When you need a distraction, RAVE! (video)

Caitlyn Trudnich (kroq.cbslocal.com); Dev, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Tove Lo) "Habits (Stay High)" She's Not on Drugs, just in love. See Sunset Strip Music Festival

Summer concerts, Los Angeles (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images/kroq.cbslocal.com)

Sigh. Coachella, Outside Lands, and HARD Summer have officially come and gone.  We’ve hung up our flower headbands and put away our wellies.  But don’t worry, there are still plenty of awesome music festivals coming up in a nearby location. From indie rock, to hip hop, to EDM, these upcoming events have something for every type of music-lover.

DIY Fest, Pomona

What's so "spiritual" about a concert? It's a communal experience with matching physical moves to a single cue, dancing to the beat. That's a way of peacefully nonverbally communicating, NVC, it's fun, it's a distraction, it can even be a celebration. We get out of our left brains and into our bodies. Then there are the lights, the stars, the other people coming together for a single purpose. It doesn't have to be a spiritual experience, but it can be!

• Dead Kennedys' singer Jello Biafra
• Unlocking The Truth to play Hollywood! (Coachella)
• Sweden's Lykke Li in L.A. ("Get Some")

Together Pangea

Echo Park Rising – August 15th-17th

Now in its fourth year, Echo Park Rising is a FREE festival, combining live music, art, food, and activities celebrating the eclectic neighborhood that is Echo Park.  Live performances from over 200 of LA’s best up-and-coming acts, including Local’s Only band Together Pangea. Enjoy strolling the local businesses and restaurants, including Blue Bag Records, Origami Vinyl, and Mohawk Bend. And it wouldn’t be a festival without yummy food!  Food trucks in attendance include Coolhaus and The Grilled Cheese Truck – mmm!

Located on main routes of Sunset Blvd., Glendale Blvd., Alvarado Ave. and Echo Park Ave. Friday 4:00-10:00 pm, Saturday 12:00-10:00 pm, Sunday 12:00-10:00 pm. Free Admission.

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

Uforia Music Festival – August 16th

Sponsored by the Hispanic American music service Uforia, this festival includes two stages, featuring popular acts in both Latin and hip hop genres, including Kid Cudi, Ludacris, and Mexican rock group Camila. Held at LA’s Exposition Park, the festival will also include a Vendor’s Village and tons of food-trucks all day.

Exposition Park, 700 State Dr., Los Angeles. 2:45 pm-12:00 am. Gen. Admission $46.05 + fees.

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Robyn Beck)

Venice Beach Music Fest – August 23rd

Whenever we visit Venice Beach, it’s guaranteed we’ll find an eclectic mix of cultures and unique arts.  The 9th Annual Venice Beach Music Fest perfectly reflects the spirit of the area, with an all-day fun and FREE experience! Live performances include legendary singer Willie Chambers, funk rockers Zen Robbi, and Middle Eastern bellydancing from Ya Harissa Bellydance Theater.  And don’t forget to hit up the after-party, featuring a founding member of Black Flag, Chuck Dukowski!

Windward Plaza Park, 1 Windward Ave., Venice Beach. 11:00 am-7:00 pm. Free admission.

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Trixie Trextor)

FYF Fest – August 23rd-24th

What began as a small music event in Echo Park created by an 18 year-old Sean Carlson, has now become a massive music festival that tons of LA festival goers look forward to every year!  Now in its 11th year and located at The LA Sports Arena and Exposition Park, this upcoming SOLD-OUT festival (like all other sellouts has lots of tickets available at the window, scalpers out front, people with a few extras, dealers, brokers, and craigslisters) promises to be a massive talent fest. With names like The Strokes, Phoenix, Interpol, Haim, Against Me!, and more, it’s sure to be a blast.

 

LA Sports Arena and Exposition Park, 3939 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. Saturday & Sunday, 2:00 pm-12:00 am.

Long Beach Psyclone August 29th-31st

SoCal rockabilly lovers will definitely love this music festival, featuring tons of rockabilly and psychobilly performances happening all Labor Day weekend long. Held at the Seaport Marina Hotel, the weekend includes internationally known performers like The Sharks (UK) and The Long Tall Texans (UK), as well as fun record hop events, and a pool party and BBQ to culminate the weekend!

Seaport Marina Hotel, 6400 E. Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach. Weekend Pass Admission $80 + fees.

Shoreline Jam Music Festival – August 30th-31st

This awesome, Labor Day Weekend event, sponsored by KROQ, features a jam-packed live music lineup, including KROQ favorites The Dirty Heads, Pepper, and Seedless!  Located at the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach, festival-goers can enjoy a cold drink and yummy food as you stroll through the many vendors and take in the scenic views of the Long Beach harbor!

The Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach. General Admission $25.  VIP Admission $75 (includes 2 drink tickets, VIP Lounge access, and access to explore the Queen Mary!)

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Theo Wargo)

Made In America Festival – August 30th-31st

Co-created by hip hop mogul Jay Z in 2012, this successful festival originated in Philadelphia. But this year marks the first time the festival will be held in Los Angeles at Grand Park. The Rocky Stage, Liberty Stage, and Freedom Tent will feature performances from some of the best in rock, hip hop, and EDM, including Imagine Dragons, Kayne West, John Mayer, Iggy Azalea, Weezer, Rise Against, Capital Cities, Steve Aoki, and many more.

Grand Park, 227 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles. 2-Day Pass Admission $200 + fees.

Mad Decent Block Party – September 13th

Created by Mad Decent founder Diplo in 2008, this Block Party tour will be visiting Los Angeles in September. Taking place at the LA Center Studios, this vibrant event will include performances from members of the Mad Decent family, including Laidback Luke, singer Elliphant, and Diplo himself!  Hey, who knows?  Maybe even rapper Riff Raff will make a guest appearance.

LA Center Studios, 1201 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles. Doors 1:00 pm

(Britt Bickel)

Sunset Strip Music Festival – September 20th-21st

One of the most happening music events in LA is the SSMF! Since 2008, the iconic Sunset Strip has been filled with performances on the street and on the legendary stages of venues such as the Whiskey A Go-Go, The Roxy Theatre, and Rainbow Bar & Grill. This year, expect the Strip to get rocked with major performances including, Jane’s Addiction, Empire Of The Sun, Cold War Kids, Mayer Hawthorne, Tove Lo of "Habits (Stay High)" fame, and more.

Saturday, 2:00-11:00 pm, Sunday, 2:00-10:00 pm. 2 Day Pass Admission $125 + fees.

Are you what you eat? "Chewicide" (film)

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Seven, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Keidi Obe Awadu, ChewicideMovie.com, LivingSuperFood.com

This is a healthier vegan option

Junk food, fast food, the SAD (Standard American Diet), and highly-processed foods all contribute to our American problems with healthcare and paying for it. "I'm saving money on the 99 cent menu but paying for it at the doctor's office."

Despite all the great and not-so-great (i.e., "official") information on better dietary practices, we still suffer epidemics of man-made chronic disease brought on by chewicide.

Junk food: U.S. men are getting fatter

Chewicide, what's chewicide? Munching brought on by emotional-eating, low self-esteem, the impact of psychological craving brought on by advertising campaigns and empty calories from corporations that favor profit by compromising the health of their consumers.

The use of GMOs, hidden in foods we all eat particularly corn chips, is causing perforations in the lining of our stomachs -- by design. This is the way Monsanto's Roundup-ready pesticide and pest resistant products kill insects, by exploding their stomachs.

French fried slayers: starch, acrylamides, plasticized oil, dipped in red sugar

 
Well, wuddintcha know? They have the exact same effect on school children, working adults, acne-ridden teens, and anyone else who eats conventional, non-organic food. What are the chances?

• AUDIO: Filmmaker appears on Pacifica Radio's Inner Vision Monday: PLAY (download) June 30, 2014 1:00 pm

Whether it's consuming the flesh of animals fed GMOs or plants injected with GMOs or condiments utilizing GMO foods (like the 50 pounds of high fructose corn syrup the average American eats on top of the 162 one-pound sacks of sugar one is trying to digest without developing cancer, diabetes, OCD, ADHD, autism, brain fog, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, depression...), we take in too many harmful ingredients, additives, and calories. Yet most of us are suffering from malnutrition -- a lack of nourishment in spite of the surplus of salt, sugar, and fat our brains' crave.

There is an antidote to the madness and disease: conscious eating of actual food

 

Be conscious or commit chewicide

Companies induce us to eat more (by adding excitotoxic MSG, artificial flavorants, other addictive glutamates, "natural" flavors that are synthesized using petrochemicals, sterilizing preservatives, mold inhibitors, attractive colorants, etc.)  then an entire industry capitalizes on the effect of our standard American diet with ineffective, but highly profitable, medical "treatments," pharmaceutical interventions, surgeries, and radiation sessions to address our symptoms.

But we keep eating. Money doesn't grow on trees, so the only way for corporations to make good money from food is by processing it and selling it at an exorbitant price compared to how much it cost to make. A pound of potatoes, for instance, is worth almost nothing wholesale. But fry it, salt it, bag it, and even a few ounces spells obscene profits. Who cares if consumers' suffer in the transaction?

The best antidote to chewicide is mindful "conscious eating." It is certainly worth the effort to change our lifestyles from committing chewicide to nourishing ourselves on living foods (fresh, green, preferably sprouted). When we let food be our medicine, suddenly we do not need medicine. Food is Nature's perfect answer to all of our health problems. Eating with gratitude, while relaxed and joyful, and  according to one's biomechanics, blood type, and Ayurvedic dosha may also be helpful. Learn more or join the movement

• What's wrong with American men? As Americans we like to pride ourselves on being the best country in the world [WQ EDITORIAL: when everybody knows that's Switzerland]. However, it's clear that other countries... More proof we're fat. Here's what the average American man looks like compared to other men... How do YOU measure up? Artist compares "average" shape of men from around the world...
• VIDEO: Hey, why are you so FAT?
• "If you don't move, you get fat." But how can you move when you're exhausted, and your brain and heart are telling you they're starving, and when plastics and chemicals are making you obese even as you diet? Meanwhile, the diet industry, food corporations, and cancer.... 30th over 1,000 people gathered at IP Church in Los Angeles to hear a Pacifica-sponsored speech by the acclaimed Canadian addiction specialist, physician, and bestselling author Gabor Mate.AUDIO: Poor SLEEP makes us fat, demented American men are fatter than other men... The study adds to a growing body of evidence that there's "an intimate relationship between the amount of sleep we get and our ability to maintain a good, healthy body weight," says sleep expert Helene Emsellem, director of the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Maryland. But Americans don't seem to be getting the message that we need seven to nine hours per night. More than 1 in 5 of us...
• How Western diets are making world sick It had a visceral potency to it when you could see it directly there." In a conversation on Fresh Air, Patterson tells Terry Gross that the effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.

An American Junk-Food Tax?

Xochitl; CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; A Martinez, Alex Cohen, Take Two (SCPR.org), Nat'l Burger Day, Vow To Revive Navajo Junk-Food Tax (AP/NPR, April 22, 2014)

This mouth-watering burger is a delicious, cruelty-free vegan melt with baked fries (Vegan)

 

Don't tell anyone these are "good" as in healthy.

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona - Facing a high prevalence of diabetes, many American Indian tribes are returning to their roots with community and home gardens, cooking classes that incorporate traditional foods, and running programs to encourage healthy eating lifestyles [returning back to the Earth].

 

The latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country's largest "reservation" [modern internment camp], is to use the tax system to spur people to ditch junk food.

 

Manzanita/Sobochesh (eattheweeds.com)

A proposed 2 percent sales tax on chips, cookies, and sodas failed Tuesday in a Tribal Council vote.

 

But the measure still has widespread support, and advocates plan to revive it, with the hope of making the tribe one of the first governments to enact a junk-food tax.

 

Elected officials across the U.S. have taken aim at sugary drinks with proposed bans, size limits, tax hikes, and warning labels, though their efforts have not gained widespread traction. In Mexico, lawmakers approved a junk food tax and a tax on soft drinks last year as part of that government's campaign to fight obesity.

• Sugars, corn like cocaine
• (Why I love cocaine)
• VIDEO: COKE cola recipe
• Coca-Cola corporation's cocaine manufacturing
• Sugar is toxic like alcohol
• Nat'l Burger Day: VaKA, SoCal
• Moosewood's Classic Veggie Tofu Burgers
• Is Kimye junk food for the mind?

Navajo President Ben Shelly earlier this year vetoed measures to establish a junk-food tax and eliminate the tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. At Tuesday's meeting, tribal lawmakers overturned the veto on the tax cut, but a vote to secure the junk-food tax fell short. Lawmakers voted 13-7 in favor of it, but the tax needed 16 votes to pass. More

Native Americans on gay marriage, junk food...

Xochitl; CC Liu, Ashley Wells, (eds.) Wisdom Quarterly; NPR.org; Take Two (SCPR.org)

Cleaning, restoring, and hiking Hahamongna, sacred Tongva land, Native Los Angeles

Navajo Nation rainbow flag (dbking/flickr.com/npr.org)

How some Natives dealt with homosexuality

LGBTQ (transgendersociety.yolasite.com)

It may be that gay marriage is not accepted by traditional Native Americans, like California's Chumash (ranging from Malibu to San Luis Obispo). They nevertheless found a progressive and inclusive solution to gender-bending, transsexuality, and homosexuality: "Two-spirit people."

San Francisco march (indybay.org)

Two-spirit is a modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans for gender-variant individuals within their communities.

 

Non-Native anthropologists have historically used the term berdaches (almost exactly like the analogous Afghan/Pashtun bacheh) for individuals who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles in First Nations and Native American tribes.

• Afghan Buddhist missionary monks, led by Hwui Shan, brought Buddhism to Native Americans in the 5th century AD according to historian Edward P. Vining ("Inglorious Columbus," 1884)
• Buddhism refers to transgender individuals as pandakas
• Modern Buddhists in Thailand (S.E. Asia) say kathoeys

The complex social psychology of sex and the social construction of gender among Native Americans and ancient Asians can teach us a great deal to allay our unconscious sexism (GJ)

  

Ancient Afghans and Chinese in America

But this term has more recently fallen out of favor (in Afghanistan as well). Third and fourth gender roles historically embodied by two-spirit people include performing work and cross dressing, that is, wearing clothing associated with the other gender. 

 

Some tribes consider there to be at least four gender identities: (1) feminine men, (2) masculine men, (3) feminine women, and (4) masculine women. The presence of male two-spirits "was a fundamental institution among most tribal peoples" (Brian Joseph Gilley, Becoming Two-Spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country, 2008). According to Will Roscoe, male and female two-spirits have been "documented in over 130 North America tribes, in every region of the continent" (Will Roscoe, The Zuni Man-Woman, p.5, 1991).
 

Transsexual and transgender Native Americans existed, and were even accepted and assimilated, before Western contact (Transgender Society/de Batz, Illinois,1735)

.

Banning Native American Gay Marriage
Tell Me More (npr.org)

But we need gay marriage or they win!

The Navajo Nation has has prohibited same-sex marriage since 2005, when the Dine Marriage Law was passed. Now, critics are challenging that ban.  As the largest reservation in the U.S., the Navajo Nation straddles the borders of three states: New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Utah has been embroiled in its own same-sex marriage battle recently (the state halted gay marriages Monday).  But these state laws do not affect the Navajo Nation ban. Michel Martin, the excellent host of NPR's nightly Tell Me More, recently sat down with Deswood Tome, a special adviser to the president of the Navajo Nation and activist Alray Nelson of the Coalition for Navajo Equality. LISTEN

Impact of The Long Walk felt 150 years later

Laurel Morales, Fronteras Desk (Take Two, Jan. 24, 2014)

The Long Walk for Navajos and Apaches (Bosque Redondo Memorial/Shonto Begay)

 

Navajo Artist Shonto Begay says, “I could feel and hear the cries of the people the trail the heat the cold. I had to be deep deep inside that to try to bring out the echoes of the cries on the trail.”

January marked the 150th anniversary of what Navajo and Mescalero Apache people call "The Long Walk," similar to the forced death-march known as the "Trail of Tears."

Native American (SuperG82/flickr)

In 1864 the U.S. Army forced the Navajo and Apache to walk 400 miles from their assigned reservation in northeastern Arizona to the edge of the Pecos River in eastern New Mexico. As expected thousands died during that long, arduous journey.

These days, so many Navajos like musician Clarence Clearwater have moved off the reservation for work.

Clearwater performs on the Grand Canyon Railway -- the lone Indian among dozens of cowboys and train robbers entertaining tourists.

 

“I always tell people I’m there to temper the cowboys,” Clearwater said. “I’m there to give people the knowledge that there was more of the West than just cowboys.”

 

Clearwater retraced his great-great-great-grandfather’s footsteps 50 years ago for The Long Walk’s 100th anniversary. Along the way he learned a song about going home. LISTEN

• A history of discrimination denying affirmative action

Native American Junk-Food Tax?
"Advocates Vow To Revive Navajo Junk-Food Tax" (AP/NPR, April 22, 2014)

This mouth-watering burger is a delicious vegan melt with baked fries (Vegan)

 

Don't tell anyone they're good as in healthy.

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona - Facing a high prevalence of diabetes, many American Indian tribes are returning to their roots with community and home gardens, cooking classes that incorporate traditional foods, and running programs to encourage healthy lifestyles.

 

The latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country's largest reservation, is to use the tax system to spur people to ditch junk food.

 

Sobochesh berries (eattheweeds.com)

A proposed 2 percent sales tax on chips, cookies and sodas failed Tuesday in a Tribal Council vote. But the measure still has widespread support, and advocates plan to revive it, with the hope of making the tribe one of the first governments to enact a junk-food tax.

 

Elected officials across the U.S. have taken aim at sugary drinks with proposed bans, size limits, tax hikes and warning labels, though their efforts have not gained widespread traction. In Mexico, lawmakers approved a junk food tax and a tax on soft drinks last year as part of that government's campaign to fight obesity.

 

Navajo President Ben Shelly earlier this year vetoed measures to establish a junk-food tax and eliminate the tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. At Tuesday's meeting, tribal lawmakers overturned the veto on the tax cut, but a vote to secure the junk-food tax fell short. Lawmakers voted 13-7 in favor of it, but the tax needed 16 votes to pass. More

• Spying goes high tech at Coachella
• Shooting serves as pretext for LAPD to reassess security at police stations
• (EA) The LAPD is reviewing security at the front desks of police stations after a gunman opened fire two weeks ago inside the lobby of a Mid-City station, wounding one officer.
• Time Warner starts "major" network upgrade in LA
• OC students, tutor could face charges for altering grades
• Earth Day: How vulnerable is community to pollution?
  Smog levels in California cities still above federal standards
  Rural community in Mendocino running low on water 
  Flashback: Syria, Edgar Tamayo, Virginia gay marriage
  Musician David Broza pushes for peace in Middle East
  SoCal Rain Dance: Song suggestions to bring rainfall
  Arizona same-sex couples challenge state laws 
  Slow-building momentum behind gay marriage legalization
   
  

Study: cheese, meat, eggs = Cancer (audio)

Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Stephanie O'Neill (scpr.org, 3-4-14)

Vegan beauty Alicia Silverstone wants moms to loan their breasts (news.softpedia.com)

Winner: "Best Vegan Pizza" using melting, dairy-free Daiya cheese (peta.org)

One Burger King Triple Whopper has 49 grams of dead animal protein, which is the maximum recommended daily total for a 130-pound adult (Joe Raedle/Getty Images).

  

Big Macs are made of cancer-causing flesh.

Middle-aged people with diets high in animal flesh protein -- such as meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and cheese -- face a dramatically increased risk of dying from cancer compared with those who eat low animal protein diets, according to a University of Southern California study published today in the journal Cell Metabolism.

If only cows lived on a compassionate planet

The study found 50 to 65-year-olds who consumed a "high-protein" diet -- meaning they got 20 percent or more of their calories from animal sources of protein -- were four times more likely to die from cancer, compared with those who consumed less than 10 percent of their daily calories in animal protein.

• AUDIO: LISTEN NOW (download)

Lines at Vegan Pizza Contest, Animal Advocacy Museum, Throop UU, summer 2013 (WQ)

  

Vegan pizza rules (WQ)

A press release accompanying the study called that "a mortality risk factor comparable to smoking." The risk of early death from all causes soared by 74 percent among the high-protein consumers, researchers found.
 
But the picture changes for those over 65. For them, it appears that a moderate-to-high protein diet [not necessarily from animal sources] actually reduces cancer and overall mortality and is helpful in preventing age-dependent weight loss and malnourishment.
 
Researchers focused their study on a national cross-section of 6,381 people 50 and older who were tracked for nearly 20 years.
 
They also found that among all the age groups studied, a diet high in animal protein increases insulin production and the risk of dying from diabetes-related causes.
 

The higher risk of cancer and overall death among the middle-aged and the increase in diabetes deaths were "either abolished or attenuated if the proteins were plant derived," the study said.
 

Go veg for bliss (WQ/Larson)

Various health agencies recommend that daily intake of animal protein should be about 0.8 grams per kilogram. So a 130-pound adult should eat [no more than] between 45 and 50 grams of animal protein per day. A 160-pound adult should eat between 60 and 65 grams per day.
 
How much protein is that? It sounds like a lot. Here is some help in calculating:

• 1 oz. of cheddar cheese: 7 grams
• 1 egg: 6 grams
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast: 31 grams
• 1 Burger King® Whopper: 22 grams
• 1 Burger King® Triple Whopper: 49 grams

Los Angeles bans e-cigarettes in smoke-free areas

Electronic cigarettes will be prohibited in L.A. parks, restaurants, and "meat-market" pick up bars under an ordinance approved today (3-4-14) by the Los Angeles City Council.

McDonalds on strike; NSA spies on cell phones

Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; DemocracyNow.com, "Fast-Food Workers Strike..."

Fastfood workers nationwide are walking off the job in about 100 cities today (Dec. 5, 2013) in what organizers call their largest action to date. Today’s strikes and protests continue a campaign that began last year to call for a living wage of $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation.

   

NSA collecting data on cellphones worldwide

New leaks from Edward Snowden show the NSA is tracking the locations of cellphones worldwide on a massive scale. The Washington Post reports the NSA is gathering around five billion call records a day that show the whereabouts of cellphone users around the globe. The spying allows the NSA to track individuals’ movements, as well as their personal routes and relationships. The records are fed into a database that monitors hundreds of millions of devices. The data is retrieved by tapping into the cable networks of mobile phones worldwide. Of all the NSA spying programs exposed by Snowden, The Washington Post says the mobile location tracking "in scale, scope, and potential impact on privacy... may be unsurpassed."

NSA morale down after Snowden revelations, former officials say

AT&T says it doesn't have to disclose NSA dealings

The phone company AT&T, under fire for ongoing revelations that it shares and sells customers' communications records to the NSA and other U.S. intelligence offices, says it isn't required to disclose to shareholders what it does with its customers' data. 

AP Exclusive: Rough ride for US-Russia copter deal 

Obama defends NSA against latest spying report  

President Barack Obama is defending the National Security Agency, saying it does a very good job of not engaging in domestic surveillance.

Discussion: The implications of NSA cellphone surveillance 

Switchboard: Patriot Act author wants Clapper prosecuted House of Representatives passes patent bill and FTC sanctions popular "flashlight" app for privacy violations.