TABLE OF DISCONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
It's perhaps fitting that I write this introduction in jail-
that graduate school of survival. Here you learn how to use
toothpaste as glue, fashion a shiv out of a spoon and build
intricate communication networks. Here too, you learn the
only rehabilitation possible-hatred of oppression.
Steal This Book is, in a way, a manual of survival in the
prison that is Amerika. It preaches jailbreak. It shows
you where exactly how to place the dynamite that will destroy
the walls. The first section-SURVIVE!-lays out a potential
action program for our new Nation. The chapter headings
spell out the demands for a free society. A community where
the technology produces goods and services for whoever needs
them, come who may. It calls on the Robin Hoods of Santa
Barbara Forest to steal from the robber barons who own the
castles of capitalism. It implies that the reader already
is "ideologically set," in that he understands corporate
feudalism as the only robbery worthy of being called "crime,"
for it is committed against the people as a whole. Whether
the ways it describes to rip-off shit are legal or illegal
is irrelevant. The dictionary of law is written by the bosses
of order. Our moral dictionary says no heisting from each
other. To steal from a brother or sister is evil. To not
steal from the institutions that are the pillars of the
Pig Empire is equally immoral.
Community within our Nation, chaos in theirs; that is the
message of SURVIVE!
We cannot survive without learning to fight and that is
the lesson in the second section. FIGHT! separates revolutionaries
from outlaws. The purpose of part two is not to fuck the
system, but destroy it. The weapons are carefully chosen.
They are "home-made," in that they are designed for use
in our unique electronic jungle. Here the uptown reviewer
will find ample proof of our "violent" nature. But again,
the dictionary of law fails us. Murder in a uniform is heroic,
in a costume it is a crime. False advertisements win awards,
forgers end up in jail. Inflated prices guarantee large
profits while shoplifters are punished. Politicians conspire
to create police riots and the victims are convicted in
the courts. Students are gunned down and then indicted by
suburban grand juries as the trouble-makers. A modern, highly
mechanized army travels 9,000 miles to commit genocide against
a small nation of great vision and then accuses its people
of aggression. Slumlords allow rats to maim children and
then complain of violence in the streets. Everything is
topsy-turvy. If we internalize the language and imagery
of the pigs, we will forever be fucked. Let me illustrate
the point. Amerika was built on the slaughter of a people.
That is its history. For years we watched movie after movie
that demonstrated the white man's benevolence. Jimmy Stewart,
the epitome of fairness, puts his arm around Cochise and
tells how the Indians and the whites can live in peace if
only both sides will be reasonable, responsible and rational
(the three R's imperialists always teach the "natives").
"You will find good grazing land on the other side of the
mountain," drawls the public relations man. "Take your people
and go in peace." Cochise as well as millions of youngsters
in the balcony of learning, were being dealt off the bottom
of the deck. The Indians should have offed Jimmy Stewart
in every picture and we should have cheered ourselves hoarse.
Until we understand the nature of institutional violence
and how it manipulates values and mores to maintain the
power of the few, we will forever be imprisoned in the caves
of ignorance. When we conclude that bank robbers rather
than bankers should be the trustees of the universities,
then we begin to think clearly. When we see the Army Mathematics
Research and Development Center and the Bank of Amerika
as cesspools of violence, filling the minds of our young
with hatred, turning one against another, then we begin
to think revolutionary.
Be clever using section two; clever as a snake. Dig the
spirit of the struggle. Don't get hung up on a sacrifice
trip. Revolution is not about suicide, it is about life.
With your fingers probe the holiness of your body and see
that it was meant to live. Your body is just one in a mass
of cuddly humanity. Become an internationalist and learn
to respect all life. Make war on machines, and in particular
the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that
guard them. The duty of a revolutionary is to make love
and that means staying alive and free. That doesn't allow
for cop-outs. Smoking dope and hanging up Che's picture
is no more a commitment than drinking milk and collecting
postage stamps. A revolution in consciousness is an empty
high without a revolution in the distribution of power.
We are not interested in the greening of Amerika except
for the grass that will cover its grave.
Section three - LIBERATE! - concerns itself with efforts
to free stuff (or at least make it cheap) in four cities.
Sort of a quick U.S. on no dollars a day. It begins to scratch
the potential for a national effort in this area. Since
we are a nation of gypsies, dope on how to move around and
dig in anywhere is always needed. Together we can expand
this section. It is far from complete, as is the entire
project. Incomplete chapters on how to identify police agents,
steal a car, run day-care centers, conduct your own trial,
organize a G.I. coffee house, start a rock and roll band
and make neat clothes, are scattered all over the floor
of the cell. The book as it now stands was completed in
the late summer of 1970. For three months manuscripts made
the rounds of every major publisher. In all, over 30 rejections
occurred before the decision to publish the book ourselves
was made, or rather made for us. Perhaps no other book in
modern times presented such a dilemma. Everyone agreed the
book would be a commercial success. But even greed had its
limits, and the IRS and FBI following the manuscript with
their little jive rap had a telling effect. Thirty "yeses"
become thirty "noes" after "thinking it over." Liberals,
who supposedly led the fight against censorship, talked
of how the book "will end free speech."
Finally the day we were bringing the proofs to the printer,
Grove consented to act as distributor. To pull a total solo
trip, including distribution, would have been neat, but
such an effort would be doomed from the start. We had tried
it before and blew it. In fact, if anyone is interested
in 4,000 1969 Yippie calendars, they've got a deal. Even
with a distributor joining the fight, the battle will only
begin when the books come off the press. There is a saying
that "Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one."
In past eras, this was probably the case, but now, high
speed methods of typesetting, offset printing and a host
of other developments have made substantial reductions in
printing costs. Literally anyone is free to print their
own works. In even the most repressive society imaginable,
you can get away with some form of private publishing. Because
Amerika allows this, does not make it the democracy Jefferson
envisioned. Repressive tolerance is a real phenomenon. To
talk of true freedom of the press, we must talk of the availability
of the channels of communication that are designed to reach
the entire population, or at least that segment of the population
that might participate in such a dialogue. Freedom of the
press belongs to those that own the distribution system.
Perhaps that has always been the case, but in a mass society
where nearly everyone is instantaneously plugged into a
variety of national communications systems, wide-spread
dissemination of the information is the crux of the matter.
To make the claim that the right to print your own book
means freedom of the press is to completely misunderstand
the nature of a mass society. It is like making the claim
that anyone with a pushcart can challenge Safeway supermarkets,
or that any child can grow up to be president.
State legislators, librarians, PTA members, FBI agents,
church-goers, and parents: a veritable legion of decency
and order already is on the march. To get the book to you
might be the biggest challenge we face. The next few months
should prove really exciting.
Obviously such a project as Steal This Book could not have
been carried out alone. Izak Haber shared the vision from
the beginning. He did months of valuable research and contributed
many of the survival techniques. Carole Ramer and Gus Reichbach
of the New York Law Commune guided the book through its
many stages. Anna Kaufman Moon did almost all the photographs.
The cartoonists who have made contributions include Ski
Williamson and Gilbert Sheldon. Tom Forcade, of the UPS,
patiently did the editing. Bert Cohen of Concert Hall did
the book's graphic design. Amber and John Wilcox set the
type. Anita Hoffman and Lynn Borman helped me rewrite a
number of sections. There are others who participated in
the testing of many of the techniques demonstrated in the
following pages and for obvious reasons have to remain anonymous.
There were perhaps over 50 brothers and sisters who played
particularly vital roles in the grand conspiracy. Some of
the many others are listed on the following page. We hope
to keep the information up to date. If you have comments,
law suits, suggestions or death threats, please send them
to: Dear Abbie P.0. Box 213, Cooper Station, New York, NY
10003. Many of the tips might not work in your area, some
might be obsolete by the time you get to try them out, and
many addresses and phone numbers might be changed. If the
reader becomes a participating researcher then we will have
achieved our purpose.
Watch for a special edition called Steal This White House,
complete with blueprints of underground passages, methods
of jamming the communications network and a detailed map
of the celebrated room where according to Tricia Nixon,
"Daddy loves to listen to Mantovanni records, turn up the
air conditioner full blast, sit by the fireplace, gaze out
the window to the Washington Monument and meditate on those
difficult problems that face all the peoples of this world."
December,
1970
Cook County
Jail
Chicago
"FREE SPEECH IS THE RIGHT TO SHOUT
'THEATER' IN A CROWDED FIRE."
- A YIPPIE PROVERB
AIDING AND ABETTING
Tim Leary, Tom, Geronimo, Pearl Paperhanger, Sonny, Pat Solomon,
Allan Katzman, Jacob Kohn, Nguyen Van Troi, Susan, Marty,
Andy, Ami, Marshall Bloom, Viva, Ben, Oanh, Robin Palmer,
Mom and Dad, Janie Fonda, Jerry, Denis, LNS, Bernadine Dohrn,
a wall in Harvard Square, Nancy, an anonymous stewardess,
Shirley Wonderful, Roz, Gumbo, Janis, Jimi, Dylan Liberation
Front, Jeannie, God Slick, John, David, Rusty, Barney, Richard,
Denny, Ron Cobb, the entire Viet Cong, Sam Shephard, Ma Bell,
Eric, David, Joe, Kim Agnew, the Partridge Family, Carol,
Alan Ginsburg, Woman's Lib, Julius Lester, Lenny Bruce, Hack,
Billy, Paul, Willy, Colleen, Sid, Johnny Appleseed, the Rat,
Craig, Che, Willie Sutton, Wanda, EVO, Jeff, Crazy Horse,
Huey, Casey, Bobby, Alice, Mao, Rip, Ed, Bob, Gay Liberation
Front, WPAX, Frank Dudock, Manny, Mungo, Lottie, Rosemary,
Marshall, Rennie, Judy, Jennifer, Mr. Martin, Keith, Madame
Binh, Mike, Eleanor, Dr. Spock, Afeni, Candice, the Tupamaros,
Berkeley Tribe, Gilbert Sheldon, Stanley Kubrick, Sam, Anna,
Skip Williamson, UPS, Andy Stapp, the Yippies, Richard Brautigan,
Jano, Carlos Marighella, the Weathermen, Julius Jennings Hoffman,
Quentin, the inmates of TIER A-l Cook County Jail, Houdini,
37, Rosa Luxemberg, the Kent 25, the Chicago 15, the New York
21, the Motor City 3, the Indianapolis 500, Jack, Joan, Malcolm
X, Mayakovsky, Dotson, R. Crumb, Daniel Clyne, Justin, The
FBI Top 10 (now 16), Unis, Dana, Jim Morrison, Brian, John,
Gus, Ruth, Nancy Unger, Pun, Jomo, Peter, Mark Rudd, Billy
Kunstler, Genie, Ken, the Law Commune, Paula, Robby, Terry,
Dianna, Angela, Ted, Phil, Jefferson Airplane, Len, Tricky
Prickers, the Berrigans, Stu, Rayanne, J.B., Jonathan Jackson,
the Armstrong Brothers, Homer, Sharon, Fred Hampton, Jean
Jacques Lebel, A. H. Maslow, Hanoi Rose, Sylvia, Fellini,
Amaru, Ann Fettamen, Artaud, Bert, Merrill, Lynne, and last
but not least to Spiro what's his name who provided the incentive.
SURVIVE!
FREE FOOD
RESTAURANTS
In a country such as Amerika, there is bound to be a hell-of-a-lot
food lying around just waiting to be ripped off. If you want
to live high off the hog without having to do the dishes,
restaurants are easy pickings. In general, many of these targets
are easier marks if you are wearing the correct uniform. You
should always have one suit or fashionable dress outfit hanging
in the closet for the proper heists. Specialized uniforms,
such as nun and priest garb, can be most helpful. Check out
your local uniform store for a wide range of clothes that
will get you in, and especially out, of all kinds of stores.
Every movement organization should have a prop and costume
department.
In every major city there are usually bars that cater to
the New Generation type riff-raff, trying to hustle their
way up the escalator of Big Business. Many of these bars
have a buffet or hors-d'oeuvres served free as a come-on
to drink more mindless booze. Take a half-empty glass from
a table and use it as a prop to ward off the anxious waitress.
Walk around sampling the free food until you've had enough.
Often, there are five or six such bars in close proximity,
so moving around can produce a delightful "street smorgasbord."
Dinner usually begins at 5:00 PM.
If you are really hungry, you can go into a self-service
cafeteria and finish the meal of someone who left a lot
on the plate. Self-service restaurants are usually good
places to cop things like mustard, ketchup, salt, sugar,
toilet paper, silverware and cups for home use. Bring an
empty school bag and load up after you've cased the joint.
Also, if you can stomach the food, you can use slugs at
the automat. Finishing leftovers can be worked in even the
fanciest of restaurants. When you are seated at a place
where the dishes still remain, chow-down real quick. Then
after the waitress hands you the menu, say you have to meet
someone outside first, and leave.
There are still some places where you can get all you can
eat for a fixed price. The best of these places are in Las
Vegas. Sew a plastic bag onto your tee-shirt or belt and
wear a loose-fitting jacket or coat to cover any noticeable
bulge. Fried chicken is the best and the easiest to pocket,
or should we say bag. Another trick is to pour your second
free cup of hot coffee into the plastic bag sewed inside
your pocket and take it with you.
At large take-out stands you can say you or your brother
just picked up an order of fifteen hamburgers or a bucket
of chicken, and got shorted. We have never seen or heard
of anybody getting turned down using this method. If you
want to get into a grand food heist from take-out stands,
you can work the following nervy bit: from a pay phone,
place an order from a large delivery restaurant. Have the
order sent to a nearby apartment house. Wait a few minutes
in the booth after you've hung up, as they sometimes call
back to confirm the order. When the delivery man goes into
the apartment house to deliver the order, you can swipe
the remaining orders that are still in his truck.
In fancy sit-down restaurants, you can order a large meal
and halfway through the main course, take a little dead
cockroach or a piece of glass out of your pocket and place
it deftly on the plate. Jump up astonished and summon the
headwaiter. "Never have I been so insulted. I could have
been poisoned" you scream slapping down the napkin. You
can refuse to pay and leave, or let the waiter talk you
into having a brand new meal on the house for this terrible
inconvenience.
In restaurants where you pay at the door just before leaving,
there are a number of free-loading tricks that can be utilized.
After you've eaten a full meal and gotten the check, go
into the restroom. When you come out go to the counter or
another section of the restaurant and order coffee and pie.
Now you have two bills. Simply pay the cheaper one when
you leave the place. This can be worked with a friend in
the following way. Sit next to each other at the counter.
He should order a big meal and you a cup of coffee. Pretend
you don't know each other. When he leaves, he takes your
check and leaves the one for the large meal on the counter.
After he has paid the cashier and left the restaurant, you
pick up the large check, and then go into the astonishment
routine, complaining that somebody took the wrong check.
You end up only paying for your coffee. Later, meet your
partner and reverse the roles in another place.
In all these methods, you should leave a good tip for the
waiter or waitress, especially with the roach-in-the-plate
gambit. You should try to avoid getting the employees in
trouble or screwing them out of a tip.
One fantastic method of not only getting free food but
getting the best available is the following technique that
can be used in metropolitan areas. Look in a large magazine
shop for gourmet digests and tourist manuals. Swipe one
or two and copy down a good name from the masthead inside
the cover. Making up a name can also work. Next invest $5.00
to print business cards with the name of the magazine and
the new "associate editor." Call or simply drop into a fancy
restaurant, show a copy of the magazine and present the
manager with your card. They will insist that the meal be
on the house.
Great places to get fantastic meals are weddings, bar-mitzvahs,
testimonials and the like. The newspaper society sections
have lists of weddings and locations. If your city has a
large Jewish population, subscribe to the newspaper that
services the Jewish community. There are extensive lists
in these papers of family occasions where tons of good food
is served. Show up at the back of the synagogue a few hours
after the affair has begun with a story of how you'd like
to bring some leftovers of "good Jewish food" back to your
fraternity or sorority. If you want to get the food served
to you out front, you naturally have to disguise yourself
to look straight. Remarks such as, "I'm Marvin's cousin,"
or learning the bride's name, "Gee, Dorothy looks marvelous"
are great. Lines like "Betty doesn't look pregnant" are
frowned upon. A man and woman team can work this free-load
much better than a single person as they can chatter back
and forth while stuffing themselves.
If you're really into a classy free meal, and you are in
a city with a large harbor, check out the passenger ship
section in the back pages of the newspaper. There you find
the schedule of departures for ocean cruises. Most trips
(these kind, anyway) begin with a fantastic bon voyage party
on board ship. Just walk on a few hours before departure
time and start swinging. Champagne, caviar, lobster, shrimp
and more, all as free as the open seas. If you get really
bombed and miss getting off, you can also wiggle a ride
across the ocean. You get sent back as soon as you hit the
other side, but it's a free ocean cruise. You should have
a pretty good story ready to go, or you might end up rowing
in the galley.
Another possibility for getting a free meal is to go down
to the docks and get friendly with a sailor. He can often
invite you for dinner on board ship. Foreign sailors are
more than glad to meet friends and you can get great foreign
dinners this way.
FOOD PROGRAMS
In Amerika, there is a national food stamp program that unfortunately
is controlled by the states. Many states, for racist reasons,
do not want to make it too available or to publicize the fact
that it even exists. It is a much better deal than the food
program connected with welfare, because you can use the stamps
to buy any kind of food. The only items excluded are tobacco
products and alcoholic beverages. In general, you can qualify
if you earn less than $165 per month; the less you earn, the
more stamps you can receive. There is minimal hassle involved
once you get by the first hurdle. Show up at your local food
stamp office, which can be found by calling the Welfare Department
in our city. Make an appointment to see a representative for
your area. They will tell you to bring all sorts of receipts,
but the only thing you need are a few rent stubs for the most
recent months. An array of various receipt books is a nice
supplement to one's prop room. If the receipts are for a high
rent, tell them you rent a room from a group of people and
eat separately. They really only want to prove that you have
cooking facilities. Once you get the stamps, you can pick
them up regularly. Some states even mail them to your pad.
You can get up to a hundred dollars worth of free purchases
a month per person in the most liberal states.
Large amounts of highly nutritional food can be gotten
for as little as three cents per meal from a non-profit
organization called Multi-Purpose Food for Millions Foundation,
Inc., 1800 Olympic Ave., Santa Monica, California. Write
and they will send you details.
SUPERMARKETS
Talking about food in Amerika means talking about supermarkets-mammoth
neon lighted streets of food packaged to hoodwink the consumers.
Many a Yippie can be found in the aisles, stuffing his pockets
with assorted delicacies. We have been shoplifting from supermarkets
on a regular basis without raising the slightest suspicion,
ever since they began.
We are not alone, and the fact that so much stealing goes
on and the supermarkets still bring in huge profits shows
exactly how much overcharging has occurred in the first
place. Supermarkets, like other businesses, refer to shoplifting
as "inventory shrinkage." It's as if we thieves were helping
Big Business reduce weight. So let's view our efforts as
methods designed to trim the economy and push forward with
a positive attitude.
Women should never go shopping without a large handbag.
In those crowded aisles, especially the ones with piles
of cases, all sorts of goodies can be transferred from shopping
cart to handbag. A drop bag can be sewn inside a trench
coat, for more efficient thievery. Don't worry about the
mirrors; attendants never look at them. Become a discriminating
shopper and don't stuff any of the cheap shit in your pockets.
Small bottles and jars often have the same size cap as
the larger expensive sizes. If they have the price stamped
on the cap, switch caps, getting the larger size for the
cheaper price. You can empty a pound box of margarine and
fill it with sticks of butter. Small narrow items can be
hidden in the middle of rolls of toilet paper. Larger supermarkets
sell records. You can sneak two good LP's into one of those
large frozen pizza boxes. In the produce department, there
are bags for fruit and vegetables. Slip a few steaks or
some lamb chops into the bottom of a large brown bag and
pile some potatoes on top. Have a little man in the white
coat weigh the bag, staple it and mark the price. With a
black crayon you can mark your own prices, or bring your
own adhesive price tags.
It's best to work shoplifting in the supermarket with a
partner who can act as look-out and shield you from the
eyes of nosy employees, shoppers and other crooks trying
to pick up some pointers. Work out a prearranged set of
signals with your partner. Diversions, like knocking over
displays, getting into fist fights with the manager, breaking
plate glass windows and such are effective and even if you
don't get anything they're fun. Haven't you always wanted
to knock over those carefully constructed nine-foot pyramids
of garbage?
You can walk into a supermarket, get a few items from the
shelves, and walk around eating food in the aisles. Pick
up some cherries and eat them. Have a spoon in your pocket
and open some yogurt. Open a pickle or olive jar. Get some
sliced meat or cheese from the delicatessen counter and
eat it up, making sure to ditch the wrapper. The cart full
of items, used as a decoy, can just be left in an aisle
before you leave the store.
Case the joint before pulling a big rip-off. Know the least
crowded hours, learn the best aisles to be busy in, and
check out the store's security system. Once you get into
shoplifting in supermarkets, you'll really dig it. You'll
be surprised to learn that the food tastes better.
Large scale thievery can best be carried out with the help
of an employee. Two ways we know of work best. A woman can
get a job as a cashier and ring up a small bill as her brothers
and sisters bring home tons of stuff.
The method for men involves getting a job loading and unloading
trucks in the receiving department. Some accomplices dressed
right can just pull in and, with your help, load up on a
few cases. Infiltrating an employee into a store is probably
the best way to steal. Cashiers, sales clerks, shippers,
and the like are readily available jobs with such high turnover
and low pay that little checking on your background goes
on. Also, you can learn what you have to do in a few days.
The rest of the week, you can work out ways to clean out
the store. After a month or so of action you might want
to move on to another store before things get heavy. We
know one woman working as a cashier who swiped over $500
worth of food a week. She had to leave after a month because
her boss thought she was such an efficient cashier that
he insisted on promoting her to a job that didn't have as
many fringe benefits for her and her friends.
Large chain stores like Safeway throw away day-old vegetables,
the outer leaves of lettuce, celery and the like. This stuff
is usually found in crates outside the back of the building.
Tell them you're working with animals at the college labs,
or that you raise guinea pigs. They might even get into
saving them for you, but if they don't just show up before
the garbage is collected, (generally early in the morning),
and they'll let you cart away what you want.
Dented cans and fruit can often be gotten free, but certainly
at a reduced rate. They are still as good as the undamaged
ones. So be sure to dent all your cans before you go to
the cashier.
Look up catering services and businesses that service factories
and office buildings with ready-made sandwiches. Showing
up at these places at the right times (catering services
on late Sunday night and sandwich dealers at 5:00 PM on
weekdays) will produce loads of good food. Legally, they
have to dispose of the food that's left over. They would
be more than happy to give it to you if you spin a good
story.
Butchers can be hustled for meat scraps with meat scraps
with a "for my dog" story, and bakeries can be asked for
day-old rolls and bread.
WHOLESALE MARKETS
Large cities all have a wholesale fruit and vegetable area
where often the workers will give you tons of free food just
for the asking. Get a good story together. Get some church
stationery and type a letter introducing yourself "to whom
it may concern," or better still, wear some clerical garb.
Orchards also make good pickings just after the harvest has
been completed.
Factories often will give you a case or two of free merchandise
for a "charitable" reason. Make some calls around town and
then go pick up the stuff at the end of the week. A great
idea is to get a good list of a few hundred large corporations
around the country by looking up their addresses at the
library. Poor's Register of Companies, Directors and Executives
has the most complete list. Send them all letters complaining
about how the last box of cereal was only half full, or
you found a dead fly in the can of peaches. They often will
send you an ample supply of items just to keep you from
complaining to your friends or worse, taking them to court.
Often you can get stuff sent to you by just telling them
how good their product is compared to the trash you see
nowadays. You know the type of letter - "Rice Krispies have
had a fantastic effect on my sexual prowess," or "Your frozen
asparagus has given a whole new meaning to my life." In
general though, the nasties get the best results.
Slaughterhouses usually have meat they will give away.
They are anxious to give to church children's programs and
things like that. In most states, there is a law that if
the slab of meat touches the ground, they have to throw
it away. Drop around meat houses late in the day and trip
a few trucks.
Fishermen always have hundreds of pounds of fish that have
to be thrown out. You can have as much as you can cart away,
generally just for the asking. Boats come in late in the
afternoon and they'll give you some of the catch, or you
can go to the markets early in the morning when the fishing
is best.
These methods of getting food in large quantities can only
be appreciated by those who have tried it. You will be totally
baffled by the unbelievable quantities of food that will
be laid on you and with the ease of panhandling.
Investing in a freezer will allow you to bi-weekly or even
monthly trips to the wholesale markets and you'll get the
freshest foods to boot. Nothing can beat getting it wholesale
for free. Or is it free for wholesale? In any event, "bon
appetit."
FOOD CONSPIRACIES
Forming a food cooperative is one of the best ways to promote
solidarity and get every kind of food you need to survive
real cheap. It also provides a ready-made bridge for developing
alliances with blacks, Puerto Ricans, chicanos and other groups
fighting our common oppressor on a community level.
Call a meeting of about 20 communes, collectives or community
organizations. Set up the ground rules. There should be
a hard-core of really good hustlers that serve as the shopping
or hunting party and another group of people who have their
heads together enough to keep records and run the central
distribution center. Two or three in each group should do
it. They can get their food free for the effort. Another
method is to rotate the activity among all members of the
conspiracy. The method you choose depends upon your politics
and whether you favor a division of labor or using the food
conspiracy as a training for collective living. Probably
a blend of the two is best, but you'll have to hassle that
out for yourself. The next thing to agree upon is how the
operation and all the shit you get will be paid for. This
is dependent on a number of variables, so we'll map out
one scheme and you can modify it to suit your particular
situation. Each member of every commune could be assessed
a fee for joining. You want to get together about $2,000,
so at 200 members, this is ten bucks a piece. After the
joining fee, each person or group has to pay only for the
low budget food they order, but some loot is needed to get
things rolling. The money goes to getting a store front
or garage, a cheap truck, some scales, freezers, bags, shelving,
chopping blocks, slicer and whatever else you need. You
can get great deals by looking in the classified ads of
the local overground newspaper and checking for restaurants
or markets going out of business. Remember the idea of a
conspiracy is to get tons of stuff at real low prices or
free into a store front, and then break it down into smaller
units for each group and eventually each member. The freezers
allow you to store perishables for a longer time.
The hunting party should be well acquainted with how to
rip off shit totally free and where all the best deals are
to be found. They should know what food is seasonal and
about nutritional diets. There is a lot to learn, such as
where to get raw grains in 100 pounds lots and how to cut
up a side of beef. A good idea is to get a diet freak to
give weekly talks in the store front. There can also be
cooking lessons taught, especially to men, so women can
get out of the kitchen.
Organizing a community around a basic issue of survival,
such as food, makes a lot of nitty gritty sense. After your
conspiracy gets off the ground and looks permanent, you
should seek to expand it to include more members and an
emergency food fund should be set up in case something happens
in the community. There should also be a fund whereby the
conspiracy can sponsor free community dinners tied into
celebrations. Get it together and join the fight for a world-wide
food conspiracy. Seize the steak!
CHEAP CHOW
There are hundreds of good paperback cook books with nutritional
cheap recipes available in any bookstore. Cooking is a vastly
overrated skill. The following are a few all-purpose dishes
that are easy to make, nutritional and cheap as mud pies.
You can add or subtract many of the ingredients for variety.
Hog Farm Granola Breakfast (Road Hog Crispies)
½ c millet 2 c raw oats
½ c cracked wheat 1 c rye flakes
½ c buckwheat groats 1 c wheat flakes
½ c wheat germ 1 c dried fruits and/or nuts
½ c sunflower seeds 3 tbs soy oil
¼ c sesame seeds 1 c honey
2 tbs cornmeal
Boil the millet in a double boiler for 1/2 hour. Mix in a
large bowl all the ingredients including the millet. The soy
oil and honey should be heated in a saucepan over a low flame
until bubbles form. Spread the cereal in a baking pan and
cover with the honey syrup. Toast in oven until brown. Stir
once or twice so that all the cereal will be toasted. Serve
plain or with milk. Refrigerate portion not used in a covered
container. Enough for ten to twenty people. Make lots and
store for later meals. All these ingredients can be purchased
at any health store in a variety of quantities. You can also
get natural sugar if you need a sweetener. If bought and made
in quantity, this fantastically healthy breakfast food will
be cheaper than the brand name cellophane that passes for
cereal.
Whole Earth Bread
1 c oats, corn meal, or wheat germ 2 tsp salt
1½ c water (warm) 2 egg yolks
¼ c sugar (raw is best) 4 c flour
1 pkg active dry yeast _ c corn oil
1 c dry milk or butter
Stir lightly in a large bowl the oats, cornmeal or wheat germ
(depending on the flavor bread you desire), the water and
sugar. Sprinkle in the yeast and wait 10 minutes for the yeast
to do its thing. Add salt, egg yolks, corn oil and dry milk.
Mix with a fork. Blend in the flour. The dough should be dry
and a little lumpy. Cover with a towel and leave in a warm
place for a half hour. Now mash, punch, blend and kick the
dough and return it covered to its warm place. The dough will
double in size. When this happens, separate the dough into
two even masses and mash each one into a greased bread (loaf)
pan. Cover the pans and let sit until the dough rises to the
top of the pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes in a 350 degree oven
that has not been pre-heated. A shallow tray of water in the
bottom of the oven will keep the bread nice and moist. When
you remove the pans from the oven, turn out the bread into
a rack and let it cool off. Once you get the hang of it, you'll
never touch ready-made bread, and it's a gas seeing yeast
work.
Street Salad
Salad can be made by chopping up almost any variety of
vegetables, nuts and fruits including the stuff you panhandled
at the back of supermarkets; dandelions, shav, and other
wild vegetables; and goods you ripped off inside stores
or from large farms. A neat fresh dressing consists of one
part of oil, two parts wine vinegar, finely chopped garlic
cloves, salt and pepper. Mix up the ingredients in a bottle
and add to the salad as you serve it. Russian dressing is
simply mayonnaise and ketchup mixed.
Yippie Yogurt
Yogurt is one of the most nutritional foods in the world.
The stuff you buy in stores has preservatives added to it
reducing its health properties and increasing the cost.
Yogurt is a bacteria that spreads throughout a suitable
culture at the correct temperature. Begin by going to a
Turkish or Syrian restaurant and buying some yogurt to go.
Some restaurants boast of yogurt that goes back over a hundred
years. Put it in the refrigerator.
Now prepare the culture in which the yogurt will multiply.
The consistency you want will determine what you use. A
milk culture will produce thin yogurt, while sweet cream
will make a thicker batch. It's the butter fat content that
determines the consistency and also the number of calories.
Half milk and half cream combines the best of both worlds.
Heat a quart of half and half on a low flame until just
before the boiling point and remove from the stove. This
knocks out other bacteria that will compete with the yogurt.
Now take a tablespoon of the yogurt you got from the restaurant
and place it in the bottom of a bowl (not metal). Now add
the warm liquid. Cover the bowl with a lid and wrap tightly
with a heavy towel. Place the bowl in a warm spot such as
on top of a radiator or in a sunny window. A turned-off
oven with a tray of boiling water placed in it will do well.
Just let the bowl sit for about 8 hours (overnight). The
yogurt simply grows until the whole bowl is yogurt. Yippie!
It will keep in the refrigerator for about two weeks before
turning sour, but even then, the bacteria will produce a
fresh batch of top quality. Remember when eating it to leave
a little to start the next batch. For a neat treat add some
honey and cinnamon and mix into the yogurt before serving.
Chopped fruit and nuts are also good.
Rice and Cong Sauce
1 c brown rice vegetables
2 c water 2½ tbs soy sauce
tsp salt
Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the salt and rice.
Cover and reduce flame. Cooking time is about 40 minutes or
until rice has absorbed all the water. Meanwhile, in a well-greased
frying pan, saute a variety of chopped vegetables you enjoy.
When they become soft and brownish, add salt and 2 cups of
water. Cover with a lid and lower flame. Simmer for about
40 minutes, peeking to stir every once in a while. Then add
2 1/2 tbs of soy sauce, stir and cook another 10 minutes.
The rice should be just cooling off now, so add the sauce
to the top of it and serve. Great for those long guerrilla
hikes. This literally makes up almost the entire diet of the
National Liberation Front fighter.
Weatherbeans
1 lb red kidney beans 2 tbs parsley (chopped)
2 quarts water ½ lb pork, smoked sausage
1 onion (chopped) or ham hock
1 tbs celery (chopped) 1 lg bay leaf
1 tsp garlic (minced) salt to season
Rinse the beans, then place in covered pot and add water and
salt. Cook over low flame. While cooking, chop up meat and
brown in a frying pan. Add onion, celery, garlic and parsley
and continue sauteing over low flame. Add the pieces of meat,
vegetables and bay leaf to the beans and cook covered for
1 1/2 to 2 hours. It may be necessary to add more water if
the beans get too dry. Fifteen minutes before beans are done,
mash about a half cup of the stuff against the side of the
pan to thicken the liquid. Pour the beans and liquid over
some steaming rice that you've made by following the directions
above. This should provide a cheap nutritional meal for about
6 people.
Hedonist's Deluxe
2 lobsters 2 qts water
seaweed ¼ lb butter
Steal two lobsters, watching out for the claw thingies. Beg
some seaweed from any fish market. Cop the butter using the
switcheroo method described in the Supermarket section above.
When you get home, boil the water in a large covered pot and
drop in the seaweed and then the lobsters. Put the cover back
on and cook for about 20 minutes. Melt the butter in a sauce
pan and dip the lobster pieces in it as you eat. With a booster
box, described later you'll be able to rip off a bottle of
vintage Pouilly-Fuisse in a fancy liquor store. Really, rice
is nice but...
FREE CLOTHING & FURNITURE
FREE CLOTHING
If shoplifting food seems easy, it's nothing compared to the
snatching of clothing. Shop only the better stores. Try thing
on in those neat secluded stalls. The less bulky items such
as shirts, vests, belts and socks can be tied around your
waist or leg with large rubber bands if needed. Just take
a number of items in and come out with a few less.
In some cities there are still free stores left over from
the flower power days. Churches often have give-away clothing
programs. You can impersonate a clergyman and call one of
the large clothing manufacturers in your area. They are
usually willing to donate a case or two of shirts, trousers
or underwear to your church raffle or drive to dress up
skid row. Be sure to get your sizes. Tell them "your boy"
will pick up the blessed donation and you'll mention his
company in the evening prayers.
If you notice people moving from an apartment or house,
ask them if they'll be leaving behind clothing. They usually
abandon all sorts of items including food, furniture and
books. Offer to help them carry out stuff if you can keep
what they won't be taking.
Make the rounds of a fancy neighborhood with a truck and
some friends. Ring doorbells and tell the person who answers
that you are collecting wearable clothing for the "poor
homeless victims of the recent tidal wave in Quianto a small
village in Saudi Arabia." You get the pitch. Make it food
and clothing, and say you're with a group called Heartline
for Decency. A phony letter from a church might help here.
The Salvation Army does this, and you can pick up clothes
from them at very cheap prices. You can get a pair of snappy
casual shoes for 25 cents in many bowling alleys by walking
out with them on your feet. If you have to leave your shoes
as a deposit, leave the most beat-up pair you can find.
Notice if your friends have lost or gained weight. A big
change means a lot of clothes doing nothing but taking up
closet space. Show up at dormitories when college is over
for the summer or winter season. Go to the train or bus
stations and tell them you left your raincoat, gloves or
umbrella when you came into town. They'll take you to a
room with thousands of unclaimed items. Pick out what you
like. While there, notice a neat suitcase or trunk and memorize
the markings. Later a friend can claim the item. There will
be loads of surprises in any suitcase. We have a close friend
who inherited ten kilos of grass this way.
Large laundry and dry cleaning chains usually have thousands
of items that have gone unclaimed. Manufacturers also have
shirts, dresses and suits for rockbottom prices because
of a crooked seam or other fuck-up. Stores have reduced
rates on display models: Mannequins are mostly all size
40 for men and 10 for women. Size 7 1/2 is the standard
display size for men's shoes. If you are these sizes, you
can get top styles for less than half price.
SANDALS
The Vietnamese and people throughout the Third World make
a fantastically durable and comfortable pair of sandals out
of rubber tires. They cut out a section of the outer tire
(trace around the outside of the foot with a piece of chalk)
which when trimmed forms the sole. Next 6 slits re made in
the sole so the rubber straps can be criss-crossed and slid
through the slits. The straps are made out of inner tubing.
No nails are needed. If you have wide feet, use the new wide
tread low profiles. For hard going, try radials. For best
satisfaction and quality, steal the tires off a pig car or
a government limousine.
Let's face it, if you really are into beating the clothing
problem, move to a warm climate and run around naked. Skin
is absolutely free, and will always be in style. Speaking
of style, the midi and the maxi have obvious advantages
when it comes to shoplifting and transporting weapons or
bombs.
FREE FURNITURE
Apartment lobbies are good for all kinds of neat furniture.
If you want to get fancy about it, rent a truck (not one that
says U-HAUL-IT or other rental markings) and make the pick-up
with moving-man-type uniforms. When schools are on strike
and students hold seminars and debate into the night, Yippies
can be found going through the dorm lobbies and storage closets
hauling off couches, desks, printing supplies, typewriters,
mimeos, etc. to store in secret underground nests. A nervy
group of Yippies in the Midwest tried to swipe a giant IBM
360 computer while a school was in turmoil. All power to those
that bring a wheelbarrow to sit-ins.
Check into a high-class hotel or motel remembering to dress
like the wallpaper. Carry a large dummy suitcase with you
and register under a phony name. Make sure you and not the
bellboy carry this bag. Use others as a decoy. When you
get inside the room, grab everything you can stuff in the
suitcase: radio, T.V. sets (even if it has a special plug
you can cut it with a knife and replace the cord), blankets,
toilet paper, glasses, towels, sheets, lamps, (forget the
imitation Winslow Homer on the wall) a Bible, soap and toss
rugs. Before you leave (odd hours are best) hang the DO
NOT DISTURB sign on your doorknob. This will give you an
extra few hours to beat it across the border or check into
a new hotel.
Landlords renovating buildings throw out stoves, tables,
lamps, refrigerators and carpeting. In most cities, each
area has a day designated for discarding bulk objects. Call
the Sanitation Department and say you live in that part
of town which would be putting out the most expensive shit
and find out the pick-up day. Fantastic buys can be found
cruising the streets late at night. Check out the backs
of large department stores for floor models, window displays
and slightly damaged furniture being discarded.
Construction sites are a good source for building materials
to construct furniture. (Not to mention explosives.) The
large wooden cable spools make great tables. Cinderblocks,
bricks and boards can quickly be turned into a sharp looking
bookcase. Doors make tables. Nail kegs convert into stools
or chairs. You can also always find a number of other supplies
hanging around like wiring, pipes, lighting fixtures and
hard hats. And don't forget those blinking signs and the
red lanterns for your own light show. Those black oil-fed
burners are O.K. for cooking, although smoky, and highway
flares are swell for making fake dynamite bombs.
FREE TRANSPORTATION
HITCH-HIKING
Certainly one of the neatest ways of getting where you want
to go for nothing is to hitch. In the city it's a real snap.
Just position yourself at a busy intersection and ask the
drivers for a lift when they stop for the red light. If you're
hitching on a road where the traffic zooms by pretty fast,
be sure to stand where the car will have room to safely pull
off the road. Traveling long distances, even cross-country,
can be easy if you have some sense of what you are doing.
A lone hitch-hiker will do much better than two or more.
A man and woman will do very well together. Single women
are certain to get propositioned and possibly worse. Amerikan
males have endless sexual fantasies about picking up a poor
lonesome damsel in distress. Unless your karate and head
are in top form, women should avoid hitching alone. Telling
men you have V.D. might help in difficult situations.
New England and the entire West Coast are the best sections
for easy hitches. The South and Midwest can sometimes be
a real hassle. Easy Rider and all that. The best season
to hitch is in the summer. Daytime is much better than night.
If you have to hitch at night, get under some type of illumination
where you'll be seen.
Hitch-hiking is legal in most states, but remember you
always can get a "say-so" bust. A "say-so" arrest is to
police what Catch-22 is to the Army. When you ask why you're
under arrest, the pig answers, "cause I say-so." If you
stand on the shoulder of the road, the pigs won't give you
too bad a time. If you've got long hair, cops will often
stop to play games. You can wear a hat with your hair tucked
under to avoid hassles. However this might hurt your ability
to get rides, since many straights will pick up hippies
out of curiosity who would not pick up a straight scruffy
looking kid. Freak drivers usually only pick up other freaks.
Once in a while you hear stories of fines levied or even
a few arrests for hitching (Flagstaff, Arizona is notorious),
but even in the states where it is illegal, the law is rarely
enforced. If you're stopped by the pigs, play dumb and they'll
just tell you to move along. You can wait until they leave
and then let your thumb hang out again.
Hitchin on super highways is really far out. It's illegal
but you won't get hassled if you hitch at the entrances.
On a fucked-up exit, take your chances hitching right on
the road, but keep a sharp eye out for porkers. When you
get a ride be discriminating. Find out where the driver
is headed. If you are at a good spot, don't take a ride
under a hundred miles that won't end up in a location just
as good. When the driver is headed to an out-of-the-way
place, ask him to let you off where you can get the best
rides. If he's going to a particularly small town, ask him
to drive you to the other side of thy town line. It's usually
only a mile or two. Small towns often enforce all sorts
of "say-so" ordinances. If you get stuck on the wrong side
of town, it would be wise to even hoof it through the place.
Getting to a point on the road where the cars are inter-city
rather than local traffic is always preferable.
When you hit the road you should have a good idea of how
to get where you are going. You can pick up a free map at
any gas station. Long distance routes, road conditions,
weather and all sorts of information can be gotten free
by calling the American Automobile Association in any city.
Say that you are a member driving to Phoenix, Arizona or
wherever your destination is, and find out what you want
to know. Always carry a sign indicating where you are going.
If you get stranded on the road without one, ask in a diner
or gas station for a piece of cardboard and a magic marker.
Make the letters bold and fill them in so they can be seen
by drivers from a distance. If your destination is a small
town, the sign should indicate the state. For really long
distances, EAST or WEST is best. Unless, of course, you're
going north or south. A phony foreign flag sewed on your
pack also helps.
Carrying dope is not advisable, and although searching
you is illegal, few pigs can read the Constitution. If you
are carrying when the patrol car pulls up, tell them you
are Kanadian and hitching through Amerika. Highway patrols
are very uptight about promoting incidents with foreigners.
The foreign bit goes over especially well with small-town
types, and is also amazingly good for avoiding hassles with
greasers. If you can't hack this one, tell them you are
a reporter for a newspaper writing a feature story on hitching
around the country. This story has averted many a bust.
Don't be shy when you hitch. Go into diners and gas stations
and ask people if they're heading East or to Texas. Sometimes
gas station attendants will help. When in the car be friendly
as hell. Offer to share the driving if you've got a license.
If you're broke, you can usually bum a meal or a few bucks,
maybe even a free night's lodging. Never be intimidated
into giving money for a ride.
As for what to carry when hitching, the advice is to travel
light. The rule is to make up a pack of the absolute minimum,
then cut that in half. Hitching is an art form as is all
survival. Master it and you'll travel on a free trip forever.
FREIGHTING
There is a way to hitch long distances that has certain advantages
over letting your thumb hang out for hours on some two-laner.
Learn about riding the trains and you'll always have that
alternative. Hitchhiking at night can be impossible, but hopping
a is easier at night than by day. By hitchhiking days and
hopping freights and sleeping on them at night, you can cover
incredible distances rapidly and stay well rested. Every city
and most large towns have a freight yard. You can find it
by following the tracks or asking where the freight yard is
located.
When you get to the yard, ask the workmen when the next
train leaving in your direction will be pulling out. Unlike
the phony Hollywood image, railroad men are nice to folks
who drop by to grab a ride. Most yards don't have a guard
or a "bull" as they are called. Even if they do, he is generally
not around. If there is a bull around, the most he's going
to do is tell you it's private property and ask you to leave.
There are exceptions to this rule, such as the notorious
Lincoln, Nebraska, and Las Vegas, Nevada, but by asking
you can find out. Even if he asks you to leave or throws
you out, sneak back when your train is pulling out and jump
aboard.
After you've located the right train for your trip, hunt
for an empty boxcar to ride. The men in the yards will generally
point one out if you ask. Pig-sties, flat cars and coal
cars are definitely third class due to exposure to the elements.
Boxcars are by far the best. They are clean and the roof
over your head helps in bad weather and cuts down the wind.
Boxcars with a hydro-cushion suspension system used for
carrying fragile cargo make for the smoothest ride. Unless
you get one, you should be prepared for a pretty bumpy and
noisy voyage.
You should avoid cars with only one door open, because
the pin may break, locking you in. A car with both doors
open gives you one free chance. Pig-backs (trailers on flatcars)
are generally considered unsafe. Most trains make a number
of short hops, so if time is an important factor try to
get on a "hot shot" express. A hot shot travels faster and
has priority over other trains in crowded yards. You should
favor a hot shot even if you have to wait an extra hour
or two or more to get one going your way.
If you're traveling at night, be sure to dress warmly.
You can freeze your ass off. Trains might not offer the
most comfortable ride, but they go through beautiful countryside
that you'd never see from the highway or airway. There are
no billboards, road signs, cops, Jack-in-the-Boxes, gas
stations or other artifacts of honky culture. You'll get
dirty on the trains so wear old clothes. Don't pass up this
great way to travel cause some bullshit western scared you
out of it.
CARS
If you know how to drive and want to travel long distances,
the auto transportation agencies are a good deal. Look in
the Yellow Pages under Automobile Transportation and Trucking
or Driveway. Rules vary, but normally you must be over 21
and have a valid license. Call up and tell them when and where
you want to go and they will let you know if they have a car
available. They give you the car and a tank of gas free. You
pay the rest. Go to pick up the car alone, then get some people
to ride along and help with the driving and expenses. You
can make New York to San Francisco for about eighty dollars
in tolls and gas in four days without pushing. Usually you
have the car for longer and can make a whole thing out of
it. You must look straight when you go to the agency. This
can be simply be done by wetting down your hair and shoving
it under a cap.
Another good way to travel cheaply is to find somebody
who has a car and is going your way. Usually underground
newspapers list people who either want rides or riders.
Another excellent place to find information is your local
campus. Every campus has a bulletin board for rides. Head
shops and other community-minded stores have notices up
on the wall.
Gas
If you have a car and need some gas late at night you can
get a quart and then some by emptying the hoses from the
pumps into your tank. There is always a fair amount of surplus
gas left when the pumps are shut off.
If your traveling in a car and don't have enough money
for gas and tolls, stop at the bus station and see if anybody
wants a lift. If you find someone, explain your money situation
and make a deal with him. Hitch-hikers also can be asked
to chip in on the gas.
You can carry a piece of tubing in the trunk of your car
and when the gas indicator gets low, pull up to a nice looking
Cadillac on some dark street and syphon off some of his
gas. Just park your car so the gas tank is next to the Caddy's,
or use a large can. Stick the hose into his tank, suck up
enough to get things flowing, and stick the other end into
your tank. Having a lower level of liquid, you tank will
draw gas until you and the Caddy are equal. "To each according
to his need, from each according to his ability," wrote
Marx. Bet you hadn't realized until now that the law of
gravity affects economics.
Another way is to park in a service station over their
filler hole. Lift off one lid (like a small manhole cover),
run down twenty feet of rubber tubing thru the hole you've
cut in your floorboard, then turn on the electric pump which
you have installed to feed into your gas tank. All they
ever see is a parked car. This technique is especially rewarding
when you have a bus.
BUSES
If you'd rather leave the driving and the paying to them,
try swiping a ride on the bus. Here's a method that has worked
well. Get a rough idea of where the bus has stopped before
it arrived at your station. If you are not at the beginning
or final stop on the route, wait until the bus you want pulls
in and then out of the station. Make like the bus just pulled
off without you while you went to the bathroom. If there is
a station master, complain like crazy to him. Tell him you're
going to sue the company if your luggage gets stolen. He'll
put you on the next bus for free. If there is no station master,
lay your sad tale on the next driver that comes along. If
you know when the last bus left, just tell the driver you've
been stranded there for eight hours and you left your kid
sleeping on the other bus. Tell him you called ahead to the
company and they said to grab the next bus and they would
take care of it.
The next method isn't totally free but close enough. It's
called the hopper-bopper. Find a bus that makes a few stops
before it gets to where you want to go. The more stops with
people getting in our out the better. Buy a ticket for the
short hop and stay on the bus until you end up at your destination.
You must develop a whole style in order to pull this off
because the driver has to forget you are connected with
the ticket you gave him. Dress unobtrusively or make sure
the driver hasn't seen your face. Pretend to be asleep when
the short hop station is reached. If you get questioned,
just act upset about sleeping through the stop you "really"
want and ask if it's possible to get a ride back.
AIRLINES
Up and away, junior outlaws! If you really want to get where
you're going in a hurry, don't forget skyjacker's paradise.
Don't forget the airlines. They make an unbelievable amount
of bread on their inflated prices, ruin the land with incredible
amounts of polluting wastes and noise, and deliberately hold
back aviation advances that would reduce prices and time of
flight. We know two foolproof methods to fly free, but unfortunately
we feel publishing them would cause the airlines to change
their policy. The following methods have been talked about
enough, so the time seems right to make them known to a larger
circle of friends.
A word should be said right off about stolen tickets. Literally
millions of dollars worth of airline tickets are stolen
each year. If you have good underworld contacts, you can
get a ticket to anywhere you want at one-fourth the regular
price. If you are charged more, you are getting a slight
rooking. In any case, you can get a ticket for any flight
or date and just trade it in. They are actually as good
as cash, except that it takes 30 days to get a refund, and
by then they might have traced the stolen tickets. If you
can get a stolen ticket, exchange or use it as soon as possible,
and always fly under a phony name. A stolen ticket for a
trip around the world currently goes for one hundred and
fifty dollars in New York.
One successful scheme requires access to the mailbox of
a person listed in the local phone book. Let's use the name
Ron Davis as an example. A woman calls one of the airlines
with a very efficient sounding rap such as: "Hello, this
is Mr. Davis' secretary at Allied Chemical. He and his wife
would like to fly to Chicago on Friday. Could you mail two
first-class tickets to his home and bill us here at Allied?"
Every major corporation probably has a Ron Davis, and the
airlines rarely bother checking anyway. Order your tickets
two days before you wish to travel, and pick them up at
the mailbox or address you had them sent to. If you are
uptight in the airport about the tickets, just go up to
another airline and have the tickets exchanged.
One gutsy way to hitch a free ride is to board the plane
without a ticket. This is how it works. Locate the flight
you want and rummage through a wastebasket until you find
an envelope for that particular airline. Shuffle by the
counter men (which is fairly easy if it's busy). When the
boarding call is made, stand in line and get on the plane.
Flash the empty envelope at the stewardess as you board
the plane. Carry a number of packages as a decoy, so the
stewardess won t ask you to open the envelope. If she does,
which is rare, and sees you have no ticket, act surprised.
"Oh my gosh, it must have fallen out in the wash room,"
will do fine. Run back down the ramp as if you're going
to retrieve the ticket. Disappear and try later on a different
airline. Nine out of ten revolutionaries say it's the only
way to fly. This trick works only on airlines that don't
use the boarding pass system.
If you want to be covered completely, use the hopper-bopper
method described in the section on Buses, with this added
security precaution. Buy two tickets from different cashiers,
or better still, one from an agent in town. Both will be
on the same flight. Only one ticket will be under a phony
name and for the short hop, white the ticket under your
real name will be for your actual destination. At the boarding
counter, present the short hop ticket. You will be given
an envelope with a white receipt in it. Actually, the white
receipt is the last leaf in your ticket. Once you are securely
seated and aloft, take out the ticket with your name and
final destination. Gently peel away everything but the white
receipt. Place the still valid ticket back in your pocket.
Now remove from the envelope and destroy the short hop receipt.
In its place, put the receipt for the ticket you have in
your pocket.
When you land at the short hop airport, stay on the plane.
Usually the stewardesses just ask you if you are remaining
on the flight. If you have to, you can actually show her
your authentic receipt. When you get to your destination,
you merely put the receipt back on the bonafide ticket that
you still have in your pocket. It isn't necessary that they
be glued together. Present the ticket for a refund or exchange
it for another ticket. This method works well even in foreign
countries. You can actually fly around the world for $88.00
using the hopper-bopper method and switching receipts.
If you can't hack these shucks you should at least get
a Youth Card and travel for half fare. If you are over twenty-two
but still in your twenties, you can easily pass. Get a card
from a friend who has similar color hair and eyes. Your
friend can easily get one from another airline. You can
master your friend's signature and get a supporting piece
of identification from him to back up your youth card if
you find it necessary. If you have a friend who works for
an airline or travel agency, just get a card under your
own name and an age below the limit. Your friend can validate
the card. Flying youth fare is on stand-by, so it's always
a good idea to call ahead and book a number of reservations
under fictitious names on the flight you'll be taking. This
will fuck up the booking of regular passengers and insure
you a seat.
By the way, if you fly cross-country a number of times,
swipe one of the plug-in head sets. Always remember to pack
it in your traveling bag. This way you'll save a two dollar
fee charged for the in-flight movie. The headsets are interchangeable
on all airlines.
One way to fly free is to actually hitch a ride. Look for
the private plane area located at every airport, usually
in some remote part of the field. You can find it by noticing
where the small planes without airline markings take off
and land. Go over to the runways and ask around. Often the
mechanics will let you know when someone is leaving for
your destination and point out a pilot. Tell him you lost
your ticket and have to get back to school. Single pilots
often like to have a passenger along and it's a real gas
flying in a small plane.
Some foreign countries have special arrangements for free
air travel to visiting writers, artists or reporters. Brazil
and Argentina are two we know of for sure. Call or write
the embassy of the country you wish to visit in Washington
or their mission to the United Nations in New York. Writing
works best, especially if you can cop some stationery from
a newspaper or publishing house. Tell them you will be writing
a feature story for some magazine on the tourist spots or
handcrafts of the country. The embassy will arrange for
you to travel gratis aboard one of their air force planes.
The planes leave only from Washington and New York at unscheduled
times. Once you have the O.K. letter from the embassy you're
all set. This is definitely worth checking out if you want
to vacation in a foreign country with all sorts of free
bonuses thrown in.
A one-way ride is easy if you want to get into skyjacking.
Keep the piece or knife in your shoe to avoid possible detection
with the "metal scanner," a long black tube that acts like
a geiger counter. Or use a plastic knife or bomb. It's also
advisable to wrap your dope in a non-metallic material.
Avoid tinfoil.
The crews have instructions to take you wherever you want
to go even if they have to refuel, but watch out for air
marshals. To avoid air marshals and searches pick an airline
which flies short domestic hops. You should plan to end
up in a country hostile to the United States or you'll end
up right back where you came from in some sturdy handcuffs.
One dude wanted to travel in style so he demanded $100,000
as a going-away gift. The airlines quickly paid off. The
guy then got greedy and demanded a hundred million dollars.
When he returned to pick up the extra pocket money, he got
nabbed. None the less, skyjacking appears to be the cheapest,
fastest way to get away from it all.
IN CITY TRAVEL
Any of the public means of transportation can be ripped off
easily. Get on the bus with a large bill and present it after
the bus has left the stop. If the bus is crowded, slip in
the back door when it opens to dispatch passengers.
Two people can easily get through the turnstile in a subway
on one token by doubling up. In some subway systems cards
are given out to high school kids or senior citizens or
employees of the city. The next time you are in a subway
station notice people flashing cards to the man in the booth
and entering through the "exit" door. Notice the color of
the card used by people in your age group. Get a piece of
colored paper in a stationery store or find some card of
the same color you need. Put this "card" in a plastic window
of your wallet and flash it in the same way those with a
bona fide pass do.
Before entering a turnstile, always test the swing bar.
If someone during the day put in an extra token, it's still
in the machine waiting for you to enter free.
For every token and coin deposited in an automatic turnstile,
there is a foreign coin the same size for much less that
will work in the machine. (See the Yippie Currency Exchange,
following, for more info.) Buy a cheap bag of assorted foreign
coins from a dealer that you can locate in the Yellow Pages.
Size up the coins with a token from your subway system.
You can get any of these coins in bulk from a large dealer.
Generally they are about l,000 for five dollars. Tell him
you make jewelry out of them if he gets suspicious. Giving
what almost amounts to free subway rides away is a communal
act of love. The best outlaws in the world rip-off shit
for a lot more people than just themselves. Robin Hood lives!
FREE LAND
Despite what you may have heard, there is still some rural
land left in Amerika. The only really free land is available
in Alaska and remote barren areas of the western states. The
latest information in this area is found in a periodic publication
called Our Public Lands, available from the Superintendent
of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402. It costs $1.00 for a
subscription. Also contact the U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C. 20240 and ask
for information on "homesteading." By the time this book is
out though, the Secretary of the Interior's friends in the
oil companies might have stolen all the available free land.
Being an oil company is about the easiest way to steal millions.
Never call it stealing though, always refer to it as "research
and development."
Continental United States has no good free land that we
know of, but there are some very low prices in areas suited
for country communities. Write to School of Living, Freeland,
Maryland, for their newspaper Green Revolution with the
latest information in this area. Canada has free land available,
and the Canadian government will send you a free list if
you write to the Department of Land and Forests, Parliament
Building, Quebec City, Canada. Also write to the Geographical
Branch, Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Parliament
Building, Quebec City, Canada. Correspondence can be carried
out with the Communications Group, 2630 Point Grey Road,
Vancouver 8, British Columbia, Canada, for advice on establishing
a community in Canada. The islands off the coast of British
Columbia, its western region and the area along the Kootenai
River are among the best locations.
If you just want to rip off some land, there are two ways
to do it; openly or secretly. If you are going to do it
out front, look around for a piece of land that's in dispute,
which has its sovereignty in question-islands and deltas
between the U.S. and Canada, or between the U.S. and Mexico,
or any number of other borderline lands. You might even
consider one of the abandoned oil-drilling platforms, which
are fair game under high seas salvage laws. The possibilities
are endless.
If you intend to do it quietly, you will want a completely
different type of location. Find a rugged area with lots
of elbow room and plenty of places to hide, like the Rocky
Mountains, Florida swamps, Death Valley, or New York City.
Put together a tight band of guerrillas and do your thing.
With luck you will last forever.
If you just want to camp out or try some hermit living
in the plushest surroundings available, you'll do best to
head for one of the national parks. Since the parks are
federal property, there's very little the local fuzz can
do about you, and the forest rangers are generally the live-and-let-live
types, although there have been increasing reports of long-hairs
being vamped on by Smokey the Pig, as in Yosemite. You can
get a complete list from National Park Service, Department
of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240. The following is
a list of some good ones:
- ALABAMA-Russell Cave National Monument, Bridgeport
35740
- ARIZONA-Grand Canyon National Park, Box 129, Grand
Canyon 86023
- ARKANSAS-Hot Springs National Park, Box 1219, Hot Springs
71901
- CALIFORNIA-Yosemite National Park, Box 577, Yosemite
95389*
- COLORADO-Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park,
80517
- FLORIDA-Everglades National Park, Box 279, Homestead
33030
- IDAHO-Boise National Forest, 413 Idaho Street, Boise
83702
- ILLINOIS-Shawnee National Forest,Harrisburg National
Bank Building, Harrisburg 62946
- KENTUCKY-Mammoth Cave National Park, Mammoth Cave 42259
- LOUISIANA-Kisatchie National Forest, 2500 Shreveport
Hwy., Pineville 71360
- MAINE-Acadia National Park, Box 338, Bar Harbor 04609
- MARYLAND-Assateague Island National Seashore, Rte.
2 Box 111, Berlin 21811
- MASSACHUSETTS-Cape Cod National Seashore, South Wellfleet
02663
- MICHIGAN-Hiawatha National Forest, Post Office Building,
Escanaba 49829
- MISSOURI-Mark Twain National Forest, 304 Pershing St.,
Springfield 65806
- NEVADA-Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 601 Nevada
Hwy, Boulder City 89005
- NEW MEXICO-Aztec Ruins National Monument, Route 1,
Box 101, Aztec 87410
- NEW YORK-Fire Island National Seashore c/o New York
City National Park Service Group, 28 E. 20th St., New
York, NY 10003
- NORTH CAROLINA-Wright Brothers National Memorial Box
457, Manteo 27954
- OKLAHOMA-Platt National Park, Box 201, Sulphur 73086
- OREGON-Crater Lake National Park, Box 7, Crater Lake
97604
- UTAH-Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon 84717
- WYOMING-Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Park
83020
*This summer Yosemite forest rangers tried to evict a group
of Yippies from their encampment. The Yippies rioted in the
valley, spooked the tourists, burned cars and fought for their
right to stay.
Earth People's Park is an endeavor to purchase land and
allow people to come and live for free. They function as
a clearing house for people that want to donate land and
those who wish to settle. They own 600 acres in northern
Vermont and are trying to raise money to buy more. Write
to Earth People's Park, P.0. Box 313, 1230 Grant Ave., San
Francisco, California 94133.
People's Parks are sprouting up all over as people reclaim
the land being ripped off by universities, factories, and
corrupt city planning agencies. The model is the People's
Park struggle in Berkeley during the spring of 1969. The
people fought to defend a barren parking lot they had turned
into a community center with grass, swings, free-form sculpture
and gardens. The University of California, with the aid
of Ronald Reagan and the Berkeley storm troopers, fought
with guns, clubs and tear gas to regain the land from the
outlaw people. The pigs killed James Rector and won an empty
victory. For now the park is fenced off, tarred over and
converted into unused basketball courts and unused parking
lots. Not one person has violated the oath never to set
foot on the site. It stands, cold and empty, two blocks
north of crowded Telegraph Avenue. If the revolution does
not survive, all the land will perish under the steam roller
of imperialism. People's Death Valley will happen in our
lifetime.
FREE HOUSING
If you are in a city without a place to stay, ask the first
group of hip-looking folks where you can crash. You might
try the office of the local underground newspaper. In any
hip community, the underground newspaper is generally the
source of the best up-to-the-moment information. But remember
that they are very busy, and don't impose on them. Many churches
now have runaway houses. If you are under sixteen and can
hack some bullshit jive about "adjusting," "opening a dialogue,"
and "things aren't that bad," then these are the best deals
for free room and board. Check out the ground rules first,
i.e., length of stay allowed, if they inform your parents
or police, facilities and services available. Almost always
they can be accepted at their word, which is something very
sacred to missionaries. If they became known as double-crossers,
the programs would be finished.
Some hip communities have crash pads set up, but these
rarely last more than a few months. To give out the addresses
we have would be quite impractical. We have never run across
a crash pad that lasted more than a month or so. If in a
cit, try hustling a room at a college dorm. This is especially
good in summer or on week-ends. If you have a sleeping bag,
the parks are always good, as is "tar jungle" or sleeping
on the roofs of tall buildings. Local folks will give you
some good advice on what to watch out for and information
on vagrancy laws which might help you avoid getting busted.
For more permanent needs, squatting is not only free, it's
a revolutionary act. If you stay quiet you can stay indefinitely.
If you have community support you may last forever.
COMMUNES
In the city or in the country, communes can be a cheap and
enjoyable way of living. Although urban and rural communes
face different physical environments, they share common group
problems. The most important element in communal living is
the people, for the commune will only make it if everyone
is fairly compatible. A nucleus of 4 to 7 people is best and
it is necessary that no member feels extremely hostile to
any other member when the commune gets started. The idea that
things will work out later is pig swill. More communes have
busted up over incompatibility than any other single factor.
People of similar interests and political philosophies should
live together. One speed freak can wreck almost any group.
There are just too many day-to-day hassles involved living
in a commune to not start off compatible in as many ways as
possible. The ideal arrangement is for the people to have
known each other before they move in together.
Once you have made the opening moves, evening meetings
will occasionally be necessary to divide up the responsibilities
and work out the unique problems of a communal family. Basically,
there are two areas that have to be pretty well agreed upon
if the commune is to survive. People's attitudes toward
Politics, Sex, Drugs and Decision-making have to be in fairly
close agreement. Then the even most important decisions
about raising the rent, cleaning, cooking and maintenance
will have to be made. Ground rules for inviting non-members
should be worked out before the first time it happens, as
this is a common cause for friction. Another increasingly
important issue involves defense. Communes have continually
been targets of attack by the more Neanderthal elements
of the surrounding community. In Minneapolis for example,
"headhunts" as they are called are commonplace. You should
have full knowledge of the local gun laws and a collective
defense should be worked out.
Physical attacks are just one way of making war on communes
and, hence, our Free Nation. Laws, cops, and courts are
there to protect the power and the property of those that
already got the shit. Police harassment, strict enforcement
of health codes and fire regulations and the specially designed
anti-commune laws being passed by town elders, should all
be known and understood by the members of a commune before
they even buy or rent property. On all these matters, you
should seek out experienced members of communes already
established in the vicinity you wish to settle. Work out
mutual defense arrangements with nearby families-both legal
and extralegal. Remember, not only do you have the right
to self-defense, but it is your duty to our new Nation to
erase the "Easy-Rider-take-any-shit" image which invites
attack. Let them know you are willing to defend your way
of living and your chances of survival will increase.
URBAN LIVING
If you're headed for city living, the first thing you'll have
to do is locate an apartment or loft, an increasingly difficult
task. At certain times of the year, notably June and September,
the competition is fierce because of students leaving or entering
school. If you can avoid these two months, you'll have a better
selection. A knowledge of your plans in advance can aid a
great deal in finding an apartment, for the area can be scouted
before you move in. Often, if you know of people leaving a
desirable apartment, you can make arrangements with the landlord,
and a deposit will hold the place. If you let them know you're
willing to buy their furniture, people will be more willing
to give you information about when they plan to move. Watch
out for getting screwed on exorbitant furniture swindles by
the previous tenants and excessive demands on the part of
the landlords. In most cities, the landlord is not legally
allowed to ask for more than one month's rent as security.
Often the monthly rent itself is regulated by a city agency.
A little checking on the local laws and a visit to the housing
agency might prove well worth it.
Don't go to a rental agency unless you are willing to pay
an extra month's rent as a fee. Wanted ads in newspapers
and bulletin boards located in community centers and supermarkets
have some leads. Large universities have a service for finding
good apartments for administrators, faculty and students,
in that order. Call the university, say you have just been
appointed to such-and-such position and you need housing
in the area. They will want to know all your requirements
and rent limitations, but often they have very good deals
available, especially if you've appointed yourself to a
high enough position.
Aside from these, the best way is to scout a desired area
and inquire about future apartments. Often landlords or
rental agencies have control over a number of buildings
in a given area. You can generally find a nameplate inside
the hall of the building. Calling them directly will let
you know of any apartments available.
When you get an apartment, furnishing will be the next
step. You can double your sleeping space by building bunk
beds. Nail two by fours securely from ceiling to floor,
about three feet from the walls, where the beds are desired.
Then build a frame out of two by fours at a convenient height.
Make sure you use nails or screws strong enough to support
the weight of people sleeping or balling. Nail a sheet of
3/4 inch plywood on the frame. Mattresses and almost all
furniture needed for your pal can be gotten free (see section
on Free Furniture). Silverware can be copped at any self-service
restaurant.
RURAL LIVING
If you are considering moving to the country, especially as
a group, you are talking about farms and farmland. There are
some farms for rent, and occasionally a family that has to
be away for a year or two will let you live on their farm
if you keep the place in repair. These can be found advertised
in the back of various farming magazines and in the classified
sections of newspapers, especially the Sunday editions. Generally
speaking, however, if you're interested in a farm, you should
be considering an outright purchase.
First, you have to determine in what part of the country
you want to live in terms of the climate you prefer and
how far away from the major cities you wish to locate. The
least populated states, such as Utah, Idaho, the Dakotas,
Montana and the like, have the cheapest prices and the lowest
tax rates. The more populated a state, and in turn, the
closer to a city, the higher the commercial value of the
land.
There are hundreds of different types of farms, so the
next set of questions you'll have to raise concerns the
type of farm activity you'll want to engage in. Cattle farms
are different than vegetable farms or orchards. Farms come
in sizes: from half an acre to ranches larger than the state
of Connecticut. They will run in price from $30 to $3000
an acre, with the most expensive being prime farmland in
fertile river valleys located close to an urban area. The
further away from the city and the further up a hill, the
cheaper the land gets. It also gets woodier, rockier and
steeper, which means less tillable land.
If you are talking of living in a farm house and maybe
having a small garden and some livestock for your own use,
with perhaps a pond on the property, you are looking for
what is called a recreational farm. When you buy a recreational
farm, naturally you are interested in the house, barn, well,
fences, chicken-coop, corrals, woodsheds and other physical
structures on the property. Unless these are in unusually
good condition or unique, they do not enter into the sale
price as major factors. It is the land itself that is bought
and sold.
Farmland is measured in acreage; an acre being slightly
more than 43,560 square feet. The total area is measured
in 40-acre plots. Thus, if a farmer or a real estate agent
says he has a plot of land down the road, he means a 40-acre
farm. Farms are generally measured this way, with an average
recreational farm being 160 acres in size or an area covering
about 1/2 square mile. A reasonable rate for recreational
farmland 100 miles from a major city with good water and
a livable house would be about $50 per acre. For a 160-acre
farm, it would be $8,000, which is not an awful lot considering
what you are getting. For an overall view, get the free
catalogues and brochures provided by the United Farm Agency,
612 W. 47th St., Kansas City, Mo. 64112.
Now that you have a rough idea of where and what type of
farm you want, you can begin to get more specific. Check
out the classified section in the Sunday newspaper of the
largest city near your desired location. Get the phone book
and call or write to real estate agencies in the vicinity.
Unlike the city, where there is a sellers' market, rural
estate agents collect their fee from the seller of the property,
so you won't have to worry about the agent's fee.
When you have narrowed down the choices, the next thing
you'll want to look at is the plot book for the county.
The plot book has all the farms in each township mapped
out. lt also shows terrain variations, type of housing on
the land, location of rivers, roads and a host of other
pertinent information. Road accessibility, especially in
the winter, is an important factor. If the farms bordering
the one you have selected are abandoned or not in full use,
then for all intents and purposes, you have more land than
you are buying.
After doing all this, you are prepared to go look at the
farm itself. Notice the condition of the auxiliary roads
leading to the house. You'll want an idea of what sections
of the land are tillable. Make note of how many boulders
you'll have to clear to do some planting. Also note how
many trees there are and to what extent the brush has to
be cut down. Be sure and have a good idea of the insect
problems you can expect. Mosquitoes or flies can bug the
shit out of you. Feel the soil where you plan to have a
garden and see how rich it is. If there are fruit trees,
check their condition. Taste the water. Find out if hunters
or tourists come through the land. Examine the house. The
most important things are the basement and the roof. In
the basement examine the beams for dry rot and termites.
See how long it will be before the roof must be replaced.
Next check the heating system, the electrical wiring and
the plumbing. Then you'll want to know about services such
as schools, snow plowing, telephones, fire department and
finally about your neighbors. If the house is beyond repair,
you might still want the farm, especially if you are good
at carpentry. Cabins, A-Frames, domes and tepees are all
cheaply constructed with little experience. Get the materials
from your nearest military installation.
Finally, check out the secondary structures on the land
to see how usable they are. If there is a pond, you'll want
to see how deep it is for swimming. If there are streams,
you'll want to know about the fishing possibilities; and
if large wooded areas, the hunting.
In negotiating the final sales agreement, you should employ
a lawyer. You'll also want to check out the possibility
of negotiating a bank loan for the farm. Don't forget that
you have to pay taxes on the land, so inquire from the previous
owner or agent as to the tax bill. Usually, you can count
on paying about $50 annually per 40-acre plot.
Finally, check out the federal programs available in the
area. If you can learn the ins and outs of the government
programs, you can rip off plenty. The Feed-Grain Program
of the Department of Agriculture pays you not to grow grain.
The Cotton Subsidy Program pays you not to grow cotton.
Also look into the Soil Bank Program of the United States
Development Association and various Department of Forestry
programs which pay you to plant trees. Between not planting
cotton and planting trees, you should be able to manage.
LIST OF COMMUNES
The most complete list of city and country communes is available
for $1.00 from Alternatives Foundation, Modern Utopian, 1526
Gravensteur Highway North, Sebastopol, California 95427. The
phone is (707) 823-6168. The list is kept up to date. For
all communes, you must write in advance if you plan to visit.
Almost every commune will give you information about the local
conditions and the problems they face if you write them a
letter. Here is a list of some you might like to write to
for more information. Avoid becoming a free-loader on your
sisters and brothers.
- California
- ALTERNATIVES FOUNDATION-Box 1264, Berkeley, California
94709. (Dick Fairfield) Communal living, total sexuality,
peak experience training centers. Dedicated to the cybernated-tribal
society.
- BHODAN CENTER OF INQUIRY-Sierra Route, Oakhurst,
California 93644. Phone (209) 683-4976.. (Charles Davis)
Seminars on Human Community, IC development on the land,
founded 1934, 13 members. Trial period for new members.
Visitors check in advance.
- Colorado
- DROP CITY-Rt. 1, Box 125, Trinidad, Colorado 81082.
Founded 1965. New members must meet specific criteria.
Anarchist, artist, dome houses.
- New Mexico
- LAMA FOUNDATION-Box 444, San Cristobal, N.M.
- New York
- CITY ISLAND COMMUNE-284 City Island Avenue, Bronx,
NY. Visitors check in advance. Revolutionary.
- ATLANTIS I-RFD 5, Box 22A, Saugerties, NY 12477.
Visitors and new members welcome.
- Oregon
- FAMILY OF MYSTIC ARTS--Box 546, Sunny Valley, Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- TANGUY HOMESTEADS-West Chester, Pennsylvania. Suburban,
non-sectarian, co-op housing and community fellowship.
- Washington
- MAGIC MOUNTAIN-52nd and 19th Streets, Seattle, Washington.
(c/o Miriam Roder).
FREE EDUCATION
Usually when you ask somebody in college why they are there,
they'll tell you it's to get an education. The truth of it
is, they are there to get the degree so that they can get
ahead in the rat race. Too many college radicals are two-timing
punks. The only reason you should be in college is to destroy
it. If there is stuff that you want to learn though, there
is a way to get a college education absolutely free. Simply
send away for the schedule of courses at the college of your
choice. Make up the schedule you want and audit the classes.
In smaller classes this might be a problem, but even then,
if, the teacher is worth anything at all, he'll let you stay.
In large classes, no one will ever object.
If you need books for a course, write to the publisher
claiming you are a lecturer at some school and considering
using their book in your course. They will always send you
free books.
There are Free Universities springing up all over our new
Nation. Anybody can teach any course. People sign up for
the courses and sometimes pay a token registration fee.
This money is used to publish a catalogue and pay the rent.
If you're on welfare you don't have to pay. You can take
as many or as few courses as you want. Classes are held
everywhere: in the instructor's house, in the park, on the
beach, at one of the student's houses or in liberated buildings.
Free Universities offer courses ranging from Astrology to
the Use of Firearms. The teaching is usually of excellent
quality and you'll learn in a community-type atmosphere.
LIST OF FREE UNIVERSITIES
- Alternative University-69 W. 14th St., New York, NY
10011 (catalogue on request)
- Baltimore Free U-c/o Harry, 233 E. 25th St., Baltimore,
Maryland 21218
- Berkeley Free U-1703 Grove St., Berkeley, California
94709
- Bowling Green Free U-c/o Student Council, University
of Bowling Green, Bowling Green Ohio 43402
- Colorado State Free U-Box 12-Fraisen, Colorado State
College, Greeley, Colorado 80631
- Detroit Area Free U-Student Union, 4001 W. McNichols
Rd., Detroit, Michigan 48221
- Detroit Area Free U-343 University Center, Wayne State
University, Detroit, Mich.
- Georgetown Free U-Loyola Bldg., 28, Georgetown University
Washington D.C. 20007
- Golden Gate Free U-2120 Market St., Rm. 206, San Francisco,
California 94114
- Heliotrope-2201 Filbert, San Francisco, California
94118
- Illinois Free U-298A Illini Union, University of Illinois,
Champaign, Illinois 61820
- Kansas Free U-107 W. 7th St., Lawrence, Kansas 66044
- Knox College Free U-Galesbury, Illinois 60401
- Madison Free U-c/o P. Carroll, 1205 Shorewood Blvd.,
Madison, Wisconsin 53705
- Metropolitan State Free U-Associated Students, 1345
Banrock St., Denver, Colorado 80204
- Michigan State Free U-Associated Students, Student
Service Bldg., Michigan State College, East Lansing, Michigan
48823
- Mid-Peninsula Free U-1060 El Camino Real, Menlo Park,
California 94015
- Minnesota Free U-1817 S. 3rd St., Minneapolis, Minnesota
55404
- Monterey Peninsula Free U-2120 Etna Place, Monterey,
California New Free U-Box ALL 303, Santa Barbara, California
93107
- Northwest Free U-Box 1255, Bellingham, Washington 98225
- Ohio-Wesleyan Free U-Box 47-Welsh Hall, Ohio Wesleyan
University, Delevan, Ohio 43015
- Pittsburgh Free U-4401 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
15213 Rutgers Free U-Rutgers College, Student Center,
1 Lincoln Ave., Newark, NJ 07102
- St. Louis Free U-c/o Student Congress, 3rd floor BMC,
St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri 63103
- San Luis Obispo Free U-Box 1305, San Luis Obispo, California
94301
- Santa Cruz Free U-604 River St., Santa Cruz, California
95060
- Seattle Free U-4144½ University Way NE, Seattle,
Washington 98105
- Southern Illinois Free U-Carbondale, Illinois 62901
- Valley Free U-2045 N. Wishon Ave., Fresno, California
93704
- Washington Area Free U-5519 Prospect Place, Chevy Chase,
Maryland 20015 and 1854 Park Rd. NW, Washington, D.C.
20010
- Wayne-Locke Free U-Student Congress, University of
Texas, Arlington, Texas 76010
And a complete list of experimental schools, free universities,
free schools, can be obtained by sending one dollar to ALTERNATIVES!
1526 Gravenstein Highway N., Sebastopol, California 97452,
and requesting the Directory of Free Schools.
7. FREE MEDICAL CARE
Due to the efforts of the Medical Committee for Human Rights,
the Student Health Organization and other progressive elements
among younger doctors and nurses. Free People's Clinics have
been happening in every major city. They usually operate out
of store fronts and are staffed with volunteer help. An average
clinic can handle fifty patients a day.
If you've had an accident or have an acute illness, even
a bad cold, check into the emergency room of any hospital.
Given them a sob story complete with phony name and address.
After treatment they present you with a slip and direct
you to the cashier. Just walk on by, as the song suggests.
A good decoy is to ask for the washroom. After waiting there
a few moments, split. If you're caught sneaking out, tell
them you ran out of the house without your wallet. Ask them
to bill you at your phony address. This billing procedure
works in both hospital emergency rooms and clinics. You
can keep going back for repeated visits up to three months
before the cashier's office tells the doctor about your
fractured payments.
You can get speedy medical advice and avoid emergency room
delays by calling the hospital, asking for the emergency
unit and speaking directly to the doctor over the phone.
Older doctors frown on this procedure since they cannot
extort their usual exorbitant fee over the phone. Younger
ones generally do not share this hang-up.
Cities usually have free clinics for a variety of special
ailments. Tuberculosis Clinics, Venereal Disease Clinics,
and Free Shot Clinics (yellow fever, polio, tetanus, etc.)
are some of the more common. A directory of these clinics
and other free health services the local community provides
can be obtained by writing your Chamber of Commerce or local
Health Department.
Most universities have clinics connected with their dental,
optometry or other specialized medical schools. If not for
free, then certainly for very low rates, you can get dental
work repaired, eyeglasses fitted and treatment of other
specific health needs.
Free psychiatric treatment can often be gotten at the out-patient
department of any mental hospital. Admission into these
hospitals is free, but a real bummer. Use them as a last
resort only. Some cities have a suicide prevention center
and if you are desperate and need help, call them. Your
best choice in a psychiatric emergency is to go to a large
general hospital, find the emergency unit and ask to see
the psychiatrist on duty.
BIRTH CONTROL CLINICS
Planned Parenthood and the Family Planning Association staff
numerous free birth control clinics throughout the country.
They provide such services as sex education, examinations,
Pap smear and birth control information and devices. The devices
include pills, a diaphragm, or IUD (intra-uterine device)
which they will insert. If you are unmarried and under 18,
you might have to talk to a social worker, but it's no sweat
because anybody gets contraceptive devices that wants them.
Call up and ask them to send you their booklets on the different
methods of birth control available.
If you would rather go to a private doctor, try to find
out from a friend the name of a hip gynecologist, who is
sympathetic to the fact that you're low on bread. Otherwise
one visit could cost $25.00 or more.
Before deciding on a contraceptive, you should be hip to
some general information. There has been much research on
the pill, and during the past 10 years it has proven its
effectiveness, if not is safety. The two most famous name
brands are Ortho-Novum and Envoid. They all require a doctor's
prescription. Different type pills are accompanied by slightly
different instructions, so read the directions carefully.
In many women, the pills produce side effects such as weight
increase, dizziness or nausea. Sometimes the pill affects
your vision and more often your mood. Some women with specialized
blood diseases are advised not to use them, but in general,
women have little or no trouble. Different brand names have
different hormonal balances (progesterone-estrogen). If
you get uncomfortable side effects, insist that your doctor
switch your brand. If you stop the pill method for any reason
and don't want to get pregnant, be very careful to use another
means right away.
Another contraceptive device becoming more popular is the
IUD, or the loop. It is a small plastic or stainless steel
irregularly-shaped spring that the doctor inserts inside
the opening of the uterus. The insertion is not without
pain, but it's safe if done by a physician, and it's second
only to the pill in prevention of pregnancy. Once it's in
place, you can forget about it for a few years or until
you wish to get pregnant. Doctors are reluctant to prescribe
them for women who have not borne children or had an abortion,
because of the intense pain that accompanies insertion.
But if you can stand the pain associated with three to four
uterine contractions, you should push the doctor for this
method. Inserting it during the last day of your period
will make it easier.
The diaphragm is a round piece of flexible rubber about
2 inches in diameter with a hard rubber rim on the outside.
It used to be inserted just before the sex act, but hip
doctors now recommend that it be worn continuously and taken
out every few days for washing and also during the menstrual
period. It is most effective when used with a sperm-killing
jelly or cream. A doctor will fit you for a proper size
diaphragm.
The next best method is the foams that you insert twenty
minutes before fucking. The best foams available are Delfen
and Emko. They have the advantage of being nonprescription
items so you can rush into any drug store and pick up a
dispenser when the spirit moves you. Follow the directions
carefully. Unfortunately, these foams taste terrible and
are not available in flavors. It just shows you how far
science has to go.
Another device is the prophylactic, or rubber as it is
called. This is the only device available to men. It is
a thin rubber sheath that fits over the penis. Because they
are subject to breaking and sliding off, their effectiveness
is not super great. If you are forced to use them, the best
available are lubricated sheepskins with a reservoir tip.
The rhythm method or Vatican roulette as it is called by
hip Catholics, is a waste unless you are ready to surround
yourself with thermometers, graphs and charts. You also
have to limit your fucking to prescribed days. Even with
all these precautions, women have often gotten pregnant
using the rhythm method.
The oldest and least effective method is simply for the
male to pull out just before he comes. There are billions
of sperm cells in each ejaculation and only one is needed
to fertilize the woman's egg and cause a pregnancy. Most
of the sperm is in the first squirt, so you had better be
quick if you employ this technique.
If the woman misses her period she shouldn't panic. It
might be delayed because of emotional reasons. Just wait
two weeks before going to a doctor or clinic for a pregnancy
test. When you go, be sure to bring your first morning urine
specimen.
ABORTIONS
The best way to find out about abortions is to contact your
local woman's liberation organization through your underground
newspaper or radio station. Some Family Planning Clinics and
even some liberal churches set up abortions, but these might
run as high as $700. Underground newspapers often have ads
that read "Any girl in trouble call - -," or something similar.
The usual rate for an abortion is about $500 and it's awful
hard to bargain when you need one badly. Only go to a physician
who is practicing or might have just lost his license. Forget
the stereotype image of these doctors as they are performing
a vital service. Friends who have had an abortion can usually
recommend a good doctor and fill you in on what's going to
happen.
Abortions are very minor operations if done correctly.
They can be done almost any time, but after three months,
it's no longer so casual and more surgical skill is required.
Start making plans as soon as you find out. The sooner the
better, in terms of the operation.
Get a pregnancy test at a clinic. If it is positive and
you want an abortion, start that day to make plans. If you
get negative results from the test and still miss your period,
have a gynecologist perform an examination if you are still
worried.
If you cannot arrange an abortion through woman's liberation,
Family Planning, a sympathetic clergyman or a friend who
has had one, search out a liberal hospital and talk to one
of their social workers. Almost all hospitals perform "therapeutic"
abortions. Tell a sob story about the desertion of your
boy friend or that you take LSD every day or that defects
run in your family. Act mentally disturbed. If you qualify,
you can get an abortion that will be free under Medicaid
or other welfare medical plans. The safest form of abortion
is the vacuum-curettage method, but not all doctors are
hip to it. It is safer and quicker with less chance of complications
than the old-fashioned scrape method.
Many states have recently passed liberalized abortion laws,
such as New York* (by far the most extensive), Hawaii and
Maryland, due to the continuing pressure of radical women.
The battle for abortion and certainly for free abortion
is far from over even in the states with liberal laws. They
are far too expensive for the ten to twenty minute minor
operation involved and the red tape is horrendous. Free
abortions must be look-on as a fundamental right, not a
sneaky, messy trauma.
*There is a residence requirement for New York but using
a friend's New York address at the hospital will be good
enough. The procedure takes only a few days and costs between
$200 and $500, depending on the place. The best advice is
to call one of the New York Abortion Referral Services or
Birth Control Groups listed in the New York Directory section.
DISEASES TREATED FREE
Syph and Clap (syphilis and gonorrhea) are two diseases that
they are easy to pick up. They come from balling. Anyone who
claims they got it from sitting on a toilet seat must have
a fondness for weird positions.
Both men and women are subject to the diseases. Using a
prophylactic usually will prevent the spreading of venereal
disease, but you should really seek to have it cured. Syphilis
usually begins with an infection which may look like a cold
sore or pimple around the sex organ. There is no pain associated
with the lesions. Soon the sore disappears even without
treatment. This is often followed by a period of rashes
on the body (especially the palms of the hands) and inflammation
of the mouth and throat. These symptoms also disappear without
treatment. It must be understood, however, that even if
these symptoms disappear, the disease still remains if left
untreated. It can cause serious trouble such as heart disease,
blindness, insanity and paralysis. Also, it can fuck up
any kids you might produce and is easily passed on to anyone
you ball.
Gonorrhea (clap) is more common than syphilis. Its first
signs are a discharge from your sex organ that is painful.
Like syphilis, it affects both men and women, but is often
unnoticed in women. There is usually itching and burning
associated with the affected area. It can leave you sterile
if left untreated.
Both these venereal diseases can be treated in a short
time with attention. Avail yourself of the free V.D. clinics
in every town. Follow the doctor's instructions to the letter
and try to let the other people you've had sexual contact
with know you had VD.
There are other fungus diseases that resemble syphilis
or gonorrhea, but are relatively harmless. Check out every
infection in your crotch area, especially those with open
sores or an unusual discharge and you'll be safe.
Crabs are not harmful, but they can make you scratch your
crotch for hours on end. They are also highly transmittable
by balling. Actually they are a form of body lice and easy
to cure. Go to your local druggist and ask him for the best
remedy available. He'll give you one of several lotions
and instructions for proper use. We recommend Kwell.
A common disease in the hip community is hepatitis. There
are two kinds. One you get from sticking dirty needles in
your arm (serum hepatitis) and the other more common strain
from eating infected food or having intimate contact with
an infected carrier (infectious hepatitis). The symptoms
for both are identical; yellowish skin and eyes, dark piss
and light crap, loss of appetite and total listlessness.
Hep is a very dangerous disease that can cause a number
of permanent conditions, including death, which is extremely
permanent. It should be treated by a doctor, often in a
hospital.
FREE COMMUNICATION
If you don't like the news, why not go out and make your own?
Creating free media depends to a large extent on your imagination
and ability to follow through on ideas. The average Amerikan
is exposed to over 1,600 commercials each day. Billboards,
glossy ads and television spots make up much of the word environment
they live in. To crack through the word mush means creating
new forms of free communication. Advertisements for revolution
are important in helping to educate and mold the milieu of
people you wish to win over.
Guerrilla theater events are always good news items and
if done right, people will remember them forever. Throwing
out money at the Stock Exchange or dumping soot on executives
at Con Edison or blowing up the policeman statue in Chicago
immediately conveys an easily understood message by using
the technique of creative disruption. Recently to dramatize
the illegal invasion of Cambodia, 400 Yippies stormed across
the Canadian border in an invasion of the United States.
They threw paint on store windows and physically attacked
residents of Blair, Washington. A group of Vietnam veterans
marched in battle gear from Trenton to Valley Forge. Along
the way they performed mock attacks on civilians the way
they were trained to do in Southeast Asia.
Dying all the outdoor fountains red and then sending a
message to the newspaper explaining why you did it, dramatizes
the idea that blood is being shed needlessly in imperialist
wars. A special metallic bonding glue available from Eastman-Kodak
will form a permanent bond in only 45 seconds. Gluing up
locks of all the office buildings in your town is a great
way to dramatize the fact that our brothers and sisters
are being jailed all the time. Then, of course, there are
always explosives which dramatically make your point and
then some.
PRESS CONFERENCES
Another way of using the news to advertise the revolution
and make propaganda is to call a press, conference. Get an
appropriate place that has some relationship to the content
of your message. Send out announcements to as many members
of the press as you can. If you do not have a press list,
you can make one up by looking through the Yellow Pages under
Newspapers, Radio Stations, Television Stations, Magazines
and Wire Services. Check out your list with other groups and
pick up names of reporters who attend movement press conferences.
Address a special invitation to them as well as one to their
newspaper. Address the announcements to "City Desk" or "'News
Department." Schedule the press conference for about 11:00
A.M. as this allows the reporters to file the story in time
for the evening newscast or papers. On the day of the scheduled
conference, call the important city desks or reporters about
9:00 A.M. and remind them to come.
Everything about a successful press conference must be
dramatic, from the announcements and phone calls to the
statements themselves. Nothing creates a worse image than
four or five men in business suits sitting behind a table
and talking in a calm manner at a fashionable hotel. Constantly
seek to have every detail of the press conference differ
in style as well as content from the conferences of people
in power. Make use of music and visual effects. Don't stiffen
up before the press. Make the statement as short and to
the point as possible. Don't read from notes, look directly
into the camera. The usual television spot is one minute
and twenty seconds. The cameras start buzzing on your opening
statement and often run out of film before you finish. So
make it brief and action packed. The question period should
be even more dramatic. Use the questioner's first name when
answering a question. This adds an air of informality and
networks are more apt to use an answer directed personally
to one of their newsmen. Express your emotional feelings.
Be funny, get angry, be sad or ecstatic. If you cannot convey
that you are deeply excited or troubled or outraged about
what you are saying, how do you expect it of others who
are watching a little image box in their living room? Remember,
you are advertising a new way of life to people. Watch TV
commercials. See how they are able to convey everything
they need to be effective in such a short time and limited
space. At the same tune you're mocking the shit they are
pushing, steal their techniques.
At rock concerts, during intermission or at the end of
the performance, fight your way to the stage.
COMMUNICATION
Announce that if the electricity is cut off the walls will
be torn down. This galvanizes the audience and makes the
owners of the hall the villains if they fuck around. Lay
out a short exciting rap on what's coming down. Focus on
a call around one action. Sometimes it might be good to
engage rock groups in dialogues about their commitment to
the revolution. Interrupting the concert is frowned upon
since it is only spitting in the faces of the people you
are trying to reach. Use the Culture as ocean to swim in.
Treat it with care.
Sandwich boards and hand-carried signs are effective advertisements.
You can stand on a busy corner and hold up a sign saying
"Apartment Needed," "Free Angela," "Smash the State" or
other slogans. They can be written on dollar bills, envelopes
that are being mailed and other items that are passed from
person to person.
Take a flashlight with a large face to movie theaters and
other dark public gathering places. Cut the word "STRIKE"
or "REVOLT" or "YIPPIE" out of dark cellophane. Paste the
stencil over the flashlight, thus allowing you to project
the word on a distant wall.
There are a number of all night call-in shows that have
a huge audience. If you call with what the moderator considers
"exciting controversy," he may give you a special number
so you won't have to compete in the switchboard roller-derby.
It often can take hours before you get through to these
shows. Here's a trick that will help you out if the switchboard
is jammed. The call-in shows have a series of hones so that
when one is busy the next will take the call. Usually the
numbers run in sequence. Say a station gives out PL 5-8640,
as the number to call. That means it also uses PL 5-8641,
PL 5-8642 and so on. If you get a busy signal, hang up and
try calling PL S-8647 say. This trick works in a variety
of situations where you want to get a call through a busy
switchboard. Remember it for airline and bus information.
WALL PAINTING
One of the best forms of free communication is painting messages
on a blank wall. The message must be short and bold. You want
to be able to paint it on before the pigs come and yet have
it large enough so that people can see it at a distance. Cans
of spray paint that you can pick up at any hardware store
work best. Pick spots that have lot of traffic. Exclamation
points are good for emphasis. If you are writing the same
message, make a stencil. You can make a stencil that says
WAR and spray it on with white paint under the word "STOP"
on stop signs. You can stencil a five-pointed star and using
yellow paint, spray it on the dividing line between the red
and blue on all post office boxes. This simulates the flag
of the National Liberation Front of Vietnam. You can stencil
a marijuana leaf and using green paint, spray it over cigarette
and whisky billboards on buses and subways. The women's liberation
sign with red paint is good for sexist ads. Sometimes you
will wish to exhibit great daring in your choice of locations.
When the Vietnamese hero Nguyen Van Troi was executed, the
Viet Cong put up a poster the next day on the exact spot inside
the highest security prison in the country.
Wall postering allows you to get more information before
the public than a quickly scribbled slogan. Make sure the
surface is smooth or finely porous. Smear the back of the
poster with condensed milk, spread on with a brush, sponge,
rag or your hands. Condensed milk dries very fast and hard.
Also smear some on the front once the poster is up to give
protection against the weather and busy fingers that like
to pull at corners. Wallpaper pastes also work quickly and
efficiently. It's best to work both painting and postering
at night with a look-out. This way you can work the best
spots without being harassed by the pig patrol, which is
usually unappreciative of Great Art.
USE OF THE FLAG
The generally agreed upon flag of our nation is black with
a red, five pointed star behind a green marijuana leaf in
the center. It is used by groups that understand the correct
use of culture and symbolism in a revolutionary struggle.
When displayed, it immediately increases the feelings of solidarity
between our brothers and sisters. High school kids have had
great fights over which flag to salute in school. A sign of
any liberated zone is the flag being flown. Rock concerts
and festivals have their generally apolitical character instantly
changed when the flag is displayed. The political theoreticians
who do not recognize the flag and the importance of the culture
it represents are ostriches who are ignorant of basic human
nature. Throughout history people have fought for religion,
life-style, land, a flag (nation), because they were ordered
to, for fortune, because they were attacked or for the hell
of it. If you don't think the flag is important, ask the hardhats.
RADIO
Want to construct your own neighborhood radio station? You
can get a carrier-current transmitter designed by a group
of brothers and sisters called Radio Free People. No FCC license
is required for the range is less than 1/2 mile. The small
transistorized units plug into any wall outlet. Write Radio
Free People, 133 Mercer St., New York, New York 10012 for
more details. For further information see the chapter on Guerrilla
Broadcasting later in the book.
FREE TELEPHONES
Ripping off the phone company is so common that Bell Telephone
has a special security division that tries to stay just a
little ahead of the average free-loader. Many great devices
like the coat hanger release switch have been scrapped because
of changes in the phone box. Even the credit card fake-out
is doomed to oblivion as the company switches to more computerized
techniques. ln our opinion, as long as there is a phone company,
and as long as there are outlaws, nobody need ever pay for
a call. In 1969 alone the phone company estimated that over
10 million dollars worth of free calls were placed from New
York City. Nothing, however, compares with the rip-off of
the people by the phone company. In that same year, American
Telephone and Telegraph made a profit of 8.6 billion dollars!
AT&T, like all public utilities, passes itself off as
a service owned by the people, while in actuality nothing
could be further from the truth. Only a small percentage of
the public owns stock in these companies and a tiny elite
clique makes all the policy decisions. Ripping-off the phone
company is an act of revolutionary love, so help spread the
word.
PAY PHONES
You can make a local 10 cent call for 2 cents by spitting
on the pennies and dropping them in the nickel slot. As soon
as they are about to hit the trigger mechanism, bang the coin-return
button. Another way is to spin the pennies counter-clockwise
into the nickel slot. Hold the penny in the slot with your
finger and snap it spinning with a key or other flat object.
Both systems take a certain knack, but once you've perfected
the technique, you'll always have it in your survival kit.
If two cents is too much, how about a call for 1 penny?
Cut a 1/4 strip off the telephone book cover. Insert the
cardboard strip into the dime slot as far as it will go.
Drop a penny in the nickel slot until it catches in the
mechanism (spinning will help). Then slowly pull the strip
out until you hear the dial tone.
A number 14 brass washer with a small piece of scotch tape
over one side of the hole will not only get a free call,
but works in about any vending machine that takes dimes.
You can get a box of thousands for about a dollar at any
hardware store. You should always have a box around for
phones, laundromats, parking meters and drink machines.
Bend a bobby pin after removing the plastic from the tips
and jab it down into the transmitter (mouthpiece). When
it presses against the metal diaphragm, rub it on a metal
wall or pipe to ground it. When you've made contact you'll
hear the dial tone. If the phone uses old-fashioned rubber
black tubing to enclose the wires running from the headset
to the box, you can insert a metal tack through the tubing,
wiggle it around a little until it makes contact with the
bare wires and touch the tack to a nearby metal object for
grounding.
Put a dime in the phone, dial the operator and tell her
you have ten cents credit. She'll return your dime and get
your call for free. If she asks why, say you made a call
on another pay phone, lost the money, and the operator told
you to switch phones and call the credit operator.
This same method works for long distance calls. Call the
operator and find out the rate for your call. Hang up and
call another operator telling her you just dialed San Francisco
direct, got a wrong number and lost $.95 or whatever it
is. She will get your call free of charge.
If there are two pay phones next to each other, you can
call long distance on one and put the coins in the other.
When the operator cuts in and asks you to deposit money,
drop the coins into the one you are not using, but hold
the receiver up to the slots so the operator can hear the
bells ring. When you've finished, you can simply press the
return button on the phone with the coins in it and out
they come. If you have a good tape recorder you can record
the sounds of a quarter, dime and nickel going into a pay
phone and play them for the operator in various combinations
when she asks for the money. Turn the volume up as loud
as you can get it.
You can make a long distance call and charge it to a phone
number. Simply tell the operator you want to bill the call
to your home phone because you don't have the correct change.
Tell her there is no one there now to verify the call, but
you will be home in an hour and she can call you then if
there is any question. Make sure the exchange goes with
the area you say it does.
Always have a number of made-up credit card numbers. The
code letter for 1970 is S, then seven digits of the phone
number and a three digit district number (not the same as
area code). The district number should be under 599. Example:
S-573-2100-421 or S-537-3402-035. Look up the phone numbers
for your area by simply requesting a credit card for your
home phone which is very easy to get and then using the
last three numbers with another phone number. Usually making
up exotic numbers from far away places will work quite well
as it would be impossible for an operator to spot a phony
number in the short time she has to check her list.
We advise against making phony credit card calls on a home
phone. We have seen a gadget that you install between the
wall socket and the cord which not only allows you to receive
all the calls you want for free, but eliminates the most
common form of electronic bugging. They are being manufactured
and sold for fifty dollars by a disgruntled telephone engineer
in Massachusetts. Unfortunately you are going to have to
find him on your own or duplicate his efforts, for he has
sworn us to secrecy. If someone does, however, offer you
such a device, it probably does work. Test it by installing
it and having someone call you from a pay phone. If it's
working, the person should get their dime back at the end
of the call.
Actually if you know the slightest information about wiring,
you can have your present phone disconnected on the excuse
that you'll be leaving town for a few months and then connect
the wires into the main trunk lines on your own. Extensions
can easily be attached to your main line without the phone
company knowing about it.
You can make all the free long distance calls you want
by calling your party collect at a pay phone. Just have
your friend go to a prearranged phone booth at a prearranged
time. This can be done on the spot by having the friend
call you person to person. Say you're not in, but ask for
the number calling you since you'll be "back" in five minutes.
Once you get the number simply hang up, wait a moment and
call back your friend collect. The call has to be out of
the state to work, since operators are familiar with the
special extension numbers assigned to pay phones for her
area and possibly for nearby areas as well. If she asks
you if it is a pay phone say no. If she finds out during
the call (which rarely happens) and informs you of this,
simply say you didn't expect the party to have a pay phone
in his house and accept the charges. We have never heard
of this happening though. The trick of calling person-to-person
collect should always be used when calling long distance
on home-to-home phones also. You can hear the voice of your
friend saying that he'll be back in a few minutes. Simply
hang up, wait a moment and call station to station, thereby
getting a person-to-person call without the extra charges
which can be considerable on a long call during business
hours.
If you plan to stay at your present address for only a
few more months, stop paying the bill and call like crazy.
After a month you get the regular bill which you avoid paying.
Another month goes by and the next bill comes with last
month's balance added to it. Shortly thereafter you get
a note advising you that your service will be terminated
in ten days if you don't pay the bill. Wait a few days and
send them a five or ten dollar money order with a note saying
you've had an accident and are pressed for funds because
of large medical bills, but you'll send them the balance
as soon as you are up and around again. That will hold them
for another month. In all, you can stretch it out for four
or five months with a variety of excuses and small payments.
This also works with the gas and electric companies and
with any department stores you conned into letting you charge.
You can get the service deposit reduced to half of the
normal rate if you are a student or have other special qualifications.
Surprisingly, these rates and discounts vary from area to
area, so check around before you go into the business office
for your phone. There is an incredible 50 cents charge per
month for not having your phone listed. If you want an unlisted
phone, you can avoid this fee by having the phone listed
in a fictitious name, even if the bill is sent to you. Just
say you want your roommate's name listed instead of your
own.
FREE PLAY
MOVIES AND CONCERTS
There are many ways to sneak into theaters, concerts, stadiums
and other entertainment houses. All these places have numerous
fire exits with push-bar doors that open easily from the inside.
Arrive early with a group of friends, after casing the joint
and selecting the most convenient exit. Pay for one person
to get in. When he does he simply opens the designated exit
door when the ushers are out of the area and everyone rushes
inside.
For theatrical chains in large cities, call their home
office and ask to speak to the vice-president in charge
of publicity, sales, or personnel. Ask what his name is
so you'll know who you're talking to. When you get the information
you want, hang up. Now you have the name of a high official
in the company. Compile a short list of officials in the
various film, theater and sporting event companies. Next
all the various theaters and do the same thing for the theater
managers. Once you have the two lists you are ready to proceed.
Call the theater you want to attend. When someone answers
say you're Mr. __________ from the home office calling Mr.
__________ (manager's name) and you'd like to have two passes
O.K'd for two important people from out of town. Invariably
she'll just ask their names or tell them to mention your
name at the box office. Not only will you get in free, but
you can avoid waiting in line with this fake-out.
In Los Angeles and New York, the studios hold pre-release
screenings for all movies. If you know roughly when a movie
is about to come out, call the publicity department of the
studio producing the film and say you're the critic for
a newspaper or magazine (give the name) and ask them when
you can screen the film. They'll give you the time and place
of various screenings. When you go, ask them to put you
on their list and you'll get notices of all future screenings.
One of our favorite ways to sneak into a theater with continuously
running shows is the following. Arrive just as the show
is emptying out and join the line leaving the theater. Exclaiming,
"Oh, my gosh!" you slap your forehead, turn around and return,
tell the usher you left your hat, pocketbook, etc. inside.
Once you're inside the theater, just swipe some popcorn
and wait for the next show.
RECORDS AND BOOKS
If you have access to a few addresses, you can get all kinds
of records and books from clubs on introductory offers. Since
the cards you mail back are not signed there is no legal way
you can be held for the bill. You get all sorts of threatening
mail, which, by the way, also comes free.
If you have a friend who is a member of a record club,
ask him to submit your name as a free member. He gets 4
free records for getting you signed up. A soon as you get
the letter saying how lucky you are to be a member, quit.
Your friend's free records have already been shipped. We
used to have at least 10 different names and addresses working
on all the record and book companies. Every other day we
would ride around collecting the big packages. To cap it
off, we opened a credit account at a large department store
and used to return most of the records and books to the
store saying that they were gifts and we wanted something
else. Since we had an account at the store, they always
took the merchandise and gave credit for future purchases.
You can always use the public libraries. Find out when
they do their yearly housecleaning. Every library discards
thousands of books on this day. Just show up and ask if
you can take some.
Almost anything you might want to know from plans for constructing
a sundial to a complete blueprint for building a house may
be obtained free from the Government Printing Office. Write:
to Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,
Washington D.C. 20402. Most publication are free. Those
that are not are dirt cheap. Ask to be put on the list to
receive the free biweekly list of Selected U.S. Government
Publications.
One of the best ways to receive records and books free
is to invest twenty dollars and print up some stationery
with an artistic logo for some non-existent publication.
Write to all the public relations departments of record
companies, publishing houses, and movie studios. Say you
are a newspaper with a large youth readership and have regular
reviews of books, or records, or movies, and would like
to be placed on their mailing list. Say that you would be
glad to send them any reviews of their records that appear
in the paper. That adds a note of authenticity to the letter.
After a month or so you'll be receiving more records and
books than you can use.
If you really want a book badly enough, follow the title
of this one-Dig!
FREE MONEY
No book on survival should fail to give you some good tips
on how to rip-off bread. Really horning in on this chapter
will put you on Free-loader Street life, 'cause with all the
money in Amerika, the only thing you'll have trouble getting
is poor.
WELFARE
It's easy to get on welfare that anyone who is broke and doesn't
have a regular relief check coming in is nothing but a goddamn
lazy bum! Each state has a different set up. The racist penny-pinchers
of Mississippi dole out only $8.00 a month. New York dishes
ont the most with monthly payments up to $120.00. The Amerikan
Public Welfare Association publishes a book called The Public
Welfare Directory with information on exactly what each welfare
agency provides and how you go about qualifying. You can read
the directory at any public library to find out all you can
about how your local office operates.
When you've discovered everything you need to know, head
on down to the Welfare Department in your grubbiest clothes.
Not sleeping the night before helps. The receptionist will
assign an "intaker" to interview you. After a long wait,
you'll be directed to a desk. The intaker raps to you for
a while, generally showing sympathy for your plight and
turns you over to the caseworker who will make the final
and ultimate assessment.
Have your heaviest story ready to ooze out. If you have
no physical disabilities, lay down a "mentally deranged"
rap. Getting medical papers saying you have any long-term
illness or defect helps a lot. Tell the caseworker you get
dizzy spells on the job and faint in the street. Keep bobbing
your head, yawning, or scratching. Tell him that you have
tried to commit suicide recently because you just can't
make it in a world that has forgotten how to love. Don't
lay it on too obviously. Wait till he "pries" some of the
details from you. This makes the story even more convincing.
Many welfare workers are young and hip. The image you are
working on is that of a warm, sensitive kid victimized by
brutal parents and a cold ruthless society. Tell them you
held off coming for months because you wanted to maintain
some self-respect even though have been walking the streets
broke and hungry. If you are a woman tell him you were recently
raped. In sexist Amerika, this will probably be true.
After about an hour or so of this soap-opera stuff, you'll
be ready to get your first check. From then on it's a monthly
check, complete medical care for free and all sorts of other
outasight benefits. Occasionally the caseworker will drop
by your pad or ask you down to the office to see how you're
coming along, but with your condition, things don't look
so good. Don't abandon hope though. Hope always helps fill
in a caseworker's report.
The real trick is to parlay welfare payments in a few different
states. Work out an exchange system with a buddy and mail
each other the checks when they come in. If the caseworker
comes by, your roommate can say you went to find a job or
enrolled in a class. We know cats who have parlayed welfare
payments up to six hundred dollars a month.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Every outlaw should learn everything there is to know about
the rules governing unemployment insurance. As in the case
of welfare rules, eligibility, and the size of payments differ
from state to state. In New York, you are eligible for payments
equivalent to half your weekly salary before taxes up to $65
per week, on the condition that you have worked for a minimum
of twenty weeks during the year. Payments are somewhat lower
in most other states. In order to collect, you must show you
are actively searching for a job and keep a record of employers
you contact. This can easily be fudged. Every time you're
questioned about it, mention one or two companies. If your
hair is long, you'll have no problem. Just say they won't
hire you until you get a haircut. When this is the case, the
unemployment office cannot cut off your payments or your hair.
They also cannot make you accept a job you do not want. Tell
them any job offer you get is not challenging enough for your
talents. Unemployment can be collected for six months before
payments are terminated. Twenty more weeks of slavery and
you can go back to maintaining your dignity in the unemployment
line. These job insurance payments cannot be taxed and since
you are working so few weeks out of each year, your taxable
income is at a minimum. Read all the fine print for tax form
1040 and discover all the deductible loopholes available to
you. You should wind up paying no taxes at all or having all
the taxes that were deducted from your pay reimbursed. Never
turn over to the pig government any funds you can rip off.
Remember, it isn't your government, so why submit to its taxation
if you feel you do not have representation.
PANHANDLING
The practice of going up to folks and bumming money is a basic
hustling art. If you are successful at panhandling, you'll
be able to master all the skills in the book and then some.
To be good at it requires a complete knowledge of what motivates
people. Even if we don't need the bread, we panhandle on the
streets in the same way doctors go back to medical school.
It helps us stay in shape. Panhandling is illegal throughout
Pig Empire, but it's one of those laws that is rarely enforced
unless they want to "clean the area" of hippies. If you're
in a strange locale, ask a fellow panhandler what the best
places to work are without risking a bust. Do it in front
of supermarkets, theaters, sporting events, hip dress shops
and restaurants. College cafeterias are very good hunting
grounds.
When you're hustling, be assertive. Don't lean against
the wall with your palm out mumbling "Spare some change?"
Go up to people and stand directly in front of them so they
have to look you in the eye and say no. Bum from guys with
dates. Bum from motherly looking types. After a while you'll
get a sense of the type of people you get results with.
Theater can be real handy. The best actors get the most
bread. Devising a street theater skit can help. A good prop
is a charity canister. You can get them by going to the
offices of a mainstream charity and signing up as a collector.
Don't feel bad about ripping them off. Charities are the
biggest swindle around. 80% or more of the funds raised
by honky charities go to the organization itself. New fancy
cars for the Red Cross, inflated salaries for the executives
of the Cancer Fund, tax write-offs for Jerry Lewis. You
get the picture. A good way to work this and keep your karma
in shape is to turn over half to a revolutionary groups
such as your local underground. Remember, fugitives from
injustice depend on you to survive. Be a responsible member
of our nation. Support the only war we have going!
RIP-OFFS
If you are closing out your checking account, overdraw your
account by $10.00. The bank won't bother chasing you down
for a lousy 10 bucks.
Call the telephone operator from time to time and tell
her you lost some change in a pay phone. They will mail
you the cash.
You can get $150 to $600 in advance by willing your body
to a University medical school. They have you sign a lot
of papers and put a tattoo on your foot. You can get the
tattoo removed and sell your body to the folks across the
street. The universities can be ripped off by enrolling,
applying for a loan and bugging out after the loan comes
through. This is a lot easier than you might imagine and
you can hit them for up to $2,500 with a good enough story.
Put a number 14 brass washer in a newspaper vending machine
and take out all the papers. Stand around the corner or
go into the local bar and sell them. You often get tipped.
Don't do this with underground papers. Remember they're
your brothers and sisters.
The airlines will give you $250 for each piece of luggage
you lose when flying. The following is a good way to lose
your luggage. When you get off a plane, have a friend meet
you at the gate. Give him your luggage claim stubs and arrange
to meet at a washroom or restaurant. Your friend picks up
the bags and takes them out of the baggage room. Before
he leaves the airport, he turns over the stubs to you at
your prearranged rendezvous. You casually wander over to
the baggage department and search for your elusive luggage.
When all the baggage has been claimed, file a complaint
with the lost and found department. They'll have you fill
out a form, explain that it probably got misplaced on another
carrier and promise to send it to you as soon as it is located.
In a month you'll receive a check for $250 per bag. Enjoy
your flight.
THE INTERNATIONAL YIPPIE CURRENCY EXCHANGE
Every time you drop a coin into a slot, you are losing money
needlessly. There is at least one foreign coin that is the
same size or close enough that will do the trick for less
than a penny. The following are some of the foreign currencies
that will get you that Coke, call or subway ride.
Quarter Size Coins
- URUGUAYAN 10 CENTISIMO PIECE
- works in many soda and candy machines, older telephones
(3 slot types), toll machines, laundromats, parking
meters, stamp machines, and restroom novelty machines.
Works also in some electric cancerette machines but
not most mechanical machines.
- DANISH 5 ORE PIECE
- works in 3 slot telephones, toll machines, laundromats,
automats, some stamp machines, most novelty machines,
and the Boston Subway. Does not work in soda or cancerette
machines.
- PERUVIAN 20 CENTAVO PIECES
- works in new (one slot) telephone and some electric
cancerette machines, but does not work as many places
in the Uruguay, Danish and Peruvian coins.
- ICELANDIC 5 AURAN PIECE
- most effective quarter in the world, even works in
change machines. Unfortunately, this coin is practically
impossible to get outside of Iceland and even there,
it is becoming difficult since the government is attempting
to remove it from circulation.
Dime Size Coins
- MALAYSIAN PENNY
- generally works in all dime slots, including old
and new telephones, candy machines, soda machines, electric
machines, stamp machines, parking meters, photocopy
machines, and pay toilets. Does not work in some newer
stamp dispensers, and some mechanical cancerette machines.
- TRINIDAD PENNY
- generally works the same as Malaysian Penny.
New York Subway Tokens
- DANISH 25 ORE PIECE
- works in 95% of all subway turnstiles. A very safe
coin to use since it will not jam the turnstile. It
is 5/l000th of an inch bigger than a token.
- PORTUGUESE 50 CENTAVO PIECE
- the average Portuguese Centavo Piece is 2/1000th
of an inch smaller than a token.
- JAMAICAN HALF PENNY, BAHAMA PENNY and AUSTRALIAN SCHILLING
- these coins are 12/l000th to 15/1000th of an inch
smaller than token. They work in about 80% of all turnstiles.
We have also had good success with FRENCH l FRANC PIECE
(WWII issue), SPANISH l0 CENTAVO PIECE NICARAGUAN 25
CENTAVO PIECE.
All of the coins listed have a currency value of a few cents,
with most less than one penny. Foreign coins work more regularly
than slugs and are non-magnetic, hence cannot be detected
by "slug detector machines." Also unlike slugs, although they
are illegal to use in machines, they are perfectly legal to
possess and exchange.
Large coin dealers and currency exchanges are generally
uptight about handling cheap foreign coins in quantity since
they don't make much profit and are subject to certain pressures
in selling coins that are the same size as Amerikan coins
or tokens.
People planning trips to European or South American countries
should bring back rolls of coins as souvenirs or for use
in "coin jewelry."
If you do not plan to travel, a small coin store which
is cool about selling to the public is located on the Lower
East Side at 191 East Third Street, New York City. When
their phone works, the number is 475-9897.
Washers are the most popular types of slugs. You can go
to any hardware store and match them up with various coins.
Sometimes you might have to put a small piece of scotch
tape over one side of the hole to make it more effective.
Each washer is identified by its material and number, i.e.
No. 14 brass washer with scotch tape on one side is a perfect
dime. When you get the ones you want, you can buy thousands
for next to nothing (especially at industrial supply stores)
and pass them out to our friends.
Xerox copies of both sides of a dollar bill, carefully
glued together, work in most machines that give you change
for a dollar. Excuse us, there is a knock at the door. .
.Fancy that! It's the Treasury Department. Wonder what they
want?
FREE DOPE
BUYING, SELLING AND GIVING IT AWAY
As you probably know, most dope is illegal, therefore some
risks are always involved in buying and selling. "Eternal
vigilance and constant mobility are the passwords of survival,"
said Che Guevara, and nowhere do they apply more than in the
world of dope. If you ever have the slightest doubt about
the person with whom you're dealing-DON'T.
Buying
In the purchasing of dope, arrests are not a problem unless
you're the fall guy for a bust on the dealer. The major
hazard is getting burned. Buy from a friend or a reputable
dealer. If you have to do business with a stranger, be extra
careful. Never front money. One of the burn artist's tricks
is to take your money, tell you to wait and split with your
dough. There are various side show gimmicks each burn artist
works. The most common is to ask you to walk with them a
few blocks and then stop in front of an apartment building.
He then tells you the dope is upstairs and asks you to hand
over the money in advance. He explains that his partner
is the real uptight 'cause they were raided once and won't
let anybody in the pad. He takes your dough and disappears
inside the building. Out the back door or up to the roof
and into his getaway helicopter. You are left on the sidewalk
with anxious eyes and that "can this really be happening
to me" feeling.
Another burn method is to substitute oregano, parsley or
catnip for pot, camel shit for hash, saccharin or plain
pills for acid. If you got burned for heroin or speed, you're
better off being taken, because these are body-fuck drugs
that can mess you up badly. The people that deal them are
total pigs and should be regarded as such. When you're buying
from strangers, you have a right to sample the merchandise
free unless it's coke. Check the weight of grass with a
small pocket scale. Feel the texture and check out how well
it has been cleaned of seeds and twigs. Smoke a joint that
is rolled from the stuff you get. Don't accept the dealer's
sample that he pulled out of his pocket. When you are buying
a large amount of acid, pick a sample. You should never
buy acid from a stranger as it is too easy a burn.
If you buy cocaine, bring along a black light. Only the
imparities glow under its fluorescence, thus giving you
an idea of the quality of the coke. Make sure it's the real
thing. Sniffing coke can perforate your nasal passages,
so be super moderate. Too much will kill you. A little bit
goes a long way.
Selling
Dealing, although dangerous, is a tax-free way of surviving
even though it borders on work. The best way to start is
to save up a little bread and buy a larger quantity than
you usually get. Then deal out smaller amounts to your friends.
The fewer strangers you deal with, the safer you are. The
price of dope varies with the amount of stuff on the market
in your area, the heat the narks are bringing down and the
connections you have. A rough scale, say, for pot is $20
an ounce, $125 a pound and $230 a kilo (2.2 pounds). The
price per ounce decreases depending on the amount you get.
It's true you make more profit selling by the ounces, but
the hassle is greater and the more contacts you must make
increases the risk. Screwing your customers will prove to
be bad karma (unless you consider dying groovy), so stick
to honest dealing. Never deal from your pad and avoid keeping
your stash there. Get into searching out the best markets
which are generally in California, given its close proximity
to good ol' Mexico. Kansas is a big distribution center
for Mexican grass, too. You can ship the stuff (safer than
carrying) via air freight anywhere in the country for about
$30 a trunk. Keep the sending and receiving end looking
straight. We have one friend who wears a priest's outfit
to ship and receive dope. In fact, every time we see nuns
or priests on the street, we assume they're outlaws just
on their way to the next deal or bombing. For all we know,
the church actually is nothing but a huge dope ring in drag.
Anybody gotten high off communion wafers lately?
When you talk about deals on the phone, be cool. Make references
to theater tickets or subscriptions. Don't keep extensive
notes on your activities and contacts. Use code names where
you can. Never deal with two other people present. Only
you and the buyer should be in the immediate vicinity. Narks
make busts in pairs so one can be the arresting officer
and the other can be a court witness. Dealing is a paradox
of unloading a good amount of shit but not trying to move
too fast; of making ne contacts but being careful of strangers;
of dealing high quality and low prices; and of being simultaneously
bold and cautious. If you get nabbed, get the best lawyer
who specializes in dope busts. First offenders rarely end
up serving time, but it's a different story for repeaters.
Know how punitive the courts are and which judges and prosecutors
can be bought off. Never deal in the month before an election.
For complete information on how to avoid getting busted
and what to do if busted, read The Drug Bust (listed in
appendix).
Giving It Away
Giving dope away can be a real mind-blower. Every dealer
should submit to voluntary taxation by the new Nation. If
you are a conscientious dealer, you should be willing and
eager to give a good hunk of your stash away at special
events or to groups into free distribution. You should also
be able to give bread to bust trusts set up to bail out
heads unable to get up the ransom money the whisky lush
courts demand. Many groups have done huge mailings of joints
to all sorts of people. A group in New York mailed 30,000
to people in the phone book on one Valentine's Day. A group
in Los Angeles placed over 2,000 joints in library books
and then advised kids to smoke a book during National Library
Week. Be cool about even giving stuff away since that counts
as dealing in most states. John Sinclair, Chairman of the
White Panther Party, is serving 9½ to 10 years for
giving away two joints.
GROW YOUR OWN
Pot is a weed and as such grows in all climates under every
kind of soil condition. We have seen acres and acres of grass
growing in Kansas, Iowa and New Jersey. If you're not located
next door to a large pot field growing in the wild, maybe
you would have some success in growing your own. It's well
worth it to try your potluck!
The first thing is to start with a bunch of good-quality
seeds from grass that you really dig. Select the largest
seeds and place them between two heavy-duty napkins or ink
blotters in a pan. Soak the napkins with water until completely
saturated. Cover the top of the pan or place it in a dark
closet for three days or until a sprout about a half inch
long appears from most of the seeds.
During this incubation period, you can prepare the seedling
bed. Use a low wooden box such as a tomato flat and fill
it with an inch of gravel. Fill the rest of the box with
some soil mixed with a small amount of fertilizer. Moisten
the soil until water seeps out the bottom of the box, then
level the soil making a flat surface. With a pencil, punch
holes two inches apart in straight rows. You can get about
2 dozen in a tomato flat.
When the incubation period is over, take those seeds that
have an adequate sprout and plant one in each hole. The
sprout goes down and the seed part should be a little above
ground. Tamp the soil firmly (do not pack) around each plant
as you insert the sprouts.
The seedlings should remain in their boxes in a sunny window
until about mid-May. They should receive enough water during
this period to keep the soil moist. By the time they are
ready to go into the ground, the green plants should be
about six to eight inches tall.
If it is late winter or early spring and you have a plot
of land that gets enough sun and is sheltered from nosy
neighbors, you should definitely grow grass in the great
outdoors.
One idea is to plant sunflowers in your garden as these
grow taller than the pot plants and camouflage them from
view. The best idea is to find some little-used field and
plant a section of it.
Prepare the land the way you would for any garden vegetable.
Dig up the ground with a pitchfork or heavy duty rake, removing
rocks. Rake the plot level and punch holes in the soil about
three inches deep and about two feet apart in the same way
you did in the seedling boxes. Remove the young plants from
the box, being careful not to disturb the roots and keeping
as much soil intact as possible. Transplant each plant into
one of the punched-out holes and firmly press the soil to
hold it in place. When all the plants are in the ground,
water the entire area. Tend them the way you would any other
garden. They should reach a height of about six feet by
the end of the summer and be ready to harvest.
If you don't have access to a field, you can grow good
stuff right in your own closet or garage using artificial
lighting. Transplant the plants into larger wooden boxes
or flower boxes. Be sure and cover the bottom of each box
with a few inches of pebbles or broken pottery before you
add the soil. This will insure proper drainage. Fertilize
the soil according to the instructions on the box and punch
out holes in much the same way you would do if you were
growing outside. After the young plants have been transplanted
and watered thoroughly, you will have to rig up a lighting
system. Use blue light bulbs, which are available at hardware
stores for the first thirty days. These insure a shorter,
sturdier stalk. Leave the lights on 24 hours a day and place
them about a foot above the tops of the plants. If the plants
begin to feel brittle or turn yellow at the edges, then
the temperature is too hot. Use less illumination or raise
the height of the lamp if this occurs.
After the first thirty days, change to red bulbs and cut
down the lighting time to 16 hours a day. After a week,
reduce the time to 14 hours and then on the third week to
12 hours. Maintain this lighting period until the plants
flower. The female plants have a larger and heavier flower
structure and the males are somewhat skimpy. The female
plant produces the stronger grass and the choicest parts
are the top leaves including the flowers.
Inside or outside, the plants will be best if allowed to
reach maturity, although they are smokeable at any point
along the way. When you want to harvest the crop, wet the
soil and pull out the entire plant. If you want to separate
the top leaves from the rest, you can do so and make two
qualities of grass. In any event, let the plants dry in
the sun for two weeks until they are thoroughly dried out.
If you want to hurry the drying process, you can do it in
an oven using a very low heat for about twenty minutes.
After you've completed the drying, you can "cure'" the grass
by putting the plants in plastic bags and sprinkling drops
of wine, rum or plain booze on them. This greatly increases
the potency.
There are two other ways that we know work to increase
the potency of grass you grow or buy. One consists of digging
a hole and burying a stash of grass wrapped in a plastic
bag. A few months in the ground will produce a mouldy grass
that is far fuckin' out. A quick method is to get a hunk
of dry ice, put it in a metal container or box with a tight
lid (taping the lid airtight helps), and sprinkling the
grass on top. Allow it to sit tightly covered for about
three days until all the dry ice evaporates.
ASSORTED FREEBIES
LAUNDRY
Wait in a laundromat. Tell someone with a light load that
you'll watch the machine for them if you can stick your clothes
in with theirs.
PETS
Your local ASPCA will give you a free dog, cat, bird or other
pet. Have them inspect and inoculate the animal which they
will do free of charge. You can get free or very cheap medical
care for your pet at a school for veterinary medicine.
Underground newspapers often carry a free-pets column in
the back pages. Snakes can be caught in any wooded area
and they make great pets. You can collect insects pretty
easy. Ants are unbelievable to watch. You can make a simple
3/4 inch wide glass case about a foot high, fill it with
sand and start an ant colony. A library book will tell you
how to care for them.
Every year the National Park Service gives away surplus
elks in order to keep the herds under its jurisdiction from
outgrowing the amount of available land for grazing. Write
to: Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone,
Wyoming 83020. You must be prepared to pay the freight charges
for shipping the animal and guarantee that you can provide
enough grazing land to keep the big fellow happy.
Under the same arrangement the government will send you
a Free Buffalo. Write to: Office of Information, Department
of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20420. So many people
have written them recently demanding their Free Buffalo,
that they called a press conference to publicly attack the
Yippies for creating chaos in the government. Don't take
any buffalo shit from these petty bureaucrats, demand the
real thing. Demand your Free Buffalo.
You can get a free l6mm movie about parakeets called "More
Fun with Parakeets," by writing to: R.T. French Co., 9068
Mustard St., Rochester, New York 14609. This great film
won an Academy Award for best picture of 1793.
POSTERS
Beautiful wall posters are available by writing to the National
Tourist Agencies of various countries. Most are located between
42nd and 59th Streets on Fifth Ave. in New York City. You
can find their addresses in the New York Yellow Pages under
both National Tourist Agencies and Travel Agencies. There
are over fifty of them. Prepare a form letter saying you are
a high school geography teacher and would like some posters
of the country to decorate your classroom. In a month you
will be flooded with them. Airline companies also have colorful
wall posters they send out free.
SECURITY
For this trick you need some money to begin with. Deposit
it in a bank and return in a few weeks telling them you lost
your bank book. They give you a card to fill out and sign
and in a week you will receive another book. Now withdraw
your money, leaving you with original money and a bank book
showing a balance. You can use this as identification to prevent
vagrancy busts when traveling, as collateral for bail, or
for opening a charge account at a store.
Another trick is to buy some American Travelers Checks.
Wait a week and report your checks lost. They'll give you
new ones to replace the missing ones. You spend your new
checks and keep the ones you reported lost as security.
This security is great for international travel especially
at border crossings. If you want, you can spend the Travelers
Checks by giving them to a friend to forge your name. Before
you call the office to report the loss, call the police
station and say you were mugged and your wallet was stolen.
The agency always asks if you have reported the lost checks
to the police, so you can safely answer yes. Never do this
for more than five hundred dollars and never more than once
with any one company.
POSTAGE
When mailing to the same city, address the envelope or package
to yourself and put the name of the person you are sending
it to where the return address generally goes. Mail it without
postage and it will be "returned" to the sender. Because almost
all letters are machine processed, any stamp that is the correct
size will pass. Easter Seals and a variety of other type stamps
usually get by the electronic scanner. If you put the stamp
on a spot other than the far upper right corner, it will not
be cancelled and can be used again by the person who gets
your letter. If you have a friend working in a large corporation,
you can run your organization's mail through their postage
meter.
Those ridiculous free introductory or subscription type
letters that you get in the mail often have a postage-guaranteed
return postcard for your convenience. The next one you get,
paste it on a brick and drop it in the mailbox. The company
is required by law to pay the postage. You can also get
rid of all your garbage this way.
MAPS
You can get a free full-color World Atlas by writing to Hammond
Inc. Maplewood, New Jersey 07040.
MINISTRY
Unquestionably one of the best deals going is becoming a minister
in the Universal Life Church. They will send you absolutely
free, bona fide ordination papers. These entitle you to all
sorts of discounts and tax exemptions. Right now, sit down
and write to Universal Life Church Inc., 601 3rd St., Modesto,
California 95351. Try cutting out the card on the following
page and laminate it. Let us know how it works out.
ATROCITIES
Join the Army!
VETERAN'S BENEFITS
Write to the Veteran's Administration Information Service,
Washington, D.C. 20420 asking them for the free services they
provide for veterans. Send fifteen cents to the Government
Printing Office for their booklet Federal Benefits Available
to Veterans and Their Dependents.
WATCH
A $330 Bulova sport timer accurate to 1/10 of a second will
be lent free to judges and referees to time any amateur sporting
event. Call your local authorized Bulova dealer and get one
lent to you under a phony name. Tell them you want to time
an orgy.
VACATIONS
There are many ways to take a free vacation, but here's one
you might not have considered. It's an all-expenses paid trip
to Las Vegas for absolutely nothing. Call a travel agent and
request information about Las Vegas gambling junkets (you'll
probably have to hunt around because this practice is being
curtailed). Different hotels have different deals, but the
average one runs something like this: If you agree to buy
$500 worth of chips that can only be spent on gambling tables
of the host hotel, they will fly you round trip, pay all hotel
and food bills and provide you with a rented car. Go with
a close friend and check into the hotel. Once at the roulette
or craps table, you and your friend bet the same amount of
chips against each other on even-paying chances. For example,
he would bet on red and you on black. When either of you wins,
you keep the house chips; when you lose, turn in the specially
marked chips that cannot be cashed in. What you are doing
is simply exchanging the chips you came with for house chips
that you can cash in for real dough. Theoretically your two
vacations should cost $23.00 if you do the betting at the
crap table and $52.00 if you bet even chances at roulette.
That is because the house wins if 0 or 00 comes up in roulette
and if 12 comes up on the first roll of the dice, but it sure
is a hell of a vacation for two for $23.00, and you get free
champagne on some flights.
You can get half a vacation free by going to the Amerikan
Embassy or Consulate in the country you find yourself in
and claim that you're destitute. There is a law on the books
that says they have to send you away, but be persistent.
Make up a story about how your parents are away from home
traveling. Say you got mugged or something and you are about
to go to the newspapers with your story. Eventually they'll
get you a free plane ticket. They stamp your passport invalid
though, and you have to pay the government back before you
can use it again.
DRINKS
When hitching, it's a good idea to carry a bottle opener and
a straw. You take the caps off soda bottles while they're
still in the machine and drink them dry without ever touching
the bottle.
BURIALS
For ways to avoid the high cost of dying in Amerika, write
to: Continental Association, 39 East Van Buren St., Chicago,
Ill. 60605. Send them $1.00 for the Manual of Simple Burial
and 25¢ for a list of Memorial Associates.
ASTRODOME PICTURES
Don't you just have to have a huge, glossy color photo of
Houston's famed Astrodome to show all your friends? Use the
teacher bit and write to: Greater Houston Convention and Visitors
Council, 1600 Main St., Houston, Texas 77002.
DIPLOMA
Above the paper towel dispenser in a service station restroom
was written: "San Francisco State Diplomas." If you really
need a college or a high school diploma, send $2.00 to Glenco,
Box 834, Warren, Michigan 48090. They send you one that looks
real authentic. It ain't Harvard, but it looks good enough
to frame and put on your wall.
TOILETS
Sneak Under!
FIGHT!
Tell It All, Brothers and Sisters
STARTING A PRINTING WORKSHOP
Leaflets, posters, newsletters, pamphlets and other printed
matter are important to any revolution. A printing workshop
is a definite need in all communities, regardless of size.
It can vary from a garage with a mimeograph machine to a mammoth
operation complete with printing presses and fancy photo equipment.
With less than a hundred dollars and some space, you can begin
this vital service. It'll take a while before you get into
printing greenbacks, phony identification papers and credit
cards like the big boys, but to walk a mile you must start
with one step as Gutenberg once said.
Paper
The standard size for paper is 8½" x 11". It comes
500 sheets to a "ream" and 10 reams to a case. You want
a 16-20 bond weight sheet. The higher weights are better
if you are printing on both sides. You can purchase what
are termed "odd lots" from most paper companies. This means
that the colors will be assorted and some sheets will be
frayed at the edges or wrinkled. Odd lots can be purchased
at great discounts. Some places sell paper this way for
10% of the original price and for leaflets, different colors
help. Check this out with paper suppliers in your area.
Ink
Inks come in pastes and liquids and are available in stationary
stores and office supply houses. Each machine requires its
own type ink, so learn what works best with the one you
have. Colored ink is slightly more expensive but available
for most machines.
Stencils
Each machine uses a particular size and style stencil.
If you get stuck with the wrong kind and can't get out to
correct the mistake, you can punch extra holes in the top,
trim them with a scissors if they are too big or add strips
of tape to the sides if too narrow.
Be sure and use only the area that will fit on the paper
you are using. Most stencils can be used for paper larger
than standard size. Stencils will "cut" a lot neater if
an electric typewriter is used. If you only have access
to e manual machine, remove the ribbon so the keys will
strike the stencil directly. A plastic sheet, provided by
the supplier, can be inserted between the stencil and its
backing to provide sharper cuts by the keys. If you hold
the stencil up to a light, you should be able to clearly
see the typing. If you can't, you'll have to apply more
pressure.
Sketches can be done with a ball point pen or special stylus
directly on the stencil. If you're really rushed, or there
isn't that much info to get on the leaflet, you can hand-print
the text using these instruments. Take care not to tear
the stencil.
Mimeograph Machines
The price of a new mimeograph runs from $200 to $1200,
depending on how sophisticated a machine you need and can
afford. A.B. Dick and Gestetner are the most popular brands.
Many supply houses have used machines for sale. Check the
classified section for bargains. See if any large corporations
are moving, going out of business or have just had a fire.
Chances are they'll be unloading printing equipment at cheap
prices. Campaign offices of losing candidates often have
mimeos to unload in November. Many supply houses have renting
and leasing terms that you might be interested in considering.
Have an idea of the work load and type of printing you'll
be handling before you go hunting. Talk to someone who knows
what they're doing before you lay down a lot of cash on
a machine.
Duplicators
We prefer duplicators to mimeos even though the price is
a little higher. They work faster, are easier to operate
and print clearer leaflets. The Gestener Silk Screen Duplicator
is the best bet. It turns out stuff almost as good as offset
printing. You can do 10 thousand sheets an hour in an assortment
of colors.
Electronic Stencils
If you use electronic stencils you can do solid lettering,
line drawings, cartoons and black and white pictures with
good contrast. To make an electronic stencil, you map out
on a sheet of paper everything you want printed. This is
a photo process, so make sure only what you want printed
shows up on the sheet. You can use a light blue pencil for
guide lines as it won't photograph, but be neat anyway.
Printing shops will cut a stencil on a special machine for
about $3.00.
The Gestefax Electronic Stencil Cutter can be leased or
rented in the same way as the duplicator. If you are doing
a lot of printing for a number of different groups, this
machine will eliminate plenty of hassle. The stencils cost
about 20¢ each and take about fifteen minutes to make.
If you have an electronic stencil cutter, duplicator, electric
typewriter and a cheap source of paper, you can do almost
any printing job imaginable. Have a dual rate system: one
for community groups and another for regular business orders.
You can use the profits to go towards the purchasing of
more equipment and to build toward the day when you can
get your own offset press.
Silk Screening
Posters banners and shirts that are unbelievable can be
printed by this exciting method. The process is easy to
learn and teach. You'll need a fairly large area to work
in since the posters have to be hung up to dry. Pick up
any inexpensive paperback book on silk screening. The equipment
costs less than $50.00 to begin. Once you get good at it,
you can print complicated designs in a number of different
colors, including portraits.
UNDERGROUND NEWSPAPERS
Food conspiracies, bust trusts, people's clinics and demonstrations
are all part of the new Nation, but if asked to name the most
important institution in our lives, one would have to say
the underground newspaper. It keeps tuned in on what's going
on in the community and around the world. Values, myths, symbols,
and all the trappings of our culture are determined to a large
extent by the underground press. Each office serves as a welcome
mat for strangers, a meeting place for community organizers
and a rallying force to fight pig repression. There are probably
over 500 regularly publishing with readerships running from
a few hundred to over 500,000. Most were started in the last
three years. If your scene doesn't have a paper, you probably
don't have a scene together. A firmly established paper can
be started on about $2,500. Plan to begin with eight pages
in black and white with a 5,000 copy run. Each such issue
will cost about $300 to print. You should have six issues
covered when you start. Another $700 will do for equipment.
Offset printing is what you'll want to get from a commercial
printing establishment.
You need some space to start, but don't rush into setting
up a storefront office until you feel the paper's going
to be successful. A garage, barn or spare apartment room
will do just fine. Good overhead fluorescent lighting, a
few long tables, a bookcase, desk, chairs, possibly a phone
and you are ready to start.
Any typewriter will work, but you can rent an IBM Selectric
typewriter with a deposit of $120.00 and payments of $20.00
per month. Leasing costs twice as much, but you'll own the
machine when the payments are finished. The Selectric has
interchangeable type that works on a ball system rather
than the old-fashion keys. Each ball costs $18.00, so by
getting a few you can vary the type the way a printer does.
A light-table can make things a lot easier when it comes
to layout. Simply build a box (3' x 4' is a good size, but
the larger the better) out of ½" plywood. The back
should be higher than the front to provide a sloping effect.
The top should consist of a shelf of frosted glass. Get
one strong enough to lean on. Inside the box, attach two
fluorescent light fixtures to the walls or base. The whole
light table should cost less than $25.00. That really is
about all you need, except someone with a camera, a few
good writers who will serve as reporters, an artistic person
to take care of layout, and someone to hassle printing deals,
advertising and distribution. Most people start by having
everyone do everything.
Layout
A tabloid size paper is 9 7/8" x 14 5/8" with an inch left
over on each side for margins. Columns typically are 3 1/4"
allowing for three per page. Experience has found that this
size is easy to lay out and more importantly, easy to read.
There is an indirect ratio between readability and academic
snobbishness. Avoid the textbook look. Remember, the New
York Times in its low form represents the Death Kulture.
Start off with a huge collection of old magazines and newspapers.
You can cut up all sorts of letters, borders, designs and
sketches and paste them together to make eye-catching headlines.
Sheets of headline type are available in different styles
from art stores for $1.25 a sheet. Buy one of each type
and then photograph several copies of each, bringing the
price way down. The basic content in the prescribed column
size should be banged out on the IBM. The columns can be
clipped together with a clothespin to avoid confusion. Use
a good heavy bond white opaque paper.
All black and white photographs from newspapers and magazines
can be used directly. Color pictures can also be used but
it's tricky and you'll have to experiment a little to get
an understanding of what colors photograph poorly. Glossy
black and white photographs must be shot in half tones to
keep the grey areas. You can have them processed at any
photo lab. You might also need the photo lab for enlargements
or reductions, so make contact and establish a good working
relationship.
An Exacto knife is available for 29¢ and you can get
a package of 100 blades for $10.00. A few metal rulers,
a good pair of scissors, some spray adhesive or rubber cement
and you're ready to paste the pages that will make up the
"dummy" that goes to the printer. Each page is laid out
on special layout sheets with faint blue guide lines that
don't photograph. Any large art supply store sells these
sheets and all the other supplies.
By working over a light-table, the paste-up can be done
more professionally. Experiment with many different layouts
for each page before finally pasting up the paper. Don't
have a picture in the corner and the rest solid columns.
Print can be run over pictures and sketches by preparing
two sheets for that page and shooting background in half-tones.
The columns don't have to be run straight up and down, but
can run at different angles. The most newsworthy articles
should be towards the front of the paper. The centerfold
can be treated in an exciting manner. A good idea is to
do the centerfold so that it can be used as a poster to
put on a wall after the paper is read. If you have ads,
they should be kept near the back. The masthead, which gives
the staff, mailing address, and similar info, goes near
the front. Your focus should be the local activities. A
section should be reserved for a directly of local services
and events. People giving things away should have a section.
The rest really depends on the life style and politics of
the staff.
National stories can be supplied by one or more of the
news services. Nothing in the underground press is copyrighted,
so you can reprint an interesting article from another paper.
It's customary to indicate what paper printed it first,
or news service it was sent out by. Any underground paper
has permission to reprint hunks of this book.
Ads
Most papers find it necessary to get some advertising to
help defray the production costs. Some rely totally on subscription;
some are outgrowths of organizations and still others are
printed up and just handed out free. The ones with ads seem
to have the longest life. Make up an ad rate before you
put out the first issue. Ads are measured in inches of length.
The width is understood by everyone to be the width of the
column. If you use the 3¼" column, however, you'll
want to let potential advertisers know you have wide columns.
The way to arrive at a reasonable rate is to estimate the
total budget for each issue (adding some for overhead and
labor), then each page and finally each column inch. After
a little arithmetic you can get a good estimate of your
printing cost per inch. Using our figures throughout this
section, it should come to about $2.00 per inch. Double
this figure and you'll arrive at the correct rate per advertising
inch-$4.00. There should be special lower rates for large
ads, such as half or full pages. There should also be a
special arrangement for a continuous subscriber. If you
have a classified section, another rate based on number
of words or lines is constructed. A service charge is fixed
if you make up the ad layout rather than the advertiser.
The whole formula should be worked out and printed up before
you lay out the first issue.
The best place to get advertising is locally. Theaters,
hip clothing stores, ice cream parlors, and record stores
are among the type of advertisers you should approach. After
you build up a circulation, you might want to seek out national
advertisers. The Underground Press Syndicate, Box 26, Village
Station, New York, NY 10014, can be joined for $25.00, no
dues thereafter. They try to get national ads for you in
addition to sending out a newsletter, a news service, and
making sure you get free subscriptions to the other underground
papers. The U.P.S. can also do many other things for you,
like list you in their directory, obtain legal advice, and
bring you together with other underground papers for mutual
benefit and defense. Another way to get national advertising
is to see who tends to advertise in other underground papers.
Send the publicity department of these companies letters
and samples of your paper. Never let ads make up more than
half the paper.
Distribution
At the beginning you should aim for a bi-weekly paper with
a gradual increase in the number of pages. The price should
be about 25¢. Check out the local laws about selling
papers on the street. It's probably allowed and is a neat
way to get the paper around. Give half to the street hawkers.
Representatives at high schools and colleges should be sought
out. Bookstores and newsstands are good places to distribute.
After your paper gets going well, you might try for national
distribution. The Cosmep Newsletter is put out by the Committee
of Small Magazines, Editors and Publishers, PO Box 1425,
Buffalo, NY 14214. In addition to good tips if you want
to start a small literary magazine or publish your own book,
they provide an up-to-date list of small stores around the
country that would be likely to carry your paper. Subscriptions
should be sought in the paper itself. If you get a lot,
check out second class mailing privileges. UPS can help
with out-of-city distribution.
If you're in a smaller town, you might have to shop around
or go to another city to get printing done. Many printers
print only pig swill, which brings up the point of getting
busted for obscenity which can be pretty common. You probably
should incorporate, but contact a sympathetic lawyer before
you put out your first issue. During the summer there are
usually a few alternative media conferences organized by
one group or another. You can pick up valuable information
and exchange ideas at these gatherings. UPS and the news
services will keep you posted. Good luck and write on!
HIGH SCHOOL PAPERS
The usual high school paper is run by puppet lackeys of the
administration. It avoids controversy, naughty language, and
a host of other things foreign to the 4-H Club members the
school is determined to mass produce. The only thing the staff
is good at is kissing the principal's ass. Let's face it,
the aim of a good high school newspaper should be to destroy
the high school. Publishing and distributing a heavy paper
isn't going to earn you the Junior Chamber of Commerce good
citizenship award. You might have to be a little mysterious
about who the staff is until you understand the ground rules
and who controls the ballpark¾the people or the principal.
Many schools do not allow papers to be handed out on the
school premises. These cases are generally won by the newspapers
that take the school to court. You can challenge the rule
and make the administration look like the dinosaurs they
are by distributing sheets of paper with only your logo
and the school rule printed. By gaining outside publicity
for the first distribution of the paper, you might put the
administration up tight about clamping down on you. It might
be difficult to explain in civics class when they get to
the freedom of the press stuff. Your paper should have one
purpose in mind¾to piss off the principal and radicalize
the students. If you run into problems, seek out a sympathetic
lawyer. You can get a helpful pamphlet from the ACLU, 156
5th Ave., New York, NY 10010, called Academic Freedom in
the Secondary Schools" for 25¢.
Tell your lawyer about the most recent (July 10, 1970)
decision of the United States District Court in Connecticut
which ruled that the high school students of Rippowan High
School in Stanford can publish independent newspapers without
having the contents screened in advance by school officials.
The same info for underground papers applies to high school
rags, only the price should be much less if not free. To
begin with, you might just mimeograph the first few issues
before trying photo-offset printing. It is very important
to get the readers behind you in case you have to go to
war with the administration in order to survive. Maintain
friendships with above ground reporters, the local underground
paper and radical community groups for alliances.
G.I. PAPERS
A heavier scene than even the high schools exists in No-No
Land of the military. None-the-less, against incredible odds,
courageous G.I.'s both here and overseas have managed to put
out a number of underground newspapers. If you are a G.I.
interested in starting a paper, the first thing to do is seek
out a few buddies who share your views on the military and
arrange a meeting, preferably off the base. Once you have
your group together, getting the paper published will be no
problem. Keeping your staff secret, you can have one member
contact with someone from a G.I. coffee house, anti-war organization
or nearby underground newspaper. This civilian contact person
will be in a position to raise the bread and arrange the printing
and distribution of the paper. You can write one of the national
G.I. newspaper organizations listed at the end of this section
if you are unable to find help locally. The paper should be
printed off the base. Government equipment should be avoided.
Correspondence and subscriptions can be solicited through
the use of a post office box. Such a box is inexpensive
and secret (at least that's what the G.I. papers now publishing
report) from military snoopers up tight about bad publicity
if they get caught spying. If you are mailing the paper
to other G.I.'s use first class mail and a plain envelope.
This is advice to anybody sending stuff to a G.I. The mail
is handled by "lifers" who will report troublemakers to
their C.O. (Commanding Officer) if they notice anti-war
slogans on envelopes or dirty commie rags coming their way.
You'll want to publish stuff relevant to the lives of the
G:I.'s on your base. News of demonstrations, articles on
the war, racism, counter-culture and vital info on how to
bug the higher-ups and get out of the military service are
all good. Get samples of other newspapers already in operation
to get the flavor of writing that has become popular.
Distributing the paper is really more of a problem than
the publishing. Here you run smack into Catch 22, which
says, "no printed matter may be distributed on a military
base without prior written permission of the commanding
officer." No such permit has been granted in military history.
A few court battles have had limited success and you should
go through the formality of obtaining a permit. Send the
first issue of the paper to your C.O. with a cover letter
stating where and when you intend to distribute the paper
on the base. In no part of the application should you list
your names. Have a civilian, preferably a civil liberties
lawyer, sign the declaration of intent. If more info is
requested, go over it with the lawyer before responding,
Natch, they're going to want to know who you are and where
you get your bread, but fuck 'em. Whether or not you get
a permit or have a successful court battle is pretty academic.
If the military pigs catch you handing out an underground
paper on the base, you're headed for trouble. Use civilian
volunteers from your local peace group in as many public
roles as possible. They'll be glad to help out.
Print and distribute as many copies as you can rather than
concentrating on an expensively printed paper with numerous
pages. The very existence of the paper around the base is
the most important info the paper can offer. Leave some
in mess halls, theaters, benches, washrooms, and other suitable
spots. Off base get the paper to sympathetic reporters,
coffee houses, colleges and the like. Outside U.S.O. centers
and bus terminals are a good place to get the paper out.
Rely on donations, so you can make the paper free. Get it
together. Demand the right to join the army of your choice.
The People's Army! As Joe Hill said in one of his songs,
"Yes, I'll pick up a gun but I won't guarantee which way
I'll point it."
NEWS SERVICES
Aside from UPS, which is the association of papers, there
are five news services that we know of that you might be interested
in subscribing to for national stories, photos, production
ideas, news of other papers and general movement dope. LNS
is the best known. It sends out packets once a week that include
about thirty pages with original articles, eye-witness reports,
reprints from foreign papers and photographs. They tend to
be heavily political rather than cultural and view themselves
as molders of ideology rather than strictly a service organization
of the underground papers. A subscription costs $15.00 per
month, but if you're just starting out they are good about
slow payments and such.
You should get in the habit of sending special articles,
in particular eye-witness accounts of events that other
papers might use, to one or more of the news services for
distribution. If you hear of an important event that you
would like to cover in your newspaper, call the paper in
that area for a quick report. They might send you photos
if you agree to reciprocate.
- LIBERATION NEWS SERVICE-160 Claremont Ave., New York,
N.Y. 10027 (212) 749-2200
- COLLEGE PRESS SERVICE-1779 Church St., NW, Washington,
D.C. 20036 (202) 387-7575
- CHICANO PRESS ASSOCIATION-La Raza, Box 31004, Los Angeles,
California 90031
- G.I. PRESS SERVICE-Rm 907, 1029 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington,
D.C. 20005
- FREE RANGER INTERTRIBAL NEWS SERVICE-Box 26, Village
Station, N.Y., N.Y. 10014 (212) 691-6973
A complete and up-to-date list of G.I. underground papers
can be obtained by writing to G.I. Press Service, 1029 Vermont
Ave., NW, Rm 907, Washington, D.C. 20005. G.I. Alliance provides
excellent national newsletters with all sorts of ways to fuck
up the Army. Write G.I. Alliance, PO Box 9087, Washington,
D.C. 20003. The phone is (202) 544-1654. American Serviceman's
Union, 156 5th Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10010 will also help,
as well as provide legal and medical aid to G.I.'s.
A complete and up to date list of Chicano underground papers
can be obtained by writing to Chicano Press Association,
La Raza, Box 31004, Los Angeles, California 90031.
The Young Lords Organization paper Palante can be obtained
by writing to Young Lords Party, Ministry of Finance, 1678
Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10029. It's $5.75 for 24 issues.
The Black Panther Party paper can be obtained by writing
to Black Panther Party, Ministry of Information, Box 2967,
Custom House, San Francisco, Calif. 94126. It's $7.50 for
52 issues.
THE UNDERGROUND PRESS
- ALBION'S VOICE, Box 9033, Savannah, Ga. 31401 $4/yr.
- AMAZING GRACE, 212 W. College Ave. Tallahassee, Fla.
$6/26 issues.
- ANGRY CITY PRESS, 14016 Orinoco Ave., E. Cleveland,
Ohio 44112
- ANN ARBOR ARGUS, 708 Arch St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 48104
$3/yr.
- AQUARIAN ORACLE, 8003 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., Calif.
.50/iss.
- AQUARIAN TIMES, 331 Forest Acres Shipping Ctr., Easley,
S.C. 29640
- AQUARIAN WEEKLY, 292 Main St., Hackensack, N.J.
- ASTRAL PROJECTION, Box 4383, Albuquerque, N. Mex. 87106
- AUGUR, 207 Ransom Bldg., 115 E. 11th Ave., Eugene,
Ore. 97401
- BARD OBSERVER, Box 76, Bard College, Annandale-on-the
Hudson, N.Y. 12504
- BERKELEY BARB, Box 1247, Berkeley, Calif. 94715 $6/yr.
- BERKELEY TRIBE, Box 9049, Berkeley, Calif. 94709 $8/
- BOTH SIDES NOW, 10370 St. Augustine Rd., Jacksonville,
Fla. 32217 $2/12 iss.
- BROADSIDE/FREE PRESS, Box 65, Cambridge, Mass. 02139
$4.50/yr.
- BURNING RIVER NEWS, 12027 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio
44112 $5/yr.
- CHINOOK, 1452 Pennsylvania St., Denver, Col., 80203
$6/50 iss.
- THE CLAM COMMUNITY LIBERATOR, Box 13101, St. Petersburg,
Fla. 33733
- COME OUT, Box 92, Village Station, New York, N.Y. 10014,
$6.50/12 iss.
- COUNTRY SENSES, Box 465, Woodbury, Conn. 06798 $5/yr.
- CREEM, 3729 Cass Ave., Detroit, Mich. 48201 $5/24 iss.
- DAILEY PLANET, Suite 2-3514 S. Dixie Hwy., Coconut
Grove, Fla. 33133 $5/yr.
- DALLAS NOTES, Box 7140, Dallas, Texas 75209 $5/yr.
- DIFFERENT DRUMMER, Box 2638, Little Rock, Ark. 72203
$2/14 iss.
- DISTANT DRUMMER, 420 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147
$7/yr.
- DOOR TO LIBERATION, Box 2022, San Diego, Calif. 92112
$4/26 iss.
- DWARFF, Box 26, Village Station, N.Y., N.Y. 10014
- EAST VILlAGE OTHER, 20 E. 12 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10003
$6/yr.
- EL GRITO DEL NORTE, Box 466, Fairview Station, Espanola,
N.M. $4/yr.
- EYE OF THE BEAST, Box 9218, Tampa, Fla. 33604
- FERAFERIA, Box 691, Altadena, Calif. 91001 $4/13 iss.
- FIFTH ESTATE, 1107 W. Warren, Detroit, Mich. 48201
$3.75/yr.
- FILMMAKERS NEWSLETTER, 80 Wooster St., N.Y., N.Y. 10012
- FREEDOM NEWS, Box 1087, Richmond, Calif. 94801 $2.50/12
iss.
- FREE SPAGHETTI DINNER, Box 984, Santa Cruz, Calif.
95060 $4/yr.
- FREE YOU, 117 University Ave., Palo Alto, Calif. 94301
$6/yr.
- FUSION, 909 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 02215 $5/yr.
- GEST, Box 1079, Northland Center, Southfield, Mich.
48075 $2/yr.
- GREAT SPECKLED BIRD, Box 54495, Atlanta, Ga. 30308
$6/yr.
- GREENFEEL, Jms Madison Law Inst., 4 Patchin Pl., N.Y.,
N.Y. 10011
- GUARDIAN, 32 W. 22 St., N.Y. N.Y. 10010
- HAIGHT-ASHBURY TRIBUNE, 1778 Haight St., San Francisco,
Calif. 94117 $10/yr.
- HARRY, 233 East 25th St., Baltimore, Md., 21218 $4/yr.
- INDIANAPOLIS FREE PRESS, Box 225, Indianapolis, Ind.
46206 $5/26 iss.
- INQUISITION, Box 3882, Charlotte, N.C. 28203 $2/6 iss.
- KALEIDOSCOPE, Box 5457, Milwaukee, Wisc. 53211 $5/26
iss.
- KUDZU, Box 22502, Jackson, Miss. 39205 $4/yr.
- LAS VEGAS FREE PRESS, Box 14096, Las Vegas, Nev. 89114
$7/yr.
- LEFT FACE, Box 1595, Anniston, Ala. 36201
- LIBERATION, 339 Lafayette St., N.Y. 10012
- LIBERATION NEWS SERVICE, 160 Claremont Ave., N.Y. 10027
$15/mth.
- LIBERATOR, Box 1147, Morgantown, W. Virginia 26505
- LONGBEACH FREE PRESS, 1255 E. 10, Long Beach, Ca. 90813
$6/25 iss.
- LOS ANGELES FREE PRESS, 7813 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles,
Ca. 90036 $6/yr.
- MADISON KALEIDOSCOPE, Box 881, Madison, Wisc. 53701
$5/yr.
- MARIJUANA REVIEW, Calif. Instit. of Arts, 7500 Glenoaks
Blvd., Burbank, Calif. 91504
- MEMPHIS ROOT, Box 4747, Memphis, Tenn. 38104 $3.50/yr.
- METRO, 906 W. Forest, Detroit, Mich. 48202 $4/yr.
- MODERN UTOPIAN, P.0. Drawer A; Diamond Hts. Sta., S.F.,
Ca. 94131 $4/yr.
- MOTHER EARTH NEWS, Box 38 Madison, Ohio 44057 $5/yr
- NEWS FROM NOWHERE, Box 501, Dekalb, Ill. 60115 $5/yr.
- NEW PRAIRIE PRIMER, Box 726, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
$4/20 iss.
- NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, 110 St. Marks Place, N.Y.
$5/lifetime
- NOLA EXPRESS, Box 2342, New Orleans, La. 70116 $3/yr.
- NORTH CAROLINA ANVIL, Box 1148, Durham, N.C. 27702
$7.50/yr.
- NORTHWEST PASSAGE, Box 105, Fairhaven Sta., Bellingham,
Wash. 98225 $5/yr.
- OLD MOLE, 2 Brookline St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139 $5/20
iss.
- ORACLE OF SAN FRANCISCO, 1764 Haight St., San Francisco,
Ca. 94117
- OTHER SCENES, Box B, Village Station, N.Y. 10014 $6/yr.
- OTHER VOICE, c/o Why Not Inc., Box 3175, Shreveport,
La. 71103 $5/yr.
- PAPER WORKSHOP, 6 Helena Ave., Larchmont, N.Y. 10538
$4/yr.
- PEOPLES DREADNAUGHT, Box 1071, Beloit, Wisc.
- PHILADELPHIA FREE PRESS, Box 1986, Philadelphia, Pa.
19105
- PROTEAN RADISH, Box 202, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514 $8/yr.
- PROVINCIAL PRESS, Madala Print Shop, Box 1276, Spokane,
Wash. 99210 $5/yr.
- QUICKSILVER TIMES, 1736 R St., N.W. Wash., D.C. 20009
$8/yr.
- RAG, 2330 Guadalupe, Austin, Tex. 78705 $7.50/yr.
- RAT, 241 E. 14 St., N.Y. 10009 $6/yr.
- REBIRTH, Box 729, Phoenix, Ariz. 85001
- RISING UP ANGRY, Box 3746, Merchandise Mart, Chicago,
Ill. 60654 $5/yr.
- ROOSEVELT TORCH, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill.
60605
- SAN DIEGO STREET JOURNAL, Box 1332, San Diego, Calif.
92112
- SECOND CITY, c/o The Guild, 2136 N. Halsted, Chicago,
Ill. 60614 $6/26 iss.
- SECOND COMING, Box 491 Ypsilanti, Mich. 48197
- SEED, 950 W. Wrightwood, Chicago, Ill. 60614 $6/yr.
- SPACE CITY, 1217 Wichita, Houston, Tex. 77004
- SPECTATOR, c/o S. Indiana Media Corp., Box 1216, Bloomington,
Ind. 47401
- SUNDANCE, 1520 Hill, Ann Arbor, mich. 48104 $3.50/yr.
- UPROAR, 44 Wimbleton Lane, Great Neck, N.Y. 11023
- VIEW FROM THE BOTTOM, 632 State St., New Haven, Conn.
06510 $5/20 iss.
- VORTEX, 706 Mass St., Lawrence, Kansas 66044 $5/24
iss.
- WALRUS, Box 2307, Sta. A, Champaign, Ill. 61820
- WATER TUNNEL, Box 136, State College, Pa. 16801 $3/Yr.
- WILLIAMETTE BRIDGE, 6 SW 6th, Portland, Ore. 97209
$5/26 iss.
- WIN, 339 Lafayette St., N.Y. 10012 $5/yr.
- WORKER'S POWER, 14131 Woodward Ave., Highland Park,
Mich. 48203 $3.50/yr.
USA/UPS ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
- AKWESASNE NOTES, Roosevelton, N.Y. 13683 .50/iss.
- ALESTLE, c/o Paul Gorden, 7404 Tower Lake, Apt. 1D,
Edwardsville, Ill. 62025
- ALLIANCE MAGAZINE, Box 229, Athens, Ohio 45701
- ALL YOU CAN EAT, R.P.O. 4949, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903
$3/yr.
- ALLTOGETHER, 44208 Montgomery-33 Palm Desert, Calif.
$10/yr.
- ALBION'S VOICE, P.0. Box 9033, Savannah, Ga. 31401
$4/yr.
- AQUARIAN HERALD, Box 83, Virginia Beach, Va. 23458
- ATLANTIS, 204 Oxford, Dayton, Ohio
- BOTH SIDES NOW, 10370 St. Augustine Rd., Jacksonville,
Fla. 33217 $3.50/12 iss.
- COLLECTIVE, 614 Clark St., Evanston, Ill. 60201
- COME TOGETHER, P.O. Box 163, Encino, Calif. 91316
- CROSSROADS, Hill School, Pottstown, Pa. 19464
- DALLAS NEWS (CORP), P.0. Box 7013, Dallas, Texas 75209
$/24 iss.
- THE D.C. GAZETTE, 109 8th N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002
$5/yr.
- EDGE CITY, 116 Standart St., Syracuse, N.Y. 13201 $3/yr.
- EVERYWOMAN, 6516 W. 83 St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90045
$2.50/iss.
- FAIR WITNESS, P.0. Box 7165, 0akland Sta., Pittsburgh,
Pa. 15213
- FOX VALLEY KALEIDOSCOPE, Box 252, Oshkosh, Wisc. 54901
- FREE PRESS OF LOUISVILLE, 1438 S. First St., Louisville,
Ky. 40208 $6/yr.
- HIGH GAUGE, Box 4491, University, Ala. 35486 $5/Yr.
- THE HIPS VOICE, P.O. Box 5132, Santa Fe, N. Mexico
87501 $5/24 iss.
- HOME NEWS CO., P.O. Box 5263, Grand Central Station,
N.Y. 10017
- HUNDRED FLOWERS, Box 7152, Minneapolis, Minn. 55407
$9/yr.
- IT AIN'T ME BABE, c/o W.L. Office Box 6323, Albany,
Calif. 94706 $6/yr.
- LIBERATED GUARDIAN, 14 Cooper Sq., New York, N.Y. 10003
$10/yr.
- THE LONG ISLAND FREE PRESS, P.O. Box 162, Westbury,
N.Y. 11590 $6/2 yr.
- NEW TIMES, Box J, Temple, Ariz. 85281 $10/52 iss.
- NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND, P.O. Box 15081, San Francisco,
Calif. 94115
- OUR TOWN (COLLECTIVE), Box 611, Eau Claire, Wisc.
- PALANTE YLP, 1678 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y.
- PROTOS, 1110 N. Edgemont St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90029
$3/yr.
- PURPLE BERRIES, 449 West Seventh Ave., Columbus Ohio
- REARGUARD, P.O. Box 8115, Mobile, Ala. 36608 $4/yr.
- THE S.S. PENTANGLE, Box 4429, New Orleans, La. 70118
$4/20 iss.
- ST. LOUIS OUTLAW, Box 9501, Cabanne Sta., St. Louis,
Mo. 63161
- SUSQUEHANNA BUGLER, 700 Market St., Williamsport, Pa.
17701 .25/iss.
- TASTY COMIX, Box 21101, Wash., D.C. 20009
- THE TIMES NOW, Box 676, Coconut Grove, Fla. 33133
- TUSCON FREE PRESS, Box 3403, College Sta., Tuscon,
Ariz. 85716
CANADA/UPS
- ALTERNATE SOCIETY, 10 Thomas St., St. Catharines, Ont.
$3.50/12 iss.
- CARILLON, Univ. of Sask. Regina Campus, Regina, Saskatchewan
- CHEVRON, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
$8/yr.
- DIME BAG, 3592 University St., Montreal 130, Que.
- FOURTH ESTATE, 24 Brighton Ct., Fredericton, N.B.
- GEORGIA STRAIGHT, 56A Powell St., Vancouver, 4, B.C.
$9/52 iss.
- HARBINGER, Box 751, Stn F, Toronto 285, Ontario $4/26
iss.
- OCTOPUS, Box 1259, Station B, Ottawa, 4 $4.50/26 iss.
- OMPHALOS, 279½ Fort St. No. 4, Winnipeg 1, Manitoba
$5/26 iss.
- PRAIRIE FIRE; FOURTH ESTATE, Regina Community Media
Project, 210 Northern Crown Bldg. Regina, Sask.
- SWEENEY, 119 Thomas St., Oakville, Ontario $2.50/12
iss.
EUROPE/UPS
- Europe/UPS, Box 304, 8025, Zurich, Switzerland
- FIFTH COLUMN, 100 New Cavendish Street, London W1,
England
- FRIENDS, 305 Portobello Rd., London W10, England
- HAPT, Flat L, 42 Moore Ave., W. Howe, Bournemouth,
Hampshire, England
- HOLLAND HAPT, Keigersstraat 2a, Amsterdam, Holland
- HOTCHAI, Postfach 304-CH 8025, Zurich 25, Switz. $5/yr.
- INTERNATIONAL TIMES, 27 Endell St., London, WC2, Eng.
$5/yr.
- KARGADOOR, Oude Gracht 36 bis. Utrecht, Holland
- OEUF, 14 Ch de la Mogeonne, 1293 Bellevue, Geneva Switzerland
- OM, Kaizerstraat 2A, 11et, Amsterdam, Holland, Neth.
- OPS VEDA, 16 Woodholm Rd., Sheffield 11, England
- OZ, 52 Princedale Rd., London W11, England $6/yr.
- PEACE NEWS, 5 Celedonian Rd., Kings Cross, London W1,
Eng. $8.50/yr.
- PIANETA FRESCA, 14 Vie Manzoni, Milano, Italy 20121
$1/iss.
- QUINTO LICEO, c/o Tommsaco Bruccoleri, 3, Meadow Place,
London, England
- REAL FREE PRESS, Runstraat 31, Amsterdam, Netherlands
$1/2 iss.
- RED MOLE, 182 Pentonville Rd., London N1 Eng. $5.50/yr.
- ROTTEN, Huset, Readhusstraede 13, 1466 Copenhagen K.
Denmark
EUROPEAN ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
- CYCLOPS, 32. St. Petersburg Place, London, W2, Eng.
(Comix)
- GRASS EYE, 71 Osbourne Rd., Levenshulme, Manchester
19, Eng.
- MOLE EXPRESS, 19 New Brown St., Manchester 4, Eng.
- PANGGG, Upn-Sippenpresse, d-8500, Nurnberg Kopernikusstr.
4, Germany
- PARIA, c/o Poretti Viavalle Maggia 41, 6600 Locarno,
Switz.
- ZIGZAG, Yeoman Cottage, N. Marston, Bucks, England
LATIN AMERICA/UPS
- ECO CONTEMPORANEO, C. Correo Central 1933, Buenos Aires,
Argentina ...Membership list temporarily unavailable.
SWITCHBOARDS
A good way to quickly communicate what's coming down in the
community is to build a telephone tree. It works on a pyramid
system. A small core of people are responsible for placing
five calls each. Each person on the line in turn calls five
people and so on. If the system is prearranged correctly with
adjustments made if some people don't answer the phone, you
can have info transmitted to about a thousand people in less
than an hour. A slower but more permanent method is to start
a Switchboard. Basically, a Switchboard is a central telephone
number or numbers that anybody can call night or day to get
information. It can be as sophisticated as the community can
support. The people that agree to answer the phone should
have a complete knowledge of places, services and events happening
in the community. Keep a complete updated file. The San Francisco
Switchboard (see below) puts out an operator's manual explaining
the organization and operation of a successful switchboard.
They will send it out for 12¢ postage. San Francisco
has the longest and most extensive Switchboard operation.
From time to time there are national conferences with local
switchboards sending a rep.
San Francisco
- THE SWITCHBOARD - 1830 Fell St., San Francisco, Calif.
94117 (415) 387-3575
- MUSIC SWITCHBOARD - 1826 Fell St., San Francisco, Calif.
94117 (415) 387-8008
- MISSION SWITCHBOARD - 848 14th St., San Francisco,
Calif. 94110 (415) 863-3040
- CHINATOWN EXCHANGE - 1042 Grant Ave., San Francisco,
Calif. 94108 (415) 421-0943
- THE HELP UNIT - 86 3rd St., San Francisco, Calif. 94103
(415) 421-9850
- WESTERN ADDITION SWITCHBOARD - Fell & Fillmore,
San Francisco, Calif. (415) 626-8524
California
- CHICO SWITCHBOARD - 120 W. 2nd St., Chico, Calif. (916)
342-7546
- EAST OAKLAND SWITCHBOARD - 2812 73rd Ave., Oakland,
Calif. (415)569-6369
- MARIN MUSIC SWITCHBOARD - 1017 "D" St., San Rafael,
Calif. (415) 457-2104
- WEST OAKLAND LEGAL SWITCHBOARD - 2713 San Pablo, Oakland,
Calif. (415) 836-3013
- SWITCHBOARD OF MARIN - 1017 "D" St., San Rafael, Calif.
(415) 456-5300
- BERKELEY SWITCHBOARD - 2389 Oregon, Berkeley, Calif.
(415) 549-0649
- SANTA CRUZ SWITCHBOARD - 604 River St., Santa Cruz,
Calif. (408) 426-8500
- PALO ALTO XCHANGE - 457 Kingsley Ave., Palo Alto, Calif.
(415) 327-9008
- SAN JOSE SWITCHBOARD - 50 S. 4th St., San Jose, Calif.
(408) 295-2938
- SANTA BARBARA SWITCHBOARD - 6575 Seville, Isla Vista,
Calif. (805) 968-3564
- EUREKA SWITCHBOARD - 1427 California, Eureka, Calif.
(707) 443-8901 & 443-8311
- UC DAVIS SWITCHBOARD - (on campus), UC Davis, Calif.
(916) 752-3495
Other Western States
- TURNSTILE - 1900 Emerson, Denver, Colorado (303) 623-3445
- BLACKHAWK INFORMATION CENTER - 628 Walnut St., Waterloo,
Iowa (319) 234-9965
- TAOS SWITCHBOARD - c/o Gen. Del., Taos, New Mexico
(505) 758-4288
- PORTLAND SWITCHBOARD - 1216 SW Salmon, Portland, Oregon
(503) 224-0313
- HOUSTON SWITCHBOARD - 108 San Jacinto, Houston, Texas
(713) 228-6072
- YOUTH EMERGENCY SERVICE - 623 Cedar Ave. So., Minneapolis,
Minn. (612) 338-7588
Eastern States
- POWELTON TROUBLE CENTER - 222 N. 35th St., Phila.,
Penna.. (215) 382-6472
- WASHINGTON D.C. SWITCHBOARD - 2201 P St. NW, Washington,
D.C. (202) 667-4684
- MIAMI CENTER FOR DIALOG - 2175 NW 26th St., Miami,
Fla. (305) 634-7741
- CANTERBURY HOUSE - 330 Maynard S, Ann Arbor, Michigan
(313) 665-0606
- THE LISTENING EAR - 547 E. Grand River, East Lansing,
Michigan (517) 337-1717
- THE ECSTATIC UMBRELLA - 3800 McGee Kansas City, Missouri
(816) 561-4524
- OPEN CITY - 4726 3rd St., Detroit, Michigan (313) 831-2770
- SWITCHBOARD INC. - 1722 Summit St., Number 6, Columbus,
Ohio (614) 294-6378
- HELP - c/o Marby Beil, 1708 E. Lafayette, Number 5,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (414) 273-5959
- UNITED CHURCH PRESBYTERIAN - 181 Mount Horeb Rd., Warren,
N.J. (201) 469-5044
- BOSTON SWITCHBOARD - 45 Bowdoin St., Boston, Mass.
(617) 246-4255
- PROJECT PLACE - 37 Rutland St., Boston, Mass.(617)267-5280
- BEVERLY SWITCHBOARD - Beverly Hospital, Beverly, Mass.
(617) 922-0000
- FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF ACTON - 8 Concord Rd.,
Acton, Mass. (617) 263-3940
- HALF WAY HOUSE - 20 Linwood Sq., Roxbury, Mass. (617)
442-7591
- ACID - 13 Linden Ave., Malden, Mass. (617) 342-2218
- PROJECT ASSIST - 945 Great Plain Ave., Needham, Mass.
(617) 444-1902& 3
- LEXINGTON - ARLINGTON HOT LINE - 1912 Mass. Ave., Lexington,
Mass. (617) 862-8130&1
- COMMUNITY YOUTH COMMISSION - 945 Great Plain Ave.,
Needham, Mass. (617) 444-1795
- HOT LINE - 429 Cherry St., West Newton, Mass. (617)
969-5906
Other Countries
- BINARY INFORMATION TRANSFER - 141 Westbourne Park Rd.,
London W2, England. Ask overseas operator for London 222-8219
- CANADIAN SWITCHBOARD - 282 Rue Ste. Catherine, West,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (514) 866-2672
For a complete and up-to-date list of switchboards and similar
projects around the country, write to San Francisco Switchboard.
They need 25 cents to cover postage costs.
Guerrilla Broadcasting
GUERRILLA RADIO
Under FCC Low Power Transmission Regulations, it is legal
to broadcast on the AM band without even obtaining a license,
if you transmit with 100 milliwatts of power or less on a
free band space that doesn't interfere with a licensed station.
You are further allowed up to a 12-foot antenna or the use
of carrier-current transmission (regular electric wall outlets).
Using this legal set-up, you can broadcast from a 2 to 20
block radius depending on how high up you can locate your
antenna and the density of tall buildings in the area.
Carrier-current broadcasting consists of plugging the transmitter
into a regular wall socket. It draws power in the same way
as any other electrical appliance, and feeds its signal
into the power line allowing the broadcast to be heard on
any AM radio tuned into the operating frequency. The transmitter
can be adjusted to different frequencies until a clear band
is located. The signal will travel over the electrical wiring
until it hits a transformer where it will be erased. The
trouble with this method is that in large cities, almost
every large office or apartment building has a transformer.
You should experiment with this method first, but if you
are in a city, chances are you'll need an antenna rigged
up on the roof. Anything over twelve feet is illegal, but
practice has shown that the FCC won't hassle you if you
don't have commercials and refrain from interfering with
licensed broadcasts. There are some cats in Connecticut
broadcasting illegally with a 100-foot antenna over a thirty
mile radius for hours on end and nobody gives them any trouble.
Naturally if you insist upon using dirty language, issuing
calls to revolution, broadcasting bombing information, interfering
with above ground stations and becoming too well known,
the FCC is going to try and knock you out. There are penalties
that have never been handed out of up to a year in jail.
It's possible you could get hit with a conspiracy rap, which
could make it a felony, but the opinion of movement lawyers
now is a warning if you're caught once, and a possible fine
with stiffer penalties possible for repeaters that are caught.
If it gets really heavy, you could still broadcast for
up to 15 minutes without being pin-pointed by the FCC sleuths.
By locating your equipment in a panel truck and broadcasting
from a fixed roof antenna, you can make it almost impossible
for them to catch you by changing positions.
There has been a variety of transmitting equipment used,
and the most effective has been found to be an AM transmitter
manufactured by Low Power Broadcasting Co., 520 Lincoln
Highway, Frazer, Penn. 19355. Call Dick Crompton at (215
NI 4-4096. The right transmitter will run about $200. If
you plan to use carrier-current transmission you'll also
need a capacitor that sells for $30. An antenna can be made
out of aluminum tubing and antenna wiring available at any
TV radio supply store (see diagram). You'll also need a
good microphone that you can get for about $10. Naturally,
equipment for heavier broadcasting is available if a member
of your group has a license or good connections with someone
who works in a large electronics supply house. Also with
a good knowledge in the area you can build a transmitter
for a fraction of the purchase price. You can always employ
tape recorders, turntables and other broadcasting hardware
depending on how much bread you have, how much stuff you
have to hide (i.e., how legal your operation is) and the
type of broadcasting you want to do.
It is possible to extend your range by sending a signal
over the telephone lines to other transmitters which will
immediately rebroadcast. Several areas in a city could be
linked together and even from one city to another. Theoretically,
if enough people rig up transmitters and antennas at proper
locations and everyone operates on the same band, it is
possible to build a nation-wide people's network that is
equally theoretically legal.
Broadcasting, it should be remembered, is a one-way transmission
of information. Communications which allow you to transmit
and receive are illegal without a license (ham radio).
GUERRILLA TELEVISION
There are a number of outlaw radio projects going on around
the country. Less frequent, but just as feasible, is a people's
television network. Presently there are three basic types
of TV systems: Broadcast, which is the sending of signals
directly from a station's transmitter to home receiver sets;
Cable, where the cable company employees extremely sensitive
antenna to pick up broadcast transmissions and relay them
and/or they originate and send them; and thirdly, Closed Circuit
TV, such as the surveillance cameras in supermarkets, banks
and apartment house lobbies.
The third system as used by the pigs is of little concern,
unless we are interested in not being photographed. The
cameras can be temporarily knocked out of commission by
flashing a bright light (flashbulb, cigarette lighter, etc.)
directly in front of its lens. For our own purposes, closed-circuit
TV can be employed for broadcasting rallies, rock concerts
or teach-ins to other locations. The equipment is not that
expensive to rent and easy to operate. Just contact the
largest television or electronics store in your area and
ask about it. There are also closed-circuit and cable systems
that work in harmony to broadcast special shows to campuses
and other institutions. Many new systems are being developed
and will be in operation soon.
Cable systems as such are in use only in a relatively few
areas. They can be tapped either at the source or at any
point along the cable by an engineer freak who knows what
to do. The source is the best spot, since all the amplification
and distribution equipment of the system is available at
that point. Tapping along the cable itself can be a lot
hairier, but more frustrating for the company when they
try to trace you down.
Standard broadcasting that is received on almost all living
room sets works on an RF (radio frequency) signal sent out
on various frequencies which correspond to the channels
on the tuner. In no area of the country are all these channels
used. This raises important political questions as to why
people do not have the right to broadcast on unused channels.
By getting hold of a TV camera (Sony and Panasonic are the
best for the price) that has an RF output, you can send
pictures to a TV set simply by placing the camera cable
on or near the antenna of the receiver set. When the set
is operating on the same channel as the camera, it will
show what the camera sees. Used video tape recorders such
as the Sony CV series that record and play back audio and
video information are becoming more available. These too
can be easily adapted to send RF signals the same as a live
camera.
Whether or not the program to be broadcasted is live or
on tape, there are three steps to be taken in order to establish
a people's TV network. First, you must convert the video
and audio signals to an RF frequency modulated (FM) signal
corresponding to the desired broadcast channel. We suggest
for political and technical reasons that you pick one of
the unused channels in your area to begin experimenting.
The commercial stations have an extremely powerful signal
and can usually override your small output. Given time and
experience you might want to go into direct competition
with the big boys on their own channel. It is entirely possible,
say in a 10 to 20 block radius, to interrupt a presidential
press-conference with more important news. Electronic companies,
such as Jerrold Electronics Corp., 4th and Walnut Sts.,
Philadelphia, Pa., make equipment that can RF both video
and audio information onto specific channels. The device
you'd be interested in is called a cable driver or RF modulator.
When the signal is in the RF state, it is already possible
to broadcast very short distances. The second step is to
amplify the signal so it will reach as far as possible.
A linear amplifier of the proper frequency is required for
this job. The stronger the amplifier the farther and more
powerful the signal. A 10-watt job will cover approximately
5 miles (line of sight) in area. Linear amplifiers are not
that easily available, but they can be constructed with
some electrical engineering knowledge.
The third step is the antenna, which if the whole system
is to be mobile to avoid detection, is going to involve
some experimentation and possible camouflage. Two things
to keep in mind about an antenna are that it should be what
is technically referred to as a "di-pole" antenna (see diagram)
and since TV signals travel on line of sight, it is important
to place the antenna as high as possible. Although it hasn't
been done in practice, it certainly is possible to reflect
pirate signals off an make equipment that can RF both video
and audio existing antenna of a commercial network. This
requires a full knowledge of broadcasting; however, any
amateur can rig up an antenna, attach it to a helium balloon
and get it plenty high. For most, the roof of a tall building
will suffice. If you're really uptight about your operation,
the antenna can be hidden with a fake cardboard chimney.
We realize becoming TV guerrillas is not everyone's
trip, but a small band with a few grand can indeed pull
it off. There are a lot of technical freaks hanging around
recording studios, guitar shops, hi-fi stores and engineering
schools that can be turned on to the project. By showing
them the guidelines laid out here, they can help you assemble
and build various components that are difficult to purchase
(i.e., the linear amplifier). Naturally, by building some
of the components, the cost of the operation is kept way
down. Equipment can be purchased in selective electronics
stores. You'll need a camera, VTR, RF modulator, linear
amplifier and antenna. Also a generator, voltage regulator
and an alternator if you want the station to be mobile.
One of the best sources of information on both television
and radio broadcasting is the Radio Amateur's Handbook published
by the American Radio Relay League, Newington, Conn. 06611
and available for $4.50. The handbook gives a complete course
in electronics and the latest information on all techniques
and equipment related to broadcasting. Back issues have
easy to read do-it-yourself TV transmitter diagrams and
instructions. Also available is a publication called Radical
Software, put out by Raindance Corp., 24 E. 22nd St., New
York, N.Y., with the latest info on all types of alternative
communications.
Guerrilla TV is the vanguard of the communications revolution,
rather than the avant-garde cellophane light shows and the
weekend conferences. One pirate picture on the sets in Amerika's
living rooms is worth a thousand wasted words.
With the fundamentals in this field mastered, you can rig
up all sorts of shit. Cheap twenty-dollar tape recorders
can be purchased and outfitted with a series of small loud-speakers.
Concealed in a school auditorium or other large hall, such
a system can blast out any message or music you wish to
play. The administration will go insane trying to locate
the operation if it is well hidden. We know two cats who
rigged a church with this type of setup and a timing device.
Right in the middle of the sermon, on came Radio Heaven
and said stuff like "Come on preacher, this is God, you
don't believe all that crap now, do you?" It made for an
exciting Sunday service, all right. You can build a miniature
transmitter and with a small magnet attach it to the underbelly
of a police car to keep track of where it's going. This
would only be practical in a small town or on a campus where
there are only a few security guards or patrol vehicles.
If you rigged a small tape recorder to the transmitter and
tuned it to a popular AM band, the patrol car as it rode
around could actually broadcast the guerrilla message you
prerecorded. Wouldn't they be surprised when they found
out how you did it? You can get a "Bumper Beeper" and receiver
that are constructed by professionals for use by private
detectives. The dual unit costs close to $400. If you've
got that kind of bread, you can write John Bomar, 6838 No.
3rd Ave., Phoenix, Arizona 85013 for a catalogue and literature.
Even though there are laws governing the area of sneaky
surveillance, telephone taps, tracking devices and the like,
a number of enterprising firms produce an unbelievable array
of electronic hardware that allows you to match Big Brother's
ears and eyes. Sugar cube transmitters, tie clasp microphones,
phone taps, tape recorders that work in a hollowed-out book
and other Brave New World equipment is available from the
following places. Send for their catalogues just to marvel
at the level of technology. R. B. Clifton, 1150 NW 7th Ave.,
Miami, Fla. 33168; Electrolab Corp., Bank of Stateboro Building,
Stateboro, Ga. 30458; or Tracer Investigative Products,
Inc., 256 Worth. Ave., Palm, Beach, Fla. 33482.
By the way, you can pick up Radio Hanoi on a short wave
radio every day from 3:00 to 3:30 PM at 15013 kilocycles
on the 19 meter band.
Demonstrations
Demonstrations always will be an important form of protest.
The structure can vary from a rally or teach-in to a massive
civil disobedience such as the confronting of the warmakers
at the Pentagon or a smoke-in. A demonstration is different
from other forms of warfare because it invites people other
than those planning the action via publicity to participate.
It also is basically non-violent in nature. A complete understanding
of the use of media is necessary to create the publicity needed
to get the word out. Numbers of people are only one of the
many factors in an effective demonstration. The timing, choice
of target and tactics to be employed are equally important.
There have been demonstrations of 400,000 that are hardly
remembered and demonstrations of a few dozen that were remarkably
effective. Often the critical element involved is the theater.
Those who say a demonstration should be concerned with education
rather than theater don't understand either and will never
organize a successful demonstration, or for that matter, a
successful revolution. Publicity includes everything from
buttons and leaflets to press conferences. You should be in
touch with the best artists you can locate to design the visual
props. Posters can be silk screened very cheaply and people
can be taught to do it in a very short time. Buttons have
to be purchased. The cheapest are those printed directly on
the metal. The paint rubs off after a while, but they are
ideal for mass demonstrations. You can print 10,000 for about
$250.00. Leaflets, like posters, should be well designed.
One way of getting publicity is to negotiate with the city
for permits. Again, this raises political questions, but
there is not doubt one reason for engaging in permit discussions
is for added publicity.
The date, time and place of the demonstration all have
to be chosen with skill. Know the projected weather reports.
Pick a time and day of the week that are convenient to most
people. Make sure the place itself adds some meaning to
the message. Don't have a demonstration just because that's
the way it's always been done. It is only one type of weapon
and should be used as such. On the other hand, don't dismiss
demonstrations because they have always turned out boring.
You and your group can plan a demonstration within the demonstration
more accurately. Also don't tend to dismiss demonstrations
outright because the repression is too great. During World
War II the Danes held street demonstrations against the
Nazis who occupied their country. Even today there are public
demonstrations against the Vietnam War in downtown Saigon.
Repression is there, but overestimating it is more a tactical
blunder than the reverse. None the less, it's wise to go
to all demonstrations prepared for a vamping by the pigs.
DRESS
Most vamping is accompanied by clubbing, rough shoving and
dragging, gassing and occasional buckshot or rifle fire. The
clothing you wear should offer you the best protection possible,
yet be light weight enough to allow you to be highly mobile.
CS and CN are by far the most commonly employed tear gas dispersibles.
Occasionally they are combined with pepper gas to give better
results. Pepper gas is a nerve irritant that affects exposed
areas of the skin. Clothing that is tight fitting and covers
as much of the body surface as possible is advisable. This
also offers some protection if you are dragged along the ground.
Gloves come in handy as protection and if you want to pick
up gas canisters and throw them back at the pigs or chuck
them through a store window.
Your shoes should be high sneakers for running or boots
for kicking. Hiking boots sold in army surplus stores serve
both purposes and are your best selection for street action.
Men should wear a jock strap or protective cup. Rib guards
can be purchased for about $6.00 at any sporting goods store.
Shoulder pads and leg pads are also available, but unless
you expect heavy fighting and are used to wearing this clumsy
street armor, you'll be better off without it.
HELMETS
Everyone should have a helmet. Your head sticks out above
the swarming crowd and dents like a tin can. Protect it! The
type of helmet you get depends on what you can afford and
how often you'll be using it. The cheapest helmet available
is a heavy steel tank model. This one is good because it offers
ear protection and has a built-in suspension system to absorb
the blow. It is also bullet proof. It's disadvantages are
that it only comes in large sizes and is the heaviest thing
you'll ever have on your head. It costs about $3.00. For $5.00
you can get a Civil Defense helmet made for officers. It's
much lighter, but doesn't offer protection for the ears. It
has a good suspension system. If you get this model, paint
it a dark color before using it and you'll be less conspicuous.
Our fashion consultants suggest anarchy black.
Construction helmets or "hard hats" run between $8.00 and
$10.00, depending on the type of suspension system and material
used. They are good for women because they are extremely
lightweight. The aluminum ones dent if struck repeatedly
and the fiberglass type can crack. Also they offer no ear
protection. If you prefer one of these you should find a
way to attach a chin or neck strap so you won't lose it
while you run. If you get a hard hat, make sure you remove
the hard head before you take it home.
Probably the all-around good deal for the money is the
standard M-1 Army issue helmet. These vary in quality and
price, depending on age and condition. They run from $2.00
to $10.00. Make sure the one you get has a liner with webbing
that fits well or is adjustable and has a chin strap. Their
main disadvantage is that they are bulky and heavy.
The snappiest demonstrators use the familiar motorcycle
crash helmet. They are the highest in price, running from
$10.00 to as high as $40.00. Being made of fiberglass, they
are extremely lightweight. They have a heavy-duty strap
built in and they can be gotten to fit quite snugly around
the head. They offer excellent ear protection. The foam
rubber insulation is better than a webbing system, and will
certainly cushion most blows. Being made of fiberglass,
a few have been known to crack under repeated blows, but
that is extremely rare. Most come with plastic face guards
that offer a little added protection. Get only those with
removable ones since you might want to make use of a gas
mask.
GAS MASKS
Ski goggles or the face visor on a crash helmet will protect
against Mace but will offer no protection against the chemical
warfare gasses being increasingly used by pigs to dispose
crowds. For this protection you'll need a gasmask. All the
masks discussed give ideal protection against the gasses mentioned
in the chart if used properly. If you do not have a gas mask,
you should at least get a supply of surgical masks from a
hospital supply store and a plastic bag filled with water
and a cloth.
The familiar World War II Army gas mask with the filter
in a long nose unit sells new (which is the only way gas
masks can be sold) for about $5.00. Its disadvantages are
that it doesn't cover the whole face, is easy to grab and
pull off and the awkwardly placed filter makes running difficult.
The Officer Civil Defense unit sells for the same price
and overcomes the disadvantages of the World War II Army
model. Most National Guard units use this type of mask.
It offers full face protection, is lightweight and the filter
canister is conveniently located. Also the adjustable straps
make for a nice tight fit. The U.S.A. Protective Field Combat
Mask M9A1 offers the same type protection as the OCD, but
costs twice as much. Its advantage is that you can get new
filter canisters when the chemicals in the one you are using
becomes ineffective. New filters cost about $1.50. When
you buy a mask, be sure and inquire if the filter has replacements.
To get maximum efficiency out of a mask it needs an active
chemical filter.
The U.S. Navy ND Mark IV Mask is the most effective gas
mask available. It has replaceable filter canisters and
fits snugly to the head. It costs about $12.00. Its disadvantage
is its dual tube filter system, which is somewhat bulky.
Fix it so the canister rests on the back of your needs.
It's more difficult to grab and easier to run.
When you get your gas mask home, try it out to get the
feeling of using it. Make sure the fit is good and snug.
Purchase an anti-fog cloth for 25 cents where you got the
mask. Wipe the inside of the eye pieces before wearing to
prevent the glasses from clouding. Another good reason for
wearing a mask is that it offers anonymity. Helmets, gas
masks and a host of other valuable equipment are available
at any large Army-Navy surplus store. Kaufman's Surplus
and Arms, Inc., 623 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10012 is very
well stocked. For 75 cents you can get their catalogue and
order through the mail. It's in New York though and probably
more expensive than a store in your locale. The surplus
stores buy from wholesale distributors themselves, who in
turn buy directly from the military. If you know a soldier
or someone who is married to a soldier, they have access
to the Post Dispensary or PX and can get all sorts of stuff
at nothing prices. For 20 cents you can get an invaluable
pamphlet from the Government Printing Office called How
to Buy Surplus Personal Property. It has a complete list
of regional surplus wholesalers. The closest one in the
Northeast is the Naval Supply Center, Building 652, U.S.
Naval Base, Philadelphia, Pa. and in Northern California,
the Naval Supply Center, Building 502, Oakland, California.
You can order by mail or in person and the prices are very
low, even though it isn't as good as the stuff our brothers
and sisters in the Viet Cong rip-off.
WALKIE-TALKIES
You should always go to a demonstration in a small group that
stays in contact with each other until the demonstration is
over. One way to keep in touch is to use walkie-talkies. No
matter how heavy the vamping gets or how spread out are the
crowds, you'll be able to communicate with these lightweight
effective portable devices. The only disadvantage is cost.
A half decent unit costs at least $18.00. It should have a
minimum of 9 transistors and 100 milliwatts, although walkie-talkies
can go as high as 5 watts and broadcast over 2 miles. Anything
under 1 watt will not broadcast over ½ mile and considerably
less in an area with tall buildings. The best unit you can
buy runs about $300.00. If you ever deck a pig, steal his
walkie-talkie even before you take his gun. A good rule is
to avoid the bargain gyp-joints and go to a place that deals
in electronic equipment.
The important thing to realize about all walkie-talkie
networks is that if anyone can talk, anyone else can listen
and vice versa. This applies to pigs as well as us. All
walkie-talkies work on the Civilian Band which has 23 channels.
The cheaper units are preset to channel 9 or 11. The pigs
broadcast on higher channels, usually channel 22. More expensive
sets can operate on alternative channels. By removing the
front of the set, you can adjust the transmitter and receiver
to pick up and receive police communications. Don't screw
around with the inside though, unless you know what you
are doing. Allied Radio, 100 N. Western Ave., Chicago, Illinois
60680, will send you a good free catalogue, as will most
large electronic stores. Consider buying a number of sets
and ask about group discounts. Practice a number of times
before you actually use walkie-talkies in real action. Develop
code names and words just like the pigs do. Once you get
acquainted with this method of communications in the streets,
you'll never get cut off from the action. Watch out in close
combat though. The pigs always try to smash any electronic
gear.
OTHER EQUIPMENT
A sign can be used to ward off blows. Staple it to a good
strong pole that you can use as a weapon if need be. Chains
make good belts, as do garrisons with the buckles sharpened.
A tightly rolled-up magazine or newspaper also can be used
as a defensive weapon.
Someone in your group should carry a first aid kit. A Medical
Emergency Aeronautic Kit, which costs about $5.00 has a
perfect carrying bag for street action.
Ideally you should visit the proposed site of the demonstration
before it actually takes place. This way you'll have an
idea of the terrain and the type of containment the police
will be using. Someone in your group should mimeograph a
map of the immediate vicinity which each person should carry.
Alternative actions and a rendezvous point should be worked
out. Everyone should have two numbers written on their arm,
a coordination center number and the number of a local lawyer
or legal defense committee. You should not take your personal
phone books to demonstrations. If you get busted, pigs can
get mighty Nosy when it comes to phone books. Any sharp
objects can be construed as weapons. Women should not wear
earrings or other jewelry and should tie their hair up to
tuck it under a helmet. Wear a belt that you can use as
a tourniquet. False teeth and contact lenses should be left
at home if possible. You can choke on false teeth if you
receive a sharp blow while running. Contact lenses can complicate
eye damage if gas or Mace is used.
If it really looks heavy, you might want to pick up on
a lightweight adjustable bullet-proof vest, available for
$14.95 from Surplus Distributors, Inc., 6279 Van Nuys Blvd.,
Van Nuys, California 91401. Remember what the Boy Scouts
say when they go camping: "Be Prepared". When you go to
demonstrations you should be prepared for a lot more than
speeches. The pigs will be.
Trashing
Ever since the Chicago pigs brutalized the demonstrators in
August of 1968, young people have been read to vent their
rage over Amerika's inhumanity by using more daring tactics
than basic demonstrations. There is a growing willingness
to do battle with the pigs in the streets and at the same
time to inflict property damage. It's not exactly rioting
and it's not exactly guerrilla warfare; it has come to be
called "Trashing." Most trashing is of a primitive nature
with the pigs having the weapon and strategy advantage. Most
trashers rely on quick young legs and a nearby rock. By developing
simple gang strategy and becoming acquainted with some rudimentary
weapons and combat techniques, the odds can be shifted considerably.
Remember, pigs have small brains and move slowly. All formations,
signals, codes and other procedures they use have to be
uniform and simplistic. The Army Plan for Containment and
Control of Civil Disorders, published by the Government
Printing Office, contains the basic thinking for all city,
county and state storm troopers. A trip to the library and
a look at any basic text in criminology will help considerably
in gaining an understanding of how pigs act in the street.
If you study up, you'll find you can, with the aid of a
bullhorn or properly adjusted walkie-talkie, fuck up many
intricate pig formations. "Left flank-right turn!" said
authoritatively into a bullhorn pointed in the right direction
will yield all sorts of wild results.
You should trash with a group using a buddy system to keep
track of each other. If someone is caught by a pig, other
should immediately rush to the rescue if it's possible to
do so without sustaining too many losses. If an arrest is
made, someone from your gang should take responsibility
for seeing to it that a lawyer and bail bread are taken
care of. Never abandon a member of your gang.
Avoid fighting in close quarters. You run less risk by
throwing an object than by personally delivering the blow
with a weapon you hold in your hand. We suppose this is
what pigs refer to as "duty fighting." All revolutionaries
fight dirt in the eyes of the oppressors. The British accused
the Minutemen of Lexington and Concord of fighting dirty
by hiding behind trees. The U.S. Army accuses the Viet Cong
of fighting dirty when they rub a pointed bamboo shoot in
infected shit and use it as a land mine. Mayor Daley says
the Yippies squirted hair spray and used golf balls with
spikes in them against his innocent blue boys. No one ever
accused the U.S. of being sneaky for using an airforce in
Southeast Asia or the Illinois State Attorney's office of
fighting dirty when it murdered Fred Hampton and Mark Clark
while they lay in bed. We say: all power to the dirty fighters!
WEAPONS FOR STREET FIGHTING
Spray Cans
These are a very effective and educating method of property
destruction. If a liberated zone has been established or
you find yourself on a quiet street away from the thick
of things, pretty up the neighborhood. Slogans and symbols
can be sprayed on rough surfaces such as brick or concrete
walls that are a real bitch to remove unless expensive sandblasting
is used.
The Slingshot
This is probably the ideal street weapon for the swarms
of little Davids that are out to down the Goliaths of Pigdom.
It is cheap, legal to carry, silent, fast-loading and any
right size rock will do for a missile. You can find them
at hobby shops and large sporting goods stores, especially
those that deal in hunting supplies. Wrist-Rocket makes
a powerful and accurate slingshot for $2.50. The Whamo Sportsman
is not as good but half the price. By selecting the right
"Y" shaped branch, you can fashion a home-made one by using
a strip of rubber cut from the inner tube of a tue as the
sling. A few hours of shooting stones at cans in the back
yard or up on the roof will make you marksman enough for
those fat bank windows and even fatter pigs.
Slings
A sling is a home-made weapon consisting of two lengths
of heavy-duty cord each attached securely at one end to
a leather patch that serves as a pocket to cradle the rock.
Place the rock in the pouch and grab the two pieces of cord
firmly in your hand. Whirl the rock round and round until
gravity holds it firmly in the pouch. When you feel you
have things under control, let one end of the cord go and
the rock will fly out at an incredible speed. You should
avoid using the sling in a thick crowd (rooftop shooting
is best). Practice is definitely needed to gain any degree
of accuracy.
Boomerangs
The boomerang is a neat weapon for street fighting and
is as easy to master as the Frisbee. There is a great psychological
effect in using exotic weapons such as this. You can buy
one at large hobby stores. On the East Coast you can get
one from Sportscraft, Bergenfield, New Jersey, for $2.69,
and on the West Coast from Whamo, 835 El Monte St., San
Gabriel, Calif., for $1.10.
Flash Guns
Electric battery-operated flash guns are available that
will blind a power-crazy pig, thus distracting him long
enough to rescue a captured comrade. Check out camping and
boating supply stores.
Tear Gas and Mace
Personalized tear gas and mace dispensers are available
for self-defense against muggers. Well, isn't a pig just
an extra vicious mugger? Write J.P. Darby, 8813 New Hyde
Park, New York, N.Y. 11040 for a variety of types and prices.
Tear gas shells are available for 12 gauge shotguns and
.38 Special handguns, but it is highly inadvisable to bring
guns to street actions. A far better weapon is a specially
built projection device that shoots tear gas shells. Hercules
Gas-Munitions Corp., 5501 No. Broadway, Chicago, Ill., sells
compact units complete with cartridges for $6.95 that will
fire up to 20 feet. Penguin Associates, Inc., Pennsylvania
Avenue, Malvern, Penn., also has a variety of tear-gas propellant
devices including a combination tear gas-billyclub item.
All these companies will supply a catalogue and price list
on request. Some states have laws against civilian use of
tear gas devices. New York is one of them, and unfortunately
these companies will not ship to states that forbid usage.
If you want any of these items, and your state has restrictions,
have a sister or brother in a neighboring state order for
you. Just latching onto these catalogues can be a trip and
a half in terms of getting your imagination hopping. For
example Raid, Black Flag and other insecticides shoot a
7 to 10 foot stream that burns the eyes. You can also dissolve
Drano in water and squirt it from an ordinary plastic water
pistol. That makes a highly effective defensive weapon.
A phony letterhead of a Civil Defense unit will help in
getting heavier anti-personal weapons of a defensive nature.
Anti-Tire Weapons
Don't believe all those bullshit tire ads that make tires
seem like the Superman of the streets. Roofing nails spread
out on the street are effective in stopping a patrol car.
A nail sticking out from a strong piece of wood wedged under
a rear tire will work as effectively as a bazooka. An ice
pick will do the trick repeatedly but you've got to have
a strong arm to strike home. Sugar in the gas tank of a
pig vehicle will really fuck-up the engine.
Authentic Pig Game
If you really get into it, you'll probably want to be sd
heavily prepared for trashing as are the pigs. Wouldn't
you just know that the largest supplier of equipment to
police in the world is in Chicago. Kale's, 550 W. Roosevelt
Rd., Chicago, Ill. 60607, will send you, on request, the
most complete catalogue you can get for trashing. Actual
police uniforms, super-riot helmets, persuaders chemical
mace, a knuckle sap, which is a glove with powdered lead,
billy clubs, secret holsters, a three-in-one mob stick that
spits Mace, emits an electric shock and allows you to club
to death a charging rhinoceros. You can also get the latest
in handcuffs and other security devices. This catalogue
is a must for the love-child of the 70's. If we want to
get high we're going to have to fight our way up.
KNIFE FIGHTING
Probably one of the most favored street weapons of all time
is the good old "shiv," "blade," "toe-jabber" or whatever
you choose to call a good sticker. Remembering that today's
pig is tomorrow's bacon, it's good to know a few handy slicing
tips. The first thing to learn is the local laws regarding
the possession of knives. The laws on possession are of the
"Catch-22" vagueness. Cops can arrest you for having a small
pocket knife and claim you have a concealed and deadly weapon
in your possession. Here, as in most cases of law, it's not
what you are doing, it's who's doing the what that counts.
All areas, however, usually have a limit on length such as
blades under 4" or 6" are legal and anything over that length
concealed on a person can be considered illegal. Asking some
hip lawyers can help here.
Unfortunately, the best fighting knives are illegal. Switchblades
(and stilettos) because they can so quickly spring into
operation, are great weapons that are outlawed in all states.
If you want to risk the consequences, however, you can readily
purchase these weapons once you learn how to contact the
criminal underworld or in most foreign countries. If both
of these fail, go to any pawnshop, look in the window, and
take our choice of lethal, illegal knives.
A flat gravity knife, available in most army surplus and
pawn shops would be the best type available in regular over-the-counter
buying. It's flat style makes for easy concealment and comfort
when kept in a pocket or boot. It can be greased and the
rear "heel" of the blade can be filed down to make it fly
open with a flick of the wrist. A little practice here will
be very useful.
Most inexperienced knife fighters use a blade incorrectly.
Having seen too many Jim Bowies slash their way through
walls of human flesh, they persist in carrying on this inane
tradition. Overhead and uppercut slashes are a waste of
energy and blade power. The correct method is to hold the
knife in a natural, firm grip and jab straight ahead at
waist level with the arm extending full length each time.
This fencing style allows for the maximum reach of arm and
blade. By concentrating the point of the knife directly
at the target, you make defense against such an attack difficult.
Work out with this jabbing method in front of a mirror and
in a few days you'll get it down pretty well.
UNARMED DEFENSE
Let's face it, when it comes to trashing in the streets, our
success is going to depend on our cunning and speed rather
than our strength and power. Our side is all quarterbacks,
and the pigs have nothing but linemen. They are clumsy, slobbish
brutes that would be lost without their guns, clubs and toy
whistles. When one grabs you for an arrest, you can with a
little effort, make him let go. In the confusion of all the
street action, you will then be able to manage your getaway.
There are a variety of defensive twists and pulls that
are easy to master by reading a good, easily understandable
book on the subject, such as George Hunter's How To Defend
Yourself (see appendix). If a pig grabs you by the wrist
you can break the grip by twisting against his thumb. Try
this on yourself by grabbing one wrist with your hand. See
how difficult it is to hold someone who works against the
thumb. If he grabs you around the waist or neck, you can
grab his thumbs or another finger and sharply bend it backwards.
By concentrating all your energy on one little finger, you
can inflict pain and cause the grip to be broken.
There are a variety of points on the body where a firm
amount of pressure skillfully directed will induce severe
pain. A grip, for example, can be broken by jabbing your
finger firmly between the pig's knuckles. (Nothing like
chopped pigknuckles.) Feel directly under your chin in back
of the jawbone until your finger rests in the V area, press
firmly upward and backward towards the center of the head.
There is also a very vulnerable spot right behind the ear
lobe. Stick your fingers there and see. Get the point!
In addition to pressure points, there are places in the
body where a sharp, well-directed whack with the side of
a rigidly held palm can easily disable a person. Performed
by an expert, such a blow can even be lethal. Try making
such a rigid palm and practice these judo chops. The fist
is a ridiculous weapon to use. It's fleshy, the blow is
distributed over too wide an area to have any real effect
and the knuckles break easily. You will have to train yourself
to use judo chops instinctively, but it will prove quite
worthwhile if you are ever in trouble. A good place to aim
for is directly in the center of the chest cavity at its
lowest point. Draw a straight line up about six inches starting
from your belly button, and you can feel the point. The
Adam's Apple in the center of the neck and the back of the
neck at the top of the spinal column are also extremely
vulnerable spots. With the side of your palm, press firmly
the spot directly below your nose and above your upper lip.
You can easily get an idea of what a short, forceful chop
in this area would do. The side of the head in front of
the ear is also a good place to aim your blow.
In addition to jabs, chops, twists, squeezes and bites,
you ought to gain some mastery of kneeing and kicking. If
you are being held in close and facing the porker, the old
familiar knee-in-the-nuts will produce remarkable results.
A feinting motion with the head before the knee is delivered
will produce a reflexive reaction from your opponent that
will leave his groin totally unprotected. Ouch!
Whether he has you from the front or the back, he is little
prepared to defend against a skillfully aimed kick. The
best way is to forcefully scrape the side of your shoe downward
along the shinbone, beginning just below the knee and ending
with a hard stomp on the instep of the foot. Just try this
with the side of your hand and you will get an idea of the
damage you can inflict with this scrape and stomp method.
Another good place to kick and often the only spot accessible
is the side of the knee. Even a half successful blow here
will topple the biggest of honkers. Any of these easy to
learn techniques of unarmed self defense will fulfill the
old nursery rhyme that goes:
Catch a piggy by the toe
When he hollers
Let him go
Out pops Y-0-U
GENERAL STRATEGY RAP
The guideline in trashing is to try and do as much property
destruction as possible without getting caught or hurt. The
best buildings to trash in terms of not alienating too many
of those not yet clued into revolutionary violence, are the
most piggy symbols of violence you can find. Banks, large
corporations, especially those that participate heavily in
supporting the U.S. armed forces, federal buildings, courthouses,
police stations, and Selective Service centers are all good
targets. On campuses, buildings that are noted for warfare
research and ROTC training are best. When it comes to automobiles,
choose only police vehicles and very expensive cars such as
Lamborghinis and Iso Grifos. Every rock or molotov cocktail
thrown should make a very obvious political point. Random
violence produces random propaganda results. Why waste even
a rock?
When you know there is going to be a rough street scene
developing, don't play into the pig's strategy. Spread the
action out. Help waste the enemy's numbers. You and the
other members of your group should already have a target
or two in mind that will make for easy trashing. If you
don't have one, setting fires in trash cans and ringing
fire alarms will help provide a cover for other teams that
do have objectives picked out. Putting out street lights
with rocks also helps the general infusion.
After a few tries at trashing, you'll begin to overcome
your fears, learn what to expect from both the pigs and
your comrades, and develop your own street strategy. Nothing
works like practice in actual street conditions. Get your
head together and you'll become a pro. Don't make the basic
mistake of just naively floating into the area. Don't think
"rally" or "demonstration," think "WAR" and "Battle Zone."
Keep your eyes and ears open. Watch for mistakes made by
members of your gang and those made by other comrades. Watch
for blunders by the police. In street fighting, every soldier
should think like a general. Workshops should be organized
right after an action to discuss the strength and weaknesses
of techniques and strategies used. Avoid political bullshit
at such raps. Regard them as military sessions. Persons
not versed in the tactics of revolution usually have nothing
worthwhile to say about the politics of revolution.
People's Chemistry
STINK BOMB
You can purchase buteric acid at any chemical supply store
for "laboratory experiments." It can be thrown or poured directly
in an area you think already stinks. A small bottle can be
left uncapped behind a door that opens into the target room.
When a person enters they will knock over the bottle, spilling
the liquid. Called a "Froines," by those in the know, an ounce
of buteric acid can go a long way. Be careful not to get it
on your clothing. A home-made stink bomb can be made by mixing
a batch of egg whites, Drano, (sodium hydroxide) and water.
Let the mixture sit for a few days in a capped bottle before
using.
SMOKE BOMB
Sometimes it becomes strategically correct to confuse the
opposition and provide a smoke screen to aid an escape. A
real home-made stroke bomb can be made by combining four parts
sugar to six parts saltpeter (available at all chemical supply
stores). This mixture must then be heated over a very low
flame. It will blend into a plastic substance. When this starts
to gel, remove from the heat and allow the plastic to cool.
Embed a few wooden match heads into the mass while it's still
pliable and attach a fuse.*
The smoke bomb itself is a non-explosive and non-flame-producing,
so no extreme safety requirements are needed. About a pound
of the plastic will produce thick enough smoke to fill a
city block. Just make sure you know which way the wind is
blowing. Weathermen-women! If you're not the domestic type,
you can order smoke flares (yellow or black) for $2.00 a
flare [12 inch] from Time Square Stage Lighting Co., 318
West 47th Street, New York, NY 10036.
*You can make a good homemade fuse by dipping a
string in glue and then rolling it lightly in gunpowder.
When the glue hardens, wrap the string tightly and neatly
with scotch tape. This fuse can be used in a variety of
ways. Weight it on one end and drop a rock into the tank
of a pig vehicle. Light the other end and run like hell.
CBW
LACE (Lysergic Acid Crypto-Ethelene) can be made by mixing
LSD with DMSO, a high penetrating agent, and water. Sprayed
from an atomizer or squirted from a water pistol, the purple
liquid will send any pig twirling into the Never-Never Land
of chromosome damage. It produces an involuntary pelvic action
in cops that resembles fucking. Remember when Mace runs out,
turn to Lace.
How about coating thin darts in LSD and shooting them from
a Daisy Air Pellet Gun? Guns and darts are available at
hobby and sports shops. Sharpening the otherwise dull darts
will help in turning on your prey.
MOLOTOV COCKTAIL
Molotov cocktails are a classic street fighting weapon served
up around the world. If you've never made one, you should
try it the next time you are in some out-of-the-way barren
place just to wipe the fear out of your mind and know that
it works. Fill a thin-walled bottle half full with gasoline.
Break up a section of styrofoam (cups made of this substance
work fine) and let it sit in the gasoline for a few days.
The mixture should be slushy and almost fill the bottle. The
styrofoam spreads the flames around and regulates the burning.
The mixture has nearly the same properties as napalm. Soap
flakes (not detergents) can be substituted for styrofoam.
Rubber cement and sterno also work. In a pinch, plain gasoline
will do nicely, but it burns very fast. A gasoline-kerosene
mixture is preferred by some folks.
Throwing, although by far not the safest method, is sometimes
necessary. The classic technique of stuffing a rag in the
neck of a bottle, lighting and tossing is foolish. Often
gas fumes escape from the bottle and the mixture ignites
too soon, endangering the thrower. If you're into throwing,
the following is a much safer method: Once the mixture is
prepared and inside the bottle, cap it tightly using the
original cap or a suitable cork. Then wash the bottle off
with rubbing alcohol and wipe it clean. Just before you
leave to strike a target, take a strip of rag or a tampax
and dip it in gasoline. Wrap this fuse in a small plastic
baggie and attach the whole thing to the neck of the capped
bottle with the aid of several rubber bands. When you are
ready to toss, use a lighter to ignite the baggie. Pall
back your arm and fling it as soon as the tampax catches
fire. This is a very safe method if followed to the letter.
The bottle must break to ignite. Be sure to throw it with
some force against a hard surface.
Naturally, an even safer method is to place the firebomb
in a stationary position and rig up a timing fuse. Cap tightly
and wipe with alcohol as before. The alcohol wipe not only
is a safety factor, but it eliminates tell-tale fingerprints
in case the Molotov doesn't ignite. Next, attach an ashcan
fire cracker (M-80) or a cherry bomb to the side of the
bottle using epoxy glue. A fancier way is to punch a hole
in the cap and pull the fuse of the cherry bomb up through
the hole before you seal the bottle. A dab of epoxy will
hold the fuse in place and insure the seal. A firecracker
fuse ignites quickly so something will have to be rigged
that will deal the action enough to make a clean getaway.
When the firebomb is placed where you want it, light up
a non-filter cancerette. Take a few puffs (being sure not
to inhale the vile fumes) to get it going and work the unlighted
end over the fuse of the firecracker. This will provide
a delay of from 5 to 15 minutes. To use this type of fuse
successfully, there must be enough air in the vicinity so
the flame won't go out. A strong wind would not be good
either. When the cancerette burns down, it sets off the
firecracker which in turn explodes and ignites the mixture.
The flames shoot out in the direction opposite to where
you attach the firecracker, thus allowing you to aim the
firebomb at the most flammable material. With the firecracker
in the cap, the flames spread downward in a halo. The cancerette
fuse can also be used with a book of matches to ignite a
pool of gasoline or a trash can. Stick the unlighted end
behind the row of match heads and close the cover. A firecracker
attached to a gallon jug of red paint and set off can turn
an office into total abstract art.
Commercial fuses are available in many hobby stores. Dynamite
fuses are excellent and sold in most rural hardware stores.
A good way to make a homemade fuse is described above under
the Smoke Bomb section. By adding an extra few feet of fuse
to the device and then attaching the lit cancerette fuse,
you add an extra measure of caution. It is most important
to test every type of fuse device you plan to use a number
of times before the actual hit. Some experimentation will
allow you to standardize the results. If you really want
to get the job done right and have the time, place several
molotov cocktails in a group and rig two with fuses (in
case one goes out). When one goes, they all go . . .BAROOOOOOOOOOM!
STERNO BOMB
One of the simplest bombs to make is the converted sterno
can. It will provide some bang and a widely dispersed spray
of jellied fire. Remove the lid from a standard, commercially
purchased can and punch a hold in the center big enough for
the firecracker fuse. Take a large spoonful of jelly out of
the center to make room for the firecracker. Insert the firecracker
and pull the fuse up through the hole in the lid. When in
place, cement around the hole with epoxy glue. Put some more
glue around the rim of the can and reseal the lid. Wipe the
can and wash off excess with rubbing alcohol. A cancerette
fuse should be used. The can could also be taped around a
bottle with Molotov mixture and ignited.
AEROSOL BOMB
You can purchase smokeless gunpowder at most stores where
guns and ammunition are sold. It is used for reloading bullets.
The back of shotgun shells can be opened and the powder removed.
Black powder is more highly explosive but more difficult to
come by. A graduate chemist can make or get all you'll need.
If you know one that can be trusted, go over a lot of shit
with him. Try turning him on to learning how to make "plastics"
which are absolutely the grooviest explosive available. The
ideal urban guerrilla weapons are these explosive plastic
compounds.
The neat homemade bomb that really packs a wallop can be
made from a regular aerosol can that is empty. Remove the
nozzle and punch in the nipple area on the top of the can.
Wash the can out with rubbing alcohol and let dry. Fill
it gently and lovingly with an explosive powder. Add a layer
of cotton to the top and insert a cherry bomb fuse. Use
epoxy glue to hold the fuse in place and seal the can. The
can should be wiped clean with rubbing alcohol. Another
safety hint to remember is never store the powder and your
fuses or other ignition material together. Powder should
always be treated with a healthy amount of respect. No smoking
should go on in the assembling area and no striking of hard
metals that might produce a spark. Use your head and you'll
get to keep it.
PIPE BOMBS
Perhaps the most widely used homemade concussion bombs are
those made out of pipe. Perfected by George Metesky, the renown
New York Mad Bomber, they are deadly, safe, easy to assemble,
and small enough to transport in your pocket. You want a standard
steel pipe (two inches in diameter is a good size) that is
threaded on both ends so you can cap it. The length you use
depends on how big an explosion is desired. Sizes between
3-10 inches in length have been successfully employed. Make
sure both caps screw on tightly before you insert the powder.
The basic idea to remember is that a bomb is simply a hot
fire burning very rapidly in a tightly confined space. The
rapidly expanding gases burst against the walls of the bomb.
If they are trapped in a tightly sealed iron pipe, when they
finally break out, they do so with incredible force. If the
bomb itself is placed in a somewhat enclosed area like a ventilation
shaft, doorway or alleyway, it will in turn convert this larger
area into a "bomb" and increase the over-all explosion immensely.
When you have the right pipe and both caps selected, drill
a hole in the side of the pipe (before powder is inserted)
big enough to pull the fuse through. If you are using a
firecracker fuse, insert the firecracker, pull the fuse
through and epoxy it into place securely. If you are using
long fusing either with a detonator (difficult to come by)
timing device or a simple cancerette fuse, drill two holes
and run two lines of fuse into the pipe. When you have the
fuse rigged to the pipe, you are ready to add the powder.
Cape one end snugly, making sure you haven't trapped any
grains of powder in the threads. Wipe the device with rubbing
alcohol and you're ready to blast off.
A good innovation is to grind down one half of the pipe
before you insert the powder. This makes the walls of one
end thinner than the walls of the other end. When you place
the bomb, the explosion, following the line of least resistance,
will head in that direction. You can do this with ordinary
grinding tools available in any hardware or machine shop.
Be sure not to have the powder around when you are grinding
the pipe, since sparks are produced. Woodstock Nation contains
instructions for more pipe bombs and a neat timing device
(see pages 115-117).
GENERAL BOMB STRATEGY
This section is not meant to be a handbook on explosives.
Anyone who wishes to become an expert in the field can procure
a number of excellent books on the subject catalogued in the
Appendix. In bombing, as in trashing, the same general strategy
in regard to the selection of targets applies. Never use anti-personnel
shrapnel bombs. Always be careful in placing the devices to
keep them away from glass windows and as far away from the
front of the building as possible. Direct them away from any
area in which there might be people. Sophisticated electric
timers should be used only by experts in demolitions. Operate
in the wee hours of the night and be careful that you don't
injure a night watchman or guard. Telephone in warnings before
the bomb goes off. The police record all calls to emergency
numbers and occasionally people have been traced down by the
use of a voice-o-graph. The best way to avoid detection is
by placing a huge wad of chewed up gum on the roof of your
mouth before you talk. Using a cloth over the phone is not
good enough to avoid detection. Be as brief as possible and
always use a pay phone.
When you get books from companies or libraries dealing
with explosives or guerrilla warfare, use a phony name and
address. Always do this if you obtain chemicals from a chemical
supply house. These places are being increasingly watched
by the F.B.I. Store your material and literature in a safe
cool place and above all, keep your big mouth shut!
First Aid For Street Fighters
Without intending to spook you, we think it is becoming increasingly
important for as many people as possible to develop basic
first aid skills. As revolutionary struggle intensifies, so
will the number and severity of injuries increase. Reliance
on establishment medical facilities will become risky. Hospitals
that border on "riot" areas are used by police to apprehend
suspects. All violence-induced injuries treated by establishment
doctors might be reported. Knife and gunshot wounds in all
states by law must be immediately phoned in for investigation.
At times a victim has no choice but to run such risks. If
you can, use a phony name, but everyone should know the location
of sympathetic doctors.
Chaos resulting from the gassing, clubbing and shooting
associated with a police riot also makes personal first
aid important. Most demonstrations have medical teams that
run with the people and staff mobile units, but often these
become the target of assault by the more vicious pigs. Also,
in the confusion, there is usually too much work for the
medical teams. Everyone must take responsibility for everyone
else if we are to survive in the streets. If you spot someone
lying unconscious or badly injured, take it upon yourself
to help the victim. Immediately raise your arm or wave your
Nation flag and shout for a medic. If the person is badly
hurt, it is best not to move him, or her, but if there is
the risk of more harm or the area is badly gassed, the victim
should be moved to safety. Try to be as gentle as possible.
Get some people to help you.
WHAT TO DO
Your attitude in dealing with an injured person is extremely
important. Don't panic at the sight of blood. Most bloody
injuries look far worse than they are. Don't get nervous if
the victim is unconscious. If you're not able to control your
own fear about treating someone, call for another person.
It helps to attend a few first aid classes to overcome these
fears in practice sessions.
When you approach the victim, identify yourself. Calmly,
but quickly figure out what's the matter. Check to see if
the person is alive by feeling for the pulse. There are
a number of spots to check if the blood is circulating,
under the chin near the neck, the wrists, and ankles are
the most common. Get in the habit of feeling a normal pulse.
A high pulse (over 100 per minute) usually indicates shock.
A low pulse indicates some kind of injury to the heart or
nervous system. Massaging the heart can often restore the
heartbeat, especially if its loss is due to a severe blow
to the chest. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation should be used
if the victim is not breathing. Both these skills can be
mastered in a first aid course in less than an hour and
should become second nature to every street fighter.
When it comes to dealing with bleeding or possible fractures,
enlisting the victim's help as well as adopting a firm but
calm manner will be very reassuring. This is important to
avoid shock. Shock occurs when there is a serious loss of
blood and not enough is being supplied to the brain. The
symptoms are high pulse rate; cold, clammy, pale skin; trembling
or unconsciousness. Try to keep the patient warm with blankets
or coats. If a tremendous amount of blood has been lost,
the victim may need a transfusion. Routine bleeding can
be stopped by firm direct pressure over the source of bleeding
for 5 to 10 minutes. If an artery has been cut and bleeding
is severe, a tourniquet will be needed. Use a belt, scarf
or torn shirtsleeve. Tie the tourniquet around the arm or
leg directly above the bleeding area and tighten it until
the bleeding stops. Do not loosen the tourniquet. Wrap the
injured limb in a cold wet towel or ice if available and
move the person to a doctor or hospital before irreparable
damage can occur. Don't panic, though, you have about six
hours.
A painful blow to a limb is best treated with an ice pack
and elevation of the extremity by resting it on a pillow
or rolled-up jacket. A severe blow to the chest or side
can result in a rib fracture which produces sharp pains
when breathing and/or coughing up blood. Chest X-rays will
eventually be needed. Other internal injuries can occur
from sharp body blows such as kidney injuries. They are
usually accompanied by nausea, vomiting, shock and persistent
abdominal pain. If you feel a bad internal injury has occurred,
get prompt professional help.
Head injuries have to be attended to with more attention
than other parts of the body. Treat them by stopping the
bleeding with direct pressure. They should be treated before
other injuries as they more quickly can cause shock. Every
head injury should be X-rayed and the injured person should
be watched for the next 24 hours as complications can develop
hours after the injury was sustained. After a severe blow
to the head, be on the look-out for excessive sleepiness
or difficulty in waking. Sharp and persistent headaches,
vomiting and nausea, dizziness or difficulty maintaining
balance are all warning signs. If they occur after a head
injury, call a doctor.
If a limb appears to be broken or fractured, improvise
a splint before moving the victim. Place a stiff backing
behind the limb such as a board or rolled-up magazine and
wrap both with a bandage. Try to avoid moving the injured
limb as this can lead to complicating the fracture. Every
fracture must be X-rayed to evaluate the extent of the injury
and subsequent treatment.
Bullet wounds to the abdomen, chest or head, if loss of
consciousness occurs are extremely dangerous and must be
seen by a doctor immediately. If the wound occurs in the
limb, treat as you would any bleeding with direct pressure
bandage and tourniquet only if nothing else will stop the
bleeding.
If you expect trouble, every person going to a street scene
should have a few minimum supplies in addition to those
mentioned in the section on Demonstrations for protection.
A handful of bandaids, gauze pads (4x4), an ace bandage
(3 inch width), and a roll of 1/2 inch adhesive tape can
all easily fit in your pocket. A plastic bag with cotton
balls pre-soaked in water will come in handy in a variety
of situations where gas is being used, as will a small bottle
of mineral oil. You should write the name, phone number
and address of the nearest movement doctor on your arm with
a ballpoint pen. Your arm's getting pretty crowded, isn't
it? If someone is severely injured, it may be better to
save their life by taking them to a hospital, even though
that means probable capture for them, rather than try to
treat it yourself. However, do not confuse the police with
the hospital. Many injured people have been finished off
by the porkers, and that's no joke. It is usually better
to treat a person yourself rather than let the pigs get
them, unless they have ambulance equipment right there and
don't seem vicious. Even then, they will often wait until
they get two or three victims before making a trip to the
hospital.
If you have a special medical problem, such as being a
diabetic or having a penicillin allergy, you should wear
a medi-alert tag around your neck indicating your condition.
Every person who sees a lot of street action should have
a tetanus shot at least once in every five years.
Know just this much, and it will help to keep down serious
injuries at demonstrations. A few lessons in a first aid
class at one of the Free Universities or People's Clinics
will go a long way in providing you with the confidence
and skill needed in the street.
MEDICAL COMMITTEES
Here is a partial list of some Medical Committees for Human
Rights. They will be glad to give you first aid instructions
and often organize medical teams to work demonstrations. A
complete list is available from the Chicago office.
- BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, 21215 - 6012 Wallis Ave.
- BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, 94609 - 663 Alcartz
- BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, 35205 - 2122 9th Ave. South
- CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - 1512 E. 55th St.
- CLEVELAND, OHIO, 44112 - Outpost, 13017 Euclid Ave.
- DETROIT, MICHIGAN, 48207 - 1300 E. Lafayette
- HARTFORD, CONN., 06112 - 161 Ridgefield St.
- LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - PO Box 2463, Sepulveda, Calif.
91343 (mail)
- NASHVILLE,TENN., 37204 - 3301 Leland Land
- NEW HAVEN, CONN., - 30 Bryden Terrace, Hamden, Conn.
06514 (mail)
- NEW ORLEANS LA., 70130 - 623 Bourbon St.
- NEW YORK, NY 10014 - 15 Charles St.
- PHILADELPHIA, PA., 19119 - 6705 Lincoln Drive
- PITTSBURGH, PA., 15222 - 617 Empire Building
- SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF., 94115 - 2519 Pacific Ave.
- SYRACUSE, NY, 13210 - 931 Comstock Ave.
- WASHINGTON, D.C. - 3410 Taylor St., Chevy Chase, Md.
20015 (mail)
Hip-Pocket Law
LEGAL ADVICE
Any discussion about what to do while waiting fur the lawyer
has to be qualified by pointing out that from the moment of
arrest through the court appearances, cops tend to disregard
a defendant's rights. Nonetheless, you should play it according
to the book whenever possible as you might get your case bounced
out on a technicality. When you get busted, rule number one
is that you have the right to remain silent. We advise that
you give only your name and address. There is a legal dispute
about whether or not you are obligated under the law to do
even that, but most lawyers feel you should. The address can
be that of a friend if you're uptight about the pigs knowing
where you live.
When the pigs grab you, chances are they are going to insult
you, rough you up a little and maybe even try to plant some
evidence on you. Try to keep your cool. Any struggle on
your part, even lying on the street limp, can be considered
resisting arrest. Even if you beat the original charge,
you can be found guilty of resisting and receive a prison
sentence. Often if the pigs beat you, they will say that
you attacked them and generally charge you with assault.
If you are stopped in the street on suspicion (which means
you're black or have long hair), the police have the right
to pat you down to see if you are carrying a weapon. They
cannot search you unless they place you under arrest. Technically,
this can only be done in the police station where they have
the right to examine your possessions. Thus, if you are
in a potential arrest situation, you should refrain from
carrying dope, sharp objects that can be classified as a
weapon, and the names and phone numbers of people close
to you, like your dealer, your local bomb factory, and your
friends underground.
Forget about talking your way out of it or escaping once
you're in the car or paddy wagon. In the police station,
insist on being allowed to call your lawyer. Getting change
might be a problem so you should always have a few dimes
hidden. Since many cases are dismissed because of this,
you'll generally be allowed to make some calls, but it might
take a few hours. Call a close friend and tell him to get
all the cash that can be quickly raised and head down to
the court house. Usually the police will let you know where
you'll be taken. If they don't, just tell your friend what
precinct you're being held at, and he can call the central
police headquarters and find out what court you'll be appearing
in. Ask your friend to also call a lawyer which you also
should do if you get another phone call. Hang up and dial
a lawyer or defense committee that has been set up for demonstrations.
The lawyer will either come to the station or meet you in
court depending on the severity of the charge and the likelihood
you'll be beaten in the station. When massive demonstrations
are occurring where a number of busts are anticipated, it's
best to have lawyers placed in police stations in the immediate
vicinity.
The lawyer will want to know as many details as possible
of the case so try and concentrate on remembering a number
of things since the pigs aren't going to let you take notes.
If you can, remember the name and badge number of the fink
that busted you. Sometimes they'll switch arresting officers
on you. Remember the time, location of the bust and any
potential witnesses that the lawyer might be able to contact.
If you are unable to locate a lawyer, don't panic, the
court will assign you one at the time of the arraignment.
Legal Aid lawyers are free and can usually do as good a
job as a private lawyer at an arraignment. Often they can
do better, as the judge might set a lower bail if he sees
you can't afford a private lawyer. The arraignment is probably
the first place you'll find out what the charges are against
you. There will also be a court date set and bail established.
The amount of bail depends on a variety of factors ranging
from previous convictions to the judge's hangover. It can
be put up in collateral, i.e., a bank book, or often there
is a cash alternative offered which amounts to about 10%
of the total bail.
Your friend should be in the court with some cash (at least
a hundred dollars is recommended). For very high bail, there
are the bail bondsmen in the area of the courthouse who
will cover the bail for a fee,generally not to exceed 5%.
You will need some signatures of solid citizens to sign
the bail papers and perhaps put up some collateral.
Once you get bailed out, you should contact a private lawyer,
preferably one that has experience with your type of case.
If you are low on bread, check out one of the community
or movement legal groups in your area. It is not advisable
to keep the legal aid lawyer beyond the arraignment if at
all possible.
If you're in a car or in your home, the police do not have
a right to search the premises without a search warrant
or probable cause. Do not consent to any search without
a warrant, especially if there are witnesses around who
can hear you. Without your consent, the pigs must prove
probable cause in the court. It's unbelievable the number
of defendants that not only come naked, but pull their own
pants down. Make the cops kick in the door or break open
the trunk themselves. You are under no obligation to assist
them in collecting evidence, and helping them weakens your
case.
LAWYERS GROUPS
National Lawyers Guild
The "Guild" provides various free legal services especially
for political prisoners. If you have any legal hassles,
call and see if they'll help you. You can call the one nearest
you and get the name of a good lawyer in your area.
- BOSTON - 70 Charles St.
- DETROIT - 5705 N. Woodward St.
- LOS ANGELES - c/o Haymarket, 507 N. Hoover St.
- NEW YORK - 1 Hudson St.
- SAN FRANCISCO - 197 Steiner St.
Outside of these areas, there are no offices, but people to
contact in the following cities are:
- FLINT, MICH., Carl Bekofske, 1003 Church St.
- PHILADELPHIA, PA. - A. Harry Levitan, 1412 Fox Building
- WASHINGTON, D.C. - S. David Levy, 2812 Pennsylvania
Ave., N.W.
American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU is not as radical as the Guild, but will in rare
instances provide good lawyers for a variety of civil liberty
cases such as censorship, denial of permits to demonstrations,
and the like. But beware of their tendency to win the legal
point while losing the case. Here is a list of some of their
larger offices.
- ALABAMA - Box 1972, University, Alabama 35486
- CALIFORNIA - ACLU of Northern California, 503 Market
St.,
- SAN FRANCISCO, CA - 94105 (EX 2-4692)
- COLORADO - 1452 Pennsylvania St., Denver, Colorado
80203 (303-TA5-2930)
- GEORGIA - 5 Forsyth St. N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303
(404-523-5398)
- ILLINOIS - 6 S. Clark, Chicago, Illinois 60603 (312-236-5564)
- MICHIGAN - 234 State St., Detroit, Mich. 48226 (313-961-4662)
- MONTANA - 2707 Glenwood Land, Billings, Montana 59102
(406-651-2328)
- NEW MEXICO - 131 La Vega S.W., Albuquerque, New Mexico
87105 (505-877-5286)
- NEW YORK - 156 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010 (212-WA9-6076)
- NORTH DAKOTA - Ward County (Minot), Box 1000, Minot,
North Dakota 58701 (702-838-0381)
- OHIO - Suite 200, 203 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio
43215
- WASHINGTON, DC - (NCACLU) 1424 16th St. NW, Suite 501,
- WASHINGTON, DC - 20036 (202-483-3830) (202-483-3830)
- WEST VIRGINIA - 1228 Seventh St., Huntington, West
Virginia 25701
- WISCONSIN - 1840 N. Farwell Ave., Rm. 303, Milwaukee,
Wisc. 53202 (414-272-4032)
To obtain a complete list of all the ACLU chapters, write:
American Civil Liberties Union, 156 5th Avenue, New York,
NY 10010, or call them at (212) WA 9-6076.
JOIN THE ARMY OF YOUR CHOICE
The first rule of our new Nation prohibits any of us from
serving in the army of a foreign power with which we do not
have an alliance. Since we exist in a state of war with the
Pig Empire, we all have a responsibility to beat the draft
by any means necessary.
First check out your medical history. Review every chronic
or long-term illness you ever had. Be sure to put down all
the serious infections like mono or hep. Next, make note
of your physical complications. When you have assembled
a complete list, get a copy of Physical Deferments or one
of the other draft counseling manuals and see if you qualify.
If you have a legitimate deferment, document it with a letter
from a doctor.
The next best deal is a Conscientious Objection status
(C.O.) or a psychiatric deferment (psycho). The laws have
been getting progressively broader in defining C.O. status
during the past few year s. The most recent being, "sincere
moral objections to war," without necessarily a belief in
a supreme being. There are general guidelines sent out by
the National Office of Selective Service that say it is
a matter of conscience. The decision, however, is still
pretty much in the hands of the local board. Visit a Draft
Counseling Center if you feel you have a chance for this
type of story. They'll know how your local board tends to
rule. There are still some more cases to be heard by the
Supreme Court before objection to a particular war is allowed
or disallowed. It is not grounds for deferment as of now.
Psychos are our specialty. Chromosome damage has totally
wiped out our minds when it comes to concentrating on killing
innocent people in Asia. When you get your invite to join
the army, there are lots of ways you can prepare yourself
mentally. Begin by staggering up to a cop and telling him
you don't know who you are or where you live. He'll arrange
for you to be chauffeured to the nearest mental hospital.
There you repeat your performance, dropping the clue that
you have used LSD in the past, but you aren't sure if you're
on it now or not. In due time, they'll put you up for the
night. When morning comes, you bounce out of bed, remember
who you are, swear you'll never drop acid again and thank
everyone who took care of you. Within a few hours, you'll
be discharged. Don't be uptight about thinking how they'll
lock you up forever cause you really are nuts. The hospitals
measure victories by how quickly they can throw you out
the door. They are all overcrowded anyway.
In most areas, a one-night stand in a mental hospital is
enough to convince the shrink at the induction center that
you're capable of eating the flesh of a colonel. Just before
you go, see a sympathetic psychiatrist and explain your
sad mental shape. He'll get verification that you did time
in a hospital and include it in his letter, that you'll
take along to the induction center.
When you get to the physical examination, a high point
in any young man's life, there are lots of things working
in your favor. Here, long hair helps; the army doesn't want
to bother with trouble-makers. Remember this even though
a tough looking sergeant runs down bullshit about "how they're
gonna fix your ass" and "anybody with a trigger finger gets
passed." He's just auditioning for the Audie Murphy movies,
so don't believe anything he lays down.
Talk to the other guys about how rotten the war in Vietnam
is and how if you get forced to go, you'll end up shooting
some officers. Tell them you'd like the training so you
can come back and take up with the Weathermen.
Check off as many items as can't be verified when given
the forms. Suicide, dizzy spells, bed-wetting, dope addiction,
homosexuality, hepatitis. Be able to drop a few symptoms
on the psychiatrist to back up your story of rejection by
a cold and brutal society that was indifferent, from a domineering
father that beat you, and mother that didn't understand
anything. Be able to trace your history of bad family relationships,
your taking to the streets at 15 and eventually your getting
"hooked." Let him "pry" things out of you if possible. Show
him your letter if you had the foresight to get one.
Practice a good story before you go for the physical with
someone who has already beat the system. If your local board
is fucked up, you can transfer to an area that disqualifies
almost everyone who wants out, such as the New York City
boards. If you can't think of anything you can always get
FUCK ARMY tattooed on the outside of the baby finger of
your right hand and give the tough sergeant a snappy salute
and a hearty "yes sir!"*
*If unfortunately you get hauled in. The Army gives
you a life insurance policy. By making Dan Berrigan or Angela
Davis the beneficiary you might avoid front-line duty.
CANADA, SWEDEN & POLITICAL ASYLUM
If you've totally fucked up your chances of getting a deferment
or already are in the service and considering ditching, there
are some things that you should know about asylum.
There are three categories of countries that you should
be interested in if you are planning to ship out to avoid
the draft or a serious prison term. The safest countries
are those with which Amerika has mutual offense treaties
such as Cuba, North Korea and those behind the so-called
Iron Curtain. The next safest are countries unfriendly to
the U.S. but suffer the possibility of a military coup which
might radically affect your status. Cambodia is a recent
example of a border-line country. Some cats hijacked a ship
bound for Vietnam and went to Cambodia where they were granted
asylum. Shortly thereafter the military with a good deal
of help from the CIA, took over and now the cats are in
jail. Algeria is currently a popular sanctuary in this category.
Sweden will provide political asylum for draft dodgers
and deserters. It helps to have a passport, but even that
isn't necessary since they are required by their own laws
to let you in. There are now about 35,000 exiles from the
Pig Empire living in Sweden. The American Deserters Committee,
Upplandsgaten 18, Stockholm, phone 08-344663, will provide
you with immediate help, contacts and procedural information
once you get there. If you enter as a tourist with a passport,
you can just go to the local police station, state you are
seeking asylum and fill out a form. It's that sample. They
stamp your passport and this allows you to hustle rent and
food from the Swedish Social Bureau. It takes six months
for you to get working papers that will permit you to get
employment, but you can live on welfare until then with
no hassle. The following places can be contacted, for additional
help. They are all in Stockholm:
- Reverend Tom Hayes 82-42-11 or 21-45-86
- Kristina Nystrom of the Social Bureau 08-230570
- Bengt Suderstrom 31-84-32 (legal)
- Hans-Goran Franck 10-25-02(legal)
Canada does not offer political asylum but they do not support
the U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia so they allow draft
dodgers and deserters to the current tune of 50,000 to live
there unmolested. Do not tell the officials at the border
that you are a deserter or draft dodger, as they will turn
you in. Pose as a visitor. To work in Canada you have to qualify
for landed immigration status under a point system.
There will be a number of background questions asked and
you have to score 50 points or better to pass and qualify.
You get one point for each year of formal education, 10
points if you have a professional skill, 10 points for being
between 18-35 years of age, more points for having a Canadian
home and job waiting for you, for knowing English or French
and a whopping 15 points for having a stereotyped middle
class appearance and life-style. Letters from a priest or
rabbi will help here. Some entry points are easier than
others. Kingsgate, for example, just north of Montana is
very good on weekdays after 10:00 P.M.
The best approach if you are considering going to Canada
is to write or, better still, visit the Montreal Council
to Aid War Resisters, Case Postale 5, Westmount, Montreal,
215 Quebec or American Deserters Committee, 3837 Blvd.,
Saint Laurent, St. Louis, Montreal 3, Quebec. They will
provide you with the latest info on procedures and the problems
of living in Canada as a war resister. If you can't make
it up there, see a local anti-war organization for counseling.
If you are already in the army, you should find out all
you need to know before you ditch. It's best to cross the
border while you're on leave as it might mean the difference
between going AWOL and desertion if you decide to come back.
In any event, no one should renounce their citizenship until
they have qualified for landed immigration status as that
would classify the person as a non-resident and make it
possible for the Canadian police to send you back, which
on a few rare occasions has happened.
Because there have been few cases of fugitives from the
U.S. seeking political asylum, there is not a clear and
ample formula that can be stated. Germany, France, Belgium
and Sweden will often offer asylum for obvious political
cases but each case must be considered individually. Go
there incognito. Contact a movement organization or lawyer
and have them make application to the government. Usually
they will let you stay if you promise not to engage in political
organizing in their country. In any event if they deport
you these countries are good enough to let you pick the
country to which you desire to be sent.
We feel it's our obligation to let people know that life
in exile is not all a neat deal, not by a long shot. You
are removed from the struggle here at home, the problems
of finding work are immense and the customs of the people
are strange to you. Most people are unhappy in exile. Many
return, some turn themselves in and others come back to
join the growing radical underground making war in the belly
of the great white whale.
Steal Now, Pay Never
SHOPLIFTING
This section presents some general guidelines on thievery
to put you ahead of the impulse swiping. With some planning
ahead, practice and a little nerve, you can pick up on some
terrific bargains.
Being a successful shoplifter requires the development
of an outlaw mentality. When you enter a store you should
already have cased the joint so don't browse around examining
all sorts of items, staring over your shoulder and generally
appearing like you're about to snatch something and are
afraid of getting caught. Enter, having a good idea of what
you want and where it's located.
Camouflage is important. Be sure you dress the part by
looking like an average customer. If you are going to rip-off
expensive stores (why settle for less), act like you have
a chauffeur driven car double parked around the corner.
A good rule is dress in the style and price range of the
clothes, etc., you are about to shoplift. The reason we
recommend the more expensive stores is that they tend to
have less security guards, relying instead on mechanical
methods or more usually on just the sales people. Many salespeople
are uptight about carrying out a bust if they catch you.
A large number are thieves themselves, in fact one good
way to steal is simply explain to the salesclerk that you're
broke and ask if you can take something without paying.
It's a great way to radicalize shop personnel by rapping
to them about why they shouldn't give a shit if the boss
gets ripped off.
The best time to work out is on a rainy, cold day during
a busy shopping season. Christmas holiday is a shoplifter's
paradise. In these periods you can wear heavy overcoats
or loose raincoats without attracting suspicion. The crowds
of shoppers will keep the nosy "can-I-help-you's" from fucking
up your style.
Since you have already checked out the store before hitting
it, you'll know the store's "blind-spots" where you can
be busy without being observed too easily. Dressing rooms,
blind alley aisles and washrooms are some good spots. Know
where the cashier's counter is located, where the exits
to the street and storage rooms are to be found, and most
important, the type of security system in use.
If you are going to snatch in the dressing room, be sure
to carry more than one item in with you. Don't leave tell-tale
empty hangers behind. Take them out and ditch them in the
aisles.
An increasingly popular method of security is a small shoplifting
plastic detector attached to the price tag. It says "Do
Not Remove" and if you do, it electronically triggers an
alarm in the store. If you try to make it out the door,
it also trips the alarm system. When a customer buys the
item, the cashier removes the detector with a special deactivation
machine. When you enter the store, notice if the door is
rigged with electronic eyes. They are often at the waist
level, which means if the item is strapped to your calf
or tucked under your hat, you can walk out without a peep
from the alarm. If you trigger the alarm either inside the
store or at the threshold, just dash off lickety-split.
The electronic eyes are often disguised as part of the decor.
By checking to see what the cashier does with merchandise
bought, you can be sure if the store is rigged. Other methods
are undercover pigs that look like shoppers, one-way mirrors
and remote control television cameras. Undercover pigs are
expensive so stores are usually understaffed. Just watch
out (without appearing to watch out) that no one observes
you in action. As to mirrors and cameras there are always
blind spots in a store created when displays are moved around,
counters shifted, and boxes piled in the aisles. Mirrors
and cameras are rarely adjusted to fit these changes. Don't
get turned off by this security jazz. The percentage of
stores that have sophisticated security systems such as
those described is very small. If you work out at lunch
time, the security guards and many of the sales personnel
will be out of the store. Just before closing is also good,
because the clerks are concentrating on going home.
By taking only one or two items, you can prevent a bust
if caught by just acting like a dizzy klepto socialite getting
kicks or use the "Oh-gee-I-forgot-to-pay" routine. Stores
don't want to hassle going into court to press charges,
so they usually let you go after you return the stuff. If
you thought ahead, you'll have some cash ready to pay for
the items you've pocketed, if caught. Leave your I.D. and
phone book at home before going shopping. People rarely
go to jail for shoplifting, most if caught never even see
a real cop. Just lie like a fucker and the most you'll get
is a lecture on law and order and a warning not to come
back to that store or else.
TECHNIQUES
The lining of a bulky overcoat or loose raincoat can be elaborately
outfitted with a variety of custom-made large pockets. The
openings to these pockets are not visible since they are inside
the coat. The outside pockets can be torn out leaving only
the opening or slit. Thus you can reach your hand (at counter
level) through the slit in your coat and drop objects into
the secret pockets sewn into the lining. Pants can also be
rigged with secret pockets. The idea is to let your fingers
do the walking through the slit in your coat, while the rest
of the body remains the casual browser. You'll be amazed at
how much you can tuck away without any noticeable bulge.
Another method is to use a hidden belt attached to the
inside of your coat or pants. The belt is specially designed
with hooks or clothespins to which items can be discretely
attached. Ditching items into hidden pockets requires a
little cunning. You should practice before a mirror until
you get good at it.
A good idea is to work with a partner. Dig this neat duet.
A man and woman walk into a store together looking like
a respectable husband and wife. The man purchases a good
belt or shirt and engages the salesman in some distracting
conversation as he rings up the sale. Meanwhile, back in
the aisle, "wife" is busy rolling up two or three suits.
Start from the bottom while they are still on the rack and
roll them up, pants and jackets together, the way you would
roll a sleeping bag. The sleeves are tied around the roll
making a neat little bundle. The bundle is then tucked between
your thighs. The whole operation takes about a minute and
with some practice you can walk for hours with a good size
bundle between your legs and not appear like you just shit
in your pants. Try this with a coat on in front of a mirror
and see how good you get at it.
Another team method is for one or more partners to distract
the sales clerks while the other stuffs. There are all sorts
of theater skits possible. One person can act drunk or better
still appear to be having an epileptic fit. Two people can
start a fight with each other. There are loads of ways,
just remember how they do it in the next spy movie you see.
One of the best gimmicks around is the packaging technique.
Once you have the target item in hand, head for the fitting
room or other secluded spot. Take out a large piece of gift
wrapping and ribbon. Quickly wrap up the item so it will
look like you brought it in with you. Many stores have their
own bags and staple the cash register receipt to the top
of the bag when you make a purchase. Get a number of these
bags by saving them if you make a purchase or dropping around
to the receiving department with a request for some bags
for your Christmas play or something. Next collect some
sales receipts, usually from the sidewalk or trash cans
in front of the store. Buy or rip-off a small pocket stapler
for less than a dollar. When you get the item you want,
drop it in the bag and staple it closed, remembering to
attach the receipt. This is an absolutely perfect method
and takes just a few seconds. It eliminates a lot of unsightly
bulges in your coat and is good for warm-weather heisting.
A dummy shopping bag can be rigged with a bit of ingenuity.
The idea is to make it look like the bag is full when there's
still lots of room left. Use strips of cardboard taped to
the inside of the bag to give it some body. Remember to
carry it like it's filled with items, not air. Professional
heisters often use a "booster box," usually a neatly wrapped
empty package with one end that opens upon touch. This is
ideal for electrical appliances, jewelry, and even heavy
items such as portable television sets. The trick side can
be fitted with a spring door so once the toaster is inside
the door slams shut. Don't wear a black hat and cape and
go around waving a wand yelling "Abracadabra," just be your
usual shlep shopper self. If you can manage it, the trick
side just can be an opening without a trick door. Just carry
the booster box with the open side pressed against your
body. Briefcases, suitcases and other types of carrying
devices can all be made to hold items. Once you have something
neatly tucked away in a bag or box, it's pretty hard to
prove you didn't come in with it.
ON THE JOB
By far the easiest and most productive method of stealing
is on the job. Wages paid to delivery boys, sales clerks,
shippers, cashiers and the like are so insulting that stealing
really is a way of maintaining self-respect. If you are set
on stealing the store dry when you apply for the job, begin
with your best foot forward. Make what employment agencies
call a "good appearance." Exude cleanliness, Godliness, sobriety
and all the other WASPy virtues third grade teachers insist
upon. Building up a good front will eliminate suspicion when
things are "missing."
Mail clerks and delivery boys can work all sorts of neat
tricks. When things get a little slow, type up some labels
addressed to yourself or to close friends and play Santa
Claus. Wrap yourself a few packages or take one that is
supposed to go to a customer and put your label over theirs.
Blame it on the post office or on the fact that "things
get messed up `cause of all the bureaucracy." It's great
to be the one to verbalize the boss's own general feelings
before he does when something goes awry. The best on-the-job
crooks always end up getting promoted.
Cashiers and sales persons who have access to money can
pick up a little pocket change without too much effort,
no matter how closely they are watched by supervisors. Women
can make use of torn hems to stash coins and bills. Men
can utilize cuffs. Both can use shoes and don't forget those
secret little pockets you learned about in the last section.
If you ring up items on a cash register, you can easily
mistake $1.39 for 39¢ or $1.98 for 98¢ during
the course of a hectic day. Leave pennies on the top shelf
of the cash register and move one to the far right side
every time you skip a dollar. That way at the end of the
day, you'll know how much to pocket and won't have to constantly
be stuffing, stuffing, stuffing.
If you pick up trash or clean up, you can stick all sorts
of items into wastebaskets and later sneak them out of the
store.
There are many ways of working heists with partners who
pose as customers. See the sections on free food and clothing
for these. There are also ways of working partnerships on
the job. A cashier at a movie theater and a doorman can
work out a system where the doorman collects the tickets
and returns them to the cashier to sell again.
A neat way to make a large haul is to get a job through
an agency as a domestic for some rich slob. You should use
a phony identification when you sign up at the agency. Once
you are busy dusting the town house, check around for anything
valuable to be taken home. Pick up the phone, order all
sorts of merchandise, and have it delivered. A friend with
a U-haul can help you really clean up.
CREDIT CARDS
Any discussion of shoplifting and forgeries inevitably leads
to a rap on credit cards; those little shiny plastic wonder
passes to fantasy land that are rendering cash obsolete. There
are many ways to land a free credit card. You can get one
yourself if your credit is good, or from a friend: report
it stolen and go on a binge around town. Sign your name a
little funny. Super underworld types might know where you
can purchase a card that's not too hot on the black market.
You might heist one at a fashionable party or restaurant.
If you're a hat check girl at a night club, don't forget to
check out pockets and handbags for plastic goodies.*
Finally, you can redo a legitimate card with a new number
and signature and be sure that it's on no one's "hot list."
Begin by removing the ink on the raised letters with any
polyester resin cleaner. Next, the plastic card should be
held against a flat iron until the raised identification
number is melted. You can use a razor blade to shave off
rough spots. This combination of razor blade and hot iron,
when worked skillfully, will produce a perfect blank card.
When the card is smooth as new, reheat it using the flat
iron and press an addressograph plate into the soft plastic.
The ink can be replaced by matching the original at any
stationary store. If this is too hard, you can buy machines
to make your own credit cards, which are made for small
department stores. Granted, this method is going require
some expertise, but once you've learned to successfully
forge a credit card, buy every item imaginable, eat fancy
meals, and even get real money from a bank.
*The absolute best method is to have an accomplice
working in the post office rip off the new cards that are
mailed out. They get to know quickly which envelopes contain
new credit cards. Since the person never receives the card
it never dawns on them to report it stolen. This gives you
at least a solid month of carefree spending and your signature
will be perfect.
Whether your credit card is stolen, borrowed or forged,
you still have to follow some guidelines to get away without
any hassle. Know the store's checking method before you
pass the hot card. Most stores have a fifty-dollar limit
where they only call upstairs on items costing fifty dollars
or more. In some stores it's less. Some places have a Regiscope
system that takes your picture with each purchase. You should
always carry at least one piece of back-up identification
to use with the phony card as the clerk might get suspicious
if you don't have any other ID. They can check out a "hot
list" that the credit card companies send out monthly, so
if you're uptight about anything watch the clerk's movements
at all times. If things get tight, just split real quick.
Often, even if a clerk or boss thinks it's a phony, they'll
OK the sale anyway since the credit card companies make
good to the stores on all purchases; legit or otherwise.
Similarly, the insurance companies make good to the credit
companies and so on until you get to a little group of hard
working elves in the basement of the U.S. Mint who do nothing
but print free money and lie to everybody about there being
tons of gold at Fort Knox to back up their own little forging
operation.
Monkey Warfare
If you like Halloween, you'll love monkey warfare. It's ideal
for people uptight about guns, bombs and other children's
toys, and allows for imaginative forms of protesting, many
of which will become myth, hence duplicated and enlarged upon.
A syringe (minus the needle) or a cooking baster can be filled
with a dilute solution of epoxy glue. Get the two tubes in
a hardware store and squeeze into a small bottle of rubbing
alcohol. Shake real good and pour into the baster or syringe.
You have about thirty minutes before the mixture gets too
hard to use. Go after locks, parking meters, and telephones.
You can fuck up the companies that use IBM cards by buying
a cheap punch or using an Exacto knife and cutting an extra
hole in the card before you return it with your payment. By
the way, when you return payments always pay a few cents under
or over. The company has to send you a credit or another bill
and it screws up their bookkeeping system. Remember, always
bend, fold, staple or otherwise mutilate the card. By the
way if you ever find yourself in a computer room during a
strike, you might want to fuck up the school records. You
can do this by passing a large magnet or portable electro-magnet
rapidly back and forth across the reels of tape, thus erasing
them. And don't miss the tour of the IBM plant, either.
Another good bit is to rent a safe deposit box (only about
$7.00 a year) in a bank using a phony name. That usually
only need a signature and don't ask for identification.
When you get a box, deposit a good size dead fish inside
the deposit box, close it up and return it to its proper
niche. From then on, forget about it. Now think about it,
in a few months there is going to be a hell-of-a-smell from
your small investment. It's going to be almost impossible
to trace and besides, they can never open the box without
your permission. Since you don't exist, they'll have no
alternative but to move away. Invest in the Stank of Amerika
savings program. Just check out Lake Erie and you'll see
saving fish isn't such a dumb idea. If you get caught, tell
them you inherited the fish from your grandmother and it
has sentimental value.
There are lots of things you can send banks, draft boards
and corporations that contribute to pollution via the mails.
It is possible to also have things delivered. Have a hearse
and flowers sent to the chief of police. We know someone
who had a truckload of cement dumped in the driveway of
her boss under the fib that the driveway was going to be
repaved.
By getting masses of people to use electricity, phones
or water at a given time, you can fuck up some not-so-public
utility. The whole problem is getting the word out. For
example, 10,000 people turning on all their electrical appliances
and lights in their homes at a given time can cause a blackout
in any major city. A hot summer day at about 3:00 PM is
best. Five thousand people calling up Washington, D.C. at
3:00 PM on a Friday (one of the busiest hours) ties up the
major trunk lines and really puts a cramp in the government's
style of carrying on. Call (202) 555-1212, which is information
and you won't even have to pay for the call. If you call
a government official, ask some questions like "How many
kids did you kill today?" or "What kind of liquor do Congressmen
drink?" or offer to take Teddy Kennedy for a ride. A woman
can cause some real excitement by calling a Congressman's
office and screaming "Tell that bastard he forgot to meet
Irene at the motel this afternoon."
A Washington call-in would work even better by phoning
direct to homes of the big boys. For starters you can call
collect the following*:
- Richard M. Nixon - El Presidente - (202) 456-1444
- Spiro T. Agnew - El Toro - (202) 265-2000 ext. 6400
- John N. Mitchell - El Butcher - (202) 965-2900
- Melvin R. Laird - El Defendo - (301) 652-4449
- Henry A. Kissinger - El Exigente - (202) 337-0042
- William P. Rogers - El Crapper - (301) 654-7125
- General Earl G. Wheeler - El Joint Bosso - (703) 527-6119
- General William C. Westmoreland - El Pollutoni - (703)
527-6999
- Richard M. Helms - El Assassin - (301) 652-4122
- John N. Chafee-El Sinko Swimmi-(703) 536-5411
*Any group who elopes with any of the persons listed
is entitled to a free copy of this book. Anyone who parlays
all 10 in a lift-off can have all the royalties. Send ears
for verification.
A great national campaign can be promoted that asks people
to protest the presidential election farces on Inauguration
Day. When a president says "So help me God," rush in and
flush the toilet. A successful Flush for God campaign can
really screw up the water system.
If you want to give Ma Bell an electric permanent, consider
this nasty. Cut the female device off an ordinary extension
cord and expose the two wires. Unscrew the mouthpiece on
the phone and remove the voice amplifier. You will see a
red and a black wire attached to two terminals. Attach each
of the wires from the extension cord to each one from the
phone. Next plug in the extension cord to a wall socket.
What you are doing is sending 120 volts of electricity back
through equipment which is built for only volts. You can
knock off thousands of phones, switchboards and devices
if all goes right. It's best to do this on the phone in
a large office building or university. You certainly will
knock out their fuses. Unfortunately, at home your own phone
will probably be knocked out of commission. If that happens,
simply call up the business office and complain. They'll
give you a new phone just the way they give the other seven
million people that requested them that day.
Remember, January is Alien Registration Month, so don't
forget to fill out an application at the Post Office, listing
yourself as a citizen of Free Nation. Then when they ask
you to "Love it or leave it," tell them you already left!
Piece Now
It's ridiculous to talk about a revolution without a few words
on guns. If you haven't been in the army or done some hunting,
you probably have a built-in fear against guns that can only
be overcome by familiarizing yourself with them.
HANDGUNS
There are two basic types of handguns or pistols: the revolver
carries a load of 5 or 6 bullets in a "revolving" chamber.
The automatic usually holds the same number, but some can
hold up to 14 bullets. Also, in the automatic the bullets
can be already packed in a magazine which quickly snaps into
position in the handle. The revolver must be reloaded one
bullet at a time. An automatic can jam on rare occasions,
or misfire, but with a revolver you just pull the trigger
and there's a new bullet ready to fire. Despite pictures of
Roy Rogers blasting a silver dollar out of the sky, handguns
are difficult to master a high degree of accuracy with and
are only good at short ranges. If you can hit a pig-size object
at 25 yards, you've been practicing.
Among automatics, the Colt 45 is a popular model with a
long record of reliability. A good popular favorite is a
Parabellum 9 mm, which has the advantage of a double action
on the first shot, meaning that the hammer does not have
to be cocked, making possible a quick first shot without
carrying a cocked gun around. By the way, do not bother
with any handgun smaller than a .38 caliber, because cartridges
smaller than that are too weak to be effective.
Revolvers come in all sizes and makes, as do automatics.
The most highly recommended are the .38 Special and the
.357 Magnum. Almost all police forces use the .38 Special.
They are light, accurate and the small-frame models are
easy to conceal. If you get one, use high velocity hollow
pointed bullets, such as the Speer DWM (146 grain h.p.)
or the Super Vel (110 grain h.p.). The hollow point shatters
on contact, insuring a kill to the not-so-straight shooters.
Smith and Wesson makes the most popular .38 Special. The
Charter Arms is a favorite model. The .357 Magnum is an
extremely powerful handgun. You can shoot right through
the wall of a thick door with one at a distance of 20 yards.
It has its own ammo, but can also use the bullets designed
for the .38. Both guns are about the same in price, running
from $75-$100 new. An automatic generally runs about $25
higher.
RIFLES
There are two commonly available types of rifles; the bolt
action and the semi-automatic. War surplus bolt action rifles
are cheap and usually pretty accurate, but have a slower rate
of fire than a semi-automatic. A semi-automatic is preferable
in nearly all cases. The M-1 carbine is probably the best
semi-automatic for the money (about $80). It's light, short,
easy to handle and has only the drawback of a cartridge that's
a little underpowered. Among bolt actions, the Springfield,
Mauser, Royal Enfield, Russian 7.62, and the Lee Harvey Oswald
Special, the Mannlicher-Carcano, are all good buys for the
money (about $20).
One of the best semi-automatics is the AR-18, which is
the civilian version of the military M-16. In general, this
is a fantastic gun with a high rate of fire, minimal recoil,
high accuracy, light weight, and easy maintenance. If kept
clean, it will rarely jam, and the bullet has astounding
stopping power. It sells for around $225.
SHOTGUNS
The shotgun is the ideal defensive weapon. It's perfect for
the vamping band of pigs or hard-heads that tries to lynch
you. Being a good shot isn't that necessary because a shotgun
shoots a bunch of lead pellets that spread over a wide range
as they leave the barrel. There are two common types: the
pump action and the semi-automatic. Single shot types and
double-barrel types do not have a high enough rate of fire
for self-defense.
The pump action is easy to use and reliable. It usually
holds about five shells in a tube underneath the barrel.
For self-defense you should use 00 buckshot shells. Shotguns
come in various gauges, but you will want the largest commonly
available, the 12 gauge. The Mossberg Model 500 A is a super
weapon in this category which sells for about $90. When
buying one, try to get a shotgun with a barrel as short
as possible up to the legal limit of 18 inches. It is easy
to cut down a longer barrel, too. This increases the area
sprayed.
The semi-automatic gun is not used too much for self-defense,
as they usually hold only three shells. With some practice,
you can shoot a pump nearly as fast as a semi-automatic,
and they are much cheaper. See the gun books catalogued
in the Appendix for more information.
There are many other good guns available, and a great deal
to know about choosing the right gun for the right situation.
Reading a little right wing gun literature will help.
OTHER WEAPONS
If you are around a military base, you will find it relatively
easy to get your hands on an M-79 grenade launcher, which
is like a giant shotgun and is probably the best self-defense
weapon of all time. Just inquire discreetly among some long-haired
soldiers.
TRAINING
Owning a gun ain't shit unless you know how to use it. They
make a hell of a racket when fired so you just can't work
out in your den or cellar except with a BB gun, which is good
in between real practice sessions. Find a buddy who served
in the military or is into hunting or target-shooting and
ask him to teach you the fundamentals of gun handling and
safety. If you're over 18, you can practice on one of your
local firing ranges. Look them up in the Yellow Pages, call
and see if they offer instructions. They are usually pretty
cheap to use. In an hour, you can learn the basics you need
to know about guns and the rest is mostly practice, practice,
just like in the westerns. Contact the National Rifle Association,
Washington D.C. and ask for information on forming a gun club.
If you can, you are entitled to great discounts, have no trouble
using ranges and get excellent info on all matters relating
to weapons.
A secluded place in the country outside city limits, makes
an ideal range for practicing. Shoot at positioned targets.
A good idea is to blow up balloons and attach them to pieces
or boxes. Position yourself downstream alongside a running
brook. A partner can go upstream and release the balloons
into the water. As they rush downstream, they simulate an
attacker charging you and make excellent moving targets.
Watch out for ricochetting bullets. Have any bystander stand
by behind you. A clothesline with a pulley attachment can
be rigged up to also allow practice with a moving target.
GUN LAWS
Once you decide to get a gun, check out the local laws. There
are federal ones, but they're not stricter than any state
ordinance. If you're unsure about the laws, send 75¢
to the U.S. Government Printing Office for the manual called
Published Ordinances: Firearms. It runs down the latest on
all state laws. In most states you can buy a rifle or shotgun
just for the bread from a store or individual if you are over
18 years old. You can get a handgun when you can prove you're
over 21, although you generally need a special permit to carry
it concealed on your person or in your car. A concealed weapon
permit is pretty hard to get unless you're part of the establishment.
You can keep a handgun in your home, though. It's also generally
illegal to walk around with a loaded gun of any type. Once
you get the hang of using a gun, you'll never want to go back
to the old peashooter.
The Underground
Amerika is just another Latin dictatorship. Those who have
doubts, should try the minimal experience of organizing a
large rock festival in their state*, sleeping on some
beach in the summer or wearing a flag shirt. Ask the blacks
what it's been like living under racism and you'll get a taste
of the future we face. As the repression increases so will
the underground-deadly groups of stoned revolutionaries sneaking
around at night and balling all day. As deadly as their southern
comrades the Tupamaros. Political trials will only occur when
the heavy folks are caught. Too many sisters and brothers
have been locked up for long stretches having maintained a
false faith in the good will of the court system. Instead,
increased numbers have chosen to become fugitives from injustice:
Bernadine Dohrn, Rap Brown, Mark Rudd, hundreds of others.
Some including Angela Davis, Father Berrigan and Pun Plamondon
have been apprehended and locked in cages, but most roam freely
and actively inside the intestines of the system. Their growth
leads to persistent indigestion for those who sit at the tables
of power. As they form into active isolated cells they make
apprehension difficult. Soon the FBI will have a Thousand
Most Wanted List. Our heroes will be hunted like beasts in
the jungle. Anyone who provides information leading to the
arrest of a fugitive is a traitor.
*Unless you want to use our music to attack our
politics as the governor of Oregon did to drain support
away from demonstrations against the AmeriKKKan Legion.
In such a situation the concert should be sabotaged along
with political education as to why such an action has been
taken. Don't let the pigs separate our culture from our
politics.
Well fellow reader, what will you do when Rap or Bernadine
call up and ask to crash for the night? What if the Armstrong
Brothers want to drop some acid at your pad or Kathy Boudin
needs some bread to keep on truckin'? The entire youth culture,
everyone who smiles secretly when President Agnew and General
Mitchell refer to the growing number of "hot-headed revolutionaries",
all the folks who hope the Cong wins, who cheer the Tupamaros
on, who want to exchange secret handshakes with the Greek
resistance movement, who say "It's about time" when the
pigs get gunned down in the black community, all of us have
an obligation to support the underground. They are the vanguard
of our revolution and in a sense this book is dedicated
to their courage.
If you see a fugitive's picture on the post office wall
take it home for a souvenir. But watch out, because this
is illegal. Soon the FBI will be printing all our posters
for free. Right on, FBI! Print up wanted posters of the
war criminals in Washington and undercover agents (be absolutely
sure) and put them up instead. Since the folks underground
move freely among us, we must be totally cool if by chance
we recognize a fugitive through their disguise. If they
deem it necessary to contact you, they will make the first
move. If you are very active in the aboveground movement,
chances are you are being watched or tapped and it would
be foolhardy to make contact. The underground would be meaningless
without the building of a massive community with corresponding
political goals. People above ground demonstrate their love
for fugitives by continuing and intensifying their own commitment.
If the FBI or local subversive squad of the police department
is asking a lot of questions about certain fugitives, get
the word out. Call your underground paper or make the announcement
at large movement gatherings or music festivals; the grapevine
will pass information on to those that need to know.
If you're forced to go underground, don't think you need
to link up with the more well-known groups such as the Weathermen.
If you go under with some close friends, stick together
if it's possible. Build contacts with aboveground people
that are not that well known to the authorities and can
be totally trusted.
You should change the location in which you operate and
move to a place where the heat on yon won't be as heavy.
A good disguise should be worked out. The more information
the authorities have on you and the heavier the charges
determine how complete your disguise should be. There are
some good tips in the books on make-up listed in the Appendix.
Only in rare cases is it necessary to abandon the outward
appearance of belonging to the youth culture. In fact, even
J. Edgar Freako admits that our culture is our chief defense.
To infiltrate the youth culture means becoming one of us.
For an FBI agent to learn an ideological cover is a highly
disciplined organization is relatively easy. To penetrate
the culture means changing the way they live. The typical
agent would stand out like Jimmy Stewart in a tribe of Apaches.
In the usual case the authorities do not look for a fugitive
in the sense of carrying on a massive manhunt. Generally,
people are caught for breaking some minor offense and during
the routine arrest procedure, their fingerprints give them
away. Thus for a fugitive having good identification papers
being careful about violations such as speeding or loitering,
and not carrying weapons or bombing manuals become an important
part of the security. It is also a good idea to have at
least a hundred dollars cash on you at all times. Often
even if you are arrested you can bail yourself out and split
long before the fingerprints or other identification checks
are completed.
If by some chance you are placed on the "10 Most Wanted
List" that is a signal that the FBI are indeed conducting
a manhunt. It is also the hint that they have uncovered
some clues and feel confident they can nab you soon. The
List is a public relations gimmick that Hooper, or whatever
his name is, dreamed up to show the FBI as super sleuths,
and compliment the bullshit image of them that Hollywood
lays down. Most FBI agents are southerners who majored in
accounting or some other creative field. When you are placed
on the List, go deeper underground. It may become necessary
to curtail your activities for a while. The manhunt lasts
only as long as you are newsworthy since the FBI is very
media conscious. Change your disguise, identification and
narrow your circle of contacts. In a few months, when the
heat is off, you'll be able to be more active, but for the
time, sit tight.
IDENTIFICATION PAPERS
An amateur photographer or commercial artist with good processing
equipment can make passable phony identification papers. Using
a real I.D. card, mask out the name, address, and signature
with thin strips of paper the same color as the card itself.
Do a neat gluing job. Next, photograph the card using bright
overhead lighting to avoid shadows, or xerox it. Use a paper
of a color and weight as close to the real thing as you can
get. If you use phony state and city papers such as birth
certificate or driver's license, choose a state that is far
away from the area in which you are located. Have a complete
understanding of all the information you are forging. Dates,
cities, birthdays and other data are often part of a coding
system. Most are easy to figure out simply by studying a few
similar authentic cards.
Almost all I.D. cards use one or another IBM Selectric
type to fill in the individual's papers. You can buy the
exact model used by federal and state agencies for less
than $20.00 and install the ball in 5 seconds on any Selectric
machine. When you finish the typing operation, sign your
new name and trim the card to the size you want. Rub some
dirt on the card and bend it a little to eliminate its newness.
Another method is to obtain a set of papers from a close
friend of similar characteristics. Your friend can replace
the originals without too much trouble. In both cases it
might be advisable to get authentic papers using the phonies
you have in your possession. In some states getting a license
or voting registration card is very easy. Library cards
and other supplementary I.D.'s are simple to get. A passport
should not be attempted until you definitely have made up
your mind to split the country. That way agencies have less
time to check the information and you can decide on the
disguise to be used for the picture. Unless you expect to
get hotter than you are right now, in which case, get it
now.
It is wise to have two sets of identification to be on
the safe side but never have both in your possession at
the same time. If you sense the authorities are close to
mailing you and choose to go underground, prepare all the
identification papers well in advance and store them in
a secure place. Inform no one of your possible new identity.
Before you start passing phony I.D.'s to cops, banks and
passport offices, you should have experience with lesser
targets so you feel comfortable using them. There are stiff
penalties for this if you get caught. A few better methods
than the ones listed above exist, but we feel they should
not be made this public. With a little imagination you'll
have no trouble. Dig!
COMMUNICATION
Living underground, like exile, can be extremely lonely, especially
during the initial adjustment period when you have to reshuffle
your living habits. Psychologically it becomes necessary to
maintain a few close contacts with other fugitives or folks
aboveground. This is also necessary if you plan to continue
waging revolutionary struggle. This means communication. If
you contact persons or arrange for them to contact you, be
super cool. Don't rush into meetings. Stay OFF the phone!
If you must, use pay phones. Have the contact person go to
a prescribed booth at prescribed time. Knowing the phone number
beforehand, you can call from another pay phone. The pay phone
system is superior to debugging devices and voice scramblers.
Even so, some pay phones, that local police suspect bookies
use, are monitored.
Keep your calls short and disguise your voice a bit. If
you are a contact and the call does not come as scheduled,
don't panic. Perhaps the booth at the other end is occupied
or the phone you are on is out of order. In New York, the
latter is usually true. Wait a reasonable length of time
and then go about your business. Another contact will be
made. Personal rendezvous should take place at places that
are not movement hangouts or heavy pig scenes. Intermediaries
should be used to see if anyone was followed. Just groove
on a few good spy flicks and you'll figure it all out.
Communicating to masses of people above ground is very
important. It drives the MAN berserk and gives hope to comrades
in the struggle. The most important message is that you
are alive, in good spirits and carrying on the struggle.
The communications of the Weathermen are brilliantly conceived.
Develop a mailing list that you keep well hidden in case
of a bust. You can devise a system of mailing stuff in envelopes
(careful of fingerprints) inside larger envelopes to a trusted
contact who will mail the items from another location to
further camouflage your area of operation. A host of communication
devices are available besides handwritten notes and typed
communications. Tape recorders are excellent but better
still are video-tape cassette machines. You can wear masks,
do all kinds of weird theatrical stuff and send the tapes
to television stations. At times you might want to risk
being interviewed by a newsman, but this can be very dangerous
unless you conceive a super plan and have some degree of
trust in the word of the journalist. Don't forget a grand
jury could be waiting for him with a six months contempt
or perjury charge when he admits contact and does not answer
their questions.
The only other advice is to dress warm in the winter and
cool in the summer, stay high and.
LIBERATION!
fuck new york
HOUSING
You can always sleep up in Central Park during the daytime,
although the muggers come out to play at night. Free night
crashing can be found in the waiting room of the Pennsylvania
Railroad station, 34th St. and 7th Ave. The cops will leave
you alone until about 7:00 AM when they kick you out. You
can put your rucksack in a locker for twenty-five cents to
avoid it being ripped-off.
The Boys Emergency Shelter, 69 St. Marks Place, (777-1234)
provides free room and board for males 16-20 years of age.
The Living Room can be found on the same block. It's a heavy
religious scene, but they will help with room and board.
Their hours are 6:30 PM to 2:00 AM, phone 982-5988. Also
on the Lower East Side is the Macauley Mission at 90 Lafayette
St.
On the West Side, there's a poet named Delworth at 125
Sullivan St. that houses kids if he's got room. The Judson
Memorial Church, Washington Square South always has one
or more housing programs going. If you're really hard up,
try the Stranded Youth Program, 111 W. 31st St. (554-8897).
Teenagers 16-20 are sent home; if you don't want to go back
but need room and board, give them phony identification.
The Graymoor Monastery (CA 6-2388) offers free room and
board for young people in the country. They provide transportation.
FOOD
Hunt's Point Market, Hunt's Point Ave. and 138th St. in the
Bronx will lay enough fruit and vegetables on your family
to last a week or more. Lettuce, squash, carrots, cantaloupe,
grapefruit, even artichokes and mushrooms all crated. You'll
need a car or truck and they only give stuff away in the early
morning. Just tell them you're doing a free food thing and
it's yours. Outasight!
The large slaughterhouse area is in the far West Village,
west of Hudson and south of 14th St. Get a letter from a
clergyman saying you need meat for a church-sponsored meal.
The fish market is located on Fulton and South Streets
under the East River Drive overpass in lower Manhattan.
You can always manage to find some sympathetic fisherman
early in the morning who will lay as much fish on you as
you can cart away.
If you pick up on a car, take a trip to Long Island City.
There you will find the Gordon Baking Company at 42-25 21st,
Pepsi Cola at 4602 Fifth Ave., Borden Company at 35-10 Steinway
St. and Dannon Yogurt at 22-11 38th Ave. All four places
give out samples for free if you call or write ahead and
explain how it's for a block party.
Along 2nd and 3rd Avenues on the upper east side are a
host of swank bars with free hors-d'oeuvres beginning at
five. All Longchamps are good, as is Max's Kansas City.
For real class, check the back pages of the New York Times
for ocean cruises and those swinging bon voyage parties.
If you look kind of straight or want to disguise yourself
and see the other half at it, sneak into conventions for
drinks, snacks and all kinds of free samples. Call the New
York Convention Bureau, 90 E. 42nd St. MU 7-1300 for info.
You can also get free tickets to theater events here at
9:00 AM on weekdays.
Other free meals can be gotten at the various missions.
- Bowery Mission - 227 Bowery (674-3456). Pray and eat
from 4:00 to 6:00 PM only. Heavy religious orientation.
- Catholic Worker - 36 E. First St. Soup line from 10:00
to 11:00 AM. Clothes for women on Thursday from 12:00
to 2:00 PM. Clothes for men after 2:00 PM weekdays. Sometimes
lodging.
- Holy Name Center for Homeless Men - 18 Bleeker St.
(CA 6-5848 or CA 6-2338) Clothes and morning showers from
7:00 to 11:00 AM.
- Macauley Mission - 90 Lafayette St. (CA 6-6214) Free
room and board. Free food Saturdays at 5:00 PM. Sometimes
free clothes.
- Moravian Church - 154 Lexington Ave. (MU 3-4219 or
533-3737) Free spaghetti dinner on Tuesday at 1:00 PM.
- Quakers - 328 E. 15th St. Meals at 6:00 PM Tuesdays.
- Wayward - 287 Mercer St. Free meals nightly.
The International Society For Krishna Consciousness is located
at 41 Second Ave. Every morning at 7:00 AM a delicious cereal
breakfast is served free along with chanting and dancing.
Also at noon, more food and chanting and on Monday, Wednesday
and Friday at 7:00 PM, again food and chanting. Then it's
all day Sunday in Central Park Sheepmeadow (generally) for
still more chanting (sans food). Hari Krishna is the freest
high going if you can get into it and dig cereal and of course,
more chanting.
The Paradox Restaurant, at 64 E. 7th St. is a neat cheap
health joint that will give you a free meal if you help
peel shrimp or do the dishes.
MEDICAL CARE
The latest dope on family planning and the new abortion law
can be obtained from Planned Parenthood, 300 Park Ave. (777-2015).
They provide a free directory on city-wide services in this
area. The Black Panther Free Health Clinic on 180 Sutter Ave.
in Brooklyn is radical medicine in action. If you ripped off
this book, why not send them or another group mentioned in
this book a check so they can continue serving the people.
Two fantastic clinics on the Lower East Side are the St. Marks
People's Clinic at 44 St. Marks Place (533-9500), open weekdays
6-10 PM and NENA at 290 E. Third St. (677-5040) which also
functions as a switchboard for the area.
The Beth Israel Teenage Clinic at 17th St. and 1st Ave.
673-3000 ext. 2424) services young people. Millie at the
Village Project, 88 2nd Ave. can arrange for free glasses.
The New York University Dental Clinic, 421 First Ave. will
give you the cheapest dental care in Gotham. Stuyvesant-Poly
Clinic, 137 Second Ave. (674-0232) has an emergency day
clinic with the quickest service. Dial-a-freakout is 324-0707.
Ambulance service is at 440-1234. You ought to know the
cops accompany ambulance calls. The following is a list
of the New York City Health Department Centers. They provide
a number of free services including X-rays, venereal examinations
and treatment, shots for children's diseases, vaccinations,
tetanus shots and a host of other services.
Manhattan
- Central Harlem-2238 Fifth Ave. AU 3-1900
- East Harlem-158 E. 115th St. TR 6-0300
- Lower East Side-341 E. 25th St. MU 9-6353
- Manhattanville-21 Old Broadway MO 5-5900
- Morningside-264 W. 118th St. UN6-2500
- Washington Heights-600 W. 168th St. WA 7-6300
Bronx
- Morrisania- 1309 Fulton St. WY 2-4200
- Mott Haven-349 E. 140th St. MO 9-6010
- Tremont-Fordham-1826 Arthur Ave. LU 3-5500
- Westchester-Pelham-2527 Glebe Ave. SY 2-0100
Brooklyn
- Bedford-485 Throop Ave. GL 2-7880
- Brownsville-259 Briston St. HY 8-6742
- Bushwick-335 Central Ave. HI 3-5000
- Crown Heights-1218 Prospect Place SL 6-8902
- Flatbush-Gravesend-1601 Ave. S NI 5-8280
- Ft. Greene-295 Flatbush Ave. Ext. 643-8934
- Red Hook-Gowanus-250 Baltic St. 643-5687
- Sunset Park-514 49th St. GE 6-2800
- Williamsburg-Greenpoint-151 Mayier St. EV 8-3714
Queens
- Astoria-Maspeth-12-1631st Ave. L.I.C. AS 8-5520
- Corona-Flushing-34-33 Junction Blvd., Jackson Heights
HI 6-3570
- Jamaica-90-37 Parsons Blvd. OL 8-6600
- Rockaway-67-10 Rockaway Beach Blvd.; Arvenne NE 4-7700
- Richmond-51 Stuyvesant Place SA 7-6000
The key to getting overall medical care for free is to pick
up on a Medicaid card. You can apply at any metropolitan hospital.
After filling out a long form and waiting three weeks you'll
get your card in the mail. Have a good story when interviewed
about why you're not working or only making under $2900 a
year. There is an age limit in that only folks over 21 can
qualify, but the rule is liberally enforced and younger people
can get the card with the right hardship story.
LEGAL AID
The Lawyer's Commune is a group of revolutionary young lawyers
pledged to make a limited income and handle the toughest political
cases. They handle all our cases. Find them at 640 Broadway
on the fifth floor (677-1552).
New York radicals are fortunate in having a number of good
legal assistance agencies. One of the following is bound
to be able to help you out of a jam.
- Emergency Civil Liberties Committee-25 E. 26th St.
683-8120 (civil liberties)
- Legal Aid Society-100 Centre St. BE 3-0250 (criminal
matters)
- Mobilization for Youth Legal Services-320 E. Third
St. 777-5250 (all types of services)
- National Lawyers Guild-5 Beekman St. 277-0385 or 227-1078
(political)
- New York Civil Liberties Union-156 Fifth Ave. 929-6076
(civil liberties)
- New York University Law Center Office-249 Sullivan
St. GR 3-1896 (civil matters)
DRAFT COUNSELING
Bronx
- Claremont Neighborhood Center - 169th St. and Washington
Ave. 588-1000. Hours are from 2:00 to 10:00 weekdays.
Brooklyn
- Black Anti-Draft Union - 448 Nostrand Ave.
- Church of St. John the Evangelist - 195 Mayier St.
387-8721
- Society for Ethical Culture - 53 Prospect Park West
SO 8-2972
Manhattan
- American Friends Service Committee - 15 Rutherford
Place 777-4600
- Chelsea Draft Information - 346 W. 20th St. WA 9-2391
- Community Free Draft Counseling Center - 470 Amsterdam
Ave. 787-8500
- Greenwich Village Peace Center - 137 W. Fourth St.
533-5120
- Harlem Unemployment Center - 2035 Fifth Ave. 831-6591
- LEMPA - 105 Avenue B 477-9749
- New York Civil Liberties Union - 156 Fifth Ave. 675-5990
- New York Workshop in Nonviolence - 339 Lafayette St.
227-0973
- Resistance - 339 Lafayette St. 674-9060
- Union Theological Seminary - 606 W. 122nd St. MO 3-9090
- War Resisters League - 339 Lafayette St. 228-0450
- Westside Draft Information - 602 Columbus Ave. (89th
St.) 874-7330
- Woman's Strike for Peace - 799 Broadway 254-1925
PLAY
Botanical Gardens
- Conservatory Gardens - Central Park, 105th St. and
Fifth Ave. Seasonal display. LE 4-4938
- Brooklyn Botanical Gardens - Flatbush and Washington
Aves. Rose Oriental Garden, Rose Garden, Native Wild Flower
Garden, Rock Garden, Conservatory. Seasonal display. MA
2-4433.
- New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx Park, 200th St.,
east of Webster Ave. Gardens and Conservatories. Seasonal
displays. Parking fee: $1.00 on Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
Open: Grounds - 10:00 AM to dark, Greenhouses - 10:00
AM to 4:00 PM. 933-9400.
- Queens Botanical Gardens, 43-50 Main St., between Dahilia
and Elder Aves., Flushing. TU 6-3800.
These gardens are really beautiful places to fuck around
for a day. The best ones are the Bronx and Brooklyn. Bring
a picnic, a few friends, some grass, and plant the seeds.
It's all free.
Zoos
- Central Park - 64th St. and Fifth Ave. Free. Open 11
AM to 5 PM.
- Children's Zoo - 64th St. and Fifth Ave. Open 10 AM
to 5 PM. Admission is 10 cents. No tickets are sold after
4:30 PM. Free story-telling sessions with motion pictures
or color slides at 3:30 PM, Mondays through Friday.
- Bronx Park - Fordham Road and Southern Blvd. WE 3-1500.
Open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. November, December, January
closes at 4:30 PM. Admission on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays is 25 cents for adults and children over 5 years.
Free on other days and all legal holidays. Children's
Zoo closes November 1st.
- Barrett Park Zoo - in Richmond, Broadway, Glenwood
Place and Clove Road. Open daily 10 AM to 5 PM. GI 2-3100.
Unlike the barbaric cages in Central Park, the 18-acre Flushing
Meadow Zoo in Queens has been designed so that visitors can
view the animals and buds in their natural surroundings, without
bars. Take the Main Street Flushing Line Subway (train number
7) from Times Square to 111th St. in Queens. Bronx Zoo which
is the largest in the United States and Flushing Meadow Zoo
are fantastic.
Beaches
- Brooklyn - Coney Island Beach and Boardwalk ES 2-1670
- Manhattan Beach - Oriental Blvd., from Ocean Ave. to
Makenzie St. DE 26794
- Bronx - Pelham Bay Park - Orchard Beach and Boardwalk
TI 5-1828
- Queens - Jacob Riis Park - Jamaica Bay, Beach 149 to
Beach 169 GR 4-4600
- Rockaway Beach - First St. to 149th St. GR 4-3470
- Richmond - Great Kills Park - Hylan Blvd., Great Kills
EL 1-1977
- South Beach and Boardwalk - Ft. Wadsworth to Miller
Field, New Dorp YU 7-0709
- Wolfs Pond Park - Holten and Cornelia Avenues, Princes
Bay YU 4-0360
Go to the beach on weekdays as it usually is very crowded
on the weekends. The best beach by far is Rockaway. lt has
pretty good waves.
Swimming Pools MANHATTAN - OUTDOOR POOLS
- Carmine Street Pool - Clarkson St. and Seventh Ave.
WA 4-4246
- Colonial Pool - Bradhurst Ave. and W. 145th St. WA
6-8109
- East 23rd Street Pool - Asser Levy Place MU 5-1026
- Hamilton Fish Pool - E. Houston and Sheriff Streets
GR 7-3911
- Highbridge Pool - Amsterdam Ave. and W. 173rd St. WA
3-2360
- John Jay Pool - 77th St., east of York Ave. at Cherokee
Place. RE 7-2458
- Lasker Memorial Pool - Central Park, 110th St. and
Lenox Ave. 348-6297
- Thomas Jefferson Pool - 111th St. and First Ave. LE
4-0198
- West 59th Street Pool - between West End and Amsterdam
Avenues. CI 5-8519
MANHATTAN - INDOOR POOLS
- Baruch Pool - Rivington St. and Baruch Place GR 3-6950
- East 54th Street Pool - 342 E. 54th St. and Second
Ave. PL 8-3147
- Rutgers Place Pool - 5 Rutgers Place GR 3-6567
- West 28th Street Pool - 407 W. 28th St. CH 4-1896
- West 134th Street Pool - 35 W. 134th St. AU 3-4612
BROOKLYN - OUTDOOR POOLS
- Betsy Head Pool - Hopkinson and Dumont Avenues DI 2-2977
- McCarren Pool - Driggs Ave. and Lorimer St. EV 8-2367
- Red Hook Pool - Bay and Henry Streets TR 5-3855
- Sunset Pool - Seventh Ave. and 43rd St. GE 5-2627
BROOKLYN = INDOOR POOLS
- Brownsville Recreation Center - Linden Blvd. and Christopher
Ave. HY 8-1121
- Metropolitan Avenue Pool - Bedford Ave., no phone;
call SO 8-2300
- St. John's Recreation Center - Prospect Place and Schenectady
Avenues HY 3-3948
BRONX OUTD
