Radical media, politics and culture.

Announcements

March 3, 2006 - 3:41pm -- autonomedia
Announcements
Events

"Sexual Sedition:

From the Espionage Laws to the War
on Terror"

Molly McGarry

New York City, March 8, 2006

A talk by Molly McGarry (Dept of History, Univ.
California, Riverside)


'Sexual Sedition' traces a genealogy of the current
War on Terror to the early years of the last century
when the U.S. Congress passed the 1917 Espionage Act
and the 1918 Sedition Act. These pieces of legislation
dramatically restricted free speech, created new legal
definitions of conspiracy, and fed into a current of
anti-immigrant political agitation, resulting in the
arrest and deportation of thousands.


This paper uses
the case of Dr. Marie Equi, an I.W.W. organizer who
was imprisoned under the sedition laws as "an
anarchist, an abortionist, and a degenerate," to
examine the links between sexual and political
dissidence, "unnatural" identities and un-American
acts.


Free and open to the public.


Wednesday, March 8, 2006, 2–4pm

CUNY Graduate Center

History Dept Lounge (room 5111)

365 5th Ave (between 34th & 35th St)

(One block east of the 34th St/Herald Square subway.
You don't need to be a student, but you need to show
some kind of picture ID & sign in to get into
the building.)

February 28, 2006 - 10:30am -- autonomedia
Announcements
Culture

Free Culture's "Creative Commons" Art Show
New York City, March 1, 2006

Over the last couple of months, Free Culture@NYU members have
been working hard to curate an art show that we are proud to say
is the first of its kind — one that is focused on highlighting
artists (who happen to be students in New York) who are using
Creative Commons licenses in their works. Creative Commons
licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for
authors, artists, and educators. They have built upon the "all
rights reserved" concept of traditional copyright to offer a
voluntary "some rights reserved" approach." For more information,
check out www.creativecommons.org

February 25, 2006 - 2:04pm -- autonomedia
Announcements
The State

Anonymous Comrade writes:

"A Fistful of Contractors"
Security Companies Doing Business in Iraq
David Isenberg, Basic Research Report

The below list does not claim to be comprehensive; rather it is intended to be illustrative in order to show the wide range of shapes and sizes that PMCs come in and the scope of activities they perform.

Some have been around for decades; others are newly created subsidiaries of other firms. Some have contracts directly with the CPA or the Army, other U.S. governmental agencies, or as subcontractors working for contractors, working for a government agency. Others work as subcontractors to primarily civilian contractors such as Halliburton, Fluor, GE, Parsons et cetera. Still others work for the media or various nongovernmental organizations.

Some individuals and small teams have simply incorporated a company and offer their services through it. They are not necessarily looking for client contracts, although they might get lucky enough to get one, but are looking to be employed by the established firms, although the employment contract would be written with their company, not themselves as individuals.

February 22, 2006 - 9:39am -- stevphen
Announcements
Work

THE REAL RIGHTS TOUR

March 26 - April 4, 2006

Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Allies Gear Up for McDonald's Truth Tour 2006

Major Rally April 1st, Chicago, IL

WHERE: From Immokalee to Chicago (home of McDonald’s) and points in
between, including Louisville, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Ann
Arbor, Madison, South Bend, and more!

WHO: You – and farmworkers from Immokalee. If you’d like to join us in
Chicago or you live along the route, contact us to see how you can
participate, at workers@ciw-online.org

CIW members organizing for the "Real Rights Tour" at a recent remote
broadcast of the CIW's low-power radio station "Radio Conciencia" in
Immokalee.

WHAT: Farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and their
allies will travel by caravan from Immokalee, FL, home of one of the
largest farmworker communities in the country, to Chicago, IL, home of the
world’s largest restaurant chain, McDonald’s.

On April 1st – the fifth anniversary of the launch of the successful Taco
Bell Boycott – the caravan will be joined by supporters from throughout
the region for a major rally in Chicago, where they will call on the
fast-food giant McDonald’s to work with the CIW and help establish real
labor rights for the workers who pick tomatoes for McDonald’s suppliers.

February 20, 2006 - 1:38pm -- autonomedia
Announcements
Independent Media

"Why We Fight"

Eugene Jarecki

What are the forces that shape and propel American
militarism? This award-winning film provides an inside
look at the anatomy of the American war machine.


Streamed Online For Free

(You need RealPlayer to view)

Here.

Clicking this link should open RealPlayer

February 18, 2006 - 10:53am -- stevphen
Announcements
Theory

Call For Papers

Affinities: A Journal of Radical Theory, Culture, and Action

Special Issue #1: "Creating Autonomous Spaces"

From pirate enclaves to utopian communities, from communal republics
to occupied zones, the history of constituted power has always also been the history of radical experiments in spaces that are other
than, alternative to, within and against.

The first issue of Affinities: A Journal of Radical Theory, Culture, and Action is dedicated to a critical discussion of the contemporary manifestations, and future prospects of, autonomous spaces around the world. We are seeking submissions not only from those who "study”
such spaces, but also from those who are actively engaged in their creation.

Recent years have offered us manifold examples of autonomous spaces, including the occupation of old factories in Argentina, the
occupation of rural land by the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement, and spaces or caucuses created by those marginalized within broader radical movements, including Anarchist People of Colour and the
Zapatista Revolutionary Law for Women.

Yet everywhere these experiments are constantly imperiled, suffering repression, recuperation, or simply exhaustion. Furthermore, careful attention to power relations suggests that these spaces themselves are not islands free of oppression, untouched by the micro-practices of domination.

February 17, 2006 - 5:50pm -- stevphen
Announcements
Prisons & Prisoners

The Poor Don't Belong in Prisons! Fight the WTO!

A CALL for INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY for anti-WTO political Prisoners and PRESSURE to CONTINUE DERAILING WTO:
International Action Week, Feb 27th - March 5th 2006

in solidarity with 2 anti-WTO political prisoners who stand trial in Hong Kong, thousands of political prisoners behind bars worldwide, and millions of prisoners of WTO-related policies.

Women, Poor people, Farmers, Migrants, Workers don't belong in WTO prisons! Join Targetwto Commonfront in this International Action Solidarity

Hong Kong, FEB 15 (TargetWTO) – In Early March, two anti-WTO political prisoners will stand trial for charges of unlawful assembly during the Dec 17th occupation of Gloucester Road outside the 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO. If convicted, they face a fine of HK$5,000 and imprisonment for 5 years.

Over 1,200 anti-WTO protesters were arrested on Dec 18th in Hong Kong. Fourteen were detained in Hong Kong for almost a month, not allowed to go to their home country to continue their livelihoods. On January 11th, charges against 11 were dropped. Charges against M. Yang Kyoung Kyu were dropped on Feb 14th. Conviction against the 2 standing trial would further face isolation from their home, family, and livelihood. The three
are M. PARK IN HWAN and M. YOON IL KWON from the Korean Peasants League (member of La Via Campesina).

The anti-WTO support group in HK has set Feb 27th to March 5th as the international action week to support anti-WTO political prisoners and continue derailing the WTO. While two face charges in Hong Kong, millions of farmers, women, workers and the poor are prisoners of WTO policies.

Targetwto Network is calling on people, groups and allies around the world affected by WTO policies to stage a protest during the International Action Week in order to derail the current Doha Round, to protect the lives of poor people and to stand in solidarity with all those who are prisoners of WTO and US imperial policies. Doha Round began in 2001 in Quatar as WTO's so-called development agenda. The Doha Round is aiming to strengthen the growth of corporations, profit and privatization before people and indigenous livelihoods.

February 14, 2006 - 9:11pm -- stevphen
Announcements
Culture

Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau

VIII SALON Y COLOQUIO INTERNACIONAL DE ARTE DIGITAL

Eighth International Digital Art Exhibit and Colloquium

International Call

The Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, with the support of the Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (the City Historian), HIVOS, ENET / ETECSA Cubasí Portal, and the collaboration of the Union of Cuban Artists and Writers (UNEAC), the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinema (ICAIC), CUBARTE Portal and the National Museum of Fine Arts (Museo Nacional de Bellas) Artes, announces the Eighth International Digital Art Exhibit and Colloquium (VIII Salón y Coloquio Internacional de Arte Digital) with the purpose of promoting artistic and cultural values created with new technologies.

The Digital Art Exhibit, which will open on June 19, 2006, will show once again the current work in this field and favor exchange and reflection among creators and specialists engaged in these new forms of expression.

The event covers two areas; the National Digital Art Exhibit, of a competitive nature, and a non-competitive International Digital Art Exhibit, where works by artists from other countries will be shown. The works of the International Exhibit will be shown online and in video programs several halls in Havana.

February 12, 2006 - 5:57pm -- stevphen
Announcements
Work

Radicals at Work: Young Labor Activists Building Power from Below

A forum hosted by the Rank and File Youth Project and the Starbucks Workers Union.

Young activists are taking jobs in targeted workplaces (transit,
telecommunications, public schools, and retail) to organize.
These inside organizers are building a stronger labor movement from the bottom up; fighting for stronger, more democratic unions;
challenging racism, sexism, and homophobia on the job; and beating back the corporate assault on working people.
Come hear their stories and find out how you can become an inside organizer.

When? Saturday, February 18th, 7:00 PM

Where? Bluestockings, 172 Allen St. (at Stanton St.; F train to 2nd Avenue)

What is the RANK AND file Youth Project? We are a network of young activists and workers organizing to promote a grassroots perspective on radical labor activism. We help young activists find union jobs, connect them with experienced rank-and-file union activists, and serve as a support network for these inside organizers. For more
information, email ranknfileyouth.project@gmail.com.

What is the Starbucks Workers Union? We are Starbucks workers
organizing for better wages and raises, guaranteed hours, an end to understaffing, and a healthier and safer workplace. Visit
www.starbucksunion.org for more information about the campaign.

February 9, 2006 - 9:24pm -- stevphen
Announcements
Technology

Architecture and Philosophy of the Web:
IRW2006 - Identity, Reference, and the Web (IRW2006)

http://www.ibiblio.org/hhalpin/irw2006/

Co-located Workshop at WWW2006,
Edinburgh Scotland, May 22nd

Second Call for Papers:

=======================

Goal and Theme:

Our goal for this workshop is to explore the nature of identification, meaning, and reference on the Web, building on current work in Web architecture, the Semantic Web and informal community-based tagging (folksonomy), as well as current practice in XML and theory in
philosophy and linguistics. This workshop should bring together
researchers and practitioners from a variety of backgrounds in order to discuss and clarify these issues.

The greater goal of the workshop is to examine the architecture and philosophical basis of the Web by carefully inspecting how fundamental aspects of the Web can be clearly recognized and possibly improved.

URIs are the primary mechanism for reference and identity on the Web. To be useful, a URI must provide access to information which is sufficient to enable someone or something to uniquely identify a particular thing and the thing identified might vary between contexts. There is no doubt that as a mechanism for identifying web pages the URI has been wildly successful. Currently, URIs can also be used to identify namespaces, ontologies, and almost anything. However, important questions about the interpretation, use, and meaning of URIs have been left unanswered, questions that have important ramifications for everything from search engines to philosophy. As soon as matters get complicated, there is little or no consensus on issues of identification and reference on the Web. Put simply, given a URI, how should the nature of its intended referent be known in an interoperable and preferably automatic manner?

This is not an easy question to answer: for example, the Semantic Web and folksonomies present two distinctly differing viewpoints. On the Semantic Web a URI nominally identifies a single resource, while
folksonomies rely on a more informal group consensus. Notions of
identity will have even larger ramifications when privacy and trust become central issues for the Web. The management of this issue impacts practical issues of data integration on the Web and versioning and evolution for languages that use URIs, such as XML.

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