The Heartbeat that Rattles the (fuckin) Jaguar Cage [Part 1]

~~On the Run
Restating (let the lover be, alone) life is a joke—
When there’s war in the streets there’s peace in the alleys:
Batons and Rifles and somewhere secret animal teeth.

II. An Immigrant Text
-wat it do?
              -lost and alone, u?
-doin mathematics, 2+ 2

Screens, ghosts of steam,
I find
Solace in the sighing warmth
Of my sole morning scream.

Tracing ten days blind—
Dried out shells of snails white
Like little infinities on forest floors,
All worlds curled in tight,
Furls of time crusted together among
Calcified and cracking seams of detrite—
A labyrinth that stretched out reads:
       ~~This jaguar’s holy heart below
       Throbs a bitter but loyal symphony:
       A time for art to thaw ice in the cold,
               A time to fight
       And make love among the dark forest’s gold leaves.

Well, love was a lonely joke
Before I met you, grey,
Doling out sentences to the victims,
Never using an ¡ or an !
Then the day after the last day
Smoldering you breathed smoke
Grey rivers from my mouth,
       Wading through hallucinating groves,
       Exhaling coke into dense air.
                    I met you standing under stars

                        |You were unalone on Ellis Island|

- words by Michaël Veremans, image by Joey Magnum

Long Beach Art Works at the Los Angeles Art Walk with the Center for Creative Cultivation!

It’s the last LA Art Walk before Burning Man, but DON’T PANIC! We’ve got everything you need to get in the spirit!

The Center for Creative Cultivation is proud to bring you a twelve hour ART EXTRAVAGANZA from noon to midnight at the gorgeous Pillar Box Studios in Downtown LA, and the best part is, there’s NO COVER!

Bring your chosen weapons of artistic inspiration from 12 noon to 5pm and enjoy some gourmet vegan food, a free yoga class, live figure drawing, and a groovy jam session.

Then, as Art Walk starts swinging, make sure to stop by and check out our amazing lineup of artists and performers! Four live bands, eight DJs, and over twenty five local artists and vendors collaborating for a great cause …don’t forget to wet your whistle at our Donation Bar!

All proceeds will go directly to The Center for Creative Cultivation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing after school art and music education for students of the LAUSD. Learn more about the cause here: http://www.facebook.com/centerforcreativecultivation

.:LINEUP:.

12:00pm: Food & Drink, Mix & Mingle

2:00pm: Yoga Lesson with Julia

3:00-6:00pm: Figure Drawing & Open Jam Session

6:00pm: Live Band – KIAIRE
http://www.facebook.com/kiaire

6:30pm: DJ SALLY
http://www.facebook.com/djsexysally

7:00pm: Live Band – BALEEN
http://www.facebook.com/pa​ges/Baleen/119392634748435

7:30PM: DJ RAYCHILL
http://www.soundcloud.com/​djraychill

8:15pm: DJ – MIXWELL
http://soundcloud.com/mixw​ellhouse

9:00pm: Live Band – MANY OF ODD NATURE
http://manyofoddnature.com​/

9:30pm: DJ SATOKI

10:00pm: Live Band – LADYHEAT
http://www.facebook.com/la​dyheatmusic

10:30pm: DJ BILLEKTRO

11:00pm: DJ JOHNNY JEWEL

11:30PM: DJ – CALYPSO
http://soundcloud.com/caly​pso-dj

11:30pm: DJ – DRIFT THE DEAN

PRIZES, RAFFLES, and SILENT ART AUCTION ALL DAY & NIGHT!

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS:
Robn Parsons, Michael Nemo, Jinx Art, Lily Rodriguez, Lauryn Soorani, Abby Catoera, Dirt Faery, Bubbles & Frown, Yxtabay, Eydie McConnell, Chris Tejada, Michelle Guerrero , Matisse Ibarra, Maximillian Piras, Smart Pencil Designs, Kelly Campanella, Travis Ott-conn, Stephanie Linanati, Lisa Purviance , Marianne Williams, Lauren O’Connell and more!!!

DON’T PANIC! @ Pillar Box Studios
Thursday, August 11th
12PM – 12AM
ALL AGES / NO COVER
931 E. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, 90021

Banish the Oligarchy, Throw Salt on their Bones

When the heat plummeted
And the desert drew cold,
A lion weeded his way
With heaving, sinewy steps
Over the snake paths,
Coiling in the salt and sand.

His mane was well tangled
In progressively retreating halos
And his eyes panned and glinted—
Green-glowing round turtle shells—
That flashed a beautiful blaze,
Reaching to the sinking sun.

Mythologie vom Aussterben Bedroht

„Mama,“ fragt das Kind an der Mutter, „Was war der Eisbär?“ Und davon wusste sie eigentlich nicht viel. Doch, sie hatte gehört etwas als sie ein Kind war. Ein alter Mann, der Eisbären gesehen hatte, bevor die weg waren, bevor die Welt sich verändert hat, bevor Menschen ganz allein waren. Er hat so seine Erinnerungen daran erklärt:

Das weiss ich, das weisse Wesen,
Der Eisbär, er versteht nur Eis
Und er weiss einfach Weiss,
Einfach Weiss, weiches Weiss.
Er darf nicht wählen wo er lebt,
Er ist auch weiss also passt allein Eis.
Und er will es wirklich,
Weil nichts ohne Eis ihm wahr ist,
Im Norden und sonst sind Träume.
Er lebt wo Waffen in Wolken
Aus Nebel und Mist bersten
Und Wale läuten in gedämpften Fragen
Weil wasser streckt weit auf jede Seite aus.
Und er wundert sich über die Wale,
Was sie sind, und wohin sie schwimmen.

Was wünscht der Eisbär, fragt man.
Er wünscht sich Wasser,
In dem er frische Fische
Fangen und fressen würde
Wenn er hungrig ist;
Wo er schwimmen
Und sich waschen würde.

Letter to a Radical Synthese 10/07/10

“Either the struggle is worth a war or it is not”— Mao

The revolution is now. It starts first in our minds and ends in the street of every land. We need to do everything we can to advance revolutionary culture, thought and practice that can reach across all fronteras for liberation.

We know now that we are not yet free. We are hardly allowed to do what we must to secure our free lives—and it’ll cost more than we could ever hope to steal. The political environment we are subject to are patently corrupt and staunchly imperialistic, both domestically and internationally. Because of this, we adapt to survive. We feel hopeless in the face of debt, desolation and the barrel of a gun that we will suppress revolutionary thought and action simply to convince themselves that we are not impotent or lost. But we need to see (and correct the fact) that we are standing against ourselves when we give in to capitalism—check out “Wolves” by Dead Prez for an illuminating parable. It seems like their complete oppressiveness and our own complementary self-destruction go hand in hand—there is murder and ATMs on every street. This is a cycle we can end!

Our battles are cut out for us—we are establishing a revolutionary culture with accompanying underground infrastructure. Once we have regained our mental and physical health, then we will begin to see justice and peace at home and abroad. We are seeing that we can fight for freedom and win.

But we do not want to fight our oppressed siblings, we want to fight the system that oppresses them (and all systems that become non-consensual; that means staying critical). We do not have to convince the so-called masses, only remove their collars—they will know freedom when they really taste it. Be a positive example to our peers and a beacon to the those struggling in this darkness—the downtrodden and those who have convinced themselves that we are comfortable. We must be a scourge to authority—overthrow the blinders and snap the reins!

Compañeras, compañeros, the time to initiate change is now! It won’t be easy and freedom won’t come fast—that is why fundamental societal change is the only thing in this use-once-then-throw-away world that is worth while. Let the revolution be our one truth, a renewable source of energy that fuels the fire in our voice and fist.

Three Part Mandatory Letter to the Dean of Judicial Affairs

Three Part Mandatory Letter to the Dean of Judicial Affairs
(Please Don’t Take My Financial Aid Away)

Reflective essay
I come from a poor family. Two generations ago (and even during my lifetime) my family was picking cotton and herding sheep. My father was the first member of his family to go to college and he only got the opportunity by joining the military. My mom was the second person in her family to attend college and left university after 3 years because she could no longer afford it, despite the fact that she was working two jobs. My parents have invested a lot of their time and energy in making sure that my brother and I have the opportunities they didn’t have to receive a decent education without being harried by poverty.

Despite the concern of my parents, I have paid for the vast majority of my education by working, applying for scholarships, and accepting large student loans. This, by democratic standards, is absolutely unethical. That education is available only to those who can pay has never sat with me right, nor my family who work extensively in the education system at all levels private, public, and professional. As my student loans increase with the cost of school, my family members are losing their job security and in the case of my grandmother, losing their jobs altogether.

Needless to say, when an opportunity appeared for me to make my voice heard on the issue I took it. Unfortunately, it seems like despite all of the pretense to democracy we encounter in America, the powers that be continue to resist change from the bottom up, to our detriment and to the detriment of this country (indeed, this world).

2011 Animal Liberation Forum Rallies Movement for Direct Action

April 14th to the 17th Cease Animal Torture (CAT, ceaseanimaltorture.org) hosted the 2011 Animal Liberation Forum at Cal State Long Beach. Over 250 activists and 3 dogs came from as far as England to see presenters speak on a broad range of topics from dietary history to law enforcement to the increasing need for a fighting movement. It is the only animal rights conference that openly advocates all forms of direct action for animals and veganism.

CAT has been organizing the free forum since 2008 as a place for long time and new organizers and activists to share skills, analyze police tactics and refocus their goals. Allan Yaxon, queer brown vegan activist and this years organizer of the forum noted the surge in activism after the 2010 forum. Summing up his hopes for this year’s event, he said, “I hope people take the theory they learned here and put it into practice. The fight for animal rights isn’t just in lectures, it’s in the streets.”