Old Wise One

OK, time to get mushy. Or is it "crumbly"?

2009-02-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

The year 2008. Worst year of my life.

Started off with getting more and more depressed from months of the "one step forward, two steps back."

Then one week before my birth day the death of a beautiful, funny and talented man named Eddy Shots. Then less then five months later the death of my eldest nephew, Damien.What pulled me through all of this were my friends. All of us holding each other up through the worst of times.I posted posted the news of my nephew on the BLOG and the news spread in little time through the Punk Rock grape vine. Then the "OMG Pedro!" messages of support with the offer of any help I would need.
A few weeks later I sent an electronic thank you to a brother saying "It made me feel less alone." He shot back, "You're never alone."

I've been distancing myself from the scene over the last couple of years.
It was more then not hanging out that much.
When telling stories about the Skinhead scene I'd say "Them", "They", "Those".

On December 1st I was performing for a World AIDS Day event. Near the end of a tale of my time in the scene I stopped short of saying, "they" and said "us."
And so it's been since: "us," "we", "our", "mine."

What is it that I "get out" of the Punk Scene?
It is a family.
Don't get me wrong. It can be a WAY dysfunctional family.
But it's a place where I feel I have something to offer.
And I've been told I do.

Ok,
Glad I got that out of my system.
Time for a pint.

Grow The Beard Back?

2009-02-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

I set up a profile on a site called The Big Gay Sketch Show.
Below is a post I put on the BLOG. Give it a read and if you find me worthy vote for me on the site.

Pedro.

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"Two years ago I had a big ole beard. In 2003 I had grown fascinated with ancient Spartan culture.
The image of a martial society that accepted homosexual behavior (with a lot of rules of course) inspired thoughts in my mind in what we could promote and incorporate into modern society. My mind would an hold an image from historical memory.
Young warriors, naked, covered in olive oil, and wrestling under the hot Laconian sun.
Um...excuse me I'll be cutting this short.
Something came up I need to take care of.
Anyway after watching the movie 300 about 17 times too many times, I grew a big beard.Thought it made me look like a Spartan warrior!
Then brother of mine named Eddy Shots took one look at it and said, "You look like Amish Bin Laden." And that was it. I shaved it off.
But I've had brothers tell me now I should grow it back. They like the Amish Skinhead look!
I could use an objective view on weather to grow it back.
I'm a subject in a documentary series titled Driving Jersey.
I was interviewed when I had the beard.
To make things easier for you I put links my Big Gay Casting profileCheck em out and let me know if it's worth growing back.

Here's the link.http://biggaycasting.com/people/Poppaskin
THANKS!, in Advance Pedro Angel Serrano

2009-02-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

At last Sundays music/pizza eating meeting at WRSU I shared an idea with the other DJ's. Encouraged by there enthusiasm for the plan I jumped onto the computer and logged onto the White House website.

"Dear President Obama,

In my fifty years I have never seen this country so divided; Redstate/blue state, Gay/Straight, Democrat/Republican Insurgency...

But I believe there is one thing Americans can agree on.
And that thing is Johnny Cash!"

I then went into a moving argument (which I can't quite remember) for a series of concerts beginning with artists covering Johnny Cash songs.

I recommended that all styles should be represented. From Blues to Punk Rock. I mentioned I had a list of suggestions in that regard.

So now if they just happen to have that concert you all know know where the idea came from.
It doesn't matter whether I get any credit. As long as the Bouncing Souls are on the bill!

Two Philosophies- or Why People Say I think too Much.

2009-01-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting a long while for this clip to be posted on.

It's one of the most philosophically significant moments in the film.

What the Joker expresses is a view of humanity that reminded me of Sigmund Freud.
Freud believed that when people were put in a desperate situation the masks they
wear would come off and the face's underneath would all be identical. They would collapse into a brutal state.

A Dr. Victor Frankel was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps.
And he witnessed people in a desperate environment and the mask's
did indeed come off. But he reported that the faces were all different.
Some folks who were some nice regular people before entering the camps
turned into "pigs" and others who were pigs behaved like saints.

And it's these two views that are represented in the film.
One character it doing what he can to bring about "chaos". and the other
has the goal of providing the peoples with a vision of hope to inspire them
into not being afraid.
Remember the last words of the father to the son in "Bat Man Begins"? "Don't be afraid."

I transcribed a short section from the dialogue.
And though I disagree with his vision of humanity I do agree with
his observation about "plans". When SOME things go wrong, people
are more likely to panic if it is outside there usual routine.
But when "a truck load of solders gets killed", few seem to get that upset.

As evidence for this opinion I have posted another vid from something
most of us are exposed to every day.
What do you think the "plans" of the two apposing views have?

" Do I really look like a guy with a plan?
Do you know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars.
I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it..
No, I just do things.
The mobs got plans, the cops got plans, Gordon's got plans.
Ya know: there scheemers. Scheemers trying to control
there little worlds. I'm not a scheemer.
I try to show the scheemers how pathetic there attempts
to controll things really are....

It's the scheemers who put you where you are.
I took your little plans and turned it on itself.
Look what I've done with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets.

You know what noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan.
Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press like a gang banger or a truck load of solders get blown up no body panics, because it's all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, then suddenly every one looses there minds!
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos.
And and you know the thing about chaos? It's fear."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRG1tWQN6e8

FROM MEDIA CHANNEL DOT ORG
Montel Williams Loses Job after Defending Troops on Fox News
By Daily Kos.
For just over three minutes on Saturday morning, TV talk show host Montel Williams owned the hosts of Fox and Friends. A former Marine and Naval officer, Montel lectured the stunned hosts on the stupidity of spending air time on the death of Heath Ledger, rather than covering the war in Iraq. It was a spectacle rarely seen on live cable television, as Montel exposed and condemned both tabloid "news" shows and much of American culture for what they have each become: shallow and greedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IYyNAXjxS4

Three minutes into this awkward segment on Fox, one host cut off Montel in order to go to a commercial. Montel did not return after the break. Four days later, after 17 years as a television host, Montel lost his job. Variety reported on Wednesday that the Fate of "The Montel Williams Show" was sealed when key Fox-owned stations opted not to renew it for the 2008-09 season.I have no idea whether Montel already knew his show wasn't going to be renewed, and thus felt emboldened to cut loose on the air, or whether his firing was a result of his actions on Saturday. Either way, Montel Williams exhibited courage this week that few in the television industry ever will. And for that, American troops around the world stand with him. We support him not only because he stood up for the troops, but because he did it on Fox News—a station that has done more damage to the U.S. military since 9/11 than any other.Montel Williams is an American patriot. Though he left the military years ago, he has never forgotten "his" troops.
For that we salute and thank you, Montel. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do next.-- by Brandon Friedman
--
Pedro of New Jersey

On the Air and On-Line at
www.HearNewBrunswick.com
Sundays 2 till 4pm EST

www.WRSU.Org 88.7 fm
Tuesdays 2 till 4 PM EST

On Watching The Swearing in of Barak Hussain Obama.

2009-01-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

Anti-climactic. It's the single word that described the swearing in of Barak Hussein Obama as 44th President of the United States of America.

That's not to say it didn't have it's highlights. I was waiting for him to say his name. "Barak Hussein Obama. I could almost feel the psychic atomic bomb go off. It's shock wave radiating outward till it had traveled to the other side of the planet.
That was nice.

But it just didn't match the effect of election night.

On the night of the election I watched the returns alone. When the outcome was announced it was with the image of President elect Obama walking down a runway towards the lectern.

Do you know the feeling of being aware that you're dreaming? "Hey! This is a dream. I can wake up when ever I want to." Well it wasn't anything like that.

It was like waking from a dream.
My earliest memory is waking from a dream.

I dreamed I was a little kid in the 1960's living in the Columbus Homes Housing Projects. When asked where we lived we answered "the projects."

In my dream there had been riots in the streets, cock roaches big enough to ride to school, and cheery blossoms in the spring.

I awoke on a bed.
Looking across the landscape of the blanket I was sleeping on I could see out the window the twelve story high, block long neighbor of a building across a court yard.
The dream I had was the dream of my life. But now it wasn't a dream any more. This was reality.

That was what I felt as I watched Barak Obama walking down that walkway.
It was like waking from a dream.

No ceremony was going to top that.

Rev. Pedro Angel Serrano

It wasn't a kick in the nuts!

2009-01-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday (17th November 02009) I crashed at a friends house. His name is Richard and we'd seen each other at Punk Rock shows for a while. My reputation had preceded me and we bonded quickly.
Any way the next morning I couldn't find my keys.He apologized and said he'd look for them and call if they were found.
I headed to another friends place whers my back pack was for a quick breakfast. I suspected that my keys might be there. They were not. "This is not good."
I called Richard to see if he'd located my keys. He apologized again and said he'd not seen them. I told him there was no need to apologize. "Just give me a call if ya find em. I think they be on that book shelf next to the sofa bed."
Yesterday He gave me a call and said that he'd found them. He apologized yet again and said that when he cleared the table in front of the couch he'd taken the keys with everything else and oput them in his roommates room. "I'm sorry." I said "There's no need to Apologize! What matters is that ya found em."
I arrived that night to get my keys. The door opens and Richard had the clip with my keys in his hand. "I'm so sorry..."I cut him off.
"Shut Up and Stop apologizing!" He smiled and said, "Then fuck you for losing your keys."
I explained "There's nothing for you to apologize for. Stuff just happens. But if I were to walk up to you for a hug and you kicked me in the nuts, you'd better apologize."
Pedro of New Jersey.

Radio today at Noon

2009-01-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

.

Noon till 2 pm EST.

http://www.wrsu.org

I have no idea what I'll be doing.
Sunday on http://www.HearNewBrunswick.Com

Woke up in the dark.
That's how Like it.
It's too bright at midnight in New Brunswick.
All cities when there's nothing going on after 2 pm.

Guess it's some obsession with "safety".

Walking the streets at nigh would feel less boring if the streets were as pitch black as the woods are: the sky crowded with stars.

Wait a minuet.
What was I...?
Oh yea. I like it dark when I sleep.

Crashed in a friends basement. Completely dark while I slept.
No street lamps making it possible to read a book in bed.
Had dreams with subterranean themes. Kinda scary one of em.
But yea, slept in a heated basement last night.
Liked it.

So good morning folks. Temp is just above freezing here.
Another cup of coffee, quick shower, a bite, and my radio show at noon.

.

2009-01-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

When I watched the elections I watched them alone.Not by choice, but as the night progressed I was glad to be watching the results and watch the dignified high tech free coverage on PBS.Science is objective, people are not.But by being alone I was able to deal with my emotions and mine alone.For a week after the election I took time to put this moment in historical context. On November 28th of 02008 I wrote what you'll find below. This morning I did a rewrite before posting it on my BLOG. As I shut down my lap top an announcement on TV was made that President elect Barack Hussein Obama was about to make a speech. I still can't find a word to describe my feeling at the time. But I did feel an uncontrollable urge to share it with you all.

An historian names David McCullough, in a talk he gave ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A4Kti0iw3M ) said,"I make the argument that there is no such thing as the past." An Historian said that!The example he gave was that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson never said "Isn't it fascinating living in the past as we do? Don't we look quaint in our funny outfits?" lived in an eternal present. And in the present they had no idea how there revolution would turn out. And after victory and independence, they had no idea how long the republic would last. If lived long enough to see it survive they may have considered it a success.Like them have no idea what the future holds. There is only this eternal present I experience from moment to moment. But history can provide perspective. The path this nation and its people are on has been trod before. This became clear after reading an Inauguration speech. Not the one Barack Obama will be making January 20th. But one given when the United States seemed it was falling apart. Other countries were watching as the nation struggled over a savage depression.When F.D.R. was inaugurated one of the options given him was to suspend the Constitution and declare martial law. Instead he gave the first of his "Fire Side Chats", to inspire confidence in the banks and the future. Afterwards he got up and is quoted as saying, "I think it's time for some liquid refreshment." By that he meant the abolition of the amendment banning alcohol. He knew the citizens of the U.S. didn't need martial law. They needed a BEER! That ladies and gentle men is leadership!

There was another form of leadership he showed. Perhaps the most famous line from his inaugural speech is "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..."That's the only line people seem to know. But it's what he says afterwards that matters. "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Reading it reminded me of the last descriptive words of the star spangled banner, "...the land of the free and the home of the brave." Roosevelt reminded the people of that in the first paragraph. His repeating theme; unity and courage. Unity and courage was the sentiment John McCain put forth in his concession speech. It was what Barack Obama as well. Unity and courage was what F.D.R. put forth as he started his first term. And what he said in "the past" sounds all too familiar to me in this eternal present.I do want to believe this is still, and always will be, The Home of the Brave. And I have made a personal pledge that any dickhead in the news media Adds to the climate of fear undermine that quality in any way will, if I should meet them on the street, get a steel toe attitude adjustment up his ass. Ummm... Sorry. Lost me eloquence for a second.Below is some of the home work I did since the election.In BOLD are the lines that to the moments I write this.

"United we stand, divided we fall."

Pedro Angel Serrano Below is of F.D.R's First Inaugural Address. I found it at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/

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I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel... So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men. Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources. Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly. Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.There are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States. Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.
In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems. Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure. I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.

Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933, as published in Samuel Rosenman, ed., The Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Volume Two: The Year of Crisis, 1933 (New York: Random House, 1938), 11–16.http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/--

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Pedro of New Jersey
On the Air and On-Line athttp://www.hearnewbrunswick.com/
Sundays 2 till 4pm EST

http://www.wrsu.org/
88.7 fm Wednesdays Noon till 2pm

.
.

Always Homeward Bound.

2009-01-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

So far so good. The 5Th of January and the year 02009 has been great!

Started early with the Bouncing Souls annual Christmas concerts "Home For The Holidays". Only this year with The Stone Pony having to make repairs on there roof, this year it was "Homeless For The Holidays."

No matter.
Walking into Convention Hall on the boardwalk of Asbury Park I felt as if I were entering the Palace of Punk!!! I walked ahead of the friends who gave me a ride down. Kinda rude I thought but I was anxious to get inside to see friends I may not have been with in many months.

The first was Ronin Kaufman. He had come to make a video for his Blog http://www. issueoriented. com/. The expression on his face was not a happy one. I'd been phoning him for months so as to interview him for my On-Line radio show on http://www.HearNewBrunswick.Com.

He immediately apologized as I put my arms around is bulky build. He's filled out over the decade from the kid I remember attending Rutgers U. in the 1990's.

I held on to him for a long while. When I let him go my eyes were over flowing with liquid macho.
Yes, The Skinheads of New Jersey call it "Liquid Macho."
I choked out a, "Yea, I'm fine. I'm just really glad to see you."
He asked me no less then three times.
I answered in various ways, "I'm just really glad to see you."

"It's just I've never seen you so crumbly before."
I've been in a weepy mood for months now. At first I just chalked it up to drinking to much soy milk. But the events of 02008 have had an effect I'm still trying to figure out.

The suicide of a good friend in May and less than five months later the suicide of my eldest nephew. It never gets easier.
So yea, I was really glad to see him. I've been really glad to see people most of last year.

The show was great of course. Every band shined. As Gas Light Anthem performed I had a cheese burger with fries to help counteract the effects of all that soy coursing through my gonads.

I got a few looks from those in attendance who I suspect recognized me from the Souls video documentary. As I write what comes to mind is for every one who gave me a hand shake, how many were to intimidated to walk up and say "Hi."
Bugs me a bit but in the past I could be a moody prick. But I appreciate it now. Celebrity and Punk just don't go together in my mind.

I kept running into my friend Joe Koukos who ran security and helped to set up the show. To busy to talk we finally got to catch up after about 97% of the crowd had made there way outside.
He's pretty much done with the concert biz. He had to fight like hell to get his crew to run the show. Convention Hall and a healthy chunk of the boardwalk itself is no longer a part of Asbury New Jersey. It's private property owned by a corporation. They wanted to have a security firm handle the show. Joe stood up for those guys with rent to pay and families to feed, out of work till The Stone Pony re-opened.

Every show went off with out a hitch!

Another perfect paragraph to the last chapter of his career as booking agent and promoter. He's opening up a music store. His description, "A refugee camp for the alternative and punk scene."

More on that in the future.

I wanted to say goodbye before heading out. Back stage were the Souls plus some old and new friends. My main target was Timmy Chunks. I'd not seen him in years!
After speaking to Bryan for a bit I asked him where Timmy might be.
With that smile of his he said, "He's right behind you."

Sure enough there he was.
We hug and I feel the liquid Macho welling up in my eyes again.
Not as much as with Ronin but I think he could see how I felt.

He updated me on his family. I on my spoken word and book projects.
An exchange of new phone numbers and it was time for me to head out.
Arrived at The Asbury Lanes for more hanging out. No alcohol for tonight.
Felt more then fine as I was.

This year I "turn" fifty years of age. Funny how it's refered to as "turning."
As if you become someone else with the passing of a date on the calender.

The photo above was taken on my 40th birthday.
Who was that guy? what's happened to him since?
How many happy memories does he look back on. How many tears has he shed?
How many new memories will he be working on in the next four seasons.

Is he growing older in spirit or just in years?

After the ride back to New Brunswick I said my goodbyes and headed to a friends place where I'm welcome to crash. Not literally my home but it feels like it when I walk in.

Now I'm reminded of a question Ronin was asking folks at the show. "What is home to you?"

My answer, "Home is anywhere. It's anywhere your friends are."

Yea, 02009 has been great so far. It's been spent with silence in the morning and friends in the evening.

Rev. Pedro Angel Serrano

2008-12-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

For humans of the past this was not the happiest of times.Hunger and death were common. The sun itself seemed to be dying. With it's light and warmth all there lives would end.
The rituals of the ancestors were designed to prevent that.
I heard it said that there is no such thing as ancient knowledge.There is no way that a person with central heating, a basic understanding of astronomy can experience the winter solsticeas the ancients did. No more then we can experience our technology through there eyes: a world saturated with magic!
Perhaps sleeping out doors weeks on end could provide a basic sensationof how life may have been. Laying close to red embers of the fire you need to keep alive through the night. But even then I know that I live on a big spinning rock orbiting a star that is really close. And the hard cold stars are actually like the bright sun only very far away.
There is no such thing as "ancient knowledge". Unless of course a few thousands of years of age. And yes, I'm giving it a shot.
In the mean time, below is a piece I wrote a while back that was recently published in a poetry mag titled The Indium. It is the perspective of one twenty first century man.
A contemplative Solstice to you all. Pedro Angel Serrano

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++===============================================

Crocuses blooming
Green Daffodil leaves growing
Two cold calloused hands
[Pedro Angel Serrano 09 February 02008]

When I saw the crocus bulbs I planted yet again piercing the leaves of the past Autumn thought to myself yet again,"But it's not yet spring."
I used to see the Vernal Equinox as the start of spring but in the Japanese tradition the Vernal Equinox is not the start of spring but springs peak. Look at it this way. The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. From that day onward the days begin to grow longer. Winter begins to wane and spring asserts itself more and more.
This is in keeping with the Taoist view expressed in the Yin Yang symbol. The circular image with one dark form and one light has a spot of the opposite color in each. If you don't know what it looks like, just do a Google image search.
The dark area is referred to as Yang (Man, Light, Out Going, Sun, Mountain Top) and the light is Yin (Female, Dark, Inward Going, Moon, River Valley.)
It is said that the Yin Yang symbol developed from ancient Taoist mystics. It's said to have been inspired by observed a hill from dawn till dusk. In the morning one side of the hill was illuminated while the other was in shade. As the day progressed that which was in shadow was in the sunshine while the other side was dark.
People in the West tend to separate both Yin and Yang. Yet neither Yin nor Yang can exists with out the other except as an abstraction. The lit candle on yang.

From this perspective on the day of the Vernal Equinox Spring is yang: dominant, while summer is Yin.
After that day the summer grows more Yang as spring becomes more Yin.

Nothing exists with out its correlative "opposite."
We exist in a reality composed of a unity of difference.

Polar principles

Ingredients in what's real

Hot coffee, Cold milk

[Pedro Angel Serrano 10 February 02008]

The Home Of The Brave Has Been Through This Before.

2008-11-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since the election and I have not commented on it.When I watched the elections I watched them alone.Not by choice, but as the night progressed I was glad to be watching the results and watch the dignified high tech free coverage on PBS.
Science is objective, people are not.But by being alone I was able to deal with my emotions and mine alone.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been taking time toput all of this in historical context. There's a historian names David McCullough. In a talk he gave he said,"I make the argument that there is no such thing as the past."Think about that. An Historian said that! The example he gave was that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson never said "Isn't it fascinating living in the past as we do? Don't we look quaint in our funny outfits?" No, indeed, they lived in the present. And in the present they had no idea how there revolution would turn out. There expectations were not positive. They had no idea how things would turn out. And after victory and independence, they had no idea how long the republic would last. At best it was an experiment and if they lived long enough to see it survive they may have considered it a success.
I have no idea what the future holds. There is only this eternal present we experience from moment to moment.But history can provide perspective.The path this nation and its people are on has been trod before. This became clear after reading an Inauguration speech. Not the one Barak Obama will be making.But one given when the United States seemed it was falling apart. Other countries were watching as the nation struggled over a savage depression. Would the great experiment in democracy fail today or tomorrow?
When F.D.R. was inaugurated one of the options given him was to suspend the Constitution and declare martial law. Instead he gave the first of his "Fire Side Chats", to inspire confidence in the banks and the future.Afterwards he got up and is quoted as saying, "I think it's time for some liquid refreshment." By that he meant the abolition of the amendment banning alcohol.He knew the citizens of the U.S. didn't need martial law. They needed a BEER!That ladies and gentle men is leadership! There was another form of leadership he showed. One of the most famous lines from his speech first speech is "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..."That's the only line people seem to know. But it's what he says afterwards that matters. "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Reading it reminded me of the last descriptive words of the star spangled banner, "...the land of the free and the home of the brave." Roosevelt reminded the people of that with his first paragraph. That was a repeating theme; unity and courage. Unity courage was the sentiment John McCain put forth in his concession speech. It was what Barak Obama as well. Unity and courage was what F.D.R. put forth as he started his first term.And what he said in "the past" sounds all too familiar to me in this eternal present.
I do want to believe this is still, and always will be, The Home of the Brave.And I have made a personal pledge that any dickhead in the news media try’s to undermine that quality in any way will, if I should meet them on the street, get a steel toe attitude adjustment up his ass.
Ummm... Sorry. Lost me eloquence for a second.
Below is some of the home work I did since the election. It's a LOT for a blog but hey. I have a whole pumpkin pie to finish.One more cup of coffee then later a glass or three of Johnny Walker.

Below is of F.D.R's First Inaugural Address.I found it at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/I have put in BOLD those statements
I feel to relate to our situation today.

==============

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel... So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.
The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.
Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.
Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.
Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.
Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.
There are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States.
Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.
The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.
In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.
If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.
With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.
Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.
It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.
I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.
But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.
We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.
We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.
In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.

Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933, as published in Samuel Rosenman, ed., The Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Volume Two: The Year of Crisis, 1933 (New York: Random House, 1938), 11–16.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/

Here we go again!; Now It's The Mayan Calander!

2008-07-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

From http://www.interestingfacts.org/?page=fact&id=30

"2012 is expected to be year of great positive change. It is not the end of the world! Back in 1899 something was identified called Schumann Cavity Resonance. It is the heart beat or frequency of the Earth. Since its discovery till 1986 this heart beat frequency was constant 7.8 Hertz per second. From 1986 it started to raise dramatically and in 1998 it was reported to be 10 hertz per second. On other hand magnetics of the earth are dropping dramatically and it is expected they will reach zero point in 2012. Maya calendar and other calendars end in 2012, but it is not the end of the world just beginning of the new one since every 26000 years Earth goes through grand cycle of evolution...."

I have been through this before. It used to depress me when people would look back, back ,back to other cultures whose world views don't apply to ours.

Were the Mayans brilliant?
Yes. So were many other civilizations.
For the Mayans what we see as science was to them a tool to some how figure out how the realm of there Gods operated.
For me to think that the Mayan calender
was going to predict the future I may as well
take up sacrificing the hearts of my enemies on an alter.
Global warming was not predicted by using the Mayan calender.
It was predicted by men and women who understood the scientific method.

As long as the number of people who need to embrace certainty about an
uncertain future is small,
then there is hope for the human race and life on this planet.

Oh shit! We're DOOMED!

"...liberties first principles."

2008-06-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

"The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it."
-- U.S.
Constitution, Article I, Section 9

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."
-- The Sixth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution

"Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law,..."

"To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will

would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say 'what the law is.'"

"Security subsists too in fidelity to freedom's first principles. Chief among these are freedom from arbitrary and unlawful restraint and the personal liberty that is secured by adherence to the separation of powers,..."
-- From the Supreme Court decision in
Boumediene v. Bush/Al Odah v.
United States
June 12, 2008

I planned on posting these bits of various articles and there links on another BLOG I have But...
Anyway here they are.
It's to important for us to not discuss.

Pedro Angel Serrano

AKA "Old Man Pedro"
AKA "Papa Skin"
AKA "The Triple O.G."

"...liberties first principles."

By David G. Savage, from Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- When the Supreme Court goes on recess at the end of this month, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy will be off to his summer teaching job in Salzburg, Austria. For the 19th year, he will teach a class called "Fundamental Rights in Europe and the United States" for the McGeorge Law School.

He tells his American and European students that the belief in individual freedom and the respect for human dignity transcends national borders. There is, he once said in an interview, "some underlying common shared aspiration" in legal systems that protects the rights and liberties of all.

That international perspective was on display Thursday as Kennedy spoke for the Supreme Court in extending legal rights to the foreign military prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "Security subsists too in fidelity to freedom's first principles. Chief among these are freedom from arbitrary and unlawful restraint and the personal liberty that is secured by adherence to the separation of powers," Kennedy said.

The 5-4 ruling highlighted the sharp divide over the law and the war on terrorism. The dissenters, agreeing with the Bush administration, said foreigners captured abroad in the war on terrorism had no rights in American courts.

Justice Antonin Scalia dissented with the decision "to extend the right of habeas corpus on alien enemies detained abroad by our military forces in the course of an ongoing war." The ruling "warps our Constitution," he wrote in his dissent."

The majority, led by Kennedy, was more in tune with the views across Europe and of civil libertarians in this country, who have condemned the prison at Guantanamo Bay as a "legal black hole" where foreigners are shackled and held in harsh conditions without due process of law. The justices in the majority said that when U.S. authorities take someone into custody, they must offer them the basic legal protections, including the right to plead for their freedom before an independent judge....
To Read more go to,
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus14-2008jun14,0,3463236.story

+

From The Virginian-Pilot
June 13, 2008
"...The court's moderate majority ruled for the third time that prisoners may not be held indefinitely without charges and have a right to habeas corpus - to make the government justify their detention before a judge.

Antonin Scalia - he of the sacrosanct Constitution, inviolable and sound - objected to the reasoning of the majority by rash references to "war with radical Islamists" and claimed that the decision "will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

Thankfully, he could convince only three of his colleagues that the Constitution must be abandoned for war. The opinion of Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, stands as an especially sharp rebuke: "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.

"It was the third time the court has validated the basic rights of detainees held at the Guantanamo prison, and that the justices have rejected the administration's attempts to sock away the accused without recourse. Inch by inch, in response to previous Supreme Court rulings, the administration has grudgingly agreed to provide some minor legal protections, but only the slimmest ones - and as Thursday's ruling attests, not enough...."
To Read more go to,
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/reason-prevails-habeas-corpus

+

By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
"...The court's membership has changed in recent years, and it has zigzagged on high-profile social policy dilemmas. Yet a slim majority has voiced a consistent message on Guantanamo cases: Congress and the president cannot go it alone. The third branch must ensure that rights are not violated.
Dissenting justices have routinely denounced that message, and some have taken the extraordinary step of reading portions of their opinions from the mahogany bench. Dueling readings on Thursday showcased how narrowly divided the justices are on the controversial U.S. naval base in Cuba and the president's latitude on detainee policies...."

To read the rest go to, http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080613/a_courtinside13.art.htm

+

From Tom Head,
Your Guide to Civil Liberties.

"...It is an unsafe and inconvenient time to free the Guantanamo detainees, but there will never be a safe or convenient time. The question now before our leaders is whether they will do the safe and convenient thing, or live up to their own international human rights standards. We should contact them and make our views known...."
To read more go to, http://civilliberty.about.com/b/2007/07/16/the-habeas-corpus-debate.htm

=

My Cathartic Week: May 23rd till 29th

2008-06-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

When I got back to New Brunswick from Pennsylvania the first question asked me by my friends was : "How was your weekend?"

My answer was "Cathartic." They all responded with an "Awesome!"
But in my mind it wasn't just the weekend. I was still going through what the ancient Greeks, where we got the term catharsis, as cleansing or purging. It began as a medical term but was over time used to describe an emotional balancing.

One way the Athenians went about this was through theater festivals. During the day they would watch two tragedies and then a comedy. Now when I say tragedy, I'm talking about stuff like a guy who, kills his real father without knowing it's his father, marrying his mother who is the queen of the city and having daughters from there marriage.
It's the kind of stuff Jerry Springer could only dream of!
Then a comedy afterward with satyrs parading around with huge penis'.
So from tears to laughter came a balancing. At least that was what they were shooting for. So when I told my friends that my weekend was cathartic,
I meant that it was cleansing, balancing,
a purification of my soul.

Friday - Got a lift to Philly PA from a loud and cacophonous band named Bone Dust. Made up of three women they were playing a venue in New Brunswick. After helping em load up I made mention to some of the folks there how I was planning to head to Philly Pa Friday. One of the Bone Dust women said they could give me a lift. Great news. They drop me off at a Philly venue named Disgrace Land and I started the long walk to my friends place. This was not a problem since Philadelphia is what they call a Walking City. For me that means you don't have to go far before you find a place to eat! "Hey, here's a diner. And there's a corner mom and pop store. And my gracious, it's Pats CHEESE STEAKS!!!!" I arrive at my friends and great friends I'd not seen in years who had come to reconnect, update each other face to face, and attend the East Coast OI! Fest in Allentown PA.

Saturday - Saturday morning I got up before my friends and got caffeinated, took a shower, then started to shave. When I get moody I grow hair. Over the last six months I had grown a beard. Taking it off and sharpening up the chops I thought of the inspiration for my finally cleaning myself up. But first a shot detour back to ancient Greece.
This time we'll visit Sparta.
I'm providing this info so you have an idea of my perspective on what a friend of mind said to me.
The ancient Greek City State of Sparta was in a region named Laconia.

From this we get the word Laconic, or laconic humor. These are short, to the point, statements that would cut down a man verbally. This is Way different to what I hear on TV or radio. Just a lot of shouting and cleaver verbal tricks masked as questions to shut someone up or to dishonor them.

But the real Laconic phrase shows how cleaver and insightful someone can be even if they seem like idiots to you. At least till they open there mouths.

So anyway. I had grown a big beard with no mustache. Hey, I thought I looked like a Spartan warrior but the local skins would say things like, Pedro, you look like a terrorists. "When ya gonna shave that off." or "Pedro, when ya gonna shave that shit off?"
or "Pedro, Save that shit off!"
Then one day a friend known as Eddie Shots comes along.
He sees me with the beard and drops just five words on me.

"You Look like Amish Bin-Laden."

I saw the smile on my face in the bathroom mirror as I thought of it.
I was sure he would approve my return to facial stability.
After getting dressed, came breakfast. My phone rings with the happy tone I chose for my text messages. It was from a NY Skin coming to the East Coast Oi Fest as well.

"Hey I am Sorry can't talk right now but I am a mess
but I needed to tell you
they found Eddie Shots dead in his apt last night
oh Pedro i am sorry"

Some may think a text message of this weight was crass at best. But Rich knew me enough to know that my finding out about this after walking into the venue in Allentown would have been the worst way.
I stepped outside in my friends garden. Sitting in the sun on beautiful spring day, I thought to myself, "And the world keeps on turning." It all seemed the same but it wasn't.
By sending that message I got to live with the new reality of my life
for several hours before walking into The Crocodile Rock.

I arrive at the venue after 5 pm I think. I went through the ritual of showing my ID and getting the pat down for weapons.
The place was packed and was divided over whether to look for Rich or get a beer. I decided I needed a beer or seven. After ordering I was presented with a bottle of Yuengling. This I thought strange. There were no bottles last year or the year before that.
But today I was patted down for weapons and then
given a glass hand grenade. Not just any glass hand grenade.
A glass hand grenade filled with delicious beer.
I stopped giving it any more thought when Storm Watch took to the stage.
Jeff the lead singer said that he had an intro prepared but he scrapped it. He told the crowd that a friend Eddie Shots had died and that everything he says and every song they sing is for Eddie. They went into the set and were great.
Afterward Jeff with a smile on his face asked me,
"Did I look possessed?" (as I had described him in my zine a while back.)
I said "Yea " and we touched fists.
Later I was told they didn't play stay in the closet because they didn't know if I was coming or not.
I responded with, "It's OK. I lost the 'So many men, so little time.' T-shirt and left the 'I'm not gay, I just have sex with men' one back in Jersey."
Me and Rich found each other. With a sullen look on his face he walks up to me and we wrap our arms around each other. It was the first of many long hugs for the next few long days.
I thanked Rich for sending the text. He said he knew that I had to be told as soon as possible.
Later I ran into my buddy Chris. Another friend for whom I had allowed to much time to pass with out hanging out. He was his standard drunk happy self.
He told me there were a few fights before my arrival. That was another difference from last year. The mood was chill and every skin I knew had only a thumbs up for it all. This year there was a different vibe. Chris related to me his trying to keep a bonehead from getting into a fight with a trad. One of his arguments consisted of "Dude! You spent 35 bux to come here. Have a good time!"

Chris and I caught up on things but I think he could tell something was up.
At one point he took a break from jumping up and down drunkenly to grab my write and raise it up and down. As he instructed me on pounding the air to the music he said,
"You only have one chance to be happy in life!"

One of the bands a lot of skins had traveled far to see was Ox Blood.
Before they walked out on stage the New York skinhead contingent started clapping and chanting "NYC, NYC, NYC." For some reason a smile came on my face. I guess because some sense of normality had asserted itself. There was sadness but there were good times ahead.
I ran into the singer of Ox Blood before hand and we joked about how long we've been in the scene.
"Maybe too long?" I said.
He said "Na. You can never rock too long!"
They were in great form. Unfortunately a group of Nazis started zieg hieling about 2/3rds of the way through the set.
Now for some reason NY Skinheads have no sense of humor about this.
What with living in the U.S.A. because they actually want to live hear and that half a century ago this country tried to bomb these moral idiots into the stone age.
To them Zieg Hieling is not exactly American. Go figure!
After the set this one skin roar out "Real Skins!" several times.
I could hear the fuse the Neo Nazies lit hissing away.

As we waited for the 4 Skins to come on a fight broke out. I didn't care much since these things don't usually last long. But after about 40 seconds I could see it spiral out of control. The Nazis were out numbered about 20 or 30 to one.
But for some reason these proud Aryan warriors grabbed a garbage can full of empty beer bottles and started throwing them at the trads. Why? Because apparently they subscribe to the philosophy that noble combat is arrived at by having your opponent as far away as possible!!!

After shaking my head and wondering what to do I saw a young lady more or less in the line of fire. A bottle either hit her of crashed nearby but she did not move. I stepped up the few feet between us and guided her to a safer spot. Then a bottle crashed on a pillar near me. The blood rushed to my head, my fists clenched and I realized I was Not in the mood for This BULL SHIT !
I had just found out a man I loved was dead and I was SO NOT in the mood for This BULL SHIT. Seeing one of the boneheads who was wearing a blue jacket get separated from the pack I found myself thinking how I haul ass across the no mans land of broken glass. Yea, there would be bottles thrown but no more then three would connect. Slamming into the Smerf skin I might be able to pop him in the face a few time. Then I realized I had no back up. Seeing how these skins I didn't know were occupied I suddenly realized something. "Pedro! You are going to be 49 years old next week! And you are Not getting paid for this! Where's the security?" At that point I hear the organizer of the event Craig Downtown over the PA saying, "Where the fuck is the security? What am I paying you guys for?"
My smile came back.
About 47 seconds later a brave sould with a plastic face shield runs up to and climbs over the barrier and jumps my blue jacketed post pubescent brat.
Anyway And I'll tell ya, he was as slippery as a greased up deaf guy!
He squirmed until he got loose and scurried away.
My mobile rang. My friend who drove me down asked if I was OK. "Calmly I said, "Yea I'm OK. Every things cool."
He told me that about 30 cop cars had arrived with the state police.
I said I'd explain when I saw him outside.
One of the guys who worked at the venue told me and my friend that The Four Skins would be performing tomorrow. He had an apologetic expression on his face whilt saying it.
Then he shook my hand. No seriously. He shook my hand.
I collected my friends and told them the 4 Skins would perform Sunday.
As we walked to the van behind me I listened in on the discourse over the events of the evening. I turned to them and said, "Yea, it's fucked up but for me, it was a complete day."

Sunday - No glass bottles.
And as it turned out, no static that I could see.

Eddies Band The Band of Felons, performed with out him. They felt he would have wanted this to go over well. It was all very emotional for all of us.
I just felt glad to be there.

I had gotten a call earlier in the week from a friend who had moved to Allentown.
He wanted to get together to hang out and get caught up.
I ducked into the men's room and told him I'd be out after the 4 Skins set.

So the 4 Skins come out to a cheering crowd.
The singer said how he had heared about Eddie dying. He had never met Eddie but from what he heard he seemed like a great guy. They dedicated a song to him. When they got to ACAB it was explained that the song was written about British cops. He had met the Allentown cops and found them to be good folks. So then they swung into the song with the Allentown police smiling as the crowd sang,
"A.C.A.B,
A.C.A.B,
A.C.A.B,
ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS!"

Before leaving A mutual friend of Eddies with tears in her eyes said to me,
"Would you do something for Eddie?"
I didn't understand. She repeated the request. Then said that the wake was on Tuesday and the funeral was on Wednesday. She wanted me to be present, for Eddie. I have had friends die before but as much as I cared about them there funerals were a thing I avoided. I won't go into details right now. But I realize now that my motives were selfish. I said that I would be there. She said I'd be kept informed.

After the 4 Skins set I said my good byes and stepped outside. There were several Skins talking to some folks on the roof of the Crocodile Rock asking for them to look for a friend. The description?
"He has a shaved head, a flight and side burns."
I said loud enough for all to hear, "Yea, that narrows it down!"

Waiting on the corner across the street from me were two Allentown Cops, a man and a women. They were all smiles and chatted with a few of the various punks and skins who went by. While saying good bye to yet another skin I'd not seen in years I hear the female cop call my name.
She pointed to my friend who had pulled himself out of the driver side window to get my attention. I didn't hear him so the police women volunteered to get my attention.
"I'm just louder then he is."
As I passed them and approached my friends car I looked back at the two cops and said,
"What a difference a day makes!"

The cops and I laughed. No one else present got the joke.

Monday - Barbecue with Chris, and two other Philadelphia skins Spit, and Ian. I related the scene at the show and the riot which it seemed to me had already been blown Way our of proportion.
The only thing I worried about was that the Nazis having lost the battle on Saturday may win the war by having next years OI! Fest canceled.

Tuesday - I rolled in from Philly just in time to walk to the WRSU radio station to do my show there. I talked about my week so far and played a Lot of music. Talking was tough for the first hour until I played a Wretched Ones song from there new CD "Make It Happen." The song was The Rockers: The Rockers Will Always Stick Together." Ah, Wretched Ones. They never fail to make me feel better.

Between sets songs I posted a message for a ride with the added request that I be able to change out of my grimy sweaty cut-offs.
I got a call as I walked to the New Brunswick train station.
To get to Perth Amboy I needed to switch trains at Rahway.

The sky had gotten dark with storm clouds.
I wasn't in a social mood so I took my chances with the weather
on the exposed platform while my fellow commuters huddled under the roofs near the waiting room for the train and the predicted rain.

Standing as alone as I could manage I looked up at a sky that reflected my mood at the moment. Walking slowly in a circle I spotted what seemed like a small area of blue sky through the clouds. Of course it was probably many miles across when compared to the vast urban-camo gray sky.
Being higher then it was wide the gap in the clouds seemed more like a doorway.
I just stood and stared up at that view of the wild blue. Then
two dark clouds moved slowly towards each other from either side of it like two sliding doors closing. Just before they came together hiding the wide open space behind them I said quietly "Goodbye Eddie. Goodbye."

When my opportunity came to stand by the coffin I lost it.
This wasn't something I was going to wake up from.
What was in that box looked like Eddie but it wasn't.
He was really gone.
Stepping outside through back exit there was music from a car and a small aquarium sized bottle of Jack Danial's that was being passed around by The Quad Father.
I thought I'd cried myself out but every once in a while the liquid macho would welling up in my eyes. (Yes! I call it Liquid Macho)
In the Bible it's written, "blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. I get it now.

Wednesday - I got a text from a friend in New Brunswick named Dominic.
Over a week ago we planned on hanging out on Wednesday.
I sent a text saying "Duty calls till about 11sh."
The funeral was solemn and familiar. Being raised Catholic I knew the rituals but for me it seemed empty. This was more for the family so I contributed as a gesture of respect. It was when the Bag Pipes began to play that I lost it again.
Such an ancient sound. No explanation other then that.
We followed the procession to cemetery, and with the conclusion of it all
it felt like there was still something to be done.

Thursday - I never have made plans for my birthday.
People are either at a show, a barbecue or moving. They either forget and are apologetic, or they didn't know so they give me a "Happy Birth Day! Ya fucker! Why didn't ya tell me?" That was the response from Rich who called my on Friday the 30th. I explained that the last time I saw him was at the funeral . And we all had other things on our minds.
But as it turned out it was the best birthday of my life.
I don't recall feeling more grateful. Hugging my friends
I'd just hold on to them longer then usual trying not to choke up as I said,
"I'm glad to see you."

Lessons

In life the good and the bad times can be seen as lessons. I have had troubles learning from both over the years.

One thing I have noticed is that if ya don't get the lesson the first time it seems to be re-taught only in a more blatant way. I decided to make a list of what lessons may be taken from this week.

Some things can't wait. Rich was feeling nearly overwhelmed hearing about Eddie but he took the time to make sure I knew.
There are some things that can wait of course. For example, telling you're parents you are Gay should not be done while they are driving down the NJ turnpike.

You have one chance in life to be happy. And that chance is offered every morning when you wake up.
Even if you can't manage to be happy for a minuet there's another chance the next day.

Which brings me to,

You can never know what tomorrow brings.

And finally

Hold on to each other as long as you can.

And that's been my week.

--

Labels: Social and Personal

2008-04-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

Reply to all

7:09 PM (16 hours ago)

Reply

"Be wary, guys, of the presence of polarization in discourse. There's a lot of it around lately -- Republicans versus Democrats, civilized folks versus terrorists, us versus them, etc. I've been reading the terms straight, gay, heterosexual, and homosexual here with some frequency lately, and until these are well-defined in a meaningful way, their use might well be more polarizing than productive.

If we in this group are all males that have some common bond, let's be thoughtful about the use of terms that focus on our differences. Polarized conversations aren't usually rational ones. But they sure can make feelings run a powerful course. bk"

+++++++++

Hey,
Pedro here.
First Thank You for that posting that.

For me Gay is a political term not an identity.
There is a group of people in our society who
fall in love with members of the same sex.
These people are discriminated against in a variety of ways
and are even targets of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse.
The term is one Gays came up with them selves as a way of
being able to stand togeather in the political world.

I used to be Gay but when you're Gay there are all
these meetings you have to go to,
all this furniture you have to buy,
the designer cloths to keep up with,
the Ikea catalogs to go through,
and the music sucks.
Now Sick of It All. That's a band!
Oh my God!
The "Blood, Sweat and No Tears CD it's just... um...
But I digress.
Anyway,
I've heard the word Gay used as
a description,
an identity and a put down. By "Gay" and "Straight" alike.

Today I am intermittently Gay.
As someone who believes in progress and social justice I
am committed to being available to be of service to every community
who wants it and to bring different communities together.
Outside of the social there is the personal relationship.

I had a great conversation with a new male friend
a few years back. Talking about his last girl friend
and relationships in general.

At one point I said that

"...I bond romantically and sexually with men and ..."
then I gave my perspective on relationships.

He then went off topic to mention
a friend he knows "...who's Gay..."

He immediately went to the G word.

My reasons for saying that
"I bond romantically and sexually with men."
is because it's more descriptive of the experience
I have had and want to cultivate in my life.

What bothers me are not the labels folks put on them selves but the entention behind there use of it.
If it's to discribe themselves, or to be a part of a community, or to
bring about a mostly positive effect on in the world, Bee-U-T-Full.

It's when they use a term to devide themselves from other human beings and /or to pronmoite a discriminatory attude that already exists.

Like more leftist then though Gay folks who call themselves "Queer" so thay can seperate them selves from Gay folks assimilationists because they want to get married.

Or men who want to have intimate relationships with other men
are looking for a label to add that can be used as an excuse
and a tactic to put down "Gay" men.
"You see, we don't have this kind of sex so it's not really Gay."

This taking advantage of bigoted attitudes that already there
I feel is part of the problem that Men who want to
help our society appreciate the contribution that
Male Male friendships/love can bring need to address.

Yes, my way of expressing my self is kinda clunky.
I mean "I bond romantically and sexually with men?"
What am I from the 19th century? OK...
so I do write with a fountain pen.
But that's not the issue here.

Hmmm... WHat was the issue?
Hold on while I re-read this.
Blah Blah Blah... "Gay is a political term..."
Blah Blah... ",,,Ikea catalogs..."

Oh yea, I asked my self for a while "Who am I?"
Over time I came up with the line I give now.
this may change over time again.
But for now it's what I'm comfortable with.
Weather it "works" to make myself understood without
a website and political/religious sound bites is yet to be seen.

Pedro of New Jersey.

+ + + + + + + + +

The Power of Myth in Action: A Short Essay and an Example

2008-04-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

“To understand how myths work, let’s take a look at the sub-culture of punk rock.
Punk history doesn’t need to be “remembered” (i.e., written down for everyone by the experts),
for it is all present every time a punk band plays and, drawing on a tradition longer then any of
us could possibly remember, recaptures that ageless, timeless frenzy that makes punk rock
matter in the first place. The facts and details of the past are absolutely irrelevant, and could not
themselves enable any band to do this; the band must simply recognize the timeless, crucial
element that made there predecessors music matter, and learn from them that it cannot be
caught the same way twice. All those punk history books just weigh you down, and become
obviously immaterial when a band is in front of you doing it.That passion you can still see in that
wild abandon of the best punk bands, is an ahistorical force if anything is – it isn’t something that
can be explained in terms of history and tradition: what they are drawing on is above all a
tradition of violating tradition, of breaking taboos in order to broaden the world. Thus, when it
works, the myth of the punk band that destroys and liberates through musicis
not a restrictive archetype,
not a confining “identity”,
but a model that enables action”

From “Days of War, Nights of Love; Crimethink for Beginners” 2001

+++++++++++++++++++

“OK, here's a true story.

A couple of years ago some friends of mine The Bouncing Souls, and two other bands

The Dropkick Murphy’s, and The Dwarves they were going on tour. It started in Canada.

The show starts and the kids are dancing around. And the bouncers, described as

‘football player jock types,’ were literally slamming kids on the ground because

they didn't like the way they were dancing. So the kids revolted

and literally jumped on top of these guys.

The bouncers got disgusted and left. The owner of the venue cut the power and called the cops.

So the copscome and the kids are sitting on the floor chanting‘Sham 69, Sham 69, Sham 69...’

For folks that don't know Sham 69 is a punk rock band going way back who wrote a song titled "If the Kids are United They Will Never Be Divided."

But that's to long to chant so they did

"Sham 69, Sham 69 Sham 69..."

And the cops arrive and one takes a bull horn and shouts "BE QUIET!"

Silence! Then,

‘BE QUIET, BE QUIET, BE QUIET...’

those kids started chanting ‘be quiet.’

Those kids were united by a song.

And someone from the Dropkicks said to the police ‘If you just let us play, things would be fine.’

And the cop said that if they performed they would be arrested for inciting a riot: if they sang a song, they’re inciting a riot!

The singer for the Dropkick Murphy’s went on stage and told the kids that they were going outside

and that they would perform an acoustic set in the parking lot. And that's what they did.

They went outside, they performed in the drizzle, the kids danced and sang along, and even the cops had a good time because they didn’t have to mace anyone.

But those kids knew that they had the power.

And they had a choice as to who they would give there power to.

That's what music does….”

Pedro Angel Serrano51% Positive Magazine: Issue #1

Social and Political Relationships and Friendships.

2008-03-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

"Some of these cultural differences quickly became apparent. From the Native American perspective, the significance of the [treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags] lay not in the document itself but in the exchange of gifts and speeches accompanying it, which ritually ended the enmity between the two peoples and redrew the boundaries separating them. Their new relationship was not merely a political alliance, but a spiritual realignment that brought the two peoples into a shared social network where they were bound together by mutual obligation. Shortly after the treaty was signed, passing Wampanoags started calling in at Plymouth, expecting their new friends to offer them food and accommodation. For the Pilgrims, so fearful of pollution even by their own compatriots that they had been forced to emigrate (from Europe), these casual visits by ’Savages’ seemed to transgress all the physical, cultural and religious barriers on which their sense of identity and purpose in the New World depended." -- James Wilson, The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America (Grove Press, 1999), pp. 80-81.

When I in December of 07 read the above quote
I found myself thinking about the day after next presidential election.
I found myself imagining Men and Women who believe in progress, because they had
experienced it in there lives, across the nation making a gesture to underscore that they were
making a commitment/contract/compact, to see themselves as a part of the others community.
Not that the adorable Lesbian couple visiting the the soup kitchen run bythe local church would be that unusual! But with a gesture perhaps involving the giving away of something; one onone
or as a simple public event at a park or street corner, or in churchesand temples stating that,
"We Are In this Together."

Hopefully it could draw attention the the fact that the statement "We are in this together"
besides being true is a perspective that among other things, promotes security for us all. I didn’t
expect the divisiveness in this country to evaporate over the next year.
If anything I expect it to get worse.

With the historic victory of Barak Obama in Iowa came statements underscoring the historic significance of the moment.Then the proud pronouncements of how The United States had progressed.These were finally followed by the analysis of reporters and pundits; "Now it’s going to get ugly."
It has.
And I feel it’s going to get worse.

Between now and the election I’ll be thinking about and formulating/developing/composing,
ome kind of personal out reach to communities who have embraced for what ever reason the
"Global warming is a plot, evolution is JUST a theory, schools should be a for profit enterprise,
marriage should be defined as between a man and a women, immigrants are themselves the
problem, Muslims want to kill me, ..."(You get the idea I hope) and make a "We are in this together." statement.

I think it would be easier for folks to accept as a truth of "We are in this together." statement then the, "This Homosexual Skinhead of Puerto Rican decent with HIV is
family."statement.Although...after a year of thinking about it and developing relationships
ya never know what I may come up with.

Pedro

Anniversary Haiku

2008-03-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

War on terror ends

Beating them at there own game

That was how we lost

Pedro Angel Serrano[14th March 02008]

Winter to Spring to....

2008-03-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

Crocuses blooming

Green Daffodil leaves growing

Two cold calloused hands

[Pedro Angel Serrano 02-09th-02008]

When I saw the crocus bulbs I planted yet again
piercing the leaves of the past AutumnI thought to myself
yet again,
“But it’s not yet spring.”

I used to see the Vernal Equinox as the start of spring but
in the Japanese tradition the Vernal Equinox is not the start of spring but springs peak.

Look at it this way.
The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year.
From that day onward the days begin to grow longer.
Winter begins to wane and spring asserts itself more and more.

This is in keeping with the Taoist view expressed in the Yin Yang symbol.
The circular image with one dark form and one light has a spot of the opposite color in each. If you don’t know what it looks like, just do a Google image search.

The dark area is referred to as Yang (Man, Light, Out Going, Sun, Mountain Top) and the light is Yin (Female, Dark, Inward Going, Moon, River Valley.)

It is said that the Yin Yang symbol developed after a pre Taoist mystic sat and observed a hill from dawn till dusk. In the morning one side of the hill was illuminated while the other was in shade. As the day progressed that which was in shadow was in the sunshine while the other side was dark.

People in the West tend to separate both Yin and Yang.
Yet neither Yin nor Yang can exists with out the other except as an abstraction.

The lit candle on the window during the day is Yin to the Sun.
When the Sun sets the candle is yang and the stars are yin.
When the moon rises the candle is again Yin and the Full Moon is yang.

From this perspective on the day of the Vernal Equinox Spring is yang: dominant,
while summer is Yin. After that day the summer grows more Yang as spring becomes more Yin.

Nothing exists with out its correlative “opposite.”
We exist in a reality composed of
a unity of difference.

Polar principles

Ingredients in what’s real

Hot coffee, Cold milk

[Pedro Angel Serrano Jr. 3-10th-02008]

2008-01-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

22nd, of January 02008
1:43 pm

Up at 7:59 am. HAd an appointment with the head Dr. at 8:30.
So I shut off the alarm and went back to sleep intending to get upin 15 minuets.
Fifteen mimuets later the far to loud door bell is rung.
I get up pull up my pants in as dignified a manner while rushing at the same time.
Wanted to get to the door befor it it was pressed into sounding off again.
I failed of course.
There answering my prayer to get up in time was the women who came tocheck the gas meter.
Got layered up and headed out for my appointment, the sun facing me as I walked eastward. The redish rays
pouring into my eyes.
I wondered what the lizard like fragment buried at the core of my brian was responding to this.
It was the closest to my seeing a sunrise in a few years.
During my chat with the counsoler the word "mindfullness" was mentioned.
Been hearing and reading that term mentioned a lot for the last 4 days.
Been a state of awareness I have been trying to cultivate for years now.
"Mindfullness": The hot heads holy grail.
Two meinuets left before I step away from this entry and get focused on todays radio broadcast.
Last night, someones 21st birthday: arrive in time for a gane of four square, while the beastie boys provide the soundtrack,
then off to the bar to arrive one minuet before midnight.
Good times hanging out while I discuss concepts of chilvary with a friend.
Followed by,
Hanging later with the birthday contingent.
A few concerned looks from friends.
I think I need to snap out of this moodiness.
"Are you feeling OK." I say ,
"Yea, I'm good."
and am feeling better though distracted.
I say my goodnights explaining I need to get up at 8:30.

"Cool," Tony responds.
"I'll be sure to make a lot of noise when we get back."

"Don't forget to flash the lights on and off a lot." I advise.

Wednesday 23rd of January 02008 1:34 pm

Started a new routine yesterday to wake myself up.
Used to get up dressed and make some coffee.
Now
I wake up get dressed and leave to a friend's place
where I have coffee.

Not much but the break in routine has improved my mood.
It also fulfills the request made by said buddies who missed the presence
of my nekid ass in the morning.

Last week began reading "Blood Clots in the Mainstream; Selected Tour Journals From the Snake-Pit of Punk Rock Retail" by a Mr. Rob Santello.

The book is a collection of journal entries and transcriptions of stream of consciousness observations
made into a tape recorder, e-mails and a couple of mailed and and unmailed letters.
These were made while Rob was selling merchandise for the band The Bouncing Souls in the the autumn of 1997 to the autumn of 1999.
It's a fun read and Rob develops his writing style quickly.
It also proves that the more you write the better a writer you become.
Only if your're a writer of course.

I found myself stopping my reading so as to savor for a a few mimuets at least the descriptions Mr. Santello comes up with. They are as illuminating as
a wooden match in a dark loud bar followed by the fragrance of sulpher.
I think it's still in print and was put out by Chunksaah Records: www.chunksaah.com.

This past Sunday I began reading "The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" by a Mr. Eckhart Tolle.
This text is helping me to get focused although I'll be buying several colored pens to do some editing out of a bit of New Age Bull Shit that has already sprung up.
As an example
on page 20, the author states that mindfulness as well as making you more alert
"...also raises the vibrational frequency of the energy field that gives life to the physical body."
There is to my knowledge no Vibrational Frequency Energy Field Monitor.
(Nor a Vibrational Frequency Energy Field Detector, Scanner, or Analyzer.) However,
it is not just that no Energy Field that gives life to the physical body has ever been proven empirically.
It's it has not been proven and there are people
that truly believe that it exists!
I refer to this as the belief in "Positive False-hoods".
My personal experience has shown that believing in things that are not true,
even things that seem positive, good, or complimentary,
lead to mostly negative results.
It does have good advice for developing a sense of "Mindfulness": being aware of how you are feeling,
why you're feeling that way and being conscious of the moment you are in, instead of
dwelling on the past.

A buddy in jail sent it to me and he says it has helped him a lot.
However, to say tell me to accept something I cannot prove for myself like, the Earth revolving around the sun, global warming, or that Ron Paul is an android programmed to conquer the planet is asking too much from a person living in the twenty-first century.

Saturday, 26th of January, 2008

One of the things,... OK,
Two of the things I’ll be Talking about Tomorrow: Sun 27th of Jan 08.

I'll be on the air from 2 till 4 PM on CLICK RADIO at http://www.hearnewbrunswick.com

Read article below and then Check Out The Never Get Busted!!! Website link.
http://www.nevergetbusted.com.

Caught with a Bag of Weed? It Could Cost You More Than You Think

By Paul Armentano,
AlterNetPosted on January 26, 2008, Printed on January 26, 2008 http://www.alternet.org/story/74511/

What's the current price for a bag of weed? According to the latest figures from the FBI, the human cost is roughly 739,000 a year.That's the number of American citizens arrested in 2006 for possessing small amounts of pot. (Another 91,000 were charged with marijuana-related felonies.) The figure is the highest annual total ever recorded, and is nearly double the number of citizens busted for pot fifteen years ago.Those arrested face a multitude of consequences, primarily determined by where they live. For example, most Californians charged with violating the state's pot possession laws face little more than a small fine. By contrast, getting busted with a pinch of weed in Ohio will cost you your driver's license for at least six months. Move to Texas -- well, now you're looking at a criminal record and up to 180 days in jail. Or if you happen to be a first-time offender, possibly a stint in court-mandated 'drug rehab' (one recent study reported that nearly 70 percent of all adults referred to Texas drug treatment programs for weed were referred by the courts), probation, and a hefty legal bill. And don't even think about getting busted in Oklahoma, where a first time conviction for minor pot possession can net you up to one year in jail, or up to ten years if you're found guilty of a second offense. Thinking of growing your own? That'll cost you a $20,000 fine, and -- oh yeah -- anywhere from two years to life in prison.Yes, you read that right -- life in prison.Of course, not everyone busted for weed receives jail time. But that doesn't mean that they don't suffer significant hardships stemming from their arrest -- including (but not limited to): probation and mandatory drug testing, loss of employment, loss of child custody, removal from subsidized housing, asset forfeiture, loss of student aid, loss of voting privileges, and the loss of certain federal welfare benefits such as food stamps.And yes, some offenders do serve prison time. In fact, according to a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are incarcerated for marijuana offenses. In human terms, this means that there are now about 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates behind bars for violating marijuana laws. (The report failed to include estimates on the percentage of inmates incarcerated in county jails for pot-related offenses.)In fiscal terms, this means that taxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison pot offenders.Yet this billion dollar price tag only estimates the financial costs on the 'back end' of a marijuana arrest. The criminal justice costs to taxpayers -- such as the man-hours it takes a police officer to arrest and process the average pot offender -- on the 'front end' is far greater, with some economists estimating the financial burden to be in upwards of $7 billion a year. Naturally, as the annual number of pot arrests continues to increase (according to the latest FBI data, marijuana arrests now constitute 44 percent of all illicit drug arrests), these costs are only going to grow larger.There are alternatives, of course -- options that won't leave this sort of human and fiscal carnage in its wake, and that won't leave entire generations believing that the police are an instrument of their oppression rather than their protection.'Decriminalization,' as first recommended to Congress in 1972 by President Nixon's National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, called for the removal of all criminal and civil penalties for the possession, use, and non-profit distribution of cannabis. Such a policy, if adequately implemented, would eliminate the bulk of the human and fiscal costs currently associated with enforcing pot prohibition.A second option, 'regulation,' would also significantly slash many of society's prohibition-associated fiscal and human costs. Legalizing the commercial sale and use of cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol, with state-mandated age controls and pot sales restricted to state-licensed stores, could also potentially raise billions of added dollars in tax revenue while simultaneously bringing an end to the more egregious and adverse black-market effects of the plant's criminalization -- such as the production of pot by criminal enterprises and its clandestine cultivation on public lands.Would either option be perfect? No, probably not. ('Decriminalization,' for instance, might indirectly encourage pot use; 'regulation' might not entirely eliminate the black market sales of pot.) But how can continue with the status quo? Since, 1990, law enforcement have arrested over 10 million Americans -- more than the entire population of Los Angeles county -- on pot charges. Yet, according to federal figures, both marijuana production and use are rising. Isn't it time we began looking at ways to address the marijuana issue that move beyond simply arresting and prosecuting an inordinate amount of otherwise law-abiding Americans? Or must we wait until another 10 million citizens are arrested before our state and federal politicians find the courage to begin this discussion?Paul Armentano is the deputy director for NORML and NORML Foundation in Washington, DC.© 2008 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/74511/

Pedros PArental Advisory

2007-12-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Another Year another rage killing/suicide.
Another chance for news anchors interview witness' and ask,
"...and how did you feel?"

A few years back I was having a conversation with a friend I'd not seen in a while. After a pause he changed the subject and asked,
"Pedro, do you ever have violent thoughts?"
I responded with "Oh Hell yea!"

He told me how in his younger days he'd imagine taking his fathers gun to shoot out the street lights.
"Someone would call the cops and there I'd be, with a gun in my hands."
Niether one of us mentioned the shooting at Columbine High School a few months back. We didn't have to because we both knew that we both understood.

I remember when the campaigne to put "Parental Advisory; Explicit Lyrics" warning stickers on record albums was in full swing.
On the Oprah show Tipper Gore said,
"Parents aren't tuned in to what there children are hearing."
I thought to myself,
"Damn! She came so close."
It's not that there parents aren't tuned in to what there kids are hearing. There not tuned into the emotional lives there kids are living.

The Anti Heroes "You Can't Kill The Blues With a Gun"

Monday morning can't open my eyes
cause everyone's looking for me
My life's no longer a seven day weekend cause
I'm still asleep on my feet
Wanna stay on top of your life
you got to try as hard as you can
But all you got is another struggle
and no one's gonna lend you a hand

[ Chorus ]
- You can't kill the blues with a gun, you gotta find the strength to stand
You just gotta keep your eyes straight ahead, walk on like a man -

Chaos all around.
No one can stop us cause tonight we're back on the piss.
If it ends up in jail or it ends up in blood, that's the way life is.
I'm not the one who cleans up after, somehow its always done.
Spend your life worrying about, you're not gonna have any fun.

[ Chorus ]
- You can't kill the blues with a gun, you gotta find the strength to stand
You just gotta keep your eyes straight ahead, walk on like a man -

No ones gonna tell you when you're doing right,
They tell you when you're doing wrong.
As long as they keep themselves shut up, we'll keep carrying on.
The aching burning self is on my back again.
You better look for something good and enjoy it while you can
Album: That's Right
Artist Anti Heroes
Date: 1985

What today are refered to as "school shooting" and "Rage Killings"
have been taking place for at least one-hundred years.
They were usually something that happened in rural areas and involved an adolecent male breaking up with a girl friend. There was no Fox or CNN to
spread the news across the planet.
What goes through my mind now is how the news industry
will tro to "cover" this "story" while trying to not encourage some other
rage filled kid. Meanwhile I'll watch adults blame everything they can
except the thing they are watching.

Here's My Parental Advisory. Talk to Your kids!

2007-11-20T12:08:00.000-08:00

I'm 48 years of age.
Yea, I know I don't look it. I owe it all to clean living and quality beer!
The riots at The Stonewall Inn took place when I was 10 years old.
It was the day Gays in the United States said out loud, "We don't have to take this shit any more!"
Gregory Flood in his book "I'm Looking For Mr. Right, But I'll Settle For Mr. Right Away" discribed it as "The first great idea we ever had." But that was in 1969.

What great ideas have we had since? Well, for me I remember decades of living in a country where Gay folks walked down the streets of this country in fear.
What do I see today?
Gay Folks walking down the streets in fear.

Back in the 1990's a young Lesbian Rutgers University student related this story.She was walking down the street of the main campus.Suddenly she see's a straight female friend she had not seen in months. They run up to each other and hug. Talking a mile a minuet she says there's a class to attend.
So they exchange contact information.
As she walks away she says loud enough to be heard across the street, "Call me, cause I love you!" As she heads to class she see's her girl friend! What a great day this is turning out to be. They walk up to each other and shake hands. This women realized later that there was no need for her to not kiss and hug hur girl friend.
She realized she was living on automatic pilot. Fear is one reason humans are not extinct yet.Our ancestors lived in savage chaotic time.
There was little time to reason out a threat.
It was "Get your hairy neanderthal ass away from the saber tooth bear NOW!!!"
Over time they developed leasure time to perfect there technology, tell stories, and develope a human culture.

OK, now before I go any further you need to know why what I am about to relate is not a message you hear much.

It's in part because a substantial number of Gay Men of my generation are dead. AIDS took out of this world Men and Gay Women who would be thrilled to be living in these times. They would think back on the way things were in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. When I wake up and see that I am not strapped to a table about to have my testicles cut off I think, Damn! This is the start to a good day!"
OK, Now my point.

It's OK to be afraid from time to time.It means you are awake.
But if your fear is an irrational terror that prevents you from expressing
your positive power in the world then the effect is a more fearfull world.
It's when Gay Folks before and after Stonewall found them selves fearing
less that they expressed that fearlessness in the cival rights and feminist movements.
The fearless are compassionate.The fearless are changing the world for the better as you read this.
Closeted or "Out" you are free when you are fearless.

But what to do when your feeling fearless?

One option is to look inward and find what is important to you.
Back in the 1980's Right Wing activists talked about the Gay Agenda.
The responce from "Queer" activists was out rage."How dare they think we are plotting to recruit children."My response was "Gay Agenda? I Wish!"

Since the Bisexual Gay Male, Lesbian, and Trans Communities are so diverse what kind of agenda can we agree on?
How about less suffering in general in the world?
Simple, to the point and geared to helping every one who suffers.
It can get complicated on some issues.
But if we look to each of the communities giving to there members the respect we expect in return then I believe a concensus can be reached.

I vollenteer at WBAI 99.5 fm where they have a
Gay radio program called Out-FM. I set up a My Space page for them and post stuff on there BLOG.

There web site is www.outfm.org.

Check em out and think about what matters to you.
Then embrace that.
As a citizen of the United States you have an awcome power to make things better for others.

Perhaps you can inspire others to be less fearfull.

Pedro Angel Serrano

2007-11-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I was as is my routine
watching the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.
They had a segment on wounded solders
from Iraq and Afghanistan. It was one of a continuing
series they have been doing on how the U.S. government
has and has not been giving the wounded vets what they need.

At one point during the segment as they showed a paralyzed solider being
turned over he screamed out the word, "NO!"
It was a symptom of his brain damage. Friends watching it were pained
upon hearing it. What came to my mind at that moment was,
what would it take to become
a physical therapist; how much time in school, what would it cost, could I get a grant for it.
The reason I was suddenly
thinking about utterly changing my life was that I wanted to help.
That's not just who I am. It's what millions of Americans are.
People who want to help.
It's what millions of Americans where thinking and feeling at the same time I was.
"I want to help."

Here's a suggestion a friend re-posted on My Space.
It's simple and something you can do before of shopping for bargains on "Black Sunday."
Perhaps it will put you in a better mind set as you
navigate the crowds in the malls.

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year,
please include the following:
A Recovering American soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington ,D.C. 20307-5001

If you approve of the idea, please pass it on to your e-mail list

Pedro

What is a hero?

2007-11-11T16:05:00.001-08:00

... Willem Arondeus, was a Dutch homosexual who led a gay resistance group against the Nazis .

... Willem was an artist and writer who lived mostly in poverty with his younger lover Jan. Willem organized a group made up of mostly gay men one of whom was a tailor. This tailor made "costumes" that resembled police uniforms. Donning these "uniforms" the group was allowed to enter a government records office and, after tranquilizing the guards and moving them to a safe place, the group set fire to the building. The building held thousands of files of Jews and others that were marked for deportation to death camps. This action delayed the deportation and in some cases actually saved the lives of many that the Nazis had marked for death but had not yet rounded up. Someone betrayed Willem and his group and a few months later most were executed.
Before Willem was executed, Willem said "Let the world know that homosexuals are not cowards".

Exhibit to honor Gay American Heroes

A group of LGBT activists (including Scott Hall, Frank Kameny, US Representative Barney Frank and Amazing Race winner Chip Arndt) are working towards the creation of a memorial to victims of anti-gay hate crimes.

The effort, Gay American Heroes, aims to "honor and remember LGBT victims of hate crimes" while also seeking to increase awareness about violent crimes against LGBT people. The exhibit will show pictures of hate crime victims, along with their names and stories, on a 100 foot long display of rainbow colored panels. The exhibit is meant to travel and be displayed in college campuses, gay pride events and other communities.
It will include interactive elements including an "Adopt-A-Hero" program that will send a card to friends and family of the Hero, letting them know that their loved one has not been forgotten. Visitors will also be able to submit the name of a friend, family member or lover who was lost to a hate crime or print out information about one of the exhibit's Heroes to take home.
More information about the project can be found at the Foundation's website:http://www.gayamericanheroes.com/

The exhibit hopes to be completed in December.The power of an exhibit like this is that it makes people see hate crime victims as people, rather than statistics. By hearing stories of the Heroes, strained claims that adding LGBT people to hate crime protections will stifle the free speech of anti-gay activists lose their power. I'm reminded of Lavender Liberal's video tribute to Hate Crime victims, which made it hard not to see the tragedy of all these lives interrupted by intolerance, a powerful message.Meanwhile, a similar effort is being spearheaded by Pam's House Blend contributor TerranceDC. He is writing Wikipedia entries on hate crime victims, to make sure those stories are easily found and can be referenced in debating hate crime legislation. As always, humanizing the issue and showing that it has happened to people they could imagine knowing and loving is a very potent argument.

How Walls Are Built.

2007-10-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

What follows is a thread I started on a networking site (www.tribe.com).
The people who responded to my initial post were members of a "Tribe" called Rainbow Racism. They were a group of Bisexual, Gay Male, Lesbian, and Trans People of Color who were interested in discussing issues around racism in the "Queer" communities.

My reason for sharing this is because what followed was a very use-full discussion that revealed issues I have heard before from Gay People of Color but never seemed to make it to the broader Activist communities.

Pedro Angel Serrano

=============================

May 20, 2005 - 05:40 PM

How walls are built.

The names Pedro and I'm a homosexual man of
Puerto Rican decent. I'll be 46 in a week and a day.
In New Jersey I've been doing radio program for the Bisexual, Gay Male,
Lesbian and Trans communities for over a decade.
A few years ago I started producing for another progressive
Queer radio show. This collective is small right now but
we're in the middle of a campaign to get more members.
The white male members are especially concerned with diversity.
As a step towards developing a relationship with the local communities of color, fliers were made and sent out to local community groups asking that they let us know of any events that they were going to do.
An announcement came from a queer Asian group about there fund raising event. The member of the collective whose job was to receive these announcements didn't want to announce it on the show.
I asked why. He said "Because it's competition."
The Queer Asian group was putting on a beauty contest. No seriously.
That's why he didn't want to announce this event by a queer Asian group to raise money for Tsunami relief. It was for TSUNAMI RELIEF !!!
He disapproved of an event that promoted competition as well as "...reinforced a narrow definition of beauty."
I asked why he felt the need "...to be judgmental." He said he felt we
"...had every right to be judgmental." I was starting to get hot under the collar.
I won't go into the arguments I gave. The announcement did go over the air but it was just read. No production treatment was made for it though.
I want to point out that this man defines himself as a "radical-queer."
He is not a racialist. But if that announcement had not gone over the air due to the political dogma of a group of (at the time) mostly white gay men, would that have seemed racist? I think it would have.
I've noticed over the last 5 years how a lot of intelligent, committed, and
passionate white gay activists unknowingly build walls between themselves and communities of color, not over racism but through dogma.

reply to this post

+

May 21, 2005 - 02:18 PM
Alexandra

Re: How walls are built.

>> The white male members are especially concerned with diversity.

I've been there, another place, another time, another radio
station. They seem to be surprised that communities of color and
women's communities aren't running to join their club, be it "progressive", "radical" or whatever dogma they impose.

Reply to this post

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May 21, 2005 - 02:22 PM
Michael

Re: How walls are built.

As a person of color I notice at "Radical" events there are certain
things that might inadvertently reduce the number of people of color
participating --like an event being scent or deodorant free, or
serving only vegan food.
In your situation Pedro, if the group in question was one of a small handful of people of color putting on events, it might be perceived as racist. Otherwise, if word got around about why its event was rejected, it would still make your organization look bad--petty and overly dogmatic. Sometimes I wonder why the left often seems to lack an organizational pragmatism ("we don't want to work with them---they wear leather!"), which prevents it from really building
success full infrastructures and coalitions.

Reply to this post

May 21, 2005 - 02:27 PM
Alexandra

Re: How walls are built.

good examples too, Michael.

reply to this post

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May 21, 2005 - 02:30 PM
Alexandra

Re: How walls are built.

I have explained to groups like that that their process is enforcing their own privilege and they get defensive. Like their group/institution isn't NBC or Time/Warner so how could they have privilege.

reply to this post

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May 21, 2005 - 03:22 PM
-robin

Re: How walls are built.

having a scent free environment is for the ever increasing number of people for whom chemical scents make them sick. I have a few friends like this who put a lot of work into things, but their chemical sensitivities are such that a person wearing scents
(especially perfumes and colognes)
can cause asthma attacks
and migraines. studies show that these scents are also responsible for
emotional outbursts in people and for triggering worse ADD behaviors.
chemical scents can also aggravate fibromyalgia and CFS and IBS.
if POC will not attend an event because of this "dogma" which is
all about making the space safer and healthier for participants I
cannot understand why? also what is wrong with vegan food?
I know lots of POC who are also vegan. i have not generally met many POC who hate vegetables. vegan just makes it accessible to all. making the event such that you can never bring in your own food (including mea or dairy, especially half and half) goes too far i think, but supplying a simple basic common denominator food like vegan food, that pretty much everyone can eat, seems to make sense to me.

-robin

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Monique
Re: How walls are built.

robin--
We could sit here all day and debate the utility of creating scent
free/ meat free/ dairy free/ organic only, etc. spaces. But prior posts are apt to point out that these types of
spaces bear a symbolism that is often distinctly construed as white and privileged. "Vegan" is associated with much more than eating habits; it's symbolic of elitist culture.
This is a very interesting discussion.

How do organizations employ cultural relativism without compromising
their core values?

Reply to this post

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May 21, 2005 - 10:24 PM
angel

what is the sound...
of a nail being hit on the head?
Because I just heard it.
Monique, thanks for saying this so succinctly. I was trying to figure out how to say it correctly without resorting to stereotyping. I try to be empathetic to those folks who want to/need to have things a certain way, but honestly I see it as more exclusionary than not. i personally don't know too many poor vegans or other poc who don't at least have a snort for the scent free ideology. Seriously though, when it comes down to holding space for one group without pissing off another, well....maybe, um, compromise IS the answer? scent-free areas? vegan options? Everybody not being so uptight? I don't know maybe I am starry-eyed just suggesting such a thing...

reply to this post

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May 22, 2005 - 02:55 PM
Michael

Re: what is the sound

kudos to Monique for her eloquence.
I totally agree there is room for compromise on all these issues. When it comes to scents: have a scent free area, encourage people to use natural scents, encourage those who don't wear scents to bathe, etc. When it comes to food, have vegan, vegetarian & meat dishes. Also, make sure whoever is cooking the vegan dishes knows how to cook--there are plenty of Indian, Mediterranean, and Asian vegan dishes that are plenty good--bulgur tofu loaf with parsley probably
won't cut it.

Reply to this post

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May 24, 2005 - 11:54 AM
Pedro Serrano

Re: what is the sound

I think understanding is a painful process. I'm looking for any suggestions
that can make it less painful for progressives
to do some self examination.

reply to this post

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May 24, 2005 - 06:31 PM
Monique

Re: what is the sound

Hey Pedro,
If you have a few groups in mind that would like to work collaboratively
with your cooperative, maybe orchestrating some sort of panel
discussion between members could help elicit self examination, and
determine ways of promoting that are beneficial to everyone.
BTW, thanks Angel and Michael for your responses to my post.
Glad to see others feel the same way.

Reply to this post

+

The Thread ended there.

So, when does compromise become being compromised?
How do organizations employ cultural relativism without
compromising their core values?

How conscious are we of our priorities?

When do our politically correct values come between us and those
we want to be of service too?

I know that some of the folks reading this will take up the discussion.
It won’t happen over night but I can see a future where people who know social progress is possible, will go beyond forging a common language for themselves and learn the skills necessary to translate our human values and ethics, to help move us all forward.

Pedro Angel Serrano

Respond to This Article.

2007-10-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

Compromise With Out Being Compromised? "Old Man Pedro" Angel Serrano

Bayard Rustin philosophical mentor to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who with out e-mail, cell phones, or My Space, organized of The March on Washington, and described by Maya Angelo as "A great hero of the civil rights movement." said "Activism is about no compromise. Politics is all about compromise."
He was not being judgemental.
He was describing his experience .

I heard it once, and new it to be a truth, what with having been involved in activism since my late teens, I came to know that "No Compromise" is the essence of the activist mind.
Mr. Rustins statement also made it easier for me to like politicians. Well, it made me recognise what a good politician was; someone who could compromise, without being compromised.
Recently during a conversation about activism a friend said it was also a description of a "good person." I agreed.
But what to do with an activist turned politician?
My first questions would be,
"Is this compromise equal to being compromised?
Is it compromising the communities the activist turned politician represents?"
A recent activist post by a Mr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson on the Huffington Post revealed these numbers; "In 1996, 65 percent of blacks were opposed to gay marriage. A decade later a Pew Forum poll found that 64 percent of blacks still vehemently opposed it."
Why no real progress in understanding in the African American community? There is a long list of things I have no direct control over. Since I can't speak to Black clergy about there scriptural interpretations I don't see a point to discussing it. I acknowledge it then move on to those things I have control over. Myself and how I communicate as an activist.

Barak Obama began as an activist with the "No Compromise" spirit. But as a politician he must now struggle with the goal of compromising with out becoming compromised.
This Sunday he faces this challenge and in my opinion has gotten little to no help from his staff or from Gay activists.

The cry of "No Compromise" has manifested in the ultimatum of banning a Black Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin who has expressed his personal beliefs that Gays are not Gods "intention".
Why God insists on continuing to crank out more Gay folks is an interesting question raised, but for now, I think a better one would be how to compromise on the upcoming Gospel concert on the 28th with out compromising the Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Inuit, etc...Communities.

My idea is to not drop, ban, or censor Mr. McClurkin but to simply balance out the bill by having three Out Gay Gospel performers for every One performer who has publicly expressed anti Gay sentiments.
Why three to one? Ummm...
There's a Lot of catching up to do folks!
There's a Lot of educating the African American Community has been denied.
Yes, denied.
Here's those interesting stats again.
"In 1996, 65 percent of blacks were opposed to gay marriage.
A decade later a Pew Forum poll found that 64 percent of blacks still vehemently opposed it."
Why such a glacial shift in acceptance?
In part it's because to many Gay activists either don't know how to communicate the links between the struggles of the Gay Communities and the African American Communities. Another is the lack of imagination they demonstrate. Someone says something, well... stupid, suddenly freedom of speech is no longer an absolute.
That's for another post.
But as I type I'm listening to a CD by Lavender Light: The Black and People of All Colors Lesbian Gay Gospel Choir. The song now is "There is Room Enough." It never fails to bring up the "Liquid Macho" in my eyes.
"There is room enough in Paradise to have a home in glory."
That is the message the audience needs to hear from Gay men and women who look like them.
Love all.

Rev. Pedro Angel Serrano

Advice For Barak Obama

2007-10-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

So now Barak Obama is in hot water with Gay activists.

Acording to the re-post below "A gay rights group on Monday urged Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to cut ties with a gospel singer who they say spreads false information about gays and lesbians...."
My advice is this: If enough people repost this, some body who knows some body, who knows some body who knows some body, who knows some body who knows some body, who knows some body who knows some body, who knows some body who knows some body, will know some body who knows some body that had sex with somebody the knows Barak Obama will get this.
So here's my advice.
For every homophobic singer the Obama Campaigne has on the roster. They should have no less then Three Out Gey performers sharing the bill. Freedom of speach I feel is an absolute and kicking someone off the bill for what they think is wrong. If this gospel singer was homophobic and selling crystel meth to the Gay community then throw him off and send him to jail. But being stupid may not be a right but expressing it is.

"Old Man Pedro" Angel Serrano
From Ontopmag.comTo Obama: Drop singer from tourGay Rights Group Urges Democrat Barack Obama to Cut Gospel Singer From Campaignconcert TourANN SANNERAP NewsOct 22, 2007 18:35 EDTA gay rights group on Monday urged Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to cut ties with a gospel singer who they say spreads false information about gays and lesbians.Donnie McClurkin is among several gospel singers scheduled to raise money for the Illinois senator at a concert in South Carolina this weekend.McClurkin has drawn attention from gay rights activists for his views on homosexuality."I don't believe that it is the intention of God," McClurkin said Monday in a telephone interview.McClurkin said he does not believe in discriminating against homosexuals. "What people do in their bedrooms and who they are as human beings are two different things," he said.Obama's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment."We strongly urge Obama to part ways with this divisive preacher who is clearly singing a different tune than the stated message of the campaign," Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, said in a statement.At a forum on gay issues in August, Obama argued that civil unions for same-sex couples wouldn't be a "lesser thing" than marriage. Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, which supports gay marriage, but Obama has yet to go that far.In a telephone interview Monday, Besen said he admired Obama, but wasn't ready to endorse him, especially considering McClurkin taking part in the campaign's "Embrace the Change" concert tour."
I think he'd be a great president. But I think it's going to drive away support from people who are on the fence such as myself," Besen said.McClurkin, a Grammy Award winner, performed at the Republican National Convention in 2004.

Happy "Islamo-Facism Awareness Week"

2007-10-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

You Know You're Being Manipulated
When a new buzz word/Sound-Bite is being marketed.

So it's my pleasure to announce the new term you're going to have blasted at you a LOT between now and November of 08. "Islamo-Facism"

The use of the word "Islam" is supposed to refer to the basis for terrorists principles.
As if you can find reasons for shooting doctors in the Bible. Oh wait. You can.
The word "Fascist" is to refer to "There" system of government.

But what is Fascism anyway? Well for me it's in part a leader who acquires more and more power over time by instilling fear in the population, suppresses opposition and criticism and emphasizes an aggressive nationalism and racism. I know that all sounds familiar to a lot of folks reading this.

Personally I don't like to use the word Fascism. It is linked to a specific time and place in world history. I prefer to use the word authoritarian. It's more about a way of thinking. Also it has a lot of syllables. A lot of folks seem to think you know what you're talking baout if you use big words.

Anyway this term has been tested out for about a year now and it seems to stick in folks heads. So now the big marketing push is under way.

I know this because a friend sent me the post below.

Leftists all over the country are going to start complaining...
Oops... I mean protesting the National Islamo-Facism Roll Out Tour.
I personally expect them to screw it up and just help promote it
by seeming to be against free speech.

The statement below,
"We stand for free speech, not hate speech." it just another sound-bite term to justify shouting people down or prevent them from talking.

Maybe events revealing how free speech in the US has been comproomised, how the Patriot Act has been abused by spying on U.S citizens, and how the power of the Presidency has been increased to levels never before seen in the history of this nation.

They could title it "Fighting Fascism Abroad and at Home."
Hmmm...
I like that.
The Neo-Cons will end up doing it first.

RE: Speak Out Against "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"

Action Alert endorsed by Jamaat al-Muslimeen
Take Action: Speak Out Against "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"
Anti-Islam Jewish Zionist and Christian Zionist Groups Swing into Action
[Check the list of hate mongers and propagandists at the end of this post.]

During the week of October 22-26, 2007, right-wing and neo-conservative political forces led by the David Horowitz Freedom Center are calling for "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" events on campuses across the U.S. (for a list of campuses and speakers, see below).

While some people might dismiss the neo-conservatives as fringe elements who don't impact on U.S. policy, the truth is much more disturbing. They are part of an alliance of forces that work to maintain the war against Iraq, escalate the standoff with Iran into military conflict, and cement Israel's hold on the occupied Palestinian territories and violations of Palestinian human rights through a system of apartheid rule.

The stakes are simply too high to ignore, and we should respond to the so-called "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" - and to all such provocations - pro-actively, not defensively.

To learn more about the forces driving this agenda, read "Understanding Why Islamophobia is on the Rise," the analysis by Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, and member of the U.S. Campaign's steering committee.

By defending basic freedoms of thought, speech and belief, we underscore three simple messages:

We stand for free speech, not hate speech.

We stand for tolerance, not bigotry.

We stand for education, not demagoguery.

SPEAK OUT FOR FREE SPEECH, TOLERANCE, AND EDUCATION!

This is the list of the most active Islam haters and bigots active in America who are irresponsibly pouring out a steady stream of lies, abuse and disinformation about Islam.

"Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" speakers and venues:

Berkeley -- Nonie Darwish, October 22
Brown -- Robert Spencer, October 24
Cal Poly -- Greg Davis, October 25
Cal State Fullerton -- Nonie Darwish
Clemson -- Mike Adams, October 25
Columbia -- Phyllis Chesler, Ibn Warraq, Christina Hoff Sommers
Columbia -- Sean Hannity, David Horowitz, October 26
DePaul -- Robert Spencer, October 25
Emory -- David Horowitz, October 24
George Mason -- Luanah Saghieh, Alan Nathan, October 22
Lawrence Univ. -- Jonathan Schanzer
Maryland -- Michael Ledeen
Michigan -- David Horowitz, October 23
Northeastern -- Daniel Pipes, October 24
Ohio State -- David Horowitz, October 25
Penn -- Rick Santorum, October 24
Penn State -- Rick Santorum, October 23
Rhode Island -- Robert Spencer, October 24
San Francisco State -- Melanie Morgan, October 24
Stanford -- Wafa Sultan
Temple -- Rick Santorum, October 24
Tulane -- Ann Coulter, October 22
UC Santa Barbara - Dennis Prager, October 25
UC Irvine -- Ann Coulter
UCLA -- Nonie Darwish, October 24
UCLA -- Frank Pastore, John Ziegler
USC -- Ann Coulter, October 25
Virginia -- Frank Gaffney
Washington -- Kirby Wilbur
Washington -- Michael Medved, October 25
Wisconsin -- David Horowitz, October 22

Historian David Carter on Promoting Education and Activism

2007-10-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

The following is a small portion of a much longer discussion with David Carter author of “Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution.”
The book has been optioned for a major motion picture. In this portion of the interview Pedro had brought up the issue of disconnect between the activist communities and the Gay population in general. David Carter provided two ideas that he believes could help connect Gays to there historical past and inspire progressive political action among
Bisexual, Gay Men, Lesbians, Queer and Trans folk.
Pedro Angel Serrano
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

David Carter: Well it seems to me that we under-utilize some resources that are available to us.One story I tell in the book (Stonewall the Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution”) the bar scene wanted to keep people quite, happy, ignorant; because the more ignorant you are the easier it is to control you. So it was a fight that the Gay Liberation Front took on to go into the bars and to say “You have to have our news papers here, you have to let us leave our news papers here, and you have to let us leave information here.”

Pedro: They had to fight for that.

DC: They had to fight for that! People today take it for granted. But they wouldn’t even agree to distribute this stuff from under the counter. That’s how bad it was. And to this day like it or not, it’s a reality, probably our main social institution to this day is bars.Now here’s a true story. When Mathew Shepard died, an activist I know went to every Gay business on Christopher Street. We had the Mathew Shepard funeral, right, we had the protest of his death and so forth. So this person carried fliers to every Gay business on Christopher Street. Not one of them would put it in the window.

P: Tell it Brother!

DC: One of them agreed to put it on a side door entrance, but not one would put it in the window. OK?
That includes gay bars and every other Gay business on Christopher Street.”
And it’s an irony that because of the success of the Gay movement we’ve created a Gay culture that is so consumerist.
And I notice that when I go into Gay bars they would usually have essentially the publications that publicize Gay bars: HX, Next, and I’m not saying those publications shouldn’t be published or that they don’t provide a service to the Gay community, they do. But when I was an organizer back in Madison Wisconsin, We used Gay bars for Political Organizing Honey! We asked people to donate money to us. We have information to give out “You should write to this legislator.” We did voter registration cards. Since I’ve been in New York City, it’s been 21 years now, I have yet to enter a bar and see a table of political activists!

I think what should happen, this is my grand vision.
It seems to me that what we should do is try to have a program where we encourage people to go to Gay bars to give back to the movement. And I would say, “You’re going to give back 1% or 5% of your door or your drinks sold, something, back to the Gay community. And you have to provide access to us: at least once a week, what ever. And you have to provide access all the time for our publication, our hand outs. And create some kind of foundation that would receive these funds and distribute them. You’d have it well audited, so there’s no scandal, and really represent the community. And then bars that did that would get a sticker. Just like they have these stickers in the window that says “The music we play here is reported to the people who collect royalties for music.” They would have to have a sticker to encourage people to go to those bars. And using such an outline with what we’ve done in our past with The GAA (Gay Activist Alliance) and GLF (Gay Liberation Front) they would be willing to do that.

The other institution I think which is wide spread, you might say ubiquitous now is the commemoration of Stonewall. Which most people don’t even know is what we’re dong. We’re commemorating the Stonewall riots as Gay pride. Folks Hello Out There! Why are you marching in June, Hello! (Laughs) Darlings! (Laughs)
It’s to commemorate the history of the Stonewall Riots. I’ve thought about this a lot. Craig Rodwell who had the idea for creating for what is now called Gay Pride; it was originally call, um… What was it called? Christopher Street Liberation.
He did talk about it as a tool for increasing political awareness and political activism. But he also talked about it as a Gay holiday, as a Gay Carnival. But today I see it as 99.5% carnival and holiday and half of one percent activism. And I think it’s great to have a Gay carnival, as if the Academy Awards and Halloween aren’t enough! (Laughs) But when we have so far to go still to achieve our rights, I think that Pride commemorations should still be geared towards education and activism.

I’d like to see it changed here in New York, like it is in Europe. For example, as I understand it, in Europe I’m told that when you have a big public demonstration, there’s a manifesto published which states “this march is in support of these goals.” And by marching you have to say you support those in order to march. I think there should be a statement put out for Gay Pride marches “This march is in support of these things. For example, Gay Marriage, More funding for AIDS and you have to sign a statement that you support those goals before you’re allowed to march. And then if you betray that by your actions, if a politician doesn’t support Gay marriage, they should not be allowed to march! And it’s ridiculous! They should not allow these politicians to join in after Saints Patrick’s Cathedral. To me that is a great act of disrespect to our history, our community, and our people. That should not be allowed.

P: A politician is an employee. And if you’re not satisfied with the employee’s performance, then you’re not allowed to the party. It’s as simple as that.

DC: Yes. It’s a very simple concept to say “This year we want to emphasize Gay marriage.” Or “This year we want to emphasize passing an anti discrimination bill.” And say you can’t march unless you say you support this. And if your actions past or future don’t show that or “You said you supports this last year then you voted against it this year, sorry you can’t march.” So there, are two ideas I think that could use existing institutions more effectively.

Pedro Angel Serrano host Generation Q on 88.7 WRSU fm and Is a contributor to Out-FM on 99.5 fm WBAI in N.Y.

Samual Adams

2007-09-17T09:02:00.001-07:00

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our cival Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have recieved them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlsting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without struggle, or to be cheated out of them by artifices of false and designing men."
-Samual Adams-

Stoned Drunkl and NOT Nude.

2007-09-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Labor day,
Stoned and drunk and not naked.

Labor Day.
Hanging with a friend.
Good excuse to get out side on the lenthening nights of 02007.

Stoned and drunk but not nude, hanging out
listen and talking about Islam, Hip Hop.

Guests were expected and I thought it best to not strip down.
My brother was cool with it but there time of arrival was uncertain.

Soon enough Unclothed:

Nude not naked.
Unclothed but not unprotected.

2007-08-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

Done good this summer.
No complaining about the heat or humidity of the last few days.
Just gratefull for when I do find myself in some air conditioned room.

Rainy morning this friday;cool breeze last night the herald.
Had the alarm set on my phone but got a call from my Mom.
My brother in law died last night.Not to shocking.
He was in a bad way for a while. Funeral this monday.
Wondered for a bit (again) if there's somthing wrong with me.
Not feeling anything I can define.
Thinking about my Niece and Nephew and my Sister.
Wish I could do more for em.
Mom worried about my not having an umbrella.
Said I'd be fine.
The rain won't last long.
Pedro

From the hand to the heart.

2007-07-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Edmund talks about the meaning of his peak experiences at sea.
I was set free!
I dissolved in the sea,
became white sails and flying spray,
became beauty and rhythm,
became moonlight and the ship and the high dim-starred sky.
For a second you see
and seeing the secret are the secret.
For a second there is meaning.

Act 4 from A Long Days Journey into Night
by Eugene O’Neill

Eugene O’Neill went to sea when he was younger. What he wrote in the play was a description of an actual experience he had one night at sea. He spent the rest of his life writing tragic plays like Long Days Journey Into Night and trying to re experience that transcendent moment from his youth.
From what I have heard he suffered from depression and in his plays wrote about the struggle human beings had in finding a meaning for life in a meaningless existence. One theme was how people kept on repeating themselves. Repeating there mistakes and held on to illusions about themselves and there lives. It's been said that he believed they did this because with out there illusions (The term "pipe dreams" in the play The Ice Man Cometh) all they would have was the hell of existence. What Eugene O’Neil felt about life was expressed by the same character quoted above in the lines below from the same play.

Edmund speaks of his feelings as he walked home in the fog.

Everything looked and sounded unreal. Nothing was what it is.
That’s what I wanted
to be alone with myself in another world
where truth is untrue and life can hide from itself.

Act 4 from A Long Days Journey Into Night

”Where life can hide from itself.” I understand that desire.

The lesson he puts forth for me is how difficult it is to confront the things you believe to be true. But what resonates with me was the experience of transcendence he had at sea. Other artists describe experiences like it. They seem to be able to embrace them more fully and carry them along through there lives.

"I was climbing the long ridge west of Mount Clark. It was one of those mornings where the sunlight is burnished with a keen wind and long feathers of cloud move in a lofty sky. The silver light turned every blade of grass and every particle of sand into a luminous metallic splendor; there was nothing, however small, that did not clash in the bright wind, that did not send arrows of light through the glassy air. I was suddenly arrested in the long crunching path up the ridge by an exceedingly pointed awareness of the light. The moment I paused, the full impact of the mood was upon me; I saw more clearly than I have ever seen before or since the minute detail of the grasses ...the small flotsam of the forest, the motion of the high clouds streaming above the peaks... I dreamed that for a moment time stood quietly, and the vision became but the shadow of an infinitely greater world -- and I had within the grasp of consciousness a transcendental experience."
Ansel Adams

A few years back I drew a cover for a friend’s zine. His name is Jeff Junker. We were on the phone and after volunteering my talents I sat and took notes of what he had in mind. I quickly made sketches on some blank sheets of paper and after hanging up started working on the cover. After three days I mailed off a photo copy for his suggestions.

He wrote back “More Mohawks.” I obliged.
When I received his approval of the changes I mailed it off to him.
The next day I crashed emotionally. For three days I would lay on the sofa with tears in my eyes. In a time gone bye I would have been described as having a “mercurial personality.” Today I have what they call a “Bi Polar Disorder.”

I got a phone call from my friend Jeff Junker after he got the package with my drawing.
He told me it was “...the coolest looking thing...” he ever saw. I don’t know about that.
But what I did realized as I heard the joy in his voice was that my “depression” wasn’t the cost I had to pay for my creativity.
It was what I now call emotional exhaustion.
And the pleasure I heard in Jiff’s voice was the very pleasure
I had felt while drawing the cover for his zine.
It was if the happiness I experienced had been transferred from me to him through my work.
Since then I have learned to pace myself when I get into a creative mood. And I now no longer experience “writers block”.
No matter what it is I’m writing I imagine that it’s a letter to a friend that I love.
And what ever it is that needs to be heard find’s its way through
my hand to the page; as it is now.

___________

Dear Cedric. A strange thing happened to me today.I saw a big thundercloud move down over Half Dome, and it was so big and clear and brilliant that it made me see many things that were drifting around inside of me; things that relate to those who are loved and those who are real friends.
For the first time I know what love is; what friends are; and what art should be.
Love is a seeking for a way of life; the way that cannot be followed alone;
the resonance of all spiritual and physical things...Friendship is another form of love -- more passive perhaps, but full of the transmitting and acceptances of things like thunderclouds and grass and the clean granite of reality.
Art is both love and friendship and understanding: the desire to give.
It is not charity, which is the giving of things.
It is more than kindness, which is the giving of self.
It is both the taking and giving of beauty,
the turning out to the light of the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit.
It is a recreation on another plane of the realities of the world;
the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men,
and of all the interrelations of these.

Ansel Adams

Interview with Dan Doverspike of the band First Offence and founder of Step Up Records.

2007-07-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Dan Doverspike is the singer and main song writer of the band First Offense.
This is Dan’s first live face to face interview. All before this were done over e-mail. From Ohio I got to hang out with the Step Up Records founders at The East Coast Oi! Fest which took place over the Memorial Day weekend of 12007.
After Dan spelled his name for me I asked another guy sitting with us for his name and he declined. This is Dan’s brother who will be referred to in the interview as “said stranger.”

Pedro Serrano

_________________________________________

PS: How about a short history of First Offense?

DD: It started with him and said stranger. He’s my brother and we started playing in bands. We started getting more serious about it. We loved Punk Rock it was fun to do bands.

PS: What bands did you first listen to that got you into Punk Rock?

DD: At first old English stuff. Reissues Subhumans, The Exploited. And then the American more pop stuff like Rancid and the Bouncing Souls stuff like that. But especially the English re-issues. I think a lot of people our age grew up on the re-issues and then the pop stuff. Yea I know the Bouncing Souls and they used to listen to Sham 69, The Business and those old British Punk Bands.

PS: Do you think kids today are aware of those old bands?

DD: Definitely. I think there more aware of the past then they are of the present unfortunately. Like I mean every catalog you buy weather it’s Two Tone or Angry, Young, and Poor here’s hundreds of releases by bands that haven’t existed in twenty years but there’s not as many bands today and you know that’s fine cause people should know there history. I’d love to see better distro for newer bands.

PS: That’s always been a problem. I remember that’s always been a big stumbling block for bands: just getting the stuff out. Has the internet been a help in getting the word out? Has the internet been of much help in getting your stuff out?

DD: The internet and unfortunately My Space. (Laughs) But that’s been a huge help. I think that the whole American scene is night and day pre myspace to after. Touring became much easier. Meeting people became much easier. They call them social networks for a reason. It works for us.

PS: What do you write about in your songs?

DD: Uh, You know. Um… Booze, brawls and broken hearts I guess. Classic Punk Rock subjects. You know we get a little political sometimes. Not much, you know, because that’s not the way we hang. Were mid western corn fed kids and we’re all different. We have two vegetarians in the band, a straight edge guy, and a hillbilly more or less.

PS: Woo HOO!!!

(laughs) DD: So it’s a pretty diverse group of people.

PS: When you say you’re political at does that mean to you? How do you define that?

DD: We’ve done some songs dealing with foreign policy, obviously anti Bush. I’m proud of it because we did it right after 9-11 when every body hoped on the flag waving band wagon. And don’t get me wrong, I believe in the flag waving thing as long as it’s done in the Bruce Springsteen way not the Leonard Skinard way.

PS: My definition of patriotism is based on, well,This one women on this show,…Um… You know how they say that if women ran the world everything would be peacefull. Well I used to believe that, and then, I started watching The View! And I’m thinking four months after women take over after every ones menstrual cycle synchs up, the world will end up a burned out charcoal briquette orbiting the sun! And they have this blond republican operative. And I heard her say that George W. Bush is “the leader” and we need to do what ever the leader says. And I’m thinking “Where did this child get her education?” George W. Bush isn’t the leader of this country. He’s the President, the “Chief Executive”. He’s an employee. And he can be fired. He gets a paycheck, a nice place to live and once a year he has to report to the legislative branch and give a report; “the State of the Union”. He’s an employee not a leader. Joseph Stalin was a leader, Chairman Mao, was a leader, Hitler, was a leader. To me patriotism means have responsibilities. What you refer to as the flag waving thing, like Bruce Springsteen to me it’s about responsibilities, and I should shut up now.

DD: No, I agree with you.

PS: You started Step Up Records. Good Stuff. When and why did you start the label?

DD: Cause if you’re not doing anything, you’re wasting space. You know what I mean? You know being in a band is great you know but. I tried to do a zine for a while and as I’m sure you knew paper is expensive. I’m not that great at grammar or spelling and all that. So you know, but I think a label works well I help other people get stuff out through my trial and error I’ve learned a lot about putting out records. I’m sure there’s a lot more to learn. So I just try to learn as much as I can and help other bands if I can in addition to putting out records I’ve helped other bands along the way. Like there’s this really great hardcore band from Kent Ohio called Skies Bleed Black. We’re helping them get there 7” record out right now. So I try to do as much as I can and that’s what Step Up is about.

PS: What advice would you give? What mistakes did you make that you would suggest folks avoid?

DD: Well this is just a trivial one but when you get seven inch records make sure there all the same color. Because you have to pay the set up prices twice you do. Like limited edition colored vinyl, that was a big one for us on his first record. When we figured out how much extra we spent just to do a hundred extra blue vinyls it was shooting ourselves in the foot, you know what I mean. I hope it helps some one who’s thinking about it. If you have the extra money, it’s a fun thing to do. But who does?

PS: Why vinyl? Haven’t you heard of these CD things?

DD: You know I have, on this record “Stranded in the Combat Zone” we made it vinyl because we don’t know how many chances we have to still do vinyl. Unfortunately even Punk Rock kids aren’t buying vinyl. When our first record “The Army of Youth” it sold more briskly then this one has. But that’s Ok we have a CD out with comp tracks and that’s sold well and we really feel that this record is a lot better but it doesn’t sell as well because it’s vinyl. Which is unfortunate but we all knew that this might be the last chance for us to do vinyl. It could hit resurgence, you never know. Vinyl’s really great too because you get to be more involved then CD’s. With CD’s you put the art work together you do this you do that but really you just send it off. When we do records it’s us cutting and pasting at the Copy Max!

PS: It’s a craft.

DD: Yea, it’s a way for us to step back. Our little homage to the 80’s, standing there at the copy store with our scissors and glue sticks. PS: One day Martha Stewart will do a show about putting out your own seven inch record. DD: We’ve had a lot of help with art work. We’ve had a lot of great art work that I want to give props to if I can. “The Bastards Choir” art work is great. Folks should check it out. And Josh Wright from the band “Brutal Solution” did the “They Can’t Shut Us Up” compilation cover. And Jeff Lamb from the Pittsburg 80’s band “Half Life” did some art work for the back of the seven inch as well as doing our T-shirts and some other “First Offence” related stuff. So we’ve been lucky to work with some great people on that stuff too.

PS: What kind of effect do you want to have on the scene?

DD: That’s hard to say. What kind of effect. I was thinking if we get more people involved in more then just wearing the cloths and going through the motions, I mean obviously it would be a better scene for every body.

PS: What do you man by “going through the motions?”

DD: It’d be great if every body could just do something, even if it’s just going to a show for Gods sakes. It doesn’t have to be much but go to a show! I’m from Akron Ohio and it’s not the biggest place in the world but there’s probably a couple hundred punk rock kids but every show only gets thirty of forty. Because you know there at home “Duh, I wish there was something to do. Gimmee the 40.” Which is great, I know it’s cool to sit around have a couple of beers with your bros but…

PS: Yea I have a friend who was complaining about something like this. And he said “Boy I hope this is just regional.” Going to a show is a social thing. You go to a show and you meet people that you didn’t know before. Last year at the OI! Fest I got to meet folks from all over. I remember when the Business first came to America and the Alaska skinheads came. Both of them. But they came from Alaska to see a band. But it’s a social thing. I don’t know why people would stay home.

DD: Actually we’ve had some good luck with places where you didn’t think there was even a scene. Like Point Pleasant West Virginia, we had a couple of hundred kids come out. If any body’s ever been through Point Pleasant West Virginia it’s not much you know. We’ve always heard, I’ve never been there but we’ve always heard that North Dakota and South Dakota hundreds of kids come out every show. That’s great. I don’t know why in the mid sized bigger cities it doesn’t work but…

PS: Ah there spoiled! Kids today! Grrr!!! I’m trying to be the old cantankerous old guy.

DD: I’m a young guy but I always wonder when I’m looking at kids a couple of years younger then me, “who’s going to do this if I have to move away?”

PS: Well actually, when I published my zine I gave a copy to my nephew and a friend of his saw it. He was trying to do a zine. And he looked through it and he said it inspired his friend to finish his zine. Kids see you do something: “Here’s my compilation, I have a record label, and this is the CD we put out. And they’ll think “Wow you did this?”

DD: Anybody can do it!

PS: Yes! Anybody can do it.

DD: I think doing stuff in general helps you out. For instance we didn’t get invited to play (The East Coast OI! Fest) last year. But this year we’ve been making a little bit more noise and we got the invite.

(Said Stranger) Next year there going to be turning it down to play the Warp Tour. (Laughter all around)

DD: I think not. My thoughts on the Warp Tour are pretty neutral. They don’t invite Punk bands any more. I don’t even know who’s playing this year.

PS: So do you have a web site?

DD: Oh yea, of course. Step Up Records has a web site. It’s www.stepupoi.com. If any band is reading this we’re not specifically OI! that’s just what was available as a URL.
Were not specifically OI! That’s just what was available as a URL thing, and www.myspace.com/firstoffence.

PS: Thanks a lot. This has been great.

Martin of the band LIMP WRIST Part #1

2007-07-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Below is the first half af an interview with Martin (pronounced Mar-teen)
of the band LIMP WRIST.
My first question is about the band he had before LIMP WRIST called
LOS CRUDOS
The explination reveals a lot about Martin and his priorities.

==================================

PS: What did Los Crudos mean?

MS: Los Crudos has a double meaning. It means "The hangovers".
it’s a slang term for Hung Over. It also means raw. And when we started that band we took it for both those meanings.
But it was more of a socio political thing for us because being
hung over in the sense of you know with what we dealt with topic wise as a band and where we were from our community, things we were facing as young Latinos and living in the U.S. and all that. We felt that some shit was so heavy for us it felt like being hung over, just trying to see clearly. And that’s why we took that name. And we liked the raw aspect because it was just nasty and raw. (laughs)

PS: Los Crudos were really popular. People would be saying "Oh there fucking awesome." Then you came out of the closet. How did you come out to the scene?

MS: Well I think it all really started with my telling a few really close friends. And then when we went on one of our tours I started to come out at shows. And the last place I came out to was Chicago and that’s because it was home.
You know it’s easy to drive by and do a drive by coming out and you don’t know how people really reacted to it or not. And I was gone before I could really hear about it; the reactions.
But when I got home I knew I had to live with the reactions to that.
When I did it at the show a lot of people jumped up on the stage and hugged me it was really awesome. And over time I heard like "Fuck that shit." "Martins a fag!" and my
response to that was if you thought you were into Los Crudos before I came out and now your not then you weren't really paying attention.
It was a little bit of a let down but you know it made things a even bit better for us because we were about being really hardcore punk and that’s about being honest about stuff and real so for me it was the right way to go.

PS: I interviewed David Carter. He wrote "Stonewall: the Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution." He was concerned about how the Gay Communities aren’t aware of there history and how you can’t have a community that doesn’t have a history. In the Punk rock scene kids know the lyrics to bands that broke up before they were even born. So there’s this conection to the past and I've seen kids activated by that. So You’re a homo and a part of the Punk scene and connected some how to the Gay scene. What diffrences and similarities do you see between the Gay and Punk Rock scene culture and history wise?

MS: It's a hard question to ansewer because what i find with the punks is ther's an ubbielievable amount of luyalty that punks have to people of the past in punk for people who were around and active. Even in Punk there are things that get lost over time. so it you know we have done such an unbelieveable amount of work on the grass roots leval at documenting what is happened in punk so if you realy wanted to do your home work and research on it you can find stuff
where as Gay history is harder because of so much fear and things got lost over time there was such a stigma for so long and I think like a lot of the history we're probubly going to lok at doesn't go to far back. There's people who have done realy great work. I was at the University of Chicago for this big conference and people were presenting some exelent papers on history and that was realy facinating for me. I think mainstream gay culture doesn't realy dig enough or realy present enough of just how rich the culture realy is. There's a lot of doors being shut on anything that kind of falls out side of what is OK by the mainstreams standard of what is gay and it realy fucks us all up. So many voices go unheard and it's realy tragic. Why add another tragedy to what sometimes an already tragic scene at times. Being Gay sometimes for some people is kind of scary and tragic but do we have to keep on doing it?

PS: Part of what it means to have a history is to have examples you can set your life by. And I've talked to Gay and Lesbian people who didn't know what Stonewall was. This one women said she found out what Stonewall was from taking a class in college. To have to go to college or to have to go to a conference to find out what your history is... I don't understand how that happened.

MS: I'm teaching that in high school this coming semester. I teach at an alternative high school and do radical queer kind of history class and I'm going to do a little home work on my end to pick some nice things and Stonewall is definatly one of them that's in there. My high school kids range from freshmen to senior are going to b learning that this year. I wish more people were able to do that but on a high school leval it's so hard in this country in this day and age to do anything that kind of goes outside of the boundries of what is acceptable education.

PS: I think it's an important story to tell not just for Gay kids because America was a different place before Stonewall. It was literaly a different country.

MS: Yea. America is still a very different place. There are some powerfull people that controll what is bing pushed out there and America is still not what they tell us it is. We realy know because we live it. It's much more then what is presented to us. And it's up to us I think and people like us who are into what we're doing that keep on pushing and promoting other stuff that bends a little bit out side of the norm.

PS: I volleteer at WBAi ad help out with the Gay program there Out-FM . We did a news segment and in this one story, I think it had something to do with a court defeat in Gay marriage. It was a white Gay guy and he said it made him feel like being moved to the back of the bus. And the women who was going to read the story felt the need to edit that comment out because it made him look bad.
I agreed. Your not a strong black women your a white Gay man and you should embraace that. And the reason he said that I think was first he wanted to translate Gay oppression to the cival rights movement in the 60's. The other reason is he's not aware of his history. There's a Gay history that he could be mining and using as for examples of what we've had to put up with over the decades. And that way people would know how far we've come as well. And I think that's part of the importance of knowing our history.

MS: Absolutly. I agree. I don't realy know how to comment on something like that because that kind of comment, I think what he was trying to do was, as you said, to relate it to something that everybody can supposedly can relate to. It's tricky. I mean I wouldn't use that as an analogy or comparison. That's not what I would have done but, I mean I don't think we have to go that route. We just have to tell our stories and how we feel. We don't have to relate it so people can understand and on a kind of greater leval. And I'm trying to be clear about this I think the way we tell our stories should be a unique way of telling our story. We are today. We are now. We are living in the now. And lets present thigs in a way that are important and relevent to now. And not have to try and pull from some palce else. I mean people do that all the time. But you know, my story doesn't nessaceraly, I think it has comonalitiyes with other peoples struggles and other peoples stroies but it's not always exactly the same and I don't think they should be cause that means we havn't grown, we havn't gone any where.

PS: How are people going to know what our commonality is if we arn't sharing our expierience. People can go "Oh Yea I see. That thing that you personaly went through I can relate to that."
When did Limp Wrist form?

MS: Limp Wrist started like soon after Los Crudos was coming to an end. And um... ypu know is was just me and ne of the guys, one of the band members I was just like "You know it would be so amazing to do a real hard core punk gay band. you know and we liked the idea and we atsrted kind of brain storming who were other people we could get. And it realy was kind of sad because in order to find somebody and the people who would be realy into it and understood where we we were coming from unfortunatly lived in all different cities. You know, and um... but we managed to like scrambled and pulled it togeathe and This guys in Philly, I'm in Chicago your in upstate New York and it all came togeather. And we just talked to them and they loved the idea and we started doing it you know. So that's how limp wrist happened.

PS: How do you manage rehersals. Do you phone each other?

MS: OH I will call my guiotarist and hum things into his cell phone messages and I'm like get this down you know and he'll go and play it and record it into his computer just so w can remember that riff. And then when we come togeather we try to work on it. So when we do a tour there's time we'll sit down and write music or do something like that.

PS: That's amazing. Why the name Limp Wrist?

MS: Limp Wrist. We're Fags. You know, Lets do it. We're not afraid of that you know what I'm saying? I'm not afraid to say yea I'm a faggot you know or I suck Dick you know. I embrace that you know. I'm not afraid of it. So Limp Wrist made sence because it confuses people.
I've been in leather bars and I say "yea I'm in a band called Limp Wrist." And most of the guys are "Ewww. It's so fem." And I'm like 'Yea, You see us live, you'll trip the fuck out!" you know? I don't mind playing with that.

PS: It's great in the sence that it's a Hardcore punk rock band called Limp Wrist and you go to a show and it's not pink too-toos up on stage.

MS: It could be! Because we may do that. Because smetimes the Punk Rock scene could be realy hard and agressive and maybe I will come out in a pink to-to to fuck with those kids that are that show.
So we'll go all over with it. We don't care.

2007-07-08T11:37:00.001-07:00

"Activism is about no compromise. Politics is all about compromise."

Bayard Rustin

When I heard the quote by Bayard Rustin I felt that he was not being judgmental. He was relating his experience in the civil rights movement as his life inside the political realm. It's something I consider when voting.

Of the candidates, I see presently running I see John Edwards running for the Chief Executive job and Barak Obama or Ms Clinton as Vice President.
My reasons have little to do with what I personally want.
It is based on my understanding of human nature.
If Barak or Hillery are vice president that gives the American population 4 to 8 years to get used to seeing a women and a man of African Decent in a position of power. The uncertainty and just plain old fear would be eroded down through experience by the time there turn at bat came up in 2016.
I find Hillary to be uninspiring when she speaks but her time on the Armed Services committee was well spent. She would be a familiar face to other politic leaders of other nations. Barak has experience in activism and politics. He may have a better understanding between compromising and being compromised. Also, an African American face would send a substantial signal top the world about where the United States is going. It could give the new president a honeymoon period of up to six months!!!!
There is a lot of disappointment in folks who voted for George W. Bush, (Twice!) but folks though they do not see him as being a good president still support him. Why? ; Human nature.
I think that is a topic for another thread.
John Edwards is the only candidate being attacked for helping the poor.
The Noise Machine has stooped to talking about how expensive his haircuts have been.
Why his hair? Because it is all they have.
The arguments have been “He has money and dares to speak out about poverty in the U.S.A. What a hypocrite!”
If that’s all they have to throw out at him, he has a shot.
P.S.
I'll be hosting Out-FM monday the 9th of July.The program is the Progressive Gay radio programwhich broadcasts fromm 11:am till Noon on WBAI 99.5 fm and streams live at
www.wbai.org

Even the smallest victory is never to be taken for granted.

2007-06-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

I shared a story with two men recently.
It is a story that inspired me.
For me it provides evidence that communication is more then a skill.
The story was posted on My Space January 02006. I’m reprinting it here with running commentary. The only changes I made were to add punctuation.

"So last night Yah Mos Def played a show in Williamstown NJ. The show was put on by this dude Alan who has been putting on great all-ages shows in the area for a long time. This was at a new venue that was owned by some other older dude. So during the course of the night some kid stole a sign from the bathroom. This was fucked up, because anyone knows we have to respect these places if we want to be able to use them as show spaces. But this was not Alan's fault, just some stupid kid being funny. But the guy who owned the place flipped out and called the cops.
So while Amateur Party is playing, Alan comes in and says “One more song.” I guess the cops told him to wrap it up, and Alan came in to do so. So Amateur Party starts playing the shows last song, and one of the cops says "no, no more music". It is a confused situation. So Alan kind of just stands there and does not say anything, not knowing how to react."

The photo was a great one because it did more then capture Alans confused expression. On the left hand side of the photo were are two women who seem to be smiling. At the center is a police officer with his right hand on his billy club, and on the right another young women with her arms up against her chest as if she were shielding herself. On her left was a young man chewingon the wrong end of a plastic water bottle like some disoriented hamster. This is a group of folks at a crossroads. Anything can happen at this point.

"So from here on out I have it on video. "

I’ve seen the video several times. I suspect the guy who posted this had watched the video before posting this because the quotes are accurate word for word.

"Since Alan does not respond, the cops says "that's it your under arrest and grabs Alan. He (Alan) says something like 'fuck you' cause the cop just grabbed him so hard by the neck, but did not resist or anything. All the sudden 2 other cops run and, and they all jump on the kid. It was fucking insane."From what I saw on the video in stead of “jump” on the kid the word I would use is “tackle.”"People start taking out their phones and cameras and taking pictures. One of the cops starts yelling 'put away your phones", and a kid in the crowd says 'This is America' and the cop responds 'I don't care, you're in my town now.' W. T. F!"

The cop quoted said other things as well. He repeated “I told you nicely,” over and over in regards to his ordering the kids to put away there camera phones.

"He gets in my face and starts telling me to put away my camera or I will get locked up. I tell him to F' off, and that I work for a Law Firm (which I of course don't), but that I know my rights. The kid next to me, who I don't know, spits out the amazing line, 'I don't mean to be disrespectful, but we have the responsibility as citizens to record this.'I love that kid."

From the video tape the description “...spits out the line….” didn’t seem accurate. He was in fact very polite and under control. The cop upon hearing "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but we have the responsibility as citizens to record this." said nothing.
The expression on his face changed and he just turned and walked away.

That kid stoped a cop in his tracks using 16 words.

I shared this with two men who refer to them selves as radicals. Both found the same reasons to dismiss it. Both times I found myself in a debate instead of a discussion about how different communities can develop ways of communicating with each other and with those in power.
I tried bringing up how communities of African Decent bring the young togeather so as to teach them how to deal with cops; in actions and words as an example of what I hoped to see happen.
But instead it ended up with complaints of how nothing has changed since the cival rights movement of the 60's. Don't ask how. It just did.

They didn't see what happened at that show as a victory
The subject line in the original post was , “Man Jersey Cops.” Before re-posting it on My Space I changed the subject line to read, “The Responsibility of a Citizen.”

Friends who wrote me in response to the story were all angry. It’s possible that I’m not wired in the head quite right. But I wasn’t angry after reading it. I felt pride. Those kids knew instinctually that they had some kind of duty to perform. Automatically it seemed, took out there cameras to well...police the police.
But when I have tried to share the lessons from that event with radicals it's dismissed. Most recently by one white anarchist and then by an activist of African decent. What these two radicals have in common is the need to look for why what people acomplish doen't matter.
What they have in common is leftist culture.
The last exchange I had ended with my fellow leftist using his verbal skills to shut me up. Never stopping to talk preventing me from getting a word in, and calling my intergity into question.

I gave up and stoped trying to make a contribution.
When he stoped, he victoriously asked what I had to say.

I said, "I'm not doing a very good job here. I'm not doing a good job at explaning myself."

He said, "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
because I had tears in my eyes.
I said, "No." and with tears welling up in my eyes said I need to go for a walk.

It's not that I had taken anything personaly. I was upset seeing this guy on automatic pilot. Treating me the way he would treat a right winger. I have lost faith with the left. The culture of the left in the 21ts century is a reactionary one. I feel I have something to offer but at this moment I don't believe there is a forum for me to be heard.

When I attempt to bring up how leftists are good at communicating with each other but fail when they leave there leftists communities I'm told, I'm being "unfair" to the left.

I understand feeling defensive. But why be defensive with someone who's not trying to be negative? I guess I'm not that good a communicator.

Eventualy I may get over my hopelessness.

There is a lefting/progressive tone from the past that inspired me.
For now I hold onto that.
And keep my opinions to myself unless asked.

“Even the smallest victory is never to be taken for granted. Each victory must be applauded...”

Audre Lorde

The Homophobic Hip Hop Question

2007-06-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 15th of April I recorded an interview with two men of African Decent on issues including, Perceptions of Manhood, Definitions of Warrior-hood, and the Weight of Brotherhood. Below is a partial transcription of an interview with singer song writer Nhojj; www.Nhojj.com .
This was done in January of 2007. It was this broadcast that started this "Expanding Roundtable" I’m doing on the radio shows I do.
Joining us in April was Hip Hop artist Baron; www.baronartist.com.

This is part of an Interview with singer song writer NHOJJ from January of 2007.

============ Fighting For Love (A Warriors Song) ================

Pedro: Your most recent CD is called "Someday Peace Love and Freedom."
You have a voice that can hit notes that only bats can hear. It’s phenomenal.
And on the song More Love what I liked about that song was that all different kind s of love
There is the romantic aspect but there is also the spiritual dimension.

NHOJJ: I think at the core of a lot of the problems we have; racism, homophobiais that we kind of get caught up in our own world, our own spaces, are own experiences, and we just forget to reach out to people, who are different, who look different. And realize that the difference may be superficial and at the core of things we are the same. There is something at the core of it all.

PEDRO: That’s something you explore in your most recent CD "Someday; Peace Love and Freedom." On the CD you’re a homeless person, and in another song
you’re a warrior. But what are you fighting?
Klingons? No!
Ignorance is the enemy.
What other enemies have you?

NHOJJ: "My enemy is hate. I’m fighting for love."

PEDRO: You’re fighting for love. The issue of warrior hood is kind of tricky, especially for progressives although you had people like Audrey Lourd who described her self as a warrior; "A warrior Poet." And in the Punk Rock scene which I’m in (skinheads especially) the concept of being a warrior and warrior hood is a big deal. As well as singing songs about drinking and fighting and the job. And bring that up in your CD had me thinking, "I haven’t heard this (from a gay guy) before!" How did this song come to you?

NHOJJ: I had the music and I was listening to the music and the like most things the words just started coming. It just kind of flows. And it kind of blew me away.
And when I sing it I see some people react to it. It starts off with "I am a warrior…" and people go like, "Wait a minuet. We thought you were the love guy." And then I get to the line, "I’m fighting for love."

PEDRO: There’s a distinction between being a solider and being a warrior.
When people go into battle more often then not there doing it out of love for some body. And that’s something a lot of people don’t understand. If you’re just taking orders and doing what somebody tells you to do then you’re going to end up doing evil terrible things. The Nazis are the perfect example, "I was just following orders." But for me the definition of warrior hood is someone who is being of service to something greater. You grew up in Guiana and Trinidad till age 18.
When did you realize you were Gay?

NHOJJ: Well they started calling me names when I was a kid in Guiana so I guess that began to clue something in.
Pedro: Yea. You don’t know what sexuality is when you’re a little kid.

NHOJJ: Exactly. You just do what you do and say what you say and people react in there own ways.

Pedro: Appropriately or not. Homophobia in the Caribbean is something we have addressed on Out-FM before. And I have on my show in New Jersey. I interviewed a performer named King Django. He travels to Jamaica a lot and he told me when he would talk to some old timers they explained that, back in the day if they found out if someone was Gay they would kill the guy, kill his family, burn down there house. If they had a dog they would kill the dog. Folks listening to this are probably thinking, "Wow! Things have really improved! They only kill the Gay guy now." And I agree. But hey, we can all do better. There’s always room for improvement. The thing is that, homophobia is now ingrained. In Britain they decimalized sodomy in the 1990’s but they were the ones who introduced the idea that being Gay is bad. So when they decriminalized it there were protests all over the Caribbean. People were saying that this was a form of neo colonialism. They (England) was imposing there secular values.

NHOJJ: They don’t need the laws anymore.

Pedro: Exactly. The contamination is complete. There have been protests about homophobic Jamaican artists and this attitude is coming back with the banning of homophobic artists. "You’re just picking on black Jamaican artists." And there right. There not focusing on white homophobic artists in the U.S. The issue I want to bring up is instead of banning them is it possible to develop a relationship with homophobic artists?

NHOJJ: Well I haven’t. It is easy to ban them. And I understand. The lyrics are very hurt-full. And a lot of harm is done when people listen to lyrics and they dance and that message seeps in. Um…But yea. Listening to the story you told me, (Laughs) you have to tell the story! (Laughs)

Pedro: Oh! "The story!" Ok I have a my Space page, www.myspace.com/generationq, and the long version of the story is on the BLOG. I’m just going to give you the short version. Um… OK. A few years back I was hanging out with some of my boys; some of the local Skinheads.And they had told me about a band called Storm Watch. And one of them goes, "Pedro! We’ve got the live version of ‘Stay in the Closet.’ You gotta hear this. You can actually feel the hatred!"So they put it on for me.
And this is the song.
"Stay in the closet,
Because it's safer in there.
Stay in the closet
Cause we don't fight fair.
Stay in the closet stay away from me.
Stay in the closet for humanity."
And at the end the lead singer Jeff roars to the crowed, "Bring it on home boys!" And you could hear hundreds of testosterone laden voices sing out,
"Fag Bashing In The U.S.A.!
Fag Bashing In The U.S.A.!
Fag Bashing In The U.S.A.!
Fag Bashing In The U. S. A.!!!"
It was amazing.
A couple of months later while hanging out at a house where a basement show was taking place a 6'3" 190 lb Skin known at the time as Scarhead walks in. I wondered for a moment what he was going to look like once he hit puberty. Scarhead sees me and says, "Pedro Storm Watch is coming!"
I respond with "OK."
He says, "No Seriously!"
I say "I believe you!"
I thought fine. I’m finally going to meet Jeff Stormwatch.
And he was hilarious. We hit it off immediately. He had no idea that I was Gay. At one point he puts his arm across my shoulder and says to every one in the room, "This is the man! This is the man right here!"
All the skins who know me look on with beer bottles in the hands, and grins on there faces and nod there heads in agreement. "Yea Pedro's the man." Because they knew I was Gay and Jeff did not and they thought this was funny as hell.
Eventually Jeff found out and I was at The Storm Watch farewell/reunion show. They were reuniting to end forever. And they were amazing! They never sounded better and Jeff looked possessed. And then about a half hour into there set I heard the intro to the most requested song of the night; Stay In the Closet." Seemed every body wanted to hear it. Guys were going "Yea!" and then the band stops and Jeff roars out, "Were just teasing!" and they go into another song.
Now, is the relationship I had with Jeff responsible for there not singing that song? I can’t say but I have been told that my being "out" has had a positive effect on the local scene. And so I’m thinking, is it possible to have a relationship with Buju Banton? Is it possible to have a constructive respectful relationship with homophobic artists? Is it possible to put out a compilation or to put out a single with an Out Gay Dance Hall singer and Buju Banton trading insults and praises is that possible?

NHOJJ: I don’t know. I’m curious to find out because actually with my next project tentatively titled "In the Life" and I really want to basically come out as a Gay artist.

Pedro: As if you haven’t done that being on this show!

NHOJJ: (laughs) exactly!

Pedro: It’s Ok it’s just you and me here. No ones listening. So the new CD is to be called "In the Life."

NHOJJ: I just really want to come out. Because there is nothing musically on the CD’s (so far) that are really clear about who I am. And I really want to say that and I want to market it to straight people. I’m curious to see what the reaction is. And yea…You’ll find out. I’ll come back and let you know. (Laughs).

Pedro: Please! Yes, because the role that artists play has been to transport the history and the experience. And artists cross bridges that most activists can’t. And I think that what you have been doing already has produced positive consequences. And we’re going to continue this discussion on art, activism and warrior-hood; How to be a warrior for Peace, how to be a warrior against ignorance. How to be a warrior against homelessness, things like that.
www.nhojj.com

And the discussion did continue.
On April 15th 02007 I Nhojj returned and I invited a Out Hip Hop artist named Baron.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Pedro: I saw a great documentary on PBS called "Beyond Beats and Rhymes." And it’s a critique of Hip Hop by a straight Black man who loves Hip Hop but was concerned by the homophobia and sexism he finds in it. He was talking to people like Fifty Cent; really big name rappers and when he tried to he bring up the issue of homophobia… well, he tried. One of these men actually got up and walked out of the room. He could not talk about it. Busta Rhymes! Whom I think is great. I love his stuff. But he could not talk about it. He had to walk out of the room. What is that about? Enlighten me.

Nhojj: Well we were just reading a magazine and they had a list of suspect D.L. rappers and a lot of the guys you talk about and we hear; Busta Rhymes for one was on the list. And Baron has a really cool theory.

Baron: Well it’s a small theory but it’s not profitable. It’s not profitable to be an Out homosexual artist. So until we find a way that it’s profitable… Because that’s the base line of Hip Hop; they say it’s the music but it’s the money. So until there’s responsibility around it the conversation about D.L. will continue. Because of course there are homosexual Hip Hop artists, of course.

Pedro: I’m in the Punk Rock scene. And when the first smaller labels were bought up by major labels they were criticized for being sellouts. Bands that sighed were called sellouts. "This is not Punk Rock. Signing to a major record label is Not Punk Rock." Meanwhile in Hip Hop when these small independent Hip Hop labels were being bought up by major record companies that’s when it stopped being conscious and positive and you started seeing Gang banging and excuse my language bitches and Hoes in thongs on the videos. And Jesse Jackson and all these major black leaders never once said "This is bad. We are losing our culture. This is our culture and it’s being bought up by corporations."

Baron: But then yes this is our culture then this is our culture that’s projecting these images. You can blame the people that pay it but if you’re doing it you’re self, then you should blame yourself for it. If you’re doing it for the dollar…

Pedro: Yea, but what if you’re not going to get sighed? In the documentary "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" one young man did a rhyme that was brilliant and political and smart and positive. And when the man doing the documentary asked "Why don’t you do that? (Instead of Rapping about killing other Black men.) the guy said, "They don’t want to hear that shit."

Baron: But who is that "they?"

Pedro: They are the record heads who run the record labels.

Baron: And "they" are the people who are buying it.

Nhojj: I think there are a lot of people who are buying it and I think there is a market for it. There catering to a market.

Pedro: I agree with that. Yes.

Nhojj: So I think some how you need to change what the ideal is. I think that’s what the ideal is;
a strong, macho, what ever the words are. "I get a lot of women, I get a lot of money." It’s an ideal in our society. And I think Hip Hop just is kind of a tool to create that fantasy. It’s a fantasy.

Pedro: I publish a zine called Boots and Roots. It’s a Punk Rock Zine. And the theme for the next issue was inspired by a friend of mine and its "Family, Unity, Strength, Music and Never Being Alone Again." So those are our Punk Rock Values. We’re all in this together. But I found myself thinking, "How am I going to write about strength for this zine? So I looked up strength, I Googled Strength! And do you know what Tarot cards are? The Image of strength in the tarot is a lion and women or a lion and a child. That’s strength. It was one of the four cardinal virtues. And what did that mean by strength? They weren’t referring to physical strength. They were referring to spiritual strength: fortitude, the thing inside you that keeps you going no matter what tries to stop you. And I thought, "That’s Punk Rock!" So what is strength in the Hip Hop World? What does strength mean there?

Nhojj: I think there are almost two Hip Hop Worlds. There’s the older, kind of more grounded one that grew up with Hip Hop when it was under ground and I think for them strength was… Um…

Baron: Strength was in the expression. There wasn’t a voice of the inner city at that time when Hip Hop came into play. So it was like "Thank God I’ve got some where to express my political views, what’s happening to me socially … um…

Nhojj: Strength was in the expression; stating your truth.

Pedro: It’s like a jungle sometimes. It makes me wonder, how I keep, from going under."
(Laughter from every one.)

Pedro: That was strength!!! And it’s still a classic!

Nhojj: Then you have the other Hip Hop World which strength is how many women you can get,
how many people you kill, how much time you spent in jail.
After this we move on to discuss issues of warrior-hood, manhood, and men wanting to love each other regardless of weather we are Gay or Straight.

+++++++++++++++
We moved on to other issues.
Next time the issue of men loving each other.

The Sexist Homophobic Hip Hop Question.

2007-05-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Sexist Homophobic Hip Hop Question.

This is a small part of an interview I conducted with Out Black singer NHOJJ www.nhojj.com and Out Hip Hop artist BARON www.baron.com

It’s near the beginning of our conversation on Homophobia in the African American communities as in our society in general.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Pedro: I saw a great documentary on PBS called “Beyond Beats and Rhymes.” And it’s a critique of Hip Hop by a straight Black man who loves Hip Hop but was concerned by the homophobia and sexism he finds in it. He was talking to people like Fifty Cent; really big name rappers and when he tried to he bring up the issue of homophobia… well, he tried. One of these men actually got up and walked out of the room. He could not talk about it. Busta Rhymes! Whom I think is great. I love his stuff. But he could not talk about it. He had to walk out of the room. What is that about? Enlighten me.

Nhojj: Well we were just reading a magazine and they had a list of suspect D.L. rappers and a lot of the guys you talk about and we hear; Busta Rhymes for one was on the list. And Baron has a really cool theory.

Baron: Well it’s a small theory but it’s not profitable. It’s not profitable to be an Out homosexual artist. So until we find a way that it’s profitable… Because that’s the base line of Hip Hop; they say it’s the music but it’s the money. So until there’s responsibility around it the conversation about D.L. will continue. Because of course there are homosexual Hip Hop artists, of course.

Pedro: I’m in the Punk Rock scene. And when the first smaller labels were bought up by major labels they were criticized for being sellouts. Bands that sighed were called sellouts. “This is not Punk Rock. Signing to a major record label is Not Punk Rock.” Meanwhile in Hip Hop when these small independent Hip Hop labels were being bought up by major record companies that’s when it stopped being conscious and positive and you started seeing Gang banging and excuse my language bitches and Hoes in thongs on the videos. And Jesse Jackson and all these major black leaders never once said “This is bad. We are losing our culture. This is our culture and it’s being bought up by corporations.”

Baron: But then yes this is our culture then this is our culture that’s projecting these images. You can blame the people that pay it but if you’re doing it you’re self, then you should blame yourself for it. If you’re doing it for the dollar…

Pedro: Yea, but what if you’re not going to get sighed? In the documentary “Beyond Beats and Rhymes” one young man did a rhyme that was brilliant and political and smart and positive. And when the man doing the documentary asked “Why don’t you do that? (Instead of Rapping about killing other Black men.) the guy said, “They don’t want to hear that shit.”

Baron: But who is that “they?”

Pedro: That are the record heads who run the record labels. Baron: And “they” are the people who are buying it.

Nhojj: I think there are a lot of people who are buying it and I think there is a market for it. There catering to a market.

Pedro: I agree with that. Yes.

Nhojj: So I think some how you need to change what the ideal is. I think that’s what the ideal is; a strong, macho, what ever the words are. I get a lot of women, I get a lot of money. It’s an ideal in our society. And I think Hip Hop just is kind of a tool to create that fantasy. It’s a fantasy.

Pedro: I publish a zine called Boots and Roots. It’s a Punk Rock Zine. And the theme for the next issue was inspired by a friend of mine and its Family, Unity, Strength, Music and Never Being Alone Again. So those are our Punk Rock Values. We’re all in this together. But I found myself thinking, “How am I going to write about strength for this zine? So I looked up strength, I Googled Strength! And do you know what Tarot cards are? The Image of strength in the tarot is a lion and women or a lion and a child. That’s strength. It was one of the four cardinal virtues. And what did that mean by strength? They weren’t referring to physical strength. They were referring to spiritual strength: the thing inside you that keeps you going no matter what tries to stop you. And I thought, “That’s Punk Rock!” So what is strength in the Hip Hop World? What does strength mean there?

Nhojj: I think there are almost two Hip Hop Worlds. There’s the older, kind of more grounded one that grew up with Hip Hop when it was under ground and I think for them strength was… Um…

Baron: Strength was in the expression. There wasn’t a voice of the inner city at that time when Hip Hop came into play. So it was like “Thank God I’ve got some where to express my political views, what’s happening to me socially … um…

Nhojj: Strength was in the expression; stating your truth.

Pedro: It’s like a jungle sometimes. It makes me wonder, how I keep, from going under.”

(Laughter from every one.)

Pedro: That was strength!!! And it’s still a classic.

Nhojj: Then you have the other Hip Hop World which strength is how many women you can get, how many people you kill, how much time you spent in jail. After this we move on to discuss issues of warriorhood, manhood, and men wanting to love each other regardless of weather we are Gay or Straight.

There will be a rebroadcast on Tuesday May 21st at 2:15 PM Eastern Time
on 88.7 FM WRSU www.nj.com/wrsu
Streaming online at www.nj.com/wrsu

Spirit, Activism, and The Erosion of Memory; AN Interview With Jen/ED.

2007-05-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Below is part of an interview with Spoken Word artist Author Jen/ED.
Her Cd "Exposed" was presented with the Best Spoken Word Recordeing Out Music award in 02006.
She speaks quickly and with the rhythm of a poet.

P.A.S.

- Sexuality, Roles, and Turning Back to the Past -

PS: I've been reading a lot about ancient Greek civilization for the last couple of years; fascinating. Before they settled down and started building cities and temples they were nomadic sheep herders. When they actually started settling down they kept some of there nomadic traditions and that included there attitudes about sex and what today we call sexuality. And it wasn't exactly a homosexual Disneyland but it seemed really familiar to me in the way I relate to young straight people.

Of course, today I wouldn't present myself to the parents asking to be a mentor…

JEN/ed: (Laughs) Right.

PS: But that's what they did!

JEN/ed: Really?

PS: Yea. Men whom today we'd refer to as Gay, or homosexual, Bisexual; they didn't have terms like that then. But in Athens if there was a young man and I was enamored with him for whatever reason, I would have dinner with the parents one day and I'd say, "You know I'd be willing to pay for his gear when he joins the military." Because you had to pay for all of that and I'd be willing to sponsor him and if the parents approved of me then I'd show up a week or so later. I'd show up with a puppy which was the traditional gift. Cause he'd be about 16 or 17 years old which the Greeks referred to as "The dangerous age" because they had all that testosterone going, and they would get unruly, and the Greeks thought having as many adults around was a good thing. And if he (the boy) approved, I would be, for lack of a better word, a mentor. And sex was not a given. There may or may not have been sex. It was up to the boy. Maybe on some drunken outing there would be some messing around. Anyway, I'm reading this and I'm thinking This is my life!" It just got me to thinking about how our attitudes about sex really aren't that sophisticated. We have orbital satellites, interplanetary space probes and um...Oh! Those plastic sandwich bags that seal in the freshness! We have all this stuff but we're not as sophisticated as some of our ancestors were. And Native American cultures they had...

JEN/ed: Oh yes. They had the Two Spirit tradition. They were very accepted, very revered actually. You could have both genders be represented in one body. They were the healers, they were the teachers.

PS: They had a role to play. Some of them would be living libraries; others would know what all the rituals were.We don't have that today. What do you think happened?

JEN/ed: Well... (Laughs) A very white very male mentality took over I think. This is something I'm looking at right now in my work. Not white male mentality as in male having a penis or white having a white skin. But there is this western European mentality that has just over taken everything. This idea of colonizer weather it's within your family, within your town, within your country, or within the world. This idea of privilege and morality is dictated by a religion that's not even based on the teachings of the individual they claim it's based upon! It's just this kinda sick fantasy world that seems to be dominating our culture right now.

PS: You don't think there's any kind of discussion going on about this morality in our culture. Do you think people are talking about it? "Is this working or not?"

JEN/ed: I see a lot of turning back. Back, back, back, back. Turning back and reading books that don't apply any more. Even in really very open philosophies. I'm a practitioner and a teacher of yoga and yogic philosophy. Particularly the Tantric which is very female based and is demonized in the Hindu culture.

PS: Really? I didn't know this.

JEN/ed: Well in western culture it translates to sex: Tantra is "sex." Somewhat like Wicca. It's very similar. They have fertility rites. They have these systems of celebrating creativity. And unfortunately that's been extracted and held up as what this system represents, instead of "No that's the pinky finger of the whole body of this philosophy." So I see a lot of looking back to the ancient books and texts. Even in that system, which the people writing in that time had a baseline which doesn’t exist anymore. They were self sufficient first of all. They took care of themselves, they farmed they gardened, they grew there own food.

PS: Everything they ate they either grew or killed it themselves.

JEN/ed: Exactly. They had this relationship with the earth, this relationship with each other this

relationship with there bodies and themselves. This very tangible, visceral sense of what it was to be a being; a creative and animalistic entity. And we've lost that completely. So I think that this idea of morality based on turning back always to what was written about a culture that doesn't exist anymore is really flawed.

PS: And it doesn't matter what religion it would be. You’re right it's a different perspective

- Science, Spirit, the Mind and the Heart -

PS: There are individuals today that believe, God bless em, that the world is flat and that the sun revolves around the Earth because the Bible infers it. And yet thousands of years ago, that's what they believed. But today when I watch a sunrise, because I live in the Twenty-First Centaury, I know that it's an optical illusion. I'm actually on a planet which is rotating on its axis and it's circling the sun, which is actually a star really close, and all those stars I see at night are part of a galaxy which is one of billions of galaxies. So science explains what I'm watching but it doesn't get in the way of all my feelings when I watch a sunrise. I watch a sunrise and I still feel what everybody else feels when they see it. So it doesn't get in the way, it actually expands it. And I think religion, when it works, does that; it explains the divine experience. But that doesn't seem to be the case today.

JEN/ed: Well I think we've allowed the mind to dictate what the heart used to dictate.Spirituality comes from the spirit, from the heart, from that experience that we have. And I think what "religion" does, which some people think of as spirituality, has made all that very mind oriented. The mind doesn't think like the heart thinks. The heart thinks very purely. The mind thinks, good, bad, right, wrong, should, could, would, have done X, Y, and Z and it's very confining and constricting.

PS: Well I think a disciplined mind...um... I was watching some program on PBS. They were talking about physics and this one scientist was talking about gravity. And he was saying "If I take a ball and I throw it, it tends to fall to the ground." and then he said something after that but I don't remember because all I was thinking of was "It tends to fall to the ground. It Tends to fall to the ground." He just said “It tends to fall to the ground.”Now it's highly unlikely that it would just keep on going, but in an infinite universe with infinite time anything is possible.

JEN/ed: Right! Exactly.

PS: This scientist, for him, literally anything is possible and he had so disciplined his mind to the point that he's open to anything. This drives a lot of people nuts. "What! Aren't you sure? But you're a scientist!" They have gotten to the point of embracing uncertainty. I'm starting to appreciate that now. It's nice to be certain, but it's an illusion.

JEN/ed: Yes. I don't know if you've read the Tibetan Book of Living and Dieing.

PS: Why yes, I have.

JEN/ed: It's a fabulous text and it address that exactly, this idea that nothing is fixed. And I love the visual explanation of the mind which in Tibetan thinking that's everything: the mind is the world, it's everything, it's the universe. And thoughts or experiences or things that we consider reality are the clouds in the sky and the only thing that's fixed is that blue screen, that blue sky behind it.
And that's what I was talking about when I was talking about the heart versus the mind. The only thing that's fixed is love, peace: real things that exist in the universe and can manifest in all of us and in all of our lives all of the time. And everything else, everything that we perceive, people that we perceive, everything else are those shifting clouds constantly changing, constantly morphing into different shapes, and colors, and sizes and densities. That was one of those things you read and you think, "Whoa!" (Laughs)

- Labels Limits-

PS: I'm in the punk rock scene spoken word was anything from Exene Cervenka to Henry Rollins to Jim Carroll. There were all these ways of being a spoken word artist. Now when I tell people I do spoken word I say "Well it's like a stand up comedy routine only I don't care if anybody laughs." What I do is storytelling.

JEN/ed: What I do is similar I would say. What I do is story telling with a subtle rhyme. But not a specific style. If you spent a night at The New Yorican I'm kinda not really like that. (laughs)

PS: The problem with single terms is that eventually people want to define it as a single thing. That's why I have a problem with the word "Queer." Because God bless em they think that it's going to help. But really I think they do it cause there kinda sorta lazy and don't want to say Bisexual-Gay-male-Lesbian-Trans. Because there are too many syllables. People gravitate to nice single terms. There are six billion people on the planet and there's no single term that's going to work.

JEN/ed: No. And no single term that everyone is going to feel comfortable applying to themselves. That's something I hear a lot of, especially from older L, G, B, T individuals, is a real discomfort with the word queer. And that's very understandable.

PS: Well it's understandable to you. When this issue comes up its usually leftist "queers" explaining why they use the word and I've listened in on black folks talking about "The N Word" and how younger folks are using it constantly. And when older folks are around who don't like "the N word” it’s never said. There is no discussion. And I totally understand that because there is this attitude of just being respectful of people older then you because they just are older. You just show em respect. And I think it's interesting that we (Gays) have to have to listen to "the lecture" no matter what!

JEN/ed: I think that's interesting because that points to something that is also really interesting to me that I never thought of until about two years ago when I was attending a Pride rally in New York. I can't remember the individuals name but he was involved with....a musical (Thoroughly Modern Millie.)
He was speaking and he said, if you grow up in a particular culture, you have elders that teach you about the history of that culture. And that's the one thing that we're missing in the "Queer, or LGBT" culture, is this real transference of history from the elders to the younger, intuitively you know; as grandparents would tell stories to there grandchildren. And that struck me.
It had never really acoured to me what exactly I was missing in my experience today as a lesbian, as a queer as... (Laughs) All this talk. But as a Women Loving Women, what was missing. And it is missing; It's that history, it's that true understanding, and that idea of community based on what
came before.
And so I think that's a real risk that we run, because we are constantly trying to re-identify without ever having a firm foundation from which to react, respond, and interact with.
It's just inventing the wheel over and over again without ever bothering to look under and see what your driving on. (Laughs) Four of them!
I don't know if that analogy works but you know what I mean.

- Gay Role Models, the Role of the Elders, and the Erosion of Memory -

PS: ....When I was in my twenties, 24/25, one goal I had was to become a role model for Gay youth. I'm now 46 years old and I'm a role model for heterosexual Skinheads and Punks. and...

JEN/ED: (Laughing) But you Are a Gay role model!

PS: Yea, you're right, I am a Gay role model.
But what fascinates me is that I couldn't find a venue or a place to be a Gay role model for Gay youth, where as in the punk rock scene it was very easy.
I remember one day I was at some Bar-B-Q at a friends place and I was with this other Skinhead around my age. We were sitting on the stoop telling stories. And suddenly there were these young skinheads sitting cross legged looking up at us, listening.
And I just had this feeling of "This is as ancient as it can get. This is the way it's been for thousands of years." and then this other Skinhead walks by and he says, 'What's going on? You listening to the elders speak?" And I thought "That's it exactly!".....
And I'm wondering how many Gay men have that experience? How many Lesbians have that experience? of just talking and having the kids come there.
And it happened so often that I had to just say "Yea, elder! it works." You get the lesson presented to you over and over again and I’m finally "This is what's going on." That's what's needed. And I wonder do Gay kids have access to that?

JEN/ed: (Sighs) I think it's hard for gay kids to have access to that and I feel that we're raising a generation now: both the individuals who are young adults at this stage, and kids that are coming up, you know teenagers, don't have access even to there own familial elders. You know Grand Ma and Grand Pa so often are inaccessible or in a nursing home or living far away. I've been in two situations where I can kind of relate to this. One is I teaching queer youth yoga at the L,G,B,T, Center in New York, which is great, but again it's not exactly that elder relationship I mean yes, I'm 32; I'm older but I'm not an elder. I'm possibly an example, but not necessarily of that rich history. But another thing that I have encountered was while teaching dance and choreography at a community collage out here in New Jersey.And getting into a conversation about culture and how it effects art and all of this stuff and it was last fall when the (Presidential) election was going on and I had a student stand up and raise her hand and say "I'm staunchly republican because I don't believe in abortion." And of course it sparked this big debate. It was mostly women in the class. And it turns out that these girls had no idea that women ever died from back ally abortions. These girls never knew a world without that kind of access and what happened in the past.
And even from that perspective, you know, where ever you sit on abortion that's kind of immaterial, it's a fact that it's a crucial piece of information to have when you're making decisions and moving toward the future. And in thinking about things like Gay marriage: Weather you agree with the system or not, it's a huge step forward to just have equal rights. And I think that a lot of people that are saying "Well I don't believe in marriage, why do we want that anyway? Who cares?" aren't really looking way back to Gay and Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people being put in institutions, and given lobotomies, because of a lifestyle that they were leading and how important it is to take that step. And that's the vital element in history.

PS: It kind of brings up the issue of memory. I'm 46 years of age, so I have 46 years of memory. But with history books, from talking to people that are older then me, and through science it could be said I have a memory; a cultural memory, an historical memory, going back centuries, or even billions of years going back to the creation of the universe. That's the kind of memory that we have now. What you're describing is a community, an oppressed community, whose memory is either being erased or is just limited to begin with.

JEN/ed: Yes, limited in so many ways. I mean, going back to the idea of art and why it is I'm sitting here talking to you today, is the censorship of artists and the lack of our reach into the greater community to bring any message other then what's being channeled through every other media outlet. The oral tradition of story telling and telling of history through art, whatever your medium, is how culture upon culture have learned about there history. And so to limit that is really as you've pointed out, either limiting or, if you want to go there, which I would say, erasing history, memory, and the ability to think and reason. Because that's how we can make good choices, is to know what came before us.

- Art, Activism and the Left; Sad -

PS: There are some things you really don't have much control over. The monopolization of the media by corporations: I'm kind of limited in that area. I identify as an artist. And I feel that the left or the Queer left doesn't really appreciate art the same way that Evangelical Christians do because I know that they hate it. They want to put stickers on it, they want to ban it. They hate it because they know how powerful it is. Whereas on the left artists are in my opinion basically fundraising tools. They really don't appreciate it.
OK, here's a true story.
A couple of years ago some friends of mine The Bouncing Souls, and two other bands The Dropkick Murphy’s, and The Dwarves they were going on tour. It started in Canada. The show starts and the kids are dancing around. And the bouncers, described as "football player jock types," ware literally slamming kids on the ground because they didn't like the way they were dancing. So the kids revolted and literally jumped on top of these guys. The bouncers got disgusted and left. The owner of the venue cut the power and called the cops. So the cops come and the kids are sitting on the floor chanting "Sham 69, Sham 69, Sham 69..." For folks that don't know Sham 69 is a punk rock band going way back who wrote a song titled "If the Kids are United They Will Never Be Divided." But that's to long to chant so they did "Sham 69, Sham 69 Sham 69..." And the cops arrive and one takes a bull horn and shouts "BE QUIET!"
Silence!
Then "BE QUIET, BE QUIET, BE QUIET..." Those kids started chanting be quiet. Those kids were united by a song. And someone from the Dropkicks said "If you just let us play things would be fine." And the cop said that if they performed they would be arrested for inciting a riot. If they sing a song, they’re inciting a riot.
The singer for the Dropkick Murphy’s went on stage and told the kids that they were going outside and that they would perform an acoustic set in the parking lot. And that's what they did. They went outside, they performed in the drizzle, the kids danced and sang along, and even the cops had a good time.
But those kids knew they had the power and they had a choice as to who they would give there power to. That's what music does and I don't think the "Queer Left" has stories like that.

JEN/ed: No it’s really sad. Queer left or just left. I also do speaking engagements where I talk about what I do and why I do it. And I was asked to speak at a collage in upper Manhattan and the topic was "Why Is Art Important in Activism?" And they almost had to be convinced! There was a group of students who had asked for this topic be addressed. And none of there superiors understood why this was a meaningful discussion to have. And it blew me away!
Especially because these were women who were 40 and 50 years old, who should know why art goes hand in hand with activism. Who should, you would think, have grown up with art as activism. And I feel like there is this potential idea that it's almost passé' at this point; "Well that's been done. Let's do something else now." But it works. You can see it. The example you gave is perfect. And I've seen it over and over again.
It happened again this past weekend on Long Island at a Lesbian bar. People are talking, playing pool, kind of hanging out for all the bands that played before which drives me nuts by the way. It drives me nut! Because I perform with a lot of singer songwriters, and I'll get up and because I'm talking and because people will "shush" there neighbor because someone is just talking people will be quite. But then the next guitar player gets up whose singing just as powerful stuff if not more and everyone’s talking again. It drives me nuts.
But anyway, everyone’s talking through the bands; talking, talking, talking. And I get up to talk and in this case it was the bands before me except for one weren't necessarily political or feminist. So I got up and started talking and there was this pull. I started telling these stories. And people were "That's me." I started telling this story about my mother and I compare the time she was living with breast cancer to the time were living in now. She died during the Regan administration and here we are in the second coming of Bush and it's so similar. We are just turning the clock back. We are in worse shape then we were at that point. And I'm talking and people stopped there pool games and they stop talking and just listened.
It's so powerful!Not just what I have to say but what all of us have to say is so powerful. And it needs to be heard. And I think your right. The “Right” is terrified because they know that if people start tuning in, if people start listening, if people start understanding that we all share similar stories, we all share similar history, regardless of gender, regardless of sexuality, regardless of religion, regardless of race, that we do have some fundamental similarities it's going to destroy everything.

(Pause)

PS: Which is not a bad thing: Destroying everything isn't necessarily a bad thing.

JEN/ed: Which is a wonderful thing!
But if you're trying to control a population, and control the thought process of a population you can't start having them to identify with one another. If you want all Middle Eastern men to be evil you can't have those lines being fuzzy and crossed.
==========

We spoke further. More from Jen/ED in the future or just pay a visit to her web site today.
www.jened.com

What Jerry Falwell Taught Me.

2007-05-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Jerry Falwell is dead.
I have been working on his epitaph for the last six years.
So here it is.
Jerry Falwell taught me one thing.
That there is more then one way to hate the United States of America.
Hateing the U.S. is something forlks have been doing for the last two centuries.
Today we can get all kinds of images of folks burning badly made copies of the stars and stripes chanting death to America.
But there's more then one way to hate if not just the country but the idea of America.
After the last presidential election I watched a panel of Democtars, progressives, and liberal thinkers
talking about how to amonge other things how present themselves.
Ariena Huffington quoted a man from before the Reolution to point out what she saw as liberal values
going back to before the founding of the nation. I don't recall thename of the man; I wasn't taking notes.
But I do recall how it started. "We must lean on each other." It was about how we need to support each other and
pull togeather.
With out missing a beat a black man on the panal said, "Need I remind you that that man owned slaves?"
Ariana tried to bring focus on the truth of this mans words. Perhaps the only true thing this man ever had.
But there was no going back. Finaly the moderator said something to the effect of "Before we give the
"Right" something to use againts us lets change the subject."
Did that black man hate America? I think so. He hated the America that was.
An America in which the economy was based in large part on the buying and selling of human beings.
Jerry Falwell hated America as well. He hated the America that was becoming.
An America where Gay folk could walk down the street hand in hand with out having some one
very politly tell them they were damed to hell.
He hated an America where science was the basis of domestic policy decisions like global warming and stem cell research.
Two days after the attacks of September 11th Jerry Falwell blamed his usual suspects; Gays, Liberals, and non christians
pointing his finger at the camera saying "I blame you." In other words he blamed Americans.
He capped it off by saying that if we Americans continued our sinfull ways God would continue to give "...Amrica probubly what we deserve."
"...what we deserve."

In his eyes we deserved it.
The men and women who reached out to each other to take each others hands because they did not want to leap to there deaths alone deserved that.
I'll admit that I was um... annoyed by that statement.
For nearly a week I imagined running into Mr. Falwell on the street and kicking him in the throut. But after a week I saw the humor in what he said. The liberals, Gay and the ACLU had "pushed God out of the public square."
I then thought of myself running into God at the mall. "Hey God, let me introduce you to my boy friend."
"I shall turn you into a piller of Salt!"
I respond with,
"Oh yea? Not as long as I have my membership cared to the ACLU!" and I flash my newly laminated card.
"Arggg! Omnipitance fading..." And Jerry Falwells God runs off like the arrogent pussy that it is.
My all powerfull God meets me later at the food court and we have a augh over my tale.
Few people had done more to divide this country then Mr. Fallwell. He has institutions like his collage and political organization but it is his hatred of America that has the most imediat effect today. Other's have taken his lessons and get a pay check at the end of the week for effectivle putting forth the us versus them mentality that is poisoning this nation.
We are not "One From Many" We are Red States and Blue States. We are Liberals and Conservatives. We are... well you get the point.
At the end of the play Oedipus Rex the chorus advises the audience to not judge people while they live any more then you would announce the winner of a race while the race is still being run.
Only after some one dies can you fully judge a life and weather there contribution was mostly positive or negitive.
I'm not one to be much of a judge. I'm just going totake a step back and think about what folks will say about me after I'm gone.

Pedro

Liberty and Death

2007-05-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
-James Madison, Virginia Convention Speech,
1788

The liberty I mean is a social freedom. It is that state of things in which Liberty is secured by the equality of Restraint; a Constitution of things in which the liberty of no one Man and no body of Men and no number of men can find Means to trespass on the liberty of any Person or any description of Person in Society.
-Edmond Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790

There was a time when Kings disposed of their Crowns by will upon their death-beds, and consigned the people, like beasts of the field, to what ever successor they appointed. This is now so exploded as scarcely to be remembered and so monstrous as hardly to be believed; but the Parliamentary clauses upon which Mr. Burke builds his political church are of the same nature….
-Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, 1791

There is only one cure for the evils which newly acquired freedom produces, and that cure is freedom.
-Lord Macaulay, On Milton, 1825

The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.
-John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

Freedom is always freedom for the one who thinks differently.
-Rosa Luxemburg, The Russian Revolution, 1922

Freedom must be controlled and dominated…. Freedom without order and discipline means dissolution and catastrophe...Freedom is not a right; it is a duty, it is a conquest, a privilege…The concept of freedom changes as time passes. There is a freedom in peacetime which is no longer freedom in wartime. There is freedom in times of wealth which cannot be granted in times of poverty.
-Benito Mussolini, speech, early 1920’s

Freedom can exist only within the state….Fascism has its solution to the paradox of liberty and authority. The authority of the state is absolute.
-Giovanni Gentile, The Philosophic Basis of Fascism, 1928

We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. This first freedom is of freedom of speech and expression-every where in the world. The second freedom is of everyone to worship God in his own way-every where in the world. The third is freedom from want… every where in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear… anywhere in the world.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, Speech to Congress, 1941

That community is already in the process of dissolution where each man begins to eye his neighbor as a possible enemy, where non conformity with the accepted creed, political as well as religious, is a mark of disaffection; where denunciation, without specification or backing, takes the place of evidence; where orthodoxy chokes freedom of dissent….
-Learned Hand, Speech to the Board of
Rgents of the State University of New York, 1952

Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.
Rudolph Giuliani, at a forum on crime, 1994