CALL FOR 3RD ANNUAL JULY 31ST DAY OF ACTION AGAINST FASCISM AND RACISM BY THE ANTI-RACIST ACTION NETWORK

Join us on July 31, 2012 as we come together to deliver a message to
fascists and racists in our neighborhoods and communities: Get out!

For the past two years, antifascist and anti-racist organizers across
the world have worked together to make July 31st a day to oppose white
supremacy. This annual event was started in 2010 as a response to
white supremacist attacks against anti-racists and antifascists,
attacks that were meant to stop us from organizing.
Fascists and racists should not have a chance to let their ideas take
root in our communities. History has shown that ignoring racist groups
when they hold marches and demonstrations does not make them go away.
Organized racists and fascists--whether neo-Nazi, Klan, white power
skinhead crew, or the Minutemen--leave intimidation and violence in
their wake wherever they settle.
We don't believe in waiting for the police to handle the fascists and
racists, either. We've had our fair share of encounters with the
police, and we know their job is to protect and serve us with
harassment, beatings and arrests. We've seen how the police stand
around and protect the fascists whenever they hold a rally or a march,
but are quick to crack skulls at an anti-war march or an Occupy
protest. We've also seen how the police routinely criminalize, harass,
arrest, and attack people of color and queer people. We know that
institutions like the police and prisons can never be “fixed” or
“reformed” if their function is to maintain a racist and homophobic
power structure.
We encourage participants to support the July 31st Day of Action in
whatever ways make the most sense locally. Want to plan a punk or
hip-hop show to raise funds for antifa? Do it. Want to flyer your
neighborhood about a local neo-Nazi? Go for it! Want to organize an
anti-police brutality march or a prison abolition teach-in? Yes,
please!
If you are having a hard time finding inspiration for a solidarity
action, we wish to remind folks that over the past few months two
great intelligence releases have transpired;

The first was the hack on American Third Position(A3P). After  having their website defaced and then destroyed, antifascists hackers then released loads of juicy private conversations as well as hundreds of members and supporters names and addresses. See the mirror here, are-post here or the address list here.

The next is the National Socialist Movement(NSM). The ex-wife of the NSM leader, Jeff Schoep, handed over a notebook of his filled with the full NSM membership roster , including names and addresses and some social security numbers, of every member dating back from 2004 up to December of 2011. See the full story here or just the address list here.(some of the addresses are dated of course so be sure to make confirmations before dissemination)

Both of these organizations would make for great targets for the J31 day of action. In fact, we hope that they are the major focus of this Day of Action.

Although we recognize the limitations of single "days of action", we
hope July 31st will serve as a catalyst for long lasting, pro-active
antifascist affinity groups or organizations. We believe that we need
a dedicated and large force of militant antifascists with great
intelligence, analysis, and dedication to crushing emerging extreme
Right and fascist movements.
If your organization or crew is interested in endorsing the July 31st
Day of Action, please contact us at July31DOA@yahoo.com
Fight Fascism, Smash Racism

Fascist, Anti-Semite, Nazi piece of shit David Irving going at it for round 3

The worlds most infamous holocaust denier, anti-semite, and Nazi sympathizer, David Irving, is at it again, attempting another 30 day US tour . "He intends to do a presentation glorifying Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany behind Adolf Hitler and the man who coordinated the Holocaust."  We’re calling upon militant antifascists to confront his tour at every stop possible, and send a clear message that holocaust revisionism and fascist organizing will not be taken lightly.
A look back at 2009:
In New Jersey, dozens of anti-fascists filled the Pompton Plains hotel, chanting and struggling with attendees.  They were so effective in disrupting the event that police had to escort attendees out. The same happened a day later in NYC, where the event was not only disrupted, but both Irving's tour manager Jaenelle Antas and neo-Nazi friend Alex Carmichael were pepper-sprayed. Faced with humiliation and defeat, Irving was forced to cancel his next few scheduled appearances, but the chaos did not end there. Days later his Chicago event was shut down when dozens of masked anti-fascists stormed into the Edelweiss restaurant turning over tables, destroying his merchandise, and assaulting attendees, while Irving and Antas locked themselves in a supply closet in a magnificent display of cowardice.
Right in the middle of his failed east coast appearances, his websites were also attacked by anti-fascist hackers who released his private emails and databases to WikiLeaks. The emails gave hilarious details of the frustrations caused by Irving's infatuation with his much younger assistant Jaenelle, and also eventually caused his landlord to kick Irving out of his Winsdor home. More importantly, this leak revealed private speaking locations as well as names and addresses of dozens of racist Nazi sympathizers who purchased tickets - a warning to those who would consider purchasing a ticket to Irving's gatherings.
The conflicts that populated Irving's 2009 tour exemplify the danger that venues are sure to face should they host his events. Irving, fearing confrontations during his 2009 tour, had hired "Tip of the Spear," a group which advertises private security for white power events. At the 2009 Palm Beach function, the very people he hired for security had initiated a knife fight amongst warring neo-Nazi attendees Christopher Nachtman and John Kopko. The event was booked under Focal Point Productions and the Ritz-Carlton had no idea who Irving was. Additionally, one person attending the 2009 Chicago function, John Gisselbrech, was hospitalized during the antifa disruption, hurt so badly that he has hired the prominent Deratany Firm to file a lawsuit against David Irving, his publishing company Focal Point Productions, and Edelweiss Restaurant (who hosted Irving for the second year in a row) for failing to make adequate security precautions. The million dollars at stake may shut down these businesses down--yet another warning of what might happen to spaces that host fascist speaking events. Further, they give warning to the puerile few considering attending, as to just what might happen if they do attend. They will be confronted, exposed, shut down, and humiliated.
Increased Paranoia in 2011:
It was 2011 and Irving announced he was coming back again. The attacks on Irvings 2009 stops now had him jumping through hoops in order to keep his events safe; implementing massive screening processes and very expensive ticket prices in cities where Irving suspected he would be most challenged. This only made his turnouts about 1/3 the size of his 2009 tour, a victory in itself for us antifa.
Even with the obstacles, Irving's 2011 tour did not go unchallenged. His Indiana date was shut down twice. The first which was to take place at the MCL cafeteria in Carmel was brought to an immediate halt when some antifa tossed bricks containing anti-Irving messages through the window. In St. Louis, the hosting hotel was attacked and in Chicago a massive phone jam was implemented on the Drake hotel, followed by an alleged bomb threat.

Interestingly, David Irving's tour manager and personal assistant for the third year in a row is Jaenelle Antas (7823 Ella Dobbs Ln, Indianapolis, IN 46227 317-379-8871 / 305 923 9400). Despite the unforgettable troubles stemming from the 2009 tour (the pepper-spray and Irving's elderly sexual advances) Jaenelle is giving him another chance and is handling all booking and ticket sales for his tour. The former Assistant to the Chair of the Indiana Libertarian Party, Jaenelle is also involved in her local white supremacist scene in Indianapolis, belonging to the hate group "Hoosier Nation" which is organizing to support Indiana's anti-immigrant bill SB590.

David Irving, much like Chicago-based holocaust denier (and Northwestern University professor) Arthur Butz (2214 Central St, Apt 3 Evanston, IL 60201) and all other proponents of holocaust denial, have a very specific agenda that, upon further examination, has less to do with spreading their distorted fantasies, and more about Nazi sympathy, scapegoating Jews, and legitimizing racism. Holocaust deniers are attempting to lift the taboo off the holocaust in order to make Nazism a more accepted mass political ideology; in other words, they deny the holocaust so that it can happen again.
It's 2012 and the bastard is at it again. All out against Irving!!!!
From One Peoples Project:

Irving has announced dates in May and June in over 30 cities across the United States, with possibly more to be added. That means you can expect the usual gaggle of neo-Nazis and white supremacists possibly convening in your community. Folks are no doubt going to work to oppose them, and we encourage everyone to take part and speak out!

 A SUMMARY

 David Irving is a British writer who has been involved with the fascist political scene since the 1960s. Always known for the pro-Hitler bias of his books, approximately two decades ago Irving made the transition to being a fully-fledged Holocaust-denier, when he testified at the trial of neo-Nazi Ernst Zündel in Canada, and also arranged the publication of Fred Leuchter's widely-refuted report on gas chambers at Auschwitz. In addition to spreading blatant historical lies, Irving has publicly stated that "The Jews are the architects of their own misfortune." Unsurprisingly, Irving was a popular speaker at neo-Nazi rallies in Germany - until he was banned from the country. In 2006, Irving was jailed in Austria after pleading guilty to a charge of "trivializing the Holocaust," which is a crime in that county. Since his release, Irving has been marketing himself as a former "political prisoner."

DATES ANNOUNCED SO FAR

MAY

3rd: Nashville, TN
4th: Louisville, KY
7th: Chicago, IL
8th: Iowa City, IA
10th: Omaha, NE
12th: Sioux Falls, SD
13th: Rapid City, SD
15th: Cheyenne, WY
16th: Denver, CO
21st: Colorado Springs, CO
23rd: Amarillo, TX
25th: Oklahoma City, OK
26th: Tulsa, OK
27th: Memphis, TN
29th: New Orleans

 JUNE

1st: Montgomery, AL
2nd: Atlanta, GA
4th: Knoxville, TN
5th: Cincinnati, OH
6th: Indianapolis, IN
9th: Columbus, OH
10th: Niagara Falls, NY
12th: Syracuse, NY
13th: Manchester, NH
15th: New Haven, CT
18th: Princeton NJ
20th Philadelphia, PA
21st Baltimore, MD
22nd: New York, NY
24th: Pittsburgh, PA
25th: Cleveland, OH

4 out of the 11 Santa Cruz Occupiers have had their charges dropped.

From Santa Cruz SentinelA judge has dismissed the charges against four of the 11 people charged in connection with the takeover of a former bank last year. Judge Paul Burdick said Wednesday that evidence was lacking to hold Franklin Alcantara, Grant Wilson, Edward Rector and Cameron Laurendau on charges of felony conspiracy, felony vandalism and misdemeanor trespass. The four were charged in connection with the takeover of a vacant Wells Fargo bank on River Street in late November and early December. In that case, a number of people, acting anonymously but in solidarity with Occupy Santa Cruz, entered the building at 75 River St. and remained there for nearly 72 hours before leaving peacefully after numerous police negotiations. The group said they wanted to turn the empty building into a community center.

"There's no evidence to establish that any of these four defendants knew someone who later committed trespass intended to do so," Burdick said to Assistant District Attorney Rebekah Young. "You're painting with too broad a brush."

Young said she was relying on an aiding and abetting theory in prosecuting the case, but Burdick said there hadn't been sufficient evidence shown.

Still, he said, "I'm not condoning the conduct that occurred at 75 River St."

Jamyrson Pittori, the attorney who represented Rector, said her client was "a curious kid" who'd been drawn to the occupied building by the crowd, and wasn't a criminal. She agreed with Burdick's assessment that the prosecution was painting with too broad a brush.

"The costs to the taxpayers for prosecution of this case far exceeds the damages sustained by Wells Fargo," said Pittori. "Property crimes are bad, but attempting to prosecute more than 100 people, most of whom had nothing to do with it, is unconscionable."

Rector, Laurendau, Wilson and Alcantara hugged friends and family outside the courtroom, while supporters congratulated them on the dismissal.

Two other defendants, Bradley Allen and Alex Darocy, face trial next month on charges of trespassing and conspiracy. Their attorneys argue that their clients are photojournalists who were acting in that capacity at the time. A preliminary hearing is still pending for the other five defendants.

Young said Wednesday she plans to refile charges against Laurendau and Alcantara.

Follow Sentinel reporter Jessica M. Pasko on Twitter @jmpasko96

FBI Seize European Counter Network, April 2012 Riseup.net

April 18th, 2012, Riseup had a server seized by the US Federal Authorities. This is our press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FBI seizes server providing anonymous remailer and many other services from colocation facility.

Contacts:

Riseup Networks, Devin Theriot-Orr, 206-708-8740, sunbird [at] riseup.net
May First/People Link, Jamie McClelland, 917-509-5734, jm [at] mayfirst.org
ECN: Isole Nella Rete, inr [at] riseup.net

Attack on Anonymous Speech

On Wednesday, April 18, at approximately 16:00 Eastern Time, U.S. Federal authorities removed a server from a colocation facility shared by Riseup Networks and May First/People Link in New York City. The seized server was operated by the European Counter Network (“ECN”), the oldest independent internet service provider in Europe, who, among many other things, provided an anonymous remailer service, Mixmaster, that was the target of an FBI investigation into the bomb threats against the University of Pittsburgh.

“The company running the facility has confirmed that the server was removed in conjunction with a search warrant issued by the FBI,” said May First/People Link director Jamie McClelland. “The server seizure is not only an attack against us, but an attack against all users of the Internet who depend on anonymous communication.”

Disrupted in this seizure were academics, artists, historians, feminist groups, gay rights groups, community centers, documentation and software archives and free speech groups. The server included the mailing list “cyber rights” (the oldest discussion list in Italy to discuss this topic), a Mexican migrant solidarity group, and other groups working to support indigenous groups and workers in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. In total, over 300 email accounts, between 50-80 email lists, and several other websites have been taken off the Internet by this action. None are alleged to be involved in the anonymous bomb threats.

“The FBI is using a sledgehammer approach, shutting down service to hundreds of users due to the actions of one anonymous person,” said Devin Theriot-Orr, a spokesperson for Riseup. “This is particularly misguided because there is unlikely to be any information on the server regarding the source of the threatening emails.”

“We sympathize with the University of Pittsburgh community who have had to deal with this frightening disruption for weeks. We oppose such threatening actions. However, taking this server won’t stop these bomb threats. The only effect it has is to also disrupt e-mail and websites for thousands of unrelated people,” continues Mr. Theriot-Orr. “Furthermore, the network of anonymous remailers that exists is not harmed by taking this machine. So we cannot help but wonder why such drastic action was taken when authorities knew that the server contained no useful information that would help in their investigation.”

The FBI purportedly seized the server because it was hosting an anonymous remailer called Mixmaster. Anonymous remailers are used to send email anonymously, or pseudonymously. Like other anonymizing services such as the Tor network, these remailers are widely used to protect the identity of human rights activists who place themselves and their families in grave danger by reporting information about abuses. Remailers are also important for corporate whistle blowers, democracy activists working under repressive regimes, and others to communicate vital information that would otherwise go un-reported.

The Mixmaster software is specifically designed to make it impossible for anyone to trace the emails. The system does not record logs of connections, details of who sent messages, or how they were routed. This is because the Mixmaster network is specifically designed to resist censorship, and support privacy and anonymity. Unfortunately, some people misuse the network. However, compared to the rate of legitimate use, the abuse rate is very low. There is therefore no legitimate purpose for the FBI to seize this server because they will not be able to obtain any information about the sender. This is plainly extra-judicial punishment and an attack on free speech and anonymity on the internet and serves as a chilling effect on others providers of anonymous remailers or other anonymous services.

In absence of any other leads, the FBI needs to show that they are making progress in this case, and this has meant seizing a server so they can proudly demonstrate they are taking some action. But what this incident shows is they are grasping at straws and are willing to destroy innocent bystanders for the sake of protecting their careers.

About the organizations involved

MayFirst/People Link (mayfirst.org) is a politically-progressive member-run and controlled organization that redefines the concept of “Internet Service Provider” in a collective and collaborative way. May First/People Link’s members are organizers and activists who elect a Leadership Committee to direct the organization. Like a coop, members pay dues, buy equipment and then share that equipment for websites, email, email lists, and other Internet purposes.

Riseup Networks (riseup.net) provides online communication tools for people and groups working on liberatory social change. Riseup creates democratic alternatives and practices self-determination by controlling our own secure means of communications.

ECN (European Counter Network – ecn.org) is the oldest independent service provider in Europe providing free email accounts, mailing lists, and websites to organizations, activists, and movements that are involved in human rights, freedom of speech and information in Italy and Europe. ECN is anti-fascist and works towards a just and equal society. Years ago, before sites like Youtube and Vimeo existed, ECN created a platform called NGV where people could upload and share independent video of human rights violations. Nowadays ECN works primarily with anti-fascist and anti-Nazi movements in all of Europe, providing space and resources to political and social centers.

Questions / further reading

Q: Doesn’t Mixmaster/anonymous remailers enable criminals to do bad things?

A: Criminals can already do bad things. Since they’re willing to break laws, they already have lots of options available that provide better privacy than mixmaster provides. They can steal cell phones, use them, and throw them in a ditch; they can crack into computers in Korea or Brazil and use them to launch abusive activities; they can use spyware, viruses, and other techniques to take control of literally millions of Windows machines around the world.

Mixmaster aims to provide protection for ordinary people who want to follow the law. Only criminals have privacy right now, and we need to fix that.

Some advocates of anonymity explain that it’s just a tradeoff — accepting the bad uses for the good ones — but there’s more to it than that. Criminals and other bad people have the motivation to learn how to get good anonymity, and many have the motivation to pay well to achieve it. Being able to steal and reuse the identities of innocent victims (identify theft) makes it even easier. Normal people, on the other hand, don’t have the time or money to spend figuring out how to get privacy online. This is the worst of all possible worlds.

So yes, criminals could in theory use mixmaster, but they already have better options, and it seems unlikely that taking mixmaster away from the world will stop them from doing bad things. At the same time, mixmaster and other privacy measures can fight identity theft, physical crimes like stalking, and so on. Please see the tor FAQ on abuse for more information.

Q: How does Mixmaster / Anonymous remailers work?

A: Anonymous remailers work by connecting to other anonymous remailers in a chain, and every one in that chain removes the mail header information making it impossible to find the real sender. The Tor project maintains a list of typical users of this and other anonymity systems, and the Mixmaster home page

https://help.riseup.net/en/seizure-2012-april

OCCUPY THE FARM!: RESIDENTS OF ALBANY TAKE OVER FARM SPACE!

(Albany, Calif.), April 22, 2012 – Occupy the Farm, a coalition of local residents, farmers, students, researchers, and activists are planting over 15,000 seedlings at the Gill Tract, the last remaining 10 acres of Class I agricultural soil in the urbanized East Bay area. The Gill Tract is public land administered by the University of California, which plans to sell it to private developers.

For decades the UC has thwarted attempts by community members to transform the site for urban sustainable agriculture and hands-on education. With deliberate disregard for public interest, the University administrators plan to pave over this prime agricultural soil for commercial retail space, a Whole Foods Market, and a parking lot.

"For ten years people in Albany have tried to turn the Gill Tract into an Urban Farm and a more open space for the community. The people in the Bay Area deserve to use this treasure of land for an urban farm to help secure the future of our children," explains Jackie Hermes-Fletcher, an Albany resident and public school teacher for 38 years.

Two to three hundred people marched from the Earth Day rally at Ohlone Park in Berkeley to the Gill Tract at the intersection of San Pablo and Marin Avenues in Albany. This is the last best farmland in the East Bay, but the University of California intends to sell much of it to private developers so that a shopping center with a Whole Foods grocery store and a parking lot can be built. Immediately upon arrival, people began to clear and till the land. Organizers are asking supporters to tell friends, come down, and learn what urban farming is all about.

640_2012-04-22_15-21-20_4...
original image ( 3264x1840)

UC police arrived within an hour and announced that those present were trespassing and enforcement might come after 10pm. When informed of the presence of families with children, the two UC officers said plenty of notice would be given before any possible police action. The officers also said that journalists covering the farming would not be arrested. About two hours later, one of the two officers returned and notified people present that they were subject to arrest and fines. Another UC officer was with him videorecording ever person they passed.

640_2012-04-22_16-49-59_9...
original image ( 3264x1840)

The following email went out Sunday about a movement by activists to take over the Gill Tract, owned by the University of California, and turn it into an urban farm.
According to one local activist with SF Bay Food Shed, about 300 protesters and food justice advocates marched from a Berkeley rally "and occupied the Gill Tract around 1:30. They immediately started working the land and planting the 10,000 veggie starts they have with them. They are also in the process of setting up chicken coops and other farm infrastructure."
(A later estimate by one member of the occupying group placed the number at closer to 200 activists.)
According to the city of Albany and university planners, the Gill Tract spans about 15 acres on the corner of a 77-acre piece of land that composes University Village. The land is used for agricultural experiments by UC Berkeley’s School of Natural Resources.
In 2010, Damon Lisch, who was a research scientist in plant and microbial biology at UC Berkeley, said "About half the field is for research by the USDA Plant Gene Expression Center, and the other half is U.C. Berkeley research. Some of the world's premier research in plant biology is going on in this field."
As of about 12:30 a.m. Monday, University police had not responded to a request for information about how they planned to deal with the occupation, and there had been no coordinated police activity within the site.
Two UC police officers spoke peacefully with Occupy participants at 12:30 a.m., and asked them to keep the area clean, and said the action would likely garner much more attention from authorities Monday.
Activists said, via a live-streaming video feed, that police told them to leave the property by 10 p.m. Sunday, or possibly face consequences.
One Albany man, Ulan McKnight, said Sunday that at least 15 Albany residents had come to the Gill Tract to talk and learn about the activity, and that a number of them planned to stay overnight.
McKnight said, in the comments below, that local students, gardeners and farmers had been planning the action since November: "Green houses as far away as Santa Cruz have been nurturing more than 15,000 starts for us to plant."
McKnight said, at about midnight, there appeared to be 40-50 tents, including a "community tent" with 20 people sleeping in it.
"I think maybe 50 people are still up talking about how to make the world better. There are probably less than 100 people sleeping here tonight but well over 300 have been here throughout the day," he said. "We had a nice meeting of about 25 Albany residents right after the 'General Assembly.' Everyone was super concerned that this action stay 100% children friendly and non-confrontational. No fires or drum circles ;) And guess what? Everything is super chill and positive."
McKnight said a community potluck and sign-making party is planned for 6 p.m. Monday.
"We welcome everyone to come down and see what we are doing," he wrote.

Resist ALEC in Salt Lake City July 25th-28th

We the people of Salt Lake City invite all those opposed to the tyranny of the 1% to join us from July 23-28th 2012 in providing a warm welcome for the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council. This annual meeting by ALEC is paid for and attended by corporate sponsors who sit behind closed doors with our elected state legislators. At these meetings laws are created without the voice of the people that will later benefit those same corporate sponsors at the expense of our communities
ALEC functions as the most influential mechanism by which corporations maintain their dominance over people and policy by occupying our political institutions. ALEC is responsible for thirty nine years worth of oppressive legislation. Model legislation proposed by ALEC and enacted by our elected representatives have destroyed workers rights and strangled free speech. These model policies have driven the privatization of agriculture, education, health care, and the prison industry all at the expense of the ecosystems that sustain us.
We will not allow this systemic corruption to continue. We the people have developed direct democratic communities and processes to challenge the status quo. We call for a local and national convergence of these communities from July 23-28 in Salt Lake City. We remain committed to a diversity of tactics and seek to provide an open and inclusive space for resistance and rebellion. We the people demand our frustrations be known as we develop solutions together where the voice of the people is heard over the the voice of the corporations. It is by solidarity through struggle that we will find our greatest strength.
ALEC Welcoming Committee of Occupy Salt Lake

END:CIV

88.9 fm

Beautiful vandalism of the education ministry’s Montreal offices, over the night of April 1st.

Beautiful vandalism of the education ministry’s Montreal offices, over the night of April 1st.

Student radicals blamed for locust infestation

MONTREAL — Student radicals are suspected in an act of vandalism with Biblical overtones after swarms of locusts overran the city’s main business school on Thursday.

Officials at the HEC school called in exterminators to fight the plague that came hours before Quebec offered its first olive branch in a 52-day student strike over tuition hikes.

Hundreds of locusts infested a classroom and two bathrooms at HEC around 8:30 a.m.

A letter left at the scene made a direct reference to the book of Exodus that recounts plagues that hit Egypt in biblical times.

“Pharaoh hardens his heart but justice is served,” read the note. “May it stain your walls and your air ducts.”

The insect infestation was one of two incidents at Quebec schools Thursday as thousands of students continue their protests against tuition hikes.

In Saguenay, 200 km north of Quebec City, a security guard suffered a dislocated shoulder in a scuffle with students who tried to occupy a campus building. A second guard suffered a knee injury.

Quebec students have blocked bridges, major roads and government buildings nearly every day since the strike began in February.

Premier Jean Charest has held firm on his decision to increase tuition fees by $1,625 over five years, but two top ministers pledged Thursday to sweeten student loan programs in an attempt to diffuse the demonstrations.

Education Minister Line Beauchamp and Finance Minister Raymond Bachand announced an income-based loan program that could take effect in September 2013.

The overture immediately divided student groups. The hardline CLASSE organization rejected the pledge, while the more moderate FECQ says it will discuss the offer over the Easter break.

Beauchamp told a news conference that student groups have so far refused to negotiate and that many young people risk losing an entire semester.

“The students are in a critical decision phase,” she said. “It was our responsibility to take action after having launched appeals for dialogue for several days.”

Bachand added, “We listened, we waited, and no one sat down with us to discuss this.”

Charest, meanwhile, said he hopes the striking students return to class.

Students have blocked both entrances to the Port of Montreal

The striking students held another action of economic disruption by blocking both entrances to the Port of Montreal for over an hour this morning.

About 200 students gathered at Metro Prefontaine headed for the station Langelier, where they arrived around 10am.

They then took the boulevard Langelier contraflow south, then Haig Street, where they made a short jog. Arrived at Notre Dame, the group split.

Part of the demonstrators went to block the entry of Bossuet Street, west side, and the other group, more importantly, prevented the access of Boucherville Street.

Dozens of truckers wishing to travel to the port were hostages of the situation. Some supporting young even if it makes them lose money, since they are paid to travel and not by the hour.

A driver who was going to port to take command of a ship regretted the delay that this action was taken to the boat. "But at least young people take action. I hope they will mobilize against by it for other things. Like to vote, "he said.

Around 11:15, a representative SPVM came to inform the protesters near the Boucherville Street they had to leave, "for their own safety and avoid arrest" because the port authority asked that young free places .

The protesters decided to resume their march westward, to meet their colleagues stationed at the entrance Bossuet.

There they remained until about 11:45.

At that time, a commander of the SPVM advised, the microphone of his patrol van, that the protest was now considered illegal. An ad that has received answers to the fingers of honors and other insults.

Moments later, two teams in the intervention group, helmeted and armed with shields and batons, the protesters took sandwich on Notre Dame.

But a small core more stubborn, many on their faces masked, one carrying a shield same craft, did not blink until one of two response teams in the load striking their sticks on their shields . Assaults by a small block away, they rejected the last resisters north of Bossuet, before letting them go.

The group walked to the subway Cadillac to return to the city center.

This is not the first time that students are challenging the activities of the Port of Montreal. They did the 22 March 28 March and 5 April.

OCCUPIED IN INDIANA: SHITS NOT CHILL!

This evening, the Fine Arts Auditorium on Indiana University's campus was seized by around fifty of us- students, graduates, employees, and others fed up with the implementation of austerity, both here in Bloomington and internationally. We've opened the space not only for the purpose of having ground from which to scheme and plan actions, but also as an immediate making-common of university property and resources, for students and non-students alike.

In our distrust for the media, we've begun production of a massive amount of propaganda, staying up all night carefully crafting and printing statements and analyses. Our skepticism of the media is well founded: the Indiana Daily Student has already passively declared the Occupation a non-event, opting to highlight an empty pizza box and a leaky air mattress over more inspiring moments such as the well-attended mass assembly that lead to the occupation, the excited buzz of conversation in the auditorium, the beautiful chalking and banners now covering the building, and the palpable ripeness of the space.

Keep tabs on us: materials and updates will be posted at rififibloomington.wordpress.com.

Here is the first communiqué, released this evening around midnight.

SHIT’S NOT CHILL, and so…

…the fine arts auditorium is occupied, and we need you now.

Schools perpetuate the existent order by preparing people to become obedient consumers and workers. They reproduce inequality by excluding those who cannot afford it or who don’t have the correct legal status (undocumented people) and by emphasizing conformity of thought and behavior. We want to create a space for authentic, empowering education, which we believe can only be done by educating each other (that means everyone) rather than relying on experts to convey information to passive learners.

The fact that we are here occupying this space should also disabuse everyone of the illusion that bodies like the student government or trustees represent our interests. These are merely different levels of gatekeepers to the resources that should justly be at our own disposal at all times, and at all times these managers conspire against us. When we take control of the resources in an auditorium or a building, as we are doing now, we assert that we are not children – we see through their empty democratic rhetoric at the same time as taking it far more seriously than they have ever imagined.

This space is yours when you need it, and the space needs for you to claim it. It needs you to make it yours because communized spaces cannot exist without a strong united front against the imminent repression by those who are interested in keeping us powerless. To be explicit, police have come twice to scope us out, and we need as many people to come NOW* to help us defend this.

You are welcome to join us in this space, but please never limit your resistance to what we present to you. Any action you take to exercise your freedom, to claim anything for the good of yourself or your community, to deny any encroachment on your agency, we are in solidarity with you.

We send our love to:

The Latino Youth Collective, Dream IU, and those who’ve continued to struggle against borders and the exclusion of immigrant students from IU. Our comrades who were brutally beaten and those who fought back against police violence in St. Louis during March 2012 occupations there, and to everyone murdered by the cops and their allies, Trayvon Martin first of all. The ones who didn’t join us because they’ve defined their own active struggles against austerity. The underpaid staff of this university (custodians, you rule!)

*The auditorium is located in the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, which is the building on your left when you come into the traffic circle at the dead-end of 7th St on campus. The auditorium is the first room on your left when you walk in the front door.

https://rififibloomington.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/download.jpg

Anarchist People Of Color Convergence!

From APOC Convergence
Survival Strategies for the New Millennium
July 12th – 14th, 2012
New Orleans, Louisiana

Aah, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: While current paradigms of social, political and economic oppression thrash against their imminent demise, taking the planet down with them, we have an opportunity to rise through the cracks and build a new future.

Through parties, plenaries, workshops, panels, roundtables and space for impromptu discussions, we hope to create space to discuss what it means to organize as anarchists; the future of indigenous solidarity; people-of-color movement history; science fiction; queerness; and conversations on racialization. We’ll have childcare, a kids’ track, an elders’ circle, and a healing justice center to stay sane and together for the long run.

APOCalypse will gather people of color to discuss, build and share radical anti-authoritarian practices based on autonomy, egalitarian relationships, and justice. This July, we hope to bring together a couple hundred friends, comrades, family members and strangers to New Orleans, Louisiana, to celebrate, re-map, and craft our anti-authoritarian visions and skills for the years to come.

We, as Anarchist People of Color (APOC), share a loose set of politics being anti-authoritarian and a common identity as people of color. We are not a formal organization, political party, non-profit, charity, committee, church group, dance troupe, etc…

We, the coordinators of this convergence, know each other either directly or indirectly from years of organizing, and through APOC connections. Many of us met almost 10 years ago at the first national APOC conference in Detroit, Michigan. We are excited to reconnect, reassess, reunite and meet new people. We aim for this convergence to not just be a reunion though but a multi-generational, multi-dimensional gathering that can offer something for almost every anarchist or politically radical person of color out there.

We hope that participants are looking for dialogues, methods, and theories that resist oppression by understanding the root causes of injustice – while developing strategies for ecologically, politically, socially, and economically sustainable communities. Not everyone coming will be or has to be an anarchist. We just hope that participants will want to build power in ways that are not hierarchical, racist, and heteropatriarchal, but are instead collaborative and horizontal.

We don’t intend this convergence to be a place to hammer out points of unity, build a formal anything or come close to representing all anarchist people of color. We hope that we’ll just get a chance to meet, dream, learn and make some amazing plans.

Please note that we are organizing with and inviting people of color only.

The convergence will be in downtown New Orleans, in the Marigny/7th Ward area. The registration point will be at 1024 Elysian Fields Ave, 70117.

GET INVOLVED! To participate in the convergence, please register at www.apocconvergence.info/registration so that we can prepare for your stay.

We are currently accepting workshop and event proposals. www.apocconvergence.info/call-for-proposals

Feel free to email us with any questions at apocconvergence@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Will the Spanish working class destroy the euro?

It took less than 100 days in power for the right-wing Popular Party (PP) government led by Mariano Rajoy to face its first general strike, on March 29.

The strike was mostly called by minority unions; the major ones, the opportunistic and bureaucratic CCOO and UGT, have been in bed with the powers that be for years.

The strike was a response to Rajoy’s EU-imposed labour market reforms that, according to Antonio Carretero from the CGT union, are “a counter-reformation that erases with a single stroke many labour and union rights acquired by the working class in decades and generations”. That includes extremely harsh cuts in health, education and social services.

Predictably, the spin war was relentless. Madrid insisted “only” 800,000 workers took part in over 100 demonstrations nationally. According to unions, 900,000 people marched in Madrid, 800,000 in Barcelona and hundreds of thousands more in 111 cities, especially Valencia and in the Basque country (the unionist vanguard in Spain). In Zaragoza, a city of 700,000, at least 150,000 people may have been in the streets; it certainly looked like it by late afternoon.

Spain strikes over austerity measures

The country virtually stopped – at a 77 per cent overall rate (much higher than the 18 per cent predicted by corporate media). In the manufacturing sector, it was 80 per cent; in mining and construction, a whopping 97 per cent. Only 30 per cent of the national transportation system was active. And even though scores of cities kept the streetlights on all day – or used other tricks to bump up the numbers – consumption of electricity in Catalunya, for instance, fell by 24 per cent.

Austerity ergo sum

The catalogue of Spain’s “austerity” is the usual catalogue of neoliberalism in trouble. A previous, nominally socialist and now an ultra-conservative government have furiously decimated unemployment, retirement and severance benefits; turned virtually all labour contracts into precariousness hell; steeply raised fees for education and transportation; vastly militarised the police; and spent fortunes to bail out banks.

Spain inevitably follows the post-modernist mantra that democracy controls protest and rebellion by managing it – sort of. That’s where the cooption of those unions, CCOO and UGT, fits in; as they had already tamed rebellion in exchange for funds from Madrid, they called the strike virtually at the last minute.

Corporate media – and Spain is a small market run by monopolies – also fit in with the usual script. There will be violence by “anarchists”. The strike will be bad for tourists. Everyone has the right to work. No one will show up for this strike.

In Zaragoza, repression was harsher in the dead of the night and in suburbs, with no cameras watching. Morning pickets concentrated on banks across its mini Wall Street, driven by Brazilian-style samba drums and demonstrators dressed up as bankers. That sparked an internal debate among the protesters; with many shouting that this was not a party, in the end the samba drums were sent packing.

By late afternoon, during the massive main demonstration that crisscrossed the city centre, everyone and his neighbour seemed to be there – immigrants, whole middle-class families, the unemployed, the precariously employed, anarchists, socialists, progressives, and every indignado in town.

In powerhouse Barcelona, there were riots but mainly sparked by people’s rage against infiltrated cops [SP], some of them chased down and beaten up.

Significantly, more people in Barcelona took part in a spontaneous protest in landmark Catalunya square than in the official union protest. In Barcelona, and to some extent in Zaragoza as well, it was clear that the strike was not a union thing, but a collective effort of a loose network; neighbourhood assemblies; workers’ assemblies; smaller anti-authoritarian unions like the CNT and CGT; groups that sprang up out of the indignados movement – the precursor of Occupy Wall Street.

In Zaragoza and Barcelona, there were flyers, posters and stickers all over town. Neighbourhood assemblies and average workers went door to door – and shop to shop – to talk about the strike; and crucially, there was as much criticism of the major unions as criticism of the government...

from anarchy and chaos

Posted on April 10, 2012 by nycautonomousantifa

NEW YORK CITY
WEDNESDAY, April 11st 2012
6PM @ Foley Square

FB event: facebook.com/events/393935157297190

Last week Immigration Custom and Enforcement arrested over 3,000 undocumented people nation wide, over 140 in New York. ICE justifies these actions by claiming they are “cleaning the nation” from undocumented people who have criminal records.

All undocumented and Black people are vilified. We do not have legal or equal access to employment, public assistance, medical treatment, or safe living conditions. Therefore WE are often times pushed towards non-legal means to providing for ourselves and our loved ones.

In a country where:

1. police and their wanna-bes are protected at the expense of Black lives,

2. prisons are filled with mostly Black and Latino men,

3. our communities and the borders are heavily patrolled by the same people who gun us down,

4. a Black trans woman is incarcerated for self-defense for allegedly killing a neo-Nazi who broke a glass bottle on her head, and an armed man kills a Black teenager and walks free,

5. there are more Black men in prisons now then there were total Slaves in the 1850s

it is clear that ‘citizenship’ and ‘criminal’ are categories that allow the US government to continuously function as a systemically racist institution.

This demo is to show solidarity and support for all people affected by the ICE raids, the Police, and Department of Corrections. This is for all of us- with or without papers, in or outside cells. We will not sit in compliance with these violent acts that seek to separate our communities further as “good” citizens and “bad” criminals.

Free CeceMcDonald! Justice for Ramarely Graham an Trayvon Martin!

Off the borders and fuck the police!

Antifa Support!

We'd like to pass along information from the Arizona Antifa Defense about the case of Dane Rossman, a Tucson resident facing charges from the anti-nazi demonstration in Phoenix back in 2010. With the wounds from the passing of anti-immigrant bill SB 1070 still fresh, 300 people took to the streets back in November of 2010 to drive the white supremacists and fascists from the National Socialist Movement from the streets of Phoenix.

from Fires Never Extinguished

We'd like to pass along information from the Arizona Antifa Defense about the case of Dane Rossman, a Tucson resident facing charges from the anti-nazi demonstration in Phoenix back in 2010. With the wounds from the passing of anti-immigrant bill SB 1070 still fresh, 300 people took to the streets back in November of 2010 to drive the white supremacists and fascists from the National Socialist Movement from the streets of Phoenix.

Fierce clashes played out that day, as anarchists and anti-fascists fought both cop and nazi, as the police used liberal amounts of pepper spray attempting to clear the streets. Only two people were arrested that day by Phoenix police, we believe the police were desperate to walk away from the fight with an arrest or two given the intensity of the conflict. The cops had been hindered in making more arrests since two of their undercover officers were chased out of the anti-NSM meeting place, and three other undercover cops were identified as the demonstration wound down.



Dane was one of the people snatched and arrested that day, he was subsequently charged with 5 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon/dangerous instrument and 1 count of rioting. His defense team gives a good run down of the events since that day:

Within a month of the action and arrest, Dane went to an arraignment only to find that his charges had been “scratched.” This meant that while the charges were not being actively pursued, they could be brought back up at any time within 7 years, with or without notifying Dane. And so it simmered for the next year or so.

On Sunday, November 20th, 2011, Phoenix police pulled over a car full of out of town folks for allegedly running a stop sign. The officer immediately informed one passenger, Dane Rossman, that he recognized Dane from actions against the NSM.

After loudly mentioning “anarchists” over police radio, several more squad cars arrived, along with at least one undercover officer. Dane was immediately arrested on a warrant for charges brought back by a County Grand Jury in September 2011. No attempt to notify Dane that the charges were back seems to have been made. Word could be heard over police radios that “there’s a guy working on things” that would “really appreciate 8x10s of everyone in the car.” All passengers were subsequently searched, photographed, and asked if they identify as anarchists.

Dane was released after posting $7,500 bail and now faces six counts of aggravated assault and one felony riot.

Dane is currently facing multiple felony charges that could result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years, his supporters are busy raising funds for legal defense, their goal is to raise $8,000 for private legal counsel. His defense committee has raised 1/4 of the total funds needed, and that's where you come in. We all know money is tight these days, and there's no shortage of comrades who are locked up or facing time and need our support, which is why we are asking for you to find those few extra dollars and send them down to Tucson. Anarchists in Arizona are still very active in opposing the growth of the far-right by staying in struggle with immigrant and indigenous communities under attack by the state and racist vigilante groups. Here, the fight against colonialism isn't left to the history books, it's a daily battle.




Donations can be made through the supporters' WePay account and through paypal (donate using the ramshackleglory@gmail.com email as the recipient). The Arizona Antifa Defense can be reached through email at AZAntifa@gmail.com.

mIAMI mODEL at the Ink Annex

Buenos Aires: Núcleo de la Cólera / FAI claim responsibility for two incendiary attacks (Argentina)

25 & 29 March 2012

Cities condition us to an awful life of commerce and submission.

We extend critique and combat through the subversive extension as a form of life, our goal (among others) is to make daily the generalized revolt of the oppressed and rebels.

On the nights of March 25 and 29, we set fire to a Renault Picasso car at the intersection of Fitz Roy and Paraguay, and we left another incendiary device at the intersections of Guemes and Gallo. Continuing the work that other comrades started.

Everything continues…

FOR THE SPREAD OF SABOTAGE AGAINST SOCIAL PEACE!
WAR ON THE STATE-CAPITAL!


Núcleo de la Cólera / Informal Anarchist Federation

Arizona bill declares women pregnant two weeks before conception

A new bill up for vote in the state of Arizona would ban abortions for some expectant mothers, but that’s only the start of what lawmakers have in store. If the legislation passes, the state will consider a child to exist even before conception.
Under Arizona’s H.B. 2036, the state would recognize the start of the unborn child’s life to be the first day of its mother’s last menstrual period. The legislation is being proposed so that lawmakers can outlaw abortions on fetuses past the age of 20-weeks, but the verbiage its authors use to construct a time cycle for the baby would mean that the start of the child's life could very well occur up to two weeks before the mother and father even ponder procreating.
On page eight of the proposed amendment to H.B. 2036, lawmakers lay out the “gestational age” of the child to be “calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman,” and from there, outlaws abortion “if the probable gestational age of [the] unborn child has been determined to be at least twenty weeks.”
The architects of the amendment say that prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks — except in cases of medical emergency — is necessary for the safety of both mother and child. By designating a life to begin weeks before even possible, however, some critics are condemning Arizona lawmakers for looking for a way to involve itself in abortion matters before it can even become an issue.
“Certainly, they are trying move the gestational cutoff from what had been over the last two years a 20-week gestational cutoff to an 18-week gestational cutoff,” Guttmacher Institute’s State Issues Manager Elizabeth Nash tells Raw Story. “At the same time, they are trying to say, ‘Oh, this is a 20-week abortion ban.’ And they get away with that with the definition of gestational age that’s in the bill.”
“Considering that it’s anti-choice nuts we’re talking about, it’s safe to assume that they’d simply prefer a situation where all women of reproductive age are considered to be pregnant, on the grounds that they could be two weeks from now,” RH Reality Check’s Amanda Marcotte adds in a recently-penned editorial. “Better safe than sorry, especially if that mentality means you get to exert maximum control over the bodies of women of reproductive age.”
In extending her support for the legislation, however, sponsor Nancy Barto, a Republican senator representing the Phoenix, Arizona area says that fetuses are able to feel pain after the 20-week mark. Also favoring the proposal, Senator Steve Smith (R-Maricopa) adds that lawmakers also need to consider “the 50 million-plus children who have been killed” since the US Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v Wade.
"I would like to listen to the 50 million-plus children that have been aborted and killed since Roe v. Wade,'' the senator says."I would like to listen to what they think of this bill.''
Mother Jones adds in their own reporting, however, that while the law could be explained as an effort to deter complications that come from late-term abortions, opening up the window for the gestational age to begin before conception can hurt the parents in the long run. Essentially the act would outlaw abortion after 18 weeks, not 20 as the legislation claims, which could keep some concerned parents from making a decision about pregnancy before some medical procedures that gauge the health of the child are able to be determined. While some tests can be conducted soon after conception to catch potential life-threatening conditions and other impairments, outlawing abortions after the eighteenth week could keep parents from opting for abortion after other tests can be carried out (before the 20-week mark).
H.B. 2036 passed in the Arizona Senator by 20-to-10 and will soon go before the state’s House. To Raw Story, Elizabeth Nash says she believes the bill has a “very good chances of passage.”

Update from the SF Commune

UPDATE: (San Francisco) The SF Commune arose from the ashes on Easter Sunday at an undisclosed Church owned property. Less than one week after the Archdiocese commanded SFPD to violently evict and arrest 75 folks from 888 Turk St., a new Collective Housing Community Center has been established. The SF Commune will not tolerate the systems that force 7,000-10,000 San Franciscan's to remain homeless while over 30,000 housing units are wasting away vacant.
On May Day, the SFC will open it's doors and conduct another Open Occupation in solidarity with the May 1st General Strike. For the next three weeks, the new site will continue to thrive covertly, engaging in mutual aid and direct democracy, in preparation for May Day. The SFC has been initiated to provide a perpetual, autonomous headquarters for the OccupySF movement.

This is a documentary created by members of Revolutionary Autonomous Communities and community members of Westlake/Pico Union. This is a people account of what really happen May 1st 2007 on MacArthur Park, when the LAPD's Metro unit attacked a peaceful march and rally of community members, activist, labor organizers, the corporate media, ETC. No profits were made on this film and all the footage and Music belongs to it's original owners. So please post and share this film for the world to see, because we will never let this be swept under the rug. With Music by Rebels To The Grain and many other L.A. based musicians.
For more into check out
revolutionaryautonomouscommunities.blogspot.com/
iliveidieiorganize.blogspot.com

Fifty-three reactors down, one to go: Japan may have a nuclear-free summer

By Justin McKeating, Green Peace

Green Peace

Saturday, Mar 31, 2012

Japan is almost completely free of nuclear power now, after the shutdown on March 26, 2012 of the Number 6 reactor at the country’s Kashiwasaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. No nuclear reactors are now operational on the Japanese mainland. When scheduled maintenance closes the Number 3 Tomari reactor on the island of Hokkaido on May 5 2012, all of Japan’s 54 reactors will be out of action. The country will be nuclear-free for the first time since 1966.

This is very encouraging news. And the impact on daily life for the people of Japan has been invisible. The Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano has said there will be no restrictions on electricity use or any repeat of the rolling blackouts that happened last summer in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The power companies are cautiously optimistic as well. Asking people to use their energy efficiently, Tokyo Electric Power said in a statement, “for the electricity supply and demand in the foreseeable future, we expect to maintain stable supply.”

Tragically, the people of Japan have had to find out the hard way about the dangers of nuclear power. Fortunately, they are finding out about a nuclear-free future the easy way.

The Fukushima disaster has again proven that nuclear is not safe. Every day that passes with reactors offline proves decisively that nuclear power is not needed. All this has been done with management of electricity demand, energy efficiency measures, and more than enough backup generation in place. With no reasons or excuses for electricity shortages in the coming months - any blackouts that occur this summer will not be because of a lack of supply - there is absolutely no need to restart nuclear reactors. Considering the challenges the country has had to face since the terrible events of March 11 2011, this is a truly magnificent achievement.

Not only that but this situation in Japan is exposing the myth that nuclear power is vital in the fight against climate change. Despite the fact that most of the country’s nuclear reactors were not in operation in 2011, one study by climate NGO Kiko Network shows there was no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2010-2011. In fact, the study shows that between April and December emissions actually fell. Another report by Japan’s Institute of Energy Economics shows a small increase of 2% which is much lower than some in the nuclear industry were warning and is amazing when you remember Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors were generating a third of the country’s electricity.

And so Japan has shown the rest of the world that it does not need to trust its future to a technology that threatens its economy, its environment, and its people. Will more countries follow in rejecting nuclear as Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium have all done recently? If not, why not? Nuclear-powered countries are out of excuses for wasting precious time, energy and resources on their reactors.

The Economist, long a proponent of nuclear power, is now openly questioning its economics as well, calling nuclear power ‘a dream that failed’. Without taxpayer support by way of subsidies and liability exemptions, the nuclear industry will collapse.

What’s needed now is a rapid switch to renewable energy and energy efficiency. It can start right now. Today. It’s just what a world still in the grip of a financial crisis and facing catastrophic climate change needs. A global push for renewables can provide the economic boost, the security of energy supplies, and the cut to greenhouse gas emissions desperately needed to create a stable, safe tomorrow for everyone.

Source: GreenPeace

Detroit High School Protest: Students Suspended After Demanding 'An Education'

About 50 students were suspended Thursday from the all-boys Frederick Douglass Academy in Detroit, Mich. for walking out of classes in protest, demanding "an education."

Among their complaints: a lack of consistent teachers, the reassignment of the school principal, educators who abuse sick time and a shortage of textbooks.

"We've been wronged and disrespected and lied to and cheated," senior Tevin Hill told the Detroit Free Press. "They didn't listen to us when we complained to the administration. They didn't listen to the parents when they complained to the administration, so I guess this is the only way to get things solved."

One math teacher, parent Sharise Smith tells WJBK-TV, has been absent for more than 68 days.

The students marched outside the school and chanted, "We want... education! When do we want it? Now!"

Students and parents became increasingly alarmed when Frederick Douglass was no longer listed as an application school in the district -- current students had to apply to attend. Smith told the Free Press that her son was given an A in geometry without taking a final exam.

"It was by default, just for showing up. It wasn't because he earned an A," she said.

The Frederick Douglass boys are just some of many students in a city that proved to be the worst-performing urban school area among 21 surveyed across the country. Despite its national rank, Detroit's overall performance increased on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in 2009 branded Detroit "ground zero" for education reform, but changed his tone to a more optimistic one last year. Still, the district is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and faces dwindling enrollment -- the first day of academic year 2011-2012 saw a 55 percent attendance rate.

Detroit Public Schools spokesperson Steve Wasko noted that Frederick Douglass teachers who abuse sick time "will be reprimanded," and the district aims to keep the school open while adding new courses like debate and engineering.

The 17-year-old Hill told The Detroit News that so many teachers have been simultaneously absent from school that dozens of students had been forced to gather in the gym or other common school areas. Students also went for long periods without homework, and Hill said he struggled on a recent placement exam at Bowling Green State University, where he's been accepted to attend next year.

"I literally couldn't answer a question on there," Hill said. "Right now, I'm not going to be as successful as I should be because I haven't been properly taught."

Arizona Anarchist Call to Support the Mayday General Strike in Phoenix

Anarchists in Phoenix are asking for across the board support for the May 1st general strike actions at the end of the month and on May 1st. Many people are participating in the organization and ideas behind the strike worldwide, we want Phoenix to be remembered for what we did. The general strike isn't just some far out goal, it is the push for an action that looks to total transformation beyond reformism. Success is not measured by what we didn't do, but the inspiration that builds out of what we actually do.

A new culture of resistance is building worldwide, in Phoenix it is no different, we call for radical anti-capitalist involvement in both actions. Build your affinity group now whether it be for planting a tree, protecting the demonstrations, playing music or any and all of the above. Reach out to other anarchists that may be waiting for what is next, don't miss this, we need you!

_________

This Saturday April 7th at Tempe Beach Park 2 PM

Anarchist Spring Assembly

_________

Sunday April 29th

Resistance is Fertile! Reclaim the commons in Tempe! (Sunday before MAYDAY)

http://www.facebook.com/events/191490354298985/

_________

Tuesday May 1st

Anti-Capitalist Strike, Street Party and March in the Heart of Downtown Scottsdale

http://www.facebook.com/events/257906917632613/

The kids in the woods encampment of 2008(Arcata Community Forest)

Statement from the ’Kids in the woods’ encampment’---

We shall live as Free people in a community of our own; willing to work with the city and the people to provide a safe place for those who have a need for an alternative working, living situation. We will not be made to move or herded around. We are the Kids in the Woods. We have worked for months to clean up, salvage and recycle what we can. We have offered to work with the park to help maintain and rehabilitate with little to no response. Therefore, we will do as have been, while standing and fighting. This is our home. We need the support of the people, shared resources and knowledge, and our spot to designated as a safe, legal zone.

DAY 1

Please be aware that there is a small encampment in our community forest. The camp is inhabited by approx. 15-20 individuals who have been repeatedly harassed by local law enforcement about sleeping in unlawful areas around town, and have turned to this last piece of forest to finally rest undisturbed. some of the campers have been there since September, others for only 4 or so months. When spotted recently by a jogger, the campers were ordered to vacate the premises yesterday (3/25) or action would be taken. As promised, two "environmental service" workers visited the camp today (3/26) and ordered that the camp be taken down and everyone disperse. The people in the camp refused to leave or take down their possessions, and it is believed that the authorities will be called in soon. Members of Redwood Curtain Copwatch and Redwood Curtain Anti-Fascist Action met with the camp to offer support and document the event. They need more support!!! They are in desperate need of more community members to monitor police behavior, and to show solidarity with those who have no place to sleep (this is especially important in light of the recent vote against the building of a new Arcata Endeavor, which would have had over 100 beds and a shelter for people like this). Please help make this public.

Please offer your support by calling Redwood Curtain Copwatch at : 707-633-4493

THANKS SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING YOUR COMMUNITY

The Children of the encampment

Barricade 1

Barricade 2

Encampment members speaking and eating within barricade 2

Contrary to popular belief, this is more than just a thrash heap, its barricade 3

The Camp

Members of Redwood Curtain Copwatch, Redwood Curtain Anti Fascist Action, Accion Zapatista, and the ’Kids in the woods’ encampment speak after Arcata Environmental services leave

Helping out with the visual resistance

Pancake Breakfast

DAY 2

STATEMENTS FROM THE ENCAMPMENT AND FRIENDS OF THE ENCAMPMENT

Joyel (Encampment member)-

3/27/08

We are protesting our eviction from the last place there is to live in the area, this is the Arcata Community Forest and we are just expanding the community to the woods, I’ve lived here since the end of December and this isnt just another squatter camp, there is a core group that has been here for a while (as far back as september) and we are trying to live in peace without taking up space on the streets and where our stuff is safe.

What we are trying to do is just either have the city leave us alone (or maybe help) or for them them to find us a suitable location to set up a semi/permanent home, alot of people that come through this area are just passing through and that is what the townfolk see as the "homeless" population, the people that come through town and sleep under your stairway is what we are classified as but we are mail-receiving residents of Arcata and we just choose to live outside.

any support is greatly appreciated, the houseless population needs to stop running.

come to the park!!!!

Ozzie Jane-

I had the privilege of being welcomed into this community for a short while, and these people deserve and need all the help they can get to win this struggle against rich private property supremacists. They area dynamic counter-cultural force standing strong in the face of oppression. Their lifestyle is significantly less harmful to the environment than any other human living space in the area. It is absolute bunk to accuse them of interrupting the lives of wild animals when you consider the impact of cities, streets, corporate and private pollution. Furthermore, it is positively hypocritical of anyone that resides in a house to accuse them of invading an animals’ natural habitat.

The homeless, houseless, unemployed and underemployed hold the highest risk health factors for disease, and they have to go through the most hassle to get any modicum of health care. Shame on anyone who complains of their existence, for they more than likely have no idea what it is like to exist in such a grueling way as to live without a house.

DAY 6

This morning at approximately 9:00 am, three officers from the ARCATA POLICE DEPARTMENT approached the encampment and asked the occupants to leave. The Encampment once again protested the eviction and the police were faced with the only option available, to leave. Before leaving they used cameras to photograph the persons involved, and the encampment in it’s self.

The encampment continues to clean and put forth an effort to create ways to lessen the impact they have on the area. They are skilled in many forest living tactics but do ask for more knowledge on the subject not just for themselves, but for future members.

They have a wish list together which are listed as necessities.(the less waste matter, the better)

Food of all dietary needs

Water

toilet paper(degradable)

tarps

shovels

lanterns

rope(twine, hemp, cord)

batteries(AAA, AA)

trash bags

lanterns

medical supplies

axes(wedges as well)

playing cards

The most important thing they need is friendship and support.

These kids have great heads on their shoulders and they would be able to prove that if you extend your friendship.

Another important thing potential friends and volunteers can do is be there when the police and Environmental Services to hold them accountable to their actions.

Thanks and solidarity.

Much love ,

REDWOOD CURTAIN ANTI FASCIST ACTION

DAY 7

Well this thing is only letting me upload 1 thing so this is a quick pan of the camp.

we’re still holding it down in the woods, the police came once already now and we know that they won’t leave us alone that easy, I walked down the hill for the first time in a few days last night and on the way down where the trail meets the ACF logging road is where we have piled the bagged garbage for pickup, I’m told that a truck comes out every-other week at least in order to clean up what the work crews pull out of abandoned camps and most of that garbage is stuff that we have cleaned out of other sites than just ours.

walking around downtown Arcata I could really tell that allot of the people that are usually sitting in front of the closed stores on the bar strip were absent, most of them I know had made it up to camp already and more had started walking that way.

As for the Owls Kevin I understand fully the impact of a horn in morning but I don’t know if is widely known that Arcata regularly logs out of that forest to make money? They call it "sustainable logging" because they only do it a little when a little means a 50 foot wide 300 foot long clear-cut?

we are being very careful about deforestation in and around the camp, yes we have a fire for cooking but 90% of that wood is hauled down from the clear-cut where it’s just laying there choking out the local vegetation while the pampas grass is flourishing, the rest of the wood is dead fall so no trees are hurt and the fire pit was dug with consideration to the surrounding roots, we have recently started working on anti-erosion because some of the trails in camp were starting to deteriorate which is something I would like to do for the city’s trail 16 because it is eroding faster than any and I don’t even use that trail.

Let us help!!

I’ve got to go but come visit us in the redwood park if you get the chance.

K.I.T.W.

DAY 11

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM A.F.A.

Redwood Curtain Anti-Fascist action has been involved in an 11 day struggle with an encampment within the Arcata Community Forest. The ’Kids in the Woods’ encampment was brought to our attention by house less rights activists based in the Humboldt County community. It was brought to our attention that the encampment members had been repeatedly intimidated by both local law enforcement, as well as Arcata Environmental services and told they must pack up and leave. No solutions have been discussed with members between these organizations on the subject of where they can go to sleep, eat, or even live. This was the initial reason Redwood Curtain A.F.A. offered its support.

During the 11 day occupation of the Arcata Community Forest by the ’Kids in The Woods’ encampment, Redwood Curtain A.F.A. offered support with the best intentions for the members of the encampment as follows:

• Dialogue

• Food

• Water

• Literature on problem solving and group organization

• Jail Support

• Bringing accountability to Police and Arcata Environmental Services for their actions

• Coverage through video and photo for media purposes

• And above all solidarity with the struggle for individuals involved.

We regret to inform the ’Kids in The Woods’ encampment and the members of the Arcata, Humboldt County, California community that Redwood Curtain Anti Fascist Action withdrawals its support of the encampment for the following reasons.

• The encampment is no longer capable of sustaining collective decision making due to external antagonism from External Parties.

• The degradation of the Arcata Community Forest by External Parties in the forms of improper human, and consumer waste disposal which has compromised the integrity of the members of the encampment.

• The apathetic behavior displayed by the External Parties towards Redwood Curtain A.F.A. and it’s involvement with the ’Kids in The Woods’.

• The apathetic behavior displayed by the External Parties towards the mental and physical labor necessary in sustaining the camp.

Billy Goat-
I am a member of Redwood Curtain Anti Fascist Action. For 12 days i have befriended the core group of the ’Kids in The Woods’ encampment. A.F.A. made this official statement in the light of events that have transpired over the course of the last three days. Regretfully, we withdrew our support. From a personal viewpoint I watched this core group labor intensely to keep the mental and physical environment positive. Selectively they chose firewood from abandoned downed trees located at the logging sites. Environmentally it seemed that the clear cuts were causing more damage than the encampment was. Sure sediment was an issue, but after strenuous labor, as i said before, actions were taken to prevent the erosion of the trail that passes through their camp. Boards were cut and fit to the trail, hammered down in place to prevent the trail from sliding into the ravine. An excellent method i must say. They dug shitter sites accurately by digging them three feet down, three feet wide, and covered their feces with wood chips, earth, and ash to prevent fecal borne disease’s from traveling by flies or woodland animals. These kids pulled resources from less resourceful campers who had trashed their campsites and left it behind in other areas of the forest. These kids went as far to attempt to stabilize the increasing number of people that seemed to fluctuate by the hour.

Unfortunately though traveling kids who heard about the site from media sources such as this one and a widely publicized paper by the name of the Arcata Eye, came up and without respect camped out on the outskirts of the barricaded perimeters. Some even camped in the kitchen area and next to the fire. It was heartbreaking to see 4-6 months of work be disrupted in three days by a new group of people.

I spoke with my friends in the encampment and learned that half of the original group had abandoned ship because mutiny was on board. It was true. Disrespectful parties entered the camp and treated the area like a party in the woods, they disrespected the statement the kids were trying to make and showed apathy to those who spoke out against this behavior.

As an organizer i see clearly the pain involving this situation. Friends have been forced apart. Decisions have been made. It seems as if the core group has decided that this is not worth fighting for if there is an internal war to fight, as well as an external war approaching. I myself find it hard to put myself in that position of making a decision. Thus i make this statement. In a time of struggle we scream and reach out for a helping hand in solidifying a community with the best intentions for ourselves and future generations. When members of our own generation fail to link arm’s we find that our chain in penetrable. Selfish motives break that chain further. When the ideal has been overlooked, distorted and challenged it compromises the integrity of a movement and gives way to both a loss of empowerment and a lack of direction.

I thank the community for the support and interest of the camp, let the struggle continue. The battle for dignity and respect of house less persons has not been won here. Bigotry aimed at kids such as these who create radical interesting, and obscure living situations has not been healed.

Continue your support for these kids by offering your friendship.