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Fascists get run out of town

2004-10-27T07:39-07:00

The extreme ring wing/fascist group National Front was confronted this weekend by counter marches, fairies and anarchist blocks. The National front rally at parliament, to support of keeping the current national flag as a symbol of New Zealand's colonial heritage, was met by fairies throwing glitter over the skinheads and an anarchist block, who chanted 'boring' and 'nazi scum' throughout the nationalist speeches.

Despite the National Front attempts to leave the area (even with police escorts) before the arrival of the 2,000 strong multicultural march , they found themselves blocked at every entrance. From this point on bockades sprung up spontaneously to frustrate the National Front's every attempt to escape.The National Front were eventually trapped within the station between two lines of anti-fascists. Things got even more heated when one fascist threw a punch at a protestor and got quite a few punches to the face by anti-fascists in retaliation. The National Front leader's car was also jumped on and pieces broken off as he was driving away. At one point the police tried to arrest a girl who punched one of the cops, but was unarrested. Another protestor was arrested following the scuffle. About 40 people occupied the police station to demand his release, resulting in the arrest of one more person. Both prisoners were charged (the other with disorderly behaviour) then released within a couple of hours.

Demo reports: Multicultural Aotearoa | Fairies Fighting Fascists | Nazis lose badly in Wellington | National Front run out of town

Multinacional norteamericana instala puestos de control en territorio indígena

2004-10-23T13:01-07:00

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Multinacional norteamericana instala puestos de control en territorio indígena x Colectivo Pueblos Originarios - Indymedia Argentina

Desde el mes de septiembre la empresa azucarera Ingenio Tabacal, propiedad de la Seabord Corporation, impide a una comunidad guaraní el libre acceso a tierras vitales para su subsistencia en el departamento salteño de Orán. Los retenes están a cargo del grupo de seguridad privada Search, también de capitales norteamericanos.

Las recientes restricciones para ingresar a La Loma, un paraje de 5000 hectáreas que son utilizadas diariamente para recolección de leña y plantas medicinales, motivó una nueva denuncia de la Comunidad Indígena Guaraní El Tabacal de la localidad de Hipólito Irigoyen. Dos de sus representantes viajaron a Buenos Aires invitadas a participar de la apertura de la Cátedra sobre Derechos de los Pueblos Originarios de la Universidad de Morón y aprovecharon para denunciar su situación ante diputados nacionales, organismos oficiales y medios de prensa.

Mónica Romero - presidente de la comunidad - y Haidee Cuñandipa - vicepresidente - explicaron a Indymedia que los impedimentos para ingresar a las tierras comenzaron a partir del 4 de septiembre, cuando personal del Ingenio Tabacal derribó algunos puentes que dan acceso a La Loma y construyó muros de tierra. Unas horas antes se había retirado una delegación de diputados nacionales que viajó a la región para comprobar las constantes violaciones a los derechos indígenas.

No conformes con lo anterior, los directivos de la empresa azucarera ordenaron a su seguridad privada, a cargo del grupo Search, la instalación de puestos de control y el patrullaje permanente sobre el territorio. La única posibilidad de acceder a las tierras sería firmar documentos que poseen punteros políticos ligados al Ingenio Tabacal - según exigencias de los guardias -, aunque se desconoce su contenido.

Las representantes de la comunidad también aseguraron que la comisaría de la ciudad se negó a recibir las denuncias, hasta que intervinieron diputados desde Buenos Aires.

No es la primera denuncia que pesa contra Search en el departamento de Orán. El 5 de agosto los guardias de la empresa de seguridad atacaron con palos y machetes a integrantes de la comunidad guaraní de Río Blanco Banda Sur, obligando a la hospitalización de Benjamín Flores - un indígena de 57 años - durante una semana.

Por su parte, el Ingenio Tabacal estableció - con la complicidad del poder político local - una campaña de intimidaciones y persecuciones que incluyó detenciones arbitrarias contra dirigentes indígenas y periodistas, así como denuncias judiciales de las que ni siquiera se salvaron curas de la Iglesia Católica. En tanto que el Sindicato del Azúcar retiró apoyo publicitario al periódico La Opción de Hipólito Irigoyen por difundir los conflictos, según informó el lunes la Agencia de Noticias del Norte Argentino COPENOA.

Genealogía del conflicto

La Comunidad El Tabacal está integrada por más de 120 familias que habitan en distintos asentamientos de la localidad de Hipólito Irigoyen. Décadas atrás tenían sus viviendas y cultivos en La Loma, pero progresivamente fueron expulsados por el Ingenio Tabacal. Los indígenas continuaron haciendo uso de las tierras para tareas de subsistencia y visitar los cementerios que se encuentran en su interior.

En septiembre de 2003, impulsados por las pésimas condiciones de vida que existen en los asentamientos de Hipólito Irigoyen, los integrantes de la comunidad comenzaron a construir sus viviendas nuevamente en La Loma. El Ingenio Tabacal radicó una denuncia por usurpación y el día 16 del mismo mes fueron desalojados por la Guardia de Infantería sin ninguna orden judicial. El operativo se produjo de noche, ordenado por un presunto llamado telefónico del juez Oscar blanco, y culminó con veindidós personas detenidas y procesadas.

Según los representantes de la comunidad en Buenos Aires, el gobierno nacional prometió en diciembre de 2003 la expropiación de las tierras, aunque luego se hechó atrás y ofreció abrir una mesa de negociación con la empresa, de la que todavía no se obtuvieron resultados.

Contacto con la Comunidad El Tabacal: cguaranieltabacal@yahoo.com.ar

Ultimos informes de Indymedia sobre Orán: El Ingenio militariza y cerca territorio indígena (08/09) | Heridos y detenidos en la Comunidad Banda Sur (06/08) | El Ingenio Tabacal pretende un nuevo desalojo en Orán (02/08) | El Pueblo Guaraní se movilizó en Buenos Aires (04/05) | Comunidad El Tabacal: "El Gobierno no nos tiene en cuenta" (28/04)

Más información:Sindicato azucarero quita publicidad a periódico por difundir conflictos (19/10) | Los indígenas, el obispo y el escrache de Jakúlica (24/09) | Declaración a un año del desalojo en La Loma (16/09) | Seabord marcha en contra de los Derechos Humanos y la Ecología (10/09) | Imágenes de la Search atacando Banda Sur (08/09) | Declaración ante intimidaciones y amenazas (05/04)

Otras noticias destacadas: Argentina: ¿Un freno a los desalojos de comunidades indígenas? | Salta: censuran el documental "Sólo se escucha el viento" | Misiones: mbya guaraní amenazados por empresa maderera | Formosa: dolor y marginación para familia aborigen | Chaco: marcha de Pueblos Originarios | Chubut: IV Futa Trawun Mapuche | Chubut: Mapuche echan minera de Gualjaina | Chubut: Mario Das Neves y la demanda mapuche | Chubut: Las marcas registradas de la amenaza terrorista | Villarrica: Encuentro de Comunicadores Mapuche del Wallmapu | Santiago: asesinan a prisionero mapuche encarcelado | Temuko: se reanuda juicio contra la CAM | Bolivia: Q'aras del clero en la política | México: asesinan a líder indígena defensor de derechos humanos | Ajusticiamiento popular en Puno: ¿Quiénes son responsables? | Salió la revista Pueblo Indio Nº 21

Indymedia asks: "Who took our servers?"

2004-10-22T12:18-07:00

Indymedia asks: "Who took our servers?"

Two weeks after the hard drives of two Indymedia servers were seized from the London office of a US-owned web hosting company called Rackspace, Caroline Flint, UK Home Office Under-Secretary, answered parlamentarian questions by stating that "no UK law enforcement agencies were involved." (1) The seizure shut down around 20 Indymedia websites, an internet radio station, and other projects. The servers were returned a week later because "the court order had been complied with", but still no information is available to Indymedia as to who seized them and who now might have copies of all the public and personal information they contained.

An FBI spokesperson originally suggested to Agence France-Presse that the FBI issued a subpoena to Rackspace, but that it was "on behalf of a third country." Later he denied that the FBI had any involvement whatsoever. (2)

A few days after the seizure, a senior federal prosecutor for Geneva, Switzerland, also confirmed that she had opened a criminal investigation of Indymedia. - But that she had not asked for the servers to be seized.

A Italian judge from Bologna confirmed that she issued a request to U.S. authorities for the server's IP logs concerning certain posts published on Italy Indymedia. - But she says that she did not request the seizure of the server hardware, either.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who is representing the interests of Indymedia, has contacted all the likely suspects in the U.S. - including the FBI, the State Department, and the Federal District Court in Texas - that could have issued the subpoena referenced in Rackspace's public October 8 statement concerning the Indymedia server. But none of them did claim responsibility for the seizure.

"Were our servers abducted by aliens?", asks Clara, an Indymedia volunteer from the Netherlands. "Two weeks have passed and we are no step closer to knowing who took our servers, why, or even on which continent they were."

The only thing that is known is what Rackspace volunteered in their statement: that they received a court order in the U.S. Efforts are now underway by the Electronic Frontier Foundation to unseal that court order.

Meanwhile, the international outcry continues. 5,000 individuals have signed on to Indymedia's solidarity declaration (solidarity.indymedia.org.uk), and numerous others continue to contact Indymedia offering their support to help insure that secret court orders and mysterious government agencies don't shut down Indymedia's websites ever again.

No UK law enforcement involved in server seizure

2004-10-21T12:36-07:00

+++ The UK government has broken it's silence on the Indymedia server seizure is claiming that "no UK law enforcement agencies were involved". +++

+++ Sign the solidarity statement in support of the Indymedia Network and against the seizure of its servers: http://solidarity.indymedia.org.uk. +++

Indymedia's hardware is returned, but many questions remain

2004-10-21T12:00-07:00

Today, October 14th, Italy Indymedia learned that an investigation in Bologna could have precipitated the U.S.' order for the seizure of Indymedia's hard drives from the U.K.

Marina Plazzi, a public prosecutor for Bologna investigating the "Informal Anarchist Federation," reportedly issued a request for information (RFI) to U.S. authorities concerning posts published on italy.indymedia.org, one of the 20 odd Indymedia sites hosted on the U.K. server. The U.S. authorities, going beyond the requirements of the RFI, then issued an order to seize the drives.

Despite this new information and the return of the hardware many questions remain.

"The fact that the authorities' actions are shrouded in mystery leaves Indymedia in the Kafkaesque position of not knowing the identity of its accusers or the nature of their claim," says David Dadge, editor for the International Press Institute.

Indymedia volunteers are now calling for supporters to sign a solidarity declaration at http://solidarity.indymedia.org.uk/ denouncing the hard drive seizure as an unacceptable attack on press freedom, freedom of expression, and privacy. They are demanding a full disclosure of the names of organizations and individuals involved in the seizure, a copy of the court order, and an independent investigation into any violations of due process.

"We have serious concerns about the use of international co-operation frameworks to obscure legal process, undermine civil liberties, and erode communication rights," said an Indymedia volunteer.

Numerous organizations have already expressed their solidarity with Indymedia. "I would say that this is an indication of the successfulness of the Indymedia network," says Peter Phillips, Ph.D., director of Project Censored. "Freedom of information is a radical idea when applied in a fair manner, and radical ideas will always be suppressed by the transnational corporate elites whenever possible."

For more information, visit www.indymedia.org, email

press@indymedia.org, or call:

Tomasso at +39 3383903806 (Italy)

Hep Sano at +1-415-867-9472 (San Francisco)

David Meieran at +1-412-996-4986 (Pittsburgh)

20,000 march in Tahiti for parliamentary dissolution

2004-10-21T07:12-07:00

20,000 rally in Papeete for fresh elections ]]> On October 8, 2004 the pro-independence Temaru Government of French Polynesia was defeated in a no-confidence motion in the local assembly, after serving just four months in office. (BBC Report) The Temaru government says the French authorities have refused to dissolve the assembly and call new parliamentary elections.

Twice in the past week, France has ruled out calling an election. Former French government minister and member of the Socialist Party, Christian Paul, has said there have been acts of "methodical destabilisation" on the part of the French government. This has also been echoed by French Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande. (BBC report)

On Wednesday 20th October pro-independence members of the territorial assembly boycotted a session to elect a new President (Gaston Flosse), thus the election failed for a lack of a quorum. A further session will be held on Friday, where a quorum will not be required and a simple majority is only necessary. (BBC Report)

Meanwhile Oscar Temaru has asked the Papeete administrative court to suspend, then cancel the Oct. 8 adopted censure motion against his Government.

European Social Forum closes with demonstration and actions

2004-10-19T14:15-07:00

The European Social Forum has ended on Sunday, with a large demonstration and a number of autonomous actions (Clowns actions and Pro-capitalist block). The demonstration had a clear anti-war character and attracted a large number of people who did not attend the ESF. Reports and photos [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6].

A group of activists from the anti-capitalist block were detained at King's cross station in an attempt to prevent them from joining the march [1 | 2 | 3 | Global Project]. They were eventually allowed to leave and when they finally arrived at Trafalgar Square some tried to get to the stage in what some describe as storming the stage. The police possibly in cooperation with the organisers made several arrests including an Indymedia volunteer and member of the ESF organizing body.

Solidarity actions were called, and a number of Clowns invaded Charing Cross police station (Video). Those arrested including a Greek activist are due in court on Monday. The ESF organisation, and the events during the demonstration, have been the subject of a lot of controvesy [In depth: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Previous: 1 | 2 | 3]. Some also resented the lack of coverage of actual ESF events [1] on Indymedia and the mainstream media [1 | 2 | Don't hate the media - just publish on indymedia].

pResedential Debate Coverage, What You Didnt Hear About

2004-10-18T22:55-07:00

The United States is a very odd country. The politicians and "leaders" feign strength and freedom, even democracy. But, as we can see from the Presedential debates and history in general, that is simply not true.

The debates started in Miami, Florida. This first meeting was fairly uneventful, but did raise the question of whether pResident Bush was wired his responses. The First Debate: An Inside Look | Pictures | Audio

The second pResedential debate was held in St. Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis October 8th Coalition planned a full day of workshops and protests to the debates, and a good number of people came out. Presedential Candidates, Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party) and David Cobb (Green Party) engaged in civil disobedience and attempted to enter the debates to let the American public have some kind of choice when they go to the ballot box. Discussion Thread | Audio 1, 2 | Video

The last debate, in Tempe, Arizona, organized by the October 13 Alliance brought out nearly 1000 people to march. Audio | Coverage and Pictures

DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN GAZA IN THE AFTERMATH OF ISRAELI ATTACKS

2004-10-18T10:22-07:00

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Although the Israeli army has “withdrawn,” it continues to commit war crimes against a civilian population throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

On one day, during the attacks, Israeli soldiers kill 32 Palestinians and wounded more than 102 during their incursion into northern Gaza. Three Israelis were also killed. The military attacks focused on refugee camps in northern Gaza, where the army said Qassam rockets were fired.

Whatever the reason the Israeli army is using to justify the attacks, men, women and children are paying a heavy price. Israeli is violated international law by attacking areas that resulted in civilian deaths and injuries.

Mohammed Omer reports from Gaza:

It smells unbelievably bad here. To walk down any street—if you dare to—you skirt, or sometimes unavoidably walk through, pools of blood. There are shreds of human flesh—some of them unrecognizable as human remains—all over, on rooftops, plastered to broken windows, on the street. The stench of rotting blood mixes with the more acrid odor of flesh burnt to black char by the rockets fired by the Israeli Army's American-made Apache helicopters.

The sky is full of black smoke, some from the rocket explosions, but even more, it sometimes seems, from the endless fires of tires and other debris that people keep stoking. The smoke confuses the heat-seeking unmanned drone surveillance planes, so setting fires in any relatively open area may draw fire and let a bomb explode somewhat harmlessly.

All this smoke mixed with plaster and cement dust is a blessing and a curse. The stench of burning flesh and rotting blood masks to some extent the smell of raw sewage from broken sewer pipes and the tens of thousands of bodies unwashed for over a week now. Water to drink is a rare and precious commodity here—baths and showers have become impossible luxuries.

Your eyes inevitably tear up from all the smoke—but then, that protects you a tiny bit from some of the more harrowing sights—recognizable body parts—a piece of a leg, an obvious part of a torso, and fingers—more scattered, individual, recognizable fingers than anyone should ever have to see. Volunteer crews are gathering these human fragments and bringing them to Jabalya's two hospitals but the ambulances cannot possibly keep up with the flood of newly dead and injured.

Funeral processions are everywhere, and "houses of mourning"—the tents bereaved families set up in which to receive their families and friends. In fact, though, every house here, those relatively intact and those partly or wholly destroyed by the IDF tanks and bulldozers, is a house of mourning.

And nothing protects you from the sounds—the tears and laments of the mothers and fathers, husbands, wives and children of the dead, the screams of the injured, the wail of ambulance sirens, sniper fire, the thud of tank shells and the too-frequent explosions as another Apache shell lands.

Time is distorted here—hours feel like days, days like weeks or months. This is Jabalya Refugee Camp in the Northern Gaza Strip, one of the most crowded places on earth where 106,000 men, women, and children, the overwhelming majority of them unarmed civilians, have been under an all-out attack for over a week now.

Israel's official position is that this carnage is a "response" to Palestinian militants' firing a homemade Qassam rocket into the Israeli town of Sderot last week, a rocket which killed two children. In fact, though, the first tanks rumbled into Jabalya some hours before the rocket attack on Sderot, and we had all been watching with alarm as the Israeli forces multiplied in northern Gaza over the last few weeks—2000 fresh troops, over a hundred more tanks and bulldozers.

It is only when I sit down to write up my notes made here in the last few days that the cruelty of the IDF name for this attack—"Days of Penitence"—hits me. They are not just slaughtering unarmed civilians, but language itself. "Penitence," as I understand it, is voluntary remorse for wrong-doing. Is this massacre supposed to induce remorse in its victims? Are they supposed to mourn the deaths of four or five Israeli soldiers, and two Israeli children and accept the death of more than 60 Palestinian civilians as some kind of justice? To those of us trapped in Jabalya, it seems like Days of Revenge. It is unquestionably collective punishment, and illegal under the Geneva Conventions.

Perhaps we should not be surprised. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has announced this attack will last "as long as necessary," that is, until there is "no further danger" from the Palestinian resistance's homemade rockets. Sharon, of course, engineered the massacres of Sabra and Shatila over twenty years ago. Now, he is doing much the same, but with vastly improved weaponry.

Of course, the militant factions exist, and have been striking here and there during this last week but they are vastly outnumbered, not to mention out-gunned, by the Israelis. Hamas, on its side, has distributed leaflets in Gaza City vowing to continue the rocket attacks on the illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza and any Israeli towns and cities their home-made ordnance can reach as long as the Israeli incursions continue.

International protests have been muted, and stymied by United States support for Israel. The lone, feeble voice from the US State Department urged Israel to keep its "response" "proportional"—after, of course, the obligatory mantra, "Israel has a right to defend itself." A strongly worded resolution condemning the attack brought before the UN at the beginning of the week was defeated by the US veto.

It is hard to maintain accurate casualty figures—the most recent count seems to be 80 Palestinians killed (20 of them militants claimed by Hamas) and over 200 injured. Unquestionably, by the time this is printed, the figures will be higher.

There is no refuge anywhere in Jabalya. The hospitals are chaotic, supplies are short and all medical personnel have been working around the clock for days now.

I saw Abu Nedal, the father of Nedal Al Madhown a 14 year-old boy, struggle to maintain his composure as he asked the exhausted doctors and ambulance drivers, "Was my son killed? Has he been killed?" (In fact, the boy was dead on arrival..) The majority of the dead and injured have been teens and children, obvious non-combatants.

I interviewed Dr. Mahmoud Al Asali, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who told me he was forced to assume the Israeli Army has been deliberately targeting civilians. He said most of those injured by gunfire were wounded in the upper parts of their bodies, indicating the Israeli sharpshooters must have orders to shoot to kill. Palestinian doctors have removed many flechettes from the dead and injured, indicating the IDF are using illegal fragmentation bombs. These release razor sharp flechettes as they explode. Dr. Al Asali says these illegal fragmentation devices greatly increase the number of deaths and the number and severity of injuries. The IDF has refused to comment on this.

The hospital staffs and ambulance crews are so overextended that they are using volunteers for the gruesome task of collecting, sorting, and attempting to match scattered human remains to return as much as possible to bereaved families. One of these medical workers, Ahmed Abu Saall 26, from Kamal Aswan Hospital, told me, "One enormous difficulty we face is that these powerful bombs can scatter the parts of a single victim over a wide area. It is quite possible parts of a person could end up in Al Awda hospital in the east of the camp, while other parts of the same person end up with us here on the western side." Sometimes shreds of clothing can help with the matching.

The Israeli Army has frequently shot at the medical teams and journalists. So far, two ambulance drivers have been injured, and a cameraman from Ramatan News Agency has been hurt. Of course, the ambulance crews and press all wear identifying gear.

Israel has closed all borders into Gaza and has severely restricted all movement within the Gaza Strip. There are three major "zones" split off by sealed military checkpoints, but recent days have seen numerous new checkpoints, and roads closed by cement block and sand obstructions. People cannot move between cities, not even ambulances bringing patients to hospitals. Moreover, the main Israel-Gaza crossing is closed, even to international NGOs, humanitarian relief groups, and foreign journalists.

Intense as the military attack has been, and continues to be, it is certainly not the only danger to the people here. Many families now have been without food and water for days. In Tal Al Zattar, the eastern part of Jabalya, I interviewed Umm Ramzi, an elderly lady who spoke to me through the gaping hole a tank shell had left in her house. "We have been appealing to the Red Cross, to save our lives and the lives of our children, but nobody has responded."

Most of the NGO workers and relief organizations have—logically enough—assumed they cannot get through the Israeli military lines that completely surround Jabalya, although they are well aware that the civilians need help. I managed to reach the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), spokesman Simon Schorno by phone and he told me: "I'm in my way to Gaza now. We have been talking to the IDF to get permission to bring food and water, but we were not able to get an OK for complete food distribution".

Concerning the absence of the Red Cross in the past few days when many families were in urgent need, Mr. Schorno said, "I feel terrible. We are trying to do our best to get food and water inside, but the damaged streets also delay us from reaching the people."

A number of eyewitnesses among the camp residents told me the Israeli Army has commandeered several high buildings as sniper posts and basically shoot anything that moves. One of the most recent victims was Islam Dweidar, 14, who took a chance during an apparent lull in firing to buy bread for her mother. However, she was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper.

In the Southern part of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army has increased the number of tanks and bulldozers in all parts of Khan Younis and Rafah. There has been shelling every night, with many injured and killed. This morning, I spoke by phone to Dr. Ali Mussa, director of Abu Yousif Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah who announced that 13-year-old Eman al Hums had been killed by Israeli sniper fire. He said, "the child arrived at the hospital after being riddled by twenty bullets in different parts of her body, five of them in her head."

Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that Al Hums was killed while on her way to school with two other schoolgirls. In early media reports, the IDF said she was planting a bomb; they later were forced to admit the accusation was false.

These current attacks are now far worse than the so-called "Operation Rainbow" of last May, which killed 40 in Rafah and prompted an international outcry. Now, the silence from America, in particular, seems to condone this turning the Gaza Strip into a killing field. Sharon has picked his moment well, when America is preoccupied with its presidential campaign and its invasion of Iraq, to decimate the children of Gaza. How many more must die before the world speaks out?

Increase in atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

2004-10-17T19:54-07:00

]]> More reports on climate change from New Scientist magazine and other sources detail that:

Antarctic glaciers slipping faster into the sea and the changes are expected to cause an appreciable rise in sea levels. (New Scientist)
Rice yields are crashing as a result of global warming at twice the rate predicted by climate modellers, according to the first "real world" experiment on the impact of rising temperatures in the Philippines. (New Scientist)
Europe is warming more quickly than the rest of the world with potentially devastating consequences, including more frequent heatwaves, flooding, rising sea levels and melting glaciers, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) document, released in August. (New Scientist)
The world's oceans are sacrificing themselves to try to stave off global warming. While absorption of carbon dioxide has moderated climate change effects, seas have become more acid, threatening their very life. The research warns that this could kill off their coral reefs, shellfish and plankton, on which all marine life depends. (The Independent)
Climate change is also impacting North America's Forest Dieback (Melbourne Indymedia)
Breakup Of The North Pole "The northeast passage across the siberian polar ice is open. The glaciers on Ellesmere Island and the northern and northeastern shores of Greenland are collapsing within a matter of days. The channel between Greenland and Ellesmere Isalnd is open. And only about 250 miles of ice remains on the north shore of Greenland connecting it to the polar ice. And that is breaking up." (Melbourne Indymedia)

Indymedia supporters to dump defunct disks on feds

2004-10-17T09:05-07:00

Activists angered by the multilateral seizure of Indymedia hard drives last October 7th will be turning over piles of old drives to intelligence agencies across the world this week, in symbolic protests against what many are denouncing as a serious violation of communication rights. The Global Action is called Operation Hard Drive-By.

The first of wave of solidarity actions took place last week in the Netherlands, where activists delivered symbolic old hardware to the Italian consulate in Amsterdam. The next day, activists in San Francisco, USA handed over hardware to the FBI. In Houston, members of the IMC delivered a letter to the Swiss consulate.

[ Netherlands Hard Drive-By | San Francisco Hard Drive-By: Photos | Video | Action in Houston: Audio ]

The protests will happen all week, beginning Monday October 18th, to coincide with Media Democracy Day. Operation Hard Drive-by are already planned to happen in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Perth, Australia.

Indymedia supporters promised that Operation Hard Drive-by would escalate and spread until their demands are met. A Statement of Solidarity signed by more than 2000 people calls for the full disclosure of the names of organizations and individuals involved in the seizure, a copy of the court order, and an independent investigation into any violations of due process.

Prawa dzieci w Polsce - Fundusz Alimentacyjny

2004-10-16T09:09-07:00

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Z dniem 1 maja 2004r. został zlikwidowany w Polsce tzw. Fundusz Alimentacyjny, który umożliwiał dzieciom wypłatę alimentów niewyegzekwowanych przez komorników. W Polsce takich dzieci jest ok. 500 tys. Sytuacja ich z dnia na dzień stała się tragiczne. Organa państwowe odmawiają egzekwowania prawomocnych wyroków sądowych, tłumacząc się wieloma trudnościami. Jednak największą cenę za ten stan rzeczy ponoszą niewinne dzieci, pozbawione środków niezbędnych do godnego życia. [video 19Mb mirror 1] [mirror 2]

Środowiska kobiet napisały społeczny projekt nowej ustawy, przywracającej Fundusz Alimentacyjny (FA) i zebrały pod nim ok. 180.000 podpisów. Projekt został złożony w Sejmie (Artykuł 118 Konstytucji RP) 21 września br. i w przeciągu trzech miesięcy musi być opracowywany w komisjach sejmowych. Kobiety chcą brać czynny udział w tych pracach, jednak na przeszkodzie stoi brak pieniędzy (na przejazdy, telefony, faxy, itd.)

Cancer deconstructs Derrida

2004-10-15T11:21-07:00

]]> Derida, always a contraversial figure, delighted in attacking the foundation schools of modernist thought and philosophy, and yet at its core, deconstructions core premises where based on a simple syllogistic logic, albeit one somewhat obscured by his complex syntax and neoglisms; A contradiction Derrida was well aware of and delighted in.

Derridas work both delighted and infuriated revolutionary and liberatory thinkers, by the seemingly contradictory paths of undermining authority while pointing out the authority generating function of revolutionary praxis. In this sense however Derrida's work pointed to new theories of anarchism that only now are beginning to be apreciated.

Famously, Derrida also defended Marxism , in 'specres of Marx', against the assaults of the conservative postmodernism of Fukyama, but also against the totalarianism of the marxisms that came after him. Derrida pointed out to Fukyama that if Capitalism had made its final exclaimation mark on history , it does so amidst the unprecedented poverty , chaos and squalor that modern capitalism represents.

Derrida would of found it interesting that in parallell to his writings on how the dna of language subverts the very words it creates , his disease was to perform a similar manover on the dna of his body. A process of creation and destruction. (de)Construction. Diference and repetition. Its an irony that would not of been lost on the man.

Derridas writings where obscure, difficult, and infuriating. And yet at the same time they where astounding, insightful, lyrical and joyous. Some called Derrida a prophet, some called him a fool.

Most just note that he kept things interesting.

FBI seize Indymedia for Italian Judge?

2004-10-15T00:27-07:00

fbi seizes imc servers ]]>

On Wednesday, October 13th, Indymedia's seized hardware was mysteriously returned in the same way it disappeared -- without any information provided as to who took it or why, and on whose orders. An employee at Rackspace, the U.S.-based web hosting company that handed over Indymedia's disks to the U.S. government on 7 October, emailed an Indymedia volunteer to say that the disks were returned and that "the court order is being complied with... I will pass along any more information that becomes available and that I am allowed to."

Despite the return of the hardware many questions remain.

"We have serious concerns about the use of international co-operation frameworks to obscure legal process, undermine civil liberties, and erode communication rights," said an Indymedia volunteer.

For more information, visit Indymedia, email press -at- indymedia.org

Media emergenC - Emergency and Emergence

2004-10-13T15:24-07:00

]]> Opening Wednesday, October 6 at Voz Alta with screenings of films by San Diego Indymedia, Hudson Mohawk IMC and Democracy Now, and San Diego's Media Arts Center, spoken word performances by Al Howard, Brujas y Bellas and the Anarchist Think Tank and an address from Byron Delear of Global Peace Solutions, Media EmergenC attracted well over 70 participants it's first evening.

Thursday took Media EmergenC out into the street to protest the National Assocition of Broadcaster's Marconi Awards ceremony. Media EmergenC participants handed out their own awards including awards for Most Racist, Homophobic and Misogynistic Broadcasting as well as Best Cheerleaders for War. the march gathered in front of the Manchester Hyatt where the NAB's Marconi Awards Ceremony was taking place and attracted the attention of numerous attendants to the Radio Road Show.

Following the second presidential debate on Friday, the Media EmergenC's Celebration of Independent Voices began with a short address from Anthony Lappe of Guerilla News Network and featured local San Diego musicians Los Able Minded Poets and members of Scarlet Symphony.

Media emergenC culminated in a day-long event at the World Beat Center featuring speakers ranging from Robert Horwitz, a professor at UCSD who specializies in the history of media consolidation to Davey D, a Hip-Hop DJ at Oakland's KPFA. Participants came together from Montreal, Philadelphia, New York City, Tempe, Los Angeles, and Northern California. Workshops throughout the afternoon focused on how participants can make their own media with presenters discussing: Pirate Radio, Internet Radio, Independent Journalism, the Public Access TV Model, Tactical Video, and Independent Film Making and Distribution. Over 100 people participated in Saturday's event which closed with dinner and a set from the Kiss Ups, a hyper-pop band from New York. Speakers, panelists and workshop facilitators are listed below:

Robert Horwitz, UCSD

Sonali Kolhatkar, KFPK, Los Angeles

Daniel Price, author of Slick, Los Angeles

Liam Scheff, Freelance Journalist, NYC

Alternate Focus, San Diego

radioActive Radio, San Diego

Free Radio San Diego

San Diego IMC

Arizona IMC, Tempe

Gababout Film Festival, New York

Davey D, KPFA, Oakland

Hannah Sassaman, Prometheus Radio Project, Philadelphia

Films screened include:

The Miami Model, FTAAIMC.org

The Fourth World War, Big Noise Tactical

Join the Resistance, Fall in Love, Submedia TV

Independent Media in a Time of War, Hudson Mohawk IMC and Democracy now

Empire State, San Diego Indymedia

UnConventional TV, NYC Grassroots Media Coalition

Shocking and Awful, Deep Dish TV

Fuck the Corporate Media, Portland Indymedia

Tu Voz, Media Arts Center

Battleground, Guerrilla News Network

The Empire Strikes Out, Alternate Focus

Many films from the Gadabout Film Festival

Funeral of fair Australia

2004-10-13T14:05-07:00

Funeral of fair Australia protest ]]> This conservative "mandate" is likely to see legislation ensuring: a two tiered health system, logging of old growth forests in Tasmania, entrenching the discrimination against gays and lesbians, two tiered education, unfair dismissal laws changed to exempt small business, tighten eligibility for disability pensions and other welfare cuts, reducing the top rate of personal income tax, trashing the Industrial award system and pushing individual contracts, lift restrictions on media ownership, sale of Telstra (the Government majority owned Telecommunications Company), and increased Censorship.

The Greens saw an increase in support - with almost 1 million votes grabbing nearly 7% of the total count. They elected a Senator with almost a full quota from Tasmania. Western Australia is likely to also elect a Greens Senator and they are still in the race to elect the 6th Senators for Queensland and South Australia.

While debate continues over what happened in the election, alternatives to a nastier Australia are already being mooted with a convergence outside the Baxter Detention Centre at Easter 2005 and anti-war disobedience to the system.

Statue of Columbus Toppled in Caracas, Venezuela; Solidarity Actions World-wide

2004-10-13T08:48-07:00

On October 12, various popular movements Venezuela gathered in the center of Caracas to celebrate a "Day of Indigenous Resistence" (previously Columbus Day) beneath a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus. Protesters first covered the statue with banners and graffiti, and then climbed to the top to attach a heavy fishing rope around Columbus's neck. Hundreds of protesters easily toppled the statue, even bringing the marble boat that served as his base along with him. The statue was dragged through the streets of Caracas, hung from a tree, and finally broken into pieces. The "Revolutionary" Police of Caracas (under the authority of "revolutionary" mayor Freddy Bernal) arrived, firing tear gas and ammunition into the air. Despite heavy resistence, the police managed to seize the pieces of the statue and arrest five people. The protest then moved to mayor Bernal´s office building, demanding the release of the prisoners.

As part of a global day of action in support of the autonomous Bolivarian movements of Venezuela and "Pachamerican" (continental) resistence, solidarity events were held in London, Amsterdam, Athens, Puerto Rico, and Zimbabwe. As part of what has been termed "Revolution within the Revolution," revolutionaries in Venezuela are hoping to carry out further autonomous, civil actions in the future, in solidarity with other movements throughout the continent and around the world.

LEGAL UPDATE:Five people remain in jail. The authorities are offering to release them in exchange for the "organizers." Up to 30 people are prepared to claim responsibility for the action.

Indymedia to U.S., U.K., Swiss and Italian Authorities: "Hands Off Our Websites"

2004-10-11T20:56-07:00

Evidence is beginning to mount that the authorities of at least four countries (Switzerland, Italy, U.K. and U.S.A.) are involved in last week's seizure of two of Indymedia's servers that brought down more than 20 of the Indymedia network's web sites and several internet radio streams. Indymedia has yet to receive any official statement or information about what the order entailed or why it was issued.

An FBI spokesperson, Joe Parris, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the FBI issued a subpoena to the provider who hosted the Indymedia servers in the U.K., but that it was "on behalf of a third country." (1) Daniel Zapelli, senior federal prosecutor for Geneva (Switzerland), confirmed that he has opened a criminal investigation into Indymedia coverage of the 2003 G8 Summit in Evian. (2) Zapelli will provide details of that investigation at a press conference on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutor of Bologna (Italy) Marina Plazzi stated that she is investigating Italy Indymedia because it may "support terrorism." (3) Plazzi says she will provide more information on Thursday, October 14th.

Meanwhile international journalist associations have come forward in support of Indymedia. "We have witnessed an intolerable and intrusive international police operation against a network specialising in independent journalism," said Aidan White IFJ General Secretary. (4)

Indymedia is consulting with the Electronic Frontier Foundation on how to retrieve its servers and prevent further government attacks on free speech. "EFF is deeply concerned about the grave implications of this seizure for free speech and privacy, and we are exploring all avenues to hold the government accountable for this improper and unconstitutional silencing of independent media.," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. (5)

As of Monday, October 11, five of the downed websites have been restored, including Brasil, Euskal Herria, Poland, UK and Nice. Indymedia volunteers are working around the clock to restore the remaining sites, however at least four of them - Uruguay, Italy, Western Massachusetts and Nantes - have suffered data loss as a result of the governments' action.

"This FBI operation gives us even more reason to continue with what we have been doing for several years," says an activist from Italy Indymedia.

"Uruguay has a long history of media repression. We don't have the money to pay for web hosting, and so we rely on the solidarity of other countries. Actions like the seizure of the servers make the whole world insecure for free media," says Libertinus, an Indymedia volunteer from Uruguay, one of many Indymedia web sites that was caught in the FBI actions as a bystander. "Uruguay's national elections will take place on October 31st. It's a bad time for this to happen."

Italy and Switzerland Requested Indymedia's Server Seizure

2004-10-09T00:40-07:00

Earlier today Rackspace published a statement that they turned over the servers in response to an order under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). The MLAT establishes procedures for countries to assist each other in investigations regarding international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering. The court prohibits Rackspace from commenting further on this matter. (2)

An Indymedia system administrator stated: "We do not know if Rackspace is under a gag order, or what legal restrictions were imposed requiring them to act this way, or whether their legal department had enough time to study the request."

Aidan White, the General Secretary for the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) had this to say. "We have witnessed an intolerable and intrusive international police operation against a network specialising in independent journalism. The way this has been done smacks more of intimidation of legitimate journalistic inquiry than crime-busting." (3)

Indymedia condemns the fact that even 24 hours after two entire servers were taken down, Indymedia is still not getting any information of the reasons for the order.

By taking down 2 servers more than 20 Indymedia sites were affected in different countries globally as well as several unrelated projects. Indymedia considers this extremely invasive operation a a serious threat to the Freedom of Speech worldwide.

Indymedia insists that the servers are returned because each day they are inoperable and Indymedia's irreplaceable data is unaccessible means greater material damages to the Indymedia operation worldwide. Note to editors:

(1) AFP report

(2) Statement from Rackspace, 8 Oct. 2004: "In the present matter regarding Indymedia, Rackspace Managed Hosting, a U.S. based company with offices in London, is acting in compliance with a court order pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), which establishes procedures for countries to assist each other in investigations such as international terrorism, kidnapping and money laundering. Rackspace responded to a Commissioner’s subpoena, duly issued under Title 28, United States Code, Section 1782 in an investigation that did not arise in the United States. Rackspace is acting as a good corporate citizen and is cooperating with international law enforcement authorities. The court prohibits Rackspace from commenting further on this matter."

For additional information on the MLAT, please click here

(3) IFJ Statement http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2734&Language=EN

(4) Indymedia volunteers can only speculate about possible reasons. Switzerland Indymedia suspects that the order might have to do with two photos published on the French site (IMC Nantes) of Swiss undercover police agents in charge of the G8 events in Switzerland in 2003. In the last few weeks there was contact between Swiss, specifically the Genevan governmental authorities, and the FBI. The FBI also approached Rackspace as well as a Seattle Indymedia activist recently regarding that matter, but according to communication from Rackspace to Indymedia on Tuesday, the matter appeared to to be closed.

For its part, Italy Indymedia can only assume that the request is motivated by the Italian government's attitude towards Indymedia, which has been overtly hostile ever since the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa.

(5) More background information is available at http://indymedia.org/en/static/fbi

(6) Contact: imc-press(a)indymedia.org or +1-415 867 9472

FBI Seizes IMC Servers in the UK

2004-10-07T22:00-07:00

]]> At the same time an additional server was taken down at Rackspace which provided streaming radio to several radio stations, BLAG (a GNU/linux distribution), and a handful of miscellanous things.

The last few months have seen numerous attacks on independent media by the US Federal Government. In August the Secret Service used a subpoena in an attempt to disrupt the NYC IMC before the RNC by trying to get IP logs from an ISP in the US and the Netherlands. Last month the FCC shut down community radio stations around the US. Two weeks ago the FBI requested that Indymedia takes down a post on the Nantes IMC that had a photo of some undercover Swiss police and IMC volunteers in Seattle were visited by the FBI on the same issue. On the other hand, Indymedia and other independent media organisations were successfull with their victories for example against Diebold and the Patroit Act. Today however, the US authorities shut down IMCs around the world.

The list of affected local media collectives includes Ambazonia, Uruguay, Andorra, Poland, Western Massachusetts, Nice, Nantes, Lilles, Marseille (all France), Euskal Herria (Basque Country), Liege, East and West Vlaanderen, Antwerpen (all Belgium), Belgrade, Portugal, Prague, Galiza, Italy, Brazil, UK, part of the Germany site, and the global Indymedia Radio site.

[ Updated Background Information | press contact: imc-press(a)indymedia.org ]