Radical media, politics and culture.
April 22, 2003 - 11:18am -- amanda
Analysis & Polemic
In the Streets

hydrarchist writes "
Gothenburg 2001 Aftermath, an Overview -

The Summer of Resistance and the Swedish Model Gothenburg 2001

From ksvensson

The following text is based on a discussion held at an info meeting* about
Gothenburg and Genoa prisoners in March 2003.



Background: The Swedish Model

Sweden has long been regarded as a model social democratic society; where
an extensive welfare state has existed parallel with a highly developed
capitalistic economy. This peculiar situation has been the result of a
long tradition of cooperation and collaboration between the antagonistic
parties, namely the Social Democratic Workers Party, its closely allied
Lands Organisation union and the economic forces of capitalism with the
industrial giants ABB, Ericsson, SAAB and Volvo at the forefront. The
state and national ideology is based on the thought that through dialogue
and understanding, all conflicts, no matter how large or small, can be
amicably solved.


This approach of amicable cooperation and collaboration was also applied
during the planning stages of the EU Top meeting held in the second
Swedish city of Gothenburg in June of 2001. Through dialogue between
representatives of the state and the globalisation movement, the riots of
Seattle and Prague were hoped to be avoided. The local city government in
Gothenburg launched 'The Gothenburg Spirit' as a guiding premise in this
process. In return for helping with the planning for, and accommodation
of, the thousands of activists that were converging on Gothenburg, the
city government felt as if it could expect peace and tranquillity in
payment.


The Swedish police however, had a different idea of how to deal with the
situation. In line with their longstanding strategy and tactics of
dealing with radical politics, they separately forged plans for hard-
line and definite 'preventive' measures. These were not necessarily
forged with the prevention of the immediate situation in Gothenburg in
mind,
but rather preventive in relation to future expressions of radical
politics
by making an example of the current one. In Sweden, as well as in the EU
as a whole.

April 19, 2003 - 6:45pm -- nomadlab
Analysis & Polemic
Rants

Barry writes "What is Free Speech?

Barry Mauer

Assistant Professor of English

University of Central Florida

Orlando


?I think this war is an attempt by President Bush to concentrate his hold on power,? said Barry Mauer, 37, an English Professor at the University of Central Florida. ?This [war] is clearly a power grab.?


        Orlando Sentinel, March 23



The following is a personal letter I received in response to the quotation that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel:



My father was a WWII Navy veteran. He served on an aircraft carrier (USS Enterprise CV6). He passed away 2 years ago, but NEVER forgot what he fought for over 50 years before. I was lucky enough to turn 18 during a peaceful time, and as the draft (and registration) were done away with. But I have NEVER forgotten what these brave soldiers sacrificed in order for me to live free. I played taps for Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. I played taps at Veterans' funerals. This was just a tiny payback to them for all they did for ALL OF US. At my father's funeral, I watched these feeble but proud WWII Veterans fold the American flag that they presented my mother. You are a disgrace to the memory of my father and all those who preceded him in death so that you would have the freedom to speak your mind.

Your assertion that "this war is clearly a power grab" shows your lack of rational thinking. Liberals are controlled only by emotions. Logic never comes into play. Facts only get in the way. You hide behind the veil of academic freedom. You have every right to speak your mind, but words have consequences. That is why I exercise my right to accuse you of being anti-American.

God Bless President Bush

God Bless America!!

April 17, 2003 - 6:54pm -- hydrarchist
Analysis & Polemic
In the Streets

collettivo pace writes "Civil Disobedience for Peace

Collettivo Pace



Fifteen Fragments from

H. D. Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Governement” (1849)



1.

The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government

itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their

will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act

through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few

individuals using the standing government as their tool.

April 17, 2003 - 6:46pm -- hydrarchist
Analysis & Polemic
Science

sara rose writes

The War in Iraq and Science in the USA: One Archeologist's Perspective



I remember writing last quarter for an assignment in my Human Ecology class that the war in Iraq would not only have horrible humanitarian consequences, but that it would also be devastating for the archaeological heritage of the region known as the “birthplace of civilization”. I remember thinking how it hardly seemed surprising that this destruction would come from a country which has done little to protect its own heritage over the years since the “Indians” became “civilized” to the point of near extinction. It is no wonder that this country (USA) has some of the most lax heritage preservation laws of any country in the world – to claim the sophistication and complexity of the people who lived here before US brings us face to face with a sordid, brutal past most European United Statesers would rather forget (1). Examples of the destruction of Native American sites can be seen in my southeastern Ohio town where hundreds, if not thousands, of human burial mounds were bulldozed by land-owners to create land more amenable to building houses or setting up a double-wide. The United States has no laws protecting cultural heritage sites on private property, no matter how important they are. If federal money is used for construction, i.e. roads, pipelines, then and only then is it required by law to do an archaeological survey of land to be disturbed. It was only in 1991 that the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed by the federal government. After more than 100 years of archaeological investigation (and pillage), this law set up rules and guidelines for how Native American cultural remains, including bodies, were dealt with by archaeologists.

April 13, 2003 - 5:12pm -- Uncle Fluffy
Analysis & Polemic
Technology

abh writes "I meant to post this earlier, but didn't:



What follows is the first installment of a continuation of journals on using GNU/Linux that the Low-Income Networking and Communications (LINC) Project of the Welfare Law Center released in the spring of 2002. LINC will continue to release daily journals over the next week documenting our progress on using Free Software on the desktop. The rest of these journals will be released on LINC Hot News. To receive the rest of the journals as they are released, please subscribe to LINC Hot News at http://lincproject.dyndns.org/mailman/listinfo/lin c-hot-news. The journals are also available on the LINC Project Website at http://www.lincproject.org/toolkit/linux.

April 11, 2003 - 4:33pm -- Ben_Meyers
Analysis & Polemic
News

hydrarchist writes:

"Iraq Is A Trial Run"

Noam Chomsky interviewed by Frontline India

April 02, 2003

On March 21, Chomsky spoke from his office for half an hour to V. K.
Ramachandran on the current attack on Iraq.

V. K. Ramachandran: Does the present aggression on
Iraq represent a continuation of United States'
international policy in recent years or a
qualitatively new stage in that policy?

Noam Chomsky: It represents a significantly new
phase. It is not without precedent, but significantly
new nevertheless.

This should be seen as a trial run. Iraq is seen as an
extremely easy and totally defenceless target. It is
assumed, probably correctly, that the society will
collapse, that the soldiers will go in and that the
U.S. will be in control, and will establish the regime
of its choice and military bases. They will then go on
to the harder cases that will follow. The next case
could be the Andean region, it could be Iran, it could
be others.

April 11, 2003 - 12:01pm -- hydrarchist
Analysis & Polemic
The State

Robert Walker writes

"BLOODY TYRANTS WE HAVE KNOWN
(AND A FEW WE’VE EVEN LOVED)

For more than one hundred years US foreign policy has employed armed intervention in countries around the globe as a way to further US commercial interests and expand our sphere of influence. We have installed, supported and shored up a long list of dictators and tyrants in order to get what we want. The effects of our policies on the fate of peoples ruled by “our” despots have never been of concern to American policy makers. In the aftermath of his betrayal of Iraqi Kurds in the 1970s, Henry Kissinger made the cynical observation: "Covert action should not be confused with missionary work."

April 11, 2003 - 9:39am -- jim
Analysis & Polemic
Theory

dr.woooo writes:

"Dissonance and Mutations: Theorising Counter-Culture"

David Eden

Could there be a more telling example? The (International) Noise Conspiracy an apparently revolutionary rock band from Sweden, made up of punks-come-mods, steeped in Situationist esqu rhetoric dancing on mainstream music programs in uber-stylish clothes singing "Everything is up for sale"? Is it the ultimate subversion, the recapturing and repositioning of dominant structures of the culture industry and turning them into opposition voices? Or is it the ultimate recuperation, the transformation of expression of alienation and revolt into niche commodities for expanding youth markets, the conversion of dissent into a spectacle of harmless dissent? Counter-culture( especially that based around "youth") is now a fundamental part of the life of global cyber-industrial civilisation. Often critiqued as a past time for middle-class children in Western nations, young ( and not so young) people all over the world participate in counter-culture on deep personal levels. Anecdotal evidence suggests Malaysia has a larger "death metal" scene than Australia.

April 10, 2003 - 11:33am -- hydrarchist
Analysis & Polemic
Theory

jim writes " "The Working Class or the Multitude?"

A Debate with Chris Harman and Michael Hardt

This debate was organised by UK's Globalise Resistance on 25 January 2003 at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil in front of about 300 people. The two main speakers spoke for 21 minutes each, and there were then some 22 contributions from the floor -- one of the highest degrees of participation at any meeting at the forum.

April 9, 2003 - 8:42pm -- jim
Analysis & Polemic
Gender

"Allies, Who Aren't"

RAMBL (Revolutionary Anarchist Mom and Baby League), April 09, 2003

The radical environmental movement in the US is losing the next generation
of families by labeling family issues as irrelevant and failing to see how
parenting is a part of the revolution and kids are the next revolutionaries.
We're frustrated when the movement for social justice steals our ability as
mothers to continue to work as organizers and artists, while whining that
not enough parents care about social reforms. We're tired of activists
wondering where all the parents are when we're sitting at home with no
money, no transportation and no childcare. That is why we have formed the
Revolutionary Anarchist Mom and Baby League (RAMBL) to address these issues.

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