Category: Articles

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To whom it may concern;

Occupy used to have GA everyday. Now Occupy has court everyday. I think that all this has shown us what is truly wrong in the core of our affairs (you know, beyond all this spiritual growth, the self-realization rhetoric that isn*t spoken but experienced), if anything: law, authority, you owning me and the like. And what room is there for accountability in anarchy? So it*s like i got a wet sock on my right foot and a fucking alligator biting off my left. I*ve been ramped up about wet socks and meanwhile bleeding to death. This is what I mean when I say, “We hold each other back.” We hold each other back from achieving spiritual fitness while talk talk about sitcom distraction, and we hold each other back from understanding shared abundance so we eat thanksgiving dinner in dumpster caucuses, and we hold each other back from digging into art-soul integration while stale pop-memes trump the existentialist*s self-overcoming. I am too busy trying to become that which I already am. Why the hate? Because I*m pissed! Ah, these snakes eat themselves and I am bleeding out of my eyes for the injustices of all. I love you, and I goddamn well mean it.

Fuckon,

D.H. Sintax

I enjoyed the Occupy extra and the latest Slingshot very much. Their revolutionary engagement, energy, and passion really came through the pages. We*ll have our analyses about it all, which I think is important, but the palpable feeling you produce is what really juices people with the desire for more. I was amazed at the depth of Haven Quixote*s article on radical art, but thought, wow, this guy sounds like a stalinist commissar demanding socialist realism and peddling the line that Pollock*s abstract expressionism was part of a CIA conspiracy. It*s hard to say what the impact of art is at all in the modern era. I don*t think too many Americans were aware of, let alone viewed Pollock*s canvases, and to say he killed art borders on the ridiculous. Plus, there are so many ways to view art. It could be argued, and has, that the AE school was another attack on formalism and representational art, and hence was subversive even if the CIA masters intended something different. It*s structurelessness and randomness undercut the demand for rigid adherence to rules in art which was transformed into a general rebelliousness. There is a lot of art from the 19th century among the classics, for instance, which may only look like pretty pictures, but contained critiques of urbanism, industrialism, the collapse of rural communities, and lots of other subjects that might not be immediately obvious. Haven demanding that art have workers flying red, or even black flags lest it be deemed a failure by him, must send chills down the spine of every artist and creative person. I have art all over my house and not a single piece is political nor would I want any. We all need respites from fighting the empire and its injustices and just having objects of peace and beauty is what we should all be surrounded by. Hmm, I didn*t mean this as a letter to the paper, but feel free to run it. I*d be curious to read his or her [gotta be a guy] response. I thought your general strike was excellent although I don*t we*re going to see one in the U.S. unless it*s supported and led by trade unions. That*s who has been behind them all both in this country and recently abroad… best and comradely greetings, Peter Werbe

I am a POC organizer in the city of Louisville, KY. I have been scanning your planner and wondering how much of what slingshot covers is written by POC and how represented they are within what is written about. Being a person of color, I am always skeptical to read works by white anarchist, because I generally feel underrepresented or misrepresented, or I feel like they are not conscious enough about POC to write about us. There is this recurring theme of white anarchist seeming overly self-indulgent in zines, or speaking with too much academic jargon. I have attended college for 4 years now, and and can use the same language but I do feel like most people are not on the same page, and I especially feel like those of my group generally have not heard of patriarchy or gender binaries, etc. However, it is not to say they do not know or haven*t heard of these things. Another issue with the white anarchist spaces and zines I have encountered, is that I generally feel like they come at me and other POC as, “let me teach you,” or “let me help you,” or “here is some information I feel like you need,” rather than simply passing along books, zines, etc. that one might feel like could be useful to them. It*s best to allow that person to read and formulate their own opinions, or read and seek out what they do not know, and have now acquired through the texts. I also feel like there is rarely a diversity of ideas or enough objectivity, insofar as it can be accomplished, within them, which to me is off-putting. No one likes to feel like an idea is being forced upon them, or as if it is the end all be all. I am not sure if this is true to slingshot but if you have any works written by or for POC I would love to read it, not to simply critique and analyze but because I do enjoy them when they are formulated well.

Thank you so much for reading. Get back to me when you can!

Wheeze

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The Internationalist Prison Books Collective (IPBC) puts together a poster every month with information about political prisoners (PPs) and prisoners of war (POWs) incarcerated in the United States, along with their addresses whose birthdays are that month.

In April last year I was able to participate in a PP*s birthday party at the Dry River Radical Resource Center, an Infoshop located in the Dunbar Spring neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona where we made cards for all the prisoners on the IPBC poster, snacked, took pictures to send along and smashed a piñata. It was a great deal of fun!

Without a doubt, I think the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) is one of the flashpoints of class struggle and internal colonialism in the States, and that sending birthday cards to PPs and POWS is the least people who can should be doing.

After leaving Tucson to work on a farm in Iowa I made a point of continuing to write PPs and POWs using the IPBC poster as both a resource for current contact information and for news on the contemporary struggle against the PIC. My correspondence with prisoners has been both very informative and inspiring!

This year, using the Political Prisoner Birthday Party model I picked up in Tucson, I helped start the Riverside Anarchist Birthday Brigade (In Defiance-RABBID) at the Blood Orange Infoshop in Riverside, California. On the first Saturdays of January and February we converged at the Infoshop to make cards, write letters and talk politics. The first party was hastily thrown together as I had just arrived in town, but the second one had a theme where we all wore red and black, decked out the space, had plenty of snacks and took pictures to send along with the cards.

We also had plenty of relevant reading materials courtesy of South Chicago Anarchist Black Cross (S Chi ABC) who donated *zines to help us get started. Now we*re discussing fundraisers to pay for materials and send money to prisoners, as well as doing on going support work for specific prisoners.

Find the IPBC poster at prisonbooks.info. Prisonactivist.org and zinelibrary.info are two other great resources for writing to PPs and POWs. If you haven*t written prisoners before, you may want to check out the great article Tips On Writing To A Prisoner at prisonerlife.com/tips.cfm. Here are the very basics:

• You have to put a prisoner*s number on the first line so your letter gets to them.

• Include a return address on you letter, but if you don*t know the prisoner it may be best to use a PO Box or other neutral address.

• Guards may read your letter. Avoid discussing sensitive topics or details of a court case if a prisoner is awaiting trial / sentencing.

• Don*t make promises you can*t keep: being in prison is isolating and getting let down can be devastating. If you*re not looking for a romantic relationship, be clear about your intentions right from the start.

• Prisoners are no better or worse than anyone else. Some are flawed so exercise the same caution you would writing to anyone else you don*t know.

• Be careful about accepting collect calls from prison — they are absurdly expensive.

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We the people of Salt Lake City invite all those opposed to the tyranny of the 1% over the 99% to join us on July 25-28, 2012 in “welcoming” the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to our hometown. This annual meeting by ALEC is paid for and attended by corporate sponsors who sit behind closed doors with our so-called representatives to create policies that will later benefit those same corporations at the expense of our communities.

ALEC is a non-profit funded by the largest corporations where industry representatives work with conservative legislators to write pro-corporate model legislation, which is then introduced into state legislatures across the country by elected officials who are ALEC members. ALEC*s model laws focus on deregulation, attacks on labor and immigrants, and weakening environmental and health laws. 98 percent of ALEC*s income comes from 300 major corporate sources — companies like ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Bayer. Around 1/3 of US legislators from all 50 states — 2000 in all — belong to ALEC.

ALEC wrote the Stand Your Ground gun law enacted in Florida and other states that allowed George Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon Martin “in self-defense” and not face arrest even though Martin was unarmed.

ALEC functions as one of the most powerful mechanisms by which corporations increase their dominance over political institutions. ALEC is responsible for thirty nine years worth of legislation that has destroyed workers* rights, strangled free speech, and driven the privatization of our agriculture, education, health care, and prison industries all at the expense of our environment.

We will not allow this level of unvarnished corporate influence to continue. Since the occupations began, we have created new communities based on direct democracy that are providing a greater possibility for our voices to be heard than found in any of the mainstream society*s current institutions. We call for a convergence of these communities from July 25th-28th in Salt Lake City for all those oppressed by legislation created by ALEC. We will provide an open and inclusive space for resistance, rebellion, and a diversity of tactics so that we can develop solutions together where the voice of the people is not suppressed by the voice of the financial elite. It is through solidarity that we will find our greatest strength.

For more info, email especifista@riseup.net. For info on ALEC, check alecexposed.org.

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Marcellus Shale Earth First! is hosting the 2012 Earth First! Round River Rendezvous July 1-7 which will culminate in direct action against fracking in the Marcellus Shale region that includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. The Rendezvous is an annual convergence of radical eco-activists with workshops and trainings — the exact location will be announced closer to July.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a relatively new process for oil and natural gas extraction spreading rampantly across the US. It involves drilling deep down into the earth*s crust, then drilling horizontally and injecting hundreds of thousands of gallons of very high pressure water mixed with various chemicals and sand which fractures rock formations near the drill, allowing extraction of oil and gas. Drillers use a variety of up to 539 chemicals in frack jobs, including toxic or carcinogenic ones like benzene, lead, ethylene glycol, methanol, boric acid, and 2-butoxyethanol. Companies have refused to disclose which chemicals they inject into particular wells, citing trade secret protection.

Fracking can cause water contamination if drilling fluid leaks into aquifers or if fluid that comes back to the surface is not disposed of properly. There are thousands of frack wells in dozens of states including the Marcellus and also Texas, North Dakota, Colorado, Louisiana and New Mexico. Some wells can use millions of gallons of water. Fluid that returns to the surface contains drill chemicals as well as toxic or radioactive metals leached from rock underground. Some of this fluid is ending up in local rivers.

The expansion of fracking is increasing supplies of domestic oil and gas, causing natural gas prices to plunge. This is leading to increased reliance on gas to generate electricity, instead of non-polluting technologies like wind or solar, which are having a hard time competing with cheap gas. Drillers claim gas is a “green solution” since burning gas to make electricity emits less carbon dioxide that burning coal, but having easy access to cheap gas is prolonging reliance on fossil fuels and will ultimately increase CO2 emissions and global climate change.

Fracking is exempted from both the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act and remains under-regulated. Due to the depressed economy, lack of EPA oversight, and especially strong-arming of the gas companies, fracking is expanding even as many local communities organize to prevent contamination.

Direct action in July will fit in with MSEF*s work with local groups to build effective resistance in rural areas against fracking. No drilling! No compromise!

Contact susquehannaearthfirst@gmail.com, occupywellstreet.blogspot.com, or Marcellusearthfirst.rocus.org for info.

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Every year, people around the world celebrate May Day as International Workers Day to commemorate the struggle of working people for liberation and justice. In the US, May Day isn*t an official holiday nor is it celebrated by very many people even though celebrating May Day as a worker*s holiday started in the US.

In 1886, the American Federation of Labor adopted a resolution that “eight hours shall constitute a legal day*s labor from and after May 1st 1886.” With workers forced to work ten, twelve, and fourteen hours a day, support for the eight-hour movement grew rapidly. In the months prior to May 1st, thousands of organized and unorganized workers, members of the Knights of Labor and of the American Federation of Labor, were drawn into the struggle.

In Chicago, 400,000 workers went out on strike. Chicago was the center of agitation and anarchists were in the forefront of the labor movement. On the morning of May 1, 1886, armed Pinkerton private security, militia and the National Guard were ready to put down what they thought would be a workers insurrection. Instead, a parade and festivities took place without any trouble.

Two days later, again police charged in at another meeting of striking workers outside the McCormick harvester They started shooting workers in the back as they tried to flee. Outraged by this vicious police attack, Albert Parsons circulated a flyer calling for a meeting at Haymarket Square in Chicago.

The demonstration was larger than expected. After beginning to disband because of a gathering storm, the police started marching on the crowd. Suddenly somebody in the crowd threw a bomb at the police, killing seven.

Although it was never determined who threw the bomb, the incident was used as an excuse to attack and scapegoat anarchists and the labor movement in general. In the middle of a police reign of terror, union leaders and suspected radicals were randomly arrested without charge –“make the raids first and look up the law afterwards,” said the police. You see these tactics today being used against the occupy movement.

Anarchists in particular were harassed and eight of Chicago*s most active were charged with conspiracy to murder in connection with the Haymarket bombing. Albert Parsons, August Spies, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, and Oscar Neebe – were tried and found guilty despite a lack of evidence connecting any of them to the bombing. Neebe received 15 years while the others were sentenced to die.

The day before the execution date, Fielden and Schwabs* sentences were commuted while 21-year-old Lingg committed suicide by detonating a blasting cap in his mouth. As an anarchist, he did not recognize the right of the state to take his life and therefore decided to take it on his own.

On November 11, 1887, known by anarchists the world over as “Black Friday”, Parsons, Spies, Fischer, and Engels stood on the gallows. Under his hood, Spies spoke his final words, “The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voice you strangle today.”

In 1888, the AFL set May 1st, 1889 as a day of action for the eight-hour day. The following year, the newly formed International Association of Working People voted their support, and workers all over Europe and America demonstrated by holding meetings and parades to celebrate the eight-hour workday. This was the birth of the International May Day, still celebrated around the globe.

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The “99 Mile March for Education” saw students travel from Berkeley to Sacramento on foot in what might be described as the first pilgrimage of the new student movement. With this in mind, I arrived at Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland on March 1st expecting the students marching in from Berkeley. The following text is a first-hand account of what transpired…

Day 1. It*s about 2:45pm and about a hundred community organizers occupy the seats of the Oakland City Hall amphitheatre with a rally to keep the energy up. Megaphones let out calls for the end of the current systematic divestments from education – a symptom of the dominant culture of austerity. “Education will keep our kids off of the streets.” Someone takes a seat and asserts a mantra “out on the streets and into the jail.” And it is true that a major concern for a lot of people is making sure that their kids stay out of the jails. Jails are occupied overwhelmingly by people of color. As an advocate of street culture, that eternally mysterious flux of the commons, I think about how if more people were in the streets, we*d have a lot more fun – it might be a difference in definition. A nearby sign reads: “Our dreams can*t wait.” Four cops with riot sticks linger in the background – speaking under their breaths as if telling each other “take. it. easy.”

I get a message that the Berkeley contingent is at 52nd street and they just received a large cache of water from a nearby business. I decide to meet them, acknowledging that rallies never did much for me anyway, although I understand their role. I bike north on Telegraph Ave. The crowd I come across is made up of around three-hundred persons. Banners and pickets in hand, the people of the protest make their way with a motley motorcade: the Saint Rita (a van painted with murals depicting the struggle at UC), a sympathetic car, and a less sympathetic unmarked police SUV all weave in, out, and among the crowd. Every couple blocks, the unmarked vehicle stops to let a police cameraman out to capture the faces of the march. It isn*t clear how they validate their task to the unknowable “People of California” that they so often use as a cover. “The pigs are fucking filming us.” It is precisely in this sort of situation that masks are warranted. So some mask up for a few more blocks until the unmarked car drives away, into the background.

The crowd*s entrance to the plaza is greeted with the cheers of another. A banner draped between willing hands says, “THIS IS HAPPENING.” Captain America makes his appearance, shield in hand. “Here comes Berkeley,” they chant. “Let*s go Oakland.” The four aforementioned Oakland police have made their way across the street and keep their distance. They communicate over walkies to another cop behind City Hall*s doors – doors are adjacent to the plaza. Suits come in and out of the building.

A friend fills me in on the early parts of the day. At 7am, there was an attempted blockade of the UC Berkeley Administration building (California Hall) in which the edifice was wrapped in caution tape. Noon saw the rally on the Berkeley campus. “Diversity has greatly decreased, look around,” was the echoed message from the steps of Sproul Hall – an observation of the decreased enrollment of marginalized persons on the campus. The stop in Oakland lasts for a little and soon it is off again.

Back to Berkeley to meet with a rally for high school faculty, students, and workers… The road to Berkeley this time is San Pablo Avenue. At this point the crowd is a solid forty and more or less this will be the group to make their way to Sacramento, the state capitol. The decision to actually march the whole distance was said to be an accident. Early flyers described a march “to Sacramento” rather than one “on Sacramento.” People decided to roll with the mistake and they started to prepare for it. It was an idea that I thought might only happen once – this notion most interested me in the march. A man carries a rather large inverted U.S. flag. Two livestreamers cover the movements of about forty people, which seems a little excessive… Although the value of recording events is understandable, it becomes hard to see the merits in documenting every fucking thing. Might we be able to more effectively resist surveillance culture, instead of strengthening it? With the recent passing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) the position of social antagonists in the United States is made more precarious. Even in the lead-up to the bill*s passing, more and more stories reach the surface of government agencies monitoring political groups (including student organizations). All of this is under the veil of post-9/11 fear that seems to hold less and less weight in the minds of people in the United States. Instead of it being the patriotic thing to accept such a blatant disregard for people*s privacy and freedom, many are seeing such acts as far-reaching violations.

The time from Oakland to Berzerkeley dilates and I appreciate the old Victorians and graffiti more and more. Usually this trip is formed by a bike or bus ride. Something about moving on foot through the asphalt canals usually reserved for cars that makes for a refreshing view. Now in Berkeley, makes their way onto Martin Luther King Jr. Way, a street that borders the high school. Two ten-year-old wanderers pass some time marching with us for a couple blocks. Front of City Hall finds a congregation of teachers* and school workers* unions and students from K-12 and now the higher education types filter in. Cheers. Smiles. This rally has a busdriver talking into a microphone. A common enough message: “Education is a right, not a privilege.” In the bushes, kids play tag. “You can*t catch me.” Another plays catch with one of the “99ers” (the term coined for the marchers). Still another upstages the speaker with his dance, waving his own sign: “Teachers taught the 1%.” And another: “We might not be able to vote. We might be the future. But we*re also the present.” Don*t fuck with these kids.

A fifteen-foot cardboard pencil carries yet another message: “Tax the rich to teach the children.” The electoral aspirations of some in this march are perceivable. The “pay more taxes” message has already been echoed numerous times today. And yet there is no dominant sensibility. For some the march might represent a radical pilgrimage to the mythical capitol, for others an opportunity to recruit future trotskyites, and still others hold simple hopes for the elections. There is a politeness at these events that reflects a common understanding of such divergences. Yet this is too simple an image.

The 99ers are preparing to move on to Richmond. Tonight they*ll stay at a Methodist Church. As the marchers gather their things, a 6-year-old is quoted in a speech: “Joy is a fish swimming in the river of knowledge. That is why it doesn*t get out.” The day would see a twelve mile trek, which would take them to Saint Mark*s United Catholic Church. They would be greeted with burritos and a place to sleep. An account from ReclaimUC.blogspot.com describes the scene: “A couple of people from Occupy Richmond came to talk with us tonight about the different kinds of work they*ve done. They*ve been very involved in support work for Occupy Oakland. Somebody affiliated with Richmond Spokes said one central issue for Occupy Richmond is the pollution that has been introduced by Chevron in this area. The atmosphere and environment in Richmond is significantly more carcinogenic than in other parts of the Bay Area. He said a study on librarians found that 30 percent of librarians in Richmond develop breast cancer, which people think is tied to the pollution introduced by Chevron.”

Day 2 would see another oil refinery approaching Vallejo. Protesters described the sharp pain felt in breathing the air in. Police att
empted to corral marchers in such a way to exert a most comfortable level of control for the police themselves. No one was completely sure what their role was other than giving the marchers a hard time. Along the way they would be greeted by spontaneous masses of supporters. Pizza for dinner.

Day 3. It*s 7:01 pm and the student occupiers of UC Davis are anticipating the arrival of the 99 Mile Marchers. Word has come in that the first marcher has arrived. The giant pencils are at rest waiting for the rest of the group. Davis has had its share of political action on the campus in recent history – with many tracing their political unities back to the fall of 2009, in the wake of 32% fee increases. Then, students took over Mrak Hall in what was a radical coming of age for many. At this time occupations as a tactic, although nothing new, were marginalized by those with more conservative aspirations. Now it*s hard not to talk about the political scene without talking about occupying. As this goes to print, non-profits are currently organizing their own “occupations.” It is unclear what trajectory this will take.

The Davis occupiers, having gained considerable pull in the area post-pepper-spray-incident, got the local administration on edge. Upper-level administrators are holding back in light of bad publicity. The sorts of conversations that are being had by students seem to detail ambivalence about what to do with this power. A recent takeover of an unused building was met with criticism after it was revealed that it would eventually become the Multicultural Center (although it*s never been clear how near this reality was). The affected student groups still haven*t moved into the building.

Another tactic that has been used at Davis was a daily blockade of an on-campus bank. The message was simple: banks do not belong on campus. Because of the hesitancy of the administration, police did very little to stop these renegade blockaders. The action was a success, with the bank having closed its doors on campus as of March 12, 2012 – much to the chagrin of local administrators. The Regents of the University of California drafted a letter to the bank, asking them to reconsider. The bank blockade was a move that was not possible under Davis* General Assembly model. So persons autonomously organized towards such a goal, which makes sense to most. Others who saw the General Assembly as an authoritative governing body of the movement experienced some cognitive dissonance, though.

Sitting among the tents I think about the criticism applied by some to parts of Occupy that seem to evoke a Burning Man aesthetic. I have certainly been one to apply such a criticism to what were, for me, the least exciting parts of Occupy. Yet one of the most transmissible elements of Occupy has been the camp/community structure. Perhaps what is positive about this is that people are able to experiment towards livable communities. The intensity of the camps can*t simply be written off as a detriment. Conflict signifies a new synthesis – issues are being looked at in lights that are left untouched in the armchairs of world.

A quick circle discussion is held, which revolves around the question of how to greet the 99 Mile Marchers. It is quickly decided that we should hide and surprise them. We do just that. People hide in tents donated to Davis Occupy by supporters in New Zealand. Chants are heard in the distance. They are approaching. In the tent, a Davis Occupier fills me in on the local political happenings. Nearby, Davis cops hide themselves behind the neighboring trees. As the marchers come in, everyone jumps out. Surprise. We sit around and share tamales, beans, and rice that was coordinated in Davis. The talk is friendly and cheerful. This leads me to hear about efforts to shut down the Monsanto headquarters that are located in Davis. I overhear a conversation about how capitalism is polling lower than ever – it is so low that rightwing advisors like Frank Luntz are telling politicians to avoid using the word. The UC Davis does an extensive amount of agricultural research for big industry, with many professors taking on the unfortunate role of genetically-modified-organism-apologists when needed. Local TV reporters set up lights in the distance for their predictably botched reports. Dessert is in the form of Occu-pies, which are apple pies with cheddar cheese on top. Some suggest that the vegan alternative could be made with nutritional yeast.

“There are way too many mic checks,” I say to a friend. The term, a shortening of “microphone check,” is one that is nearly ubiquitous in Occupy (fortunately or unfortunately). The group isn*t so big that one can*t hear someone yell. Goes to show how people are quick to return to comfortable forms. Are there any mic check tattoos yet? I*ve always found them to be a little creepy. “GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN FIVE MINUTES.” “Finally,” someone exhales. People will discuss tactical matters for the next and final day in Sacramento. Others freely talk in smaller groups with friends to discuss their own plans.

Day 5. The culmination at the California state capitol would see thousands of protestors, disenfranchised by the actions of an elite class of politicians. Traffic reports let local suits know what streets to avoid on their way to work. Some were there to lobby those politicians. Others were more interested in the Occupy approach – blockades and building takeovers. In a move that attempted to replicate Wisconsin*s capitol takeover, hundreds held it down in the Capitol building. At the end of the day, seventy-two were arrested. Many more stayed for support. Earlier, some attempted to hold a general assembly to talk about demands. Others rejected this approach, comparing it to the motions of nearby politicians. Many went home thinking that the day was unfolding in a way that was described as “pretty basic.” In fact, the dominant move for many Occupy groups is to reject the logic of demands, for demands inherently reinforce the positions of mediators (politicians, administrators, police) in our lives. Even though the actions of a few aspiring politicians can seem to overshadow the efforts of many other “Occupy Everything, Demand Nothing” types, the latter still reflect the trend towards a radical rejection of what is. Such rejection might soon be traced to the new synthesis, one that could finally fully corrupt the corrupted political order of the present. Soon no one would be able to miss the fact that we wanted everything.

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Reclaiming our glorious birthright as homo ludens (that is, the understanding of humanity as inherently playful) is predicated on what Raoul Vaneigem termed the Revolution of Everyday Life. In a broad sense, the first and last step of this transition is akin to satori, an act of realization that “breaks the spell” as CrimethINC and, earlier, G.I. Gurdjieff would say. The “spell” prevents us from recognizing the difference between being a consumer (be it of commodities or ideas) and anything else; it is, essentially, a state of dreamless sleep. This sleep state is characterized by a passive acceptance of the sense that what is presented to us by culture (or, perhaps more accurately stated, the Culture Industry) is insufficient yet seemingly totalizing in scope. Its self-appointed and self-evident status as the total sum of possibilities is a direct indication not of the world as it is, but of the dominance of a resilient and flexible perspective. As such, the problem is perception. However, we must be wary of our susceptibility to seductions promising the attainment of this shift in perception quickly, for the necessary realization will not come easily, nor can it even resemble anything we perceive now. Metaphorically, it is not simply rearranging the deck chairs; the shift is a new mode of transportation entirely. It will be unrecognizable; it will be too much; it will be your own.

At the heart of the consumerist perspective is the normalization of vicarious living. Described in terms of merely surviving as opposed to actually living, the normalization of vicarious living demands that one*s existence is understood in terms of an array of prefabricated images of life instead of the chaotic potentiality that resides therein. Ideologies and theologies (the difference merely being stylistic in terms of fashion and architecture), along with defeatist-receptive apathy and “caring” consumerism, generate these images which largely obstruct the imagination and defang the will. As desires outside of this perspective are understood as “impossible” to a worldview that prohibits the contexts for their realization, we are forced to a new order of mentation — be it dada epistemology, guerrilla ontology, or the suppression and realization of art. Larry Law puts an essential aspect of this maneuver eloquently: “theory is when you have ideas, ideology is when ideas have you.” This is not to say that we must throw the bathtub out with the bath-water. Ideology-mongering is out, but the eruption of glorious chaos is in.

Speaking pragmatically, and in large measure, for the sake of mental traveling, the question at the origin of the rainbow, which is also its end, is thus: “Does breaking the spell come gradually or all at once?” Standard hagiographies of Zen Buddhism (known as Ch*an Buddhism in China) cite the Chinese peasant Huineng as the sixth and final Patriarch of the tradition. While largely premised on a revisionist history of Buddhism, the details of his appointment to such a position informs the question at the heart of this essay, namely, how do we break the spell? Joining the monastery as an illiterate peasant, Huiheng was ostensibly an outsider from Buddhism despite his enthusiasms for the Dharma, that is, the way of the Buddha. Untrained and uncouth, Huineng*s presence at the monastery was tolerated, but by no means was he accepted as worthy of leadership as bestowed by the Dharma transmission from the ailing Fifth Patriarch. When the Fifth Patriarch announced that his successor would be determined by the man who composed the most illuminated poetic verse, only the head monk Shenxiu attempted, as all of the other monks deferred to his apparent wisdom. Indeed his verse was great, for its confirmed the truisms that one must embody to achieve enlightenment; however, it did not evidence the illumination necessary for the position of Patriarch. Upon seeing Shenxiu*s verse, Huineng immediately understood its failing — it had valorized the finger pointing to the moon instead of the moon itself; put differently, he mistook the map for the territory, to use Korzybski*s terminology; he did not have the theory, the theory had him. He wrote:

The body is the bodhi tree. The mind is like a bright mirror stand. Be always diligent in cleaning it. Do not let it attract any dust.

While Shenxiu properly diagnosed and explicated the essential issue at the heart of Zen, he could not see past his devotion to the images, symbols, and methods that composed his Zen lifeworld. Having little exposure to such distractions, Huineng responded without hesitation:

Bodhi is fundamentally without any tree. The bright mirror is also not a stand. Fundamentally there is not a single thing. Where could any dust be attracted?

Following Hakim Bey*s conception of “Immediatism,” Huineng*s response was “immediate” — both in the sense of being directly apprehended and without mediation. In wildness is the preservation of the world. Within his lifetime, Huineng*s immediate or “Sudden Enlightenment” approach to Zen would become ossified as the Southern School and it would remain at odds with the gradual approach that defined the Northern Schools. The split has begotten more schisms and the disputes persist to the present.

Based upon the aforementioned history, we can only answer the question posed at the outset of this essay in a paradoxical affirmative. Yes — breaking the spell comes gradually, *and* it comes all at once; or, stated differently, we can answer the question posed at the outset of this essay not by choosing one or the other, but by saying simply yes — yes to both, yes to everything. Breaking the spell, the revolutionary of everyday life, finding the beach beneath the streets, developing class/ecological/gender consciousness, etc. — these are the metaphorical and theoretical orientations that can guide us to the death we all deserve. Terminological telos-babel aside, let these poisoned antidotes of inspiration stain your finger; let us look no further than long days and even longer nights of insurrectory conviviality for such unmediated pleasure.

Breaking the spell is not something that can be accomplished once and for all. The dream of finality is the barren image of liberation. We should celebrate the privilege of scars, the ever-present necessity of the impossible.

Contact the author at Corvid College SF www.corvidcollegesf.com

Note: for unknown reasons, our computer is not allowing us to include apostrophes in text on the website, so we have replaced all apostrophes with a *. Sorry for the inconvenience:

Here*s some community spaces we*ve learned about since we published the 2012 organizer, plus some more corrections. Thanks to everyone who sent us info, plus all the volunteers keeping these spaces afloat. You can check Slingshot*s on-line contact list for more updates: slingshot.tao.ca.

Humboldt Grassroots Infoshop – Eureka, CA

They have a lending library & zines and host movie nights, Spanish night, workshops and discussions. Open M-F various hours. 47B West Third St. Eureka, CA [Mailing address PO Box 196, Eureka, CA 95501] humboldtgrassroots@riseup.net

Gya Community Gallery – St. Louis

A gallery dedicated to women*s art and topics surrounding women*s issues including family, youth, and community. They host exhibitions and events. 2700 Locust Ave. St. Louis, MO 63103 yeyoarts.org 314 374-3282

Rota Gallery and Studio – Plattsburgh, NY

A co-op art gallery, all-ages venue & community space that hosts events. 19 Clinton St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901 518-314-9872

The Smell – Los Angeles, CA

An all-ages, volunteer-run venue. 247 S. Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center – San Antonio, TX

A huge 9500 square foot building that hosts art shows, speakers, meetings, and performance. They*re working to create a library, computer center, bookstore, coffee shop and shared office space. 922 San Pedro Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212, 210-228-0201

Bakersfield zine library – Bakersfield, CA

Zines and also a diy show venue in the garage called the Killer Clam. 137 Donna Ave. Bakersfield, CA 93304

Casa de Luz – Austin, TX

A macrobiotic, vegan restaurant / educational community center. 1701 Toomey Rd. Austin, TX 78704 (512) 476-2535

P&L Press Infoshop – Denver, CO

That have books, zines and materials for sale and host events. They are in the same building as Denver Health Collective, Bread and Roses (IWW), Colorado Street Medics, Denver Anarchist Black Cross, etc. 2727 27th Ave., Denver, CO 80211.

Visible Voice Books – Cleveland, OH

An independent new and used bookshop with a free meeting/performance space that hosts community events. They also have a wine bar and garden courtyard. 1023 Kenilworth Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44113 216-701-0809, visiblevoicebooks.com

UniTEA House – Durango, CO

They offer free community space for meetings, shows, workshops, etc. They serve wild-crafted herb teas and locally made snacks on a donation basis. They have a free library, infoshop, free box and wi-fi. 666 College Drive Durango CO 81301, 970-239-1498

Groundswell Collective – Knoxville

A community space featuring events. 1512 Magnolia Ave., Knoxville, TN 37919

Tri-Cooperatives – Davis, CA

Three student coop houses located on campus that feature organic gardens and communal living. Near Regan Hall Circle, Davis, CA.

Ordinary Spokes Community Bike Shop – St. John*s, Newfoundland, Canada

A collectively-run, volunteer-operated DIY bike shop that refurbishes used bikes, provides shop space and bike tools, teaches bicycle mechanics and promotes cycling. They host events and provide social space in their new commercial space. 576A Water Street, St. John*s, NL, A1E 1B8, Canada, ordinaryspokes.org

Changes to the 2012 Slingshot Organizer

• The Black Cherry in Toledo, OH is closed.

• The Radish in Springfield, MO no longer exists.

• We printed the wrong phone number and a mis-leading name for what should be called the DeCleyre Housing Cooperative. The right number is (901)-746-8126.

• The BRYCC House in Louisville, KY (Building Resources Yielding Cultural Change) lost their building to foreclosure — they owned it for 7 years with a big mortgage. They are now at 825 South Floyd Street, Louisville, KY 502-383-1177 www.brycchouse.com

• The Furnace in Albany NY has a website: albanyfurnace.org.

• We got an email that the we should take the Sky Dragon Centre in Hamilton, Canada off the list because it is now a yuppie café that no longer hosts radical events and is hostile to radicals. Let us know if you agree or disagree.

Note: for unknown reasons, our computer is not allowing us to include apostrophes in text on the website, so we have replaced all apostrophes with a *. Sorry for the inconvenience:

Nuts!!!#9 Winter 2011-2012

Po box 7302

Olympia, WA 98507

This publication has been growing in popularity. This issue is unique — five posters printed on newsprint, some of which are double sided. No staples, no cover…no bar code number. It had to happen with the amount of energy generated about this, it was going to either die or evolve. The content seems heavy on impressionistic art, which strikes me as odd since the HC punk scene this is attached to rarely appreciates this aesthetic. There is one page that reviews shows and explores women*s involvement in early punk, which will appease people stuck in the mundane past of printed matter. Given that no one expected this approach, the name Nuts will continue to cause ripples in zine circles.

(eggplant)

The LandLine

Po Box 891231

Chicago, IL 60608

A gnarly looking project packing homespun articles and art on sixty pages of newsprint. The poetry, essays, comics, opinions, reviews and politics run hot one minute — and cold the next. A descendant of the Skeleton News, with some of the same staff and much of the same approach. Hopefully the next issue will rely less on rejected academic papers and focus more on what needs to be communicated to their community.

(eggplant)

Flying Into the Chandelier

Po Box 401

Berkeley, CA 94701

Stories and insights that is largely Bay Area focused, with lots of adventures into spaces that are overlooked and unappreciated. There is an edge to this that has as much influence from the Beats as it does from punk rock. An air of enthusiasm and wonder is what motivates the writing — without all the shock and mental health issues that was dead baggage to those movements.

(eggplant)

Super Trooper #4/5

angela.k.roberts@gmail.com

These two zines seem to be in narrative form. Though not political, issues and resistance creep in at the edges. In issue four which is set in Korea, gentrification threatens displacement of poor people as a decrepit house absorbs the interest of the author. Anarchist, artists and activists are in the background of the story, but what seems central is a sense of establishing intimacy with the people around the author. Issue #5 is more focused on character sketches, evidently of people in Oakland CA.

(eggplant)

Negative Prophet (Mission Mini Comix)

Missionminicomix.com

This is from the highly active San Francisco artist Mike who usually collaborates his talents in one sheet mind blasts. This issue he goes solo and it is more comprehensive because of it. The art is killer, with the content and story peering into despair and idealism under our crumbling reality. It*s a short read but heavy in thought. But don*t blink — Mike and the gang will surely have a new issue out by next week.

(eggplant)

Baitline

74A Coleridge

SF CA 94110

An underground classified ads that provides an open forum on the projects, schemes and desires of radical deviants. Kink, art, and commerce are the main things being offered often priced as “trade” or some other anomaly. The covers are usually as provocative as the ads.

(eggplant)

Moira Scar Vs. The Shopping Maul

scar.press.blogspot.com

This crudely made comic from a San Francisco band would be more common in today*s environment if it wasn*t for the widespread gentrification so prevalent.

(eggplant)

Entropy

$5+4 stamps (No trades)

Po box 13502

Olympia, WA 98508

Lots of care went into making this taking the author five years to write, contemplate and assemble the content. We are warned right off the bat that this has triggering episodes inside. An early experience of sexual abuse by an older family member haunts the author and compels them into a life of seeking healing in the counter culture. The total look of the zine is impressive. The pages have stark solid images often of nature to accompany the text, and a thick cover printed on forest green paper. A cursory glance at the finished work it would seem like an environmentalist pamphlet. In fact the author is solidly footed in anarchism, and some theory of anti-civilization and counter culture wisdom does come out, but the zine is largely about emotional survival. There are a few assertions made that have a pseudo-scientific language that I found suspect — but faulty facts are endemic in zine culture. What is rare is the long time that went to getting this to readers, and because of that a lot of what*s here resonates.

(eggplant)

Food Eaters #1

3124 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94607

Food Eaters makes its first appearance in the zine world with a collection of esoteric scribbles. The introduction describes the issue as a sort of artistic prank. It*s not clear whether this one is even material. The only way you can get this one is by sending in a fucked up drawing for trade.

(joey)

Note: for unknown reasons, our computer is not allowing us to include apostrophes in text on the website, so we have replaced all apostrophes with a *. Sorry for the inconvenience:

By Jesse D. Palmer

The Long Haul radical community center in Berkeley achieved a $100,000 settlement of a federal lawsuit it brought against the FBI and the University of California police over a August 27, 2008 police raid on Long Haul by a joint terrorism task force during which authorities seized every computer at Long Haul. The UC cops and the FBI entered Long Haul with guns drawn to execute a search warrant as part of an investigation of threatening emails allegedly sent to UC Berkeley animal researchers from a public-access computer connected to the internet at Long Haul. No one was arrested during the raid or subsequently charged with sending the emails.

The Long Haul*s lawsuit claimed that the search was over-broad and contended that police violated the Privacy Protection Act because they seized computers used to publish Slingshot newspaper and the Slingshot Organizer without going through the right procedures. Police seized 14 computers and looked at lending library records and other files, particularly Slingshot file photos of various protests.

In addition to paying $100,000 jointly to Long Haul, co-plaintiff East Bay Prisoner Support, and their lawyers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU, the police agreed to destroy computer hard drive data they seized as part of the raid, and the UCPD agreed to expand the scope of training on the Privacy Protection Act that the police implemented in the wake of the raid. The settlement states that the UCPD “determined there was no evidence of criminal activity on the part of Long Haul, Slingshot, and/or EBPS in connection with the crimes under investigation.” UCPD also “acknowledge[d] that at the time of the execution of the search warrant, Long Haul was a publisher protected by the Privacy Protection Act (*PPA*), and therefore, the PPA prohibited the seizure of any protected work product materials related to the dissemination of Slingshot, except as provided for in the PPA.” The lawyers took 98.5% of the money, which was fine with us. In the wake of the UC Davis pepper spraying and last fall*s UCPD beating of occupy demonstrators, it was nice to make the police squirm, if only a little bit, and if only on their own turf (in Court, wearing suits, etc.)

The police raid was a clumsy attempt to intimidate radicals, but it didn*t work. Long Haul reopened the night of the raid and replaced the seized computers. The police wouldn*t have staged an armed raid or seized every computer at the Berkeley Public Library if the email in question had come from the public library, rather than from a radical Infoshop.

While Long Haul participants were skeptical about turning to the court system, we ultimately decided that it made sense to sue so the police wouldn*t conclude that they can raid infoshops and take computers used to publish the alternative press with impunity. The EFF/ACLU lawyers agreed to do the case for free, so in a sense we didn*t have all that much to lose, even if we didn*t have all that much to gain.

The lawsuit process was educational. Our EFF/ACLU lawyers were great and we thank them for a ton of hard work. On the other hand, the Court system is disempowering, isolating and alienating, even when you*re the plaintiff. On the street during the raid, we had each other, we had our passion, and it was easy to see that the raid was wrong. In court, you*re on your own going through a hyper-bureaucratic dehumanizing framework. Everyone was getting well-paid except us, but somehow we were the only ones with a sense of humor. The worst part was that the court scheduled an all-day settlement conference the day before the Oakland General Strike, when many of us were hyper-busy trying to shut down the city.

We hoped the lawsuit would uncover creepy police tactics, but mostly the documents they released to us were blanked out, so we still can*t be sure how the raid on Long Haul fits into a bigger picture. We did learn that once the police got our computers to the crime lab, they searched them for all sorts of items that were totally unrelated to the telephone threats that they used to get a search warrant.

All in all, direct action and popular struggle are still where it*s at. What a long haul trip it*s been.