Author: earthfirst

New London Social Centre

139-141 Stoke Newington Church Street N16 (old Vortex Jazz bar)

Opening day Saturday 20th Jan
map:  http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=533113&Y=186502&A=Y&Z=1
– – – – – –
On Sat 6th Jan a group of local people, along with others, occupied 139-141 Church Street with the intention of opening it up as a social centre. Previously the home of the famous Vortex jazz club the building is set to be demolished by notorious landlord Richard Midda to make way for a Starbucks on the ground floor with luxury apartments above.

139-141 Stoke Newington Church Street N16 (old Vortex Jazz bar)

Opening day Saturday 20th Jan
map:  http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=533113&Y=186502&A=Y&Z=1
– – – – – –
On Sat 6th Jan a group of local people, along with others, occupied 139-141 Church Street with the intention of opening it up as a social centre. Previously the home of the famous Vortex jazz club the building is set to be demolished by notorious landlord Richard Midda to make way for a Starbucks on the ground floor with luxury apartments above.

This development highlights the continued erosion (and unique character) of Church Street as a community hub, where corporate logos increasingly proliferate while the cost of housing in Hackney escalates beyond the means of most ordinary people. Again and again rich property developers and the dominating power of capital determine our social, living and cultural needs – as with the eviction of the original Vortex private greed always wins out against community need.

Social centres are a means whereby people can come together to create, conspire, communicate and offer a collective challenge against this domination.

Stoke Newington has always had a rich radical tradition: Mary Wollstonecraft writer, philosopher and early feminist worked in Newington Green, the Angry Brigade plotted against the state from Amhurst road, as well as the The Radical Dairy social centre being situated round the corner in Kynaston road. We hope to continue this tradition.

The idea of social centres is not only to occupy social space but to create a critical visible presence in the community where people can engage with radical ideas and events and encourage participation in creating those events.

Already planned is a regular café, cinema and jazz nights, an exhibition space for local artists, a parent/baby group and regular benefits. We intend it to be a meeting space for all manner of local campaigns as well as political events. We invite you to participate and contribute to the success of the new social centre as a radical way of organising ourselves……

The Social Centre meeting every Wednesday 7pm, all welcome.

PS Richard Midda has issued court papers (court date: January 24th 10.30 am at Shoreditch county court) to take repossession of the building. We intend to fight against the proceedings and invite people to get involved in the campaign to prevent Midda turning Church Street into another corporate wonderland.

Come on Saturday to find out more.
2pm – Cafe serving coffee, tea, cold drinks, cake
5pm – Social Centre Presentation. Find out who we are and what’s going on with the place
7pm onwards hot food, drink and chilled music

website: www.londonsocialcentre.org.uk
email:  occupiedsocialcentre@hushmail.com
tel: 07960641707

Why suppress Biovision/Biosquare? – 11-14th March, Lyon, France

From the 11th to the 14th of March 2007, the fifth edition of Biovision/Biosquare Forum is going to take place in Lyon. These meetings are now considered to be the biggest meeting in the world on biotechnologies. Stop Biovision!

From the 11th to the 14th of March 2007, the fifth edition of Biovision/Biosquare Forum is going to take place in Lyon. These meetings are now considered to be the biggest meeting in the world on biotechnologies. Stop Biovision!

According to the organizers :
« Biovision : the world forum of life-sciences is an international platform for dialogue, debate and constructive proposals for action, bringing together equal numbers of representatives of civil society, scientists, industrialists and politicians on global topics about health, food and environment. »
For 2007 the « millennium objectives for development » are announced as the major topic of the forum. These objectives include reducing the extreme poverty on the planet by half, providing primary education for all children and stopping the spread of the aids virus.

Behind this seductive showcase lurks a propaganda tool to promote acceptance of biotechnologies, and a marketplace where contracts are signed between research centers and industries (Biosquare), everything being of course sponsored by big agricultural, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Those firms, you know them : for example, Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis (respectively n°1 and n°3 in health care ), Bayer (n°1 in the world in phytosanitary products) or, near Lyon, Rhone-Poulenc and Biomerieux.

Whereas the ecological devastation directly related to these industries is more and more oppressive (climatic warming, depleting the reserves of drinkable water, menacing the diversity of species, multiplying dangerously polluted sites…) Whereas GMO seeds trap farmers in dependence on multinational companies Whereas patents on molecules hinder access to vaccinations and treatments for the most vulnerable populations facing most serious health risks Whereas less than 10% of commercialised chemical products have been tested for potential risk (cf Greenpeace) and at the same time cancer has increased 60% in France in the last twenty years Whereas those companies have already been responsible for many scandals (Zyklon B, Roundup, Gaucho, AZF, Bhopal, Sévéso …) Whereas the scientific basis of genetic therapy has not been established and research in this field is little more than tinkering.

Why would companies that are responsible to a large degree for the catastrophic situation in countries of the southern hemisphere, suddenly turn around and pay to allay the sufferings of the populations of those same countries ?

It is primarily for them a way to capture new international mass markets for vaccines, medicines, seeds, chemicals for agriculture and to appear philanthropic at the same time. Thus they can continue the pillage and ecological destruction of the southern countries while being supported by the politicians of the rich ones.

It is important to emphasize that our elected representatives are actively supporting this meeting. The city of Lyon, the department of the Rhone, and the Region of Rhone-Alps are contributing 2 532 000 euros to this event.

If the Biovision Forum is taking place in Lyon it is not an accident but the result of economic interests and the political determination (those meetings have been created by Raymond Barre, ex mayor of Lyon and are directed by Phillipe Demarescaux, ex director of Rhone-Poulenc, and president of The scientific foundation of Lyon ) of the Region of Rhone Alps to become the European center for biotechnologies (Lyon) and nanotechnologies (Grenoble).

Whereas the Rhone-Alps Region declared itself a « non-GMO region » (declaration n°04.00.193 of 28th and 29th of April 2004) and the majority of its population is against the spread of GMO.
Those political choices— so contrary to the ideals of democracy and the common interests of the people—are intolerable. The policy of always more « progress » for more and more profits has to stop now !

It is OUR future that is at stake. We want to decide by ourselves independent from the imperialism of big firms. We are inviting everyone to a mobilisation against this Forum of 2007, and to do all that we can to insure that it will be the last.

Collectif des resistances et des alternatives de Lyon.
contact :  nonabiovision@no-log.org

New Year Destruction at the Hill of Tara, Ireland

In flagrent contempt of best archaeological and ecological practice, a systematic campaign of tree felling, earth clearance and monument removal has begun at the Hill of Tara. This is even before the Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract for the M3 Motorway, through the Tara / Skryne Valley, has even been signed. Daily protests are taking place, every 7am in the morning at the Hill of Tara car park.

In flagrent contempt of best archaeological and ecological practice, a systematic campaign of tree felling, earth clearance and monument removal has begun at the Hill of Tara. This is even before the Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract for the M3 Motorway, through the Tara / Skryne Valley, has even been signed. Daily protests are taking place, every 7am in the morning at the Hill of Tara car park.

The situation at Rath Lugh: Rath Lugh is “owned� by Coillte, the State Forestry Board. Native trees are being systematically felled, even though Rath Lugh is a designated national monument, and strategically placed as part of the defensive fortifications at Tara, on the northern slope of the Skyrne Valley. A new area is being worked just behind Lismullen. There are other wooded areas between Rath Lugh and Blundelstown. It is vital that these be preserved from the vandalism that has already been perpetrated. Coillte is legally obliged to protect national monuments on land in its care.  http://tarawatch.org/?p=234 Coillte’s contempt for the archaeological sites on the land it oversees has already been displayed in the case of the Mooghaun hillfort, which has been damaged by Coillte’s planting of conifer trees there. Mooghaun hillfort (Moghane in Irish), located in Co. Clare, is thought to be the largest hillfort in Ireland. Built c.1260-930 B.C., it is situated “on a low hillock in a fairly gently undulating landscape of good agricultural land dotted with many small lakes� Grogan 1993: 39  http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0392/D.0392.198910240071.html

Coillte is a state body; it is, however, behaving as if it were a private corporation, entitled to dispose of its “property� as it sees fit. Again, Coillte’s record speaks for itself. In March 2001, Coillte approved the sale of 250 acres of land at Bellanaboy, Co Mayo for the Corrib Gas Terminal. In December of 2004 the remaining area of 160 hectares was sold by Coillte to Shell for €2.75 million. Subsequently Coillte granted Shell “wayleave� permission to build a high-pressure raw gas pipeline through 3km of adjacent Coillte land at Aughoose, Co Mayo.  http://www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=439
Coillte oversees more than 1.5 million acres on behalf of the State, so the stakes are high.

The situation at Baronstown:
Baronstown lies in the heart of the Tara-Skyrne Valley, and has been described by the Archaeologists who undertook the Discovery Programme survey at Tara as a National Monument. It was however, excluded from the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). There is growing evidence of improper excavation methods by the private archaeological companies overseen by the National Roads Authority. Plastic bags containing bones, lacking numbers or markings, are being found lying in random places. This in itself is proof of inadequate archaeological supervision.  http://tarawatch.org/?p=289

The situation at Collierstown: Again this was noted by the Discovery Programme as being worthy of designation as a National Monument, but was excluded from the EIS. It is a burial site, with many graves of rectangular shape, edged with stone slabs. These appear to be children’s graves.  http://tarawatch.org/?p=273

The situation at Roestown:
Here, a complex of beehive souterrains has been removed. Another has been newly discovered, yet is shortly to be removed. Tree felling has already occurred.  http://tarawatch.org/?p=304
All of this vandalism is possible because the Minister for the Environment has scrapped the heritage protection provisions in Irish law, and substituted an Act granting him the power to issue licenses for unsupervised archaeological excavation of designated sites. Under this convention, a host of licenses have been issued for excavations in the Tara / Skryne Valley.  http://www.sacredireland.org/gallery.html These pictures give an indication of the damage that occurred in 2005:
The diggers move in:  http://www.sacredireland.org/12don.html
Earth Removal:  http://www.sacredireland.org/22don.html
 http://www.sacredireland.org/27don.html
 http://www.sacredireland.org/28don.html  http://www.sacredireland.org/24don.html
The bones of the dead:  http://www.sacredireland.org/bone.html
More excavator activity:  http://www.sacredireland.org/12.html  http://www.sacredireland.org/13.html
Topsoil excavations:  http://www.sacredireland.org/3.html  http://www.sacredireland.org/18.html  http://www.sacredireland.org/digger.html

Camp Bling at ‘Prittlewel King’ awards

17.01.2007

Southend ‘Mayor’ cancels F5 road widening at ‘Prittlewell King’ award celebrations

The campaign against the controversial A127/A1159 Priory Crescent ‘F5’ road widening scheme took yet another dramatic new turn tonight, when dozens of local residents ‘stormed’ a celebration at the town’s Cluniac Priory to mark Southend Borough Council receiving the coveted British Archaeological Awards 2006 ‘Current Archaeology Developer-Funder Archaeology Award,’ for the discovery of the ‘King of Bling,’ in Prittlewell in late 2003.

17.01.2007

Southend ‘Mayor’ cancels F5 road widening at ‘Prittlewell King’ award celebrations

The campaign against the controversial A127/A1159 Priory Crescent ‘F5’ road widening scheme took yet another dramatic new turn tonight, when dozens of local residents ‘stormed’ a celebration at the town’s Cluniac Priory to mark Southend Borough Council receiving the coveted British Archaeological Awards 2006 ‘Current Archaeology Developer-Funder Archaeology Award,’ for the discovery of the ‘King of Bling,’ in Prittlewell in late 2003.

Amid chaotic scenes, Councillors and Dignitaries attending the celebration received a speech from Southend ‘Mayor’ John Smith, who apologised on behalf of the Council for their intention to destroy the East Saxon king’s burial site, promised to return the award received last October in Birmingham, and then dramatically announced the immediate cancellation of the F5 road widening, after having, ‘finally listened to and taken note of the majority of people in Southend who have been shown repeatedly to oppose the scheme.’

Local resident Patsy Link who joined the demonstrators said, ‘This award presented to Southend Borough Council is said to celebrate the merits of developer funded archaeology, which in the case of the discovery of the burial has provided the opportunity to rewrite history. Southend Borough Council now has a site to rival the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk, but still seeks to bury it under 10 feet of concrete for the road widening. To celebrate then destroy it is nothing short of sheer lunacy on the part of the people here tonight at the Priory.’

A decision to fund the road widening has been awaited from the Department for Transport since a local Public Inquiry took place in March 2004. Information from the East of England Regional Partnership Group shows that costs have now risen to an estimated £25m for the 870 metre length of carriageway, making it potentially, ‘The most expensive stretch of road in the world.’

In the mean time local protest site Camp Bling still occupies the land above the burial, 4 as it has for sixteen months since first being set up by locals in September 2005. It is rumoured that one of the deepest protest tunnel systems ever known has since been dug to help defend the camp, and numbers have grown significantly as the funding decision is awaited.

Mabel Jones of Prittlewell said, ‘If the local Council and central Government perceive that this campaign is only about a handful of people against the road scheme then they need to think again and quickly. Tonight has shown that a large cross section of the local community are not just against the scheme, but will actively attempt to stop it if the funding go ahead is now given.’

 http://blingblog.bravejournal.com/

Thrupp Lake (Radley Oxfordshire) update

There were once nine lakes…

Local people have joined forces with ecologists and environmental activists in a pledge to save Thrupp Lake (at Radley, near Oxford), following a decision by Npower bosses to dump 500,000 tonnes of fly-ash on to the site.

There were once nine lakes…

Local people have joined forces with ecologists and environmental activists in a pledge to save Thrupp Lake (at Radley, near Oxford), following a decision by Npower bosses to dump 500,000 tonnes of fly-ash on to the site.

Thrupp lake is a nature reserve as designated by Oxfordshire County Council, with many rare plants, insects and animals including water voles and otters.

The plan is to cut down over 1,000 trees so that Npower can drain then fill the lake with 500,000 tonnes of toxic waste ash from the nearby Didcot Power Station. The waste ash is pulverised fly-ash which can be recycled and used in various building products such as cement and breeze blocks. Past study found traces of many nasties including Polonium 210!

Npower have already destroyed seven other lakes in the immediate area. The locals have been trying to save the lakes for many years using all legal means and have failed. Their latest challenge is to get the lake designated to village green status, which would save the lake. However, Npower have said they will begin work BEFORE this application will even be heard in court! The locals have welcomed us with open arms to fight this alongside them.

As part of this, our group occupied an empty property on the shore of the lake on December 28th with a view to protect the lake and using all non-violent means to resist eviction (Lock-on’s and barricades etc), whilst also opening the building up (compulsary purchased by Npower) as a field center for the study of the local ecology.

Recent News: Npower took us to County Court on 10th January to gain a repossession order to evict us, however, they did not expect us to have such a great legal team behind us. The order for repossession was thrown out as the papers were illegally served to us by Npower! Local press
headline was “Squatters win first round�. We are in court again Weds. 24th Jan. at the County Court in Oxford. We have a barrister working on the case and are putting up a stiff legal defense.

At present: We are working on defending the building and recording and photographing the local ecology (we need proof that certain species inhabit the area as part of the defense). We are still in LEGAL possession of the building and we have massive local support. The house is massive and the lake is absolutely beautiful.

HOW YOU CAN HELP : Visit us! Remember we are in legal possession and you are allowed to stay. Stay with us to defend the building if we get evicted, or come to do some ecology work. Bring your friends! (You may even see the Radley Lake Penguin!). Bring us things we need off our ‘Wish
List’. Come and support us in court on the 24th – bring banners etc.

Catch the train to Radley station (one stop from Oxford), and it is about a fifteen minute walk to the site. For directions ring the site mobile.
SITE MOBILE NUMBER IS: 07772 0553 384

For more information see www.saveradleylakes.org.uk or check out our progress on UK Indymedia or Indymedia Oxford.

Watch the video (video/x-msvideo 34MB)

WISH LIST
Food, Furniture, Blankets, Duvets, Sleeping Bags, Waterproofs, Ladders,
Buckets, Kitchen knives and cutlery, plates etc., Rope and Polyprop, Nuts,
bolts, Nails, Screws, Wire mesh, Tools, Spanners, wrenches, Socket sets,
Bottled Water (1 ltr), Banners, Paint, Shovel, Timber for building, Cable
ties, Climbing Caribineers for lock-on’s, Chains, 45 gallon oil drums,
Fake animal Fur (Yes thats right),Cash, YOU!

UNIVERSITY, RESEARCH INSTITUTE TARGETED BY ANTI-VIVISECTION ACTIVISTS

anonymous communique:

“Aberystwyth University and the Institute of Grasslands and Environmental Research (IGER) carry out cruel and pointless tests on animals.

Welsh activists have therefore been busy with the follwing actions to try and persuade them they should end their involvement with animal testing altogether.

anonymous communique:

“Aberystwyth University and the Institute of Grasslands and Environmental Research (IGER) carry out cruel and pointless tests on animals.

Welsh activists have therefore been busy with the follwing actions to try and persuade them they should end their involvement with animal testing altogether.

Japanese knotweed is a very destructive weed that spreads very easily. Large quantities of this was spread over different parts of the university grounds.

*Over a thousand letters saying “end your involvement in vivisection” were sent to Aberystwyth University Freepost address

*Butric acid was spread in toilets, changing rooms and library
The smell is very hard to remove and boy does it smell

*Over 50 texts were made to university staff home phone numbers just before a major open day.
When a text reaches the home phone it converts to a simulated voice message. It warned of chaos on the open day followed by other actions.

*Important people within these institutions had messages sprayed in red on their drives and gates.

Also IGER signs were sprayed with red slogans.

More important people had their personal car details used to apply for lots of car insurance quotes including their home and work phone numbers and work e-mails.

Lots more to come until they issue a statement saying they will stop testing on animals.”

LATE NIGHT VISITS FOR NOVARTIS, ASTELLAS EMPLOYEES

received anonymously:

“Saturday the 13th January was unlucky for some. The ALF were out in the dead of night visiting the homes of those who profit from animal abuse at HLS.

Astellas PA Margaret McQuillan, 22 Triggs Close, Woking, Surrey GU22

received anonymously:

“Saturday the 13th January was unlucky for some. The ALF were out in the dead of night visiting the homes of those who profit from animal abuse at HLS.

Astellas PA Margaret McQuillan, 22 Triggs Close, Woking, Surrey GU22
0EJ Tel: 01483 760 058
had all the garages near her spray painted with “number 22 is animal killer”, alf slogans and her front door had a pot of red paint thrown all over it.

Novartis director Kevin White, 3 Pipson Close, Yateley, Hants GU46 6JL
had 2 big brick walls sprayed with “number 3 is animal killer” and an alf slogan.

Novartis employee Christopher Golunski, Carthena Drive, Fleet, Hants GU52 7SF Tel: 01252 624 601
had the tyres of the 2 cars on his drive slashed and paint stripper poured all over them.

Secretary of Novartis UK Pension Trustees Ltd Richard Farrar of 23 The Brambles, Crowthorne, Berks RG45 6EF
had all the tyres of his people carrier slashed and the vehicle covered with paint stripper.

Novartis you are a priority target for the Animal Liberation Front worldwide. Stop dealing with HLS or we will force you to stop by any and all means necessary. Get ready. The ALF is coming after you.

ALF”

Activists stop work on gas pipe line Alltwen, Wales

16th Jan ’07 – At 9am this morning a construction site in Alltwen was stormed by activists, climbing cranes and locking-on with d-locks by their necks. Work was stopped on the controversial LNG pipeline for five and a half hours, adding to the list of recent delays.

Alltwen pipeline protest16th Jan ’07 – At 9am this morning a construction site in Alltwen was stormed by activists, climbing cranes and locking-on with d-locks by their necks. Work was stopped on the controversial LNG pipeline for five and a half hours, adding to the list of recent delays.
The protesters this morning were met with aggression, one had her camera snatched and damaged, whilst others were threatened with violence. After one activist climbed a crane, locked on by his neck, the operator of the crane then decided to move the crane about, seriously endangering the activist’s life – watch the video (video/x-ms-wmv 4.3MB).
Also construction workers initially kept on using heavy machinery on the site despite being advised not to due to health and safety reasons.

It is the eighth day that work has been stopped at the Trebanos camp across the valley. Support continues to grow for the campaign with more numbers getting involved daily.
The pipe, to be 115 miles long rips right through wales, having devastating effects on the welsh countryside.
This action is just a small part of a big campaign to fight the pipe!
Currently we are occupying a public footpath stopping access to the construction site in the village of Trebanos. We also have a house which is a safe base to do actions from.
Come to wales and be at the front line of britain’s eco-defence! Loads more actions
are planned and more sites too.
contact numbers
07790450747
07733190958

Building to a critical mass, bristol

Just a reminder this is soon,
Can anyone help with putting up additional posters? just print them out and stick them up.

Poster here; http://bristolcm.pbwiki.com/f/cmposter.doc

What
Critical Mass is a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists’ right to the road.

Just a reminder this is soon,
Can anyone help with putting up additional posters? just print them out and stick them up.

Poster here; http://bristolcm.pbwiki.com/f/cmposter.doc

What
Critical Mass is a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists’ right to the road.
One Idea is to have comparatively short (30-40 minute ) rides Bristol, hopefully this will allow us to make our point and communicate effectively with other road users.

When
6:30pm on the last Friday of every month. Starting on January the 26th.

Where
Starting outside the Arnolfini, ending up at the Hatchet.

If you would like to help then read about Traffic tactics http://www.reachoutpub.com/cm/gomass.html and think about what role you can play to make the mass a safe and positive experience.

* Bring plenty of lights and reflective stuff.

* Print out 2 pages of bike strips and put them on bikes.

* Print out and bring 20 leaflets to hand out on the mass.

More Bristol info, maps + posters etc;
http://bristolcm.pbwiki.com/

General CM info:
http://www.critical-mass.info/howto/
http://www.critical-mass.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass