I spend anywhere from three to eight hours every week sweating along with a motley crew of local misfits, shelving, sorting, and hauling ton after ton of written matter in a rowhouse basement in Baltimore. We have no heat nor air conditioning, but still, every week, we come and work. Volunteer night is Wednesday, but many of us also work on the weekends, when we're open to the public. There are times when we're freezing and we have to wear coats and gloves inside, making handling books somewhat tricky; other times, we're all soaked with sweat, since it's 90 degrees out and the basement is thick with bodies. One learns to forget about personal space when working at The Book Thing, since you can scarcely breathe without bumping into someone, and we are all so accustomed to having to scrape by each other that most of us no longer bother to say "excuse me" unless some particularly dramatic brushing occurs.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried, but failed miserably to intimidate the protesters at the massive rally against the GOP and the Iraq War, in NYC, today. The crowd was estimated at over 500,000. Bloomberg has tried repeatedly to manipulate a confrontation with the demonstrators and to scare them off. His tactics failed. He has been assisted in his efforts by NYC’s yellow-sheeted tabloids, the NY Daily News and the NY Post.

Fifty media activists turned out for Baltimore Independent Media Center's second open house.  Held at the Progressive Action Center on Wednesday, August 25, the informal meeting provided the opportunity for a diverse group of media-engaged people to resume, and in some cases begin, a process of city-wide networking.  By the end of the spirited meeting and half a case of great wine (selected by the IMC sommelier) cards, flyers, and internet addresses were exchanged, and some IMCers began talking of a follow-up meeting.

Local criminologist and author Jeffrey Ian Ross discusses the "convict criminology" movement and answers our questions about who commits crime and why, and what would it really take to reform the prison system.

Join us Wednesday for a Town Hall Meeting on August 24: Baltimore City is home to over one thousand home health care workers who make less than minimum wage. The vital work they do keeps thousands of folks out of nursing homes, yet the State continues to eploit them. Come here them speak out about working for less than mimimum wage and fighting back!

When a state is determined to pursue war, and all forms of indirect symbolic protest actions have failed to sway politicians to halt their imperialist aggression, the only remaining option is direct action by the working class. One option is a general strike by workers that can effect the production and transpiration of military capital, that is the materials essential for the war machine. The other is to deprive the military of the labor it needs to fight the war. The slogan from the Vietnam War protests deliberately speaks to this, "What if they had a war, and no one came?" The U.S. military is overwhelmingly recruited from the working class, and convincing our class as a whole to refuse to work for this blood money may be our best chance for both ending the war in Iraq and limiting the imperialist ambitions of the U.S. for future decades. (This essay is published simultaneously in 'The Northeastern Anarchist', #9, Summer/Fall 2004).

This is an account of a July 5, 2004 workshop in Santa Rosa, CA on the topic of challenging the legitimacy of corporate constitutional rights. The gathering featured Richard Grossman, who has researched and written extensively on challenging corporate constitutional rights, and Thomas Linzey, an attorney from Pennsylvania who has helped several townships enact ordinances that reassert the people's sovereignty over corporations. About fifty people attended the workshop.
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CLICK to SEE: 10-Session Baltimore Corporate Study Group Forming

Announcement that closing night of "The Corporation" documentary at the Charles Theater will be Thursday August 5. Includes commentary on the importance of challenging corporate constitutional "rights" in the spirit of the abolitionist movement that challenged the property right of slave ownership. Also includes a link to a review by DC Indymedia. The documentary opened July 23.
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CLICK to SEE: 10-Session Baltimore Corporate Study Group Forming