This week's show features a conversation with Victoria Law. From her PM Press Author's page:
"Victoria Law is a writer, photographer, and mother. After a brief stint as a teenage armed robber, she became involved in prisoner support. In 1996, she helped start Books Through Bars-New York City, a group that sends free books to prisoners nationwide. In 2000, she began concentrating on the needs and actions of women in prison, drawing attention to their issues by writing articles and giving public presentations. Since 2002, she has worked with women incarcerated nationwide to produce Tenacious: Art and Writings from Women in Prison and has facilitated having incarcerated women's writings published in larger publications, such as Clamor magazine, the website "Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance" and the upcoming anthology Interrupted Lives."

This week we speak to Vikki about the second edition of her book, "Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women." We discuss the patriarchy, criminalization & invisibility that is faced by those held in women's prisons. We also talk about resistance, organizing, support and engagement of those on the inside and about the work that formerly incarcerated people do to help their comrades still serving time.

Leah broke, to what degree remains uncertain, but we know that she at least cooperated in someway with the grand jury investigation. She broke the wall of silence anarchists in the northwest had tried their best to craft for about four months. Leah broke the silence of refusal, and has still refused to comment on the conditions of her release. She has spoken with the state but has refused to speak to her (former) comrades and supporters.

Let's be realistic here, it has been over two weeks since she has been released and she refuses to release a statement about the conditions of her release. Maybe I was naive, but I really did have faith that those who pledged to keep silent would, and it breaks my heart that this is no longer the case. As said already, we don't know the conditions of Leah's release, we don't know how much was said. But we do know that she isn't saying anything right now. You might be out Leah, but the subpoenas are still coming in. My friends are still in cages, and my life has still been entirely uprooted from pretty much everyone I know. Leah not only broke the silence, she broke the solidarity.

Black brothers, Black sisters, i want you to know that i love you and i hope that somewhere in your hearts you have love for me. My name is Assata Shakur (slave name joanne chesimard), and i am a revolutionary. A Black revolutionary. By that i mean that i have declared war on all forces that have raped our women, castrated our men, and kept our babies empty-bellied.  I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty, the politicians who lie to us with smiling faces, and all the mindless, heart-less robots that protect them and their property. –Assata Shakur

I was born into the flames of slave insurrection.  My first recorded ancestor was a runaway slave named Felix.  In between him and me have been several butchered half lives.  My grandfather, the oldest ancestor I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to interact with, was, as a young man, captured and tortured with “electro-shock therapy” for months on end as a consequence of his very material defiance and resistance to this “constitutional violence” that Wilderson describes in “the vengeance of vertigo”. 

Dear JennVicious, are anarchist lazy, or just the ones I know? I know that anarchism has a long history of people doing hella (Emma Goldman, Sasha Berkman, Howard Zinn, and a half dozen others come to mind). If anarchists were not so myopically focused on their fucked up romances, disfunctional co-op houses, shitty jobs, and vegan lifestyles, we'd already be in the midst of the rev. I know capitalism is hard and that the rev begins with our personal relationships, but WTF? -- Still Waiting - Anonymous

Dear Still Waiting,

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I was busy taking care of myself after having some drama where one of my housemates convinced my partner to eat meat behind my back. No, I’m just kidding about that.

Obviously, I don’t think anarchists are actually lazy (being an incredibly busy anarchist myself.) I do, however, think that anarchists are just people, and people have their flaws. And, anarchists in this country are people socialized into a lot of ridiculous expectations and meaningless work-ethics based on monetary rewards and social prestige. Sometimes when you take those things away from someone, there is a period of readjustment, of finding a new reason to be motivated to do things.

“Activism Now Terrorism?” — TV Interview with Abby Martin

Huge thanks to Abby Martin for having me on her show this week to talk about grand juries targeting anarchists and animal rights activists. We also looked at how this fits into the broader political climate and legislation like the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Martin has been following these issues closely, and I think it made for a good discussion. Hope you like it too. Video after Read More

Hello Friends and Comrades,

Here is the political prisoner birthday poster for November. As always, please post this poster publicly and/or use it to start a card writing night of your own. We’re still experimenting with the format a little, so this month is also a double sided 11×17 that can also be used as a poster to promote your local letter writing night.

The NC Latin King’s trial is underway. The best news source we’ve found so far on the Latin Kings’ trial is on the YES! Weekly Blog. So far they have been updating it daily. The ALKQN support page has been updating weekly with analysis of the trial as well. Also, writing letters of encouragement would be super helpful right now. You can find their mailing addresses here.

Some new developments have happened with the North West Grand Jury Resisters. Including one more new subpena. Green is the New Red has posted all of the updates on their blog. Also, Kteeo has sent a very sweet and heart warming public letter to all her supporters.

A man emerged from the large pile of rubble. An entire 3-story building had collapsed on top of him. Surely, he was lucky to be alive, and walked away with hardly a scratch on him. His interaction with firefighters at the scene was telling. Aside from the single firefighter who gave a hand to help him out from beneath the rubble, they seemed entirely disinterested in the man’s health and well-being.

Or perhaps, it was that they were simply incredibly perplexed, stunned as to what they had just witnessed. The man was inside an evacuated home when it collapsed on him, the entire neighborhood had been ordered to evacuate. There are no reports of this man receiving any medical attention, only of him being taken straight to a police vehicle, and immediately arrested under suspicion of looting.

Is there no alternative? Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist realism, criticises neo-anarchism and outlines his perspectives

Capitalist realism, to sum it up briefly, can be seen as both a belief and an attitude. It is a belief that capitalism is the only viable political/economic system, and a simple restatement of the old Thatcherite maxim, “There is no alternative”.

People like Paul Mason have been saying that since 2011 there has been an upsurge in global militancy, including a number of uprisings, and this represents the end of capitalist realism. But that is clearly not the case. It is true that the major crisis of capitalism from 2008 led to a situation where capital has never been weaker ideologically in my lifetime, and as a result there is widespread disaffection, but the question is why nevertheless capitalist realism still exists.

Whatever caused it, it is now clear that authority doesn’t play. This rebellion is not a game. And now it is time to ask yourselves if you are all in or if its time to retreat to a more suitable place to reexamine your purpose. Because those in authority are indeed quite clear that you are just as willing as they are to ‘use’ human beings to gain territory, regardless of what happens to that human being.

Good work kiddies, you have become your parents.

On October 25, 2012 a fifth subpoena was served to Matthew “Maddy” Pfeiffer to appear before the federal grand jury on November 7, 2012.

Pfeiffer’s statement:

On October 25th, the day before my 23rd birthday, two FBI agents wearing ill-fitting khakis and too much gel in their hair, served me a subpoena for 9am on November 7th. I knew my fate right away: 18 months in SeaTac Federal Detention Center. Matt, Kteeo and Leah have all been imprisoned for their refusal and I will be the next. Despite the urgings of lawyers, agents and judges, I only have one option: non-cooperation. Any other option is unthinkable.

I am being asked to testify before a Grand Jury on November 7th and will likely be detained on that date for refusing to cooperate. The vultures of the state will try to imprison my comrades and me until we give in. We will never give in.