467 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
467 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DIRECT ACTION
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Development Issue 0.3 - Dated 9th Feb. '95
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About this 'Encyclopedia'
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This 'encyclopedia' is not a activists guide, such a guide might be considered
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as 'incitement' in some countries. This 'encyclopedia' covers progressive direct
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action groups, their campaigns and some of the many tactics that have been or
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could be, used by these groups. The information here is given in the spirit of
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free speech and is not intended to incite individuals or groups to commit any
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acts of physical violence against any living being.
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Direct Action is not new, however it is a developing area and as such new
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groups, campaigns and tactics are evolving all the time. The 'encyclopedia' is a
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'living document', growing and expanding all the time. It is created by no
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specific person and takes contributions from anyone who has something of worth
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to add.
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The editor wishes to thank those whom have contributed their time and knowledge
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to improving the 'encyclopedia' at this early stage - they know who they are.
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Further contributions are welcome, if you have somthing to add, please do.
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At this time, there is no easy way by which contributions can be made without
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possible danger to the contributor or the editor. However, a PGP public key is
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now available at the end of this document and soon from public key servers.
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Using the key, contributors will be able to safely submit additions to the
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'encyclopedia'. Full details will be anounced in the next issue.
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CONTENTS
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Tactics
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1.0 - Demonstrations & Protests
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1.1 - Blockades and Occupations
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How not to be moved
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Action in the water coming soon..!
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1.2 - Contamination and 'Vandalism'
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Tree Spiking
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Pelt Painting
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Product Contamination
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1.3 - Windows and glass
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Blow Torch
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Masking tape etc.
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Catapults
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Glass etching fluids
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Stickers and posters
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Spring loaded center punches
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1.4 - Privacy and Keeping Secrets
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Tapped phones and spoken codes
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Intercepted mail and written cyphers
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Computer encryption
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Public key cryptology
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Pretty Good Privacy
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Under construction...
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?.? - Breaking and Entering
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Further reading -
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Guide to Lock Picking
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Locksmiths FAQ
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?.? - Anti-Blood Sports
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Further reading -
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Hunt Sabs
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?.? - Ethical Shoplifting
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Further reading -
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CRISP actions
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?.? - Economic Sabotage
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Damage to vehicles Further reading -
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The Terrorist Handbook
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'Underground' magazines
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?.? - Bomb scares and other hoaxes
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see also 'Profuct contaminations'
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?.? - Dealing with the Police
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Further reading -
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Don't talk to coppers
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?.? - Publicity and publicity stunts
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Roof-top demos
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?.? - Watch your backs
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Further reading -
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How to kill a citizens movement
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Infiltration
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Informers
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INDEX
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DISCLAIMER
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Direct Action Campaigns, Organizations, Grass-roots groups
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Sea Shepherd
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Green Peace
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Earth First
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No M11 link road
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Animal Liberation
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Campaigns against Live Export
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Hunt Sabs
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Campaigns against Criminal Injustice Act
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1.0 - DEMONSTRATIONS & PROTESTS
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1.1 - Blockades and Occupations
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>
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How not to be moved.
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Why would you want to prevent yourself from being moved? Not moving is a
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major tactic for direct action. Not moving can is a method used successfully
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to prevent things from happening; missiles entering a base by road, live
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animals being loaded onto ships for export, trees being cut down, buildings
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being demolished, etc.
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It is practically impossible to prevent yourself from being moved, however
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some methods have been used with varying success as a means to delay the
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inevitable. Delays can cost the opposition considerable sums of money and can
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result in victory.
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Sit downs / sit in's
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Sitting down is often used as a method to prevent a demonstration being moved
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on. It can work but it seems increasingly ineffective in most cases. It is
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naive to think that being in a sitting position will make it significantly
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difficult for you to be forcibly moved. However, it does require a lot of
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people to move a large crowd of people sitting down. It also takes a long
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time. During the time it takes to move people out of the area, people who
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have already been moved off have the opportunity to move back in and sit down
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again, unless there are great numbers of police or security etc. to prevent
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this from happening. Sitting down can work, but if the opposition really want
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you moved they will do so, it just takes time and a lot of people.
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Linking arms
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Linking arms with other protesters (or objects) can also make removing
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protesters more difficult. Doing this means that greater effort is required
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to move each protester, it may also requires more people and will certainly
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mean it takes a longer time to clear the protesters. However it also invites
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more violence and a greater chance of injury to the protesters. This can be
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used to advantage when there are a lot of reporters and cameras around,
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violence to non-violent protests makes good publicity.
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Chains and handcuffs
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People don't like pain. This is used by the opposition when trying to
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detached protesters from things they are clinging too (whether other
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protesters or objects like railings). Bending back thumbs and fingers etc.
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will usually result in the grip being loosed or given up voluntarily to stop
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the pain.
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To prevent this from occurring, protesters sometimes chain or handcuff
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themselves to things. This method is not particularly effective since it is
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usually only done by small numbers of protesters. When the unchained
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protesters have finally been removed, the opposition is free to use bolt
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cutters or a hacksaw to remove the chained protesters. It is perhaps the cost
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of the hardware that prevents the technique from being used in large numbers.
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Even if a large crowd of protesters did all handcuff themselves to each other
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and around lamp posts etc. eventually all the cuffs would be cut off. A very
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expensive delaying tactics from the point of view of the protesters.
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Hi-bred systems
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Used to great effect by groups such as the 'No M11 link road campaign',
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hi-bred systems are very successfully in delay the removal of protesters. The
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basic principle in most of these systems is to place protesters in a way that
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only they can choice to leave, efforts to force them to leave will be very
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dangerous either to the protester or better still, to the opposition and the
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protester.
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One such method is to use the handcuffing tactic but to do it in such a way
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as to make it virtually impossible to get to the 'handcuff' in order to
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remove them. Take a plastic pipe of large enough diameter to place your
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entire arm inside. Drive a metal rod or pipe through the plastic pipe so that
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it passes though at right angles. Place this object into something large and
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cumbersome then cement it in so that at least one end on the pipe is free to
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place your arm down. Now take a careabena hook (as used in rock climbing,
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sailing etc.) and fix this to your wrist with strong but comfortable binds of
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rope. You can now place you arm down the pipe and hock onto the metal bar.
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Only you can unhook yourself, if anyone else wishes to move you, they most
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either move both you and the object at the same time, or they must take apart
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the object until then can unhook you, or carry you away attached to a smaller
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part of the object.
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Another method used by the 'No M11 link road campaign' was an impressive
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scaffold tower built onto of the roof of a house which they were trying to
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protect from being demolished. The tower was so tall that the 'cherry picker'
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cranes that the opposition usually used to remove protesters who were
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occupying pile driver etc., could not reach the protesters on the tower. It
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proved to be to dangerous to send normal police officers up the tower to
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remove the protesters. In the end it was the cold weather and lack of food
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and water that made the final protester come down voluntarily after an
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incredible 5 day eviction attempt.
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1.2 - Contamination and 'Vandalism'
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Many methods have been used in the past and no doubt others will be used in
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the future. When used as a form of direct action these methods are an
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effective means of economic sabotage. Some of the methods discussed here have
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also been used for immoral ends and personal gain.
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Tree Spiking
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Tree spiking involves hammering big nails into trees, in a ring around the
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stem where you would expect it to be cut. The tactic is pointless and very
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dangerous if used without warning the workers and the company that the trees
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have been spiked. If a saw hits one of those nails or spikes, the people in
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the imeadiate area may be injured by flying fragments.
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In the one celebrated case, a mill worker was injured and he actually ended
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up sueing the loggin company for negligence. It has been said that a
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lumberjack in the US was killed when trying to cut a spiked tree. However,
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the incident is apparently an urban myth encouraged by the establishment.
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The aim of tree spiking is not to harm the logger. It is to create the
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potential of damage to expensive saws and blades in the mill (some of which
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cost upwards of $10,000). Presenting a logging company with a potential loss
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of money may encourage them to leave the spiked section of forest alone.
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Pelt Painting
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Used as economic sabotage, this form of direct action attracted great media
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attention and public support during the early eighties. The culling of seal
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pubs was made economically less viable when activists from groups like Sea
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Shepherd, used indelible dies and paints of the fur of the baby seals.
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Although the coloring may have wrecked the baby seals camouflage, it also
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wrecked the economic value of the pelts.
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Product Contamination
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A tactic used occasionally by groups in the animal liberation movement, it is
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also used by greedy individuals in an attempt to make a quick buck from
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blackmail.
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A product sold by the opposition is contaminated in some way, rendering it
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unsellable. With consumable products such as food or drink, the claimed
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contamination could be anything from mercury, rat poison etc. to razor blades
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or broken glass. Animal liberation activists prefer substances like salt
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which produce an unpleasant taste but produce no ill effects should someone
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actually consume it.
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Often a claim is made that a product has been contaminated when really
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nothing has been done at all. These hoaxes are often as effective for
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economic sabotage as the real thing. Such hoaxes may be quite elaborate; with
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real contaminated products being sent to media to aid the illusion.
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1.3 - Windows and glass
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Plate glass windows found on shops etc. are not cheap. Destroying them is an
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effective method of economic sabotage. The same is true for vehicle windows
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which are also expensive to replace.
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Windows are also possible means of entry into buildings and vehicles.
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Burglars and activists involved in Animal Liberation are quite adept at
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breaking windows in a numbers of ways, each with advantages and
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disadvantages.
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Blow Torch
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As used by burglars. A blow torch is used to heat a windows glass before a
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cold water is applied, for example, with a damp cloth. The cold water causes
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the hot glass to crack and it does so much more quietly than using a brick!
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Masking tape and sticky paper
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During the blitz in the second world war, people put masking tape on their
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windows. They did this to prevent the glass from shattering everywhere if a
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bomb blast should occur nearby. Today, masking tape, sticky paper etc. is
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used by activists to prevent broken glass from making lots of noise when it
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falls and also to help prevent the mess of broken glass causing injury to
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themselves when they enter the building.
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Catapults
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Catapults and hard, heavy objects such as marbles, ball bearings or stones
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are used as a means to break windows as a distance for the purpose of
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economic sabotage. A catapult can be purchased easily (or shop lifted) from
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fishing tackle shops.
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Glass etching fluids
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Used by activists in the animal liberation movement, glass etching fluid a
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quiet method of economic sabotage. Usually used on butchers windows or car
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windscreens belonging to companies or individuals involved with animal abuse.
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Stickers, posters and graffiti
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Stickers are available that use adhesive that is very difficult to remove
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from glass. Such stickers are used in some areas on windows of cars that park
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in no-parking areas.
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Posters or graffiti can usually be removed from windows without much effort
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and fairly quickly. One method of slowing down the removal of the slogan or
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poster and also necessitating the need to replace the glass, is to glue a
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sheet of glass over the poster or slogan directly onto the windows glass.
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This is probably not a very popular action since it may be difficult to
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achieve and also time consuming.
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Spring loaded center punches
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A spring loaded center punch is a tool used to make a dent in metal before
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using a drill to make a hole. Unlike a normal center punch, it does not need
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to be hit with a hammer since it is spring loaded and requires very little
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effort. These tools are used by car stereo thieves and also adopted by ALF
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activists like Keith Mann. They break windows easily and quickly and can be
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bought from any decent hardware store.
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Privacy & Keeping Secrets
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In this the age of; national computer databases, video surveillance cameras,
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DNA finger-printing, eroding civil rights and ever increasing police powers,
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the privacy of the individual is seriously at risk. However some of the very
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technology that helps to deprive people of privacy, may now help them to
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regain it.
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When a citizens movement questions authority or challenges the status quo,
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there is a possibility that the interests threatened will attempt to monitor
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their actions. This may be done in order to; ascertain the danger posed,
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identify the individuals involved, discover ways to reduce the effectiveness
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of the movement or, if possible, destroy it. It is the communications between
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the members of the movement that are perhaps the most useful to the
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opposition and it should come as no surprise that phone taping and
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intercepting mail are amongst the methods commonly used against citizen
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movements.
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Thankfully there are methods that can be used to help minimize the problem,
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but most traditional methods are far from fool proof and hardly convenient,
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so inconvenient in fact that it is doubtful that they are used by many to any
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great degree.
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Tapped phones and spoken codes
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When making phone calls, some form of code could be implemented, substituting
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incriminating words with 'innocent' ones and also disguising sensitive
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information like times, dates and places. Producing an effective and flexible
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code is very difficult, rather like trying to invent a new language. All the
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people who are meant to understand the code must have been taught how to use
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it and the information about the workings of the code must be passed in
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private and must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands at any time
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since all messages; past, previous and future, would be compromised. Most
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codes are also cumbersome in use, restrictive and easy to crack unless the
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code is changed frequently.
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Intercepted mail and written cyphers
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Slightly harder to crack and less restrictive would be the use of written
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messages that have been manualy encrypted and then sent through the post. A
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safe method of passing the 'key' is still necessary and manual encryption can
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be very cumbersome to use. The drawbacks may make this method impractical to
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use routinely and so when used, it could appear highly suspicious. Even if
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the opposition could not imeadiately understand the message, they might have
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their interest raised sufficiently to step-up surveillance, while putting
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resourses into cracking the code.
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Computer encryption
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So what's left? With a computer, military standard encryption algorithms may
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be used, that are virtually impossible to crack. They are flexible, fast and
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easy to use and since they are so easy to use they can be used routinely so
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there would be no additional suspicion raised, regardless of the importance
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of the actual message.
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While encryption offers a solution to the problems of phone tapping or mail
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interception, conventional methods have their own problems. To de-cipher a
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message requires the recipient to have the same key as that used by the
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sender to encrypt it. If the sender and recipient get the opportunity to meet
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face to face then the key can be exchanged, however there are situations when
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no safe channel is available.
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Public key cryptology
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Public key cryptology provides the solution. Each person using the system has
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two related keys; one secret, one public. The public key can be distributed
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freely, it doesn't mater if it falls into the hands of the opposition.
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Possessing the public key does not enable anyone to deduce the corresponding
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secret key. The secret key must be kept secure, however in case it should it
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fall into the wrong hands, the best systems add further protection by
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requiring a 'pass-phrase', known only by the owner, whenever the key is used.
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Before sending a message, the sender encrypt its using the public key
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belonging to the intended recipient. The resulting encrypted file can then be
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sent by Electronic Mail (or by disk in the standard post). The encrypted
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message can not be read by anyone (even with the public key), only by the
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person with the matching secret key and its 'pass-phrase'.
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The system also provides message authentication. The sender's own secret key
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can be used to encrypt a message, thereby 'signing' it. This creates a
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digital signature of a message, which anyone can check by using the sender's
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public key to decrypt it. This proves that the sender was the true originator
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of the message, and that the message has not been subsequently altered by
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anyone else. Forgery is not feasible, and the sender cannot later disown his
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signature. Both privacy and authentication can be provided by first signing a
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message then encrypting it with the recipient's public key. The recipient
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reverses these steps by first decrypting the message with their own secret
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key, then checking the enclosed signature with the senders public key.
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The advanced algorithms used by Public Key Cryptology and conventional
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single-key cryptology may be practically uncrackable and potentially helps to
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solve the problems of phone tapping and mail interception. However no system
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can free us from the threat of infiltration or stupidity! Even if the
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intended recipient of an encrypted message is the only person who can read
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them, if that person is careless or, not as trustworthy as hoped, all the
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senders efforts will have been wasted.
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Pretty Good Privacy
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Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), is a high security cryptographic software
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application based on "public key" cryptography (described elsewhere). PGP
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allows people to exchange files or messages with privacy, authentication, and
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convenience.
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PGP is available for most major computers and operating systems, including ;
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IBM PC, Apple, Amiga, Atari and UNIX systems. It is `free-ware' which means
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it costs nothing and is easy to obtain from any decent shareware library,
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computer bulletin board or anonymous FTP site.
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INDEX
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(Does the encyclopedia actualy need an index? After all, an index is usualy
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only needed in book as a means to find specific things withing the book. On
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the computer, a 'search' or 'find' tool is usualy available. What do you
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think?)
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Blow Torches
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Catapults
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Fur
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Glass
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Glass etching fluids
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Graffiti
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Green Peace
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Hunt Sabotage
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Locks
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Logging
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Masking tape etc.
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Pelt painting
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PGP
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Privacy
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Product Contamination
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Road Protesters
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Stickers and posters
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Spring loaded center punches
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Sit downs & sit in's
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Sea Shepherd
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Seal culling
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Tree spiking
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Windows
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<
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h1>APPENDIX
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DISCLAIMER
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Once again. This document is not a guide for activists! It is a document for
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academic interest and reference. It is hoped that a better understanding of
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the tactics used by direct action activists will come from reading this
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document.
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