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Welcome to Counter Information No.41.
The broadsheet is now 10 years old having ben founded
during the Miner's Strike in 1984. We appeal for your
support both in terms of financial assistance - money,
stamps etc - and by supplying stories, extending the
circulation of CI etc.. Thousands of CI are sent abroad,
to countries as diverse as the USA, latin America, Australasia,
most European countries to far east & African contacts. Most
of the CIs ,however, are given out at demos or distributed via
friendship networks, cafes, fanzine/groups etc. Thousands are
sent in either bulk or non-bulk (3 or under)packages to contacts
throughout the 'British Isles'. Stories from CI are reprinted
in a variety of publications from Bad Attitude to Blast(Sweden)
to Anarchy (US) to Umanita Nova (Italy) etc..
CI isn't confined to strictly 'anarchist' circles but find's
a welcome in autonomist, libertarian communist and radical
environmental networks.
For a 'hard' copy of CI send a request/donation/ SAE for
sample to:
Counter Info c/o 11 Forth St., Edinburgh EH1.
UP TO 700 refugees are being detained in detention centres and jails
every month, up to 200 being deported monthly. The 1971 Immigration
act allows people seeking asylum from oppression to be held indefinitely,
without charge.
At Campsfield House Detention Centre in Oxfordshire 99% of the detainees
are black. A clear attempt to divide the working class along national
boundaries, the refugees have suffered racial abuse, attacks from staff, being
moved at short notice' and in 1991 Omasasi Lumumba was murdered by
officers in Pentonville. However detainees have fought back, with country-wide
support. In March a hunger strike by detainees spread to 10 other jails
and detention centres. On 26 March demonstrators chained up the centre
gates and then broke into the grounds. In June hundreds attended a national
demo and a riot inside caused ?20,000 worth of damage while 6 people escaped.
The Campaign to close Campsfield demands no detentions and no deportations
- write c/o 111 Magdalen Rd., Oxford OX4.
Despite the state's attempts to criminalise them communities continue
to defend themselves against racism and police brutality. In May a
group of 20 white men threatening people with baseball bats and
bars were driven out of the area by young Asians in Downall, Sheffield.
The police response was to drive the
racists around the corner and release them. A spontaneous demo
against a planned BNP meeting in the area, however, found the police
descending in riot vans and arresting 8 anti fascists. Hundreds of
people from the local community formed a defence campaign and organised
a public meeting and pickets; demanding an end to police harassment,
all charges dropped and successfully forced an independent enquiry
into Altercliffe police. The charges were eventually dropped or reduced.
In July local Asians came to the defence of a cab driver in Rotherham who
was beaten by a gang of white men. As the racists got away 6 young people
were arrested. Locals marched on the police station and 2 nights of rioting
followed.
In Scotland opposition continues to BNP activists Gavin Robertson, a
Scottish Office employee, and Gus McLeod , employed at prestige Burrell
Collection Info : CARF magazine ADDRESS See Contraflow. St A's day
demo end of Nov.
Defend the Occupation!
THE first application of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act may be by a
Labour Council against community activists, the majority unemployed, some
homeless.
The Centre, in Broughton Street, Edinburgh is barricaded and awaiting attack
by sheriff officers. On 16 September the Labour Lothian Region - the Centre's
landlord - obtained a "move to eject" decree. The Region has no other use
planned for the building. They are refusing to grant a lease to the local
community council - a proposal which would enable the Centre to continue.
The Region are out to destroy an autonomous space which has long been
a base for direct action and grass-roots struggles. Ironically the
Centre - formerly Edinburgh Unemployed Workers Centre - has never been
busier, with a thriving cafe and busy creche, well-used meeting spaces,
a darkroom, a reading room, community arts space, music workshops,
claimants' resistance and benefits advice, frequent socials and so on.
During the occupation the Centre remains open to the public and all
activities continue. The attack on the Centre is part of a general
attack on self-managed community resources the world over. The
attack must be resisted, and we need help to keep the Centre open.
Write, phone, turn up, join the occupation! Viva La Centre!
The Centre, 103 Broughton St., Edinburgh EH1. Tel. 031 557 0718.
Dan Dare Direct
ON 28 September hundreds of disabled people and their supporters
demonstrated in Oldham town centre. They were protesting about
their civil rights bill being thrown out of parliament and
calling for an end to discrimination and equal rights for all.
Following the march members of the disabled Peoples Direct
Action Network (DAN) handcuffed and chained themselves to
buses on the main street. Traffic was at a standstill for
an hour as demonstrators fought off attempts by the police
to remove them. They are demanding accessible public transport
for all. DAN are committed to non-violent confrontation
as a way of highlighting the discrimination and prejudice
faced by disabled people and bringing about liberation.
DAN 081 889 1361 and 061 301 2695.
Sign of the times ?
The selective industrial action by signal workers organised
in the RMT union and their new bosses, Railtrack dragged on
through the summer causing rail chaos.
The dispute, as with those in the health service etc,
highlighted the creeping privatisation of former State
enterprises. The solidarity of the signalworkers ensured
little scabbing but despite the efforts of a few Solidarity
Groups such as in Dundee there has been no community involvement.
Likewise other railworkers in the RMT and Aslef, the traindrivers
remained separate from the dispute. This meant that the militant
actions seen in France, involving both unionised and
non-unionised rail and airport workers wasn't repeated
here, as industrial action was subordinated to a public
relations 'chess game', encouraged by Labour & the TUC,
to "settle" rather than win the dispute.
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
Time to save our beautiful planet is running out. We need to match
the bravery and determination with which Glaswegians are fighting
to stop the proposed M77 that would carve up the 1018 acre Pollok
Estate in Glasgow.. The creation of a rapidly growing camp in the
Pollok woods goes some way to drawing the often divided movements
for social justice and an undamaged environment together. If the
road goes ahead the people immediately hit will be, as usual, the
already exploited; folk from the surrounding council estates
will suffer from the raised levels of pollution and traffic danger.
The camp began with just one or two people sitting round a fire. Now
the fire is still burning, the camp has about 20 permanent residents
and there is a sign saying Pollok Free State flying defiantly as you
enter. Living communally means that people have got together for the
first time and are learning from each other. The personal is political
and living together cooperatively is a challenging political act.
Direct Action demands that you trust the people you do it with -
that's one of the reasons it's a force for real political and social
change. It often works ; in Britain the government has delayed one
third of its road plans due to the powerful Anti-Roads campaign.
Another long established (12 years) Free Zone is Faslane Peace camp
where the struggle against the nuclear menace continues. Constant
direct action and Mass Actions such as the Spiral and Rust Actions
physically defy the convoys and security guards. I was told a moving
story of a security guard who cried when the obscenity and danger of the
nuclear industry was explained to him.
In Gorleben, a small German village, the 20 year fight of its residents
-with the support of grassroots enviromental groups- continues.
The government want to build a reprocessing plant or to bury high
level radioactive waste in the area. The nuclear industry has been
foiled by demonstrators building a hut village on the proposed site.
1000 people have taken up residence in the village and 300 people
blocked a railway line likely to be used by the convoy. Mysterious
tunnels have appeared underneath roads which would cause them to
collapse if the 120 ton transporters were to drive over them. Next
came a police eviction of the village and a ban on all demonstrations.
Now after continued campaigning the ban has been lifted and the
transporter containers plan has been delayed due to ' technical difficulties'.
And lastly - its that time of year again! The Earth Liberation Front
(Germany) has declared the time from 31/10/94 and 6/11/94 an
International Action Week. Its a time of independent sabotage and
mischief... its a time for secret actions that hit exploitative
bastards where it hurts! Inflict economic sabotage on road construction,
vivisection labs, corporations with poor workers rights track
records (ie. all of them) and oppressive state legislation. ELF say
"It is hoped that with enough imagination groups can create enough
chaos to disrupt whole transport, power and communications networks".
Plot the downfall of corruption!
Sorting the Bosses Out
80,000 POSTAL workers have walked out unofficially in the
last year to resist attacks on their wages, conditions and
organisation. Post Office bosses are preparing for privatisation.
To make the postal service an even juicier prize for the fat cats
in the city they aim to shut many sorting offices and cut 6,000 jobs.
The trade union (UCW) has been doing deals with management and trying
to control and stop any effective action. But workers' direct action
has won victories. In late June P.O. counter workers across
E.London struck without a ballot after workers were suspended for
refusing to accept cuts in mealbreaks. Now management have
restored the lunch breaks. Also in June 30,000 sorting staff in
SE England took unofficial strike action.
See Class War 64 for a longer report.
DON'T TAKE VAT
ACTIVISTS opposing the imposition of VAT on fuel are increasing
their activity in the run-up to the November budget, which will
decide whether VAT on electricity and gas bills will double
to 17.5% in April 1995. Lothian Communities against VAT on Fuel
and Water Privatisation have published an excellent leaflet
detailing how people can collectively refuse to pay VAT.
As they say, light and warmth are "basic human needs which
should be free."
Leaflets and posters from
- Stockbridge New Town Solidarity Network,
c/o Peace and Justice Centre, St. Johns, Princes St., Edinburgh.
Tel. 031 557 0718 (Mike).
- Tottenham Solidarity Group, Box 12, 72 W.Green Rd.,London N15.
Tel. 081 802 9804.
Welcome to Counter Information No.41.
The broadsheet is now 10 years old having ben founded during
the Miner's Strike in 1984. We appeal for your support both
in terms of financial assistance - money, stamps etc - and
by supplying stories, extending the circulation of CI etc..
Thousands of CI are sent abroad, to countries as diverse as
the USA, latin America, Australasia, most European countries
to far east & African contacts. Most of the CIs ,however,
are given out at demos or distributed via friendship networks,
cafes, fanzine/groups etc. Thousands are sent in either bulk
or non-bulk (3 or under)packages to contacts throughout the
'British Isles'. Stories from CI are reprinted in a variety
of publications from Bad Attitude to Blast(Sweden) to Anarchy
(US) to Umanita Nova (Italy) etc.. CI isn't confined to
strictly 'anarchist' circles but find's a welcome in
autonomist, libertarian communist and radical environmental
networks.
For a 'hard' copy of CI send a request/donation/ SAE for sample to:
Counter Info c/o 11 Forth St., Edinburgh EH1.
An edited version of this text appears in Page 3 of CI No.41.
CANDID CAMERAS CONTESTED
By the end of this year, Glasgow will have joined the growing
number of towns and cities with closed circuit television
cameras. Four square miles of the city centre will be
under constant 24 hour surveillance. 32 cameras will produce
5,000 hours of footage every week.
Justified to the public as deterring crime and assaults, Glasgow's
Chief Superintendent states it is being "installed to protect valuable
businesses". The experience of Airdrie, Hexham and other experiments
only prove that crime is exported to other areas. By watching our
every move, the cameras will also be used to monitor direct action
and other revolutionary action.
In Glasgow, the anarchists among others, are highlighting
"Who watches the watchmen ?"*
We welcome reports of activity from home and abroad on the
surveillance society.
(*Article in Scottish Anarchist Magazine1,
1 pound from POB 1008 G42 8AA; see also 9 page article in
Here and Now 15, pound 1.20 from POB 109 Leeds LS5 3AA.)
Act of Defiance
THE LAST 2 months have witnessed many more protest actions, demos,
benefits, etc., against the Criminal Justice Bill which is shortly to
be passed regardless - which is when the real fight begins.
Most towns of any size now have groups with more people getting
involved all the time. "DIY week" (September 19 - 26) saw various
demonstrations in Northampton, Manchester, Bath, Croydon, Huddersfield,
Brighton, Canterbury, Brixton, Leicester, Guildford, Lowestoft, Norwich, Nottingham, Sheffield, Oxford, and Hastings. The week before saw a
largish demo in Edinburgh and more recently the big demo in London
on 9 October.
Particularly encouraging was the opening of the massive community
squat against the CJB in Brighton during September. This old
courthouse has dozens of rooms including an infoshop, bookstore,
vegan cafe, gig and theatre spaces, creche, art gallery and more
and is always busy with events and people.
More depressing and dangerous is the unfortunate point that in
most areas the Freedom Network and their newly found pacifist
allies, mostly discovered in the "hippyish" elements within the
environmental movement and the festival/techno scene, are
growing in numbers and influence.
Fluff OFF !
They encourage people to "keep it fluffy" - join hands, sing songs,
sit down and in some cases grass on "violent agitators" to the
co-operative boys in blue. Many of us thought with relief that
libertarian politics had mostly rid itself of such naive and
deadend ideology back in the mid-1980s, we must now struggle
once again to destroy this bullshit, it's even more of a pain
than the SWP/Militant/RCP trying to sabotage/take over our activities.
Of course we dislike violence, but recognise it as an often necessary
tool in the class war against our oppressors by any means necessary.
In any confrontation watch out for these people - they are not on
our side.
The real fight against the criminal justice bill will start when
it becomes law, don't be intimidated, together in strength we can
resist it on many fronts making it unworkable.
Contact : Brighton Squatting Centre against the Criminal Justice
Bill, The Old Courthouse, 17 - 19 Princes St., opp. Royal Pavilion,
Brighton. Sou'siders Against the CJB, c/o Larkfield Centre,
39 Inglefield St., Govanhill, Glasgow.
David v McGoliath
TWO unwaged people are taking on the mighty McDonalds multinational
in a libel trial. McDonalds have sued Dave Morris and Helen Steel,
alleging that a London Greenpeace fact-
The trial in London is expected to last till at least March 1995.
The opening weeks saw Helen and Dave grilling 'Big Mac' - McDonalds
UK president Paul Preston. Denied legal aid and refused a jury, Helen
and Dave have still forced damaging admissions from McDonalds witnesses.
It is clear that McDonalds exploit their workers, destroy rainforests,
produce polluting packaging, cruelly rear and kill animals - all to
make millions from unhealthy junk food. McLibel Support Campaigns
are active in Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and the USA.
McDonalds have been picketed Britain-wide. 15 October sees a
national demo in London.
Show solidarity by - distributing "What's wrong with McDonalds" leaflets -
attending the court - making a donation - picketing your local McDonalds.
Contact : McLibel Support Campaign
c/o London Greenpeace,
5 Caledonian Rd., London N1 9DX. Tel./fax 071 713 1269.
Leaflets ?12 per thousand - 0602 585666.
McDonalds Workers Support Group,
c/o TU Support Unit, Colin Roach Centre, 10a Bradbury St.,
London N16 8JN.
US Protects Haiti Ruling Class
The so-called restoration of democracy to Haiti is a total fraud.
The same 5 rich families who bankrolled the junta, and ousted
Aristide after his populist election victory, will be protected
by the US 'invasion'.
A few fall-guys in Fraph, the death squads encouraged by
US Intelligence 2 years ago, will take the wrap for the
hundreds of thousands of poor haitians wiped out, or driven
to become 'boat people' . US investment in the island based
on wage rates as low as 14 cents an hour will become respectable
again, and if Aristide and his supporters don't toe the line,
the US will throw it's support behind Emanuel Constant, whose
role in past Fraph atrocities is well documented. The crowds
who welcomed the US troops will be driven to oppose their
role which as always is to protect capitalism using the
smokescreen of democracy.
STOP THE STRIP-SEARCHES
LAST YEAR 40 women workers at Asda in Barrow, Cumbria, were
stripped and searched for a missing ?10 note. This was a frightening
widening-out of strip-searching which is deliberately degrading and
humiliating and frequently used on prisoners. In Maghaberry prison
in Ireland 22 women prisoners were brutally strip-searched by male
and female screws.
publicise and
has leaflets, info,
SSSC, PO BOX 104, SHEFFIELD 1.
ACTIVISTS NEED SUPPORT
For some years now Inside Info has reported the relentless struggle
of IWW prison union organiser John Perotti. Recently, after another hungerstrike, John Was freed from solitary and transferred to
general population in Lucasville prison, Ohio, scene of a recent
bloody riot. Almost immediately, he was stitched-up by 2 screws
against whom he'd won a lawsuit years ago. Flung back into
solitary, John has also lost visiting rights and access to legal
materials. John is a self-taught, qualified lawyer and helps
other cons to fight their cases. Andy of the John Perotti
Defence Fund says "A major problem seems to be that John's name
has become so well -known over the years that people don't notice
it any more. Nearly everyone seems indifferent these days, but
John needs our help just as much as he ever did. Please help"
A Danger to Whose Society?
Originally jailed for belonging to the revolutionary underground,
Salvatore Cirincione was recaptured in December 1992 after 8 years
on the run. Frequently beaten and tortured by screws, Salvatore
now suffers from haemorrhage and serious infections. His left
testicle has been removed, his pelvic bones are smashed and his "genital apparatus is dead". After a hungerstrike Salvatore's current
state of health is precarious. The Italian Ministry of Justice
is refusing him medicine and treatment. The prison authorities
justify this savage treatment by
active Anarchist is a danger to our society". Obviously they
intend to let him die as a warning to others.
SALVATORE NEEDS MONEY TO STAY ALIVE.
DONATIONS; Huddersfield ABC, 31 Manor Rd, W. Yorks BD1
SUPPORT: Salvatore Cirincione, Carcere di San Vittore, Milano, Italy.
Bowden Unbowed
John Bowden is another campaigner for prisoners' rights and a
frequent contributor of in-depth supportive articles on prison
resistance. John escaped from prison and was recaptured after 18
months in Scotland last June. His escape was motivated by a
knowledge that, after 12 years inside, he would never be released
until he was "broken, subdued or murdered". Like Salvatore and John
Perotti, John Bowden is classed as a "dangerous subversive" and as
such is, like the others, kept in solitary and at the top of the
screws' hit-list. He needs letter of support.
John Bowden 1273/94, HMP Perth, 3 Edinburgh Rd, Perth , Scotland.
CAN'T JAIL THE SPIRIT
IN TOP-SECURITY Perth Prison in September cons gave the screws a
lesson in mutual aid. Prisoners in C-Hall set off the staff alarm
and when the screws
E-Hall broke into the canteen and liberated all tobacco, tea,
sugar, sweets, groceries and soft drinks. "The whole thing was
planned and executed like a military operation" said one con.
"It went like clockwork. We must be the best-fed prisoners
in the system. It's the biggest feast we've had since getting
locked up!". Source; Daily Record
NO COMMENT
IF YOU get arrested you have the right to remain silent.
By keeping your mouth shut and giving nothing away, your chances
of getting off the supposed charges increases greatly, when or if the
matter gets to court. Ignore all threats and intimidation, the right to
silence is a legal right. In the police station the police have only as
much power as we give them.
Read No Comment for more info and advice about being arrested.
>From AK Distribution, 22 Lutton Pl., Edinburgh for 70p.
In spite of proposed law changes in the Criminal Justice Bill,
no comment is still the best policy.
NO JUSTICE! NO PEACE !
The I.R.A. cease-fire may offer Peace. Will it bring justice ? A
propaganda battle, largely fought on American TV,has yet to alter
the way people live in the north of Ireland. The British troops
are less battle ready, yet plastic bullets have been used in
catholic Belfast, and, the infamous Paratroop Regiment is about
to be "deployed" in West Belfast. The European Union wants to
bring down the huge dividing wall between loyalist and catholic
ghettos and substitute "environmental improvements", yet in North
Belfast a new wall is planned to keep apart battling revellers in
a park.Early September saw local people in Co. Fermanagh, Ireland,
taking action to open roads across the border which the British
army had closed for "security reasonsS. The army closed the roads
again but locals came back and reopened them again - even using
a bulldozer. The British state is torn between promises to the
Unionists at Westminster, the US role and the financial dividends
of "troops out".
One of the groups in Ireland which has consistently opposed
the presence of British troops, while recognising that Republicanism
is nationalism rather than revolutionary socialism, is the Workers
Solidarity Movement. We reprint part of their recent "Statement".
"We welcome the cease-fire. Over the past 25 years over 3,000 people
have been killed and 40,000 injured. Thousands have been through
or are still in prison. The primary blame for these deaths and all
the associated suffering belongs to the British State. No cease-fire
has as yet been declared by the British State. Likewise the loyalist paramilitaries have not yet declared a cease-fire, and have killed
Catholics and bombed a Sinn Fein office since the IRA ceased their
military campaign. In these circumstances the IRA cease-fire will
not bring peace, much less justice.
A Compromise with Imperialism
Some on the left will see the IRA cease-fire as a sell-out. We don't.
The politics of nationalism were always going to lead to a compromise
with imperialism, it was only those with illusions in the republicans'
"left turn" that thought otherwise. It has been clear for a decade,
even to the
republicans, that the armed struggle was going nowhere.
Britain could not be defeated militarily, and Sinn Fein could not
expand on its vote either in the North or South. With the reaching
of a compromise in El Salvador, South Africa and Palestine it became
no longer a question of "if" but one of "when" , and the logical
conclusion of the republican strategy.
The "peace process" will not deliver a united socialist
Ireland or significant improvements apart from those associated
with "demilitarisation". In addition, it represents a hardening
of traditional nationalism and an alliance of all the
nationalists, Fianna Fail, SDLP,Sinn Fein and the Catholic
Church. Republican statements have focussed on the need for a De Klerk
type figure to lead the Protestants to compromise.
Depending on developments,it may be also become easier over the
next few years (for revolutionaries) to begin a more sustained
approach to Protestant workers. To date this has been almost
impossible due to the fact that loyalist death squads have
targeted and even killed revolutionary socialists and anarchists
who attempted to work in their community while maintaining
a principled opposition to imperialism.
Building on Sand
If the peace holds, the next few years will be a test of
our ability to build a viable alternative to the bosses,
north and south. But we are aware that 25 years ago the
British State smashed something (the Civil Rights movement)
much more modest than what we propose, with armed force.
In the short term it would be possible to build workers
unity on day to day economic issues without mentioning
partition but it would be building on sand. In the past,
working class unity has been swept aside on a tide of
bigotry. This will be a real test (and) it is where the
cease-fire assumes its international dimension. All over
the world the authoritarian left has collapsed due to the
inadequacies of its politics. Our success or failure
depends on our ability to convince people of our politics,
demonstrate the ability to fight and win, and give people
the confidence to change society.
This is the process that can lead to a lasting peace with justice."
The full version of this can be obtained from POB 1528, Dublin 8
or via e-mail an64739@anon.penet.fi
Read an alternative view in Organise, magazine of the A.C.F..
Send large SAE for sample, address on p.4
Balloch Blockade
Activists from the Faslane Peace Camp, supported by large crowds
of local people, blocked the
nuclear convoy for 45 minutes at
Balloch Roundabout on the 29th July. 15 people were arrested.
Hostel under Attack
Workers who have occupied the Peterloo Housing Association
hostel for the homeless in Manchester to prevent its closure
are under threat of eviction by the hostel's management.
The occupation, made necessary after the Labour controlled
city council slashed its funding, has received large public
support.
Solidarity Works
York postal workers went on lightning strike on the 1st July
after a shop steward was suspended - he was reinstated the same
day. And on the 20th July a bus driver, sacked after arguing
with his boss over proposed roster changes, was reinstated when
his colleagues staged an immediate one-day strike.
The Girls and Boys Done Well
Tabriz, Iran: late August saw demonstrators attack public
buildings, radio and TV headquarters and set fire to buses and
bank offices after the Basijis volunteer police attacked women
leaving a football (soccer) match (women are banned from attending
matches). 1,000s came onto the streets chanting "death to this
oppressive regime".
Watteau Riot!
Milan city centre was transformed into a battleground on
10th September. Clashes erupted bewteen police and 20,000
demonstrators opposing the eviction of the long standing
Leon- cavallo Social Centre. 5 days later the independent,
self-managed social centre was granted a legal lease to
their newly squatted premises in Via Watteau. Direct action
pays! Meanwhile spontaneous strikes hit Turin, Bologna and
other northern Italian cities on the 8th September, as
workers opposed the Berlusconi government plans to cut
pensions.
Blitz Blitzed
Over 2,000 people demonstrated their support for the
Blitz squatted community centre in Oslo, Norway on the
24th August following the 'fascist' bomb attack on
it three days before.
East Timor
Protests have been held in Darwin, Australia and London
following the attack by Indonesian police and military
on an unarmed demonstration in the campus of East Timor
university on the 14th July. Three students were later
killed in custody in military barracks. The demo followed
harassment of students by military intelligence agents.
Since invading East Timor in 1975, the Indonesian military,
supplied with arms by the US, UK and France has brutally
suppressed the East Timorese people.
South Africa
300 striking miners staged an underground sit-in at the
Anglo-American owned mine in Carelton near Johannesburg.
They were later attacked with rubber bullets and stun grenades
by security guards.
Feral Fights Back
Croatia's government has failed to suppress the Feral Tribune,
an anarchist paper which regularily exposes political corruption
and generally makes life difficult for the HDZ's (ruling party's)
attempts at strangulating the free press. The minister for culture,
Vesne Giradi-Jurkic, has resorted to branding the paper "pornographic",
forcing its taxes to the high levels the state collects from pornographic
publications. Reports in the mainstream press, which commonly does
contain pornography but has avoided any hassle due to its comfy
relationship with the government, stated that the Feral Tribune
had folded but the new issue is already in the kiosks.
Info: ZAGINFLATCH (English language newsletter),
c/o ARK-ZAPO, Tkalciceva 38, 41000 Zagreb, Croatia
email: 72500.2176@compuserve.com
Food not Bombs
WITH over 735 arrests since 1988, San Francisco's Food not Bombs
continues serving free vegetarian food and advocating the rights of
the poor.
Since former police chief Frank Jordan began his "Quality of Life"
MATRIX programme to "clean up" San Francisco for tourism, the
homeless have seen their blankets/belongings tossed into
rubbish trucks and been ticketed for "camping", public
urination, and simply existing as homeless people. Food not bombs
volunteer Frank McHenry has been singled out and been stalked
and assaulted by Jordan's cronies , arrested 92 times since
1988, held on bails up to $75,000, and given such trumped-up
charges as "felony possession of a milk crate" and
"felony assault". The assault charge occurred when the
artery in Frank's hand was severed attempting to stop a
City Hall glass door being slammed on himself and his
71 year old companion.
The ideals and vision of the 'anarchist' influenced group and its 50
N.American sister groups are spreading rapidly and gaining
support....no doubt this frightens the powers that be.
PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL GATHERING THE WEEK PRIOR TO 26 JUNE 1995!
On the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in
San Francisco, protest and organise for human rights! Contact
Food not Bombs, 3145 Geary Boulevard no.12, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
Tel. (415) 330 5030. Frank Jordan's tel. no. is (415) 554 6113.