howard chelle's blog

Panel Presentation from the
North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference

• Gordon, Hilary. “Visual Polemics of Food Shortage in Revolutionary Spain”
• Lee, Andrew H. “Resurrection: Anticlericalism and Gendered Anarchism in the Work of Federica Montseny”
• Zimmer, Kenyon. “The Forgotten Revolution: North American and European Anarchists in the 1911 Mexican Insurrection”
• Moderator: James Birmingham

NASSN Full Archive Here

• Bourne, Kyla. “Space, Surveillance and Security Culture: An Ethnography of Urban Struggle in Chicago”
• Pino, Carolina. “Shellhouse [living portable]“
• Tofano, Mario. “Mask of a Multitude: Staging Anarchy in the City”
• Moderator: Erin Lierl

A presentation at the North American Anarchist Studies Network conference

part 2

FULL NAASN ARCHIVE HERE

~ Earth First Presentation at NAASN

• Panagioti, “No System but the Ecosystem: Earth First! and Anarchism”
• Moderator: Jeff Brite

breaking! breaking!

evan vokes, a whistle blower, who was also an engineer at transCanada, has the National Energy Board of canada up transCanada's arse!

vokes tried every approach he could through the company's chain of command, using transCanada protocol. he climbed all the way up the ladder wagging his precautionary tail, all the way to ceo russ girling's office, and after having his concerns for safety in regards to his company's pipelines being brushed off by the company he worked for, and being severly distressed at their ambivalence, he went on "stress" leave in november of 2011. vokes took his leave for health related issues in regards to his concern for what he had witnessed first hand on the job. by the end of march, he finally met with canada's National Energy Board, to discuss the list of infractions and concerns, he had in regards to transCanada's practices on their pipelines, and on may 1st, voke's filed the official papework as a complainant with the NEB. on may 8th, vokes was relieved of his position as an engineer for transCanada, when he was summarily fired. this and worse is often the fate of those who have the strength to step forward into the role of truthsayer. 

global noise day (#o13, #13o) is a call to take to the streets with pots and pans en masse. 
the day is being celebrated from australia, to japan, to turkey, to spain, to the americas, through such groups as the indignados, occupy, and other social justice groups. it is a worldwide effort to bring attention to the inequities of the current corrupt capitalist system, and to bring economic & social justice to the forefront of the world's consciousness.

view global noise activities through streams at:

global noise livestream 

global revolution's mix of global noise

coming out of rome
 

coming out of spain

an impromptu sit down with Karla at Festival Liberacion, in Charlotte, NC. (Area15)
http://www.rdacbx.org/

it's my fifth day in the sunshine state, and our third day as the flagship independent media bus for the republican convention.

we've not seen a lot of action here yet on the front ... it rains ... and then it rains some more... and then more. there's been meetings and trainings for the protestors. i've watched golf carts being piggy-backed in on flat bed trucks by the dozen ... and there are hundreds, nay thousands of sections of barricades being erected to provide a "free speech" zone where citizens and protestors are to be corralled and controlled for their own "protection." there was the transfer of an entire population of inmates from a local jail, to make room for potential arrestees ...  and the newest mainstream media hub bub: the suspicious discovery on a rooftop in the event zone, that ominously points to the threat of "anarchist violence," coupled with the circulation of a video by "anonymous," promising more of the same, which smacks of forgery to those who know the hallmarks of true anon representation. 

it's late, or very early in the morning. i can't sleep. i'm heading to tampa soon as an activist and an independent journalist. for the first time i'm armed with a press pass, and a camera, and my computers. we're to cover the conventions, for this, the great election cycle of 2012. the end of the mayan calendar, the beginning of a whole new world, the zombie apocalypse upon us. the democrats and the republicans have spent a total of 50 million dollars a piece on security for their respective conventions, and the air is brittle with the anticipation of mayhem in the streets. it's gonna be a shit show, folks, with homeland security, militarized police, trapwire, and animosity aplenty, toward anyone who dares to say no to the political machine and the police state that is slowly and silently gnawing with their rotten teeth on the tongue of our free speech.

this is the summer of "solidarity & mobilization," where convergences on emergency action in an attempt to restore environmental sanity to a crazy, overheated, world are taking place. this past weekend was chock full of extraction awareness trainings and action campaigns, from the tar sands blockade training in east texas, to the "stop the frack attack" teach-in and rally in dc, and the ramps "mountain justice mobilization" in west virginia. all in all, thousands of concerned citizens and environmental activists gathered for these events. 

the "stop the frack attack" campaign drew thousands of concerned citizens who descended upon the capital from across the nation and the world, to protest the use of hydraulic fracturing as a method to extract natural gas and oil from shale beds and abandoned coal mines. this method includes drilling through the earth's crust, smashing up rocks in a dormant well site and capturing the vapors. it has been known to make water so toxic it can literally be set on fire while streaming out of the taps. it is also believed that it destabilizes bed rock to the degree that it creates small earth quakes in areas where fracking is practiced. 

In light of the fact that Occupy D.C. has re-staged a public presence at Mc Pherson Square in solidarity and support through Anarchist Alliance D.C. Network, on Thursday, June 28th, 2012, I felt compelled to pass along this op-ed by my dear friend and colleague, ZenFidel. Congratulations, D.C. on the vim and vigor you show in your attempt to re-establish a presence in the heart of the nation's capital! -Howard Chelle

By ZenFidel
Last spring when the Tunisians, and the Egyptians rose up to claim their public squares and fight for change, I found myself wondering when the citizens of the United States would wake up to emancipate themselves from the corruption that abounds in our "transparent" democracy. I imagined it would be a difficult task. After all...  We have no despots. We elect our government representatives on a regular basis. People are free to speak their mind.  People work where and how they want. And the will of the people is the law of the land ... or is it? 

I am not a lawyer, nor do i wish to be. However, it is important to address the issue of how not to get yourself, your friends, your family, or loved ones arrested. 

It is important to know your rights and know how to defend them, just in case the authorities want to dupe you into framing yourself or others, in order to secure an arrest. Here in the United States we have rights that are built into our constitution, the Fourth Amendment says that, "the right of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,” and the Fifth Amendment says that, "no person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." 

When you are stopped by the authorities, you must identify yourself, and lying to them in this regard will only be trouble in the long run. So identify yourself, but after that, remain silent. If you are in a vehicle, you do not have to roll your windows all the way down and probably shouldn't. If you are asked to step out of your vehicle, make sure your keys are out of the ignition, all windows are up, and lock your vehicle behind you. It is a good idea to always have your vehicle, motor home, r.v. or bus closed and locked when you are not in it. This is because leaving these things open implies consent for entry... and implied consent is sticky territory. 

Ryan Harvey is a 28 year old musician, activist, organizer who hails from the outer suburbs of Baltimore. Nursed into activism through the power of punk music by the likes of CRASS, and local Baltimore bands; Ryan was at the WTO protests in 1999, as a kid. He's been at every major convergence of the Anti-Globalization movement since, and he defines these moments as epic life changing events. He has been a committed anti-war activist and organizer since 9/11, and works closely with veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, having founded CivSol the "Civilian Soldier Alliance".

At the Intersection of Main & Church Street in Thurmont, Maryland, a few hundred Ethiopians gathered from around the country and the world. Six miles from the GB summit at Camp David, the entrance to the heart of the downtown area was blocked from vehicle entry by local police. The intersection where protestors had gathered was controlled by various police officers and a couple of dozen riot police in full gear. The protest rally was being attended by a few dozen other people who lined the sidewalks, some were gathered to observe the protestors, others were there as protestors and occupiers from the region, carrying signs for their own political causes and standing in solidarity. 

Ethiopians organized collectively to protest Prime Minister Zenawi's attendance at the G8 summit. Zenawi has ruled in Ethiopia since 1991, and is on lists at Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Genocide Watch, for possible crimes against humanity and human rights abuses.

This week Capital Hill hosted the NFIB 2012 Summit. For those of you not in the know, the NFIB, or "the voice of small business," is a lobbying group with offices in all 50 state capitals as well as in the District of Columbia. On its website, the National Federation of Independent Business, claims to be "a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization" that "represents the consensus views of its members." Unfortunately for the 350,000 small business members of NFIB, the lobbying group seems to be most interested in using the clout of the United States' small business community to manipulate legislation on behalf of de-regulation for large corporate interests and the republican conservative agenda. Make no mistake, the considerable clout wielded by NFIB comes from the fact that small business is an acknowledged powerhouse of the U.S. economy, producing 50% of Gross Domestic Product, and employing 60% of the american workforce.

A major sponsor of 2012's NFIB summit, was Sam's Club, owned and operated by Walmart, a trojan horse of the U.S. economy. It is ironic that this corporate giant was a major corporate sponsor of the summit (along with American Express, Bloomfied Government, ALGA, Intuit and others). Sam Walton grew his business upon the principle "american made goods for the american public." It is general public knowledge that the Walmart Corporation and its subsidiaries now summarily force small businesses into closure and bankruptcy by moving into small towns with their super stores undercutting prices of local business with their shelves stocked in chinese manufactured goods, which local business can not compete with. Sure, NFIB is "the voice of of small business," and perhaps having the Walmart corporation visibly present via Sam's Club, during the NFIB 2012 summit in Washington, was just to add a dash of irony to the event?