We’re pleased to announce that activist comedian and SG contributor Lee Camp, who made his name bringing laughter to OWS encampments across the nation (and for calling Fox News a “parade of propaganda” and a “festival of ignorance”), has been appointed to the Green Shadow Cabinet.

Here’s an excerpt from an official Green Shadow Cabinet statement which explains how this alternative opposition American government will work:

Dr. Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, the 2012 Green Party presidential and vice-presidential nominees, marked the beginning of Earth Week by announcing a new Green Shadow Cabinet that will serve as an independent voice in U.S. politics, putting the needs of people and protection of the planet ahead of profits for big corporations. The Cabinet will operate in the tradition of shadow cabinets in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, responding to actions of the government in office, and demonstrating that another government is possible. The Green Shadow Cabinet, includes nearly 100 prominent scientists, community and labor leaders, physicians, cultural workers, veterans, and more, and will provide an ongoing opposition and alternative voice to the dysfunctional government in Washington D.C..

And here’s a few words from the Green Shadow Cabinet’s new Secretary of Comedy & Arts…

The Ridiculous Reality of Government Has Surpassed Humor and Satire

by Lee Camp

I’m honored to have been chosen as the Secretary of Comedy and Arts for the Green Shadow Cabinet. However, I must say that I feel I have the hardest job in the entire governmental body — far more difficult than, say, the President or that other guy who makes the President’s decisions. Why do I believe I have the hardest job? Because we live in a country where reality has lapped satire and surpassed humor altogether.

We live in a country where Congress is unwilling or unable to pass any sort of meaningful Wall Street reform immediately following the largest financial crime and collapse, mankind has ever seen. We have a government that passes the STOCK Act to stop government officials from trading on insider knowledge, but then just last week they pass a new bill UNANIMOUSLY that guts the prior one. We have a government that prosecutes whistleblowers far more strenuously than they go after the fraudsters, banksters, and murderers exposed by those whistleblowers. How am I supposed to create comedy when reality is as ridiculous as anything can be?! Only fiction like Catch-22 and 1984 can EVEN BEGIN to describe the reality in which we live.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is set to be the largest trade deal in history, likely giving international corporations the right to bring legal action against the United States for enforcing our own environmental laws. So we’re passing a trade deal to give other countries the right to tell us what to do on our own land?! How does a comedian go about exaggerating that? We live in a hyperbole! We exist in an inflated dark metaphor that cannot be topped!

On the warfront, the Pentagon, to their credit, realized we were killing too many civilians in Afghanistan. So they came up with a bold new solution. They changed the definition of the word “civilian” to exclude anybody of military age. The military now has the power to change the definition of words?! Up is down. Right is wrong. Inside is out. And it’s my job to mock it?! I can’t mock it — I’m too dizzy!

My point is simply that I’m honored to hold this position at which I can’t possibly succeed. In a world where the reality is comedy, I guess I’m just the anchorman.

Lee Camp is the Secretary of Comedy and Arts for the Green Shadow Cabinet. He is a comedian whose website is www.LeeCamp.net, has web video show YouTube. He has appeared in numerous forums, notably Showtime’s “Green Room with Paul Provenza” and “Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann

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by Brad Warner

Every once in a while I meet someone who says she became interested in Buddhism because Buddhists were never involved in religious persecution or holy wars. I always hate to break the news to them that this is, unfortunately, not entirely true.

It is true that Buddhism has been largely free of really large scale wars and persecutions based directly on religion such as the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the conflicts in Israel and Northern Ireland and so on. In fact, if you go to Wikipedia’s page on religious persecutions and religious wars, you find no major persecutions by Buddhists, and the only religious war listed involving Buddhists is an uprising of the Buddhist majority in Vietnam against the pro-Catholic policies of Ngo Dinh Diem in 1966. Not exactly a war in which one religion sought to conquer or convert another by force.

But that doesn’t mean that just because someone declares him or herself to be Buddhist that the person is free from ever behaving like a dick. Brian Victoria caused a lot of people to question their belief in perpetually peaceful Buddhists when he published Zen At War, a book that examined how Buddhist institutions in Japan were co-opted by the government to support the cause of nationalistic violence during World War II – much like the Catholic church was similarly co-opted by the Nazis. Even today similar stuff keeps happening.

The latest of those who would try to use Buddhism as a way of promoting intolerance and violence on a national level is U Wirathu, an ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk in Burma who has been accused of inciting violence against Muslims in his country as leader of the “969 movement.” He has become known as the “Buddhist bin Laden” for his activities. In Sri Lanka, Sinhalese Buddhists have formed what they call the “Buddhist Strength Force,” another group seeking to persecute Muslims in the name of Buddhism. Just last week three Bhutanese Buddhist monks were accused of raping a teenage girl in India. You can read about all of these incidents in detail here. I’m sure this won’t be the last we’ll see of violence and stupidity in the name of Buddhism.

The easiest response to all of this would be to say that those involved weren’t really Buddhists, even if they were legitimately ordained since they failed to understand the most basic teachings of Buddhism. Some people have argued that certain verses in the Qur’an or the Bible can be used to justify violence and religious intolerance. But it would take a lot of work to find anything similar among the Buddhist literature, although the Buddhist sutras far outnumber the canonical religious writings of Christianity or Islam, so I’m sure someone could dig something out of there if they tried hard enough. There’s nothing I’m aware of but there are mountains of sutras out there and you could probably find some little snippet that sounds nasty if you wanted to sift though a lot of stuff.

Even so, none of the reports I’ve seen have mentioned any of these Buddhist bully-boy organizations citing the scriptures and teachings of Buddhism as a justification for their actions the way other religions often do. The closest thing I’ve come across to that is that the Sri Lankan group apparently opposes the Muslim practice of halal butchering and meat preparation as being against the Buddhist teachings of non-violence toward animals. But this seems to me like a real reach for some kind of scriptural justification. And I don’t see how you can enforce non-violence against animals by engaging in violence against humans.

Some folks were getting upset over the fact that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was not speaking out more strongly against the Buddhist based violence in Burma and Sri Lanka. However, this is actually a smart move on his part. Most Buddhists in Burma and Sri Lanka don’t regard the Dalai Lama as their leader. Far from it. They regard him something like the way Irish Protestants view the Pope, as kind of an interloper who has no business telling them about their religion. It would only incite more violence if the Dalai Lama took a strong stand.

Generally we Americans and Europeans don’t know much about Buddhism, so we make a lot of incorrect assumptions. This is excusable because all we have to go on is what we get from our woefully ill-informed mass media and cartoonish references in pop culture.

But interestingly it’s we Westerners who seem to grasp the basics of Buddhism enough to see the innate absurdity of stuff like the Buddhist persecutions in Sri Lanka and Burma better than lots of the folks in those countries. While I’m sure there are plenty of Burmese and Sri Lankan Buddhists who know how ridiculous this is, this stuff wouldn’t be happening at all unless there were also plenty of people in those countries who consider themselves Buddhists but really have no clue at all what the whole point of Buddhism is.

That’s pretty sad. But it’s no sadder than Christians murdering Muslims in their quest to spread Jesus’ philosophy of love or Muslims murdering Christians to spread Mohammed’s message of brotherhood. Religions divide people. And when Buddhism is viewed as a religion, it can be used almost effectively as any other as an excuse for viciousness and just plain human foolishness. You have to stretch things a bit, but it can be done. Human beings are good at that. We’ll find a way.

But the rest of us don’t have to accept it. We can and should point out how ridiculous this is. If we can shame the assholes persecuting others on the basis of Buddhism by knowing their religion better than they do, then we ought to do just that. Not in a malicious way, mind you. But it might be useful to subtly make some of the folks over there who are participating in this kind of nonsense aware that there are people far away who actually take “their” religion more seriously than they apparently do.

It’s disappointing to discover that even those proclaiming themselves to be Buddhists can still act like real jerks. But people are what they are. Acting like a jerk, however, is definitely not what the Buddha taught.

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by Blogbot

This Thursday April 18th on SuicideGirls Radio hosts Nicole Powers and Moxi Suicide will be joined in studio by Katherine Pawlak, Jake Hogenson, and Nicolas Perez a.k.a. the awesome LA indie-pop band Sad Robot.

You can listen – and watch – the world’s leading naked radio show live on Thursday nights from 6 til 8 PM at our new state-of-the-art all digital home: TradioV.com/LA.

You’ll also be able to listen to our podcasts via Stitcher – download the app now!

If you have questions for the SG Radio crew or our guests, you can call in during the live broadcast at: 1-855-TRV-inLA (1-855-878-4652)

For updates on all things SG Radio-related, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

_About Sad Robot

Sad Robot is an LA-based band on the rise. Their songs feature an unwavering theme of revolt against the big machine. Perhaps that is why this powerhouse group has yet to sign with a major label. From their fervent ballads to their banging anthems, Sad Robot walks a tightrope of their own design just above what is expected from pop-inspired indie rock. The x-factor that makes Sad Robot stand out from other indie bands is their soul. Frontwoman and keyboardist Katherine Pawlak brings an Adele-like sound to the group’s vocals. With Jake Hogenson on drums and Nicolas Perez on guitar, Sad Robot is a uniquely balanced ‘Holy Trinity’ of sorts. Because they draw from a wide variety of genres for inspiration, Sad Robot’s song repertoire is guaranteed to have something for everyone.

Sad Robot released their debut album, The Beginning of the End, in 2011. They are twice nominated by the Hollywood Music and Media awards in the alternative category. Their music has been featured in numerous films, on the 2013 Winter X Games, as well as on the Oxygen network show Bad Girls Club and the promo for the popular Fox TV series Bones.

For more info, friend them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

**UPDATE**
ICYMI: The recording of our April 18th show featuring an interview with, and amazing live performances from, Sad Robot can now be viewed on Ustream, and via the player below.

Video streaming by Ustream

by Laurelin

Throughout my life I have prided myself in being an individual. I know most people think that of themselves and it is true. There are also those who change with their surroundings, chameleons in the light of day who will adapt and like what you like for the sake of being agreeable. These people have a mind of their own, buried somewhere beneath the need to fit in. I tend to scoff at these people, because even with their blending they stand out simply for being… lost. I see myself in these people sometimes, and it makes me want to cry.

In high school Zack rode BMX bikes and my girlfriends and I decided that we wanted to do that too. I saved up $200 and bought a Gary Fischer bike, and we would ride with the boys after school. I wasn’t good at it, but it made him happy and I wanted that. I fell and bruised my tailbone going down a half pipe once, mainly because I had no business even attempting that shit. Zack rode bikes down half pipes, not me.

After him it was John. John loved house and trance music. I didn’t really get it in the beginning, but when he held my hand and kissed me for the first time at Crobar in New York City at a Tiesto show I was hooked. I listened to everything I could get my hands on, and even after he was long gone I still craved that beat, breathing in the music like it was a drug. I’ve got Tiesto lyrics painted in ink and needles on my left ankle, so I never forget that the music was beautiful, the best thing to come out of what John and I had.

John also wore a lot of black. He had spiked black bracelets on his right wrist and black jelly bracelets on his left. He had metal 10-gauged earrings that clinked together when I touched his face, and for years after him I wore the same bracelets. To this day my 10 gauged metal earrings clink when anyone touches my face.

JC and Ryan both played the drums and they were gone I took a few drums lessons. I wore a skirt to my first one and my teacher laughed and laughed. We made it work and as the weeks went on, I realized I couldn’t hold a steady beat to save my life.

Then there was Dave…he loved professional wrestling. We watched Monday Night Raw every week and I would sit with his roommate’s girlfriend staring blankly at the TV, not quite understanding what was going on. As time went on, I started figuring it out. I started recognizing people week to week, learning their entrance music and being able to say, “I like that guy! He does flips.” Dave struggled to get me to like it, and by the end I would admit to only tolerating it mildly.

However, that mild tolerating came in handy when I met a guy who actually does that stuff — I wound up being able to catch a live pro wrestling event while visiting some friends from college in Washington DC and I was hooked. The crowd, the bright lights, I was just captivated. When Dave found out what I was getting into he couldn’t hide his annoyance: “I tried to get you into this for years and you wouldn’t have it: you meet one guy who DOES it and you change your tune?”

In my defense, it’s a lot cooler up close and way more fun when you can cheer for someone you know is a good dude who loves his job.

I also wasn’t aware of how much athleticism is involved, and as someone who is constantly looking for ways to make working out interesting, this fascinated me. This was a whole world I had never even really been open to, but all of a sudden it was all consuming. A local women’s wrestling group took me in almost immediately, saying they had had their eye on me through a friend of a friend for a while and I could just start coming to practice. After my first one, I was hooked.

A few months later I was approached by a local independent men’s wrestling group who wanted to start having women wrestle for them; I was familiar with them and immediately said yes. I start training at their pro-wrestling facility next week. I couldn’t be any more excited, but I can’t help but look back and wonder whose life it belongs to. If you were to have asked me last year if I’d consider taking up wrestling, I would have laughed and called you crazy. Now I’m wearing shiny gold spandex, body slamming and dropping microphones. And I’m not bad at it!

I guess I’ve always been a little wild, a little boy crazy. When these boys leave I have parts of them with me even if I don’t mean to and that’s a hard thing to admit. I wonder if they carry any pieces of me with them. And I wonder if they ever feel lost…

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by Blogbot

This Thursday April 11th on SuicideGirls Radio hosts Nicole Powers and Moxi Suicide will be joined in studio by SG model Bradley Suicide, extreme piercer Chris Saint, and punk rock princess The Fabulous Miss Wendy. We’ll be talking sex, piercing, and rock & roll – and may be doing two out of three LIVE on air!

You can listen – and watch – the world’s leading naked radio show live on Thursday nights from 6 til 8 PM at our new state-of-the-art all digital home: TradioV.com/LA.

You’ll also be able to listen to our podcasts via Stitcher – download the app now!

If you have questions for the SG Radio crew or our guests, you can call in during the live broadcast at: 1-855-TRV-inLA (1-855-878-4652)

For updates on all things SG Radio-related, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

_About Bradley Suicide

Raised to be the epitome of a California Girl, Bradley Suicide has the blonde beach girl thing on lock. She grew up in the town of Sonoma in the heart of California wine country, but just wasn’t cut out for small town life. She got the tattoo and party itch at a young age and hasn’t looked back since.

Upon graduating from culinary school with a degree in Baking and Pastry Bradley moved to Huntington Beach and then, most recently to Las Vegas where she keeps the party going, double fisting drinks and sending ridiculous tweets – all while covered in glitter.

Highlights of Bradley’s days, on the rare occasion that she is not working, include skateboarding, relaxing by the pool (drink in hand), and creeping on people’s Twitter and Instagram accounts. She loves the beach, cheap wine, good beer, spicy food, boys with accents and tattoos, and baseball season.

Bradley has modeled for SuicideGirls.com since 2010, has been featured in Inked Magazine, appears in music videos, and is the writer of the Confessions of A Reluctant Dater column as featured on SuicideGirls.com.

For more info find Bradley on SuicideGirls and follow/friend her on Twitter and Facebook.

_About Chris Saint

English born and raised, Chris Saint restarted his piercing career by relocating to Los Angeles in 2007. Working in the heart of Hollywood, Chris focused himself on precision, creativity and presentation, and before long had succeeded in building a solid reputation within the piercing community.

To date Chris’ work, including his surface anchor arrangements, can be seen in publications worldwide, on television networks including MTV, FUSE, OXYGEN, E!, and in music videos by artists such as From First Till Last, Angels & Airwaves & Marilyn Manson.

Chris has been a member of SuicideGirls since 2007, and is now an extremely proud member of the Club Tattoo, Las Vegas Team.

For more info visit Chris’ Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

_About The Fabulous Miss Wendy

After touring with Slash, Hollywood’s punk-inspired rock princess The Fabulous Miss Wendy is co-headlining the national Femme Fest 2013 tour with Hear Kitty Kitty and openers The Theodora Kelly Project and Mahi Gato. Wendy is taking to the highways in support of her new album No One Can Stop Me!” (Not Dead Yet Records), produced by the legendary Kim Fowley (The Runaways).

No One Can Stop Me! is a street-level battle cry that resonates from the underbelly of Hollywood. The opening title track of the album speaks to Wendy’s unbeatable determination and passion while “Miami” is the true story of sultry adventures and steamy parties under the hot Florida sun. Her song “Silicon Assassin” is also the theme song for the new sci-fi web series by the same name and starring Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica).

In true DIY style, Wendy initially turned to Kickstarter to complete the funding for her album. She got it from 112 backers and then hit the studio with producer Kim Fowley who, among many other accomplishments, discovered The Runaways.

Wendy started her music career with only $20, but she was eventually nominated for LOGO’s “Ultimate Sexiest Videos” weekly contest alongside videos by the likes of Lady Gaga. Wendy did two tours of duty to play for American troops in Iraq before going on to tour with Slash.

For more info visit Wendy’s website, Facebook and Twitter.

**UPDATE**
ICYMI: The recorded of our April 11t show featuring SG model Bradley Suicide, extreme piercer Chris Saint, and punk rock princess The Fabulous Miss Wendy is now up on Ustream and can be viewed via the player below.

Video streaming by Ustream

by Alexander Hinkley

Asio is this week’s Gamer Of The Week. She grew up playing a variety of video games as a kid and is still a retro gamer at heart. I spoke with her about some of her favorite games and also found out a few of her other geeky hobbies.

Tell me about your SuicideGirls nickname “Asio.” What does it mean?

Ha! I love that question. I never get asked what it means. I’m an owl fanatic. If you Google the word “Asio” you will find that there are two kinds of owls with Latin names that start with Asio: Asio flammeus and Asio Otis. My first tattoo was one of an owl. I love owls (and yes there is a very heartwarming story about my grandpa (RIP) who gave me that nickname but people usually don’t care about that).

How did you first get into nude modeling?

My dear friend MissKrone (she’s a member on SG, too) started to learn how to photograph and since we lived very close I somehow became her willing victim. We experimented a lot and started to do pinup shoots and the some latex photos and one day – oops! – I was naked. Things like that just happen, no?

Your profile says you’re from Germany. Ever met Fraise Suicide?

Of course, We live across the country but we have met twice and like all German SuicideGirls, we’re completely in love with each other. Can’t wait to see her again. Also, we have so much in common (OMG Jeffrey Campbell shoes!).

What are some of your favorite games?

That’s a tough one. I grew up being a computer gamer but I also had a hand held. I think I got my first Game Boy at the age of seven or eight and played Mario Land 2 until my mommy was really mad at me. I loved Monkey Island a lot, especially The Curse of Monkey Island. I’m also a huuuuuge Zelda fan, though I’m not so much into the Nintendo DS versions. Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask are my favorites and I’m dying to play Skyward Sword but I’m pretty retro so I don’t own any consoles younger than 10 years, haha. I still might have to get Wii some day.

I love Persona 3 and The Path, which is an independent horror game that is brilliantly made. I also like Zoo Tycoon because of the cute animals! Another of my favorites is Shadow of the Colossus because I prefer games with a good story and an awesome setting. And nothing beats a good round of good ol’ Pokémon or Mario Kart, the latter especially when drunk!

You said you played Mario Land 2 until your mom got mad at you. What happened?

I was a total bookworm as a child so my mom was very used to me staying up late with a pocket light under my blanked to read. When I got the Game Boy, I spent more time with “that stupid box” than with my books, which my mom didn’t really appreciate. I even tried to explain to her that Tetris was training my brain but she didn’t want to listen. So one day she caught me playing Mario Land around midnight and took the Game Boy away for two weeks. Sad me. At least I still had my books and a lot of friends who let me use their Game Boys in school, haha.

Being that you’re an owl lover, have you ever played Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole on DS?

Nah, I haven’t. I’m not so much into games that are made from movies except for Harry Potter because I’m just totally into everything Potter connected. But I might look for some reviews to decide if it’s worth buying!

What games are you currently playing?

To be honest, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 for PS2, haha. It was my favorite game back when I was a skateboard kid so playing one of those gets me nostalgic. Sadly I’m slacking lately, I don’t really have enough time to sit down and concentrate on a game. But I’m also playing Pokémon Pearl on DS. I play that while being in the bathtub and desperately try not to drown my DS, haha.

As someone who has never skate boarded in his life I’ve always wondered, how realistic are the Tony Hawk games?

Haha, they’re not realistic at all. THPS doesn’t know what gravity is. The game is three thousand gazillion times easier than skateboarding. On the other hand, it wouldn’t really be fun otherwise. It’s much safer too, obviously. I can’t even count how many scars I have been rewarded with during the three or four years I’ve been into it.

How many retro consoles do you own?

I own a Super Nintendo that was bought new in our family so I am the first owner! Then I have a Nintendo 64, which I bought two years ago, and a PlayStation 1 and 2. We also have a lot of handhelds; my old grey Game Boy that sadly died some years ago, two Game Boy Colors, and a Nintendo DS, which is not really that retro anymore. There’s my Dreamcast, which also died some years ago. Then my boyfriend has a C64 which needs some fixing and isn’t in use right now.

Do you have any other nerdy hobbies or interests outside of video games?

Ha, yup! I’m a total Potterhead, a walking Harry Potter wiki and I even collect film replicas. I have also been cosplaying for four years now. I love making costumes and going to conventions with my friends. Besides that, I write fan fiction and I used to draw when I had more time on my hands. I always love to try new stuff so currently I’m learning how to play the bass (but I suck).

What are some of the characters you have cosplayed?

My first cosplay was Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and I have cosplayed as Bulma from Dragon Ball, Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Aigis from Persona 3, just to name a couple. My favorite cosplay is the Skull Kid from Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. I put over 100 hours of work in that one.

What is your favorite convention to attend?

My favorite convention is the Connichi in Kassel. It’s the biggest German manga and anime convention and my friends and I go there each year (only this year I had to skip it). I’ll be going again next year, cosplaying as the Black Mage from Final Fantasy: Tactics along with a group of other mages, yay.

Any other plans for future cosplays?

Aside from the Black Mage, I plan on doing some of my own designs for the next convention in March, a Sagittarius for example. I am also planning to do a cosplay of Canute of Vinland Saga, which is a not so popular manga about Vikings but has a very great story and art. I highly recommend it. I do a lot of not so popular cosplays lately, haha.

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by Blogbot

This Thursday April 4th on SuicideGirls Radio hosts Nicole Powers and Moxi Suicide will be joined in studio by Scott Griffin of the legendary LA Guns.

You can listen – and watch – the world’s leading naked radio show live on Thursday nights from 6 til 8 PM at our new state-of-the-art all digital home: TradioV.com/LA.

You’ll also be able to listen to our podcasts via Stitcher – download the app now!

If you have questions for the SG Radio crew or our guests, you can call in during the live broadcast at: 1-855-TRV-inLA (1-855-878-4652)

For updates on all things SG Radio-related, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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