Aryan Brotherhood eats punk PENI gang

Skinhead white supremacist Hitler Youth from white suburban Orange County and LBC

How PENI, a prison punk rock gang, became "slaves" to the Neo-Nazi Aryan Brotherhood

(Hood Archives) True crime documentary. Oct. 27, 2025: In the 1980s, PENI ("Public Enemy Number One"), named after the British anarcho-punk band Rudimentary Peni, emerged from the Long Beach/Los Angeles hardcore punk scene.

By 2018, their co-founder was murdered on a prison yard—executed on orders from the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) leadership he once served.

This documentary examines how a white punk rock street gang became controlled by a notorious white supremacist prison organization through federal court testimony, law enforcement records, and witness accounts.

• Peckerwood is a U.S. racial epithet used against white people, especially poor rural whites [2]. Originally an ethnic slur, the term has been reclaimed by a subculture related to prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle clubs [3,4,5,6]. The term was in use as an inversion of woodpecker in the Southern United States by the 1830s; it is also with the sense referring to white people documented from the 1850s [2]. African-American folklore in the 1920s contrasted the white "peckerwood" bird with the African-American blackbird [6,7]. The word became a common term in Jive. More

DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes only. Content is based on public court records and news reports. There is no intention to glorify or encourage any criminal activity. All crimes discussed resulted in arrests and prosecution and, in many cases, imprisonment. Viewer discretion advised.

Crass Course: Skate Punk (The Punk Historian) May 24, 2021: Crash coarse on the history and evolution of the "skate punk" music genre from the early 1980s to the present. Plus a little of my personal thoughts and commentary.

Background music: "1977" by D.D.F. • D.D.F. – Means To An End... (2000) [Full C... (Track 10) "Locals Only" by Agression • Locals Only "These Valley Streets" by Jughead's Revenge • These Valley Streets (song starts at 0:42) "Any More Lonely" by First Class • Any More Lonely "The Greatest Betrayal" by Much the Same • The Greatest Betrayal "Too Old to Die Young" by Straightline • Straightline - Too Old To Die Young coarse on the history and evolution of the Skate punk genre from the early 80's to the present. Plus a little of my personal thoughts and commentary. Pop Punk video: • Crass Course: Old School Pop Punk Background music: "1977" by D.D.F. • D.D.F. – Means To An End... (2000) [Full C... (Track 10) "Locals Only" by Agression • Locals Only "These Valley Streets" by Jughead's Revenge • These Valley Streets (song starts at 0:42) "Any More Lonely" by First Class • Any More Lonely "The Greatest Betrayal" by Much the Same • The Greatest Betrayal "Too Old to Die Young" by Straightline • Straightline - Too Old To Die Young

No Kings Day, Pasadena protest (6/14)

‘No Kings Day’ nationwide protests planned all across California, LA curfew, June 14, 2025

(Dangerous Ones) 10 must-know tips for NO KINGS DAY 2025

NO KINGS DAY RALLY: Saturday, June 14, 2025, 2:00-4:00 pm

Warning: Trump says no protests for his b-day

Meet at the intersection of Lake Avenue and Colorado Blvd. (site of the world-famous Rose Parade) in Pasadena. Begin at 860 E. Colorado Blvd. To join with a Quaker, contact Prof. Anthony Manousos at interfaithquaker@aol.com. See: nokings.org

Saturday is a NATIONAL day of action and mass mobilization 

Maybe courts and lawyers will save us?

This in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption in Washington, DC, including King Trump's birthday military parade, celebrating a wasteful (homegrown British-style) imperial military older than the country. We are protesting crackdowns on free speech and assembly of people for their political views, threatening to deport American citizens and corrupt the courts.

• National Day of Action: nokings.org, jvp.org, codepink.org, veteransforpeace.org, ifnotnowmovement.org, occupy.com

Adult Study, Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 10:00 am: Defending our democracy in trying times

Orwell's 1984 graphic novel

What threats to our democracy are we seeing? What can we do individually and as a Meeting of Friends to support people and institutions that are under attack -- immigrants, LGBTQIA+ community, federal workers, university students and staff, our legal system, scientific and medical research, and so on? Prof. Manousos will facilitate a discussion and share a Quaker perspective on being a prophetic witness during these trying times.

• Juneteenth 2025 (mytriberise.org)

(CJ Werleman) Why does Israel suddenly want President Trump dead?

It Can't Happen Here

It Can’t Happen Here

Once upon a time, Sinclair Lewis wrote a book, a dystopian fantasy. No one believed it, except maybe novelist George Orwell, who by 1948 had the manuscript for a book he would call 1984. (He didn't think such a time was too far off, so he flipped 48 to 84). By 1984, it was already true, only most Americans and Brits hadn't noticed. The predictions were eerie and in practice all around us. It's only gotten worse since then.

“The novel that foreshadowed Donald Trump’s authoritarian appeal.”

— Salon

It Can’t Happen Here is Sinclair Lewis’s cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America.

Sit home. What has protesting ever accomplished?

Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Mr. Hitler’s aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press.

Called “a message to thinking Americans” by the Springfield Republican when it was published in 1935, It Can’t Happen Here is a shockingly prescient novel that remains as fresh and contemporary as today’s news. More

• Schoolhouse Rock, "No More Kings"; No Kings No Fascists in America protest sign by Melantha Incredible (Printerval); Sinclair Lewis; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

LAPD cops shoot Weezer wife Lauren

New LAPD bodycam shows moment cops shot wife of Weezer bassist before Coachella 2025

(ABC7) April 25, 2025: The LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department, with a proud history of citizen abuse usually reserved for Black and brown males) released officer-worn bodycam video showing the moment cops opened fire on gun-toting LA resident Jillian Shriner who was at the moment protecting her own private property as they shot her over her fence in Eagle Rock, the nice town next to Pasadena. She is an author and the wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner. Full story: abc7.com/post/jillian-shriner...

(KTLA 5 News, Los Angeles) New bodycam footage shows wife of Weezer bassist shot by LAPD

The cops' cleaned up version of events

LAPD releases bodycam of shooting involving Weezer member’s wife

LAPD releases bodycam of shooting involving Weezer member’s wife

(news.com.au) April 27, 2025: LAPD releases bodycam of shooting involving Weezer member’s wife #breakingnews #weezer #police #shoot #wife #bodycam #policecam

They shot me on my own property!

The LAPD released bodycam footage showing the moments before police shot Jillian Lauren Shriner, wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, during a confrontation in the Los Angeles foothill suburb of Eagle Rock on April 8, 2025, just before Weezer was to play the first weekend of Coachella 2025.

According to the LAPD, California Highway Patrol (CHP) requested assistance pursuing three hit-and-run suspects who fled into a residential area near the 134 Freeway and Figueroa Street.

LAPD officers were searching for the suspects in the backyards of an Eagle Rock neighborhood. As they were searching the backyard of one residence, Shriner was seen in the yard of a neighboring house armed with a 9mm handgun, the LAPD claim.

• [LAPD policy is to challenge and mistreat anyone with a gun, legal or otherwise, in spite of their constitutional rights to have and hold such a weapon. If police claim a citizen "aimed" or even "brandished" the firearm, or it looked that way to them, that person is suddenly a felony suspect who must be taken down even if that means a hail of bullets from the guns they freely wield and aim at citizens as they like.]

The footage shows cops peering over a fence and demanding, multiple times, that Shriner put her [legal] gun down before several shots are fired.

Shriner was wounded on the shoulder and retreated back into her house. In a 911 call made by Shriner after the shooting, she can be heard telling the operator she believed she was defending herself against the fleeing suspects.

Shriner was eventually forced to exit her house and was taken into custody and to a local hospital for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

She was absentee booked for attempted murder, released from custody after posting bail, and was scheduled to appear in court on April 30, 2025.

No officers or community members were injured in the incident. It was later determined Shriner was “uninvolved in the hit-and-run and lived at the residence where she was observed,” police admitted.

One hit-and-run suspect was detained by CHP, but two other suspects escaped and got away and were never located, police stated.

Connect with news.com.au online ► [news.com.au] bit.ly/3WC8hOP

• News.com.au, April 27, 2025; ABC7, April 25, 2025; KTLA 5 News, April 25, 2025; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Wild California weather: hail, rain, snow

Woman rescued from LA's concrete river

(NBCLA) March 24, 2024: A swift water rescue of a woman in Studio City in the Valley unfolded today with her being safely pulled out of the deadly waterway by fast moving rescuers who train for just such situations. Many unhoused individuals live in the river because, as in India, the land is cheap and most of the time it's not subject to flooding. But when it rains upstream, it suddenly floods downstream and with nowhere else to go, people refuse to evacuate until it's too late and they get caught on an island or shopping cart clutching an endangered pet.

Spring showers for flowers: Severe thunderstorm warning issued for parts of LA County; LA River rescue

(ABC7) Sunday, March 24, 2024: The Super Bloom is in full flowering mode, and now Indra is mad at the petals and throwing down frozen pebbles. A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for parts of Los Angeles County as residents are reporting hail and heavy rain in some areas. The warning is in effect until 4:45 pm. The National Weather Service says the thunderstorm was located near the West Covina area, moving southeast at 20 mph. A squall hit Highland Park with severe hail and rain for a brief time beginning about 3:00 pm. More: abc7.com/los-angeles-weather-...

Rain, hail fall in parts of S. California

(KTLA 5) March 24, 2024: Palm became Umbrella Sunday, and Easter is ruined with coming weekend storm that is forecast to last three days. KTLA 5's Kaj Goldberg has the latest weather forecast as another storm hits SoCal.

Alhambra Lunar New Year Festival (2/18)

Street Festival (四海迎春過大年); CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Pick up your cultural passport and stamps!

At the Alhambra Lunar New Year Festival, there is something to do for the whole family.

Be dazzled by performances, shop for unique treasures, savor Asian street food, learn to make something new, or take photos with the beautiful cherry tree display, find a treat.

• Always check Eventbrite. Next week there's another festival next door in rich Arcadia: Lunar New Year Festival, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024 at 11:00 am-5:00 pm

Breakdancers compete for glory and prizes

The Performance Stage is guaranteed to entertain and enlighten with cultural performances that include Korean fan dancing, the community band from Vez Guitar, the return of the Money God, a breakdance competition, and more.

• Dragon dance
• Lion dance
• What is breakdancing?

Food takes center stage at the Alhambra LNY Festival, with an array of authentic Asian dishes to try courtesy of vendors from all over the SGV (San Gabriel Valley).

Local favorites Miister Potato, Waffleland, and Tian Jin BBQ will return, among others. Plus, many of the amazing local eateries on Main Street will be open for business.

Newand improved in 2024

Passport to Magonia

Explore the traditions of the Lunar New Year through the Cultural Passport, which comes with giveaways and prizes as attendees explore the festival, collecting stamps in their commemorative passports.

Explore Artisan Alley to discover favorite local SGV goods and craft vendors selling their wares. Support local artisans and find unique, handcrafted items to take home as mementos of this auspicious day.

And welcome into the Year of the Wood Dragon. More: Street Festival | Alhambra Lunar New Year Festival 四海迎春過大年

Arcadia Lunar New Year Festival (2/25)

CC Liu, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The whole world has a fetish.

It's not too late to get to Asia (American style) for an authentic Lunar New Year Festival, the Chinese "Spring Festival," to ring in the Year of the Wood Dragon.

Los Angeles has more Asian dominant communities than Chinatown in DTLA. There's the entire San Gabriel Valley, with little cities like Arcadia (as in Joan of Arcadia) eager to show off their own version of the holiday:

• Lunar New Year Festival, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024 at 11:00 am-5:00 pm | Eventbrite

P-22 Mountain Lion Festival, LA (10/22)

Fiona Ng, LAist.com, Oct. 21, 2023; Xochitl, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

A mountain lion stalks by hillside homes in the LA suburbs. Long live P-22 (Johanna Turner).

.

Nearly a year after its death, the Mountain Lion Spirit of P-22 lives on in Los Angeles

I thought I loved my cat. I love this one!

This Sunday (10/22/23), Griffith Park is celebrating its most influential transplant: LA's Lion King.

It's a native son who made the trek from the Santa Monica Mountains to its new digs by crossing the 101 and 405 Freeways — and in so doing inspired Los Angeles to dream the impossible dream of building the world's biggest freeway overpass for animals to use, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.

"We were told we were crazy, and here we are. It's underway," said Beth Pratt. "It actually started because of the P-22 story and the effect it had on me."

A drawing of a bridge for wildlife to cross over a busy freeway A rendering of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, slated for completion in 2025 (National Wildlife Foundation).

Pratt leads the Save LA Cougars campaign, which helps support efforts to get the historic wildlife crossing built.

The organization is also behind the annual P-22 Day Festival at Griffith Park, where all of Los Angeles is invited to celebrate the city's urban wildlife and its titular king.

LA's Lion King

P-22 Day Festival, Oct. 22 (urbanwildlifeweek.org)

Like the majority of the city, Pratt first heard about P-22 in 2012, shortly after she started working with the National Wildlife Federation.

"I couldn't believe the headlines I was reading that a mountain lion had made a home in Griffith Park," she said.

She learned from biologists working in the area about the plight of P-22 — having arrived after a treacherous journey in Griffith Park only to be trapped there.

"It wasn't just P-22, there were mountain lions all around the Santa Monica Mountains that were facing the same struggle. I asked that day how I could help."

Beth Pratty, Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing

More than a decade later, Pratt and Save LA Cougars have raised some $100 millions toward the construction of the wildlife crossing near the Liberty Canyon exit on the 101 Freeway.

The project broke ground last year. Currently, Caltrans crews are putting up the support system on both sides of the freeway for the bridge to be placed across early next year. The entire crossing is set for completion in 2025. Source (LAist.com) laist.com/news

[Let's kill P-22 then feel sorry for it, like we did the Native Americans, the Palestinians, and most of the other wildlife that used to roam wild throughout the basin, from the foothills to the bay.]

'Saltwater Buddha' surfing film (doc)

SWB Films, 1/28/22; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Saltwater Buddha: Coming of age surf doc

(SWB Films) Fed up with teenage life in the suburbs, Jaimal Yogis ran off to Hawaii with little more than a copy of Hermann Hesse's Buddhist classic Siddhartha and enough cash for a surfboard.

Now an author and father, he recounts his journey from jungle hippie communes to Zen Buddhist monasteries, from the warm Pacific to the icy New York Atlantic shore.

Based on the internationally-acclaimed memoir, Saltwater Buddha is a chronicle of finding focus in the barrel of a wave and truth in the great salty blue.

Director: Lara Popyack. Executive Producer: Urijah Faber. Editor: Jordan Dozzi. Producers Mike Madden, Lara Popyack, and Jaimal Yogis. Director of Photography: Roberto Vezzone. Surfers in order of appearance: Jaimal Yogis, Logan Landry, Holly Beck, Andy Olive, Danny Hess, Jay Nelson.

Barbie goes to Hell (A7x + Pussy Riot)

Avenged Sevenfold – "We Love You" Moar (Featuring Pussy Riot)

(Avenged Sevenfold) Oct. 5, 2023: A7x had a lot of fun reimagining and rerecording “We Love You” with Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova.

Nadya of Anarcho Punk Collective Pussy Riot

"We Love You Moar" is available everywhere now: A7X.lnk.to/WeLoveYouMoar. The band collaborated with Nadya to create a custom balaclava (knitted facemask to stay warm in a Siberian gulag) with proceeds going to SOS North Caucasus. Limited to 300 with each purchase helping LGBTQ+ people facing mortal danger and persecution in the North Caucasus, Russia: 

• bit.ly/a7xprtbalaclava
• #AvengedSevenfold #Mattel #LifeIsButADream
• Pussy Riot channel: @wearepussyriot

Mahayana Repentance Service (8/20-27)

Hsi Lai Temple (Hacienda Heights); Ananda, CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ksitigarba saves hell beings

You know that big Buddhist temple on the side of the hills that separate Orange County from Los Angeles County? It's Hsi Lai on the LA side, facing the San Gabriel Mountains, overlooking LA's second valley. What do they do there?

It's a Taiwanese Mahayana complex built on the model of genuine Chinese temples following a more devotional, slightly Zen, style of Chinese Buddhist tradition, ancestor worship, good luck rituals, nuns training, repentance, chanting, and weeklong sleepovers of more intense meditation practice.

It's the second largest in the Western hemisphere

There are classes, which at first will not seem very friendly to Westerners, catering to a largely Asian population from both counties. But a persistence pays off, and there's a Buddhist college (University of the West) they run in nearby Rosemead. So they do provide English-speaking programs from time to time.

In any case, there's always a small and interesting museum, a giant vegan/vegetarian cafeteria to visit, a tea house, and a gift shop. Visit any weekend. Coming soon:

Filial piety Emperor Liang Repentance Dharma Service

Buddhist repentance? This special program runs for one week, from August 20–27, 2023. It will be held in the Main Hall at 3456 Glenmark Drive, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 (MAP).

• Light-Offering Dharma Service: Wednesday, Aug. 30, 10:00 am– 12:00 pm, Main Hall
• EVENTS CALENDAR (Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple)

Race: The Power of an Illusion (video)

RACE – THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION

(California Newsreel) July 30, 2022. How was the racial wealth gap created? These scenes are excerpted from California Newsreel’s acclaimed three-part documentary series, Race: The Power of an Illusion. To learn more and watch the entire series, please visit newsreel.org/video/RACE-THE-P...

Los Angeles gets an Indigenous school

Melissa Gomez, LA Times/MSN, 3/21/23; Xochitl, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Minnie Ferguson, right, co-founder of the the Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America, stands next to student Marie Chairez, 16, on the school campus in El Sereno, Feb. 2023 (Genaro Molina/LA Times).

.

L.A.'s only Indigenous school helps return land to California's Native population

Gabrielino Shoshone Tribe members Jaime Rocha, left, her mother Eileen Rocha, Jaime's sister Cheyenne Rocha, along with Tecpatl Kuauhtzin, Minnie Ferguson, Victorino Torres-Nova, Trinidad Ruiz, and Marcos Aguilar stand on a vacant site where an extension of their school will be built in Monterey Hills (Genaro Molina/LA Times).

.

When Jamie Rocha and her family first visited the swath of undeveloped land in the Monterey Hills late last year, the grass was dead, the ground muddy.

But on a recent Thursday, after drenching rains in Los Angeles, the grass was a rich green and purple lupine lined the path. Coyotes roamed nearby, sniffing the ground before disappearing below the hillside's sloping edge.

The afternoon calm belied the family’s excitement. On this day, they were walking on what would one day be their land, 12 acres that had been purchased by the region’s only Indigenous charter school and returned to the Gabrielino Shoshone Tribal Nation of Southern California, the area’s original inhabitants.

Students at the Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America participate in a world history class in El Sereno, Feb. 2023 (Genaro Molina/LA Times).

.

“It’s mind-blowing, just to have a dedicated space [for] the Indigenous ways and education,” said Rocha, a member of the tribe, which has long struggled to find a place to practice its ceremonies in congested Los Angeles County.

“I wish my grandmother [were] here to see it.” In August, the Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America bought the land for $800,000 with the help of grants and nonprofit funding.

The K-12 charter school in El Sereno intends to act as a steward for the land and establish the Chief Ya’anna Learning Village.

The complex is named for Ya'anna Vera Rocha, a late chief of the Gabrielino Shoshone Tribal Nation and Rocha’s grandmother. Having such a space “always seemed kind of impossible,” Rocha said, “because you know, our territory is prime real estate.” More

• L.A.'s only Indigenous school helps return land to California's Native population
• Madelaine Böhme, the paleontologist who challenged long-held tenets about the cradle of humanity
• Best medicinal plants: The Lost Book of Remedies

Tulku reborn: "Buddha in Suburbia" (doc)

Movie-discovery.com (Buddha in Suburbia); Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Buddha in Suburbia

Efforts to recover lost [Tibetan] spiritual teachings

This film tracks the extraordinary journey of 40-year-old Lelung Rinpoche, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s three principal tulkus (reborn teachers, reincarnations), as he sets out to gather the lost teachings of his tradition and return to his homeland, Tibet.

For the past seven years, Lelung Rinpoche has been living in North London, in the garden shed of one of his students. He runs a Dharma or teaching center, which is attended by British followers.

Now a British passport holder, he embarks on a mission to find previous incarnations of Lelung’s Vajrayana teachings and those who hold the key to unlocking their secrets.

HBO's Mr. Show imagines a tulku in Indiana

His fascinating odyssey takes him to India, Mongolia, and China as he tries to find a way back home to Tibet. Along the way the rinpoche meets some of Tibetan Buddhism’s most senior teachers, including the Tibetan prime minister in exile.

This documentary follows Lelung Rinpoche as he takes on the most daunting of tasks: to recover lost spiritual teachings before they disappear forever while taking the right steps on his own path towards enlightenment.

“An enlightening documentary”

- Mike Mulvihill (The Times)

• Directed by Robert Wilkins. Produced by Simon Wheeler. Narrated by Hermione Norris.