Punk Rock’s Convoluted Political History

(or how I learned to stop being a wastoid and threw a benefit show for the Earth First! Journal)

By Matt Preira / Miami New Times

Punk rock’s political history is pretty convoluted. But by most accounts, the fast-hard-and-loud aesthetic came into vogue during the mid-’70s as a sneering response to the hippies of the ’60s and an extension of the hard-partying glam scene. Although obviously rooted in social angst, first-wave punk was less about societal transformation and more concerned with bombastic nihilism. Hence, the popularity of swastikas and Darby Crash’s hating on Mexicans in The Decline of Western Civilization.

But after two decades of arguing (at shows, in zines, and now on the Internet), some of these no-future freaks decided to follow the good example of political punk pioneers such as Crass or Washington, D.C.’s Positive Force collective. The result: Your average cruster is now a vegan anarcho-feminist puppeteer whose favorite means of direct action is the benefit show. And while Churchill’s Pub might swing more to the oi-oi Mohawks of the ’77 era, this sorta-English pub in Little Haiti will circle the letter A in a distinctly 2012 fashion this Wednesday during a benefit for environmental activist journal Earth First.

Hey ho, Joey Ramone may have been a goofy gluehead, but today’s punk rockers are trying to save the world.

Fund Created for Fallen Forest Defender

Ethan Ethan Wyatt Braden was passionate about protecting the Cascade Forests. To honor his memory and fight for this cause, a new fund has been created in his name. All proceeds will be donated to the organizations he was directly working with at his time of passing. Help keep his memory alive by doing your part to save this beautiful part nature. Thank you. Click here to contribute to the Ethan Wyatt Braden Cascadian Forest Fund

Ethan Braden passed away in Eugene, OR on July 5, 2012. He was 17 years old. 
Ethan was born in Sacramento, CA on December 2nd, 1994. The son of Sandy Clover, he lived across the US, but for the past 6 years, his home was in Alden, where he attended Alden-Conger High School. 

Ethan was the type of person you would meet once and never forget. He had a unique but great sense of humor and marched to the beat of his own drum. He enjoyed reading, the zodiac, horoscopes, music, animals, and keeping up with politics. He was involved in activism, participating in the Cascadian Forest Defenders. 

He is survived by his mother, Sandy Clover; sister, Chloe Braden; Brandon Jukulen, and many other loving relatives and friends.

New Lawsuit Exposes Rift in Coal Exports Plan

By SASHA / Earth First! Journal Portland Field Office

Last week, a rupture occurred with the coal industry world that shocked activists. Rio Tinto, an Australian company, which owns the US-based subsidiary Cloud Peak Energy, a 50:50 partner in the Decker Mine in the Powder River Basin, sued its partner and fellow Australian company, Ambre Energy, over its intention to ship coal out of the Pacific Northwest.

Mountain Mobilization Kicks Off Summer of Solidarity with a Challenge to Strip-Mining

by Wren Awry

Originally posted in Waging Nonviolence.

Listening to the talk in Washington is depressing these days for those concerned about the future of our planet. Democrats join Republicans in trying to roll back environmental regulation, any discussion of climate legislation is dead and everyone wants to expand domestic fossil fuel production. But all across America in the midst of a long hot summer, ordinary citizens are telling a different story by confronting out-of-control energy extraction directly.

Gettin’ Busy in the Coal Fields of Scotland!

July 14, 2012, at back at Mainshill!

Holy shite! Things have been going off in Scotland’s Douglas Valley.

Starting July 11, folks with the Coal Action Scotland crew occupied Scottish Coal’s new opencast mine site, Glentaggart East, for Take Back the Land! – a week of action against the destruction of opencast mining.

By July 14 a group of 45 activists had invaded Scottish Coal’s Mainshill Open Cast Coal Site near Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and shut it down for the day. Machines including a “prime mover” were occupied and all work was stopped completely

Earth First! Land Project: Call for Proposals

As you may have heard about at the 2012 Organizer’s Conference in Utah
or seen featured in the Beltane issue of the EF! Journal, eco-prisoner
Marie Mason submitted a proposal to the movement for an Earth First!
Land Project.  Earlier this month, at the Round River Rendezvous, several people from various regions and parts of the movement got together to strategize and begin the process of responding.  We’ve co-drafted the following call for location proposals, and we’re excited about where this is going.

Bumblebees by Marie Mason

If you or someone you know would like to propose a location for a
future Earth First! Land Project, please send a proposal containing
the following criteria to the Journal Collective, either at PO Box 964, Lake Worth, FL 33460 or collective[at]earthfirstjournal.org no later than September 1st.  We know the process of drafting such a proposal can be daunting and we want to encourage anyone who is up for the task!  We have people available to assist with drafting, so just let us know if you would like some help

Egypt Resists Monsanto’s Genetically-Modified Maize

by Tafline Laylin

When an insect feeds on Monsanto’s genetically-modified MON810 maize plant, it is in for a nasty surprise. Encoded within the seed’s DNA is an especially insidious insecticide called cry1Ab that causes the insect’s stomach to explode after ingestion. Given its brutal assault on pests, the modified crop is pitted by the agri-giant as the cure-all solution to international food shortages.

But an increasingly loud fervor has rung out across the globe against both Monsanto and their GMOs. Citing risks to biodiversity and super-bugs that require even more pesticide to control, some governments are resisting GM crops – including Egypt.

 Monsanto in Egypt

Writing for Egypt Independent, Louise Sarant reported that in 2008, Egypt first agreed to import, grow and sell Monsanto’s genetically-modified crops. A 70-ton shipment of seeds followed soon after in December, 2010; these were then planted in ten governorates throughout the country.

But in January this year, the Ministry of Agriculture seized a second 40 ton shipment that was not approved.

Monsanto Expanding its GMO Operations to Offshore Fish Nurseries

by David Quilty

The GMO soy industry, headed by agriculture giant Monsanto, is expanding into aquaculture and its soy will used to feed farm-raised fish meant for human consumption.

A new report from Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Europe states that Monsanto and Cargill are joining forces to cash in on industrial offshore fish farming by using genetically-modified soy as feed. Monsanto has been doing feed trials with its soy products and Cargill has its own aquaculture division. “Factory-Fed Fish: How the Soy Industry is Expanding Into the Sea” takes a look at how soy-based aquaculture will be an environmental nightmare.

“Our seas are not Roundup ready,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch.

Jordan is Free!

Cross Posted from Because We Must

Yesterday, our good friend Jordan Halliday was released from prison after serving 10 months for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury that was fishing for information about the animal rights scene in Salt Lake City, UT. After refusing to cooperate with a grand jury in 2009, Halliday was jailed for 4 months in hopes that the sentence would make him talk. Halliday still resisted the grand jury. He was released and then swiftly indicted with criminal contempt of court for refusing to testify the same grand jury. On July 27, 2010, Jordan pled guilty to the charge of criminal contempt of court. 

Although he was sentenced to serve 10 months on November 3, 2010, Jordan’s defense team filed an appeal which bought him some more time. The appeal was denied by the court and Jordan was arrested to start his sentence on January 9, 2012. Jordan’s courage to resist the grand jury has been an inspirational act to us all, especially for the grand jury resistors to come. Check out this post where you can read a letter from Jordan talking about resisting the grand jury! Also check this link to see a perfect example of how to deal with a grand jury.

We are so happy that Jordan is now in the loving arms of friends and family outside of prison walls. It is vital to remember that prisoner support does not end with prisoner release. Prison is a fucked up and lonely place, right now Jordan needs our support more than ever. If you are on twitter, please show jordan some love. If you are on facebook, tell him how happy you are that he’s out!

Gorilla Youngsters Seen Dismantling Poachers’ Traps

Wild gorillas Rwema and Dukore destroy a primitive snare in Rwanda earlier this week. Photograph courtesy Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

By Ker Than

for National Geographic News

Published July 19, 2012

Just days after a poacher’s snare had killed one of their own, two young mountain gorillas worked together Tuesday to find and destroy traps in their Rwandan forest home, according to conservationists on the scene.

“This is absolutely the first time that we’ve seen juveniles doing that … I don’t know of any other reports in the world of juveniles destroying snares,” said Veronica Vecellio, gorilla program coordinator at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s Karisoke Research Center, located in the reserve where the event took place.

“We are the largest database and observer of wild gorillas … so I would be very surprised if somebody else has seen that,” Vecellio added.

Bush-meat hunters set thousands of rope-and-branch snares in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, where the mountain gorillas live. The traps are intended for antelope and other species but sometimes capture the apes.

Adults are generally strong enough to free themselves. Youngsters aren’t always so lucky.

Just last week an ensnared infant named Ngwino, found too late by workers from Karisoke, died of snare-related wounds. Her shoulder had been dislocated during escape attempts, and gangrene had set in after the ropes cut deep into her leg.

The hunters, Vecellio said, seem to have no interest in the gorillas. Even small apes, which would be relatively easy to carry away for sale, are left to die.