<nettime> Pie Times News Digest #2

[Biotic Baking Brigade <bbb@asis.com>]

Some BBB groups have diversified their tactical portfolio:

PUIL HIT BY A TONNE OF MANURE
This Transit Strike Really Stinks!!

At 5 AM Tuesday morning Translink Chair George Puil received an early
delivery of 1 tonne of fresh BC manure.  The manure was placed outside of
his home at 1866 Ogden St. in Kitsilano with a sign reading "Hey George-
The Bus Strike Stinks- Day 145."

"This transit strike really stinks," said Agent Cow Pie of the Biotic
Bullshit Brigade.  "We're laying the bullsh*t right where it ought to be,
on the steps of the man responsible for it, George Puil."

"The smelly excuses of Vancouver politicians are no longer good enough!",
said Agent Crappy.  "We will continue to take action until they start
acting like adults rather than the bickering privatizing excuse-making
weasels that they are!"

The transit strike hits day 145 today- 145 days of inconvenience and
impossibility for seniors, the working poor and the disabled.  Puil, as
chair of the Translink board has the power to force the Coast Mountain bus
company to accept the mediator's terms.

On Tuesday afternoon city council will meet- will they avoid the issue?
Will more bullsh*t fly?  Tune in for more.....

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Israel main radio channel reported on July 4 about the pieing in the parliament
building, done by a female activist.

The action was part in the struggle against privatization and monopolization
of TV cable system. The pied minister, member of the ruling nationalist party,
promote the transfer of the rights to monopoly owned by the five leading
capitalist families owning the main media.

He was pied when he went out of the parliament economy comity working
on preparing the needed changes in the media communication low.

The report in the radio news about the leaflets distributed
and statement to the media points to the local PGA anti-authoritarian
group of activists.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

For Immediate Release:  June 21st, 2001  Summer Solstice

CEO of Enron, Jeffrey Skilling, ... royally pied

San Francisco- Inspired by the former actions of the Biotic Baking 
Brigade (BBB) and other pie wielding individuals across the nation, 
Agent Chocolate Supreme generously delivered a Blueberry tofu cream 
pie to the CEO of the Enron Corporation, Jeffrey Skilling, this 
evening at The Common Wealth Club, where he was sceduled to speak on 
"The Roles and Responsibilities of the Energy Industry."  Agent 
Chocolate Supreme gave Jeffrey Skilling his just deserts with the 
announcement, "This is for the millions you've stolen from 
California's real working people.

The Enron Corperation, a Texas-based energy conglomerate, is one of 
the largest beneficiaries of California's energy crisis. They 
reported an income of $777 million in the fourth quarter of 2000, 
while citizens were simultaneously facing substantial rate hikes and 
rolling blackouts.  "Mr. Skilling, who personally made $132 million 
this year, creamed us - so I, Agent Chocolate Supreme, felt obligated 
to cream him." The accomplished entarture added,  "energy companies, 
such as Enron,  are the ones who lobbied for deregulation. they 
bought off our politicians to make laws in their favor, and are now 
getting rich off us, everyday working people, as our rates are going 
up up up."

As proclaimed before by the Biotic Baking Brigade, "The BBB is a 
movement rather then a group.  We have no members, though there is an 
underground network of militant bakers who provide us with nothing 
but the best vegan  and organic pies.  The BBB is not elitist or 
sectarian. In Fact, says Agent Lemon Meringue of the famous Cherry 
Pie Three, "Anyone with a pie and a vision of a better world can be a 
member of the BBB." The focus of the current pastry uprising, says 
Agent A La Mode,  is to hold corperate crooks, and their lackeys in 
government, accountable.  "Our track record  shows that unlike them, 
we don't just promise 'pie in the sky' - we deliver."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

PEI Pie Brigade - Communique - June 21, 2001

Pies Fly in PEI in support of pie-throwers everywhere and against the
criminalization of dissent

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI - On Saturday, June 9, a swarm of masked pie-slinging
anarchists descended on the city of Charlottetown en masse. The group was
joined by members of the PEI Pie Brigade for a day of pie-rect action in
support of pie throwers everywhere and against the criminalization of
dissent.

A variety of criminal institutions were targeted, including multinational
corporations and the provincial legislature building. Relevant messages
adorned the bottoms of the pie plates, and remained stuck to the targets
long after the pie-petrators had left the scene of the cream.

For a warm-up the group met in front of Province House (PEI's provincial
legislature building) and pied one another as an act of solidarity with
Evan Brown, who was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment for gently placing a
sweet and soft cream pie in the face of Prime Minister Jean Chretien (in
defence of people and safe food) last August. On the bottoms of these
solidarity pies were the words "Cream is not a Crime", "Jail Chretien NOT
Brown", and "Pieing is not a Crime".

The front doors of the provincial legislature building were next, receiving
3 pies in rapid succession. The messages on these plates read "In Support
of Injured Workers" (referring to the 36 day-and-counting hunger strike
protest by Blair Ross), "TRASH BINN$" (referring to PEI creamier Pat
Binns), and "Smash the State" (referring to our corrupt
corporate-government system of control, dominance, and repression.

Next, a pie bearing the message "R.I.P. Greenwich" was deposited on a large
sign of 'development' corporation APM, which is responsible for a number of
ecologically destructive projects on the Island. Recently, APM has worked
with MP Lawrence MacAulay, the provincial government, and Parks Canada to
play an instrumental role in laying the groundwork for the 'development'
and destruction of the unique and fragile Greenwich Beach, which has been
turned into a National Park in order to facilitate a massive increase of
tourists to the area, without consideration of the ecological impacts - a
death warrant for this ecosystem.

A McDonalds restaurant was the next on the agenda, receiving a volley of
pies. This frenzy of action targeted McDonalds windows and signs for their
blatantly obvious, greedy, capitalist, cold-blooded torture and murder of
animals, union busting actions, and lying to children. The messages
included "McProfits", "McCruelty", and "poison on a sesame seed bun".

Irving was fourth on the hit-list receiving a pie to the head (office sign)
for their long term dedication to the destruction of the environment and
exploitation of workers, and taking handouts of taxpayers' money. Their
message read "Corporate Welfare".

The final PEI target (for now) was a Shell Oil sign and the messages read
"Killing Nigerian Natives" and "Remember Ken Saro-Wiwa", in reference to
Shell's instrumental role in the murder of numerous Ogoni people and
grotesquely polluting their land and water without cleanup or compensation.

Across the water in Sackville, New Brunswick, there were other solidarity
actions. $40 was raised at a pie sale and everyone but the warden of
Dorchester Penitentiary was sympathetic to Evan Brown and Pie-rect Action.
Pies were sold from 9 to 12, then Sackville pie throwers pied each other.
Next they were pied by some tourists. They also handed out postcards saying
"Can't You take a Joke Jean?" with a picture of Evan Brown giving a peace
sign and the Pie Minister looking all crazy with pie on his face. A lot of
people signed the postcards and sent them on to the good ol Crime Minister
demanding Evan be pardoned. Twas a Great day for pieing!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

PIE INTERNATIONAL STRIKES AGAIN IN POLAND!

For a pie in the face of Prime Minister Buzek in Wroclaw two people 
were arrested but released pending trial.

Equally in Wroclaw neo-liberal politician Olechowski was luckier, he 
came away with a smeared suit.

In Szczecin, Geremek was hit by a pie while lecturing about the European Union.
In these two cases the pie throwers were not arrested.

In Lublin, Italian EU delegate Prodi got two eggs against his car, 
for which two people were arrested. In Bialystok, several people 
await trial in connection with the pieing of the city vice-president 
in December.

The pie struggle continues!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Pastry servings have continued to rise up around the world, and also this
past weekend (June 2) at a meeting of G8 the Science Ministers in
Montmagny, Québec. The meeting was to discuss issues such as cloning,
experiments on human embryos, patents on life, etc. and protesters were met
by 10 counter-demonstrators from the 'Raéliens' (a religious sect in favor
of cloning and who believe that we are descendants of aliens).

All 10 'Raéliens' were pied in a flurry that would have made The Three
Stooges proud. The 'Raéliens' were not happy and left.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

South Korean protesters threw raw eggs at US Deputy Secretary of 
State Richard Armitage  on May 9 as he was driven from his hotel for 
a round of meetings with South Korean cabinet ministers.

At least six activists were arrested  after pelting Armitage's car 
with eggs as he was driving out of the Grand Hyatt Hotel following 
breakfast in the hotel's coffee shop, witnesses said.

"We're not happy with this coming to Korea," said the Reverend Mun 
Jeong-hyun, a leader of a group that objects to US plans for a global 
missile defense system.
"He's trying to force Korea to accept the missile defense," Mun said.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

On May 16, British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was attacked 
and wrestled to the ground last night after punching an egg-throwing 
demonstrator in Wales. The Deputy Minister, the political equivalent 
of an American Vice President, lashed out in response to being hit in 
the face by the egg thrown at close range from an angry crowd of 
protesters. The ugly fracas capped a day in which the launch of a 
Labour Party manifesto was  overshadowed by a series of episodes in 
which senior politicians from all parties faced public abuse and 
hostility.

A man sporting long hair and a blue shirt hurled the egg as Mr 
Prescott passed him on his way from battlebus to Rhyl theatre. 
Television pictures showed Mr Prescott turning and jabbing out at the 
man with his left hand.

The man then lunged at Mr Prescott across a crowd-control barrier, 
and the pair became locked in a struggle in which Mr Prescott was 
pinned to the ground. He was held there for several seconds before 
four police officers and two Labour officials could separate them.

A second man also tried to confront Mr Prescott after the initial 
assailant was led away and arrested. The Deputy Prime Minister was 
then hustled inside, egg dripping from his face and jacket.

The local Conservative candidate promptly called for him to resign. 
Brendan Murphy, standing in the Vale of Clwyd which includes Rhyl, 
said: "What sort of role model is he for young people? Throwing eggs 
is almost a time-honoured tradition in this country. It might hurt 
and sting your face a bit, but it doesn't harm you. If politicians 
can't put up with things like that they shouldn't be in the job."

The man who threw the egg was later named as Craig Evans, a 
"countryside contractor". A woman thought to be his girlfriend said: 
"He's a placid lad who has never been in trouble.

The raw egg is a common form of political protest in British 
campaigns. "There is a long and honorable tradition of throwing eggs 
at politicians," said Malcolm Rifkind, the leader of the Conservative 
Party in Scotland.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

On May 17, the day after the Prescott incident, Former President Bill 
Clinton was jeered by anti-globalization protesters and attacked by 
an egg-throwing anarchist Thursday while visiting Poland's capital as 
part of a  European speaking tour. The egg struck Clinton's sleeve as 
he walked through Warsaw's Old Town district.

According to reports, the president laughed at the matter, saying, 
"It's good for young people to be angry about something."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Egging of top SWP in Bristol, England  - 26th May

A top man from the Socialist Worker Party, Alex Callinicos got a 
politician’s welcome in Bristol at the Resistance Conference on 26th 
May. Parachuted in to further the bandwagon jumping antics of the 
Socialist Worker Party (SWP), he must have thought that the Party was 
getting in with the anti-capitalists and everything was going to plan.

However, inspired by the egging of  "Two Jags" Prescott, the 
opportunity was too good to miss - and neither did the eggs! The 
obvious first question from the floor was "Are we gonna let the SWP 
parasites dominate the anti-capitalist movement?!" Mr. Callinicos 
(callous?) was left with egg on his face, wondering who exactly is 
the "we" that he was so keen to talk about. We clearly have a 
different recipe for making omelettes, which involves breaking eggs 
and getting hands dirty.

Despite their best efforts, the SWP is not the friend of the anti - 
capitalist movement. We won’t be seeing  Mr. Callinicos and chums on 
the streets when the shit hits the fan. Instead, they’ll retreat to a 
safe distance to their books and petitions, behind the
banner of respectable leftism and help stifle any real change.

The strength of the anti - capitalist movement is diversity and 
imagination - i.e. not thinking the same or doing the same dull, 
boring, routine demos. Decentralised action with no leaders is 
something the SWP cannot handle. They want to be in control. Over
and over again we’ve seen what their real agenda is about. There’s 
more to real change than slogans, paper selling and following the 
party line with trendy buzzwords.

Organisers of the conference were angry at the SWP’s attempts to 
infiltrate and exploit their hard work as their interests became 
clearer. A local anarchist from the Vote Nobody campaign was not 
popular with the party, which attempted to veto him speaking.
Hopefully this action will spell it out to the toytown 
revolutionaries of the SWP that true
revolution will make authoritarian parties defunct, and that they are 
just as much a part of the problem.

We will not let them take over. This action was easy to organise, fun 
and effective. Try it sometime!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Jail term for pie attack on Premier
Saturday 9 June 2001

The man who pushed a cream pie into the face of New South Wales 
(Australia) Premier Steve Bracks was jailed yesterday for one month 
by a Melbourne magistrate.

Marcus Brumer, an unemployed journalist and self-proclaimed "non-violent
activist", had pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful assault as a result
of the incident just moments before the opening of the Melbourne Museum
last year.

Brumer, from Upwey, was also fined $750 after he was found guilty of a
charge of offensive behavior.

But Brumer has appealed against the jail sentence and was last night
granted bail pending a County Court appeal on August 1.

Imposing the sentence, magistrate Noel Purcell said Brumer's actions were
"disgraceful and disgusting". Brumer had taken the law into his own hands,
he said.

"You upset a particularly important occasion ... and created a melee and
something of a debacle," he said.

Brumer's lawyer, Dyson Hore-Lacy, QC, told the court his client had "pied"
Mr Bracks to draw attention to alleged acts of police violence outside the
World Economic Forum in September last year.

Brumer told the court the act was political and not intended to cause
injury or offence. "It was a statement about how I felt about the extreme
police violence."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

[Editor's note: I couldn't help including this one because though it 
lacks in pies, it's such a classic culture jam and reflective of the 
spirit in which the BBB came to fruition in San Francisco.]

Anarchists Steal "News" Award at the Webby's
by sf indymedia July 19 2001
Full story and picture at:
http://sf.indymedia.org/display.php?id=101848

ANARCHISTS STEAL NEWS AWARD AT THE WEBBY'S
SAN FRANCISCO - Corporate media was both glorified and protested 
tonight at the Webby Awards in San Francisco, CA. Billed as the 
"Oscars" of the internet, the Webby's is a high-glitz awards show 
designed to highlight and promote websites and the web industry. Many 
of the highly-visible sponsors and nominees represent corporate media 
and media consolidation, including CNN, ABC News, and more.

Indymedia was nominated for an award in the "Activism" category. An 
anarchist who showed up at the awards ceremony spoke anonymously, 
saying that "indymedia is news, and it shows the corporate media 
takeover of the internet to say that indymedia is activism, not 
news." Another anarchist present said that if Indymedia is an 
activist site, mainstream media like CNN or ABC are "activists for 
corporations and rich elites."
A vocal minority in the crowd, wearing masks associated with 
anarchist black blocs at recent anti-capitalism protests, loudly 
booed when CNN and other corporate media conglomerates, like 
Microsoft, were mentioned.

As the winner was announced for the "News" category, two masked 
people ran onto the stage. One, wearing a gasmask, grabbed the "News" 
award from the host, and shouted, "fuck corporate media!" Then he ran 
off the stage, taking the award with him. The host fumbled and said, 
"someone just took off with the award..." The other person, wearing a 
bandana mask, took pictures and identified himself as an Indymedia 
reporter.
Sam Donaldson, ABC News personality, was sitting a few rows away and 
could only shake his head in confusion.

Another anonymous anarchist present said, "corporate media does not 
belong on the internet. As dot-com valuation continues to plummet, we 
hope to save our wonderful co-operative global network from 
insidious, patent-grabbing, idea-owning megacorporations which 
despise free speech and privacy."

Featured speakers also included San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who 
gloated in the changes that the dot-com industry have brought to the 
city. Mayor Brown is frequently targeted by housing activists for 
allowing dot-com companies to illegally rent residential spaces, 
creating one of the worst housing crises in San Francisco since the 
1906 earthquake.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Little Jack Horner, sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie.
He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I"

According to Jane Yolen's Mother Goose Storybook, this rhyme 
supposedly celebrates the pie-litical act of Thomas Horner, a steward 
to an abbot of Glastonbury Cathedral.  The abbot sent Horner with a 
pie baked with deeds for 12 large estates to be given to King Henry 
VIII.  On the way, Horner stole one of the deeds.  His descendents 
still live in that mansion.

@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is 
[hu]man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress 
has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion." --Oscar 
Wilde

The Biotic Baking Brigade.....coming soon to a pie-o-region near you.

bbb@asis.com                              http://www.asis.com/~bbb/

Friends of the BBB: c/o POB 40130, San Francisco, CA 94140, Amerika

Operation Dessert Storm: http://www.dessertstorm.org

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net