269 Scam

So the vegan world is in a flurry of excitement as 269 is tattooed on many a person to celebrate...Celebrate what exactly? A few people in Israel got branded in public and made a spectacle of themselves and a martyr of an ear tagged animal #269, but not a single animal was rescued in their escapades. What about actually rescuing an animal or better yet, since you are in Israel, stand up against your countries terrible abuses towards Palestinians and the destruction of homes and land which not only affects the humans but all life in and around the areas of destruction and chaos. Don't just make failing attempts at theatrics, make statements with the safety and liberation of those less fortunate than yourself. For those getting the tattoos to symbolize an animal who suffered a terrible death, think about who you are supporting in a tattoo shop. Yeah maybe they used vegan ink, but what about the art supplies, the paper, the soaps, the ointments, what about the artist's appetite that took your money down the street to buy a hamburger. Support real vegans in real vegan tattoo shops. Don't support those who use vegan inks just to acquire a few more clients.

Straight Outta North Carolina

Life changes every day

Two years ago this day I watched 3 friends cornered into the elevator room of our squat and dragged out onto the streets and deported back to Mexico. Since, one has made it back to NYC.
One year ago this day I was in a place that I always wanted to travel, today I wish I never knew of the place.
Things are changing some for better and some for worse. We must pay attention to our actions and our concerns and put our own lives back in order while helping others do the same for themselves. We are not alone in this world and we should never think such.
Humanity puts more demands on the natural world than any other force on this planet. If we are to choose living over dying we must change our lifestyles without hesitation and realize we are all connected, like it or not, your neighbor, the homeless, the animals the trees are all our conjoined twin. Chang and Eng till death.
All of humanity is the 1% and if you want the 1% to change then change yourself.
Happy days of outrageous mass murder and excessive waste.

We Can Do This

Too often we turn to history for the basis of our current revolution. History is only going to bring us back around to where we are today. We must look to the new revolutions of today that are WORKING, and continue their lead.

Pelican Bay

Just over a year ago I took part in a mass hunger strike for basic rights within the prison system. The hunger strike began within the Pelican Bay SHU and quickly spread to many other prisons and outsiders in unity for the basic rights of those in prison.
These actions were not to create debate as to the innocence or guilt of those in prison but to express that they have rights and those rights must be upheld for the sake of humanity. To be a human and not within the social or rather legal norm does not change the fact that these are human beings who must be treated with compassion.
If torture were the purpose of the american judicial system then the prisons must no longer be called Department of rehabilitation and Corrections.

Today Was a Good Day!

Tonight my favorite band of all time is playing just a few miles from my apartment, but I'm not there. $20 for a show, VIP passes, age restrictions, bag and body searches, the list of reasons for me to not be there go on and on. The meaning to the music is very much in me, I live my feelings everyday and I don't need to pay to reconfirm them. I used to travel literally thousands of miles to see bands that shared my convictions, but those bands are too few and my convictions are mine with out the need for community.
 We have become scarce in this world of justifying flying to far away countries to help others when help is needed not only at home, but in ourselves. Our efforts can go so much further if we look to our own abilities and make the best of them for others and not to promote our opinions to a community that already agrees.
Today my $20 is going to feed a friend who is out of work, in the cold, and hungry. My $20 is better spent sharing, rather than going to a show. The words are in my heart and in my actions, that makes them more powerful than any show or band. I love you Into Another. I miss the good old days, but more powerful than that omission is the feeling I get when putting our words and feelings into motion.

Greg LeMond The last Great American Cyclist!

Teammates ratted on 'dope' Lance Armstrong: authorities By BILL SANDERSON Last Updated: 5:19 AM, October 11, 2012 Posted: 12:46 AM, October 11, 2012 Lance Armstrong’s heroic cycling career — which included a record seven Tour de France wins — was a monstrous lie, US anti-doping authorities said yesterday. They released a devastating 164-page chronicle of Armstrong’s doping between 1998 and 2005, backed by thousands of pages of documents and testimony from 11 teammates. “The US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen,” US Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart said. Armstrong was deeply involved in organizing the doping, and made clear to his teammates that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t go along, the USADA report says. AFP/Getty Images Lance Armstrong “He was not just a part of the doping culture . . . He enforced and re-enforced it,” the report says. Even Armstrong’s most loyal lieutenant, Queens native George Hincapie, ratted him out to anti-doping probers. Hincapie admitted he began doping early in his career, and said Armstrong gave him drugs. “It was not possible to compete at the highest level without them,” he said in a statement yesterday. US Postal rider David Zabriskie had vowed never to dope because drugs destroyed his father’s life. But driven to tears in 2003 by pressure from team bosses, Zabriskie caved. “I felt cornered. I had pursued cycling to escape a home life torn apart by drugs,” Zabriskie told USADA investigators. The doping methods included blood transfusions and the drug EPO, which enhance performance by increasing red-blood-cell counts. Armstrong’s lawyer called the report a “one-sided hatchet job.” But Armstrong decided not to challenge the agency’s decision in August to strip him of his Tour de France titles and the rest of his pro cycling record. He could still appeal to the International Cycling Union, which has feuded with US officials over jurisdiction in his case.

Watch and Learn

Two Days In October