WIND CHILL FACTOR 9.2
January-February 1994
electronic version


Wind Chill Factor is a zine for ideas, action, news, anger,
creativity, and more.  The project is
anarchist/autonomist/anti-authoritarian in content, process, and
organization.

Contributions, letters, hate mail, etc, are all welcome. We can
especially use $donations$! For further info on WCF, contact us at:
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thak@midway.uchicago.edu

Use those addresses to also contact: Collective Chaos, Anarchist
Black Cross--Chicago, Food Not Bombs--Chicago, and the Baklava
Autonomist Collective.

Those of you familiar with previous issues of Wind Chill Factor
will find this unusual. Well, while we would love to be able to
publish on a regular monthly schedule, the reality is that we are
far too busy with our other projects, and the cost of printing
5000+ copies per issue on newsprint is prohibitive. So we did some
brainstorming, fretted and wrung our hands, and then stole some
ideas and decided on this:  In between our regular newsprint issues
(the next of which will be #10) which we hope to put out every 3
months or so, we will be putting out WCF Info-Bulletins, such as
this one which you are now reading.  These info-bulletins will be
numbered as decimals (ergo, WCF 9.2), and will be available in 3
formats: as a page in the local radical monthly rag Lumpen Times,
as a streetsheet distributed separately around the city, and as
this electronic newsletter for Internet & BBS distribution (request
it from thak@midway.uchicago.edu).

(MAL)CONTENTS , issue 9.2
1) Insurgents Declare War In Chiapas
2) EZLN Declaration
3) Upon A Snowy White Day In Springfield
4) KKK Bitch?
5) Revolutionary Cells Attack
6) Campaign Against Nazi Papers In Berlin
7) Berlin's Anti-Olympic Resistance
8) Freedom For Mehmet, Abidin, Fatma, & Erkan!
9) Shut Down The Control Units!
10) Lenin's Brain Nothing Special


1)  INSURGENTS DECLARE WAR IN CHIAPAS

While many of the major newspapers in Mexico awaited the count down
to the initiation of NAFTA, on Jan. 1st a group of combatants stole
the headlines.  Hundreds of campesinos naming themselves the
Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) declared war against
the Mexican government and the national elite (see their manifesto,
opposite page).  In the state of Chiapas, EZLN devised & executed
the occupation of five towns, then soon took 2 more.  In one bold
stroke the Zapatistas, for the most part indian peasants, jarred
the conscience of millions around the world to the problems of the
poorest sectors of Mexico.

Close to 2000 well-armed guerrillas are believed to be involved in
the uprising.  The rebels occupied government offices, the
headquarters of the ruling PRI party, and sacked government
archives, throwing deeds and bank records of the land-robbers into
the street.  In Altamirano, 25 guerrillas took sledgehammers and
destroyed the government building, piece by piece.  The Zapatistas
also took over a state radio station, broadcasting their demands
and music.  In San Cristobal the rebels stormed a local prison and
freed 179 prisoners wrongly jailed over land disputes, then left
the prison to be sacked by local townspeople.  Major roads were
blocked with cars and trees, and "war taxes" and sometimes cars
were collected from passing journalists and the wealthy.  The
guerrillas also captured several landowners, including Absalon
Castellanos, a brutal retired general who ruled as Chiapas'
governor during the death squad campaigns of 1982-88, who will now
face "revolutionary justice".  Rebels besieged the army base at
Rancho Nuevo several times, and have shot several military
aircraft. 

For years the Mexican government has not only repeatedly ignored
the problems of many of its poorest people, but also has repressed
the popular movements for social justice.  In the state of Chiapas
alone the population, especially the indigenous population, suffers
from the highest cases of death, malnutrition, illiteracy,
underdevelopment of agriculture, lowest salaries, and crowded
housing.  Cultural and economic discrimination against the indians
is constant and institutionalized.  This uprising against the rich
land owners and corrupt government was timed to coincide with the
enactment of NAFTA, viewed as the latest step in government attacks
on the peasants' ejidos communal system.  NAFTA has been described
as a "death sentence" for indians. Said one Zapatista, "There is no
work, no land, no education.  There is no way to change that in
elections." 

After the initial declaration of war was issued, the Mexican Army
belatedly recognized the threat and started to move into the area. 
Over 12,000 troops were sent into the area, with on-site direction
from the Defense Secretary.  Immediately there were reports of
severe human rights violations.  On Tuesday, Jan. 4th, the
municipalities of Acala and San Cristobal were indiscriminately
bombed, killing hundreds of civilians.  Journalists have also
reported evidence of mass executions and torture.  After heavy
fighting in Ocosingo, captured rebels were lined and shot in the
head; many corpses have also been left in the open deliberately to
rot as a warning.  The Central Independiente de Oberos y Campesinos
(CIOAC) has issued a statement claiming the local and federal
government have "lost control over the army and that the situation
was worsening in the areas of conflicts".  The Mexican Army has
once again shown its readiness to abuse its people.  The government
continues to cloak their actions by refusing to allow the press and
human rights organizations in to monitor the activity in the areas
of conflict.  As one clergy member stated, "the civilian population
is more scared of the Mexican Army then with the presence of the
Zapatistas."

Although the EZLN has been driven out of the towns and into the
rainforests and mountains, blowing up bridges and blocking roads to
hold off troops, they continue to attack the army.  The conflict
even appears to be spreading outside Chiapas.  Electric power
pylons have been destroyed in two states, and at least one car bomb
has been set off in Mexico City.   

The Mexican government is protecting its international image by
claiming that it is open to dialogue with the Zapatistas but
continues to bomb civilians and deny access.  Many respected
figures of Mexican society have called for a stop to the bombings
and human rights violations and demanded the withdrawal of the army
from Chiapas.

We too must make this call.  We on the northern side of the imposed
border must take actions to put pressure on the Mexican government
to cease its blatant violations of human rights and implement the
just demands of the Zapatistas.  There have already been actions a
dozen cities, including Chicago where the Mexican Consulate has
been visited twice, with some interesting redecoration done. 

The EZLN takes its name from Emiliano Zapata, the uncompromising
leader in the Mexican revolution of 1910.  Zapata took back lands
stolen and sold to sugar plantations that had one time been
communally held by indigenous people.  We fully support the EZLN
and their refusal to have their land taken, their culture &
language destroyed, obediently playing into the role of NAFTA
refugees.  As Zapata said, "It is better to die on your feet than
live on your knees."  Viva La EZLN!  Tierra y Libertad!

(portions of this article were blatantly plagiarised from other
radical sources.  Information wants to be free!)


2) EZLN DECLARATION

The following is the full text of the declaration from the Lacandon
jungle by the Zapatista National Liberation Army:

TODAY WE SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO:
MEXICAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS:

We are a product of 500 years of struggle: first against slavery,
then during the War of Independence against Spain led by
insurgents, then to avoid being absorbed by North American
imperialism, then to promulgate our constitution and expel the
French empire from our soil, and later the dictatorship of Porfirio
Diaz denied us the just application of the Reform laws and the
people rebelled and leaders like Villa and Zapata emerged, poor men
just like us. We have been denied the most elemental preparation so
they can use us as cannon fodder and pillage the wealth of our
country. They don't care that we have nothing, absolutely nothing,
not even a roof over our heads, no land, no work, no health care,
no food nor education. Nor are we able to freely and democratically
elect our political representatives, nor is there independence from
foreigners, nor is there peace nor justice for ourselves and our
children.

But today, we say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We are the inheritors of the
true builders of our nation. The dispossessed, we are millions and
we thereby call upon our brothers and sisters to join this struggle
as the only path, so that we will not die of hunger due to the 
insatiable ambition of a 70 year dictatorship led by a clique of
traitors that represent the most conservative and sell-out groups. 
They are the same ones that opposed Hidalgo and Morelos, the same
ones that betrayed Vicente Guerrero, the same ones that sold half
our country to the foreign invader, the same ones that imported a
European prince to rule our country, the same ones that formed the
"scientific" Porfirsta dictatorship, the same ones that opposed the
Petroleum Expropriation, the same ones that massacred the railroad
workers in 1958 and the students in 1968, the same ones the today
take everything from us, absolutely everything.

To prevent the continuation of the above and as our last hope,
after having tried to utilize all legal means based on our
Constitution, we go to our Constitution, to apply Article 39 which
says:

"National Sovereignty essentially and originally resides in the
people. All political power emanates from the people and its
purpose is to help the people. The people have, at all times, the
inalienable right to alter or modify their form of government."

Therefore, according to our constitution, we declare the following
to the Mexican federal army, the pillar of the Mexican dictatorship
that we suffer from, monopolized by a one-party system and led by
Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the maximum and illegitimate federal
executive that today holds power.   According to this Declaration
of War, we ask that other powers of the nation advocate to restore
the legitimacy and the stability of the nation by overthrowing the
dictator. 

We also ask that international organizations and the International
Red Cross watch over and regulate our battles, so that our efforts
are carried out while still protecting our civilian population. We
declare now and always that we are subject to the Geneva Accord,
forming the EZLN as our fighting arm of our liberation struggle. 
We have the Mexican people on our side, we have the beloved
tri-colored flag highly respected by our insurgent fighters. We use
black and red in our uniform as our symbol of our working people on
strike. Our flag carries the following letters, "EZLN," Zapatista
National Liberation Army, and we always carry our flag into combat.

Beforehand, we refuse any effort to disgrace our just cause by
accusing us of being drug traffickers, drug guerrillas, thieves, or
other names that might by used by our enemies. Our struggle follows
the constitution which is held high by its call for justice and
equality.        

Therefore, according to this declaration of war, we give our
military forces, the EZLN, the following orders:

First: Advance to the capital of the country, overcoming the
Mexican federal army, protecting in our advance the civilian
population and permitting the people in the liberated area the
right to freely and democratically elect their own administrative
authorities.

Second: Respect the lives of our prisoners and turn over all
wounded to the International Red Cross.

Third: Initiate summary judgements against all soldiers of the
Mexican federal army and the political police that have received
training or have been paid by foreigners, accused of being traitors
to our country, and against all those that have repressed and
treated badly the civil population and robbed or stolen from or
attempted crimes against the good of the people.

Fourth: Form new troops with all those Mexicans that show their
interest in joining our struggle, including those that, being enemy
soldiers, turn themselves in without having fought against us, and
promise to take orders from the General Command of the Zapatista
National Liberation Army.

Fifth: We ask for the unconditional surrender of the enemy's
headquarters before we begin any combat to avoid any loss of lives. 

Sixth: Suspend the robbery of our natural resources in the areas
controlled by the EZLN.

To the People of Mexico: We, the men and women, full and free, are
conscious that the war that we have declared is our last resort,
but also a just one. The dictators are applying an undeclared
genocidal war against our people for many years. Therefore we ask
for your participation, your decision to support this plan that
struggles for work, land, housing, food, health care, education,
independence, freedom, democracy, justice and peace. We declare
that we will not stop fighting until the basic demands of our
people have been met by forming a government of our country that is
free and democratic.

JOIN THE INSURGENT FORCES OF THE ZAPATISTA NATIONAL LIBERATION
ARMY.

General Command of the EZLN  1993

3) UPON A SNOWY WHITE DAY IN SPRINGFIELD...

As many of you may have noticed, there has been a resurgence of
racist and fascist activity both in Europe and the U.$.  In
Germany, a wave of neo-nazi violence has allowed the government to
adopt more stringent immigration controls and other racist
measures.  In France, Le Pen's fascist National Front regularly
gets 25% of the vote.  In London, a British Nationalist Party
member won a local government seat in East London (sparking a large
anti-fascist riot which attacked the BNP's Headquarters).  Here in
Amerika, the white supremacist movement is slowly but surely
growing, with both racist attacks, firebombings, & murders on the
rise, and with a new breed of fascists taking up "respectable"
looks so they can sleeze their ideologies into mainstream politics
and push things even further to the right.

Of course, militant resistance to this trend is also on the rise,
and so we joined about 300 other anti-racists in Springfield on Jan
16th to oppose a planned Knights of the Ku Klux Klan rally.  The
snow and brutal 7 degree temperature (-16 with wind chill) did not
keep folx from travelling from Chicago, St. Louis, Iowa City,
Louisville, and other towns to confront the klan.  The majority of
the crowd was white, but there was a strange mix of socialists,
liberals, union workers, anti-racist skins, anarchists, our
autonomist group, everyday folx off the street, and even a few
local Crips.  

We arrived about an hour before the klan's rally.  Along the way we
had been separated from our friends, and driving into the small
town atmosphere complete with swastika graffiti and crawling with
cops was an unnerving experience.  Next time we'll make sure to
arrive in a crowd.  The cops had fenced off an area around the
capitol's steps for the klan to protest in.   Our first mistake was
in not tearing it down when the pig presence was light, so that we
could get to the klan later.  As it was, when the klan was brought
in safely from inside the capitol, we couldn't get at 'em, with the
exception of a few well-thrown batteries from the side.

Quite a few racists showed up separately from the klan, intending
to join the rally, only to find that the cops weren't letting
anyone into the contained area, pro-klan or not.  Thus several
groups of them ended up wandering about on the wrong side of the
fence, mingling with the anti-racists.  This created a strange
dynamic, since everyone was bundled up it was hard to tell whose
side some people were on.  We went for the direct approach, going
right up to suspicious looking people and asking "Are you anti-
racist?".  If they said no, we took it upon ourselves to confront
them verbally, and sometimes physically.  

There were 263 state, county, and local police (many in riot gear
armed with heavy wood clubs and tear gas squirters) and 1500 feet
of fencing to protect the 55 or so klansmen.  The costs of this
protection ran around $84,000.  For the most part the cops were
relatively tame (partly because most of the demonstrators were),
and well versed in crowd control.  Groups of riot cops would
regularly walk politely right through groups of anti-racists, in
effect breaking the group up and offering a bit of intimidation at
the same time.  After the rally, when we were getting in our cars
to leave, we were stopped and frisked by local cops who also took
everybody's name down off their IDs and ran spot computer checks. 
When we asked what the gestapo tactics were about, we were told
"standard procedure."

While we arrived somewhat prepared, our organization could have
been better.  We did have maps of the local area for everyone in
case things got crazy, phone numbers for lawyers, and vaseline in
case we got maced (you smear some on your eyelids so it seeps in
and puts a slightly protective coating over your eyes).  We did a
good job of sticking together and watching out for each other, but
our affinity groups could have been better defined, and we
should've used a buddy-system inside those groups, as they
inevitably get split up in hectic moments.  We also could've been
better armed with innocuous but useful weapons (eggs, batteries,
keys on a string, heavy sticks with a sign stuck on them, etc.). 
We also could've used a good discussion beforehand on what to
expect and how far people were willing to go, as there were times
we could've acted but didn't cuz we weren't sure about backup.  We
also should've scouted the whole area right away and found where
the klan's escape route & bus were located...

Before the core of the klan even arrived we had chased off over a
dozen klan supporters successfully, including a group of WAR skins
(White Aryan Resistance), one of whom took a rock to the head.  The
younger klan supporters we ran into we tried to argue with to show
how absurd the racist ideologies are.  The older Klansmen, neo-
nazis, and Aryan Nations supporters were more set in their ways and
were dealt with in a more militant manner.  At least five of them
met up with some street justice.  One Klansman who was video-taping
us got his camera destroyed, steel toes to the ribs, and a general
beatdown.  When the police moved in to this incident we
successfully unarrested 2 anti-racist activists.  Chalk one up for
militant youth action.

Of course all demonstrators present did not agree with these
tactics.  Others chose to sell their papers and shout slogans like
"Death to the Klan", but when we pointed out klan and nazi types in
the crowd they remained in their sedate picket circles and spewed
more dogmatic slogans minus much action.  The notable exceptions
were us and some black militants from the Progressive Labor Party. 
What it seems to come down to is many folx (usually white) view the
klan as a problem, not as a direct threat to and attack on their
persons, as blacks, gays, jews, and others feel.  The Klan's
ideology is based on hatred and fueled by violence.  Confronting
these scum is not so much an assault on them as it is an act of
aggressive self-defense (Malcolm X didn't even call it that, he
called it intelligence).  Racist violence and violence used against
racists are not the same, because you cannot view them both without
taking into account the power dynamics of this society, with its
racist institutions and disenfranchised under classes.  If we ever
fail to confront the Klan or other racist scum like this, then we
are allowing a crime to be committed on others.  And we risk all
our futures in letting them by.  In Springfield we took matters
directly into our own hands, and you can be sure some of those
racists will never show up at a public Klan event again.

A message to white liberals for future reference:  we won't get in
your way, so don't get in ours.  Plain and simple.

There are of course many ways to confront racism, of which militant
actions like this are but a small part (remember, we can only give
this from an anti-racist white perspective because we could never
know what its like to be black growing up under the racist-classist
power structure).  Educating our own communities is critically
important.  The slogan "kops and klan go hand in hand" definitely
has a significant amount of legitimacy to it.  We must not allow
ourselves to only focus on these extremist hate groups.  We have to
acknowledge where the most powerful and detrimental racism lies: in
the hands of the state.  Like Chuck D says, "Now the KKK wears 3
piece suits."  The U$ jails blacks at a rate six times (!) higher
than South Africa, and right now 60% of all women prisoners are
black and 1 of every 4 black males in the U$ are in the prison or
judicial system.  Lets also not forget that the cops kill more non-
whites than the Klan do.  And the state continues to encourage
racism with anti-immigrant hysteria, and cuts in education and
social programs (ooh lets get risky and say class warfare), yet
they go to extreme measures to protect groups like the Klan when
they rally.  The state screams for freedom of speech for the KKK
but when its the Black Panthers the state offers gestapo style
covert programs like COINTELPRO where activists are harassed,
jailed, and even murdered.

A message to white folx:  Check yourself, your family, your
friends.  Confront racial stereotypes any of your peers might try
to enforce.  Realize that what society (parents, peers, school,
media) has taught us is to feel superior because of our skin.  Once
we recognize where the roots of this (mis)lead, where hate and
ignorance come from, we can stamp it out.  Don't try to fool
yourself like "oh my parents taught me not to think like that", but
take a look at your impact on your community and others' lives. 
You and your parents outlooks are affected by socialization in a
society full of racist institutions.  Do not self proclaim yourself
(or your group) as "leaders" in the anti-racist struggle.  That is
not only arrogant and condescending but racist as well.  Take a
good look at history, at the colonial reality of this country, and
how historically whites have sold out non-whites to keep the power
and privilege the status quo insures them.

The Klan took the stage playing recordings of "Dixie" and spewing
White Power rhetoric.  The main speaker Basil "Red" Sitzes, Grand
Titan of the Southern Illinois Knights read a ridiculous story
entitled "Proud to be White".  Like they have in previous rallies
this year in Indianapolis, Columbus (Ohio), and New Hope (Penn.),
they stated they will be back next year.  Well, so will we, and not
only in Springfield but anywhere else they rear their ugly heads.

Sprite & MC Think


4)  KKK BITCH?

I got to see something interesting and annoying this weekend, and
it made me do some thinking.  I saw an anti-racist skinhead use the
word "bitch" when addressing a young, female racist.  I took
offense to the use of such a gender-specific derogatory term, no
matter what her politics, and I said something at that point.  When
I consider the fact that HALF the population has been
systematically oppressed through law and cultural mores for
THOUSANDS of years, worldwide, I get disgusted when I see blatantly
sexist behavior from men who claim to fight oppression.  To
actively fight racism is important, but we are not doing so for
just the African-American male, the Latino male, the Asian male or
any other male of a racially oppressed group.  We are also fighting
for the WIMMIN.  The way I see it, oppression is oppression, and if
I hear a man with an anti-racist agenda spout sexist language, I
think he's a hypocrite.  At least racist males are consistent, they
believe in oppressing everyone that isn't a white, heterosexual
male.  So I think men need to take a harder look at their attitudes
relating to oppression.  They need to realize that the fight for
the equality for wimmin doesn't involve a specialized, specific
minority, that in Amerikkka it involves OVER HALF the population. 
The anti-racists and anti-fascists who still have sexist attitudes
also need to take a closer look at the attitudes toward wimmin that
the racist organizations have, and they will find that they aren't
very different.  And since no anti-racist wants to be compared to
the kkklan, they had better start getting their heads on straight
when it comes to wimmin.  Remember, there are more of us.

5)  REVOLUTIONARY CELLS ATTACK GERMAN BORDER PATROL!

The following is a communique from the Revolutionary Cells on an
action against the shutting of Germany's eastern border. On the 4th
of October, in the night, a power transformer on the lands of the
Border Police at Frankfurt on the Oder was blown up.  No one was
injured, the power supply to the border protection facility was
shut off for a short time.  The German Border Police and the
Criminal Police informed the press that this was the first
terrorist attack in the region of Frankfurt. The District Attorney
had not been aware of any terrorists being recruited from this
area.  In the beginning of September there was a demo in Frankfurt
against the new asylum laws. Around 700 people (according to
police) made a stand against racism and xenophobia.  The Border
Police arrested some autonomist demonstrators who had broken
through the border in a boat. 

Revolutionary Cells Communique

Every since the Right to Asylum was repealed in Germany on July 1,
1993 the powers that be want to stop the immigration of refugees at
the external borders of the European Community.  The measures taken
to accomplish this are being unified within the framework of the
Schengen Agreement.  One component of this is the eastward
advancement of border controls.  The German government for example
has paid 120 million German Marks ($70 million) to the government
of Poland for the strengthening of controls at the Polish eastern
border.  In addition, the German Border Police (BGS) was
strengthened in the beginning of 1993 with 1500 so called police
assistants to watch over the borders with Poland and the Czech
Republic.  At the same time, the BGS is being technologically
armed. Mobile radar and infra-red devices are now being tested to
optimize their effectiveness in detecting refugees fleeing over the
border.  Every night the BGS patrols the eastern border of Germany
in chase of those who against all odds manage to cross the border.

In the night of October 2nd to October 3rd we blew up the power
supply of the BGS-barracks in Frankfurt on the Oder and set on fire
the BGS vehicles at the Rotenburg Airport.

For Free Floods,

Revolutionary Cells

(Translated by Slingshot from Megafon #144)


6)  STOP THE NAZI PAPERS

Because the various warnings and actions at several businesses and
stores apparently didn't work about 50 newspaper stores were
visited in 11 districts of Berlin Germany on the night of October
4th to 5th, 1993. Three kiosks were torched and several were
covered with a foul smelling substance.  Many locks were also glued
and the reason for the attack left behind in spraypaint and
stickers. 

For almost one year a campaign has been waged against the public
sale of fascist newspapers in kiosks.  By fascist papers we mean
those which work toward a new dictatorial or fascist social order. 
They deny or downplay the holocaust, demand the return of the
former "Eastern Regions" to Germany, spread racist agitation and
see the only role for women in "peace times" at the home and in
front of the oven.  These papers more or less deny the right of
existence for all Jews and all who aren't white, German and healthy
as well as all leftists.  These papers have different approaches;
they speak to different sections of the population and are openly
fascist to varying degrees.

One of the papers we targeted, the Junge Freiheit (Young Freedom)
is especially dangerous, and not just because it will move to a
weekly format in 1994.  The Junge Freiheit was started in 1986 as
an internal theory organ.  Since then it has a print run of 30,000. 
An important goal of the Junge Freiheit is promoting contact and
cooperation among conservatives, extreme rightists, Christian
Democrat functionaries, right wing Professors, Republikans,
Nationalists and national revolutionaries.  Many present and former
functionaries of fascist groups write in the Junge Freiheit.  The
Junge Freiheit intellectualizes fascist positions nadand packages
them as conservative.  In this way the makers of the paper want to
attain not only political power, but most importantly cultural
dominance.

Anti-fascism for us is more than just fighting against Nazis and
their press.  Practical anti-fascist work for us is a part of the
struggle against bosses, politicians, sexists and racist, against
this imperialist normality.  A part of this normality is the mass
of softpornshit which lie around in almost all kiosks.  This
marketing of women's and children's bodies, this sexist and
heTERRORsexist propaganda makes us sick. 

We don't however fight the fascist papers in order to defend this
mock democracy, but because they are an obstacle on the path to
liberation, because they support and legitimate the arsonist
murderers with their racist agitation and because they are a motor
which pushes this society increasingly rightward.

FIGHT THE SYSTEM! NO FOOTHOLD FOR THE FASCISTS!

PREVENT THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF THE JUNGE FREIHEIT.

Antifascist lesbian/women groups and other antifascist groups

Translated from Interim 258


7)  BERLIN'S ANTI-OLYMPIC RESISTANCE
  
With the selection of Sydney, Australia as the site for Olympic
Games in the year 2000, a years-long campaign of resistance to the
Olympics has come to an end in Berlin, Germany. Berlin's
anti-Olympia resistance reached its peak with four bombings on
September 15, just days before the IOC (International Olympic
Committee) was set to make its decision. One bomb exploded outside
a office of the corporation Daimler-Benz, another outside a Hertie
warehouse, and two more outside branches of the Berliner Bank. The
four bombings resulted in minor damage. The bank and the two
corporations were big financial sponsors of Berlin's push to host
Olympia 2000. A spokesperson for the left-wing Anti-Olympia
Committee said that more attacks could follow. He termed material
damage a "legitimate means" of preventing Berlin's selection as the
site for the Olympic Games. Anti-Olympia resistance in Berlin -
which mobilized two recent demonstrations of more than 10000 people
and scores of guerrilla diffusa sabotage actions - focused its
ideological opposition to the Olympic Games on concerns ranging
from urban fears of the yuppification and gentrification of the
city to the fascist-continuity of German history. Germany hosted
the 1936 Olympics in Berlin under Adolf Hitler, something which was
no doubt pleasing to IOC chairman Juan Anton Samarnach, himself a
fascist minister in Franco's cabinet in Spain. Germany's right-wing
leader, chancellor Helmut Kohl, had also been an outspoken
supporter of bringing Olympia 2000 to Berlin. But it seems that the
left-radical resistance paid off: Berlin won only 8 out of 90 votes
during the first round of IOC voting.

from NN #145)


8)  FREEDOM FOR MEHMET, ABIDIN, FATMA, & ERKAN!

At least four members of a militant, anti-fascist, anti-racist,
turkish-kurdish youth group called "Antifa Genclik" (anti-fascist
youth) have been arrested for murder, aid to murder, attemted
murder and assault.  The alleged victim is Gerhard Kaindl, stabbed
in April 1992 during a fascist meeting.  Kaindl was a high ranking
member of "Deutsche Liga fur Volk and Heimat" (DL, the German
League for People and Hometown), a fascist party coalition that
attempts unification of a variety of fascist groups.

The arrests result from evidence given by a purported member of
Antifa Genclik, who was not identified and may not exist.  The
investigation was shallow, centering only on the AG, and police are
seeking still more unspecified persons.  

In the past, other well known antifas have had thier apartments
searched and were kept under surveillance.  Police information,
with the addresses and photos of several of these persons, was
published in the October 1992 "Deutshe Rundschau", the Deutsche
Liga party newspaper.  The paper claimed that the 8 people involved
in the action are known by the police.

This makes it obvious how well the cops and fascists work together. 
The federal police have shown their intent to damage and destroy
the antifa resistance, and especially the AG.  Their strategy is to
arrest and prosecute some supposed "leaders", while blaming the
entire group.  This creates a repressive climate which is supposed
to prevent collective political action.  The media supports it by
making it intensive and including more people, thus trying to
prevent solidarity work and split the movement.  Thus this attack
on the Antifa Genclik is an attack on the entire anti-fascist
movement.
 


9)  SHUT DOWN THE CONTROL UNITS!

Update On The Committee To End The Marion Lockdown (CEML)

This has been the busiest of times for CEML. First, work continues
to prevent the opening of the new control unit at Florence,
Colorado, or at least to alter its destructive impact. The bulk of
the work is being done by the Coalition to Shut Down Control Units,
a statewide organization in Colorado (they also publish an
excellent newsletter, "Shut Them Down", available for $10.00 from
the Rocky Mountain Peace Centre, P.O. Box 1156, Boulder, CO 80380,
U.S.A.) CEML is continuing to press this work as well as trying to
find sympathetic audiences within the new administration.
Additionally we along with the folks in Colorado are continuing our
petition campaign. We now have over 4,000 signatures but would like
to double that number. Please write for copies of the petition.

Second, our work continues to combat the control unit prison in
nearby Westville, IN. As if the brutality of that prison were not
enough, the comparatively tiny state is apparently now planning to
build a second control unit since the first has not succeeded in
stifling dissent there.

Third, since the coming October will mark the tenth anniversary of
the lockdown at Marion, we are trying to construct a fall
conference that is suitable for the event. In this context, we are
in touch with several prominent speakers. We will tell you more of
the details as they become available.

Fourth, we continue our battle against the state of Illinois in its
plans to build a control unit prison. Thus far, the proposal has
been made by Gov. Jim Edgar's Task Force but Edgar has not yet been
able to find the money for such a project. There is evidence that
our work has played a part in keeping Edgar from building this
prison.

As a result of all this activity, we must once again appeal to you
for financial assistance. We know that many of you give generously.
We apologize for asking again, but we simply cannot proceed
otherwise. Already we have cut back. For example, we have not
published "Walkin' Steel" recently due to a lack of funds.
Meanwhile expenses continue to mount. We spent over $300 producing
literature that we provided to the governor's task force. The
upcoming program and demonstration will also generate expenses. So
please help if you can. CEML, P.O. Box 578172, Chicago, Illinois
60657-8172, USA. Phone: (312) 235-0070  


10)  LENIN'S BRAIN NOTHING SPECIAL

Lifting a veil on 70 years of secret research on Lenin's brain,
Russian scientists exploded another myth Tuesday, revealing it was
much like anyone else's.  

"In the anatomical structure of Lenin's brain, there is nothing
sensational," said Oleg Adrianov, director of the Moscow Brain
Institute, where experts have spent most of this century trying to
establish the secret of the Bolshevik leader's genius.

The brain of Vladimir Ilich Lenin, Adrianov told Itar-Tass news
agency, was "undoubtedly the brain of a talented man."

"But, he said, the area of the right hemisphere's outer surface was
only just bigger than average, and the weight of the brain, at 2.95
pounds, was less than two-thirds that of 19th century novelist Ivan
Turgenev's.

Lenin's brain, dissected into thousands of slices, has lain in
exalted company at the secretive institute.  It was joined over the
years by those of such figures as revolutionary poet Vladimir
Mayakovsky, film-maker Sergei Eisenstein and dictator Josef Stalin.

:)

