Former Political Prisoner Peter Young Speaks

well, it certainly wouldn't be suggested to put your address on a clipboard at that event.

that's just silly to suggest that Peter is collecting addresses

people aren't stupid. there's no reason to stoke unreasonable paranoia, unless that's what you are trying to do and discourage folks from hearing what he has to say

i'm guessing that they weren't talking about peter, but someone who may have, er, less than noble intentions. think it through for a sec

duh. I said people were not dumb, that implies thinking it through, and by people I mean audience and organizers being aware of implications all around

I've seen peter speak a few times and have yet to see him, or anyone, collect names at the events

it was just a flippant, dismissive comment I was addressing. it was more about tagging peter or the event as "bad/scary" than it was about security culture of some sort. it was counter-productive

Yes- everyone should show up for that event. Tossing around stories about surveillance almost does a better job in shutting down activity than the law enforcement themselves, because it is basically like doing their job for them. it's not that crazy to think that either an official police agent (or an independent contractor. Here is one overworked example http://santacruz.indymedia.org/mod/comments/display/19298/index.php) could show up and try to take notes on who is there. There have been stories about not putting your name on lists, since the 1970s. You could refer to the way Rod Coronado was sent to jail after ending his period of militant action, and just giving a talk. An unnamed person goaded him into talking about bombs. Then a year later, the FBI was accusing him of giving bomb instructions and sentenced him to more months in prison for this. It is a possibility that they waited such a long time to issue charges because someone working with them was the one asking the question at the talk?? I'm just saying that Peter Young is in the Bay area, right where the FBI are into this big investigation of the long Haul and those people harrassing the professors, and he apparently did a few months in jail for releasing minks or foxes or something, plus he's a great speaker. My first impression is how could there not be suspicious people present at this meeting. Yet, this would actually cause me to attend out of curiousity, if I were actually in town that day.