by Rachel Allshiny

Like most people, I use my Twitter account in a variety of ways. I interact with my friends, share interesting parts of my day, report on protest actions I attend, and check for on-the-ground news from other parts of the country and world. I also follow a variety of politicians and aspiring politicians, despite my disenchantment with most who currently hold or seek to hold public office. It’s always useful to know what propaganda they are spreading.

When I received a direct message from Joe Biden last week, however, it didn’t feel like the personalized interaction I suspect his campaign had intended. It felt like an invasion of privacy. What was so compelling that he felt he had to reach out to me in the backwoods of Twitter, where I chat with my closest friends? Had he finally noticed that I’d been deleting his emails for the past year (and then some), to the point that now they automatically land in my spam folder? Had the President himself noticed this and asked his buddy to talk to me on his behalf? Y’know, to soften me up a little. Or maybe the Vice President just wanted to remind me that no form of “private” communication is truly private when it comes to the insidious reach of the government.

Whatever the reason, I was creeped out. Then I opened the message and read:

Oh! He just wanted me to use my loyal Twitter following to help get him re-elected. Well, when you put it that way…err…no…I REFUSE!

The following is my response, sent via Twitter to @JoeBiden and @Obama2012.

Dear @JoeBiden,

Thank you for your kind offer and for noting my influence on Twitter. I built that influence by encouraging critical thought and discourse in politics and all else. Therefore, I will be happy to retweet any @Obama2012 tweets on the following subjects.

1. The unconstitutional nature of indefinite detention of citizens under NDAA.

2. The number of civilian casualties caused by US drone attacks.

3. The immediate closure of our detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.

4. The need for ACTUAL energy independence, i.e. clean and renewable energy sources.

5. The importance of unions, including teachers’ unions, in securing workers’ rights.

6. The proper use of punctuation, even on Twitter (see previous item).

7. Working to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision re: Citizens United.

8. Addressing gender equality in terms beyond sexual, reproductive, or wages.

(More on 8: how insulting is it that even in discussions of equal rights we make women into sexual/reproduction objects.)

9. Making marriage available to all who seek it, regardless of the genders of those involved.

10. Single-payer healthcare.

11. Prosecuting war criminals for their crimes instead of whistleblowers for exposing them.

That’s a partial list, @JoeBiden. Please DM me again if @Obama2012 starts talking about any of those and I’ll be sure to follow/RT.

by Kristin Canty

Rawesome, Venice, CA

In the movie, Farmageddon…The Unseen War on American Family Farms, one of the stories covered was of a raid that occurred in Venice, CA, at a private food buying club called Rawesome. Whenever I was lucky enough to be in the vicinity and able to visit this club, it was like being a kid in a candy store…or, well, a raw foods lover in a raw foods store!

I was able to buy raw dairy products such as grass fed yogurt, butter, cream, cheese, and raw chocolate mousse – is that dairy? Raw meat and homemade delicacies such as ceviche and marinated raw meat salads were also available, along with salad dressings, pure olive and other freshly made oils, and a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and fermented drinks…all organic and raw.

This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for me it was pure bliss. I was filming during one visit, and had the pleasure of having people come up to me to tell me their raw food healing stories. I heard many first person accounts of how the symptoms of diseases such as MS, Parkinson’s, cancer, arthritis, and other conditions, were alleviated greatly by a raw food diet.

Unfortunately, the FDA does not like stories of people being healed from food, and they don’t like raw foods in general. In the case of Rawesome Foods, multiple agencies (both local and federal) raided it three times. The last time, it was closed down. One of the club’s many suppliers, Sharon Palmer (a farmer who had provided raw goat milk for a time), the manager, James Stewart, and a Weston A Price Chapter leader, Victoria Bloch (who volunteered for Sharon), were all charged with multiple felonies. There were no actual felonies in the case, however, all three were charged with conspiring together to commit misdemeanor level offenses, which magically turned the charges into felonies.

Thirteen months later, just before their preliminary hearing, Victoria Bloch and Sharon Palmer were both offered plea deals, which they accepted. Victoria pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of selling unlabeled milk and accepted a $100 fine and two years’ summary probation. Sharon Palmer pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of storing milk in unsanitary conditions, since on the day she was raided she was milking her goats to feed her livestock (Rawesome had picked up their milk up a day earlier). She received a $1,300 fine, 40 hours of community service, and three years’ summary probation. Both Victoria and Sharon would have preferred to have taken this case to a jury trial. But unfortunately, neither had the money to cover the high cost of defending themselves in a trial that would have lasted at least two weeks, perhaps more. James is still in jail, as he was considered a flight risk, and is awaiting either trial or the opportunity to plead out of the case.

There is still a separate Ventura County case awaiting both James and Sharon. And there is a change.org petition to set them free that was written by a Rawesome Foods club member. I fear that the Rawesome community has been torn apart by these circumstances. No one ever became sick from foods they had gotten at Rawesome Foods. Certainly, nobody ever complained about having access to some of the freshest, most delicious foods available. And nobody ever complained about the fresh goats milk Sharon provided to the club, as well as to a few of her own farm’s CSA members. On the contrary, I met happy, vibrant, healthy people who enjoyed the foods they sourced from these two wonderful people.

If you would like to learn more or help, please read and sign the Change.org petition.

Meadowsweet Farm, Lodi, NY

Steve and Barbara Smith, farmers in upstate New York were raided and shut down by New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets for their private buying club that provided raw milk, yogurt and cheese to many happy customers.

They went to court after the shutdown, and hoped a judge would find that the Department of Agriculture & Markets did not have authority over their private buying club. Unfortunately, the judge ruled against them, and said that the Department of Agriculture & Markets did have authority to shut down their LLC.

They were therefore forced to dissolve their club. They then sold the entire herd to the former members of the club. Currently, Steve and Barbara are under contract with the owners of the herd to milk and maintain the herd for them. They have had this herd share for two years now and they have a waitlist of people that would like to join in on purchasing a share. Unfortunately it is very difficult to obtain raw milk, so farms that supply it often have long waiting lists of customers.

In New York, as in every state except Wisconsin, it is legal to drink milk from your own cow and since the members own the cows, hopefully the Department of Agriculture & Markets willrespect that and leave them alone from now on.

The demand for raw dairy products is not going to go away, so hopefully more farms and farmers like Meadowsweet will pop up! We are thinking of the Smith family and their farm as the drought hit them hard and they had to sell off their beef herd in order to have enough hay to keep the dairy going through the winter.

For more information visit: meadowsweetfarm.com/

For background information on this, please go to farmageddonmovie.com, and watch the documentary, Farmageddon…The Unseen War On American Family Farms.

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by SG’s Team Agony feat. Perdita

Let us answer life’s questions – because great advice is even better when it comes from SuicideGirls.

Q. I’m 27, and I haven’t had sex. Apparently, this is noteworthy and some kind of BFD. I’m not religious. I’m not waiting for marriage. I just haven’t found someone I like and trust enough. When I was younger, my first serious boyfriend did not treat me well, which included some incidents that, looking back, were assaults, though not rape. So I think it’s understandable that after that, I’m not looking to care about someone, have sex with them, and then be treated badly. I’d rather get to know someone first, before getting naked and making myself even more vulnerable. I’d rather feel safe that that isn’t going to happen again.

Ladypants.

A: Hi Ladypants,

First of all, I’m so sorry to hear you are a victim of assault; it’s a terrible ordeal that no one should have to go through once, let alone multiple times. Given your past experiences I understand why you are so cautious of trusting others, and you have every right to feel this way.

However communication is key in building a strong, trusting relationship, and it has to go both ways. Your personal information is your business, but I think it will be healthier for everyone involved if you are a little more forward in regards to your expectations of the relationship from the beginning. It’s possible to say: “I’m very interested in you, I would like to get to know you more, and I’m definitely physically attracted to you. But due to some past negative experiences, I would like to wait to have sex.” Be direct and honest, because a little bit of honesty and openness goes a long way towards building trust.

And while you shouldn’t fall all over yourself to reassure someone, I don’t think it’s unfair to have multiple discussions on the topic, because you’re not the only person in the relationship. It’s important to for the other person to respect your feelings, but you also need to remember to respect their feelings as well.

As for the sex issue, if you want to wait for the “perfect moment” that’s totally cool, but sometimes you can miss quite a few good opportunities that way. Ultimately you need to take your time, and do what’s right for you. Just remember that communication is key, and that it takes two people to make a relationship successful.

Perdita

Got Problems? Let SuicideGirls’ team of Agony Aunts provide solutions. Email questions to: gotproblems@suicidegirls.com

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“I think we all have been underestimated and manipulated to some extent.”
– Neve Campbell

Neve Campbell has become an old favorite of SuicideGirls since I spoke to her last year for her movie The Company. Well now Neve is back in When Will I Be Loved. A sexually charged role for that genius of a pervert James Toback, the writer/director of such films as The Pick-up Artist and Two Girls and a Guy.

Neve Campbell plays Vera, a femme fatale for the 21st century, a beautiful, capricious young woman exploring the limits of her sexual and intellectual power. Her boyfriend Ford [Frederick Weller] is a fast-talking hustler prepared to do anything to make a buck. He sees his chance to make big money when he meets aging Italian media mogul Count Tommaso [Dominic Chianese] and cooks up an idea to pimp Vera out to the Count for $100,000 — easy money. Everything appears to be going even better than planned but the men have gravely underestimated Vera.

Read our interview with Neve Campbell on SuicideGirls.com.

Pilot Suicide in Typography

• INTO: Bicycling, ceramic animals, collecting old stuff, records, vinyasa, a good rhyming thesaurus, word masters, traveling.
• NOT INTO: Mosquitos, casseroles, Walmart, and meat.
• MAKES ME HAPPY: My dogs Igby and Fred, sex, cuddles, autumn, making things.
• MAKES ME SAD: Friends who live far away, the world we live in.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: My dogs, caffeine, iPhone, bicycle, paint.
• VICES: Tattoos, olives, Jackie-Os.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Raping department stores and designing synthetic hairballs for ceramic cats. I also river dance the shit out of spiders from time to time.

Get to know Pilot better over at SuicideGirls.com!

by Dell Cameron

As I write this, I am filled with a great deal of emotion. I’m very concerned for a good friend of mine and I fear for his safety. His name is Youssef Jajili. He is a director at a nationally distributed magazine in Morocco called Alaanmag. He has authored several articles in his country about corrupt fundamentalists who are attempting to control the social perspective of his country.

When these men of power sought to propose changes that would outlaw the distribution of alcohol in Morocco, Youssef published a story about the thousands of dollars these men had spent on the delivery of expensive wines to their hotel rooms. While this may seem trivial to Americans, in a country without democratically elected leaders, publicizing this kind of information can be often dangerous for journalists. After making enemies with the state of Morocco, one of Youssef’s superiors was jailed for an entire year. Information connecting him to Al-Qaeda was fabricated and all pleas to the US State Department for assistance fell on deaf ears.

After publishing articles that outlined the corruption of powerful businessmen in Morocco, Youssef made a trip to the United States, which is where I first met him and became his friend. During our time together, we learned that La Brigade des Affaires Economiques had paid a visit to his magazine. This department officially handles issues of financial importance, but when I compared it to the IRS, Youssef likened it more to a visit in America by the FBI. During his visit his phone was also disabled. I later learned cell phone companies in Morocco are controlled by the government.

What makes Youssef’s story significant is that he has refused all efforts by his friends to force him into asylum. Many people, myself included, have begged him to remain here and/or seek the assistance from the State Department. I’m taken aback by his response. He is adamantly against hiding from what is seemingly a corrupt investigation against him. He is obviously facing imprisonment upon his return. Youssef tells me he refuses to be a refugee; that he refuses to hide himself in any way.

Youssef moves fearlessly toward accusers, who undoubtedly have an invulnerable grip on the justice system in his country. He does so with a sense of honor and duty to his chosen profession, which is to report the truth at any and all costs. His selfless dedication to unearthing the corruption has had an irrevocable effect on my psyche.

I’m left to wonder, am I even worthy of writing about injustices in my own country if ultimately I’d be unwilling to confront the kind of threat to my personal freedom that Youssef faces so deliberately. I define my friend’s actions as the best kind of courageousness because they do not derive from a sense of pride, but from a sense of responsibility.

I will follow Youssef’s journey closely and if the worst happens, continue to report on his condition. In the meantime, I urge all others to support him and pray for his safety. You can follow Youssef Jajili on Twitter at @YoussefJajili and under the worst circumstances, support the cause to free him by using the hashtag #SaveYoussef.

Dell Cameron is writer, activist and entrepreneur from Dallas, TX. He is a contributing writer for SuicideGirls and campaign manager for David Seaman for Congress. Currently, Dell is the Account Director for Alomedia.net, a web development company that specializes in helping artists, musicians and small businesses develop an online presence.

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