Under the pretext of "anti-terrorist" precautions the state has initiated substantially more repressive measures. It's time that we take a new direction.

We have all seen what happened in Quebec City in 2001 during the Summit of the Americas. The city was turned into an armed camp fenced off by a chain-link fence 10km long. Obscene amounts of tear gas and pepper spray was used against us. Trigger-happy cops shot scores of demonstrators with rubber bullets for no reason and hundreds more were arrested who did nothing but try to express legitimate views.

Then following the Sep.11 incident the atmosphere became even more repressive. In Montreal this was made evident in a series of mass arrests targeting those opposed to globalisation and opposed to police abuses. Approximately 80 were arrested on Sep.29. Then 371 were arrested on Mar.15, and on Apr. 26 riot police stormed a protest before it even had a chance to begin! Such actions mark a significant change in the way authorities deal with dissent, and the mass media has played along by obediently ignoring these draconian measures thereby allowing them to occur without public knowledge. We who oppose the injustices and inequities of the capitalist system are compassionate, conscientious individuals, but we now find ourselves treated as terrorists.

We at SPLAT-Montréal have come to the conclusion that public demonstrations and protests are not very effective (even if possible) under the present circumstances. In a democracy words, ideas and arguments are supposed to work, but ours is not a democracy. Of course, we would like nothing more than to have a democratic society, but those who exercise real power in our society have decided otherwise.

It's time to turn to other means. STAND UP. Look around you. Where is the democracy when pre-emptive mass arrest are being carried out in this city and across the continent and largely ignored by the mass media? The only viable alternative now is to act outside the rules of the system. What can we do when the state is using brutality and coercion to silence us? We have to act outside their repressive surveillance. Who can we turn to when the government, police and judicial system serves only the rich? We have to start taking matters into our own hands.

We have no choice but to take action against this inhuman system that manipulates the masses, exploits workers, destroys the environment and which gives a higher priority to property rights than to human rights - a system that regards human beings only as components in a capitalist machine. We have to act because it's a matter of conscience, but we should do it in a way that is not so easy to ignore or suppress. We are therefore calling for DIRECT ACTION.

We at SPLAT-Montréal are trying to set an example by doing what we do. We encourage YOU to get involved in your own way. Design your own forms of action or help contribute to our project of targeting the cultural propaganda of capitalism. We need to act together and thereby make the most of our individual efforts. Acting in solidarity we become much more then a mere sum of individuals.

Join us at SPLAT-Montréal! Make some paint bombs. Go out, throw them at any of the hundreds of advertisement billboards in the city. Then take a picture and send it to spla...@ziplip.com with a couple of comments if possible. We will be adding your pictures to our photo album. We have step-by-step instructions on how to make paint bombs. Also we have standard stickers you can print out and put on advertisements anywhere.

After a few weeks of activity we have been successful in attracting more activists to our project and our tactics. We have also been profiled in weekly newspapers such as ICI Montreal and Hour. Nevertheless we need more support and ideas from you. The active support and solidarity of the Montreal activist community is the key for success. Imagine what will happen if just a dozen more SPLAT crews go out and paint bomb billboards. We can make a real difference. Take action - Direct Action!