earthfirst – Page 131

Crude Awakening info update

12 Sept 2010

THE CRUDE AWAKENING MASS OUTREACH EMAIL

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

12 Sept 2010

THE CRUDE AWAKENING MASS OUTREACH EMAIL

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

Have you been thinking it’s about time a whole load of people got together to take mass action against oil in central London? We thought so. And so it followed that the Crude Awakening was launched. The mobilization is now in full swing and everyone is invited to help publicize and prepare. There is loads to do….please have a read through this email and get involved!

The email is in three parts:

Upcoming events and how to get involved
Frequently asked questions
The call out – please copy and paste and help this get all over the Internet!

1. How to get involved and build up events you are all invited to.

Events already planned are listed bellow:

In London……

17th September, networking meeting at 6pm just inside the entrance to the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, a meeting for people interested in helping to do outreach in the London area the Climate Camp outreach group are meeting.

There is going to be a London coordinating and planning meeting for the Crude Awakening very soon, and the details will be announced shortly.

Thursday 23rd September at 7.30pm, Climate Action Film Night, London Action Resource Centre, Whitechapel (for address see www.londonarc.org)

An evening of films and discussion about climate activism and the oil industry, hosted by London Rising Tide.

A screening of two short films of recent actions against BP and Shell by Rising Tide and friends, plus Petropolis, a visually stunning and disturbing documentary about the Canadian Tar Sands. Followed by a brainstorming session on taking direct action against the oil industry in London – including all the latest info on the Crude Awakening, an oily mass action happening on Saturday 16th October. For anyone who believes in climate justice and wants to help make it happen; anyone hacked off with the greed and irresponsibility of oil giants like BP; anyone back from the Climate Camp and looking to get involved locally… everyone welcome….and there’ll be cake!

The Crude Awakening London Rabble Rouser – a mass outdoor team game, warming us up for the big day– date, place and time to be announced.

Saturday 2nd October. MOLASAPULTPARTY FUNDRAISER …. Venue TBC, more details to follow shortly

Saturday the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd October Stilt making workshop for the stilt block on the mass action!….
This time we’re thinking big, we’re thinking high, we’re thinking tall…. and we’re going as a Stilt Bloc.

Yep, thats right! On stilts!

So in order for this to happen we’re having a skill share weekend in London to build stilts and learn how to walk on them. The weekend is Sat 2nd and Sun 3rd October, 10am to 6pm.

And even if you don’t want to be up high, each stilt walker will need a buddy staying on the ground so there’s a place for everyone, young and old, big or small, high or low…… we need you at this weekend too!!!

Its all free and lunch is included….

We need RSVPs so we know numbers. Email: stilt.bloc@gmail.com

Oh and its MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD theme…..

In Manchester….

Sat 9th Oct – Mass Action training

Tue 12th Oct – Publicly announced rouser for CJA international day of action

Crude Awakening mobilisation

We hope that there will be loads more to follow but this is what is lined up so far. If you are planning a build up event let us know so we can advertise it please.

There is a huge amount to do to mobilize quickly for an event this big. Maybe you could organise a film showing or talk (we can probably send a speaker if you email us). You could put on an affinity group or action training workshop, or host a fundraiser. You could book a coach and fill it. You could run a workshop so people can build practical stuff , for example a load of disposable bikes to bring along (email us to let us know if you do make lots of useful stuff). You could have a stall and hand out flyers at your freshers fair (again email for materials). You could make a stencil and graffiti advertise for it all across your city/ region. Unless everyone gets involved there is a real danger we won’t get the numbers we need.
The Crude Awakening is now on crabgrass! Join it, join a working group and lets get planning! https://we.riseup.net/thecrudeawakening (crabgrass is a little bit like facebook for activists and is a way of organising on line). And sign up for more information by email and text alerts on the website. www.crudeawakening.org.uk. Our facebook page is a little slow to get off the ground but it will soon be buzzing.

Please also raise The Crude Awakening as an agenda point at the next organising meeting at your Social Centre/ Friends of the Earth Group/ Union/ Climate Camp neighbourhood/ Housing Coop etc. Get people talking and excited and committed to the idea that they are going! If you are not already in a group or affinity group you are of course still totally welcome. You will probably want to make contact with some like minded folk to talk things through and make some plans before the big day. For example you could go to climatecamp.org.uk or risingtide.org.uk and find your local active group, or email us and we can try to signpost you on. At the least try to get a couple of mates to come with you, so that you have some support as a group of friends (known by activists as an affinity group).

2. Frequently asked questions

Q. Neither the website nor the flyer gives much info. What is going on?

A. As you have probably twigged there is also a deliberate sense of mystery around the action. So often with recent mass actions we have said exactly where we are going to go, and the police have had as much time to prepare as us, making things much more difficult for people who want to be involved in mass and effective direct action . With this project we are experimenting a little bit. The 10 targets are left unspecified, giving the action more chance of being successful. But at the same time we can openly advertise that we all need to be in Central London so we can get loads of people together at the same place at the same time for the mass action. And those people need to be ready to take action and to have fun. This is not a march and it’s not a camp. This is an action that needs preparation and we can all be involved in most of that preparation….although the targets will be a surprise until much later.

We can’t be sure that this mix of secret and public planning will work, but we can give it a go, have some fun and maybe make some progress…..but maybe, just maybe we have got it totally nailed and this will be the best mass action in London ever! If you don’t show up there it will be difficult for you to know. Our advice is don’t miss it 😉

Q. So what do I need to do to prepare?

A. People need to be ready to move, and to stand their ground. Don’t bring with you anything that you can’t easily walk with or get on a tube with. But do bring with you stuff that will help you and your affinity group hold a space in what ever way you feel you want to. Whether you want to bring armtubes, disposable bikes or a huge slow moving metal and wooden tower with a papier-mâché rhino head (that can fit on and off a tube!?); diversity of tactics and affinity group planning are key to this working. People can also prepare stuff to make this action look beautiful; puppets, masks, banners, a portable molasses fondue……you get the idea.

Q. Why Oil?

A. For a whole host of reasons. Here are just a few…..
Because oil companies search for new oil reserves to make themselves richer while our climate spins into crisis.
Because the UK government starts wars for oil.
Because of human rights abuses and murder in West Africa.
Because of the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Because of the destruction of wilderness in the Arctic and the coast of Rosport in Ireland.
Because of UK public money being used by bailed out banks to fund new oil projects.
Because London is brimming with oil money, oil sponsorship and oil companies.
Because global energy resources are the peoples commons.
Because oil companies and the filthy rich people who profit from them have no place in a sustainable future.
Because Copenhagen failed and now it’s down to us.
Because oil has had it’s day and it’s time we pulled the plug.

Hope that that made things a little clearer. And more specific information will be sent out soon. If you are still struggling with the idea, it is a bit like the Great Climate Swoop of 2009, except where we are going is kept secret. Remember, you are being asked to come and move around London, so stay mobile, be creative, be prepated and be ready to stand your ground. So talk in your affinity group about the ways in which you are going to be able to hold a space and equipment and materials that you might want to bring along to help you. The action is open, and will be shaped by the people who are there. Only the targets and how we are getting to them are secret.

3. The call out – please copy and paste and help get this all over the Internet!

THE CRUDE AWAKENING

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

Floods in Pakistan, drought in Russia, huge glaciers breaking up in Greenland…

Our climate system is rapidly sliding into crisis, as oil companies destroy people’s lives and the environment to keep sucking up their profits.

Oil saturates every aspect of our lives. Oil profits lubricate the financial markets and its sponsorship clings like a bad smell to our cultural institutions. It flows through pipelines to the pumps, airports and factories of our cities.

The failure of the UN COP15 process showed us – if there was ever any doubt – that government and industry can’t tackle climate change. It’s up to us and it’s time to up the ante.

As a movement, our actions against coal and aviation have made a real difference. Now oil’s time is up.

Together, on October 16, let’s give the oil industry a Crude Awakening.

Meet in central London. Be ready to move. Be ready to stay and stand your ground.

Be creative. Be prepared. Be there.

Find out more, get involved and sign up for text alerts at www.crudeawakening.org.uk
Facebook: http://bit.ly/c6S0kg
Twitter: @crudeawake

Part of the CJA global week of action for climate justice
Supported by: Space Hijackers, Climate Camp, Plane Stupid, Rising Tide, Liberate Tate, Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, UK Tar Sands Network

Hope to see you on the streets,
Crude Awakening
crudeawakening.org.uk

Two emails re US evidence Cherney Bari bomb

Darryl Cherney and Judi Bari were both members of the IWW at the time.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_16025546

SAN FRANCISCO — The survivor of an Oakland car bombing reopened a 20-year-old case Wednesday when he asked a federal judge to bar the FBI from destroying bomb fragments he argued could contain evidence.

Darryl Cherney and Judi Bari were both members of the IWW at the time.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_16025546

Authorities this week said they exhausted all leads and notified the lawyers that evidence from the bombing would be destroyed. Judge James Larsen ordered the FBI to preserve the evidence until the court decides how to resolve the issue.

The Earth First activist, Darryl Cherney, claimed the FBI still has two sets of bomb remnants that could contain DNA evidence, as well as a hand-lettered sign and duct tape. The evidence could lead authorities to the identity of the person who planted a bomb in Cherney’s car, which exploded in Oakland two decades ago.

Lawyers for Cherney filed the motion Wednesday before U.S. District Judge James Larsen.

Cherney won a $4.4 million lawsuit against the FBI and Oakland police for civil rights violations committed against him and fellow Earth First organizer Judi Bari related to the bombing.

The two were on their way to a Save the Redwoods Festival in Santa Cruz when the bomb exploded May 24, 1990.

The blast ripped through the floorboard, seriously injuring Bari. Cherney suffered minor injuries.

Oakland police and the FBI claimed the couple made the bomb. They said the bomb exploded accidentally and arrested Cherney and Bari on felony explosive charges. The FBI later admitted the bomb was not in the back seat as agents previously stated but that it was placed under the driver’s seat, according to a KGO Radio report.

Also, the nails in the bomb did not match others found in other parts of the car.

The charges against Bari and Cherney were later dropped by the Alameda County district attorney, who cited insufficient evidence to proceed further. Bari died of cancer in 1997.

Both charged that the FBI and Oakland police never conducted a thorough investigation, targeting only Bari and Cherney as suspects. A federal jury awarded $4.4 million to Cherney and Bari’s estate in 2002. Jury members said their civil rights were violated when the FBI and Oakland police arrested them and illegally searched their homes.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/08/BANR1FAM6L.DTL

(09-08) 16:54 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — It’s an infamous case that never seems to go away, even after millions of dollars have been paid out in civil settlements and police say the trail has gone cold.

The case is the 1990 bombing in Oakland of Earth First environmental activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, who were nearly killed when a nail-studded explosive device blew up in their car.

Nobody was ever charged with the attack, and now, two decades later, the FBI wants to destroy the last bits of evidence it has been storing ever since the investigation dribbled dry – remnants of the bomb and one like it that blew up in a North Bay town a few days earlier.

Not so fast, says Cherney, 54, who has never given up trying to solve the case himself.

Saying in court briefs that the evidence “provides the last best hope for learning who bombed Judi Bari,” Cherney and his lawyers were in federal court Wednesday in San Francisco to try to force the FBI to turn the evidence over to them so they can run DNA and other tests on it.

They managed to get U.S. Magistrate Judge James Larson to order the evidence preserved for 30 days while he decides its fate, but the judge indicated the clock is ticking fast – and not in Cherney’s favor.
Maintaining interest

“Frankly, I think it would behoove your side to talk to someone in the attorney general’s office to see if they can get interested in this,” Larson told Cherney’s attorney, Dennis Cunningham, referring to the U.S. attorney general’s office.

The idea would be for federal authorities – or anyone involved in investigating the bombing two decades ago – to reopen the case, or at least indicate enough interest to want to hang on to the FBI’s evidence.

Failing that, the judge seemed inclined to let the agency go ahead and destroy the pieces of the explosives. He did say, however, that he would do more research and consult with those who previously dealt with the issue in court before he makes his decision.
‘Hard to accept’

That gave Cherney’s backers hope, and they said Wednesday they would be checking with investigators and prosecutors to see if anyone wants to take possession of the bomb bits.

“There’s no reason they can’t keep these two boxes,” Cunningham said. “It’s hard to accept that these things have no more use when the bomber or bombers have never been found.”

At issue are the remnants of the bomb that blew up in Bari’s car on May 24, 1990, on Park Boulevard, and of a similar device that partially exploded in Cloverdale on May 9. The Cloverdale bomb exploded at the Louisiana-Pacific Corp. mill, causing minimal damage, and was accompanied by a cardboard sign reading, “LP screws mill workers.”

Both bombs are presumed to have been made by the same person – someone who sent a letter to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, signing it as “the Lord’s Avenger” and giving details that law enforcement said only the bomber would know. The evidence is being kept in two boxes in an FBI storage room in San Francisco.
Fingerprints sought

“We need to be able to look at these bomb parts, do DNA testing on them, use them to try to find out who bombed us,” Cherney, who lives in Garberville (Humboldt County), said after the hearing. By trying to destroy the parts, he said, “the FBI is running cover for the bomber.”

He said he also wants copies of two fingerprints lifted from evidence in the case that investigators said never yielded a solid lead.

The likelihood that another agency will want to take over the evidence or reopen the case seems slim. Representatives of the Oakland Police Department and FBI said they consider the case closed, as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Sher when he argued on the FBI’s behalf Wednesday in court.

“We see no reason for this evidence to be retained,” Sher said after the hearing. “The investigation is done.”

The FBI, he added, doesn’t routinely hand over evidence to private citizens, especially not bombs.

Cherney and Bari were injured when the bomb, located on the floor behind the driver’s seat of her Subaru station wagon, exploded as the two were headed to a rally to begin a campaign of protests to protect old-growth forests, called Redwood Summer.

Investigators promptly branded the two as eco-terrorists, and Cherney and Bari were soon arrested on suspicion of having cobbled up the bomb themselves. But prosecutors dropped the case weeks later.
Successful civil lawsuit

The pair filed a civil lawsuit against the FBI and the Oakland Police Department for false arrest and slander. Although Bari died of cancer in 1997, Cherney pursued the case until he won a $4 million settlement in 2004 from the agencies. He split the money with Bari’s estate.

“I want to make it clear,” said Cherney, who is still with Earth First. “We are going to get those bomb components. If they’re done, hand them over.”

E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.

Solidarity needed for russian anarchist forest defenders

The Russian movement to defend the Khimki forest is a movement defending all forests. If corporations and politicians working in the interest of a global neoliberal and environmentally destructive model is able to exploit the Khimki forest and continue repressing the activists in spite of a historically broad and strong movement in Russia defending the forest, than it can be done anywhere. Solidarity with the activists is the only way to both stop repression and to save the Khimki forest more permanently. Please join the action called for by our Russian friends!

Patrick Bond, Centre for Civil Society Environmental Justice Project, Durban, South Africa

Mark Brown, Art Not Oil/Rising Tide, UK

Carmen Buerba de Comite de Defensa Ecologica Michoacana, Mexico

Nicola Bullard, Focus on the Global South, Thailand

Ellie Cijvat, Friends of the Earth Sweden

Joshua Kahn Russell, Ruckus Society, USA

Tom Kucharz, Ecologistas en Acción, Spain

Maduresh Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements, India

Marea Creciente Mexico

Adriana Matalonga, Miguel Valencia y Mauricio Villegas from Ecomunidades and Klimaforum10, Mexico

Uddhab Pyakurel, South Asian Dialogue on Ecological Democracy, India

Josie Riffaud, Via Campesina, France

Marko Ulvila and Thomas Wallgren, Democracy Forum Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Finland

You find information and the call for action September 17-20 issued by Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages in many languages at www.khimkibattle.org. Below you find the text in English, Spanish, and French and more links on the issue.

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A Call for International Days of Action in Support of Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov

September 1720, 2010

On July 28, 2010, more than two hundred young antifascists and anarchists carried out a spontaneous demonstration outside the town administration building in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow. They demonstrated in defence of the Khimki Forest, which was at that time in the process of beings cutting down
for the needs of big business. The demonstration, during which several windows were broken, received a great deal of public attention. The authorities responded with a wave of repressions. The day after the demonstration, two well-known social activists, Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, were arrested. They are now threatened with up to seven years in
prison for disorderly conduct, although there is no evidence of their complicity in illegal activities. Meanwhile, the police continue to hunt down and harass other activists, especially those involved in the antifascist movement.

The campaign to save the Khimki Forest has been going on for the past three years. The authorities had decided to build a segment of a planned MoscowSaint Petersburg toll highway, the first of its kind in Russia, through the forest. This would lead to the deterioration of environmental conditions in the region, and local residents and Muscovites would be deprived of yet another recreation zone. Despite the availability of alternative routes that would not require clear-cutting the forest and
vigorous protests by environmentalists and ordinary citizens against the planned route, the authorities f0r a long time ignored the voice of society and on several occasions took measures to suppress their critics.

Khimki authorities and the highway project contractor have used violence and other tactics against Khimki Forest defenders. They refused to give permission for protest demonstrations, recruited nationalist thugs to break
up a peaceful protest camp organized by environmentalists and local residents, and illegally arrested and beat up journalists covering the story. Nearly two years ago, Mikhail Beketov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda and a critic of the local administration, was severely beaten by persons unknown; the attack left Beketov permanently
disabled. Sergei Protozanov, the layout designer of another local opposition paper, was murdered in similar circumstances six months later.

After the July 28 demonstration, the Russian police and secret services unleashed an unprecedented dragnet against antifascists. People who had even just once come to the attention of the Center for Extremism Prevention and
FSB for their involvement with the antifascist movement have been forcibly taken in for questioning. In several cases they have been subjected to harsh physical coercion in order to compel them to give the testimony required by investigators. In addition, illegal searches have been carried out in their apartments. All these actions on the part of law enforcement
authorities are violations of Russian and international law.

Frightened by the numerous and growing protests against the clear-cutting of the Khimki Forest, the authorities have finally made concessions by agreeing to review the advisability of the planned route for the toll highway. But this does not mean victory. Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov are still in
police custody for no reason at all. They are hostages of the authorities.

In late September, the next hearing in their case will take place. The judge will decide whether to keep them in police custody pending completion of the investigation and trial. Everyone who cares about the fate of these two young men must do everything in their power to see that they are set free.
The Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages calls on people around the world to organize days of action on September 17, 18, 19, and 20 to pressure the Russian authorities to release Alexei and Maxim.

We ask you to hold protests outside of Russian Federation embassies, consulates, trade missions, and cultural centers, as well as at public events and concerts connected to Russia. We also ask you to send faxes,e-mails, and protest letters to the court, the prosecutor¹s office, and the country¹s political leadership. In the very nearfuture we will inform you of
addresses where you can send these protests as well as more details about the ongoing repressions in Russia. Look for this information on our website

http://khimkibattle.org in English, German, Russian, and French.

Join our campaign!

Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages

+7 (915) 053-5912 * info@khimkibattle.org * http://khimkibattle.org

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Back ground information:

Chtodelat news, Khimki Territory of Lawlessness
http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/khimki-territory-of-lawlessness/

Why we need solidarity with Russian environmentalists and antifascists
http://www.aktivism.info/socialforumjourney/?p=1748

Website Revamp

May 2011
We are really very sorry for the extraordinary hiccough with this site – this is the first time we’ve been able to even edit this message – it’s been so frustrating for everyone!

May 2011
We are really very sorry for the extraordinary hiccough with this site – this is the first time we’ve been able to even edit this message – it’s been so frustrating for everyone!

It’s working now (apart from old images not being accessible), and being gradually repopulated with the news we’ve missed. There’s a new Resources section too. Let us know (via submit story) anything that could be better.

We hope by the end of the process you’ll feel welcomed back with open arms, with new bells and whistles on their way. Thank you for bearing with us, and we look forward to your stories again making this a valuable resource for all.

Stop Nuclear Power gathering, 23-24 October 2010

Sat 23 – Sun 24 Oct 2010, Bristol

Meet, make plans, take action

Sat 23 – Sun 24 Oct 2010, Bristol

Meet, make plans, take action

Stop Nuclear Power is a grassroots network of groups and individuals taking action against nuclear power. If EdF get their way, Hinkley C will become the first nuclear power station built in Britain for 20 years and will sit next to two other radioactive and dangerous sites. Stop Hinkley is a long running community campaign to stop deadly nuclear reactors operating near their homes.
Their struggle is our struggle. Let’s sit down together in Bristol and make some plans together.

Hinkley is the battleground, if they get one in there, it opens the door for at least nine other nuclear power stations across the country. This Autumn, the government is taking its pro-nuclear propaganda on tour around the UK. We’ll be there. Come to the gathering or send us an email to find out how you can get involved.

www.boycottedf.org.uk

Info for the weekend:

Meeting space during the day on Saturday and Sunday tbc but will be in Bristol.
Crash space is available on a dry, warm and quiet floor space.
If you need a bed please get in contact with us as soon as possible and will try and help you out.
Lunch and dinner will be done communally on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.

For a telephone number to contact during the weekend send us an email.

Please help by letting us know you are coming so we can plan for space, food and logistics.

Email: nonewnuclear@aktivix.org

Grow Heathrow! Resisting the eviction

27th August 2010

Grow Heathrow! Almost half a year after launching, a successful grassroots campaign resisting the expansion of Heathrow airport while demonstrating sustainable living on derelict land, is facing an eviction threat. Read on to hear about the exciting campaign and how you can help keep the projects going…

27th August 2010

On the first day of March this year a group of 30 people gathered outside a neglected plot of land on the site of the proposed 3rd runway in the Heathrow village of Sipson.

For years residents and activists had campaigned together to stop the expansion of Heathrow airport, and now they had come together to build grassroots solutions to the threat of climate change and peak oil, led by the people directly impacted on the ground.

A hole in the fence allowed the first of the group onto the land and as they put up a squatter’s rights notice on the gates, the rest followed into the site of Sipson’s new community garden; ‘Grow Heathrow’ was born.

Six months later and the garden is unrecognizable from the site that caused a spectrum of social problems for the community before it was reclaimed. In the early days of spring, teams of people cleared, carried and worked together to remove 30 tonnes of rubbish, while two sixty ft greenhouses were reglazed and permaculturists sowed seeds to return the land to a thriving market garden.

A host of events have been held in the garden including a banquet attended by 80 people using fresh vegetables grown on the land. And in May a flying critical mass picket was launched from the raised beds, where 20 cyclists stormed terminal 5 in solidarity with workers on strike from BA. Shared meals with residents and activists are common-place using courgettes, spinach, tomatoes, butternut squash, herbs, all pulled from Sipson soil.

Now in August and as discussions for winter structures begin, a new notice has been hung next to the section 46 on the front gates; a court summons has been served to the project.

At first rumours flew round the village and a troop of concerned locals fled to garden hearing that the landlord and heavies had come to claim the land. They found instead Transition Heathrow gardeners pouring over court papers, plotting and planning to protect the space they had put so much love and time into.

Negotiations have started to make the garden a long-term community-owned space, as statements of support come flying in to the Sipson greenhouses.

Resident Linda McCutcheon said: “It’s been brilliant to see the site on Vineries Close come back to life after all the social issues from before. I’ve had a lot of fun with the group at the garden- turning it into a safe, positive and thriving place for Sipson- you should see the yellow courgettes! Transition Heathrow has a lot of support in this area and I’ll be with them over the next couple of weeks to ensure this exciting project has a future”.

Community gardener Joe Rake said; “Grow Heathrow is part of a budding land movement in the UK connecting struggles to take back control of our food production. In building resilient communities to environmental and economic crises we want to defend real alternatives to the systems of false democracy and corporate greed.”

‘Grow Heathrow’ is calling for support. To help you can; come to Uxbridge County court at 10.40am on the 2nd of September, keep up to date for the outcome of the court case, sign the petition on the website and send statements of support to info@transitionheathrow.com.

For more information visit www.transitionheathrow.com

A week of Hell for Shell

28th August 2010

After Mondays successful action stopping work for 3 hours the camp was inspired and many actions followed.

28th August 2010

After Mondays successful action stopping work for 3 hours the camp was inspired and many actions followed.

Tuesday marked the start of an oral hearing into whether Shell can lay the gas pipe line through the estuary. This gave locals and campers the chance to question Shell and Bord Pleanála about the legality of gas pipe line and other issues surrounding the pipe.
The bore holes that Shell are drilling are to extract information that will determine whether a tunnel can be made for the gas pipe line to run through, however the fact that this information hasn’t been collected yet did not affect Shells application or claim that the pipe line will be completely safe.
This oral hearing combined with an action packed week put pressure on Shell from all directions.

Wednesday saw a group occupy the Shell’s security compound that turned into a picnic and revelations of IRMS reading material (mercenary uk) and eating habits (loads of biscuits).

As Thursday morning broke a group set off towards the sunrise (and the drilling rigs) occupying security and stopping workers from getting onto the platform for over an hour. After the success of this action a community walk out happened later in the day when low tide allowed people to walk out under the platform. Despite people gathering under the platform drilling continued, which is a breach of health and safety rules.

Attempts to stop the platforms being moved on Friday were foiled by over zealous security. Despite many courageous endeavours to climb the legs of the platform security turned violent and many were thrown to the ground.

Beat the Boreholes Campaign continues and we welcome anyone wanting to get involved.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0825/1….html

Tens of thousands of mink released in Greece

“26.08.2010 – Heliodendro, Kastoria (Greece)
One of the biggest greek mink farms has been hit in our first night of action. All the cages imprisoning animals in 37 sheds of the farm were opened and machinery sabotaged.

To let the animals out part of the fence was cut and both gates opened smashing the locks (using the farmer’s tools). Two hours and half of work and we could run away along with thousands of minks (according to media 50.000 were released).

27.08.2010 – Kaloneri, Siatista (Greece)
Another mink farm was our target for a second night of action, this time near the town of Kaloneri, on a road where 10 farms can be easily seen. 8 sheds full of animals had their cages opened in just ten minutes. Before leaving we opened a gate to let the animals run towards freedom (according to media 2.000 were released).

In both cases we had checked carefully the farms to know how to organize a faster and more secure action.
With these actions we decided to hit the fur industry and especially the disgusting ‘fur towns’ of Siatista and Kastoria, plagued with hundreds of fur stores. Liberating animals from cages is a way to put our ideas into practice. We oppose the oppression, exploitation and imprisonment that this civilization has created for any living being, regardless of species, race, gender or sexual preferences.

In these desperate days we still strive for freedom. Eat vegan on the barricades!

A.L.F.”

Greek media has reported that as many as 50,000 mink were released from cages. In an article in the Makedonia newspaper, the president of a Greek fur breeders association said that it was a “black day” for the industry. The owner of one of the targeted farms estimated his losses at 1 million Euros and said that his farm had been ruined.

40 years since Laxá Dam was sabotaged, Iceland

Yesterday, August 25th, 300 people celebrated that 40 years ago, people opposed to the building of dams in Laxá in Mývatnssveit, sabotaged a
smaller dam that had already been built.

The local people had opposed this project through legal means but it did not seem to be working. August 25th 1970, most of them were in a funeral, where the rumour was spread amongst people – the dam was going to be sabotaged. The original plan was to destroy it with tools but shortly after the work started, people realized they would need something stronger. They knew of dynamite, owned by the energy company
Laxávirkjun… so, what a better way to use that dynamite!? “We borrowed it” was the answer of one of the bombers, in the evening news yesterday.

More then 120 people claimed their participation in the sabotage – 65 of them were later sentenced to prison on probation.

Yesterday, a memorial statue was put up by the river, where the dam used to stand. The local church choir sang some songs and speeches were held. The sabotage is remembered as a very important event in Iceland’s history
of nature conservation.

Not everybody agrees with this; Jakob Björnsson, ex-energy director of Iceland, said that the celebration is shameful. Well, fuck him!

Here is a video from the evening news, showing photos from the day of the sabotage: http://dagskra.ruv.is/sjonvarpid/4498095/2010/08/25/14

Shell’s Drilling Work Stopped by Shell to Sea Campaigners in Ireland

Shell’s Survey work was stopped for about three hours on Monday afternoon when people walked out at low tide and got under Shell’s drilling platform. This is a continuation of the ‘Beat the Boreholes’ effort by Shell to Sea and the Rossport Solidarity Camp to get in the way of Shell drilling boreholes in the Sruwaddacon estuary which is a Special Area of Conservation.

At 12:30pm a group of about 15 people managed to get past the 20 or so IRMS Security guarding the platform. The group formed a circle around the drill and stayed until the gardai arrived on scene and used Section 8 and a little bit of force to get people out from under the drill. One person had locked themself onto the drill with a chain, but eventually they were removed by the gardai as well. However work still did not resume because people continued to dash back under the platform for the next couple of hours, often without much resistance from IRMS or the gardai. The gardai did use pressure points and some arm twisting to get two campaigners off of one of the drills at one stage, but no one had any lasting pain or injury.

Overall spirits were high, and about forty campaigners remained either under or around the outside of the platform for the duration of the action. Once the tide came in people were satisfied at having stopped work for three hours, and the campaigners left Shell to continue their dirty work in the beautiful Sruwaddacon estuary.