Filed under: Anarchism, Anarchists You Should Know, Breaking News, Capitalism, Mass Media, Mutual Aid | Tags: anonymous, assage, ddos, legion, loic, mastercard, operation payback, paypal, visa, wikileaks
Greetings. We are Anonymous. Due to the misconceptions being propagated, we are setting the record straight.
Anonymous is a diverse collective of individuals focused on securing freedom of speech and information worldwide. Our intent is not to disrupt without cause, but to protect the Internet from the tyranny that government and corporate agencies are now seeking to impose on it. We do this not for ourselves, but to assert the rights of the freedom of speech and information globally. We ask you to support us, not for our sake, but for your own rights. Do not allow governments, corporations or the media to control what you are allowed to see, hear and think.
Many in the media have painted a distorted image of what Anonymous is. The Constitution of the United States is said to be a living document because it can be amended to suit the changing needs of the American people. In that same spirit, Anonymous is a living culture of people and ideas; a growing, shifting entity. Anonymous is any individual, regardless of nationality, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, or creed. Anything attributed, credited, or tagged to Anonymous is rarely based on any consensus of us as a whole–we operate through a democratic meritocracy of ideas, and we follow our own consciences convictions rather than any leader. Anonymous seeks to stand up for truth and transparency and we ask you as an individual, a media organization, or government, to do the same.
During the American Civil Rights movement, activists conducted sit-ins to prevent access to businesses in non-violent protest against segregation. People were certainly inconvenienced and angry as a result, but those non-violent protests were essential to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Today, many businesses of the world live on the internet, and so the protests too, must move online. Our DDoS attacks are virtual sit-ins, aimed at those entities that have aided in the censorship of information. These actions do no permanent damage or harm: we merely take up bandwidth and system resources, like protestors filled the seats of Woolworth’s lunch counters.
This particular campaign, Operation Payback, is a response to the actions taken against WikiLeaks. A number of the world’s most economically and politically powerful institutions have attempted to destroy the credibility of this organisation and to remove it entirely from the Internet. This repression is done in the name of protecting national interests, but it is actually a way to protect those who are guilty of destroying transparency in an attempt to conceal their own misdeeds from the public. There is no evidence that any individual has come to harm due to the information released. WikiLeaks operates with the co-operation of several press outlets, and have attempted to discuss what should be released with the state department to no avail. It is due to this concerted effort to suppress them that we are standing up for their freedom.
The Internet is the final stronghold of freedom in this increasingly authoritarian world. It is capable of connecting and uniting all of humanity, removing the barriers of language and distance. When we are connected, we are strong. When we are strong, we need not fear tyranny. This is why governments and corporations are moving on Wikileaks. They fear our power when we unite globally; they fear our ability to demand justice. Do not forget this.
This is a historically important moment for the fate of free speech in this emerging information society. These attacks on freedom of expression will have important implications for the future. Our peaceful activism will focus on anyone who intends to infringe on the freedoms of speech and information, regardless of the power they wield. The entities that we campaign against are denying everyone a basic human right. Any person, corporation, government, or other entity that turns against this pattern of censorship, and starts promoting freedom of speech instead, will become our allies. Anonymous wants to educate our opponents rather than hurt them; we are campaigning for freedom for everyone, even those who criticize and attack us. Anonymous’ campaign does not intend to harm the individual citizen, any organization, any website, or government that supports true freedom of speech.
Anonymous urges the people of the world to join in the fight against all forms of censorship, in defense of freedom both online and off. We exist on the fringes of society, both online and off, but if you search for us, you will find us. We will end this note with a final message for those who still intend to continue their campaign against the human rights of freedom of speech, freedom of expression through the press, and freedom of information:
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
Join us.
Filed under: Anarchists You Should Know, Law Enforcement | Tags: Anarchism, anarchist, anarchist you should know, cafe, coffe, cops, james crooker, john langley, law enforcement, or, oregon, police, portland, red and black cafe
On May 18th, Officer James Crooker walked into Portland, OR’s Red and Black Cafe. Normally a cop seeking coffee isn’t news, but the Red and Black is a collectively run anarchist cafe. I wonder how that could have gone afoul. Exact details of the incident aren’t available at this time, but it appears that at some point owner/worker John Langley asked the officer to leave, claiming “many of his customers do not feel safe around police and if anything went wrong in his shop, he would not be comfortable calling police for help.”
Now I am not going to wholesale side with Langley here. For a rotten pig, Officer Crooker seems pretty sane. Stating “he comes from a place that I respect. He comes from a place where he doesn’t view the police the same. Everybody views the police differently and he’s got the right to express his opinion.”
Hold up a minute now. Officer Crooker actually sounded like a rational human being there. Is it possible that this event transpired in a peaceable manner, without hostility or malice from either party? These two opposing figures, the anarchist and the policeman, met in a public place, exchanged conflicting views, and moved on with little more drama than a local news piece? Zounds!
Now obviously I don’t know everything about this incident, but from what I have been told, we have to outstanding human beings here. John Langley did something very few anarchists responsible for a brick-and-mortar gathering place would have the guts to do. He stood up for what he believed in, and he got it! And James Crooker, despite likely not being greeted with smiles and puppies, met this differing viewpoint with a sane and rational viewpoint? Well done gentleman, there is hope for us all yet!
Filed under: Anarchism, Anarchists You Should Know, Capitalism, Organizer Resources, Propaganda of the Seed | Tags: Anarchism, arms, Buy Nothing Day, desi, england, frankie says relax, fredom, half off, london, sale, space hijackers, tank, uk
Strange things happen when you select Society>Anarchism on StumbleUpon. Most of the time you just find simple websites where people post the same trite Proudhon quotes in the same cliche red-and-black color scheme.* But every once and awhile you will find something to brighten your day, or at the very least darken your boss’s.
*Not that we are above that. It is just sometimes it gets a little depressing when you realize that we, the anarchists, are sometimes the most narrow minded web designers.
My most recent discovery has been the London, UK based group Space Hijackers. They appear to be a loosely organized group, with the website focusing mainly to publicize their previous actions. Now some of their stuff, like the time they bought two friggen tanks (Tank 1, Tank 2) to bring attention to the UK based Defense Systems and Equipment International show, is a little beyond the scope of our everyday anarchism “Propaganda of the Seed“. While grand actions like “Fredom” the Tank may be inspiring, other actions like sending a group of people into stores on “Buy Nothing Day” wearing shirts proclaiming “Everything in Store Half Off Today” are not only interesting and enjoyable, but easily replicated in very small groups, you could even do it solo!
We haven’t yet fully explored their site, but the Space Hijackers are one thing we and PIC like to think of ourselves as, a group of anarchists enjoying themselves. Overthrowing power structures is of course our primary goal, but if we make ourselves miserable in the process aren’t we just sowing the seeds for the next crop of authoritarians.
So go ahead, poke around, if you are like me you’ll get a few laughs and maybe be inspired to run some copy-cat actions in your home town!
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20090331210131133
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5192342478
http://detrich.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/get-involved/
Filed under: Anarchism, Anarchists You Should Know, Capitalism, Environmental Activism, Law Enforcement | Tags: activist, Anarchism, anarchist, anarchy, battle of seattle, earth liberation front, elf, g-8, international day of action against global capitalism, oregon, prisoner, reclaim the streets, rob los ricos, robert thaxton, world trade organization, wto
Robert Thaxton (born December 31, 1959) is an anarchist theorist and activist sentenced to seven years in prison for an incident at a Reclaim the Streets protest in Eugene, Oregon on June 18, 1999. Many have argued that his sentence was excessive and was intended to intimidate other protesters.
Thaxton (who also used the name Rob los Ricos) participated in the “International Day of Action Against Global Capitalism”, a Reclaim the Streets action in Eugene. On September 3, 1999, he was convicted of assault and riot, based on the charge that he threw a rock at a police officer. His plea of self-defense was rejected. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. While there were protests in more than 140 cities around the world that day against the G-8 summit being held in Cologne, Germany, Thaxton is said to have received the longest sentence of any participant. That protest was said to be an important precursor to the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, Washington.
During his imprisonment at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon, he has tangled with prison authorities, who charge that he is involved with the Earth Liberation Front. A long time author and political organizer in cities throughout the United States, Thaxton is also notable as one of few publicly acknowledged people of color imprisoned for his activities in the high-profile 1990′s Pacific Northwest anti-globalization movement. His case, actions and writings have also been important in the movement’s discussions of non-violence and prisoner support.
Rob is the author of a zine entitled Manufacturing Dissent and co-author, with fellow prisoner Jeff Luers, of Heartcheck. Rob is reachable at #12112716, MCCF, 4005 Aumsville Highway, Salem, OR 97310.
Filed under: Anarchism, Anarchists You Should Know, Capitalism | Tags: boulder, technocrat, university of colorado, ward churchill, world trade center
Ward LeRoy Churchill (born October 2, 1947) is an American writer, political activist, and academic. He is a tenured full professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and author of over 20 books and hundreds of essays. In addition to his academic writing, Churchill has written for several general readership magazines of political opinion. His work is primarily about the U.S. and its historical treatment of political dissenters in general and of American Indian peoples in particular.
Churchill was widely discussed and criticized in the mass media in 2005, for a 2001 essay in which Churchill questioned the innocence of many of the people killed in the World Trade Center attacks, labeling them as “technocrats” and “little Eichmanns.” The University of Colorado stated support for Churchill’s right to engage in controversial political speech.
Following an investigation, the University’s Standing Committee on Research Misconduct recommended Churchill be sanctioned for repeated acts of “serious research misconduct”, Some observers concerned with academic freedom argue that the investigation is in retaliation to Churchill’s critical statements about the World Trade Center attacks.
Filed under: Anarchism, Anarchists You Should Know, Environmental Activism, Law Enforcement | Tags: alf, animal liberation front, arson, craig marshall, earth liberation front, elf, free, jeff, jeff "free" luers, luers, oregon, political prisoner, Prison, suv
Jeff “Free” Luers is an anarchist and environmental activist from Eugene, Oregon currently serving a twenty-two year prison sentence for arson. In 2000 he set fire to three SUV’s as a protest against global warming along with Craig Marshall, who was sentenced to five and a half years. Supporters argue that he is a political prisoner, due to his abnormally long sentence; they point out that sentences for arson and even crimes such as rape are generally much shorter, and that Luers was not endangering any human being, only destroying property in an act of direct action.
Jeff Luers describes the motivation for his act: “In an act of resistance designated to raise awareness and draw attention to a problem that affects every human being, every animal, every plant, and every form of life on this planet. I am speaking of global warming, air, soil and water pollution. We are in the midst of a global environmental crisis.”
He has become a cause célèbre among anarchists, radicals, anti-prison activists, and people associated with the Earth Liberation Front despite the fact that he has denied concrete affiliation with the ELF.
Each year since his imprisonment, there has been some call to action in his support around the anniversary of his sentencing. On June 12th, 2004, there were demonstrations in several places in the United States, along with events in other countries. There were also a number of concerts, video showings, and dinners to raise support for Luers. In Moscow, supporters spray painted “Free Jeff Luers!” on a wall outside of the American Embassy. The FBI issued a warning to various businesses and media outlets that actions it calls “eco-terrorism” might have occurred around this date. No such actions occurred, and activists claimed that the FBI was using scare tactics to intimidate its opponents. A similar “Weekend of Resistance” took place from June 10th to 12th of 2005, with actions occurring worldwide.
Filed under: Anarchists You Should Know | Tags: Alexander Berkman, Anarchism, anarchists, bolshevik, communist, henry clay frick assassination, mother earth, prison memoirs of an anarchist, russia, the blast emma goldman
Alexander Berkman (November 21, 1870 – June 28, 1936) best known to the general public for his failed assassination attempt on Henry Clay Frick, which sentenced him to 14 years in prison. This led him to writing Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, mostly an account of his life in prison. Over his life time he was publisher and editor for multiple publications, notably The Blast and Mother Earth.
When Berkman went to assassinate Frick, he knew he was sacrificing himself. That he would either be killed in the attempt or in prison for a very long time.
This is a detailed account of how It went down:
Along with Emma Goldman, the anarchist Alexander Berkman plotted to murder Frick in revenge for the seven steelworkers killed when they were attacked by the Pinkerton detectives hired by Frick to disperse the locked-out workers and allow in strikebreakers. On July 23, 1892 Berkman, armed with a revolver and a sharpened steel file, entered Frick’s office in downtown Pittsburgh.
Frick, realizing what was happening, attempted to rise from his chair while Berkman pulled a revolver and fired at nearly point-blank range. The bullet hit Frick in the left earlobe, penetrated his neck near the base of the skull, and lodged in his back. The impact hurled Frick off his feet, and Berkman fired again, again striking Frick in the neck and causing him to bleed profusely. Carnegie Steel vice president (later, president) John George Alexander Leishman, who was with Frick, was then able to grab Berkman’s arm and deflect a third shot, saving Frick’s life.
Frick was seriously wounded, but he still rose to fight back and tackled his assailant. All three men crashed to the floor, where Berkman managed to stab Frick four times in the leg with the pointed steel file before finally being subdued by other employees, who had rushed into the office. As the police entered the room, guns drawn, Frick reportedly yelled, “Don’t shoot! Leave him to the law, but raise his head and let me see his face.” Frick pointed to Berkman, who was chewing on a capsule of Mercury (II) fulminate which might have exploded near Frick, Berkman, and everybody else in the office. For more than two hours doctors probed for the bullets; Frick reportedly refused anesthesia so he could help guide their efforts.
Frick was back at work in a week; Berkman was charged and found guilty of attempted murder. Berkman’s actions in planning the assassination clearly indicated a premeditated intent to kill, and he was sentenced to 22 years in prison. He eventually served a total of fourteen years, and under pressure from supporters in the labor movement, including the forming of The Berkman Defense Association, was pardoned in 1906.
Negative publicity from the attempted assassination resulted in the collapse of the strike. Two thousand five hundred men lost their jobs, and most of the workers who stayed had their wages halved
Towards the end of his years in 19 36 he was in constant pain from a medical condition, and killed himself.
Quotes:
“When the highwayman holds his gun to your head, you turn your valuables over to him. You ‘consent’ alright, but you do so because you cannot help yourself, because you are compelled by his gun. Are you not compelled to work for an employer? Your need compels you, just as the highwayman’s gun.”
“War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder.”
For further reading see anarchy archives.
And for one of the greatest books ever written in “simple words” on what is anarchism theres his book “What is Anarchism?”. Please note the book goes by many names.
Filed under: Anarchists You Should Know, Video | Tags: Alexander Berkman, american experience emma goldman, Anarchism, anarchist, anarchy, documentary, henry clay frick, pbs
A documentary about Emma Goldman‘s life.
To download or watch in a bigger screen go to google video.
Filed under: Anarchism, Anarchists You Should Know, Capitalism, Law Enforcement | Tags: american history, Anarchism, anarchist, anarchy, anti-immigration, bartolomeo vanzetti, cobbler, death penalty, execution, fishmonger, howard zinn a people's history of the united states, italian, italian-american, luigi galleani, nicola sacco, sacco, sacco and vanzetti, shoemaker, stereotyping, subversive chronicle, the cure is in you, us history, vanzetti, webster thayer
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are probably two of the best known anarchists in the United States. Their arrest, trial, and execution are commonly brought up during the course of the average high school U.S. History course. Usually they are cast as the otherwise acceptable victims of the stereotyping and mod mentality that was typical of that period of American history (though certainly not continuing today) As such large parts of the population know the names of Sacco and Vanzetti, a few even know that they were anarchists executed by the state. But beyond that even many anarchists don’t know their story.
Both men emigrated to the US in 1908, Sacco was a cobbler in Torremaggiore and Vanzetti a fishmonger from Villafalletto. They were both followers of Luigi Galleani, another Italian-American anarchist who advocated for a violent anarchist revolution through his Italian language publications Cronaca Sovversiva (Subversive Chronicle) and La Salute è In Voi! (The Cure is In You!), the later an explicit step by step guide on bomb making. After Galleani and his closest supporters were exported, many of his followers went became inactive, but a few, known (ever so creatively) as “The Anarchist Fighters” went underground and continued to fight in what they described as a “class war“. The Anarchist Fighters were implicated in a number of bombings and assassination attempts.
It has never been satisfactorly determined whether Sacco and Vanzetti were members of the Anarchist Fighters, though it was clear from their own testimony at their murder trials that they were close associates of many known members.
On 15 April 1891, an attempted armed robbery in Braintree, Massachusetts left a pay-clerk and security guard shot dead. When the police investigated a fellow Italian-American anarchist Ferruccio Coacci in relation to the crime, they found his alibi foolproof, yet deported him anyway because of an earlier offense. When the police told the garage repairing Coacci’s Oakland to phone them when someone came to collect it, they arrested Sacco and Vanzetti as they attempted to collect their associates belongings.
If this seems contrived and bizarre, it is because it is. The state had no reason to suspect Sacco and Vanzetti of the crime save for the fact that they were associates of a previous suspect, and they were anarchist immigrants.
Once in custody, Sacco and Vanzetti at first attempted to conceal their politics from the police, but eventually came clean and were unapologetic for their beliefs. Much time was spent during the trial addressing their politics and immigration, rather than discussing the actual case.
Sacco and Vanzetti were found guilty of murder in the first degree and were sentenced to die in the electric chair by Judge Webster Thayer. They were executed on August 23, 1927.
Sacco and Vanzetti were not writers, thinkers, or organizers. Were it not for the state-sponsored violence of the death penalty they may have never achieved much beyond enlightening a few friends. This fact did not escape Vanzetti’s notice, as shown in his closing statement after sentencing:
If it had not been for this thing, I might have lived out my life talking at street corners to scorning men. I might have died, unmarked, unknown, a failure. Now we are not a failure. This is our career and our triumph. Never in our full life can we hope to do such work for tolerance, justice, for man’s understanding of man, as now we do by accident. Our words – our lives – our pains – nothing! The taking of our lives – lives of a good shoemaker and a poor fish peddler – all! That last moment belong to us – that agony is our triumph.
To this day, Sacco and Vanzetti serve as symbols of state oppression and xenophobia. Their story is taught in every US History class, and while their story isn’t, their names are familiar to many Americans.
Further Reading:
- Wikipedia
- Infoshop.org Memorial Page
- Sacco and Vanzetti.org
- Vanzetti’s Final Statement (delivered moments before his death)
- Legal Study of the Case
Surely a fair trial was possible with this being a typical political cartoon from the 1920's.
