Archive for November, 2009
November 27, 2009 at 6:45 pm · Filed under Calling All Anarchists, posted by peter p
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Calling all angry wage slaves and anarchist subversives! You’re invited to participate in promoting an international day of action, STEAL SOMETHING FROM WORK DAY, scheduled for April 15, 2010. Following in the footsteps of Steal Something Day, itself a response to Buy Nothing Day, STEAL SOMETHING FROM WORK DAY focuses attention on the motivations behind employee theft and the horizons ahead of it.
STEAL SOMETHING FROM WORK DAY is a day of action, but it’s much more than that. The point is not so much to urge people to steal from their workplaces—employees of all ideological stripes already steal from their bosses without need of encouragement—as to raise awareness and promote dialogue about the means and causes of workplace theft. Imagine stickers and posters everywhere rendering the individualized action of workplace theft a topic of collective discussion. Imagine joking references to satirical websites spawning conversations about how coworkers can steal more and better together, and why they are entitled to. Imagine STEAL SOMETHING FROM WORK DAY.
This is an opportunity for anarchists to use the networks developed for mass mobilizations and summit protests to ignite class war on the terrain of daily life, where it matters most. Through humor and honesty, we can bring the contradictions present in practically everyone’s lives to the fore, forcing the issues our rulers and managers would rather brush under the rug. One website is already up, and more are on the way, along with videos, stickers, pins, posters, and more. For now, check these out:
Frequently Asked Questions
Posters and Other Promotional Materials
Press Office
Interviews and other inquiries are welcome to stealfromworkday@gmail.com. If you or your organization would like to participate in this campaign, please send in your endorsement, specifying whether you wish for your contact information to appear on the list of participants. Alternately, just make your own material and get it out there!
November 19, 2009 at 9:49 am · Filed under From the Trenches, posted by pfm
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We’re pleased to announce that the former restriction of needing a $10 minimum order to qualify for UPS Ground shipping has been removed, and there is now no minimum. With every day that passes we become more frustrated with the United States Postal Service losing and destroying our packages and being completely unaccountable for doing so. While UPS Ground often does cost (slightly) more, it has many advantages of great value to people who want to receive the stuff they order: $100 of free insurance, day-definite delivery guarantees, actual tracking, and far better package handling.
Therefore we strongly encourage everyone to select UPS Ground as their shipping option. Also, as a tip to reduce the cost of UPS Ground for your order, we suggest getting creative and having the package shipped to a place of business rather than a residence, doing so can often save several dollars.
November 12, 2009 at 7:50 am · Filed under Calling All Anarchists, posted by ret marut
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Two dear comrades, Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth, are subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa this coming Tuesday, November 17. The prosecutor has not disclosed the pretext for the subpoena, though it appears that it may be connected to the FBI investigation of an Animal Liberation Front action that occurred at the University of Iowa in 2004—when Carrie and Scott were barely in high school.
Grand juries exist to coerce civilians into providing information about themselves and others to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They operate in secret; no judges or defense attorneys are present, and neither Constitutional rights nor conventional evidence-gathering protocol apply. Grand juries are frequently used to harass activists and dissidents; for example, a grand jury forced independent journalist Josh Wolf to serve 226 days in a federal prison simply for refusing to turn over a videotape he had shot at a demonstration.
Carrie was already called to appear before this grand jury on October 15, and refused to answer questions, reading a statement declaring that she had “no intention of testifying before this grand jury” on account of her personal convictions. It is possible that if she and Scott refuse to answer questions this Tuesday, they will be thrown in jail for up to a year.
Both Carrie and Scott have contributed immensely to their communities and to the struggle for a freer world. Among other projects, Carrie has worked with EWOK!, a Twin Cities group supporting environmentalist defendants and prisoners, and the Coldsnap Legal Collective, which has been instrumental in supporting arrestees from the 2008 RNC protests. In addition to his own involvement with EWOK! and the Anarchist Black Cross, Scott participates in Oyate Nipi Kte, a group dedicated to the liberation of the Dakota people and the rediscovery of their traditional ways of life, and the editorial board of the Dakota community journal Anpao Duta. If these two are kidnapped by the state, it will be a tremendous loss.
Supporters are calling for a phone-in day to pressure the prosecutor to leave them alone. This Monday, call US Attorney Cliff Cronk and demand that he dismiss the subpoenas. Let them know this harassment is unacceptable and will be met by popular outrage and opposition at every turn. Feel free to take up as much of their time as you can—they clearly feel entitled to waste ours.
Monday, November 16, 9 am to 4 pm Central Standard Time
US Attorney’s Office
Cliff Cronk: (563)449-5432
Support Webpage for Carrie and Scott
General Purpose Poster against cooperating with police investigations [PDF, 576k]
November 5, 2009 at 9:11 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by b. traven
I first saw Testament perform in 2007, following a small-scale riot in Athens, Ohio. It was exciting to see an MC delivering an explicitly anarchist message with the skills and charisma it takes to make real hip hop, rather than the well-intentioned imitation one sometimes finds in politicized circles.
Testament has since released a handful of recordings, some of which are freely available for downloading. His original work, such as “Get Into It” with Illogik as Test Their Logik, shows great promise, but thus far my favorite track is his interpretation of pop radio hit “Kiss Me Thru The Phone.”
Testament does with this song what we did with pay phones and the Situationists did with comic strips. Just as a minor billboard alteration can expose the sinister truths concealed in an advertisement, Testament’s cover version reveals the story latent within the original. No one can relate to the chorus more intensely than those separated from their lovers by prison walls—and with 2.3 million behind bars in the US, that may help to explain the song’s popularity.
Read on after the jump.
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