ACAB..Really?

There are too many things to unpack these days. There should be nuance in everything instead of deadly broad strokes. The world was created in nuance…let’s follow that road.

ACAB- All cops are bad or all cops are xX^&*X&^. Whatever you fill in is wrong. Why because it’s just not true…..But it’s most definitely true at the same time. You see the issue is so severely nuanced that a sound bite like that does not hold the weight it carries and just further divides us as a people.

Try this instead..

All cops are bad..WHEN…They protect other cops who have histories of violence and malfeasance against citizens, especially citizens of color-since they are the brunt of the offenses. Bad or illegal behavior is not rewarded anywhere else but in military like institutions-(and corporate America, but that’s another blog).

I know a lot of great cops who would give their lives for you. It’s a fact.

Still….

All cops are bad WHO participate in coverups and do not let third party investigators do their jobs. An organization does not have the capacity to investigate itself honestly. But time and again we see internal police probes that just clear officers UNLESS there is some sort of outrage.

All cops are bad..WHEN they believe Qualified Immunity applies to them in all situations simply because they are the police. This leads to an institutional culture that believes itself above the law instead of being part of the due process of the law that serves the citizenry of it’s country.

This last one I just heard from someone whom I would have never pegged as a neoconservative.

“I saw cops kneeling in support of BLM therefore all cops are good..”

Taking a knee is only a statement. Yes it’s great when cops join in and support the rights of others. That’s a very powerful image…. but Derek Chauvin took a knee and look where that landed us.

We need to look beyond the obvious, beyond the first page of a book to find the real story.

Are ALL COPS BAD?

YES and NO

Should we defund the Police?

Yes and no.-Next time…….

 

Selah

the rev

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Winter-Summer

I love this time of year, here in my city. For about two weeks in the middle of winter, the weather changes and becomes calm, sunny, warm and lovely. Usually it’s the same time as the cherry blossoms bloom and the lost majik of my city once again asserts itself.
All of her denizens become happy, and generous of spirit, as if they had beef freed from the yoke of slavery. Slavery to the cold, the wet, to the indoors and each other.
It is also the month I have chosen for my birthday.
Since at the time of my first birth, calendars weren’t yet invented. People tracked time the old fashioned way, with the rising of the moon, the raising of crops or the passing of sons in war.
But about a thousand years ago I decided to celebrating the birthday of my current incarnation as my true birthday.

But I digress…
I love my city, but she’s having troubles. The gulf between rich and poor is no more apparent than here. Mocking all of us with a horrible reflection of our leaders ideas of our future.
I have never really believed in politics or ism’s
That was always my brothers job. I was content to stand by and watch, to be the commentary on life. But now that he passed, his mantle of activism has bled into my soul  and won’t go away. As much as I try it seems to assert itself when I least expect it.
Indeed. I get lost at times when I write. Deciding to move with the flow as opposed to the thought.

My city, my beautiful morally bankrupt city, is still the only place I call home. The only place that calls my name as I walk her streets at night, climb her hill during the day.
Whispering to me in the slightest of ways.
There’s hope.
As long as there is winter-spring, I’ll believe her.

Selah

The Rev

War-Fucking sick of it!

My original title for this sermon was “With us or Agin’ us”. (You need to put in a low life white trash accent on it to really get the vibe). But I need to put a forward on this one so you understand the context of it amid the last few days.

War cannot be won by violence. The battles maybe, but the underlying issues never, ever go away. They just fester and putrefy. War can only be won by changing our belief-our hearts and minds- that there is a difference between the warring parties. That “we are better than you”, is not real. I know that’s hard when you are given the choices by those in power of “With us or Agin’ us”, all of the time. It’s a mantra that is-at least in our country- pushed by the white rich ruling class, and is parroted down by those who crave to be them one day.

“Maybe if I sound like them, act like them, I could be them!”

But no, that’s not how it works. So this sermon is for all the Stupid white people who think that it’s possible to be a Parrot and an Eagle at the same time.

I read a Facebook post from some white couple calmly saying that if you don’t speak English, you shouldn’t live here. That if you are a Muslim and you want Sharia law here, you should go back to where you came from. That this country is a Christian country like it or not. Love it or leave it. That we tolerate the rest of you infidels living side by side with us, is about all we can take.

So my first thoughts after reading this were these…..I am totally sick of idiot white people! There I’ve said it. You guys are a bunch of…..let me put it this way. If parrots and lemmings were able to breed, you’d be their offspring!

“Lemmingrots” would be a good name.

“With us or agin’ us”. Fuck that. Are there only two choices in life for Americans now? So Il Duce has bombed a Iranian leader in Iraq and this is good? His poll numbers go up, his donations are pouring in and he is now the savior again. You’re all proud of him???

(Please use white trash voice here). “What impeachment? Impeachement, imsmeschment”!

“That was all a ruse by some unpatriotic Americans-probably some ferners like that AOC bitch over there and that radical towhead Talib”.

Well I only really have this to say about that…..Fuck you guys with your sanctimonious standing tall with Christ at your back. Saying this has ALWAYS been a christian nation and if we don’t like it, we should go back to where we came from. Christ would hate you mother fuckers for saying that. He’d be like….

“Just pimp slap these people until they start listening to me”.

So you feel more American and have more pride when our military is involved. The might of arms makes you feel your truth…..? Penis envy much???We bomb a leader of another nation and that’s OK. “He was going to bomb us, He already attacked us. He’s planning more things!”

Most likely all true but why….

I asked y’all a question…WHY the fuck would he do that?

Why the fuck should anyone in the region want to hate us so bad? Maybe the better question is Why the fuck are we in the region to begin with? I know the answer……Do you? Can you guess? It rhymes with Moil, Soil, Foil and toil…That’s right Money!

We are there to protect oil interests, not people. We give not one shit about anyone over there least of all our allies. Just look at the kurds. Beasties one day, disposable the next. We don’t intervene when the Saudis or the Turks commit mass murder. We basically do squat when Syria gasses their population. But fuck with our money and we are gonna come and get you! All under the guise of patriotism.

“With us or agin’ us”…..

The battle cry of the Braindead!

Selah

The rev

Facts Vs. Faith

This is the eternal battle. Not good and evil, not even right or wrong, but fact vs faith. And much to the world’s chagrin, it is both a losing and winning battle. Let me explain:

Faith always, always wins in the short term. That’s just fact! There is no arguing with someone who is bound by faith to believe in what they believe. The world is flat and afterwards there are monsters. But with enough time and peoples curiosity, that piece of faith goes away. People sail to the edge of the world and lo and behold, it isn’t there.

Poof!

There is no more flat world belief. (Although there are some folks who would still argue the point today. But they’re just crrrazy)! The beautiful thing about fact is that its empirical. Either it is or it isn’t, and there is proof to back up your claim. Verifiable and undeniable. The beautiful thing about faith is that it needs no proof, only the ability for someone to let go of all reason and believe that something is true. Completely  deniable and utterly unverifiable, and they both can exist side by side amicably…if not for ego. 

The problem is that a majority of people can’t allow both systems of belief to exist simultaneously, because it breaks the covenant that they have entered into with their own belief system. “Thou shalt have no god before me”!! It cracks the shell of their ego. A man who believes in the “word of god”  with all of his breath, will not believe in evolution. Not matter how much proof exists. A man who believes in evolution and has spent his life exploring it, will never accept the “word of god” as fact, because there is no proof.-just fairly tales to tell the kids, so they are not afraid of the unknown. This is the way it is and the way it’s always been. 
Of course there is a middle ground, but very few folk live there and there lies the rub. We live in a world which requires both. We need fact and science and the ability to admit we were wrong about something when proof is presented to us. In the same breath, we need to believe so hard in things that are never manifest because it soothes our soul. It makes us better. It makes us strive to be and do things that are brave and new.

AND that is the problem today. 

I have long running arguments about politics and faith with different folks from around the globe. Topics that span Brexit to Saudi Arabian aggression, to apartheid in Israel. But my favorite are ones come out of a particular part of the country that is on the Atlantic coast and sounds like New Jerky. They believe that what is going on right now is a sham, a witch hunt (to quote Il Duce) and none of the charges nor indictments and convictions are with merit. Everyone is innocent except the accusers.

J’accuse!!

There is no empirical facts for their position and no supportive evidence except for imaginary groups of deep state manipulators who are reprogramming voters, hijacking the media and have only one purpose in mind. The overthrow of this president.

OK- I accept their position…mostly because I can’t change it, but also because it’s their right to be as stupid as they want to be. (I never claimed this was a PC sermon). So when they ask me about my faith, my positions. my philosophical bent.  I tell them my truth. 

I am a reincarnated soul who was cursed/blessed with the memory of most of my lives. I was born the son of Gomer on the decks of the ark. I was anointed by Elijah to be a holy man and to do gods bidding and have failed miserably since then. I am 4781 years old.

When they hear this they all have the same response, “Rev- you are so full of shit, it’s sad. That’s impossible”! . But I always reply with-“how can you be so hypocritical to believe one thing without proof while vehemently denying another thing without proof. Where is the bar, the standard by which you measure truth?  They inevitably reply with the same exact thing.

I know what’s in my heart, that I’m right and you’re wrong.

Kablamoo- and there it is. The reason this moment in politics is going to get uglier. Because it will be a battle of hearts and being 4781 years old I’ve never seen that battle go well…..for anybody! Just blood and guts everywhere, until enough time has passed for faith to leave and fact to breeze in…….

Flowing freely amongst the dead.

Happy New Year…Bitches!!!!

Seriously, Happy New Year. I hope all of your wishes and dreams can be fulfilled this year. Last year was a tough one all around and the fight this year will be harder……But what of that…We must always combat the forces of racism and bigotry that this administration is trying to foist on us. We must always fight the constantly growing devide between the haves and have-nots, between colors, religions, and our brothers and sisters, because there is only one path and that is the path of equality, freedom and love.

So in the Spirit of in with the new and out with the old, we (LordRifa) decided to team up The Trouble with Monkeys and Marylin Mitchell to put on a New Years alternative show a few days later that doesn’t contain all of the hype, faux glitz and cash requirements, but all of the joy, fun and hope that New Years should bring!!

Let’s have some fun!!

Selah

the rev

The Bad Reverend!

That’s me, to the core.
I used to want to believe that I was a good man, a good man with bad traits or a lost soul who has no clue searching for the truth. But sadly, that not true. I’m just a bad reverend with spit and vinegar running through his veins instead of love and light. The plain and simple fact is….that’s how it’s always been. Spit and vinegar has run through my families veins for millennia.

So you ask;
“Well rev, what brings this up? Why now are you coming clean with us now after all of these years”?

As of late, a few readers have told me how much they love my florid sermons. The ones with deep thoughts and no cursing. The ones where I use the English language to its fullest,  it’s most eloquent forms. Where I bathe in the luxury of language. But that’s not me really. That’s just me trying to be someone else.

I am a Brutalist. (Look it up)
I read flowery posts from folks and I want to throw up. I find the “California hug” insufferable. I eschew vapid emotional outbursts for the sake of showing the community that you care, that you’re in love……
I take pride in that as well. As fucked up as it is it’s true. My veneer of concrete will never be broken.
A true story:
In a different lifetime, I had a girlfriend who had many sisters. One of the sisters had a young son who had some emotional issues at the time. I need to point out before I resume, that this child has turned out to be a wonderful man who is kind and responsible. The goddess would be pleased and proud.
As I was saying the child had a few issues and was prone to fantastically overblown outbursts of anger. Now his mom would do her best to help the child, but as it takes with some folks, time and wisdom were needed to be present to help him make the changes needed to become the man he is today.
We went out to dinner one night, some place where they still had those wonderful comfy booths back to back and Killer (we used to call him “Killer”) was having a hard time at dinner when all of a sudden he sat up, turned around on his knees facing the booth behind and at the top of his lungs with machine gun precision shouted out; “FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU”.

He turned back around and sat quietly for the rest of the meal.
Needless to say everyone was horrified: everyone but me. I was rolling in the aisles almost breathless from laughing so hard. The table behind us was in a state of disarray and disbelief. It looked like the Caribbean after hurricane Irma! The man’s toupee was in his pasta, bowls were overturned, clothes strewn everywhere, children were crying and the mother was shouting something at us which sounded like English, but I couldn’t really hear her over the sound of my own laughter. But from then on, every so often, Killer would let the fuck you’s rip, always out of nowhere, always when he couldn’t find the right words.

Now back to the blog:

I have never let go of Killer in my head. When I read those flowery posts I think FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU as if he was right next to me in that booth, both of us on our knees screaming. When someone whom I don’t really like or even know comes up to me and tries to hug me I think; FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU.
I can’t help it, lord knows I’ve tried but it comes soaring out of the back of my mind with ballistic speeds.
I, of course, respond in reality with all of the proper decorum one should have, let alone someone who pretends to be a man of the cloth. I use the correct “like buttons” on Facebook or nod my head and smile that inane vapid smile. I make the small talk that says “I’m here making contact” but am actually sitting with Killer in that booth. I try to get away as fast as possible from the hug but when cornered I allow it to happen.
Still I hear Killer, screaming-not knowing what he’s doing is socially wrong. Not knowing that in one moment he is breaking apart long-standing traditions of grace and decorum.
FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU.
Sometimes it’s the only thing that conveys the correct emotion.
I’m a Brutalist and I call it as I see it.

Selah
the rev

 

LordRifa Live!!

Hey Y’all,

Lordrifa has a few gigs coming up and some new Video’s to share. First off we are playing with Kandur and the Blind Bandits, Saturday September 16 at the Neck of the Woods club in the Richmond in SF. It will be deep!!

Then we want to invite all of you to watch and comment on our new video “Toxic Love” from our last album, “Playland at the Beach”. A scathing commentary on the government/corporate alliance to make you believe there are no problems with our environment. Contrary to the facts!

We are also playing at the Bottom of the Hill on Saturday October 28th for a very terrifying Halloween show with Sam Pace and Stang.

And if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t forget to watch our last video “City of Dis” made by the amazing folks at Ikeibi Films!

This revolution is televised!!!!!

 

Selah,

the rev

More Than Ever!

Make America White Again#$^%#@$%^#$

It’s actually:
America for the rich again
America for class separation again
America fucks the poor again
America back to the 50’s, when everything was just peachy and we could go down to the local diner in town and have a vanilla shake and see Biff and Joe and Buffy (well not Buffy-she’d kick their ass!!) and all our white pals sitting at the counter where people of color are not allowed. Where we gently dismiss the concept of color because it’s not spoken in proper circles.

I hate that America. That America had us on the Brink of Nuclear war for years.
I hate that America. That America was still lynching people of color-All color!
I hate that America. Because it abused it’s role in the world.

In this lifetime, I grew up in these towns-in this world and I ran as far as I could away from all of the hate. But it’s now found me again. It’s found us all.

I am sick and tired of this whole White American/Christian Jihad thing. You know it’s unfounded, annoying and utterly a spoiled brat cause. Poor little white christian folks lost power in the last election (Not really) and because of this, an de-evolution has occurred in our society. It’s now OK to obliterate the last 20 years of social progress towards equality and freedom, of taking care of the sick and the poor, of creating a society that can lift everyone and not just the rich.

“Burn everything if we can’t have it all”.

It’s absolutely OK to stand up in congress and tell the American people that global warming doesn’t matter because god will take care of it!! It’s now OK to advocate for this.

It’s now OK to combine church and state (only if it’s the Christian church of course) It’s now OK to be a racist, fascist, oligarch. It’s now OK to act like a banana republic where nepotism is allowed and a crone plutocracy is installed.

America first….in a world that is global in nature, in a world where we as a super power have gone in and raided smaller countries for their wealth (undercover of course). In a world when our president and his cronies have massed huge amounts of wealth by investing and takeing funds from other countries, the hypocrisy is stifling.
America first is bullshit.

I miss the America we created where all people are striving for equality, even if it was hard. Where it’s NOT OK to brandish hate placards and sentiments of segregation and misogyny. Where disdain for science did not exist and being poor was not a disease.

As a white man, I despise what we’ve become.
As a Reverend, I’m ashamed to tell Jesus who we are.
As someone who has lived thousands of lifetimes across this earth, I am tired of this battle yet again.

Selah,

the rev

LordRifa Album Release Party!!!!

Hey Y’all.

 

          We are thrilled to announce the release of our fifth album:

                          “Playland at the Beach”.

It has tales of terror, humility, humanity and of course DJT!! (What album these day would exclude him?).

We are coming to the Neck of the woods on Saturday, April 29,  2017 8 pm to play it all for you. We are lucky to have a wonderful opening act called the Rad Dads.

http://www.lordrifa.com/upcoming-gigs

Clear your calendars, tell your friends and get ready to revolt!!!