Feature Archives

Critical Mass celebrated its 12th anniversary on Sept. 24th, 2004 in San Francisco.

10/29/2004: Thousands of bicyclists rode through the streets of San Francisco this evening for the annual Halloween Critical Mass. The riders visited some of SF's locked-out hotels (Photos: 1 | 2). Meanwhile, the City of New York was denied a court injunction against Critical Mass (propaganda); nonetheless 33 cyclists were arrested. Rides were also busted in Oregon. Modesto critical mass rode at 5:30 p.m. Berkeley critical mass rides on the second Friday of the month. The Critical Mass Radio Network took to the airwaves, as it does nationwide on the last Friday of every month.

On September 13th, organizers of San Francisco's Reggae In The Park announced that they dropped a controversial Jamaican singer following complaints from queer activists in SF and beyond. In some of Capleton's lyrics, he has espoused hanging, drowning, burning, or shooting gays. Capleton issued an apology to San Franciso gays in an effort to head off a threatened demonstration. Organizers of the event apparently agreed with protesters, decided that he would be disinvited to perform. Capleton was scheduled to be one of the headline acts at Reggae in the Park, which is a fundraiser for Global Exchange to be held in Sharon Meadow on October 2nd and 3rd. Instead, during that weekend, Capleton has made plans to head to Santa Cruz for a concert at the popular nightclub Catalyst. GLBT activists there have vowed to protest the concert of the Jamaican native. They are calling for public pressure in advance of the concert, and if this fails, protest on Sunday, October 3rd at 7:30pm. Report on Santa Cruz Indymedia

San Francisco is not the only city in which a Capleton show has been cancelled. An October 4th concert in West Hollywood was cancelled, and an October 11th (national coming out day) show at the New Orleans House of Blues was called off. Report from Chicago Anti-Bashing Network Earlier this month the organizers of Britain's urban music awards announced that they would rescind the nominations of reggae stars Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel, after they refused to apologize for their lyrics inciting the murder of lesbian and gay people. Capleton, Bounty Killer and Vybz Kartel were scheduled to perform at an outdoor concert in Newark, New Jersey in September. Organizers of the Reggae Festival said that they required that the three sign contracts that state that they will not perform songs which promote hatred toward gays. Another reggae singer associated with anti-gay lyrics, Beenie Man, is currently on a US tour that has been marked by almost daily announcements of cancellations after concert halls and organizers were made aware of the nature of the singer's lyrics. London's first-ever Reggae in the Park was cancelled due to security risks related to negative publicity about reggae in the press in London.

365gay.com reports that in May, Amnesty International stated that at a reggae concert in Jamaica, Capleton and other performers "sang almost exclusively about gay men. Using the derogatory terms for gay men - "chi chi men" or ‘battybwoys’ - they urged the audience to ‘kill dem, battybwoys haffi dead, gun shots pon dem. Who want to see dem dead, put up his hand’". Amnesty International Launches Global Action to Combat Homophobic Violence in Jamaica DJ Podp of Enemy Combatant Radio recommends some dub musicians to listen to instead of homophobic artists: Asian Dub Foundation, Dr. Israel, Twilight Circus, and Prof. Shehab of Brooklyn.

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"Music... speaks in thousands of languages and is understood by all... it has no borders and no nationality!" Dr. Motte, founder of the the Berlin Love parade has said. The Love Parade came to San Francisco on October 2nd, 2004. The Love Parade is one of the world's largest dance music festivals, and this was the US debut. The parade started in downtown at Market and Beale Streets, near Embarcadero BART. Organizers planned for the parade to being at 2pm. The parade proceeded along the Embarcadero waterfront to 3rd Street and ended at Terry Francois Blvd (just across the bridge from SBC Park, off of 3rd Street) for a post-parade festival. This festival was planned to last until approximately 9pm, although it was quite chilly by 6pm. The floats and DJs that took part in the parade were all present at thre festival. Prior to the Love Parade, organizers were promising 29 floats of electronic dance music madness, with over 200 confirmed djs and live acts. This was a fully permitted, all day, all ages event.
Coincidentally, the Fuck Parade also came to America for the first time on the same day as the Love Parade. "Music...that stands up for liberation and against the state is as universal as commercial exploitation of culture...no person is illegal, no party is illegal." Dr. Muff, Founder of the Berlin Fuck Parade. The Fuck Parade was started as an attempt to take the party back from the commercial/mainstream elements that the Love Parade represented. Organizers said to expect music on the harder side, the sound of the underground. The Fuck Parade was scheduled to gather at the end of the Love Parade. "We love to cum, we fuck to survive!"
San Francisco Love Parade | San Francisco Fuck Parade | Berlin Fuck Parade

9/19/2004: Dozens of floats made their way up Berkeley's University Avenue in the city's annual How Berkeley Can You Be? Parade this morning, then made their way to Martin Luther King Jr. Park for an afternoon-long festival. This year's celebration was unusual in that it coincided with the annual observation of Berkeley Car-Free Day. The theme of the parade was Loco-Motion. As the website stated, "In celebration of International Car Free Day and in honor of all the weird, wild, and wacky ways we move, we encourge you to rethink how you get around! Bicycle power, human power, solar, biodiesel, horsepower, muppet power - these are but a few ways to get out of the usual 'driving around' mentality and into loco-motion." Participants came through with original floats that were powered by gas motors, feet, the sun, and more. Floats ranged from creative arts exhibitions to political organizations, from decorated bicycles to art cars. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | How Berkeley Can You Be? Website

"At few times in recent history has it been more imperative that communities find ways to make their voices heard." - Neighborhood Public Radio

In January of 2004, a group of artists, musicians and local radio dj's examined, in the form of a 4 day performance, what a different kind of public radio project might look like if it were localized, open to the community and reflected in its content the kind of issues that played out in the community's daily collective lives. Over the course of 4 days at 21 Grand Art Gallery and Performance space, various artists local to Oakland created intelligent and provocative audio content, culture-jammed and stuck it to the powers-that-be. The programming ranged from a daily left wing fanatical talk show broadcast.... to manipulations of recorded signals from the local "public" radio outlet. Neighborhood Public Radio (NPR) was born.

NPR has returned to the Bay Area for a long run at Southern Exposure Gallery in the Mission from September 10 - Oct. 23. Broadcasting on 88.9 FM on evenings and weekends, radio programming includes interviews with local filmmakers (The Mission Movie and the MadCat Film Festival), local hip-hop djs and Enemy Combatant Radio's very own Radical Tea Party, which will be airing on Wednesdays from 5:30 - 6:00pm. Local listeners are encouraged to come by the gallery to be apart of the studio audience - and check out the other exhibits!

Southern Exposure Gallery is located at 401 Alabama Street in SF. NPR will be broadcasting from Sept. 10-Oct. 23, on 88.9FM.

Indybay reporter Charles Slay recently noticed copies of Penn & Teller’s TV series, entitled “Bullshit," which began airing on the Showtime cable television channel in January 2003. Each episode of "Bullshit" sets out to debunk a false claim or pseudoscience, such as, alien abduction, spoon bending and creationism. Then came the chapter on “Environmental Hysteria” on the final DVD. In it, Penn Gillette—the duo member who does all the talking—begins attacking the subject of Global Warming. He states, “no one in the scientific community agrees on global warming, the science is inconclusive and no one knows if global warming is a natural fluctuation or not.” According to Slay, Penn neglects to mention experts such as Climatologist Stephen Schneider, Nobel Laureate Dr. Henry Kendel, and the Union of Concerned Scientists Instead, Penn & Teller present as their expert on global warming, as well as all things environmental, statistician Dr. Bjorn Lomborg of Denmark’s Aarhus University. Lomborg is the author of “The Environmental Skeptic,” a book that suggests, through the use of statistics, that environmentalists have greatly exaggerated the effects of pollution, deforestation, and global warming. Lomborg contends that aside from some localized problems, the environment is actually improving. Penn & Teller forget one important fact about Dr. Lomborg’s work, “The Environmental Skeptic” is a highly controversial book within the scientific community. Judging by the criticisms leveled against Dr. Lomborg’s tome by such prominent scientists as Dr.E.O. Wilson and Dr. Norman Meyers of Oxford University the work is not held in high regard. A scathing review of “The Environmental Skeptic” in the January 2002 issue of Scientific American sheds more light on the subject. To present the other side, Penn and Teller call upon journalist Ross Gelbspan. When Gelbspan makes the statement, “1998 was the hottest year on record,” Gillette cuts him of with the sarcastic refrain, ”so we’ve peaked, now what, an ice age?”
Having “debunked” global warming, Penn & Teller segue into the realm of deforestation. To back themselves up they call upon Patrick Moore. Penn & Teller are quick to point out that Moore was a cofounder of Greenpeace, but they fail to mention he now heads an organization called Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. This is a public relations firm whose clients include, among others, the Canadian Pulp & Paper Association and the National Association of Forest Industries. Mr. Moore states that the environmental movement consists of “elitists and morons” and “every tree that’s cut causes a new one to be planted.”
Just to be fair on the subject Penn & Teller decide to ask forest activist Julia Butterfly Hill what she thinks about the state of our forests. In a brief clip Ms. Hill states, “I would rather not see trees cut down for paper.” Gillette then interjects “What would we print medical textbooks on? And what about all of Picasso’s great artworks?” When Charles Slate interviewed Ms. Hill, she told him, “Penn & Teller just took a clip of me”—they didn’t interview her—“and they presented what they wanted.” He asked Ms. Hill to elaborate on her comment about cutting trees for paper and she gave a statement on using recycled paper and alternative sources of pulp, something Penn & Teller might have used. She pointed out that both of her books were printed on 100% recycled paper—presumably medical textbooks could be, as well. Slay's perspective is that the entire episode of “Bullshit” is an attempt to discredit environmentalists in general and global warming in particular. Penn & Teller make a half-hearted attempt at softening their critique by suggesting environmentalists are “well meaning, but naïve.” “It’s noble to want to save the environment, but …” Penn & Teller ignore important information, and select what suits their preconceived notions. They attack opponents on a personal level and misrepresent and oversimplify their positions. A new season of “Bullshit” has begun on Showtime. Penn and Teller declined Charles Slay's invitation to be interviewed for this article- Read More
Disinfopedia reviews "The Skeptical Environmentalist"

9/12/2004: The 6th annual 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival was held on Saturday, September 11th, as over 20,000 people jammed into Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadow, from 11AM to 6PM. The day kicked off with yoga in the park at 10am. “Stand Up and Be Counted” was the theme for this year's festival- part of its mission was to engage people to get to the polls and vote. The hosts on stage were dj's from KPFA's Hard Knock Radio, and the show was broadcast live on KPFA from 2-6pm. The festival featured an open-air art gallery of visual artists, a healing arts tent offering massage and yoga, guerrilla theater, a DJ tent, green commercial vendors and food booths, alternative fuel-sourced vehicles and demos, a kid’s zone, bike parking, and info tables of an array of social, environmental and political organizations. Lineup More about the event: Live performances by Spearhead, String Cheese Incident, Gift of Gab, John Butler Trio, and Xavier Rudd had folks dancing between alternating sunshine and fog. Amy Goodman, Medea Benjamin, Mario Africa, Barbara Lubin, Dennis Kucinich, and a host of Youth Speaks! poets kept things flowing between sets. Despite a 45-minute interruption in the show due to a blown power generator, folks seemed to enjoy the afternoon, check out the dozens of community organizations and “peace/green vendors”, and just hang out—who could complain for a completely free show? Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 8


An afterparty was held that night at Space 550 (550 BARNEVELD (between Industrial & Oakdale St. in Bayshore SF), beginning at 10:00PM. The afterparty featured three rooms of music, ranging from live musicans to breaks, house, downtempo-dub, deep soul, and more. The main stage was a "911 All Star Jam" with Michael Franti and Spearhead, Fire Performance by Blaze & Co., and a variety of decorations and visuals. A Social Justice Forum was planned for Sunday the 12th.
Carpool Info to PTTP | Spearhead Website | Power to the Peaceful Website | 2003 Power to the Peaceful Festival