Still running.

Hey everyone,

The past few days in Rostock have been rather interesting. All of the camps and convergence centers-IMCs have been blockaded as fear of police raids seems to be prevelant among all groups. Whether this is all rumor or based on legitimate concerns is not really for me to say, but people seem well prepared and don´t seem to be too scared of the possibility. There´s a history of the camps being raided at past summits. Ever since the riots on Tuesday, Police here have turned Rostock and the surrounding area into an occupied territory with checkpoints and searches becoming more and more common around the city and camps. It´s odd living under such conditions, and a part of me feels even more committed to shutting down the conference to spite of their efforts to crush the demonstrations.

The activist camps here are incredible. They are organized into different barrios with seperate themes [anarchist, zapatista, etc}. Everything has been built from the ground up by a group of radical German carpenters. Theres an internet tent, a large bar were people go after demonstrations, and even showers. It´s amazing to be living with such amazing people - everyone is so nice and contributes so much to the camps and centers, and it gives me hope for what a decentralized nonheirarchical society could be like. The diversity within the camp is incredible as well, both from the perspective of nationality and discourse. It´s the first time i´ve been around so many anarchists for such a long time, and it´s truly inspiring to both hear stories from and run in the streets with these people.

Me, David and Marla all went to an immigration-no border march yesterday which was really interesting. The police kept on blocking the march, saying that there were 500 violent protestors in the crowd, which is complete bullshit. The organizers usually have trucks throughout the marches here with soundsystems on the backs which really add a lot to the atmosphere. It was definitely the most entertaining symbolic march i´ve ever been to. The speakers were all radical/militant and would denounce the cops whenever they provoked demonstrators. Me and David took photos. You can read about it on indymedia here - http://de.indymedia.org/2007/06/180867.shtml .

Also, a couple of other links are good for checking up on news. The first is the indymedia ticker- http://de.indymedia.org/ticker/en/
the second is g8-tv, a show thats produced here everyday and played at the camps- http://g8-tv.org/

Our blockades are starting in a couple of days now, so things should get interesting. Will the g8 be shut down? Despite the cops turning northern germany into a police state, i think we have a shot at making something happen. Have a lot of stories, but not enough time to type them. I´ll try to write again soon. Take care.