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Los dΓas 11 y 12 de diciembre se realizΓ³ en BogotΓ‘ el Primer Encuentro Nacional por el Derecho a Reparar por parte del gobierno de Colombia, que estΓ‘ por lanzar un interesante proyecto de clubes de reparaciΓ³n para jΓ³venes, para que aprendan a arreglar computadoras, enseΓ±arles a instalar software libre y animarse a no ser solamente consumidores pasivos de tecnologΓa.
A fines de noviembre recibimos la invitaciΓ³n para que una persona de Cybercirujas viaje a BogotΓ‘ los dΓas 11 y 12 de diciembre para participar del Encuentro Derecho a Reparar: el embajador cyberciruja elegido fue Uctumi, quien nos deleita con la siguβ¦
Ontdek meer muziek in de Arcade Spotify app: http://spoti.fi/10us3IYCNR Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNRNederland CNR Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/...
Got this ad - from Tiktok, this isnβt a user page but from TikTok itself. It lead to this store page. Fuck this. Fuck everything. I am so fucking tired.
PFLP Expresses its Full Solidarity With the Heroes of βPalestine Actionβ on Hunger Strike, Holds the British Regime Responsible for Their Lives
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine expresses its complete and unlimited solidarity with the heroes of the βPalestine Actionβ movement who are on hunger strike in British prisons, and whose health condition has entered the stage of extreme danger. As a result of their insistence on confronting the colonial system of oppression with empty hearts, in defense of Palestinian rights and in rejection of the British governmentβs complicity in the war of extermination.
The Front holds the British Labor Party government fully responsible for the lives of the strikers, considering that the policy of deliberate medical negligence practiced by the British authorities against these activists, leaving them to face slow death, is a carbon copy of what the criminal Zionist occupation practices against our heroic prisoners, which reaffirms that the killer and the colonizer are one, and the repressive policy towards supporters of freedom is indivisible.
The arbitrary arrest without trial that the βPalestine Actionβ activists are subjected to, and the classification of their movement as a βterroristβ organization, is a moral and legal decline that reflects the Starmer governmentβs complete dependence on the dictates of the influential Zionist lobby.
The Front denounces the blatant contradiction of the British government; While it feigns calls to stop the war, it is actually complicit in the annihilation of Gaza and obstructing the international prosecution of the war criminal Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court, and at the same time it is waging a repressive campaign against its honorable citizens who are rising up to close the Elbit Systems factories that are killing our children.
The struggle of the peoples to stop this attack against freedom activists is one struggle, whether in London, New York, Berlin or Gaza, and we call on the living and free forces in Britain and the world to escalate popular and trade union pressure to save the lives of the strikers, and to stand in the face of these repressive measures that have crossed all the red lines and international laws that Britain praises.
Time is running out, and the lives of the activists are in danger. We demand their immediate release, and the repeal of the unjust decisions banning their peaceful activity against genocide.
"The purpose of a system is what it does." So the purpose of Judaism is to swindle the whole world in order to raise enough money to fund the conquest of Greater Israel, no matter how many children they have to kill to get it.
Trans rights group makes extraordinary threat after state government moved to ban puberty blockers dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1β¦
* "QTrans has threatened to 'out' closeted politicians * It wants the state ban on puberty blockers for minors lifted * READ MORE: NFL's first transgender cheerleader makes explosive allegation * By ASHLEY NICKEL, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA
Queensland's oldest trans rights organisation has threatened to 'out' secretly queer politicians if the state doesn't lift a five-year puberty blockers ban.
The Queensland Transgender Gender Diverse and Non-Binary Association (QTrans) announced the controversial move following a declaration from the state government on Friday.
It called for all queer organisations to ban LNP members 'from attending any public facing event and from endorsing any state government policy' as part of a 'pink ban'.
The group also threatened to 'out' closeted members of Liberal National Party (LNP) if it did not reverse the new legislation, which blocks minors from accessing puberty blockers.
'If they want a war with the trans community, it's coming. We will out every silent queer member of their party who supports the mistreatment of trans children,' QTrans said in a statement.
QTrans president Brianna Hammond defended the group's threat as a direct response to the new 'barbaric' laws.
'They have just put their fingers in their ears, they're not listening to any feedback whatsoever from trans healthcare experts and they haven't taken a word of our advice on board,' Ms Hammond said.
'We have the information to out queer people in the LNP who voted for this, and we'll let that play on the minds of those in government.
'But the ball is in their court. The more sensible option is for the party to sit down with us to find a sensible solution rather than ignoring us and ignoring health experts.'
State Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced the decision to extend the ban through to 2031 following the completion of a 530-page review into Queensland's gender affirming care model.
The report, by Victoria's former chief psychiatrist Professor Ruth Vine, found evidence supporting the use of puberty blockers in adolescents was very limited while patients' bone health and fertility was negatively impacted.
Nicholls cited that lack of evidence during his announcement on Friday.
'These decisions were made with the safety and wellbeing of Queensland children front and centre, and we will continue to treat this matter with the respect and sensitivity it deserves,' a spokeswoman for Nicholls told the Courier Mail.
In February there were at least 500 children waiting to be approved for puberty blockers and gender-affirming medication in the Queensland health system.
That number is expected to jump with the extension of the ban.
Health Minister Tim Nicholls (pictured) on Friday cited limited evidence supporting to long-term benefits of puberty blockers versus its known side effects on bone and fertility health
Health Minister Tim Nicholls (pictured) on Friday cited limited evidence supporting to long-term benefits of puberty blockers versus its known side effects on bone and fertility health
'As the queer community, we need to step up and put unbelievable pressure on this government to reverse its decision,' Ms Hammond said.
QTrans has since removed its statement threatening to 'out' politicians.
'The post of 20th December by the QTrans President calling for a "Pink Ban Against The LNP" has been taken down pending a full board of management meeting to be held as soon as practicable,' QTrans secretary Fran Mulcahy said.
'Much of the original post is in line with the board's beliefs we need time to clarify some of the details and language used.'
Daily Mail has contacted QTrans for further comment. "
Life as a Red Guard in Revolutionary China β Interview with Red Guard Veteran Fred Engst [Part I]
Chinaβs rise is reshaping the world. US hegemony is crumbling, and a βChinese centuryβ is no longer unthinkable. From socialist book clubs to US anti-communist think tanks, people rush to explain what China is and how it came to be.
Yet to understand China today, it is not enough to analyze GDP figures or geopolitics. You have to understand how the Peopleβs Republic was forged, and above all, the upheaval that marked its most contested and transformative moment: the Cultural Revolution. To explore this history from the inside, [comra] sat down with Red Guard veteran Fred Engst in Beijing.
β[β¦] the Cultural Revolution was the most comprehensive, the longest-lasting, the most thoroughgoing, and the most in-depth experiment of the working class to explore how to be the real master of society,β Engst said.
Known in China as Yang Heping, Engst was born in Beijing to American communist parents who joined the Chinese revolution in the 1940s. Raised on a state farm in the Chinese countryside, a Red Guard in his teens, a factory worker on both sides of the Pacific, and later an economist, Engst lived the Cultural Revolution before spending decades trying to understand it.
In the first part of this two-part interview, he reflects on his personal experiences, the lessons of that turbulent era, and why one of the most misunderstood periods of modern Chinese history still matters today.
Fred Engst with family in Beijing, 1960s & [comra] meeting Fred Engst in Beijing [comra]: You grew up during revolutionary Chinaβs most formative years. There are many misconceptions surrounding that era; what was it actually like to experience it firsthand?
Fred Engst: Well, itβs hard to ask fish to describe water, isnβt it? What I can say, of course, is in contrast to other experiences. What made China a revolutionary society was not that it kept on talking about the glorious past, but rather that it had to deal with the contemporary issues [it was facing]. And the Cultural Revolution was a case in point. That was really inspiring when I was in seventh grade [β¦]
Young people generally tend to be rebellious, right? You know, middle school and high school kids are in their rebellious age. So theyβve been very easily drawn to this idea that we should not just learn through books. The reason we learn stuff in school is to become the rulers in society. Because the traditional Chinese idea is that rulers use their brains, and the people use their muscles. Thatβs the Confucian idea. We were rebelling against that kind of Confucian idea. Unfortunately, today, thatβs the dominant idea.
What is socialism? How to achieve socialism? Is a peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism possible? And when you have socialism, how do you know you have socialism? These were the kind of debates that really excited the youth. And they wanted to make sure that China stayed on the socialist road rather than learning from capitalist society. That was the spirit of the students. And of course, that eventually led them to the workers and peasants. Once the working class overthrows capitalism, feudalism, and imperialism and sets up a new government, then the real issue becomes, how do you governβhow do you run the new society?
Factories have to be organized and coordinated, and agriculture has to be collectivized. But then, what is the relationship between the managers and the managed? What are their roles, and how does one become the manager? And how does one manage? Does one manage in the same way as the capitalists, or how is socialist management different from capitalism? These are very concrete day-to-day life experiences that people need to deal with.
Long story short, the Cultural Revolution was the most comprehensive, the longest-lasting, the most thoroughgoing, and the most in-depth experiment of the working class to explore how to be the real master of society. And thatβs the significance of the Cultural Revolution. I witnessed that, and I saw all kinds of ups and downs.
The βJanuary Revolutionβ in Shanghai, 1967 & Chinese youth discussing political theory, 1968 [comra]: What makes the Cultural Revolution such an important topic in modern Chinese history?
Fred Engst: First, the New China brought education to the whole population. The writing of history was no longer a privilege only a few had. So we had a whole population that was able to write its own history. For todayβs people to be able to study that history is an enormous amount of wealth of information. That is unprecedented.
This was the most complex struggle in human historyβcomplex in the sense that every type of conceivable ideology in society today, any kind of ideology, had a chance to play. Then what kind of ideology really wins? And how do you reach consensus? The working class and peasantry were not born to know how to be the masters of society.
And how do you distinguish and correctly handle two very distinct types of contradictions? That between the working class and the old ruling class? Thatβs easy. You know who the old landlord was. You know who the old capitalist was. But what about the contradictions among the people?
There was a phrase during the Cultural Revolution called βcapitalist roaders.β People in the leadership went down a capitalist road; people in the partyβthe authorityβwent down a capitalist road. But how do you know what a capitalist road is? Itβs not like they had it written on their foreheads: βIβm a capitalist roader. Come on, shoot me.β Nothing like that. So how do you identify anybody in the leadership, whether theyβre going down a capitalist road or a socialist road?
Of course, in hindsight today, we know what it is. But you have to go back in history and see what the actual struggle wasβwhere was the fork in the road? And actually, on this road of building socialism, there are many, many forks. When people have different opinionsβdifferent ideasβdoes it make them capitalist? Or are they just people who have different opinions?
It is unimaginably complicated. Also, people born in the old society had all kinds of backward ideologies that they picked up as they were growing up. I mean, feudalism, imperialism, and capitalist ideology donβt just die away.
[A new society] has a lot of baggage from the old societyβin ideology, in customs, in habits. Thus, the working class has to struggle and try to figure out what ideologyβwhat kind of line and practiceβis for the interest of the working class in the long term, and what is just for short-term benefits, or what is the leftover from the old society?
Basically, it comes down to the working class having to change itself in the process of changing society. These two things go hand in hand. And the big lessonβif I can say so nowβis that the working class really needs to learn how to overcome factionalism within its own ranks. Thatβs what caused the demise of the Cultural Revolution, because once the working class rises up trying to be the master of society, they split into different factions and they ruthlessly fight each other. Some people resorted to violence, and in some places it was pretty brutal, pretty bloody.
Today, thatβs all you hear about it. But you have to analyze it through the lens of that being the growing pain of the working class learning how to be the master of society. You cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. There were a lot of mistakes made, but there was a lot of experience gained. It is a tremendous wealth of experience that needs to be summed up for any future working-class struggle, because we will make the same mistakes. History repeats itself. But once we learn this history, hopefully we can make fewer mistakes.
[comra]: What was the role of women in the Cultural Revolution?
Fred Engst: Itβs not just about the Cultural Revolution alone, but the Chinese Revolution as a whole. You had the Chinese people who came from a long feudal societyβthe obedience to authority, the oppression of women, and the hierarchical way of society were very deeply ingrained.
And the Cultural Revolution provided a tremendous destruction of that kind of feudal weight and that oppression of women. The oppression of women was broken through land reform, through collectivization.
But also during the Cultural Revolution, you had so many women Red Guards and women rebels, and they were really just equally capable of challenging authority. And they were just totally free to do that. That has never before existed on such a mass scale.
[comra]: Looking back on your time as a Red Guard, what is one moment that sticks in your mind the most?
Fred Engst: In 1966, our family moved to Beijing, and after a while, I went with my cousin to a coal mining town, just like Red Guards would travel to a coal mining town. I stayed there for about three or four months. I was only 14. We went to the mines and worked with the miners.
So one day, another worker from a different mine came to our field and said, βGod damn it, those conservative factions tore down and burned the national flag. They are counterrevolutionaries! Weβve got to go condemn them!β
So we all got excited. And then after work, we got off the mine, went to the bathhouse, cleaned up, changed our clothes, and marched to the coal mining headquarters. There were hundreds of workers, and they were all arguing and talking. I just went, βWhat happened? What happened? What happened?β
It turned out there were two factions of workers: one rebel and one conservative. And the conservative faction felt like the factory managers were revolutionaries, and that the others attacked them and were counterrevolutionary. The rebel faction said that the leadership were capitalist roaders and that they upheld the capitalist line, and that they were going to rebel against them.
The argument got heated up. So then the conservative faction got so angry with the rebel faction that they tore down the rebel flag and put it down on the floor. Turns out it wasnβt a national flag but the rebelsβ flag. And the rebel said, βWe are the revolutionaries. You tore down our flag and that defines you as reactionary.β It was just that logic.
Daily life during the Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976 So you can see, the working class needs to learn how to be the master of society, and there are these small issues. Because of the Cultural Revolution, people in China had a sense that they were the masters of society. So they dared to speak up, and they dared to criticize the leadership. They had whatβs called big character posters.
But today, whereβs the place for people to speak up other than on βelection daysβ? You can support certain candidates, but have no arena, a space where people can discuss their schools, their factories, their farms, their institutions, a space where everything goes practically. I saw this in the factories, and I saw it in schools. You had your big character posters criticizing the leadership or some other factionβyou had factional debatesβand you put your poster up and the other guy says, βNo, I donβt like that.β He writes something else and covers it up. It was so confusing. People had to sit through all these opinions and figure out what the real issue was.
Thatβs the relevance for China and the Chinese working class. They were determined to control their destiny. However, due to immaturity, they got stuck in factional infighting and let the capitalist roaders take over.
[comra]: Few modern historical narratives are as highly contested as the Cultural Revolution, but why?
These so-called capitalist roaders were also former revolutionaries. They made great contributions to the Chinese Revolution, the War Against Japanese Aggression, and the war against the Nationalists [Chinese Civil War]. So these were former revolutionaries, but later on, they treated the people as their subordinates. They saw themselves as the masters rather than the servants of the people. Class struggle in China built up to that extentβthat sharp disagreement about which way to go forward for China.
China was a very backward agricultural society. Before 1949, roughly 80% of the population engaged in agriculture, and we had a very poverty-stricken society that went through a hundred years of warring warlords fighting each other and imperialists plundering China. So it was a country ravaged by imperialism and feudal warlords fighting each other. To then overthrow imperialism and capitalism was a big achievement. But thus, the people who joined the revolution before β49 had all kinds of reasons to join the revolution. They could be against feudalism, but not capitalism. They could be against imperialism, but not capitalism, and so on and so forth.
The revolutionary ranks were made up of people with all kinds of different ideologies, so that during the revolutionary war, it was not clear what their true motivation was, because everybody was fighting a common enemy. But once that common enemy was overthrown, the differences among the ranks within the so-called vanguard partyβthe differences in ideologyβstarted manifesting themselves.
Then China started condemning the Cultural Revolution, and that made me realize, βWait a minute. I understand why you condemn it. Because you were the target! You were the capitalist roaders. And thatβs why you condemn it.β
You know, after the Cultural Revolution, there was something called βscarlet literatureβ and sobbing, crying about how [intellectuals] were mistreated by the Red Guards, by the Cultural Revolution, and the whole anti-intellectualism. I found that laughable and sad at the same time. Because part of all this so-called persecution against intellectuals was not done by the state. It was the infighting among the intellectuals themselves. I mean, imagine university professors fighting each other. Who do you blame?
[comra]: You jumped straight from the Cultural Revolution into the cold waters of the US. How can one imagine this drastic contrast?
Fred Engst: I found it really puzzling when I first went to the US. And in the US, they always praised themselves as champions of democracy and freedom. So I said, βWell, I experienced the Cultural Revolution. Why are you condemning the Cultural Revolution? Isnβt that democracy?β People responded, βNo, itβs not.β And when I asked, βOh, what is democracy then?β they just said, βElections!β
Okay, if elections are democracy, then what about the factories? I mean, I experienced a real, lively, daily type of democracy. We argued, debated, and we talked about freedom. I mean, of course, thereβs a limit to what you can freely say.
In the US, you can say anything you want, but youβre not free to criticize your boss. I mean, you could criticize your boss, but then youβd [be fired]. Youβve got to pay a price for it. So, I find it really puzzling when Western scholars, especially, are so into US democracy, freedom, and Western ideology, and condemn what was going on in the Cultural Revolution.
The portrayal of China as an authoritarian regime is so contrary to the daily lives of the people. And thatβs whatβs incredible. I was working in a factory during Maoβs period for five years, and then I went to the US, where I worked in a factory for more than a dozen years. And the contrast cannot be more startling. After my five years in that Beijing factory, I donβt have a single memory of the workers being afraid of the people in the leadership. When the factory managers and people in the top leadership came, the workers just said, βGod, I havenβt seen you in a long time,β in a sarcastic tone, as in, βYou are so divorced from the masses.β
To have an impact on whatβs going on in the factory, you cannot just go by your own grievances. To have an impact, your grievances must be shared by a whole lot of people. So you have to have some kind of consensus among the workers, saying, βNo, this is wrong.β Only then can you really make a change.
However, it was a revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. What does that mean? That means you could not challenge socialism. If you had said, βDown with the Communist Party, down with Mao,β you would have been condemned by the population. Before the cops wouldβve come to arrest you, you wouldβve been beaten [by the people]. People were really into defending the new society.
Mass rally in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution & Children in Yunnan Province studying the βLittle Red Bookβ [comra]: What do you think is the most dangerous or most common misconception about the Cultural Revolution era?
Fred Engst: Misconceptions? There are a lot of them. Iβm not sure which one is the most dangerous. What does that mean? I think it depends. If you are on the side of capitalists, then of course you condemn the Cultural Revolution, that is the so-called βtyranny of the majority,β the lived experience of the βtyranny of the majority.β And if youβre afraid of the majority, itβs because youβre a capitalist; that I can understand. But if you are coming from a working-class perspective and condemn the Cultural Revolution, you are just totally misinformed.
I was really confused in the 80s and 90s because of what happened in Chinaβall the denunciations of the Cultural Revolution, of Mao, made me wonder whether I was brainwashed, whether I was duped, whether I was just naive, whether I was just believing whatever I heard first and then sticking to it.
So Iβve been challenging and questioning my understanding [of the Cultural Revolution], but I cannot negate my experience. I cannot erase what I saw. Quite often, what we see is people calling it chaotic, crazy, almost like religious fervor. And all that means is that they donβt understand what happened.
They focus on Maoβs personality cult. But is that the main contradiction in Chinese society? Itβs not, right? When we try to overthrow feudalism and feudal ideology, it doesnβt happen overnight. So the people who joined the revolution had all kinds of motives. And the workers who rebelled against the capitalist roaders mightβve quite often used feudal ideology as their weapon because thatβs what they knew.
Okay, so you got to figure out what the main contradiction is. The working class and the movement can make all kinds of mistakes. You cannot hang on to that one mistake and denounce the whole movement. You have to step back and see, βOkay, overall, are they among the forces who pushed the working class towards greater emancipation, or are they hindering the working class towards its path to emancipation?
Boliviaβs Largest Cities Paralyzed by General Strike
The streets of Boliviaβs largest cities, La Paz and Santa Cruz, were brought to a standstill on Friday as public transportation workers went on strike against a 100% fuel price increase ordered by the new far right government in power.
The Bolivian Workersβ Central (COB), the countryβs main labor union, confirmed on Sunday that it will maintain the national strike called for Monday againstDecree 5503, which eliminates the fuel subsidy that has been in place for more than two decades.
The decision comes despite partial agreements reached by the government with other local and national organizations to avert the protest movements rise.
βWe will not back down; we will not negotiate without the consent of our people,β stated Mario Argollo, executive secretary of the COB, in a recorded message alongside other union leaders.
The leader rejected claims of an alleged βunilateral and secretβ pact with the government and reaffirmed that marches and blockades would begin early Monday morning.
Argollo described the decree as an βarbitraryβ measure that, in his view, benefits βa privileged, business, and bourgeois sector.β In this context, he called on various organizations to join the protest and asserted that the mobilization is not merely political but a demonstration of demands for the populace.
The strike was initially called on Friday by the Bolivian Confederation of Driversβ Unions as a βgeneral and indefiniteβ strike to demand the annulment of Decree 5503. The COB (Bolivian Workersβ Central) and coca-growing farmers aligned with former president Evo Morales joined the action.
Decree 5503, issued on Wednesday, sets new fuel prices: 6.96 bolivianos per litre for regular gasoline, 11 bolivianos for premium gasoline, and 9.80 bolivianos for diesel. This represents an 86% increase in gas prices and a 162% increase in diesel prices compared with subsidised prices that had been in effect for more than 20 years.
The ratification of the strike by the Bolivian Workersβ Central leaves the government facing a scenario of high social conflict at the start of the week, with questions over how severely the blockades will affect supply and economic activity. The movement may succeed in forcing back the repressive regime and gain new momentum for the left.
reason.com/volokh/2025/12/23/w⦠Looking at the birthright citizenship issue. There are a number of members of the US Congress that would not have qualified as citizens under the rules called out in Trump's EO.
reason.com/2025/12/23/mercy-ot⦠Writing about a woman I've never heard of who opposed parts of the US Constitution. Helped ensure we got the Bill of Rights etc.
Santa's LIVE North Pole Christmas Countdown 2025!π₯ Watch Santa, the Elves, and the magic of the North Pole come to life as they prepare for Christmas 2025.?...
Where Mark Hamill stood next to his star for hours on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the tourists didn't know who he was. Done as a prank for Jimmy Kimmel. Even a person dressed up as Darth Vader ignored him.
When you're a washed-up Hollywood leftist with nothing left of your fame but your harsh words about the president, this is what an afternoon next to your Hollywood Walk of Fame star looks like:
Attack on ENI. Their Peace is Our Death: Turin, Italy
ENI colonialist, ENI genocidal.
Eni, energy giant under the control of the Ministry of the Economy, carries out colonial plunder over half the world. This national hydrocarbons company trains Carabinieri espionage sections, dictates the foreign policy of the Italian State, defends Eni settlements with military missions called peace.
On 29th October 2023, three weeks from the start of the genocide in Gaza, streamed live, the Ministry of Energy of the State of βIsraelβ gave Eni a licence to plunder the natural gas deposits off the Gaza Strip.
While the drones massacre the imprisoned population the drills dig away nearby protected by the army to steal the new gold.
In October 2024, Eni signed an agreement with the English Ithaca Energy, whose majority shareholder is Israeli Delek, Zionist energy giant. Delek actively supports the colonisation and plunder of the West Bank and supplies petrol and diesel fuel to the Israeli army.
Today Eni is preparing to get its share of the billions for the reconstruction of the ruins of Gaza. Italy is ready to pay its share, says the government, which, along with Eni will also send Carabinieri to rebuild eternal peace. This is the requiem they are composing.
Last night in Turin, hidden from the indiscreet eyes of the cameras, we struck a number of Fiat 500 cars belonging to Enjoy, Eniβs car sharing company.
Their peace is our death. But we are still alive and if there are no tunnels, we will find dark corners.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to let Donald Trump send National Guard troops to the Chicago β area as the president expands the use of the military for domestic purposes in a growing number of Democratic-led jurisdictions.
Provided to YouTube by Too Lost LLCChess Not Checkers Β· DuffyChess Not Checkersβ 2023 Off The Mussle RecordsReleased on: 2023-08-04Main Artist: DuffyLyricis...
Well, I bit the bullet, and bought a ticket to Scotland Vs. Morocco in the Wold Cup; to be played in Gillette Stadium /Foxborough MA next Juneβ¦the βTartan Armyβ Will descend LOL.
I finished my quilt! It took over six months and is entirely hand sewn from scraps and remnants. The backing is a pale blue duvet cover (I think, it was a weird bit of thrift store fabric) and the 'batting' is an old, stained cotton sofa covering. I embellished it with a crocheted doily from the thrift store. #ArtAdventCalendar #sewing #quilting
"To the National Indigenous Congress -CNI To the Assemblies of Zapatista Autonomous Government Collectives (ACGAZ) (EZLN) To the Support Networks of the CIG, Indigenous Governing Council and its spokesperson, MarΓaβ¦"
Denunciation by Vendors Who Are Members of the CNI and EZLN Support Bases
To the National Indigenous Congress -CNI
To the Assemblies of Zapatista Autonomous Government Collectives (ACGAZ) (EZLN)
To the Support Networks of the CIG, Indigenous Governing Council and its spokesperson, MarΓa de JesΓΊs Patricio MartΓnez.
To the National and International Sixth, Networks of Resistance and Rebellion.
To the independent and alternative media.
To the people of Mexico.
Sisters and brothers, greetings from these lands in southern Mexico. We are fighting every day to work and not depend on the social programs of the bad government, but right now we are suffering the dispossession of our workplaces and economic sustenance for our families.
We are 35 Tseltal Maya people, members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and some Support Bases of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), who work and have shops in a market called Dr. Belisario DomΓnguez, located in the La Candelaria neighborhood of the municipal capital of Ocosingo, Chiapas.
In 2008, a coalition of tenants was formed called the COALITION OF TENANTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MARKET DR. BELISARIO DOMΓNGUEZ DE OCOSINGO, CHIAPAS, CIVIL ASSOCIATION, was formed with the aim of filing an ordinary civil lawsuit for prescriptive rights, in which we succeeded in obtaining a ruling in our favor as tenants. With this ruling, we drew up our general deed in September 2008, thus becoming co-owners of our premises. However, over time, we began to suffer dispossession of our spaces and threats from the coalitionβs board of directors, as they engaged and continue to engage in corruption, doing business with the spaces they have taken from us, selling them to other people.
For this reason, we wish to REPORT the following facts.
September 14, 2025βOur colleague SARA TOLEDO SΓNCHEZ, a Tseltal Maya widow with six children, one of whom has cancer, was evicted from her shop, which is her workplace, her source of income, and the place where she cares for her sick daughter. That day, they took away the products she sells, throwing everything into the hallways, and then welded shut the deadbolts on her shutters so that she could no longer open her store. She has been out of work for more than 82 days, and so far, state authorities have not resolved anything.
November 23, 2025. They built two perimeter fences, each 2 meters high and 6 meters long, blocking access to the shutters of four premises belonging to MACARIA ENTZIN GΓMEZ, ENRIQUE LΓPEZ SANTIZ, and TOMAS LΓPEZ ENTZIN, who are our colleagues. They have been unable to work for 20 days because they cannot open their shutters, resulting in financial losses.
November 24, 2025. β SILVIA REYES SΓNCHEZ and a group of gang members arrived at the premises of our colleague Enrique LΓ³pez Santiz to cause damage, breaking three security cameras on his premises. The first was at 8:57 p.m., the second and third at 10:04 p.m. This was done in order to eliminate evidence that she is responsible for the crimes and damage.
On June 14, 2013, the board of directors once again began proceedings against our colleagues Quirino Gordillo HernΓ‘ndez, Juan Mendoza HernΓ‘ndez, and Vicente Toledo Albores, stripping them of their premises. The reason for this was that they had requested information about the expenses incurred in the market, as well as the delivery of the deeds to their premises. The coalition asked them for the amount of $150,000.00 (one hundred fifty thousand pesos 00.100 M/N), for a total amount of $10,950,000.00 (ten million, nine hundred fifty thousand pesos 00.100 M/N) for 73 premises belonging to members of the CNI and BAEZ, money that at the time would not be verified by the SAT.
In a formalization of the minutes of a 2013 meeting, one of the sections mentions that the costs of legal proceedings would be covered by the income from the bathrooms and that the current and future directors undertook to carry out all types of procedures for the legalization of documentation in the process of structuring and at no cost to the firm. This point was addressed by the directors at the meeting on September 18, 2023, clarifying that NO DIRECTOR CHARGES FOR SIGNING. They also mentioned that there would be NO MORE intimidation or threats to colleagues who claim their legal rights as market tenants at the meetings.
It should be clarified that a group of individuals within the coalition, whom we have identified by name, do not respect the agreements that they themselves have made and formalized. The reason for their actions is that they have made substantial financial gains through extortion involving the seizure of commercial spaces, which they do in collusion with public officials. For a long time, we have been victims of discrimination, humiliation, threats, violence, and dispossession of our places of business. They have fabricated crimes against us in order to get rid of us and continue with their misdeeds. There are also threats that now, in December, starting on the 19th, they will dispossess us all of our places of business, which we have worked so hard to obtain in order to provide for our families with decent work. They are doing all this because we never wanted to play their corrupt games.
We call on all institutions and authorities of the Chiapas state government to respect our right to decent work and our shops as a source of economic sustenance for our families, and to put a stop to the dispossession and damage to our places of business.
Given the lack of response from the authorities, we hold the government RESPONSIBLE for the damage caused, the violation of our labor and human rights, and all the consequences that may arise from its failure to act.
Brothers and sisters from different regions, we ask for your solidarity and that you remain attentive to what may happen to us.
Our anger will not be silenced.
Our resistance will not be extinguished.
Zapata lives, the struggle continues!
Long live the #CNI, long live the #CIG, long live the #EZLN!
For Memory, For Life, For THE COMMON GOOD.
NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US!
Sincerely,
TENANT MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS AND ZAPATISTA EZLN SUPPORT BASES
Best rendition of this song originally recorded by Stevie Wonder and here performed by LeAnn Rimes.All rights reserved to the Country Music Association and t...
Interview from Underground with Liberated Filton 24 Prisoner Sean βShibbyβ Middlebrough
I had the great honor of interviewing Sean βShibbyβ Middlebrough, a humble professional revolutionary, one of the Filton 24 who escaped British custody and is now living underground. We had a rich discussion about his political background, his path into taking direct action with Palestine Action, and the future of anti-imperialist struggle within the imperial core.
For those who donβt know, Shibby was granted temporary bail to attend his brotherβs wedding, and he (very logically) chose not to return to prison, where he and his comrades have been detained in horrific conditions without trial or bail, some for over a year.
Before you read the interview, please note that today, 11 December, marks Day 40 of the Prisoners for Palestine hunger strike. 8 prisoners are on hunger strike and 5 have been hospitalized so far, some of them multiple times. Their lives are on the line. Take action to support their demands:
Donate to the fundraiser for the 37 political prisoners in Britain
Continue taking direct action against the zionist-imperialist war machine!
There are also urgent calls to action to support Indigenous political prisoner Xinachtli (Β‘Tierra y Libertad!) who is facing extreme medical neglect in Texas prisons. Look at his support committeeβs page for more info.
Howβs it feel to be free after being locked up for so long?
I wouldnβt know. Iβm not free. Youβre not free and nor are the readers. Weβre not free until weβre all free from the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
Furthermore, Iβm underground. Sure, Iβve gained me more βfreedomsβ such as the freedom to not listen to prison officers shouting and instigating fights and even better, Iβve gained the freedom to feel the elements on my skin and witness the sun rise and set, followed by the spectacular view of the Moon and stars which I didnβt see for over 11 months. Yet, being underground has also severely limited many more βfreedomsβ I did have even as a prisoner, such as being able to speak to friends & family. I may now witness the Sun rise, but I miss out on my own Sonβs growth.
I am of course relieved to no longer be in a 9ftx5ft box 23 hours a day and to be in a more productive and vocal position.
Itβs only honest for me to not give the impression that Iβm sippinβ piΓ±a coladaβs with my feet up. Iβm still struggling for freedom.
In an article I recently published about the ongoing hunger strike, I characterized your escape as βa qualitative escalation and a massive embarrassment for the paper tiger that is the criminal justice system. It shows that the freedom of our prisoners is a tangible possibility, and demonstrates the range of different tactics by which they might resist conditions of captivity by any means necessary. Our duty on the outside is not just to engage in legal advocacy for the prisoners, but to build a popular cradle of resistance β an underground.β
Just like the hunger strike is a means to resist captivity, so was your liberation, when you found yourself in the unique circumstances that made it possible. And of course there is a long history of prison breaks in liberation movements, whether weβre talking about Assata or William Moralesβs prison breaks, who were participating in armed national liberation struggles within amerika, the IRAβs iconic prison breaks at Long Kesh in the north and Mountjoy Prison in the south, or the Palestinian prisonersβ escape from Gilboa Prison through Operation Freedom Tunnel.
So how do you think your liberation could shift the balance of forces, even just by shattering the oppressorsβ image of omnipotence? And do you have any message you want to share with international political prisoners who are also locked up for participating in the Palestinian liberation struggle and other connected movements?
Yeah, I read that publication and I love it. Your characterisation of the circumstances are correct.
Firstly, on the building of βa cradle of resistance β an undergroundβ and to tie in with your question, I think an important role of that underground is to do as you say, βshatter the view of omnipotenceβ of our oppressors by way of giving interviews, writing and speaking truth to power from a position where theyβre powerless to do anything about it!
Itβs important that we expose the political policing, arrests and abuses of the legal (injustice) system that imprisoned us by a state that aims to protect the actual perpetrators of crime such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity β Israel may be the word that pops into peopleβs mind, but in reality Israel is merely a proxy-state for western (British-US) imperialism therefore blaming every crime against the Palestinians for example on Israel is literally the purpose of a proxy state, to have the crimes look autonomous, when really the blame is largely on Britain and the US who founded the terror-state to destabilise the middle-east and more easily overthrow anti-western regimes and extract their resources.
I say this not to give a lecture, but because shattering their omnipotence requires truly identifying the quality of the βoppressorsβ, as you put it. They are western imperialists.
Colonialism is merely a method of subduing a people, a qualitative definiteness of Imperialism and for imperialism via the proxy-state of Israel.
If you still doubt that the UK & US are pulling the strings of Israel, but rather that Israel is acting independently then I suggest to attempt to follow the strings. They will lead you to arms factories in the US, Britain & Europe. Once youβve done that, you can in fact physically manipulate those strings from places like Elbit Systems, Rafael and Teledyne.
You can directly interfere with Israelβs military campaigns (genocide) so that drones are never deployed, tanks and other military hardware are left incomplete by deadlines theyβre needed at the front, as Palestine Action have done for years.
If you still doubt that Israel is not merely a proxy state for western imperialism, then look at what happens when you interfere at the source of the monopoly of violence; As European and British Governments condemn Israelβs strategy of displacement and erasure, calling for an end, they simultaneously arrest those who are actually preventing the slaughter. Whats-more, the more of an impact you have, the more they will crack-down on you, as in my case of the Filton 24, they even went so far as arresting us with the Counter-Terrorism pigs for opposing terrorism. In the case of Palestine Action in general, I saw them become a proscribed terror group in my prison cell.
The main argument they had to justify this was what I got told in my 3-day stay at the Counter-Terrorism police station: that a terrorist can be somebody who βopposes British foreign policyβ.
There it is.
Arming Israel, what it knows to be a terrorist ethno-state destabilising the middle east and colonising Palestine is literally British Foreign Policy. It has been since 1918.
If it were not, the Filton 24 trial would not be classed as βterror-relatedβ. Palestine Action would not be proscribed. Israel would not be continued to be supported economically, militarily and diplomatically by the west, despite their public condemnation.
All they condemn is that Israel has been caught in the act so many times, that they should perhaps go back to a slow genocide. Everything was easier for them before social media around the time of The Nakba.
This is the role of those prisoners who are now underground, sharing what weβve learned and experienced. There are many other duties that should be performed also as you can imagine.
Our oppressors are the same as they are in most of the world: western imperialists. They are closer to us than they are to the Palestinians.
βIsrael is evilβ simply isnβt going to shift the balance of forces. A comprehensive understanding of Imperialism and anti-imperialist action will.
Battles can be won without it, but there will always be battles to be fought as long as there is class war.
I implore everybody to study, to understand the enemy & itβs nature, to dedicate themselves to liberation. I see no more urgent and greater reason for people to begin to resist than the Palestinian cause. They are entirely victims of western Imperialism as we have already covered.
We are the source of their continued suffering as long as we the masses are complicit and do nothing. We donβt deserve freedom ourselves as long as weβre benefiting off the murder, misery and exploitation of others.
In regards to messages to International Political Prisoners for Palestine, err⦠Surely anything I say is completely insufficient as no words can describe my admiration for them and the fury I have for their oppressors?
I guess Iβd say that βYou know what you did. You know it was totally sick. Youβre incredibly cool. Though there may still be many cowards and hypocrites who havenβt matched your conviction and sacrifice, there will be enough people who will be inspired to build on your work and the work of those before us to Free Palestine.
The international political landscape is changing daily on Palestine for Palestine. What has been an unconscionable history will be a better future. I know that for a fact because there are people like you, comrade.β
You have maintained that you did not βabscondβ or go βon the run,β that you are a liberated prisoner of war β a prisoner of war of Israel in Britain. Can you elaborate on this term, βprisoner of war,β and why itβs important not to legitimize the stateβs criminalization of liberation struggles?
So, Israel kept crying to the Home Office in London over many many years over their factories getting smashed up, having to close for the day and even being economically compelled to permanently shut down their factories so that eventually the UK Government, (I guess shut them up) decided to be harsher on Palestine Actionists.
We know that the Isaeli embassy has had meetings with UK officials and shortly after thereβs been arrests and we know that the Home Office has told police to βfocus not on the rights of the protesters, but on the businessβ thereby mass arresting over 30 literal peaceful demonstrators β like, not even a fire extinguisher or sledge hammer anywhere, just banners β forgoing our legal rights to make their demon-baby Israel and Elbit Systems feel loved.
I know that the Home Office told Leicester police this because I was one of those arrested and this came out as disclosure in court. We all got acquitted.
So when it comes to my arrest and the arrest of most of the Filton 24 by Counter-Terrorism police, it had clearly got to a point where Elbit Systems (Israel) were so disturbed and upset by the supremely legendary action at their Filton site that this time they must have suggested the arrest of the 6 who went inside simply wonβt pacify them, they need more arrests. Itβs my belief that they suggested that we had effectively destroyed their cot when they were sleeping (as Britainβs baby) and this was akin to terrorism, therefore more arrests had to be made so nobody would attempt to destroy their factories again, once and for all.
Itβs also my belief that Israel wanted to arrest as many people as they could even with circumstantial evidence but they didnβt have the authority, so they needed counter terrorism police to make arrests that the ordinary police would not make. They, being Britainβs favourite child got their wish.
Iβm entirely convinced by knowing the political influence theyβve had on British police in the past, as evidenced in court and FOI documents that βOperation Re-complyβ is influenced by Israeli Officials.
Elbit is Israelβs largest arms manufacturer and it got absolutely wrote off yet again. Just why wouldnβt they demand harsher counter-terrorism policing?
Therefore, after a long history of incredible victories and unprecedented action, because of our politics and history, we were arrested at the behest of a foreign entity whoβs genocide machine was at the risk of collapse in itβs parent Country. That being said, Israel doesnβt arrest Palestinians or resistance fighters with ordinary police, when Palestinians go to βtrialβ, Palestinians are in a Military Court. They are deemed prisoners of war.
I was imprisoned as a prisoner of war proxy because of Israeli interference with the Counter Terrorism Police. Court in the UK with the βTerrorism Connectionβ as a possible aggravated factor at sentencing would be the closest they could accomplish to having me tried as a prisoner of war with a similar sentence (decades)
Regardless of who arrests us, we always say that we are not the guilty ones, Elbit Systems is. Court at least in the past was a place where we had the chance to put them on the stand, but thatβs became harder as all of our legal defences are ruled out early in case-management. This again is akin to a military court.βββββββ Despite this, we know these trials are purely political trials and history β the true trial β will absolve us all.
That is why I said βPeace outβ to HMP Wandsworth, because I want Elbit Systemβs upper management to fear that I am not in prison, that I am (itβs true) actually under their very beds every night ready to pull them by their ankles into the depths of hell where they belong.
Before your illegitimate incarceration, you hosted a Communist radio show called Rev Lumpen Radio. Can you tell us more about your past political work, and what led you to seeing direct action as the only option? I feel like I had a somewhat similar journey, having been involved in socialist parties and NGOs, but ultimately seeing the Al-Aqsa Flood expose that Pal Action was the only formation meeting the moment in the West in terms of escalation to resist the genocide.
Itβs cool you asked about this. Revolutionary Lumpen Radio is the sickest podcast to ever exist. Iβm extremely, eternally grateful to all my guests and comrades Iβve had the privilege of hosting and learning from β whoβve been extremely open, honest and informative on all the subjects we engaged in! As well as my listeners and supporters. Thank you.
Honestly, RLR started off because I was extremely dissatisfied with the lack of organised, militant and sincere Marxist Revolutionaries in the imperial core β the belly of the beast β the luckiest place for a Revolutionary to be and effect internationalist change.
I think sporting a habit of smoking a lot of weed, sniffing ketamine and reading a lot of revolutionary theory really β despite the sedative nature of these things β encouraged my productivity in the agitation-propaganda front (I actually sold them as well as i was trying to radicalise the lumpen-drug dealers in my City, it was a crazy time).
But the podcast wasnβt directed at liberals, I did it directly aimed at Imperial Core Marxists, to criticise their methods (or lack of) and educate them in their actual duties as Marxists who aught to be synonymous with revolutionaries. The duty of every revolutionary is to make revolution. Not talk about it. Not just βeducateβ about it. To make it.
There were and still are a tremendous amount of grifters who make a living talking about Marxism and revolution but thatβs all they do, so I let many shots fire in their direction too. In fact they obviously annoyed me more, especially when I started a Serve The People Programme in my community off the proceeds of Revolutionary Lumpen Radio, feeding families who were struggling in what I called βTurning peoples hunger from capitalism into a hunger for socialismβ. That was the objective of my STP programme.
People (as I would say to local communist groups) canβt truly learn Marxism if theyβre thinking about how to feed themselves.
We need to go into the communities and Serve The People! We need to build bases within the capitalist base and superstructure and from these revolutionary bases weβll have a revolutionary superstructure that no longer depends on the capitalist one and has a socialist culture. The local communists said it was a waste of money and time. Then my Podcastβs funds couldnβt keep up and shrunk as I put less podcasts out because I was serving the people more. I grew furious and my habits with it.
This pained me because the people in our communities who needed the most help were the lumpen-proletariat, who I wanted to represent. The underclass. The class thatβs won most revolutions. You canβt be a worker and engage in revolution β letβs be honest. Your profession must be a professional revolutionary, not a guerrilla fighter part-time and factory worker the rest β now whoβs smoking what?
The imperial core Marxists deem the lumpen-proletariat as a βbackwardsβ βcounter-revolutionaryβ class, even though itβs these people who have to most to gain, least to lose and generally are oppressed by the working class by the same bourgeois morality that sees them as social scum. But I know thereβs hope in them because I have a lumpen class-consciousness and my left toe is more revolutionary than most.
Donβt get me wrong, I was taught by a local communist group, FRFI and wouldnβt be who I am without them, they obviously are a good place to start and of course I love those comrades. Yet, I guess I was taught and/or self-taught too well because the words of George Jackson hit too hard βcome together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act.β
I tried to take action serving the people long-term, but Iβm not an entertainer, Iβm a revolutionary so I couldnβt afford it like the grifting communist podcasters and Youtubers could have if they cared about their community.
I canβt sell newspapers for an org, because I want to bash the ruling class to death with them instead.
Then I heard Palestine Action on a Twitter Space discuss their first major victory, permanently shutting down Elbit Systems Oldham site.
Well, shiver-me-timbers. This is real anti-imperialist work that Iβm duty-bound to contribute to as a Marxist Revolutionary, an Internationalist. Serving The People locally is good, but Serving The People Internationally for a people who are oppressed because of your own Countries policies and Imperialist objectives is far more urgent. Also Palestinians are a lot nicer.
A month later (I think) I was taking bricks out of Elbitβs UAV Engines site and using those same bricks to destroy drone engines inside (brick by brick) with 5 other esteemed comrades whom Iβll forever love.
We absolutely dismantled the place. It was wrote off for over a month. It was marvellous. THAT is what freedom is. Freedom is fighting for freedom, itβs a self-replicating phenomenon.
On that action there was literally blood, sweat, tears & broken bones. Broken drones.
I went to work 2 days later with my left hand in ribbons after it got torn to shreds on the razor wire for the factory. A couple of inches of vein had been plucked out of my finger and was in the palm of my hand swimming in a growing pool of blood. My fingers were inside-out in some places, it was quite a sight.
Naturally, that whole experience and others like it redirected my podcasts platform to platforming Palestine Action and the importance of direct action. As I got more caught up, my podcast was on the back burner, as well as my βillicitβ habits.
The Patreon still exists (please donβt pay money to it as I canβt access the money) but one day Iβd like to fire Revolutionary Lumpen Radio up again.
I have another podcast called βDiary Of A Political Prisonerβ that was actually recorded in prison and the Patreon is accessible, which Iβll be updating soon. Iβm still all about agitation propaganda of course.
Your political education and theoretical work appears to have been very grounded in the role of the lumpenproletariat in the revolution, and you reference a lot of important Black freedom fighters in amerika, such as George Jackson and Sanyika Shakur. You seem to follow a different tendency, rooted in anti-colonial and anti-imperialist national liberation struggles, than a lot of Western Marxists who emphasize the role of the working class of the imperialist countries in making revolution.
I think this contradiction directly translates to the Pal Action strategy as well β for example, in amerika, we received a lot of pushback on our direct action campaign by people who said our actions would alienate the weapons factory workers and that we just needed to organize them. Of course to this we responded that these workers, even if they experience degrees of exploitation from their employers, are deeply invested in and benefiting from imperialism and genocide, so we shouldnβt wait for them to gain a moral conscience for us to take action, and we shouldnβt see them as the base for revolution. Unions have certainly taken more action and gone on brief general strike in some European countries than they have in amerika, where they have just kept building and shipping the bombs, and endorsing genocidal candidates, but I would say the unions in Europe could and should be doing far, far more as well.
So, do you think there is revolutionary potential within the imperial core, and what does that look like? What strategies are worth taking up and which are futile or social imperialist? Historically, what groups do you look to as reference points and inspiration?
Calla, I love these questions and Iβm so happy to answer these things to someone whoβs as learned as yourself in these important concepts and phenomena.
As far as Iβm concerned, Marxism, the theory of Revolution doesnβt end and is a constant project of practice > theory > practice > theory etc and the practitioners are the revolutionaries because of their understanding thatβs came from studying the nature of anti-imperialism, decolonialism and resistance struggles which is to say: Marxist theory and practice. A lot of people use βImperialismβ without studying Marxism-Leninism when Lenin literally defined what it is.
βDecolonialismβ is literally a practice thatβs came from the revolutionaries who understood Marxism/historical materialism and applied it to their national liberation struggles, but most have never read the Marxist theory of itβs leaders.
Ideology is so important. If you think back, at one point you could not read. You would look at the text on this screen and see nothing but incoherent shapes and symbols. Then you learned to read. Ever since reading (and you can put this to the test) you physically cannot look at these letters/words without reading them! You canβt do it!
When you understand Marxism, your ideology changes, you will interpret the world completely differently; you will understand the mechanisms and forces of geopolitics, economies and culture as they are: a hegemony of the ruling class! Youβll be politically literate. Marxism is the tool we must wield to dismantle capitalism, colonialism and imperialism propped up by itβs libertarian ideology. Itβs the only thing that has done so and we cannot hope to understand, much less defeat the forces of oppression without it.
Therefore, yes, you are right and this brings me back to my old Revolutionary Lumpen Radio Podcast a little, I have been vocal in criticism of what are βEurocentricβ Marxists in the imperial core and their lack of engagement with Black or other liberation movements and revolutionaries. Many seem to think that the scientific project of Marxism doesnβt include people like George Jackson, Fred Hampton, Huey Newton & Sanyika Shakur, even Frantz Fanon, Ghassan Kanafani. Theyβre what Malik Dacoure in my βBLACK Marxism & White Marxismβ episode stated, these revolutionaries are seen as βDLCβ β something extra, exotic even but not tied in with revolutionary theory in the imperial core. Maybe itβs because theyβre not white due to a hangover from bourgeois morality but I think the contributions from these people are very important.
The Black Panthers for eg had a remarkable understanding of Marxism-Leninism. I daresay most white Marxists would get an βFβ on the Black Panthers 6-week educational programme.
What they did was come to understand their enemies quality as well as their own position within a class-structured racist system of oppression.
With the Vietnam war raging and black Americans being forced to fight poor non-white people in Vietnam while black people were killed with impunity, or even reward by US state forces, this gave rise to a contradiction and consciousness for extremely brave individuals like Huey Newton to form the Black Panther Party as a Marxist-Leninist party. Though the initial focus was on the ending of police brutality in Black neighbourhoods, it was through their educating the masses as to the white supremacist Country they lived in and how that supremacy is maintained by capitalism, imperialism.
The panthers Serve The People Programmes were an outstanding achievement and never-before practised method in the Imperial core, inspired by Chairman Mao who liberated China.
It worked. It got thousands (hundreds of thousands) of people to understand capitalism/imperialism through racism and itβs power structures. The Panthers forced more concessions by the US Government than any white communist party ever had or has since! That wasnβt even their intention, but by their militancy and education they lifted their communities out of ignorance and despair to give them power.
They united so many people and took back their streets from white capitalists. They literally gave FREE healthcare in the UNITED STATES for goodness sake. They taught their community that they deserved it and socialism will guarantee it.
Furthermore, Iβve actually had the honour and privilege of reading a Black Panther Newspaper IRL. It was in my hands. Within it, there was random artwork that said βLumpen Powerβ and other pro-lumpen propaganda because of course most black people at the time were lumpen. They focused on the most oppressed, rather than those workers who just want to organise for a bigger piece of the imperialist pie, so I feel more in tune with the Panthers than white eurocentric Marxists tbh.
Eventually the FBI deemed the βChildrenβs Free Breakfast Programmesβ the biggest threat to the United States. More than any other white, American exceptionalist communist party. Because the Panthers were literally building socialism in the US!! Not the white people. Free breakfast in schools was a concession the US Gov eventually made, as all revolutionary iconography is eventually neutralised.
The FBI sought to βprevent the rise of a Black Messiahβ so they assassinated (effectively lynched) 21-year old Fred Hampton because he was just that fucking cool.
So when I study the history, the successes and failures of revolutionary activity, I study them all because they died or were imprisoned for us. Iβm not dogmatic, I donβt limit myself to revolutionary theory and practice in the imperial core of the early 1900βs, I study recent revolutionaries such as the Panthers up to the 1980βs. If Marxists canβt address the contradictions of racism, colonialism and the eurocentric problems of Marxism then I think we have a serious yt problem.
On unions and arms-industry workers, wellβ¦ As Iβve previously said, workers and their unions organise around getting a bigger piece of the imperialist pie, thatβs what theyβre best at. I canβt imagine them organising to stop working on a weapons factory that they consciously applied to work for and I know first-hand these places have framed photographs of the weapons they produce all around these sites, theyβre proud of the work they do and are violent with protesters, even children. Thereβs no reasoning with these pigs.
I know you got push back around not βorganisingβ the workforce rather than just taking action to shut the site down, I can remember when it happened. It was drama. The US is just a very reactionary stupid place iβm afraid.
Honestly, itβs all very idealistic hoping unions will strike, I think time and energy is better spent organising direct action campaigns to shut these places down ourselves and anybody that says otherwise are looking for excuses to justify their own cowardice and complicity.
I do think thereβs revolutionary potential in the imperial core, because I know I exist and I know my comrades exist, including you, Calla.
There is a lot of work to be done. I think itβs important to focus on direct action against the military-industrial complex, tying in their connection with racist imperialist conquests as Palestine Action have done, informing millions of Britainβs & the Westβs very contemporary role in oppression and crimes against humanity, removing the mask of what was apparently a group of perfectly civilised Countries, a force of good in the world.
Itβs also important to Serve The People! Build programmes locally with the goal of turning peoples hunger from capitalism into a hunger for socialism β tackling alienation, hopelessness and suicide among our neighbours in favour of revolutionary suicide through political education and solidarity.
Increasing in our ranks, the professional revolutionary in favour of the professional wage slave.
We must make the organisation and support of political prisoners a priority just as the Palestinians make their prisoners the focus of their organising. These people are the tip of the spear when it comes to action and we must collectively thrust them and what they stand for into the consciousness of everybody else.
We should look at (in detail) organisations and the individuals who make up The Black Panther Party, Palestine Action and others in recent history that have influenced history in a revolutionary way to inspire us to build on their momentum.
What do you think the future holds in terms of direct action and resistance more broadly?
Yeah, I think the future of Direct Action is just warming up. I think direct action has stretched itβs legs and is ready for the long-run.
In terms of resistance, itβs up to the reader. Will they feel compelled to end the butchering of people, social murder, man-made-extinction or will they have a heart and be guided by great feelings of love?
Any message for your comrades on hunger strike, which just passed one month?
To my comrades on hunger strike, my heart is broken. I see lots of videos reporting/commenting on the events in Palestine and there are random comments about your hunger strike. It is widely known and a lot of people think about you. Of course this is nice but not particularly what will change things.
I am doing what I can to change things, to see that your demands are met just as you would be if you were in my position.
Today, 11 December, marks Day 40 of the Prisoners for Palestine hunger strike. 8 prisoners are on hunger strike and 5 have been hospitalized so far, some of them multiple times. Their lives are on the line. Take action to support their demands:
Donate to the fundraiser for the 37 political prisoners in Britain
Continue taking direct action against the zionist-imperialist war machine!
There are also urgent calls to action to support Indigenous political prisoner Xinachtli (Β‘Tierra y Libertad!) who is facing extreme medical neglect in Texas prisons. Look at his support committeeβs page for more info.
"I had the great honor of interviewing Sean βShibbyβ Middlebrough, a humble professional revolutionary, one of the Filton 24 who escaped British custody and is now living underground. We hadβ¦"
Denunciation by Vendors Who Are Members of the CNI and EZLN Support Bases
To the National Indigenous Congress -CNI
To the Assemblies of Zapatista Autonomous Government Collectives (ACGAZ) (EZLN)
To the Support Networks of the CIG, Indigenous Governing Council and its spokesperson, MarΓa de JesΓΊs Patricio MartΓnez.
To the National and International Sixth, Networks of Resistance and Rebellion.
To the independent and alternative media.
To the people of Mexico.
Sisters and brothers, greetings from these lands in southern Mexico. We are fighting every day to work and not depend on the social programs of the bad government, but right now we are suffering the dispossession of our workplaces and economic sustenance for our families.
We are 35 Tseltal Maya people, members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and some Support Bases of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), who work and have shops in a market called Dr. Belisario DomΓnguez, located in the La Candelaria neighborhood of the municipal capital of Ocosingo, Chiapas.
In 2008, a coalition of tenants was formed called the COALITION OF TENANTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MARKET DR. BELISARIO DOMΓNGUEZ DE OCOSINGO, CHIAPAS, CIVIL ASSOCIATION, was formed with the aim of filing an ordinary civil lawsuit for prescriptive rights, in which we succeeded in obtaining a ruling in our favor as tenants. With this ruling, we drew up our general deed in September 2008, thus becoming co-owners of our premises. However, over time, we began to suffer dispossession of our spaces and threats from the coalitionβs board of directors, as they engaged and continue to engage in corruption, doing business with the spaces they have taken from us, selling them to other people.
For this reason, we wish to REPORT the following facts.
September 14, 2025βOur colleague SARA TOLEDO SΓNCHEZ, a Tseltal Maya widow with six children, one of whom has cancer, was evicted from her shop, which is her workplace, her source of income, and the place where she cares for her sick daughter. That day, they took away the products she sells, throwing everything into the hallways, and then welded shut the deadbolts on her shutters so that she could no longer open her store. She has been out of work for more than 82 days, and so far, state authorities have not resolved anything.
November 23, 2025. They built two perimeter fences, each 2 meters high and 6 meters long, blocking access to the shutters of four premises belonging to MACARIA ENTZIN GΓMEZ, ENRIQUE LΓPEZ SANTIZ, and TOMAS LΓPEZ ENTZIN, who are our colleagues. They have been unable to work for 20 days because they cannot open their shutters, resulting in financial losses.
November 24, 2025. β SILVIA REYES SΓNCHEZ and a group of gang members arrived at the premises of our colleague Enrique LΓ³pez Santiz to cause damage, breaking three security cameras on his premises. The first was at 8:57 p.m., the second and third at 10:04 p.m. This was done in order to eliminate evidence that she is responsible for the crimes and damage.
On June 14, 2013, the board of directors once again began proceedings against our colleagues Quirino Gordillo HernΓ‘ndez, Juan Mendoza HernΓ‘ndez, and Vicente Toledo Albores, stripping them of their premises. The reason for this was that they had requested information about the expenses incurred in the market, as well as the delivery of the deeds to their premises. The coalition asked them for the amount of $150,000.00 (one hundred fifty thousand pesos 00.100 M/N), for a total amount of $10,950,000.00 (ten million, nine hundred fifty thousand pesos 00.100 M/N) for 73 premises belonging to members of the CNI and BAEZ, money that at the time would not be verified by the SAT.
In a formalization of the minutes of a 2013 meeting, one of the sections mentions that the costs of legal proceedings would be covered by the income from the bathrooms and that the current and future directors undertook to carry out all types of procedures for the legalization of documentation in the process of structuring and at no cost to the firm. This point was addressed by the directors at the meeting on September 18, 2023, clarifying that NO DIRECTOR CHARGES FOR SIGNING. They also mentioned that there would be NO MORE intimidation or threats to colleagues who claim their legal rights as market tenants at the meetings.
It should be clarified that a group of individuals within the coalition, whom we have identified by name, do not respect the agreements that they themselves have made and formalized. The reason for their actions is that they have made substantial financial gains through extortion involving the seizure of commercial spaces, which they do in collusion with public officials. For a long time, we have been victims of discrimination, humiliation, threats, violence, and dispossession of our places of business. They have fabricated crimes against us in order to get rid of us and continue with their misdeeds. There are also threats that now, in December, starting on the 19th, they will dispossess us all of our places of business, which we have worked so hard to obtain in order to provide for our families with decent work. They are doing all this because we never wanted to play their corrupt games.
We call on all institutions and authorities of the Chiapas state government to respect our right to decent work and our shops as a source of economic sustenance for our families, and to put a stop to the dispossession and damage to our places of business.
Given the lack of response from the authorities, we hold the government RESPONSIBLE for the damage caused, the violation of our labor and human rights, and all the consequences that may arise from its failure to act.
Brothers and sisters from different regions, we ask for your solidarity and that you remain attentive to what may happen to us.
Our anger will not be silenced.
Our resistance will not be extinguished.
Zapata lives, the struggle continues!
Long live the #CNI, long live the #CIG, long live the #EZLN!
For Memory, For Life, For THE COMMON GOOD.
NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US!
Sincerely,
TENANT MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS AND ZAPATISTA EZLN SUPPORT BASES
The GPT 5.2 image generator just impressed the hell out of me. These images won't mean anything to you. But they represent images that have been trapped in my mind for 25 years. This is my grandmother's church that we went to christmas eve mass at every year. These two in particular I've struggled to draw or paint them for years. I just don't have the talent to do it. The exterior I screenshot off google maps, the interior from image search. Some simple prompting and there you have it.
Graphic artist Todd AlcottΒ has endeared himself to Open Culture readers by retrofitting midcentury pulp paperback covers and illustrations with classic lyrics from the likes ofΒ David Bowie,Β Prince,Β Bob Dylan, andΒ Talking Heads.
I see that Fernando Pereira is donating to OpenReview (with a public announcement) because he apparently cares about "open science" or "open research" or some such. That's news to me.
He is the Google VP who wrote a condescending, bizarre, what was meant to be anonymous, "privileged and confidential" letter which was then sent to the HR department, instructing me and my coauthors to retract our Stochastic Parrots paper.
Good thing we didn't. I'd say that was a win for "open science." The hypocrisy. Maybe don't use your power to order researchers to retract papers you don't find to be sufficiently full of hype if you claim to care about "open research"?
The U.S. Somali refugee program did not begin with a vote, a referendum, or even a dedicated bill in Congress. Most Americans have no idea how it actually started.
Hereβs the real story:
Under the Refugee Act of 1980 (passed by Congress and signed by Jimmy Carter), the president alone gets to decide every year how many refugees America takes and from which countries. No new law required, no public vote, no ballot measure.
George H.W. Bush used that authority in Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 to open a small Priority-2 category for Somalis βof special humanitarian concern.β The first arrivals (a few hundred) came in 1992β1993, right at the tail end of his presidency. Almost nobody in America noticed.
Then the numbers grew quietly under Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama, Trump (who slowed but never stopped it), and Biden:
1990β1994: ~4,000
1995β2005: ~45,000
2006β2016: ~70,000
2017β2024: another ~60,000+
Official refugee total since 1990: β 180,000+
But thatβs only the beginning.
Chain migration (family reunification) exploded the real number.
Once a refugee is resettled, they can petition for:
Spouses & minor children (immediate family β no numerical limit)
Parents (again, no numerical limit)
Adult sons/daughters, siblings (subject to quotas but still massive over time)
Because Somali families are large and the 1980 Act + later laws (IMMACT 90, etc.) are extremely generous with derivative family, the actual ethnic Somali population in the United States is now estimated between 450,000 and 700,000 (State Department, Census ACS, Migration Policy Institute, and Somali community estimates all put it in that range).
The most commonly cited academic/community figure today is β 500,000β550,000 Somali-Americans, meaning chain migration multiplied the original refugee number by roughly 3Γ.
Largest concentrations:
MinneapolisβSt. Paul: 100,000β150,000
Columbus, Ohio: 70,000β100,000
Seattle area: 40,000β60,000
San Diego, Nashville, Lewiston (ME), and dozens of other cities now have five- and six-figure Somali neighborhoods.
All of this happened without a single national vote, referendum, or specific congressional act aimed at Somalis. Congress handed the keys to the executive branch in 1980, and every administration since β Republican and Democrat β has kept the door open and the chain-migration pipeline flowing.
Thatβs how half a million people from one of the most clan-divided, war-torn nations on earth ended up reshaping entire American cities β quietly, legally, and with essentially zero direct democratic input.
![[None]](https://friendica.eskimo.com/photo/preview/640/11268049 "[None]")
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