Author: Slingshot Collective

Off With Their Heads!

Movement Against Monarchy March

London – In October over 700 protestors (including a hooded executioner complete with noose, 20ft portable guillotine, and multiple Prince Charles’s ripe for beheading) marched around Central London and through the West End calling for the immediate end of the ludricrous Monarchy system. Backed by a dozen carnivalesque drummers the crowd chanted “The Ritz, The Ritz, We’re Gonna Get Rid of the Ritz” as confused tourists looked on.

Fuck the Cars, Let’s Play Volleyball! National French Car-Free Day

France – 35 cities banned cars from their central districts for one day in October, a move well appreciated by pedestrians. French Activists extended the official plan though a number of well-timed actions. In Paris the Champs Elysee was blocked by a tripod during the morning rush hour. Some in Lyon “borrowed” barriacades and “street closed” signs from the city council, blocked off a street and covered it with sand for boules and volleyball. Everyone brought apple tarts and cakes to enjoy while the police slowly circled round the festivities in patrol cars. There also was a Critical Mass in Dijon and a “Lorry-Free Day” in Chambery – the tunnel was blocked to trucks.

Eugene to NIKE – “Just Don’t Do It!” Impending NIKEtown Sparks Protest

Eugene, Oregon – On October 17 scores of anti-corporate activists and black-clad young anarchists took to the streets of the birthplace of NIKE to protest its highly problematic business practices. After speeches, leafleting and the destruction of a 12 foot long “Swoosh” symbol carried in by children (symbolizing NIKE’s child labor practices), the protesters became more demonstrative by tearing down a fence surrounding the yet-to-be-opened store. The police countered with riot-geared, pepperspray wielding cops, yet several people still entered the store, trashing displays and “product”, igniting fireworks, and dumping over-priced clothes off a balcony. A few days later, police raided the home of a teenage male that left fingerprints on a protest sign near the scene, holding his family at gunpoint on the floor in handcuffs, seizing computers and documents and searching the place for 7 hours. He wasn’t home at the time, and no arrests have been made yet, although ample police video tape exists of the protest.

Giuliani Must Really Hate Jaywalkers New York’s Finest Trample Memorial March

New York City – Over 4000 people marched down Fifth Avenue of October19th to protest and mourn the death of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student brutally murdered in Wyoming. As usual, the Major Giuliani police state quickly pounced into action, harrasing and assaulting those who strayed off the sidewalks. This turned the vigil and protest into a combative event – after people were randomly grabbed by police and thrown against cars or to the ground (as one pregnant woman was), or trampled underfoot by horses, some fought back by throwing their memorial candles. After 96 senseless arrests and innumerable police assults the march finally made it to Madison Square Park where shrines for Shepard were set up. The police justified their actions by stating that the marchers in the streets were endangering motorists and had to be dealt with.

Amnesty International Targets US Abuses

London – In October Amnesty International took the unprecedented yet entirely justified step of launching a year long campaign against the US for systematic and blatant human rights abuses. This is the first time in its 37-year history that AI has started a major campain against a Western country. Some of charges against the US outlined in its150-page report are “widespread and persistent” police brutality, “endemic” physical and sexual violence against prisoners, “racist” application of the death penalty, and the use of “high-tech repression tools” such as electroshock devices and incapacitating chemical sprays. In short, Amnesty International charges the US with a “double standard” of criticizing the rest of the world for abuse while not doing enough to stop the abuse it is overlooking, and causing, at home.

No Justice, No Oil Nigerians Take Arms Against Shell

Nigeria – Nigerians repeatedly attacked Shell Oil in October, seizing at gunpoint more than 10 stations, two helicopters and a drilling rig. Youth groups, fed up with their exclusion from the Nigerian political process and the general economic inequality of their nation, have recently taken matters in their own hands by hitting where it hurts – oil, the lifeblood of the region. Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest producers of oil, and Shell has a stranglehold on this production. Activists vow to keep attacking Shell and Agip Oil sites until they get a new local government, and at least 500,000 barrels of oil a day is now being lost due to their actions. Protestors also demand that a more equal share of the oil wealth that accounts for more than 90% of Nigeria’s export income should go to the people – many who live in makeshift homes where there is often no electricity or public water supply.

We all know that the world’s forests are on the brink of ecological collapse. Only 22% of the planet’s original primary forest cover remains ecological intact and even these areas are under relentless attack from transnational timber, mining and fossil fuel corporations.

For years forest defenders have been putting their bodies in the path of the destruction as well as targeting the big timber companies wherever they do business. This is important work and it needs to continue but if we are going to save the world’s old growth forests we need to open up new fronts as well. Since excessive U.$. wood consumption is the engine driving global deforestation, the time has come to target the companies who make millions retailing old growth forest products.

Top of the list of forest looting profiteers is The Home Depot, the largest do-it-yourself retail chain in the world. Home Depot boasts annual sales of over $24 billion and through its control of 20% of the home improvement market it is the largest retailer of old growth forest products in the world. Home Depot has over 700 stores in North America, has recently expanded into Chile and Brazil and plans to grow to over 1,300 stores by the year 2001. Currently they are building between 3 and 8 of their sprawl-mart mega stores every week! Each of these stores is filled with plundered old growth forest products. These include cedar, douglas fir and redwood from the temperate rainforests of North America; mahogany stolen from indigenous lands in the Amazon (a recent study by the Brazilian government found that 85% of all mahogany exported was logged illegally); lauana and ramin from the rainforests of Southeast Asia.

Home Depot likes to promote itself as an environmentally conscious company and has been saying since 1992 that it wants to go old growth free. Finally, in 1997 due to pressure from Headwaters activists they committed to stop selling old growth redwood. However, not only are they continuing to sell ancient redwoods but in negotiations earlier this year they admitted that they had made these promises merely to stop environmental protest.

Activists across North America responded to Home Depot’s role in liquidating the world’s last old growth forests with a day of action on October 14, 1998. Demonstrations were held at over 85 stores through out the U.$. and Canada including lockdowns to reclaim stolen rainforest products in New York, Northern California and Iowa. Many activists conducted guerrilla “Dead Rainforest Tours” in order to show customers the macabre truth behind Home Depot’s inventory.

While Home Depot scrambles to launch a PR counter-offensive, the actions continue. Escalating this pressure is essential if we are going to drive Home Depot out of the old growth business and stand in solidarity with the indigenous forest communities fighting to protect their homelands around the planet. So grab some friends and head out to your local Home Depot! Let them know that your not fooled by their greenwashing and that you want them to stop selling old growth NOW! For more information about the campaign check out www.homedepotsucks.com or contact the Rainforest Action Network at 415-398-4404 or via email at rags@ran.org.

Strawberry Pie

Preparation time: 35 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Throw at your convenience

To make crust see Pie Crust Recipe.
To make filling, arrange points up on bottom of cooled pastry crust: 1 large basket of strawberries

Blend in blender:
2 small baskets strawberries
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Cook strawberry mixture in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly for 15 minutes or until mixture turns dark red. Place pan with strawberry mixture in cold running water, stirring until cool. Pour mixture over strawberries in pie pan. Refrigerate. Decorate pie with sweetened whipped cream. Decorate politician with pie.

Pie Crust

1 cup barley flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
4 tablespoons ice water

Prepare one 9-inch pie pan by brushing bottom and sides lightly with oil. Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Mix oil and ice water. Add liquid to dry ingredients using fork. Stir until a ball is formed. Press into prepared pie pan, or roll out between wax paper and place in pie pan, making a high edge around the outside. Prick with fork, and bake in 400 degree over for 10-12 minutes. Plan ahead to have crust prepared before any pie-throwing event.

Cherry Tart Pie

1 9-inch baked pie shell
3 cups pitted sour cherries, drained
1/3 cup cherry juice
3/4 honey
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons tapioca granules

Combine cherries, cherry juice, honey, cornstarch, cinnamon and tapioca in heavy-bottom saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer slowly for about 5 minutes until tapioca is clear and mixture has thickened. Cool and spoon into baked pie shell. Throw chilled or at room temperature.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

2 heaping cups of cooked pumpking
2 10.5-ounce (300 g) packages of silken tofu, drained
2 pie crusts
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, not packed tight
dash salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground dry ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons nutmeg

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Blend the tofu in a food processor or with a blender until smooth and cream-like. Add two heaping cups of cooked pumpkin and blend some more. The result should be a light orange-colored paste with no lumps of tofu. Put the paste into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar, salt, and spices. Mix well and spoon it into two pie crusts. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until the crusts are dark brown (but not burned). Cool before throwing.

Recent pie actions have been carried out against: Renato Ruggiero, Director General of the World Trade Organization (“This is a present from the dispossessed!”); Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, Robert Shapiro, CEO of agricultural chemical giant Monsanto, neoliberal economist Milton Friedman, Charles Hurwitz, CEO of MAXXAM (which is wiping out the last privately held ancient redwoods in the world), San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom, pro-reckless development San Francisco Supervisor. Mayor Brown was pied with three pies (tossed tofu cream, mixed berry and pumpkin) simultaneously for his crimes against working people in San Francisco. Three BBB operatives are being charged with felonies for the Brown action, including one who had her collar bone broken when she was tackled by security agents. Send money to help with their legal case:

Friends of the Biotic Baking Brigade
3288 21st St. #92
San Francisco, CA 94110
Call 415-267-5976.

The Pentagon, China’s human rights agency, India’s major nuclear weapons manufacturers, and Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo have all been attacked recently, not physically, but by computer hackers. “Hacktivists” around the world are launching a series of electronic attacks on web sites of oppressive institutions. Tactics range from electronic graffiti to bombarding servers and effectively halting all traffic to a site.

Recent actions include an attack by the Mexican group X-Ploit on the country’s finance ministry website, replacing it with the face of revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata in sympathy with the Chiapas rebellion. On Nov 22, the Electronic Disturbance Theater in NY attacked the site of the U.S. Dept. of Defense’s “School of the Americas,” which trains representatives from repressive Latin American military and intelligence forces. Electronic Disturbance Theater attacks flood the server with requests for the site, severely limiting “legitimate” access and potentially crashing the server. Potential of Hacktivism.

Hacktivism has a lot of immediate potential. A lot of visibility for revolutionary movements can be generated by changing websites to reflect our political views, both through the sites themselves, and through the significant mainstream media coverage the actions receive. More importantly, the internet is an increasingly serious business tool. Since it is so easily open to attack, revolutionary groups should take this opportunity to wreak havoc and Run! Hacktivism’s Flaws.

But hacktivism has definite flaws. We should be wary of depending to heavily on technology as a vehicle for activism. The internet and much of the other technology used in hacktivism originated within the US Dept. of Defense. There is a certain enjoyable irony using these tools to wound their parents. But activists must make sure the social institutions maintained by the military-industrial complex do not taint internet-based actions.

One danger is that the movement is potentially non-diverse — in two major survey articles focusing on hacktivism, no women were mentioned, and no groups operating out of Africa were described. Although some groups are putting up sites with directions making hacktivist actions accessible to novice hackers, and although the activists are generally of a younger generation of hackers, the fact remains that the actions are primarily accessible to people with an extensive computer background, which is a generally male and middle class group of people.

There is also discussion within the hacker community questioning whether hacktivism violates the community’s ethical standards. Hackers traditionally have engaged in electronic exploration for its own sake– hacking has been driven by curiosity, not by malicious intentions. “The bottom line to me is that hackers have no moral right to break into someone else’s system. India and Pakistan have no inherent moral right to put humanity at risk and to further damn our environment. Conflicting moralities do not justify vigilante action” pointed out a letter-writer to the folks who hacked the Indian nuclear bomb makers’ sites.

In many ways it is a guerrilla war– groups changing websites and institutions retaliating. Hackers may have the advantage now, but institutions are devoting more energy to deflecting the attacks. While hacktivism has potential, energy devoted to it means less energy going towards organizing in the streets, where the effects are more promising and lasting.

Hacktivist Actions

o On Oct., 27, a day after China’s human rights agency announced its new Web site, the official view of that nation’s human rights record was replaced with an electronic trespasser’s manifesto: “China’s people have no rights at all, never mind human rights. How can the United States trade millions and millions of dollars with them and give them most-favored trade status when they know what is happening?”

o Groups MilwOrm and Ashtray Lumberjacks, acting together, orchestrated a unprecedented mass hack directed towards all of the nuclear powers, replacing pages on more than 300 sites with an anti-nuclear statement, complete with angry red mushroom cloud

o On Aug. 1st, the Portuguese group Kaotik Team hacked 45 Indonesian government Websites, altering web pages to include messages calling for full autonomy for East Timor.

o Indonesian government email accounts were flooded and several websites were hacked on Aug. 12th by hackers from China and Taiwan, to protest the fact that Chinese-Indonesians were targeted for torture, rape and looting during the anti-Suharto riots in May.

o On Oct. 13th, political activists took over an Indian government web site and posted messages and photos calling attention to alleged government-sponsored repression and human rights violations in the contested northern Indian state of Kashmir.

With all the malarkey, studies, and obfuscation the mainstream / mass media has spewed out over the past 15 or so years about crime, you’d think someone would get the story right! So far, no one has. What an enormous shame

Finger pointing at Russia

The far right, the capitalist right, and part of the middle spend decades shouting and finger pointing at the totalitarian prison gulags in Stalinist Russia. They made an icon out of Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and his works, including the marvelous Gulag Archipelago. All those gulag phsons were referred to as proof of an ‘Evil Empire” a failed, decadent and totalitarian system, a police state seeped in corruption, suppression and oppression. So prisons were needed everywhere.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. With the far right and rapacious capitalists leading the way, the 50 United States of America combined with the federal government now incarcerate more people than China. (China has 1.4 million individuals in prison.) Further, there are 166 prisoners in China per 100,000 people, compared with 187 in Taiwan, 210 in Singapore, and 614 in the United States. The world average is 105. (Ref. New Ghosts, Old Ghosts: Prison and Labor Reform Camps in China, James Seymour and Richard Anderson, M.E. Sharpe (publisher), 1998). Obviously the Republican Party and some like minded Democrat fellow travelers have adopted Cecil B. DeMille’s dictum: “Preach against it, while you wallow in it!” Finger pointing at China, Russia, and others, while slyly not mentioning America, has made good show; and after all, there’s no business like show business.

Crime statistics misleading

Then there are the shocking American crime statistics. In the nine largest American cities, according to recent figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, arrests are made in only 20 percent of all reported crimes, and well over 112 of all crimes go unreported. So of all crimes committed, arrests are made in no more than 10 percent of the cases. Upwards of 90 percent of all American criminals are never so much as arrested! (NAFTA advocates should note that the arrest to reported crimes in Mexico city in 1997 was approximately 3 percent!) Add to all this the forgotten innocents in American p@sons, the estimated millions of Americans who commit crimes by deliberately not reporting or under reporting taxes owed, corporate crime, and the hundreds of thousands of persons who annually enter the U.S. of A. illegally (a crime) and the true American crime situation comes into 20-20 focus.

Prisons un@ed to crime

The hard fact is that in America prisons as we have them have nothing to do with crime. Anyone who believes American prisons have anything to do with crime or criminals no doubt also believes in the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. To address the American crime problem with force/repression/incarceration it would be necessary to lock up 35-40 million Americans. A police state is very expensive- much more than a welfare state. As it stands now, the simple truth is that American prisons are poor houses. And they are big business for capitalism: Capitalism’s latest and most milkable cash cow. Captive consumers. Captive consumer mentality. Slave labor. A dumping ground for unsaleable (els6where) merchandise; Prisoncrats buy anything. Who sees? Who cares?

And the show is not over. Hard right and disingenuous, rapacious, capitalist propaganda notwithstanding, prisons are created and sustained for prison administrators and employees, not for prisoners. Politicians and Prisoncrats know this scientific truth, which is:

Whatever may be said, or believed, to the contrary, institutions of all kinds are run for the benefit of the custodians, not for the patients, prisoners, clients, or even customers. An institution is an organism, and every organism is designed to serve its own ends first, whether those ends be administrative or pecuniary.

Crime colleges and poor houses

Capitalists are living their dream here and now: turn American into a fascist police state, turn a profit on all fronts, and turn their backs on fellow Americans. Meanwhile, although American prisons today are nothing more than poor houses and warehouses, they do function as crime colleges. As the recidivist rate proves, the more individuals incarcerated the more recidivists there are in training! The life ,blood of big business and capitalism is repeat customers, and in the prison business, repeat customers are called “recidivists.”

Rapacious capitalists have discovered a perpetual motion device, an ever-blooming money tree. In some states, such as Texas, which pay no prisoner wages, what could be better than absolute slave labor? Squeeze the life blood out of poor house residents. Plutocrats know that American prisons have nothing to do with crime, but rely on Abe Lincoln’s statement-You can fool all of the people some of the time” – to rest certain that the American public will not catch on. By Robed J. Zani No. 328938

Michael Unit, 12-A-39
Rt. 1, Box 4500
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75886

Berkeley residents are organizing to oppose business interests who want to transform Berkeley’s public spaces into an antiseptic shopping mall by eliminating all of the mature trees from downtown Berkeley. The plan to cut the trees, developed by Berkeley city officials at the behest of merchants and the Downtown Berkeley Association, would “clear-cut” over 200 mature, healthy trees along Shattuck Ave. from University to Durant and along University from Oxford to Milvia.

The trees to be cut, which are a variety of species at “irregular” locations, are to be replaced with more “uniform” species in more “uniform” locations. The plan is designed to increase the visibility of commercial signs on buildings, eliminate tree-shaded places for “undesirable” people (youth, poor, homeless) to stand, and reorient the downtown towards a more commercial, uniform look. Smaller trees at regular intervals recall the more business friendly look of the thousands of shopping malls and suburban shopping districts which now dot the country.

The residents opposing the urban clearcut, organized under the name Berkeley Lorax, are supporting an alternative plan that would save the healthy mature trees plus add new trees to empty sidewalk tree wells and in the median strip between parking bays and the street. Berkeley Lorax wants any redesign to treat mature trees as individuals rather than furniture which can just be thrown out to “redecorate” the downtown. While BL is willing to see some sick or dying trees cut, and while they support pruning trees that need to be pruned, they reject the cutting of all mature trees to promote visibility of business signs or just to have “regularly” spaced and “uniform” appearing trees.

At a recent action, BL members symbolically chained themselves to the threatened trees. More actions to defend the trees could follow if the city does not adopt an alternative plan which would preserve the bulk of the healthy, mature trees in downtown Berkeley.

Concerned people are encouraged to contact the City Council and the Planning Commission to request the alternative plan. For more information or to get involved, call the Berkeley Lorax, 510-849-1902 or write to 3124 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705.

Despite the FCC’s stepped up enforcement actions against micro-broadcasters nation-wide and despite the FCC’s injunction that shut down Free Radio Berkeley, East Bay covert broadcasts have continued regular broadcasts for more than two months every Sunday night on 104.1 FM. Each broadcast has happened from a different location for security reasons.

Free Radio activists have also kept the struggle for democratic communications alive with two recent well publicized acts of civil disobedience after the FCC tried and failed to capture two activists in the Berkeley hills last August (see “Microradio Activists Dodge FCC Raid” by Cecelia B. Sapremia, Slingshot Autumn 1998).

The first action since the would-be captors missed their mark took place with at least a hundred close supporters surrounding the impromptu station broadcasting from a secret location. The public at large was notified of the broadcast by large posters resembling announcements for a prize fight. “Free Radio vs. the FCC–will the hometown microradio activists defeat the government in the fight for the airwaves?” A press conference was held at the nearby train station, with camera crews notified only minutes before the broadcast of the location of the action. Masked activists escorted the news crews to the broadcast location. The FCC knew exactly where the broadcast was coming from, having thousands of dollars of fancy equipment at their disposal. But, as the poster for the next action proclaimed, they were nothing but chicken.

Since the FCC did not grace the broadcasters with the honor of their presence, the activists decided to risk a little more. In September the Berkeley City Council was to hear an appeal filed by the California Broadcasters’ Association of the Berkeley Zoning Boards’ decision to grant Free Radio Berkeley a use permit for their radio antenna (now a point only in principle since FRB got shut down and moved out of that location altogether). A second action was planned for this debacle. The activists broadcasted on the steps of Berkeley City Hall to a crowd of 80 that night, as well as at least 10 different print and television outlets. Broadcasters dressed up as Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, and an FCC agent wearing a chicken mask. Community leaders, former FRB listeners, and other malcontents spoke on the air and to the crowd, including some former FRB programmers who deliberately violated the court injunction (see “No Freedom Without Communication,” by P.B. Floyd, Autumn 1998). As with the first rally, the FCC was nowhere to be seen.

It is interesting, but not so surprising, that the FCC is quite willing to storm into the hills with University of California police to capture two broadcasters, but will not face crowds of microradio supporters willing to risk arrest and commit civil disobedience. It seems that the FCC was not willing to uphold their pro-corporate, media monopoly “laws” in the face of curious newspaper reporters, television cameras, and scores of free radio supporters. It could be that the FCC realizes how wrong they are to keep communities from having a voice on the public airwaves, and a public enforcement in Berkeley would only rally more people to the side of freedom. Because the FCC seems unwilling to bust public actions, radio activists still have opportunities to seize the airwaves.

The broadcasters had prepared a “Notice of Actual Liability” document to serve the FCC in case they decided to show up. It was modeled after the “Notice of Apparent Liability” the FCC left under a rock at the site of the hill broadcast August 2nd. The broadcaster’s document charged the FCC with, among other things, having a vested interest in the broadcasting business (according to the Communications Act of 1934, the FCC cannot have any members who are also serving broadcasting interests–FCC Chairman William Kennard is a former National Association of Broadcasters lawyer).

Even more spectacular radio civil disobedience actions may be in progress by the time you read this article. Stay Tuned! For info or to get involved, call 510 587-3388.

While Free Radio Berkeley and San Francisco Liberation Radio may have been forced off the air by last summer’s FCC (Federal Communications Commission) injunction, other micro-powered stations around the country, including Freak Radio Santa Cruz, have pumped up the programming!

FRSC has been liberating 96.3 FM 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in total defiance of FCC bullshit for almost 4 years, providing the only real alternative news and views available in its broadcast area. The station features local news and street level interviews on programs such as Bathrobes Broadsides, V Man & Rockin the Boat, Resist Locally, queercore with Sista Snatch and even Sunday morning services with “the Hour of Slack” Church of the Subgenius. (“Praise Bob!”)

National syndicated programs such as CounterSpin, Making Contact, Alternative Radio, Bruderhoff Radio are also aired daily. The last time the FCC (Siskel & Ebert team of Van Stavern and Zears) came by was back in May while they were investigating a complaint by KZSC 88.1, which is the college radio station in the area. A prankster jammer claiming to be FRSC broke onto a simulcast frequency during a concert. After angry 88.1 listeners called making threats to FRSC, KZSC realized that the micro-powered, 40 watt station could not have been the culprit. Nonetheless, the FCC stuck their nose into the situation.

When the FCC arrived, a courageous 12 year old girl asserted her rights and refused entry to the FCC. The FCC was in the middle of trying to convince her that “we don’t need a warrant” when her mom came home and told the FCC to wait on the sidewalk while she called a lawyer. Instead, she proceeded to grab a video camera and record the entire event as she and a friend again refused entry to the FCC, who eventually left. All during this, DJ Venus was funking it up on the airwaves, sending shout outs to the FCC agents, etc. The same day the FCC successfully shut down Phantom 104.1 FM in San Jose after they failed to defy the FCC.

FRSC has more to worry about than the FCC: the real work is running a radio station 24/7. Between paying rent, worrying about equipment breakdown, dues, fundraising, making looptapes, talking to Indie record companies and even fighting the local police in court for the right to table downtown, FRSC activists are busy. The biggest problem is organizing 30 to 50 expressive programmers into a consensus, tacking issues like hate speech, free speech and different views on sexism, racism, etc. in a diverse group. FRSC is a lesson in anarchy learning personal responsibility as an independent cooperative, keeping each other in check and deal with hard issues no other radio station really deals with.

The station has built and is building community support in Santa Cruz, and has been recognized as a media institution. One programmer’s political program: “We need more micro stations on the air now! Free Radio Berkeley and San Francisco Liberation Radio need to get back on the air! When they bust us, weÕll just go back on the air. Fuck ’em!”

The station needs money and tapes to play on the air. To contact FRSC, write PO Box 7507, Santa Cruz, CA 95061. Email: frsc@cruziio.com. Or call voicemail: 408-427-4523 or the studio line 408-423-5361.

Rest in punk

Profane Existence, the Minneapolis collective that produced the excellent magazine of the same name and ran a mailorder distro and record label, announced October 11 that they had decided to cease operations. Pledging that the members would stay active politically and culturally, a statement to supporters cited declining collective membership, financial considerations and the “overwhelming work load and stress” associated with keeping the collective going as reasons for ending the collective. “By ending the collective now, we are hoping to do so on a high point, not wait until it totally collapses in on itself in a huge mess” , read the statement.

Coming on the heels of the end of Love and Rage, the demise of Profane Existence seemed to have more to do with the over-extension endemic to DIY (Do It Yourself) and alternative institutions than the factional fights that killed L&R. A part of the statement titled “we have no lives” rings true for many struggling radical projects: “Balancing commitments to PE has also meant making huge sacrifices in our personal lives. We have missed countless beautiful days outdoors because of our commitments to PE kept us working inside. We have missed an equal amount of good nights’ sleep due to overwhelming stress we bring home with us at night. We have missed weeks and months of our lives that could have been spent with friends and loved ones. While we harbor some (perhaps foolish) ideas of putting the revolution first, in reality it is our families, friends and loved ones whom we would rather give the bulk of our attention to. While we still want to be active, the level of commitment needed to maintain the PE collective pretty much has excluded having any time or energy for anything else at all.”

The only way alternative institutions can hope to survive in the long term is if new people continually join up to relieve the pressure on older members, and if people’s needs to live and grow are respected, and if tasks distributed are realistically. But sometimes, its just time for an established institution to die so new projects can fill the void.

The last issue of PE magazine is expected out in November and other operations are expected to wrap up by the end of the year.