Filed under: Anarchism, Breaking News, Capitalism, Downloads, Law Enforcement, Mass Media, Mutual Aid, Open Source Software, Organizer Resources | Tags: /b/, 4chan, amazon, amazon.com, anonymous, ddos, hive mind, master card, operation payback, visa, wikileaks
Disclaimer: We of the people’s informative collective would never advocate our loyal readers ever do something so impolite as to use what tools they have available to them to bring certain economic and corporate powerhouses Internet homes crashing down around them like so many Palestinian settlements. By no means should you download LOIC, install it, and seek retribution against those who have turned on WikiLeaks
I don’t know much yet so far, but here is what I do know-
Legendary voice of freedom and awesome, Anonymous, has launced a DDoS campaign against a number of groups that have either turned their back on or played a part in the downfall of WikiLeaks. To facilitate this they have launched the Low Orbital Ion Cannon, a software which allows users to tune in to the Hive Mind and let their digital slaves do the work for them.
Stay tuned to this frequency for more information as the war continues.
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!
Some footage of a police raid from this February, where a local SWAT Team (more on that to follow) served a warrant, killed two dogs, and found enough pot for personal consumption so the only charge they had was misdemeanor possession (not even enough for intent to distribute). Looking for justification for the expensive raid, they added Child Endangerment as well, citing the homeowner’s 7 year old was in the same room as the hash.
Because you know, a joint is going to make the kid’s world view demented. Jack-booted demi-fascists kicking in the door, gunning down his beloved childhood pets, and then hauling his parents off over said joint, thats fine. Builds character! But the joint its self, now thats dangerous.
Now one of those dogs was a pit bull, and you know what, I get it. Pit Bulls get a bad rap much the same way capitalists do. Sure they aren’t ALL evil incarnate, but enough of them are that you have to be careful. But the other pup was a Corgie. Thats right, these trained para-military operatives were afraid of this. Right.
Filed under: Breaking News, Law Enforcement | Tags: 1400, armed, dc, gun, MPDC, police state, sidearm, snow, snowball fight, washington
Washington, DC’s cops put up with a lot. Not only is the place CRAWLING with thieves and murderers, they also have to deal with visiting foreign dignitaries, as well as near-Detriot levels of “crime”. With that in mind, Detective Baylor/Bailer/Beylor/Balor/Asswrench’s actions are COMPLETELY understandable.
Oh, wait. No they aren’t. It was some people enjoying the snow, and in a fit of mischief someone hit your car with a snowball. MOST people would move on, or at worst maybe get out and shout a bit, right? Well, since Detective Baylor/Bailer/Beylor/Balor/Asswrench is trained to handle tense situations with patience, reason, and a dispassionate sense of justice, he decides to whip out his piece and brandish it at the crowd, all without clearly identifying himself as a Officer of the “Peace”. Good.
When the innocent, if mischievous, citizens call the fuzz on this raging dude with a gun, Detective Baylor/Bailer/Beylor/Balor/Asswrench fails to provide his badge number when asked, and won’t even clairify how his name is spelled*. The footage also seems to show a bystander getting arrested, but no details about that are clear at the moment.
*Thus the repeated vagueness in this post. I understand that in a certain dialect Asswrench is pronounced like that, so how can I be certain he isn’t Detective Asswrench? He sure acts like a bunch of Asswrenchs I knew growing up.
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, 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: Breaking News, Capitalism, Law Enforcement | Tags: adam smith, bernie madoff, Capitalism, ponzi scheme
Bernie Madoff has just been sentenced to 150 years in prison for running the second biggest ponzi scheme ever. The man behind the biggest, Adam Smith, is still at large, though many of his followers publicly flaunt their support of his exploitation racket.
Filed under: Anarchism, Law Enforcement, Organizer Resources | Tags: counter-terrorism, guy fawkes, hack bloc, rnc, rnc welcoming committe, twitter, v for vendetta
Via HackBloc
Once again, we see how little they really understand… from Colorado IndyMedia Counter-Terrorism Magazine’s most recent issue, has on it’s cover (ironically), a picture of a protestor in a “V/Guy Fawkes” mask……and the title of their featured article reads, “Twitter.com and Coordinated Mayhem: An Examination of the Incorporation of Twitter by the RNC Welcoming Committee”. Below is a short sample: “There are myriads of threats that jeopardize peace and stability. Among these threats, the proliferation of extremism is a peril to civilized society. These extremist include, but are not limited to the following: religious, anarchists, anti-government, and anti-globalization. They operate both in the United States and abroad. Advances in technology and media have enabled extremists to broadcast their propaganda to an untold audience. These provocative messages have enticed a vulnerable following into discontent and action. Consider the riots that occurred during World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, the Rwandan Genocide, and the recent rioting in Greece. Instability is increasing with the compounding of the economic crisis. The reality is that there are countless people being incited to violence and extremism through media”
A longer sample of the article can be found here.
picture of the cover.
FULL PDF of article linked below written by Institute of Terrorism Research and Response published by the IACSP
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.
