| BRUSHFIRE!: Florida Anarchist Networking & News 'Zine |
[Sep. 16th, 2007|01:55 pm] |
We are members of Orlando Food Not Bombs and we want to tell you about an exciting new project that has originated with our collective. We have decided to start a monthly newsletter for the Florida anarchist movement. It will be called BRUSHFIRE!, and we would like your community to be part of it. Our hope is that this newsletter will promote information sharing between anarchists across the state of Florida, helping our movement grow and create the connections that will make it possible for us to work collectively on other regional and statewide projects. Hopefully, BRUSHFIRE! will fill the void left by the demise of the newsletter published by FRAN (the Florida Radical Activist Network) in the late '90s. It would be the responsibility not of one city, but of comrades around the state, with production of each issue shifting to a different city. This is a project that would require cooperation between all the anti-authoritarian communities in Florida, which would help us get to know each other better and gain experience working with other groups.
Here is how it would work:
We here in Orlando hope to put out the first issue on November 1. After that, we would shift responsibility for publishing the next issue to another community in the state. The idea is to have each issue published by a different community in Florida. We are trying to get a publishing schedule set up for the next year or so. Would you all like to sign up for a month or two?
Every month communities and individuals from around the state would submit material to be published in BRUSHFIRE! Submissions will be sent to the e-mail address brushfiresumbissions@gmail.com. Control of this e-mail will be transferred to the publishing community each month and the password changed. We have also set up a website brushfire.biz for BRUSHFIRE! that currently we are working on so that people have a main site to go to to get information about the newsletter. This website will have a link to a messageboard we have set up as well. This messageboard will be used for general discussion and organization among the people organizing the newsletter, and also as a forum to field general questions. For example, if Tallahassee signed up to put out the January issue, but they aren't going to be able to do it, they would post to the messageboard to work out the problem. Also, if someone wants to ask a question, it also can be posted to the messageboard.
For distribution we are hoping to find a person in each community to whom the publishing community can send a master copy through the mail. This person would then be responsible for scamming or "acquiring" copies and distributing them to the other members of the community.
The submission deadline for material to be published would be the 15th of the previous month. This means that items submitted on Dec. 8th would be published in the January issue of BRUSHFIRE!, which would have a deadline of being in the mail by the 1st of January. What to publish and what to turn down would be up to the discretion of the publishing community for that month. We are thinking that things to be submitted could include announcements for events (like the South Florida Radical Activist Conference), community reports (very awesome), poetry, stories, interesting news articles, action reports, etc., etc...
The first of each month the publishing community would transfer responsibility to the next community that is publishing and pass on the contacts for the distributors in each community, the password to the email address and whatever else needs to be transfered to allow the next community to put out the next issue.
Therefore, if you can, would you all like to sign up for one of the empty spots on the following schedule? (If you could at least sign up for one for the upcoming months that would be the best) Also please provide us with a phone number and email for your community. We do plan to publish the e-mail of the contact for each community in each issue and also on the main Brushfire! website.
Which community is going to publish which month:
November '07: Orlando December: ? January '08: ? February: ? March: ? April: Miami May: ? June: ? July: ? August: ? September: ? October: ? November: ? December: ?
Also, if you are interested in being a part of this project, could you please give us the name, e-mail and physical address of someone in your community who will be responsible for receiving the master copy in the mail and distributing copies. This information will of course be kept confidential and only used by those sending the master copies.
The deadline to submit materials for the November issue BRUSHFIRE! is October 15th. You can start submitting things to brushfiresumbissions@gmail.com right away!
Thanks so much and we really look forward to getting this project going. Any questions, comments, or suggestions on our ideas please e-mail us at OrlandoFNB@orlandofoodnotbombs.org
The radical community in Orlando
P.S.: BRUSHFIRE! currently is seeking correspondents in the following communities:
Fort Myers Gainesville Jacksonville Pensacola Sarasota St. Augustine Tallahassee Tampa/St. Petersburg |
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| Orlando, FL: Lake Eola Ladle Fest Oct. 8-10 |
[Sep. 16th, 2007|12:20 pm] |
International Call for Solidarity with Orlando Food Not Bombs: Lake Eola Ladle Fest! Oct. 8-10
On April 4th, Eric Montanez became the first Food Not Bombs member in Orlando arrested under the City's anti-homeless food sharing ordinance. That measure, aimed at Orlando FNB and other groups that help hungry and homeless people, bans unpermitted food sharings of more than 25 people in more than three dozen downtown parks. Groups only are allowed two one-time permits per per park in a 12-month period. Eric's trial starts Mon., Oct. 8. In addition, five other FNB comrades arrested under a City noise ordinance while drumming outside a fund-raising event for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer have a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 10.
Eric is, of course, one of hundreds of Food Not Bombs members arrested over our movement's more than 25-year history for the "crime" of sharing food with the hungry and homeless and directly challenging the poverty and inequality that make FNB necessary. His trial will set a precedent that will affect FNB and other anti-poverty groups throughout the country; so what happens to Eric and Orlando Food Not Bombs should be of concern to all of us. Cities and developers around the country are keeping a watchful eye on Orlando to see what they may be able to get away with. The City and business interests need to know that we will not let them take away our rights and tighten thescrews on the poor and homeless through gentrification and criminalizing homelessness. To put pressure on the City, we will hold Lake Eola Ladle Fest--a three-day event in Lake Eola Park in the very spot where Eric was arrested by more than a dozen uniformed and undercover Orlando police for ladling out stew to the homeless.
From Oct. 8-10, we would like FNB members from around the country to stand in solidarity with Eric, OFNB, and the local poor and homeless by helping us share breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and also holding various events and workshops throughout the day. We hope to attract as many of our community's homeless and low-income residents, and supporters from around the country, as possible. We also as a group will walk to the courthouse each morning and we encourage people to show support for Eric by attending his trial. The third day we will hold "The March of Mimes" in support of the Cruddy Dyer-rhea Drum Corps 5--Ryan Hutchinson, Bryan Jones, Brett Mason, Eric, and Will Vertlieb--and also free speech rights.
We here in Orlando we can provide some sleeping space. People are encouraged to bring items such as canned goods, fresh veggies and prepackaged snacks to donate. Also there will be a really really free market that will be available for the homeless and low income residents, so brings things to donate to that, too.
The Lake Eola Ladle Fest begins on the morning of October 8 in the park's picnic area which is located at the corner of Central and Osceola in downtown Orlando. If you are coming the night before or have any questions, e-mail us at orlandofnb@orlandofoodnotbombs.org and we'll try to find you a place to stay at our collective house(s).
Please forward this message far and wide. We need as many people as possible to participate.
Orlando Food Not Bombs http://orlandofoodnotbombs.org |
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| 6 Members of Orlando Food Not Bombs Arrested |
[Jun. 28th, 2007|12:59 am] |
Six members of Orlando Food Not Bombs (OFNB) were arrested today (Wed., June 27) in downtown Orlando outside a fund-raiser for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. The six OFNB members, Jonathan Giralt, Ryan Hutchinson, Bryan Jones, Brett Mason, Eric Montanez and Will Vertlieb, were arrested under a City of Orlando noise ordinance when they refused to quit drumming as part of the protest, citing their free speech rights. Dyer was holding his fund-raiser in a restaurant located on the bottom floor of The Sanctuary, a downtown condominium complex, located about two blocks from Lake Eola Park where OFNB shares. The police confiscated some of the drums that had been used as "evidence" and had OPD's Crime Scene Unit take pictures of the protest site and the remaining protestors from OFNB.
Bond for five of those arrested is $250.00 each; however, they have elected to stay in jail until their first court appearance sometime tomorrow to see if they can be released on their own recognizance. Two of OFNB's lawyers already have met with the adult arrestees at the jail. Giralt, a juvenile, will be released to his parents' recognizance. About 40 people participated in the protest. It was held to denounce Dyer's policies towards homelessness in Orlando and his support of the City's "large group food sharings" ordinance (enacted in July 2006) which, essentially, bans giving away food inside more than three dozen parks in downtown Orlando. Orlando Food Not Bombs has found ways to circumvent the food sharing ban to the extreme displeasure of the Mayor and Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan (the chief proponent of the ordinance) and continues to share inside Lake Eola Park every Wednesday. The ordinance was enacted owing to gentrification and development pressures in Orlando's Thornton Park and Lake Eola Heights neighborhoods.
This was the second Dyer fundraiser at which OFNB has staged a noisy, spirited protest and there is the possibility that today's arrests were politically motivated--revenge for the first anti-Dyer protest. That action, held on May 16 outside a business only a few hundred yards from where OFNB shares, received considerable media coverage. Hutchinson and Montanez are two of the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit filed in October of 2006 against the City over the anti-homeless food sharing ordinance. That lawsuit is expected to come to trial in June of 2008. Montanez, on April 4, became the first person arrested under the anti-homeless food sharing ordinance. His trial on that charge will start on Sept. 10. OFNB member Matt Houston was trespassed from Lake Eola Park on May 9 when park rangers called police to break up the group's sharing, although his trespass warning was later rescinded.
OFNB's lawyers are reviewing whether the Orlando police properly applied the ordinance which they used to make the arrests.
Further updates will be released later.
For more information on Orlando Food Not Bombs, go to http://orlandofoodnotbombs.org
To contact Orlando Food Not Bombs: orlandofnb@orlandofoodnotbombs.org
To donate to Orlando Food Not Bombs: make the check payable to Carrot and Fist Collective, Inc. P.O. Box 540957 Orlando, FL 32854-0957 |
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| Member of Orlando Food Not Bombs arrested |
[Apr. 5th, 2007|03:20 pm] |
Activist arrested while feeding homeless in downtown Orlando
Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted April 4, 2007, 8:21 PM EDT
An Orlando activist was arrested this evening while he was feeding homeless people downtown.
Eric Montanez, 21, a member of Orlando's Food Not Bombs, had just finished serving food at Lake Eola Park when the 5:30 arrest took place, witnesses said.
Police said Montanez violated a controversial city ordinance that bars feedings in the park. Each group may only feed 25 people fewer. Their undercover officers said Montanez fed 30, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones. Violation of the city ordinance is a misdemeanor, Jones said.
Food Not Bombs and Montanez are plaintiffs in a federal suit against the city arguing that the ordinance is unconstitutional. |
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| Babysitting Bagel |
[Apr. 1st, 2007|11:09 pm] |
i am dogsitting Bagel for Victoria tomorrow. i have arranged a playdate for Bagel with Murray, my friend Pam's dog. Pam is an artist and sculptor and a good friend. Murray is a large, but very friendly and lovable whippet-labrador mix (he's like an overgrown puppy). (Bagel is a Bassett Hound and, possibly, pit bull mix, and also very friendly and lovable.) We are going to take them for a walk around Lake Ivanhoe. Hopefully, Bagel and Murray will hit it off and enjoy the sunshine and lake breezes. Bagel's full name is Pokey Bagel and Murray's full first name is Murgatroyd (he actually has several names, but i think the only person who remembers them all is my friend Charles, Pam's husband).
Tomorrow my Mom is supposed to have her new dishwasher, microwave and oven and range delivered and installed. i didn't write about this when it happened, but the week before last our dishwasher died while being used and flooded our kitchen, part of our living room and part of our garage. (The back of the kitchen and the back of the garage share a common wall and the water seeped through.) At first we thought it was the water heater, but after further inspection my brother determined that it was the dishwasher. In the meantime we had had to shut off the water to the house. We spent several hours cleaning up the kitchen (luckily the floor is tiled. i personally prefer tile, terazzo or hardwood floors with throw rugs to wall-to-wall carpeting). It took 2 hours to remove the dishwasher (first i had to bale out the water at the bottom of it so it didn't flood the kitchen further when my brother pulled it out); the water line and the power line had to be disconnected (which meant turning off the breaker for it or being electrocuted). After that we found the shut off valve for the water line to the dishwasher and shut it off, so we could, thankfully, turn back on the water for the rest of the house. (At least we didn't have to call a plumber, electrician or any other type of repair person.) We also spent 2 days drying the carpeting in the living room and garage (we have a covered carport and have never actually had a car in the garage. it's the laundry room, storage area and dining room for our indoor cats, Emma and Lucky. Emma i think was rather annoyed by the water in the garage and all the commotion as we moved stuff around and the noise of the fans we used to dry the carpeting).
So my mom spent over $1,800.00 on the new appliances and all i got was a free pen. i feel like i should get a T-shirt that says "My Mom spent $1,800.00+ at Aggressive Appliances and All I Got Was This Lousy Pen." |
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| REST IN PEACE: BETTY HUTTON 1921-2007 |
[Mar. 13th, 2007|03:19 am] |
i am sure that not many of my LJ friends care about this news, but i am sorry to learn about the death of Betty Hutton, the actress/singer who starred in two of my favorite classic Hollywood films: "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950) and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944) (directed by the great Preston Sturges).
1950's musicals star Betty Hutton dies
( Read more... ) |
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| PRESENTING POKEY BAGEL |
[Mar. 8th, 2007|12:52 am] |
Here are a couple photos of Pokey Bagel (Bagel for short), the dog i helped save from Orange County Animal Services--by adopting him for my friend Victoria. He's a bassett hound mix (the other part is labrador i believe) and is quite friendly and likeable. These pictures were taken today at the Orlando Food Not Bombs sharing.
The first photo is of Bagel by himself; the second is of Victoria and Bagel. She dotes on Bagel and animals in general.
( Read more... ) |
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