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April 15th is Steal Something from Work Day
Does your boss work less than you but take home a bigger paycheck? Is somebody zipping around in a private jet at your expense? If the corporation is making money at the end of the day, that means they’re not paying you the full value of your labor – that’s where corporate profit comes from! So if you need something in your workplace, take it. You earned it!
It could be a paper clip, or some cash out of the register, or full-on embezzlement. If you’re a barista, grab a bag of coffee; if you work at a garage, get a wrench set. If you’re unemployed, take something from someone else’s workplace! Unemployment works for the bosses, too – it forces people to take any job they can, and sends the message to other workers that if they don’t knuckle under they’ll be in for it too.
You could share it with your friends, or give it to your family – the family you never see because of your job. You could use it yourself, to do something you’ve always dreamed of – maybe something making use of all that potential you would fulfill if only you didn’t have to work for someone else all the time.
Steal something from work! Break down the divisions that separate you from your co-workers. Work together to maximize your under-the-table profit-sharing; make sure all of you are safe and getting what you need. Don’t let the boss pit you against each other – in the end, that only makes all of you more vulnerable. Build up enough trust that you can graduate from taking things from work to taking control of your workplace itself!
Chances are you already steal from your work – if not physical items, at least time on the clock. Good for you! But don’t stop there – think of how much more you could take, how much more you deserve.
For more info, go here: http://stealfromwork.crimethinc.com/Does your boss work less than you but take home a bigger paycheck? Is somebody zipping... more-
- animalia_libero
- added this
- 15 days ago
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- 21 comments
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We are close to anarchy…word to the wise. : Veterans Today
In the media today we have so many opinions as to what to do about a “broken America” that one has to wonder, are all these commentors watching the same series of events? One thing is for sure, the American people are out of patience with both private (corporate) and public (elected and appointed) government.
Let’s start off with the New York Times and Bob Herbert’s Op Ed piece entitled They Still Don’t Get It in which he tells us that poverty in the suburbs in increasing exponentially, Black unemployment is as high right now as it was in the Great Depression of the 1930s and both political parties are more or less stymied as to what they should do about it.
In another Op Ed piece Gail Collins wrote a column entitled The Lady and the Arlen in which Representative Michele Bachman of the GOP made Arlen Specter a newly found Democratic Senator lose his cool twice during a television interview with her extreme politics originating in the Tea Bag wing of the GOP. Bipartisonship from the Obama camp has made no real gains for the American people. That much is obvious.
Things are not getting better. They are getting worse.
In yet another Op Ed by Charles Blow entitled Mobs Rule we learn just how fickle we can all be relative to our love affairs with politicians. They last as long as a snowball in July in downtown Miami. Here is an excerpt:
“Unfortunately, many now see Barack Obama as a left-leaning version of George W. Bush: just another out-of-touch emperor. It seems as if Obama and the Democrats made the mistake of believing that a heart once won was forever won, that people would be patient, and that the mob would accept their reasoning for lack of results.
They were wrong. The mob is fickle. And it’s back with a vengeance.
While the left slept, the right saw a void and leapt in. They feted the fearful to a steady stream of dread and circuses, and now the pendulum of enthusiasm has swung in the other direction.”
Oh so very true. The people are out for blood here. If you are an American politician, you must make no mistake about that.
In an editorial from the Times entitled Here’s How to Help the editorial board points out that if more Americans lose their homes as a result of this anemic economy, the President’s day is pretty much over. It must be a priority. Here is an excerpt:
“Unfortunately, advance word of coming changes to the antiforeclosure effort are not encouraging.
When the effort was announced nearly a year ago, the administration said it would help as many as nine million at-risk families keep their homes by the end of 2012 — by lower payments through loan modifications, mainly lower interest rates, or by refinancing loans for borrowers who have little or no equity.
Yet recent tallies show that through 2009, only 66,465 loans had been successfully modified, and through last November, 155,700 loans had been refinanced. That’s abysmal. An estimated 2.4 million borrowers are expected to lose their homes this year alone because of joblessness, negative equity and, in many cases, unaffordability as teaser rates expire on adjustable mortgages.
It would take 100,000 successful modifications a month, starting now, to significantly counter the threat that so many foreclosures would pose to the economy, according to estimates by Moody’s Economy.com.”
This is not government at its best.In the media today we have so many opinions as to what to do about a “broken... more-
- Monkey_Films
- added this
- 17 days ago
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- 1 comment
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HAITI…WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: The Horrifying Moment Lynch Mob Beats to Death a Looter and Drags hi
The horrifying moment lynch mob beats to death a looter and drags his body through the streets as Haiti descends into anarchy
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
For Full Story and GRAPHIC PHOTOS of angry Mob....http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/haiti-warning-graphic-content-the-horrifying-moment-lynch-mob-beats-to-death-a-looter-and-drags-his-body-through-the-streets-as-haiti-descends-into-anarchy/
A mob of men and children watch as the bloodied corpse of a suspected thief is brutally beaten by a man with a stick.
The victim is naked and bound at his hands and feet. It is broad daylight in the devastated capital city of Haiti.
These are the latest in a series of chilling images from the country as anarchy threatens to destabilise the relief effort following Tuesday’s earthquake.The horrifying moment lynch mob beats to death a looter and drags his body through the... more-
- ctpatriot1970
- added this
- 23 days ago
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- 0 comments
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From Pittsburgh to Copenhagen: Actions for the Earth in Solidarity with the COP15 Protesters
The United Nations COP15 Climate Conference is taking place in Copenhagen (from December 7-18, 2009). In Pittsburgh, individuals from a variety of local networks organized multiple actions with a diversity of tactics to stand in solidarity with the protesters in COP15 and to demand solutions to the suffering of our planet and inhabitants.
On December 9th, a Consol Energy (largest BTU Coal producer in the United States) sign was partially covered with a poster that said "CLEAN" COAL = DIRTY TRICK. The poster was not removed for the remaining time that the ad was up.
On December 10th local environmental group PECAN held a vigil in the freezing weather to demand real action against climate change. A huge banner was displayed by environmentalists that read "Climate Action Now". Approximately 45 children, students, and adults alike came to speak out, despite the wind chill dropping the weather below 5 degrees. Audio/Images/Video from this event can be heard here:
Part 1: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/38040
Part 2: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/38064WELL
December 12 was called as a global day of action in resistance to the COP15 summit and in solidarity with that days mass protests. Whether these solidarity protests were large or small, militant or passive, they are an important expression of our solidarity. It is a solidarity which recognizes the interdependence of people across the planet.
In the day on December 12th, a student group and avaaz held their own vigils to bring attention to these issues once again.
On the evening of December 12th, people from multiple networks convened in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh for an unpermitted march in solidarity with those marching in Copenhagen. A banner was dropped on the side of Forbes Ave- a main road- that read "CAPITALISM ISN'T GREEN (A) (E)". The group of activists including environmentalists, anarchists, and others then marched on the streets carrying black flags and banners reading "Our Climate is not for Sale" and "Govt is War, Anarchy=Peace". Those who marched shouted chants like "System Change not Climate Change!" and "Who's streets? Our streets!".
The response from the public was extremely positive. Protesters where met with honks and cheers from the passing cars and a maintenance worker from a local university aided in blocking the street for the protesters. Eventually, the march was met by police forces who showed a display of lights and noise and eventually forced the protesters onto the sidewalk with their cars. No arrests or detentions occurred. We were more fortunate in this way than so many suffering police and state brutality and repression right now in Copenhagen.
There were also reports of damage later in the evening of December 12th to an establishment of Kentucky Fried Chicken- notorious factory farmers, environmental polluters, and animal abusers.
December 18th will be the final Pittsburgh action where members from various groups and backgrounds will meet in front of PNC Bank downtown to educate people about climate change and how to do their part. Protesters will stand with signs alongside "Billionaires for Climate Change" who will also hold signs showing their true colors.For more info on this bank's green-washing ideas: http://greenapple.ca/blog/2009/10/29/green-wall-or-green-wash/
Around the world we see people's desire to dramatically reduce emissions in the face of government and corporate opposition to real change. The continued roadblocks created by corporations who worry about reduced profits and offer false solutions that will do little but increase the flow of wealth of public money to private interests....
Full article, all images, and links at original link above.The United Nations COP15 Climate Conference is taking place in Copenhagen (from... more-
- animalia_libero
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- 1 month ago
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- 2 comments
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University, Fearing Animal-Rights Violence, Axes Baboon Study
So many animals spared, and liberationists didn't have to do a thing. :-)
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http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/08/university-fearing-animal-rights-violence-axes-baboon-study/
Last week, seemingly out of nowhere, Oklahoma State University president Burns Hargis pulled the plug on a federally funded research project that would have tested anthrax vaccines on baboons, and euthanized the primates at the experiment’s end. This week more details are beginning to come out regarding why Hargis made his call. Basically, his office says, they didn’t want to deal with possibly violent animal rights protesters.
The plan was to expose the animals to the spores of the attenuated Sterne strain of anthrax and eventually advance to the Ames strain — the fully encapsulated and virulent form of the bacterium that was used in the anthrax attacks of 2001 — and observe the pathobiology of infection. It was part of a collaborative multi-institutional NIH grant originally awarded for $12 million in 2004, and renewed in September of this year for another $14.3 million [The Scientist]. Oklahoma State would have hosted only a small part of the research, and the university’s animal testing committee approved the project unanimously.
President Hargis gave few details when reports first surfaced that he’d taken it upon himself to ax the project. Yesterday Stephen McKeever, the vice president for research, tried to step in and explain. “The issue he was mostly concerned about was that he really did not want to attract controversy from the violent elements of various animal rights groups. He did not want to put OSU in that spotlight and so unnecessarily distract from or interfere with current research” [Science]. McKeever told Science that no one had specifically threatened OSU over the project, but that the university had never before hosted terminal primate research. He also issued the vague statement that the school “received confidential information, which it will not reveal in public, that made the president uncomfortable with this particular project” [New Scientist].
While animal rights organizations probably celebrated, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology balked (pdf). In a statement, the organization called OSU’s action disturbing, arguing that top-of-the-line labs like OSU’s that are capable of handling the safety and security issues inherent in anthrax testing need to be doing that critical research, not shunning it.
Not everyone bought the president’s explanation, either. Some faculty members have suggested that the decision to cancel the study might be linked to pressure from OSU benefactor T. Boone Pickens, whose wife Madeleine previously expressed disapproval of surgical training procedures involving animals in the university’s veterinary school. Spokespeople for both Pickens and the university deny the suggestion [Nature News]. Pickens has donated nearly $500 million to Oklahoma State in recent years, with more than half going to athletics. The Cowboys’ football field bears his name.
Oklahoma State’s faculty council meets this week to take up the issue, but veterinary scientist Richard Eberle suggested that the school had already lost credibility. “OSU is now seen by researchers at other institutions as an unreliable research partner and afraid of animal rights demonstrators,” Eberle said [The Oklahoman].So many animals spared, and liberationists didn't have to do a thing. :-)... more-
- animalia_libero
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- 2 months ago
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- 4 comments
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YouTube - Greek riots even more footage.... 12-06-2009
This looks like it could continue for a few days.-
- Monkey_Films
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- 2 months ago
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- 1 comment
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Greece Riots on Anniversary of Teen Killed by Cops
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- animalia_libero
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- 2 months ago
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- 1 comment
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Forms of Government
An explanation of the various forms of government, and why America is not a democracy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgEAn explanation of the various forms of government, and why America is not a democracy.... more-
- ibrake4rappers13
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- 2 months ago
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- 1 comment
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WTO Opponents Burn Cars, Break Windows
A group of demonstrators opposing a meeting of top world trade officials set fire to cars, broke shop windows and committed other acts of violence in advance of a major WTO meeting that starts Monday.A group of demonstrators opposing a meeting of top world trade officials set fire to... more-
- Jenime
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- 2 months ago
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Senate Bill would allow "mentally Incapacitated" vets to buy guns
Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base, has been described by former colleagues as "psychotic." As more details emerge about Hasan's troubled state, gun safety advocates are launching fresh attacks on a Senate bill they say would make it easier for mentally unstable veterans to buy firearms.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) says his "Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act" will protect veterans' gun rights. But the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence calls it a "dangerous" proposal that could allow "over 100,000 mentally incapacitated or incompetent persons" to buy guns—people who would previously have been barred from doing so by the Veterans Administration (VA).
(click on the link for the full story and for the in-text links)Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base, has been... more-
- Vierotchka
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- 3 months ago
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- 99 comments
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Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People!
You have the right as an individual to own a gun and defend yourself.
Prohibition didn't stop liquor use; the drug laws can't stop drug use. Making gun ownership illegal will not stop gun ownership.
The primary victim of these misguided efforts is the honest citizen whose civil rights are trampled as frustrated legislators and police tighten the screws.
Banning guns will make guns more expensive and give organized crime a great opportunity to make profits in a new black market for weapons. Street violence will increase in new turf wars. Criminals will not give up their guns. But, many law abiding citizens will, leaving them defenseless against armed bandits.
Rather than banning guns, the politicians and the police should encourage gun ownership, as well as education and training programs. A responsible, well-armed and trained citizenry is the best protection against domestic crime and the threat of foreign invasion. America's founders knew that. It is still true today.You have the right as an individual to own a gun and defend yourself. Prohibition... more-
- critic
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- 3 months ago
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- 147 comments
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Why We're Winning
A curious property evident in the discussion of insurrection in the United States is that it gets more respect the further it occurs from home. Anarchists who would never dream of complaining that the Thessaloniki Food not Bombs is being neglected while its members amuse themselves burning banks, who could never conceive of suggesting that the Somali pirates stop seizing ships for ransom in order to start a bike repair collective, have no problem criticizing their own friends and comrades for shortchanging local projects to attend semi-annual mass mobilizations. This is a shame, because a look at the broader picture reveals that summit demos are taking an ongoing toll on the ruling class, even when they are tactically unsuccessful.
Just for starters, any city hosting a summit has to impose de facto martial law for the duration of the meetings. Miles-long steel security fences, bag searches on the subway, black helicopters in the sky, armor-clad riot cops on every corner, among other measures, make a mockery of the myth of "civil rights." By employing such repressive tactics just to keep a few summit delegates from being confronted by those they claim to be helping, authority reveals its true nature, undisguised by the usual lies and propaganda. People who claim that we should abandon summit protests because we can never replicate the WTO (World Trade Organization) riots in Seattle are missing this point. While it's true that the cops will never again allow themselves to be defeated on the street the way they were in Seattle, the things they have to do to win in the short term erode the perceived legitimacy of the entire ruling system in the medium term. If all they had to do was stop the protests they could just shoot the protesters. But since they must also maintain the illusion of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, their problem is complicated immensely. They have no good options, so it's not a matter of whether we will win, only of how.
Their situation becomes all the worse when, after turning the host city into a militarized encampment for a week, the cops can't even stop a few kids in black from breaking windows. The resulting frustration often leads them to attack and arrest defenseless groups and individuals who have minimal connection to the protests, further compounding their problems when the videos hit Youtube. Then to justify their own brutality, the cops make an example of a handful of protest organizers by hitting them with ridiculously inflated charges, usually for actions that most people would consider perfectly innocuous. As an added bonus, the lawsuits generated by blatantly unconstitutional arrests and searches strain city budgets, consume prosecutors' time, and extend their PR nightmare. For authoritarians, the only thing worse than appearing brutal and repressive is appearing brutal and repressive and ineffectual. Cops, by their nature, will fall into this trap every time, as long as we show up and set it for them.
full article at link......A curious property evident in the discussion of insurrection in the United States is... more-
- animalia_libero
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- 3 months ago
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Einstein: A Socialist?
A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in 1949. He discusses our nature as both solitary and social beings, simultaneously conditioned by biological and cultural constitutions, and what this means for the individual's role in society. He then asks "how the structure of society and the cultural attitude of man should be changed in order to make human life as satisfying as possible." The final passages prove particularly poignant in presaging the greatest atrocities committed by Soviet tyranny. The challenge: How is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?
Part of the answer may reside in bypassing the power of large bureaucracies through a decentralized system of democratic planning directed by workers' and consumers' councils. Moreover, with today's information communication technology, the capacity for mass collaboration and self-government/self-management has never been more viable and effective. Your thoughts?
An Excerpt:
"The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals...
(The) crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in... more-
- JMPxx85
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- 8 months ago
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- 4 comments
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How I Became an Anarchist
I recently discovered that I am an anarchist. I never thought about it much until sometime in the last several months. I do not really know with precision the moment in time when I felt suspicious of government, but to me it seems that it was always there. After reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm when I was in the eighth grade, I think I especially became disdainful of government and the bureaucracy and hierarchy involved.I recently discovered that I am an anarchist. I never thought about it much until... more-
- critic
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- 4 months ago
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- 68 comments
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The Revolt of Other Animals and the Case for Total Liberation
[go to full link for the images and links because they won't be posted here]
One thing I hear from the anti-animal liberation movement (or those apathetic to it) is that the animal liberation movement is different from other movements because the animals don't come together to rise up against their exploiters. They also claim that the animal liberation movement is unlike that of other human animal struggles because x% of that struggle was the oppressed group (i.e. 50% of the population was women during the suffrage movement). Both of these misconceptions result from both speciesism and an effective campaign to demonize any retaliation from other animals against their captors.
A recent story inspired my entry on this topic: Russian Circus Bear Kills Manager
In short, a bear exploited, demeaned, and undoubtedly beaten into performing for humans on ice skates retaliated against his/her captors. The bear was shot on scene after giving fatal injuries to their exploiter.
In reading this story, others immediately came to mind. The horrid circus elephant attempt at escape in Honalulu. She made it out of the building, and through the gates, but then where was she to escape to? She was shot to death shortly after.
When performing monkeys banded together to attack their trainer in China, who had be imprisoning and beating them, their attack ended there. They were tied to the trainer by their necks and had nowhere to escape to. No one helped them.
When a mother cow attacked a farmer as he tried to steal her baby (as farmers do), she is labeled as "overprotective" as if there was something strange about her attempts to save her child. This cow was lucky enough not to be identified by the remaining farmers, but only at the cost of killing her captor and devastating his family.
These stories and many others beg the question: How are the animals to rise up against their exploiters (without our help) when every time they do they are met with weapons and immediate punishments of death? We do not speak their language nor they ours so no amount pleading will help (which they do do in their own forms of communication as they cry out from cages, scream in pain, and other noises which are ignored by their exploiters). Letter-writing and pleading doesn't even help us get things done within our own species.
The other point about x-amount of beings being part of a struggle begs the question: Why do only humans count in the percentage? The animals in the movement, while lacking in our weapons and technology, outnumber us. For this reason, their movement should be considered on level with our own as we are all animals. Also, in most other movements, it was NOT the oppressed group acting alone against the oppressor. The oppressed group almost always had allies from outside their demographic which helped make their revolutions a success. Could those suffering in the Holocaust have brought the Nazi war machine down on their own?
Before we judge the plight and worth of other species based on their ability to revolt, we must remember that the cruelty towards our fellow animals is so heinous that it can be compared to every single human struggle that has existed. Factory farms are concentration camps. Female farm animals serve as sex slaves and breeding machines. Animals in entertainment are slaves to their oppressors.
No one is free while others are oppressed.[go to full link for the images and links because they won't be posted here]... more-
- animalia_libero
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- 4 months ago
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- 3 comments
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Know Your Rights Booklet for Activists
The Center for Constitutional Rights has a great new legal guide for activists called “If An Agent Knocks.”
From CCR:
Federal law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have a dark history of targeting radical and progressive movements. Some of the dirty tricks they use against these movements include: the infiltration of organizations to discredit and disrupt their operations; campaigns of misinformation and false stories in the media; forgery of correspondence; fabrication of evidence; and the use of grand jury subpoenas to intimidate activists. Today’s activist must know and understand the threat posed by federal law enforcement agents and their tactics as well as several key security practices that offer the best protection.
Federal agents have many tools at their disposal to target activists. While it is important to know and understand these tools and tactics, it is of critical importance that you resist any paranoia of government surveillance or fear of infiltration, which will only serve to paralyze you or your organization in your quest for social change. If fear of government repression prevents you from organizing, the agents of repression will have won without even trying.
I think it is worth noting that in the recent appellate ruling in the SHAC 7 case, the court argued that educational materials on the SHAC website were relevant to the “terrorism” charges against them. Specifically, the court noted that the SHAC website had “a series of links dedicated to educating activists on how to evade investigators. These links were entitled, ‘Ears and Eyes Everywhere,’ ‘Dealing with Interrogation,’ ‘When an Agent Knocks,’ and ‘Illegal Activity.’”
Clearly, knowing your rights is perceived as a dangerous, dangerous thing. So get to it.
Thanks to Matthew for the link, and the excellent work on this publication.The Center for Constitutional Rights has a great new legal guide for activists called... more-
- animalia_libero
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- 4 months ago
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Image Problem: G20 Police Break Cameras and Destroy Video of Police Actions
Missy Jarzenske was headed to her Lawrenceville home on 37th Street after an afternoon of photographing the Sept. 24 anti-G-20 anarchists' march when, three blocks from her front door, she stopped on the sidewalk to take one more shot. Her boyfriend, Michael Kocis, and two other friends were photographing as well.
Police swarmed them on the sidewalk on Butler at 34th, pulled them into the street and arrested them all, she says.
"We live here! We were just taking a picture!" she recalls shouting.
Today, says Jarzenske, "I'm charged with failure to disperse in my own neighborhood, and obstructing my own sidewalk." And when she got out of jail five hours after being arrested, Jarzenske says, her camera was broken and the film ruined.
"They had ripped the back open and they had tried to tape it together" -- unsuccessfully, she says. Her other exposed roll is still missing. (Kocis' digital camera was intact, as were the photos he shot with it.)
"We weren't doing anything but documenting," says Jarzenske, who teaches photography at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. "It's kind of my job."
Some 200 people were arrested during G-20-related protests. Among them were several people trying to document the events -- either for established media outlets, or for "indymedia" enterprises and other projects. The best-known example is Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Sadie Gurman. But two Pitt News photographers were also arrested, and other journalists were exposed to crowd-control devices like pepper spray.
Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff, who were either arrested or reportedly targeted during the week, did not reply to requests for comment. But Beth Pittinger, who heads the Citizen Police Review Board, says she has already received numerous complaints about police conduct during G-20 week, including some involving camera damage.
"The frightening part of that is, it's trying to control information that comes into the public," she says.
For example, one YouTube-posted video -- by independent journalist John Moschopoulos -- was shot Sept. 25 on the corner of Fifth Avenue and South Bouquet Street in Oakland. The video (http://tinyurl.com/ylnvhkn) shows a young male being arrested: When Moschopoulos asks the arrestee's name, a K-9 officer approaches, pointing to the camera. "Spray him," the officer orders another. He is sprayed twice. "I'm on the sidewalk," he protests.
"Disperse!" comes the reply. "You were ordered to disperse. Do it now."
Moschopoulous says there were numerous people milling on the sidewalk behind him -- proof, he says, that police targeted him not for failing to disperse, but for shooting video.
Moschopoulos was not arrested. But Nate Monkelien, with Twin Cities Indymedia, doesn't expect to get his cameras and tapes back after filming several arrests Sept. 25. He was charged that night with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and other, more minor charges -- all of which he claims are "completely fabricated."
"They were definitely targeting cameramen," he says. Not everyone agrees.
Local freelance journalist Shane Dunlap, who moved to North Carolina just after G-20, says he was photographing the protests when he was arrested. Still, he doesn't feel police were taking extra notice of being filmed.
"They had their hands full," Dunlap says. Officers "were just indifferent to who you were -- professional media or not. I don't really think they cared."
Police did run right by this working journalist to catch non-media ordered to disperse during an unpermitted Sept. 24 march. And protesters weren't always fond of photographers; one of the first chants during that protest was "cameramen assholes!"
But the advent of cheap digital recorders, YouTube and even cell-phone cameras means that the line between journalist and citizen can get blurry. That's especially true in the case of "indymedia" journalists, grassroots reporters who furnish content to online sites... full article at linkMissy Jarzenske was headed to her Lawrenceville home on 37th Street after an afternoon... more-
- animalia_libero
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- 4 months ago
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Appellate Court: Encouraging Civil Disobedience is Not Protected Speech
The conviction of the SHAC 7–animal rights activists hit with “terrorism” charges for publishing a website and vocally, unapologetically supporting direct action–has been upheld by a U.S. appellate court. It is a landmark free speech ruling that lowers the threshold of what types of conduct are protected by the First Amendment, and upholds a law that is so broad that it targets civil disobedience as “terrorism.”
As a brief introduction: The “SHAC 7” of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty ran an effective campaign that had the sole purpose of putting Huntingdon Life Sciences, a notorious animal testing company, out of business. The campaign pressured corporations to sever ties with the lab. The SHAC 7 were never accused of breaking windows or releasing animals from labs, but they supported those who did. They published a website which posted news of both legal and illegal tactics, and supported all of it. The website had also posted names and addresses of individuals connected to the corporations targeted.
The ruling was issued today and, although there are many aspects that deserve attention, I want to walk through what I think are by far the most dangerous and troubling implications of this ruling–those related to the First Amendment:
[PDF of the SHAC appeal ruling]
Supporting and facilitating non-violent civil disobedience is not protected speech.
As part of their campaign, SHAC supporters were emailed about “electronic civil disobedience.” The email and message board posts included instructions on how electronically “sit in” on corporate web sites through emails, faxes and phone calls.
Now, one of the benchmarks in First Amendment law is what is called the Brandenburg standard. It holds that even the most controversial and inflammatory speech is protected as long as it not likely to incite “imminent and lawless action.” That is a very high threshold. In this court ruling—which, to the best of my knowledge and the attorneys I have spoken with is the first of its kind—the written word can be construed as promoting, or resulting in, imminent and lawless action.
To put it more plainly: Vocally supporting civil disobedience, explaining what it involves, and encouraging/facilitating people to take part is not protected speech.
This is so important let me say it again, another way: People who write about civil disobedience and encourage people to take part can be found convicted of a crime even if they do not take part in the civil disobedience.
This has dangerous implications far beyond this case. For instance, I wrote about the recent call by mainstream environmental groups for massive non-violent civil disobedience in defense of the environment. Under this reasoning, organizers of that event who published a website aren’t protected by the First Amendment.
[UPDATE: One person had this question, so others might as well: I am not at all saying that simply endorsing civil disobedience is now not protected speech. However, doing so and also facilitating civil disobedience is what the court ruled is not protected. So in the example above, the organizers promoted civil disobedience, encouraged it, set up a website telling people where to go and when, and there were people involved to specifically support those arrested. I think there is a very real danger of that type of conduct being affected by the reasoning presented in this ruling. That is what I had meant by the headline and preceding points.]
Fiery rhetoric is a “true threat” when illegal conduct has taken place in the same campaign.
Another measurement of whether speech is protected by the First Amendment is whether it is a true threat. Throughout the appellate court ruling, the court argued that SHAC’s speech did, in fact, constitute a true threat.... full article at link........The conviction of the SHAC 7–animal rights activists hit with... more-
- animalia_libero
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Justice Denied: The AETA 4 and You
The following is a letter just released by one of the lawyers defending the AETA 4, Bob Bloom. The letter captures both the absurdity of the charges, and the significance of the case for the animals and all of us. For a blunt and succinct explanation of how far the FBI is willing to go to crush the more effective tactics employed by the animal liberation movement, read on.
-Peter Young
A new client of mine, a young man named Joseph Buddenberg, is one of four principled, dedicated, and non-violent animal rights activists who have been indicted in federal court in San Jose, California under a new federal statute that was intended by Congress to target unlawful and violent conduct.
The statute, effective as of 2008, is known as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), and each of the four defendants is facing five years or more in federal prison because they are alleged to have engaged in, literally, picketing at the homes of researchers they believe cause laboratory animals to be subjected to inhumane experimentation that causes suffering, pain, and death.
Congress was cautioned that the statute would be subject to overreaching by the FBI and by prosecutors. Predictably, this case that targets non-violent and non-criminal speech is the very first prosecution the government has chosen to initiate under this new statute. (The statute can be found by Googling 18 U.S.C. 43).
I do not understate or attempt to mis-state the allegations against the defendants. One of the documents I enclose is an affidavit sworn to by the FBI agent in charge of this case. The affidavit sets forth the worst of what the FBI claims the defendants did (in fact, the affidavit mis-states the facts as to one event). As you will see from reading the affidavit, the defendants are accused of identifying and locating animal researchers and then loudly picketing on the sidewalks in front of their homes. The intent was, and is, to stop the torture and other mistreatment of animals by speaking out in a non-violent manner to shame the researchers by exposing them and their conduct to their neighbors.
This kind of activity, speaking out to expose wrongdoers, is the very essence of the First Amendment. But the offending research laboratory, the University of California, is politically very powerful, and it has apparently lobbied federal law enforcement officials to bring this prosecution. The right of non-violent activists working to protect animals is under threat, and the First Amendment rights of all of us are threatened by this prosecution as well, as the animals suffer and die painful deaths every day.
The defendants are all good people, and courageous people. I have come to know Joe, and I can tell you that he cares deeply about protecting innocent creatures and putting an end to the mistreatment and the suffering. He is not a violent person, and he is not a criminal. And he certainly is not a terrorist.
Many animal lovers and civil libertarians believe that this is an extremely important case for a number of reasons. I have been engaged in civil rights law for more than forty years, and I am truly offended by, and worried by, this prosecution. Needless to say, it impacts the four defendants, but it also imperils the rights of all of us, as well as the lab animals who are being subjected to horrific mistreatment.
The case is complex and labor-intensive. It involves a maze of legal questions regarding the constitutionality of the statute, the validity of search warrants, potential issues regarding wiretapping, and other challenging issues, including the intricacies of the law of conspiracy (one of the two counts in the indictment). The facts of the case are also complicated, encompassing some fourteen incidents in at least three counties, and there are literally dozens of witnesses for whom we must prepare............The following is a letter just released by one of the lawyers defending the AETA 4,... more-
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- 4 months ago
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Protestors Show Up At Onorato's Rally to Speak Out Against Police Brutality at the G20
Click link for video- wouldn't embed right on current!
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
Several protestors interrupted Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato's speech at IBEW headquarters on the South Side.
Onorato, who is running for governor, hardly got into his announcement when a woman approached him at the podium.
"So I just want to let you know that the G-20 protestors …," she said before she was escorted off the stage.
It did not derail Onorato who turned it around to make his point.
"We want to hear everybody's voice and you all know me. I've never shied away from any criticism," he said. "I make the tough decisions, what we got to do to move this region forward, and that's why we're going to move this state forward next."
But a minute later, protestors from an organization called What Happened At Pitt or WHAP tried to unfurl banners, shouted protests and tried to disrupt Onorato's address.
Police intervened, scuffled with several protestors, handcuffed them and led them through the crowd.
"This Italian kid born and raised on the North Side, still leaving there, raising my family," Onorato said. "These protestors, they don't know what tough work is. We grew up with tough work. Western Pennsylvania knows tough work."
A spokesman for the group told KDKA Political Editor Jon Delano the demonstration was a follow-up to earlier protests about alleged police mishandling and arrests of students in Oakland during the G-20 Summit and Onorato's failure to address it.
Police say that at least four of the protestors have been issued citations for defiant trespass, a summary offense with a fine that could be as high as $300.
Onorato is taking his campaign back on the road to Johnstown, State College and Wilkes-Barre.Click link for video- wouldn't embed right on current! PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―... more-
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