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Today Irish citizens are voting on whether to accept or reject the neo-liberal Lisbon treaty. They are alone among all the citizens of the EU states in being allowed a direct vote on the matter. Over the last weeks the Workers Solidarity Movement has been campaigning across Ireland for a No Vote. 50,000 leaflets have been distributed along with 2,000 posters on top of 20,000 issues of Workers Solidarity.

Will the Lisbon Treaty vote change anything?

Last year, the EU Constitution was defeated in referenda in France and the Netherlands. Europe’s governments quickly got together and rewrote the constitution as an incredibly complicated list of amendments to existing treaties. Together these amendments make up the “Treaty of Lisbon.” Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the president of the Convention on the Future of Europe which did much of the ground work in drafting the constitution, has concluded that “the difference between the original Constitution and the present Lisbon Treaty is one of approach, rather than content”.

Statement issued by the DAWC, calling for Raytheon to be prosecuted

The six anti-war activists who occupied arms manufacturer Raytheon's offices in Derry, Northern Ireland, and destroyed its computers, have been acquitted by a jury in Belfast.

Derry Anti War Coalition calls on the office of the Attorney General and the Crown Prosecution Service, in light of the jury's verdict of 'not guilty' to criminal damage charges, to institute an investigation into the activities of Raytheon at its various plants across the UK, with a view to determining whether Raytheon is a criminal enterprise.

On June 5-6, activists from many different countries came to Warsaw to protest against the deadly policies of Frontex, the EU agency which conducts migrant hunting operations, trains border guards and special units to hunt down people crossing so-called "national borders" and which helps to coordinate and implement EU immigration policy. Frontex has its headquarters in Warsaw.

7 June Wroclaw ZSP organized the picket and information campaign against price rises. The activists point out that prices for transport, housing and many other essential goods are rising very fast, but salaries aren't. This especially hits the poor people.

Picket was part of campaign by ZSP against rising prices. Page of this campaign is here:
http://stop-podwyzkom.pl

Days against Frontex and the EU Border Regime in Warsaw!

Thursday June 5 at 18:00. Conference.
Thursday June 6 at 14:00. Demo against Frontex at Frontex HQ. March to the Presidential Palace to protest deportations and agreement with Vietnamese government to deport 5000 Vietnamese from Poland.

More info / leaflet: Press "Czytaj Dalej".

Two Czech humanists, leading voices in the campaign against the proposed US missile defence radar system in the Czech Republic, will tomorrow enter their 15th day of hunger strike.

They are appealing for international supporters to sign the following petition:
http://petice.nenasili.cz/?lang=en

Updates on the hunger strike can be found here:
http://www.nenasili.cz/en/

The Raytheon 9 are on trial in Belfast on May 17th. I met with these good people last year in Lebanon. They are facing many years in jail for destroying computers in Raytheon's office in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Raytheon are the world's 5th biggest arms manufacturer and made a lot of profits providing missiles for Israel to blow the shit out of Lebanon 2 years ago. That's only a small part of their huge crimes against innocent civilians.

* This editorial comes from issue #53 (May-June 2008) of El Libertario, a Venezuelan anarchist voice of ideas and proposals for action. It confirms our commitment to autonomous social mobilization, which has already begun to express itself through concrete struggles from below, as in the recent steelworkers conflict.

Despite our opinion on nationalizing the company, the route that workers have taken at SIDOR, the main Venezuelan steelmaker, exemplifies the immediate task for the country’s social and popular movements to carry out: mobilizing ourselves and struggling for our own demands. For libertarian socialists, its is the militancy of all movements of the oppressed that encourages positive changes in society. Hoping that those improvements will flow down to us from the heights of power is a pipe dream, as reality over the last few years has shown. But two major straitjackets—polarization from above and the mortgaged autonomy of those of us below—have stifled the social movement actions.

Another Mayday has come, and with it the time to remember, in struggle, our comrades – five anarchist workers who died in a war between classes that we are still fighting today. They were murdered by the State because they didn't accept without resistance that they had bosses who lived off of their labour, because they didn't accept that the State and the Capital had power over their lives.

But it is not only those five anarchists – let us remember all those countless workers, syndicalists, anarchists, libertarians, proud human beings who died, because they didn't accept the idea of one human being exploiting another. All of them survive in the 1st of May as the international day of working class struggle.

Ploughshares Penetrate Waihopai Base Deflate Satellite Dome

Adrian Leason, Peter Murnane and Sam Land - the three Ploughshares who entered the Waihopai spy base near Blenheim and used sickles to cut one of the two 30-metre white domes - were denied bail and will remain in custody until at least Monday, 5th May.

Statement Of The Waihopai ANZAC Ploughshares

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation; and there shall be no more training for war. Isaiah 2/4

This morning, 30 April 2008, we entered the Waihopai Spy Base near Blenheim. Our group, including a Dominican Priest, temporarily closed the base by padlocking the gates and proceeded to deflate one of the large domes covering two satellite dishes.

At 6am we cut through three security fences surrounding the domes - these are armed with razor wire, infrared motion sensors and a high voltage electrified fence. Once inside we used sickles to cut one of the two 30-metre white domes, built a shrine and knelt in prayer to remember the people killed by United States military activity.

Approximately 800 - 1000 persons participated in Krakow's Tolerence March ( 26.04 ) which was during Culture for Tolerance Festival. Amid colorfull baloons and rainbow's flags participants walked from Matejko's Square to Market. On banners we could see slogans like : "Everyone is Different - Everyone is Equal ", "Love doesn't know gender" , "Rainbow's Familly - Happy Family" , "Two fathers aren't the same as one is" , "Everyone can love".

Members of National Polish Revival ( NOP ) and football supporters tried to disturb by throwing eggs ,petards and stones. There was - like always - the hit of NOP's boys and girls : jumping after yell: " who don't jump is fairy! ". Beyond that they yelled : " We will do with you what Hitler did with Jews ", " Death for Fairies " , "National Radicalism" , and other slogans that, as they claim "have nothing to do with nazism".Before that All-polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska) realised rather rickety happening.

About 80 people took part in a protest against police brutality in Lodz on April 26. The protest was organized by the local group of the Anarchist Federation. The demonstrators wanted to call attention to the problem of police violence and abuse of power by the police with the aim of controlling people and repressing social movements. Speakers told about different instances of police abuse and violation of the law. One example was how police raided a flat in Slupsk after a demonstration at about 6 AM, beating people and using tear gas. Even people who were sleeping were arrested. Although police are supposed to tell people why they are being arrested, the victims were not told the charges until they had already been in detention more than 12 hours.

Activists also spoke about a new wave of repression against foreigners, mentioning the recent raids ona dormitory for foreign students in Lodz and refugee centers near Warsaw. In the latter case, many people were beaten or roughed up for no reason. The situation with prisoners was also presented. Recently a scandal broke when one Romanian guy, who was most probably innocent, was left to die by prison authorities. Since then, some more cases of such abuse have been exposed. Activists spoke about the deplorable conditions in prison and the fact that people are often held in remand prisons even for years before coming to trial.

While the police were heavily guarding this very peaceful demo, demonstrators pointed out passerbys how the police film demonstrators and otherwise harrass them for no reason. The city adminstration forbid the anarchists from having a moving demonstration and even invented some non-existing conditions to prevent it. The anarchists spoke a bit about the role of police in society and handed out leaflets explaining, among other things, what rights people have in relation to the police. After about an hour, people were served a nice vegan meal made by Food Not Bombs.

* This is a brief outline of the libertarian footprint in the history of Venezuela, prepared by members of the Collective Editorship of El Libertario www.nodo50.org/ellibertario. We hope that this serves as a useful point of reference for those who are interested in the subject.

Claudiu Curlic was arrested in Sept. 2007 in Krakow. He was falsely accused of stealing a wallet. The theft has occured a few months earlier but police had a description of the thieve; the pickpocket's victim turned out to be a judge.

The problem is that Claudiu, a Romanian citizen who's family is in Italy and girlfriend in Krakow, wasn't anywhere near Krakow on the date of the theft. He was on a bus on his way to Italy.

Headquaters of Polish Teachers' Union ( ZNP ) decided that 27th of May there will be warn teachers's strike. ZNP is now in the collective disputation with government.

In ZNP's opinion, this year rises for teachers ( increase of salaries from 185 to200 PLN ) are too small. Union depend increase of teachers' salaries and workors of edutacion in 50 % to 2010. ZNP wants also possibility to retire on previous rules.

Decision of ZNP's headquaters don't force teachers's to strike however.It will be there where majority of teachers gathering will want this form of protest.