Saturday, September 11, 2010
ANARCHIST LITERATURE:
NEW FROM RED LION PRESS:
Hot off the presses from Larry Gambone of Red Lion Press. New titles to grace your library. Here's the info from Larry's Porkupine Blog.
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The View From Anarchist MountainIt has been a busy year for me, publishing wise. First The Impossibilists, with my own Red Lion Press, then Nature of Human Brainwork was brought out by PM Press. Now I have two more to offer.
The View From Anarchist Mountain, 199 pages, $16.00 is a collection of my writings over the past 20 years on anarchism, society and history. It is available from AK Press. (For Canadians, order from me at redlionpress@hotmail.com )
Bill Pritchard – Revolutionary Socialist is a 36 page pamphlet that goes for $4.00. Pritchard is best known for being jailed under a bogus conspiracy charge in the aftermath of the Winnipeg General Strike. He was also a militant of the Socialist Party of Canada, the editor of its newspaper, The Western Clarion, and a founder of the OBU. After the demise of the SPC, he was an early member of the CCF and was Reeve of Burnaby for a number of years. Later in life, he returned to the “Impossibilist” socialism of his roots.
“Bill Pritchard – Revolutionary Socialist” - was taken from a talk he gave in 1973. It describes his adventures - and often hilarious misadventures – as a pioneer Socialist on speaking tours of Western Canada more than 90 years ago. He reminisces about a host of fascinating characters and also gives crucial eye-witness evidence about the murder of Ginger Goodwin. It is available so far, only from me.
Labels: anarchism, anarchist books., anarchist literature, Bill Pritchard Revolutionary Socialist, books, Larry Gambone, pamphlets, Porkupine Blog, Red Lion Press, The View From Anarchist Mountain
Monday, December 21, 2009
ANARCHIST THEORY:
NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATIONS:
The following, recently published at the Anarkismo website is by Larry Gambone of the Porkupine Blog. Go on over to the Anarkismo site to view the discussion that is taking place around this article.
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Neighborhood Associations – A Personal Experience:
by Larry Gambone
I have been involved in our association for three years. In that time, I have helped in neighborhood clean up, fund raisers, meetings of up to 400 residents, public art and the location of colourfully painted garbage bins. We had a successful campaign to stop noise pollution from a local industry. Our Miner's Heritage Picnic saw a thousand people participating last year. We are presently engaged in creating a neighborhood plan which is an attempt to preserve the working class nature of the neighborhood and rebuild much of the community that has been lost through businesses moving to shopping malls in the city periphery. Much of what we do takes the form of direct action. We don't ask for permission, we just do it.
Two years ago I was elected to the executive of the association. Where I speak out or take some sort of a leadership role, is where I have the applicable skills. I work to maintain a common ground approach within the organization. I helped develop a very successful neighborhood blog/newsletter. With my knowledge of labour history, I was able to put together the Miner's Heritage Photo Exhibit and to re-print the BC Federation of Labour's 1913 pamphlet on the Great Coal Strike of 1912. My next goal is to set up a "literature department" to research and publish information of interest to the neighborhood.
The neighborhood association is an important area for anarchist involvement. Of the popular organizations, such as trade unions or cooperatives, these associations are the easiest ones to implant oneself in. The reason is the lack of bureaucracy or controlling bureaucratic caste with which one must struggle in the other institutions. The neighborhood association is a natural place of involvement for militants who are retired, students, self-employed, or on social assistance.
The association gives a concerted voice to a neighborhood, creates dialogue and in doing so, helps re-build community. Where these associations do not exist, fear or prejudice-driven elements can stir up the populace, encourage hostility toward minorities or prevent positive developments within the community. Where a neighborhood association is already on the ground, it can preempt such hostility and steer the neighborhood in a constructive direction.
I have experience with such a situation. The neighborhood adjoining us has no association. An attempt to create a soup kitchen for the poor was crushed by a minority who whipped up fears about drug addicts and homeless people. In our neighborhood an old hotel has been converted into a controlled living space for people with drug and mental health issues. Some people tried to stop this chiefly due to fear, but our association was able to have a calming or moderating effect on the neighborhood.
My reason for joining our neighborhood association is no different from anyone else. I want to preserve the community that still exists in my neighborhood and to re-build what has been lost. I am a member for a real reason, a reason that relates to my personal existence. I am not there for any ideological purpose, much less to convert people to an ideology. And if you do have an ulterior motive for being there, eventually people will know it. Ultimately, there is no difference between what I am seeking, what our association seeks, and my personal beliefs. Community is also one of the foundation stones of libertarian socialism.
My approach to working in the association could be applied to any popular or grass roots organization. First and foremost, I listen to what people have to say, probably the most important thing you can do. When you listen, you will find what a truly amazing amount of talent and experience exists in the group. In most cases, it will be far more than you possess, and you will learn more from them, than they will learn from you. Those few occasions where I do stand out are those areas where I possess abilities needed by the group.
Flexibility is important. Perhaps not everything done or said by the group is to your liking – though I cannot think of an instance when this has been so. (I must point out that not all neighborhood associations are as advanced as ours.) It is important to keep your mind on the main issues such as community building, inclusiveness, direct action and democratic process, rather than getting hung up on secondary issues.
Doing is a necessity. No one likes a person who talks but does not act. Within the confines of your time limits and capability, get involved and do things. Not just the "cool" stuff either. I put up the tables and chairs, take tickets, and try to be there when I am needed.
Speaking to the essence. You can refer to the core elements of anarchism, such as direct democracy, direct action, self-management, and encourage such tendencies, without ever bringing up the "A -word." The overtly ideological will only divide people, but actual anarchist practice will unite them. Furthermore, since you are not the only one in the group possessing many of the ideas you espouse, pull these ideas out of people, rather than trying to put them in when they are already there. (Nothing loses people quicker than appearing arrogant or a know-it-all.) People will, in time, figure out where you are coming from. But since you are respected, you will not be reduced to a media caricature.
One thing you will discover when belonging to a functioning neighborhood association, is that all progressives have far more in common with each other than xenophobic or reactive elements. Whether social democrat, socialist, Green or anarchist, at the neighborhood level, it does not seem to matter a great deal. All want people to have more control over their lives, to build community and to be inclusive.
With neighborhood associations that are dominated by fearful or NIMBY ( Not In My Back Yard) people, the role of the anarchist is obvious – countering this negativity and encouraging an inclusive community-building approach. However, if the association usually acts in an anarchistic way already, what point is there in belonging to it as an anarchist? What then is the point of having your theories and ideologies?
Everyone's insight and experiences are valuable – including your own. An experienced, well-read anarchist brings with her the knowledge of the sociology of power, a rich background in mutual aid, direct action and a general history of social movements. You will, of course, not be alone in possessing such knowledge, but the difference is, that as an anarchist, you have specialized in these areas. You have the tools to strengthen the libertarian tendencies that already exist within the group.
Furthermore, you have a vision beyond the progress of the neighborhood association, the city, or even community restoration as a whole. Once again, you will not be unique in this, but anarchism envisages a form of organization completely different from that which exists at present. As the corporate state breaks down, socially, economically and environmentally, the old, centralized, top-down form of organization will become increasingly untenable. Neighborhood associations, as direct democratic, decentralized institutions, could form the nuclei of a new form of governance – one of federated neighborhood councils. When the breakdown commences, anarchists ought to be there to promote this new organizational concept.
Labels: anarchism, anarchist theory, anarkismo.net, Larry Gambone, neighbourhood associations, Porkupine Blog, tactics
Thursday, November 26, 2009
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-VICTORIA:
THE POLICE HAVE LOST THEIR MARBLES:
It's been almost 3 weeks since a highly successful anti-Olympics protest in Victoria BC (see No2010 Victoria for more news on what's happening out that way). At the time the local media picked up on some "marble throwing incident" to, they hoped, spice up their coverage and also incidentally discredit the protesters. Since then this incident has become the "incredibly shrinking story". Here's Larry Gambone of the Porkupine Blog on how the incident was far less than what was reported at first, and how it may have a totally different implication than what was originally implied in the media.
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Olympic Torch Protest - the so-called marble throwing incident.:
I have waited 3 weeks to do this story to see if anything new came up – so far nothing, so here goes...
I have waited 3 weeks to do this story to see if anything new came up – so far nothing, so here goes...
On the night of the anti-Olympic protest the Victoria TV station was screaming about “cowardly protesters throwing marbles at police horses” and that “a young man with a back pack full of marbles had been arrested.” This way they drummed up hate among the sheeple against a rather successful protest.
Then the Times Colonist got in the act too with a similar line. Funny thing, the story then dropped out of sight.
Even odder was the fact that no one was arrested. Surely if the police had gotten their hands on someone who tried to throw marbles at them, they would be dragged off bleeding to the hoosegow.
Odd too, is the idea that NO2010 would somehow endorse such a stupid, counter-productive tactic. Of course they didn't.
Turns out no one actually threw any marbles, rather they were dropped. But then it gets muddy. Who did it and why did they do it?
There are a number of different viewpoints. First two letters to the Times Colonist:
"Just a note on the 'marble fiasco'. Maybe the media could take a second and follow-up on their so-called 'sources' (the police, and a woman who found a handful of marbles on the street) on marble THROWING. Being at the protest, I saw what happened with the marbles. None were thrown. Someone had them in his pocket (I would like to know why, but since carrying marbles is not a crime, I didn't feel it necessary to ask), his pocket broke and they FELL OUT. A number of us stopped to pick them up, and because we were afraid of being separated from the group, we weren't able to get them all. Many thanks to the woman who got the rest. I would like to see one person step forward that actually SAW anyone throw anything at the horses, because from my perspective, it didn't happen. Stop being lazy reporters, and do your job.
Lover of Horses
Nov 2
"Protesters also threw marbles at the feet of horses used by the Vancouver police mounted squad."
"Protesters also threw marbles at the feet of horses used by the Vancouver police mounted squad."
This is a lie. I was there when the marbles were released, at one of the intersections on Cook Street where we stopped for ten minutes or thereabouts. My friend and I commented on what a stupid thing that is, dropping marbles onto the street so that the horses, already enslaved and wishing they were in a warm barn somewhere, might slip on them. Others nearby expressed similar comments. We were at the back of the crowd, where I stayed for most of the route, and there were several police officers within earshot. It was clear that the officers were made aware of the marbles. The horses passed without incident.
It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the marbles were released by agents provocateurs, who have been proven (and those from Montebello may actually go to jail for inciting violence) to be planted into crowds for the purposes of disrupting otherwise peaceful acts of civil disobedience. Janine Bancroft
Nov 2
Global Television weighs in on Nov 3:
"Anti-Olympic protesters say it was not them, but the police themselves, who threw marbles at police horses during the Olympic torch rally in Victoria Friday. They say a police "provocateur" planted among the demonstrators did so to discredit them.
The police, meanwhile, say the allegation is ridiculous.
"The public saw marbles coming from the crowd -- and Victoria police officers saw it," said Sgt. Grant Hamilton of Victoria police.
Tamara Herman, an organizer for the group No2010, said one of the protesters saw someone who was not part of their group drop marbles in the roadway.
Herman said she could not name the witness or offer other details. Nevertheless, she contends that a plainclothes police officer was trying to discredit the protesters.
"The Integrated Security Unit [responsible for Games security] stated they wouldn't rule out using provocateurs. Organizers at the back of the march saw someone they didn't recognize dropping a bag of marbles," Herman said. "
"Anti-Olympic protesters say it was not them, but the police themselves, who threw marbles at police horses during the Olympic torch rally in Victoria Friday. They say a police "provocateur" planted among the demonstrators did so to discredit them.
The police, meanwhile, say the allegation is ridiculous.
"The public saw marbles coming from the crowd -- and Victoria police officers saw it," said Sgt. Grant Hamilton of Victoria police.
Tamara Herman, an organizer for the group No2010, said one of the protesters saw someone who was not part of their group drop marbles in the roadway.
Herman said she could not name the witness or offer other details. Nevertheless, she contends that a plainclothes police officer was trying to discredit the protesters.
"The Integrated Security Unit [responsible for Games security] stated they wouldn't rule out using provocateurs. Organizers at the back of the march saw someone they didn't recognize dropping a bag of marbles," Herman said. "
The Martlet (U Vic paper) gets it partly wrong:
"Despite fears of a potential police crackdown on protesters, there were no arrests. The only visible attempted violence came when some protesters- who were not known to No-2010 organizers- threw marbles at the feet of the seven horses being ridden by the mounted squad The Martlet
Nov 23
What really happened? Some kid who plays marbles had his pocket split? Police agent provocateur? Or could it be a free lance provocateur? Don't put it past the far right to do such a thing. One thing for certain is that the media will seize upon any incident real or imagined to intimidate and discredit the forces of progress.
Labels: 2010 Winter Olympics, agents, anarchism, anti-olympics, canadian anarchist movement, current events, demonstrations, Larry Gambone, media, No 2010, olympics, Porkupine Blog, Victoria
Sunday, November 22, 2009
BLOGGING:
MEANWHILE ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE...:
I figured I'd alert my dearly devoted fan(s?) to other neat new developments out there in Blogland. First of all Larry Gambone who has been writing great common sense anarchism for several decades now is busy moving his writings that were stored on the recently deceased Geocities site (cue funeral music) over to other places. Check out the process at the Porkupine Blog. Also Larry's recent collection of aphorisms. 'Rules to Rebel By' perhaps ?
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Also (cue drum roll please), here in Winnipeg, the throbbing, pulsating centre of the universe (whatyamean 'world class', we go for 'galactic class'), the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog has been running a series on 'Labour's November Martyrs'. Long before one section of our rulers sent young men to kill others in 1914 and the 'other side' did ditto, all over a dispute about who exactly gets to beat black and brown people over the back with a stick, November 11 was remembered in labour circles as the execution date of the Haymarket Martyrs. These were four innocent anarchist labour activists who were framed and killed on November 11 during the struggle for the 8 hour day. Their remembrance led to what is now known as 'Mayday'. Many others laid down their lives during this sad month as well. Read all about at the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog.@@@@@@@@@@
Finally, last but not least, the good folks down Ontario way at the Common Cause/Linchpin site have a new feature on their website (cue marching band music). Linchpin News is an online Twitter based newsfeed bringing the news of the class struggle fresh daily to your inbox. This one actually has great potential. There are other anarchist news sites, some of them with more sense than others, but none of them are Canadian. We need this up here in the frozen north. Another thing that I see about this new bouncing baby boy is that it extends its area of interest outside of the "anarchist movement" (with all its virtues and vices) and reports on the 'class struggle' (in the widest sense), not only when it has the big black 'A' tag on it. In the end anarchism will probably always remain the creed of a small minority, but the most important thing is whether a majority of the people begin to act in a libertarian way in practical actions to solve their problems. Check it out either at Twitter (follow it there) or at the Linchpin website. Tell 'em Molly sent you. @@@@@@@@@@
Finally a word from out sponsor (cue Mr. Clean Commercial music). Nominations for the annual Canadian Blog Awards are now closed, and, like last year, it seems that Mol
ly has been nominated in the category of "Best Political Blog". Voting will begin on November 29. Last year Molly made it into the top 5 finalists, but (weep, wail, moan, whimper) came in last of the five. This year I hope to do better. So here's the deal. When voting opens go over to the Blog Awards site and vote for Molly. You'd better do this or.... I'm going to give you the longest, most boring political lecture that has ever been given in human history. I mean it. Think I can't do it ? Just watch me. When I get going they could put that miserable sneaky prison maker Fidel, along with his slimy little brother Raoul and throw in that cheap Mussolini imitation the megalomaniac Chavez and when all three of the miserable old Stalinist coots had keeled over with massive pulmonary edema Molly would just be getting her second wind.
ly has been nominated in the category of "Best Political Blog". Voting will begin on November 29. Last year Molly made it into the top 5 finalists, but (weep, wail, moan, whimper) came in last of the five. This year I hope to do better. So here's the deal. When voting opens go over to the Blog Awards site and vote for Molly. You'd better do this or.... I'm going to give you the longest, most boring political lecture that has ever been given in human history. I mean it. Think I can't do it ? Just watch me. When I get going they could put that miserable sneaky prison maker Fidel, along with his slimy little brother Raoul and throw in that cheap Mussolini imitation the megalomaniac Chavez and when all three of the miserable old Stalinist coots had keeled over with massive pulmonary edema Molly would just be getting her second wind. Wanna avoid a fate worse than death or Sarah Palin as President ? Vote for Molly. There's no other choice. Why settle for the best when you can get the bestest best.
Labels: blogging, Canadian Blog Awards, contests, Larry Gambone, Linchpin, Porkupine Blog, Winnipeg Wobbly Blog
Sunday, October 11, 2009
ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS:
ABORIGINAL MEMORIAL SERVICE OUTSIDE THE VATICAN:
Well, I'll be damned (some say this is very likely); he did it and he got away with it. Reverend Kevin Annett, formerly of the United Church, held the memorial service just outside the Vatican for native victims of the Roman Catholic residential schools, and it went off without a hitch. I don't know what I was expecting. Perhaps a sudden flinging open of a sacristy door with Sergeant Furius Sanctus and his Gregorian Chanting Commandos (part of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Joint Task Force) storming out, flanked by Pope Rottweiller's personal pack of Dobermans. Nope, as I said, without a hitch.
Anyways, here's the story from a Facebook site, 'The Largest Native Facebook Group'. It may indeed live up to its name, as it seems to have 29,620 members. I find it strange, however, that a Facebook group emanating from here in Winnipeg is hosted by Facebook Sweden !!! I'm sure there is a reason; it's just that I can't comprehend it. The items at the site , however, are all in English. The plan for this service was reported earlier at this blog. For regular updates on what is happening with Kevin Annett see either his site or the Porkupine Blog from which the first item was taken.
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Breaking News: Memorial Service for the Murdered Residential School Children, and a Symbolic Exorcism Rite, conducted outside the Vatican today:
Rome, Italy
Sunday October 11, 6 pm local time
The first public memorial service ever held in Rome for the victims of Catholic Indian Residential Schools was conducted today outside the Vatican shortly after Pope Joseph Ratzinger spoke to a gathered crowd.
Held across from St. Peter's Square, the service was officiated by Reverend Kevin Annett of Canada's Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared. Rev. Annett was commissioned by families of the dead and aboriginal elders in Vancouver to hold the service and bring the truth of the Vatican's role in the genocide of native people to the very place where that crime was planned.
Rev. Annett said prayers for the dead and scattered on the pavement in front of the Vatican water and soil from the site of a mass grave at a Catholic Indian Residential school in Canada.
"The cries of the murdered children have reached the heavens, and call out for justice" Rev. Annett declared, before media cameras.
"Let all wayward spirits depart forever from this place, so that the truth may be laid bare for all to see."
The service proceeded undisturbed, despite the presence of numerous police and Vatican security forces nearby. ( Brrr...big thugs packing heat with Roman collars-Molly )
Rev. Annett also conducted a symbolic exorcism during the service, aimed at what he termed the "spirit of anti-Christ and worldliness" that rules the Vatican. To the Pope and Cardinals who gathered on the Vatican steps, Rev. Annett declared,
"May the Christ of compassion awaken your hearts to what you have become and how your church is a worldly captive and a murderer of the innocent ... Let all lies and darkness leave this place. Let anti-Christ depart from here, and may the last be first, and the first last."
Rev. Annett splashed sacred water from the land near a residential school on the pavement in front of the Vatican three times as he spoke, and then scattered soil from a mass grave at the same school to the winds, saying,
"We lay these elements of the murdered Indian children to rest, here where their murder was planned, so that their spirits may always be a witness against the Lie that poses as the church of Christ. May their little souls find eternal peace, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust."
Rev. Annett concluded the service with a simple benediction:
"May we continue to offer our lives for the helpless and for justice, in the name of the living Christ who said, Whatever you did to the least of my people, you did to me. Amen."
The memorial service, and Rev. Annett's campaign to expose religious genocide in Canada, will be reported this week in several Italian newspapers and TV media, the links to which will appear on his website: www.hiddenfromhistory.org .
Rev. Annett conducted the service as part of a month long speaking tour he is conducting in Europe. He will be speaking to several dozen communities in Italy, England and Ireland, and screening his award-winning documentary film on genocide in Canadian residential schools, UNREPENTANT.
For more information, contact Kevin Annett and The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared at this email. (Molly Note- The email address was missing in the original post. I presume you can communicate via the 'Hidden From History' website )
Note: The soil used in this memorial service was obtained with the blessing and permission of some of the aboriginal families whose relatives lie in the mass grave in question. In the words of one of the elders who authorized this event, Chief Louis Daniels of the Anishinabe Nation,"Kevin Annett has the permission of my clan and nation to conduct any kind of service or public event needed to bring the truth and the children home." (July 8, 2009)
Read and Hear the truth of Genocide in Canada, past and present, at this website: www.hiddenfromhistory.org
Film Trailer to Kevin's award-winning documentary film UNREPENTANT:
“Kevin is more deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize than many who have received it in the past.”
- Dr. Noam Chomsky
Institute Professor Emeritus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“A courageous and inspiring man." (referring to Kevin Annett)
- Mairead Corrigan-Maguire
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Belfast , Northern Ireland
"As a long time front line worker with the Elders' Council at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, I stand behind what Kevin Annett is trying to do for our people. The genocide that continues today and which stemmed from the residential schools needs to be exposed. Kevin Annett helps break the silence, and brings the voice of our people all over the world."
Carol Muree Martin - Spirit Tree Woman
Nisgaa Nation
"I gave Kevin Annett his Indian name, Eagle Strong Voice, in 2004 when I adopted him into our Anishinabe Nation. He carries that name proudly because he is doing the job he was sent to do, to tell his people of their wrongs. He speaks strongly and with truth. He speaks for our stolen and murdered children. I ask everyone to listen to him and welcome him."
Chief Louis Daniels - Whispers Wind
Elder, Turtle Clan, Anishinabe Nation
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Labels: aboriginal, current events, events, Italy, Kevin Annett, Porkupine Blog, religion, Residential schools
Saturday, October 10, 2009
ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS:
SHOW US THE GRAVES:
It's not a good time for the Catholic hierarchy in Canada. Just as it seemed that they were putting the sex abuse and residential schools scandal behind them they have once more had to go into damage control mode as the arrest of the ex-Bishop of Antigonish, Raymond Lahey, on charges of importing child pornography brought all the dirty linen into the open once more. Lahey is presently out on bail and is staying at the priests' residence of the Archbishopric of Ottawa. In the wake of the scandal the clergy are pulling out the "we are all in this together", but a growing tide of revelations about Lahey's time as a Newfoundland priest, his tastes in porn even back then and a possible cover-up on the part of Church's authorities give grounds to suspect that the clergy have an inner and outer "we". The inner 'we" seem to have possibly involved in a cover-up concerning his tastes, as alleged by Billy and Shane Earle who, at the time, were boys who had been abused at the Mount Cashel orphanage. It also turns out that at least one priest suspected Lahey, but that the hierarchy did nothing to investigate his suspicions. Meanwhile yet more people who allege that they were abused by priests when they were young are cropping up. To follow this story go to THIS AGGREGATOR.
In this climate Kevin Annett, author of 'Hidden From History' which documented much of Canada's shameful history of native residential schools, is travelling in Europe where he is showing his film 'Unrepentant'. This Sunday (tomorrow) Annett will be holding a memorial service just outside the Vatican for the victims of Roman Catholic run residential schools. This is right under the nose of Pope Rottweiller I. In Europe, outside of Ireland, this story has been slower to develop than in North America. Perhaps this has been because the Church there has been better at cover-up. See this Wikipedia article for a rundown on the scale of the scandal across the Atlantic. In the case of Italy there is no "supposition". It is a fact that the Vatican has been engaged in efforts to keep any such allegations secret. This is aided by the fact that the Vatican and Italy have treaties that transfer authority over such charges to the Church. In 2001 the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ordered that all sex abuses cases be transferred to the Vatican. They had previously been handled at the level of the Dioceses. said Cardinal, as the Vatican Secretary of State also ordered that there be total secrecy about the proceedings. This was backed up with the threat of excommunication for anyone privy to such things should they they feel a sudden surge of conscience and speak out. Cardinal Ratzinger is, of course, the present Pope Rottweiller I. This is the man who Kevin Annett will be asking to come clean. Here's the story of Annett's pilgrimage from Larry Gambone's Porkupine Blog.
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Pope Asked To Identify Children's Grave Sites:
Canadian clergyman to ask Pope to identify grave sites and pray with him for those killed by the Catholic church
A clergyman from Canada who helped to force the Pope to issue an apology for the harm suffered by Indian children in Catholic boarding schools will hold a memorial service for those who died in these schools outside the Vatican on the Via Della Conciliazione at 12 noon on Sunday, October 12. He will also be asking the Pope to tell the world where these children are buried.
Canadian clergyman to ask Pope to identify grave sites and pray with him for those killed by the Catholic church
A clergyman from Canada who helped to force the Pope to issue an apology for the harm suffered by Indian children in Catholic boarding schools will hold a memorial service for those who died in these schools outside the Vatican on the Via Della Conciliazione at 12 noon on Sunday, October 12. He will also be asking the Pope to tell the world where these children are buried.
Rev. Kevin Annett, an award-winning film maker and activist from Vancouver, Canada, wrote to the Pope in February of 2008 on behalf of hundreds of aboriginal families whose relatives died or were killed in Catholic Indian schools. Annett asked the Pope to surrender the remains of these children and identify those responsible for their deaths. The Pope did not reply.
Annett will be asking for an official response from the Vatican to the letter and has invited the Pope to attend the memorial service, "in memory of those killed in the name of Christendom" .
Rev. Annett will be on a speaking tour of Italy from October 9 to 19. He will screen his award-winning film UNREPENTANT with Italian subtitles at public meetings in Rome, Genoa, Firenze, Milan and Parma. He has asked Italians to boycott the 2010 Olympics in Canada until the residential school children are given a proper burial.
Rev. Annett will also be speaking in England and Ireland during October and November.
For more information, contact Kevin Annett at http://ca.mc1105.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=hiddenfromhistory@yahoo.ca .
His website is http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/ .
Labels: aboriginal, Canada, Catholicism, demonstrations, films, history, Italy, Kevin Annett, Porkupine Blog, religion, Residential schools
Sunday, March 15, 2009
CANADIAN LABOUR:
UNEMPLOYMENT RISING IN CANADA:
Whatever the Pollyanna pronouncements of our federal Conservative government the worldwide recession/depression continues to strike here in Canada. Recent statistics show a massive rise in unemployment last February. Here's the story about job losses from the CEP News.
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Canadian Job Losses Mount, Unemployment Rate Soars to Five-Year High:
(CEP News) - The Canadian economy continued to shed jobs at a fast pace in February, while the unemployment rate rose to its highest rate since mid-2003, Statistics Canada reported.
The economy shed 82,600 jobs and saw its unemployment rate climb 0.5 percentage points to 7.7%, its highest rate in more than five years.
Economists had expected a loss of 55,000 jobs, and a rise in the unemployment rate to 7.4% from 7.2% in January.
January's decline of 129,000 jobs was unrevised. Since October, Canada has lost 295,000 jobs, or 1.7% of the workforce, StatsCan noted.
Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey released Friday showed the decline in employment came as 111k full-time jobs were lost, while part-time employment edged up.
The construction sector saw a decline of 43k jobs, while 31k jobs were lost in professional, scientific and technical services. Another 15,000 were lost in educational services, bringing the total declines since October to 44,000 jobs.
The bulk of job losses were once again in Ontario, which lost 35,000 jobs, primarily in construction and finance, insurance, real estate and leasing, StatsCan said. Alberta saw its employment drop by 24,000 jobs, while 18,000 positions were lost in Quebec.
By Stephen Huebl, mailto:shuebl@economicnews.ca;,
edited by Sarah Sussman, mailto:ssussman@economicnews.ca;
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Beyond the cold hard statistics here's how Canadian labour sees this situation. From the Canadian Labour Congress, via the Canadian Union of Public Employees(CUPE).
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Lost: 83,000 jobs:
They can't have gone far. They were here a month ago. CLC President Ken Georgetti warns the recession will get worse if the government doesn't fix EI.
Today's news is all about new unemployment statistics which show that the unemployment rate has gone up half a per cent in two months.
According to the CLC's analysis of the announcement:
*The unemployment rate is up, now at 7.7% (it was 7.2% in January).
*The unemployment rate is back to where it was in July 2003, more than five years
ago.
*The number of Canadians who lost their job last month: 83,000.
*The number of full-time jobs lost last month: 110,000.
*The number of full-time jobs lost so far this year: 225,000.
*Canadian workers who have lost their jobs since October 2008: 295,000.
*Canada now has over 1.4 million unemployed men and women. This represents an increase of 23% since last October.
*The construction sector was hardest hit in February, as were men aged 25 to 54. Young workers also took a hit last month, pushing their unemployment rate to 14.2%, the highest since 2001.
The Congress is organizing rallies March 21 to protest job loss and government inaction on EI.
Finally, here's yet another view, this time that of Larry Gambone of the Porkupine Blog. This is a libertarian socialist view of our crisis and it points the way to other solutions to the crisis rather than what has been proposed by our political elites.
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Two Thoughts On Unemployment:
1. Mass unemployment is caused by governmental and corporate policies and actions. It is social in origin and is never the fault of its victims, the now-jobless workers. Yet, that is precisely how the unemployed are treated by the authorities. They are forced to search for work and to engage in job-finding classes if they wish to collect unemployment insurance – for the minority fortunate enough to qualify. People who refuse are punished by having their meager benefits cut off. They did not cause the problem, but, in practice, they get the blame. Examine the logic behind it by this analogy. I assault you, yet the police don't arrest me, they arrest you. What happens to the unemployed in our system is a form of sociopathic inversion, where the perpetrator of a heinous crime blames his victim for what he did. Meanwhile, the guilty parties – the CEO's and politicians – still get their high salaries and perks. Those who caused the problem ought to be the ones to rectify it. They should be the ones finding you a job, and if they can't find one, pay you an income until they do.
Thing is, every unemployed person grumbles about their situation, yet no one seems ready to pin the blame where it ought to go. During our previous big economic crisis in the 1980's, groups organized unemployed workers. But they concentrated on helping the unemployed combat the Unemployment Insurance bureaucracy, certainly a worthy act, but shied away from directly confronting the system. Hopefully the situation will be different this time around.
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2. It has always angered me that whenever an industry closes in a small town the locals are expected to pull up stakes and move elsewhere to find work. How about the work coming to them instead? Now many people will regard this as a ludicrous question, and the fact that they do, shows the great extent to which people are expected to serve the economy rather than the economy serving them. What is an economy really for anyway, but to provide people with necessary goods and services? An economy is a means to fulfill needs, not a end in itself, or rather it ought to be so, if a society is supposed to exist for human beings.
Uprooting masses of people and forcing them to follow the dollar destroys community. It is natural to live among people you know, it is natural to have roots. This is the way we lived for thousands of years, and only under capitalism have we been forced to scurry from place to place like lemmings. Peasants and First Nations peoples would rather die than give up the places where their ancestors lived. In small towns across the "developed" world some of this sentiment still lingers in the sadness of leaving.
The destruction of community brings with it a host of costly social problems not factored into the economic calculations of the MBA and state bureaucrat. And when the migrants flood into the new boom towns, they bring their problems with them, as well as putting stress on housing, public services and infrastructure. All totaled, it probably is not that more expensive to leave people where they are and start new industries to employ them. Of course, we would need a new kind of economy – one based upon need and solidarity rather than the greed and lust for domination of a handful of narcissists and sociopaths.
Labels: Canadian labour, Canadian Labour Congress, CEP News, CUPE, economic crisis, labour, Larry Gambone, Porkupine Blog, unemployment
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
BLOGGING:
MATTERS BLOGISH:
A couple of announcements in this category tonight. First of all, Larry Gambone of the Porkupine Blog continues his 'Self Management in Cuba' with part 3. Here he contrasts the vision of self-management now being debated in Cuba with his own ideas and the history and theory of mutualism as it has developed outside of the Communist dictatorships. Very worthwhile, and not just for the subject of Cuba. A rejoinder to those who might claim that mutualism is "self-managed capitalism". Also a couple of handy references. Pay the Porkupine a visit and see for yourself.
Also....just when the ruling class thought it was safe to go back on the internet. Heeee's back ! The ever irrepressible Eugene Plawiuk seems to be back in good form, after a brief hiatus, at his mega-blog La Revue Gauche. With swipes at 'Obama Embraces Neo-Con Agenda', 'Harper Does Right Wing Talk Shows' and a deja-vu look at this years Oscars, '1930s Oscars' and more Plawiuk proves himself once more a master of the blogging boxing ring. Have a look over there as well.
Labels: blogging, Eugene Plawiuk, La Revue Gauche, Larry Gambone, Porkupine Blog
Sunday, February 22, 2009
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-CUBA:
SELF MANAGEMENT IN CUBA ?????????????:
Over at the Porkupine Blog our good comrade Larry Gambone has brought forward a debate that is presently going on amongst the ruling class of Cuba. The present nominal dictator of that island seems to be following the course of death laid out by Generalissimo Franco, who he so much resembles. One piece at a time. Meanwhile the apparatchiks are jockeying for power and influence before the inevitable. What is not in doubt is that the economic, political and social system of Cuba will change with the death of the dictator. The question is "how will it change ?". Gambone argues that there is a faction of the ruling class that is willing to move towards a libertarian form of socialism, self management. Molly thinks that this portion of the Communist ruling class is inevitably small and doomed to lose. First of all it must only profit minimally from the present situation or it would advocate "no change". Second of all it has to see little opportunity to loot the public treasury after the end of Leninism, as was done in eastern Europe. This restricts and diminishes it even further.No doubt there are legitimate "idealists" in the apparat (despite the inevitable corrupting influence of power and privilege, especially communist power and privilege ), but they will be voices crying in the wilderness unless there is a mass base for their proposals. In any case, despite my expectations, see the Porkupine Blog for the details of the debate.
Labels: communism, Cuba, Fidel Castro, international politics, Larry Gambone, Leninism, Porkupine Blog, self management
Sunday, February 08, 2009
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:
MUTUALIZE THE BANKS ?-YES!:
A tip of the Molly hat to Larry Gambone of the Porkupine Blog for bring this to my attention. It seems that in Britain there is a move afoot to "remutualize" at least two of the failed banks. To say the least this is a positive development. Mutuals, known in this country as credit unions, are naturally more cautious than the free wheeling banks that led the world into the present economic crisis. They provide a natural barrier against the sort of speculation whose results we are seeing today. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, they provide a non-governmental source of credit that would be available to the many (and probably many more in the future) enterprises that are presently in dispute, often with workers' occupations of the facilities. Mutuals/credit unions could be a source of credit for such enterprises if their workers wish to turn them into producers' cooperatives. They would provide a third alternative different from either waiting for a private "white knight" or calling for nationalization of the workplace in question. The agreements taken up with such mutuals leave the actual workplace free to develop true workers' self-management, something that neither private buyouts nor nationalization does.
Yes, the British initiative is small, but I hope it comes about and that it is imitated on a larger scale worldwide. Here's the news from the pages of the British newspaper The Guardian.
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Turn failed banks back into mutuals, Labour told:
Rock and B&B should be restored to savers
Pressure is mounting for the government to explore ways to remutualise Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, nationalised after the shares crashed amid fears that they could collapse amid the world financial crisis. Both companies were mutuals before becoming stockmarket-listed banks in the 1990s.
Labour MPs are pushing for the government to expand the role of mutuals, which are owned by depositors and borrowers. They do not have shareholders who may be more interested in diverting profit to bolster dividends than getting customers a better deal.
Mutually owned building societies are widely viewed as more cautious than banks, which have been accused of irresponsible lending during the boom. Societies are barred from funding more than half their mortgages from the wholesale money markets, which have frozen up in the wake of the credit crunch.
One option would be to remutualise Northern Rock and B&B, both of which have been rescued by the taxpayer at a huge cost, although part of B&B was acquired by Spanish bank Santander. The principle of remutualisation is supported by the Co-operative party which sponsors 29 Labour MPs, including schools secretary Ed Balls.
The Co-op's general secretary Michael Stephenson said: "The government could consolidate Northern Rock and its holding into one institution; when all debts are paid back, the institution could be converted into a building society. Alternatively, government could give existing financial mutuals (such as Nationwide) the right of first refusal when it decides to put the institutions it nationalised up for sale."
John McFall, Labour chairman of the Treasury select committee and a Co-op sponsored MP, says: "If ever there was a time for an expanded mutual sector, it's now. We desperately need to restore faith in financial services in this country." Although he stopped short of calling for a firm commitment to remutualise the Rock and B&B, he told the Observer that the idea was "a fertile area for debate".
He was backed by Mark Lazarowicz, Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, who says: "This is an issue that is worth airing at a time when confidence in the banks is at an all-time low."
Martin Weale, director of the National Institute of Social and Economic Research, said remutualising Northern Rock and B&B could be a relatively simple, albeit lengthy, process with money owed to the taxpayer repaid by borrowers who redeem their debts over time. New "membership" shares could be issued to depositor/members, he said.
It emerged this weekend that the Building Societies Association is to commission academic research into how the mutual sector could be expanded in Britain, after banks that ditched mutuality in favour of plc status have either been nationalised or taken over in "mercy killings" by rival institutions. They include HBOS, which has been merged with Lloyds TSB, and Alliance & Leicester, which was bought by Santander.
Stephenson said: "When the last Conservative government encouraged building societies to demutualise, it plundered generations of assets from mutual societies, replacing prudent mortgage providers with some of the worst culprits of casino capitalism."
Labels: anarchist economics, banks, Britain, Credit Unions, credit., economic crisis, mutualism, mutuals, Porkupine Blog, self management
Sunday, February 01, 2009
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-RUSSIA:
IN MEMORY OF STANISLAV MARKELOV:
The following tribute was recently published in the English language section of the Russian anarchist news site Avtonom. On January 19 Markelov and Russian anarchist and reporter for the Novaya Gazeta Anastasiya Baburova were gunned down by "persons unknown" in Moscow. You can see a tribute to at the Porkupine Blog. The case has become widely known, and the two people are deeply mourned. Here is the Avtonom article on Markelov. The following has been slightly edited for reasons of English grammar.
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Stanislav Markelov and the anarchists:
Stanislav Markelov, shot in Moscow by an assassin 19th of January 2009, was not an anarchist. He defined himself as a "Martovian social-democrat", after Yuliy Martov, leader of the pre-revolutionary Menshevik fraction of the social-democrat movement. In more contemporary terms, he was a left-wing social democrat.
Stanislav Markelov and the anarchists:
Stanislav Markelov, shot in Moscow by an assassin 19th of January 2009, was not an anarchist. He defined himself as a "Martovian social-democrat", after Yuliy Martov, leader of the pre-revolutionary Menshevik fraction of the social-democrat movement. In more contemporary terms, he was a left-wing social democrat.
But Stas had friends in just about any fraction of the Russian socialists, reformers and revolutionaries. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the revolutionary movement of Russia, which was a huge inspiration for him, and he could lecture for hours on groups such as the nihilists or narodniks anytime. Stas was interested in the history of the political Red Cross (which still today remains as the Anarchist Black Cross), and he considered lawyers who defended narodniks in tsarist times his precedents. Eventually he became first lawyer to defend left-wing "terrorists", accused by the new Russian state. In all the cases he did during the 1990's and early years of this decade, he managed to dismiss the terrorist charges and eventually if defendants got sentenced, they got sentenced for lesser charges.
Stas was too young to join underground hippie movement ("Systema") of the Soviet time, but his first ideas (and early hairstyle) came from there. Already ,when a young student in the early 1990's, Stas became an activist of the social-democratic party (which always was rather marginal in Russian politics), in its left wing. Probably the first time anarchists came in contact with him was at the time of Yeltsin's coup of 1993 - practically all anarchists and socialists considered Yeltsin's unconstitutional presidential order number 1400 a Pinochetist coup, and were ready to rally against it. (wrong choice, as the author later admits-Molly)Anarchists and social-democrats, Stas among them, drafted a proposition for the Supreme Soviet, which included refusal of support from the national-patriots, withdrawal from Moscow to regions supporting the Supreme Soviet and an economic blockade of Moscow. But as we know, history went otherwise - the Supreme Soviet rejected the proposal, chose the support of national-patriots instead and stayed in Moscow, where it lacked mass support, and eventually defenders of the Supreme Soviet got massacred by Yeltsin's gang. The official death toll is 199 (including 12 of police and army), but defenders have also presented an up to 10 times bigger estimate on the number of victims. (Interesting we never heard this part of the story in the mass media here in the West-Molly)
When it became clear for anarchists and socialists that there was no way of picking a side in the conflict, they decided to organise an impartial street medic brigade instead. The brigade was named after Maksimilian Voloshin, a famous humanist and poet who during Russian civil war remained impartial and defended organised humanitarian aid for civilians. There are some stories of the work of the brigade available in English, for example "Under fire between the Lines" (http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/eastern/yeltsin_93.html) and a translation from Avtonom-journal, "Unhappy anniversary" (http://www.ainfos.ca/03/oct/ainfos00366.html). Participation in this street medic brigade was a real "baptism of fire" for its members but also very frustrating, as eventually untrained volunteers had to help people with bullet wounds. But people who were there, stuck together ever since.
Stas and many others of them became core of the historical club in Memorial, and through the same connections Stas become involved in the anarchist "Thursday Circle", which was later named after the anarchist activist Nikolai Muravin, who was central in organising it and died accidentally in 1996. You can see the results of the work of the Memorial's Club at the site "Russian socialists and anarchists after October 1917" in http://socialist.memo.ru/, which is probably the biggest website on the history of repressions against anarchists (and not only), but unfortunately it is only available in Russian.
Stas also participated to work of the "Free Labor Commune of Pryamukhino", which was was active in the second part of the 1990's. It was a common project of anarchists and the offspring of the Bakunin family to repair the garden of the mansion in Pryamukhino of Tver region, where the famous revolutionary was born and spent his childhood. The Pryamukhino mansion even now has an oak tree planted in the 1820's by Decembrist rebels. Thus the place is linked to 200 years of Russian revolutionary history. It was in the Pryamukhino camps where Stas became friends with Igor Podshivalov, who in 1982 co-founded in Irkutsk the first anarchist group which survived to Perestroika, and became one of the core groups of the KAS, Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists. KAS became a mass organisation during Perestroika but did not survive the crisis of the 90's, except in some Siberian cities where it still lives in form of the SKT, the Siberian Confederation of Labor. Podshivalov died tragically in an accident in August 2006, and Stas co-organised memorial events for him.
However Stas joined also camps more in the front line of struggle than the peaceful labor in Pryamukhino. He participated in the Rainbow Keeper protest camp of 1996 in Volgodonsk, against construction of the Nuclear Power plant of Rostov region. This camp had some heavy confrontation; soldiers from the local army base were ordered to evict the camp and shoot tents, making them full of holes. Legal support for victims of the excesses of the authorities against the Volgodonsk camps of 1996 and 1997 was one of the first times Stas used his profession to support activists.
Stas was also one of the organisers of the 1998 anti-nuclear march in Belarus, and he also joined the Rainbow Keeper protest camp against the harmful local plant in Sasovo of Ryazan region last summer. In the photo above Stas is speaking to a mass protest meeting of Sasovo inhabitants; the flag behind him is flag of the Rainbow Keepers. Stas was also a frequent guest in the annual Chernobyl Day marches in Minsk, which are currently the biggest anti-nuclear demonstrations in Europe (although few years back when there were not yet nuclear construction plans in Belarus, these marches were more social than ecological, defending the rights of Chernobyl victims).
Stas gave active legal and other support to the Belarusian democratic movement since the violent anti-Lukashenko protests of the mid-90's where Russian anarchists joined in as well, and he was fluent in the half-repressed Belarusian language, a very unusual skill for a Russian. His wife was a Belarusian, and they had two young children.
Stas was involved in wide spectrum of activities, but he became famous as a lawyer. From early on, he took cases which no-one else was willing to take, and always picked up a hard, political tactic of defense. Eventually he become Russia's number one celebrity human rights lawyer, a common guest on TV talk shows on most various topics, to argue against Russia's WTO membership for example.
Two perhaps more important cases were both connected with war in Chechnya, but Stas became interested on the problems of Caucasus long before. Already in 1994 he traveled to the area ravaged by ethnic conflict between Ossetians and Ingushetians with Memorial activists. One of his companions from that trip, Alexander Cherkasov, also wrote an excellent obituary of Stas which is available in English at http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/stanislav-markelov-on-the-frontlines/
There are also other good materials at the site http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/, and also a fragment of a speech Stas did in a demonstration against attacks on political activists on the30th of November 2008. Stas was speaking there, because he was defending the legal interests of a owner of a local paper in the Khimki region of Moscow Region Mikhail Beketov, who was heavily beaten due to his opposition to the construction of a local expressway which would destroy a park, defended by a popular movement. Beketov was found in his garden in a coma the next day after a heavy beating in November. He survived but had several of his fingers amputated and still, 2 months after the attack, is in hospital in a bad condition.
Eventually Stas was defending the interests of family victims of the two most notorious Russian war criminals - Colonel Budanov, who in March 2000 kidnapped and raped a 18-year old Chechen girl (and did many other atrocities, for which he was never punished). Eventually Budanov was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was released recently having done 8.5 years. Stas was appealing against the early release, and the day he was shot he was returning from a press conference, where he announced his intention to question the release of Budanov in European courts. Thus it is entirely possible, that supporters of Budanov, who is considered as a hero by many in Russia, were behind the murder - but Stas had plenty of other enemies as well.
Another important case was case of Sergey "Kadet" Lapin, who together with other officers of the Hanty-Mansiysk OMON organised a torture and murder factory in the Chechen capital of Grozniy. Eventually "Kadet" was sentenced to 9 years of jail "for exceeding official authority and causing grave bodily injury with aggravating circumstances". Although only fraction of his deeds made it to court and all other suspects went underground or avoided charges altogether, it was still an unprecedented court result.
But this work by Stas is widely published by the liberal mainstream media, so we don't go have to go more into more detail. If you want to have a short summary of the many high-profile human rights cases Stas picked up, you may read the list he published himself at his website: http://ruleoflaw.ru/eng/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=26
No matter how famous Stas became, he was always ready to do even the smallest cases for anarchists and other radicals, even if the cases were not political. He did not work for free, but he always understood if we had problems in paying on time - he never required any guarantees. The work of Stas defending radicals was such an annoyance for the authorities, that during an NRA investigation police put him out of the game by giving him witness status, so he could not be an advocate. The NRA was an armed group in the 90's, an offshoot of Rainbow Keepers and anarchist scene mixed with some young Stalinists. They committed arson attacks and bombings against military call-up centers, a yellow trade union, police and eventually they bombed the FSB (x-KGB) premises in center of Moscow. 2 former Rainbow Keepers got prison sentences for the actions of the group.
He was a vegetarian, and also the most important lawyer for the Russian animal rights movement - he was a lawyer of the people suspected of stealing rats from a breeder during a demonstration in the Moscow region in August of 2007. He was also doing some work for animal rights "inside the system", reviewing the law “On the protection of animals”. He was also representing the legal interests of local ecologists in Black Sea rim, who got harassed by authorities after some arson attacks against the Sochi Winter Olympics development.
Stas was also defending Pasha Delidon, an anarchist who was sentenced to 4.5 years after an attempt to collect wages his former boss owned him. He was also the most important lawyer of the anti-fascist movement in Russia, defending anti-fascists both when they were victims and also when they were suspected to be perpetrators. He defended the interests of the family of Alexander Ryukhin, murdered in Moscow by Nazis in April 2006, and he was also the lawyer for Aleksey "Shkobar" Olesinov, who is now in Butyrka prison - officially due to nonpolitical charges, but really because he is suspected by authorities of being "a leader" of the radical Antifa in Moscow.
All in all, this is just a brief account of the work of Stas. And I did not even touched the topic of his sense of humor and endless jokes. That was his way to cope with many dangers and threats he faced; he laughed at them in their faces.
Everyone has a story of Stas, many of them. I was not in the European social forum in Malmö, but I laughed so much when I was told how Stas travelled.
There was some banquet at city Mayor's office for the moderate side of the forum participators. Stas was of course there in his fine suit - VIP guests and free booze was definitely a choice for Russia's number one celebrity human rights advocate. Stas saw that a demonstration passed by the office, and friends of Stas in the demonstration could see him waving a hand from the Mayor's office.
After a while, enough of the free booze and Stas decided he would like to see some action. He went to catch the demo, but a riot had already started. With some other Russians, Stas tried to exit by a side street closed by riot police. Stas was already quite drunk and had not quite figured out that coppers were not in a talking mood. So Stas went to Sweden to get beaten up by Swedish riot cops, as if there were not any angry riot cops more closer to his home in Moscow!
So many stories of Stas, who could gather all of them?
S2W
More on the topic:
Anastasia "Skat" Baburova, 30.11.1983-19.01.2009
Our friend and comrade Skat was murdered today in Moscow, shot in the head by an assassin.
Stanislav Markelov Has Been Murdered
The collective at “(The) Movement” (dvizh.org) has issued the following statement:
Stanislav Markelov: On the Frontlines
Lawyer Stanislav MARKELOV,
President of the Rule of Law Institute, biography:
Moscow Antifa Honor the Memory of Stas and Nastya
In Memoriam: Stanislav Markelov & Anastasia Baburova (Petersburg)http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/in-memoriam-stanislav-markelov-anastasia-baburova-petersburg/
(in Russian: Акция памяти жертв политических убийств в СПб (фотографии)
Actions to commemorate Stas and Nastya around Russia
These Shards Are Our Tears
Speech by Stanislav Markelov. Moscow, November 30, 2008
Address by Stanislav Markelov. Rally against Political Terror. Moscow, November 30, 2008. Video and text.
Stanislav Markelov: Two Worlds, Two Deaths
Russia: The assassination of Stanislav Markelov By Tom Rollings, marxist.com
http://cabet.livejournal.com/189176.html & http://www.marxist.com/russia-assasination-of-stanislav-markelov.htm
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You can read more about Stanislav Markelov on the Wikipedia site about him. Here also is a report from today's International Herald Tribune about a memorial vigil held for him in Moscow.
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Activists in Moscow mourn 2 colleagues:
By Ellen Barry
MOSCOW: The mourners who gathered in a Moscow square, hopping and shivering against the bitter cold, grew still on Sunday as the angry voice of the human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov echoed over a public address system.
By Ellen Barry
MOSCOW: The mourners who gathered in a Moscow square, hopping and shivering against the bitter cold, grew still on Sunday as the angry voice of the human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov echoed over a public address system.
"I am tired of meeting my acquaintances in crime reports," Markelov, 34, said in a speech recorded last November.
"We need protection from fascists, from the mafia, from those security services that simply serve them," he said. "We understand well that no one but ourselves will offer us protection. Not God, not the czar, no one. There is no one left but ourselves."
Two weeks have passed since Markelov and a reporter, Anastasiya Baburova, 25, were gunned down by a masked man in broad daylight a few blocks from the Kremlin. Neither had the international celebrity of Anna Politkovskaya, the reporter who was shot and killed in her stairwell in 2006, but they were fixtures in opposition circles, and about 300 friends eulogized them Sunday with ragged grief and anger.
President Dmitri Medvedev made his first comment on the killings last Thursday, holding a candid hour-long meeting with the editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta, the independent newspaper where Baburova worked.
The gesture came as a surprise, since Novaya Gazeta is one of the Kremlin's harshest critics, and left many wondering whether Medvedev was signaling a liberal departure from the policies of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was president before Medvedev.
That question held little interest for the crowd of about 200 friends and political activists who gathered Sunday, chanting "No to political murders!" Aleksandr Grigoriev, 23, an activist from an anarchist organization, said he knew eight people who had been killed for their political activities.
"I blame the authorities for these killings, not because they failed to protect us, or because they carried out the killings," said Anna Karetnikova, a leader of the Anti-War Club. "I blame the regime because it is impossible to establish civil society here. The death of each person creates a gap in the ranks of civil society. The authorities have made it so that it is profitable to kill."
Markelov was one of a handful of Russian lawyers to consistently defend underdogs in politically charged justice cases. He had just announced plans to fight the release of Yuri Budanov, a Russian tank commander imprisoned for murdering a young Chechen woman.
He had also defended Mikhail Beketov, editor in chief of a regional newspaper, Khimkinskaya Pravda, against defamation charges.
Beketov - who had been crusading against a government plan to clear a forest - was brutally beaten in November and remains in a coma.
Markelov's death has stripped him of his most important defender, said Yevgeniya Chirikova, leader of the Movement to Protect the Khimki Forest.
"Who but Stas could protect him?" she said. "We cannot think of anyone."
As Markelov left the news conference on Jan. 19, Baburova was walking beside him. A native of the Crimean city of Sevastopol, Baburova moved to Moscow to study human rights law but had switched to a journalism program.
She had interviewed Markelov for an investigation of right-wing youth movements, and some have theorized that she was shot because she tried to protect him.
Photographs of Baburova, grinning ebulliently, were propped up in the snow Sunday.
Blogging on LiveJournal, a popular Internet forum, in 2007 as she was preparing to leave Sevastopol, she confided her restlessness and ambition: "I want to go to Amsterdam-Tibet-Paris-wherever," she wrote. "Touch everything - see it - do whatever. I also want to go to Kiev."
In an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets immediately after her death, her father, Eduard Baburov, described Anastasiya as a stubbornly independent person who competed at chess and martial arts and "categorically refused to accept any help from us." She never confided her troubles, he said, until the very end.
"A week ago she wrote me a strange letter, which alarmed us," he said. "It was short: 'Comrade parents, love me, please!' At that moment our hearts skipped a beat."
Labels: anarchism, Anastasiya Baburova, Avtonom, crime., international anarchist movement, murder, Porkupine Blog, Russia, Stanislav Markelov
