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Recent Articles about South West MiscellaneousJune 8th Greek Solidarity Benefit Night @ ECC Apr 29 13 Remember the dead - Fight for the living. Apr 25 13 UK Coal MInes To Reopen? Apr 20 13 FAI/ELF Communique For Tv & Radio Blackout south west |
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news report
 Friday January 04, 2013 12:01 by fai/elf
 this is a bristol indymedia story As part of the ongoing anarchist war for total liberation, we carried out a hit on the Bathampton radio and TV relay station. Fires were set at four points of the structures, and we left undisturbed. As a result of the sabotage, on top of causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage, we regionally shut down all TV channels on Freeview as well as all national analogue and digital radio stations. Additionally it took down Vodaphone and other mobile networks, damaging police communications and other digital services. 80,000 homes and businesses in the area were affected.
The entertainment industry is an important tool to manipulate human behaviour. Without a steady supply of distractions it would be much harder to persuade people that their lives are satisfactory, to convince them to keep going to work or in whatever way to reproduce the system. So to deprive the network of the ability to offer this essential means of escape from chronic modern stress, anxiety, frustration and dissatisfaction is to undermine the smooth running of society, however temporarily.
There are many soft targets and many lo-tech methods available for us malcontents who gladly choose conflict over dispair. This gives rise to the prospect of rebellion with thousands of faces, with infinite reasons to blockade and destroy whatever stands between us and our goals. We want to experience harmony as a living planet, face to face encounter as intimate circles of proud and free-thinking individuals, and a chance to mould an existence filled with wild play and fierce joy. Our first response when faced with today's crushing domination and a subservient society will always be outbreaks of disorder, refusal and beauty.
Our comrades from far and wide who also carry this fight share our thoughts so closely that often their words could be ours. So when they are kidnapped and held far away from us our determination is only further fuelled. Following many actions in Italy the state has unleashed a wave of repression against anarchists and their projects (Operations Ardire, Mangiafuoco, Ixodidae, Thor...), some across borders, accusing some of attacks of the FAI (Informal Anarchist Federation) and raising a trophy for the media-judicial circus: Nicola Gai and Alfredo Cospito, who they claim are FAI / Olga Cell. But if the prosecutors thought for one minute that they had dismantled the group even in Italy with their operations, another cell soon proved them wrong with an attack on the banking system in the capital, followed by grid sabotage in Indonesia, gunshots in Mexico, liberations in Russia, bombing in Greece, mass arson in Argentina, to name but a few. The new anarchist guerrillas laugh in the faces of the powerful because the repression is only throwing petrol on the fires of the open leaderless resistance.
We are on the side of everyone who has burnt stuffy textbooks and taken the offensive to reanimate an anarchy that had turned to dust in so many throats. Any rebel's capture becomes yet another motive to strike, as we have before and will again, as a reminder of the social cost of their imprisonment.
This action carried out eight years to the day since Xosé Tarrio (a dignified prisoner of Spain's FIES isolation units, against which a series of attacks last decade were later claimed by the first generation of the FAI) died in the cells, leaving his blood on the hands of the jailers, courts and cops.
FAI / ELF, New Horizons of Burning Rage |
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15"As part of the ongoing anarchist war for total liberation"
When did that start ?
I thought it was the need to pay rent, bills and buy food that was making people go to work but I'm glad its light entertainment and its just a matter of burning enough television masts to get the revolution started. :S
You should probably know that according to anarchists in Italy, the Italian state is almost certainly behind the "Informals" in Italy - so careful before you start bigging them up as heroes; wouldn't be the first time the Italian state has employed a "strategy of tension". - look it up.
I'm not suggesting you are black propaganda; you lot are just a bunch of vain tossers who want to play games and pretend you're guerilla warriors.
You write about total liberation and ignore that the free society can only be won collectively. You're egoistic and nihilistic words and actions will only lead you personally to jail, death or suicide, whilst doing nothing more than adding the tiniest amount of chaos of an already chaotic society.
You only have to look at the perpetual vicious propaganda war on the poor, disabled, foreign and economically marginalised to see that direct attacks on our media are justified.
However, this attack, both in the target chosen and the communique seems designed to alienate more people than a Radio 3 Opera season.
The language of these statements seem to want to deliberately estrange the majority of people, in much the same way as an academic journal does.
If the aim of insurrectionist actions is bring about revolution - why carry out actions & release statements apparently designed to alienate?
Just a bunch of Mummy's boys really....
All that private education gone to waste.
...The available evidence points towards the fact that they are privatley educated, or at least from a background of some privilege. I say that because -
1. Their communiques (i'm going to assume it was the same small group that also did the train tracks job) are written in the dense, unpenetratable jargon of academic elitists and they clearly revel in showing off their big words, and don't want most people to understand, or they would have made it more easily understandable. That suggests to me that they have some kind of educational privilege which they wish to retain
2. As their actions seem to mainly damage the lives of working class people, it is reasonable to assume that they don't know the stresses of real life - how a missed train journey can get you in shit with the boss, or deducted pay - how having your TV signal knocked out can dent your scant time away from work. Maybe a faimily was preparing to spend some quality time after school and work playing along together to a TV quiz - and this action fucked that up! (p.s, I watch of telly, and know many comrades who do the same/play computer games etc and we're not brainwashed zombies)
3. The fact that the purpetrators believe that telly brainwashes people, so the plebs need to be saved from telly reeks of elitist arrogance. It is vanguardism of the worst kind to decide that something is bad, so deprive people of it. The masses can't make sensible decisions, so you'd better do it for them, eh? This sort of arrogance comes with being, or percieving yourself as being high enough above us mere mortals. It also suggests they aren't and don't know ordinary people. If they did, they would know that plenty of us watch telly and still remain politically active in our workplaces and communities.
Plus, many people agree that most of the media/broadcasting corporations are scum. If they had've bricked Murdich's house or teh Sun HQ etc etc, they could've garnered some support. Instead, they went for the soft, easy target that only effects ordinary people and let's the tossers at the top off the hook - maybe a bit of class solidarity!?
So, to review the evidence, we have a small unaccountable group taking actions on behalf of the masses, not with them, who justify their actions using an exclusive, inpenetrable and overly academic language (something the elites have traditionally done to preserve their place at the top) - tell me how that sounds any different from yer average fascist or politician.
From Ace's other comments, it appears that s/he may be tarring all anarchists with that same brush - something I obviously reject.
This happened early morning on the 3rd of January yet it has taken this long for responsibility to be claimed...
I can't help thinking that the fire was started by A N Other and the group claiming responsibility decided that it would make them look cool to say it was them - possibly dreamt up during an evening drinking over the weekend.
I would be much more inclined to believe that this group are actually responsible if they had posted this message immediately after the event BEFORE the it hit the national press not 4 days AFTER.
This is not dissimilar to the vandalism at the Zoo which happened on New Year's Eve/Day yet responsibility wasn't claimed until some 3 days later.
To summarise my thoughts, the timeline seems to go something like this:
Day 1 - Random act of vandalism
Day 2 - Widely reported in the press
Day 3 - Jimmy and Jonny meet up for a pint or 10 and conversation turns to the recent vandalism. Jimmy and Jonny decide it will make them look cool (or be useful as propaganda for their political aims) to claim responsibility.
Day 4 - Jimmy and Jonny put together a communique claiming responsibility that is woven together with any generic pseudo-political statement.
Day 5 - Jimmy and Jonny meet up down the pub to toast themselves and their clever act.
All achieved without getting their hands dirty.
Just a thought...
Only the faux-anarchists/Trustafarian types.
(probably not you Town end Boy, btw a well written piece)
So it appears that my post was a little hasty as I read the date of the last comment not the date of the actual article. Please condense my timeline as appropriate. My sentiment still stands though
The reality of life is that some people do need to be saved from themselves. Take for example motorcycle crash helmets. Bikers are not bright enough to wear one themselves so legislation is bought in to force them.
Like it or not an elite is required in society to protect those unable to protect themselves and TV is part of that, the majority are not intelligent enougth to know how they are manipulated via the media so in cases like this I applaud those who take action to think for them.
I think we all recognise the case for an elite in society that will make the decisions the majority are unable or unwilling to do however the issue is of course who. For me this is a matter of education combined with purity of political thought.
Those who can choose they have both have a role to play in making the difficult decisions for society. It will not be difficult to implement if the will is there. For the majority of people they will see very little change in their lives.
I first came across this argument at school and never understood it until I was older studying politics. This is the area where the transition from Communism to Anarchism always falls down because Anarchism assumes no bosses.
Analysis of all societies and cultures shows that humans are fundamentally pack animals with a lead dog and that without that dog society quickly breaks down.
Take a look at Will Self's writing in this from about 10 years ago, really interesting.
Well said, one of the most truthful & well written comments I've seen on here.
It's about time these activist types understood that most people switch off as soon as they start sprouting their pseudo intelectual bullshit
starting to considering that this actually is a piss take...some kids start a fire then someone writes a fake communique
Whatever you think of the O.P, the comments on here are frikkin NUTS!
Have we been invaded by Chinese Stalinists & CeeBeeGeeBees as well as the usual 'Debbie Downers'?
Stay Beautiful Bristol! :0)