Comrades! Glory once again in the display of Soviet Russian military might at the revitalized May Day Victory Day Parade!
posted by fearfulsymmetry on May 11, 2008 - 52 comments

May Day celebrations of yesteryear. [more inside]
posted by Marie Mon Dieu on May 1, 2008 - 22 comments

"The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class" [more inside]
posted by kliuless on May 1, 2008 - 98 comments

Downtown Helsinki seemed semiapocalyptic tonight while a set of warehouses near city-center burned to the ground. The buildings were previously owned by the State Railway, and (as Wikipedia tells) recently had become an unofficial cultural center hosting BDSM conventions and heavy metal festivals. The buildings were previously scheduled for destruction on Monday to make way for a new music hall, but it looks like the demolition happened early. Fire trucks had visited the scene earlier this week when it was last set on fire during a May Day eve protest-- or was that drunken revelry? Strangely, this wasn't considered significant enough for the police to worry about it. More photos.
posted by taursir on May 5, 2006 - 15 comments

MAYDAY. The largest and most audacious civil disobedience action in American history is also the least remembered yet it had a profound affect on the development of tactics for practicing civil disobedience in the United States. MayDay! was perhaps the only essentially peaceful action, at least in modern times, undertaken with the intent to shut down the federal government . The slogan, early on at least, was "If the government won't stop the war, we'll stop the government! Thanks to Wikipedia, at least there is something easily accessible about it. And, with the advent of blogging, other thoughtful pieces are appearing.
posted by swlabr on May 1, 2006 - 19 comments

Mission Accomplished? Then why is there even more outrage? Last year, celebration and theatre dominated the day.. This year it's different. This is also the 120th anniversary of the Haymarket Riots resulting in four anarchists being hanged. Interestingly enough, the riots happened because of workers rights being unfair. Is this a case of history repeating itself?
posted by wheelieman on May 1, 2006 - 8 comments

The Morris dance is common to all inhabited worlds in the multiverse. It is danced under blue skies to celebrate the quickening of the soil and under bare stars because it's springtime and with any luck the carbon dioxide will unfreeze again. It is danced innocently by raggedy-bearded young mathematicians to an inexpert accordion rendering of "Mrs Widgery's Lodger" and ruthlessly by such as the Ninja Morris Men of New Ankh, who can do strange and terrible things with a simple handkerchief and a bell.
(from page one of Terry Pratchett's "Reaper Man")
posted by nonane on Apr 29, 2006 - 34 comments

Happy May Day one and all. It's a holiday that's largely ignored here in the USA except in Minneapolis This event is massive with puppets, Music , and zaniness . The parade is simular to the Fremont Soltice Parade with more of a story and less nudity. If you are in the Twin Cities, get out and see it. More here. Happy May Day!!
posted by wheelieman on May 1, 2005 - 24 comments

Mayday Mystery. At the University of Arizona, a series of ads has been placed in the school's newspaper, the Arizona Wildcat. These ads have shown up every year around May 1st for the last 20 years or so, and seem to be cryptic puzzles relating to some sort of secret counterculture organization. Bryan Hance, the former webmaster of the Wildcat, noticed the ads, and has been trying to track down what's been going on ever since. He is chronicling his findings at www.maydaymystery.org. (via ARGN)
posted by quibx on Jun 24, 2004 - 23 comments

A post-modern bestiary of quasi-traditional May Day characters from Edinburgh's Beltane Fire Society.
posted by moonbird on May 1, 2004 - 4 comments

against capitalism..against war a tad late but allows you to immerse in the world of anti-globalisation campaigners.
posted by johnnyboy on May 2, 2002 - 5 comments

History, Mathematics, Religion... All wrapped into a handy, easy-to-use {large graphic} format and distributed once or twice a year via a harmless school paper. This is the Mayday Mystery.
posted by carsonb on May 10, 2001 - 24 comments

BBC report on the May Day protests On the whole I've been shocked by how uninformed the BBC has been, especially in comparison with The Guardian's comprehensive coverage. Having attended the Oxford Circus demonstration, I be sure of two facts: one, that the gathering was almost entirely peaceful... and two, that the heavy-handed police action is likely to incite frustration and violence. Remember, kids: the 3,000 'protesters' include ordinary members of the public caught in the police blockade.
posted by tobyslater on May 1, 2001 - 8 comments

What Kind of a May Day Protester are you?

(stolen from Boing Boing)
posted by mecran01 on Apr 30, 2001 - 7 comments