In 1971 a group of Philadelphia-based activists formed the Movement for a New Society, a network of collectives dedicated to radical pacifist, feminist, and libertarian socialist politics. Over the next 18 years the organization grew to a peak of approximately 300 members in more than a dozen U.S. cities and made important contributions to anti-nuclear, radical ecology, and gender and sexual liberation struggles. The Movement for a New Society (MNS) sought to combine organizing campaigns that utilized direct action tactics with a commitment by its members to “live the revolution now” by transforming themselves and their social relationships, as well as by living collectively and establishing alternative institutions such as food co-ops.

MLK JailIn honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, some people have gone to great lengths to prove their devotion to the legendary civil rights leader. Presidential candidates have been arguing about who best represents King’s legacy(personally and politically). Some organizations want to be associated with MLK so badly that they’re organizing MLK parades competing with other organizations. Even hard-line conservatives have jumped on the bandwagon, saying, “It is time for conservatives to lay claim to the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. King.”

I’ve lived in the Washington, D.C., area for the better part of the last 10 years. So I’ve seen my share of demonstrations, although more often than not I just try to avoid the traffic nightmares they cause. Among the various classes of protests—pro-life, anti-war, environmental, and now tea parties—the most destructive are the anti-globalization marches. So when cops clashed with anti-globalization demonstrators at the Pittsburgh G-20 summit in September, it was easy to assume that most of the altercations represented justified police responses to overzealous protesters.

Tin Can Comms Collective (http://tincancomms.wordpress.com/ ) is coordinating a communications infrastructure which you can be part of. It is based on our experiences doing comms during the 2004 Anti-RNC protests.

1. How to be a good organizer
a) Spend some time thinking about trees
b) Imagine what clear cutting looks like, sounds like, and feels like
c) Recognize that 80% of the world's forests are gone
d) Be a good organizer

Every young person I see I wonder, What were you doing three weeks ago? Who were you then? I look for signs of subversion. A girl wears a green headscarf. A kid shifts gears in his Kia Pride with an arm encased in a green cast. What does it mean? Together, in a crowd, the color green added up to something. Alone, spread apart and without context, they are just moments of coincidence.

First Friday on "Roosevelt Row" took a decidedly confrontational turn last week after undercover Phoenix police officers ran a sting on the UM gallery down on 5th st. Phoenix Class War Council was tabling that night when we noticed everyone in the gallery being pushed out by a handful of uniformed and a couple of undercover cops. The crowd grew in the yard as word spread that they were busted for serving alcohol, particularly angering people as alcohol is prevalent at most of the spaces on First Friday, and to make matters worse the host of the gallery, a DJ, and two artists were held in hand cuffs inside.

William Burroughs once wrote about how we humans—like the bull in a bullfight—tend to focus on the elusive red cape instead of the matador. Indeed, we are all-too-easily distracted from real targets by an attractive image or illusion.

Fifth Estate contributor Marie Mason was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison on February 5 in a Lansing, Michigan federal courtroom, after pleading guilty to two acts of eco-sabotage. Mason is now serving the longest sentence of any environmental activist in the US; an appeal is currently underway. Her sentence was one of the latest in a string of recent arrests and convictions of environmental and animal liberation activists, which has been dubbed the Green Scare. Throughout the Green Scare, environmental and animal liberation activists have been charged with inflated sentences (often Life in prison), and have been publicly and legally labeled “terrorists” — though no one has been hurt in their acts of economic sabotage.

As veganarchists, we show solidarity with fellow anarchists (green, red, purple, pink or otherwise), and all the radicals and militants who shunned pacifism for a productive day of direct action against the G20 in London.

US District Judge John Grady ruled on Friday that a significant part of the Chicago’s Disorderly Conduct Ordinance was an unconstitutional violation of freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Police have repeatedly used the ordinance to harass anti-war protesters.

In the spirit of March Madness, New York Fucking City announces a competitive occupation tournament to be enjoyed by all the gravediggers of the old world. It’s already started, the crisis is here and the time is right to tear it all down. We call this tournament The Thing; the shit is real.

On the 19th of January we sabotaged a Scotiabank location in Canada. We inserted glue and pins into two of the locks and poured glue over the keypads of the ATM machines and glued the cardslots after inserting homemade blank plastic cards. Scotiabank is a sponsor of the Security & Prosperity Partnership(SPP) which will be ratified in the year 2010 along with two other Capitalist Spectacles the G8 meetings & Olympic games taking place the same year.

Late last night I paid a visit to the Catholic Church. I super-glued every single one of their locks and smashed up a few windows. I’m sure everyone who’s ever committed an act of sabotage knows how amazing that feeling is. If you don’t, you should really just try it for yourself.

Last night we smashed 2 ATMs at 20th and Broadway in solidarity with the rebels who lit up Oakland on Wednesday night, and as a reminder to everyone else that this is about class, not just race or a specific instance of police violence. We are all involved in a class conflict which politics cannot contain. Police violence doesn't happen in a vacuum; it happens because there is a capitalist economy based on property and the circulation of commodities, which the police defend and enforce on behalf of the rich. For the rest of us - the exploited and excluded classes - riots and sabotage will be the weapons we use.

January 10th: The Bank of Montreal at the corner of Edinburgh and Speedvale was attacked in the evening. We filled the card slot of the two ATMs with silicone, disabling the machine. Banks finance development and repression, from new police stations to urban sprawl.

A banner was dropped several days ago from an interstate overpass in Fort Collins, CO, in solidarity with those in Greece who are fighting the state, capitalism, and police violence.

The banner read "we are (a)ll greece."

With the growing wave of repression by the state towards direct action oriented struggles, radicals have been bombarded with the shameful concern of snitches and informants. In a struggle which is purely of choice and individual realization, as opposed to a rich cultural or family heritage, a valor dedication to one's community has been shamefully neglected by some. The following article provides a brief look into how radical communities of the past have approached traitors to the community, while at the same time proposing how more unique struggles can learn from it. It is an excerpt from the zine; "Got the Hollow Points for the Snitches".

Chicago -- Standing outside for five days in the Windy City under skies of lead and the thermometer below freezing provides an opportunity to make certain observations. Standing three blocks from the home of the next president of the United States the day he leaves for a new home in Washington, D.C….well you can’t help but observe certain things.

Chicago -- Sub-freezing temperatures and a brisk wind did not darken the day in Drexel Park for the kick off of Camp Hope, an 18-day vigil just down the street from Barrack Obama’s home on Chicago’s south side, yesterday.

Organized by a coalition of social justice, religious and peace organizations from the Chicago area, Camp Hope’s goal is to remind President-elect Obama of the progressive themes he sounded in his campaign and urge him to follow through with policy changes when he takes office later this month.