.•º•. Detroit.•º•.'s topics - tribe.net

Escape from Detroit

Yul — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:41:26 GMT

It's a new web comic that deals with an even darker future for Detroit. A number of people have responded favorable to it for some reason. It might be because of that catchy title.
http://www.comicspace.com/timelike01/comics.php?action=gallery&comic_id=25694

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Join the ZEN ARMY!

Zen ARMY — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:02:11 GMT

A new way to help people has arrived. get sent out on missions that you care about, it can be anything from helping an elderly person with some firewood, or lawn care, helping drive a disabled person to the store, Spending some time with terminally ill patients, or donating a kidney... Maybe it is even playing your music at a concert, or donating some art, even helping a fellow artist with some paints... you name it.. !

Sign up today at www.zenarmy.org

If you know someone in need.. tell them about us!

ACTIONS not TRANSACTIONS

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Couple of useful websites

growlbear — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:32:54 GMT

For job searchers the website, http://www.indeed.com, is a web crawler and pretty useful.

I was directed to http://julieslist.homestead.com through the Ferndale career center. It lists a large variety of free or low cost local resources.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

who wants to hoop with our crew weekly?

Lindsay — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:49:33 GMT

we are a small group with various skill levels, looking to teach and learn and grow together through hooping. Right now our weekly meeting is on wednesdays around 8 in Corktown. If we get a large enough group we will move our spectacle to the park in front of the old train station:) If you would like to come email me at msjewell23@yahoo .com and I will give you directions. see you this week!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Anybody know lots about the bars and clubs in metro detroit?

Jim — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:18:55 GMT

I'm allergic to cigarette smoke, so naturally most of the bars and clubs I've been to have been vile and disgusting places where I've been unable to breathe, let alone enjoy myself. Do any of you know of any that have a no smoking policy? I live just south of Sterling Heights, so something in the area would be cool. If they play some form of rock or metal, all the better.

Thanks a lot if you can help me out.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 5 replies

World Hoop Day Detroit Press Release

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:43:49 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The Detroit Hoopers partner with the Detroit Dream Project, Motor City Blight Busters and SPARC to celebrate “World Hoop Day Detroit”

Hula hoop donations and more * Aug, 8, 2008 * 4 - 8 p.m. * Temple of the American Dream

The wheels have been turning, and on Friday, August 8 (08/08/08), Detroit will join major cities around the world in celebrating “World Hoop Day.” This international holiday is dedicated to promoting hula hooping for fun and fitness. Think of it like Hands Across America – but hula hoops around the world. From New York and Los Angeles to Tel Aviv and Berlin, the whole planet will be hooping it up on 08/08/08. For an interactive map of participating cities, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.worldhoopday.com" http://www.worldhoopday.com

Last year’s “World Hoop Day Detroit” celebration took place at Comerica Cityfest and was attended by hundreds of local kids and families. The Detroit Hoopers, a group of local volunteers, organized the 2007 event and gave away 50 custom-made hoops to local non-profit Alternatives for Girls. The New Center Council also funded 250 store-bought hoops to give away to kids in the Cityfest crowd.

What could top that? World Hoop Day 2008 of course! This year, the Detroit Hoopers are partnering with the Detroit Dream Project, Motor City Blight Busters and Society to Promote Art & Recreation in the Community (SPARC) to host a hooping extravaganza at the Temple of the American Dream (in historic Old Redford). The event will include hooping lessons, prizes, a hoop jam and more.

Everyone’s invited (with a hoop if they have one, empty-handed if they don’t) to help represent Detroit on World Hoop Day. The point is just to get as many Detroiters as possible out to The Temple of the American Dream, from 4-8 p.m., to have fun and represent our city. And who wants to be the only person on the planet not hula hooping on 08/08/08?

World Hoop Day international was founded by New York hoop dancer Annie Leffingwell O'Keeffe. The 2008 World Hoop Day Detroit celebration was organized by “The Detroit Hoopers”: Faith Shinaver, Danielle Kaltz, Micha Adams, Susie Elfakir and professional hoop performer Revolva.

The Temple of the American Dream is a public art park and temple pavilion, located in the Old Redford / Brightmoor area of Detroit (17363 Lahser Rd., Detroit, Michigan 48219) designed by artist David Best and built by the Detroit Dream Project team. SPARC is dedicated to directly improving the economy and community of Detroit by furthering the idea that the creation of art is an essential element of community life. For twenty years, Motor City Blight Busters has been committed to stabilizing, revitalizing and beautifying the City of Detroit.

Together, we can make this a hooping holiday to remember. See you at World Hoop Day Detroit!

For more information, contact Faith Shinaver at 248-854-7498.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Allied Media Conference at WSU

Yul — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:52:11 GMT

I just discovered that the Allied Media Conference will be at Wayne State University this month. I'm tempeted to go since it's so close, but I'm still reluctant to go since my print publications barely sell at all. Any suggestions in this area?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Recycling Project

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:33:48 GMT

Currently I am working on a "Texas Recycle" project. I am customizing 26 gal. cans. There is a daytime photo of one in my album. The logos will be lit at night, like an "exit" sign. I am going to try to recycle at the major events in the Austin area (Houston, San Antonio, Dallas are close enough...+/- 3 hour drive). Anyhow, I think some of y'all should take on the project as well. Obviously there is still a problem with not recycling at major events.

Matt

Also, you will want to coordinate the recycling well in advance (at least 6 months methinks).

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Fraud Alert regarding North Coast Earth First! Aka NCEF! Media. Completely independent from any activist group!

White Rabbit — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:19:51 GMT

16 views since posting on Sunday, December 2, 2007
Location California

enlarge photo
NCEF! Media in Humboldt County Ca.(AKA NORTH COAST EARTH FIRST!), is accused of fraud and donation embezzlement. Caution! Do not support this lone wingnut's scam! Active and legitamate groups exist in the area. Caution! Do not be fooled by NCEF! Media and his fraudulent outreach. Shunka Wakan exists completely seperate from any active affinity group.

Read about how he perpetuated a lawsuit under the guise of EF! against a legitimate environmental nonprofit:

From: northcoastjournal.com/100407/...004.html

October 4, 2007

"Money On Trees"

Big cash nearly fell into Shunka Wakan's lap. Other Earth First!ers are kinda happy it didn't.

by Heidi Walters

As the jury trial for the civil suit Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation puttered to a start last week inside Courtroom 3 at the Humboldt County Courthouse, Shunka Wakan — a key witness for the plaintiff — spent mornings sitting on the hard wooden benches in the long hallway outside the courtroom. During breaks, Miller's attorney Linda Mitlyng, would come out of the courtroom to join him. But otherwise, as other people and their legal affairs swirled around him in a warm, odiferous bath of humanity, Shunka sat alone. Or, sometimes, he stood alone, straight-spined, his small, stocky body swallowed by the huge, stiff blue suit out of which his newly shorn, razor-scraped bald head poked vulnerably — as if, at any moment, the suit could gulp once more and he'd disappear completely. Always, he clutched a paper folder with a wolf's face on its cover.

The North Coast Earth First! Media guru had shaved off his woolly rust-tinged brown hair and beard the night before jury selection started, after discussing it with attorney Mitlyng. Now, it took an uncertain moment to recognize him. Then, of course: Shunka's light blue eyes in the pink-pale face, Shunka's closed-lip smile, Shunka's trademark husky murmur, "Mm-hmm, for sure," in response to a comment.

In Courtroom 3, the amiable but no-nonsense Judge Christopher Wilson's domain, the fate of a $185,000 donation dangled. Would the plaintiff, donor Kathryn Miller, prevail in her claim that the defendant, the Trees Foundation, was not in fact the intended recipient of her generous gift? That Shunka Wakan's NCEF! Media Center and the treesitters were? Or would the Trees Foundation convince the jury that, in fact, the money was intended all along for Trees, with no instructions attached for funneling it elsewhere?

Richard Idell, left, who is defending the Trees Foundation against a lawsuit filed by Kathryn Miller, confers with Doug Wallace, community support coordinator for Trees. Photo by David Lawlor.

In her opening arguments, Miller's attorney, Mitlyng, said the case came down to "fraud and broken promises." "She believed [Trees] would hold [the money] in trust, for the benefit of North Coast Earth First!" said Mitlyng. The defense's attorney, Richard Idell, countered in his opening argument that the donation was an unconditional gift and Miller never wrote letters of instruction — as Miller claims she did. "Ms. Miller ... didn't do anything. She took the check [from her mother's estate] and flipped it over and wrote on the back, 'Payable to the Trees Foundation,'" said Idell.

Miller's claim sought the return of her $185,000, plus interest.

Out in the hallway, Shunka waited to tell his side of the story. Maybe he thought about the magical donation that never materialized, and now probably never would. Maybe he thought about the other times he'd been in this courthouse — dozens of times, along with other activists, often before Judge Wilson, answering to charges of trespassing and other forms of civil disobedience in the woods. Likely, he wondered when they were finally going to call him in to testify — it was taking forever in there. He'd even sent out an e-mail prematurely to the several hundred subscribers to his NCEF! online group erroneously announcing he would be first up to testify.

By the end of Friday's court session, Miller was still on the stand. Perhaps Monday it would be Shunka's turn. Whenever it was, he would be testifying on Miller's behalf; but he wasn't a party to the lawsuit. And in the end, after hearing all of the evidence, the jury would be determining who was telling the truth about intentions and letters of instructions. Shunka was just there to provide context and evidence in a contract dispute.

But to a number of forest activists, including a half dozen or so who appeared in the audience last Friday to watch the trial unfold, that context matters more to them than the legal questions. They say this lawsuit has placed a strain on the environmental community that could do as much damage as an ill-felled redwood that takes down other giants in its descent. They disapprove of the lawsuit, and they blame Shunka for it. And, they say, it's just another example of how Shunka has commandeered the North Coast Earth First! identity and used it for purposes that nobody else in the amorphous but consensus-driven local Earth First! movement has agreed to.

"For a lot of us, when we read about the lawsuit, this is kind of like Shunka on trial," said long-time forest activist Deane Rimerman last Friday, calling from Olympia, Wash. "And, to what extent is he worthy of that money?"

Kathryn Miller wanted her money to go toward saving trees, she said on the witness stand last Thursday. The slender 59-year-old was dressed in a pink print skirt and white sweater, with her gray-streaked dark hair pulled back into a neat, thin braid tinted slightly green. (Little did the jury know that Miller had spent the night in jail, in blue jail duds, and then had been "dressed out," in court lingo, in her street clothes before being escorted into the court by the bailiff. Miller had been arrested the week before, on Sept. 17, when she arrived in civil court for the pre-trial readiness hearing; according to the misdemeanor criminal charges filed against her, Miller allegedly had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation all hours of the day and night.)

On the stand, Miller described how she became an activist. She remembered how, when she was a child in Orinda, her mother decided to stop spraying the beautiful oak trees on their property after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. "And then, when my son was 9, we were watching the news on TV about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. And my son said to me, 'I wish I'd never been born. I don't think I'll get to live a full life.'"

She protested the building of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. She started a peace action group in the late 1980s in San Jose. She did nonviolent protests at the Nevada Test Site. And in 1990, she came up with some of her fellow protestors to help set up the camp for Redwood Summer, and to take part in demonstrations. She's been on and off involved in Earth First! actions in Humboldt ever since, she said, including huffing in supplies for treesitters and huffing out their garbage. She'd also, at one point, bought a condo in Arcata.

In 2004, Miller sold her condo and bought an acre of farmland, already planted with coffee, in Guatemala. She put in fruit trees to shade the coffee. That same year, her mother, who lived in Sonoma, died. "The last time I saw her was in 2003," said Miller. "She told me when she died, she was going to leave me some money. I told her I'd use it to further my work for the forest. And she was pleased, because she loved the treesitters and the forest."

Shortly after learning of her mother's death, Kathryn Miller sought out Shunka Wakan in front of the food co-op in Arcata, where he "tabled" to raise funds for the North Coast Earth First! Media office — selling T-shirts, and stickers, offering pamphlets, accepting donations. She'd known Shunka for about five years, she said.

"I said to him, I was going to inherit some money: What was the best way to get that to the North Coast Earth First!?"

In the spring of 2005, Shunka Wakan was floating above the treetops. "I was so excited," the 32-year-old said in an interview a few weeks ago, sitting inside his tiny but colorful North Coast Earth First! Media office in Arcata, walls covered in art and topo maps — including one of Buckeye Mountain, where in 2000-2001, during the "Mattole Free State" action, Shunka and others hiked 14 miles through waist-high snowdrifts to save trees.

Kathryn Miller, he recalled, had come up to him excitedly as he walked along the sidewalk outside the Arcata Co-op and said, "I just donated $185,000 to North Coast Earth First!'"

She'd talked to him the year before about making the donation — she'd said she was anticipating an inheritance from her mother's estate, and she wanted to make a big donation to his group. He'd told her to make it through the Trees Foundation, which handled the NCEF! Media office's finances through an arrangement that had been established years ago. (The Trees Foundation is an umbrella organization formed in 1991 to assist smaller environmental groups. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it can accept large, tax-deductible donations on behalf of affiliates, and provide professional resources. And it can lead large campaigns, like the one to save the Headwaters Forest back in the '90s.)

Well, now she'd finally done it.

Miller and Shunka agreed to meet at Fiesta Café in Sunny Brae, so she could tell him how she wanted the money spent: She wanted, straight away, for someone to organize a mediated workshop for the local Earth First! activists on ageism and sexism, issues she thought were fracturing the movement. And, she wanted the bulk of the donation to help support the forest activists who blockade logging roads and hunker up in ancient redwoods to fend off loggers' saws.

Not long after, Shunka was on his way to have lunch with some folks from the Trees Foundation, where they'd talk about Miller's wishes.

"Our media outreach was going to get a big boost," Shunka said. "The donation would keep the EF! office going for many years. So I walked into the Wildflower Café feeling elated, thinking we got all this money."

Barbara Ristow and Doug Wallace of the Trees Foundation were there. "I was super excited," Shunka said, "and I said, 'This is great, this big donation. Isn't it wonderful?' We ordered food, and still I'm all excited, talking about the money, but I notice they're looking nervously at each other. [Finally], they said, 'Well, we're just shocked that you think this money was for you.' And I was like, 'I just met with the donor, and that's what she said.' And they're like, 'Well, let's go ahead and plan the workshop and deal with that later.' I remember that, because it put me at ease."

After that, Shunka said he gave Trees a list of people he thought might benefit from the mediator-run workshop. "Some were people I knew had beefs with me, but I was willing to bring 'em into the circle and talk about it."

According to some vague accounts, the workshop was a disaster. One person who was there claims that Shunka, at one point, pounded his fists on the floor, blustered, then got up and stormed out, yelling as he walked away. Shunka says that's overblown.

"The letter from Kathryn Miller to Barbara Bristow said she wanted the mediation to be a safe place, safe to be emotional," he said. "And I think people are saying 'I freaked out.' The freak-out reports are exaggerated. It's just part of this ongoing character assassination. People say I was 'red-faced.' But my face is naturally red."

In late 2005, while Shunka was in Seattle, a friend called him from Arcata to say a woman had come by asking for the office key. She had a list of equipment she wanted to take away. The friend didn't give her the key.

When Shunka got back from Seattle, he discovered his reimbursement funds from Trees had been "frozen." He also learned about a letter someone in the NCEF! movement had circulated for signatures and then sent to Mark Knipper, who handled the Trees Foundation transactions for the NCEF! Media office. It said, in essence, "We don't want Shunka running EF!"

"I called the Trees Foundation," Shunka recalled. "I was sick, it was the middle of the winter, I'm trying to table, it's raining, it's cold. And Barbara Ristow told me, 'You just need to have a meeting [with the other Earth First!ers] and come to a group consensus on what the Trees Foundation funding should be used for."

The meeting never happened — nobody could agree to meet, said Mark Knipper, also in an interview last week. Knipper is a social worker and a long-time activist who had been the contact person between Trees and NCEF! Media. "So it ate itself," Knipper said. "And although I'm former Navy, a mariner, I said I'm not going down with this ship. So I divorced myself from it ... and signed it all back to Trees."

The NCEF! Media office was dropped from the Trees Foundation altogether.

Shunka and the NCEF! Media office never did see any of the big donation. Miller didn't even know that, he said, until she phoned him up in the summer of 2006, more than a year after she made the donation, to ask about a guy named "Jungle," who had been reported as missing on the NCEF! hotline. Miller was spending much of her time in Guatemala now, where she was raising fruit trees; after she'd made her big donation, Hurricane Stan had struck — she spent the ensuing year mopping up the mess.

First, Shunka told her Jungle was still missing. Then he told her about the money.

"I said, 'Yeah, they told me it wasn't for us,'" said Shunka. "And she said, 'I meant for all of it to go to you guys.' She sounded real upset. And I was like, 'I knew it! I knew it!'"

Shunka tried to sue Trees in small claims court, but it went nowhere.

Miller filed a claim against the Trees Foundation on Oct. 5, 2006, in Humboldt County Superior Court, seeking the return of the $185,000 plus interest so she could distribute the money herself.

And if she wins? "She may just spread it out more," said Shunka. "She's got tree planting ideas. Maybe she could buy a grove. She'd maybe not give it all to Earth First! this time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Trees blew for us."

On an uncomfortably hot afternoon last week, four forest activists who'd agreed to an interview for this story — Jeff, Shaggy, Sparrow and Farmer — sat on the ground at the Arcata Marsh next to a log bench on which a teeming crew of red ants worked a splintered notch. Someone had come along here in 1999 and carved a grouping of faces — bearded, grimacing, possibly mourning faces — onto the log and signed it Daniel. The carving had been drenched in red paint, and burnished by years of sitters.

"It kind of reminds me of the memorial for Gypsy," said one of them. "With the red paint."

Gypsy was the forest name of David Nathan Chain, who in September 1998, during an Earth First! action at Grizzly Creek, was crushed to death by a tree felled by an enraged logger. Farmer, actually, was there — he was just 16, but had a year of activism already under his belt. And Shunka was there — it was Shunka's first forest action.

Farmer, Shag, Sparrow and Jeff first made it clear that they spoke for themselves alone, although they participate in various forest defense affinity groups: Farmer works for the Mattole Wildlands Defense Group now, watchdogging the California Department of Forestry for new timber harvest plans, and keeping an eye on a Pacific Lumber Co. watershed analysis. Shag, who saw his first redwood about five years ago, helps keep the Fern Gully treesit village in Freshwater functioning. Jeff, who grew up in the high desert, and fell in love with the woods, works with the Nanning Creek treesit just outside of Scotia, as well as other groups. Sparrow, who was drawn to forest action because the cultural landscape was "like a folktale" he couldn't resist, is with the Fern Gully affinity group. These groups are all part of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association, a collective with a website but no formal structure.

The HFDA sprang into being six years ago — about the time the entity called North Coast Earth First! had essentially dissolved. It would take a book to describe that drawn-out dissolution — a book of lost causes, won causes, waning media interest, Judi Bari's death, Gypsy's death, ego-spurred squabbles, interpersonal catastrophes, a war overseas, hurricanes. And while the HFDA activists might still cherish the Earth First! name — the movement — in their hearts, it's now been further complicated by what you might call the Shunka effect.

"I still feel in many ways solidarity with the greater Earth First! movement abroad," said Farmer. "But in this county, in this climate, if you say you're with the North Coast Earth First!, many people associate you with North Coast Earth First! Media."

Shunka revived the North Coast Earth First! office around 2002. And he did what previous office managers had done — tabled, put out news releases, wrote articles for other publications. But it wasn't like the old days, in the '90s, when hundreds of people were getting arrested in forest actions and the jail support phone and legal resources were in constant use.

Shunka first worked in an office in Eureka, then later moved to Arcata. He called his outfit the NCEF! Media Center. For a time, he and other "affinity groups" tried to work together. But he alienated some people. He took over the North Coast Earth First! website. He controlled the North Coast Earth First! email list of 300 or more subscribers to the news alerts. He sent out press releases on his own.

"I felt the North Coast Earth First! Media Center was a unilateral effort on Shunka's part," said Farmer. Whereas, in the old days, "spokespeople were decided on by the group. And if you wrote an article it was passed by everyone. I feel Shunka appointed himself spokesperson at some point."

Many also claim they've been subject to a lashing anger from Shunka.

"I won't work with him because I pledge nonviolence in my actions," said Shag. "I don't believe he pledges the same thing. He has exhibited violent behavior towards me and towards other activists in my presence."

"He's a bear," said Jeff, making claw-fists with his hands.

But the sad thing is, all of this infighting probably has done nothing to help the actual trees. And the mediation workshop Kathryn Miller wanted didn't fix matters. Now, there was her lawsuit.

"When I heard about this lawsuit, I thought, the Trees Foundation does not deserve to be attacked in that way," said Farmer. "There's much bigger issues that need to be dealt with — with Maxxam and old-growth logging. ...If you look at Fern Gully and Nanning Creek (the Bonanza timber harvest plan), there's hundreds of old growth acres still standing whose fate is unclear."

Shag put it more bluntly: "If [Miller] knew Shunka and wanted to get the money to North Coast Earth First! Media, she should've given it to Shunka. But if she was trying to get it to treesits and forest defense, then the money went to the right place.

"My problem is this whole representation thing. There's people in the trees — how do you know who to get the money to, to help them?"

Shunka knows that a lot of fellow activists aren't happy with his role in the donation dispute. He also knows how some people talk about him and say he's hard to get along with. "I'm just standing up for the truth," he said. "And people don't like it. To me, it feels like a small clique of people who don't like me. I feel a lot of love and support in this community."

He certainly doesn't come off right away as someone who's angry, or who lashes out, or who locks the office and doesn't let people in. Why, recently, he helped a young woman hook up with the treesitters so she could learn the ropes. (Shaggy said that's proof Shunka doesn't have direct connections with the people doing direct action; but you can't deny it's a connection.)

It's probably a bad idea to ask Darryl Cherney, one of the founders of the local Earth First! movement, what he thinks of Shunka Wakan, whose real name is Jason Wilson. (Shunka tells a story of how he was named by a Lakota medicine man on the banks of the Cheyenne River in South Dakota in 1995. "Shunka Wakan," meaning "great dog," is only part of it. There's a secret part after that — altogether, his name means "the humble man called horse.")

"Shunka's a wingnut," Cherney said over the phone last Friday, sounding cheerfully vitriolic. "I have a 10-verse song about Shunka."

Here are the last few verses:

Who's at the co-op spanging a donation
Shunka, Shunka
Who's got a lawsuit 'gainst the Trees Foundation
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka
Who's gonna keep on fighting the fight
Shunka, Shunka
With four of his friends at swimmers delight
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka (Shunka voice: It's the last of the revolution)

There's no other word for it but "mean." But Cherney and Shunka have history — not all of it sour. Cherney said Shunka laughed when he heard the song, at least the first time.

"I met Shunka in 1998," Cherney said. "And I know he knew Julia ["Butterfly" Hill, whom Shunka had come west to find]. That was a good thing, helping Julia. That was good Shunka."

Cherney had even pushed for Shunka to go to Houston to talk with Charles Hurwitz, whose Maxxam Corp. bought out the old Pacific Lumber company back in 1985 and quickly became the forest activists' number one villain. Shunka went.

But now? "The current status of Shunka and me," Cherney said, "is that Shunka has sent me five or eight or nine e-mails threatening to sue me. Shunka is a joke."

Cherney can talk for hours about the problems he's had with Shunka over the years. His main point, though, is what has Shunka done for the trees lately?

"My question is, where's your topo maps?" he asked. "Where's your wilderness preservation proposal? Where's your lobbyist team in Sacramento?"

It has to be that, on some level, even the people in the movement who don't like Shunka understand somewhat where he's coming from. So he's emotional. Passionate. Perhaps he's caught up so completely in the cause he can't let go. Or, who knows — maybe he's a phony, like he accused Knipper of being back in 2005.

But being a forest activist comes with perils beyond the obvious physical ones.

"I'm really trying to have compassion for Shunka, even though he's kind of attacked us," said Susy Barsotti by phone from Laytonville a couple of weeks ago. Barsotti is president of the Trees Foundation board, and she says the lawsuit has held Trees hostage, unable to function fully. "I've been mystified and dismayed that he's participated like this in the suit. But Shunka witnessed Gypsy's death. And I think he may have post-traumatic stress syndrome. I don't think he's recovered from it. And that can affect your behavior."

A number of people mentioned this, actually, about Shunka. And he often refers to Gypsy's death himself. In an article titled "What Luna has taught me," posted on the website of Julia "Butterfly" Hill's organization, Circle of Life, Shunka writes: "I decided to commit to doing ground support after witnessing the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain on September 17, 1998 ... I remember looking across the valley as we hiked up that day, seeing the rolling hills of forests and clear-cuts, and thinking out loud, "That's why we're here!" Seeing Gypsy's life taken from him, and then seeing the corruption and lies of the Humboldt County Sheriffs ... really opened my eyes to the situation our old-growth forests face."

Later, he did ground support for Hill in her second year in Luna. And in the same article on her website, something else Shunka writes indicates how ready he was to devote himself to a cause: "Being on the support team was the top priority in my life, and I was happy knowing that everything else revolved around when I'd be needed for the next supply run. I never felt lost because I knew what I was doing. That was a feeling I had not felt in years, between feeling dissatisfaction with life in college, and then more dissatisfaction with life as a minimum-wage worker after college. Before joining Julia's ground support team I was unhappy, even to the point of tears, wondering if my entire life was going to be a minimum-wage nightmare ...."

Pure devotion, without benefit of a little hypocrisy, could drive anyone batty. Deane Rimerman, the activist from Olympia who said it is Shunka who is on trial, said it's not uncommon for intense, stressful movements like Earth First! to produce an army of walking wounded. And he's been around, in forest actions up and down the coast, for long enough to know; he was the one, in fact, who "got the maps and led the first hikers up to the hill" to the Gypsy Mountain campaign and Luna treesit.

"In the forest activist movement, there's very little that's rewarding," Rimerman said. "There's a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome. All of us get it. Once you've been through the court process, and the jail process, and seen 1,000-year-old trees get cut down that you really cared about and thought you could save — it's devastating."

That alone, setting aside the troubles with Shunka, could explain the many rifts that have occurred within the local EF! ranks over the years. Josh Brown, who moved to Humboldt in 1995 right before the peak of the Headwaters campaign, said one of the unique qualities of Earth First! is that it "is primarily a youth movement."

"A lot of people that come through are young, are passionate — and it's a wonderful thing," he said. They get thrown into leadership positions quickly — and then they get burned out. Many move quickly on to other things. Brown stayed in longer than most. "When I left [in 2001], I was 30 years old. And I'd been a full-time activist since I was 18."

Paradoxically, said Brown, the youthful draw and the departure of seasoned activists leaves the movement with "no elders to kind of sit around and coach the [new kids]."

The movement also draws strong personalities, he said. Tenacious ones, too, like Shunka's.

"Shunka, I think he really does have a big heart," said Brown. "And I think he does care for the forest."

Last Friday, following the morning session of Miller v. Trees, a group of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association activists stood on the courthouse steps talking. The door opened, and Shunka walked out and down the steps toward the group. They didn't greet him. After a time, he tried to talk to one of them, Jeff. Jeff walked away. Shunka followed him, then stopped and talked to another guy. Then he stood alone again.

From: northcoastjournal.com/101107/...011.html

"Trees Foundation Wins"

October 11th, 2007

The jury in the civil case Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation decided in favor of Trees, after deliberating all day Tuesday. (See "Money on Trees," Oct. 4).

Miller is the long-time forest activist who inherited a bundle from her mother and then signed $185,000 over to the Trees Foundation. In her lawsuit, she claimed she had intended the money to be passed through Trees to one of its affiliates, North Coast Earth First! Media, run by Shunka Wakan. She claimed she had made her intentions clear, verbally and in writing, and that Trees had agreed to the conditions, then broken its promise and kept the money. Trees denied making such promises, and said it had never seen any letters or heard of instructions to give the money to NCEF! Media. (Also, somewhat relatedly, in criminal court on Tuesday Miller pleaded no contest to charges that she had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation.)

So, that's that. Now, there are only the pieces to pick up.

For Shunka Wakan — featured in last week's Journal as a central figure in a messy nest of infighting that has fractured the current ranks of local Earth First!ians — it could be a long, lonely patching together of lost friends and broken alliances. Not only did he and Miller lose their attempt to retrieve her donation, but now he's been banned from the North Coast Co-op.

Yes, that happened last week. It was Thursday, around 4:15 in the evening, and two activists with the Humboldt Forest Defense Association were tabling — hawking brochures and such — outside the Co-op. It's an activity Shunka himself has spent many a day doing in that very same spot, raising cash to pay for his NCEF!Media outreach work and other causes. And, well, these two fellows, Jeff and Farmer, were on Shunka's shit list, now. They'd spoken gently, but unfavorably, about Shunka's doings in the North Coast Earth First! arena — said he lashed out at people, said he commandeered NCEF! resources, and so forth. Here's a snippet of Jeff's account of what happened, which he sent to the NCJ in an e-mail on Friday:

"Shunka was removed from the Arcata Co-op yesterday after a scuffle with myself and another activist around 5 p.m. Well, he wasn't exactly removed, but APD was called. He was asked to leave after threatening to flip over the HFD donation table while stating he was 'like Jesus in the marketplace ...'"

Sue Coulter, manager of the Arcata Co-op, recounted on Friday how an employee walking by heard the argument and went inside to get her. "So I went out to talk to [Shunka], because it's not the first time we've had problems," she said. "Most of the time, he's fine. Most of the time, I stick up for him." One time, she said, she even called the police to protect Shunka after someone had threatened him. "But he gets into arguments. I tried to talk to him. I told him to leave. ... He was causing a scene, right by the door, and I can't have it. He refused to leave. ... I said, fine. I went into the store. He followed me into the store, and he was still yelling at me, 'Oh, now you're going to call the police on me.'" Coulter called the police, but Shunka left before they arrived.

Shunka, waiting in the courthouse for the jury verdict Tuesday, said Coulter did indeed ask him to leave and he did, indeed, refuse to. As for the HFD tablers, he said he merely asked them why they had Trees Foundation literature on their table. "I said, 'Why do you want to represent these people?'" And then, he said, "Jeff accused me of embezzling — he said this in public. He said, 'You've embezzled thousands of dollars from the Earth First! movement through the years.' And I complained to one of the employees who was walking by. Because that's serious, accusing someone of embezzling."

But Shunka said the whole thing's yet another attack on him. "I don't consider I was yelling. We were talking. I'm an emotional person, I concede to that. I speak from my heart. I don't scream at people. I would love to — but I don't."

In his email, Jeff with HFD predicted Shunka would leave town within weeks, if not sooner. But at the courthouse, even before the verdict, Shunka said he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm just going to continue to run the Earth First! office and continue to call Humboldt County home," he said. He's also going to write a letter to the Co-op, complaining about how he gets scapegoated and booted out of there even when other people, he says, are the culprits. And, as for the Miller v. Trees case, he said, he and Miller may now take their complaint to another venue.

-- Heidi Walters

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posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

all belly dancers, drummers and percussionists invited to perform in the streets of detroit on july 12th, 2008

Roxann — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:29:33 GMT

hand drummers and belly dancers are invite to perform pure dance detroit street performance will be held on july 12TH, 2008 at 4pm. we dance in the streets rain or shine.

what is pure?
pure is collective of dancers and drummers who take music and dance out into the streets for the purposes of healing and peace. Movements from ancient sacred world traditions including Middle Eastern, Chinese, Romany gypsy, israeli folk,flamenco,indian dance and drumming will be incorporated into the pure experience.dance and ritual create community, drawing people together both emotionally and physically into a shared sense of the divine.as the community participates, no one is a stranger any longer. musicians and dancers will be traveling down the sidewalks and the people mover and public spaces to share their love of dance and music with the public and to pay homage to specific sites. enroute, hart plaza, gm building water front, in front of the spirt of detroit, then ending in greek town. all dancers are welcome.

pure dance rehearsal required for all dancers and musicians to perform
july 7th, 8:30pm - 9:30pm at the detroit talent studio in royal oak
wednesday july 9th, 9:00pm-10:00 pm at the warren family ymca, warren, mi.

pure dance rehearsal required for all dancers and musicians to perform
july 7th, 8:30pm - 9:30pm at the detroit talent studio in royal oak
wednesday july 9th, 9:00pm-10:00 pm at the warren family ymca, warren, mi.

hand drummers and musicians do not pay rehearsal fees.hand drummers are hard to come by and needed for pure.easy basic drum patterns. skill level not required in drumming or dancing. if you have no drum and want to play, i have 2 dumbeks for drummers to use if needed.

volunteers to assist drummers and dancers also needed. if you would like particate and do not drum or dance, you are assistance is greatley needed and appreciated.

if you would like to perform, drum or volunteer please email me with your full name, email address and contact number. 10 major cities dance simutaneously at the same time for
p.(public awareness)
u.(in our urban surroundings)
r.(ritual for connecting throuh music and dance to connect with each other in peace)
e.(this is an experment,to help create acceptance in ourselves,to accept others to create a more peaceful society)
www.bellyrox.com for more information or www.puredance.org

this is a non paying event. we hopefully will be collecting donations for youth organizations to help our less fortunate children have a better tommorow, our children are our future leaders. lets lead them their with peace.

www.bellyrox.com for more info

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Detroit Public Schools Book Depository/ Roosevelt Warehouse

east_bay_gray — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:28:42 GMT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetjuniper/sets/72157603302647339/

amazing photoset.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Bringing New Naturally Based Skin Care Line to Detroit

mary — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:55:12 GMT

Help me spread the word about it. For anyone that wants great skin care at a discount and or to earn extra cash.

Votre Vu.

Now accepting reservations. New Natural Based Skincare line launching Spring 2008. Reserving from now until spring. Early reservation maximizes compensation. Reservation is free. Product line derived from an 80 year old French based Company. No party requirement. No inventory. Low Start Up. $99. No payment until Spring 2008. Lucrative compensation. And more!

Contact Mary for information!
votrevu@triad.rr.com
Mary Johnson Sponsor ID# 0002219.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

mismatch feet - HELP

TARBH NATHRAC — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 20:11:09 GMT

Hi

This is an odd request, but here goes ...
I have a friend with two mismatched size feet. Thus it becomes a very expensive as well as wasteful endeavor to purchase new shoes as two pair have to be purchased at a time - one in each size and two of the shoes immediately, unfortunately have to get pitched. Many years ago a read in a magazine of a website/forum/chatroom ... SOMETHING ... where people with two apposing different size feet in a close metropolitan area could sign up and find each other and so buy ONE pair of shoes each and trade the one that didn't fit. Didn't know anyone that fit the description at the time so I didn't bother to remember anything about it. I am SO NOT internet/computer savvy ... but did do a little searching. All I could find was a company that would manufacture A pair of shoes in two different sizes - made to order. Although a bit less expensive than having to buy TWO pair of shoes - I found them to still be rather expensive.

So-o-o-o ...

Anybody know this mismatched feet buddy location - or could give me some tips to find it?

Thanx

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 3 replies

intentional community *

Zoe — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:25:43 GMT

coming fall 2008…somewhere in ann arbor

the house will ideally have 5-10 people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and interests.

affordability is a priority.

essential activities will include:
activism…working for a just society and to end all forms of oppression
art…theater, music, dancing, painting, poeming.
fun…parties, laughing, celebrating the mysterious pleasures of being a human
healing…through meditation and other spiritual and contemplative practices

this is a work in progress. many important details have yet to be determined. all members will have an active role in shaping the community. if you are interested in collaborating on this project, contact zoe at zoebender@gmail.com

*“an intentional community is a planned residential community designed to promote a much higher degree of social interaction than other communities. the members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political or spiritual vision, and also share responsibilities and resources.”

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

ATS Belly dance

Ashley — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:20:25 GMT

does anyone know where I can find classes?

let me know!

Ash

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Channel 2 News advocates animal cruelty!

Yul — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:07:12 GMT

I will never, ever watch Channel 2 news again!!! Those cat-hating assholes listed "your neighbor's cat" as one of the things that's hard to scrape off your car in one of their very, very stupid weather trivia questions! These numbskulls need to stay in the busniess of reporting news, not advocate animal cruelty! And please don't tell me that I'm overreacting because I'm not. Cruelty against cats is a very real thing, and do not want to support that bullshit for any reason!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 3 replies

Ann Arbor: High Romance, Honest Seduction Workshop

sabrina1313 — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:55:30 GMT

Friday Oct 19th 7-9:30PM
3200 West Liberty, Suite A, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Seduction has a bad rap. For most the word is synonymous with manipulation, deception and power-over practices. We're reclaiming seduction and rehabilitating it's tarnished name. Honest Seduction is cooperatively creating power and sparking healthy intimacy. This workshop will explore and improve your seduction skills including: pick up lines, interesting/exciting offers, difficult disclosures and writing love letters.

High Romance is the daring exploration of who you are and can be in your relationship with someone you care about. This workshop will guide you in discovering your individual and shared identity in current or possible romance.

Sabrina Burke is an irreverent advocate of radical intimacy and a facilitator of blindfold snuggles and other events for the Portland chapter of LoveTribe . She leads workshops for Network for New Culture and is the coach for the 2012 US Olympic team in flirting.

Paxus Calta is an unapologetic polyamory propagandist and incessant storyteller. He is the director of the Emma Goldman Institute for Theoretical and Applied Funology (the study of fun).

The workshop runs about 2 1/2 hours. This is not a lecture, rather it is highly interactive experience using small group work, role plays and individual exercises. There is a requested sliding scale donation of $5 to $10. No one turned away for lack of funds. This workshop is open individuals of all sexual orientations and relationship models. RSVPs requested (and questions happily answered) at paxus.calta@gmail.com or call 541-505-0803.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Hockeytown

L3W15 — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:37:14 GMT

All I have is one question..this is suppose to be Hockeytown right? How is it that when I hav eto watch a game on tv..theres soooo many empty seats? I know the seats are sold....most of them are season tickets...and ticketmaster only has upper lever at the freaking wall for seats side by side...when it has those...most of the time I have to go on ebay to get tickets and then theres no guarantee on those because of freaking snipers on there who will make some ungodly bid at the last second to get the tickets....then not even go to the game! sooo i ask again....why are the seats empty..if you arent going to use the tickets you already have because you spent the money to get season tickts, why dont you give/sell them to someone that will....in saying that...if you have season tickets...i will be more than happy to work somethign out with you on the games you dont want/cant go to...just let me know...

-L-

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

tigers stadium

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:43:36 GMT

Does anyone know when the tigers stadium closed in michigan avenue ?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 4 replies

Halloween Event of the Year. What day is good for YOU?

AjmWolfe — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 07:21:29 GMT

Holding a Halloween party/event at one of the biggest clubs that half of you has never been to in Detroit. Need to commit to either the Sunday or Tuesday before (10/28 or 10/30) and I want to know what day you all think is better. Reply here or contact me directly, but I need to decide soon.

Open invitation to follow. Live bands, DJs, fun and friends.

-AJM

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

DIY Craft Show??

T-Bird — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:47:30 GMT

Know where and when, please email AND post! TBird

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

motel east jefferson

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:17:34 GMT

me and my wife have a appointment at 8.30am in detroit save getting up at 4.00am we thought we could stay in a motel in detroit so we are wanting a resonable priced and quite motel we could stay at any one could help

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Concert of Colors??

JusForKix — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:59:23 GMT

Anyone going to the Concert of colors this weekend ?

www.concertofcolors.com

Jus

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Relocation/Family/Commute

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:48:35 GMT

There is a possibility that I may relocate to the Detroit area. I'd be working in the city and need some insight of different areas to live that are family and commute friendly. Good schools are a priority as well as community activities geared to younger kids (I have a 3 and 7 year old).

Everyone is telling me Grosse Pointe area and although it looks nice it doesn't seem very diverse or inviting as far as family goes. I like the idea of Ann Arbor, but wonder if it is too far out. Any insight you guys might have on inbetween areas would be helpful.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 6 replies

Casinos failed to properly fund schools

Yul — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:29:02 GMT

Here's my stupid question of the moment: Why aren't Detroit casino revenues enough to resolve the school board's financial problems?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

cool Traverse city band

squeeky — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:32:49 GMT

http://tribes.tribe.net/fairchildrock

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Invest in your health!

Robert — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 22:25:33 GMT

If you believe in investing in your personal health by way of taking whole food supplements then visit my website: www.dontforgettotakeyourvitamins.com/willis20340 for more information.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Detroit is so polluted!

Yul — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:21:49 GMT

For whatever reason, many Detroiters prefer to dump their trash on the groud instead of throwing it in a trash can. For such folks, this isn't a problem. For me, this is a massive problem -- especailly since it's likely that it'll be a cold day in the solar corona before such people can be persuaded not to pollute the city. To that I say pollution sucks and pollutors suck!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Coffee-House Fans Unite!

AjmWolfe — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 20:04:56 GMT

Hi all,

We've started a Yahoo Group for the purpose of gathering support and interest in an independent coffee house we plan to open in the northern suburbs of Metro-Detroit, Michigan. The group description is as follows:

"This group is for any and all individuals with the vision and desire to see a truly unique independent coffee house and rare/hard to find/used book-store open in eastern-central Oakland County."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boundandgrounds/

If you are interested, or even just curious, please check it out.

Key differences between our coffee-house and many corporate chains will include, but are not limited to:
- in-store roasting
- custom blended teas/ herbal infusions
- nonproprietary techniques; we plan to hold classes in home-roasting and tea blending
- the inclusion of a rare/used book store
- regular open-mike poetry, local bands/musicians, and game
tournaments
- design and wall space given to local artisans; we hope to allow gallery space for special viewings of photo, print/painting, jewelry, and small sculpture; artists may chose to sell their work through our location
- a desire to foster a feeling of community.

Our mission statement places high priority on making this a place where the customers feel like regulars, and the regulars feel that they have a say in the way we do business.

We look forward to seeing many of you there.

Yours in the bean,
Jaime and Adam Magy

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 13 replies

Locally needed sex

goldie — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:18:02 GMT

any takens?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 10 replies

femaLe vocalisT HERE

sylvex — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:26:01 GMT

i am currently seeking the following:

1) paid industry jobs: session work, live performance, background vocals
2) an already ESTABLISHED group. if you're a full group looking for that last member PLEASE have something to show for yourselves. i don’t expect you to be signed or to offer me hollywood connections, but i’m not looking to start something at ground level. (believe me, been there, done that!).

i have been doing the musician/band thing my whole life (writing/recording/shows/etc.). i’m extremely dedicated, experienced, & most importantly TALENTED. i am NOT looking for a cover band nor am i looking for someone to WRITE my lyrics for me. i am looking to work with people who are true artists. everyone must be responsible for their own roles within the band - constructive criticism or "suggestion" is great but am certainly NOT looking for a dictatorship. ‘humble’ egos (read: high level of confidence) not only welcomed but needed! i am very open to styles, etc. but my love is dark, heavy, melodic stuff. progressive HIGHLY desired, not interested in your typical verse-chorus-verse songs. lastly, i'm serious about music but am an extremely happy, down-to-earth, get along with anyone, easy to please type of person (who has her head on straight : )

please visit www.heroinemusic.com & excuse the construction.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Looking for work in Architechture

vbm — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 05:40:29 GMT

I have a friend in the Detroit area who's looking for work as an architech. He's talented, pleasant to be around and has a strong work ethic. Does anyone have any leads?

Thanks.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Celebrating new years is more important than human lives

Yul — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 14:22:10 GMT

It seems to me that in the minds of certain assholes, celebrating new years is more important than human lives. And like always, those assholes stupidly have again decided to shoot off their guns on new years. They must think bullets travel at the speed of light and will never return to the Earth. But in reality, their evil celebration is putting people at risk. I recall news reports in the past about the victims of new years bullets. And as far as I know, none of these scum-sucking scumlords has turned themselves in to the police. Such individuals have no conscience! Just like Saddam Hussein had no conscience. Makes me wish these new years shooters had been hung along side Saddam!

Yes, yes, yes! I know I'm being emotional about this. But being emotional is the only thing I can think of doing about the new years shooter problem. Obviously, nothing I've said here is going to convince these murderous monsters from shooting their guns off on new years. If I had my way, there'd be a curfew for new year's eve. But since so many stupid people have been brainwashed into thinking new years celebrations are mandatory , it probably won't work. Ho ve, and ti' estas viv'! Ho ve, and ti' estas viv' forever!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Crap, crap, crappy new year!

Yul — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 18:15:13 GMT

Have a crappy
Have a crappy
Have a crap, crap crappy new year

New years suck
I don't give a fuck
Crappy new year

Have a crappy
Have a crappy
May each day be filled with bad cheer

And with nothing less
Than much crappiness
All through the year

Yup! I hate new years! New years is the suckiest piece of suck that ever sucked! New years day should be just another day, not this useless and stupid celebration. But if new years day has to be a useless and stupid celebration, please, please, please don't drag me into it! I do have freedom of choice, you know!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Volunteer in Africa!

Jeant — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:08:26 GMT

Take part in community development in Africa
14-20 months program, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique
HIV/AIDS prevention by educating children, youth, adults
Training teachers for running rural village schools
Teaching families basic health and hygiene, prevention of malaria
Organize latrine-building campaigns
Email: jeannette@iicdmi.org, volunteerinafricanow@hotmail.com
Phone: 630 618 0000
www.iicdmichigan.org

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

InZer0 Halloween Party & Zombie Fashion Show - 10/27

InZer0 — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:35:03 GMT

Hot Zombies Strut at the Official InZer0 Halloween Bash

Detroit, October 10, 2006 – Thought Collide Productions, in collaboration with the SEMAFX Network, present the official InZer0 Halloween Bash and Zombie Fashion Show, on Friday, October 27, at the Hastings Street Ballroom in Detroit.

InZer0, Thought Collide’s science fiction series shot entirely in Detroit and screened monthly at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, provides the ambiance for the evening, offering a party in the broken future - today. This is the best combination of music, film, fashion and oh yeah – ZOMBIES.

On October 27th, the Hastings Street Ballroom becomes the epicenter of Detroit's Creative Quake, where the movers and shakers in a wide range of creative markets will gather to celebrate the strange and spooky Halloween Season, as well as come together to explore and develop new opportunities, discussions, collaborative ventures and ideas!

The not-to-be-missed Halloween Party of the year will feature premiere Detroit area bands, Siddhartha and Phallus Uber Alles. Local fave Siddhartha (formerly Velvet Audio) is an original combination of in your face rock n’ roll and funk, while Phallus Uber Alles is a sonic wall of industrial electronica.

Don’t miss the “Drop Dead Gorgeous” Zombie Fashion Show, featuring original fashions from exciting Detroit area designers, including Mare L. Costello and others. Also appearing straight from the Detroit underground is Hell’s Belles who will strut their stuff in a live burlesque show.

For those of you that need to catch up on InZer0, selected episodes and documentary footage will be shown in the lounge area of the Hastings Street Ballroom.

We’ve thrown down the gauntlet in the “Cool Costume Contest” -- test your creativity and compete for prizes. Dress as your favorite InZer0 character – Courier, Gang Member, Witch or Alien – or wow the judges with your own Halloween style. See if you can compete with the Hot Zombies or stretch your imagination to its limits.

The eclectic mix of talent from so wide a swath will create a Halloween event like no other in the "D." Come and help us celebrate the explosion of Detroit's Creative and Cultural Arts. By coming together, we create much more than a fun night out-- we are building a powerful network here in Detroit that will take root and grow to unprecedented levels. Don't miss this seminal, earth-shaking event that will spawn so many new ideas and opportunities for our creative community!

Doors are at 8 p.m. for the official InZer0 Halloween Bash and Zombie Fashion Show on Friday, October 27 at the Hastings Street Ballroom (715 E. Milwaukee, Detroit, MI 48202). 21 and over are welcome with a full cash bar. Free parking. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. For more information and to purchase tickets online via PayPal, visit www.thoughtcollide.com/events.

Special thanks to our sponsors: SEMAFX Network, Hastings Street Ballroom, Noovoodoo Screenworks, Real Detroit Weekly, and Hell’s Belles.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

On Nov. 7th, Vote "NO" On Proposal 3!

sylvex — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 17:48:26 GMT

Last year, the Michigan legislature narrowly passed a bill, which was signed into law by Governor Jennifer Granholm, that allowed the sport SHOOTING OF MOURNING DOVES for the first time since 1905. The Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting ban collected more than 275,000 petition signatures to get a dove hunting referendum—Proposal 3—on the November 2006 ballot. Voting "No" on Proposal 3 will restore Michigan's 100-year tradition of protecting mourning doves.

There is no management need for hunting doves, and they are shot simply for target practice. Doves are not overpopulated, do not cause nuisance problems, and have very little meat on their tiny bodies. Scientific studies also indicate that more than 30% of the mourning doves shot are wounded and not killed immediately and enduring a prolonged death.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT CURRENTLY REGISTERED TO VOTE, TOMORROW (October 10th) IS THE DEADLINE TO DO SO.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Anti-casino

Yul — Fri, 12 May 2006 13:36:08 GMT

Who else here is anti-casino? Pro-casino folks need not apply. (Start your own pro-casino thread instead!)

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

submissive/feminine women who love and desire their men (for their guiding light...).

Ted — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 19:11:28 GMT

Tired of all the drama?...me too. Let's go back to how things were when they had a chance of working...like it is in the Bible, for God's sake. Spiritual, and "out of the box" thinker desired.Want a woman who needs and enjoys a good man, and is willing to appreciate him for who he is and what he brings to the relationship. Is there such a divine creature? I know there is! She would be appreciated, in return, to the "ends of the earth".

No games...tired of all the games. Honesty, feminine nature, and a sense of loyalty are essential. Gag(sters), men bashers, and "black widow spiders", need not reply...you will simply be deleted! New millenium women...stay at the office..."wearing the pants"! REAL WOMEN...come home and be cherished, and loved...........signed, "One Women, Man"

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Tiger Stadium photos

Yul — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 21:21:28 GMT

I took a bunch of photos of Tiger Stadium the other day so I'd have some images of it before they tear it down. Looks like I made it in time.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

harmony channel - comcast cable

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:15:40 GMT

This is so amazing...it's only for folks who have comcast cable though. :(

Go to the music category and find harmony channel. AWESOME music and visuals. The best TV channel EVER.

http://www.harmonychannel.com

Check out this too:

http://www.moodzonesstore.com

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Don't sign SOS petition!

vbm — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 07:48:44 GMT

I recieved this bit from a social worker. Please consider this research, and pass it along. Thanks!

Why poor people count
Keeping SOS/TABOR off the ballot!
With Michigan's economy recovering from a long tenure of down sloping employment rates and budget cuts, cutting social service programs should not even be an option.

Interest groups are now asking Michigan voters to sign a petition that would cut social service programs that many unemployed and low-income families have come to need to survive.

Stop Overspending (SOS) is a legislation that is said to stop government over spending, but in actuality cuts social service programs and gives more money to non-constituent based causes.

The Michigan League of Human Services reported that 'adoption of the Stop Overspending (SOS) Ballot Initiative would significantly worsen Michigan's ongoing fiscal crisis and narrow the options for its solution—forcing deep cuts in K-12 and higher education, public health and safety, and child and family support and protection programs.'

This same piece of legislation was passed in Colorado in 1992 under the name "Taxpayers Bill of Rights" (TABOR). The result of the legislation left devastating effects on their economy and social service programs. The same results, if passed in Michigan, will have presumably the same affects.

According to MLHS, under the TABOR legislation Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the nation in K-12 spending, and under TABOR, inflation adjusted funding for instate college students declined by 31 percent.

Currently the condition of higher education enrollment is declining in Michigan due to rising costs of tuition. Michigan has 109 degree granting institutions in the state that serves over 550,000 students. With the trend of adjusting funding for instate college students, the numbers of students being taught may decline.

On the national front, the budget situation has caused states to consider such legislation like SOS and TABOR due to a lack of funding from the federal government.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) 85 percent of the 2005 budget enacted by the Congress and the President stems from tax cuts and increases in defense, international aid and homeland security. None of these moneys were geared towards domestic spending.

To stop government over spending the state does not need to pass legislation that will cut social service programs. The state needs to find reasonable and voter friendly solutions to a fiscal problem.

CBPP reported that in order to maintain the current trend of tax cuts and balance the federal budget 41% of social security benefits would be cut, 61% of defense spending, 53% of Medicare and only 29% of every other program excluding those above, would have to be cut.

One suggestion that might alter the need for such legislation like SOS and TABOR is to stop allowing tax cuts for people with high incomes levels. This would keep a stable amount of money in the federal budget, allowing for more allocation to social service programs that would keep human needs met across the board.

In 2005, $39 billion in "entitlement" programs were cut over the past five years. This includes Medicaid, children's programs, child support enforcement, foster care and student loans.

The Congressional Budget Office indicates that if the entitlement programs were cut it would cause low-income people to forgo much needed health care because of increased cost. It would result in $8 billion in child support going uncollected. And this would also raise charges for student loans.

With the hind sight given from the outcomes of budget cuts in 2005, and the similar circumstances arising in 2006, the president's proposed budget for 2007 still resembles a high income tax cut policy with domestic discretionary programs being cut deeper.

In order for people to "pick themselves up by their boot straps" and survive in our capitalistic economy, we need to offer social service programs to maintain a base of human needs in our society.

SOS/TABOR denies those human needs in reality, and on paper creates a facade of just cause. Do not sign the SOS petition in Michigan if you want Michigan's economy to become stable and successful for all people.

--
Crystallee R. Crain
Grad Student - Young People for fellow
People for the American Way
EMU Welfare Rights Office
Ypsilanti, MI
989-225-0118

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

The Truth about Detroit

east_bay_gray — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 15:45:52 GMT

...just because the UAW is losing members doesn’t mean American auto workers are losing jobs. According to government data, more Americans are making cars today than were making them 25 years ago. Instead of working for the Big Three, though, lots are now working for Toyota, Honda, and other foreign-based automakers building cars here in the United States.

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=11640

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

rental management companies

Cracker McGringo — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 23:51:47 GMT

Hi all, Im originally from detroit but have been in los angeles since 1994. Im noticing your real estate is reall low, specially compared to what happened here in the last 5 years. Im thinking of buying some property in detroit and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good , reputable rental management companies. Id appreciate any suggestions . Thanks in advance and I have always missed detroit, IT SUCKS HERE. Take care all, Nathan

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Research Opportunity for Men

Todd — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:52:10 GMT

ARE YOU A MAN WHO’S OVER 18 WHO HAS EVER BEEN IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH A WOMAN THAT LASTED FOR A YEAR OR MORE, WHERE FOR SOME OR ALL OF THAT TIME THE RELATIONSHIP WAS SEXUAL?
IF SO, TAKE PART IN AN ANONYMOUS RESEARCH STUDY ONLINE.
THE STUDY IS EXAMINING MALE PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOR WITHIN RELATIONSHIPS.

TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH,
CLICK THE LINK TO THE WEBSITE WHICH CONTAINS MY
QUESTIONNAIRES:

www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp

PARTICIPATION IS ANONYMOUS AND FREE OF CHARGE.

If you begin to tire at any point during the survey, you can close the browser and your place in the survey will be automatically saved. You can click on this same link again at a later time and you will be able to come back to the survey exactly where you left off.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

power to the people

Alan — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:01:55 GMT

Is it really possible to have a peoples party at this point in time? A party who's candidate was chosen, and supported by the American people?
Yes... it really is possible. And high time if you ask me.
When I was in school they told me I could be anything I wanted. Even the president of the United States. But they never taught me how. Oh sure, we had a class president and all that, (and I seem to remember something about a cartoon bill that kept getting vetoed or something), but somehow I just don't think it's the same thing. But I have asked dozens of people (smart ones too) if they new how to go about being president if they chose to. None of them had the slightest clue. Not that I would ever want to be the president. I can't even ballance my own check book, (or remember if that cartoon bill ever got passed or not) let alone trying to balance the budget for a nation. However, I have met quite a few people along my journeys that I thought had all the attributes I would like to see in a president. Strong, responsible, honorable people, always seeming to naturally look out for the needs of others, less fortunate, and weaker than themselves, while at the same time accomplishing great feats of productivity, (including balancing their check books). Ive met them in all walks of life. All shapes, sizes, sexes, and colors. Proud Americans, all of them. According to our constitution they have the right to run for president. The only question is... how? Well check it out...
A Letter to Michael Moore
Hey Mike,
I hope all is going good with the new project. I can't express to you how much I appreciate your work. You both inspire me and give me hope that someday we the People will find our voice again and take our country back. On that note, I have a great Idea I’d like to share with you. This is an idea I’ve spent serious time thinking about. I’d like to humbly ask for your help. The idea needs shepherding from someone of your caliber. So here it is…

“The People’s Party”
A reality television game show
by Alan Abbott
Contestants will compete for a chance to run for President of the United States for the People’s Party.
Possible contestants, chosen from the general public, are asked (via television & radio) to send in a video tape or DVD, 3 minutes or less explaining why they or the person they are nominating should be considered as a presidential candidate.
The show will be run Documentary/American Idol/ style. The cameras follow each contestant on their quest. Throughout the campaign contestants and their entourage travel together, eat together, stay at the same hotels, and share the same campaign headquarters in the convention rooms at the hotels where they stay.
The American public will have the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice by telephone and the contestants with the lowest number of votes steps down each week.
The winner of the show wins the candidacy for the Peoples Party, and actually runs for president of the United States of America.

That is the basic idea. I see it as an entertaining way to empower the people to establish their own party, educate the public about what it takes to run for president. Most importantly, it will give the people a chance to take their country back.

I have been developing the show for over a year and have a lot more material. I didn’t want to bombard you with it all right now. I have made several trips to and from L.A. (from Maui) trying to contact you through “more appropriate means” than e-mail, but to no avail. So here we are.

This is actually the second e-mail I have sent you, but I fear the first may have gotten lost in the crowd, as I know you try to respond to all your e-mails. So just to give you a heads up, I am going to ask a few friends to give me a hand in getting your attention. After all, election time is around the corner, and I’d like you to be given the first opportunity to give the country back to the people. Hope you don’t mind. Please feel free to e-mail me or call me at; 808-264-0984. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Alan

We The People
Really can make this happen. More impossible dreams have come true. But we have to work together. Together... the American people can do anything.
I am asking all of you to please copy this entire post and send it to michael@michaelmoore.com then send it to everyone you know.
Michael Moore is my first choice, but I know he is not everybody's cup of tea. Do you have someone in mind you like better for the task of producing, directing, and/or hosting The Peoples Party? Copy and send this entire post to them, and tell them so. But please keep in mind that the show, and everything written here is copywritten so please don't try to pass it off as your own, you'll just get yourself in a lot of trouble. Do however feel free to share with as many people as you want. In fact please do
I sent this letter to Michael Moore on May 19th, 2006 but Mikes a busy guy. He is currently shooting another feature documentary, and I'm sure the shooting schedule is very labor intensive. Not ot mention the amount of e-mails the guy must get every day. Then when he does finaly get a chance to read them, I'm sure he has a priority list of some kind. Either way, he has not returned this e-mail yet.
But Michael is not the only person that is important to reach. If we are going to make a difference we have to work together, and spread the word to everyone.
Thank you all very much.
Sincerely, Alan
Power To The People

michael@michaelmoore.com
thealanabbott@icqmail.com
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

What Detroit Can Learn From Bangalore

east_bay_gray — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 14:15:53 GMT

Giant multinationals such as Microsoft, Intel, and Dell are cramming the city with glittering new glass-and-steel buildings. Trendy little boutiques and high-rise malls selling everything from ethnic wares to Western goods are everywhere.

While Bangalore grows, Detroit continues to lead the United States in population decline. Every week, on average, 370 residents leave its crime-ridden, economically depressed neighborhoods for a better life in the suburbs or elsewhere in the country. The city’s population, close to 2 million in the late 1950s, has shrunk to less than 900,000. Formerly the fifth largest city in the country—bigger even than Chicago—Detroit is now smaller than San Jose.

http://www.reason.com/0606/fe.sd.what.shtml

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

June news

jackieblue — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 16:58:17 GMT

New band members
Jackie Blue welcomes Big Wave Dave on guitars and Tony on drums: www.JackieBlue.com for their bios

Next show
Saturday, June 10, South Lyon Theater, South Lyon, Michigan: www.JackieBlue.com for details and a map.

Complexification CD story
We finally wrote down the history of the band and the making of our album Complexification Part II. It has its own website at www.ComplexificationMusic.com Now you can be the first one on your block to know all about it!

Photos from Motor Music Festival
An awesome event! Check out the first photos at www.MotorMusicFestival.com

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

I hate Chase bank (or as I used to call it "Bank Scum")!

Yul — Tue, 30 May 2006 16:55:27 GMT

I hate Chase bank! Their stupid metal detectors are making it too inconvenient to do business there. "It's for your own protection," they say. Well then, this "protection" is 100 percent useless if you're not allowed to enter the bank because of it! Dammit! I'm definitely closing my "Bank Scum" account! Those class A-1 Morons!!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

HOLIDAY CRUISE OPPORTUNITY! LEAVES DECEMBER 23, 2007, BOOK EARLY!

Sun, 28 May 2006 15:35:08 GMT

Book early because this cruise is a guaranteed sell out! For the first time ever, Royal Caribbean is offering a Holiday Sailing aboard Explorer of the Seas departing on December 23, 2007 from Bayonne, NJ.

This is the first holiday sailing being offered from Royal Caribbean from the Northeast! This 12 night cruise is EXTREMELY well priced and we have an exclusive amenities package that will be yours if you book in time!

Please note this cruise is RAPIDLY selling out, and, we predict it will be sold out several months prior to the acutal sailing date and, booking early is strongly advised.

**Also due to the fast selling fact of this sailing, cabins that have more than 2 occupants are subject to capacity control as determined by Royal Caribbean, therefore, we cannot guarantee the availability of triple (3 people in 1 cabin) or quad (4 people in 1 cabin). Triples and quads are on a first come, first serve basis.**

Deposits are $450 per person including children due at the time of booking. Deposits are refundable without penalty until September 1, 2007.

Final payment is due on or before September 1, 2007

Category Q Inside, decks 6 & 7, 160 s.f. - $1178.00 per person

Category PR, Promenade, deck 8, 167 s.f. - $1328.00 per person

Category H Outside, deck 9, 180 s.f. - $1658.00 per person
*Triples & Quads are available $1177.79 per person

Category E1 Balcony, deck 9, 173 s.f. - $1698.00 per person
* Triples are available here $1177.79 per person

Category D3 Balcony, deck 6, 188 s.f. - $1748.00 per person

Category E2 Balcony, deck 7, 173 s.f. - $1788.00 per person

Category D1 Balcony, deck 10, 188 s.f. - $1858.00 per person
*Triples & Quads available here $1177.79 per person

Category D2 Balcony, decks 8 & 9, 188 s.f. - $2228.00 per person

Jr Suite, Double : deck 10, 277 s.f. - $2438.00 per person
* Triples & Quads are available here $1177.79 per person

Owner's Suites SOLD OUT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Single Supplements - prices below reflect 1 person in 1 cabin

Category Q inside :: $2655.79

Category PR promenade :: $2955.79

Category H outside - $3615.79

Category E1 balcony - $3695.79

Category JS suite - $5195.79

AMENTIES PACKAGE:
Free cruise insurance
Free prepaid gratuities
Two $5 casino vouchers
Dinner for two at one of the onboard Specialty Restaurants
$200 onboard credit per cabin

ITINERARY

Sunday, December 23, 2007 Cape Liberty Cruise Port (Bayonne), New Jersey -- 04:00 PM
Monday, December 24, 2007 At Sea -- --
Tuesday, December 25, 2007 At Sea -- --
Wednesday, December 26, 2007 San Juan, Puerto Rico 03:00 PM 11:30 PM
Thursday, December 27, 2007 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
Friday, December 28, 2007 Roseau, Dominica 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
Saturday, December 29, 2007 Bridgetown, Barbados 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
Sunday, December 30, 2007 Basseterre, St. Kitts 12:00 PM 06:00 PM
Monday, December 31, 2007 St. Johns, Antigua 09:00 AM 05:00 PM
Tuesday, January 1, 2008 At Sea -- --
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 At Sea -- --
Thursday, January 3, 2008 At Sea -- --
Friday, January 4, 2008 Cape Liberty Cruise Port (Bayonne), New Jersey 07:00 AM --

FOR MORE DETAILS INCLUDING PHOTOS AND BOOKING INSTRUCTIONS VISIT THE COMPREHENSIVE WEBSITE:

explorer2007.makeswebsites.com/

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

More web comic success!

Yul — Wed, 24 May 2006 13:45:19 GMT

I just started ilustrating a web comic called "Walking Across America", and I'm GETTING PAID for it! Go to: www.walking-across-america.com

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

interesting site, new to me anyway

Cracker McGringo — Tue, 16 May 2006 23:42:11 GMT

I know this site has been around awhile , but I just found it. It really helped me catch up on some things going on back there. I thought MAYBE some of you would find it interesting too. I enjoyed the "ruins of detroit" section, although finding out how bad it seems to have gotten since I left detroit in 1994 was a bit depressing. Thankfully I also found some glimmers of hope in the site to. I hope you find it enjoyable. take care, Nathan http://detroityes.com/index.html

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Casinos again

Yul — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:58:26 GMT

If the temporary casinos failed to improve the city's economic status, then why would a permanent casino do any better? Besides, if the U.S. is going to remain competative with nations like China and India, we need to become more (scientifically) educated, not become more addicted to gambling.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 3 replies

I NEED new friends!

Yul — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:28:43 GMT

I NEED new friends! I recently lost a number of friends due to my "defective" personality, and I'm of the mind that I need some friends who can tolerate (not necessarily approve of) my "defective" personality. Of course in this world without consensus, no two people share the same view of what friendship is. Therefore, I've concluded that friends are required to find a compromise on their defintions of friendship. But that hasn't worked for me lately. One former friend of mine seemed to have decided that his definition of friendship is superior to mine. As a result, I had to follow his defintion of friendship (which includes being banned from his house for life). Since I thought (and still think) that's bullshit, I had to end the friendship.

Since there is a population of 6 billion, it should be entirely possible for me to find a few folks who can tolerate my "defective" personality. If not, then I guess that means life sucks far more than I thought it did.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

anyone know if the cass co-op is still open?

Monica — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 22:38:14 GMT

Hello! I'm coming out for the DEMF again this year, and I was wondering if anyone knows if the Cass Corridor Food Co-op is still open. We tend to like to stock up on health food for the weekend, and would rather go there than all the way out to Ferndale, but the last time we were at the coop it looked as if it were on its last legs (empty shelves, etc.) (i just tried calling but got a voicemail.)

Anyone have any other health food store suggestions around Detroit, as close as possible to the city? (we'll be staying in Mexicantown.)

Thanks.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

I HATE THE DUMBASS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION!!

Yul — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:52:05 GMT

On the way to work today, some bus driver FORCED me to pay 50 cents for a transfer!! But as far as I know, transfers are 25 cents! What's up with that high-level that bullshit?!?! And whenever I phone DDOT to complain about their shitty bus service, they don't do anything!! Here I am PAYING these bus drivers, and yet they act as if they have a Consitutuinal right to rip me off and disrespect me!! I hate the DUMBASS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION and I wish all their bus drivers would get sucked into a black hole!! ("Black hole sun... won't you come... and wash away the rain...")

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 8 replies

subcultures, change and underground thinking

tinker, tailor, soldier, spy — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 13:27:03 GMT

Hi everyone,

Just want to alert you all to this project.

I'm looking for contributors and distributors (drop a stack at your local cafe, bookstore, collective, etc.). I think Detroit would be a great city to reach and give voice to some non-mainstream thinking.

Also, I would love to publish essays, rants, articles or poems that touch on our themes of Power and/or Choice on the following issues:

Race
Palestine/Israel
Sexism
Gentrification
Religion
Consumerism
Queer Identity within current political struggles
Worker Co-ops, collectives, ad hoc groups or other non-mainstream organizations
Anarchy

Please consider submitting. Contributors get a free 25-word listing in the directory. Submission information is below. Feel free to forward this email.

Thanks!

----- Original Message -----

Please distribute far and wide. We're looking for submissions from anywhere in the world, and a wide diversity of opinion, so don't be shy. Post it on your arts, politics and cultural lists, send it to your friends and your enemies and, of course, looking for your submissions as well

NERVE house, the quarterly, DIY, print publication is back to give a voice to change through art!

Using words, images and ideas

- To inspire and outrage you
- To present independent thought, opposing viewpoints and provocative ideas
- To ask difficult questions, raise awareness and incite original action
- To give voice to change through art

SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!
Themes for first issue (deadline 5/08/06): Power and/or Choice, broadly or loosely defined.

All submissions must be previously unpublished (or include the names of where previously published)
and under 800 words. Rights revert to author.

Art in Words: Poetry, prose, rants, opinions
Art in Images: Photography, comix, drawings, doodles (we love them): Please send images!
Art in Ideas: Essays, commentaries, reviews

Directory: Contributors are entitled to a 25-word listing/bio (must be included with submission)
in the issue in which they are published.

Submissions should be sent to:
NERVE house
nervehouse@yahoo.com
414.263.1513

Become part of NERVE house

Subscribe: $35 for one year (4 issues). $50 for enhanced subscription (goodies included with publication). Email for subscription rates outside the U.S. (Call or email for address.)
Advertise: Promote yourself, your organization, collective, or business in our affordable directory.
Distribute: Make NERVE house available at your café, bookstore, co-op, indy business or revolutionary hangout.
List Calendar Events: Let your happening make us happening.
Volunteer: Advise, distribute, raise funds, edit, do layout, feed the crew, donate $, massages, office supplies or whatever you have.

Call 414.263.1513 for more information.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

You know, I learned something today

Yul — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:50:13 GMT

You know, I learned something today. I learned that Detroit is a HORRIBLE place for creative people to live. And I learned that by going to Craig's List. In the Detroit section of the list, I noticed that there are extremely few freelance art jobs in Detroit. But when I went to the New York, Chicago and Los Angeles sections, I noticed those cities have freelance art jobs by the megaton. Therefore if I want to improve my chances of succeeding at art, I need to get my black ass out of Detroit.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 5 replies

Hey Detroiters

goldie — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:43:53 GMT

Go read the last two blog entries I've made, comment back and tell me how you feel.

http://people.tribe.net/goldie/blog&topicId=b74dfdce-8a20-406b-a402-efba863cac13

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Vote for Jackie Blue to open for Dave Matthews Band tour

jackieblue — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 15:15:28 GMT

Click on the link to vote and give Jackie Blue the opportunity to open for the Dave Matthews Band on their 2006 tour.
http://www.dmband.com/surveys/OpenerSurvey.asp

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 12 replies

Fair or not?

goldie — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 13:36:15 GMT

My son has his ear pierced and my daughter has both of hers done. The school they attend is telling my son and I that he has to take his out, that's it's a formal school. No one has said this to my daughter. He does wear his uniform to school and the earring he has in is just a small diamond stud. I refuse to take it out and I will not.

The school is threatening to suspend my son if we do not take his earring out. I asked why my daughter and the other girls don't have to take their's out, I got no answer back. Isn't this discrimination?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 7 replies

Favorite hangouts

goldie — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 20:05:15 GMT

What are your favorite hangouts in Detroit?

Mine are

The Majestic
http://www.majesticdetroit.com/

and

Rosie O'Grady's
http://www.4rosieogradys.com/f_locations_detroit.htm

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Freecycle Compu-Stuff

Yul — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 22:29:25 GMT

New Detroit-based Freecycle group here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle-compu-stuff

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Maybe not so inconvenient

Yul — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 14:26:40 GMT

Man, I am so glad that terrorists didn't hit the Super Bowl! And I'm probably not the only one!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 3 replies

motown inconvenience

east_bay_gray — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 22:07:20 GMT

Motown Building Razed for Super Bowl Parking

...the building that was still housing Motown's archives. Before demolishing the building, the city couldn't be bothered to remove these artifacts. All sorts of historically important ephemera, knowingly demolished.

http://www.kempa.com/blog/archives/001047.html

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 4 replies

Superbowl inconvenience

Yul — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 22:26:25 GMT

I just saw the blocked off streets and extra whatnots slapped all over downtown in preparation for the Superbowl. Anybody else as inconvenienced by this stuff as I am?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 10 replies

This green couple is new to westland/detroit

rasta` — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 19:12:46 GMT

We hope to meet some folks within 20 minutes of westland. We have a 4 year old boy, too.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 7 replies

DMC next weekend

sub_title — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:49:04 GMT

i work at the Detroit Medical Center and scheduled to work this Friday and Sunday. In fact, i am to work the 3-11 shift at my hospital.

i live in the Wayne/Westland area - i leave an hour early to arrive 15 to 25 minutes early depending on traffic.

Do any of you have any suggestions on what time i should start out next Sunday for the 3:00 shift?

Thanks

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 4 replies

Finally!

goldie — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 16:24:06 GMT

Granholm Says Nothing More Important than Safety of Our Children

LANSING – In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today highlighted new Child Protect Laws that she called for and signed into law in September and that took effect January 1. The laws are aimed at protecting children from sexual predators while at school or day care and strengthening reporting requirements for convicted sex offenders.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our children,” Granholm said. “This New Year, law enforcement officers, school officials, and parents in Michigan are armed with new laws to keep sexual predators away from our children, and to keep our children safe from harm.”

On January 1 the bipartisan legislation took effect to help ensure that sex offenders are nowhere near our children; to engage citizens to be vigilant about protecting our kids; and to put new penalties in place that show sex offenders we mean business.

The measures include:

• creating a 1,000 foot safety zone around Michigan schools, shielding students and prohibiting sexual predators from working in, near, or loitering outside school buildings;

• requiring criminal background checks for those who operate group day care homes and child care and day care centers; and,

• requiring people already on the state’s Sex Offender Registry to notify authorities immediately upon relocating, or face stiff penalties for failing to do so.

“In 2006 we are working to make children in Michigan safer than ever before,” Granholm said. “I want to applaud the Legislature for taking quick action on my proposals to put these important laws on the books.”

The Governor’s weekly radio address is released each Friday at 10:00 a.m. and may be heard on broadcast stations across that state through an affiliation with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. The address will also be available on the Governor’s Website on Mondays as a podcast for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers.

http://michigan.gov/som/0,1607,7-192--133641--,00.html

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Invitation

goldie — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 17:22:13 GMT

January 14th, St. Andrew's Hall in downtown Detroit. Jackie Blue will be doing a show along with other local area artists. I will be there and would love to see you all there also. The tickets are dirt cheap, 12 bucks. There will also be a drawing for an Ipod. You can learn more at the band's site.
www.jackieblue.com

Hope to meet a few or more of you there, it's gonna be a blast!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 14 replies

SUNSET PHOTO I TOOK IN FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR IS FOUND!!!

Yul — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 15:28:32 GMT

My weekend was substantially improved when I found a printout of the sunset photo I took in February of last year. Kick ass! Now that I've found it, I'm going to make it as painfully difficult as possible for me to lose it again. Thus, I'm slapping together many, many backup copies of the photo in question. And the next time I photograph a sunset, I'm going to make a megaton of backup copies for that too!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

looking for help

thebeautyfire — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 06:48:16 GMT

the beauty fire is looking for assitance playing some shows in the detroit area and surrounding area. Also if you're interested in playing at the emerald theater, let us know. If you can help, or would like to hear the beauty fire, www.myspace.com/thebeautyfire.

thanks.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 6 replies

Let it snow, let it snow

goldie — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 21:23:38 GMT

Let's have a Detroit tribe.net outdoors snow party during the holiday season. We can go sledding..etc

anyone interested?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 7 replies

Wings fans?

wolfger — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 12:05:31 GMT

I've just created a tribe dedicated to the Detroit Red Wings.
http://tribes.tribe.net/redwings

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 13 replies

Fire Millen

wolfger — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 11:16:37 GMT

Anybody here *not* hear about the sign escapade at Ford Field this Sunday? That's kinda sad when fans boo the team and cheer for a guy eluding security. But it's BS that they hunted him down over a "Fire Millen" sign.
So I figure... why use a sign? Wear it on a shirt! They can't go around making people remove their clothes.
<a href="http://www.cafepress.com/randomsynapse">Get your shirt here</a>. Let the Fords know how you feel about their idiot team president.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Yul T

goldie — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 17:30:23 GMT

Thanks for all the new wonderful pics in the tribe's album!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Indoctrination

Yul — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 17:12:48 GMT

I guess by now most folks have forgotten about Rosa Parks. That in itself further confirms my belief that much of the admiration for Rosa Parks is false. That is, many people have literally been INDOCTRINATED to show admiration for Rosa Parks while not having actual admiration for her. What made Rosa Parks such a major historic figure is that she didn’t conform (at least not conform to the segregation laws). And her nonconformity led to the obviously great social change that resulted. Likewise, other people who have “changed the world” have committed certain acts of nonconformity. But to many of those who claim to admire Rosa Parks, nonconformity is inherently bad. Yet they can’t understand the obvious fact that nonconformity is what made Rosa Parks such a major historic figure. Yes, nonconformity is not always good. But in certain cases it’s definitely good. But again I have to say that too many people automatically condemn nonconformity while not realizing the civil rights matriarch that they seemingly admire so much was a nonconformist in certain respects.

In other words, nonconformity is what’s requires to change things and Rosa Parks used nonconformity to do just that. But if you want to automatically condemn nonconformity, then why are you such an admirer of Rosa Parks. I’m just asking. I’m always just asking.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 3 replies

Rosa Parks's funeral question

Yul — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 16:23:43 GMT

Does anybody know where can I find a complete list of all the bigshots who attended Rosa Parks's funeral?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 8 replies

Hurricane Fund Raising Tour

jackieblue — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 16:18:48 GMT

Music Tour Network: Musician's Hurricane Fund Raising Tour
www.MucicTourNetwork.com

Update: 2005 October 12

Contents:
1) Funds raised to date
2) Upcoming shows
3) Photos
4) Sponsors
___

1) Funds raised to date
The October 8th show at the Bullfrog in Redford, Michigan was successful in raising $578 for the American Red Cross.

Thank you to Jim and Janel at the Bullfrog for their hospitality. All of the bands--Zuby, 8 Lives Gone, Midwest Syndicate, Euphoric Haze, Styrofoam Buzzards and Jackie Blue. Rick, webmaster of MichiganBands.com, for being a great Emcee. And Jennifer from Tribe.net for her enthusiastic support and promotion of the event.

Totals funds raised to date: $1,494

Breakdown of donations:
American Red Cross: $808 www.redcross.org
The Little Stuff Fund: $386 www.TheLittleStuffFund.org
Habitat for Humanity: $150 www.habitat.org
Humane Society: $150 www.hsus.org

2) Upcoming shows
We have a busy weekend.

Friday, October 14, 10:00pm@Sizzle On Broadway, 6157 N. Broadway, Chicago, Illinois: Matt Jones and Jackie Blue (unplugged)

Friday, October 14, 8:00pm@Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Road, Westland, Michigan: Chunkhole, Forsaken, Deadhouse, Take This Oath, Death Grip, Stain Glass Torture

Saturday, October 15, 3:00pm@Old Town, 109 S. Main Street, Brooklyn, Michigan: Cuppa Joe, 6 Hands Down, Bert & Bea Furman, Roshambo, Organized Mess, Strength in Numbers, 31 Seconds, Jackie Blue, Farwell, Core, Triple Pane

Sunday, October 16@The Rusty Nail, 3993 West Road, Cortland, New York

3) Photos
Photos from the events have been posted at www.MusicTourNetwork.com

4) Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:

Jackie Blue www.JackieBlue.com
Chicago Music Guide www.chicagomusicguide.com
Free Radio Jackson www.live365.com/stations/aaronchilds
Bullfrog www.bullfrogrocks.com
Michigan Bands www.michganbands.com
8 Lives Gone www.8livesgone.com
The James Joseph Group www.jamesjosephgroup.com
BlackStain Productions www.blackstain.com
Colborne Street Creative www.colbornestreetcreative.com
Rock for the Cure www.myspace.com/rock4thecure
Midwest Bands www.midwestbands.com
Silent Products www.silent-products.com

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Ohster!

goldie — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 22:38:45 GMT

How do you think the men of this tribe feel about seeing you flex your ass in the tribe's album? Now delete that shit.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

You all are missing out

goldie — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 06:05:17 GMT

I can't believe none of ya are showing up at the Jackie Blue shows, you are REALLY missing something good. Last night was great. The band was awesome.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 3 replies

Whiny city council candidates

Yul — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 14:23:55 GMT

A lot of Detroit city council candidates who have lost the primary election have complained about how name recognition seems to have mattered more than political knowledge and expertise. For example, singer Martha Reeves, who has no political expertise as far as I know, apparently won because she's famous. Meanwhile, candidates who are unknown yet have political knowledge and experience barely had a chance to win. Of course some might say these city council candidates who lost the election are just being whiny losers. Others would say they have a justifiable grievance. I say it's both. It's both because in this world without consensus, there's no agreement on what's whining and what's a justifiable grievance.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Attention Detroiters and Metro Det!

goldie — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 11:02:53 GMT

Y'all know what's going on this weekend?

On Saturday, October 8th..........

Jackie Blue, Zuby, and some others will be up at BullFrog's just north of Fenkell a-k-a Five Mile on the east side of Telegraph. It's $7 at the door and that money will be going to Katrina victims. If that doesn't make you wanna come out, just hanging out with Jackie Blue should. Their awesome on and off stage.

Also, I'll be there being "sold" for a dinnerdate, all that money will be going to a family in deseprate need. My girl's husband passed away a couple of weeks ago at the age of 25 leaving her with a 4, 3, and 2 year old. She has over $2,000 to pay on his funeral still, needs a house, and a car. Her car went out totally last week and wasn't worth the repair cost. Her children are in major need right now.

So come up there and see us no matter what, at least just to show some support in what we are doing. I know it may sound lame but we need to unite and connect with all our tribe members, it keeps us encouraged.

Peace, love, and light-
Jenn a-k-a Goldie
x0x0x0

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 4 replies

A family needs our help

goldie — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 06:40:16 GMT

On Friday a friend of mine suddenly passed away at the age of 25. The report from the hospital is that he had a blood clot in his leg that moved to brain and popped. His funeral is Wednesday.

He left behind his wife, Cindy (28) and three children who are 4, 3, and 2 years old. They are in great need for help right now. Matthew, Cindy, and the kids were staying in Livonia with Matthew's brother because they got evicted from their home up north. Now the problem is that his brother is being evicted. Even though Cindy told me her family doesn't care, I called her mother and talked to her, her response was, "It's not my problem." Cindy and the kids won't have a home. Matthew and Cindy both were trying to save money to move when Matthew passed and now Cindy is what other can I say than "screwed".

If any of you can help, even if it's $1, it will be more appreciated than you can imagine. I have set up a paypal account for Cindy and the kids.

cindyand3kids@hotmail.com

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Car tunes

Yul — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 21:00:48 GMT

I love those car tunes! I wish they'd make them permanent!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 1 reply

Goldie Approved (wtf ever that means)Detroit Music

goldie — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 21:21:45 GMT

Jackie Blue and Zuby
http://www.myspace.com/jackieblue
http://www.myspace.com/zuby
Come to the Katrina benefit show at Bullfrogs on Oct. 8, I'll be there. There may also be a benefit raffle for " Dinner with Goldie" to help out the family who just lost their Father. Details on that are in my blog.

Chuckhole!
http://www.myspace.com/chunkhole
Come out to The Tokken Louge on October 14 in Westland and we'll hang out with this awesome band. Benefit for hurricane katrina all the money from the door will go to the american red cross bands.

Deadhouse
http://www.myspace.com/deadhouse1
Head bang with some straight up metal!

Poetx
http://www.myspace.com/poetx
Straight outta Southwest Detroit.This guy is the shizzle my nizzle, yo.

The Oddballer!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=27999228&Mytoken=95853676-4688-4243-8A1C466DC4FB44D31117756437
Check out his funky new shit. If you like ICP, you'll love this.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Come meet some of yo' tribe peeps

goldie — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 07:00:04 GMT

Katrina Fund Raiser, come out and see me!

First Michigan show is:
Jackie Blue & Zuby
"The Rock Raiser"
Date: Saturday, October 8
Time: 8:00pm
Location: BullFrog, 15414 Telegraph Road Redford, Michigan

For more information on other benefit shows, you can also visit:
www.MusicTourNetwork.com

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 4 replies

Hurricane Help Here!

earthhandle — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 14:21:58 GMT

If you want to help DIRECTLY with the aftermath. Now you can!

Hello All,

I don't know if you all are aware that there are about 200 evacuees at the Ramada Inn in Southfield ( 9 mile and Lodge Fwy) from New Orleans. They arrived here on Sunday. The hotel is in need of clothes (including shoes) for women, men, children and babies. They especially need clothes for plus
size men. You can take the clothes directly to the Ramada Inn. They are also in need of volunteers. You can get more information about their needs by calling the hotel at 248-552-7777.

Just thought I would pass this information along. Please forward this to
others who would like to help.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

From my blog but with an added request

goldie — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 17:35:48 GMT

I don’t know where to begin or how so I will start like this.

A young man of 25 years old, that I’ve known for a long time, named Matthew (Sean) Fowler died today at Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills, Michigan due to heart failure. His wife Cindy (28) and their three small children of the ages of 4, 3, and 2 years old were left behind with NOTHING. I mean literally NOTHING. They had just been evicted from their home in the Upper Peninsula, they drove to Livonia, Michigan in a shabby ass car that I couldn’t believe made it here to stay with Matthew’s older brother, Todd would is also currently being evicted from his home.

Cindy and the kids REALLY need help especially, now. Sean was employed and Cindy is also but how is Cindy going to pull off paying for a deposit on a house for her and their children now? Sean didn’t have life insurance and definitely did not have enough earnings in with Social Security for Cindy and the kids to collect from him.

I don’t know how to help them right now; all I can do is keep the kids for the weekend.
Cindy and Sean used to live in an apartment that was in the lower level of my home back in 2003, their rent was paid to me by being my children’s babysitters . I’ve known them for a long time, they are not bad people but kids would had too many kids too quick.

Is there anyone that can help or knows any resources for these kids? They have no cribs, beds, nothing. The family came here with nothing but that shabby ass car and some clothes.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Freecycle: Free stuff makes things better!

Yul — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:32:54 GMT

A week or so ago, I got a used zip drive for free. And when I say “free”, I mean 100.1111 percent free! This was possible through a web community known as Freecycle. Or more specifically, Motor City Freecycle. It’s a place where you can get FREE stuff from those who no longer want it, and you can giveaway the stuff you no longer want. With my extreme poverty, it would’ve taken months or years for me to save up enough money to buy a zip drive. But through Freecycle, I was able to get a zip drive within two weeks of asking for one. To that I say Freecycle is the best thing since laser-beam-sliced bread!

To see what I mean, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/motorcityfreecycle
We need more Freecycling!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 4 replies

Jeeze

goldie — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:24:15 GMT

Using tribe.net since all the new changes is a p.i.t.a, it's slow and I'm impatient with it. Anyone else feeling this way?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Anybody out there?

Jmaximus — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 17:55:20 GMT

I have been checking for a few weeks now, and never seen any changes or responses to the posts. Does anybody use this site?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 9 replies

New Members of Tribe

goldie — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:23:26 GMT

Tribe.net Newbies has a lot of different people to answer your questions and help you get around tribe.net a lot easier, here is the link to that tribe.

http://newbies.tribe.net/?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B3efa8650-492c-4a2a-a45f-f56f01c18afb%5D&r=10510

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Who’s Gonna Clean Up This Mess?

goldie — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 04:24:11 GMT

http://www.annarborpaper.com/

Who’s Gonna
Clean Up This Mess?
Summer 1967
This excerpt from Lost from the Ottawa: The Story of the Journey Back,
a memoir by Pun Plamondon,
tells the story of the 1967 riots in Detroit from the point of view
of a young man living in a downtown hippie commune
with the leaders of the counterculture.

I’d been in Detroit for two months and hadn’t gotten drunk even once. I didn’t even want to drink—there was too much going on. Beyond that, The Prez and most of the people in the TLE [Trans-Love Energies, a commune established by activist John Sinclair and artist Gary Grimshaw] commune didn’t drink, or at least not excessively like my old crew in Traverse City. My new friends felt they were engaged in a great creation. The old culture was dying, eaten away from the inside by its own contradictions and the lies it could no longer sustain. A generation of dynamic young people were redefining the world in their own terms, creating a new culture and value system. The result was a political earthquake, the aftershocks of which are still being felt a generation or more later.

I believed that part of building the new involved rejecting and destroying the old. I came to see alcohol as the drug of choice of the old culture, an acceptable custom in a dying lifestyle. I wanted nothing to do with it. I had arrived in Detroit in the waning days of The Artists Workshop, which was being transformed by a younger generation of visionaries. Of the two Workshop storefronts, street people had claimed one. The other was in better repair, and its door still locked. The mimeograph machine and reams of paper stolen from Wayne State University were stored there, as were all the books and posters produced by the Workshop. A sculptor and several painters still worked there from time to time, but overall, the light was fading.

I was getting rather pissed off at Lobsinger and his band of Breakthrough brown shirts who were firebombing the offices below us and throwing beer bottles and rocks through our second-story windows on a regular basis. I felt that if we got to know our neighbors perhaps we could count on them if things got sticky.

I mentioned to Sinclair that I thought we should do a Sweep-In, a general clean-up of the neighborhood. We could get the whole neighborhood out to clean up the alleys, sweep the streets, and talk to each other. We might even put speakers in the windows, get some groceries and have a party. Sinclair thought it was a good idea; encouraged, I went ahead and organized it.
Once a week, the Detroit Free Press, the more liberal of Detroit’s two daily newspapers, ran a column on the front page called Action Line! It was a consumer advocate sort of thing; they would cut through governmental red tape and overcome obstacles for people who could get no satisfaction through regular channels when dealing with large corporations or institutions. They would intercede for the little guy. They would also perform good deeds for families in dire need—like the little girl who wanted to see Mickey Mouse just once before she died of leukemia.
I wrote to Action Line! and told them of our plan to have a neighborhood Sweep-In. We needed some brooms and shovels; we needed water and trash containers. Within a couple of weeks, they printed my request and reported they had made the following arrangements: Public Works would provide a garbage truck, the Fire Department would put a “reducer” on two hydrants and provide 400 feet of garden hose, and Acme Brush and Broom would provide 100 brooms and detergent. I made the necessary calls and set everything up. The Sweep-In would take place Saturday, July 23.

I went banging on doors in the neighborhood, talking up the Sweep-In. The Chicanos, who lived next door to us, on Warren, didn’t speak English. I said “Fiesta! Fiesta!” several times and pantomimed sweeping. They gave me an odd look and were polite though noncommittal. The poor whites next door to them—skinny, southern Appalachian folks with red necks and white ribbed chests—didn’t know if they would be around or not, though a passel of kids said they would show up. Several black families on the block showed interest but would wait until Saturday to decide. Two blocks down, near Trumbull, Wayne Kramer, lead guitarist and driving force in the MC5, had a room in a house with a handful of other hippies. There were always a bunch of musicians hanging around whose participation I could count on.
Down the service drive from our place was the Castle. A three-story monstrosity, the Castle was half-block long and made of cut stone with four turrets overlooking the Service Drive and the John Lodge Expressway. It was full of a parent’s worst nightmares: out-of-work musicians, poets who heard voices, co-ed cuties, dime bag reefer dealers, speed freaks and stone junkies. I could count on their participation as well. Of course the staff and volunteers at the Mobe and Fifth Estate would be at least somewhat eager participants.

With the Sweep-In on Saturday, Emil and I decided to pick up the brooms on Friday morning. Emil was a filmmaker who lived at Trans-Love. He was a funny guy with a full, bushy beard and black, rather stringy hair that hung to his shoulders. He wore short-sleeved, cotton, buffalo plaid shirts tucked into Wrangler jeans hitched up high in the crotch and held up with a leather belt a foot too long, so that the end would pass through the buckle and dangle like a subway strap from his cinched waist. He could also get this look about him: With his hand to his chin and his fingers rubbing his nose, mustache and beard, he would appear bewildered and bemused as if the occasion required special, concentrated thought.
Emil had a ‘64 VW bus, the stereotypical hippie van, we drove over to the East Side, off Jefferson, where we found Acme Broom and Brush down by the river in an old waterfront warehouse. Damn! A hundred brooms is a lot of brooms. They had them boxed. House brooms were five to a box. Push brooms, three to a box with the handles unscrewed. The boxes were 4 feet long and 6 inches high. They took up the whole back of the van with several boxes tied on top. Acme Broom and Brush also donated a hundred pounds of heavy-duty concentrated cleaning detergent so we could actually scrub the streets. We signed the bill of lading and split.
We returned to TLE and removed the boxes from the top of the van but left the rest inside since we would be using them the next day. I was excited as I went to sleep with the windows open to the midnight breeze and the city slowing down; all was peaceful.

The next morning I saw Werbe, one of the Fifth Estate editors, on the sidewalk outside the paper’s offices. “Did you hear about the riots over on 12th and Clairmount?” he asked. I hadn’t, so we went inside the paper’s office to listen to the radio and watch the TV they had set up.
Overnight, 73 black folks had been arrested by the Detroit police at a blind pig (an after-hours, unlicensed bar, often located in a private home). The police, employing their usual thuggish ways, had raised the ire of the crowd that had gathered to witness the mass arrest. Someone threw a wine bottle, then another one. Shots rang out. The cops took up defensive positions and called for backup. More cops arrived to a rain of bottles and bricks. Tear gas was fired, round after round. People in the neighborhood heard the shots and smelled the tear gas; sirens screeched through the night.
The Tactical Mobil Units or TMUs, of the Detroit police were a new division, expertly trained and highly mobile with all white cars. They were a high-profile force, specialized in rapid response which guaranteed quick results, the predecessors to today’s SWAT teams.
There were a thousand people or more in the street by the time the TMUs arrived like Cossacks on horseback, trying to push the crowd back. But it was too late. The crowd had power. With bricks and bottles and the occasional pop of pistol shot, they forced the TMUs to turn tail and run.

The morning papers had the complete story with pictures. The local TV stations were interrupting regular scheduled programming to cover the ruckus, which was still in progress. The Detroit police, they were reporting, had lost control of the northwest side. Throughout southeast Michigan, police and sheriff departments were being mobilized. We could see several columns of smoke rising to the northwest, just 15 blocks away. The Sweep-In was off, supplanted by the current crisis, which was a lot more interesting.

By now more people were out and about; word was spreading. Around noon Emil and I decided to take a drive over to 12th and Clairmount, where the riots started, and check things out for ourselves. We hopped in the VW and made our way up Trumbull to Clairmount. A lot of people were on the streets. Cars full of black kids tooted horns, while riders leaned out of car windows to holler encouragement and thrust fists in the air. Groups were gathering in front of barbershops, liquor stores and barbeque joints and returning salutes to passing carloads of revelers.

We turned on Clairmount and the whole scene changed. Bumper-to-bumper traffic crawled along at a snail’s pace and cars parked on both sides of the street left barely enough room for traffic. Clairmount is a residential street of WWII vintage, with brown brick houses and big front porches. Large oaks and maples shade the street and the postage stamp lawns. Each porch, house after house, was filled with whole families of black folks: grandma in the rocker, mom keeping an eye on things while getting lemonade for neighbor ladies, children riding tricycles on the narrow sidewalk that led to the street, staying close. Dad and some of his buddies from the plant, it seemed, were sucking down a few cold Stroh’s, the beer of choice for loyal Detroiters. House after house, block after block, it was like this. Occasionally knots of teenagers could be seen strolling up and down.
There was no music here; just the sullen stares of the homeowners, their lives, homes, and families in jeopardy from the fires that raged through businesses just down the block, to say nothing of the all-white police forces of occupation stationed in their neighborhood.
I was surprised by the number of white couples, with children in the back of their station wagons, who had obviously come from the suburbs to tour 12th and Clairmount. In fact, more than half of the cars contained white folks, which made me uneasy. Suddenly I was ashamed as we found ourselves in a traffic backup with gawkers and rubberneckers, who were apparently insensitive to the lives and suffering of these people. As we eased down Clairmount toward 12th, we began to see more cops in heavy riot gear: black jumpsuits and boots, dull black helmets and face shields, carrying carbines and pump shotguns and wearing ammo harnesses across their chests. Their tear gas canisters clanked together as they marched in formation.

For a block before 12th, there were no civilian cars parked on the street. Police armored vehicles, TMUs, “black and whites,” sheriffs’ cars from surrounding counties and various paddy wagons and command vehicles took all available space, narrowing the street to a pinch point. For the last half of the block, traffic was directed between a gauntlet of cops, badges taped over with black tape so the number couldn’t be read. They poked their guns and their white porcine faces through the windows of cars with black occupants to snarl and ask where they lived and their destination. The whites, of course, were just waved through.

As we neared the corner of 12th, Emil got “that look” on his face. His hand went to his chin as he fiddled with his mustache and beard, his lips were pursed as he breathed noisily through his nose. His head listed just seven degrees left, his jaw tilted five clicks past horizontal as he stared through the bug encrusted window of the off-white-over-aquamarine VW bus. At 12th, the cops had the intersection blocked; we had to go left or right. With our side windows slid open we had spoken to dozens of cops as we passed through the gauntlet. They all told us to get the hell out of there, and if they saw us again today they’d arrest us. We inched along.

Just as we got to the corner and were turning left, we were stopped. Several cops approached the bus. Sticking his head in and looking around, one of them asked me, “What’s in the bag under your feet?” Another cop asked Emil, “What’s in all those boxes?”

“Soap,” I answered.

“Brooms.” Emil said.

“Hey captain! Check this out,” one of the cops called out.
They made us pull over. Cops surrounded us. Ordered from the bus, they made us lie face down on the pavement. One cop stood on my wrist: “So I know where you are.”

A whole squad attacked the bus. They pulled out the boxes, tore them open and emptied the brooms onto the street. They tore up the floor mats and looked in the ashtray and engine compartment. The captain was focused on the hundred pounds of detergent, discussing it intently with several other officers. Meanwhile the large crowd of black citizens gathered at the corner began getting agitated. “Hey look! They got the hippies!” I could hear people yell. “Hey hippies! Black Power!” someone else shouted. The crowd was picking up energy, I could feel it.

“Hey hippies! Free Love!” someone bellowed.

The captain came over to us, his gold shield and insignia on his helmet peeking out from behind the black tape. “Show some ID, boys. You’re in big trouble,” he said.
We handed over our IDs and Emil got that look again.
“You boys are going to be charged with possession of explosive-making materials,” the captain continued.
Emil snapped out of it and began talking real fast ”We’re students at Wayne; we live on Prentiss. We just came by to see what was going on,” he lied.

Then I spoke up, “The brooms and detergent were to be used to clean up our neighborhood today.”
Just then I remembered the bill of lading, “We have a receipt for this stuff,” I said. The captain had one of his men escort me to the bus and after some looking, I found the receipt amid the refuse on the floor of the front seat.
Just then a bottle crashed in the middle of the intersection. People started chanting, “Black Power! Black Power.” The crowd had grown larger.
The captain looked at my paper—another bottle smashed somewhere close. “Load up your shit and get out of here—if anything comes up, we have your names.”
Blam! A block up 12th, the cops were shooting tear gas. Blam! Another one. The captain and his squad rushed off. Blam! Another one. All the cops were on edge, standing spread-legged, guns at the ready, watching the rooftops.
Emil and I were left with 75 brooms scattered around the street; the cops kept the detergent. Quickly I started picking up brooms and throwing them in the bus. Emil got that look for a moment, put his hands on his hips, and then hollered at the cops, “Hey! Who’s gonna clean up this mess?”

All the attention was focused up 12th Street. The cops that weren’t running in that direction were in defensive positions, looking ever so nervous. I threw a dozen or so brooms into the bus and told Emil, “Let’s get the hell out of here!” We piled in, and lickety-split, we were gone, leaving the rest of the brooms and a pile of torn cardboard in the street. Out the back, I could see folks from the neighborhood beginning to pick up the brooms. I was near exploding with excitement as we drove away. Emil and I laughed hysterically, slapping our knees and each other on the back. We weren’t afraid of the crowd, just the cops.When we returned to TLE, radio and TV were reporting that rioting had broken out on the east side and that looting and arson was taking place in isolated parts of the city.

Mayor [Jerome] Cavanaugh took to the airwaves to plead for calm and reassure the public that everything was OK. He announced that surrounding cities and counties had sent forces to Detroit and that the Michigan State Police were in the process of being mobilized and would be in the city by nightfall.

Later that afternoon, I found Sinclair in the Workshop at the mimeograph machine printing up flyers. The headline read; THE FIRST ANNUAL DETROIT LOOT-IN! Then in two-inch letters ”GET THE BIG STUFF!” Grimshaw had drawn a cartoonlike graphic that showed hippies and blacks carrying off TVs, couches and refrigerators.
Sinclair printed up about five hundred flyers and he and I took off in the Opel. We drove down Woodward and Cass and some of the cross-streets. Every time we saw a group of people gathered, I’d toss out a handful of flyers, and we’d speed off. With our work done, we returned to TLE to make ready for the expected Saturday night rumble.

Our building had a flat roof with a 3-foot parapet three stories off the ground. There was an access door to the roof in the ceiling of the hallway. I ran an extension cord to the roof and brought up a TV and radio and set them on the chimney. Emil had a pair of field glasses; I took them to the roof too. I went to the Lebanese-owned liquor store to get some snacks for the upcoming evening ruckus, only to find the store closed by order of the mayor and chief of police. When I returned, The Prez, several others and I climbed to the roof and took up our positions.

By now you could see smoke and the pink under-glow of fire toward the east side. The northwest quadrant was fully involved. Cops rode four to a car with the windows down, rifles and shotguns sticking out. Fire engines raced to and fro, the screech and scream of sirens and horns and the acrid smoke of burning asphalt filled the evening air like the groan and stench of hell.

When night came, it got scary. The mayor ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Gas stations were ordered to pump gas only into vehicles, no containers. The only cars on the streets were cops driving slow, lights out, long guns bristled from doors propped open with a foot or a piece of wood wedged near the hinge. Cop cars moved in groups of three, quietly. Every time we saw cops coming, we’d duck down below the parapet, knowing we shouldn’t be up there at a time like this.

This was exciting stuff. Nobody liked “the man” the cops. Tonight, “the man” was getting his ass kicked. We wanted to watch.

It was getting worse all the time, or better. Around the clock TV and radio reportage kept our rooftop observation post well informed. It was clear the fires were spreading, especially on the east side. What before had seemed like a localized plume of smoke, now seemed to stretch for ten miles to the north. On the northwest side, the fires were spreading south, a wall of smoke 15 miles long could be seen from our hippie “command center.”
Gunfire was sporadic; we’d hear single shots from small arms fired by snipers, followed by outbursts of automatic fire that lasted perhaps five minutes, followed by maybe thirty minutes of calm, if you can call standing in the center of hurricane-fed inferno, with sirens wailing and the streets full of smoke, “calm.” Then we’d hear several single rounds from small arms again, followed by bursts and the rat-a-tat-tat of the cops carbines and heavier weapons, then calm again. We came to know the difference between the automatic and semi-automatic fire of the police forces and the single shot “crack” of the snipers.

On the 11:00 news, Michigan’s Governor, George Romney, begged for calm and announced he was mobilizing the National Guard with the first troops arriving the next afternoon. TV had footage of black citizens, unaware of the curfew, being pulled from their cars. Middle-aged, middle-class blacks were shown being thrown to the ground, kicked and cuffed, generally roughed up and carted off to jail. Rumor had it that Tiger Stadium and the bathhouses on Belle Isle were being used as temporary holding facilities since the police lockups were all full. We stayed on the roof all night, taking speed to keep us on our toes. The electronic media was reporting that the police had given up and withdrawn from large areas on the northwest side and the east side. ”No Man’s Land,” they called it. “Liberated Territory,” I called it.

Sunday, the second full day of rioting, broke hot and humid. By noon the temperature was in the 80s. The stench of burning plastic and tarpaper hung heavily over the neighborhood. The National Guard was yet to be seen. Sinclair and I twisted up some joints and went out driving around in the Opel. The streets were all but empty, with the cops busy at the scenes of looting and burning. We tore up Woodward, blowing through stop signs, disregarding red lights. In Highland Park we drove for miles in the wrong direction on the empty one-way streets. Oh what a feeling! To be in a place where absolutely no law was valid, where government had no control or meaning. This, I realized, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Granted, it was brief and shallow, and came at a terrible cost in life and property, but it was real, and I felt blessed to be a part of it.

At Grand Boulevard we stopped at a corner while another group of drivers cleared a barricade from the street. A car carrying four black cats, all wearing black “doo rags” on their heads pulled up next to us. It was common knowledge on the street that Black Liberation Fighters wore “doo rags” in the “color of the day” to identify themselves and avoid getting shot by other snipers. I was mildly distressed as all four scowled at us. Then the driver started hollering, “Hey! That’s Sinclair, the king of the hippies!” referring to the handle with which the local media had tagged Sinclair. The other cats all chimed in, ”Cool man, ‘king of the hippies!’” Sinclair laughed, gave the “V” for victory sign and held a torpedo joint out the window. The cat in the passenger’s seat leaned out, took the joint and said, “Right on brother—keep your head down.” The barricade was removed and we sped off and returned to Trans-Love.

I was upstairs, in our living quarters along with Sinclair, his wife and baby, The Prez, and eight or so other commune members and friends. From the sill of an open window I was sitting watching troop carriers, military jeeps and heavy hardware drive up and down the John Lodge. Suddenly, on the service drive on the northbound side of the Lodge, I noticed six or more “black and whites” moving at a high rate of speed. They squealed around the corner onto Warren and sped across the bridge over the expressway toward our place. At the corner they whipped onto our service drive and screeched to a halt right below me. The first cop out of the car pointed his shotgun at me and hollered, “Stay where you are!” I jumped back and ran down the hall toward the door. Already I could hear the heavy thud of boots on the stairs. I just got the security chain latched when the door opened to the length of the chain. Instantly a rifle barrel came through the crack and simultaneously a butt of a rifle smashed the door at chain level sending splinters and screws flying.

What seemed like twenty or more cops came rushing in, pointing guns at people and knocking some to the floor. I was jacked against the wall with a shotgun jammed under my chin so I was standing on my tiptoes. By now other commune members came out of their cubicles to see what the commotion was about. They were slammed to the floor or held against the wall at gunpoint. Suddenly Sinclair was there holding his infant daughter. “What the fuck are you motherfuckers doing in my house?” he raged. “Shut the fuck up!” the commanding officer snorted. “Get the fuck out of my house!” Sinclair bellowed, his face red, eyes bulging.

I was much taller than God had intended, stretched as I was with the shotgun under my chin. It was pressed so hard there that my tongue was pushed against the roof of my mouth, causing me to salivate and drool copious amounts of spittle out of each side of my mouth.
Sinclair screamed again, “Get the fuck out of my house.” I remember wishing he would calm down; he is going to get us all killed, I thought. “We had a report of a sniper on the roof,” the commanding officer said. “There are no snipers on our roof—get out! Get out!”

Other cops were snooping around, looking in closets and cubicles, tearing tapestries and posters off the walls, flipping over mattresses and generally behaving in a hoggish manner.

Sinclair wouldn’t let up. “Get the fuck out of my house!” Then, in a burst of rage he shouted, “Go ahead and shoot me, shoot me! I don’t want to live in a place where the cops can bust your door down anytime they want. Shoot me! Here, shoot my daughter, shoot Leni, shoot all of us. You’re the ones who will have to answer for it.” On and on he raged.

Jesus Christ! I thought, I wish he’d shut up; he’s going to get us all blown away. Drool was beginning to puddle at my feet. Then, just as suddenly as they came, they left.
A short time later we got a call informing us that Wayne “MC5” Kramer had been arrested. His house on Warren had been raided and he was carried away in chains. It seems he had aroused suspicion by setting up a spotting scope in the big bay window of the second floor master bedroom to keep tabs on the action.

I recall going with Sinclair to a lawyer’s office downtown. The massive gothic police headquarters at 1300 Beaubien was surrounded by troops in heavy armored vehicles with 30- and 50-caliber machine guns mounted on tripods. We somehow got Kramer released and settled in for the night’s action.

Between June and August of 1967 there were riots in more than 125 cities across America. Parts of Newark, Chicago, New York, Milwaukee, Cambridge, Minneapolis and Detroit had gone up in flames. There were 380,000 troops in Vietnam and though they told us America was winning, the Pentagon reported that 5,008 Americans had died in the war in 1966. Muhammad Ali was arrested for refusing induction into the Army. The Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-War Movement and Hippie culture were sweeping the country like wild fire. With troops in Vietnam and Detroit, could the Empire survive?
Sunday night we stayed at the commune with all the lights out so we wouldn’t be seen, but we kept the windows open to hear the battle and watch the light show of tracers and flares. To the east the entire horizon was shrouded in smoke; occasionally, bright flashes would illuminate the underside of the smoke, like fireworks on a cloudy night. To the west, the scene was the same, only closer. The most vivid memory I have of that Sunday night is of the 50-calibers, as they “thumped,” “thumped,” “thumped” out rounds, every fourth one a “tracer” that looked six feet long as they shot like falling stars across the eerie night illuminating the smoke clouds and occasionally tumbling, end over end, as if in slow motion.
Local news reported that municipal and state police forces, and now the National Guard, were unable to maintain order or quell the disturbance and had been driven from a 144-square-block area of the east side with a similar retreat on the west side. President Johnson appeared on TV to plead for calm and the “rule of law” and announced that he was calling out the 101st Airborne, which would arrive the next day, Monday. Mayor Cavanaugh, having toured the riot-torn area said “the festival atmosphere” surprised him.

Monday was hot again. I walked down the service drive a mile or so to Grand River Avenue. Whole blocks of businesses were smoldering ruins. Abandoned houses and many occupied dwellings were put to the torch, or caught on fire as the conflagration spread. Police and National Guard were stationed every hundred feet or so along both sides of Grand River. Fire crews, guarded by troops crouched behind fire engines, still battled flames up and down the avenue as far as the eye could see.
On returning to Trans-Love, I found Sinclair and we walked the four blocks over to Trumbull and Forest. We got there just as a crowd had smashed the large windows of the A&P. I saw little black girls in plastic sandals, shorts and tank tops helping grandmas who had hitched up their print dresses, revealing stockings that only went to the knee, and clamored through the broken windows—no one used the doors. Sinclair and I joined the crowd inside. People of all ages and several races were grabbing everything in sight: canned goods, meat, bread, floor wax, packages of rubber bands and tooth paste—it didn’t matter, they took it all. These people who had been ripped-off, robbed, scammed, gouged and cheated by A&P were taking back what was theirs. Like a thousand Robin Hoods, they stole from the absentee landlords who had been stealing from them for a lifetime. Sinclair found a 25-pound bag of dog food for Pharaoh, the commune terrier, and split for home.

Across the street was a Ben Franklin five-and-dime. The 8-by-8-foot windows had been smashed and neighborhood residents were flooding the store. I went inside and looked around for something to take. I noticed a “fish eye” mirror in the far corner, used to monitor shoplifters. It was attached high on the wall, next to the ceiling. I climbed up the shelves and ripped it right off the wall, bracket and all.

The Ben Franklin was in an old, single story, brown brick building, the kind I remembered from childhood. Inside, in the back of the store, was a balcony, surrounded by a railing with balusters. Three or four desks, presumably those of the bookkeepers and manager, occupied the space. A group of cats were up there working on a large, antique safe. Pretty soon they shouted out “Clear the building, we‘re torchin‘ it!” People scattered. Thick black smoke filled the store as orange tongues of flame began licking the wall and moving across the ceiling. I took my mirror and cruised home, holding it above my head like the championship silver tray at Wimbledon.

For the record, though I won’t bore the reader by repeating the familiar details, the commune was raided again that Monday, this time by the National Guard. I have a fuzzy recollection of that raid: I recall looking out the window and seeing a jeep with a 50-caliber mounted in the back that was pointing up at me, and two or three other parked military vehicles on the street below. The sound of many boots stomping up the stairs I will always remember. The door was smashed from the raid the day before and I remember the troops filing right in. “Of course there is no sniper on the roof. We are pacifist hippies,” The Prez told them. I don’t remember them leaving, but no one got killed or arrested, so good riddance.

Later that day, while playing frisbee on the service drive, we noticed fire trucks, police cars, and military vehicles two blocks down on Forest. A couple of us walked down to see what was going on. The 101st Airborne had arrived; rumor had it that they were just back from Vietnam. At the corner of the service drive and Forest sat an old house with a green sign declaring it a state historic site and explaining that it had been the birthplace of Charles Lindbergh. The sign was splattered with vandal’s paint. In white paint, in foot-high letters across the front porch, someone had scrawled, “LINDBERGH WAS A FASCIST!” Now that historic house was in flames. A fire crew pumped water on the blaze while the 101st watched their backs, M-16s and jeeps with mounted guns at the ready. Since the battle in Detroit had begun, fire crews had been taking rounds from snipers as they tried to bring the blazes under control.

After ten minutes or so, my friends left. I just sat on the curb, watching the action.

A soldier, not as old as I was, walked over and stood above me. “Didn’t I see you at another fire today?” he asked in a Georgia drawl.

“Nope”, I answered, “this is the first fire I’ve been to since this all started.”

“No . . . I think I saw you at another fire,” he said, standing with legs spread above me.

“Nah,” I said, “I just live down there,” pointing. Suddenly he ratcheted a round into the chamber of his M-16. “I saw you at another fire today!” he hollered. Jesus Christ no! I thought. Instinct drove me to get up and start running straight down the sidewalk toward home. I could feel him aiming at the middle of my back. I wondered if I’d feel the bullet. Then I thought, I hope I don’t die in these pants. They were full of holes from battery acid I’d spilled while changing the battery in Sinclair’s Opel. The soldier never shot; I made it home.

Sinclair, Leni, Grimshaw, Emil, The Prez and others had been talking about leaving the city until this riot blew over. We needed someplace to go. We couldn’t go to Cleveland where there were also riots or threats of them. Chicago was the same. In fact, any large urban area was under threat and most of our friends lived in big cities. I suggested we head north to Traverse City and wait out the riots in the sand and sun of Northern Michigan, which we did.

The last image I had of the riots was of three huge Army tanks charging north up the southbound side of the Lodge at full throttle. Their huge bulk was rocking to and fro as they sped along at nearly 50 m.p.h. Seeing vehicles traveling the wrong way on the expressway was shock enough, but three tanks, each taking up a lane and a half of the highway, was beyond anything I could have imagined.

Lost from the Ottawa: The Story of the Journey Back is the dramatic autobiography of Pun Plamondon. Plamondon was conceived and born in state mental hospital to mixed-blood Native American parents in 1945. He was raised by an adoptive family and went to Catholic reform school at age 15. He has been a union organizer of migrant farm workers, a bodyguard and security director for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. In 1968, he co-founded the White Panther Party in Detroit. In 1969, he was indicted for bombing clandestine CIA offices in Ann Arbor, and he became a fugitive from the F.B.I. when he fled to Algeria seeking political asylum. He was captured upon return to the U.S. and spend 32 months in Federal prison, but the trial revealed the use of illegal wiretaps by the government and Plamondon was released.
He recovered from years of drug and alcohol abuse with the help of an Ottawa holy man. He reconnected with the Ottawa Tribe, writing radio features on Native American culture, helping found a theatrical group, and working on archaeology digs in Michigan. He now lives on a small farm in Michigan, where he builds fine furniture and pays taxes.

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 3 replies

Someone please tell me

goldie — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 06:00:00 GMT

what the hell chicken rings are?

http://whitecastle.com/_pages/home.asp

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 6 replies

Is "soda" usurping "pop"?!?

Yul — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 20:13:28 GMT

Recently, I heard a couple of friends of mine refer to soft drinks as "soda" instead of the "correct" word "pop." Now does that mean that soon folks in these parts will start refering to pop as "soda"? What's up with that and stuff?!

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 27 replies

Dream Cruise anyone?

Jmaximus — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 09:25:05 GMT

Did anybody go to or is planning on going to it?

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 2 replies

Over There?

Jmaximus — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 09:35:01 GMT

Anybody watch this new show on FX channel. It is completely realistic and accurate. It is the best war drama I have ever seen. They don't pull any punches either. They show it from the grunts view. My two favorite people on the show are Sargent Scream and Angel the super soldier. Alot of our people are getting killed because of stupid rules of engagement. Wheather you are for or against the war this is one show you should really check out. It will give you new respect for our men and women in uniform.

http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/overthere/main.html

posted in .•º•. *Detroit*.•º•. - 0 replies

Please read this.

goldie — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 19:33:12 GMT

http://detroit.tribe.net/template/pub%2Coc%2CDetail.vm?plugin=blog&topicid=e622d090-90fd-4486-919c-0f51dc4c0491&inst=23473&r=10510

Even if you only send a dollar it will help out.

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Escape from Detroit

Join the ZEN ARMY!

Couple of useful websites

who wants to hoop with our crew weekly?

Anybody know lots about the bars and clubs in metro detroit?

World Hoop Day Detroit Press Release

Allied Media Conference at WSU

Recycling Project

Fraud Alert regarding North Coast Earth First! Aka NCEF! Media. Completely independent from any activist group!

all belly dancers, drummers and percussionists invited to perform in the streets of detroit on july 12th, 2008

Detroit Public Schools Book Depository/ Roosevelt Warehouse

Bringing New Naturally Based Skin Care Line to Detroit

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intentional community *

ATS Belly dance

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Ann Arbor: High Romance, Honest Seduction Workshop

Hockeytown

tigers stadium

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DIY Craft Show??

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Concert of Colors??

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Casinos failed to properly fund schools

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Invest in your health!

Detroit is so polluted!

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Locally needed sex

femaLe vocalisT *HERE*

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InZer0 Halloween Party & Zombie Fashion Show - 10/27

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harmony channel - comcast cable

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rental management companies

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power to the people

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June news

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HOLIDAY CRUISE OPPORTUNITY! LEAVES DECEMBER 23, 2007, BOOK EARLY!

More web comic success!

interesting site, new to me anyway

Casinos again

I NEED new friends!

anyone know if the cass co-op is still open?

I HATE THE DUMBASS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION!!

subcultures, change and underground thinking

You know, I learned something today

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Vote for Jackie Blue to open for Dave Matthews Band tour

Fair or not?

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Maybe not so inconvenient

motown inconvenience

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DMC next weekend

Finally!

Invitation

SUNSET PHOTO I TOOK IN FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR IS FOUND!!!

looking for help

Let it snow, let it snow

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Fire Millen

Yul T

Indoctrination

Rosa Parks's funeral question

Hurricane Fund Raising Tour

.•º•. Detroit.•º•.'s topics - tribe.net

femaLe vocalisT HERE