CONSPIRING FOR CHANGE: the politics of protest in the post 9-11 world
A benefit for the RNC8 and the SF8

Friday July 10th at 6:30 p.m.
@ the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St.
$8 - $800,000 suggested donation, no one turned away

Join us for an evening of inspiration and resistance! The War on Terror has entangled long histories of state violence with new forms of repression. From yesterday’s COINTELPRO to today’s PATRIOT ACT, the government has attempted to criminalize U.S. political movements in the courts, in the media, and on the streets. This event brings together longtime activists locally and from around the country to discuss the use of conspiracy and terrorism charges against contemporary organizers, to connect legacies of social justice struggles, and to chart paths of opposition.

Two arrested in Italy for attempted rail sabotage. Subsequent crack down and charges against 37 sympathizers of the group for "Subversive Association."

Chad Gibson, the 26-year-old Fort Worth resident who wound up in John Peter Smith Hospital in the intensive care unit after a law enforcement raid on a gay bar over the weekend, remains in danger with a blood clot on his brain. Dallas Voice senior editor Tammye Nash reports on the newspaper’s blog, Instant Tea, that Gibson’s sister, Kristy Morgan, told her a CAT scan had revealed the blood clot has quit growing, but it is still considered a life-threatening situation. Until the clot dissolves, there is a danger that the clot could break off and cause severe brain damage or death. A rupture of the clot could also start bleeding again.

It is Pride season in Texas. In fact, it is forty years to the day, almost to the hour, since the riots at the Stonewall Inn erupted. We are out partying at the new queer hot spot in Fort Wayne, the one place where the straight world gets washed away in alcohol and sweat and desire. In an instant, the mood turns sour and the music fades. Uniforms come through the front door, and they’re not being worn by our Daddies. The police. We fall silent. They shine flashlights, speak in authoritative voices, start to grab queers. “Have you been drinking?” They picked one of the most effeminate queers, of course. “Some.” Snidely, they say, “Well we’ll see how much!” and zip-cuff his wrists. Four officers team up on one queer and slam him into the floor. His head starts to swell up.

The thirty-four miners in southern Russia's Rostov Region entered the Chikh coal mine yesterday morning and refused to come out until they were paid their wages, RIA Novosti reported. This is the second action of this kind to have taken place at the mine in the last three months. This time as last, the miners were paid the next day.

The following report about the recent 16 Congress of the Spanish CGT is from the French anarchosyndicalist CNT (CNT Vignoles). The Spanish CGT is far and away the largest anarchosyndicalist union federation in the world today. There is also a link to a recent interview with Jacinto Caecero, the present confederal secretary of the CGT.

I'd recommend this text to people who aren't sold on "insurrection" as it's currently being advanced, who are working at different time scales, and who (like the authors of The Coming Insurrection), aren't expecting a climactic street fight against the cops to end state and capitalism for good.

Police say a small incendiary device has exploded under the parked car of a top Greek judge in Athens, causing damage to the vehicle but no injury. Panayiotis Pikramenos, the newly appointed Council of State president, was not near the car at the time of the brazen midday attack near the court in the city center Thursday.

25th June - 2nd July; Home visit for Pfizer executive, hunting tower toppled (France), foxes liberated from hunting compound (Germany), truck torched at slaughterhouse, slaughterhouse & Telmex targeted (Mexico), fur shop painted, circus signs destroyed, 12 mink freed from fur farm, infamous restaurant to close, one less fur shop in Gothenburg (Sweden), 65 hens freed (Czech Republic) and locks glued at chicken restaurants, feed supplier (USA)

Joseph Sanchez is a former employee of MPG (Media Planning Group) and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World. MPG is an international media service group. On April 1, 2009, MPG laid off 11% of its US workforce, one of whom was Joseph. Meanwhile, its parent company Havas increased its profits 25% last year and MPG gained two new clients this year.

Every young person I see I wonder, What were you doing three weeks ago? Who were you then? I look for signs of subversion. A girl wears a green headscarf. A kid shifts gears in his Kia Pride with an arm encased in a green cast. What does it mean? Together, in a crowd, the color green added up to something. Alone, spread apart and without context, they are just moments of coincidence.

This July, David Irving, a British neo-fascist and fraudulent historian, goes on the road in the United States, planning to hold approximately one and a half dozen speaking engagements over the course of a month. As militant anti-racists and anti-fascists, we are making a public call for resistance at each stop along the way of this tour.

Over the years, some American soldiers have come up with ingenious ways to express defiance or dissent on our distant battlegrounds. These have been little noted in the mainstream media, and when they do surface, officials in the Pentagon or in Washington just brush them aside as "bad apple" incidents (the same explanation they tend to use when a war crime is exposed).

This year’s CrimethInc. Convergence is a mere three weeks away. In Pittsburgh we are busy stock-piling foodstuffs and getting together a child-care collective, amongst other numerous tasks, but we wanted to announce a few things we’ve got in store for this year; rest assured that these are just the beginnings of the mad schemes and maniac plots we’re devising for the end of July. Our aim is that this year’s convergence opens up the space for new and exciting experiences, inspiring conversations, and connections with new and old friends alike. To facilitate this environment, we have a schedule of workshops and events, to which much more will be added in the coming weeks. Of course, every one of these workshops and events is contingent upon the active participation of those who attend.

Anyone with questions about what they need to bring or what items could be useful to our organizing can consult the list here, and those who want to share ideas beforehand or are looking for rides can coordinate on the Convergence forums. Any queries, concerns about the accessibility of the space, or offers of help can be sent to info@crimethincconvergence.com. Our website will be updated frequently in the next three weeks.

Anyone seeking to participate in, or make a contribution of time or resources to Pittsburgh's efforts to oppose the machinations and the very presence of the upcoming G-20 summit, should take care to ensure that they are in contact with the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project, and not some opportunistic Stalinist front group. Like the G-20 itself, the unaccountable, authoritarian, New York City-based, Bail Out The People Movement (which is a front group for the International Action Center, which is a front group for the Worker's World Party) is making its own plans for late September, with little or no involvement or input from the people of Pittsburgh. Tellingly, the contacts listed on their website, neglect to include anyone in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The entire press and media world goes on 24h strike across Greece in response to the closing down of a major daily and radio station, in a context of rising repression and urban guerrilla warfare.

Headlines: UE Workers in Chicago Facing Another Plant Closure

Hugh Farrell was arrested April 24, 2009, along with Gina "Tiga" Wertz, on Corrupt Business Influence/Racketeering charges for publicly organizing in opposition to the controversial I-69 superhighway. These charges carry a maximum of 12 years in prison. This is his first public statement since being arrested:

Nine months after the Republican National Convention, three protesters face new criminal charges.

Ramsey County prosecutors allege some suspects threw items at police and supplied rioters with slingshots, wrist rockets and other items used as ammunition against officers. Charges include aiding and abetting a riot, obstructing the legal process and possession of a weapon.