earthfirst – Page 144

BlueNG Superglued in Protest Against Agrofuels

14.4.10
Last night, Agrofuel company Blue NG had their head offices visited by activists and all of the doors superglued shut. This action was in protest at Blue NG’s involvement in plans to build an agrofuel power plant.

Blue NG are up to their necks in recent plans to build biofuel-powered plants in london. Despite their greenwash, it is well documented that this plant will contribute to global warming, food shortages, and respiratory diseases in the area around it.

With an important planning meeting regarding the plant happening today, anti-agrofuel activists decided to get their point across by visiting the company’s head office during the night, jamming all the locks with superglue, and leaving a brief communique explaining their motives.

Nottingham, Sheffield & Leeds Sabs January – March

Another busy few months of sabbing

Foxes, hares, and our group alike had a few days off from the sickening display of violence and stupidity that is hunting this December and January. Divine intervention, in the form of snow, ice and frost meant that many hunts cancelled several meets.

Another busy few months of sabbing

We were out again on January 16th and had a go at finding some much overlooked beagles, without success. So we decided to call in late on the Badsworth & Bramham Moor hunt. The hunt, who on this occasion totaled only 10 or so riders and about 10 supporters, took one look at us, changed course and headed straight back to their meet!

We helped Cumbria Sabs with a Monday visit to the Ullswater hunt on Jan 25th. This hunt had not been sabbed for 20 years due to their violent reputation, but on sight of around 15 sabs, they decided to run, and hide in the car park of an agricultural college – all day. Result!

We visited the Quorn hunt for the first time in 5 or more years, with Merseyside Sabs at the end of Jan. They too took one look at us and packed up immediately, claiming the weather wasn’t suitable for hunting! With some sabs escorting the Quorn back to their kennels, others went on to the nearby Meynell & South Staffs hunt. At the Meynell a fox was seen by sabs and hunt staff in the same field as the hounds, but due to our presence, the huntsman hunted the hounds along the foxes’ scent, in the opposite direction, leaving the fox to run free. Later in the day we saw hunt staff again taking action to ensure the hounds didn’t hunt in front of our cameras. We know that this hunt (like all the others), kills foxes when left to their own devices.

On Feb 6th we paid a visit to the South Wold hunt, who had not been sabbed for a long time. The hunt spent a good while lingering round the back of a farm pondering what to do about us. Although they eventually shot off, losing us for a while, we caught up with them, took control of their hounds, and packed them up early – a timely reminder to all hunts that though perhaps rarely visited, none are forgotten. On the way home, keen-eyed sabs spotted a lurcher racing through a nearby field. Jumping out of the van again, we found a guy out hare coursing, and swiftly saw him off.

The next day we sabbed a group of about 8 ferreters near Leeds. They had sadly killed at least 3 rabbits before we arrived – a strong reminder of why sabbing is needed. The group were clearly intimidated by our presence and packed up as soon as they could retrieve their ferret from below ground. Ferreting is fully legal.

In 2009, our visits to the South Notts hunt caused them to give up on attempts to begin hunting Saturdays. So when we turned up on a Monday this Feb, they weren’t best pleased! Unfortunately though, they won this round by turning violent and forcing us to leave – more on that next season (and below).

On the 17th, Nottingham and Birmingham sabs made a week-day trip to the DNS Beagles hunt in Derbyshire. This caused them to cancel their day of killing without even starting. All we had to do was wait outside their kennels for a few hours, and endure some stern words from some not-so-brave officers of the law!

We sabbed the Quorn hunt again on the 20th, with Manchester Sabs. We weren’t close enough to see it, but, after a few failed attempts at finding foxes – to kill them with a “quick nip to the back of the neck” – the huntsman fell from his horse, injured his neck and had to be air lifted to hospital! The hunt continued anyway, led and followed by members of the South Notts hunt, who were out with the Quorn (due to cancelling their own Sat meets). The South Notts hunt members were the very same people who had got nasty with us just 5 days previously. So, we gave them what they deserved – a good sabbing. We put ourselves in the fields to distract the hounds several times, and caused them to loose the scent of a fox that they attempted to hunt.

On the 24th we made another trip to Cumbria, joining the local sabs, with others from Merseyside and Birminham. We found the Blencathra hunt after a bit of scouting about, even though they had changed their meet in a desperate attempt at avoiding sabs. Upon our arrival, the huntsman walked past all his supporters and drove off with the hounds, without saying a word to anyone! But, rather than driving straight to the kennels, he drove way out of the way, with us following behind, and led us to the Cumbria Beagles hunt! As soon as we got out of the car, the beagles were seen hunting two hares, so we intervened and managed to call them off using whip cracks and voice calls, they packed up straight away after that! Some of the group had also stuck with the Blencathra, who were followed back to their kennels. This day demonstrated just what an impact Cumbria Sabs are having on the Blecathra hunt!

At the end of Feb, just a week after our first visit, we returned to the DNS Beagles, this time on a Saturday. As before, after a bit of a run around (in vehicles), they cancelled their plans altogether. Another day of relaxation for hares in Derbyshire!

We sabbed the Burton at their last meet of the season on March 6th. We had to run/briskly walk all day to keep near the hunt, who were determined to hunt and hide in a massive wood. We took action to disrupt them whenever we could, took control of a good percentage of the hounds several times during the day and stuck at it till they finished.

We visited the Lunesdale hunt on the Cumbria/North Yorkshire border with sabs from several other groups on the 11th. This hunt hadn’t seen sabs for 20+ years, so they were probably a little surprised to see us pop up in the middle of the fells. We didn’t waste any time, and upon sight of the huntsman on a distant fell ahead, took the whole pack of hounds from him just as they started to pick up a fox’s scent. When the hunt managed to reclaim the hounds they went back to their meet and packed up! Watch video footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1HzzUzerwA&feature=channel

We finished off the season with around 30 sabs from our usual groups, Merseyside, and other areas, and sabbed the Grove & Rufford hunt in Nottinghamshire, on March 13th. Dozens of police turned up – with motorbikes, a helicopter, vans, cars, horses, dogs and undercover officers at their disposal. They had come to prevent us from sabbing the hunt, but inadvertently did it for us, leaving us to watch in disbelief – as even the Grove & Rufford huntsman isn’t stupid enough to hunt in front of that many city folk!

So now we have a short break from such activities, but, if anyone is up for helping out, we will possibly sab some mink hunters in the summer; we’ll be working to protect badgers from baiting in South Yorkshire, and from culling further afield, from May; and we’ll begin the next sabbing season in August/September at fox cub hunts. Also if anyone can donate any funds or equipment, or help with fundraising then please get in touch!

Sab group contacts:
Sheffield: sheffieldsaboteurs@live.co.uk
Nottingham: huntsabs@hotmail.com www.nottinghamhuntsabs.weebly.com
Leeds: westyorkshuntsabs@yahoo.co.uk www.westyorkshirehuntsabs.wordpress.com
Merseyside: (contact via) sheffieldsaboteurs@live.co.uk
Cumbria: vulpuscarlisle@yahoo.co.uk
Birmingham: birminghamhuntsabs@hotmail.co.uk
Manchester: mcr-sabs@hotmail.co.uk
For other areas:
Hunt Saboteurs Association: info@huntsabs.org.uk www.hsa.enviroweb.org

Badger protection contacts:
South Yorkshire Badger Group: www.sybadgergroup.f9.co.uk
Coalition Of Badger Action Groups: get-active@badger-killers.co.uk www.badger-killers.co.uk

Colombia solidarity action closes BP petrol station, Barcelona

13.4.10
A dozen people closed a BP petrol station on Avenue Bonanova de Sarrià. Dressed in white suits, the Repsolmata collective and friends laid out the challenge: The BP dilemma: Bye bye Planet or Boycott Petrol?

http://repsolmata.ourproject.org

Video

http://repsolmata.ourproject.org

Video

Mainshill Coal Site sabotaged!

12.04.2010
In the early hours of this morning machinery at Mainshill open cast site was sabotaged. Two Caterpillar D9T’s and a 170 tonne face scrapping earth mover, an O&K RH90, were targeted, both will be inoperable today, and will cost Scottish Coal greatly.

A sustained campaign of sabotage has been waged at Mainshill and it was vowed to continue even when work on the mine started. The only thing that has changed since the eviction of the Mainshill Solidarity Camp is that the machines on the site are bigger and more expensive. The machinery at the Mainshill site, and any other coal site in Scotland, are extremely vulnerable. Sabotage against the coal industry will continue until its expansion is halted.

This action was done by autonomous environmentalists in solidarity with the people of South Lanarkshire who are fighting to save their community and their health from the coal industry. This is also in solidarity with people around the world, including Columbia and India, who are fighting for their lives against the coal industry.

Mainshill vive – la lucha sigue!

Activist Tat training week

There will be a free AT Co-op training week in Nottingham, from Thursday 6th of May to Monday 10th of May 2010.

This will include putting up marquees, erecting and mending the flat pack toilets and painting them for beauty and durability, as well as all the technical and theoretical (power, plumbing etc) skillsharing that launched the site crews of the No Borders Camp in Calais, and the Camp for Climate Action in Blackheath in 2009.

We would like to see 50 new people there. We can cope with 70 if they are
considerate and co-operative.

You can come for the whole week or just a couple of days. We’ll share the cost of excellent vegan food, and bring sleeping bags for the friendliest floors in Forest Fields, Nottingham. E-mail jed2f4[at]yahoo.co.uk if you’re coming.

======

Do you have equipment? Spaces activist groups can use? Skills you would like to share with others? ATC are currently doing an audit of grassroots movements to see what materials we have and what we have to offer each other. Please take part in our questionnaire, and help us create a strong network where we share skills and materials.

The AT Cooperative (commonly known as ‘activist tat collective’) is a group of people who have come together to provide equipment, transport and training for grassroots movements. The aims of the group are as follows:

1. To source and provide equipment for events to grassroots campaigns at below commercial rates, by using existing resources and purchasing new materials.

2. To train people up in essential skills for putting on outdoor events.

3. To be a point of contact for individuals and groups seeking who are happy for others to use their equipment or who want to pass on their skills.

In all this, ATC aims to be as professional as possible, maintaining and storing equipment responsibly and ensuring that it is returned or replaced. This will reduce waste and free up valuable time for actual campaigning!

There is a lot more information on our website, so please read on.

http://www.atcoop.org.uk

BP hit by tar sands protests in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge

Saturday April 10th
BP hit by tar sands protests in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge

Oil company targeted by nationwide protests in advance of crucial AGM vote

Protesters demand BP pulls out of “the most destructive project on Earth” – the Canadian tar sands

Saturday April 10th
BP hit by tar sands protests in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge

Oil company targeted by nationwide protests in advance of crucial AGM vote

Protesters demand BP pulls out of “the most destructive project on Earth” – the Canadian tar sands

For photos, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/no-tar-sands and http://www.no-tar-sands.org. Brief reports of the London and Oxford actions can be seen at http://www.demotix.com/news/297925/bp-party-pumps and http://www.demotix.com/news/298075/bp-tar-sands-protest-oxford.

Today, oil giant BP was struck by multiple protests over its controversial plans to extract oil from the Canadian tar sands (1). Hundreds of climate activists in London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge (2) targeted the company with simultaneous demonstrations and street parties, including forecourt invasions which closed three BP petrol stations in London and Brighton (3), (4).

Activists hailed the day as a major success, stating that the protests would send a strong message to BP and its investors. Sheila Laughlin of the UK Tar Sands Network said:

“Today, we did exactly what we set out to do – we hit BP’s profits by shutting down their petrol stations, and we hit their brand by informing thousands of people about their destructive tar sands plans. Nearly everyone we spoke to was shocked and outraged by the horrific climate, ecological and human impacts of tar sands extraction. If BP want to completely alienate the UK public, they’re going about it in exactly the right way.”

Meanwhile, a shareholder resolution questioning BP’s role in the tar sands, which is due to be discussed and voted on at their AGM later this week (5), continues to attract interest from shareholders, with a number of major investment funds stating their support for the anti-tar sands resolution in the last few days (6).

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1) Tar sands are a type of oily soil, which requires large amounts of energy, water, and industrial processing to extract and transform into crude oil. Tar sands extraction in Alberta, Canada is already the world’s largest industrial project, requiring the removal of vast areas of ancient forest and consuming enough natural gas per day to heat 3.2 million Canadian homes. The extraction process emits 3 to 5 times as much carbon dioxide as conventional oil drilling, the lakes of toxic waste it produces are so large they are visible from space, and the pollution from the project is harming the health of the Indigenous people who live in its shadow.
See http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/inventory_report/2006_report/som-sum_eng.cfm and http://www.ienearth.org/cits.html

BP was the only major oil company not to be in the tar sands, until in 2007 it purchased a stake in the ‘Sunrise Project’, an extraction project that could produce 200,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day. Earlier this year it announced its potential involvement in two other, similar developments, although a final decision as to whether or not to go ahead with them has yet to be made. Over the last six months, an unprecedented coalition of UK climate activists, NGOs and Indigenous Canadian activists has come together to stop BP’s plans.

2) The April 10th day of action was supported by the UK Tar Sands Network ( http://www.no-tar-sands.org), Rising Tide UK ( http://risingtide.org.uk), the Camp for Climate Action ( http://www.climatecamp.org.uk) and the Indigenous Environmental Network ( http://www.ienearth.org)

3) A brief summary of each of the actions:

London: Around 150 people invaded BP’s Shepherd’s Bush petrol station at around 2pm today. They hung banners off the roof, climbed on the pumps and held a ceilidh in the forecourt. The station remained closed for the rest of the afternoon. There was a heavy police presence, but no arrests.

Oxford: About 25 people from the Thames Valley Climate Action group reconstructed the Canadian tar sands on Oxford’s central shopping parade, including a pipeline and “toxic” tailings pond complete with toy ducks. They used a cycle-powered sound system to entertain and inform thousands of shoppers with music and speeches, while activists dressed as Canada and BP got friendly with each other by the pipeline. Around 5,000 anti-BP leaflets were distributed, and video messages were collected from the public to send to BP’s AGM.

Brighton: Activists successfully invaded and shut down two separate BP petrol stations. Photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/wdmbrightonandhove

Cambridge: Local activists from the Cambridge Tar Sands Network led an unconventional tour group through the city today. They took in the sights of RBS Branches, a Superdrug Location, and University Facilities funded by BP, all of which have links to the Canadian Tar Sands. The event drew the attention of many members of the public, who took photos, requested more information, or even joined the tour. The event was hailed as a successful public expose of Cambridge’s dark tar-sand-stained underbelly.

4) This day of action fell near the end of a full two weeks of action against BP and the tar sands, dubbed the “BP Fortnight of Shame”. Other actions since April 1st have included:

• 22,000 “rebranded” BP logos were delivered to BP HQ – video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNLzN3zld7o
• A BP petrol station was blockaded in Plymouth, with protesters chaining themselves to petrol pumps. The station was closed for an hour and a half, and there were two arrests: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Greens-protest-closes-petrol-station/article-1992261-detail/article.html
• A demonstration by Youth Against Climate Change in St. Albans, targeting RBS, who are one of BP’s key funders in the tar sands: http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/news/6646160.St_Albans_demo_targets__RBS/
• RBS cash machines were rendered temporarily out of order by Brighton Against Tar Sands (BATS): http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/04/448446.html
• A walking tree from Alberta, Canada, turned up at BP HQ (and other key London locations) to complain about tar sands deforestation – video here: http://vimeo.com/10630598
• “Free money” stained with oil was given out at a Natwest (owned by RBS) branch in Norwich: http://felixinnorwich.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/fossil-fools-day-in-norwich-tar-sand-protest-at-natwest/

5) BP’s Annual General Meeting will take place at 11.30am on April 15th 2010 at the Excel Centre, London. Campaigners will be speaking to shareholders outside the meeting, and challenging BP inside the meeting. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/04/bp-investors-row-tar-sands

6) See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/bpdot/7568809/US-and-Australian-funds-join-BP-rebellion-on-oil-sands.html and http://nachhaltiger.de/index.php/2010/04/10/apg-may-vote-against-bp-shell-on-tar-sands/

UK Tar Sands Network
tarsandsinfocus@googlemail.com
http://www.no-tar-sands.org

BP shut down in Plymouth over Tar Sands oil

On Thursday 8 April, Plymouth Rising Tide and Kernow Anarchist Network blockaded the BP garage in Ridgeway, Plymouth, to highlight the environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands project. The garage was closed for an hour and two activists who were locked onto petrol pumps were arrested.

The Tar Sands are a vast reserve of oil in the Canadian wilderness. Extracting oil from it produces 3 to 5 times as much greenhouse gases as from conventional oil. (1) The development covers an area the size of England, with toxic ponds so huge they are visible from space, leaking poisons into the local water supply. Indigenous communities, on whose land the extraction has been imposed, are seeing high rates of rare forms of cancer and respiratory disease. (2)

Michelle Roberts from Kernow Anarchist Network said: “The Tar Sands are the most destructive project on earth, fuelling climate chaos and mass deforestation, and trampling on indigenous rights. It would be criminal of BP to go ahead with it.”

This action is part of the BP Tar Sands Fortnight of Shame, a national fortnight of action leading up to BP’s annual general meeting on 15th April, when they will make a final decision as to whether to go into their first Tar Sands extraction project, ‘Sunrise.’ (3)

For further information please contact:
plymouth@risingtide.org.uk
kernowaction@gmail.com
Or go to:
http://risingtide.org.uk/plymouth
http://kernowaction.wordpress.com

Notes for editors:
1 http://stoptarsands.wordpress.com/threats/#a
2 http://tarsandsinfocus.wordpress.com/about/
3 http://tarsandsinfocus.wordpress.com/bp-fortnight-of-shame/

Bath Bomb 29 Out Now

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #29
free/donation
Apr ’10

“An unstoppable juggernaut of journalistic intent”

Hard Pressed To Avoid ‘Em

As mentioned back in the apparently nigh-oracular Bath Bomb #11, Tesco have finally admitted their schemes for the old Bath Press site on Lower

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #29
free/donation
Apr ’10

“An unstoppable juggernaut of journalistic intent”

Hard Pressed To Avoid ‘Em

As mentioned back in the apparently nigh-oracular Bath Bomb #11, Tesco have finally admitted their schemes for the old Bath Press site on Lower

Bristol Road. The five-acre site was bought by Tesco’s London-based front group St James’s Investments in 2008, though Tesco always straight-

facedly maintained the developers were nothing to do with them. After sniffing round the city for decades, they’ve now finally submitted an

application for a superstore in Bath, and spokesman Quentin Webster claims that a series of public consultations are on the cards for later in the

year; although they presumably won’t take “fuck off” for an answer.

Various studies spell out supermarket encroachment as bad news for jobs and small retailers, as well as the environment: when large supermarkets

are built on the edges of city centres, other grocers lose between 13% and 50% of their trade – yet more shop closures – and, according to the

National Retail Planning Forum in ’98, each new superstore accounts for the loss on average of 276 full-time positions in an area. Meanwhile,

whilst the city houses only 80,000 or so, the supermarket plague is due an outbreak soon: Sainsburys, Tesco and a Lidl all in one long row on

Lower Bristol, two Sainsbury Expresses in the centre, Sainsbury’s Local on Moorland Road, a Tesco Express on Bathwick Hill and another in Weston,

a Morrisons on the London Road and yet another Sainsburys in Odd Down!

The hotly contested Tesco Express at Bathwick Hill quickly closed down neighbouring indie Bathwick Stores, as feared, but only time will tell for

the future of the unique, bustling village high street vibe of Moorland Road; hopefully, there’s fight left in them yet.

Put Out For The Night

Another month, another move at the Black Cat, Bath’s increasingly itinerant social centre. Attempts to negotiate with the Council to arrange a

lease failed early in the month, with Council officials dismissing the proposals out of hand – and throwing in some personal insults to boot – and

taking the centre straight to court. The first eviction attempt, on Friday 26th March, was easily seen off by a large public demo outside. The

show of support was sufficient that the bailiffs didn’t even get out of their car before driving off.

After a weekend of barricading (with help from the recently evicted Tesco occupation in Stoke’s Croft) and an excellent celebratory dub night,

bailiffs returned in force early on Monday morning. With full police support, a cherry picker and a pair of bolt croppers allegedly costing £450,

it took them over two and a half hours to clear the building – their biggest obstacle being a bleary-eyed but determined rooftop occupation by a

man in a dressing gown.

Although saddened, the Black Cat Collective suffered no arrests and only minor injuries (sustained when bailiffs removed a vital escape ladder

from the roof), and have taken a much-needed week out. They’re now back again with a new building at 100 Walcot St, open 12-7pm every day from

12.04.10.

The public reaction has been vocal and strong, with many people criticising the cost of the eviction – an alleged £30,000 – when the Centre had

repeatedly offered to pay a small amount of rent. The Collective have vowed to keep up pressure on the Council to provide community-controlled

social spaces. If that sounds like something you support, there’s a petition online at www.petitionspot.com/petitions/
blackcatbath, or drop by the centre to find out how you can help out.

Proper Tea Is Theft?

Ethos Café of Walcot Street is yet another victim of B&NES Property and Legal Services’ stitch-ups, of which the Black Cat also recently fell

foul.

In the continuing greed-inspired transformation of Walcot Street from its ‘artisans quarter’ charter origins to Bland Identikit Shopping Strip

#43712, the Council have forced out Ethos in the same way as they did the Hat & Feather, Doollallys, Walcot Rec, Crock A Doodle Doo, Speaking

Tree, Walcotmart, and indeed, even the much-loved Walcot Nation Day festival. Rent for the petite, indie caff had shot up from £11K to £12K per

annum, with strings attached to an inflexible 12-year lease, kicking the charming fair-trade Walcot regular to the streets – even though its

higher-turnover neighbours face only £10K each.

Completely lacking in co-operation and accountability as ever, unelected Property Services’ Sarah ‘Iron Lady’ Marshman toed the Council line of

refusing to meet their clients even halfway; not only do they “not negotiate with squatters”, they apparently don’t negotiate with what they view

as legitimate business, either – unless they’re supermarkets. Never mind the fact they’re refusing to reimburse Ethos for the central heating they

installed, or any of a host of other improvements. But then again, they equally mugged the owners of Glasstone Records for the roofing, windows

and disabled toilet they had to put in at Riverside Business Park. The phrase ‘robber barons’ comes to mind.

But with B&NES’ apparent going-out-of-business-as-usual plans for Bath’s smaller and less socially-destructive companies, and boarding going up on

vacant units up and down London Road, Walcot Street and throughout the rest of the city, we wonder to ourselves: who’s next?

And now, to the disclaimer: As anyone is free to contribute, the opinions expressed in each article are not necessarilly reflective of each

contributor. Naturally, any right-wing or corporate bullshit will be binned and spat upon. Needless to say, the opinions of the author of this

disclaimer do not necessarilly represent the views of any other contributor.

Maybe Mayday Melee?

Ah, spring. A time of flowers, warmth, swallow migrations and frolicking bunnies. A time to look back and realise the class war is as alive as

ever, and the bosses still screw us. Since before the Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886 when martyred anarchists and workers won the eight-hour cap

on the working day, Mayday has long been associated with workplace struggle. And today, with PCS civil servants, Unite/BA cabin crew, UCE uni and

college lecturers (plus student support), NASUWT and NUT teaching staff up and down the country on strike or close (be it over low pay, insulting

redundancy/pension measures, or education cuts), things are no different. Indeed, conniving management at Network Rail struck below the belt at

the RMT and TSSA recently, whining to the High Court about the legitimate strike votes being invalid; it just goes to show that whilst the railway

signal workers and maintenance staff want a safe and efficient service, the bosses just want profits – no matter the cost, to workers’ rights or

even customers’ lives.

In light of all this, Bath Trades Council and friends plan a Mayday celebration/awareness-raising day of protest on Saturday May the 1st. Meeting

at 12.30 outside the Abbey, the event is still very much in the planning stage, so please get in touch to help make it something powerful:

bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk. Musicians are especially in demand! We may not be dancing round a Beltane maypole, or dancing on the ruins of

multinational corporations, but you gotta start somewhere.

GOT A STORY? WANT TO RECEIVE THE BATH BOMB BY EMAIL? HOPING TO SUE? Contact us by emailing bathbombpress[at]yahoo.co.uk. Large print e-versions

available on request. And for more info on any of our stories, check out http://www.thebathbomb.blogspot.com

Bordering On Insanity

An agency of crazy white people in the UK pledges to kidnap and deport brown people, unless they either have the one correct piece of paper they

require, or they’re actually Europeans: in which case it’s fine.
The Rajpoot curry house in Argyle Street was raided by these mobsters on the 24th of March, with two people kidnapped and questioned by white

nationalists in a building called a ‘police station,’ even though most things done there are illegal.

Thanks to some cunning investigative journalism, the Bath Bomb can now reveal that the crazies appear to work for an organization called the ‘UK

Border Agency,’ a collective of fanatical statists who think their permission is required in order to enter UK territory.

Although the Agency has not yet produced evidence that it owns the 94,060 square miles of land standing for the British territory, it still

behaves as if it was so. Regional crazy white person Jane Farleigh warns in the Chronicle: ‘If people choose to flout the law, we will find them

and look to remove them from the country.’

Apparently unaware that the British territory is an open-field natural resource and not the Border Agency’s private property, Ms Farleigh wants

all of you to help her track down people who think liberty is a right, so she can then deport them, and the laws of Nazi Germany be finally

obeyed. But in Britain.

You can help that organization of crazies fail by feeding them false information, at 01275 841500.

Beneath The Paving… The Beach?

A bizarre-Bath style crimewave is striking fear deep into the heart of Bathonians, allegedly. As reported in the Chron, a ring of illicit,

pseudo-Situationist, pavement-thieves have struck the city, causing rifts in the city’s criminal underworld. With 10m stretches of granite

pavement slabs being prised up in Lansdown, Sion Hill, and throughout the city, is nothing sacred? Police, fearful of potential bricks to the

skull, are urging residents to report any suspicious workmen activity or delivery trucks capable of shifting heavy loads in the area. Whatever

next – elderly women’s grand piano robberies? The taking of liberties? The taking of piss?

Come Shell Or High Water

As a follow-on from the national ‘Fossil Fools Day’ of environmental action against polluting big business, members of Bristol & Bath Rising Tide

visited the Shell garage on Muller Road, Eastville, on the morning of Saturday 3rd April, laying temporary pipelines and holding placards. They

went there to highlight the repression experienced by communities in Ireland, currently combating Shell’s attempts to build an onshore

experimental high pressure pipeline and gas refinery.

The community in Erris, County Mayo, has seen continued harassment and intimidation by the Gardai police and Shell security for over a decade. In

February, fisherman Pat O’Donnell was sentenced to seven months for ‘breach of the peace’ and ‘obstructing a Garda’, after his boat was boarded

and sunk by masked men. Hysterically, as Shell’s pipe-lying ship ‘the Solitaire’ operated off the coast, Irish Navy gunboats and Air Force spotter

planes joined police and private security to control the 100-strong demo ashore. But the tales of dodgy shit just keep on coming: Shell security

staff have been discovered recently in Bolivian terrorist groups, trying to destabilise the region and kick-start civil war.

Construction of the gas refinery has already resulted in the pollution of local drinking water, with untreated waste chemicals like lead,

mercury, arsenic and radon being pumped into Broadhaven Bay, despite its ‘Special Area of Conservation’ status. Yet despite the scale of state

repression there, the campaign just won’t pipe down, having already set the pipeline’s completion date back from 2003 to 2013.

http://www.shelltosea.com/node/21

http://risingtide.org.uk/node/336
www.indymedia.ie/article/96167

EVENTS

Bath Hunt Saboteurs meetings, 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, 8pm, The Bell, Walcot Street

Debt advice drop-in, Tuesdays, 4-7pm, Black Cat Centre, http://www.blackcatcentre.blogspot.com

London Road Food Co-op, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Riverside Community Centre, London Road

The Lost Plot workday, Thursdays, 10am-dusk, Bathampton

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

Black Cat Centre general meeting, Sundays, 1-3pm, Black Cat Centre, http://www.blackcatcentre.blogspot.com

‘Fortnight of Shame’: two weeks of action against BP’s investment in tar sands extraction, now to15th April, contact bristol[at]risingtide.org.uk

FFI

Horse Racing Awareness week demo, Friday 9th April, Westgate Street, contact bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk FFI

Bristol Industrial Workers of the World meeting, Friday 9th April, starts 7pm (8.30-10pm open to non-members), GWRSA, outside Bristol Temple Meads

train station, e-mail bristoliww[at]riseup.net FFI

Bristol Eco-Village public meeting, Friday 9th April, 7.30pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol

Bath FreeShop, Saturday 10th April, 12-3pm, outside Pump Rooms, Stall Street

Broadlands Orchardshare Volunteering Day, Saturday 10th April, 12-4pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford,

http://www.bathford.net/broadlands.php

talk: ‘The Chartists and Their Legacy’, Saturday 10th April, 2pm, New Room (Wesley Chapel), 36 The Horsefair, Bristol, BS1 3JE

‘Defend our Public Services’ march and rally, Saturday 10th April, London, tickets for coach available, http://www.10410demo.co.uk

Bath Animal Action meeting, Monday 12th April, 8-9pm, The Bell, Walcot Street

talk: (Steve) Mills & (Ian) Bone, Monday 12th April, 7.30pm, The Stag & Hounds, 74 Old Market Street, Bristol

AstraZeneca anti-vivisection demo, Tuesday 13th April, 3.30-6pm, AstraZeneca Avlon Works, Severn Road, Hallen, Bristol, BS10 7ZE; if you need

transport or further info, e-mail barc[at]hotmail.co.uk

skillshare: ‘Freeskilling – Conscious Communication (Non-violent Communication)’, Tuesday 13th April, 7pm, Better Food Co. Cafe, St Werburghs,

Bristol

talk: ‘Thomas Spence – the Forgotten Revolutionary’, Wednesday 14th April, 7.30pm, The Scout Hut (Benjamin Perry Boat House), Redcliffe Wharf,

Bristol

Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 14th April, 8.30pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street

Radical Debate Club: ‘Migrants and Borders’, Thursday 15th April, 7pm, Black Cat Centre, Walcot Street

benefit gig against homelessness in Taunton, Thursday 15th April, 7-11pm, the Roadhouse, Taunton, free, feat Clayton Blizzard, 51st State, Rat

Bandits and Two Minute Hour; http://www.anonpromo.co.uk

talk: ‘Vote, Protest And Riot’, Thursday 15th April, 7.30pm, GWRSA, outside Bristol Temple Meads train station

course; ‘Design & Build a Compost Loo’, Friday 16th to Sunday 18th April and Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th April, Monkton Wyld Court, nr Charmouth,

Bridport, Dorset, DT6 6DQ, phone 01297 560342 or e-mail info[at]monktonwyldcourt.org

Bristol Eco-Village BIG SWOOP!, Saturday 17th April, location tbc, e-mail bitsofwood[at]riseup.net to get involved

Update and discussion on the planning process, Sunday 18th April, 11-3.30pm, £5 adavanced booking essential by 5th April, e-mail afrelmira[at]

googlemail.com

Bristol Convention of the Left planning meeting, Monday 19th April, 6.30-8.30pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol

Green Light lectures: ‘Energy Futures and Global Cooling’, Monday 19th April, doors open 7pm, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, £3 entry/£1.50

concessions

talk: ‘Votes for Ladies: The Suffragette Movement 1903-1914’, Monday 19th April, 7.00pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol

‘An Agenda for Humanity: Peace, Justice and Environment’ meeting with election candidates in Bath, Wednesday 21st April, 7.30pm, Friends Meeting

House, York Street, e-mail postmaster[at]bathstopwar.org.uk FFI

talk: ‘Every Cook Can Govern: From Athens To Westminster?’, Wednesday 21st April, 7.30pm, CWRSA, outside Bristol Temple Meads train station

‘Get Your Sticker On’ Plane Stupid subvertise challenge, Thursday 22nd to Friday 23rd April, location tbc, e-mail info[at]planestupid.com

gig: ‘The Liberty Tree’, Friday 23rd April, 7.30pm, The Thunderbolt, The Olde Turnpike,124 Bath Road, Totterdown, BS4 3ED, £7 door, feat Leon

Rosselson and Robb Johnson

Camp Against Nuclear New Build, Friday 23rd to Monday 26th April, Sizewell, Suffolk, http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net

‘STOP The Cuts’ community day and march, Saturday 24th April, 12 noon start, meet at Barton Hill Settlement or Beacon Centre, Bristol

Bristol Radical History Walk, Saturday 24th April, start 7.30pm, Central Ferry Landing, next to the waterfall in-between Anchor Road and Broad

Quay, Bristol

World Day for Lab Animals march in London, Saturday 24th April, coach 8.30am, leaving Bristol Temple Meads train station, £10 ticket

Mock Election bonfire night and music, Sunday 25th April, 7.30pm, Boiling Wells Project, St. Werburghs City Farm, Boiling Wells Lane, St.

Werburghs, Bristol, BS2 9YJ; feat The Blue Sequoias, Who’s Afear’d and the Surfin’ Turnips; bring and burn an effigy of your most despised public

figure!

Bath Socialist Forum, Monday 26th April, 8pm, upstairs at St James Wine Vaults

Kennet and Avon Users Forum, Thursday 29th April, 7pm, Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, Canal Centre, Devizes Wharf, Couch Lane, Devizes, SN10 1EB

Mayday demo, Saturday 1s May, 12.30 outside Bath Abbey

Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 6th May, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at The Hobgoblin, St James Parade,

http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com

Introductory Permaculture Weekend, Saturday 8th to Sunday 9th May, £50, for bookings e-mail afrelmira[at]googlemail.com

Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre, Saturday 29th to Sunday 30th May, the Ampitheatre, Waterfront Square, Bristol Harbourside,

http://bristol.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk/

‘Adapting to Climate Change’ week, 7th-11th June, see http://www.oursouthwest.com/climate FFI

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

Sheikh, Rattle And Roll

In solidarity with the Palestinian neighbourhood Sheikh Jarrah, currently being bulldozed and facing other repression, actions took place up and

down the country on the 17th March; and Bath was no different. From 12 til 2.30pm, a typically-Bathonian size demo (six people!) took place

outside Barclays Bank on Milsom Street. With Barclays being the UK’s largest investor in the arms trade, with holdings of over £7.3bn, they are

also manufacturers of cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions, and invest in murderous outfits like Thales and Raytheon, who arm the Israeli

Defence Force. To go on, they also provide ‘market-maker’ services to everyone’s favourite ITT/EDO, home of the ‘Paveway’ missile laser-guidance

system that has so devastated Palestine and Iraq. On the day, concerned folks from Bath Activist Network and others distributed leaflets, with two

scaling a ladder to the lower roof to unveil a banner claiming ‘Barclays: Global Dealers in Death’, in the face of burly but confused security

guards. Most of the passing public received the demo well, with only a couple of idiots advocating war as a way of solving arguments and as being

vital for human evolution.

Bath Bomb Dictionary Corner: market-maker (n) a corporate middle-man, purchasing shares from a seller and holding them until such a time as a

buyer becomes available

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, email

bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk or see our website: www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com

Theory Corner: On Lawful Rebellion And Resistance

There’s been a lot of talk recently about producing a claim of right and declaring our independence as individuals, which we can do under article

61 of the Magna Carta. This is an approach to resistance that was chosen, among others, by market anarchist Mike Gogulski, who, after having fled

from fascist America, decided to send a form of citizenship renunciation. Other renunciants include members of the nationalist UK Independence

Party.

While escaping the state’s grasping hands is certainly legitimate, anarcho-syndicalist Michael Bindner has argued that this was far from enough in

the long term. One is free, an entire class remains in subjection. Also at issue is the ability of a person to renounce citizenship. Hence whether

article 61 is meaningful, for instance, for the poor who actually need benefits to survive?

This author is also annoyed at the positivism of the whole affair. That is, one is allowed to be left alone, not because he has a right to, but

because it was written down centuries ago. What if it hadn’t been included in the Magna Carta? Too bad, let’s go get tea now?

Lawful rebellion is a good tool if you already are a mostly independent individual, like capitalist Gogulski above; but it is not founded in law

because governing without consent is not lawful anyway. Therefore, the process is here stood on its head: whereas your consent should be required

before you get citizenship, you have to go to the length of renouncing it. Since living under the government was never validated by any process

where refusal was possible and meaningful, it follows that no one is truly a citizen, yet.

Therefore, renouncing citizenship is a recognition that one was actually a citizen – I’m a hostage; also, that the Magna Carta creates our rights

– my rights are natural and do not depend on an old piece of paper; finally, that the government respects our rights – when what it does is

writing down what we will have and what we won’t.

For those reasons, I find lawful rebellion disturbing to say the least, and enjoin everyone to build up free communities instead; the very act of

which will make an actual citizen out of you, rather than a hostage passively paying bills and inserting a piece of paper in a box every few

years.

Lappersfort Gets Evicted – Who Threw The First Bank Note?

On the 4th of March, the Belgian authorities evicted the occupiers of the Lappersfort forest, in the name of the property rights of Fabricom, the

‘owner’ of that forest. The forest has been occupied since 2001. It was a stronghold of activist resistance, and a wonder for all those who

cherish nature and self-sufficiency.

Beyond the pain and the rage, I would be interested to know who Fabricom ‘bought’ the forest from? And how was it ‘their’ forest? How do you even

sell a forest? How do you own it? I wish we were back in the day when common sense had a chance in this world.

Today, in the case of the Black Cat, we see the same folly in the form of the publicly-owned Newark Works. I believe you will find this phrasing

is incorrect. The public stands in the same relation to this building as Fabricom did to the Lappersfort forest: they are outsiders. They have

never touched the Works and they probably never will, not in the collective fashion that is entailed by the word ‘public’. Use and homesteading

being the basis of ownership in land, it follows occupiers and squatters were more the owners than their remote (but wealthy) opponents.

It is also wrong to assume that the public chose to buy this building; the Council did. A minority of individuals pretending to represent the

public, against the very plain fact that an individual is a world unto themself, and therefore unable to be fully and accurately represented by

anyone.

How did the Council get their hands on the two and half million pounds for the purchase? Well, they seem to have a system in place whereby they

simply state the amount of money they need, and take it, without leaving the taxpayers free to refuse, with only vague promises of change every

few years.

This act of theft obviously cannot be considered legitimate; therefore, the Council does not own the money that was used to acquire the Newark

Works, even on the flawed representative system terms. So let’s give a toast to the wealthy thieves who believe throwing bank notes at people

gives them a title in land.

And Now A Word From Our Sponsors…

Anti-aviation campaigning group Plane Stupid have issued a ‘Get Your Sticker On!’ 48-hour subvertising competition to take place in towns up and

down the land from Thursday the 22nd to Friday 23rd of April. As currently contested over the proposed expansion of Bristol Airport, the industry

loves to pretend that they are just responding to the public’s desires by offering ever more flights, ever more noise and ever more emissions.

But, like tobacco advertising, flying promotion needs to become a thing of the past. Until then, let’s subvertise! For the beginners amongst you,

you can download designs from Plane Stupid’s Flickr site to stick over existing adverts – or of course DIYourself. They then advise to take some

pics, set up a temporary anonymous address at an internet cafe, and e-mail your handiwork to info[at]planestupid.com. The group who stickers the

most images in 48 hours wins prizes!

And words from the wise: “Use your head, and remember to dress well for the occasion – caps and scarfs are just the thing for subvertising season.

Some officers of the law may be convinced that subvertising is borderline illegal, so take a friend as lookout, keep an eye open for CCTV and

don’t get caught.”

http://www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/planestupid
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/manchester/2007/12/388098.html?c=on
http://www.bugaup.org/

http://www.graphicattack.org.uk/

Struggle stepped up as another whaling ship is sabotaged in Norway

“Norway announced an increased quota of minke whales so we decided to increase our quota of sunken whalers” – AGENDA 21

Another whaling vessel was sabotaged a few days ago, on April 2nd, nearly a year since the last attempted sinking of the Skarbakk, another Norwegian whaling vessel. The attack was claimed by Agenda 21, a group responsible for last years sabotage and a string of other actions against Norway’s whaling industry. Using the name of a 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment, the group is a spin off from the more known Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and promised Norway that if they did not comply with international conservation law, they would sink their whaling ships.

It wasn’t an empty threat, with Captain Paul Watson supervising the sinking of two ships; the Nybraena in 1992 and the Senet in 1994. The anonymous and covert goup Agenda 21 then took over with the scuttling of the Elin-Toril in 1996. Claimed on the website of animal rights magazine Bite Back, the activists explain: “Entry was made through the wheelhouse. The engine room was accessed by removing the locked door from its frame using axe and crowbar. Two sea valves were opened fully submerging the engine and electrical systems.”

Links: United Nations Agenda 21 | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Ocean Defence topic page

Local news media reported that the sabotage was discovered before the ship could sink. An alarm alerted the ship’s owner, Leif Einar Karlsen, who lives nearby. He attempted to slow the water that was coming in through the open valves, but by the time the fire department arrived, the engine room was under several feet of water. Karlsen has pledged to repair the Sofie and begin killing minke whales in May.

It has been one year since the last attempted sinking of a whaling ship in Norway. In April 2009, an attempt was made to sink the whaling ship “Skarbakk” when it was moored at Henningsvaer, Norway. In August 2007, the whaling ship “Willassen Senior” was sunk in the harbor in Svolvaer (the boat was only a stone’s throw away from where the Sofie was docked).

The Sofie is the seventh Norwegian whaling vessel to come under attack for illegal whaling activities since 1992. After the attack on the Sofie, the head of a Norwegian whaling organization complained to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, “It is outrageous that this can be done year after year without anyone being caught.”

Faslane Free Cafe -Zombies at the base!!

Zombies at the base!!
Still living die in, naming the dead.
Workshops “What you really should know about depleted uranium ”
Paint a stone…make a cairn

Meet at peace camp Saturday, 01 May 2010 at 17:00

On the Sunday following the free cafe will be film showings.
Those wishing to stay overnight are more than welcome. Caravan spaces are available.

Zombies at the base!!
Still living die in, naming the dead.
Workshops “What you really should know about depleted uranium ”
Paint a stone…make a cairn

Meet at peace camp Saturday, 01 May 2010 at 17:00

On the Sunday following the free cafe will be film showings.
Those wishing to stay overnight are more than welcome. Caravan spaces are available.
For more info or to book yer bed call us..

Directions –

The camp is situated 6 miles North of Helensburgh. Helensburgh can be reached from Glasgow by train, for £5 return, trains leave every half hour from Glasgow Queens Street (Low level station).Or the 216 from Jamaica St – Helensburgh.
You can catch the 316 bus from Helensburgh Central train station (for Coulport or Garelochead, stops outside the camp) it only costs £1:50, and you can ask to be dropped off at the peace camp.

-F.P.C. is on the east verge of the A814 road, which leads to HMNB Clyde and beyond. The Camp is therefore visible to all traffic coming towards the base from the direction of Helensburgh.

We are about 30 miles west of Glasgow, by the Gareloch, a river Clyde estuary sea loch. Faslane Naval Base is on the Gareloch.
CAMP PHONE 01436820901

faslaniapeacecamp@yahoo.co.uk
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