Kristin Bricker, Sunday, June 28, 2009

The following is an article I wrote for Narco News. I will not be actively updating this blog today as I focus all of my energies on covering the coup for Narco News. For up-to-the-minute information on the coup in Honduras, go to narconews.com

School of the Americas-Trained Military Detains and Expels Democratically-Elected President Zelaya

Early this morning approximately 200 Honduran soldiers arrived at President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya's residence, reportedly fired four shots, and detained the President. Zelaya told TeleSUR that the soldiers took him to an air force base and put him on a plane to Costa Rica.

Zelaya told TeleSUR from San Jose, Costa Rica, "They threatened to shoot me." Honduras' ambassador to the Organization of American States, Carlos Sosa Coello, reports that the president has been beaten up.

Zelaya told TeleSUR that he doesn't believe it was regular soldiers who kidnapped him. "I have been the victim of a kidnapping carried out by a group of Honduran soldiers. I don't think the Army is supporting this sort of action. I think this is a vicious plot planned by elites. Elite who only want to keep the country isolated and in extreme poverty."

Eelam War IV: Finishing the work of the tsunami

Justin Podur, May 16/09

The Sri Lankan military now (May 16/09) controls virtually all of the
territory that was once controlled by the Tamil Tiger (Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE) insurgents. The Tigers have suffered military
defeat after military defeat over the past few years. Their leaders and
remaining soldiers - along with 50-100,000 Tamil civilians - are
confined to a small strip of territory called a “no-fire zone” in the
North-East of the country, surrounded by several divisions of the Sri
Lankan army. Thousands of other Tamil civilians have been evacuated to
Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps that are under total control of
the Army. The surrounded pocket where the remaining Tigers are trapped
is itself under artillery and other attack by the Army, whose operations
have killed thousands of civilians in the past few weeks and months. On
May 11, the United Nations Secretary General condemned the Sri Lankan
Army for using heavy
weapons in the zone and the LTTE for “reckless disrespect for the safety
of civilians”, which “has led to thousands of people remaining trapped
in the area”. The UN suggests the following way forward: The LTTE is to

LETTER FROM THE PEOPLES’ FRONT IN DEFENSE OF THE LAND-ATENCO
TO THE ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION

San Salvador Atenco, May 3, 2009.

TO THE CCRI-CG OF THE EZLN.
TO THE SIXTH COMMISSION.
TO THE GOOD GOVERNMENT COUNCILS.
TO THE BASES OF SUPPORT.
TO THE ZAPATISTA MOVEMENT.

SISTERS AND BROTHERS.

When everything began, a lot of people said, “You can’t beat the government.” Back in 2001, when they condemned us to extermination and to the loss of our history and identity for the sake of building an airport, we knew things shouldn’t be the way they were. We knew we had to struggle to overcome the mentality that tells us “that’s the way things are and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

May 4th, 2009

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México

To members of the other campaign both national and international

To the alternative national and international media

Sisters and brothers in national and international resistance movements

Cordial greetings! We are writing you today to ask for your strong and committed support in action and solidarity in the search for justice for 8 activists unjustly and illegally imprisoned, tortured, badly treated, stigmatized by the media, and now awaiting possible incarceration for false accusations. Presently these activists, Jerónimo Gómez Saragos, Antonio Gómez Saragos, Miguel Demeza Jiménez, Sebastián Demeza Deara, Pedro Demeza Deara y Jerónimo Moreno Deara, members of the Other Campaign and residents of Ejido San Sebastián Bachajón, in the municipality of Chilón, detained on April 13th, 2009; as well as Alfredo Gómez Moreno y Miguel Vázquez Moreno, who is a a member of the Zapatistas, and was detained on the 17the and18th of April in the prison “El Amate” CERESS 14 in Cintalapa, Chiapas, Mexico. In the course of the next 4 days, ending on Friday, May 8th, the state will decide whether these activists are innocent and free from the crimes which they are falsely accused or whether they will be incorporated in the corruption of this government and imprisoned.

Military Intelligence Leads to Eight Men Detained, Tortured, Charged with Organized Crime in Disputed Agua Azul Region
Kristin Bricker, Sunday, April 26, 2009

In an operation that bears all the marks of drug war-style repression, state and federal police detained six adherents to the Other Campaign, one Zapatista, and one unaffiliated man in Agua Azul, Chiapas. The military was also involved; it shot six warning shots into the air with live ammunition at a protest blockade, and it provided military intelligence that Chiapas state officials say was used to detain the men.

The Agua Azul region is an area that in recent years has been the site of violent attacks against Zapatistas perpetrated by members of the paramilitary Organization For Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDDIC). OPDDIC members allegedly participated in the operation.

The state government reports that it intends to charge the detained men with aggravated robbery, assault, and organized crime. Additionally, the government intends to charge the man without organizational affiliation, Juan Alfredo Gomez Moreno, with the kidnapping of a Guerrero senator. The senator, David Jimenez Rumbo, wrote a letter to the national daily La Jornada explaining that he was never kidnapped and that he never filed any charges to that effect.

Rampart Collective

On the Thursday following the G20 protests, two squatted social centres in East London were raided by riot police, apparently looking for instigators of the attacks on the Royal Bank of Scotland. RampART Social Centre, which has existed for more than four years, and a newly opened Convergence Centre in Earl Street were both being used to house and feed protesters throughout the period of the G20 summit. In both cases, the police acted illegally but, other than a brief report in the Independent which referred to unwarranted violence, the raids remained largely unreported. In both buildings, people were subjected to physical violence and verbal abuse and those that were arrested were later 'de-arrested' for lack of any supporting evidence. Our only 'crime', it seems, is that we are political activists and squatters and thus deemed to be suitable targets. If only we had kept our heads down and stayed away from these kinds of activities, the logic goes, we would not deserve what we had coming.

On April 2, 2009 the jury returned a verdict for Professor Ward Churchill in his case against the University of Colorado.

The jury found unanimously that Ward’s 9/11 essay was a significant factor in the Regents’ decision to fire him, and that he would not have been fired but for his exercise of his First Amendment rights.

In comments made to the lawyers and on KHOW radio, jurors stated that they concluded that Ward Churchill had NOT engaged in research misconduct, and that the University’s accusations against him were essentially trivial.

They also reported having spent several hours debating damages, as five jurors wanted to give a substantial award but one did not. Because Ward Churchill had made it clear that this case was not about money, they agreed on the nominal award of $1.

Reinstatement is the standard remedy in such cases. The judge will make that determination, as well as findings on attorneys fees in a later hearing.

As attorney David Lane observed, “there are few defining moments that give the First Amendment this kind of life.” CU’s attempt to minimize the significance of the findings by emphasizing the $1 award simply illustrates, once again, that money is the only thing valued by University officials.

It is of immense importance that the soldier, high or low, whatever rank he has, should not have to encounter in War those things which, when seen for the first time, set him in astonishment and perplexity; if he has only met with them one single time before, even by that he is half acquainted with them. This relates even to bodily fatigues. They should be practiced less to accustom the body to them than the mind. In War the young soldier is very apt to regard unusual fatigues as the consequence of faults, mistakes, and embarrassment in the conduct of the whole, and to become distressed and despondent as a consequence. This would not happen if he had been prepared for this beforehand by exercises in peace.

- Carl von Clausewitz, On War

A couple of years ago i visited San Francisco to table at the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair, which was a somewhat disappointing experience - however, the bonus of any such trip is the chance to meet with comrades and colleagues who you otherwise only know via email.

So it was in this way that after the bookfair i found myself out with some folks from AK Press drinking beer. Talk turned to work and future publishing plans, and on the walk back to the subway someone asked me why today's radicals would be interested in reading about the Red Army Faction - West Germany's iconic Cold War urban guerillas, and the subjects of a book i had vague plans to publish.

Community forum on the Greek uprising and its lessons for Toronto

**RESIST! OCCUPY! TRANSFORM! SUSTAIN!**

WHEN: Saturday, Jan 17 5:30 – 7:30 pm

WHERE: OISE (252 Bloor St. W at St. George) room 2211 (2nd flr)

WHY: Police murdered unarmed 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Dec 6 in Athens, the latest outrage in a long string of brutality. His death sparked an uprising by thousands of Greeks fed up with police controlling their communities. Police repression, privatization of education, corporatization of campuses, barriers to immigration, poverty and institutionalized racism all led to the current uprising in Greece. We are struggling here with the very same issues!

THE FORUM WILL FEATURE:

An exclusive pre-recorded interview with an international activist and blogger involved in the 2008 occupation of Athens Polytechnic

Video clips from The Rehearsal, a film recreating the events of the 1973 occupation of the Athens Polytechnic University by its students, an event that toppled a dictatorship

Toronto organizers including representatives from the Black Action Defense Committee, Common Cause, CUPE 3903 Flying Squad, Fight Fees 14, Low Income Families Together, No One Is Illegal and others will speak about their experiences, their successes and failures, movement building and direct action tactics.

www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/560982
January 02, 2009, Michelle Shephard, National Security Reporter

The last remaining terrorism suspect who has been held for seven years under
a "national security certificate" has been ordered released from detention.

Federal court Justice Richard Mosley ruled Friday that there is no evidence
that Syrian Hassan Almrei "poses a threat to the safety of any individual"
and should be released under strict conditions.

"I am satisfied that any risk that he might pose to national security or of
absconding can be neutralized by conditions," Mosley wrote in his 100-page
ruling.

Conditions for his release will likely include 24-hour monitoring by agents
with the Canada Border Services Agency, wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet
and a ban on any use of cellphones or computers.

"Hassan was very, very happy - very pleased," said his lawyer Lorne Waldman
after speaking with Almrei by phone. "Personally, I'm delighted. Holding
someone in Canada without charge, without trial, is a very serious matter
and I'm relieved that this detention will end soon."

Critics of Canada's immigration law that allows the government to deport
non-citizens deemed a risk to national security have called the Kingston
holding centre where Almrei is held "Guantanamo North."