Thursday, June 20, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Bonnaroo (the venues are named
as follows: That Tent, This Tent,
The Other Tent, Which Stage and
What Stage. Yeah. Confusing.).
We wasted no time on Thursday
night, going to see Haim, Deap
Vally and Alt-J at a variety of
tents. Thursday night is always
fun: Not as many people are
there, and more up-and-coming
bands usually play. The two girl
groups, Haim and Deap Vally,
both put on great shows, with
Haim running through a fun set
of '80s-infused, harmony-laden
pop-rock and Deap Vally shred-
ding through a ferocious, sexy,
White Stripes-esque hour of
music. We arrived at Alt-J to find
This Tent overflowing with fans,
and we fought to get even a decent
look at the group (that's another
thing about Bonnaroo. There are
<em>always</em> more people.)
The band played songs from their
incredibly catchy and well-exe-
cuted debut, An Awesome Wave,
and though their often-mumbled
lyrics were pretty difficult to
make out ("I dare you to under-
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily stand one word" Sofie whisper-
shouted), their tight grooves and
dedicated fans made for a great
40 show, climaxing with the "I love
you so" chants of "Breezeblocks."
'IBy the end, my knees were already
shaking with fatigue, which wor-
ried me considering we had only
been at the festival for five hours.
I went to bed at 1 a.m. both excit-
ed and nervous for the next day.
Bonnaroo festival goers cool off in the fountain between musical sets.
Four days of mu
7heat and Bonnai
Stone, a hippie-looking white guy
who sang some of the best soul I'd
heard in years, then to Passion
Pit, who covered the main stage
in huge white balloons during a
set of their usual dance-pop num-
bers. Stopping for a quick snack
at a food truck (you have to eat
about seven times per day in order
to stay awake for nearly 15 hours
of music), we headed over to Big
K.R.I.T., who absolutely took the
roof off of The Other Tent.
Wu-Tang Clan was next, and
they ran through a greatest-hits
set complete with a lot of middle-
finger raising and reminders that
the Wu-Tang Clan is indeed still
nothing to fuck with.
Then came one of the high-
lights of my concert-going life.
To be honest, I did not expect
to love Paul McCartney. He's a
Beatle and a legend in his own
right, but to be frank, I thought
he'd be boring. I could not have
been more wrong. Sir Paul ran
through a three hour set - yes,
three - of hits ("Come Together,"
"Baby I'm Amazed" and "Back in
the U.S.S.R."), slower numbers
("Blackbird," "Yesterday") and
two touching tributes to John
Lennon and George Harrison,
the latter punctuated by an awe-
some rendition of "Something."
He made a crowd of around
80,000 feel tiny, telling hilari-
ous and insightful stories about
Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton
while looking more than spry at
70 years old. Sure, there were a
few missteps here and there - his
voice isn't what it used to be -but
everything was accounted for by
two roaring encores and three
hours of more than memorable
music.
We wrapped up the night by
stopping by The xx (fine as usual,
though it was too sleepy at that
point for me) and ZZ Top (abso-
lutely incredible, played to a
packed tent complete with match-
ing purple coats and trademark
beards - Billy Gibbons even had
someone come onstage and light
a cigarette in his mouth while he
soloed). The best part was that
the weekend was only half done.
DAY 3
Saturday began with Beyonce's
little sister Solange, who provided
a somewhat-entertaining, short
set of electro-funk to a surpris-
ingly large audience. Nas came
next, and though I'd seen him
twice before, I was incredibly
happy to be watching him again.
Backed by an energetic and tal-
ented band - most of whom wore
gnore what Edward Snowden
has shown the world.
Really. Ignore that the
National Security
Agency has court-
approved access
to the records of
every single call
made by Veri-
zon, AT&T and
Sprint customers
in the U.S., along ERIC
with the ability FERGUSON
to obtain records -
of online activity
from both American citizens and
foreign nationals.
You can ignore this dragnet
operation because you're a Democrat,
and during a Democratic presidency
this program can't be wrong. You
voted for Obama less than a year
ago, a suave champion of social
liberalism and universal healthcare
running against every Republican's
second choice. Barack is your guy.
There's no way he would let the NSA
do this without putting adequate
safeguards in place - it's not like it
took four years for him to publicly
acknowledge that four U.S. citizens
have been killed by drones. And even
putting that aside, aren't his critics
on this issue just a bunch of dumb
Republicans looking to score some
political points?
You could also ignore it because
it's so sensational. Right now the
NSA itself admits it only gives close
scrutiny to fewer than 300 phone
numbers, and that it has nowhere
near enough staff members to look
at each and every piece of data
PRISM makes available to them. So
there's absolutely nothing to worry
about. Further, the notion that some
government agent has the ability to
watch these words form as they're
being typed - as Snowden has
suggested - is ridiculous and should
invalidate everything else he has
said. The man is a sociopath who
has hit the jackpot thanks to some
guy named Glenn Greenwald, who is
obviously playing this whole situation
for attention. Besides, it's not like he's
a reputable journalist working for a
respected newspaper.
Even better, ignore it because this
leaker is a traitor in the eyes of so many
government officials, members of Con-
gress and at least one neoconservative,
shotgun-wielding former vice presi-
dent. The NSA says that over 50 ter-
ror plots were stopped thanks to these
programs, and let's face it - the only
conceivable way these plots could have
been stopped was through monitoring
virtually every American with a cell
phone or Internet presence. And that's
only half of the story - he also fled to
Hong Kong right after the leak went
public. That can only mean he's a Chi-
nese spy. He deserves whatever our
government throws at him over there.
Perhaps a drone strike is in order?
Your innocence
justifies your
ignorance.
Best of all, ignore that NSA officials
have your call records tucked away
and the ability to seize your online
data without your knowledge because
you have "nothingto hide." Your life is
going so well. You're working at a place
that will bring you one step closer to
that career you've been dreaming of,
and you don't have time to worry about
all this junk. You're a good person -
you keep yourself in shape, follow the
Golden Rule and have no prejudices
based on race or sexual orientation.
Your browser history is just an endless
scroll through social networks,
Bleacher Report and CNN, with
nothing but memes and other material
irrelevant to the NSA in between. The
rest ofyour computer is cleanofpirated
media, videos of extremists preaching
their gospel, flag-burning pictures,
child pornography, et cetera. You just
don't fit the profile for government
surveillance. To hell with civil
responsibility - your innocence
justifies your ignorance.
We students can all carry on with
our lives just as if Snowden never
existed. Not only are the NSA's pro-
grams completely warranted because
they're supposed to catch terrorists,
but their privacy-eroding methods are
also nothing to worry about because
we're such good people. We can worry
about our privacy when the NSA has
somehow inferred guilt out of a life-
time of innocence - and that's some-
thing our children or grandchildren
are more likely to have to worry about
than us. When that happens, all it will
take is the accused person's word to
make those NSA agents see the error
of their ways. Life is fair like that.
Come to think of it, the NSA could
probably catch even more terrorists if
they had more people.
Wait - they're hiring? Where do I
sign up?
-Eric Ferguson can be
reached at ericff@umich.edu.
Ignore it all
n the middle of several
voter identification laws
passed in 2012, the non-
partisan
Brennan
Center for
Justice
estimated
that about
11 percent of
Americans
had no form JAMES
of photo BRENNAN
ID, and
that these
Americans faced obstacles in
obtaining these documents even
when they tried. Federal courts
have ruled both for and against
individual state laws regarding
voter ID, meaning that in the
future the Supreme Court will
likely be forced to issue the final
judgment on the legality of such
laws. However, no one seems
to be discussing the plethora of
difficulties faced by people
without IDs.
For a huge number of
Americans, their chances of
improvingtheir station in life are
largely dependent on whether
or not they are able to obtain
documents like state IDs and
birth certificates. One's ability to
prove their identity with a photo
ID is a major requirement for a
number of government benefits,
as well as for employment, low-
cost housing and purchasing a
car. Obviously the need to prove
one's identity is important, but
requiring a state-issued photo
ID in order to do so presents
a massive barrier to millions
of people.
In the debate over voter ID
laws, the consistent reply to lib-
eral concerns over people with-
out IDs is "Why don't they just
get one?" or "How hard is it to get
an ID?" In the bubble of privilege
that some of us live in, having a
driver's license is something we
easily take for granted. If you
have ever lost your license, you
may begin to understand the dif-
ficulty some people face in try-
ing to obtain their ID - we have
our parents shuffle through their
papers for our birth certificate
and scrounge for a few pieces of
mail to prove our residency, make
the drive out to the Secretary of
State office, then wait in line and
pay $20 for a replacement.
Having spent every Friday
over the last five months
assisting poor and homeless
Detroiters obtain IDs, I've
quickly learned that for people
living in poverty, the process is
usually far more arduous.
Starting out, a huge number
of people have almost none of
the documentation needed to get
an ID. A birth certificate is usu-
ally required - and going about
obtaining it is a task within itself,
since at least three other pieces
of documentation are needed to
confirm it. Once the birth cer-
tificate is acquired, an ID may
require even more documenta-
tion, such as proof of residency
in the form of school transcripts,
bills or bank accounts - some-
thingpoor and homeless individ-
uals don't always have, especially
those who are older.
After getting past all of the
hurdles necessary to prove one's
identity, a person then must find
their way to a Secretary of State
office - which many researchers
have pointed out is especially far
from the homes of the poorest
people. Finally, these documents
usually cost between $10 and
$25. This might not sound like a
whole lot of money, but this is the
poorest of the poor we're talking
about - people who can barely
afford their bus fare just to get
to the office; people who have
no income and no one to ask for
a loan. Twenty dollars is a huge
sum of money for many people
trying to obtain an ID, and it's
often the biggest barrier between
an individual moving forward or
staying stuck in their station.
Comprehensive
ID reform is a
no-brainer.
After a voter ID law was
passed in South Carolina, pro-
grams were arranged to trans-
port people for free to offices to
obtain their IDs so they could
vote. Michigan - regardless
of any voter ID laws - should
follow South Carolina's lead
and develop comprehensive ID
reform. People should not only be
transported to the Secretary of
State office, but they also should
have clear directions on what
documentation to bring, people
who can help them obtain these
documents and the costs of their
ID covered.
Both Republicans and Demo-
crats are constantly looking for
ways to stimulate growth and
help people find work, but tak-
ing down a barrier as simple as
photo ID costs never seems to
come out as a priority. Cities like
Detroit are filled with residents
hungry to get to work, to build
something for themselves and to
take control of their lives. They
don't want anything handed to
them on a platter - they only
want to be given a chance to suc-
ceed. Comprehensive ID reform
is a liberal idea with conserva-
tive values, and, frankly, it's a
no-brainer for both social justice
and economic development in
Michigan.
-James Brennan can be
reached at jmbthree@umich.edu.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
-t he Figuring Out Flint: Harsha Nahata outlines why
Congressional discussion of immigration reform
nod ium might be a key part of revitalizing the city of Flint.
Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium for more.
Give them theirpapers
Classic Tennessee
festival offers
delights, surprises
By JACKSON HOWARD
DailyArts Writer
There's something really, well,
special, about going to a farm in
the middle of Tennessee with
nearly 100,000 other people for
a four-day music festival. There
are the incredibly revolting Port-
A-Potties, the erratic weather
that can bring 100-degree heat
followed by an apocalyptic thun-
derstorm, and the inevitability
that you will be forced up against
someone that a) has not showered
-in days, b) has hair in really weird
places and/orc) is doing whatever
drug is in their possession (weed,
mushrooms, ecstasy, unrecog-
nizable powders that scare me)
in front of you and your mother,
making both of you unspeakably
'uncomfortable.
All that aside, in a world of
seemingly impending doom,
destruction and despair, Bonna-
roo is an anomaly, a paradoxical
utopia that on paper looks impos-
sible but in practice is one of 21st
century society's greatest accom-
plishments.
Think about it. Somehow, tens
of thousands of people from all
over this God-forsaken country
and planet - people from Cali-
fornia and Brazil, Jews and Bud-
dhists, straights and gays, and
everything in between - come
together once a year at a 700-acre
farm in no-man's-land, Tennes-
see in the name of music, art and
an intangible feeling that can only
be called Bonnaroo. This past
weekend was my fifth trip down
to Manchester, and despite my
swollen feet, sun-burnt shoulders
and the exhaustion of having my
never-aging mother Sofie, who
inexplicably has the energy to see
nine concerts back-to-back, as
my companion, I had maybe the
greatest weekend of my 19-year-
old life.
Yes, I got to see some of my
favorite musicians play music
non-stop for four days. But what
really makes Bonnaroo so special
are my fellow Bonnaroovians - a
family of dedicated, relentless,
costume-wearing, tattoo-flaunt-
ing, borderline-psychotic music
lovers. Three-hundred and six-
ty-one days of the year, we trod
along as students, office manag-
ers, secretaries, advertising con-
sultants and garbage men, but
for four glorious days, our inner
'Roo is allowed to emerge, and
what a sight to see: Superman
capes, an obese man with pasties
on his nipples, a woman in a full
banana costume and lots and lots
of boobs. It's hot, it's overpriced
and it's a hell-of-a schlep, but year
after year, people come back to
the farm because it's Bonnaroo.
And once the Roo is in your sys-
tem, you're never getting rid of it.
DAY 1
Being Year 5, Sofie and I had
a near-perfect sense of how to
navigate the pit of chaos that is
DAY 2
My mother and I flew through
nine concerts on Friday, and I
had to drink more than a few Red
Bulls to stay alive. First off was
Local Natives, one of my favorite
bands, who did their usual blend
of hipster, somewhat-depress-
ing, drum-heavy rock. Midway
through their set, though, I began
to get bored, as did my mother.
We decided then to go explore
something new, which ended up
being the African singer Fatou-
mata Diawara or, as my iPhone
corrected,
"Fat Pinata Diorama." Over
the years, Bonnaroo has provid-
ed us with a vast goodie bag of
spur-of-the-moment surprises,
and Fatoumata Diawara did not
disappoint. I watched happily as
Diawara - an elegant and strik-
ingly beautiful African woman
clad in bright yellow and red -
danced, preached, chirped and
dread-whipped for an enthusias-
tic audience.
We moved from Diawara to
a smaller stage to watch Allen
FOLLOW DAILY OPINION ON TWITTER
Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials, view cartoons and join in the debate.
Check out @michdailyoped to get updates on Daily opinion content throughout the day.