The Free

from thefreeonline on 2nd Feb 2023 In Contempt by It’s Going Down

In this column, we present our monthly roundup of political prisoner, prison rebel, and repression news, happenings, announcements, action and analysis. Packed in as always are updates, fundraisers, and birthdays.

There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!

Repression of Forest Defenders in Atlanta

“Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is trying to stomp out the protests by any means necessary, charging the demonstrators with terrorism and, on Thursday, calling up the National Guard to stand by to put down any further resistance. “

#StopCopCity #Tortuguita https://www.rollingstone.com/…

January 31, 2023 at 9:43 AM · Edited January 31, 2023 at 9:52 AM · · Web · 9 · 100 · 98 https://kolektiva.social/@igd_news/109782933110963773/embed

January saw brutal state repression directed against defenders of the Atlanta forest, with the state killing one person and arresting others on terror charges.

At time of writing, there are six people being held in jail after being denied bail. Their support details are:

Christopher Reynolds X2204380
DeKalb County Jail
4415 Memorial Drive
Decatur, GA, 30032
(Pre-metered postcards from USPS only)

Nadja Geier #2300000842, 5F3 Room 207
Atlanta City Detention Center
254 Peachtree Street Southwest
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Emily Murphy #2300000841, 5N3 Room 213
Atlanta City Detention Center
254 Peachtree Street Southwest
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

The other three forest defenders are having their names withheld by request, but you can send support mail to:

Atlanta Books to Prisoners
PO Box 5390
Atlanta, GA 30307

The person killed by police, Manny “Tortuguita” Teran, was a supporter of anarchist political prisoner Dan Baker, and you can read a statement from Dan about the death of his friend here.

For more discussion and information on the subject, you can read an investigative article from Grist about the use of terrorism charges, a statement on the repression from the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, and commentary from Natasha Lennard in the Intercept.

The Final Straw Radio broadcast an interview with a friend of Tortuguita and Dan Baker, and Kite Line Radio interviewed a member of the Atlanta Anti-Repression Committee to analyze the situation.

Political Prisoner News

Antifascist prisoner Alex Stokes has now been moved to a more permanent address, and can receive mail at:

Alexander Contompasis 22B5028
Upstate Correctional Facility
PO Box 2001
Malone, NY, 12953

A fundraiser has now been launched to cover the legal costs for his appeal against his incredibly harsh 20-year sentence. For more info on Alex’s case, you can listen to the recent interview with a supporter that was broadcast on This Is America.

The Anarchist Black Cross Federation have recently released a range of new political prisoner support flyers, and NYC ABC have published an updated version of their political prisoner support guide.

As anarchist political prisoner Eric King approaches the end of his lengthy (and eventful!) sentence, a fundraiser has been set up to provide him with post-release support. His support site is now updated on a regular basis, with recent writings from Eric including “Things I wish I knew 9 years ago,” “Just some sad Xmas poems,” and “White trash anarchist,” as well as an update from his support crew.

From Support Eric King:

Eric is so grateful, overwhelmed and humbled by all of the support that has been coming in. Taylor Swift news. Feedback on his writing. Books, notes, letters. He had tears in his eyes this weekend when he was told about it. Life afterward has been on his mind a lot. Getting out, surviving and raising children. And also wrestling with the inadequate feelings when it comes to job prospects, housing and an incredible foreign world. When he entered prison there was not a ton of people lining up his support him. It took months to get a book purchased from his list. Seeing real tangible support is helping quiet those fears. Thinking about cars, computers and capitalism and how much closer he is to working it all out.

Things have been ok. He has finally has his first phone call with his family since 2018, and first visit since the week after trial. He is a bit overwhelmed by the difference in respect that comes from the guards around him. Well trained guards, because the ADX demands that. Guards that know the law and are asked to follow it. It has definitely caused some reflection and wonder… what would it have been like if he were met with guards like this in Englewood? Florence medium? Leavenworth, USP McCreary? FTC Oklahoma? USP Atlanta? USP Lee?

He is safe and thinking about what it will be like ending this year on his way to freedom ❤ We have added some notebooks to his Amazon book list because he needs some paper that is a manageable size. As well as his current obsession and the goal reading every book Colum Mccann has written.

Feb 6th, 2023, will mark the start of Leonard Peltier’s 48th year of imprisonment. Leonard’s Defense Committee are calling for “Rise Up for Peltier” events to mark the date, with events planned for several countries and US locations including Rapid City, SD, Minneapolis, MN, Fargo, ND, Tampa, FL, Santa Fe, NM, Albuquerque, NM, San Francisco, CA, San Jose, CA, Sacramento, CA, Columbia, MO, Tulsa, OK, and Washington DC.

In mid-2022, Ferguson uprising prisoner Josh Williams published an article stating that he was due for release at the start of December. However, at time of writing, the MODOC prisoner locator still shows him as being in custody at Potosi Correctional Center, suggesting that his release may have been prevented. If anyone wants to try and make contact to find out what’s going on, his address is:

Joshua Williams
#1292002
C/O Digital Mail Center-Missouri DOC
PO Box 25678
Tampa, FL 33622-5678
Missouri prisoners can receive electronic messages via Securus Tech.

Ongoing Cases

https://503junk.house/@evdas/109788179558412748/embed

George Floyd Uprising defendant Urooj Rahman has now begun a 15-month sentence at Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, but is not listed on the BOP’s public list of inmates. There are reports that anyone wanting to contact her must pass a background check. Muslims for Just Futures and Urooj’s solidarity committee have put out an important statement discussing her case and the importance of collectively supporting defendants throughout the legal process. You can sign up to get involved in supporting Urooj here, send financial support through Venmo to @Shagufta-Rahman, and Philly-area abolitionists are encouraged to contact community@muslimsforjustfutures.org.

eat veggies daily and survive @evdas@503junk.house

Urooj Rahman

Urooj Rahman, convicted of molotoving a nypd cruiser in 2020, recently began her 15-month sentence and is now being held at philadelphia federal detention center.

EDIT UPDATE: the feds fucked up her entry in their database, left out the ‘j’ in her name… but here is the information to write to her:

Urooj Rahman #83822-053
FDC Philadelphia
P.O. Box 562
Philadelphia, PA 19105

Her support group has put out a solidarity statement, highlighting the gendered islamophobia on display during her trial and the need for building stronger collective defense:
https://bit.ly/SolidarityStatementUR as well a form if you want to get involved in her support, especially if you are in the area:
https://form.jotform.com/230226019488153

#philly #philadelphia #prison #solidarity #freethemall

Feb 01, 2023, 07:57 · · · 74 · 58

George Floyd Uprising defendant Urooj Rahman has now begun a 15-month sentence at Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, but is not listed on the BOP’s public list of inmates. There are reports that anyone wanting to contact her must pass a background check.

Muslims for Just Futures and Urooj’s solidarity committee have put out an important statement discussing her case and the importance of collectively supporting defendants throughout the legal process.

You can sign up to get involved in supporting Urooj here, send financial support through Venmo to @Shagufta-Rahman, and Philly-area abolitionists are encouraged to contact community@muslimsforjustfutures.org.

Continue reading “In Contempt #25: Texas Hunger Strike in 3rd Week; Repression in Atlanta; Eric King Prepares for Release…. – It’s Going Down”

thefreeonline 1 Feb, 2023 by Banned News Agency

A scandal has emerged after a diploma thesis was passed despite being written by the AI-powered chatbot.

READ MORE: ChatGPT maker outsourced work to low-paid Africans – TIME

The Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) has called for restricted access to ChatGPT after a student successfully presented a diploma thesis written by the program.

The AI-powered bot has garnered increasingly widespread attention for its text generation abilities. 

The scandal unfolded after a graduate student with the university took to Twitter to share his experience of using ChatGPT to write his diploma thesis on management.

In a lengthy thread, the student explained how he had circumvented text length restrictions, also sharing insights into how to use the program to get a coherent text.

The thesis was successfully presented at the university. The student admitted that he received only a minimal passing grade, blaming that result on other factors, namely laughing at the purportedly sloppy presentations by other graduates.

All in all, it took the student around 23 hours to ‘write’ his thesis, compared to several weeks spent by his fellow students on their work, according to the thread.

‘Ask Oli’ chatbot starts AI revolution in children’s healthcare

The stunt has received a mixed reception from the Twitter crowd. Some have praised the student for his ingenuity, while others have accused him of cheating.

Several users were so enraged by the trick that they wrote complaints to the RGGU and the Russian Education Ministry, calling on officials to investigate and annul the thesis altogether.

READ MORE: Schools fear AI takeover

The university was quick to condemn the student, urging the authorities to restrict access to ChatGPT for educational facilities. It was not immediately clear how exactly the RGGU seeks to achieve that, given that ChatGPT’s developers have already restricted access to the chat bot for Russian users. 

“If decades ago the main problem for universities was plagiarism and unscrupulous borrowing, and this problem was successfully solved, now the educational community is facing a new challenge associated with the use of neural networks and artificial intelligence in scientific and educational activities.

Russian and foreign experts have expressed concerns about this issue, and finding a worthy solution is a primary task for the scientific community,” the university told Russian media in a statement. 

In separate comments, the RGGU vowed to carry out additional “analysis” of the thesis, both internally and with the involvement of the scientific community.

At the same time, the deputy head of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education, Aleksandr Mazhuga, urged the university not to annul the thesis, arguing that it has already passed the presentation. 

“My opinion is that the result cannot be annulled. But this is a very important signal for our educational community that we need to carefully participate in the process of writing our students’ theses,” Mazhuga told Gazeta.ru.

thefreeonline Feb 1, 2023 by OffGuardian .

Coronavirus Fact-Check #17: Masks STILL Don’t Work They’re trying to bring mask mandates back – but a new study says masks do exactly what they’ve always done: Nothing.

You can read all our previous Covid fact-checks here.

Both the US and UK have seen the (attempted) re-introduction of facemask mandates amid “surging Covid cases” in the New Year.

On January 9th, ABC news headlined:–

More US schools institute mask mandates as COVID cases rise

Reporting that public schools in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Michigan were re-introducing mask mandates. That follows late-December mandates imposed in Oakland and Iowa, among others.

It’s not much different in the UK, where there have been no mandates issued, but “experts” are “urging” people to wear masks to “limit the spread of flu, Covid and Scarlet Fever”, according to the Daily Mail. The OKHSA issued “guidance”, as they are wont to do.

Meanwhile, the Guardian is back to publishing manipulative op-eds attempting to “end the culture war” on masks, and turning the whole issue into nothing but a virtue signal.

All of this is, of course, pure propaganda that ignores actual science in favour “The Science^TM“.

Masks don’t work, that was our 6th Covid Fact-check, back in June of 2020.

For over two years we’ve been publishing piles of evidence that face masks not only do nothing to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses but are actually harmful in myriad ways.

We really don’t want to have to go over all the old research papers again…

…and we don’t have to, because there’s a new one.

On January 30th the Cochrane Library published an updated literature review on facemasks from Dr Tom Jefferson et al..

On cloth masks, a review of a dozen studies found:

Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza‐like illness (ILI)/COVID‐19 like illness compared to not wearing

masks […] Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of laboratory‐confirmed influenza/SARS‐CoV‐2 compared to not wearing masks…

There you go. Maybe wear that quote on a lanyard instead of a mask this year.

You can read all our previous Covid fact-checks here.

from thefreeonline on 2nd Feb 2023 by The Bristol Activist

frpm The Bristol Activist January 31, 2023 James Ward Court, news, Top Story Leave a comment

A High Court judge has dismissed the appeal of climate campaigners and ruled that Bristol Airport expansion can go ahead.  

Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN) challenged the airport’s expansion plans in the High Court following their approval by planning inspectors at an inquiry in 2021. BAAN argued that the inspectors’ decision to discount climate change from their decision was legally wrong. 

However, in an announcement published today (January 31) Lord Justice Lane ruled that the inspectors’ decision was valid and that the expansion should proceed. 

Responses from campaigners 

The decision comes as a blow to BAAN who have campaigned to stop Bristol Airport expansion since plans for expansion were announced in 2018. There were tears amongst the members of BAAN and their supporters as news of the judge’s ruling broke to those waiting outside the courthouse. 

Hundreds gathered outside Bristol Civil Justice Centre, where the hearing was held in November, and cries of “shame” echoed out when the verdict was shared. 

Speaking for BAAN outside the courthouse, Steve Clarke said: ‘The Government has policies in place which are designed to encourage the growth of airports and the number of people wanting to fly. This shows a total disregard for the climate emergency we are in.

‘In addition, this case shows that no one is taking responsibility for the extra carbon emissions from the 2 million additional passengers because they will not have been taken into account at any stage of the process either locally or nationally.

The Planning Inspectors who presided over the Inquiry stated that the responsibility lay with national Government however the Secretary of State has chosen not to consider the impact of the additional carbon; either at Bristol or other regional airport.

‘The end result of this decision is that the overwhelming voices of opposition of local people and their elected representatives have been ignored.  This is despite the chaos that will be caused locally through extra traffic congestion, noise and air pollution and the fact that the airport is already the biggest carbon emitter in the region.’

Following speeches from campaigners, protesters from XR Youth Bristol sat in front of the courthouse as fake blood was poured over their heads.

How did we get here? 

Thousands of local people signed petitions against the expansion and objected to the original planning application, outnumbering messages of support many times over. 

Bristol Airport’s planning application to expand from 10 million to 12 million passengers a year initially went before North Somerset Council in February 2020. Councillors voted against expansion, many giving as their reason that airport expansion is incompatible with efforts to tackle the climate crisis. 

Since then, further planning applications have been objected to, and the West of England Combined Authority and Bristol City Council joined North Somerset in formally objecting to expansion, although Bristol mayor Marvin Rees has always spoken in favour of the scheme. 

Continue reading “Plane Wrong: Bristol Airport Expansion upheld in new Blow to Campaigners”