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From the open publishing newswire: "Despite the supposedly benign tour at Angola, both students and I were horrified. There is a cavalier attitude, a blasé’ acceptance of capital punishment, mass incarceration and of course little critique of the class and race dynamics of the inmate population—80% of whom are black and nearly all of whom were poor, under-educated and dependent on a public defender at trial. There is passive acceptance and even sometimes celebration of Louisiana’s harsh sentences—it has the highest incarceration rate in the US—and of the fact that 90% of the inmates will die there and 80% will receive no visitors after 5 years."

Read more of the interview with St. Catherine Professor Nancy Heitzeg by Angola 3 News below

We are in need of street medics for the unpermitted march against US military violence into Pakistan and Yemen this Thursday, February 11th, leaving from the central library in downtown Minneapolis at 4pm. 

If you are able to be present to act as a street medic for the march, please contact us at daswo.tc@gmail.com. 

 

At the first convention of the right-wing Tea Party movement this weekend, Sarah Palin called for "revolution," and a documentary about the movement's rising has recently been released. The trailer for "Tea Party" allowed conservatives, who are hosting viewing parties across the nation, to relive the first year of the movement. But meanwhile, Tea Party Prankster Robert Erickson, whose speech after infiltrating last November's Tea Party Against Amnesty in St. Paul drew national attention,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rry_SlPW7oU has now released a trailer of his own.
CBS refused to air the ad based on the trailer during Sunday's Super Bowl, and so Twin Cities Indymedia has posted the ad online.

In the summer of 2007, an Anarchist/Anti-Authoritarian group ironically named the “RNC Welcoming Committee (RNC-WC)” released a satirical video entitled, “We're Getting Ready.” (http://tinyurl.com/rncvideo ) The video sparked a quarter-of-a-million dollar investigation by the infamously humorless Ramsey County Sheriff's Office into the RNC-WC. Almost a year and a half later, eight organizers face conspiracy charges. They're getting ready for trial (http://rnc8.org ), and invite anyone with a heart still beating to come.
More: Trial Date Set for October 25 | Quicktime H264 High-Def files, video player below the fold | Blip.TV | YouTube]

 

Once again at the start of the year's legislative session in St. Paul, the Minnesota Historical Society is whitewashing history while seeking funds for the reconstruction of its flagship tourist attraction, Fort Snelling.  The Fort is located at the site of both the genesis and genocide of the Dakota people, overlooking the site of a concentration camp with hundreds of Dakota women died following the War of 1862.  The MNHS only reluctantly acknowledges this history in its patriotic displays venerating the men like Alexander Ramsey and Henry Sibley who vowed to exterminate the Dakota.

The MNHS has long wished to invest more money in Fort Snelling to repair crumbling 19th-century buildings and remodel its visitors' center.  It has met with grassroots opposition from pro-indigenous and pro-environment groups who advocate taking down the fort - or just refusing to invest more money in it and letting nature do the work.

Related: New Robert Erickson Tea Party Trailer--Columbus Go Home: Take Down the Fort

Saturday, Feb. 13th, 4pm
Arise! Bookstore
2441 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55405

After being in our current location since 1993, the Arise! Books and Resources Collective has come to the painful realization that we can no longer afford to operate in this space. Rather than letting the awful realities of capitalism tear us apart, we want to figure out a way to arise anew. A new form. A new location. A new way to continue serving and being part of the radical and progressive community in the Twin Cities.

From Fight Back! Newspaper (fightbacknews.org)

St. Paul, MN - About 100 people gathered here Feb. 4 on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol for a protest that coincided with the opening of the Minnesota State Legislature. The Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout organized the protest. Standing at the top of a giant banner reading, “Tax the rich, no cuts to poor and working people,” Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee led the chant, “Hey politicians, here’s the fix - tax the rich! Tax the rich!”