"It's a Survival Issue, and Survival is a Right ..."

Pepper Spray Productions has produced a wonderful video with footage from our March and June encampments at City Hall. Why would 150 people care enough to voluntarily camp on pavement during a cold March rain? Watch and find out. Then contact Natalie to find out more about the Real Change Organizing Project.

Meanwhile, KIRO radio has an excellent story today on the weekly sweeps beneath the Cherry Street viaduct. The logic is inescapable. People who have nowhere to go will return. The City has anticipated this and, according to the Mayor's press spokesperson is moving to the next step: criminalization.

So what do you do when your guests don't want to leave? Alex Fryer, a spokesperson for the Seattle Mayor's Office, acknowledges the difficulty in moving people out of the area, "It's a constant struggle, it really is, we have a shelter system. We encourage people to use it, and we want to move those folks into transitional housing."

Many inhabitants of the area prefer the outdoor living to the thought of moving into a shelter, "Shelters are full and they're full of diseases. I'd rather sleep outside," says one person.

The homeless we spoke with didn't want to give KIRO Radio their names for fear the city would crack down on them. But the city is well aware of this particular site. It's just three blocks from the mayor's office. "We expect that there will be more of a deterrent as law enforcement goes in there and starts talking to people and making sure everyone understands the rules," says Fryer.

"Making sure everyone understands the rules" is a euphemism for writing no trespass citations. The area has reached permanent posting status and the city is moving to the next phase, as predicted.

Seattle Indymedia Center Is Back, Sort Of

After birthing the global Indymedia movement during the WTO protest. Seattle's Indymedia Center atrophied into near non-existence for awhile. It was a sad irony, brought on I've heard by poor collective management and tiresome infighting where the last ones standing weren't necessarily those best equipped to build a powerful alternative media. Other than a website, Not much has been happening there.

Pepperspray Productions is getting the IMC new visibility with their weekly 28-minute show on Seattle Cable Access Network, which airs on Wednesdays at 8:30 pm. While the IMC hasn't gotten their act together yet to mention or link to the show on their website, they should. It's the best thing they've got going.

Being someone who doesn't have a TV, much less cable, I'd of missed out had they not featured Real Change recently and told us to watch. Fortunately, they upload the show everywhere and it's easy to find online from the Pepperspray Productions site, where there is also a list of additional public access stations that carry the show.

While I think the left has better things to do than attack Michael Moore and Naomi Klein for publishing on corporate presses, I loved their edgy version of a talking head that does the news round-up, and will be checking out the show online.