Bookworms
I have just finished reading 'Welcome to the Machine' by Derrick Jensen and George Draffan. Excelent book with much in it to think about. Heres a sample:

"A high ranking security chief from South Africa's apartheid regime later told an interviewer what had been his greatest fear about the rebel group African National Congress (ANC). He had not so much feared the ANC's acts of sabotage or violence - even when these were costly to the rulers - as he had feared that the ANC would convince too many of the oppressed majority of Africans to disregard 'law and order'. Even the most powerful and highly trained 'security forces' in the world would not, he said, have been able to stem that threat. As soon as we come to see that the edicts of those in power, that they carry no inherent moral or ethical weight, we become the free human beings we were born to be, capable of saying yes and capable of saying no."

Plus the new book from the CrimethInc collective 'Recipes for Disaster' is out. Worth checking out!

Tsunami
Following the disaster in Asia, the main 12 UK charities have got together to do an appeal. You can dontate at www.dec.org.uk - show solidarity. Donate.

War of Text

I guess if you have been following the soap opera of BIMC you may well have read a few things. First I have been 'outed' politically – yes anarchist606 is Tom aka imcvol tom from Indymedia. I did not really want my alias to be known. A while back when zaskar was 'outed' too by an anonymous poster I remember thinking that that was not nice at all – a piece of privacy being dragged away from you. Now zaskar has done this to me, I know my feelings on how this would feel are correct. Its not nice at all. As an Indymedia volunteer I could have removed the post from the site within the guidelines as us volunteers are entitled to the degree of privacy if they choose – but if I had I would have been attacked for censoring, so I feel I have no choice but to loose some of my privacy. I am dammed if I do, dammed if I don't.

Second I have been subject to a fair amount of personal abuse by zaskar including compared to the sadistic nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest and been told I am key in the BIMC 'miserable crew', called a liar and a few other things. However, if you search for where I have insulted him, you won't find anything. While I have disagreed with him plenty, on many points, I have never insulted him. When zaskar was subject to some pretty nasty and unwarrended insults, I looked to me like it had affected him. Now, knowing how he felt, I don't plan to insult him. I don’t like being a digital punch bag for insults by somebody who obviously feels that they have the right and justification to portray me in this way – but what can I do? Insult back? Troll? Let the mud stick? I am dammed if I do, dammed if I don’t.

I expect I will be subject to more abuse – especially following this post. What can I say? I don’t agree with how I am being portrayed nor do I agree with his accusations. I could get into a point for point rebuttal and carry the whole thing on. Myself, zaskar and other interested parties could spend months on this – each new posting further feeding the fire. The only way you the reader can know for themselves if to meet the people involved. Zaskar has been very generous in offering to work with people on filmmaking, and I bet it would be worth it, as he has a prolific output. The BIMC meetings are always open – come along and judge for yourself.

Other than that – Happy Christmas.

Infoshop.org 10th Anniversary
The top anarchist online site Infoshop.org has it's 10th Anniversary in January - if you can I suggest donating some cash to them as they are on a fund drive. Worth it as the site is an excellent resource showing how good alternative media can be.

I guess the UK version of this site is Enrager.net, which is also very good. All this reminds me of something Robert Fist said, (i am paraphrasing) that the alternative media needs to stop acting as if we are small and behave like we ARE the mainstream and its the corporate media who have the narrow (i.e. neoliberal) agenda. To right! And these two projects show what we are capable of! Ffs, even the Tories are acknowledging that the best thinking is coming from us; Martin Summers formerly of the Institute of Economic Affairs; "The right in the UK has lost the excitement, creativeness and restlessness that distinguished it in the 1980s. These days, most of the exciting thinking about freedom is on the libertarian left." (Without getting to bogged down in ideological categorising, the libertarian left is basically anarchism).

More power to all.

Bristol: Most Green & Most Violent

In today’s Observer there are a couple of articles that mention Bristol. In one it is noted as the best place to be Green. Which is pretty cool, I was, however disappointed with the 'usual suspects' looks at why our city is so Eco: The article mentions the Soil Association, Sustrans, Recycling Consortium, At-Bristol and Future West. The last two raised my eyebrow; At-Bristol is a tourist attraction sponsored by a multinational that can boast the longest running boycott campaign; Nestle. While the other is an arms company, BAE, currently up to its neck is slush fund allegations. That is neither green nor ethical. And Future West? Apparently they have gone belly up. It is also annoying that such articles always take a top-down approach in trying to imply that it is the organisations that are changing the city. I do not think it is that simple. You also need to factor in the pressure that the many activists and radical political groups in the city put into pushing society towards a greener future.

The next mention was in about to alcohol related violence. This mention is not quite so flattering: Of the ten of the areas with the highest levels of violent offences per 1,000 population: Central Bristol was first with 54 incidents. Nice. I would recommend reading the blistering attack on the Government and the alcohol lobby by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark; "...we are not cosmopolitan as we throw back another breezer. We are under the influence of a rapacious drinks industry and a greedy, spineless government."

Plus: A couple of other things that I find interesting from the papers;

There was an interview with Sir Martin Sorrell, head of WPP, one of the biggest ad firms in the world. He gives in unvarnished capitalist view of something very interesting: communism. He is one of a number of high-powered commentators who offer breathless praise for China's marriage of communism and capitalism; "It's the fastest growing, most interesting, least bureaucratic place around. I'm talking about China and its system of state-directed capitalism. People in the US and UK don't really understand that China is the equivalent to four or five USAs, a place where, for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, they are investing $45bn in infrastructure." He goes on quoting figures and info about market share - never once does he mention the brutal, repressive and undemocratic government there. It seems that many in the elite capitalist class have come clean and are breaking with the PR spin that capitalism needs democracy. Here we see the reality - a state that does not have to even pretend to respond to the people (he calls it 'least bureaucratic') and so can allow the unfettered pursuit of money without boundaries imposed by the environmental concerns or morality. Hurrah!

Also of interest was an article in which the ideas of evolutionary biology are being employed by the Pentagon to help build a system to predict war and terrorism. The irony that evolution, while being forced from schools in the US, can find a home in the same empire's military is not lost on me.