Archive for Read All About It
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 22, 2008 at 10:24 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by b. traven
To our great pleasure and relief, the long-delayed fifth issue of Rolling Thunder will be arriving from the printer this coming week. In conjunction with this new issue, we present a new feature, a painstakingly researched analysis of the recent wave of federal repression against anarchists and environmentalists: “Green Scared? Preliminary Lessons of the Green Scare.”
The past three years have seen an unprecedented mobilization by the FBI against environmental activists, collectively known as the Green Scare, just as the severity of the ecological crisis brought about by industrial capitalism finally enters public consciousness. Who are the FBI targeting with this campaign? To what end, and with what results? What lessons can anarchists, environmentalists, and other freedom fighters derive from this phase of repression and resistance as it draws to a close?
An expanded version of this text appears in the new Rolling Thunder. We also direct readers to Briana Waters’ trial, at which a new chapter of the Green Scare is unfolding right now. Briana deserves all the support our community can muster.
January 18, 2008 at 11:15 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by peter p
Rolling Stone, part of “the American press [that] ignored Oaxaca” during the near-civil war of 2006 pictured in Rolling Thunder #4, has published a story on anarchist journalist Brad Will (presented in its entirety below). Brad was shot and killed by local government officials on October 27, at the peak of the conflict.
The article itself is supportive, having presumably been written by one of Brad’s countless friends, and even mentions Rolling Thunder. Thanks to such shining examples of journalistic integrity as Rolling Stone, it’s possible for revolutionaries outside the United States to get coverage—albeit only a few lines a year and a half late—in the US media. All they have to do is hope some sexy, well-connected US journalist gets killed beside the countless anonymous locals whose lives are ended by US-backed repression.
Let’s keep Brad’s memory alive by supporting all those who still struggle for freedom, in Oaxaca and around the world.
To keep up with current events in Oaxaca, try narconews.com.
Complete article text after the jump.
December 30, 2007 at 10:12 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by b. traven
Romantic Stories from the Revolution in the Attic
This just in from our friends in Bulgaria. We thought it was worth sharing here as an Eastern European counterpoint to the article about squatting one’s workplace that appeared in the first issue of Rolling Thunder.
This story starts a little before the end of my last term in the university. I’d spent four really crazy years in the students’ hostels in the well known “Students’ Town” in Sofia. The end of the term was coming and my life in the students’ hostel was about to end, too. I had to find a new place for living very fast if I wanted to stay in Sofia. I thought over a lot of options for renting, but all the rents were very expensive for me. I was working for a web page at that time. The job was pretty nice—I used to write news and concert reports, prepare photos, and do kind of a primitive book-keeping at the office. The best thing was that I had one or two free weeks every month and I was able to travel all around the country during this time, but the bad thing was that my salary was very low. It appeared that if I wanted to rent a lodging I had to find more “serious” and well-paid job. For me this was like putting a chain around myself and working the whole month only to get enough money to pay my rent and food, and hopefully to save some money to enjoy the weekends. I didn’t like this idea at all, because I didn’t want to sell my leisure time for a wage.
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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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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 9, 2007 at 10:36 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by b. traven
submitted by CWC supernumerary B. Traven, on behalf of the Far East cell
Inveterate comrades and enemies—
It’s been a full three years since our last outlandishly ambitious project, and you may be wondering what became of us. Sure, we started a magazine and did a couple Green Scare benefit projects, but that hardly compares to the high-water mark of our activity in the past. Have we finally accepted that we will not change the world? Are we out of ideas?
We’re excited to report that over the past year, while we seemed to be slowing down, we were actually preparing a new wave of activity—which will commence at the end of this month with the publication of our next book. The projects we are about to debut are by far our most ambitious yet… but first, let’s discuss what happened last time we initiated a wave of activity.
Remember the bitter and messy controversies of 2001-2003? Every CrimethInc. project that appeared was greeted by thoughtless accolades and torrents of abuse. CrimethInc. was a herd of trust fund brats bent on draining all content from the anarchist movement, an army of wastrels wrecking radical institutions from one coast to the other, a bunch of street thugs determined to endanger peaceful protesters, a single sexist middle class white boy who had apparently never heard the word “privilege” before. The defenses this slander provoked from the party faithful were often just as off-base. All you had to do was say the word “dumpster” and the aspersions commenced flying.
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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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September 16, 2007 at 3:32 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by pfm
We have completed a comprehensive reportback from the 2007 CrimethInc. convergence in the form of a list of discussion questions:
Under the Big Tent:
Discussion Questions following the 2007 CrimethInc. Convergence in Athens, Ohio.
We humbly entreat anyone who was involved in the convergence to read this and offer their own perspectives in the comments for this post. Thank you!
April 21, 2007 at 3:38 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by peter p
“Mindless violence is getting up each day and being complacent. Self-destructive behavior is worshipping routine for its security and praying to the market for happiness or adventure.”
After the presidential inauguration of 2005, nationwide mass mobilizations died down in the United States. Everyone from anarchists to liberals had rightly given up the idea that the Iraq war could be stopped by symbolic mass actions—smashing windows is no less symbolic than a candlelight vigil, unless you come back to smash them again the following week—and without the anti-globalization movement or the election circus to focus on, there wasn’t much left to mobilize people on a national scale besides the standard fare of ecological crises, labor struggles, disaster relief, and defendant support. Activists had to make good on all the rhetoric that had been thrown around about the shortcomings of summit-hopping by finally taking the time to focus on their local communities. In some areas, this has resulted in a lot of great community-based organizing—the recent proliferation of Really Really Free Markets brings to mind the spread of Food Not Bombs over a decade ago. While the relative quiet on the national scale gives the impression that anarchism is going through a minor recession, we won’t find out whether or not this is true until the next wave of mass actions—which we predict for 2008—shows what anarchists have been brewing in their communities.
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April 6, 2007 at 11:58 pm · Filed under Read All About It, posted by b. traven
“There is nothing in this world currently deserving of the name peace. Rather, it is a question of whose violence frightens us most, and on whose side we will stand.”
This is an excellent example of the sort of book anarchists need to be producing to keep our ideas visible and viable in society at large. In lucid and accessible prose, Gelderloos comprehensively debunks the notion that non-violent activism is the only acceptable and effective method of struggle.
Like anyone who wants to make a constructive contribution to a discussion, and in stark contrast to ideologues on both sides of this issue, Gelderloos makes an effort to engage with the strongest versions of all the common arguments in favor of orthodox pacifism over a diversity of tactics. Not that he pulls any punches or refrains from strong statements! But to make his point, Gelderloos doesn’t have to prove that non-violent resistance is never useful, only that a prohibition on other forms of resistance is not always effective at dissolving or toppling hierarchies.
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March 3, 2007 at 9:03 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by b. traven
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At base, these three Hollywood movies by Mexican directors share the same chilling fixations and questions. All three derive their edge from focusing on grievous threats to children while dwelling upon whether adult humanity deserves to—or even can—survive its self-inflicted catastrophes.
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