Where are the moderate Muslims? Everywhere

Blogger is acting totally wigged today, so I can't format anything. All the HTML editing buttons are gone today and I don't know why.

Anyway, interesting letter in today's Miami Herald Editorial:

Where are the moderate Muslims? Everywhere

Re Cal Thomas' Sept. 23 Other Views column, Where are the moderate Muslims?: The simple answer is: They are everywhere.

Many of us are Americans, study in American institutions and go on to work and pay American dollars to our tax system. Like everyone else, we eventually find our better half, have chubby babies, go to zoos, get season tickets to the Miami Dolphins, go on our childrens' field trips and fix the leaks in our roofs.

With all the growing pains in the life that we lead as normal Americans, every day we turn our face to Mecca to pray to what our Christian brothers call God, our Jewish sisters call Yahweh and whom we call Allah.

I am a small-business owner. I am not the only woman who works in my Muslim community. Many are engineers, pediatricians, teachers, research analysts and attorneys. Some are PTO volunteers.

America's Muslims have time and again issued statements denouncing 9/11 and the gruesome killing of innocent Americans. We have denounced the London bombings, the arrests of Americans in Iraq and the Iranian holocaust-cartoon contest. The list goes on and on.

Muslims also ran a full-page ad in several newspapers distancing us from the fringe ideology of the few. In addition, we ran an Internet campaign, ''Not in the name of Islam,'' in which we denounced all acts of terror on innocent civilians. To date it has been signed by more than 700,000 people -- mostly Muslims.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (www.cair.com) has called on Muslims to help repair Palestinian churches damaged following Pope Benedict XVI's remarks, which were perceived as critical of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

Our actions rarely make it into print. When they do, the coverage is relegated to some corner of the paper or a brief spot on a local TV channel. On the other hand, when someone from some other country issues a controversial statement, it rates headlines and becomes a topic of discussion by all TV hosts.

After last year's hurricanes, Muslims formed a task force and pledged $10 million. At the local level, we had truckloads of food, medicine and clothing sent to New Orleans from South Florida. Are we passionate about America? Of course.

-- MEHER SULTANA, Fort Lauderdale

All I can say is THANK YOU MEHER. I checked out some of the organizations she is talking about, and yes, they are doing exactly as she is saying. Now if the media could step up to the plate a bit and represent more moderate rational minds of all belief or lack therof, it would be a significant step.

http://www.cair-florida.org/

http://www.cair.com/

We have enough kneejerk overreactions triggered by the extremist minority in this world, and what a mess it is. I've been guilty of them myself. As an atheist, I am highly critical of all religion, but props go to anyone who is willing to extend their hand beyond the boundary of their belief and idealogy to help others and to conquer extremism.

Sick of it All

Matt and I went to see Sick of it All at Revolution in Ft. Lauderdale on 9.22.06. This was their 20th Anniversary Tour since they have been together as a band for 20 years. Matt has been a huge fan for most of those years since he was a kid going to Boston area hardcore shows back in the 80's and remembers them selling cd's out of a van. I am a recent fan since I didn't much get into the hardcore scene then, unless you count Bad Brains and Minor Threat. But SOIA have to be one of my all time favorite bands today, along with Bad Religion. I love their sound and strongly identify with their lyrics. (The song of my life!)

There are a good amount of photos here with lots of blank space between because I can't seem to format pics and text right. Please bear with me cuz' Matt did take some kickass shots. Just scroll away!

Founding brothers Lou Koller on vocals, Pete Koller on guitar. Pete looks like something out of a Frank Miller comic in this shot.

























Rich Cipriano on bass.



















Pete Koller.




















Front row fans. Matt was able to get almost everywhere, this time it was behind the hated security fence. When you carry a professional camera, people just assume you have all-access.

The big guy here with the beard was a happy giant drunk careening all over the pit and hugging people he had just plowed over. The security guy almost threw him out but he hugged him too and all was well.




Lou Koller. Not bad for an old git. Wait a minute....Matt and I are old gits!
































Pete Koller. Another hottie. These guys really look great...lean and mean.

























Drummer's name is Armand Majidi. It's not the easiest thing in the world to get good shots of the drummer.

This was actually a pretty good pit going on in front of the stage. Helps that there were lots of old fans. Matt was itching to go but his back was injured and he was toting a $1500 camera around.










The next 3 shots is something SOIA do for their song Us vs. Them. (video) The pit is split into two teams facing each other ready to come together in a sprawling and kicking melee. See happy hugging bearded drunk giant in there?? He's going to hug some poor emo kid to death.


Ready..........



















Set.....................

(the guy in the scally cap is a Masshole, heh-heh)
























GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(video from YouTube of another show)









Lou and Rich. A touching ballad. NOT!















See Pete grrr. Grrrrr-grrr, says Pete.

(this is such a cool shot!!)
























Did you know they won't let you into a hardcore show unless you have a black t-shirt on? Union rules.

This is some old lady who thinks she's all that and a baseball bat. Someone actually called me "Ma'am" at the show. Do I fucking look like a Ma'am to you?????????


That's it! After the show we hit a bar next door (I keep forgetting the name!) where an amazing band was playing blues and rockabilly. The inked and studded crowd outside from the show and the rollicking theme song from Ren and Stimpy lured us in like the moths to a flame. Now I'm back on the wagon and no drinking until Halloween!

I LOVE SOIA. Here's a little SOIA prayer:
SOIA Akbar. To thee I proudly cry. When SOIA Akbar strikes Thy ear, Oh! To our reply. Sorry, muslims. Please don't burn my camels.



Videos worth checking out:
Relentless (courtesy of our fellow south shore rejects at BlankTV)
The District
Step Down (we saw a lot of change-picker-uppers at this show...)
Just Look Around
Early SOIA


All photos property of Matt Ludlow of Mr. Matt Photography. Contact him for more info or permission to use.

Vampire Ball

Not much to write for this post, just some crazy photos of last night's adventure.

Went over to Sue's house for dinner and b-day cake, a scrumptious meal! Then went to my her favorite club, The Morgue, where she was to paint. This is becoming a bit of a trend here...artists painting and drawing at dance clubs as entertainment.

This photo is Sue in the purple bra top and gypsy headscarf, with her painting to the left. The big drag queen in a fly costume was mincing around with a microphone and camera crew for some Spanish language show.


Sue doing her thing.


















I didn't get too many photos. My allergies kicked in for part of the night, forcing me outside, when I finally got some medication working I was back inside doing charcoal drawings.

This is a bed of nymphs and satyrs with same camera crew.







Burlesque girl and some guy in a great monster costume. The Morgue, as name would have it, is a goth club, which Sue is very much into. I, not so much!

It was a fun night. But I'm tired right now. My allergies are really kicking my ass.

Happy Birthday To Me

I'm 37 today. Holy shit.

I used to get carded for booze until my early 30's. Sometimes I still do, especially if I wear a ballcap and no makeup. I have muscles and wear a size 6. I'm painting all the time now, something I wasn't always able to do, creating the best work I have in years. I have real love in my life...Matt is absolutely wonderful and we have a happy home. I am closer to my family now, even more so than when I was still living in MA. I have wonderful friends who care about me and who'd help me out in a second.

It ain't perfect...the money situation is scary, we are always living on the edge. But I like edges. If it weren't for taking risks and making mistakes maybe I'd have a more sedate and predictable life, but I doubt it would be as authentic. I never would have left home to see most of my country. Never would have met all the cool people I met. Never would have found my artistic vision and the drive to fulfill it. Never would have found Matt, again. Never would have brushed off so many negative people and influences in my life that held me back for years, to find positive people and influences instead.

Getting older never really scared me. Most women abhor the idea of reaching 30, but I loved it. It was as if I earned something worthy. Now, with 40 staring me down, I feel a little fear, but not too much. I have big plans. Not too sure if they will all pan out, but that's no reason not to pursue them. What's next? Well, I know for one thing, I will keep painting. Matt and I are talking about living abroad for a year, maybe more. Motorcycling Europe? Learning to paint fresco in Italy? Sure, why not? Even if we don't make it right away, we still have plenty to do right here.

Not to get all existential on your ass, but as I said before I'll say it again....life is to be enjoyed right here, right now. No one really knows what the afterlife holds or whether there even is one. So get busy, people.

It's exciting, this life.

Lonely Messiah

My anger has turned to sadness,
I don't understand this madness.

Warning: I'm in a pensive mood. Matt just left for a week on work and I just finished reading the newspaper. I don't know why I bother reading the damnable thing in the morning, it ruins my whole day. But if I read it at night, I'd have nightmares.

Quote of the millenium:
"The human psyche has two great sicknesses: the urge to carry vendetta across generations, and the tendency to fasten group labels on people rather than see them as individuals. Abrahamic religion gives strong sanction to both--and mixes explosively with both. Only the willfully blind could fail to implicate the divisive force of religion in most, if not all, of the violent enmities in the world today. Without a doubt it is the prime aggravator of the Middle East. Those of us who have for years politely concealed our contempt for the dangerous collective delusion of religion need to stand up and speak out. Things are different now."--Richard Dawkins
Quote obtained by the excellent book The End of Faith by Sam Harris.

Whatever it is that we claim is peaceful about our Abrahamic religions, particularly Islam and Christianity, is either long forgotten or never was there to begin with. I've been told that to know God is to know peace. I thought I knew him once, I thought I saw his face. I still do at times when I see strangers help each other or when I feel real wonder of this world and all creation. I think God, should he exist, wanted this for us. If we truly felt this way, we wouldn't kill and hate each other so much.

I, of course, don't believe in God anymore. That doesn't remove my (niave) hope in mankind. If anything, it bolsters it, because I believe now more than ever that we're here to create a life that is remarkable while we are still here to enjoy it. We're here to celebrate, accomplish, and to care about each other and our planet. Old vendettas and the persecution of fellow men and women because of tribal differences must be abandoned if we are to survive without needless violence and bloodshed. We've moved from rocks to nukes. If we keep going how we're going, we'll be back to using rocks soon enough.

Compassion is not the province of the devout. As we can plainly see, many of them don't know the first thing about it.

I'm not against religion so much if it helps people, and it arguably does. The myth of the angry atheist who spitefully denies everything the pious claim is inaccurate and misleading. I'm no dogmatist. I try to keep an open mind. But where I don't see evidence, I'm not about to go filling in the gaps with myths. And, unless you want to deny me my humanity or otherwise hurt me, I do not want to hurt you because you don't believe what I do. If anything, I will help you. We are all here together.

I wouldn't have such a low opinion of religion if the people who practised it wouldn't use it as a reason to become flaming assholes to one another. "You will know them by the fruits of their labor". How true. Read the newspaper, and you will see how rotten this fruit has become. I know there are geniune souls out there who are faithful and actively compassionate, but they aren't the ones running the show right now.

If there is a messiah, he's crying in his beer. There's almost nothing left to save.
(ink illustration above by me)

Kissing Sailor Turns Hero

MiamiHerald.com | 09/17/2006 | 'Kissing sailor' sinks home invader

Everyone knows this famous Life magazine photo. It's probably one of the most loved and reproduced images of American history.

The sailor is Carl Muscarello (known to friends as Moose), now an 80 year old man living in Plantation, FL, just a few miles from me. He is also a badass. You go, Carl!

Here is the story reproduced from the Miami Herald today below, along with a photo of Carl and nurse Edith Shain reenacting their famous kiss in front of their statue:

Burglars were thwarted by Carl Muscarello, better known as the sailor who kissed a uniformed nurse in Times Square in a famous Life magazine photograph.

BY TRENTON DANIEL AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH

tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com

Two would-be burglars proved no match for 80-year-old Carl Muscarello when they calmly walked into his Plantation home.

Muscarello said he and his wife had just returned from a memorial service Tuesday morning and left his garage door open, planning to change and quickly go out again for a game of golf.

Minutes later, one of the burglars turned Muscarello's own golf club on his family.

These guys picked on the wrong family.

Muscarello, a retired New York City police detective, is perhaps best known as the tall, dark-haired sailor who's credited with kissing a white-uniformed nurse in New York's Times Square in an August 1945 photograph. The kiss, photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt for Life magazine, was Muscarello's way of celebrating Japan's World War II surrender.

Sixty-one years later, Muscarello's adrenaline was again racing -- this time because his family was in danger.

''My wife was in the kitchen,'' said Muscarello, 80. ``I heard a scream. She came running to the bedroom. Shelly said someone was in the house.''

Muscarello saw a stranger swinging a golf club at his 36-year-old stepson Rob, a member of the Indiana Army National Guard, who was home visiting. Shelly Muscarello ran to a neighbor's house to dial 911.

One of the intruders took off through the front door. Muscarello went after the other one.

A CHOKEHOLD

''I jumped on this man's back and put a chokehold on him. I was surprised I could do it,'' said Muscarello, who wrestled with the man.

They crashed through a kitchen window in the home. The burglar tried to pick up a piece of broken glass to slice Muscarello with it, he said.

''I had him pinned down to the concrete by the pool floor when the police got here,'' Muscarello said. 'He said, `Let me go -- I'll give you plenty of money.' ''

Muscarello didn't.

Officers came and arrested the intruder. Police couldn't be reached late Saturday for details on the case.

Days later, the Muscarellos were still rattled.

''I'm probably never going to get past this,'' Shelly Muscarello, 67, said Saturday.

Of course, Carl Muscarello -- known as ''Moose'' to his friends -- seems to have lived a life of fortuitous circumstances.

In his den filled with keepsakes, he has a clipped newspaper photograph of himself providing security to John F. Kennedy in New York -- days before, he said, the president was assassinated in Dallas in 1963.

`A STRANGE PLACE'

Also on the wall, Muscarello has several photographs of the famous Times Square kiss -- of which he's done many reenactments, including one a year ago for the 60th anniversary of V-J Day.

He and Edith Shain, believed to be the smooched nurse, reunited in Times Square for a mock kiss.

''I often happen to be at a strange place at a strange time,'' Muscarello said.

New Tattoos

Matt and I received some new ink about 2 weeks ago from Scott White from Altered State Tattoo in Lake Worth, FL. For some insane carnival art check out Altered State's owner, Pooch. (wicked cool website!)

Here's mine, on my left calf. The split picture shows how it wraps around. It's Wendy, Goldie's twin sister from the "Hard Goodbye" yarn of the Sin City series from Frank Miller. I'm a fan of his stark black and white artwork for this series, and I loved the movie they made from it.

I also have this thing for chicks with guns!





This is Matt's new ink on his right calf. This is La Catrina, an icon made famous by Mexican artist Jose Posada. She's used a lot in the Mexican holiday Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. For Day of the Dead, Mexicans honor the lives of their passed on relatives and friends. The holiday is marked by colorful folk art depictions of sugar skulls and las calaveras (skeletons).

This particular Catrina is actually a nod to Hurricane Katrina. She's wearing Mardi Gras beads and a hurricane symbol earring. Matt used to live in New Orleans for a couple of years. I designed this piece and Scott represented it exactly.

The cactus was Scott's invention to cover up an old panther tattoo Matt got in Rhode Island when he was younger.

Save the Internet : Fighting for Internet Freedom

Save the Internet : Fighting for Internet Freedom

Politics makes strange bedfellows.

MoveOn.org joins with The Christian Coalition....yep, I wrote that right...to soon place a full page ad in the New York Times to fight for internet neutrality. Why? Because internet providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T want to get Daddy Govt. to eliminate it. Because killing the principle of internet neutrality will affect the free exchange of ideas for everyone, from Liberal Pussies to Jesus Freaks.

See the ad here. (pdf)

It's bad enough we're bombarded with political and corporate propaganda bullshit at every turn. But when our choice to avoid it or find something better becomes infringed on, then it gets real slimy. Some internet providers want to decide what websites you should access...depending on which site coughs up the most lunchmoney. The free-wheeling wild west internet that we've all come to know and love will be changed significantly if these providers get their way. It's AOL's greatest wet dream.

How could this affect us? Go here.

Do they teach budding execs to how to give wedgies in business school? Apparently so. If a company can't succeed on the price and quality of its product alone, must they fingerfuck the government to squash their competitors in order to limit the people's ability to choose? That's not very free market, is it? Are we, the consumers, being thrown into the lockers by a bunch of huge corporate bullies?

The PERFORM Act of Desperation

XM Radio - Grassroots

The PERFORM Act is yet another attempt by big record companies to thwart progressive technology and the free market it encourages. Conduct a search for the PERFORM Act and see how many independent music and digital rights groups come up against it, for good reason.

This from Digital Knowledge, a "Washington DC based advocacy group working to defend your rights in the emerging digital culture":

"This bill would prevent satellite radio subscribers from recording and listening to programming that they have paid for, unless they pay an additional license “tax” to the record labels on a song by song basis (which, in addition to cost, would severely limit the repertory that could be offered to the public." (a quote from Bob Schwartz, a copyright/tech lawyer)

From Blogcritics.org, "a sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, technology, and politics."

"XM Satellite Radio is the latest target of the RIAA. They have filed suit in New York over a new radio device that XM just put out called the Inno. This is no small matter, either. The RIAA is suing for $150,000 per "violation." In this case, a violation would be considered a single song recorded onto this device off of the live XM Airwaves. While this is an outlandish number difficult to imagine, even some fraction of that amount per "violation" could send this infant radio/technology company into an unrecoverable tailspin."

Here is the bill as it is explained on Senator Diane Feinstein's website. She is sponsoring this bill. If you read it, it sounds reasonable enough, until you start thinking about cassette tapes. Imagine if we had to pay for using cassette tapes to record entire radio shows or any song we wanted. Or think of the entire concept of TIVO being eliminated. Using these analogies, I can't see how this bill is beneficial to anyone but the record companies. Why can't I tape all the Frank Sinatra songs I find on satellite? Satellite is already paying record companies to play this music, I am paying for my subscription, I should be able to record what I want. With XM receivers I can't give my recordings to anyone, I can't download them or put them on my Ipod, so what exactly is the problem?? Satellite is a closed system. I should have the right to record what I want because there is little chance I can exploit what I record.

In my opinion the record companies should be paying satellite! (Although I hope that never happens, they pay ground radio and look what we drivel get) Terrestrial radio is all but dead as far as music is concerned. Because of satellite I'm listening to artists and music styles I would never hear (unless someone made me a tape, heh heh). Because of satellite I am buying more music! I AM BUYING TICKETS TO SHOWS! I turn on terrestrial radio, and I buy nothing because there is nothing for me there!

Big record companies don't care about musicians or their fans. They care about money and staying dominant. Big record and big radio are scared that the newly powerful indie market and satellite will knock them off their mountain. I hope they do.

Defend free market satellite radio. Send a letter to your representatives against The Perform Act.
XM Radio - Grassroots

Philippe Petit

"One more thing: Philippe, you are not a coward--so what I want to hear from you is the ecstatic truth about the twin towers."
-Werner Herzog

So reads the quote on one of the opening pages of To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers by Philippe Petit, the man who secretly capered and succeeded to walk the tightrope between the WTC towers in 1974.

Here's a video that is based on a children's book about the stunt. Yesterday, after watching the towers come down again and again, the sad stories and constant scroll of victim's names, this should cheer you up. It's simply beautiful. It will make your day.

There will always be people who tear down towers. Some people out there think our lives are better spent groveling in the dust, that man's proper state is on his knees.

Then there are those people for whom even gravity can't hold down. They believe man's proper state is to walk tall on the earth and in the sky. If we all have just a bit of Petit in us, we will never grovel.

MIT Engineer Breaks Down WTC Controlled Demolition - Google Video

MIT Engineer Breaks Down WTC Controlled Demolition - Google Video

I'm not too much of a conspiracy theorist, but I found this video pretty interesting. It might not be the most appropriate thing to watch today according to some people, and I understand that. But along with the reflection, mourning and anger we should experience, there should also be an attitude of constant inquiry, an effort to understand.

I don't know if the assertions made in this video are true. I don't know what is true anymore. The arguments in the video have plausibility. But then again, so many things do. It's to the point now...what do we choose to believe? Do you want the red pill, or the blue one?

Why do I always feel like Neo searching for Morpheus?