From the Editor:
I
Y the internet.
And I refuse to capitalize the word “internet,” stylebooks be damned. What is staring at a computer screen doing to my eyes? I resent my The internet was a big focus internet bill. I dislike spam and popup of study for me in grad school. I was ads. I get frustrated at how slow my interested in Hannah Arendt’s idea of service can be sometimes (and it wasdemocracy as requiring individuals to n’t that long ago I was still using dialhave both a public life and a private up). I would much rather read a real life, and I was intrigued by the fact book (on real paper) than an e-book. I that the internet is one of the few know that the more time I spend on (only?) places that can serve as part of the computer, the worse my handwritthe public sphere as well as the private ing gets. As I socialize more through sphere. Seeing that anyone can the internet, I wonder if I miss out on become a mass communicator on the “real” socialization (a la Robert internet, that a wide range of people Putnam’s Bowling Alone). In courses use the internet, and that such a wide I’ve taught, it’s been sad to see how range of information is available on readily some students plagiarize inforthe internet, it all looks so promising mation from the internet (at the same for democracy and for people themtime, it’s easy and abashedly fun to selves. catch them). You can’t believe everyIt has been interesting for me thing you read on the internet (then to observe my own internet usage over again, that’s true offline as well). I the years. The internet helped me wonder about the role the internet has keep in touch with family far away played in the decline of newspapers (I (without inflating my long-distance think the decline of newspapers is phone bill). It influenced much of my multifaceted, so I won’t “blame” the school work while also distracting me internet), and I wonder what will hapfrom it. Now, I use the internet a lot pen to the majority of internet news, for work. It’s amazing that you can which in fact depends on newspaper track just about any law or legislation journalism as its starting point. on the internet. I’ll take email over a Amazon deleted copies of the phone call any day. I do a lot of my e-books 1984 and Animal Farm from shopping and personal business on the Kindle readers via the internet without internet because I don’t have a car. I ever asking the Kindle owners’ pertry to get my daily dose of internet mission when it turned out Amazon news sources, especially independent didn’t own the copyright for the ones. Not only does the internet offer books. I laughed (1984, of all great opportunities for keeping books…), but we should be worried, informed about what’s happening right? internationally, but it also offers great I think about the “digital opportunities to keep tabs on local divide,” the gap between those who events. (To me, keeping track of local have internet access and those who and independent bands is the only readon’t, and I think about what “internet son to use MySpace any more.) I access” even means here. Anyone keep up with TV shows I missed on who has ever used the internet in a Hulu. When I have given lectures on library knows that it’s a very different the internet, I make sure students experience from having high-speed know about memes and “Rick internet in your home (though thank Rolling.” I love playing Xbox Live goodness the library internet is there). with my brother 2,000 miles away. I also wonder about how Then again, I also love playing Xbox much time I spend in the internet’s Live with friends just blocks away… non-linear world of hyperlinks and In spite of all this, I’m also a “back buttons,” and I wonder about skeptic.
how it affects my thought processes and my writing… particularly in that this letter and my article on the internet later in this issue are both like splatters of ideas rather than wellcrafted journeys. The Undercurrent Ys the internet (despite the current state of our website—we promise, we’re working on that soon). However, in this issue, we look at a darker side of this force, “Fear and Loathing on the World Wide Web.” Daniel Ray takes a look at cyberchondria, the role medical information on the internet plays in hypochondria. Daniel and Abid Yahya write about hacking and identity theft on the internet. Matt Espinoza Watson reviews the role of websites in the “2012 and the end of the world” movement. Yours truly looks at the links between conflict and the internet (particularly where governments are involved), inspired by the recent use of Twitter in Iranian protests and the cyberattacks on U.S. government websites on Independence Day. “The Lost Socratic Dialogues” also considers Fear and Loathing on the World Wide Web. Of course, this issue includes the usual features and what-have-yous, including “Cultivating Consciousness,” “The Palestine Report,” and our “AfterWords.” There’s also “The View Looks Good From Here, Fresno” and “Gardening with Christy Cole.” Also check out our reviews (of the book Making a Killing, the film Super High Me, and the card game Dominion). Our plugs section looks at several local events and entities of interest, including Woodward Shakespeare, the Fresno Arts Council, Americans for Safe Access, and the Greek Festival. In spite of this month’s featured topic, though, the very fact that we maintain a paper edition of this publication (despite the cost) is part of our attitude that there is more to life than what can be experienced online. ~Jessi Hafer
August 2009
Volume 4
Issue 3
Editorial Board Carlos Fierro Editor editor@fresnoundercurrent.net Jessi Hafer Associate Editor jessi@fresnoundercurrent.net Matt Espinoza Watson Associate Editor mattw@fresnoundercurrent.net Abid Yahya Associate Editor abid@fresnoundercurrent.net Staff Writers Vahram Antonian Nicholas Nocketback Contributors: Joe Aguayo Christy Cole Vince Corsaro April Hoogasian
Steven J Ingeman Rosanna Kaser Larry Keller Gena Kirby Tracy Newel Daniel Ray Hillary Robertson Linda Sorenson H Peter Steeves Ed Stewart Adam Wall
For advertising inquiries, please email ads@fresnoundercurrent.net For letters to the editor, please email letters@fresnoundercurrent.net For submission information, please email editor@fresnoundercurrent.net For subscription information: FresnoUndercurrent.net or send check for $35 to “The Undercurrent” P.O. Box 4857, Fresno, CA 93744
©2009 Out of respect for our contributors, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the permission of the Editor-in-Chief.
About the Cover 24
by Hillary Robertson
Local Eats SCIENCE,H EALTH,& ENVIRONMENT 4
Cultivating Consciousness: RESPECT by Gena Kirby
LOCAL N E W S 5 5 6
Americans for Safe Access by Daniel Ray SoTow by Tracy Newel
Health Choices May Depend on Your Zip Code by April Hoogasian
LA B O R & ECONOMICS 6
Delta Flight Attendants Try For Union Again by Linda Sorenson
12 13 14
7 8
The Palestine Report by Abid Yahya
AfterWords by Carlos Fierro & Abid Yahya
FEATURED T OPIC: FEAR A N D LOATHING O N THE W ORLD W IDE W EB 9 10 10
Surfing the Web is a lot Like Walking Down the Street by Daniel Ray & Abid Yahya
Cyber Symptoms
by Daniel Ray
From Hate to Hurt: Experts Discuss the Role of Propaganda
Interviews conducted by Larry Keller
YouTube and the End of the World (Part 1of 2) by Matt Espinoza Watson From The Lost Socratic Dialogues: “The Arparnos” Discovered by Ingeman & Steeves
C ALENDAR 1 6 UnderCurrentEvents Calendar 18
25
Mehek Punjab de, Vegetarian Indian Restaurant by Jessi Hafer TASTE: I Heart Coffee by Tracy Newel
FILM REVIEWS 26
Super High Me
by Vahram Antonian
B ORED? G AMES! Dominion 2 7 by Joe Aguayo
The Undercurrent’s indie PREVIEW
C OLUMNS
Green Up Your Thumb:
PLUGS & PROFILES 19
STATE,N ATIONAL,INTERNATIONAL
Internet battleground by Jessi Hafer
25
19 20 20
Rhythm and Rhyme by Carlos Fierro Greek Fest by Carlos Fierro
Woodward Shakespeare’s Richard III by Jessi Hafer Sustainability & Empowerment in Fresno & Beyond by Jessi Hafer
M USIC REVIEWS 21 21
Mezcal by Matt Espinoza Watson
Aesop Fables by Abid Yahya
Book Review 23
Making a Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights by Carlos Fierro
28 29 30 POETRY 30
Gardening Tips Continued by Christy Cole
The View Looks Good From Here, Fresno by Adam & Ed
Dear Nocketback by Nicholas Nocketback
Three Poems by Rosanna Kaser
SHORT FICTION 31
Sweet Nothings by Nicholas Nocketback
RESPECT
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Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts? —Confucius
capable of and what the consequences are if you don’t respect it. In Luis Alberto Urrea’s book, The Hummingbird’s Daughter, one of hen you respect some- the characters, Tomas, asks the local medicine woman, Huila, one, it’s very difficult “Do they respect me?” She finally to abuse them. Last looks at him and asks, “Have you month’s Cultivating done anything respectable?” Consciousness article was about Non As a parent, that is the Violent Parenting. How do we accom- question I want to constantly ask plish this goal? Who are you less like- myself, because I’ve noticed that, the more I demand respect from my chilly to abuse, someone you respect or dren, the less I get. When I am present, someone you do not respect? when I am with my children, I rememI’ve been thinking about that con- ber that it’s my job to make sure that I cept. How many of us were treated with impart with them the knowledge they dignity and respect as children? Were we need in their lives to be able to somerevered for the amazing little people we day live independent of me, that if I were? Or were we treated like property? bring them up and they live to move How did it affect us as adults? out, I’ve done my job. I remember Growing up in my house, my sister my children don’t belong to me. I and I heard the word respect all the time. remember that I m there to love and proWe constantly heard how it was important tect my children, not to lord over them. I that we respect my parents. I always wonremember to get out of my own head dered why we had to. You know, I never and see them as little people that remember feeling much respect for my deserve my love and respect. During father after a spanking, at least not accord- those rare times when I am present, I ing to the dictionary definition of the term. get the best results. According to Merriam-Webster, respect is Just as you have to nur“high or special regard; esteem.” By the ture plants in order for them to time I was 12, I had a different understand- grow, you must feed your chiling of respect. I thought that someone you dren, keep them in your sight, respected was someone you feared, in the and tend to them. Are they same way one respects a snake when you drooping in the middle of the cross one in the desert. You stay out of its afternoon from too much heat? Just like a way because you respect what they are plant that shows signs it needs watering, so
does your child when he’s acting up. It’s our responsibility to recognize the signs of our plants, what they are really saying when they communicate to us through their actions. We know that when they turn yellow, it means the plants are getting too much water. Maybe whining is a sign that our child just needs some love. Can you imagine admonishing your plant for growing too slow or too fast? Or hitting it when water spills out from an over watering that’s your fault anyway?
If we love our children as we love ourselves and treat them with the respect we believe we deserve, would our children grow differently? If you respect something, you cannot abuse it. Trust that your children are a result of your actions. I think the little orange men from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory summed it up best, “You know exactly who’s to blame… the mother and the father.” Trust that your child will thrive in an environment of respect. Trust that you will get what you give. There are two words that are hard to find in parenting books, trust and respect. For a list of books that do emphasize non-violence, respect, and trust, go to www.attachmentparenting.com.
If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die. —Maya Angelou ______ Gena Kirby is a wife, mother, Doula, Childbirth Educator, and creator of mommymattersonline.com. She is the creator and host of the radio show, Progressive Parenting, which airs every Thursday at 1pm on KFCF 88.1 FM
I
t is wrong to assume that Fresno, although in California, is a pot friendly town. In reality, it’s almost the complete opposite. That is why a couple of local crusaders have set up meetings every month to discuss marijuana law and how it relates to local residents in the community. Diana Kirby, a Fresno local, chairs the local chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA). This organization, which has over 30,000 active members and chapters in over forty states, has a mission to “ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.” The group meets every second Monday of every month at 6pm at downtown’s Full Circle Brewery (620 F Street).
At the June meeting, ASA California Director Don Duncan made an appearance and gave a
sparkling speech. One of the topics that hit the right note was his plea to change the way that marijuana activists talk about marijuana. He made very clear the stark distinction between the two topics of marijuana legalization (which the ASA is not concerned with for the moment) and access to medical marijuana for those who need it (which is what the ASA is all about). Here in California, we passed Proposition 215 in 1996 (with 56% of voters saying aye), which protects seriously ill and suffering patients whose doctors have prescribed medical marijuana from criminal penalties for using or possessing the drug. Thirteen years later, patients are still being arrested and harassed by law enforcement. Cops are still confiscating prescribed medication. Legitimate medical marijuana dispensaries are still being raided and shut down. And that’s not to say that a lot of progress hasn’t been made. Through a number of court battles and through a slow changing of the cultural climate, medical marijuana is becoming more and more accepted as the legitimate medical treatment that it is. Duncan pointed out,
however, that reckless talk about medical marijuana as a stepping stone to marijuana legalization only hurts the cause and decreases suffering patients’ access to the medicine that they need. In the end, the ASA’s agenda is a medical one, and California is, in many ways, leading the way, even though you might not notice it here in Fresno. There have been some victories, though. Two dispensaries are now operating here in town, and the city is now issuing medical marijuana ID cards to patients with legitimate prescriptions. Nevertheless, it’s going to be a long fight. As Kirby points out, “too many people are brainwashed. They are brainwashed by the government, who I might add are very good at doing that.” Each monthly ASA meeting has a forum of latest news, notes from Ms. Kirby and her right hand man Dana Bobbit, as well as a Q & A session at the end. The last meeting was well attended by a diverse crowd. Since the city’s issuing of ID cards, Kirby says that “the meetings have quadrupled in size.” Many in attendance were those who suffer from chronic illnesses and use medical marijuana as a way to relieve their pain. But the meetings also serve as a source of information to help folks understand the diverse nature of medical marijuana laws, a planning forum in the ongoing fight for safe access, and a place to meet like minded individuals. All meetings are free and open to the public. ______ Daniel Ray is a freelance writer and videographer. He is currently working in the Bay as a union organizer for NUHW. You can check out their site at www.nuhw.org.
SoTow
I
by Tracy Newel
Michoacan came in on Belmont with spectacular ice cream. Planned Parenthood moved ’ll be the first to admit I live in a into a nice new building on Van Ness and even the local taqueria got a mention in the marginal neighborhood, at best. I recall our real estate agent driv- NYT of all places. But the pinnacle of renovations is taking place at the old Fultonia ing further and further building on Fulton. south…barely being able to find our I’ve driven by this spot for years on little white house in escrow, as it was my way to work. Let’s just say there’s so far buried in a neighborhood I had always been a lot of activity for 6:30 in the never, ever walked in. I live, as a morning. Hustling. Shopping carts. Empty middle-class lady in my 20s, south of store fronts. And people. Lots of people Olive. Gulp. doing God knows what. Hmmm… Okay, it really is not that bad… at The Fultonia was originally built all. I like my neighborhood. I can walk to with 50s era vintage lines as a hotel. Walking get a loaf of bread, pick up a movie, or see around the empty units, you can still find something at the Tower theater without ever remnants of canned lights, pastel linoleum, crossing a busy street. I feel safe with the and chipped aqua paint. For years, it was an police station so close. My neighbors are a incredibly neglected property. Illegal plumbvery eclectic mix or Mormons, divorcees, ing and wiring, code violations, the occasionnew parents and hipster Chicanos. It’s a al drug user, and hazardous living conditions. place where people sit on their front porches (At one point, the units had a space carved at night (no AC and a giant dog in the back out near the front door for a heat/air unit… yard has that effect) so you get to know peonever to be completed, leaving a gaping hole ple three streets up. Everyone is surprisingly in the front wall exposed, and yes, this means tolerant of one another. It’s a nice place. So I none of the units had heat or air). Finally, it felt rather validated when I heard a new term went into foreclosure. thrown around for my special place in town: TFS investments bought the properSoTow. ty at auction earlier this year. The City had SoTow, or “South of Tower,” refers tossed around the idea of it being a homeless to a district due south of the theater and north shelter, a residence for veterans, or a rehab of the new hipster museum district in more facility, but seeing this chic little gem in an proper downtown. It’s a little rough in parts, emerging neighborhood, the contractor, Tyco but people are taking an interest in its revitalGeneral, suggested restoring the property to ization. For one, it’s got great infrastructure. its original glory, with an updated twist. South Van Ness is a tree lined street with Thirty-nine studio to two bedroom homes as big and grand as Old Fig. And it’s units surround an open courtyard (think got the city’s best freeway entrance, getting Three’s Company). Each unit is a bit different you anywhere in town in 15 minutes (180 por from the next, some containing skylights, a vida!). It’s bikeable and walkable (About sweet view, or a quiet little breakfast nook. how many places can you say that in Fresno?) Units are being gutted and restored with with neighbors who actually respect both brand new kitchens, granite countertops, those modes of transportation (be they young Berber carpet, and a hip color scheme. As an environmentalists or just plain broke). There has been some progress in the SoTow continued next page... last couple of years in SoTow. La Reina de
SoTow continued... appealing to local neighborhood housing costs reasonable,
added urban feel, ten commercial spaces belly up to Fulton Street with gleaming, tall windows and simple mid-century architecture. There’s major work/live potential. Think about it: laundromat, coffee shop, art gallery, boutique, office space, mini food co-op, restaurant… you name it. The developer is nicely balancing the need to revitalize the space without compromising the original feel of the “village.” They are committed to keeping
values by adding energy efficiencies, and offering good security. Like the rest of SoTow, The Fultonia is unique… and they intend to keep it that way. So get yourself some street-cred and check out the neighborhood south of Olive. Guaranteed you’ll find something unexpected. ______ Tracy Newel can be reached at tracynewel@gmail.com and her blog can be read at www.fresnofoodie.blogspot.com.
Making Healthy Choices May Depend on Your Zip Code
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Delta Flight Attendants Try for Union Again
The company has harassed, videotaped, and threatened arrest of union activists. In the first election, charges were investigated by the NMB but dismissed. Last year the union filed 119 charges of harassment, intimidation, and denial of access to workers in the workplace, but the NMB refused to even investigate.
C
by Linda Sorenson
abin crews at Delta, the largest airline in the world since its merger last year by April Hoogasian with Northwest, are preparing any Fresnans live in a food desert. That is, for their third union election in eight years. The result many people residing in low-income promises to shape the stanneighborhoods in the city and county of dards of work for flight attenFresno have severely limited access to dants, and union supporters grocery stores that sell nutritious and fresh foods, impairing their ability to make healthy choices. Studies are banking on a new political appointee to help them get a have shown that people who live in neighborhoods fairer shake in this election. without access to grocery stores are less likely to have healthy diets, increasing their risk of diet-related disThe 21,000 flight attendants filed a petition with the National Mediation eases including obesity, cancer, and diabetes. With Board on Monday, seeking a vote to restricted access to supermarkets and transportation, it become members of the Association of is common that residents in low-income communities Flight Attendants, an affiliate of the have come to rely on corner stores for their food shop- Communications Workers (CWA). ping. Airline union elections are governed Unfortunately, a visit to a corner store reveals that cigarettes, liquor, and pre-packaged convenience foods are readily available on the one hand, and few, if any healthy food options are available on the other. For those healthy items that are offered, they are costlier than unhealthy options. For example, a 40 ounce malt liquor costs less than a bottle of water. And 100% juice drinks are often much more expensive than a soda of equal size. Empowered and ready to confront the issue of food justice, a group of Central Valley youth are working towards advocating for policy shifts in Fresno’s urban and rural communities to increase or ensure access to healthy foods and advocate for land use practices that facilitate and promote environments that are safe, healthy and conducive to physical activity. Luckily for Fresno, there are passionate youth committed to creating healthier neighborhoods. The Youth Leadership Institute’s mission is to build communities where young people and their adult allies come together to create positive social change. For more information visit us at www.yli.org and ylifresno.blogspot.com. ______ April Hoogasian is on staff with YLI. She can be reached at ahoogasian@yli.org.
by the NMB because air carriers fall under the Railway Labor Act. Union activists are hopeful that the NMB’s new chair, Linda Puchala, a former president of AFA/CWA, will ensure a fair election and possibly change the unusual balloting procedure which counts everyone who doesn’t vote as a “no” vote. “The current method that the NMB uses to count votes for union representation is absurd,” said Veda Shook, who serves as AFA vice-president and oversees organizing. “In what other election does every eligible voter begin as a ‘no’ vote and only become ‘yes’ when they vote? This system favors passivity. Those that choose to not vote or those that don’t care still count as ‘no’ votes.” As the only major non-union carrier
in the U.S., Delta has maintained pay levels comparable to other airlines’, but has inferior benefits. Until this year, Delta did not give flight attendants access to their seniority list. They don’t have a say in work rules and can’t enforce the rights the company says they have. When they retire, their pension is reduced by half the amount they get for Social Security. Delta flight attendants filed for their first election in August 2001. Just as they prepared to vote, the September 11 tragedy occurred, leaving the industry reeling with uncertainty. Only 29 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.
VOTING ‘NO’ FROM THE GRAVE Delta’s second election last year also failed, with 40 percent voting. When the company finally gave the union a list of eligible voters, it included people who had been out of the active workforce for years. Mollie Reiley, a Northwest flight attendant and AFA member-organizer, coordinated the challenges to the NMB last year. She said it took a long time to get the company’s responses and then NMB rulings. “We didn’t get the response to some until the day of the election and some never at all,” she said. The process was complicated by the fact that the company is not required to provide employee contact information. More than 800 voters on the list were on medical leave or furloughed. The union could not find most of them, but discovered that one flight attendant on the list was dead. The company acknowledged her death, but the NMB—whose previous chair had been a Northwest lobbyist—refused to remove her. She became a vote against representation.
THIRD TIME A CHARM? The big advantage this time is the voting strength of Northwest flight attendants, who have had collective bargaining rights for more than 60 years. Northwest is roughly one-third of the new Delta. AFA/CWA is throwing resources into that side of the campaign and activists expect a very high turnout. But Northwest can’t carry the day. Even if 90 percent of the Northwest crew votes, the union will still need about 30 percent of the Delta vote as well. The union faces difficulty because the last election was so recent, and activists at Delta have found it hard to energize the same level of involvement as the last campaign. Delta also pits the two workforces against each other masterfully. Northwest now has a base in Atlanta, the largest Delta hub. Management has given fantastic trips that used to go to Delta crews—Rome, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hawaii—to the Northwest base. Many Delta flight attendants have fallen right into the trap, turning their rage against Northwest crews instead of Delta management. Management also puts out confusing and deceptive materials claiming favorable pay, benefits, and conditions. A recent piece claimed that Northwest flight attendants couldn’t bid as short a monthly schedule as Delta, but didn’t mention that Northwest offers leaves of absence with health care while Delta does not. Of course, it also didn’t mention the power workers gain with a union to have real influence at their job. ______ Linda Sorenson has been a Delta flight attendant for 41 years and a core activist in all three AFA campaigns. ______ This article originally appeared on www.labornotes.org.
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26 July 2009
world of Israel’s at-sea hijacking of their humanitarian aid ship, of her and her fellow activists’ subsequent ust as every other detainment, and of the injustices human activity seems to going on within the prison itself. be taking place, more She opened her broadcast and more these days, on with the following lines: I am one of the Free Gaza 21, who are human the internet, so does the rights activists trying to take medIsraeli occupation and the ical supplies, building supplies, and Palestinian resistance. Israel mostly crayons for children—I had a relies heavily on internet tech- suitcase full of crayons for chilnologies to maintain both the dren—to Gaza. And while we were political and military aspects on our way to Gaza, the Israelis threatened to fire on our boat. We of its ongoing occupation of did not turn around. Because we Palestine. And Palestinians— didn’t turn around, the Isrealis and their supporters worldhijacked us because we wanted to wide—also take advantage of give crayons to the children of Gaza. And she closed it out with the web in their multi-front this: We have not committed any struggle for Palestinian freecrimes. We have been detained, and dom and statehood. we want the people—really, of the world—to see how we have been treated just because we wanted to THE ARREST OF CYNTHIA deliver humanitarian assistance to MCKINNEY the people of Gaza. It is incumbent upon president Obama to stand by Recently, for example, Cynthia McKinney (former Democratic con- his reported policy of easing the Gaza blockade and of allowing gresswoman from Georgia, and the Green Party candidate for president building supplies, medical supplies, and school supplies to go through. in last year’s election) was arrested and detained by Israeli troops. She We call on president Obama to use the highest levels of his authority to had been aboard a Free Gaza ship transmit this message to the Israelis. (check out www.freegaza.org for Let the Free Gaza 21 go, but also more information about the Free Gaza Movement) on the blue of the help the Palestinian people and the Mediterranean on 2 July, en route to children of Gaza to assert and enjoy Gaza with around three tons of med- their natural human rights. From within an Israeli jail, ical, building, and school supplies for the people of Gaza, when the a simple telephone call to a Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) took livestream online broadcast creates a control of the ship and arrested all of potent message heard not only by those on board. McKinney then those who happen to be listening to smartly took full advantage of this that particular broadcast, but— golden PR opportunity. Once inside thanks again to the internet—heard the Israeli detention facility in also by untold thousands upon thousands more who listen later, all who Ramla (where a number of hopeful now have a clear and current examIsraeli immigrants, particularly ple before them of the villainy of women from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Israel’s policies in Gaza. Sudan, have been imprisoned for Kudos to the Free Gaza many months instead of being Movement and to Cynthia helped as the refugees they are), McKinney demanded her phonecall McKinney for this PR slam dunk. on 3 July and called up WBAIX (WBAI-in-exile, the livestream, free-speech, community radio channel out of New York) and told the
THE FIGHT FOR INTER- Palestinian post or comment has NET MEDIA appeared on any of a number of websites of interest. Megaphone The rise of the internet has, can be downloaded from giyus.org, for all its complicated effects the name of which is an acronym for on the ongoing occupation Give Israel Your United Support. A and resistance, done one particularly creepy aspect of the site thing for certain. It has is how the instructions are couched begun to finally wrest free in plainly benign and innocuous the truth from Israel’s tight terms, urging users to download PR grasp. When Israel’s occupation Megaphone in order to “receive began, everyone in the world got desktop alerts on key articles and their news from print papers and TV surveys,” which you can simply broadcasts, and Israel’s media spin click to “easily voice your opinion.” doctors were able, fairly easily, to In July 2006, in a single get most of the world to maintain a week, over 5000 students belonging cursory understanding of the situato the World Union of Jewish tion as an innocent Israel defending Students downloaded and began itself against fearsome terroroperating Megaphone. On 1 July obsessed Arab enemies who are 2009, Israel’s Foreign Ministry intent on blowing themselves up on buses and in restaurants. Now, however, with the web reaching into billions of homes across the planet, and with independent news websites rapidly becoming more and more folks’ preferred way of keeping up with current events, lovers of justice and truth worldwide have begun to chip away at Israel’s version of the truth, to talk openly of the occupation, and the ethnic cleansing, and the sordid announced that Megaphone had details of Israel’s ongoing crime. Though I’m sure high-level been downloaded by 50,000 users. Israeli intelligence folks began taking the internet seriously long before In December of 2008, the this, we know that, in 2006, Israel’s Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Foreign Ministry ordered a number launched their own YouTube chanof trainee diplomats to begin trolling nel as part of its manipulated media the web for anti-Israeli and antipackage surrounding the near-anniZionist sentiment, in order for the hilation of Gaza that took place for government to keep its finger on the three weeks in December and pulse of global opinion, and to begin January. Recall that the IDF didn’t aggressively blogging against those allow any foreign reporters into voices. Gaza, though they did graciously Basically, Israel’s strategy offer up their YouTube channel, here seems to be to drown out any where they carefully controlled what pro-Palestinian sentiment on webimages and stories got out to the sites and blogs throughout the world world press. by posting opposing comments in But it didn’t seem to work. great volume. The more bloggers As it turns out, information on the on the job, the more slanted and web seems to be less susceptible to effectively controlled the global con- manipulation than information disversation is. seminated via the traditional media, Most disturbingly, volunand we have witnessed, with regard teer pro-occupation bloggers can to global opinion about the socalled download software called Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a true Megaphone, which sets off desktop and momentous turning of the tides. alerts that let folks know that a pro- In spite of the “news” being posted
on the IDF’s YouTube channel during their Christmastime bombardment of Gaza, and in spite of the Israel lobby’s firm grasp on most of the world’s mainstream media outlets, millions of people took to the streets in December 2008 and January 2009 (in cities as far flung as San Francisco, Mumbai, Sydney, London, Tokyo, and Mexico City) to voice their fervent opposition to Israel’s “war.” Most of the hundreds of protests were organized by independent, web-based, pro-Palestinian groups all over the planet. Clearly, Israel’s spin doctors were allowing some sympathy for the Palestinian plight to slip through the cracks. However, as I read about all the lovely demonstrations during those weeks, I already feared the backlash. And it arrived promptly. Less than a week after the bombing stopped, Israel’s Immigrant Absorption Ministry announced it would recruit an “army of bloggers” who speak Hebrew and a second language to spread pro-Israeli and pro-Zionist propaganda on websites all over the globe. Volunteers were asked to contact the ministry via email, whereupon they would be directed to “problematic” websites. Erez Halfon, the general director of the ministry, told Haaretz, “During the war, we looked for a way to contribute to the effort. We turned to this enormous reservoir of more than a million people with a second mother tongue.” A blanket call was made by the ministry on 19 January of this year. The next day’s media reports noted that, within thirty minutes of the announcement, five volunteers had already come forward. One can only imagine the size of this cyberarmy today.
GUNS AND TWITTER
In researching for this article, I discovered that Israel’s Consul for Media and Public Affairs operates a Twitter account. Yes, that’s an official Israeli government Twitter account used to keep members of the media abreast of “important” developments. This idiocy, however, is not limited to the Israeli side of the camp. The Palestinians also operate a Twitter account, which is called GazaNews. I have more to say on this matter, but I believe I’ve exceeded my character limit…
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byCarlosFierro & AbidYahya
arbara Boxer is tough on crime, so tough that she is touting the $10.2million in federal funds that are coming to Fresno to hire 41 new police officers. For a city that already spends far too much money on policing, adding an additional 41 police officers is outlandish.
can you call the trillion dollars that he threw at banks, which the banks in turn horded. There was very little tough love and personal responsibility talk when bailout followed bailout, scandal followed scandal. When foreclosure followed foreclosure, the answer was to give banks more True, the first 3yrs is paid money. All the while, we were for by federal funds, but in order to told that it would be irresponsireceive funds, Fresno has to pony up ble to allow the banks to fail. (I for a fourth year. And, let us be know the vast majority of this honest, once new police officers are can be laid at Bush’s feet, but added to the force, those positions will not be going away. The 41 new Bush is no long the president. Bush is now on the trash heap of officers will require $3.4million a year in salary & benefits alone, and a very large pile of trash that is after the third year, Fresno will pick former presidents.) up the tab. And salary is only part of the cost; this doesn’t take into consideration the logistical cost of 41 new officers, which federal funds don’t pick up. Boxer, though, feels there is much support for such funding, “As I talk with sheriffs and police chiefs across California, the COPS [Community Oriented Police Services] program has near universal support.” Boxer doesn’t stop there though; she continues by abandoning all logic when she equates these funds as a means to shore up budget constraints. “At a time when local government budgets are stretched to the maximum, this funding will help augment the law enforcement budget and will provide important staffing to fight crime through community policing.” This does nothing of the sort, but adds tension to the already stretched budget. See Boxer’s complete statement @ http://alturl.com/wjw4. ~CF
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hen Obama spoke before the NAACP to mark its
100th birthday, he largely brought with him a “tough love” message. Obama has not been a big proponent of tough love in his short tenure as president. When it comes to showing love he’s been more of a lascivious, orgy kind of a guy. What else
Obama also showed much love to the auto industry. And it is becoming abundantly clear that Obama and the rest of the scruple-less Democrats are going to show much love to the health insurance industry. So Obama’s tough love message to the NAACP and black youth rang hollow. I tried to imagine Obama giving that speech to the CEOs of the US’s biggest banks, “No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands—and don’t you forget that. No excuses. No excuses.” I tried to imagine Obama rallying the CEOs the way he did the NAACP crowd, “All those hardships will just make you stronger, better able to compete. Yes, we can!” I couldn’t. This isn’t even to say that the message was wrong or bad, but the hypocrisy was too great: preaching personal responsibility and tough love out of one side of his mouth, while singing Al Green tunes to corporate CEOs out of the other side. ~CF
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n interesting bit of news out of the Center for Immigration Studies (http://alturl.com/wzu7) shows that the number of unpapered immigrants is on a steady decline in the US. As of the Fall of 2008 the number of unpapered immi-
grants coming to the US has seen a pretty significant decline, and the number of unpapered immigrants going back to their country of origin has seen a steady increase. The study is based on monthly Census Bureau data. The actual numbers may surprise you. Since the Summer of 2007 the number of unpapered immigrants has gone down 13.7%, or 1.7million people. Other evidence suggest that the number of newly arriving unpapered immigrants has fallen by about one-third, and that the number of immigrants fleeing the US has more than doubled in the last two years when compared to previous decades. The study is interesting for many reasons, but two in particular. First, the notion of American (US) exceptionalism is called into question. For so long people have used the reasoning that this is the greatest country in the world, because so many people are clamoring to get in. Never mind the fact that a large part of why people from poorer parts of the world are trying to get in is because the US has shat on them with our predatory economic policies. NAFTA devastated Mexico; it should be no wonder that Mexicans would try to get out from under the oppressive US foreign economic policy. Along the same lines, antiimmigrant proponents scoff at the idea that all things being equal, or even closer to equal, immigrants would rather stay in their home country. Second, this should greatly weaken the argument made by anti-immigrant proponents, who argue that unpapered immigrants are simply here to leech off of the American (US) people. In fact the vast majority of unpapered immigrants are here for one simple reason: to work. They are not here for a total US handout, nor are they here to take advantage of the “generosity” of the land of the free, but simply to work. So it should be no
surprise that if there is no work, greater numbers of unpapered immigrants return home. With the US domestic economic policy such as it is, we may soon find ourselves the illegal immigrants in a foreign land. ~CF
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or the second time ever, a file-sharing copyright infringement case has gone to trial in USA. In the first, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing four major record labels, filed a suit against Jammie ThomasRasset, a single mother, for illegally downloading 24 songs. In that suit (which was finally completed on 18 June 2009), though her lawyer was pretty sure that any fines levied would be the legal minimum of $750 per song, the jury ended up deciding in favor of the RIAA and granting an astonishing $80,000 per song. In short, for downloading 24 songs, Thomas-Rasset was ordered to pay the record companies $1.92 million. Wow.
Apparently, the law entitles record companies to anywhere between $750 and $150,000 per illegally-downloaded song, depending on how willfully the “crime” was committed. In the second trial, which opened on Tuesday 28 July, Joel Tenenbaum, a college student, is accused, also by four major record labels, of illegally downloading and sharing hundreds of songs, though prosecutors are focusing on only 30. We’ll see how this one ends up, but, if the precedent holds, looks like Tenenbaum will wind up owing the poor little record companies millions of dollars.
Incidentally, Tenenbaum is a college student who can’t even afford to pay his attorneys, who are working the case pro bono. Then again, major record labels gotta eat too— and apparently they’re quite hungry. ~AY
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hough the British may often be thought of as a bit stuffy or a bit too concerned with propriety, it turns out that, as far as sex education goes, we’re the prudes. The National Health Service in Sheffield (one of the most populous cities in England outside of London, and around the same size as Fresno) has released a pamphlet to parents, teachers, and other education workers throughout the city and beyond. The pamphlet, entitled Pleasure, basically revamps public sex education. NHS Sheffield and the pamphlet’s authors argue that, for far too long, sex education policy has focused on “safe sex” and “committed relationships,” but has ignored the real reason most young people—and everyone else, for that matter— have sex…because it feels good.
The pamphlet champions the slogan, “An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away” and counsels educators that students have a “right” to a sex life. It also contains suggestions such as the following: “Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes’ physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?” What? Only twice? ~AY
Iraq Casualty
4,32 8
US soldiers killed in July 09
7
US soldiers total US wounded soldiers in July 09
31,31
32
1,033,000+ Iraqis Dead (May 2003 - August Iraq report is ed d July 0 ead 9
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SURFING THE WEB IS A LOT LIKE WALKING DOWN THE STREET by Daniel Ray & Abid Yahya
simple information like their email addresses and phone numbers by joining “groups” or signing INTRO pledges. The good news for most users is that this scam is usually Now, most of us have heard our intended to just send spam, though share of hacking horror stories. it can be easily used to steal vital We’ve heard of people who’ve had personal documents. To end on a their bank accounts tapped into, better note, many experts say web their social security numbers comusers can protect themselves by promised, their credit card just using stronger passwords. In accounts run up by some faceless other words, don’t use your son’s perpetrator on an online shopping birthday or your dog’s name as spree. For this reason, there’s a lot your code, ok? of fear about our online safety, our cybersecurity. However, is all this THE INVISIBLE HACK online panic, this cybernoia if you will, really justified? This particularly creepy hack is known as clickjacking. It is a way THE POWER SOCKET TRICK of putting a transparent page or button over another page while the A computer, really, is not even user has no clue it is even there. needed for this one. From the By clicking a button on one page, power socket at your own home, for example a link to myspace, the hackers can see what you type user is also clicking an invisible from your keyboard. This trick can button set up by the hacker. More be done due to poor shielding times than not, the page that you from your keyboard cables, are viewing is a complete fake, according to BBC. Within fifty made up by the hackers themfeet, this hack can work. So here’s selves. You may think you’re how it’s done: First, the hackers sending someone an invite, maybe target their prey. In this case, it’s checking your bank balance, or the cables needed to connect PS/2 even checking out a bit of free keyboards to the PCs. Next, porn, but you could in reality be because of poor shielding, when a sending a hacker some files, key is pressed, it then sends out a revealing your SSN or credit card signal to a circuit in the room. And number, or—worst of all—turning by controlling that area, the hackon your webcam. ers can decipher exactly what you This last one is particularare typing! ly relevant to MacBook users, as all new MacBooks come loaded FREAK OUT ON FACEBOOK with a webcam right above the screen. Apparently, in recent Facebook just announced that over years, some clickjackers have 200 million of its users were managed to get folks to turn their recently targeted in an attempted own webcams on without knowing cyber attack. Members’ passwords it. When this happens, the hacker were stolen through a scam known can take still photographs or even as phishing. After breaking into video of whatever you happen to their accounts, the hackers sent be doing in front of your computtheir “friends” emails, inviting er. Now, if you’re like most peothem to click onto their fake webple, chances are that, at some time sites. Once in, users then gave out
or another, you’ve done something in front of your computer you probably don’t want anyone seeing. So protect yourself. While disabling your webcam is easy enough, the simplest solution is to stick a small piece of tape over the thing when you’re not using it. Another way to beat this hack, experts say, is to upgrade to Flash 10 or use No Script from Firefox, which restricts java script on the pages.
accounts. By gaining your social security number, hackers can go after you in any number of ways. They can use it to buy items online, or even start up a new bank account in your name. What was once considered un-hackable has been, in fact, very hackable. Researchers were able to get the first 5 digits for over 60% of dead Americans whose birthdays came between 1989 and 2003. With fewer than
OUTRO
But don’t be scared. It’s not all that bad. The fact of the matter seems to be this: If someone wants to screw you over, they can. There are, of course, security measures that can be taken, but everyday internet users (logging on at our homes or apartments or favorite coffeeshops to pay a few bills, google some things, send some emails, and check out YouTube videos) have very litGUESSING tle protecting us save for the YOUR NUMfact that no one really BER wants to screw us over in particular. If someone We have smart and bold enough always been wanted to, they very eastold to keep ily could. our social But this is isn’t security numexactly bad news. That bers to ouris, sure the internet is selves, but now dangerous, but it’s no scientists are more dangerous than realizing they anything else. People can guess your occasionally screw number by analyzother people over. Why ing public birth inforshould the internet change mation. And they are doing it 1,000 attempts, they that? Surfing the web, with great accuracy. Researchers could guess all nine digits it turns out, is a lot like from Carnegie Mellon University at 8.5% accuracy walking down the street. You can have been scanning over data (www.wired.com). get jacked at any time, but most of known as the ‘Death Master File,’ What does all this mean? the time you won’t. which is a list of social security It means that using social security Despite the risk of mugnumbers and birth information. numbers as a means of ID and ging, though, we generally feel According to www.wired.com, authentication has become obsofree to continue walking down hackers who know the data and lete. With tools like botnets, which streets; we just keep our cash in the state of an individual’s birth scan thousands of numbers at a our pockets. Similarly, you should were then able to gain a person’s time, hackers can obtain your surf the internet as you wish; just social security number. Those at social security number through don’t leave your credit card most risk are younger individuals online approval services. By scav- account open on your laptop while and those who live in less populat- enging around your trash, one can you get a refill at the ed areas. pick up old medical bills or stucoffeeshop. The recent revelation has dent loan information and find the ______ sent shock waves throughout the last four or five digits of your Daniel Ray is a freelance writer country. For many, social security social security number. After that, and videographer. He is currently numbers have been used as health the ways to screw you over are working in the Bay as a union care ID numbers, a way of renting endless. organizer for NUHW. You can videos and supplies, and as passcheck out their site at words to get into online banking www.nuhw.org.
worst about what ails them. And there is a reason for this. Just this week, I typed in ‘chest pain’ on Google’s search engine. On the very first page, I found links to information about heart attacks, PAH (pulmonary arterial hypertension), pneumonia, and angina. And because these are things that come by Daniel Ray up on the front page, folks who are cyberchondriacs are likely to see this and believe that their simple ost of us, after chest pain could be a heart attack. And there is more. Type in feeling chest headache, and you’ll get concuspain, would go sion and brain aneurysm on the to a doctor to front page. Type rash and you’ll get find the source of our pain. hits for bug bites, herpes, lupus, On the other hand, there are a hives, scabs, ringworms and shingreat many who would rather gles. As White and Horvitz noted, folks with cyberchondria look at stay home and google ‘chest what comes up on their site and pain’ in an attempt to find then think they may have it. By out the facts themselves. typing headaches into a search Though some would say that engine, as much as 0.3% of searches will suggest a brain tumor, this a proactive approach, whereas in real life, there is only a many doctors and scientists 0 .000116% (or 1:10,000) chance have found that too much of that your headache is in fact a brain this practice leads to what is tumor. Now there are some who known as cyberchondria. will say that doing some research According to Microsoft online is a smart thing to do. I will researchers Ryen White and not argue with them there, but I Eric Horvitz, cyberchondria would add that, as a non-doctor, I “refers to the founded escala- really don’t know what to look for. tion of concerns about com- If I had a twitch in my arm and I went online trying to figure out mon symptomalogy, based on what I have, I would immediately the review of search results find ample references to Lou and literature on the web.” In Gehrig’s Disease (or amyotrophic other words, first think about lateral sclerosis, ALS). If I went to a hypochondriac. Then think the doctor, s/he could easily tell the difference between a simple twitch about giving them Internet and ALS, but a website cannot. access to medical websites. The problem with most cyberchonThat, in turn, is what a cyber- driacs is that they aren’t doctors and they don’t know what they’re chondriac is. looking for. And when a link pops The study by the off that scares them, many will Microsoft researchers, which is think they may possibly have that. considered to be the first of its On top of that, most cyberchondrikind, was done in 2008 and used acs (and hypochondriacs for that Microsoft employees as the guinea matter) are very distrustful of their pigs. The results were abundantly doctors. These factors combine to clear: users that self diagnose them- make the web a potentially dangerselves via search engines like ous and expensive place for health Yahoo! and Google conclude the seekers (White and Horvitz).
Cyber Symptoms
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The problem here goes beyond mere medical concerns. While it surely is a good thing that so much information (medical and otherwise) is easily accessible via the web, it is undeniable that misinformation is even more abundant. With more and more TV advertising, web videos and social networking, we are bombarded with messages about diseases. We are simultaneously both more informed and more misinformed than we’ve ever been before about our health and physical ailments. I don’t know about you, but I’d never heard of mesothelioma before watching late night television. Factor in websites like Diagnoseme.com, which basically begs people to view their site instead of going to the dreaded doctor, and you can kind of understand where all this misinformation comes from. Diagnoseme.com is a website which gives its users information on recent research and diagnosis, as well as information on how to diagnose illnesses. On their homepage, they explain that their services “fill the gap between what you need and what busy, human doctors can offer.” Because, as you know, what we really need is more robot doctors. For a little more, you can get their Analyst. Diagnoseme.com states that their “Analyst will benefit anyone who ‘feels’ there are things wrong but can’t identify their nature or cause.” For your information, I didn’t add the single quotes around feels; they did. And this website is only one of hundreds. Medical paranoiamongering has become a million dollar market. As White and Horvitz say in their research, “the web is fertile ground for those with hypochondria to conduct detailed investigations into their perceived conditions.” But beware, folks—the web, after all, is not a MD. ______ Daniel Ray is a freelance writer and videographer. He is currently working in the Bay as a union organizer for NUHW. You can check out their site at www.nuhw.org.
From Hate to Hurt: Experts Discuss the Role of Propaganda
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—from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report —interviews conducted by Larry Keller
he city of Brockton, Mass. was rocked in January when a 22year-old woman from the West African archipelago of Cape Verde was raped, shot and wounded in her home. Her sister was shot and killed during the incident, as was a homeless man on the street minutes later. Like the sisters, he was from Cape Verde and was black. Their alleged assailant: a white loner named Keith Luke. He said he was “fighting for a dying race” and “fighting extinction,” police said. Luke, 22, had a history of mental illness and reportedly arrived at his racial views purely through repeated visits over a sixmonth period to racist websites. “Luke told us that people on these sites spoke the truth about the demise of the white race,” police wrote in a report. One of the sites investigators say that Luke visited was the white nationalist website Podblanc, which celebrates racially motivated murder, along with “lone wolf” domestic terrorism, and features videos of skinheads in several countries beating to death non-white immigrants.
The effect on viewers of depictions of violence in electronic media has long been debated, of course. When 15-year-old Ronnie Zamora was placed on trial in 1977 for murdering and robbing an elderly neighbor in Miami, his attorney argued that Zamora had been insane from “television intoxication.” Zamora was convicted and served nearly 27 years in prison. Zamora’s crime occurred before the advent of violent, racist video games and Internet sites, whose content can be far more graphic than anything on television. Indeed, some Internet sites such as Podblanc not only glorify hating and even killing blacks, Jews, Latinos and others—they encourage it. The potential effect that has on young people, in particular, concerns many experts. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls media violence “the single most easily remediable contributing factor” to youth violence. In many countries, including Canada and several European nations, hate speech can be punished with criminal sanctions, but that is not true in the United States, where most speech, even that advocating violence, is protected by the First Amendment. In separate interviews, the Intelligence Report asked four experts for their take on what the Brockton shootings might explain about hate propaganda and its effects. Elizabeth Englander has a doctoral degree in psychology and is director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts. Randy Blazak has a doctoral degree in sociology, is an associate professor of sociology at Portland State University in Oregon, and wrote Renegade Kids, Suburban Outlaws: From Youth Culture to Delinquency. Phyllis Gerstenfeld has a doctoral degree in social psychology and is a professor at California State University, Stanislaus, where she is the chair of the criminal justice department; she is also the author of a text-
Hate continued next page...
Hate continued...
you have somebody who is predisposed toward violence or predisposed toward racism, even vaguely, this can book, Hate Crimes: Causes, Controls, really gel [his or her] ideas. They and Controversies. Kathleen Blee has [racist websites] give people a sense a doctorate in sociology, is a sociology that violence is not only possible for professor and department chair at the somebody to commit, but laudatory. University of Pittsburgh, and has written and edited several books, including Does the enormous reach of the Inside Organized Racism: Women in Internet provide people with the Hate Movement. extremist views contact with likeminded others that wouldn’t have Can reading violent, racist material been possible pre-Internet? And online make one more prone to comdoes that contact give them an mit a violent act? Or is a person empowering feeling that they aren’t who behaves violently after expo- alone, that others share their ideas? sure to this kind of material somebody who already has those propenlEnglander: Absolutely. sities? One of the things they’re always looklElizabeth Englander: I
think, actually, it goes both ways. We know the kind of influence that violent material has on people depends on what they bring to the plate. People are not blank slates. This is true of children, and it’s true for adults. There are plenty of people who could read these materials and not be particularly affected by them. We know that children are more vulnerable, often, than adults, but not always. A lot of it has to do with issues like how often you’re exposed, how much you’re exposed, what other problems or issues you’re bringing to the table. lRandy Blazak: There’s no solid research that links the viewing of violent images with real-world violence. The danger is in people who are already predisposed to racial violence. They may find the validation and justification for criminal behavior within an online peer group of anonymous hatemongers. lPhyllis Gerstenfeld: I suspect very few people would feel violent by what they read on the Internet. What I think happens is somebody who already has a predisposition, it serves as a justification, or maybe an incentive or incitement more than anything else. lKathleen Blee: One thing we know from studying hate violence on the Internet and other media is that when people have violent or racist ideas, they are often very vague, very amorphous. What the Internet does is get people to focus, to make their racist and violent ideas much more coherent and much more targeted toward particular kinds of people. If
ing for is validation, for evidence they’re right, that their thinking is not crazy. Without the Internet, without global instant communication, you might have a few people in a community with a very extremist view, but there wouldn’t be anybody else who shared their view. They might come to the conclusion that these extremist views are wrong or incorrect or kooky. With the Internet, they can always find others who share their views. Suddenly there is a community that says, “You’re not crazy, you’re right.” That’s very powerful. lBlazak: Before the Internet, there was a certain risk involved in attending a Klan rally. You had to worry about both your reputation and your safety. Now, someone, especially a sociopathic personality, can be plugged into a fairly extensive community of racists, most who would never attend a Klan rally. It should also be said that the online racists may also provide an outlet for haters, reducing the actual violence. Instead of acting out, they can go to their chat group and kvetch about the Zionistcontrolled world. We have anecdotal cases, like Keith Luke, but it’s not enough to make a causal argument. lGerstenfeld: The Internet creates the illusion of a larger community than really exists. You don’t know if that chat room consists of one person or 1,000 people. [But i]t can help justify their beliefs or to underscore their beliefs. lBlee: I think clearly it gives people a sense that there are other like-minded people out there. Without the Internet and chat rooms, these peo-
ple would not really come into contact with racist activists, and ordinarily would have no idea how to find them.
Keith Luke apparently has a history of mental illness. Do you think persons with certain mental illnesses may be more susceptible to these websites?
lEnglander: If you have a severe mental illness that leads to delusions, then you could read something on the Internet and say, “That was written to me individually.” It’s a secret message. This is not to suggest that people who commit hate crimes are necessarily associated with mental illness. I certainly think that many people who commit hate crimes don’t fit the criteria for being mentally ill. lBlazak: The overwhelming majority of hate crimes are performed in group settings … a performance to show off for others. In the case of lone actors, there is first of all a mental health issue—what we call antisocial personality disorder, what we used to call a sociopath. The world of hate is a great place for a sociopath because you can do what you want without remorse. lGerstenfeld: There are several types of mental illness that tend to make people believe in conspiracies, become more paranoid. Like schizophrenia. People who are bipolar sometimes get these paranoid fantasies going. Websites can give them the content to put in there. Then, instead of hating the government or something, they hate immigrants. lBlee: One thing people learn from the Internet is a conspiratorial way of thinking that has characteristics of mental illness. But whether people are mentally ill, I’ll leave that to the psychologists.
Is violence and racism on the Internet more problematic than that on TV because there is no Federal Communications Commission to censor content?
from being abusive to other people to deciding you are superior and they are inferior and you are justified in hating them. lBlazak: The impact of violent and racist images is a hard thing to quantify. It only holds up if you live in a laboratory. There is a desensitization that happens that lessens empathy. Most of us empathize. It [violent, racist imagery] can undermine that empathy. We know that people become immune to the shocking nature of violence if they see repeated violent images. Similarly, people become immune to bigotry with increased exposure. We don’t want this stuff to just be the normal background noise of society. People need to respond. lGerstenfeld: I think it is more problematic, but not because of the FCC. I think it’s problematic because, at least in my own experience, people are not used to critically evaluating the information they find on the Internet, especially younger people. They see something and assume that it’s true. I think people are less likely to do that with television. A lot of these websites try very hard, at least on the surface, to appear mainstream and reasonable. They underplay their violence. They say, “We just love white people.” On the surface, they seem to be concerned about crime and poverty and the economy and that sort of thing. lBlee: I think it is extremely problematic. I’m not saying it [the Internet] should be banned, but it gives people a sense of titillation, some kind of acceptance, some kind of feeling of their own self-importance. My guess is that’s particularly true of people who are loners and adolescents.
The Internet and the First Amendment aren’t going away. What, if anything, can be done to mitigate the potential harm these websites might cause?
lEnglander: We’re not teaching children how to use this technology. We’re just sort of unleashing point is that the culture that children grow up in, from movies to gaming to it. There is a generation gap, and the people in charge of deciding what the Internet, is saturated with violent should be taught don’t really underimagery. More than that, saturated stand how central this issue is to the with abusiveness, which is sort of a gateway to hate crimes. It’s only a step lives of people. I think the only hope lEnglander: I think the
is we are going to produce a generation that recognizes that the management and consumption of information is going to be the skill of the future, and nobody is teaching it right now. Education is critical because I don’t think the information is going to go away. lBlazak: Young people are pretty skeptical of things, but too many believe what they see just because it’s on a computer. There is so much manipulation of facts and images on the Web. For example, a student may be assigned a paper on the Holocaust. If they use the Internet instead of the library, they may end up writing a paper about how the Holocaust never happened. Teaching youth to think about their sources is very important in today’s media-based society. lGerstenfeld: Critical thinking in general is a difficult thing to teach young people. It’s a skill a lot of them don’t have, especially on the Internet. It’s certainly impossible to police the Internet in general. Look at child pornography. It’s illegal, but it’s still out there. I think a better thing to do is focus on individuals who may be susceptible to messages on the Internet. There are certain profiles of people who are at risk. People who are spending a lot of time on their computers and who don’t have a lot of social ties and may have a history of mental illness. He [Keith Luke] sounds like one of them. lBlee: I think that’s absolutely right that young people are very uncritical about the Internet. The most important thing to do is to educate people. Not just about the Internet, but about the underlying ideas. Young people are more critical of content if they have another way of understanding what’s wrong with that content. I think trying to educate people, especially young people, about racism is important to help them be a better [Internet] consumer. ______ This article originally appeared in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, which can be accessed at www.splcenter.org.
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How conflict influences the internet, how the internet generates conflict, and how we fight online
Internet battleground
fully putting Sputnik (the first artificial satellite) into orbit in 1957. Cold War paranoia played a critical role in the how the first internet looked. By a non-linear system of transhe internet’s connec- creating mitting information, with each piece tion to conflict of a message traveling the most effiaround the globe has cient way possible, it was expected been in the spotlight that it would be more difficult for an enemy to take down the communicaa bit over the past month or tions system. If part of the system two: were to be taken down, the system could work around it. Starting this past Afghanistan—The July 26, “Independence Day,” July 4, 2009, at 2009 issue of the Christian Science least 35 websites in South Korea and the U.S. (including those of the White Monitor reports that new fiber optic House, the Federal Trade Commission, cables in Afghanistan are linking more Department of the Treasury, Homeland of the population there to the internet for the first time. It is hoped that this Security, other government sites, will provide new business and educaNASDAQ, the NY Stock Exchange, and other sites) were blocked (“denial tion opportunities in Afghanistan and decrease the region’s isolation. of service”). It was reportedly Previously, only 3% of the population believed that those responsible were North Korean (or North Korean sym- was using the internet due to expenpathizers), due to tensions surrounding sive satellite options. Despite optinuclear weapons testing. Others cau- mism, the article also notes that vital chunks of fiber-optic project are still tioned against finger-pointing too incomplete because of fighting across early, noting that hackers often try to the region. [2] mask their identifies. [1] There has also been much The internet generates conflict reporting on Iran’s “Twitter Revolution,” wherein Iranian activists (often between governments and used the social networking site Twitter their people), or How world wide is the WWW? (in addition to other internet and Some countries actively arrest citizens telecommunications applications) to due to content being posted on the organize and inform about the possiinternet. Some countries block certain bility of a fixed Iranian presidential election and the Iranian government’s foreign websites. Many countries reaction to protests. The Iranian gov- don’t do much about foreign websites, yet they do more to enforce their own ernment began blocking Twitter. These are certainly interest- laws on the websites based in their country. Some content posters work ing moments in internet freedom and internet security, but the links between around legal limitations by seeking out the internet and conflict are not isolat- servers in other countries. According to the Reporters ed to these times or places. Without Borders (RWB) March 2009 Report, “Internet Enemies,” “At least Conflict influences the internet 69 people are behind bars for having Cold War Roots—The first expressed themselves freely on the version of the internet, ARPANET, came online in 1969 as a project of the internet.” RWB’s thorough and fascinating report is available at US Department of Defense. It could http://alturl.com/2nn8, though some be argued that the project was underinformation is included in the sumtaken as a way to reinstate US self confidence as a science and technolo- maries below. China—Some note that, due gy leader after the USSR’s victory in to the importance of the internet in the space race by way of their successinternational business in China, the
government cannot block sites as actively as some other countries. However, with the help of U.S. computer technology corporations, China blocks various web sites (including nearly 3,000 news websites) from its citizens. An estimated 49 cyber-dissidents have been imprisoned. Saudi Arabia—The government blocks websites critical of Islam, Saudi Arabia, or its leaders. Social networking sites and sites dealing with women’s issues are also blocked. In 2008, authorities imprisoned one of the country’s best known bloggers (Fouad al-Farhan) for posting an article on the advantages and disadvantages of being a Muslim, and his arrest was seen as a means to intimidate other bloggers. Burma— Having a modem without official permission can be penalized with up to a 15 year prison sentence. Individuals weren’t allowed to use the internet until 2000; without modems, most of this activity occurs in cybercafés (which have to be approved as “public access points”). Two bloggers have been imprisoned as of March 2009 under the country’s “Electronic Act.” Egypt—People have to give up a lot of personal information (mobile phone number, identity card number, address, etc) to use wireless internet connections, due to fears of terrorism. Despite freedom of speech in Egypt, several cyber-dissidents have been arrested for criticizing the government. Iran—Several bloggers have been imprisoned for internet activities, and many news websites have been censored (particularly in the weeks leading up to the presidential elections). RWB reports that women bloggers have been especially targeted. A law drafted in 2008 would punish those who create blogs promoting corruption, prostitution, and apostasy
by Jessi Hafer
with the death penalty. Note also the issues from the beginning of this article. Cuba—Cuban internet users may be jailed for up to 20 years in prison for posting “counter-revolutionary” articles on foreign-hosted websites. Cuban authorities were able to dissuade blogger Yoani Sanchez from organizing a meeting for Cuba’s bloggers in December 2008 (the Cuban government has also refused to give Sanchez a passport). [3] Syria—People have been arrested for accessing political web-
sites and for expressing their opinions online. The government has blocked about 162 websites that are critical of the government. Tunisia—The government filters opposition websites. Human rights sites and emails from human rights activists have been blocked. Many sites not officially blocked have been subject to cyber attacks. The government monitors the email system. Turkmenistan—Cybercafé customers have to present a passport and release personal information before using the internet. Many news sites and human rights sites are blocked. Uzbekistan—Many websites critical of the government are blocked. In 2005, journalist Djamshid Karimov was forcibly admitted
to a psychiatric hospital after posting articles about government corruption online. Several cyber-dissidents have been arrested. Vietnam—Cyber dissidents have been imprisoned for advocating democracy. Starting in January 2009, it became illegal for a blogger to post articles under a pseudonym. North Korea—Called an “internet black hole,” the few computers available in North Korea are linked only to each other in a nation-specific, closely-monitored Internet/Intranet. Police raided several cyber cafes in 2008 for having more open access on the internet. South Korea—A blogger was arrested on January 7, 2009 for affecting the “credibility of the nation” and “financial exchanges.” Thailand—Citizens in Thailand are being jailed for posting statements against the royal family on the internet. Thailand’s computer crime law, passed in 2007, carries a maximum five year jail term, but terms can be extended in the name of national security. In April 2009, engineer and activist Suwicha Thakhor was sentenced to 10 years in jail for antiroyal YouTube videos, becoming the first person convicted under the 2007 law. [4] Though perhaps less severe than the above examples, many countries (including France, Germany, and Sweden) have laws against race hate content online. Such content is not illegal in the U.S. In the U.S., the Child Online Protection Act, meant to ensure that minors do not access “material harmful to minors,” is not without its critics. Conflict on the internet In January 2009, hackers (mostly Moroccan, Lebanese, Turks, and Iranians) attacked nearly 10,000 webpages during the Israeli offensive in Gaza. After the conflict, Israelis responded with blog posts supporting Israel. [5] Note the July 4 attacks mentioned at the beginning of this article.
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The Pentagon estimates that there were 360 million cyber attacks in 2008. [6] The White House is in the process of creating a cyber security czar. Congress is working on legislation to better protect the nation from high-tech attacks.
Fight for the internet Consider, though, that Nielsen estimates that only 75% of Americans have access to the internet. [7] Also, the U.S. lags in internet speeds (lagging behind South Korea, mentioned above for arresting a blogger), and we’re often paying more for internet service. [8] Companies like Comcast have been caught illegally playing gatekeeper. As important as it is to support freedom and expression everywhere on the WWW, it’s worth remembering that there’s work to do in the home of the internet as well.
Five ways a government can censor the internet [9] (1)IP Blocking—blocks all information to or from targeted IP addresses (certain devices in a network). Advantage: simple. Disadvantage: doesn’t account for users using multiple servers; not content specific. (2)Traffic Classification—halts or limits bandwidth for any type sent through a certain type of protocol, such as an FTP site. Advantage: Not too resource intensive, more sophisticated than IP Blocking. Disadvantage: not content specific. (3)Shallow Packet Inspection—blocks internet traffic based on packet headers. Advantage: targets more specific content than IP blocking or Traffic Classification can; better at handling volume than DPI; Disadvantage: still makes broad generalities about content. (4)Packet Fingerprinting—blocks internet traffic based on packet headers, length, frequency of transmissions, and other characteristics. Advantage: Attempts to better classify content. Disadvantage: still must make some generalities about content (5)Deep Packet Inspection/Packet Content Filtering—Examines packet headers as well as payload. Advantage: Most sophisticated way to determine content. Disadvantage: labor and resource intensive. ______ [1] July 8, 2009, Reuters; July 9, 2009, The Washington Post [2] CSM, 7/26/2009, p 8 [3] RWB, 2009 [4] CSM, 7/26/2009, p 9 [5] Reporters without Borders, 2009 [6] CSM, 7/26/2009, p. 26 [7] http://alturl.com/7y8o [8] http://alturl.com/x5xi [9] Sennhauser, as cited on http://alturl.com/u84m
YouTube and the End of the World
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transformers. Everything electrical would be fried. Not just for a (part 1 of 2) day or an hour, but for months to by Matt Espinoza Watson years…Satellites would be fried to a crisp.” 2012: “This has the potential to k. So it’s not just 2012 end-of-days material on Lots of videos on 2012 be ten times as large, because YouTube. There YouTube became much more & the end of the world cite complex, as I realized that, while we’re talking about power grids, are countless Kaku’s statements, but then take all satellite and communication some material could be easily websites out them out of context and begin technologies…” (On YouTube as there telling us the end of dismissed as nonsense, other adding their own conclusions. I “Michio Kaku 2012-Solar Storm material demanded more attenthe world is upon us, but guess that’s been one of the Warning”). as our 21st century reposi- tion & consideration. In addimore interesting parts about On one broadcast, you tion, I realized that I had simply tory of pretty much anylooking into this; many of the get the impression that this solar accepted the idea of a 2012 thing and everything, pseudoscience/conspiracy theoalignment between the earth, the storm (or rather, peak solar flare Youtube has an unsurry/planet x type videos refer to solstice sun, and the center of the activity) is something that happassed collection of actual scientific information, but milky way galaxy, having read a pens every 11 years. And sure, 8 doomsday material to then reach a conclusion couple books on the topic. shock and astound. And that has nothing to do What has become apparent is what’s out there is pretty with what the scientists that people aren’t even talkastounding. As we get were saying, all the ing about the same thing; nearer to the date (and while giving you the nearer to the release of the some are talking about us impression that it’s hard aligning with the plane of the really stupid looking scientific fact. Many galaxy, or galactic equator, Hollywood armageddonvideos and websites while others are talking alien-action flick 2012), describe Kaku’s statethere is more material out about an alignment with the ments as “scientific very center of the galaxy (a there than ever on proof” that the world is December 21, 2012….and coordinate that is not univercoming to an end. sally agreed upon in the most of it is a lot of crap. A similar least). The most fascinating Conspiracy theories and example is the bursts of pseudoscience and new age part for me, then, was beginhigh energy gamma rays ning to really investigate the dribble that will tell you coming from the galactic astronomy of 2012. One that the Planet Nibiru (or equator. This is another thing that can (as much as possi- years ago, we were less depend‘Planet X’) is about to scientific “fact” referenced in slam into Earth, or that the ble) be accepted as a fact is that ent upon so many technological many videos. Thanks to new telthe Mayan Calendar completes a devices, but I don’t remember government is ‘covering escope technology, researchers at everything crashing to a halt in up’ information on the end 5,125 year cycle on December NYU published findings several 21, 2012. Anything beyond that 2001….so what’s the deal? The of the world in 2012. [1] years ago showing lots of super cycle of solar flare activity (including the significance, if The History Channel high energy gamma rays emitseems to be responsible for any, of this calendar’s ‘ending’) apparently does peak every 11 ting from the line running along is heavily disputed. So…one of years, but when asked to commuch of the hype surthe plane of the Milky Way (the rounding 2012; its program the main questions that emerged pare the 2012 solar storm with galactic equator). “Doomsday 2012:The End for me: Is there any actual scien- events in the past on another The Mayan of Days” is one of the most tific evidence of something big broadcast, Kaku said the last Calendar/precessional alignment happening in 2012? The answer solar storm of this magnitude viewed on YouTube. It of 2012 referenced by many was in 1859, which wiped out is mostly no…although… tells us, essentially, that authors is the path of the ecliptelegraph machines. Nowadays, Dr. Michio Kaku, a Merlin, Nostradamus, the tic—the path traveled by the we’ve got a lot more than televery well-respected American Mayan Calendar, and the sun—lining up with the galactic graph machines that could be ancient Chinese oracle the theoretical physicist and bestequator (or, alternatively, the I Ching all tell us that the selling author, was on Fox News wiped out (GPS, internet, cell earth lining up with the solstice world will end in 2012. [2] a couple of times in the past year phones, power grids). “It would sun and the galactic center; literally paralyze the entire talking about a “potential What began as a simple United States. Everything with Katrina from outer space” in 2012 continued next page... assignment to check out all the
folks into accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior… Many talked about Planet X or “Nibiru” colliding with the earth in 2012. Others talked many videos take this information to about instantaneous worldwide mean that we will be exposed to enlightenment, and one warned to these super high energy particles; “be on the lookout for pod people one video tells us these gamma rays and be wary of the alien subculture.” will literally be rays of light bringing That’s a sampling of what’s out enlightenment; another that “somethere. thing happens out there that turns ordinary electrons into high-speed (to be continued…) demons” that we need to be worried ______ about. Science, however, doesn’t [1] The name planet Nibiru comes have anything nearly that exciting to from the ancient Sumerian civilizatell us; gamma rays are known to tion, where Nibiru apparently referred cause radiation, and even if we’re in to the planet Jupiter. In more recent more of an alignment with the galac- times, the idea of a ‘secret’ gigantic tic equator (something that is up for planet with a 3600 year orbit that is debate), there is no evidence to sug- about to crash into Earth was put forgest that we will therefore be ward by Zecharia Sitchin, author of exposed to more harmful radiation the Earth Chronicles series. (Sitchin’s (or instant enlightenment). The speculations are “entirely discounted alignment doesn’t mean we’re going by professional scientists, historians, to be any closer to the center of the and archaeologists, who note many milky way. We are in fact slowly problems with his translations of orbiting the galactic center at a disancient texts and his understanding of tance of 30,000 light years & aren’t physics.” (from Wikipedia)) getting any closer by 2012. Another of the doomsday [2] I don’t know anything about theories has to do with Pole Shifts. Merlin or Nostradamus, but the I 2012 videos will tell you that the Ching-based theory the program pace of migration of the magnetic refers to (a) doesn’t suggest the end of pole of the earth over the last several the world and (b) isn’t really the I decades has led some scientists to Ching, but a mathematical formula suspect a pole shift may be underbased on the I Ching created by the way. In reality, what they’re talking fascinating (&far-out) intellectualabout is called the “geomagnetic /mystic/philosopher/ethnobotanist/psy reversal” of the earth’s poles, which chonaut Terence McKenna. has happened many times in the past, McKenna’s theory, called Timewave and will happen again in the future. Zero, was published long before any However, even if this process is books on the Mayan calendar endindeed underway (which is debatdate, and according to it, December able), it’s not going to happen instan- 21, 2012 marks the date of the “maxitaneously on 12/21/2012, and there mum ingression of novelty” into the are no actual scientists who think human experience. McKenna saw us that it’s of much concern (if it is rapidly advancing toward this date, indeed occurring now, it’s a slow which he felt would be the culminaprocess taking hundreds or thousands tion of human technological, scientifof years). ic, and spiritual knowledge. This theSome videos went in-depth ory can be explored in-depth in the into the Mayan calendar and dooms- book Invisible Landscapes, which was day, only to throw in a Christian co-written with his brother Dennis twist at the end, essentially using the McKenna. 2012 doomsday scenario to scare
2012 continued...
From The Lost Socratic Dialogues:
S
The Arpanos
Discovered by Steven J. Ingeman and H. Peter Steeves
ocrates: And so, children, as the soul is guided by the rational faculty on its flaming chariot in its course around the sun, it comes inevitably into direct contact with the realm of perfect Forms, where it learns not through the senses but by direct apprehension the…hello? Where’d everybody go?
Arpanos: They left, Socrates. The young people have decided that they have no further use for your teaching. S: Well, at least you stayed, my boy. Would you like to hear more about the eternal Forms? A: Not really, Socrates. I just thought there might be refreshments afterwards. S: Oh. Well, then, perhaps you would do me the favor of explaining to me just why my teaching has fallen out of favor with the youth of Athens. Is it the backrubs? Are they too…creepy? A: Not at all, Socrates. A little to the left, if you don’t mind. There, yes. Actually, Socrates, you are too “old academy” for the youth of today. These young people are raised on dramatic cycles and epic poetry. They can only really concentrate on any one thing for two, three days at a time—at the most! S: I see. A: Also, the kids of today are already really, really smart. I mean, they have access to so much more knowledge-thingies than you ever had, and it’s all at the snap of their fingers. S: Is that why they’re always snapping while I’m lecturing? A: Of course. Suppose you’re talking about one of your knowledge-
thingies—Justice, maybe—and you use a big word. Like…I don’t know… S: Deontological? A: Sure, why not? “Deontological.” So, they don’t know what that means, right? So they snap their fingers and, poof, they know what it means. S: It’s sorcery, then? Is there a stench of sulfur that accompanies the appearance of the knowledge-thingy? A: No, it’s not sorcery, it’s technology. See, we have slaves on every corner of every street all over the city, day and night. Haven’t you noticed them? If I snap my fingers, like this—snap—my personal “provider” runs over and I ask him my question. He then runs back and relays the question to the nearest street-corner slave, who runs and asks the next one, and so on. The question shoots across the city in no time. S: Amazing! I think I see. Eventually the question makes its way up Mount Olympus and reaches the gods themselves, who relay the true and correct answer back to us! A: Weeeeell…. Mostly the questions get answered by fifteen year olds who are telling their personal providers various knowledge-thingies as those knowledge-thingies happen to occur to them, but “potayto-potahto.” S: Such a lattice-like structure of information-thingy exchange is truly a marvel! I wonder if I might give it a try? A: Sure, Socrates. You may use my provider. S: snap A: Oh, just a second. He fell asleep while we were talking. S: snap A: And I guess I have to whisper my password to him again. There. Try it now. S: Hmm. snap. Ah, yes, here
he is. Well, my fine young friend. So you are a “provider,” eh? My, your calves are shapely. Now let’s see. What do I want to ask? I want to think of something really— A: Socrates, you can’t hog my provider. Do you know how expensive it is to have my slave just stand here like this? S: I see. Well then, let’s try this one. “What is the nature of Friendship?” A: And now you have to snap again, in order to send your message. S: snap A: There you go! You have just sent your first request for knowledgethingies. How do you feel? S: Apprehensive, yet giddy. I feel I have just entered upon a brave new world of untold promise. Although… A: What is it, Socrates? That Daemon of yours, who warns you when you are about to fall into error? Do you sense that there may be a problem with the unintended consequences produced by all of this knowledge-stuff so readily available? That perhaps the next generation will become complacent, and come to believe that having a lot of knowledge is the same as having quality knowledge? That they may cease to be able to distinguish true knowledge from rank opinion, and that the cultural discourse which supports our Athenian democracy will therefore become shallow and superficial? S: Oh, no. I was just annoyed that it’s taking so long to get my answer back. A: Yes, the slaves do tend to lag a bit this time of day. The midday sun takes it out of them, I think. S: Ah, but here he comes. I am beside myself with anticipation as to the pearls of wisdom that are about to spill out of this lattice-like-knowl-
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Arpanos continued...
edge-thingy system. Provider: Here you go. S: What’s all this? He’s brought me a wheelbarrow of papyri. More than I could read in a lifetime! A: It’s OK, though. They aren’t all relevant to your question. S: So…where do I start? A: Just pick one and start reading. Like this one here. No, wait. That’s a naked picture of Zeus with a ram. S: I’ll take that. A: No, Socrates, I’m sure there’s something better in here. How about this one? “Hi there, we are two beautiful girl from Lesbos lonely looking for friend tonight.” S: Lesbians, eh? A: Yeah, you get a lot of that using the lattice-like-knowledgethingy-system. But here, this one looks promising. “The nature of friendship, by Socrates.” S: Yes, that does sound like it will be good. Wait! By who? A: How about that? It’s by you, apparently. I didn’t know you had ever written down any of your teachings. This is a wonderful find! S: I’m quite sure I never—give me that. “Eternal Form…blah blah blah…ineluctable nature…yadda yadda yadda…to get true enlightenment send five drachma to the following address….” This isn’t by me! And it appears to be a solicitation masquerading as a piece of knowledge-stuff! By the gods, Arpanos, is there anything of value here? A: Of course there is, Socrates! I mean, look at how much is here. Some of it must be valuable, just speaking statistically. S: But how will we ever find it, buried as it is amid all of this questionable material? A: Yes, it is a problem. I have found, though, that a good solution is to find one source of information that you trust and direct your provider to go only to that source. So, for instance, if I wanted to know about “friendship” I would snap my finger like so—snap—and send my provider directly to Wikiponos. Now let’s see what we get back.
S: While we wait, do you think we can come up with a better name for this lattice-like-informationthingy-system? What do you think of The City-State-Wide-SlaveKnowledge-Network? A: Not bad. Still a little clunky, though. I was thinking more of naming it after me, actually. What do you think of Arpa-lattice? S: I thought the original idea belonged to Algorithmos. And anyway, I had something more descriptive in mind. Something that describes not only the knowledge-y aspect of it—and the way that knowledge impresses the true Form of a thing into your soul so that you are, in essence, in-formed by it—but also the way it utilizes the existing network of city-state roads and thoroughfares. A: I got nothing. S: Me neither. I guess we could stick with CSWSKN, though perhaps some dashes, periods, back-slashes, and underscores would spice it up. Hey, here comes your provider. He seems to be with another slave, though. Provider2: Are you ChunkyHummusLover45? A: Uh…yes. P2: I regret to inform you that while en route, your slave-provider was attacked by bandits. A: Oh, dear! Was anything lost? Was my anonymity compromised? P2: They hacked off his arm. A: Hmmm. No big loss, I guess. P2: That arm was holding every request you’ve ever given him, plus your address and the location of your buried silver coins. A: By the gods! This won’t do! [stabs provider in the heart] S: I see that there are still some kinks left in the system, Arpanos. Perhaps I should be going. I had hoped to send your slave out to get me some porn, but I see that it isn’t as safe and convenient as I would like. A: No, no. Don’t go. It’s not my fault. I didn’t create the system, I just found a way to exploit it. The slave providers were arranged in this
lattice-like-city-state-wide pattern by the Hoplites years ago. Some sort of military thing. But no one imagined that it would be used the way it is today, allowing the free citizens of Athens such a taste of true and wonderful democracy. Since there was never really a plan for this whole thing, there are, of course, always going to be problems. We can try again. These slave kids are a drachma-a-dozen. Googelectra: I see, Socrates, that you are having some problems with Arpanos and his provider. May I be of assistance? S: How did you know my name? G: I know everything. S: Wow. Go figure. And I know nothing. How come we haven’t met before? G: I don’t know. A: Get out of here, Googelectra. You think you’re so great! I’ve told you one-followed-by-one-hundredzeros times to leave me alone and quit routing business your way! G: Socrates, let me show you what I can do to make your life easier. Say you need some olive oil. If you were to use my services, all you would have to do is right-snap followed by left-snap, and I would whisk your slave-provider away in my chariot to a store where he could purchase the oil for you in a guaranteed secure transaction. Or say you wanted to find a used copy of your “Republic” S: “Republic”? G: And say you wanted to compare prices on papyrus versions. Your slave and I would rather quickly visit several kiosks and pick up the cheapest copy for you in a guaranteed secure transaction. S: Amazing. How much does your service cost? G: Me? Individually? Nothing. After you pay for a slave-provider, you can use me whenever you wish. S: I must surely be missing something, for how in the world could you make any money for yourself in this sort of pursuit? Unless, of course, you sometimes took my slave to sites that you were paid to take him to by
the site owners rather than ones that might actually be the best sites to visit. But that would compromise the entire spirit and integrity of your enterprise, so it can’t be that. G: … S: Googelectra? G: Did I mention that all of your transactions are secure? If you don’t like your purchase, you can just return it and get a refund through Chrimataphilos. S: Through what-now? G: Those who know him call him “Beloved Dispenser of Funds.” It’s really a convenient system. (And he doesn’t tell anyone about the porn.) S: Ah, perhaps, then, this is related to the answer to my question about the true nature of Friendship? Using this slave-network I can find this true pal, Chrimataphilos. And it involves paying. G: And porn. S: Yes, glancing about I am beginning to see that a lot of this lattice-like-knowledge-thingy-system involves the slave boys being naked while they are carrying the wheelbarrows full of “answers” to citizens’ “questions.” P2: [suddenly slathering his body with oil] You. Have. Arsenikos. S: What’s that? A: It’s for me. A new message. I do love getting males. S: Arpanos, I worry that I am too old to understand such a radical lifestyle departure. Used to be, if you wanted a young lover you would have to come to his house drunk and give him a chicken. Now you kids are making it so easy. It’s losing all of the thrill. A: But I have young lovers from Euboeia and Thessalonike and even Alexandria! Admittedly some of them may actually be fifty-year-old lechers—I haven’t seen any of them in person. But it feels great getting the attention. S: And we still don’t have answers to our questions. I’m not sure that it is truly for the best to entrust the eternal souls of the youth
of Athens to your lattice-like-knowledge-thingy-system. Most of what is floating around out there on the slave-network seems to be worthless and all of it is without context or pedigree. Furthermore, given the events of the day, I worry that it might put me completely out of a job. A: Don’t give up on it, Socrates. You should consider teaching using the CSWSKN. Really. You could reach students all across the city-state all at the same time. You would be trendy and cool. And you could charge for it! I know for a fact that some of your students have already posted your notes. Check this out! snap “Socrates’ arguments on the eternal Form of Justice.” snap P2: [running off and almost instantly returning] Here you go. S: [reading] “Did you mean: Socrates’ argyle tents on heat-thermal forms of lust cysts?” G: Wise Socrates, let me help you. There is a simple way you can live in this new age and still make a living. S: I’m listening. G: Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. He’s a Nigerian prince. And he has an unbelievable confidential business proposal for you. ______ H. Peter Steeves is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University and can be reached at psteeves@depaul.edu. Steven J. Ingeman is an independent scholar and Circulation Supervisor at Mary Riley Styles Library in Falls Church, VA and can be reached at ingeman@falls-church.lib.va.us.
Sunday OngoinG EveNts:
Monday
Tuesday
1Extra Golden, Three Bags Full, l
2Acoustic w/out a Net Showcase, Audie's Olympic, 3 Art l
9p l Music at the Market (Fulton Farmer's Market) 10a - 2p l Hump Band, VVV l Kevin Hill Trio, Cracked Pepper Bistro, 7p
l Post Art
Yesterday's Chonies, DJ M Garcia, Audie's Olympic, 9p l Lounge Night, DJ Prof Stone, VVV l Love, the Captive: Tumbledown, John Nolen, SL, 9p
Roger Rockas: Sweet Charity, thru Sept 13 2nd Space Theatre: Lost in Yonkers, Aug 19 – October 11 Roger Rockas: Hairspray, Sept 17 - Nov 15 Alliance of California Artists (ACA): Signature Member Show, Fresno City Hall, Sept 1-25
Wednesday
Hop Johnny Q, l Reggae Nigh l Post Art Hop TKG, 9p l Woodward S
Hop T
6
7
8
9
10
13
14
15
16 Reel Pride Film Fest, TT and SL
17
23 L80z Nite/80s Night w/ DJ Audie5000,
24 Benefit for C
l The
Weight (NYC), Not an Airplane, Strange Vine, Audie's Olympic, 9p l Reviver, Alpha & Omega, CYC, 5:30p Freeshow, VVV l Jazz Jam Session, hosted by Craig Von Berg, TKG, 6p
Craic Haus (shamrockabilly), Stab City, Fay Wrays, Audie's Olympic, 9p l Freeshow, VVV l Jazz Jam Session, hosted by Les Nunes, Pizza Fusion, 6p l
20 Reel Pride Film Fest, TT and SL Gardening Not Architecture, Gavin Castlelon, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Freeshow, VVV Jazz jam Session, hosted by Mike Dana, TKG, 6p
Reggae Mondaze w/the Good Vibes Crew, free, Audie's Olympic, 9p l Super Lucky Catz, Sequoia Brewing Tower, 7p l Eighty Five w/DJ Johnny Q, VVV l
Reggae Mondaze w/the Good Vibes Crew, free, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Eighty Five w/DJ Johnny Q, VVV Love, the Captive: Mayer Hawthorne @ the County, Buff1, $10/$15, SL, 8p Cineculture Special Screening: The Rescue & Together We Are Free, free, CSUF Lab School 134, 2-4p
Indie w/Cobalt Cranes, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Lounge Night, DJ Prof Stone, VVV Karen Marguth, WWP Library, 7p Love, the Captive: Kissing Cousins, Beastmaker, Racelegs, By Sunlight, $5, SL, 9p
21 22 Reggae Mondaze w/the Good Indie w/Spindrift, Audie's Vibes Crew, free, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Eighty Five w/DJ Johnny Q, VVV
27 28 Fres Phil: Pictures at an Exhibition (Shannon Lee, violin), $15+, WST, 2:30p Dollar Punk Nite, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Freeshow, VVV Jazz Jam Session, hosted by Andre Bush, TKG, 6p
w/DJ Pylo, free, Audie's Olympic, 9p l In Desperation, CYC, 5:30 l Lounge Night, DJ Prof Stone, VVV l Love, the Captive: Check Raised, SL, 9p l Indie
Reggae Mondaze w/the Good Vibes Crew, free, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p
Instant Asshole, Too Many Screaming Children, Carl
Johnny Q, VVV
Winslow, Lifeless, Manic Relapse, $4, CYC, 5:30p Eighty Five w/DJ
Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Lounge Night, DJ Prof Stone, VVV
29
Indie w/Miss Derringer, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p "Zapp's Going Away for Awhile Punk Show," ZP, 9p Lounge Night, DJ Prof Stone, VVV Love, the Captive: Noah Gunderson & the Courage, paper Mache, $5, SL, 9p
l The
Sci-fi Nightmares, Smokejumper, Audie's Olympic, 9p l Hellbastard, Resistant Culture, A.D.T., Smoke My Pipe, No Culture, $7 ($6 members), CYC, 6p l Hump Band, VVV l Kevin Hill Trio, Cracked Pepper Bistro, 7p
The Morning After Girls, Asteroid4, 1776, Highway, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Hump Band, VVV Kevin Hill Trio, Cracked Pepper Bistro, 7p
free, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, Otep, 2Cents, $18, Crest Theater, 6:30p Super Lucky Catz, Sequoia Brewing Tower, 7p Hump Band, VVV Kevin Hill Trio, Cracked Pepper Bistro, 7p
30 Wallace Vanborne, Tuba Solo, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Hump Band, VVV
l Spanish
for 1 l Science of W l Reggae Nigh l Woodward S
Art
Reel Pride Republic of Fred, 9p Met After H Recycling, M Reggae Nig Internationa
w/Yesterday Gariette, Au Reggae Nig Internationa Jazz Jam S Pizza Fusio
Where
2ST: 2ND Spa AAM: Arte Am CRS: Crossroa CYC: Chinatow EXT: The Exit FAM: Fres Art
Go
Thursday
Friday
Party: The Experience, DJ Bradley, Audie's Olympic, 9p ht w/Reality Sound International, VVV e: Rademacher, Monolators, $5,
T(wer/Downtown)
Shakespeare: Richard III, free, WWP, 8p
100, Audie's Olympic, 9p Wine Series, $25, MET, 6p ht w/Reality Sound International, VVV Shakespeare: Richard III, free, WWP, 8p
Hop (Metro/Outlying)
Film Fest, TT and SL f Letters, Audie's Olympic/Club
Hours: Luis Pannarale on MET, 6p ght w/Reality Sound al, VVV
ace Theatre, 928 E Olive mericas ads, 3315 N Cedar Ave wn Youth Center t, 1533 E Belmont t Mus, 2233 N 1st St
4Bullied Glen Delpit & the Subterraneans, Audie's Olympic, 5p by Strings, Audie's Olympic, 10p l l l A Current Affair
5
11 UnHappy Hour w/Roger Perry, Audie's Olympic, 5p Luv'n Rockets (Love and Rockets Tribute), Pistol Killer w/Jenny Papercut, Audie's
12 The Twilight Idols, 800 lb Gorilla, The Giddy-Ups!, Highway City,
(Fresno CD Release), Sleep for Sleepers, Abandon Kansas, Hazel & Vine, KPJ l Nights in the Plaza: Revalacion Caribe and Revalacion Vallendata, AAM l First Friday Films: Play, MET, 9p l Creative Fresno's Creative Blender, Club One, 5p l Inflight Nymphs, ZP, 9p l Soul Good DJs Manny Carr & Matt Burton, VVV l Disco Masquerade Meat-Ball (Meatball Magic DJs), free, RL, 9p l Cineculture: Kung Fu Hustle, free, CSUF McLane 121, 5:30p l Cloud 99, the Manhattan, 8p l Woodward Shakespeare: Richard III, free, WWP, 8p
l
l
Olympic, 9p l Fres Filmworks: Z, $10, TT, 5:30p and 8:15p l Nights in the Plaza: Mariachi Colonial featuring Gaby Ramirez, AAM l Evo Bluestein, Eva Scow, Kevin Hill, $15, LaQuerencia/Cohousing Common House (2658 E. Alluvial), 8p l Bay Area Metal, ZP, 9p l DJ Prof Stone, VVV l Cloud 99, Patio Café, 7p l Cloud 99, the Manhattan, 8p l Jazz Jam (w/Karen Marguth), FCB, 7p l Woodward Shakespeare: Richard III, free, WWP, 8p
18
l L.R.A.,
Benny and the Vetts, Feeble Giant, Rights of Retribution, Audie's Olympic, 9p l Licorice Pimps/Jeff Logan, VVV l Cloud 99, Piazza del Pane (Cedar & Nees), 6p l Woodward Shakespeare: Richard III, free, WWP, 8p
l
Audie's Olympic, 9p
l Gypsy Cab, The Butchers, ZP, 9p l Beat Dynasty, VVV l Red Wave Tattoo 2 year anniversary, w/Chuck Dimes, free, 6p l Cloud 99, Piazza del Pane (Cedar & Nees), 6p l LAST NIGHT: Woodward Shakespeare: Richard III, free, WWP,
8p
19
Fres Folklore Soc: Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, $25 door, Unitarian Church, 7:30p
Reel Pride Film Fest, TT and SL Levator, The Sleepover Disaster, The Aircrash, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Tamejavi Festival (see plug in this issue), FAM, 10a - 8:30p Gristel, It'll Grow Back, Born Loser, R.O.R., $5, ZP, 9p Body Rock DJ Don-D, VVV Cloud 99, Piazza del Pane (Cedar & Nees), 6p
Reel Pride Film Fest, TT and SL
Glen Delpit, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 5p
Rademacher (CD Release), Team Abraham, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Nights in the Plaza: Zebop, AAM Frisky DJ P-Rez, VVV
Meatball Magic, free, RL, 10p
Cineculture: Viva la Causa, free, CSUF McLane 121, 5:30p Cloud 99, the Manhattan, 8p
Crazy Moon Studios ys Chonies, DJs Auzzie and udie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p ght w/Reality Sound al, VVV Session, hosted by Les Nunes, on, 7p
e:
Saturday
25 Happy Hour w/Dave Lane, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 5p
Rockabilly w/the Henchmen, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Nights in the Plaza: Tropical Gerardos, AAM Cloud 99, VVV Cineculture: Time & Tide, free, CSUF McLane 121, 5:30p Cloud 99, the Manhattan, 8p
ITZ: Studio Itz, 370 N Fresno St KPJ: Kuppajoe, 3673 N First St LMK: The Landmark MET: Fresno Metropolitan Museum RL: The Red Lantern RR: Roger Rocka’s, 1226 N Wishon SL: The Starline, 831 E Fern TT: Tower Theatre, 815 Olive Ave
ot An Event?
26 Fres Phil: Pictures at an Exhibition (Shannon Lee,
violin), $15+, WST, 8p Dead Meadow, TheStart/Normandie, The Disowned, Audie's Olympic/Club Fred, 9p Patrick Contreras, WWP Amphitheater, 8p Rhythm Do-Gooders, VVV Cloud 99, Piazza del Pane (Cedar & Nees), 6p
WST: William Saroyan Theatre WWP: Woodward Park VVV: Veni Vedi Vici, 1116 N Fulton ZP: Zapp's Park, 1105 N Blackstone
Email : Calendar@FresnoUndercurrent.net
w
Calendar current as of printing
SPINDRIFT
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DEKE DICKERSON l
SPINDRIFT• JASON SIMON • WHEELS OF FORTUNE
THE BOXING LESSON r
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RADEMACHER • THE SLEEPOVER DISASTER • WHEELS OF FORTUNE
Just when it seems that all of the best touring bands pass by Fresno in favor of the greener pastures of—umm—Merced and Visalia, here come Spindrift. Again. And Again. This band tours its (Ennio) Morricone on mushrooms (ok, let’s say spaghetti Western psychedelic rock) virtually incessantly, and continue to grace Fresno by stopping here along the way. If you haven’t seen them, do it this time. Previous release, “The Legend of God’s Gun”, and latest, “The West”, are stunning, and this will be a phenomenal show. The addition of special guest Jason Simon of psychedelic/shoegaze band S U N A U G 0 2 killer Dead Meadow only sweetens the 9 0 0 p m • 2 1 + • deal.
For those of us who don’t particularly care for surprises, the post-Art Hop show at Tokyo Garden is perfect. You always know what you’re getting with this one: Good music, good friends, and a possible Friday morning hangover. Don’t let that last one be a deal-breaker, though (yeah, like you would anyway), because this time, hosts Rademacher—big guns on their own—are bringing in the additional audio artillery of The Sleepover Disaster and all-star upstarts Wheels of Fortune. Rademacher and Sleepover will be leaving for their respective tours later T H U A U G 0 6 in the month; come send them off on 9 0 0 p m • 2 1 + • a high note.
August’s post-Art Hop at Audie’s is called Rub-a-Dub-Dub. Quite the fitting moniker for a dubstep show, really. What’s dubstep, you ask? Well, having recently become something of an instant expert, I’m here to tell you. Take U.K. garage electronica and 2-step, then add reggae lyrics and dub samples, a ton of bass, and your dancing shoes. The result is both chill and energetic, dark and uplifting. DJ Woody has assembled some of the best DJs in this hot new genre for this night, including HD4000 (DJs Wish and Odeed), who’ve made a name in the break- T H U A U G 0 6 beat genre over the past several 9 0 0 p m • 2 1 + • years.
The Pixies’ frontman Black Francis performs a solo acoustic set on this night in Visalia. With a remarkably deep catalog of recordings to draw from as Frank Black, with Frank Black & The Catholics, and with The Pixies, one can be sure to hear the hits, the rarities, and the newest of his new material all in one show. This is a remarkable opportunity to get “up close and perT H U A U G 1 3 sonal” with a living legend of modern 900pm • 21+ • rock music.
AUDIE’S OLYMPIC
HD4000 • DJ ORANGE • DJ WOODY
TOKYO GARDEN
BLACK FRANCIS (of THE PIXIES, aka FRANK BLACK)
AUDIE’S OLYMPIC C E L L A R D O O R
DEKE DICKERSON • CATTIE NESS & THE REVENGE • HIGHWAY CITY
Fresno has waited too long for the return of amazing rockabilly/surf performer Deke Dickerson. He and his stellar band were once regular visitors to our fair city, showing up at Club Fred, The Starline, and The Tower Theater, consistently leaving crowds slack-jawed and wanting more. Dickerson is one of those all too rare performers who doesn’t just show up and play some songs; he absolutely entertains with great songs and virtuoso-level musical ability, and engages the audience with clever, interesting stories and S A T A U G 1 5 banter. A rare appearance by the fun Cattie Ness & The 9 0 0 p m • 2 1 + • always Revenge makes this show irresistible.
AUDIE’S OLYMPIC
THE BOXING LESSON • THE SLEEPOVER DISASTER •
Austin, Texas is nothing less than a hotbed of American Music of all genres. We’re talking about the home of the South by Southwest Music Festival, Austin City Limits, and world-famous clubs like Emo’s. Only a city like this could have bred the likes of The Boxing Lesson. These kids are Austin’s darlings of the psychedelic rock genre, and this stop is part of a tour overlap with friends The Sleepover Disaster, which will take both bands up to the Northwest. Rademacher will open, A U G 2 6 and Massaro (L.A.) will support with W E D a solo set of amazing shoegaze gui- 9 0 0 p m • 2 1 + • tar atmospherics.
THE VALLEY ARENA • THE FLING • STRANGE VINE
Long Beach sends to Fresno a double-dose of its best indie rock in the form of The Valley Arena and The Fling on this Sunday night, proving that Sunday is still “the weekend” after all. Audie’s Olympic has been coming through with some really nice Sunday bookings recently. The Valley Arena are regular visitors to the Fresno music scene and always entertaining. This is the first visit here for The Fling (to this writer’s knowledge), but if their live show is as strong as their recorded music, they’ll give their tourmates a run for their money. Ian Blesse (ex-Same Shape) S U N A U G 1 6 opens the show with his new project, 9 0 0 p m • 2 1 + • Strange Vine.
AUDIE’S OLYMPIC
SLEEPY SUN • THE BOXING LESSON
Prolific touring is paying off for Sleepy Sun. The San Francisco band is seeing the best press and accolades of their career after returning from their recent European tour, and this stop in Visalia is the first of a lengthy tour of North America. The sextet is something of a mystery, as you won’t find much historical information about them, and they don’t have a deep catalog of recordings. Give them a listen, though, and you’ll know what they’re all about and why fans the world over are rabid about them. Austin, TX psyT H U A U G 2 7 chedelic/shoegazers The Boxing 9 0 0 p m • 2 1 + • Lesson will support.
AUDIE’S OLYMPIC C E L L A R D O O R
page THE VENUES / Cellar Door = 101 W Main St, Visalia • The Exit = 1533 E Belmont, Fresno • Audie’s Olympic Club Fred= 1426 N Van Ness, Fresno • Howie
18 Fresno • Veni Vidi Vici = 1116 N Fulton, Fresno • Babylon = 1064 N Fulton, Fresno • The Venue = 1148 7th St, Sanger • Chinatown Youth Center = 901 F & Sons Pizza = 2430 S Mooney, Visalia • The Starline = 831 E Fern, Fresno • The Partisan = 432 W Main St, Merced • Tokyo Garden = 1711 Fulton,
Rhythm and Rhyme
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by Carlos Fierro
ay Moore and Stephen Mayu Jr have teamed up to put something special together. Fresno, say what you will about her, has her share of poetry. On any given night you might be able to catch some pretty amazing poets weaving a lyrical web, in and out of sights, sounds, emotion, and ideas. And if you can catch poetry on any given night, you can most certainly catch live music every night at any number of places. You can’t always catch them together…well, until now.
ence seems to feed off of it: “It’s not a cliché atmosphere. The poets, they go raw and hard…I like the vibe of sttin’ in close feelin’ the vibe and the spirit of the person next to you.” The music side of things is well taken care of with Ray’s band, “The Experience,” handling things. Javon Davis on keys, Thomas Delgado on guitar, Such is the idea behind Rhythm Tom Wilson on sax, Sam Rocha on bass, and Rhyme. and Ray on drums produce what Ray tells When Ray, who does a mean ver- me is a sounds that is “simple, an experision of Ray Charles’s “I got a woman,” ence, every time it’s fresh.” was approached by the people over at Rhythm and Rhyme’s August Aqua Shi to put something together for shows, the second and fourth Thursdays of them, he partnered with Fresno Poet the month, should be great. The 13th Stephen Mayu Jr, and a “vision” of (ladies’ nite) features Scorpio Blue, and Rhythm and Rhyme just sort of appeared. the 27th features Shihan. Both poets have The second Thursday of last month, it all got started; the first Rhythm been featured on HBO’s Russell and Rhyme went down in front of a good Simmon’s Def Poetry Jam. Aqua Shi (1144 E Champlain crowd. As Ray tells it, “the show actually #108) is on the Southeastish corner of was a packed house…I was pleased.” Champlain and Perrin. Rhythm and The music and poetry don’t necRhyme goes from 9pm to midnight, with a essarily intermingle, but there are no rules. $10 cover. The free flow gives Rhythm and Rhyme its vibe. Ray likes the vibe and the audi-
Greek Fest
U
by Carlos Fierro
ndoubtedly Fresno can hang its hat on cultural festivities. From the Hmong, Chinese, and Japanese New Years, to the Blessing of the Grapes, Cinco de Mayo, powwows, and others, Fresno is home to many different celebrations of cultures. August brings one of Fresno’s favorites, Greek Fest. For over 45years St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church has been celebrating all things Greek. And this August 28, 29, & 30, St. George’s treats Fresno to Greek food, dance, art, and culture.
Adults can partake in the Grecian taverna serving beer, wine, and Greek coffee (Turkish or Armenian coffee) a finely ground coffee, made especially strong, but at the same time mellowed out with the creamy (no cream) sweetness. (A word of advice: leave the thick remnants of the finely ground coffee that you’ll find in the bottom of the Greek Fest, though not unique cup at the bottom of the cup.) among cultural festivals for its inclusiveness As always, Greek Fest is largely and family friendly activities, seems to realcentered around food, but if you don’t parly embrace both with special care. take in meat and cheese, there may not be Activities for kids range from rides and gold much available to you. As you might panning to a bounce house, movies, arts, expect, there will be olives, which for crafts, and even an outdoor ice skating rink. myself are worth the cost of admission. By the way, admission is free before 5pm, and nighttime admission is only $5. Nighttime entertainment features live music and Greek dancing (participatory and demonstrations). Aside from all of the food, drink, and activities, you can also tour St. George’s, where it is in the final stages of a Sistine Chapel-esque Greek iconography project. If you’ve made it out to Greek Fest in the past, you don’t need any convincing, and if you haven’t, you have no excuse. Food, drink, music, art, and you may even get a chance to cut a rug with Kopi. The Church is located at 2219 N Orchard St. For more info, visit www.fresnogreekfest.com.
Woodward Sustainability & Empowerment in ShakespeareÕs Fresno and Beyond: Richard III Solar Cooking Class
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by Jessi Hafer
Now is the winter of our discontent,” Shakespeare’s Richard III famously opens. Fresno’s Woodward Shakespeare Festival is continuing its fifth season (having closed As You Like It) with performances of Richard III on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm from August 13September 12. Performances are held at Woodward Park, at the Theater in the Glen. As with other WSF performances, admission is free, though reserved seats are available for $10 through www.woodwardshakespeare.org. Gates open at 7 PM. If you don’t arrive early or reserve a seat, you may consider bringing a chair with you.
Jaguar Bennett will be playing Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a dark and scheming character you’ll love to hate. The Duke of Gloucester tries to get ahead by facilitating rumors and turning various parties against each other—timeless tactics. I was in a staged reading of Richard III with WSF several years ago, and Bennett played Richard then as well—so I am certain that he will be fantastic as Richard in this summer’s fully staged performance. Director Heather Parish (WSF Artistic Director) says, “The dark treachery of the bottled spider’s rise and fall is dramatically displayed in a world of Elizabethan gothic terror and stark sensuality. Using non-traditional casting and mining Shakespeare’s text for its dark humor and great emotion, we’ve created a rich journey that asks the question What does it take to stand up to a tyrant?” All performances include a pre-performance starting at 7:25, with Fire Mystics on August 21 and 27; Tanjora Tribal Bellydance on August 20 and 28; California Arts Academy Dancers September 10, 11, and 12; and more. Visit the WSF website for more information.
by Jessi Hafer
An upcoming workshop in Fresno on solar cooking mirrors similar efforts Fresno residents are embarking upon in other parts of the world. Members of the Solar Cooker Committee, made up of members of Fresno’s Rotary Clubs, have been traveling (or preparing to travel) to places like Uganda, Mexico, Guatemala, and other areas to make solar cookers available and teach people how to properly use them. The cookers have proven to be an efficient way to prepare healthy food, thus improving quality of life and preserving natural resources.
The Solar Cooker Committee is holding a workshop in Fresno on Saturday, August 8 from 9am until about 1pm to teach Fresnans about this technology and perhaps interest more people in contributing to efforts to spread the technology in other parts of the world. The workshop leads participants in making and using a solar cooker. Participants will be shown the proper way to prepare and cook the food, and several recipes will be tried and sampled during the workshop. This is the second summer the workshop is being held. Last summer’s participants made pasta shells, stuffed peppers, corn on the cob, and chocolate cake in their solar cookers. Rotary member Kathryn Wage explained, “You can cook almost anything” in the solar cookers, and many things don’t take very long to cook. Solar cooking is “a leisurely way to cook, and you don’t heat your house,” Wage said. The workshop fee is $50 for an individual and $60 for a couple, and the fee includes a solar cooker (which the participant keeps), recipes, and food for the workshop day. For more information, visit www.integratedsolarcooking.com.
MezcalForeclosure
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Independent (2009)
ezcal is one of the hottest bands in the Central Valley right now. They are a tremendously talented group of musicians who resist categorization, mainly because everything they play sounds authentic and good, from Latin rock to salsa, cumbia, afrobeat, reggae, blues, and just straightforward rock n roll (sometimes all at the same time). Hailing from Visalia, the band is headed by lead guitarist/percussionist/lead singer Carlos Rodriguez, and is coming off a summer of big shows, including their outdoor CD release party in May, and an explosive July 25 headlining show at Visalia’s Fox Theater.
Aesop Fables
by Matt Espinoza Watson
res. I really liked the fact that there are several instrumental songs on the album. “Pulse” is one of my favorites; it’s darker & more mystical than anything else on the album, and the steady deep bass drum reminds me of Japanese taiko drumming. “Pig Feet Stew,” as its name might suggest, has a
tar in his hands, and comes strong with the vocals also. The band includes Carlos’ sister Marisa on timbales and brother Estevan on congas (both of whom can get crazy with some beats), Alejo Delgado on bass (who inspires the crowd to move with the combination of his funky basslines and shaking hips), Ian Garoian on keyboards and Richard Juarez on a variety of percussion instruments. I’ll just say this: the sound quality/production value of the album is top notch, but I seriously doubt that even the finest producer or thick, slow, bluesy-funky sound engineer could replicate Southern feel to it, while “The the raw energy of Mezcal’s live Village” is a laid back percus- show. sion driven piece with great Another cool fact is horns & lead guitar reministhat many of the band memcent of Ernest Ranglin’s bers are involved in the Sound The band has been smooth jazzy-reggae sound. n Vision foundation, which, through its ups and downs in I found myself repeatedly among other things, gives free the last few years, from replaying the last song, “Wayo music lessons to the children appearing on Fox’s “Next Wayo” and drifting off to of Visalia. Sound n Vision is a Great American Band” in 2007 someplace tropical, lured by co-creation with Visalia music to being completely broken up the flute and vocals. I’d recpromoter extraordinaire Aaron and recently reuniting, soundommend either “Cumbia del Gomes (the guy responsible for ing stronger than ever. Front Mundo,” “Sambaya Gare,” or most of the really cool shows man Rodriguez spent some “Peruvian Flakes” to get the that happen in Visalia). So, in time in West Africa, studying party started & folks moving addition to the fact that you’re percussion with village mastheir feet. “Venimos a cantar / going to get your money’s ters, and “Foreclosure” reflects y cantamos la mas buena. / worth purchasing their music the lessons learned. The album Venimos a tocar / y tocamos la or seeing them in concert, you begins with “Ojos,” a high mas buena. / Venimos a gozar / can also feel good about supenergy song about drunken y gozamos la mas buena.” porting musicians who give nights and getting in trouble In their ability to mix back to their community. for wandering eyes: “Ojos bor& transcend genres, and in Their CDs and shirts are availrachos / en esta cantina / toda terms of musicianship, they able at Marcela’s Homestore in la noche / tomando tequila / remind me of great bands like downtown Visalia, and you can ojos borrachos / tomando Los Lobos and Ozomatli. check out their music and get tequila / mirando las nenas / se Rodriguez, who describes him- more info on them at enojó mi china.” Like the self as a percussionist, isn’t myspace.com/mezcal. band itself, the album is an hesitant in the least with a guieclectic mix of styles and gen-
T
Living the Dream While Awake
Black Wolf Records (2009)
hough it’s a bit slow to get started, Aesop’s looonganticipated latest release, Living the Dream While Awake, is a fine bit of hip hop. Though Aesop may have been one of the quieter Legends in recent years, this album, featuring an array of guests including Slug and Del, should put the national hip hop scene on alert. This cat’s poised to move some units.
A major strength of Living the Dream is the amoebic nature of the production as the album unfolds. A variety of turntablists and laptopists contributed to the effort, including Hecktic, Eligh, Josh Wigger, Ill Poetic, and DJ Scandal. It’s experimental, one might say, as the album’s producers chaperone the listener through a number of sonic landscapes, but more importantly it’s successful. The shit works, and Aesop, by and large, kills it with rhymes that are heartfelt, wise, and silly, each at the appropriate moment. Now, Aesop has always dedicated himself to building up Fresno’s indie music scene, and it’s no different here. I was pleased to hear about local graffiti muralist and painter Josh Wigger’s role in designing the album’s cover and in producing the album’s first track, “Awaken,” which, after its cacophonous beginning, suddenly blossoms open, a sonic flower, replete with a staccato beat, orchestral surges, and a wonderfully sampled wailing that sounds almost worshipful. And Populous (of local hip hop crew Skinny Fat Kids) works marvelously with Aesop (and drops a truly sick-ass verse) on “Holdin’ It Up.” Though the album’s a strong work from start to finish, some of the hits include “Fast Times at Fresno High” (a meditation on the passage of time and what it does to folks over a lullabye of a beat and a chorus of horns), the title track (a funky, chill musing about the meaning of life), “Ace of Hearts” (which is a duo with fellow Legend Eligh, where Aesop steps up with some tommygun lyrical cadence), “Hidden
by Abid Yahya
Moments” (featuring Del and a beautiful beat—enough said), Speed of Life (featuring Slug, sure to be a hit single), and “Life Like Movie” (Aesop’s manifesto over rising, heroic violin samples), in which he rhymes, “This is my life, my movie, my world, take a look. / Everything I write is
so real it should be a book.” And, while I can’t testify to the veracity of that claim, I will say that he is a veteran emcee who’s toured the world multiple times and nevertheless lives right here in Fresno, who has dedicated himself to the underground and to the lifelong pursuit of happy beats and rhymes, and who is, to say the least, quite adept at microphone ripping. Though I’m sure we can expect a lot more from Aesop in the future, Living the Dream While Awake is the culmination of all his hard work so far, a glorious coming together of musicians and poets and all their sound and wisdom, with Aesop as the conductor. The album should be available to the public as early as 1 September, and will be available at accesshiphop.com, on iTunes, or at any place underground music is sold. Aesop will be touring in August and September to promote the album. He can be reached in any of the three following ways… lwww.myspace.com/aesopfables lwww.myspace.com/livinglegends laesopthekingofmen@yahoo.com
Making a Killing:
The Political Economy of Animal Rights
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by Carlos Fierro
Bob Toress
AK Press (2007)
t is often said within journalism, and writing in general, that you know you’ve done a good job when everyone is mad at you. I don’t think this is necessarily true, but Bob Torres’s new book, Making a Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Right, seems to have done just that. However, the true value of this book doesn’t come from the fact that he has upset different groups (from animal right activitsts to Marxists, even anarchists), but that Torres manages to add a new, challenging perspective to the debate. What Torres does is to place the notion of animal rights, or the idea that animal’s interests are not subservient to our own, in the middle of critiques of capitalism, exploitation, commodification, and property. By doing so, Torres chal-
lenges both animal rights activists and leftist thinkers. Torres begins with an examination of traditional Marxist thought, specifically focusing on commodification and the stealing or alienating of one from his or her labor. Torres asks that we see commodities as “social expression[s] of a historicallydependent form of labor rooted in the dynamics of exploitation.” Commodities, as Torres puts it, are “containers for sets of social relationships.” A pair of shoes, in this sense, is much greater than a pair of shoes; they have a history that tells the story of power imbalance, exploitation, domination, and maybe even struggle. Recognizing commodities as such goes a long way to understanding capitalism in general. However, Marx, coming out of the enlightenment tradition, never considered that animals were more than commodities; in fact, animals, as Descartes would suggest, were no more than Aesop’s ass, an
automaton, acting from external impulses. As such, animals were, like nature, to be subdued. Torres argues that if inanimate objects like shoes or electronics present a history of exploitation, domination, and power imbalance,
whirlwind tour of influential anarchist thought, beginning first with Proudhon’s idea of property as theft, by way of stolen labor value being stored in property or, put another way, that property represented the stolen labor value of workers. It’s Murry Bookchin’s social ecology and rejection of domination that is the root of much of Torres’s argument. Bookchin, who professes a radical anti-hierarchical philosophy, sees hierarchy in the roots of domination. That hierarchy begins in our placing ourselves above—rather than in—nature. Being above, those things below are obviously less than ourselves. Animals and nature are viciously dominated and seen as something to be overcome; from this hierarchy of nature, domination runs rampant. It is not just domination over nature and animals, but those same hierarchies are used to dominate each other as well. It is for this reason that Bookchin and Torres suggest that we reject hierarchical thinking altogether, in all its forms and permutations. To reject hierarchy among then so does our commodification of human relations, but to acquiesce animals. And the history present in with regard to the hierarchy of animal commodities is one that radi- nature and animals, becomes little more than indefensible speciesism. cal thinkers can’t ignore. Animals not only have their labor commodi- So it is with such left luminaries as Michael Albert, who, as Torres fied, but they themselves are comshows, simply disregards animals for modities. Their bodies are turned no reason other than his own lack of into meat, or used for clothing, or concern. needlessly experimented on. The real strength of Torres takes the reader on a
Torres’s work comes from his incredibly honest treatment of the animal rights movement, which he sees as largely incoherent, both in its internal policies and ideals and within the larger realm that the animal rights movement places itself. As for the internal incoherence, groups like PETA seem more concerned with animal welfare than with any sort of abolitionism. This is due largely to the fact that PETA’s critique has little to do with exploitation, domination, capitalism, injustices of the economy, and especially hierarchy. This allows PETA to not only give awards to the likes of Temple Grandin, who helps design more “humane” (read: efficient) slaughterhouses (Torres covers this and other examples wonderfully in chapter 4, “Animal Rights and Wrongs”), This is also at the root of PETA’s famously sexist (some would argue misogynistic) publicity stunts. Just as left thinkers who refuse to consider animals as victims of hierarchy, domination, and capitalism do a disservice to the philosophy they profess, so to do animal rights activists who don’t consider hierarchy, domination, and capitalism a part of their fight. Torres’s equating animal rights as something more than animal rights, but as part of a larger fight against hierarchical thinking and practices, puts Making a Killing into the rarified air of books that need to be read.
Hillary Robertson
I wish I was more together and had a website, but I do not. What if someone wanted to give you money for your work, how would one go about that? the house I grew up Abid is my manager and he is in in was filled with the charge of the financial aspect and I paintings and prints believe you can contact him at The she did. She would Undercurrent for further info. take us kids out and Otherwise, contact me at have us take photo- Livingstone’s. I work there and I graphs of objects in am easy to find. kind of an abstract way. What projects are you working on
How long have you been creating art here in Fresno? Longer than I would like to admit…ten years or so.
Tell us about this particular cover image. It is about the idea of childhood fantasies, about how, as children, we are free to use our imagination. As we grow older our imagination changes or seems to be suppressed and I am interested in what happens to those images as people transform into adulthood.
What got you started in your artistic endeavors? My grandmother did art her entire life and
Has Fresno or the Fresno art scene had any influence or effect on your work? Fresno has influ-
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Please provide a short bio. I am currently a bartender and have lived in Fresno most of my life. I love animals (esp. without hair). I am not a vegetarian and I do like to drink too much. I love to eat Thai food and of enced me to course approach art Mexican in my own food. I am style without older than being overly some, influenced younger than by the trends most. My in LA or San birthday is Francisco. If in August I lived in one and I am a of those Leo, whatev“Untitled” cities, I er that antique stores and I am very good at being could means. I do lazy. see not smoke for want“Untitled” vanity’s sake. I ing to like to go to conform more to what is going on in the prevalent art scene. Fresno is a weird place; you have little pockets of individuals trying to figure things out on their own. How would you describe your style? I am unsure how to answer that. I see my art as borrowed parts that come together to make a new whole. Other than that, I hope it is interesting to the viewer.
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or dreaming up for the near future? I like that “dreaming up for the near future.” I am interested in memories and how they change as we change, so that is what is the driving force for my inspiration for the work I will be doing.
If someone wanted to see more of your work, how would they go about that? In September of 2009, I will have an art show at Veni Vidi Vici restaurant.
Mehek Punjab de
Vegetarian Indian Restaurant
by Jessi Hafer
3173 W Shaw Ave (SE corner of Shaw and Marks) (559) 226-0512 www.mehekpunjabde.com
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Tue Ð Thur 11:30am Ð 9:30pm Frid Ð Sat 11:00am Ð 10:00pm Sunday 11:00am Ð 9:00pm
now have a fourth Indian restaurant in Fresno that I like! I recommend Mehek Punjab de with enthusiasm, yet with a slight caveat. I know that sounds strange, but let me explain. Mehek Punjab de is an all vegetarian Indian restaurant. I have to get behind any all vegetarian restaurant in Fresno. Eat there even once, and you’ll see a lot of reasons to go back. The decor is very nice, and it’s complimented by a lot of natural light from all the windows. The tables and chairs are some of the most comfortable I’ve ever sat in at a restaurant. Seriously. It’s just wood furniture, but the posture of the chair and the height difference between the chair and table are perfect (a recent hang up of mine has been booths where the table is too high or too close or too far away from you when you sit down).
The prices are very reasonable, and the food is made with high quality produce and a good amount of spices. The service is a bit laid back and slow, but not impolite.
The menu is extensive and includes vegetarian staples you rarely see at other Indian restaurants, like soya (like fake meat) and tofu. In fact, I was especially fond of the Mattar Tofu, tofu cooked with green peas, onions, gravy, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, and spices. The tofu is crumbled, not cubed, so it looks like your weekend tofu scramble, but the ginger and spices lend a distinctive personality. They have dosas, giant crepes. My masala dosa, stuffed with a thin layer of potato and vegetable curry, was warm and comforting, and the sambar soup that came with it was wonderful as well. We tried many of the vegetable dishes, and the curries, aloo ghobi (curried potatoes and cauliflower), and mushroom curry, were all great. For us, no meal at an Indian restaurant is complete without naan (flat bread), vegetable pakora (battered and fried vegetables), and samosas (pastry puffs filled with potato curry). The naan and pakora were quite good. We had problems with the samosas, and this brings me to my caveat, my forewarning to vegans. The samosas are delicious and presented beautifully. However, it comes covered in green sauce that has a little bit of yogurt in them. This first three times (all in one week) we tried ordering these and said “no dairy or yogurt,” we were still given the green sauce. And then, when we asked about it, they explained, “There’s only a little bit of yogurt.” They would bring us new samosas, but I was frustrated that a vegetarian restaurant wouldn’t understand the importance of someone not wanting even a little bit of something. However, my fourth visit, I told the waitress, “I know that these usually come with that green sauce, and that has a little bit of yogurt. I can’t have dairy, not even a little bit of yogurt, so I don’t want the green sauce.” And that worked—the samosas were right, and on the first try. They’re only $3.49 for two (with chick peas on the side), and they’re fantastic, so they’re worth the work, but be really adamant and specific if you’re vegan. Be sure to specify no ghee or butter.
Leo’s first roast experiment was years ago at home with a modified popcorn popper and some green coffee beans. “That very first roast left me in awe,” he confessed. It wasn’t long afterward he knew he had a business on his hands. After a short stint owning a fullfledged coffee shop on the Fulton Mall, Café Corazón now provides fresh roasted coffee beans to local customers. “People are learning down temperatures every I heart coffee thirty seconds. In addition, the difference that a fresh he last time I ran as the business owner, he is roast makes,” said Leo. And he’s right. into Leo Rios he inundated with paperwork My first cup was and phone calls. “If you are was perched supreme. Dark and smooth. not prepared to have your under a pop-tent None of the tricks certain business consume every part on a lazy Saturday aftercoffee companies use to subof your life, then you are not noon with his girlfriend prepared to have a busiLiz and their button of a toddler. The faint smell ness,” he says. Taste continued next page...
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of coffee was in the air and customers lined up for cups of the best brew in town: Café Corazón.
Leo is a coffee roaster, and is, at the very least, passionate. In his spare time, he studies plantations and growing practices. On weekends, he spends hours filling orders for small batches of coffee beans, hovering over the roaster, jotting
Taste continued....
stitute complexity for sheer smoky bitterness. It was almost immediately I realized I was screwed— all other coffee tasted inferior to me. I had found the best. The freshest. The Master. Right here in Fresno. My second bag was an Organic Chiapas from the PROISCH CoOp. Leo painstakingly took into account the natural growing conditions and inherent flavor of the bean. It was roasted to bring out the subtle complexity instead of being burnt to a crisp. I savored…Chiapas has earthy notes and a wisp sweetness that I never could have tasted if it were charred. “When you sip on a cup of Organic Chiapas…you’re tasting the true flavor of Mexican coffee. You’re tasting the flavors of the rainfall, the earth, the sun and the hard work of the processing that has gone into it,” said Leo. Hats off to respecting the true nature of the beast. Tasting a cup of coffee made with Café Corazón beans sells itself. Leo’s painstaking care and love of the process is evident in every sip. “It is my aim to bring out the finer aspects of a coffee and give the coffee connoisseur something to savor,” he says. And, Leo is a man with an abundant heart, corazón, for his coffee, his family, and our little spot in the world. “You help in any way you can to improve the community,” he explains. “This is what I saw my parents do growing up, and it’s what we wish to do, be true Chicanos. I’m trying to help build a strong community.” We’ve got a true Fresno treasure on our hand, people. Drink up. Get yourself a bag! lEmail Leo at elcafecorazon@gmail.com. lFollow him on Twitter for the latest roasting info @ CafeCorazon. lPick up orders at YoshiNow! on Broadway in downtown Fresno.
Super High Me
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directed by Michael Blieden (2008) by Vahram Antonian
’ll be honest, though it might already be obvious…you should probably be high when you watch this documentary. And I use the term “documentary” loosely here, as the film contributes more to the world of humor than it does provide any substantial education about marijuana and its effects, legality or distribution in California. Inspired by Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, comedian Doug Benson, the “secondranked pot comic in the nation” according to High Times Magazine, decides to abstain from smoking pot for 30 consecutive days. Apparently, this is a huge sacrifice for him, and during the process he takes a series of tests measuring lung capacity, memory retention, sperm count, and supernatural psychic capabilities. Benson’s mood swings are a tad on the grouchy side, but otherwise he adapts fairly easily, not missing a beat along his standup road tour that coincides with this period in time.
A medical marijuana prescription is secured, crew members drive Benson around Los Angeles during the whole filming, and regular check-ups are scheduled with various specialists. But short of gaining a few extra pounds and losing a little lung capacity, Benson’s vitals are relatively unscathed throughout the experience. A number of cameo appearances are made by fellow comedians with whom Benson comes into contact, including such notables as Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk and Brian Posehn. There are jokes a plenty, but a bit of sobering reality as well. Some of the people Benson encounters are real patients suffering from acute disabilities and diseases, and for them marijuana is one of the only options available to relieve their pain. The plight of the entrepreneurial dispensary owners in Los Angeles is also chronicled (no pun intended), and At the conclusion of we learn it’s not all the 30 days of not smoking, fun and games to you can guess what happens sell pot cookies over the counter. next: 30 days of being conRogue police offitinuously stoned, from the cers who disregard moment Benson wakes up local city ordiuntil he passes out at night. nances are constantOf course, certain precauly harassing tionary measures are taken.
cannabis club owners, and there is always the threat of an unannounced visit by a Federal task force who can shut down any dispensary on
a whim.
Between all the stand up humor, pot jokes, and smoking scenes, you just might learn a few things about marijuana and its turbulent relationship with the State and Federal governments of this country. Or you might learn nothing useful at all. But if you’re at the video store any time soon with some friends and are having difficulty coming to a consensus on what to watch due to the fact that you’re all high, you could do a lot worse than making it a Super High Me night. Just remember it’s for educational purposes only.
intelligent, wise, and infinitely less likely to fall for such trickery than the overwhelming majority of plebeians (I had to spell check that) I’m unfortunate enough to encounter on any given day, I recall my Magic the Gathering days in college. Ugh. ***
S
Dominion
o I have this friend, let’s call him Tony. Everything I know about getrich-quick schemes I’ve learned through my attempts at convincing Tony that they are, in fact, cons: MLM, gambling systems, Nigerian email scams, and many others. I couldn’t tell you how many times or how many hours I’ve spent trying to convince him that he’s being duped.
While endlessly frustrating, I can’t say that having to convince a friend time after time that they’re being swindeled is completely fruitless. I’ve learned a lot. Did you know that humans have unlimited ability to use the phrase, “Yeah that makes sense, BUT…”? If I had a nickel… And just as I start to get comfortable on my high horse, reveling in the fact that I am immeasurably more refined,
For those who have never played MtG, it’s a collectable card game (CCG). A wonderfully designed, strategic, satisfying, beautiful, collectable card game that will make all of your problems and worries disappear (it will also make your money disappear, and fast). Basically, it’s cardboard crack.
At the crux of its addictiveness is the customizable nature of the game. Players build 60 card decks out of a list of unique cards that easily number in the thousands. Cards are designed to work with one another, producing emergent effects, referred to as combos. If you’re looking for a particular card to pull of a combo, you’ve got a few choices, all of which
involve you shelling out more cash. With cards being released every few months, there’s always some new card that you need, and therein lies the racket. Boy, did they see me coming. ***
It’s been years since college and I’ve long since given up my MtG habit. I’ve played plenty of card games (mostly non collectable) in the interim, and while many have been a blast in their own right, very few have scratched the itch that MtG did. Dominion comes really close, and the great thing is that, when you buy the game, you get a full set of cards. Say goodbye to expensive packs or random cards. Dominion is a 2-4 player game in which players each start with an identical set of 10 cards (3 victory point cards and 7 copper treasure cards) which represent their kingdoms. Players take turns using their treasure cards to buy additional kingdom cards, treasure cards, or victory point cards from a common supply, and then add those cards to their deck. If you’ve never played MtG, Dominion is a great intro to the deck building concept. The rules are simple and streamlined and, after a few rounds, the turns move pretty quickly. If you’re familiar with CCGs then the deck building as a game mechanic should at least have you interested. However, it doesn’t have the depth of MtG and setting up the game can be a little awkward. Dominion is certainly worth a look. Ultimately, it’s nice to play a game that feels this much like a CCG without the feeling like I’m getting ripped off.
bon (dry brown ingredients) and 1 part nitrogen (wet green ingredients). Some excellent sources of carbon ingredients are dry leaves, pine needles, straw, saw dust and newspaper. Nitrogen sources include vegetable scraps, grass clippings, manure and coffee grounds. Most of us tend to think of only the nitrogen sources when composting, but be sure to add in 3 times as much carbon ingredients to your pile. —Rotating crops. One of the most common questions I get is why a plant doesn’t grow well this year, when it grew so well in the same spot last year. Plants literally suck the soil dry of the nutrition they require. Furthermore, any plant that produces fruit (such as tomatoes and squash), as well as corn, broccoli and relatives, and leaf vegetables are considered and understand more about your Gardening Tips Continued! heavy feeders and are especially growing area. taxing on the soil. Light feeders —Tilling. Take it easy! have been many things in include carrots, sweet potatoes, garTilling can be a great tool, but is my (relatively short) lic, herbs and onions. It is best to life…silly, funny, (some- often overused; it is easy to do too alternate plantings of light and much and it actually creates a myritimes) charming, even heavy feeders in your gardening ad of problems. Tillers can turn daring….but I am not so areas to help alleviate the problem too-wet soil into a sticky ball, dry crazy to try and rally you to soil into your yard and start digging, weeding and planting away in powder or create a layer this miserable weather! Summer is one of my favorite of hardpan under tilled seasons, and I believe in embracing even the harder or ground. Here are more unpleasant parts of some rules: things, but when it is 112 degrees, you can forget it! So use the tiller kick back and chill…store up only once or twice a year my random facts for a more – for spring opportune time. or fall prepa—Read your weeds. rations or Groups of weeds (not just one) can turning under actually tell you quite a bit about material on your soil (I always feel they are top of the telling me “get to work!”). An of nutrient depletion—and of soil. Don’t use the tiller when the abundance of oxeye daisies and course fertilize! Interestingly, some soil is too wet or dry (lest the sticky plantain mean that your soil is crops, like peas and legumes, actuball or powder); once over with the heavy and wet. Dandelions love to ally add nutrients to the soil, in this machine should be enough. And grow in acidic soil, and thistle and case nitrogen, which is a double don’t use the tiller for maintemustard are often found in alkaline win for the gardener. nance—stick with hand tools. soil. These can help you either —Herbs. The best time to —Composting ingredients. plan what plants to match your soil harvest herbs and any other crop I know I have talked a lot about and the plants you want to grow, or from the garden is midmorning, composting in past articles, and I help you know what to do to after the dew has dried, but before know you can’t wait to hear more! change the soil. You need someone it is too hot. Plants have the most When you add composting material or something to help you identify sugar content (hence flavor) at this to the garden, you want to have the weeds, such as dandelion, plantain time. When harvesting any crop, proper ratio of materials, which is and thistle, but after that, you will be sure to use clippers. This helps easily done with using 3 parts carbe able to look at a group of weeds prevent disease and stress on the
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plant. When storing herbs, it is best to treat them as if they were fresh flowers. Put them in a little vase if you are not going to use them straightaway. Do not refrigerate them, especially warm-weather herbs like basil, as they will turn black quickly. Another note is to not refrigerate tomatoes or eggplant either. They abhor the cold, and will lose flavor rapidly. It is best to use them as soon as you can. —Quick recipe fix. A few days ago, I had cold pasta, parmesan and cold red sauce in the fridge, and wanted to somehow make a quick but fresh and tasty dish. I went out to the garden and grabbed a squash and a handful of basil and oregano. I sautéed the squash in some olive oil, added the sauce and let it warm, then added the pasta and then the herbs. I
topped it with the parmesan and had a great meal. As I was eating, I reminded myself, “This is why I have the garden! How great is this?” The garden added life and flavor to what I already had…perfect! Well, I hope that you are now equipped with some advice that may help you, or at least information to make life more interesting (you never know when your life may hinge on answering a question about composting!). Happy gardening! ______ Christy Cole teaches for FUSD and can be reached at callansmama@hotmail.com.
E
d—Ah, the Internet. I will confess right away that I love the Internet. I wouldn’t say I’m an Internet addict, but it is a part of my daily life. Maybe a big part of my life. I mean, I surf the web, I blog, I read local blogs, I check four email addresses, and that’s all before breakfast. It’s actually hard for me to think about not being able to check the Internet on a daily basis. I recently “went off the grid” for a day—I was in an area without my laptop, and my cell phone didn’t have service so I didn’t have internet there and I was devoid of internet completely. And I was alright. In fact, it sort of took me back to a time when the Internet really wasn’t a part of my life. I was able to just kick back with some friends and enjoy their company. And now, I think back on how I even got into the Internet. It was the fall of 1995, I was a freshman in college, and I was given my first email address. To check it, I would need to access the university’s website via the Internet. Since I’m there, might as well browse a bit. And I was hooked. From there I found interesting sites to fulfill my sports needs, to find news from around the world, and even connect with people elsewhere. What started you on the Internet, Adam?
Adam—That Internet? Shit. I’m regretting all that research I did regarding
the advent of writing, the printing press, and the Internet. Sure, it’s a little oversimplified, but the Internet amazes me constantly with how it connects us together, and how we have access to knowledge everywhere. Btw, I set up a hotmail account around the same time and still use it. Adam—I know I’m not the first to say this or the last, but the Internet has done a fantastic job of allowing more people into discussions, for better or worse. Things like Twitter are allowing people in countries whose governthe built-in liners they sew into men’s ments typically stifle the bathing suits. I kid, I kid. I got into the sharing of information to online world when I was young, probably bypass more traditional around 1996 or 1997 when I set up my first forms of media (see Iran HoTMaiL account (one that I still use to and China). I think localthis day). Yes, that’s right, I have an email ly, barring any revolutions, account older than most of my friends’ chil- it’s allowing more people dren. It wasn’t long after that I started to share their opinions on delving into the realm of mIRC, one of the things that vary widely, precursors to things like AIM and Pidgin from downtown developand all the myriad chat clients that daytime ment to mixed martial arts talk shows and nighttime news hours use to in Woodward Park. And I scare parents of pre-teens. Tame stuff com- think more opinions and pared to Myspace and Facebook of course. debate in the marketplace My introduction to mIRC was also my first of ideas is better. I can’t taste of file-sharing (which eventually led to wait to see what great my use of Napster, which is child’s play things come as a result. compared to what The Pirate Bay is doing these days. Of course, I set up accounts on Geocities and Tripod because I developed a fast addiction to HTML coding. If a person is lucky, I might one day direct them to my original website, complete with teen angst and the usual condescension of a 17-18 year old. And this was all before Nigerian email scams. But lest we bore our readers with nostalgia related to Intel 386 computers running on 28.8k dial-up modems, it’s probably best we move on. Where do you think we will take the Internet from here? Or maybe, where will the Internet take us? Ed—Shoot, where will the Internet take us? Well, it’s taking the two of us worldwide via blogs and our podcast. And there are things that I know will help connect people better, like Skype, that I don’t even use. In a class that I teach, I give a long history of Western Civilization and how there are great markers in knowledge along the way, and how each of these markers were huge jumps in knowledge and sharing knowledge. Those markers:
THREE POEMS by Rosanna Kaser
The Undercurrent editors strongly suggest that under no circumstances, for no reasons imaginable, or in any possible worlds, should the advice given by Mr Nocketback be followed, contemplated, or considered. We completely absolve ourselves of any unfortunate consequences that may occur as a result of Nocketback’s advice, solicited or otherwise. That said, send your questions, problems, or concerns about money, love, or life to: Nocketback@FresnoUndercurrent.net.
Dear Nocketback, It seems I’ve run into a bit of a snag at home. I’ve been married for longer than your readers should know, and, while our marriage is not in shambles at all, it is in need of repairs, especially in the bedroom. I’ll save the details as I am not that kind of gal, but I’d like to know what you think I should do? —Bedroom Makeover
Dear BM, I am pleased that you are taking the initiative on this, as many women simply blame their husband and leave it at that. Now, I can help here, but you must trust in me fully. Dr. Phil would tell you and your husband to fill out some “sexual needs” list, but that’s for children. Look, here’s what to do. Leave work early one day, go home, find your husband’s porn stash. He must have one somewhere, look hard. If you cannot find it, he’s thorough and you’ll have to purchase some yourself. You can also use the internet. Anyhow, find a scene that is at once romantic, but also far too terrible to ever tell anyone else about—try incorporating at least two holes (at least). So, when your man gets home, be in the bedroom with the porno turned up so he thinks something’s going on. When he finds you in the room, you’ll be wearing exactly what the gal in the film is wearing and turn to him and say, “Shut your mouth, strip down, and prepare to have your fluids tapped like a keg, bitch.” It sounds awful, but will work, no doubt. —Nocketback Dear Nocketback, My best friend in the world just informed me that he is in love with my exgirlfriend. We were together for more than a year and just broke up about two weeks ago. Now, him and her are going out and it drives me crazy. I mean, he’s my best friend and I know about the “bros before hoes” thing, but I’m truly hurt. How do I deal with this? So far, I’ve just pretended like it was all right. Please help. —My Best Friend’s Girl Dear MBFG, Let’s be honest here, it is really not your friend’s fault here. We are all attracted to our friend’s girlfriends or aunts or cousins or mothers. I mean, think about it, we’re men after all. So, there’s only one person to blame—Yup, she could’ve easily said no to your friend. Shit, there are thousands of guys out there. So, what you want to do is retaliate. Here’s how to get them both back without having to say a word. Pretend like it’s all good as you have been and invite them out to dinner—bring another girl so they think you’ve moved on. When you have a chance, get your friend alone and tell him that there is this new condom on the market that’s been making you a real pro in the sack. Give him one of these condoms and there you have it. (I’ll email you the web address for a site where you can order different kinds of painful condoms that look like the real thing. They’ll never know until it’s too late.) For example, your friend will really enjoy giving it to your ex with the “sand paper ribbed” or perhaps the “Tapatio Tip” laced with hot sauce. Or, if all else fails, give him the “Seaweed Sock”—it’s abrasive and smells horrid. You’re welcome, my friend. —NN
Like One-Legged Pigeons
Dignity
Down by the tracks beyond smudged panes of glass crumpled baby strollers and metal skeletons beckon with broken legs and rusted arms like circus shivarees to backyard exhibitions.
The reason I fucked you was so you couldn’t rape me first. ______
Tarpaulin pantomimes and busted Big Wheels convene behind chain links and weathered wood. Possum belly queens sling deals, slip away.
The ocean’s wide tongue licks jagged rocks, leaves her frothy drool to dry on gritty kelp carcasses.
Bare bones of injured bridges and abandoned docks jut from the shifty waters like ancient gravestones.
The midway fishermen balance on tight-rope piers their poles poised, still waiting to reel in sockeyes, gaff mackerel for breakfast or market.
Gulls loiter among miles of serpent’s vertebrae— black rubber arcs that dive and resurface along the sand.
A stone’s skip upstream between cumulus canopies and the buttercup light of dawn, meticulously mowed lawns asphyxiate the shoreline. Crushed-granite pathways creep up to shut doors. Sweet home suites with clean coats of cobalt and cerulean mock sanity.
Like upside down tortoises and one-legged pigeons the perverted parade of sideshow moms donning their Nike-yoga best Zyrtec the blues away. ______
Six Sundays I wanted to believe you didn’t mean to. Seated, wilted and frail you watched me twirl.
Creases at the corners of your eyes fanned out like one hundred crescent moons. Your rapacious hands reached for me and I looked the other way.
I felt sorry for you so sometimes I let you catch me, scoop me up into your lap. but I hated how it sloped unevenly, your bony knees sharp against my thighs. And I hated how your breath always tasted like liverwurst and Marlboros. I minded my manners and pretended not to notice the mussed ruffles in my dress or the snag in my tights that ran all the way down to my buckled shoe. I gave my sub-conscious the silent treatment and played make believe until I realized you weren’t really playing anymore or ever.
So I stood up on my tip-toes, the pearly-plastic buttons on my mother’s blouse at eye level, and whispered in her ear. I told her all about you and how it couldn’t have been an accident six Sundays in a row.
______ Rosanna Kaser is an elementary school teacher in Oakland, CA. When she’s not pretending to be a writer, she can be found pretending to sew, cook, read, or rollerskate.
Sweet Nothings by Nicholas Nocketback
Y
ou need to get your shit together.
—Really? Ya think? As if I’m not stuck in this god forsaken holding pattern every day of my life. Don’t you think I know that? —I’m not trying to piss you off, I’m simply saying, you made your bed, now clean those awful, tainted sheets and sleep in it. —Your’re casting judgment on me? From high atop your cloud of hypocrisy and promiscuity. You’ve got nerve. If there’s someone in need of some cleansing it’d be you. I mean the men I’ve seen you with…have you been to the clinic lately? No? Really, I’m concerned. —Listen, fucker, who and what I decide to put inside me is my business. Trust me, I’m plenty responsible. Plus, I believe I have seniority here, so go fuck a duck. —Oh god, that was nice. 1989 called, it wants its insults back. —Look, can we talk civilized here or what? I truly want to help you get on track here. All you do is sit around smokin’ that seedy-ass weed and napping. I mean, you’re living in California for Christ’s sake, can’t you get some chronic? If you want to be a lazy piece of shit, you may as well be smok-
ing the good stuff. —Like you know the first thing about weed. —I know that that Dr. Dre fella talks about it being the “bomb purple.” Can’t you get bomb purple out there? —Are you serious? Jesus, get off it for once. I mean all you do is bitch about what I’m doing wrong. Should every time we talk on the phone be a truncated highlight of my shortcomings? You act as if I’ve never done anything right. —Well… —Well what? You’re such a bitch. Why don’t you take off the mask and show what you really are. No, in fact, let me help to refresh your memory. Number one: you can’t keep a man for longer than a month because you’re flat on your back after three Coronas. Two: You’ve truly let yourself go in the past five years. Lane Bryant isn’t where “all the cool girls shop” as you say. It’s for fat asses, like yourself. Three, and I’ll stop here so your tiny rat brain can process what I’ve said so far…you’ve been a real shitty friend and have offered nary a constructive sentiment since I’ve moved to California. Need a moment? —No, but you needn’t be such an asshole. I know I haven’t been the best in the world and I am honestly sorry. The truth is, you are the world to me and I pray for you daily.
—Save it, god’s a fairy tale. —Be that as it may, I care about you and have nothing but the highest hopes. However… —I knew it. —However, it’s gonna take at least an ounce of initiative on your part, Bucko. —Oh, why don’t you go fuck some random dude at Applebee’s again. That’ll take your mind off things. —Just when we were getting somewhere, you go and open your filthy mouth. —Blow me. —Blow yourself. [Beep] Oops, that’s my other line. Gotta go, sweetie. —Alright, well just be careful, okay. Love you, Mom. —Love you too, Trevor.
“Untitled” by Hilary Robertson
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