by Crimethinc. Workers' Collective
Available in 284 free installments
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When we got to the location, a remarkably nondescript beige building beside a highway, I shuddered to think that a hotbed of white supremacy could be hidden behind such a bland exterior. In the parking lot, the race war was already beginning. A few older white men, with the help of police ofRcers, were holding off a small horde of antiracist activists. Both sides were throwing insults, with the protesters being called things as dated as "race mongrels" and "communists," and flinging equally vindictive vituperation back in return. The one thing that reaEy seemed to terrify the racists was when one A.R.A. member took out his video camera and started getting everyone's hcense plate numbers.
As they screamed at the "dirty Jew," he laughed and continued to videotape them, dar-
Ififltration ^^S ^^^"^ ^° ^*^P ^ ^^^ closer to prove their "racial superiority." Another antiracist activist
320 told the white homophobes that all their rude talk was exciting him, and he had always
wanted to make out with a real honest to life Nazi; they seemed so revolted by this prospect a few actually fled. The ruckus was loud and went on for several hours, until finally the conference dragged to its end and large numbers of racists started leaving, sneaking by our video camera into the parking lot.
Little did they suspect the spy within their ranks. At our next meeting, she presented all the information she had managed to smuggle out of the conference. She had gotten inside without anyone blinking an eye, and audiotaped all the workshops, which ranged from a biblical case against racial mixing to a denial that the Holocaust ever happened. She had taken pictures of the various leaders of the conference, including not only Council members but also various Klansmen and neo-Nazis. She had approached many of them and obtained personal contact information including phone numbers and both email and street addresses. She had collected armloads of their literature and even a few magazine subscriptions. As we reviewed the photographs and hours of video and audio footage, making meticulous notes and working out who was friends with whom, it became apparent that we had indeed established the identities of most of the people there and had valuable leads on the new campaigns of the extreme right. As we arranged our files to be delivered to the Anti-Racist Action headquarters, we congratulated ourselves on a job well done. Who knows, maybe next time I will meet the Council of Conservative Citizens at a bar, after all?and bring along all my friends for a barroom brawl they'll never forget!
InfUtration
Inflatables
Ingredients
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Inflatable Bombs You Can Blow Up Again and Again, or, Civic Angioplasty for Heartbroken Towns
Angioplasty: A medical procedure for treatment of a heart attack. A tube is fed intravenously into a blocked artery. A tiny balloon at the end of the tube is inflated to open the artery. When the balloon is removed, blood can flow freely.
Civic Angioplasty: A treatment for urban ennui. A space, empty of desire or creativity, is suddenly filled with these and more. The space is just as suddenly emptied, leaving a (more) conspicuous absence, a kind of newness, a sense ofpossibility.
Plastic painters' tarp ?This is available at any hardware store. You need a solid film material, not the woven variety with grommets for tying down. RoUs of plastic should indicate the weight (i.e. 2 mil, 4 mil, 6 mil) on the package. 2 mil is lightest and most compact, 4 mil is bulkier but more durable. You should never go heavier than 4 mil, unless you want your inflatable to be able to accommodate people, in which case you can use 6 mil material for the floor. Plastic taips vary in size; we suggest acquiring the widest rolls possible (20'x 200' is good).
Clear 2" packing tape ?Don't go budget on this, get the best name brand stuff. Start with around 4 rolls. Avoid anything that is advertised as "Easy Tear"; if you are making a masterpiece, look for tape advertised as "long-lasting" or "U.V.-resistant."
A BOX FAN?Any 2-speed box fan will do the job. You're not going to need an industrial fan to inflate a huge piece. A desktop fan can inflate a 50' sculpture?the only requirement is constant airflow. The advantage of using a bigger fan is faster inflation time. If time is of the essence, get an industrial fan.
A LARGE, CLEAN, FLAT SPACE, PREFERABLY INSIDE This is the mOSt difficult thing tO
