Dear friends,

As of today the state has stolen the last two years of my life. On November 16th of 2006, I walked into the nearby Federal Detention Center, was stripped naked, given a jumpsuit, and thrown in a cell for advocating controversial tactics to shut down an animal lab.

The first inmates I met gave me some advice— try to forget you are here. Don't think about the time. Do your best not to remember the outside world. What awful advice! Although it might make my life harder, I'm relieved that I still bristle at incarceration. I never want to be one of the fully domesticated folks who slowly stop seeing the bars and razor wire and start to consider this place home. I hate prison with a passion. That let's me know I'm still sane.

Back when we were first convicted, a lobbyist for the animal abusers (whose resumé includes representing liquor companies in their efforts to shut down Mothers Against Drunk Driving) predicted that the SHAC 7 case was just the opening shot in a broader war and that soon many activists would be labeled terrorists. He was right, of course, and from the Green Scare, to the RNC arrestees, to the animal rights roundups in Austria, our movements are under attack. Many of us are already behind bars, and more are on their way. I'm hardly an old pro at this imprisonment thing, but please accept the best advice my two years of experience can produce— never forget why you are locked up. Remember the injustices you fought, and ache to fight them once more. To the degree that it's possible, try to shape your new environment instead of letting it shape you. Finally, while it is important to rage at your chains, it's also important not to let anger and bitterness consume you. I've had the honor of meeting animals at sanctuaries who endured the worst of abuses but maintained beautiful, loving personalities. The prison system will try to erase the traits that make you special, the virtues that led you to struggle against oppression. Resist that attack on your spirit with all your might. Sustain yourself; the world NEEDS you.

In closing, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me and my co-defendants these last few years. I don't know how I could have withstood this experience alone. I also want to send my love to Jake, Andy, Lauren, Kevin, and Darius. I'm proud to have stood alongside each of you. Finally, solidarity to the Move 9, the RNC protesters, military refusers, Panther grand jury resisters, Green Scare victims, Marie Mason, all imprisoned earth and animal liberationists, and all the world's political prisoners— from Marilyn Buck to David Gilbert to Sundiata Acoli— you are all an inspiration to me. "Strong hearts forward!"

For revolution,
Josh

Joshua Harper
29429-086
FCI Sheridan
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 5000
Sheridan, OR 97378

Dear Friends,

I was delaying this dispatch hoping to get news about a possible early release to halfway house. I figured it would be nice to write with good news for once, but then I found out that a staff member had "concerns" about me getting out 4 months ahead of schedule even though I'd be supervised, working 40 hours a week, and paying 25% of my earnings to the halfway house. So, right now it looks like a no go. Luckily, I've found a good way to drown my pain - 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, with prison rules!

Yes, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has a thriving underground role playing scene, and I'd like to think of myself as its shining star. I started Dungeon mastering a game a while back, throwing greedy capitalists, earth despoilers, and imperialists as the villains. And all the virtual food the players eat? Totally vegan, dude. I should write a cookbook called "Swords and Soycery," heh heh. Good times. Anyhow, the hardened criminals I play with got really into it, and you haven't lived until you've seen a heroin addicted bank robber with a Firearms Enhancement say, "I ask the Dwarvish cleric if he has any potions of vitality for purchase while I discretely flash some platinum pieces." Sweet. Anyhow, having proved myself to the Scofflaw Fraternity, I was invited to play a character in one of their games. They didn't have to ask me twicce. I now have a 4th level Dragonborn fighter named Lim Torrinson. Jealous much?

I don't always fit in when I play. Whenever we have to fight an animal, like a giant crocodile, I'll ask, "It's a soy crocodile, right?" I ask about Elvish child labor laws when I'm purchasing amulets of protection. And no one gets my jokes because they've all been locked up for so long. Here's a recent conversation we had during a game where I dropped several hillarious references to 80's and 90's public service announcments. (Note, I've changed the players names to their characters names to avoid being stuck with an icepick.)

Troxniac: "... and by Bahamut's name, I say we stand for truth, valor, order, and honor!"
Me: "And that's... one to grow on!"
Everyone else:
Me: "Um... When you take the time to care."
Everyone else:
Me: "C'mon guys, how about 'The more you know?' No? Are you fucking Amish?"

And that isn't the only example. Here's another recent series of jokes that didn't go down well.

Malach: "And what shall we call this fellowship of ours? I'd suggest The Party of – "
Me: "The Crips!"
Everyone else:
Me: "Already taken, huh? How about 'The Happy Funtime Gang?"
Corab: "Let's get serious. I propose that we call it The Adventurers of - "
Me: "The Christ Punchers!"

Oh well. Just beccause an armed career ccriminal doesn't appreciate Simpons references doesn't mean I don't have fun. I'm kicking lots of monster ass lately and rolling in loot. I just got a +2 Dragonslayer Great Axe. Feel free to sit down if you start to swoon.

I know this update isn't very "political prisoner" of me, but try to understand. Prison is so dreary, and with ecological disaster on the horizon, a populace stupid enough to venerate McCain or Obama, and all the other bad news, well, sometimes I need a little levity. I hope you are all well, thanks for your continuing support. I'll send out a more serious update soon.

Keep fighting!
Josh

http://www.foodfightgrocery.com/jharp/images/dungeonmasters_alf.gif

Hi everybody. This new trailer for an upcoming SHAC7 documentary just came out. Looks pretty damned good. Check it out.

http://www.zaxisproductions.com/SHAC-7_NewTrailer.html

xoxo
Josh Harper Support Team

Read at the opening of the "Let Live" NW Animal Rights Conference June 27th, 2008:

"Dear friends,
Let me just start by expressing how happy I am to be writing something for a conference in Portland. It is the city where I got my start as an animal rights activist back in nineteen-diggety-five. The Kaiser had stolen the word "ninety," so we had to say "diggety" instead. Man, you young activists today have no idea how good you have it. Back in the 90s there were only about 10 vegans in all of Portland and we all hated each other.

Still, we couldn't use the horse-drawn buggies at the time, so we had to ride on each others' backs to protests. I remember carrying Craig Rosebraugh up Burnside in the snow to a McDonald's demonstration, and when we finally got there he didn't bother to feed or water me! Burnside was a lot steeper then, too. I couldn't even complain; in solidarity with the cities horses, I had taken a vow of silence, so instead I just bit and kicked the crap out of him.

But, rapid aging aside, I truly do have incredible memories of my time in Portland. Some of them joyous and some of them sad. I hope that no one minds if I share one of the sad ones today. My apologies to those who've already heard it.

Shortly after I moved to Portland from Euguene. I got one of my many shitty jobs. This one was at a parking garage. My uniform included a forest green polo shirt with a huge golden "M" emblazoned on the chest. The shirt was made with an unholy blend of polyester, neoprene, and uranium. Which made me a bit of an outcast in the trendy northwest neighborhood where I'd found a cheap apartment above a boiler room. If it can be said that I didn't fit in amongst the neighbors, than the same is even more true for another new resident I was just about to meet.

Construction in the hills above my building was displacing critters whose homes were falling beneath bulldozers and chainsaws. One of these creatures, a small deer mouse, took shelter in a rock wall next to the Plaid Pantry on 23rd and Glisan. When I first saw her, she was skinny and terrified. She would huddle as far back in the wall as possible. Only occasionally darting out to snatch a bite of bread I would leave for her.

As time went by, she got a little bolder though, until eventually her true personality as the world's punkest mouse broke through. She started out taking seeds from birdfeeders and graduated to stealing the seed right out of the bags when yuppies came to fill the feeders. She never strayed too far from the wall. I could usually find her when I needed a reminder of the strength possessed by the smallest of us. She was my sister at arms, a fellow rebel in the fight against this joy-crushing society.

Sadly, not everyone in the neighborhood embraced her presence. One day when I was returning from the parking garage, I noticed a woman wearing fur, standing near the deer mouse's wall. Since I'm a total conflict gypsy, I approached her to discuss the lives lost for her fashion choices. As I got close I overheard her saying how horrible it was to have "rats" living in such a nice neighborhood. I confronted her and said that my mouse friend was doing her no harm. In the ensuing argument, she spit on me and sped off. I trudged home with fur scum saliva drying on my shoulder and arm and forgot all about the incident until a few days later. On my way to work I saw that someone had left yellow rat poison pellets on the sidewalk near the wall. I scooped them all up and crossed my fingers that none of them had already been eaten. I worked a double shift that day and tried not to think about the grim possibility awaiting after I clocked out. But, as I returned home that evening, I soon saw that the worst case scenario had become reality. There was the deer mouse slowly crawling through the dirt and oil and grime of the Plaid Pantry parking lot.

I found a box in a garbage can and lifted my friend inside. I walked her down to Couch Park and placed her on the dirt beneath a tree. She was so light. Her fluffy coat made her look much bigger. And yet, in that tiny being there was a thirst for life I seldom see in the grey people shambling from home to work to home again. As she lay dying, she looked at me in the eyes, and I knew she was questioning me. Why? Why is my life being taken away when I love it so dearly? If we had shared the same language, I may have answered her—for avarice, for human arrogance and greed, and my species' sick desire to control and destroy everything that reminds us of the wildness we've lost.

The light faded from her eyes, and I buried my poor deer mouse friend in the park. I have never been the same.

This conference will give you many opportunities—from learning new skills to making new contacts. But today you also have another opportunity, just as I did that night in the park. Right here and now, you have the opportunity to firmly turn your back on speciesism and dedicate your life to freeing countless billions from tyranny. You can choose to push yourself further in whatever forms your activism takes, whether that means getting past shyness in order to do outreach or getting past razor wire in order to do liberations. My greatest hope is that those of you hearing these words will make the choice to persevere in this struggle and actualize a world free from animal slavery, even if it takes the rest of your life and many more generations to get there. Our fellow animals deserve no less. Thank you for listening and for all that you do in support of our cause.

From 19-diggety-5 till death,
Josh"

Josh's Birthday is January 31st!  Please  take the time to write him a letter and help him feel connected to the active world on this humbling occasion in prison. 

You can mail letters, cards, and postcards directly to Josh at:

Joshua Harper
29429-086
FCI Sheridan
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 5000
Sheridan, OR 97378

Or you can email letters to lettersforjosh@shac7.com.  Josh also has a book wishlist, so please get in touch if you'd like to send him something to read.

And don't forget the rest of the SHAC7! 
Jake's Birthday is February 3rd.  Please write to him, and feel free to send some photobooth pictures in celebration.

JACOB CONROY
93501-011
FCI VICTORVILLE MEDIUM I
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 5300
ADELANTO, CA 92301

More information about all the SHAC7 codefendants can be found at shac7.com.

Another January 31st birthday belongs to fellow activist, prisoner and great friend, Jonathan Paul.  Please get in touch and lift his spirits as he spends his first birthday since beginning his sentence in late October.

Jonathan Paul
07167-085
FCI Phoenix
Federal Correctional Institution
37910 N. 45th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85086

After a few months of silence and a bunch of ups and downs, Josh has finished another personal update.

To read it, please visit:
www.joshharper.org

And don't forget to check SHAC7.com for information about the case/appeal, and Josh's co-defendants' personal sites for more blogs and updates.

After  spending nearly 100 days in the SHU (Special Housing Unit, otherwise known as "the hole"), Josh was finally released back into his unit of the prison on Monday 6/18. 

He's happy to be out (no more surviving on salad and bits of fruit; no longer locked down all day every day), but would still love to hear from folks!  He lost almost all of his property while in the hole, so please write him if you haven't heard back- he might not have your address anymore! (And please print mailing addresses clearly if you'd like a response).

If you're interested in reading his "shot" (charge) from the prison, you can view it on Josh's support site here.  Clearly even the prison doesn't believe that Josh ever threatended anyone- they only sentenced him to 14 days in the hole, suspended pending appeal (His 3 months in the hole don't count toward this)!  In his interview with the small skate/vegan zine Josh never threatened anyone, but once again was found guilty of "terrorism" for using his freedom of speech to speak his mind. 

Please continue supporting the SHAC7!  Get addresses at shac7.com

 If you're not a subscriber to Herbivore, you'd better get on it!

Issue 13 features over 100 pages brimming with vegan goodness, not to mention a letter from co-defendant Jake and a full article on the SHAC7 trial and AETA by greenisthenewred.com reporter Will Potter. 

Go to: http://herbivoreclothing.com/magazine.page.html

And check out Lauren's article in Jane Magazine at http://www.janemag.com/magazine/articles/2007/03/IHTM_Ecoterrorism

We should have an official update from Josh within the next 2 weeks, so stay tuned!  But in the meantime, here's the lowdown:

Got a letter from Josh dated March 26.  In it he says that they've indicated to him that the prison will be going through with officially punishing him for writing a letter that was never published (nor did it ever even reach its intended recipient).  For making vague statements about his incarceration it looks like Josh will very soon be losing his phone calls, visits, and commisary and will serve months in "the hole" with no time served while there.  We should have more details soon.

Josh wants everyone to know he appreciates your letters now more than ever!  Letters and books are what he's depending upon to get him through this- otherwise he's just locked in a cell all day, every day.  Letters and books are really the only company he has.  So please keep it up! 

Josh also apologizes for delayed or lack of response.  He said he's been impressed by how many great letters he's been receiving lately, but due to lack of stamps and envelopes he can't write back to nearly half of you he'd like to.  Please don't let that deter you from writing! 

And if you'd like to help Josh out by sending him a book or magazine to occupy some of his seemingly endless time in "the hole" please get in touch!  We've got a great list to work down and Josh is going through about a book a day!  If interested please get in touch through myspace or via info@joshharper.org *BEFORE* you send him something. 

Thanks so much for all your support!