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Nomads Café is a unique place for indepedent folks to connect. Sorry - no coffee, philly cheese steaks, or jukeboxes here yet - but you never know what the future will bring. Hopefully the place will inform, inspire, and promote good things happening in business, politics, music, arts, and community.
Born in the USA, Nomads Cafe is just another free speech experiment. Connecting people across borders with alternative art and media is the main idea. One of the goals here is to offer a diversity of information that is not being offered by the mainstream media in order to help further new ideas and perspectives as well as informed discussion and positive change. Just a goal. We know there's always room for argument too ;) But seriously, knowing the truth about the good as well as the bad is becoming increasingly important in a world that seems reluctant to address issues that affect everyday people all over the globe. And sharing information and ideas on a global level might enable us to overcome common obstacles to change. Overcoming hatred and ignorance will always be one of the toughest things, but solving common problems and seeing mutual benefits might build a little bit of that brother & sisterhood thing. A little more tolerance, acceptance and respect would be a plus. Mainstream media could do a lot more for the public interest by covering and prioritizing issues and news developments that truly serve or seriously affect our common interests. Of course this will not happen if individuals have limited concern for anything beyond self-interest. It's all about the kids in future generations, not the ones with the most toys.
Who knows what this global generation will do? Or if we'll learn to co-exist despite all the war? Hope we pull it off with style and I hope we have lots of helmets when we don't. The right moves take a lot of work and an open mind. Demanding legitimate democratic elections, competent and accountable leaders, realistic and sustainable policies, worker rights and consumer protections, affordable health care and education, environmental stewardship and more are all in the people's interest. And what we need now is public media to point out the facts that matter. Our story? Oh yeah. We are good friends. We used to play in a band called Nomads OK. Mike Lenert and I are now making noise in a project called Lettuce Prey and Ashley Pigford has returned to the East Coast. "Liberation through knowledge, compassion and information" is not a new or original idea. But it really does seem like a good one. I heard it tonight checking out the documentary Tibet: The Cry of the Snow Lion playing down the street. Those were inspiring words from the Dalai Lama. Tibetans have endured decades of slaughter, torture and persecution and they are still able to rise above hatred and are still holding out against severe oppression from China (which is largely-condoned now for US capital interests). The details are sad but true, but fully demonstrate the power of non-violent resistance within an intense level of spiritual consciousness. Tibetan Buddhism has been "cultivating wisdom" and an understanding of the mind for eons and is often referred to as the most spiritually-enlightened Faith on the planet. Tolerance. Love. Self-determination. Autonomy. Compassion. Wisdom. Non-violence. Food for thought. Actions speak louder than words. But compassion is necessary to motivate honorable actions. Without diversity in both the editorial content and ownership of mainstream media, there is little hope for a well-informed public capable of much compassion or understanding. It is the hope here that the search for truth in media will make more sense as well as the value of being a more active participant in everyday events that continue to shape our collective will and understanding. In other words, the ideals and active citizenship that define true democracy and freedom should not be taken for granted, ignored or forgotten if we want to maintain any credibility in our nation, integrity of our Constitution and freedom for our people. Stay inspired. Keep hope alive and check out Indymedia's many local calendars to stay involved. Thank you. - Fran Battaglia |
