repost – Unsalted Counter Info

Midwest Prison Censorship Update 2025: Exposing the IDOC Mail Scanning Scam

Posted on 2025/07/21 - 2025/07/21 by unsalted

Originally published on https://chicagoantireport.noblogs.org/post/2025/06/09/midwest-prison-censorship-update-2025-exposing-the-idoc-mail-scanning-scam/

View the zine: Screen PDF – Printable PDF

View the Prison Censorship Survey results

Individual articles:

“Stop Mail Scanning in Illinois” by Anthony Ehlers
“The Censorship of Ideas is a Form of Psychological Warfare: A Message from the Diversionary Treatment Unit” by Hybachi LeMar
Mail Scamming: IDOC’s Own Data Exposes how Politicians and Guard Unions are Lying about Drugs in the Mail

Download the FOIA request data (zip): 2023-2024 IDOC Drug Confiscations, 2024 Drug Exposures

Prison censorship is a front in the fascist american project. For the millions buried by the largest prison system on the planet, we know that access to communication and reading materials remain one of the only ways people behind bars can maintain humanity. Prison is censorship, a system of walls and borders that criminalizes people and ideas: a system we are determined to break by building bridges of solidarity – through sharing books and publishing zines.

Coinciding with the fascistic expansion of police and cop city projects, the prison censorship machine has rapidly marched on, consuming the majority of local, state and federal facilities. Played-out “war on drugs” fear mongering is why most people behind bars no longer receive physical mail: books are banned under cover of “content-neutral” and “publisher-only” restrictions, and private monopolies experiment with dystopian tablet technologies to monitor and profit from all communications.

Illinois has been one of the last holdouts until last year when prison copagandists began another all-too-familiar disinformation campaign. Guards are staging drug exposure hospitalization stunts to take away physical mail – incidents easily disproved as impossible by medical experts and according to IDOC’s own confiscation and exposure data. Unlike other states, this battle is being waged at capitol: multiple bills for and against mail scanning are being debated in Springfield. IDOC has not made any announcements yet, but has signed a new phone/email/tablet contract with ICSolutions: Illinois could fall to all-digital mail unless we organize now to stop it.

One voice that has not been heard from are those behind bars who are bearing the brunt of their draconian machinations. We made sure to share their plans to thousands of our incarcerated correspondents throughout IDOC, asking for comments and strategies on how to fight back and providing information on the bills and the addresses to write congress. Throughout these pages you’ll hear directly how mail censorship affects life behind bars: and special appreciations to the brave souls writing us, refusing to be silenced.

We are determined to stop mail scanning and book bans in Illinois: we share these tools and updates, seeking comrades to help break down the panopticon through underground networks of paper and print. Free the books, free the mail, free the people – free them all!

Vandalism at Michigan Tesla manufacturing site under investigation – Cascade Township, MI

Posted on 2025/05/14 - 2025/05/14 by unsalted

Originally published on https://unravel.noblogs.org/vandalism-at-michigan-tesla-manufacturing-site-under-investigation-cascade-township-mi/

The vandalism allegedly took place between March 28 and March 31 at the manufacturing site located at 5460 Executive Parkway SE in Cascade Township, police said.

There was minor damage to one of the building’s windows, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

Found on Mainstream News

What’s Happening in Turkey — From an anti-Authoritarian Perspective

Posted on 2025/04/10 - 2025/04/10 by unsalted

A masked protestor pushes a small burning dumpster with "ACAB" and "1312" spraypainted on it. They are surrounded by other masked protestors.

Originally published on https://projet-evasions.org/whats-happening-in-turkey-an-anti-authoritarian-perspective/

Background

The Republic of Turkey, which was founded on the genocide of the Armenians in the region with a nationalist and murderous leaven, has not changed much in the past century. For non-Muslims, Kurds, Alevis and women who did not hold the majority and power in their hands, the state and its successfully constructed society were always a source of oppression. But starting in 2002, as a consequence of Erdoğan’s dictatorship, oppression, poverty, violence and exploitation started to be felt also by the majority of the society. In 2013, after increasing bans and oppressions, millions of people stood up for their freedoms in the Gezi Park riot that took place in cities all over the country. The months-long resistance ended with unprecedented national-scale police attacks in which eight young people aged 15-22 were killed and thousands detained. Since 2014, the Turkish state has become a police state, and after the 2016 fictitious coup attempt, it has been ruled with absolute authoritarianism under the state of emergency. Since 2021, as a result of the economic crisis that has escalated with great momentum, 60% of the population now lives below the hunger line.

Continue reading “What’s Happening in Turkey — From an anti-Authoritarian Perspective” →

Condemning Dana Nessel’s Hypocrisy

Posted on 2025/03/13 by unsalted

A line of UMPD officers in riot gear prepare to violently sweep the Palestine solidarity encampment at the University of Michigan

Originally published on https://whatsleftypsi.com/2025/condemning-dana-nessels-hypocrisy/

Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel, a self-styled progressive who has attempted to build a reputation opposing Donald Trump’s authoritarianism, now exposes her own hypocrisy by weaponizing the legal system to suppress pro-Palestine protesters. Her refusal to drop the politically motivated charges against students and activists at the University of Michigan—despite mass demands to Drop the Charges—reveals a glaring contradiction: She claims to fight tyranny while enabling it. Nessel’s actions align her not with the communities she purports to defend, but with the same carceral systems and imperial logic she once condemned.

Nessel’s prosecution of pro-Palestine dissent is a betrayal of the principles she claims to uphold. Where was this zeal for “accountability” when white supremacists plotted to kidnap Michigan’s governor? Where is her outrage over “israel’s” US-funded genocide in Gaza, which has slaughtered over 40,000 Palestinians? Her selective application of justice exposes a dangerous truth: For Nessel, opposing Trump is a political brand, not a commitment to dismantling oppression. When the victims of state violence are Palestinians and their allies, she sides with the powerful.

…

Full text available at https://whatsleftypsi.com/2025/condemning-dana-nessels-hypocrisy/

Evasions-Project Releases English Translation of “How to defend yourself during a police interrogation”

Posted on 2024/11/21 - 2024/11/21 by unsalted

Cover of the book "How to defend yourself during a police interrogation". A figure seated at a table, head in their hands, has two police officers pointing at them, interrogating them. The officers cast shadows on the wall behind them, two large ghosts evoking the "good cop, bad cop" trope.

An interrogation is not a harmonious exchange between two individuals. It’s a conflict.
And in this conflict, our ignorance is our strength. Ignorance of the meaning of police work, ignorance of the manipulative techniques used, ignorance of the legal framework and, last but not least, ignorance of our means of defence.
In response to this observation, this book is intended as a tool for self-defense against police interrogation practices of interrogation.

You can find the PDF here:
https://projet-evasions.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/How-the-police-interrogate_english_projet-evasions.pdf
and the article about here:
https://projet-evasions.org/how-to-defend-yourself-during-a-police-interrogation/

Continue reading “Evasions-Project Releases English Translation of “How to defend yourself during a police interrogation”” →

Towards Another Uprising

Posted on 2024/10/25 by unsalted

Graffiti on a wall reads "war starts here"

At the end of 2010 an individual act of despair in the town of Sidi Bouzid ignited a daring, enraged, and joyful upheaval that travelled through North Africa into the Middle East and beyond. People defied the oppressive systems they had been immersed in for generations and came together in the streets to topple the political elites at their helm. The authorities, at first stunned by this courageous spirit that they couldn’t understand, then unleashed a cynical and brutal response.

This defeat is still being inflicted on the people in the region, and is also felt all over the world by those who stood in solidarity with the uprisings but were mostly unable to overcome their powerlessness as the uprisings were massacred.

The horrors in the region during the last decade are many. To name some that stick most in my mind: Sisi has turned back the clock in Egypt to military dictatorship with the material support of the US. The regimes in the other North-African countries are paving over any sign of freedom while being coaxed by European countries to shut down the immigration routes over the Mediterranean. Without the murderous military campaigns of Hezbollah and the IRGC in Syria, Assad wouldn’t have survived the uprising. The Iranian regime itself brutally oppressed three different uprisings in the country in the last decade. Most people in Lebanon are in a daily struggle for survival because of the greed of its political leaders while mobs at the orders of Hezbollah beat down street protests. Early on in the uprisings, Hamas, who has shot political opponents in broad daylight on the streets of Gaza, culled attempts at an uprising by rounding up protest organizers and threatening them with murder. Leaders in the region understood once again that they can use any means against the populations under their control without real push-back from outside. Indifference, cynicism and opportunism trump moral appeals, and strategic alliances are always in play. The world churns on. For those of us who have not looked away, how can we not see a connection between Assad bombing Syrian cities into obliteration and Netanyahu razing Gaza? Continue reading “Towards Another Uprising” →

Maersk Warehousing and Distribution Service Center Beautified

Posted on 2024/07/09 by unsalted

An office building entrance is vandalized. A broken window has "FUCK MAERSK" spray-painted on it. Other messages are spray-painted on the wall, door and sidewalk: "FREE PALESTINE", "FUCK THE IOF", "INTIFADA" and "CUT TIES WITH GENOCIDE". Splatters of red paint are all around.

In the early hours of July 8, Maersk’s warehousing and distribution service center in romulus, mi was targeted by an autonomous group.The Maersk entrance was beautified with statements like “Fuck Maersk” and “Cut ties with genocide.”This action was done in line with the Palestinian Youth Movement’s Mask Off Maersk campaign, as Maersk plays a direct role in committing and continuing the genocide of the people of Palestine. In the last nine months, Maersk has transported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons components to the top 5 weapons manufacturers in the US for assembly. Without Maersk those weapons would not reach israel.We demand that Maersk stops shipping weapons to the zionist entity, and that they cut ties with genocide. Until then, we will continue to escalate against all empires and those that fund and empower them. We encourage all those who read this to take action against the genocidal supply chain and against colonialism, in whatever form it may appear.

Originally published on https://www.instagram.com/p/C9KEbCSuf3E/

More images below the fold Continue reading “Maersk Warehousing and Distribution Service Center Beautified” →

Fight Like a Flea: Lessons from the Casbah of Basel al-Araj

Posted on 2024/06/10 by unsalted

The occupied Institute of Politics building at University of Chicago, temporarily the Casbah Basel al-Araj, with various banners. They read "casbah bassel al-araj", "Fuck UChicago", "Free Palestine", and the demans "1. Free Palestine 2. Abolish the University 3. Land Back 4. Fuck Gentrification 5. Fuck 12"

Originally published on https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/06/04/fight-like-a-flea-lessons-from-the-casbah-of-basel-al-araj/

“The flea has fascinating fighting strategies and techniques…It does not kill its host…what it does is exhaust its host and consume its blood, causing constant disturbance, eventually preventing the host from being able to rest. It makes the host nervous and demoralized. […]

[T]he guerilla fights its wars like fleas…If the battle lasts long enough to exhaust the host then it will fail in the battle due to its weakness while unable to locate the flea(s)…[F]ight like a flea.” Live Like A Porcupine, Fight Like A Flea

“The beginning of every revolution is an exit, an exit from the social order that power has enshrined in the name of law, stability, public interest, and the greater good.” Exiting Law & Entering Revolution

CONTEXT

Since October 7th, Chicago has seen countless marches and actions that have been successful in bringing out hundreds and thousands of people. However, many of these numbers consist of suburbanites driving or being bussed into the city to show support, rather than a mass of Chicagoans coming together from across the deeply race- and class-segregated city. In addition, these marches have usually been put on by a small number of nonprofit organizations. They have been heavily marshaled and largely symbolic, leaving many people demoralized and looking for more.

As every day sees more Gazans murdered by the zionist entity, symbolic parades that play into respectability politics at every turn and ask the state for permission to protest are clearly a toothless and insufficient response. Small, isolated acts of sabotage aren’t enough either—it is crucial to seek more militant forms of collective action. These actions should demonstrate an understanding of the throughline between the colonial states of the US and Israel, and the need to abolish both entirely—prisons, police, military, and state bureaucracies alike—to stop both the genocide in Gaza and the daily forms of state violence here in Chicago. From within the imperial core, there’s an obligation to interrupt the material support that the “U.S.” provides “israel.”

In order to encourage more militant collective action, there is a need for a change in protest culture that is rife with peace policing liberal concerns about “outside agitators.” Contrary to what peace police, protest managers, and the heads of liberal social justice organizations would have us believe, many people are looking to take more escalated action and learn the skills to do so together. This desire clearly expressed itself in flashes at the campus encampments here in Chicago, including in the brief but impactful establishment of the Casbah of Basel Al Araj on the University of Chicago campus.

Continue reading “Fight Like a Flea: Lessons from the Casbah of Basel al-Araj” →

June 11, 2024: No Separate Worlds – Call for Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and Long-term Anarchist Prisoners

Posted on 2024/05/12 - 2024/06/04 by unsalted

A Poster for June 11th Solidarity. It reads "June 11th, An International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and Long-term Anarchist Prisoners. There are no separate worlds. JUNE11.org" It is black and white with abstract and floral patterns.

Originally published on https://june11.noblogs.org/2024-call/

We once again approach June 11th, a day of remembrance and active solidarity, in a world of multiple crises and struggles for liberation. All of these are interconnected; there are no separate worlds. Across borders, languages, contexts, and identities, both catastrophes and victories of spirit and defiance reverberate around the globe. One environment is not untouched by another. The personal is not separate from the political. The positive project is not separate from that of destruction. Prison is not separate from the “free world.” Means are not separate from ends. Bridging these divides is a shared curiosity and commitment; bridging these divides is solidarity. This is not to flatten or oversimplify diversity and differences in circumstance, intensity, and consequence. Rather, that these different pieces are held together like organs of the body held by connective tissue. So we consider: how do we strengthen this connective tissue? How do we remain strong, yet supple and flexible? Bridges, connection, must also be built through time, especially in a world that moves too fast, from one crisis to the next. June 11th aspires to be one of these bridges: to build solidarity across borders, between movements, and among generations. Remembering and supporting long-term prisoners, as well as carrying on shared struggles, are two ways to strengthen this connective tissue. A stronger connective tissue will, in turn, bolster us against further repression.

Continue reading “June 11, 2024: No Separate Worlds – Call for Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and Long-term Anarchist Prisoners” →

REPORTBACK: RAMADAN FLOOD ON THE MISSISSIPPI

Posted on 2024/05/08 - 2024/06/04 by unsalted

Chicago has amplified calls from the Palestinian resistance factions for mobilization against the Zionist entity and its enablers in the month of Ramadan and to mark six months since the beginning of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Israel cannot prosecute this war of extermination without the financial support of the United States. Nor can it maintain the pace of destruction without massive American arms transfers. In light of this we level our attack on the reserves and industrial capacity of the military-industrial complex.

A short drive west from Chicago sits the Rock Island Arsenal, headquarters of the US Army’s Joint Munitions Command. The JMC produces, tests, stores, repairs, and distributes conventional weapons, chemical weapons, vehicles, and other materiel to supply the US armed forces – and for arms sales and transfers. A militarily designated strategic rail network (STRACNET) rail line crosses the west end of the island on which the arsenal sits, connecting it to other JMC facilities and the wider strategic rail network at large. This rail bridge crosses a section of the Mississippi River that frequently floods – as such, its steel supports on the industrial southern bank have seen better days. Continue reading “REPORTBACK: RAMADAN FLOOD ON THE MISSISSIPPI” →