ED HALE TRANSCENDS IRANIAN CONFLICT – ROCK STAR AND GOOD WILL AMBASSADOR TO VISIT IRAN

Monday, February 25th, 2008
by Keith Hannaleck
Transcendence lead singer Ed Hale has been chosen to be one of 14 delegates going on a Peace Delegation to the country of Iran with The Fellowship of Reconciliation.
New York, NY, Feb 25, 2008 – 14 delegates chosen from across the United States will be going on a Peace Delegation to the country of Iran with The Fellowship of Reconciliation, the world’s oldest peace organization headquartered in over 40 countries worldwide and started in 1914 in Switzerland to prevent war in Europe. College radio darling Ed Hale, lead singer for the rock group Transcendence has been chosen to be one of the 14 delegates.
Along with 10 others the group also consists of writer Larry Beinhart, best known for his infamous book turned movie Wag the Dog and Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin, Carah Lynn Ong, Policy Analyst for the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation in Washington DC, and journalist Robert Dreyfus, contributing editor and writer for The Nation, Rolling Stone, and The New Republic. The group will tour Iran for two-weeks, primarily focusing on the major cities of Tehran, Esfehan, Shiraz, and Qom and holding formal meetings with the country’s leading government and religious leaders in an unprecedented move since the Islamic revolution almost 30 years ago to discuss US/Iranian relations. The group of 14 Americans will also visit schools, universities, newspapers, radio, and TV stations to foster more peace, harmony, and solidarity between the American and Iranian people.
They will meet with three reigning Ayatollahs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the United States, the Minister of Culture, and with the former two-term Iranian President Mohamad Khatami. The Fellowship of Reconciliation is a non-religious, not-for-profit organization that has been sponsoring trips such as these for over eighty years all over the world. Their primary mission is to foster peace and understanding between peoples of different cultures during times of high conflict in order to attempt to prevent war.
Ed Hale is the lead singer in the rock band Transcendence (Universal) and is also known for his outspoken human rights and peace activism and volunteer work around the world. He just returned from two weeks of home building in Africa with Habitat for Humanity (see YouTube) and made two separate trips to the Gulf Coast last year to help rebuild homes for Hurricane Katrina victims in Biloxi, Mississippi. He and his bandmates have two new albums coming out this year, The Great Mistake, and All Your Heroes Become Villains.
An interesting sign of the times, the funds to help pay Hale’s expenses were raised entirely online using social networking sites such as MySpace, the band’s fanbase, and something known as the ChipIn widget. Fans and friends were encouraged to post comments and donate anything they wanted to. The “widget” tracked the progress in real-time so all could log-on at anytime to see how much money had been collected and watch as the goal was reached and read comments from fans from around the world.
Hale has been keeping a blog about the trip online and will continue to post reports while he is in Iran. Upon his return he will be speaking at various events around the country about the experience and will be available for television and press interviews about the experience.
To learn more about the Fellowship of Reconciliation organization and how you can become involved click here.
For more information http://edhale.chipin.com/ ed-hale-goes-to-Iran-with-peace-delegationÂ

Ed's new drum

Yes… so i had bought this african drum. i had always wanted a real african drum. Not an american made african drum but a real authentic made in africa one. and i finaly bought one… i was so excited that for a very short time i played it all the time… but my fellow travellers on the bus didn’t much like that… which they didnt have too hard of a time communicating to me… i believe it was baby kaye who said something to the effect of “uh Ed, pardon me, but when youre sleeping we are cognizant of it and we try to be quiet… get it?” And i was like “So you dont want me to play my drum on the bus?” “Exactly.” So they made me a new quieter one.

YouTubing on the plane

Image Photo of Ed Hale YouTubing on a Plane
Ed Hale YouTubing on a Plane

Well truth is, i pretty much YouTube anywhere and everywhere…. ok so i haven’t YouTubed on the toilet yet…. YET… but now that i think about it…. that could be a first…

Ed Hale Posts Photo of the Inside of a Slave Dungeon Ghana Africa

Ed Hale just returned from a two week homebuilding trip in Ghana in West Africa with Habitat for Humanity. He also had the opportunity to visit the so-called slave dungeons on the coast towards the end of the trip. Above is a photo from that portion of the trip. Hale commented, “Yes they looked like this. yes they smelled. yes it is every bit as awful as one imagines. It’s the soul’s darkness. We are f**king animals. I am ashamed and horrified.” Luckily Hale also created a ten episode Transcendent Television series of video shorts which can be viewed below.

Ed Hale Transcends Iranian Conflict – from CMJ Magazine

Ed Hale Transcends Iranian Conflict
2008-02-08 11:30:32.993, 
Story by: Joshua Pressman for CMJ

Ed Hale, lead singer of New York-based rock and roll outfit Transcendence, will partake in a peace delegation to Iran. Hale will be part of a 13-person envoy that was hand-chosen by the Fellowship Of Reconciliation (FOR) to serve as ambassadors of peace. FOR—a Switzerland-based organization that has sponsored preventive measures against war since World War I—has arranged visitations to schools, universities, newspapers, and TV stations with hopes of bridging the cultural gap between American and Iranian people. The funds for Hale’s mission are currently being gathered by way of a ChipIn widget, which enables fans and friends to contribute financially to the peaceful vision.

To join in or read comments from fans and friends who are contributing to the mission or to read Hale’s personal blogs about the endeavor click here.

www.edhale.com
www.forusa.org