MEANDER QUARTERLY Newsletter of Evolutionary Anarchists @ Liberty, Equality, Cooperation, Respect for Nature Vol. 5, No. 5 May 1994 PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044-8402 USA Electronic Version Transmitted to ANNOUNCEMENTS COLUMBUS, OHIO ANARCHIST/ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN GATHERING The Arawak City Autonomous Collective is planning a gathering May 1. Plans s include a picnic (Whetstone Park 12-3 pm), and speakers and bands (River Den, Drake Union, OSU campus 4-11 pm). Info and directions: Tony y (614) 298-0147 or Chris (614) 298-9306. (from ) COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE CONVENTION The CoC is holding a founding convention for a new socialist political organization in Chicago on July 22-24. For r more information contact: Committees of Correspondence, 11 John St Rm 506, New York NY 10038. MILITARY RECRUITMENT VIDEO If you would like to borrow a copy of the War Resisters League's video tape entitled "It's Not Just a Job", which is intended to educate prospective enlistees about what they are really getting into, write Ed Stamm, PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044-8402. ANARCHISTS IN CROATIA The Zagreb Anarcho-pacifist Organization (Z.A.P.O.) can be reached at 24 hours a day by fax at 3841/335-230 or by phone MWF after 8 pm at 3841/422-495. They publish a zine called "Comunitas", which is in both croatian and english. Donations are appreciated. INTERNATIONAL ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST MEETING The Anarchosyndicalist Initiative (ASI) is sponsoring a meeting from July 7-10, 1994 in Prague, Czech Republic, to discuss the movement's strategy of achieving anarchism through labor organizing. The e contact person is Andrej Funk, Druzstevni Ochoz 25, 14000 Praha 4, CZECH REPUBLIC. Those planning to attend should contact him for more information. (from m ) ANARCHISTS IN SOUTH AFRICA A coalition of anarchists is being formed, and can be reached by writing Elli & Renato, PO Box 51465, Raedene 2124, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA. They y publish an english language zine called "Internal Conflict". ZAPATISTA SUPPORT GROUP If you are organizing or would like to help organize on behalf of Zapatismo, the following people would like to get in touch with other non-authoritarian supporters: Moorish h Orthodox Radio Crusade, Box 113, WBAI-Pacifica, 505 Eighth Ave, NYC NY 10018. Email c/o . (from m ) MEDICAL RELIEF FOR CHIAPAS The International Medical Relief Fund is collecting donations for medical supplies to be channelled through CONPAZ, an umbrella organization of NGO's (non-governmental organizations) in the region, which is coordinating relief caravans into the area. Make e checks payable to IMRF/CHIAPAS. For more information: IMRF, , PO Box 1194, Salinas CA 93902. MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR LEONARD PELTIER Supporters of Leonard Peltier have tentatively scheduled a march on Washington D.C. for June of 1994. [Peltier r is a prisoner of war in the continuing struggle between the U.S. government and the indigenous peoples of north america.] The Peltier defense committee asks that concerned citizens continue to mail letters, petitions and suggestions to President Clinton in hopes that he might have a shred of decency and grant Peltier executive clemency. For r more information contact: Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, PO Box 583, Lawrence KS 66044 or phone (913) 842-5774. (from m "The Firefly") ARMED MARCH ON WASHINGTON A right-populist/Libertarian group has announced an armed march on Washington DC for the second full week of September, 1994. They y have delivered an ultimatum to the Congress to: repeal the following amendments to the Constitution - 14th (election of Representatives and national debt), 16th (income tax) and 17th (election of Senators); revoke the right of the federal government to have legal jurisdiction within the states; bar the government from using U.S. troops, including National Guard troops, on U.S. soil or against U.S. citizens; declare that the U.S. is not under the authority of the United Nations; declare the national debt and the federal reserve abolished; issue currency backed by gold; repeal NAFTA; withdraw from GATT; repeal the Brady bill; and repeal the crime bill. If f these demands are not met, Congress will be tried for crimes against the people by armed militia units. The communique is from Linda Thompson, Acting Adjutant General. (from m ) DIRECT ACTION MANUAL CANCELLED The Direct Action Manual Project of the Web Collective has been abandoned due to lack of useful material and too few people in the publishing group. (from press release - address withheld by request) SWEDISH ANARCHIST FAIR June 3rd through 5th, in Gothenburg, Sweden. No o contact provided. (from ) PERUVIAN ANARCHIST HELD BY SECRET POLICE Andres Villaverde is a Peruvian anarchist who was arrested in October of 1991, accused of acts of sabotage. When n no evidence could be brought against him, he was charged with being a member of the Shining Path, a Maoist guerilla movement. In fact, Shining Path is hostile to all groups not under their control, including anarchists. For r more info write: Release Andres Villaverde, c/o Box 3, Prince St Stn, New York NY 10012 or call (212) 460-8390. (from m "Black Flag") ANTI-FASCIST CHARGED IN ASSAULT Kieran Frazier Knutson, an anti-fascist activist, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years and $20,000.00 in fines for a clash at an anti-fascist rally in which his Nazi assailant was struck with a flashlight and briefly hospitalized. For r more info write: Anti-Fascist Defense Committee, PO Box 7075, Minneapolis MN 55407. (from m ) ANTI-ZIONIST ORGANIZER ARRESTED Abraham Weizfeld of the Jewish People's Liberation Organization, was arrested at Concordia University in Montreal, while distributing his anthology of jewish dissent writings "The End of Zionism and the Liberation of the Jewish People". For r more information write: JPLO, c/o La Galerie Fokus/Cafe Kaballah, 68 Est, Avenue Duluth, Montreal H2W-1G8, Kebek Canada. (from ) NEWS FBI USED BOMB INVESTIGATION FOR OWN PURPOSES FBI files recently released in the IWW/Earth First! bombing case have revealed a new layer of civil rights abuses by police and the FBI. The e files show that the FBI lied and falsified evidence in order to justify arresting IWW/Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney for the 1990 car bombing [the bomb exploded in their own car, and they were arrested for building it]. But beyond that, the files show that, rather than investigating the bombing [likely suspects would be the timber industry for example], the FBI used this case as an excuse to conduct a sweeping campaign of surveillance of union organizers and activists, both in California and nationally. The surveillance included the FBI searching the letters to the editor files of nine northern California newspapers and confiscating letters from union members and environmentalists. The e FBI also interviewed scores of small town police from the timber region, and management personnel from the timber companies, asking them to submit names and information about any and all environmentalists including those organizing timber workers. Nationally, the FBI obtained the telephone records of fourteen activists and compiled a list of 634 out-of-state phone calls they had made. The e FBI then sent this list to their field offices around the country and obtained information on each number called, including names, addresses, physical descriptions, places of employment, criminal records, and political associations. The files also show that the FBI never conducted a legitimate search for the bomber. They y lied about the location of the bomb in the car and falsified evidence about matching nails (components of the bomb) in order to justify arresting Bari and Cherney for possession of the bomb that had been used to try to kill them. The FBI also avoided investigating key leads that seem to implicate timber interests and police in the campaign of threats and harassment of the IWW/Earth First! organizers that [preceded] the bombing. (from m "Bayou La Rose") FEDERAL AGENTS ATTACK EARTH FIRST! CAMP On Sunday, August 8, 30-40 armed federal agents raided the Cove/Mallard activists base camp near Dixie, Idaho. Earth h First!, the Ancient Forest Bus Brigade, Seeds of Peace, and others have been maintaining a comp and engaging in non-violent protest throughout the [two previous] summers in opposition to road building and logging in the Cove and Mallard roadless areas of the Nez Perce National Forest. Agents held activists at gunpoint while they ransacked the camp, making off with much communal gear as well as personal items, money, credit cards and ID's. The e Forest Service claims the raid was motivated by an alleged tree spiking. Earth First! is seeking donations for legal costs at PO Box 210, Canyon CA 94516. (from "Bayou La Rose") AFL-CIO AGREES TO POSTPONE LABOR LAW DEBATE The AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the U.S., has agreed with the Clinton administration's plan to delay issuing proposals on labor law reform until after congressional elections in November. After r his election, President Clinton agreed to set up a commission to study how to strengthen unions and to regulate workers councils [company sponsored employee organizations]. Among the proposals the commission is considering are steps that would make forming a union faster and easier, and imposing binding arbitration in unresolved labor disputes. The e commission has found, for example, that American companies over the last decade have fired many more workers for trying to organize unions than they did in the 1950's. (from m "Industrial Worker") GENERAL STRIKE IN SPAIN by Don Fitz "Reforms" in labor law brought Spain to a grinding halt on January 27, or, as they call it, 27-E (27 de enero). Some e of the worst aspects of the legal change are the apredizaje (apprenticeships) and liberalized layoffs. Spain has 23% unemployment. Many y people in their 20's have never had a job. So the employers' association and government developed a program of allowing persons under 25 to work as "apprentices" at 70% of the the minimum wage for one year (80% and 90% for the second and third years). Spanish law currently makes it extremely difficult to have a mass layoff. The e "reform" would make layoffs much easier. Together, the aprendizaje and layoff policy virtually guarantee that workers with seniority will be replaced by those earning a sub-minimum wage. The e reform also legalizes temporary employment agencies, reduces unemployment benefits and makes it easier for employers to changes workers' job assignments. Government workers would be hit hard with a freeze on salaries. A A flyer passed out by the anarcho-syndicalist CNT (National Confederation of Labor) protested that, "The government is introducing measures that will cause the disappearance of the major part of gains won by workers during the last century. And public employees, as is usually the case, will be the first to suffer." After the 1993 elections which drove the ruling PSOE (Socialist Labor Party of Spain) to form a coalition government with Catalonian nationalists, the large labor federations UGT (socialist) and CC.OO. (communist) complained bitterly that no one was including them in negotiations over proposals to change the labor law. When n the government unveiled the proposed changes last December, the unions announced a general strike for January 1994.... In Barcelona, I went with Juan Madrid, a former longshoreman, to the rally at Plaza Cataluqa. The e first group we saw was the anarcho-syndicalist CGT (General Confederation of Labor). Until the 1980's there had been a single major anarcho-syndicalist union, but it split, largely over participation in the government sponsored comitis de empresa [company or management committees?]. The e CGT wanted to participate and the CNT wanted to stay out. A young worker gave me a button with the slogan "No a los recortes sociales!" (No to social cutbacks!). Row after row of workers walked by. Lots s of red flags. A good numbers of red and black flags. Many y carried banners in Catalan which I couldn't make out. The march of 200,000 wasn't like in Washington DC when bus loads of people come in. No o one was coming from outside of Barcelona because other cities were having demonstrations at the same time. The next day I went to Madrid, which had its rally on January 28. Esteban n Cabal and I joined the march somewhere in the middle. We weren't able to see its beginning. We e looked behind us and couldn't see its end. Marchers completely filled the major street in Madrid and spilled over onto the sidewalks. Spanish media started trashing the strike before it began. One e paper published a poll claiming most people did not support the strike. Another declared general strikes to be "obsolete" in a democratic country. The e day of the strike, the unions proclaimed a 90% reduction in work; the government said it was 30%, and the employers' association said it was 26%. The statement that fewer than a third of workers participated was an utter absurdity to anyone walking through any major Spanish city.... The issue confronting the Spanish labor movement is what to do if, as expected, the [government] refuses to alter the "reform". Will l the large confederations of UGT and CC.OO. be willing to mount a new offensive? If they do not, are the [other] unions strong enough to mount their own offensive? (from m "Industrial Worker") TEAMSTERS CLASH WITH POLICE Class war erupted on the picket lines in North Reading, Massachusetts on April 11, when police arrested seven teamsters leaders as nearly 200 strikers clashed with over 50 riot-equipped police officers in front of the gates of Roadway Express, one of the companies struck during the Teamsters National Walkout. The e strikers were trying to stop a scab truck when badgeless cops rioted. Attack dogs were used on the strikers and a union member videotaping the clash was beaten and his camera stomped on by police. Over r 80,000 Teamsters are on strike against national freight hauling companies over the issues of downsizing, layoffs, part-timing and subcontracting to non-union outfits. (from <1-union>) MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRIES FOR LABOR ORGANIZING According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the following countries are the most dangerous for labor activists: Iran, , South Africa, Burma, China, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malawi, Peru, and Sudan. Labor activists have been tortured, imprisoned or executed. (from m "Industrial Worker") KIDS LEARN HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS Students at Greenwood County School in Greenwood, South Carolina recently learned an important lesson in how American democracy works. The e students were allowed to vote on a new name for their school. The children overwhelmingly chose e "Springfield Elementary" as their school's new name. The school board tentatively approved the name, but parents and teachers finally caught on to the joke: Springfield d Elementary is the name of Bart Simpson's school (in the popular and subversive animated comedy "The Simpsons"). Parents, who feel that Bart Simpson is a bad role model, asked the district board to drop the name. The e district says that it will accept public comments for several weeks before making a final decision. (from "Industrial Worker") LAWRENCE POLICE CRACK DOWN ON CRIME The Lawrence, Kansas police department pleaded that they needed additional funding to hire more officers, so that they could respond to emergency calls in a timely manner. Now w that the new cops are on the streets, the city has beefed up foot patrols downtown and announced a "zero-tolerance" policy towards jaywalkers. Entire groups of pedestrians have been held captive and lectured on the dangers of crossing when the "Don't Walk" signal is on. One jaywalking Jayhawk got a ticket for $55. The e city claims it is imperiled by "aggravated jaywalking". (from "Journal-World" and "Daily Kansan") DISCUSSION ANARCHIST NEIGHBORHOOD POLL: These are the places where people said they would like to see a loose-knit anarchist neighborhood form (includes first and second choices) 1 New York (E. D'Angelo) PROS: : Relatively tolerant social/ cultural/political l climate; a high concentration n of radicals, a high concentration n of well educated people, jobs s for educated people, public transportation, , a wealth of cultural attractions, , and plenty of ethnic neighborhoods. . CONS: : Noise, pollution, over- crowding, , difficult transportation, high h cost of housing, high taxes. 1 New York (2nd choice) (E. Stamm) PROS: : One AGEA member already lives there e (Ed D.). Easy access to other r countries. We wouldn't be treated d like freaks from outer space like e we would in the Midwest. More people e would be open to our message. CONS: : We could be implicated in the activities s of extremist groups. 1 Kansas City (E. Stamm) PROS: : Low cost of living, reasonable housing g costs, easy for me to relocate, , not much nihilist activity, , reasonable climate, centrally y located, there's already one AGEA A member living there (Carl B.). CONS: : Bourgeois (middle class) atmosphere, , few interesting or progressive e jobs, low wages. 1 Milwaukee (S.M. Johnson) PROS: : Riverwest is a great, cheap area. . Very integrated, pretty harmonious, , crime not too bad, rent reasonable. . We are setting up an anarchist, , volunteer run, all ages space e for gigs, films, theater performances, , and zine, book, record store e and silk screen shop. Future plans s involve bike workshop and tool library. . So the city getting the most votes was New York, but only three people voted and only one person had a second choice. I I visited New York in early April and liked the people I met and projects they're doing, but was put off by the all the concrete, brick and asphalt. Thanks again to Ed, Kurt and Miranda for showing me around. However, , New York is on a much more human scale than Kansas City for example. It didn't seem so huge because, like other older cities, it was built before automobiles were around. I I wasn't able to visit Milwaukee. Any additional comments on designating New York as the gathering place for community-minded anarchists? It t would be hard for me personally to relocate right now, but in the long term I could work towards it. I read an interesting article (can't find it now) that sort of explained the recent popular perception that crime in the U.S. has drastically increased. Although h crime rates have not changed much in recent years, media coverage of crime has gone way up. This is presumably in pursuit of higher ratings and circulations, a tabloidization of the news media. The e result is a terrified population with a siege mentality, which is demanding drastic action. The politicians are happy to ride the wave for all it's worth, and the government is seizing the opportunity to chip away at our "inalienable rights". Ed d Stamm ****** "No races, no nations, no states, no gods." ****** "Man's inhumanity to man is only surpassed by his cruelty to animals." (Thanks to Elli & Renato for this quote) ****** A note from the Internal Revenue Service Dear Taxpayer: Thank you for making this nation's tax system the most effective system of voluntary compliance in the world.... We have increased information and education efforts to help improve compliance, but we are also using traditional compliance efforts - examination, collection and criminal enforcement - so that each person pays what he or she properly owes to support the vital functions of our government.... Margaret et Milner Richardson [Interesting definition of the word "voluntary". When organized crime tries this, it's called "extortion". You u know, just give us the money and nothing bad will happen.] ****** The following is from the abstract of the Qwan Development Cooperative Corporation, a small group which is trying to develop ecologically sustainable neighborhoods using a market approach: "In this proposal we suggest that people interested in creating intentional ecologically sustainable communities, "Eco-Villages," Urban-Cooperative Blocks, or ecologically sustainable development in general should establish a new kind of development company. This s new kind of company shall attempt to create a synthesis of the best elements of cooperative and capitalistic enterprise. The main purpose of this company shall be to help people raise their Quality-of-Life and simultaneously lower their physical resource consumption..... We suggest the creation of a membership organization. This s membership organization, called QwanNet, will have some resemblance to non-profit organizations such as the Sierra Club. QwanNet t will have a variety of services offered such as a newsletter... local network groups... a singles connection network. Members of QwanNet will also know that most of their membership fee ($39 per year) will go toward the development of the QwanTLC (Total Living Center) prototype model. QwanNet t members would also be able to vote for their board of directors." For more information, contact Paul Justus, 47 S Gregg #10, Fayetteville AR 72701 or phone (501) 582-3068. [I don't think a healthy community can develop out of market relationships among the members, or that community should be marketed as a product. But t on the other hand, its better than traditional community development, where "consumption" of housing is the only thing that people have in common. Ed] ****** "The question of whether U.S. and Canadian workers will work for the starvation wages presently being inflicted upon our Mexican fellow workers, or whether Mexican wages will rise to a less inhuman level - though having to sell one's life for wages is (itself) inhuman - will not be decided by the politicians or... by the financiers. Rather r it will be decided by the workers ourselves.... If we resist, if we join together to wage a common struggle against our common exploiters, we will win. If we allow ourselves to be divided - divided by trade, by industry, or by national boundaries - we will inevitably be played off against each other and defeated. The e choice is ours." (from "Industrial Worker") ****** PRESS ON Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education n will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. (thanks to Ernest Mann for this quote) ****** "When people live a life that allows them very little dignity and no personal security, they will not respect the dignity and personal security of others. Why y should they? When people, especially youngsters, develop the idea and feeling that no one gives a fuck about them, then they develop this idea par excellence about everyone else." Jaime e Enrique Baxter ****** ".... We believe that the economic system under which we presently live must be abolished. We e also say that the political institutions of capitalism, which are hierarchical and authoritarian, must go too. These institutions serve the employer class and will have to be replaced with ones based on mass participatory democracy and freedom. In the new economic order the workers of the world will own and share all the wealth they produce. Decisions s will be made through workplace and community councils which will be federated at all levels and centrally coordinated. Thus political power will not be organized in a hierarchical manner, where a central government tells everyone else what to do. Those socialists who follow the ideas of Lenin hold that such a society can only be built by using the State structures, albeit a "workers state", under the leadership of their Party. Anarchists s reject this since both the State and Party are hierarchical and authoritarian. They are diametrically opposed to the aims and organization of the new society. Rather r than building a real socialist society where both economic and political power would be everyone's possession and nobody's property, these people end up building societies that are no more than State Capitalism like (the Soviet Union) was and China still is. In these countries ordinary people do not have any say in how things are run or in the decisions that effect them. They y are ordered about and exploited just as happens in the "free world". Anarchists predicted this long before it was confirmed by the betrayal of the Russian revolution, when the workers' soviets and factory committees were suppressed by the Bolshevik state. After r all, the means you use and what you end up with are connected. Thus, if the structures used to build socialism are hierarchical and undemocratic you should not be surprised if the society you end up with is hierarchical and undemocratic.... The question of freedom is not just a subject for some mere philosophical debate. It t is at the very heart of revolutionary change and socialism. A successful revolution is not just a shift in economic power from the employers to the workers. It t is a time of real freedom. It is a time when the shackles of the old oppressive order are thrown off and the workers movement explodes into a recreativity as it copes with organizing every facet of society so that the needs of all are met. Everyone e can get involved, through their assemblies and delegate councils, in decision making and planning that used to be the sole concern of central government. Freedom of ideas, criticism and input, will not only be a practical reality but a necessity. Capitalist society is organized in a top-down way. Orders s come from the top and those at the bottom obey them. The institutions by which the bosses rule, the Government and the State, are built so that the rule of a minority over the majority is possible. Control l of political freedom, ideas, and information is fundamental to their working. Participation is strictly limited so that most people never have any say. This is why we wish to abolish these structures. They y can never be used to create socialism but instead will actively sabotage the workers' cause.... Kevin Doyle, Workers Solidarity Movement, PO Box 1528, Dublin 8, Ireland. (from ) ****** "We are living in a revolutionary era. Authoritarian socialism has proven it's a failure. Capitalism m is about to prove it's a failure too. Now it's our turn to formulate the ideas of a future society." Mattias Gardell of the syndicalist Swedish Workers' Central Organization. (from "Industrial Worker") ****** "I think the concrete task at hand is to raise awareness of the working class as to what the operating principles of capitalist society are. In n doing so, momentum can build over time to gradually progress in the direction of socialism, and old, obsolete, bureaucratic institutions and state structures can be replaced by new and more appropriate ones - also in a very natural fashion. I would call this an evolutionary approach to the revolution, which, by the way, is quite different from "reforms of the current system" in that the goal of the evolution is to abandon existing structures as quickly as possible (while reform is really geared toward enshrining them). The e revolutionary approach, of course, also strives to abandon existing structures (immediately), but leaves us with the intermediate chaos and power-vacuum that needs to be managed somehow." Armin Roeseler (from <1-union>) ****** "Human societies, if they are to be communities of free (people) working together for the greatest good of all, and no longer convents or despotisms held together by religious superstition or brute force, can not be the artificial creation of an individual or of a sect. They y must be the results of the needs and the competitive or divergent wills of all their members who by trial and error find the institutions which at any given time are the best possible, and who develop and change them as circumstances and wills change... One may, therefore, prefer communism, or individualism, or collectivism, or any other system, and work by example and propaganda for the achievement of one's personal preferences; but one must beware, at the risk of certain disaster, of supposing that one's own system is the only and infallible one, good for all (people), everywhere and for all times, and that its success must be ensured at all costs, by means other than those which depend on persuasion, which spring from the evidence of facts... What is important and indispensable, the point of departure, is to ensure for everybody the means to be free." Errico Malatesta (thanks to Spyros of Athens for this quote) What Kind of Woman Reads "Radio Werewolf"? The kind of woman who reads "Radio Werewolf" sees through all the illusions of society: she e knows that our "free way of life" is neither Free nor a Way of Life; she understands that even worse than "death on the installment plan" is the 18.9% interest charged monthly on the remaining balance. The "Radio Werewolf" Woman isn't a feminist: her r eyes detect in photographs of "independence and success" the same airbrushing that is used in "Playboy" and "Sports Illustrated": how can they say they desire women to "have control over their own bodies" when they support a social system that tells women where those bodies are required to be between 9 and 5? Sisterly y solidarity asks her to vote the straight ticket, but she hasn't bothered to register: The Goddess Within tells her to work for justice, but she doesn't believe in work and at 55 cents to the dollar, why should she? The e "Radio Werewolf" Woman sails her own course through the Great Sargasso Sea of fantasy and fraud that is the modern world. In her travels she has learned the words that would destroy all evil in human hearts and bring to them everything that is good: she e once spoke them aloud, but was drowned out by pick-up lines and football scores - monotonous empty formulas, repeated endlessly in bars the way the multiplication tables were once droned in schoolrooms. Now she keeps them in her heart, where others keep only slogans. The e "Radio Werewolf" Woman dreams of a better world: this she devotes many hours to as everything she sees while awake makes her want to cry herself back to sleep. The e "Radio Werewolf" Woman, alone of all her sex, knows the answer to the great Freudian Question: "What do women want?" - THEY WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!!! PO O Box 75416 Washington DC 20013. (from a flyer) ****** "Looking out the window of the DC-10 as I write this...what a tremendous lifting power these big wings have! What t a thrill these lift-offs still are.... Man is so tremendously ingenious to get these huge sheets of aluminum to fly and carry hundreds of people besides. Now w if only men and women would turn their genius to implement a method of production and distribution in which there was no profit in polluting our environment, in starting wars, in crime and starvation." Ernest Mann ****** NEWSLETTER BUSINESS STILL SEEKING NEW EDITOR/PUBLISHER We still need someone to volunteer to publish this newsletter. It t would be a one year commitment to publish every three months. I will absorb the deficit before I pass MQ on. I I think it's important that we rotate the newsletter to prevent any one person from having too much control, and to help other people to develop publishing skills. Computer access very helpful. FINANCIAL STATEMENT Many thanks to the following people for their recent donations: Erik k Riese, Ed D'Angelo, sample copies, Greg Hall, Scott Johnson, Paul Justus, Jaime Baxter. If making a donation by check, please make it payable to the current publisher. -176.26 Balance before V5N4 ======= -63.00 Printing g V5N4 (110 copies) -3.72 2 Sales Tax -18.27 International l Postage (air mail) -46.80 Domestic c Postage (first class) -308.05 Balance after V5N4 ======= 57.16 6 Donations received after V5N4 0.00 00 Paid advertisements for V5N5 -250.89 Balance before V5N5 ======= NOT PUBLISHED Copies of the following will be sent to those who request them: - "The Power to Oversee", on the subject of prisoners and prisons, translated from Corre@ by Jaime E. Baxter. - Letter from Jaime E. Baxter on prisoner issues. - Letter from John Coffin offering instruction in making revolvers in your own machine shop. - "Critical Problems - Simple Solution" on the topic of a moneyless economic system, by Ernest Mann. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED ABAPA FREER, PO Box 759-MQ, Veneta OR 97487. Unedited forum about boosting freedom, especially in favorable locales. ALPHABET THREAT, 3018 J St #140, Sacramento CA 95816. Local l alternative tabliod. ANARCHISM AND IRELAND, W.S.M., PO Box 1528, Dublin 8, Ireland. Pamphlet. . BAYOU LA ROSE, PO Box 5464, Tacoma WA 98415-0464. Militant t activist tabloid. BLACK FLAG, BM Hurricane, London WC1N 3XX, England. Anarchist t magazine. COUNTER CLOCKWISE, MJFoster, 812 N LaBarge, Pierre SD 57501-4730. Personal l zine. COUNTER INFORMATION, 11 Forth St, Edinburgh EH1, Scotland. Radical l news sheet. DISCUSSION BULLETIN, PO Box 1564, Grand Rapids MI 49501. Non-market t socialist forum. DOGSTREET SLAVE, 103 Baughman's Ln 297, Frederick MD 21702. Anarchist t art & lit zine. THE FIREFLY, Gen. Del., Angle Inlet MN 56711. Native, family and prison issues. FREETHOUGHT HISTORY, Box 5224, Kansas City KS 66119. Atheist newsletter. Free e sample. GUILLOTINE, c/o EMO, PO Box 6000, Binghamton NY 13902. Libertarian n student tabloid. INDEPENDENT POLITICS, PO Box 55247, Hayward CA 94545-0247. Socialist t magazine. INDUSTRIAL WORKER, Box 2605, Madison WI 53701. Official IWW monthly. Free e samples. INTERNAL CONFLICT, PO Box 51465, Raedene 2124, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA. Anarchist. . LITTLE FREE PRESS, 714 SE 3rd St, Little Falls MN 56345. For r a moneyless economy. LUNO, 31960 SE Chin St, Boring OR 97009. Discussion of education alternatives. THE NEW SOCIALIST, 8132 Farnum, Warren MI 48093-2884. Monthly y open forum. NONVIOLENT ACTIVIST, W.R.L., 339 Lafayette St, New York NY 10012. Pacifist t news magazine. ORGANIZE!, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX, England. Anarchist t Communist magazine. PEOPLE'S CULTURE, Box 5224, Kansas City KS 66119. Scholarly leftist, free sample. PLAIN WORDS, POB 8532, Haledon NJ 07508-8532. Radical New Jersey anarchist paper. RESOURCES FOR INDEPENDENT THINKING REVIEW, 4067 Hardwick #129, Lakewood CA 90712. "to promote independent thinking and self-empowerment." Free e sample copy. SLEEPY FOOT, c/o M. Thain, 1636 E Main St 202, Kent OH 44240. Personal l Tao zine. THE SH@DOW, PO Box 20298, New York NY 10009. Local quarterly anarchist tabloid. SOCIAL HARMONY, PO Box 76148, Ne< Smizni, T.K. 17110 Athens, GREECE. Greek k language anarchist newsletter. SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE, PO Box 583, Lawrence KS 66044. Leonard d Peltier Defense Com. WORKERS SOLIDARITY, PO Box 1528, Dublin 8, Ireland. Anarcho-syndicalist t magazine. ADVERTISMENTS Ads are 5 cents a word. Some ads appear free, as a public service or on an exchange basis. Circulation n is about 90. If paying by check, please make it payable to the current publisher. ****** The FREETHINKER'S DIRECTORY is designed to help a-theists, freethinkers, and non-goddists of all kinds to locate each other and to work together. Available from: David Briars, Rt 1 B-45, Craftsbury VT 05826. ****** "The Uncivil Servant" is the new newsletter of the Public Workers Network. The goal of PWN is to share news, views and information about the work place of public workers, the problems they face, and to create a forum. PWN/M. . Miller, 339 Lafayette St Rm 202, New York NY 10012. ****** The Affinity Group of Evolutionary Anarchists is an address exchange network linking individuals who favor education and self-organization as the preferred methods of achieving a voluntary, egalitarian and cooperative society. AGEA, PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044-8402 USA. or ****** The National Writers Union, an affiliate of the United Auto Workers, is a writers' organization which assists its members in their dealings with publishers, and provides them with benefits, such as health insurance. 873 Broadway Ste 203, New York NY 10211-0079. ****** "Older = Bolder: Anarchist Elders": This 28 minute video tape, a message from six anarchist elders to younger activists, is now available for $32.50 postpaid from IWW Lit, 4043 N. Ravenswood 205, Chicago IL 60613. (If f you're interested in co-oping on a copy, write Ed Stamm) ****** Radical Walking Tours and Labor Tours of New York City. Bruce Kayton (718) 492-0069. ****** Blackout Books is an anarchist book collective which currently tables at ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St. (NYC). We hope to open a store soon. Our r goal is to provide revolutionary literature, discussion and ideas to people who want to change the world. Write to us at: Blackout t Books, POB 2281, NYC 10009. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Ed Stamm, PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044-8402 USA or