Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Doomsday Boy



A golden sun over the Giza plateau sinks under the horizon and I mind-trip imagine the Egyptian goddess Nut giving birth to a full moon, rising to the center of the sky above the pyramids- the only man-made, ancient wonder of the world still standing. As the moon lights up the night, I spy a young tourist couple gazing at their romantic, dumb rock in the sky, enjoying their Hallmark-romantic moment. A modern day Adam and Eve wishing upon a star, conjuring up dreams of a perfect life together with good jobs, 2 kids and a nest egg to cushion their years of retirement. They believe the American dream. They believe the history they've been programmed to believe, that the pyramids were tombs built by an ancient, advanced race. I perceive a different scene altogether. I see the moon as many have begun to theorize, as an artificial, hollow structure moved there by an intelligent race so that our planet could be in the perfect orbit to sustain life for their new Earth colony. I see two pyramidal structures and a Sphinx built thousands of years before the Egyptians created their empire around them. They were built as industrial, power plants for wireless microwave energy, similar to Nikolas Tesla's

I ask myself when this dark con of man will end? When will this world full of lies spun by religions and governments to keep us in line and divided, whither into oblivion? It seems like that time is coming faster every day. More cracks of truth are leaking through, information is being shared at faster speeds than ever in the history of man. What used to take months to convey by way of human runners now take a quarter of a second from our smart phones while at dinner. We can know anything almost as quick as Neo learned Karate in the Matrix. 

A new generation of barn-busting, establishment shattering devices such as WikiLeaks, Grass roots organizations like Amnesty International, GreenPeace, Human Rights Campaign, movies such as Food Inc., Religilous, Tapped, Supersize Me and I AM, are helping to crack open a trickle of truth into a tsunami exposing these old institutions of hatred, disrespect for mother earth and industrial poisoning of our own people for profit.

I am of the ilk that believes what Agent Smith tells Neo in the Matrix, that we humans are a parasite on this earth and that we reproduce and consume without any consideration for the limited resources. We are now 6 billion parasites on this planet and without any movement towards population control, we are  hurdling towards our own demise just as the Mayans and the mythological story of Atlantis. We are basically eating ourselves to death. Religion is the key source of this problem. The defenders of their faith claim that God protects all life and that we need to preserve all life. Are we respecting life when we consume so much that we are killing the live planet that we are on? When the tipping point is reached won't millions of lives be at risk?

The Earth does not have infinite resources and without a balance of consumption and development, she will shrug us off like a mangy dog with too many ticks, sucking it's blood. It is ironic that the Maya, the ones that consumed themselves into oblivion are the ones that have their voice being heard through way of their prophecies for the end of our world. Their is an ancient Maya greeting (La'Kech) that when one enters a home, you say "I am you. You are me".  The greeting underlines a universal law of harmony and balance that even the Inca and ancient Egyptians followed. That harmony and balance was obliterated by the dawn of the Industrial revolution and we are now witnessing it's end. With the global recession, a new awakening has been born that we need to retool all our institutions, to a more sustainable, balanced path. Our systems were addicted to growth, consumption and profit without a thought of how long it could be maintained. To the cynics, that say it's all hogwash, imagine this, we are on a small blue orb hurling through an infinite space filled with asteroids, comets, millions of tons of satellite debris and a burning sun that can burn us to dust in seconds if we moved just a few degrees closer. How can we think that doomsday cannot occur? Science proves an asteroid obliterated the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and recently science has discovered a solar proton burst sizzled our earth and extinguished countless species worldwide, no less than 12,000 years ago. Has our arrogance gone so far as to think we are immune to extinction as well?

While every generation has had it's "doomsday" scenario with plagues, World Wars, Cold Wars which we have thankfully survived. Each fear-laden time brought about changes in consciousness and slight changes or improvements in governments and systems to manage the masses.
It seems that this time around we are at a tipping point, earthquakes are occurring almost every month in places that haven't seen earthquakes in hundreds of years. In the last 2 years alone, major quakes have rocked Spain, New Zealand, Virginia, India, Alaska, Haiti, Chile, Japan. While scientists downplay it, I know I have never heard of so many earthquakes in the 4 decades of life lived so far. Add to this the theories of pole shifts caused by these quakes and fact that the Earth's axis has already been tipped by Chile's earthquake causing our year to shorten by 1.26 seconds. We've had back to back natural disasters that are increasing in frequency. The proverbial shit seems to be hitting the fan and people are sensing or at least fearing that maybe there is something to the whole Maya prophecy after all. There isn't a party i've gone to recently that didn't have a doomsday joke or discussion of what could go down. It's as if the world has contracted HIV and is finally coming to terms with it's own fragile mortality. Britney wants to dance until the world ends, Chris Brown wants to remember his last time with his girl when the world goes by and Neyo and Pitbull want to enjoy life tonight because we might not get tomorrow.

There's a convergence of end-time scenarios beginning to blur together, preventing your average citizen from figuring it all out. There's the uber-popular Maya prophecy, the Evangelicals believe the Rapture is coming soon, Catholic Saint Malachy prophesied the last Catholic pope would be from the Order of the Olive which our current Pope St. Benedict is from. There are also astronomers that believe a 2-7 mile wide comet named the Elenin Comet will cause our demise. Finally, NASA admits they are expecting a once in a lifetime period of high solar activity coming to a peak around late 2012 (same time as Maya prophecy)  that will cause an array of problems for our planet. Through my months of research on the web researching this topic and using my finely-tuned, inner bullshit filter I can now bequeath unto you my summary of the end times in order for you to have some type of preparation if and when the "walls come tumbling down".


Doomsday scenarios that may or may not occur in the near future:

1. Maya prophecy - Their long count calendar literally ends on December 21, 2012 marking the end of one time and the emergence of a time of renewal. Some theorize that the Maya marked the end of their calendar to align with the 26,000 year alignment of our planet with the center of our Milky Way galaxy. In that center is what is called a "dark rift" an area with interstellar dust and God-only-knows what else. Some Mayan elders have spoken out saying that they have channeled messages that we will finally have a moment of mass contact with intelligent life from another planet. The powers that be on this planet will try to instill fear to distrust these beings and prevent their loss of power over humanity caused by this new relationship with our cosmic family. Your inner "bullshit meters" will have to be fine tuned to sort out the lies that will be spun at that time. Factoid- Mufon network has reported that global UFO sightings have increased 67% in the last 3 years alone. An announcement will be made by Mayan elders before the end date, reportedly revealing more details. The only monument found that refers to this end date is Tortugero Monument 6 and some of the engravings have been damaged, preventing a full understanding of the prophecy (see photo). It says that this time will be terminated and a "darkness" will occur. Their God of creation that was present at the time of creation (Bolon Y'okte) will then descend from the sky to witness the end of this time as well. Most Mayan elders alive today believe that this whole end-of-time thing will be an end of one era and the beginning of a renewal period or birth of a new era. Think end of all unsustainable systems that do not work for us anymore; religious intolerism, dictatorships, free-rein capitalism, money systems, global addiction to coal and oil, corporate greed, ego, etc. *Survival tip- remain positive, stay calm, stay hopeful that all the old, cantankerous systems on this planet will finally go away. 

2. The Rapture-  An evangelical, extremist belief that Jesus will return to the Earth to sort out the sinners and the saved. The saved would soon after be enraptured and lifted up into the heavens. The sinners will be left behind. Religiously led mass suicides a' la Jim Jones will probably occur in the days before or soon after December 21, 2012 as the religious hysteria will reach a fever pitch. *Survival tip- if you believe in the Rapture then you are probably too far gone already to be saved. If you don't, you need not worry because Jesus Christ was probably a fabrication in the first place. See -Religilous

3. Sudden Pole Shift of the Earth - Mass extinctions caused by a magnetic pole shift after the appearance of a 10th planet named Nibiru by ancient Sumerians 6000 years ago. Zechariah Sitchin theorized this through his archaeological studies decades ago. Global tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and massive earthquakes would result. *Survival tip- you are basically f*&%'ed if you live anywhere near a fault line, coastal area or volcano. Otherwise, run to highest land or condo in your area with lots of water and food and hope for the best

4. The "days of darkness"- Channeled messages from ascended master Saint Germain channeled by Aruna explains that our planet is vibrating at a higher rate and allowing us to come into contact with a 5th dimension. This will cause the veil between this dimension and other "spirit dimensions" to be thinned and more contact with ascended or highly evolved beings will be more common. Our human DNA is being altered causing many to feel lethargic while the newly activated components of our DNA are activated. The being informs us that those that are receptive are receiving higher vibratory "downloads" altering our consciousness more than ever before. She also warns of the coming "days of darkness" where the Earth will be enveloped by a certain "darkness" (could be mass power outages caused by solar flares or sun blocked by volcanic ash) for anywhere from 30-60 days. She asks that we remain calm and learn how to spend time with our loved ones in the dark, peacefully. Fear is a feeling that we must leave behind at this time and trust that this will pass. The climax to her prophecies are that beings from an intelligent planet have prepared an alternate safe planet for up to 1 million ascended souls to be transported to to save their precious genes and soul levels for the new Earth after the natural disasters have ceased. (think modern day UFO's descending to pick us up like a hundred Noah's arks in the sky). We will have 2 chances to go with them. This is unlike Rapture in that the choice will be ours to go with them or not. *Survival tip- stock up on gallons of bottled water and canned or dried foods. The days of darkness should begin sometime around late september 2012. See- The Knowing for a good representation of this scenario.

5. St. Malachy's prophecy- A Saint had a prophetic vision in 1139 of the end of the Catholic church that would end with our current pope and the destruction of the "7 hills of Rome" and of the Catholic church. St. Malachy doesn't go into specifics or at least the Catholic Church has never revealed how the  seven hills of Rome would be destroyed. *Survival tip- You can rejoice if you are a young boy or are gay because there will be no more priests to molest you or spew hate at you for being gay. This is the easiest of doomsday scenarios to survive. 

6. Elenin Comet- A large comet anywhere from 2-7 miles long will reach it's closest orbital point sometime from September 27th to late November of this year, possibly causing global earthquakes and tsunamis. Some theorize that the Elenin comet might even be a large spacecraft due to study of an enlarged photograph and observed turns that are impossible for a comet to do. *Survival tip- if it is a spaceship, you will be alright as our world's energy problems will be resolved, all diseases cured and we'll finally be able to take trips around the world in seconds and never have to pay 25 dollars to check luggage or be crammed into a tiny airplane seat ever again. If aliens really wanted to invade and eat us, they would've done it thousands of years ago. If it isn't a spaceship then get to your nearest state that doesn't have fault lines and get ready for a really bumpy ride, massive power outages and possible global tsunamis.

7. NASA reports of Solar activity late 2012- long overdue Solar eruptions are calculated by NASA to occur sometime late 2012, early 2013 causing possible satellite failures of cellular communications, air traffic control and possible massive blackouts caused by power grid overload. These massive blackouts would be nationwide across the globe and would take months to restore power. NASA has even released plans to evacuate the International Space Station for "other" reasons. *Survival tip- massive power outages and cell phone service will be down for months. Store loads of can goods, nuts, water and cans of coconut water. Disaster bonus- without computers or cell phones we'll finally be able to connect to the people sitting next to us. 



My choice on the Doomsday menu above would be a combo platter of scenario 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7. It would be the fastest path to restore the balance of the ancients, end the cannibalizing of our planet and prostitution of it's resources.

Run fast for your mother 
Run fast for your father
                                    Run for your children for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind 
you can't carry it with you if you want to survive
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses
'Cause here they come

These scenarios may never occur and all this brouhaha might just be a load of rubbish but wouldn't you rather be mentally prepared instead of blindsided in case anything does go down? Either way, things are a' changing in this corner of the galaxy. Whether you believe in global warming or not, the Earth is getting hotter, droughts are increasing, people are overpopulating, the last of the dictators are all a' dying' or being removed from power. May the Maya prophecy mark a moment when the last dictator falls -a final call for the end to this dark con of man, where religions will finally be exposed for the cancer and tools of manipulation that they are. When the liars will stop lying, the deniers stop denying, the scammers stop scamming other men, when the anti-gay agendas will let go of their hate and the caste-class systems cease repressing the downtrodden. We are 6 billion Trumans from the Truman Show finally realizing we are caged, scratching at the edge of our reality, through the lies of eons, dying to break out of this single world view. I count the days for man's universal awareness to be born. Where we finally stop thinking we are the center of the universe and know that we are not alone and never have been.


CUT TO:
I walk through an early morning rush hour in the streets of Chicago, navigating through an ocean of people on their way to work. I look at the faces of the masses as they automatically run like ants from point A to B and ask myself do they know or even have an inkling that they are all going to die? I am aware of it every day, I can't stop thinking about how it's all going to end and count the moments for it to finally arrive. I can't wait for this world to end to clear the way for a new version. I make a call for the feet draggers of progress; the Republicans, the Taliban, the religious extremists of the world so afraid of the future - "Evolve or die!". I am doomsday boy, the biggest party-pooper, debbie-downer you've ever met. Get ready to meet your maker and ask yourself when the storms come will you be able to stand strong or will you be swept away? 

Who's gonna save the world? Will it be Mother Earth, our cosmic family or can we come down from our high horses with blinders on and save ourselves?



Human beings will have to redefine everything and change everything if they are to survive.
Albert Einstein
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The President was elected with the vision of transformative change. Nothing would so transform the world as the ending of this secrecy, peaceful open contact with the Extraterrestrial Civilizations visiting Earth and the release of these wondrous new energy technologies for peaceful energy generation. In just a few years, the world will be made anew.Steven M. Greer, MD Director of CSETI

God speed the year of jubilee The wide world o'er! When from their galling chains set free, Th' oppress'd shall vilely bend the knee, And wear the yoke of tyranny Like brutes no more. That year will come, and freedom's reign, To man his plundered rights again Restore. God speed the day when human blood Shall cease to flow! In every clime be understood, The claims of human brotherhood, And each return for evil, good, Not blow for blow; That day will come all feuds to end, And change into a faithful friend Each foe. God speed the hour, the glorious hour, When none on earth Shall exercise a lordly power, Nor in a tyrant's presence cower; But to all manhood's stature tower, By equal birth! That hour will come, to each, to all, And from his Prison-house, to thrall Go forth. Until that year, day, hour, arrive, With head, and heart, and hand I'll strive, To break the rod, and rend the gyve, The spoiler of his prey deprive -- So witness Heaven! And never from my chosen post, Whate'er the peril or the cost, Be driven. 
Frederick Douglass, Volume II Pre-Civil War Decade 1850-1860

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

A Wrestler's Tears




A burly, sweaty guy is forcefully holding me down, his hot bull-breath, heating me up so close and fast that my neck gets wet. I squirm through his legs to try to take him over and get him on his back, submissive...so we can finish with me on top. I work to be the top and finally win.




Sounds like a raunchy scene from a porn movie, don't it? Well, it ain't. Why does such a straight sport have to look so gay? It's exactly what I observed at the local wrestling match for my older brother's first born, somewhere in the boonies of Atlanta's wilderness. A subculture of Americana playing out in front of my Miami-safe, gay-bubbled eyes.

My older brother, stocked full of pride that I would finally be able to witness his son's Gladiator-ness action. He hauls my ass out of bed at 6 AM so that we can make it in time for the "weigh-in", where teams of really young and tiny boys get weighed in like piglets going to farm on their way to be fattened up for an eventual slaughter. Only difference is these little piggies are their family's pride and joy destined to fulfill their dad's uncompleted life dreams. These little boys, burdened with the pressure to eliminate any signs of weakness before they even hit puberty. Some get thrown into this Herculean arena of adult expectations as early as 4 years old (mat rats). They seem to be willing enough to satisfy their parent's demands until they get into the ring. As each match begins, you hear the father's and coach's cattle calls into the ring.

Losing is not an option!
Man up!
Get strong!
Dont make excuses -make adjustments!
Suck it up!


All this is heaved upon these willing, young and feisty pups before they are even mature enough to know how to deal with the emotions of it. It's a surprising reaction to see them burst into tears at the end of each match; faces red and eyes swollen.

Not just a tear but a rush-gushing of tears. Sometimes the tears come even after a win. It's the adrenaline high pressure to comply, muscle overexertion and overwhelming mental processing of their own strategy to win that breaks even the toughest of wrestlers to a whimpering-wet Sponge Bob.

To see these young Spartans walk by with their blank faces and eyes red from tears is a moment of poetic, human theater- a front row seat to a loss of innocence live and in HD. You want to reach out to them and tell them it's alright and that they did okay but at the same time you feel like you will rob them of the maturation process unfolding before you. They will with each game gain emotional intelligence, stamina and learn how to stand their ground in life. Most importantly, they learn that even when your opponents pin you down and you are about to lose, that with srength and a little bit of cunning, you can "pull a reversal" and turn a failure into a victory.

It all sounds so healthy and normal but I can't keep from thinking what this whole scene means to a child that happens to be born gay? What a sad prison of disappointment that would be for him. It'd be enough to run away and live a life on a river somewhere a' la Huckleberry Finn. The whole wrestling thing seems to be an unspoken insurance policy that their sons won't grow up to be "swishy in the hips". Unfortunately, there aren't any Glee clubs in this part of America.


Wouldn't it be progress if our world wasn't so harsh that we had to teach our kids to be so tough? Wouldn't it be evolution that our civilization could reach such heights of civility that skills of battle would be trumped by those of selflessness and consideration for their fellow man to live in a sustainable peace? Like the great Minoans who would compete over which man could jump gracefully over a horned bull without being mauled by it's horns. Displaying human strength, agility and grace in one Olympian flip in the air over the back of a bull.


When will we get to this point in our humanity? When will our values of defense budgets over educational budgets and corporate profits over civilian quality of life no longer be so fiercely important? When will greed and hoarding of wealth no longer be more important than the simple civility of spending time with your loved ones without all the complicated and expensive toys? Hopefully, it won't take a near-death of our civilization for us to wake up and evolve a little more towards bull jumping and less harvesting of innocent, wrestler's tears.


Saturday, March 26, 2011

Alone and Alright




If, for just one day, to feel a moment of love; a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs,....it would be all worth the ride, even if it were a short one.

This lonely boy is right where he wants to be, finding solace in solitude, relying on myself and aiming my eyes to nature for comfort. No one at my side to hurt me, disregard my feelings, under-appreciate or fight with me about petty character flaws. I have no regrets for this or any of the other countless heartbreaks my adventures in finding love have taken me to. This, a new-found, self-imposed asexuality of sorts.

I'm fulfilled by faithful "mister handy", my new MAC Powerbook and my body pillow at night...sheltered and quarantined from psychological traumas, overactive egos, self-centered queens unable to love and STD's, of course. There is unsurprisingly zero drama when I am not partnered up. I have more time to dedicate myself to my career, hoarding my nuts for the winter and spending quality time teaching my nephew the subtle differences in the sounds of crickets, frogs and birds in the wild.

My heart, locked away in its gilded cage, it's sweet disposition maintained, still supple, alive and well, not yet embittered or hardened by life's knocks and heartbreaks. I remain, open to love's magic, curveball-surprise that can change your life forever.




Yet, I am stripped of any effort or desire to seek out a new challenge. He will have to seek me out or at least it will have to happen organically. I fantasize, visualizing a faceless human with a heart larger than mine and capacity for loyalty that finally matches my own. He may never materialize or even exist but imagining him makes me feel hopeful that he does, somewhere, out there, in this big-bubble of 6 billion people. Until then, I will be thankful to be alive, well, surrounded by loved ones and not stuck in a relationship with someone that is totally wrong for me.

My heartbroken friend confesses over the phone, "I need to be more of an asswhole.". I disagree and tell him the world has plenty of asswholes already, "You stay just the way you are and work on being a better man-You do you."

For now, that's what I will do as well. I'll "do me" and work to improve my relationship...with my-self.

"I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."- Henry David Thoreau

Monday, February 7, 2011

Is It Time For Us To Go "Commando"?




Words, words words, oh ever so powerful words. They can be used to imprison people (Hitler's speeches against Jews) or liberate them (Churchill's motivational speeches to the English masses). They can also start wars (Crusades started by a Pope, Jihad started by Muslim leaders). The million dollar question is why is it that people keep listening and following these words and/or the leaders that espouse them? When will the "faithful, god-fearing sheep" grow a pair and start thinking for themselves? It's simple, they don't want to think for themselves they'd rather be lead and shown the way. The only problem is these "look over there" leaders are pointing to the wrong ails of their societies. The Muslim clerics blame the western imperialists and their all too liberal society as the problem when it's really lack of jobs, education and poor infrastructure caused by generations of bad government. The Catholic evangelists or mo' haters, like to blame the Gays and\or Abortion as the cause of the problem in America when the real problem is an all too materialistic society that overspends and lives an unsustainable and irresponsible lifestyle that is damaging our environment.



My aunt always liked to say, "when you point a finger to blame someone, you have one pointing at them and three pointing at yourself.". It's ever so true for these religious leaders that are unsurprisingly in bed with the religiously aligned Republican party. The Republican party, pound for pound has more sexual scandals than a crack addicted pimp on Biscayne Boulevard. Don't believe me, there's a whole website devoted to it. These charlatan leaders or snake oil salesmen (pick either) need fear to lead, it is their mother's milk and their followers are very afraid. For one reason or another these followers or "minions" just aren't wired for bravery or the self contained faith to know everything is going to be alright. Like deposed evangelist, Ted Haggard recently said in an Advocate interview "The number 1 way they can raise funds is not to encourage people to be more loving, less greedy or more kind. It's to say there's a secret homosexual agenda to siege America, and fund us so we can battle this agenda to save the family."


As the whole Wikileaks debacle and mass revolutions across the Middle East can attest, the world and it's sheep are ready for the truth, in fact they are starving for it. Michael moore so eloquently put it, "Wikileaks isn't killing people, the secrets are". More and more sheep are breaking ranks and finding their own path to the truth of what is really wrong with any given country. Like Ted Haggard, whose fall from grace helped him "get real" and is now advocating his small church to accept the gay community and to advocate for the religious right to follow suit. Or Sarah, the Kansas city mom who stood up to her critical pastor after she accepted her son to dress as Scooby Doo's Daphne and created an uproar across the US. Or Howard Stern who has finally tired of saying the word "fag" on his show after realizing the effects of bullying on gay youth in America. And the 3000 parishoners that returned hate filled DVD's mailed to their homes in Minnesota in the church's effort to get people to vote against marriage equality for gays in that state. An ever-increasingly vocal yet still in the closet, Anderson Cooper criticizing a Hollywood movie trailer, getting them to remove a "that's so gay" comment out of a recent film.

This ideological civil rights battle has reached a tipping point and we can't wait for more of our youth to commit suicide or more laws passed by religiously led drives to take away more of our rights we have fought so hard to gain. We can no longer heed the advice of the Beatles and “let it be”. We need to go balls out, "warrior up" and take action and dispel the ignorance and myths spread about us. A quick, neutralizing factor is needed to disassemble and defuse these leaders leading this war against us. Like the hustler Mike Jones was for Ted Haggard or the cop in the bathroom for Larry Craig and the 20 year old twink bringing down the ever so dark George Rekers in my hometown, Miami Airport.



One of the most slapstick yet effective commando tactics is the "pie in the face". It the quickest and easiest way to make a statement and humiliate these bullies at the pulpit. Who could ever forget the pie in the face of Anita Bryant for her anti gay crusade in the 70's after succesfully getting a gay adoption ban passed in Florida? Or the more recent pie in the face of an antigay Bishop that claimed pedophile priests should be protected and that gays deserve AIDS? The pie is a messy contraption and really hard to run with to get a good shot at any given podium. I suggest a supersize pink Slushie, a' la Glee. It's a much easier to carry and less menacing looking tool as you casually sashay and slurp your way up to the podium. The pink colored Slushie, a fitting metaphor, since pink has always been one of the most prominent colors used to represent the gay rights movement since Hitler marked homosexuals with pink triangles on their way to the concentration camps. Shakespeare once wrote, "Truth will out" but sometimes truth needs a little nudge to come to the surface, especially when the next generation of our gay brethren are dropping via suicide, gay bashing or as was recently the case for David Kato in Uganda, old fashioned hammer-to-the-head, murder. It looks like outing these human weapons of mass destruction is one of the most powerful and efficient ways to get them to stop lying and dangerously
misguiding their flocks. They won't out themselves folks.


We need to "warrior up" and Act Up as we did in the 80's when we were dying by the thousands from AIDS. It's time again for us to "ACT UP"! I certainly in no way want to incite violence but if these elected political officials or religious leaders are misrepresenting themselves and bringing violence and harm to their communities as a result, then someone needs to let these folks know who they are really following. If the journalists or the leader's peers don't out them, then who better than the gay community? We can fight using their own tactics like Gay teen activist Caleb Laieski who has notified officials at every school in Arizona that they must put a stop to bullying, or else he threaten to file a lawsuit however that attempt is easily ignored by these crusaders.



Take the grand daddy of all evangelists in the country for the African American Community as an example; Atlanta's bishop (sexting pictures above) Eddie Long, who after being accused by 4 of his underaged parishoners of sexual abuse and coercion is unbelievably still preaching at his pulpit. He is one of the largest leaders of the anti-gay movement, fiercely fighting any comparison with the gay civil rights movement and the black civil rights movement in this country, stringing along a money hungry, anti-gay relative of the late Martin Luther King to prove his point. Even though Mr. Long's expensive lawyers are "mediating" before going before a judge this summer and will probably get the boys to settle out of court a' la Michael Jackson, his unfinished fall from grace was the catalyst that created an olive branch of support being offered by the NAACP to gay rights groups for a first-time-ever cooperation. It is that kind of monumental change that can happen overnight from outing these con artists.

These are the real freaks, they are the bullies. Their mouths, weapons of mass destruction, much as Muslim clerics incite fatwah to kill Americans, these Benedict Arnold's of America have incited a holy war against our own children. So much so, that in one month last September, they caused 11 suicides of young citizens at the hands of a hatred born at the pulpit, emboldening youths to bully and gay bash, all in the name of the lord. The blood of these youths are the strange fruit harvested from these charlatans.

The trick to "going commando" is to do it right. Larry Flynt's offer of a million dollars to "out" an antigay senator is a really powerful and effective way to get the ball rolling but he didn't name a name- yet. Money always works quickly to get mercenaries to your door but another quick way to "go commando" is to organize "baits" in the local communities where the WMD's reside and lure them via online social apps such as Facebook, Twitter, going to their church and playing the wounded dove looking for a strong father figure to mentor them. Any way to get them to meet you in private. When you do, make sure the room is completely wired and someone else has a high def, FlipCam aimed at the meeting. Video is much more effective at proving their gay-ways than an easily adultered photo. You can also call IRS to report religious organizations that take part in political initiatives or ballots. Religious organizations that do this should lose their tax exempt status, period!

While there are hundreds of gay advocacy groups (HRC, GLAAD, Lambda legal, Save Dade, etc.) effecting great change, using the same legal system to fight our enemies that they use against us, it is taking too long and the gay suicides and bashings are still happening every month. Evangelists are even exporting their hate and causing gay death penalties to be added to the books of African countries that already give years of jail time for being caught in any homosexual act. We also have had huge victories in the last several years; repeal of DADT, Proposition 8 overturned, Matthew Shepard act was signed into law by Obama, removal of the HIV restriction for visa and immigration entries into the US and gay marriage rights being won in many states.

It's time to up the ante and show them these American idiots with their redneck agendas what a gay agenda really is about. It's about civil rights for all and "outing" the truth, however ugly that may be.

Hopefully then, the minions will tire of being minions and look inside themselves for the answers to what is right and wrong without the need for a religion to feed it to them. It's high time they take the wheel and drive themselves to enlightenment road.

So watch your back Maggie Gallagher, Rick Warren, Scott Lively, Brian Brown, James Dobson, and Richard Cohen; we are coming to snare and expose you We will snare you. We will look underneath your beds and in your dirty closets, take samples and pictures, CSI Miami style until you are busted. This is a war we are fighting- a war against terror and religious extremism in our efforts to win equal rights and a more civilized, less violent world, securing a real and new homeland security.

The next time you see any of these self-hating mo's at their pulpits pointing fingers at how sinful homosexuality is, just smile and ask yourself- "When will you get busted in a gay bathhouse or your naughty pics to underage boys hit the web?"

Kandi Burruss from Housewives of ATL, "Every saint has a past and every sinner a future." We are the "sinners" in this battle and we've got the love to get through this war.

*This video of YouTube'r Cadillac Kimberly is dead on and totally worth a listen.







"Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer." William Burroughs

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A great video on the effectiveness of PieIng for political activism.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Cheers To A New Year



Standing in the main lobby of South Beach's Lincoln Road movie theater, watching the dense crowd of people exiting a movie and coming towards me like a herd of colorful cattle. I stand in the middle to get the best seat at this parade. As colorful as Miami is, I never seem to get bored with its diversity. Its the quintessential city to people-watch.

I look to my left and observe an abundantly plump woman plopped on a bench with her arms lifelessly hanging in front of her. I imagine her naked and envision a Big Mac with arms. I get whiffs of conversations as they walk by and swirl around me. They're either complaining about the movie or praising it, discussing the stresses of relationships or of surviving in this difficult economy.

I pause to think about the second terrible year all these people and I have just suffered through and I snap out of it, cracking a grin at the sight of a frizzy, red-haired, chic old lady with black tights and an oversized, bedazzled sweater sashays by, looking like a Liza Minelli wanna-be. Two Latinas conga-by either side of me, oozing sexiness in skintight miniskirts, tall leather black boots, curves like a manatee and perfume like a ripe mango spritzed with jasmine. A couple of skinny, yamaka-wearing, pimple-faced, Jewish boys walk by whispering to each other. A Jaguar-stud with his metrosexual look and Ferragamo loafers checks out the giraffe-tall models walking in front of him while his beautiful wife is on his arm, not noticing a thing. A couple of cute, slender gay boys on their first date, being coyly flirtatious with each other while ordering popcorn and bottled water (Coke is so 2005). I wish for a moment I was on a date then quickly realize I'm perfectly content with my bachelor status. I turn and notice a little boy feistily pulling his hand out and away from his mother's grasp, frustrated, he looks out the window wishing time would pass faster so he could be a grown up already.

The one unifying aspect of 2010 is that everyone in every nation on the planet all know too well how challenging these last couple of years have been. At least now, we can be confident in knowing that we survived this one.



The end of the year is the time to brush off the nastiness and recharge to stand tall again with a renewed effort to make old or new dreams a reality. It's up to us how we will look at the things that will happen to us in the year ahead. Do we look at them as tragic disasters or as opportunities to finally rid this planet of its old, cantankerous and unsustainable systems? While we can't change the bad things that happen, we can change the way we look at them. I promise myself to move forward into the new year with more consideration and mindfulness at every step. I silently pray that this year's challenges nudge us all closer to connecting to our own peace of mind so that we may share that peace with whoever we encounter along our journeys and may that peace spread as virally as a new video on YouTube.

My friend finally frees himself from the long line and scores our munchies from the snackbar. We walk into Tron 3D and towards a new year with oodles of chances for something good or at least something better than last year to happen to us.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tasting Another Slice of the Miami Orange








http://fumeroism.com/

I stumble upon a cool group of cyclists while buying some freshly smoked "street meat" in Wynwood during this year's Art Basel in front of the new Panther Coffee shop on NW 2nd Avenue. They chat me up and offer a bike tour of the Wynwood outdoor art murals. I say "hell yeah" and sign up for tomorrow's ride.

Wynwood is in a world of it's own, this year's Art Basel reinforced the assertion that this is definitely NOT South Beach. It is on the edge, literally. It lies sandwiched between the posh Design District and hipster-central, Midtown Miami neighborhoods but is totally another raw, unrefined flavor to Miami's spicy melting pot. It was once a fashion and industrial district with a large Puerto Rican population but is now fast becoming the next place to find inspiration and respite from conformism.

The bike tour guides from Emerge Miami offered me a chance to learn more about the artists that created the murals littered all over the area. I thought this would be the perfect way to see another layer to this whole Art Basel phenomenon that few get to learn about. I've snapped shots at these murals for months now while driving through my neighborhood of Midtown and have been noticing a recent explosion of fresh and innovative artwork, transforming this blighted neighborhood in the middle of nowhere.

This nowhere has become somewhere overnight thanks to it's visionary artists and developers like David Lombardi of Wynwood lofts, Cafeina, Panther Coffee house and of course the man with the Midas touch, Tony Goldman, proprietor of Joey's Cafe' and the sexy, new Wynwood Kitchen. I remember Tony when he first laid eyes on South Beach back in 1988 and I had just rented a studio apartment in his building on 8th and Ocean drive overlooking the beach for only $350-. Tony was finishing his first remodel of an art deco hotel on South Beach. It was the Park Central and it stood out like a diamond surrounded by charcoal. It was one of the first hotels to be painted with the colorful pastel palette. In those days, the buildings were all depressing, earthy browns and beiges with all of the art deco lines lost from lack of maintenance and color to highlight their beauty. His friend he brought down from New York to manage my the apartment building where I lived was Mark Soyka who was planning to manage a little cafe' named News Cafe'. The rest, as you know is history and Tony's vision was the seed that germinated into the hedonistic, global mecca that is South Beach today.

Flash forward to 2010, Tony's golden fingers are spreading their fairy dust over Wynwood and it is a wonderful transformation to see a nuclear holocaust, concrete jungle burst into colors and bloom galleries on every corner. He commissioned top name artists for the Wynwood Walls project. Kenny Scharf, Shepard Fairy who did the Obama campaign poster and Jeff Soto to name a few, all came together to transform bare concrete walls into individual dimensional doorways into each of their minds. A virtual Alice in Wonderland for art lovers. This project has inspired other wall commissions all over Wynwood from companies like Levi's, Primary Flight, and Sharpie and the list keeps growing. Wynwood's murals are currently one of the largest mural installations in the world featuring over 250 artists from around the globe. Primary flight is the main promoter of "legal street art" in Miami and has helped to bring other corporate sponsors.



I awake to another perfectly blue, crystal clear winter day in Miami and I gear up on my beach cruiser with my 10 year old nephew and ride over to Cafeina to meet the bikers for our tour. My nephew is amp'ed to see all the artists on scissor lifts painting murals live in Cafeina lounge's side parking lot. It was like walking into an open air museum, the way art should be enjoyed in the fresh air, spotlighted by the sun.



We see so many bad ass works of art that I piss off my biker brothers for falling too far behind to take pictures. We turn the corner into what looks like an abandoned warehouse complex that is a shell of a building littered with hundreds of graffitti artists and their girlfriends and baby future graffitti artists. There were guys hanging from steel roof beams on ladders painting over every square inch of bare concrete. It was a massive beehive with each worker bee, working their magic in a peaceful synchronicity. No gang violence or cops here just pure street art. A lot of the business owners are more than happy to have their walls painted so the stigma of illegal tagging of walls isn't an issue here.











Our tour guide goes on to explain a lot of the art and tells us of my favorite artist Retna who uses his own form of hieroglyphics in his murals which only he can decipher. Another story tells of a legendary pioneering graffitti artist named Ynot that passed away but is not forgotten. Artists in the area tag walls with his logo all over Wynwood to keep his memory alive.



The sad but poetic truth is that these murals are just as mortal as the humans that paint them. They will either be painted over quickly or be destroyed by the elements over time. Like a sand castle competition, the only way to capture this fleeting beauty is to take a picture before it's gone. One of the murals I photographed was already painted over by a buzzkill landlord 2 days later.



All in all, this was one of the most refreshing and inspirational things I did during this culture bomb they call Art Basel this year and hope I get to do it again in 2011. It adds to the list of the "wonderful things" that make My-Ami, the real Miami; home for me. Let's just hope and pray that neither Pottery Barn nor Romero Britto set their sights on Wynwood and it remains the edgy and inspirational place it is today.



Learn more about the Miami graffitti movement here.

*Hot Miami tip- Check out La Guarderia produce market on 34th street and NW 2nd avenue and grab oodles of fresh produce and fruit for a fraction of what it would cost at your local Publix. It's totally worth the trek.

A great short film on the origins of Miami's Art Basel and it's arts community, highlighting some of it's most prominent pioneers and shapers of our magic city, recently premiered at Wynwood's only independent film house, O Cinema.