“Elvis was trying to steal the music of the black churches in his songs. So, I decided to steal it back.”

If you want riots, wear your riot gear
If you want violence, then shoot your tear gas in the air

"Asked by a reporter in New Jersey whether he wanted the support of white nationalists, dozens of whom wore red Make America Great Again hats during the Charlottesville riots, Trump did not respond."

"One of the most common tropes in US media is that the US military always goes to war reluctantly—and, if there are negative consequences, like civilian deaths, it’s simply a matter of bumbling around without much plan or purpose."

Here's a strange article from 2003 in which Donald Rumsfeld defends looting in Baghdad at some length while Amnesty International calls for more troops to be deployed in order to protect members of Saddam Hussein's party.

A long Austin Chronicle article on the Red Guards Austin. My favorite part is when the assistant chief of police calls them "anarchists". Marxist-Leninists love that.

A NYMag piece on PissPigGranddad's six-month tour of duty with the YPG in Syria. This article includes quite a bit of overlap with the Rolling Stones article I have linked to before, but it's even better.

I'm definitely glad this guy is walking around again.

--
Dukes was studying the prison system at the time of the shooting, reading books like Slavery by Another Name and watching the documentary 13th, and he believes in the abolition of prisons.

“She’s going to go into a system that will eat her alive and that’s awful,” he says of Elizabeth Hokoana. “It’s hard to wish that on anyone.”

“Right now, we’re continually escalating violence,” Dukes said of the divide between the right and the left. “Maybe if we can have a larger conversation, maybe we can turn this thing around. We have to start seeing each other as people, and talk about how other people are people.”

“I refuse not to recognize these people as people, because I refuse to be like them.”

@PissPigGrandad was interviewed on the Chapo Trap House podcast shortly after this article came out: https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-82-war-is-heck-feat-pisspiggranddad-21317

Here's an illustrative case from this weeks' news. According to the article there are around 1,200 homeless people living in Fairfax County. When one of them was caught constructing a shelter and educating himself he was charged with destruction of property and held without bond. That says almost everything that needs saying about capitalist property and justice.

"More power to him. He did something that most people don't do. He actually took a step to change his life and made his own little home where he could study."

Here's an interview with a French fighter with the YPG in Syria. He contradicts himself twice (Amnesty is wrong about villages being razed by YPG... they are only razed for strategic reasons; we don't need imperialist help to defeat IS... NATO air strikes are key to our offensive), but that helps it sound less like a pure propaganda piece.

I've read interviews with a few other fighters, and this guy is definitely the most political (and optimistic). He's fighting in a communist unit, but I wonder how many of the Kurdish fighters overall hold communism to be such an important aspect of the struggle for Rojava.

Humorous image, but also the story of the martyrdom of Fr. Luis Espinal Camps.

Walworth residents resist immigration raid. Also covered by Vice: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/immigration-raid-police-fight-822

This is exceptional news! Despite the very clear video evidence it took eight months to file charges, and I don't think it would have happened at all if it weren't for the Ferguson riots and "Black Lives Matter" protesters (in addition to all of the Albuquerque protests and the Department of Justice investigation).

I have my doubts that the charges will stick, though. A District Court justice has to decide that there is enough evidence for murder at a preliminary hearing (where the charges may be downgraded or dropped). But still a better chance of going to trial for something than the ol' grand jury shenanigans.

Even if either officer goes to trial on any charge, I don't expect a conviction. When Kelly Thomas (an unarmed homeless man in Fullerton, CA) was beaten to death by police (captured on both video and audio recording devices) two cops were charged with involuntary manslaughter and one with murder. But after the first trial found two of the cops not guilty, the DA dropped the charges for the third cop.

Classic story.

Authorities link 100 acts of vandalism and arson to activists but anarchists claim city’s alternative lifestyles are real target

"Uniformed police shut down an effort to provide lunch to scores of homeless in Stranahan Park on Sunday, enforcing a law passed recently that puts new limits on outdoor feeding sites.

"At least three people were cited for violating the new ordinance, including two members of the clergy and a 90-year-old advocate who has handed out food to the homeless for more than 20 years."

Some sober musings on the libertarian Kurdish struggle.

"Police wearing riot gear raided a well-known Newtown squat amid protests on Thursday evening."

A few minutes of video with commentary:

"The eviction of "The Hat Factory" Social Centre"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7a4RGJpS9k