Water and Workers: The Amazon Leaks
Two sets of leaked Amazon documents have made the news recently. The New York Times reported from leaked internal documents that Amazon plans on replacing 600,000 workers with robots by 2033. The Guardian reported via leaked internal documents about how Amazon conspired to mislead the public about water usage of their massive data centers. Amazon dominates the data center market dwarfing both Google and Microsoft’s holdings.
DeFLOCK Denver!
Citizens in Denver have been organizing for months to turn off the police department’s Flock Automatic License Plate Reading cameras. A recent town hall was massively attended, packing the main auditorium and the overflow venue. The fear is that ALPR cameras can be accessed by outside agencies to track immigrants, track women from other states coming to Colorado for reproductive health services and violate our privacy. The people of Denver are slowly winning more and more small victories that will protect Denverites privacy and values. The Rev has reported on the scope of ALPR cameras here in the Western Slope and would love to see people start organizing on this important and locally actionable issue.
New Library Trustee Exposes MCPL to Free Speech Battle
Earlier this year the Mesa County Commissioners broke with tradition of letting Library Trustees serve a second five-year-term without reapplying for the position. They used this break with tradition to appoint Katy Vanderveld. Vanderveld then pushed the library to host a Constitution Day (Sept. 17) event in the children’s area of the Main Branch of the Mesa County Library. This event was not a library event, and outside groups are not able to book the children’s area for non-library events. Lisa Fry of the conservative podcast Mesa County Compass, and Barb Evanson one of the MAGA-adjacent school board members were the organizers of this event that was not sponsored by any organization, but rather a loose network of home schoolers. Now if the MCPL denies a group from hosting lets say: a Drag story-hour, or the DSA from hosting a socialist kids story hour, the library will have opened themselves up to a major free speech lawsuit? Sources from within the library have reached out to the Rev with serious concerns about the favoritism associated with this event.
Fall of Freedom Showcase
The Revolutionist is organizing an evening of spoken word, performance art, drag and historical reenactment in conjunction with a national Call to Art: “Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.” Join us November 21, at 7pm at Lithic Books 138 South Park Square, #202 in Fruita Colorado.
Delta Pride Flag Stolen
On Oct. 18 Delta County held its annual Pride event. After which their Pride flag was stolen from the Delta County Fairgrounds in Hotchkiss.
Retreat Heightens Split in Colorado Dems
An exclusive retreat held near Vail funded by democratic dark money group has widened a growing gulf between corporate Dems, and more progressive Democrats. The super PAC One Main Street Colorado funded the lodging for a retreat of the neo-liberal, pro-corporate “Opportunity Caucus.” An ethics investigation has be launched.
ICE Kidnapped Over 150 in Mesa County
According to new ICE data published by the Deportation Data Project, shows that as of late July as many as 150 Mesa County residents have been taken into ICE custody. Compared to 37 in Garfield, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties combined. Aspen Journalism has recently dug deep into the data and their reporting is worth the read. Some those listed as arrested in Mesa County might be people from around the region processed at the Grand Junction ICE sub-station.
Young Republicans; not Young; still Racist
Leaked group chats of Young Republican leaders reveals deeply disturbing racism, misogyny, and Hitler worship. Republicans have dismissed it as “Kids will by Kids,” but most of the participants in these chats were in their 30s. Activist and marginalized students at CMU know first hand the vile white-supremacist values are at the core of youth conservatism as we reported earlier this year.
Ceasefire Violations, Bombs in Lebanon, West Bank Under Assault
An unsteady ceasefire in Gaza has seen numerous violations by Israel, reduction in agreed upon food aid. This while Israeli (American) bombs continue to fall in Lebanon, and legislation has advanced in the Knesset to allow Israel to annex all of the West Bank.
The Red Pill Archive Now Online
Back in the 2000’s there was an anarchist publication here in Grand Junction. From 2004-2010 activists and radicals published an irregular ‘newszine.’ The Red Pill looks and feels very similar to The Revolutionist and it was an inspiration in the creation of this little paper you hold in your hands. We are excited to announce that the entire archive of The Red Pill is now up on our website, for free for anyone to browse.
Western Colo. Largest Shelter to Close
Homeward Bound of the Grand Valley shocked the community earlier this month when it announced a partial closure, three days a week, in early October. They assured the community that things looked good for the next granting cycle beginning in January, and that they only needed $150,000 dollars to resume 7-days-a- week service to its 140 guests thru the end of 2025. The community of Grand Junction rose to the occasion, and with the help of the Bray Cares Foundation’s $75,000 matching grant, raised the needed $150,000. Despite this heroic community effort, Homeward Bound failed to get further grants they were banking on, and announced the permanent closure of the North Avenue Emergency Shelter on Jan. 5. These federal funds, cut by the Trump administration, are just the first of many major consequences the regime’s cruel and inhumane policies to impact the Grand Valley and western Colorado.
Utah’s Unhouse Forced Labor Camp
In compliance with Trump’s executive order criminalizing the unhoused and promoting the involuntary commitment of the unhoused into institutional settings, the state of Utah is starting work on a new 1300 bed facility on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. Advocates have described the plan as a ‘forced labor camp,’ and the unhoused equivalent of Alligator Alcatraz.
###
The Revolutionist is 100% volunteer run and subscriber funded. We do not sell our soul for advertising dollars, nor do we prostrate ourselves for grants from the non-profit industrial complex. We are community media. Join the community! Subscribe today at whatever rate you can, and get a hard copy of The Revolutionist in your mailbox. Subscribing subsidizes free distribution copies.
The Revolutionist 