It's a good thing the fucking amerikkkan government go around the world talking about how everyone should bow down to them, even though their own shit is completely fucked up.....
Woman shot, killed at Walmart in Idaho by two-year-old son
Reuters - The Walmart logo is pictured at its store in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles November 26, 2013. REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian
(Reuters) - A woman was accidentally shot and killed at a Walmart store in northern Idaho on Tuesday when her 2-year-old son pulled a loaded handgun from her purse that then went off, a county sheriff said.
The 29-year-old woman was shopping at a Walmart in Hayden, Idaho, with the toddler seated in her shopping cart when the incident occurred, Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said in a written statement.
Sheriff's officials said investigators were still processing the scene of the shooting, which took place shortly after 10 a.m. in the store's electronics department.
The woman's identity was withheld by authorities pending notification of next of kin.
"A very sad incident occurred at our store today in Hayden involving the death of a female customer. We are working with the Kootenai Sheriff's department as they investigate what happened," Walmart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said.
Buchanan said the store had been closed and would remain so until further notice.
Hayden is a community of about 10,000 people located in Kootenai County, north of Coeur d'Alene.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)
It's the easiest thing in the world to hide behind power and squeal and whine about "respect for the law", criminals, etc. I even heard a guy talking about the time Robert Dziekanski was killed by the pigs in the vancouver airport, screeching "But he was six feet tall and had a stapler!!" Holy crap. Then by all means, they simply had to kill him didn't they? Especially since he couldn't speak english. That makes him even more frightening, right? Fucking chickenshit morons. Read this.
All Out for New Year’s Eve! No New Year Under This Old System!
December 29, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Over the past few weeks, the powers-that-be have tried to put a lid on the mass upheaval that so beautifully and powerfully burst forward this fall, using arrests, intimidation, and confusion. No! What people have been fighting against is too deeply entrenched in this system, too brutally unjust in its effects, and too utterly unnecessary for us to allow those on top to suppress or to derail it. This struggle has involved tens of thousands and changed the thinking of millions—too much has been begun to allow the powers to turn this around. Their attempts to rule the protest and resistance of the people out of order must be dramatically opposed, and new thousands must be and can be called forward in doing this right on New Year’s Eve itself.
New Year’s must set the tone for this whole coming year. There are thousands who can be called forward now and involved in these actions. Yes, those who came forward in their tens of thousands to fight for justice against the reign of unpunished police murder of Black and Latino people in this so-called “land of the free.” Yes, those who see a profit-over-all system hurtling things toward the destruction of the environment. Yes, women and men who hate the way that women are degraded, humiliated, robbed of basic rights and oppressed in this so-called modern society, who hate all of the gender oppression done to LGBT people. Yes, people who have stood up against what the U.S. and its allies like Israel do to people all over the world, including the most depraved and sadistic torture by the CIA and the outright genocidal attacks in Palestine. And yes, most definitely yes, to those standing up in solidarity with the people of Mexico against the government’s outrageous murder of 43 students and the cover-up that has followed. All these different forces, and more besides, should bring in signs pointing to the outrages they are fighting—and if there is cross-fertilization, and people with all different kinds of signs, even better!!
In short, let there be a festival of resistance—of different forces from different perspectives, bringing in all sorts of different issues and signs against different forms of oppression and injustice... marching, chanting and joining together in the spirit of defiance and determination to make 2015 even more powerful than 2014—even more widespread and determined, and even deeper in its challenge to what gives rise to and is at the root of police murder and mass incarceration and the whole question of “race” in America… as well as even broader in spreading this spirit of defiance to be acting against all the other horrors in all their forms… a festival of resistance up against this system's orgy of oppression!
There is still time to make this happen on the scale it needs to. Just this past Thanksgiving, the demonstration against the Macy’s parade was organized overnight on Twitter, and people turned up at 7 a.m. to be there—and this then set the terms for the news that day. There is no reason why people cannot now tap into the creativity of this growing movement, reach out to many new people, and find imaginative ways to make this a big deal in the press. There are many, many groups working on these questions; so long as they want to see some basic change in a positive direction, involve them—new or old. And if there is a battle for a permit, in any city, make it a fight that everyone knows about and becomes part of, making it a battle for the right to protest and drawing even more people into the fight and into the streets.
This is a rare time. What was not possible six months ago is possible today. What was not conceivable a year ago is conceivable today. The challenge to those who want to see this struggle deepened, strengthened, and carried forward, is to conceive, to imagine, and then to carry outwhat we conceive on the scale that is now possible.
On New Year’s itself: bring the revolution into all this. Get out word on the dialogue between Cornel West and Bob Avakian, “Revolution and Religion: the Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion,” and the whole campaign to raise big funds to get BA Everywhere. Get out word about the revcom.us website, and get out copies of Revolution newspaper, far and wide, on the spot.
In short, make this a New Year’s Eve where something really NEW can be celebrated, in struggle up against the old.
With all of the shit coming to light lately about the pigs killing unarmed youth in the cities of the " land of the free", this quote has never been more timely.
The role of the police is not to serve and protect the people. It is to serve and protect the system that rules over the people. To enforce the relations of exploitation and oppression, the conditions of poverty, misery and degradation into which the system has cast people and is determined to keep people in. The law and order the police are about, with all of their brutality and murder, is the law and the order that enforces all this oppression and madness.
At this stage of the game, can there really be anyone left who believes that obama is the "lesser of two evils"? Maybe I'm just being naive, because people are going to think whatever they want to think. As mentioned before, there are people in the u.s. who think obama is a "communist"?! Stupid fuckers. He's carrying on the bloody work of empire that all of his predecessors have done.
U.S. Opens New Concentration Camp for Immigrants on Texas-Mexico Border
December 22, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
On December 14, Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama administration, traveled to Dilley, Texas, to announce the opening of a new detention center for immigrants, primarily immigrant women and children. The U.S. government gave its new children's prison the innocuous-sounding name “South Texas Family Residential Center.” But Dilley is a desolate, harsh, and remote town northeast of Laredo. It is well removed from potential legal support for the immigrant detainees in Austin, San Antonio, and other Texas cities. Other prisons for immigrant families have a well-documented history of abuse, rape, and dehumanizing conditions, including harsh abuse of children.
On December 14, Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama administration, travelled to Dilley, Texas, to announce the opening of a new detention center for immigrants, primarily immigrant women and children. This new, privately run jail will immediately begin taking in prisoners and will reach its intended capacity of 2,400 prisoners by May 2015.
The new prison is opening shortly after a major change in immigration policy declared in an executive order by Obama last month. Obama’s order focused on the promise of temporary relief from deportation for some immigrants, and an escalation of harshly repressive measures along the border. (See “Obama’s Immigration Moves—and the Need for Increased Resistance” for a fuller analysis of Obama’s measures towards immigrants and the intense conflicts in the ruling class.)
August 2, 2014: Immigrants’ rights protest in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The U.S. government gave its new children’s prison the innocuous-sounding name “South Texas Family Residential Center.” Articles in the mainstream media invariably describe its “medical care and counselors, trailer classrooms, library and email access, and a basketball court and playgrounds...”—as if the federal government contracted the infamous CCA (Corrections Corporation of America, which should more accurately be known as the Concentration Camps of Amerikkka), to build a summer camp or recreation center for poor kids. But a lawyer who has struggled to represent immigrant families held in Artesia, New Mexico, and other locations spoke to the reality of the Dilley prison: “I’m at a loss for words to imagine what Dilley will look like with so many 6-year-olds detained behind razor wire.”
Dilley is a desolate, harsh, and remote town northeast of Laredo. It is well removed from potential legal support for the immigrant detainees in Austin, San Antonio, and other Texas cities. The new prison camp is on land squeezed between a state prison unit and a so-called “man camp”—temporary barracks for hundreds of workers fracking oil and natural gas.
Other prisons for immigrant families have a well-documented history of abuse, rape, and dehumanizing conditions, including harsh abuse of children. In 2009, a CCA facility for immigrant children in Hutto, Texas, was shut down after prolonged protests against its stark, punishing conditions and accusations of vicious, ongoing sexual abuse. Another prison for immigrant women and children, in Karnes City, Texas, is facing a lawsuit charging repeated sexual harassment of women and alleging that sexual abuse, extortion, and harassment by guards is continual. Women held there report that they are constantly exhausted because they have to carry their infant children all the time—no crawling or scampering is allowed.
The Dilley prison camp is a cornerstone of the Obama policy towards repressing immigrants and controlling the border with massive militarization. It will provide the means for expediting the deportation of captured immigrants—what one official cynically called “one-stop shopping.” Immigrant families will be caged, run through a cursory and sham legal proceeding, and deported from the same facility in a few weeks.
One key aim of the aggressive moves on immigration Obama began last month has been to promote divisions among immigrants—by promising some temporary reprieve from deportation for those who qualify under government criteria to “come out of the shadows,” and even harsher repression and criminalization for those who don’t qualify. Those in the second category include people who have been in the U.S. for years and people still trying to enter el norte because of the devastation the U.S. has wreaked upon their homelands.
Jeh Johnson made this clear in his statements at Dilley when he said: “Our new policies... draw a sharp distinction between past and future. Those who came here illegally in the past, have been here for years, have committed no serious crimes, and have become integrated members of American life, are not priorities for removal. But, all those who came here illegally after January 1, 2014, in other words, beginning of this year, are now priorities for removal to their home countries. This must be clear going forward: Our borders are not open to illegal migration.” The New York Timesreported that Johnson, “Standing on a dirt road lined with cabins in a barren compound enclosed by fencing... delivered a blunt message to families without legal papers considering a trip to the United States: ‘It will now be more likely that you will be detained and sent back.’”
Obama’s immigration speech, and now the opening of the family prison in Dilley, mark a significant escalation in the government’s efforts to drive immigrants “out of the shadows,” repress and control them, escalate and speed up deportations, and pile even more military and police equipment and forces into an already saturated U.S.-Mexico border. They also reveal how leading representatives of the system of U.S. capitalism-imperialism both depend on intensified exploitation of immigrants and fear their potential to be an essential part of struggles against this system.
All attacks on immigrants must be resisted by all sections of the people—and it is crucial that this resistance step up in the months ahead.
At least in my opinion. Granted, I don't know much about these fucking useless hollywood types, but I had no idea that he was as fucking stupid and as much of an asshole as this. He actually goes so far as to blame Al Sharpton and obama directly for the deaths of those two n.y. cops who were gunned down 5 days ago. He also blames them for the "anti-cop" atmosphere in the streets these days. Fucking moron. Maybe the cops are responsible for their own public image problems, due to them killing unarmed youth on a fucking daily basis. Maybe the douchebag woods would have a different opinion if it was his kid who was shot down in the street, or harrassed daily by the fucking cops. Mind you, it makes sense that someone in his position would defend the cops, due to the social class he's in. But some of them are taking a righteous stand, and saying "Enough is enough!" No, I'm not going to link his stupid tweets to this rant, and certainly I'm not going to read the hideous cowardly screeching by his braindead supporters. I just needed to say this. Fuck this idiot, and everyone like him.
Allow me to emphasize, that I am not condoning the killing of the two cops in new york. I am merely saying, that if you go around killing unarmed people day in and day out, something will eventually happen to you. No, not fucking "karma", stupid hippies. It's just what happens. It's just what happens.......
Gunman ‘assassinated’ two NYPD officers, targeted because of uniforms
Investigators search for motive; New York police chief notes ‘very anti-police’ feeling after Ferguson, Garner cases
A gunman "assassinated" two NYPD officers sitting in a patrol car in Brooklyn on Saturday, just hours after posting virulently anti-police rhetoric on social media.
Authorities say the killer, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, walked up to the officers’ vehicle before adopting a shooting stance and opening fire. The suspect then ran into a subway station, where he turned the gun on himself.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said the officers had no opportunity to defend themselves and may not even have seen their attacker. Both policemen were rushed to hospital but could not be saved. The officers were Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.
At an emotional press conference Saturday evening, Bratton said that the two officers were “quite simply assassinated,” adding that “they were targeted for their uniform.”
Police are still investigating Brinsley's motive, and Bratton said that he seemed to have "a very strong bias against police officers," noting social media postings in which Brinsley is purported to have bragged about his intention to kill.
Bratton made reference to the protests over police killings of unarmed black men that have swept the country over the past few months, saying there has been "a very anti-police, anti-criminal-justice-system, anti-societal set of initiatives underway."
"Some people get caught up in these and go in directions they should not," he said. The NYPD is currently attempting to determine whether Brinsley attended any protests.
The incident comes amid tension between Mayor Bill de Blasio and members of the NYPD. De Blasio and the president of the police officers' union, Patrick Lynch, have been locked in a public battle over treatment of officers after the grand jury's decision not to indict police officer Daniel Pantaleo for the chokehold death of Eric Garner on Staten Island.
Just days ago, Lynch suggested police officers sign a petition that demanded the mayor not attend their funerals should they die on the job. On Saturday, some officers turned their backs on de Blasio as he walked into the hospital where Ramos' and Liu's bodies were taken. At a news conference, Lynch said there is "blood on many hands," explicitly blaming the mayor and protesters.
At Saturday’s press conference, de Blasio praised police officers. "They are a foundation of our society, and when they are attacked, it is an attack on the very concept of decency," he said. He described the killing of the two officers as "an attack on all of us."
The shooting took place in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. A weapon has been recovered, he said.
Police in Baltimore had already been seeking Brinsley before the shooting because he was believed to have shot and seriously wounded his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore earlier in the day.
The shooting comes at a time when police are being heavily criticized for their tactics. Several officers in New York City have been assaulted during otherwise largely peaceful demonstrations.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, head of the National Action Network, said in a statement that he would hold a press conference on Sunday to express "our outrage and condolences to the families and the police department."
"I have spoken to the Garner family, and we are outraged by the early reports of the police killed in Brooklyn today," he said. "Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in connection with any violence or killing of police is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases."
His comments come amid media reports that the gunman may have cited the Garner death in anti-police messages posted on Instagram before the incident. Bratton said those postings were "apparently" authentic and written by Brinsley.
In one such post, which includes a photograph of a handgun, someone who appears to be Brinsley writes, "I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours [...] let's take 2 of theirs."
The Orange Krush, Angry Snowmans show on Saturday night at Logan's was fucking excellent. Just two bands that night, but it couldn't have been better. Orange Krush just did it up perfectly, with their no-nonsense style of sometimes melodic, sometimes not, punk rock and hardcore. The dual guitar lines at times reminded me of Thin Lizzy, which made me very happy, and Mambo's still got his golden voice. I can't wait to see them again and again. I think I was grinning like an idiot for the entire Angry Snowmans set. Their reworking of old punk rock classics into Christmas songs is just fucking amazing. I LOVED that they started with "White Riot" by the Clash, that got turned into "White Lights". Some of my other favourites were "I Was So Festive", instead of "Wasted", and "Hanukkah", done to the tune of "Amoeba" by the Adolescents. If you missed it this year, I feel sorry for you. The place was packed, and it's always a great way to end the year. Next time, right? Right.
After our last show,which was a benefit for Aids Vancouver Island on Nov.29th, a long time friend, and someone who I respect, especially with his knowledge of punk and hardcore, compared my vocal yelping with that of John Brannon of legendary hardcore band Negative Approach, which one of the German 'zines also claimed. I own a tape of the only full length NA ever did, which is called "Tied To The Tracks", and it is awesome. I have to say though, tht I don't totally see the similarities. Despite that, I considered it a compliment, and it got me more curious about Mr. Brannon. I found this interview he did with Vice. He seems to have lost none of his punk rock "fuck you" attitude, and even claims not to have a computer! He uses one somewhere though, because he's got a twitter account. Read it.
“THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF BLOOD AND CRAZY MOTHERFUCKERS”: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN BRANNON OF NEGATIVE APPROACH
Two years ago, writer / publisher / provocateur Henry Owings of Chunklet Magazine fame penned a manifesto for VICE calling out what he saw as pretentiousness among certain circles of American fans of Norwegian Black Metal, NBM-love having reached the closest it may ever get to a fever pitch on this side of the Atlantic. He even compared its champions to Jandek fans, which is (or should be) considered a particularly low blow among independent music fans. Owings then followed his diatribe--really, a mix of digs, tough love, and witticism--with a suggestion for those looking for authenticity and truth in their music without the “kvlt”; listen to legendary Detroit hardcore / rock vocalist John Brannon instead.
The article, of course, attracted its share of vehement dissenters, many of whom seemed to lack a sense of humor, and even more of whom--and I’d put money on this--had never been in a room where John Brannon was around to pick up a microphone and rip one of his signature, inimitable howls. If they had, they’d likely agree that no matter who or what Owings was ranking in terms of badass, John Brannon and any of his bands--be it ‘80s hardcore pioneers Negative Approach, ‘90s sleaze/art rockers Laughing Hyenas, or long-running, criminally-overlooked rock group Easy Action--would overwhelmingly tip the scales in their favor. I grew up in the Detroit area, so for many years I thought I was biased towards its particular flavors of rock music, but the more time I spent away, the more I realized my favorite local singer was the dude that every punk band everywhere wanted to hear when he played their town.
I recently caught up with Brannon over a Tecate at Reggies Rock Club in Chicago where Negative Approach--who reformed in 2006 after a 23-year hiatus--was playing with The Casualties. We got to talking about Detroit rock ‘n’ roll, his take on punk over his 30-year career, and upcoming records from both Negative Approach and Easy Action in 2014 (Happy New Year to us!). As Owings declared, “John Brannon is the premiere voice of punk, post-punk, and rock 'n' roll. Period.” You can’t believe everything you read online, but that is a bit of truth.
Noisey: It took me a little while to get a hold of you. I didn’t realize you didn’t have email. John Brannon: I don’t have a computer. I’m stuck in the ‘70s. I don’t fuck with that shit. I don’t have time for Facebook. I hear about that shit, and I’m like, “Whatever.” I don’t fuck with computers.
So, no cat videos for you? I can look at my cat. I don’t need videos.
Back in the day, how did you take influence from some of the more flamboyant Detroit rock bands and glam rock and distill it into Negative Approach? Growing up in Detroit, as kids, we were exposed to Creem Magazine, so it was all about The Stooges, MC5, Alice Cooper, The Dolls, Bowie... I was too young to go to any of those shows when they were cool. In ‘73, I wasn’t seeing Alice Cooper or anything, you know? But those bands still lived there before they got really big, so it was kind of a local thing. I was buying Alice Cooper records and Creem when I was like, 10. That’s what was going on--the early seeds of “punk,” or whatever, was all coming out of Detroit. The three most influential bands of all time: the 5, the Stooges, and Alice Cooper. It all goes back to that. They’ve got that shit on every jukebox in every bar now, but we had the advantage because it was a local, Midwest deal. Those bands were like God, and we figured it was like that everywhere.
I saw that one of the first Negative Approach reunion shows was at a Detroit showcase at ATP. The first one was the Touch & Go 25th Anniversary, and then we did the first Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas, and then our buddy, Thurston Moore, called us up, “Hey do you guys want to come to England and play with the Stooges and the MC5?” We couldn’t turn that shit up. That was a dream come true. I never thought I would put Negative Approach back together, but for Touch & Go we had to do it. Then we kept getting these offers we could not pass up, so a one-off became one week, and then the weeks became tours. We’ve been to Europe five times now. We’ve done a couple of American tours. We’re still alive and still going.
What’s it like to revisit your teenage or young-20s self on stage every night when you sing these songs? We never got into “I hate the President,” or political stuff. The songs are basic teenage anthems that are kind of universal. It’s fun coming back to it. It’s kind of a trip, man, but it’s fun. Back in the day, nobody ever really saw us. We did some East Coast shows, but the guys in the band were 15 or 16, so it’s not like we could really tour.
But you did get on Saturday Night Live... That came out because the Necros were playing with the Misfits and John Belushi was at the gig, and he was having Fear on [the show] the next day. I was actually just roadie-ing for the Necros. It’s weird because all the guys from Minor Threat, and Iron Cross, and the Meatmen, and a couple of guys from Negative Approach are there, and Belushi was like, “Fear’s going to be on. You guys should come down and we’ll destroy NBC.”
They just trusted Belushi to put that together? He got us all in and past security. It was America’s first look at--it was kind of cool--all the original ‘81 hardcore bands.
Was it pretty cool coming home to Detroit after that? Had people seen it? Oh yeah. All of my friends watched it and they were like, “What the fuck?” I guess it was shocking for the time--the fact Fear was on TV, and in the audience were what became all of these major hardcore bands.
At what point did you start to realize you had a cult following? I kept hearing shit, and I saw the bootlegs pop up, and I was like, “Really?” I really didn’t think too much of it until we played the reunion gig and there were 6,000 people there. It was like, “Whoa, there might be something to this.” I mean, I had friends telling me, “My band does this song,” or “Hey, there’s this bootleg,” but I wasn’t really paying attention. I was doing Laughing Hyenas. I put it all behind me, and I was more interested in doing new shit.
Is there any baggage that comes with it? Do people have misconceptions when they meet you when you’re out on tour? They’re always, “You don’t look like you do on the album covers,” and I’m like, “Well, I was 18. That was 30 years ago. I chose to be bald at that point. I’m 52 now, and I’ve got a full head of hair, so I’m going to let the freak flag fly.”
There’s a whole new group of kids--the 14-year-olds that come out--and they think we’re a new band. Someone tells them to check us out, and now we’ve got these legions of 14-year-olds that know “Ready to Fight,” and “Can’t Tell No One,” and it’s kind of a trip, but it’s a good thing. Nobody really saw these shows back in the day. Everybody claims they saw them, but they probably weren’t there. It’s great to go out and play these songs.
What’s the reaction you get from the kids? They go nuts! And back in the day it was a total sausage fest, but now we have all of these little girls that jump on stage and want to sing “Ready to Fight.” For us, it’s a trip that it’s stood up and we get a rush out of playing, so I don’t feel bad about doing it. It’s not about getting back together for some kind of cash in. If I didn’t feel it was right, we wouldn’t even be doing it. There are so many old punk bands that get back together, and they blow, I’m sorry. I love all these guys I play with. I have no regrets doing it again.
Thirty years later, do you feel more affinity now with the original hardcore bands or with Midwest rock ‘n’ roll? I’m glad we can show them how we did it back in the day. A California punk band or a New York punk band is not like a Midwest Michigan band. We had our own groove going on. Bands like the Necros and the Meatmen definitely had their own style. The Midwestern sound is definitely separated from all that shit. I get to travel a lot, but Detroit’s home. I’ll always come back to it. I don’t give a fuck what anyone else has to say. There’s nowhere else I want to live.
What do you think about some of the stuff in the news that either makes Detroit out to be a train wreck or “the next urban utopia?” They’re always talking shit. I don’t know, man. That’s where I live, that’s where my mom lives, that’s where I grew up. I love Detroit. They always try to make it out to be an apocalyptic wasteland where 70 thousand rabid dogs are running down the street. I mean, you’re from there, so you know, there are places that are bad, there are places that are good, but you should try to stay out of trouble and you should probably carry a weapon.
There are a lot of people people moving to Detroit and buying these buildings and renovating them, so I’ve got to say it’s making a comeback. We grew up in Cass Corridor, and that place has completely changed. We had the Freezer Theater and the Clubhouse back in the day, and there was nothing but dope, hookers, and pavement at that point. Now there are Thai restaurants, and yogurt places, and chicks jogging with fucking headphones on the Wayne State Campus. Back in the day, nobody was living down there. I mean, I was…
So, what’s next after this tour? We just recorded a new track. It was a split with Mudhoney, the Melvins, and Die Kreuzen for the AmRep Festival. We went into the studio and recorded Sham 69’s “Borstal Breakout.” It was just a quickie, like, ”You guys have got to go into the studio tomorrow,” so we went to Ghetto Studios and laid that down. So that’s a new track, but we’re starting to write some songs now and we’re actually working on a full-length album. I figure, after 30 years we should write a new song.
When I get off this tour, Easy Action is going into the studio. We just had a 45 that came out, and we’re going to bust out a full length. We’ve been waiting for that. We finally got a new label [Sojourn Records] and they’re going to re-release all the old shit, so that’s going to come out on vinyl. And I mean, we’ve got the songs--we’ve been sitting on them for a couple of years, so we’re ready to go as soon as I get off the Negative Approach tour. So, I’m doing both, I juggle both.
There’s a crossover between members in those bands. Now that you’re writing a bunch of new stuff, how do you separate them? Thirty years later, is Negative Approach more like Easy Action? the fact that we’re putting Negative Approach’s name on it--It’s brutal. We’re going into it like we want to fuck some people up with this shit. Easy Action is a different groove. You’re going to call something “Negative Approach” it’s got to be a continuation of what we laid down. Two different mindsets.
Different mindsets, but there is still a thread between the three major bands you’ve done. Yeah. It’s a progression. Regression. Whatever you want to call it. It keeps going on, you know? I try to keep it aggressive and interesting.
Do you think your shows get as crazy as they used to? There’s drama every day. Some shows are crazier than others. There’s no shortage of blood and crazy motherfuckers. It’s not watered down. It’s pretty much guaranteed that when we play, “Ready to Fight,” there’s going to be blood. We’ve all been knocked down a few times. The kids take over on certain songs and storm the stage. I dig it when they’re up in our face. I don’t like that barrier shit. I want people right up my face and look them in the eyes--no separation between the band and the crowd. That’s how it was, that’s how it should be. Things have gotten watered down--people’s idea of punk rock, but we want to whip people into a frenzy and have a good time.
There are still some bands that remind you of how visceral punk is, and how it is meant to be. Well, there are some bands that do it good, and some bands that think they’re doing it good, and some bands that do it for other reasons than for what it’s supposed to be. Punk for profit. Some kids today view it as, “I’m going to start a band and six months later I’m going to get a record deal. I’m going to be on a tour bus and I’m going to be getting laid and I’m going to buy a house.” Let’s not forget, kids, we were out there fighting the war to make this shit happen.
It wasn’t easy in the beginning, and now it’s such a universal thing. Between MTV and the Internet everything’s so laid out now; How to dress, how to act, how to sell your product. Kids think these things are expected. “I’ve been playing for six months, I should be sleeping in a tour bus.” We’re still sleeping on floors, fuckin’ driving in a shitty van, and fuckin’ taking it to the streets. Keep it real, or don’t even fuck with it. There are too many fuckin’ pussies out there. We’re from Detroit, man. We play hard, we party hard, we work hard. The Midwest attitude, as opposed to some kid from L.A. thinking they’re going to get some band together and be “the next big thing.” We’ll see you two years after that when you’re working at Denny's.
So, music is still the most important part of it? Oh, it’s for real, for us! It means something to us. That’s why we’ve never given up. It’s been great that Touch & Go Records was able to put out all the Negative Approach albums and the Laughing Hyenas albums. The fact that we can still make records, and tour, and people show up. We’re cool with that, man. That’s all we need. It’s not about the money. It’s about going out and fucking people up. That’s all we want to do.
Jamie Ludwig liked SNL better when Ian Mackaye was stagediving on people - @unlistenmusic
This is an article for those people who think the system is fine, it just needs some fine tuning. For those who are okay with things, because it's not them on the garbage heap, trying to survive another day. For those who support the troops, because they are "grateful for our freedom", without trying to know what those troops are doing elsewhere in the world, or the fact that these same troops would be called into action if the people here dared to rise up and take what they have created. Read this. Please.
An Illegitimate System... and the Need for Revolution
Burning Questions
December 8, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The murders by police this summer of Eric Garner and Michael Brown—along with murder after murder after murder of other unarmed Black and Latino men and children during these past months—and then the exoneration of the killers are, in one horrific sense, nothing new. These monsters have been doing this for years, and for years the system has let them walk, either without a trial or just a farce of one, or—in rare, rare cases—a slap on the wrist.
But this time things changed. People in Ferguson—the everyday people in the streets—refused to follow the rules of "protest as usual" and forced the world to wake the hell up. What had been an outrage that oppressed people had been forced to learn to accept—however bitterly—and that other people had learned to ignore or shrug off, became intolerable.
The actions of those standing up—beginning in the hard streets of Ferguson but spreading to all parts of the country and then the world, and to all walks of life—have forced everyone in this country to confront the reality of the epidemic of police brutality and murder, of mass incarceration, of the criminalization of entire peoples. More than that: These actions have begun to compel people to confront what Bob Avakian has called the "simple and basic truth" that "There would be no United States as we now know it today without slavery,"and that the legacy of this slavery has continued—and morphed into new forms of white supremacy, still central to this society.
All this raises serious questions.
First: What legitimacy does a system have which not only generates crime after crime from those in authority, but exonerates the culprits? What legitimacy does a system have whose laws and rules have functioned for centuries to repress and condemn and murder entire peoples? What legitimacy does a system have which offers no future for millions of Black and Latino and Native American youths, and then pens them in, locks them down and kills them off? What legitimacy does a system have whose laws and rules have functioned to exploit and plunder and rape and rob, not only here but worldwide, not only in some so-called "isolated instances" but against millions and tens of millions and, yes, hundreds of millions? And what legitimacy does a system have which not only does all this, but all the while continues to hurtle humanity into nightmare ecological disaster and possible planetary suicide?
None whatsoever.
What must be done to a system so illegitimate, so bankrupt, so lacking in any humanity or justification?
We have to be real here. Reform after reform after reform has been tried for years. And the result of all this has not been a "more perfect union," but—to get right down to the essence of things—a "more perfect" machinery of exploitation, violence, and repression, and bamboozlement of the people.
No. You cannot clear away the weeds but leave the roots intact. We need revolution. We need revolution to do away with this whole system, root and branch. We need revolution to defeat and dismantle its machinery of violence and oppression which it uses to terrorize people. We need revolution to replace it with a new economic and political system that leads people to do away with exploitation and oppression and to bring into being the world that actually IS possible—a world of cooperation and true justice, where human beings can flourish.
This does NOT mean that we do not need to fight against the powers today. We cannot let them grind the people down to dust. And when people do rise up, it opens minds—as we have seen these past three months. In fact, now is the time to INTENSIFY the battle for justice. But we must wage these battles to WIN, in both senses—to actually defeat these attacks AND to do this as part of building a movement for revolution.
Could a revolution really overcome these horrors and longstanding agonies?
Yes! As we have said elsewhere, "The wretched of the earth have made revolution and started on the road to communism—first in Russia and then in China—and they achieved great things in doing so, before they were turned back by the forces of the old order. We are here to tell you that not only has this been done before, but we can do it again—and even better this time. This is the truth that is covered up and lied about, but we have the facts and the analysis to back this up—tremendous historical experience has been summed up, scientifically, and is there for us to learn from and build on." This work of scientific summation has been led by Bob Avakian and has brought forward a new synthesis of communism. This new synthesis is concentrated in theConstitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal). And this Constitution shows how we could go forward to transform everything, in unity with the people of the whole world.
But is such a revolution possible?
Again, yes! There is a strategy for this revolution, crystallized in our Party's "On the Strategy for Revolution" that shows how to go from where we are today to a time when an all-out struggle for power would be possible. The heart of this strategy is captured in the slogan Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution. Battles like those today play one part in that, raising people's understanding in society and serving to develop the organization needed to win, when the time is ripe. There is also a doctrine that could actually enable revolutionary forces to meet and defeat the powers of repression when things develop to that stage. And there is a core of leadership willing and able to take this whole process forward: the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA and its leader Bob Avakian.
If you have never heard about this, is this not the time to get into this and see what it's about? And if you are one of those who once yearned for revolution but then, one way or another, stepped back but now have awakened once again—don't you need to see if your questions have been answered?
The times are too serious—and too promising—not to.
FERGUSON IS EVERYWHERE!!
JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL BROWN AND ERIC GARNER!
FIGHT THE POWER, AND TRANSFORM THE PEOPLE, FOR REVOLUTION!
The 21-year-old Greek anarchist—radicalized after witnessing the police killing of a close friend—has ended a month long hunger strike as officials passed an amendment allowing prisoners to attend university classes, quelling a wave of violent protests.
Nikos Romanos, who is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted of armed robbery last February, was being held at a hospital in critical condition when he was told of the new legislation. The student had begun refusing liquids on Wednesday morning prior to learning of the reform.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied an appeal to overturn the earlier rejection of Romanos’ education furlough. The amendment—passed on Wednesday—enables prisoners to attend classes while wearing an electronic tracking band after one semester of study by correspondence.
The student’s lawyer, Fragiskos Ragkousis sees Wednesday’s decision as a vindication for justice.
"Democracy and legitimacy won. This kid fought for his life, it was a very painful and difficult battle," he was quoted as saying in Reuters. "What is important is that a human life was saved."
Violent clashes broke out over the weekend as thousands of protesters conducted an annual march through Athens in memory of the police slaying a teenager in 2008. Romanos, a close friend of the victim, had witnessed the killing, after which he became active in various anarchist circles. This year’s demonstrations were held in solidarity with Romanos. The protests took a violent turn as rioters set fire to shops and threw petrol bombs at police who responded with tear gas and water cannon.
Romanos’ arrest two years ago drew ire from supporters angered at his brutal beating by the police. Adding fuel to the fire was the police’s slipshod doctoring of his mug shot—altered to make his injuries look less severe. Romanos has come to symbolize the polarization of Greek society and popular discontent with the Greek government.
The student’s father, Giorgos Romanos, is optimistic about the latest wave of protests in support of his son and believes they may herald a better future for the country.
“So for all these young people protesting in the streets, Nikos means something and maybe their support will lead somewhere in the future. And maybe this is good for the country too,” the 58-year-old dentist told RT. “The anger brewing among the youth comes from the crisis, which is not only financial but also social all these years the country has been suffering.”
Romanos blamed the government for dragging the country down. “Specific people, political parties are responsible for all of this. In other words, the economic and political elite of this country is to blame,” he said.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met with Romanos’ father on Monday in an attempt to ease tensions in the nation’s capital. Samaras, who is facing tough parliamentary elections for a new head of state later this month remains anxious to hold onto popular support. If he loses, the left-leaning Syriza party, which rejects the bailout program and its prescribed austerity measures, will be swept into power, renewing fears that Greece may have to exit the eurozone.
Reuters – 15 hours ago
