PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

July 4th Cheney Visit-Call For Autonomous Decentralized Direct Actions
by The Berkman Column* Friday, Jul. 02, 2004 at 2:22 PM
berkman_column@ziplip.com

The fellow whom you taunt as a ‘slacker’ because he refuses to turn murderer--he needs courage. But do you need much courage just to obey orders, to do as you are told and to fall in line with thousands of others to the tune of general approval and the Star Spangled Banner?“ -Alexander Berkman

At 12:00 PM, July 4th, the anniversary of privileged landowners in North America declaring their independence from their British counterparts, Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney will be soliciting donations for the re-election war chest. The event will be held at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland, which honors the working men and women who lost their lives as pawns in imperialist wars, although Cheney has no military background and used a student deferment to avoid service in Vietnam.
Given the increased police presence and brutal repression, unprofessionalism, and incompentcy which has accompanied prior demonstrations directly outside of recent campaign appearances, we are encouraging regional affinity groups to participate in autonomous, decentralized direct-actions at some of the many cogs in the capitalist war machine in Oakland and the surrounding areas.
In the interest of solidarity with those unable or unprepared to risk arrest and/or injury we request affinity groups participating in direct action to kindly refrain from doing so in the immediate area of Soldiers & Sailors, effectively designating it a family-friendly “green-zone”.
Dick Cheney is not the problem, but rather a manifestation of the symptoms of the evils of State and profit based economic systems, as anti-capitalists and anti-authoritarians we will instead focus on directly confronting the institutions which sustain and prosper from imperialism.

Besides obvious objects (such as official flags at half mast) and points of interest such as the numerous banks, gas stations, and unattended vehicles belonging to law enforcement, corporate media, and the régime’s wealthy backers what follows are some other suggested possible locations for direct action.

Carnegie Military University:
Robotics Institute
Software Engineering Institute
Naval ROTC
The Carnegie Institute
CMU also shares joint ROTC program with the University of Pittsburgh

The Oakland Recruiting Station-3712 Forbes Avenue
USMC Recruiting-107 Meyran Ave

The RAND Corporation-201 North Craig Street
Recently intercepted "chatter" indicates that Cheney intends to dine with "regular Pittsburghers"
Some restaurants of interest include:

Lucca-317 South Craig Street
Taco Bell -5205 Baum Blvd.
McDonalds-3708 Forbes Avenue
Starbucks-417 South Craig Street

Until the last capitalist is hung with the guts of the last bueracrat,
The Berkman Column*



*The Berkman Column is an ad-hoc coalition of anti-authoritarian affinity groups from the Northeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic dedicated to a free humanity.

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