Pre-emptive protests

Cops raid activist space in St. Paul. WARNING, video contains harsh language.



More here.

More raids today! Read here.

For the best coverage, check Twin Cities Indymedia

Getting the work done

Tonight, 16 volunteers came together at Mayday Books to put together press packets and badges for the many people who will be involved in the anti-war rally on the first day of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Here's something that needs to be said. Real change comes when people agree to give up a few hours of their spare time to try to make a difference. Tonight it was about collating and stuffing 1,000 press packets to distribute at next Monday's antiwar rally. It was about stuffing media passes into plastic sleeves and attaching flimsy strings so that the media can wear a badge that allows them to cover the event from primo spots.

It's about sore fingers and paper cuts and boring work with fun friends and comrades.

What could be more fun?

ABC affiliate says we're professional

Check this out!

Duluth coverage of Sept 1 march

The Duluth News Tribune ran a good article talking about the folks who plan to hop on a bus to the Twin Cities to protest the war during the Republican National Convention:

Anti-war groups plan protest in St. Paul

Duluth News Tribune
Published Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Several local anti-war groups outlined plans today to participate in a peace march next week in St. Paul at the start of the Republican National Convention.

Holding a news conference in the Duluth Civic Center were representatives of the Northland Anti-war Coalition, Grand Rapids Peace Circle, Bemidji Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace Chapter 80, University of Minnesota Duluth students for Peace, and the Center for Just Living at the College of St. Scholastica.

Members of those groups will travel to St. Paul Monday for what they called a peaceful protest. The groups plan to march on the Capitol Building in St. Paul at 11 a.m. and later will make their way toward the Excel Energy Center, the site of the Republican National Convention.

The Duluth bus leaves at 8 a.m. from Peace Church, 1111 E. 11th St. The bus will stop in Pine City to pick up additional riders. The cost for the trip to St. Paul is $35 a seat, with discounts being offered for students, families and people with low incomes. For more information, call Peter Krause at 728-9395

For information about the Bemidji bus, which leaves at 5:30 a.m. and makes stop in Cass Lake and Grand Rapids, contact Vicki at 795-2453. The cost for this bus is $30 per seat.

They never post mine


moar funny pictures

They're coming!

I have been extremely busy lately trying to get ready for our big antiwar march at the RNC. Just heard about this lovely billboard that will great the Repubs at the airport! :)

Effigy vs. Pinata

Allow Sister Ilyka explain it for you.

Silly


more cat pictures

Randy Newman has a new album

And it makes me very happy.

NPR has a concert online where you can listen to the whole thing. Awesome!

Kyle Payne continues to be an ass

A whole lot of us posted about the squickiness that is Kyle Payne. The fellow is now facing sentencing for the sexual assault he admits to committing. But first, he'd like us all to hear all about his pain and his anguish. I consider myself fortunate for not posting my web address so I never got the form e-mail he sent. Suffice it to say, it was all about Kyle, Kyle, Kyle. Ugh!

Of the many wonderful responses, I've been enjoying Purtek's excellent post. Be sure to read the comments, too.

So as not to clog up her blog, there is something about this whole episode that makes me think about personal weaknesses.

Each and every one of us suffers from a weakness in regard to one thing or another. For whatever reason, we can't handle certain experiences and circumstances. For me, it happens to be cops with guns. I've had some real bad experiences with guns and I've had some real bad experiences with cops. Combine the two and I'm pretty much unable to respond effectively. Think of the concept of "triggering" and multiply it a few times.

So I avoid situations that put me into contact with cops who wield guns. Which shouldn't be all that difficult for a law-abiding white woman. Except that, in the activist community, there are a lot of good people, friends of mine, who practice the tactic of non-violent civil disobedience. They break bad laws in order to make a point. They get arrested, spend time in jail and use their court cases to argue for a greater good. This is a valuable and useful political activity.

I won't do it. I would be ineffective at it. It would be about my personal fears, my issues with guns and cops. I could really blow it if I wasn't able to contain the impulses and the alligator-brain responses that I learned as a child. It's important that I protect other activists from having to deal with my inappropriate responses.

Guess what? That is not a huge sacrifice on my part. It is basic common sense. It is honest self-assessment. It is basic respect for the goals and ideals of activists who are working to change the world for the better.

If Kyle has a problem with abuse issues, then he needs to protect other abuse survivors from his inappropriate responses and actions. That's simple common sense. That's basic decency.

But he won't do it. Because everyone has to deal with the problems of Kyle, Kyle, Kyle. Except for Kyle, of course.

Ferocious Attack Kitten

Here's a Craig's List ad for a cat. Fun!

Vietnam; the (last) war the U.S. lost



I just finished reading this excellent re-telling of the Vietnam War and the movement against it by Joe Allen. I met Joe at the Cleveland anti-war conference in June and he signed a copy of his book for me.

I'll write a full review in a bit, but here's some existing rules to get you started.

He got a very favorable review at Z magazine from Ron Jacobs.

An older and much shorter version of the book is available on-line from International Socialist:

Part One: from the French conquest to the overthrow of Diem

From the overthrow of Diem to the Tet Offensive

From Quagmire to Defeat

And an excerpt from the current book is available here:

1968: The Democrats and the antiwar movement

About those '70s feminists

An article on Alternet by Heidi Schnakenberg got a whole lot of comments. 268 of them when last I checked. Schnakenberg followed up with three more comments at her own blog before taking a break from blogging.

I happened upon the story by reading WOC PhD post entitled I care about WOC, I really do... that kind of blew me away as I said in the comments.

Other interesting responses to the issue:

Dear Feminisphere, PUT ON SOME DAMN PANTS

My anger is valid, your running away isn't

An imported rant: My sexuality, gender identity and ethnicity are NOT accessories that come with the Ami doll! >:|

Intersectionality, racism, and divisiveness in feminism

Yeah No by BlackAmazon

What I would like to do, when I get some time, is come up with an argument that cuts through the assumptions that white people make when we ask other people to concentrate on only one aspect of themselves: the fact they are female, and to put aside other aspects of themselves: all the other characteristics that differentiate ourselves from those in power.

But before I get to that, I want to tell Ms. Schnakenberg a little something about movement building. I'm a long time activist. I've seen a lot of political issues that have started out as one or two voices speaking out. Over time, with effort, those political ideas have grown and spread and sparked real change in the world. One way that is happened is by asking each other to unify around a single issue.

And I have never seen unification come about when my starting point has been to tell everyone else how they are doing it wrong. It's not a very effective way of working with other people.

And you know, Heidi does not seem to be a complete idiot. I find it really hard to believe that she doesn't understand that basic point.

Presenting activist Isabel Garcia



It's amazing how someone can spend years being an on-the-ground activist, making a real difference in the lives of real human beings and go unnoticed and unappreciated. Before yesterday, I had never heard of Isabel Garcia. She is a lawyer who works in the public defenders' office and an activist working with a coalition to defend the rights of immirants in Tuscon, Arizona.



In 2006, she was recognized by the Mexican government with the 2006 Premio Nacional de Derechos Humanos for promoting human rights, the first time a US citizen has received the award.

However, Isabel has pissed some people off and they will stop at nothing to try to discredit her.

I'm not gonna give any air time here to the sexist and racist crap that is being directed at Garcia. I'll post links below for you to acquaint yourself with the situation. Instead, I'd encourage you to go to the website of The Coalition de Derechos Humanos and support their work. There are sample letters you can send to support Garcia personally and there is a Donate! section on the left hand side that allows you to contribute to the cause.

I plunked $25 in the bucket. I challenge my readers to do the same!

And now for a round up of what some humorless right wing twits are in a snit about.

A good start is at Latino Politico.
The Unapologetic Mexican
American Humanity
The Sanctuary
Citizen Orange
Zuky
WOC PhD
Vivir Latino
The Mahatma X FIles
Galling Galla
La Chola
Off Our Pedestals
Questioning Transphobia
The Strangest Alchemy
Para Justicia y Libertad
Rum, Romanism and Rebellion
Chicks Dig Me
Problemchylde
Mexico Trucker Online

See Feathered Bastard from the Phoenix New Times for coverage.

edited to add

This quote from American Humanity has really stuck with me. Today I followed the links and got a really good breakdown on this kind of propaganda. Awesome writing!

When it comes to Latino activism many whites have made up their mind that these repressed and marginalized people are somehow advocating for a take over. This propaganda is simply meant to tear apart the idea of community and create an “us against them” mentality that helps those in power stay in power. Imagine if all of us worked together to make this country better from the ground up. That is a powerful thought. Sadly though, there is such misdirected anger from “true Americans” and “patriots” that it will take a lot of work to get there.

The first protest by Americans against the U.S. war against Vietnam

I'm currently reading Joe Allen's, "Vietnam: the (last) war the U.S. lost". He reminds me of an amazing incident that isn't taught often.

So before I provide some links, when do you think the first protest by U.S. citizens against the U.S. war in Vietnam may have occurred?

Did you guess 1968, the year the movement burst into the mainstream media?

Did you guess 1965, when Julian Bond and SNCC came out against the war?

Perhaps you recall 1960, when the anti-nuclear group SANE and Quakers spoke out against American forays into the country?

That would be pretty early, wouldn't it?

The truth: 1945.

And who were these suspicious antiwar activists?

The Merchant Marines.

Vietnam declared its independence in September of 1945 after the defeat of the Japanese colonizers. The U.S. and the nationalist movement of Vietnam, the Viet Minh, had fought together against Japan and the French Vichy occupiers. But only a few months later, the U.S. government switched positions and began supplying arms to the French colonizers.

Here's a bit from the BBC:

Within two months, at least eight US troopships were diverted from their mission of bringing American troops home from World War II. These ships were used to transport French troops and Foreign Legionnaires from France into Vietnam, to begin a recolonization process. ... The entire crews of four of these ships, all members of the US Merchant Marine, prepared a resolution condemning the US government for its use of US ships to transport troops 'to subjugate the native population' of Vietnam.

Here's more from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

At least 8 and possibly 12 U.S. troopships were diverted from their task of bringing American troops home from World War II and instead began transporting U.S.-armed French troops and Foreign Legionnaires from France to recolonize Vietnam. The enlisted crewmen of these ships, all members of the U.S. Merchant Marine, immediately began organized protests. On arriving in Vietnam, for example, the entire crews of four troopships met together in Saigon and drew up a resolution condemning the U.S. government for using American ships to transport troops "to subjugate the native population" of Vietnam.

You are beautiful

Wanna read Capital?

A hearty welcome to commenter Jack Stephens who carries on the tradition of bashing Kyle Payne.

He is among a group of people who are reading Karl Marx's "Das Kapital" together.

I must admit, I am a bit inspired. Could this be my chance to make it through the entire volume?

The Great Tattoo by Val McDermid

I've been reading Val McDermid for years and almost always enjoy her work. This is no exception.

The book has a fascinating construct, based around the fact that Fletcher Christian, the lead mutineer on the Bounty, was acquainted with William Wordsworth, famous English poet. McDermid takes this fact and posits a hidden manuscript that Wordsworth wrote telling Christian's side of the tale. The lead character, Jane Gresham, is a Wordsworth scholar who picks up hints of this manuscript while digging through Wordsworth family correspondence and sets out to investigate. Meanwhile a "bog body" is discovered in the area, preserved by peat and bearing tattoos from the South Seas. Could "Pirate Peat" by the man himself?

None of which adds up to a murder mystery until ruthless collectors get involved in the process and the locals connected with Gresham's investigation start ending up dead.

Along the way we get to know Jane, a low-level academic struggling to make ends meet by working a side job at the local pub and living in a squalid housing complex with its local variety of gangster. Jane's brother, a pompous, jealous headmaster at the local school. Janes' friends fellow academic Dan and his partner Howard who runs the bar where Jane works. We meet Jane's friend, Tenille, a young black woman with a love of poetry and a knack for avoiding school. Jane's parents, sheepherders in the Lakes District, a fascinating forensic scientist who is turning her investigation into Pirate Peat into a TV documentary and the local lawman.

Between chapters, we are granted short passages from the story of Fletcher Christian.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to others. I was kept guessing right until the killer was revealed, which is a real treat. I like being surprised.

The idea of the bad girl

A Review of two new books that look interesting:

Emily Maguire, Princesses and Pornstars: Sex, Power, Identity, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2008 (256 pp). ISBN 9-78192135-131-0 (paperback) .

Meda Chesney-Lind and Katherine Irwin, Beyond Bad Girls: Gender, Violence and Hype, Routledge, New York, 2007 (235 pp). ISBN 0-41594-828-2 (paperback).

Be Kind

The easiest thing in the world is to be sarcastic. You can point out other people's flaws. You can show all the inconsistencies in your fellow human beings.

But take a moment and ask yourself why you would want to take that path rather than the path of love.

Anger is easy. Compassion is hard. Make your choices and live with them.

That is all.