Author: earthfirst

Protesters Storm the Stage of the “Champion Canterbury Awards”, Aotearoa/New Zealand

About 20 protesters made quite a ruckus at Thursday’s “Champion Canterbury Awards” in Christchurch.

Attendees to the awards, including Helen Clark and the Christchurch mayor, were greeted with drums, chants, heckles (‘Why don’t you get a real job?’ was a favourite) and banners.

There were three key targets of the awards: Solid Energy for planning to decimate Happy Valley on the West Coast with their proposed Cyprus Mine; Crop & Food who are currently testing ’roundup-ready’ GE onions; and the Cancer Society who spend a massive amount of their budget on vivisection.

Protesters dressed in $2-shop suits managed to get into the conference, despite the heavy police presence, enjoyed a few glasses of complimentary wine and stormed the stage just prior to the award ceremony beginning. They had ample time to chant, scream and explain what they were opposed to. They also carried a banner that read “Don’t Award the Capitalist Hoard”.

The police that were outside intimidating the protesters panicked and quickly turned to race inside but ran straight passed the three protesters as they casually made their own way out.

No arrests resulted, though numerous people were threatened.

Helen Clark was reported as saying that she thought she was in for a night of “Theatresports” before she realised it was “just the local anarchists”.

The Christchurch Press reported the events in a couple of columns. They tried to defend themselves as the primary sponsors of the event but, instead, summed up the protesters standpoint with accuracy unusual in mainstream media.

“[The awards] are an unabashed celebration of the virtues of capitalism… A tiny band of protesters called themselves “anti-capitalists” … deplored the honouring of those who “exploited” or made profits from the community, animals and the environment.”

The protesters also staged their own “Corporate Backscratch Awards” outside, with awards like ‘eco-terrorist’ for Solid Energy, ‘bio-hazard’ for Crop and Food and ‘animal torture’ for the Cancer Society.

None of the camps were willing to accept their awards on the night, so were visited Friday morning where they were delighted to see the protesters again and gratefully accepted the awards.

Save Happy Valley campaigners hunger strike and occupy mine site (New Zealand/Aotearoa)

Save Happy Valley treesit

Two South Island students began a hunger strike today in protest of the proposed“Cypress” mine in Happy Valley. The students will confine themselves to a small platform suspended from a tree on the road to Stockton, near Granity on the West Coast.

“What we are doing may seem dangerous, but the dangers posed by the Cypress Mine are far greater. We want to illustrate the hunger and suffering that global climate change will cause, to empathise with those who have no voice in the world.” stated Fiona Gibson, one of the hunger strikers.

A number of protestors from around New Zealand have also occupied the site of the proposed mine for the second time.

The proposed mine will extract 500,000 tonnes of coal from the mine each year for 10 years, mostly for export. Protestors say the mine will cause massive loss of vegetation, and destroy habitat for endangered insects and kiwi. [ Read more ]

Talking CCTV cameras nicked wholesale, in Wakefield!

Thieves broke into Business Homes’ new business park in Wakefield last week and stole the 60 cameras and sensors that made up its “state of the art security system”.

The theft was particularly embarrassing given that two of the site’s occupants are HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and HM Prisons Service.

“This was a seriously sophisticated system,” insists director Simon Houlston, prompting me to ask how the burglars did away with it.

“There are cameras hooked up to a central office in Blackburn,” he says. “If the men watching the screens see a burglar they send a message out on loudspeakers to the office warning them to leave.

Unfortunately, in this case the thieves just didn’t listen. “One other person did, though. The old lady next door later told us she had heard the voice of God, last night, telling her, in a strong Lancashire accent, to leave the vicinity as soon as possible.”

(from The Telegraph)

56 windows broken in “goodbye” Bayer action, North Yorkshire

A (belated) action report from the Stop Bayer GM campaign.

The Bayer Cropscience building at North Newbalds had all 56 of it’s windows broken. The message “No GM – Not Now, Not Ever” was spraypainted on a wall. The windows were doubleglazed so although only the outer panes were smashed the whole lot will probably have to be replaced. One window had both panes broken and a litre of white gloss paint was thrown through to add to the disruption and expense. Let Bayer be aware – if they become the main GM offender again, we’ll be back.

This was one of 4 actions against Bayer that happened over the last month as a warning to Bayer to stay out of GM crops.
The 4 actions were the closing of a succesful campaign using direct action against Bayer AG – who WERE the major GM players in the UK and are still major the world over. This campaign saw over 50 varied and diverse actions in a few months, part of a 17 year history of direct action against GM crops the world over.
See www.stopbayergm.org for particulars of the other Bayer actions.

2 more Bayer actions

There have been reports of more actions to send notice to Bayer, just before their AGM, that if they DO continue to push GM crops in the UK they will be hit again.

Here are the first 2 reports in.

Date: Thursday 22 April 2004

On the night of Thursday 22nd April, Newbury town centre surrounding Bayer Plc’s UK headquarters was flyposted and stickered with ‘Don’t Buy Bayer’ stickers to let them know that although the campaign is ending, they are being watched and any further attempts to grow GM in the UK will be met with direct action.

The poster read as follows:

BAYER OUT OF BIOTECH!

Bayer were pushing for GM Maize to be the first GM crop commercialised in the UK, but thanks to a campaign of direct action and sabotage and years of GM field trials being trashed, they have abandoned their plans to grow the Maize and will not carry out any further tests of GM crops.

AND STAY OUT

This is a victory for direct action and if Bayer try to introduce GM crops in the future they will be met with increased resistance.

NO GM!

Date: 29th April 2004

Bayer’s wholly owned subsidary, HC Starck, was visited on Thursday night for a quick spraypainting. THe message Bayer – STAY out of GM was spraypainted on the front wall as a gentle reminder that if they do intend to ever plant in the UK we will target them once more!

Another Bayer Stay Out Action, Essex

Two Bayer facilities in Essex were hit in a night-time raid by anti-GM activists in the early hours of Friday 23rd April 2004.

As part of the send-off to Bayer after their decision to pull out of GM crop trials in the UK, locks were glued, windows smashed and slogans painted at two separate installations belonging to Bayer Diagnostics in Halstead, Essex.

The message of the graffitti was loud and clear: “BAYER OUT OF GM – AND STAY OUT!!” Bayer be warned: you know what to expect if you attempt to pursue GM in the UK in the future…

see manila indymedia for a report of a Bayer action in the Philippines.
also see www.boycottbayer.org

Bye Bayer
e-mail: contact@stopbayergm.org
Homepage: http://www.stopbayergm.org

Genetix Update issue 26 out now

8 pages of news of GM actions and campaigning in the UK and beyond.

UK news
Amaizing Grace – Bayer abandon Chardon LL
Wot no trials – only one UK GM field trial in 2004
Off with their heads – Bayer sack bioscience bosses
Whine and Cheese parties (a Supermarket special) – reports on supermarket actions, stopping GM animal feed and spotting newly labelled GM foods
British Biopiracy – English Nature to allow bioprospecting in UK nature reserves

International news from
Australia (Bonza no canola!), New Zealand, US, Canada, India, Phillipines and the CBD in Malaysia

pdf download: http://www.geneticsaction.org.uk/news/XUpdate/GUissue26.pdf
txt download: http://www.geneticsaction.org.uk/news/XUpdate/GUissue26.txt

More information on the Genetix Update, the Genetix Update archive and how to subscribe to the paper version of the update go to http://www.geneticsaction.org.uk/news/genetixupdate.htm

Linslade anti-bypass protest need people; plus injunction details

Linslade anti-bypass protest site near london (leighton buzzard/milton keynes) urgently need people. They have started cutting trees and a site has been establised.

Look at www.roadalert.org.uk for more information.

Before you come please call victoria harvey 01525 385097 or 07815 817108 AND someone from the site 07868740689, 07854631024, 07799816888.

We really need you, the site is getting quite sorted but more protestors will be a very welcome relief.

I don’t have time to go into great detail about the protest but you can get this off road alert. We are abot 30 miles south of london, near leighton buzzard and milton keynes.

There is an injunction against anyone who goes to the site to protest against the road (persons unknown!) This goes to the high court tomorrow (tuesday 8th february), it used to cover the public roadway but we won the right to stand there. There are people squatting in the zone with the injunction on it.

I’m very sorry about the lack of detail, time is very limited, please look on the protest website, roadalert and telephone us.

We need you. You can help!!!

www.linsladeprotest.org.uk

 

 

Bucks County Council applied for the catch-all secret Injunction banning ‘Persons Unknown’ from any form of protest at the site of the road, at a secret hearing on Friday 28th January, without protesters being able to challenge it. It banned any form of protest. There was a Hearing today, Tuesday 1st February, at the High Court in London, and a compromise was reached.

The terms of the Injunction have been changed. I haven’t seen the injunction, but I understand it now allows observing and protesting on the footpaths and B4032 road – so the local protests against the road can continue on the B4032. Locals are also very concerned that they are not allowed close enough to get evidence of alleged breaches of the Habitats Directives, as they are felling trees with bat roosts in, without Ecologists on site, or licences from DEFRA.

The way they got the original Injunction was appalling, and shows their attitude to free speech. It was served at the camp at 7pm, so no one could seek legal advice over the weekend (no-one knew the implications of it, so that is why there has been a silence over the last couple of days!). They applied for a secret hearing and a fast track process and were granted that. Anyone wishing to contest the Injunction was given until 4pm on Monday 31st January to seek Legal Advice and file a Defence (7 working hours!).

Direct action is still possible! Today campaigners hung a banner saying “Challenge Car Culture” opposite the Aylesbury HQ of Buckinghamshire County Council. This occurred at the same time as Garrett Emmerson, Head of Transportation, was having meetings with Bedfordshire County Council about the Bypass! See  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/02/304619.html

Bilston Glen Protest Site update, spring 2004

Here’s a short update from our camp:

Here at Bilston Glen Anti-Bypass Protest Site we get more sorted for every day that passes by. More defences are coming up constantly and the standard of the camp is steadily improving. We have a new kitchen, a new info-space, a well sorted and cosy communal, a new guest house and a new shower. We’re currently building a huge communal tree-house and some other tree-houses are also underway. For three months we’ve been organizing “Sunday Free Cafes” (open days) the first sunday every month, which we intend to continue with. Spring is here, the birds are singing and the leaves are coming out, we’re looking forward to the summer. The 1-4 of July we’re inviting like-minded for a green anarchist gathering to discuss how to fight the megamachine and learn primitive skills.

The planning permission for the road is still there. PPL, the company who where gonna finance the road have gone bust (way-hey!) though, so as it looks now it’s up to the local council to pay for the road. But PPL has been bought up by Bayer, the enormous bio-tech monster, so they might very well finance the road. Central government money might also come in as Tony & co want to see the biggest bio-tech cluster in Europe here outside of Edinburgh, and a road for the transports to and from it.

So we still want and need more people to fight against this part of the horrible destruction of our world. You and everyone else who support us is very welcome to join us!

Save Bilston Glen! No More Roads! For a life wild and free!

by Bamse, part of the Bilston Glen collective

e-mail: info@bilstonglen-abs.org.uk
Homepage: http://www.bilstonglen-abs.org.uk

Phone and Email Blockade of Bayer Cropscience

Monday 22nd of March saw a phone and email blockade of Bayer Cropscience, aimed at undermining their communications and disrupting the smooth running of their offices.

The direct line of Paul Rylott, the head of Bioscience, was chosen along with the main Cropscience email address. Unfortunately Rylott’s line appeared to have been disconected so for the rest of the day it was the backup number – for the bioscience department – which was called instead. It is not known how many people took part in this action but we must have caused some bother as the operator was taken off the phone early in the day and the answerphone switched on instead. Hopefully when they listened to it it was full of anti-gm messages. Hundreds of emails were also sent.

This was the latest of several phone, fax and email blockades, and a ‘virtual sit-in’ to have taken place against Bayer over the last 6 months. There will no doubt be more in the future. To be kept informed of them subscribe to the Stop Bayer’s GM Crops email list – you can do this at www.stopbayergm.org.

Bayer Cropscience are targeted as they only remaining company trying to get approval to grow gm crops commercialLy in the UK.