"Freedom of choice is what you've got.
Freedom from choice is what you want."
It was DEVO who wrote that chorus in the song "Freedom Of Choice."
You would be surprised by how many people don't understand what that means. Sing that lyric to any Joe or Betty on the street and I swear many of them will say something like, "Yeah it's about being free to do what we want! Woo!"
Technically correct, but generally what Joe and Betty are saying is the opposite of the actual meaning behind the song. DEVO were in fact saying that Freedom FROM Choice is what you want.
I made a decision, although I didn't realize it, to not talk about politics too much in No-Fi "Magaine" AFTER George Bush Jr was re-elected to the Presidency. I tried to do my part to help whatever small amount of people aware of the horrible things this administration was doing in the name of "freedom" and "democracy" in order to push their important agendas like tax cuts for the top 2 percent of America, illegal wire tappings, declaring war on countries not involved with 9/11, supporting dictatorships, keeping the healthcare system in a mess, and declaring brain-dead people to be active healthy beings (which makes sense because we are talking about their base here).
Yes they are all hearts and flowers.
At the moment I saw that in this last election 3 years ago that America had really chosen George W and his life-partner Dick "Gonna Shoot You In The Face" Cheney for-realsies, I was disappointed to say the least...
...and then I just threw up my hands and thought, "Well, I guess America just deserves what it gets from this administration."
Punishment/Reward came quickly down on the people who voted for them. Republicans left and right began feeding on the people and their money faster than ever. At some point it has been said that an actual baby-eating contest was held in the Oval Office between Scooter Libby and US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Hot-dog eating champion Kobayashi was not allowed to perform, but was invited to be celebrity guest judge. (He declined in a letter written in Japanese with hot-dog juice.) While Sean Penn went out on a rowboat to do his part in rescuing the people whose lives were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Trent Lott was in another rowboat actually drowning people who swam to him for help. I think you can see that on Youtube, but I'm not sure.
And as we all know, when New Orleans local musician Quintron came down from the attic just when he thought it was safe after the flood, He was shot in the head by local rednecks who carried off his body by hook to the burning pile of human leftovers.
He was later found completely alive with no knowledge of this story.
So then the President was faced with something he had never seen before. The lowest ratings of his life. ...Literally. His answer?
Well, nothing really.
In a speech to the nation he said, and I quote, "America's shining beam of freedom shall blast our enemies face from God's great planet of wondership." And later on in the same speech adding, "We're just going to keep on keeping on."
So here we are, a few years later and a few days wiser. Republicans and dirty Democrats (which was actually the original name of the democratic ticket before they moved to the left) seem to be falling out of the woodworks and into the part of the woodworks that's on fire. Luckily for some, the President's Shiny Web Of Freedom-Net has been able to catch several of the Republicans before they fell into the hands of the voters or in jail. That's too bad, really, because I was looking forward to seeing what kind of prison tattoos Mr. Libby would have gotten from those tough white-collar prisons. I would have bet on the teardrop.
So what is it with America? Do we want choice? Do we want freedom? Are we actually trying to do things against our own and others' interests? Are we truly independent? Or are we independent despite our face? And just what does that last question mean?
Here's a recent example of how we often use our independence. On myspace a female friend of mine got this thoughtful message from this independently charming fellow.
"i wanna stick my tongue deep in ur ass, what do u say?"
Now THAT is somebody who truly knows how to look backward and step forward at the same time.
It's one thing to use our freedom to create wildly imaginative myspace pages and send one another romantic messages that recall times of yore, and another to do that without checking to see if we still have more important freedoms like making sure that 
we actually have choices as to what companies we prefer to buy things from or that our aunt and uncle aren't being disappeared for reading a particularly politically charged Mad Magazine.
Perhaps the problem with true independence is the fact that what we consider independence is the very thing that another person doesn't want imposed on them. My answer to the question of independence is, as always, Naked Twister. I have since heard from several scholars and stockroom clerks that this is neither an answer nor a solution.
But I guess at least I still have the freedom to say it, dog-gone it.
So in this issue we ponder the idea on independence whether it be political, sexual, musical, or of course not-at-all.
On the cover of this issue are the lovely Fifi and Bibi Poubelle, aka The Poubelle Twins and it and several other pictures from that same series in this issue are shot by the very friendly and talented Don Spiro. And if we're lucky, we'll also get to have a little chat with them as well about their journey from France to Burlesque to Mexican wrestling to their own cartoon series. The cake was created by Jeff Gontar Small. If you are French-impared like me you can also see an English version of the cover I designed HERE.
We have an interview with the band LACO$TE who have traveled this country freely only to find their current home in Los Angeles where they bring us an amazing mix of electro, noise, and rap that brings us down to our k'nees.
We investigate the totally true stories behind the men who founded our country on a yellowy piece of paper.
And of course we have the ol' Music, movie and game reviews, the Concert Calendar for Los Angeles, weekly installments of No-Fi "Radio" and whatever else we can fit between these electronic pages for this issue.
So feel free to read on if you want. We'd really love to entertain you.
...or don't. It really doesn't matter.
yr no-fi pal,
Chris Beyond
editor, no-fi "magazine"
http://www.nofimagazine.com
http://www.nofiradio.com
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Don Spiro (Thank you for the lighting lesson!!!), Barbara, Vera, Quin, Lucha VaVoom, Luke, Laura, Laurie Wilson, Rebecca H, Augusta, Gary Shapiro, X & Peter, Sean Carnage, Jim & The Smell, Brian Button, Kitten DeVille, Kitten Natividad, Kitty Diggens, Vahe Vahe & Nu-Tra, The Devilettes, Devo, Pinky Petite, Desire' d'Amour, Tyler & Model Mayhem, All the patient people and bands we'll finally get to, All the people who help create No-Fi "Magazine", Anyone who helps get the word out about No-Fi "Magazine", All our readers and listeners, and YOU!
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