitamin D 10k units per day, which is good for depression, cancer, COVID. Use red lights in bedroom in the evening, and the worst thing to do is eat the first thing in the morning, or the last thing before you go to bed.”
Dr. Marik concluded by saying, “We’re moving from a sick care system to health care system. It’s Important to take charge of our lives.”
Dr. Alison Goodwin, gave a detailed history of NZDSOS, since their first action, the presentation of their 1st open letter to the Ministry of Health, The Prime Minister, and eight other key government officials. They also issued, and still do, legal actions against the use of provisional consent to rollout a novel injection (2021), in March 2022 the challenged the mandates, in ’22/23 NZDSOS brought forward individual cases and challenged suspensions, and supported the NZTSOS (teachers) appeal. In 2024 they filed to pause fluoridation and are challenging against the MCNZ regarding the Guidance Statement. Goodwin’s closing slides included this powerful list of requirements in order to move on:
Dr. Matt Shelton‘s (of NZDSOS) talk was entitled, “The past will not equal the future if we are determined enough. Strategies, tactics and psychological realities for our future.”
Dr. Shelton gave a riveting and inspiring speech showing us a possible way forward from the quagmire in which we find ourselves of deceptive government health practices worldwide. He started by mentioning a an important study called the “Japanese Nakahara study” – “These results are so extraordinary, we have to take notice. It hasn’t been refuted or retracted and shows the universality of the negative impact of the vaccines.” He also mentioned the “Thai Boys study” in Thailand, where a whopping 3.5% of the study had clinical evidence of myocarditis . This was the first study that gave a ballpark figure. This was followed by a study in Switzerland, where health care workers showed a 2.7% incidence of myocarditis from boosters where they looked at troponin (a protein in blood that indicates damage to heart muscle), and death of some heart cells. The suggestion: that there is a widespread effect on the heart from the vaccine.” “What we need to look for is “triangulation” There was the Nathan Meade study was retracted, but has since been republished. In short, what’s happening in real life is much worse than is officially being reported.”
“We have to hang on to our intuition. If the other side won’t even engage or tell us that we’re wrong, that says we’re on the right track. The most worrying thing has been the silence from all the institutions, and how how quickly the lines were drawn, and there has been no debate on the science. [When we started presenting these studies’] we thought, BOOM now people will wake up, we’ll have the answer. But that hasn’t happened.” “The story for white clot is different. These are tangible signs that seems to be affecting people who have had jabs. This is what embalmers are saying, labs, surgeons. There are enough of these people now, and we’ve had several years of this seemingly horrendous phenomenon that needs an explanation.” Shelton added, “We can’t work in isolation, we can’t work without funding. It will take a loud voice to speak the truth to power.” Shelton said to the audience, “Welcome to those of you in the audience who are curious, or who are from the NZ Medical Council, or…. the intelligence services.” “Everyone needs to move from being passive supporters. When someone says to me, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing’ I respond by asking them what they’re doing to affect change. We could move mountains, if all those people that know that something is wrong , speak out and do something. “
“So, most of the country [here in NZ], must be antivaxxers.” said Shelton, “It’s now more than six months since vaccination, and booster rates are slipping, and everyday people aren’t taking them.” On another note, he continued, “Everyone is looking for a leader, Even in the freedom movement, there is still a tendency to wait for the cavalry to come over the hill. We are the cavalry.” “We don’t just want you to be behind us, but to stand shoulder to shoulder with us. So many were at the Wellington Protest against the mandates. That was the beginning of the end. There is going to be a tipping point. The human herd will eventually notice when enough of its members are not there anymore. We have to keep telling the truth, not worrying about where the chips may fall. We’re occupying the landscape that is ours.” Find a country the USA has invaded where they’re still there. They haven’t been [in the occupied country] for all that long. The countrymen, the freedom fighters kick them out after a time. We have a lot of brothers and sisters waiting to be inspired, and model behavior. There are many stories of people trying to connect. They are inching back from the narrative, and we need as many people as possible. I would ask people to read and re-read the posts that our media team has posted. Everything is in there. We know they are shadow banning us on social media and the news so please share this information.
Katie Ashby-Koppens, a lawyer based in New Zealand and Australia, presented “Success Stories and empowerment” on her work with various important cases both in Australia and New Zealand, related to transgressions by the government against human rights and health freedom.
Ashby-Koppens most notably worked with Voices for Freedom when evidence obviously showed in 2021 the negative effects of mandates regarding border workers, corrections, medical professionals, teachers, not to mention the mandatory use of vaccine passes. These were challenged by Katie and her team.
In 2022, Voices for Freedom met with the Human Rights Commission and issued a press release stating in its opening lines: “Voices for Freedom yesterday gave a voice to those negatively impacted by the Government’s Covid-19 responses….”
Also of note, was Ashby-Koppens’ work, in part, on the legal aspects, to help relieve the plight of the Mahelino Patelesio family, who were forced into “house arrest” on the small island of Tokelau which is “a non self-governing territory” of New Zealand. The arrest had devastating effects on the family. The arrest, was perpetrated on the family because they refused the Pfizer injection. The family eventually was allowed to move to New Zealand, where well wishers greeted them with open arms. Also in 2023, Rodney Hide interviewed Mr. Patelesio on Reality Check Radio. The piece is entitled, “Mahelino Patelesio On Home Arrest In Tokelau & Standing Up For His Beliefs.” (Editor’s Note: It’s worth noting, that In 2022, Liz Gunn of FreeNZ broke the story by posting an interview with Patelesio , and played an important role in helping to get the family to safety in New Zealand.)
Across the ditch in Australia, Katie has been busy with the following legal actions: “AVN vs TGA, Federal court, 5-12 yr olds”, “Dr. Parry vs TGA,HIgh Court re: 6 month to 6 year olds” and “Fidge vs Phizer and Maderna, Federal Court, LNP-modMRNA=GMO” Most recently, in a letter addressed to the Australian Department of Health on the 18th, Sept. 2024, PJ O’brien and Assoc, a law firm with which Katie is associated, addresses DNA contamination in Australian mRNA Covid shots: “Synthetic plasmid DNA contamination has been detected in Australian vials of Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines at levels of between seven to 145 times the allowable limit, a new report shows.”
Graham Hood, the EmCee interjected between speakers, by saying, “The people who have done this, must be held to account. But we also have to live in a more tolerant society. They will be held accountable, but we have to forgive, once they pay for what they have done. When someone says, I really blew that’ I say, ‘You will be embraced by a great many people.”
Founder of Reaching People, David Charalambous, a communications specialist, presented on “Communications, Messaging and Human Behavior – Reaching people.” Having worked for Outward Bound for about 15 years, I found this presentation fascinating, and I think rest in the audience did as well. I found it so fascinating, I forgot to take any images of him.
David asked the simple question, “How did I see things, when others didn’t? He continued, “And then the consequences came: It’s ‘the picnic for one’, prior to that it wasn’t like that, until you started bringing up “topics”. “The problem with [having those consequences] is we start to self censor. That’s one of the greatest weapons of propaganda, It leads to apathy. But more importantly, speaking up leads and motivates others to speak up as well. There’s huge power in numbers. March 2022 was quite alarming time, but my 20 years of experience and my studies, I was seeing systems worldwide [that suddenly] stopped working on a scale I’d never seen before.” “I researched – How to use effectively communicate to someone with different views than yours. And that is very different than communicating with someone within your same group.” Charalambous told a story about woman who was taking a walk in a city park. She was not wearing a mask, and encountered an elderly lady there. The elderly woman immediately confronted her, wagging her finger, saying “You should be wearing a mask.” But the maskless woman, instead of “stepping into the ring”, just asked, simply asked, “How can I help you, my dear? I’m here to listen.” And the masked lady replied, “I just need a hug.” Charalambous said, “Then both of their defenses came down. The moral of the story, ‘Do not step in the ring’ when you’re confronted with someone on the opposite side of the fence. It wont solve anything, it just plays into their hands.”
He said, “Seek to first Understand” “I’m extremely hopeful, when people know what’s going on, successes will go through the roof. He briefly covered some key examples of effective influence after having reminded us about the famous Milgram Experiment : “So what works best it tell people what their neighbors do. We are social animals in packs, communities. We look to what others are doing for cues and clues for what to do. It’s really shocking that incentives have a key effect on behavior. David then showed a quote on the screen: ‘There are two reasons for everything – A good reason and a real reason.’ JP Morgan“
“We on this side, have been awful at predicting behavior. But the establishment is good at it. Further, there is no baseline for the description ‘antivax’ or ‘conspiracy theorist’. This is why the terms work so well. You cannot convince others of your point of view when you are in “different groups”, Until you find common ground, you won’t get anywhere. The solution is to find a way that we become a “we”, instead of “us and them”. Unless you find common ground, you don’t continue the conversation. We have to drop that winning label . Would you rather get your family friends back or …be right. How you say something ismor important vs what you say.”
The emcee, Mr. Hood, concluded the day by starting with the following, “Don’t mine for darkness”. (Which reminds me of the Native American saying, “Keep your face to the sunshine”)
Hood continued, “Invite the government to tell us where we’re wrong. [But also], if we keep drawing attention to this Health Tyranny, then the wall will come down. These speakers you see here on stage today need to be brought from obscurity to where they can bring out the truth.” adding, “So, build the bridge first and get off the soap box.. Give those that have been fooled, a way to save face. You have the curse of knowledge. You’re in the 10 percent that isn’t suspectable., So give them a back door out, and simply say, ‘You’ve been lied to.'”
Dr. Fre, founder of the Asklepion Academy and author “Free Your Smile and Love Your Teeth”. He’s a retired dentist with a mission no less than transforming dental practices in New Zealand. Like the other speakers before him who spoke about the healthcare system as a “sick care system” with monetary incentives to get patients on drugs rather than actual treatment, Fre reports that the dental profession is no better.
He showed an informative & uplifting video, (which he created himself) of what is possible for the future of dentistry. His mission is to arm his students with knowledge, to not only take more of an active role in their own dental healthcare, but, once armed with this knowledge, to give dentists his book, and ask them to consider another way of practicing dentistry. He’s a visionary, and in his presence, one has the feeling, (like being around many people in these truth movements), that you’re listening to someone creating a new future before your eyes, and there’s something historical about what he’s saying. Don’t miss either his talk in Auckland, or make a point to stop by his website, take his free online course, and.. buy his book.
Editor’s Note: My motto is publish first, edit second. Well not exactly, but I do tend to add content, corrections and links once the item is published, and this piece is no different. In this updated edit, I’ve added more content on Dr. Fre and Katie Ashby-Koppens‘ presentation, a note about Liz Gunn’s efforts in the Patelesio case, and have included a list of all the other speakers and their organisations.
By Randall Richards I’m from a state in the US which has “Live Free or Die” as the state motto on the license plate. When I legally transferred registration of a van I’d purchased in The Netherlands to New Hampshire, I still drove that van throughout the European Alpine countries, ski touring, climbing, and playing music. The talk on the street was this formation a new European Union currency. Some of the locals were jittery, for good reason. So complete with the US license plates I’d drive into small villages and cities alike. I raised a few eyebrows, and almost got in a few problems because of the reactions I received with the motto displayed on the back of the van.
Since those days, until today, I’ve felt that New Hampshire residents probably don’t really live by that motto, much less understand it. Today this story surfaced of a New Hampshire man standing by his right to free speech. The interaction is being praised as a model for how citizens can assert their rights when confronted by federal agents, especially in cases of potential entrapment. Here’s the the story:
Watch: FBI Agents Called Out During Visit to Law-Abiding Citizen Regarding a Meme Post
Intel agency foot soldiers regret approaching man over First Amendment-protected activity. A man filmed two U.S. federal agents as they approached him to ask about posts he’d made on social media, leading to them being publicly shamed for targeting a First Amendment-protected activity.
In a viral video, X user Jeremy Kauffman filmed as two plain-clothes agents approached his front porch requesting he not film them, as the citizen asked for their full names while notifying them he intended to post the interaction online.
“The FBI visited my house today for free speech acts they knew were not crimes. You can see the shame on their faces. This is the Democratic regime manifest.”
Jeremy Kauffman (@jeremykauffman) September 16, 2024 “All I want to do is talk to you about a post that was made,” one of the unidentified agents told Kaufman after showing a badge alongside a holstered sidearm.
Kaufman went on to speculate the agents’ yearly average salary was likely over $100K, before telling them it was a waste of taxpayer money. “Talking about burning a couple hundred dollars an hour just here, let alone all the time you guys are spending…to investigate something that you know is not against the law, right?” the man told the agents, who repeatedly requested the man stop filming them.
After appearing thoroughly embarrassed, the agents eventually departed while the man chided them, saying, “You know Americans that believe in the Constitution think you’re laughable. You go home and you think about what you did today. Go home and think about it. You coward.” It’s unclear what social media post prompted the visit.| The interaction is being praised as a model for how citizens can assert their rights when confronted by federal agents, especially in cases of potential entrapment. Story and lead, courtesy of Infowars
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