June 16, 2012 - Yesterday, in a press conference in the Rose Garden, President Obama announced he had just issued an executive order to halt the deportation of children who were brought by their parents to this country illegally. President Obama has become frustrated with Congress not passing the DREAM Act and dealing with this problem, so he decided to take a bold step and issue the order. He said in his statement It is only a temporary measure, and  it is NOT a path to citizenship; it is meant as a humanitarian gesture and to prod Congress into action. Obama said he hopes it provides a "degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people."

This order will protect as much as 800,000 young people from being deported, as long as they "do not present a risk to national security and public safety", and can prove a few things to the government. They have to prove they were brought to this country before they turned 16, and be under the age of 30. They must have lived in the US for at least 5 continuous years, have no criminal record, graduated high school or have a GED. If they served in the military that helps too.

President Obama and the Democrats want Congress to pass the DREAM Act, a path to citizenship for these young people if they go to college. Read more about the order on MiamiHerald.com here. To find out more about the DREAM Act, check out DreamAct.info. Below, watch President Obama's statement in the Rose Garden, including the reporter who interrupted him, from 11MOAX on YouTube.

June 14, 2012 - Last month, JTMP was fortunate to be part of a US state department program of a cultural exchange between people of the arts from all over the world. One visitor, Shukry Ashour, showed us this wonderful video he made set to Arabic folk music, and gave us permission to post it for the world to see this man's peaceful town he grew up in. Enjoy. It is called, "From Here". It is in Arabic with English subtitles.

June 12, 2012 - James Hetfield from Metallica has teamed up with the FBI and they are launching a "Multimedia Campaign" to find the killer of Morgan Harrington, the young woman who was murdered in 2009. A website has been set up, and they are using new social media and technology like Twitter and Facebook to help the investigation and find justice for Morgan and her family. Metallica has added $50,000 to a $100,000 reward, to bring up the reward now to $150,000 for information leading to arrest and conviction in this investigation.

Metallica is getting involved because on October 17, 2009 Morgan attended a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones arena at UVA, and after leaving the show and not being able to re-enter, she hitchhiked home but went missing; her body was discovered a month later in a rural part of Virginia. James has made a PSA asking for anyone with information on this case to call the Virginia state police at 434-352-3467. Watch the PSA below, and find out more information on the FBI web page here.  (Photo credit: KreepinDeth/Wiki)

June 14. 2012 -Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam and Senator Jon Tester (D)  from Montana have teamed up to raise funds for the Senator's reelection campaign by offering The "best seats in the world" at Pearl Jam's upcoming concert in Missoula, Montana on September 30, 2012. The contest is a chance to meet Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam's bassist and Montana native, and John Tester before the show. The contest is called "Best Seats in the World & VIP", where 2 very lucky people will watch the concert, get this, from recliners on the stage! All expenses paid too! To enter the contest all one has to do is head over to Senator Tester's site and help him out in his effort to keep his senate seat. 

Earlier they were giving away ticket packages to donors, but those are all sold out due to high demand, but the contest is still under way. To find out more about this, you can listen to an radio interview clip of Jeff and Jon on 96.3 The Blaze from Montana, and also check out: JonTester.com/pearljam.   (photo credit: Craig Carper\Wiki)

June 12, 2012 - George Martinez, an Occupy Activist Musician who has been heavily involved with the Occupy Movement in New York, is running for the US Congressional 7th District seat in the upcoming 2012 New York election this fall. On his website he says, "Controlling politics without money is power, people power". He is running a campaign purely on people power, and hopes that with technology and social media, and of course people getting involved, can carry the day.

Mr. Martinez clearly states his platform is ending "corporate personhood", and many other issues such as Medicare For All, student loan debt help, green energy investments, end the drug war, and other very progressive stances. Find out more information on this candidate on his BumRushTheVote.net website here.

Check out Mr. Martinez in a Occupy Activist Music Video below, and don't forget to register to vote, and vote in this November's election. From the city council, to state delegates, to US Senators and the President, it is important for democracy if everyone "Bum Rushes The Vote!", and overrides the money corruption in our elections. To start your voter registration process go to Smart.gov here and click on the state you live in. There is also a "National Mail Voter Registration Form" that you can use to register to vote anywhere in the United States, and all states are required by law to accept it, and you can get that on the FEC's website here.

JUNE 6, 2012 - The Red Hot Chili Pepeprs threw a free concert for people who volunteered to make phone calls and knock on doors for President Obama's re-election campaign. The Obama team put out and awesome video (watch below) and they say:

"Supporters in Ohio rocked for Barack with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers after a weekend of action in April. Being Obama supporters, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers decided to throw a free concert to reward volunteers who held over 650 phone shifts in a four day period. Over half of those shifts were from brand new volunteers who had never volunteered before at the local OFA office.

As one fired up volunteer put it: "To work together and do phone-banking and volunteering and then get a concert afterwards as a reward—it's awesome." Get involved with the nearest Ohio office near you: https://my.barackobama.com/redhotchilipeppersvid"

JUNE 5, 2012 - Jon Bon Jovi attended a fundraiser for President Obama, riding on Air Force One with the President, and then  playing a short acoustic set for the energetic crowd.  Jon Bon Jovi has been a strong supporter of Obama since 2007, raising money for him for his last campaign and even hosting a dinner at his house, and he played at President Obama's inauguration in 2008. A small segment of the performance has been posted by victoriabernal on YouTube, but the clip cuts off for she was concerned about copyright infringement. Check out the video below, and here are some pics on News.Dailylife here. We will post more video of this as it comes out, so check back.

JUNE 4, 2012 - Unfortunately, JTMP has come under unfair and quite possibly illegal attacks by extremist bloggers spreading lies and making death threats, and we had to take legal action to protect ourselves, and our attorneys have sent a letter to the bloggers asking them to preserve all data connected to this case such as hard drives and documents. The letter can be viewed here. Stay tuned for developments, and thanks to all our supporters who are standing by us. JTMP has even gained more supporters and donations as a result of these brutal and vicious attacks. Thank you all.

MAY 2, 2012 - Jackson Brown, Tom Morello and Tim McIlrath rocked the Get Out The Vote efforts along with the AFL-CIO and thousands and thousands of citizens consisting of nurses, teachers, etc. in Wisconsin, ahead of the Wisconsin's recall election on Tuesday June 5, 2012. A huge crowd showed up, all stirred up by the attacks by the Governor on teachers, firemen, cops and other workers by attacking collective bargaining rights by public union employees. Republicans have been hard at work attacking unions, and this is the dragon they awoke. Watch a clip of all 3 playing the song, "People Have the Power" from Rock of the Arts on YouTube.

JUN 2, 2012 - With all the talk of big banks and how they drove thousands of people from their homes through high-risk mortgage schemes and foreclosures, I came across Roger McGuinn singing the Woody Guthrie song "Pretty Boy Floyd" from The Byrds classic album, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo". Woody wrote this because a lot of people saw Pretty Boy Floyd as a Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. The banks were seen as the bad guys by regular folks back in the Great Depression, and they are still robbing people today. Just as the song says though, they use a fountain pen instead of a gun. Watch the video below of Roger McGuinn playing on the Marty Stuart Show on RFD TV.