november rabble rousers!

90-year-olds making waves!  literally & figuratively.

november's rabble rouser of the month:

arnold abbott (fort lauderdale, florida)

photo: joe raedle (getty)

late last month, fort lauderdale passed a law that makes it effectively illegal for this 90-year-old man to help feed the homeless. he has received three citations so far this month, with more on the way.  since 2012, fox news reports that 13 u.s. cities have passed ordinances on public food sharing.  fox news further reported the specifics of the newest law to allow no two indoor feeding programs to be within 500 feet of each other or on the same block; outdoor feeding programs require both a permit and port-a-potties and cannot be within 500 feet of a residence. supporters of the ordinance have been on record saying they wish to discourage feeding homeless people.

since winning two purple hearts as an infantryman in world war II, arnold has poured his energy into fighting for civil rights and community betterment.  his wife helped poor and homeless also before she died in a car crash 23 years ago. in her honor, he set up love they neighbor, inc, as a way to not only help feed the homeless, but to offer culinary training programs. he feeds the homeless of the city in a park every wednesday.  however, his good deeds don't seem very welcome in the city of fort lauderdale.  he says he has tried to abide by the new laws, but the portable toilets are beyond his abilities and he believes the city should be responsible for that end anyway.  arnold has been cited every wednesday so far this month, along with two local church pastors.  with the growing media attention supporting his cause, however, the police have backed off of giving him citations in public. on november 19, police did not show up, but the sun-sentinel reported that he would be receiving his fourth citation in the mail.  he plans to receive a fifth citation the day before thanksgiving and joked that "when i was a kid i collected stamps...now i collect citations."

arnold says he is not the least bit worried about the police, has been seen hob-nobbing with the mayor on television recently and harkens his newest cause back to 1999 when he sued the city and won in a similar case.  he makes his robin hood, rabble-rouser case very clear, "i'll go to court again and sue the city. they are doing the bidding of the very wealthy and they are trying to sweep the poorest of the poor under the rug."


november's inductee into the rabble rouser hall of fame:

"doc" paskowitz (1921-2014)
"god will surf with the devil if the waves are good."

doc graduated from stanford medical school in 1945, spent two years in the navy and then became a public health officer in hawaii.  he gave up medical practice to return to surfing after he was turned down trying to join the israeli military during the 1956 war with egypt.  instead, he rode the waves of tel aviv until he was arrested when his surf board was confused as a cleverly disguised missile. that was the seed for the surfing 4 peace organization he started during a 2004 trip to israel, in which his primary objective was to donate surf boards to promote a settlement between israel and palestine. 

photo: independent.uk

doc knew what it took to remain young and healthy.  diet was one thing, surfing well into his 90s another, and a love for humanity really fueled him.  he made international headlines trying to carry surf boards to gaza surfers. soldiers tried to prevent him from entering gaza, until he gave the guard a hug and a kiss. the guard yelled, "don't hug me, i'm a soldier!"  doc was persistent and the soldier relented.

he and his family (nine children) lived in a convoy of station wagons/motor homes all over the u.s., venezuela, and israel.  in 1972, he opened a surf school in san orofino, california. this brought major media attention to his cause and brought the outside world into his sheltered family.  the tribulations were documented in a film called surfwise, which he refused to watch and his children claimed did not show even a small percent of how bad life was.  he believed that "staying hungry was one key to a long and healthy life," literally and symbolically.  he fed his children his own gruel of various grains that he believed to keep people healthy and strong and allowed no fatty foods.  though the children's lives were hard and even harder as they abandoned their parent's way of life, most that have been interviewed in recent years have admiration for what he had taught them.  riding the waves allowed doc to live a boisterous life, until a hip surgery earlier in the year led to declining health. he passed away at the age of 93 on november 10.

doc had numerous philosophical quotes throughout his lifetime, many excellent ones contained in the tribute article in surfer magazine, which also has several great links including a short biography. 

"after my 18th birthday, life began to get complicated. fun became a calculation, rather than just plain instinct. ambition and selfishness helped kill fun. eventually, i looked at fun as, not just wasteful, but downright wrong. i was saddled with that delusion for 18 years. if there is no fun, there is no health. god loves happy people."  so, at the age of 36 and for the next 58 years, doc did what made him happy, rather than what made him wealthy...

photo: paskowitz.com

cheap yellow beer: coming to KEOL & the stage door theatre

coming up next sunday, november 9, the sunday shindig at stage door theatre: gregory rawlins, travis ward and cheap yellow beer to perform, starting at 7pm.  gregory and travis are no strangers to la grande, but this will be the first appearance of cheap yellow beer.  cheap yellow beer, consisting of spike coggins & tylor bushman, have played together for the past year in central idaho and toured around the region.  spike coggins did play an opening set for old death whisper at the stage door in may, 2013.   on, their way thru eastern oregon to play a festival in helix last may, they stopped in KEOL studios for an hour and a half.  hear or download that performance here:



tracklist:
tylor: lyin' is a sin
tylor: just don't know
tylor: judgement day
spike: company man
tylor: storyteller
spike: war cry
spike: way up on the road
tylor: good times
tylor: things you only notice when you're broke
spike: devil woman
spike: city of trees
tylor: need it or not
spike: mary jane
tylor: chalice

cheap yellow beer will return to KEOL for another in-studio performance at noon on sunday, november 8.

angela brown :: october 2014 rabble rouser of the month ::

rabble rouser of the month :: october 2014

angela brown, trey brown photo:  HNLTV

angela brown, gave her son cannabis oil to treat the effects of his traumatic brain injury. this medication worked to a level nothing else could.  those in the community were amazed and asked     why her son was doing so well.  she told them about a product she picked up in colorado at the recommendation of several doctors.  then the cops sent a social worker to her door.  she is now facing jail time on charges of child endangerment for making her son better.  so, now, perhaps trey has to suffer not only without medication, but without a mother.

late in august, charges were filed, and fox news reported that she could be facing up to two years in prison and $6000 in fines from the misdemeanor charges.  angela admitted to the social worker that she was using cannabis oil and handed it over to authorities.  what's less convenient still is that minnesota has allowed for various forms of medicinal marijuana to be implemented in july 2015, at which time it is possible that trey would apply for benefits under the new law.  last may, when the new law was signed by governor dayton, he said, “i thank everyone who worked together to craft and pass this legislation...i pray it will bring to the victims of ravaging illnesses the relief they are hoping for.” as for the eventuality of the law and the bold move of angela just going for the relief now that it has been acknowledged to be beneficial and recommended, in the words of trey's father david brown, "why would you wait?  why would you wait a year?" instead, the family plans to leave minnesota for colorado.

according to collective evloution, "cannabis oil has been making news and headlines for a couple years in ways we may not expect: cancer and alzheimer treatments, helping to reduce seizures and replacing potentially harmful medications for many people.  cannabis, although holding a negative stigma, can be seen as a natural miracle substance in a way.  it may hold the power to treat and potentially cure a lot of people’s serious diseases ... are we really that disconnected as a society? sure one could argue we don’t have the necessary data to state whether or not cannabis oil could have negative effects over time, but the crazy thing is we do have the data that states our medications we so often prescribe have nasty side effects, even after short periods of use.  so why is one illegal and the other not?  the easy answer is due to social conditioning and stigma." and profit, the article goes on to add.

despite the supposed bias and stigma of marijuana, a poll on the HLN website in advance of angela's appearance on the dr. drew show october 6, showed that 96% thought angela should not be charged with any crime.  the brown's have a donation page on gofundme.com for people wishing to contribute to their legal bills.

video: angela brown calls in to an incensed dr. drew.