STOP Snowbowl! Protest 12/19

Greetings,

The struggle to protect the Holy San Francisco Peaks and community health from ski resort expansion and wastewater snowmaking continues.

Although a current lawsuit filed by the Save the Peaks Coalition and community members has halted the ski business' efforts to make sewage snow, community support is still needed.

In the face of political pressure from the State of Arizona's Congressional Delegation, (more) the US Forest Service approved a component of the ski area's proposed development that is not associated with snowmaking.

Regardless of the approval Snowbowl cannot currently expand due to the lawsuit.

While it is unclear as to how long the court case will stop Snowbowl from expanding and making sewer water snow, in the context of the legal battle the Obama administration is doing everything in their power to put wastewater snow on the holy San Francisco Peaks.

When the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort opened on Thursday, a small group of protesters held signs and banners to ensure that skiers were aware of public health threats and the desecration of the sacred mountain.

Arizona Snowbowl employees called the Forest Service and County Sheriffs in an attempt to have the protesters and others with them arrested for "trespassing" on public lands. No charges were made.

You can join us in our stand for the protection of sacred places and community health.

PROTEST SNOWBOWL!
When: Saturday, December 19th starting at 10AM
Where: Flagstaff City Hall on the Rt. 66 side

If you can't join us please visit http://www.savethepeaks.org for more information on what you can do to help stop Snowbowl and protect sacred places!


Note: This event is not endorsed by the Save the Peaks Coalition.

Hopeless Escalation.

Hopeless Escalation.
Community Protest Against Obama's Troop Escalation
Saturday, December 5, 2009

On Saturday (12/5), dozens of Flagstaff residents gathered on the City Hall lawn to protest Barack Obama's decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan. On the preceding Tuesday (12/1) Barack Obama announced that the United $tates would be sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, set to start in the upcoming months.

After co-opting anti-war sentiment during the 2008 presidential election, Obama has since escalated the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. In February 2009, Obama ordered 17,000 more combat troops to Afghanistan, furthering the U.$. occupation. Obama is also responsible for illegal and immoral attacks against Palestinians, immigrants, women, children, and other marginalized peoples, all of which have been committed by the U.$. government.

With Tuesdays announcement, the U.$. will be sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. This recent deployment will raise the level of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to more than 100,000. Ironically, this announcement came less than 2 months after Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

On Saturday, Flagstaff community members responded to the troop surge and we encourage more people to get involved locally. Anti-war actions have also taken place in Philadelphia, Portland, New York and internationally.


CHANGE DOES NOT EQUAL WAR

posted on arizona.indymedia.org



..//./.libertad././/..

Beer and Revolution is Back: Activism vs. Intervention with Crudo

by Jon Riley

Phoenix Class War Council's Beer and Revolution returns from a brief hiatus this Sunday. We are pleased to announce this month's installment of B&R will be hosted by our friend and comrade, Crudo, from the Modesto Anarcho Crew (MAC).

Our last B&R in September was a roundtable discussion on Borders & Movement, 30 people attended, including perspectives from CAROB (Central Arizona Radicals Opposing Borders) and the O'odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective. While we've been very busy, we are glad to know that anarchists and anti-authoritarians in the Valley enjoy participating in a political night, and we will try to continue scheduling a monthly night for speakers and discussion.

We find a lot of value in this event, especially as we look for fractures or fissures in our daily lives, and by making a traditionally non-political space (a bar) a temporary political space where liberatory ideas can be discussed openly. We hope projects like B&R inspire others to look for unconventional approaches to challenging the banality and misery of life in modern class society.

We also find inspiration in the projects of our insurrectional pals from California's central valley. The folks from MAC are busy as hell, giving it a go at building unconventional alliances amongst the discontented and marginalized, from hip hop shows against the recent gang injunctions, to supporting the efforts of the local needle exchange (a harm reduction effort for Modesto's poorer needle users that has seen it's members under attack by the police, please read more here), intervening in local struggles against education fee hikes and the nurses strike, publishing the quarterly Modesto Anarcho paper and Crudo's Vengeance journal and blog, and operating an impressive anarchist social center"Firehouse 51." With a higher poverty level than the rest of the state (which is itself a sinking ship these days), Modesto, and other Central Valley anarchists, have their work cut out for them.

Come out this Sunday for some delicious beers, or perhaps a soda or water for non-drinkers, and some great political discussion, critique, thought, and debate. We wouldn't have it any other way!

The November gathering of Beer & Revolution will once again be held this Sunday, November 8th at Boulders on Broadway in Tempe. The night begins at 8PM, and Crudo will begin his talk at 8:30, come out and have some tasty drinks, meet and mingle with other like minded people, and enjoy another great political social night. See you there!

Ward Churchill to Speak at Benefit for Traditional O’odham Resistance

Activist and scholar Ward Churchill will speak at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 W. 22nd Ave., on November 13, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. to benefit O’odham VOICE Against the Wall, which since 2003 has organized and advocated for the traditional O’odham leaders and elders of the O’odham communities in the southern territory of the United States and northern territory of Mexico.

Professor Churchill’s talk is part of the “Apartheid in America: Surviving Occupation in O’odham Lands” gathering, which features a concert by Resistant Culture, a punk rock/metal band from Southern California and Luke Romano, a radical folk musician based in Tucson. The event is dedicated to raising awareness of the connections between repressive border policies at home and abroad.

Ward Churchill is a prolific American Indian writer, a member of the Rainbow Coalition Council of Elders, and on the leadership council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado. In addition to his numerous works on indigenous history, he has written extensively on U.S. foreign policy and the repression of political dissent. Five of his more than 20 books have received human rights writing awards.

Former Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department, until July 2007 Ward Churchill was a tenured full Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado/Boulder, where he received numerous awards for his teaching and service. In April 2009 a jury unanimously found that he had been fired by CU in retaliation for his observations on 9/11 and in violation of the First Amendment. Professor Churchill is currently litigating to have that verdict upheld.

Resistant Culture’s music is best described as tribal grind core -- weaving the indigenous flute, rattle, tribal drum, and chant into a backdrop of extreme punk and metal. Luke Romano's music has been described as acoustic, upbeat folky punk. The show will take place at Dry River, 740 N. Main (University and Main), November 13, at 10:00 p.m.

Both Professor Churchill’s talk and Resistant Culture’s concert will be broadcast live on Censored News Radio, and covered by its publisher, Brenda Norrell, who for almost 30 years has focused on Indian Country and the West.

Other sponsors of the event include the Dry River Radical Resource Center, the Earth First! Journal and Voices Against the Wall.

The event is open to the public. Donations of $10 to $20 are requested, but no one will be turned away. A delicious vegetarian meal will be served at 6:30 p.m.

Media Inquiries:
Ofelia Rivas, 520-349-5484, aliJegos@gmail.com
Dan Todd, 520-982-1835, langgore@hotmail.com
Additional Information: Solidarity Project; www.dryriver.org

Music:
Resistant Culture
Luke Romano

PCWC announces the Inglourious Basterds Bloc against the National Socialist Movement anti-immigrant rally November 7th.

The Phoenix Class War Council is pleased to announce the formation of the Inglourious Basterds Bloc, a temporary anti-racist, anti-authoritarian convergence for the purpose of confronting the National Socialist Movement at the November 7th anti-immigration rally at the state capitol.

Visit the Phoenix Class War Council's webpage for more information.

Taala Hooghan Infoshop: 2 Years & New Space! Support Needed!

Two years ago community members and an Indigenous youth empowerment media collective called "Outta Your Backpack Media" (OYBM) came together with a vision to establish a space that cultivates active resistance to capitalism, environmental & social injustices in and around our community of Flagstaff. Since then Taala Hooghan infoshop has hosted all ages shows, film screenings of hard to find political movies, the Free Free Market, silkscreening, D.I.Y. art skill shares, and provided meeting and event space for other organizations. OYBM has worked with more than 300 youth and produced dozens of short films at free youth workshops, some of which have been screened nationally and internationally at film festivals.

Taala Hooghan & OYBM volunteers are continuing their efforts for a more just and sustainable world and have found a new larger location in downtown Flagstaff. To help with the move we are looking for continued community support. There's lots of work that needs to be done: space renovation, painting, volunteer staffing, event planning, monetary donations for rent, equipment, and much more.

We are inviting folks/organizations to attend a meeting to learn more about us
and how you can get involved!

What: Taala Hooghan volunteer meetings

When:
Friday, Oct 16th at 6:30PM
Tuesday, Oct 20th at 6:30PM
Saturday, Oct 24th at 5:30PM (at 4th st. Infoshop)

Where: 11 S. Mikes Pike Downtown Flagstaff (across from the bus transfer station in the large white warehouse)

Contact: Phone: (928) 527-1431 Email: infofosho@gmail.com

Donations needed:
Folding chairs
Folding tables
Large garbage & recycling cans
Cleaning supplies (rags, buckets, etc.)
Electric stove and exhaust fan
Bookshelves
Larger PA system and more…

Support needed:
Murals
Kitchen set-up
Cleaning (east side infoshop and downtown location)
Moving
+ more…

Taala Hooghan Infoshop was established and continues to operate with the action statement, "We are an Indigenous-established volunteer-run collective dedicated to creatively confronting and overcoming social and environmental injustices in Flagstaff and surrounding areas. We are restoring and redefining knowledge and information in ways that will be meaningful to our communities. We offer access to independent media, the arts, and alternative education, with the goal of self-development as well as empowerment for youth and the greater community into action in favor of a more just and sustainable world."

http://www.myspace.com/taalahooghan

http://www.oybm.org

Banner Drop in Tucson Against Mining

October 14, Tucson, Arizona, there was a banner drop against mining. The action was in Solidarity with the October 12 (the 517th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in the Western Hemisphere) Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples, called by the IV Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples Abya Yala. Actions and Teach-ins have been happening across the world. For more news on Global actions see Root Force’s web page. For further information on Apache resistance to current copper mining proposals visit Survival Solidarity's web page. There are multiple links that follow the article.