from: http://www.neatorama.com/2007/09/03/clowns-kicked-kkk-asses/
Clowns Kicked KKK Asses
Here’s an excellent example of pwnage: when the white supremacist group VNN Vanguard Nazi/KKK tried to host a hate rally in Knoxville, Tennessee, they were foiled by … clowns!
Unfortunately for [VNN] the 100th ARA (Anti Racist Action) clown block came and handed them their asses by making them appear like the asses they were.
Alex Linder the founder of VNN and the lead organizer of the rally kicked off events by rushing the clowns in a fit of rage, and was promptly arrested by 4 Knoxville police officers who dropped him to the ground when he resisted and dragged him off past the red shiny shoes of the clowns. http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/7704982.html
“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.
“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.
“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled “Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.
At this point several of the Nazi’s and Klan members began clutching their hearts as if they were about to have a heart attack. Their beady eyes bulged, and the veins in their tiny narrow foreheads beat in rage. One last time they screamed “White Power!”
The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. “Ohhhhh…” the women clowns said. “Now we understand…”, “WIFE POWER!” they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting “WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!”
Labels: 2007, aiki, clown, conflict, demo
| posted by Unknown @ 7/23/2009 08:58:00 AM
from: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jNR4dcq5sivgbez2rttRVWtTMXoAD99ICMF01
BOSTON — Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar, is accusing Cambridge police of racism after he was arrested while trying to force open the locked front door of his home near Harvard University.
Cambridge police were called to the home Thursday afternoon after a woman reported seeing a man "wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open," according to a police report.
An officer ordered the man to identify himself, and Gates refused, according to the report. Gates began calling the officer a racist and said repeatedly, "This is what happens to black men in America."
Officers said they tried to calm down the 58-year-old academic, who responded, "You don't know who you're messing with," according to the police report.
Gates was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior." He was released later that day on his own recognizance and arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 26.
Gates referred comment to his lawyer, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, who was not immediately available. Cambridge police declined to comment, and the Middlesex district attorney's office said it could not do so until after Gates' arraignment. The woman who reported Gates did not return a message Monday.
Many of Gates' African-American colleagues believe his arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge, said Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years.
Counter has said he was stopped on campus by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.
"We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white," Counter said. "It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened."
Counter said he spoke to Gates, who told him police continued to question him after he showed them his license and Harvard identification.
"They did not believe him when he said that he was in his own home," Counter said. "He was totally mistreated in this incident."
Gates is the director of Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research and served for 15 years as chairman of what is now the Department of African and African American Research. He joined the Harvard faculty in 1991 and holds one of 20 prestigious "university professors" positions at the school.
He also was host of "African American Lives," a PBS show about the family histories of prominent U.S. blacks. Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
| posted by Unknown @ 7/21/2009 09:39:00 AM
miss my people
new life on faraway coasts
warm familiars northbound
training in community as far away as urgency can make it
rescue could only make the distance worse
arm's length from embraces
from true return
to connection
from the cold
of diss
Introducing
Elijah Doyle Keepin
Born at home
July 16, 2009
12:40 am
7lbs, 10 oz
21 inches long
He emerged right hand first, pressed against his head -
and grabbed the handle of the scissors that cut the cord.
Everyone is well and resting.
From Twitter on July 16th:
0040 edt I have a new nephew! Fat cheeks alert eyes already tracking, 7lbs 9oz 21" Meg is recovering and WAY tired. Everyone is deemed well. Given name forthcoming.
Brandon is a very bright and energetic problem solver with a deep commitment to Aikido in the world. I think he will do great if anyone can at this challenging time during the unnecessary and intentionally fabricated economic collapse.
Your skills are ideally suited to help non-profits take their next step in vision, from living with an essential idea to realizing its potential in a way that everybody involved gets what they need.
CEO and President of Sagacent Technologies, Silicon Valley
"If you assume that "harmony" pretty much covers all the bases, then your aikido will be oriented a certain way. In my opinion, harmony is an essential aspect, but I believe aiki embraces a much larger field of thought and action. For this reason, I've been a huge fan of Brandon's trademark "aikido is conflict done well." Harmony may or may not be an outcome of aiki. At the same time, I readily affirm that as conflict is done increasingly well, an increase of harmony is almost an inevitable artifact."
Dojocho - Still Point Aikido Center
AH! Now I understand!!! Thanks. You are a patient teacher--a quality I know and appreciate in others.
Retired Teacher
I just thought of a possible gig for you. I've been dealing with this sticky/issue laden interaction in one work relationship. As I was going out to the garage I thought, "Brandon would be the perfect person to de-escalate situations like this." And then I thought what a good fit it would be for you to be an on-call person to go to red line conflicts, and bring things back to sanity.
Elder Care Professional
Brandon was great. Very professional, enjoyable and easy to work with.
Assistant Clinical Professor
UCSF Department of Pediatrics
I found this morning's conversation the absolute juiciest....conflict resolved in a flash....no residual debris. What a rush...We tackle the thorniest issues imaginable...it takes about 5 min.....it's over. Wow. How cool is that?
my Dad
thanks for not saying i was being extreme.
trying to get me to look at what was going well.
by doing that i was able to recover much more quickly.
and this morning have a more balanced perspective on how things are going.
a good friend and colleague
Labels: bdwc, bio, professional, responses
| posted by Unknown @ 7/10/2009 08:24:00 PM
from: http://www.bujindesign.com/seminar_reviews/2009_07_article_1.html
AIKIDO & PSYCHOTHERAPY: The First Workshop
Contributed by Paul Rest, 2nd dan
On March 7th of this year, a day-long workshop was held at Kayla Feder's dojo in Berkeley, CA.� The purpose was twofold: First, to explore the intersection of these two disciplines, Aikido and Psychotherapy.� Second, to provide Continuing Education credits for those therapists attending who are licensed in the State of California.
The workshop was also a benefit for Aiki Extensions and the great work that organization is doing.� David Lukoff was the driving force behind the effort.� Participating with David were Beth Tabakin, Brandon Williams Craig, Jamal Granick, Patrick Faggianelli, Kayla Feder Sensei and myself.� The workshop began early Saturday morning with a review of dojo etiquette and an overview of the workshop. Kayla Sensei then bowed us in.� I gave a brief introduction about Aikido and O Sensei, directed to those present who were in the psychotherapy field and were being exposed to Aikido for the first time.
David then gave an introduction to the background on the writing and research that has been done to date on Aikido and Psychotherapy.� Referenced in his remarks was a paper he and Patrick had written in 2006 in The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (Vol. 38, No. 2) titled "Aikido and Psychotherapy: A Study of Psychotherapists Who Are Aikido Practitioners."� (This is available on David's web site: www.spiritualcompetency.com.)
David and Beth then gave an informative talk on Aikido as a practice of self-care for those in the helping professions.� Beth mentioned how some of the breathing and movement practices from Aikido have helped her clients who have worked with her in her private practice.
Then Jamal addressed the workshop on the topic of "Presence."� At various times during his presentation, he had the group do an exercise where, following his lead/movements, we all did a ki-ai together.� This was not just a "follow the leader" exercise but one where we all looked ahead with a relaxed gaze and "felt" more than "saw" Jamal's initiating the ki-ai.� From the first "ki-ai," which we all admitted sounded jagged, to one where it began to sound like we were beginning to link up to the last one where we all had the "presence" to "ki-ai" in unison, we all gained a deeper understanding of the power of presence.
We then took a break for a shared lunch.� As at most gatherings where Aikidoists are present, the pizzas disappeared quickly!� It was also a time where those presenting and those attending had an opportunity to informally talk and share.
After lunch, Patrick discussed his work as a licensed psychologist in the prison system and also his private practice.� Patrick related the experiences he had had with his dissertation interviewing therapists who had Aikido training.� During the interview process he conducted, often involving more than one session, Patrick related how his interviewees came to realize that they had either been using some of what they had learned in Aikido as a self-help/self-centering/self-healing tool in their practice(s) or were seeing how it could be used.
David and Beth next presented their insights into "Learned Optimism." Focusing on "learned optimism" as a core concept in "the evolving field of 'positive psychology'," various studies were discussed.� It was also brought to everyone's attention that Saotome Sensei has often remarked that an optimistic philosophy is not enough; you must also train the body.� We all did the two-step where we began by repeating to ourselves a "pessimistic self-statement."� Then, we did the same two-step with an "optimistic self-statement."� We all could see and feel the differences between "A" and "B."�
After a brief break, we all practiced a randori in small groups, learning to move with incoming energy/conflict by moving off the line and out of harm's way.� For the non-Aikidoists and non-martial artists present, this was a new and challenging way to move.� As we continued the practice, it became exciting and fun.� Before long, everyone had the flow of the randori and the mat began to look like an Aikido class.
I gave additional remarks about the growth and development of Low Impact Aikido followed by Brandon discussing, "Integration."� Brandon brought up the work Aiki Extensions is doing and his work with AE.� He also addressed his work in conflict facilitation and how his Aikido practice has informed this.� Speaking from his dual backgrounds in Mythology and Psychology, Brandon noted the how the two fields have intertwined in his own work along with his practice of Aikido.
David closed the workshop with a heartfelt thank-you to Kayla Sensei for the use of her dojo and the warm hospitality.� The workshop provided a great blend of the material that needed to be presented for the Continued Education certificates while allowing ample room for questions and discussions among those present.� It was agreed that another workshop be scheduled about the same time next year.
For those wishing to receive more information please contact David Lukoff or myself and we'll do our best to provide you with the material requested or answer your questions.
Paul Rest lives in Sonoma County, CA.� He trains at Two Rock Aikido (http://www.tworockaikido.com) under Richard Strozzi-Heckler, 6th dan.� He has written numerous articles about Low Impact Aikido ("Aikido for Everyone") and on other Aikido topics.� He can be reached at paulrest@paulrest.com or at poetry@sonic.net.�
Labels: AiBerk, aiki, Aikido, aikiextensions, demo, professional
| posted by Unknown @ 7/10/2009 08:19:00 PM
