Local anarchists leave an early morning greeting to delegates of the state Republican convention in Mesa

MESA, AZ - In the early hours of Saturday, May 10, 2008, a group of anarchists, in solidarity with all the disenfranchised of Arizona and the United States, carried out a warning action against the GOP state convention in the Mesa Convention Center.

Letters of notice, proclaiming "You are not welcome here. We are watching. See you in St. Paul" were pasted to the convention center facade. Slogans, including "No government like no government," "Smash the state!," and "See you in St. Paul" were spray-painted to the venue, along with anarchist circle-As. Additionally, fliers were laid out with care on the delegate tables.

St. Paul Minnesota is the place of the national Republican presidential nominating convention and takes place September 1-4... read more>>>

Community Advisory Committee postpones decision on new roadway until August as opposition overwhelms public meeting

During an open house public meeting on the proposed Tucson Downtown Links Roadway on Monday, May 12, the city's Department of Transportation voted to reconsider the path of a roadway connecting the Aviation Parkway to I-10. TDOT stated that a decision for the roadway will be postponed until August. The roadway, in it's currently proposed route, would level dozens of historic buildings, displace artists, community groups and businesses, and isolate downtown neighborhoods from one another.

Dozens of roadway opponents packed the meeting, many from the downtown warehouse artist's district and the Dunbar Springs and West University neighborhoods - constituencies who would be heavily impacted by the roadway's construction along it's current route. Many downtown residents, artists and community groups claim that the roadway would be a death sentence for these vital downtown areas.

With the threat of global warming and rising gas prices, still others questioned the wisdom of any new roadway construction while the city ignores alternative transportation options. The funding that allowed for the new road itself was approved in a November 2006 referendum; the Pima County's Democratic Party has filed suit against the referendum results and the County's elections department, claiming that the vote was fraudulently tampered with.

While, for now, all options remain on the table for Downtown Links, the three month delay for any decision will give neighborhood advocates some breathing room as opposition grows to this potential boondoggle. For more information on Downtown Links and community opposition, visit: www.rethinkthelink.com and www.downtownlinks.info

Circulated Petition to be Presented to Governments of the United States and Mexico

In a gathering on March 29, 2008, traditional O’odham leaders and international supporters arrived in the small village of Quitovac in the Northern Sonoran State of Mexico to honor the land, the sky, the water, and all life, and to continue organizing to stop the building of a toxic waste dump that’s planned to be placed just a few miles from one of the most sacred ceremony sites of the O’odham.

Since early in 2006 the traditional O’odham residing in the occupied territories of Northern Mexico and the South Western United States (and their international supporters) have persistently and patiently organized, protested and petitioned to try to convince the Mexican government federal Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (SEMARNAT) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop the company CEGIR from building this toxic dump. So far, protest and international attention has held back the initial phases of the dump construction, but there have been no official statements from SEMARNAT, CEGIR or any other entity that the plans to build the dump have actually been officially canceled.

Traditional O'odham are asking for help in the continued effort to stop the toxic waste dump on O'odham ceremonial grounds, through the circulation of a petition that will be included in the original statement from the Traditional O'odham Elders to be re-submitted to Mexico's and United States government agencies, to request for an official statement not to pursue the project. CEGIR is presently waiting for a change in the local government to push this project for an approved land permit to dump 45,000 tons of toxic waste a year... read more>>>

For more information visit: the O'odham Solidarity Project and www.greenaction.org.

Demonstrators Demand an End to Border Patrol Raids and Militarization, Equal Rights for All

More than 1,000 people came out for International Worker's Day in Tucson, to demand an end to Department of Homeland Security raids, an end to border militarization, and equal rights for all regardless of immigration status.

Demonstrators began gathering at 8:00 a.m. at Southgate Shopping Center in South Tucson. By the time the march left it was easily 800 people strong. All along the route people joined the march, including several south Tucson charter high schools - this despite the threat from Tucson Unified School District bureaucrats that no student would be excused for missing classes on May 1. At Armory Park the rally continued with speakers, music, a maypole, food and folks gathered for networking, education and conversation. A Mayday march was also held on May 1 in Tempe, AZ.

May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in every country except the United States, Canada, and South Africa. This, despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the United States, after the martyrdom of eight anarchists during the fight for an eight-hour work day.

Read More>>>

Russell Pearce Sponsored Bill Passes State House Appropriations Committee, Advances to House and Senate Floor

Arizona schools whose courses “denigrate American values and the teachings of Western civilization” could lose state funding under the terms of legislation approved Wednesday by a House panel. SB 1108 also would bar teaching practices that “overtly encourage dissent” from those values, including democracy, capitalism, pluralism and religious toleration. Schools would have to surrender teaching materials to the state school superintendent for review, who could withhold state aid of districts that broke the law.

Another section of the bill would bar public schools, community college and universities from allowing organizations to operate on campus if it is “based in whole or in part on race-based criteria,” a provision Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said is aimed at MEChA, the Moviemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, a student group he described as racist... read more>>>