The Wagons Roll On

In early 2020, fear and confusion swept the globe, and everyone grasped desperately for direction as the COVID crisis spread. Large touring groups and festivals were in an especially difficult spot, forced between risking the health of crew and fans by remaining open, or sacrificing significant money by pulling the plug too early.

Many were surprised when the Insane Clown Posse were among the first voices of reason—cancelling their long-standing annual Gathering of the Juggalos pre-emptively in the interest of keeping their fans safe.

So, when ICP announced in 2021 that the Gathering would be coming back in August, the Juggalos were rightly eager to return to their favourite place, their family reunion—or as most of them would call it, home.

It was with this spirit of renewal that the 2021 Gathering of the Juggalos began, but it took little time for an unexpected change to call all of that into question. During the ICP seminar—an annual ‘State of the Family’ address made by ICP to the Juggalos in attendance—Violent J dropped a bombshell on the crowd. He’s been suffering with heart failure, and would need to step away from full-time touring in the near future.

Although the band promised a worldwide farewell tour, and to continue annual events, the Juggalos—in attendance and following around the world—were understandably devastated. While the news wasn’t all bad—it’s not a fatal condition, and can be managed—it represented to many a loss greater than regular concerts.

To anyone in attendance, and countless Juggalo the world over, the Insane Clown Posse means more than music or shows. Concerts and Gatherings aren’t just parties, they’re an opportunity to get together with like-minded people. For many, it’s a chance to feel at home that is rarely afforded elsewhere in life.

Whatever the path people take to embrace ICP and call themselves a Juggalo, what they find in the carnival grounds tends to be defined by a pervasive sense of community, understanding, love, and unconditional acceptance. The Dark Carnival is a deliverance from a world that might otherwise be cold and cruel, and a chance to speak up against the hate that pervades other communities. As such, any ICP event thusly becomes a sort of baptism by Faygo—a cleansing, rejuvenating experience.

To be sure, this world has grown beyond the wildest dreams of ICP, and the Juggalos have long been hailed as the main attraction at any ICP event. Nonetheless, at the head of this strange menagerie since the beginning have been ICP themselves—Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J. Together, the two of them created a musical saga like no other in history, and built a refuge for weirdos, freaks, and loners in the process.

Their music has been the soundtrack to countless lives, and it is their constant hard work, planning, and creativity that have provided the backdrop of many Juggalo’s favourite memories.

To have this change is a scary thing, and worse yet is the fear over one of the beloved band members—Violent J. But while a ‘Farewell Tour’ sounds like the end, the band have promised ongoing activities, and increased musical output. Since the early 90’s, ICP have boldly claimed that, ‘the wicked clowns will never die’, and their ongoing determination to carry on the best they can and deliver for the Juggalos lends credence to that boast.

Still, many wait anxiously to see what the future holds. Change is never an easy prospect, and loss is far worse.

So, uncertainty prevails for now, and we all hold our breath and hope for the best. Until then, this Juggalo remains eternally thankful for the journey so far, and eager for the rest as the wagons roll on, wherever they may go.

-Brad OH Inc.

Re-Share: Why the United States is Not Morally Justified to Limit Immigration

Today, we have an older post for you. Originally posted on July 26th, 2015, this article remains as sadly apt today as it was then. Have things changed at all? For better or worse? Can we still harbour the same hope that was expressed in this article? Can we afford not to?


If there’s one topic permeating public discourse above all others these days, it’s immigration. How to control it, what amnesty programs should be in order, and how it will affect the future of the western world are discussed daily—politicians all sounding off with their own theories, interpretations, and biases.

But the issue is simpler than it’s made out to be. Today, we’re here to discuss why the United States (and the rest of the ‘1st World’ for that matter) has no moral justification to limit immigration whatsoever.

Popular hysteria would find this claim entirely daft no doubt. As Donald Trump elucidated so profoundly in his recent Presidential bid (Link), common perception of immigrants paints a picture of a hoard of locusts come to devastate our pristine and peaceful land. He saw some backlash to be sure (Link), but make no mistake that his sentiments are shared by entirely too large a portion of the population.

So let’s examine the issue a bit more critically.

First off, it must be noted that the North American continent as it is now was built entirely by immigrants. Steel workers, factory workers, road builders and ditch diggers all came from abroad to find the freedom still sought by immigrants today. So there’s an undeniable element of hypocrisy in any claim that immigration is inherently harmful to this or any other nation.

Speaking of past immigration, even if the hotly debated Mexican border were to be shorn open completely, the resulting influx of immigration would be far less destructive to our culture than was our initial immigration to the Native population at the time. But let us not dwell on the past; this is about the present. History continues on by the day, and we must reckon ourselves to the fact that the machinations of the Western World are among the key forces driving the influx of aspiring immigrants around the world. If necessary, their concern for the laws of immigration will be no greater than we once showed.

And justly so. At present, all nations outside of the alleged ‘1st World’ are treated as low-cost production facilities, mining operations, or to put it flatly, as simple, legal sources of modern slave labour. This system produces the vast majority of luxury commodities we benefit from in our daily lives as those doing the building are left to linger in abject poverty.

Once again, Trump makes for a depressingly potent example. While decrying the potential dangers immigrants may bring, he rests high among the contributors to the need for such Freedom-bent exodus. Even as he stands at his pulpit and casts down his vitriol and hatred, he has operations going word wide paying slave-wages to potential immigrants desperate for a chance at something better (Link).

Trump isn’t an isolated example. The ‘Western World’ has a long history of supporting dictators they know will keep this system of indentured servitude in place, while reaping the benefits from the comfort of their own state-side villas.

Ignorance incarnate, this attitude is due for a rude awakening. It’s coming sooner than they think, and these entitled sycophants will shortly learn that you can’t piss in the pool, and then complain when people scramble onto the deck.

Like it or not, we are connected in this world (Link). For every ounce of unearned comfort we see, there are others who suffer a pound. To expect these benefits—at the cost of such despair—and yet expect to close the doors to any who seek only for themselves what we can barely appreciate is the height of arrogance.

If the current luxury we take for granted is to be preserved, it must be made available to all. One way or another (Link) people will find their happiness. If we find ours at the expense of others, we can only expect the same in turn. So let us invest rather in the future of all—for only by building a better world for all its inhabitants can we find justification in enjoying our own spoils.

-Brad OH Inc.

‘Lighthouse Lament’

Under the Green Desk Lamp…

Green Desklamp

Today on Brad OH Inc., we have another song to share from the former Edmonton based band ‘Basic Human Indecency’. As discussed with the previous song, ‘Overwhelmed’, these songs are the sole legal property of Brad OH Inc. But they’ve never been recorded, and have no other real use, so we’re more than happy to share them with you here.

The feature song/ poem today is the mournful tale of the sea: ‘Lighthouse Lament’.

Lighthouse Lament

A man and a boy

A boat and a storm

And a fear of where they were

A light and a horn

Far away through the fog

And a dream of where they weren’t

A rage in the boy

And a calm in the man

With the salt in his eye

And the wood in his hand

And the wind in his ear

Told him what she would be thinking

A sharp gasp out

Then a cracking sound

And a note in a bottle

Is all that was found

Of the man and his son

On the Homeward Bound

The winds keep tossing me alone

Stealing me from what I own

What I’ve known and sewn

And what I’ve grown

They take me far away from home…

-Brad OH Inc.