local: thank your allies for what they do to protect you

Okay, sure, I've never been to a show at First Avenue, and I'd never even heard of Buju Banton before this morning.  Companies that give up the opportunity for profit in order to make an ethical stand, though, they deserve my active support.

Supposedly this singer made one particular song in response to "a man/boy rape case in Jamaica".  I'd be happy to pull the electrical switch that executes any adult who rapes any child (or any other adult, I think), but only after proper trial and conviction.  Vigilante justice is simply not the kind of society that I want to live in.

"Two man a hug up on an’ kiss up on an’ lay down inna bed, hug up on another anna rub dung leg,” Banton sings in Boom Boom Bye. “Send fi di matic an’ di Uzi instead. Shoot di batty boy come if we shot dem."
 

His lyrics don't seem to be about a pedophile situation, anyway.  He talks about two men, two adults.  It's encouragement to kill fellow citizens.  Seems simple to me.

I used this contact page to send the following message to their Booking coordinator.
http://www.first-avenue.com/contact

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Thank you for canceling the Buju Banton show, if that's really what has happened.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/44049/first-avenue-cancels-appearance-by-anti-gay-reggae-artist

My father used to hunt gay men to beat them up with his navy buddies. I don't know if he told me when I was 17 about his past "group sport activity" because he didn't know that I was gay or because he did know. Also, a guy in my college died some 20 years ago when young thugs from a nearby christian community drove to Houston, TX with nail studded baseball bats in their car. They found him and beat him until he died.

Hateful lyrics and hateful speech are personal matters to me. People who care should not support people who hate. Until they can publicly admit their wrong behavior, show them your disapproval by standing silently in opposition to them. Maybe eventually they will see how incredibly wasteful they have been by spending so much of the creative energy of their lives on these unhelpful activities.

Thank you for canceling the Buju Banton show.

used car hunting?

I'd appreciate either A) general suggestions on how to find/purchase a used car or B) specific suggestions from local Minneapolis people on dealerships that treat customers fairly.

I'm 41 years old, and technically I suppose I've never bought a car on my own before.  Sad, isn't it?  The car that's now totaled, I bought it through a special program service at the place where I worked that bypassed the usual haggling process and went straight to a fixed price through authorized sales reps at certain participating dealerships.  The vehicle before that was found and financed by my boyfriend at the time.  The two vehicles before that were found and purchased by my parents.

I intend to hunt for a new vehicle this weekend, as much as the work pager allows me anyway.  I'm not quite sure where to start, though.  I really dread the whole "haggling" thing if it comes up.  Why can't a sticker price be "real" and mean what it shows?