Full citation: Evarts, Craig, Josh Laughlin, Ayelet Hines, Jim Flynn, John Bowling, and Lacey Phillabaum, eds., Earth First! Journal 18, no. 6 (21 June 1998). Digitized in cooperation with the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/7037 Copyright: All rights reserved. The user may download, preserve and print this material only for private, research or nonprofit educational purposes. The user may not alter, transform, or build upon this material. • trs Litha $3 ..•50 June-July 1998 THE RADICAL ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNAL Vol. 18, No.6 Virtual Lighten Up! Globalization Ain't So Bad! Luddites WORLDWIDE PARTIES RECLAIM THE STREETS 1 BY AYELET HINES AND CRAIG EVARTS Monkeywrenchln~ It's all the rage. Kids love it more than Beenie Babies and sniffing glue. Reclaim the Streets actions debuted in London @nthel\[eb in 1991 and have become a favorite pastime in cities around the globe. Reclaim the Streets (RTS) parties celebrate the anti-roads movement by promoting walking, cycling and free public transportation, while cursing cars, roads and the system that bore them. Paint-it-yourself bicycle lanes, road blockades, street parties and strike organizing have all been BY STEFAN WRAY part of the worldwide effort to reclaim public space and resist our money-grubbing car culture. Computers. Some of us swear by them. May 16 was the international RTS day of observance. Ana!'chists throughout the world defied even the calendar Others against them. But whether by taking back their streets you're for or against computers, they as early as April. The aren't likely to go away anytime soon. partygoers all had a fabu­ They are fast becoming part of nearly lously good time, which is everyone's reality. It is almost impos­ more than can be said for sible to function today without being most of the police who touched by computers. But even if we patrolled them. We ranked somehow manage to live far from com­ police forces around the puterized society, our opponents, like world according to their the federal government and giant cor­ ability to have fun, and < · porations, depend heavily on these here's how the cops scored microprocessing machines. Given that from cranky to swanky: our political opponents are among the Prague, Czech Republic: most wired in the world, it is foolish to Don't take Czech po-po to ignore the computer. Rather, it is im­ your prom. They aren't portant to turn our attention toward it, much. fun at all. In fac t, to understand it and to transform it into they are far and away the an instrument of resistance. For the losers of this year's Golden Luddites of the world who resist com­ Donut, Fun Cop Award. puters, consider using them· to resist. Prague.'s first RTS day of Until recently, most radical computer observance went off with use had been confined to communicat­ a bang. Over 3,000 people ing messages over ·the Internet. In the blocked the city's main· 1980s, social movements began to en­ road with four sound sys- Dancing on the ruins in London. gagein computer-mediated political com­ terns, 20 disc jockeys, 30 drummers, a puppet show and fire performers. Six police cars, a few billboards, three · munication. Today political communi­ McDonalds, a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a skinhead shop were demolished. Police arrested over 100 partygoers. cation by e-mail, supplemented by texts, Local media declared the party the biggest police confrontation in the country in ten years. Forty people were · sounds and images posted on intercon­ injured and 22 police officers hospitalized. A judge ruled that nine party guests, charged with hooliganism and nected websites, represents the bulk of attacking public officials, must remain in custody during an investigation of the party. If convicted, they face up · communicative computer use by radical to three years in prison. The festivities were condemned by Czech Greenpeace, but what do you expect from a party . social movements around the world. The hosted by the Czechoslovak Anarchist Federation, the Rainbow Keepers and Earth First!? experience of the global pro-Zapatista Toronto, Canada: Toronto police lose big fun points for weaving through the party with knives, cutting streamers, movement exemplifies these forms of bursting balloons and threatening people with arrest. Over 600 dancing and drumming riffraff split into two unwieldy international political communication groups reclaiming their streets. The balloon-stomping squad, after harassing people sitting in the street, eventually opened on the Internet. their blockade, allowing partygoers to march down the street. Four people were arrested for having fun, a felony in Canada. continued on page 16 continued on page 21 HANDS OFF THE U'WA! BY PAN AND FISH TACO Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) plans to drill for oil and lay an oil pipeline in the Samore block of the Arauca state of Colombia, an area that, according to the indigenous U'wa tradition, has been the sacred homeland of their people since the beginning of time. The U'wa have vowed to walk off a 1,400-foot cliff in a mass suicide if their ancestral home is violated. There is good reason to take the threat seriously. Once before, when the Spanish conquistadors came, a large number of U'wa walked over the same cliff. Nonetheless, the Los Angeles-based Oxy corporation continues making plans to drill. Guerrilla warfare always follows oil development in Colombia. Because of guerrilla sabotage, another Occidental oil project, the Canon Limon pipeline, has spilled 1. 7-million barrels of crude oil over the last 11 years, the equivalent of over five Exxon Valdez-size spills. Either by.poisoning their land, destroying their self-sufficient culture or provoking guerilla crossfire or direct attack, the U'wa are certain to be killed by Oxy if this oil project goes ahead. continued ori page 15 "Blood" spilled at Oxy headquarters. EARTH · FIRST! NO COMPROMISE IN DEFENSE OF MOTHER EARTH POB 1415 • EUGENE, OREGON 97440 • (541) 344-8004 actions, for entire campaigns. The people that are good at Earth First! Journa1 WeDon'tDeserveto Win it will inspire us to work with them again. The one time I worked with Green peace, I was impressed LITHA At times, I feel like the Earth First! movement is regress­ by their structure for actions. The action had a leader ing. What happened to the days of blowing up dams and (campaigner) who had ultimate say over and responsibility unc 21. 1998 assassinating james Watt? (Okay, we never · GPers'actions. Differentpeoplewereempowered J those things, but it seems like we their parts of the actions-boat coordi­ Vol. 18. No. 6 about them nowadays.) Vast database specialists, volun­ The Earth First! Journal is published by an abolishing the Forest problem with Greenpeace, editorial staff from within the Earth First! mands when some leaders, and they have a movement. Entire contents are copyrighted What happened overall, they tunc­ 1998. We allow reprinting if credit is given, wrenchers and for their strengths, except for those articles spedfically copy­ around you at ~P1Jre,cia'te<1 for its righted by the author. Art, photographs wannabe .and poetry are copyrighted by the indi­ vidual artists and permission for use must radical be received from them. Did the Earth First! Journal is a forum for the no­ compromise environmental movement. Responsibility rests with the individual authors and correspondents. The contents do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of this newspaper, the Earth First! movement, local Earth First! groups or individual Earth First!ers. 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Journal is recorded on microfilm who wants by University Microfilms, Inc. we need a t! musician All correspondence regarding subscrip­ tions, merchandise orders, donations, we need'-UCIU;:UUICI stump home in letters to the editor, articles, photos, we trust, people by many here in graphics, etc., should be directed to: · We actually do have family, nobody in Earth First!; we just . On March 21, Earth First! journal A good model for us his sleeping bag. The cause POB 1415, Eugene, OR 97440 ment: lots of leaders but no .,,,.'1'7"''" visionary who lived his Phone: (541) 344-8004, Fax: 344-7688 mean that we're stuck with them or to the land as he could, sharing E-mail: [email protected] orders. Leadership does not mean bicycling and treading lightly on http:/ /~ . envirolink . org/orgs/e f ship. Reluctant leaders are often the best. An Earth. His last moments were spent in his peaceful King Quitter: James P. Flynn, Esq. leader has a good a sense of humor, shares rather than home in the woods, snuggled in his sleeping bag with forest fog Queen Quitter: Ayelet Hines hoards information and, above all, is able to recognize and and fern. Now he has cycled back into the forest floor where new Spiritual Guide: Acasia Berry give up a firmly-held belief if someone else has a better seedlings sprout this spring. We love you, Lee. Merchandise Merchant: Isabella List Master: Jeff Hogg one. Leadership roles can be rotated, at meetings, at -SPRING Vernacular Enrichment: Craig Evarts, ------------------------------------------------1 Josh Laughlin, Ayelet Hines, Jim Flynn, John Bowling, Lacey Phillabaum, BY FAITH WALKER Poetry Digestor: Dennis Fritzinger Enablers: Carol, Kim, Frog, Katie, Nat, only get a free meal but also predator-repelling toxins Michelle, Ellen, Sarah, Kelsey, Catia, called lucibufagins (LCB) found in the prey's tissue.