Author Archive
June 27, 2008 at 10:44 am · Filed under Hot Off the Presses, posted by ret marut
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A century ago, unwitting CrimethInc. agent Winsor McCay sketched a political cartoon lambasting the waste of human life in overseas imperialism. Back in 1991, we updated it for the first Iraq invasion, but never got around to releasing it. Finally, over five years into the latest occupation, we are giving up and presenting it to the public. All along, we hoped that the poster design was about to become dated and irrelevant; unfortunately, we now fear that it will remain timely for years to come.
In hopes of shortening those years, please print these out and post them everywhere potential recruits and deserters might see them. In a couple months or so, we’ll have the two-color version printed and ready to include in orders.
A fairly comprehensive list of resources and groups related to conscientious objection, G.I. rights, and anti-recruitment resistance can be found at Objector.org.
Disclaimer after the jump.
May 19, 2008 at 8:00 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
At the invitation of Team Colors, who are coordinating the publication In the Middle of a Whirlwind: 2008 Convention Protests, Movement and Movements, we present a full analysis of the strategic opportunities and challenges presented by the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. We hope this will contribute to ongoing discussions about whether and how anarchists should participate in them.
For internet casualties who don’t have the attention span to read an actual text, here are the basic points:
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April 22, 2008 at 9:45 pm · Filed under Calling All Anarchists, posted by ret marut
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This month, as every month, I tromped over to Borders to purchase the new issue of Elle magazine. I was delighted to see that the May 2008 Elle is their third Green Issue; thanks to funding from Aveeno®, it’s even printed on 10 percent post-consumer recycled paper. But when I opened the magazine, I discovered a sticker pasted across one of the articles, as pictured here.
The article in question details the recent case in which an FBI employee infiltrated a group of young radicals, pressured them to carry out illegal activity, and lured them to a bugged cabin, at which they were arrested when it appeared that they were not going to go through with her plan. Eric McDavid, one of the arrestees, was recently convicted by a conflicted jury and faces up to 20 years in prison.
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March 13, 2008 at 7:27 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
Last week, a lone bicyclist left an explosive device at an army recruiting center in New York City’s Times Square, damaging the windows and entryway. It is widely suspected that this is the same bicyclist who targeted the Mexican consulate with an explosive device last year on the anniversary of Brad Will’s murder by Mexican government officials. No one was injured in either event.
Despite maintaining an extensive network of security cameras and a police force that is among the biggest standing armies fielded by any nation, the NYPD faces serious challenges in identifying the alleged bomber. At first, the press reported that a communiqué (“We Did It”) and “rambling political manifesto” had been sent to Capitol Hill claiming credit for the bombing. This proved to be a false lead; in fact, it was simply an unluckily-timed letter from a California liberal. Officials are now pointing to alleged anarchist involvement.
A funny joke and a PDF of a funny sticker after the jump.
March 6, 2008 at 8:10 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
The 2006 CrimethInc. convergence is described in this month’s issue of Harper’s. The subcollective responsible for maintaining this blog is divided about this description; some of us consider the author’s story a facile caricature of politicized dropouts, while others [hereafter appearing as "Ed."] find his depiction of the convergence as even-handed and honestly introspective as any non-anarchist mainstream journalist could be expected to pen. On one hand, the author suggests that the convergence kitchen was likely to give everyone dysentery [seems more like a joke at the author's expense than anything.—Ed.], an aspersion we challenge anyone to substantiate, and at another point, he causes one character to parrot a cliché straight out of some Maoist anti-dropout screed: “I’m glad everyone’s so wasteful . . . It supports my lifestyle.” [Not in the convergence section, however.—Ed.] On the other hand, he allows that the convergence itself is intelligently self-organized, is envious of the freedom and initiative of the participants, and ultimately only faults them for potentially being “naïve” and “idealistic.”
Anyway, be it hatchet job or principled journalism, here it is; the section about the convergence appears on page 62.
March 4, 2008 at 10:53 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
Far from being ashamed at maintaining the world’s closest current equivalent to South Africa’s apartheid, last week the deputy defense minister of Israel publicly threatened Palestinians with a “holocaust.” In a rare moment of muted criticism from the corporate media, a Reuters article admitted that
Critics say at least 68 deaths in Gaza in February and 62 in January are a disproportionate response to 3 Israeli deaths in a year.
Even if you don’t take into account the enforced disparities in living conditions, access to resources, and self-determination—when you compare the raw numbers, 130 Palestinians killed over two months to 3 Israelis killed over twelve, it’s hard to continue seeing this simply as a case of Israel defending itself.
Sadly, there are still some radicals who insist on that interpretation of events, against every indication. We’ve added a new text to the reading library, “Antinationalist Nationalism: The Anti-German Critique and Its All-Too-German Adherents,” addressing the way this perspective has developed in Germany. This article originally appeared in the third issue of Rolling Thunder and unfortunately remains relevant today.
February 26, 2008 at 9:21 am · Filed under Hot Off the Presses, posted by ret marut
Continuing to push the limits, the fifth Rolling Thunder features 16 full-color pages and several competing feature-length stories. This issue was nearly a year in the making and definitely sets the bar higher for the magazine once again. We’re actually losing a small amount of money on these just to keep narratives from and analysis of current anarchist activity available in a durable, high quality format.
This issue focuses on different ways of conceptualizing strategy, exploring the ways anarchist efforts can be repressed, assimilated, and neutralized only to reappear in new forms. It opens with a study by David Graeber of the successes and stumbling blocks of direct action movements over the past thirty years, followed by a special report distilling lessons from the recent wave of federal repression known as the Green Scare. Two features give the inside story on anarchist mobilizations overseas via interviews, personal narratives, and 16 pages of full color photos: an examination of the riots following the eviction of Denmark’s beloved social center Ungdomshuset, and a full review of last summer’s G8 protests in Germany. The issue is rounded out by a subject’s analysis of the medical study industry as a case study in modern day precarious labor, a spotlight on anarchist organizing in Modesto, California, and reviews of controversial works by anti-art duo Brener and Schurz. 100% ad-free.
February 6, 2008 at 11:18 pm · Filed under Calling All Anarchists, posted by ret marut
After months of informal discussion, the general consensus seems to be that there should be a CrimethInc. convergence this summer, but no community has offered to host it. Perhaps the convergence is a victim of its own success, in that it seems like such a massive undertaking that no one feels ready to take it on; this summer is going to be an especially busy one for many anarchists, and time and energy will be stretched thin in some circles.
We’re eager to hear your input: Should there be a convergence this summer? If so, where, when, and how? Are you interested in helping make it happen?
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December 22, 2007 at 5:51 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
It is never acceptable to give information about any other person without his or her express consent. It cannot be emphasized enough that informing to the government is always a serious matter, whether it is a question of a high profile defendant snitching on his comrades or an acquaintance of law-abiding activists answering a seemingly harmless question. The primary goal of the government in any political case is not to put any one defendant in prison but to obtain information with which to map radical communities, with the ultimate goal of repressing and controlling those communities. The most minor piece of trivia may serve to jeopardize a person’s life, whether or not they have ever broken any law.
On December 21, Operation Backfire cooperating defendant Darren Thurston released a lengthy statement presenting the history of Operation Backfire as he sees it and laying out what he apparently considers to be extenuating circumstances connected to his decision to inform. He insists that he does not condone snitching, but claims that he didn’t share any information that was harmful to others; unfortunately, as Thurston has chosen to withhold from the public both his plea agreement and the debrief documents that detail his cooperation with investigators, it’s impossible to verify this claim.
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December 15, 2007 at 9:32 am · Filed under Calling All Anarchists, posted by ret marut
From September 1 to 4, 2008, Republican vermin from around the nation will overrun the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota for the Republican National Convention, one of the most noxious media spectacles of the capitalist world. Reciprocally, CrimethInc. groups from across the United States have agreed to endorse a strategy for defending the Twin Cities from this unwanted assault. This strategy came out of a meeting called by the locals of the RNC Welcoming Committee, and is supported nationwide by the Unconventional Action network and countless other groups.
Starting next week, CrimethInc. Far East will include copies of the free paper just published by Unconventional Action detailing the context of and plans for resistance to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. A pdf of this paper can be downloaded from the Unconventional Action website; further copies of it can be ordered via distro@unconventionalaction.org.
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November 23, 2007 at 11:15 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
Here’s a testimonial of sorts, demonstrating the proper use of a copy of Fighting for Our Lives. There are 500,000 of them in print, which really isn’t that many when you consider that there are over 26,000 active nuclear warheads worldwide. Please make every single copy count!
While we are about to release a book to be followed shortly by a new issue of our journal, it will be some months before we are able to debut any new free material. In the meantime, Fighting for Our Lives is still available free of charge, individually or in bulk.
In the fall, there was a secret cafe at Station 40. I worked as a server with my housemates, carrying amazing food through a crowded room of friends watching performers in a burlesque show. It was one of those nights where all the familiar faces that you haven’t seen for a while appear, and everyone has an expression like “Why don’t we all hang out like we used to anymore?” When things were almost over, I ran into Darci—an old friend I’ve known off and on for almost six years. She’s the kind of friend who’s unpredictable in that way that’s almost always incredibly exciting, but which would probably become frustrating if she were a bigger part of my life. We caught up on where we’d been, what our hopes were, and everything that had gone wrong for us since we last saw each-other. She introduced me to her friends Chelsea and Tracy, and invited me to come back over to the East Bay with them for a party.
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November 3, 2007 at 9:25 pm · Filed under From the Trenches, posted by ret marut
Gentle reader, if you share our interest in long-term and effective struggle against the powers that be, let us direct your attention to The Center for Strategic Anarchy, a frequently updated online resource. The Center is a think tank dedicated to identifying and commenting upon important developments in global economics, culture, and politics, to equip anarchists to think strategically when choosing where and how to take on the status quo.
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October 25, 2007 at 11:42 am · Filed under From the Trenches, posted by ret marut
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Tactical Feedback from the Streets of Georgetown, October 19, 2007
Friday, October 19, over two hundred people staged an unpermitted march in one of the expensive shopping districts of Washington, D.C. to manifest opposition to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. To our knowledge, this was probably the most—if not only—effective use of the black bloc tactic in Washington, D.C. since the Presidential Inauguration in 2005. This is promising, given the opportunities for mass action coming up in 2008. At the same time, there were some things that could have been improved, which we chalk up to inexperience and the usual internal dissension; in the interests of constructive criticism, we’ll chiefly be reviewing those here.
To disclose the limitations of this analysis at the outset, none of us were involved in the organization leading up to the march, only in the action itself. We’ll leave it to others to derive and share specific lessons from the organizing process.
For more background: www.octoberrebellion.org -:- youtube footage
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October 12, 2007 at 10:23 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
conducted by CrimethInc. International Brigades volunteer Ret Marut
A Bulgarian organizer and ‘zine publisher describes current anarchist projects in his country, discussing how Really Really Free Markets work in an eastern European context and addressing the local relevance of CrimethInc. texts from the United States. Contacts are included for those hoping to connect with anarchists between Sofia and the Black Sea.
Describe your group: how many people are involved, how long have you been active, how do you make decisions together? What projects have you been involved in?
I am part of 2 groups. The one is called “Anarchosaprotiva” (AnarchoResistance). It is based in Sofia and now we are something like 6-10 people. The group has been active since 2001. I joined this in 2004. We have a meeting every week. We don’t have any particular scheme to talk and make decisions.
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October 2, 2007 at 3:22 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut
Courtesy of the Paw-Paw Collective, Fall 2007
While snow was still on the ground in our small college town, rumor began to spread that the 2007 CrimethInc. convergence was going to take place in our Athens, Ohio. Excitement, worry, and disgust swept through our small radical circles. While many were consumed by other projects through the winter and spring, the convergence took the back burner in our lives. When May and June rolled around, we realized it was time to kick it into high gear. Nervous phone calls and emails were shared and panic set in. Two hundred radicals were to invade our town and we had nowhere to put them! Enlisting all the local support we could find, we set off to find land. Anxious folks across were trusting us to find the perfect place, it was June and we hadn’t started looking. We began researching State land, intentional communities, and finally private land. The key to finding land for the convergence was spreading the word as far and wide as we could and exploring every option we had. We came upon the perfect piece which was a nice farm plot with an owner who lived across the entire country. The care taker was happy to let us use the land for a little work trade which would also benefit the convergence and our word that it would be drug and alcohol free space.
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