Received: from access1.speedway.net (NS.SPEEDWAY.NET) by sun.Panix.Com with SMTP id AA24533 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Mon, 14 Jun 1993 18:37:09 -0400 Received: by access1.speedway.net with UUCP (Smail3.1.28.1 #4) id m0o5N8E-000SxeC; Mon, 14 Jun 93 15:36 PDT Received: by blythe.org (1.65/waf) via UUCP; Mon, 14 Jun 93 14:52:16 EDT for nyxfer@panix.com From: nyt@blythe.org Date: Mon, 14 Jun 93 14:52:16 EDT Message-Id: Subject: Love&Rage_6/93-2 To: nyxfer@Panix.Com Status: RO Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit LOVE AND RAGE Revolutionary Anarachist Newspaper Electronic Edition Volume 4, Number 3 June/July, 1993 Part 2 of 3 INTERVIEW WITH THE GOATS By Bilal Nine On Feb 19, The Goats dropped their fat lyrics of dissension on Houston. After rippin' it up on stage, I got a chance to kick it with them. The Goats' debut album, Tricks of Shade, is fat with a unique flavor that blends streetwise political perspective, humor and a wild in-your-face style. Add to that -- a 12-part story on the album about Chicken Little, an Afrikan youth's saga through Uncle Scam's House O' Freaks looking for his mother who was captured by anti-choicers -- and you get hip-hop like it's never been done before. Bilal Nine: One thing I've noticed about The Goats is that your political perspective seems a little more radical in respect to a wider, all-embracing approach politically. Other hip-hop crews may come from a nationalist point of view, or some might be from that moderate liberal tip. Madd: There's more to just bein' a Black male, because there's more going on than just the crimes against my people. Looking at the problems of my people has helped me to see the problems that the Native Americans and Latino Americans face. We all got to pull together. But I'm down with Public Enemy, who's pretty much Black nationalist, and Professor X from X-Clan. Bilal Nine: KRS One [of the band Boogie Down Productions] was out here last week to give a lecture and I was able to kick it with him on a couple of questions -- one being his appearance on a PBS set on election night. The host of PBS' election coverage asked KRS what he thought about the youth involvement in the election. KRS, to me, looked like he wanted to say, "fuck an election." But instead he just said that the youth should look back at history and they could see for themselves where voting can get them. My question to y'all is how'd you see the Rock The Vote campaign? Madd: You're lucky OaTie ain't here right now, cuz he'd be yelling at the top of his lungs right now. Fuck Rock The Vote, man. When was the last time a vote has done anything for anybody? The Civil Right's Movement, the Women's Suffrage Movement, the ERA, the Labor Movement. You gotta revolt. Ain't nothing gonna change through voting. My grandparents died for the right that I have to vote. I used it, and I think you should vote, but that's not all you should do. Mark Boyce: LA Riots is the perfect example of what you gotta do. Madd: So we voted for Clinton, and nothing's gonna happen, which is what they want you to do. Lower you into complacency. Boyce: He [Clinton] is going to give us the same shit that's been around for 15 years. Question from the room: What do you think about Tipper Gore now that she's in the White House? Boyce: She can only help us. Madd: I don't think things are gonna get worse or better. Things are gonna stay where they're at right now. Do we trust Clinton? Not as far as we can throw him, and believe me, our next record will be totally devoted to dissin' Clinton. Bilal Nine: I saw at the bottom of y'all's lyric sheet labeled "Moral" and it says don't vote for fascists. He [Clinton] is in the list along with Reagan and Bush. Madd: If I think my next door neighbor could do a better job, then it's a democracy, but when I gotta pick between two middle- aged, white male descendants of slave owners, I'm pissed. OaTie: [Just entering the room] You must be talking about presidents of the United States cuz that's the only group around that fits that description. Bilal Nine: What inspired you brothers to do the "Leonard Peltier in a Cage" skit on the album? OaTie: Well, there's all kinds of oppression -- racism, sexism, gay bashing -- but what's the worst oppression of all time? Columbus didn't take Native Americans to be slaves. We didn't move them around. We killed them off the land they were living on. So the greatest crime against a people was not done by Hitler or anyone else, but by the US in the name of Manifest Destiny. And it went on until 100 years after Wounded Knee. A coalition was formed of Native Americans to retake Wounded Knee; Leonard Peltier was with them. Couple of years later, America deployed FBI invasions of people's homes. Two FBI agents were shot. No one knows who shot them, but they took the most active person around, and it was Leonard Peltier. Bilal Nine: When you guys were about to drop "?Do the Digs Dug?" and you were talkin' about Leonard, the audience seemed a little lost. OaTie: When I first heard about him, I was in Europe. The people out there know what time it is, but here, 40 people know what's up, or do they just read fuckin' daily news and the other schlock out there? We try to center on one thing when we're doing a show. I hate it when people get up there and hit you with everything at once and you still leave thinking nothin'. Tonight we talked about military defense spending because he [Clinton] just put out his budget on Oct 12, which was the 500th anniversary of Columbus. We were talkin' Columbus and Leonard Peltier every show. People just need to ask questions and dig. Bilal Nine: I noticed in the "Props" section [on the album's liner notes] that Emma Goldman is listed. I'll play this Emma Goldman sound bite on my show [Street Vibe Network] every now and then. I'm playing this to a hip-hop crowd and people call in asking "Who is Emma Goldman?" OaTie: Emma Goldman has always been a hero of mine; she lived around the turn of the century. She spoke out, against getting married, a woman's right to abortion, for total independence for the female, but also a labor leader. She led people to revolt against bad labor conditions. She died in the Soviet Union. She was a communist. I'm not -- that's the only difference between us. Bilal Nine: Well, not to be a smart-ass, but at that period in her life she went over to anarchism.* OaTie: Well, if you look at the government that existed there, I can see why. Actually, I'd like to see an anarchist party, as obnoxious as that sounds. There are two types of women you can talk about in rap songs: Ho's and B's or women like Emma Goldman ... and we don't diss women. --From Black Fist Vol 1 No 2 * [Not to be even smarter-asses, but Emma Goldman was always an anarchist -- The Production Group] -30- TAP INTO ELECTRONIC MEDIA By Kathleen Kelly (with Liz Highleyman and Todd Prane) Freedom of the press belongs to the person who owns one. If you have access to a computer and modem, you already have at your fingertips the power of your own international press. You can tap into a worldwide electronic network that links people across the globe. This network, loosely called the Internet, is nothing more than a voluntary web of people who have computers and telephone lines. It includes more than 9,000 interlocking computer systems, many based in universities and accessible through free student accounts. Internet can be accessed in more than a hundred countries and reaches an estimated 10-15 million people of all sorts (activists, researchers, educators, policy makers, scientists, students, etc). Network traffic is currently growing at a phenomenal 10 percent each month. Through Internet you can: send and receive electronic mail (e-mail), transfer large files, distribute and receive news and information, and access other computer databanks and resources from your computer. Electronic communications systems are a very valuable political and strategic tool for activists. In a crisis, press releases and appeals for political action can be flashed to hundreds of systems rapidly. News travels very fast indeed on the Internet. This widely dispersed, decentralized, difficult-to-control medium would be extremely hard for the government to shut down completely, without turning off every phone in the country. One or two systems can be watched and controlled, and some alternative news systems can be turned off completely, but anyone with a laptop computer, a modem and a pay phone can still make one phone call, send a message, and within half a day it will be distributed worldwide on the Internet. For high-security messages, good encoding programs are available. Best of all, its cheap and it promotes free information exchange. You can easily reach a hundred thousand people for a fraction of what it would cost to print 10,000 copies of the same information. You can also target your message to a specific readership. Messages have a ripple effect, because every person who reads an article online might redistribute it to dozens of others who don't have Internet access. Electronic news is routinely reprinted in community newspapers, activist newsletters and local electronic bulletin board systems. E-mail provides an excellent opportunity for collectively making decisions among geographically dispersed groups, such as the Love and Rage Network. It is an effective way to get the word out about continental gatherings and actions, such as the recent Queer march in DC. For publications, articles can be submitted quickly and typeset easily. Authors can review suggested edits. Efforts have been ongoing to get as many Love and Rage participants online as possible. Television and radio are largely monopolized by the corporate media. Few independent newspapers exist, and printed activist newsletters reach only a small number of people. But the electronic networks still belong to the people, and activists can harness this power to reach large audiences for about $10 a month in most places. A wide array of low-cost electronic networks, news distribution services, and databanks are easily accessible. The Whole Internet Users Guide & Catalog, by Ed Krol is a valuable resource book (available for $24.95 from O'Reilly & Associates: reachable on the Internet as nuts@ora.com). Krol clearly explains the net's main functions, offers details on timesaving programs for finding Internet resources, and gives complete telephone numbers, addresses, and e-mail access information. Another excellent book is EcoLinking: Everyone's Guide to Online Environmental Information, by Don Ritter (available for $24.95 from PeachPit Press, 2414 Sixth St, Berkeley, CA 94710, Fax (510) 548-4393). It combines technical guidance with annotated listings of useful information sources. This book also covers public PC bulletin boards, including those on the public FidoNet network, an international network of more than 10,000 hobbyist computer systems, many of which are free. For more information, contact New York Transfer News Collective, a non-profit news distribution service that's been helping activists get online for eight years. Contact Kathleen Kelly at: NY Transfer News Collective Modem (718) 448-2358 Fax (718) 448-3423 Email: nyt@blythe.org ELECTRONIC RESOURCES Here is a quick, descriptive list of some names and numbers of where and how to get online. The first thing you need is a computer with a modem. A used IBM PC compatable (from the early 1980s) with a cheap modem will do. Cost: about $300 or so for the computer, $60 or so for the modem. Next, nationally: Most cities have public access bulletin boards run by enterprising individuals, many of whom offer either Internet or FidoNet access, and USENET newsgroups (conferences or forums on specific subjects). Contact members of local users-groups or visit computer stores to find out more. Access, price and services depend entirely on the city, the computer and so on. Any college or university should have accounts (often free) available to students (and their friends). All systems listed here have e-mail. Most have USENET and are listed by city: system name, phone number -- most accesed via a modem set at 2400 no parity 8 data bits 1 stop bit -- price, and e-mail address for info). Canada, US and Mexico: IGC (Peacenet, among others): support@igc.apc.org or call (voice) (415) 442-0220. Accounts are $10/month plus usage. National access through Sprintnet for $5/hr off peak, $10/hr peak. Costs add up quickly and most of the users are intolerably Liberal, but it is cheaper and less evil than Compuserve et al. Some good info in the conferences. San Francisco: The Well (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link): support@well.sf.ca.us (no number avail right now, sorry). Low cost e-mail system. A similar system has been started recently in the New York Area including a wimmin-only conference. New York: Panix. Dial in at (212) 787- 2100 or (212)787-3100 and log-in as newuser. $10/mo e-mail and unlimited access and storage time. Alexis@panix.com or jsb@panix.com. Voice: Jim Baumbach at (212) 603-3572 Boston: The World. Call (voice) (617) 739-0202 or dial up (617) 739-9753 and log-in as new. $20/month for 20 hours access time and 2MB of online storage. Extra usage at $2/hr. support@world.std.com. Chicago: --DDSWL (312) 248-0900. $75/yr or $10 month. karl@ddsw1.mcs.com --Gagme (312) 282- 8606. $50/yr (student $35). Info@gagme.chi.il.us. --Chinet (312) 283-0559. BBS free, USENET $50/yr (free to guests on weekends). Ann Arbor: Grex (313) 761-3000. $6/month or $60/year.Info@cyberspace.org. Madison: Madnix (608) 273-2657. Free. Ray@madnix.uucp. Orlando: JWT (407) 438-7138. Free. Initial login "bbs". john@jwt.uucp. Columbia, MO: COIN (314) 884-7000 or telnet to 128.206.1.3. Free (limit one hour per visit). Voice: Help desk at Daniel Boone Regional Library (314) 443-3161, ext. 302. Sorry this list is so short and mostly East coast/Midwest. Cheap/free stuff is available all over the US and in Canada (IGC is available from Mixico-write for info). For a complete listing of public access e-mail, or for e-mail in your city, call or write to Todd at Love and Rage (info page 2). Once you are online, please write to us to find out more about alternative news, information, and so on available over the net. Addresses of other activists online are also available. Contact: loveandrage@igc.apc.org, lnr@blythe.org, or nyt@blythe.org for more info. -30- WAGE SLAVE RAGE By Matt Teeter Wendy's Old Fashioned slave trade is where I work. Like all fast-food-workers, I have many masters. Like any assembly line-worker, beepers, buzzers and timers rule my existence. The fries are done; the potatoes are baked; the orders are on the screen. Someone flips the burgers, passes the meat on to the sandwich- maker, who passes the product on to the server, who passes it on to the customer, who pays an exorbitant amount for grease to clog up her arteries. There are no speed-ups only slow-downs; fast- food is never fast enough. We had soda machines that filled a 32 ounce cup in eight seconds; they were upscaled with super-nozzles. Now we can fill 32 ounces in four seconds. Now that's progress! As might be imagined, between living on low-wages, customers yelling, managers yelling, beepers buzzing, buzzers beeping -- the pressure can be immense. Of course all fast food-workers know who to blame ... each other of course. That's not to say Wendy's workers don't know fat pig Dave Thomas is getting rich off their labor, but they simply know that the fat pig isn't around to be hurt directly. You have to make due with who's around. I've mentioned union to a few people here. The first thing they say is, "But then you have to pay union dues." I tell them there are unions that have low dues, such as $3 a month. They usually just shrug; nobody intends on staying here. I've never met anyone who likes working fast-food. If being regulated by machines is hell, then managers are the devil. Like the cops, there is the bad manager and the good manager: the one will berate you, then the other will sweet talk you into working on your day off. However, never, never is there a shred of over-time pay for people who'd be glad to work on their day off. The Wendy's I work at makes approximately $25,000 a week. Perhaps labor costs are $5,000 a week, including the managers' salaries. There's no question that the purpose of the business is to earn money; it's just a matter of for whom. Against this sort of background, fast-food-workers all have one thing in common: they steal ... everything from grill knobs to french fries to one guy who backs his car up to the freezer to take boxes of breaded chicken. I steal everything from individual mustard packets to five-pound bags of cheese; anything just to steal a little, just a little back. Some days it's easy to just go into work and -- despite the grease film on my skin, the smell of my clothes, the blood on my hands from raw meat -- I can just dream work away, think of quitting day. However, I have to live with myself and ask myself why I am a "Wobbly" (an [Industrial] Workers of the World member). Action talks; bullshit walks. I don't have anyone to worry about but myself. However, there are people who are trying to feed families; people who work two jobs just to pay some pigdog of a landlord. As corporations flee to non-union lands, people are forced into the non-union service industry, but fast-food is just another factory. Wobblies have always organized factories that other unions wouldn't touch. Big unions can't organize fast-food-workers, but we can. Dave Thomas, Ray Kroc -- these motherfuckers are gonna burn! --From Lehigh Valley IWW Branch Bulletin April 1993 -30- KILLING THE PLANET ECUADOR--Oil companies vs Natives. The big push is now under way to extract the $30 billion worth of crude oil which lies two miles beneath the Ecuadorian Orient -- the Amazon region of Ecuador, that is one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet. Within the next year or two, a network of 250 miles of roads will be plowed through the rainforest, pipelines will be put into place, and the crude oil will begin to flow. An area of more than 7 million acres of rainforest will be subjected to oil and chemical spills. Among the companies involved are American multinationals Maxus, Oryx, ARCO, and Occidental; the French company Elf Aquitaine; Braspetro of Brazil and others. SIBERIA--Russian officials have confirmed that plutonium salts were among the radioactive materials blasted into the atmosphere when a nuclear fuel reprocessing installation in Western Siberia exploded on April 6. An area of at least 35 square kilometers of forest has been rendered uninhabitable -- effectively forever. The explosion occurred 28 km north-west of the large industrial city of Tomsk in an outlying plant of the Siberian Chemical Combine. The combine is centered in the town known as Tomsk-7. Founded in the late 1940s as one of three major centers of the Soviet nuclear weapons manufacturing program, Tomsk-7 remains closed to foreigners, and during the Soviet era was so secret that despite having a population of more than 100,000, it was not marked on maps. According to the Russian Greenpeace organization, the plant at which the explosion occurred uses nitric acid to dissolve spent fuel rods from nuclear reactors, in order to extract Uranium-238 and Plutonium-239 for recycling. A preliminary report issued on April 9 by the State Nuclear Supervisory Committee attributed the cause of the accident to negligence by plant personnel. Even tiny particles of plutonium dust, if they lodge in the lungs, create a high risk of cancer. Unlike many of the radioactive products of nuclear reactions, plutonium does not decay into harmlessness within a few weeks or months; its half-life is 24,000 years. --From Mikhail Tsovma 109462 CIS, Russia, Moscow Volzhsky Blvd 21-62 Tel (095) 921-06-55 email krazchenko@glas.apc.org -30- SCENE REPORTS Chicago: da windy city The Baklava Autonomist Collective has an organized itself around several projects over the last year. We are focusing on building a strong, attractive and viable local community and continuing our role as troublemakers. The focus on community-building is expressed through our local projects: 1 COLLECTIVE CHAOS: record label for DIY politically charged music, twice (or more) monthly benefit hardcore/punk shows, and distribution of literature, music, and info; 2 ABC: We've adopted of anti-authoritarian political prisoner Larry Giddings, and decided to also support several local political prisoners. Also, several actions around various prisoners have taken place and were well received; 3 WIND CHILL FACTOR -- Soon to be a bi-monthly newsprinted magazine. Yeah, we're punk. A thirty two page, 8 1/2 x 11 format, hopefully out in May. Print run 5,000. Watch out L&R! Also, the drive to squat is pushing us toward acquiring some property. If people are coming through Chicago, call the CHICAGO AUTONOMIST HOTLINE at (312) 455-0707 to network with us. Hello from Baltimore Anarchist activity in Baltimore has been increasing of late. Earth Core distribution has just become a Love and Rage supporting group. Earth Core is a small anarchist collective that circulates literature, music and publications with an anti-authoritarian focus. There has been a recent increase in racist activity in Baltimore, and we would like to form a Baltimore ARA and could use help. The BAC (Baltimore Anarchist Collective) is a local youth-oriented group which holds meetings every other week. Activities include distributing and publishing a zine and booking shows. Send us submissions for our zine. We are also interested in forming a womyn-only anarchist group. Other groups, including ARM (Anarchist Revival Movement) and AYC (Angry Youth Collective) would like to become more active and expand. For more information about any of this please contact BAC at: PO Box 18956. Baltimore MD 21206 Paterson, NJ The Paterson Anarchist Collective, one of the nine groups that makes up the North Jersey Anarchist Federation, continues the struggle to organize in the streets of Paterson. We have opened the Right to Existence, anarchist bookstore/community space/hangout. We hold forums and political video nights there. We have also printed and distributed the first issue of Plain Words which contains the second issue of Copwatch. Plain Words features local news from an anarchist viewpoint and national and international anarchist news. Copwatch covers the local police terror. To find out more about these papers, Anarchist Black Cross or other NJAF groups contact us at:PAC POB 8532 Haledon, NJ 07508-8532 -30- NOTES OF REVOLT KEEPING THE PEACE Ottawa--On March 16 and 17 around 300 protesters turned out to protest Canada's largest weapons trade show, ARMX, being held at the Ottawa Congress Center. The show, entitled "Peacekeeping '93" in an attempt to defuse resistance, featured such equipment as armor-piercing grenade-launchers, aircraft-mounted cannons, and tanks. Several anarchists formed a loose alliance at the actions. The actions included successful blockage of the streets and doors to the trade show, occupation of the Westin Hotel where many of the patrons of the event were staying, and the spreading of fake blood on the walls of the convention center. In addition at least two anarchist got inside the show and collected brochures, took photos, appropriated supplies, and reworked the plumbing using toilet tissue, menstrual pads, and tampons. YOUTH UNDER ATTACK Pequanock, NJ--In early march, the administration of Pequanock High School in New Jersey imposed a number of repressive and ridiculous rules in response to student vandalism. A NJAYF (New Jersey Anarchist Youth Federation) member made and distributed a flyer to protest this which denounced the actions of the administration and reprinted "School Stoppers Guide" and "What Education?" from Love and Rage, Vol 3 No 7. In response, the school staff began to round up students demanding to know the connection between the vandalism,the flier, and the "anarchist terrorist organization" that was responsible for the two. --from Jersey Anarchist No 8 POLICE VAN A SIZZLER Victoria, BC--The grill of the Fairfield community police station's mini-van went up in flames Friday, Mar 5, after vandals lit the contents of an aerosol can. About $2,000 in damage was done to the van which had been parked in front of the police station on Fairfield Road.This comes with a recent surge of activity in Victoria. In mid- December several new cars at a GM dealership were attacked (claimed by an anarchist group). On Dec 25 a McDonalds was attacked by the ALF. Then on Jan 1, a butchers shop was also attacked by the ALF. Although no known communiques have been received about the police van action, this seems to be the first use of fire. Complacent Victoria is heating up! --from Autonomedia COP KILLERS California--Cops in California are complaining of "people taking shots at you just because you're wearing a blue uniform." In Salinas, in response to a police murder in January, groups confronted police with rocks, bottles and random shots. Also, in response to the Rodney King verdict, graffiti began appearing throughout South LA, saying things like "Kill Cops." DAY OF ACTION FOR HAITIANS On Monday, April 19, people around the US participated in a day of action protesting US policy toward Haitian refugees. In New York City, protesters occupied the Statue of Liberty, ACT UP invaded a local congressperson's office, and others marched outside the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) offices. In Miami, demonstrators rallied at the INS offices. In Boston, protesters leafletted the Boston Marathon and rallied at the finish line. In Philadelphia, ACT UP organized an encampment outside the INS offices which lasted through the night Demonstrations were also held in Seattle, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and at UC Berkeley. -30- LIBERATION RADIO Springfield, Ill--Mbanna Kantako is blind, Black, broke and on the verge of creating a Media revolution in America. Black Liberation Radio operates on a one-watt transmitter the size of a toaster, with a broadcast range of only one mile. The six-year-old station has been in flagrant violation of a federal court order to cease broadcasting for the past two and a half years. The "Micro-Radio" model is cheap (about $800), easily replicated and was designed to be used to empower low-income people in neighborhoods across the country. TAMAYO, DOMINICAN REP -- Meanwhile, in the Dominican Republic, Radio Enriquillo was ordered to cease broadcasting uncensored Haitian news in Creole. They evaded the orders by singing the news, accompanied by a guitar and bongos. They have since completely ceased the Haitian news program due to threats and intimidation against workers at the station. You can contact the stations: Black Liberation Radio, c/o 333 N 12 st Springfield, IL 62702 Radio Enriquillo, Apartado 99 Tamayo, Dominican Republic --from New Liberation News Service and Interadio -30- NYC SQUATTERS New York -- Six demonstrators protesting the destruction of a shantytown in w York's Lower East Side were arrested on Feb 20 following an hour-long metal jam at the site. Some 50 squatters and anarchists met at the vacant city-owned lot on 9th Street and Avenue C where they pounded drums and scrap metal and built a bonfire of wooden police barricades. Earlier in the week police and bulldozers had moved in to demolish the shantytown that had been home for 21 people. The demonstrators were particularly upset over the report that two of the shantytown residents had been committed to Bellevue Hospital. (They were later released.) The City plans to build a new station for the PSA-9 Housing Police and 56 units of so-called low-income housing. -- From Black and Red, May/June 93 BILL NEEDS YOUR HELP DETROIT -- Bill, a Detroit community member and activist of several years, needs medical treatment as the result of fighting back against Queer-bashers. In mid-April outside the 404 Willis anarchist community center, group of wimmim were being verbally harasses by a gang of well-known misogynists and Queer-bashers. When these wimmin confronted their aggressors, several of the wimmin were physically attacked. People on the scene joined forces and successfully chased the gang away. But in the process, Bill was cornered and bashed in the head with a baseball bat. Bill has already lost eight teeth, has a broken jaw and may loose his lower lip to infection. He cannot cover the costs for even minimal medical care. He has been unable to work due to his injuries. He has no medical insurance. To fully restore his mouth and jaw he will need surgery which will cost $12,000. Please help raise the money needed. Bill supports Queer-rights with more than just words. We should support him. Please give generously. Send donations to: Care For Bill c/o SRN Wayne State University 5221 Gullen Mall, Box 99 Student Center Building Detroit, MI 48202 Make Checks Payable to: Student Resistance Network -30- @ ARCHIVES The Anarchist Archives Project has been collecting materials on the history of Anarchism since 1982 and has gathered over 7,000 items. The project provides research assistance and low cost photocopying of most material in the collection. To find out more write: PO Box 1323, Cambridge MA 02238 -30- CALENDAR June 27 -- July 4 EF! Rendezvous Mt. Graham, AZ Contact: AZ EF!, PO Box 3412 Tucson, AZ 85722 July 7--11 Love and Rage Annual Conference San Diego, CA Contact: SD @ Federation c/o 915 E St, San Diego, CA 92101 Darren (619) 9-8722 July 16--19 Holiday in Beirut, USA @ Gathering, Portland, OR Contact: Rosebud Commons, 1951 W. Burnside, Box 1928, Portland, OR 97209 July 29 -- August 1 The Frenzy @ Conference, Vancouver, BC Contact: Box122, 1895 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC V5N 4A6 July -- Aug 2 Mid-Atlantic @ Gathering Contact: Wooden Shoe Books 215-569-2477 August 8 Under the Volcano Political Arts Festival (Bands & Artists) Vancouver, BC Contact: Box 21552, 1850 Commercial DrVancouver, BC V5N 4A0 Tel/Fax (604) 255-2787 Sometime Soon: Midwest @ Gathering Contact: Practical Anarchy, PO Box 173, Madison, WI 53701 National Organizing Summit Against Police Brutality Contact: Dave (313) 865-2748 -30- ABC SECTION SPANISH POLITICAL PRISONERS TORTURED By Paul Wright [Edited by the Love and Rage Production Group] Spain has a large and active communist and anarchist left and labor movement. It also has several nationalities struggling for independence from the central government. The result of these struggles is that Spain has over 700 political prisoners (pp's). The majority, over 600, are affiliated with the Basque independence struggle. The next largest group, about 55 pp's, are members of the PCE(r) (Communist Party of Spain, reconstituted) and GRAPO (Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups, First of October). The remainder are anarchists, labor activists and nationalists from the other liberation struggles being waged against the Spanish central government. Like all capitalist countries, the treatment of pp's in Spain ranges from bad to barbaric. The last several months have seen a general crackdown on leftist and nationalist activists and groups. This includes the arrest of three members of AFAPP, an organization that supports the human rights of political prisoners in Spain. The family members arrested were accused of being members of the PCE(r). The "evidence" against them consists of address books and copies of the PCE(r)'s clandestine magazine. After a shootout between Spanish police and a GRAPO commando, in which some members of the commando escaped, Spanish police arrested Elvira Dieguez and Laureano Ortega. They were accused of "membership in an armed band." Dieguez had been released from prison in 1989 after serving 12 years for GRAPO activities. At her court appearance Dieguez showed obvious signs of torture and described the torture she had undergone at the hands of the Spanish police. She states she was hooded with a plastic bag and blindfolded for much of her ordeal. Her clothes were forcibly ripped off her body and she was beaten. Her ordeal lasted for roughly five days and she was tortured in the cities of Santander and Madrid. In Madrid, naked and in cold cells, she was beaten some more. Her body was wetted down and she was shocked with cattleprods, and the soles of her feet were beaten, and she was raped with a broomstick. Throughout the experience she was being insulted and screamed at by Spanish police officials. At his court appearance, Ortega described a similar experience, except he was not raped. Their lawyer, Francisca Villalba, vigorously denounced the torture and called a police doctor as a witness. The doctor testified that the prisoners injuries were consistent with their testimony of being tortured. Despite the torture, neither Dieguez nor Ortega made any incriminating statements and both were freed by the Spanish court that handles political cases for a lack of evidence. The judge said he would give further consideration as to what he would do about the prisoners being tortured. If past experience is any guide, nothing will be done. Torture of political dissidents in Spain, England, France, Turkey and other NATO countries is well documented. Some countries, including Spain and England, operate military and paramilitary death squads that routinely kill political dissidents. Again, nothing is done. The most startling thing about these events is the deafening silence from the so-called human rights community. Where are the denunciations of the Spanish government for their arrest and torture of political dissidents? Some groups like Amnesty International claim to oppose the torture of all prisoners, regardless of political views. Yet when communists are being raped and tortured in "democracies" nothing is said and less is done.--From Prison Legal News, May 1993 -30- NORMA JEAN CROY Norma Jean Croy is a Native American woman from the Shasta Nation, in Northern California, who has spent the last 14 years in prison for a murder she did not commit. In Yreka county, July of 1978, Norma Jean Croy, her brother Patrick Hooty Croy and three other relatives stopped at a convenience store before going hunting outside of town. The store clerk accused them of theft. Soon after, Yreka police chased their car as they headed out of town. When the car stopped, Norma and her companions ran away. Police fired, hitting Norma in the back. Norma's cousin Darrell was also shot as he stood up to surrender. Hooty was shot in the back twice before he turned around and fired one shot from the .22 hunting rifle, which fatally struck the officer. Norma and her four companions were charged with first degree murder of the police officer and related offenses. Norma and Hooty were convicted on all counts, even though there was no evidence that Norma fired any weapon. Hooty was sentenced to death; Norma life in prison. The California Supreme Court reversed Hooty's conviction in 1985. Norma's appeal was denied by a lower appellate court. Hooty was retried in San Francisco in 1990, and was acquitted of all charges on the grounds of self defense. As of 1992, Norma was denied parole for the fifth time. The parole board refuses to hear evidence of her innocence that had been presented at Hooty's retrial. To get involved contact: Norma Jean Croy Defense Committee 473 Jackson Street 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94111 Norma Jean Croy CCWF #14293 PO Box 1508 Chowchilla, CA 93610 -30- JONATHAN PAUL FREE! On the morning of April 9, after 158 days of captivity, environmental and animal liberation activist Jonathan Paul was freed! In Nov of 1992 he was arrested for refusing to testify at a Federal Grand Jury hearing in Spokane Washington. The feds were (and are) investigating the activities of the Animal Liberation Front. While Jonathan is free, another person involved in the case was arrested. In April, journalist Rik Scarce was held in contempt of court. He was immediately released on his own recognizance, pending appeal. In March he refused to answer 32 questions in front of a Grand Jury who was investigating the Aug 1991 ALF break- in at Washington State University. In April, he refused to answer three more questions. On each question, Scarce refused to answer on First Amendment "free press grounds", because answering would violate the American Sociological Association Code of Ethics. He was arrested on May 14. You can show your support by writing to Acting US Attorney to demand his release. East District of Washington POB 1494 Spokane WA 99210 Write directly to Rik at W 1100 Mallon Spokane WA. 99260 -30- ANARCHIST INSTITUTIONALIZED James Peper, anarchist protester, has been sent to Atascadero State Hospital for the Insane for "evaluation" after being held in jail for five months awaiting trial. He could be held at the hospital for up to three years before seeing a judge again for sentencing! Peper was arrested during the anti-Columbus Day Black Bloc in San Francisco last October. He is charged with numerous felonies relating to firebombs. Show your support by writing and calling him, and sending donations for his legal defense. Write to: James Peper, PO Box 7001, Alascader CA 99429-7001 (805)461-2000 James Peper Legal Defense Fund C/O Slingshot UCB 200 Eshelman Hall Berkeley CA 94702 -30- PORTLAND KNOWS THEIR ABCs Prison support became our first project at Rosebud Commons; a major unifying factor for us so early in our development. As a Resource collective, we try to solve every problem presented to us in the best way we know; by collective effort. The need for prisoner support came in January when three of our collaborators were guests of the "Nine Bar Hotel." One womyn was serving a ten day sentence for polishing a cop's badge with spittle. The other two were nailed for old warrants. One got time served for the heinous crime of stealing a pair of socks. Our other comrade, a womyn in her early 20s facing extradition and a possible four year sentence (even though she had no priors), not that that makes a difference to the "Blue Meanies." Hey, equal justice for all. This was when we really pulled together and our methods varied with time. The jail where our comrade was being detained had an internal mailing system consisting of horrible, phosphorescent, pink slips. We created a constant flood of Inmate Memo Forms. Most escaped the mark of the censor. Our compadre was able to pin-point a visual rendezvous sight for us. It was a clear shot of vision for both parties. From a parking lot roof, we were able to see our friend in her cell and try to comfort her with visual aids. Some asshole spray-painted FUCK THE POLICE and one of those @ things. Some people.. Our comrade was later to tell us that much to her delight, she watched the maintenance people try to remove it from the wall, with no luck. Her response to them failing was, "you can't get rid of us that easily." The spray paint was later sandblasted off. Others tried various forms of entertainment. Most consisted of Autonomous Acrobats & The Flying Sam Beanies. Street theater-style pantomime consisted of acrobatic formations of the circle A. An inconspicuous black flag was also tied to the parking structure. The peak of the theatrical season happened when, one night, a US battle flag got the roast. Just as it settled to the ground in a flaming, plastic glory, the rent-a-pigs took chase. The jail went wild. Prisoners who were also enjoying the show started yelling and shouting at the security guards. Things like, "You ain't never gonna catch them!" Needless to say, most people chose to close the Season early. We focused in on the more traditional ways of prisoner support. There is the ever present need of money when dealing with the prison system. Prisoners need money on the inside for basic materials, ie stamps and envelopes. Money is needed for lawyers and media exposure. In most cases, the family can use the support, financially as well as emotionally. Also, keep a constant check on how the prisoner is doing. And what the "system thugs" are doing. Make sure the meal requirements, ie. vegi meals, are dealt with as soon as possible (even in the case of a hunger strike). This can take time, seeing as how they want proof that you don't eat flesh. Interestingly enough, this time we had to go through the prison chaplin for his dietary blessings. Court support is more a form of solidarity than anything else. Just to physically be in the court for all cases is great. The court room will sometimes be the only place you'll get to see the prisoner. This will also give you the captive opportunity to speak with the lawyers on the case. Make sure the defendants lawyer is in contact with the client on a regular basis. It is common practice for lawyers to take advantage of prisoners' isolation. Make them do what they are paid for. Some lawyers even get off on the whole "political game" of it. My favorite part of it is being the dark cloud over the shitty public defender's golf game. Putting the whole affair in the eyes of the public is the best tactic. Handing out flyers outside the prison or court is a must. Alerting the media, whether sympathetic or not, is par for the course. Just remember, the thing that can hurt "the bastards" the most is turning on the lights. Rosebud Commons, 1951 W. Burnside Box 1928 PDX, OR 97209 -30- INTERNATIONAL SECTION FIRE THIEVES: NEW ANARCHIST MAGAZINE IN TURKEY Istanbul--This is a greeting from Ates Hirsizi (Fire Thief), a recently- begun anarchist monthly published in Turkish and Kurdish in Istanbul. The back page will be published in English and other languages, to acquaint the rest of the world with their activities.Turkey, Middle East and as a whole our region with its various social problems and deep contradictions, comes at the very beginning of the fight fields of the world geography. We are right in the middle of such a pleasant instability, in which all these complex relations contradict and meet each other. Unlike any other region in the world, this is a place where a palace pomp and street poverty live face to face and which is why this is the place where a social hate and anger can upsurge more easily against such open, obvious and bold mastery. This Middle East and Front Asia Geography, where traditional life can still blossom despite the industrial pliers, is a permanent and important area for the anarchist social movement. So this is the place where we were born. From here we salute the revolutionaries, anarchists of the whole world, with all our warmest and heartfelt feelings. We as the ones who aimed to carry the 200-year-old anarchist struggle tradition to the Middle East, are aiming a multi-dimensional world. Of course, that insists a high level of cultural richness as well as a hard ideological, philosophical moral and political fight. For sure, the mission is to be equipped enough at all these levels. Because we are not after temporary zeals and short-lived hobbies. We want a permanent, free life now. Therefore we need a wide range of material and cultural sources, any kind of equipment and so many volunteers of freedom fighters from every part of the world. States, borders, and languages cannot barricade the road to meet on a joint struggle and to construct a communal life. Let us refuse our consciousness which has been "trained" for centuries. Belonging to no nation, we a handful of revolutionaries have given our hearts to be the fire thieves of the freedom struggle, against the authorities that have deep roots in such a hard region where blood and death prevails. Fire thieves need various publications and other communication materials for finding out their demands, aims and their sense of life freely and to pose their voice sufficiently and in every language. Ates Hirsizi was born as a result of this concrete need but is also a notice board where all freedom fighters can leave their messages. Ates Hirsizi Aylik Politik Dergi Klodfarer Cad. Dr. Sevki Bey Sk.No. 4/2 Sultanamhet ISTANBUL TURKEY -30- EAST TIMOR: THE RESISTANCE CONTINUES [Presented by Constancio Pinto Executive Secretary for the Clandestine Front National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM) Tour of North America, April, 1993.] I was twelve years old when the Indonesian military invaded my country. I fled to the mountains with my family and, for three years, hid in the jungle. We had little food, no medicine, and no weapons to defend ourselves, with but we were not alone. Thousands of East Timorese families had fled into the mountains like us to escape the terror of the invasion; others fled to Australia or Portugal as refugees. During those years in the mountains, people were dying all around me. Many were killed by the Indonesian military; others died more slowly through starvation or disease. It is hard for me to describe those years, but I can still see the Skyhawks and Bronco AV10 aircraft that the Indonesians used in their attempts to eliminate us. As you probably know, those aircraft are manufactured in the United States. When I was fifteen years old I went to the front line as a guerrilla fighter. At that time, the Indonesians controlled all the food producing areas and people were starving in the mountains. We were fighting to protect and feed them -- as well as for our right to self determination. [...] I finished school in 1988 and became a teacher of religion. This was my cover for my work in the resistance. I sent food and medicine to the fighters still in the mountains and kept them informed about what was happening in Dili and the other towns and villages occupied by the Indonesian army. I also monitored what was happening abroad. One of my main tasks however was to develop the civilian resistance by uniting all the independent groups resisting the Indonesian occupation. I began this work in 1986 with a small cell of seven people. Our code was 007! The umbrella organization at the time was known as the Revolutionary Council of National Resistance (CRRN). In 1989, CRRN was transformed into CNRM -- the National Council of Maubere Resistance. In effect, CNRM is a non-partisan clandestine coalition of all East Timorese nationalist groups including student organizations, our army Falantil plus the two major political parties Fretilin and UDT.[...] At this time, the leader of the resistance was Xanana Gusmao, a hero to a whole generation of young East Timorese both inside East Timor and in the diaspora. He was captured by the Indonesian military on Nov 20, 1992 and is still on trial in Dili. The Indonesians caught and arrested me on the morning of Jan 25, 1991, my birthday. I told them I would never forget the birthday present they gave me -- for, after the police had finished with me at the station, I had blood coming out of my nose, my ears, my eyes and my mouth. My body was swollen all over. The beating continued from 9 o'clock on the morning I was arrested until 10 o'clock at night. They stripped me, and after every question they kicked and punched me all over and jabbed me with their outstretched hands in the abdomen to purposely cause damage to my internal organs. They beat me even while I was bleeding. They repeatedly threatened to kill me, to throw me into the sea. They threatened my family too. They said that if I didn't tell them what I was doing and where Xanana was, they would harm my parents and my wife. They told me I would be responsible for whatever happened to them. After the beating at the police station, I was transferred to Senopato II prison where I was interrogated by Captain Edy Suprianto and Lieutenant Colonel Gatot, the head of intelligence in East Timor. That interrogation continued for four days non-stop. When they finished with me, they threw me in a cell alone. There were thirteen other East Timorese political prisoners in that prison while I was there. [...] On 29 Oct, the Indonesian army ambushed Motael church in Dili and killed Sebastiao Gomes, a 22 year old student who had sought sanctuary there. Soldiers surrounded the church, broke into it and shot Sebastiao in the stomach. He bled to death on the steps of the church. I was to be next. The military knew of my role in the resistance because they had forced some of the detainees to admit, under torture, that I was still their leader. I could not even say goodbye to my wife nor my parents and I have not seen them since that day. [...] We held the demonstration on Nov 12, 1991, a week after Sebastiao's funeral. It is our custom to remember our dead seven days after the funeral by placing flowers on the grave. In Tetun we call it ai funan midar which means "sweet flowers." The mourners not only brought flowers but banners too which they hid underneath their jackets then unfurled as they marched to the cemetery. Many believed the presence of foreign journalists would protect them from the direct vengeance of the Indonesian military. Our plan was to demonstrate peacefully. None of the marchers did anything to provoke the Indonesian troops. But, as they passed one of the government buildings, the police agents provocateurs began throwing rocks, breaking windows and beating the demonstrators with sticks. When they arrived at the cemetery, it seemed like the Indonesian military had prepared an ambush. One, two, maybe five minutes after the marchers had entered the cemetery gates, the military opened fire. I was hiding in a house 500 meters away and could not see what was happening. But I heard the gun shots and screaming. I also saw the Indonesians throw the dead and wounded onto trucks for the drive to the military hospital. There were seven trucks.[...] Between December and February I collected the names of people who had been killed at the cemetery or had died from injuries received that day. Our official death toll was 271. Many more are still unaccounted for. If you have seen the television coverage from that massacre, you will know that the demonstrators were mostly young people, East Timor's future. Their murder is further evidence of the genocide the Indonesian military is committing against our people. After the Santa Cruz massacre, my photograph was circulated throughout East Timor and Indonesia on state-run television and in the press. I was a hunted man.[...] I eventually escaped by car to Kupang in West Timor, and from there travelled to Jakarta where I remained in hiding for a further five months. I arrived in Lisbon in early Nov 1992 to continue my work for the East Timorese resistance in exile. I am now CNRM's representative in Portugal. Not long after I arrived in Lisbon, Xanana Gusmao was captured in Dili. (Nov 20, 1992.) At that moment many people thought his capture marked the end of the resistance in East Timor. But I would like to tell you that the struggle does not depend on just one person: it depends on the determination of the East Timorese people. Xanana's successor Mau Huno has now also been arrested -- but again he is just one man.[...] Like all East Timorese, I've suffered many difficulties since Indonesia invaded my country in 1975. I don't want my son, whom I have never seen, to have to go through what my generation and my parents' generation have been through. Unless the international community acts decisively to facilitate an internationally supervised act of self-determination in East Timor, I'm afraid the pattern of the past seventeen years will be repeated over and over again: resistance to Indonesian occupation, intimidation by the Indonesian military, atrocities against the Timorese people. More resistance, more intimidation, more atrocities. I don't want my child to have to go through that, nor anyone else's child. And I want to be able to see my wife and my son some day. Constancio Pinto is one of five East Timorese who came to North America in April 1993 to talk about the future of their occupied country. For info contact: Charles Scheiner, Coordinator East Timor Action Network/US P.O. Box 1182 White Plains, New York 10602 Tel (914) 428-7299 fax (914) 428-7383 email: cscheiner@igc.apc.org Compuserve:74670,3530 -30- UPDATE: AWARENESS LEAGUE IN NIGERIA According to a recent letter from the Awareness League, an anarcho-syndicalist group in Nigeria, the political situation in that country continues to worsen. Workers began striking nationwide during the last week of January against a background of worsening economic conditions. With each passing day there is growing apprehension that General Babngida will proclaim himself President-for-Life. Recently a tribunal sentenced six opposition elements on trumped up charges. The men were sentenced for immediate execution. The Awareness League members who were imprisoned (and who were released on bail awaiting further proceedings in the midst of an international campaign coordinated by Neither East Nor West and Workers Solidarity Alliance from NY) are still required to report daily to the Nigerian Secret Police, State Security Service (SSS). Efforts to reintegrate the comrades into society after their seven-month imprisonment continue, but they are still very ill. Financial support for the Awareness League is still needed, as the legal persecution by the Nigerian authorities continues. Over $1800 has been raised so far, but their lawyer still needs to be paid. This money can literally save their lives. For more information or contributions contact: WSA, 339 Lafayette St., Rm 202, NYC 10012 tel (212) 979-8353 or: Awareness League c/o Samuel Mbah PO Box 28 Agbani, Enugu State, Nigeria -30- ANARCHY IN JAPAN: 1992 - MARCH 1993 Excerpted from W@rrior, Newsletter from Revolutionary Anarchists in Kyoto, Japan 14 Jun / Kyoto Meeting and rally against dispatch of SDF (Self Defense Force) overseas under the name of UN Peace Keeping Operations. Militant anarchists clashed with police forces on the street. 2 Oct / Osaka Riot in the workers' town of Kumagasaki. Workers' anger exploded against the local city council and police. Cars were burned. Fire bombs were thrown. An anarchist was arrested. 30 Oct/ Tokyo Protest action against Peruvian embassy appealing the release for Andres Villaverde was made by the group GICRAV (formed by ARP).Before dawn, embassy has been attacked with a fire bomb. 11 Feb / Kyoto A meeting and rally impeaching "National Foundation Day."Anti-militarist/-racist/ -monarchist, and anarchist and radical activists joined. Kyoto local government authorities and financiers are going to celebrate 1094 as "1200th anniversary of the historical foundation of Kyoto." The previous capital of Japan was founded under bloody conquest and invasion of several regional nations including the people of Yezo, Hayato, and Ainu, among others. ARP is calling for an action against this stupid "celebration." Smash the 1200 years of massacre!! 11 Feb / Kyoto The statement to the Nigerian government was announced in the names of ARP RRU/IWA KANSAI, ABC(Kyoto) and Takeru Kurori (member of the Anarchist Federation) which demanded the release of four members of the Awareness League who were arrested last year. 11-16 Mar / Kyoto Series of actions were made against the Kyoto Local Prefectual Government who placed a bill of municipal ordinance intending to regulate the use of microphones at public places and even on the streets. Thursday, the 11th, at the hall of the Pref Assembly, anarchists chanted and unfolded a banner reading "Death to the Law!!" and "Smash the Suppression!!!" Five of the anarchist and radicals were violently evicted from the gallery by the heavily mobilized guards. It was the first time in 40 years that anyone was excluded from the hall. Anarchists and radicals engaged in protest actions when the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly enacted the same ordinance last November). -30- Continued in Part 3... + Join Us! Support The NY Transfer News Collective + + We deliver uncensored information to your mailbox! + + Modem:718-448-2358 FAX:718-448-3423 e-mail:nyt@blythe.org+