earthfirst – Page 136

2 GM Maize trials trashed in Catalonia, Spain & 1 in Zaragoza – updated

Today, 12th July 2010, dozens of people came together to sabotage two experimental GM Maize trials belonging to Syngenta, located in the municipality of Torroella de Montgrí (Baix Empordà, Girona, Catalunya).

We destroyed Syngenta’s open-air genetic experiment because we understand that this kind of direct action is the best way to respond to the fait accompli policy through which the Generalitat, the State and the bio-tech multinationals have been unilaterally imposing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our agriculture and our food.

The Spanish State, with more than 75,000 hectares sown in 2009, represents a concentration of approximately 80% of the surface area of GMOs harvested in Europe. After Aragon, Catalonia is the area of Europe that harvests the largest area of GMOs, around 27,000 hectares. In recent years, 42% of the experimental GMO field trials in the EU have been planted in the Spanish State.

Syngenta are the third largest seed corporation in the world (after Monsanto and Dupont). Their objective is to gain a monopoly domination of the global seed market so that all farmers and all agricultural production on the planet depends on their seed sales. Syngenta, and other transnational corporations (TNCs) that control a) the global market in agricultural goods (seeds, fertilizers, agro-chemicals…) , b) the circuits for the distribution and commercialization of food and agricultural raw materials, and c) the global market in final products, is one of the principal promoters and beneficiaries of the corporate industrial model that currently dominates. After having been imposed for decades on a planetary scale, more and more voices indicate that 1) this devastating social and productive model is one of the principal causes of the food, ecological and climate crises that humanity currently faces, and 2) genetically modified crops represent a new turn of the screw of the agro-industrial model, which does nothing more than deepen the devastating social, cultural and environmental impacts associated with transnational agro-business.

According to European legislation, experimental GMO field trials represent an indispensable intermediate step in gaining EEC approval to grow and harvest as yet unauthorized varieties of genetically modified crops in the EU. Many groups in Europe have for years condemned the protocol that the bio-tech transnationals must follow to gain approval for their genetically modified seeds, as being full of irregularities and pit falls. Among these, the most notable are the various scandals that have hit the European food security Agency, (EFSA) which have made it quite clear that this supposedly scientific body is in the pay of the genetics industry. On the other hand, it is important to uncover the role of the EEC itself in the underhand promotion of GM crops by the EEC itself.

Twelve years since GM maize crops were first planted in Catalonia, the appearance of dozens of cases of genetic contamination of organic and conventional agricultural products (contamination of seed batches, fields, animal feeds and products destined for human consumption) has repeatedly demonstrated that the supposed coexistence between GM and non-GM crops is totally impossible and undesirable. The proliferation of genetically modified agriculture in our territory has led to the extinction of a number of varieties of traditional wheat (“morat” and “del queixal”) and a reduction of 95% in the cultivation of organic maize between 2002 and 2008.

All this leads unequivocally to the conclusion that GM agriculture makes it impossible to develop and consolidate social models and models of production, distribution and consumption that differ from the dominant model, based on agro-ecology and the struggle for peoples’ food sovereignty. Because of this, we fundamentally reject both GM crops and the techno-industrial capitalist society that makes them possible and necessary (… necessary to ensure that the powerful few consolidate their domination of the global population, and perfect the business strategies). We therefore call for people to take the step to action to destroy their genetically modified crops and the social order perpetuated by those that promote them.

—–

In a storm of media contradictory counter-information, plus the news that a few weeks earlier a GM crop was decontaminated in Zaragoza, that it was about a hundred people involved (on the French Faucheurs Voluntaires website, monde-solidaire.org, who claim they were there) the following statement was released:

18.7.10
THE REAL MISTAKE IS PLANTING GM

The field of maize located at Torroella de Montgrí, destroyed on the 12th July, was GM. The owner of the land has himself recognised the fact in his statements to the press. Regardless of whether it was an experimental trial, a demonstration or a commercial field, the very fact that it was a Genetically Modified (GM) crop, justifies and legitimises its destruction – particularly as it was located next to a nature reserve and other non-GM crops.

Genetically modified agriculture, even using approved varieties, has been associated with serious social and environmental impacts and damage to human health. The dozens of cases of genetic cross-contamination of organic and conventional agriculture that have come to light in Catalonia and the Spanish State since GM crops were first planted and imported here, demonstrate that coexistence between GM and non-GM crops is not viable, rendering impossible the development of different modes of production, consumption and social models that offer alternatives to the dominant, corporate and industrial model, which is generating such serious ecological, climatic and social crises.

The media coverage of the action on 12th July demonstrates once again that the press silences criticism and ignores the real and important debates that exist around the impacts of genetically modified agriculture.

The media must take responsibility for their lack of rigorous reporting and their failure to corroborate the information they receive before publishing it as news. On 15th July (three days after the action) there began an avalanche of reports stating that the « radical ecologists » had made a mistake and destroyed a non-experimental field. There are many indications to suggest that this may be a cover-up ploy by the Fundació Antama, the Spanish bio-tech lobby, Syngenta and the landowner himself. In fact, the tactic of lying and denying that fields are experimental has been used on a number of occasions in other countries such as the United Kingdom and France. It aims to confuse public opinion, discredit the action and those who promote it, and divert the debate.

There is considerable evidence that the field destroyed on the 12th was not a commercial field: in May, it was confirmed that the different rows of maize sown were identified and distinguished with white, numbered signs, a practice systematically applied to experimental and demonstration fields, but never used in commercial fields. Later, just after the Diari de Girona published the exact location of the Torroella experimental trial, the white numbered signs had been removed. Were they trying to get rid of the evidence that they were experimenting or cultivating GMOs for demonstration purposes?

It is worth noting the numerous contradictions that have appeared in the media on the question of who, when and why the experiment was not authorised. Some newspapers assure us that Syngenta abandoned the experiment; others say that it was the farmer himself who backed off; finally, publications such as El País claim, without citing sources, that it was the Generalitat (Catalan Local Government) which withdrew authorisation for the experiment, because the field was sited very near to a protected area.

What this demonstrates is the lamentable lack of reliable public information about the locations of experimental fields and the lack of control and monitoring of GM agriculture and its impacts, by the competent authorities. In accordance with an explicit EC mandate – after having refused to do it for years – this year for the first time, the Ministry for Agriculture (MARM) provided Friends of the Earth with information about existing experimental trials, in response to a formal petition made by the organization requesting environmental information. Nevertheless, we condemn the fact that the information provided relates only to the experimental trials authorised, and not to requests for authorisation. This means that even now the Spanish State is failing to comply with European legislation which states that access to information about the location and characteristics of experimental GM fields is a public right. Similarly, neither the Spanish State nor the Generalitat meet the legal requirements for the labelling of foods containing GMOs, or informing farmers about GM crops sown in their area. They also fail to apply the plans for monitoring and control of the impacts associated with genetically modified agriculture.

To the calls for justice made by some of the notoriously reactionary farmers’ unions such as the JARC, we answer that the administrations have systematically failed to apply the many articles of the Law regulating the release of GMOs into the environment. These include the failure to develop the necessary measures prior to the sowing of open-air GM trials, and to carry out sufficient monitoring once the crop has been sown. It is quite clear that the commercial fields, experimental trials and demonstrations of genetically modified crops currently being cultivated in Catalonia and the Spanish State, are breaking the law. Furthermore, the above-mentioned legislation was developed by « public » institutions that have been working for 12 years hand in hand with the bio-tech multinationals to impose GMOs on our agriculture and food. We therefore defend the legitimacy and the necessity of destroying all fields of GM crops, even in the hypothetical case that they did comply with the legislation in force.

We repeat, that the coexistence of GM and non-GM agriculture is totally impossible. The expansion of GM crops in Catalonia has, between 2002 and 2008, caused a reduction of 95% in the sowing of organic maize, and led to the permanent extinction of at least two traditional Catalan varieties of maize that were unique in the world, as well as dozens of known cases of genetic contamination. Many studies show that for years GM crops and GM foods have been linked to significant social and ecological impacts and damage to health; studies that have led 11 European countries to ban their cultivation.

Earth First! Locks Down to Forest Service Office in NC

On Monday July 12th, Earth First!

On Monday July 12th, Earth First! held a large protest outside of the Forest Service office on Zillicoa St. in Asheville to protest the commercial logging of national forests and their continued plan to cut the Globe Forest in Blowing Rock, NC. One member u-locked his neck to the office front door. As negotiations continue on this timber sale to remove an old-growth stand from the project, Earth First! wishes to call attention to the continued exploitation of our disappearing forests by timber companies. Recent studies show the United States now leads all developed countries in deforesting its land the fastest, and this trend is most prevalent in the Southeast.
The Globe Forest provides important habitat and nesting sites for woodpeckers and migratory songbirds whose numbers are declining due to forest fragmentation. The Forest Service continues to cut stands of trees that are directly connected to old-growth forest communities, causing destructive edge effects, and they have refused to provide a buffer because it is not required in their “Forest Plan.” Treating and cutting these stands will cause erosion, soil destruction, and will pollute the nearby streams with herbicides. Until all of Thunderhole Creek is protected, Earth First! will campaign to stop the cut.

Earth First! Demands That the Forest Service in North Carolina:

-stop attempting to cut old-growth habitats including any stands connected

to these rare areas.
-put an end to all commercial logging in our national forests
-immediately revise the Forest Plan to include rehabilitating previous
clear-cuts into early successional habitat instead cutting healthy, mature
forest expanses.
-an end to road building in our national forests

“Any cuts within the Globe will affect vital old-growth ecosystems and our stance is to end all commercial logging of our national forests,” says Joseph Ferguson, a Croatan Earth First! activist. “Historically the Forest Service has catered to timber companies, but we believe the public does not support logging in our National Forests.”

New UK Eco-Zine Distro Launched

Scale Trees Distro a new UK based zine distributors have just launched their website.

We specialise in zines about ecological direct action, land defence, forest occupations and communities struggling against environmentally destructive projects.

Check out the website!

http://scaletreesdistro.subrella.net

Scale Trees Distro a new UK based zine distributors have just launched their website.

We specialise in zines about ecological direct action, land defence, forest occupations and communities struggling against environmentally destructive projects.

Check out the website!

http://scaletreesdistro.subrella.net

Russian ELF protect forest

On thursday, July the 8th a bulldozer was torched in the northern Moscow at the construction site. City authorities decided they can go about ordering destruction of plant life and what’s left of forests in Moscow area. We thought they should pay. Dozer was covered with tree branches and foliage (construction site is situated in the freshly-cut grove), an assortment of rags and construction garbage. Then set aflame.

ELF-russia

Peat Bog protesters found not guilty & coal train stoppers mixed result

Two environmental activists who chained themselves to machinery at a peat bog extraction site at Chat Moss, Salford, Greater Manchester were acquitted by Salford magistrates court last Monday 5th July 2010.

BBC News coverage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI9U5rcrK2w

BBC News coverage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI9U5rcrK2w

Iain Hilton from Manchester Climate Action and Sonny Khan from Earth First! North West were accused under Section 4a of the 1986 Public Order Act for allegedly causing “harassment, alarm or distress” against employees of Joseph Metcalfe Horticultural Ltd and AW Jenkinson Forest Products Ltd for their part in a peaceful protest on Thursday 15 April 2010.

http://manchesterclimateaction.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/action-aginst-peat-bog-destruction-in-greater-manchester/

During the protest, the court heard how Khan climbed up and locked onto a JCB digger to prevent it loading peat into a delivery lorry. Hilton meanwhile scaled and locked himself to the delivery lorry to prevent it leaving the site. The two defendants were protesting against the environmental impacts of peat extraction – which causes 3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year in the UK according to Natural England – the equivalent to the average emissions of 350,000 households. [1]

Upon hearing evidence from three employees who appeared in court as prosecution witnesses, the District Judge Jonathan Finestein said that while the protest was “certainly an irritation and certainly cost [the companies] money” he had seen no evidence that the defendants intended to, or did cause harrasment, alarm or distress as the prosecution had alleged and found them not guilty without waiting to hear evidence from the defence.

A request for a restraining order banning the two defendants from peat bog site in Chat Moss was also rejected by the Judge.

The protestors were joined inside and outside court by local campaigners from Save Our North West Greenbelt. [2]

Speaking outside court after the verdict, Iain Hilton said, “We’ve very pleased with the verdict. Our actions were reasonable, peaceful and justified. The entire democratic process of the City of Salford from the Council to local MPs is against peat extraction and have called for it to stop. The people of Salford don’t want the peat to be extracted, so all we did was enforce everyone’s wishes.”

Peat bogs are formed over thousands of years by the decaying remnants of plant matter and actively soak up carbon from the atmosphere, making them extremely valuable in the fight against climate change.

Over 94 per cent of the UK’s lowland peat bogs have been damaged or destroyed, mostly in the last 50 years. The protestors argue that protecting the remaining intact peat bogs and restoring damaged or degraded ones could lock carbon in the soil and help to actively reduce the UK’s carbon footprint, as well as helping to protect many rare species of plants and animals, protecting biodiversity and a wild and rare habitat.

Salford Council agree that peat extraction must stop and are proposing a ban on future extraction at Chat Moss.[3] Planning lead member Councillor Derek Antrobus said: “Curbing climate change is a central aim of the planning system and peat bogland is an important carbon sink. The Government has announced the phasing out of peat for gardening so there can be no justification for its continued exploitation.”

The site at Chat Moss, as well as other peat extraction locations in the area, is owned by corporate giant Peel Holdings, the empire of tax-shy billionaire John Whittaker. Backed by oil money of the powerful Saudi Olayan family, the group variously owns: the Trafford Centre, Manchester Ship Canal and three other ports, four airports and MediaCityUK in Salford, just a few famous names within a huge property portfolio. They also have a large stake in UK Coal, involved in the controversial Carbon Capture and Storage coal power plant proposed in Ayrshire in Scotland, where a direct action campaign is also expected by environmentalists. Peel are disputing the ban, which they claim is unjustified.

Rachel Dawes from Manchester Climate Action said, “Peel Holdings have huge political power in the Northwest. Financial gain is their only interest and this comes at the expense of the environment, locally and globally. Taking direct action is an essential part of the struggle against big business and in situations like this we have to stand up and say enough is enough.”

Hilton added, “The release of greenhouse gases through peat bog extraction has a devastating effect on the world’s climate and the destruction of green belt land is deplorable. These are places that should be enjoyed by everyone and not carved up for the sake of profit.”

Also speaking outside court Khan said, “We’re happy with the support of the local Save Our Northwest Green Belt group. We hope it encourages more people to stand up and take action to stop environmental destruction.”

Notes
—————————–

[1] Natural England report – http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/regions/north_east/press_releases/2010/180310.aspx

[2] Save our North West Green Belt and Green Spaces facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&viewas=0&gid=201970218853

[3] http://manchesterclimatefortnightly.blogspot.com/2010/05/mcfly-047-peat-leave-it-as-ground.html

e-mail: manchester@climatecamp.org.uk
Homepage: http://manchesterclimateaction.wordpress.com/

Other press links
——————————–
The Mule – http://manchestermule.com/article/climate-activists-found-not-guilty

Salford Star – http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=618

——–
Coal Train Court Verdict
July 09, 2010

Eighteen people from Bristol and Bath were in court yesterday to answer two charges of obstructing the railway at Ffos-y-Fran open-cast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil. Seven people who had chained themselves to the track and six who had been acting as support and legal observers all pleaded guilty to Section 36 of the Malicious Damages Act 1861, and not guilty to Section 35 of the same act (the section carrying the infamous life penalty). Five people including a legal obvserer and drivers pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Section 35 was dropped against all 18, crucially acknowledging that this was not a malicious action as originally alleged, and Section 36 was dropped against the 5 who had pleaded not guilty to it and had clearly had nothing to do with the obstruction.

Five of the eighteen walk out of court with no conviction. For the other thirteen, sentencing will be on August 13th at Merthyr Crown Court. There will be no prison sentences, however it appears restraining orders and an £8000 compensation claim are being considered.

Those involved are very grateful for the continued support of friends in Merthyr Tydfil, Bristol, Bath, nationwide and beyond. Hopefully there will be a big turnout for sentencing, when those facing restraining orders will explain for the record why they felt it necessary to blockade a coal train.

This Sunday, Bristol & Bath Rising Tide host an evening at Kebele Social Centre in Easton, recounting train blockades carried out by Bristolians over the past 30 years opposing social injustices from climate chaos to nuclear waste. Film, food and discussion from 6:30pm.

Bath Bomb #31 Out Now

THE BATH BOMB
@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #31
free/donation
July 2010
‘Where news goes to die’

George’s Marvellous Medicine!

THE BATH BOMB
@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #31
free/donation
July 2010
‘Where news goes to die’

George’s Marvellous Medicine!

Wondrous news this month as we discover that the chancellor has healing hands rivalling those of the good Lord Jesus. Osborne claims he has the ability to cure the disabled and reduce the bankers’ debt in the process. Praise be.

It would seem irresponsible, uncaring and cruel to ignore the welfare for those most vulnerable in our society, especially in the current climate. Thankfully, the Conservative Party think, with a dose of George’s marvellous medicine, one in five people previously considered incapable of work will be able to miraculously attain and keep gainful employment. This will cut the deficit and bring nothing but hope and happiness to those unfortunate enough to be handicapped.

Despite the level of unemployment being so troubling, the Tories assure us that those coming off sickness benefits will have an easy time finding work. It doesn’t matter if they’ve spent long periods out of work; that surely won’t affect employers’ decisions. Certainly, it won’t influence those already on the dole. That’d be ridiculous.

Enough irony.

Unfortunately, Con-Dem don’t appear to understand the definition of incapacity, seeming to believe that there are those who are unable and yet, at the same time, able.

Further issues are seen with the pension age due to rise to 66 and later to 70 and so on. Simply the increase by one year will mean 200,000 extra people will die without reaching retirement age. It’s certainly worth noting that those with big salaries and big bonuses can and do retire earlier with the freedom their dirty money brings them. Even more so, higher wages mean higher life expectancy. The Conservatives promised no cuts to pensions and yet surely these substantially are.

In France, there is currently large scale industrial action over their increase to 62, surely 66 is just taking the piss.

This month’s budget delivers freezes on child benefit and public sector pay (considering inflation, essentially a cut in both). It brings annually decreasing state benefits in line with the cost of living and further hits on the poor by raising V.A.T. to 20 percent. Meanwhile, corporate tax is reduced to leave more money with the C.E.O.s and shareholders. Clearly, Con-Dem could have raised taxes in order to tackle the deficit, especially of those with could have raised taxes in order to tackle the deficit, especially of those with more money than they know what to do with, yet they’ve ignored this avenue. Instead the Tories are seeking out ways to directly attack the poorest and most vulnerable to keep their banking friends’ pockets lined. Cunts!

It’s A SHSEI-ing Shame

Whilst we have given a fair chunk of coverage to the woes of one community activist initiative getting repeatedly bounced off the pavement by Bath’s powers-that-be, another local scheme has also been taking it in the chops, but on the quiet. The brainchild of one Mr Lawrence Buabeng, Snow Hill Skills and Enterprise Initiative, has been slogging through council negotiations for the last four years. Whilst government directives and strategies have been blathering on about emotive touchy-feely terms like ‘community empowerment’, ‘helping people to help themselves’ and ‘stronger, safer communities’, on the ground they offer the exact opposite. S.H.S.E.I. is a case in point.

Whilst the scheme has put together a comprehensive, step-by-step and ambitious plan (a term its detractors often use against it) to combat worklessness, ill health, and lack of community cohesion, it also seeks to regenerate a visually-neglected area and reconnect its people to their own history. Specifically, it is made up of those people itself, and aims for fulfilling work, offering the skills and practical training to get it. It also implements locally accountable, cost-effective public services. Though London Road is one of the main arteries into this World Heritage city, it is the UK’s third worst polluted road and absolutely littered with boarded-up shop fronts. The fact is that the homeless, unemployed, ex-offenders, and drug-dependent who make up a sizeable proportion of the community often have a poor working relationship with institutional bodies. When an affluent, philanthropist outsider rolls in to tell you how to improve your lot, the disempowerment, the patronising arrogance, the distrust and inequality leave a sour taste.

Starting off with a film-making workshop for youth (four films are already available at http://www.ilovesnowhill.com), the scheme also aims at re-opening the garden behind Caroline House, taking back three buildings for the community (maintaining them to exacting environmental standards, and put them to use as Heritage, Skills & Enterprise Centres), promoting child- and elderly-care schemes, and exploring alternative economics. The first stage survey of local needs was done for free this spring, whilst the council’s survey of 170 people in 2002 gobbled up around £30,000. The results of the first 100 have been damning, displaying a 45% rate of localised unemployment. The scheme has seen support from a dizzying array of institutions: B&NES Heritage and Economic Development officer, the local MP, the Local Improvement Advisor, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Somer Housing, Better Bath Forum, Job Centre Plus, Genesis Trust, Bath Abbey Homeless Initiative, North East Somerset Arts and Bath Spa Uni, as well as those local denizens at the bottom of the ladder.

But no, it seems the council would rather sweep any problems under the carpet: though Snow Hill has four times as many Job-seekers as the normal rate, it is divided neatly between the affluent wards of Lambridge and Walcot, so no one has to get upset by damning statistics. For its part, the London Road Partnership seeds its members into community meetings to witch-hunt local youth. The Council seems to be waiting for the uppity poor folk to either die off (as two of the S.H.S.E.I. sub-committee already have) or do what they’re supposed to do, like get a habit or a jail sentence. This justifies an ever-increasing gold-rush of police resources as the upper echelons matter-of-factly step up the class war. At the same time, they scavenge the choicest morsels of the scheme, rather than give credit to the disadvantaged who have put in years of solid, unpaid work.

The first hint of back-stabbing was when B&NES’s Paul Pennycook all but promised a sum of £45,000 for a worklessness initiative in the area at the turn of the year; but when the cash did arrive, instead of it going to the existing, locally-based scheme, it instead fell in the hands of Re:Generate – a team of well-meaning young and polished community consultants from Shrewsbury, cynically being used by their higher ups to undermine and marginalise the active community, (who already do work in more needed areas like Whiteway, Twerton and Keynsham) and instead sink funding into a spate of jumble sales.

Things started getting ugly from there on in. Although the official route hasn’t led to many results so far, a complaint was lodged with the local authority ombudsman, and law suits were initiated. Alex Schlesinger, chair of the London Road Partnership and antiques emporium emperor, threatened to return funding to sender or waste it on court fees, rather than use it for the scheme – painting him as a self-serving, self-satisfied do-gooder refusing to actually do any good for those who count. 3 and 4 Long Acre got squatted to push the council in the right direction, but things got even uglier when Joanne Long, from B&NES Property Services, reared her….face? and started court proceedings. The eviction took place on Thursday the 8th of this month. Property Services management of the building, or mis-management, incidentally, borders on criminal neglect: back in April, they erected scaffolding round the outside of the building to carry out a surveyance, and ‘deal’ with the rain damage; however, when we say ‘deal’, we mean they didn’t bother to patch up the holes in the roof which admits regular streams of rain (and the floorboards are partially rotten inside, which the squatters took pains to reverse), but just put up boarding to conceal the moss growing on the outside of the brickwork. Rather than return the buildings over to the needs of the community, they’d rather flog them off to the highest bidder, in a desperate bid to pay off council debts from other mistakes.

We could go on – we often do, but the sorry saga involves a lot more double-standards, co-option, perjury and lies. S.H.S.E.I. still hasn’t given up, and if people of integrity want to support it in any way – be it practical, financial or political – drop them an e-mail at lawrencebuabeng[at]googlemail.com .

Nice Work If You Can Skellett

Although the times are hard, it’s nice to know that some folks are getting by. Colin Skellett, for example, owner of Great Western Enterprises, is doing quite nicely. G.W.E. specialise in providing business services (inventing this season’s hottest buzzwords, and other important stuff) for local councils like B&NES. He was busted by the London Police Fraud Squad back in 2002 for accepting a supposed £1 million bribe for selling off his company Wessex Water to Malaysian-owned YTL Power (apparently, the money was payment for the consultancy role he played in the buy-out). It turns out this chairman of the Initiative for Bath and North East Somerset just can’t get enough (monopolies, that is). Still on Wessex’s board of directors, he also helped out Business West after their financial trouble two years back, by acquiring them. Business West provide business services too, for companies in the west-country. However, G.W.E. also owns the freemason-like Bath and Bristol Chamber of Commerces, who represent the interests of large businesses like banks, supermarkets, lawyers and public transport groups.

Then consider the shining example of Orwellian doublespeak that is ‘Future Bath Plus’. Half-owned by B&NES Council, they promote Bath’s tourism and World Heritage reputation, and have let loose a city centre manager intent on threatening positive community schemes like the Bath FreeShop. They are also the vehicle through which Bath’s Business Improvement District scheme is brought in. B.I.D.s, which, if voted in, pop an extra tax levy onto all local businesses, with the stated aim of promoting ‘all’ businesses in the area, ostensibly. The B.I.D. is likely to boost CCTV surveillance and pseudo-cop presence in the city centre, privatising public space, and sweeping away the homeless, the ethnic minorities and the politically active who might just render the high street too unseemly for our beloved tourists’ delicate sensibilities. First seen in this country in London in 2006, 22 of them have spread now, with particular outcry in Plymouth, where vast amounts of taxpayers’ money has been channelled into the promotion of the B.I.D. companies’ directors, interests whilst competitors have been high and dry. It’s the same story of corruption throughout the so-called North East Triangle of Bristol, Swindon and Gloucester. Oh, and did we mention that our Colin is the chair of Future Bath Plus?

So, Skellett, a close friend of B&NES Council’s CEO John Everett, is sending G.W.E. all over the south-west, accumulating heaps of taxpayer cash through a multitude of disguises, whilst vulnerable public services face wave after wave of ‘inevitable’ cuts. B&NES claim that last year G.W.E. earned £40,000, but if you include the funds tossed Future Bath Plus and Business West’s way, it’s looking closer to £1.5 million. Anyone else smell a rat?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_improvement_district”
http://www.bbc.co.uk

A Class (War) Act!

So, the budget has been announced and, as expected, it hits the poorest hardest, while leaving the rich – the same people who caused the crisis – laughing at the rest of us. There is expected to be a minimum of 600,000 redundancies solely from the public sector. In Bath alone, the largest employers, B&NES, the MoD, and the Universities, are all facing heavy losses, with at least three hundred council jobs on the chopping block in the next three years. Along with the all-out assault on average people, Cameron and his Eton chums have decided to reduce the amount of tax paid by corporations and the ultra rich. But while the old school tie brigade get ready to dish us out a kicking, many ordinary people are getting prepared to bash back. Bob Crow, leader of the 85,000 strong RMT union summed it up best by saying “The trade unions must form alliances with community groups, campaigns and pensioners’ organisations in the biggest show of united resistance since the success of the anti-poll tax movement. Waving banners and placards will not be enough – it will take direct action”. He has also called for ‘general and coordinated strike action’ – a call which is being taken up by thousands around the country preparing to fight back against the devastating Tory cuts. Already, there have been a spate of protests and actions up and down the country. Where better to ignite the fightback in earnest than the Tory Party Conference in Birmingham on October the 3rd? Protests are being organised that look set to involve thousands of angry people, and it looks like a coach will be going from Bath. So, if you fancy letting lord Snooty and the rest of the Thatcher clones know what you think of their cuts, why not drop B.A.N. an email at bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk. In the meantime, anti-cuts campaigns are springing up left, left and centre, so keep your ear to the ground and take a bit of inspiration from our mate Bob Crow, who ended his recent speech with a clear message to all of us – “Don’t fear them – fight them!”

Climate Camp Counters Cymru Coal

There will be a Camp For Climate Action targeting coal in South Wales this August, from the 13th to the 17th.

The direct action network will converge at a venue in Cardiff on Friday the 13th August, from which people will be taken to the camp itself. “Coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels in terms of carbon. We will take action against opencast coal mining because it trashes the land, destroys our planet and wrecks the health of local people. Clean coal is a dirty joke”, said spokesperson Cerys Jones.

Last year’s camp was held next to Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil, the largest opencast coal mine in the UK. The camp involved workshops on climate science, direct action training, a solar-powered cinema, compost toilets, solar-heated showers, greywater systems and wind power.

As part of the continuing campaign residents are now taking Miller Argent to court on the issue of ‘private nuisance’. Due to the constant clouds of coal dust residents are unable to open windows, or hang washing out. Also, of the 18 coal train blockaders, as mentioned last month, five have now had their cases withdrawn.

For further information about the camp, e-mail: media[at]climatecampcymru.org, or give them a call at 07077 076147.

http://www.risingtide.org.uk
http://www.stopffosyfran.co.uk
http://coalaction.org.uk
http://www.climatecampcymru.org
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/aug/12/climate-camp-cymru-blog
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8270681.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/26/coal-protest-ffos-y-fran

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UPCOMING EVENTS

London Road Food Co-op, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Riverside Community Centre, London Road
Bathampton Community Growers workday, Thursdays, 10am-dusk, Mill Lane, Bathampton, e-mail thelostplot[at]googlemail.com/ tel Chris 07792 444628
Bath Stop The War Coalition vigil, Saturdays, 11.30am-12.30, Bath Abbey Courtyard
Recycle Your Sundays, Sundays, 10.30am, starts Abbey Churchyard, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides, http://www.bathrys.org.uk/ tel Hazel 01225 469199
Bristol & South Wales Hunt Saboteurs punk & thrash benefit gig, Friday 9th July, 7.30pm, The White Hart, Whitehall Road, Bristol, feat. Kismet H.C., Death Job, Mutiny Plot and This Ends Here, £5
Introductory Permaculture Weekend, Saturday 10th to Sunday 11th July, Bath City Farm, £50, http://www.transitionbath.org
Bath FreeShop, Saturday 10th July, 12-3pm, outside Pump Rooms, Stall Street
Broadlands Orchardshare Volunteering Day, Saturday 10th July, 12-4pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford, http://www.bathford.net/broadlands.php
workshop: Activist Comms/Radio Training, Saturday 10th July, 12-4.30pm, Bristol Castle Park, suggested donation £2; please let us know if you’re planning on coming – either e-mail nickkassam[at]hotmail.com, or text 07796 864 649; bring food for a picnic and something waterproof
film & discussion: ‘Stop that train!’: direct actions on the railways against climate chaos and nuclear power, Thursday 8th July, 6.30pm, Kebele Social Centre, 14 Robertson Road, Easton, Bristol; hosted by Bristol and Bath Rising Tide
Climate Camp Cymru planning gathering, Saturday 10th July, the Wyndham Street Centre, 3-5, Wyndham Street, Cardiff, South Glamorgan CF11 6DQ; e-mail info[at]climatecampcymru.org
Climate Camp Cymru comms training, Sunday 11th July, Cardiff, e-mail l3wis85[at]gmail.com
Bath Animal Action meeting, Monday 12th July, 8-9pm, The Bell, Walcot Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk
culture festival: ‘A Taste of Palestine’, Tuesday 13th July, 7.30pm, Masonic Hall, Frome, £7.50/£4 concessions, including food
Bath Mad Pride, Wednesday 14th July, 2-4pm, Abbey Courtyard; dancing, games & entertainment
workshop: ‘Organisational Resilience’, Wednesday 14th July, 9.30am-5.30pm, the Creater Centre, Smeaton Road, Bristol, sliding scale payment from £50; http://www.response-ability.org.uk
comedy: Ivor Dembina’s ‘This Is Not A Subject For Comedy’, Wednesday 14th July, The Granary, Frome, £5
Raw food workshop, Wednesday 14th July, 7pm, the Abundant Life Wellness Centre, 36 New King Street, £10; pre-booking essential as numbers limited to 12, tel 01225 318060
Bath Stop the War meeting, Wednesday 14th July, 7.30pm, Friends Meeting House, York Street, Bath, BA1 1NG; http://www.bathstopwar.org.uk
Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 14th July, 8.30pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street
readings & food: ‘Arab Writing Today’, Thursday 15th July, 7.30pm, Trinity Hall, Frome, £8
Tolpuddle Martyr’s Festival, Friday 16th July to Sunday 18th, Tolpuddle, Devon; http://www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/index.php?page=martyr-s-festival
Two Tunnels group open day, Saturday 17th July; walks will start every half hour between 10am and 4pm at the Tucking Mill (southern) end of the tunnel; http://www.twotunnels.org.uk
workshop: ‘Permaculture Allotment Gardening Techniques’, Saturday 17th July, 1-7pm, Royate Hill Allotments, Bristol, sliding scale payment from £20; http://www.shiftbristol.org.uk
‘Wild Walk’ foraging day, Sunday 18th July, 2pm, meet point tba, £10; tel Jonathan to book: 07740 706232
Bath Cycling Campaign meeting, Monday 19th July, 7.30pm, Rising Sun, Grove Street
gig & workshop: ‘Survival Tales’, Wednesday 21st July, 7pm, Easton Community Centre, Kilburn Street, Easton, Bristol, BS5, £5/suggested donation entry – please book in advance: contact[at]survivaltales.uk; http://www.survivaltales.org.uk; with Eirlys Rhiannon
gig & workshop: ‘Survival Tales’, Thursday 21st July, 7pm, Kebele Community Co-op, 14 Roberston Road, Easton, Bristol, £5/suggested donation entry – please book in advance: contact[at]survivaltales.uk; http://www.survivaltales.org.uk; with Eirlys Rhiannon
conference: ‘A Second City Remembered: Rethinking Bristols History, 1400-2000’, Friday 23rd July to Saturday 24th July, Museum of Bristol, The Old Council House, Corn Street, Bristol; organized by the Regional History Centre, University of the West of England
Peace News Summer Camp, Friday 23rd July to Tuesday 27th, Oxfordshire; http://www.peacenewscamp.info
Bath Animal Action info stall, Sunday 25th July, 2-4pm, Stall Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk
Transition Bath Social, Monday 26th July, 7.15pm, the Love Lounge/ back room of the Bell, Walcot Street; bring food to share; http://www.transitionbath.org
Bath Hunt Saboteurs meeting, Monday 26th July, 8-9pm, The Bell, tel Justin 07854 062336
Critical Mass Bike Ride, Saturday 31st July, 1pm, Kingsmead Square, http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk
Earth First! Summer Gathering, Wednesday 4th to Monday 9th August, Derbyshire, £20-30; five days of workshops, skill sharing and planning action, plus low-impact living without leaders; e-mail summergathering[at]earthfirst.org.uk FFI
Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 5th August, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at The Hobgoblin, St James Parade, http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com
film: ‘A Grin Without a Cat: Scenes of the Third World War 1967-1977’, Saturday 7th August, 7.30pm, the Arnolfini, Bristol, http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/films/details/710
film: ‘November’, Thursday 12th August, 6.30pm, the Arnolfini, Bristol, £3.00/£2.00; http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/films/details/711
film: ‘Little Dieter Needs to Fly’, Friday 13th August, 6.30pm, the Arnolfini, Bristol; http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/films/details/712
Climate Camp Cymru, Friday 13th August to Tuesday 17th, http://www.climatecampcymru.org
talk: ‘The Venus Project’, Saturday 21st August, 1-5pm, Victoria Rooms – The Auditorium University of Bristol, Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1SA, £16.02 entry; http://thevpinbristol.eventbrite.com
Camp for Climate Action, Saturday 21st to Tuesday 24th August, Edinburgh, http://www.climatecamp.org.uk
film: ‘The War Game’, Sunday 22nd August, 2.30pm, the Arnolfini, Bristol; http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/films/details/716
Bath Vegan Fayre benefit gig, Friday 27th August, Hobgoblin, St James Parade; more details tbc
one year part-time ‘Practical Sustainability’ course, starts September 2010, Bristol; exploring permaculture design, organic horticulture, woodland management, green building, ecological interactions, energy, group dynamics, re-localisation, creating change, community engagement and more; http://www.shiftbristol.org.uk
Bath Vegan Fayre, Saturday 4th September, Manvers Street Baptist Church, 12-4pm, free entry
Bristol Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 11th September, 10.30-5.30pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol; e-mail bristolanarchistbookfair[at]riseup.net; http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org
Regional South West Animal Rights Coalition meeting, Sunday 19th September, 12-5pm, The Factory, Cave Street, central Bristol
anti-Tory demonstration, Sunday 3rd October, Tory Party Conference, Birmingham more details tbc

Painted Lions As White Elephants

Bath’s elegant and imposing 30s-era Churchill House in Southgate was smashed up, and a giant trash-can stuck in its place. The back of the old Tech college building in Lower Borough Walls was ripped off by a cowboy ‘developer’, leaving the rest of it jacked up with a metal girder after he did a runner. Only some ugly scaffolding stops the abandoned Cornmarket in Walcot St. from falling down. The last remaining Georgian-period lido in the country, the Grade II listed Cleveland Pools, just off London Road, is falling to bits as a result of years of deliberate council neglect.

B&NES’s ludicrous response to this dereliction is to dump 100 identikit plastic lions on the streets of the city in some lame excuse for ‘street art’, and try to flog the idea to the public under the banner of ‘Pride in our City’. The spin-doctors from B.U.M. (Bath Urban Mafia) must have laboured for minutes to come up with this oh-so-clever double meaning.

These same council P.R. hacks describe the dummies as ‘public art’, yet, in the tradition of Bladud’s Pigs, Sophie Ryder’s hideous giant brillo pads, and the decade-old Earth from the Air exhibition, they don’t bother asking the Bath public what THEY want.

By snubbing local residents yet again, they were asking for trouble, and they got it. Some of the beasts were smashed up not long after being unloaded, which would seem to show that extreme censorship rules, K.O.

Not everyone is taken in by the B&NES moral spiel either; the three charities which are apparently to benefit when the beasts are auctioned later in the year, are Off the Record, the Quartet Community Foundation, and the Mayor’s relief fund for Bath. Yet the self-same funding areas for young people, the homeless and the needy are the first to be savaged when cuts are made. A £3.4 million butchering of childrens’ services, to be spread over a three-year period, was announced by B&NES in 2009. So maybe this is why B.U.M. uses smoke and mirrors to flaunt the lions as some kind of testimonial to their alleged concern for the welfare of the vulnerable in Bath, by using them as giant charity begging bowls in this pathetic publicity stunt.

Smashing News!

After well over a year of waiting, the E.D.O. Decommissioners’ trial has come to an end, with the result being a unanimous NOT GUILTY verdict for all seven defendants. The Decommissioners are activists who, at the height of Israel’s 2009 genocide jolly (aka operation ‘Cast Lead’) took things into their own hands and smashed up the Brighton factory of arms manufacturers E.D.O./I.T.T., causing upwards of £200,000 of damage and destroying heaps of records and research documents. The company have long supplied Israel with bomb release mechanisms and other nasties that they need to maintain their brutal stranglehold over the people of Gaza. The E.D.O. Seven used the defence that by crippling the weapons factory, they were preventing illegal war crimes from taking place in Palestine, thus making their actions legal by virtue of preventing a bigger crime from occurring. After hearing evidence direct from Palestine and reams of human rights reports, the judge decided that the E.D.O. Seven had a point, acquitting all. This effectively deems the Israeli occupation of Gaza illegal, E.D.O./I.T.T. immoral and complicit in war crimes, and sets a precedent for similar action in the future. Whichever way the court case had gone, the E.D.O. Seven have set an example for us all – when the powerful actively aid war crimes, it is the job of ordinary people to step in and jam a spanner in the works and a brick through the window of the war machine.

http://www.smashedo.org.uk

Pre-emptive Incarceration For Bath’s ASBO Bastards

We here at the Bath Bomb were interested to hear about Avon & Somerset Constabulary’s predictions for the future of the city’s youth, with their open day last month. As well as teaching up to 2,000 would-be crims how to commit unarmed robbery with replica firearms, District Superintendant Gary Davies explained how “This police station belongs to the people.” They then proceeded to baton charge infants and throw them in the cells, demanding charity bribes from the families to secure their release. Given a stark taste of things to come should she put a foot wrong in the ever-increasingly dystopian police-state of her next seventy years, nine year-old Abby weepingly begged her sneering goalers for freedom. The terrified tyke later confessed about her cell: “I didn’t like it. It was quite scary and not very big. I am not going to commit a crime as I don’t want to be locked up.”

There Is Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Plans are currently simmering away for another free Bath Vegan Fayre in the city, to take place on Saturday the 4th of September. The one last year was a great hit, with around 150 folks coming through the doors, much chuffed at the quality of cruelty-free fare filling their bellies. The event was very much a locally-focused and a non-corporate affair, emphasising that even with the health, ethics and environmental benefits of a plant-based diet, exploitation of humans is also on the ‘bad’ list. Many were disappointed by the angle that the Bristol Vegan (sorry, ‘Eco Veggie’) Fayre took this year, jacking up the prices and the polish, and marginalising campaigning groups away to a quarantined-off separate enclosure, so that people won’t be distracted away from all the consumerism to be done. This year, the Bath Vegan Fayre will take place at the Baptist Church Hall on Manvers Street, but other plans are still pretty much open. If you can help organise or improve the event in any way, please get in touch with Bath Animal Action – e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk, or ring them on 07717 130954.

The following month, on the 30th of October, Bristol Animal Rights Collective will put on a similar event. A benefit gig to raise funds is also expected to take place at the Hobgoblin pub on the 27th of August – more details to be confirmed.

Rich Justice

Five employees working at the South African Royal Marang Hotel have been caught stealing various items, and a small sum of money from some of England’s millionaire football players. It is reported the items included underwear. The employees were sentenced to paying a fine of £524, followed by three years of prison. This from a ‘World Cup Court’, a very special kind of court indeed, where the rich get all their stuff returned in one day, and the poor despair for three years after an afternoon’s hijinks.

Jail seldom is called for. What restitution or reparation could the fact of a person being jailed accomplish? Do we have some kind of natural duty to spend time behind bars once in a while? No. The origin of the prison system lies in a medieval conception of justice. That is, justice as punishment. Justice as an attempt to control the population’s behaviour, and make it fit in the ‘correct’ mould.

Of course, the ‘correct’ mould is arbitrarily defined by the authorities, so that we are today incarcerating not only actual criminals, who may pose a threat to the general population were they roaming free. But also, and mostly, people who either did not do anything wrong, or people whose victims will clearly not gain anything from them being in jail. However, those un-unionised prison labourers do make a lot of cheap consumerist tat, so it’s not all bad.

Bath Activist Network are a local umbrella group campaigning on issues as diverse as development, environmentalism, anti-war, animal rights, workers’ rights and more. Helping to produce the Bath Bomb, we are open to anyone, and our members range from trade unionists to anarchists, liberals and greens, and people who just want to change Bath for the better. For details on meetings, demos, or just to get in touch, e-mail bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk or see our website: http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com

And now, to the disclaimer: as anyone is free to contribute, the opinions expressed in each article are not necessarily reflective of each contributor. Naturally, any right-wing or corporate bullshit will be binned and spat on. Needless to say, the opinions of the author of this disclaimer do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any other contributor.

Penan tribe fights rainforest destruction with blockade

8th July 2010
Nomadic tribespeople in Borneo are blockading a road to stop loggers destroying their rainforest.

Members of the Penan tribe have mounted the blockade in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, to stop the destruction of the forests they depend on for their survival.

8th July 2010
Nomadic tribespeople in Borneo are blockading a road to stop loggers destroying their rainforest.

Members of the Penan tribe have mounted the blockade in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, to stop the destruction of the forests they depend on for their survival.

Malaysian timber company Lee Ling is logging in the area, and there are plans to clear the Penan’s forests completely to establish plantations of fast-growing trees for paper production.

The Penan say the plantations will leave them with nothing. They live by hunting, gathering and fishing, and will have nowhere to find food if the forests are chopped down.

Penan protesting at the blockade in northern Sarawak say they have experienced a violent attack by a logger. They are also going hungry, because manning the blockade means they are unable to spend time finding food.

The protestors include nomadic Penan, and those living in settled villages.

One Penan man told Survival, ‘We can’t live in a plantation environment. It is like asking fish to live on the land.’

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘How many more Penan protests, and how much more intimidation by the loggers, will we see before Malaysia recognizes that this land belongs to the Penan?’

Earth First! Blocks the Blade, USA

7th July 2010
Earth First! honored the No Compromise stance towards environmentalism by executing a beautiful action that cut to the heart of local organizing, bio-centrism and direct action in defense of the Earth. Earth First! concluded this year’s Summer Rendezvous in Maine with a dynamic and intense blockading an access road to the latest land destroying development scheme—the clearcutting of Maine’s Sisk Mountain for TransCanada’s wind turbines.

Beginning in the early morning, more than five EF!ers eluded police tails and entered Plum Creek land on Sisk Mountain, the site of TransCanada’s prospective wind farm, with the intention of blockading the access road. Although police assisting the corporations found the activists quickly, the access road was blockaded for the entire morning by a cavalcade of police and, interestingly enough, border patrol. They did our job for us, and nobody was arrested; only warnings were issued to the brave activists who sparked the blockade.

At around noon, police issued an order to disperse, and many EF!ers returned to the Rondy site pleased at the fact that, for that morning, the blades of wind turbines did not pass through the power of the people. At the access road, however, things were just getting started.

Earth First!ers remained to continue protesting, most moving to the opposite side of the highway to get support from passing automobiles. One person, Turtle, was arrested for refusing to move from the access road. Soon, a massive truck emerged from the bend, hauling behind it the blade itself, the awesome length of which resembled a small airplane. As the truck entered the access road, EF!ers made their move, rushing to stop it from entering the site. Meanwhile, Willow, locked herself to the undercarriage of the truck. The trucker hauling the blade began revving the engine, revealing the intention to drive on with an activist locked to his rig. Heroically, Anna jumped on top of the truck and thrust a sign over the windshield, obstructing the truckers’ view. Finally, the police, realizing they had been defeated for the moment, told the trucker to stop his engines.

When all was said and done, the truck had been blocked for hours and three people had been arrested. Their bail was set for $500, and they were released that night. Through the intensity of the day, the gathering stood strong, successful action in tow. Earth First! is showing that the attention to oil and offshore drilling is only the tip of the iceberg. We protested off-shore drilling in Santa Barbara in February, months before the Deep Horizon spill. We need to look forward to a future of resistance to the false solutions of wind power in wild areas, “clean coal” and biomass.

This years’ Rondy action has been called the Green Tea Party, and that might not be far off. With the irrevocable ecological damage done to this planet, a new era must come about. The most recent global protests in favor of environmentalism indicate that more and more people are taking up the slogan, “We won’t stop until they do. Earth First!”

update on resistance to High-Speed Railway in the Basque Country

Society has openly given response to the High-Speed Train (HST) in the latter times. We know, and so do they, that we are many people against HST. In Hendaya, there were more than 15.000 people in a recent demonstration against this project. Many referendums were placed and the response against the project was widely supported. There have been also many public appearances and actions all over. But power doesn’t seem to listen and the situation is getting worse day by day. Civil disobedience and direct action are the only means we have left to stop the HSP project, and that’s why four activists took the decision to take part in this action, putting their lives in danger. It’s been three days now since 4 activists decided to go inside a tunnel in the mines in Itsasondo (Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country). They are actually blocked and chained inside the tunnel with no way to go out by themselves. Even if their situation has gone public, none of the public organizations involved have taken any measures or organized any rescue team. This has put their lives in serious danger. Besides, the explosions and the normal operations in the mines have not been stopped, making this danger even worse. As a result, we are facing a really dangerous scenario, not only because the explosions have not been stopped, but also because public powers are acting with absolute neglect, putting the lives of the activists in real serious risk. How can it be possible that in these times when life is publicly extolled, public powers show so little respect for the lives of those citizens? How can all those who talk so much about “the people’s choice” go on with their project to build the High-Speed Train, after many people and organizations have widely showed their refusal to this infrastucture? For all these reasons we encourage people to join us in the demonstration that will be held tomorrow, 4th of July in Ordizia (Gipuzkoa-Basque Country), 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and also to show their support to the activists in the mine by coming to the support camp in Itsasondo (Gipuzkoa).

2010-07-04
Under the slogan “Till stopping HST, resistance in Itsasondo’s mines” a demonstration left Ordizia yesterday in solidarity with the initiative of four activists whom chained themselves inside a mine on Thursday. At the same time, the demo demanded the cease of works for the High Speed Train. The event linked the towns of Ordizia and Beasain, making two stops in the works of this infrastructure, which particularly affects the valley of Goierri. The attitude of the Regional Home Department and the Basque Railway Network ignoring the presence of the activists inside the mines and continuing with the works has provoked big anger which was noticible during the demonstration. After teh demo, a large group of demonstrators cut the railway rail traffic for at least five minutes after taking over the Beasin RENFE train station (RENFE, the Spainsh railway company is the other companny involved in the project). The rally yesterday was not the only event held in solidarity with activists in recent days. On the evening of Friday, unknown activists cut the water supply for the Mariaratz construction site, where activists are chained. the action aimed also to show their disgust at the attitude of the institutions regarding the 4 chained activists and to disrupt in the same way the construction of this infrastructure. Remain underground Meanwhile, the four activists, who are now into their fifth day chained to concrete-filled drums without the option of leaving on his own feet, noticed their health deteriorating because of the harsh consequences of the mines, mainly high dampness and wetness. Yesterday morning a walk happened too with the aim of communicating with the activists, who said that they were “very tired and weak.” They were affected by the high humidity inside the mines where they are. There were no search Haitzuluetako Aurkariak (activist group) announced the exact location where the chain activists were last Saturday, in order to force a new search. The regional police claimed to have no record of the presence of these activists in the area. Therefore, the support group isisted for the search to be repeated. Apparently the Ertzaintza did not enter the area during all day yesterday. The action started on Thursday morning, but the explosions for the construction of the HST tunnel did not stop. There were constant blasting on Thursday and Friday and even the chained activists felt detachments of walls and ceiling inside the mine. According to the location they gave on Saturday, the activists would be in the 4th mining zone within the Ordizia-Itsasondo construction site, a few meters from the core of the explosions.

A day later (5/07/2010) the Basque police, the Ertzaintza, have evicted the four anti TAV activists who have been locked-on in the Itsasondo mines. The first two are currently (17:30) on their way to the station to give evidence, after going to the health centre for a check-up. The last two have since been evicted from the mines. Throughout the afternoon about a 100 people have been gathering at the mouth of the mine to show solidarity with the activists. They have been charged with “public disorder, resistance and disobedience to authority.”

On 6th July, despite the TAV trucks having security escorts, we sat in front of the vehicles. The truck driver was very aggressive, grabbing us by the throat and threatening us. He drove at us, so we got out of the way before being hit. He tried to attack with a club, but the security guards restrained him! We denounce this aggression and will continue to resist from the Leginetxe squatted workers’ cottages.

There will be a protest action camp against the TAV from 26th July to 1st August.

Three Cellphone antennas destroyed

4 July 2010
Over the past three week three mobile phone antennas have been destroyed by fire in the Nottingham area. In each instance the action was performed with fervour and carried out in anger at the capitalist culture. A culture which seeks to dominate its surroundings in order to increase it’s power over it’s inhabitants.

These actions were simple and repeatable. The tools were old rags, flammable liquids and a lighter. They were carried out against a telecommunications industry which facilitates capitalisms ongoing destruction of the planet and the manner in which it deforms the social relationships we engage in.

We carry out this action, and actions like it in solidarity with all those who choose to fight against repression, the state and capitalism whenever and wherever the oppitunity arises.

We dedicate this action to all those who are imprisoned by civilization, but continue to struggle against its cage.