RATIONS NOISE “Dronestruck” EP companion page
Welcome to the webpage that accompanies the EP. To make the record, we remixed sounds, images, and words that were either:
- graciously given to us and the commons for this for this project (Thanks Paul G. Weaver and Jack Gilroy.)
- already in the public domain (Thanks U.S. Air Force photo “A General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, a hunter-killer surveillance UAV” by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson)
- or recycled from original RATIONS band recordings. (Thanks Rations)
The original and derivative works are offered to the commons without copyright (CC0) so that others may freely build upon, enhance, and reuse without threat of law.
We’ve also provided a list of sources we used when compiling the liner notes.
AUDIO
Download individual STEM files for use in your own remixes or other derivative works. We’re calling the STEM download “STEMSTRUCK”.
ALBUM ARTWORK
Rations Noise "Dronestruck"
RATIONS RE-LICENSED
We’ve updated the licensing to Public Domain on our two 7” EPs, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” and “Martyrs and Prisoners.” With each passing release we’ve opted for a free-er license. And each time we are met with more people hearing and interacting with our music. To this end, we’re pushing the experiment as far as it will go.
SPOKEN WORD
Selected poems (some written especially for this project) from Paul G. Weaver were “remixed” and used as lyrics to the songs Screams of the Wounded and Dying, Drone Struck, and Consoles. Scroll to read poems or visit weaversworld.com for more.
Lyrics on Litany for Hancock Airbase and Cont’d Litany taken from parts of Jack Gilroy’s “Good Friday Prayer for 174th Attack Wing” Scroll to read text. Link to source.
PHOTOS
The album cover derives from U.S. Air Force photo “A General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, a hunter-killer surveillance UAV” by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson. Link to source.
The image from the liner notes derives from a photo captured by Upstate Drone Action during its Good Friday, 2017 action. Link to source.
INFORMATION SOURCES
- Screams of the Wounded and Dying
- Operation Haymaker, The Intercept
- Litany for Hancock Airbase
- War Crimes Indictment, Upstate Drone Action
- Nine Arrested Good Friday at Hancock, Upstate Drone Action
- Consoles
- The Woes of an American Drone Operator, Der Spiegel
- Air Force Whistleblowers Risk Prosecution to Warn Drone War Kills Civilians, Fuels Terror, Democracy Now!
- Moral Injury in the Context of War, ptsd.va.gov
POEMS OF PAUL G. WEAVER
They sit at their consoles
In a quiet, air conditioned room,
Watching far away scenes.
Safe from the heat and dust
So far from the dirt and danger.
Watching while not being seen.
There’s someone they’re seeking,
Someone they’re going to kill
So far from the decisions,
The reason some live and some die.
When they finish their mission
And the subject is dead,
They shake hands, then wash them
And go home to their wives
And their kids.
- Paul G. Weaver, 2017
The blast of a rocket
Is the only warning we get
That somewhere far away,
Some people we can’t see
Think we should be dead.
Who are these people
So far and away
Hiding in science that
Kills us today?
From air-conditioned bunkers
Electronics reach out.
When the button is pushed
Unseen men choose.
The little men die.
- Paul G. Weaver, 2017
Take a step.
It’s worth your life,
For this is war
And death is waiting
Everywhere.
Be cautious,
Looking everywhere,
For death is hidden
Till it strikes
One man here,
Another there.
Take a step, turn around.
Each choice might be
Your last.
- Paul G. Weaver, 2017
Wearing fatigues
That were worn out
A year ago,
His life in a backpack
That was government issue.
His head bowed
He watches each step
The fear and the danger
Have followed him home.
You walk quickly past him.
The war that you started
For him never ends.
- Paul G. Weaver, 2017
They come unannounced,
Unheard, unseen,
By night or day.
Maybe they’re there.
Maybe they aren’t.
Controlled by men
Who stay distant
And safe
As we die in the dirt.
- Paul G. Weaver, 2017
Small base,
Hidden in the great open
Nondescript building
With no windows
But a no-entry sign.
An air-conditioned interior
Dominated by computers,
Controls and communications.
Here sit men far from battle
Remotely watching,
Adjusting, deciding
Who, in those pictures
From so far away,
Who will die today.
- Paul G. Weaver
Gasoline prices are down
Good time to vacation.
I’ll go to the beach
I’ll lie on the sand.
Our suits were designed
Somewhere in Europe,
Made in the far east.
We take from the world
Without giving back.
Nearby sits a family
In robes and dark skins.
To his family he asks,
“Who let those foreigners
In here?”
- Paul G. Weaver, 2017
We were working
And did not see
Them coming.
We could not hear
Them approaching.
Our only warning
Was the first explosion.
And then the others
Followed by screams
Of the wounded
And the dying.
Then they were gone.
But cries of pain,
Wails of mourning,
Laments of families shattered.
These will remain
Our memories.
- Paul G. Weaver, 2017
GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER FOR 174TH ATTACK WING
Men of the 174th Attack Wing, Stop the Killing
Women of the 174th Attack Wing, Stop the Killing
Men & Women of the 174th Attack Wing, Stop Drone Crucifixions
Men & women of the 174th Attack Wing,—Leave the Military
People of Iraq
Forgive us our Killer Drones
People of Afghanistan
Forgive us our Killer Drones
People of Pakistan
Forgive us our Killer Drones
People of Syria
Forgive us our Killer Drones
People of Yemen
Forgive us our Killer Drones
People of Libya
Forgive us our Killer Drones
People of Somalia
Forgive us our Killer Drones
People of Gaza
Forgive us our Killer Drones
Our Tax Dollars for Death
Forgive Us
Slaughtered Native Americans
Forgive Us
Teaching Hate
Our Sins against our Black brothers and sisters
Forgive Us
Tortured people of the Philippines
Forgive Us
United States invasions of Mexico
Forgive Us
United States invasions of Haiti
Forgive Us
United States invasions of Nicaragua
Forgive Us
United States imperialism in Latin America
Forgive Us
United States killings in the Great War
Forgive Us
60 Million dead in World War II
Forgive Us
Calling 60 Million dead a ‘Good War’
Forgive Us
Believing War can be Just
Forgive Us
Christian Churches’ Silence in Nazi Germany
Forgive Us
German Catholic Bishops’ silence
Forgive Us
Lutheran Church Silence
Forgive Us
Dresden Fire Bombed
Forgive Us
Hiroshima Incinerated
Forgive Us
Nagasaki Destroyed
Forgive Us
Nagasaki Cathedral Ground Zero
Forgive Us
All Christian Crews Do Bombing
Forgive Us
38,000 Americans Died in World War II
Forgive Us
1 Million North Korean Soldiers & Civilians Killed
Forgive Us
United States Kills 3 Million Vietnamese
Forgive Us
58,000 American Troops Killed in Vietnam
Forgive Us
Dow Chemical’s Agent Orange Devastates People and Land of Vietnam
Forgive Us
American Napalm Burns Vietnamese Children
Forgive Us
Trillions Spent on Nuclear Weapons & War Preparation
Forgive Us
United States Supports El Salvador Death Camps
Forgive Us
United States CIA Helps Assassinate 250,000 People in Guatamala
Forgive Us
United States Creates a Torture & Assassination School at Fort Benning, GA
Forgive Us
Graduates of the School of the Americas Kill Peasants and Union Leaders
Forgive Us
Graduates of the School of the Americas Kill Priests & Nuns
Forgive Us
US Troops IN 180 Countries Around the World
Forgive Us
US Led Sanctions Kill 500,000 Iraqi Children
Forgive Us
United States Slaughters Fleeing Iraqi Soldiers
Forgive Us
US Troops Stationed in Muslim Countries
Forgive Us
Invasion and Occupation of Afghanistan
Forgive Us
Shock and Awe Bombings of Iraq Kill Civilians by the Thousands
Forgive Us
Two Million People Flee American War Making in Iraq
Forgive Us
American Violence Spreads Throughout The Middle East
Forgive Us
Refugees Die in the Deserts & on the Sea Fleeing Wars Promoted by the United States
Forgive Us
United States Rejects Middle East Refugees
Forgive Us
Islamophobia Sweeps the Nation
Forgive Us
United States Drones Assassinate People in Seven Muslim Nations
Forgive Us
One Half Our National Spending is for Death & Weapons
Forgive Us
Weapons Are Our Largest Export
Forgive Us
United States in Year 2017 Will Cut Assistance to the Poor & Children’s Programs
Forgive Us
Building Walls Instead of Empathy and Generosity
Forgive Us
Our Bloated Military Budget Will be Increased $54 Billion This Year
Forgive Us
Republicans & Democrats Praise Trump for Killing Syrians
Forgive Us
Aaaaa men…..Aaaaaa men….Amen Amen Amen