June 8 : Massive Global Actions Against G8 / Critical Mass in SF / Street Posters Here !

Anybody whose got fotoshop handy wanna fix this poster ( change date to 6.8.07 !) so others can download and repost for actions EVERYWHERE?! Nice b/w poster with fill in the blank space for location for easy reprinting... or anybody wanna make one special for SF CRITICAL MASS??

Sink the G8 ! anti-fascist, anti-imperialist action Orgs against the G8 !

There are quite a few really great graphics at that G8 poster link, and that must be about 100 posters.

I switched the 8 and 6 and for people in the US (that have no idea what the G8 is, the meeting in Germany and the resistance). This version will work better in the United States.

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One way you could take action on the 8th of June is to organise a Critical Mass Bike Ride.
We have made a leaflet that you can print out to help publicise your Critical Mass.

You can fit four leaflets on a page (laid out landscape style). The front of the leaflet has a space at the bottom so you can add a meeting time and place.

Enjoy the ride!

http://risingtide.org.uk/g8/criticalmass

You could also write "San Francisco"

One thing someone might want to do if they don't have time or a place to put up posters is to print out a few extra that have large text for people to put on their bicycles, so that people on the sidewalks know what the objective of this bike ride is, in contrast to the normal critical mass. I'm not sure what else to bring. small video camera, cardboard, fruit.

cool thx p.bay ! ok peeple , hope u all can get the message out... and show up for a seriously fun ride... well, only as serious as that future of the planet stuff goes, yep!
and as fun as... ( see pic ), btw , heard rumors of a pirate clown posse coming out : )

No Protest Zones Breached, Thousands Blocking Routes to Heiligendamm

The second day of blockades has started, since the early morning hours thousands of people have been on the streets, many in smaller groups, attempting to reach the fence and blocking all gates and routes leading to Heiligendamm. While the blockade at one of the gates has continued throughout the night, confrontations are currently occuring at the other gate, with police trying to disperse protesters.

As hundreds of G8 delegates arrived in the area on Wednesday, mass blockades interrupted their arrival at the fenced security zone. Thousands of activists blocked most of the routes leading to the G8 meeting venue in Heiligendamm. Over 10,000 people blocked the fence gates and 'breached' the newly declared no-demonstration zone around the fence. In the evening, police violently dispersed one of the blockades, while others were continuing with several thousand people still on the streets. Other activists were protesting in the streets surrounding the Rostock-Laage airport. Late in the evening, more than 1,000 people on three blockades decided to stay overnight.

- A Mc Poster saying “2006: 700 billions dollars spent in weapons. 346 billions would be enough to end world poverty. When you see – on the TV - protester fighting against the police, think about what are the first ones fighting against and who are the second ones protecting”

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Report of action in Porto (Portugal), June 2nd - Saturday morning
As we are so far away from Rostock some of us thought that the best way to show solidarity to our brothers and sisters fighting for a better world in the streets of Germany was to tell people of Porto (Portugal) what the G8 is all about and what are those people doing in the streets so that they can think a while once they get home and watch the TV reducing the protests to a bunch of violent thugs.

So - on the 2nd of June, in the morning - we set up a structure in the busiest street of the city (Sta. Catarina Street), where we explained: “When you see – on the TV – protester fighting against the police, you'll know that the protesters are fighting against this world built by the will of the rich. And you won't forget that it's that same world that the police so strongly protect”

Pictures http://sardera.blogspot.com/2007/06/o-porto-contra-o-g8-rua-de-sta_05.html

reasons...
fwd>

An Open Letter to the Press, Rostock, G8 2007: There is Something Terribly Wrong Here. Documentation of an "Aussendung" from :: gipfelsoli.org on 05. Jun 2007.


Here in Germany, as major protests begin against the G8, the world press is not looking beyond the story of the battle - a partial story at best - and asking how or why it is happening

Summit after summit, we have seen the same pattern in the media. The images of black clad protestors hurling rocks at police, the stories of senseless hooligans - those whom the government says should be punished and locked away.

These stories and images of street fighting do nothing but spread fear, criminalize protests, divide social movements, and distract the public from the story of the G8 and their unaccountable polices that are spreading militarism, poverty, violence, environmental destruction and climate change.

It is easy to condemn those who throw a rock or burn a car, but most of what we are seeing in Rostock is police blatantly provoking violence, using that same violence to justify ever more heavy-handed repression. Each day we are experiencing constant harassment, searches and humiliation imposed on us in the streets and on bikes, trains and borders, with no evidence of crime.

According to an official statement 13.000 police were present in Rostock on Saturday - all were well-armed and wearing lots of protective gear. There were small bands of police running into crowds, pushing, shoving and encircling protestors in a legally permitted rally. We saw nonviolent protestors who were trying to de-escalate the situation bludgeoned with batons and pepper sprayed. We saw huge water cannons infused with toxic chemicals spraying indiscriminately. Why is the press not reporting these acts of violence by the police? If violence makes such good headlines, why does the violence of poverty created by G8 policy go un-condemned?

Perhaps we might begin to understand if we look deeper. We may see that such violent confrontations have become a symptom of social and economic systems that values property over life, prisons over education, sprawl over sustainability, borders over migration, war over peace. We might see that it is in the interest of the police and the G8 to have such street fights, to justify the 90 million euros spent on security (in Germany alone). We might understand that repression and the violence of police is designed to thwart democracy and silence dissent.

But we who oppose the G8 will not be silent and we not be stopped. We understand that things are terribly wrong and that without such protests our voices will not be heard at all.

For ongoing independent coverage of events near Rostock: :: de.indymedia.org
Contact:

* Lisa Fithian, Austin,TX / +49 17629799874 / fithianl (at) igc.org /
* Logan Price, Seattle, Wa / +49 16092437902/ logan (at) riseup.net
* Nick Simmons, Vashon,WA / technocrat.nick (at) gmail.com
* Causten Wollerman, Denver, CO / 303.748 0922 / causten.wollerman (at) gmail.com
* Eric Freeman,Minneapolis, MN / erriiik (at) riseup.net (speaks German)
* Ian Markson, San Francisco, CA / IanEMarkson (at) yahoo.com,
* Val Alzarga, Denver, CO / 31610647398
* Michal Asterweil, Chapel Hill, NC / 0049015774630929
* David Zlutnick, CA, davidzlutnick (at) gmail.com
* Brandon Letsinger, Seattle, WA, cascadianow (at) gmail.com
* Luke Rodeheffer, Rodchester, MN, unspunmedia (at) gawab.com (speaks German)