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He first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band the Dead Kennedys. After his time with the band concluded, he became a political activist and took over the influential record label, Alternative Tentacles, which was founded by him and East Bay Ray. He continued as a musician in numerous collaborations and as a spoken word artist. Politically, he is a member of the Green Party and actively supports progressive political causes. He is a self-proclaimed anarchist who advocates civil disobedience and pranksterism in the name of political change. Biafra is known to use absurdist media tactics in the tradition of the Yippies to highlight issues of civil rights, social justice, and anti-corporatism.
	His stage name is a combination of the brand name Jell-O and the name of the short lived country of Biafra which attempted to secede from Nigeria in 1966. After four years of fighting and horrific starvation in Biafra, Nigeria regained control of the nascent Biafran state. Jello Biafra created his name as an ironic combination of a nutritionally poor mass-produced food product and mass starvation. He said he likes how two ideas clash in people's minds.
1958 - Biafra born and raised in Boulder, CO , six blocks from the JonBenet Ramsey murder site. So far, he has not been named as a suspect. November 1963 - JFK assassinated on a day Biafra remembers well. Biafra sees Oswald get shot live on the living room TV. (See last track, Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police) Fall 1965 - Biafra hears rock and roll for the first time when his parents tune in a rock station by mistake. He is immediately hooked, and knows what he wants to be when he grows up. 1966 - Biafra encounters his first rock star. Bob Demmon, leader of the surf-garage legends The Astronauts , shows the second grade class his Alaskan malamute dog.(Bob's mother worked in the school office) 1966-68 - Biafra idolizes Batman villains while his classmates want to be baseball players, nurses and policemen. 1969-72 - The Vietnam war, Chicago 7 trial, Kent State massacre and the Denver smog problem convince Biafra that corrupt, violent governments and corporations should be fought, not trusted. 1970 - Fall of the Republic of Biafra - Ibo people's war for independence is crushed by the Nigerian army. With British and some American help, all Biafran food supplies had been cut off for months. Horrific, jarring images of skeletal Biafran children dying from hunger make "Biafra" the universal symbol of starvation and genocide until the Ethiopian famine 15 years later. January, 1977 - Biafra sees the Ramones horrify an audience of the pre-yuppies he loathes at Ebbets Field night club in Denver. He decides there must be more to life than listening to Judas Priest and committing suicide. He roadies for the first Colorado punk band, The Ravers, who would later move to New York and become The Nails (of "88 lines About 44 Women" fame). Fall, 1977 - Biafra enrolls in University of California at Santa Cruz , where he studies acting and history of Paraguay. After seeing very early gigs of The Saints and Wire , among others in London that summer, Biafra discovers that the early San Francisco punk scene (Avengers, Dils, Zeros, etc. ) is far more raw and primal than anything he has seen so far. Its epicenter is Mabuhay Gardens , an all ages venue run by Dirk Dirksen . Biafra leaves school after one quarter. February 28, 1978 - Biafra returns to San Francisco after saving money doing laundry in a nursing home in Boulder, Colorado. July 19, 1978 - Dead Kennedys live debut performance after rehearsing for one week. After first calling himself Occupant , Jello Biafra picks his name at random out of a notebook . Years later, he says he chose it because he "likes the way the two images collide in people's minds." June 1979 - Dead Kennedys release first single, California Uber Alles on their own label, Alternative Tentacles . An east coast tour follows, almost unheard of in those days for a west coast underground band. Compared to the primal pogo frenzy of the west coast, the scene there is almost comatose, largely due to the lack of all ages venues. Audiences expecting to sit quietly and clap find themselves showered with their own beer as their tables and chairs are knocked away. Max's Kansas City looks like a tornado went through it. At the Rat in Boston, MA, people line up as far away from the band as they can against the back wall but don't leave. This may be Biafra's favorite Dead Kennedys show of all time. Fall 1979 - Biafra runs for mayor of San Francisco. He finishes fourth out of ten candidates with 6,591 votes, 3 1/2% of the total; helping force a run-off. Mayor Dianne Feinstein's supporters are aghast. (For the full story, see Biafra's third spoken word album, I Blow Minds for a Living.) Biafra also performs nude before 3000 Clash fans and an infuriated Bill Graham. DK never play for Bill Graham Presents again. California Uber Alles is re-released in England on the hot label-of-the-moment Fast Product (Gang of Four, Mekons, Human League ). By sheer luck a band barely known in their own back yard is an overnight sensation in the U.K.

Introduction to Straight Edge A lifestyle. A personal choice. A philosophy. These definitions truly encompass what the term "straight edge" means. In truth, straight edge can be considered a subculture of its own, branching off punk rock music because the core ideals of the punk movement were adopted by the straight-edgers. History The term became popular within the punk scene when Minor Threat addressed the lifestyle in their song, "Straight Edge." Frontman and lyricist Ian MacKaye for Minor Threat wrote the following lyrics as a way to let the public know he doesn't need to use drugs just because he's part of the punk scene:

"I'm a person just like you

But I've got better things to do

Snort white s*** up my nose

Pass out at the shows

I don't even think about speed

That's something I just don't need

I've got the straight edge"

The 1981 ode to the clean life professed disgust at psychoactive drug use and other habits that became closely associated with hardcore music because it was so prevalent among the musicians of the times.

"Straight Edge" was meant to portray that by abstaining from all drugs and alcohol, the band had the "edge" up on other musicians who let those influences get the better of them.

In short, adopting the straight edge lifestyle put individuals in control of their own lives; it held them accountable for personal responsibility.

While the term cannot be put into a box and definitively labled, there are a number of characteristics most straight edge people have in common.

When someone makes the personal choice to commit to the straight edge lifestyle, they are saying they don't need drugs, alcohol or other outside influences to run their lives.

Common Characteristics of Straight Edge People For one, straight edge people usually do not drink or do drugs. Some may be vegetarians or vegans and might even abstain from casual sex with others. A lot of straight edge people will even avoid caffeine and other stimulants because it does not fit with the lifestyle they've chosen for themselves. Straight edge is a way of life, and those who live by this philosophy have chosen the path for themselves. It's not something people are born into or can arbitrarily become.

Straight Edge or Square?

Bear in mind that just because someone abstains from drug use does not necessarily mean they are straight edge. You can be drug-free, but not adopt the other lifestyle choices common to a straight-edger.

Similarly, you can be a vegetarian but not associated with the straight-edge movement because you haven't made a conscious decision to follow that life-path. People may share certain characteristics with straight-edgers, but unless they have chosen to adapt to that lifestyle they are not straight edge.

Dave Peters from Throwdown puts it nicely (from an interview on Truepunk.com):

"For me personally I've been straight edge for about 12 years and it's kind of ingrained in who I am. [It's] a personal choice... by definition, it's an individual choice."

Straight edge became closely identified with the punk scene as a subculture because straight-edgers shared common characteristics with members of the punk community.

For example, the punk culture was known for its disdain for authority figures, its individualism and care-free attitudes. Straight-edgers adopted these attitudes, but adapted the culture to fit their own beliefs that weren't so readily apparent in the punk movement (i.e., abstaining from illicit substances).

Confusion about the term

Some people may confuse straight edge with religion, but it's not a religion - it is a philosophy. The confusion is understandable though, because in the early days when straight edge first appeared, those who subscribed to this lifestyle believed a clear head would help them focus on their spirituality.

But straight-edgers do not all conform to one religion. There are atheists, agnostics and Christian people who consider themselves straight edge. In the beginning, bands like Shelter and 108 even helped spread a Hare Krishna movement that many straight-edgers adopted for themselves.

You don't have to affiliate with any one particular religion to be straight edge. You just have to consciously follow a path that allows you to take care of yourself and your personal responsibilities without letting outside influences interefere.

While this article cannot hope to cover all the complexities of the straight edge philosophy, it should be known that straight edge people have chosen to embrace this lifestyle for their own reasons.

In short, it's a lifestyle that promotes a positive way of living.

Hell hath no wrath like a Tegan and Sara fan scorned. Just ask NOFX's Fat Mike, who's in hot water with the out twin duo's legion -- and, arguably, rightly so. You see, on NOFX's new album, 'Coaster,' frontman Fat Mike recounts an awkward meeting with one-half of the sisters Quin in the song, 'Creeping Out Sara.' He sings about not being sure of which sister he's talking to, and asks, with tongue-in-cheek, if they'd "ever had a threesome where they both ganged up one girl." Naturally, some of Tegan and Sara's fans, and many in the lesbian community, expressed disgust and even decried homophobia on Fat Mike's part. So, Spinner recently caught up with Fat Mike to clear the air.

"It's basically a true story," Mike tells Spinner. "I was drunk, we did hang out at a festival and we were talking about sex. I mean, I'm dissing myself! I sound like a drunk creep, so I don't know what the problem is. Their fans think I'm making fun of them, but I'm not. We had a really nice time that day." After the festival, Mike found out that Tegan was the Quin sister he met that fateful day, but he has his bases covered. "On the vinyl version of the album, it's called 'Creeping out Tegan,'" he says. "I played it safe, and wrote both versions since I wasn't sure." Tegan has been in touch with Mike but hasn't publicy responded outside of a short message on her Twitter, which said, "nofx + t/s = lots of email/texts/blogs/phone calls. i think punk in drublic is a great record. we r lesbians. sara was creeped. i AM cooler." That last sentence refers to line in the song where Mike says he heard Tegan was the cooler one. "She told me, 'I think the song's rad but a lot of our fans are giving us a lot of s--- because we're not responding, because you're dissing us but you're not even dissing us,'" Mike says. "I mean, how cool is it that she said that she's the cooler one? And she is cooler." While this should end the controversy, Mike is still offended. "We've been supporters off the LGBT community forever," he says. "We have rainbow flags on our f---ing stage. We totally support that community. We call ourselves a 'gay positive' band -- not 'tolerant,' positive. We think gay people are awesome and better than straight people because they're having more fun." Tell that to Miss California.