The Undercurrent by Carlos Fierro

From/to the Editor:

implore you to write to us, send us your Letters to the Editor, even if what you have to say is similar to what this month’s letter writer has to say. We usually reply to letters, but in this case we’ve chosen to let the letter stand on its own. There is certainly plenty to say in response, but the letter refutes its own purpose better than I ever could. My call for letters is a bit selfish, but only a bit. First off, we really enjoy hearing from our readers. We want to know what you think, and besides it lets us know that you’re out there reading the paper. The selfish part is that, when we have letters to present, I don’t have to write as much.

future, giving us a look at how the impending doom might go down. Of course, Peter Steeves and Steve Ingeman, during their superhuman archeological explorations, have unearthed another installment of the “Lost Socratic Dialoguea.” Also in the featured section you will find an article that perhaps gives pause for hopefulness in the sea of bad news. Also in the front section, Matt writes about food justice issues. Matt begins the first in a series of articles dealing with food justice, a term that you may not be very familiar with, which of course will be remedied as you read Matt’s pieces in the upcoming months. Also, our On the Media section is back after a bit of a hiatus. In this issue, the author looks at PR’s ability to condition the news media’s reporting on important issues, specifically when it comes to the animal farming industry and the diseases that are a direct outgrowth of animal farmWhen you send in your leting. In the local section you will also ters, you can do more than simply tell find an article concerning the corpous what you think, but feel free to rate whitewashing of the “Buy Local” make suggestions as well. There may campaign. Of course Abid Yahya conbe an article out there that needs to be tinues his counterbalance to the mainwritten, or a column that you think is stream coverage of the strife between missing, perhaps you have suggestions Israel and the Palestinians. for a future featured topic. From the In the back section of the beginning, we’ve tried to be as responpaper, you will find a lot of the familsive to the community as is possible. iar sections and articles. An expanded We want to continue to do so, but we Plugs & Profiles section is a welcome need your input. development, we hope. We cannot Speaking of featured topics, stress enough that there is no shortage this month we look at impending of things to participate in, in and doom. With all the talk of swine flu, around Fresno. And the indie PREeconomic downturn, and the end of the VIEW fills us in on some of the shows world, we look at the state of things. that are not to be missed. Some of the dire talk is a bit exaggerDon’t forget to checkout our ated, some is fully justifiable, and book reviews, restaurant review, music through it all, there may be reason for reviews (Abid Yahya reviews the hope still. Matt Espinoza Watson Street Sweeper Social Club’s debut), writes the second installment to and our reoccurring columns (TVL“Youtube and the End of the World.” GFHF, Dear Nocketback, Green Up With all the talk of 2012, Matt looks at Your Thumb, and TASTE). This some of the literature concerning 2012 month’s fiction is brought to us by and some of the misinformation. Paul Nicholas Anthony Valdez, an impresCraig Roberts looks at the state of sive writer and an impressive piece of affairs in our country, from the econowriting, and Marissa Raigoza provides my to the wars in Iraq and the poetry this month. And don’t miss Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Roberts our interview with Sunny Salais succinctly puts forward an argument Smith, the artist behind this month’s that causes us to question our role in stunning cover. the governance of our country. Abid That’s all for now, more Yahya writes a communiqué from the later…

Letter to the Editor:

fter living in the Tower for many years I returned to have dinner and had a ball. I picked up one of your papers and got quite a kick out of the enclosed comic [Editor’s note: The writer is making reference to our “Iraq Casualty Counter,” found on page 9.]

Like yourselves, I know most of your readers don’t understand the world yet and that is your clientele. Enclosed are some good facts from the Chicago Tribune and the AP Wire, unless they are lying of course. This is the town that your president was responsible for and helped pass every gun control law he possible could. According to your comic there was 15 American Soldiers killed in June, dwarfed by the 32 in Chicago recorded on June 25. Plenty of time for more homicides that month. Not to mention the numbers for last year, that are included, almost a two fold of deaths, Chicago compared to Iraq. I’m not for people dying however, maybe you could do a comic with some truth to it and let people see the true irony. Maybe even give people like me that are helping support the Tower by spending $200 in one night rather than the kids sitting on the curb bumming money from me that read your rag daily. If he can’t take homicide out of Chicago he can’t take it out of a region across the globe. Maybe when you get out of college and your rich parents quit paying for your bullshit your ideology may change Go smoke a fatty and think about it morons!!!!! [Editor’s note: The writer neglected to leave his or her name.]

September 2009

Volume 4

Issue 4

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 Eatcho Jason Gonzales Steven J Ingeman Robin Landseadel Stephen Mintz Tracy Newel Marissa Raigoza Paul Craig Roberts H Peter Steeves Sunny Salais Smith Ed Stewart Nicholas Anthony Valdez 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, visit FresnoUndercurrent.net or send a 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.

ON THE MEDIA 4

Public Relations & the Conditioning of Mainstream Media, or Why the Swine Flu was a Story About Mexicans by Carlos Fierro

SCIENCE, HEALTH, & ENVIRONMENT 5

LOCAL 6 7

Cultivating Consciousness: Treesits and Tripods, or Police are not our Friends by Jason Gonzales “Buy Local,” a Corporate Whitewash by Carlos Fierro Food Justice, Youth in the Lead by Matt Espinoza Watson

STATE, NATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL 8 9

The Palestine Report by Abid Yahya AfterWords by Abid Yahya

FEATURED TOPIC: IT ALL COMES TUMBLING DOWN... 10 11

CALENDAR 16 18

UnderCurrentEvents Calendar

The Undercurrent’s indie PREVIEW

PLUGS & PROFILES 19

Travelers to the Grave by Abid Yahya

Market on the Mall by Jessi Hafer

The Tamejavi Festival is Coming! by Cresencia Cruz Escalona

Fresno’s Reel Pride Festival, September 16-20 by Stephen Mintz

MUSIC [RE]VIEWS 21

Street Sweeper Social Club by Abid Yahya

BOOK [RE]VIEWS 23

Inherent Vice by Robin Landseadel

Helplessness & Hopefulness by Carlos Fierro Americans: Serfs Ruled by Oligarchs by Paul Craig Roberts

ABOUT THE COVER

by Matt Espinoza Watson

LOCAL EATS

YouTube and the End of the World (part 2 of 2) The Moonman Manifesto

by Abid Yahya

From The Lost Socratic Dialogues: “The Katastophe” Discovered by Ingeman & Steeves

by Sunny Salais Smith

Star International Deli by Jessi Hafer

TASTE: I Can Eat a Peach for Hours by Tracy Newel

FILM [RE]VIEWS 26

Some Films to Catch at Reel Pride Festival 2009 by Stephen Mintz & the Reel Pride Festival Committee

GAME [RE]VIEWS 27

COLUMNS 27

Bored? Games!: Crunch by Jessi Hafer

Dear Nocketback by Nicholas Nocketback

Green Up Your Thumb: Feed Me by Christy Cole

The View Looks Good From Here, Fresno by Adam & Ed

2 Poems by Marissa Raigoza

POETRY

SHORT FICTION 30

The Old Woman in My Closet by Nicholas Anthony Valdez

Public Relations & the Conditioning of Mainstream Media, or Why the Swine Flu was a Story about Mexicans

ublic Relations experts employ a variety of measures to avert crises. Ivy Lee, an early and prominent PR practitioner revolutionized and, to a very real extent, invented modern PR with his practice of business openness during times of crisis. Business openness shouldn’t be misunderstood as business truthfulness. What Lee did was to change the way that corporations responded to crises. Rather then shutting down and closing themselves off during crises, Lee espoused a policy of businesses getting out in front of the crises. Lee’s most famous PR crisis management campaign came during the Ludlow Massacre.

In the Ludlow Massacre, the Colorado National Guard killed a number of striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914. The miners were gathered in a tent city, fighting for better working conditions and wages and for the recognition of a miners’ union. One of the three coal mining companies that the miners were striking against was the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, owned by the Rockefeller family. When the Colorado National Guard attacked the miners, at the behest of the coal mining companies, killing 20 people (among them two women and 11 children), there was a national uproar against the mining companies and the Rockefellers. John D. Rockefeller acquired the services of Ivy Lee, and Ivy Lee set out to rehabilitate Rockefeller’s image. Through a series of public appearances, some at the site of the strikers’ camps, Rockefeller met, talked, maybe even cried with the strikers. Rockefeller

by Carlos Fierro

also commissioned an investigation into the massacre and studies to better the safety of miners. Of course the photo ops, investigations and studies were for nothing more than public consumption. And the public ate it up. In fact, Rockefeller was largely presented as a caring, heroic man in the mainstream press of the time. Lee will always be known for his policy of business openness, or spin. He should perhaps be better known for his work for the Nazi government, work for which he was called before the US Congress to answer. Fortunately for Lee’s legacy, he suffered a massive heart attack prior to his appearance and died. In any case, Lee’s work of getting out in front of crises is still employed today. When done well, it can have incredible effects, but this isn’t always the case. A glaring example of a corporation not getting out in front of a crisis is Exxon’s handling of the Valdez disaster. Rather than getting out in front of the crisis, Exxon tried to deflect and hide from the disaster. Exxon CEO Lawrence Rawl, unlike Rockefeller, seemed to feel put out by having to explain himself to the public. Rather than taking Rockefeller’s lead and perhaps engaging in photo ops of him cleaning a beach, initially Rawl acted as if he couldn’t understand what everyone was making such a fuss over. Along the same lines as Lee’s “business openness,” modern PR has employed other strategies of openness disguised as truthfulness. During the first Gulf War, the Pentagon was fond of supplying such massive amounts of information that reporters were unable to confirm any of it. In essence, they flooded reporters with information—again, not truthfulness, but a form of openness. In fact, much of the information was flatly false. One of the clearest examples of this was the orgy over smart bombs. The Pentagon sent out so much mis-

information regarding smart bombs (both statistics and video) that reporters, because they couldn’t possibly corroborate the information and because they are taught to accept official sources, ran with it. It wasn’t until much later that anyone bothered to look into the validity of Pentagon claims. In fact the failure rate of “smart bombs” used during the first Gulf war was upwards of 75%. This was a far cry from the grainy images of bombs, not only hitting their targets, but hitting them dead center. When PR and industry can’t get out in front of a crisis, they often remove their kids’ gloves and brutally beat the media and the public into submission. No better example of this can be seen than the example of Oprah Winfrey. On April 16, 1996, Oprah Winfrey aired a show on Mad Cow Disease. The guests for the show were Howard Lyman, a former cattle rancher turned vegan crusader, and Dr. Gary Weber, a beef industry hack. Following the show, in which Lyman wiped the floor with Weber, the industry engaged in a smear campaign again Lyman and a legal battle against Lyman and Winfrey. The industry, using the Texas Food Disparagement Act, took Lyman and Winfrey to court. The lawsuit claimed that Lyman and Winfrey knowingly made false statements about an agricultural business. The suit lasted six years, and even though in the end Lyman and Winfrey won, it sent a very stark message to others who might consider questioning the animal farming industry. Industry lost the case, but won where it mattered by largely silencing further debate in the mainstream media. Following the trial, Oprah declared that she was through with Mad Cow Disease, and the rest of the media followed suit. Mad Cow Disease, though it has been shown to be a very real concern, has become a taboo subject for the news media. Oprah is not an isolated

instance, either. A Fox news station in Tampa, Florida fired two of its reporters when they refused to kill an investigative story on the dangers of the growth hormone rBGH being injected into dairy cows; they later threatened to blow the whistle on

media responded in a fashion you might expect. Michael Savage, speaking of swine flu said, “No contact anywhere with an illegal alien! And that starts in the restaurants…you don’t know if they wipe their behinds with their

The above cartoon illustrates the sentiments quite well.

Fox to the FCC. The reporters, Steve Wilson and Jane Akre of WVTV, put together an investigative series on rBGH, then Monsanto, the maker of rBGH, “pressured” Fox to kill the story. Of course Fox caved; luckily, the reporters didn’t. It doesn’t only happen in the US either. A Meat, a South Korean beef importer, sued South Korean actress Kim Min-sun for posting a blog on her website in which she wrote, “I cannot believe how much beef swarming with mad cow disease, bones and all, is being imported and I would rather put potassium cyanide into my mouth” (http://alturl.com/ojjh). PR and industry has conditioned and put the fear of God into media when it comes to reporting on the animal farming industry, or about issues surrounding animal farming. No clearer example can be found than in the recent swine flu scare. It was a curious thing, the way swine flu was reported on in the media. At the extremes, the racist

hands!”

The worst of the racist drivel accused unpapered immigrants of being “the perfect mules” for carrying the disease. We even heard that this was perhaps bioterrorism. In the end, we were meant to fear Mexicans more than the flu. Locally, Ray Appleton took it upon himself to save pork, assuaging his listener’s fears in his usual asinine manner. Appleton wrote in his KMJ blog, “We have to remember one very critical difference in culture that will always make their death count much, much larger than that of the US. Mexicans, as a part of their culture, do NOT go to the doctor when they are ill! WE DO!!!!! The Mexican people, especially those more rural, will rely on home cures and prayer and skip the doctor’s office over 90% of the time.” (“Pass the Damn Pork!” at http://alturl.com/ascx) We may think it easy to

Flu continued next page...

Flu continued...

dismiss such utter inanity, but even the more level headed media, at least on this one issue, showed how deep the conditioning goes. The vast majority of reporting on the issue still dealt with swine flu and the Mexican connection. Mexico was painted as the point of origin. Unlike the Ray Appletons of the world, some media often credited Mexico with its handling of the flu (it must have been the witchdoctors), but still the focus was Mexico. Numbers of dead in Mexico continued to pop up. Pictures of Mexicans wearing surgical masks were plastered across newspapers and TV screens. Regardless of the angle (racist, or straight news) Mexico was continually pointed to as being the origin of the flu (the veracity of such a claim is contentious), as if the flu rose up from the Mexican earth. Through it all, the animal farming industry was given a free pass. The Swine Flu didn’t originate in Mexico, nor did it start in the US. Such claims miss the point. The Swine Flu, like other recent killer flus, infects and spread because of animal farming. Viruses need densely packed populations to evolve and spread. Animal viruses, especially, need such conditions to make the jump to human hosts. The farming of animals acts as the perfect Petri dish for such epidemics. The animal farming industry knows this quite well. Scientists know this quite well, but, all the same, we spend our time fearing Mexico when it comes to Swine Flu, or China when it comes to Avian Flu, when the culprit is our very own consumptive habits. Unfortunately, mainstream media has failed its audience by reporting this red herring, but rest assured, PR has served the animal farming industry quite well.

Treesits and Tripods, or Police are not our Friends

recently took the kids (Aiyana, 1 and Oli, 2.5) to a park that has water features built out of formed concrete. Oli just loves one of the structures, which is a little stream that starts about 4 feet high and winds down a “rocky” river into a huge sand pit. There is a spot where, if you dam the river with mud, water is diverted into a “lake,” which must be also be dammed separately to hold the water. Un-dammed, the water flows freely into the sandpit where kids make new streams and mud structures and other lakes and whatnot. The thing about this little stream is that it is long and has different areas that come out to a big area at the bottom, so lots of kids can play with it together and separately, which is awesome.

by Jason Gonzales

toddlers that it wasn’t their problem and guarded the dam with their lives; then Oli got involved and changed the whole deal. After watching kids try to negotiate with the girls, and get nowhere, Oli climbed up next to their dam up on the top of the river, and sat in the tiny lake they had made like he wanted to play with them. He kept splashing water on the dam making it weaker and weaker, and ignored them when they told him not to. He looked to me once for guidance, and found none. At one point, the oldest bossiest girl left the other one in charge and ran off to get something, saying she would be right back. As soon as she was away, Oli kicked the dam down with all his might and all the little kids at the bottom shrieked with delight as the water rushed down and flooded the sandpit. This, my friends, is what I would call “a diversity of tactics escalating to direct action,” and I was incredibly proud to watch Oli function with these types of behaviors at the playground. Understand, my son wasn’t being some bratty kid trying So when 2 older girls decidto knock down some other kid’s mud ed to dam up the very top portion of castle; about 30 kids were playing the stream so the water flowed over happily and sharing this awesome the sides and ran across the walkways resource with each using it in a multiinto planters, a lot of the little kids tude of ways, when 2 big bullies downstream weren’t too stoked about showed up and screwed up the whole it. Oli observed and played in the game, refusing to work with everybottom for a while, watching the one else to fix the problem. So, Oli other kids try to talk to these girls fixed it. and get them to share the water. The Since Oli was born, he was older girls weren’t very nice about it raised in circles of dissent and at all, and pretty much told all these protest, and, as he has grown, he has

always been welcome around our activities and discussions as much as possible. When our family moved to Eugene, we began working with an above ground forest defense group that at one point during the summer held an action camp in preparation for summer activities in the trees. We had trainings for things like climbing and sitting trees, erecting bipods and tripods, blockades, and other direct action tactics, and Oli was around all of it and loved it. His favorite was definitely the enormous tripod we made with large dead trees, he yelled at everyone when we pulled it down because we “killed it.” The bipod went up in its place and he was pleased. Oli asked plenty of questions as he always has, and learned a lot about how people want to cut down the forest; when we ask them to stop, they don’t, so we try to stop them! I’m convinced that raising children in a community of dissidence and activism is a positive thing, and activist families should be just that, activist families, not activist parents who separate their lifestyle from their children. Our children have been warmly welcomed at every protest, discussion group, show, dance and gathering of radical people we have attended, and that’s how it should be. On that note, I have never been afraid to tell my child that the cops are not always our friends, and you shouldn’t be either! Cops are dangerous people who are not always concerned with the welfare of you, your children, or your household. It started when Oli was learning lots of new words, and began noticing police cars. I told him we call those “pig cars” and he thought it was great fun and always laughed and pointed out the pig cars around town. As Oli got older, I took it more seriously and didn’t want police to be a fun joke anymore. They occasionally cruise through playground areas and play “officer friendly” with the little ones. The kids get excited because TV, school and parents usually play along with the “cops are great” game—but we don’t play that game. I talk to Oli frequently about why I don’t talk to police, and why they are not always good people. As soon as Oli heard that they put our friends in long timeouts in small rooms and tie their hands together for things like climbing trees, he started to get the picture. I understand this is a scary and controversial idea to a lot of people who feel that if a kid gets in a sketchy sit-

uation and needs someone safe to turn to, they should go to the police. Let me be clear that I do not believe the police are a safe place for a child, or anyone else to turn. If people out there are still having trouble with this concept, they should consider the 17-year-old shot dead by a cop (in Fresno) when the boy hit him with a bat, or Oscar Grant, who was face down in cuffs when he was shot by a cop in the back, and who had a toddler at home. Here in Eugene not long ago, a man named Ian was tazered multiple times by officers while he was face down with his hands behind his back, for crossing a street too many times while handing out fliers about pesticide use. The cop that tazered him earned the Officer Of The Year from his buddies. These are just a few of the better known instances of completely insane police brutality. The list could go for a long time even if you stick to purely violent attacks. Get into all the other shady things cops are up to and you could take up a shelf at the library! I think it’s terrifying that people expect and teach their children to submit to and respect this violent authority figure with no questions asked, and I’m happy to say I can already recognize a tendency in Oli to defy anyone (even us!) trying to control and not co-operatively handle a given situation. Besides, if Oli were in a situation where the police were the safest place to turn, they would probably be taking him against his will anyways. I believe the important part of this is not to teach children to fear police, but just not to trust them, not to look up to them, and perhaps most importantly, not to aspire to be them. It is all about children getting a realistic, honest understanding of the authority figures in their lives so they can distinguish between their allies and their oppressors. Instead I teach my kids not to be afraid of their neighbors, or the people on the bus, I teach them that the community is where they should look for help, and that they should help those in their community as well. People say strangers may be dangerous, they may be creeps, the may be kidnappers, they may be junkies. Well, every cop has a gun, every officer is ready to use violence against others, and every cop is just as likely as anyone else to be a creep, a kidnapper, or a junkie. Oli and I were heading into the library downtown the other day

Friends continued next page...

Friends continued... and, as I was getting him out of the bike trailer, we saw a policeman harassing a kid on the sidewalk because he was asking people for change. Someone had complained about being bothered on their way in and the library called the cops, for nothing but spare changin’. The cop was lecturing the kid about not bothering people, telling him that if he kept doing it, he would arrest him. Oli asked me what the policeman was doing (he was afraid the policeman was going to hurt the books) and I told him this: “That boy doesn’t have any money, and he asked someone if they would share. They didn’t want to share and the policeman is telling the boy that, if he keeps asking, he will tie his hands together and put him in a long timeout. Let’s just go into the library, He isn’t going to hurt anybody.” As we walked by the scene, the officer smiled to greet Oli when he saw him looking at him, and mistakenly thought Oli was excited to see him. Oli yelled at the policeman, “Don’t you be mean to that boy. Be nice, policeman!!!” The detained kid responded, “Thanks, brotha, that’s right!” A few sporadic people laughed, and the library official and security guard standing behind the cop shook their heads at me. However, I, the kid, and the cop saw the significance in what had happened. I have hope that the officer understood that Oli was not afraid of him, and was not amazed by him. Oli knew he was no friend, that he was a tool of oppression that has no place in any of our lives. _______ Jason is a stay at home papa to two, who moved to Eugene because it rains too much in Fresno. The 7 fingers on his left hand make typing difficult, which commands an even higher appreciation for the things he writes. He can be reached at fresnoalamo@hotmail.com with comments, questions, ideas, suggestions or death threats.

“Buy Local,” a Corporate Whitewash

t should come as no surprise that nonlocal media should, so steadfastly, support the new(ish) “Buy Local” campaign. The campaign, which is spearheaded by a consortium of media, retail, advertising, and trade organizations, is, not surprisingly, made up of many nonlocal entities. From the Fresno Bee (owned by McClatchy Company, which owns newspapers in 15 states), ABC Channel 30 (owned by Disney, one of the largest media companies in the world), Comcast (which has 14 media holdings and has ownership in seven professional sports teams as well as a bevy of stadiums and arenas), KSEE 24 (owned by Granite Broadcasting Corporation, which owns 24 stations nationwide), to Fashion Fair, River Park, and Hanford Mall (homes to such “local” businesses as Target, Edwards, Borders, Macy’s, and Best Buy, to name a few).

by Carlos Fierro

massive ad campaign touting the “Buy Local” campaign. The ad campaign should be seen as little more than an investment by these massive media corporations. It’s no surprise that words are redefined to benefit the perpetrators of the campaign. The campaign considers any business that is located in Fresno, or any business that has one of its many locations in Fresno, to be “local.” The PR campaign suggests, “Buying local means any store in your community: mom and pop stores, national chains, big box stores, you name it….” The reasoning for this definition, again according to the PR campaign, is that “No matter who owns the store, if it’s in our community, a large portion of the sales tax stays in our community.” This is of course, technically true; items purchased in the County of Fresno have a portion (large is incredibly misleading) of the sales tax remain in Fresno (1% according to whyibuylocal.com).

Sometimes What’s Not Said Speaks Loudest…

First, the PR campaign cleverly defines “local” in a way that makes the word, quite nearly, useless, though not meaningless. According to the campaign, there is no difference, or (being generous) no signifSo Channel 24 & 30 run icant difference, between a “mom puff pieces touting the benefits of ‘n pop shop” and Walmart. What buying local, and through it all they matters is that you actually go to tell the story as straight news. If it Walmart and buy that what-ever-itwasn’t that they themselves are is in the actual store, rather than go nonlocal entities, this would be an online and order it from Walmart’s example of the worst kind of jour- website. Don’t forget, it’s all about nalism (presenting Public Relations the one percent. as news), as they themselves are In a TV spot, the PR camamong the very nonlocal entities paign shows a series of products that are trying to pull the wool over with accompanying cost along with our eyes. Instead, it smells of the sales tax for each product, for something much worse. The instance a camera slides by on slick Fresno Bee and Comcast were not conveyer belt looking graphic. The to be outdone. Beyond a series of cost of the camera is $350, below puff pieces of its own, The Fresno the cost we see in bold red letters Bee along with Comcast also ran a

“Tax $28,” one is led to believe that that $350 dollar camera bought at Best Buy means $28 dollars for Fresno. However, only 1% stays in Fresno County, so that $350 dollar camera that you pur-

haps devastating for local businesses. The effects are all too real for local business. Samantha Kranshaar of Echo Street Coffee (a local coffee shop in the same location where Javawava used to be located) expressed her thoughts on the Buy Local campaign’s equating businesses like Starbucks to those like Echo Street Coffee: “I don’t like it at all. You should be supporting local businesses owned by locals, rather than supporting big nonlocal corporations.” The sentiments were echoed (pun most definitely intended) by Daniel Rhoten, also of Echo Street Coffee: “I’m not buying it. Local is not that broad of a term. Local, to me, is a local owner…local owners have more invested in the local community.” Rhoten, of course, brings up a good point that the Buy Local campaign seems to overlook. Nonlocal businesses have very little stake in the communities where they do business. The corporate offices are sometimes thousands of miles away. All they know or care to know about Fresno is what the profit margins are in Fresno stores. If those profit margins don’t meet expectations, employees are let go and stores are closed. Tell the local mom and pop shop that Walmart is

chase at Best Buy, or Walmart, or Target, or any other nonlocal business, actually means $0.28 for Fresno County. What it also means is that the profit from that camera flees Fresno as fast as Walmart’s accountants can tap away at their 10keys. So much money flees Fresno in the form of profits from nonlocal retailers escaping back to home offices in far away places. Fresno is sadly the home of extreme wealth inequality, and, of course, this is what is missing from this PR campagin. Buying some goods from some nonlocal entity that has a physical location in Fresno may mean that one percent of the sales tax stays in Fresno, but it also means that nearly 100% of the profits leave the area. So local money, money that is earned locally by local residents, goes back to corporate offices, which are anything but local. This discussion has no place in the Buy Local campaign. The Buy Local campaign cleverly lies by omission. I don’t use the term “lie” lightly. I stumbled across this line over and over. I thought about using a different word (spin perhaps), to euphemistically say the same thing, but this campaign, in the end, isn’t harmless double speak. Its potential effects are very real and perWhitewash

continued next page...

Whitewash continued... a local business when they are driven out of business because Fresnans follow the advice of the Buy Local campaign. Tell the owners of local coffee shops that supporting Starbucks is supporting local business. It’s not hard to figure out why so many nonlocal entities are part of this campaign: to get us yokels to give our money to them. Not only are we encouraged to give our money to them, but now we’re given the avenue to feel good about our shopping at big box stores instead of local shops. Eat at Chili’s, feel good about your local purchase. I have to ask, however, is this Buy Local campaign also asking that all of these pseudo local businesses swallow their own medicine? Is Target supposed to buy local as well? Are Target and Walmart purchasing their goods from local artisans and crafters? Is Starbucks going to start purchasing their coffee from local roasters? Is Macy’s furniture going to start purchasing its couches and tables from local upholsterers and woodworkers? Or is this just a one-way street? It’s the shmuck’s job to give our money to the national chain and the chain’s job to take it. I’m no moral saint. Far from it. But I have no misconceptions regarding my purchasing habits. I know that my nonlocal purchases, by which I mean buying from big corporate chains, do a disservice to my community. Being a part of a local newspaper, I am ever so cognizant of this. However, the deception being perpetrated by this corporate whitewash PR campaign should not only be disregarded, but actively rebuffed.

Food Justice, Youth in the Lead

by Matt Espinoza Watson

ast month, we brought you a short piece on the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) and on their efforts to do something about the lack of healthy, reasonably priced food options in many low-income areas of town. In the coming months, we will be highlighting organizations in Fresno and other areas of the state taking a social justice approach to healthy food access. Recently, I sat down with April Hoogasian, Lance Augusto, and Eddie Arellano from YLI to discuss the work they’ve been doing with young people in Fresno and surrounding communities in the Central Valley. We talked about the fact that looking at healthy food access as a social justice issue is a relatively new phenomenon, but one that’s gaining momentum in many areas of our state. A USDA report released in July, a recent study by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, and a subsequent article in The Fresno Bee on ‘food deserts’ have helped to increase awareness of the issue locally. “The issue of obesity and poor health in low income communities has been looked at and studied previously, but from the perspective of blaming individuals for poor food choices. Many policymakers and organizations want to see individuals targeted with

nutrition campaigns, telling people ‘Don’t eat chips & soda…’ And lots of money has been spent in this way, which isn’t horrible, but if there’s no access, and all the store in your neighborhood has is chips, soda and beer, how effective can the educational campaigns "I see a welcome sign saying drive thru open 24 be? It’s proven to be hrs Fridays and Saturdays...I see a super more sustain- unhealthy choice on the nights everyone is out able to take late." —Lupita, 16 an environthe project happened for sevmental prevention eral reasons, according to approach,” says April Hoogasian. (Meaning look- YLI staff. Youth from Fresno saw a documentary ing at an issue through the viewpoints of access, media done by YLI youth in Caruthers & Mendota (the messages, social & cultural norms, and policies affecting YA BASTA Youth) that the areas.) “We don’t focus brought some of these issues on the individual; we look at to their attention. In the community and try not to Caruthers, there was only one store where you could blame the individuals for their bad habits, but to look get fresh produce, a fact at what options are out there highlighted in their documentary. “That’s really how and how we can assist the community to increase their they [youth from Fresno] became more interested in options,” adds Eddie. the issue,” says Eddie. At In the past few the same time, UFLY (Urban years, youth (mostly highFresno’s Leading Youth, the school students) working Fresno YLI group) was with YLI have focused on going around documenting mapping out and raising the saturation of liquor consciousness around the stores and alcohol ads, and pervasive nature of liquor began taking note of whether stores in low income areas. any fresh fruits & veggies What began as a project were offered in their neighfocused on underage drinkborhoods, in particular the ing and the abundance of 93726 & 93701 zip codes. liquor stores turned into a project to increase access to Out of 30 stores observed, healthy foods in those same only 2 of those carried fruits areas. The transformation of and vegetables; and only one

had what could be described as an ‘adequate’ supply. In Selma & Kerman, young people counted the number of fast food restaurants in their communities, and compared it to their ability to access fresh produce. The numbers didn’t look good, and that’s what spawned the whole idea of the ‘Corner Store Convergence.’ The ‘convergence’ is part of a partnership with C-CROPP (Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program). Youth in Kerman and Selma (the SALUD councils) are now working on introducing farmer’s markets into their communities, and advocating for more bike lanes and spaces for recreation and physical activity. They’ve made recommendations to the community and city council based on their findings. The SALUD councils also recently completed the Photo Voice project, where youth went around their communities taking pictures representative of their concerns. They then had an event for community members, elected officials, school administrators, and others, where they showcased poster-size versions of these pictures and gave personal testimony about not having access to healthy foods or bike lanes. You can check out the Photo Voice project and other YLI projects at www.flickr.com/ylifresno. Lupita de Loa, one of the youth from Kerman, recently travelled to LA to do a presentation at a California PanEthnic Health Network (CPEHN) conference on the Photo Voice project and on how YLI gets youth involved in participating. (YLI often provides training to other agencies on youth engagement; how to increase capacity and get more youth

involved.) One of the things that stands out about the organization is that the youth decide upon the issues they want to tackle and do the work themselves, including field research and writing reports on their findings; also, the fact that youth from different communities have educated and inspired other young people through their efforts. At present, YLI is looking to do more extensive mapping (of grocery stores/fast food restaurants/liquor stores) to assess what neighborhoods & zip codes need help the most. They’re also looking to do more in-depth community food assessments; interviews & focus groups to get an idea of how far people travel outside their neighborhoods to get fresh produce, and whether they’re going by bus, bike, or car. “All these things have an effect on the foods you eat or have access to,” says April. In the end, the main goal of the project is to increase access to healthy foods. The issue isn’t just that liquor stores aren’t carrying healthy foods; but that nowhere else in the vicinity is either. There’s plenty of access to chips, candy and sodas though... There’s a gap to be filled, and the youth working with YLI are taking the lead in helping to fill that gap. One of the options they’ve looked into is partnering with business consultants and local liquor store owners to make carrying healthy foods a viable, profitable option for small business owners. But they’re also looking at how to address the issue without having so much at stake for liquor store owners, such as small food stands, community gardens, and farmers markets. Ultimately, it will be the youth who decide which direction to take as they move forward.

25 August 2009

The evictions were widely and roundly condemned throughout ANOTHER EVICTION the world as a deliberate and careIN EAST JERUSALEM less frustration of tensions while fragile diplomatic negotiations are bama and other offi- under way, in part covering the very issue of Israeli settlements in cials in his adminisPalestinian territory. tration spent most of Robert Serry, the the spring and early summer United Nations special coordimaking bold and assertive nator for the Middle East peace process, said, “I deplore today’s public proclamations to the totally unacceptable actions by effect that Israel must cease Israel. These actions are conwith the construction of settle- trary to the provisions of the ments in occupied Palestinian Geneva Conventions related to occupied territory. These territory. Israel appears to actions heighten tensions and have formulated a response, undermine international efforts which they launched in the to create conditions for fruitful early morning hours of negotiations to achieve peace.” Sunday 2 August. A small The British consulate in Israel issued a statement, sayarmy of Israeli police in riot ing, “The Israelis’ claim that the gear gathered before dawn and then carried out the most imposition of extremist Jewish settlers into this ancient Arab messed up eviction I’ve ever neighbourhood is a matter for heard of. Fifty three the courts...is unacceptable. Palestinians, whose nine fami- These actions are incompatible with the Israeli professed desire for lies have been living in two peace. We urge Israel not to allow large houses in the Sheikh the extremists to set the agenda.” Jarrah district of East For the US, Hillary Clinton Jerusalem for more than 50 said, “I have said before that the years, were suddenly awoken eviction of families and demolition of homes in east Jerusalem is not in when Israeli police stormed keeping with Israeli obligations. their homes, literally throwing And I urge the government of Israel everyone and everything out and municipal officials to refrain onto the street and sidewalk, from such provocative actions.” The European Union’s while Jewish settlers who had statement expressed “serious conbeen standing by, according to cerns” over Israel’s eviction of the witnesses, moved into the families, rightfully pointing out that houses “almost immediately.” “house demolitions, evictions and No note on the front door, no settlement activities in East Jerusalem are illegal under interna30 days notice. These Palestinian families, including tional law.” One of the many ironies 19 children, were just tossed here is that Israel, as part of the into the street. embargo on Gaza, blocked all imports of cement into Gaza since This move by the police came after the Israeli Supreme Court the Israeli bombing of last Christmastime, obviously hampering ruled that Israeli families actually efforts to rebuild amidst all the rubown the land that the homes are built on, despite that the Palestinian ble. Only recently, at the end of families have been living there since July, did they allow any cement in at all. Palestinians are being kicked before the occupation even began. out of their homes in Jerusalem

while being prevented from building homes in Gaza. Just where are they supposed to go? On 18 August, though, the news report headlines suggested good news, many of them referring to the fact that Israeli settlement construction has been put “on hold.” But the fine print revealed more. The brief media frenzy was prompted by a statement issued by Israeli Housing Minister Ariel Atias. “Since the government was established five months ago, no tenders have been issued for Judea and Samaria,” meaning that, under the new administration of prime minis-

2007 and supported ever since by USA), there occurred an ill-conceived coup attempt against the current government of Hamas. A heretofore unheard-of group, calling itself Jund Ansar Allah (or “Soldiers of the Followers of God”) gathered many of its armed followers at a mosque in Rafah, in the south, and, according to the reports I’ve been able to find, attempted to declare an “Islamic emirate” in Gaza. I assume they themselves were volunteering to lead this new government, as well. In response, Hamas leapt to action and a fierce gun battle ensued, in which Jund Ansar Allah

One of the evicted Palestinians expressing her objections

ter Benjamin Netanyahu, no new construction jobs have been approved. Note, however, that he smugly used the Biblical names for the area comprising the West Bank, obviously implying that the land rightfully belongs to Israel. “It’s no secret that the prime minister is trying to reach some sort of understanding with the Obama administration, which is being tough with us,” he continued, before finally adding, “There is no freeze, there is a waiting period,” making it pretty clear that, after the Israeli government is done posturing for Obama, he can’t wait to get back to building homes for Israelis on Palestinian land. Some things, I’m afraid, will never change. We’ll see if Obama will step up. (Psst. He probably won’t.)

was vanquished. Now, this is a perfect illumination of the critical problem with the Bush doctrine, with the whole Western approach to dealing with the problem of Islamic fundamentalism. By ignoring Hamas, by leaving the Gaza Strip to wither away under this cruel embargo of goods and words, we are creating the ideal conditions for the catching hold and spreading of fundamentalism. Historically, Palestinians have been largely secular. Their fight has been against the occupation, not against the West or liberalism or the infidels. They wanted nothing to do with al Qaeda. They just wanted the Israeli army off of their land. But what do you know? We lock down Gaza for a few years, allow it to just rot in poverty and misery, and, lo and behold, heavens to friggin betsy, fundamentalism has grown stronger and more institutionalized, has WHY WE SCREWED UP become a force to be reckoned with. ON GAZA And now, sympathy for al Qaeda (binladenism, I like to call it) has On Friday 14 August in the Gaza Strip (which is still under a crushing popped up in a place where it had never appeared before. and strict embargo, imposed by Look, even here in USA, Israel after Hamas took power in

when the economy goes south, church attendance skyrockets. This is a fact. This is a social phenomenon that crazies have taken advantage of throughout history and around the globe. So regardless of whom we blame for the appearance of binladenism in Gaza, we could have prevented it, by simply giving starving, miserable people a little food and free trade. This course of action would also have had the further merit of being, well, not cruel and inhumane. But when, instead, we simply turned our backs on the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza, Hamas had to step up. When the Jund Ansar Allah (who want to establish strict Sharia law in Gaza, who accuse Hamas of being too liberal, who have organized and armed hundreds of supporters in southern Gaza, and who, of course, are sympathetic to—and perhaps more directly tied to—al Qaeda) made their power play on that Friday in Rafah, Hamas rose to the occasion. Acting, if you think about it, a lot like the pro-war Republicans of our country, Hamas pounced, surrounding the mosque and initiating a seven-hour gun battle that ended when the group’s leader, Abdul-Latif Moussa, exploded his suicide belt, killing the Hamas police officer who was trying to arrest him. All told, 24 were killed and hundreds were injured, some critically. So I ask…is not the enemy of our enemy our friend? Isn’t our continued support of the embargo and our stubborn refusal to even engage Hamas diplomatically counter-productive to even our own interests, let alone theirs? Are we selling our nation’s soul down the river by being party to the mass starvation and collective punishment of a million and a half of our fellow human beings and, on top of that, not even getting anything out of it? Aren’t we, in fact, getting the very opposite of what we want—the spread of al Qaeda and its anti-American ideology—rather than doing anything to stop it?

t appears, dear readers, that we are in the midst of a worldwide and gradual softening of official attitudes toward the sweet green leaf of many monikers that most folks know as marijuana. The latest domino fell in Argentina, specifically in the halls of its highest court. I am pleased to announce that the Argentine Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish people for personal marijuana use. The case involved five young men who were arrested, each with a “few” joints in his pocket. The Court ruled that “each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state” and reminded us all—and we really ought to pay attention here, my fellow Americans—that “the state cannot establish morality.”

byAbidYahya (which has been pushing Washington for many years to reveal the locations of secret military prisons, many known to be in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to reveal data on the prisoners being held) had finally scored a major victory. According to many news reports, the US military suddenly, and without any public announcement, beginning an apparently new policy of Meanwhile, transparency, handed over a the French bunch of data to the Red Parliament is Cross. So good news, right? in the midst When asked for comment, of hearings on though, the Red Cross whether to ban declined to even confirm that the burqa outit happened. right, whether

amounts of most illegal drugs, France.” including marijuana, cocaine, It’s like reverse scruples. heroin, meth, and LSD. For mari- Oh my, look at her—no cleavage, juana, you can carry up to 5 no peeking-out pubic hair, not grams, almost an eighth and a even a little leg. It’s disgusthalf. ing. It’s like they’re So…Argentina, afraid that they check. Mexico, check. might catch an Bring on the green revoinfection of modesty if they lution. ~AY swim in the same pool ’ve got a few as her. updates on the

apparent French obsession with forcing Muslim women to show some skin.

In Emerainville, France, a Muslim woman who had been regularly swimming at a public pool throughout July was told, one day near the beginning of August, that she couldn’t swim there any longer. The Furthermore, in Mexico, staff’s proba wide-reaching decriminalization lem wasn’t law went into ostensibly with her, but with her swimsuit, which is a full-body swimsuit with a tight-fitting hood made by an Australian company called Ahiida. They call it, cleverly, the “burqini,” and it’s become something of a worldwide phenomenon among Muslim women of the more socially conservative bent. The banished swimmer was told that all public pools in France prohibit swimming while clothed. She was later quoted in Le Parisien as saying, “Quite simply, this is segregation. effect on I will fight to try to change 21 August, basically making it things. And if I see that the battle legal to possess small, personal is lost, I cannot rule out leaving

though. Even then, Red Cross officials have no way of knowing if the prisons and detention centers they have been told about are

all of them. My guess is that there are plenty of prisons out there that we’ll never know about, and that this move by the military, if it even happened, is merely a media play designed to lend Obama’s administration an appearance of openness and proSo either it didn’t hapgressivism, while not really worn in a pool pen, or it did and the Red Cross is revealing any of their crucial or not. (It’s now in on the secret. Either way, secrets. Just a guess, though. already banned in public schools there’s no transparency. At best, What do I know? What do any of and offices.) Looks the circle of secrecy has merely us know? ~AY widened a tiny bit. like the modest Say it did happen,

Muslim women of France better get ready for a creepy collective government-mandated undressing. ~AY

t was all over the news on 23 August that the International Committee of the Red Cross

Casualty Counter total US soldiers killed

812

US soldiers killed in Aug 09

total US soldiers killed

4,336

US soldiers killed in Aug 09

We have not included numbers for civilian casualties because, though there are many studies and sources positing estimates, there is no single, reliable, regularly-updated source of data regarding civilian casualties. Just assume that the number of civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan dwarfs even the number of American soldiers injured, let alone killed, each and every month.

Helplessness & Hopefulness It all comes tumbling down...

by Carlos Fierro

schmuck making $18,000 a year considering himself middleclass. Urban campers have no misperception about their place within this capitalist, consumption happy society we live in. These people know the score, but still seek interaction. These days, more than ever before, I seem to be engaging in conversation with strangers on the streets. There has always been that curt hello, or nod of the head, but now it seems that, at every opportunity, people want to talk, just talk. And more and more, people seem to be, if not willing, at the very least able, to live outside of conventional means. Outside of a restaurant I here is not much to feel “dead pledge” because the deal is sometimes frequent, I noticed a fam2009, “Too many supporters of my dead when it is either paid off, or if good about nowadays. ily (I don’t know that this was a traparty have resisted the idea of you fail to make payment; today’s Most news is rather ditional family, I don’t know if there rewarding excellence in teaching mortgages may feel more like a was any blood or legal relation) with gloomy. You may be thinking “death pledge.”) In the end, these with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the a trailer parked in a big box store that this month’s featured banks received public monies and parking lot. They were sitting neartopic only adds to the gloom; turned around and screwed the pub- classroom.” It looks like the regime by in lawn chairs on a grassy, shady of testing is here to stay and, as pay lic once again. Chase bank received I guess you’d be right. All knoll. Over a period of a couple of becomes based on classroom persome $25billion dollars in bailout too often we read about formance, it will become increasingmoney, and then refused to accept despair, problems, and the ly difficult to attract qualified teachIOUs issued by the State of ers to “low performing,” underfundCalifornia to their customers. loss or lack of control we have over our lives. Certainly Consider the double hit that Chase ed schools. So it is hard to feel much customers received. First, rather the economic depression we more than hopeless and maybe helpthan a paycheck, they get an IOU currently find ourselves in, less. We don’t focus on the despair from the State of California, then among other things, showed and corruption simply to bring you their bank, the same bank that down a notch, but because we feel accepted $25billion in federal us just how little control we that one should have an accurate, bailout, refuses to accept the IOU. have over certain parts of our Many have refused to con- honest perception of the situation lives. tinue with their “death pledge” and, that we find ourselves in. That Life savings and retirement as a result, have found themselves being said, there are reasons to feel funds were completely wiped out. homeless. On top of homelessness, hopeful. Not that our government Numbers of people too great to com- there is the issue of healthcare. will begin acting responsive to we prehend saw the value of their the people, rather than corporate Millions find themselves without homes fall below what they paid for healthcare, and a greater number interests. Nor should we be hopeful them. Our country is fighting wars find themselves with inadequate that corporate America will begin in places most of us have never healthcare. Congress is involved in acting in an ethical and democratic been. Despite the overwhelming a knockdown, dragged out fight over fashion. Neither of these is likely to opposition, we remain entrenched in how to better ensure the profitability happen. However, I have found protracted wars. Our helplessness some hope in a phenomenon called of the insurance industry, and over on this front pales in comparison to how few crumbs they should throw urban camping. Even as the walls the helplessness that the people of are tumbling down around us, there our way. The image of Bush as Iraq and Afghanistan feel. are people, just regular people, Hitler has been replaced by one of Banks that are responsible Obama with a Charlie Chaplin mus- maintaining a continuity and sense for the condition of the economy of community in this most unique tache and the Hitler part down the received 100s of billions dollars to middle of his head. If it weren’t so way. shore up their books, all the while Before you ascribe this to a comical, it would be quite sad. The foreclosing on homeowners who fell so-called healthcare reform is rather false consciousness—and I don’t behind on mortgages. (Interestingly, short on reform and long on deny that there is some of that out the word ‘mortgage’ literally means there—this isn’t the case of the poor rhetoric.

On top of all of this, public education is nearly in its death throes, as Obama promises to push “No Child Left Behind” further than the Bush administration did. Among other things, Obama wants to increase funding for charter schools and reinforce “merit pay for teachers in high performing classrooms.” Obama stated, before the Council of Chief State School Officers on March 10th

months, I saw this family that had cut out this small piece of asphalt as their own. Sometimes I would see the family dog and, on one occasion, a birdcage with a small bird was brought out and placed in the shade. Before I ever got a chance to walk across the street and engage in some conversation, they picked up stakes and moved on, I guess. We shouldn’t take solace in the fact that this family was brought to this point, but there is something rather liberating in their actions. Perhaps their home was taken from them, but they were taking something back. And it’s that taking back or carving out a piece of non-capitalist, non-hyper-consumerist, community oriented space that is cause for hope. Next month, I’ll follow up on local urban camping and on some of the issues raised by this phenomenon.

Americans: Serfs Ruled by Oligarchs

It all comes tumbling down...

by Paul Craig Roberts

In a little time [there will be] no middling sort. We shall have a few, and but a very few Lords, and all the rest beggars. —R.L. Bushman

derivatives and mortgage backed securities. With abundant funds supplied virtually free by the Federal Reserve, banks are paying depositors virtually nothing on their savings. Rapidly you are dividing into two Despite the Federal classes—extreme rich and extreme Reserve’s low interest rate policy, poor. beginning October 1 banks are raising the annual percentage rate —“Brutus” (APR) on credit card purchases and cash advances and on balances that mericans think that have a penalty rate because of late they have “freedom payment. Banks are also raising the and democracy” and late fee. In the midst of the worst that politicians are held economy since the 1930s, heavily accountable by elections. The indebted Americans, who are losing their jobs and their homes, are to be fact of the matter is that the US is ruled by powerful inter- bled into bankruptcy by the very banks that are being subsidized with est groups who control politi- TARP funds and low interest rates. cians with campaign contribuMoreover, it is the American public that is on the hook tions. Our real rulers are an oligarchy of financial and mil- for the TARP money and the low interest rates. As the US governitary/security interests and ment’s budget is 50% or more in the AIPAC, which influences US red, the TARP money has to be borforeign policy for the benefit rowed from abroad or monetized by the Fed. This means more pressure of Israel. on the US dollar’s exchange value Have a look at economic policy. It is being run for the benefit and a rise in import prices and also domestic inflation. of large financial concerns, such as Americans will thus pay Goldman Sachs. for the TARP and low interest rate It was the banks, not the millions of Americans who have lost subsidies to their financial rulers with erosion in the purchasing homes, jobs, health insurance, and pensions, that received $700 billion power of the dollar. What we are in TARP funds. The banks used this experiencing is a massive redistribugift of capital to make more profits. tion of income from the American In the middle of the worst economic public to the financial sector. And this is occurring durdownturn since the Great ing a Democratic administration Depression, Goldman Sachs headed by America’s first black announced record second quarter profits and large six-figure bonuses president, with a Democratic majority in the House and Senate. for every employee. Is there a government anyThe Federal Reserve’s low where that less represents its citizens interest rate policy is another gift to than the US government? Consider the banks. It lowers their cost of America’s wars. As of the moment funds and increases their profits. With the repeal of the Glass-Steagall of writing, the out-of-pocket cost of Act in 1999, banks became high-risk America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is $900,000,000,000. investment houses that trade financial instruments such as interest rate When you add in the already

incurred future costs of veterans benefits, interest on the debt, the forgone use of the resources for productive purposes, and such other costs as computed by Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard University budget expert Linda Bilmes, “our” government has wasted $3,000,000,000,000—three thousand billion dollars—on two wars that have no benefit whatsoever for any American whose income does not derive from the military/security complex, about which five-star general President Eisenhower warned us. It is now a proven fact that the US invasion of Iraq was based on lies and deception of the American public. The only beneficiaries were the armaments industries, Blackwater, Halliburton, military officers who enjoy higher rates of promotion during war, and Muslim extremists whose case the US government proved by its unprovoked aggression against Muslims. No one else benefitted. Iraq was a threat to no one, and finding Saddam Hussein and executing him after a kangaroo trial had no effect whatsoever on ending the war or preventing the start of others. The cost of America’s wars is a huge burden on a bankrupt country, but the cost incurred by veterans might be even higher. Homelessness is a prevalent condition of veterans, as is post-traumatic stress. American soldiers, who naively fought for the munitions industry’s wars, for high compensation for the munitions CEOs, and for dividends and capital gains for the munitions shareholders, paid not only with lives and lost limbs, but also with broken marriages, ruined careers, psychiatric disorders, and prison sentences for failing to make child support payments. What did Americans gain from an unaffordable war in Iraq that lasted far longer than World

War II and that put into power Shi’ites allied with Iran? The answer is obvious: nothing whatsoever. What did the armaments industry gain? Billions of dollars in profits. What about President Obama? “A corporate marketing creation” (http://alturl.com/binr), sums up the distinguished British journalist John Pilger. Obama is the presidential candidate who promised to end the war in Iraq. He hasn’t. But he has escalated the war in Afghanistan, started a new war in Pakistan, intends to repeat the Yugoslav scenario in the Caucasus, and appears determined to start a war in South America. In response to the acceptance by US puppet president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, of seven US military bases in Colombia, Venezuela warned South American countries that the “winds or war are beginning to blow.” Here we have the US government, totally dependent on the generosity of foreigners to finance its red ink, which extends in large quantities as far as the eye can see, completely under the thumb of the military/security complex, which will destroy us all in order to meet Wall Street share price expectations. Why does any American

care who rules Afghanistan? The country has nothing to do with us. Did the armed services committees of the House and Senate calculate the risk of destabilizing a nucleararmed Pakistan when they acquiesced to Obama’s new war there, a war that has already displaced two million Pakistanis? No, of course not. The whores took their orders from the same military/security oligarchy that instructed Obama. The great American superpower and its 300 million people are being driven straight into the ground by the narrow interest of the big banks and the munitions industry. People, and not only Americans, are losing their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers for no other reason than the profits of US armaments corporations, and the gullible American people seem proud of it. Those ribbon decals on their cars, SUVs and monster trucks proclaim their naive loyalty to the armaments industries and to the whores in Washington who promote wars. Will Americans, smashed and destroyed by “their” government’s policy, which always puts Americans last, ever understand who their real enemies are? Will Americans realize that they are not ruled by elected representatives but by an oligarchy that owns the Washington whorehouse? Will Americans ever understand that they are impotent serfs? _______ Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. This fall, CounterPunch/AK Press will publish Robert’s War of the Worlds: How the Economy Was Lost. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com.

YouTube and the End of the World (part 2 of 2) It all comes tumbling down...

(…continued from last month)

efore we get any further, let’s look a bit more into the ‘alignment’ occurring in 2012. A major point that is disputed by scholars is the precession of the equinoxes, and whether or not the Maya built their long count calendar around it. This is a shift of about one degree every 72 years because of the wobble in the earth’s tilt on its axis, which causes us to see the background of stars in the sky shifting ever so slowly over time. A complete precessional cycle lasts approximately 26,000 years. We know ancient Western cultures were aware of precession, as that’s where we get our ideas about astrology and the zodiac. This is “encoded and expressed through the myths of cultures around the world,” according to Graham Hancock, author of “Fingerprints of the Gods.” What Hancock and other authors who give credence to the Mayan calendar say is that 12/21/2012 represented the ‘zero point’ on the 26,000 year clock for the Maya. Astronomers are quick to point out that there is no universally agreed upon ‘zero point’ for the measurement of precession. They’re also quick to point out that there is no universally agreed upon center of the Milky Way, and that, given the variety of possible centers, we could either have been “in perfect alignment” with the galactic center 200 years ago, or might not be for hundreds of years to come.

I’ll let an astronomer explain: “the position of the winter solstice moves 360 degrees in 26,000 years. That means that it moves 360/26000 = 0.01 degrees a

year. Defining an exact boundary for the plane of the Milky Way is tough, but it’s at least 10-20 degrees wide across much of the sky, meaning that the solstice can be described as being “in the plane of the Milky Way” for 700-1400 years! To put it another way, the winter solstice that just past (2005) was only 0.1 degrees away from where it will be in 2012, a distance smaller than the size of the Sun itself (which is about 0.5 degrees in diameter). In any case the Sun crosses the plane of the Galaxy twice every year as we orbit around it, with no ill effect on Earth.” (from “Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer,” a project of Cornell University @ curious.astro.cornell.edu) Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, host of NOVA’s Science Now, and probably the most recognized astrophysicist in America (he’s appeared numerous times on The Daily Show & The Colbert Report), has a great response to questions about ‘Planet X’ and 2012 at a talk he gave at the LA Public Library (available on YouTube, titled “Neil De Grasse Tyson-World to end in 2012-or not”): “Planet ‘Nimbubu’ or whatever they call it…It’s just fiction. They cite sources that cite NASA sources. They don’t cite NASA. Check the websites….What they tell you is that the Sun, the Earth, and the center of the Milky Way galaxy will be in perfect alignment on December 21, 2012. Turns out, if you go to the star charts, it’s true. The center of the galaxy, the sun, and the earth will come into perfect alignment. What [they]...do not tell you is that that happens every year on December 21. They left that out….” Tyson goes on to talk about the 2012 movie coming out soon, which as a promotional tool tells you to “google 2012;” what people come up with is the thousands of doomsday sites &

by Matt Espinoza Watson

videos out there, that, as Tyson says, were “written by people…who…didn’t take enough science in school.” And, while I agree with what Tyson says, I’m not as quick to dismiss the potential alignment. Here’s why: Tyson does not discuss the 26,000 year precession cycle & end of calendar coinciding; but even if he had, it wouldn’t have made a difference in his analysis, because astronomers are not in the business of connecting the alignments of the stars to human activities on earth. That’s the business of astrologers, which opens up a whole other can of worms we won’t get into here…. Suffice it to say that in the world of the ancient Maya, the knowledge of astronomy and astrology were combined, such that the person who knew about the positions of the stars and could predict their movements (astronomy) would also know of the significance of that alignment or movement (astrology). In our world, the two disciplines couldn’t be further apart; and while I’m not arguing for their merger, this is a large part of the disconnect in the scientific community regarding 2012; even if there is an alignment (which is debated), it isn’t of any significance to astronomers. Another reason I’m not so quick to dismiss the idea of 2012 having some significance, is that I have a healthy amount of respect for a culture who could devise a calendar more accurate than the one we use today, chart the movements of planets & stars for millennia into the past or future, come up with the concept of zero, and who seemed to be obsessed with time, mathematics, measurement, cycles and calendar making. In addition, Mayan mythology is some of the most complex and interesting material I’ve ever come across, and I’m not going to start off assuming that we know more than they did, or have a more complete understanding of our universe. Neither am I going to assume they had all the answers to the mys-

teries of the cosmos…. So I’m not saying that the Maya were wrong. Or that anybody out there really knows what the ancient Maya thought about this date. What I’m saying is investigate things you read & watch. Don’t bet on the fact that, just because someone can put together a decent website or piece a video together, they know anything about anything. Most likely they don’t. I guess the most difficult thing is that, in this realm of inquiry, there’s not really an authoritative source to go to. Astronomers will tell you there’s no significance whatsoever, and maybe they’re right. Maybe for this sort of thing we have to go to the mystics, or those who deal with ancient mythology…. The only folks out there who see 2012 as significant and who really make any sense whatsoever are those who’ve dug pretty deeply into Mayan mythology and cosmology, like John Major Jenkins, who sees it as an opportunity for a societal shift in values from a dominance/competition based society to a partnership society. He is interviewed in many of the 2012 documentaries out there, including the History Channel’s. Jenkins, the author of Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, thinks that the calendar ending and beginning again in 2012 is symbolic; it allows us to participate in the death of an old way of relating to ourselves and the world and the beginning of a new age. He emphasizes our responsibility to help bring about this new age; we can choose to close down in fear and stick to our egos, or we can choose to open up in trust and respect for what is possible. So, according to Jenkins, sunrise on the Winter Solstice was always significant, as the sun is seen as being ‘reborn,’ emerging from the longest night of the year. What is significant about the 2012 winter solstice, according to Jenkins, is that the sun, as it rises, will appear to emerge from the ‘galactic womb’, or

the center of the Milky Way. This has tremendous significance in Mayan mythology, as essentially the death and rebirth of our world, but not much meaning outside of that particular realm of study. Jenkins, who I previously wasn’t quite sure about, now seems to be among the most sobering, reasonable voices among those talking about 2012 (though that might just be an indication of all the nonsense out there…). He has done some seriously in-depth study of many ancient Mayan sites, and focused his attention on the relatively overlooked site of Izapa in Southern Mexico, where he says the Long Count calendar was invented. There isn’t space here to go into more depth about his work, but much of his research & writings can be found on his website, alignment2012.com. So here’s the deal: the world’s not ending in 2012. Satellites and communications could get disrupted pretty badly. (As a result of solar storms—see Part 1 of the article at FresnoUndercurrent.net) So don’t sell your house or quit your job or drop out of school just yet, because in all likelihood, you’re still going to have to deal with the consequences of your actions in 2013 and beyond. But if you want to find some deeper significance to the date, you’re going to have to look into Mayan mythology and cosmology, where you won’t find easy answers, and any significant changes are only going to come from you playing a part in them. It’s hard to see an age of enlightenment around the corner with so much death & destruction around…people eating their babies and shooting their families and killing old people for bikes and shit; but I’ll be pleasantly surprised if that’s where we’re headed, and in the meantime, I’m down to work toward that goal regardless of its attainability…. I’ll end with some thoughts

2012 continued next page...

2012 continued...

from Maestro Ricardo Duran, who is probably the most knowledgeable person in the Central Valley on ancient Mesoamerican calendars, and one of the few people whose opinion on this matter I take seriously. He had this to say on the topic: “They [videos, websites] all take the perspective of sensationalizing it and making it into something negative. If you’re waiting for something big to happen December 21, 2012, you’re going to be disappointed. It won’t be what you expect. It will be a day like any other; it will be what you make it. The shit’s already hit the fan, it’s already been happening. It started with the Industrial Revolution, and we’re coming to the end of that age. It’s a matter of seeing it all around us already; in young people who are working toward sustainability, and toward reconnecting with nature. It’s not just about saving the earth, it’s about re-connecting with it and ourselves and becoming whole again….” ______ Another good site out there that debunks some of the doomsday hype and teaches you some astronomy in the meantime is www.universetoday.com; they’ve got several 2012 related articles that are worth checking out. ______ One of the more interesting videos I came across on YouTube (though it can’t be watched in its entirety on that website) is a film put together by the folks at Disinformation, entitled 2012: Science or Superstition. For a film with a title like that, there’s really very little science involved, though I will say it was the most thought-provoking of all the films/videos I watched on the topic.

THE MOONMAN MANIFESTO I It all comes tumbling down...

remember, when I was a young man, back during Obama’s presidency, maybe even Bush’s, there was a political cartoon in the newspaper one day. It was a Non Sequitur—I remember that— by Wiley Miller, which had been in the newspaper since I began reading the paper as a kid. This was when they still printed newspapers every day. This particular cartoon depicted a scruffy character (who had tunneled his way into prison), having just popped up out of his tunnel, commenting, “I hear you get three square meals a day in here, and you don’t even have to pay rent.” Or something along those lines…I don’t remember the exact caption.

the system—he had a job, a car, a credit card, all that—and yet his mind conjured up this unrelenting contradiction of the system. If being free isn’t even desirable...well, I can’t bear to finish the thought. That someone—that anyone—had this idea was a damning condemnation of our whole thing. And the idea itself wasn’t all that crazy once I thought about it. It occurred to me that there were plenty of folks, even then, who might have been willing to make that choice, to choose prison and regular meals over “freedom” and hunger. There are probably people in prison right now who got themselves there on purpose because they were hungry or broke or suicidal or whatever, I thought to myself. But I’d never thought of it until then. It simply hadn’t occurred to me because I was lucky enough to have avoided such desperation. It blew me away. That we’d let our fellow citizens fall so low. So I began to study. At the Anyway, sure, it was funny, time, there were over 2.3 million but also pretty scary, because it sug- people behind bars in the US, about 760 prisoners for every 100,000 US gested that life on the outside—as a residents. An additional 5 million regular, job-having, tax-paying, folks were either on probation or allegedly free citizen—was getting parole. That meant that, for every so bad that prison might be a better 100,000 of us, over 2,400 were being option. That life itself—as we had processed through some level of the come to live it at that time—was a massive law enforcement system at kind of prison, and perhaps a worse one, when compared to a state pen or any given moment. Furthermore, not a county jail. That paying our credit only were the numbers of prisoners card bills and our light bills and our growing in nearly every category cell phone bills and our rent and our each year; the rates at which the numbers were growing were themtaxes and our car payments and all the other myriad fees that require us selves also growing. It was all wildly out of control. Furthermore, it to work these terrible numbing was all pretty much useless. Over automatonic jobs is perhaps even 60% of all prisoners (from terrorists more oppressive than a 6 by 6 cell with bars on the window. At least in and murderers and rapists all the way there I’d have time to do a little read- down to potheads—this was prelegalization—and petty thieves) were ing, get a little rest, I caught myself being re-arrested within three years thinking. of being released. Though I didn’t know it At that time, our population then, that’s where it all started. I was just over 300 million. Almost 7 couldn’t get it out of my head. The billion planet-wide. Of course, that mere existence of this cartoon was, seems like nothing now. to my mind, a very, very bad sign. ___ How could it be that this Wiley Miller, sitting behind his desk one After 1990, the year I was born, the day, was struck with this particular journalistic and artistic impulse, this prison industry was on a tear, housing a million prisoners when I was blinding nugget of social comment and horror? He was, after all, part of born, almost 3 million by 2015, and

then steeply and steadily climbing through the years to nearly 90 million in 2050, nearly 20% of the population at the time. It seems almost absurd. I’ve navigated 66 years of life and, statistically, it’s amazing that I’ve never found myself behind bars. Look, there was 9/11 and 6/17 and the White House bombing. There was, of course, the inevitable wave of Palestinian-style café & nightclub bombings that rocked the US throughout the 20s. By 2040, the entire global airline industry had ground to a halt in the face of a barrage of hijackings and mid-air explosions. Too many to even believe. Seemed like every week for a while, until no one wanted to fly anymore. There was Katrina and Edward and Juliette. There was Columbine and Roosevelt High and Sierra Vista, the nightmare scenario in which a group of suicidal and apparently homicidal junior high students blew up an entire wing of their school in San Dimas, California, killing 113. That was in 2019, I believe. There was Iraq and Afghanistan and Venezuela and the inevitable Palestine, and their massive untold death tolls. And there was, perhaps most importantly of all, the slow death of our economy. Not a sudden collapse as everyone had expected, not a Black Friday sort of event, but a gradual collective going broke, punctuated through the years by a few periods of intense economic plight, as during OPEC’s second embargo, begun when US troops entered the West Bank in 2024. I remember my parents, long ago, talking about the first embargo, during

Jimmy Carter’s presidency, but this was another thing altogether. Thousands were killed as families and neighborhoods and gangs fought over the last of our fuel. Blood for oil. It took weeks for the National Guard to get things under control. So of course the prisons filled up. When the new millennium began, the anti-prison movement was already well under way. Prison construction, even at that time, seemed out of control. How naïve we were. With all the societal chaos of the first half of the twenty first century and the unstoppably growing population, crime rates drastically rose and more and more folks became impoverished and lost their homes. The homeless became so numerous that, in most cities, folks rarely encountered individual panhandlers any longer. There were swarms, veritable hordes of homeless, slowly wandering the desolate streets of urban America, the zombie flicks of my youth brought horribly to life. It was a recipe for mass and rapid incarceration. So the prisons filled up and the overlords of the prison industrial complex just kept building more and more. As the

Manifesto continued next page...

Manifesto continued...

It all comes tumbling down...

branded us with the moniker, the Outbreak. There hadn’t been anyone economy worsened, poverty spread like like us in this country since the an infection. Everything and everyone Weathermen. went broke and, eventually, the only ___ things the government could really afford were the only things that allowed Just last year, though, the hurricane hit. them to keep any kind of control at all: Juliette struck the US in August, basilaw enforcement and prisons. Police cally swallowing everything from Texas forces grew and grew, and those taxes to South Carolina. Some 450,000 lives the government was able to collect lost in the US alone. Almost unbelievwent almost entirely to law enforceable. Millions and millions made ment. homeless. It was such a massive blow, It got so that becoming a cop such an immediate and overwhelming or a CO were basically the only two rescue effort, that the government simoptions for those who wanted a stable ply went broke saving everyone. There job with any kind of security. My was no money left to rebuild. No worst nightmare was coming true. It money to police the streets. No money was getting to the point, if you were an at all. American citizen, you were either a I was in California when the criminal or a cop. No other options, storm hit and, like everywhere that wasreally. n’t directly hit, social order simply Throughout the chaotic and broke down. Refugees from the south draconian landscape of this country in poured in. Rioting, looting, unabashed 2042, there were more prisons than violence of all kinds and degrees. I was there were schools and hospitals com65 years old at the time, alone as all of bined. Far more. us outbreakers were, contacting one ___ another only when absolutely necessary. I took advantage of the chaos and So we did something about it. That slipped across the border into Mexico, year, I got together with a number of where I have laid low ever since. And other activists. We were all veterans of it wasn’t easy at all; the immense borthe anti-prison movement, but we were der wall that the government finally fed up with mere organizing and lobby- completed in the 20s, meant to keep ing. We were a motley, rabble-rousing Mexicans out, was now, with an almost collection of college professors without delicious irony, keeping us in. But I colleges, lawyers without courts, hack- made it across. Good riddance. ers and indy journalists with no web But there was one positive domains, and some who had nothing to thing that came of the storm. When it begin with, permanently unemployed became clear that Juliette was more dreamers like myself. And we were than one of the multi-annual hurricanes, pissed and well-armed and smart. It circa the intensity of Katrina, to which was the kind of thing I dreamed about folks in the south had become, as much as a young man in the early part of the as one can, accustomed, when the wind century. As it turned out, shit had to and rain bore down on everything under get worse before we got serious about the blocked out sun, federal, state, and making it better. local law enforcement agencies, to the Now, I could write an entire extent that they were cooperating with book on what we did, on our trione another by that time, flung open the umphant escapes, on our meticulous prison doors, unable as they were to plans and weapons caches and safemobilize the resources and manpower houses, on the pirate web wormhole we necessary to transfer millions of prisonused for communications, on our tragic ers north, and unable, morally speaking misadventures, on the death of my dear (surprisingly, I might add), to simply friend Toby, on our war with the cops. leave millions of men and women We Weren’t Rappers, But We Made Hip locked in cells under the brunt of what Hop Come True, I think I might call it. was likely to be the mightiest hurricane Simply put, we got organized, to ever strike the mainland US. thousands of us, and we broke into prisSo that was that. The storm ons and gleefully set folks free. It’s the leveled buildings, but it also leveled the most reckless, exciting, and wonderful playing field. We were all criminals, or thing I’ve ever been a part of. And, no one was. unless you haven’t been on the web Turned out, though, that most since the 1900s, you’ve heard of us. of the prisons throughout the south When we began our operation 14 years (sturdily constructed, mostly after 2030 ago, we explicitly decided not to give it when the prison population exploded) a name, but big media eventually withstood the storm, while homes

(cheaply and hastily built as the general population exploded) split apart as if they had been constructed of toothpicks and rubber cement. Ironically enough, prisons were the best place to be as the storm bore down. In the aftermath, though, the worst. As the months passed, stories began going around about prisons that had been abandoned but not emptied, entire megaprisons full of hundreds of thousands of men and women who survived the storm and then slowly starved to death, each locked in their own private cell of despair. Some ate their own flesh as the hunger set in, it was said. Most of the prisons, though, were emptied, and have remained that way for the many months since Juliette’s mighty wind. The federal government—state and local government function has been spotty at best— pulled in on itself after the rescue effort, funding nothing more than the running of DC itself and the secret service, which was once a bunch of guys in black suits all ready to take a bullet for the president, but which has now evolved into a massive paramilitary wing of the executive branch. After Juliette, they took control of abandoned prisons throughout the country, but have otherwise stayed out of the fray, from what I’m seeing on the web. Order is being restored, but not law. And without law, of what use are prisons? The south is littered with megaprisons, gleaming and empty, shut tight, while millions are homeless, starving, killing each other over food or water. ___ It’s taken a lot of very nerdy, very technical work over these last eight months since the storm, but I’ve managed to make contact with many outbreakers in the north, even some in the south, and it’s become clear what must be done. We’ve spent years trying to keep everyone out of jail, my fellow Americans, but now we want in. A cell for every citizen. This is our battle cry. The sprawling prisons scattered across our nation, with their endless, labyrinthine halls, these massive human honeycombs, these are tomorrow’s projects, the tenement houses of our near future. These are our homes, and we shall take them. We shall hang our hats. Prison cell sweet prison cell.

Abacus K. Moonwala 22 April 2056 Mexico City

S: Oh dear. idipos: Pray tell O: And Pericles has me, Socrates. Might you have proposed slightly raising the a good-sized stone that I marginal tax rate on the might procure from you? wealthiest citizens by a few

Socrates: A stone? What for? O: There’s a riot in the Agora. I’m going to check it out. S: In that case, I’ll walk with you. I’m headed that way myself to…. Wait, a riot? Why is there a riot? I thought racism was over now that we have a metic in the Boule. O: It’s not an ethnic thing this time, Socrates. The oracle recently delivered a terrifying omen predicting the end of Athenian civilization as we know it, so the usual social constraints against violence and mayhem have naturally broken down. And if you’re going down, you might as well go down with some good bargains, I say. S: How can this be? How can this be the end of Athenian civilization, when we have the greatest democracy, the finest culture, the wisest sophists…the…do you smell something burning? O: The fields outside the city walls are on fire. The Spartan army has launched a sneak attack against the city at the very moment that our forces are deployed elsewhere. S: Wow. I admit, it looks bad. O: Oh, and there’s a plague ravaging the population.

percentage points. S: We are truly doomed. Well, thank goodness I at least have the consolation of philosophy to get me through this rocky stretch to the end. O: Philosophy, schmilosophy, Socrates. What you need right now is rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. Look, under ordinary circumstances, when society is more or less stable and most people are living in some approximate adherence to societal norms and standards, then things like “reason” and “morality” and “decency” have some applicability. You can go about peddling your little “insights.” But once things start going to pot, well, then you just gotta go with the flow. Enjoy the ride! S: I don’t know… O: Here, let me get you started. Take a rock in this hand, like so. Pull it back, like this. Then fling it. Remember to follow through. S: And what am I aiming for? O: It’s a riot, Socrates. Just throw it at anyone or anything. You’re supposed to be looting the market. Smash and grab. S: You do know that these are open-air stalls, right? And anyway, Oidipos, is it

Dialogue continued next page...

Dialogue continued...

just me, or are we the only ones who seem intent on mayhem? The agora actually appears to be fairly placid and the market is operating normally. O: Each person responds to cataclysm in his or her own personal way, Socrates. I can’t help it if they’re all in denial. S: Even so, I feel that we ought to refrain from employing projectiles until we have at least investigated the nature of our demise O: We could. Or…we could burn it down! S: Indeed. But what I mean is this: some catastrophes are of our own making, and can be avoided, while others descend on us from the gods, and we just have to grab hold of our ankles. O: So true. S: For instance, I have heard tales of an island rich with gold and even richer in philosophy, where the men were handsome and tanned and cut, because they worked out often, and their hair was flowing and blonded by the sun, since they were often lounging nude on the beach. O: Meh… S: And the young women of this island walked around topless near the ocean! O: [yawns] S: And everyone was regularly slathered with suntan oil by throngs of the sexiest MILFs you could imagine. O: Where can I get a brochure?!! S: Sadly, this island sank

It all comes tumbling down...

into the sea after an enormous volcanic eruption. O: Just my luck. Was that back in 2012 BC? I think I once heard that something happened on December 21 down south on that date. S: I’m not sure what you mean by “December.” O: Are you saying that we should prepare for another end-oftimes event such as that one? Shall I get larger rocks? S: Not at all. I’m merely trying to tell you that this island that sank into the sea was a wonderful place until their calendar ran out of years. It was a great place to live, but they hadn’t planned ahead. And then their civilization was violently destroyed. O: The gods can be arbitrary and cruel. S: Oh no, it wasn’t arbitrary. My point is that this is an instance where the people of this island brought it on themselves. O: How so? S: I don’t know. Maybe they failed to encourage same-sex unions, thus angering Zeus. O: Well, that can’t be Athens’ problem, then, Socrates. What do you think we have done wrong? S: Well, our advocacy of same-sex unions may have pleased Zeus, but angered Hephaestos. There’s an angry god for just about everything, you know. It’s all very confusing. But I suspect that it might actually be something even

subtler than that. Have you heard of the serpent-devouring-its-own-tail mechanism? O: I’m sure I haven’t. S: Well, then, I just discovered it. Yeah…I just discovered it. At any rate, it works like this. Suppose someone told you that grain was going to be in short supply this year. What would you do? O: I would smash it. S: I suppose I should have seen that coming. What would be your second impulse, then? O: I’m not sure. Is the serpent tired of eating its own tail and thus now feasting on the grain, putting it in short supply? Should we smash all of the tailless serpents? With rocks? S: For the sake of argument let us say that there are no rocks around for… O: We could use clubs. S: …Or anything else around for smashing. Focus, Oidipos. You’ve been told that there will soon be a massive grain shortage. You and your family might risk starvation. How would you prepare for this coming emergency? O: Could we just stomp on the serpents? S: [sighing] Wouldn’t you immediately seek to hoard as much grain as you could, in hopes that you could outlast the grain shortage? O: Oh. Sure, why not? S: And suppose everyone else did the same, so that most of the grain was bought up by those with the foresight to hoard as much of it as they could. Wouldn’t that, in effect, create a shortage of grain? O: That would certainly be the case. S: And wouldn’t you at some point congratulate yourself for your foresight in hoarding the grain? As if you yourself had played no part in creating the shortage? O: Me? I would never fall prey to some state of affairs that seemed fated but I actually brought on myself. Hey, what are you suggesting, Socrates? That I am responsible for the disasters befalling the city? I’ve never done a single thing to anger the gods. S: You? No. You and the gods are obviously tight. O: Well, my father and I once… S: I mean, you seem to have

missed the point. It’s not an act of the gods at all. It’s that perhaps your panic is the cause of the panic itself. O: … S: Like a snake eating its own tail? O: … S: Hmm. How can I explain this. Can you imagine a circumstance under which a man might be both his own step-son and his own step-father? O: His own cause and effect? You have utterly lost me. And this rock is getting heavy. S: Bad example, perhaps. Well, how about a rumor of a plague which so concerns people that they run to their neighbors to get more information? Would this not help spread any contagion and actually create plague conditions when before there were none? O: Smash! S: Why did you do that? Weren’t you listening? You weren’t even aiming at anything, Oidipos. But you do seem to have hit poor old Laertes squarely between the eyes across the street. O: Riot!! S: You got him good. He seems to be lying motionless. Oh, dear. His friend is coming over here. Act like you don’t know me! Musculos: You, with the rock! What in Hades are you doing? O: Riot!! M: You killed Laertes! O: Sorry. But it’s a riot! Anything goes. Smash!!! Chorus: (in unison) We are taking a break between rehearsals. Did someone say “riot”? M: A riot, you say? How does that work, exactly? O: The Delphic oracle has predicted the end of our glorious civilization. The Golden Age is over, man! And we’re going out in a blaze! As I was explaining to my good friend, Socrates, here… S: Ha, ha. Ha. I really only just met this person. And now that a crowd begins to gather, I think it is time for me to take my leave. M: You’re holding a rock, too, Socrates. Were you planning to “smash it” as well? O: Don’t blame Socrates. The oracle said it. And the oracle is always straightforward and unambiguous about these things. It’s

inevitable. M: I spit at the Fates. Nothing is inevitable, except, perhaps, for the amphora of whoop-ass I am about to open on you. Chorus: A fight! O: Socrates, help! You are well-known for having the ability to talk yourself out of situations such as these. Explain it to him! Tell him about the serpent who is eating the grain! M: What?! Our grain is all gone? S: No, see, it was just a colorful metaphor that… Chorus: The grain is gone! Alas!! O: See. See what I told you. Look at how the people rush about in panic in the street, setting things on fire, just as the oracle predicted. She never gets it wrong. S: Oh, Oidipos, what have you done? Chorus: C’mon! We’re smashing the Parthenon! O: That’s fine. It was about to be foreclosed anyway. S: Like the fabled sunken island civilization of bronzed men, topless nymphs, and hot older women, it seems we, too, are fated to be destroyed by our own hands. Perhaps Ancient Greece shall give way to a modern Greece someday. One only hopes that we will still be known for our wonderful baklava, and not for our buggery. O: Burn, baby, burn! Come on, everybody! Let’s make this a night to remember. Everyone grab a stone. What have you got to lose? S: Musculos, you seem tense. Let me massage your neck, like so. Interesting, isn’t it, how Oidipos’ rumor of catastrophe has actually brought about a catastrophe? I guess it was bound to turn out that way. M: Why that little motherf— _____ 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.

NICO VEGA

far left

GUTTERMOUTH

r i g h t

THE STONE FOXES l

FAY WRAYS • ELMO MARCONI • VICTORY JUMP • BIG BALLS (AC/DC TRIBUTE)

Here’s your chance to have a good time, even in, um, “this economy”: Love, The Captive presents The Dorktown Podcast 4th Anniversary Party. The second best thing about this show is that it’s absolutely FREE! The very best is that some of the Fresno area’s best young talent will take the stage and rock your shorts off. Dorktown T H U J U L 0 2 Podcast, great bands, no cover. A hat 900pm • 21+ • trick if ever there was one.

AUDIE’S OLYMPIC

GUTTERMOUTH • OTHERS TBA

Perennial punk pissants Guttermouth return to Audie’s for this Numbskull promotion. With a deep catalog and song faves like “The Dreaded Sea Lice Have Come,” “Flacidism,” and “Lucky the Donkey,” these guys from Huntington Beach promise not only to curse like angry sailors, but to be a good time on wheels. You can expect a solid regional or national touring act to support the show, along with some representation from Fresno’s deep F R I J U L 1 0 well of killer punk acts.

BOB WAYNE & THE OUTLAW CARNIES • HIGHWAY CITY •

You’d expect a group named Bob Wayne & the Outlaw Carnies to play grunge-y barroom country. You’d be absolutely right. Sometimes the book just begs to be judged by its cover. In the spirit of doing one thing and doing it well, Bob Wayne writes songs that fit the usual old-school country themes, but it’s his ability to perform those songs from the perspective of the stoJ U L 0 9 ryteller with a sense of bitter humor T H U 9 3 0 p m • 2 1 + • that’ll reel you in.

AUDIE’S OLYMPIC

GEOGRAPHER • THE SLEEPOVER DISASTER •

Part of the new Tuesday Indie Night at Audie’s, this show features San Francisco up-and-comers, Geographer, and their gorgeous keyboard-fueled indie pop. At times spacey and at others dancey, Geographer’s music is always engaging. The Sleepover Disaster will support, and you can T U E J U L 1 4 count on a good local opener, per9 3 0 p m • 2 1 + • haps even another –er band.

AUDIE’S OLYMPIC AUDIE’S OLYMPIC 9 3 0 p m

•

21+

•

THREE MILE PILOT •

This is one of only a handful of West Coast dates for Three Mile Pilot and a huge booking at The Partisan. After a number of seminal indie releases throughout the 90s and subsequently falling silent, this San Diego band’s members went on to form successful indie bands Black Heart Procession and Pinback, among others. Three Mile Pilot never officially called it quits, however, and they’ve booked a small tour to prepare for the release of their first S A T J U L 2 5 new studio record in over a decade.

THE PARTISAN 9 3 0 p m

•

21+

•

BLUE SKIES FOR BLACK HEARTS • THE SLEEPOVER DISASTER •

Portland’s amazing Blue Skies for Black Hearts come to Fresno on the heels of a ton of press and great accolades for their most recent release, “Hand Grenades and Serenades.” Following in the footsteps of bands like The Kinks, Teenage Fanclub, and The Replacements (in that band’s subtler moments), these guys have the feelgood indie powerpop jangle down pat. Great SF psych-pop band The Parties, Oakland’s The Bye Bye F R I J U L 3 1 Blackbirds, and the increasingly ubiq930pm • 21+ • uitous The Sleepover Disaster support.

NICO VEGA

Nico Vega is not a person, but a band. A band that has the not-insignificant backing of MySpace records and the full weight of MySpace for promotion. Their live show is a throwback to the big rock shows of the 70s. But for an occasional ballad, this is pure arena rock. Doubts? This show at Audie’s comes the day after a Mid-State Fair gig opening for KISS. This trio of people live their band like a lifestyle, and it seems they’ve gotten the attention W E D J U L 2 9 that that can bring.

AUDIE’S OLYMPIC 9 3 0 p m

•

2 1 +

•

THE STONE FOXES • STRANGE VINE •

San Francisco’s The Stone Foxes return to their Fresno home-base, The Starline, for what will indubitably be another great set of their brand of soulful blues-rock. In light of the dissolution of The Foxes’ go to local support band, The Same Shape, that band’s drummer Ian Blesse picks up the slack with his new group, Strange Vine, and F R I J U L 3 1 happening new locals Style-like 9 3 0 p m • A L L A G E S • Revelators will get things going.

AUDIE’S OLYMPIC T H E S T A R L I N E

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

& Sons Pizza = 2430 S Mooney, Visalia • The Starline = 831 E Fern, Fresno • The Partisan = 432 W Main St, Merced • Tokyo Garden = 1711 Fulton, Fresno • Veni Vidi Vici = 1116 N Fulton, Fresno • Babylon = 1064 N Fulton, Fresno • The Venue = 1148 7th St, Sanger • Chinatown Youth Center = 901 F

TRAVELERS TO Market on the Mall THE GRAVE

by Abid Yahya

here’s a new literary zine on the scene here in Fresno. It’s called Travelers to the Grave, and cofounders Billy Delara and Jennifer Rose are very excited for the future it may bring. “I’ve seen a lot of zines come and go in Fresno, and nothing’s stuck around,” Delara explains. “But I’ve seen them survive in other cities, so I thought I’d give it a shot with a zine that involves Fresno, that gives writers a place to express their personal views.”

Featuring prose and poetry by Thomas Allman and JS, fiction from The Undercurrent’s own Nicholas Nocketback, and the work of a few other local poets, TTTG #3 is a great little zine. TTTG currently comes out sort of monthly (though Delara has hopes to soon turn it into a quarterly literary periodical, “like McSweeney’s”), and the fourth installment is due out shortly. Issues cost $3 each, but I have it on good authority that the good folks at TTTG are more than willing to bargain. Copies of TTTG are available at the Crazy Moon Studios at Van Ness and Floradora in the Tower district, or by contacting Delara at travelerstothegrave@gmail.com. You can also check out www.myspace.com/travelerstothegrave.

by Jessi Hafer

he Fulton Mall Farmers Market (“Market on the Mall”) is held every Wednesday and Friday from 10am until 2pm on the Fulton Mall, at Mariposa. For the rest of this year, the Market on the Mall will feature “Music on the Mall” on the first Wednesday of every month, featuring the music of Fresno guitarist Steve Ono.

You can’t go wrong with a good farmers market featuring locally grown fruits and vegetables. That this one has added to our downtown and introduced a local music focus are added bonuses. Another interesting facet of the “Market on the Mall,” though, is their effort to bring high quality local produce to underserved populations through WIC (Women Infants and Children, the program focused on the nutritional needs of low income families), Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), and Senior FMNP (the parallel program for low income senior citizens). Most recently, the Market on the Mall added the ability to accept EBT (Electronic Benefit Program), something you don’t see at many farmers markets. These programs are being well utilized. Jensen Veng, Market Manager, explained that The Market on the Mall started accepting EBT on August 12, and had $200 in transactions in two days. WIC and Senior FMNP have been accepted since the market opened in May, and over 100 $25 vouchers have been used so far. And since the market has opened, it has generated over $50,000 in sales. “This is great community impact for the farmers market and for downtown Fresno,” Veng said. For more information, visit www.downtownfresno.org/market.htm or marketonthemall.com/.

The Tamejavi Festival is coming!

by Cresencia Cruz Escalona

or those of you who know me and have seen me these past months or have received an email from me, you already know about the Tamejavi Festival. For everyone else, the Tamejavi Festival is coming and it takes place Saturday, September 19, 2009 at the Radio Park and Fresno Art Museum.

The festival is an all-day long event officially starting at 10am with the Blessing Ceremony at Radio Park to kick off the event. The Blessing Ceremony is a sacred ceremony and the public is being asked not to take pictures out of respect. After the ceremony everyone can go picture-taking crazy. If you’re a morning person, the festival starts at 6am with The Peace and Dignity Journey Tamejavi Run. The Peace and Dignity Journey takes place every four years since its start in 1992 and this year it’s a part of the festival. People from all indigenous nations take part in the journey to unite all indige-

nous nations from North, Central, & South America. The journey will start from Saint Agnes Church in Madera and participants will then head to Radio Park for the Blessing Ceremony. After the Blessing Ceremony, which ends at 11am, comes the Opening Ceremony and everything else. Those of you who know of the festival know that there are many things you can do. If you want to watch a movie you can head over to Fresno Art Museum. Now the movies you see at the festival are movies you won’t see anywhere else, and all are produced by the sons and daughters of immigrants who tell the stories of their heritage. You can also check out the Tamejavi Gallery, which showcases the works of artists from the different cultures, as well as Semblance: Notes from the Promised Land, a collection of monologues based on conversations with African Americans, written by Devoya Mayo & Stephen Mayu. If you’re more into delighting your taste buds, you may want to stay at Radio Park and enjoy the different types

of food that will be present at the Cultural Kitchen, but be prepared and take cash. You can introduce your taste buds to the following types of food: Zapotec, Mixtec, Hmong/Southeast Asian, Persian and Armenian, as well as Filipino. If you’re a coffee lover, there’s something for you too. Café Corazon will be there with freshly roasted coffee of different flavors just for you. If you’re worried about not being able to go to the festival because you work during the day, don’t. The festival goes until 8:30pm. Last year I was only able to go after 6pm and, although I missed all the really cool films, I still had the chance to enjoy the end. This year’s festival will end with performances from Sabreena da Witch (Palestinian hip hop), ShadoKat (spoken word), Cheezymousetrap (Hmong songwriter), Maria Bauman & Bennalldra William from the Urban Bush Women (performance ensemble exploring AfricanAmerican cultural traditions), and last but not least, Rupa & The April Fishes (gypsy/Indian/Latin). So please go & enjoy. If you’d like more info please visit tamejavi.org. _____ Cresencia is now a vegetarian who likes to paint, read, write, look at the stars, talk and listen to people. She goes to school at CSUF and will continue to use her mother’s name.

Fresno’s Reel Pride Festival, September 16 – 20

by Stephen Mintz

It is…important to note the importance a festival like Reel Pride provides to our community and the need for everyone gay or straight to come out and support one another during the 2009 Festival by attending the screenings and events. —Festival Director Jon Carroll

a relaxing breath from the hypocrisy and lack of justice permeating both the Central Valley and the world at large. More than just a 5-day party, his September 16 begins the 20th Reel Pride remains at the cutting edge of film year of fearlessness for the Fresno selection and presentation, growing each year as Reel Pride film festival, showing the destination oasis for both filmmakers and films and holding parties with elation filmgoers alike. and celebration, despite any qualms by A tip of the hat for 20 years of success, those in the Central Valley who would but also recognition to the organizers, supporters, prefer queer folk to not ask, never tell, and audience members of perhaps the most and by all means, never ever ever marry. important ‘fun’ event in the Central While Meet in the Middle drew new Valley…beginning with the journalistic scream awareness of some to the conservative of Outrage and finishing with a lifetime filled center of California, Reel Pride has been with love and hope, no matter what anniversary showing important films combating the is being celebrated. inequality of services and social justice _____ for years. Fresno Reel Pride runs from Sept 16-20 at the Tower Theatre and Starline Lounge in Fresno. “Our goal is to provide a broad specSee www.reelpride.com for tickets and schedule trum of LGBT stories that are relevant to our information. world today. These stories, as told by a diverse group of filmmakers, have the capacity to enter- _____ Stephen Mintz is the Program Director for Reel tain, educate, provoke and emotionally engage our audience in a dynamic way from the opening Pride. He can be reached at programming@reelpride.com. night gala through the entire five days,” said Festival Director Jon Carroll. Continuing the ground-breaking tradition of welcoming distant filmmakers and stars to Fresno, Reel Pride will have folk-singing icon Ferron here to meet and greet audiences of the documentary of her return to singing stardom after ten years of self-imposed exile from performing anywhere. The Women’s CentrePiece film, ‘And Then Came Lola,’ a tour de-force romcom will have nearly the entire cast joined by the band Saucy Monky (who provided much of the soundtrack) at a special first-time ever post party to be held at the Starline Lounge. Film has always provided a mirror to society, and for 20 years, Reel Pride volunteers have worked tirelessly to show the latest and best possible in queer film, culled from festivals world-wide and the growing number of filmmaker submissions provided to the screening committee. A daunting task each year requiring yearround preparation, Reel Pride remains a vacation destination for all film lovers and those who need

Street Sweeper Social Club

Street Sweeper Social Club SSSC (2009)

by Abid Yahya

s a longtime Rage Against the Machine fan (I remember listening to their debut on my Walkman as I rode the school bus in seventh grade), I was saddened by their breakup after three amazing LPs, but I took heart in the fact that at least they wouldn’t remain together to inevitably become a disappointment. They put out three fierce albums full of wisdom and vitriol, then got out of the way. Frontman Zack de la Rocha has remained relatively out of the spotlight, but the rest of the guys, and Tom Morello in particular, have not. After teaming with Chris Cornell to form Audioslave (who I am somewhat ambivalent about), Morello has now teamed up with Boots Riley (of the Coup).

As a longtime fan of the Coup (maybe the best live hip hop performers I’ve ever seen), I’ve come to expect brilliance from just about anything put out by frontman Boots Riley, but beyond his lyrical virtuosity, I’ve also developed a keen respect for Boots’ politics, his beliefs, his refusal to shut up, his blatant and frequent calls for revolution, and his presence on the streets at various protests around a number of issues important to him. After running the Coup for more than a decade, Boots has now teamed up with Tom Morello (of Rage). I’m very excited. It’s called the Street Sweeper

Social Club. Though Boots would probably write a book if you asked him to describe their music, Morello had merely this to say in an online interview: “Revolutionary. Party. Jams.” But I’d like to go into a bit more detail. For this album, Morello puts down the acoustic guitar of his folksy alter-ego, The Nightwatchman, and picks up the heavy, wild axe he wielded for Rage so many years ago. You’ll think of Rage when you first hear it, but Boots will take you to a new place. His rhymes (sharp, unabashedly political and in-your-face, and perfectly metered) are spot on over Morello’s angry riffs, but his rhymes bring a new element as well…some serious, nasty funk. This is Boots’ strength, his bread and butter, and it rolls all over Morello’s sonic turf to produce a work of beautiful funky anti-lullabyes, hyper pre-emptive dirges for us to sing as we smash the state. Though I have to admit that there are a few tracks I wouldn’t have included in the final cut, the album is a solid piece of work that reveals its depth the more you listen. It’s easy to get caught up in Morello’s driven, angry guitar riffs without taking note of the myriad subtle and brilliant turns taken by Boots as he spits poetry over all the noise. In “100 Little Curses,” which is somewhat reminiscent of the famous and controversial Coup jam “500 Ways to Kill a CEO,” Boots slings a number of curses at the aristocracy. Here are four of them: “May you tumble and fall / down your grand marble stairway. / May the caviar pate you were eating / block your airway. / May your manservant deliver the Heimlich with honor. / May this make you vomit on your Dolce Gabbana.” And in “Clap for the Killers,” perhaps my favorite on the album, Boots takes aim at the villainy in corporate America, suggesting that here is where the criminals, killers, and gangsters really reside. The second verse begins,

“Well I wrote this for criminals, but they the ones who wrote the laws. / They ain’t on TV gettin arrested all up in their drawers. / They stick their hands up politicians, make em move their jaws….” And these are just two examples. Boots’ lyrics have consistently been among the most clever and thought-provoking of any emcee in the game, and his delivery, all laced with a sly funk and a just-contained rage, is one of a kind. Musically, Boots and Morello have done something great here. And for all my fellow Rage fans sadly reminiscing on an angry youth that has passed us by, it will make you happy that Morello is still plugging away, showing us that there is life after Rage, that the issues that they exposed our generation to so many years ago still carry on, and still need addressing. Just because the band broke up doesn’t mean the revolution’s over. _____ In the course of researching for this review, I came across SSSC’s Twitter site. On the day of the album’s release, 16 June of this year, Tom and Boots’ tweet was this: “Debut album available today! Get your revolutionary jams at http://bit.ly/12tbYb for $3.99 TODAY ONLY!” The link takes you to amazon.com Really? Revolution? Available at Amazon for $3.99? Now I know I just used the word in the final sentence of this review, but I’m for banishing the word ‘revolution’ from use from here on out. It’s over with, all used up.

Inherent Vice Thomas Pynchon Penguin Press (2009)

by Robin Landseadel

Farewell My Lovely

he writing of Thomas Pynchon can be a rough row to hoe, featuring convoluted, paranoid plotting, Byzantine sentence structure, alternation of genres and modes of presentation within a single opus (sometimes even a single page), funny names and multi-layered puns, revisionist history and anachronisms galore. And pizza—plenty of pizza. What most folks who’ve read Pynchon expect is a rough but rewarding time decrypting encoded messages pointing to vast conspiracies both right and left, and being able to pat themselves on the back for being so wickedly erudite as to be able to follow at least

comparatively stable characters and plotline of a more traditional make & model or he said “screw it—it’s time to cash in!” Inherent Vice has sentence structures and vocabulary more akin to Tom Robbins than Henry James, an overall shape more akin to Christopher Buckley than Henry Adams. You’ll knock this one back like chugging down a Corona during a Fresno mid-summer heat-wave. Inherent Vice is cool and refreshing, and funnier and easier to comprehend than anything else Pynchon’s written so far. While many readers of Inherent Vice will some of the multiple, overlap- note the resonances to The Big Lebowski, and some to the Robert ping plotlines found within Altman/Elliott Gould “Long each of his six novels. Those Goodbye”—fewer still recalling who don’t know Pynchon “Nick Danger, Third Eye” and an usually bail out on page 150 even more miniscule slice of that of Gravity’s Rainbow. demographic recalling Bonzo Dog But note this and burn this Band’s “Big Shot”—the key eledeep into your collective forement connecting all these works is brains—Inherent Vice, Thomas Raymond Chandler. If any writing Pynchon’s seventh and funniest of the last 100 years deserves novel, is a beach read. James Wood’s Lit-Crit damningThe grand master of literary with-faint-praise pejorative obfuscation actually did it this “Hysterical Realism,” it’s time—either he made a conscious Chandler’s Noir with Literary decision to express himself via Pretensions. The mid-sixties satiri-

cal creation of the Stoned Detective/Hippie as embodied by Nick Danger is actually an alternate [call it Po-Mo if it makes you feel more comfortable] reading of Raymond Chandler, one that focuses more on the actual words on the page, as opposed to somebody else’s words on the page or dialogue from the movie versions of the books or something somebody picked up from a college course. No-one ever did the Stoned Detective better than Raymond Chandler did in his original, unexpurgated, Hays Officedisapproved, three sheets to the wind in Copenhagen, wasted beyond recognition, ripped-to-the tits originals. It was a target so big, so obvious, so theatrical, so inherently comic it was never a question of if Pynchon would take Raymond Chandler at his word and simply “Do It,” come up with his own tattered casebook full of old time-radio sound effects, his own Pulp Fiction. It was only a question of when? The Firesigns, the Coens and Altman ‘n Gould were all making variations, comments and carom shots off of Chandler’s high-gloss pulp. As does Pynchon. The nominal Dame of these stories, usually a lady who’s doing her best to reinvent herself with a different haircut, clothes,

identity, address—is THE figure at the core of Noir. In Inherent Vice, that “Dame” is Shasta, ex-girlfriend of hazy P.I. and protagonist Doc Sportello—a L.A. beauty queen who wanted to make it big in the movies but settled for less from her rich, married-to-someone-else real-estate-mogul boyfriend, Mickey Wolfman. Wolfman has been kidnapped in the immediate wake of the TateLaBianca Murders, leading to many a nervous mishap among hypersensitive members of the L.A.P.D. and multiple homicides. Naturally, as in Raymond Chandler’s Pulp Fictions, things get really complicated real fast and the rot leads all the way to the top of L.A.’s food chain. The deeper symbolism of Shasta can be spotted by anyone who knows what Pynchon was writing about in Vineland—Hippie Heaven—and all this property management is doing a major number on someone who used to be one fine hippie chick. By the time you’ve zipped through Inherent Vice’s 369 pages, you’ll probably want to start all over again. The author’s name on the cover changes nothing. This is still a beach read. Who’d ‘a thunk it?

Sunny Salais Smith

What got you started in your artistic endeavors? When I was growing up, my mom always encouraged creativity. My brother, my mom, and I used have nights where we would just hang out and draw or paint, or just make things. We had this box filled with pencils, oil pastels, paints, glitter, glue, just so much stuff that we would bring out at night. (This is what we would do instead of watching TV, since my mom had cancelled cable.) I would say that I am very lucky to have a mom, brother, and grandmother that are so supportive.

try to break my habits sometimes and paint something that I normally wouldn’t.

If someone wanted to see more of your work, how would they go about that? I am supposed to have my work displayed at Severance for the upcoming Art Hop, so if someone really wanted to, they could just stop by and have a look. What if someone wanted to give you money for your work, how would one go about that? Contact me via email at sunnybunny1988@hotmail.com.

What projects are you working on or dreaming up for the near future? Lately, I have been interested in learning about the form of the human body, so if someone were to keep track of what I create, they will probably see lots of How long have you been sketches and paintings of human bodies. Tell us about this particular cover image. creating art here in Fresno? he piece shown on the cover Well, I moved to Fresno about two years Please provide a short bio. really is quite old. I was going ago, so I guess you would say two years. I My name is Sunny Salais Smith. I am 20 through an “eye phase.” I used have only had one art show; it was very years old. I was born in Porterville, CA. small and was held at the Starbucks where I My family moved around California, to draw and paint eyes all the time, used to work. and I also lived with my grandma for until I really got tired of doing it. I some years. Then I left the nest and think a lot of artists go through phases Has Fresno or the Fresno art scene had ended up in Fresno, where I currently like that. any influence or effect on your work? attend FCC. I don’t think Fresno has had an influence on what I create. Maybe subconsciously it has and I don’t know it. Although I think the art scene in Fresno is great, I don’t think I have made any conscious decisions based on any influence from Fresno.

“Untitled” by Sunny Salais Smith

How would you describe your style? I would probably describe my style as surrealism. I take a lot of realistic items and place them in an unrealistic setting. That is what I tend to lean towards. I do

“Untitled” by Sunny Salais Smith

I can eat a peach for hours…

hen it comes to fruit, I can relate to the great lovers of the world… Like Casanova, Don Juan De Marco or Wilt Chamberlain, I know what it must have felt like to be pulled from one siren to the next, tugged by a scent, a hidden curve, a gentle give. When it comes to fruit, I am a fickle lover, merely entranced by the flavor of what is before me.

Fig season has just hit, and immediately, I am gorging myself on bright green Kalamatas. Her prickly fuzz scuffing my tongue before I nibble on her dainty seeds. Already, I have forgotten about last week’s lover, the freckled pluot and her blushed interior, aromatic and mild, spiked with a tart, snappy skin. By now, I scoff at the old hack the strawberry, who was my breath of life only a few months back. And alas, my heart will move on to another in a few weeks’ time! My wandering eye is turned to the thought of biting into a perfumed Comice pear over a sink… As Adam Gollner, author of Fruit Hunters noted,

“…the texture of softened butter filled with dripping juices.” And then there is the sneaky little November Satsuma orange, hiding her impeccable flavor beneath a wrinkled citrus dress. I am convinced, after many years of eating fruit, my favorite is always what is at the very peak of ripeness… she always

wins out over the others.

Thank God I live in Fresno, no? This is the ground zero for fruit, with more California beauties than a David Lee Roth video. We are surrounded by not just a plethora of heirloom varietals, but farmers with pas-

Taste continued next page...

Star International Deli

7975 N Cedar Ave (at Nees) (559) 438-9600 Mon – Tues, 10am – 7pm Wed – Sat, 9am – 7pm closed Sundays

by Jessi Hafer

was a huge fan of the falafel at Mone’s International Deli, and I was crushed when they closed. Now Mone’s space is a new establishment with (happily) a familiar face, familiar falafel, and more.

In general, I like both falafel and hummus a lot (this is an understatement), and there are many great, locallyowned delis and restaurants that have great falafel and/or hummus. Really, if you buy hummus at all regularly and you’re buying it from the grocery store, please stop. Go to a local deli and get some good hummus instead. In my opinion, the falafel and hummus at Star International Deli are the best in Fresno. Her hummus has the smoothest texture and the best balance of garbanzo beans, garlic, and tahini. The

falafel also has great texture. Star was the first place I ever tried those pickled turnips (the purple things) with a falafel sandwich, and I’ve been getting them ever since. That’s one of the things I love about this place: if the owner, Juliette, asks if you’d like to try something, unless you have some allergy

or aversion to a particular ingredient, you should try anything she suggests. She’s been right every time so far with me. On my last visit, unfortunately she was out of yalanchi, the grape leaves rolled with rice (again, I think hers are among the best in Fresno). Instead, she asked if I’d like to try a lentil kayma. It was lentils and spices formed into an appetizer-sized bite (or two) rolled in parsley and grilled onions—and it was absolutely amazing. I’d never had anything quite like them, and I can’t wait to go get

more of these. There isn’t a place to sit in the deli yet, but there will be soon. In the meantime, while she makes your food, you can peruse the store’s variety of international items. You’ll see things from Poland, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Armenia… I’ve been especially enamored by her candy selection because of the pretty wrappers, though I haven’t bought any because not all the candy labels don’t say which things have milk and things in them…well, not in English, at least (though Juliette will explain anything in her store you ask her about). Deli-wise, she has dolmas, yalanchi, pilaf (sometimes with veggie broth, sometimes with chicken broth, so vegans should ask), bulgur, hummus, falafel sandwiches, lentil kayma, and cold cut sandwiches with cold cuts from all over the world (if you’re of the cold cut persuasion). It’s really neat seeing so much variety in one shop. Juliette likes how many of her customers feel a sense of nostalgia in being able to get things from their home countries. For the rest of us, she’ll walk us through it. “It’s like everyone’s home,” she said with a smile. As I sipped from my Kvac (a cold, Russian beverage made from grain; it tastes like a sweet, non-alcohol stout beer, and it really grew on me), I had to agree.

Taste continued....

sion for their produce, land, and community. And here’s the irony… often, our best fruit gets shipped to LA or SF to people who are real fanatics. We in the Valley are left with the paltry leftovers or, worse yet, have our fruit shipped from a farm to a distribution center and then to a local grocery store before we get a nibble. This is why I am so excited about a new business in town, RipeNow, our first local fruit delivery service. Owner Jeremy Lane has searched the valley and discovered farmers who are focused on picking fruit at the peak of ripeness. “This fruit is not meant to withstand the rigors of commercial distribution or win some durability prize,” he says. “These are special farmers who compete for titles such as most flavorful, juiciest, best color, and most fragrant. [Our] goal is to support and encourage the heritage of these local farmers and facilitate greater exposure of this delicious fruit right here at home.” The business model is pure: get amazing fruit into homes and offices as an alternative to pretzels and 100 Calorie Packs. Lane describes, “We go to local farms, pick up the ripe fruit, pack it into recyclable wood crates, deliver it to businesses and collect the previous drop off box for re-use. Then it’s back to the farm for more fruit.” Sweet and simple. RipeNow is supporting farmers who produce rare and soul satisfying fruits that keep me swooning, weak-in-the-knees, waiting for that next stolen moment with something so fair. Scratch the idea of that grocery store peach, picked green and sitting around for days on end in cold storage… for that matter, scratch the Saturday morning peach you buy at the farmer’s market with the caveat to “let it ripen on the counter for a few more days”… RipeNow provides fruit picked and delivered at its peak ripeness… the same peaches a farmer would pluck for an afternoon snack. As stone-fruit expert Andy Martin describes, “The search for the perfect peach is elusive. It’s good for a moment, then a few days later it’s gone. It’s hard to grow. Nuances in humidity and temperature over one night can drastically effect quality.” Given these circumstances, it’s a small miracle we ever get fruit. Providing good fruit, that elusive “pleasant resistance” of a peach, borders on heroic. Thanks, Valley farmers. And thanks, RipeNow. RipeNow: www.ripenowonline.com or (559) 318-7473.

Some Films to Catch at Reel Pride Festival 2009 by Stephen Mintz and the Reel Pride Festival commitee

with sass and soul all these years later. Ultimately a film about equal rights, these women were participants from Stonewall to recent events in gay marriage…and cast members will join the two directors of the film on-stage just for Reel o matter which side Pride audience memof the aisle one’s bers. political affiliations Other films at lean (or fall), there isn’t a this year’s Reel Pride person alive who likes to Festival: tolerate hypocrisy when it And Then comes to elected officials’ Came Lola, a fastactions. That is the exact paced, colorful funsubject of the maddening filled lesbian romanticopening night film for comedy in the fragmentFresno Reel Pride, director ed style of Run Lola Kirby Dick’s docu-reveal Run, featuring the temOutrage. In the film, Dick pestuous journey of (This Film Is Not Yet Rated commitment-phobic – the excellent exposé of photographer Lola. the MPAA ratings system) THE BIG GAY acts as investigative jourMUSICAL! is a musinalist, finding politicians cally told story of gay who have legislated against love, lust and heartbreak equal rights for gays and in a new take on lesbians, while secretly gay Genesis with Adam and themselves (yes, Larry Steve. Craig is in this film…but so Ferron: Girl is former Mayor Ed on Road, celebrates Koch!). women’s music icon Ferron, documenting In the Festival’s closing night film, Edie and Thea: Ferron’s 2008 A Very Long Engagement, Edie Vancouver concert where she reunites with met Thea nearly 60 years ago, her band and hits the the love at first sight turning road after a ten-year into a comedic and delightful dance of two souls, shown on a absence. Get Happy, a screen in the form of old home coming-of-age musical movies while the two octogeextravaganza about narians watch and reflect on their hysterical history, sharing Mark Payne, who became a singer, clothjibes and commentary filled

ing designer, and stage performer alongside Bob Hope and Milton Berle, all before puberty. Now one of the most soughtafter makeup artists in Hollywood, a plethora of childhood footage documents Mark’s trek to the top. Fruit Fly, H.P. Mendoza’s directorial debut, is a sparkling musical love letter to San Francisco featuring a girl who loves to hang out with her gay boy buddies, goes to the gay clubs, dances with her boys until the wee hours and sends them off to their tricks with a

kiss on the cheek. But don’t call her a “fag hag”—she’s a “Fruit Fly.” _____ Fresno Reel Pride runs from Sept 16-20 at the Tower Theatre and Starline Lounge in Fresno. See www.reelpride.com for tickets and schedule information. _____ Stephen Mintz is the Program Director for Reel Pride. He can be reached at programming@reelpride.com.

Crunch 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.

ear Nocketback,

I’m in a bit of a pickle at the moment. Okay, so, I’m living with my folks again and seeing this girl. She’s really rad and we’ve been going out for about 3 weeks. The problem is, she thinks it’s my house. I mean, I never told her it wasn’t, so it’s kinda my fault. She really wants to come over and cook me dinner and I believe if that happens I may get lucky for the first time with her. I’m at a total loss. Do I come clean, or is there any way in hell I can pull this off? —Baffled in the Bluffs

Dear BitB, Given the current economic state of the world, this sounds like a common lament for most guys—certainly not for me—but I understand. Here’s the deal: you tell her the truth, you don’t get the golden ticket. You lie, she finds out, you end up without so much as a Wonka Bar wrapper. Listen closely, surprise your folks by telling them you’re getting engaged and invite them to Carmel—this is easily a 4 and a half hour drive round trip. Once they leave, invite her over, bang that out, and flee the scene like you’re OJ in a white Bronco. It’s easier to lie to your folks than to risk not getting some stank on your hang low. —Your pal, Nocketback

Dear Nocketback, My boyfriend has a problem with chewing tobacco. I think it’s abhorrent, but he doesn’t care. He tells me “if I don’t like it, I must not like him,” but that’s not true. I don’t know how else to tell him. It’s super gross and I don’t think I can take it much longer. But I love him. Please help me. —Cowgirl Down

Dear CG, Look, chaw played out during Twain’s time; this is the Pepsi generation. Your first problem, and I’m sure there are many, is hooking up with a cowboy in a city. But you have a couple choices here. 1: pick up a nasty habit of your own, so he doesn’t want to kiss you. I suggest huffing paint, the shinier the better—try Krylon’s metallic silver. Spray it in one of his tube socks and wait to exhale like you’re Angela Bassett. Or, 2: Take his new pack of Skoal and pack it where the sun don’t shine. When he asks where his fresh pack is, swivel your chair and spread your legs like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. He’ll see the goods and either head for the hills, or part your heels. —Your Boy, Nocketbeezy

Terror Bull Games (2009)

he card game Crunch is published by a wonderful game company called TerrorBull Games, a company with a manifesto and a penchant for satire. In Crunch, you and your opponents are CEOs of banks. As described on the publisher’s site, “As the CEO of a global bank, it’s your responsibility to do whatever it takes to ensure a comfortable retirement…”

The winner of the game is not necessarily the bank that lasts the longest (though there are bonuses for the banks that last). Nor is the winner the most responsible or prudent bank, or the bank that is most careful to taking on responsible debt. On the contrary, the bank that wins is the one that has the most money stashed away when the bank itself dissolves (or when there’s only one bank left). To stash money away, you can use “Bonus Time” cards to put money into your bonus pile— and while you’re paying yourself ridiculous sums, you’re probably taking all the government bailouts you can. Shocking. The other way to have money at the end of the game it to embezzle it—you simply take money cards out of your hands when no one is looking and hide it on your person (I recommend

by Jessi Hafer (& Joe Aguayo, as he appears in Jessi’s head) wearing something with a lot of pockets). Embezzling is fun. But if you get caught, you lose your money. Some of the mechanics of the game seem a little confusing at first, but just take it in stride and play the game (this is where I imagine Joe’s voice because I know what he’d say—he’s said it before— even though he couldn’t help write this month). Joe (as imagined in Jessi’s head): I’m always telling you guys that, but you never listen. You’re all always like “Well, what about this?” and “What if this other thing happens?” when I’m trying to explain the directions. Just shut up and listen to the directions and then play the damn game! Everyone else (as imagined in Jessi’s head): Stop being such a cranky dungeon master (if you’ll excuse the D&D reference). But really, Joe’s actually right this time. As you play the game and deal with all the different kinds of cards, and try to read everything all the cards say, it’s easy to run away with the “what ifs.” But just play a round or two and you’ll see how the mechanics of the game work together. I know I spent my first

game embezzling like crazy. About half way through my second game, I started paying more attention to the money cards, which also act as action cards, and looking at what those cards can do. They can’t be both money and action. You have to pick. And there are times where you want to use the action instead. But don’t spend too much time reading (or looking at the artwork on the cards, which is quite fun), or you won’t notice your friends trying to hide their money. Is it funny to play a game where you’re a money grubbing jerk (don’t get me started on Monopoly, which I refuse to play…) TerrorBull games say it very well in their manifesto: “Why should anything be excluded from a game? Are some subjects so hallowed that we can only discuss them in hushed, respectful tones? We don’t believe so. Being ‘hushed’ represses opinion, suppresses discussion, interaction, shouting, anger, laughing. Natural human responses.” (http://www.terrorbullgames.co.uk/)

coming from the words “chill” and “relax,” or the really popular one “staycation”. Staycation is a catchy marriage of “stay” and “vacation”, and is a popular term because it makes a lot of sense—stay home, save money, enjoy what you have. (Actually you hear this word most in radio Feed Me ads wanting you to stay home and save money, yet at the same time aybe you have heard of spend a ton of money on home some of the words recently improvements…yeeeah.) I recently added to the English lanwas forced to take a vacation (I am guage, like “chillax” (which, to be paid by the state…need I say more?) honest, sounds like a really great and I thought a lot about what to do name for some kind of fiber product), with my time…staycation came to

mind…I do need to save money, I do After struggling with those ideas for a enjoy what I have, etc. I contemplat- while, and realizing, of course, that all of ed, discussed, meditated, and came to that is freaking impossible, I came back to

this deep and thoughtful conclusion, “Screw THAT!”

I knew I needed to do things that would take me to other worlds, that would sustain me through what comes my way this year, that would feed me. So, my dear reader, for two weeks, I went, well, kinda crazy. I got the heck outta Dodge and visited relatives, museums, restaurants (from the common to the fabulous), I saw historic sites, navigated my way through unfamiliar cities and even learned how to deal with mass transit (a useful, albeit unexpected activity). I was on a one-woman break-neck mission to see and do everything I could. I actually injured myself by doing too much; it wasn’t at all a relaxing vacation! But I fulfilled life-long dreams of seeing art and doing things I had only imagined. It was so beautiful to see my ideas and desires transform into reality—I felt strong and capable. And then (cue the dark clouds) I got home. Now I have to tell you, this was the first vacation I have taken by myself. I really had no idea what to expect before, during or after, and maybe this is just “me,” but when I got home I had a serious case of what I dubbed “vacation hangover.” Now I am sure my hangover was punctuated by being overly tired and physically injured from my trip, but I got home and I…was…pissed. (A little side note here: I must tell you again that I love my life, my home and my job…I genuinely feel blessed with my admittedly imperfect existence.) I arrived back to my life and was resentful of the familiarity, the heat (which is kind of a given after a while, right?) and the general appearance of everything. I wanted the distractions, the differences, the victuals of my vacation back. I wanted to move, to run away, to have a different life…right NOW!

the idea of “staycation.” What could I do right here at home that would feed me like my vacation had? Here are some of my ideas—tour Fresno like I don’t live here…hit historic sites, museums, etc. Even cheaper, I could just chill and play with my puppy, contemplate the layered colors of my orchids, and yes, get out and play in the garden. (Now, to be frank, at the time I am writing this, these ideas still seem a bit pale compared to my whirlwind vacation, but I am softening to them.) So what I am imploring you to do this month is to nourish yourself. And, yeah, this is a gardening column, so of course I have to encourage you to go and plant and weed and rake…but only if it feeds you. You know what is strange but wonderful is that tiny little things can be feasts…if only we are a little more aware. Sometimes it feels blissful just to let cold water wash over the insides of your wrists on a hot day, or to sit and listen to a random symphony of wind chimes. You should have several mini staycation feasts every day. If I had listened to my own advice, I would maybe not have needed to run around Nor Cal like a lunatic, or been so “hungover” and upset upon coming home…my post-vacation maladies could have been at least somewhat assuaged by more a more balanced perspective and schedule. So wake up, feed yourself and enjoy every succulent minute. Have a freakin’ staycation. _____ Christy Cole is happy to be your staycation travel agent this month. She teaches for FUSD and can be reached at callansmama@hotmail.com.

d—On their album Frizzle Fry, the band Primus had a song called “The Toys Go Winding Down.” It starts out with a banjo-esque sound that rattles along for a bit until that trademark Primus bass drops in. Truly fantastic. It’s a song that has always pulled me in, intrigued me, haunted me with it’s refrain of “as the toys go winding down,” and even saddened me as I dug into the lyrics:

An overaged boy of thirtynine has left the wing today. The first time in his life he’s made that step. Be numbed by the society and plagued by insecurity. He’s entered in a race that must be won. One of the animals has left its cage today in search of better things, so it seems to be. But in this land of polyurethane, things are apt to get a bit hot. As the toys go winding down. C.G. the Mexican is a friend of mine. We used to sit around the house watching Evil Dead. Talking about the way it used to be...we used to pull the stripers out of San Pablo bay. Now the Delta waters go down SoCal. And the stripers start to fade away. It’s pudding time! It’s pudding time! As the toys go winding down. How does this song relate to the idea of it all coming tumbling down, especially in a Fresno context? Well, stick with me a minute longer. Recently I went on a walking tour of the Fulton Mall. Now, I’ve walked the mall hundreds of times, and have even been on a different walking tour of it, but I love to hear the history, and this tour was focusing on the Mall’s art. I knew many of the pieces, was

makers steps in. They attempt to pick up the pieces and they make decisions that will succeed or fail, the results of which will inevitably continue on down the line. And we find ourselves at this crossroads with a mall that has crumbling infrastructure, crumbling facades, and, nevertheless, the sturdy support of the people. Unfortunately, that support is diverse in scope and scale; as diverse as the city itself. Do we tear it all out and revert back to the original? Do we leave it as it is with its current success among a population that the original designers didn’t expect? Do we try to find a happy medium that satisfies astounded that we had a Peter Voulkos most people without watering down the alterations to the point that they that I didn’t know about, and had a good time. But seeing the poor state aren’t successful? Can an idea without a mass of passionate support sucof some of the pieces saddened me. ceed in this context? The clock tower is especially a In times as troubling as poignant piece. Designed as a central these, it’s no surprise that those makshowpiece by Jan de Swart, it has ing the decisions about what is to be since fallen into disrepair. The fiberdone are seeking the input of many glass separates away from the wood people. It serves to dissipate the of the piece. Cracks abound. How potential failure and inevitable blamdid it get this way? Well, it was neging. Share the burden, whether suclected, and allowed to get this way. cessful or not. Regardless, it will This once beautiful thing was allowed always come down to a handful of to be ignored by a city that was in a people to make the official decisions. race of insecurity and views of elsewhere that pulled away from its prop- We can talk and form committees and do research and bounce ideas and er care. And now the clock winds work the numbers but at some point, a down, like the mall that it centers. I final call will come down from those hope that the two of them can be in charge that we are definitely run“wound back up” as we decide what ning with a particular idea. And I is important for a vibrant city. hope that idea works because I’d hate for this debate to be taking place Adam—It’s an interesting thing, the again in 30 years. policy-making of those running Fresno. It’s an interesting thing, the policy-making of those running anything they were elected to run, but we’re talking about Fresno. Fresno is a diverse, big metropolis; an agricultural metropolis that has dreams of being something else. So you have these politicians and policy-makers contending with huge, sprawling diversity. They make decisions and those decisions come tumbling down on us, the citizens. They make choices and those choices come tumbling down through history. Things like the Fulton Mall and the improvement of downtown (that were supposed to be part of a 20 year project in the making that would change the course of history, for the better) ended up being boondoggles that failed in some senses. So the next crop of decision-

2 POEMS

BY MARISSA RAIGOZA

THE ESSENCE OF BROKE

Not even my pennies can afford the copper on their backs. The bank sends hate mail and their ATM refuses to lend the three-hundred I lack. Even the rats have jacked each other for the last piece of cheese in the kitchen.

MY CHE GUEVARA FANTASY

Because I’m too soft, I’d let him touch me roughly. Brush my hair with his bristles, peck me with his chapped lips, even plow into my skin with his teeth to see if his toughness would rub off on me

We wouldn’t make love, we’d fuck; Now my piggy bank was murdered savage and rough for a lousy two quarters, five dimes, 3 nickels like the rocky, muddy, Bolivian terrains and ten pennies. he crossed to anarchy. I’d claw and bite Pobresito. because this too is a revolution He never saw me coming. Now he’s broke too and life está jodida. Afterwards, I might feel warm like love,

consider keeping him for myself. I’d beg him to leave his men, his cause, leave them all for me, but he wouldn‘t.

Hours later, he’d be well beyond the horizon. I’d still lie there, soft and pliable like the rained on earth but perhaps a touch more untamed and from every follicle sprouts his wild sugar cane; tangled and unruly like his uprising. Fresh like soil, these breasts would blossom banana trees, and my thighs would rise up high towards the sun like maize.

THE OLD WOMAN IN MY CLOSET

(PART 1 OF 3)

in my opinion. They become dull, uninteresting, activities probably more for the writer than anyone read poems. That might else. surprise some people, but I have bigger things to I do. Short ones, mostly. deal with. Not for the blank spaces I work hard. I do. I am a busy person. I have women (on around the words, like Eric and off) and I have a solid job. I Packer (though I do find worked very hard to get the job I myself identifying with him have, making money from money. sometimes, on a subterranean Building capital out of capital that level, the level of marrow). I is lifted from what capital might don’t read them simply to be in the future. I am good at this, notice the white space around very good. Someday I hope to move the words. I read them from LA. I’d like to live in New because I want something. I York. But if I meet one more just don’t want to take too waitress looking to be an actress, much time to get whatever it I’m going to shoot myself. I is I’m supposed to get. might shoot myself anyway, but if I do, I sure don’t want it to be over I read them because I want to get to the point, whatever a waitress. I come home everyday it is, to get it, to put it to use, to and I make myself something light incorporate it into the network that to eat before I get busy looking at propels thoughts and actions. I’m investments, horse racing blogs, not ashamed to admit this. I’d say and porn online. I usually make the same thing around anyone. myself a small toasted chicken There is value behind my efficienbreast sandwich with fresh tomacy. toes, sometimes a couple light Plus, anything beyond a slices of basil, sometimes a drizzle page or two ceases to be a poem,

of dark vinegar and Spanish olive oil. I pour myself a good Sauvignon Blanc, though I don’t want to talk about the kinds of wine I drink. I hate when people do that. This particular day, I decided on a mozzarella chicken ciabatta sandwich with sun-dried tomato pesto. I took some tomatoes out of the refrigerator and set them on the counter when I realized the bread was gone. I had taken the bread out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter that morning before I went to work. I don’t like my bread cold, so I remember distinctly having done this. I looked in the cupboards and found it set next to a can of French onion soup. (Yes, I buy canned soups sometimes.) I took it down and set it on the counter, looking at it like it was some kind of untrained alien. I was waiting for the bag to vibrate, or something, to try to lunge toward my face. A roll was missing. I

I’d be budding beautiful rebellions never to be content or the same again.

But maybe he’d leave our collision a little changed too; a bit softer, milder, rose petals flowering from his eyelids and chanting something from the other side of the hill, something about women, chanting like we’re his next revolution. _____ Marissa Raigoza is a high school teacher in the central valley. After completing her undergraduate at Fresno State, she received her MFA from San Diego State. She can be reached at labutterfly_bailona@yahoo.com.

by Nicholas Anthony Valdez

don’t count rolls or anything, but it was a brand new bag when I took it out that morning. I looked around the apartment. I checked the locks on the door and windows. I knelt down to see below my bed. (Secretly, I do this every single night anyway.) I looked in the shower. Nothing. Not only nothing, meaning no one, but nothing was different than how

I had left it. Nothing was missing. Nothing was moved. Nothing was disturbed, except the bread, which was now a crisis. I couldn’t eat. Rather, I was afraid to eat. If the ciabatta was moved, if a roll was gone, if it did not do this on its own, then I couldn’t know what else was handled. And I didn’t know who had done it. For the first time in

Old Woman continued next page...

Old Woman continued... I felt sleepy, and soon I was almost a full year, I called my mother. She didn’t pick up. Then I searched the apartment again, tested the locks, and drove to get Chinese takeout. ___

I was extra vigilant around my apartment for the next few days. Everything seemed to be in order. I was actually beginning to think that whatever it was might have been in my head the whole time. I had been working an awful lot. My mind had been on other things. I had the Sorenson & Gfeller account about to bust wide open, in a good way, and I was planning a business trip to Cozumel in the upcoming weeks to check on an investment. Maybe I did place the bread in the cupboard by accident. And how could I know whether or not I had used a roll the day before and put the bag up there without thinking? I could have been on my cell phone at the time. There were possible scenarios that would point to nothing more than the fact that I needed to be more mindful. By the third day, I was already starting to lighten up about the whole thing. I came home from work and plopped down on the couch. There was a replay of a Breeders’ Cup race at Arlington on TV I wanted to watch. Tesla’s Flat Tire, Talk 2 Me Sweetly, and Captain Swiftmore’s Secret Pain were all in the race. I had a supposed inside tip to put down on Captain Swiftmore, whom I was going to bet to place, to win. I had already read online that Captain had come in fourth, but I wanted to see how it happened. For whatever reason,

asleep. When I woke up, I went to the bathroom to wash my face and saw a long black hair draped across my cheek. I peeled it off and laid it down on the counter. I examined it. There was nothing extraordinary about it, in and of itself. But it wasn’t mine. It was a woman’s. I had not had a woman in my place since I’d moved here. I don’t like the women I date to know where I live. Or it could have been a man’s. The thought troubled me. I picked up the hair between my index finger and thumb and held it to the light. It looked like it was graying at the root. I dropped it into the toilet bowl. That night, I was too awake to sleep. I decided to hide the two video cameras I own around the apartment. I had to get to the bottom of what was happening here or move out immediately. I felt like a stranger in my own home. I felt like a fugitive of some imprisoning plot device. I felt like Eric Packer when he finds out there is a threat against him. I even felt a little like Benno Levin. I sensed that there was a narrative being built around me that I had neither influence nor control over. I put one of the video cameras in the corner of the living room, just behind a small plant that sat next to the television. I placed the other one in my bedroom between the four pillows that I slept with every night. I opened the front door and stood looking at the living room to see if the video camera was visible to

someone entering. Then I went into the bedroom and walked around for the same reason. Both of them were well concealed. Anyone who would linger around the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom would be filmed. I was uneasy the entire next day at work. I went through my daily tasks robotically and made conversation without remembering who I was talking to or about what we’d been talking. I was a wandering piece of matter, moving through space without knowing why or how, urged along by a deeper structure of motivation or sense of ought. Back home, the intruder would be moving too. By then, I was convinced it was a he, and the numbers were on my side. On average, men break and enter far more than women. He was probably an older man with long hair, judging by the gray at the root of the vagrant one I found. He must be on drugs to break into someone’s apartment—eat his food, sleep on his couch. Or maybe he had a key somehow. Was he the previous tenant? Was he kicked out of the place? Why wouldn’t he take anything but some bread and perhaps a nap? I left work in a flurry of movement and vague excuses. The one thing that I didn’t want was to get home too early and find the intruder (in mid-snack) shocked enough to do me harm. I wanted nothing to do with an altercation. All I wanted was to see who it was, how he got in, what he wanted once he was

Spanish and Latin American History and Literature. Valdez returned to The Valley for his MA, studying English Literature at CSU Fresno, only to head back to the California Southland for his Ph.D. at UC Riverside. There, he studied American Literature, Minority Discourse, Film Theory, Cyberculture, and Rhetoric. Valdez has been writing fiction since he was 11 years old. His first story blended elements of The Old Man and the Sea with Mighty Mouse, a pairing that still haunts his imagination. He also writes (TO BE CONTINUED…) poetry and has a vague suspicion _____ that the best thing for a fiction Nicholas Anthony Valdez was born writer is to be a failed poet. He is and raised in Fresno, California now a Lecturer in the Writing and left the beauty of the San Program at UC Merced. Joaquin Valley at 18 years old to pursue a university education at UCLA, where he studied American Literature and Culture. He spent his third year of undergrad abroad in Barcelona, Spain, studying there. From there, I would be able to figure out some way to alter the course of things, to make things entirely too difficult for him to maintain interest, maybe even to let him know in some way or another that I knew he was there. On the slow, tense drive home, I remembered Macavity: The Mystery Cat, “…he’s called The Hidden Paw / … / Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity. / … / …it’s useless to investigate – Macavity’s not there!”