The White Rose Society
By Dorothy Snodgrass

Am I foolish to dream of a White Rose Society in this country to restore our honor and atone for the needless loss of American military and innocent Iraq’s?

Were it not for that distinctive T-shirt, it’s doubtful I would ever have known about the White Rose Society. But meeting a friend recently, I was attracted by his T-shirt. At the top there was a line of Arabic script, beneath that the phrase, “We Will Not Remain Silent.” I was informed that this motto dated back to 1943, when a small group of students at the University of Munich, sickened by the atrocities of the Nazi’s, especially the persecution of the Jews, formed a resistance movement, which they named “The White Rose Society.”

Spending almost an entire day at the Berkeley Public Library, and assisted by a reference librarian who was equally intrigued by this Society, I unearthed a wealth of materials, the most valuable being the book, “A Noble Treason: The Revolt of Munich Students Against Hitler.” Thanks to the librarian’s computer skills, I was provided with a print-out of all four leaflets written by these students—leaflets calling for German youth to overthrow the regime.

"The name of Germany will be dishonored forever lest German youth finally rise to smash [Hitler’s] tormentors and invoke a new, intellectual and spiritual Europe.” These leaflets were not the rabid ravings of wild-eyed radicals, but rather were beautifully-written, scholarly documents with quotations from Aristotle, Friedrich Schiller, Goethe and Lao Tzu. I was especially taken by the opening sentence in the First Leaflet:

“Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be ‘governed’ without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. It is certain that every honest German is ashamed of his government.”

Given today’s shameful Iraq war debacle, might we not substitute “honest American” for “honest German"?

[Read More »]

The parallels to the Iraq slaughter are obvious and the writer asks: "Why are today’s university students not rebelling at the Iraq war and other injustices?" Go. Read the rest of this piece to find out what happens to these 4 students. Thank you, Dorothy Snodgrass. Outstanding piece of work on an exceptional group of students.

Related:
Read the leaflets
White Rose Society Martyrs
Protest of the Youth

Anarchy in the DK

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Demolition crews on Monday started tearing down a disputed youth center that was at the heart of recent street riots in Copenhagen.

Workers wore face masks under their helmets to conceal their identities as an excavator tore into the so-called Youth House, a graffiti-sprayed brick building in the Noerrebro district of the Danish capital.

A police anti-terror squad on Thursday evicted squatters from the building, triggering three nights of clashes with leftist youth that turned parts of the city into a battle zone.

More than 600 people were arrested and more than 20 injured as protesters hurled cobblestones at riot police and set fire to cars and trash bins in Copenhagen's worst riots in 14 years.

Punk Status

The Youth House for years served as a popular cultural center for anarchists, punk rockers and left-wing groups. The squatters considered it as free public housing, but courts ordered them out after the city sold the building to a Christian congregation.

The building, which has served among other things as a concert venue and featured performances by big stars like Icelandic pop artist Bjork and Australian musician Nick Cave, was recently sold to the Christian group Fadershuset, which requested the eviction of the youths.

An August 2006 court ruling ordered the occupants to be evicted from the centre, which they insist belongs to them. Riots have also been taking place around the Freetown Christiania area.

Related:
Solidarity Action
CopenBlog
History
Comments
ungdomshuset

W E B T R A I L | Flurb, Anarchy, UFOs, Junky's, Orwellian

Have you FLURBed lately? Rudy Rucker's The Third Bomb is a good article on the latest Flurb and don't miss Cul-de-Sac by John Shirley. Actually, they are ALL good articles on the Flurb.

At Anarchist U, it's all about structure. (wtf?) The four-year-old free school has survived partly because it's, um, well organized. The mere fact that it's entering its fourth year without an address or a registrar, and with total operating expenses of about $50 a year (most of which is the fee for hosting its website, http://www.anarchistu.org), is something of a milestone. [via]
Read More

"If it wasn't for my girlfriend sighting the objects first, I would concede the possibility that it was a hallucination. She knew nothing of my silent request to show me something, and pointed out the objects before I saw them." Professor Pan expounds on the attempted manipulation of UFO manifestations, the concept of UFOs as egregores, and the probability that UFOs are a multidimensional phenomena with a nod to Jacques Vallee, Brother Blue, RAW, Crowley and with more great links to explore. link

:: I missed The Junky's Christmas again this year, (and for the past 15 years) Originally produced in 1993 and presented by Francis Ford Coppola, the film has just been released on DVD. [via]

CHILDREN OF MEN - Fans of progressive rock know Battersea from the cover of Pink Floyd?s 1977 concept album "Animals," the one with the floating pink pig and a playlist that includes songs like "Pigs" and "Sheep." The album seems to have been inspired by George Orwell?s 1945 allegorical novel, "Animal Farm" (the book?s money quote: "But some animals are more equal than others"). [via]
link

Whether there's an Orwellian spin or an artistic approach, the reviews for Children Of Men are kind. On NYTimes.com below the article there is a list of similar movies that lists Brave New World, The Stand, THX 1138, Gattaca, and In the Country of the Last Things. Now THAT should be included on the banner.

George Bush Quote
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."

W E B T R A I L

* Above graphic is one example of the excellent collage art by Agnes Montgomery, who is currently working on something for Animal Collective's next release.

* I didn't know there was a David Gilmour Blog

* New anarchy aggregator site, Carnival Of Anarchy, is blazing a path through intertopia. Will be December 29 and the theme is Anarchist Blogs, Anarchist blogging.

* From the One Club, The Alchemists is a film "about 5 people who hated the world so much? they changed yours".

WebTrail | Wednesday - Emma, Boho, Wisebot, NASA, Portls, Retro, Mynci, Dead Lay

Emma Goldman Finishing School? link

The Spirit Of Bohemia - Includes a collection of works pertaining to the other side of literary and artistic life - madness, poverty, altered states, & other experiences. - link

If it wasn't so much damn fun to surf the web, I'd first read Robot Wisdom and call it a day.

Nice that satellite tv stations carry the spacewalks live on NASA TV.

MusicPortl.com is intended to be a place where you can get an overview of information about a music artist.

Plastik Fantastic - Retro art prints. link

Mynci's (Gorky's Zygotic Mynci) Gone To Heaven - link

Is Ken Lay Really Dead? Rushkoff weighs in. Since it's out there, I suppose I have to consider it. Being cremated actually adds to this theory. link

Want some ice cream with your anarchy? The Tactical Ice Cream Unit (TICU) has sweets for the streets and continues its SoCal hijinx with stops at UCLA, Otis College of Art & Design, and other random places of mystery and mayhem.

Aaron Gach, a San Francisco Bay Area “artist” and anarchist activist has this sweet vision.

We are organizing an alternative event world wide during the G8 summit which is to take place in Edinburgh. Between the 1st and the 10th of July we are asking for 100 people to commit to doing 1000 mantras/prayers or affirmations daily dedicated to world peace and elimination of world poverty. Go to the website to sign up.

The g8mantras is a grass roots movement which has been inspired by Nelson Mandela. We think that people all over the world can participate, whatever their beliefs as we are all people of good will. You can join in to create a tidal wave of goodwill. Each individual's contribution is precious. You can invoke Light, Love and Peace to our planet so that poverty becomes history.

I've never seen the planet send out so many good vibes and affirmations for one cause before. Whether it be anarchy or mantras, to me it's a beautiful thing.
G8 Mantras

The Bushiad and the Idyossey
Demonstrates that when power-mad, testosterone-poisoned religious fanatics in league with greedy multinational corporations wield unlimited military might, all humanity is vulnerable. Well done! [link] via Liz Donovan

PBS had a great documentary on Emma Goldman last night, who it was reported, was expelled by the US for promoting anarchy and revolution. On a cold December morning in 1919, just after midnight, Emma Goldman, her comrade Alexander Berkman, and more than 200 other foreign-born radicals were roused from their Ellis Island dormitory beds to begin their journey out of the United States for good.

We are having a huge thunderstorm and hail here in North Carolina last night and this morning. Hope my old roof holds up. Nasty.