ulysseslazarus
Editor of Black Sun Gazette. Founder of Esozone and Key 64. Freelance writer and editor. General malcontent.
Schwarzenegger Decriminalizes Pot in California
Nicholas Pell writes in the Examiner.com
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Friday morning that decriminalizes possession of marijuana in the state.
Those caught with less than an ounce of marijuana will still receive a maximum penalty of $100. However, Senate Bill 1449 reduces the legal categorization of marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. This means that those caught will not have to appear in court, pay court fees or receive a criminal record.
Schwarzenegger opposes Proposition 19, a pending referendum that will provide a legal framework for the sale, cultivation and taxation of marijuana. However, despite this opposition, Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law. In a letter to the California Senate, Schwarzenegger stated that “less than an ounce of marijuana is an infraction in everything but name. The only difference is that because it is a misdemeanor, a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury trial and a…
Unsung Heroes of Hardcore: Life’s Blood
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times:
Since it dovetails nicely with the book I am working on and I like writing about it, I have decided to start a new regular feature [at the Red Star Times] called “Unsung Heroes of Hardcore.” It’s similar to Soundtrack of My Life, but will focus specifically on relative unknowns of hardcore. I say relative unknowns because if you’re into hardcore you’ve probably heard of a lot of this stuff. I’m trying to keep it on the obscure end of things. Today’s Unsung Heroes of Hardcore are a lesser known band from the late-80s NYHC scene called Life’s Blood.
RIP: Party Down
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times:
Every once in a while a show comes along that reminds you that television isn’t a total wasteland. While science fiction had a good run with Battlestar Galactica, the main arena for quality television over the last ten years have been comedy. Whether it’s broadcast hits like Arrested Development, premium cable gems like Curb Your Enthusiasm or international favorites such as Peep Show, television comedy has come a long way from the days of the formulaic, multi-camera canned laughter disasters that once dominated the airwaves. Indeed, it is the recent crop of what The Onion called “single-camera, awkward pause” comedies that have made television worth watching again. More than just entertainment, these shows speak to the art of comedy writing.
Many shows recognized as classics now were canceled before their time…
The Crime of the Century: A Review of “Plunder”
"Plunder" Filmmaker Danny Schechter
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times:
In a just world Michael Moore’s Capitalism would have been released on DVD for a niche crowd of professional weirdos and malcontents while Plunder would have made millions and garnered Academy Awards. Unlike the former which relied on the pulling of emotional heartstrings, sucking up to Barack Obama and Mr. Moore’s usual shenanigans, Plunder: The Crime of Our Time revolves around hard analysis. Plunder provides a detailed summary of the Rube Goldberg machine that collapsed the American economy.
Indeed, the investors who robbed America blind are only one part of the equation. They received a great deal of assistance from the regulatory agency tasked with defending Americans from just such a swindle. Plunder falls short on exploring just how such malfeasance at the highest levels of power is allowed to happen, though it does an admirable job of laying bare the function of such agencies. Similarly, the film…
Two Minutes Hate: Working Class Politics, History, Culture
The ISO Dutifully Joins "The Left" in Reformist Protest Politics
Nick Pell at the Red Star Times:
Just wanted to do a quick roundup before the weekend comes. Things have been hectic around RST central as I gear up to move and begin work on my book. Still, there’s a few things I just have to make time for.
There’s the small matter of the continuing oil spill uncontrolled hemorrhage, for which no one has, nor will they ever be, arrested and tried for crimes against humanity.
The unions continue their attacks on workers while the Chinese working class continues to prove that it is at the vanguard of struggle against the fake left, capitalism and imperialism. And Red Star Times’s favorite fake left sect the International Socialist Organization gears up for their annual love-in with the Democratic Party, its radical hangers-on and vaguely left-of-center celebrities, ironically named “Socialism 2010.”
Read the Full Article at Red Star…
A Review of ‘Hidden Wisdom’
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times.
When I first got a package from Disinfo in the mail I was excited. What would be inside? I had spoken to someone over there about reviewing a book. Excitement then turned to dismay. Oh great, a book about the occult.
However, I am glad to say that my prejudice against the book was totally unfounded. Hidden Wisdom: Secrets of the Western Esoteric Tradition was not only a good read, but it was an informative, balanced account of European spirituality, going far beyond the bounds of “occultism.” The book is, however, marred by a number of limitations stemming from the author’s failure to fully embrace a materialist view of reality.
Tim Wallace-Murphy begins at the furthest reaches of human civilization, back in a time that few even know about. Early on in the book, he establishes that he is no New Age quack. He understands that all…
The Coming Working Class Revolt
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
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Hard to believe, but it’s been a year since the Obama Administration forced General Motors into bankruptcy. This has resulted in a curious phenomenon: the first generation of auto assembly workers in almost a hundred years who cannot afford to buy the cars they manufacture.
Given the context both nationally (the Massey mine collapse and the uncontrolled hemorrhaging that resulted from the BP / Deepwater Horizon disaster) and internationally (Greece seems always on the verge of explosion and the Chinese working class are waking from their 20-year post-Tienanmen slumber) the situation at GM points towards a very exciting and potentially explosive phenomenon.
Boston Hardcore Revisited, Part I: Boston Crew
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
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I don’t think a city ever needed a hardcore scene more than Boston. Beantown is a cold city, both the temperature and the population. Whether you’re a Beacon Hill patrician or a Charlestown townie a basic attitude of “fuck you” underlies each and every human interaction. Add to that an influx of obnoxious art school and college kids and you’ve got a recipe for extreme alienation for anyone with a brain and an independent streak.
It’s hard for me to imagine what Boston was like before hardcore dropped. Legend has it that the city was full of, in the eloquent words of Al Barille, “new wave faggots and new romantic bullshit.” I’d like to say that I can’t imagine BU students going to Landsdowne on a Friday night in pirate shirts and Adam Ant-style warpaint, but sadly I can picture such a thing all too…
Portland Police Provocation at Anarchist Coffee Shop
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times.
For those who have far better things to worry about, a recap: Recently, at a worker-owned Portland anarchist cafe, Red And Black, a police officer was asked to leave by a co-owner. A local blogger was outraged (enough so to revisit the subject), the insipid Portland hipster yuppie press picks it up and the national media has a field day yukking it up over the bizarre notion that some people don’t think cops are acceptable in polite company.
Meanwhile, no one (except Infoshop News in their roundabout, “let’s pretend we’re trying to be objective to avoid the political fight” identity politics-laden “anarchist” sort of way) asks the crucial question: Why is a police officer going into an anarchist cafe in the first place?
Two Minutes Hate: Spill, Baby, Spill
Nick Pell at Red Star Times writes:
How many of you have woken up over the last couple weeks and almost immediately thought: damn, the world is in the toilet? Me too. The last month or so has been perhaps one of the most horrible times I have ever experienced, with the beginning of the Iraq War being one of the few things that even comes close.
Whether or not it’s a Chinese curse, the adage about living in “interesting times” becomes more and more apt with each passing week. Despite how awful things are, there seems to be a lingering scent of resistance in the air. I concede that this could entirely be wish-fulfillment and solipsism on my part, but it seems as if things could explode at any second.
Explosions in and of themselves go nowhere, however. A political analysis and direction is necessary to make an explosion travel in the right direction.…
Soundtrack of My Life: Rage Against the Machine
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
When I was about 15 or 16 years old, few things were more difficult than getting me to listen to, never mind enjoy, a mainstream alternative rock radio single. Having said that, you should get some impression of just how special “Bulls on Parade” is. Not only did I enjoy the song, but I went out and bought a (*gasp*) major label record.
Over the years, RATM have never been one of my favorite bands. I’ve never owned a shirt and I go very long periods of time without ever listening to them. Still, as I grow older I have more respect for them as a band both musically and politically.
In a world of milquetoast pop punk bands shilling for the Democratic Party or irritating aging punks giving “left” counsel to President Obama on how to be a better imperialist, RATM have intelligence, principles and balls.
National Anarchists at Folsom Street Fair
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
I was contacted this morning by Bay Area National Anarchists founder Andrew Yeoman. He felt that I had unfairly maligned his group in my recent article on radical traditionalist website Alternative Right. I don’t really want to get into the specifics of our exchange, however, I would now like to present the videos I referenced (but did not post) in my previous article. The event they are protesting is the Folsom Street Fair, which is a leather / BDSM event, not explicitly a gay pride event.
I stand by my claim that harassment takes place on these videos and that the demonstration attempts to target homosexuals. Indeed, Folsom Street Fair is largely (if not predominantly) an event for the gay leather / BDSM community.
Right-Wing Blog Watch: Alternative Right
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
Welcome to a new feature on Red Star Times, right-wing blog watch. I am introducing this feature for the sake of keeping a close eye on right-wing blogs, ranging from hardline conservative to outright fascist. My first subject of study is Alternative Right, a particularly noxious website that brands itself as “radical traditionalist.” For those who aren’t familiar with the term, radical traditionalist is a term used by hipsters, goths and faux-erudite who espouse fascist ideology but want a term with more intellectual cache.
Radical traditionalist favorites include Oswald Spengler, Julius Evola and Alain de Benoist. Associated (allegedly) political movements include Eurasianism, metapolitics, third positionism and national anarchism. Alternative right is an exemplar of radical traditionalism and fascism in as much as it begins with hatred of minorities, women and the working class and proceeds to construct a bizarre mish-mash of gobbledygook as “ideology” after…
Criminals Running the Crime Scene
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
For anyone who needed a good, hard lesson in the nature of American capitalism and the Democratic Party, the Deepwater Horizon disaster provides it. BP, a massive energy cartel was allowed to flagrantly violate established safety laws by the Obama Administration. Indeed, the Administration abetted BP in violating safety and environmental regulations.
Oil has been allowed – by the government and BP – to gush out into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate as yet undetermined (but estimated at about an Exxon Valdez disaster every four days) for over a month. The administration finally admitted that the spill is the worst in American history, but didn’t bother to mention that it might actually get worse.
Despite public outrage, BP is still being allowed to run its own cleanup and investigation. The official investigation will clearly be little more than a whitewash. Barry does his usual mock…
Urban Superheroes: Wu-Tang Clan
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times:
Hip-hop was an early love of mine. When I was but a wee lad not much music excited me. But the sounds of Run-DMC and (don’t laugh) The Fat Boys were groups I loved at a very early age. By the time I was an adolescent my sounds were the usual mish-mash of a kid searching for what he liked–Bad Religion, Nirvana, The Ramones. Still, I’ll never forget the first day that I heard The Wu-Tang Clan at a friend’s house after school. From the crude humor of the “Torture” skit to the soulful strains of “Can It All Be So Simple,” I was hooked. So began a love affair with nine men from New York that has endured for over half my life. The Wu-Tang Clan were, are and always will be more than just another hip-hop crew. They are nothing less than…
Two Minutes Hate
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
Four things happened recently that I think require attention. They speak to not just the world that we live in as it is, but the direction where we are headed. It’s a cliche to repeat, but that won’t stop me–the Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” applies now more than ever.
We do, indeed live in “interesting” times. Times as interesting as 1914, 1929 or 1939. We will live to see days like 1905, 1936 and 1968. Only time will tell if they blossom into 1789, 1871 or 1917, but the alternative is too terrifying to even contemplate.
“The Left” vs. The Working Class
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
“The Communist Party cannot fulfill its mission except by preserving, completely and unconditionally, its political and organizational independence apart from all other parties and organizations within and without the working class.” – L. Trotsky
I am frequently maligned and attacked for not supporting “the left.” Slings and arrows thrown my way include admonishments to “get behind the real movement” and appeals for a “united front” from people who clearly don’t understand what the term means. However, it’s worth pointing out (once again) that I don’t consider building “the left” to be the task of a socialist. The task of a socialist is to help the working class organize to take power. Rather than building block along the road towards this end, the left is perhaps the largest impediment to working class politics both domestically and internationally. Whether you think of the left as being the…
Countdown
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times
My friend Bill is wont to say that humanity hasn’t quite figured out that it could do something so bad that it couldn’t be fixed. From a certain point of view, I agree. Our ability to fix the messes we create is finite. Never before the last 50 years has humanity been in a position to utterly and totally destroy itself and drag a large amount of other life forms down with it.
Chernobyl was bad, to be sure. However, the damage was largely regional. The BP disaster is creating an Exxon Valdez crash every four days, with no end in sight.
Forget about the very real possibility of a third world war, one that could irreparably render the planet uninhabitable for humans. The fact that multinational oil cartels are building things capable of creating disasters without solutions should be of concern to everyone who likes…
Dio: The Last In Line
Nick Pell from Red Star Times:
While most people think that RJD came from the belfry of a castle in Anglia, his origins were far more mundane. He was born Ronald James Padavona in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a small mill / port city on the New Hampshire sea coast where I once lived. Soon after his family moved to the middle-of-nowhere in New York. It was here that he changed his name to “Dio” (after a mafia kingpin) and cut his teeth in the world of rock, playing on a series of obscure rockabilly singles.
I suspect that many will be surprised at the deep outpouring of grief surrounding the untimely passing of Ronnie James Dio. He is not the famous figure that Ozzy Osbourne is. However, Ronnie James Dio did something no other singer in metal or rock did quite as well as he did. Dio brought mythological significance and a…
