Website / newspaper / journal / web based media updates: Feb 15th - Feb 22nd

by WSM Mon Feb 16, 2004 14:16

The latest issue 7 of Red and Black Revolution is now available online. You can download it from http://struggle.ws/wsm/rbr.html. The text below is a summary of the contents.

Has the Black Block tactic reached the end of its usefulness? by Severino (Barricada Collective)
As class struggle anarchists who recognize the importance of a diversity of tactics in order to attack Capital, the State, and oppression in an effective manner, we see the black bloc as an important tool of struggle. Only one tool among many, but an important one nonetheless.

Where to Now? Anti-capitalist protest - global and local
It is certainly hard to avoid the conclusion that anti-globalisation protests that avoid direct action will kill off the movement, or at least greatly reduce participation in it.

Repressing Abortion in Ireland by Mary Favier (Doctors For Choice)
The Republic of Ireland has one of the most draconian abortion laws in the world. At present abortion may only be performed where continuation of pregnancy poses a 'real and substantial' risk to a pregnant woman's life - about 5 cases per year of 50,000 pregnancies

Direct Action against the war in Ireland
In every country after February 15th the anti-war movement was thus faced with the question of what to do next. In Ireland almost all of the direct action protests were targeted on Shannon airport. More than half dozen successful actions took place, ranging from a large scale breach of the fence in October, to physical attacks on planes as the build up to war escalated.

The IAWM's dismal leadership" A critique of the politics of Trotskyism
After months of regularly attending the Irish Anti-War Movement's marches and particularly after months of listening to the speeches of the leading lights of the IAWM my head is buzzing with cant and rhetoric and I have that dejected feeling you get when you know you have just lost a chance that won't be coming around again for a long time.

Industrial Collectivisation during the Spanish Revolution
Within hours of the start of the Spanish revolution workers had seized control of 3000 enterprises. This included all public transportation services, shipping, electric and power companies, gas and water works, engineering and automobile assembly plants, mines, cement works, textile mills and paper factories, electrical and chemical concerns, glass bottle factories and perfumeries, food processing plants and breweries.

If you want to create Socialism - it must be based on Freedom
Anarchists also seek to create communism. But for us freedom plays a central role, not only in the future society, but in how we try to get there. That is why, when we talk of communism, we talk of libertarian communism

Open Borders: The case against immigration controls reviewed
Most mainstream groups eventually come down clearly in favour of immigration controls and deportations, though arguing for "generosity." This book takes a position that so far has only won over a small but growing minority and argues for the immediate ending of all border controls.

The trouble with Islam
The September 11 attacks, the Afghan war that followed from it and the ongoing war in Israel/Palestine have once again raised the issue of Islam in the minds of many anarchists in Ireland and Britain. Not just because of the role Islam has in shaping those conflicts but also because militant Islam has become a far more noticeable presence on solidarity demonstrations.

download it from http://struggle.ws/wsm/rbr.html

by 2004 Mon Feb 16, 2004 21:32

"Cindy supports President Bush because... he's building a more compassionate America"

by redjade Tue Feb 17, 2004 23:08

These subpoenas requested the agenda and purpose of the meeting, the identities of attendees and Guild officers, and observations of campus security. The individuals served with subpoenas include the leader of the Catholic Peace Ministry, the former coordinator of the Iowa Peace Network, a member of the Catholic Worker House, and an anti-war activist who visited Iraq in 2002.

The U.S. Attorney's office said that the sole intent of the subpoenas was to gather information about a solitary demonstrator who scaled a fence on federal property on a different day than the anti-war conference/training. Why then did the government issue five subpoenas calling for information about peaceful activists and the National Lawyers Guild?

by redjade Wed Feb 18, 2004 00:09

In accordance with last year's Congressional ruling, the US military no longer receives its funding through tax payer dollars and must now generate all revenue through the sale of baked goods and refreshing beverages.

But don't worry, scaling back our weapons development and acquisition programs is not an option. In fact we've already ordered the weapons for this coming year. We know that we can trust all Americans to help us raise the necessary funds to meet this year's $425 billion budget.

by redjade Wed Feb 18, 2004 01:34

Iris Recognition System is Selected for Border Control at Frankfurt/Main Airport by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior

FRANKFURT, Germany and TOKYO, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Byometric systems GmbH and Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. today announced the selection of their iris recognition system for biometrics-based border checks at Frankfurt/Main Airport. This system is part of the Automated and Biometrics- based Border Checks initiative, a multinational pilot project involving 18 European nations, led by Germany Federal Ministry of the Interior and Federal Border Police. Requiring an individual only to stand in front of it, the system recognizes that individual's iris pattern and confirms his/her identity, offering a simple, convenient alternative to traditional border checks.

by redjade Wed Feb 18, 2004 01:52

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/02/1670385.php

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/02/1670380.php

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/02/1670375.php

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/02/1670347.php

by redjade Wed Feb 18, 2004 01:55

Palestinians Join Nonviolent Struggle Against Israeli Occupation

by Adam Shapiro

Like King, however, Abu Ahmed is in jail for organizing and participating in nonviolent direct action against unjust, discriminatory and violent policies targeting his people on the basis of their ethnicity. King ultimately left his Birmingham jail cell and went on to lead this country toward racial integration and healing. But Abu Ahmed, though he is released from prison, is still locked up.

Abu Ahmed is from Budrus, a peaceful farming village in the West Bank that sits relatively near the 1967 border with Israel. Last year, the Israeli government interfered in the life of the village in an unprecedented way with preparation for the construction of a wall blocking the villagers' access to their fields, and cutting them off from any source of livelihood. This preparation has meant the uprooting of thousands of olive trees and the devastation of the land.

by Lala Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:04

Workers Party and its fragmented left wing
The Fourth International’s Brazilian section is in disarray over its relationship to the government of president Lula. Mike Macnair looks at how Democracia Socialista ended up with comrades on both sides of the class divide

by ReSect watch Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:39

So that leaves the SWP and George Galloway.
Was it really worth dumping the SA?

by pat c Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:45

Monkey bites off policeman's ear in eastern India

CALCUTTA, India (AFP) - A senior police officer lost part of his ear when it was bitten off by a monkey near the eastern Indian city of Calcutta, police said.

Rathin Thakur, an assistant commissioner of police, was attacked by the monkey on his way to work Thursday in Belgharia, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Calcutta, police official S. Dutta said.

Story at:

by John Meehan Wed Feb 18, 2004 15:44

The Socialist Resistance site below has the text of GM's resignation from RESPECT, and an inital reply (further responses promised).

See also on this site a detailed report of the RESPECT Founding Meeting written by Jane Kelly and plenty more!

http://www.socialistresistance.net/

by Butter Knife Wed Feb 18, 2004 15:56

16 February 2004

Martin Ingram, former British undercover agent in Ireland, was interviewed on New York City radio station WBAI on Feburary 14, 2004. Cryptome recorded about 11 minutes of the interview.

The 11MB .WAV file Zipped:
http://cryptome.org/ingram-021404.zip (9.8MB)

Ingram and Greg Harkin have just published, "Stakeknife: Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland."

by io Wed Feb 18, 2004 18:01

ETA have announced at mid day today a cease fire in Catalúnya.
ETA has communicated that it has been inactive in the Catalan territories since January 1 2004, and will continue with it's ceasefire to encourage nationalist voting patterns in the forthcoming presidential elections to the Spanish State and as a gesture of solidarity with another "oppressed people of the Spanish State".

announcement with comments in Castilian:
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/71403/index.php
announcement with comments in Catalan:
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/71402/index.php

the text:-
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/71430/index.php

by redjade Thu Feb 19, 2004 09:36

Suicides in Iraq, Questions at Home

According to William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, who discussed the suicides in a briefing last month, that represents a rate of more than 13.5 per 100,000 troops, about 20 percent higher than the recent Army average of 10.5 to 11. The Pentagon plans to release the findings of a team sent to Iraq last fall to investigate the mental health of the troops, including suicides.

The number Winkenwerder cited does not include cases under investigation, so the actual number may be higher. It also excludes the suicides by soldiers who have returned to the United States.

by redjade Thu Feb 19, 2004 09:54

CITY repeals law used in Catholic Worker shelter eviction attempt San Jose Mercury News - San Jose,CA,USA - The City Council, facing a civil rights lawsuit, repealed an ordinance used in efforts to evict more than 100 homeless people using a Catholic Worker home as ...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7984163.htm

DISSENT in the heartland
National Catholic Reporter - USA
... Do the prosecutors suspect that the Catholic Worker activists and others they are harassing are al Qaeda sympathizers? Potential terrorists? Oh,
come on. ...
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004a/022004/022004q.htm

by redjade Thu Feb 19, 2004 17:17

Richard Perle, a chief proponent of last year's U.S. invasion of Iraq, yesterday called for the chiefs of the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency to step down because of their faulty conclusions that Saddam Hussein possessed mass-killing weapons.

[....]

I think, of course, heads should roll," he said. "When you discover that you have an organization that doesn't get it right time after time, you change the organization, including the people.

"I'd start with the head head," Perle said when asked which heads should roll at the CIA. Perle said the DIA " is in at least as bad shape as CIA (and) needs new management."

by redjade Thu Feb 19, 2004 17:37

http://haitipundit.typepad.com/

by ec Fri Feb 20, 2004 02:12

.

by redjade Fri Feb 20, 2004 15:16

...many American officials now blame Mr. Chalabi for providing what turned out to be false or wildly exaggerated intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
    During an interview, Mr. Chalabi, by far the most effective anti-Saddam lobbyist in Washington, shrugged off charges that he had deliberately misled U.S. intelligence.
    "We are heroes in error," he said in Baghdad on Wednesday. "As far as we're concerned, we've been entirely successful.

by redjade Fri Feb 20, 2004 16:12

In its effort to relieve overstretched U.S. troops in Iraq, the Bush administration has hired a private security company staffed with former henchmen of South Africa's apartheid regime.

by ce Fri Feb 20, 2004 21:21

????????????
AAAAAHHHHHH

by redjade Sat Feb 21, 2004 14:41

An ominous threat

A U.S. Justice Department dustup in Des Moines has come full circle, with federal prosecutors quashing subpoenas that would have ordered four peace activists to appear before a grand jury and would have forced Drake University to name people involved in an anti-war forum at the school last fall.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's suppressors of incipient revolution in Iowa had also asked for campus security records on the forum, "Stop the Occupation! Bring the Iowa Guard Home!" and details about its organizers, the Drake National Lawyers Guild chapter.

The university's subpoena came with a gag order and reminded one of McCarthy-era "red squads" days. It convinced some in university and civil rights circles that totalitarianism had revived in the Midwest. The subpoenas also underscored why federal judgeships must be filled with people who, unlike U.S. District Judge Ronald Longstaff, understand and support the Constitution, even if the administration doesn't.

It likely helped this election year that individuals subpoenaed were the leader of the Catholic Peace Ministry, the former coordinator of the Iowa Peace Network, a member of the Catholic Worker House, and an anti-war activist who visited Iraq in 2002. Watch out Mike Ferner.

This was a ham-handed effort by the Justice Department to stifle dissent and intimidate dissenters. Whether the decision was cleared at the top or was a local prosecutor's way to make a name for himself doesn't matter, though it will be ferreted out.

by redjade Sat Feb 21, 2004 18:56

Wait a minute... if we pull out this country will fall apart!....

by redjade Sat Feb 21, 2004 19:04

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU justice and interior ministers rejected on Thursday Austria's proposal to create a CIA (news - web sites)-style agency to boost security cooperation in the fight against terrorism and weapons proliferation in Europe.

by redjade Sun Feb 22, 2004 15:00

Family moved to Canada after private refused to fight in 'dehumanizing' Iraq war

by Jonathan Franklin

US army private Jeremy Hinzman fought in Afghanistan and considers himself a patriot. But when his unit was ordered to Iraq, he refused to go and embarked on a radical journey that could make legal history.

Private first class Hinzman left the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, taking his wife and son to Canada. Officially, he is AWOL (absent without leave), and, instead of fighting insurgents, he is battling the US military in the Canadian courts.

This month Pvt Hinzman, 25, filed legal papers to become the first US soldier objecting to the Iraq war to be granted refugee status in Canada. His case is expected to be a test of new Canadian immigration laws and the country's traditional role of accepting refugees from the US military.