I could write a detailed post on Independence Day and its meaning. But since I’m busy I’ll just say that fireworks big and small are awesome and that Thomas Paine is still a badass.

My latest Center for a Stateless Society commentary, Domestic Terrorism and the Lulz, is about a government report on anarchists.

LulzSec hackers have released a government report entitled “Anarchist Movement.” This “strategic report” was marked for official use only and was issued by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, a government organ that has previously drawn criticism for warning cops to be suspicious of things like Ron Paul bumper stickers. MIAC is one of several fusion centers, organizations intended to facilitate the sharing of information gathered about people in America between federal, state, and local government agencies.

I was curious to see what law enforcers would have to say about anarchists. While some of the information in the report is factually correct, the quality of the research is not impressive.

It appears that the report under discussion was actually released a while ago but was put into the spotlight again due to Lulzsec.

Bosco wants Metal Monday, and occasionally Bosco gets what he wants.

When the Youtube description of a metal video warns that it might cause seizures, that’s usually a good sign.

I’ve been meaning to share some info about books I’ve read lately, especially after the responses from Thinking Liberty fans to our recent book recommendation contest.

I haven’t read every page of all of these, and obviously my agreement with them varies, but they are all interesting.

Gary Chartier, The Conscience of an Anarchist
I now have a go-to book for introducing anarchism, and this is it.

Jan Tomasz Gross, Polish Society Under German Occupation: The Generalgouvernement, 1939-1944
Part history and part sociology, this study of Polish society under German occupation offers a number of insights on occupation, insurgency, and underground society.

Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
Excellent description of mass murder under Hitler and Stalin.

Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela, The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, Coexistence
This well-written examination of Hamas includes discussion on how social connections and social power were used to amass political power behind a radical ideology.

Sven Lindqvist, Exterminate All the Brutes: One Man’s Odyssey into the Heart of Darkness and the Origins of European Genocide
Compelling narrative of the author’s travels and thoughts as he attempts to comprehend genocide by Europeans.

Carol Anderson, Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African-American Struggle for Human Rights
A critical view of civil rights politics in the US.

Samuel Moyn, The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History
Moyn argues that an ideology of Human Rights became in the 1970s the last utopian program as other utopias failed to deliver.

Edward Said, The Question of Palestine
Somewhat dated, but certainly relevant introduction to Palestinian grievances.

Segev, Tom. One Palestine Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate
Detailed work that conveys the excitement of empire and nation building without glorifying it.

Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited
Detailed analysis of how Palestinians became refugees.

Michael Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
Well-written political and military history.

Itamar Rabinovich, The War for Lebanon, 1970-1985
Can be dry, but describes conflicts within Lebanon and how the country became a center of regional conflict.

Jackson Spielvogel, Hitler and Nazi Germany
Good textbook overview of Nazi Germany. New editions are expensive, but they do claim to have integrated recent scholarship in several areas.

Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century
Discusses the troubles of Europe in the Twentieth Century (I’ve only read the first two chapters as of this post).

David Crew (editor), Nazism and German Society, 1933-1945
The essays authored by Bartov, Mallman and Paul, Kershaw, and Browning are excellent writings that challenge some common views of the Nazi order. I expect that the essays that I haven’t read are also worthwhile.

Detlev Peukert, Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life
I’ve as yet only read the chapter “Young people: mobilisation and refusal,” which is a fascinating examination of how the Nazis gained and lost power among German youth.

Mark Mazower, Hitler’s Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe.
Well-written 600 pages of how Nazi Germany conquered and ruled. Contains a detailed index.

Peter Carlson, Roughneck: The Life and Times of “Big Bill” Haywood.
Exciting biography of the larger-than-life union organizer.

Joseph R. Conlin, Big Bill Haywood and the Radical Union Movement.
Contains less detail on Haywood’s life than Carlson’s book, but more analysis of related labor issues.

Penny A. Weiss and Loretta Kensinger (editors), Feminist interpretations of Emma Goldman.
A number of essays examining Emma Goldman in feminist contexts.

And a couple of books that looked interesting and I intend to read:

Peter Gelderloos, Anarchy Works

John M. Hart, Anarchism and the Mexican Working Class, 1860-1931.

George Woodcock, Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements

If you didn’t catch it when it went up last week, my latest commentary at Center for a Stateless Society addressed remarks made by Massachusetts State Representative Ryan Fattman.

Massachusetts State Representative Ryan Fattman drew criticism for remarks he made regarding the state’s participation in the federal “Secure Communities” program. According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Fattman was asked if he was concerned that the program might make a woman without legal immigration status hesitant to report to the police that she was raped and beaten as she walked down the street. His response? “My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward.”

Read the rest: Putting the Nation Before the Human

“On June 3rd, 2011 Manchester, NH area-activists armed with cameras, two-way radios and police scanners patrolled the streets in four cars and MARV. Their mission – accountability, a trait that seemingly absent among the ranks of those working for the Manchester police department.”

For more:
http://copblock.org/manchcopblock
http://copblock.org/manchpd
http://libertyontour.com/freestatefriendshiptour

I’ve recently disabled comments on this blog because 1) the volume of comments that spammers attempted to post was very high, 2) there weren’t many comments being made by readers, and 3) I’m not devoting the time to posts that would likely motivate broad discussions anyway.

You can still reach me by email: darianworden(at)gmail(dot)com Also, Center for a Stateless Society articles have comment functions on c4ss.org.

My latest commentary is online at Center for a Stateless Society.

A report in the Guardian reveals that Britain’s Ministry of Defense has trained, and continues to train, the Saudi force that helped suppress demonstrations in Bahrain earlier this year… As usual, those who rule are more concerned with maintaining the “stability” of their power than they are with the people on the receiving end of that power.

Read the rest: Exporting Thuggery.