earthfirst – Page 286

critical masses (reports from end June/beginning July 2007)

Manchester:Ace mass on friday woo! despite all the students being away for the summer there was still an ace turnout of around 30-40 people.nice. and a few stayed for a nice bbq in the park which was real lovely.

Critical mass has a my space account
here:http://www.myspace.com/mcrcriticalmass
and a facebook account here:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=597661675&ref=mf

also an email list at http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/manccriticalmass

so if you have photos or film of the masses please post or upload them or email for the passwords and i’ll send them out to you. also please use these and this list to discuss ideas and calls for help with future events for after the critical mass. In the past we’ve had benefit gigs, party in the woods, film nights, meals, beers in pubs, picnics, bike polo workshops, art exhibition, roller races etc etc. It would be ace if everyone could be involved in organising these. maybe we could even get together a little cm events working group..would anyone be interested in this? we could get together either after cm or in the month to share ideas, organisation and tasks.

these things can be discussed on this list or on myspace comments or on the facebook note or wall

ALSO
At previous critical masses in Manchester we decided on the following tips to ensure that we are all safe,that we cause least annoyance as possible, to make sure the ride stays together and to ensure that everyone feels comfortable. Remember sometimes people on critical mass come because it is a chance to reclaim the road and to feel safe, people who wouldnt usually ride in central manchester and also children, so its good to keep the nice friendly atmosphere to encourage cycling and that safe environment…if people want to discuss these its great, they were points that were agreed at several critical masses by people shouting and waving hands and that kind of thing. there is no organiser and everyone should be able to have their say. (in a way that is responsible and looking after each other)

1. If the light goes on red as the ride approaches the lights we stop and wait for green.
2. If the light changes part way through the ride getting through around 2 people per lane of oncoming traffic stop and cork the road. This basically means that they stand in the middle of that lane holding up their hand/ a sign saying ‘thank you for waiting’ so that cars will stop and let the ride stay together and go through the light safely. Thanking the drivers when everyone is through..we are trying to get drivers onto bikes not to hate us!!!
3. Slower riders and children and people with less confidence ride at the front of the ride and to the left hand side so that they can set the pace and help to stay together and also feel safer as they are less likely to be near traffic/ annoyed drivers.
4. We don’t have a set route for critical mass, instead whoever is at the front at the time can choose where we go, so we take it in turns! just shout left or right or straight on in plenty of time!
5. Have fun!

Future critical mass dates are

MEET CENTRAL LIBRARY 6PM FRIDAY:
27th July
31st August
28th September
26th October
30th November
28th December

2008
25th January
29th February (woo leap year!)
28th March
etc etc

London: Critical Mass 29th June – The June Critical Mass, with a few hundred cyclists, was a fun ride through the City and Holborn and managed to stay dry the whole way through!

Several hundred people left Waterloo bridge at about 7pm, cycling across Blackfriars bridge, along Ludgate Hill, past the Museum of London and onto Liverpool Street station. After some circling of Finsbury Circus the mass kept moving on to Old Street where we had a brief rest. Moving off the mass headed for Cambridge Circus along Theobalds road and High Holborn. From there it moved up and along Oxford Street and down to Westminster Square where there were some skirmishes with the cops over the sound system (see the account: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/06/374738.html)

It was a fun ride. The police for the most part seemed to keep their distance. Entertainingly a couple of police started head bobbing to the music in Old Street – I’m hoping someone got a film of it! Let’s hope next month is slightly sunnier though.

Edinburgh: It went pretty well. Around 50 people. Considerably more than last month. There was no police intervention, apart from preventing all vehicles to go across North Bridge, since it was shut again. We simply diverted down Leith Street, went all the way round the roundabout, then along Queen Street to the meadows from there. In the last 5 minutes the heavens opened.

Glasgow got the sun and a ride out to the West End complete with bike lifts and a film screening afterwards.

July York Critical Mass Ride Small but Successful

Well, it wasn’t a big ride, with just 19 people taking part, but we had fun, made cycling visible and encountered some complete idiots who need their 2 ton weapons removing from beneath them. The driver of a bright red Audi on Nunnery Lane expended much petrol revving, overtaking (twice) and generally being an idiot without any gain for himself, other than a nice picture showing that he, like a notable group of York’s drivers, has no concern whatsoever for cycle lanes or cyclists. No one was hurt, but as one person put it later “we gave as good as we got”, verbally of course.

Next months ride will probably also be small, but that’s no excuse not to show up. On Friday August 3rd we’ll be returning to the streets of York to promote cycling, sustainability and fun, same time and same place.

Protesters decontaminate the UK’s last remaining GM potato trial

During the night of Friday 6th July, a group of activists converged on Britain’s last remaining GM trial site just outside Cambridge. They scaled the security fences and destroyed the crop of genetically modified potatoes.

The potato plants were already flowering, spreading genetic contagion into the surrounding countryside.

A similar trial planned in Hull was abandoned earlier this year after a strong campaign and massive concern from nearby farmers. With the destruction of the Cambridge crop, Britain is once again GM free.

Public concern and demonstrations had failed to sway NIAB, the National Institute for Agriculture and Botany, who are carrying out the five-year trial on behalf of BASF, a multinational chemical corporation. Many feel that if corporations refuse to listen to public opinion it is necessary to take direct action.

Friday’s action follows the latest in a series of protests, on the previous Sunday (July 1st), when demonstrators marched on the potato field. On that occasion, they were met by overwhelming numbers of police and two participants were arrested.

This time, however, no such obstacles were met, and the activists were able to successfully decontaminate the field.

If this trial had been allowed to run full term it could have led to a whole new generation of GM crop trials in this country. Friday night’s events show that public concern about GM food and willingness to take direct action to keep Britain GM free remain high.

Sumac work-month – get involved!

The Sumac is closed for business throughout the whole of July to do some long overdue maintenance and redecoration!

We are looking for anyone and everyone to get involved – whether you are highly skilled at DIY or just enthusiastic!

The Sumac is closed for business throughout the whole of July to do some long overdue maintenance and redecoration!

We are looking for anyone and everyone to get involved – whether you are highly skilled at DIY or just enthusiastic!

Hopefully people will be working almost every day throughout the month… to find out when people are likely to be there to work with call the centre on 0845 458 9595 or 0115 9608254.

Work-weekends -on the following weekends there will be even more people than normal fixing and painting, as well as hopefully some food and booze for volunteers:

July 7-8th maintenance jobs
July 21st-22nd Decoration preparation and maintenance
July 27th -28th Decoration

If you are from out of town, we can find you somewhere to stay.

Sumac Centre is found at 245 Gladstone St, Forest Fields Nottingham. For directions look at the website.
http://www.sumac.org.uk

Cambridge GM potato demo report & photo series & court update (with added video)

There was a protest today against the last remaining GM potato trial in the UK just outside of Cambridge.

Despite being heavily outnumbered by the police & Chubb security guards, protesters were able to make their way right up to the twenty metre perimeter fence surrounding the trial site (with electric fence inside). Two demonstrators were arrested, one for attempting to breach the fence and another some distance from the site.

Protesters played frisbee and ate a picnic at the site but, due to being outnumbered, were not in a position to get through the fence to decontaminate the site.

Full write up of protest and some background

One knew right from arriving at the start point of this protest in Girton that the police were going to be totally in control. Protesters were greatly outnumbered. Also there were no mainstream journalists present at all. There were lines of police photographers with big cameras and long lenses positioned all around the centre of the village. This was clearly a way of warning any locals who might wish to become involved that they would be treated as potential criminals even though it was a very fluffy protest. Protesters set off along the road, turned off onto a public footpath towards the site, escorted and watched all the way by dozens of police on foot and in vehicles. Police made a token attempt to stop everyone from leaving the footpath but the determined protesters quickly nipped through a gap in the hedge and straight onto the corporate land that was allegedly protected by a hurriedly obtained injunction. From there, one could see the test plot in the distance across corn fields with many expensive police 4X4s surrounding it. Protesters then walked carefully along the headlands so as not to be accused of damaging the adjoining (hopefully non GM) wheat and barley crops and then settled down to picnic right next to the block and mesh fence that had only just been erected around the potato test site. Many of the picnicers lunch boxes seemed to contain potato salad! One very brave protester managed to leap over this fence when most of the yellow jackets were distracted but was immediately arrested. A little while later a very polite man from Chubb security came to announce that an injunction had been obtained and that everyone was within the injuncted area and that he would be very greatful if everyone were to leave soon. After conferring amongst themselves, protesters realised that because they were so outnumbered by both police and private security guards and because a six foot fence stood between them and the much despised crop, the protest could only be a symbolic one and so they upped and left.

The pupose of this genetically modified crop trial is allegedly to evaluate the resistance of a new GM potato variety to late blight in the field. I really cannot see why this experiment has to be done in the open countryside rather than inside a closed laboratory. Blight needs particular conditions of temperature, humidity and air circulation in order to strike. These conditions would be easy to simulate in a large climatically controlled greenhouse but out in a field, the correct conditions may not be achieved from one year to the next despite the fossil fuel corporation’s best/worst attempts to change our climate. Not only that but the growing potatoes were visibly in flower, therefore producing GM pollen and I did indeed see at least two bee hives presumably installed and maintained by BASF about 300 metres away near the hedge. Since it would be easily possible to pinch out the GM pollen producing flowers on such a small plot (doing this actually INCREASES potato yield by about 15%) and since the flowers hadn’t been removed, one has to conclude that BASF deliberately want to spread GM pollen around Cambridgeshire as part of their open-air experiment. Pity any local honey producers as they could lose their organic status over this. I’m wondering if BASF have any monitoring hives 3km away rather than just 300m as bees can easily travel this distance in search of flowers or maybe BASF don’t want to know such a fact?

Being a keen potato fancier and grower, I have a particular interest in this blight issue. Potato late blight is a particularly devastating fungus that spreads faster than any other plant disease.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_blight
This is the same disease that caused the famous 1845 Irish potato famine that claimed a million lives. (In fact it would be more accurate to say that the British governement caused the deaths by completely ignoring the famine and suffering that they knew was occurring.) Blight, being a fungus, thrives in warm damp still weather. Last year’s very wet early autumn weather caused my own potato crop to dramatically succumb to blight in just two days. In that short period, the foliage changed from healthy green to a black putrefying slime and the only remedy at that stage is to attempt to remove every scrap of infected material from the soil, lift all the tubers from the ground and dry the intact ones as quickly as possible before storing them. It’s not over then – one has to frequently check the stored potatoes for months and pull out the considerable number that continue to go putrid before the tuber blight spreads to the entire sack. As a rule, fungal diseases can only be controlled by spraying with quite strong chemicals. The only permitted (just) organic control is Bordeaux mixture – copper sulphate and lime. This is only moderately effective – rather useless under severe conditions like last year as, since copper suphate is soluble, it has to be reapplied after each heavy rain by which time, the disease may have become unstoppable. So you can see that inorganic potato growing can require strong chemicals and organic growing is really quite problematic. In these days of unstable weather, my overriding criterium for choosing potato varieties to grow now is no longer flavour or outrageous colour but blight resistance. I would truly love a 100% blight resistant potato to grow myself. However I cannot see myself trusting an injunction wielding GM corporation’s creation any further than I could throw that entire corporation uphill. As I see it their overriding interest is not to help struggling farmers or alleviate world famine. It is profit and the wish to monoplise and dominate the potato seed market with just a very few expensive patented-up-to-the-hilt varieties.

If you go to the supermarkets, you’ll see on display just six or so varieties of potatoes. In fact worldwide there are an amazing 5000 different varieties, 800 or so varieties in this country and about 150 of these are easily available commercial seed varieties. The consequences of any market dominating GM variety could cause the gradual extinction of many irreplacable heritage varieties. Being brutally honest, the few heritage varieties that I’ve tried growing myself have been too susceptible to blight for me to continue to grow them organically. However tucked in amongst all those thousands of varieties there could be some almost forgotten about ones that have naturally high resistance. Not only that but this huge repository of varieties can be used in traditional selective breeding programs to produce new non GM varieties that have much higher resistance. This year I am trying Sárpo Mira, Sárpo Axona and Verity which are all new varieties recently created in just this way and that are claimed to have exceptional resistance. So the point I am making is that there are clear and hopefully viable alternatives to genetic manipulation without the risks.

.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GM protester court news

Two protesters were in court this morning having been arrested on Sunday during protests at the site of the UK’s only GM trial – potatoes.

Both were charged with Criminal Damage. One pled not guilty, and that trial will resume in 4 weeks. The other pled guilty and was fined.

Teddy Bears Picnic – video/quicktime 31M

On the anniversary of the imprisonment of the Rossport Five, Shell’s peat stripping continues

Bellanaboy, Friday June 29th 2007

In Erris, protests continue every day at the site of the proposed refinery at Bellanaboy, County Mayo.

Bellanaboy, Friday June 29th 2007

In Erris, protests continue every day at the site of the proposed refinery at Bellanaboy, County Mayo.

Last Friday, June 29th, was the second anniversary of the imprisonment of the Rossport Five. The day saw the continuing of the operation to strip the surface peat away from the Bellanaboy refinery site, and as is now normal, local people protesting were joined by supporters of the Shell to Sea campaign from other parts of Ireland and abroad.

As usual, the Garda response to the protests was brutal. One protester was arrested and many more were assaulted. Gardaí also threw activists into the deep ditches near the Bellanaboy site.

Videos of the protests on Friday morning can be seen here: http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=kAXKHu3_bKo

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=tSMF4GgnC_I

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=u7jnUOq8LYA

or check www.youtube.ie/shelltohell

The Gardaí were said to be surprised at the number of protesters at the site on Friday morning, while many people present complained that the police were suffering from the effects of the night before. Protesters commented on the noticeable smell of alcohol coming from a lot of the officers, and their generally dishevelled appearance, as well as their aggressive and juvenile behaviour. One garda, when confronted with the fact that his behaviour was not acceptable, loudly declared “I’m allowed to drink when I’m off duty!”.

Many people are still angry with the Gardaí over their treatment of a local landowner whose property they trespassed onto to allow Shell’s contractors to install a security cabin near the pier at Pollotomais, across the estuary from Rossport. The portacabin has recently been removed by Shell, but not before legal action had to be threatened.

Many local people accuse the Gardaí of intimidation of the elderly landowner, putting him under such stress that he had to be admitted to hospital. His family have said that he has been upset by a series of incidents including visits by up to six gardaí to the house. Officers asked him questions and video-taped the responses. However, the Gardaí have denied there was any pressure or intimidation involved.

Over the last few months thousands of tons of surface peat have been removed from the refinery site at Bellanaboy and dumped 11KM away, in advance of the Environmental Protection Agency decision on whether the refinery will receive a licence to operate.

New minister with responsibility for the scheme, Eamon Ryan, has been asked for a meeting with local people and other supporters of Shell to Sea, but so far has not responded. In the coming weeks and months, it is expected that more people from outside the area will join the protests.

One of the Rossport Five, Micheál Ó Seighin said recently:
“We welcome people taking non-violent direction to stop Shell’s scheme. This has never been a purely local issue. It has always had national and international dimensions. Not only are people concerned entitled to protest, they are obliged to stand up for what is right.
Related Link: http://www.youtube.ie/shelltohell

==============

The activist who was arrested on Friday morning was taken in handcuffs to Bellmullet Garda station where he was detained for four hours before being charged with various public order offences, including that he “did without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, wilfully prevent or interrupt the free passage of a vehicle…”.

See also : A Tainted Process http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83016, Prosecuting the Gardaí http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83096, Court Report http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82730, Portacabin incident http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82983,

Enawene Nawe blockade succeeds

29 June 2007
The Brazilian government has agreed to several key demands of the Enawene Nawe Indians after they blockaded a major highway. The government’s Indian agency, FUNAI, will survey lands claimed by the Enawene Nawe and other tribes, with the aim of officially recognising the areas as indigenous.

For three days in May, the Enawene Nawe, a small and remote Amazon tribe, erected barricades in Mato Grosso state to protest against plans to build a series of hydroelectric dams along the Juruena river. They were also demanding the official recognition of their vital fishing waters in the Rio Preto area, which are being rapidly destroyed by cattle ranchers.

Neighbouring tribes joined the protest in support of the Enawene Nawe’s demands, swelling the number of protestors to 200.

The government responded quickly by dispatching officials to negotiate with the Indians on the barricade.

It agreed to pay for representatives of various tribes in Mato Grosso to travel to Brasília to meet with the President of FUNAI.

Despite the recent concessions, however, the dams still look set to go ahead.

For previous news on the blockades go to: http://www.survival-international.org/news/2459

Miffed by Miffy

I don’t know how it came about but the Miffy rabbit character has for a long time been associated with the Earth First! movement and radical ecological direct action. But do the creators and copyright owners of the character know or approve of Miffy’s political activities?…

Miffy is a picture book character created by Dick Bruna in 1955, after telling his one-year-old son Sierk stories about a rabbit they had seen on holiday. Miffy now features in about 30 titles which have been translated into 40 different languages, selling over 80 million copies all over the world.

Drawn in a very minimalist style, Miffy requires only a few lines and one or two primary colors drawn in two dimensions to be recognisable. Perhaps this, and the sense of air of innocence over mischief explains why she become involved in ecological direct action.

It’s unclear exactly when exactly it began but you can trace her political activities, in this country at least, back to the early 90’s and the anti-roads movement. Seen coyly holding a spanner behind her back, one could only imagine the trail of monkey wrenching she left behind her in her efforts to defend the fields, woodland and hedgerows she loved.

By the late nineties, with the roads building program in retreat, Miffy joined the growing anti GM movement, taking up a spade to join the resistance. More recently, Miffy joined her fellow protesters for a game of golf up in Scotland during the 2005 G8 summit and who know, perhaps she also took part in the blockades in Heiligendamm this year.

At over fifty years old you’d think that Miffy would be her own person, free to express her political beliefs as she sees fit but sadly it appears not. The copyright owners of all Dick Bruna’s character constantly hunt down unlicensed users of her image in order to defend their profitable merchandising business.

While Miffy was created for a children’s book, the design has been capitalised on to sell numerous other products like clothes, stationery, toys, glasses, household items etc. A search for Miffy products on google brings up over 100,000 pages and no doubt many of the products sold are unlicensed copies made in far eastern sweat shops.

However, Mercis, the Dutch company that owns the copyright, are not content to simply take action on those producing ‘fake’ merchandise, they appears to have stumbled on Miffy’s radical secret life and they are not amused. They are deeply offended, ironically, by Miffys involvement in the campaign against patents on life, as depicted in sticker produced many years ago promoting the (long dead), www.resistanceisfertile.com website – copies of which can now only be found in resource archives of the (no longer maintained) Totnes Against Genetics (ToGG) website.

Mercis (www.mercis.nl) have unleashed their legal team to threaten expensive legal action against whoever might be held accountable – the inactive Totnes Genetics Group who’s long unmaintained website sill contains a picture of that Miffy sticker.

While ToGG volunteers try to get long forgotten passwords and access from the internet service provider which hosts the website in order to remove the offending image, more important questions have been raised. Will Miffy tolerate this attack on her freedom of expression and will her friends in the movement stand idly by and watch as her freedom to protest is taken away?

Other siting of Miffy can be found at https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/06/374195.html?c=on#comments

manchester bike stuff this weekend – critical mass, bike polo, summer party, critical commute, climate carnival

We cycle round the city to celebrate the bicycle:

It’s for anyone that rides a bike;
Its a celebration of getting round the city without polluting it;
Its about every journey being an adventure instead of just sitting on a boring bus or in a stressful car;
Its about cyclists riding together to demand more respect from other road users;
Its a way to meet other cyclistas;

We cycle round the city to celebrate the bicycle:

woooo it will not only be an amzing bike ride to celebrate the bicycle, to meet other cyclists, to have an excuse to ride around, to feel part of a bike gang, to have a fun evening etc etc

but!

this month we will also be having an ace bbq with the bike soundsystem..woo a nice outdoor bicycle summer party.ace.

woo. so please bring vegan stuff to put on it and things to drink! we will be quite near shops so if you dont its easy to get stuff.

last month we had around 120 cyclists on critical mass, lets make this one even bigger!

see http://www.myspace.com/mcrcriticalmass

Saturday 2pm bike polo practise, platt fields park on the clay pitch behind the basketball courts. everyone welcome to join in!

see http://www.myspace.com/mcrdropouts

ALSO:

don’t forget that it’s Critical Commute this Friday morning.

Details of starting points and times at

http://www.manchesterfoe.org.uk/lyb/critical.php

AND:

Cycling Contingent

saturday 30th June 4 Climate Change Carnival

[Manchester]

There will be a parade with samba band and kids entertainment and speakers to talk about Climate Change.

Starts at 1pm from Peace Gardens (between St. Paul Square (Manchester Central Library) and Piccadilly Gardens.

mcrcriticalmass@yahoo.co.uk
http://velorution.x21.org.uk

Welsh Anarchist Radio

Gagged! 17 has been produced in audio format, with some music in the background and a few songs, check it out and let us know what you think!

Check it out here:

http://www.archive.org/details/GaggedAudioVersion

Gagged! 17 has been produced in audio format, with some music in the background and a few songs, check it out and let us know what you think!

Check it out here:

http://www.archive.org/details/GaggedAudioVersion

info@gaggedanarchist.tk
http://www.gaggedanarchist.tk

PAD Cardiff Social Centre – OPENING

21.06.2007
P.A.D. opening barbeque this Sunday
from 3pm (come earlier if you wanna help)
food, music and all the usual treats, find out more about what’s going on in the pad.

21.06.2007
P.A.D. opening barbeque this Sunday
from 3pm (come earlier if you wanna help)
food, music and all the usual treats, find out more about what’s going on in the pad.
There’s also a work day on friday in the pad from 12noon.

PAD re-launched: a new Social Centre!
118 Clifton Street, Adamsdown, Cardiff has been transformed into a collectively run social centre. The “Peoples’ Autonomous Destination” (PAD) is due to be open in June. It will be a place, independent from government or commercial control, to socialise, meet other like-minded people, share ideas & enjoy food, drink, music & films. Importantly, the PAD will be a place for people to come together & organise around social struggles both locally & globally.

The PAD is run voluntarily so nobody gets paid & nobody makes a profit, everyone involved can have a say in how it functions, with no leaders or hierarchies. Anyone can come along to a meeting to help organise & take part in making decisions about the PAD. The space will be inclusive, open to all individuals, with discrimination not tolerated & diversity respected. For more about upcoming events or to get involved, e-mail thepad@riseup.net or come along to a meeting on Wednesdays at 7:30pm at The PAD itself. Find out more about other social centres: www.socialcentresnetwork.org.uk

http://www.thepad.org.uk