On this day...1979 -- Native American political prisoner Leonard
   Peltier
   escapes Lompoc federal penitentiary, California.
   The first issue of Open Road, a kick-ass, and very well produced,
   anarchist news-journal came out of Vancouver in August of 1976,
   transforming radical politics in Canada. Many of the articles in that
   first issue - Leonard Peltier's impending extradition to the U.S.,
   George Jackson Brigade actions, an interview with Martin Soastre, a
   Puerto Rican anarchist and former POW, coverage of Native and
   prisoners' struggles - would not look out of place in the PNS today.
   Open Road motivated the creation of a more action-orientated, militant
   politic in Vancouver such as the Anarchist Party of Canada
   (Groucho-Marxist) which carried out a series of "pieings" - literally
   throwing a pie in the face of a politician or celebrity, with Eldridge
   Cleaver being the most famous "hit" - in order to make a political
   point. As simple as this may sound, it brought about political and
   personal transformations from planning and carrying out the actions to
   dealing with the consequences - confrontations with reactionaries and
   authorities. The more serious people in the scene started to do support
   work for the prisoners in the old B.C. Pen whose struggles eventually
   resulted in its closure. From then on, prisons have been an essential
   part of the work taken on by our circles. Out of this came Direct
   Action, an armed group which in 1982 blew-up an electrical substation
   on Vancouver Island ($5 million in damages) and a Litton Industries
   factory north of Toronto that built components for the Cruise Missile
   ($10 million in damages and several injuries). Some of the same people
   were also involved in the Wimmin's Fire Brigade firebombing of three
   video stories specializing in violent porn. They were arrested in
   January, 1983, immediately putting us into doing support work. In June
   of 1983 Bulldozer was raided and threatened with a charge of Seditious
   Libel (calling for the armed overthrow of the state) for the
   distribution of support-leaflets we were putting out. A mid-wife,
   living with us at the time, was arrested and charged with "performing
   an abortion" in an attempt to get information from her about our links
   to Direct Action. After several thousand dollars in legal fees, and a
   year of high-stress, all the serious charges were dropped in connection
   to the raid. After losing several legal challenges over the legality of
   evidence, the Vancouver Five, as they had come to be called, pled
   guilty to several charges related to the actions.
   "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our
   number one priority and we will not rest until we find him!"
   - George W. Bush, September 13, 2001
   "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and I really don't
   care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
   - George W. Bush, March 13, 2002