Succor the SHAC 7 – Government wins convictions for incitment to peacefully protest

The government’s campaign against animal rights activists sunk to a new level March 2 when it won convictions against six activists simply for advocating protest activities. In the first trial ever under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 (formerly known as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act), animal rights activists Kevin Kjonaas, Lauren Gazzola, Jacob Conroy, Joshua Harper, Andrew Stepanian, Darius Fullmer were found guilty March 2 of multiple felonies related to their campaign to close animal-testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences.

While the charges, including violation of the Act as well as conspiracy to harass using a telecommunications device, may sound alarming, the defendants were never accused of having personally engaged in any terrorist or threatening acts. Instead, the government alleged that above-ground organizers of the protest campaign were responsible for any and all acts that anyone engaged in while furthering the goals of the organizers. That the government won convictions based on such flimsy charges is designed to send a shiver down the spine of activists everywhere.

The six activists with Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), charged along with John McGee who was dropped from the case, are known as the SHAC 7. Some of them now face up to ten years in prison. All of the defendants were involved in some capacity in the campaign to close Huntingdon Life Sciences, a contract research lab with one facility in New Jersey and two in England. Acts of cruelty to animals at the lab were exposed in five different undercover investigations which obtained video footage showing countless violations of the animal welfare act. Since 1999, activists have campaigned globally against the lab, bringing it to the brink of closure.

The trial of the case was biased against the defendants. The judge ruled that the defendants could not introduce their own computer expert (but the government could introduce their computer expert) and that there could be no anti-vivisection expert (but the government witnesses could carry on about the benefits of animal research). The judge also limited the defendants’ preemptory challenges during jury selection to seven and failed to dismiss jurors who worked for companies that had been the subject of the campaign to close HLS.

The government called witnesses who were unable to identify any of the defendants as engaging in any criminal acts against them. For example, the judge allowed HLS Director Brian Cass to testify about the campaign in England, an attack on him in England, and the benefits of animal research, despite the fact that he had nothing to say about the defendants in the case.

The SHAC7 (or 6) desperately need our support – both financially to cover the costs of the appeal process and morally to help them through these difficult and trying times. For more information on how you can help support the SHAC7 and defend the ability of activists to organize protest activities, check out www.SHAC7.com.

Dormido en la Protesta

Son ya más de tres años desde la invasión de Irag y, a pesar del fracaso humillante de la guerra por el imperio americano, la matanza continua. Ni Bush ni los demócratas pueden deducir como sacar a las tropas americanas, incluso en este momento es dificil imaginar un resultado favorable. Bush justo dijo que sería por “los presidentes del futuro” el decidir cuando sacarían a las tropas- así, la espera que la ocupación continue aún en el 2009. Bush no puede declarar una victoria y dejarla en la cara de una guerra civil e insurgencia por la presencia de las tropas americanas. Ni puede aceptar la derrota- admitiendo la vacía naturaleza del poder de la milicia americana, porque sería un precio muy alto para el imperio americano. Los insurgentes no necesitan derrotar el ejercito conquistador- ellos solo necesitan prevenir a EEUU de ganar – lo cual ya han hecho. Los patéticos demócratas – no importa lo que piensan- están muy asustados de ser llamados melindrosos por decir demasiado. Últimamente, la mayoria de ellos, mantienen los proyectos imperiales de los EEUU y no quieren ver una derrota a favor del poder americano ni más ni menos que Bush. Entonces, incluso si el público americano concluye cada vez con que la guerra es un fracaso – comenzando con razones que pasaron a ser mentiras y fueron mantenidas a altos riesgos de propósitos incomprensibles- la corriente común del sistema político es incapable de poner un fin al compromiso con la guerra.

Esto enseñaria que esta “aspidadora-alternativa” presentaria una oportunidad ideal de una tercera fuerza- independientemente de los demócratas y los repúblicanos- para organizar una oposición de la guerra

No obstante, el pasado 18 de Marzo, dia nacional de protestas. fue patrocinado por ANSWER y fue una protesta pequeña y ritualista- facilmente ignorada quizás porque fue incapaz de intervenir con los negocios como normalmente, o quizás la manifestacion fué más pequeña que lo que uno esperaba dada la poca popularidad de la guerra porque la gente está cansada de las protestas y se sienten sin motivaciones. Marchando en las vacias calles en un sábado en la esperanza de que la media se de cuenta de lo que pasa, no parece una estrategia igual a la tarea de la debastadora guerra Algunos anarquistas incluso comentaron que ellos no fueron porque la protesta estaba patrocinada por el pavoroso grupo ANSWER (un grupo pacífico), pero no es peor la guerra que este grupo? Los intentos comunes de antiguerra no están espandiéndose, pero aún no se sabe porqué- simplemente se sabe que no se expande más.

Este momento historico tiene todos los ingredientes de un cambio político que podria descreditar a los republicanos, a los demócratas y, enefectivamente, a las maquínas burocráticas. Analizando como medir este momento es la clave majica para los radicales del 2006, porque una vez que el pantano de la oposición de la guerra se libere, su corriente cargará muchas ramas secas. El suelo fertil por una oposición a la guerra es demostrado por el rápido rebelamiento en la prominecia de Cindy Sheehan, quien aparceió de repente y ahora es un punto crucial en el movimiento adecuado.

Los radicales necesitan estar más en público intentando diferentes esquemas, solo intentando diferentes experimentos podriámos entonces tener la esperanza de chocarnos con la adecuada oportunidad en el momento adecuado. Con suerte, la presión social que se ha construido alrededor de la guerra puede ser arreada y usada generalmente encontra de los proyectos imperialistas de EEUU, la seguridad estatal el país y la vida americana que está destruyendo la tierra cada día. Sería una verguenza si las contradicciones creadas por la guerra, fuesen encontradas con un único problema del movimiento anti-guerra, en vez de que unas cuantas revelaciones encontra de la estructura social, la cual ha creado la guerra en Irag y constantemente justifica la violencia-encontra de seres humanos y de la naturaleza- colo los negocios.

Guerra e Imperio.

Manteniendo un estado costante de guerra es altamente útil para el todopoderoso, porque da la excusa perfecta para centralizar la riqueza y poder, atacando las libertades cívicas, y manteniendo a la gente normal separados de los derechos humanos en EEUU y sus callejones, las destrucciones sistemáticas del medio ambiente y la pobreza estructural y la miseria, son precios aceptables en el mundo de los negocios.

La guerra en Terrorismo, es el tipo de guerra ideal para el imperio americano porque uno nunca puede acabar desde que esta define al “enemigo”, como cada tipo de grupo social o individuales que se oponen al sistema- Como es que uno acaba con la oposición para siempre? Inclusivemente, los activistas medioambientalistas y pacíficos, son etiquetados como “terroristas” e incluidos en la guerra encontra del terror. Últimamente, quiera quien sea que se oponga a la guerra, es considerado un terrorista.

Esos en poder, recalcan que el terrismo no es una forma “legítima” de acción social porque la violencia es usada- una ideoligia tipo Orwell. Pero el grupo en poder tiene la respuesta al terrorismo y a su violencia, a la muerte y destrucción de una pesa masiva. Bush denuncia a aquellos que son hospitables en Irag mientras que el gobierno americano tiene miles de prisoneros en sus propias tierras. Esos en poder, etiquetean todas las resistencias de la oprimida violencia meintras que la violencia del sistema, es arrastada por goviernos o corporaciones, pero para ellos esto es “negocios casuales”. Los terroristas son definidos así porque tienen las ideas “incorrectas”, pero no por sus actividades o acciones.

Pero la guerra encontra del terrorismo así misma dada, no es una guerra suficientemente “caliente” para servir una oportunidad excelente, para enfatizar la debilidad paradójica de los EEUU como el todopoderoso. El desastre en Irak no se olvidará en la próxima generación. Así como lo que pasó en Vietnam, Irag tiene un potencial para prevenir los lideres del porvenir, la misma historia por los próximos 20 años. Depende ahora en los radicales, aquí en los EEUU, el repetir la derrota de las reglas de la guerra. Irak fué una guerra de decición, motivada por una ansia de poder y vendida al público con mentiras. Hay un modelo en la historia de America – los mismo podría ser dicho de Vietnam.

El triunfo de las oposiciones radicales de la guerra, podria ser extendidas a la legitimación del imperio americano, des sus guerras extranjeras a sus abusos domésticos, y de los ejemplos dramáticos de violencia en la rutina, cada día en que el imperio americano está destruyendo la tierra y subjugando su población. El desastre en Irag tiene más en común con numerosas economias domesticas, reglas sociales y medioambientales, que benefician solo a unos pocos y devastan a muchos. La clave maestra es el descubrir la conección entre todas estas irrelevantes estructuras- brillando una luz en el poder y el el sistema

La acción directa, creativamente y envisionada, es lo que nos sperara a los radicales de las masas de protestas institucionales que han sido por ahora capaces de explotar las oportunidades historicas del cambio social presentado por la querra en Irag. Las manifestaciones que vienen del corazón, crean solidaridad y poder, pero cuando se convierten en algo obligatorio- sin pasión – es un kaka política. El espíritu es la clave y no la táctica misma. Quizás porque las tácticas tienen más riesgos y sentimientos únicos. Las manifestaciones encontra de la OMC, por ejemplo en Seattle, fue loca pero del corazón.

Las tácticas y acontecimientos que son únicas, divertidas y con humor, exitantes, van a pasar mejor atravez de las armaduras de la gente. Y si tuviésemos Hallowen el 4 de Julio y la gente se disfrazace de soldados tipo zombies.

Los activistas americanos tienen oportunidad drásticas para deestabilizar el Imperio Americano, desde que, después de todo, estamos en la barriga de la b
estia. Dónde puede, un grupo pequeño de personas, poner sus energias? Que necesitamos derrumbar del sistema?Que lugares físicos y sociales piensa el “sistema” que esta a salvo?- los guardias del sistema estarian cabizbajos en este punto.

Es crucial tener diferente personas de diferentes lugares intentado diferentes cosas. La diversidad y la experimentación, puede descubrir puntos débiles, asi como inesperadas acciones, en un sistemas que siempre busca control. Por ejemplo, hay gente que ha estado llendo los centros de reclutamiento con resultados mixtos-este intento empieza con un ritual, quizás ahora es el tiempo adecuado para empezar a etiquetear los construciones militares u otros aspectos de las máqinas de guerra

El involucramiento de los EEUU en Irak acabará- pero hemos de bloquear la guerra, podemos empezar, construyendo las fundaciones de un futuro nuevo.

Biodiesel por la Revolucion? Creo que no!!!

Mientras el biodiesel acelera rapidamente su popularidad, necesitamos un sobrio análisis de su verdadera “sostenibilidad”. Como una solución potencial a la crisis de las desaparecidas reservas petrolíficas y al cambio climático, hay algo más en la imagen general que solamente el aceite de papas fritas de la basura que hace funcionar una camioneta de hippies. Estamos ahora en un punto donde hay más demanda de biodiesel que de aceite. “Si la producción anual de aceite vegetal fuese cambiada al mercado de combustible fosil, nos durarias 36 horas”, según dice Alexis Zieger. El espectro de la agricultura industrial, produciendo acres de mono cultivos genericamente modificados, en respecto a continuar los ineficientes vehiculos grandes, es nada pero verde. Mientras biodiesel es debitablemente menos tóxico y tiene menos emociones que diesel basado en petrolio cuando es quemado, puede funcionar en maquinas diesel y es promocionado como candidato para replazar los combustibles fósiles como la primera fuente de energia mundial de trasportación, un numero de preguntas importantes se quedan pendientes.

Una critica frequentemente absenta en el debate del biodiesel, es el hecho de que la onda del biodiesel no hace nada para disminuir la cultura de los autos y sus problemas requisitos. Seria maravilloso si solo la trasportación publica fuese un candidato en las conversaciones de biodiesel- esto seria muy sostenible.

Sin embargo, fans de biodiesel, en su entusiamo para covertir todos los autos; no se considera el hecho de que las carreteras seguirán arrebacando sobre la naturaleza, la poquita que queda, y que no habrá nada mas que una sociedad de aislamiento sobre consumision Claro, las SUVís y otros grandes tragones de gasolina son terribles para el medio ambiente pero es la del biodiesel tan diferente? Aunque algunos estudios confirmen que agunas emisiones son menos para biodiesel que diesel de petroleo, biodesel todabia no quema limpiamente. Tambien, hay una poquita consideración de la frequente e ineficiente, vieja y contaminante máquinas que estan quemando el biodiesel. En adición, hay una falta de información sobre la cualidad de combustible que se quema en muchos orígenes. Algunos pueden declarar las reacciones corporales como la respiración de la peste de papas fritas siendo vomitada por los camiones de biodiesel.

Algunas infractucturas: El negocio de la Agricultuta y el Capitalismo.

Una pregunta mayor, deberiamos preguntarnos en el frenesi al amor por el biodiesel, es , si el nibel global de sostenibilidad significa que miramos donde la EPA considera biodiesel un camino próspero para mitigar el calentamiento global. O que los problemas que los coches “verdes” no pueden resolver,como accidentes de trafico; furia en las carreteras y la destrucción de la naturalza por la construción de aparcamientos y carreteras.

Otro problema grande, causado por el biodiesel, es que se ha creado una competición del uso del campo. La tierra cultibable que hubiese sido en otro caso utilizada para la producción de comida es ahora utilizada como combustible.

Mientras algunos creen que biodiesel es un atento de un prupo organizado con una audencia minima, la verdad es que en el mundo de los negocios agricolas , ya hay planes para conseguir grandes beneficios de las intenciones del mundo para ” curar sus adicciones del petroleo”, lo que include la degradaciòn medioambiental, la explotación de trabajadores y la larga escala de producciones de plantas, saltando en paises de todas partes del mundo. ADM ( Archer Daniels Midland), la factoria de soja y maiz màs grande del mundo y el recipiente mas prominente del bienestar corporado en la reciente historia de los USA, recientemente anunció sus planes sobre la construccion de la primera fabrica de producción de biodiesel en los USA. Segun ADM, esta fábrica de 50 millones de galones, estará en Dakota del Norte, y utilizará aceite de canola como su principal producto. ADM es ya mitad dueño de una compañia grande en Alemania y en Singapore.

El Aceite de palma y su camino de destrucción.

Más feo que el hecho de que el biodiesel no hace nada para cambiar la cultura de los autos, es el hecho de que la industria del biodiesel, falla al mencionar su mercado y promociones. Donde en la Union Europea, los británicos y el govierno americano, y los miles de medio ambientalistas, imaginan biodiesel como un aceite que sobra y por eso ponen pegatinas en sus vehiculos que dicen “Biodiesel por la revolución”, pero no se dan cuenta de que esta revolución está a expensas de la tierra destruida y de la barata labor manual del aceite de palmas del Sureste de Asia

Hay una evidencia y un interés de los impactos del uso del aceite de palma, como la deforestación de los bosques tropicales y la reducción de los orangutanes. Y lo que es más, el resultado de plantaciones es el resultado de los negociantes explotando a los inmigrantes con salarios bajos y destruyendo la cultura indíjena y local.

El gobieno de Malasia se está concentrando en el uso de este aceite para la produccion de biodiesel, porque la demanda de combustible alternativo ha subido. Estas plantas producen 100.000 toneladas de biodiesel anualmente y porque son los que más producen en todo el mundo que producen más aun a su favor.Esto es, capitalismo.

Según George Biodet, del periódico “Guadian” de Londres, otras plantaciones están siendo construidas en la península de Malasia, Sarawak, y en Rotterdam. Dos consorcios- uno aleman y otro americano-están tambien construyendo en Singapore. Todos estos, estarán usando biodiesel de aceite de palmera. ” La demanda de biodiesel …” dice el Malasia Star,vendrá de la Comunidad Europea”,esta demanda fresca, podria, aunque sea, tomar la mayoria de las palmeras de Malasia ¿Porquè? Porque es más barato que otros cultivos.

Efectos en la tierra usada.

Algunas naciones, se han dado cuenta del uso de la cultivaciòn. Analizando la cantidad de biodiesel que se produce por unidad, se ha concluido que los estados unidos de america, donde está la demanda mas alta de energia, no tiene suficiente tierra fertil para llenar todos los combustibles. Otras naciones estan en mejores situaciones, pero algunas regiones no pueden cambiar la tierra para producir arboles en vez de comida

La agricultura industrial requiere petroleo en forma de fertilizadoras, pesticidas y combustibles para camiones y transportes. ” La agricultura americana ahora combierte tres calorias de combustible fòsil por cada caloria en la gasolina” observa Pimentel. Pero, que pasó con la perdida del habitat, de la fauna, las enfermedades de los pesticidas y más?

Así que, cuando estés llenando tu carro en el Biofuel Oasis en Berkeley, considera estas ramificaciones.

En vez de repetir los mismos hechos del uso del combustible es ahora el tiempo exacto para movernos más allá de la reformista cultura del coche, lo cual significa algo más que una pegatina de biodiesel.

Necesitamos soluciones reales para afrontar nuestros problemas. Abre tus ojos y pregúntate a tí mismo como es posible que G.W. dice que paremos” nuestra addiction del petroleo”. Hay cambios que reducen la consumición que son imperativos;como la transportación pública, los tipos de vidas locales, el ir en bicicleta,el caminar, la transportación pùblica, la producción de comida local y màs. Todo esto ofrece un futuro con más esperanza que el futuro del biodiesel.

En Oaxaca, La Lucha Siegue

México ha tenido a lo largo de su historia un gran número de presos políticos y de conseciencia, solo en el siglo pasado durante los 70 años de gobierno priísta,

wmiles de mej*icanos y estranjeros residentes de sus derechos. Hoy en el pleno siglo XXI, las cosas no han cambiado- cientos de presos políticos y de conciencia, haciendos en recluidos por el estado mexicano en sus centros de exterminio de las peores condiciones, hacinindos en espacios mínimos e insalubres, hostigados, humillados, todo como castigar ejemplar para la sociedad mexicana y las activistas sociales que buscan defender sus derechos o cambiar el actual sistema de exploitación que padecemos. La situación tiene a empeorar bajo la actual etapa histórica que enfrentamos, donde el enriquecimiento de unos pocos y su voracidad por extender su dominio sobre todo los ambitos de la vida, los lleva a usar los aparatos de represión del estado contra cualquier tipo de disdencia.

Para dar una muestra de esto basta con mirar la represión desatada en el estado de Oaxaca en el presente mes- El sábado 4 de marzo de 2006, aproximadamente a las 10a.m., en la agencia municipal de Santiago Cuixtla, se realizá una asamblea comunitaria para tratar el asunto de los recursos naturales (arena y grava) de la populación que están siendo extrañados del río Cuixtla. Mientras sesionaba pacíficamente la asamblea, occuría una agresión con armas de alto calibre contra los participantes , dirigida por el presidente municipal aspirante a duputado suplente por el PRI. Los funcionarios estuvieron escoltados por la policía de Seguridad Pública y la policía municipal. Estos hechos dejaron como saldo dos heridos de gravedad: Jesús Carmona Mijangos y Marino Cruz Canseco, y un desaparecido: Tomás Ruiz Carmona. Además, la policía detuvo arbitrariamente a ocho de los agredidos todos ellos integrantes de Organizaciones Indias por los Derechos Humanos en Oaxaca (OIDHO) y del Frente Popular Revolucionario (FPR), agrupaciones adherentes a La otra campaña. La represión continúa el día 8 de marzo, cuando la Unidad Policial de Operaciones Especiales (UPOE) disolvía una manifestación de 600 personas que se dirigía hacia los separos de policiía preventiva de Puerto Escondido para exigir la libertad de los detenidos, el castigo a los culpables y una mesa de día logo. Es esta nueva agresión se detuvieron a cuatro personas más y otro resultá herido de gravedad, Joel Roldán Mendoza, quien tiene fractura de cráneo. Además, cientos de granaderos apostados en el primer cuadro de la cuidad de Oaxaca impidieron la realización de un mitin. (Más información en primer cuadro en www.espora.org.amz),

Ante situaciones como anterioremente discrita, es imprescindible que el problema de los presos politicos y de conciencia en México sea divulgado y asumido por el más amplio conjunto de organizaciones, colectivos e individuos, entendiendo que la lucha por su liberación no puede dejar de implicar una lucha por la libertad de los presos políticos y de conciencia de todo el mundo.

Comite Cerezo

El Comite Cerezo quién lucha por la libertad de los hermanos Héctor y Antonio Cerezo Contreras estudiantes de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y Pablo Alvarado Flores indígena náhuatl, injustamente encarcelados desde agosto de 2001 en el penal de máxima seguridad de la Palma, está conformado por familiares y amigos de escuela y/o trabajo de los hermanos Cerezo. Son una organización enfocada a la denuncia de la injusta prisión, de la tortura y las condiciones violatorias de los derechos humanos en las prisiones de alta seguridad y estatales de los más de 500 presos políticos y de conciencia en México. Uno de sus objectivos es coadyuvar en la medida de sus capacidades y recursos a las libertad de todos los presos políticos y de conciencia del país así como documentar y publicar un reporte anual de presos políicos y de conciencia en México. El Comité ha trabajado en el registro de los más de 500 presos políticos y de conciencia: además ha particiapado en diversas iniciativas para coordinar su liberación a lo largo de los últimos cuatro años. (Más información en www.espora.org/comitecerezo).

Christ died for his own sins . . . 2nd annual Slingshot Wingnut Award for Lifetime Achievement

At Slingshot’s 18th birthday party, the Slingshot Collective awarded the second annual Wingnut prize for Lifetime Achievement to our comrade Michael Diehl. A short biography of Michael appears below. Slingshot created the Wingnut prize to recognize direct action radicals who have dedicated their lives to the struggle for alternatives to the current depressing, rotten system.

Wingnut is the term some of us use to refer to folks who walk on the wild side of reality — rejecting social, political and economic norms while fighting for a different world. A wingnut is more than just another boring radical, and more than just a nutcase — he or she is a blend of the best parts of both.

For 2007, we hope to award two Wingnut Awards for Lifetime Achievement: one for the East Bay scene, and one global award. Please send us your nominations along with why a particular person should be awarded the wingnut title for 2007. Someone must have at least 25 years of “service” to get the award.

Biography of Michael

Michael showed an early proclivity for activism in fourth grade in Windham, N.H. when he refused to stand for the pledge of allegiance and when he organized a boycott of music class because the students were being forced to sing Christmas music. He notes that this atheist action is ironic since he finally ended up as a dedicated pagan. In high school in the 1970s, Michael published an underground high school paper called Threshold. He organized a petition drive against mid-term exams which he got 80 percent of his fellow students to sign. “In high school I came to realize that in my writings I was espousing an anarchist criticism of the school system,” he notes. He recalls hating school, although he also founded an alternative school called the Alternative Learning Project which still exists today.

Michael attended Antioch college but because there were so many activist oriented students, he got into other things, among them, mid-1970s punk rock. He notes that he was “really into dancing” (he still is) and that he had “a lot of anger — punk gave me an outlet.” Michael dropped out of Antioch for a while and ended up in Berkeley for the first time in 1976 as a homeless street squatting gutter punk. He eventually finished school with a degree in early childhood education which he’s never used all that much.

During the 1980s, Michael was mostly homeless and was less explicitly political. He made art and got deeply into meditation. It was meditation that eventually told him that he should “get back involved in the world.”

Michael joined the 924 Gilman Street Project, an all-ages, volunteer run punk club, in the late 1980s. He was first involved in the art committee — he wanted to paint the walls. He eventually became manager and helped the club become a collective and a non-profit corporation — it was originally a project of Maximum Rock’n’Roll/Tim Yohannon. When the city wanted to close Gilman down, Michael helped organize 150 punks to show up to the city zoning commission meeting, and the city backed down. Gilman will celebrate its 20th birthday this year. Michael’s involvement in Gilman street brought him back to politics when he was involved with the club’s stand against racist skinheads. Michael spent a lot of time at Gilman offering counseling and advice to the younger punks, leading him eventually to the Berkeley Free Clinic, where he has focused on mental health and peer counseling.

Michael originally worked for the Free Clinic as a fundraiser but eventually became a key part of the Peer Counseling Collective which provides alternative mental health services. Michael is currently chairman of the Berkeley Mental Health Commission, a mental health advocate, and a member of the Radical Mental Health Collective.

In the 1990s, Michael became involved with the struggle to defend Berkeley’s People’s Park from University of California efforts to gentrify the park by building a volleyball court there. At around the same time, he devoted significant efforts to homeless advocacy, struggling to defeat city efforts to ban panhandling and harass homeless street youth. He helped win a federal court case against the city’s anti-panhandling/sitting on the sidewalk law. He was involved with an 11 day, 60 person strong Berkeley Homeless Union camp out in front of City Hall.

Michael became a member of the police monitoring group Copwatch to try to limit police abuse. In 1999 he helped Copwatch stand down the police chief and 40 officers who were trying to break up Camp KPFA outside the threatened radio station. He also got a radio show on pioneering unlicensed micro-radio station Free Radio Berkeley. He is rumored to still be involved in micro-radio on Berkeley Liberation Radio, 104.1 FM.

When asked why he deserved the 2006 Wingnut Award for lifetime achievement, Michael murmured “because I’m crazy!” Michael is well appreciated in the east bay for his unique ability to mix politics, punk, crazy dancing, paganism and street action. Michael walks everywhere he goes. “I got my top hat handed to me by a homeless woman and since then have been known as ‘the mayor of the streets’.” he added. Michael’s wise, radical and joyful presence is the very definition of wingnut-ism.

 

Re-Membering Students for a Democratic Society

Folks across the country have recently revived the 1960s new left student organization Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and are planning a national convention during the summer of 2006 — the first since 1969. The time and location are still to be determined. There are already more than 60 local SDS chapters across the US with new ones forming weekly. The idea of re-forming SDS has taken off rapidly, perhaps signaling a widespread desire for a national, radical student organization that can be independent of existing sectarian groups and that can provide a space for investigation, critical thought and ultimately, action. The key for a new SDS to achieve relevance will be its ability to go beyond historical precedents and create its own, modern forms of theory, practice and community.

SDS in History

The original SDS played a key role in the radical movement during the 60s — opening up a radical political space known as the new left that stood between the older 1930s inspired-left and mainstream establishment liberalism. While SDS had a complex history that evolved and changed between its founding in 1960 and its demise in 1969, one of its key innovations was a push for participatory democracy — small-d democracy in which ordinary workers, students and people could have direct involvement in decisions effecting their lives. Much radical analysis that activists in 2006 take for granted was created by SDS.

Many people are familiar with the late 1960s incarnation of SDS — a period of mass organization focusing largely on the anti-Vietnam war struggle which eventually spawned the Weather Underground. During the early part of the 1960s, SDS was a much smaller, more academic and theoretically explorative organization. In 1962, SDS published the Port Huron Statement which served as a groundbreaking manifesto describing the new left project.

Part of SDS’s early political strength was that its politics were up for debate, learning and growth rather than being set in stone. It provided a big tent — a model of a radical community that permitted people to plug in at many different levels. Growing as it did from academic institutions, it was willing to gather evidence as an organization and re-evaluate its efforts based on experimentation. SDS played a key role in helping its members understand the connections between various single issue “causes” and develop a more coherent analysis of modern capitalism and the modern state.

SDS Now

Organizers behind the re-formation of SDS note that the original SDS formed out of a political vacuum — establishment liberalism, as well as the institutional left, were both discredited and ill-equipped to participate in social change. The situation looks somewhat similar in 2006, although with numerous differences. Issues of civil rights, gender, queer liberation, neoliberalism, economic injustice, war and the environment — barely present at the beginning of the 1960s — are now well developed social movements.

Unlike in 1960, there are numerous existing national radical networks — Indymedia, Food Not Bombs, Earth First, IWW and Infoshops to name just a few. While there is no explicitly student based radical network of which this writer is aware, many national radical networks include students as well as youth who aren’t in school. In other words, “student” is not the sharply defined social status that it might have been at one point. Many people young and old drift in and out of school. A new SDS will have to figure out a niche and a purpose.

One potential niche for a new SDS could be to invest intellectually rigorous energy in political theory. The original SDS, in addition to producing the Port Huron Statement, produced a constant stream of position papers and research documents. By contrast, the majority of modern radical groups seem to focus on tactics and activity — making websites, planning protests and conferences, keeping Infoshops, publications, and food programs going — but fail to spend significant time studying and understanding theory which might inform what projects to undertake and how to undertake them.

Could the new SDS create a Port Huron statement for now — an organized and comprehensive articulation of radical values?

Another potential for the new SDS is the opportunity for radical cross-generational cooperation. The new SDS organizers are in close contact with a number of key players from the original SDS days. Many of these once-student organizers now have 45 years of radical experience under their belts. Sharing information and wisdom across the generations is never easy — younger activists have a hard time connecting with older ones, and vice versa. It appears likely that this summer’s national convention of SDS will include a caucus of original SDS members.

Some chapters of SDS have been playing with the acronym– for instance, Seniors for a Democratic Society or Solidarity and Democratic Struggle. Whichever direction SDS may take, it is clear that the historical legacy of SDS is inspiring folks to organize. Hopefully, SDS will go beyond just another on-line discussion forum and will translate into real world discussion and struggle.

SDS is having a SDS Northeast Regional Meeting at Brown University in Providence, RI on April 23 from 11 – 6. For a good history of SDS, there are a ton of books including SDS by Kirkpatrick Sale, Democracy is in the Streets by James Miller’s or The New Left Revisited edited by Paul Buhle and John McMillian. Or see the film “Rebels with a Cause.” For more information on SDS chapters in your area, historical documents from the original SDS, and the date and location for the 2006 national convention (which has not been determined as of the writing of this article) check studentsforademocraticsociety.org

Arrests continue in Goverment Eco-crackdown

Slingshot issue #89 reported the December arrests of a number of people accused of involvement with actions claimed by the Earth Liberation Front/Animal Liberation Front. Unfortunately, a few days after we took the paper to the press, a number of additional people were arrested and there were an number of additional developments in the case. Here’s an update:

On January 19, the FBI arrested Jonathan Paul and Suzanne Savoie. Following his arrest Jonathan Paul was charged with involvement in an ALF arson on a horsemeat packing plant/slaughter house; whilst Suzanne was charged with involvement in an ELF arson on the offices of a lumber mill.

A few days after Jonathan & Suzanne’s arrests the FBI released a 65 count indictment against eleven people: Joseph Dibee, Chelsea Gerlach, Sarah Harvey, Daniel McGowan, Stanislas Meyerhoff, Josephine Overaker, Rebecca Rubin, Darren Thurston, Kevin Tubbs, Jonathan Paul and Suzanne Savoie. The FBI made it clear that there were others involved in that case who had not yet been identified.

On the February 23, the FBI announced they had arrested Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher, accusing them of involvement in an ELF arson against a poplar tree farm.

And on March 30, the government unsealed an indictment charging Briana Waters, 30, of Berkeley, Calif., with involvement in the arson of the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001. She faces a life sentence if convicted. She was released from custody after turning herself in and pleading not guilty.

The majority of the defendants in this case (the original eleven defendants named in the FBI document) are charged with involvement in an over-arching “Conspiracy to Commit Arson” and “Conspiracy to Commit Arson and Destruction of an Energy Facility”. The prosecution alleges that the conspiracy included 15 actions that involved arson, 2 attempted arsons and the production of an incendiary guide manual. Two of the alleged arsons were against wild horse corals and besides the fires it is alleged that wild horses were also released from their captivity.

The two conspiracy charges do not allege that the eleven defendants facing these charges where involved with all of the alleged actions. Conspiracy charges means that it is immaterial how much personal involvement each or any of the defendants had with any of the alleged actions.

Besides the two over-arching conspiracy charges, the defendants also each face a series of personal charges for their alleged involvement in the various actions. Some face as many as 57 individual charges. The reason why some of the defendants are facing multiple arson charges for their alleged involvement in one or two actions is because the FBI are placing one charge of arson against people for every single vehicle burnt in an action. So for example, during the arson on the SUV dealership thirty-five vehicles were destroyed so that is thirty-five separate charges of arson.

As we previously reported, following his arrest Stanislas Meyerhoff became a police informant. Since issue #89, Kevin Tubbs and Sarah Harvey have also both been named in open court as cooperating with the authorities although at this stage it is unknown what level of cooperation they have given the police. Other informants in this case have been named, in open court, as Jacob Ferguson and Jen Kolar.

Out of the other ten defendants, who are not cooperating with the police: Joseph Dibee, Rebecca Rubin and Josephine Overtaker have not yet been located by the FBI and it is believed these three are no longer living in the USA.

Daniel McGowan, Suzanne Savoie and Jonathan Paul have all been released from prison on conditional bail until their trial.

Chelsea Gerlach, Darren Thurston, Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher remain in prison. Initially the Prosecution indicated they wished to hold a series of separate trials for each of the separate charges against each individual defendant. However the latest indication is the authorities have decided on one big show trial to be held in October 2006.

Support Campaigns have now been set up for the majority of the defendants in this case.

• Chelsea Gerlach, #1308678, PO Box 50307 Eugene, OR 97405 freechelseagerlach@hotmail.com

• Daniel McGowan, send donations to Lisa McGowan PO Box 106 New York, NY 10156.

FriendsofDanielMcG@yahoo.com

• Nathan Block supportersofnathanandjoyanna@gmail.com

• Suzanne Savoie friendsofsuzannesavoie@yahoo.com

• Darren Thurston freedarren@resist.ca

• Joyanna Zacher supportersofnathanandjoyanna@gmail.com

You can write to those in custody in Eugene at [name & # of prisoner] Lane County Jail 101 W 5th Ave Eugene, OR 97401.

All of these folks are the victims of a government witch-hunt and need our support. We have every reason to assume that all those arrested are innocent of the crimes of which they are accused, and that they will eventually be found innocent and released. We also have every reason to believe that people everywhere will continue to resist industries and institutions that destroy the earth. Finally, we have every reason to believe that the government will do everything it can to frighten the environmental movement by framing-up innocent activists. We won’t be scared and we won’t stop our actions to defend the earth.

Sexy Spring

SEXY SPRING is a three day DIY sex and body positive conference and skillshare in Minneapolis on June 9-11th. Sexy Spring addresses the many ways in which gender, sex, relationships, our bodies and our choices impact our lives. Our goal is to foster understanding and support of diverse experiences and to encourage self-exploration and growth. Sexy Spring includes art, performance, discussion and education created by people from many different communities coming together and sharing knowledge, creativity and strength.

WE ENCOURAGE: A holistic view of sexualiy that values the multiplicity of experiences in areas of communication, art, community-building, performance and political action. We believe that everyone is an expert and has valuable skills to share. Sexy Spring, for you, might look like a discussion on consent, a short play about your kinky relationship, a how-to workshop on making radical porn, or something else we never expected.

POSSIBLE WORKSHOP TOPICS: DIY reproductive and sexual health, polyamory, challenging genders, sexuality and mental health, burlesque, body image, how to be a tran ally, radical monogamy, consent, living with STI’s, radical sex work, resisting and preventing sexual assault, kinky skills and relationships, sex and body positive parenting, disability and sexuality, herbalism, fighting street harassment, queer relationships, cultural sexual histories, sexy foods…

WE NEED YOU to make SEXY SPRING happen. Almost any type of sincere contribution is helpful.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Come to SEXY SPRING, facilitate a worshop, assist with conference organization, perform at the cabaret, show your art, volunteer at the conference as a vibes watcher, provide childcare, distribute flyers, spread the word. Donate time, energy, expertise, money, food, safer sex supplies, office supplies, places to stay, bicycles etc. Host a benefit.

FOR MORE INFO: Check out our website at www.sexyspring.org This site will include information on Sexy Spring events, the program calendar, class descrptions, resource links, etc. There’s also a message board at www.sexyspring.org/board. This is where you can discuss sexy topics with other sexy folks. If you can offer or need: a ride to Minneapolis, a place to stay, childcare, food, a bike, you can negotiate this on the message boards, call or email us. If you have concerns or special needs, let us know as early as possible so we can make arrangements. We encourage folks to preregister on our website, so we can gauge the number of folks coming. We welcome questions, comments and concerns. info@sexyspring.org or 1-800-MY-YAHOO/SEXYSPRING

Rabble Calendar

April

April 28 – May 1

Northeast Regional Earth First! rendezvous. Sears Island, Maine. maineef@yahoo.com

April 29 • 7-10 pm

Carl With Records – performance artist and short film “Weekend Zombie Nurses” – 3124 Shattuck Berkeley

April 29

March for peace, justice and democracy – protest to stop the war on Iraq. New York City location TBA. April29.org

April 30 • 1 pm

Slingshot new volunteer meeting – 3124 Shattuck Berkeley

May

May 5 • 5:30

Oakland Critical Mass Bike Ride – 14th & Broadway

May 1

National “Un dia sin immigrante” (A day without an immigrant.) Don’t go to work or school, no sales, and boycott plus protests. Everywhere in the US!

May 1 – 7

A week of events to celebrate Mayday in Chicago 120 years after the Haymarket massacre including history, art, soccer, bikes, music, films, etc. affc@riseup.net

May 12 • 6 pm

East Bay Critical Mass bike ride – Berkeley BART

May 19-22

Wild Earth 2006: Resisting Ecocide – Action training camp-out in the forest near Vancouver, B.C. Coast Salish Territory, wildearth.resist.ca

May 19-21

Montréal Anarchist Bookfair & 1st Montréal Anarchist Theatre Festival. anarchistbookfair@taktic.org

May 20 • 10 – 4

Building a Culture of Resistance Training, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland ellabakercenter.org

May 26 • 6 pm

San Francisco Critical Mass Bike Ride: Justin Herman Plaza

May 26-28

Our Lives Ahead — anti-state convergence Indianapolis, IN www.ourlivesahead.org

June

June 6

All punks converge on St. Louis, MO to celebrate 6/6/06

June 9-11

Sexy Spring III DIY sex & body positive skillshare. Minneapolis, MN Free. www.sexyspring.org 1-800-MY-YAHOO/SEXYSPRING.

June 9-11

Intl. Weekend of Resistance against the Green Scare

June 23-25

8th annual Allied Media Conference – Bowling Green, Ohio – alliedmediaconference.com.

June 23-27

Anarchist Librarians events at the annual meeting of the American Library Association – New Orleans

June 24-25

Gay Pride / Gay Shame events San Francisco

June 29-30

1st annual meeting of infoshops – infoshop@redemmas.org

June 30 – July 2

2006 Mid-Atlantic radical bookfaire – 3 days of books, music, workshops & discussions, bookfair@redemmas.org

July

July 1-7

Rainbow Gathering – Western Colorado – for directions, ask a hippie on the street www.welcomehoem.org

July 5-11

Plan-it-X Fest and punk summer camp, music, workshops – Bloomington, Indiana Plan-it-x.com

July 14

International Mad Pride day — Free Minds At Ease. Many cities: mindfreedom.org

July 15 – 17

International days of protest against neo-liberalism and the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia www.nadir.org

Saying Goodbye – practical tools for coping with grief

I killed at least 12 fish the year I was four, none of them on purpose. First overfeeding, then underfeeding. Once I forgot to clean the tank and they all jumped onto the rug. It was a hard way to. learn about death, killing things by accident. However, I think it has made me more conscious of treating things well when they are in my care. I also learned that when things are dead, they don’t come back.

Few of us ever learn to grieve well, and most people are told outright lies about what happens to people when they are dead. Whatever comfort we find in thinking that dead people are sleeping or living on some other planet or haunting the backyard, it will never bypass having to accept that they are not physically with us, but their influence can continue. What if we learned instead to consider everything transitory, and thus joyful for its presence in our lives right now? Or that not everything survives because if it did, there wouldn’t be room for everything that does? Or that this world is not fair or just, but we can find balance regardless? I believe in making up our own stories about death, ones that help us cope with the raw pain and the dull aching emptiness, until the memories are enough. I know of one child who decided that, when her grandmother died, she had an invisible extra body that was always with her in case of accident. It was a wonderful way to let her grapple with mortality as she got used to the idea of gram not being around any more.

WHAT WE GRIEVE FOR

Sometimes people must grieve for people who haven’t died, but still are no longer a part of their lives. Moving away from friends or leaving a lover are cause for grief just as much as death is. I have grieved for everything from the loss of a parent, friend and pet, to moving, leaving a job I loved, and ending a pregnancy. Hell, I’ve grieved about missing snow!

This notion of grieving contradicts the American ideal of retail therapy, that intimacy is replaceable with stuff, by asking ourselves to recognize what is satisfying and what is lacking in our lives on a regular basis. As much as we take the time to ask what is missing, we must also find ways to celebrate what is good and to compensate for our losses. It’s not enough (though it may help sometimes) to medicate the sadness with pills or food or shopping bags. It’s really important to find new ways to fill that cup.

IF YOU KNOW IT’S COMING

If someone is fortunate enough to anticipate their loss, they have an incredible opportunity to make it a conscious transition. “The End” is not bad or to be feared, but it usually comes whether you want it to or not. Better to face it with a plan.

My partner and I have talked about what we will do if our rather serious relationship ends; we could either destroy each other (not desirable) or part as friends with mementos of our intimacy. There is no reason why this change must be destructive. We just need to recognize if our lives are so different that we can’t be close anymore.

When my mother battled 4 years of cancer, we tried to get as many stories as we could of her life in her own words and share meals as often as we could be together. When she finally died, we were there holding her hand, we were in each others’ company up to the last minute. Friends, and some very sweet acquaintances, kept us in food and company as we got through the first weeks without her. It was also important to me to keep up momentum in my life. I stayed active in music, stayed in school and tried to maintain a routine. Without ignoring that a huge part of me was hurt, I kept comfortable and familiar things nearby.

WHEN YOU DON”T

Sometimes loss happens without anticipation, and then we search for the message, the reason, and the straws of memory. The addition of shock to grief can make staying stable more difficult. At times like this, it’s good to know who and how to ask for help, and take some time off to let yourself adjust to a different reality. There are thousands of self-help grief books out there, and some of them really do give good advice. However, I’m wary of being told how we can have closure, especially through things like a funeral, and the pain doesn’t ever really disappear, no matter how much you accept it.

Perhaps the best way I dealt with losing a parent was to have a group of peers who were also grieving. We met once a week with a counselor (this was in high school) and had totally unstructured time. Though we rarely discussed our parents unless someone new joined the group (losses were: sudden, long illness, suicide, murder or accident), it was really helpful to be in the company of other people who had random thoughts like “dead people really do look they’re made of wax” or “shit, my mom won’t come to graduation now” or “why does my English teacher make us read so many tragedies?”. I didn’t feel so weird, knowing that other people referenced their grief like I did.

GETTING THROUGH IT

If I had to describe the ways in which my largest grief has changed over the years, it would be with two sets of pictures. In the first, my grief starts out all consuming. Then it becomes a distinct part of my identity which I occasionally reference. As I get farther away in time, the grief sort of scatters throughout my life, influencing all of it but dominating none. The second is a decreasing sinusoidal wave, marking the intensity of the pain I feel. Sometimes it really sucks. Sometimes, I feel as though maybe I would be a much worse person if I never suffered. Other times, I nearly forget that my life ever sucked.

But honestly, the point is that it isn’t intensely horrible forever. You will compartmentalize and integrate your grief if you give it space. And good things will happen to you in the meantime. Even if you never get over it.

CHOOSE YOUR RITUALS

Perhaps the most disappointing part of abandoning religion for me was the realization that most organized rituals don’t do much for me. There is nothing radical about death, but we can find radical ways to deal with death. Wakes and funerals (though they did once supposedly assure folks that the dead were really dead) have never really helped me grieve. I want a pine box or an incinerator, so choosing the silk in the casket and the readings from Acts of the Apostles doesn’t soothe me. A beer with friends in memory of the loss? Burning or burying mementos you don’t want to keep? Writing or singing or dancing? Hell yeah. Draw your own pictures. Being artistic is helpful in grieving, I’ve found. Favorite places and things to do can be great or traumatic. You’ll know once you try whether it helps to be there.

As each of us tries to untangle the commerce from our lives (a task not ever complete), understanding the significance of one’s actions helps recreate rituals that avoid trite mementos and empty words. While in the midst of grief, rituals to help get through denial and shock, or perhaps to numb instead, offer some soothing. Afterwards, it’s probably necessary to have some new routines to supplement what was lost. Whether it’s scheduling meals or finding new hobbies or solitude that helps– try it.

I want people to laugh and cry about the times I was thoroughly dorky when I’m dead and to forget my birthday as often as they did while I was alive. It’s selfish and disrespectful, to me, to ask others for more attention than they can honestly spare. We should give our dead what we can, without giving up living. It’s the least we can do with the time we’ve got.