Okupa! Video about squats in Southern Europe
dj lotu5 and the platform,

This is an early, rough cut of this film. I'm not sure what direction I want to go with this and am looking for feedback.

Okupa investigates Deleuze's figure of the urban nomad, engaging in war with the state through the creation of smooth spaces. The video shows the activities and struggles of 4 occupied social centers or squats: Dezguace, Seco and Labo 03 all in Madrid and Casa de Iniciativas 1.5 in Málaga. The film shows the hacklabs, theater productions and workshops that are the daily activity of the social centers as well as the struggles against eviction.

The video is a rough cut, and as such has small editing glitches. Also, it is partially subtitled, but not contiguously subtited, so if you don't speak spanish and the subtitles stop, skip ahead to the next section of the film.

(can anyone help me translate this email into español?)

Watch the video here:
MP4 at video.indymedia.org
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Lillian Faderman Promotes "Gay L.A." in S.D.
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

Lillian Faderman, veteran Lesbian author and activist and co-writer of the new book "Gay L.A." spoke at San Diego's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center November 8. She talked about the history of Queer Los Angeles, mentioned the many "firsts" for the Queer movement that took place in L.A. — including the first ongoing Queer activist organization, first Lesbian and Gay male publications, first community center and first church specifically designed to reach out to Queer people — about the long history of anti-Queer repression, specifically from the Los Angeles Police Department, and the difficulties Lesbians and Gay men have had in trying to work together.
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Slavoj Zizek @ UCSD Tonight, Wed, 5-8pm!!!
repost,

The UCSD Visual Arts Department presents

SLAVOJ ZIZEK

"POLITICS BETWEEN FEAR AND TERROR"

lecture
15 November 2006
5:00 - 8:00 pm
Calit2 Auditorium, Atkinson Hall
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An open letter to Christians who vote
A Christian,

Millions of American Christians have had enough of watching our faith being hijacked and warped for partisan political gain, and watching as "Christian" leaders annihilate Christ's message of love, compassion and peacemaking to replace it with a message of fear, arrogance, greed and warmongering. On November 7th, we'll reject the tactics of fear, hatred and deceit, and we'll vote Christ's values: love, compassion, gentleness, caring (including caring for gays and for women's medical privacy!), humility and peacemaking.

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Gay Marriage: The Game, Not the Name
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

A response to the New Jersey state supreme court decision of October 25 requiring that the New Jersey legislature offer same-sex couples all the rights and benefits of married heterosexual couples but not necessarily under the term "marriage." The author argues that this represents the best outcome the Queer community can achieve on the marriage issue and that Queers should reject the label of marriage for their relationships, both because agitating for the M-word is politically counterproductive and because in many ways the traditional, historical and cultural norms associated with the term "marriage" do not apply to same-gender relationships in general and Gay male relationships in particular.
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Gerry Studds, Openly Gay Congressmember, Dies
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

By one of those ironies fiction writers dream about, the first openly Gay U.S. Congressmember, Gerry Studds — who was outed in 1983 by a former House page with whom he'd had a consensual affair 10 years earlier — died on October 14 at age 69 in the middle of the scandal around former Congressmember Mark Foley's sexually explicit approaches to pages. In 1986, Studds gave an interview to Mark Gabrish Conlan for the Gayzette, recently reprinted in Zenger's Newsmagazine in a freshly edited version from the original transcript. In it, he discussed his feelings of personal liberation when he was finally out of the closet and the degree to which intensely ideological Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan (and, one might add, George W. Bush) have deviated from the centrist views of most Americans.
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Queer Demos Endorse No on 83, Yes on 89
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

The predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club took more progressive positions than the state Democratic Party's on two major propositions on the state ballot. The club opposed Proposition 83, the so-called "Jessica's Law" which would impose draconian new restrictions on people convicted of child sexual abuse — including forcing them to wear GPS tracking devices for the rest of their lives — and supported Proposition 89, a "clean money" proposal for publicly financed elections similar to those in effect in Maine and Arizona. The state party had supported 83 and taken no position on 89. In addition, City Attorney Mike Aguirre spoke to the club and defended his lawsuits against the city's illegal pension deals.
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“HIV/AIDS” Another Government Lie, Says Davis
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

John F. Kennedy wasn't killed by a lone assassin, the "Gulf of Tonkin" incident used as a pretext to escalate the Viet Nam war never happened, there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — and HIV can't possibly be the cause of AIDS. The first three government lies in that list have already been exposed, and author, former state senator and former physician's assistant Stephen Davis is committing himself to exposing the last one. His book, "Wrongful Death: The AIDS Trial," presents the case against HIV as the cause of AIDS in the context of a courtroom-thriller novel, with 71 pages of references to document his scientific sources.
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“Buster” Wentzel: San Diego’s Bi Mr. Leather
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

ADAM “BUSTER” WENTZEL isn’t your average Mr. Leather San Diego. Like his predecessors, he’s a hard-working volunteer and community fundraiser — but unlike them, he’s openly Bisexual and his top priority is outreach and mentoring the younger generation. In this interview, from the October 2006 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine, he discusses being Bisexual and "HIV positive," his commitment to youth outreach and community organizing, and his potential future.
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sept hacklab! wanna come and share something?
borderlands Hacklab,

We're looking for folks who might want to share something this month at the hacklab on September 20th, 8-10pm, Voz Alta, 1544 Broadway.

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UCSD Student Comes to Terms with Being Bi
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

REDENTOR “RED” GALURA didn’t know there was a word for “Bisexual” when he moved from the Philippines to the U.S. at 15, but he knew he was one. Today he’s a UCSD student and intern at the campus LGBT Resource Center, where he’s out, proud and Bi.
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Help Stop Cruel Experiments on Gay Sheep
Bob,

Help stop this ludicrous and unecessary experimentation
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The Pride Beatings
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

On the surface, the reaction of the city and the police to the assaults that took place outside the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Pride Festival July 30 seem fine; mayor Jerry Sanders made appropriately supportive remarks and three suspects were in custody within days of the incident. But a closer look reveals both city officials and members of the Queer community more concerned about damage control and protecting the profits of Queer businesses and the estimated $21 million the city takes in from the Pride events than in actually protecting the lives and safety of Queers in San Diego.

Links: Bigots Bash Queers | Security Guard Attacked Aug 1 | John Robert Wear Murder | Transgender Day of Remembrance
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Queer Demos Prioritize Busby Race
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

Despite her disappointing five-point loss to Republican lobbyist Brian Bilbray in the June 6 special election to fill the Congressional seat left vacant by Randy "Duke" Cunningham's bribery conviction, Francine Busby got a heroine's welcome from the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club August 24. The club voted to make hers a priority campaign, which means they will make special efforts to mobilize volunteers and donate money for her rematch against Bilbray this Movember.
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Get Free Shit from Anti-Queer Group Focus on the Family
Noel Black, The Stranger repost,

When I'm feeling despondent over the state of gay rights in America - or the concurrent assaults on reproductive freedom, science, and rational thought there's just one thing that helps me overcome my feelings of despair: getting free shit from Focus on the Family!

Few people know that Focus on the Family, the powerful evangelical Christian para-church based in Colorado Springs, will give you, absolutely free of charge, books, CDs, and DVDs. Usually people pay for these products, and the millions of dollars raised helps Focus on the Family produce yet more books and CDs featuring Dr. James Dobson and other Focus "experts."

Not only does ordering free stuff from Focus on the Family, sent to myself or people I don't like, satisfy a deeply juvenile impulse, it has the added benefit of taking money directly out of homo-hater Dobson's pocket.

UPDATE: The SDIMC Editorial Collective regrets to inform our readers that the Focus on the Family web site appears to be "temporarily unavailable," for reasons unknown. However, if you simply must have 5 copies of "Mommy, Why Are They Holding Hands?" or 10 "Question Homosexuality" bumper stickers, you can call FOTF's TOLL FREE emergency number (800) A-FAMILY (232-6459).
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Queers in Iran
Mitra Roshan, Kourosh Shemirani repost znet,

The July 19 actions marking the anniversary of the execution of two young men in Mashad, Iran, have initiated an important discussion about the role Western LGBT activists can play in relation to persecuted minorities around the world. We feel the July 19 actions were fundamentally flawed and showed a dangerous trend in LGBT politics, which could lead to a counterproductive, if not outright destructive, situation for sexual minorities in Iran and other countries.

Much as in the U.S., the protection of sexual minorities is fundamentally a cultural issue that must be addressed through personal experiences and public debates that draw on values important to the entire community. Iranians are already engaged in these debates.

We must come to terms with the fact that we are limited in our ability to effect positive change in the rest of the world. This is the price we pay for living under the shadows of George Bush's America and a history of Western domination, as our actions are always implicated in our nation's global power.
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Logically Obese with Religious Candy
James Nimmo,

Would any reasonable American refuse the First Amendment right of freedom of religion to a woman wearing a burka? How about a Jew sporting a yarmulke? Or say a Catholic draping a scapular?


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Bay Area Queers: Cancel World Pride
QUIT! Palestine,

QUIT! (Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism) condemns the decision by Jerusalem Open House and other promoters of World Pride Jerusalem to go ahead with the planned week of international pride events scheduled for August 6-12, despite Israel's ongoing assault on civilian communities in Lebanon and Gaza.

"While members of the Lebanese queer group Helem are turning their community center into a shelter for refugees, their counterparts in Jerusalem are preparing for a film festival and beach party," said QUIT member Kate Raphael. "What is the message that this sends to the world about what our community cares about?" "Instead of being visible in Jerusalem, partying during an ethnic cleansing, we must be visible in the movements in our home countries calling for freedom and justice for all people."
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Bigots Bash Queers Outside SD Pride Festival
repost from planetout,

Three bigots attacked five queers with a baseball bat and knife following the corporate pride festival in balboa park saturday evening. Three queers were hospitalized, one with a fractured skull. Asshole in chief of san diego, jerry sanders, stated that the attack was "an isolated incident and clearly not the attitude of our citizenry." An easy statement for a white straight male lapdog of the elite jerk with a bodyguard to make. Any visible queer knows that the "citizenry" has little toleration for those who refuse to publicly assimilate to the heterosexual norm, except as oddball freaks for their occasional amusement.

It's time for us queers to stop paying assimilationist protection money to the corporate-controlled mobsters, who will allow the bigots to do just enough damage to scare us into submission, and instead take responsibility for our community's own protection.
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Queer Pride Events in San Diego
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

San Diego held its 37th annual LGBT [Queer] Pride celebration July 28-30, and while most of the speeches, parade floats and festival booths were assimilationist, parts of the celebration did hearken back to the radical, liberationist roots of Queer pride. Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, dominated the July 28 rally, though his sermon-like speech which opened the July 28 pride rally was nearly equaled by the heartfelt poem read by San Francisco-based Queer African-American rapper Juba Kalamba as a memorial to his friend, AIDS activist Rocky Williams, who committed suicide July 24 after he became homeless when he could no longer afford San Francisco's astronomical rents.
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Bareback Videos Bring Back Natural Sex
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

Bill Gardner and John Singleton founded Hot Desert Knights Video in 1998 to bring natural sex back to Gay pornography. Their videos feature "bareback" — condom-free — sex and avoid the highly staged and artificial action of more mainstream Gay videos. They insist they're not propagandizing for bareback sex and that Gay men who aren't HIV-positive should use condoms to help stay uninfected, but they also defend their right to make bareback videos as a civil liberties issue and say they're helping Gay men sublimate their desire for condom-free sex.
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Powerful Gay Art on Display in North Park
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

Queer artist Al Walz's stark, sexually explicit images stand out in the current exhibit of Queer artists called "Gay Seduction" at the Arts & Entertainment Center, 3026 University Avenue in North Park, San Diego. His works depict Gay men's objectification of each other and feelings of unworthiness and suicide. He sat for an interview for the August 2006 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine and revealed that he's a quite different person — quieter, more settled, less sex-obsessed — than he was when he created the works in "Gay Seduction." The gallery is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons and may be reached at (619) 260-1731 or  http://www.theaecenter.com
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San Diegans Protest Queer Executions in Iran
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

About 10 San Diegans participated in a demonstration held July 19 as part of an international commemoration of the first anniversary of the execution of two 17-year-old Queer boys in Iran. Though some Leftists questioned the timing of a protest targeting Iran just when the U.S. is threatening an imperalist attack against the country, participants said that they felt a need to make a statement that the executions were wrong and in any case it was highly unlikely that President Bush would use Queer rights as a pretext to attack Iran when he is so adamantly opposed to Queer rights in the U.S.
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Low Turnout, Negative Campaign Sank Busby
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

The victory of Republican Brian Bilbray over Democrat Francine Busby is being hailed throughout much of the political establishment and the corporate media as an indication that Republicans don't have to worry about losing Congress this year. San Diego Democratic party chair Jess Durfee and activist Ira Lechner spoke to the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club June 22 to challenge that notion. According to Durfee and Lechner, what really sank Busby's campaign were low voter turnout and a relentlessly negative campaign by both candidates that discouraged many people from voting at all. Durfee argued that Republicans in particular deliberately run such negative campaigns to solidify their base while driving down turnout among those likely to vote Democrat.
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Bill Freyer on the Pleasures of Fisting
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

Veteran San Diego Queer activist Bill Freyer recently opened his new clothing and novelty shop, Pleasures and Treasures, at 2228 University Avenue in North Park. In this interview, reprinted from the July 2006 Zenger's Newsmagazine, he described the store and also discussed his work in promoting understanding of the sex practice known as "fisting" or "handballing," usually though not exclusively associated with Gay men. Freyer organized Red Hankies of San Diego over a decade ago in San Diego and it's now a worldwide organization dedicated to promoting healthy and safe fisting and providing would-be handballers a way to meet and teach each other.
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Math Professor: Why "HIV/AIDS" Doesn't Add Up
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

Rebecca Culshaw, Ph.D., a mathematics professor at the University of Texas in Tyler, won her Ph.D. by modeling the replication of HIV inside the human body — but her researches eventually led her to the conclusion that HIV, the so-called "AIDS virus," cannot possibly be the cause of the syndrome. In this interview, reprinted from the July 2006 Zenger's Newsmagazine, she explains how fundamentally illogical the HIV/AIDS hypothesis really is and how biologists in particular have broken the rules of science to maintain their false belief that HIV causes AIDS.
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AIDS (Hype) at 25
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

In early June the corporate media were swept by a wave of hype surrounding the 25th anniversary of Dr. Michael Gottlieb's identification of a new syndrome in Gay men that later became known as AIDS. This article, repeated from the "First Word" column in the July 2006 Zenger's Newsmagazine, examines the hype surrounding "AIDS at 25" and how the AIDS establishment is getting more and more hysterical in the face of greater public indifference.
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"Pulp!": Pathos Behind the Camp
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

The Diversionary Theatre/MOXIE Theatre co-production of "Pulp!," a Lesbian-themed musical by Chicago playwright Patricia Kane, pays homage to the cheap pulp novels about Lesbians published in the 1950's that gave many women-loving women of that era their first insights into how to live a sane and honorable Queer life. Though much of it satirizes the campy conventions of pulp fiction and film noir, Kane draws her characters with genuine emotion and complexity, creating a moving theatrical experience as well as dramatizing an important part of Lesbian history.
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White Puts Sex Back in HomoSEXuality
Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger’s Newsmagazine,

Queer novelist Edmund White's new autobiography, "My Lives," is a frank exploration of his sexual life and a celebration of the joys of politically incorrect Queer sexuality. It's a slap in the face of all the assimilationists who are trying to portray Gay and Lesbian people as having somehow "risen above" their sexual impulses to adopt the straight norms of marriage, monogamy, parenting, etc. — and the critical attacks on it have been over just that issue: White's glorious political, social and sexual incorrectness in the face of a movement leadership that keeps wanting to force Gay men in particular into molds designed for straight people that don't work for Queers.
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RadioActive Radio Open Mic
RadioActive San Diego,

Join us for our first ever live broadcasted OPEN MIC! Poetry, live music, food, drinks, and revolutionary home-made media making will be available for your pleasure and participation. Hope to see you there!


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