*please help spread this message and get in touch if you can assist in translating it to any other languages*
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Hey! y’all out there in the EF! network:
[for those already inhabiting a low-land, near-equatorial bioregion, please don’t mind the short PR rant below]
Is winter in your bioregion a time of rest; a lull of activity in acceptance of nature’s cycles? Maybe February is the peak of a long and frigid season that has you curious about what your bare-skin looks like or what it was like to have full sensation in your fingers and toes.
Down here in the swamps and beaches of the tropics/sub-tropics of south Florida things are a little different: The ocean is perfect swimming temperature; the community gardens are in their full glory; with the mosquitoes at bay, it’s perfect weather for hikes through the pine flatwoods, cypress swamps and dwindling scrub lands; what’s left of local citrus trees offer a fresh-squeezed daily immune-system boost; and our season of kicking ass against developers and venture capitalists who are trying to turn this amazing bioregion into a sprawling concrete playground for the global elite is just about to reach climax.
We’re inviting you out of hibernation and back out onto the frontlines! It’s that time of the year again, when the EF! network gathers up to hash out crucial movement decisions & direction, party their brains into mush and then invigorate the hosting bioregion with some badass action(s). So, start making your travel plans & affinity group schemes, it’s time for another.
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Earth First! Organizers’ Conference/Winter Rendezvous
Feb. 15th – 20th 2006 Palm Beach County, South Florida
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Location- The swamps of the Everglades’ northwestern border, along the Hungryland Slough. The OC meetings will be the 15th -17th held at the Everglades Youth Camp inside the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area, which has full facilities (including cabin options, a swimming hole and, uh alligators). Friday night will be the annual ‘Night To Howl!’ gathering of the Warrior Poets Society, so bring poems, songs and stories to share. The weekend will continue on a primitive campsite as the winter rendezvous and fiesta. Bring your workshops, music, and hiking gear and plan on sticking around, potentially, for a following week of actions.
OC Content- The usual subject matter will be on the table: reports from the Journal; evaluating strategy, tools & tactics; examining our visions & aspirations; where we’ve been, where we’re going; state repression review; anti-oppression check-in; and bioregional round-ups. We also hope to offer some extra attention this year to the question of solidarity beyond borders (national and cultural), and perhaps strategize a bit on an international level. We will also be seeking translation assistence for this effort.
International Invite- South Florida is an accessible location for international travel, and is a social hotspot of current global commerce and politics. For several years, the globalization movement has influenced (and been influenced by) EF! But rarely has it been possible to dialogue with eco-radicals in other parts of the world, especially the majority world movements who have been inspiring direct action efforts within the U.S. empire. For these reasons, the invitation is being put out to help bring folks from other countries’ radical environmental movements and indigenous struggles here for the OC and Winter Rendezvous (this means visa assistance and some extra fundraising, so if you can be of any help in those areas, please contact us ASAP!)
Local Campaign- In the wake of a monumental court victory against the Army Corps of Engineers, the battle against Scripps Florida Biotech Research Park is heating up to be one of the largest, broadest and most successful campaigns in this region’s eco-activist history. Massive land scandals, corporate biotech nightmare, bio-hazardous waste issues, bio-prospecting in the majority world, brutal animal research… and an active construction site (still in operation as of this email, despite illegal permitting and more pending lawsuits) all within a mile of our lovely camp in the swamp.
The Details- We are requesting a $25-50 donation to cover costs of gathering, and potential extra travel compensation (for folks from our international tribe). If you’re bioregion knows it will need assistance, please get in touch ASAP. Also, we want to encourage people to bust out that old stack of journals and review the past years’ OC write-ups before coming down. If you don’t have access to some EF!er’s archives in your area, get in touch and we’ll send the last copies of the past several years of post-OC articles so all are a bit closer to the same page. Bring basic camping gear, including your own kitchen utensils. Please notify the planning committee if you will be needing childcare or have any other special needs.
EF!OC 2006 comite: p.o. box 961, lake worth, fl 33460 (561) 547-6686
p.s. it’s still early. this info is subject to change.
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THE RADICAL ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNAL
Earth First! Journal, POB 3023, Tucson, AZ 85702, USA
(520) 620-6900; tortuga@earthfirstjournal.org
www.earthfirstjournal.org
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