Rough Guide to Thessaloniki July 4th, 2010

Holidaying in Greece this year? Lucky you. Be sure and visit barthelonika restaurant, 3 Venizelou Str in the Rogoti Arcade, 1st floor, tel. 2310 225 242.

Is the food there good? It ought to be, since the workers there have fired their boss and intend to run it themselves:

Two weeks ago the owners of the restaurant announced us that the establishment was not going well and that it would close down for the three summer months – and further, that it was uncertain wether it would reopen in September and how many of us would work – and under what working conditions. They also announced us that all the workers at the restaurant would be fired immediately while firing compensations would only start to be paid out in October… that is, of course, if they had any money to pay the compensations out.

[...] The restaurant Barthelonika will be under our control, through our general assembly. Decisions concerning its running will be taken by majority and will be respected by all us co-workers. Whatever remains from profit after expenses will be distributed equally among all co-workers.

Razzia policière au G20

Manifestation du 1er juillet à Montréal pour dénoncer la répression politique au G20

Du 25 au 27 juin, Toronto a pris les allures d’un État policier, rappelant durement la Crise d’Octobre, afin d’accueillir un sommet du G20. Il est tout à fait pitoyable de constater que les médias de masse n’aient pratiquement pas couvert les motivations et points de vue des plusieurs milliers de manifestants et manifestantes altermondialistes qui ont convergé de l’ensemble des provinces. À la place, les photos de destruction des futiles marchandises de symboles du grand capitalisme sauvage comme les chaînes antisyndicales McDonald, Starbucks et Tim Hortons et de la police de Toronto, qui a pratiqué un très violent profilage politique et linguistique envers les gens qui exerçaient en fin de semaine leur devoir de manifester, ont fait les manchettes à la manière de revues porno pour gonfler les ventes.

Property is impossible?

We're getting closer to the river's edge, but we're not quite prepared to "take our draught" yet.

It has always seemed to me that libertarian property theory is prone to leaping straight to property's defense—the occasions for legitimate use of force—without lingering overlong on just what it is defending. The broader the discussion—and terms like "left-libertarian" and "market anarchist" attempt to cover pretty broad swathes of ideological territory—the more pronounced the problem. The left-libertarian theory of a "spectrum" of abandonment theories seems to me pretty sound, and useful, but I have my doubts that you could accomplish the same sort of semi-accord on the acquisition end of things. There's probably a "spectrum" of positions on property acquisition, but the differences are of a different character than those relating to abandonment. Abandonment, after all, is a matter of individual intention or attention. We may differ over how inattentive or dismissive of one's property one has to be before abandoning the rights associated with it, but we can pursue the question at great lengths without ever calling into question the very possibility of property.
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AUKU & SEJARAH KEBANGKITAN MAHASISWA ‘60AN – Public Lecture oleh Fahmi Reza

fahmi is literally a “punk rock” h*storian. he makes h*story fun and fresh with sex pistol music as soundtrack and flashy colourful graphics. unfortunately, he is somehow known as the infamous filmmaker of “10 tahun sebelum merdeka”, the cult documentary on malaya, the alternative constitution, and the “unwritten”, “unspoken”, “untold” h*story. i just think he is a lot more than just that film. anyways, he has moved on, i think. so now, he is talking about the student movement in the 60′s. so he is doing this public lecture thing on AUKU and the student movement in the 60′s. having done some research on the issue myself, i can tell that it was an interesting period. the environment was totally different. students had autonomy and was part of major decision-making processes and were not puppets of the adminstration. also the ethnic and religious divide was not as apparent as it is now which i personally find very interesting.

the 60′s was also the height of socialism, marxism, che guevara, maoism, and the likes. so a lot of the students were politically conscious and their statements and actions were also very much driven by their ideologies. it was not uncommon to see a bunch of students from UM to talk about how capitalism is ruining the lives of people and how the state should distribute wealth equally. anyways, it is a lot more interesting coming from fahmi than from me. so check out the details on the flyer and attend the lectures if you can!

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STATEMENT FROM THE SOUTHERN ONTARIO ANARCHIST RESISTANCE IN DEFENCE OF OUR COMRADES

This last week has been witness to some of the most powerful protests that Toronto has ever seen. We saw rallies for the environment, queer liberation, disAbility rights, indigenous sovereignty, economic and migrant justice, community power, and more. The state responded to these actions as its internal logic dictated it must. When people reached out for more control over their lives, the marginalizing state struck back with vicious force. As an institution established by violence, perpetuated by violence, and sustained by violence, its response could only be violent. Martial law descended on our city. The cops arrested anyone and everyone they chose to. The riot squad punched pacifists and stampeded demonstrators. They detained 1100 people. Our friends were locked in cages, denied food, water and toilet paper, humiliated and degraded. The officers stood by, abused and taunted, and said they were just doing their job, as do the Eichmanns of every generation.

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Two new anarchist journals online

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July 1st, 2010

I love magazines! These are available online and this is just a plug not a review. More substantive thoughts after I get time to look at them.

First, neighbours Workers Solidarity Movement have a new political magazine, The Irish Anarchist Review.

This magazine will explore ideas and practical struggles that can teach us about building a revolutionary movement today. We decided to cease printing Red & Black Revolution, and start this project, aimed at provoking debate and discussion among anarchists and the left. For this purpose, we will be pursuing a non-sectarian approach, taking ideas from various left currents, mainstream discourse, and reflections on experiences of life and struggle.

And from the USA, Workers Solidarity Alliance present Ideas & Action online:

It is our desire to make ideas & action a vibrant forum for insight and analysis from a class struggle anarchist point of view. Since we all learn from each other’s arguments and experiences, we hope ideas & action will contribute to raising the understanding of the movement as a whole and aid in developing a collective approach towards the struggles of our class. We invite broad participation in the project.

All the best with these projects.