social revolution – Page 1389

take the streets/Amsterdam./Grupos de Acción/Action Groups

(IN ENGLISH BELOW)

Hola a tod@s!!! Ayer lunes 30 de mayo, parte del grupo de acción nos reunimos y, junto
con otra gente presente en la plaza, proponemos hacer la acción
llamada “EXPRESIÓN” el próximo miércoles 1 de junio. La idea es que
todo el que quiera participe (no sólo el grupo de acción). Nos
reuniremos el miércoles 1 de junio a las 20:00 h en la plaza Dam y con
la gente que participe en la acción decidiremos cómo vamos a
desarrollar especificamente la acción.

Descripción de la acción:
– Expresión: se trata de un grupo de personas en fila (una al lado de
la otra aunque también se puede hacer de manera diferente siempre que
todas las personas participando sean visibles por el público) con la
boca tapada con esparadrapo (en línea recta o en forma de cruz)
simbolizando la opresión del sistema. Después de unos minutos y cuando
el grupo haya llamado la atención del público (simplemente por estar
quietos con el esparadrapo en la boca) uno a uno cada persona del
grupo se quita el esparadrapo y grita una palabra o reivindicación
(por ejemplo: solidaridad, libertad, etc) simbolizando que estamos
preparados para alzar nuestra voz.

El material necesario (esparadrapo ancho) será proporcionado por el
grupo de acción.

VEN A LA PLAZA Y PARTICIPA!!!!!

Grupo de trabajo de ACCIÓN

Yesterday 30th May, part of the ACTION workgroup met, and together
with other people in the square, we propose to do the action called “EXPRESSION” next
Wednesday 1st June. The idea is that everyone (who
wishes to) participates, not only the action group. We will meet next
Wednesday 1st June at 20:00 h in the Dam and with the people who wants
to participate we will decide the exact form of the action.

– Expression: it consists on a group of people in line (one next to
each other although other configurations are also possible if all the
people of the group is visible by the public) with the mouth covered
by tape or plaster (in a horizontal line or as a cross) symbolizing
the system oppression. After a few minutes and when the group has
reached the public attention (just by standing still with the tape
covering their mouths), one by one, each person in the group removes
his/her tape and shouts loud a word or demand (for example:
solidarity, freedom) symbolizing that we are ready to rise our voice.

The material needed (tape or plaster) will be provided by the action
workgroup.

COME TO THE SQUARE AND PARTICIPATE!!!

Ireland: Workers Solidarity #121 now online

After a quiet start to the year, political activity for the WSM picked up on a number of fronts in March and April. We were involved (as part of the 1% Network) in organising street theatre at the Central Bank in Dublin, aiming to highlight the fact that, no matter who is government, the same wealthy elite is still in power (see http://www.wsm.ie/c/kenny-gilmore-puppets-string-wealthy).

Also in Dublin, we supported pickets at the “Courts of Justice” in support of Gerard McDonnell, who is facing charges in relation to a “floating picket” carried out during the protracted strike at MTL in Dublin docks in 2009 (see http://www.wsm.ie/c/protest-courts-justice-mtl-striker). Our members attended the Feminist Walking Tour, organised by Choice Ireland, on International Womens Day (http://www.wsm.ie/c/dub-feminist-walking-tour-2011). We were also present at the Dail protest following the garda rape threat to female Shell to Sea activists in Mayo.

Down South, our Cork branch remains busy running a series of activities in our “Solidarity Books” venue. As well as film nights, board game evenings and the weekly vegan café, they are hosting “Spring Talks” fortnightly through April and May covering topics such as child welfare and class, the role of women in farmers rights, abortion in Ireland and Cork Labour in the 1916 – 1922 period. Check out the Solidarity Books facebook page for more details. Elsewhere, our members were involved in organising activities for International Womens Day, including a meal, films and talks held in Douglas St. The branch continues its involvement in Cork United Against the Cuts’ and Social Welfare Defenders’ attempts to resist austerity measures.

Outside the urban centres, protests continued in Mayo against Shells recommencement of work following the signing of the foreshore licences required by Pat Carey in the dying days of the last government. The WSM has had a presence there during two weekends of Shell to Sea (http://www.shelltosea.com/) actions carried out against Shell during April. There is a comprehensive resource of articles at http://www.wsm.ie/rossport examining all aspects of the struggle.

As per the article elsewhere in this issue, we are now busy preparing for the 2011 Anarchist Bookfair. Hopefully, the range of talks and the sharing of experiences of anarchists from outside Ireland will prove the catalyst for renewed efforts by us to both promote the anarchist message and get involved in the struggles that lie ahead. If you would like to share in this, please get in touch!

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20110530003007378

PDF of Workers Solidarity 121 Web Edition 3.73 Mb

Anonymous: peering behind the mask

Are members of the ‘hacktivist group’ Anonymous defenders of truth and seekers of knowledge, or simply a bunch of cyber terrorists? Jana Herwig investigates

Researcher Jana Herwig dons the mask of Anonymous

When Anonymous first made big headlines in early 2008 with its protests against the Church of Scientology, dubbed Project Chanology, it was not yet apparent that Anonymous would be here to stay.

Three years later, Anonymous has not only gained a sizeable collection of adversaries and critics – including government agencies, IT security companies and digital rights advocacies who criticise its methods – it has also won scores of secret and not so secret admirers, especially among the highly social media literate, digital creative class.

The reputation of its members as defenders of truth and seekers of knowledge, digital avengers who cannot be lied to because they will hijack the emails of those who try, seems to strike a chord with many.

What has remained unclear is just who or what Anonymous is.