Thursday, February 28, 2008

Jimmy Pellechia: More Hate on No Bull Radio...


"No Bull Radio" spent a great deal of time in this week's show trying to debunk rumors that its hosts Dave Palumbo & John Romano are racists. Romano asked several guests in a disastrous show culminated by the much-talked-about No-Show of JIM LORIMER, coupled with a third-tier impersonator doing the voice of The Oak 'live from California.' This program has always been a distant generic version of PBW and I suspect the trail will only increase in size & scope.

Naturally neither host brought up the issue of racism with either Dexter Jackson or Victor Martinez, instead opting for the very Southern & very White Branch Warren. Special guest Jimmy Pelluchia also went on to add that each race/nationality has something it was made for:

Jews -- > doctors & politics (the KKK & Neo-Nazi groups have been rallying behind a conspiracy theory titled "ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government), which seemingly sounds very much like what Mr. Pelluchia is implying). Notable bodybuilders like Mike Katz might find Mr. Pelluchia's comments 'interesting' to say the least.

African Americans --> Or simply "blacks" as denoted by Pelluchia. Here the No Bull Radio personality stated that blacks are great for athletics and bodybuilding. Another one of those backward-type racist modicums that just doesn't seem to go away. The kind of egghead that sees African American students on a college campus and assumes they're all there on athletic scholarships.

Hispanic-Latinos --> Pelluchia stated that Hispanic-Latinos, with emphasis on Mexicans are by trade (race-wise) meant for DOMESTIC and LANDSCAPING work.

All the while Dave Palumbo & John Romano laughed uncontrollably.

John Romano seems to be the ring-leader and mastermind behind furthering the pseudo-racist new direction of the program, asking [white] guest-by-guest whether or not he [or Palumbo] are racists. It was Romano who said one week ago, "if I want to be a racist I can be."

****This content comes one week after Mike Quinn used N-bombs referring to African Americans & a week after Gregg Valentino stated on MD-TV that Mexicans have cleaning in their blood.

Republished @ www.Bodybuilding.com "IFBB Forum"

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Muscular Development & Gregg Valentino

MD has had a rough past, it went from a magazine that celebrated Natural Bodybuilding into an era where it celebrates the illicit use of anabolic steroids and showcases the likes of Dave Palumbo & Gregg Valentino, two convicted drug dealers & ex-cons. In fact, MD has lowered the bar to the point where "having done time" is actually a positive in a growingly seedy, back-world environment.

Talk of Growth Hormone, Esiclene, implants, insulin mis-use, testosterone, and homemade brews are all at the fingertips of just about any adult (or child), in newstands across America and Canada.

From the looks of the magazine's tenure with Gregg Valentino, it seems that assertions of "Filthy Puerto Ricans" and quotes of "Mexicans having cleaning in their blood" will set the bar for the new gray area of depravity, of "acceptableness," leaving very little to the imagination in what shock value is left, where will they go from here?

The Hispanic-Latino community must not act, our time is to REACT! We have already been attacked twice, many times in the MD's hardcopy, now on MD's TV, and if the attitude of Palumbo, Romano hold any water, it'll only be a matter of time before MD's radio-waves are saturated with such speech as well.

We call on Hispanic-Latinos, African Americans, all minorities and our friends, to spread the word. If our demands are ignored, we will Boycott MHP 27 days to go before we carry out our action. We hope MHP & MD will demand Valentino apologize and stop this type of humor in the future.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Bodybuilding Icon's Slip of the Tongue?

For those of you that think this whole matter is nothing more than paranoia, we'd like to cite from a letter received from GetBig.com's Ron Avidan. We're presenting the full cite, which does not throw the book at the Palumbo & Romano, but doesn't fall too short thereof either.

I dont agree with you in terms of boycotting MHP. Gerard Dente (the owner of MHP) is a good person, and his top athlete is Victor Martinez. It would be better to email the people at MHP who are sponsoring this show with questions like why. Hell, they can sponsor Getbig :)

In terms of Dave Palumbo and John Romano, I truly dont think they are racist, although sometimes their words may seem to be.

______Ron


From THIS WEEK'S SHOW
This week on "No Bull Radio," Mr. Romano said: (1)"If I wanted to be a racist, I could"(2); John Romano referred to an Indian as "a Swami"(3); in attacking an 80yr old Human Sexuality expert and 80yr old Catholic nun, Mr. Romano said: "like she knows what's it like to get a train pulled on her."(4)

*A train in this context is when several men have ralations with woman, consecutively one after the next. At this comment, both Mr. Palumbo & Mr. Romano enjoyed a great laugh.


We ask you....

What does "Swami," "getting a train pulled on a Catholic nun," calling Puerto Rican "filthy," or asserting Mexicans have "cleaning in their blood," have to do with the sport of bodybuilding.

Till next time, we'll be listening to "No Bull Radio" sponsored amongst other, by MHP.

Day 2 of 30 (Pre-Boycott Phase)

Members of Chicago's Southside Bodybuilding Club met today with fellow students at Chicago State University to discuss ways to promote the planned MHP Boycott. Members of SBC are also trying to get on the agenda of a fitness-based club at DePaul University for a meeting next week. Although the club's secretary claims "the agenda is full at this time," we received notice early this morning that there may be a chance to get a ninety-seconds during that groups "Special Notices" section towards the end of the meeting. Members of SBC are also trying to secure permission to handout fliers and speak to students of Chicago's Malcom X College intramural activities.



"It's of critical importance to spread the word to key members of our community across college campuses, especially here in Chicago"


CSC Member Since 2001




Gregg Valentino as Ronnie Coleman
Racism or Insensitivity -- You Decide!

In the event that IFBB stars like Gustavo Badell, Victor Martinez, & Adela Garica opt to remain silent for the almighty buck, we shall continue on with this effort. In a recent video showcased on Bodybuilding.com, MD's Gregg Valentino can be seen impersonating 8x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman. While the mere impersonation is not the issue - or - even the content, there seems to be a special emphasis placed on Coleman's southern African American accent, as well as implications douting the man's intelligence, eloquence, and [alleged] lack of sophistication. Despite Valentino's friendship with Coleman, there seems to be markedly racist overtones in this clip, but what totally unambiguous is the "MD" stamp of approval on the upper left hand side.
GetBig.com Sits On Registration
We're hoping that our registration will go through and that Ron Avidan will allow us to get onto his Boards as well. The Boycott will go forward unless (1) MHP drops its support of "MD" or (2) MD requires Greggory Valentino to apologize to the Hispanic-Latino community and cease from making undeniably offensive, racist comments again. We can handle levity, we can handle poor taste, but the level of comments Mr. Valentino has sunk to, would to a reasonable person, seem quite alarming.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

No Bull Radio Crosses The Line



No Bull Radio hosted by John Romano & Dave Palumbo have pushed the racial card one knotch further than Don Imus. "No Bull Radio," an increasingly popular online radio program that covers bodybuilding & fitness, places special value on extremes. Past guests Mike "Mighty Mike" Quinn have appeared on the program using racist slurs, meanwhile agents with recurring roles like Gregg Valentino have made racist remarks like "Mexican women have cleaning in their blood" and his rants can be read on the hardcopy of MD (run directly by John Romano), making such assertions as "filthy Puerto Ricans" (again referring to women he's dated and/or had extensive relationships with).

We believe, that apart from the program having ties to folks esposing racist values of varying degrees, the program seems to be extensively critical and often dismissive of bodybuilding's greatest star since Sergio Oliva, Gustavo Badell. The show hosts, like many idiots on the Bodybuilding.com boards, fail to recognize that Victor Martinez & Silvio Samuel are both Latino, but with Gustavo the animosity is undeniable. Gustavo, a past 2x Top 3 Olympian, past Iron Man Champion, and quite possibly the owner of the best triceps in the business, gets downgraded and underrated, almost incessantly, by NPC star Dave Palumbo.

Boycotting MuscularDevelopment.com and/or Species Nutrition (Palumbo's line of nutrition supplements) would probably not do very much in terms of pushing for change. We are not disinterested assholes, we are guys that love to train, love the lifestyle, and live it with a burning passion; we are guys that looked up to these meatheads and are now realizing just how badly they are managing their medium. No Bull Radio & PBW both mimick mainstream outlets, because they offer live programming, guests, and have sponsors. Eventually as the sport grows, so too will these programs. Where we're going with this is... a guy like Greg Valentino gets so many laughs, because although "NBR" & "PBW" are still somewhat undeground mediums, they mimick larger AM/FM stations. A guy like Valentino could never say what he says even on the smallest, lowest frequency AM station.

Valentino has made bigotry & vulgarity into a novelty of radio, a novelty that's not quite so novel, but that would never get past the FCC on radio or past the censors for TV. People laugh because they can't fathom any reputable station broadcasting that filth...Puerto Ricans aren't the filthy ones, his thoughts and remarks are what's filthy.

And since even John Romano co-host of "NBR" wanted to furhter explain himself, to Mr. Palumbo's "that's enough on that" and his later "joke, b/c I'm Jewish," make us realize that this program isn't truly apologetic.

There is why we are preparing a national boycott of all MHP products. MHP is the title sponsor of "NBR." We are currently in talks with African American & Hispanic-Latino civil rights organizations, as well as athletic groups across the United States. Given the limited reach of this program and the underground-nature of bodybuilding & fitness, we are aware that this boycott will take a great deal of legwork and time, but we hope to officially get this ball rolling within four weeks. We are hoping that after a maximum of eight weeks, MHP will notice a significant decline in its profit margins and/or affect its annual earnings.

We would prefer not to punish an innocent third party, but as we see it, MHP should know better than to sponsor a program that gives carte blanche on these matters, especially when MHP's top athlete, Victor Martinez, is himself a Hispanic-Latino. Latinos & African Americans, we are one, and if you take a look at professional and amateur bodybuilding, fitness, & figure.... we are MANY!