Category: Articles

This a story for all those who have compassion. This is a story for all of you who ever train hopped, or have ever got arrested. This is a true story for those who don’t follow the system’s laws, to those who are human, for you. Here is the story:

Pavel (not his real name) is a powerful guy. He’s been doing Food Not Bombs in different states, goes dumpster diving, socializes really well with all kind of people, knows a lot about politics and knows how to survive in this nowadays society.

Pavel has traveled a lot and he likes being in the U.S.A . . . I guess so.

But there was something happening with Pavel — whether he was politically active or just trying to make it, he was not an US citizen.

His visa had expired a while ago, before the summer time. Therefore, to be able to keep staying in the USA, where he wanted to be because he wanted to, he and his punk friend got married.

As for those who don’t know what the whole process of becoming a US resident or citizen takes, I here give you information. The “ alien’ has to apply for an Adjustment of Status and the couple has to submit their last three years of tax returns, copies of birth certificates, passports, finger prints, pictures, doctor’s appointments, almost more than $1000, patience and comedy. Well, Pavel and his punk friend got married before the summer time.

Pavel went on an adventure, and like those of us who don’t want to pay corporations, who don’t like capitalism or want to support anything regarding the system, his way of traveling cross-country was train hopping.

But it wasn’t so easy. Pavel got pulled off by the border patrol guys and got charged with misdemeanors for trespassing. He and his friends were held in the county border jail for two days. But Pavel wasn’t from this country, so they released his friends, but not him. For him, the situation got worse.

When he got arrested he did not have a passport, but because he was arrested by the border patrol people, they called the INS — that is supposed to be illegal — but they did it anyway. They checked his status on the INS computer and it showed that he had been illegal since March. It didn’t even matter that he was married to an American . . . noooooooooope! He just wasn’t a citizen and they didn’t like that.

He was in jail for two days and five more days waiting to be picked up by the INS people and go to the INS JAIL. His bail was up to $10,000. Bullshit! Pavel talked to some official and asked him if he could go back to the Bay Area and fix his troubles there, but of course they wouldn’t let him.

After 1 week in county jail, he was transported to the INS jail. He, and all these immigrants characters where together, mostly Mexicans.

They were all driven in a small van that was really crowded. The patrol borders kept discriminating against the Mexicans — singing songs like “la cucaracha” and making fun of them at all times. The guys needed to use the toilet and the cops wouldn’t let them go alone — they had to go together, and in handcuffs. They were all transported to a plane. They weren’t allowed to have a lot of stuff on the plane, so Pavel just took some books with him.

In the plane, funny and awkward things happened. Pavel had dreads and the INS mother fuckers kept joking about his looks and how they should cut his hair off because he had shit on him. But still, he feels that he was not treated as badly as the Mexican men. Probably because Pavel was white he was treated a littler better than the Mexicans, who the INS kept making fun of, telling them shit all the time, acting racist, treating them really poorly.

When Pavel got to the INS jail, first he had to wait for 6 hours in a small cell with 30 people — he couldn’t even lay down or stretch. Then, they moved everyone to a big dorm. He got a visit by a doctor asking him if he had any medical conditions. Pavel answered that he was vegan — that was his condition, that was the way he had been for a long time — but that did not matter at all. Pavel says that it was depressing that they would have 30 or 50 people all in one small cell, all non-US citizens.

Pavel was in the INS jail for 2 weeks. For those two weeks, the cops told him he had the right to make telephone calls, and so he did. But here is another important factor of this system — they never told him that the calls weren’t free. Now he ows them $300 ..yeah! See! It’s all about money. You could make a free call in jail . . . but you get charged later . . . isn’t that sick?

Well, Pavel got the chance of getting in touch with his people in the Bay Area — he even got a lawyer form the National Lawyer’s Guild. Since he was mobilizing in jail and getting hooked up with his people, they organized to help him. The Humanist Hall, Food Not Bombs and his wife sent letters to the INS and the jail staff to complain and to get him set free. In the end, they lowered the bail to $1,500 and the folks at the Humanist Hall paid for it.

Pavel says he’s really thankful to all the folks who helped him and also to all the solidarity that people showed for him and all those people out there. In the INS jail, he got to meet interesting people — non-US citizens, but humans. He got to read a lot, got to draw comics and think. He was also getting helped by Sun Young, a good lawyer from the NLG.

Pavel is now waiting for his court date in December. That day will be the day where the awful system is going to decide if he can or can not stay in this country. Who’s to choose that? Who’s to say where we can go? Who’s to say where we got to live our lives?

Hopefully, that day won’t be so bad and our friend will get to stay here, because here is where he wants to be. Here is where he is. Keep fighting and thanks to all those friends who help him — and fuck the evil INS.

Whirl-Mart is a participatory, anti-consumerism, performance trend started by the Breathing Planet Troupe. A group silently pushes empty shopping carts through the aisles of a superstore, wearing Whirl-Mart smocks. Utilizing tactics of occupation, Whirlers call this symbolic spectacle a “collective reclamation of space that is otherwise only used for shopping and buying.” Averting outright protest of the “emptiness of material consumption,” they mimic the absurd shopping PROCESS instead. When asked by Wal-Mart employees what they are doing, and knowing that protests are not permitted inside Wal-Mart, they respond that they are participating in a “consumption awareness ritual,” confusing store employees and shoppers alike. And the good news is, Whirl-Mart is coming to a superstore near you! Buy Nothing Day on November 29 has been declared a global Whirl-Mart day of action.

Whirl-Mart began outside of Troy, NY, in response to a challenge from Adbusters magazine to do something foolish on April Fool’s Day, 2001. Inspired by that successful action, Whirl-Mart rituals began popping up all over the country, and even in the UK. By 2002, many groups in many states were whirling. On March 3, 2002, rituals were performed at Wal-Marts in NY, TX, AZ, PA, and more.

The Austin, TX ritual had 8 whirlers and 2 documentary filmmakers. For the first 45 minutes, they walked alone and in pairs with their carts. Then they formed a parade of empty shopping carts in the jewelry section. As soon as they heard a call for help in jewelry, they disbanded. Shortly thereafter, one Whirl-Marter was cornered by the manager, who wanted to know what he was doing. He said he was trying to decide if he should buy something. When the manager asked what he was looking for, he said “something.” The manager took the cart from the shopper and forced him to leave. All of the Whirlers were told to leave except one. He went into the longest checkout line possible with an empty cart, and at the end, thanked the cashier and left.

At a Wal-Mart in Indianola, Iowa, in April 02, Whirlers tried to enter Wal-Mart with a live chicken. Their plan was to grab a pair of men’s pants made in El Salvador or Pakistan or India, and then to go to the cashier and try to barter the chicken for it.

At a Wal-Mart in Austin, TX, in 2002, Whirlers entered the store one by one, and in no time had a Whirler on every aisle. After 10 mintues, they formed a train around women’s wear. Suddenly, the store’s loud speaker repeatedly announced “Managers, Code Sunshine” and told shoppers to secure their children. One Whirler said he feared the Wal-Mart SWAT team was being activated, with big yellow smiley faces on their riot shields. They disbanded into pairs again, yet the manager took one Whirler aside and asked “What exactly IS Whirl-Mart?” She feigned being a completely spaced-out hippie, saying it was a peaceful, nonviolent meditation she did where she didn’t buy anything for one hour a week.” He responded by saying, “Well, as long as it’s nonviolent, then you can do it for the next 20 minutes. What the heck—today’s free.” So does it cost money to Whirl on other days?

In the Bay Area, whirlers wore “Hi, My name is Whirl-Mart” stickers because they did not have matching shirts. Some of the Bay Area whirlers waxed philosophical about what they think about while whirling. One whirler said he liked to think, “How am I like an empty cart?” during the ritual.

For more info: www.breathingplanet

Universal Uprising – Leap Day 2004

Crafts and Insurrection Convergence (and various independent troublemakers) are calling for a spontaneous universal uprising on Leap Day – February 29, 2004. Leap day is an extra day — a blank slate waiting to be transformed into a spontaneous, inspirational rebellion against dreary business as usual. Every other day, the wheels of global industrial capitalism spin around, running over our freedom and the earth in the process. It’s up to us to try to make leap day a little different.

Leaping is an uplifting, explosive, hopeful action. Try it right now. Do you feel better? I thought so. Leaping is how you get from where you are stuck, across a wide creek in the forest, to the other side and new possibilities. You leave the ground and fly free into the unknown.

In the radical milieu, far too much of our energy goes into tired, ritualistic protests. Usually, a protest is focused on being against something. As such, many protests are inherently reactionary, not proactive. They allow our rulers to set the agenda, and then we predictably turn out to try and stop it. The best that can be achieved in this model is the status quo, and the worst is that the protest is a failure and the rulers get their way.

You can’t build a successful movement to create change and build a new society by just being against something, or everything. When do these oppositional protests ever allow us to put out our vision for the future? You know you’re in trouble when conservatives — whose agenda is literally to turn back the clock — accuse you of supporting policies of the past because you’re spending time fighting to defend gains made in the 1930s or the 1960s.

Always protesting makes us come off as whiny and negative. People don’t always want to join the losing team or identify as the underdogs or oppressed. In a lot of left circles, it feels like a competition to see who is the most oppressed and fucked over — you win if you lose the most. This is not going to be a successful strategy to organize a movement to win gains and change society — it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure and oppression.

Recently, Berkeley anarchists started a soccer club, and named it Kronstadt, after an incident in post-revolutionary Russia in which the Soviet Army defeated and massacred rebellious anarchist troops. This is telling in terms of how we see ourselves — we too often worship failure, defeat, and even our own slaughter! You don’t ever see our rulers celebrating the time they got their ass kicked.

So Leap Day is an opportunity to have an action for something and not against anything. Leap Day is a totally arbitrary day, and thus it puts the onus on radicals to think about what we want, and figure out how to communicate and promote our goals.

The proposal for a universal uprising on Leap Day is totally open-ended in terms of tactics, goals and strategy. The idea is that folks across the universe will get together and figure out how to use their extra day for something exciting and new. This could range from individual actions of sabotage, disruption, art, music, or enjoyment, to more organized forms of rebellion or building and development.

The hope is that people will let their imagination run free and wild, incorporating forms of expression never seen before. Why should every protest have the same signs, the same puppets, the same chants? Maybe there could be an action at rush hour of totally silent mimes or scary clowns. What does our vision of the future look like, and can we build a little piece of it right now to show around? How can we go beyond involving the same young-ish, white-ish people as always?

Leap Day is about breaking down the separation between activism and living our lives full of enjoyment and freedom. Living full joyful lives must ultimately be the same as building a new world.

You don’t need permission to celebrate Leap Day, and there is no organization, no structure, no email list! There is no success or failure. This is about taking matters into your own two hands and seeing what might happen.

The first radical action specifically inspired by leap day (that I’m aware of) happened on Feb. 29, 2000. There was only one meeting to organize the action because we wanted it to be long on action, inspiration and leaping into the future, and short on the typical boring meetings. We decided that we would make puppets, but not the huge kind you usually see at street protests. Too heavy to leap in. Too bulky to run from the cops in. We decided to make finger puppets, and then have puppet shows in front of all of the chain stores and banks in downtown Berkeley.

We had a sound system on a bike and really cool finger puppets representing all the factions present in Seattle when we shut down the WTO: police, protesters, turtles, jeerleaders, even a John Zerzan finger puppet to talk to the media. If you want to shut down a business district, try doing finger puppet shows right in their front doors with a bullhorn. What are they really going to do but shut down? The cops were too confused to really do anything, and after smashing a TV and VCR in front of the local corporate video rental place Blockbuster, the mob dragged old mattresses out into the streets and simulated sex acts in the road. Happy Leap Day Berkeley!

Leap Day is the only day of the year that hasn’t been declared “national carpet installer day” or whatever. In 2004, it’s our day to start building a new world. Use your extra day wisely and joyfully. Maybe when you wake up on March 1, it will be different, too.

It’s easy to get depressed these days. Constantly bombarded with war, consumer crap and traffic, optimism can be elusive. But since the Kali Yuga (Age of Quarrel in Hindi Mythology) is slated to last up to 427,000 more years, we are forced to develop coping methods. So while the mainstream pops Prozac, I suggests getting a little more creative.

Consider so many campaigns. Campaigns to stop the logging of our last old growth trees. Campaigns to dismantle the Prison Industrial Complex. Campaigns to shut down world summit meetings. Campaigns to stop sweatshops, trash animal testing and end U.S. military occupation of distant lands. Noble causes, all of them worthy of a lot of attention. The public has a right to be outraged, and we need to organize to generate as much awareness as possible.

But it can seem like a losing battle. Watching the last redwood forests be clearcut is demoralizing at best. Poverty continues unabated, and it seems like people are more indifferent than ever. Its enough to make a person very depressed.

But before giving up hope, try proacting. Rather than complaining about the state of the world and forever reacting to the steady stream of bullshit that faces us, practice visualizing a better world, and focus on that. The strategy of the boycott needs to evolve. People need real alternatives where they can go for sustainably harvested lumber. They need to see that they can boycott foreign oil and enjoy alternative transportation options. Finding these alternatives is not always easy. We need to build local community enterprises and support them as much as possible.

On a personal level, activists need to make friends and snuggle with them. Touch isn’t just for lovers, its a basic human need. Practice massage and share it as much as possible. Remember that what goes around comes around. Laugh, sing, play, dance! Take a roving bicycle ride in the street with friends. Luxuriate in a yoga practice. Whatever you do, don’t feel guilty about spending time and/or money doing something that makes you happy. Remember that healing the planet starts with healing ourselves.

Be a pirate, or a writer, or whatever it is that you’ve always dreamed of being. As we lighten up and start to see the humorous side of all the doom and destruction, we attract other people to our causes. Thus the movement ultimately becomes more popular, accessible, and effective. And meanwhile, we’re having fun. What could be better?

El quinto encuentro de los ministros de la OMC colapsó despues de que 21 naciones abandonaron las negociaciones sobre los acuerdos multilaterales. Miles de personas se reunieron en Cancun, en Septiembre, para protestar encontra de los efectos devastantes de la globalización y privatización dirigidos por la OMC. Granger@s, estudiantes, gente nativa (indigenos), los anti- autoridades y otros trabajaron juntos para parar el encuentro de la OMC. Seguidamente, aqui hay una historia de una manifestante mexicana sobre lo que paso en Cauncun.

EL PUEBLO ECOLOGICO

Después de que llegamos a Cancún, inmediatamente nos fuimos al Centro de Covergencia para ver que estaba pasando y quien habia llegado. Teniamos planes sobre ayudar primeramente en el Pueblo Ecológico , ya que teniamos algunos amigos ahi de los Estados Unidos..

Apenas un día después de haber llegado nos dirigimos al llamado Pueblo Ecológico para ayudar en su construcción. Ahí ya estaban trabajando alguna gente de E.U., algun@s mexican@s y un peruano El proyecto principal constaba de la creación de una estación de lavado para trastes y manos, también una serie de regaderas. Yo estuve participando más en la estación de lavado, en esta hicimos lo necesario para reunir agua de lluvia (lo malo es que no llovió mucho), también colocamos una “bomba de mecate” método de energía alternativa con el cual puedes poner presión en el agua con pura energía manual.

También intentamos poner los botes de basura aparte para la separación de la basura, pero parece que la mayoría de los campesinos no conocen de esto, y revolvían toda la basura, una vez la sacamos de los botes y la separamos manualmente, haciendo una composta, pero como llegaban más y más campesinos llegando a ser miles nos fue difícil llevar a cabo la separación, por lo que desistimos de esta idea. Fue de verdad emocionante ver el interés de los campesinos en nuestro trabajo, se interesaron mucho por la “bomba de mecate” y la composta, incluso algunos nos pidieron que fuéramos a sus comunidades para enseñarles esto.. Habia tambien información sobre Permacultura.

El Pueblo Ecológico tenia una buena organización antes de que la gente empezase a manifestarse, asi que la gente utilizaban el espacio para reuniones y talleres. La primera manifestación fue el 9 de Septiembre, pero alguna gente tenian aun que llegar, así que la manifestación fue pequenia y un poquito desorganizada.Aquella noche, hubo uno reunión para organizar los planes del dia siguiente y la semana siguiente. Una de las cosas planeadas para la semana fue el gurpo anti-autoridades. Formado por punkis, anarquistas y criaturas similares, la gente en ese grupo eran de Ameria del Norte, Australia, Canada y otros lugares. Habian mas de 200 personas y los campesinos nos respetaban. Asi que nos pidieron ayuda y protección.

LA VALLA

La policia habia cerrado el camino hacia el maldito edificio donde estaba reunido el OMC, y la gente llamaban a la localizacion “el kilometro zero”. La Valla era grande y muy alta y miles de policias estaba detrás de ella armados con miles de pistolas. Tenian todo tipo de armas y camiones con pistolas de agua a presión. Esa misma noche, la primera importante, toda la gente quizo votar la valla.

Los granjeros protestaron primero, el Miercoles, 10 de Septiembre.Los estudiantes y los anti-autoridades apoyaron a los granjeros de todo el mundo. Fue una manifestacio muy diversa. habian muchas pancartas, signos, muñecos y posteres encontra de la OMC, del poder del maldito capitalismo y de las organizaciones multinacionales.

Los granjeros Koreanos estaban en el frente, cerca de la valla. Como muchos habrán oido ya, el granjero koreano Lee Kyang Hae, se mató manifestancose encontra. Habia tantas cosas pasando que algunos de nosotros no supimos de su muerte hasta el final. Pero al final, hubo un momento en el que tiramos la valla. Hacia mucho calor y era dificil, pero mientras lo intentamos, el cielo se nublo…sentimos que era un simbolo de cambio.

Alguna gente empezó a tirar rocas a la policia mientras tirabamos la valla, osea que la policia empezó a tirarnos rocas tambien y e hirieron a algunos manifestantes. Los granjeros llamaron a la gente diciendo que no deberian ser violentos, asi que todo se calmó y nos volvimos al campamento. Ahi tuvimos servicios conmemorativos por Lee Kyang Hae. Fue muy intenso, hubo muchas actividades, charlas y talleres.

El sabado 13 de Septiembre, sonaba la musica de Infernal Noise Brigade. Era la útima manifestación. Estaba muy bien planeada y muy grande. Las mujeres koreanas cortaron la valla con pinzas. con el apoyo de miles de mujeres de otras partes, y tambien de los hombres, el Grupo Naranja ( estudiantes). La valla fue trabajada por las mujeres y la tiraron tirando de unas trenzas que metieron por las rejas.

La policia puso otra valla mas cerca del edificio, en un lugar lleno de callejones donde no se podia huir. Mientras trabajabamos en tirar esa valla tambien, la policia nos empezó a rodear , Pero otro grupos de manifestantes hicieron una barricada para protejernos, y, finalmente, tiramos la valla.

ESTO NO ES EL FINAL

Posiblemente no he nombrado montones de cosas pero simplemente estoy intentando dar mi vision de lo que viví. en Cancún. En sus reuniones,, los asesinos del OMC no se pusieron de acuerdo ni se respetaron mutualmente. La lucha encontra de la OMC, organizaciones politicas de intercambio, y en contra de este absurdo sistema que vivimos no ha acabado ni acabara. El movimiento creando un mundo mejor continua aún, ayudándonos a recordadr que la vida no se puede comprar ni vender. Encontramos felicidad afuera del sistema. Podemos construir nuestro propio mundo, un espacio libre como El Pueblo Ecologico.

Vivire mi vida aqui y ahora, se que nadie me va a regalar nada pero voy a hacer todo lo posible por vivir mi vida, la mia.

Otro mundo es posible, si podemos aprender como crearlo. Lo pudimos crear en Cancun por un tiempo….lo podriamos hacer por mas.

The fifth ministerial of the WTO collapsed after 21 nations withdrew from negotiations on multilateral trade agreements. Thousands of people gathered in Cancun in September to protest the devastating effects of globalization and privatization fueled by the WTO. Farmers, students, indigenous people, anti-authoritarians and others worked together to stop the meetings. Here is one account of the events in Cancun, from a Mexican protester.

ECO VILLAGE

After arriving in Cancun, we immediately went to the convergence space to find out what was being organized and who had arrived so far. We had plans to help out primarily with the Eco Village, since friends from the US were involved in the project.

We got to the Eco Village on our second day in Cancun. People from Mexico, the US, and Peru were there, and we helped with several construction projects. The main project was a washing station for utensils and hands. Although we built a structure to collect rainwater for cleaning, it didn’t rain much that week. We also made string pump, that was used to get water pressure manually.

Compost and recycling were arranged and people gave workshops on using them. Many farmers weren’t aware of this before and became very interested. Some of them asked us to come to their communities and do workshops on the subject. There were also large displays on permaculture.

The Eco Village was in good order before the protests began, and people used the space at all hours for meetings and workshops. The first demo was held on Sept 9, but many people were still arriving and it was small and a bit unorganized. That night, there was a large meeting to plan for the next day and week. One of the things organized for the week was the anti-authoritarian bloc. Comprised of punks, anarchists and similar creatures, people in the bloc came from North America, England, Australia and other places. There were more than 200 of us, and the campesinos respected our work. They asked for our help and our protection.

THE FENCE

The police had shut down the way to the damned WTO meetings, and people called the location of the fence “Kilometer Zero.” The fence was long, with hundreds of armed police behind it. They carried guns and had trucks with water cannons. From the first night, everyone wanted that fence down.

The farmers’ protest happened on Wed, the 10th. Students and the anti-authoritarian bloc supported thousands of farmers from around the world. It was a really diverse demo, and there were puppets and posters against WTO, corporate power and capitalism. Korean farmers were at the front, by the fence. As many people have heard, one Korean farmer, Lee Kyang Hae, killed himself in protest. There was so much happening so quickly that many of us didn’t know about his death for several hours. Afterward, there was more momentum to get the fence down, even though it was very hot. As we worked, it got cloudy and more comfortable. We felt as though the weather was cooperating with our efforts.

Some people started throwing rocks at the police as we pulled the fence down, and they threw them back, wounding several protesters. The farmers called for people not to be violent, so people left the confrontation and reassembled. Afterward, people held some memorials for Lee Kyang Hae. It was intense, with lots of workshops and actions happening simultaneously.

On Saturday the 13th, Infernal Noise Brigade accompanied the last demonstration. It was well planned, and huge. Korean women worked at cutting the fence, supported by men and the Orange Block (students). Eventually, all women worked on the fence, and it was pulled down by ropes threaded through it.

The police erected another fence closer to the main meeting buildings, with less space for protesters to escape. As we worked on knocked this fence, police began to surround us. Another group of protesters formed a barricade to protect us, and we got down the fence. Since there was nowhere to go, we stared down the police, knowing that we were stronger than any fences that they could put up. Then, we left quietly.

THIS IS NOT THE END

Maybe I’ve missed a lot of details, but I’m trying to give a vision of what I lived in Cancun at the protests. In their meetings, the assassins of the WTO could not reach an agreement, understand each other or even respect their own rules. The fight against WTO, other international trade organizations and the absurd system that we live under, is still happening and won’t stop. The movement creating a better world continues, helping us remember that life can’t be bought or sold. We find our happiness outside the system. We can build our own world, build a free space like the Eco Village. I will live my life here and now, knowing that I must make it happen.

Another world is possible, if only we learn to build it. In Cancun, it was possible for a while, and we must make it longer.

Miami, Florida is hosting the 8th round of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) trade negotiations and 8th American Business Forum in November. Trade ministers from 34 nations in the Western hemisphere, and hundreds of their closest commerce-inclined friends, will descent on this city for a week of business and pleasure: the business of advancing capitalism’s parasitic agenda, and the pleasure of getting away with it. At the Summit of Americas held in Miami in 1994, 34 heads of state agreed to construct the FTAA. Since then business and government representatives from these countries have been secretly drafting this plan with the aim of creating the largest free trading block in the world by 2005. This is to be our region’s principal contribution to the much-heralded age of globalization: did someone say “free trade”?

“Free” trade only benefits a small number or corporations. “Free” trade means not having to pay tariffs that are designed to make trade fair. The FTAA will privatize and degrade all municipal services including: education, health, water, sewer and energy. It will increase corporate farms and marginalize small producers, adding to unemployment and poverty. The FTAA will sacrifice human rights and violate the basic principals of democracy, destroy living wage ordinances, as well as destroy environmental protection laws and prohibit animal welfare legislation.

The FTAA expands the corporate free trade policies of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which applied to Canada, Mexico and the United States to encompass the entire Western Hemisphere. It is an integral part of the logic of capitalist globalization, generating profits while at the same time accelerating the loss of workers’ rights wage decreases, the triumph of corporate agribusiness over family and subsistence farms, environmental degradation, the displacement of indigenous people and the privatization of public industries. Alongside the imposition of militarization and natural resource-focused accords like Plan Columbia, the Andean Regional Initiative, Plan Puebla Panama and the Central America Free Trade Agreement, the FTAA is designed to concentrate wealth and power into a few corporate hands at the expense of everyone else.

Mobilize for Miami!

Come to Miami in November, and this is what you will see. Besides being a teaming crock pot of vibrant cultures and ethnicities, the division among classes and races is stark and deep. There’s a lot of unemployment and underemployment, gentrification and displacement. Miami is also home to the largest pro-war, pro-Bush demonstrations in the US. Residents of what is touted as the poorest large urban center in the United States will foot a good portion of the $16 million it will cost to host the meeting. Further, they will be asked, for a week, to patiently bear the militarization of the city’s downtown — miles of barricades, public transportation and movement restrictions, columns of roving paramilitary — while the local and international elite go about their high-stakes business of negotiating details that will impact the lives of everyone in the hemisphere. This is where we come in. We’re calling for creative, decentralized, autonomous actions in response to the FTAA ministerial November 20-21, 2003.

Delay, disrupt and topple the FTAA meetings. Shut them down.

Cities have passed ordinances to restrict the rights of demonstrators before, but Miami is getting pretty ridiculous. Pretty soon they’ll be outlawing unbleached tampons. We’re not sure if they’ll pass this ordinance in its proposed form, but we thought you should know what’s on the table.

“This is an ordinance of the Miami City Commission, Amending Chapter 45 of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as Amended, entitled ‘Streets and Sidewalks,’ to establish reasonable time, place and manner regulations concerning materials and objects that may be possessed, carried or used by those participating in parades and demonstrations, and providing for sunset of said regulations at Midnight on Thursday, November 27, 2003.”

The City Council of Miami professes that it wishes to “ensure the safety and security of those viewing, attending or participating in parades, and the public officials and employees responsible for handling or overseeing such events on public property in Miami., to reduce or avoid the possibility of personal injury and property damage.” Since they’ve heard that the “potential exists of civil disturbance and unrest during certain upcoming events” (did they guess right!), they’re suggesting these changes to parade regulations:

It shall be unlawful for a person

1) to carry or possess any weapon (loaded or unloaded), as a pistol, rifle, stick pole, explosives, paintball gun…

2)to carry a sign…unless…constructed solely of cloth, paper or cardboard no greater than 1/4 inch in thickness…

3)to carry or possess any length of lumber, wood or wood lath unless is 1/4 inch in thickness…

4)to carry or possess any length of metal, plastic or similar hard, stiff material…

5-8)…to carry…glass containers… balloons…projectiles…

9)to carry or possess spray paint cans…

10)to carry or possess projectile launchers (slingshots??!!)…

11)…gas masks…

12)…improvised body armor…

13)…sleeping dragon device…or other locking device…

So friends, it’s wacky. We aren’t permitted to parade freely anymore, which makes taking back the streets twice as important. Freedom of speech, free of assembly…they’ll go after it all. Be heard! Resist! Rise up!

It was about 4:20pm when the power first went down, I was sitting on the 4th floor of the ABC No Rio building in the computer lab. Every thing went down except for the fan and a light bulb in the stairwell, which continued to run on residual power for about one minute before dying. We assumed it was just local and would only be a matter of waiting an hour or two.

I’m not sure when the scope of it really hit me. I was walking up toward Ave. A to find some food when the city’s mood suddenly reminded me of the morning of September 11, 2001. Crowds of people were listening to radio news on blasting car stereos. All the street lights were out, creating the effect of cars and trucks becoming more cautious while bikes and pedestrians seemingly “jaywalked” with reckless abandon.

More and more people were out on the street as the evening set in. All of the trains were out of service. All the bridges off Manhattan were open to pedestrian traffic and many people living in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx made the long walk back home. Seeing the endless flood of people walk off the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn with a bridge sign stating: “BROOKLYN: WHERE NEW YORK BEGINS” was a magnificent sight.

As a squatter, I was overjoyed at the idea of the entire city being reduced to candle light. I was also quite pleased to see how friendly and neighborly people behaved. Several people and even some restaurants were giving away food that would have rotted otherwise. My friends and I dumpstered gallons of “trademark” ice cream that would have melted had we not passed it out at Tompkins Square Park. Later in the night people built a bon fire in the performance area near the center of the park. The fire was fueled by the wooden barriers that had been built around the trees to keep people from climbing them. The party went on much into the morning and people openly slept in the park.

I heard many stories of people not being allowed into their hotel rooms because no one could confirm who rented what room. There was very little looting; in fact Times Square was reportedly festive all night with drinking and street performers filling up the street.

The lights came on in the east between 9 and 10. People in the park were hollering, bellowing and booing. I chimed in. The east village was one of the last parts of Manhattan to be put back on the grid. It was an amazing energy and people remained in good spirits for sometime after.

We can learn from this, but learn what? What effect does electricity have on the human body or society in general? Does the earth benefit from having miles upon miles of electrical wire wrapped around it? Why celebrate in the face of chaos? What liberation can be extracted from a simple break in routine? One thing’s for sure given the chance people will rise to the occasion and relish in freedom.

Damages to date in 2003: $55 Million – Over $100 Million since 1997.

The ELF was formed in Brighton, England in 1992 by Earth First! members realizing that their tactics must intensify if they were going to make an effort to truly save the environment. The following year they are said to have declared solidarity with the Animal Liberation Front. In February of 1994 Judi Bari wrote in the Earth First journal that she felt that Earth First! “should mainstream itself and leave the more radical tactics to the Earth Liberation Front.” Since then there have been a steady stream of successful actions .

September 19

Home arsons in California

Four homes under construction in San Diego are damaged by fire, with damage estimated at $1 million. A banner at the site is signed ELF.

September 5

SUVs vandalized in New Mexico

A dozen vehicles are spray-painted with graffiti, including “ELF”, at a Land Rover dealership in Santa Fe.

September 2

SUVs vandalized in Texas

Vandals shoot out windows with pellet guns, slash tires and “key” 22 vehicles at a Houston dealership. Damage: $60,000.

August 22

SUVs destroyed in California

About 100 vehicles, mostly SUVs, are destroyed or damaged at four auto dealerships in West Covina, Duarte, Arcadia and Monrovia, near Los Angeles. A warehouse at the West Covina dealership is also heavily damaged by fire. Combined damage is estimated at $2.5 million.

August 1

Condominium project torched in California

A 206-unit condominium project under construction in University City, San Diego, is destroyed by fire. Damage: $50 million. A banner left behind reads “If you build it, we will burn it. The E.L.F.s are mad.”

June 4

New homes torched in Michigan

Two nearly completed homes with a combined value of $700,000 are torched in Macomb County, west of Detroit. Graffiti at the scene reads “ELF – Stop Sprawl”.

April 29

SUVs defaced in California

About 60 SUVs, trucks and mobile homes at dealerships and outside homes are defaced with anti-war graffiti in Santa Cruz.

April 8

65 SUVs, trucks vandalized in California

45 SUVs and trucks are spray-painted with anti-war messages at the North Bay Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealership in Santa Cruz, as well as 18 or 20 vehicles parked in front of neighbors’ homes. The graffiti also includes references to ELF.

March 21

Navy Recruiting Station vehicles vandalized

Vehicles are vandalized at the Navy Recruiting Station in Montgomery, Alabama. Cargo truck is set ablaze, five other vehicles spray-painted with anti-war messages, including “E-L-F”. ELF claims guilt.

March 21

New homes torched in Michigan

Two homes under construction in the Superior Township, west of Detroit, are torched. When finished, they would have been valued at $500,000 each. Nearby graffiti says “no sprawl” and “ELF”. ELF claims guilt.

January 1

SUV attack in Pennsylvania USA: Four new sports utility vehicles areconsumed by fire at the Bob Ferrando dealership in Girard, Erie. Damage estimated at $90,000.