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The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia is honoring Josef Stalin by placing his bust on a pedestal at its museum. Read some of the explanation below. For me, the logic is painfully flawed and simplistic. How can they not understand the greater implication of such a representation of one of history's most murderous tyrants? If they're simply trying to reflect the parties involved during these times, do they also have a statue or bust of Hitler in the same light? There has to be another way to represent this history more accurately...


You can write to the D-Day Memorial at: dday@dday.org

AN EXCERPT FROM THE DAILY NEWS...

"William McIntosh, president of the memorial in Bedford, Va., insisted "the function of this sculpture is not to honor Stalin."
Stalin is included with the busts of Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill because the Soviets "secured the eastern front and helped win the war," he said.
"He's part of the narrative thread and the mission of the foundation is preserve the legacies and lessons of D-Day. One of the legacies of D-Day is the Cold War."
That explanation did not wash with Alex Storozynski of the Kosciuszko Foundation in Manhattan, whose father fought at D-Day as a member of a Polish Army unit.
"Given McIntosh's logic, should America put up a statue of Saddam Hussein because he was an ally of the U.S. in the 1980s when we supported Iraq in a war against Iran?" Storozynski wrote on Huffington Post..."

AND AN EXCERPT FROM STOROZYNSKI'S FULL ARTICLE:

"Hitler and Stalin were allies and started World War II in 1939 by both attacking Poland at the same time. But William McIntosh, the D-Day Memorial's president says that because Stalin became a U.S. ally after Germany invaded Russia, he deserves to be acknowledged along with Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

McIntosh is wrong. Stalin only gave lip service to the allies so that they would attack Nazi Germany on the Western front. Stalin did not liberate Eastern Europe from the Nazis in 1945; he sent in Soviet troops that occupied half of Europe until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Stalin the communist barely hid his disdain for capitalist America during WWII, and once the war ended, he began the Cold War and ordered his scientists to work on missiles and nuclear weapons that could destroy the United States..."

You can write to the D-Day Memorial at: dday@dday.org

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-storozynski/us-honors-stalin-on-hallo_b_363141.html?view=print

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/11/19/2009-11-19_wwii_vets_up_in_arms_over_addition_of_soviet_dictator_stalins_bust_at_national_d.html

Dear TSR Friends:
We wanted to let you know about many upcoming screenings for "The Singing Revolution" in the coming months! These include return engagements in theaters, international film festivals, European screenings, and fundraisers for choral groups open to the public. These are just a few of the ways we continue to share this powerful story around the world.

We also continue to chip away at telvision broadcasts, and hope to have some exciting news to announce on that front in the coming months.

You can visit the Facebook Group or the film's website & blog where details about upcoming events and news are updated regularly, www.singingrevolution.com.

Kind regards,
Maureen & James Tusty
Producers/Directors of "The Singing Revolution"

UPCOMING SCREENINGS (Check the TSR website for more details):
Iowa City, IA
Sunday, October 4th
Fundraiser Event for the Chamber Singers of Iowa City
The Englert Theatre
221 E Washington St.
Iowa City, IA

Ithaca, NY
Monday,October 5th
Cornell University
Kaufman Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Discussion on non-violence with Irakli Kakabadze after the film.

Concord, NH
October 23 - October 29 (FULL WEEK RUN!)
Red River Theatres
11 S. Main Street
Concord, NH 03301

Oslo, Norway
October 23rd & 30th
Oslo Film Festival - Fall of the Wall
Oslo's Cinemateket
on Dronningens gate 16

Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
October 24th
Antigonish International Film Festival
Coady Institute, Marjorie Desmond Oval Room
St. Francis Xavier University
Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Ewing, NJ
November 10th
College of New Jersey
Library Auditorium
Ewing, NJ 08628
**Producers/Directors James & Maureen Tusty will attend the screening for a discussion and Q&A after the film.

Warsaw, Poland
November 17th - 30th
Festival at Royal Route - Warsaw
*See website for exact dates it will play during festival.

Berlin, Germany
December 18th
“Mauerfall” (The Fall of the Wall)
Zeughauskino/The Historical Museum, Berlin, Germany

18 years ago today, on August 20, 1991, Estonia bravely re-declared her independence. After over 50 years of Soviet occupation, and a four year non-violent revolution (called the Singing Revolution, '87-'91), the Estonian people took the risk of publicly restating to the world their rights as a free and sovereign nation under international law.

Unarmed citizens stood before tanks, arms linked, to prevent Soviet access to critical information sources such as the TV tower and radio station. Estonian leaders, many previously in bitter conflict over how aggressively to fight Moscow, came together and unified their voices to vote unanimously to re-declare the Republic of Estonia as an independent nation. And while this sounds easy, given how things turned out, no one knew at the time the consequences of that action. Those voting for independence were certain targets for imprisonment and worse. But the coup failed, and Estonia quickly rejoined the world community of free nations.

Happy Re-Independence Day, Eesti!

Elagu Vabadus! (Long live freedom!)

The Singing Revolution website will be the "Cool Site of the Day" today, May 10th at http://www.coolsiteoftheday.com/ .

This fun, informative website features a new site every day of the week. Each featured site gets one day of exposure and visitors to the site can vote for the ones they like.

So if you have a free minute today, please go to Cool Site of the Day and vote for The Singing Revolution website! All of this adds up to greater awareness of this remarkable story of freedom, music and nonviolent achievement.

TO VOTE FOR THE SINGING REVOLUTION WEBSITE ON SUNDAY, MAY 10TH GO TO: http://www.coolsiteoftheday.com/

CLICK ON THE ICON FOR "SEE TODAY'S SITE", AND THEN VOTE IN THE TOP BOX! (10's greatly appreciated!!)

Maureen Tusty

Dear Facebook Friends:

Thank you for your efforts to share this remarkable story around Facebook (and please keep it up!)

In a way "The Singing Revolution" has only just begun it’s distribution efforts. The theatrical run was longer and more widespread than anyone would have predicted, and that was just the first step. Television broadcasts are now in the works, and the HOME VERSION OF THE DVD has been picked up by a distributor with greater reach than we could ever have, including Amazon & NetFlix.

Our efforts of late have been on getting the EDUCATIONAL VERSION 3-DISC SET out as far and wide as possible through schools and individuals. This special edition has many extra materials (listed at the end). These materials are all included in the COLLECTOR’S 3-DISC SET as well for anyone interested in delving deeper into the extraordinary events of the Singing Revolution.

So in our effort to share this additional material, we’d like to offer a SPECIAL DISCOUNT to our Supporters and Facebook Group:

***30% OFF the COLLECTOR’S 3-DISC SET, the EDUCATIONAL VERSION 1.0, and THE SINGING REVOLUTION BOOK***

To use the discount for any of these three items or any combination of them, the order must be placed from the film’s website at http://www.singingrevolution.com/cgi-local/store.cgi .

Enter the code: TSR30FB when asked for the discount code when placing the order. THIS DISCOUNT EXPIRES APRIL 30, 2009.

We are hoping such incentive will help us reach even more educational institutions (we’re aready in over 1,000 schools), and we wanted to share this same offer with some of our core supporters of the project. And remember, we’re still in the early stages of sharing this needed, inspirational story around the word!

Thank you,
Maureen & James Tusty
Producers/Directors of "The Singing Revolution"


COLLECTOR'S & EDUCATIONAL 3-DISC SETS INCLUDE:
* "The Singing Revolution" film (English language version)
* Over four hours of additional interview comments, categorized by subject for easy viewing.
* The 32-page Instructor's Guide with additional background, suggested curricula, instructor questions, and full index of additional materials.
* 15 maps of Europe from 180 A.D. until 1997 that interactively illustrate Estonia's history, including hi-rez editable PowerPoints.
* 30 printable historical documents & letters, totaling over 150 pages.
* 7 newsreel stories from the 1930s - 1950s.
* Stalinist propaganda film clip.
* Filmmakers’ commentary.
* Estonian history timelines.
* Interview with filmmakers.
* Production photos and other images from the film.

COLLECTOR'S & EDUCATIONAL DVD'S, MUSIC CD'S, BOOK, POSTERS AVAILABLE AT: http://www.singingrevolution.com

If you haven't been to "The Singing Revolution Group" lately, there are lot of wonderful new articles and links posted on music, politics, Estonia, etc. Check it out, and continue to share the group with your friends.

And here's the big news of late if you haven't already heard:

"The Singing Revolution" will have its U.S. television broadcast debut in the Orange County/LA area THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 9th ON PBS STATION KOCE AT 7:00PM! It's part of the KOCE pledge drive, so they're as motivated as we are to make the U.S. television premiere a success.

So, if you are someone who contributes to PBS, please consider making your donation during the pledge drive while "The Singing Revolution" airs. That way other stations will be encouraged all the more to share this amazing story!

If we can make this pledge drive for KOCE a success, it will highly motivate other PBS stations around the country to play the film in the same way. So please spread the word to your friends and family about the film's U.S. television premiere in California on PBS station KOCE this Thursday, April 9th at 7:00pm!

Thank you,
Maureen & James Tusty
Producers/Directors of "The Singing Revolution"

Dear TSR Friends in Orange County & LA:
We have great news! And a challenge that comes along with it...but we're all used to that by now for this project, and with your continued support we can keep surmounting them!

"The Singing Revolution" will be broadcast on television in the Orange County/LA area on PBS station KOCE Thursday, April 9th at 7:00pm. It's part of the KOCE pledge drive, so they're as motivated as we are to make the U.S. television premiere a success. That's GREAT news!

If we can make this pledge drive for KOCE a success, it will highly motivate other PBS stations around the country to play the film in the same way. So we ask you to, once again, spread the word to your friends and family about the film's U.S. television premiere in California on PBS station KOCE April 9th at 7:00pm.

****And, if you are someone who contributes to PBS, please consider making your donation during the pledge drive while the film is playing. That way the stations will be encouraged all the more to share this amazing story****!

We'll keep you posted as our PBS efforts continue.

Thank you,
Maureen & Jim Tusty
Producers/Directors of "The Singing Revolution"

Hi TSR Group:
I’m one of the Co-Producers/Director’s of the film Peep mentioned now on the Singing Revolution Group admin. Jim (my husband/co-producer, etc) and I want to really thank Peep and Liina for keeping this group going throughout the extended theatrical run of the film. Everyone told us not to expect to play in more than a handful of cities, if that, and since last December TSR had played in over 155 theaters in the US and Canada. Yeah! But we’re overwhelmed, so we really appreciate Peep keeping the updates going on Facebook.

Remarkably we’re still in theaters and that will continue throughout the coming year, but we’re now also focused on tv and getting the word out about the DVD. Although we hit a lot of theaters, it only adds up to about 100,000 people seeing the film, and our goal is to share this story with millions.

And after 4 years of research and over 4 hours of added video clips on the Collector’s DVD, we have a lot to share on this topic beyond the film. So we asked to be added to the Group admin so we could share some clips and links to some amazing sites and articles we’ve come across. We’re in the process of connecting the Facebook Group to the film’s website Blog – so when we post something new on the blog, in theory it will come to the Facebook Group as well as other sites. So hopefully once a week or so we’ll be adding something new and keeping it shorter than this note! We’ll try to reply to any questions as quickly as we can, but I’ll apologize now if we’re slow (still overwhelmed with the distribution…) But we want to share this story, so we continue to put ourselves – and this film – out there in all the ways we can…
Thanks!
maureen

Hello The Singing Revolution fans!

Great news - Jim & Maureen Tusty, producers of the film, have joined in the administration of this fantastic group along with their friend and colleague Richard Laermer.

They have a lot of unseen film clips and material to share in their never-ending quest to share this story with the entire world.

Goal is twofold: take TSR to a new level and tell stories about nonviolent revolutions the world over!

So keep on checking back with the Singing Revolution group and be part of what is about to come.

Thank you

Dear TSR Friends,

It’s here! The Singing Revolution on DVD is available on the website www.singingrevolution.com. In addition to the film, there’s a 3-Disc Collector’s Edition and Educational Versions, The Singing Revolution book, music CDs, and more.

The film is being offered to you first, our sign-ups and longtime supporters! Next year the distributor will be taking the film into stores and sites across North America, but we are able to offer the film now exclusively at www.singingrevolution.com. Please go to the website and check out the Special Offers list for some discount options.

There are also several options on how you can bring The Singing Revolution to your community (see “Host a Party” or the Educational Versions!)

Along with the new Store and website pages, the Blog is now open for anyone who is interested in adding comments. We'll be updating the blog once a week or more ourselves, and we’d love to see a web community build among the thousands of supporters who believe in this message. We want to harness all of this energy to take the film out even further than it’s already come.

Please go to the website and check out the DVD and more at www.singingrevolution.com, and please pass on this link to your friends.

Thanks!