Social Control

from mw, 10 March 2010: "You see it the moment you walk off the plane: a mammoth soccer ball hanging from the ceiling of Johannesburg International Airport festooned with yellow banners that read, "2010 Let's Go! WORLD CUP!" If you swivel your head, you see that every sponsor has joined the party - Coca Cola, Anheuser-Busch - all branded with the FIFA seal. It's when your head dips down that you see another, less sponsored, universe. Even inside this gleaming state-of-the-art airport, men ranging in age from 16-60 ask if they can shine your shoes, carry your bags, or even walk you to a cab. It's the informal economy fighting for breathing room amidst the smothering sponsorship..." more

via gipfelsoli, 23 February 2010: "Surpassing the Vancouver Olympics, the Pope’s visit to Toronto and even the volatile Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, officials said yesterday the G8 and G20 summits this summer will be the largest security event in Canadian history. The federal government announced last week it would host the G20 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre June 26-27, despite the city’s expressed wishes that it be at Exhibition Place. It will be preceded by the G8 in Huntsville, Ontario..." more

from email, updated 24 February 2010: "A five year plan on deviant behaviour, creating a European space of freedom, anti-capitalism and rebellion. The European wide network "Out Of Control" was created in 2009 with the purpose of a cross-border collaboration of activists against a European security architecture..." more

from police oracle, 17 February 2010: "As tazer continues to be rolled out across British police forces, a retired police officer - now living abroad - who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Tazer for their anniversary sent us this true(?) story: 'Last weekend I saw something at 'Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop' that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt pocket-sized tazer. The effects of the tazer were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety.... I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and..." more

from email, 1 February 2010: "Completion of criminal investigations against those who protested in Rome the G8 in July 2009. Twenty activists charged with paradoxical accusations, to strike once more the social movements..." more

from infoshop, 27 January 2010: "The Tarnac Ten have been closely surveilled. This isn't a scoop. But there's a problem: the phone taps and videos were made outside of any legal framework. The Tarnac Affair hasn't ceased to resound. And the echoes have caused trouble for a prosecution that has already been amply attacked by the lawyers for the defense. On Wednesday, two new stones were thrown into Judge Thierry Fragnoli's pool. Two components that could weaken the entire proceedings..." more

from email, 21 January 2010: "In February 2010 the European Police Congress, a meeting of international police functionaries, politicians and various actors of the security industry, is again going to take place in Berlin. It is the 13th convention and just like the Congress on European Security & Defence, it is being organised by the publishing group "Behörden Spiegel". According to the organisers, last years convention was visited by 1800 participants from 70 countries..." more

from freedompress, 16 January 2010: "A 33-year old has been sentenced to nine months imprisonment for refusing to decrypt his personal computer files. Judge Hetherington declared that the man, in spite of initial police suspicions, poses no threat to national security, and made it clear that his failure to cooperate with the police and to comply with a section 49 notice to provide passphrases to his encrypted computers was the reason the harsh sentence was handed down... more

from imc-uk, 15 January 2010: "It will be suggested that the threat of surveillance we outline here is exaggerated and paranoid. So we thought it necessary to clarify our stance. We choose to prepare for the worst case scenario. We accept that, for instance, the chance of the police both bothering to, and being able to obtain CCTV from third parties in the event of most “public order” situations is low. However, we believe to prepare for the fact that they may is cautious. We would be paranoid if our fears stopped us from acting, but careless if we did not let our fear inform us to prepare..." more

from bbc, 14 January 2010: "Police officers filmed using riot shields to sledge down a snowy hill while on duty have been reprimanded. The footage of a group of officers on Boars Hill, Oxford, was taken by Rick Latham on Tuesday. He posted it on the file-sharing website YouTube. Supt Murray added: "I have spoken to the officers concerned and reminded them in no uncertain terms that tobogganing on duty, on police equipment and at taxpayers' expense is a very bad idea should they wish to progress under my command."  more

from corporate media, 13 January 2010: "Israel is developing an army of robotic fighting machines that offers a window onto the potential future of warfare... In 10 to 15 years, one-third of Israel's military machines will be unmanned, predicts Giora Katz, vice president of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., one of Israel's leading weapons manufacturers..."  more

from noborders london, updated 18 January 2010: "No borders, no nations! A day out of control in London, Saturday 23rd January 2010. 2pm St. Pancras International -> 4.30pm Piccadilly Circus. While the migration regime is fortifying itself and setting up rings of defence around European wealth, inner control is tightening to keep public order, at a time where the nation state already seems to be a dead corpse. On Saturday 23rd January 2010 there will be two demonstrations in London..." more

from riseup, 26 December 2009: "Two riseup birds recently did a presentation at the People's Summit celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Seattle WTO protests. We discussed the dangers of using corporate tools to do organizing work, in particular, the fact that you don't know what they do with your data. Thanks to some anonymous comments in a blogger's post about his research regarding a U.S. mobile phone company's release to law enforcement of its customers' geographic location information, we now have some answers..." more

from noii-vancouver, 17 December 2009: "Statement by No One Is Illegal: While the 2010 Olympics are still a short time away, many are well aware of the devastating impact they are having on our communities. From traditional Indigenous territories to the impoverished Downtown Eastside (DTES), and from migrant workers to low-income families, thousands are being evicted, displaced, and exploited. It is undeniable that the Olympics is causing the devastation of the environment, creating homelessness, perpetuating the theft of Indigenous lands, exploiting migrant labour, forcing greater privatization, accruing massive public debt, and resulting in increased state criminalization..." more

from greenleft, 17 December 2009: "By waging a brutal war against its own population on behalf of transnational interests, the Colombian state has earned the endorsement of successive Washington administrations. They have lavishly rewarded Colombia’s ruling elite with high praise and billions of dollars of military aid. The corporate media have also responded favourably, depicting Colombia as a democracy under threat from “dictatorial” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in need of US support... more