This week on Mel & Floyd: A “Great War” analogy on Armistice Day; Sarah Palin loses again; Watermelon futures plummet; Parody accounts & financial woes at Twitter; Louisiana fails to abolish slavery; Mixed results on marijuana referenda; Once again Wisconsin Democrats garner more than 50% of the votes resulting in 30% of gerrymandered state legislative seats; And other random topics; Subscribe to the Mel & Floyd Podcast on itunes and never miss another episode [Unless the power goes off again] – It’s FREE!; Passersby were amazed at the unusually large amounts of blood.

Photo courtesy Friderike on Unsplash

Luckily, I Invested In Pitchforks

Norm Stockwell talked with Parfaite Ntahuba from Burundi in the Central African Great Lakes area of Africa. Parfaite was in Madison in May as part of a visit to the U.S. as a Quaker Leader and peacemaker. 
In her home country she is also a women’s rights advocate and pastor. She serves as an executive board member of the Friends World Committee for Consultation and national Coordinator of the Friends Women's Association through which she works on gender-based violence through active listening and advising couples. In addition, she advocates for women’s rights in Africa as a member of All Africa Conference of Churches general committee.
But listing those titles, associations and activities don’t begin to tell Parfaite’s story. Norm talked with her about the work she and her colleagues do in Burundi and in Africa and globally to improve the lives of those around them and to promote peace.
To learn more, go to Friends Peace Teams Burundi and to Friends Women’s Association Burundi.

ParfaiteNtahuba   Peacemaker, Women’s Rights Advocate, Pastor

Forecast For Monday, 7 - 3-23

In 1998 Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour (a biologic and medical engineer by training) started the Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem with the philosophy that Dr. Abusrour calls “Beautiful Resistance.” 

Emphasizing the importance of the arts in bridging differences among people, the Cultural and Arts Society offers refugees, non-refugees, Christians, Muslims, and basically everyone in the West Bank training, entertainment, fun and connection to their inner selves and others.

They offer theater, dance, movement, trauma support, photography, video, music, women’s workshops, vocational training in hospitality and the culinary arts and more.

They could expand their efforts with help. To find out more, go to the Alrowwad website: www.alrowwad.org or to their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/alrowwadorg/. They are also on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society also has a U.S. group which has 501(3)c non-profit status that can issue letters for tax-deductible contributions. Their address is www.alrowwadusa.org.

Palestinian Creativity and the Philosophy of Beautiful Resistance

Bob Queen, CEO, Creator and Event Coordinator for the Sessions at McPike Park came into the studio to talk to Gil Halsted about the August Sessions and the music and comedy planned to entertain us as we head toward September.

Gil prompts Bob to talk about Gambian artist Sona Jobarteh’s discovery of a Kora being used as wall decoration at her music school in London which prompted her to switch from playing the cello to concentrating on the kora. He also talks about her music academy in Gambia where she focuses her efforts when not performing.

Comedian Mary Mack joins Bob and Gil from Port Wing to talk about her part in the August 11th and 12th Sessions and preview some cartoon voice-overs she recently worked on. Check out Mary’s work and her appearances on the Jimmy Fallon Show on YouTube if you want to get an idea of what’s in store for the late-night sessions that start at 9:45.

Bob also talks about Sarah Borges and Sarah Shook, and he promises they will delight Sessions audiences. But then time ran out before he was able to discuss the full range of talent that will be on display on August 11th and 12th and on the 16th and 17th.  For full details, go to sessionsatmcpikepark.org.

Before he left, Bob reminded us all that Dakha Brakha will be back in Madison for their eighth visit on November 2nd at the Capitol Theater in the Overture Center and there will be a dance floor. Check with Bob for group tickets.

It's Not Over Yet!

Strides for Africa’s 14th Annual Run/Walk is a fun and family friendly event for all ages to participate and help make global impact. On August 19, 2023 at McPike Park in Madison at 10:00 AM, this event kicks off Africa Fest 2023. 

There are many options available to participants: a 5K run, a 5K walk, a unique Team Relay simulating gathering water in rural Africa, a 1.5 mile fun walk and a kids fun run. 

The Strides for Africa clean water, education and health projects in Africa provide participants a unique opportunity to fund positive outcomes in rural African communities. These outcomes include improved health, empowered youth, and ultimately transformed African communities. 

On the local level, participants and supporters have the opportunity to be global citizens while having so much fun.

Every dollar raised goes directly to water projects in Africa. Last year Strides for Africa carried out 9 community-driven, sustainable clean water projects in both East and West Africa with reliable local partners.

Read about them on the Strides for Africa website, www.stridesforafrica.org/ and sign up to participate or come to McPike Park at 9:00 AM for in-person registration. Then enjoy your choice of activities.

You can also get involved in helping with the race at the site or by emailing strides4africa@yahoo.com. Read about it at the website, https://www.stridesforafrica.org/runwal and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Strides for Africa

14th Annual Strides For Africa August 19th

Pat Diehl is a gardener and organizer at the Leopold Park Community
Garden in Madison. 

Originally from California, she shares fond memories of
picking beans with her family, learning to garden, and starting school
gardens in Oakland. She also speaks of her love for the restorative power of
gardening.

Pat Diehl (English): Rooted In Land, Preserving Through Generations

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Iva Sidash was a young photojournalist living in Lviv, Ukraine, near the border with Poland. Waking to find her country at war, she went to the train stations to see crowds of Ukrainians leaving the country to seek safety. 

There were families with the belongings they could carry, parents sending their children to safety while they planned to stay, fathers saying goodbye to children before they went to fight, mothers with babies and all varieties of departures and leave-taking.

Rather than leaving and since Lviv was relatively calm, Iva decided to stay and use her camera to document the transformation of her country at war. She photographed faces in the windows of the departing trains, she went to the Polish border to see people waiting in long lines for interminable hours to enter Poland and talked to them and photographed them, she talked to friends and neighbors about what was happening and indeed did document the disruption of life as Ukrainians had known it into something new, different and disquieting.

Eventually she went further afield and spent time in combat zones and cities that had been lost but recovered by Ukrainian forces, ruined cities and rural areas pockmarked by combat, all the while speaking with the people she found at those sites and documenting their reality with her camera. 

She shared her photos on Facebook and Instagram and people began to notice. She has thousands of followers on social media and has exhibited her work and won awards and acclaim.

She got a scholarship to study photography in New York and a Facebook friend in Wisconsin invited her to visit and exhibit her photography here. She’s on that visit now and will open her first solo exhibit at UW-Whitewater on Tuesday, September 26th which will be up until October 20th. That will be in the Student Center at Roberta’s Gallery. 

On Thursday, September 28th she will give a talk at the UW-Madison in Room 206 Ingraham Hall on Bascom Hill (1155 Observatory Drive) at 4:00 pm and present and talk about her photos.

Iva's War

WORT’s World View longtime collective members Marc Becker and Norman Stockwell spoke with independent journalist Amelia Rayno, who is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rayno talks about her transformation from print journalist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune to independent journalist, following her curiosity about humans and their condition and writing about it all. 

Since late 2022 she’s been living in Argentina, teasing out the reality of the Argentine condition with herself in the midst of it. 

She has created an online documentary series, “Dark Legacy,” about the history of U.S. involvement in Argentina and our government's role in precipitating the country's current financial crisis.

Amelia Rayno on Argentina

Wedding for Sophie 2024 

Is It Cold
Is It Cold In The Water
I'm Dreaming 
Is it Cold
In the Water
I love you Sophie

WEDDING FOR SOPHIE

Wedding for Sophie

Two Saturdays ago, Noble Knight Games, a Fitchburg game store, hosted an unusual tournament. 

The tournament pitted Star War fans against each other in a tabletop game. 

The winner gets a chance to compete in Adepticon - the world convention of table top games - in Schaumburg, Illinois later this spring.

Photo courtesy of Charlie Belawski and WORT News

Fitchburg Game Store Hosts Star Wars Tournament

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We provide an outlet for communication, education, free expression, entertainment, training and access for the purpose of sharing music, information, news, and cultural experiences, and strive to give people underrepresented elsewhere in traditional media a voice. 

NOTE: Most of the content posted at this time are news stories or talk shows. 

MUSICIANS:  We NEVER look on our SoundCloud for music submissions, so it's not a very efficient way to contact us. Please go to www.wortfm.org and click on Music --> Music Submissions for our submission info and guidelines. Thanks and we look forward to hearing your music!

Luckily, I Invested In Pitchforks

WORT 89.9FM Madison

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