The Final Straw Radio

This week on the Final Straw, we air two interviews. In the first segment, we hear from two organizers with the Centro de Apoyo Mutuo or Mutual Aid Center in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Emilu and Kique talk about Caguas, about the colonial relationship between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico, the post-hurricane disaster relief they've been doing as a continuation of social organizing in the wake of that colonialism, and building a network of C-A-Ms around Puerto Rico. More on their project can be found on fedbook. Then we hear from Camille, a resident of the ZAD in Notre Dame des Landes in Western France. Camille shares the news of the recent French government statement that they are cancelling the planned airport in NDDL, which has been a goal of social movements and the land occupation at the ZAD. More info on that project can be found at zad.nadir.org. To hear our past interviews on the ZAD, check out this initial interview, this response to major demonstrations in Nantes, this conversation with participants at ZAD du Testet, this response to the police killing of Remi Fraisse in relation to the ZAD du Testet and this interview from Dissident Island Radio about State of Emergency. For the broadcast version, both of these interviews were cut down for length. Not so in the podcast! You can find the longer versions of these interviews, plus all the announcements posted below, at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org or by subscribing to the free podcast feed at thefinalstrawradio.libsyn.com. Trans Prisoner Day of Solidarity, Event in Asheville TOMORROW January 22nd is the 3rd annual Trans Prisoner Day of Solidarity as initiated in 2016 by eco-anarchist prisoner Marius Mason. Last year's call-out, plus a list of some events around the U.S. can be found at itsgoingdown. If you're in Asheville, Tranzmission Prison Project will be hosting a card signing event and discussion at 7pm at Firestorm Books and Coffee. Cards will be supplied and it's suggested to bring vegan snacks to share. Breaking News from the VA NLG Third Charlottesville Counter-Protestor Arrested January 21, 2018: Charlottesville, VA: Mr. Donald Blakney was arrested at his home on Friday by Charlottesville Police Department (CPD). He is charged with Malicious Wounding — a felony that carries a 5 year minimum and the possibility of up to 20 years in prison. On August 12, he was physically attacked by a participant in the Unite the Right rally, who also yelled racist slurs at him. Later that fall, he was questioned by CPD and the FBI under the pretext of the ongoing criminal investigation into right-wing violence that day. The charges against Mr. Blakney are apparently based in part on a video broadcast by the ABC News program 20/20 that depicts him at the scene. Mr. Blakney is the third counter-protester to be arrested and charged arising out of the events in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. Corey Long and DeAndre Harris are both also facing criminal charges. All three are Black men and local residents who were attacked that day. Mr. Blakney was released on personal recognizance Friday. He has an arraignment tomorrow, Monday January 22 at 10AM in Charlottesville General District Court and is requesting that supporters come in solidarity. Mr. Blakney is represented by attorneys Sandra Freeman and David Baugh. - NLG Central Virginia Chapter https://www.facebook.com/nlgcentralva/posts/402967166812823 The Heat is On: Update from Blue Ridge ABC on Week 1 of #OperationPUSH! One week ago prison rebels across Florida launched Operation PUSH. Their demands were simple: end prison slavery and price gouging, restore access to parole, and put an end to the brutal conditions they are subjected to daily. Information has been slow to trickle out due to intense repression and communication blackouts, but we know there has been strike participation at 15+ prisons, and we know that support on the outside is growing, with 150+ organizations endorsing the action and major solidarity actions in Florida occurring at various locations, including a 5-hour long occupation of the DOC office in Tallahassee on Tuesday. The repression is already starting to come down: people being thrown into solitary confinement; being threatened with violence; being bribed to end their action and inform on other strike organizers; being transferred to new facilities to disburse strike activity throughout the system and isolate people. One disturbing feature of this repression is DOC's focus on identifying specific groups coordinating support on the outside such as the Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons and IWOC and disrupting prisoners' communication with these groups. Prison organizers who correspond with these groups are being targeted for having their "security threat level" increased--a practice that translates into greater isolation and harsher conditions of confinement. One prisoner was told point blank, "As long as you communicate with these people you're always going to be labelled a security threat and you're always going to be put under investigation." Communication has been curtailed so severely that it's hard to know how much of an economic impact the strike has had so far; we do know that in some cases scab labor has been brought in to keep facilities running. This state of uncertainty is a strategy prison administrators use to sap organizing energy. As IWOC recently wrote, "a common theme among report backs is the attempt to sever communication in order to create the perception of inactivity and break the spirits of those participating in the strike." But strikers won't be fooled so easily, and neither will we. We will keep showing up because those on the inside are putting it all on the line, and we are in absolute solidarity with their courageous acts of resistance. NOW IS THE TIME TO STEP UP OUR SUPPORT! - Letter writing to striking prisoners TODAY at Firestorm, 4pm - Join the "phone zap" (calling campaign" TOMORROW, MONDAY 1/22! Go to incarceratedworkers.org to find the call script and make those calls! - Tell people about this! #operationpush #endprisonslavery J20 Statement from TFS Yesterday marked the year anniversary of January 20th, 2017. The by now all too familiar litany of charges, events, numbers, police tactics, and trials sometimes bears repetition at, but at other times can obscure the human element at play, lives that have been varying degrees of upended or lost in this process. Three days ago on January 18th 2018, 129 of the original defendants were acquitted of all charges "without prejudice", a phrase that sounds benign and even somewhat positive. In actuality, it is in place here to protect the plaintiff (in this case, the state) from the defendant (here, the 129) invoking a doctrine called Res Judicata (meaning "a thing decided" in Latin), which essentially states that someone cannot be brought up on charges for the same thing twice. I think it is important to belabor this point, not in any way to nay-say the relief that anyone may be feeling right now or diminish some very very well deserved congratulations, but to say again and again that the state is not here to give anyone who opposes it relief, or joy, or a sense of justice. The daily realities of so many of us who resist the state by our actions, beliefs, or our very existence is proof enough of the state's essential nature. This phrase "without prejudice", when used in the case of a dismissal of charges, means legally that the original charges could be brought again at any time, as though those charges never existed in the first place. This is a very smart move on the part of the courts. It seems very likely that this was a carefully timed mass acquittal, having little to do with meting out so called guilt or innocence, and everything to do with attempting to fracture support and stymie momentum. They can be seen to be throwing us a bone while actually going ahead with their original intention. What is unfortunate for the courts is that support for the J20 defendants is not being taken in by this tactic. This is a time for us to focus all our resources on the remaining 59 defendants, keep an eye or two on the shenanigans of the court trying to pull legal fast ones over on our comrades, and take care of ourselves and each other cause this is far from over. You can see a beautiful statement of solidarity with the remaining defendants at defendj20resistance.org, and as always, keep up with developments in this case by following the hashtags or handles related to "defendj20" on all your fav social media platforms. To see a list of actions and endeavors in this anniversary week, you can go to itsgoingdown.org. You can help support the defendants by going to their fundraising support page. ------------- Show playlist here.

Enough is Enough spoke with many refugees during their visit to Lesvos, and The Final Straw is happy to release this interview. Here we will hear from Amin (his name was changed for safety), a Pakistani man detained for 9 months for absolutely nothing. He went to the registration office of the Moria camp to renew his papers, something refugees have to do regularly. Instead of new papers he was suddenly detained without any explanation why. He was first kept in a jail on Lesvos and then transferred to Athens where he was imprisoned again. After 9 months he was brought back to Lesvos and released. He doesn't know why he was detained and he doesn't know why he was released again. This is not a single case we spoke with other refugees which didn't want to be interviewed but had similar experiences. Amin came to Moria almost 2 years ago and is still not allowed to leave the island. For more anti-capitalist and antifascist reporting and reposting, check out Enough is Enough on their various social media platforms.

This week, Bursts had a change to speak with two participants in the L'eu Est La Vie camp (Water is Life in French) organizing against the Bayou Bridge pipeline that Energy Transfer Partners is trying to push through the swamps of Louisiana at the tail end of the Dakota Access Pipeline. For the hour, they speak about the pipeline, the lifeways of people living in the bayou, potential impacts on the environment and the impact on our guests of increased indigenous forefronting to struggles to defend the environment in recent years around Turtle Island. More on their work can be found at http://nobbp.org/ Resist the TWP in Knoxville! January 21st at 12 Noon The Traditionalist Worker Party is a neo-Nazi, white nationalist group which is headquartered right here in North Carolina. This group promotes white separatism and a white supremacists view of Christianity. Begun in 2013 by the now infamous Matthew Heimbach as the official face of the similarly neo-Nazi group the Traditionalist Youth Network, the TWP's main focus seems to be promoting their agenda by making attempts on public office in local elections while maintaining something that could be called a street presence. There is much more to be said about this group, from its formal designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group to its yearning to establish Turtle Island as something called a "white ethnostate", seemingly a mythological and highly revisionist creation of the alt right and its philosophical forebears. What is more relevant right now is that this group is seeking to descend on Knoxville, TN on January 21st at 12 noon to protest the second annual Women's March and support the anti-choice group Right to Life. The exact TWP rallying point is still unknown but may coincide with the Women's March rallying point in Market Square at 12pm and then join the Right to Life rallying point at World's Fair Park at 2pm. Details will be shared as they get received, so keep eyes on your favorite news sources for updates. From the Holler Network and Nashville ARA: "The TWP and other white supremacist groups view Southeast Appalachia as an ideal region for a white separatist movement, and they prey upon rural and semi-rural areas to build their base. But their claims to Appalachia fly in the face of centuries of resistance to white supremacy and settler colonialism that are woven into these hills and rivers. From indigenous resistance to militant maroon communities, to multiracial labor strikes and prisoner uprisings, to the very existence of tight-knit black and brown communities across these hills, we know Appalachia has never been and will never be their all-white vision- as long as we continue to resist." For questions and additional info you can contact the email address ETresist@protonmail.com , and you can see the full call with some more contextual information by going to the It's Going Down article here. Show playlist here.

Operation Push This week, Disembodied Voice spoke with Karen, a member of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee in Gainesville, Florida. People imprisoned across the state of Florida are gearing up for a work strike and boycott of prison profit centers such as commissary beginning on January 15, and the Gainesville IWOC chapter has been a crucial node of support on the outside. DV spoke with Karen to get the scoop on what to expect from the upcoming strike, the demands of folks who are participating, the broader context of the movement to end prison slavery, and how folks inside and outside are organizing to counter brutal conditions in Florida prisons and beyond. Links: YouCaring Donations to send 1000+ zines publicizing the strike into prisons statewide Gainesville IWOC fedbook Fight Toxic Prisons website & fedbook SPARC Network fedbook Announcements #AVLJ20: Build and Fight 2018 But first, here is an announcement regarding the very first anniversary of January 20th, 2017, upon which day over 200 people were kettled an arrested on L and 12th streets by DC police for allegedly protesting the inauguration of Donald Trump. This case has become a rallying example of the United State's eagerness to punish even a glimmer of dissent against the established regime. The first 6 of the initial defendants have just been acquitted of all charges, charges which would have amounted to many decades behind bars had they gone through, but there are still over 180 defendants awaiting trial, and there is a long road ahead in terms of support and resistance. From crimethinc.com: "We propose to use the week of J20 2018 to reconnect with our networks, revitalize our spaces, organize new projects, hold special events, and bring people together to build our movements. Autonomous spaces include infoshops, community centers, and bookstores. But an autonomous space can also be a public place you make a habit of gathering in or a territory you share and defend. Open spaces offer a way for people who are freshly curious about our movements to plug in, pick up literature, and begin fostering relationships. Towards this end, we are encouraging people to organize on the week of J20: Community events involving putting in work at autonomous spaces. This could mean fixing the bathroom or repainting the walls, or it could mean soliciting people to bring supplies, books, and other materials to add to the space. Let this be an opportunity for the community surrounding the space to strengthen and expand the physical infrastructure. Block parties and celebrations around the space, reconnecting the wider community that uses and interacts with it and bringing in new people. Fundraising events to support the space—this could include speaking events, film showings, and more." To that end, right here in Asheville, we're kicking off a week of rebellious activities with a Haywood Road block party to share food, fun, and knowledge. This is a free event open to everyone so bring your friends and let's talk about where we want to go from here! Schedule Local of Events Saturday, January 20th, 2017 (fedbook listing) 3pm-6pm (@ Firestorm) Workshops, including "Uprooting White Supremacy in Appalachia," an interactive presentation by Holler Network 6pm-7pm (@ Firestorm) Community vegetarian potluck 7pm-9pm (@ Firestorm) Workshops, including a presentation by The Callisto Collective 9pm-Late (@ Local 604 Bottle Shop) DJ dance party Throughout the Week: Sunday, J21 Documentary Film Night (@ Static Age-Records [fedbook]) Tuesday, J23 Karaoke Fundraiser (@ The Lazy Diamond [fedbook]) Friday, J26 "Trouble" Screening (@ Firestorm) A list of local participating groups is as follows: Asheville Industrial Worders of the World (fedbook) Asheville Prison Books (fedbook) Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross (website or fedbook) Callisto Collective Firestorm Books and Coffee Holler Network (fedbook) J20 Defendants (DefendJ20Resistance)

This week on error451, the occasionally-weekly tech podcast from an anarchist perspective brought to you by The Final Straw Radio, Bursts and William Budington chat about devices crossing the U.S. border. Now, neither of us are lawyers and situations change according to laws, precedence and actual practice with border security, so consider these better practice suggestions. We talk about full disk encryption, cloud solutions, planning a trip, if some devices are more secure than others and safer-practices if you've lost control of your device. William B suggests the Security Self-Defense series from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (which employs William) as a great, free resource for getting prepared for travel and other situations and keeping up on current developments in tech. Song heard: ii by Sole from Mansbestfriend7

This week William and Disembodied Voice had the chance to interview Walidah Imarisha, who is an Oregon based writer, educator, public scholar and spoken word artist about her book Angels With Dirty Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison, and Redemption, her 2016 book out from AK Press and IAS, which highlights three distinct experiences that are all in different degrees tangential to the realities inherent to the prison industrial complex. This book just won the Creative Non-Fiction Award in the state of Oregon earlier in 2017. In this interview we got to touch on a wide array of topics, mostly centered on Angels With Dirty Faces but also on accountability processes and what might have to change in order for them to feel more effective, her relationship to anarchism, and some upcoming projects and appearances. We also get to touch on the book Octavia's Brood, a compilation of speculative fiction that Imarisha co edited with Adrienne Maree Brown, who also wrote the book Emergent Strategy. More about Imarisha, her work, and upcoming events can be found at http://www.walidah.com/ Resist Package Restrictions for Those Incarcerated in New York State! The thugs who run the NYS prison system (NYS DOCCS) has issued a new directive (4911A) that describes new, draconian package rules that they are testing in 3 facilities as a 'pilot program'. Currently, at most facilities, family and friends can drop off packages at the front desk when visiting- packages that include fresh fruit and vegetables that supplement the high carb/sugar, meager diet provided by DOCCS. These new rules are problematic in a lot of ways including: 1) Packages can be ordered only from approved vendors. 2) Fresh fruit and vegetables are not allowed. 3) Family and friends cannot drop off packages while visiting. All packages must be shipped through the vendor. 4) Each person is limited to ordering three packages a month for him or herself and receiving three packages a month from others. Each package cannot be more than 30 pounds. Of the 30 pounds per package, only 8 pounds can be food. 5) Allowable items will be the same in all facilities. (No more local permits.) 6) There are far fewer items allowed than before and of the items that are allowed, far less variety. This includes additional restrictions on clothing. 7) The pilot rules are not clear about how books, media, religious items and literature, or other items subject to First Amendment protection will be treated. This could mean that groups like NYC Books through Bars will not be able to send free books to the 52,000 people in the prison system. The pilot program implements an "approved venders only" package system. This means that only packages from approved vendors will be accepted. The vendors appear to be companies that specialize in shipping into prisons and jails. There are currently five approved vendors identified on the DOCCS website. This amounts to a cash grab for these companies. The pilot program is starting at three facilities: Taconic, Greene, and Green Haven. Those facilities will stop accepting packages from non-approved vendors on January 2, 2018. We have to make this package directive unworkable. These new rules are cruel- eliminating fresh fruit and vegetables and creating massive profits for the vampire companies that will fill the niche. WE CAN ORGANIZE TO ROLL THESE RULES BACK. Some ideas how: 1-Sign the petition- share it with your address book, share it on twitter, share it on Facebook. It takes two seconds. https://diy.rootsaction.org/…/no-package-restrictions-for-n… 2-Get in touch with your people in NYS Prisons and let them know about this. Inform them, send them the info. Massive non-cooperation on the part of NYS prisoners will play a huge role in this. 3- Flood the electeds with postcards. Send one to Governor Cuomo and one to Anthony Annucci, the acting commissioner of DOCCS. It costs 34 cents. Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State NYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci NYS DOCCS Building 2, State Campus Albany, NY 12226 Some sample text: Dear Governor Cuomo, This holiday season is about giving, not taking away. I object to the new DOCCS package rules. From, (Your Name) (Your relationship to people in prison, if applicable) Dear Acting Commissioner Annucci, The new DOCCS package pilot punishes innocent families. Having a loved one in prison is already expensive and difficult—the new rules make it worse. Rescind the package pilot! From, (Your Name) (Your relationship to people in prison, if applicable) 4) Write a letter to both of these people (address above) 5)Call Cuomo's office and leave a message about it. You won't have to talk to anyone. Just leave your message. 518-474-8390 6) Email Cuomo: http://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form Annuci anthony.annucci@doccs.ny.gov 7) Tweet at Cuomo @NYGovCuomo 8) Write your NYS Senate and Assembly reps as well: 9) Get media to cover it especially outfits like Democracy Now and the Marshall Project. stories@democracynow.org pitches@themarshallproject.org ——- Show playlist here.

This week, the show features two interviews. Anti-Fascist Organizing in Charlotte Against AntiCom The first is with an antifascist in Charlotte, NC, about the "March Against Communism" event that MIGHT be taking place in that city on Thursday, December 28th. Anticommunist Action, the nazi group that originally announced the event had hoped to hold it in Marshall Park but never applied for a permit, got told off by the city and MAYBE cancelled it. This anti-fascist, Soyboy, thinks it might still occur and wants folks to show up. (A) Healthcare Workers Respond to 7 Words Banned at CDC Then, William talked with two anarchist healthcare workers in Asheville, NC about the Trump administration's censorship of language regarding the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 budget proposal documents. In this short episode we talk about what this means, some recent context for similar censorship, how CDC budget documents affect people's everyday lives, and recommendations for how to move forward. This chat appeared as a "minisode" in our podcast feed this week. They chat about possible implications of removal of the following terms from the CDC's budgeting proposals: fetus; transgender; science-based; evidence-based; diversity; vulnerable; & entitlement. Announcement: Asheville NYE Noise Demo On Sunday, 12/31/17 at the downtown Buncombe County jail and courthouse complex in Asheville, a noise demonstration will happen at 7pm to bring outside attention to the jail and let the folks on the inside know that we're thinking of them. Bring noisemakers, pots, pans, horns, whatever. Here's a link to the jpg of the flyer. Not in Asheville? Organize your own damn thing. Or check itsgoingdown.org to join with an existing event! Playlist

Today William talked with two anarchist healthcare workers in Asheville, NC about the Trump administration's censorship of language regarding the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 budget proposal documents. In this short episode we talk about what this means, some recent context for similar censorship, how CDC budget documents affect people's everyday lives, and recommendations for how to move forward. Unfortunately the taping of another show made it into the background of this minisode, sorry about that. If you listen closely you might learn something about the latest game. To read more about this recent censorship, you can get online and type something along the lines of "CDC list of banned words" into your web browser for some more background context.

DefendJ20 Updates on 1st Trial Block For the hour, we spoke with Betty Rothstein of DefendJ20Resistance and Jude Ortiz of DefendJ20Resistance and the Titled Scales Collective, about how the case is going as this first trial group finishes up it's defense and the prosecution fires it's last shots. This conversation was recorded on Friday, 12/15/17 after the final arguments in the case of the first trial group of the J20 arrestees, the 194 people facing as many as 60 years in Federal prison for the property damage that occurred on January 20th, 2017, in Washington D.C. during the inauguration of Donald Trump. The march was advertised as an Anti-Fascist and Anti-Capitalist protest against the incoming administration. The march started with as many as 500 participants and ranged 16 city blocks, often chased by police spraying super soaker-style guns filled with OC pepper spray, stingball grenades, concussion grenades and swinging batons. At the intersection of 12th & L, people were pushed into a kettle where many were forced to sit in the January cold and mist for over 6 hours without water, without medication or professional medical aid, in clothing soaked in OC spray, having to relieve themselves outside and among other people. The property damage at the center of this case amounted to 5 chain businesses windows. And now the trial is moving forward, drawing 6-8 defendants to D.C. at a time, this first group's trial lasting 4 weeks thus far (plus however long jury deliberation will take). The trials have led to pressures on individuals, relationships, loss of employment and income, legal and other huge costs and threaten to pave a path in this administration and beyond of the criminalization of participation in street demonstrations in the U.S. The attempts at criminalizing street medics and journalists, as well, for being present also poses a dangerous precedent. More on the case and how to offer support can be found at DefendJ20Resistance.Org , by signing up for their email newsletter and listening to their regular podcast updates on the trial. They are also on twitter, fedbook and instagram. Playlist pending

This week, Bursts was joined by Pat Boyle, a collective member at Unicorn Riot (more about them later in this post), radical independent media project. We chatted about crypto-currency, Bitcoin in particular, technologies and strategies involved in the implementation of crypto-currency, recent comings to light of increased wealth coming via Bitcoin into the hands of far right racists and ecological impacts of crypto-mining. As to the far right, we referenced an article from IdaVox and one from Mic.com, as well as the twitterbot @NeoNaziWallets that can be visited to track transactions with the bitcoin wallets of well-known white supremacists. Chicago Mercantile Exchange trading of Bitcoin was brought up a few times, and it was just introduced to the Private, or secondary, Market of the NASDAQ. An example of an interesting use of cryptocurrency ongoing against the prison industrial complex is the BailBloc project that is shared between the Bronx Freedom Fund and The New Inquiry. Some great Unicorn Riot content that Pat & company have been releasing this year (an incomplete list): Black Snake Killaz, full length documentary about resistance to the #DAPL; Coverage from Greece & the G20 in Hamburg, Germany; on the ground in Charlottesville, VA for Unite The Right; the processing of TONS of documentation of the UTR organizing on the (leaked) Discord chat platform; Our interview last year with Unicorn Riot's Pat Boyle and Wendy Parker; their appearance on Delete Your Account talking about their coverage of the Alt-Right. track heard: Traffic by Babyland from their 1992 album, You Suck Crap.