All posts by The Final Straw Radio

The Final Straw Radio is a terrestrial radio show and podcast started in 2009 featuring information by, for and about anarchists and other anti-authoritarians. The show airs weekly on Sundays from 2-3pm EST out of Asheville, NC, USA.
A-Radio Berlin, Anti-Civ, Author, Brazil, Canada, gender, General, Health, Layla AbdelRahim, Quebec, Sports

A view from Sao Paolo on resistance to FIFA; Layla AbdelRahim on “Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams”

http://comitepopularsp.wordpress.com/
Protests in Rio against FIFA & hikes in Transit fees
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This week’s show features mainly a dubbed interview by comrades at A-Radio Berlin with a member of a Comite Popular da Copa in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The interviewee speaks about the context of resistance in Brazil and how it’s developed, public discourse around elections, the cost of living, developments around the FIFA World Cup and upcoming Olympics in Brazil. He discusses the links between politicians supporting these huge events, the political power of the construction companies, the displacement of poor, urban peoples and the further gentrification of cities under the guise of facilitating these huge events that draw short term profits but cause longterm damages. Information about the Comite Popular da Copa in Sao Paolo can be found at: http://comitepopularsp.wordpress.com/

More works by A-Radio Berlin can be found at http://aradio.blogsport.de

At about 40 minutes into the show, we begin presenting a conversation with Layla AbdelRahim about her recent book, “Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams: Narratives of Civilization and Wilderness”. She is an anarchaprimitivist who explores ideas of education, domestication and civilization in terms of childhood development and overall human health. In this portion, we define some terms and talk about instrumentalization of living things and symbolic thought and how they are used to shape the child’s mind into the civilized and non-empathic perspective. Info on the book can be found at http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca

Sean Swain, this week, talks about the corruption and enslavement involved in the construction of the Ohio State Capital building in Colombus.

Anarchist, British Columbia, Canada, Capitalism, Earth & Animal Liberation, Fracking, General, History, Indigenous, Quebec

Part 2 of Mel Bazil on Decolonization, Anarchism, Solidarity and Indigeneity (June 15, 2014)

new_brunswick_soli
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Before we announce the show, we want to announce our presentation of
Sean Swain’s voice on our show for the first time in 8 weeks. Sean’s
GTL (GlobalTelLink, privatized prison phone company) and JPay (private company Sean’s critiqued before which handles, among other things, emails/commisary and other profitized elements of incarceration) accounts were suspended by the OSP administration, the office of Governor Kasich & the Ohio Highway Patrol/State Police. During those 8 weeks, Sean’s segments on The Final Straw (which were ostensibly a reason for his blackout) never stopped, as Sean smuggled scripts out of the Super-Duper-Uber-Mega-Ultra-Max in Youngstown. Congrats, Sean!

This week we play part two of Mel Bazil’s presentation from the 2014 Montreal Anarchist Bookfaire. He covers an array of concepts. He talks about the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Decolonization, infrastructure, false alternative energies and capitalism.

Mel also touches on the ideas around self-knowledge, Free Prior and Informed Consent between individuals and communities (http://unistotencamp.wordpress.com/free-prior-and-informed-consent-protocol/), and the framework of human/indigenous Rights versus Responsibilities to
the earth and to each other and to ourselves. This broadcast comes on the day that Mr. Bazil and other people struggling with the Unist’ot’en Action Camp expected an injunction against the action camp by the B.C.
government. Anarchists have been invited over the years to build relationships and struggle alongside this community and project, which brings interesting questions of overlaps and differences between anarchism(s) and indigenous cultures in resistance.

Keep informed about the camp: http://unistotencamp.com/

Warrior Publications has been publishing informative and beautifully illustrated works on decolonization, resistance and anarchism for over a decade now: http://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/

Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network is a gateway for outside anarchists and activists to get involved in helping at Unist’ot’en: http://forestaction.wikidot.com/

This audio is from an almost hour and a half presentation that Mel gave on Saturday the 24th of May at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfaire, entitled “Anarchy, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Decolonization.” Many thanks to CKUT Radio in Montreal for sharing this content with the Final
Straw. More info on CKUT can be found at www.ckut.ca

Anarchist, Canada, Earth & Animal Liberation, Environment, Fracking, General, Indigenous, Neoliberalism, Pipeline, Quebec, Racism

Mel Bazil on “Anarchy, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Decolonization”; Imprisoned Kevin “Rashid” Johnson denied medical care

unistotencamp
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This week’s episode features a workshop by Mel Bazil, an indigenous Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en organizer, sovereigntist, and anarchist of the Unist’ot’en Action Camp. For folks in the listening audience, Unist’ot’en is located on unceded native lands in so-called British Colombia, Canada. More about the Unist’ot’en Action Camp can be found at unistotencamp.com

This audio is from an almost hour and a half presentation that Mel gave on Saturday the 24th of May at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfaire, entitled “Anarchy, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Decolonization.” Many thanks to CKUT Radio in Montreal for sharing this content with the Final Straw. More info on CKUT can be found at www.ckut.ca

This week we’ll be presenting the first of two parts of Mel’s presentation, the second will be aired in coming weeks and linked together on the Final Straw website soon.

Firstly though, an announcement about the health of longterm political prisoner, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. The following text was found at http://rashidmod.com, where one can seek further updates on the situation.

For anyone in the Durham area of North Carolina, there is a call-out on June 13th for a Noise Demo at the jail. More info can be found at (http://prisonbooks.info/2014/05/30/jail-demo-june-13th-solidarity-with-l…)

For more info on the prisoner hunger strike at Polk CI in Butner, NC, including their demands, check out: (http://prisonbooks.info/2014/06/02/prisoner-hunger-strike-hits-polk-corr…)

Playlist

Anarchist, Anti-Civ, Asheville, Earth & Animal Liberation, Earth First!, Environment, Eric McDavid, General, Hacking, History, June 11, Labor, Marius Mason, Music, NATO3, Prisons, repression, Sean Swain

June 11th announcements then METAL

neveralone2014
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This week’s episode features a couple of announcements about the upcoming June 11th Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason, Eric McDavid and Longterm Anarchist and Eco Prisoners. For info on the cases of Eric & Marius and other folks needing support, along with ideas of what solidarity might look like, check out http://june11.org

Here in Asheville, there will be a 4pm picnic at Carrier Park where folks will talk about June 11th, Eric & Marius’s cases, solidarity and prison realities. Food will be present, but bring your own sides to share, especially if you have dietary restrictions.

At 9pm on June 11th, there’ll be a show at the Odditorium. The benefit requests a $5-20 donation. Bands include Aneides and Uninhabitable from Asheville, Burnt Books from South Carolina and Harsh Words from Georgia. Items’ll be raffled off and there’ll be plenty of info available and folks to chat with. On Fakebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1452424341665913/

For more events in your town, check out june11.org. Also announced was the online art exhibition curated by the Earth First! Prisoner Support Project and featuring the work of 23 different artists, many of whom are eco-prisoners. Check out http://neveraloneart.org for flyers and more info. It’ll be up and online from June 11th to June 30th.

Bursts read a statement by Sean on this episode concerning the U.S. economy and the role that counterfeiting money plays in it. Very informative, as always.

Following the announcements, we heard Cervidae, Ancient Oak, Deafest and more! Check out the playlist here

A-Radio Berlin, activism, Črna Luknja, General, Rebroadcast

črna luknja interviews Hana from Bosnia; half an hour of recent metal tracks

bosnia-master675
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This week, we feature audio that made it’s way to us from the Slovenian anarchist radio show, črna luknja (Black Hole). Hosts interviewed Hana, who’s originally from Mostar but lives now in Sarajevo. Hana tells of her perspectives on the protests and public plenums that occurred in Bosnia in response to the government ignoring workers and voters demands and continued to privatize industry while further precariatizing (is that a word?) the population.

You can find more material by črna luknja (mostly NOT in english) at http://radiostudent.si/dru%C5%BEba/%C4%8Drna-luknja

This week’s segment written by Sean Swain talks about the case of Krow in Wisconsin. To find out some more on it, check out our interview with Krow from last year: http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2013/07/15/west-coast-prisone…

https://penokeedefenders.wordpress.com/

Asheville, gender, General, harm reduction, North Carolina, panel discussion, Prisons, Queer, Racism, repression

Tranzmission presents on Queer realities in prison

http://tranzmissionprisonproject.tumblr.com/
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This week’s episode features a presentation by members of Tranzmission Prison Project, an Asheville-based group. TPP is described on their tumblr as “Prison abolitionists against Queer & Trans* incarceration “. This is a recording of group members presenting their LGBTQQIA Prisoner Realities workshop recently at Warren Wilson College.

Trigger warning: This episode discusses sexual assault, solitary confinement and other torturous punishments.

For more info on this project, check out:
http://www.tranzmissionprisonproject.org/

Anarchist, General, Grand Jury, PNW, Sean Swain

Steve Jablonski on exile against the PNW Grand Jury (05/04/2014)

http://pnwgjresistance.storenvy.com/(Post Script, April 2015:  It has come to our attention at The Final Straw, and within the wider North American Anarchist scene, that Steve Jablonski’s story of evasion of a Grand Jury in the PNW was a false one.  It’s regrettable that someone would choose to gain social and economic capital by posing themselves as bravely resisting the state and it’s harassment.  As has been verified to us here at the show, Steve not only lied on this show, but in tons of personal interactions in the U.S. and Canada and took advantage of good intentions and trust while also soaking up resources that could have been used to support others actually resisting Grand Juries and otherwise experiencing State repression.  The audio of this episode has been removed.  For further clarification: http://anarchistnews.org/content/regarding-steven-jablonskis-deceptions-grand-juries-and-sensible-solidarity)

This week’s show features a conversation with Steve Jablonski, recently returned from a period of self-imposed exile in Canada as avoidance of receiving a Federal Grand Jury subpoena in relation to anti-police organizing in the pacific northwest and the May Day spree of 2012 in Seattle. Steve talks about the choice he made, the circumstances that allowed him to return, the support he received while abroad and his return to the U.S.

This week’s Sean Swain segment is read by a supporter. Sean has resumed his meals but is still being denied phone and email access. It is suggested that you take a minute and give a call to Chief Inspector Gary Mohr in Columbus Ohio at (614)752-1671 or (614)752-1677 and request that Sean be given those accesses so that he can more easily communicate with his new legal counsel, Richard Kerger. Seanswain.org also suggests calling ODRC Legal Services at 614-752-1765 and requesting to speak to Counsel Trevor Clark. Sean believes that Trainwreck Trevor is the source of his silencing.

We also announce a request by the Move9 Parole supporters that people call the Pennsylvania Parole Board from the 5th to the 9th 24/7 at (717) 772-4343 and request that the Board parole Debbie (Sims) Africa (#006307) on the grounds that Debbie has:
1.) received a positive recommendation from both the Warden and Superintendent of her prison for parole;
2.) employment and housing both set up for her if she is paroled
3.) an excellent prison conduct record.
More info can be found at http://move9parole.blogpsot.com
Hear our interview with Orie Lumumba about the Move9 case here: http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2014/02/27/update-on-the-g20-extraditees-the-move-9-parole-push-02162014/

A great way to support legal fees and such for resisters, including Dennison Williams and Kerry Cunneen who are still in exile, as they evaded the Grand Jury AFTER being served with subpoenas, and make your walls pretty, check out http://pnwgjresistance.storenvy.com/ or http://nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com/ and specify donations for Dennison and Kerry. Hopefully money will get to them.

Also, Steve wanted me to include info about his buddy, Amelie, who is caught up in the 5E3 prisoners in Mexico: http://fuegoalascarceles.wordpress.com/in-english-information/

A-Radio Berlin, Anarchist, Author, Chile, Feminism, gender, General, harm reduction, Health, History, Prisons, Racism, repression, Sean Swain

Dan Berger on “The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States”

98217821-young-woman-wearing-groucho-marx-mask-gettyimages
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This week, William speaks with Dan Berger – who is an author, prison activist and movement historian – about his new book “The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States” just out from PM Press. They speak about histories pertaining to radical mileus as well as the much debated term “political prisoner” and how it relates to prison abolition and support work, among other topics. More about him and his work can be found at http://danberger.org.

Also included is a piece by comrades at ARadio Berlin entitled “Practical Self Help; An Abortion Hotline in Chile”. More of their works can be found at http://aradio.blogsport.de.

Sean Swain’s segment this week is read by The Stimulator of http://Submedia.tv, check out their radical films at that site. Sean is still refusing meals, so far as we are aware. Updates can be found at http://seanswain.org

Rebroadcast, Sean Swain

Life During Wartime (rebroadcast) + Zerzan reads Swain

life_during_wartime
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This episode, we replay an interview from August of 2012. An interview with Will Munger, one of the editors and contributors to the AK Press release of 2013, Life During Wartime. This book is a project of the CounterCounterInsurgency conference that’d happened prior in Portland and the articles discuss various explorations of the use of CounterInsurgency by law enforcement and the military domestically in the United States to suppress political and “a-political” movements and threats. Available from AK Press.

What is COIN (Counterinsurgency)? How is it being applied to movements and communities in the United States? How do we resist it? These are among the topics covered during the conversation.

Among other things, Will’s research has focused on the case study of the relationship and dialogue developed between law enforcement in Salinas, California and the Monterey, California-based Naval Postgraduate School. This relationship has allowed NPS to conduct the beginnings of a proxy-war on the local Latino populations with a focus on eradicating gang networks. Will’s essay, “Social War in the Salad Bowl” won a grant from the Institute for Anarchist Studies this last year.

U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24: Counterinsurgency Warfare
NPS: Gangs and Guerrillas

First, though, John Zerzan reads a script by Sean Swain, anarchist prisoner who’s being denied access to phone and email privileges due to his participation in this show and his recent success at gaining a new lawyer. April 20th marks the 23rd anniversary of Sean’s incarceration, so he reflects on the case that initially got him locked up. His new lawyer hopes to overturn that initial conviction and get Sean released. http://www.seanswain.org

Anarchist, Ben Turk, General, Hunger Strike, Music, Prisons, repression, Sean Swain

Ben Turk on the silencing of Sean Swain, anarchist prisoner in Ohio

seanswain.org
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On April 6th of 2014, anarchist prisoner Sean Swain, who’s been kind enough to allow us to present his audio commentaries (available at http://www.seanswain.org) had his access to phone calls and email shut down by JPay corporation (which facilitates financial transactions between prisoners and their families and other corporations while skimming profit and also saving and mining the private user data) alongside of Global Tel* Link. This comes just after Sean was able to engage a new lawyer, Richard Kerger, who’s done work on the Lucasville Uprising death row prisoners.

This episode, we speak to Ben Turk, a supporter of Sean’s about new updates in Sean’s case, his silencing and how folks can help pressure the state to give Sean back his access to phones and email.

Prior to that interview, however, a special guest reads a script from Sean for this week’s “You Are The Resistance”. Take a listen, or find it later at archive.org as youaretheresistance04132014 alongside the past segments for download or streaming.

Ben then tells us about his efforts, via Insurgent Theatre, to print a compendium of the plays he’s written and his upcoming tour of the play BADGE (formerly known Know Your Enemies and prior to that as ACAB), where Ben play’s the part of Officer Friendly, a community liaison officer who slowly realizes that, in fact, all cops are bastards. This play will be touring with D. Jones’ film “The Shadow of Lucasville” around numerous parts of the U.S. and Canada. Check out the play intro and the preview of the film at http://www.insurgenttheatre.org

Ben also suggests taking a moment to call the current Prison Director, Gary Mohr at 614-752-1677 and requesting that Sean Swain be given back access to his email and phone communications so that he can resume more direct contact with lawyer, Rick Kerger.

If you care to apply pressure to Global Tel Link, which controls the private-side of the ability of prisoners and outsiders to communicate via email and phone, Sean says they are headquartered in Reston, VA and has offices in: Houston, TX, Sacramento, CA; Altoon, PA; & Mobile, AL. http://www.gtl.net

More on JPay can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPay

The last half of this episode features the first track from new album by the Baton Rouge anarchist metal project, Thou. The album’s called Heathen and the track is called Free Will. Next up, we hear the track IV from the album Descent of Man by Vestiges.

Playlist available here